单选题Americans live in a style-conscious culture even elementary school children know the difference between Air Jordans and the cheaper imitations. By the time they enter junior high school, most American adolescents are already highly skilled at distinguishing between brand names. The real lesson young Americans learn is that they live in a world where it matters what brand of clothes or furniture or car they buy. It matters what style of music they listen to, how they wear their hair, whether they"re tattooed or pierced, and what kind of food they like to eat. Even everyday use—objects from staplers to tooth brushes to laptop computers matter too. In many ways, it seems that such a concern for personal style and the appearance of objects is shallow and trivial. After all, what does it really matter whether or not someone"s clothes or music or computer is at the cutting edge of style? Why should anyone care? One reason is that style is a guide to economic and social class in America Style identities. Whether consciously or unconsciously, we make judgments about people based on their appearance and their style. Simply by growing up in American culture, we acquire a sense of the style appropriate to different walks of life—how, for example, a high school teacher, a business executive, a truck driver, or a rock star ought to look. Style communicates messages about economic and social class precisely because we share with others cultural codes that define what"s normal and expected. For example, we expect wealthy professionals in metropolitan areas to be museum members, go to the opera, and enjoy gourmet food and fine wine. On the other hand, we are likely to expect that working-class men in the Midwest drink beer, listen to classic rock, and support their local pro-football team. This doesn"t mean that everyone in a particular social group conforms to these cultural codes. What it does indicate, however, is that style carries cultural meanings that go far beyond individual likes and dislikes. Style, in other words, is linked tc the way of life that identifies groups of people, cultures, and subcultures. If the styles we adopt seem to be freely taken personal choices, they are contained nonetheless in a larger system of cultural codes that organize the way we think about identity, social status, prestige, good (and bad) taste, tradition, and innovation. Fashion designers, graphic designers, and product designers understand this intimate connection between style and identity. They design everything from corporate logos and brand trademarks to the latest style of jeans and athletic shoes to computers and cars. Their job is to match styles to people"s identities and, at the same time, to create styles that offer people new identities.

单选题Principally, the objectives for us to teach culture in foreign language classes do NOT include ______. A. to get the students familiar with cultural differences B. to see how superior one's own culture is to other cultures C. to help the students transcend their own culture and see things as the members of the target culture will D. to emphasize the inseparability of understanding language and understanding culture through various classroom practices

单选题 According to a recent survey on money and relationships, 36 per cent of people are keeping a bank account from their partner. While this financial unfaithfulness may appear as distrust in a relationship, in truth it may just be a form of financial protection. With almost half of all marriages ending in divorce, men and women are realizing they need to be financially savvy, regardless of whether they are in a relationship. The financial hardship on individuals after a divorce can be extremely difficult, even more so when children are involved. The lack of permanency in relationships, jobs and family life may be the cause of a growing trend to keep a secret bank account hidden from a partner; in other words, an "escape fund" . Margaret's story is far from unique. She is a representative of a growing number of women in long-term relationships who are becoming protective of their own earnings. Every month on pay day, she banks hundreds of dollars into a savings account she keeps from her husband. She has been doing this throughout their six-year marriage and has built a nest egg worth an incredible $100000 on top of her pension. Margaret says if her husband found out about her secret savings he'd hurt and would interpret this as a sign she wasn't sure of the marriage. "He'd think it was my escape fund so that financially I could afford to get out of the relationship if it went wrong. I know you should approach marriage as being forever and I hope ours is, but you can never be sure." Like many of her fellow secret savers, Margaret was stung in a former relationship and has since been very guarded about her own money. Coming clean to your partner about being a secret saver may not be all that bad. Take Colleen, for example, who had been saving secretly for a few years before she confessed to her partner. “I decided to open a savings account and start building a nest egg of my own. I wanted to prove to myself that I could put money in the bank and leave it there for a rainy day.” "When John found out about my secret savings, he was a little suspicious of my motives. I reassured him that this was certainly not an escape fund and that I feel very secure in our relationship. I have to admit that it does feel good to have my own money on reserve if ever there are rainy days in the future. It's sensible to build and protect your personal financial security."

单选题The introduction of gunpowder gradually made the bow and arrow ______, particularly in Western Europe.

