问答题Last Friday an advisory panel to the European Environment Agency issued an extraordinary scientific opinion: The European Union should suspend its goal of having 10 percent of transportation fuel made from biofuel by 2020. The European Union"s biofuel targets were increased and extended from 5.75 percent by 2010 to 10 percent by 2020 just last year. Still, Europe"s well-meaning rush to biofuels, the scientists concluded, had produced a slew of harmful ripple effects—from deforestation in Southeast Asia to higher prices for grains. In a recommendation released last weekend, the 20-member panel, made up of some of Europe"s most distinguished climate scientists, called the 10 percent target "overambitious" and an "experiment" whose "unintended effects are difficult to predict and difficult to control." "The idea was that we felt we needed to slow down, to analyze the issue carefully and then come back at the problem," Laszlo Somlyody, the panel"s chairman and a professor at the Budapest University of Technology and Economics, said in a telephone interview. He said that part of the problem was that when it set the targets, the European Union was trying desperately to solve the problem of rising transportation emissions "in isolation," without adequately studying the effects of other sectors like land use and food supply. "The starting point was correct: I"m happy that the European Union took the lead in cutting greenhouse gasses and we need to control traffic emissions," Somlyody said. "But the basic problem is it thought of transport alone, without considering all these other effects. And we don"t understand those very well yet." The panel"s advice is not binding and it is not clear whether the European Commission will follow the recommendation. It has become increasingly clear that the global pursuit of biofuels—encouraged by a rash of targets and subsides in both Europe and the United States—has not produced the desired effect. Investigations have shown, for example, rain forests and peat swamp are being cleared to make way for biofuel plantations, a process that produces more emissions than the biofuels can save. Equally concerning, land needed to produce food for people to eat is planted with more profitable biofuel crops, and water is diverted from the drinking supply. In Europe and the United States, food prices for items like pizza and bread have increased significantly as grain stores shrink and wheat prices rise. The prices of wheat and rice are double those of a year ago, and corn is a third higher, the UN Food and Agriculture Organization said this week. "Food price inflation hits the poor hardest, as the share of food in their total expenditures is much higher than that of wealthier populations," said Henri Josserand of the Food and Agriculture Organization. For example, the European Environment Agency advisory panel suggests that the best use of plant biomass is not for transport fuel but to heat homes and generate electricity. To be useful for vehicles, plant matter must be distilled to a fuel and often transported long distances. To heat a home, it can often be used raw or with minimal processing, and moved just a short distance away.

问答题Tickets will be sold on a first-come, first-served basis.

问答题The importance of agriculture cannot be overstated. Mom than 50 percent of the world's labor force is employed in agriculture. The distribution in the early 1980s ranged from 67 percent of those employed in Africa to less than 5 percent in North America. In Western Europe, the figure was about 16 percent; in Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union, about 32 percent; and in Asia, about 68 percent. Farm size varies widely from region to region. Recently the average for Canadian farms was about 186 ha (about 460 acres) per farm, and for U.S. farms, about 175 ha (about 432 acres). The average size of a single landholding in the Philippines, however, may be somewhat less than 3.6 ha (less than 9 acres), and in Indonesia, a little less than 1.2 ha (less than 3 acres). Size also depends on the purpose of the farm. Commercial farming, or production for cash, is usually done on large holdings. The plantations of Latin America are large, privately owned estates worked by tenant labor. Single-crop plantations produce tea, rubber, cocoa. Wheat farms are most efficient when they comprise some thousands of hectares and can be worked by teams of people and machines. Australian sheep stations and other livestock farms must be large to provide grazing for thousands of animals. Individual subsistence farms or small-family mixed-farm operations are decreasing in number in developed countries but are still numerous in the developing countries of Africa and Asia. A "back- to-the-land" movement in the U.S. reversed the decline of small farms in New England and Alaska in the decade from 1970 to 1980. The conditions that determine what will be raised in an area include climate, water supply, and terrain. Over the 10,000 years since agriculture began to be developed, peoples everywhere have discovered the food value of wild plants and animals and domesticated and bred them. The most important are cereals such as wheat, rice, barley, com and rye. Agricultural income is also derived from non-food crops such as rubber, fiber plants, tobacco, and oilseeds used in synthetic chemical compounds. Money is also derived from raising animals for pelt. Much of the foreign exchange earned by a country may be derived from a single commodity; for example, Sri Lanka depends on tea, Denmark specializes in dairy products, Australia in wool, and New Zealand and Argentina in meat products. In the U.S., wheat has become a major foreign exchange commodity in recent years. The importance of an individual country as an exporter of agricultural products depends on many variables. Among them is the possibility that the country is too little developed industrially to produce manufactured goods in sufficient quantity or technical sophistication. Such agricultural exporters include Ghana with cocoa, and Myanmar with rice. On the other hand, an exceptionally well-developed country may produce surpluses not needed by its own population; this has been true of the U.S., Canada, and some of the West European countries.

