单选题 Questions 17～20 are based on the following talk on the legal system in Great Britain. You now have 20 seconds to read Questions 17～20.

单选题Questions 14 to 16 are based on the following conversation on a taxi ride between the driver (the man) and a passenger (the woman). You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 14 to 16.

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Widespread losses of plant species and varieties are eroding the foundations of agricultural productivity and threatening other plant-based products used by billions of people worldwide. Plants provide us with irreplaceable resources. The genetic diversity of cultivated plants is essential lo breeding more productive and disease-resistant crop varieties. But with changes in agriculture that diversity is slipping away. Biotechnology is no solution to this loss of genetic diversity. We are increasingly skillful at moving genes around, but only nature can create them. If a plant with a unique genetic trait disappears, there is no way to get it back. The effects of plant loss extend far beyond agriculture. One in every four medicines prescribed in the U.S. is based on a chemical compound originally found in a plant. Worldwide, some 3.5 billion people in developing countries rely on plant-based medicine for their primary health care. Loss of habitat from forest clearance for logging and agriculture, pressure from nonnative species and overharvesting have put one out of every eight plant species at risk of extinction. It is not just obscure or seemingly unimportant plants that are in trouble. Those that we rely upon most heavily are also declining. About two-thirds of all rare and endangered plants in the U.S. are close relatives of cultivated species. Crop breeders often turn to wild relatives of crops for key traits, like disease resistance, when they cannot find those traits in cultivated varieties. Many medicinal plants are in trouble from overharvesting and destruction of habitat. The bark of the African cherry tree is widely used in Europe for treating prostate disorders, but the medicinal trade has led to severe depletion of the tree where it grows in the highlands of Cameroon and other Central African countries. Since fewer than 1% of all plant species have been screened for bioactive compounds, every loss of a unique habitat and its species is potentially a loss of future drugs and medicines. Until recently, gene banks, botanical gardens and protected areas have been the first line of defense in maintaining the diversity of plant life. The world' s 1,600 botanical gardens collectively tend tens of thousands of plant species. But these conventional approaches need significantly higher levels of support. Many conservation facilities must scrape by on increasingly scarce funding, particularly those nm by national government. Additional steps must be taken to reform policies and practices that work against plant diversity. Those who garner the benefits of plant diversity, such as agribusiness and pharmaceutical consumers, should acknowledge and support those who maintain it, including indigenous cultures and national gene banks. Through benefit-sharing agreements, international conservation endowments and grass-root development projects attuned to the links between cultural and biological diversity, many options exist for supporting plant diversity rather than diminishing it.

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单选题WhatfoodisnotprovidedformostBritishchildrenatschool?A.Ahot,cookedmeal.B.Apackedlunch.C.Burgers&pizzas.D.Healthyfood.

单选题Whatdoesthespeakersuggestthatthestudentsshoulddoduringtheterm?A.Consultwithherfrequently.B.Usethecomputerregularly.C.Occupythecomputerearly.D.Waitforone'sturnpatiently.

单选题Which of the following statcments is INCORRECT about "Naturalism"?[A] It appeared after 1830 and marked the maturity of American romanticism.[B] It is a term created by French novelist, Emile Zola.[C] Naturalistic writers believed that opinions and morality were controlled by social, economic and psychological causes.[D] Naturalistic writers were philosophical pessimists.

单选题Professor Charles R. Schwenk's research shows ______.

单选题 {{I}}Questions 11～13 are based on the following conversation. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 11～13.{{/I}}

单选题 {{B}} Questions 17 to 20 are based on the following biographies for the presidential candidates in US 2008. You now have 20 seconds to read Questions 17 to 20.{{/B}}

单选题Which of the following statements is true about insurance products?

