单选题 Technology can make us smarter or stupider, and we need to develop a set of principles to guide our everyday behavior and make sure that tech is improving and not hindering our mental processes. One of the big questions being debated today is: What kind of information do we need to have stored in our heads, and what kind can we leave 'in the cloud, ' to be accessed as necessary? An increasingly powerful group within education are championing 'digital literacy'. In their view, skills beat knowledge, developing 'digital literacy' is more important than learning mere content, and all facts are now Google-able and therefore unworthy of committing to memory. But even the most sophisticated digital literacy skills won't help students and workers navigate the world if they don't have a broad base of knowledge about how the world actually operates. If you focus on the delivery mechanism and not the content, you're doing kids a disservice. Indeed, evidence from cognitive science challenges the notion that skills can exist independent of factual knowledge. Data from the last thirty years leads to a conclusion that is not scientifically challengeable: thinking well requires knowing facts, and that's true not only because you need something to think about. The very processes that teachers care about most—critical thinking processes—are intimately intertwined (交织) with factual knowledge that is stored in long-term memory. In other words, just because you can Google the date of Black Tuesday doesn't mean you understand why the Great Depression happened or how it compares to our recent economic slump. There is no doubt that the students of today, and the workers of tomorrow, will need to innovate, collaborate and evaluate. But such skills can't be separated from the knowledge that gives rise to them. To innovate, you have to know what came before. To collaborate, you have to contribute knowledge to the joint venture. And to evaluate, you have to compare new information against knowledge you've already mastered. So here's a principle for thinking in a digital world, in two parts. First, acquire a base of factual knowledge in any domain in which you want to perform well. This base supplies the essential foundation for building skills, and it can't be outsourced (外包) to a search engine. Second, take advantage of computers' invariable memory, but also the brain's elaborative memory. Computers are great when you want to store information that shouldn't change. But brains are the superior choice when you want information to change, in interesting and useful ways: to connect up with other facts and ideas, to acquire successive layers of meaning, to steep for a while in your accumulated knowledge and experience and so produce a richer mental brew.

单选题 Honeybee populations declined by 13.6% over the winter, according to a survey of beekeepers across England. Losses were most severe in the north-east, where the survey recorded a loss rate of 17.1%. Experts worry that the declines will affect plant productivity. There are also concerns that the declines, along with drought conditions in some area, will mean less English honey this year. Martin Smith, president of the British Beekeepers Association, which carried out the survey, said: 'If this was measured against similar losses in livestock, it would be seen as disastrous and there would be great concern on the knock-on impact of food prices.' Beekeepers are puzzled by the decline because the cold winter and early spring should have favoured bees. They stay 'clustered' tightly in their hives when it is cold and dry, saving energy for spring foraging when the temperature rises about 12℃. However, there is good news that the rate of colony loss has slowed. Four years ago, one in three hives was wiped out. Beekeepers suspect that poor nutrition is a likely cause of weakness in adult bees that makes them succumb to diseases spread by a parasitic mite. 'The varroa mite is the number one reason why people lose bees, so the government needs to increase research to cure diseases caused by varroa,' said Smith. 'But a colony that has a good source of pollen and nectar will go into winter more strongly and better able to fend off disease.' The association is calling on everyone who has a garden, small, to plant bee-friendly plants this summer. 'It is really important that there are flowering nectar-rich plants around in August, September and October to provide the nutrition that's needed so the bees can top up their stores of honey in the hive to see them through winter,' said Smith. A campaign being launched next week to save all bees, spearheaded by Sam Roddick and Neal's Yard Remedies, pins the blame for the decline on pesticide. It will start a petition to hand to Downing Street in October to ban the use of a class of pesticides that has been implicated in bee deaths across the world. Roddick said, 'These neonicotinoid pesticides penetrate the plant and indiscriminately attack the nervous system of insects that feed off them, disorientating bees, impairing their foraging ability and weakening their immune system, causing bee Aids. On current evidence, Italy, Germany and Slovenia have banned some varieties. In the UK, it's up to the people to show the government that if there is any doubt that they are contributing to bee deaths, we need to ban them.' A spokesman for the government's National Bee Unit said: 'The UK has a robust system for assessing risks from pesticides and all evidence shows neonicotinoids do not pose an unacceptable risk when products are used correctly, but we will not hesitate to act if presented with any new evidence.'

