单选题According to the passage, in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, some Americans ______.

单选题What do statistics do for science?

单选题There are so many new books about dying that there are now special shelves set aside for them in bookshops, along with the health-diet and home-repair paperbacks. Some of them are so 21 with detailed information and step-by-step instructions for performing the function, that you'd think this was a new sort of 22 which all of us are now required to learn. The strongest impression the casual reader gets is that proper dying has become an extraordinary, 23 an exotic experience, something only the specially trained can do. 24 , you could be led to believe that we are the only 25 capable of being aware of death, and that when the rest of nature is experiencing the life cycle and dying, one generation after 26 , it is a different kind of process, done automatically and trivially, or more "natural", as we say. An elm in our backyard 27 the blight (枯萎病) this summer and dropped stone dead, leafless, almost overnight. One weekend 28 was a normal-looking elm, maybe a little bare in spots but 29 alarming, and the next weekend it was gone, passed over, departed, taken. Taken is right, for the tree surgeon came by yesterday with his 30 of young helpers and their cherry picker, and took it down branch by branch and carted it off in the back of a red truck, everyone 31 . The dying 32 a field mouse, at the jaws of an amiable household cat, is a spectacle I have beheld many times. It 33 to make me wince. However, early in life I gave up throwing sticks 34 the cat to make him drop the mouse, 35 the dropped mouse regularly went ahead and died anyway.

单选题They are meticulous in work, Well aware a careless mistake will cost the company millions of pounds.

单选题Success, it is often said, has many fathers--and one of the many fathers of computing, that most successful of industries, was Charles Babbage, a 19th-century British mathematician. Exasperated by errors in the mathematical tables that were widely used as calculation aids at the time, Babbage dreamed of building a mechanical engine that could produce flawless tables automatically. But his attempts to make such a machine in the 1920s failed, and the significance of his work was only rediscovered this century. Next year, at last, the first set of printed tables should emerge from a calculating "difference engine" built to Babbage's design. Babbage will have been vindicated. But the realization of his dream will also underscore the extent to which he was a man born ahead of his time. The effort to prove that Babbage's designs were logically and practically sound began in 1985, when a team of researchers at the Science Museum in London set out to build a difference engine in time for the 200th anniversary of Babbage's birth in 1992. The team, led by the museum's curator of computing, Doron Swade, constructed a monstrous device of bronze, iron and steel. It was 11 feet long, seven feet tall, weighed three tons, cost around $500 000 and took a year to piece together. And it worked perfectly, cranking out successive values of seventh-order polynomial equations to :31 significant figures. But it was incomplete. To save money, an entire section of the machine, the printer, was omitted. To Babbage, the printer was a vital part of design. Even if the engine produced the correct answers, there was still the risk that a transcription or typesetting error would result in the finished mathematical tables being inaccurate. The only way to guarantee error-free tables was to automate the printing process as well. So his plans included specifications for a printer almost as complicated as the calculating engine itself, with adjustable margins, two separate fonts, and the ability to print in two, three or four columns. In January, after years of searching for a sponsor for the printer, the Science Museum announced that a backer had been found. Nathan Myhrvold, the chief technology officer at Microsoft, agreed to pay for its construction (which is expected to cost $373 000 with one Proviso: that the Science Museum team would build him an identical calculating engine and printer to decorate his new home on Lake Washington, near Seattle). Construction of the printer will begin--in full view of the public--at the Science Museum later this month. The full machine will be completed next year. It is a nice irony that Babbage's plans should be realized only thanks to an infusion of cash from a man who got rich in the computer revolution that Babbage helped to foment. More striking still, even using 20th-century manufacturing technology the engine will have cost over $830 000 to build. Allowing for inflation, this is roughly a third of what it might have cost to build in Babbage's day-in contrast to the cost of electronic-computer technology, which halves in price every 18 months. That suggests that, even had Babbage succeeded, a Victorian computer revolution based on mechanical technology would not necessarily have followed.

单选题Whenever possible, Ina ______how well she speaks Japanese.

