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Directions: One foreign friend of yours has recently graduated from college and intends to find a job in China. Please write an email to him/her to make some suggestions.You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET.Do not use your own name in the email. Use “Li Ming” instead. (10 points)

World War II was the watershed event for higher education in modern western societies. (1) Those societies came out of the war with levels of enrollment that had been roughly constant at 3-5% of the relevant age groups during the decades before the war. But after the war, great social and political changes arising out of the successful war against Fascism created a growing demand in European and American economies for increasing numbers of graduates with more than a secondary school education. (2) And the demand that rose in those societies for entry to higher education extended to groups and social classes that had not thought of attending to a university before the war. These demands resulted in a very rapid expansion of the systems of higher education, beginning in the 1960s and developing very rapidly (though unevenly) in the 1970s and 1980s.The growth of higher education manifests itself in at least three quite different ways, and these in turn have given rise to different sets of problems. There was first the rate of growth: (3) in many countries of Western Europe the numbers of students in higher education doubled within five-year periods during the 1960s and doubled again in seven, eight, or 10 years by the middle of the 1970s. Second, growth obviously affected the absolute size both of systems and individual institutions. And third, growth was reflected in changes in the proportion of the relevant age group enrolled in institutions of higher education.Each of these manifestations of growth carried its own peculiar problems in its wake. For example, a high growth rate placed great strains on the existing structures of governance, of administration, and above all of socialization. When a faculty or department grows from, say, five to 20 members within three or four years, (4) and when the new staff are predominantly young men and women fresh from postgraduate study, they largely define the norms of academic life in that faculty. And if the postgraduate student population also grows rapidly and there is loss of a close apprenticeship relationship between faculty members and students, the student culture becomes the chief socializing force for new postgraduate students, with consequences for the intellectual and academic life of the institution—this was seen in America as well as in France, Italy, West Germany, and Japan. (5) High growth rates increased the chances for academic innovation; they also weakened the forms and processes by which teachers and students are admitted into a community of scholars during periods of stability or slow growth. In the 1960s and 1970s, European universities saw marked changes in their governance arrangements, with the empowerment of junior faculty and to some degree of students as well.

Directions: In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For questions 1–5, choose the most suitable one from the list A–G to fit into each of numbered blanks. There are two extra choices, which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)In the movies and on television, artificial intelligence (AI) is typically depicted as something sinister that will upend our way of life. When it comes to AI in business, we often hear about it in relation to automation and the impending loss of jobs, but in what ways is AI changing companies and the larger economy that don’t involve doom-and-gloom mass unemployment predictions?A recent survey of manufacturing and service industries from Tata Consultancy Services found that companies currently use AI more often in computer-to-computer activities than in automating human activities. Here are a few other ways AI is aiding companies without replacing employees:Better Hiring PracticesCompanies are using artificial intelligence to remove some of the unconscious bias from hiring decisions. “There are experiments that show that, naturally, the results of interviews are much more biased than what AI does,” says Pedro Domingos, author of The Master Algorithm: How the Quest for the Ultimate Learning Machine Will Remake Our World and a computer science professor at the University of Washington. In addition, “1. _______” One company that’s doing this is called Blendoor. It uses analytics to help identify where there may be bias in the hiring process.More Effective MarketingSome AI software can analyze and optimize marketing email subject lines to increase open rates. One company in the UK, Phrasee, claims their software can outperform humans by up to 10 percent when it comes to email open rates. This can mean millions more in revenue. 2. _ These are “tools that help people use data, not a replacement for people,” says Patrick H. Winston, a professor of artificial intelligence and computer science at MIT.Saving Customers MoneyEnergy companies can use AI to help customers reduce their electricity bills, saving them money while helping the environment. Companies can also optimize their own energy use and cut down on the cost of electricity. Insurance companies, meanwhile, can base their premiums on AI models that more accurately access risk. Domingos says, “3. _”Improved Accuracy“Machine learning often provides a more reliable form of statistics, which makes data more valuable,” says Winston. It “helps people make smarter decisions.” 4. _Protecting and Maintaining InfrastructureA number of companies, particularly in energy and transportation, use AI image processing technology to inspect infrastructure and prevent equipment failure or leaks before they happen. “If they fail first and then you fix them, it’s very expensive,” says Domingos. “5. _________”A. AI replaces the boring parts of your job. If you’re doing research, you can have AI go out and look for relevant sources and information that otherwise you just wouldn’t have time for.B. One accounting firm, EY, uses an AI system that helps review contracts during an audit. This process, along with employees reviewing the contracts, is faster and more accurate.C. There are also companies like Acquisio, which analyzes advertising performance across multiple channels like Adwords, Bing and social media and make adjustments or suggestions about where advertising funds will yield best results.D. You want to predict if something needs attention now and point to where it’s useful for employees to go to.E. Before, they might not insure the ones who felt like a high risk or charge them too much, or they would charge them too little and then it would cost the company money.F. We’re also giving our customers better channels versus picking up the phone to accomplish something beyond human scale.G. AI looks at résumés in greater numbers than humans would be able to, and selects the more promising candidates.

