单选题It was the color not the material ______he was surprised at.

单选题It is reported that the policemen are pursuing the bank robbers in the country.

单选题His eighth book came out earlier this year and was a(n)______ bestseller.(2010年四川大学考博试题)

单选题A breakthrough (突破) in the provision of energy from the Sun for the European Economic Community (EEC) could be brought forward by up to two decades, if a modest increase could be provided in the EEC"s research effort in this field, according to the senior EEC scientists engaged in experiments in solar energy at EEC"s scientific laboratories at Ispra, near Milan. The senior West German scientist in charge of the Community"s solar energy programme, Mr. Joachim Gretz, told journalists that at present levels of research spending it was most unlikely that solar energy would provide as much as three per cent of the Community"s energy requirements even after the year 2000. But he said that with a modest increase in the present sums, devoted by the EEC to this work it was possible that the breakthrough could be achieved by the end of the next decade. Mr. Gretz calculates that if solar energy only provided three per cent of the EEC"s needs, this could still produce a saving of about a billion pounds in the present bill for imported energy each year. And he believes that with the possibility of utilizing more advanced technology in this field it might be possible to satisfy a much bigger share of the Community"s future energy needs. At present the EEC spends about $2.6 millions a year on solar research at Ispra, one of the EEC"s official joint research centres, and another $3 millions a year in indirect research with universities and other independent bodies.

单选题In the passage, the author is mainly concerned with ______.

单选题The north Australian city on Darwin was devastated by a strong cyclone(龙卷风) on Christmas Day. The death and destruction was due almost as much to human factors as to the violence of the wind. People in Darwin had become so accustomed to cyclone warnings that few of them paid attention to the radio warnings of Cyclone Tracy approach, which began early on Christmas Eve. Many people, in fact, died in their ears as they tried to drive home through the cyclone from Christmas parties or social calls. Since Townsville was devastated by a cyclone in December 1971, the weather authorities have regularly issued alarms of every dangerous cyclone. But because few of the cyclones ever hit the coastal towns, people there had come to ignore the warnings. Darwin"s last alert was broadcast only two weeks before Cyclone Tracy. On that occasion the storm changed direction and headed off harmlessly down the coast. Apart from those people killed in their cars, nearly all the other victims died in the damage of their homes which, despite the fact that Darwin lies in the recognized cyclone belt, had not been built to withstand cyclonic winds. Although building standards in other states of Australia were made much stricter after the tragedy at Townsville, the Darwin authorities never followed the new regulations. Consequently most of suburban Darwin was built of light wood and iron raised off the ground on piles to give coolness in the tropical climate. And the sides of the houses were simply nailed to the roof instead of being firmly attached with what Australian builders call "cyclone bolts". As a result, many people were killed by flying sheets of iron from the roofs.

单选题{{B}}Passage One{{/B}} {{B}} Cell Phone Hegemony{{/B}} I recall how annoying it was years ago when smoking everywhere was legal in California. Many complained about the restrictions when they arrived, but I didn't, because I seriously hated watching shoppers smoking through the tomatoes and lettuce in the vegetable section of the store. People forget how sickening that used to be, especially with the butts all over the grocery store floor. Tossing a burning smoke on the ground, stomping it with your foot, and leaving it to be swept up by somebody else later was somehow OK. But laws were passed, and you could finally shop without having to buy broccoli while gagging on a nearby Winston. Grocery stores are now filled with drips talking on cell phones about their sisters. I believe these obnoxious chatterers are all rebellious smokers getting back at us. This is worse than smoking! How did these phones come to dominate our lives like this, and does anyone even try to resist? Cell phones now rule the world's collective unconscious in untold ways. What astonishes me about all this is the sociology that has crept up on us. Why do we have this incessant need to chat on cell phones all day long? Test out this thesis. Make a note of a friend who calls you from both a cell phone and a land-line at different times. Time the calls and note the content. The cell phone calls will always be longer and more inane-without exceptions!

单选题I'm far from certain that this group is going to be able to ______ what is necessary to gain complete control. A. carry out B. tear down C. break out D. close down

单选题Over the past few days, the U.S. has been in the world"s crosshairs. Political argument in Washington produced a debt agreement widely criticized as insufficient and incomplete. Standard & Poor"s downgraded America"s credit rating, raising concerns about the health of the world"s most important economy. Slow growth in the U.S. is threatening the entire global recovery. Stock-market turmoil on Wall Street has turned markets from London to Seoul into roller coasters. Yes, the U.S. has been a source of much uncertainty in recent days. But in my opinion, the real danger for the global economy lies elsewhere: in Europe. If we"re going to have another financial crisis, chances are it will start in the euro zone, not Washington. On a macro level, you could say the U.S. is worse off economically than Europe right now. Economists were frantically reducing their 2011 growth forecasts for the U.S. as its GDP limped along in the first half of the year. In Europe, growth is holding up. The IMF raised its growth projection for the euro zone in late June to 2%. And as a recent HSBC report noted, the state of American national finances is actually more feeble than the euro zone"s taken as a whole. Even before the financial crisis, the U.S. fiscal path was unsustainable, an ageing population combined with extravagant social security commitments suggested either the need for massive tax increases or dramatic spending cuts. The crisis, however, made matters a lot worse. According to the OECD, the US federal, state and local government deficit (NOT the federal deficit alone) jumped from 2.9% of GDP in 2007 to 10.6% in 2010. Though that may be true, the U.S. has one huge advantage over Europe at this moment, the luxury of time. Ironically, the reaction of the world"s investor community to the recent financial turmoil has been to rush into U.S. debt—yes, the very bonds downgraded by S&P. What that means is U.S. borrowing costs will continue to decline, and that buys Washington time to get its act together and put in place a real plan to fill the deficit and restore American growth. The euro zone, on the other hand, has no such luck. Borrowing costs for the zone"s weakest economies—the PIIGS, including Greece, Ireland, Portugal, Spain and Italy—remain highly elevated. That puts pressure on those governments to implement reform programs with great haste as well as pressure on the rest of the euro zone to take more and more dramatic action to stem the contagion. The European Central Bank swooped in to buy billions of dollars of Italian and Spanish debt, which is a major deviation from the ECB"s usual policy. But it is unlikely that the ECB can handle the crisis on its own over an extended period of time.