问答题Keeping the intricacies and complexities out of the picture, let us take the binary opposites of the rich and the poor in the global system.

问答题Large, multinational corporations may be the companies whose ups and downs seize headlines. 21 But to a far greater extent than most Americans realize, the economy"s vitality depends on the fortunes of tiny shops and restaurants, neighborhood services and factories. Small businesses, defined as those with fewer than 100 workers, now employ 60 percent of the workforce and are expected to generate haft of all new jobs between now and the year 2,000. Some 1.2 million small firms have opened their doors over the past 6 years of economic growth, and 1989 will see an additional 200,000 entrepreneurs striking off on their own. Too many of these pioneers, however, will blaze ahead unprepared. Idealists will overestimate the clamor for their products or fail to factor in the competition. Nearly everyone will underestimate, often fatally, the capital that success requires. 22 Midcareer executives, forced by a takeover or a restructuring to quit the corporation and find another way to support themselves, may savor(欣赏) the idea of being their own boss but may forget that entrepreneurs must also, at least for a while, be bookkeepers and receptionists, too. According to Small Business Administration data, 24 of every 100 businesses starting out today are likely to disappear in two years, and 27 more will have shut their doors four years from now. By 1995, more than 60 of those 100 start-ups will have folded. A new study of 3,000 small businesses, sponsored by American Express and the National Federation of Independent Business, suggests slightly better odds: three years after start-up, 77 percent of the companies surveyed were still alive. 23 Most credited their success in large part to having picked a business they already were comfortable in. Eighty percent had worked with the same product or service in their last jobs. Thinking through an enterprise before the launch is obviously critical. But many entrepreneurs forget that a firm"s health in its infancy may be little indication of how well it will age. You must tenderly monitor its pulse. In their zeal to expand, small business owners often ignore early warning signs of a stagnant market or of decaying profitability. 24 They hopefully pour more and more money into the enterprise, preferring not to acknowledge eroding profit margins that means the market for their ingenious service or product has evaporated, or that they must cut the payroll or vacate their lavish offices. Only when the financial well runs dry do they see the seriousness of the illness, and by then the patient is usually too far gone to save. Frequent checks of your firm"s vital signs will also guide you to a sensible rate of growth. 25 To snatch opportunity, you must spot the signals that it is time to conquer the new markets, add products or perhaps franchise your hot ideas.

