阅读理解 The question of whether war is inevitable is one which has concerned many of the world's great writers. Before considering this question, it will be useful to introduce some related concepts. Conflict, defined as opposition among social entities directed against one another, is distinguished from competition, defined as opposition among social entities independently striving for something which is in inadequate supply. Competitors may not be aware of one another, while the parties to a conflict are. Conflict and competition are both categories of opposition, which has been defined as a process by which social entities function in the disservice of one another. Opposition is thus contrasted with cooperation, the process by which social entities function in the service of one another. These definitions are necessary because it is important to emphasize that competition between individuals or groups is inevitable in a world of limited resources, but conflict is not. Conflict, nevertheless, is very likely to occur, and is probably an essential and desirable element of human societies. Many authors have argued for the inevitability of war from the premise that in the struggle for existence among animal species, only the fittest survive. In general, however, this struggle in nature is competition, not conflict. Social animals, such as monkeys and cattle, fight to win or maintain leadership of the group. The struggle for existence occurs not in such fights, but in the competition for limited feeding areas and for occupancy of areas free from meat-eating animals. Those who fail in this competition starve to death or become victims to other species. This struggle for existence does not resemble human war, but rather the competition of individuals for jobs, markets, and materials. The essence of the struggle is the competition for the necessities of life that are insufficient to satisfy all. Among nations there is competition in developing resources, trades, skills, and a satisfactory way of life. The successful nations grow and prosper; the unsuccessful decline. While it is true that this competition may induce efforts to expand territory at the expense of others, and thus lead to conflict, it cannot be said that war-like conflict among nations is inevitable, although competition is.

阅读理解Passage 4 Global warming could actually chill down North America within just a few decades, according to a new study that says a sudden cooling event gripped the region about 8,300 years ago

阅读理解Passage 1 Katherine walked into a newspaper office， and demanded to see the editor

阅读理解Questions 11 to 20 are based on the following passage

阅读理解Text 1 A group of labour MPs, among them Yvette Cooper, are bringing in the new year with a call to institute a UK town of culture award

阅读理解Passage three: Questions are based on the following passage

阅读理解Passage 1 A new study from the Center for Information and Research on Civic Learning and Engagement (CIRCLE) at Tufts University shows that todays youth vote in larger numbers than previous generations, and a 2008 study from the Center for American Progress adds that increasing numbers of young voters and activists support traditionally liberal causes

阅读理解Questions 11 to 20 are based on the following passage

阅读理解There are two types of people in the world. Although they have equal degrees of health and wealth and other comforts of life, one becomes happy, the other becomes miserable. This arises from the different ways in which they consider things, persons, and events, and the resulting effects upon their minds. The people who are to be happy fix their attention on the conveniences of things: the pleasant pars of conversation, the well-prepared dishes, the goodness of the wines, and the fine weather. They enjoy all the cheerful things. Those who are to be unhappy think and speak only of the contrary things. Therefore, they are continually discontented. By their remarks, they sour the pleasures of society, offend many people, and make themselves disagreeable everywhere. If this turn of mind were founded in nature, such unhappy persons would be the more to be critical. The tendency to criticize and be disgusted is perhaps taken up originally by imitation. It grows into a habit, unknown to its possessors. The habit may be strong, but it may be cured when those who have it are convinced of its bad effects on their interests and tastes. I hope this little warning may be of service to them, and help them change this habit. Although in fact it is chiefly an act of the imagination, it has serious consequences in life since it brings on deep sorrow and bad luck. Those people offend many others, nobody loves them, and no one treats them with more than the most common politeness and respect, and scarcely that. This frequently puts them in bad temper and draws them into arguments. If they aim at obtaining some advantage in rank or fortune, nobody wishes them success. Nor will anyone stir a step or speak a word to favor their hopes. If they bring on themselves public disapproval, no one will defend or excuse them, and many will join to criticize their misconduct. These people should change this bad habit and condescend (俯就) to be pleased with what is pleasing, without worrying needlessly about themselves and others. If they do not, it will be good for others to avoid any contact with them. Otherwise, it can be disagreeable and sometimes very inconvenient, especially when one becomes mixed up in their quarrels.

