Boy with a ’disastrous start’ in science wins Nobel prize
JOHN Gurdon’s school report on his abilities in science left little doubt. "It has been," his teacher at Eton wrote, "a disastrous half."
Moreover, Gurdon’s hopes of a career in the field were "quite ridiculous".
Sixty years on, Sir John Gurdon, fellow of the Royal Society, has received an equally unambiguous but wholly different report. The 79-year-old has, it was explained, "revolutionised our understanding of how cells and organisms develop". The authors of the latest report were even more distinguished than an Etonian master: they were the Nobel Prize Committee.
In 1962, having ignored his teacher’s advice, John Gurdon was a graduate student in zoology at Oxford. There, he performed an experiment transferring the nucleus of a mature frog’s intestinal cell into a frog’s egg. The resulting frogspawn shocked the biological community by becoming a fully functioning frog, overturning conventional dogma about cell development.
Yesterday, more than half a century after the schoolmaster told him that he would never be a successful scientist, this research was recognised when the Cambridge biologist won the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine.
Sir John’s work showed that although the body’s cells can specialise in remarkably diverse ways, producing skin, lungs, muscles and intestines, they all retain the full genetic information to produce all other cells. So important was this discovery that the scientific community describe him as the godfather of both cloning and stem-cell therapy.
But he nearly did not become a scientist at all. After only a term, he came "bottom of the bottom form". "Gurdon has ideas about becoming a scientist. On present showing, this is quite ridiculous," wrote Mr Gaddum, the teacher whose name Sir John still remembers. He then went on to describe the future Nobel laureate as being unable to "learn simple biological facts", arguing that continuing to teach him "would be a sheer waste of time both on his part and of those who have to teach him".
Yesterday the Nobel committee begged to differ. Sir John, who was knighted in 1995, shares the award with Professor Shinya Yamanaka from Japan. The pair were praised for their discovery in separate work, "that mature, specialised cells can be reprogrammed to become immature cells capable of developing into all tissues of the body". Professor Yamanaka built on Sir John’s work by showing in 2006 that by introducing only a few genes intact mature cells in mice could be reprogrammed to become stem cells.
Sir John, who now has a Cambridge research institute named after him and is a fellow of Churchill College, could have taken a very different path. So disheartened was he by his school science experiences that when he applied to Oxford University it was to become a classicist. "The admissions tutor got in touch with me and said, ’I’m delighted to tell you that we can accept you - on two conditions. One is that you start immediately. The second is that you do not study the subject in which you took the entrance exam’."
Later, his work on the South African frog Xenopus showed that mature cells did not lose their irrelevant genetic information after specialising. "It was controversial," said Sir John. "There was some preceding work that had come out with the opposite conclusion. I was in the position of taking a view as a graduate student that was not held by people much more senior to myself."
The consequences of his work have been the application of similar techniques in the cloning of mammals such as Dolly the sheep. However, when the call came from the Nobel committee in Stockholm, Sir John was not sure whether to believe it. "It could be someone trying to trick you and put on a Swedish accent," he said.
Now that he has confirmed that the call was indeed genuine, one might think it time to forget the school report. But he disagrees. In fact, he has it framed in his office at the Gurdon Institute at Cambridge.
"When you have problems like an experiment doesn’t work, it’s nice to remind yourself that perhaps after all you are not so good at this job. The schoolmaster may have been right," he said.
A plague we must stop before it is endemic
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I used to boast that Britain was a relatively uncorrupt society. Look at France, I would say, where a high proportion of recent presidents and prime ministers had faced criminal charges after leaving office. Or Italy, where the tentacles of the Mafia reached deeply into civil society. Or Greece, where it was a point of honour not to pay taxes.
What explained our supposed immunity? Perhaps it was a result of our Protestant inheritance. And from that had also come the less tribal nature of our society than many others. For tribal loyalties can sometimes rank ahead of obeying the law.
I was, of course, wrong. Long ago, the claim could have been justified. But not any longer. There are too many examples of corrupt behaviour; they seem to come to the surface on a daily basis. We can make a quick list. Members of Parliament who abused their system of expenses and, in some cases, submitted false claims. National newspapers where, since 1999, 90 people have been arrested in conjunction with illegal acquisition of confidential information. Of these, 80 were arrested since police investigations were renewed in 2011, and, of these, 15 have been formally charged with crimes. Two more journalists and a serving policeman were arrested yesterday.
Or look at the drug companies. The British multinational GlaxoSmithKline was recently fined ￡1.9bn for bad practices in the US. The company cheerfully marketed its drug Wellbutrin for the treatment of conditions for which it had not been approved. Its sales methods comprised spending millions of dollars to persuade doctors to speak at meetings, sometimes at lavish resorts, at which the non-authorised uses of Wellbutrin were routinely promoted, and GlaxoSmithKline also used sham advisory boards to promote the drug. Glaxo is not alone. According to the WHO, unethical practices such as bribery, falsification of evidence, and mismanagement of conflicts of interest are “common throughout the medicine chain”.
We cannot leave out British banks. Some of them have been implicated in the practice of falsifying one of the key interest rates in the financial markets, the so-called Libor (or London Inter-Bank Offered Rate). The Serious Fraud Office has stated that it is “considering whether it is both appropriate and possible to bring criminal prosecutions”. Then, more recently, the fraudulent behaviour of the police following the Hillsborough disaster has dominated the headlines. Criminal charges are being considered.
