单选题Before the economy fell apart, it was Britain's society that was supposed to be in terminal decline, especially in the eyes of the Tories. David Cameron, the Conservative Party leader, was wont to bemoan "broken Britain", mired in moral degeneracy, with high rates of teenage pregnancy, low rates of marriage and other less quantifiable breakdowns in the civilised scheme of things. Such antediluvian worries were raked over again on July 13th when Iain Duncan Smith, a former Tory leader, called for an official endorsement of marriage. Mr Duncan Smith cites several reasons to encourage wedlock, including family stability (married couples are much less likely to split than cohabiting ones ) and healthier children who do better in later life. There was talk of state-run counselling, pro-marriage propaganda in schools and mandatory "cooling-off" periods before divorces. Mr Duncan Smith favours tax breaks for married couples, something that Labour has long refused to endorse. It is true that marriage is a declining institution. Marriage rates are at their lowest since 1895．But, curiously, those who do marry now stay together for longer. Divorce rates are falling, not rising, and have been for several years. In 2007 11.9 married couples per thousand untied the knot, down from 12.2 the year before and the lowest since 1981．The time that divorcing couples endure each other before flinging back the rings has lengthened too., from 10.1 years in 1981 to 11.7 in 2007．Indifference towards the sacrament of marriage appears strongest among the elderly, not the feckless young. Since 2004, when the overall divorce rate peaked at 14.1 per thousand, over-60s have been the only part of the population whose rates have continued to rise. There are plenty of competing explanations for the diminishing appeal of divorce, and no easy way to discover which are true. Immigration may have helped, since immigrant families often have more conservative attitudes than the degenerate natives. Accountants and divorce lawyers reckon a string of recent big settlements may have acted as a deterrent (although it could equally have encouraged the poorer partners in financially unequal marriages). Falling marriage rates and falling divorce rates could be two sides of the same coin, says Kathleen Kiernan, a professor of social policy at York University. The unpopularity of marriage and the relative ease of divorce has left only a hard core of stable couples bound in wedlock. And the rise in the average age at which people get married (now 36 for men and 33 for women) is helping too, since older brides and grooms tend to stay together longer in any case. If so, politicians should be cautious about handing out tax breaks. Even if they work (and Ms Kiernan thinks they would have to be enormous to have much effect), chivvying unmarried couples into wedlock is likely to mean more divorces in the future.

单选题His desire to ______ other people has caused trouble in his family.

单选题According to the first paragraph, the task of education is fairly complicated because ______.

单选题Yet it's easy to ______ on fat without changing your diet completely or giving up all your favorite foods.

单选题 Now listen to the following recording and answer questions23-25.

单选题Different cultures are more prone to ______ certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. A. contract B. conduct C. confine D. conquer

单选题 The girl is waiting for her aunt on_________side of the road.

单选题 孔子(Confucius)是春秋时期(the Spring and Autumn Period)的大思想家、大教育家和儒家学派(Confucianism)的创始人，是古代中国人心目中的圣人。孔子的言论和生平活动记录在由他的弟子或再传弟子编成的《论语》(The Analects)一书中。《论语》是中国古代文化的经典著作。在孔子之后几千年的中国历史上，没有哪一位思想家、文学家和政治家不受《论语》的影响。不研究《论语》，就不能真正把握中国几千年的传统文化。

单选题When the nurse took his temperature, it was three degrees above______.

单选题Mrs. White has been living in town for only one year, but she seems to be ______ with everyone who comes to the store.

单选题 Obesity generally is defined as an accumulation of fat beyond what is considered normal for a person's age, sex, and body type. In today's society obesity is considered a disease, not a moral failing. It occurs when energy intake exceeds the amount of energy expended over time. Only in a small minority of cases is obesity caused by such illnesses as hypothyroidism, or the result of taking medications, such as steroids (类固醇), that can cause weight gain. The more a person weighs, the more blood vessels the body needs to circulate blood throughout the body. The heart takes on a heavy burden as it has to pump harder to force the blood flow through so many vessels. As a result, the heart grows in size and blood pressure tends to rise. Obesity is also a factor in osteoarthritis (because of the extra weight placed on the joints), bone and joint diseases, respiratory ailments, gallbladder disease, complications during pregnancy and delivery, and higher accidental death rate. Obesity can alter hormone levels, affect immune function, and cause impotence in men and reproductive problems in women. Women who are 30% overweight are twice as likely to die of endometrial cancer, and those who are 40% overweight have four times the risk. Obese women also are more likely to incur cancers of the breast, ovaries, and gallbladder. Obese men are more likely to develop cancers of the rectum, colon, bladder, pancreas, stomach, and prostate. Obesity can also cause psychological problems. Sufferers are associated with laziness, failure, or inadequate willpower. As a result, overweight men and women blame themselves for being heavy, thus causing feelings of guilt and depression. Scientific evidence has found an association between BMI (body-mass index) and higher death rates. However, the relative risk of being heavy declines with age. Some researchers have found that data linking overweight and death are inconclusive, while other researchers have found that losing weight may be riskier than dangers posed by extra pounds. Some researchers counter that overweight indirectly contributes to over 300,000 deaths a year. A poll by Shape Up America found that 78% of overweight or obese adults have abandoned dieting as a means of losing weight. Diets do not teach people how to eat properly. They merely restrict food intake temporarily, so when the diet ends, weight gain resumes.

