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Directions:
Read the following four texts. Answer the questions after each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (40 points)
Your emotions help you make sense of the world. At the core of an emotion is a subjective experience of the valence of it—what emotion scientists call “affect.” Regardless of your situation, your emotions are quick to weigh in, and generally speaking, affect is what we are most focused on. Do you have chocolate cake in front of you? That’s good! Do you see a spider on the table? That’s bad!
Your affective reactions tell you which experiences are desirable, and which aren’t, but the total emotional experience includes what your body does, what thoughts you have, the context you are in and sensitive to, your urges, and your motivation. Emotions aren’t a simple guide but you can learn a lot by observing and describing them. You can learn a lot by appreciating their secret life.
The problem is this: The affective features of emotions tend to dominate. Our subjective valence of emotion is almost all we can see. When emotions are only about what is pleasant or unpleasant in subjective experience right now, the more important features of emotion disappear.
If you can slow down and expand; if you stop running or clinging and adopt a sense of curiosity, emotions become more nuanced and differentiated. When fear comes up, don’t just walk away so that fear dissipates . Instead, stay. Allow yourself to feel the nervousness, the churning of your stomach, the weak knees, the sweating, and everything else that comes along with it. It’s one of the hardest things to do in life, but it’s also one of the most rewarding. If you run, you are telling basic parts of your brain, “I guess this threat really was real. I better crank up the emotional lever, so I’m protected next time.” You are training yourself to fear, regardless of that situation. If you cling, you are saying, “Change from this emotion is a threat” and since that is itself not a happy place to be, happiness slips through your hands like sand.
Note that you cannot fool yourself. If you open up to an emotion in order to get rid of it, you will be disappointed. Allow the full emotion—without ifs or buts. They have a role to play that is richer and far more interesting than their subjective valence in the present.
You will never enter into their secret life until you stop running or clinging. If you want healthy control of your life, you need to actively train your emotions to be your ally. Observe. Describe. Appreciate. Do that and you may find you have allies for healthy living that were there all along.
21. In the first paragraph, chocolate cake and spider are mentioned to show __________.
[A] the goodness and badness of the world
[B] the subjective experience of emotions
[C] the complex response of emotions
[D] the significance of emotions in life
22. What can we infer from Paragraph 3?
[A] It is much easier to observe and describe emotions.
[B] The more important traits of emotions are hard to see.
[C] The subjective and objective experience are mixed.
[D] The pleasant and unpleasant feelings are important.
23. The word “dissipates” (Para. 4) is closest in meaning to __________.
[A] vanishes
[B] diffuses
[C] differs
[D] sharpens
24. According to the author, what is the problem if you run when fear comes up?
[A] Running makes you confident next time when facing real fear.
[B] Running will make you feel threatened and fearful next time.
[C] Running from fear is a threat to the basic parts of our brain.
[D] Running is the least rewarding response in our brain.
25. The text mainly discusses __________.
[A] the subjective experience of emotions
[B] how to find allies for our healthy living
[C] magical functions of emotions in our life
[D] getting into the secret life of emotions
Everyone wants to be authentic. You want to be true to yourself, not a slavish follower of social expectations. You want to “live your best life,” pursuing your particular desires, rather than falling in line with whatever everyone else thinks happiness requires. Studies have even shown that feelings of authenticity can go hand in hand with numerous psychological and social benefits: higher self-esteem, greater well-being, better romantic relationships and enhanced work performance.
Although most people would define authenticity as acting in accordance with your own set of values and qualities, research has shown that people feel most authentic when they conform to a particular set of socially approved qualities, such as being extroverted, emotionally stable, conscientious, intellectual and agreeable. This is the paradox of authenticity: In order to reap the many of the benefits of feeling authentic, you may have to betray your true nature.