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Managers spend a great deal of their time in meetings. According to Henry Mintzbery, in his book, The Nature of Managerial Work, managers in large organizations spend only 22 per cent of their time on meetings. So what are the managers doing in those meetings? There have conventionally been two answers. The first is the academic version: Managers are coordinating and controlling, making decisions, solving problems and planning. This interpretation has been largely discredited because it ignores the social and political forces at work in meetings. The second version claims that meetings provide little more than strategic sites for corporate gladiators to perform before the organizational emperors. This perspective is far more attractive, and has given rise to a large, and often humorous, body of literature on gamesmanship and posturing in meetings. It is, of course, true that meeting rooms serve as shop windows for managerial talent, but this is far from the truth as a whole. The suggestion that meetings are actually battle grounds is misleading since the raison d'etre of meetings has far more to do with comfort than conflict. Meetings are actually vital props, both for the participants and the organization as a whole. For the organization, meetings represent recording devices. The minutes of meetings catalogue the change of the organization, at all levels, in a more systematic way than do the assorted memos and directives which are scattered about the company. They enshrine the minutes of corporate history, they itemize proposed actions and outcomes in a way which makes one look like the natural culmination of the other. The whole tenor of the minutes is one of total premeditation and implied continuity. They are a sanitized version of reality which suggests a reassuring level of control over events. What is more, the minutes record the debating of certain issues in an official and democratic forum, so that those not involved in the process can be assured that decision was not taken lightly. As Dong Bennett, an administrative and financial manager with Allied Breweries, explains: "Time and effort are seen to have been invested in scrutinizing a certain course of action. " Key individuals are also seen to have put their names behind that particular course of action. The decision can therefore proceed with the full weight of the organization behind it, even if it actually went through" on the nod ". At the same time, the burden of responsibility is spread, so that no individual takes the blame. Thus, the public nature of formal meetings confers a degree of legitimacy on what happens in them. Having a view pass unchallenged at a meeting can be taken to indicate consensus. However, meetings also serve as an alibi for action, as demonstrated by one manager who explained to his subordinates: "I did what I could to prevent it—I had our objections minutes in two meetings. "The proof of conspicuous effort was there in black and white. By merely attending meetings, managers buttress their status, while non-attendance can carry with it a certain stigma. Whether individual managers intend to make a contribution or not, it is satisfying to be considered one of those whose views matter. Ostracism, for senior managers, is not being invited to meetings. As one cynic observed, meetings are comfortingly tangible: "Who on the shop floor really believes that managers are working when they tour the works? But assemble them behind closed doors and call it a meeting and everyone will take it for granted that they are hard at work. " Managers are being seen to earn their corn. Meetings provide managers with another form of comfort too—that of formality. Meetings follow a fixed format: Exchanges are ritualized, the participants are probably known in advance, there is often a written agenda, and there is a chance to prepare. Little wonder then, that they come as welcome relief from the upheaval and uncertainty of life outside the meeting room. Managers can draw further comfort from the realization that their peers are every bit as bemused and fallible as themselves. Meetings provide constant reminders that they share the same problems, preoccupations and anxieties, that they are all in the same boat. And for those who may be slightly adrift, meetings are ideal occasions for gently pulling them round. As Steve Styles, the process control manager (life services) at Legal & General, puts it: "The mere presence of others in meetings adds weight to teasing or censure and helps you to 'round up the strays'. " Such gatherings therefore provide solace and direction for the management team—a security blanket for managers. Meetings do serve a multitude of means as well as ends. They relieve managerial stress and facilitate consensus. For the organization, they have a safety-net-cum-rubber-stamping function without which decisions could not proceed, much less gather momentum. In short, meetings are fundamental to the well-being of managers and organizations alike.

单选题 Paolo Fril, chairman and scientific officer of GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. The dream is a dragon in every home. GeneDupe's business is biotech pets. Not for Dr. Fill, though, the cloning of dead cats and dogs. He plans a range of entirely new animals—or, rather, of really quite old animals, with the twist that when they did exist, it was only in the imagination. Making a mythical creature real is not easy. But GeneDupe's team of biologists and computer scientists reckon they are equal to the task. Their secret is a new field, which they call "virtual cell biology". Biology and computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—in one case electronic; in the other, biochemical. Virtual cell biology aspires to make a software model of a cell that is accurate in every biochemical detail. That is possible because all animal cells use the same parts list—mitochondria for energy processing, the endoplasmic reticulum for making proteins, Golgi body for protein assembly, and so on. Armed with their virtual cell, GeneDupe's scientists can customize the result so that it belongs to a particular species, by loading it with a virtual copy of that animal's genome. Then, if the cell is also loaded with the right virtual molecules, it will behave like a fertilized egg, and start dividing and developing—first into embryo, and ultimately into an adult. Because this "growth" is going on in a computer, it happens fast. Passing from egg to adult in one of GeneDupe's enormous Mythmaker computers takes less than a minute. And it is here that Charles Darwin gets a look in. With such a short generation time, GeneDupe's scientists can add a little evolution to their products. Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, griffin, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and an eagle for the griffin). The virtual genomes of these real animals are then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the others are culled. Using this rapid evolutionary process, GeneDupe's scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just embarking, is to do it for real. This involves synthesizing, with actual DNA, the genetic material that the computer models predict will produce the mythical creatures. The synthetic DNA is then inserted into a cell that has had its natural nucleus removed. The result, Dr. Fill and his commercial backers hope, will be a real live dragon, unicorn or what you have. Dr. Fril is confident about his new idea. Indeed, if be can get the dragon's respiration correct, he thinks they will set the world on fire.

