Part IClozeDirections:There are 20 blanks in the following passage. For each blank there are four choices marked A), B), C) and D). You should choose theONEthat best fits into the passage.One thing that impacted me the most this year is how precious time has become. Granted, I do not believe there is (1)________ generation that has claimed differently. (2)________ has happened is our increment of time has become smaller (3)________ smaller, to the point that we almost struggle to measure it.With the ability to send things electronically, days became (4)________ . Hours became seconds. And seconds became nanoseconds. If you've watched the movie, Almost Famous, you might share (5)________ me a similar gasp as the editor at Rolling Stones ecstatically talks about (6)________ able to fax one page every 18 minutes.I think about even (7)________ simplest jobs I do today. People expect from me immediate responses via email or cell-phone. They look that even when I'm thousands of miles (8)________ I'm still responsible to answer and stay connected. (9)________ do I ever see people take true vacations anymore, where they don't touch work related material at all. More often than (10)________ , people spend at least (11)________ of their off time "catching up" on email because there isn't time (12)________ to do so.Recently, I started to run a software (13)________ my computer that my husband has had for (14)________ time now. I was thrilled that it ran faster on my computer (15)________ his. He then got a computer upgrade. His computer became the faster one. Though the time difference was (16)________ a matter of seconds, it felt almost unbearable.If (17)________ else, time has become a very precious commodity. It's more expensive than platinum. It's harder to come by than the rarest gems. And when (18)________ , there's no way to replenish it.So my note (19)________ my readers this year, watch (20)________ you spend your time and take care of it. Throughout this year, I will insert articles between my other topics that will talk about Internet time-saving tips.
Part IITranslationDirections:This part is to test your ability to translate English into Chinese. For the sentences you will read four choices of suggested translation. You should choose the best translation. For the paragraph(s), you should write your translation in the blank(s) provided.