填空题Rates Are low, but Consumers won"t Borrow With heavy debt loads and high joblessness, Americans are cautious. A. The US Federal Reserve (Fed)"s announcement last week that it intended to keep credit cheap for at least two more years was a clear invitation to Americans: go out and borrow. B. But many economists say it will take more than low interest rates to persuade consumers to take on more debt. There are already signs that the recent stock market fluctuations, turbulence in Europe and the US deficit have seared consumers. On Friday, preliminary data showed that the Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan consumer sentiment index had fallen this month to lower than it was in November 2008, when the United States was deep in recession. Under normal circumstances, the Fed"s announcement might have attracted new home and ear buyers and prompted credit card holders to rack up fresh charges. But with unemployment high and those with jobs worried about keeping them, consumers are more concerned about paying off the loans they already have than adding more debt. And by showing its hand for the next two years, the Fed may have thoughtlessly invited prospective borrowers to put off large purchases. C. Lenders, meanwhile, are still dealing with the effects of the boom-gone-bust and are forcing prospective borrowers to go to extraordinary lengths to prove their creditworthiness. D. "I don"t think lenders are going to be interested in extending a lot of debt in this environment," said Mark Zandi, chief economist of Moody"s Analytics, a macroeconomic consulting firm. "Nor do I think households are going to be interested in taking on a lot of debt." In housing, consumers have already shown a slow response to low rates. Applications for new mortgages have de-creased this year to a 10-year low, according to the Mortgage Bankers Association. Sales of furniture and furnishings remain 22% below their pre-recession peak, according to Spending Pulse, a research report by MasterCard Advisors. Credit card rates have actually gone up slightly in the past year. The one bright spot in lending is the number of auto loans, which is up from last year. But some economists say that confidence among ear buyers is hitting new lows. E. For Xavier Walter, a former mortgage banker who with his wife, Danielle, accumulated $20,000 in credit card debt, low rates will not change his spending habits. As the housing market topped out five years ago, he lost his six-figure income. He and his wife were able to modify the mortgage on their four-bedroom house in Medford, New Jersey, as well as negotiate lower credit card payments. Two years ago, Mr. Walter, a 34-year-old father of three, started an energy business. He has sworn off credit. "I"m not going to go back in debt ever again," he said, "If I can"t pay for it in cash, I don"t want it." F. Until now, one of the biggest restraints on consumer spending has been a debt aftereffect. Since August 2008, when household debt peaked at $12.41 trillion, it has declined by about $1.2 trillion, according to an analysis by Moody"s Analytics of data from the Federal Reserve and Equifax, the credit agency. A large portion of that, though, was simply written off by lenders as borrowers defaulted on loans. By other measures, households have improved their position. The proportion of after-tax income that households spend to remain current on loan payments has fallen. G. Still, household debt remains high. That presents a paradox: many economists argue that the economy cannot achieve true health until debt levels decline. But credit, made attractive by low rates, is a time-tested way to increase consumer spending. With new risks of another downturn, economists worry that it will take years for debt to return to manageable levels. If the economy con-tracts again, said George Magnus, senior adviser at UBS, then "you could find a lot of households in a debt trap which they probably can never get out of". H. Mortgage lenders, meanwhile, burned by the housing crash, are extra careful about approving new loans. In June, for instance, Fannie Mac, the largest mortgage buyer in the United States, said that borrowers whose existing debt exceeded 45 to 50% of their income would be required to have stronger "compensating" factors, which might include higher savings. Even those borrowers in strong financial positions are asked to provide unusual amounts of paperwork. Bobby and Katie Smith have an extremely good credit record, tiny student debt and a combined six-figure income. For part of their down payment, they planned to use about $5000 they had received as wedding gifts in February. But the lender would not accept that money unless the Smiths provided a certified letter from each of 14 guests, stating that the money was a gift, rather than a loan. "We laughed for a good 15 or 20 minutes," recalled Mr. Smith, 34. Mr. Smith, a program director for a radio station in Orlando, Florida, said they ended up using other savings for their down payment to buy a $300,000 four-bedroom house in April. I. For those not as creditworthy as the Smiths, low rates are irrelevant because they no longer qualify for mortgages. That leaves the eligible pool of loan applicants wealthier, "older and whiter," said Guy Cecala, publisher of Inside Mortgage Finance. "It"s creating much more of a divide," he said, "between the haves and the have-nots." Car shoppers with the highest credit ratings can also get loans more easily, and at lower rates, said Paul C. Taylor, chief economist of the National Auto-mobile Dealers Association. J. During the recession, inability to obtain credit severely cut auto buying as lenders rejected even those with good credit ratings. Now automakers are increasing their subprime (次级债的) lending again as well, but remain hesitant to approve large numbers of risky customers. K. The number of new auto loans was up by 16% in the second quarter compared with the previous year, said Melinda Zabritski, director of automotive credit at Experian, the information services company. But some economists warn that consumer confidence is falling. According to CNW Marketing Research, confidence among those who intend to buy a car this year is at its lowest since it began collecting data on this measure in 2000. L. On credit cards, rates have actually inched higher this year, largely because of new rules that curb the issuer"s ability to charge fees or raise certain interest rates at will. M. At the end of the second quarter, rates averaged 14.01% on new card offers, up from 13.75% a year earlier, according to Mail Monitor, which tracks credit cards for Synovate, a market research firm. According to data from the Federal Reserve, total outstanding debt on revolving credit cards was down by 4.6% during the first half of the year compared with the same period a year earlier. N. Even if the Fed"s announcement helps keep rates steady, or pushes them down, businesses do not expect customers to suddenly charge up a storm. O. "It"s not like, "Oh, credit is so cheap, let"s go back to the heydays (鼎盛时期)," " said Elizabeth Crowell, who owns Sterling Place, two high-end home furnishing and gift stores in New York. "People still fear for their jobs. So I think where maybe after other recessions they might re-turn to previous spending habits, the pendulum hasn"t swung back the same way."

