Our association, which has consistently pressed for greater employment opportunities for the disabled, will publish ______ proposals in the near future.
Each year, more U. S. properties within floodplains are destroyed by flooding than fire. Changing weather patterns, increased urban development, and the leveling of forests have reduced the land's natural ability to absorb water. As flooding becomes a common occurrence, property owners need to face the facts. Flood damage can happen anytime, no matter where you live. Flood insurance, which is financially backed by the U. S. Government through the National Flood Insurance Program, is available through Homesite Insurance and the Homesite Insurance Agency. The National Flood Insurance Program(NFIP)through the Federal Emergency Management Agency is the primary provider of flood insurance. The Homesite Insurance Company acts as a "Write-Your-Own" company on behalf of the NFIP. "Write-Your-Own" companies sell and service flood policies and the NFIP pays the claims. Property owners know a Homeowners policy covers fire damage, but most don't realize that it won't cover flood or mudslide damage. Rising waters and debris can destroy your home, business, and personal belongings within minutes. Most floods don't qualify for federal disaster aid. Only floods that are declared national disasters by the President qualify for federal assistance. This assistance is in the form of a grant averaging less than $2, 500, or a federal loan that must be paid back with interest. That's in addition to payments on your existing mortgage loan! Only flood insurance protects your home and your belongings from damage caused by rising water or mudflow. Flood insurance is available for the value of the structure minus the land value. Contents coverage is also available, but is optional and must be requested. Even if you've had previous flooding, you can still buy flood insurance. If you've received disaster assistance before, you must first obtain flood insurance to be eligible for future federal relief. The average flood policy is only $324 a year—that's less than $1 a day. Compare that to a typical disaster loan of $50, 000, costing more than $300 a month for over 18 years! Flood insurance pays all covered claims even if a federal disaster is not declared. Claims are paid quickly so victims can recover faster. You can even get a partial payment right away to get started. Flood coverage is available up to $250, 000 for your home, and up to $100, 000 for the contents. Anyone can buy flood insurance if his/her property is located in a community that participates in the National Flood Insurance Program. Homes, condos, apartments, and business structures are all eligible. Even renters may purchase flood insurance for their possessions. Since flood premiums are set by the U. S. government, your rate is the same from any insurer.
{{B}}PART I DICTATIONDirections: Listen to the following passage. Altogether the passage will be read to you four times. During the first reading, which will be done at normal speed, listen and try to understand the meaning. For the second and third readings, the passage will be read sentence by sentence, or phrase by phrase, with intervals of 15 seconds. The last reading will be done at normal speed again and during this time you should check your work.{{/B}}
In "What do you think will be discussed in the meeting next week?", the italicized word is ______ of the sentence.
Which of the following sentences is INCORRECT?
Most people feel stress at some time in their lives. Some people like this pressure and work better because of it. Other people are not comfortable with any stress at all; they soon become unhappy if they feel stress. Sometimes stress can lead people to do things they wouldn't usually do, such as overeat, smoke, drink, or use drugs. Stress, however, is a very normal part of life. It is important to understand that stress doesn't come from an event itself; that is from the things that are happening in our lives. It comes from the meaning we give to what has happened. For example, a crying baby may be stressful to one person, but it may not bother another person at all; a traffic jam may be stressful to one person while another person may be able to stay calm. We can experience stress any time we feel we don't have control. It can come from a feeling that we can't do anything about a situation. Basically, it is the body's way of showing anxiety or worry. Stress is not just caused by our mental or emotional condition. It is also influenced by how tired we are, whether we have a balanced diet with enough vitamins and minerals, whether we get enough physical exercises, and whether we are relaxed. The point at which stress becomes a problem changes from day to day, even for the same person. In some situations, if we are rested and feel good about ourselves, a little stress will not be a problem. In another situation, if we are tired or feel unsure about our abilities, even a small amount of stress can cause problems. For example, we might begin to worry about things that haven't happened yet instead of working on things that are happening now. Or we might not feel able to find solutions to everyday problems. If we feel stressed, there are several things that we can do. First, we need to learn how to relax and breathe slowly and smoothly. We can also take some time out of our worried, busy schedule to notice the small things in life. Smell the air, look at the flowers, notice the small designs in the leaves on a tree—these activities can do much to quiet us and to give ourselves a small break in a busy schedule. We need to take care of our bodies. Being tired makes it easier for us to get sick and to develop physical problems related to stress. We need to get enough rest, eat well, and do some regular exercise. Scientists have found that for our minds to think clearly, our bodies need to have certain vitamins and minerals; some of the most important vitamins are the B-complex vitamins. Doing regular exercise is also a physical way to let go of angry feelings or feelings of helplessness. Finally, we need to find what is causing the stress in our lives. Once we have found it, we need to begin to change that part of our lives. If we believe that we can control stress, we can begin to control our lives. Then we can start to use stress in a positive way.