单选题The language of the passage is mostly

单选题Evolutionary theories. The Belgian George Lemaitre proposed the idea that about 20,000 million years ago all the matter in the universe — enough, he estimated, to make up a hundred thousand million galaxies — was all concentrated in one small mass, which he called the "primeval atom". This primeval atom exploded for some reasons, sending its matter out in all directions, and as the expansion slowed down, a steady state resulted, at which time the galaxies formed. Something then upset the balance and the universe started expanding again, and this is the state in which the universe is now. There are variations on this theory: it may be that there was no steady state. However, basically, evolutionary theories take it that the universe was formed in one place at one point in time and has been expanding ever since. Will the universe continue to expand? It may be that the universe will continue to expand for ever, but some astronomers believe that the expansion will slow down and finally stop. Thereafter the universe will start to contract until all the matter in it is once again concentrated at one point. Possibly the universe may oscillate for ever in this fashion, expanding to its maximum and then contracting over again. The steady-state theory. Developed at Cambridge by Hoyle, Gold and Bodi, the steady-state theory maintains that the universe as a whole has always looked the same and always will. As the galaxies expand away from each other, new material is formed in some ways between the galaxies and makes up new galaxies to take place of those which have receded. Thus the general distribution of galaxies remains the same. How matter could be formed in this way is hard to see, but no harder than seeing why it should all form in one place at one time. How can we decide which of these theories is closer to the truth? The method is in principle quite simple. Since the very distant galaxies are thousands of millions of light years away, then we are seeing them as they were thousands of millions of years ago. If the evolutionary theory is correct, the galaxies were closer together in the past than they are now, and so distant galaxies ought to appear to be closer together than nearer ones. According to the steady-state theory there should be no difference. The evidence seems to suggest that there is a difference, that the galaxies were closer together than they are now, and so the evolutionary theory is partially confirmed and the steady-state theory — in its original form at least — must be rejected.

单选题Studies investigating fathers' involvement in child-rearing show that

单选题Defenders of special protective labor legislation for women often maintain that eliminating such laws would destroy the fruits of a century-long struggle for the protection of women workers. Even a brief examination of the historic practice of courts and employers would show that the fruit of such laws has been bitter; they are, in practice, more of a curse than a blessing. Sex-defined protective laws have often been based on stereotypical assumptions concerning women's needs and abilities, and employers have frequently used them as legal excuses for discriminating against women. After the Second World War, for example, businesses and government sought to persuade women to vacate jobs in factories, thus making room in the labor force for returning veterans. The revival or passage of state laws limiting the. daily or weekly work hours of women conveniently accomplished this. Employers had only to declare that overtime hours were a necessary condition of employment or promotion in their factory, and women could be quite legally fired, refused jobs, or kept at low wage levels, all in the name of "protecting" their health. By validating such laws when they are challenged by lawsuits, the courts have colluded over the years in establishing different, less advantageous employment terms for women than for men, thus reducing women's competitiveness on the job market. At the same time, even the most well-intentioned lawmakers, courts, and employers have often been blind to the real needs of women. The lawmakers and the courts continue to permit employers to offer employee health insurance plans that cover all known human medical disabilities except those relating to pregnancy and childbirth. Finally, labor laws protecting only special groups are often ineffective at protecting the workers who are actually in the workplace. Some chemicals, for example, pose reproductive risks for women of childbearing years; manufacturers using the chemicals comply with laws protecting women against these hazards by refusing to hire them. Thus the sex-defined legislation protects the hypothetical female worker, but has no effect whatever on the safety of any actual employee. The health risks to male employees in such industries cannot be negligible, since chemicals toxic enough to cause birth defects in fetuses or sterility in women are presumably harmful to the human metabolism. Protective laws aimed at changing production materials or techniques in order to reduce such hazards would benefit all employees without discriminating against any. In sum, protective labor laws for women are discriminatory and do not meet their intended purpose. Legislators should recognize that women are in the work force to stay, and that their needs—good health care, a decent wage, and a safe workplace—are the needs of all workers. Laws that ignore these facts violate women's rights for equal protection in employment.

