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单选题The word "subjects" in paragraph 4 means ______.

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单选题In 1997, 25 Japanese citizens, all older than 60, launched Jeeba (the name means "old man and old woman") to make senior-friendly products. They knew they were making history when they coined their company motto: "Of the elderly, by the elderly and for the elderly." They do not hire young people, and the oldest of their workers is 75. Firms run by senior citizens are still a rarity, in Japan and worldwide. But the elderly have numbers on their side. Healthier and longer-living seniors, born immediately after World War II, are reaching retirement age in huge numbers all over the developed world. Extremely low birthrates in those same countries mean there are far fewer young workers to take their place. One likely consequence is now clear: shrinking work forces. While the streamlining effects of international competition are focusing attention on the need to create and keep good jobs, those fears will eventually give way to worries about the growing shortage of young workers. One unavoidable solution: putting older people back to work, whether they like it or not. Indeed, advanced economies like those of Finland and Denmark have already raised their retirement ages. Others are under severe pressure to follow suit, as both the European Commission and the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development have recently warned their members that their future prosperity depends on a growing contribution from the elderly. Whether these changes are good or bad news to workers depends on whether they anticipate retirement with eagerness or dread. In the United States, half of working-age Americans now expect to work into their 70s, whether by financial necessity or by lifestyle choice, according to a new study by Putnam Investments. Contrary to still widespread assumptions, there is very little hard evidence to suggest that companies cannot stay competitive with a rising share of older workers. At British hardware chain B&Q, its "elder worker" stores in Manchester and Exmouth were 18 percent more profitable than its regular outlets—due in part, the company says, to six times less employee turnover and 60 percent less shoplifting and breakage.

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单选题What can we guess about the woman who owned the shoe?

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单选题Directions: Read the following text. Answer the questions on each text by choosing A, B, C or D. President Coolidge's statement, "The business of America is business," still points to an important truth today—that business institutions have more prestige (威望) in American society than any other kind of organization, including the government. Why do business institutions possess this great prestige? One reason is that Americans view business as being more firmly based on the idea of competition than other institutions in society. Since competition is seen as the major source of progress and prosperity by most Americans, competitive business institutions are respected. Competition is not only good in itself, it is the means by which other basic American values such as individual freedom, equality of opportunity, and hard work are protected. Competition protects the freedom of the individual by ensuring that there is no monopoly(垄断) of power. In contrast to one, all-powerful government, many businesses compete against each other for profits. Theoretically, if one business tries to take unfair advantage of its customers, it will lose to competing business which treats its customers more fairly. Where many businesses compete for the customers' dollar, they cannot afford to treat them like inferiors or slaves. A contrast is often made between business, which is competitive, and government, which is a monopoly. Because business is competitive, many Americans believe that it is more supportive of freedom than government, even though government leaders are elected by the people and business leaders are not. Many Americans believe, then, that competition is as important, or even more important, than democracy in preserving freedom. Competition in business is also believed to strengthen the ideal of equality of opportunity. Competition is seen as an open and fair race where success goes to the swiftest person regardless of his or her social class background. Competitive success is commonly seen as the American alternative to social rank based on family background. Business is therefore viewed as an expression of the idea of equality of opportunity rather than the aristocratic(贵族的) idea of inherited privilege.

单选题Our culture has caused most Americans to assume not only that our language is universal but that the gestures we use are understood by everyone. We do not realize that waving good-bye is the way to summon a person from the Philippines to one's side, or that in Italy and some Latin-American countries, curling the finger to oneself is a sign of farewell. Those private citizens who sent packages to our troops occupying Germany after World War II and marked them GIFT to escape duty payments did not bother to find out that "Gift" means poison in German. Moreover, we like to think of ourselves as friendly, yet we prefer to be at least 3 feet or an arm's length away from others. Latins and Middle Easterners like to come, closer and touch, which makes American uncomfortable. Our linguistic and cultural blindness and the casualness with which we take no notice of the developed tastes, gestures ,customs and languages of other countries, are losing us friends, business and respect in the world. Even here in the United States, we make few concessions to the needs of foreign visitors. There are no information signs in four languages on our public buildings or monuments; we do not have multilingual guided tours. Very few restaurant menus have translations, and multilingual waiters, bank clerks and policemen are rare. Our transportation systems have maps in English only and often we ourselves have difficulty understanding them. When we go abroad, we tend to cluster in hotels and restaurants where English is spoken. The attitudes and information we pick up are conditioned by those natives — usually the richer — who speak English. Our business dealings, as well as the nation's diplomacy, are conducted through interpreters. For many years, America and Americans could get by with cultural blindness and linguistic ignorance. After all, America was the most powerful country of the free world, the distributor of needed funds and goods. But all that is past. American dollars no longer buy all good things, and we are slowly beginning to realize that our proper role in the world is changing. A 1979 Harris p011 reported that 55 percent of Americans want this country to play a more significant role in world affairs; we want to have a hand in the important decisions of the next century, even though it may not always be the upper hand.

单选题What problems would broken families bring to both children and parents?

