1、专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷 69及答案与解析 一、 PART V WRITING 1 “Road rage“, a psychological byproduct of auto society, refers to the uncontrollable anger of a driver on the road, and it usually leads to more severe conflicts. With the number of cars booming in China, it is more likely for Chinese drivers to suffered f
2、rom road rage. The phenomenon is further highlighted by a recent survey in which 35 percent of 900 respondents admitted they had been guilty of aggressive driving including sudden lane changes and overtaking by force. The following article is about road rage in China. Write an article of NO LESS THA
3、N 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize the main idea of the article, and then 2. express your opinion towards road rage in China. China to Its Reckless Drivers: Rein in Your Road Rage Bad driving The past few weeks, state media have reported several grievous examples of road rage across Chin
4、a. In early May, a BMW car driven by a young woman collided with a bus in the eastern city of Xuzhou when she tried to change lane. During an ensuing argument, the woman asked two male friends to assault the bus driver and then verbally abused traffic policemen upon their arrival. During the same we
5、ek, a Mercedes-Benz car driver ran over and killed an elderly man in the southwestern city of Kunming, after the driver tried to cut in line at a toll booth and got into an argument with the victims family. One of the most disturbing incidents was caught on camera on May, as a high-speed chase betwe
6、en two cars in the southwestern Chinese city of Chengdu only ended when the male driver forced the female driver ahead of him to stop under an elevated highway. What happened next shocked and outraged the nation: He dragged her out of the car, threw her to the ground and viciously beat her showing n
7、o mercy even when she tried to escape. Not so fast Public opinion shifted, however, when dashcam footage from the male drivers car emerged. That video, taken before the incident, showed the female driver cutting in front of him at the last second to take a nearly missed highway exit. Many of the wom
8、ans sympathizers online turned against her, stirring a national debate on drivers behaving badly and road rage with thousands of comments calling reckless driving as appalling as wanton violence. Law of the jungle Under the watchful eyes of her instructor, Liang meticulously practiced the steps of s
9、tarting a manual-shift car. Like the nearly 28 million people who received a new drivers license last year, she also had to sit through a class on how to become a “safe and civilized driver.“ The class and a mandatory test on the subject are all part of the governments effort to nip the problems of
10、bad drivers and road rage in the bud, as the authorities tighten traffic rules and increase penalties for violators. “Offensive driving caused by road rage is a severe violation of law that disrupts traffic order and endangers safety,“ said the Ministry of Public Security in a statement after the Ch
11、engdu incident. “Drivers should consciously overcome their road rage.“ Traffic police departments in cities like Beijing even produce nightly television shows that air on local channels, highlighting the potentially deadly consequences of road rage through footage of horrific accidents. For now, the
12、 law of the jungle anything goes still seems to rule the streets of China, with millions of new cars and news drivers hitting the road every year that may add to the chaos, anger and danger. 2 What if the government simply paid everyone enough so that no one was poor? Thats the so called “universal
13、basic income“ or UBI. Its an insane idea thats gaining an unlikely alliance of supporters. The follow excerpt provides details of this idea. Write an article of NO LESS THAN 800 words, in which you should: 1. summarize the basic idea of UBI and its justification, and then 2. express your opinion tow
14、ards it, especially whether it is practical in the near future. A Universal Basic Income Is the Solution to Poverty Theres a simple way to end poverty: the government just gives everyone enough money, so nobody is poor. No ifs, buts, conditions, or tests. Everyone gets the minimum they need to survi
15、ve, even if they already have plenty. This, in essence, is “universal basic income “ or “guaranteed basic income“ where, instead of multiple income assistance programs, we have just one: a single payment to all citizens, regardless of background, gender, or race. Its a policy idea that sounds crazy
16、at first, but actually begins to make sense when you consider some recent trends. The first is that work isnt what it used to be. Many people now struggle through a 50-hour week and still dont have enough to live on. There are many reasons for thisincluding the heartlessness of employers and the wea
