[I] Such findings， which run counter to common sense， have surfaced before。 In a multi-state study of assisted living， for instance， University of North Carolina researchers found that a host of variables—the facility’s type， size or age; whether a chain owned it; how attractive the neighborhood was—had no significant relationship to how the residents fared in terms of illness， mental decline， hospitalizations or mortality。 What mattered most was the residents’ physical health and mental status。 What people were like when they came in had greater consequence than what happened one they were there。
[J] As I was considering all this， a press release from a respected research firm crossed my desk， announcing that the five-star rating system that Medicare developed in 2008 to help families compare nursing home quality also has little relationship to how satisfied its residents or their family members are。 As a matter of fact， consumers expressed higher satisfaction with the one-star facilities， the lowest rated， than with the five-star ones。 (More on this study and the star ratings will appear in a subsequent post。)
[K] Before we collectively tear our hair out—how are we supposed to find our way in a landscape this confusing?—here is a thought from Dr。 Philip Sloane， a geriatrician(老年病学专家)at the University of North Carolina：“In a way， that could be liberating for families。”
[L] Of course， sons and daughters want to visit the facilities， talk to the administrators and residents and other families， and do everything possible to fulfill their duties。 But perhaps they don’t have to turn themselves into private investigators or Congressional subcommittees。 “Families can look a bit more for where the residents are going to be happy，” Dr。 Sloane said。 And involving the future resident in the process can be very important。
[M] We all have our own ideas about what would bring our parents happiness。 They have their ideas， too。 A friend recently took her mother to visit an expensive assisted living/nursing home near my town。 I have seen this place—it is elegant， inside and out。 But nobody greeted the daughter and mother when they arrived， though the visit had been planned; nobody introduced them to the other residents。 When they had lunch in the dining room， they sat alone at a table。
[N] The daughter feared her mother would be ignored there， and so she decided to move her into a more welcoming facility。 Based on what is emerging from some of this research， that might have been as rational a way as any to reach a decision。
36。 Many people feel guilty when they cannot find a place other than a nursing home for their parents。
37.Though it helps for children to investigate care facilities， involving their parents in the decision-making process may prove very important。
38.It is really difficult to tell if assisted living is better than a nursing home。
39.How a resident feels depends on an interaction between themselves and the care facility they live in。
40.The author thinks her friend made a rational decision in choosing a more hospitable place over an apparently elegant assisted living home。
41.The system Medicare developed to rate nursing home quality is of little help to finding a satisfactory place。
42.At first the researchers of the most recent study found residents in assisted living facilities gave higher scores on social interaction。
43.What kind of care facility old people live in may be less important than we think。
44.The findings of the latest research were similar to an earlier multi-state study of assisted living。
45.A resident’s satisfaction with a care facility has much to do with whether they had participated in the decision to move in and how long they had stayed there。
Section C
Directions： There are 2 passages in this section。 Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements。 For each of them there are four choices marked A)，B)，C) and D)。 You should decide on the best choice and mark the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2 with a single line through the centre。
Passage one
Questions 46 to 50 are based on the following passage。
As Artificial Intelligence(AI) becomes increasingly sophisticated， there are growing concerns that robots could become a threat。 This danger can be avoided， according to computer science professor Stuart Russell， if we figure out how to turn human values into a programmable code。
Russell argues that as robots take on more complicated tasks， it’s necessary to translate our morals into AI language。
For example， if a robot does chores around the house， you wouldn’t want it to put the pet cat in the oven to make dinner for the hungry children。 “You would want that robot preloaded with a good set of values，” said Russell。
Some robots are already programmed with basic human values。 For example， mobile robots have been programmed to keep a comfortable distance from humans。 Obviously there are cultural differences， but if you were talking to another person and they came up close in your personal space， you wouldn’t think that’s the kind of thing a properly brought-up person would do。
It will be possible to create more sophisticated moral machines， if only we can find a way to set out human values as clear rules。
Robots could also learn values from drawing patterns from large sets of data on human behavior。 They are dangerous only if programmers are careless。
The biggest concern with robots going against human values is that human beings fail to so sufficient testing and they’ve produced a system that will break some kind of taboo(禁忌)。
One simple check would be to program a robot to check the correct course of action with a human when presented with an unusual situation。
If the robot is unsure whether an animal is suitable for the microwave， it has the opportunity to stop， send out beeps(嘟嘟声)， and ask for directions from a human。 If we humans aren’t quite sure about a decision， we go and ask somebody else。
The most difficult step in programming values will be deciding exactly what we believe in moral， and how to create a set of ethical rules。 But if we come up with an answer， robots could be good for humanity。
46.What does the author say about the threat of robots?
