Directions : Read the passage. Then answer the questions. Give yourself 20 minutes to complete this practice set. TRANSITION TO SOUND IN FILM The shift from silent to sound film at the end of the 1920"s marks, so far, the most important transformation in motion picture history. Despite all the highly visible technological developments in theatrical and home delivery of the moving image that have occurred over the decades since then, no single innovation has come close to being regarded as a similar kind of watershed. In nearly every language, however the words are phrased, the most basic division in cinema history lies between films that are mute and films that speak. Yet this most fundamental standard of historical periodization conceals a host of paradoxes. Nearly every movie theater, however modest, had a piano or organ to provide musical accompaniment to silent pictures. In many instances, spectators in the era before recorded sound experienced elaborate aural presentations alongside movies" visual images, from the Japanese benshi (narrators) crafting multivoiced dialogue narratives to original musical compositions performed by symphony-size orchestras in Europe and the United States. In Berlin, for the premiere performance outside the Soviet Union of The Battleship Potemkin , film director Sergei Eisenstein worked with Austrian composer Edmund Meisel (1874-1930) on a musical score matching sound to image; the Berlin screenings with live music helped to bring the film its wide international fame. Beyond that, the triumph of recorded sound has overshadowed the rich diversity of technological and aesthetic experiments with the visual image that were going forward simultaneously in the 1920"s. New color processes, larger or differently shaped screen sizes, multiple-screen projections, even television, were among the developments invented or tried out during the period, sometimes with startling success. The high costs of converting to sound and the early limitations of sound technology were among the factors that suppressed innovations or retarded advancement in these other areas. The introduction of new screen formats was put off for a quarter century, and color, though utilized over the next two decades for special productions, also did not become a norm until the 1950"s. Though it may be difficult to imagine from a later perspective, a strain of critical opinion in the 1920"s predicted that sound film would be a technical novelty that would soon fade from sight, just as had many previous attempts, dating well back before the First World War, to link images with recorded sound. These critics were making a common assumption—that the technological inadequacies of earlier efforts (poor synchronization, weak sound amplification, fragile sound recordings) would invariably occur again. To be sure, their evaluation of the technical flaws in 1920"s sound experiments was not so far off the mark, yet they neglected to take into account important new forces in the motion picture field that, in a sense, would not take no for an answer. These forces were the rapidly expanding electronics and telecommunications companies that were developing and linking telephone and wireless technologies in the 1920%. In the United States, they included such firms as American Telephone and Telegraph, General Electric, and Westinghouse. They were interested in all forms of sound technology and all potential avenues for commercial exploitation. Their competition and collaboration were creating the broadcasting industry in the United States, beginning with the introduction of commercial radio programming in the early 1920"s. With financial assets considerably greater than those in the motion picture industry, and perhaps a wider vision of the relationships among entertainment and communications media, they revitalized research into recording sound for motion pictures. In 1929 the United States motion picture industry released more than 300 sound films—a rough figure, since a number were silent films with music tracks, or films prepared in dual versions, to take account of the many cinemas not yet wired for sound. At the production level, in the United States the conversion was virtually complete by 1930. In Europe it took a little longer, mainly because there were more small producers for whom the costs of sound were prohibitive, and in other parts of the world problems with rights or access to equipment delayed the shift to sound production for a few more years (though cinemas in major cities may have been wired in order to play foreign sound films). The triumph of sound cinema was swift, complete, and enormously popular.