From the early days of broadband, advocates for consumers and web-based companies worried that the cable and phone companies selling broadband connections had the power and incentive to favor affiliated websites over their rivals’. That’s why there has been such a strong demand for rules that would prevent broadband providers from picking winners and losers online, preserving the freedom and innovation that have been the lifeblood of the internet.Yet that demand has been almost impossible to fill—in part because of pushback from broadband providers, anti-regulatory conservatives and the courts. A federal appeals court weighed in again Tuesday, but instead of providing a badly needed resolution, it only prolonged the fight. At issue before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit was the latest take of the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) on net neutrality, adopted on a party-line vote in 2017. The Republican-penned order not only eliminated the strict net neutrality rules the FCC had adopted when it had a Democratic majority in 2015, but rejected the commission’s authority to require broadband providers to do much of anything. The order also declared that state and local governments couldn’t regulate broadband providers either.The commission argued that other agencies would protect against anti-competitive behavior, such as a broadband-providing conglomerate like AT&T favoring its own video-streaming service at the expense of Netflix and Apple TV. Yet the FCC also ended the investigations of broadband providers that imposed data caps on their rivals’ streaming services but not their own.On Tuesday, the appeals court unanimously upheld the 2017 order deregulating broadband providers, citing a Supreme Court ruling from 2005 that upheld a similarly deregulatory move. But Judge Patricia Millett rightly argued in a concurring opinion that “the result is unhinged from the realities of modern broadband service,” and said Congress or the Supreme Court could intervene to “avoid trapping Internet regulation in technological anachronism.”In the meantime, the court threw out the FCC’s attempt to block all state rules on net neutrality, while preserving the commission’s power to preempt individual state laws that undermine its order. That means more battles like the one now going on between the Justice Department and California, which enacted a tough net neutrality law in the wake of the FCC’s abdication.The endless legal battles and back-and-forth at the FCC cry out for Congress to act. It needs to give the commission explicit authority once and for all to bar broadband providers from meddling in the traffic on their network and to create clear rules protecting openness and innovation online.1. There has long been concern that broadband providers would .2. Faced with the demand for net neutrality rules, the FCC .3. What can be learned about AT&T from Paragraph 3?4. Judge Patricia Millett argues that the appeals court’s decision .5. What does the author argue in the last paragraph?

As a historian who’s always searching for the text or the image that makes us re-evaluate the past, I’ve become preoccupied with looking for photographs that show our Victorian ancestors smiling (what better way to shatter the image of 19th-century prudery?). I’ve found quite a few, and—since I started posting them on Twitter—they have been causing quite a stir. People have been surprised to see evidence that Victorians had fun and could, and did, laugh. They are noting that the Victorians suddenly seem to become more human as the hundred-or-so years that separate us fade away through our common experience of laughter.Of course, I need to concede that my collection of “Smiling Victorians” makes up only a tiny percentage of the vast catalogue of photographic portraiture created between 1840 and 1900, the majority of which show sitters posing miserably and stiffly in front of painted backdrops, or staring absently into the middle distance. How do we explain this trend?During the 1840s and 1850s, in the early days of photography, exposure times were notoriously long: the daguerreotype photographic method (producing an image on a silvered copper plate) could take several minutes to complete, resulting in blurred images as sitters shifted position or adjusted their limbs. The thought of holding a fixed grin as the camera performed its magical duties was too much to contemplate, and so a non-committal blank stare became the norm.But exposure times were much quicker by the 1880s, and the introduction of the Box Brownie and other portable cameras meant that, though slow by today’s digital standards, the exposure was almost instantaneous. Spontaneous smiles were relatively easy to capture by the 1890s, so we must look elsewhere for an explanation of why Victorians still hesitated to smile.One explanation might be the loss of dignity displayed through a cheesy grin. “Nature gave us lips to conceal our teeth,” ran one popular Victorian saying, alluding to the fact that before the birth of proper dentistry, mouths were often in a shocking state of hygiene. A flashing set of healthy and clean, regular “pearly whites” was a rare sight in Victorian society, the preserve of the super-rich (and even then, dental hygiene was not guaranteed).A toothy grin (especially when there were gaps or blackened teeth) lacked class: drunks, tramps, and music hall performers might gurn and grin with a smile as wide as Lewis Carroll’s gum-exposing Cheshire Cat, but it was not a becoming look for properly bred persons. Even Mark Twain, a man who enjoyed a hearty laugh, said that when it came to photographic portraits there could be “nothing more damning than a silly, foolish smile fixed forever”.1. According to Paragraph 1, the author’s posts on Twitter .2. What does the author say about the Victorian portraits he has collected?3. What might have kept the Victorians from smiling for pictures in the 1890s?4. Mark Twain is quoted to show that the disapproval of smiles in pictures was .5. Which of the following questions does the text answer?

