单选题Accordingtothespeaker,whatareconveniencegoods?A.Commoditiesthatpeopleareinconstantneedof.B.Goodsthatareconvenienttouseorpurchase.C.Itemsthatpeopletendtobuyunderimpulse.D.Itemsthathavetobeboughtonceaweek.

单选题WhenwastheAmericanFootballAssociationfounded?A.In1913.B.In1930.C.In1914.D.In1917.

单选题 There is a growing body of evidence that suggests that our brain processes information in at least two major systems. The image system appears to be associated with the right hemisphere of the brain. This hemisphere seems to be specialized to process visual and auditory imagery, spatial representation, pure melodic thought, fantasy, and the emotional components of consciousness. Imagery allows us to continue to process information when we are not actively looking at or listening to new stimuli, It reproduces the sounds or sights of the past, enriching our thoughts, dreams, or fantasies with a sense of "actuality" or context. As a coding system, imagery operates by what is called "parallel" processing, e. g., we imagine the face of a friend in one instantaneous configuration. The lexical system is largely coordinated through the left hemisphere of the brain, and its chief functions include language and grammatical organization, abstract conceptualization and reasoning. This verbal or linguistic system functions sequentially; it takes time for a sentence to run its course so it can be understood. The lexical dimension is especially efficient for integrating diverse phenomena under one label or formula that allows extremely rapid retrieval of stored information (memories) later. Both imagery and lexical systems seem essential for the highest levels of thought. It is possible, however, that the immediacy of television precludes our more active integration of images and words. We need time to replay mentally material just witnessed and also to link pictures and sounds to word labels that make for the most efficient kind of storage and retrieval. So rapidly does television material come at us that it defies the capacities of our brain to store much of it unless we actively turn our attention from the set and engage in some kind of mental rehearsal. Only in the instant "replay" of sports programming does the medium itself consciously abet the human requirement for reduplication. Contrast this with the situation of reading. You are in control of the pace. You can reread a sentence, turn back to an earlier page and take the time to piece together combinations of images and words. As you read you are also likely on occasion to drift away into more extended private images and thoughts about the material. In effect, you are engaging in a more creative act of imagination and perhaps also in the forming of new combinations of words and images. Reading seems, therefore, harder work than watching television but ultimately more rewarding because it enhances your own imaginative capacities. We're not so naive as to believe that television can be eliminated from the household, as some suggest. Rather, we see the necessity for encouraging producers to free themselves from the assumption that the rapid paced, quick-cut format, whether directed at children or adults, is a necessity.

单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}} At 67, CEO Toshifnmi Suzuki has enjoyed a distinguished career as the retailing visionary who made Seven-Eleven Japan CO, the country's No.1 convenience-store chain. But just when other execs would be winding down, Suzuki is gearing up for his next big challenge: to turn Seven-Eleven into an online shopping behemoth. In February, he gathered seven partners, including Sony, NEC, and Mitsui, the giant trading house, to develop e-commerce services ranging from book and ticket sales to online distribution of music and photos. By June, 7dream. com will be a reality. "With our large network of stores and distribution base, we're attracting powerful partners," Suzuki says proudly. Suzuki has long been a pioneer. In 1974 he opened the first konbini, as convenience stores are known in Japan. He was first to install an electronic inventory and sales system and to offer fast foods. In 1987, Seven-Eleven started accepting payments on behalf of utilities. Last year, it collected some ＄6 billion in such fees--earning commissions as well as increased traffic. Suzuki and his partners are putting ＄375 million into 7dream. com. The concept is simple: After placing orders on the Web, customers pick up and pay for them at any Seven-Eleven shop. Seven-Eleven attracts 2.6 billion customers yearly--a daily average of 950 per shop. And polls show that as many as 70% of Japanese dislike using credit cards for online purchases. "The Japanese would rather pick up their goods and pay for them at a konbini," observes Morihiko Ida, head of equities research at Century Securities. "So they could boost Net sales." There's no guarantee the model will work. Konbini accounted for a tiny part of Japan's ＄3.2 billion in consumer e-commerce last year. And if the idea catches on, it may not last. "In the short term, they'll be major players because of their networks," says Hirokazu Ishii, analyst at Nikko Salomon Smith Barney in Tokyo. "But the Japanese will begin using electronic cash and home delivery, like Americans." Maybe so. But Seven-Eleven's competitors certainly aren't waiting to find out. Lawson Products Inc., the No.2 convenience store chain, now plans an e-commerce group, as do five other chains, led by third-ranked Family Mart. Stilt, Suzuki's allies, which include top media, travel, retail, and Net technology companies, give him an early lead. And while he has no plans to go into such activities as lending, he has drawn interest from a number of prominent institutions. Suzuki isn't betting the store on his new venture. But he thinks he has at least one more big coup left in him before taking it easy.

