单选题What those people were doing seemed quite strange ______ me.A. forB. atC. onD. to

单选题About half of the students expected there______more reviewing classes before the final exams.

单选题(Comparing) money with friends, I prefer the latter (more), (for) real friends are not easy (to come by), and we must value their real friendship.

单选题The press mocked his attempts to appeal to young voters. A. ridiculed B. entertained C. ignored D. drew

单选题The workers fulfilled the task ahead of schedule _______ bad weather.

单选题A curious election will take place in St Louis on April 3rd. Seven candidates will compete for two seats on the city's school board. The polls will open at 6am and stay open until 7pm. Staffing the polling stations and counting the electronic ballots will cost taxpayers at least $260,000. Two happy candidates will celebrate and take office-just in time to have the state of Missouri complete the takeover of the district's schools and give them and the other board members nothing to do for several years. This election to nothing comes after years of falling test scores, revolving superintendents, screaming matches between board members at public meetings and a growing dissatisfaction with every aspect of public education. The state board of education voted on March 22nd to take over the school district, effective in mid-June. Some prominent figures endorsed this course, including the mayor of St Louis, and even some members of the St Louis school board. Others in the city, though, are deeply opposed and ready to fight about it. Although the city schools overall have an amply deserved reputation for low standards, there are some good schools and many good students. The best students have the most to lose, fearing that the turmoil could damage their chances of getting into good universities. When the state education board voted on the takeover, a group of angry students, teachers and other members of the public tried to disrupt the meeting. Protesters are still trying to use the courts to stop the action, and the teachers' union has threatened a strike. Under Missouri law the city's schools will now be placed under a three-member board appointed by the governor, the mayor and the president of the board of aldermen. Governor Matt Blunt's choice of Rick Sullivan, the head of a building firm, has already been attacked because of Mr Sullivan's lack of experience in education and because he lives in one of the wealthiest suburbs outside the city. Mr Sullivan and the other members, who have yet to be appointed, have an almost impossible task before them. The district, which in the past five years has turned a $52m surplus into a $24.5m deficit, has already closed schools, cut services and squeezed spending hard. But as its critics point out, the elected school board still found plenty of money for tours and public relations. The trickle of voters turning out for the pointless board election will pass banners celebrating the new season of the world baseball champions. St Louis has made huge progress in attracting a new generation of young professionals to its downtown area, building new business developments and installing new infrastructure. The great failure in its schools puts all that in danger.

单选题It is generally recognized in the world that the second Gulf War in Iraq is a crucial test of high-speed Web. For decades, Americans have anxiously (1) each war through a new communications (2) , from the early silent film of World War I to the 24-hour cable news (3) of the first Persian Gulf War. Now, (4) bombs exploding in Baghdad, a sudden increase in wartime (5) for online news has become a central test of the (6) of high-speed Internet connections. It is also a good (7) both to attract users to online media (8) and to persuade them to pay for the material they find there, (9) the value of the Cable News Network persuaded millions to (10) to cable during the last war in Iraq. (11) by a steady rise over the last 18 months in the number of people with high-speed Internet (12) , now at more than 70 million in the United States, the Web sites of many of the major news organizations have (13) assembled a novel collage (拼贴) of (14) video, audio reports, photography collections, animated weaponry (15) , interactive maps and other new digital reportage. These Internet services are (16) on the remarkable abundance of sounds and images (17) from video cameras (18) on Baghdad and journalists traveling with troops. And they have found a (19) audience of American office workers (20) their computers during the early combat. (245 words)