单选题The local people could hardly think of any good way to ______ the disaster of the war

单选题The following questions present a sentence, part of which or all of which is underlined. Beneath the sentence, you will find five ways of phrasing the underlined part. The first of these repeats the original; the other four are different. If you think the original is best, choose the first answer; otherwise choose one of the others. These questions test correctness and effectiveness of expression. In choosing your answer, follow the requirements of standard written English; that is, pay attention to grammar, choice of words, and sentence construction. Choose the answer that produces the most effective sentence; this answer should be clear and exact, without awkwardness, ambiguity, redundancy, or grammatical error.

单选题The horse and carriage is a thing of the past, but love and marriage are still with us and still closely interrelated. Most American marriages, 1 first marriages uniting young people, are the result of mutual attraction and affection 2 than practical considerations. In the United States, parents do not 3 marriages for their children. Teenagers usually find mates through their own academic and social 4 and begin dating in high school. 5 young people feel free to choose their friends from 6 groups, most choose a mate of similar 7 This is due in part to parental guidance. Parents cannot 8 spouses (配偶) for their children, but they can usually 9 choices by voicing disapproval of someone they consider unsuitable. 10 , marriages between members of different groups (interclass, interfaith, and interracial marriage) are 11 , probably because of greater mobility of today"s youth and the fact that they are 12 by fewer prejudices than their parents. Many young people leave their hometowns to attend college, serve in the armed forces, 13 pursue a career in a bigger city. Once away from home and family, they are more 14 to date and marry outside their own social group. In mobile American society, interclass marriages are neither 15 nor astonishing. Interfaith marriages are 16 the rise, especially between Protestants and Catholics. On the other hand, interracial marriages are still very 17 It can be difficult for interracial couples to find a place to live, maintain friendships, and 18 a family. Marriages between people of different national 19 (but the same race and religion) have been commonplace here 20 colonial times.

单选题A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys, people are actually more stressed at home than at work. Researchers measured people"s cortisol, which is a stress marker, while they were at work and while they were at home and found it higher at what is supposed to be a place of refuge. "Further contradicting conventional wisdom, we found that women as well as men have lower levels of stress at work than at home," writes one of the researchers, Sarah Damske. In fact women even say they feel better at work, she notes. "It is men, not women, who report being happier at home than at work." Another surprise is that findings hold true for both those with children and without, but more so for nonparents. This is why people who work outside the home have better health. What the study doesn"t measure is whether people are still doing work when they"re at home, whether it is household work or work brought home from the office. For many men, the end of the workday is a time to kick back. For women who stay home, they never get to leave the office. And for women who work outside the home, they often are playing catch-up-with-household tasks. With the blurring of roles, and the fact that the home front lags well behind the workplace at making adjustments for working women, it"s not surprising that women are more stressed at home. But it"s not just a gender thing. At work, people pretty much know what they"re supposed to be doing, working, making money, doing the tasks they have to do in order to draw an income. The bargain is very pure: Employee puts in hours of physical or mental labor and employee draws out life-sustaining moola. On the home front, however, people have no such clarity. Rare is the household in which the division of labor is so clinically and methodically laid out. There are a lot of tasks to be done; there are inadequate rewards for most of them. Your home colleagues—your family—have no clear rewards for their labor; they need to be talked into it, or if they"re teenagers, threatened with complete removal of all electronic devices. Plus, they"re your family. You cannot fire your family. You never really get to go home from home. So it"s not surprising that people are more stressed at home. Not only are the tasks apparently infinite, the co-workers are much harder to motivate.

单选题When the government talks about infrastructure contributing to the economy the focus is usually on roads, railways, broadband and energy. Housing is seldom mentioned. Why is that? To some extent the housing sector must shoulder the blame. We have not been good at communicating the real value that housing can contribute to economic growth. Then there is the scale of the typical housing project. It is hard to shove for attention among multibillion-pound infrastructure project, so it is inevitable that the attention is focused elsewhere. But perhaps the most significant reason is that the issue has always been so politically charged. Nevertheless, the affordable housing situation is desperate. Waiting lists increase all the time and we are simply not building enough new homes. The comprehensive spending review offers an opportunity for the government to help rectify this. It needs to put historical prejudices to one side and take some steps to address our urgent housing need. There are some indications that it is preparing to do just that. The communities minister, Don Foster, has hinted that George Osborne, Chancellor of the Exchequer, may introduce more flexibility to the current cap on the amount that local authorities can borrow against their housing stock debt. Evidence shows that 60,000 extra new homes could be built over the next five years if the cap were lifted, increasing GDP by 0.6%. Ministers should also look at creating greater certainty in the rental environment, which would have a significant impact on the ability of registered providers to fund new developments from revenues. But it is not just down to the government. While these measures would be welcome in the short term, we must face up to the fact that the existing ￡4.5bn program of grants to fund new affordable housing, set to expire in 2015, is unlikely to be extended beyond then. The Labor Party has recently announced that it will retain a large part of the coalition"s spending plans if returns to power. The housing sector needs to accept that we are very unlikely to ever return to era of large-scale public grants. We need to adjust to this changing climate.

