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TEXT F
First read the question.?
32. The writer of the passage mainly intends to ___.?
A. criticize Germany’s tax system?
B. help companies ease their tax burden?
C. examine the current corporate tax rates?
D. propose ways to reform the tax system?
Now go through TEXT F quickly to answer question 32.?
One major reason for Germany’s high unemployment and the evident weakness o f business investment is the nature of the tax system, which tends to discourage both individual effort and investment. Nominal corporate tax rates are, in fact , very high and it is these rates that potential investors primarily look at. Ho wever, the actual burden borne by companies is not as great as it might seem, be cause the tax base is fairly narrow. This combination in itself tend to encourag e tax avoidance at both the personal and corporate levels. Moreover, by internat ional standards, firms in Germany are still taxed quite heavily.?
A reform of corporate taxation, therefore, should start by, reducing tax r ates, cutting subsidies and broadening the taxable base. The resulting positive impact on growth would be reinforced if there were also a substantial easing of the net burden.?
How do the current plans for a reform of corporate taxation measure up to these goals? The overall tax burden on companies is to be brought down significa ntly, with the ceiling of 35 % being set. To this end, a dramatic reduction in t he corporate tax on retained earnings is planned. The related drop in revenues i s to be offset by changes in the rules governing tax breaks.?
An approach incorporating these basic features would be a welcome step. I f realized in its presents form, it should ensure that the objective of making t ax rates more attractive for businesses is achieved. At the same time, however, it would be unfortunate if an excessive broadening of the taxable base made it i mpossible to attain the equally important goal of providing relief.?
Comprehensive tax reform is needed in Germany to spur investment and to cre ate new jobs, thus putting the economy on a higher growth path. The drop in reve nues caused by the tax relief granted to both companies and households would, in time, be at least partially offset by the larger volume of tax receipts produce d by economic growth. The gaps that remained should primarily be closed through spending cuts. If measure of this sort proved inadequate, then, as a last resort , an increase in indirect taxes could perhaps be considered.?
TEXT G
First read the question.?
33. The following passage emphasizes the role of ___ in health conservation.?
A. advertising B. research C. governments D. taxation
Now go through TEXT G quickly to answer question 33.?
Most of the ill health we suffer could be prevented if people made more effo rt to change their life styles. Instead many people continue to smoke, to drink excessively and to eat unbalanced diets. How can governments help people conserv e their health and avoid premature death??
Well, many of the measures which need to be taken are primarily a matter of new legislation and need not be expensive. One of the first preventive health m easures should be an increase in taxes on tobacco to the point at which consumpt ion falls off. The aim should be to raise the same amount of revenue from a decr easing number of people. In the short term such a policy could even raise extra money which should then be spent on subsidizing sport so that advertising tobacc o through sports sponsorship could be banned.?
Legislation is badly needed to ban all advertising of tobacco products as i t persuades people to smoke more and so is in a large part responsible for the i ll health and thousands of premature deaths caused by cancer of the lung. Other measures should be enforced, such as a much tougher health warning on cigarette packets, and tobacco companies should be made to contribute to research into a c ure for lung cancer.?
Alcoholism could be prevented by making wines, spirits and strong beers mor e expensive and the revenue raised could be used to set up clinics to help the p eople who already have a drink problem and want to give up. Similarly all advert ising of alcohol should be banned and compensation paid to families of alcoholic s who die of cirrhosis of the liver.? A country’s food and agricultural policy should also be based on a coheren t health policy. For political reasons it is considered important to have a relat ively cheap supply of eggs, cheese and milk, the very foods which are blamed as the cause of heart disease when eaten in excess. And even if it is disputed that excess animal fat is detrimental to health, foods could be labelled with the av erage percentage of different fats so that consumers who wanted to reduce their saturated fat intake would be able to do so easily.?
Much more could be done to improve people’s diet in Britain and everyone s h ould be encouraged to eat the types of food which are good for health. Current r esearch on the nutritional value of foods should be freely available and the gov ernment should control the advertising of “rubbish” food. A programme of healt h education and lessons on sensible eating could be started in the schools with th e Government’s backing. ?
TEXT H
First read the question.?
34. The passage is primarily ___ in the development of the thesis.?
A. persuasive B. descriptive?C. narrative D. expository?
Now go through TEXT H quickly to answer question 34.?
