Part I Writing
One possible version:
A High Diploma and a Good Job
Nowadays, a vast majority of people are inclined to believe that if a person has a higher education diploma, he will surely have a promising career. That is why so many university students are working so hard to become master or doctor candidates. Every day they spend their time acquiring as much knowledge as possible. In addition, we see many parents urging their children to go to various guidance classes in order to be successful in the fierce competition. Only if you have a good education can you stand out among so many job applicants and be picked out by your potential employer, thus starting the path to a promising career.
There are also many others who don’t agree. They think that a person with a high diploma won’t necessarily get a good job. In their opinion, what really counts is one’s ability. What our society needs the most are highly capable people. They point out that there exist in all walks of life a large number of people with good scores but low abilities.
In my opinion, both sides are partly right. We shouldn’t pay too much attention to either diplomas or abilities. Taking all factors into consideration, we can safely draw the conclusion that our society needs citizens who are both well-educated and highly capable.
Part II
Reading Comprehension
(Skimming and Scanning)
1. N。参见第四段中“You’d assume airlines would just want to get us on the plane as quickly as possible. But nothing could be further from the truth.” 可知，此处讲你可能会认为航空公司只是想让我们尽快登机，而事实并非如此。
2. N。参见第五段可知，此处讲Lee Paulson，一个华盛顿非赢利组织的经理说到，联合航空公司对精英乘客和普通乘客区别对待，精英乘客从红地毯先登机，而其他的较为贫穷的乘客站在旁边的黑地毯上。这是精英人士的势利行为，而且这样登机效率也不高。
3. NG。参见第六段可知除了联合航空公司，Delta航空公司也对精英乘客的登机时间给予特殊优待，说明这种现象并不少见，但不能据此就推断出绝大多数的美国航空公司都这样。
4. Y。参见第八段作者提出来的几点质疑及第九段中 “I’m not hopeful that anything I write will change the way in which these chronically unprofitable companies operate.” 可知，此处讲作者并不是希望他(她)所写的东西能改变这些长期以来不赢利的公司的运转模式。结合两个段落可知作者不赞成一些航空公司在乘客登机这一事件上对乘客区别对待的做法。
5. N。本题定位在小标题 “Pack Tight and Light”下的段落，参见第十段中“The fact is that the lighter your load, the faster you’ll board. And, the faster the passengers standing in line behind you will be able to board faster, too.”可知，此处讲你装的行李越轻，你登机就越快，而且排队在你后面的人也能登机越快，很显然你的行李装的怎样只对排在你后面的乘客有影响，而不会影响你前面的乘客。
6. Y。本题定位在小标题“Don’t Hold Up the Flight”下的段落，参见第十二段中“How do you avoid the jam? Arrange your luggage quickly and get out of the aisle immediately so that others can pass.” 可知，此处讲应该怎样避免飞机上拥挤呢？你应该快速地把行李放好，然后立即让出走道，这样其他乘客才能迅速通过。
7. NG。本题定位在小标题“Better Yet, Bring Nothing (or Close to It)”下的段落，参见第十四段可知，如果我们带的随身行李少，我们登机的速度会更快，但不见得将来会有更多乘客不携带随身行李。
8. the process by up to 10 times。参见第二段中 “Fermilab’s Jason Steffen recently published a research paper in the Journal of Air Transport Management that concluded loading smaller groups of passengers in every other row could accelerate the process by up to 10 times.” 可知，此处讲费尔米实验室的Jason Steffen最近在《航空运输管理》杂志上发表了一篇研究论文，该论文的结论是在飞机上每隔一排少坐一些乘客会使登机的速度比以前快10倍。
9. their carry-on bags。 本题定位在小标题“Be First in Line”下的段落，参见第十一段中“Latecomers, on the other hand, are disadvantaged in many ways. There may not be enough room for their carry-on bags.” 可知，此处讲另一方面，对于晚到的乘客来说，很多方面对他们不利，如他们的随身行李可能没有足够的空间摆放。
10. “underpaid and mistreated”。参见文章的倒数第一段中“He told me he’s tired of indifferent gate agents that allow chaos in the boarding area, and understands they think it is acceptable behavior because they’re ‘underpaid and mistreated’.” 可知，此处讲他告诉我他厌倦了那些无动于衷的登机口工作人员的做法，他们对登机区乱糟糟的局面不管不问，而且他了解到这些人接受此类做法是因为他们认为自己薪水低且受到了不公正的待遇。 |
