专业八级-1

专业八级-1
(总分：98.98，做题时间：90分钟)
一、{{B}}PART Ⅰ LISTENING COMPREHENSION{{/B}}(总题数：4，分数：19.00)
{{B}}Education out of school{{/B}}
Ⅰ. The origin of "Youth Hostel":
A German schoolmaster started the idea of "Youth Hostel" in 1907. - - turned
his little schoolhouse into a (1)_______ for young people's summer holidays. (1) ______ Ⅱ. The current use of "Youth Hostel":
A. Admission and price: show their (2)_______ in a hostel organization; use (2) ______
the facilities for a (3)_______ price. (3) ______
B. "Hostelling":
—The young from different countries meet together in Youth Hostels.
—They learn a lot from those of other countries.
—"Hostelling' has become of a form of (4)_______ education ns useful ns (4) ______ classes in school.
—Today, hostels are considered important for (5)_______ -the young with (5) ______
a first-hand contact with youths of other lands.
Ⅲ. (6)_______ work: (6) ______
A. Young people serve at a (7)_______ without pay during their summer holidays. (7) ______
B. They also see the (8)_______, meet people and have discussions. (8) ______
C. They come to (9)_______ a community, building community centers, (9) ______
organizing clubs, etc.
D. They often work (10)_______ and the locals become interested in helping (10) ______ themselves.
{{B}}Education out of school{{/B}}
Ⅰ. The origin of "Youth Hostel":
A German schoolmaster started the idea of "Youth Hostel" in 1907. - - turned
his little schoolhouse into a (1)_______ for young people's summer holidays. (1) ______ Ⅱ. The curre nt use of "Youth Hostel":
A. Admission and price: show their (2)_______ in a hostel organization; use (2) ______
the facilities for a (3)_______ price. (3) ______
B. "Hostelling":
—The young from different countries meet together in Youth Hostels.
—They learn a lot from those of other countries.
—"Hostelling' has become of a form of (4)_______ education ns useful ns (4) ______ classes in school.
—Today, hostels are considered important for (5)_______ -the young with (5) ______
a first-hand contact with youths of other lands.
Ⅲ. (6)_______ work: (6) ______
A. Young people serve at a (7)_______ without pay during their summer holidays. (7) ______
B. They also see the (8)_______, meet people and have discussions. (8) ______
C. They come to (9)_______ a community, building community centers, (9) ______
organizing clubs, etc.
D. They often work (10)_______ and the locals become interested in helping (10) ______ themselves.
（分数：10.00）
(1).
（分数：1.00）
填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：dormitory）
解析：[听力原文]1-10 Morning, everyone. Today we are going to talk about education out of school. For years, children in the industrial areas of Europe and America seldom left their smoky cities to see the beauties of the countryside because factory workers did not have enough money to send their children on country holidays away from home. In 1907, a young German schoolmaster had an idea which changed this state of affairs. He decided to turn his little schoolhouse into a dormitory for the summer holidays. Anyone who brought his sleeping bag and cooking equipment along could stay there for a very small amount of money. The idea was a success. A few years later, the schoolhouse was far too small to hold the many young people who wanted to stay them. Consequently, a dormitory was set up in an old castle nearby. This was the first Youth Hostel. Today young students and workers of every country can meet in the hostels and get to know each other. When young people arrive at a hostel, they have only to show their card of membership in a hostel organization in their own country. This card will permit them to use the facilities of hostels all over the world for a minimum price. Often at the evening meal, a group of boys and girls of different ages from various parts of the country or the world, will happen to meet at the same hostel. They may put their provisions together and prepare a dinner with a wide variety of dishes on the menu. Sometimes an informal program will be organized after the meal, with dances, songs or short talks followed by a question period. One can learn a lot of things about other places, just by meeting people who come from those places. Hence, a few weeks spent "hostelling" can be just as useful a part of one's education as classes in school. Since the end of World War Ⅱ, host els have been opened in Africa and Asia. Today, there are thousands of centers in 61 countries on five continents. These hostels have facilities for more than 250, 000 young people, who can travel to different parts of their own country or the world, without spending a lot of money. In today's world, where so much depends on understanding between nations, hostels are extremely important. They are mom than convenient places for young travelers to spend the night, because they also give people the opportunity to meet and learn about each other. A first-hand contact with youths of other lands can be worth far more than lectures or books. Many groups of young people volunteer to serve at a work camp, without pay, during their summer holidays. There they spend several weeks or months working eight hours a day. In their free time they see the country, meet the people, and have discussion about world problems and problems of the region where they are working. Such volunteer groups do not work only in the poor areas of Latin America, Africa and Asia, but also in the rich countries of Europe and America. Even tile must fortunate countries have large numbers of people who have not been able to find decent jobs or housing. When the volunteer workers come to community centers and playgrounds, organizing clubs and games for the children and young people, the formerly hopeless and discouraged members of the community see that all is not lost. Because of the work of volunteers, many small communities are learning that they can and should solve their problems themselves. They are discovering that they have the right to ask certain things of the local or national governments: Some villagers discover, for the first time, the joys and advantages of working together and putting together their money to build things the community needs. The fact that someone is interested enough to come to such villages and help them often works wonders. The people of tile community become interested in helping themselves. They become less discouraged when they realize that they themselves can help make a better future. Even after the volunteers have gone, the villagers often keep in touch with their new friends. 讲座一开始介绍青年旅馆的起源，是德国一校长将校舍改造为宿舍，供年轻人在暑假以低廉价格住宿。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：card of membership）
解析：细节记忆题。