单选题What is Martine’s conclusion about Brazil’s population growth?

单选题{{B}}A = Uganda B = Kenya C = ZaireWhich country...{{/B}} {{B}}Uganda{{/B}} Uganda is in the central part of Africa, near the equator. It became independent in 1962. Until then it had been a British protectorate. The area of Uganda is 93,981 square miles. About ten million people live there. Uganda is a land of mountains, lakes and plains. Mount Ruwenzori is in a mountain range with peaks above 16,700 feet. The chief rivers are the Victoria Nile and Albert Nile, branches of the great Nile River. Almost all the people of Uganda are African black people of various tribes. The Bugandas are most powerful and their language is semi-official, but there are more Bantus— the people who live in the north from another group. Nearly everyone understands the Swahili language. Most of the people are farmers. There are some wandering tribes that raise livestock, workers in the few factories, and miners. Important crops are coffee, tea, cotton, oil seeds, sugar, sisal, maize, and peanuts. The rich mineral deposits are not mined, except tin and apatite. The climate is usually very hot. The many wild animals include the elephant, buffalo, hippopotamus, and crocodile. Uganda is a republic and a member of the British Commonwealth. It has a National Assembly, a prime minister, and a president. But since independence there has been much political trouble, which has been caused by sectional and tribal rivalries. Uganda is surrounded by Kenya, Sudan, Zaire, and Tanzania. Lake Victoria lies in the south of Uganda. It is one of the largest lakes in Africa shared by several countries. {{B}}Kenya{{/B}} Kenya is a nation in East Africa that became independent in 1963 after being controlled by Great Britain for more than 75 years. It has an area of 225,000 square miles, and its population is twelve million. Nearly all of the people are African blacks. The largest group being the Kikiyu tribe, but in 1973 there were 270,321 Kenyans who were white Europeans or from India. The central part of Kenya is high and level, 3,000 to 6,000 feet above the sea. Here the climate is cool and comfortable. The seacoast of Kenya is hot and damp. There are three big rivers, the Juba, the Tana and the Sabaski. In central Kenya, there is an extinct volcano 17,040 feet high. The equator runs through Kenya. Most of the people are farmers. In central Kenya they grow grains and bananas; along the coast they grow rice, coffee, cotton, tobacco, and ninny tropical crops such as coconuts, cinnamon, pineapples, sugar cane, vanilla, and dates. There are big forests yielding rubber, timber and olives. The mountains produce gold, marble and other stones. Many tourists go to Kenya for big-game hunting. Great Britain took control of Kenya in 1886 and sent settlers there. In 1920 Kenya became a British colony. But tile native Kenyans wanted independence and about 1950 a group called the Mau Mau began a campaign to drive the British out. h won its independence through free elections. It is a member of the British Commonwealth. Kenya's neighboring countries are Somali, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda and Tanzania. Kenya also shares Lake Victoria. {{B}}Zaire{{/B}} Zaire is an independent country in central equatorial Africa. Prior to its independence in 1960, Zaire was a Belgian colony and was called the Belgian Congo. After its independence, the country has undergone several years of political upheavals. In 1966, political stability was achieved and the country was renamed Zaire. Zaire is rich in tropical vegetation, mineral resources, and abundant wildlife. The country is 905,328 square miles in size, and is subdivided into nine provinces. The country's population is primarily Blacks. They represent more than 200 different Bantu tribes. They speak many different languages but Swahili is widely used. Zaire depends mainly on agriculture and mining for its livelihood. Efforts are being made to expand industry: in the country. Many of the people are farmers, and they raise cotton, rubber, bananas, and coffee for export. Corn and sweet potatoes are grown for eating. Mining is important, and many people work in rich uranium, copper, and diamond mines. Geographically, Zaire is made up of a low plateau in the center, which is surrounded by higher land. The central region is tropical rainforest and contains valuable wood such as mahogany. Also from the forest, the country receives rubber, palm oil, and nuts. The animal life of Zaire includes lions, elephants, monkeys, crocodiles and other species. The Zaire. River is one of the longest rivers in the world. Zaire borders many countries such as Uganda, Angola, Zambia, Sudan, and Central African Republic.