单选题 Text Sleep ,as we know, is important to us because it helps restore tired organs and tissues in our body. But how much sleep do we actually need? For most of us, eight hours seems to be about the right amount. (26) we know that there are many people who get (27) perfectly with less sleep, and some who may even need (28) . A great deal depend on the (29) we live. But a good general rule to (30) is to sleep as long as we have to in order to feel happy and be able to work (31) our best when we awaken. There are actually different (32) of sleep. There is a deep sleep and a shallow sleep. In a shallow sleep our body does not get the same kind of rest it gets in a deep sleep, so that after eight hours of a (33) sleep we may still feel tired. But a short, deep sleep can be very (34) . Alexander the Great was able to get a deep sleep (35) he needed it. Once, during the night before an important battle, he remained (36) much longer than anyone else. (37) he wrapped himself in a cloak and (38) down on the-earth. He slept so (39) that his generals had to wake him three times to give the (40) to attack! Normally when we go to sleep, our!' sleep center" blocks off nerves so that (41) our brain and body go to sleep. (42) prevents us from wanting to do anything. And the other (43) our internal organs and limbs go to sleep. (44) sometimes only one goes to sleep and the other does not. A very tired soldier can sometimes (45) asleep (brain sleep) and keep on marching, because his body is not asleep.

单选题In spite of the efforts to improve housing condition, the number of people living in shanty towns will increase because ______.

单选题 Questions 11～13 are based on a dialogue between an employer and an employee.

单选题Television has opened windows to everybody. Young men will never again go to war as they did in 1914. Millions of people now have seen the effects of a battle. And the result has been a general dislike of war, and perhaps more interest in helping those who suffer from all the terrible things that have been shown on the screen. 　　Television has also changed politics. The most remote can now follow state affairs, see and hear the politicians before an election. Better informed, he is more likely to vote, and so to make his opinion count. 　　Unfortunately, television''s influence has been greatly harmful to the young. Children do not have enough experience to realize that TV shows present an unreal world; that TV advertisements lie to sell products that are sometimes bad or useless. They believe and want to practice what they see. They do believe that the violence they see is normal and acceptable. All educators agree that the "television generations" are more violent than their parents and grandparents. 　　Also, the young are more impatient. Used to TV shows, where everything is quick and interesting, they do not have the patience to read an article without pictures, to read a book that requires thinking, to listen to a teacher who doesn''t do funny things like the people on children'' s programs. And they expect ail problems to be solved happily in ten, fifteen, or thirty minutes. That'' s the time it takes on the screen.

单选题 Today there are three different kinds of New Yorkers: the people who act as if they were born here; the people who are here and wish to be elsewhere; and the collection of virtual New Yorkers all over the world, who wish they were living in New York. These are the three states of mind and what they have in common are longing and illusion. In fact, it's a city of dreamers. What makes New York special? New Yorkers are convinced of its specialness—but Toronto is more diverse, London is larger, Washington is more powerful. So why does New York think it's the capital of the world? People often explain the problems in European cities by citing inequality. But New York today is one of the most unequal cities in America. In 2010, 1 percent of New Yorkers earned 45 percent of its income. That works out to an average of $ 3.7 million a year for the city's top 34,500 households. The average daily income of this group is greater than the average annual income of the city's bottom 10 percent. So why would people still come to try their luck in this tough place? Is it opportunity or illusion that draws them? They come because any newcomer can find a place in the hierarchy of New York. If you look at a New York City restaurant, for example, the cook might be French, the people washing dishes might be Mexican, the hostess might be Russian, the owner might be British. They are not all equal. They earn different rates. But they work together to get food to hungry people. What New York demonstrates is this: immigration works. The city can use its immigrants, even the illegal ones. Though they broke the law by illegally crossing the borders, the city's economy would be a shell of itself had they not, and it would collapse if they were deported. Attracted here by the founding myth of the city, each immigrant is seeking to escape from history, personal and political. For him, New York is the city of the second chance.

单选题 The view over a valley of a ting village with thatched roof cottages around a church; a drive through a narrow village street lined with thatched cottages painted pink or white; the sight over the rolling hills of a pretty collection of thatched farm buildings—these are still common sights in parts of England. Most people will agree that the thatched roof is an essential part of the attraction of the English countryside. Thatching is in fact the oldest of all the building crafts practised on the British Isles(英伦诸岛). Although thatch has always been used for cottage and farm buildings, it was once used for castles and churches, too. Thatching is a solitary (独自的) craft, which often runs in families. The craft of thatching as it is practised today has changed very little since the Middle Ages. Over 800 full-time thatchers are employed in England and Wales today, maintaining and renewing the old roofs as well as thatching newer houses. Many property owners choose thatch not only for its beauty but because they know it will keep them cool in summer and warm in winter. In fact, if we look at developing countries, over half the world lives under thatch, but they all do it in different ways. People in developing countries are often reluctant to go back to traditional materials and would prefer modern buildings. However, they may lack the money to allow them to import the necessary materials. Their temporary mud huts with thatched roofs of wild grasses often only last six months. Thatch which has been done the British way lasts from twenty to sixty years, and is an effective defence against the heat.