单选题{{B}}Passage Two{{/B}} Started in 1636, Harvard University is the oldest of all the many colleges and universities in the United States. Yale, Princeton, Columbia and Dartmouth were opened soon after Harvard. In the early years, these schools were much alike. Only young men went to college. All the students studied the same subjects, and everyone learned Latin, Greek and Hebrew. Little was known about science then, and one kind of school could teach everything that was known about the world. When the students graduated, most of them became ministers (大臣) or teachers. In 1782, Harvard started a medical school for young men who wanted to become doctors. Later, lawyers could receive their training in Harvard's law school. In 1825, besides Latin and Greek, Harvard began teaching modern languages, such as French and German. Soon it began teaching American history. As knowledge increased, Harvard and other colleges began to teach many new subjects. Students were allowed to choose the subjects that interested them. Today, there are many different kinds of colleges and universities. Most of them are made up of smaller schools that deal with (涉及) special fields of learning. There's so much to learn that one kind of school can't offer it all.

单选题— You are so lucky. — What do you mean ______ that?A. forB. inC. ofD. by

单选题It's easy to ______ us because we're supposedly a bunch of dumb country bumpkins and rednecks. A. pick over B. pick off C. pick on D. pick out

单选题The early retirement of experienced workers is seriously harming the U. S. economy, according to a new report from the Hudson Institute, a public policy research organization. Currently, many older experienced workers retire at an early age. According to the recently issued statistics, 79 percent of qualified workers begin collecting retirement benefits at age 62; if that trend continues, there will be a labor shortage that will hinder the economic growth in the twenty-first century. Older Americans constitute an increasing proportion of the population, according to the U. S. Census Bureau, and the population of those over age 65 will grow by 60% between 2001 and 2020. During the same period, the group aged 18 to 44 will increase by only 4%. Keeping older skilled workers employed, even part time, would increase U. S. economic output and strengthen the tax base; but without significant policy reforms, massive early retirement among baby boomers seems more likely. Retirement at age 62 is an economically rational decision today. Social Security and Medicaid earnings limits and tax penalties subject our most experienced workers to marginal tax rates as high as 67%. Social Security formulas encourage early retirement. Although incomes usually rise with additional years of work, any pay increases after the 35-year mark result in higher social Security taxes but only small increases in benefits. Hudson Institute researchers believe that federal tax and benefit policies are at fault and reforms are urgently needed, but they disagree with the popular proposal that much older Americans will have to work because Social Security will not support them and that baby boomers are not saving enough for retirement. According to the increase in 401(k) and Keogh retirement plans, the ongoing stock market on Wall Street, and the likelihood of large inheritances, there is evidence that baby boomers will reach age 65 with greater financial assets than previous generations. The Hudson Institute advocates reforming government policies that now discourage work and savings, especially for older workers. Among the report' s recommendations. Tax half of all Social Security benefits, regardless of other income; provide 8% larger benefits for each year beyond 65; and permit workers nearing retirement to negotiate compensation packages that may include a lower salary but with greater healthcare benefits. However, it may take real and fruitful planning to find the right solution to the early retirement of older experienced workers; any measures taken must be allowed to prolong the serviceability of older experienced workers.

单选题Parts of 17th century Chinese pleasure gardens were not necessarily intended to look______, they were designed expressly to evoke the agreeable melancholy resulting form asense of the______of natural beauty and human glory.

单选题There is no point ______ to persuade him to do anything

单选题Speaker A: The native American Craft Exhibit closed this afternoon.Speaker B: ______

单选题By working hard he acquired an extraordinary______ of the English language.

单选题______ is good at French.A. My either childrenB. Either of my childrenC. Either my childrenD. My either of children

单选题3 It was two years ago today that the hunting ban came into force, supposedly ending centuries of tradition. However, the law has been an unmitigated failure—not that either side is shouting about it. It was a nightmare vision that struck fear and loathing into the hearts of millions. When the hunting ban became law, it was said, 16,000 people would lose their jobs, thousands of hounds would be put down, rotting carcasses would litter the country side, hedgerows would disappear, riders would face on-the-spot fines, law-abiding people from doctors to barristers would be dragged from their horses and carted off to prison, while dog owners would be prosecuted if their mutt caught a rabbit. These were just some of the claims as desperate countryside campaigners battled to save their sport in the lead-up to the hunting ban, which Labour rammed into law using the Parliament Act on November 18, 2004. For many, the fears were real. Others exaggerated as they fought an increasingly aggressive anti-hunting lobby which had rejected acres of independent evidence affirming that hunting is the most humane way of killing foxes. In the battle to "fight prejudice, fight the ban", every emotive argument was deployed. For its part, the anti-hunting brigade extravagantly claimed that the ban would put an end to the rich parading in red jackets. A senior Labour MP, Peter Bradley, admitted in this newspaper that it was, as many suspected, about "class war". He lost his seat shortly afterwards. But people in red coats did not disappear. In fact, none of the forecasts came true. What did happen was something nobody had predicted, the spectacular revival and growth of hunting with hounds.In short, the hun ting ban has been a failure. Today, on the second anniversary of the ban's coming into force on February 18, 2005, new figures show that participation in the sport has never been higher. It is so cheer ful that two new packs have been formed, something that has not happened for centuries. They include the seductively named Private Pack, set up by the financier Roddy Flem ing in Gloucestershire. It operates on an invitation-only basis, a sort of hunting private members club. This can only mean one thing, like it or not, hunting is cool. Young people are taking it up, enticed by the element of rebellion and the mystique of what actually hap pens as hunts attempt to keep within the law.

