单选题It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optional. Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death—and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours. Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. The most obvious example is latestage cancer care. Physicians—frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient—too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified. In 1950, the U. S. spent $12.7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be $1,540 billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age—say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way" so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential. I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78 Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have. Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. As a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} Just over a year ago, I foolishly locked up my bicycle outside my office, but forgot to remove the pannier(挂篮). When I returned the pannier had been stolen. Inside it were about ten of the little red notebooks I take everywhere for jotting down ideas for articles, short stories, TV shows and the like. When I lost my notebooks, I was devastated; all the ideas I'd had over the past two years were contained within their pages. I could remember only a few of them, but had the impression that those I couldn't recall were truly brilliant. Those little books were crammed with the plots of award-winning novels and scripts for radio comedy shows that were only two-thirds as bad as the ones on at the moment. That's not all, though. In my reminiscence, my lost notebooks contained sketches for many innovative and incredible machines. In one book there was a design for a device that could turn sea water into apple cider; in another, plan for an automatic dog; in a third, sketches for a pair of waterproof shoes with television screens built into the toes. Now all of these plans are lost to humanity. I found my notebooks again. It turns out they weren't in the bike pannier at all, but in a carrier bag in my spare room, where I found six months after supposedly losing them. And when I flipped through their pages, ready to run to the patent office in the morning, I discovered they were completely full of rubbish. Discovering the notebooks really shook me up. I had firmly come to believe they were brimming with brilliant, inventive stuff--and yet clearly they weren't. I had deluded myself. After surveying my nonsense, I found that this halo effect always attaches itself to things that seem irretrievably lost. Don't we all have a sneaking feeling that the weather was sunnier, TV shows funnier and cake-shop buns bunnier in the not-very-distant past? All this would not matter much except that it is a powerful element in reactionary thought, this belief in a better yesterday. After all, racism often stems from a delusion that things have deteriorated since "they" came. What a boon to society it would be if people could visit the past and see that it wasn't the paradise they imagine but simply the present with different hats. Sadly, time travel is impossible. Until now, that is. Because I've suddenly remembered I left a leather jacket in an Indonesian restaurant a couples of years ago, and I'm absolutely certain that in the inside pocket there was a sketch I'd made...

单选题{{B}}Passage Five{{/B}} This is supposed to be an enlightened age, but you wouldn't think so if you could hear what the average men think of the average women. Women won their independence years ago. After a long, biter struggle, they now enjoy the same educational opportunities as men in most parts of the world. They have proved repeatedly that they are equal and often superior to men in almost every field. The hard-fought battle for recognition has been won, but it is by no means over. It is men, not women who still carry on the sex war because their attitude remains basically hostile. Even in the most progressive societies, women continue to be regarded as second-rate citizens. Hearing some men talk, you'd think that women belong to a different species. On the surface, the comments made by men about women's abilities seem light-heartiness does not conceal the real contempt (轻视) that men feel for women. However much men sneer at women, their claims to superiority are not borne out by statistics. We all know that women cause far fewer accidents than men. They are too careful and responsible to drive like menaces. But this is a minor quibble (双关语). Women have succeeded in any job you care to name. As politicians, soldiers, doctors, bus-conductors, scientists and presidents of countries they have often put men to shame. And we must remember that they frequently succeed brilliantly in all these fields in addition to bearing and rearing children.

单选题We need to consider what ______ we will be using for language training.A. abilitiesB. appliancesC. facilitiesD. qualities

单选题In 1956, when the cold war was at its peak, America deployed a "secret sonic weapon", as a newspaper headline put it at the time. That weapon was Dizzy Gillespie, a famed jazz musician, who was given the task of changing the world"s view of American culture through rhythm and beat. Crowds poured into the street to dance. Cultural diplomacy died down after the cold war ended. But the attacks of September 11th 2001 convinced the State Department to send out America"s musicians once again to woo hearts and minds with melody. Rhythm Road, a program run by the State Department and a non-profit organization, Jazz at Lincoln Centre, has made informal diplomats out of both musicians and audiences. Since it began in 2005, musicians have travelled to 96 countries. One band went to Mauritania, a country in northwestern Africa, after last year"s coup; many depart for countries that have strained relationships with America. The musicians travel to places where some people have never seen an American. Jazz, so participants in the program, is well-suited to diplomacy. It is collaborative, allowing individuals both to harmonize and play solo—much like a democracy, says Ari Roland, who plays bass for a band that left New York to tour the Middle East on March 31st. Jazz is also a reminder of music"s power. It helped break down racial barriers, as enthusiasts of all colors gathered to listen to jazz when segregation was still the law of the land. The State Department spent 10 million U.S. dollars on cultural diplomacy programs in the year to September 30th 2008. But most expect funding for the initiative to increase under Barack Obama, who pledged his support for cultural diplomacy during his campaign. Rhythm Road now sends out hip-hop and bluegrass bands as well. There are some dissenters. Nick Cull, the director of the Public Diplomacy Program at the University of Southern California, thinks that these diplomatic projects would be more productive if they were not administered by the same agency that oversees the country"s foreign-policy agenda. And there is also clamor for Mr. Obama to appoint a secretary of culture in his cabinet. What good, they ask, is sending American culture abroad, when the country is not giving it proper attention at home?

单选题My secretary usually opens my post ______ it"s marked "private".

单选题The year of 776 BC is considered to be the founding date of the Olympic Games in ancient Greece. The Games lasted more than 11 centuries ______ they were banned in 393 A D.

单选题The Black Prince is a novel by ______.

单选题Look at this mess! If only I______your advice.(南京大学2007年试题)

单选题The government has to decide whether cost or concern for the environment should take ______ when choosing the route for the new road crossing the well known scenic spot.

单选题The word "gain" in Para 3 means ______.

单选题Facial expressions carry meanings that are partly determined by culture. For example, many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do, so teachers in the United States sometimes have trouble knowing whether their Japanese students understand and enjoy their lessons. Another example is the smile. As a common facial expression, it may show affection, convey politeness, or disguise(掩饰)true feelings. But in different cultures. smiles have different meanings. Many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even a suspicious behavior. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places, for American culture a smile is typically an expression of pleasure. Therefore some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don't smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequently used to cover emotional pain or embarrassment. Vietnamese people may tell the sad story of how they had to leave their country but end the story with a smile.

单选题Away from their profession, scientists are inherently no more honest or ______ than other people. A. ethical B. moderate C. civilized D. liberal

单选题His work was ______ than that of any other man in the school. A) by far better B) better by far C) by far the best D) the best by far

单选题Galena, the chief ore of lead, is a {{U}}brittle{{/U}} mineral with a metallic luster. A. hazel B. dense C. breakable D. sparking