单选题Washington Irving was America' s first man of letters to be known internationally. His works were received enthusiastically both in England and in the United States. He was, in fact, one of the most successful writers of his time in the country, and at the same time winning the admiration of fellow writers like Scott in Britain and Poe and Hawthorne in the United States. (76) The respect in which he was held partly owing to the man himself, with his warm friendliness, his good sense, his urbanity, his gay spirits, his artistic integrity, his love of both the Old World and the New. Thackeray described Irving as "a gentleman, who, though himself born in no very high sphere, was most finished, polished, witty; socially the equal of the most refined Europeans." (77) England he was granted an honorary degree from Oxford—an unusual honor for a citizen of a young, uncultured nation—and he received the medal of the Royal Society of Literature. America made him ambassador to Spain. Irving's background provides little to explain his literary achievements. A gifted but delicate child, he had little schooling. He studied law, but without zeal, and never did practice seriously. He was immune to his strict Presbyterian home environment, frequenting both social gatherings and the theater.

单选题People living on parts of the south coast of England face a serious problem. In 1993, the owners of a large hotel and of several houses discovered, to their horror, that their gardens had disappeared overnight. The sea had eaten into the soft limestone cliffs on which they had been built. While experts were studying the problem, the hotel and several houses disappeared altogether, sliding down the cliff and into the sea. Erosion (侵蚀) of the white cliffs along the south coast of England has always been a problem but it has become more serious in recent years. Dozens of homes have had to be abandoned as the sea has crept farther and farther inland. Experts have studied the areas most affected and have drawn up a map for local people, forecasting the year in which their homes will be swallowed up by the hungry sea. Angry owners have called on the Government to erect sea defenses to protect their homes. Government surveyors have pointed out that in most cases, this is impossible. New sea walls would cost hundreds of millions of pounds and would merely make the waves and currents go further along the coast, shifting the problem from one area to another. The danger is likely to continue, they say, until the waves reach an inland area of hard rock which will not be eaten as limestone is. Meanwhile, if you want to buy a cheap house with an uncertain future, apply to a house agent in one of the threatened areas on the south coast of England. You can get a house for a knockdown price but it may turn out to be a knockdown home. (282 words)

单选题 I am one of the many city people who are always saying that given the choice we should prefer to live in the country away from the dirt and noise of a large city. I have managed to convince myself that if it weren't for my job I would immediately head out for the open spaces and go back to nature in some sleepy village buried in the country. But how realistic is the dream? Cities can be frightening places. The majority of the population live in massive tower blocks, noisy, dirty and impersonal. The sense of belonging to a community tends to disappear when you live fifteen floors up. All you can see from your windows is sky, or other blocks of flats. Children become aggressive and nervous—cooped up at home all day, with nowhere to play; their mothers feel isolated from the rest of the world. Strangely enough, whereas in the past the inhabitants of one street all knew each other, nowadays people on the same floor in tower blocks don't even say hello to each other. Country life, on the other hand, differs from this kind of isolated existence in that a sense of community generally binds the inhabitants of small villages together. People have the advantage of knowing that there is always someone to turn to when they need help. But country life has disadvantages too. While it is true that you may be among friends in a village, it is also true that you are from the exciting and important events that take place in cities. There's little possibility of going to a new show or the latest movie. Shopping becomes a major problem, and for anything slightly out of the ordinary you have to go on an expedition to the nearest large town. The city-dweller who leaves for the country is often oppressed by a sense of unbearable stillness and quiet. What, then, is the answer? The country has the advantage of peace and quiet, but suffers from the disadvantage of being cut off; the city breeds a feeling of isolation, and constant noise batters the senses. But one of its main advantages is that you are at the centre of things; and that life doesn't come to an end at half past nine at night. Some people have found (or rather bought) a compromise between the two: they have expressed their preference for the 'quiet life' by leaving the suburbs and moving to villages within commuting distance of large cities. They generally have about as much sensitivity as the plastic flowers they leave behind—they are polluted with strange ideas about change and improvement which they force on to the unwilling original inhabitants of the villages.

单选题It was a long time before the cut on my hand______ completely. A. healed B. cured C. improved D. recovered

单选题There is a conspicuous lack of public debate about how this insular country should______the reality that more immigrants are coming and that those already here are changing Japan.

单选题We are getting tired of ______.

单选题Your shoes want ______. You"d better do it right now.

单选题Melissa is a computer ______ that destroyed files in computers and frustrated thousands of users around the world.