单选题The purpose of insurance is to

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

单选题{{B}}TEXT 1{{/B}} On an average of six limes a day, a doctor in Holland practices "active" euthanasia: intentionally administering a lethal drug to a terminally ill patient who has asked to be relieved of suffering. Twenty times a day, life-prolonging treatment is withheld or withdrawn when there is no hope that it can affect an ultimate cure. "Active" euthanasia remains a crime on the Dutch statute books punishable by 12 years in prison. But a series of court cases over the past 15 years has made it clear that a competent physician who carries it out will not be prosecuted. Euthanasia, often called "mercy killing", is a crime everywhere in Western Europe. But more and more doctors and nurses in Britain, West Germany, Holland and elsewhere readily admit to practicing it, most often in the "passive" form of withholding or withdrawing treatment. The long simmering euthanasia issue has lately boiled over into a sometimes fierce public debate, with both sides claiming the mantle of ultimate righteousness. Those opposed to the practice see themselves up-holding sacred principles of respect for life, while those in favor raise the banner of humane treatment. After years on the defensive, the advocates now seem to be gaining ground. Recent polls in Britain show that 72 percent of British subjects favor euthanasia in some circumstances. An astonishing 76 percent of respondents to a poll taken late last year in France said they would like the law changed to decriminalize mercy killings. Reasons for the latest surge of interest in euthanasia are not hard to find. Europeans, like Americans, are now living longer. The average European male now lives to the age of 72, women to almost 80. As Derek Humphrey, a leading British advocate of "rational euthanasia" says, "lingering chronic diseases have replaced critical illnesses as the primary cause of death." And so the euthanasists have begun to press their case with greater force. They argue that every human being should have the right to "die with dignity", by which they usually mean the right to escape the horrors of a painful or degrading hospitalization. Most advocates of voluntary euthanasia have argued that the right to die should be accorded only to the terminally and incurably ill, but the movement also includes a small minority who believe in euthanasia for anyone who rationally decides to take his own life. That right is unlikely to get legal recognition any time in the near future. Even in the Netherlands, the proposals now before Parliament would restrict euthanasia to a small number of cases and would surround even those with elaborate safeguards.

单选题People who are extremely careful and "finish what they start" may have a reduced risk of developing Alzheimer's disease, according to a study involving Catholic nuns and priests. The most conscientious and self-disciplined individuals were found to be 89% less likely to develop this form of dementia—deterioration of intellectual faculties, such as memory, concentration, and judgment, resulting from an organic disease or a disorder of the brain—than their peers over the course of the 12-year study. Robert Wilson at Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, Illinois, US, and colleagues followed 997 healthy Catholic nuns, priests and Christian brothers between 1994 and 2006. Early on in the study, participants completed a personality test to determine how conscientious they were. Based on answers to 12 questions such as "I am a productive person who always gets the job done", they received a score ranging from 0 to 48. On average, volunteers scored 34 points in the test. Volunteers also underwent regular neurological examinations and cognitive tests. Over the lifetime of the study, 176 of the 997 participants developed Alzheimer's disease. However, those with the highest score on the personality test—40 points or above—had an 89% lower chance of developing the debilitating condition than participants who received 28 points or lower. "These are people who control impulses, and tend to follow norms and roles," Wilson told New Scientist. Previous studies suggest that exercise and intellectual stimulation can decrease the risk of Alzheimer's disease. But the link between self-discipline and a reduced risk of the illness remained strong even after researchers discounted these factors from their study. Subjects still had a 54% lower chance of developing the condition. Exactly why conscientiousness should have an impact on Alzheimer's risk remains unclear, says Wilson. He notes that brain autopsies conducted on 324 of the study's participants failed to resolve the mystery. Earlier work has linked the presence of plaques and protein tangles within the brain to Alzheimer. Yet, in general, the brains of those who scored highly on the conscientiousness test had as many plaques and protein tangles as those of subjects who scored lower. Wilson suggests that more careful and conscientious individuals may have more active frontal brain regions, an area that is responsible for decision-making and planning. Increased activity in this region may perhaps compensate for a decline in function in other brain regions, he speculates. Based on the new findings, doctors could perhaps consider certain patients at greater risk of dementia, says Ross Andel at the University of South Florida, US. "This is a study about identifying people at risk," he says.

