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Text 1
The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. “ Hooray! At last! ” wrote Anthony Tom- masini, a sober
sided classical-music critic.
One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert ‘ s appointmentthine Times , calls him “ an unpretentious musician with no air
of the formidable conductor about him. ” As a description of the next music director
of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise.
For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes.
Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. These recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today 's live performances; moreover , they can be “ consumed ” at a time and place of
the listener ' s choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus
brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert.
One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilbert ‘ s own interest in new music has
been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into diff“ereanmt,amrkoeredlyvibrant
organization. ” But what will be the nature of that difference Merely expanding the
orchestra ' s repertoire will not be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America oldest orchestra ‘ s
and the new audience it hopes to attract.
We learn from Paragraph 1 that Gilbert 's appointment has .
incurred criticism
raised suspicion.
received acclaim
aroused curiosity.
Tommasini regards Gilbert as an artist who is .
influential
modest
respectable
talented
The author believes that the devoted concertgoers .
ignore the expenses of live performances
reject most kinds of recorded performances
exaggerate the variety of live performances
overestimate the value of live performances
According to the text, which of the following is true of recordings ？
They are often inferior to live concerts in quality.
They are easily accessible to the general public.
They help improve the quality of music.
They have only covered masterpieces.
Regarding Gilbert ‘ s role in revitalizing the Philharmonic, the author feels .
doubtful
enthusiastic
confident
puzzled
Text 2
When Liam McGee departed as president of Bank of America in August, his explanation was surprisingly straight up. Rather than cloaking his exit in the usual vague excuses, he came right out and sai d he was leaving “ to pursue my goal of running a company. ” Broadcasting his ambition was “ very much my decision, ” McG
says. Within two weeks, he was talking for the first time with the board of Hartford Financial Services Group, which named him CEO and chairman on September 29.
McGee says leaving without a position lined up gave him time to reflect on what kind of company he wanted to run. It also sent a clear message to the outside world about his aspirations. And McGee isn ‘ t alone. In recenhtewNeoe.k2setxecutives at Avon and American Express quit with the explanation that they were looking for a CEO post. As boards scrutinize succession plans in response to shareholder pressure, executives who don ' t get the nod also may wish to move on. A turbulent business
environment also has senior managers cautious of letting vague pronouncements cloud their reputations.
As the first sig ns of recovery begi n to take hold, deputy chiefs may be more willi ng to make the jump without a n et. In the third quarter, CEO tur no ver was dow n 23% from a year ago as n ervous boards stuck with the leaders they had, accordi ng to Liberum Research. As the economy picks up, opport un ities will abo und for aspiri ng leaders.
The decisi on to quit a senior positi on to look for a better one is unconven ti on al.
For years executives and headh un ters have adhered to the rule that the most attractive CEO can didates are the ones who must be poached. Says Korn/Ferry senior part ner Dennis Carey: “I can ‘ t thi nk of a sin gle search I here a ' ve done w
board has not in structed me to look at sitti ng CEOs first. ”
Those who jumped without a job haven ' always Ianded in top positions quickly.
Elle n Marram quit as chief of Tropica na a decade ago, say ing she wan ted to be a CEO. It was a year before she became head of a tiny Internet-based commodities exchange. Robert Willumstad left Citigroup in 2005 with ambitions to be a CEO. He fin ally took that post at a major finan cial in stituti on three years later.
Many recruiters say the old disgrace is fading for top performers. The financial
TOC \o "1-5" \h \z crisis has made it more acceptable to be between jobs or to leave a bad one. “ T
traditi onal rule was it ' s safer to stay where you are, but that ' s bee n fun dame ntally
in verted, ” says one headh un ter. “ The peobtewhort theworst are those
who' ve stayed too long. ”
Whe n McGee announced his departure, his manner can best be described as
bei ng .
arroga nt
fra nk
self-ce ntered
impulsive
Accord ing to Paragraph 2, senior executives ' quitti ng may be spurred by
their expectation of better financial status
their n eed to reflect on their private life
their strained relations with the boards
their pursuit of new career goals
The word “ poachedine 3, Paragraph 4 ) most probably means
approved of
atte nded to
h un ted for
guarded agai nst
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that .
top performers used to cling to their posts
loyalty of top performers is getting out-dated
top performers care more about reputations
it 's safer to stick to the traditional rules
Which of the following is the best title for the text ？
CEOs: Where to Go
CEOs: All the Way Up
Top Managers Jump without a Net
The Only Way Out for Top Performers
Text 3
The rough guide to marketing success used to be that you got what you paid for.