ScienceFiction?NotAnyMoreSciencefictionhasoftenbeenthesourceofinspirationfornewtechnologies.Theexoskeletonsandhead-mounteddisplaysfeaturedinthefilm"Aliens",forexample,spawnedanumberofmilitary-fundedprojectstotrytocreatesimilartechnologies.Automaticslidingdoorsmightneverhavebecomepopularhadtheynotappearedonthetelevisionseries"StarTrek".Andthepopularityofflip-topor"clamshell"mobilephonesmaystemfromthedesiretolooklikeCaptainKirkflippingopenhiscommunicatoronthesameprogram.Nowitseemsthat"StarTrek"hasdoneitagain.Thismonth,AmericansoldiersinIraqwillbegintrialsofadeviceinspiredbythe"commbadge"featuredin"StarTrek:TheNextGeneration".LikecrewmembersofthestarshipEnterprise,soldierswillbeabletotalktoothermembersoftheirunitjustbytappingandthenspeakingintoasmallbadgewornonthechest.Whatsetsthecommbadgeapartfromamerewalkie-talkie,andappealsto"StarTrek"fans,isthesystem'sapparentintelligence.Itworksoutwhoyouarecallingfromspokencommands,andconnectsyouinstantly.Thesystem,developedbyVoceraCommunicationsofCupertino,California,usesacombinationofWi-FiwirelessnetworkingandVoice-over-internetProtocol(VolP)technologiestolinkupthebadgesviaacentralserver,akintoaswitchboard.Thebadgesarealreadybeingusedin80largeinstitutions,mostofthemhospitals,toreplaceoverheadpagingsystems,saysBrentLang,Vocera'svice-president.Likeitsscience-fictioncounterpart,thebadgeisdesignedsothatallfunctionscanbecarriedoutbypressingasinglebutton.Onpressingit,thecallergivesacommandandspecifiesthenameofapersonorgroupofpeople,suchas"callDr.Smith"or"locatethenearestanesthesiologist".Voice-recognitionsoftwareinterpretsthecommandsandlocatestheappropriatepersonorgroup,basedonwhicheverWi-Fibase-stationtheyareclosestto.Thepersonreceivingthecallthenhearsanaudiblealertstatingthenameofthecallerand,ifheorshewishestotakethecall,respondsbytappingthebadgeandstartingtospeak.Thathighlightsakeydifferencebetweenthe"StarTrek"commbadgeandthereal-lifeversion:Vocera'simplementationallowspeopletorejectincomingcalls,ratherthanhavingthevoiceofthecallerpatchedthroughautomatically.ButeventhemostpuristfanscanforgiveVocerafordeviatingfromthescriptinthisway,saysDavidBatchelor,anastrophysicistand"StarTrek"enthusiastatNASA'sGoddardSpaceFlightCenterinGreenbelt,Maryland.Forthereare,henotes,somecuriousaspectstothebehaviorofthecommbadgesin"StarTrek".WhenthecaptainoftheEnterprisesays"Picardtosick-bay:Medicalemergencyonthebridge",forexample,hisbadgesomehowconnectshimtothesick-baybeforehehasstatedthedestinationofthecall.Allowingbadgeuserstorejectincomingcallsiftheyarebusy,ratherthanbeingconnectedinstantly,wasafeatureaddedattherequestofcustomers,saysMr.Lang.Butinalmostallotherrespectsthebadgesworkjustliketheirfictionalcounterparts.Thisisnotverysurprising,saysLawrenceKrauss,anastrophysicistatCaseWesternReserveUniversityinCleveland,Ohio,andtheauthorof"ThePhysicsofStarTrek".Insciencefiction,andparticularlyin"StarTrek",mostproblemshavetechnologicalfixes.Sometimes,itseems,thosefixescanbeappliedtoreal-worldproblemstoo.Vocera'ssystemisparticularlywellsuitedtohospitals,saysChristineTarver,aclinicalmanageratE1CaminoHospitalinMountainView,California.Itallowsclinicalstafftoreacheachotherfarmorequicklythanwithbeepersandoverheadpagers.ArecentstudycarriedoutatSt.AgnesHealthcareinBaltimore,Maryland,assessedtheamountoftimespentbyclinicalstafftryingtogetholdofeachother,bothbeforeandaftertheinstallationoftheVocerasystem.Itconcludedthatthebadgeswouldsavethestaffatotalof3,400hourseachyear.Nursingstaffoftenendupplayingphonetagwithdoctors,whichwastesvaluabletime,saysMsTarver.Andalthoughpeopleusingthebadgessometimeslookasthoughtheyaretalkingtothemselves,shesays,manydoctorspreferitbecauseitenablesthemtodealwithqueriesmoreefficiently.Thesystemcanalsoforwardcallstomobilephones;itcanbeindividuallytrainedtoensurethatitunderstandsuserswithstrongaccents;anditcanevenbeconfiguredwithpersonalizedringtones.InIraq,soldierswillusetheVocerabadgesinconjunctionwithbase-stationsmountedonHumveearmoredvehicles.Beyondmedicalandmilitaryuses,Vocerahopestosellthetechnologytoretailersandhotels.Andthefirm'sengineersarenowextendingthesystemtoenablethebadgestoretrievestoredinformation,suchaspatientrecordsorinformationaboutaparticulardrug,inresponsetospokencommands.Theirinspiration?Yetanother"StarTrek"technology:theship'stalking,ship'scomputer.