The question remains: must we conform? Or can we, somehow, resist the power s that conspire to domesticate us? And if so, with what arms are we to redeem ou r almost-lost manhood? Where are we to find the weapons of resistance??
I believe that the question of conformity, in the long run, answers itself. I think that if there was a possibility, once, of a yes or no——if at one time humans could decide “we must conform” or “we must not” —— that possibilit y ha s been lost in the long reaches of evolution, far back along the corridors of Ti me. The simple truth is that we cannot conform.? Built into man, is an instinct. I have chosen to call it the “instinct of rebellion”, since it reveals itself as a drive or urge toward mastery over ever y obstacle, natural or man-made, that stands as a barrier between man and his dis tant, perhaps never-to-be-achieved but always striven after goals. It is this in stinct that underwrites his survival, this instinct from which he derives his na ture: a great and powerful dynamic that makes him what he is——restless, seekin g, curious, forever unsatisfied, eternally straggling and eventually victorious. Because of the instinct of rebellion man has never been content with the limits of his body; it has led him to extend his senses almost infinitely, so that his fingers now probe space, his eyes magnify the nuclei of atoms, and his ears det ect whispers from the bottoms of seas. Because of the instinct of rebellion man has never been content with the limits of his mind; it has led him to inquire th e secrets of the universe, to gather and learn and manipulate the fabulous inven tory of the cosmos, to seek the very mysteries of creation.?
Man is a rebel. He is committed by his biology not to conform, and herein lies the paramount reason for the awful tension he experiences today in relation to Society. Unlike other cream of earth, man cannot submit, cannot surrender hi s birthright of protest, for rebellion is one of his essential dimensions. He ca n not deny it and remain man. In order to live he must rebel. Only total annihila tion of humanity as a species can eliminate this in-built necessity. Only with t he death of the last man will the revolt that is the essence of his nature also die.?
TEXT I
First read the questions.?
35. According to the census prediction, the average male Americans will b e expected to live up to ___ years of age by 2050.?
A.73.3 B.75.1 C.81.3 D. 83.6?
36. Crime experts predict that in the near future crime rates will first decrease in ___.
A. South and Southwest B. North and Northeast? C. Southwest and Midwest D. Northeast and Midwest
Now go through TEXT I quickly to answer questions 35 & 36.?
If past is prologue, then it ought to be possible to draw some modest concl usions about the future from the wealth of data about America’s present. Will t h e rate continue to fall? Will single-person households actually swamp the tradit ional family??
All projections, of course, must be viewed with a healthy dose of skeptici sm. Nonetheless, the urge to make sense of what lies ahead is inescapable. After the 1980 census, the Census Bureau decided for the first time to venture some f orecasts of its own for the decades to come. Working from what America already k nows about itself, the bureau’s experts and other demographers offer an irresis tible, if clouded, crystal ball among their visions.?
According to the census projections, female life expectancy will increase from 78.3 years in 1981 to 81.3 in the year 2005. The life expectancy of America n men will grow from 70.7 for babies born in 1981 to 73.3 years in 2005.And by t he year 2050, women will have a life expectancy of 83.6 years and men of at leas t 75.1. ?
Annual population growth will slow to almost nothing by 2050. In fact, the Census Bureau predicts that the rate of natural increase will be negative after 2035; only continuing immigration will keep it growing after that. The total pop ulation will be 268 million in 2000 and 309 million—an all-time high—in 2050. After that, it will start to decline.?
The American population will grow steadily older. From 11.4 percent in 198 1, the proportion of the population that is 65 and over will grow to 13.1 percen t in 2000 and 21.7 percent in 2050. The percentage of the population that lives beyond the age of 85 will mere than quintuple over the same period. Meanwhile th e median age—30.3 in 1981— will rise to 36.3 by 2000 and 41.6 50 years later.
? When it comes to the quality of life, more prognosticators are fairly cauti ous. John Hopkins sociologist Andrew Cherlin observes that “as we enter the 198 0 s, the pace of change appears to have slowed.” For the next few decades, he pre d icts, there may be only modest swings in the marriage, birth and divorce rates—giving society time to adjust to the new patterns that have formed in recent y ears. “We are in a plateau in our family patterns that will likely last awhile, ”Cherlin maintains. Crime expert Alfred Blumstein, who foresees a drop in crime over the coming decade, predicts that the Northeast and Midwest, with stable but aging populations, will see the falloff first; for the South and Southwest, wit h their large proportions of younger people, the improvement will come less quic kly.?