Last year marked the third year in a row of that Indonesia’s bleak rate of deforestation has slowed in pace. One reason for the turnaround may be the country’s antipoverty program.In 2007, Indonesia started phasing in a program that gives money to its poorest residents under certain conditions, such as requiring people to keep kids in school or get regular medical care. Called conditional cash transfers or CCTs, these social assistance programs are designed to reduce inequality and break the cycle of poverty. They’re already used in dozens of countries worldwide. In Indonesia, the program has provided enough food and medicine to substantially reduce severe growth problems among children.But CCT programs don’t generally consider effects on the environment. In fact, poverty alleviation and environmental protection are often viewed as conflicting goals, says Paul Ferraro, an economist at Johns Hopkins University.That’s because economic growth can be correlated with environmental degradation, while protecting the environment is sometimes correlated with greater poverty. However, those correlations don’t prove cause and effect. The only previous study analyzing causality, based on an area in Mexico that had instituted CCTs, supported the traditional view. There, as people got more money, some of them may have more cleared land for cattle to raise for meat, Ferraro says.Such programs do not have to negatively affect the environment, though. Ferraro wanted to see if Indonesia’s poverty-alleviation program was affecting deforestation. Indonesia has the third-largest area of tropical forest in the world and one of the highest deforestation rates.Ferraro analyzed satellite data showing annual forest loss from 2008 to 2012—including during Indonesia’s phase-in of the antipoverty program—in 7,468 forested villages across 15 provinces. “We see that the program is associated with a 30 percent reduction in deforestation,” Ferraro says.That’s likely because the rural poor are using the money as makeshift insurance policies against inclement weather, Ferraro says. Typically, if rains are delayed, people may clear land to plant more rice to supplement their harvests. With the CCTs, individuals instead can use the money to supplement their harvests.Whether this research translates elsewhere is anybody’s guess. Ferraro suggests the results may transfer to other parts of Asia, due to commonalities such as the importance of growing rice and market access. And regardless of transferability, the study shows that what’s good for people may also be good for the environment. Even if this program didn’t reduce poverty. Ferraro says, “the value of the avoided deforestation just for carbon dioxide emissions alone is more than the program costs.”1. According to the first two paragraphs, CCT programs aim to .2. The study based on an area in Mexico is cited to show that .3. In his study about Indonesia, Ferraro intends to find out .4. According to Ferraro, the CCT program in Indonesia is most valuable in that .5. What is the text centered on?