年轻人只要出示在本国青年旅馆的会员卡即可人住。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：minimum/low）
解析：根据上下文，青年旅馆的最大好处就是方便便宜。

考生本身的文化背景知识可帮助答题。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：outside/field）
解析：本题考察对讲座主要思想的理解。

青年旅馆的住宿经历和学校学习都是有用的教育方式，区别只在于青年旅馆提供的学习不在课堂内进行，是种课外教育。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：providing）
解析：本题考察细节推理能力。

青年旅馆为各国年轻朋友提供直接交流的机会，获取比学校讲座和课本更加有价值的信息。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：volunteer）
解析：本题是对部分讲座内容的归纳总结，即总结课外教育的另一种方式是以志愿服务为特征的青少年劳动夏令营。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：work camp）
解析：本题考察对讲座要点的理解。

课外教育的另一种方式就是work camp。

考生在听讲座时必须养成记要点的习惯。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：country）
解析：本题为细节题，青少年在work camp不但进行志愿者工作，同时也要出去了解当地的风土人情。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：help/assist）
解析：本题考查归纳概括能力，空格后内容：building community centers, organizing clubs, etc．给予提示，说明青年志愿者在社区做了许多工作，是来帮助社区建设的。

填空项1:__________________ （正确答案：wonders）
解析：Work wonders固定搭配，“创造奇迹，取得惊人成就”。

本题总结青年志愿活动的益处。

SECTION B
Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
SECTION B
Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
（分数：4.98）
(1).The Knowledge mentioned in the interview is ---|||________|||---.（分数：0.83）
A.a test about the traffic rules and the routes taxi drivers will run in London
B.the law on taxis in London
C.a test about the routes taxi drivers will run in six-mile radius in London √
D.a driving test
解析：[听力原文]1-5 Peter: The law on taxis is very interesting and I know in London it's different from other places and rules are quite strict, aren't they? Jack: Any London cab driver does a thing called the Knowledge, which is an examination really. It's called the Knowledge and it's a basic test of... you get 468 runs—what they cal runs—from a blue book. Peter: And the idea is that anybody can get into a taxi, anywhere in London and give the driver a destination and he's got to know the way there. Jack: That's the basis of the Knowledge, finding anywhere from point A to B in that six-mile radius in London. Peter: Is it difficult to learn the Knowledge? Jack: Average... it took me nineteen months. Now it's taking guys three years because they want...
I mean, you've got to have a medical, you are checked out by the police, you do the Knowledge, but after you've done the basic Knowledge there is still more exams to do. It can take anywhere now to two to three years. And then you do a driving test at the end. Peter: I get the impression they are very strict about taxis. Quite apart from the Knowledge, there is the license. Do you have to have a license every year? Jack: The license is renewed three years, but for your cab, whether you rent it or you own it, has to have a yearly overhaul which is a very strict passing test and there are some real stringent tests it's got to pass. Peter: Is it really worth it all? Jack: Yeah, I think it is worth it. I enjoy being a taxi driver and, not only that, it does keep the standard very high, which is what we want in London. Peter: Do you feel proud to be a Londoner? Were you born in London? Jack: No, I was actually born in Bristol but I came up to London when I was twelve. Peter: Do you think of yourself as a Bristolian or a Londoner? Jack: A few people think I am still a country boy but... because I've still got that accent in me. I haven't really got a typical London Cockney accent but I see myself as a Londoner definitely now because I've been up here a lot longer. Peter: What do you do in your spare time? Jack: Well, I'm into body building, that's about... that takes up quite a good deal of my spare time basically. Peter: How much time? Jack: I might do a system of three days' training with a day off followed by another three days' training and a day off. Peter: Where do you go to train? Jack: I train at Ultra Sport gym. That's up in Norwood. Peter: Forgive my ignorance, but are we talking about some of Mr. Universe here, with you standing up in front of an audience and playing music and putting oil on your body and all