阅读理解In 1784, five years before he became president of the United States, George Washington, 52, wasnearly toothless. So he hired a dentist to transplant nine teeth into his jaw, having extracted themfrom the mouths of his slaves.That’s a far different image from the cherry-tree-chopping George most people remember from theirhistory books. But recently, many historians have begun to focus on the roles slavery played in thelives of the founding generation. They have been spurred in part by DNA evidence made available in1998, which almost certainly proved Thomas Jefferson had fathered at least one child with his slaveSally Hemings. And only over the past 30 years have scholars examined history from the bottom up.Works of several historians reveal the moral compromises made by the nation’s early leaders and thefragile nature of the country’s infancy. More significantly, they argue that many of the FoundingFathers knew slavery was wrong — and yet most did little to fight it.More than anything, the historians say, the founders were hampered by the culture of their time.While Washington and Jefferson privately expressed distaste for slavery, they also understood that itwas part of the political and economic bedrock of the country they helped to create.For one thing, the South could not afford to part with its slaves. Owning slaves was “like having alarge bank account,” says Wiencek, author of An Imperfect God: George Washington, His Slaves,and the Creation of America. The southern states would not have signed the Constitution withoutprotections for the “peculiar institution,” including a clause that counted a slave as three fifths of aman for purposes of congressional representation. And the statesmen’s political lives depended onslavery. The three-fifths formula handed Jefferson his narrow victory in the presidential election of1800 by inflating the votes of the southern states in the Electoral College. Once in office, Jeffersonextended slavery with the Louisiana Purchase in 1803; the new land was carved into 13 states,including three slave states.Still, Jefferson freed Hemings’s children, though not Hemings herself or his approximately 150 otherslaves. Washington, who had begun to believe that all men were created equal after observing thebravery of the black soldiers during the Revolutionary War, overcame the strong opposition of hisrelatives to grant his slaves their freedom in his will. Only a decade earlier, such an act would haverequired legislative approval in Virginia.

阅读理解Educators and business leaders have more in common than it may seem. Teachers want to prepare students for a successful future. Technology companies have an interest in developing a workforce with the STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) skills needed to grow the company and advance the industry. How can they work together to achieve these goals? Play may be the answer. Focusing on STEM skills is important, but the reality is that STEM skills are enhanced and more relevant when combined with traditional, hands-on creative activities. This combination is proving to be the best way to prepare today’s children to be the makers and builders of tomorrow. That is why technology companies are partnering with educators to bring back good, old-fashioned play. In fact many experts argue that the most important 21st-century skills aren’t related to specific technologies or subject matter, but to creativity; skills like imagination, problem-finding and problem-solving, teamwork, optimism, patience and the ability to experiment and take risks. These are skills acquired when kids tinker (鼓捣小玩意). High-tech industries such as NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory have found that their best overall problem solvers were master tinkerers in their youth. There are cognitive (培养) benefits of doing things the way we did as children—building something, tearing it down, then building it up again. Research shows that given 15 minutes of free play, four- and five-year-olds will spend a third of this time engaged in spatial, mathematical, and architectural activities. This type of play—especially with building blocks—helps children discover and develop key principles in math and geometry. If play and building are critical to 21st-century skill development, that’s really good news for two reasons; Children are born builders, makers, and creators, so fostering (培养) 21st-century skills may be as simple as giving kids room to play, tinker and try things out, even as they grow older. Secondly, it doesn’t take 21st-century technology to foster 21st-century skills. This is especially important for under-resourced schools and communities. Taking whatever materials are handy and tinkering with them is a simple way to engage those important "maker" skills. And anyone, anywhere, can do it.

阅读理解A good modern newspaper is an extraordinary piece of reading

阅读理解Text 1 These days so many marriages end in divorce that our most sacred vows no longer ring with truth