单选题Less than five years ago. Scottish Opera was trapped in a financial quagmire from which few thought it could recover. Today, however, the national company seals its comeback by announcing its most wide-reaching program to date. In an interview with The Times, Alex Reedjik, general director of Scottish Opera, explained that a series of collaborations with other companies would enable it to maximize its output without compromising its budget . He admitted that the partnerships were borne of financial necessity, but argued they would allow the company to reach greater audiences than ever before. "Collaborations are the way forward," he said. "We have often done co-productions in the past but they are more important to us now to enable us to achieve all of our hopes. The problem is that sets are very expensive. If you can share those costs with another organization and not impact on artistic integrity, that is a positive, welcome and necessary thing. Highlights of the 2009-10 season will include a new co-production with New Zealand Opera of Rossini"s The Italian Girl in Algiers, and a joint venture with Opera North The Adventures of Mr. Broucek, by Leos Janacek, featuring a 40-strong choir singing Hussite hymns, along with bagpipes and an organ. An unashamedly Italianate season this Autumn begins with a revival of Giles Havergal"s popular 1994 production of The Elixir of Love. There will also be a revival of the Tony-award winning director Stewart Laing"s production of Puccini"s La Boheme. The turnaround in the company"s fortunes is striking. In 2005, the year before Mr. Reedjik joined the organization, Scottish Opera was forced to make half of its staff, including the entire chorus , redundant and abandon its main-scale productions for a season after accumulating debts of a-round ￡4.5 million. The company"s core grant, which at that time came from the Scottish Arts Council(it is now funded directly by the government)had not risen for several years. However, it had also haemorrhaged funds by staging the hugely expensive Ring Cycle, and according to some critics , had been overspending on props, with rumors of cast members wearing ￡ 300 designer shoes. A ￡ 7 million rescue package put together by the then Labor-led Scottish Executive saved the company from going dark on a permanent basis, but the ease with which it almost went under forced a rethink of priorities . While the company continues to stage several major productions each season, it has also introduced smaller touring works—the acclaimed Five: 15 series—which pairs leading writers with composers to create 15-minute chamber pieces that could be developed into longer productions. The aim, says Mr. Reedjik, is to put on as much opera in Scotland as possible without breaking the bank. So far the strategy seems to be working, with audiences averaging at around 95 ,000 people in the past three years, a rise of almost 50 per cent compared with 2004 -05, the season before the company went dark. "What we are trying to do now is live within our means and raise as much as possible from philanthropic means," said Mr. Reedjik. " We seemed to have dropped out of the news for dumb stuff—now we"re in the news for our interesting work. "

单选题_______ of them was good enough to use.

单选题How many times did the box hit the man?

单选题The ______ you study English, the ______ progress you will make.

单选题Receptionist: Can I help you? Customer: ______. Where do I pay my fees? A. Yes, please B. Thank you C. As you please D. Yes, you can

单选题Jack lay, quiet and unmoving, for thirty minutes while a stranger repeatedly stabbed him with sharp needles, causing blood to pour steadily out of his leg. Jack was getting a tattoo. His friend Tony had recently gotten a tattoo, and Jack was so impressed by Tony"s bravery and his tattoo that he decided to get one too. Getting a tattoo because your friends and peers have them is just one of the reasons why a lot of young people in North America get tattoos. Peer pressure, media influence, and personal expression are some of the common reasons for wearing tattoos today. The desire to be part of a group, to be accepted by one"s friends or peers, can have a great influence on what a person does. Sometimes, wearing a tattoo can be a sign that you belong to a certain group. Gangs often use special clothes and tattoos to identify their particular group. For example, in one gang all the members may wear green army jackets and have large"Xs" tattooed on their arms. It is not only gangs that have this type of special "uniform". Young people often belong to a certain group of friends. Some of these groups wear only brand-name clothes. Some wear only black clothes. Others wear tattoos. When a person"s friends are all doing something, such as getting a tattoo, that person is more likely to do the same thing, and get a tattoo, too. The media is another big influence behind the popularity of tattoos in North America. A wide variety of media images show tattoos. Tattoos can be seen on people appearing in commercials selling expensive cars. Famous sports heroes with tattoos are shown in magazines. Fashion models are often seen in magazines and on TV wearing designer clothes that show their bodies tattooed with detailed and colorful patterns. These media images link tattoos to ideas of wealth, success, and status. As a result, many people decide to get a tattoo for its fashion and status value. It is not always the influence of other people or the media that results in a person getting a tattoo. Many people decide to wear tattoos in order to express their artistic nature, their beliefs, or their feelings—in other words, to show their individuality. A musician in a rock band may get a tattoo of a guitar on the arm. Some environmentalists may tattoo pictures of endangered animals on their shoulders. Lovers may tattoo each others" names over their hearts. A tattoo can be a public sign to show what is important in a person"s life. As you can see, there are many reasons why young North Americans get tattoos. A tattoo can be part of a group"s uniform. It can be a sign of fashion. It can be an expression of individuality. The decision to get a tattoo is most often a result of the influence of friends or media or the desire to express oneself. For Jack, it was a mixture of all three.

