单选题It was said by Sir George Bernard Shaw that "England and America are two countries separated by the same language." My first personal experience of this was when I worked as a camp counselor for two months in 2000 in Summer Camp run by the Boy Scouts of America, as part of an international leader exchange scheme. Before I went, all the participants in the scheme were given a short list of words that are in common use in the UK which Americans would either be confused by or would even offend them. I memorized the words and thought "I’ll cope". When I finally arrived in the States three months later, I realized that perhaps a lifetime of watching American television was not adequate preparation for appreciating and coping with the differences between American and British speech. In the first hour of arriving at the camp I was exposed to High School American English, Black American English and American English spoken by Joe Public, all every different to each other. Needless to say, I did cope in the end. The Americans I met were very welcoming and helpful, and I found they were patient with me when I made a social faux pas when I used an inappropriate word or phrase. Upon my return I began to wonder whether anyone had documented the differences between American and British English. I found several books on the subject but often these were written in a dry and academic way. I felt that I could do better and use my sense of humor and personal experiences to help people from both sides of Atlantic to communicate more effectively when they meet. My research into the subject led me to several conclusions. Firstly, American English and British English are coveting, thanks to increased transatlantic travel and the media. The movement of slang words is mostly eastwards, though a few words from the UK have been adopted by the Ivy League fraternities, This convergent trend is a recent one dating from the emergence of Hollywood as the predominant film making center in the world and also from the Second World War when large numbers of American GIs were stationed in the UK. This trend was consolidated by the advent of television. Before then, it was thought that American English and British English would diverge as the two languages evolved. In 1789, Noah Webster stated that: "Numerous local causes, such as a new country, new associations of people, new combinations of ideas in the arts and some intercourse with tribes wholly unknown in Europe will introduce new words into the American tongue." He was right, but his next statement has since been proved to be incorrect. "These causes will produce in the course of time a language in North America as different from the modern Dutch, Danish and Swedish are from the German or from one another." Webster had underrated the mount of social intercourse between England and her former colony. Even before Webster had started to compile his dictionary, words and expressions from the America had already infiltrated the British language, for example "canoe" and "hatchet". Secondly, there are some generalizations that can be made about American and British English which can reveal the nature of the two nations and their peoples. British speech tends to be less general, and directed more, in nuances of meaning, attendant murmurings and pauses, carries a wealth of shared assumptions and attitudes. In other words, the British are preoccupied with their social status within society and speak and act accordingly to fit into the social class they aspire to. This is particularly evident when talking to someone from "the middle class" when he points out that he is "upper middle class" rather than "middle class" or "lower middle class". John Major (the former UK Prime Minister) may have said that we are now living in a "classless society" but the class system still prevails. At that moment both he and the Leader of the Opposition, Tony Blair, were talking about capturing the "middle England", " middle class vote" as the key to winning the next general election. American speech tends to be influenced by the over-heated language of much of the media, which is designed to attach an impression of exciting activity to passive, if sometimes insignificant events. Yet, curiously, really violent activity and life-changing events are hidden in blind antiseptic tones that serve to disguise the reality. Two examples come readily to mind—the US Military with their "friendly fire" and "collateral damages" and the business world with their "downsizing". British people tend to understatement whereas Americans towards hyperbole. A Briton might respond to a suggestion with a word such as "Terrific!" only if he is expressing rapturous enthusiasm, whereas an American might use the word merely to signify polite assent. Thirdly, The American language has less regard than the British for grammatical form, and will happily bulldoze its way across distinctions rather than steer a path between them. American English will casually use one form of a word for another, for example turning nouns into verbs or verbs and nouns into adjectives.

单选题Questions 18～20 are bused on a monologue about e-commerce. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 18～20.

单选题Which is NOT mentioned about the characteristics of automated roads?

单选题Why is it forgivable for people to hope that they will live longer in the future than now?

单选题The author called Wikipedia people's encyclopedia because it______.

单选题Which of the following statement is Not correct according to the passage?

单选题Du Bois was a sociological and educational pioneer who challenged the established system of education that tended to restrict rather than to advance the progress of black Americans. He challenged what is called the "Tuskegee machine" of Booker T. Washington, the leading educational spokesperson of the blacks in the U. S.. A sociologist and historian, Du Bois called for a more determined and activist leadership than Washington provided. Unlike Washington, whose roots were is southern black agriculture, Du Bois"s career spanned both sides of the Mason-Dixon Line. He was a native of Massachusetts, received his undergraduate education from Fisk University in Nashville, did his graduate study at Harvard University, and directed the Atlanta University Studies of Black American Life in the South. Du Bois approached the problem of racial relations in the United States from two dimensions: as a scholarly researcher and as an activist for civil rights. Among his works was the famous empirical sociological study, The Philadelphia Negro: A Social Study , in which he examined that city"s black population and made recommendations for the school system. Du Bois"s Philadelphia study was the pioneer work on urban blacks in America. Du Bois had a long and active career as a leader in the civil rights movement. He helped to organize the Niagara Movement in 1905, which led to the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People (NAACP), established in 1909. From 1910 until 1934, Du Bois edited The Cr/sis, the major journal of the NAACP. In terms of its educational policy, the NAACP position was that all American children and youth should have genuine equality of educational opportunity. This policy, which Du Bois helped to formulate, stressed the following themes: (1) public schooling should be free and compulsory for all American children; (2) secondary schooling should be provided for all youth; (3) higher education should not be monopolized by any special class or race. As a leader in education, Du Bois challenged not only the tradition of racial segregation in the schools but also the accommodationist ideology of Booker T. Washington. The major difference between the two men was that Washington sought change that was evolutionary in nature and did not upset the social order, whereas Du Bois demanded immediate change. Du Bois believed in educated leadership for blacks, and he developed a concept referred to as the "talented tenth," according to which 10 percent of the black population would receive a traditional college education in preparation for leadership.

单选题The pilot asked all the passengers on board to remain ______ as the plane was making a landing. A. seat B. seating C. seated D. to be seating

单选题It seems that now a country's economy depends much on ______.

单选题 A parent with a child carrying a musical instrument or a drawing board walking along a Beijing subway platform or street is a familiar sight on weekends. They are on the way to training schools. Education of their children has become the most important responsibility of parents who were sent to rural areas for "re-education" during the "Cultural Revolution" from 1966 to 1976. They lost the chance for university education and now hope their children can receive a better education than they did. As a result, these people now in their forties expose their little children to early training so that they can enter a prestigious school. The parents imagine a road to success: from excellent primary and middle schools to an elite university and then to a good job. On average, they may spend about 100 yuan a month on their children's education. And what results have these parents obtained? Most of them feel that the large investment has failed to lead to rapid progress in their children's study. "We seem to be throwing our money away," said one parent. However, many parents still think that spending more on their children's schooling will result in high scores. These parents have also introduced a "contract system", which offers rewards for good school grades. More than 80% of parents in families in Chengdu have signed contracts with their children, according to the Consumers' Times. The paper notes that the heavy pressure put on children to perform well at school has resulted in a decline in children's health. The parents' investment in their children also includes hiring tutors. A survey of 250 students in Xuzhou found that 10% of their parents hired tutors. The pay for one tutorial hour is three yuan. Liberation Daily commented that these parents have too high expectations of their children. According to the article, "They are trying to help the young plants grow by pulling them upwards." They ignore their children's psychology and perhaps will damage the real talents the children possess.