From a psychological science standpoint, a person is considered authentic if he or she meets certain criteria. Authentic people have considerable self-knowledge and are motivated to learn more about themselves. They are equally interested in understanding their strengths and weaknesses, and they are willing to honestly reflect on feedback regardless of whether it is flattering or unflattering. Above all, authentic people behave in line with their unique values and qualities even if those characteristics may conflict with social conventions or other external influences.
But a number of studies have shown that people’s feelings of authenticity are often shaped by something other than their loyalty to their unique qualities. Paradoxically, feelings of authenticity seem to be related to a kind of social conformity. The research also finds that people report feeling most authentic when their behavior confirms to a specific pattern of qualities: namely, when they are extroverted, emotionally stable, conscientious, intellectual and agreeable.
So, when it comes time to actually make a judgment about our own authenticity, we may use criteria that are closer to how we judge the authenticity of an object such as food. A fruit tiramisu may be unique, but the authenticity of tiramisu is judged by its conformity to a conventional recipe. Similarly, it appears that the more we conform to social conventions about how a person should act, the more authentic we feel.
We want to believe that authenticity will bring us benefits. It’s not surprising that businesses such as Microsoft, BlueCross BlueShield, and Gap have worked with consultants to leverage authenticity in the workplace. However, until we learn more about whether being authentic reaps the same benefits as feeling authentic, we are left with a tough decision between loyalty to our true selves and conformity to social convention.
26. In most people’s eyes, being authentic is __________.
[A] acquiring what others think happiness is
[B] pursuing your own values and qualities
[C] having abundant mental benefits
[D] conforming to socially approved qualities
27. According to Paragraph 3, a person is regarded authentic most probably because he __________.
[A] meets some principles from psychology
[B] is willing to learn more about himself
[C] adheres to his own features which may contradict traditions
[D] understands others’ willingness to give feedback
28. Which of the following qualities would people possess if they feel authentic?
[A] unique viewpoints
[B] emotional instability
[C] conscious judgment
[D] outgoing personalities
29. The fruit tiramisu is mentioned in paragraph 5 in order to illustrate __________.
[A] we can feel more authentic by obeying more social conventions
[B] how to form our own authenticity by taking an example of food
[C] it is a traditional standard for making a new kind of food
[D] it can be judged by its conformity to a conventional recipe
30. What is the best title of this passage?
[A] Being Authentic—Everyone’s Desire
[B] Traditional Ways of Being Authentic
[C] The Inconvenient Truth about Authentic
[D] Conformity to Social Convention
Everyone knows that data are worth something. The biggest companies in the world base their businesses on them. Artificial-intelligence algorithms consume them in large amounts. But data are not like normal traded goods and services, such as apples and haircuts. They can be used time and again, like public goods. They also have spillover effects, both positive, such as helping to improve health care, and negative, such as breaches of personal information. That makes them far from easy to value.
A new report, led by Diane Coyle, an economist at the University of Cambridge, attempts to address this by understanding the value of data and who stands to benefit from it. She says market prices often do not ascribe full value to data because, in many cases, trading is too thin. Moreover, while much of society’s emphasis is on the dangers of misuse of personal data, the report chooses to highlight data’s contribution to “the broad economic well-being of all of society.” That gives it a much deeper value than a simple monetary one.
She outlines a variety of data types and uses. Some may be more useful in aggregate, others for individual purposes. For example, a patient’s medical records may be most valuable when they are combined with everyone else’s, while web-browsing history has value when it is used individually to bombard a person with advertisements. Timeliness also matters: phone-location records flowing in real-time for a car GPS-navigation system are useful for ten minutes, while today’s retail-sales transactions help forecast next year’s demand.
As yet the data economy does not distinguish such features well. Ms. Coyle argues that a new mindset is needed, as well as institutions, such as data trusts, to ensure information is fairly distributed. Personal information should not be regarded through the lens of “ownership” but “access rights,” she says. Hence, people may control how it is used, but should not treat it as a winning ticket to be monetized.
