阅读理解The girls in this sixth grade class in East Palo Alto, California, all have the same access to computers as boys. But researchers say, by the time they get to high school, they are victims of what the researchers call a major new gender (性别) gap in technology. Janice Weinman of the American Association of University Women says, "Girls tend to be less comfortable than boys with the computer. They use it more for word processing rather than for problem solving, rather than to discover new ways in which to understand information." After re-examining a thousand studies, the American Association of University Women researchers found that girls make up only a small percentage of students in computer science classes. Girls consistently rate themselves significantly lower than boys in their ability and confidence in using computers. And they use computers less often than boys outside the classroom. An instructor of a computer lab says he''s already noticed some differences. Charles Cheadle of Cesar Chavez School says, "Boys are not so afraid they might do something that will harm the computer, whereas girls are afraid they might break it somehow." Six years ago, the software company Purple Moon noticed that girls'' computer usage was falling behind boys. Karen Gould says, "The number one reason girls told us they don''t like computer games is not that they''re too violent, or too competitive. Girls just said they''re incredibly boring." Purple Monn says it found what girls want, characters they can relate to and story lines relative to what''s going on in their own lives. Karen Gould of Purple Moon Software says, "What we definitely found from girls is that there is no intrinsic (固有的) reason why they wouldn''t want to play on a computer; it was just a content thing." The sponsor of the study says it all boils down to this: the technology gender gap that separates the girls from the boys must be closed if women are to compete effectively with men in the 21st century.

阅读理解The passage implies that it is easy to buy the following things in the country EXCEPT 

阅读理解Questions 51 to 60 are based on the following passage

阅读理解Directions: Read the following passages and answer the questions. Choose the most appropriate answer for each question and circle the letter on the answer sheet. Remember to write the letter corresponding to the question number.Conventional wisdom about conflict seems pretty much cut and dried. Too little conflict breeds apathy (冷漠) and stagnation (呆滞). Too much conflict leads to divisiveness (分裂) and hostility. Moderate levels of conflict, however, can spark creativity and motivate people in a healthy and competitive way.Recent research by Professor Charles R. Schwenk, however, suggests that the optimal level of conflict may be more complex to determine than these simple generalizations. He studied perceptions of conflict among a sample of executives. Some of the executives worked for profit-seeking organizations and others for not-for-profit organizations.Somewhat surprisingly, Schwenk found that opinions about conflict varied systematically as a function of the type of organization. Specifically, managers in not-for-profit organizations strongly believed that conflict was beneficial to their organizations and that it promoted higher quality decision making than might be achieved in the absence of conflict.Managers of for-profit organizations saw a different picture. They believed that conflict generally was damaging and usually led to poor-quality decision making in their organizations. Schwenk interpreted these results in terms of the criteria for effective decision making suggested by the executives. In the profit-seeking organizations, decision-making effectiveness was most often assessed in financial terms. The executives believed that consensus rather than conflict enhanced financial indicators.In the not-for-profit organizations, decision-making effectiveness was defined from the perspective of satisfying constituents. Given the complexities and ambiguities associated with satisfying many diverse constituents executives perceived that conflict led to more considered and acceptable decisions.

阅读理解Passage Three For 150 years scientists have tried to determine the solar constant, the amount of solar energy that reaches the Earth

阅读理解 Earlier this year Ian Leslie wrote a piece for Intelligent Life about the 'filter bubble', which said that the Internet's top five—Yahoo!, Google, Facebook, YouTube and Microsoft—were using personalised data filtering to create a 'you loop' in which serendipitous discoveries are replaced by commercial prompts designed to keep us inside our comfort zone. There's been lots of discussion about the political dangers of what Kunzru calls 'the myopic self', but there has been little about its impact on how we choose and buy books. Theoretically, there's never been a better time to be an adventurous reader, but despite all those self-published writers, boutique publishers and specialist booksellers, I don't think I'm the only one struggling to translate this theory into reality. When it comes to deciding what to read next, I find myself caught between a paralysing ocean of choice and endless recommendations for E. L. James's Fifty Shades of Grey. I end up rereading Dorothy Dunnett's King Hereafter—11th-century Orkney being firmly within my comfort zone. Of course, we can't really blame the algorithms. Our reading choices have always been constrained by the natural filter bubble created by our friends, and the pressures of time play as large a role as Google's search engines. So are there any steps we can take to combat the natural 'you loop' in our reading tastes? First, I propose we adopt a thoroughly disruptive stance: 'If you enjoyed that, then this is the opposite.' If your sister loves the erotic fantasies of E. L. James, then it's time for her to take on the metaphysics of Gods and Monsters, and give Hari Kunzru a try. And second when I've finished the remaining 700 pages of my Norse epic, I shall ask my Twitter friends: what shouldn't I read next? And why stop there? How about disloyalty cards, where booksellers give us discounts for clocking up an eclectic range of purchases? Or discomfort zones, with a 'books we can't stand' display, complete with little handwritten condemnations: so much more inviting than yet another card explaining why Bleak House is really rather good. Could there be a pop-up sci-fi corner in a romance authors' convention or critics reviewing novels that are diametrically opposed in subject matter, style and philosophical outlook, and still liking both? As the season for lazy beach-reading approaches, let us make a stand for the joy of being thoroughly surprised.