No Ion ger. While tradit ional “ paid ” mesUah as^televisio n commercials and pr int advertiseme nts -still play a major role, compa nies today can exploit many alternative forms of media. Consumers passionate about a product may create
“earned ” media by willingly promoting it to friends, and a company may leverage “owned” media by sending -email alerts about products and sales to customers registered with its Web site. The way consumers now approach the process of making purchase decisions means that marketing 's impact satebmrosadfroramnge
of factors beyond conventional paid media.
Paid and owned media are controlled by marketers promoting their own products.
For earned media, such marketers act as the initiator for users ‘ responses. But in
some cases, one marketer 'esd omwendia become another marketer 'spaid media -
for instance, when an e-commerce retailer sells ad space on its Web site. We define such sold media as owned media whose traffic is so strong that other organizations place their content or e-commerce engines within that environment. This trend, which we believe is still in its infancy, effectively began with retailers and travel providers such as airlines and hotels and will no doubt go further. Johnson & Johnson, for example, has created BabyCenter, a stand-alone media property that promotes complementary and even competitive products. Besides generating income, the presence of other marketers makes the site seem objective, gives companies opportunities to learn valuable information about the appeal of other companies '
marketing, and may help expand user traffic for all companies concerned.
The same dramatic technological changes that have provided marketers with more(and more diverse )communications choices have also increased the risk that passionate consumers will voice their opinions in quicker, more visible, and much more damaging ways. Such hijacked media are the opposite of earned media: an asset or campaign becomes hostage to consumers, other stakeholders, or activists who make negative allegations about a brand or product. Members of social networks, for instance, are learning that they can hijack media to apply pressure on the businesses that originally created them.
If that happens, passionate consumers would try to persuade others to boycott products, putting the reputation of the target company at risk. In such a case, the company ‘ s response may not be sufficiently quick or thoughtful, and the learning curve has been steep. Toyota Motor, for example, alleviated some of the damage from its recall crisis earlier this year with a relatively quick and well-orchestrated social-media response campaign, which included efforts to engage with consumers directly on sites such as Twitter and the social-news site Digg.
Consumers may create “ earned ” media when they are .
obsessed with online shopping at certain Web sites
inspired by product-promoting e-mails sent to them
eager to help their friends promote quality products
enthusiastic about recommending their favorite products
According to Paragraph 2, sold media feature .
a safe business environment
random competition
strong user traffic
flexibility in organization
The author indicates in Paragraph 3 that earned media .
invite constant conflicts with passionate consumers
can be used to produce negative effects in marketing
may be responsible for fiercer competition.
deserve all the negative comments about them.
Toyota Motor ‘ s experience is cited as an example of .
responding effectively to hijacked media
persuading customers into boycotting products
cooperating with supportive consumers
taking advantage of hijacked media
Which of the following is the text mainly about
Alternatives to conventional paid media.
Conflict between hijacked and earned media.
Dominance of hijacked media.
Popularity of owned media.
Text 4
It ‘s no surprise that Jennifer Senior 's insightful, provocative magazine. cover story
“I love My Childre n, I Hate My Life, ” is arous ing mindtlchattjets people —
talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day- to-day experience of raising kids can be soul- crushingly hard, Senior writes that “the
very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight. ”
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about n ewly adoptive -and n ewly sin gle -mom San dra Bullock, as well as the usual
“Jennifer Aniston is pregnant ” news. Practically every week features at least one
celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten killing It doesn ‘t seem qru, itheefna,i to compare the regrets of parents to the
regrets of the childless. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn 't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like US Weekly
and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their (read: with round-“own”
the-clock help )is a piece of cake.
It 'shard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it 's interesting to wonder if the images we see every
week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren 'tin some small,
subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting “ the Rachel ” might make us
look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston.
Jennifer Senior suggests in her article that raising a child can bring .
temporary delight
enjoyment in progress
happiness in retrospect
lasting reward
We learn from Paragraph 2 that .
celebrity moms are a permanent source for gossip
single mothers with babies deserve greater attention
news about pregnant celebrities is entertaining
having children is highly valued by the public
38.It is suggested in Paragraph 3 that childless folks .
are constantly exposed to criticism
are largely ignored by the media
fail to fulfill their social responsibilities
are less likely to be satisfied with their life
39.According to Paragraph 4, the message conveyed by celebrity magazines is
soothing
ambiguous
compensatory
misleading
40.Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph ？
Having children contributes little to the glamour of celebrity moms.