单选题There are few things worse for a new parent than listening to a baby scream in hunger while a bottle of formula slowly warms up in a bowl of hot water. So why not just pop the bottle in the microwave and zap it in 20 seconds? Because microwaves heat fluids unevenly, and a hot pocket in the formula could seriously injure the baby. Which of the following is presupposed in the argument against heating formula in the microwave? A. Babies generally refuse to eat formula that has been heated in a microwave. B. Microwave radiation might break down some of the proteins in formula that are vital to a baby's health. C. Different microwaves use different amounts of power, and consequently some models could heat a bottle to scalding temperature faster than others. D. Parents cannot be expected to consistently even out the temperature of a microwaved bottle by shaking it vigorously before giving it to the baby. E. Once formula has been heated, any leftover formula should be discarded, because otherwise the formula could spoil between feedings and make the baby sick.

单选题Acertaintruckuses18gallonsofdieselfuelintraveling270miles.Inorderforthetrucktotravelthesamedistanceusing10gallonsofdieselfuel,byhowmanymilespergallonmustthetruck'sfuelmileagebeincreased?A.8B.9C.12D.15E.27

单选题 Prior to the 20th century, many languages with small numbers of speakers survived for centuries. The increasingly interconnected modern world makes it much more difficult for small language communities to live in relative isolation, a key factor in language maintenance and preservation. It remains to be seen whether the world can maintain its linguistic and cultural diversity in the centuries ahead. Many powerful forces appear to work against it: population growth, which pushes migrant populations into the world's last isolated locations; mass tourism; global telecommunications and mass media; and the spread of gigantic global corporations. All of these forces appear to signify a future in which the language of advertising, popular culture, and consumer products become similar. Already English and a few other major tongues have emerged as global languages of commerce and communication. For many of the world's peoples, learning one of these languages is viewed as the key to education, economic opportunity, and a better way of life. Only about 3000 languages now in use are expected to survive the coming century. Are most of the rest doomed in the century after that? Whether most of these languages survive will probably depend on how strongly cultural groups wish to keep their identity alive through a native language. To do so will require an emphasis on bilingualism (mastery of two languages). Bilingual speakers could use their own language in smaller spheres—at home, among friends, in community settings—and a global language at work, in dealings with government, and in commercial spheres. In this way, many small languages could sustain their cultural and linguistic integrity alongside global languages, rather than yield to the homogenizing (同化的) forces of globalization. Ironically, the trend of technological innovation that has threatened minority languages could also help save them. For example, some experts predict that computer software translation tools will one day permit minority language speakers to browse the Internet using their native tongues. Linguists are currently using computer-aided learning tools to teach a variety of threatened languages. For many endangered languages, the line between revival and death is extremely thin. Language is remarkably resilient (有活力的), however. It is not just a tool for communicating, but also a powerful way of separating different groups, or of demonstrating group identity. Many indigenous (原生的，土著的) communities have shown that it is possible to live in the modern world while reclaiming their unique identities through language.

单选题Government deregulation of the long-distance telephone business has resulted in increased competition among telephone carriers, thus resulting in lower prices for consumers. This process, however, will ultimately result in lower-quality service for consumers, because as the telephone carriers drop their prices to compete with one another for customers, they will be forced to cut corners on non-essential items like customer service. Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the argument that government deregulation of the telephone business will result in lower-quality customer service? A. Technological advances have decreased the cost of providing long-distance telephone service to less than one-half of its cost prior to deregulation. B. In a customer survey regarding the electric utility business, another industry that recently went through deregulation, surveyors found that customer dissatisfaction with service was 30 percent higher than prior to deregulation. C. Customers have listed poor customer service as their number one reason for switching from one long-distance telephone service provider to another. D. Some companies have decreased the cost of customer service by installing automated telephone response systems that eliminate the need for expensive live employees. E. The greatest competition for long-distance telephone service providers will come not from traditional telephone companies, but from cellular telephone service providers.