问答题{{B}}农业加工业帮助提升中国农业发展{{/B}} 过去二十年，农产品加工业始终是中国农业发展的引擎，它使农民的腰包鼓了起来。 在改革开放的年代中，尤其是在20世纪最后五年，农业加工在国民经济中的重要性一直在稳步上升。 国家统计局数字显示，农产品加工业已成为最具活力的产业，其增长率名列国民经济中各产业之首。 过去十年中，农产品加工业平均年增长达到9.2%，高出当前国民经济的增长，该产业的增加值攀升到84.6%。 国家经贸委副主任欧新黔说，农业加工业的高速发展推动了中国农产品市场，促进了农业的总体进步。他还说，该产业的巨大进步成为推进国民经济发展的力量源泉。 加工农产品也给中国农民带来了更多的收入。越来越多的乡镇企业正在建立一种与当地农民利益共享的关系，这种关系不仅确保利润收入，而且同时降低了农业生产者的风险。 到目前为止，农业加工业已为全国农民创造了超过1500万个就业机会。 与此同时，该产业也正在加速中国农业的结构重组。 中国农业部部长杜青林指出，中国政府的目标在于建立一个安全可靠的农产品供应体系，一个加工产业体系，一个质量控制和安全体系，一个技术革新体系和一个符合WTO规则的政策支持体系。 杜部长说中国必须依靠这5个体系来拓展农业改革和农村经济的结构重组。 根据农业部乡镇企业局局长刘增胜的分析，建立以上五个体系将有助于逐步改变加入WTO后中国农业面临的严峻形势，并且提高中国农产品的竞争力。 我们相信，到2005年，农产品加工业将在国民经济中发挥更加重要的作用，随着区域资源的不断优化，中国一定能够以新的活力参与国际竞争。

问答题{{B}}Power and Cooperation: An American Foreign Policy for the Age of Global Politics{{/B}} The age of geopolitics in American foreign policy is over; the age of global politics has begun. Throughout the twentieth century, traditional geopolitics drove U. S. thinking on foreign affairs: American security depended on preventing any one country from achieving dominion over the Eurasian landmass. That objective was achieved with the collapse of the Soviet Union. Now the United States finds itself confronting a new international environment, one without a peer competitor but that nonetheless presents serious threats to American security. The terrorists who struck the World Trade Center and the Pentagon neither represented a traditional state-based threat nor were fled to a specific geographical location. Nevertheless, nineteen people with just a few hundred thousand dollars succeeded in harming the most powerful nation on earth. For more than three centuries, the dynamics of world politics was determined by the interplay among states, especially the great powers. Today, world politics is shaped by two unprecedented phenomena that are in some tension with each other. One is the sheer predominance of the United States. Today, as never before, what matters most in international politics is how -- and whether -- Washington acts on any given issue. The other is globalization, which has unleashed economic, political, and social forces that are beyond the capacity of any one country, including the United States, to control. American primacy and globalization bring the United States great rewards as well as great dangers. Primacy gives Washington an unsurpassed ability to get its way in international affairs, while globalization enriches the American economy and spreads American values. But America's great power and the penetration of its culture, products, and influence deep into other societies breed intense resentment and grievances. Great power and great wealth do not necessarily produce greater respect or greater security. American leaders and the American people are now grappling with the double-edged sword that is the age of global politics.

问答题突尼卡县(Tunica)曾经是密西西比州最贫苦的县，现在它却拥有八个赌场和一个大型娱乐中心。

问答题 1 The increase in international business and in foreign investment has created a need for executives with knowledge of foreign languages and skills in cross-cultural communication. Americans, however, have not been well trained in either area and, consequently, have not enjoyed the same level of success in negotiation in all international arena as have their foreign counterparts. Negotiating is the process of communicating back and forth for the purpose of reaching an agreement. 2 It involves persuasion and compromise, but in order to participate in either one, the negotiators must understand the ways in which people are persuaded and how compromise is reached within the culture of the negotiation. In many international business negotiations abroad, Americans are perceived as wealthy and impersonal. 3 It often appears to the foreign negotiator that the American represents a large multimillion-dollar corporation that can afford to pay the price without bargaining further. The American negotiator"s role becomes that of an impersonal surveyor of information and cash. In studies of American negotiators abroad, several traits have been identified that may serve to confirm this stereotypical perception, while undermining the negotiator"s position. 4 Two traits in particular that cause cross-cultural misunderstanding are directness and impatience on the part of the American negotiator. Furthermore, American negotiators often insist on realizing short-term benefits. Foreign negotiators, on the other hand, may value the relationship established between negotiators and may be willing to invest time in it for long-term benefits. 5 In order to solidify the relationship, they may opt for indirect interactions without regard for the time involved in getting to know the other negotiator. Clearly, perceptions and differences in values affect the outcomes of negotiations and the success for negotiators. For Americans to play a more effective role in international business negotiations, they must put forth more effort to improve cross-cultural understanding.