单选题We have known for a long time that the organization of any particular society is influenced by the definition of the sexes and the distinction drawn between them. But we have realized only recently that the identity of each sex is not so easy to pin down, and that definitions evolve in accordance with different types of culture known to us, that is, scientific discoveries and ideological revolutions. Our nature is not considered as immutable, either socially or biologically. As we approach the beginning of the 21st century, the substantial progress made in biology and genetics is radically challenging the roles, responsibilities and specific characteristics attributed to each sex, and yet, scarcely twenty years ago, these were thought to be "beyond dispute". We can safely say, with a few minor exceptions, that the definition of the sexes and their respective functions remained unchanged in the West from the beginning of the 19th century to the 1960s. The role distinction, raised in some cases to the status of uncompromising dualism on a strongly hierarchical model, lasted throughout this period, appealing for its justification to nature, religion and customs alleged to have existed since the dawn of time. The woman bore children and took care of the home. The man set out to conquer the world and was responsible for the survival of his family, by satisfying their needs in peacetime and going to war when necessary. The entire world order rested on the divergence of the sexes. Any overlapping or confusion between the roles was seen as a threat to the time- honored order of things. It was felt to be against nature, a deviation from the norm. Sex roles were determined according to the "place" appropriate to each. Women's place was, first and foremost, in the home. The outside world, i. e. workshops, factories and business firms, belonged to men. This sex-based division of the world (private and public) gave rise to a strict dichotomy between the attitudes, which conferred on each its special identity. The woman, sequestered at home, "cared, nurtured and conserved". To do this, she had no need to be daring, ambitious, tough or competitive. The man, on the other hand, competing with his fellow men, was caught up every day in the struggle for survival, and hence developed those characteristics which were thought natural in a man. Today, many women go out to work, and their reasons for doing so have changed considerably. Besides the traditional financial incentives, we find ambition and personal fulfillment motivating those in the most favorable circumstances, and the wish to have a social life and to get out of their domestic isolation influencing others. Above all, for all women, work is invariably connected with the desire for independence.

单选题There are two factors which determine an individual's intelligence. The first is the sort of brain he is born with. Human brains differ considerably, some being more capable than others. But no matter how good a brain he has to begin with, an individual will have a low order of intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn. So the second factor is what happens to the individual the sort of environment in which he is reared (抚养). If an individual is handicapped environmentally, it is likely that his brain will fail to develop and he will never attain the level of intelligence of which he is capable. The importance of environment in determining an individual's intelligence can be demonstrated by the case history of the identical twins, Peter and Mark. Being identical, the twins had identical brains at birth, and their growth processes were the same. When the twins were three months old, their parents died, and they were placed in separate foster (收养) homes. Peter was reared by parents of low intelligence in an isolated community with poor educational opportunities. Mark was reared in the home of well-to-do parents who had been to college. He was read to as a child, sent to good schools, and given every opportunity to be stimulated intellectually. This environmental difference continued until the twins were in their late teens, when they were given tests to measure their intelligence. Mark's IQ was 125, twenty-five points higher than the average and fully forty points higher than his identical brother. Given equal opportunities, the twins, having identical brains, would have tested at roughly the same level.

单选题The earliest immigrants to North America found Indians already living there. The Indians numbered about 500,000 at that time. Their society was a primitive society, but they lived peacefully and welcomed the white strangers to the land. However, these early immigrants from Europe didn"t want to share the land with the natives. They killed off many of the Indians, seized their land or pushed them off to lands farther away. Today the Indians, not more than half a million, live in poverty and misery on the land on which they were once masters. The earliest immigrants were the Spanish, who settled in the southern part of what is now the US. The next large group were the English, after the English came the French, Dutch, Irish, Germans, and other nationality groups, mostly European. Another early group to arrive were the Negroes. But they were brought in as slaves from Africa. They didn"t win freedom till generations later.

单选题

单选题They had to face up to innumerable ______ before they achieved their goal.(2006年中国矿业大学考博试题)

单选题According to the passage, the word "scoundrel" in Par

单选题The sound from the wastebasket was made by ______.

单选题______if I had arrived yesterday without letting you know beforehand?

单选题Eye contact is important because wrong contact may create a communication ______ A. barrier B. tragedy C. vacuum D. question

单选题Americans eat ______as they actually need every day.

单选题Many language teachers are______ to talk too much.

