单选题 McDonald's is having a bit of an identity crisis. Recently, the burger giant announced a 5.2% drop in profits for the first three months of this year and a l.7% decrease in same store sales in the US. President and CEO Don Thompson emphasized that McDonald's would be focusing on its core products, like its Big Mac, Egg McMuffin, and its famous French fries. Thompson's back-to-basics vow comes in response to the sort of menu creep the chain experienced last year, when it rolled out a seemingly endless stream of limited time offers, like its Mighty Wings, a steak and egg burrito (蛋卷饼), a steak breakfast sandwich and so on. It's vital that McDonald's craft a consistent message, so customers' expectations are met when they choose to eat there. When McDonald's first got off the ground in the 1940s, it had a nine-item menu made up of hamburger, cheeseburger, soft drinks, milk, coffee, potato chips, and a slice of pie. It built its iconic(标志性的) reputation on guaranteeing that these food and beverage items would have the same great taste no matter the McDonald's location at which they were served. Just as crucial, too much menu diversification, which McDonald's has suffered from lately, leads to longer customer wait times in an industry built on speed. 'What McDonald's workers do inside those four walls is really impressive. Everyone has their time and place, and their entire job is done in two or three steps,' says Howard Penney, managing director at Hedgeye Risk Management. Adding more processes that come with a bigger menu, specifically the smoothie(奶昔) and espresso machines, has disrupted McDonald's restaurants' time and motion, he says. It takes a lot longer to make a smoothie than it does to pour a fountain Coke. 'Everything they've done to become all things to all people has slowed service,' Penney says. Going back to its roots could be just what McDonald's needs. After all, it seems like a long shot for the fast food giant to become the next Chipotle or Panera since, as Penney puts lt, 'the core McDonald's customer is not looking for a wrap with a cucumber in it'.

单选题 Deborah Kenny's Born to Rise Tells Story of Harlem Village Academies [A] Deborah Kenny, CEO of the Harlem Village Academies, is frustrated with the Nation's current education system. Unlike most, though, she decided to do something about it. Part declaration part record, her book Born to Rise writes clown her journey toward creating and running her own system of progressive charter schools in Harlem in New York City. What is your educational philosophy? [B] We want our students to receive the same high-quality education as students who are privileged to attend the best private schools in the country. Personally, I believe a progressive education is superior as long as it's delivered by really smart, talented teachers who know how to execute well. It's a sophisticated approach that really only works well in the hands of a really sophisticated educator. [C] We're dealing with a little bit of a challenge because students enter this school from the regular public system. And when they enter in fifth grade, they're not yet well-trained in the basic reading, writing, and math—which means that we have to catch them up on basic math skills, on the basics of writing. And many of them come in at a kindergarten, first-grade or second-grade level in reading. So we have to accelerate their mastery of the basics, but we reject the idea that if you do that you can't teach that at a high level. [D] We push ourselves constantly to think about how we can make sure that our students will catch up while we teach at the highest possible level. It means asking difficult, delicate questions, not accepting an answer that is not backed up by evidence, the kinds of things that you would expect to see in the best private schools. We aim for a high level in rich discussions where the students are asked to analyze a challenging text and where the teacher does not accept just any answer simply because the student is behaving. What makes the Harlem Village Academies different? [E] First of all, I have to say what we have in common with other charter schools because we have learned so much from them: creating an expectation that all students will attend college, naming classrooms after colleges, the longer school day, the longer school year. I feel it's important to give credit where credit is due because I learned from them. In those early years when I opened the school, most of these other schools had been around for seven years, ten years, some of them even longer. [F] As far as what makes us different, I'll tell you what the teachers say: teachers tell us that the level of professionalism and passion for teaching at a high level and teaching above the test, not to the test, and working in an environment, where everybody is trusted to do their job and continually learning—there's this incredible culture of learning. There's this incredible workplace culture where the adults are continually becoming better and learning more about how to become a better leader. [G] The teachers get to make all of the decisions about their own professional development rather than being enforced to attend the training. They are treated like professional-grade doctors and lawyers at the highest level. They actually make the decisions not only about what books to use and what teaching method to use, but even about what their own professional development looks like. [H] There's a very clear set of standards for what the students need to know and be able to do at the end of each year and quarter, and we hold teachers accountable for that end goal. But we give them complete freedom to decide how they're going to achieve it, which is how all professionals are treated. Unfortunately, it's not how most teachers are treated in this country. Most teachers are treated like factory workers, where there's a set of rules on how they have to do everything. What does the curriculum look like at Harlem Village Academy schools? [I] It looks like a classic liberal-arts curriculum, where math, reading and writing are not the only subjects taught. Even if the state focuses its testing on those things, we do not let the state dictate our curriculum. We are interested in a rich curriculum that includes art, music, science and social studies and a wide variety of electives. And character education is integrated throughout. How do you address the criticisms people have regarding charter schools? [J] I'd say that the main criticisms are stemming from the fact that in a charter system the teachers are not unionized, and they're treated as professionals instead of as manual laborers. The charter movement is challenging the current situation, it's coming along and saying we used to completely change the underlying premiere (前提) of how we go about public education. We should give power to all parents, regardless of socioeconomic level, to choose where they send their child, and that creates market competition: if you have an amazing school with caring teachers and great results, parents are going to choose that school. The charter movement is putting the needs of children first. It challenges the notion of tenure (终身教职), where there's no accountability at all. What's next for you and the Harlem Village Academies? [K] We are going to triple (增至三倍) in size in the next two years. We will have a full K-12 system. We're starting two new elementary schools, we will be serving 2,000 children, but we are not eager to grow super big. We want to use the platform of what we're learned and the results that we've produced. And building a team where teachers are trusted, happy and cooperative is really the foundation for an excellent school. So we want to find a way to get our message out nationally and continue to be part of the movement.