阅读理解Knowing that Mrs

阅读理解 If you are a vegetarian, what can you order? If you are a vegetarian, what can you order?

阅读理解Format 2 Here are job interview tips to help prepare you to interview effectively

阅读理解Why do some people choose self-catering accommodation?

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

阅读理解 Historians may well look back on the 1980s in the United States as a time of rising affluence side by side with rising poverty. The growth in affluence is attributable to an increase in professional and technical jobs, along with more two career couples whose combined incomes provide a' comfortable living'. Yet simultaneously, the nation' s poverty rate rose between 1973 and 1983 from 11.1 percent of the population to 15.2, or by well over a third. Although the poverty rate declined somewhat after 1983, it was still held at 13.5 percent in 1987, comprising a population of 32:5 million Americans. The definition of poverty is a matter of debate. In 1795, a group of English magistrates decided that a minimum in come should be 'the cost of a gallon loaf of bread, multiplied by three, plus an allowance for each dependent'. Today the Census Bureau defines the threshold of poverty in the United States as the minimum amount of money that families need to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet, assuming they use one third of their income for food. Using this definition, roughly half the American population was poor in the aftermath of the Great Depression of the 1930s. By 1950, the proportion of the poor had fallen to 30 percent and by 1964, to 20 percent. With the adoption of the Johnson administration ' s antipoverty programs, the poverty rate dropped to 12 percent in 1969. But since then, it has stopped falling. Liberals contend that the poverty line is too low because it fails to take into account changes in the standard of living. Conservatives say that it is too high because the poor receive other forms of public assistance, including food stamps, public housing subsidies, and health care.

阅读理解Unless we spend money to spot and prevent asteroids (小行星) now, one might crash into Earth and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists. Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids (流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don''t threaten us. But there are also thousands whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth. Buy $ 40 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $ 10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we''ll have a way to change its course. Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons. But the cost wouldn''t be cheap. Is it worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk are: 1) How likely the event is; and 2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 400,000 years. Sounds pretty rare-but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. "If we don''t take care of these big asteroids, they''ll take care of us," says one scientist. "It''s that simple." The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? "The world has less to fear from doomsday (毁灭性的) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against them, " said a New York Times article.

阅读理解What our society suffers from most today is the absence of consensus about what it and life in it ought to be. Such consensus cannot be gained from society''s present stage, or from fantasies about what it ought to be. For that the present is too close and too diversified, and the future too uncertain, to make believable claims about it. A consensus in the present hence can be achieved only through a shared understanding of the past, as Homer''s epics (史诗) informed those who lived centuries later what it meant to be Greek, and by what images and ideals they were to live their lives and organize their societies. 　　Most societies derive consensus from a long history, a language all their own, a common religion, common ancestry. The myths by which they live are based on all of these. But the United States is a country of immigrants, coming from a great variety of nations. Lately, it has been emphasized that an asocial, narcissistic ( 自我陶醉的 ) personality has become characteristic of Americans, and that it is this type of personality that makes for the lack of well-being, because it prevents us from achieving consensus that would counteract a tendency to withdraw into private worlds. In his study of narcissism, Christopher Lasch says that modern man, "tortured by self- consciousness, turns to new therapies not to free himself of his personal worries but to find meaning and purpose in life, to find something to live for." There is widespread distress because national morale has declined, and we have lost an earlier sense of national vision and purpose. 　　Contrary to rigid religions or political beliefs, as are found in totalitarian ( 极权主义的 ) societies, our culture is one of great individual differences, at least in principle and in theory. But this leads to disunity, even chaos. Americans believe in the value of diversity, but just because ours is a society based on individual diversity, it needs consensus about some dominating ideas more than societies based on uniform origin of their citizens. Hence, if we are to have consensus, it must be based on a myth―a vision―about a common experience, a conquest that made us Americans, as the myth about the conquest of Troy formed the Greeks. Only a common myth can offer relief from the fear that life is without meaning or purpose. Myths permit us to examine our place in the world by comparing it to a shared idea. Myths are shared fantasies that form the tie that binds the individual to other members of his group. Such myths help to ward off feelings of isolation, guilt, anxiety, and purposelessness―in short, they combat isolation and the breakdown of social standards and values.