that sort of thing? Is that the kind of body building you do? Jack: Well, when you get seriously in... into the sports, you are literally building your body—all areas of your body—so on a Monday, for example, you might just train your chest with your triceps and on the Tuesday you might, I don't know, your back and legs. You split your body up. Peter: Is just weights or do you have a lot of gadgets? Jack: We have got machines up there, but it is not a high gloss, you know, sort of fitness center that you see some other gyms have got. It is a lot of free weights. Peter: Do you have somebody supervising your training? Jack: No. I train with two other regular partners. 本题考查相关细节辨析能力。

Knowledge是考察伦敦出租车司机对伦敦行车路线熟识程度的严格测试。

(2).How much lime does it take Jack to learn the Knowledge?（分数：0.83）
A.9 months.
B.19 months. √
C.2 to 3 years.
D.3 years.
解析：考察数字记忆能力。

(3).Which of the following statements is TRUE?（分数：0.83）
A.The taxi has to be thoroughly examined and repaired every year. √
B.In London taxi-drivers take the Knowledge test instead of a driving test.
C.The license is annually renewed.
D.The law on taxi in London is more or less the same as in other places.
解析：对话中有这样一个关键句子：but for your cab, whether you rent it or you own it, has to have a yearly overhaul which is a very strict passing test and there are some real stringent tests it's got to pass．选项 A就表达了这个意思。

同时本题可用排除法。

(4).Jack sees himself as a Londoner because ---|||________|||---.（分数：0.83）
A.he has been in London a lot longer √
B.he has got a typical London Cockney accent
C.he was born in London
D.he enjoys being a taxi driver in London
解析：本题比较容易回答。

运用排除法即可答题。

(5).The interview is mainly about ---|||________|||---.（分数：0.83）
A.the laws on taxis in London
B.the life of Jack, a taxi driver in London √
C.how to be a taxi driver in London
D.body-building in London
解析：本题考查对话中心思想的把握。

对话主要讲述了伦敦出租车司机的工作和业余爱好。

__________________________________________________________________________________________
解析：
{{I}}Questions 7 and 8 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.{{/I}}
{{I}}Questions 7 and 8 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.{{/I}}
（分数：2.00）
(1).What is the purpose of Pope John Paul's visit to Germany?（分数：1.00）
A.To solve the conflict between Church and Germany.
B.To defend the church's role during the Hitler regime.
C.To relax his opposition to birth control.
D.To ease the historic division between Catholics and Protestants. √
解析：[听力原文]7-8 Pope John Paul in a visit to Germany is trying to ease the historic division between Catholics and Protestants by saying both groups share blame for the 16th century schism led by Martin Luther. VOA's Karl King reports while praising four German church figures for their opposition to Nazism, the Pope pulled back from prepared remarks defending the church's role during the Hitler regime. Church official has no explanation for the Pope's decision to omit remarks from a prepared speech he delivered at an open-air Mass outside the northwestern city of Patagorn. The remarks which were in the text delivered to reporters before the event defended the church's role during the Nazi time and claimed the church played a broad role in resistance to Hitler. Analysts who were watching the Pope's visit say the remarks he dropped from his Mass had appeared to contradict his own bishops in Germany who said the church did not do enough to resist the Nazi regime. On Sunday, the Pope travels to Berlin where he will beatify a priest who died in jail after giving sermons against the persecution of the Jews and another who was sent to a concentration camp for expressing regret that Hitler did not die in an assassination attempt. Analysts say the Pope's 3-day visit is aimed at shoring up support in Germany where there has been some descent to authority in Rome. More than one million Catholics in Germany signed a petition last year asking the Pope to relax his opposition to birth control. So far the Pontiff has shown no sign of giving in to the demand. 考查对新闻重要细节的把握。