阅读理解My mother was talking to Lisa on the phone ________ the doorbell rang

阅读理解[A]Give compliments, just not too many

阅读理解 Bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles in public. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else: the accounting standard-setters. Their rules, moan the banks, have forced them to report enormous losses, and it's just not fair. These rules say they must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the price managers and regulators would like them to fetch. Unfortunately, banks' lobbying now seems to be working. The details may be unknowable, but the independence of standard-setters, essential to the proper functioning of capital markets, is being compromised. And, unless banks carry toxic assets at prices that attract buyers, reviving the banking system will be difficult. After a bruising encounter with Congress, America's Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rushed through rule changes. These gave banks more freedom to use models to value illiquid assets and more flexibility in recognizing losses on long-term assets in their income statement. Bob Herz, the FASB's chairman, cried out against those who 'question our motives.' Yet bank shares rose and the changes enhance what one lobby group politely calls 'the use of judgment by management.' European ministers instantly demanded that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) do likewise. The IASB says it does not want to act without overall planning, but the pressure to fold when it completes its reconstruction of rules later this year is strong. Charlie McCreevy, a European commissioner, warned the IASB that it did 'not live in a political vacuum' but 'in the real world' and that Europe could yet develop different rules. It was banks that were on the wrong planet, with accounts that vastly overvalued assets. Today they argue that market prices overstate losses, because they largely reflect the temporary illiquidity of markets, not the likely extent of bad debts. The truth will not be known for years. But bank's shares trade below their book value, suggesting that investors are skeptical. And dead markets partly reflect the paralysis of banks which will not sell assets for fear of booking losses, yet are reluctant to buy all those supposed bargains. To get the system working again, losses must be recognized and dealt with. America's new plan to buy up toxic assets will not work unless banks mark assets to levels which buyers find attractive. Successful markets require independent and even combative standard-setters. The FASB and IASB have been exactly that, cleaning up rules on stock options and pensions, for example, against hostility from special interests. But by giving in to critics now they are inviting pressure to make more concessions.

阅读理解Directions: There are 3 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice and write your answers on the Answer Sheet.Passage OneDepartment Store MagicFor most of the 20th century Smithson’s was one of Britain’s most successful department stores, but by the mid-1990s, it had become dull. Still profitable, thanks largely to a series of successful advertising campaigns, but decidedly boring. The famous were careful not to be seen there, and its sales staff didn’t seem to have changed since the store opened in 1908. Worst of all, its customers were buying fewer and fewer of its own-brand products, the major part of its business, and showing a preference for more fashionable brands.But now all this has changed, thanks to Rowena Baker, who became Smithson’s first woman Chief Executive three years ago. Since then, while most major retailers in Britain have been losing money, Smithson’s profits have been rising steadily. When Baker started, a lot of improvements had just been made to the building, without having any effect on sales, and she took the bold decision to invite one of Europe’s most exciting interior designers to develop the fashion area, the heart of the store. This very quickly led to rising sales, even before the goods on display were changed. And as sales grew, so did profits.Baker had ambitious plans for the store from the start. ‘We’re playing a big game, to prove we’re up there with the leaders in our sector, and we have to make sure people get that message. Smithson’s had fallen behind the competition. It provided a traditional service targeted at middle-aged, middle- income customers, who’d been shopping there for years, and the customer base was gradually contracting. Our idea is to sell such an exciting variety of goods that everyone will want to come in, whether they plan to spend a little or a lot. Baker’s vision for the store is clear, but achieving it is far from simple. At first, many employees resisted her improvements because they just wouldn’t be persuaded that there was anything wrong with the way they’d always done things, even if they accepted that the store had to overtake its competitors. It took many long meetings, involving the entire workforce, to win their support. It helped when they realized that Baker was a very different kind of manager from the ones they had known.Baker’s staff policies contained more surprises. The uniform that had hardly changed since day one has now disappeared. Moreover, teenagers now get young shop assistants, and staffs in the sports departments are themselves sports fans in trainers. As Baker explains, ‘How can you sell jeans if you’re wearing a black suit? Smithson’s has a new identity, and this needs to be made clear to the customers.’ She’s also given every sales assistant responsibility for ensuring customer satisfaction, even if it means occasionally breaking company rules in the hope that this will help company profits.Rowena Baker is proving successful, but the City’s big investors haven’t been persuaded. According to retail analyst, John Matthews, ‘Money had already been invested in refurbishment of the store and in fact that led to the boost in sales. She took the credit, but hadn’t done anything to achieve it. And in my view the company’s shareholders are not convinced. The fact is that unless she opens several more stores pretty soon, Smithson’s profits will start to fall because turnover at the existing store will inevitably start to decline.

阅读理解While it is true that Americans believe climbing the educational ladder leads to success, they are less certain that intellectual achievement is the only important factor leading to success. A competitive personality is seen as important to success, especially in men. The development of social and political skills are also considered to be very important. To help Americans develop these other important skills, schools have added a large number of extracurricular (课程外) activities to daily life at school. This is especially true of high schools and colleges and extends down into elementary schools as well. Athletics, frequently called "competitive sports," are perhaps the most important of these activities. Football, basketball, and baseball teams are seen as very important in teaching students, particularly boys, the "winning spirit." At times, athletic teams seem to become more important to some students and their parents than the academic programs offered by the schools.

阅读理解The International Date Line is the name for ______ 

阅读理解Format 2 Whether its a hotel stay, shopping or dining out, a vacation to Paris Can be a pricey proposition