问答题An army scientist has helped solve the decades-old murder mystery surrounding the last Russian czar. The bones unearthed in a shallow grave definitely are those of Czar Nicholas II, said Lt. Col (Dr.) Victor Weedn at an Aug. 31 news conference. Weedn heads the Armed Forces DNA Identification Laboratory in Rockville, Md., which is involved in identifying skeletal remains of U. S. service members who served in Vietnam, Korea and World War II. The attempt to identify the czar presented a special challenge. The armed forces lab was the perfect place to perform the type of genetic testing on old, deteriorating bones that was needed in this case, he said. Until the announcement, scientists had not been able to say for sure whether the bones were those of the czar. Russian DNA expert Pavel Ivanov, who with Weedn oversaw a team of U. S. military civilians tasked to identify the remains, reached the same conclusion. Nicholas and his family were rounded up by the Bolsheviks and executed by firing squad in 1918. Their bodies were dumped into a pool of sulfuric acid 20 miles outside the Ural Mountain city of Yekaterinburg. The shallow grave was uncovered in 1979. Bone fragments believed to be those of the czar, the Czarina Alexandra and three of their five children were unearthed in 1991. While investigators were able to positively identify the czarina and the daughters early on, a rare, benign genetic condition that first showed up in his generation did not allow them to make a positive identification of Nicholas II. Rare mutation the key In the end, it was that genetic mutation which provided the key to solving the mystery, Weedn said. Nicholas" brother, whose remains were exhumed in July 1994, turned out to have the same mutation in his genetic makeup. It is so rare that it makes the identification absolute, he said. If Russian authorities accept that finding, it will clear the way for the ceremonial burial of the last emperor of Russia. But the new evidence did not satisfy all skeptics. Emigre Eugene Magerovsky, a retired Russian military intelligence officer, interrupted the news conference to say he was suspicious of how the bones "suddenly" came to light during the Soviet era. "The Soviets have always been masters of all kinds of shenanigans," he said. He suggested the investigators may have been given two bones from the same corpse, in which case the DNA would have had to match. Weedn ruled that out, as the tibia and femur from the same side of each body were used in the testing. Ivanov, a forensic science professor in charge of identifying the remains of the last czar and his family, brought the femur bones—as well as a blood sample from a living relative— to the Rockville laboratory in June. Much evidence lost Years of exposure to minerals in the soil destroyed much of the genetic evidence in the bone, Weedn said. Still, through a painstaking process of grinding up bone, reproducing the genetic material from the dust and comparing the results over and over again, the team was able to reach its conclusion. One mystery Weedn and Ivanov did not address was that of the czar"s daughter, Anastasia. Whether she somehow escaped the Bolsheviks" bullets has been the topic of intense debate for more than half a century. The grave yielded bones from only three of the five daughters. Still unresolved is whether Anastasia or Marie might have survived, along with the sickly heir, Alexis. Weedn, whose laboratory has tested two women who claimed to be Anastasia, found they were not. A third who sought testing has not sent in blood samples for testing, he added. On-again, off-again pairing Weedn was approached by Ivanov four years ago about becoming involved in the DNA testing of Nicholas II. But his team—including some FBI experts—was replaced by another team of top civilian American forensic scientists. In addition, the British Forensic Science Service in 1992 determined there was a 98.5 percent probability the bones were the czar"s. Weedn and Ivanov"s paths crossed again two years later, when another joint investigation was proposed. But that, too, failed to materialize, Weedn said. Finally, earlier this year, the Russians approached the Armed Forces Institute of Pathology and asked whether Ivanov could come and work with Weedn at the Rockville laboratory. "There is no question that the greatest experience in DNA identification of old skeletal remains is here at the Armed Forces DNA Lab," Weedn said.

