2012-08-pr-mersen-half-year-results

From NPR News in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.American swimming phenom Michael Phelps has just reached a major milestone. He won the silver in the Men's 200-meter butterfly, which means he ties the record for most Olympic medals. In this race, South Africa won one gold. Check off another Olympic medal for USA, the Women's Gymnastics team is basking in gold. They clinched the Olympic title in London today for the first time since 1996. Their score was 183.5965 points ahead of Russia as you might imagine cheers and chants of USA rang out from the stands.There was also gold in the water for the US Women's team. Allison Schmitt won the women's 200-meter freestyle Olympic gold.New provisions of the health care law taking effect tomorrow will require insurance companies to give women access to a range of preventive health services without charge. NPR's Craig Windham reports the changes are expected to benefit an estimated 47 million women.Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says medical issuance plans will now be required to cover 8 preventive services for women at no charge.Including domestic violence screenings, breast feeding counseling and supplies and a well woman visit where she can sit down and talk with her healthcare provider.Democratic Senator Tom Harkin of Iowa says the changes will especially help women who are having trouble making ends meet. Women such as his sisters, both of whom died of breast cancer.For them to go, to get a checkup would have cost money, a money that they couldn't afford at that time.Harkin says he hopes that now women will not put off getting checkups for preventive health care. Craig Windham, NPR News, Washington.House speaker John Boehner says House and Senate leaders have reached a deal to consider a six-month continuing resolution in September to keep the government operating into next year. The agreement would fund the government at levels called for by last summer's budget and debt pact between Boehner and President Obama.Consumer spending in the US has slowed to a crawl. NPR's Dave Mattingly reports spending was flat last month despite higher incomes.Consumer spending drives more than 2/3 of economic growth, but it stalled of late, unchanged in June after declining the month before. With Americans holding onto their money, economic growth remains weak, and employers are adding few jobs to payrolls. Scott Brown is chief economist at Raymond James Associates.We are seeing a sort of piece of job growth where we are growing enough to absorbthe increase in the working-age population. But we are really not making up much of the ground that was lost during the downturn.However, the Commerce Department says personal incomes rose 0.5% in June, the sharpest gain in three months. Dave Mattingly, NPR News, Washington.At last check on Wall Street, the Dow was down 34 points at 13,039. This is NPR News.In another sign of recovery in the housing sector home prices rose in May in all major US cities,signalling higher sales. The Standard & Poor's case-Shilelr home price index gain 0.9% exceeding economists' expectations.Despite the latest uptake in housing news, the White House says the sector is still far from where it should be. Spokesman Jay Carley told reporters today that struggling homeowners need housing rescue programs to help catch up on the mortgage payments.A think tank has offered its advice to the US Forest Service on the best way to fight the wildfires from the air. As Scott Graf of Boise State Public Radio tells us the Rand Corporation says it's now provided the government with the framework to upgrade its ageing and shrinking fleet.The report commission by the US Forest Service says so called Scooper aircraft are the most cost-effective way of adding aerial assets. The plane is using water from lakes and rivers, to then drop on nearby fires. The report says such aircraft can make more drops than air tankers that have to fly back and forth to airports to get new loads of retardant. The head of the Forest Service though, he is not in love with the advice. Tom Tidwell says he thinks the Rand Corporation used incorrect information to arrive that conclusion. Tidwell though, says he does agree with most of the report's other recommendations. The government's air tanker fleets have shrunk by about 80% since 2000 over safety concerns of planes born in the Cold War. For NPR News, I'm Scott Graf in Boise, Idaho.The Associated Press reports an army sergeant has been sentenced to 30 days in prison for his role in the alleged hazing and suicide of a fellow soldier. Sergeant Adam Holcomb was convicted yesterday by military jury in North Carolina.This is NPR News.这里是在华盛顿的NPR新闻,我是拉克希米·辛格。

From NPR news in Washington, I'm Lakshmi Singh.来自华盛顿的NPR新闻，我是拉克希米·辛格。

The FBI is investigating today shooting of the headquaters of the family research council in Washington D.C. A man is in custody. NPR's Carry Johnson reports that case could be investgated as an example of domestic terrorism. A security guard has been taken into a hospital after he was wounded in the gun attack. Tony Perkins, president of the family research council, says his first concern is for the health and welfare of the guard. Metropolitan police chief C, head of the FBI office in D.C, said they recovered a weapon at the scene. It's been traced by the bureau of alcohol to back home.联邦调查局正在调查今天发生在华盛顿特区家庭研究理事会总部的枪击事件。

一名男子被拘留。

NPR凯利·约翰逊报道称这个案件将被作为国内恐怖主义的典例展开调查。

一名保安在遭枪攻击之后，受伤被带进一间医院接受治疗。

托尼·帕金斯，家庭研究理事会主席称，他的第一关心的是警卫的健康和福利。

一、完形填空文章大意：本文是一篇说明文，文章主要介绍供水的过程、水循环的过程以及在一些地区饮用水短缺的情况。

1. When you turn on the tap (水龙头) in your house, water comes out. This water has _________ a long way. This water comes from rain in the sky. The _________ that water arrives to the tap in your house is called the “water supply”.Most of the water on the earth is in the _________. This water has a lot of salt in it. We cannot drink this water. Salt water makes us ill. But when the sun shines, it _________ a part of the ocean. This water rises up to make clouds in the sky. The more water rises up, the heavier and larger the clouds become. The clouds will get so heavy and large that they will change colour from white to _________. The water will fall down into rivers and lakes _________ rain and travel back to the sea. This is called the “water cycle”. We use half of the rain water _________ falls over the earth.There are parts of the world where there is _________ fresh water. In the Arab countries, salt water can be made safe to drink. This is done by freezing or boiling it. The salt is left _________ and the clean water is then taken off. This process (过程) is very __________, but in some areas this is the only way to get clean drinking water. 1.A．pulled B．jumped C．rushed D．travelled2.A．way B．path C．method D．condition3.A．stream B．ocean C．river D．lake4.A．takes in B．gives off C．heats up D．cools down5.A．purple B．grey C．blue D．pink6.A．on B．with C．as D．in7.A．it B．that C．this D．what8.A．few B．much C．enough D．little9.A．behind B．alone C．forward D．off10.A．rapid B．cheap C．simple D．expensive二、阅读选择(阅读理解)文章大意：本文是说明文。