单选题Who should pay for the expenses of the meetings and why?______

单选题Systems of divination in Rome and Athens differed no less than religions, and the differences lay in the same direction. Roman divination was confined to "a simple question, always the same, and relating strictly to the present or to the immediate future. The question might be formulated thus: ' Do the gods favor, or not favor the thing that the consultant is about to do, or which is about to be done under his auspices?' The question admits only of the alternatives ' yes' or ' no' and recognizes only positive or negative things...As for the methods of divination prescribed by the augural ritual, they were as simple and few in number as possible. Observation of birds was the basis of it; and it would have remained the only source of auspices had not the prestige of the fulgural art of the Etruscans influenced the Romans to ' observe the sky' and even to attribute a higher significance to the mysterious phenomena of lightning. Official divination knew neither oracles, nor lots, nor the inspection of entrails. If it refused to become involved in the discussion and appraisal of fortuitous signs, taking account of them only as they occurred in the taking of auspices. With all the more reason it refrained from interpreting prodigies. " What the Romans could not find at home, they sought abroad in Greece and Etruria, where a freer imagination was creating new forms of divination. In the importance attached to the plain association of acts and ideas we must seek the explanation of one of the most extraordinary rules of Roman divination, the rule giving a counterfeit augury the same efficacy as a sign that had actually been observed. "He (the augur) could...rest content with the first sign, if it was favorable, or let unfavorable signs pass and wait for better ones. Then again, he could have the assistant augur 'renounce', that is, 'announce', that the expected birds were flying or singing in the manner desired a practice, in fact, more trustworthy and which later became the regular procedure. This announcement, the renunciation, made according to a sacramental formula, created an 'original auspice' equivalent, for the purposes of the individual hearing it, to a real auspice. " The Romans dealt with substance according to their convenience, at the same time paying strict regard to forms, or better, to certain associations of ideas and acts. The Athenians modified both substance and forms, The Spartans were loathed to change either. Before the Battle of Marathon the Athenians appealed to Sparta for assistance. "The Spartan authorities readily promised their aid, but unfortunately it was now the ninth day of the moon; an ancient law or custom forbade them to march, in this month at least, during the last quarter before the full moon; but after the full they engaged to march without delay. Five days' delay at this critical moment might prove the utter ruin of the endangered city; yet the reason assigned seems to have been no pretence on the part of the Spartans. It was mere blind tenacity of ancient habit, which we shall find to abate, thought never to disappear, as we advance in their history. " The Athenians would have changed both substance and form. The Romans changed substance, respecting form. In order to make a declaration of war a member of the college of Heralds (Feciales) had to hurl a spear into the territory of the enemy. But how to perform the rite and declare war on Pyrrhus when that king's states were so far away from Rome? Nothing simpler' The Romans had captured a soldier of Pyrrhus. They had him buy a plot of ground in the Flaminian Circus; the herald hurled his spear upon that property. So the feeling in the Roman people that there was a close connection between a hurled spear and a just war was duly respected. Ancient Roman law presents the same traits that are observable in religion and divination; and that tends to strengthen our impression that it must be a question of an intrinsic characteristic of the Roman mind asserting itself in the various branches of human activity. Furthermore, in Roman law, as in Roman religion and divination, there are qualitative difference that come out in any comparison with Athens. Says Von Jhering, "The written word of the word pronounced under circumstances of solemnity—the formula— strikes primitive peoples as something mysterious, and faith itself ascribes supernatural powers to it. Nowhere has faith in the word been stronger than in ancient Rome. Respect for the word permeates all relationships in public and private life and in religion, custom, and law. For the ancient Roman the word is a power-it bends and it loosens. If it cannot move mountains, it can at least transfer a crop of grain from one man's field to a neighbor's. It can call forth divinities (devocare) and induce then to abandon a besieged city (evocatio deorum)".

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} Although recent years have seen substantial reductions in noxious pollutants from individual motor vehicles, the number of such vehicles has been steadily increasing. Consequently more than 100 cities in the United States still have levels of carbon monoxide, particulate matter, and ozone (generated by photochemical reactions with hydrocarbons from vehicle exhaust) that exceed legally established limits. There is a growing realization that the only effective way to achieve further reductions in vehicle emissions--short of a massive shift away from the private automobile—is to replace conventional diesel fuel and gasoline with cleaner-burning fuels such as compressed natural gas, liquefied petroleum gas, ethanol, or methanol. All of these alternatives are carbon-based fuels whose molecules are smaller and simpler than those of gasoline. These molecules burn mom cleanly than gasoline, in part because they have fewer, if any, carbon-carbon bonds, and the hydrocarbons they do emit are less likely to generate ozone. The combustion of larger molecules, which have multiple carbon-carbon bonds, involves a more complex series of reaction. These reactions increase the probability of incomplete combustion and are more likely to release un-combusted and photo-chemically active hydrocarbon compounds into the atmosphere. On the other hand, alternative fuels do have drawbacks. Compressed natural gas would require that vehicles have a set of heavy fuel tanks—a serious liability in terms of performance and fuel efficiency-and liquefied petroleum gas faces fundamental limits in supply. Ethanol and methanol, on the other hand, have important advantages over other carbon based alternative fuels: they have a higher energy content per volume and would require minimal changes in the existing network for distributing motor fuel. Ethanol is commonly used as a gasoline supplement, but k is currently about twice as expensive as methanol, the low cost of which is one of its attractive features. Methanol's most attractive feature, however, is that it can reduce by about 90 percent the vehicle emissions that form ozone, the most serious urban air pollutant. Like any alternative fuel, methan61 has its critics. Yet much of the criticism is based on the use of "gasoline done" vehicles that do not incorporate even the simplest design improvements that are made possible with the use of methanol. It is true, for example, that a given volume of methanol provides only about one-half of the energy that gasoline and diesel fuel do; other things being equal, the fuel tank would have to be somewhat larger and heavier. However, since methanol-fueled vehicles could be designed to be much more efficient than "gasoline clone" vehicles fueled with methanol, they would need comparatively less fuel Vehicles incorporating only the simplest of the engine improvements that methanol makes feasible would still contribute to an immediate lessening of urban air pollution.