单选题 Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes at reducing population growth--but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard. Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99% a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93% a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries. Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and instalment (分期付款) plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the high life in big cities. "Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction, they describe middle and upper class values- not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working," says Martine. "They sent this image to all parts of Brazil and made people conscious of other patterns of behavior and other values, which were put into a very attractive package." Meanwhile, the instalment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers. "This 1ed to an enormous change in consumption patterns and consumption was in compatible (不相容的) with unlimited reproduction," says Martine.

单选题Young people often feel an urge to try ______ before the age set by law. A. a smoking B. smoke C. to smoke D. smoking

单选题Her father will never ______ of her going to study in the United States alone. A. prove B. agree C. admit D. approve

单选题Daughter (in the kitchen): Shall I turn on the burner?Mother: ______. I haven't finished peeling the potatoes.

单选题Professor Lee is well-known for his research in the behaviors of the cats.

单选题Things went well for him during his early life but in middle age his ______ seemed to change.

单选题 When I was walking down the street the other day, I happened to notice a small brown leather wallet lying on the sidewalk. I picked it up and opened it to see if I could find out the owner's name. There was nothing inside it except some change and an old photograph--a picture of a woman and a young girl about twelve years old, who looked like the woman's daughter. I put the photograph back and took the wallet to the police station, where I handed it to the desk sergeant. Before I left, the sergeant took down my name and address in case the owner might want to write and thank me. That evening I went to have dinner with my aunt and uncle. They had also invited a young woman so that there would be four people at the table. Her face was familiar. I was quite sure that we had not met before, but I couldn't remember where I had seen her. In the course of conversation, however, the young woman happened to mention that she had lost her wallet that afternoon. All at once I realized where I had seen her. She was the young girl in the photograph, although she was now much older. She was very surprised, of course, when I was able to describe her wallet to her. Then I explained that I had recognized her from the photograph I had found in the wallet. My uncle insisted on going to the police station immediately to claim the wallet. As the police sergeant handed it over, he said that it was amazing that I had not only found the wallet, but also the person who had lost it.

单选题(In England) (as early as) the (twelfth century), young boys enjoyed (to play) football.

单选题Not only the professionals but also the amateurs will ______ from the new training facilities. A. derive B. acquire C. benefit D. reward

单选题The time is not far away ______ modern communication will become widespread in China's vast countryside. A. as B. when C. until D. before

单选题{{B}}Directions:{{/B}} Read the following passage. For each numbered blank there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choices the best one and mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. Excitement, fatigue, and anxiety can all be detected from someone's blinks, according to psychologist John Stern {{U}}(21) {{/U}} Washington University in St. Louis. Stern specialized in the study on these tiny twitches, using them as sensitive {{U}}(22) {{/U}} of how the brain works. "I use blinks as a psychological measure to make{{U}} (23) {{/U}} about thinking because I have very little {{U}}(24) {{/U}} in what you tell me about what you are thinking." He says. "If I ask you the question, 'what does the phrase a rolling stone gathers no moss mean?' you can't tell me {{U}}(25) {{/U}} you've started looking for the answer. But I can, by watching your eyes." Blinks also tell Stern when you have understood his question--often long before he's finished asking it--and when you've found an answer or part of {{U}}(26) {{/U}}. "We blink at times {{U}}(27) {{/U}} are psychologically important." He says. "You have listened to a question, you understand it, {{U}}(28) {{/U}} you can take time out for a blink. Blinks are {{U}}(29) {{/U}} marks. Their timing is tied to what is going on in your {{U}}(30) {{/U}}." Stern has found that {{U}}(31) {{/U}} suppress blinks when they are absorbing or anticipating {{U}}(32) {{/U}} but not when they're reciting it. People blink later, for example, {{U}}(33) {{/U}} they have to memorize six numbers instead of two. "You don't blink," he says, "until you have {{U}}(34) {{/U}} the information to some short-term memory store." And if subjects are cued {{U}}(35) {{/U}} the set of numbers is coming, say, five seconds, they'll curb their blinks until the task is {{U}}(36) {{/U}}. Similarly, the more important the information that people are taking in, the more likely they are to put their blinks on hold for {{U}}(37) {{/U}} Pilots blink less when they're {{U}}(38) {{/U}} for flying a plane than when they {{U}}(39) {{/U}} their eyes from the road to the rearview mirror. But if they see the flashing lights of a state trooper behind them, their {{U}}(40) {{/U}} will move fast to the speed-meter and back to the mirror.