That should apply more broadly, she argues. For governments, the right strategy may be to make data freely accessible. Estimates for the value of open government data range from less than 0.1% to more than 7% of GDP. Companies also should consider privileging access to personal data above ownership of it. Try telling that to the tech giants, though. However, data are valued, they have no doubt about how valuable exclusive control is to them.
31. Data is different from normal traded goods and services in that __________.
[A] their value is difficult to estimate
[B] they can be used repeatedly
[C] AI algorithms feed on them
[D] they have negative effects if misused
32. Speaking of data, society often focuses on __________.
[A] their contribution to social development
[B] their effect on the economic growth
[C] the risk of misuse of personal data
[D] the dangers of losing monetary value
33. The author mentions a patient’s medical records to illustrate that some data may __________.
[A] be more valuable for individual purposes
[B] be different in terms of types and uses
[C] make it hard to protect privacy
[D] be more helpful when added together
34. According to Ms. Coyle, a new mindset and institutions are required to __________.
[A] ensure reasonable distribution of information
[B] emphasize the importance of information protection
[C] warn of the ownership of personal information
[D] prevent people from monetizing information
35. It can be learned from the text that government may need to __________.
[A] estimate the value of open data
[B] make data available for free
[C] apply data more broadly
[D] consider ownership of personal data
Every suit-dress sold by the likes of Gucci or Givenchy is billed as a must-have that season. But, it turns out, some are more must-have than others. For all the advertisements they generate, even leading fashion brands struggle to shift much more than half their wares at full price. The luxury world is desperately searching for new ways to find a worthy closet for this unwanted inventory.
Dealing with “end-of-season” merchandise is a particularly thorny problem for luxury brands. Offering discounts to off load ageing wares is a time-tested trick among retailers. But cutting prices to clear the shelves is a bad look for labels whose reason is to manifest exclusivity.
Fashion brands used to bin last year’s clothing quietly rather than sell them cheap. That changed after July 2018, when Burberry, a British supplier of upscale macs, faced a furore as it disclosed having destroyed $38m of clothes and fashion accessories. France will ban the practice entirely by 2023.
Luxury groups are reluctant to reduce production, given that goods can be sold for ten times what they cost to make. But putting up “Sale!!!” signs is considered unacceptable. Plus, says Luca Solca of Bernstein, a broker, “you have to weigh cash made from discounted sales with the damage done to the value of the brand.” Prada, a posh Italian label, said last year it would end all in store discounts.
Some brands’ offerings are so timeless—a Hermès handbag, say—that seasonality is not an issue. Others manage to get rid of old stuff by offering discreet “sample sales” to staff and their friends. Many of the clothes used to end up on the internet, sold cheaply on sites like Yoox and Saksoff5th.com.
None of this will be enough to get rid of an outmoded collection. To really shift stocks, brands now look to outdoor malls that group together “factory outlets”. The concept is booming. Out of an estimated €281bn in personal-luxury sales last year, €37bn were in such physical off-price stores, according to Bain, a consultancy. The figure has shot up by 85% in five years. But using the outlets for anything beyond liquidating inventory—for example by stocking them with cheaper, second-tier collections—is a way to dent a brand’s prestige permanently, warns Mr Solca. Best to keep only the most questionable styles and weirdest sizes in stock, and to push a brand’s real fans to Regent Street or Avenue Montaigne.
Two things may come to the rescue of exasperated inventory liquidators. The first is the rise of second-hand-clothes sales online: expect to see many “used” frocks on offer that are in fact brand new. The second is “up-cycling”, when an unsold dress gets trimmed, combined and dyed into a new fabulous outfit. For luxury brands, these two trends are unmissable.
