单选题Invention and innovation have been quintessentially American pursuits from the earliest days of the republic. Benjamin Franklin was a world-famous scientist and inventor. Cyrus McCormick and his harvester, Samuel F. B. Morse and the telegraph, Alexander Graham Bell and the telephone—the 19th century produced a string of inventors and their world-changing creations. And then there was the greatest of them all, Thomas Alva Edison. He came up with the crucial devices that would give birth to three enduring American industries:electrical power, recorded music and motion pictures. Much of the world we live in today is a legacy of Edison and of his devotion to science and innovation. Edison taught us to invent, and for decades we were the best in the world. But today, more than 160 years after Edison's birth, America is losing its scientific edge. A landmark report released in May by the National Science Board lays out the numbers:while U. S. investment in R&D as a share of total GDP has remained relatively constant since the mid-1980s at 2.7% , the federal share of R&D has been consistently declining—even as Asian nations like Japan and South Korea have rapidly increased that ratio. At the same time, American students seem to be losing interest in science. Only about one-third of U. S. bachelor's degrees are in science or engineering now, compared with 63% in Japan and 53% in China. It's ironic that nowhere is America's position in science and technology more threatened than in the industry that Edison essentially invented: energy. Clean power could be to the 21st century what aeronautics and the computer were to the 20th, but the U. S. is already falling behind. Meanwhile, Congress remains largely paralyzed. Though in May the House of Representatives was finally able to pass the $ 86 billion America Competes Reauthorization Act, which would double the budgets of the National Science Foundation (NSF) and Energy Department's Office of Science, the bill's fate is cloudy in the deadlocked Senate. "At this rate... we'll be buying most of our wind generators and photovoltaic panels from other countries, " former NSF head Arden L. Bement said at a congressional hearing recently. "That's what keeps me awake sometimes at night. " Some erosion of the U. S. 's scientific dominance is inevitable in a globalized world and might not even be a bad thing. Tomorrow's innovators could arise in Shanghai or Seoul or Bangalore. And Edison would counsel against panic—as he put it once, " Whatever setbacks America has encountered, it has always emerged as a stronger and more prosperous nation. " But the U. S. will inevitably decline unless we invest in the education and research necessary to maintain the American edge. The next generation of Edisons could be waiting. But unless we move quickly, they won't have the tools they need to thrive.

单选题The course______two years' training into six intensive months.

单选题Despite a cooling of the economy, high-technology companies are still crying out for skilled workers. The Information Technology Association of America projects that more than 800, 000 technology jobs will go unfilled next year. The lack of qualified workers poses a huge threat to the U. S. economy. The most commonly cited reason for this state of affairs is that the country's agrarian-age (农村时代) education system fails to prepare students in the primary and secondary grades for the 21st century work. Yet an inadequate and outmoded education system is only part of the problem. A less tangible (明确的) but equally powerful cause is an antique (过时的) classification system that divides the workforce into two camps; white-collar knowledge workers and blue-collar manual laborers. Blue-collar workers emerged in the United States during the Industrial Age as work moved from farms to factories. White-collar office workers became a significant class in the twentieth century, outnumbering(多于) the blue-collar workers by mid-century. Corporations increasingly require a new layer of knowledge worker; a highly skilled multi-disciplined talent, who combines the mind of the white-collar worker with a solid grounding in mathematics and science ( physics, chemistry, and biology). These "gold-collar" workers—so named for their contributions to their companies and to the economy as well as for their personal earning ability—apply their knowledge to technology. The gold-collar worker already exists in a wide range of jobs. The maintenance technician who tests and repairs aircraft systems at American Airlines; the network administrator who manages systems and network operations at Procter the engineering technologist who assists scientists at Sandia National Laboratories; and the advanced-manufacturing technician at Intel can all be regarded as gold-collar workers.

单选题The price of pork has been very______these days. A. costly B. high C. expensive D. cheap