问答题Everybody has a responsibility to the society of which he is a part and through this to mankind.

问答题姑娘有点不好意思了，脸上泛着红潮。

问答题When a new movement in art attains a certain fashion, it is advisable to find out what its advocates are aiming at, for, however farfetched and unreasonable their principles may seem today, it is possible that in years to come they may be regarded as normal. With regard to Futurist poetry, however, the case is rather difficult, tor whatever Futurist poetry may be even admitting that the theory on which it is based may be right, it can hardly be classed as Literature. This, in brief, is what the Futurist says. Over one century, the life situation in the past had been changed rapidly. And now, we live in the world which is full of noise, violence and speed. Consequently, our feelings, thoughts and emotions have undergone a corresponding change. This speeding up of life, says the Futurist, requires a new form of expression. We must speed up our literature too, if we want to interpret modem stress. We must pour out a large stream of essential words, unhampered by stops, or qualifying adjectives, of finite verbs. Instead of describing sounds we must make up words that imitate them. We must use many sizes of type and different colored inks on the same page, and shorten or lengthen words at will. Certainly their descriptions of battles are confused. But it is a little upsetting to read in the explanatory notes that a certain line describes a fight between a Turkish and a Bulgarian officer on a bridge off which they both fall into the river and then to find that the line consists of the noise of their falling and the weights of the officers: "Pluff! Pluff! A hundred and eighty-five kilograms." This, though it fulfills the laws and requirements of Futurist poetry, can hardly be classed as Literature. All the same, no thinking man can refuse to accept their first proposition: that a great change in our emotional life calls for a change of expression. The whole question is really this: have we essentially changed?

问答题Amy settles into her seat, takes out her computer and reads over the agenda for the meeting to which she's traveling.

问答题{{B}}Green Gene Technology{{/B}} For the past 10,000 years humans have influenced the plants they use at first unknowingly, later by design. Today's crops have been created by a process of selection and classical breeding. More specific improvements in breeding will be possible in future. Science has cracked the genetic information code. Green gene technology is an effective tool in crop breeding, enabling us to develop new crops even more rapidly and specifically. We can make them more efficient, optimizing their contents and valuable substances to suit the wishes and requirements of customers and the processing industry. Their metabolism can be individually modified, making them produce starch, protein and fats with special properties. Through gene transfer plants can be made more resistant to viruses, bacteria, harmful fungi and insect pests. Genetically modified plants can be cultivated to possess improved stress behavior, with the result that they absorb water better in dry locations and can make more efficient use of soil nutrients. We can also optimize weed control. To do so, we make crops tolerant to environmentally sound and easily degradable herbicides. This is not as simple as it sounds. But we have been successful: Innovator has been on the Canadian market since 1995. This is the first oilseed rape variety to contain the glufosinate tolerance gene, facilitating the use of AgrEvo's broad-spectrurn herbicide liberty. We are committed to green gene technology, with which we aim to make crop breeding even more efficient and environmentally friendly. Before being brought on to the market these genetically modified plants are researched and tested for years until the questions posed regarding their safety have been answered. This is a great opportunity for us to realize our vision: the use of faster methods to breed varieties which will continue to provide us with sufficient food and raw materials in future. Our fossil reserves will soon be exhausted. Experts estimate that we only have enough oil for another 43 years and natural gas for less than 60. This means we must rethink and act accordingly, using new crop varieties to step up the move to replenishable sources of raw materials and energy. In other words, green gene technology is the key technology for sustainable agriculture.

问答题China's WTO entry makes it imperative for enterprises to increase their competitive power, and for industries to establish their comparative advantages.