单选题The meeting was ______ when the chairman suddenly fell ill. A. put downs B. cut short C. put off D. set off

单选题In a sweeping change to how most of its 1,800 employees are paid, the Union Square Hospitality Group will eliminate tipping at Union Square Cafe and its 12 other restaurants by the end of next year, the company"s chief executive, Danny Meyer, said on Wednesday. The move will affect New York City businesses. The first will be the Modem, inside the Museum of Modem Art, starting next month. The others will gradually follow. A small number of restaurants around the country have reduced or eliminated tipping in the last several years. Some put a surcharge on the bill, allowing the restaurants to set the pay for all their employees. Others, including Bruno Pizza, a new restaurant in the East Village, factor the cost of an hourly wage for servers into their menu prices. Union Square Hospitality Group will do the latter. The Modem will be the pilot restaurant, Mr. Meyer said, because its chef, Abram Bissell, has been agitating for higher pay to attract skilled cooks. The average hourly wage for kitchen employees at the restaurant is expected to rise to $15.25 from $11.75. Mr. Meyer said that restaurants such as his needed to stay competitive as the state moved to a $15 minimum wage for fast-food workers. If cooks" wages do not keep pace with the cost of living, he said, "it"s not going to be sustainable to attract the culinary talent that the city needs to keep its edge." Mr. Meyer said he hoped to be able to raise pay for junior dining room managers and for cooks, dishwashers and other kitchen workers. The wage gap is one of several issues cited by restaurateurs who have deleted the tip line from checks. Some believe it is unfair for servers" pay to be affected by factors that have nothing to do with performance. A rash of class-action lawsuits over tipping irregularities, many of which have been settled for millions of dollars, is a mounting worry. Scott Rosenberg, an owner of Sushi Yasuda in Manhattan, said in an interview in 2013 that he had eliminated tipping so his restaurant could more closely follow the customs of Japan, where tipping is rare. He said he also hoped his customers would enjoy leaving the table without having to solve a math problem. While Drew Nieporent, who owns nine restaurants in New York City and one in London, said he doubted the average diner would accept an increase in prices. "Tipping is a way of life in this country," he said. "It may not be the perfect system, but it"s our system. It"s an American system."

单选题____ , I'm busy at the moment. Can I call you back latter?

单选题The idea of building "New Towns" to absorb growth is frequently considered a cure-all for urban problems. It is wrongly assumed that if new residents can be diverted from existing centers. the present urban situation at least will get no worse. It is further and equally wrongly assumed that since European New Towns have been financially and socially successful, we can expect the same sorts of results in the United States. Present planning, thinking, and legislation will not produce the kinds of New Town that have been successful abroad. It will multiply suburbs or encourage developments in areas where land is cheap and construction profitable rather than where New Towns are genuinely needed. Such ill-considered projects not only will fail to relieve pressures on existing cities but will, in fact, tend to weaken those cities further by drawing away high-income citizens and increasing the concentration of low-income groups that are unable to provide tax income. The remaining taxpayers, accordingly, will face increasing burdens, and industry and commerce will seek escape. Unfortunately, this mechanism is already at work in some metropolitan areas. The promoters of New Towns so far in the United States have been developers, builders, and financial institutions. The main interest of these promoters is economic gain. Furthermore, federal regulations designed to promote the New Town idea do not consider social needs as the European New Town plans do. In fact, our regulations specify virtually all the ingredients of the typical suburban community, with a bit of political rhetoric (修辞) thrown in. A workable American New Town formula should be established as firmly here as the national formula was in Britain. All possible social and governmental innovations as well as financial factors should be thoroughly considered and accommodated (容纳) in this policy. Its objectives should be clearly stated, and both incentives and penalties should be provided to ensure that the objectives are pursued. If such a policy is developed, then the New Town approach can play an important role in alleviating America's urban problems.