★ 2008 年
In this section of the test you will have the chance to show how well you can express yourself in written English. Read the following passage and answer the questions below.
Most city-folk believe that animals are for petting, not eating. Yet, because farms deliver a product to people far removed from its production, it is easy to forget that we meat eaters are slaughterers too — at least by proxy. Beginning in the 1990s, animal welfare advocates like People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals began to inform the consuming public about the realities of so-called factory farming. They explained how cows, pigs and poultry are often condemned to sunless and sometimes awful lives, only to die with needless cruelty. These advocates led protests against the largest hamburger chains. After initial resistance, in 2001 the chains agreed to some improvements. McDonald’s and Burger King imposed guidelines for their meat and egg suppliers: extra water, wing room, and fresh air for egg-laying hens; electric shock stunning of pigs and cattle before slaughter. Perhaps this is more than you wanted to know about the life and death of the creatures who made that ham and eggs on your plate possible. Yet many Americans are increasingly interested in asking. Retailers see advantages in appealing to kinder and gentler meat-eaters. There is a growing realization that this humane movement is a long-term movement and this is part of our responsibility for our choices as consumers. Whether to eat the meat of animals treated very badly during their lifetimes or to buy so-called blood diamonds or clothes made in sweatshops become parallel questions, and changing consumer choices reflect a profound shift of attitudes.
According to the above text, consumer society has a big effect on the lives of both animals and people around the world. What is your own opinion about this issue? Have you ever thought about where your food comes from, or even where your clothes come from? Do you think that the behaviour of farmers, companies or consumers should change, or do you think that the current situation is basically acceptable?
Please write around 100 words using your own English to describe your thoughts and opinions. Try to think of ideas and evidence to support your opinions.
★ 2007 年
In this section of the test you will have the chance to show how well you can express yourself in written English. Read the following passage and answer the questions below.
Conflicting reports about the health risks of mobile phones appeared in the late 1990’s. Given the immense numbers of mobile users, even small adverse effects on health could have major public implications.
In 2000, the Stewart Report found that no known health problems were caused by mobile phones, but advised caution especially among the young, until more research was carried out. A further report in 2004 backed this up.
Are mobile phones dangerous?
| Yes | No |
| Radio waves given off by mobiles can heat up body tissue, having damaging effects. | Radio waves are not powerful enough to cause heat damage to the body. |
| People who make long mobile phone calls sometimes complain of fatigue, headaches, and loss of concentration. | The same results have never been reported in laboratory conditions and may be due to other factors in modern lifestyles. |
| Mobile phone users are 2.5 times more likely to develop cancer in areas of the brain adjacent to their phone ears. | Researchers admit it’s unclear this increase is linked to using mobiles. |
The do’s and don’ts of mobile phone use:
| Do’s | Don’ts |
| Only use your phone when necessary. | Don’t buy a phone with an internal aerial, you want the aerial as far away from your head as possible. |
| Keep the calls short. | Don’t use your phone when the reception is weak, the phone needs more power to communicate with the base station, and so the radio wave emissions are higher. |
| Buy a phone with a long ‘talk time’. It is more efficient, with less powerful emissions. | Don’t buy protective gadgets unless they have been independently tested. |
The information above describes possible risks associated with the use of mobile phones. Do you share any of these concerns? Should we take these warnings seriously or do you think that they are at all exaggerated? Do you think these concerns might affect the way you use your mobile phone? Please write around 100 words using your own English to describe your thoughts and opinions. Try to think of ideas and evidence to support your opinion.
You may use the space below to take notes and organize your answer. Write your answer in English on the separate answer sheet.
★ 2006 年
In this section of the test you will have the chance to show how well you can express yourself in written English. Read the following passage and answer the question that follows.
It was 8 P.M. by the time Jan Brown returned from work. Exhausted from the long day, she ignored the ringing phone at first. Then she heard her ex-husband on the answering machine telling her that their nine-year-old daughter, Kandy, was missing. “The police,” Brown says, “suspected foul play.”
The smart, lively kid whom everyone loved, and who sang in her church choir, was discovered two weeks later on an empty lot, shot at close range with her hands tied behind her.
“When authorities called me, I got up from the couch, walked into the bedroom, and screamed and screamed,” says Brown. “I couldn’t stop. Having your child brutally murdered — the effect on your life can’t be described.”
On the same day that Kandy was found, 44-year-old junk dealer James Otto Earhart — a loner who still lived with his mother — was arrested in connection with her murder.
Brown couldn’t get the image of Kandy’s remains out of her head, and a couple months later checked herself into a hospital, unable to function. “I didn’t know where to put my pain,” she says. “I thought about killing myself all the time.”
Earhart, who admitted to picking up Kandy and driving her around, denied he had killed her, but traces of her blood were found in his car. He was sentenced to die and spent the next 11 years on death row.
“I was imprisoned all those years too,” says Jan Brown. “For a long time, I was in bed under the covers.”
Haunted by visions of what her daughter’s last minutes had been like, she wrote Earhart and tried to see him, to no avail. “I couldn’t talk to the guy who killed my daughter,” says Brown.
“Yet there was a connection between Earhart and me. It’s not what you know that kills you. It’s what you don’t know, because then you have to imagine it.”
Such feelings and frustrations are common among the millions of Americans who are directly affected by the murder of a family member or close friend. Today, a growing movement called restorative justice (RJ) offers family members and victims of various crimes — violent as well as non-violent — the opportunity to sit down with their offenders in order to gain real information, begin healing and move on. The free programs started cropping up in the U.S. about 30 years ago. Now they operate in almost every state.
To assure a positive outcome, the meetings — which usually last several hours, sometimes over a period of days — are monitored by trained facilitators and follow an extensive preparation that can take up to a year. During this time, the facilitator works with both victim and inmate individually, asking each to describe what happened and why, and their goals for the session, and then passes the answers to the other party.
Do you think that restorative justice (RJ) could be an effective program? Please describe the advantages and disadvantages of this system according to your own opinion.
In 100 words, use reasons and specific examples to support your ideas. Write your answer in English.
★ 2005 年
In this section of the test you will have the chance to show how well you can express yourself in written English. Read the following paragraph and answer the question below.
It’s easy to believe foreigners are to blame for the rising crime rate in Japan, says an American sociologist examining the issue. However, he believes that a closer look needs to be taken at the way the crime rate of foreigners is portrayed here by the media. In recent years it has framed its crime problems in two groups (youth and foreigners), focusing primarily on the latter. The claims in that frame generally distort a lot ― it misleads a lot and leaves out a lot. He cited media reports about increases in crimes committed by foreigners, when in actuality the number of foreigners arrested constitute less than 5 percent of all arrests. He suggests that the number of foreign arrests may be rising simply because the police have begun to increase their crackdowns among groups of foreigners. What criminologists know for sure is that the more law enforcement resources you focus on one targeted group, the more law enforcement violations you are going to find.
Do you agree or disagree with the opinion in the above paragraph? In 100-120 words, use reasons and specific examples to support your opinion.