36. It can be inferred from Paragraph 1 that luxury groups __________.
[A] excel at promoting seasonal must-have dresses
[B] succeed in shifting most of their wares at full price
[C] ponder ways to get rid of their unsold inventory
[D] struggle to lure fashionists into panic purchase
37. The reason why luxury brands rebuff offering discounts is that __________.
[A] it will harm a brand’s prestige
[B] it may end up with low yield
[C] it has been banned in stores
[D] it tallies with exclusiveness
38. The underlined word “furore” (Line 3, Para. 3) is closet in meaning to __________.
[A] commendation
[B] uproar
[C] reception
[D] introspection
39. The example of Hermès handbags in Paragraph 5 indicates that __________.
[A] mush-haves proved a fake concept
[B] sample-sales can save the situation
[C] the classics can stand the test of time
[D] selling online at full price works well
40. It can be inferred from Mr Solca’s warning that __________.
[A] factory outlets will eventually replace stores
[B] personal-luxury sales weakened the market
[C] chic brands are declining on a gradual basis
[D] turning to factory outlets is not a magic drug
Directions:
Read the following text and choose the best answer from the right column to complete each of the unfinished statements in the left column. There are two extra choices in the right column. Mark your answers on the ANSWER SHEET. (10 points)
Edieal Pinker, deputy dean of the Yale School of Management, bristles at the suggestion that the MBA, long seen as a stepping stone to corporate success, has been made less relevant by the covid-19 crisis. The traditional two-year degree remains vital, he insists. “Do you think the problems the pandemic created for society and the economy are narrow specialised problems or complex ones that cut across sectors and disciplines?”
His words would have sounded odd before the pandemic. The MBA was falling out of fashion. With the global economy booming, the opportunity cost of this pricey degree (top schools charge $100,000 or more a year) did not seem worthwhile to many.
Surely Mr Pinker’s defence of the MBA seems even odder in the new pandemic reality? On the contrary. “Students held up and schools stepped up,” says Sangeet Chowfla, head of the Graduate Management Admission Council (GMAC), an industry body. GMAC’s latest annual global survey of more than 300 business schools found that 66% of programmes saw applications rise. Has covid-19 saved the MBA?
At first the virus looked lethal. Lectures moved online, team exercises became socially distant and study-trips abroad were cancelled. That diminished the value of the MBA experience, which is “greatly enhanced by the opportunity to expand and diversify one’s professional network through in-person interactions”, says Scott DeRue, dean of the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business.
Some students, angry about social isolation and online education, demanded refunds. Many foreigners, a cash cow for Western schools, stayed away. Mr Chowfla points to the “one-flight dynamic”: horror stories about students kicked out of dorms getting stranded on layovers while returning home put many Asians off American schools.
America’s loss was Europe’s gain. With more direct connections to Asia, London Business School, HEC Paris and other top European schools reported rises in applications. Some Asian schools, too, benefited. They kept their doors open to international students, thanks to their countries’ better handling of the pandemic. Many applicants tended to aim for MBAs in the West but picked Asia at the last moment, says Sachin Tipnis of HKUBS.
Most surprising of all, given all that, American schools look poised for a banner 2021. After a few years of declining applications, MIT’s Sloan School of Management, Columbia Business School, the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and other top American programmes now report double-digit growth. “We enrolled the largest full-time MBA class ever,” beams Madhav Rajan, dean of the University of Chicago Booth School of Business. MBA applications typically rise in recessions, when a weaker job market means lower forgone salaries. But business schools deserve credit for adapting their business models—as their professors preach others to do.
Schools also boosted online and flexible degrees, which are surging, and integrated digital teaching into core MBA courses. Far from being “giant killers”, says Vijay Govindarajan of Dartmouth College’s Tuck School of Business, digital technology can help a top school “ensure its gold-plated MBA programme shines even brighter”. The Ross School is using tools akin to Netflix’s bespoke recommendations to create “personalised leadership and career development journeys” for students. And to graduates’ relief, recruiters are back. GMAC’s survey of firms that recruit at business schools found that 89% intended to hire MBAs in 2021, up from 77% last year.