阅读理解It''s a funny thing, happiness. People refer to it as something they want, something missing, as if it could be secured if they only knew where to find it. Lack of it is blamed on past relationships and hope for it placed on future lovers. Desire for it becomes a restless quest. Yet over and again in therapy, it is clear that a hungry pursuit for the illusive state of happiness only ends in frustration and yet more unhappiness. 　　When I ask a man who''s just turned 40 and wants to try psychotherapy to tell me about the disappointments he mentions, he reels off a list: a love affair that lost its zest; a work project ruined by a colleague; a holiday spoiled by the weather; a plan halted by ill health. All were potential routes to happiness. And it is this endless feeling of things being spoilt that makes him feel let down by life and unhappy. 　　He tells me that he had been a willful child. He was, he says, spoilt rotten by very loving parents. They had suffered much hardship in their own lives, and when hard work and good luck made them well off, they decided that he, their only son, would have all they had lacked, and more. 　　He had wanted for nothing. Yet this came with a cost. For having everything on a plate before he had even developed an appetite had robbed him of the chance to reach and struggle for something meaningful and of his very own. There had never been an empty space he had enjoyed working to fill. Little wonder he was unable to remain attached to anything or anyone after frustration set in. Working through difficulty simply hadn''t ever been asked of him. 　　While hopefully a by-product of developing emotional maturity, happiness was not, I told him, a specific therapeutic aim. But therapy could offer the challenge to stay with, and so gradually understand, the meaning of his unhappiness, rather than bolting when the going got rough. The notion that we can uncover a meaning within our suffering supports the whole therapeutic venture. By working towards understanding the reasons for his disappointments, this man had the chance to begin reshaping his own life journey. This was unlikely to give him happiness as a "given constant", but could enable him to develop something far more important. As C. G. Jung, the founder of Analytical Psychology, said:" The principal aim of psychotherapy is not to transport the patient to an impossible state of happiness, but to help him acquire steadfastness and philosophic patience in the face of suffering. Life demands for its completion and fulfillment a balance between joy and sorrow."

阅读理解Passage Two Even before Historian Joseph Ellis became a best-selling author, he was famous for his vivid lectures. In his popular courses at Mount Holyoke College in Massachusetts, he would often make classroom discussions lively by describing his own combat experience in Vietnam. But as Ellis’s reputation grew—his books on the Founding Fathers have won both the prestigious National Book Award and the Pulitzer Prize—the history professor began to entertain local and national reporters with his memories of war. Last year, after The Boston Globe carried accounts of Ellis’s experience in the Vietnam war, someone who knew the truth about Ellis dropped a dime. Last week The Boston Globe revealed that Ellis, famous for explaining the nation’s history, had some explaining to do about his own past.“Even in the best of lives, mistakes are made,” said a wretched Ellis. It turned out that while the distinguished historian had served in the Army, he’d spent his war years not in the jungles of Southeast Asia, but teaching history at West Point. He’d also overstated his role in the antiwar movement and even his high-school athletic records. His admission shocked colleagues, fellow historians and students who wondered why someone so accomplished would beautify his past. But it seems that success and truthfulness don’t always go hand in hand. Even among the distinguished achievers, security experts say, one in ten is deceiving-indulging in everything from empty boasting to more serious offenses such as plagiarism, fictionalizing military records, making up false academic certificates or worse. And, oddly, prominent people who beautify the past often do so once they’re famous, says Ernest Brod of Kroll Associates, which has conducted thousands of background checks. Says Brod: “It’s not like they use these lies to climb the ladder.”Then what makes them do it? Psychologists say some people succeed, at least in part, because they are uniquely adjusted to the expectations of others. And no matter how well-known, those people can be haunted by a sense of their own shortcomings. “From outside, these people look anything but fragile,” says Dennis Shulman, a New York psychoanalyst. “But inside, they feel hollow, empty.”

阅读理解A lot of animals are afraid during an eclipse of the sun. Birds stop singing. Sometimes people too are afraid. Astronomers know the dates of eclipses and they are not afraid. The old astronomers ofBabylon and Egypt had no telescopes; but the sky in those countries was usually clear, so they could watch the stars easily. They studied everything in the sky and they also noticed both total and partial eclipses.Because they knew the dates ofeclipses, they had great power. People believed that the sky was important. They believed that an eclipse could kill a man.About 2500 years ago there was a very long war. One battle followed another, and the end never came. During one of the battles, there was a partial eclipse of the sun. The day got very dark, and the soldiers on both sides were filled with fear. They believed that the gods were angry. So they stopped fighting, and ended their long war.The sun is a star. It appears to be bigger than any other star. That is because it is near us; but the other stars are far away. The sun shines because it is very hot, but the moon shines because it reflects the sun’s light. It is like a big mirror. If we visited the moon, we should see the earth. It is also like a mirror and it reflects the light ofthe sun.Does the sun ever get dark during the day? It does so when the moon hides it. Sometimes the moon goes in front of the sun. We can watch its edge when it slowly crosses the sun’s disc. Everything gets darker and darker; then, at last, we cannot see any part of the sun’s disc. The moon is hiding it completely. That is a total eclipse ofthe sun; sometimes only part ofthe sun’s disc is hidden; that is not a total eclipse. It is a partial eclipse ofthe sun.

阅读理解TEXT D For parents who send their kids off to college saying, These will be the best years of your life, it would be very appropriate to add, If you can handle the stress of college life Freshmen are showing up already stressed out， according to the latest research study that reported students‟ emotional health levels at their lowest since the survey started in 1985

阅读理解According to the survey, most Taiwanese believe that ____. 

阅读理解Questions 34-35 Before Michael Pollan came along, eating as a form of politics was a fringe activity