How can the train operators possibly justify yet another increase to rail passenger fares? It has become a grimly reliable annual ritual: every January the cost of travelling by train rises, imposing a significant extra burden on those who have no option but to use the rail network to get to work or otherwise. This year’s rise, an average of 2.7 percent, may be a fraction lower than last year’s, but it is still well above the official Consumer Price Index (CPI) measure of inflation.Successive governments have permitted such increases on the grounds that the cost of investing in and running the rail network should be borne by those who use it, rather than the general taxpayer. Why, the argument goes, should a car-driving pensioner from Lincolnshire have to subsidize the daily commute of a stockbroker from Surrey? Equally, there is a sense that the travails of commuters in the South East, many of whom will face among the biggest rises, have received too much attention compared to those who must endure the relatively poor infrastructure of the Midlands and the North.However, over the past 12 months, those commuters have also experienced some of the worst rail strikes in years. It is all very well train operators trumpeting the improvements they are making to the network, but passengers should be able to expect a basic level of service for the substantial sums they are now paying to travel. The responsibility for the latest wave of strikes rests on the unions. However, there is a strong case that those who have been worst affected by industrial action should receive compensation for the disruption they have suffered.The Government has pledged to change the law to introduce a minimum service requirement so that, even when strikes occur, services can continue to operate. This should form part of a wider package of measures to address the long-running problems on Britain’s railways. Yes, more investment is needed, but passengers will not be willing to pay more indefinitely if they must also endure cramped, unreliable services, interrupted by regular chaos when timetables are changed, or planned maintenance is managed incompetently. The threat of nationalization may have been seen off for now, but it will return with a vengeance if the justified anger of passengers is not addressed in short order.1. The author holds that this year’s increase in rail passenger fares .2. The stockbroker in Paragraph 2 is used to stand for .3. It is indicated in Paragraph 3 that train operators .4. If unable to calm down passengers, the railways may have to face .5. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

Fluid intelligence is the type of intelligence that has to do with short-term memory and the ability to think quickly, logically, and abstractly in order to solve new problems. It _1_ in young adulthood, levels out for a period of time, and then _2_ starts to slowly decline as we age. But _3_ aging is inevitable, scientists are finding that certain changes in brain function may not be.One study found that muscle loss and the _4_ of body fat around the abdomen are associated with a decline in fluid intelligence. This suggests the _5_ that lifestyle factors might help prevent or _6_ this type of decline.The researchers looked at data that _7_ measurements of lean muscle and abdominal fat from more than 4,000 middle-to-older-aged men and women and _8_ that data to reported changes in fluid intelligence over a six-year period. They found that middle-aged people _9_ higher measures of abdominal fat _10_ worse on measures of fluid intelligence as the years _11_.For women, the association may be _12_ to changes in immunity that resulted from excess abdominal fat; in men, the immune system did not appear to be _13_. It is hoped that future studies could _14_ these differences and perhaps lead to different _15_ for men and women._16_, there are steps you can _17_ to help reduce abdominal fat and maintain lean muscle mass as you age in order to protect both your physical and mental _18_. The two highly recommended lifestyle approaches are maintaining or increasing your _19_ of aerobic exercise and following a Mediterranean-style _20_ that is high in fiber and eliminates highly processed foods.

Directions: Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the picture below. In your essay, you should1) describe the picture briefly,2) explain its intended meaning, and3) give your comments.You should write neatly on the ANSWER SHEET. (20 points)

Directions: Write an email to a professor at a British university, inviting him/her to organize a team for the international innovation contest to be held at your university.You should write about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET.Do not use your own name in the email. Use “Li Ming” instead. (10 points)

Between 1807 and 1814 the Iberian Peninsula (comprising Spain and Portugal) was the scene of a titanic and merciless struggle. It took place on many different planes: between Napoleon’s French army and the angry inhabitants; between the British, ever keen to exacerbate the emperor’s difficulties, and the marshals sent from Paris to try to keep them in check; between new forces of science and meritocracy and old ones of conservatism and birth. (1) It was also, and this is unknown even to many people well read about the period, a battle between those who made codes and those who broke them.I first discovered the Napoleonic cryptographic battle a few years ago when I was reading Sir Charles Oman’s epic History of the Peninsular War. In volume V he had attached an appendix, The Scovell Ciphers. (2) It listed many documents in code that had been captured from the French army of Spain, and whose secrets had been revealed by the work of one George Scovell, an officer in British headquarters. Oman rated Scovell’s significance highly, but at the same time, the general nature of his History meant that (3) he could not analyze carefully what this obscure officer may or may not have contributed to that great struggle between nations or indeed tell us anything much about the man himself. I was keen to read more, but was surprised to find that Oman’s appendix, published in 1914, was the only considered thing that had been written about this secret war.I became convinced that this story was every bit as exciting and significant as that of Enigma and the breaking of German codes in the Second World War. The question was, could it be told?Studying Scovell’s papers at the Public Record Office, London, I found that he had left an extensive journal and copious notes about his work in the Peninsula. What was more, many original French dispatches had been preserved in this collection, which I realized was priceless. (4) There may have been many spies and intelligence officers during the Napoleonic Wars, but it is usually extremely difficult to find the material they actually provided or worked on.As I researched Scovell’s story I found far more of interest besides his intelligence work. His status in Lord Wellington’s headquarters and the recognition given to him for his work were all bound up with the class politics of the army at the time. His tale of self-improvement and hard work would make a fascinating biography in its own right, but represents something more than that. (5) Just as the code breaking has its wider relevance in the struggle for Spain, so his attempts to make his way up the promotion ladder speak volumes about British society.