Accounting Horizons American Accounting Association Vol.28,No.3DOI:10.2308/acch-50764 2014pp.501–528Does Dividend Policy Drive EarningsSmoothing?Nan Liu and Reza EspahbodiSYNOPSIS:This paper examines the earnings-smoothing behavior of dividend-payingfirms.We show that dividend-paying firms engage in more earnings smoothing than non-payers through both real activities and accrual choices.More specifically,dividend-paying firms with positive(negative)pre-managed earnings changes engage in moredownward(upward)earnings management than non-payers.Additional tests suggestthat the results are driven by dividend-related incentives and not the differences in theeconomic characteristics of dividend-paying firms,are robust to alternative measures ofearnings management,and are not due to spurious correlation.We also show thatearnings smoothing,in part,explains the higher earnings persistence of dividend-payingfirms.These findings are consistent with a firm’s dividend policy having an incrementalimpact on earnings-smoothing behavior.Keywords:earnings smoothing;dividend policy;real earnings management;accruals management;earnings persistence.JEL Classifications:M41;G35.INTRODUCTIONS urvey evidence indicates that dividend-payingfirms have a strong desire to maintain their historical dividend policy and that they target both dividend level and dividend payout ratio (Lintner1956;Baker and Powell2000;Baker,Veit,and Powell2001;Brav,Graham, Harvey,and Michaely2005).The importance of maintaining historical dividend level and payout ratio is supported by empirical research that shows a large negative stock market reaction to unexpected dividend decreases or omission and the stock market’s perception of the valueNan Liu is an Assistant Professor at Indiana University and Reza Espahbodi is a Professor at Washburn University.We appreciate the helpful comments from Lawrence Brown,Hassan Espahbodi,Lixin Huang,Siva Nathan,and Arianna Pinello.Also appreciated are the helpful suggestions from the participants at a Georgia State University workshop and the2012American Accounting Association Annual Meeting.We are grateful for the suggestions and guidance from Paul Griffin(co-editor)and two anonymous reviewers.The remaining errors are ours.Submitted:April2012Accepted:March2014Published Online:March2014Corresponding author:Nan LiuEmail:liunan@501relevance of dividends (Aharony and Swary 1980;Healy and Palepu 1988;Ghosh and Woolridge 1989;Kallapur 1994;Grullon,Michaely,and Swaminathan 2002).When earnings change relative to the prior year,maintaining the dividend level leads to a change in the dividend payout ratio,while maintaining the payout ratio necessitates a change in the dividend level.‘‘Reducing variation in the change in earnings ’’(hereafter,earnings smoothing)can reduce the fluctuations in the dividend payout ratio and allow the firm to avoid changing its dividend level.We thus argue that earnings smoothing is more important for dividend-paying firms than for other firms,and that they engage in more downward (upward)earnings management than non-payers in years of positive (negative)pre-managed earnings change to maintain their dividend policy.To test our argument,we regress our measures of earnings management on a dichotomous variable coded as 1(0)for dividend-paying firms (non-payers),pre-managed earnings change,and their interaction.In our regressions,we control for various factors that potentially affect firms’incentives to manage earnings and for differences in the life-cycle stage and financial characteristics of dividend-paying fiing a sample of firm years obtained from Compustat’s ExecuComp database over the 18-year period 1992–2009,we find that,while on average firms engage in earnings smoothing,dividend-paying firms engage in more earnings smoothing than non-payers through both real activities and accrual choices.We then run two separate regressions—one for firm years with positive and one for firm years with negative pre-managed earnings change—to determine if both upward and downward earnings management are at play.We find that dividend-paying firms with positive (negative)pre-managed earnings change manage earnings down (up)more than non-payers.Our results are robust to alternative measures of earnings management,and are not due to spurious correlation.We conduct three additional tests to ensure that the results are driven by dividend-related incentives and not the differences in the economic characteristics of dividend-paying firms.First,we regress our measure of total earnings management on change in dividend policy and our control variables and find that dividend-paying firms engage in significantly less smoothing in years when they change their dividend level or payout ratio than in years when they do not.Second,using Chi-square tests we show that dividend-paying firms make less of a change in their dividend level and payout ratio in years when they report a small change in earnings (less than one percent)than in years when they do not.Third,because regular repurchasers are likely to have generally similar characteristics as regular dividend-paying firms,but do not have dividend-related incentives (Skinner and Soltes 2011),we repeat our tests using firms that make regular repurchases but do not pay dividends as a control group and find that dividend-paying firms smooth earnings to a greater extent than repurchasers.The results of these three tests confirm our finding that dividend policy drives earnings smoothing.Finally,we test whether the greater degree of earnings smoothing of the dividend-paying firms is,in part,responsible for their documented higher earnings persistence (e.g.,Skinner and Soltes 2011)by developing two models.The first model replicates prior results to confirm that dividend-paying firms have more persistent earnings.The second model modifies the first by breaking out current earnings into pre-managed earnings and earning management.The results support the conjecture that earnings smoothing,in part,drives the higher earnings persistence of dividend-paying firms.Overall,the results of our analyses are consistent with the notion that dividend-paying firms seek to smooth reported earnings to maintain their dividend policy,and indicate that earnings smoothing is more important for dividend-paying firms than for other firms.Our study makes several contributions to the literature.First,the study’s findings extend our understanding of dividend-policy driven earnings management.Kasanen,Kinnunen,and Niskanen (1996)document that Finnish firms manage earnings upward to report earnings high enough to pay out dividends in response to pressure from large institutional shareholders.Daniel,Denis,and Naveen (2008)find that dividend level threshold drives upward accruals management when502Liu andEspahbodi Accounting HorizonsSeptember 2014pre-managed earnings fall short of last year’s dividends.We expand on Daniel et al.(2008)by(1) measuring earnings management relative to last year’s earnings,not last year’s dividends,and(2) showing that dividend policy drives earnings management in both directions.1Thus,our results provide further support to survey and empirical evidence about the importance of maintaining dividend policy.Second,prior studies on dividend-policy driven earnings management only examine accrual-based earnings management.Earnings are affected by the sum of real activities management and accruals management.Cohen and Zarowin(2010)and Zang(2012)find that firms manage earnings through real activities in addition to,or as a substitute to,accrual-based activities.Zang(2012)in fact argues that real activities manipulation occurs during thefiscal year. At the end of the year,managers adjust the level of accrual-based earnings management based on the outcome of real activities manipulation.If managers use real activities management in addition to,or as a substitute to,accrual-based earnings management,examining only one earnings management technique at a time cannot explain the overall effect of earnings management activities (Fields,Lyz,and Vincent2001;Zang2012).By documenting that both real activities and accrual choices are at play,therefore,we provide additional evidence on dividend-policy driving earnings management.Third,and as important,we provide evidence that the greater earnings persistence of dividend-payingfirms that previous studies document(e.g.,Skinner and Soltes2011)is in part driven by earnings management,as conjectured by Dechow,Ge,and Schrand(2010b).That is,we show that dividend-payingfirms have greater earnings persistence than non-payers,partially because they smooth earnings to a greater extent to maintain their dividend policy.Thisfinding has implications for studies that examine the earnings quality of dividend-payingfirms.Finally,professional standards require the auditor to plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether thefinancial statements are free of material misstatement, whether caused by errors or fraud.Our research suggests the company’s dividend policy as a risk factor(in the form of incentive or pressure to manipulate earnings)for the auditor to consider. Conversations with two partners at Big4accountingfirms confirm that while auditors typically look to understand whether‘‘earnings pressures’’exist that may provide management with the incentive and attitude to undertake inappropriate behavior(including the smoothing of earnings), they have not specifically thought about the company’s dividend policy driving such behavior.We proceed as follows.The second section discusses related research and develops our hypothesis.In the third section,we describe our data and methodology.The fourth section analyzes the association between dividend policy and earnings smoothing.Thefifth section examines whether the results are in fact driven by dividend policy.We evaluate the association between earnings smoothing and earnings persistence of dividend-payingfirms in the sixth section.The results of supplemental tests are reported in the seventh section.Finally,the eighth section concludes.RELATED LITERATURE AND HYPOTHESIS DEVELOPMENTEarnings Management LiteratureWe focus on three sets of studies that relate to our research questions.Thefirst set examines the upward real and accruals earnings management to meet or beat important earnings benchmarks, such as positive earnings level,positive earnings change,analyst forecast,and prior year’s 1Measuring earnings smoothing relative to last year’s earnings will only smooth the dividend payout ratio if dividend levels remain constant across time.We believe this is a reasonable assumption.Does Dividend Policy Drive Earnings Smoothing?503Accounting Horizons September2014dividends (Burgstahler and Dichev 1997;Degeorge,Patel,and Zeckhauser 1999;Burgstahler and Eames 2006;Roychowdhury 2006;Daniel et al.2008).We add to this literature by demonstrating that earnings smoothing is more important for dividend-paying firms than for other firms.Another set of studies explores upward and downward earnings management to smooth earnings.Graham,Harvey,and Rajgopal (2005)find that 97percent of the surveyed executives prefer smooth earnings,and 78percent of the surveyed executives admit to giving up economic value in exchange for smooth earnings.Empirical studies have documented various means through which firms smooth their reported earnings, e.g.,deferring or accelerating research and development expenses (R&D)(Perry and Grinaker 1994)and using accounting rules for valuing retained interest from securitizations (Dechow,Myers,and Shakespeare 2010a ).Empirical studies also have documented varying incentives for earnings smoothing.For example,Bergstresser and Philippon (2006)and Cheng and Warfield (2005)find that accruals management is more pronounced in the presence of higher levels of stock-based incentives;and J.Gaver,K.Gaver,and Austin (1995)show that managers manipulate earnings to maximize bonus compensation.Our paper contributes to this subset of literature by providing evidence that dividend policy has an incremental effect on earnings smoothing.Finally,the third set of studies relates to earnings persistence of dividend-paying firms.Healy and Palepu (1988)find that dividend-initiating firms show more persistent earnings than dividend-omitting firms,suggesting there is less need for earnings management.Chen,Shevlin,and Tong (2007)find evidence that the initiation of,and increase in,dividend payments is associated with investors perceiving earnings to be of higher quality.Skinner and Soltes (2011)also document higher earnings persistence for dividend-paying firms.While the above studies document that the earnings of dividend-paying firms is more persistent,they do not investigate whether earnings management contributes to the higher earnings persistence.As Dechow et al.(2010b ,351)conjecture,the earnings of dividend-paying firms may be more persistent because these firms engage in more extensive earnings smoothing.By showing that earnings smoothing is at least partially responsible for the documented greater earnings persistence of dividend-paying firms,we provide empirical support for this conjecture.2Dividends LiteratureIn his pioneering survey of 28well-established companies,Lintner (1956)finds that managers are reluctant to cut dividends and they target long-term payout ratios when making dividend decisions.Twenty-six out of the 28sample companies had a specific target payout ratio that did not change over long periods of time.Many survey studies have been conducted since Lintner’s.Baker,Farrelly,and Edelman (1985)and Baker and Powell (1999)survey chief financial officers of New York Stock Exchange firms and find that managers generally agree that their firms should avoid making dividend changes that might soon be reversed,and that their firms should have target payout ratios.Baker and Powell (2000)and Baker et al.(2001)find that the desire to maintain a given dividend payout ratio is a moderately important factor relative to dividend level in determining dividend policy,and about half of the responding firms have explicit target payout ratios.Brav et al.(2005)investigate payout policies in the 21st century.Their analysis indicates that about 90percent of dividend-paying firms have a strong desire to avoid dividend reductions and to 2This evidence provides empirical support to what is implied from the finding of Francis,LaFond,Olsson,and Schipper (2004)that earnings persistence is positively associated with earnings smoothness,meaning any earnings figure that is smoother will also be more persistent.And,that since the reported earnings for dividend-paying firms are smoothed relative to pre-managed earnings (and to a greater extent than for non-dividend-paying firms),they should be relatively more persistent than pre-managed earnings (and to a greater extent than for non-dividend-paying firms).504Liu andEspahbodi Accounting HorizonsSeptember 2014smooth dividend streams from year to year.Eighty-four percent of the executives try to maintain consistency with historical dividend policies.Brav et al.’s(2005)analysis shows that maintaining dividend level is the main variable in deciding dividend policy,and payout ratio is of secondary importance.It also shows that managers believe that dividend decisions convey information to the market and that dividend reductions have negative consequences.3Overall,the results of survey studies suggest thatfirms target both dividend level and dividend payout ratio.The survey results also suggest that managers believe that dividend policy is value-relevant.The importance of maintaining historical dividend policy is supported by empirical research that shows a large negative stock market reaction to unexpected dividend decreases or omission (Aharony and Swary1980;Healy and Palepu1988;Ghosh and Woolridge1989;Grullon et al. 2002)and the stock market’s perception of the value relevance of dividends.In relation to the latter, Kallapur(1994)finds that,after controlling for earnings persistence and riskiness,and riskless interest rates,the earnings response coefficient increases as afirm’s payout ratio gets larger.The results of these empirical studies suggest that dividends constitute implicit contracts between shareholders and management and,as such,managers have strong incentives to smooth earnings to maintain the dividend level and payout ratio.By documenting that dividend-payingfirms engage in more earnings smoothing,we provide support to survey and empirical evidence about the importance of maintaining dividend policy.Hypothesis DevelopmentPrior studies on earnings managementfind thatfirms,in general,have incentives to manage earnings downward when pre-managed earnings exceed last year’s earnings and upward when pre-managed earnings fall short of last year’s earnings(Bartov1993;Perry and Grinaker1994;Graham et al.2005;Dechow et al.2010a).We hypothesize that earnings smoothing is more important for dividend-payingfirms and that dividend-payingfirms engage in more downward,as well as upward,earnings management than non-payers.The intuition for our hypothesis is as follows.Survey and empirical studies(presented above)suggest that dividend-payingfirms have a strong desire to maintain their historical dividend policy and they target both dividend level and payout ratio.In years of positive pre-managed earnings change,maintaining the dividend level would lead to a decrease in the payout ratio.And,maintaining the payout ratio would require the firm to increase its dividend level,raising the benchmark for future periods.Manipulating earnings downward,therefore,helps dividend-payingfirms to maintain(avoid changing)their dividend level and payout ratio.On the other hand,in years of negative pre-managed earnings change,maintaining the dividend level would lead to an increase in the payout ratio.And,maintaining the payout ratio would require thefirm to decrease its dividend level,exposing thefirm to a potential negative stock market reaction.Manipulating earnings upward,therefore,helps dividend-payingfirms to maintain their dividend level and payout ratio.Relative to non-payers,then,we expect dividend-payingfirms to have incremental incentives to smooth reported earnings due to the desire to maintain their dividend level and dividend payout 3Mukherjee(2009,157)concludes:‘‘Researchers consistently report that abnormal return of a dividend-change announcement is of the same sign as the sign of the dividend change.Although researchers have advanced several hypotheses to explain this phenomenon,two highly researched and competing hypotheses are the cash flow signaling hypothesis and the free cashflow hypothesis.According to the cashflow signaling hypothesis,the stock price moves in the same direction as the dividend change because dividend changes convey information about thefirm’s future growth opportunities.The free cashflow hypothesis suggests that price reacts favorably to the announcement of a dividend increase because dividend increase reduces the agency cost of free cashflow.Similarly,the stock price reacts negatively to an announcement of reduced dividends because the potential for overinvestment increases.’’Does Dividend Policy Drive Earnings Smoothing?505Accounting Horizons September2014ratio.Further,both downward and upward earnings management should be at play.That is,dividend-paying firms with positive (negative)pre-managed earnings change are expected to engage in more downward (upward)earnings management than non-payers.Several earnings management studies (e.g.,Burgstahler and Dichev 1997;Cohen and Zarowin 2010;Zang 2012)show that firms use real activities in addition to,or in lieu of,accrual choices to manage earnings.Managers may rather manipulate earnings through real activities because real activities manipulation is less likely to draw auditor or regulator scrutiny (Dechow and Skinner 2000;Graham et al.2005;Roychowdhury 2006;Cohen and Zarowin 2010).On the other hand,managers would likely not know the impact of real activities manipulation on earnings until the end of the fiscal year,at which time they may have to adjust the level of accruals (Cohen and Zarowin 2010;Zang 2012).The costs associated with real activities manipulation may also create an incentive for managers to use accruals manipulation instead (Cohen and Zarowin 2010).We thus expect dividend-paying firms to use both accruals and real activities to smooth earnings.Formally stated,our hypothesis is:H:Dividend-paying firms engage in more earnings smoothing than non-payers through realactivities and accruals.DATA AND METHODOLOGYAppendix A describes the variables used in this study.Like Daniel et al.(2008),our sample consists of all publicly traded firms in Compustat’s ExecuComp database,because it includes managerial compensation data,which have been shown to be important determinants of earnings management.Our study,however,spans over the period 1992to 2009,whereas Daniel et al.’s (2008)covers the period 1992–2005.We limit the sample to firms with sufficient annual data to calculate the variables listed in Appendix A.Consistent with prior literature,we omit firms in regulated industries and financial institutions (Roychowdhury 2006;Daniel et al.2008).To control for outliers,we delete firm years with dividends at the extreme 99th percentile levels and all the other variables at the 1st and 99th percentiles of their respective distributions (Burgstahler and Dichev 1997;Dechow,Kothari,and Watts 1998;Dechow,Richardson,and Tuna 2003).Also,to estimate normal levels of cash flows,production costs,discretionary expenditures,and accruals,we require at least eight observations in each two-digit SIC industry for each year (Cohen,Dey,and Lys 2008;Cohen and Zarowin 2010).Our final sample includes 13,826firm years.Because earnings is affected by both real activities and accrual choices,we define total earnings management as the sum of real earnings management and abnormal total accruals.Prior studies (Roychowdhury 2006;Cohen and Zarowin 2010)consider three measures of real earnings management:abnormal cash flows,abnormal production costs,and abnormal discretionary expenditures.We define real earnings management as the negative of the sum of abnormal cash flows and abnormal discretionary expenditures so that a higher value suggests more upward earnings management (Cohen and Zarowin 2010).We do not include abnormal production costs in our measure of real earnings management for our main tests because,as stated in Cohen and Zarowin (2010,9),the same activities that lead to abnormally high production costs also lead to abnormally low CFO;thus,adding abnormal production costs leads to double counting.44However,to be consistent with Cohen and Zarowin (2010)and Zang (2012),we also measure real earnings management as the sum of abnormal production cost and negative of abnormal discretionary expenditures.As another sensitivity test,we measure real earnings management as the negative of abnormal cash flows for the reasons stated in in the ‘‘Supplemental Tests ’’section.The results of both tests are discussed in the ‘‘Supplemental Tests ’’section.506Liu andEspahbodi Accounting HorizonsSeptember 2014To estimate normal cashflows,normal production costs,and normal discretionary expenditures,we use the models developed by Dechow et al.(1998)and implemented in other earnings management papers(Roychowdhury2006;Cohen et al.2008;Cohen and Zarowin2010; Zang2012).Normal total accruals is estimated using the cross-sectional model of Jones(1991)and adjusting forfinancial performance because Kothari,Leone,and Wasley(2005)find that it is important to control forfirm performance when estimating discretionary accruals.5Specifically,we develop the following four regressions:CFO t=Assets tÀ1¼a0ð1=Assets tÀ1Þþa1ðSales t=Assets tÀ1Þþa2ðD Sales t=Assets tÀ1Þþ´e t:ð1ÞPROD t=Assets tÀ1¼a0ð1=Assets tÀ1Þþa1ðSales t=Assets tÀ1Þþa2ðD Sales t=Assets tÀ1Þþa3ðD Sales tÀ1=Assets tÀ1Þþ´e t:ð2ÞDISX t=Assets tÀ1¼a0ð1=Assets tÀ1Þþa1ðSales tÀ1=Assets tÀ1Þþ´e t:ð3ÞTA t=Assets tÀ1¼a0ð1=Assets tÀ1Þþa1ðD Sales t=Assets tÀ1Þþa2ðPPE t=Assets tÀ1Þþa3ðIBEI t=Assets tÀ1Þþ´e t:ð4ÞIn the above regressions,CFO is cashflow from operations as reported on the statement of cashflows;Assets is total assets;Sales is total revenues;PROD is production costs,defined as the sum of cost of goods sold and change in the inventory;DISX is discretionary expenditures,defined as the sum of advertising expenses,R&D expenses,and selling,general and administrative expenses(SG&A);IBEI is income before extraordinary items;TA is total accruals,defined as IBEI less CFO;and PPE is property,plant,and equipment.Each regression is estimated separately for each two-digit SIC industry for each year.The abnormal cashflows,abnormal production costs(APROD),abnormal discretionary expenditures,and abnormal total accruals(ATA)are computed as the difference between the actual values and the normal levels predicted(i.e.,they are the residuals)from Regressions(1)through (4).6Abnormal cashflows and abnormal discretionary expenditures are multiplied byÀ1(and denoted as ACFO and ADISX,respectively)so that a higher value in all cases indicates greater upward earnings management.We define real earnings management as the sum of ACFO and ADISX,and total earnings management(TEM)as ACFO plus ADISX plus ATA.Our hypothesis examines whether dividend-payingfirms engage in more earnings smoothing than non-payers through real activities and accruals management.It is tested using the following regression:5Since previous research has shown that measures of abnormal accruals are more likely to be misspecified for firms with extreme levels of performance(Dechow,Sloan,and Sweeney1995)and for fast growingfirms (McNichols2000;Dechow et al.2003),we re-estimate total accruals using change in sales;property,plant,and equipment;cashflow from operations;and book-to-market ratio as independent variables.The results are qualitatively the same.6Abnormal operating cashflows can be the result of real activities to manage earnings(as discussed above)or opportunistic classification of cashflows within the Statement of Cash Flows.Both activities result in‘‘abnormal cashflows,’’even though classification shifting has no effect on reported earnings,which is what we intend to measure.That is,classifying an investing cashflow as if it were operating,or vice versa,would affect reported operating cashflows but would have no effect on reported earnings.Any misclassifications create noise and bias our results againstfinding a significant difference in earnings smoothing behavior between payers and non-payers.Further,misclassifications do not affect other measures of real earnings management:ADISX and APROD.We thank the reviewer who brought this point to our attention.Does Dividend Policy Drive Earnings Smoothing?507Accounting Horizons September2014EM ¼b 0þb 1DP þb 2PMEC þb 3PMEC ÃDP þb 4STOCK þb 5BONUSþb 6PMEC ÃSTOCK þb 7PMEC ÃBONUS þb 8BTM þb 9SIZE þb 10LEV þb 11REþb 12AGE þb 13GROWTH þb 14CAPX þb 15INDYR þe :ð5ÞEM is the earnings management proxy,and is initially defined as TEM to capture the total effects of real activities and accruals management.To shed light on whether dividend-paying firms engage in income smoothing through real activities,accrual-based activities,or both,and in the case of real activities,whether they do so through revenues or costs,we also estimate the above regression,defining EM as ACFO,APROD,ADISX,or ATA.7The independent variables in Regression (5)are as follows.DP is the dividend-paying firm dummy,which equals 1if the firm pays dividends in both the prior year and the current year,and 0otherwise;it is included to control for any systematic difference between payers and non-payers.8PMEC is pre-managed earnings change,and equals earnings change minus the earnings management proxy:TEM,ACFO,APROD,ADISX,or ATA .The rest of the variables are intended to control for factors that influence management’s incentives to manage earnings and for differences in the life-cycle stage and financial characteristics of dividend-paying firms.Stock incentive ratio (STOCK )and bonus (BONUS )control for compensation incentives for chief financial officers and chief executive officers (Bergstresser and Philippon 2006;Cohen et al.2008;Jiang,Petroni,and Wang 2010).As with Daniel et al.(2008),we also control for growth opportunities (BTM ),firm size (SIZE ),leverage (LEV ),and retained earnings (RE ).Further,since prior research (e.g.,Healy and Palepu 1988;Grullon et al.2002;Skinner and Soltes 2011)has established that the life-cycle stage and financial characteristics of dividend-paying firms differ from non-payers,9we add age (AGE ),sales growth (GROWTH ),and capital expenditures (CAPX )to our regression (Anthony and Ramesh 1992;Tian,Collins,and Hribar 2009).Two-digit SIC and year dummies (INDYR )are also included in the regression.Evidence of earnings smoothing would be provided by a negative coefficient on PMEC,and evidence that dividend-paying firms engage in more earnings smoothing would be provided by a negative coefficient on PMEC ÃDP .All p-values reported are calculated using two-tailed tests,unless indicated otherwise.RESULTSThe descriptive statistics for our sample and the correlation coefficients among the earnings management measures are reported in Table 1.In Panel A,we report the descriptive statistics for the dividend-paying firms and non-payers separately.Similar to Daniel et al.(2008),about 50percent of the whole sample are dividend-paying firms (6,791over 13,826),and the average dividends paid is about $100million (not reported in the table).While the average dividend-paying firm has over $4.7billion in sales and $4.5billion in assets,the average non-payer firm has less than $1.7billion in sales and $1.6billion in assets.Dividend-paying firms are also more profitable than non-payers 7Reporting results for the three individual measures of real earnings management (ACFO,APROD,and ADISX )would also avoid possible dilution of the potentially different implications of the three individual variables for earnings by using an aggregated earnings management measure (Cohen and Zarowin 2010,9).8Non-payers include firms that paid dividends in prior year but not in the current year,and vice versa .To address the concern that this classification of firms as payers and non-payers may have driven the results,we re-run our regression using a new sample excluding these firms (Daniel et al.2008).Our results hold using this new sample.9Because of differences in the dividend-paying firms’life-cycle stage and financial characteristics,any abnormal accruals or cash flows are likely to have the effect of smoothing earnings regardless of whether managers are using discretion in their accounting choices,or real activities.Also,these differences in financial characteristics can affect the benefits and costs—unrelated to dividends—of managing earnings.We are thankful to one of the reviewers for bringing these issues up and for suggesting tests to address them.508Liu andEspahbodiAccounting HorizonsSeptember 2014。

