Part I Writing

　　Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a composition on the topic: Graduate School or Work? You should write at least 120 words following the instructions given below in Chinese:

　　目前，越来越多的大学生本科毕业之后选择继续进入研究生院学习。一个重要的原因是工作不太好找。那么你打算在大学毕业之后选择找工作还是准备继续上研究生呢?请就这个问题谈谈你的打算和主要原因。

　　Part II Reading Comprehension (Skimming and Scanning)

　　Directions: In this part, you will have 15 minutes to go over the passage quickly and answer the questions on Answer sheet1.

　　Why We Laugh

　　We start finding things laughable — or not laughable — early in life. An infant first smiles at approximately eight days of age. Many psychologists assume this is his first sign of simple pleasure— food, warmth and comfort. At six months or less, the infant laughs to express complex pleasures—such as the light of Mother's smiling face. Between the ages of six months and one year, the baby learns to laugh for essentially the same reasons he will laugh throughout his life, says Dr. Jacob Levine, associate professor of psychology at Yale University. Dr. Levine says that people laugh to express mastery over an anxiety. Picture what happens when a father throws his child into the air. The child will probably laugh—but not the first time. In spite of his enjoyment of "flying", he is too anxious to laugh. How does he know Daddy will catch him? Once the child realizes he will be caught, he is free to enjoy the game. But more importantly, says Dr. Levine, the child laughs because he has mastered an anxiety.

　　Adult laughter is more subtle, but we also laugh at what we used to fear. The feeling of achievement, or lack of it, remains a crucial factor. Giving a first dinner party is an anxious event for a new bride. Will the food be good? Will the guests get along? Will she be a good hostess? Will the knives and forks, cups and saucers be all right? All goes well; the party is over. Now she laughs freely. Her pleasure from having proved her success is the foundation for her pleasure in recalling the evening activities. She couldn't enjoy the second pleasure without the first, more important one—her mastery of anxiety.

　　Laughter is a social response triggered by cues. Scientists have not determined a brain center for laughter, and they are perplexed by patients with certain types of brain damage who go into laughing fits for no apparent reason. The rest of us require company, and a reason to laugh.

　　When we find ourselves alone in a humorous situation, our usual response is to smile. Isn't it hue that our highest compliment to a humorous book is to say that "it made me laugh out of loud"? Of course, we do occasionally laugh alone; but when we do, we are, in a sense, socializing with ourselves. We laugh at a memory, or at a part of ourselves.

　　Of course, we don't always need a joke to make us laugh. People who survive frightening situations, such as a fire or an emergency plane landing, frequently relate their story of the crisis with laughter. Part of the laughter express relief that everything is now all right. During a crisis, definitely, everyone mobilizes energy to deal with the potential problem. If the danger is avoided, we need to release that energy. Some people cry; others laugh.

　　When we are made the target of a joke, either on a personal or impersonal level, we are emotionally involved in it. Consequently, we won't be able to laugh.

　　Knowing that laughter blunts emotion, we can better understand why we sometimes laugh when nothing is funny. We laugh during moments of anxiety because we feel no mastery over the situation, claims Dr. Levine. He explains, "very often compulsive laughter is a learned response. If we laugh, it expresses good feelings and the fact that we are able to cope. When we're in a situation in which we can't cope, we laugh to reassure ourselves that we can!"

　　How often have we laughed at a funeral or upon hearing bad news? We laugh to deny an unendurable reality until we are strong enough to accept it. Laughter also breaks our tension. However, we may also be laughing to express relief that the tragedy didn't happen to us. We laugh before giving a big party, before delivering a speech, or while getting a traffic ticket, to say, "This isn't bothering me. See? I am laughing."

　　But if we sometimes laugh in sorrow, more often we laugh with joy. Laughter creates and strengthens our social

　　bonds. And the ability to share a laugh has guided many marriages through hard periods of adjustment.

　　How could we manage a life with the absence of laugh? According to Dr. Levine, we can measure our adjustment to the world by our capacity to laugh. When we are secure about our abilities, we can laugh at the defects of our own character. If we can laugh through our anxieties, we will not be overpowered by them.

　　The ability to laugh starts early, but it takes a lifetime to perfect. Says Dr. Grotjahn, "when social relationships are mastered, when the individual has mastered...a peaceful relationship with himself, then he has...the sense of humor." And then he can throw back his head and laugh. Both infants and adults laugh for the same reasons.

　　1. Giving your first dinner party is a source of laughter.

　　2. The cues that trigger laughter have been studied by scientists. 3. Ordinary people laugh a lot when they are alone.

　　4. If you escape from a dangerous situation you might cry.

　　5. When someone makes a joke about us we are able to share to joke. 6. Funerals are a good source of jokes.

　　7. It takes a lifetime to perfect the ability to laugh.

　　8. Laughter is a defense mechanism when reality is too hard or if we hear______.

　　9. A child of one and an old man laugh to show their______ of anxiety.

　　10. Laughter is a social glue that______ our relations.

　　Part IV Reading Comprehension (Reading in Depth)

　　Section A

　　Directions: In this section, there is a passage with ten blanks. You are required to select one word for each blank from a list of choices given in a word bank following the passage. Read the passage through carefully before making your choices. Each choice in the bank is identified by a letter. Please mark the corresponding letter for each item on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre. You may not use any of the words in the bank more than once.

　　Andrew Carnegie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States. And in this process, he became one of the (47) men in America. His success resulted in part from his ability to sell the product and in part from his policy of (48) during periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their (49) .

　　Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their (50) for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, (51) instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to (52) themselves.

　　Among his more (53) contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is (54) part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthropic gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to (55) understanding between nations, and the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research.

　　There are (56) Americans who have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie's generosity. His contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today.

　　A) preferring

　　B) presently

　　C) wealthiest

　　D) previously

　　E) few

　　F) investments

　　G) fortune

　　H) expanding

　　I) noteworthy

　　J) promote

　　K) help

　　L) shrinking

　　M) opting

　　N) obstruct

　　O) many