Directions: In the following text, there are five people’s opinions about Emma Marris’ article “The Case Against Zoos”. For Questions 1-5, choose the best statement from the list A-G to summarize each numbered person’s opinion. There are two extra choices which do not fit in any of the blanks. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)1. Teri Byrd: _______I was a zoo and wildlife park employee for years. Both the wildlife park and zoo claimed to be operating for the benefit of the animals and for conservation purposes. This claim was false. Neither one of them actually participated in any contributions whose bottom line is much more important than the condition of the animals.Animals despise being captives in zoos. No matter how you enhance enclosures, they do not allow for freedom, a natural diet or adequate exercise. Animals end up stressed and unhealthy or dead. It’s past time for transparency with these institutions, and it’s past time to eliminate zoos from our culture.2. Karen R. Sime: _As a zoology professor, I agree with Emma Marris that zoo displays can be sad and cruel. But she underestimates the educational value of zoos.The zoology program at my university attracts students for whom zoo visits were the crucial formative experience that led them to major in biological sciences. These are mostly students who had no opportunity as children to travel to wilderness areas, wildlife refuges or national parks. Although good TV shows can help stir children’s interest in conservation, they cannot replace the excitement of a zoo visit as an intense, immersive and interactive experience. Surely there must be some middle ground that balances zoos treatment of animals with their educational potential.3. Greg Newberry: _Emma Marris’ article is an insult and a disservice to the thousands of passionate who work tirelessly to improve the lives of animals and protect our planet. She uses outdated research and decades-old examples to undermine the noble mission of organization committed to connecting children to a world beyond their own.Zoos are at the forefront of conservation and constantly evolving to improve how thy care for animals and protect each species in its natural habitat. Are there tragedies? Of course. But they are the exception not the norm that Ms. Marris implies. A distressed animal in a zoo will get as good or better treatment than most of us at our local hospital.4. Dean Gallea: _As a fellow environmentalist animal-protection advocate and longtime vegetarian, I could properly be in the same camp as Emma Marris on the issue of zoos. But I believe that well-run zoos and the heroic animals that suffer their captivity, do serve a higher purpose. Were it not for opportunities to observe these beautiful, wild creatures close to home many more people would be driven by their fascination to travel to wild areas to seek out, disturb and even hunt them down.Zoos are, in that sense, similar to natural history and archeology museums serving to satisfy our need for contact with these living creatures while leaving the vast majority undisturbed in their natural environments.5. John Fraser: _________Emma Marris selectively describes and misrepresents the findings of our research. Our studies focused on the impact of zoo experiences on how people think about themselves and nature, and the data points extracted from our studies do not, in any way discount what is learned in a zoo visit.Zoos are tools for thinking. Our research provides strong support for the value of zoos in connecting people with animals and with nature. Zoos provide a critical voice for conservation and environmental protection. They afford an opportunity for people from all backgrounds to encounter a range of animals, from drone bees to springbok or salmon, to better understand the natural world we live in.A. Zoos, which spare no effort to take of animals, should not be subjected to unfair criticism.B. To pressure zoos to spend less on their animals would lead to inhumane outcomes for the precious creatures in their care.C. While animals in captivity deserve sympathy, zoos play a significant role in starting young people down the path of related sciences.D. Zoos save people trips to wilderness areas and thus contribute to wildlife conservation.E. For wild animals that cannot be returned to their natural habitats, zoos offer the best alternative.F. Zoos should have been closed down as they prioritize money making over animals’ wellbeing.G. Marris distorts our findings which actually prove that zoos serve as an indispensable link between man and nature.