单选题 Should a leader strive to be loved or feared? This question, famously posed by Machiavelli, lies at the heart of Joseph Nye's new book. Mr. Nye, a former dean of the Kennedy School of Government at Harvard and one-time chairman of America's National Intelligence Council, is best known for promoting the idea of “soft power”, based on persuasion and influence, as a counterpoint to "hard power" , based on coercion (强迫) and force. Having analyzed the use of soft and hard power in politics and diplomacy in his previous books, Mr. Nye has now turned his attention to the relationship between power and leadership, in both the political and business spheres. Machiavelli, he notes, concluded that "one ought to be both feared and loved, but as it is difficult for the two to go together, it is much safer to be feared than loved." In short, hard power is preferable to soft power. But modern leadership theorists have come to the opposite conclusion. The context of leadership is changing, they observe, and the historical emphasis on hard power is becoming outdated. In modern companies and democracies, power is increasingly diffused and traditional hierarchies (等级制) are being undermined, making soft power ever more important. But that does not mean coercion should now take a back seat to persuasion, Mr. Nye argues. Instead, he advocates a synthesis of these two views. The conclusion of The Powers to Lead, his survey of the theory of leadership, is that a combination of hard and soft power, which he calls "smart power”, is the best approach. The dominant theoretical model of leadership at the moment is, apparently, the “transformational leadership pattern”. Anyone allergic (反感) to management term will already be running for the exit, but Mr. Nye has performed a valuable service in rounding up and summarizing the various academic studies and theories of leadership into a single, slim volume. He examines different approaches to leadership, the morality of leadership and how the wider context can determine the effectiveness of a particular leader. There are plenty of anecdotes and examples, both historical and contemporary, political and corporate. Alas, leadership is a slippery subject, and as he depicts various theories, even Mr. Nye never quite nails the jelly to the wall. He is at his most interesting when discussing the moral aspects of leadership—in particular, the question of whether it is sometimes necessary for good leaders to lie—and he provides a helpful 12-point summary of his conclusions. A recurring theme is that as circumstances change, different sorts of leaders are required; a leader who thrives in one environment may struggle in another, and vice versa. Ultimately that is just a fancy way of saying that leadership offers no easy answers.

单选题The implications of sociolinguistics for language teaching do NOT include ______. A. a change of emphasis in the content of language teaching B. innovation in materials and activities for the classroom C. a fresh look at the nature of language development and use D. frequent use of teaching techniques like repetition and pattern drills

单选题Paleontologists hypothesize that modern birds evolved from the family of dinosaurs that included Tyrannosaurus rex. This hypothesis would be strongly supported if evidence that dinosaurs from this family had a body covering resembling feathers could be found, but so far no such evidence has been found. Which of the following, if true, would most help the paleontologists explain why no evidence of feathered dinosaurs has yet been found? A. Fossilized dinosaurs have shown many birdlike characteristics, such as bone structure and winglike arms. B. If birds are in fact the descendants of dinosaurs, then it can be argued that the dinosaurs never really died out. C. Flying dinosaurs such as the Pteranodon, which is not thought to have been related to modern birds, do not appear to have had feathers. D. Soft tissues such as skin and feathers do not fossilize like bones, and therefore are far less likely to have left permanent evidence in the fossil record. E. The thousands of dinosaur fossils excavated by paleontologists represent only a tiny fraction of the billions of dinosaurs that once lived.

