单选题The familiar sounds of an early English summer are with us once again. Millions of children sit clown to SATs, GCSEs, AS-levels, A-levels and a host of lesser exams, and the argument over educational standards starts. Depending on whom you listen to, we should either be letting up on over-examined pupils by abolishing SATs, and even GCSEs, or else making exams far more rigorous. The chorus will reach a peak when GCSE and A-level results are published in August. If pass rates rise again, commentators will say that standards are falling because exams are getting easier. If pass rates drop, they will say that standards are falling because children are getting lower marks. Parents like myself try to ignore this and base our judgements on what our children are learning. But it"s not easy given how much education has changed since we were at school. Some trends are encouraging—education has been made more relevant and enthuses many children that it would have previously bored. My sons" A-level French revision involved listening to radio debates on current affairs, whereas mine involved rereading Molière. And among their peers, a far greater proportion stayed in education for longer. On the other hand, some aspects of schooling today are incomprehensible to my generation, such as graps in general knowledge and the hand-holding that goes with ensuring that students leave with good grades. Even when we parents resist the temptation to help with GCSE or A-level coursework, a teacher with the child"s interests at heart may send a draft piece of work back several times with pointers to how it can be improved before the examiners see it. The debate about standards persists because there is no single objective answer to the question "Are standards better or worse than they were a generation ago?" Each side points to indicators that favour them, in the knowledge that there is no authoritative definition, let alone a measure that has been consistently applied over the decades. But the annual soul-searching over exams is about more than student assessment. It reveals a national insecurity about whether our education system is teaching the right things. It is also fed by an anxiety about whether, in a country with a history of upholding standards by ensuring that plenty of students fail, we can attain the more modern objective of ensuring that every child leaves school with something to show for it.

单选题My property was ______ of in a sale.

单选题The country has ______ people and ______ money ______ spent on tobacco every year.

单选题What does the passage tell us about women shoppers for clothes?

单选题Bill: Here, Cindy! I'd like you to meet my best partner, Daniel (To Daniel) This is Cindy, my girlfriend.Cindy: Hi, Daniel. ______Daniel: Mostly good things I hope.

单选题A: I'm terribly sorry, Professor. Could I have an extra day or two for the as- signment? My computer broke down last night. B: ______ A. You don't have to apologize. B. I accept your apology. C. You may only have one. D. Sorry to hear that.

单选题Dawson's example shows that a business starts ______. ( )

单选题 Directions: For this part you are allowed 30 minutes to write an essay commenting on the remark 'The greatest use of life is to spend it for something that will outlast it.' You can give examples to illustrate your point and then explain what you will do to make your life more meaningful. You should write at least 150 words but no more that 200 words.

单选题(A large collection) of contemporary photographs, (including) some taken by Mary (are) on display (at) the museum.