单选题Waffles? French toast? Bacon? Big breakfasts may be a thing of the past. According to the Associated Press, more Americans are consuming breakfast in stages thanks to on-the-go lifestyles and the belief that multiple, smaller meals are 29 than three large ones. Serial eating is only expected to increase in the coming years. The NPD Group, a market research company, 30 that the number of times people will snack in the mornings will increase 23% in a decade, 31 with 20% and 15% increases in afternoon and evening snacking, 32 . Unlike their evening alter-egos, morning snackers tend to be more health 33 , looking for low-calorie foods with more fiber, antioxidants (抗氧化物) and whole grains. For instance, General Mills introduced its 140-calorie Fiber One bars in 2007, but recently added three more flavors as well as 90-calorie versions. This may be new in the US, but a second breakfast is 34 in countries such as Germany. In Bavaria, a traditional second breakfast 35 of white sausages, pretzels (椒盐卷饼), sweet mustard and, of course, beer. But snackers, beware: Though spreading calories across several meals is generally accepted to be healthier, it can actually cause people to over-consume and gain weight, David Levitsky, a professor of nutrition and psychology at Cornell University, told the AP. Maybe the trend toward portable, quick-hit breakfasts will 36 more people to eat in the morning. According to the Huffington Post, a 37 by the NPD Group found that 31 million Americans 38 the most important meal of the day. A. compared F. estimates K. particularly B. connected G. healthier L. respectively C. conscious H. inspire M. skip D. consists I. made N. supervision E. easier J. necessary O. survey

单选题 Researchers say infants who are exposed to things like rat and pet dander (屑), roach (蟑螂) allergens (过敏原) and household bacteria during their first year are actually less likely to suffer from allergies. A new study published in the Journal of Allergy and Clinical Immunology shows that being exposed to allergens before a child turns one can 27 allergies. To reach these findings, the researchers studied 467 inner-city infants in Boston and New York. They tracked their health over three years, and visited their homes to calculate the levels of a 28 of allergens. They also conducted allergy tests on the children and collected bacteria from dust 29 in their homes. The kids who lived homes with mouse and cat dander as well as cockroach droppings during their first year had lower rates of wheezing (喘息) by age 3. It's possible you've heard of the 'hygiene hypothesis', which is the 30 that the reason Americans have so many allergies is because we are, quite simply, too clean. Kids are kept in such completely clean environments that they never 31 immunities to common allergens. A significant amount of research has shown that kids who grow up living on farms with livestock, or with a pet are less likely to 32 allergies: Prior research has also suggested that it's not 33 dust that provides protection, but the microbes (微生物) that are in our body that influence our immune system and ability to fight off 34 . The new findings support a growing body of 35 that a little exposure to germs here and there never hurt no one, and in fact, could actually be protective. Letting a child put their shoe in their mouth is 36 , but possibly not the worst accident they could make. A. benefit I. gross B. build J. infections C. develop K. lawfully D. domination L. marvelous E. endangered M. necessarily F. evidence N. speculation G. gathered O. variety H. granted

单选题 At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they're bad. Yet the consensus among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets. So why is there such a discrepancy between the perception of immigrants' impact on the economy and the reality? There are a number of familiar theories. Some argue that people are anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers. Others highlight the strain that undocumented immigrants place on public services, like schools, hospitals, and jails. Still others emphasize the role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation's fears and insecurities. There's some truth to all these explanations, but they aren't quite sufficient. To get a better understanding of what's going on, consider the way immigration's impact is felt. Though its overall effect may be positive, its costs and benefits are distributed unevenly. David Card, an economist at UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly from immigrants' low-cost labor are businesses and employers—meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, or agricultural businesses in California. Granted, these producers' savings probably translate into lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated. Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor. According to a study by George Borjas, a Harvard economist, immigration reduced the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9%between 1980-2000. Among high-skilled, better-educated employees, however, opposition was strongest in states with both high numbers of immigrants and relatively generous social services. What worried them most, in other words, was the fiscal (财政的) burden of immigration. That conclusion was reinforced by another finding: that their opposition appeared to soften when that fiscal burden decreased, as occurred with welfare reform in the 1990s, which curbed immigrants' access to certain benefits. The irony is that for all the overexcited debate, the net effect of immigration is minimal. Even for those most acutely affected—say, low-skilled workers, or California residents—the impact isn't all that dramatic. 'The unpleasant voices have tended to dominate our perceptions, ' says Daniel Tichenor, a political science professor at the University of Oregon, 'But when all those factors are put together and the economists calculate the numbers, it ends up being a net positive, but a small one. ' Too bad most people don't realize it.

