2018年全国硕士研究生入学统一考试英语（二）试题

Section I Use of English
Directions：
Read the following text. Choose the best word (s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.(10 points)

Why do people read negative Internet comments and do other things that will obviously be painful? Because humans have an inherent need to 1 uncertainty, according to a recent study in Psychological Science. The new research reveals that the need to know is so strong that people will 2 to satisfy their curiosity even when it is clear the answer will 3 .

In a series of four experiments, behavioral scientists at the University of Chicago and the Wisconsin School of Business tested students' willingness to 4 themselves to unpleasant stimuli in an effort to satisfy curiosity. For one 5 each participant was shown a pile of pens that the researcher claimed were from a previous experiment. The twist?Half of the pens would 6 an electric shock when clicked.

Twenty-seven students were told which pens were electrified; another twenty-seven were told only that some were electrified 7 left alone in the room, the students who did not know which ones would shock them clicked more pens and incurred more shocks than the students who knew what would 8 . Subsequent experiments reproduced this effect with other stimuli, 9 the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard and photographs of disgusting insects.
The drive to 10 is deeply rooted in humans, much the same as the basic drives for 11 or shelter, says Christopher Hsee of the University of Chicago. Curiosity is often considered a good instinct-it can 12 new scientific advances, for instance-but sometimes such 13 can backfire. The insight that curiosity can drive you to do 14 things is a profound one. Unhealthy curiosity is possible to 15 , however. In a final experiment, participants who were encouraged to 16 how they would feel after viewing an unpleasant picture were less likely to 17 to see such an image. These results suggest that imagining the 18 of following through on one's curiosity ahead of time can help determine 19 it is worth the endeavor. Thinking about long-term 20 is key to reducing the possible negative effects of curiosity." Hsee says. In other words, don't read online comments.

1. A. resolve B. protect C. discuss D. ignore
2. A. refuse B. wait C. seek D. regret
3. A. riseB. lastC. misleadD. hurt
4. A. alert B. tie C. expose D. treat
5. A. messageB. trialC. reviewD. concept
6. A. remove B. weakenC. deliverD. interrupt
7. A. Unless B. If C. ThoughD. When
8. A. happenB. continueC. disappearD. change
9. A. rather thanB. such asC. regardless ofD. owing to
10. A. disagreeB. forgiveC. forgetD. discover
11. A. payB. marriageC. foodD. schooling
12. A. begin withB. rest onC. learn fromD. lead to
13.A. withdrawal B. inquiryC. persistenceD. diligence
14.A. self-destructiveB. self-reliantC. self-evidentD. self-deceptive
15.A. resistB. defineC. replaceD. trace
16.A. predictB. overlookC. designD. conceal
17. A. rememberB. chooseC. promiseD. pretend
18. A. reliefB. planC. outcomeD. duty
19.A. whetherB. whyC. whereD. how
20. A. limitationsB. investmentsC. strategiesD. consequences

答案及解析：
1. A. resolve
resolve 解决 protect 保护 discuss 讨论 ignore忽视
联系上下文“the need to know”，显然是人类有解决未知(resolve uncertainty)的内在需要。
2. C. seek
seek to do sth 争取/设法去做某事 “人们会设法满足自己的好奇心”
3. D. hurt
hurt vi 有坏处，带来痛苦“即使显然答案会令人受伤”
4. C. expose
expose sb/oneself to sth 使某人/自己暴露在……
5. B. message
message 信息 trial实验 review评论，复习 concept 概念
Trial与前面experiment对应，后面也是行为实验中的具体内容。
6. C. deliver
remove 消除 weaken 削弱 deliver 传递 interrupt 打断
动词辨析 deliver an electric shock 传递一阵电击
7. D. When
Unless 除非 If 如果 Though 尽管 When当……时候
8. A. happen
happen 发生 continue 持续 disappear 消失 change 改变
“students who knew what would happen”与前文“students who did not know……”照应
9. B. such as
rather than 而不是 such as 例如 regardless of 不管，不顾 owing to 因为
考察语义逻辑 后面明显是other stimuli的举例。
10. D. discover
disagree 不同意 forgive 原谅 forget 遗忘 discover 发现
“人类内心根植着发现的欲望”
11. C. food
pay 支付 marriage 婚姻 food 事物 schooling上学
food and shelter 为常见搭配，吃住是人类最基本的欲望。
12. D. lead to
begin with 以…为开始 rest on 依靠，被搁在 learn from 从…上学习 lead to 引起，导致
13. B. inquiry
withdrawal 撤出 inquiry 探究，调查 persistence坚持，毅力 diligence勤奋，努力
14. B. self-reliant
self-destructive 自我毁灭的 self-reliant 自力更生的
self-evident 不言而喻的 self-deceptive 自欺的
15. A. resist
resist 抵制,忍住 define 定义 replace 代替 trace 追踪
根据however转折，上文说好奇心有时会招致毁灭性后果，此处应该说 “然而，不良的好奇心是可以忍住的”
16. A. predict
predict 预测 overlook 忽视 design 设计 conceal 隐藏
动词辨析题“实验鼓励参与者预测行为后果”
17. B. choose
remember 记住 choose 选择 promise 承诺 pretend 假装
考察语义逻辑和动词辨析“有所预测的参与者不太可能选择再看那些图”
18. C. outcome
名词辨析：relief 救济，减轻 plan 计划 outcome 结果 duty 职责
19. A. whether
Whether 是否
考察语义逻辑关系 “提前想象后果从而决定是否值得做”
20. D. consequences
limitations 局限 investments 投资 strategies 策略 consequences 后果
名词辨析“思考长期后果是减少好奇心不利影响的关键”，与前文predict the outcome照应

