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A

We’ve all heard the question before – what do you want to be when you grow up? But among the thousands of jobs in the world, it can be difficult to decide which one is best. Never fear – the 26th annual ranking of 200 common jobs in the US is here for your reference.

Released by Careercast, a leading career website in the US, the list ranked 200 jobs from best to worst. It took into account not only pay and benefits but also working conditions, physical demands, the job’s outlook and stress, USA Today reported.

Based on those criteria, the best job in the US in 2014 is mathematician.

“Mathematicians have historically been thought of as academics (学者). But now, they do so much more,” Tony Lee, publisher of Careercast.com, told USA Today.

They work in a variety of sectors (领域), including energy, transportation and IT. They figure out if a decision makes sense for a company or organization, be it digging for oil or building a car.

Tenured (终身) university professor is No 2, and statistician (统计学家) comes in at No 3.

But what are the jobs that bring the most happiness to people in China, then? According to a survey done by Xiaokang periodical under Qiushi Magazine in 2012, civil servant is the best vocation in the eyes of Chinese people, followed by government official and teacher.

People with these jobs enjoy relatively more stable incomes, better family relationships and better health conditions, according to the report.

However, don’t be disappointed if your dream job doesn’t make the top 10 on either list.

The definition of the “best” job varies from person to person, depending on one’s needs, likes and dislikes, Careercast said. You won’t enjoy being a civil servant if you really have your heart set on a different career opportunity.

So how can we choose the job that is “best” for us?

Tian Song, a professor at Beijing Normal University, advises that we first think about what we are interested in. We can even take a test – for example, the Hollander Occupation Interest Test – to help us determine which field most interests us.

Second, we should seriously research the market demands and hiring outlooks of our dream jobs.

Talk to your parents and teachers, and watch TV or search online, to get information. Then, you should choose a university which is top in the field that you want to enter.

Making a career plan is also necessary. Without a clear career direction, or at least a few selected career options in place, students are likely to wander from major to major in universities. Having a firm career direction will help you keep yourself on track during tough times.

1. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A. To give advice on how to find a good job.

B. To inform us of the best jobs in the US and China.

C. To recommend some attractive jobs to readers.

D. To compare the differences in the definitions of best jobs in the US and China.

2. Which of the following statements might Tony Lee agree with?

A. Academics enjoy greater popularity in the US than in China.

B. Tenured university professor is becoming less popular than it used to be.

C. Mathematicians are now playing a more important role in a wider range of sectors than they used to.

D. The 26th annual ranking of jobs in the US was mainly based on how much money people can earn from their jobs.

3. The underlined word “vocation” in Paragraph 7 is closest in meaning to ______.

A. producer B. profession C. talent D. balance

4. What does the article advise that you do first in order to choose a job suitable for yourself?

A. To think carefully about what you are interested in.

B. To research the career outlook of your dream job.

C. To make a career plan while you are in college.

D. To choose a university that is top in your field of study.

B

Here is a task for you: try to make as many kinds of facial expressions as you can. How many can you come up with?

Facial expressions are like a window to your emotions inside. Scientists used to believe that we only have six basic emotions – happy, sad, fearful, angry, surprised and disgusted – and, therefore, each of our facial expressions falls into one of the six categories.

But it turns out that this is just the tip of the iceberg. In a recent study, scientists from Ohio State University, US, mapped 21 different facial expressions, more than tripling (是……的三倍) the original number, reported Science Daily.

Restricting emotions to just six categories is like “painting only using primary colors”, said Aleix Martinez, the lead researcher. He believed that human emotions are much richer than that, which is why he and his team decided to use advanced computer technology for further investigation.

In the experiment, scientists photographed 230 volunteers – 100 male and 130 female – while they made faces in response to different words such as “you smell a bad odor (气味)”. They then closely studied the images by examining key muscles on volunteers’ faces, such as the corners of the mouth or the outer edge of the eyebrow, and finally identified 21 different expressions. These included what seem to be contradictory (截然相反的) emotions such as “happily disgusted” and “sadly angry”, which scientists call “compound (混合的) emotions”.

Take “happily disgusted” as an example. Putting on a happy face is usually done by drawing up the cheeks and smiling while a disgusted face often involves a scrunched-up (皱起的) nose and eyes. So the “happily disgusted” emotion created an expression that combined the smile of happy with the scrunched-up eyes and nose of disgusted. It was the emotion test subjects felt when something “gross (恶心的)” happened that was also funny – for example, when people spill (洒出) a lot of food on their clothes.

Similarly, “happily surprised” is an expression for receiving unexpected good news. “Sadly angry” is the face we make when someone we care about makes us angry.

