单选题In 1999, the price of oil hovered around $16 a barrel. By 2008, it had 21 the $100 a barrel mark. The reasons for the surge 22 from the dramatic growth of the economies of China and India to widespread 23 in oil-producing regions, including Iraq and Nigeria"s delta region. Triple-digit oil prices have 24 the economic and political map of the world, 25 some old notions of power. Oil-rich nations are enjoying historic gains and opportunities, 26 major importers—including China and India, home to a third of the world"s population— 27 rising economic and social costs. Managing this new order is fast becoming a central 28 of global politics. Countries that need oil are clawing at each other to 29 scarce supplies, and are willing to deal with any government, 30 how unpleasant, to do it. In many poor nations with oil, the profits are being lost to corruption, 31 these countries of their best hope for development. And oil is fueling enormous investment funds run by foreign governments, 32 some in the west see as a new threat. Countries like Russia, Venezuela and Iran are well supplied with rising oil 33 , a change reflected in newly aggressive foreign policies. But some unexpected countries are reaping benefits, 34 costs, from higher prices. Consider Germany. 35 it imports virtually all its oil, it has prospered from extensive trade with a booming Russia and the Middle East. German exports to Russia 36 128 percent from 2001 to 2006. In the United States, as already high gas prices rose 37 higher in the spring of 2008, the issue cropped up in the presidential campaign, with Senators McCain and Obama 38 for a federal gas tax holiday during the peak summer driving months. And driving habits began to 39 , as sales of small cars jumped and mass transport systems 40 the country reported a sharp increase in riders.

单选题Advertises often aim their campaigns at young people as they have considerable spending _____.

单选题 Advancing age means losing your hair, your waistline and your memory, right? Dana Denis is just 40 years old, but {{U}}(21) {{/U}} she's worried about what she calls "my rolling mental blackouts." "I try to remember something and I just blank out," she says. You may{{U}} (22) {{/U}} about these lapses, calling them "senior moments" or blaming "early Alzheimer's(老年痴呆症)." Is it an inescapable fact that the older you get, the {{U}}(23) {{/U}} you remember? Well, sort of. But as time goes by, we tend to blame age {{U}}(24) {{/U}} problems that are not necessarily age-related. "When a teenager can't find her keys, she thinks it's because she's distracted or disorganized," says Paul Gold "A 70-year-old blames her {{U}}(25) {{/U}}." In fact, the 70-year-old may have been {{U}}(26) {{/U}} things for decades. In healthy people, memory doesn't worsen as {{U}}(27) {{/U}} as many of us think. "As we {{U}}(28) {{/U}} , the memory mechanism isn't {{U}}(29) {{/U}}," says psychologist Fergus Craik. "It's just inefficient." The brain's processing {{U}}(30) {{/U}} slows down over the years, though no one knows exactly {{U}}(31) {{/U}} Recent research suggests that nerve cells lose efficiency and {{U}}(32) {{/U}} there's less activity in the brain. But, cautions Barry Gordon, "It's not clear that less activity is {{U}}(33) {{/U}} . A beginning athlete is winded(气喘吁吁) more easily than a {{U}}(34) {{/U}} athlete. In the same way, {{U}}(35) {{/U}} the brain gets more skilled at a task, it expends less energy on it. There are {{U}}(36) {{/U}} you can take to compensate for normal slippage in your memory gears, though it {{U}}(37) {{/U}} effort. Margaret Sewell says: "We're a quick-fix culture, but you have to {{U}}(38) {{/U}} to keep your brain {{U}}(39) {{/U}} shape. It's like having a good body. You can't go to the gym once a year {{U}}(40) {{/U}} expect to stay in top form."

单选题The questions in this group are based on the content of a passage. After reading the passage, choose the best answer to each question. Answer all questions following the passage on the basis of what is stated or implied in the passage. Since the 1970s, a multitude of scientists from the fields of climatology, oceanography, and biology have been warning the governments of the world that unless human societies reduce their emissions of "greenhouse gases"--gases such as carbon dioxide and methane that increase the capacity of the atmosphere to retain heat--world-wide global warming caused by these gases will result in catastrophic consequences for people and the environment. In December 1997, a group of delegates from over 100 nations gathered together in Kyoto, Japan, in order to work out the details of the Kyoto Protocol to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change, the most comprehensive international effort to date to combat the rise of greenhouse gas emissions. The chief goal of the Kyoto Protocol is for industrialized nations to reduce their emissions of green-house gases by 5.2 percent compared to 1990 levels. The gases targeted by the protocol are carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, sulfur hexafluoride, HFCs, and PFCs. The protocol contains some provisions for developing nations, but as the per-capita emissions of greenhouse gases from these nations are much lower than those of industrialized nations, the majority of the reductions called for by the protocol come from the European Union (8 percent reduction from 1990 levels), the United States (7 percent reduction), and Japan (6 percent reduction). Proponents of the Kyoto Protocol maintain that although it is not sufficient by itself to halt global warming, it represents an important first step toward a sustainable global economy. These proponents argue that most of the reductions in green-house gases can be achieved through improvements in efficiency and the use of cleaner fuels. While they concede that the provisions of the protocol may slow economic growth in affected nations, they maintain that the potential economic costs are far outweighed by the benefits of avoiding the ravages of global warming, which they say could include rising sea levels, erratic weather patterns, and long-term reductions in biodiversity. Critics of the Kyoto Protocol argue that it is unnecessary, unfair, and too costly to implement. It is unnecessary, they maintain, because the scientific community is still divided on the questions of whether global warming is happening and, if it is, whether human activity is the cause. They say it is unfair because the provisions primarily limit the emissions growth of industrialized nations while giving free rein to developing nations such as India, which actually emit more greenhouse gases than many industrialized nations, and that this situation will give the developing nations an economic edge in the global marketplace. Furthermore, they argue, the costs of switching fuels and limiting energy use will severely damage the economy, and the negative effects of this economic depression will outweigh any theoretical gains to be had by delaying global warming.

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

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