要特别注意新闻中第一句话，“Pope John Paul in a visit to Germany is trying to ease the historic division between Catholics and Protestants by saying both groups share blame for the 16th century schism led by Martin Luther.”
(2).How many Catholics in Germany signed a petition last year to relax the Pope's opposition to birth-control?（分数：1.00）
A.One million. √
B.Ten thousand.
C.One thousand.
D.One hundred.
解析：考查数字记忆能力。

{{I}}Questions 9 to 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the
news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.{{/I}}
{{I}}Questions 9 to 10 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.
Now listen to the news.{{/I}}
（分数：2.00）
(1).What will probably happen to the British diplomat in Congo Kinshasa?（分数：1.00）
A.He will be expelled from Congo. √
B.He will be released immediately.
C.He will be serving many years of imprisonment in Congo.
D.He will be detained in a police station if he doesn't admit his spying activities.
解析：[听力原文]9-10 The government has accused a British diplomat of spying. It has Ordered him to leave the country immediately. Britain denies the accusation. The unnamed diplomat is among five people who were arrested by Congolese officials on Saturday. Five am British, one is American. All five work for the British government. They are being held in a hotel in Kinshasa. Britain has called for their immediate release. It says they were studying plans for the possible removal of British citizens from Kinshasa in the event of an emergency. 考查考生在上下文中的预测能力。

新闻中有句话有提示作用，“It has ordered him to leave the country immediately”，所以英国间谍很可能就被驱逐出境。

(2).What did Britain do after its diplomat was arrested?（分数：1.00）
A.It appealed to neighboring countries for help.
B.It threatened economic restriction against Congo, Kinshasa.
C.It called for the Congolese government to release its personnel. √
D.It called for the Congolese government to guarantee the safety of its embassy personnel. 解析：考查细节辨析能力。

新闻中有明确提到英国政府的态度。

二、{{B}}PART Ⅱ READING COMPREHENSION{{/B}}(总题数：7，分数：20.00)
{{B}}TEXT A{{/B}}
The main idea of these business-school academics is appealing. In a world where companies must adapt to new technologies and source of competition, it is much harder than it used to be to offer good employees job security and an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder. Yet it is also more necessary than ever for employees to invest in better skills and sparkle with bright ideas. How can firms get the most out of people ff they can no longer offer them protection and promotion?
Many bosses would love to have an answer. Sumantra Ghoshal of the London Business School and Christopher Bartlett of the Harvard Business School think they have one: "Employability." If managers offer the right of training and guidance, and change their attitude towards their underlings, they will be able to reassure their employees that they will always have the skills and experience to find a good job—even ff it is with a different company.
Unfortunately, they promise more than they deliver. Their thoughts on what an ideal organization should accomplish are hard to quarrel with:
encourage people to be creative, make sure the gains from creativity are shared with the pains of the business that can make the must of them, keep the organization from getting stale and so forth. The real disappointment comes when they attempt to show how firms might actually create such an environment. At its nub is the notion that companies can attain their elusive goals by changing their implicit contract with individual workers, and treating them as a source of value rather than a cog in a machine.
The authors offer a few inspiring example of companies—they include Motorola, 3M and ABB—that have managed to go some way towards mating such organizations. But they offer little useful guidance on how to go about it, and leave the biggest questions unanswered, How do you continuously train people, without diverting them from their everyday job of making the business more profitable? How do you train people to be successful elsewhere while still encouraging them to make big commitments to your own firm? How do you get your newly liberated employees to spend their time on ideas that create value, and not simply on those they enjoy? Must of their answers are platitudinous, and when they are not they are unconvincing.
（分数：5.00）
(1).We can infer from the passage that in the past an employee ______.（分数：1.00）
A.had job security and opportunity of promotion √
B.had to compete with each other to keep his job
C.had to undergo training all the time
D.had no difficulty climbing the corporate ladder
解析：推理题。