填空题That so many advances have been made in such short time is the most valid argument for retaining the research unit. A. That B. so many C. such short time D. for retaining

填空题Writing a visual mental script to be followed in the contest to come builds more aggressiveness than ______.

填空题What can people with I. Q. below 90 only do?

填空题The features of a fish include a notochord, gill slits, ______.

填空题___________________ (因为现代化仪器操作的复杂性), most offices require secretaries to have specified training.

填空题Although one might not think so from some of the (S1) ______________ of it, advertising is essential to the kind of society in the United Kingdom, and a very (S2) ______________ proportion of the world at large. Advertising is necessary as a means of (S3) ______________ with others, of telling them about the goods and services that are (S4) ______________ , and of which most of them would never get to hear at all if it were not for advertising. And advertising helps a great deal to promote a rising (S5) ______________ of living. 　　In talking about advertising, one should not think (S6) ______________ in terms of a commercial on television, or an advertisement in the newspapers. After all, the roots of advertising are to be found in the (S7) ______________ place. 　　For many years it was thought that it was enough to produce goods and supply services. (S8) ______________________________________. In the competitive society in which we live, it is essential that we go out and sell what we have to offer, and (S9)______________________________Approximately 2 percent of the UK gross national product is spent on advertising. (S10) _______________________________________________. Of course, advertising does try to attract the interest of the potential consumer, but if the article when purchased does not match up to the standards that the advertising suggests that it will, it is obviously unlikely that the article will sell well.

填空题The idea that professors should do research as well as teach was imported from Germany in the late 19th century.

填空题If we can make good use of time, ______ (我们就可以期望得到好的成效并获得丰厚利润).

填空题You will surely finish the task on schedule _________________________________ (只要你按照我告诉你的方法去做).

填空题The oceans have always served as a sink for carbon dioxide, but the burning of fossil fuels since the beginning of the industrial revolution, especially over the last 40 years, has given them more than they can (36) absorb. The result is that the oceans are becoming acid—a change in the (37) balance that threatens the oceans' web of life. In earth's history, there have been many (38) of acidification, mainly from volcanic eruptions (火山喷发). According to a new research review by pale oceanographers at Columbia University, published in Science, the oceans may be (39) acid far faster than at any time in the past 300 million years. Changing something as (40) as the PH of seawater has profound effects. Increased acidity attacks the shells of shellfish and the skeletal foundation of corals (珊瑚), dissolving the calcium carbonate (硝酸钙) they're made of. Coral reefs are among the most diverse ecosystems on the planet. Ocean acidification (41) the corals and every other (42) that makes its living on the reefs. The authors tried to determine which past acidification events (43) the best comparison to what is happening now. The closest analogies are disastrous events, often associated with intense volcanic activity resulting in major extinctions. The difference is that those events (44) thousands of years. We have acidified the oceans in a matter of decades, with no signs that we have the political will to slow, much less halt, the (45) . A．absolutely B．animals C．changing D．chemical E．covered F．episodes G．fundamental H．offer I．process J．safely K．species L．transmitted M．threatens N．turning O．urgent

填空题One cause of eyestrain mentioned in the passage is wearing glasses for too long.

填空题 If environmental trends in Western nations continue on a positive track, someday children may ask, "Mommy, what was pollution?" But between that day and ours stands the ultimate environmental problem: global warming. Fighting an artificial greenhouse effect is the greatest of environmental challenges, because the cure will not be possible unless almost every nation on Earth participates. In the last century, global temperatures have risen 1 degree Fahrenheit (华氏温度). Some scientists remain skeptical about projected future warming, but an oft-heard claim, that the idea of global warming is being promo- tad only by fringe fanatics, is not true. In December 2004, Science ,one of the world's leading technical journals, declared in an essay," Without substantial disagreement, scientists find human activities are heating Earth's surface." Will global warming cause harm? Some computer models suggest the world might warm by 5 degrees or more during this century, which might be dangerous. Melting polar ice could raise sea levels, while global warming might cause more intense storms and disrupt the weather patterns that bring rain to agricultural regions. Computer models are speculative, of course, but when the farming areas that we all depend upon for food rely on current temperatures ,rolling the dice (筛子) with the climate cannot be wise. Yet today the United States has no national legislation regulating greenhouse gases. What can we do right now? There are methods to reduce global warming. For instance, individuals. can make lifestyle changes. Replace the SUV with a regular car; an SUV that gets 14 miles to the gallon emits 100 tons of greenhouse gases over its lifetime. Check out the new hybrid cars, which get 45 mpg or better. Moderate your use of home heating and air conditioning, most of which is powered by fossil fuels, and upgrade appliances to Energy Star models. On a larger level, there is hope: emissions trading. In 1990, rising levels of acid rain were considered an emergency problem. Congress passed an emissions-trading program, which allowed industrial managers to buy and sell permits to emit a limited amount of pollutants that cause acid rain. The acid-rain trading program created a financial incentive (动机) to invent technology to reduce acid rain; if a factory or power plant cut its emissions below the limit, it could sell the extra credits at a profit. Once there was money to be made by reducing acid rain, human creativity came into play. The results were spectacular.

填空题You can see the snowballing effect both in an _________________ economy and a _________________ economy.

填空题Momentum busters refer to ______ that will prevent you from continuing to work.

填空题From the passage we can infer that real happiness of life belongs to those ______.

填空题This passage explains the basic idea of natural gas and compares the performances of different types of NGVs.

填空题They failed to finish the work on time and______(他们应该早点实施计划)．