单选题Some people would rather ride bikes as bike ridding has ______ of the trouble of taking buses. A) nothing B) none C) some D) neither

单选题"Hotspot" regions(Line 7, Para. 2) refer to

单选题TEXT B Some believe that in the age of identikit computer games, mass entertainment and conformity on the supermarket shelves, truly inspired thinking has gone out of the window. But, there are others who hold the view that there is still plenty of scope for innovation, lateral thought and creative solutions. Despite the standardization of modern life, there is an unabated appetite for great ideas, visionary thinking and inspired debate. In the first of a series of monthly debates on contemporary issues, we ask two original thinkers to discuss the nature of creativity. Here is the first one. Yes. Absolutely. Since I started working as an inventor 10 or 12 years ago, I've seen a big change in attitudes to creativity and invention. Back then, there was hardly any support for inventors; apart from the national organization the Institute of Patentees and Inventors. Today, there are lots of little inventors' clubs popping up all over the place, my last count was 19 nationally and growing. These non-profit clubs, run by inventors for inventors, are an indication that people are once again interested in invention. I've been a project leader, a croupier, an IT consultant and I've written a motor mandrel. I spent my teens under a 1950s two-tone Riley RME ear, learning to put it together. Back in the Sixties, kids like me were always out doing things, making go-karts, riding bicycles or exploring. We learned to overcome challenges and solve problems. We weren't just sitting at a PlayStation, like many kids do today. But I think, and hope, things are shifting back. There's a lot more internl in design and creativity and such talents are getting a much higher profile in the media. It's evident with TV programmes such as Channel 4's Scrapheap Challenge or BBC 2's The Apprentice and Dragon's Den, where people are given a task to solve or face the challenge of selling their idea to a panel. And thankfully, the image of the mad scientist with electrified hair working in the garden shed is long gone—although, there are still a few exceptions! That's not to say there aren't problems. With the decline in manufacturing we are losing the ability to know how to make things. There's a real skills gap developing. In my opinion, the Government does little or nothing to help innovation at the lone-inventor or small or medium enterprise level. I would love to see more money spent on teaching our school kids how to be inventive. But, despite everything, if you have a good idea and real determination, you can still do very well. My own specialist area is packaging closures—almost every product needs it. I got the idea for Squeezeopen after looking at an old tin of boot polish when my mother complained she couldn't get the lid off. If you can do something cheaper, better, and you are 100 percent committed, there is a chance it will be a success. I see a fantastic amount of innovation and opportunities out there. People don't realise how much is going on. New materials are coming out all the time and the space programme and scientific research are producing a variety of spin-offs. Innovation doesn't have to be high-tech: creativity and inventing is about finding the right solution to a problem, whatever it is. There's a lot of talent out there and, thankfully, some of the more progressive companies are suddenly realising they don't want to miss out—it's an exciting time.

单选题______ 40 years ago, the book continues to be marketed, mass-produced, and challenged. A. Being written B. As written C. It was written D. Though written

单选题In the first decades of the twentieth century, the individual gene could not be seen, but could be worked with fruitfully.

单选题Questions 25—27 are based on the following conversation. You now have 15 seconds to read questions 25—27.

单选题A: Do you mind if I change the channel? B: ______

单选题Now custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great importance. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behavior at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way around. Traditional custom, taken the world over, is a mass of detailed behavior more astonishing than what any one person can ever in individual actions. Yet that is a rather trivial (微不足道的) aspect of the matter. The fact of first-rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and in belief and the very great varieties it may manifest. No man ever looks at the world with pristine(质朴的，纯洁的) eyes. He sees it edited by a definite set of customs and institutions and ways of thinking. Even in his philosophical probing he cannot go behind these stereotypes; his very concepts of the true and the false will still have reference to particular traditional customs. John Dewey has said in all seriousness that the part played by custom in shaping the behavior of the individual as over against any way in which he can affect traditional custom, is as the proportion of the total vocabulary of his mother tongue over against those words of his own baby talk that are taken up into the language of his family. When one seriously studies social orders have had the opportunity to develop independently, the figure becomes to more than an exact and matter-of-fact observation. The life history of the individual is first and foremost an adjustment to the patterns and standards traditionally handed down in his community. From the moment of his birth the customs into which he is born shape his experience and behavior. By the time he can talk, he is the little creature of his culture, and by the time he is grown and able to take part in its activities, its habits are his habits, its beliefs his beliefs, its impossibilities his impossibilities.