17、kness of unions but its a fact. Work no longer pays. The wages of most American workers have stagnated or declined since the 1970s. The second: its likely to get worse. Robots already do many menial tasks. In the future, theyll do more sophisticated jobs as well. A study from Oxford University found
18、 that 47% of jobs are at risk of computerization over the next two decades. Were approaching an era when there will simply be less to do. The third is that traditional welfare is both not what it used to be and not very efficient. The value of welfare for families with children is now well below wha
19、t it was in the 1990s, for example. For these reasons and others, the idea of a basic income for everyone is becoming increasingly popular. The exact details of basic income still need to be worked out, but it might work something like this: Instead of welfare payments, subsidies for health care, an
20、d tax credits for the working poor, we would take that money and use it to cover a single payment that would give someone the chance to live reasonably. A pilot in the 1970s in Manitoba, Canada, showed that a “Mincome“ not only ended poverty but also reduced hospital visits and raised high-school co
21、mpletion rates. There seemed to be a community-affirming effect, which showed itself in people making use of free public services more responsibly. Meanwhile, there were eight “negative income tax“ trials in the U.S. in the 70s, where people received payments and the government clawed back most of i
22、t in taxes based on your other income. The results for those trials were more mixed. They reduced poverty, but people also worked slightly less than normal. To some, this is the major drawback of basic income: it could make people lazier than they would otherwise be. That would certainly be a proble
23、m, though its questionable whether, in the future, there will be as much employment anyway. The age of robots and artificial intelligence seems likely to hollow out many jobs, perhaps changing how we view notions of laziness and productivity altogether. 3 Regarding the serious congestion in mega cit
24、ies, authorities proposed that government should levy congestion fees on cars entering certain sections of their city areas. Naturally, this suggestion is quick to draw fire. The following are opinions on the effectiveness of charging congestion fees. Read them carefully and write your response in N
25、O LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the opinions from both sides; 2. give your comment on this practice. Car owners Mark Hough: The reason for good traffic volume in cities like Tokyo and Paris is not that they collect congestion fees, but rather improved planning. The g
26、overnment is obligated to provide the public with solutions. Car owners are already subject to a multitude of taxes like the fuel tax. The levying of congestion fees is therefore unjustifiable. Moreover, the experience of certain developed countries suggests that traffic congestion fees may cause ro
27、ads to become even more crowded than before. Most of the collected fees are not spent on improving the traffic situation and road planning, but are rather embezzled as administrative expenses on other items. When it comes to the management of congestion, the market rule is by no means the only princ
28、iple to follow. Gila Albert: Several major reasons exist for traffic congestion: underdeveloped public traffic systems, too many automobiles on the roads, and the concentration of central business districts. Therefore, to cope with congestion, rather than exclusively relying on charging congestion f
29、ees, other supplementary policies should be put in place. Cities are expanding while more and more families are coming to possess one or more cars. If the fees are collected, they will be the major contributors. Generally, when the price for a public product is to be raised, a hearing on the issue i
30、s held, so why has this not been the case in this instance? This new fee will affect most families in cities, hence it must be planned carefully. With important issues, decision makers must lend an ear to the public before a decision is made. Traffic Experts Shi Hongju: Big cities tend to act as a m
31、agnet for job hunters owing to job opportunities as well as the various forms of welfare benefits and modern conveniences they offer. Whether or not traffic congestion fees will really enable traffic to run more smoothly, however, is a disputable point. Examples of failed schemes involving price hik
32、es can be seen everywhere: from relieving pressure on railway transportation networks by raising ticket prices to reducing the number of visitors to scenic areas by jacking up the price of admission. Rather than being functional, these measures could easily be interpreted as similarly exploitative.