单选题One in five US workers regularly attends after-work drinks with co-workers, where the most common 27 range from bad-mouthing (说……的坏话) another worker to kissing a colleague and drinking too much, according to a study 28 on Tuesday. Most workers attend so-called happy hours to 29 with colleagues, although 15 percent go to hear the latest office gossip and 13 percent go because they feel obligated, said the survey conducted for CareerBuilder.com, an online job site. As to what happens when the after-work drinks flow, 16 percent reported bad-mouthing a colleague, 10 percent shared a secret about a colleague, 8 percent kissed a colleague and 8 percent said they drank too much and acted 30 . 5 percent said they had shared a secret about the company, and 4 percent 31 to singing karaoke. While 21 percent of those who attend say happy hours are good for 32 , 85 percent said attending had not helped them get 33 to someone higher up or get a better position. An equal number of men and women said they attend happy hours with co-workers, with younger workers aged 25 to 34 most likely and workers over 55 least 34 to attend. Overall, 21 percent of workers attend happy hours with co-workers and, of those, 35 a quarter go at least once a month. The survey was 36 online by Harris Interactive on behalf of CareerBuilder.com among 6,987 full-time employees. A. bond B. acknowledged C. nearly D. specially E. anywhere F. mishaps G. obligated H. likely I. conducted J. idly K. unprofessionally L. networking M. released N. confessed O. researched

单选题 How do you get the most out of your revision time, and end up with the best grades you can? Or, if you're a different sort of student, how can you get the same grades you're getting now, but spend less time revising? Decades of research carried out by psychologists about learning and memory has produced some clear advice on doing just that. First, space your practice. Our analysis showed that people who leave longer gaps between practice attempts go on to score higher. In fact, the longer the gaps, the higher the scores. If you want to study effectively, you should spread out your revision rather than cramming. This is easier said than done, but if you are organized enough, you can spend less time revising and remember more. Second, make sure you fail occasionally. A new result from our analysis shows that people who are most inconsistent when they first start have better scores later on. Our theory is that these people are exploring how the game works, rather than trying to get the very highest score they can every time. Players even finish the game with a score that tells them how good they are. Invest some time in trying things out, which may mean failing occasionally, if you want to maximize learning in the long run. Third, practice the thing you'll be tested on. Writing exam answers is a skill, just like playing an online game is a skill. You wouldn't try and improve at a game by trying to memorize moves, you'd practice making them. Fourth, structure information, don't try to remember it. Just looking at your notes won't help you learn them. Instead, you need to reorganize the information in some way. This approach, called 'depth of processing', is the way to ensure material gets lodged in your memory. Fifth, rest and sleep. Even napping can help consolidate your memories, and maybe even make you more creative. This is great news for those people who like to nap during the day, and is a signal that staying up all night to revise probably isn't a good idea. No matter what method you use, you need to know how to learn better.