New standards of filial piety released by the Chinese government specifying 24 requirements for dutiful children have triggered a heated discussion. The new standards include spending holidays with parents, visiting them regularly, calling them once a week, and cooking for them. Should filial piety be regulated? What's your opinion? Read carefully the opinions from both sides and write your response in about 200 words, in which you should first summarize briefly the opinions from both sides and give your view on the issue. Marks will be awarded for content relevance, content sufficiency, organization and language quality. Failure to follow the above instructions may result in a loss of marks. YES Putting forward the filial piety standards is aimed to promote the traditional Chinese virtue of respecting the elderly. China has a long history of stressing filial piety, which forms the core of family values. Compared with the traditional filial devotion, the new standards are more up to date and relevant to modern society. The new standards are an innovative way of inheriting the essence of filial culture. The modern society lays great stress on the legal regulation while filial piety which depends on people's moral sense and inner discipline seems unable to prevail. What we need now is a code of conduct that helps to persuade people to practice filial piety. These standards do not intend to force people to obey filial principles by law, but provide them with a guideline. NO As a moral requirement for human beings, filial piety is unlikely to have perfect standards. Real filial piety is not something to be shown off to others, but something buried deeply in one's heart. Due to different living and working environment, the ways of practicing filial piety may be different. It is unwise to require every child to follow the same standards. Besides, the new standards are not feasible in modern days as many people live far away from their parents and have little time outside of work. The implementation of these new filial standards is not the right solution to the problem of China's aging population. As for the government, it is more effective to build up more state-run nursing homes rather than issue filial standards in order to solve the problem.
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In the sentence "We must help the victims in the earthquake out of trouble", the italicized part is an additional explanation of
(l)Until the end of the 18th century, it was men who lavished attention on their feet. Louis XIV wore high heeled mules to show off his shapely legs; his courtiers adorned their figures and feet with feathers, pink silk, lace, and jewels; even in colonial American, men fussed with their wigs and the bows and buttons on their shoes. The end of that foppery, called "the great renunciation" by historians, coincided with an epochal shift in politics and society, toward democracy, industry, and reason, away from the aristocracy with its affectations that spoke of rank, parasitism and, to the modern eyes, effeminacy. (2)Women's fashion is now, some believe, at the turning point of similar magnitude, coinciding with the equally dramatic social transformation of the past several decades. The change has been slow: a century long move away from the padding, corseting, and decoration that made a woman into a kind of ornate bauble (小摆设) and displayed her family's wealth, and toward the clean, sleek modern lines first introduced with the suffrage movement. (3)But the shift has accelerated in recent years, thanks to changes in the technology and business of fashion. The use by top designers of "weird, fabulous, unrecognizable synthetics," says Hollander "has ruined the status of certain fabrics, like linen, which has had a leveling effect for the sexes and for the classes." And the emergence of chains like Club Monaco means that "forward looking style is disseminated very fast and very cheaply," according to Valerie Steele, a historian and curator of "Shoes: A Lexicon of Style," an exhibition now on view at New York's Fashion Institute of Technology. Such stores have succeeded, she believes, because "there's substantial group of people with a sophisticated eye for design" who are eager for an affordable version of what was once thought to be "dog-whistle fashion," pitched so high that only a few would get it. Against that background, the shoes at FIT look like fashion's last gasp. The exhibit begins with the most symbolically loaded of women's shoes: high heels, which Steele calls "a prime symbol of women's sexual power over men." (4)That same defiance of feminine expectations is visible throughout the FIT show: in the boot, for instance, with its connotations of machismo and military power, or the androgynous oxford, made girlish with a big chunky heel. The show ends, fittingly, with the sneaker. No longer simply a downscale kid wear item, the big, brilliantly colored, high-tech sneaker has become one of the today's most dramatic fashion statements, asserting street hip and futuristic velocity. Maybe shoes aren't so indifferent to the changes in modern lives, after all.
Business schools around the globe are facing a______ shortage within the next decade, according to the latest statistics.
He ______ in London for more than ten years, but he has never regretted his final decision to move back to China.
Smoking is ______ in public buildings.
All the following participles(分词)functions as an attributive EXCEPT
Shanghai's thousands of telephone ______ may be revamped to provide mobile-phone chargers and Wi-Fi.
Which of the following contains a COMPARISON?
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I ______ the party much more if there hadn't been quite such a crowd of people there.
Down ______ from the seventh floor when he heard someone shouted at him.
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