I have listed only those cases where the courts are involved, either resulting in conviction (four MPs), or awaiting judgment (journalists) or where the authorities are contemplating bringing charges (the banks and Hillsborough police officers). Consider the range this legal activity covers, from bankers to politicians, from business executives to constables. Where has this corruption come from?
In distant times, corruption was mainly confined to contracts where bribes were sometimes paid to land jobs. Town hall officials were sometimes implicated. Now corruption seems to be penetrating all levels of society. What explains it?
In fact, different explanations are needed. The banks and the drug companies can be grouped together as large companies operating all over the world. MPs and police officers are in a very different situation. They both alike work in small, closed societies where bad practices can easily flourish. As Robert Chesshyre noted of the police in these pages last Saturday: “the instinct… is to close ranks and regard criticism as calumny”. Exactly the same observation could be made about MPs.
In distant times, corruption was mainly confined to contracts where bribes were sometimes paid to land jobs.
Professor David Beetham has produced for Democratic Audit the best analysis I have seen of corruption in the world of multinational companies. Prof Beetham puts in first place what he calls the triumph of market fundamentalism in the Anglo-Saxon world since the 1980s; the idea that unfettered markets constitute a self-regulating and self-correcting device to maximise efficiency and economic growth. This led to major programmes of business and financial deregulations in the US and Britain, originally launched by the Reagan and Thatcher governments. I would prefer to say that a large volume of poorly designed regulation was swept away but there remained a need to act against the strong collusive instincts of business executives. They don’t actually like competition and will always try to limit it or control it. But right-wing governments left the door open to market fixing.
A second factor is globalisation, which, like deregulation, isn’t intrinsically bad. But the movement of work from advanced economies to less developed ones, where wages may be low, corporation taxes lighter and social security costs minimal, has the consequence of diminishing the power of the governments in First World countries relative to private markets and firms. Then there is the ability of financial trading businesses to move out of places like London and New York to low-tax zones, leaving national governments vulnerable to threats of transferring valuable business overseas if regulation becomes onerous.
These are some of the explanations for the march of corruption. But there is little sign that action is being taken by governments to reverse the trend. I don’t expect to make my old boast again any time soon.
THE Atlantic
What Died With Neil Armstrong
With Armstrong goes a long-standing brand of heroism.
Apollo XI Astronauts Neil Armstrong (L), Michael Collins (C), and Buzz Aldrin (R) laugh with President Nixon aboard the USS Hornet, July 24, 1969. (Reuters)
American mythology loves nothing more than the reluctant hero: the man -- it is usually a man -- whose natural talents have destined him for more than obliging obscurity. George Washington, we are told, was a leader who would have preferred to have been a farmer. Thomas Jefferson, a writer. Martin Luther King, Jr., a preacher. These men were roused from lives of perfunctory achievement, our legends have it, not because they chose their own exceptionalism, but because we, the people, chose it for them. We -- seeing greatness in them that they were too humble to observe themselves -- conferred on them uncommon paths. Historical circumstance became its own call of duty, and the logic of democracy proved itself through the answer.
Neil Armstrong was a hero of this stripe: constitutionally humble, circumstantially noble. Nearly every obituary written for him this weekend has made a point of emphasizing his sense of privacy, his sense of humility, his sense of the ironic ordinary. Armstrong’s famous line, maybe or maybe not so humanly flubbed, neatly captures the narrative: One small step for [a] man, one giant leap for mankind. And yet every aspect of Armstrong’s life -- a life remembered for one act of bravery but distinguished ultimately by the bravery of banality -- made clear: On that day in 1969, he acted on our behalf, out of a sense of mission that was communal rather than personal. The reluctant hero is also the self-sacrificing hero. The reluctant hero is the charitable hero.
Sentence
1. In high school, a good student is supposed to get a perfect score; in college, the teacher wants to challenge even the best students. Therefore, almost nobody answers every question correctly.
2. In fact, if you got to the Continent, to France or Germany, you’ll find that the city centers have been turned into pedestrian precincts, and the cars been almost banned.
3. People living in a town would never dream of walking. There are just too many barriers, pedestrian underpasses, broken pavements and traffic lights where you have to run like a rabbit to get across in time.
4. Statistics show that lawyers are the most depressed of all professionals. Lawyers are always acting on behalf of someone else. Suicide is among the leading causes of premature death among lawyers
5. I’m afraid we can’t reduce the price of this brand of shirt. You know $20.50 is our rock bottom price. If you purchase more than 10,000 units, we can reduce it to $19.
Passage
1. In the early 1990s, some influential people said that being in single sex classes could raise a girl’s self-esteem. Schools across the country began creating single sex classrooms and schools. But many critics claim that all female schools may actually be detrimental to a girl’s education, because they reinforce the regressive notion of sex differences. The renewed interest in single sex schooling has fostered controversy among Americans. Those who give it full endorsement believe girls need an all female environment to take risks and find their own voices. Those who question the validity of single sex schooling believe that there’s no such thing, a separate but equal.
2. Now I’d like to identify some key changes in our cities. First of all, they are getting bigger and bigger. For the first time in history, there will soon be more people living in urban areas than in rural environments. In 1950, New York City was the only city with a population of 10 million. Now in 2010, worldwide we have 38 cities with populations of over 10 million people, what we call megacities. Cities are also getting taller because land is getting more and more expensive. We can have a tall apartment building that 1000 people can live in. Skyscrapers have become a symbol of modern cities.
