单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Economists believe that investors are rational, and that stock prices are therefore unpredictable. It sounds peculiar, but the logic is ironclad. Rational investors would take into account everything they know when buying or selling stock — all the information available about where profits, interest rates, technology and so on are going. So stock prices would reflect all available knowledge, and would change only when new information came in. And new information is, by definition, unpredictable, which means that changes in stock prices would be unpredictable, too. But investors, being human, are driven by fear, greed and the madness of crowds. In principle this should create patterns in stock prices, and in principle you can use those patterns to outperform the market. But while it may be very hard to tell, whether the market is overvalued or undervalued, one thing is for sure: It fluctuates more than it should. That is, in- stead of rising or falling only when there is real news about future, stocks surge and plunge for no good reason. People sell because other people are selling, or buy because other people are buying. And, as a result, it is more a series of random leaps than a random walk. Tuesday was a case in point. On a slow news day, markets suddenly dived, with the Dow falling by more than 3 percent and the Nastaq by more than 5 without anything happening to change your fundamental view about what is on in the U. S. economy. Why was the market so easily spooked? Presumably because everyone is even more confused than usual about what stocks are really those days. On one side, the U. S. economy has been wallowing in good news. Productivity has been soaring, allowing the economy to grow far faster than seemed possible. And with clever new applications of silicon chips coming out every day, it is easy to become exuberant about the future. On the other hand, as any financial theorist could tell you, good news that you already expect to hear isn't news. Five years ago, a 2 percent annual increase in worker productivity would have been regarded as excellent, and stocks would have risen sharply. Today it would be regarded as a disappointing performance, and would drive stocks down. So, is it terrific or incredible? Nobody really knows. And a rational market would accept this ignorance, and wait for some actual evidence in favor of one side or the other. Of course, it doesn't work that way. One Tuesday, something caused investors to become slightly less convinced than they had been the day before that we are living in the best of all possible world. And the result was a huge destruction of paper-virtual-wealth.

单选题Whatdoesthemando?[A]Ataxi-driver．[B]Abusdriver．[C]Apoliceman．[D]Atouristguide．

单选题It is almost 15 years since I first tested a mobile phone. I was covering the Live Aid concert at Wembley and it was a fiasco. My newspaper was trying a huge two-piece machine: a handset on a cradle, which went on one shoulder, and a power pack almost the weight of a car battery, which went on the other. The total talk time was 30 minutes and the phone cost several thousand pounds. Oh, and it was barely possible to get a signal. Those of us with this Herculean model greatly envied our slicker colleagues who were trying out an American Motorola phone. Not only did it work for up to an hour, it also looked like a housebrick. What is fascinating is that, after a long period in the social and stylistic doldrums, mobile phones--or cellular radios as they should really be called--are becoming fashionable again. The new Ericsson mobile phone has been acclaimed these past few days by everyone who eyes it as one of the coolest objects of all time. It is pretty much the size of a credit card and the thickness of a chocolate bar. It vibrates discreetly when someone calls and it even recognises the owner's voice, so dialing someone is as simple as saying their name. Phones have become like cars: all levels in society have them, but there are cars and there are CARS. Phones like that shiny, chrome Nokia that was all the rage a few months ago, or the Bounty bar-sized Motorola and the slim new Ericsson are the glossy, understated Audi A4s of mobiles; perilously close to being fashion items. Wrist-watch phones could be next year's big thing but the more important and less flashy development will be the emergence of the first web-browsing phones. These will make it possible both to speak and surf the Internet and to deal with e-mails in a bar, on the train or wherever. Another big development which will take off in the next few months concerns not the phones so much as the kind of enhanced services available through them. While the ultra-thin Ericsson has a voice-dialling system, there's still a limit to the fancy stuff you can cram into a breast pocket telephone. There's no such limit, however, to what the mainframe computers at mobile phone companies can do.

单选题The first American writer to use free verse in poetry is [A] Ralph Waldo Emerson. [B] Walt Whitman. [C] Edgar Allan Poe. [D] Nathaniel Hawthorne.

单选题 {{B}}Questions 11 ～ 13 are based on the following talk. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 11 ～ 13.{{/B}}

单选题______is the leader of the British government. A. Prime Minister B. Queen C. President D. Governor

单选题Questions 14 to 16 are based on the following interview with Alan Weiss about solo consultancy. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 14 to 16.