33、Jake McGoldrick: London has applied congestion fees in central areas since 2003, but this is no excuse for all other cities to follow suit. Traffic congestion is a multifaceted problem, and though the results of levying congestion fees in London have proven effective, blindly copying its model would
34、 be irresponsible. Be it congestion fees or license plate restrictions, car owners legitimate rights and interests are being harmed. If measures to address traffic problems come at the expense of the public interest and fail to solve the underlying causes of the problem, they will be inevitably subj
35、ect to doubt and criticism. 4 Female-only buses have been introduced in many countries with varying degrees of success. Some think these buses can more or less protect women from groping and harassment. But some hold that such single-sex transport is a relatively discrimination. The following two ex
36、cerpts introduce the implementation of this practice in Mexico and China respectively. Write an article of NO LESS THAN 300 words, in which you should: 1. summarize briefly the two excerpts, and then 2. give your comment on this practice. Excerpt 1 Groping and verbal harassment is an exasperating re
37、ality for women using public transportation in Mexico City, where 22 million passengers cram onto subways and buses each day. Acting on complaints from womens groups, the city rolled out “ladies only“ buses, complete with pink signs in the windshields to wave off the men. As word spreads about the b
38、uses, the women seem delighted, while some men forced to wait a few minutes longer have shown their anger. Still others have stumbled on board despite the signs, much to their embarrassment. On Thursday, when a man mistakenly climbed aboard on one of the female-only buses, the women immediately bega
39、n teasing him and shouting that he should read the “ladies only“ sign. The man blushed and mumbled an apology, then ignored the taunts until he got off several stops later. Mexico Citys female-only buses run along three busy routes throughout the day for now, but the city plans to add them to 15 oth
40、er routes by April, said Ariadna Montiel, who directs the public bus system. “Women were asking for this service because of the sexual harassment, especially groping and leering,“ Montiel said. And while some men have complained that they have to wait longer for a bus, she said the women are thrille
41、d: “The women are really happy and we have been getting a lot of e-mail and letters from them.“ Excerpt 2 The introduction of a women-only bus, a relatively new concept in China, in Zhengzhou has riled some local men and sparked an online debate. The new summer service will run during morning and ev
42、ening rush hours in the eastern city of Zhengzhou, in an effort to cut the number of groping incidents, Dahe Daily reports. The local bus company says itll protect women from being harassed when wearing lighter clothing, and also help breastfeeding mothers feel more comfortable. Women interviewed on
43、 board the bus said they were pleased with the service. But some local men are less impressed. One tells that harassment isnt common on public transport: “The bus company has made a fuss over it this measure will cause men to feel humiliated.“ Another man complains: “I had to wait a really long time
44、 for another bus to arrive because I wasnt allowed on.“ A video that has gone viral shows an elderly man remonstrating with the driver after being denied boarding. “Youre discriminating against me! This is a public bus!“ he shouts. Others appear unfazed, and wander off in search of another service.
45、Its become a hot topic of debate on microblogging site Weibo, with lots of women welcoming the idea, although one notes: “Not all men are bad, but arent all men being discriminated against here?“ Theres support from male users too, although some think it promotes a general distrust of men. Many also
46、 feel an exception should have been made for the elderly man in the video. 专业英语八级（作文）模拟试卷 69答案与解析 一、 PART V WRITING 1 【正确答案】 Safe Traffic Starts from Controlling Road Rage Reportedly, road rage has swept across China in the past few weeks. Drivers got into severe physical altercations for traffic co
47、nflict such as lane cutting, fast driving and speed racing, which arouses serious social problems as well as a heated nationwide discussion on drivers violent behaviors and road rage. In order to prevent road rage from frequently happening, government has kept a tight rein on the driving tests and t
48、raffic rules, and launched a more extensive campaign, trying to improve drivers behaviors through regulatory means. Yet with an increasing number of vehicles and drivers hitting the road, road rage seems to be worsening. From where I stand, road rage is a social illness that results from not only th
49、e driver himself but also the slack regulation of government. On the one hand, along with the development of society, people are faced with various stresses and yet have few places to let out. Naturally, drivers are inclined to release their anger on the road and enter into conflicts with others, causing all kinds of road tragedies and even posing a potential threat to pedestrians. Therefore, it is high time that drivers learnt to control their stress and mood before driving by seeking for professional help. On the other hand, cars and dri