单选题Should anyone much care whether an American boy living overseas gets six vicious thwacks on his backside? So much has been argued, rejoined and rehashed about the case of Michael Fay, an 18-year-old convicted of vandalism and sentenced to a caning in Singapore, that an otherwise sorry little episode has shaded into a certified International Incident, complete with intercessions by the U. S. head of state. An affair has outraged American libertarians even as it has animated a general debate about morality East and West and the proper functioning of U.S. law and order. Which, to all appearances, is what Singapore wanted. The question of whether anyone should care about Michael Fay is idle: though Singapore officials profess shock at the attention his case had drawn, they know Americans care deeply about the many sides of this issue. Does a teenager convicted of spraying cars with easily removable paint deserve half a dozen powerful strokes? At what point does swift, sure punishment become torture? By what moral authority can America, with its high rates of lawlessness and license, preach of a safe society about human rights? The caning sentence has concentrated minds wondrously on an already lively domestic debate over what constitutes a due balance between individual and majority rights. Too bad Michael Fay has become a focus for this discussion. Not only does he seem destined to be pummeled and immobilized, but the use of Singapore as a standard for judging any other society, let alone the cacophonous U. S. , is fairly worthless. To begin with, Singapore is an offshore republic that tightly limits immigration. Imagine crime-ridden LOS Angeles, to which Singapore is sometimes contrasted, with hardly any inflow of the hard-luck, often desperate fortune seekers who flock to big cities. Even without its government's disciplinary measures, Singapore more than plausibly would be much the same as it is now. An academic commonplace today is that the major factor determining social peace and prosperity is culture--a sense of common identity, tradition and values. Unlike Singapore, though, the U. S. today is a nation in search of a common culture, trying to be a universal society that assimilates the traditions of people from all over the world. Efforts to safeguard minority as well as individual rights have produced a gridlock in the justice system. Its troubles stem more from the decay of family life than from any government failures. Few societies can afford to look on complacently. As travel eases and cultures intermix, the American experience is becoming the world's. The circumstances of this affair--evidently no Singaporean has ever been punished under the Vandalism Act for defacing private property--suggest that Singapore has used Fay as an unwilling point man in a growing quarrel between East and West about human rights.

单选题A. hideB. hiddenC. highD. guide

单选题It was an early morning in summer. In the streets, sleepy-eyed people were moving quickly, heading towards their【61】. This was the beginning of another【62】day in New York City.【63】this day was to be different. Waiting【64】the crowded streets, on top of a【65】110 stories high, was Philippe Petit. This daring Frenchman was about to【66】a tightrope (绷索) between the two towers of the World Trade Center. Philippe took his first【67】with great care. The wire held. Now he was【68】he could do it.【69】only a balancing pole, Philippe walked his way across, a【70】of 131 feet. Soon the rush-hour【71】began to notice. What a【72】! There, 1350 feet above the street, a【73】figure was walking on air. Philippe made seven【74】, back and forth (来回). He wasn't satisfied with just【75】At times, he would turn, sit down, and【76】go on his knees. Once, he had the astonishing【77】to lie down on the thin thread. And thousands of【78】watchers stared with their hearts beating fast. After the forty-five-minute【79】, Philippe was taken to the police station. He was asked【80】he did it. Philippe shrugged (耸肩) and said, "When I see two tall buildings, I walk.

单选题How do his students feel at first about the fact______he is blind?

单选题The university has ______ a special class to help poor readers. A. found B. set up C. build D. finded

单选题It is the first time you ______ a complaint about it.

单选题You will have no difficulty in making contact with the agent. As you enter his office, you will be greeted immediately and politely asked what you are looking for. The Estate Agent"s negotiator (房地产推销员)—as he is called—will probably check that you really know your financial position. No harm in that, but you can always tell him that you have confirmed the position with the XYZ Building Society. He will accept that. He will show you the details of a whole range of properties; many of them are not really what you are looking for at all. That does not matter. Far better turn them down than risk missing the right one. The printed details he will give you are called "particulars". Over the years, a whole language has grown up, solely for use in Agent"s particulars. It is flowery, ornate(华丽的)and, providing you read it carefully and discount the adjectives, it can be very accurate and helpful. Since the passing of the Trades Description Act, any trader trying to sell something has had to be very careful as to what they say about it. Estate Agents have, by now, become very competent at going as far as they dare. For instance, it is quite acceptable to say "delightfully situated". That is an expression of his option. You may not agree, but he might like the idea of living next to the gasworks. If, on the other hand, he says that the house has five bedrooms when, in fact, it has only two, that is a misstatement of fact and is an offence. This has made Estate Agents and others for that matter rather more careful. Basically, all that you need to know about a house is: How many bedrooms it has; an indication of their size; whether the house has a garage; whether there is a garden and whether it is at the back or the front of the house; whether it is semi-detached or terraced (联排的).

单选题The texture of the soil depends on the relative amounts of different-sized particles that combine to make up the soil. These particles can be as large as stone and gravel or as small as clay. A typical clay soil is composed of approximately 60 percent actual clay, 20 percent silt, and 20 percent sand. The particles in a sandy soil are so fine that it tends to be compact and interferes with the oxygen supply for plant roots. Water has trouble entering this impervious soil, and runoff is very common during rainfalls. A typical light sandy soil is composed of approximately 70 percent sand, 20 percent silt, and 10 percent clay. The particles in a sandy soil are comparatively large, permitting water to enter the soil and to pass through it so quickly that it often carries nutrients with it and dries out very rapidly. The texture of sandy soils is generally very difficult to modify because huge amounts of organic material must be added. A typical loam soil is composed of approximately 40 percent sand, 40 percent silt, and 20 percent clay, making it an ideal garden soil. It is easily worked and retains water and nutrients, which fire slowly absorbed by plant roots. A typical adobe soil is a clay soil present in hot, dry areas of the country and is often very hard and cracked. It has all the disadvantages of a heavy clay soil and, being much drier, is more difficult to correct.

