单选题Even today in the modern, developed world, surveys show that parents still prefer to have a boy rather than a girl. One longstanding reason why boys have been 1 as a greater blessing has been that they arc 2 to become better economic providers 3 their parents" old age. Yet it is time for parents to 4 again. Girls may now be a better investment. Girls get better 5 at school than boys, and in most developed countries more women than men go to 6 Women will thus be better 7 for the new jobs of the 21st century, in which brains 8 a lot more than physical strength. In Britain far more women than men are now 9 to become doctors. And women are more 10 to provide sound advice on investing their parents" nest egg. Surveys show that women consistently 11 higher financial returns than men do. 12 , the increase in female employment in the rich world has been the main 13 force of growth in the past couple of decades. Those women have 14 more to global GDP growth than have either new technology or the new giants, China and India. Add the 15 of housework and child-rearing, and women probably account 16 just over half of the world output. It is 17 that women still get paid less and few 18 it to the top of companies, but, 19 prejudice fades over coming years, women will have great scope to 20 their productivity and incomes.

单选题Would it help you if you could read twice as fast as you read now? How about twenty times as fast, and with better comprehension? The human 1 is capable of seeing and understanding material as fast as one can turn pages, and some people do read 2 fast. John Stuart Mill, Theodore Roosevelt, and John F. Kennedy were all 3 fast readers, 4 have been many others. They were what 5 known as gifted readers; those who read very fast with excellent comprehension. Gifted readers come from every walk of life, for reading is a skill not 6 to age, occupation, heredity, or intelligence. The only reason that you may not read fast now is because your natural gifts may have been smothered in school. The 7 reading is taught in most public schools is the same technique 8 a century ago. 9 , the average American reads at about the same rate today as 100 years ago. Most people read 10 100 and 400 words per minute, the national average. But slow readers are severely penalized throughout life and are simply unable to 11 because of the tremendous volume of reading required today. In theory, the only things that should decide reading rate are the student"s background in the subject, the purpose for reading the 12 material, and the ability to turn pages. Some readers, tested in difficult textbook material, have read thousands of words per minute with 13 comprehension. That"s over a dozen pages per minute. Yet some of these same super readers 14 to read at the rate of only 200 words per minute. So it is certainly possible for the 15 reader to increase his or her reading speed considerably. What limits your reading rate? Poor habits, such as sub vocalization, regression, prolonged fixation, and 16 eye movement. These poor habits cause tired eyes, boredom, low speeds, and low comprehension. It is not ability 17 you lack, it is training. Because we are taught to read at 100 to 400 words per minute, we are led to believe this is our "normal rate. " But these rates are no more normal than 10 or 10000 words per minute. Improving your rate only 18 proper training and time. A book 19 give the kind of help necessary to make a dramatic increase in your reading skills. But, 20 you can get some professional help from a well-trained, rapid reading instructor, there are some positive steps you can take.

单选题 (B) Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them: our purpose is to fit them for life. As soon as we realize this fact, we will understand that it is very important to choose a system of education which will really prepare children for life. It is not enough just to choose the first system of education one finds; or to continue with one's old system of education without examining it to see whether it is in fact suitable or not. In many modern countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that, by free education for all--whether rich or poor, clever or stupid--one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough: we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degrees than there are jobs for them to fill. Because of their degrees, they refuse to do what they think "low" work; and, in fact, work with the hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor: we can live without education, but we die if we have no food. In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever job is suited to his brain and ability and, secondly, that we can realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that it is very bad to be ashamed of one's work, or to scorn someone else's. Only such a type of education can be called valuable to society.

单选题All the people ______ enjoyed their afternoon visit to the laboratory. A. related B. connected C. involving D. concerned

单选题The house ______ Lucy grew up has been taken down and replaced by an office building.