The personal grievance provisions of New Zealand’s Employment Relations Act 2000 (ERA) prevent an employer from firing an employee without good cause. Instead, dismissals must be justified. Employers must both show cause and act in a procedurally fair way.Personal grievance procedures were designed to guard the jobs of ordinary workers from “unjustified dismissals”. The premise was that the common law of contract lacked sufficient safeguards for workers against arbitrary conduct by management. Long gone are the days when a boss could simply give an employee contractual notice.But these provisions create difficulties for businesses when applied to highly paid managers and executives. As countless boards and business owners will attest, constraining firms from firing poorly performing, high-earning managers is a handbrake on boosting productivity and overall performance. The difference between C-grade and A-grade managers may very well be the difference between business success or failure. Between preserving the jobs of ordinary workers or losing them. Yet mediocrity is no longer enough to justify a dismissal.Consequently—and paradoxically—laws introduced to protect the jobs of ordinary workers may be placing those jobs at risk.If not placing jobs at risk, to the extent employment protection laws constrain business owners from dismissing under-performing managers, those laws act as a constraint on firm productivity and therefore on workers’ wages. Indeed, in “An International Perspective on New Zealand’s Productivity Paradox” (2014), the Productivity Commission singled out the low quality of managerial capabilities as a cause of the country’s poor productivity growth record.Nor are highly paid managers themselves immune from the harm caused by the ERA’s unjustified dismissal procedures. Because employment protection laws make it costlier to fire an employee, employers are more cautious about hiring new staff. This makes it harder for the marginal manager to gain employment. And firms pay staff less because firms carry the burden of the employment arrangement going wrong.Society also suffers from excessive employment protections. Stringent job dismissal regulations adversely affect productivity growth and hamper both prosperity and overall well-being.Across the Tasman Sea, Australia deals with the unjustified dismissal paradox by excluding employees earning above a specified “high-income threshold” from the protection of its unfair dismissal laws. In New Zealand, a 2016 private members’ Bill tried to permit firms and high-income employees to contract out of the unjustified dismissal regime. However, the mechanisms proposed were unwieldy and the Bill was voted down following the change in government later that year.1. The personal grievance provisions of the ERA are intended to .2. It can be learned from paragraph 3 that the provisions may .3. Which of the following measures would the Productivity Commission support?4. What might be an effect of ERA’s unjustified dismissal procedures?5. It can be inferred that the “high-income threshold” in Australia .

Enlightening, challenging, stimulating, fun. These were some of the words that Nature readers used to describe their experience of art-science collaborations in a series of articles on partnerships between artists and researchers. Nearly 40% of the roughly 350 people who responded to an accompanying poll said, they had collaborated with artists, and almost all said they would consider doing so in future.Such an encouraging results is not surprising. Scientists are increasingly seeking out visual artists to help them communicate their work to new audiences. “Artists help scientists reach a broader audience and make emotional connections that enhance learning.” One respondent said.One example of how artists and scientists have together rocked the scenes came last month when the Sydney Symphony Orchestra performed a reworked version of Antonio Vivaldi’s The Four Seasons. They reimagined the 300-year-old score by injecting the latest climate prediction data for each season—provided by Monash University’s Climate Change Communication Research Hub. The performance was a creative call to action ahead of November’s United Nations Climate Change Conference in Glasgow, UK.But a genuine partnership must be a two-way street. Fewer artists than scientists responded to the Nature poll, however, several respondents noted that artists do not simply assist scientists with their communication requirements. Nor should their work be considered only as an object of study. The alliances are most valuable when scientists and artists have a shared stake in a project, are able to jointly design it and can critique each other’s work. Such an approach can both prompt new research as well as result in powerful art.More than half a century ago, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) opened its Center for Advanced Visual Studies (CAVS) to explore the role of technology in culture. The founders deliberately focused their projects around light—hence the “visual studies” in the name. Light was a something that both artists and scientists had an interest in and therefore could form the basis of collaboration. As science and technology progressed, and divided into more sub-disciplines, the center was simultaneously looking to a time when leading researchers could also be artists, writers and poets, and vice versa.Nature’s poll findings suggest that this trend is as strong as ever, but, to make a collaboration work both sides need to invest time and embrace surprise and challenge. The reach of art-science tie-ups needs to go beyond the necessary purpose of research communication, and participants must not fall into the trap of stereotyping each other. Artists and scientists alike are immersed in discovery and invention, and challenge and critique are core to both, too.1. According to Paragraph 1, art-science collaborations have .2. The reworked version of The Four Seasons is mentioned to show that .3. Some artists seem to worry about in the art-science partnership .4. What does the author say about CAVS?5. In the last paragraph, the author holds that art-science collaborations .