上半场Q 1-5听力文本
M: Do you know the names the American Flag was once called?
W: Didn’t some people use to call it “The Star Spangled Banner” like our national anthem?
M: You’re right!
W: I’ve heard it refer to as “Old Glory”.
M: Also Correct! The most popular name is “The Stars and Stripes” based on its design. At the started of the Revolutionary War in 1775, the American Flag had British Flag in the upper left corner. But after the Decoration of Independence in 1777, the British Flag was no longer appropriate as part of the American Flag. On June 4th, 1777, the Continental Congress resolved that the Flag of the United States be 13 stripes, alternating red and white, the 13 white stars in the blue field. But there was no official arrangement for the stars.
W: Is that the flag Betsy Ross made?
M: In 1890, William Canby claimed that his grandmother Betsy Rose, a Philadelphia seamstress, had made the first United States’ Flag. Although she made the Flag during the Revolutionary War, most historians, myself included, do not support this claim.
W: I have a question: Why did the 1775 Flag incorporate the British Flag if the colonists were already fighting for independence?
M: Actually, the colonists did not at first seek for independence. So the Union Jack, another name for the British Flag, remained in American Flag because there was still a connection to England. By 1794, two new states joined the union. Congress decided to add two stars and two stripes to the Flag. It ordered a 15-stripe flag used after May 1st, 1795.
W: But doesn’t our flag today have only 13 stripes?
M: Exactly! As more states came into the Union, Congress realized that new star and new stripe for each state will make the flag too crowded. Samuel Chester Reid, a navy captain, proposed the flag of 13 stripes, one for each of the regional colonies, and star for each state. Congress accepted the idea. On April 4th, 1818, it set the number of stripes at 13 again. It ordered a new star to be added to the flag on the July 4th, after a state joined the union.
Q1: There have been several names the American Flag was once called. Which of the following is not one of these names?
Q2: What is the most popular name of the American Flag according to the man?
Q3: How many stripes and stars were there on the American Flag when the flag was first made?
Q4: Who proposed the stripe for each of the regional colonies and star for each state?
Q5: Which of the following statement is true according to the conversation?
上半场Q 6-10听力文本
Question 6-10 are based on the following news
Washington USA
in recent years, food shortage has led to prince rises and unrest in many import dependent countries including many in Africa. In the 2009 G8 summit in Italy, major industrial countries promise more than 20 billion dollars over three years to improve food access to Africans and others hit by high prices. This latest G8 summit which began later on Friday is due to discuss the issue. However, its main focus would be continuing concerns that the Euro Zone debt crisis could trigger a global slump. On Thursday, confidence in European banks was undermined by rating’s agency Moodys which cut the credit rating of 16th Spanish banks. Mr. Obamma has urged European leaders to do more to stimulate growth, fearing the Euro crisis could spread to the US.
Jerusalem Israel
The US has plans in place to attack Iran if other measures fail to stop it developing nuclear weapons, Washington’s envoy to Israel says . He said the US hope to promacy the sanction would persuade Iran to alternate nuclear program. But the military option was ready. US president Obamma has previously said military action has not been ruled out. The US and its outliers say Iran is developing a nuclear bomb and accusation Teheran desires. Talks between Iran and 6 rue powers are due to resumed in Baghdad on January 23rd. Both Israel and the US have said that they consider military force a last resort to stop Iran to use its Iranian enrichment program to make a weapon.
Helsinki Finland
Nokia Company is tearing through its cash reserves and an unsustainable rate. Raising what some analysts say are serious questions about struggling finishing phone makers’ ability to stabilize its finance in a month ahead. The company could even be at risk of default if it fail to slow the burning of its cash. Over the past five quarters, the one-time dialing of mobile telecoms has eroded its cash pile by 2.1 billion Euros, arraying that it would wipe out its entire 4.9 billion Euros reserves in a couple of years. Analysis on average expect the company could burn through almost 2 billion Euros more in just three quarters. While the most bearish said that the company has wiped out its 4.9 billion Euros net cash buffer completely next year.
Brasilia Brazil
Electricity prices are the biggest component of the so-called Brazil cost. The mix of the taxes, high interest rates, labor costs, infrastructure bottlenecks and other issues that has caused the economy to become less competitive. After a decade of strong performance, Brazil is grouped bellow the Latin American average in 2011 and so far this year. Brazil’s average electricity cost of 180 dollars per magawatt-hour is acceded only by Italy and Slovakia, according to a 2011 study based on data from International Energy Agency. High electricity rates have contributed to stagnant investment and production in energy intensive industries. Electricity accounts for 35 percent and in same proportion of the car industries production costs.
Beirut Syria
At least 21 people were killed on Tuesday in an attack in northern Syria. And members of a team of UN monitors caught in the incident said they were in rebel hands for their own protection. When rudders ask one of the four monitors by phone if there will be in help prisoners, he said we are save with the rebels. A spokesman for the rebel military council said the rebels would work on the save accitte for the monitors. An internal UN document obtain by roters said that there is a total of six monitors were under rebel protection in a friendly environment. The internal UN document confirm the UN team in Syria will conduct a patrol to pick the mention that UN military observers on Wednesday.
