单选题Americans believe no one stands still. If you are not moving ahead, you are falling behind. This attitude results in a nation of people committed to researching, experimenting and exploring. Time is the element that Americans save carefully. "We are slaves to nothing but the clock", it has been said. Time is treated as if it were something almost tangible, it is a precious commodity. Many people have a rather acute sense of the shortness of each lifetime. Once the sands have run out of a person's hourglass, they cannot be replaced. We want every minute to count. A foreigner's first impression of the U. S. is likely to be that everyone is in a rush—often under pressure. City people appear always to be hurrying to get where they are going, elbowing others as they try to complete their errands. Racing through daytime meals is part of the pace of life in this country. People in public eating-places are waiting for you to finish so they can be served and get back to work within the time allowed. Many newcomers to the States will miss the opening courtesies of a business call, for example. They will miss the ritual socializing that goes with a welcoming cup of tea or coffee that may be traditional in their own country. Normally, Americans do not assess their visitors in such relaxed surroundings over prolonged small talk; much less do they take them out for dinner, or around on the golf course while they develop a sense of trust and rapport. Rapport to most of us is less important than performance. We seek out evidence of past performances rather than evaluate a business colleague through social courtesies. Since we generally assess and probe professionally rather than socially, we start talking business very quickly. Some new arrivals will come from cultures where it is considered impolite to work too quickly. Unless a certain amount of time is allowed to elapse, it seems in their eyes as if the task being considered were insignificant, not worthy of proper respect. Assignments are thus felt to be added weight by the passage of time. In the U. S., however, it is taken as a sign of competence to solve a problem, or fulfill a job successfully, with rapidity. Usually, the more important a task is, the more capital, energy, and attention will be poured into it in order to "get it moving".

单选题I recently wrote an autobiography in which I recalled many old memories. One of them was from my school days, when our ninth grade teacher, Miss Raber, would pick out words from Reader's Digest to test our vocabulary. Today, more than 45 years later, I always check out " It pays to Enrich Your Word Power" first when the Digest comes each month. I am impressed with that idea, word power. Reader's Digest knows the power that words have to move people to entertain, inform and inspire. The Digest editors know that the big word isn't always the best word. Take just one example, a Quotable Quote from the February 1985 issue: " Time is a playful thing. It slips quickly and drinks the day like a bowl of milk. " Seventeen words, only two of them more than one syllable, yet how much they convey! That's usually how it is with Reader's Digest. The small and simple can be profound. As chairman of a foundation to restore the Statue of Liberty, I've been making a lot of speeches lately. I try to keep them fairly short. I use small but vivid words: words like "hope" , "guts", "faith" and "dreams". Those are words that move people and say so much about the spirit of America. Don't get me wrong. I'm not against using big words, when it is right to do so, but I have also learned that a small word can work a small miracle—if it's the right word, in the right place, at the right time. It's a "secret" that I hope I will never forget.

单选题It is the staff of dreams and nightmares. Where Tony Blair's attempts to make Britain love the euro have fallen on deaf ears, its incarnation as notes and coins will succeed. These will be used not just in the euro area but in Britain. As the British become accustomed to the euro as a cash currency, they will warm to it--paving the way for a yes note in a referendum. The idea of euro creep appeals to both sides of the euro argument. According to the pros, as Britons become familiar with the euro, membership will start to look inevitable, so those in favor are bound to win. According to the antis, as Britons become familiar with the euro, membership will start to look inevitable, so those opposed must mobilize for the fight. Dream or nightmare, euro creep envisages the single currency worming its way first into the British economy and then into the affections of voters. British tourists will come back from their European holidays laden with euros, which they will spend not just at airports but in high street shops. So, too, will foreign visitors. As the euro becomes a parallel currency, those who make up the current two-to-one majority will change their minds. From there, it will be a short step to decide to dispense with the pound. Nell Kinnock, a European commissioner and former leader of the Labor Party, predicts that the euro will soon become Britain's second currency. Hans Eichel, the German finance minister, also says that it will become a parallel currency in countries like Switzerland and Britain. Peter Hain, the European minister who is acting as a cheerleader for membership, says the euro will become "a practical day-to-day reality and that will enable people to make a sensible decision about it." As many as a third of Britain's biggest retailers, such as Marks and Spencer, have said they will take euros in some of their shops. BP has also announced that it will accept euros at some of its garages. But there is less to this than meet the eyes. British tourists can now withdraw money from cashpoint from European holiday destinations, so they are less likely than in the past to end up with excess foreign money. Even if they do, they generally get rid of it at the end of their holidays, says David Southwell, a spokesman for the British Retail Consortium (BRC).

单选题 In recent years, many Americans of both sexes and various ages have become interested in improving their bodies. They have become devoted to physical fitness. The need to exercise has almost become compulsive with many persons who have a strong desire to be more physically fit. By nature, Americans are enthusiastic and energetic about their hobbies and pastimes. They apply this enthusiasm, and energy to jogging/running. As a result, there are running clubs to join and many books and magazines to read about running. The desire to be physically fit is explained by a "passion" for good health. The high rate of heart attacks in the 1960s caused an increase on the part of the public in improving the human body. Middle-aged men especially suffer from heart attacks. Thus, they are one group strongly interested in more physical exercise. In fact, many doctors encourage their patients to become more physically active, especially those who have sedentary jobs. It is interesting to note that the rate of heart attacks began to decrease in the 1970s and it is still decreasing. Physical fitness currently enjoys a favored role in the United States. It is a new "love" that many Americans have cherished. Will it last long? Only time will tell or until another "new passion" comes along.