单选题 {{I}}Questions 11 - 13 are based on the following talk. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 11 - 13.{{/I}}

单选题{{B}}PartB{{/B}}Inthefollowingarticlesomeparagraphshavebeenremoved.ForQuestions66～70,choosethemostsuitableparagraphfromthelistA-Ftofitintoeachofthenumberedgaps.Thereisoneparagraphwhichdoesnotfitinanyofthegaps.MarkyouranswersonANSWERSHEET1.Itwasamomentmostbusinessexecutiveswouldpausetosavor:latelastyear,GermansportinggoodspioneerAdidaslearnedthatafteryearsofdecliningmarketshare,thecompanyhadsprintedpastU.S.ReebokInternationaltotakethesecondplacebehindNikeintheraceforworldwidesales.ButRobertLouis-Dreyfus,therumpledFrenchmanwhonowrunsAdidas,anddidn'tevenstopforoneofhistrademarkHavanacigarsincelebration,worriedthatthecompanywouldgrowcomplacent.Instead,heandagroupoffriendsboughtFrenchsoccerclubOlympicdeMarseille"Nowthat'ssomethingIhavedreamedaboutsinceIwasakid."Louis-Dreyfussayswithanadolescentgrin.66.______.Withsalesinthefirstthreequartersof1996at2.5billion,upablithering30.7%over1995,it'shardtorecallthedismalshapeAdidaswasinwhenLouis-DreyfustookeveraschairmaninApril1993.Foundedin1920byAdiDassler,theinventorofthefirstshoesdesignedespeciallyforsports,thecompanyenjoyedanearmonopolyinathleticshoesuntilanupstartcalledNikeappearedinthe1970sandrodetherunningfadtoriches.Bytheearly1990sAdidashadcomeunderthecontrolofFrenchbusinessmanBernardTapie,whowaslaterjailedforbribingthreeFrenchsoccerplayer.AlthoughthecompanytriedtospruceupitsstaidimagewithateamofAmericandesigners,Adidaslostmorethan100millionin1992,promptingtheFrenchbanksthathadacquiredcontrolofthecompanyfromTapietobeginadesperatesearchforanewowner.67.______.Thetinker-lovingLouis-Dreyfusknewhehadbeendealtawinninghand.FollowingtheleadsetbyNikeinthe1970s,hemovedproductiontolow-wagefactoriesinChina,IndonesiaandThailandandsoldAdidas'Europeanfactories"foratokenoneDeutschemarkapiece.HehiredPeterMoore,aformerproductdesigneratNike,ascreativedirector,andsetupstudiosinGermanyfortheEuropeanmarketandinPortland,Qregon,fortheU.S.Hethenriskedeverythingbydoublinghisadvertisingbudget."Wewentfromamanufacturingcompanytoamarketingcompany,"saysLouis-Dreyfus."Itdidn'ttakeagenius—youjusthadtolookatwhatNikeandReebokweredoing.Itwaseasierforsomeonecomingfromtheoutside,withnobaggage,todoit,thanforsomebodyfrominsidethecompany."68.______."ThemarketingatAdidasisvery,verygoodrightnow,"saysEugenioDiMaria,editorofSportingGoodIntelligence,anindustrynewsletterperceivingAdidasasaveryyoungbrand."Thecompanyisparticularlystronginapparel,muchstrongerthanNikeandReebok."Although90%ofAdidasproductsforwearonstreetinsteadofsportsfields,Louis-DreyfusfeltthepreviousmanagementhadlostsightofAdidas'rootsasasportingproductscompany.Afterall,AdiDasslerinventedthescrew-instudforthesoccershoeandshodAmericanchampionJesseOwensinthe1936Olympics.Sohesoldofforfoldedothernon-corebrandsthatAdidashaddeveloped,includingLeCoqSportif,ArenaandPony.Europeisstillthecompany'slargestmarketbecauseAdidasdominatestheapparelindustryandthankstosoccer'smassivepopularitythere,Louis-Dreyfusisquicktosharecreditfortheturnaroundwithasmallgroupoffriendswhoboughtthecompanywithhimin1993.OneofthosefellowinvestorsisaformerIMScolleague,ChristianTourres,nowsalesdirectoratAdidas."we'reprettycomplementarybecauseFmabitofadreamer,soit'sgoodtohavesomebodyknockingonyourheadtoremindyouthere'sabudget,"saysLouis-Dreyfus.Commutingtothefirm'sheadquartersintheBavariantownofHerzogenaurachfromhislakesidehouseoutsideZurich,Louis-DreyfusalsotransformedAdidasfromastodgyGermancompanyintoabusinesswithaglobaloutlook.Appalledonhisfirstdayatworkthatthechiefexecutivehadtosignasalesman'stravelvoucherfor300,heslashedthecompany'sbureaucracy,adoptedAmericanaccountingrulesandbroughtininternationalmanagementtalent.Thecompany'schieffinancialofficerisAustralianandtheinternationalmarketingmanagerisaSwede.EnglishistheofficiallanguageoftheheadofficeandnoGermansremainonthemanagingbeardofthecompany,nowwhittleddowntojusthimselfandafewtrustedaides."Itwasclearweneededdecentralizationandfinancialcontrols,"recallsLouis-Dreyfus."WithGermanaccountingrules,IneverknewifIwasmakingmoneyorlosing."69.