As the latest crop of students pen their undergraduate application form and weigh up their options, it may be worth considering just how the point, purpose and value of a degree has changed and what Generation Z need to consider as they start the third stage of their educational journey.Millennials were told that if you did well in school, got a decent degree, you would be set up for life. But that promise has been found wanting. As degrees became universal, they became devalued. Education was no longer a secure route of social mobility. Today, 28 percent of graduates in the UK are in non-graduate roles, a percentage which is double the average among OECD countries.This is not to say that there is no point in getting a degree, but rather stress that a degree is not for everyone, that the switch from classroom to lecture hall is not an inevitable one and that other options are available.Thankfully, there are signs that this is already happening, with Generation Z seeking to learn from their millennial predecessors, even if parents and teachers tend to be still set in the degree mindset. Employers have long seen the advantages of hiring school leavers who often prove themselves to be more committed and loyal employees than graduates. Many too are seeing the advantages of scrapping a degree requirement for certain roles.For those for whom a degree is the desired route, consider that this may well be the first of many. In this age of generalists, it pays to have specific knowledge or skills. Postgraduates now earn 40 percent more than graduates. When more and more of us have a degree, it makes sense to have two.It is unlikely that Generation Z will be done with education at 18 or 21; they will need to be constantly up-skilling throughout their career to stay employable. It has been estimated that this generation, due to the pressures of technology, the wish for personal fulfillment and desire for diversity, will work for 17 different employers over the course of their working life and have five different careers. Education, and not just knowledge gained on campus, will be a core part of Generation Z’s career trajectory.Older generations often talk about their degree in the present and personal tense: “I am a geographer.” or “I am a classicist.” Their sons or daughters would never say such a thing; it’s as if they already know that their degree won’t define them in the same way.1. The author suggests that Generation Z should .2. The percentage of UK graduates in non-graduate roles reflect .3. The author considers it a good sign that .4. It is advised in Paragraph 5 that those with one degree should .5. What can be concluded about Generation Z from the last two paragraphs?

People often complain that plastics are too durable. Water bottles, shopping bags, and other trash litter the planet, from Mount Everest to the Mariana Trench, because plastics are everywhere and don’t break down easily. But some plastic materials change over time. They crack and frizzle. They “weep” out additives. They melt into sludge. All of which creates huge headaches for institutions, such as museums, trying to preserve culturally important objects. The variety of plastic objects at risk is dizzying: early radios, avant-garde sculptures, celluloid animation stills from Disney films, the first artificial heart.Certain artifacts are especially vulnerable because some pioneers in plastic art didn’t always know how to mix ingredients properly, says Thea van Oosten, a polymer chemist who, until retiring a few years ago, worked for decades at the Cultural Heritage Agency of the Netherlands (RCE). “It’s like baking a cake: If you don’t have exact amounts, it goes wrong.” she says. “The object you make is already a time bomb.”And sometimes, it’s not the artist’s fault. In the 1960s, the Italian artist Piero Gilardi began to create hundreds of bright, colorful foam pieces. Those pieces included small beds of roses and other items as well as a few dozen “nature carpets”—large rectangles decorated with foam pumpkins, cabbages, and watermelons. He wanted viewers to walk around on the carpets—which meant they had to be durable.Unfortunately, the polyurethane foam he used is inherently unstable. It’s especially vulnerable to light damage, and by the mid-1990s, Gilardi’s pumpkins, roses, and other figures were splitting and crumbling. Museums locked some of them away in the dark.So van Oosten and her colleagues worked to preserve Gilardi’s sculptures. They infused some with stabilizing and consolidating chemicals. Van Oosten calls those chemicals “sunscreens” because their goal was to prevent further light damage and rebuild worn polymer fibers. She is proud that several sculptures have even gone on display again, albeit sometimes beneath protective cases.Despite success stories like van Oosten’s, preservation of plastics will likely get harder. Old objects continue to deteriorate. Worse, biodegradable plastics designed to disintegrate, are increasingly common.And more is at stake here than individual objects. Joana Lia Ferreira, an assistant professor of conservation and restoration at the NOVA School of Science and Technology, notes that archaeologists first defined the great material ages of human history—Stone Age, Iron Age, and so on—after examining artifacts in museums. We now live in an age of plastic, she says, “and what we decide to collect today, what we decide to preserve… will have a strong impact on how in the future we’ll be seen.” 1. According to Paragraph 1, museums are faced with difficulties in .2. Van Oosten believes that certain plastic objects are .3. Museums stopped exhibiting some of Gilardi’s artworks to .4. The author thinks that preservation of plastics is .5. In Ferreira’s opinion, preservation of plastic artifacts .