Section Ⅱ Reading Comprehension
Part A:
Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET I. (40 points)

Text 1
It is curious that Stephen Koziatek feels almost as though he has to justify his efforts to give his students a better future.

Mr. Koziatek is part of something pioneering. He is a teacher at a New Hampshire high school where learning is not something of books and tests and mechanical memorization, but practical. When did it become accepted wisdom that students should be able to name the 13th president of the United States but be utterly overwhelmed by a broken bike chain?
As Koziatek knows, there is learning in just about everything. Nothing is necessarily gained by forcing students to learn geometry at a graffitied desk stuck with generations of discarded chewing gum. They can also learn geometry by assembling a bicycle.

But he’s also found a kind of insidious prejudice. Working with your hands is seen as almost a mark of inferiority. Schools in the family of vocational education “have that stereotype..that it’s for kids who can’t make it academically,” he says.

On one hand, that viewpoint is a logical product of America’s evolution. Manufacturing is not the economic engine that it once was. The job security that the US economy once offered to high school graduates has largely evaporated. More education is the new principle. We want more for our kids, and rightfully so.

But the headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all -and the subtle devaluing of anything less-misses an important point: That’s not the only thing the American economy needs. Yes, a bachelor’s degree opens more doors. But even now, 54 percent of the jobs in the country are middle-skill jobs, such as construction and high-skill manufacturing. But only 44 percent of workers are adequately trained.

In other words, at a time when the working class has turned the country on its political head, frustrated that the opportunity that once defined America is vanishing, one obvious solution is staring us in the face. There is a gap in working-class jobs, but the workers who need those jobs most aren’t equipped to do them. Koziatek’s Manchester School of Technology High School is trying to fill that gap.

Koziatek’s school is a wake-up call. When education becomes one-size-fits-all, it risks overlooking a nation’s diversity of gifts.

21. A broken bike chain is mentioned to show students’ lack of______.
A. mechanical memorization
B. academic training
C. practical ability
D. pioneering spirit

22. There exists the prejudice that vocational education is for kids who______.
A. are financially disadvantaged
B. are not academically successful
C. have a stereotyped mind
D. have no career motivation

23. We can infer from Paragraph 5 that high school graduates______.
A. are entitled to more educational privileges
B. are reluctant to work in manufacturing
C. used to have more job opportunities
D. used to have big financial concerns

24. The headlong push into bachelor’s degrees for all_____.
A. helps create a lot of middle-skill jobs
B. may narrow the gap in working-class jobs
C. is expected to yield a better-trained workforce
D. indicates the overvaluing of higher education

25. The author’s attitude toward Koziatek’s school can be described as_____.
A. supportive
B. disappointed
C. tolerant
D. cautious

答案及解析：
21. 选C. practical ability
答案在第二段第二句，学校教授的不是书本和死记硬背的内容，而是practical，实际的。因此选C
22. 选B. are not academically successful
答案在第四段第二句话和第三句话，a mark of inferiority，自卑的标志和kids who can’t make it academically, 那些在学术上失败的孩子。
23. 选C. used to have more job opportunities
答案在第五段第三句话，“美国经济过去提供的工作安全感现在消失了。”
24. 选D. indicates the overvaluing of higher education
第六段第一句话，“…没有抓住重点：这并不仅仅是美国经济唯一需要的东西。”
25. 选A. supportive
从文章第二段开头一句，“…是先锋人物”，为称赞句。

Text 2
While fossil fuels-coal, oil, gas-still generate roughly 85 percent of the world’s energy supply, it's cleaner than ever that the future belongs to renewable sources such as wind and solar. The move to renewables is picking up momentum around the world：They now account for more than half of new power sources going on line.

