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 ThreeKnowledge economyThere have long been markets in tin, cocoa, silver and the like. There used to be security in thinking that somewhere there was a product, something you could touch and see. Now there are new markets in abstractions, trade in ideas and knowledge. Everyone has knowledge but there used to be no way to trade it—except through jobs. That simple fact of economic life was the basis for white collar employment for centuries. The whole job culture grew up because there was no alternative way to sell knowledge, other than the worker or manager providing for a fixed price, his or her knowledge to an employer to own or control. The quantity of knowledge provided has typically been measured in time.But today we stand at the threshold of a new era. The information economy has matured and become smarter. According to many business commentators, we are now living in a knowledge economy. There has always been a market for knowledge, of course. The publishing industry is based on it. But today the internet is making the distribution of knowledge ever easier. The days when the publisher decided what got published are over. Anyone with a PC and a modem can talk to the world. This is reducing the friction in the knowledge economy.Everyone has knowledge of whatever industry she or he is in. say you are a computer dealer, for example. Over the years you have compiled a list of the ten best lowest price places to buy wholesale computer equipment. Now you can sell your knowledge to newer, younger computer dealers who have no way to build up this knowledge without losing thousands of pounds finding it out the hard way. Until now, such knowledge remained securely locked in the recipient’s head, accumulated and then worthlessly withered away. This no longer needs to be the case. Such knowledge can be sold via websites.Knowledge has a distinct advantage in today’s marketplace. It’s a renewable resource. Better yet, it’s worth actually increases. “Knowledge is the only asset that grows with use,” observes Stanford University Professor Paul Romer. But what exactly is knowledge and how can it be packaged to trade on an open market? “Knowledge is experiential information, intelligence applied thorough and gained from experience,” says Joseph Pine and James Gilmore in their book The Experience Economy.The value of knowledge often depends on variables such as time and the credibility of the seller. Certain knowledge may have a very limited shelf life. In sights concerning how to set up an internet business in one country, might be worth a fortune on one day and nothing the next, depending on changes in government policy. Markets in knowledge will be significance for one thing. They represent one of the most original uses of the web technology. In some corner of the globe there is a company wanting to source plastic widgets from Poland, and somewhere else another company that wishes to set up a plastics factory there. It’s simply a case of connecting the two.Indicater.com is a good example of a knowledge trader. It is targeted at food service managers throughout the hospitality industry. “We started with the context rather than extracting money from suppliers,” explains founder Mike Day, “we offer food service professionals interactive support to increase sales and profits. People don’t want another one-dimensional site full of advertising that doesn’t help them to do their job more effectively. It has to be customized offering real solutions to real problems.” The site’s features include access to online training and a tariff tracker to restaurants can check prices throughout the sector.

阅读理解Have you ever experienced living alone by yourself?. Sunlight disappears, awakening me to the fact (1) I am alone. I am a(n) (2) observer on this isolated pond in the forest. Here I sit alone as the last light of day (3) away. A lone wolf in the (4) cries out. Then darkness (5) around me. I return to my small hut to put the kettle on the stove and sit in (6) with a hot cup of tea until I want to sleep. The fire inside the stove is low, so I use the axe to (7) some wood and throw them in. It gets the fire (8) . I had made (9) to be here for the entire summer. However, after a month I am already (10) in supplies. I didnt expect I would be (11) of this experience so soon. In the cupboards there is (12) noodles, and half a pint of wine. I have become so (13) noodles: Still, I have to force myself to (14) them down. (15) I bring the teacup to my lips, I consider whether I should return to civilization to gather supplies or simply (16) . my adventure. My observation is that self-reliance is a bit (17) . I long to (18) a steak dinner with my friends, to watch my niece play in the summers heat. Still my ego will not let me return to my family and friends just yet. I had (19) to them about how being alone would bring about (20) to writing poetry. The fact is that I have written nothing.