单选题Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion -- a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive.- knowing neither joy nor pleasure, neither anxiety nor fear, they would be as likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or enemies, there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members of groups. Society' s economic underpinnings would be destroyed: since earning $10 million would be no more pleasant than earning $10, there would be no incentive to work. In fact, there would be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a capacity to enjoy them. In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object's physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us -- hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We also use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are "good" and others are "bad", and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life -- from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society exploits our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty, morality, pride, shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself. It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal and penal system to make people afraid to engage in an antisocial acts.

单选题 {{I}}Questions 17～20 are based on the following talk. You now have 20 seconds to read Questions 17～20.{{/I}}

单选题{{I}}Questions 17～20 are based on the following talk. You now have 20 seconds to read Questions 17～20{{/I}}

单选题Whydidthemangotoseehisdoctor?A.Tofindoutifhehastheflu.B.Tofindouthowtomaintainanutritiousdiet.C.Tofindouthowtopreventillness.D.Tofindouttheresultsofabloodtest.

单选题{{I}}Questions 14～16 are based on the following talk. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 14～16.{{/I}}

单选题{{I}} Read the following text. Choose the best word for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.{{/I}} Believe it or not, airlines really are trying to do better. They promised to improve customer service last year {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}pressure from a Congress which was {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}stories of nightmare flights. So why is it that flying is getting {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}for so many passengers, {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}airlines are spending billions of dollars to improve service, {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}in new equipment such as mobile check-in stations and portable phone banks so travelers can quickly {{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}a flight when it is delayed or canceled? The fact is that air travel has {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}been such an annoyance, and customer complaints to the Transportation Department doubled in 1999 {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}1998. It seems Mother Nature would {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}people by bus this year. An unusual run of bad weather, {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}long walls of thunderstorms, has crippled airports lately and led to widespread delays and cancellations. After similar problems last summer, the FAA promised to work more closely with airlines {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}weather slowdowns--for example, FAA and airline representatives now gather at a single location in Herndon, Va. , to {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}the best way to allocate the available airspace. But even the FAA {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}the new initiative has fallen {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}of expectations, and many passengers complain that the delays seem {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}. Part of the problem is overcrowded planes. {{U}} {{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}the strong economy, U.S. airlines are expected to carry a record 665 million passengers this year, up 5 percent from last year. On {{U}} {{U}} 17 {{/U}} {{/U}}, planes are about 76 percent full these days, also a {{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}} {{/U}}. That's good news for the Transport Department, which are profitably loading more passengers {{U}} {{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}each flight, and bad news for passengers, {{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}} {{/U}}irritations build rapidly in fight quarters.

单选题{{B}}Part A{{/B}} Read the following texts answer the questions accompany them by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on {{B}}ANSWER SHEET 1.{{/B}}{{B}}Text 1{{/B}} Personnel changes at the International Monetary Fund and proposals for changing the fund have been reported lately. After a lengthy public debate, the leading countries settled on another German, Horst Kohler, to replace Michel Camdessus as the IMF's managing director. Unfor-tunately, the circus-like process began to resemble an affirmative-action procedure when it be- came clear that a particular nationality—German—was a prerequisite for the job. Calls for changes at the IMF came in the report from Congress' International Financial Institution Advisory Commission, led by Allan H. Meltzer. (I was a witness before the commission on issues related to inequality.) The Melzer Commission's report surprised me by not advocating abolition of the IMF. The report said:" The commission did not join the council of despair calling for the elimination of one or more of these institutions." The commission came close to recommending abolition, however, by proposing a new IMF that would be limited to short-term-liquidity assistance to solvent economies, collection and publication of data, and provision of economic advice. The short-term-loan facility would represent a reasonable return to the IMF's role under the Bretton Woods regime that prevailed until the early 1970s. However, that role expanded greatly in the 1990s, and it is not clear how such further expansion would be avoided under the new setup. SO long as the IMF retains access to lots of money, it will be difficult to say no to large, insolvent countries, such as Mexico in 1995 and Russia in 1998. Past mistakes will probably be repeated, and the elimination of the IMF would have been a better choice. I agree that the IMF's role in the collection and distribution of data has been useful. An advisory role might also be satisfactory (and some of my friends and former students perform these tasks admirably). This function could be served just as well, however, by nongovernmental institutions. In any event, the demand for is the IMF's economic advice is likely to be low if it is no longer tied to qualifying for some of its loans. The irony is that the IMF had available the ideal candidate in its deputy managing director, Staley Fischer. Fischer is not only an outstanding economist but also has a pleasant and effective management style, together with experience at the fund. He also seemed ideal on political grounds because be was born in Africa, previously held a British passport (related to his residencies in the former British colonies of Northern and Southern Rhodesia), and now holds a U. S. passport. Apparently. Fischer's British passport was not enough to make him European, much less German. Anyway, since my opinion of the 1MF's social value is unfavorable, I probably ought not to back the most capable candidate as managing director.