从第一段的句子“... it is much harder than it used to be to offer good employees job security and an opportunity to climb the corporate ladder.”可以看出，过去一个好的职员很容易获得工作保障和晋升的机会，工作上的竞争并不残酷，所以B“必须和别人竞争”不对，C“必须总是接受培训”没有提及，D故意曲解了句子的意思。

因此答案应该是A。

(2).What does the writer of this passage think of the ideas of Ghoshal and Bartlett?（分数：
1.00）
A.Very instructive.
B.Very inspiring.
C.Hard to implement. √
D.Quite harsh.
解析：观点态度题。

从第三段“Unfortunately, they promise more than they deliver.”可以看出作者对 Ghoshal和Bartlett的观点是不以为然的，作者认为这两个人许诺的比实际提供的要多，所以作者对这两个人的看法是他们的观点不切实际。

(3).In their work, Ghoshal and Bartlett discuss（分数：1.00）
A.changes in business organizations
B.contracts between employers and employees
C.employment situation
D.management ideas √
解析：细节题。

根据文中提到的，Ghoshal和Bartlett不仅讨论了企业的组织形式，还讨论了企业应该提供给员工一个创新的环境，以及对企业员工的培训和管理，最后达到企业发展的目的。

因此用企业管理来概括他们的观念更合适。

(4).This passage seems to be a(n) ______（分数：1.00）
A.book review √
B.advertisement
C.news report
D.research paper
解析：细节题。

这是一篇书评，从最后一段，“The aut hors offer a few example of companies... But they offer little useful guidance...”可知。

(5).According to Chritopher Bartlett what will improve "employability"?（分数：1.00）
A.Ability to lay out one's talents to employers.
B.Skills and knowledge accumulated from school education.
C.Training opportunity and guidance offered by company. √
D.Being creative and ready to share collective wisdom.
解析：细节题。

见文中第二段employability后面的一句解释，在上下文中特指通过公司培养和引导，而提高雇员的水平。

不是获取职位的能力，或者在学校中获取的知识和技能。

1.
{{B}}TEXT B{{/B}}
Languages will continue to diverge. Even if English were to become the universal language, it would still take many different forms. Indeed the same could happen to English as has happened to Chinese: a language of intellectuals which doesn't vary hugely alongside a large number of variants used by local peoples.
We will continue to teach other languages in some form, and not just for reasons of practicality. Learning a language is good for your mental health; it forces you to understand another cultural and intellectual system. So I hope British education will develop a more rational approach to the foreign languages available to students in line with their political importance. Because so many people believe it's no longer important to know another language, I fear that time devoted to language teaching in schools may well continue to decline. But you can argue that learning another language well is more taxing than, say, learning to play chess well—it involves sensitivity to a set of complicated rules, and also to context.
Technology will certainly make a difference to the use of foreign languages. Computers may, for instance, alleviate the drudgery that a vast translation represents. But no one who has seen a computer translation will think it can substitute for knowledge of the different languages.
A machine will always be behind the times. Still more important is the fact that no computer will ever get at the associations beyond the words associations that may not be expressed but which carry much of the meaning. In' languages like Arabic that context is very important. Languages come with heavy cultural baggage too—in French or German if you missed the cultural references behind a word you're very likely to be missing the meaning. It will be very hard to teach all that to a computer.
All the predictions are that English will be spoken by a declining proportion of the world's population in the 21st century. I don't think foreign languages will really become less important, but they might be
perceived to be—and that would in the end be a very bad thing.
__________________________________________________________________________________________
解析：
{{B}}TEXT B{{/B}}
Languages will continue to diverge. Even if English were to become the universal language, it would still take many different forms. Indeed the same could happen to English as has happened to Chinese: a language of intellectuals which doesn't vary hugely alongside a large number of variants used by local peoples.
We will continue to teach other languages in some form, and not just for reasons of practicality. Learning a language is good for your mental health; it forces you to understand another cultural and intellectual system. So I hope British education will develop a more rational approach to the foreign languages available to students in line with their political importance. Because so many people believe it's no longer important to know another language, I fear that time devoted to language teaching in schools may well continue to decline. But you can argue that learning another language well is more taxing than, say, learning to play chess well—it involves sensitivity to a set of complicated rules, and also to context.
Technology will certainly make a difference to the use of foreign languages. Computers may, for instance, alleviate the drudgery that a vast translation represents. But no one who has seen a computer translation will think it can substitute for knowledge of the different languages.
A machine will always be behind the times. Still more important is the fact that no computer will ever get at the associations beyond the words associations that may not be expressed but which carry much of the meaning. In' languages like Arabic that context is very important. Languages come with heavy cultural baggage too—in French or German if you missed the cultural references behind a word you're very likely to be missing the meaning. It will be very hard to teach all that to a computer.
All the predictions are that English will be spoken by a declining proportion of the world's population in the 21st century. I don't think foreign languages will really become less important, but they might be perceived to be—and that would in the end be a very bad thing.
（分数：5.00）
(1).From the first paragraph we can infer that ______.（分数：1.00）
A.English is the universal language
B.Chinese would become the universal language
nguages always take kinds of forms √
D.English has no variants, but Chinese does
解析：推理题。