单选题{{B}}Passage Four{{/B}} The blues was born on the Mississippi River Delta in the early 1900s. After the Civil War, the slaves were free but life was still not easy. They had to find new work. In the South, work camps were formed. Black people from these camps worked on farms and on building up the Mississippi River banks. During the week the people worked long and hard. They often lived alone, without their families, far from home. On the weekends, the workers got together at picnics or drinking places. Traveling black musicians with guitars entertained them. The musicians sang songs about the difficult life of the Workers. These songs were called the blues. If you have the blues it means you feel very sad. But blues songs were not always sad. Some of them were happy and many of them were funny. Early blues singers often had very interesting names like Blind Lemon Jefferson, Howlin Wolf. Sometimes the blues singers had song contests. Each singer sang new words or a new style of the blues song. They made up the music as they played. In this way they created new music. This is called improvisation (即兴演奏). Later, improvization became a very important part of jazz music. Blues began in the country in the South. As blacks moved into the big cities to work, the blues went with them. There, they sang about life in the cities. W.C. Handy, a black band leader from Memphis made the blues popular all over America. In 1914 he wrote the most famous blues song of all, "The St. Louis Blues."

单选题Americans believe that education is ______.

单选题It's no use just telling me to do it; give me positive advice as to how to do it.

单选题 The differences in living standards around the world are vast. In 1993, the average American had an in- come of about $ 25,000. In the same year, the average Mexican earned $ 7,000, and the average Nigerian earned $1,500. Not surprisingly, this large variation in average income is reflected in various measures of the quality of life. Changes in living standards over time are also large. In the United States, incomes have historically grown about 2 percent per year (after adjusting for changes in the cost of living). At this rate, average income doubles every 35 years. In some countries, economic growth has been even more rapid. In Japan, for instance, average income has doubled in the past 20 years, and in South Korea it has doubled in the past 10 years. What explains these large differences in living standards among countries and over time? The answer is surprisingly simple. Almost all variation in living standards is attributable to differences in countries productivity—that is, the amount of goods and services produced from each hour of a worker's time. In nations where workers can produce a large quantity of goods and services per unit of time, most people enjoy a high standard of living; in nations where workers are less productive, most people must endure a more meager existence. Similarly, the growth rate of a nation's productivity determines the growth rate of its average income. The fundamental relationship between productivity and living standards is simple, but its implications are far-reaching. If productivity is the primary determinant of living standards, other explanations must be of secondary importance. For example, people might think that labor unions or minimum-wage laws contributed to the rise in living standards of American workers over the past century. Yet the real hero of American workers is their rising productivity. The relationship between productivity and living standards also has great implications for public policy. When thinking about how any policy will affect living standards, the key question is how it will affect our ability to produce goods and services. To improve living standards, policymakers need to raise productivity by ensuring that workers are well educated, have the tools needed to produce goods and services, and have access to the best available technology.

单选题There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They probably came about just to five children something to do. In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another. In societies where social roles are rigidly determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls after the tasks o~ their mothers. This is true because boys and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world. What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same. The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology. It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all part of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing. In Egypt, the Americas, China, Japan and among the Arctic (北极的) peoples, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Variations depended on local customs and ways of life because toys imitate their surroundings. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles. Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the oxcart to the automobile is a direct line of ascent (进步). The progress from a rattle (拨浪鼓) used by a baby in 3000 B.C. to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the times and subject to the limitations of available materials.

单选题That boy is such a good violinist that he will probably make quite a ______ for himself.

单选题It is important, too, that the selections be chosen from Ucontemporary/U writings.