According to Martinez, the researchers’ next step is to study the pathways and chemicals in the brain that activate (激活) and recognize those emotions. He believes that this could lead to effective treatments for people who suffer from conditions such as Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD, 创伤后应激障碍), which involves a lack of recognition of other people’s emotions.

5. The underlined part “this is just the tip of the iceberg” in Paragraph 3 probably means ______.

A. this is a truth known to us all

B. this is the total amount of something

C. this is easily seen or discovered

D. this is only the smallest and most obvious part of something

6. How does the author explain the definition of “compound emotions” in the article?

A. With comparisons. B. Through examples.

C. Through cause and effect analysis. D. By presenting research findings.

7. According to the article, people are likely to become happily disgusted when ______.

A. they receive unexpected good news

B. someone they don’t care about makes them happy

C. something unpleasant but also funny happens

D. they successfully escape from a dangerous situation

8. What can we conclude from the article?

A. There are several contradictory emotions we tend to overlook.

B. Females have more contradictory emotions than males do.

C. The chemicals in the brain that activate emotions are easy to identify.

D. Martinez’s next goal is to find an effective cure for people who suffer from PTSD.

C

Today we eat on the go, at our desks and even in front of computers. We eat take-out, delivered and packaged meals. Why is that? It seems that we have adapted our foods to our fast-paced lives.

“Over the past three decades, people have started eating out more than ever before and purchasing more prepared foods at the grocery store (食品杂货店), which tend to contain more fat, salt and sugar than their homemade equivalents (对应物),” noted US healthy living website SparkPeople.

So, the Slow Food Movement has arisen to counteract this fast food trend. It encourages us to value the time we spend preparing, sharing and consuming (吃) food, as a recent USA Today article put it.

It all started in 1986 with the efforts of Slow Food’s founding father, Italian activist Carlo Petrini, who wanted to revitalize (使复兴) food varieties and flavors that had gone dark in the face of industrialization. At that time, he asked people to follow a more sustainable (可持续的) living model. Now, his ideas are almost completely mainstream (主流的).

Starting at the table, the movement promotes an unhurried way of life founded on the idea that everyone has a right to culinary (烹饪的) pleasure, but that everyone must also take responsibility to “protect the heritage of food, tradition and culture that make this celebration of the senses possible”, wrote The Phnom Penh Post.

“Slow food doesn’t necessarily mean food that takes a long time to cook. It means turning down the speed at which we eat and increasing the amount of time we spend dining together with other people,” Althea Zanecosky, spokeswoman for the American Dietetic Association, told The Huffington Post.

“It is a way to bring back the social togetherness of yesterday. Dinner table conversations keep families together,” noted the Belgian non-profit organization Greenfudge.

9. What is the author’s purpose in writing the article?

A. To advise readers to eat at home instead of outside.

B. To tell the story of Slow Food’s founding father.

C. To introduce the Slow Food Movement.

D. To analyze what led to the fast food trend.

10. The underlined word “counteract” in the third paragraph probably means ______.

A. make up for B. work against C. compete with D. catch up with

11. Why did Carlo Petrini start the Slow Food Movement?

A. He wanted to make people aware of the benefits of eating slowly.

B. He was worried about the negative effects of industrialization on food culture.

C. He thought people should value the time that families and friends spend dining together.

D. He believed the development of industry might help revitalize food varieties and flavors.

12. According to the article, which of the following would Althea Zanecosky be likely to agree with?

A. Generally, fast food is not as healthy and delicious as slow food.

B. We had better not have small talk when we’re eating dinner with other people.

C. It’s not only the food itself but also the time we spend dining together that matters.

D. The Slow Food Movement is based on the idea that we should spend as much time as possible on cooking.

D

Have you ever gotten a sunburn? If you have, you’ve already learned the hard way about the sun’s ultraviolet (紫外线的), or UV, light. It can burn your skin so bad that it turns it red or even makes it peel off. The pain helps you remember to wear sunscreen the next time.

Well, Earth has its own version of sunscreen, the ozone layer (臭氧层), which shades us all from the vast majority of the UV light released by the sun. Without it, we wouldn’t just get a sunburn. Life on Earth would go extinct due to the hugely damaging power of all those UV rays, according to Discovery News.

The ozone layer lies in Earth’s stratosphere, a part of the atmosphere that extends from about 10 kilometers up to nearly 50 kilometers above the ground. Despite its name, the ozone layer isn’t just ozone gas. It contains relatively higher concentrations (浓度) of ozone than the lower atmosphere, but that’s still a small amount compared to those of the main components (成分) of the atmosphere. Even so, it absorbs a lot of UV rays, preventing them from reaching the surface of Earth.

However, people weren’t fully aware of its importance until 1985, when a huge hole in the layer was found over Antarctica.