单选题 甲骨文 甲骨文(oracle bone script)指中国商代和西周早期刻在龟甲或兽骨上的文字，用于占卜(divine)或记事。它是中国最早的文字体系，是汉语发展的关键阶段，现代汉字就是由甲骨文演变而来。人们通常认为甲骨文是王懿荣于1899年从来自河南安阳的甲骨上发现的。截至2012年，被人们发现的甲骨大约有15万片，刻有4500多个单字。这些甲骨所记载的内容极为丰富，涉及商代社会生活的诸多方面，包括政治、军事、文化、社会习俗、天文、历法、医药等。

单选题Innovation, the effective recipe of progress, has always cost people their jobs. Over the past 30 years the digital revolution has 28 many of the mid-skill jobs that supported 20th-century middle-class life. Typists, ticket agents, bank tellers and many production-line jobs have been 29 with. For those who believe that technological progress has made the world a better place, such change is a natural part of rising 30 . Although innovation kills some jobs, it creates new and better ones, as a more productive society becomes richer and its wealthier inhabitants 31 more goods and services. A hundred years ago one in three American workers was employed on a farm. Today less than 2% of them produce far more food. The millions freed from the land were not delivered to joblessness, but found better-paid work as the economy grew more 32 . Today the pool of secretaries has 33 , but there are ever more computer programmers and web designers. Optimism remains the right starting-point, but for Workers the dislocating (扰乱的) effects of technology may make themselves evident faster than its benefit. Even if new jobs and 34 products emerge, in the short term income gaps will widen, causing huge social dislocation and perhaps even changing politics. Technology's impact will feel like a tornado, hitting the rich world first, but 35 sweeping through poorer countries too. Worse, it seems likely that this wave of technological 36 to the job market has only just started. From driverless cars to clever household devices, innovations that already exist could destroy jobs that have 37 been untouched. A. prosperity E. partition I. conversely M. demand B. dispensed F. eventually J. shrunk N. complicated C. inquire G. sophisticated K. fragile O. hitherto D. wonderful H. displaced L. disruption

单选题Cancer is the world's top 'economic killer' as well as its likely leading cause of death. Cancer costs more in 26 and lost life than AIDS, malaria, the flu and other diseases that spread person-to-person. Chronic diseases including cancer, heart disease and diabetes 27 for more than 60 percent of deaths worldwide but less than 3 percent of public and private 28 for global health, said Rachel Nugent of the Center for Global Development, a Washington-based policy research group. Money shouldn't be taken away from fighting diseases that 29 person-to-person, but the amount 30 to cancer is way out of whack (重击) with the impact it has, said Otis Brawley, the cancer society's chief medical officer. Cancer's economic toll (损耗) was $895 billion in 2008—equivalent to 1.5 percent of the world's gross 31 product, the report says. That's in terms of disability and years of life lost—not the cost of treating the disease, which wasn't addressed in the report. Many groups have been pushing for more attention to non-infectious causes of death, and the United Nations General Assembly has set a meeting on this a year from now. Some policy experts are 32 it to the global initiative that led to big increases in spending on AIDS nearly a decade ago. 'This needs to he discussed at the UN—how we are going to deal with this rising burden of 33 disease', said Dr. Andreas Ullrich, medical officer for cancer control at WHO. Researchers used the World Health Organization's death and disability reports, and economic data from the World Bank. They 34 disability-adjusted life years, which reflect the impact a disease has on how long and how 35 people live. A. productively B. supplying C. shifting D. spread E. account F. funding G. calculated H. devoted I. productivity J. chronic K. comparing L. domestic M. doubtful N. clumsily O. disability