Some growth stems from a commitment by governments and farsighted businesses to fund cleaner energy sources. But increasingly the story is about the plummeting prices of renewables, especially wind and solar. The cost of solar panels has dropped by 80 percent and the cost of wind turbines by close to one-third in the past eight years.

In many parts of the world renewable energy is already a principal energy source. In Scotland, for example, wind turbines provide enough electricity to power 95 percent of homes. While the rest of the world takes the lead, notably China and Europe, the United States is also seeing a remarkable shift. In March, for the first time, wind and solar power accounted for more than 10 percent of the power generated in the US, reported the US Energy Information Administration.

President Trump has underlined fossil fuels – especially coal – as the path to economic growth. In a recent speech in Iowa, he dismissed wind power as an unreliable energy source. But that message did not play well with many in Iowa, where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation—and where tech giants such as Facebook, Microsoft, and Google are being attracted by the availability of clean energy to power their data centers.

The question “what happens when the wind doesn’t blow or the sun doesn’t shine?” has provided a quick put-down for skeptics. But a boost in the storage capacity of batteries is making their ability to keep power flowing around the clock more likely.

The advance is driven in part by vehicle manufacturers, who are placing big bets on battery-powered electric vehicles. Although electric cars are still a rarity on roads now, this massive investment could change the picture rapidly in coming years.

While there’s a long way to go, the train lines for renewables are spiking. The pace of change in energy sources appears to be speeding up—perhaps just in time to have a meaningful effect in slowing climate change , what Washington does, or doesn't do—to promote alternative energy may mean less and less at a time of a global shift in thought.

26. The word “plummeting” (Line 3, Para. 2) is closest in meaning to ________.
A. stabilizing
B. changing
C. falling
D. rising

27. According to Paragraph 3, the use of renewable energy in America ________.
A. is progressing notably
B. is as extensive as in Europe
C. faces many challenges
D. has proved to be impractical

28. It can be learned that in Iowa, ________.
A. wind is a widely used energy source
B. wind energy has replaced fossil fuels
C. tech giants are investing in clean energy
D. there is a shortage of clean energy supply

29. Which of the following is true about clean energy according to paragraphs 5＆6?
A. Its application has boosted battery storage.
B. It is commonly used in car manufacturing.
C. Its continuous supply is becoming a reality.
D. Its sustainable exploitation will remain difficult.

30. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that renewable energy ________.
A. will bring the US closer to other countries.
B. will accelerate global environmental change.
C. is not really encouraged by the US government.
D. is not competitive enough with regard to its cost.

答案及解析：
26. 选C. falling
定位到文章的第二段，根据最后一句知道价格是在下降，所以对应的是falling。
27. 选A. is progressing notably
定位到第二段的倒数一二两句，虽然世界其他地方处于领先位置，特别是中国和欧洲，美国见证了一个显著的转变。三月，风能和太阳能首次占比超过了美国所产能源的10%。可知美国是取得了显著的进步。
28. 选A. wind is a widely used energy source
定位到第四段最后一句, 根据 where wind turbines dot the fields and provide 36 percent of the state’s electricity generation可知，风能在Iowa应用广泛。
29. 选C. Its continuous supply is becoming a reality
第五段中But后面提到电池储存容量的增加使得能量流动变得更加可能，第六段的最后一句可知，虽然电动汽车现在在路上很少见，但是这种大量的投资在接下来的几年中可以很快改变这种情况。
30. 选C. is not really encouraged by the US government
根据题干renewable energy可以定位到出题点在最后一句话，且句中Washington可完美替换选项C中US government，所以选择C。

Text 3
The power and ambition of the giants of the digital economy is astonishing-Amazon has just announced the purchase of the upmarket grocery chain Whole Foods for $13.5bn, but two years ago Facebook paid even more than that to acquire the WhatsApp messaging service, which doesn't have any physical product at all. What WhatsApp offered Facebook was an intricate and finely detailed web of its users’ friendships and social lives.

