单选题Historically, the European Union has not bothered with funding much basic scientific research. Such activities have mainly remained the preserve of national governments, not least because giving scientists free rein can lead to discoveries that not only make money but ultimately enhance military might. That attitude is now changing. The European Commission proposes to establish a European Research Council(ERC) that would spend a maximum of 12 billion (＄14 billion) over seven years on" blue skies" research. While the plans are being generally welcomed by Europe's member states, their details are problematic. The proposed ERC is intended to make Europe more competitive. Europe has some first-class universities, scientific institutions and research organisations. But, the ERC's proponents argue, their activities are fragmented, so they are not reaching their full potential. In America, teams from across the country compete with each other for grants from the National Science Foundation. The proposed ERC is modelled on this scheme. It would award grants to individual research teams for a specific project, solely on the basis of scientific merit judged by peer review. If the ERC were created, scientists from across Europe would compete with each other for funds, rather than merely competing with their fellow countrymen, as happens at present. This compares with the limited funding for basic research that currently exists in the EU, which places its emphasis on collaboration between researchers. It is open only to researchers in a narrow range of disciplines chosen by the European Parliament and the commission. The ERC would be quite different, placing its emphasis on competition between researchers and leaving scientists themselves to decide which areas of science to pursue. Helga Nowotny, who chairs the European Research Advisory Board—an advisory body to the commission—says that winning a grant from the ERC could come to be seen as unmistakable recognition of research excellence. The quality of European research needs to be stepped up a notch. Between 1980 and 2003, Europe had 68 Nobel laureates in medicine, physics and chemistry compared with 154 in America. With competition from China and India, Europe's share could fall further. One of the reasons for Europe's relatively weak performance is thought to be a lack of genuine competition between Europe's researchers. Another is its poor ability to attract young people into a research career. Recent estimates suggest that Europe needs an extra 700,000 researchers if it is to meet its overall target of raising spending(private,national and EU) on research and development to 3% of GDP by 2010. Many young scientists leave Europe for America once they have finished their training. Dr Nowotny says the ERC could help here too. It could establish a scheme to give young researchers the opportunity to follow their own ideas and become independent at an earlier stage in their careers, encouraging talent to stay in Europe. The crucial issue now is whether the ERC will be able to set its own research agenda, free from the interference and bureaucracy of the commission and influence of member states. Last month, 22 leading European scientists charged with shaping the ERC' s scientific strategy met for the first time to start hammering out a charter and constitution. Serious concerns remain over the legal structure of the body. The final decision on the ERC' s legal form, on a date yet unspecified, rests with the European Parliament and member states in the European Council. If both are genuine in their support for the ERC and Europe's aim of becoming more competitive, then they must find a way of keeping the ERC free from political interference. Europe would benefit from a competition for its best researchers which rewards scientific excellence. A quasi-competition that recognizes how many votes each member state is allotted would be pointless.

单选题It is the ability to do the job ______ matters not where you come from or what you are. A) one B) that C) what D) it

单选题Which of the following statement can NOT be drawn from the information given in par

单选题—Can you give me the right answer? —Sorry, I ______. Would you repeat that question?A. hadn't listenedB. haven't listenedC. don't listenD. wasn't listening,