Question 6
What would be the main focus of the latest G8 summit due Friday?
Question7
What does the UN envoys to Israel say about the issue of Iran’s nuclear’s program?
Question8
How much is Nokia company total cash reserves in Euros?
Question9
The so-called Brazil cost has made the economy less competitive. Which of the following are the biggest component of the brazil cost?
Question10
According to an internal UN document, how many UN monitors were in the hands of the Syrian rebels?
上半场Q 11-15听力文本
W: Governor, I appreciate your taking the time to meet with me.
M: My pleasure.
W: The Employee Monitoring law has received a great deal of media attention recently. However, many Illinois citizens are still very confused. What exactly does the new law allow?
M: The new law permits employers to listen in on their workers’ phone conversations. The law permits any listening that serves educational, training or research purposes. It allows for both computer and phone monitoring.
W: How did this law come about?
M: Well, it was originally conceived by the telemarketing industry. This industry which uses the telephone to sell its products and services, needed the way to monitor its employee sales performance. The retail industry is also a big proponent of the law. Recently I spoke with the president of the Illinois Retail Merchants Association. He told me the law is helping to make sure that Ms Smith gets the red dress in size 6 rather than size 16, which may have been entered into the computer by mistake.
W: So in other words, the law is meant to monitor the quality of customer service calls.
M: Yes, for courtesy, efficiency and overall service.
W: Well then, while at your position, I hear that many groups from unions to trade associations are clearly furious about this law.
M: Yes, I know. Our office has been flooded with calls and letters. The problem is the law does not specify whether or not employers must tell employees each time they are being monitored, or just issue a one-time pre-warning. Also only one person must agree to the monitoring, but the law does not state who must agree, the employee or the supervisor? The scope of the law is so broad that some people find it frightening.
W: Yes, it sounds like there are many unanswered questions. I appreciate your speaking with me, Governor. Thank you very much.
M: You are welcome.
Q11 Who is being interviewed by the woman journalist?
Q12 They are talking about the law. What is the law about?
Q13 By which of the following was the law originally conceived?
Q14 What purpose is the law meant to serve?
Q15 Why are so many people opposed to the law?
上半场Q 16-20听力文本
As long as there has been crime, there have been ways to solve it. One of the oldest methods is interrogation. A method in which police question people who might have committed the crime or might have the information about the crime. Interrogation can help the police establish the basic facts. But modern techniques for solving crimes include more complex, scientific methods.
Let me talk first about system, often called crime hotlines. In some cases, where law enforcement personal have difficulty in finding criminal, they turned to private citizens for help in solving the crime. This system allows people to make a phone call or access of website and give information to the police anonymously. This can often be effective when people are afraid to give information in public. Sometimes a family member may have committed a crime and another family member finally decides to call the police and give the information they have.
Second, fingerprinting. Each person’s fingerprint is unique. Ancient Chinese used fingerprint to sing legal papers. What a better way to identify an individual. Yet, it was only in the late 19th century that fingerprints were first used to identify criminals. A variety of scientific techniques make it possible for fingerprints to be lifted from most surfaces. Then they can be compared with the fingerprints the police have on file. A relatively new technique that crime fighters are now using is called psychological profiling. Criminal psychologists look at the crime and the way it was committed. Based on this information, they try to understand the personality and motivation of the person who committed the crime. Then they can focus on the search of people who can match the profile. In some cases, privet citizens are finding ways to solve crimes as well. With little knowledge of electronics, anyone can put a hidden camera in the home or office. In the 1990s, as an example, there were some cases where nannies were accused of abusing the children they were paid to care for. Hidden cameras were used to prove the nannies’ guilt. However, the technique is controversial, because it involves issues of privacy.
Finally, let me discuss DNA. Of the most recent crime techniques used, DNA is proving very effective. Each person with exceptionally identical siblings has a unique DNA coding system, so if criminals leave anything that can be tested at the scene of the crime, such as blood or hair, they can be identified. DNA was used to solve the crime first time in England in 1987. Since that time, it has become widely used and it was considered 99% accurate. DNA testing can also be used to prove the person who is innocent. Many prisoners have been released because the DNA evidence has proved that they did not commit the crime of which they were convicted.
Q 16 when did people started to use finger printing to identify criminals?
Q 17 in using psychological profiling to find the criminal, people have to match several factors, which of the following is not one of the factors?
Q 18 which is one of the oldest methods used to solve crime?
Q 19 why is the use of hidden cameras in solving a crime controversial?
Q 20 which of the following statements is true about DNA as a crime solving technique?
上半场Spot dictation听力文本
Listening is one of the first things we learn to do, and one of the things we do most. The average person spends 9% of their daily communication time writing, 16% reading, 30% speaking, and a warping 45% listening. Students spend most of their school time
listening, up to 60%, according to some studies. Yet, despite its importance, we usually take our ability to listen for granted. As we have
already said though, listening i’snt easy. The fact is we have different listening styles for different occasions. How successful we are as listeners may depend in part on choosing the right listening style for the situation. Perhaps the most basic listening style is appreciative listening. We listen appreciatively when we enjoy music, a bird’s song, or the murmur of a brook. We need a different style, one called discriminative listening when we want to single out one particular sound from a noisy environment. You discriminate, for example, when you listen for a friend’s voice in a crowded room. We use a third style of listening, comprehensive listening, when we want to understand. When we listen to directions or instructions, we are using the style. The forth learning style is more complex. Therapeutic listening, the style practiced by consulars, psychiatrists, and good friends, encourages people to talk freely without fear of embarrassment. Friends act as our sounding boards, when we just want someone to listen. The therapeutic listener in conversation with a troubled friend accepts what he’s said, tries hard to understand, and above all makes no judgment. The fifth style, critical listening, is the one we will examine most closely. Critical listeners are the most active of all listeners, because they are working hard to decide whether what someone else says makes sense. Critical listeners evaluate what they hear, and decide if another ones’ message is logical, worthwhile, or has value. We need to be critical listeners when someone wants us to buy some things, vote a certain way, or support a particular idea. We also need to be critical listeners in school, where listening and thinking are almost synonymous.