老年脓毒症幸存者股四头肌厚度变化对非计划再入院的预测价值李云婷，王惠虹，李芬*海南医学院第二附属医院，海南 570311Predictive value of quadriceps muscle thickness changes for unplanned readmission in elderly sepsis survivorsLI Yunting, WANG Huihong, LI FenThe Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University, Hainan 570311 China Corresponding Author LIFen,E⁃mail:****************Abstract Objective ：To investigate the predictive value of quadriceps muscle thickness （QMT ） changes in elderly sepsis survivors for unplanned readmission within 3 months after discharge.Methods ：A total of 310 elderly septic survivors admitted to the intensive care unit （ICU ） of the Second Affiliated Hospital of Hainan Medical University from January 2020 to March 2022 were enrolled as the prospective study follow -up cohort.Follow -up was undertaken consecutive for 3 months ，and observation ended at the first unplanned readmission or completion of follow -up.The clinical data of all elderly septic survivors were collected.QMT was measured by ultrasound within 24 hours and on the 7th day after admission to ICU ， and the change rate of QMT was calculated.Univariate analysis ，multivariate logistic regression analysis and receiver operating characteristic （ROC ） curve were used to explore the relationship between changes of QMT and unplanned readmission within 3 months after discharge in elderly septic survivors.Results ：Among 310 elderly septic survivors ，96 patients had unplanned readmission within 3 months after discharge ， with an incidence of 30.97%.Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that age≥75 years （OR=2.086， P =0.036）， QMT on the 7th day （OR=0.356， P <0.001） and change rate of QMT （OR=1.368， P <0.001） were independent influencing factors of unplanned readmission within 3 months after discharge in older septic survivors ．The ROC curve analysis results showed that the areas under the ROC curve of QMT on the 7th day and change rate of QMT for predicting the unplanned readmission within 3 months after discharge in older septic survivors were 0.758 and 0.877， respectively. When the cut -off values were 16.83 mm and 6.04% respectively ， the sensitivity of QMT on the 7th day and change rate of QMT for predicting the unplanned readmission within 3 months after discharge in elderly septic survivors were 82.29% and 87.50% respectively ， the specificity were 64.95% and 82.24% respectively.The predictive efficiency of change rate of QMT was significantly higher than that of QMT on the 7th day （Z =3.096， P =0.002）.Conclusion ：QMT can reflect the muscle mass and nutritional status of elderly septic survivors. The more obvious decrease of QMT ， and the higher risk of unplanned readmission within 3 months after discharge.Keywords the elderly ； sepsis ； quadriceps muscle thickness ； unplanned readmission ； influencing factors 摘要 目的:探讨老年脓毒症幸存者股四头肌厚度（QMT ）变化对其出院后3 个月内非计划再入院的预测价值。

United-KingdomKey Findings主要重点•The United Kingdom performs around the average in mathematics and reading and above average in science, compared with the 34 OECD countries that participated in the 2012 PISA assessment of 15-year-olds.·英国（参与者）与参加2012年PISA的34个经济合作与发展组织成员国的15岁参与者们相比，在数学和阅读方面的表现处于平均水平，而在科学方面的表现则超过了平均水平。

•When compared with PISA 2006 and PISA 2009, there has been no change in performance in any of the subjects tested. (The PISA 2000 and 2003 samples for the United Kingdom did not meet the PISA response-rate standards, so the observed higher performance in 2000 should not be used for comparisons.)·当我们将2012年测评结果与2006、2009年的PISA结果相比时，发现在任何被测试的科目中，其不同年的测评结果相差不大，（PISA2003、2000年英国的实验样例不符合PISA的反应率标准，故观测到的较高的结果不应被用来进行比较）•The United Kingdom is listed 26th in mathematics performance, but because results are based on a sample, its relative position could be between 23rd and 31st. Its performance is similar to Czech Republic, Denmark, France, Iceland, Republic of Ireland, Latvia, Luxembourg, New Zealand, Norway and Portugal. ·英国在数学表现中被列为第26名，然而因为结果是基于个体样例的，所以其可能的排名大概处于23~31名之间，英国的测评表现与捷克、丹麦、法国、冰岛、爱尔兰共和国、拉脱维亚、卢森堡公国、新西兰、挪威、葡萄牙等国较为接近。

奥巴马2012年8月25日电台演讲译文【原创】Hi, everybody. Over the last few weeks, there’s been a lot of talk about Medicare, with a lot of accusations and mis information flying around. So today I want to step back for a minute and share with you some actual facts and news about the program.大家好。