单选题In 2010, a federal judge shook America"s biotech industry to its core. Companies had won patents for isolated DNA for decades—by 2005 some 20% of human genes were patented. But in March 2010 a judge ruled that genes were unpatentable. Executives were violently agitated. The Biotechnology Industry Organisation (BIO), a trade group, assured members that this was just a "preliminary step" in a longer battle. On July 29th they were relieved, at least temporarily. A federal appeals court overturned the prior decision, ruling that Myriad Genetics could indeed hold patents to two genes that help forecast a woman"s risk of breast cancer. The chief executive of Myriad, a company in Utah, said the ruling was a blessing to firms and patients alike. But as companies continue their attempts at personalised medicine, the courts will remain rather busy. The Myriad case itself is probably not over. Critics make three main arguments against gene patents, a gene is a product of nature, so it may not be patented; gene patents suppress innovation rather than reward it; and patents" monopolies restrict access to genetic tests such as Myriad"s. A growing number seem to agree. Last year a federal task-force urged reform for patents related to genetic tests. In October the Department of Justice filed a brief in the Myriad case, arguing that an isolated DNA molecule "is no less a product of nature... than are cotton fibres that have been separated from cotton seeds." Despite the appeals court"s decision, big questions remain unanswered. For example, it is unclear whether the sequencing of a whole genome violates the patents of individual genes within it. The case may yet reach the Supreme Court. As the industry advances, however, other suits may have an even greater impact. Companies are unlikely to file many more patents for human DNA molecules—most are already patented or in the public domain. Firms are now studying how genes interact, looking for correlations that might be used to determine the causes of disease or predict a drug"s efficacy. Companies are eager to win patents for "connecting the dots," explains Hans Sauer, a lawyer for the BIO. Their success may be determined by a suit related to this issue, brought by the Mayo Clinic, which the Supreme Court will hear in its next term. The BIO recently held a convention which included sessions to coach lawyers on the shifting landscape for patents. Each meeting was packed.

单选题The primitive emotions of love and hate, even though extreme opposites, are found in varying degrees even in the most ______ person.

单选题The past ages of man have all been carefully labeled by anthropologists. Descriptions like "Palaeolithic Man", "Neolithic Man", etc., neatly sum up whole periods. When the time comes for anthropologists to turn their attention to the twentieth century, they will surely choose the label "Legless Man". Histories of the time will go something like this: "In the twentieth century, people forgot how to use their legs. Men and women moved about in cars, buses and trains from a very early age. There were lifts and escalators in all large buildings to prevent people from walking. This situation was forced upon earth dwellers of that time because of their extraordinary way of life. In those days, people thought nothing of traveling hundreds of miles each day. But the surprising thing is that they didn"t use their legs even when they went on holiday. They built cable railways, ski-lifts and roads to the top of every huge mountain. All the beauty spots on earth were marred by the presence of large car parks." The future history books might also record that we were deprived of the use of our eyes. In our hurry to get from one place to another, we failed to see anything on the way. Air travel gives you a bird"s-eye view of the world—or even less if the wing of the aircraft happens to get in your way. When you travel by car or train a blurred image of the countryside constantly smears the windows. Car drivers, in particular, are forever obsessed with the urge to go on and on. they never want to stop. Is it the lure of the great motorways, or what? And as for sea travel, it hardly deserves mention. The typical twentieth-century traveler is the man who always says "I"ve been there." When you travel at high speeds, the present means nothing: you live mainly in the future because you spend most of your time looking forward to arriving at some other place. But actual arrival, when it is achieved, is meaningless. You want to move on again. By traveling like this, you suspend all experience; the present ceases to be a reality: you might just as well be dead. The traveler on foot, on the other hand, lives constantly in the present. For him traveling and arriving are one and the same thing: he arrives somewhere with every step he makes. He experiences the present moment with his eyes, his ears and the whole of his body. At the end of his journey he feels a delicious physical weariness. He knows that sound. Satisfying sleep will be his: the just reward of all true travellers.

单选题A real estate developer in Florida, desiring to protect his high-rise apartment building on the beach from hurricane damage, has planted sea oats in two rows in front of his building in order to encourage the development of sand dunes between the water and his building. Which of the following, if true, casts the most doubt on the probable effectiveness of the developer's plan? A. Sand dunes provide little protection for tall buildings against the wind, which is sufficiently powerful even in minor hurricanes to cause serious damage to buildings. B. Sand dunes have been shown to provide effective protection against the storm surge, the pounding waves driven by hurricane-force winds onto dry land. C. Although sea oats will lead to the growth of sand dunes over many years, it would be far faster to build concrete bunkers between the building and the water. D. Hurricane insurance has become so expensive that many owners of beachfront property choose not to buy it. E. The developer has invested in reinforced steel girders and shatterproof glass as a way of minimizing damage to his building in the event that a hurricane hits the area.