下半场 阅读第一篇
the Guardian
City watchdog blames bonus culture for corrupting bank services
FSA says incentive schemes are likely to drive staff to mis-sell, after finding ’serious failings’ in study of 22 financial institutions
Martin Wheatley, the FSA’s managing director, says banks have changed their view of consumers ’from someone to serve to someone to sell to’. Photograph: Simon Newman/Reuters
The City watchdog has ordered banks to put an end to their bonus culture, in a report that blames staff incentives for corrupting the services they provide and leading to millions of consumers being missold investments and insurance policies.
Many if not all of the recent mis-selling scandals over products including payment protection insurance (PPI), endowments and pensions had come about because of the way companies rewarded sales rather than service, the FSA said.
The watchdog investigated the incentive and bonus schemes at 22 financial firms, and uncovered a range of "serious failings".
It is understood that the worst were at Lloyds Banking Group, which has been referred to the FSA’s enforcement division. This could result in the group, which is 40% owned by the government, facing a fine of billions of pounds. Lloyds has already set aside more than ￡3.5bn to cover compensation payments.
Martin Wheatley, the FSA’s managing director, said banks used to be a place "where you would go in, stand in a queue and have a pleasant chat with the clerk", but some time ago financial institutions had changed their view of consumers "from someone to serve to someone to sell to".
The FSA has ordered firms to drop such sales tactics in favour of schemes that put the customer first, and said bank bosses should "take a real interest in fixing this". If firms failed to comply, the watchdog said, it was prepared to introduce new rules cracking down on bonus schemes that prioritise sales.
"What we found is not pretty," Wheatley said. "Most of the incentive schemes we looked at were likely to drive people to mis-sell in order to meet targets and receive a bonus, and these risks were not being properly managed."
He said he had ruled out getting rid of incentive schemes altogether, but banks would be expected to properly consider whether their incentive schemes increased the risk of mis-selling.
"I want to draw a line in the sand and use the report we are publishing today to set out our expectations," he said. "CEO’s are ultimately accountable for the way their staff are incentivised, so we expect them to take a real interest in fixing this."
Where a recurring problem was identified, banks would be expected to investigate, take action and pay compensation, the FSA said. In the past, incidents of misselling have often been left to the watchdog and consumer bodies to identify and act upon.
Firms have until the end of October to submit their views on the guidance, and Wheatley said he expected them to start to clean up their act immediately.
Lloyds would not confirm whether it had been referred to the FSA’s enforcement division, but said in a statement that it had made "significant changes" to its incentive schemes since the beginning of the year. It said it had been " working closely with [the FSA], keeping them updated on our progress and to ensure the changes we have made to the schemes are appropriate."
Richard Lloyd, the Which? executive director, said that the FSA’s findings supported his organisation’s view that most banks had incentive schemes that prioritised sales.
"This must change. It is clear that the light touch regulation of the past has not worked. We want to see the FSA rigorously enforcing the rules and taking tough action against those banks that continue to let their customers down," he said.
Figures released by the banks last week showed that customer complaints soared in the first half of this year, due to increasing numbers of cases relating to the mis-selling of PPI. Lloyds received around 860,000 complaints in the first six months, a 145% increase on a year ago. Complaints to NatWest doubled year-on-year, while those to Barclays rose by 80%.
下半场 阅读第二篇
The WallStreet Journal
A Right to Choose Single-Sex Education
For some children, learning in girls-only or boys-only classes pays off. Opponents of the idea are irresponsible.
Education proponents across the political spectrum were dismayed by recent attempts to eradicate the single-gender options in public schools in Virginia, West Virginia, Alabama, Mississippi, Maine and Florida. We were particularly troubled at efforts to thwart education choice for American students and their families because it is a cause we have worked hard to advance.
Studies have shown that some students learn better in a single-gender environment, particularly in math and science. But federal regulations used to prevent public schools from offering that option. So in 2001 we joined with then-Sen. Hillary Clinton and Sen. Susan Collins to author legislation that allowed public schools to offer single-sex education. It was an epic bipartisan battle against entrenched bureaucracy, but well worth the fight.
Since our amendment passed, thousands of American children have benefited. Now, though, some civil libertarians are claiming that single-sex public-school programs are discriminatory and thus illegal.
To be clear: The 2001 law did not require that children be educated in single-gender programs or schools. It simply allowed schools and districts to offer the choice of single-sex schools or classrooms, as long as opportunities were equally available to boys and girls. In the vast and growing realm of education research, one central tenet has been confirmed repeatedly: Children learn in different ways. For some, single-sex classrooms make all the difference.