单选题Automation refers to the introduction of electronic control and automatic operation of productive machinery. It reduces the human factors, mental and physical, in production, and is designed to make possible the manufacture of more goods with fewer workers. The development of automation in American industry has been called the "Second Industrial Revolution". Labour"s concern over automation arises from uncertainty about the effects on employment, and fears of major changes in jobs. In the main, labour has taken the view that resistance to technical change is unfruitful. Eventually, the result of automation may well be an increase in employment, since it is expected that vast industries will grow up around manufacturing, maintaining, and repairing automation equipment. The interest of labour lies in bringing about the transition with a minimum of inconvenience and distress to the workers involved. Also, union spokesmen emphasize that the benefit of the increased production and lower costs made possible by automation should be shared by workers in the form of higher wages, more leisure, and improved living standards. To protect the interests of their members in the era of automation, unions have adopted a number of new policies. One of these is the promotion of supplementary unemployment benefits plans. It is emphasized that since the employer involved in such a plan has a direct financial interest in preventing unemployment, he will have a strong drive for planning new installations so as to cause the least possible problems in jobs and job assignments. Some unions are working for dismissal pay agreements, requiring that permanently dismissed workers be paid a sum of money based on length of service. Another approach is the idea of the "improvement factor", which calls for wage increases based on increases in productivity. It is possible, however, that labour will rely mainly on reduction in working hours in order to gain a full share in the fruits of automation.

单选题Paolo Fril, chairman and scientific officer of GeneDupe, based in San Melito, California, is a man with a dream. The dream is a dragon in every home. GeneDupe"s business is biotech pets. Not for Dr. Fril, though, the cloning of dead cats and dogs. He plans a range of entirely new animals—or, rather, of really quite old animals, with the twist that when they did exist, it was only in the imagination. Making a mythical creature real is not easy. But GeneDupe"s team of biologists and computer scientists reckon they are equal to the task. Their secret is a new field, which they call "virtual cell biology". Biology and computing have a lot in common, since both are about processing information—in one case electronic; in the other, biochemical. Virtual cell biology aspires to make a software model of a cell that is accurate in every biochemical detail. That is possible because all animal cells use the same parts list—mitochondria for energy processing, the endoplasmic reticulum for making proteins, Golgi body for protein assembly, and so on. Armed with their virtual cell, GeneDupe"s scientists can customize the result so that it belongs to a particular species, by loading it with a virtual copy of that animal"s genome. Then, if the cell is also loaded with the right virtual molecules, it will behave like a fertilized egg, and start dividing and developing—first into embryo, and ultimately into an adult. Because this "growth" is going on in a computer, it happens fast. Passing from egg to adult in one of GeneDupe"s enormous Mythmaker computers takes less than a minute. And it is here that Charles Darwin gets a look in. With such a short generation time, GeneDupe"s scientists can add a little evolution to their products. Each computer starts with a search image (dragon, unicorn, griffin, etc), and the genome of the real animal most closely resembling it (a lizard for the dragon, a horse for the unicorn and most taxingly, the spliced genomes of a lion and an eagle for the griffin). The virtual genomes of these real animals are then tweaked by random electronic mutations. When they have matured, the virtual adults most closely resembling the targets are picked and cross-bred, while the others are culled. Using this rapid evolutionary process, GeneDupe"s scientists have arrived at genomes for a range of mythological creatures—in a computer, at least. The next stage, on which they are just embarking, is to do it for real. This involves synthesizing, with actual DNA, the genetic material that the computer models predict will produce the mythical creatures. The synthetic DNA is then inserted into a cell that has had its natural nucleus removed. The result, Dr. Fril and his commercial backers hope, will be a real live dragon, unicorn or what you have. Dr. Fril is confident about his new idea. Indeed, if he can get the dragon"s respiration correct, he thinks they will set the world on fire.

单选题Questions 8--12 Answer the following questions by using NO MORE THAN three words.