问答题每个人一生中都该有个志向，否则他的精力便会浪费掉，每个青年人都力求成为一个有成就的人物。一个青年人只期望富有是不明智的，或只专心于求得权利与名望也是不对的。一个青年人希望做个有成就者，结果常常会实现。狄斯累里(Disraeli)的故事是个例证。狄斯累里开始过公众生活时渴望能成为一个学者及演说家。他在文学方面的成就比演说方面更为成功。起初他作为一个演说家时是完全失败的。不过，他认为有把握克服障碍，遂以不屈不挠的精神致力于这个目标的实现。他的一些朋友认为他这个念头是蠢的，甚至是古怪的，但他坚持目标不舍，最后终于成功，成为英国曾经产生的最有丰富知识的学者与最雄辩的演说家之一。这个故事并不是引来说明：只是大学者或演说家，或二者兼而有之者才是有成就的人物。除了做学者或演说家之外，还有许多同样高尚与可敬的事业。它只是用来说明一个青年人须志向高远，因为“宁可志高而达不到目标，也不要为了达到目标而志低。”

问答题1．至于在近期内能否再次出现这种各方面情况的巧合，即使最乐观的看法，也是值得怀疑的，尤其是考虑到美国国防预算缩减和海外基地减少的情况。 2．我们首先应考虑的是，坚持美国国内各种因素之间、各个部分之间的相互依赖关系——承认体现传统的和永远重要的美国开拓精神。 3．没有人比我对刚刚向议会全体代表发言的可尊敬的先生们的爱国精神和才干更钦佩了。 4．然而，这个专门小组尚未就一个关系重大的问题达成一致意见，即是否提出有关的立法建议，以使个人对克隆人体进行资助成为犯罪行为。 5．你们大家都反复听说过，科学家是用归纳法和演绎法工作的，他们在某种意义上说借助这些方法力求从自然界找到某些自然规律，然后他们在这些规律的基础上运用自己的某种特别本领建立起自己的理论。

问答题Continuing into the West, the plane flies over vast prairies and rough cattle-grazing country

问答题{{B}}Passage 2{{/B}} {{B}}The Truth about the Environment{{/B}} For many environmentalists, the world seems to be getting worse. They have developed a hit-list of our main fears: that natural resources are running out; that the population is ever growing, leaving less and less to eat; that species are becoming extinct in vast numbers, and that the planet's air and water are becoming ever more polluted. But a quick look at the facts shows a different picture. First, energy and other natural resources have become more abundant, not less so, since the book {{I}}The Limits to Growth{{/I}} was published in 1972 by a group of scientists. Second, more food is now produced per head of the world's population than at any time in history. Fewer people are starving. Third, although species are indeed becoming extinct, only about 0.7% of them are expected to disappear in the next 50 years, not 25-50%, as has so often been predicted. And finally, most forms of environmental pollution either appear to have been exaggerated, or are temporary-associated with the early phases of industrialisation and therefore best cured not by restricting economic growth, but by accelerating it. One form of pollution—the release of greenhouse gases that causes global warming—does appear to be a phenomenon that is going to extend well into our future, but its total impact is unlikely to pose a devastating problem. Yet opinion polls suggest that many people nurture the belief that environmental standards are declining and many factors seem to cause this disjunction between perception and reality.

问答题1．美国人常认为：在他们国家，一个人的地位可以从社会最底层上升到社会最上层，亚伯拉罕·林肯就是极好的例子。 2．确保联邦政府的资源得到妥善管理的主要负担落在相对他雇用的500万名男女职员来说寥寥无几的少数人身上。 3．不知道哲学家现状的人也许会惊奇地发现：现在大学的哲学家中很少有人去研究过去在大学曾经探讨过的问题——死亡、上帝的存在、基本道德、客观世界或对幸福的期望。 4．的确，可以得出这样的结论，直到1982年公约通过之后，才有了适用于国际社会大部分成员的健全的海洋条约法律。 5．由于剩余价值的发现，使问题明朗化了。而先前，无论资产阶级经济学家还是社会批评家所从事的一切研究都只是在黑暗中摸索。