单选题{{B}}Passage Three{{/B}} Why does the Foundation concentrate its support on basic rather than applied research?. Basic research is the very heart 9f science, and its cumulative(积累的) product is the capital of scientific progress, a capital that must be constantly increased as the demands upon it rise. The goal of basic research is understanding for its own sake. Understanding of the structure of the atom or the nerve cell, the causes of earthquakes and droughts, or of man as a behaving creature and of the social forces that .are created whenever two or more human beings come into contact with one another — the scope is staggering, but the commitment to truth is the same. If the commitment were to a particular result, conflicting evidence might be overlooked or, with the best will in the world, simply not appreciated. Moreover, the practical applications of basic research frequently cannot be anticipated. When 'Roentgen, the physicist, discovered X-ray, he had no idea of their usefulness to medicine. Applied research, undertaken to solve specific practical problems, has an immediate attractiveness because the results can be seen and enjoyed. For practical reasons, the sums spent on applied research in any country always far exceed those for basic research, and the proportions are more unequal in the less developed countries. Leaving aside the funds devoted to research by industry — which is naturally far more concerned with applied aspects because these increase profits quickly — the funds the U.S. Government allots(分配) to basic research currently mount to about 7 percent of its over-all research and development funds. Unless adequate safeguards are provided, applied research invariably tends to drive out basic. Then, as Dr. Waterman has point ed out, "Developments will inevitably be undertaken prematurely, career incentives will gravitate strongly toward applied science, and the opportunities for making major scientific discoveries will be lost. Unforunately, pressures to emphasize new developments, without corresponding emphasis upon pure science.., tend to degrade the quality of the nation's technology in the long run, rather than to improve it. "

单选题She looked at me ______ I were a stranger.

单选题Elephants who paint aren't new. Paintings by Ruby, an Asian elephant who lived at the Phoenix Zoo in Arizona, sold for up to $ 5,000 in the late 1980s, said Dick George, a consultant with the zoo. "Ruby was about seven months old when she first came to the zoo," said George. "She lived with a goat and some chickens, but she didn't have an elephant companion for a number of years. She spent a lot of time drawing in the dirt with a stick to make her days more stimulating. Her keeper bought her some art sup- plies." George said, "Ruby was excited about painting right from the beginning." The elephants at the art academies in the Southeast Asia are taught to hold a paintbrush with the tip of their trunks. Initially, the keeper guides the elephant's trunk over the canvas(画布) and offers rewards for good performance. "It only takes a few hours to a day to teach them," said Mia Fineman, an art historian whose book When Elephants Paint is an illustrated history of the Asian Elephant Art and Consrvation Project.

单选题Five kilometers ______ a long distance for a five-year-old boy to run. A．are B．be C．is D．would be

单选题For the last 20 years or so the subject of global warming has______heated debate among the world's brightest minds.

单选题Man: How do most students find a job after they graduate?Woman: They usually look for a job by searching the want ads in the newspaper.Question: What does the woman mean?

单选题Words ______ meaning, as we ail know.A. convinceB. conveyC. contributeD. conquer

单选题Language learning begins with listening. Individual children vary greatly in the amount of listening they do before they start speaking, and late starters are often long listeners. Most children will "obey" spoken instructions some time before they Can speak, though the word "obey" is hardly accurate as a description of the eager and delighted cooperation usually shown by the child. Before they can speak, many children will also ask questions by gestures and by making questioning noises. Any attempt to trace the development from the noises babies make to their first spoken words leads to considerable difficulties. It is agreed that they enjoy making noises, and that during the first few months one or two noises sort themselves out as particularly indicative of delight, distress, sociability, and so on. But since these cannot be said to show the baby's intention to communicate, they can hardly be regarded as early forms of language. It is agreed, too, that from about three months they play with sounds for enjoyment, and that by six months they are able to add new sounds to their store. This self-imitation leads on to deliberate imitation of sounds made or words spoken to them by other people. The problem then arisen so to the point at which one can say that these imitations can be considered as speech. It is a problem we need not get our teeth into. The meaning of a word depends on what a particular person means by it in a particular ,situation and it is clear that what a child means by a word will change as he gains more experience of the world. Thus the use,at say seven months, of "mama" as a greeting for his mother cannot be dismissed as a meaningless sound simply because he also uses it at other times for his father, his dog, or anything else he likes. Playful and apparently meaningless imitation of what other people say continues after the child has begun to speak for himself. I doubt, however; whether anything is gained when parents cash in on this ability in an attempt to teach new sounds. (370w)

单选题He ______ himself as a war correspondent in Vietnam. A. discerned B. distinguished C. discriminated D. extinguished

单选题It is our firm ______ that a step forward has been taken and will bring the country back to economic prosperity. A. conviction B. empowerment C. imperative D. proposition

单选题A. concertB. answerC. betterD. mercy