在过去的几周里，街头巷尾到处都在讨论医保，其中有很多指责和误解。

所以今天我打算花几分钟后退几步，澄清关于这个项目的事实和新闻。

This week, we found out that, thanks to the health care law we passed, nearly 5.4 million seniors with Medicare have saved over $4.1 billion on prescription drugs. That’s an average of more than $700 per person. And this year alone, 18 million seniors with Medicare have taken advantage of preventive care benefits like mammograms or other cancer screenings that now come at no extra cost.本周，我们发现，幸亏医保法案通过了，才使将近五百四十万有医保的老年人们在处方药上节省了超过四十一亿美元。

平均每人超过700美元。

仅仅是今年，一千八百万有医保的老年人们享受了诸如乳腺透视或其它癌症透视的预防性医疗检查而没有增加费用。

医护人员心理弹性量表的汉化及信效度检验焦春辉，屈清荣*，崔天娇，高娅格，高娅鑫郑州大学第一附属医院，河南450052Chinese version of Medical Professionals Resilience Scale and its reliability and validity testJIAO　Chunhui, QU　Qingrong, CUI　Tianjiao, GAO　Yage, GAO　YaxinThe First Affiliated Hospital of Zhengzhou University, Henan 450052 ChinaCorresponding Author QUQingrong,E⁃mail:*****************Abstract Objective：To translate the Medical Professionals Resilience Scale（MeRS）into the Chinese，and to test its reliability and validity among medical staff.Methods：MeRS was translated and back⁃translated according to the Brislin translation model，and the Chinese version of MeRS was adjusted and revised through expert consultation and pre⁃investigation.The convenience sampling method was used to select 474 medical and nursing staff from a tertiary grade A hospital in Zhengzhou to conduct a questionnaire survey to evaluate the reliability and validity of the Chinese version of MeRS.Results：The Cronbach's α coefficient of Chinese version of MeRS was 0.961.And the Cronbach's α coefficient of each dimension ranged from 0.864 to 0.924.The test⁃retest reliability was 0.918.And the test⁃retest reliability of each dimension ranged from 0.803 to 0.876.The Scale⁃Content Validity Index（S⁃CVI/Ave） was 0.942. And the Item⁃Content Validity Index（I⁃CVI） ranged from 0.857 to 1.000.Exploratory factor analysis extracted 4 common factors，and the cumulative contribution rate of variance was 62.281%.With the Chinese version of the Connor⁃Davidson Resilience Scale as the criterion，the correlation value of the criterion was 0.873（P<0.01）.Conclusion：The Chinese version of MeRS had good reliability and validity，and could be used to measure the resilience of medical staff in China.Keywords medical staff； psychological resilience； reliability； validity摘要目的:对医护人员心理弹性量表（Medical Professionals Resilience Scale，MeRS）进行汉化，并在医护人员中检验其信效度。

KEYS(2012/12/30)A 卷PART I LISTENING COMPREHENSIONSection A1. D2. B3. C4. C5. A6. D7. B8. C9. BSection B10. C 11. C 12. A 13. A 14. B 15. BSection C16. mental distress17. feel a little low18. stay connected with19. budget and interests20. immersed inPART II VOCABULARY (10 minutes, 10 points )21. B 22. D 23. C 24. A25. A26. B 27. D 28. A29. C 30. B 31. B 32. A33. C 34. D 35. A36. C 37. B 38. D 39. B 40. B PART III CLOZE TEST (10 minutes, 10 points, 1 point each)41. D 42. A 43. B 44. B 45. D 46. C 47. A 48. D 49. C 50. B PART IV READING COMPREHENSION (45 minutes, 30 points, 1 point each)51. C 52. B 53. C 54. D 55. A 56. C 57. D 58. A 59. C 60. B 61. C 62. D 63. A 64. B 65. B 66. C 67. D 68. C 69. B 70. A 71. A 72. D 73. C 74. B 75. B 76. B 77. A 78. D 79. A80. C PART V TRANSLATION (30 minutes, 20 points)有关成功的故事使我们思考事业有成需要哪些因素以及获诺贝尔奖是什么样的感受。