问答题What a noble medium the English language is. It is not possible to write a page without experiencing positive pleasure at the richness and variety, the flexibility and the profoundness of our mother-tongue. If an English writer cannot say what he has to say in English, and in simple English, it is probably not worth saying. What a pity that English is not more generally studied. I am not going to attack classical education. No one who has the slightest pretension to literary tastes can be insensible to its attraction. But I confess our present educational system excites in my mind grave misgivings, which I cannot believe is the best or even reasonable, a system that thrusts upon reluctant and uncomprehending multitudes treasures which can only be appreciated by the privileged and gifted few. To the vast majority of children who attend our public schools; classical education is from beginning to end long, useless and meaningless. If I am told that classical subjects are the best preparation for the study of English, I reply that by far this preparatory stage is incomplete and without deriving any of the benefits which are promised as its result.

问答题有两个大款附庸风雅，参加一个冷餐会。与会者中自然不乏真正的名流学者。席间，一位学者与其中的大款甲闲聊，话题不知怎么扯到莎士比亚身上。学者问大款甲：“先生是否对莎士比亚最有兴趣?”大款甲顿了顿，旋即正色道：“相比之下，还是威士忌合我口味。”这时，大家都暗自窃笑。大款乙也看出了苗头，悻悻然走开。在回来的小车上，大款乙教训大款甲说：“你真一点都不懂，莎士比亚是饮料，你怎么把它当洋酒了!”

问答题What does Keith Ferrazzi mean by saying "I don't even like the word 'network'"? (Para. 1)

问答题At a recent Internet culture conference at the MIT in Cambridge, a local ice-cream shop offered to make a custom flavor for the event. After some discussion, the organizers decided that it should be vanilla ice cream mixed with Nerds candies, "because the Internet is primarily white and nerdy," explains Chris Csikszentmihalyi, who directs the MIT Center for Future Civic Media. While a joke, the ice-cream flavor was also a serious commentary on the digital divide that has grown between those who created the Internet--mostly affluent, white, male programmers--and the billions of people with whom they share little in common. There's a push among development specialists to provide more people with Internet connections and the assumption that these new Web citizens can then reap the same benefits as communities who've long been online. This may not be the case, however. While few people dispute the value of getting the world online, many Internet experts say that current Web content has little relevance and thus little appeal to those whose lifestyle is worlds away from programmers in the United States and Europe. If the majority of the world is to use the Web for more than just a few basic functions, Internet developers must address this gap. Even in the US, this has proved to be a problem. A new study at Northwestern University found that, among Americans, those from privileged backgrounds tend to have much higher skill levels and use the Web for more activities than those from less affluent families with equal Internet access. "Just because people gain access doesn't mean that now they know how to use the Internet," says the author Eszter Hargittai, "Even if we put a lot of effort into connecting more people [the concern is that] even once people obtain access, we will continue to observe considerable variation in their skills and online behavior. " For those outside the US, crossing the digital divide may seem even more daunting. In the Middle East, since 2000, Internet use has grown faster than anywhere else in the world. Although there are more Arabs online every day and their language is the world's fifth most widely spoken, less than 1 percent of Web content is in Arabic. Within the region, Jordan has been one of the most active countries bridging the digital divide. Here the information technology (IT) sector enjoys strong support from King Abdullah II and makes up 12 percent of the nation's GDP. According to StartupArabia, a website dedicated to tracking Arab tech companies, only the United Arab Emirates has surpassed Jordan in the number of start-ups. "Jordan doesn't have resources. We don't have oil; we don't have any major mineral resources; the only thing we have is education," says Khamis Omar, dean of the IT department at the Princess Sumaya University for Technology in Amman. Despite these successes, Jordan is still on the far side of the perceived chasm. Only 54 percent of Jordanian homes have a personal computer and about 30 percent of people use the Internet. Of those who don't have computers, about half said they couldn't afford them while 40 percent said they didn't need them. In some regards, it may take decades for the Internet, like other technological revolutions, to take firm root outside its place of origin, says Steven Low, a computer science professor at the California Institute of Technology in Pasadena. "It takes time not only for the technology to mature, but also for [a different] society to learn how to use it and then adapt how you live or how you work to make the most use of it," he says. "That process has been going on in the developed world for the last several decades in terms of IT … but it's only starting for the developing world. " In the meantime, Robert Fadel of the nonprofit One Laptop Per Child says one of the most important things is to continue making technology available to more people so they can find ways to make it applicable to their lives. In the past two years, OLPC has helped distribute 1.5 million laptops to children in 35 countries. "Children with the support of their community and their parents and teachers, will find it all out, they will discover it. We can help them out by giving them the freedom and the access to use such tools," says Mr. Fadel. He adds that worrying that people might not get the full benefit of the Internet because they don't know how to use it, is like worrying that people may not benefit from a library if no one explains how to use it. Still, Mr. Hargittai says that, for real Internet equality, it will likely take more than simply putting the tools in people's hands. Organizations working to bridge the divide must "devote resources to offering support, and potentially having a center where people can go for support, offering informal classes or instruction for the community," she says. She adds that any classes would need to effectively target the necessary audience, as many people may not know how much more they have to learn.1.What is the digital divide discussed in the passage? What does such a social gap tell us?