______."Hegivesyoualotoffreedom,"saysMichaelMichalsky,a29-year-oldGermanwhoheadsthecompany'sappareldesignteam."Hehasneverinterferedwithadecisionandnevercomplained.He'sincrediblyeasytoworkfor."70.______.ThechallengeforLouis-Dreyfusistokeepsalesgrowinginanotoriouslytrend-drivenbusiness.IncontrasttotheboomatAdidas,forexample,Reebokreporteda3%lineinsalesinthethirdquarter.LastfallAdidasrolledoutanewlineofshoescalled"FeetYouWear"whicharesupposedtofitmorecomfortablythanconventionalsneakersbymatchingthenaturalcontourofthefoot.Thefirst500,000soldout.AdidasisanofficialsponsoroftheWorldCup,tobeheldnextJuneinFrance,whichthecompanyhopestoturntoamarketingbonanzathatwillbuildonthestrengthofsoccerworldwide.ButReebokalsohasintroducedanewlinecalledDMXSeries2000andcompetitionisexpectedtobefiercecomingspring.A.Justasthetransitionwastakingplace,Adidashadarunofgoodluck,Theficklefashiontrendsettersdecidedinearly1993thattheywantedthe"retrolook",andthethree-stripesAdidaslogo,whichhadbeenovertakenbyNikeswoop,wassuddenlyhotagain.ModelssuchasCindyCrawfordandClaudiaSchifferandascoreofrockidolsportedAdidasgearontelevision,infilmsandmusicvideos,givingthecompanyafreepublicitybonanza.DemandforAdidasproductssoared.B.Louis-Dreyfus,scionofaprominentFrenchtradingdynastywithanM.B.A.formHarvard,earnedareputationasadoctortosickcompaniesafterturningaroundLondon-basedmarketresearchfirmIMS-afeatthatbroughthimmorethan10millionwhenthecompanywaseventuallysold.HelaterservedaschairmanofSaatchi&Saatchithentheworld'slargestadagency,whichcalledhiminwhenrapidgrowthsentprofitsintoatailspin.WithnoothercompanyorentrepreneurwillingtogambleonAdidas,Louis-Dreyfusgotanincrediblebargainfromthebanks:heandagroupoffriendsfromhisdaysatIMScontributedjust$10,000eachincashandsignedupfor$100millioninloansfor15%ofthecompanywithanoptiontobuytheremainderatafixedprice18monthslater.C.InanotherbreakwiththetraditionalGermanworkplace,Louis-Dreyfusmadecorporatelifealmostgratinglyinformal:employeesostentatiouslycalledhim"Rowbear"ashestridesdownthecorridors,andbankersarestillamazedwhencounterpartsfromAdidasshowupfornegotiationswearingsweatshirtsandsneakers.D.Thecompany'spayroll,whichhadreachedahighof14,600in1986,wasparedbacktojust4,600in1994.(Ithassincegrowntoover6,000.)E.Asportsfunwhoclaimshehasn'tmissedattendingasoccerWorldCupfinalsincethe1970sortheOlympicGamessince1968,the50-year-oldLouis-Dreyfusnowiseminentlywellplacedtoliveoutmanyofhisboyhoodfantasies.NotonlyhasheturnedAdidasintoaglobalcompanywithmarketcapitalizationof$4billion(heownsstockworth$250million),buthealsohasendorsementcontractswithahost.ofsportsheroesfromtennisgreatSteffiGraftotrack'sDonovanBailey,andconsidersitpartofthejobtowatchhisstarathletesperformonthefield."Thereareveryfewchancesinlifetohavesuchfun."hesays.F.Afterreducinglossesin1993,Adidasturnedtoaprofitin1994andhascontinuedtosurge:netincomeforthefirstthreequartersin1996wasarecord$214million,up29%fromthepreviousyear.Louis-Dreyfusandhisfriendsmade"greatpersonalfortuneswhenthecompanywentpublicin1995.Theoriginalinvestorsstillown26%ofthestock,whichsoldfor$46asharewhentradinghasdoubledto$90.