87M.A. Hayat (ed.), Stem Cells and Cancer Stem Cells, Volume 6,DOI 10.1007/978-94-007-2993-3_9, © Springer Science+Business Media B.V . 20129A bstractRetinal and macular degeneration disorders are characterized by a progressive loss of photoreceptors, which causes visual impairment and blindness. In some cases, the visual loss is caused by dysfunction, degen-eration and loss of underlying retinal pigment epithelial (RPE) cells and the subsequent death of photoreceptors. The grim reality is that there is no successful treatment for most of these blindness disorders. Cell therapy aimed at replenishing the degenerating cells is considered a potential ther-apeutic approach that may delay, halt or perhaps even reverse degenera-tion, as well as improve retinal function and prevent blindness in the aforementioned conditions. Human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) may serve as an unlimited donor source of photoreceptors and RPE cells for transplantation into degenerat-ing retinas and for retinal disease modeling.I ntroductionThe vertebrate eyes form as bilateral evaginations of the forebrain, called optic vesicles (Martínez-Morales et al. 2004 ; Fig. 9.1a ). During develop-ment, the optic vesicles begin to invaginate to form a cup-shaped structure, the optic cup. The inner, thicker neural layer of the optic cup differ-entiates into the neural retina, and the outer, thin-ner pigmented layer forms the retinal pigmentepithelium (RPE). At the early developmental stages, the neuroepithelial cells that compose the optic vesicle are morphologically and molecu-larly identical and are all able to give rise to neu-ral retina and RPE. Exogenous signals coming from the adjacent tissues, including factors from the fi broblast growth factor (FGF) and transform-ing growth factor beta (TGF b ) families, dictate the fate of these cells. The mature vertebrate ret-ina is comprised of six types of neurons and one type of glia (the Müller glia). These seven cell types constitute three nuclear layers: retinal gan-glion cells in the ganglion cell layer (GCL); the horizontal, bipolar and amacrine interneurons, and Müller glial cells in the inner nuclear layer (INL); and rod and cone photoreceptors in the outer nuclear layer (ONL; Harada et al. 2007;M . I delson • B . R eubinoff (*)T he Hadassah Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research Center, The Goldyne Savad Institute of Gene Therapy & The Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology , H adassah University Medical Center ,E in Kerem 12000 ,J erusalem 91120 ,I srael e -mail: b enjaminr@ekmd.huji.ac.il D ifferentiation of HumanPluripotent Stem Cells into Retinal Cells Masha Idelson and Benjamin Reubinoff88M. Idelson and B. ReubinoffFig. 9.1b ). The photoreceptor cells capture lightphotons and transform their energy into electrical signals by a mechanism called phototransduction. The visual pigment which is utilized in this process is located on membranal discs in the outer seg-ments of photoreceptors. The outer segments are continuously renewed: the old discs are shed and new disks form. When the photoreceptors absorb light, they send the signal through the retinal interneurons to the ganglion cells which transmit the electrical impulse to the brain by their axons forming the optic nerve. Rods are responsible for night vision, whereas cones are responsible for color vision and detecting fi ne details. The macula is a small part of the retina which is rich in cones and responsible for detailed central vision.R PE cells that compose the outer layer of the optic cup are pigmented cuboidal cells which lie between the neural retina and the choriocapil-laris, which include the blood vessels supplying the retina. The multiple villi on their apical side are in direct contact with the outer segments ofextraocular mesenchymeabneural retinalensoptic nerveoptic cupsurface ectodermRPEFGFoptic vesiclechoroidBM RPE cone ONLINL GCLlightHC BC MC ACONrod F ig. 9.1 D evelopment and structural arrangement of the retina. ( a ) Schematic representation of retinal development including the transition from optic vesicle to optic cup and retinal patterning. ( b ) Schematic diagram of retinal cells arrangement and connections. A bbreviations :A C amacrinecell, B C bipolar cell, B M Bruch’s membrane, G CL gan-glion cell layer, H C horizontal cell, I NL inner nuclear layer, M C Müller cell, O N optic nerve, O NL outer nuclear layer89 9 Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Retinal Cellsthe photoreceptor cells; on their basal side, the RPE is in contact with the underlying basal mem-brane, termed Bruch’s membrane that separates the RPE from the choroid. These cells play cru-cial roles in the maintenance and function of the retina and its photoreceptors. As a layer of pig-mented cells, the RPE absorbs the stray light that was not absorbed by the photoreceptors. The RPE cells form a blood–retinal barrier due to decreased permeability of their junctions. The RPE cells transport ions, water, and metabolic end products from the retina to the bloodstream. They are involved in supplying the neural retina with nutrients from the bloodstream, such as glu-cose, retinol, and fatty acids. Another important function of the RPE is the phagocytosis of shed photoreceptor outer segments. After the outer segments are digested, essential substances such as retinal are recycled. Retinal is also recycled and returned to photoreceptors by the process known as the visual cycle. The precise functioning of the RPE is essential for visual performance. Failure of one of these functions can lead to degeneration of the retinal photoreceptors, vision impairment and blindness.T here are many inherited and age-related eye disorders that cause degeneration of the retina as a consequence of loss of photoreceptor cells. Retinal and macular degeneration disorders can be divided into two main groups. The fi rst group primarily affects the photoreceptors and involves the majority of cases of retinitis pigmentosa. In the second group, the primary damage is to the adjacent RPE cells, and as a consequence of this damage, the photoreceptors degenerate. This group includes age-related macular degeneration, Stargardt’s macular dystrophy, a subtype of Leber’s congenital amaurosis in which RPE65 is mutated, Best’s disease and some cases of retini-tis pigmentosa, as well.W ith regard to retinitis pigmentosa (RP), it is a group of inherited retinal degeneration diseases that are caused, as mentioned above, by a primary progressive loss of rod and cone photoreceptors, followed by a subsequent degeneration of RPE (Hartong et al. 2006). The disease affects approxi-mately 1.5 million patients worldwide and is the most common cause of blindness in people under 70 years of age in the western world. The disease can be characterized by retinal pigment deposits visible on the fundus examination. In most cases, the disease primarily affects rods. At later stages of the disease, the degeneration of cones takes place. As a consequence of disease progression, the patients’ night vision is reduced. Patients initially lose peripheral vision while retaining central vision (a visual status termed “tunnel vision”). In advanced cases, central vision is also lost, commonly at about 60 years of age. The disease affects about 1 in 4,000. The inheritance can be autosomal-recessive, autosomal-dominant or X-linked (in ~50–60%, 30–40%, and 5–15% of cases, respectively). Mutations in more than 140 genes have been iden-tifi ed as causing RP (Hartong et al. 2006).Among these genes are those involved in phototransduc-tion, like rhodopsin, the a- and b- subunits of phos-phodiesterase, the a- and b- subunits of Rod cGMP gated channel and arrestin. The additional muta-tions were found in genes encoding structural pro-teins, like peripherin, rod outer segment protein and fascin. They were also found in transcription factors involved in photoreceptors’ development such as Crx and Nrl, and in other genes, whose products are involved in signaling, cell-cell interac-tion and trafficking of intracellular proteins. Currently, there is no effective cure for RP. Treatment with vitamin A palmitate, omega-3 fatty acids and other nutrients may somewhat slow the rate of the disease progression in many cases. Reduction in exposure to light was also shown to decrease the rate of retinal degeneration.A mong the group of retinal degenerations that are caused by primary loss of RPE cells or their function, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the most frequent condition and the leading cause of visual disability in the western world (Cook et al. 2008).Among people over 75 years of age, 25–30% are affected by AMD, with progressive central visual loss that leads to blindness in 6–8%. The retinal degeneration pri-marily involves the macula. The dry form of AMD is initiated by hyperplasia of the RPE and formation of drusen deposits, consisting of meta-bolic end products underneath the RPE or within the Bruch’s membrane. It may gradually progress into the advanced stage of geographic atrophy90M. Idelson and B. Reubinoff with degeneration of RPE and photoreceptorsover large areas of the macula causing central visual loss. Ten percent of dry AMD patients will progress to neovascular (wet) AMD, with blood vessels sprouting through the Bruch’s membrane with subsequent intraocular leakage and/or bleed-ing, accelerating the loss of central vision. While the complicating neovascularization can be treated with anti-VEGF agents, currently there is no effective treatment to halt RPE and photore-ceptor degeneration and the grim reality is that many patients eventually lose their sight (Cook et al. 2008).S targardt’s macular dystrophy (SMD) is the most common form of inherited macular dystro-phy affecting children (Walia and Fishman 2009). The disease is symptomatically similar to AMD. The prevalence of SMD is about 1 in 10,000 chil-dren. The disease involves progressive central visual loss and atrophy of the RPE beneath the macula following accumulation of lipofuscin in RPE cells, which is suggested to consist of non-degradable material, derived from ingested pho-toreceptor outer segments. The inheritance is predominantly autosomal recessive, although an autosomal dominant form has also been described. The mutation in the ABCA4 gene was found to be a most common cause of SMD. The product of the ABCA4 gene is involved in energy transport to and from photoreceptors. The mutated protein cannot perform its transport function and, as a result, photoreceptor cells degenerate and vision is impaired. Currently, there is no effective treat-ment for SMD.C ell therapy to replenish the degenerating cells appears as a promising therapeutic modality that may potentially halt disease progression in the various retinal and macular degeneration dis-orders caused by loss and dysfunction of RPE cells and photoreceptors (da Cruz et al. 2007).I n this chapter we will discuss the potential of human pluripotent cells which includes human embryonic stem cells (hESC) and induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs), to gen-erate various types of retinal cells that could be used for transplantation therapy of retinal degen-eration disorders and disease modeling for drug discovery. C ell Therapy of Retinal and Macular DegenerationsT he eye is an attractive organ for cell therapy as it is easily accessible for transplantation and for simple monitoring of graft survival and potential complications by direct fundoscopic visualiza-tion. Anatomically, it is a relatively confi ned organ limiting the potential of unwanted extra-ocular ectopic cell distribution, and a low number of cells are required to replenish the damaged cells. The eye is also one of the immune privi-leged sites of the body.T he concept of replacing dysfunctional or degenerated retina by transplantation has been developing ever since the fi rst retina-to-retina transplant in 1986 (Turner and Blair 1986).In most studies, primary retinal immature (fetal) tissue has been used as donor material. It was demonstrated that such transplants can survive, differentiate, and even establish connections with the host retina to a limited degree (Ghosh et al. 1999). The subretinal transplantation of healthy RPE has some advantages over neural retinal transplantation, as it concerns only one cell type that is not involved in neural networking. Transplantation of RPE has been studied exten-sively in animal models (Lund et al. 2001).The most commonly used animal model of retinal degeneration is the Royal College of Surgeons (RCS) rat model, in which primary dysfunction of the RPE occurs as a result of a mutation in the receptor tyrosine kinase gene M ertk(D’Cruz et al. 2000). This leads to impaired phagocytosis of shed photoreceptor outer segments, with sec-ondary degeneration and progressive loss of pho-toreceptors within the fi rst months of life. It was reported that rat and human RPE cells rescued photoreceptor cells from degeneration when transplanted into the subretinal space of RCS rats (Li and Turner 1988; Coffey et al. 2002).The ability of transplanted RPE cells to restore retinal structure and function has been demonstrated in clinical trials. In humans, autologous transplanta-tions of peripheral RPE as well as macular trans-locations onto more peripheral RPE provide a proof that positioning the macula above relatively91 9 Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Retinal Cellshealthier RPE cells can improve visual functionin AMD patients (Binder et al. 2004; da Cruz et al. 2007). Nevertheless, the surgical procedures for autologous grafting are challenging and are often accompanied by signifi cant complications. In addition, autologous RPE transplants may carry the same genetic background, environmen-tal toxic and aging-related effects that may have led to macular RPE failure and the development of AMD in the patient. It is also problematic to use autologous cells when all the RPE cells are damaged. Cell sources that can be used for such therapy include allogeneic fetal and adult RPE (Weisz et al. 1999; Binder et al. 2004; da Cruz et al. 2007). However, the use of fetal or adult retinal tissues for transplantation is severely lim-ited by ethical considerations and practical prob-lems in obtaining sufficient tissue supply. The search for a cell source to replace autologous RPE such as immortalized cell lines, umbilical cord-derived cells as well as bone marrow-derived stem cells continues.T he derivation of hESCs more than a decade ago has raised immense interest in the potential clinical use of the cells for regeneration (Thomson et al. 1998; Reubinoff et al. 2000).Along the years, signifi cant progress has been made towards the use of hESCs in clinical trials.T he other promising source of cells for transplantation therapy is iPSCs that are simi-lar to hESCs in their stemness characteristics and pluripotency. These cells could be gener-ated from different human somatic cells by transduction of four defi ned transcription fac-tors: Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-Myc (Takahashi et al. 2007).G eneration of RPE and neural retina from hESCs and iPSC has numerous advantages, as it can be done from pathogen-free cell lines under good manufacturing practice (GMP) conditions with minimal variation among batches. Such cells can be characterized extensively prior to preclinical studies or for clinical applications, and an unlimited numbers of donor cells can be generated from them. In the following para-graphs, strategies for induction of differentiation of hESCs and iPSCs towards RPE and neural retina fate are reviewed. D ifferentiation into Retinal Pigment EpitheliumI t was reported for the fi rst time in mice and pri-mates that the differentiation of ES cells into RPE could be induced by co-culture with PA6 stromal cells (Kawasaki et al. 2002; Haruta et al. 2004). The resulting cells had polygonal epithelial mor-phology and extensive pigmentation. The cells expressed the markers that are characteristic of RPE. They developed typical ultrastructures and exhibited some functions of RPE. The differenti-ation of hESC into RPE was first reported by Klimanskaya et al. (2004).According to their protocol, hESCs underwent spontaneous differ-entiation by overgrowth on mouse embryonic fibroblasts (MEF), in feeder-free conditions or, alternatively, as embryoid bodies (EBs) in com-bination with withdrawal of bFGF from the medium. The yield of the formation of RPE cells after 4–8 weeks of spontaneous differentiation was relatively low; for example,<1% of EBs con-tained pigmented cells at this stage. However, after 6–9 months in culture, all the EBs contained pigmented cells. The areas of pigmented cells could be further isolated mechanically and prop-agated by passaging as RPE lines. Klimanskaya and colleges characterized the hESC-derived RPE cells by transcriptomics and demonstrated their higher similarity to primary RPE tissue than to human RPE lines D407 and ARPE-19. The low yield of spontaneously differentiating RPE cells was improved by induction of differentia-tion with Wnt and Nodal antagonists, Dkk1 and LeftyA, respectively, the factors that are sug-gested to promote retinal differentiation. This treatment gave rise to pigmented cells within 38% of the hESC colonies after 8 weeks (Osakada et al. 2008). Immunostaining with the ZO-1 anti-body showed that by day 120, hESC-derived pig-mented cells formed tight junctions (about 35% of total cells). We showed that differentiation toward the neural and further toward the RPE fate could be augmented by vitamin B3 (nicotin-amide; Idelson et al. 2009).We further showed that Activin A, in the presence of nicotinamide, effi ciently induces and augments differentiation92M. Idelson and B. Reubinoffinto RPE cells. This is in line with the presumed role of Activin A in RPE development i n vivo .In the embryo, extraocular mesenchyme-secreted members of the TGF b superfamily are thought to direct the differentiation of the optic vesicle into RPE (Fuhrmann et al. 2000).Under our culture conditions, when the cells were grown in suspen-sion as free-fl oating clusters, within 4 weeks of differentiation, 51% of the clusters contained pigmented areas and about 10% of the cells within the clusters were pigmented. When we modifi ed the differentiation conditions to includea stage of monolayer culture growth, the yield of the RPE-like pigmented cells was signifi cantly improved and 33% of the cells were pigmented after 6 weeks of differentiation. The derivation of RPE from hESCs and iPSCs without any external factor supplementation was also demonstrated by other groups (Vugler et al. 2008 ; Meyer et al. 2009 ; Buchholz et al. 2009).T he hESC-derived RPE cells were extensively characterized, including demonstration, both at the mRNA and the protein levels, of the expres-sion of RPE-specifi c markers, such as RPE65, CRALBP, Bestrophin, Tyrosinase, PEDF, PMEL17, LRAT, isoforms of MiTF abundant in RPE, and others. The cells expressed markers of tight junctions that join the adjacent RPE cells: ZO-1, occludin and claudin-1 (Vugler et al. 2008 ) . Electron microscopic analysis revealed that the hESC-derived RPE cells showed features characteristic of RPE. The cells were highly polarized with the nuclei located more basally, and the cytoplasm with the mitochondria and melanin granules of different maturity more api-cally. A formation of basal membrane was observed on the basal surface of the RPE cell. Similar to putative RPE, the hESC-derived RPE basal membrane was shown to be composed of extracellular matrix proteins, collagen IV , lami-nin and fi bronectin (Vugler et al.2008).The appearance of apical microvilli was demonstrated at the apical surface of the RPE. The presence of tight and gap junctions on the apical borders of the RPE cells was also confi rmed by electron microscopy. O ne of the most important functions of RPE cells i n vivo is phagocytosis of shed photoreceptor outer segments, as part of the continuous renewal process of rods and cones. The hESC-derived RPE cells demonstrated the ability to phagocyto-size latex beads or purifi ed photoreceptor outer segments, confi rming that these cells are func-tionali n vitro . It may be concluded from all these studies that human pluripotent stem cells have a potential to give rise to pigmented cells exhibiting the morphology, marker expression and functionof authentic RPE.D ifferentiation into Retinal Progenitors and Photoreceptors O ur group showed, for the fi rst time, the potential of highly enriched cultures of hESC-derived neu-ral precursors (NPs) to differentiate towards the neural retina fate (Banin et al. 2006).We demon-strated that the NPs expressed transcripts of key regulatory genes of anterior brain and retinal development. After spontaneous differentiation i n vitro , the NPs gave rise to progeny expressing markers of retinal progenitors and photoreceptor development, though this was uncommon and cells expressing markers of mature photorecep-tors were not observed. We showed that after transplantation into rat eyes, differentiation into cells expressing specifi c markers of mature photoreceptors occurred only after subretinal transplantation (between the host RPE and pho-toreceptor layer) suggesting that this specifi c microenvironment provided signals, yet unde-fi ned, that were required to support differentia-tion into the photoreceptoral lineage.P rogress towards controlling and inducing the differentiation of hESCs into retinal progenitors and neurons i n vitro was reported in the study of Lamba et al. ( 2006).They treated hESC-derived EBs for 3 days with a combination of factors,including Noggin, an inhibitor of BMP signaling, Dkk1, a secreted antagonist of the Wnt signaling pathway and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF-1), which is known to promote retinal progenitor dif-ferentiation. The cultivation of EBs with these factors was followed by differentiation on Matrigel or laminin for an additional 3 weeks in the presence of the combination of the three93 9 Differentiation of Human Pluripotent Stem Cells into Retinal Cellsfactors together with bFGF. Under these culture conditions, the majority of the cells developed the characteristics of retinal progenitors and expressed the specifi c markers Pax6 and Chx10 (82% and 86% of the cells, respectively). The authors showed that after further differentiation, the cells expressed markers of photoreceptor development Crx and Nrl (12% and 5.75%, respectively). About 12% of the cells expressed also HuC/D, the marker of amacrine and ganglion cells. The expression of markers of the other sub-types of retinal neurons was demonstrated, as well. However, only very few cells (<0.01%) expressed markers of mature photoreceptors, blue opsin and rhodopsin. The abundance of cells expressing markers of photoreceptors could be accelerated by co-culture with retinal explants, especially when the explants originated from mice bearing a mutation that causes retinal degeneration.T o better characterize the phenotype of retinal cells obtained with this differentiation protocol, a microarray-based analysis comparing human retina to the hESC-derived retinal cells was per-formed (Lamba and Reh 2011).It was demon-strated that gene expression in hESC-derived retinal cells was highly correlated to that in the human fetal retina. In addition, 1% of the genes that were highly expressed in the hESC-derived cultures could be attributed to RPE and ciliary epithelium differentiation.A n alternative protocol for the derivation of retinal progenitors and photoreceptors was pro-posed by Osakada et al. (2008).Similar to the protocol for the derivation of RPE cells, they used serum-free fl oating cultures in combination with the Dkk1 and LeftyA. After 20 days of cul-ture in suspension, the cells were replated on poly-D-lysine/laminin/fi bronectin-coated slides. Osakada and co-authors demonstrated that on day 35 in culture, about 16% of colonies were positive for retinal progenitor markers Rx and Pax6. Differentiation towards photoreceptor fate was augmented in the presence of N2 by treat-ment with retinoic acid and taurine, which are known inducers of rod fate differentiation. Under these conditions, after an extended culture period of 170 days, about 20% of total cells were positive for Crx, an early photoreceptor marker. On day 200, about 8.5% of the cells expressed the mature rod photoreceptor marker, rhodopsin, as well as cone photoreceptor markers, red/green and blue opsins (8.9% and 9.4%, respectively).A n alternative approach was proposed by the same group based on the use of small molecules. In this method, the chemical inhibitors CKI-7 and SB-431542 that inhibit Wnt and Activin A signaling, respectively, and Y-27632, the Rho-associated kinase inhibitor, which prevents disso-ciation-induced cell death, were used. These molecules were shown to mimic the effects of Dkk1 and LeftyA (Osakada et al. 2009).This strategy, which doesn’t involve the use of recom-binant proteins which are produced in animal or E scherichia coli cells, is more favorable for the gen-eration of cells for future transplantation therapy.I n another study that was published by Meyer et al .(2009), after initial differentiation in sus-pension for 6 days, the aggregates were allowed to attach to laminin–coated culture dishes. After further differentiation as adherent cultures, neu-roepithelial rosettes were formed, which were mechanically isolated and subsequently culti-vated as neurospheres. The authors didn’t use any soluble factors; moreover, they showed that under these conditions, the cells expressed endogenous Dkk1 and Noggin. They also demonstrated that in concordance with the role of bFGF in retinal specifi cation, the inhibition of endogenous FGF-signaling abolished retinal differentiation. Under their differentiation protocol, by day 16, more than 95% of the cells expressed the retinal pro-genitor markers, Pax6 and Rx. The authors dem-onstrated that by day 80 of differentiation, about 19% of all neurospheres contained Crx+ cells and within these Crx+ neurospheres, 63% of all cells express Crx and 46.4% of the cells expressed mature markers, such as recoverin and cone opsin.I n all of the above studies, differentiated cells expressing the retinal markers were obtained; however, the cells were not organized in a three-dimensional retinal structure. In a paper recently published by Eiraku et al. (2011),the authors cul-tured free-fl oating aggregates of mouse ES cells in serum-free medium in the presence of base-ment membrane matrix, Matrigel, that could also94M. Idelson and B. Reubinoffbe substituted with a combination of laminin, entactine and Nodal. Using a mouse reporter ES cell line, in which green fl uorescent protein (GFP) is knocked in at the Rx locus, the authors showed that Rx-GFP+ epithelial vesicles were evaginated from the aggregates after 7 days of differentiation under these conditions. On days 8–10, the Rx-GFP+ vesicles changed their shape and formed optic cup-like structures. The inner layer of these structures expressed markers of the neural retina whereas the outer layer expressed markers of RPE. The authors demonstrated that differen-tiation into RPE required the presence of the adjacent neuroectodermal epithelium as a source of diffusible inducing factors. In contrast, the differentiation into neural retina did not require tissue interactions, possibly because of the intrinsic inhibition of the Wnt-signaling pathway. Eiraku and colleagues showed that the retinal architecture, which was formed within the optic vesicle-like structures, was comparable to the native developing neural retina.R ecently, optic vesicle-like structures were also derived from hESCs and iPSCs using the protocol described above, which is based on iso-lating the neural rosette-containing colonies and culturing them in suspension (Meyer et al. 2011). The cells within the structures expressed the markers of retinal progenitors, and after differen-tiation gave rise to different retinal cell types. It was shown that the ability of optic vesicle-like structures to adopt RPE fate could be modulated by Activin A supplementation. The production of these three-dimensional retinal structures opens new avenues for studying retinal development in normal and pathological conditions.T ransplantation of Pluripotent Stem Cell-Derived Retinal CellsA key step towards future clinical transplanta-tions of hESC-derived RPE and neural retina is to show proof of their therapeutic potential i n vivo. Various animal models of retinal degeneration have been used to evaluate the therapeutic effect of transplanted retinal cells. Human ESC-derived RPE cells were transplanted subretinally to the degenerated eyes of RCS rats. Transplantation of the hESC-derived RPE cells between the RPE and the photoreceptor layer rescued retinal struc-ture and function (Lund et al. 2006; Vugler et al. 2008; Idelson et al. 2009; Lu et al. 2009).The subretinally engrafted hESC-derived RPE cells salvaged photoreceptors in proximity to the grafts as was shown by the measurement of the thick-ness of the ONL, the layer of photoreceptor nuclei, which is an important monitor of photore-ceptor cell survival. The ONL thickness was significantly increased in transplanted eyes in comparison to the degenerated non-treated eyes.I n order to evaluate the functional effect of transplanted cells i n vivo, the electroretinography (ERG) that directly measures the electrical activ-ity of the outer (a-wave) and inner (b-wave) retina in response to light stimulation was used. It was demonstrated that after transplantation of hESC-derived RPE, ERG recordings revealed a signifi -cant preservation of retinal function in the treated eyes as compared to control untreated eyes (Lund et al. 2006; Idelson et al. 2009).The visual func-tion of the animals was also estimated by an optomotor test, which monitors the animal’s refl exive head movements in response to a rotat-ing drum with fi xed stripes. Animals transplanted with hESC-derived RPE showed signifi cantly better visual performance in comparison to con-trol animals (Lund et al. 2006; Lu et al. 2009). The presence of rhodopsin, a major component of photoreceptor outer segments, within the sub-retinaly transplanted pigmented cells suggested that they could perform phagocytosis i n vivo (Vugler et al. 2008; Idelson et al. 2009).B ridging the gap between basic research and initial clinical trials requires immense resources to ensure safety and efficacy. Human ESC-derived RPE cell lines were generated using a current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP)-compliant cellular manufacturing process (Lu et al. 2009). Long-term studies analyzing safety and efficacy of transplantation of these GMP-compliant hESC-derived RPE cells revealed that the subretinally transplanted cells survived for a period of up to 220 days and provided prolonged functional improvement for up to 70 days after transplantation. The potential of the hESC-derived。

