Text 4

Young people who are still getting started in life were more likely than older adults to prioritize personal fulfillment in their work, to believe they will advance their careers most by regularly changing jobs, to favor communities with more public services and a faster pace of life, to agree that couples should be financially secure before getting married or having children, and to maintain that children are best served by two parents working outside the home, the survey found.

From career to community and family, these contrasts suggest that in the aftermath of the searing Great Recession.those just starting out in life are defining pro and expectations that will increasingly spread through virtually all aspects of American life, from consumer preferences to housing patterns to polities.

Young and old converge on one key point：Overwhelming majorities of both groups said they believe it is harder for young people today to get started in life than it was for earlier generations.While younger people are somewhat more optimistic than their elders about the prospects for those starting out today, big majorities in both groups believe those “just getting started in life” face a tougher climb than earlier generations in reaching such signpost achievements as securing a good-paying job：starting a family.managing debt，and finding affordable housing.

Pete Schneider considers the climb tougher today.Schneider, a 27-year-old auto technician from the Chicago suburbs, says he struggled to find a job after graduating from college Even now that he is working steadily, he said, ”I can’t afford to pay my monthly mortgage payments on my own, so I have to rent rooms out to people to make that happen.“Looking back he is stuck that his parents could provide a comfortable life for their children even though neither had completed college when he was young.”I still grew up in an upper middle-class home with parents who didn’t have college degrees，“Schneider said.”I don’t think people are capable of that anymore.”

36. One cross-generation mark of a successful life is

[A]having a family with children

[B]trying out different lifestyles

[C]working beyond retirement age

[D]setting up a profitable business

37 It can be learned from Paragraph 3 that young people tend to

[A] favor a slower life pace.

[B] hold an occupation longer.

[C]attach importance to pre-marital finance.

[D] give priority to children outside the home.

38 The priorities and expectations defined by the young will

[A] depend largely on political preferences

[B] reach almost all aspects of American life

[C] focus on materialistic issues

[D] become increasingly clear

39 both young and old agree that

[A]good paying jobs are less available

[B]the old made more life achievements

[C]housing loans today are easy to obtain

[D]getting established is harder for the young

40 Which of the following is true about Schneider?

[A]He thinks his job as a technician quite challenging.

[B]His parents’ good life has little to do with a college degree.

[C]His parents’ believe working steadily is a must for success.

[D] He found a dream job after graduating from college.

Part B

Directions:

Read the following text and answer the questions by choosing the most suitable subheading from the list A-G for each of the numbered paragraphs(41-45). There are two extra subheadings which you do not need to use.Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET.

[A]Be silly

[B]Have fun

[C]Express your emotions

[D]Don’t overthink it

[E]Be easily pleased

[F]Notice things

[G]Ask for help

As adults, it seems that we are constantly pursuing happiness, often with mixed results. Yet children appear to have it down to an art-and for the most part they don’t need self-help books or therapy. Instead,they look after their wellbeing instinctively, and usually more effectively than we do as grownups.Perhaps it’s time to learn a few lessons from them.

41._______C_______

What does a child do when he’s sad?He cries.When he’s angry? He shouts. Scared? Probably a bit of both. As we grow up,we learn to control our emotions so they are manageable and don’t dictate our behaviours, which is in many ways a good thing. But too often we take this process too far and end up suppressing emotions,especially negative ones.that’s about as effective as brushing dirt under a carpet and can even make us ill.What we need to do is find a way to acknowledge and express what we feel appropriately,and then-again.like children-move.

42.______E_______

A couple of Christmases ago,my youngest stepdaughter,who was nine years old at the time ,got a Superman T-shirt for Christmas.It cost less than a fiver but she was overjoyed,and couldn’t stop talking about it.Too often we believe that a new job,bigger house or better car will be the magic silver bullet that will allow us to finally be content,but the reality is these things have very little lasting impact on our happiness levels.instead,being grateful for small things every day is a much better way to improve wellbeing.

43._________A_____________

Have you ever noticed how much children laugh?If we adults could indulge in a bit of silliness and giggling,we would reduce the stress hormones in our bodies increase good hormones like endorphins, improve blood flow to our hearts and even have a greater chance of fighting off enfection. All of which,of course,have a positive effect on happiness levels.

44.________B___________

The problem with being a grown up is that there’s an awful lot of serious stuff to deal with-work,mortgage payments,figuring out what to cook for dinner.But as adults we also have the luxury of being able to control our own diaries and it’s important that we schedule in time to enjoy the things we love.Those things might be social,sporting,creative or completely random(dancing around the living room,anyone?)—it doesn’t matter,so long as they’re enjoyable, and not likely to have negative side effects,such as drinking too much alcohol or going on a wild spending spree if you’re on a tight budget.

45.________D___________

Having said all of the above,it’s important to add that we shouldn’t try too hard to be happy.Scientists tell us this can backfire and actually have a negative impact on our wellbeing. As the Chinese philosopher Chuang Tzu is reported to have said:“Happiness is the absence of striving for happiness.”And in that,once more,we need to look to the example of our children,to whom happiness is not a goal but a natural by product of the way they live.

46. Directions:

Translate the following text into Chinese. Your translation should be written on the ANSWER SHEET. (15 points)

The supermarket is designed to lure customers into spending as much time as possible within its doors. The reason for this is simple:The longer you stay in the store, the more stuff you’ll see, and the more stuff you see, the more you’ll buy. And supermarkets contain a lot of stuff. The average supermarket, according to the Food Marketing Institute, carries some 44,00 different items, and many carry tens of thousands more. The sheer volume of available choice is enough to send shoppers into a state of information overload. According to brain-scan experiments, the demands of so much decision-making quickly become too much for us. After about 40 minutes of shopping, most people stop struggling to be rationally selective, and instead begin shopping emotionally – which is the point at which we accumulate the 50 percent of stuff in our cart that we never intended buying.