TEXT J
First read the questions.?
37. The formal diplomatic relations between China and the United States w ere established on ___.?
A. February 28,1972 B. January 28,1979? C. December 16,1978 D. January 1,1979
38. The Five Principles for the establishment of a new type of Sino -US r elationship were put forward by Chinese President Jiang Zemin in ___.?
A. Seattle B. Jakarta ?C. Manila D. New York
Now go through TEXT J quickly to answer questions 37 & 38.?
The following is a list of some of the major events in Sino-US relations fr om February 1972 to May 1998.?
February 21 — 28, 1972 : The US President Richard Nixon paid an official vi sit to China, during which a Sino-US joint communique was issued in Shanghai.?
May 1, 1973 : The liaison offices set up by China and the US in each other’ s capital started functioning.?
December 16, 1978 : China and the US issued a joint communique which called for the establishment of diplomatic relations between the two countries on Janua ry 1,1979.?
January 1, 1979 : China and the US formally established diplomatic ties.?
January 28—February 5,1979 : Then Chinese vice-Premier Deng Xiaoping paid a n official visit to the US, during which two agreements were signed on scientifi c , technological and cultural co-operation between the two countries.?
August 17, 1982 : The Chinese and the US governments issued a joint communiq ue under which the US promised to gradually reduce its sales of weapons to Taiwa n until the complete settlement of the problem.?
April 26—May 1, 1984 : Then US President Ronald Reagan visited China, durin g which the two countries signed four agreements on avoiding double-taxation and tax evasion and initiated an agreement on co-operation on the peaceful use of n uclear energy.?
July 23 —31, 1985 :Then Chinese President Li Xiannian visited the US, the first visit by a Chinese head of state since the founding of the People’s Repub lic of China in 1949.?
February 25 — 6, 1989 : Then US President George Bush paid a working visit to China.? November 19, 1993 : Chinese President Jiang Zemin held talks with US Preside nt Bill Clinton during the informal Asia-Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) le adership meeting in Seattle.?
November 14, 1994 : Chinese President Jiang Zemin, on the sidelines of atten ding an informal APEC leadership meeting in Bogor, met US President Bill Clinton in Jakarta and put forward the Five Principles for the establishment of a new t ype of Sino-US relationship.? October 24, 1995 : Chinese President Jiang Zemin met US President Bill Clin ton in New York while attending the special conference held for marking the 50a anniversary of the founding of the United Nations.?
November 24, 1996 : Chinese President Jiang Zemin met US President Bill Cli nton at an informal APEC leadership meeting in Manila.?
February 24, 1997 : US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited China.
October 26—November 3, 1997 : Chinese President Jiang Zemin paid a state v isit to the US, the first by a Chinese president in 12 years. A joint communique , issued on October 29, called on the two countries to strengthen co-operation a nd strive for the establishment of a constructive strategic partnership oriented to the 21(th) century, in a bid to promote world peace and development.?
March 14, 1998 : The US declared that the US-Chinese Agreement on Co-operat ion on the Peaceful Use of Nuclear Energy, which had been dormant for 13 years, could now come into effect.?
April 29—May 1, 1998 : US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright visited Ch ina. An agreement was signed between the two countries on the establishment of a direct secure telephone link.?
TEXT K
First read the questions.?
39. Whose works would you most probably choose to read if you were intere sted in satire?A. Alexander Pope. B. Oliver Goldsmith.? C. R. B. Sheridan. D.W.M. Thackeray.? 40. Which of the following writers was a Nobel-Prize winner??
A. Alexander Pope. B. John Galsworthy.? C. Thomas Hardy. D.W.M. Thackeray.?
Now go through TEXT K quickly to answer questions 39 & 40.?
JOHN GALSWORTHY ( 1867 — 1933) Although John Galsworthy wrote many good p lays, it is as a novelist and creator of the Forsyte family that he is best reme mbered. The whole progress and background of the Forsyte family over a period of forty years is told with great skill and charm in a series of novels. Galsworth y was awarded the Nobel Prize for Literature in 1932.?