Facebook promised the European commission then that it would not link phone numbers to Facebook identities, but it broke the promise almost as soon as the deal went through. Even without knowing what was in the messages, the knowledge of who sent them and to whom was enormously revealing and still could be. What political journalist, what party whip, would not want to know the makeup of the WhatsApp groups in which Theresa May's enemies are currently plotting? It may be that the value of Whole Foods to Amazon is not so much the 460 shops it owns, but the records of which customers have purchased what.

Competition law appears to be the only way to address these imbalances of power. But it is clumsy. For one thing, it is very slow compared to the pace of change within the digital economy. By the time a problem has been addressed and remedied it may have vanished in the marketplace, to be replaced by new abuses of power. But there is a deeper conceptual problem, too. Competition law as presently interpreted deals with financial disadvantage to consumers and this is not obvious when the users of these services don't pay for them. The users of their services are not their customers. That would be the people who buy advertising from them—and Facebook and Google, the two virtual giants, dominate digital advertising to the disadvantage of all other media and entertainment companies.

The product they're selling is data, and we, the users, convert our lives to data for the benefit of the digital giants. Just as some ants farm the bugs called aphids for the honeydew that produce when they feed, so Google farms us for the data that our digital lives yield. Ants keep predatory insects away from where their aphids feed; Gmail keeps the spammers out of our inboxes. It doesn’t feel like a human or democratic relationship, even if both sides benefit.

31. According to Paragraph 1, Facebook acquired WhatsApp for its _______.
A. digital products
B. user information
C. physical assets
D. quality service

32. Linking phone numbers to Facebook identities may _______.
A. worsen political disputes
B. mess up customer records
C. pose a risk to Facebook users
D. mislead the European commission

33. According to the author, competition law _______.
A. should serve the new market powers
B. may worsen the economic imbalance
C. should not provide just one legal solution
D. cannot keep pace with the changing market

34. The White House claims that its power of enforcement ________.
A. they are not defined as customers
B. they are not financially reliable
C. the services are generally digital
D. the services are paid for by advertisers

35. The ants analogy is used to illustrate _______.
A. a win-win business model between digital giants
B. a typical competition pattern among digital giants
C. the benefits provided for digital giants' customers
D. the relationship between digital giants and their users

答案及解析：
31. 选B. user information
定位到第一段的最后一句，可知WhatsApp是提供的的用户的信息。
32. 选C. pose a risk to Facebook users
定位到Even without knowing that was in the messages, the knowledge of who sent them and to whom was enormously revealing and still could be. 33.
33. 选D. cannot keep pace with the changing market
定位到第三段的第三句可知：比起变化的节奏，竞争法的进步则非常地缓慢。
34. 选D. the services are paid for by advertisers
定位到文章的第三段五到八句，可知主要是因为广告商在对服务付款。
35. 选D. the relationship between digital giants and their users
由just as可知，是为了证明例子前的论点，可以定位到最后一段的第一句。

Text 4
To combat the trap of putting a premium on being busy, Cal Newport, author of Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World, recommends building a habit of “deep work” - the ability to focus without distraction.

There are a number of approaches to mastering the art of deep work - be it lengthy retreats dedicated to a specific task; developing a daily ritual; or taking a “journalistic” approach to seizing moments of deep work when you can throughout the day. Whichever approach, the key is to determine your length of focus time and stick to it.

Newport also recommends “deep scheduling” to combat constant interruptions and get more done in less time. “At any given point, I should have deep work scheduled for roughly the next month. Once on the calendar, I protect this time like I would a doctor’s appointment or important meeting,” he writes.

Another approach to getting more done in less time is to rethink how you prioritise your day-in particular how we craft our to-do lists. Tim Harford, author of Messy: The Power of Disorder to Transform Our Lives, points to a study in the early 1980s that divided undergraduates into two groups: some were advised to set out monthly goals and study activities; others were told to plan activities and goals in much more detail, day by day.

While the researchers assumed that the well-structured daily plans would be most effective when it came to the execution of tasks, they were wrong: the detailed daily plans demotivated students. Harford argues that inevitable distractions often render the daily to-do list ineffective, while leaving room for improvisation in such a list can reap the best results.

In order to make the most of our focus and energy, we also need to embrace downtime, or as Newport suggests, “be lazy.”

“Idleness is not just a vacation, an indulgence or a vice; it is as indispensable to the brain as vitamin D is to the body...[idleness] is, paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done,” he argues.

Srini Pillay, an assistant professor of psychiatry at Harvard Medical School, believes this counterintuitive link between downtime and productivity may be due to the way our brains operate. When our brains switch between being focused and unfocused on a task, they tend to be more efficient.

