¡¡¡¡You are going to read a list of headings and a text about views on environmental and resource problems.Choose the most suitable heading from the list A¡ªF for each numbered paragraph(41¡«45).The first and last paragraphs of the text are not numbered.There is one extra heading which you do not need to use.Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.(10 points)£ÛA£Ý A bad thing may bring about a good result.

¡¡¡¡£ÛB£Ý Pollution and poverty are leading us to destruction.

¡¡¡¡£ÛC£Ý The worries of humanists are unfounded.

¡¡¡¡£ÛD£Ý God helps those who help themselves.

¡¡¡¡£ÛE£Ý Is our planet getting less habitable than it used to be?

¡¡¡¡£ÛF£Ý The view on resource crisis deviates from facts.A great many articles and books discussing environmental and resource problems begin with the proposition that there is an environmental and resource crisis.If this means that the situation of humanity is worse now than in the past,then the idea of a crisis¡ªand all that follows from it¡ªis dead wrong.In almost every respect important to humanity,the trends have been improving,not deteriorating.41.

¡¡¡¡Our world now supports 6 billion people.In the nineteenth century,the earth could sustain only 1 billion.And 10,000 years ago,only 1million people could keep themselves alive.People are now living more healthily than ever before.42.

¡¡¡¡One would expect lovers of humanity¡ªpeople who hate war and worry about famine in Africa¡ªto jump with joy at this extraordinary triumph of the human mind and human organization over the raw forces of nature.Instead,they lament (feel sorrow for) that there are so many human beings,and wring their hands about the problems that more people inevitably bring,and the problem that resources will be further diminished.43.

¡¡¡¡It is amazing but true that a resource shortage resulting from population or income growth usually leaves us better off than if the shortage had never arisen.If firewood had not become scarce in seventeenthª²century England,coal would not have been developed.If coal and whale oil shortages hadn¬ðt loomed,oil wells would not have been dug.44.

¡¡¡¡The prices of food,metals,and other raw materials have been declining by every measure since the beginning of the nineteenth century,and as far back as we know;that is,raw materials have been getting less scarce throughout history,defying the commonª²sense notion that if one begins with an inventory of a resource and uses some up,there will be less left.This is despite,and indirectly because of,increasing population.We don¬ðt say that all is well everywhere,and we don¬ðt predict that all will be rosy in the future.Children are hungry and sick;people live out lives of physical or intellectual poverty and lack of opportunity;war or some other pollution may do us in.45.

¡¡¡¡Also,we do not say that a better future happens automatically or without effort.It will happen because men and women¡ªsometimes as individuals,sometimes as enterprises working for profit,sometimes as voluntary nonprofit groups,and sometimes as governmental agencies¡ªwill address problems with muscle and mind,and will probably overcome,as has been usual through history.

¡¡¡¡We are confident that the nature of the physical world permits continued improvement in humankind¬ðs economic lot in the long run,indefinitely.Of course,there are always newly arising local problems,shortages,and pollution,resulting from climate or increased population and income and new technologies.Sometimes temporary largeª²scale problems arise.But the world¬ðs physical conditions and the resilience(power of recovering quickly)of a wellª²functioning economic and social system enable us to overcome such problems,and the solutions usually leave us better off than if the problem had never arisen.That is the great lesson to be learned from human history.Part C

¡¡¡¡Directions:

¡¡¡¡Read the following text carefully and then translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation must be written neatly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)Disposing of computers, monitors, printers and mobile phones is a large and growing environmental problem. Some 20m-50m tons of ¡°eª²waste¡± is produced each year, most of which ends up in the developing world. In July 2006 new rules came into force in both Europe and California to oblige the industry to take responsibility for it. 46) In Europe the Restriction of Hazardous Substances(RoHS) directive limits the use of many toxic materials in new electronic products sold in the European Union, whereas in California mobileª²phone retailers must now take back and recycle old phones.

¡¡¡¡Many technology firms are already eliminating certain chemicals and offering recycling schemes to help their customers dispose of obsolete equipment. 47) Yet there is a wide variation in just how green different companies are, according to Greenpeace, an environmental lobby group that launched a new eª²waste campaign in August 2006. It has ranked the top mobileª²phone and PCª²makers based on their progress in eliminaling chemicals and in taking back and recycling products.

¡¡¡¡The RoHS rules ban products containing any more than trace amounts of lead, mercury, cadmium and other hazardous substances, including some nasty materials called brominated flameª²retardants(BFRs). 48) To do well in Greenpeace¬ðs rankings, firms must make sure both products and production processes are free of polyvinyl chloride(PVC) and some BFRs that are not on the RoHS list. Greenpeace also wants companies to adopt a ¡°precautionary principle¡± and avoid chemicals if their environmental impact is uncertain.

¡¡¡¡Although not everyone agrees with Greenpeace¬ðs methodology, its ranking still has some merit. Nokia does well: the world¬ðs biggest handsetª²maker has already got rid of PVC from its products and will eliminate all BFRs from next year. But, Greenpeace grumbles, it is not sufficiently ¡°precautionary¡± in other areas. 49) Dell, however, scores well in this regard and on recycling, but loses marks for not having phased out PVC and BFRs yet, though it has set a deadline for doing so.

¡¡¡¡Perhaps the biggest surprise is the poor rating of Apple. The company insists that it has a strong record in recycling and has eliminated BFRs and PVC from the main plastic parts in its products. 50) It scores badly because it has not eliminated such chemicals altogether, has not set time limits for doing so, does not provide a full list of regulated substances and is insufficiently precautionary for Greenpeace¬ðs tastes. As for recycling, the 9,500 tons of electronics Apple says it has recycled since 1994 is slight given the amount of equipment the firm sells, says Greenpeace. Alas for Apple, whatever the pros and cons(advantages and disadvantages) of Greenpeace¬ðs ranking criteria, consumers are likely to be influenced by it anyway.

¡¡¡¡Section ¢ó Writing

¡¡¡¡Part A

¡¡¡¡51. Directions:

¡¡¡¡Write a letter to the Economics School of a famous university, asking for the details about the entrance test for MA.

¡¡¡¡You should write about 100 words on ANSWER SHEET 2. Do not sign your own name at the end of the letter. Use ¡°Li Ming¡± instead.

¡¡¡¡Do not write the address.(10 points)

¡¡¡¡Part B

¡¡¡¡52. Directions:

¡¡¡¡Write an essay of 160~200 words based on the following picture. In your essay, you should

¡¡¡¡1) describe the picture briefly,

¡¡¡¡2) explain its intended meaning, and then

¡¡¡¡3) make your comments and suggestions.