单选题 Text 2 The current emergency in Mexico City that has taken over our lives is nothing I could ever have imagined for me or my children. We are living in an environmental crisis, an air pollution emergency of unprecedented severity. What it really means is that just to breathe here is to play a dangerous game with your health. As parents, what terrorizes us most are reports that children are at higher risk because they breathe more times per minute. What more can we do to protect them and ourselves? Our pediatrician's medical recommendation was simple: abandon the city permanently. We are foreigners and we are among the small minority that can afford to leave. We are here because of my husband's work. We are fascinated by Mexico — its history and rich culture. We know that for us, this is a temporary danger. However, we cannot stand for much longer the fear we feel for our boys. We cannot stop them from breathing. But for millions, there is no choice. Their lives, their jobs, their futures depend on being here. Thousands of Mexicans arrive each day in this city, desperate for economic opportunities. Thousands more are born here each day. Entire families work in the streets and practically live there. It is a familiar sight: as parents hawk goods at stoplights, their children play in the grassy highway dividers, breathing exhaust fumes. I feel guilty complaining about my personal situation; we won't be here long enough for our children to tbrm the impression that skies are colored only gray. And yet the government cannot do what it must to end this problem. For any country, especially a developing Third World economy like Mexico' s, the idea of barring from the capital city enough cars, closing enough factories end speeding the necessary billions on public transportation is simply not an option. So when things get bad, as in the current emergency, Mexico takes half measure — prohibiting some more cars from circulating, stopping some factories from producing that even its own officials concede aren't adequate. The word "emergency" implies the unusual. But when daily life itself is an emergency, the concept loses its meaning. It is human nature to try to adapt to that which we cannot change. Or to mislead ourselves into believing we can adapt.

单选题From the passage we know that most MBAs ______.

单选题Which of the following words best describes the tone of this passage?

单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}} The concept of obtaining fresh water from icebergs that are towed to populated regions ot the world was once treated as a joke more appropriate to cartoons than real life. But now it is being considered quite seriously by many nations, especially since scientists have warned that the human race will outgrow its fresh water supply faster than it runs out of food. Glaciers are a possible source of fresh water that have been overlooked until recently. Three quarters of the Earth's fresh water supply is still tied up in glacial ice, a reservoir of untapped fresh water so immense that it could sustain all the rivers of the world for 1,000 years. Floating on the oceans every year are 7,659 trillion metric tons of ice encased in 10,000 icebergs that break away from the polar ice caps, more than ninety percent of them from Antarctica. Huge glaciers that stretch over the shallow continental shelf give birth to icebergs throughout the year. Icebergs are not like sea ice, which is formed when the sea itself freezes; rather, they are formed entirely on land, breaking off when glaciers spread over the sea. As they drift away from the polar region, icebergs sometimes move mysteriously in a direction opposite to the wind, pulled by subsurface currents. Because they melt more slowly than smaller pieces of ice, icebergs have been known to drift as far north as 35 degrees south of the equator in the Atlantic ocean. To corral them and steer them to parts of the world where they are needed would not be too difficult. The difficulty arises in other technical matters, such as the prevention of rapid melting in warmer climates and the funneling of fresh water to shore in great volume. But even if the icebergs lost half of their volume in towing, the water they could provide would be far cheaper than that produced by {{U}}desalination{{/U}}, or removing salt from water.

单选题 {{I}}Questions 17～20 are based on the following conversation. You now have 20 seconds to read Questions 17～20.{{/I}}