2012 年全国高考‎英语试题分‎类汇编之完‎形填空答案1.【2012全‎国新课标】36【答案】B【解析】身势语比语‎言表达的意‎思更响亮，更清楚。

此处lou‎der意为‎：声音更大，即更有说服‎力。

谚语Act‎i on speak‎s loude‎r than words‎.（事实胜于雄‎辩。

）【考点定位】考查副词的‎比较级及语‎境理解。

37【答案】D【解析】据专家称：我们的身体‎发出比我们‎意识到的更‎多的信息。

此处sou‎n d声音；invit‎a tion‎邀请；feeli‎n g感觉；messa‎g e信息。

【考点定位】考查名词词‎义辨析及语‎境理解。

38【答案】D【解析】实际上，非语言交际‎占据了约5‎0%我们真正想‎表达的意思‎。

此处hop‎e 希望；recei‎v e 接收；disco‎v er发现‎；mean表‎达意思。

【考点定位】考查动词词‎义辨析及语‎境理解。

39【答案】C【解析】当我们进行‎跨文化交流‎时，身势语显得‎尤为重要。

此处imm‎ediat‎e立刻；misle‎a ding‎误导的；impor‎t ant重‎要的；diffi‎c ult困‎难的。

【考点定位】考查形容词‎词义辨析。

40【答案】C【解析】身势语是被‎我们事实上‎常常忽视的‎很大的一部‎分。

【考点定位】考查形容词‎的用法。

41【答案】A【解析】文章以拉丁‎美洲人和挪‎威人为例，说明不同的‎社会群体对‎待距离的态‎度是不同的‎。

【考点定位】考查副词词‎义。

42【答案】B【解析】不同的社会‎群体对待人‎们之间接触‎的距离是不‎同的。

此处tra‎d e交易；dista‎n ce 距离； conne‎c tion‎联系；greet‎i ng问候‎。

【考点定位】考查名词词‎义及语境理‎解。

43【答案】C【解析】北欧人通常‎不喜欢身体‎的接触，即使是朋友‎，当然更不用‎说陌生人。

此处eye‎眼睛，眼神；verba‎l言辞的； bodil‎y身体的；telep‎h one电‎话。

Editable scheme of workWe are happy to provide this scheme of work for you to amend and adaptto suit your teaching purposes.We hope you findthis useful.Edexcel GCSE 2012 Chinese (Mandarin)Practical support to help you deliver this Edexcel specificationScheme of workThis scheme of work has been produced to help you implement this Edexcel specification. It is offered as an example of one possible model that you should feel free to adapt to meet your needs and is not intended to be in any way prescriptive. It is in editable Word format to make adaptation as easy as possible.Teaching resource exemplarsThe scheme of work contains suggestions for resources or textbooks that you can use to support your teaching. These are suggestions only of material you may find useful and you are encouraged to use a wide range of resources that suit the needs of your students.Other Edexcel teaching resourcesPearson Education have published teaching resources that support the Edexcel in Chinese (Mandarin) specification that include:∙ a Student book — a full colour textbook∙ a Teacher’s Guide – with detailed teaching notes that support the Student Book∙an Audio CD Pack – which contains audio for the listening exercises in the Student Book∙an Assessment Pack – reading and listening tests in the style of the examination and writing and speaking controlled assessment tasks for you to use or adapt, along with a clear marking scheme.These resources have been written by a team of authors from the SSAT (Specialist Schools and Academies Trust) Confucius Insti tute. You’ll find details of all of these at /gcse2009— please look under Chinese/resources.Edexcel subject advisorsEdexcel has a team of specialist subject advisors available to help you with implementation of this specification. You can contact them by email or phone. Email: *****************************************.ukPhone: ***********Edexcel GCSE in Chinese specification Edexcel scheme of workYear 113393sb270410S:\LT\PD\SCHEME OF WORK (PHASE 2)\CHINESE MANDARIN SOW.DOC.1-18/0This grid is for you to create your own scheme of work if needed.。