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问答题 Questions 4～6 Some people might want a "double tall skinny hazelnut decal latte", but Howard Schultz is not one of them. The chairman and "chief global strategist" of the Starbucks coffee chain prefers a Sumatra roast with no milk, no sugar and poured from a French press—the kind of pure coffee, in fact, favored by those coffee snobs who sneer at Starbucks, not just for its bewildering variety of choice and flavors (55,000 different drinks, by the company's count), but for its very ubiquity—over 10,500 locations around the world, increasing at a rate of five a day, and often within sight of each other. Starbucks knows it cannot ignore its critics. Anti-globalization protesters have occasionally trashed its coffee shops; posh neighborhoods in San Francisco and London have resisted the opening of new branches; and the company is a favorite target of internet critics, on sites like www. ihatestarbucks, com. Mr. Schultz is watchful, but relaxed: "We have to be extremely mindful and sensitive of the public's view of things... Thus far, we've done a pretty good job." Certainly, as reviled icons of American capitalism go, Starbucks is distinctly second division compared with big leaguers like, say, McDonald's. The reason, argues Mr. Schultz, is that the company has retained a "passion" for coffee and a "sense of humanity". Starbucks buys expensive beans and pays its growers—be they in Guatemala or Ethiopia—an average of 23 % above the market price. A similar benevolence applies to company employees. Where other corporations seek to unload the burden of employee benefits, Starbucks gives all American employees working at least 20 hours a week a package that includes stock options ("Bean Stock") and comprehensive health insurance. For Mr. Schultz, raised in a Brooklyn public-housing project, this health insurance-which now costs Starbucks more each year than coffee—is a moral obligation. At the age of seven, he came home to find his father, a lorry-driver, in a plaster cast, having slipped and broken an ankle. No insurance, no compensation and now no job. Hence what amounts to a personal crusade? Most of America's corporate chiefs steer clear of the sensitive topic of health-care reform. Not Mr. Schultz. He makes speeches, lobbies politicians and has even hosted a commercial-free hour of television, arguing for reform of a system that he thinks is simultaneously socially unjust and a burden on corporate America. Meanwhile the company pays its workers' premiums, even as each year they rise by double-digit percentages. The goal has always been "to build the sort of company that my father was never able to work for." By this he means a company that "remains small even as it gets big", treating its workers as individuals. Starbucks is not alone in its emphasis on "social responsibility", but the other firms Mr. Schultz cites off the top of his head—Timberland, Patagonia, Whole Foods—are much smaller than Starbucks, which has 100,000 employees and 35m customers. Indeed, size has been an issue from the beginning. Starbucks, named after the first mate in Herman Melville's "Moby Dick", was created in 1971 in Seattle's Pike Place Market by three hippie-ish coffee enthusiasts. Mr. Schuhz, whose first "decent cup of coffee" was in 1979, joined the company only in 1982—and then left it in 1985 after the founding trio, preferring to stay small, took fright at his vision of the future. Inspired by a visit to Milan in 1983, he had envisaged a chain of coffee bars where customers would chat over their espressos and cappuccinos. Following his dream, Mr. Schultz set up a company he called "I1 Giornale", which grew to modest three coffee bars. Then, somehow scraping together $ 3.8m ("I didn't have a dime to my name"), he bought Starbucks from its founders in 1987. Reality long ago surpassed the dream. Since Starbucks went public in 1992, its stock has soared by some 6,400%. The company is now in 37 different countries. China, which has over 200 stores, will eventually be its biggest market after America, and Russia, Brazil and India are all in line to be colonized over the next three years. The long-term goal is to double the number of American outlets to 15,000—not least by opening coffee shops along highways—and to have an equal number abroad. No doubt the coffee snobs will blanch at the prospect. Yet they miss three points. The first is that, thanks to Starbucks, today's Americans are no longer condemned to drink the insipid, over- percolated brew that their parents endured. The second, less recognized, is that because Starbucks has created a mass taste for good coffee, small, family-owned coffee houses have also prospered (and no one has ever accused Starbucks, with its $ 4 lattes, of undercutting the competition). The most important point, however, is that Mr. Schultz's Starbucks cultivates a relationship with its customers. Its stores sell carefully selected (no hip-hop, but plenty of world music and jazz) CD-compilations, such as Ray Charles's "Genius Loves Company". Later this year the company will promote a new film, "Akeelah and the Bee", and will take a share of the profits. There are plans to promote books. Customers can even pay with their Starbucks "Duetto" Visa card. Short of some health scare that would bracket coffee with nicotine, there is no obvious reason why Starbucks should trip up, however ambitious its plans and however misconceived the occasional project (a magazine called "Joe" flopped after three issues, and the Mazagran soft drink, developed with Pepsi, was also a failure). Mr. Schultz says: "I think we have the license from our customers to do more. " The key is that each Starbucks coffee house should remain "a third place", between home and work, fulfilling the same role as those Italian coffee houses that so inspired him 23 years ago.