单选题For as long as multinational companies have existed—and some historians trace them back to banking under the Knights Templar in 1135—they have been derided by their critics as greedy rich-world beasts. If there was ever any truth to that accusation, it is fast disappearing. While globalisation has opened new markets to rich-world companies, it has also given birth to a pack of fast-moving, sharp-toothed new multinationals that is emerging from the poor world. The newcomers have some big advantages over the old firms. They are not restricted by the accumulated legacies of their rivals. Infosys, an Indian IT-service company, rightly sees itself as more energetic than IBM, because when it makes a decision it does not have to weigh the opinions of thousands of highly paid careerists in Armonk, New York. That, in turn, can make a difference in the competition for talent. Western multinationals often find that the best local people leave for a local rival as soon as they have been trained, because the prospects of rising to the top can seem better at the local firm. But the newcomers" advantages are not overwhelming. Take the difference in company ethics, for instance, which worries plenty of rich-world managers. They fear that they will engage in a race to the bottom with rivals unencumbered by the fine feelings of shareholders and domestic customers, and so are bound to lose. Yet the evidence is that companies harmonise up, not down. In developing countries multinationals tend to spread better working practices and environmental conditions; but when emerging-country multinationals operate in rich countries they tend to adopt local mores. So as those companies globalise, the differences are likely to narrow. Nor is cost as big an advantage to emerging-country multinationals as it might seem. They compete against the old guard on value for money, which depends on both price and quality. A firm like Tata Steel, from low-cost India, would never have bought expensive, Anglo-Dutch Corus were it not for its expertise in making fancy steel. This points to an enduring source of advantage for the wealthy companies under attack. A world that is not governed by cost alone suits them, because they already possess a formidable array of skills, such as managing relations with customers, polishing brands, building up know-how and fostering innovation. Nobody said that coping with a new brood of competitors was going to be easy. Some of today"s established multinational companies will not be up to the task. But others will emerge from the encounter stronger than ever. And consumers, wherever they are, will gain from the contest.

单选题The research laboratory is going to ______ the new type of computer to use. A. take B. make C. put D. bring

单选题No one ______this building without the permission of the police.

单选题On the outside, Betsy Lueth's school looks like any other in this arty neighborhood of Minneapolis: a sprawling, boxy red brick building with plain steel doors. Yet inside, the blond, friendly Minnesotan presides over an institution unique in the heartland: Yinghua Academy, a chartered public school where elementary students of every ethnicity study subjects ranging from math to American history in Mandarin. The idea behind Yinghua, as with many immersion programs, is to introduce kids to the language and culture as early as possible—ideally, before age 12, while they're still absorbing information like sponges. Kindergartners and first-graders are taught exclusively in Mandarin, and a single period of English is introduced in the second grade. By the sixth grade, kids are learning half in English and half in Mandarin, with the expectation of proficiency in both. The challenges at Yinghua are numerous. Most teachers come from Taiwan or mainland of China, and cultural misunderstandings prevail. Lueth's instructors are learning to be tolerant of local norms like nontraditional families and boys who cry—as well as a lot more parental input than they're used to. "In China, teachers are revered. They are not questioned," says Luyi Lien, Yinghua's Taiwan-born academic director. "In America, parents are more expressive of their opinions. " Yinghua's student body, once 70% Asian, is now 50% white, black or Hispanic. The school has more than tripled its enrollment, to 300 kids, many of whom commute an hour each day. Research has shown that in the long run, immersion programs can provide cognitive benefits, including more flexible, creative thinking. Though students from the programs lag for a few years in English, by the fifth grade they perform as well as or better than their monolingual peers on standardized reading and math tests. For multicultural families, the psychological boost can also be important. Lueth's adopted daughter, Lucy, used to squirm when cousins asked why her skin color was different from theirs. Now, Lucy proudly answers them, "Yeah, I was born in China. " Lueth recently won an $800,000 grant from the Department of Education to develop a teaching model for immersion middle schools, and she advises educators around the country who are starting their own programs. If Yinghua can make Mandarin a success in Minnesota, so can they. "This is a glorious culture and an increasingly important language that we are meaningfully teaching to our children. And we're in the middle of nowhere. /

单选题People found to their horror that two-thirds of the adult population in that area had______AIDS.

单选题Many words in English have ______ new senses with the passage of time and social development.

单选题To their ______ , it rained on the day of picnic.