选项A由原文“Even if English were to...”可知是假设情况，故A错。

选项B，在原文中“the same”指的是“take many forms”而不是假设的“become the universal language”，故B 错。

选项C由原文“it could still take many different forms”可知，注意选项中用kinds of替换了many different。

由第一段最后一句可知D项错。

(2).Which of the following is TRUE?（分数：1.00）
A.If a language is not good for practicality, we can drop it.
B.We can understand another cultural and intellectual system by learning language. √
C.Time devoted to language teaching has never declined.
D.We should spend more time in learning language than playing chess.
解析：细节题。

由第二段中第一句“not just for reasons of practicality”可知A错。

由“it forces you to... intellectual system”可知B对。

由“I fear that... continue to decline”可知“Time... has been declined.”故C错。

最后一句主要说“Learning another language well i s more taxing than, say, learning to play chess well”，并非要在learning language上花费比playing chess更多的时间，故D错。

(3).Why can't a computer translation substitute for knowledge of different languages? Because ______.（分数：1.00）
puter can alleviate much drudgery
puter is always behind the times
puter can't get the inner meaning of words √
puter has no sensation
解析：细节题。

选项A是说计算机的作用，因而不对；B并非主要原因，由文中“still more important is the fact that...”可知；C项最合适；D太大，原文也没有提及。

(4).What does the author mean by "that would in the end be a very bad thing" in the last paragraph?（分数：1.00）
A.Less and leas people will use English.
B.Foreign languages will become less important.
C.Foreign languages will be perceived less important.
D.We must realize the importance of foreign languages. √
解析：推理题。

选项A本身正确，但不是作者的意图。

选项B由原文中“I don't think foreign...”可知B错。

选项C由原文中“they might be...”可知C错。

选项D是作者的真实意图。

(5).Which of the following is the best title of the passage?（分数：1.00）
A.Learning Foreign Languages. √
nguage Continuing to Diverge.
C.The Limitation of Technology in Learning Foreign Language.
D.The Inner Meaning of Words.
解析：主旨题。

B、C、D均较片面，不能概括全文，A项则是作者写作本文的目的，最合适。

2.
{{B}}TEXT C{{/B}}
Rewards and punishments are used in different ways by different communities to maintain social order and preserve cultural values. In all cultures, parents must teach their children to avoid danger and to observe the community's moral precepts. Adults also condition each other's observance of social norms, using methods ranging from mild forms of censure, such as looking away when someone makes an inappropriate remark, to imprisoning or executing individuals for behavior considered deviant or dangerous. The caning of American teenager Michael Fay in Singapore for vandalism in 1994 brought wide media attention to cultural differences in the application of punishment. Faced with increasing violence at home, many Americans endorsed Singapore's use of corporal punishment to maintain social order. Was Fay's punishment effective? Whether he subsequently avoids vandalism is unknown, but the punishment did。