单选题 Books are not Nadia's thing. Her mother, hoping to entice her, brings them home from the library, but Nadia rarely shows interest. Instead, like so many other teenagers, Nadia, 15, is addicted to the Internet. She regularly spends at least six hours a day in front of the computer. She checks her e-mail and reads messages or posts updates on her mood. But she spends most of her time reading and commenting on stories written by other users and based on books, television shows or movies. Children like Nadia lie at the heart of a passionate debate about just what it means to read in the digital age. The discussion is playing out among education policymakers and reading experts around the world. As teenagers' scores on standardized reading tests have declined or stagnated, some argue that the hours spent prowling the Internet are the enemy of reading—diminishing literacy, wrecking attention spans and destroying a precious common culture that exists only through the reading of books. But others say the Internet has created a new kind of reading, one that schools and society should not discount. The Web inspires a teenager like Nadia, who might otherwise spend most of her leisure time watching television, to read and write. Few who believe in the potential of the Web deny the value of books. But they argue that it is unrealistic to expect all children to read Pride and Prejudice for fun. And those who prefer staring at a television or pushing buttons on a game console, they say, can still benefit from reading on the Internet. In fact, some literacy experts say that online reading skills will help children fare better when they begin looking for digital-age jobs. Some Web evangelists say children should be evaluated for their proficiency on the Internet just as they are tested on their print-reading comprehension. Starling next year, some countries will participate in new international assessments of digital literacy. Some traditionalists warn that digital reading is the intellectual equivalent of empty calories. Often, they argue, writers on the Internet employ a argot that vexes teachers and parents. Zigzagging through a great abundance of words, pictures, videos and sounds, they say, distracts more than strengthens readers. And many youths spend most of their time on the Internet playing games or sending messages, activities that involve minimal reading at best. Web proponents believe that strong readers on the Web may eventually surpass those who rely on books. Reading five Web sites, an op-ed article and a blog post or two, can be more enriching than reading one book. It may take a long time to read a 400-page book, but in a 10th of the time, the Internet allows a reader to cover a lot more of the topic from different points of view. Some literacy experts say that reading itself should be redefined. Interpreting videos or pictures may be as important a skill as analyzing a novel or a poem.

单选题He does a bit of writing, but first and ______ he's a teacher.

单选题His writing is so______, obscure, and overwrought that it is difficult to make out what he is trying to say.

单选题As I am sure Jenny is very honest, I ______ that she stole the money.

单选题The two delegates had an in-depth exchange of views on how to enhance their cooperation ______.

单选题The low interest rates on bank loans provided an impetus for many to buy homes.

单选题Smoking is so harmful to personal health that it kills _____ people each year than automobile accidents.

单选题The firm's promise to increase our pay was a reluctant______to union demands, because the union would otherwise not go back to work.

单选题Paul Moller's flying car is different than an airplane because ______.

单选题We've all heard of Thomas Edison, ______who invented the electric light and many other things.

单选题But for his courage, the battle ______.

单选题Which of the following best describes the function of the concluding sentence of the passage?

单选题He knew that he would be punished severely because of his serious error. Therefore he ______ away the day before yesterday.

单选题How did Redmon find his job?

单选题We had to go miles to find a restaurant, it ______a holiday.