“What people don’t realise is that in order to complete these tasks they need to use both the focus and unfocus circuits in their brain,” says Pillay.

36. The key to mastering the art of deep work is to______
A. seize every minute to work
B. list your immediate tasks
C. make specific daily plans
D. keep to your focus time

37. The study in the early 1980s cited by Harford shows that
A. students are hardly motivated by monthly goals
B. detailed plans may not be as fruitful as expected
C. distractions may actually increase efficiency
D. daily schedules arc indispensable to studying

38. According to Newport, idleness is __________-
A. a desirable mental state for busy people
B. a major contributor to physical health
C. an effective way to save time and energy
D. an essential factor in accomplishing any work

39. Pillay believes that our brain’s shift between being focused and unfocused ______
A. can bring about greater efficiency
B. can result in psychological well-being
C. is driven by task urgency
D. is aimed at better balance in work

40. This text is mainly about_____
A. approaches to getting more done in less time
B. Ways to relieve the tension of busy life
C. The key to eliminating distractions
D. The cause of the lack of focus time

答案及解析：
36. 选D. keep to your focus time
根据题干定位到第二段的最后一句，可知选择D。
37. 选B. detailed plans may not be as fruitful as expected
根据题干定位到第四段的最后一句冒号后面，others were told to plan activities and goals in much more detail, day by day，可知选择B。
38. 选D. an essential factor in accomplishing any work
根据题干可以定位到七段的[idleness] is ,paradoxically, necessary to getting any work done， 可知是选择D
39. 选A. can bring about greater efficiency
根据题干可以定位到第八段When our brains switch between being focused and unfocused on a task, they tend to be more efficient.可知选A.
40. 选A. approaches to getting more done in less time
根据全文理解，文章围绕approach进行写作，讨论在更少的时间做更多的事情的方式，所以选择A。

Part B:
Directions：
Read the following text and match each of the numbered items in the left column to its corresponding information in the right column. There are two extra choices in the right column. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
A. Just say it
B. Be present
C. Pay a unique compliment
D. Name, places, things
E. Find the “me too”s
F. Skip the small talk
G. Ask for an opinion

Five ways to make conversation with anyone

Conversations are links, which means when you have a conversation with a new person a link gets formed and every conversation you have after that moment will strengthen the link.

You meet new people every day: the grocery worker, the cab driver, new people at work or the security guard at the door. Simply starting a conversation with them will form a link.

Here are five simple ways that you can make the first move and start a conversation with strangers.

41.____________

Suppose you are in a room with someone you don’t know and something within you says “I want to talk with this person”—this is something that mostly happens with all of us. You wanted to say something—the first word—but it just won’t come out. It feels like it is stuck somewhere, I know the feeling and here is my advice: just get it out.

Just think: that is the worst that could happen? They won’t talk with you? Well, they are not talking with you now!

I truly believe that once you get that first word out everything else will just flow. So keep it simple: “Hi”,“Hey”or“Hello”—do the best you can to gather all of the enthusiasm and energy you can, put on a big smile and say“Hi”.

42.____________

It’s a problem all of us face; you have limited time with the person that you want to talk with and you want to make this talk memorable.

Honestly, if we got stuck in the rut of “hi”, ”hello”, “how are you?” and ”what’s going on?” you will fail to give the initial jolt to the conversation that can make it so memorable.

So don’t be afraid to ask more personal questions. Trust me, you’ll be surprised to see how much people are willing to share if you just ask.

43.____________

When you meet a person for the first time, make an effort to find the things which you and that person have in common so that you can build the conversation from that point. When you start conversation from there and then move outwards, you’ll find all of a sudden that the conversation becomes a lot easier.

44.____________

Imagine you are pouring your heart out to someone and they are just busy on their phone, and if you ask for their attention you get the response “I can multitask”.

So when someone tries to communicate with you, just be in that communication wholeheartedly. Make eye contact, you can feel the conversation.

45.____________

You all came into a conversation where you first met the person, but after some time you may have met again and have forgotten their name. Isn’t that awkward!

So remember the little details of the people you met or you talked with; perhaps the places they have been to, the place they want to go, the things they like, the thing the hate—whatever you talk about.

When you remember such thing you can automatically become investor in their wellbeing. So they feel a responsibility to you to keep that relationship going.

That’s it. Five amazing ways that you can make conversation with almost anyone. Every person is a really good book to read, or to have a conversation with!