Critics argue that these programs promote harmful gender stereotypes. Ironically, it is exactly these stereotypes that the single-sex programs seek to eradicate.
As studies have confirmed—and as any parent can tell you—negative gender roles are often sharpened in coeducational environments. Boys are more likely, for instance, to buy into the notion that reading isn’t masculine when they’re surrounded by (and showing off for) girls.
Girls, meanwhile, have made so much progress in educational achievement that women are overrepresented in postgraduate education. But they still lag in the acquisition of bachelor’s and graduate degrees in math and the sciences. It has been demonstrated time and again that young girls are more willing to ask and answer questions in classrooms without boys.
A 2008 Department of Education study found that "both principals and teachers believed that the main benefits of single-sex schooling are decreasing distractions to learning and improving student achievement." The gender slant—the math-is-for-boys, home-EC-is-for-girls trope—is eliminated.
In a three-year study in the mid-2000s, researchers at Florida’s Stetson University compared the performance of single-gender and mixed-gender classes at an elementary school, controlling for the likes of class sizes, demographics and teacher training. When the children took the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (which measures achievement in math and literacy, for instance), the results were striking: Only 59% of girls in mixed classes were scored as proficient, while 75% of girls in single-sex ones achieved proficiency. Similarly, 37% of boys in coeducational classes scored proficient, compared with 86% of boys in the all-boys classes.
Booker T. Washington High School in Memphis, Tenn., the winner of the 2011 Race to the Top High School Commencement Challenge, went to a 81.6% graduation rate in 2010 from a graduation rate of 55% in 2007. Among the changes at the school? Implementing all-girls and all-boys freshman academies.
In Dallas, the all-boys Barack Obama Leadership Academy opened its doors last year. There is every reason to believe it will follow the success of the first all-girls public school, Irma Rangel Young Women’s Leadership School, which started in 2004. Irma Rangel, which has been a Texas Education Agency Exemplary School since 2006, also took sixth place at the Dallas Independent School District’s 30th Annual Mathematics Olympiad that year.
No one is arguing that single-sex education is the best option for every student. But it is preferable for some students and families, and no one has the right to deny them an option that may work best for a particular child. Attempts to eliminate single-sex education are equivalent to taking away students’ and parents’ choice about one of the most fundamentally important aspects of childhood and future indicators of success—a child’s education.
America once dominated educational attainment among developed countries, but we have fallen disastrously in international rankings. As we seek ways to offer the best education for all our children, in ways that are better tailored to their needs, it seems not just counterproductive but damaging to reduce the options. single-sex education in public schools will continue to be a voluntary choice for students and their families. To limit or eliminate single-sex education is irresponsible. To take single-sex education away from students who stand to benefit is unforgivable.
下半场 中译英
Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring, investigating and researching something with so few benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions under people on earth or in our own country? Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup. What drove our distant ancestors to move from the trees onto the plains? Was it the lack of skills to compete in one ecological niche? If so, the adaptation selected for after the move have resorted in the species expanding into all possible areas and environments. The drive to spread genetic material and ensure the success of not just the species but of one type of genetic material. The wider the distribution of species, the better the chance of survival. Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is the built-in genetic predisposition to expand into all possible niches. Culturally, nearly every successful civilization has been willing to explore. In its exploring, dangerous of surrounding areas may be learned and prepared for. Dangers may be political enemies and neighboring cultures. Physical features of the area are changing the area which might affect food supplies and in other number of factors. All poses a real danger, and all may be less dangerous if certain preparations are made. Without knowledge, the danger may strike and completely destroy. With knowledge, the effects or consequences may be lessened. Exploration also allows resources to be located. Resources translate into power and successes survival. Whether the success be financial, political or genetic, additional resources are always a boom when used wisely. In any of the three manners, useful resources allow the heightened percentage for survival. If the resources have no immediate need, then perhaps later, the resources will be used. Resources may be more than physical assets. Knowledge or techniques acquired an exploring or preparing to explore always filter from the developers to the general populace. Techniques may be medical applications, uses for drugs or ways of living to increase the quantity of time lived or the quality of that time. Techniques maybe social, allowing the people in the society to better understand those within or outside the culture. Better understanding may lead to better use of resources or a lessening of outright competition for the resources. While many resources are spent on what seems of small return, the exploration of space allows the creative, the brave, the intelligent our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The chance of a large asteroid or comet hitting the earth is small, but given time, it will happen. Several current models of evolution propose many changes in a very short time period. Some explanations for the drastic speed of extinction and evolution includes strikes by asteroids or comets. Human technology is reaching the point where it might be able to detect such a threat and allow us to do something about it. The danger exists, but knowledge can allow us, other species, to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist. While earth is the only planet known to sustain life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow other planets and moons to be common habited. True, the life style would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future. Our genetic makeup will allow humans to move into unoccupied niches and flourish. The culture group holding the high ground has attended great advantage over other groups. It can see farther, act sooner and be safer from attack. In space, all of these things are true. The culture which expands is like an organism which adapts. It may be found everywhere. If one group is eliminated, the species as a whole, survives. The old adage, “Do not put all your eggs in one basket!” holds true for humans and cultures. The more culture expands, the less chance of it becoming extinct. Space allows us to expand and succeed.