单选题 Rates are low, but consumers won't borrow With heavy debt loads and high joblessness, Americans are cautious. A. The US Federal Reserve(Fed)'s announcement last week that it intended to keep credit cheap for at least two more years was a clear invitation to Americans: Go out and borrow. B. But many economists say it will take more than low interest rates to persuade consumers to take on more debt. There are already signs that the recent stock market fluctuations, turbulence in Europe and the US deficit have scared consumers. On Friday, preliminary data showed that the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index had fallen this month to lower than it was in November 2008, when the United States was deep in recession. Under normal circumstances, the Fed's announcement might have attracted new home arid car buyers and prompted credit card holders to rack up fresh charges. But with unemployment high and those with jobs worried about keeping them, consumers are more concerned about paying off the loans they already have than adding more debt. And by showing its hand for the next two years, the Fed may have thoughtlessly invited prospective borrowers to put off large purchases. C. Lenders, meanwhile, are still dealing with the effects of the boom-gone-bust and are forcing prospective borrowers to go to extraordinary lengths to prove their creditworthiness. D. 'I don't think lenders are going to be interested in extending a lot of debt in this environment, ' said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody's Analytics, a macroeconomic consulting firm. 'Nor do I think households are going to be interested in taking on a lot of debt.' In housing, consumers have already shown a slow response to low rates. Applications for new mortgages have decreased this year to a 10-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Sales of furniture and furnishings remain 22%below their pre-recession peak, according to Spending Pulse, a research report by MasterCard Advisors. Credit card rates have actually gone up slightly in the past year. The one bright spot in lending is the number of auto loans, which is up from last year. But some economists say that confidence among car buyers is hitting new lows. E. For Xavier Walter, a former mortgage banker who with his wife, Danielle, accumulated $ 20 000 in credit card debt, low rates will not change his spending habits. As the housing market topped out five years ago, he lost his six-figure income. He and his wife were able to modify the mortgage on their four-bedroom house in Medford, New Jersey, as well as negotiate lower credit card payments. Two years ago, Mr. Waiter, a 34-year-old father of three, started an energy business. He has sworn off credit. 'I'm not going to go back in debt ever again, ' he said. 'If I can't pay for it in cash, I don't want it.' F. Until now, one of the biggest restraints on consumer spending has been a debt aftereffect. Since August 2008, when household debt peaked at $12.41 trillion, it has declined by about $1.2 trillion, according to an analysis by Moody's Analytics of data from the Federal Reserve and Equifax, the credit agency. A large portion of that, though, was simply written off by lenders as borrowers defaulted on loans. By other measures, households have improved their position. The proportion of after-tax income that households spend to remain current on loan payments has fallen. G. Still, household debt remains high. That presents a paradox: many economists argue that the economy cannot achieve true health until debt levels decline. But credit, made attractive by low rates, is a time-tested way to increase consumer spending. With new risks of another downturn, economists worry that it will take years for debt to return to manageable levels. If the economy contracts again, said George Magnus, senior adviser at UBS, then 'you could find a lot of households in a debt trap which they probably can never get out of.' H. Mortgage lenders, meanwhile, burned by the housing crash, are extra careful about approving new loans. In June, for instance, Fannie Mae, the largest mortgage buyer in the United States, said that borrowers whose existing debt exceeded 45 to 50% of their income would be required to have stronger 'compensating' factors, which might include higher savings. Even those borrowers in strong financial positions are asked to provide unusual amounts of paperwork. Bobby and Katie Smith have an extremely good credit record, tiny student debt and a combined six-figure income. For part of their down payment, they planned to use about $ 5 000 they had received as wedding gifts in February. But the lender would not accept that money unless the Smiths provided a certified letter from each of 14 guests, stating that the money was a gift, rather than a loan. 'We laughed for a good 15 or 20 minutes,' recalled Mr. Smith, 34. Mr. Smith, a program director for a radio station in Orlando, Florida, said they ended up using other savings for their down payment to buy a $ 300 000 four-bedroom house in April. I. For those not as creditworthy as the Smiths, low rates are irrelevant because they no longer qualify for mortgages. That leaves the eligible pool of loan applicants wealthier, 'older and whiter,' said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. 'It's creating much more of a divide,' he said, 'between the haves and the have-nots.' Car shoppers with the highest credit ratings can also get loans more easily, and at lower rates, said Paul C. Taylor, chief economist of the National Automobile Dealers Association. J. During the recession, inability to obtain credit severely cut auto buying as lenders rejected even those with good credit ratings. Now automakers are increasing their subprime (次级债的) lending again as well, but remain hesitant to approve large numbers of risky customers. K. The number of new auto loans was up by 16% in the second quarter compared with the previous year, said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit at Experian, the information services company. But some economists warn that consumer confidence is falling. According to CNW Marketing Research, confidence among those who intend to buy a car this year is at its lowest since it began collecting data on this measure in 2000. L. On credit cards, rates have actually inched higher this year, largely because of new rules that curb the issuer's ability to charge fees or raise certain interest rates at will. M. At the end of the second quarter, rates averaged 14.01% on new card offers, up from 13.75% a year earlier, according to Mail Monitor, which tracks credit cards for Synovate, a market research firm. According to data from the Federal Reserve, total outstanding debt on revolving credit cards was down by 4.6% during the first half of the year compared with the same period a year earlier. N. Even if the Fed's announcement helps keep rates steady, or pushes them down, businesses do not expect customers to suddenly charge up a storm. O. 'It's not like, ‘Oh, credit is so cheap, let's go back to the heydays (鼎盛时期), ‘' said Elizabeth Crowell, who owns Sterling Place, two high-end home furnishing and gift stores in New York. 'People still fear for their jobs. So I think where maybe after other recessions they might return to previous spending habits, the pendulum hasn't swung back the same way.'

单选题My grandmother ______rural life.

单选题What enables some people to get big creative breakthroughs while others only get small and non-creative breakdowns, blaming themselves and society? Are some people gifted? Are there other factors 请作答此

单选题 Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled On School Violence. You should write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words following the outline given below. 1．校园暴力事件时有发生 2．分析产生这种现象的原因 3．应该如何解决校园暴力问题

单选题The size of the audience, ______ we had expected, was well over one thousand.