41. A. Just say it
根据本段中的 It feels like its stuck somewhere, I know the feeling and here is my advice just it out. 可知本段的标题是just say it.
42. F. Skip the small talk
根据本段中的so don’t be afraid to ask more personal questions. Trust me, you’ll be surprised to see how much people are willing to share if you just ask. 可知选skip small talks.
43. E. Find the “me too”s
根据本段中的第一句When you meet a person for the first time, make an effort to find the things which you and that person have in common so that you can build the conversation that’s can make it so memorable.
44. B. Be present
根据本段中的so when someone tries to communicate with you, just be in that communication wholeheartedly. 可知选be present.
45. D. Name, places, things
根据本段中so remember the little details of the people you met or you talked with; perhaps the places they have been to the place they want to go, the things they like, the things they hate--- whatever you talk about. 可知选D.

Section III Translation

46. Directions:
Directions: Translate the following text into Chinese. Write your translation on the ANSWER SHEET. (15 points)
A fifth grader gets a homework assignment to select his future career path from a list of occupations. He ticks “astronaut” but quickly adds “scientist” to the list and selects it as well. The boy is convinced that if he reads enough, he can explore as many career paths as he likes. And so he reads—everything from encyclopedias to science fiction novels. He reads so fervently that his parents have to institute a “no reading policy” at the dinner table.

That boy was Bill Gates, and he hasn’t stopped reading yet—not even after becoming one of the most successful people on the planet. Nowadays, his reading material has changed from sci-fi and reference books: recently, he revealed that he reads at least 50 nonfiction books a year. Gates choose nonfiction titles because they explain how the world works. “Each books opens up new avenues of knowledge to explore,” Gates says.

答案：
一个五年级学生收到一份家庭作业，让他从一张职业列表上选择未来的职业道路。他勾了“宇航员”，但很快又在列表上加上了“科学家”，也打了个勾。这个男孩确信，如果他阅读量够大，那他可以探索许多他喜欢的职业道路。因此他什么都看，从百科全书到科幻小说，无一不读。他如此热衷阅读，以至于他的父母不得不提出了一条在饭桌上“不得阅读”的原则。

这个男孩就是比尔盖茨，他迄今也没停止阅读——甚至在他成为地球上最成功人士之一后也没有放下阅读。如今，他的阅读材料已经从科幻作品切换到工具书。近来，他还透露一年他会阅读至少50本非虚构作品。盖茨选择非小说类纪实作品是因为它们能够解释世界的运行规则。“每本书都能打开探索新知识的大门。”盖茨说道。

Section IV Writing

Part A
47. Directions:
Suppose you have to cancel your travel plan and will not be able to visit Professor Smith. Write him an email to
1) apologize and explain the situation, and
2) suggest a future meeting.
You should write about 100 words neatly on the ANSWER SHEET.
Do not use your own name at the end of the email. Use “Li Ming” instead (10 points)

参考范文：

Dear Professor,
Thank you for your generous invitation. Unfortunately, it is much to my regret that I cannot meet you as previously arranged.
I am fully occupied for an important exam coming the day after tomorrow. It is of great importance to me because it tightly concerned my graduation, I feel terribly sorry for missing the chance of such a happy get-together, and I hope that all of you enjoy a good time. Is it possible for you and me to have a private meeting afterwards? If so, please don't hesitate to drop me a line about your preferable date. I do long for a pleasant and in-depth communication with you.
Please allow me to say sorry again.
Yours,
Li Ming

Part B
48. Directions：Write an essay based on the following chart. In your writing you should
1) interpret the chart, and
2) give your comments.
You should write about 150 words on the ANSWER SHEET.(15 points)

参考范文：
What is shown in the pie graph above indicates the factors that exert influences on customers’ choice of restaurants. From the chart, we can find that people attach greatest importance to the unique characteristics of a restaurant, occupying 36.3% of all the factors. Environment and services take up the next two largest shares, accounting for 26.3% and 26.8% respectively. Price

has slipped to the lowest position of only 8.4% when customers choose a restaurant.

What exactly contributes to these changes? Several reasons can be listed as followed. Development in economy is an essential one in the recent years. The increased income results in the greatly improved living standard; hence, a small percentage of total income is enough to cover the expense of eating outside. Another one is the changes in people’s conception. When food presents no worry to the average, people begin to focus more of their interest on specialties and services of each restaurant. As a result of such a shift, the appearance of the tendency seems to be inevitable.

Based on the statistics shown and the analysis made above, we can safely come to a conclusion: the tendency will continue to rise for quite a while in the years to come. Time tells.