问答题Questions for Reference: 1. Some incentive policies have been announced to lure back talented overseas students and scholars: high salaries, preferential treatment for their children's education, etc. Are these policies an effective way to halt the brain drain? 2. Will these policies destroy the fairness and equality in education, and damage the motivation of local talented people? 3. Could you recommend any other method to attract overseas students to work in China?

问答题The economic system of the United States is principally one of private ownership. In this system, consumers, producers and government make economic decisions on a daily basis, mainly through the price system. The dynamic interaction of these three groups makes the economy function The market's primary force, however, is the interaction of producers and consumers; hence the "market economy" designation As a rule, consumers look for the best values for what they spend while producers seek the best price and profit for what they have to sell. Government, at the federal, state, and local level, seeks to promote public security, assure reasonable competition, and provide a range of services believed to be better performed by public rather than private enterprises. Generally, there are three kinds of enterprises: single-owner operated businesses, partnerships and corporations. The first two are important, but it is the latter structure that best permits the amassing of large sums of money by combining the investments of many people who, as stockholders, can buy and sell their shares of the business at any time on the open market. Corporations make large-scale enterprises possible.

问答题Franklin"s life is full of charming stories which all young men should know—how he peddled ballads in Boston, and stood, the guest of kings, in Europe; how he worked his passage as a stowaway to Philadelphia, and rode in the queen"s own litter in France: how he walked the streets of Philadelphia, homeless and unknown, with three penny rolls for his breakfast, and dined at the tables of princes, and received his friends in a palace; how he raised a kite from a cow shed, and was showered with all the high degrees the colleges of the world could give; how he was duped by a false friend as a boy, and became the friend of all humanity as a man; how he was made Major General Franklin, only to resign because, as he said, he was no soldier, and yet helped to organize the army that stood before the trained troops of England and Germany. This poor Boston boy, with scarcely a day"s schooling, became master of six languages and never stopped learning; this neglected apprentice tamed the lightning, made his name famous, received degrees and diplomas from colleges in both hemispheres, and became forever remembered as "Doctor Franklin", philosopher, patriot, scientist, philanthropist and statesman. Self-made, self-taught, and self-reared, the candle maker"s son gave light to all the world; the street ballad seller set all men singing of liberty; the runaway apprentice became the most sought after man of two continents, and brought his native land to praise and honor him. He built America, —for what our Republic is today is largely due to the prudence, the forethought, the statesmanship, the enterprise, the wisdom, and the ability of Benjamin Franklin. He belongs to the world, but especially does he belong to America. As the nations honored him while living, so the Republic glorifies him when dead, and has enshrined him in the choicest of its niches—the one he regarded as the loftiest—the hearts of the common people, from whom he had sprung and in their hearts Franklin will liver forever.