单选题I learned how to accept life as it is from my father. 1 , he did not teach me acceptance when he was strong and healthy, but rather when he was 2 and ill. My father was 3 a strong man who loved being active, but a terrible illness 4 all that away. Now he can no longer walk, and he must sit quietly in a chair all day. Even talking is 5 One night, I went to visit him with my sisters. We started 6 about life, and I told them about one of my 7 I said that we must very often give things up 8 we grow our youth, our beauty, our friends--but it always 9 that after we give something up, we gain something new in its place. Then suddenly my father 10 up. He said, "But, Peter, I gave up 11 ! What did I gain?" I thought and thought, but I couldn"t think of anything to say. 12 , he answered his own question: "I 13 the love of my family," I looked at my sisters and saw tears in their eyes, along with hope and thankfulness. I was also 14 by his words. After that, when I began to feel irritated(愤怒 的) at someone, I 15 remember his words and become 16 . If he could replace his great pain with a feeling of love for others, then I should be 17 to give up my small irritations. In this 18 , I learned the power of acceptance from my father. Sometimes I 19 what other things I could have learned from him if I had listened more carefully when I was a boy. For now, though, I am grateful for this one 20 .

单选题______ that they can beat a master at the chess match.

单选题What"s the best way to carry money safely while you are traveling? There are three possibilities—personal checks from your country, traveler"s checks and credit cards. Some American banks accept foreign checks such as Eurocheques (欧洲支票); the problem is that only those banks that are used to dealing with foreigners will know what Eurocheques are. It may be more convenient to carry travelers checks, which can usually be replaced against the note (支票购买凭证) if lost or stolen. You can use traveler"s checks almost anywhere. And traveler"s checks do not expire, so unused cheques can be kept by the purchaser to spend at any time in the future. Traveler"s checks are available in several currencies such as US dollars , Canadian dollars , pounds sterling , Japanese yen , and euro ; Denominations are usually 20, 50, or 100. If you run out of them, you can buy more at most banks. Americans would say the best way to carry money is to have a credit card. Credit cards can be canceled if they are lost or stolen. And because they are widely accepted in the US, it is easy to use them to pay all kinds of bills.

单选题The new drug will not be put on the market ______ it has proved safe on humans.

单选题Most pupils in China are too shy to speak ______.

单选题______most school teachers were men, but today there are more women than men. A. At once B. At one time C. At present D. At the time

单选题People in our village respected him because he was a doctor with a ______ position in society.

单选题A smell of newly ______ bread comes from the kitchen.

单选题Kyle doesn"t like white coffee, nor does he like to put cream on his strawberries, because he prefers them ______.

单选题Not everybody believed his claim that he was innocent.

单选题It never occurred to me ______ you could succeed in persuading him to change his mind.

单选题 (D) The way in which memory takes place is not known. Some psychologists (心理学家) think that there is a physical change in the brain ceils or nerves when learning takes place. Psychologists are also unable to say what makes people forget. Some things are forgotten quickly while others are always remembered. Sometimes a person seems to have forgotten certain material completely, yet is able to relearn the material more quickly than when he first learned it. In trying to understand memory, psychologists have done a lot of experiments. Psychologists have found that the conditions under which something is learned have an effect on how well it is remembered. When a great deal of material is to be learned, for example, to learn one thing at a time is better than to learn many things at a time. A person then learns more quickly and remembers better. Learning two similar things one after the other seems to have a bad effect on memory. When a person memorizes two sets of historical dates, one after the other, for example, he may mix up the two--the learning of new material prevents the remembering of the already learned material. Most forgetting takes place in the first day or so after learning. After that, forgetting happens more slowly. Material that is understood--such as ideas or riddles (谜语)--is not so easily forgotten. Very little forgetting takes place in time if an idea is well understood. The more meaningful the learned material is, the better it will be remembered.

单选题The poor mother was anxious with suspicion that her son was really guilty as charged.

单选题Mary"s father has agreed ______ her marrying John.

单选题He is ______ a writer.