单选题 The term 'joint international business venture', joint venture for short, has come to mean many things to many people. It sometimes is taken to mean any joint relationship between one or more foreign firms and one or more local firms. Such a broad definition is excluded here. Joint venture will be taken to mean joint ownership of an operation in which at least one of the partners is foreign based. Joint ventures can take many forms. A foreign firm may take a majority share, a minority share, or an equal share in ownership. While it is not necessary to have financial control or to have operating control, some firms refuse to use the joint venture form if it is not possible to have a majority position in ownership. There are firms that have few qualms (担忧) about holding minority position, however, so long as they can have operating control. They achieve this through technical-aid, management, or supply contracts. It should be recognized that maintaining operating control is sometimes difficult if one does not have financial control too. Objectives of the participants may diverge (相异); when they do, financial control becomes important. Management may wish to reinvest earnings while the majority of the board may wish earnings distributed as dividends. Unless policy issues of this kind can be settled peacefully, lack of financial control can prove to be very unsatisfactory, if not fatal. Many joint ventures emerge as matters of necessity: that is, no single firm is willing to assume the risks entailed, while a consortium (联盟) of firms is. Large, capital-intensive, long-lived investments are natural candidates for the joint venture. Exploitation of resource deposits often is done by a consortium of several petroleum or mining firms. Roles are parceled out even though each phase of the operation is owned jointly. One firm does the actual mining, another provides transportation, and still another does the refining and extraction. There is a wide variety of combinations. Also the joint venture can pose problems, especially if it is an enforced marriage of partners. For many ventures in small countries, it is difficult to find a suitable local partner, that is, one with sufficient capital and know how to be able to contribute to the partnership. In some developing countries, a small handful of families control the entire locally-owned part of the industrial structure. Under these circumstances, a joint venture merely insulates them further from independent, foreign-owned plants that would compete against them. For this and other reasons, the only suitable partner may end up being the government itself. Most multinational firms, however, shy away from such arrangements where possible.

单选题 Several years ago I was teaching a course on the philosophical assumptions and cultural impact of massive multi-user online games at Williams College. The students in the course were very intelligent and obviously interested in the topic. But as the semester progressed, I began to detect a problem with the class. The students were working hard and performing well but there was no energy in our discussions and no passion in the students. They were hesitant to express their ideas and often seemed to be going through the motions. I tried to encourage them to be more venturesome with tactics I had used successfully in the past but nothing worked. One day I asked them what was or, perhaps better, was not going on. Why were they so cautious and where was their enthusiasm for lean, g? They seemed relieved to talk about it and their response surprised me. Since pre-kindergarten, they explained, they had been programmed to perform well so they could get to the next level. They had been taught the downside of risk and encouraged to play it safe. What mattered most was getting into a good elementary school, middle school and high school so that they would finally be admitted to a top college. Having succeeded beyond their parents' wildest expectations, they did not know why they were in college and had no idea what to do after graduation. In today's market-driven economy we constantly hear that choice is the highest good and that competition fuels innovation. But this is not always true. Choice provokes anxiety and competition can quell (压制) the imagination and discourage the spirit of experimentation that is necessary for creativity. In a world obsessed with ratings, well-meaning parents all too often train their children to jump through the hoops they think will lead to success. This was a bad bet—the course many young people were forced to take has not paid off. The lucrative jobs they expected as a reward for years of hard work have vanished and show little sign of returning in the near future. The difficult truth is that their education has not prepared them for the world they face. Though many young people have become disillusioned with Wall Street and all it represents and would like to pursue alternative careers, they have neither the educational nor financial resources to do so. The situation is critical—colleges and universities must be reformed in ways that allow students to develop the knowledge and skills they need for creative and productive lives. And parents must give their children the freedom to explore possibilities they never could have imagined.