问答题黄山有“四绝”——奇松、怪石、云海、温泉。黄山，集天下名山胜景于一身，气势磅礴，如梦如幻。“薄海内外，无如徽之黄山，登黄山天下无山，观止矣!”这是明代大旅行家徐霞客对她的评价。“五岳归来不看山，黄山归来不看岳，”这是众人对她的赞誉。黄山，中国十大风景名胜中唯一的山岳景观，蜚声海内外，名至实归的戴上了“世界文化与自然遗产”的桂冠。黄山与黄河、长江与长城齐名，是中华的又一象征。

问答题But above all, I see China's future in you--young people whose talent and dedication and dreams will do so much to help shape the 21st century. I've said many times that I believe that our world is now fundamentally interconnected. The jobs we do, the prosperity we build, the environment we protect, the security that we seek--all of these things are shared. And given that interconnection, power in the 21st century is no longer a zero-sum game; one country's success need not come at the expense of another. And that is why the United States insists we do not seek to contain China's rise. On the contrary, we welcome China as a strong and prosperous and successful member of the community of nations--a China that draws on the rights, strengths, and creativity of individual Chinese like you.

问答题In 2005, the recruitment examination for state civil servants attracted more than 540,000 applicants with more than 8,400 positions in 103 departments. According to the statistics of the Ministry of Personnel from 1996 to 2003, only about 1.2 percent of civil servants changed jobs every year, while in business the figure was about 10 percent. Topic: Why is civil servant a sought-after job? Questions for Reference: 1. What motivates the college graduates to be civil servants? 2. Do you prefer to be a civil servant or a company clerk? Why? 3. What can we learn from the fact that undergraduates rush to be civil servants?

问答题Directions: In this part of the test, you will hear 2 English passages. You will hear the passages ONLY ONCE. After you have heard each passage, translate it into Chinese and write your version in the corresponding space in your ANSWER BOOKLET. You may take notes while you are listening.

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问答题What does the author mean by "non-Netizens"? Who are those people?

问答题The three sacred words "duty", "honor" and "country" reverently dictate what you should be, what you can be, and what you will be. They urge you to build courage when courage seems to fail, to regain faith when there seems to be little cause for faith, to create hope when hope becomes abandoned. I am convinced that these words teach you to be proud and unbending in honest failure, but humble and gentle in success; not to substitute words for action; not to seek the path of comfort, but to face the stress of difficulty and challenge; to learn to stand up in the storm, but to have compassion on those who fall; to have a heart that is clean, a goal that is high; to learn to laugh, yet never forget how to weep; to reach into the future, yet never neglect the past; to be serious, yet never take yourself too seriously; to be modest so that you will remember the simplicity of true greatness, the open mind of true wisdom, the meekness of true strength. In short, these words teach you to be both a militant fighter and a gentleman.

问答题黄浦江纵横南北，把上海分为两部分。浦东因位于黄浦江以东而得名。本世纪20至30年代，随着以外滩为核心的金融、商贸区的建立，外商和我国民族资本家开始把经济活动伸向浦东地区。但黄浦江的阻隔，极大地影响了浦东的经济发展。浦江两岸形成了一边是万商云集的十里洋场，一边是以自然农作物为主的大片农田的鲜明对照。 自1990年中央宣布开放浦东以来，浦东新区的建设日新月异，突飞猛进。高楼大厦如雨后春笋，拔地而起，田园风光和现代建筑交相辉映，浦东正以崭新的面貌跨入新世纪。

问答题What is "hedge fund"? What impacts does it have on Asian countries?