阅读理解It is doubtful that there was a more successful comedy team in the 20th century (1) the Three Stooges. Larry, Moe, and Curly became famous for their many short movies (2) extraordinary comedy. In their movies, they found many ways of (3) funny actions. They attracted large audience and received a lot of (4) . However, their movies also (5) criticism. Some people who didnt like the Three Stooges (6) they were too violent. In a TV interview Moe and Larry were roused to (7) themselves. Their coarse brand, they said, shouldnt be taken (8) . It was just cartoon violence. The Stooges got their name and their start in an act (9) Ted Healy and His Stooges. This act began (10) the way for their exceedingly successful career. (11) , the team was composed of Larry, Moe and Shemp. (12) , Shemp left for a career in more serious movies. When Shemp left, Curly took his (13) . Shemps clumsy character returned in 1946 after Curly (14) a stroke. Moe was the heart and soul of the team, acting as (15) their main comic force and their director. He was responsible (16) scripting many of the jokes. Hed also spend time providing his services as their business manager. In 1934 the team began a series of comedy shorts that numbered more than 200 (17) they ceased in 1958, (18) won them numerous fans. (19) all the criticism, the Three Stooges are undoubtedly the most famous comedy team that history. (20) invented.

阅读理解If anyone had told me three years ago that I would be spending most of my weekends camping

阅读理解Did you know that you could have an exciting career in law without becoming a lawyer? A paralegal, or legal assistant, does many of the things a lawyer does

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

阅读理解How did the Western Company deliver the goods? The goods were delivered by _________________ 

阅读理解Passage 4 We are in the midst of a heated public debate over the benefits of online education

阅读理解Educating girls quite possibly yields a higher rate of return than any other investment available in the developing world. Women’s education may be unusual territory for economists, but enhancing women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social issue. And economics, with its emphasis on incentives, provides guideposts that point to an explanation for why so many girls are deprived of an education.Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school — the prophecy becomes self-fulfilling, trapping women in a vicious circle of neglect.An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a virtuous circle.Few will dispute that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant impact on health practices, including family planning.

阅读理解Passage Four At the 1893 Columbian Exposition, a World Fair held in Chicago, chocolate-making machinery made in German ny was displayed

阅读理解What does Paul Beer say about the new—born rhino? 

阅读理解Passage 1 The standardized educational or psychological tests, that are widely used to aid in selecting, classifying, assigning, or promoting students, employees, and military personnel have been the target of recent attacks in books, magazines, the daily press, and even in Congress

阅读理解What caused the growth of a deadly germ in the heating pipes of the hotels?.