单选题 Wal-Mart A. Wal-Mart is more than just the world's largest retailer. It is an economic force, a cultural phenomenon and a lightning rod for controversy. It all started with a simple philosophy from founder Sam Walton: offer shoppers lower prices than they get anywhere else. That basic strategy has shaped Wal-Mart's culture and driven the company's growth. B. Now that Wal-Mart is so huge, it has unprecedented power to shape labor markets globally and change the way entire industries operate. History of Wal-Mart C. Sam Walton opened his first five-and-dime in 1950. His vision was to keep prices as low as possible. Even if his margins weren't as fat as competitors, he figured he could make up for that in volume. He was right. D. In the early 1960s, Walton opened his first Wal-Mart in Rogers, Arkansas. The company continued to grow, going public in 1970 and adding more stores every year. In 1990, Wal-Mart surpassed key rival Kmart in size. Two years later, it surpassed Sears. E. Walton continued to drive an old pickup truck and share budget-hotel rooms with colleagues on business trips, even after War-Mart made him very rich. He demanded that his employees also keep expenses to a bare minimum—a mentality that is still at the heart of Wal-Mart culture more than decade after Walton's death. The company has continued to grow rapidly after his death in 1992 and now operates four retail divisions—Wal-Mart Super Centers, War-Mart Discount Stores, Neighborhood Market Stores and Sam's Club Warehouses. Wal-Mart Strategy F. Let's start with technology. Wal-Mart pushed the retail industry to establish the universal bar code, which forced manufacturers to adopt common labeling. The bar code allowed retailers to generate all kinds of information—creating a subtle shift of power from manufacturers to retailers. Wal-Mart became especially good at exploiting the information behind the bar code. And thus it is considered a pioneer in developing sophisticated technology to track its stock and cut the fat out of its supply chain. G. Recently, Wal-Mart became the first major retailer to demand manufacturers use radio frequency identification technology (RFID). The technology uses radio frequencies to transmit data stored on small tags attached to pallets (货盘) or individual products. RFID tags hold significantly more data than bar codes. H. The frugal culture, established by Walton, also plays into Wal-Mart's success. The company has been criticized for the relatively poor wages and health care plans that it offers to rank-and-file employees. It has also been accused of demanding that hourly workers put in overtime without pay. Store managers often work more than 70 hours per week. I. This culture is also present at the company's headquarters. Wal-Mart is headquartered in Bentonville, Arkansas, instead of an expensive city like New York. The building is unattractive and dull. You won't catch executives in quality cars and you won't see them dragging into work at 9:30 a.m. Executives fly coach and often share hotel rooms with colleagues. They work long hours, typically arriving at work before 6:30 a.m. and working half-days on Saturdays. J. The central goal of Wal-Mart is to keep retail prices low—and the company has been very successful at this. Experts estimate that Wal-Mart saves shoppers at least 15 percent on a typical cart of groceries. Everything—including the technology and corporate culture—feeds into that ultimate goal of delivering the lowest prices possible. Wal-Mart also pushes its suppliers, some say cruelly, to cut prices. In The Wal-Mart Effect, author Charles Fishman discusses how the price of a four-pack of GE light bulbs decreased from $2.19 to 88 cents during a five-year period. The Power K. Because of Wal-Mart's massive size, it has incredible power. It has driven the smallest retailers out of business; forced manufacturers to be more efficient, often leading these suppliers to move manufacturing jobs overseas; and changed the way that even large and established industries do business. L. There is plenty of anecdotal evidence that a new Wal-Mart in town spells doom for local pharmacies, grocery stores, sporting goods stores, etc. Economist Emek Basker, Ph.D., attempted to quantify the impact. Her study found that in a typical United States county, when a Wal-Mart opens, three other retailers close within two years and four close within five years. While the Wal-Mart might employ 300 people, another 250 people working in retail lose their jobs within five years in that county. M. Wal-Mart has life or death decisions over (almost) all the consumer goods industries that exist in the United State, because it is the number-one supplier-retailer of most of our consumer goods—not just clothes, shoes, toys, but home appliances, electronic products, sporting goods, bicycles, groceries, food. N. The stories of how Wal-Mart pushes manufacturers into selling the same product at lower and lower prices are legendary. One example is Lakewood Engineering Manufacturing Co. in Chicago, a fan manufacturer. In the early 1990s, a 20-inch box fan costs $20. Wal-Mart pushed the manufacturer to lower the price, and Lakewood responded by automating the production process, which meant layoffs. Lakewood also forced its own suppliers to knock down the prices of parts. Then, in 2000, Lakewood opened a factory in China, where workers earn 25 cents an hour. By 2003, the price on the fan in a Wal-Mart store had dropped to about $10. O. Wal-Mart's impact extends beyond just small suppliers. It also affects how even major, established companies like Coca-Cola and PepsiCo do business. At Wal-Mart's request, Coke and its largest bottler Coca-Cola Enterprises announced that they are changing the way they deliver PowerAde in the United States, altering a basic distribution method for drinks that has been in place for more than a century. Coke also now allows Wal-Mart in on the research and development process. In 2005, Coke planned to launch one new diet Cola called Coke Zero. At Wal-Mart's request, it changed the name to Diet Coke unheard of at Coke a decade ago, Pepsi also came up with a line of diet drinks, called Slice One, to initially be sold exclusively in Wal-Mart. The Controversy P. Wal-Mart is a polarizing force. The controversies have involved a broad range of topics from Wal-Mart selling guns, to the company's environmental policies, to the kind of health care Wal-Mart offers employees, to outsourcing of jobs. In this section, we will explore two of the biggest areas of controversies—labor practice at the company and Wal-Mart's impact on the American economy. Q. Wal-Mart has come under fire on a number of labor issues. There may be a dark side to the frugal culture. At the end of 2005, the company faced dozens of lawsuits across the country for allegedly not paying workers overtime. Women have also accused Wal-Mart of discrimination, and employees have said that it squashes efforts to unionize and doesn't provide decent healthcare. R. Not everyone is down on Wal-Mart. Andrew Young, a former United Nations ambassador and former mayor of Atlanta, heads up a group backed by Wal-Mart that is supposed to spread a positive message about the company. 'You need to look at who's complaining about Wal-Mart,' Young told USA Today in March 2006. 'If it's not 100 million people shopping there every week and it's not 8,000 people competing for 500 jobs (at a new Atlanta store), who is it? They're complaining because they're wrong and they don't understand that ending poverty means generating wealth and not just fighting to redistribute the existing wealth.' S. There is heated debate about whether Wal-Mart is good for the American economy, and well-respected economists come down firmly on both sides of this debate. Some experts say it is good for the economy because it keeps prices low, both at its stores and at other retailers. Other experts argue that Wal-Mart is bad for the economy because it drives competing retailers out of business and forces manufacturers to move jobs overseas to keep expenses down.

单选题A: ______if you'd serve me as quickly as possible as I've got an appointment at two fifteen.B: I'll do my best, Madam.

单选题Color is very important to most animals for it helps them to get along in the world. Color (21) to make an animal difficult for its enemies to (22) . Many animals match their (23) so well that as long as they do not move no one is (24) to see them. You probably have often "jumped" a rabbit. If you (25) , you know how the rab- bit sits perfectly still (26) you are just a few feet away. You (27) see the rabbit till it runs for its (28) matches very closely the place where it is (29) . Many times you may have walked past a rabbit (30) didn't run and you never knew it was there at all. One of the most usual color schemes that helps animals to keep (31) being seen, is a dark back and light underpants. If an animal is the same color all (32) , there is always a dark shadow along the animal's belly (腹部). (33) an enemy couldn't see the animal he could see this dark shadow. The shadow makes the animal (34) out to view. But if the belly is (35) than the rest of the animal, the shadow will not be noticed.

单选题______ is not known what they discussed in the meeting.

单选题It's essential that every child ______ the same educational opportunities.

单选题Have a cigarette, ______?

单选题I will not endlessly question whether I really ______ my title and my pay. A. reserve B. conserve C. deserve D. preserve

单选题The two leaders made a show of unity at the press conference, though they had notably messages.

单选题《复合题被拆开情况》 Bus drivers must have a commercial 商业的 driver’s license CDL. This can sometimes be earned during on-the-job training. They must possess a clean driving record and may be required to pass a