单选题In the early 1960s Wilt Chamberlain was one of only three players in the National Basketball Association (NBA) listed at over seven feet. If he had played last season, however, he would have been one of 42. The bodies playing major professional sports have changed dramatically over the years, and managers have been more than willing to adjust team uniforms to fit the growing numbers of bigger, longer frames. The trend in sports, though, may be obscuring an unrecognized reality: Americans have generally stopped growing. Though typically about two inches taller now than 140 years ago, today's people-especially those born to families who have lived in the U.S. for many generations— apparently reached their limit in the early 1960s. And they aren't likely to get any taller. "In the general population today, at this genetic, environmental level, we've pretty much gone as far as we can go," says anthropologist William Cameron Chumlea of Wright State University. In the case of NBA players, their increase in height appears to result from the increasingly common practice of recruiting players from all over the world. Growth, which rarely continues beyond the age of 20, demands calories and nutrients-notably, protein—to feed expanding tissues. At the start of the 20th century, under-nutrition and childhood infections got in the way. But as diet and health improved, children and adolescents have, on average, increased in height by about an inch and a half every 20 years, a pattern known as the secular trend in height. Yet according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, average height—5'9" for men, 5'4" for women— hasn't really changed since 1960. Genetically speaking, there are advantages to avoiding substantial height. During childbirth, larger babies have more difficulty passing through the birth canal. Moreover, even though humans have been upright for millions of years, our feet and back continue to struggle with bipedal posture and cannot easily withstand repeated strain imposed by oversize limbs. "There are some real constraints that are set by the genetic architecture of the individual organism," says anthropologist William Leonard of Northwestern University. Genetic maximums can change, but don't expect this to happen soon. Claire C. Gordon, senior anthropologist at the Army Research Center in Natick, Mass. , ensures that 90 percent of the uniforms and workstations fit recruits without alteration. She says that, unlike those for basketball, the length of military uniforms has not changed for some time. And if you need to predict human height in the near future to design a piece of equipment, Gordon says that by and large, "you could use today's data and feel fairly confident. /

单选题 It is interesting to reflect for a moment upon the differences in the areas of moral feeling and standards in the peoples of Japan and the United States. Americans divide these areas somewhat rigidly into spirit and flesh, the two being in opposition in the tire of a human being. Ideally spirit should prevail but all too often it is the flesh that does prevail. The Japanese make no such division, at least between one as good and the other as evil. They believe that a person has two souls, each necessary. One is the "gentle" soul, the other is the "rough" soul. Sometimes the person uses his gentle soul. Sometimes he must use his rough soul. He does not favor his gentle soul, neither does he fight his rough soul. Human nature in itself is good, Japanese philosophers insist, and a human being does not need to fight any part of himself. He has only to learn how to use each soul properly at the appropriate times. Virtue for the Japanese consists in fulfilling one's obligations to others. Happy endings, either in life or in fiction, are neither necessary nor expected, since the fulfillment of duty provides the satisfying end, whatever the tragedy it inflicts. And duty includes a person's obligations to those who have conferred benefits upon him and to himself as an individual of honor. He develops through this double sense of duty a self discipline which is at once permissive and rigid, depending upon the area in which it is functioning. The process of acquiring this self-discipline begins in childhood. Indeed, one may say it begins at birth. Early is the Japanese child given his own identity! If I were to define in a word the attitude of the Japanese toward their children I would put it in one succinct word-" respect". Love? Yes, abundance of love, warmly expressed from the moment he is put to his mother's breast. For mother and child this nursing of her child is important psychologically. Rewards are frequent, a bit of candy bestowed at the right moment, an inexpensive toy. As the time comes to enter school, however, discipline becomes firmer. To bring shame to the family is the greatest shame for the child. What is the secret of the Japanese teaching of self-discipline? It lies, I think, in the fact that the aim or all teaching is the establishment of habit. Rules are repeated over, and continually practiced until obedience becomes instinctive. This repetition is enhanced by the expectation of the eiders. They expect a child to obey and to learn through obedience. The demand is gentle at first and tempered to the child's tender age. It is no less gentle as time goes on, but certainly it is increasingly inexorable. Now, far away from that warm Japanese home, I reflect upon what 1 learned there. What, I wonder, will take the place of the web of love and discipline which for so many centuries has surrounded the life and thinking of the people of Japan?

单选题A superstar usually is someone who has become famous in sports or popular music, someone like folk (人们，民间的) 21 Michael Jackson. 22 the middle of 1980"s Michael made a record album (相片册，邮票簿) 23 "Thriller (激情)". It quickly became the most 24 recording in the history of music and it made Michael Jackson a 25 . The word "super" means 26 that is extremely good. And of course, a 27 is a person who is famous. So people use "superstar" to describe the 28 people in sports, acting and 29 . One of the most famous sports superstars in the United States 30 boxer Muhammed Ali. 31 a young man, he won a 32 medal (奖章，纪念章) in the Olympics as a boxer. 33 he became the heavy-weight boxing champion of 34 . 35 long, he was known as one of the greatest 36 most famous boxers in sports 37 . Muhammed Ali claimed 38 he was a champion that he was more famous than the president of the United States, the 39 of the Soviet (苏维埃) Union, 40 the secretary-general of U.N. He is a true superstar. Everyone knows his name.

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

单选题In the first paragraph, the author quotes Straussmann's words in order to make clear ______.