单选题 2010年世界博览会(World Expo 2010)于5月1日至10月31日在中国上海举行。世博会吸引了190个国家和56个国际组织参展。超过7300万中外游客参观了世博园，参观人数是历届世博会中最多的一次。这届世博会的主题是“城市，让生活更美好”(Better City，Better Life)，体现了人类对更适宜居住环境、更美好生活的愿望。在世博园里所有的展馆(pavilion)中，中国展馆是最受欢迎的场馆之一。

单选题 How to Eat Well A. Why do so many Americans eat tons of processed food, the stuff that is correctly called junk (垃圾) and should really carry warning labels? B. It's not because fresh ingredients are hard to come by. Supermarkets offer more variety than ever, and there are over four times as many farmers' markets in the US as there were 20 years ago. Nor is it for lack of available information. There are plenty of recipes (食谱), how-to videos and cooking classes available to anyone who has a computer, smartphone or television. If anything, the information is overwhelming. C. And yet we aren't cooking. If you eat three meals a day and behave like most Americans, you probably get at least a third of your daily calories (卡路里) outside the home. Nearly two-thirds of us grab fast food once a week, and we get almost 25% of our daily calories from snacks. So we're eating out or taking in, and we don't sit down—or we do, but we hurry. D. Shouldn't preparing—and consuming—food be a source of comfort, pride, health, well-being, relaxation, sociability? Something that connects us to other humans? Why would we want to outsource (外包) this basic task, especially when outsourcing it is so harmful? E. When I talk about cooking, I'm not talking about creating elaborate dinner parties or three-day science projects. I'm talking about simple, easy, everyday meals. My mission is to encourage green hands and those lacking time or money to feed themselves. That means we need modest, realistic expectations, and we need to teach people to cook food that's good enough to share with family and friends. F. Perhaps a return to real cooking needn't be far off. A recent Harris poll revealed that 79% of Americans say they enjoy cooking and 30% 'love it'; 14% admit to not enjoying kitchen work and just 7% won't go near the stove at all. But this doesn't necessarily translate to real cooking, and the result of this survey shouldn't surprise anyone: 52% of those 65 or older cook at home five or more times per week; only a third of young people do. G. Back in the 1950s most of us grew up in households where Mom cooked virtually every night. The intention to put a home-cooked meal on the table was pretty much universal. Most people couldn't afford to do otherwise. H. Although frozen dinners were invented in the '40s, their popularity didn't boom until televisions became popular a decade or so later. Since then, packaged, pre-prepared meals have been what's for dinner. The microwave and fast-food chains were the biggest catalysts (催化剂), but the big food companies—which want to sell anything except the raw ingredients that go into cooking—made the home cook an endangered species. I. Still, I find it strange that only a third of young people report preparing meals at home regularly. Isn't this the same crowd that rails against processed junk and champions craft cooking? And isn't this the generation who say they're concerned about their health and the well-being of the planet? If these are truly the values of many young people, then their behavior doesn't match their beliefs. J. There have been half-hearted but well-publicized efforts by some food companies to reduce calories in their processed foods, but the Standard American Diet is still the polar opposite of the healthy, mostly plant-based diet that just about every expert says we should be eating. Considering that the government's standards are not nearly ambitious enough, the picture is clear: by not cooking at home, we're not eating the right things, and the consequences are hard to overstate. K. To help quantify (量化) the costs of a poor diet, I recently tried to estimate this impact in terms of a most famous food, the burger (汉堡包). I concluded that the profit from burgers is more than offset (抵消) by the damage they cause in health problems and environmental harm. L. Cooking real food is the best defense—not to mention that any meal you're likely to eat at home contains about 200 fewer calories than one you would eat in a restaurant. M. To those Americans for whom money is a concern, my advice is simple: Buy what you can afford, and cook it yourself. The common prescription is to primarily shop the grocery store, since that's where fresh produce, meat and seafood, and dairy are. And to save money and still eat well you don't need local, organic ingredients; all you need is real food. I'm not saying local food isn't better; it is. But there is plenty of decent food in the grocery stores. N. The other sections you should get to know are the frozen foods and the canned goods. Frozen produce is still produce; canned tomatoes are still tomatoes. Just make sure you're getting real food without tons of added salt or sugar. Ask yourself, would Grandma consider this food? Does it look like something that might occur in nature? It's pretty much common sense: you want to buy food, not unidentifiable foodlike objects. O. You don't have to hit the grocery store daily, nor do you need an abundance of skill. Since fewer than half of Americans say they cook at an intermediate level and only 20% describe their cooking skills as advanced, the crisis is one of confidence. And the only remedy for that is practice. There's nothing mysterious about cooking the evening meal. You just have to do a little thinking ahead and redefine what qualifies as dinner. Like any skill, cooking gets easier as you do it more; every time you cook, you advance your level of skills. Someday you won't even need recipes. My advice is that you not pay attention to the number of steps and ingredients, because they can be deceiving. P. Time, I realize, is the biggest obstacle to cooking for most people. You must adjust your priorities to find time to cook. For instance, you can move a TV to the kitchen and watch your favorite shows while you're standing at the sink. No one is asking you to give up activities you like, but if you're watching food shows on TV, try cooking instead.