汉译英答案+解析
官方参考译文：
As we all know, “Lanting”, means the blue hall in Chinese. People naturally associate the blue color with the sea and the sky. It symbolizes inclusiveness, passion and vitality, and it accords to the philosophy of harmonious coexistence, openness and win-win progress. It shows that we will adopt an inclusive approach, pool together the wisdom of various sectors and deepen dialogue and exchanges. It also means that we will take a global perspective, keep pace with the times and work together for development.
There were different views about the Asia Pacific in the 21st century. Some believed that rich human resources and cultural diversity held out great potential and bright prospects for the Asia-Pacific region, while others thought this region was beset with problems and troubles and could hardly offer any reason for optimism. Despite the various problems and challenges due to reasons both of the past and present, peace, stability, cooperation and development represent the shared aspiration of the people and the trend of the times. What has happened shows that the Asia Pacific is transforming into a dynamic, vibrant and promising region.
解析一：四字格
在翻译四字格的时候，一定要注意四个字中词与词之间的关系。比如和谐共存，是偏正结构，即和谐的共存，所以可以用和谐的形容词，harmonious, 因此译成 harmonious coexistence。开放共赢，是并列关系，即开放和共赢，可译成openness and win-win progress. 人文荟萃，可采用偏正结构，即丰富的人力资源以及文化多样性，rich human resources and cultural diversity。前景光明也可采用英语中较多出现的偏正结构，即光明的前景，bright prospects。另外，还有四个字表示一个意思的，比如包容万象，即包容性，inclusiveness, 海纳百川，也是包容性的意思，即inclusiveness或者an inclusive approach。
解析二：高频口译词汇的动词分析
文中出现了不少常见的口译搭配，比如深化对话与交流，把握时代脉搏，共谋发展大计。首先，对应的动词我们应该熟悉，如深化，可翻译为deepen, strengthen, intensify。把握这个词，需要根据上下文去推导，此处它的宾语是时代脉搏，因此把握即为与...保持同步的意思，可翻译为keep pace with。共谋，即将智慧集聚到一起，可翻译为pool together the wisdom。
解析三：汉语名词的总结性补充
汉语从习惯上倾向于在一个名词之后再加一个名词作为总结。比如不稳定的局面，局面作为不稳定的的总结。而英语的习惯是不加名词总结的，因此如果翻译成the situation of instability, 则显得累赘，不地道，应直接译为instability, 这个特性在本文中得到体现的是时代脉搏这个四字格，不少考生会翻译成the impulse of the times, 或者the feature of the times, 事实上无论是直译的impulse, 还是意译的feature, 都是不必要的，因此直接翻译成the times是一个比较理想的选择。
解析四：汉译英的去动词化处理
在第二段中出现了一个并列的结构作为句子的主语：谋和平、维稳定、求合作、促发展是...， 其中四个名词宾语和平，稳定，合作容易翻译，分别为peace, stability, cooperation，development接下来不少考生便开始搜索对应的动词，即谋，维，求。谋就是思考，可以翻译成come up with, map out, 维就是维护，可以翻译成safeguard, maintain, 求就是追求，可以翻译成seek, ensure, 促就是促进的意思，可翻译成promote, enhance, facilitate等。对应的把动词和名词组合在一起不失为一种方法，但另外一种更为地道的处理方式就是运用英语的名词串联，即从逻辑上看，谋、维、求，促都是追求的意思，因此只需要用一个seek来串联四个个宾语。还有一种方式就是利用英语的静态性来对应汉语的动态性，即名词对应动词，直接把四个三字格翻译成peace, stability，cooperation and development，去动词化，也是相当地道的。
附：全文供参考
我们知道，我们论坛“蓝厅”的中文意思就是蓝色的大厅。蓝色让人联想到大海和天空，既包容万象又蕴含热情与活力，契合了和谐共存、开放共赢的理念。它寓意着我们将以海纳百川的包容精神，汲取各界智慧，深化对话交流;以纵论天下的开阔视野，把握时代脉搏，共谋发展大计。
对于21世纪的亚太，有人认为亚太人文荟萃，潜力巨大，前景光明。也有人认为亚太问题丛生，麻烦不断，不容乐观。尽管亚太地区由于历史和现实的原因，还存在这样那样的问题和挑战，但谋和平、维稳定、求合作、促发展是人心所向、大势所趋，亚太正在成为一个充满活力、生机与希望的地区。
听力真题NTGF
Note Taking and Gap Filling
Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent in exploring, investigating and researching something with so few benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on earth or in our own country? Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic make-up. What drove our distant ancestors to move from the trees onto the plains? Was it the lack of skills to compete in one ecological niche? If so the adaptation selected for after the move have resulted in the species expanding into all possible areas and environment，the drive to spread genetic material and ensure the success of not just the species but of one type of genetic material. The wider the distribution of a species, the better the chance of survival. Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is the built-in genetic predisposition to expand into all possible niches. Culturally nearly every successful civilization has been willing to explore. In exploring, dangers of surrounding areas may be learned and prepared for. Dangers may be political enemies in neighboring cultures, physical features of the area, a change in the area which might affect food supplies or any other number of factors. All pose a real danger and all may be made less dangerous if certain preparations are made. Without knowledge, the danger may strike and completely destroy, with knowledge, the effects or consequences may be lessened. Exploration also allows resources to be located. Resources translate into power and success at survival. Whether the success be financial, political or genetic additional resources are always a boon when used wisely. In any of the three manners, use of resources allows a heightened percentage for survival. If the resources have no immediate need, then perhaps later the resources will be used. Resources may be more than physical assets. Knowledge or techniques acquired in exploring or preparing to explore always filter from the developers to the general populace. Techniques may be medical applications, uses for drugs or ways of living to increase the quantity of time lived or the quality of that time. Techniques may be social, allowing the people in a society to better understand those within or outside the culture. Better understanding may lead to better use of resources or a lessening of outright competition for the resources.