单选题—What do you want to do this afternoon? —We ______go for a drive in the country or have a rest in the garden.

单选题The patient screamed in his sleep last night. He ______ a terrible dream.

单选题She ought to stop work; she has a headache because she ______ too long. A. has been reading B. is reading C. had read D. read

单选题Output is now six times ______it was before liberation.

单选题According to the article we know it is ______ to prevent the forest from slowly disappearing.

单选题The furniture delivered by the shop is quite different from ______ in the exhibition hall.

单选题One of the many oddities of migration policy is that immigrants coming in to work permanently are usually a minority of those who arrive legally. Most (1) countries admit migrants mainly on grounds that have (2) to do with work. They also admit two large groups on grounds that have nothing to do with their skills or education, (3) these characteristics may determine (4) rapidly they integrate. Almost everywhere, the biggest group (5) relatives of those who have already (6) . In the United States they (7) three-quarters of all legal (8) migrants. America even gives a few visas to (9) adult siblings. In parts of Burope, family reunification has become family formation, (10) sometimes delays integration: for instance, it allows third-generation Pakistanis to seek spouses (11) their cousins back in rural areas. The policy also (12) the characteristics of earlier arrivals. (13) migrants are likely to have less educated relatives than are skilled migrants. In Europe, and especially northern Europe, the other main route of legal entry is to claim asylum. The (14) of claims has fallen by half since the early 1990s, partly because peace (15) to former Yugoslavia, and partly because of tougher rules, (16) still seems to be higher than in the United States. America (17) the numbers sharply after the first attack on the World Trade Centre in 1993, mainly by refusing (18) asylum-seekers to work or draw any welfare benefits for the first six months of their stay, and by (19) the claims process. Many European countries (20) that way.

单选题When I decided to quit my full time employment it never occurred to me that I might become a part of a new international trend. A lateral move that hurt my pride and blocked my professional progress prompted me to abandon my relatively high profile career although, in the manner of a disgraced government minister, I covered my exit by claiming "I wanted to spend more time with my family". Curiously, some two-and-a-half years and two novels later, my experiment in what the Americans term "downshifting" has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality. I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of the philosophy of "having it all", preached by Linda Kelsey for the past seven years in the page of She magazine, into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit of everything. I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of "juggling your life" ,and making the alternative move into "downshifting" brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status. Nothing could persuade me to return to the kind of life Kelsey used to advocate and I once enjoyed: 12 hour working days, pressured deadlines, the fearful strain of office politics and the limitations of being a parent on "quality time". In America, the move away from juggling to a simpler, less materialistic lifestyle is a well-established trend. Downshifting — also known in America as "voluntary simplicity" — has, ironically, even bred a new area of what might be termed anticonsumerism. There are a number of best-selling downshifting self-help books for people who want to simplify their lives; there are newsletters, such as The Tightwad Gazette, that give hundreds of thousands of Americans useful tips on anything from recycling their cling-film to making their own soap; there are even support groups for those who want to achieve the mid-'90s equivalent of dropping out. While in America the trend started as a reaction to the economic decline — after the mass redundancies caused by downsizing in the late '80s—and is still linked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least among the middle-class down-shifters of my acquaintance, we have different reasons for seeking to simplify our lives. For the women of my generation who were urged to keep juggling through the '80s, downshifting in the mid-'90s is not so much a search for the mythical good life — growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one—as a personal recognition of your limitations.

单选题Customer: Can I try this dress on, please? Saleswoman: ______ A. Of course, try it on in the fitting room, please. B. This dress is on sale for half its regular price. C.Try it on，then．YOU don’t need to ask． D.Sure，the fitting rooms are next to the stairs．

单选题Frank Friedel, in creating a biography of the United States president Franklin D. Roosevelt, has had to wrestle with something like 40 tons of paper.

单选题Thus the most logical {{U}}approach{{/U}} is to focus our analysis on the trade relations of Spain with other European countries.

单选题{{B}}Directions: For each blank in the following passage, there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that is most suitable and mark your answer by blackening the corresponding letter on the Answer Sheet.{{/B}} When all the people had assembled, the king, surrounded by his court, {{U}}(21) {{/U}} a signal. Then a door beneath him opened, and the accused man stepped {{U}}(22) {{/U}} into the arena. Directly opposite him were two doors, exactly {{U}}(23) {{/U}} and side by side. It was the duty and the privilege of the {{U}}(24) {{/U}} on trial to walk directly to these {{U}}(25) {{/U}} and open one of them. He {{U}}(26) {{/U}} open either door he pleased; he was subject to no {{U}}(27) {{/U}} or influence. If he opened the one, there came out of it a hungry tiger, the {{U}}(28) {{/U}} and most cruel that could be found, which {{U}}(29) {{/U}} sprang upon him and tore him to pieces as a punishment for his guilt. {{U}}(30) {{/U}}, if the accused person opened the other door, out of it came a {{U}}(31) {{/U}} lady, and to this lady he was immediately married, as a reward of his innocence. This was the {{U}}(32) {{/U}} method of administering justice. Its perfect fairness is obvious. The criminal could{{U}} (33) {{/U}} know out of which door would come the lady; he opened either he pleased, without having the slightest {{U}}(34) {{/U}} whether, in the next instant, he was to be devoured or married. So the accused person was instantly {{U}}(35) {{/U}} if guilty, and, if innocent, he was rewarded on the spot.

单选题Mum is getting old, so her memory is not very ( ) these days.

单选题"These days, executives are more fastidious about presentation and persona," indicates Jack Hilton, whose New York-based consulting firm advises top management ______ television.