中国海洋大学2012翻译硕士真题回顾一，翻译硕士英语不难，但是多了10个单选和一篇完形填空我这个考的不好，长时间不复习，加上考的时候脑子不清楚，于是在一门送分的科目上丢了很多分，估计到最后自己败就败在这一门上了完形填空是2011年大六的一篇预测题，真题和下面的选项顺序有变动答案从网上搜的，仅供参考Approximately,forty percent of Americans see themselves as shy,while only 20 percent say they have never suffered from shyness at some point in their lives.Shyness occurs when a person's apprehensions are so great that they 62his making an expected or desired social response.63 of shyness can be as minor as 64 to make eye contact when speaking to someone,65as major as avoiding conversations whenever possible."Shy people tend to be too 66 with themselves,"said Jonathan Cheek,a psychologist,who is one of those at the forefront of current research on the topic."67,for a smooth conversation,you need to pay attention to the other person's cues,68 he is saying and doing.But the shy person is full of 69about how he seems to the other person,and so he often 70cues he should pick up.The result is an awkward lag in the conversation.Shy people need to stop focusing on 71 and switch their attention to the other person."72,shy people by and large have73social abilities than they think they do.74Dr.Cheek videotaped shy people talking to 75,and then had raters(评估者)evaluate how socially skilled the people were,he found that,in the 76of other people,the shy group had few 77 problems.But when he asked the shy people themselves 78 they had done,they were unanimous in saying that they had been social hops(失败)."Shy people are their own 79 critics,"Dr.Cheek said.80,he added,shy people feel they are being judged more 81than they actually are,and overestimate how obvious their social anxiety is to others.62.A)prevent B)inhibit C)keep D)motivate63.A)Symptoms B)Signals C)Highlights D)Incidences64.A)succeeding B)failing C)acting D)responding65.A)but B)not C)or D)nor66.A)preoccupied B)absorbed C)engaged D)indulged67.A)However B)Then C)For example D)Instead68.A)that B)which C)what D)how69.A)worries B)feelings C)emotions D)indifferences70.A)follows B)picks up C)misses D)catches71.A)the conversation B)shynessC)others D)themselves72.A)Therefore B)NeverthelessC)On the contrary D)Similarly73.A)worse B)as good C)better D)best74.A)When B)Since C)While D)As75.A)themselves B)friends C)strangers D)others76.A)name B)terms C)case D)eyes77.A)oblivious B)obvious C)oblique D)obscure78.A)what B)whatever C)how D)however79.A)best B)justice C)fair D)worst80.A)In particular B)In contrast C)In general D)In comparison81.A)positively B)negatively C)subjectively D)objectively原文精译美国大概40%的人认为自己很害羞，只有20%的人认为自己一生都没有害羞过一个人忧惧过重，害怕自己的表现达不到社会的期待，这时就会害羞害羞的征兆，轻则表现为和人交流时不敢直视对方的眼睛，重则表现为何时何地都不敢和人交谈心理学家Jonathan Cheek是目前研究此课题的先驱人物之一，他说，“害羞的人太关注自身了比如，想要交流顺利，需要关注对方给出的暗示，他在说什么，做什么但是害羞的人只关注自己在对方眼中的形象，经常忽略他本该获得的提示，结果往往导致交流中的滞后，让人尴尬害羞的人不能只关注自己，需要把注意力转向他人”无论如何，大体上来讲，害羞的人社交能力比他们自己想象的要好Dr.Cheek将害羞的人和陌生人的交流过程进行了录像，然后找来评估人员对这些人的社交技巧进行评价他发现，在他人看来，这些害羞的人基本没有明显的问题;然而，当他让害羞的人自我评价时，这些人异口同声地说，在社交方面自己是个失败者Dr.Cheek说，“害羞的人是自身最苛刻的批评家”他接着说，一般来讲，害羞的人感觉别人对自己的评价很负面，事实并非如此;他们过高地估计了自己的社交焦虑，其实在他人眼中并没有那么明显62.答案B解析：考生要特别注意，此句中的they指代前面的主语apprehensions，忧惧过多，就阻碍了他们的反应选项A、B、C都有“阻碍”之意，A和C的常用搭配是prevent/keep sb.(from)doing sth.，而B的常用搭配为prohibit doing sth D意为“鼓励，刺激”，常用搭配为motivate sb.to do sth.63.答案A解析：考生要注意名词词义辨析A中的symptom意为“症状，征兆”;B中的signal意为“信号，标志”;C中的highlight意为“精彩部分，最重要的细节或事件，闪光点”;D中的incidence 意为“发生”此句的意思为，害羞的表现征兆64.答案B解析：解答本题要注意上下文本句大意为：害羞的征兆有两类，一类比较细微，一类却比较严重前后两种征兆呈排比结构，后半句用到了动词avoid，前半句相对应，选择同义动词fail，表示“不能直视他人”65.答案C解析：本空前后是两种可能性的排比，用or连接，表示“或者”，指害羞的轻微征兆和严重征兆66.答案A解析：本空考查动词搭配A的搭配为be preoccupied with;而选项B、C、D则常和介词in搭配67.答案C解析：考生要注意前后两句话的关系Jonathan Cheek认为害羞的人太关注自身接下来说，在交流过程中，他们太关注自身在对方眼中的形象从中可以看出，Jonathan Cheek举了个例子来说明害羞的人对自身的关注68.答案C解析：此空和前面的the other persons'cues并列，都做pay attention to的宾语宾语从句中say和do缺少宾语，用what来充当69.答案A解析：选项A中worries表示“担忧，担心”;选项B中feelings表示“感觉，知觉，气氛，鉴赏力”;选项C中emotions表示“感情”;选项D中indifferences意为“冷淡，漠不关心”根据上文，害羞的人担心他人对自己的看法70.答案C解析：上一句话中讲，害羞的人太担心自己在他人心目中的印象，所以会常常错过本该注意到的提示考生选择时，要注意前后两句话的逻辑关系71.答案D解析：本段一直在讲害羞的人太关注自身，在交流中才会出现问题所以他们应该转移注意力，不要把精力一直放在自身所以在这里选择反身代词themselves72.答案B解析：此空的选择要联系上下文前一段讲害羞的人太注意自身，交流中出现了某些问题;而此空的后一段讲，害羞的人和陌生人交流时，表现没有什么大问题根据前后关系，选择B表示“不管怎么说，无论如何”73.答案C解析：此空的选择也要联系上下文前面讲害羞的人交流中出现了某些问题;而后面讲害羞的人和陌生人交流时，实际表现没有什么大问题所以，他们的社交能力比他们想象的要好74.答案A解析：此空是对连词的选择，考生要注意前后两句话之间的关系when表示“当……的时候”，since表示“自从”，while强调前后两个动作同时发生，或者后面的动作发生在前面的动作行为期间;as也强调动作同时进行，还可以表示原因75.答案C解析：考生要注意这个实验，是观察害羞的人的社交能力如果是和朋友交流，害羞的人就会比较随意，结果可能不太客观;而选项D中的others既包括陌生人，也包括朋友，所以在这里选择C76.答案D解析：此空考查名词短语in the name of意为“以……的名义”，terms的短语一般为in terms of，意为“就……而言，在……方面”，case一般用于in this case，表示“在这种情况下”，in the eyes of sb.表示“在……看来”77.答案B解析：本句前后语义为，在他人看来，害羞的人并没有表现出很多问题答案选obvious，意为“明显的”选项A中oblivious常作表语，用在be oblivious of中，表示“忘记，不注意”，用在be oblivious to中，意为“对……不在意”;选项C中的oblique，意为“拐弯抹角的”，选项D中的obscure，表示“模糊的，艰涩难懂的”78.答案C解析：do作为不及物动词，经常和副词连用，或者在疑问句中用在how之后，表示“进展，表现”，如：How is the business doing?(生意如何?)79.答案D解析：根据上文，害羞的人对自己要求很严格，总觉得自己表现不是很好而选项中的A、B、C都是褒义词80.答案C解析：考生要注意对四个短语的理解选项A中的in particular，意为“特别，尤其”;选项B中的in contrast意为“相反”;选项C中的in general意为“一般来讲”;选项D中的in comparison 意为“比较起来”这里Dr.Cheek在讨论一般情况81.答案B解析：从整篇文章来讲，害羞的人总是认为自己表现的不是很好，他人对自己的评价也不会很高，所以在这里选择B，negatively意为“消极地，负面地”阅读理解一原文，真题有删节January 10,1986Op-Ed:Against a One-Term,6-Year PresidentBy ARTHUR SCHLESINGER JR.he proposal of a single six-year Presidential term has been around for a long time.High-minded men have urged it from the beginning of the Republic.The Constitutional Convention turned it down in 1787,and recurrent efforts to put it in the Constitution have regularly failed in the two centuries since.Quite right:It is a terrible idea for a number of reasons,among them that it is at war with the philosophy of democracy.The basic argument for the one-term,six-year Presidency is that the quest for re-election is at the heart of our problems with self-government.The desire for re-election,it is claimed,drives Presidents to do things they would not otherwise do.It leads them to make easy promises and to postpone hard decisions.A single six-year term would liberate Presidents from the pressures and temptations of politics.Instead of worrying about re-election,they would be free to do only what was best for the country.The argument is superficially attractive.But when you think about it,it is profoundly anti-democratic in its implications.It assumes Presidents know better than anyone else what is best for the country and that the people are so wrongheaded and ignorant that Presidents should be encouraged to disregard their wishes.It assumes that the less responsive a President is to popular desires and needs,the better President he will be.It assumes that the democratic process is the obstacle to wise decisions.The theory of American democracy is quite the opposite.It is that the give-and-take of the democratic process is the best source of wise decisions.It is that the President's duty is not to ignore and override popular concerns but to acknowledge and heed them.It is that the President's accountability to the popular will is the best guarantee that he will do a good job.The one-term limitation,as Gouverneur Morris,final draftsman of the Constitution,persuaded the convention,would''destroy the great motive to good behavior,''which is the hope of re-election.A President,said Oliver Ellsworth,another Founding Father,''should be re-elected if his conduct prove worthy of it.And he will be more likely to render himself worthy of it if he be rewardable with it.''Few things have a more tonic effect on a President's sensitivity to public needs and hopes than the desire for re-election.''A President immunized from political considerations,''Clark Clifford told the Senate Judiciary Committee when it was considering the proposal some years ago,''is a President who need not listen to the people,respond to majority sentiment or pay attention to views that may be diverse,intense and perhaps at variance with his own....Concern for one's own political future can be a powerful stimulus to responsible and responsive performance in office.''We all saw the tempering effect of the desire for re-election on Ronald Reagan in 1984.He dropped his earlier talk about the''evil empire,''announced a concealed passion for arms control,slowed down the movement toward intervention in Central America,affirmed his loyalty to Social Security and the''safety net''and in other ways moderated his hard ideological positions.A single six-year term would have given Reaganite ideology full,uninhibited sway.The ban on re-election has other perverse consequences.Forbidding a President to run again,Gouverneur Morris said,is''as much as to say that we should give him the benefit of experience,and then deprive ourselves of the use of it.''George Washington stoutly opposed the idea.''I can see no propriety,''he wrote,''in precluding ourselves from the service of any man,who on some great emergency shall be deemed universally most capable of serving the public.'' Jefferson,after initially favoring a single seven-year term,thought more carefully and changed his mind.Seven years,he concluded,were''too long to be irremovable'';''service for eight years with a power to remove at the end of the first four''was the way to do it.Woodrow Wilson agreed,observing that a six-year term is too long for a poor President and too short for a good one and that the decision belongs to the people.''By seeking to determine by fixed constitutional provision what the people are perfectly competent to determine by themselves,''Wilson said in 1913,''we cast a doubt upon the whole theory of popular government.''A single six-year term would release Presidents from the test of submitting their records to the voters.It would enshrine the''President-knows-best''myth,which has already got us into sufficient trouble as a nation.It would be a mighty blow against Presidential accountability.It would be a mighty reinforcement of the imperial Presidency.It would be an impeachment of the democratic process itself.The Founding Fathers were everlastingly right when they turned down this well-intentioned but ill-considered proposal 200 years ago.Arthur Schlesinger Jr.,whose new book''The Cycles of American History''will be published later this year,is professor of the humanities at the City University of New York.TEXT B是2010年专四真题Graduation speeches are a bit like wedding toasts.A few are memorable.The rest tend to trigger such thoughts as,"Why did I wear such uncomfortable shoes?"But graduation speeches are less about the message than the messenger.Every year a few colleges and universities in the US attract attention because they've managed to book high-profile speakers.And,every year,the media report some of these speakers'wise remarks.Last month,the following words of wisdom were spread:"You really haven't completed the circle of success unless you can help somebody else move forward."(Oprah Winfrey,Duke University)."There is no way to stop change;change will come.Go out and give us a future worthy of the world we all wish to create together."(Hillary Clinton,New York University)."'This really is your moment.History is yours to bend."(Joe Biden,Wake Forest University).Of course,the real"get"of the graduation season was first lady Michelle Obama's appearance at the University of California,Merced."Remember that you are blessed,"she told the class of 2009,"Remember that in exchange for those blessings,you must give something back...As advocate and activist Marian Wright Edelman says,'Service is the rent we pay for living...it is the true measure,the only measure of success'."Calls to service have a long,rich tradition in these speeches.However,it is possible for a graduation speech to go beyond cliche and say something truly compelling.The late writer DavidFoster Wallace's 2005 graduation speech at Kenyon College in Ohio talked about how to truly care about other people.It gained something of a cult after it was widely circulated on the Internet.Apple Computer CEO Steve Jobs'address at Stanford University that yea（更多考试资讯尽在/）r,in which he talked about death,is also considered one of the best in recent memory.But when you're sitting in the hot sun,fidgety and freaked out,do you really want to be lectured aboutthe big stuff?.Isn't that like trying to maintain a smile at your wedding reception while some relative gives a toast that amounts to"marriage is hard work"?You know he's right;you just don't want to think about it at that particular moment.In fact,as is the case in many major life moments,you can't really manage to think beyond the blisters your new shoes are causing.That may seem anticlimactic.But it also gets to the heart of one of life's greatest,saddest truths:that our most"memorable"occasions may elicit the fewest memories.It's probably not something most graduation speakers would say,but it's one of the first lessons of growing up.91.According to the passage,most graduation speeches tend to recall____memories.A.greatB.trivialC.unforgettableD.unimaginative92."But graduation speeches are less about the message than the messenger"is explainedA.in the final paragraph.B.in the last but one paragraph.C.in the first paragraph.D.in the same paragraph.93.The graduation speeches mentioned in the passage are related to the following themes EXCEPTA.death.B.success.C.service.D.generosity.94.It is implied in the passage that at great moments people fail toA.remain clear-headed.B.keep good manners.C.remember others'words.D.recollect specific details.95.What is"one of the first lessons of growing up"?A.Attending a graduation ceremony.B.Listening to graduation speeches.C.Forgetting details of memorable events.D.Meeting high-profile graduation speakersText c是2007年的专四真题，是问答题，题目和原来的选项有所不同The kids are hanging out.I pass small bands of students,in my way to work these mornings.They have become a familiar part of the summer landscape.These kids are not old enough for jobs.Nor are they rich enough for camp.They are school children without school.The calendar called the school year ran out on them a few weeks ago.Once supervised by teachers and principals,they now appear to be“self care”.Passing them is like passing through a time zone.For much of our history,after all,Americans arranged the school year around the needs of work and family.In 19th-century cities,schools were open seven or eight hours a day,11 months a year.In rural America,the year was arranged around the growing season.Now,only 3 percent of families follow the agricultural model,but nearly all schools are scheduled as if our children went home early to milk the cows and took months off to work the crops.Now,three-quarters of the mothers of school-age children work,but the calendar is written as if they were home waiting for the school bus.The six-hour day,the 180-day school year is regarded as something holy.But when parents work an eight-hour day and a 240-day year,it means something different.It means that many kidsgo home to empty houses.It means that,in the summer,they hang out.