The idea that plants have some degree of consciousness first took root in the early 2000s; the term “plant neurobiology” was _1_ around the notion that some aspects of plant behavior could be _2_ to intelligence in animals. _3_ plants lack brains, the firing of electrical signals in their stems and leaves nonetheless triggered responses that _4_ consciousness, researchers previously reported.But such an idea is untrue, according to a new opinion article. Plant biology is complex and fascinating, but it _5_ so greatly from that of animals that so-called _6_ of plants’ intelligence is inconclusive, the authors wrote.Beginning in 2006, some scientists have _7_ that plants possess neuron-like cells that interact with hormones and neurotransmitters, _8_ “a plant nervous system, _9_ to that in animals,” said lead study author Lincoln Taiz, “They _10_ claimed that plants have ‘brain-like command centers’ at their root tips.”This _11_ makes sense if you simplify the workings of a complex brain, _12_ it to an array of electrical pulses; cells in plants also communicate through electrical signals. _13_, the signaling in a plant is only _14_ similar to the firing in a complex animal brain, which is more than “a mass of cells that communicate by electricity,” Taiz said.“For consciousness to evolve, a brain with a threshold _15_ of complexity and capacity is required,” he _16_. “Since plants don’t have nervous systems, the _17_ that they have consciousness are effectively zero.”And what’s so great about consciousness, anyway? Plants can’t run away from _18_, so investing energy in a body system which _19_ a threat and can feel pain would be a very _20_ evolutionary strategy, according to the article.

Directions: Write an essay of 160-200 words based on the picture below. In your essay, you should1) describe the picture briefly,2) interpret the implied meaning, and3) give your comments.You should write neatly on the ANSWER SHEET. (20 points)

Directions: Write a notice to recruit a student for Professor Smith’s research project on campus sports activities.Specify the duties and requirements of the job.You should write your answer in about 100 words on the ANSWER SHEET.Do not use your own name in the notice; use “Li Ming” instead. (10 points)

There has been some exploration around the use of AI in digital marketing. For example, AI can be used to analyze what type of advertising content or copy would be appropriate to “speak” to a specific target customer group by revealing information about trends and preferences through the analysis of big data. (1) AI can also be used to identify the lifestyles choices of customers regarding their hobbies, favorite celebrities, and fashions to provide unique content in marketing messages put out through social media. At the same time, AI can also be used to generate content for social media posts and chat sites. AI can also provide a bridge between the need of the brand to communicate emotionally with the customer and identifying their rapidly changing needs. The main disadvantage of using AI to respond to customers is that there are concerns about trusting personal interactions to machines, which could lead not only to the subsequent loss of interpersonal connections, but also to a decrease in marketing personnel. (2) Some believe that AI is negatively impacting on the marketer’s role by reducing creativity and removing jobs, but they are aware that it is a way of reducing costs and creating new information. By allowing AI to develop content some brand, marketers may find that they are losing control over the brand narrative. (3) Algorithms used to simulate human interactions are creating many of those concerns, especially as no one is quite sure what the outcomes of using AI to interact with customers will be.For AI to be successful, data needs to be accessible, but the use of personal data is becoming more regulated and the automated sharing of data is becoming more difficult. (4) If customers are not willing to share data, AI will be starved of essential information and will not be able to function effectively or employ machine learning to improve its marketing content and communication. Therefore, unless customers are prepared to sign release agreements. The use of AI may become somewhat restricted in the future. Not only can AI help to create the marketing content, but it can also provide a non-intrusive way of delivering the content to the target customers. Data can be gathered on where the customer can be engaged, such as location, devices used, website interactions, and sites visited, to display marketing messages in appropriate forms, including emails, social media posts, pop-up advertisements, and banners at an appropriate frequency. (5) The non-intrusive delivery of the marketing message in a way that is sensitive to the needs of target customers is one of the critical challenges to the digital marketer.

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