单选题 丝绸之路(the Silk Road)起源于公元前1世纪，是一条具有重要历史意义的国际贸易路线。由于丝绸在这条线路的贸易中占有很大比重，1877年德国著名的地理学家费迪南·冯·李希霍芬(Ferdinand von Richthofen)将其命名为“丝绸之路”。它不仅是一条古代国际贸易线路，也是连接中国、印度、波斯(Persia)、希腊和罗马等国的一座光辉灿烂的文化桥梁。中国四大发明和西方宗教正是通过这一桥梁传入各国的。

单选题Directions:Forthispart,youareaskedtowriteanessaybasedonthefollowingchart.Inyourwriting,youshouldinterpretthechart,andgiveyourcomments.Youshouldwriteatleast120wordsbutnomorethan180words.全球电子商务成交额统计图(Unit:$billion/单位:亿美元)

单选题 How Alcohol Speeds Memory Loss in Men Middle aged men who drink 2.5 drinks per day may accelerate memory loss by six years, according to a new study. Researchers from University College London in the UK assessed the drinking habits of 5,054 men and 2,099 women at three different times over a ten year period. When the participants turned 56, they took the first of three tests of their memory and executive function over the next 10 years. They report in the journal Neurology that men who downed an average of 2.5 drinks per day showed signs of memory loss sooner than men who didn't drink or men who were lighter to moderate drinkers. Even after they controlled for memory-affecting factors such as their diet and exercise habits and occupation, the connection held. The researchers didn't find a similar trend among women, although the heavier drinking women did show deficits in organization and planning skills. A drink was classified as beer, wine or liquor, and while those ardent spirits (烈性酒) like vodka (伏特加酒), gin or whiskey showed the fastest declines, there didn't appear to be any differences in memory loss among those drinking beer or wine. It's not the first study to document the negative effect that drinking can have on cognitive (认知的) functions. But it is among the first to look at its effects starting in younger, middle aged people. And it demonstrated bow little alcohol it takes to affect higher order functions like memory. According to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, for men, drinking up to four drinks a day is considered low risk drinking, while up to three drinks daily is considered low risk for women. When measuring potential health risks associated with drinking, the Centers for Disease Control says moderate consumption involves up to two drinks daily for men and one alcoholic beverage a day for women. The researchers speculate that alcohol somehow interferes with blood flow to the brain. Previous studies showed that excessive drinking can also damage nerve cells that can affect the brain's cognitive functions, but these latest findings suggest that the harm may begin sooner than experts had thought—and last longer than they had expected as well.