While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of space allows the creative, the brave, the intelligence of our species to focus on that may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The chance of a large asteroid or comet hitting he earth is small. But given time, it will happen. Several current models of evolution propose many changes in a very short time period. Some explanations for the drastic speed of extinction and evolution include strikes by asteroids or comets. Human technology is reaching the point where it might be able to detect such a threat and allow us to do something about it. The danger exists, but knowledge can allow us as a species to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist. While earth is the only planet known to sustain life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow other planets and moons to become inhabited. True the life style would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future. Our genetic make-up will allow humans to move into unoccupied niches and flourish. The culture group holding the high ground has attained a great advantage over outer groups. It can see farther, act sooner and be safer from attack. In space all of these things are true. The culture which expands is like and organism which adapts. It may be found everywhere. If one group is eliminated, the species as a whole survives. The old adage, do not put all your eggs in one basket holds true for humans and cultures. The more a culture expands, the less chance of it becoming extinct. Space allows us to expand and succeed.
解析：
文章大意：
人类为什么要探索外太空，在这项获益甚少的项目上花费大量的财力物力?这可能和人类的天性有关。人来的远古祖先从树上来到地上，其实也是一种对领域的开拓。物种扩散的越光，存活的几率就越大。人类探索外太空也基于同样的理由。但是探索也会有危险，所以需要有一定的准备。而探索的过程中还会涉及到资源的使用：这种资源包括有形和无形的。只有充分了解才能更好的使用资源。只有通过合理利用技术和资源，才能在灾难毁灭人类前找到适合人类继续繁衍的地方。
本篇文章主要在谈论人类为何要向外太空进发，属于科学类文章。其中的有一些词汇可能会对考生造成困难。例如： niche: 原意表示壁龛，在文中可以表示某个地域或空间;general populace：普通大众;asteroid or comet：小行星或流星;inhabited：适宜居住的;adage：谚语、格言。
除此之外，本篇文章的有些句式结构也比较复杂，可能会对考生的理解上造成压力。总体来说，对本篇文章的理解、记录以及最后的填空有一定难度。
听力答案Sentence Translation
Sentence Translation
1. In high school, a good student is supposed to get a perfect score. In college, the teacher wants to challenge even the best students. Therefore, almost nobody answers every questions correctly.
在高中，一个好学生理应获得一个优秀的分数;但是在大学，老师甚至经常会刁难最优秀的学生。所以，几乎没有人可以把每个问题都回答对。
点评：这篇听力难度较小。值得注意的是其中的逻辑关系需要搞清楚。前两句话列举的是两个现象，而最后一个连词therefore 表示“因此”，引出作者真正想表达的意图。好学生也有回答错问题的可能。
2. In fact, if you go to the Continent, to France or Germany, you find that city centers have been turned into pedestrian precincts and the cars been almost banned.
事实上，如果你去欧洲大陆，比如说法国或者德国，你会发现市中心已经被变成了行人专用区，汽车几乎都被禁止通行了。
点评：这篇句意很好理解，结构也比较清楚，主要内容都在find 后面的并列宾语从句。本句描述的是欧洲大陆一些国家的交通状况，只是有个别单词需要注意。pedestrian n. 行人precincts n. 区域 这里其实pedestrian precincts 就指的是行人专用区，与行人的情况形成对比的是汽车几乎都被禁止通行了。
3. People living in a town would never dream of walking. There are just too many barriers, pedestrian underpasses, broken pavements and traffic lights where you have to run like a rabbit to get across in time.
住在城市里面的人基本不会考虑步行，因为城市里面有太多障碍，例如，人行隧道，破旧的人行道和交通灯，在这些地方，你不得不像一只兔子那样跑起来，才能及时通过。
点评：这句话中注意定语从句和状语从句的理解，由于是听译，所以要在脑海中梳理清楚逻辑顺序。中间排列的部分在听的时候，最好稍作笔记。
4. Statistics show that lawyers are the most depressed of all professionals. Lawyers are always acting on behalf of someone else. Suicide is among the leading causes of premature death among lawyers.
数据表明，律师是所有职业中最压抑的职业。律师经常需要为别人辩护。自杀是造成律师过早死亡的首因。
点评：这句话中的key words 就是两个：lawyers, depressed，根据key words 基本可以判断作者的态度。后面的部分解释了Why is this profession so depressed? 以及压抑情绪对律师行业造成的影响。
5. I’m afraid we can’t reduce the price of this brand of shirt. You know, $20.15 is our rock bottom price. If you purchase more than 10,000 units, we can reduce it to $19.
恐怕我们不能降低这个品牌衬衣的价格。20.15美元已经是我们的最低价了。如果你能买1万件以上的话，我们可以把单价降到19美元。
点评：这句话应该是商业场合中出现的。价格的数字是值得注意的地方，20.15 和19 美元应该做下笔记。