OLIVER GOLDSMITH ( 1728 — 1774) Born and educated in Ireland, Oliver Gold smith travelled widely in his earlier years and the knowledge and experience he accumulated were later put to good use. He arrived in London where he made the a cquaintance of Samuel Johnson, who helped him sell a short novel, The Vicar of W akerfield. His drama She Stoops to Conquer, produced in 1773, was a great succes s.?
THOMAS HARDY ( 1840 — 1928) The wild heaths of mid-Dorset are Thomas Hardy country; he was born here, the Wessex of his novels. Hardy’s impressions of th e countryside and of nature were the staple of much of his writing. Tess of the D 'Urbervilles, The Return of the Native and Far from the Madding Crowd are his best-known books. Hardy is also remembered for his poetry and drama.?
ALEXANDER POPE (1688- 1744) Alexander Pope, poet and satirist, was born in the City of London. He was largely self-educated and at an early age showed the satirical skill and metrical ingenuity on which much of the fame rests. The Rape of the Lock, published in 1712,established Pope’s reputation .He occupies a hi gh place among English poets.?
R. B. SHERIDAN (1751 - 1816) Richard Brinsley Sheridan, dramatist and poli tician, was born in Ireland but educated in England. Although at first unsuccess ful, when Sheridan came to London he made his name as the writer of such comedie s as The Rivals, The School for Scandal and The Critic, which brilliantly expose d the intellectual and social pretensions of the time. These place Sheridan in t he forefront of the great English dramatists. He also shone as an orator in Parl iament.
翻译
试卷二 (120 min)?
??
Part Ⅳ Translation (60 min)
SECTION A CHINESE TO ENGLISH?
Translate the following underlined part of the text into English. Write your t ranslation on ANSWER SHEET THREE.??
乔羽的歌大家都熟悉。但他另外两大爱好却鲜为人知，那就是钓鱼和喝酒。晚年的乔羽喜爱垂钓，他说：“有水有鱼的地方大都是有好环境的，好环境便会给人好 心情。我认为最好的钓鱼场所不是舒适的、给你准备好饿鱼的垂钓园，而是那极其有吸引力 的大自然野外天成的场所。”钓鱼是一项能够陶冶性情的运动，有益于身心健康。乔羽说： “钓鱼可分三个阶段：第一阶段是吃鱼；第二阶段是吃鱼和情趣兼而有之；第三阶段主要是 的趣，面对一池碧水，将忧心烦恼全都抛在一边，使自己的身心得到充分休息。”?
SECTION B ENGLISH TO CHINESE?
Translate the following underlined part of the text into Chinese. Writer your translation on ANSWER SHEET THREE.?
Possession for its own sake or in competition with the rest of the neighbo rhood would have been Thoreau’s idea of the low levels. The active discipline o f heightening one’s perception of what is enduring in nature would have been his idea of the high. What he saved from the low was time and effort he could spend on the high. Thoreau certainly disapproved of starvation, but he would put into feeding himself only as much effort as would keep him functioning for more impor tant efforts.?
Effort is the gist of it. There is no happiness except as we take on life- engaging difficulties. Short of the impossible, as Yeats put it, the satisfactio n we get from a lifetime depends on how high we choose our difficulties. Robert Frost was thinking in something like the same terms when he spoke of “The pleas u re of taking pains”. The mortal flaw in the advertised version of happiness is in the fact that it purports to be effortless.?
We demand difficulty even in our games. We demand it because without diffi culty there can be no game. A game is a way of making something hard for the fun of it. The rules of the game are an arbitrary imposition of difficulty. When someone ruins the fun, he always does so by refusing to play by the roles. It is e asier to win at chess if you are free, at your pleasure, to change the wholly ar bitrary roles, but the fun is in winning within the rules. No difficulty, no fun.
写作
Part Ⅴ Writing (60 min)
The Internet is about to take off in China. As many as 9 million people are online, a number that is estimated to hit 20 million by the end of 2000. It is predicted that this phenomenal growth will have great impact on our society and economy. Choose ONE aspect of our society or economy where you think the impact will be most strongly felt, and write an essay of about 300 words entitled.??
THE IMPACT OF THE INTERNET ON ...?
In the first part of your writing you should present your thesis statement, and in the second part you should support the thesis statement with appropriate deta ils. In the last part you should bring what you have written to a natural conclu sion or a summary.? Marks will be awarded for content, organization, grammar and appropriacy. Failur e to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks.?
Write your composition on ANSWER SHEET FOUR.