The evidence quickly pointed to a kind of chemical called chlorofluorocarbon, or CFC, which was widely used in refrigerators, air conditioners and hairsprays. CFCs are able to rise up to the stratosphere and cause reactions that destroy ozone. With a thinner ozone layer, people on Earth are more likely to develop skin cancer, cataracts (白内障) and other health problems due to too much UV light exposure.

As a result of this discovery, an international treaty (条约) called the Montreal Protocol was signed in 1987 to ban the manufacture (制造) of CFC products so that the ozone layer could slowly recover and return to its natural state by 2050.

However, at a time when it seemed that everything was going back to normal, earlier this month scientists detected (检测到) four new man-made gases in Greenland and Australia that could pose new risks to the ozone layer.

Scientists haven’t identified the source of the gases, but “this [finding] highlights that ozone depletion (损耗) is not yet yesterday’s story,” said Professor Piers Forster from the University of Leeds, UK, to BBC. Scientists believe that there are more such gases out there, and they still have much work to do to “tighten the loopholes (漏洞)”.

13. What is the article mainly about?

A. How the ozone layer protects Earth.

B. What we can do to protect the ozone layer.

C. Factors that do harm to the ozone layer.

D. The importance of protecting the ozone layer.

14. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the article?

A. The ozone layer contains nothing but relatively higher concentrations of the ozone gas.

B. The ozone layer can absorb most of the sun’s UV radiation and react with it to produce ozone gas.

C. Man-made chemicals such as CFCs can destroy the ozone in the ozone layer and cause an ozone hole.

D. New international treaties are now limiting the amount of ozone-damaging chemicals that can be released. 

15. What would happen if the ozone hole were getting larger according to the article?

A. More harmful UV radiation from the sun would be blocked.

B. It would raise people’s chances of having various health problems.

C. It would make the concentration of ozone increase in the Earth’s atmosphere.

D. Too much UV rays from the sun would affect the climate on the Earth.

16. What can we conclude from the last two paragraphs?

A. There is little we can do to prevent the ozone hole from being destroyed.

B. The Montreal Protocol will help the ozone layer return to normal in about 40 years.

C. The newly discovered man-made gases might cause the ozone layer to become even thinner.

D. Scientists have worked out how to protect the ozone layer against man-made gases.

E

Tevin Hudson was in no hurry to get behind the wheel of a car. In high school, he rode the bus and caught rides with friends or his mom.

Yet the 19-year-old is not so out of step with his peers. For a growing number of US teenagers, obtaining a driver’s license is more of a financial burden (负担) than a ticket to freedom. For Hudson, postponing his driving test was worth the wait.

In Central Florida, the number of licensed drivers aged 15 to 17 fell from 44,182 in 1995 to 38,749 in 2013, according to the Florida Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles.

That 12 percent drop emerged (出现) at a time when the overall (总的) population in several counties went up. Statewide, the number of teenage drivers fell by nearly 15 percent.

High gas prices and a slow recovery are likely two key reasons more teens are holding off now.

“It looks like teens just can’t afford to drive,” said Matt Moore, vice-president of the Highway Loss Data Institute. “Paying for their own cars, gas and insurance (保险) is hard if they can’t find a job.”

Some see those same financial forces combining with other shifts (改变) in youth culture, including the arrival of new ways to spend their limited funds (基金).

“Young folks would rather spend their money on an iPhone than a car,” said professor Bruce Stephenson at Rollins College. “It’s a lot cheaper not to have a car.”

Stephenson said the push for walkable communities, green transportation and the growing desire for urban (城市的) living could have teens tapping the brakes (刹车) on getting a license.

Another reason a car may matter less to the younger set is because teens can communicate easily with peers via social media.

“They have another way,” said Michele Harris, director of traffic safety culture at AAA Auto Club South in Tampa, Florida. “Before, you needed that car to be with your friends.”

17. What is the author’s main purpose in writing the article?

A. To introduce American driving culture.

B. To explain how US teenagers socialize with their friends.

C. To explore why driving is now less popular with US teenagers than it used to be.

D. To discuss the impact of social media on US teenagers.

18. The underlined phrase “holding off” in Paragraph 5 probably means ______.

A. expecting to have something B. trying to adapt to certain changes

C. making preparations for something

D. waiting to do something at a later time

19. Which is a main reason why US teenagers are driving less according to the article?

A. The widespread use of the Internet.

B. Economic factors, such as the price of fuel.

C. The increasing difficulty of getting a driver’s license.

D. Teenagers’ growing awareness of how to use green means of transport.

20. What can we conclude from the article?

A. In the past two decades, the number of US teen drivers has decreased by 12%.

B. American teenagers are less connected with each other than they used to be.

C. For an increasing number of US teenagers, a smartphone is more appealing than a car.

D. The decrease of the overall population in the US is one of the reasons the number of teenage drivers has dropped.

答案与详解

A

1. B。本文主要讲的是根据调查在中美两国最受欢迎的职业，所以答案为B。

2. C。由第四、五段可知Tony Lee认为相比过去数学家主要在学术领域从事工作，现在他们的就业领域相对广多了，所以C为正确答案。Tony Lee没有对比学术人员在中美两国中哪个更受欢迎，所以A不对；文中提到Tenured university professor是美国第二受欢迎的职业，所以B不对；由第二段可知该排名是基于很多因素考虑的，故D不对。