A)It may constitute a challenge to computer progranmers。
B)It accompanies all machinery involving high technology。
C)It can be avoided if human values are translated into their language。
D)It has become an inevitable peril as technology gets more sophisticated。
47.What would we think of a person who invades our personal space according to the author?
A)They are aggressive。
B)They are outgoing。
C)They are ignorant。
D)They are ill-bred。
48.How do robots learn human values?
A)By interacting with humans in everyday life situations。
B)By following the daily routines of civilized human beings。
C)By picking up patterns from massive data on human behavior。
D)By imitating the behavior of property brought-up human beings。
49.What will a well-programmed robot do when facing an unusual situation?
A)keep a distance from possible dangers。
B)Stop to seek advice from a human being。
C)Trigger its built-in alarm system at once。
D)Do sufficient testing before taking action。
50.What is most difficult to do when we turn human values into a programmable code?
A)Determine what is moral and ethical。
B)Design some large-scale experiments。
C)Set rules for man-machine interaction。
D)Develop a more sophisticated program。
Passage Two
Questions 51 to 55 are based on the following passage。
Why do some people live to be older than others? You know the standard explanations： keeping a moderate diet， engaging in regular exercise， etc。 But what effect does your personality have on your longevity(长寿)?Do some kinds of personalities lead to longer lives? A new study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society looked at this question by examining the personality characteristics of 246 children of people who had lived to be at least 100。
The study shows that those living the longest are more outgoing， more active and less neurotic (神经质的) than other people。 Long-living women are also more likely to be sympathetic and cooperative than women with a normal life span。 These findings are in agreement with what you would expect from the evolutionary theory： those who like to make friends and help others can gather enough resources to make it through tough times。
Interestingly， however， other characteristics that you might consider advantageous had no impact on whether study participants were likely to live longer。 Those who were more self-disciplined， for instance， were no more likely to live to be very old。 Also， being open to new ideas had no relationship to long life， which might explain all those bad-tempered old people who are fixed in their ways。
Whether you can successfully change your personality as an adult is the subject of a longstanding psychological debate。 But the new paper suggests that if you want long life， you should strive to be as outgoing as possible。
Unfortunately， another recent study shows that your mother’s personality may also help determine your longevity。 That study looked at nearly 28，000 Norwegian mothers and found that those moms who were more anxious， depressed and angry were more likely to feed their kids unhealthy diets。 Patterns of childhood eating can be hard to break when we’re adults， which may mean that kids of depressed moms end up dying younger。
Personality isn’t destiny(命运)， and everyone knows that individuals can learn to change。 But both studies show that long life isn’t just a matter of your physical health but of your mental health。
51。 The aim of the study in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society is____。
A)to see whether people’s personality affects their life span
B)to find out if one’s lifestyle has any effect on their health
C)to investigate the role of exercise in living a long life
D)to examine all the factors contributing to longevity
52。 What does the author imply about outgoing and sympathetic people?
A)They have a good understanding of evolution。
B)They are better at negotiating an agreement。
C)They generally appear more resourceful。
D)They are more likely to get over hardship。
53。 What finding of the study might prove somewhat out of our expectation?
A)Easy-going people can also live a relatively long life。
B)Personality characteristics that prove advantageous actually vary with times。
C)Such personality characteristics as self-discipline have no effect on longevity。
D)Readiness to accept new ideas helps one enjoy longevity。
54。 What does the recent study of Norwegian mothers show?
A)Children’s personality characteristics are invariably determined by their mothers。
B)People with unhealthy eating habits are likely to die sooner。
C)Mothers’ influence on children may last longer than fathers’。
D)Mothers’ negative personality characteristics may affect their children’s life spans。
55.What can we learn from the findings of the two new studies?
A)Anxiety and depression more often than not cut short one’s life span。
B)Longevity results from a combination of mental and physical health。
C)Personality plays a decisive role in how healthy one is。
D)Health is in large part related to one’s lifestyle。
Part IV Translation (30 minutes)
Directions： For this part， you are allowed 30 minutes to translate a passage from Chinese into English。 You should write your answer on the ANSWER SHEET 2。
功夫(Kong Fu) 是中国武术(martial arts)的俗称。中国武术的起源可以追溯到自卫的需要，狩猎活动以及古代中国的军士训练。它是中国传统体育运动的一种，年轻人和老年人都练。它已逐渐演变成了中国文化的独特元素。作为中国的国宝，武术有上百种不同的风格，是世界上练得最多的武术形式。有些风格模仿了动物的动作，还有一些则受到了中国哲学思想，神话和传说的启发。