阅读理解The start of high school doesn’t have to be stressfulA) This month, more than 4 million students across the nation will begin high school. Many will do well. But many will not. Consider that nearly two-thirds of students will experience the "ninth-grade shock," which refers to a dramatic drop in a student’s academic performance. Some students cope with this shock by avoiding challenges. For instance, they may drop difficult coursework. Others may experience a hopelessness that results in failing their core classes, such as English, science and math.B) This should matter a great deal to parents, teachers and policymakers. Ultimately it should matter to the students themselves and society at large, because students’ experience of transitioning (过渡) to the ninth grade can have long-term consequences not only for the students themselves but for their home communities. We make these observations as research psychologists who have studied how schools and families can help young people thrive.C) In the new global economy, students who fail to finish the ninth grade with passing grades in college preparatory coursework are very unlikely to graduate on time and go on to get jobs. One study has calculated that the lifetime benefit to the local economy for a single additional student who completes high school is half a million dollars or more. This is based on higher earnings and avoided costs in health care, crime, welfare dependence and other things.D) The consequences of doing poorly in the ninth grade can impact more than students’ ability to find a good job. It can also impact the extent to which they enjoy life. Students lose many of the friends they turned to for support when they move from the eighth to the ninth grade. One study of ninth-grade students found that 50 percent of friendships among ninth graders changed from one month to the next, signaling striking instability in friendships.E) In addition, studies find the first year of high school typically shows one of the greatest increases in depression of any year over the lifespan. Researchers think that one explanation is that ties to friends are broken while academic demands are rising. Furthermore, most adult cases of clinical depression first emerge in adolescence (青春期). The World Health Organization reports that depression has the greatest burden of disease worldwide, in terms of the total cost of treatment and the loss of productivity.F) Given all that’s riding on having a successful ninth grade experience, it pays to explore what can be done to meet the academic, social and emotional challenges of the transition to high school. So far, our studies have yielded one main insight: Students’ beliefs about change—their beliefs about whether people are stuck one way forever, or whether people can change their personalities and abilities—are related to their ability to cope, succeed academically and maintain good mental health. Past research has called these beliefs "mindsets (思维模式)," with a "fixed mindset" referring to the belief that people cannot change and a "growth mindset" referring to the belief that people can change.G) In one recent study, we examined 360 adolescents’ beliefs about the nature of "smartness"—that is, their fixed mindsets about intelligence. We then assessed biological stress responses for students whose grades were dropping by examining their stress hormones (荷尔蒙). Students who believed that intelligence is fixed—that you are stuck being "not smart" if you struggle in school—showed higher levels of stress hormones when their grades were declining at the beginning of the ninth grade. If students believed that intelligence could improve—that is to say, when they held more of a growth mindset of intelligence—they showed lower levels of stress hormones when their grades were declining. This was an exciting result because it showed that the body’s stress responses are not determined solely by one’s grades. Instead, declining grades only predicted worse stress hormones among students who believed that worsening grades were a permanent and hopeless state of affairs.H) We also investigated the social side of the high school transition. In this study, instead of teaching students that their smartness can change, we taught them that their social standing—that is, whether they are bullied or excluded or left out—can change over time. We then looked at high school students’ stress responses to daily social difficulties. That is, we taught them a growth mindset about their social lives. In this study, students came into the laboratory and were asked to give a public speech in front of upper-year students. The topic of the speech was what makes one popular in high school. Following this, students had to complete a difficult mental math task in front of the same upper-year students.I) Experiment results showed that students who were not taught that people can change showed poor stress responses. When these students gave the speech, their blood vessels contracted and their hearts pumped less blood through the body—both responses that the body shows when it is preparing for damage or defeat after a physical threat. Then they gave worse speeches and made more mistakes in math. But when students were taught that people can change, they had better responses to stress, in part because they felt like they had the resources to deal with the demanding situation. Students who got the growth mindset intervention (干预) showed less-contracted blood vessels and their hearts pumped more blood—both of which contributed to more oxygen getting to the brain, and, ultimately, better performance on the speech and mental math tasks.J) These findings lead to several possibilities that we are investigating further. First, we are working to replicate (复制) these findings in more diverse school communities. We want to know in which types of schools and for which kinds of students these growth mindset ideas help young people adapt to the challenges of high school. We also hope to learn how teachers, parents or school counselors can help students keep their ongoing academic or social difficulties in perspective. We wonder what would happen if schools helped to make beliefs about the potential for change and improvement a larger feature of the overall school culture, especially for students starting the ninth grade.

阅读理解TEXT D Introduction to a book about the history of colour This book examines how the ever-changing role of colour in society has been reflected in manuscripts, stained glass,clothing, painting and popular culture

阅读理解Independent drugstores are raising questions about the states effort to save tens of millions of dollars by rolling pharmacies into Medicaid managed care

阅读理解Passage TwoAre you aware that you actually possess six senses? The sixth is a muscular sense responsible for directing your muscles intelligently to the exact extent necessary for each action you perform

阅读理解What we know of prenatal development makes all this attempt made by a mother to mold the character of herunborn child by studying poetry, art, or mathematics during pregnancy seem utterly impossible

阅读理解Passage 1 More and more people around the world are taking part in dangerous sports and activities

阅读理解Americans who remember the good old days are not alone in complaining about the educational system in this country