3. B。根据上文提到的“But what are the best jobs in China, then?”可以推知这里表示公务员被国人认为是最好的工作，所以此处vocation意为“职业，工作”，所以B为正确答案。

4. A。由倒数第四段的“Tian Song, a professor at Beijing Normal University, advises that we first think about what we are interested in.”可知A为正确答案。

B

5. D。第二段提到我们的情绪通常被归为六类，接下来作者笔锋一转，写道“但是结果证明这只是冰山一角”，结合上下文可知，D项正确地解释了划线部分的含义。

6. B。不难发现，作者主要是通过举例的手法来介绍compound emotions，一共举了三个例子：happily disgusted, happily surprised和Sadly angry，所以答案为B。

7. C。由倒数第三段的It was the emotion test subjects felt when something “gross” happened that was also funny可知C为正确答案。

8. A。Aleix Martinez的研究发现了不少的混合情绪，这是我们之前所忽略的，所以A为正确答案。B、C为中没有提及；Martinez的下一个任务是：study the pathways and chemicals in the brain that activate and recognize those emotions，所以D不对。

C

9. C。本文主要介绍了当今慢食运动的起源，以及它的核心内容，故答案为C。

10. B。因为快餐的流行，所以慢食运动兴起以抵制这一趋势，所以counteract在这里应该与work against近义，故答案为B。

11. B。由第四段的“It all started in 1986 with the efforts of Slow Food’s founding father, Italian activist Carlo Petrini, who wanted to revitalize food varieties and flavors that had gone dark in the face of industrialization.”可知B正确。

12. C。由倒数第二段的Althea Zanecosky所说的话可推知他认为慢食运动并不一定是要花很长时间去烹饪食物，更重要的是放慢吃饭的速度，享受和其他人一起吃饭的乐趣，所以C正确。

D

13. D。本文主要介绍了臭氧层的基本情况以及保护它的重要性，所以答案为D。

14. C。由第五段的“CFCs are able to rise up to the stratosphere and cause reactions that destroy ozone. With a thinner ozone layer ...”可知像CFC这样的化学物质在臭氧层中会起化学反应从而使臭氧层变薄，严重的还会导致臭氧洞，这也正是科学家们签订《蒙特利尔议定书》禁止制造含氟氯碳化物，以修复南极臭氧洞的原因，所以C为正确答案。文中只提到了臭氧层中臭氧浓度高，并没有提到它里面只有臭氧，所以A不对；B项中的react with it to produce ozone gas不对；文中提到了1987年签订的《蒙特利尔议定书》，对于新发现的人造气体，科学家们还没有商议好对策，也没有签订其他新的协议，所以D不对。

15. B。由第五段的“With a thinner ozone layer, people on Earth are more likely to develop skin cancer, cataracts and other health problems due to too much UV light exposure.”可知正确答案为B。

16. C。由第五段的“CFCs are able to rise up to the stratosphere and cause reactions that destroy ozone. With a thinner ozone layer ...”可以推知，新发现的这些人造气体也可能会有类似危害，所以C为正确答案。A明显不对；新发现的这些气体使得《蒙特利尔议定书》的计划无法按时实现，所以B不对；由最后一段可知科学家对于这些新发现的气体还没有找到解决办法，所以D不对。

E

17. C。本文主要报道的是美国青少年开车越来越少的原因，故选C。

18. D。本文主旨是美国青少年开车的人数减少，结合“For Hudson, postponing his driving test was worth the wait.” “Paying for their own cars, gas and insurance is hard if they can’t find a job.”等文字可以推知，等他们成人有足够的支付力后他们仍然可能会开车的，所以holding off在文中指的是“推迟干某事”，故选D。

19. B。由“High gas prices and a slow recovery are likely two key reasons more teens are holding off now.”以及“It looks like teens just can’t afford to drive”可以推知开车的经济负担是导致青少年开车人数减少的主要原因，故选B。

20. C。由倒数第四段的“Young folks would rather spend their money on an iPhone than a car”可以推知C为正确答案。