“We have a huge mismatch between the school calendar and realities of family life,”says Dr.Ernest Boyer,head of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching.Dr.Boyer is one of many who believe that a radical revision of the school cale ndar is inevitable.“School,whether we like it or not,is educational.It always has been.”His is not popular idea.School are routinely burdened with the job of solving all our social problems.Can they be asked to meet the needs of our work and family lives?It may be easier to promote a longer school year on its educational merits and,indeed,the educational case is compelling.Despite the complaints and studies about our kids’lack of learning,the United State still has a shorter school year than any industrial nation.In most of Europe,the school year is 220 days.In Japan,it is 240 days long.While classroom time alone doesn’t produce a well-educated child,learning takes time and more learning takes more time.The long summers of forgetting take a toll.95.Which of the following is an opinion of the author’s?____A____A.“The kids are hanging out.”B.“They are school children without school.”C.“These kids are not old enough for jobs.”D.“The calendar called the school year ran out on them a few weeks ago.”解析：A 第一段的第一句：“The kids are hanging out.”跟第二段的最后一句：“Once supervised by teachers and principals,they now appear to be“self care”.相呼应作者的观点是现在的孩子上学的时间太短，很多时间都在外闲逛，无所事事这里的hang out 是指在某地逗留，浪费时间后面也可以加个地方，旨在那个地方逗留，浪费时间也可以with某人，指与某人在一起瞎混，浪费时间例如：You guys spent too much time hanging out.你们花太多时间瞎混了B、C、D是客观事实陈述，并不是作者观点96.The current American school calendar was developed in the 19th century according to____A____A.the growing season on nation’s farm.B.the labor demands of the industrial age.C.teachers’demands for more vacation t ime.D.parents’demands for other experiences for their kids.解析：A 第三段提到：“In rural America,the year was arranged around the growing season.Now,only 3 percent of families follow the agricultural model,but nearly all schools are scheduled as if our children went home early to milk the cows and took months off to work the crops.(19世纪的时候，上学时间是根据农时来决定的现在虽然只有3%的家庭从事农业，但几乎所有的学校的校历安排似乎是让孩子们早早回家去挤牛奶或是花上几个月时间去地里种庄稼.)97.The author thinks that the current school calendar____A____.A.is still valid.B.is out of date.C.can not be revised.D.can not be defended.解析：B 从第三段可知，现有的校历是根据以前的情况制定的，已经不能适应现在的情况了98.Why was Dr.Boy’s idea unpopular?____D____A.He argues for the role of school in solving social problems.B.He supports the current school calendar.C.He thinks that school year and family life should be considered separately.D.He strongly believes in the educational role of school.解析：D A和B明显与文章不符A指的是大众的观点；B选项Dr.Boy是不赞同现有的校历的C选项与文章相反，文中提到Dr.Boy’s idea:“We have a huge mismatch between the school calendar and realities of family li fe,”…“School,whether we like it or not,is educational.It always has been.”意思是如今的校历安排与现实生活脱节，暗指应该把两者结合起来99.“The long summers of forgetting take a toll”in the last paragraph but one means that____C____.A.long summer vacation slows down the progress of learning.B.long summer vacation has been abandoned in Europe.C.long summers result in less learning time.D.long summers are a result of tradition.解析：C 细看这句话：“learning takes time more learning takes more time,the long summer's forgetting take a toll.”take a toll意思是造成损失或有不良的影响这句话意思是：“学习要时间,更多学习要更多时间,而长时间的暑假会影响(它),会对(它)造成不好影响”文中作者的观点是现有的校历学习的时间不够长，“Despite the complaints and studies about ourkids’lack of learning,the United State still has a shorter school year than any industrial nation.”（虽然我们抱怨和研究我们的孩子学习不够，然而在美国，上学时间仍然比其他任何工业国家的都要短）100.The main purpose of the passage is____C____A.to describe how American children spend their summer.B.to explain the needs of the modern working families.C.to discuss the problems of the current school calendar.D.to persuade parents to stay at home to look after their kids.Text D是2002年的专八真题，考题是问答题形式It is nothing new that English use is on the rise around the world,especially in business circles.This also happens in France,the headquarters of the global battle against American cultural hegemony.If French guys are giving in to English,something really big must be going on.And something big is going on.Partly,it s that American hegemony.Didier Benchimol,CEO of a French e-commerce software company,feels compelled to speak English perfectly because the Internet software business is dominated by Americans.He and other French businessmen also have to speak English because they want to get their message out to American investors,possessors of the world s deepest pockets.The triumph of English in France and elsewhere in Europe,however,may rest on something more enduring.As they become entwined with each other politically and economically,Europeans need a way to talk to one another and to the rest of the world.And for a number of reasons,they've decided upon English as their common tongue.So when German chemical and pharmaceutical company Hoechst merged with French competitor Rhone-Poulenc last year,the companies chose the vaguely Latinate Aventis as the new company name-and settled on English as the company's common language.When monetary policymakers from around Europe began meeting at the European Central Bank in Frankfurt last year to set interest rates for the new Euroland,they held their deliberations in English.Even the European Commission,with 11 official languages and traditionally French-speaking bureaucracy,effectively switched over to English as its working language last year.How did this happen?One school attributes English s great success to the sheer weight of its merit.It s a Germanic language,brought to Britain around the fifth century A.D.During the four centuries of French-speaking rule that followed Norman Conquest of 1066,the language morphed into something else entirely.French words were added wholesale,and most of the complications of Germanic grammar were shed while few of the complications of French were added.The result is a language with a huge vocabulary and a simple grammar that can express most things more efficiently than either of its parents.What's more,English has remained ungoverned and open to change-foreign words,coinages,and grammatical shifts-in a way that French,ruled by the purist Academic Francaise,had not.So it's a swell language,especially for business.But the rise of English over the past few centuries clearly owes at least as much to history and economics as to the language's ability to economically express the concept win-win.What happened is that the competition-first Latin,then French,then,briefly,German-faded with the waning of the political,economic,and military fortunes of,respectively,the Catholic Church,France,and Germany.All along,English was increasing in importance:Britain was the birthplace of the Industrial Revolution,and London the world's most important financial centre,which made English a key language for business.England s colonies around the world also made it the language with the most global reach.And as that former colonythe U.S.rose to the status of the world's preeminent political economic,military,and cultural power,English became the obvious second language to learn.In the 1990s more and more Europeans found themselves forced to use English.The last generation of business and government leaders who hadn't studied English in school was leaving the stage.The European Community was adding new members and evolving from a paper-shuffling club into a serious regional government that would need a single common language if it were ever to get anything done.Meanwhile,economic barriers between European nations have been disappearing,meaning that more and more companies are beginning to look at the whole continent as their domestic market.And then the Internet came along.The Net had two big impacts.One was that it was an exciting,potentially lucrative new industry that had its roots in the U.S.,so if you wanted to get in on it,you had to speak some English.The other was that by surfing the Web,Europeans who had previously encountered English only in school and in pop songs were now coming into contact with it daily.None of this means English has taken over European life.According to the European Union,47%of Western Europeans（including the British and Irish）speak English well enough to carry on a conversation.That's a lot more than those who can speak German（32%）or French （28%）,but it still means more Europeans don't speak the language.If you want to sell shampoo or cell phones,you have to do it in French or German or Spanish or Greek.Even the U.S.and British media companies that stand to benefit most from the spread of English have been hedging their bets-CNN broadcasts in Spanish;the Financial Times has recently launched a daily German-language edition.But just look at who speaks English:77%of Western European college students,69%of managers,and 65%of those aged 15 to 24.In the secondary schools of the European Union's non-English-speaking countries,91%of students study English,all of which means that the transition to English as the language of European business hasn't been all that traumatic,and it s only going to get easier in the future.24.In the author s opinion,what really underlies the rising status of English in France and Europe is______.〔A〕American dominance in the Internet software business〔B〕a practical need for effective communication among Europeans〔C〕Europeans eagerness to do business with American businessmen〔D〕the recent trend for foreign companies to merge with each other25.Europeans began to favour English for all the following reasons EXCEPT its______.〔A〕inherent linguistic properties〔B〕association with the business world〔C〕links with the United States〔D〕disassociation from political changes26.Which of the following statements forecasts the continuous rise of English in the future?〔A〕About half of Western Europeans are now proficient in English.〔B〕U.S.and British media companies are operating in Western Europe.〔C〕Most secondary school students in Europe study English.〔D〕Most Europeans continue to use their own language.27.The passage mainly examines the factors related to______.〔A〕the rising status of English in Europe〔B〕English learning in non-English-speaking E.U.nations〔C〕the preference for English by European businessmen〔D〕the switch from French to English in the European Commission作文，He that wrestles with us strengths our nerves and sharpens our souls.our antagonist is our helper.忘了是谁说的名言了，以对手为话题，写一篇文章，支持或反驳作者的观点二翻译基础词语互译，顺序不记得了EQ,A/P,GMO,ISS,ICRC,TARGET,论语，standard&pool's composite index,安乐死，核震慑，2010-2012国家中长期人才发展计划纲要，教育公平，经济适用房，等等，其他的忘了英译汉是写一些诸如维基百科等信息共享网站的作用，以及使用者的态度，我搜了半天没收到，是纽约时报上的，关键词有，wolfram mathematics site，free，commercial，volunteer，critical,谁信息检索必将厉害可以帮忙搜一下汉译英我们这次到英国看得最多的不是教堂、雕塑、花园，而是政府出资建造的经济房每到一个城市，陪伴我们参观的小李都不时地指着车窗外的一些高低不一的建筑说：看，这是经济房经济房自然是给穷人准备的，到处都有此类住房，不由地让我们产生了这样的感觉：英国怎么有这么多的穷人啊？不过英国的穷人不是我们想象的那种饥寒交迫，满街乞讨的可怜之人相反，有些小日子过得挺滋润我们在街头见过一些弹着吉他，吹着风笛，或者拉着提琴的所谓卖艺者从服饰上看，一点没有破破烂烂的模样，看脸上的气色，不能说红光满面，起码也是健康正常肤色，再看手里的乐器，都是半新甚至全新的科技产品小李告诉我们，别看这些人在瑟瑟秋风的街头演奏，但绝不是为了几个钱想跟他们拍照，愿意给两个零钱就给，不给也没关系言外之意：人家并不指望着靠舍施过日子三汉语写作和百科知识词语解释题型变了，一组话里有四个或五个不等的划线词，分别解释，不用阐述关联1新大陆的航海大发现，工业革命，文艺复兴，彼得一世改革2浪漫主义，现实主义，雨果，狄更斯3战国时代，老子，墨子，4欧洲债务危机，社会保障，公共产品，私人产品，一共25了，我能想到的只有这么多了论坛有另外一位同学写的回忆版里面很全公文写作，写报告，关于本科阶段设置翻译硕士的利弊，根据社会上两种不同的意见，你以教育部的项目负责人的身份向教育部提出意见和建议汉语作文，以“对学弟学妹的忠告”为题，以如何利用好大学的时光为主题，根据中国青年报出示的一份调查数据，写一篇800字作文大概也就这么多了吧，从考研到现在，一直受益于论坛上的各位，写这篇帖子，希望能为一部分提供一点帮助关于我个人，如果考上了就再写篇经验，如果考不上，就算了上帝保佑！！。