单选题At the end of last week, Bodega Aurrera, a Mexican subsidiary of the world's biggest retailer, Wal-Mart, opened a new store in the village of San Juan Teotihuacan, just north of Mexico City. Normally, such an event would cause little stir. Wal-Mart is already Mexico's biggest retailer too. And its shops seem to go down very well with its millions of bargain-hungry customers. But this particular opening was, in fact, the culmination of months of protests, legal actions, hunger strikes and hyperbole by those determined to stop it. The reason is the location. Just 2. 5km away is the ancient city of Teotihuacan, probably Mexico's most famous archaeological site. Amongst other attractions, it boasts the third-largest ( by volume) pyramid in the world. For many Mexicans, the ancient site, abandoned by its mysterious inhabitants centuries before the Spanish conquerors arrived, remains the ultimate symbol of Mexican identity and nationhood. Thousands troop up to the top of the Pyramid of the Sun to celebrate the summer solstice. To them, the idea of having a Wal-Mart next door is disgusting. In the words of Homerw Aridjis, a writer and one of the leading opponents, "it is like driving the stake of globalization into the heart of old Mexico. " The controversy is only the latest in a string of protesters' attempts to save Mexican culture from what they see as an increasing menace. They won a famous victory by blocking a McDonald's restaurant from opening in the main square of the pretty southern town of Oaxaca. But this time they were on much thinner ground. For a start, Wal-Mart went through all the appropriate regulatory departments, even getting permission from the Paris-based International Council on Monuments and Sites, which judged that the store would cause no harm to the nearby ruins. A small stone platform was indeed found during construction of the new car park, but was preserved. Just as importantly, the claim that the new store spoils the famous view from the top of the Pyramid of the Sun is clearly unreasonable, as anyone who cares to get to the top can testify. The problem is not so much that you can see the Wal-Mart, but one of trying to distinguish it from the 30-odd other ugly, squat buildings that litter the surrounding countryside--to say nothing of the car parks, the electricity towers and the large power station. Sadly, unrestricted building long ago ruined this particular view, as well as many others in Mexico. To the opponents, the issue counts more than the view. But neither mattered much to the hundreds of locals who queued up for the opening, delighted to be freed of the small and expensive local shops. Despite a legal case pending against Wal-Mart and local officials, brought by an irate local left-wing politician, this is one battle that the American retailer has probably won.

单选题Many of human problems associated with living in the ocean are ______ the problems of living in outer space. A. the same as B. such that C. such as D. just as

单选题{{B}}Passage 5{{/B}} A number of researchers have examined the variables/strategies that affect students' learning English as a second language. This report identifies some of the learner variables/ strategies used by two students in a Hong Kong Technical Institute. The instruments for data collection included observation, interviews and questionnaires. The findings are discussed and some implications highlighted. What makes a "good" language learner "good", and what makes a "poor" language learner "poor"? What does this imply for the teaching of language in the Hong Kong context? These are the central questions of this assignment. The existing body of research attributes the differences between language learners to learner variables and learner strategies. Learner variables include such things as differences in personality, motivation, style, aptitude and age (Ellis, 1986: Chap. 5) and strategies refer to "techniques, approaches, or deliberate actions that students take in order to facilitate the learning and recall of both linguistic and content area information" (Chabot, 1987: 71). It is important to note here that what we are considering is not the fact that language learners do and can learn, but why there should be such variations in speed of learning, ability to use the target language, and in achieving examination grades, areas which generally lead to the classification of students as being either "good" or "poor". Learner variables and strategies have been the focus of a number of research projects, (O'Malley et al, 1985, Oxford, 1989). However, to the best of my knowledge, this area has not been researched in Hong Kong classrooms. Since I am a teacher of English working in Hong Kong, gleaning a little of what learner variables and strategies seem to work for local students seems to be a fruitful area of research. In discussing learner variables and strategies, we have to keep in mind the arbitrary nature of actually identifying these aspects. As the existing research points out, it is not possible to observe directly qualities such as aptitude, motivation and anxiety. (Oxford, 1986). We cannot look inside the mind of a language learner and find out what strategies, if any, they are using. These strategies are not visible processes. Also, as Naiman and his colleagues (1978) point out, no single learning strategy, cognitive style or learner characteristic is sufficient to explain success in language learning. The factors must be considered simultaneously to discover how they affect success or failure in particular language learning situation. Bearing these constraints in mind, the aim of this assignment is to develop two small scale studies of the language learners attempting to gain an overall idea of what strategies are in use and what variables seem to make a difference to Hong Kong students.