Celebrity moms have influenced our attitude towards child rearing.
Having children intensifies our dissatisfaction with life.
We sometimes neglect the happiness from child rearing.
Text 5
Text 3
The US$3-million Fundamental Physics Prize is indeed an interesting experiment, as Alexander Polyakov said when he accepted this year in Ma'rchs. aAwnadridt is far from the only
one of its type. As a News Feature article in Nature discusses, a string of lucrative awards for researchers have joined the Nobel Prizes in recent years. Many, like the Fundamental Physics Prize, are funded from the telephone-number-sized bank accounts of Internet entrepreneurs. These benefactors have succeeded in their chosen fields, they say, and they want to use their wealth to draw attention to those who have succeeded in science.
What ' s not to like Quite a lot, according to a handful of scientists quoted in the News Feature. You cannot buy class, as the old saying goes, and these upstart entrepreneurs cannot buy their prizes the prestige of the Nobels. The new awards are an exercise in self-promotion for those behind them, say scientists. They could distort the achievement-based system of peer-review-led research. They could cement the status quo of peer-reviewed research. They do not fund peer- reviewed research. They perpetuate the myth of the lone genius.
The goals of the prize-givers seem as scattered as the criticism. Some want to shock, others to draw people into science, or to better reward those who have made their careers in research.
As Nature has pointed out before, there are some legitimate concerns about how science prizes -both new and old —are distributed. The Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, launched this year, takes an unrepresentative view of what the life sciences include. But the Nobel Foundation 's limit of three recipients per prize, eachof whom must still be living, has long been outgrown by the collaborative nature of modern research -as will be demonstrated by the inevitable row over who is ignored when it comes to acknowledging the discovery of the Higgs boson. The Nobels were, of course, themselves set up by a very rich individual who had decided what he wanted to do with his own money. Time, rather than intention, has given them legitimacy.
As much as some scientists may complain about the new awards, two things seem clear. First, most researchers would accept such a prize if they were offered one. Second, it is surely a good thing that the money and attention come to science rather than go elsewhere. It is fair to criticize and question the mechanism -that is the culture of research, after all -but it is the prize- givers money to do with as they please. It is wise to take such gifts with gratitude and grace.
The Fundamental Physics Prize is seen as
a symbol of the entrepreneurs . ' wealth
a possible replacement of the Nobel Prizes.
an example of bankers ' inve. stments
a handsome reward for researchers.
The critics think that the new awards will most benefit
the profit-oriented scientists.
the founders of the new awards.
the achievement-based system.
peer-review-led research.
The discovery of the Higgs boson is a typical case which involves
controversies over the recipients . ' status
the joint effort of modern researchers.
legitimate concerns over the new prizes.
the demonstration of research findings.
According to Paragraph 4, which of the following is true of the Nobels
Their endurance has done justice to them.
Their legitimacy has long been in dispute.
They are the most representative honor.
History has never cast doubt on them.
The author believes that the new awards are
acceptable despite the criticism.
harmful to the culture of research.
subject to undesirable changes.
unworthy of public attention.
Text 6
“ The Heartof the Matter, the” just-released report by the American Academy of Arts and Sciences (AAAS) ， deserves praise for affirming the importance of the humanities and social sciences to the prosperity and security of liberal democracy in America. Regrettably, however, the report 'faislure to address the true nature of the crisis facing liberal education may cause more harm than good.
In 2010, leading congressional Democrats and Republicans sent letters to the AAAS asking that it identify actions that could be taken by “ federal, state and localgovernments, universities, foundations, educators, individual benefactors and others”to “ maintainnational excellence in humanities and social scientific scholarship and education. In response, the Am”erican Academy formed the Commission on the Humanities and Social Sciences. Among the commission '51s members are top-tier-university presidents, scholars, lawyers, judges, and business executives, as well as prominent figures from diplomacy, filmmaking, music and journalism.
The goals identified in the report are generally admirable. Because representative government presupposes an informed citizenry, the report supports full literacy, stresses the study of history and government, particularly American history and American government; and encourages the use of new digital technologies. To encourage innovation and competition, the report calls for increased investment in research, the crafting of coherent curricula that improve students to solve problems and communicate effectively in the 21st century, increased funding for teachers and the encouragement of scholars to bring their learning to bear on the great challenges of the