POPULATION ECOLOGY1 Population ecology is the science that measures changes in population size and composition and identifies the causes of these fluctuations．Population ecology is not concerned solely with the human population．In ecological terms．a population consists of the individuals of one species that simultaneously occupy the same general area．rely on the same resources, and are affected by similar environmental factors．The characteristics of a population are shaped by its size and by the interactions among individuals and between individuals and their environment． 2 Population size is a balance between factors that increase numbers and factors that decrease numbers．Some factors that increase populations are favorable light and temperature，adequate food supply, suitable habitat, ability to compete for resources, and ability to adapt to environmental change．Factors that decrease populations are insufficient or excessive light and temperature, inadequate food supply, unsuitable or destroyed habitat, too many competitors for resources, and inability to adapt to environmental change． 3 An important characteristic of any population is its density．Population density is the number of individuals per unit, such as the number of maple trees per square kilometer in a county．Ecologists can rarely determine population size by actually counting all individuals within geographical boundaries.Instead, they often use a variety of sampling techniques to estimate densities and total population sizes．In some cases，they estimate population size through indirect indicators, such as the number of nests or burrows, or signs such as tracks or droppings． 4 Another important population characteristic, dispersion, is the pattern of spacing among individuals with the population's geographical boundaries.Various species are distributed in their habitats in different ways to take better advantage of food supplies and shelter, and to avoid predators or find prey．Within a population's range, densities may vary greatly because not all areas provide equally suitable habitat, and also because individuals space themselves in relation to other members of the population． 5 Three possible patterns of dispersion are clumped, uniform, and random．A clumped dispersion pattern means that individuals are gathered in patches throughout their habitat． Clumping often results from the irregular distribution of resources needed for survival and reproduction．For example, fallen trees keep the forest floor moist, and many forest insects are clumped under logs where the humidity is to their 1iking．Clumping may also be associated with mating, safety, or other social behavior．Crane flies, for example, swarm in great numbers, a behavior that increases mating chances, and some fish swim in large schools so they are less likely to be eaten by predators． 6 A uniform or evenly spaced distribution results from direct interactions among individuals in the population．For example, regular spacing of plants may result from shading and competition for water．In animal populations, uniform distribution is usually caused by competition for some resource or by social interactions that set up individual territories for feeding，breeding, or resting． 7 Random spacing occurs in the absence of strong attraction or repulsion among individuals in a population．Overall, random patterns are rare in nature, with most populations showing a tendency toward either clumped or uniform distribution． 8 Populations change in size, structure, and distribution as they respond to changes in environmental conditions．Four main variables—births, deaths, immigration, and emigration—determine the rate of change in the size of the population over time．A change in the birth rate or death rate is the major way that most populations respond to changes in resource availability．Members of some animal species can avoid or reduce the effects of environmental stress by emigrating from one area and immigrating to another with more favorable environmental conditions, thus altering the population's dispersion．

BuildingwithArchesRoundArchandVaultAlthoughtheroundarchwasusedbytheancientpeoplesofMesopotamiaseveralcenturiesbeforeourcommonera,itwasmostfullydevelopedbytheRomans,whoperfectedtheforminthe2ndcenturyB.C.E.Thearchhasmanyvirtues.Inadditiontobeinganattractiveform,itenablesthearchitecttoopenupfairlylargespacesinawallwithoutriskingthebuilding'sstructuralsoundness.Thesespacesadmitlight,reducetheweightofthewalls,anddecreasetheamountofmaterialneeded.AsutilizedbytheRomans,thearchisaperfectsemicircle,althoughitmayseemelongatedifitrestsoncolumns.Itisconstructedfromwedge-shapedpiecesofstonethatmeetatananglealwaysperpendiculartothecurveofthearch.Becauseoftensionsandcompressionsinherentintheform,thearchisstableonlywhenitiscomplete,whenthetopmoststone,thekeystone,hasbeensetinplace.Forthisreasonanarchunderconstructionmustbesupportedfrombelow,usuallybyawoodenframework.AmongthemostelegantandenduringofRomanstructuresbasedonthearchisthePontduGardatNimes,France,builtabout15C.E.whentheempirewasnearingitsfarthestexpansion.Atthistime,industry,commerce,andagriculturewereattheirpeak.Romanengineeringwasappliedtoanambitioussystemofpublic-worksprojects,notjustinItalybutintheoutlyingareasaswell.ThePontduGardfunctionedasanaqueduct,astructuremeanttotransportwater,anditslowerlevelservedasafootbridgeacrosstheriver.Thatitstandstodayvirtuallyintactafternearlytwothousandyears(andiscrossedbycyclistsontherouteofthefamousTourdeFrancebicyclerace)testifiestotheRomans'brilliantengineeringskills.Visually,thePontduGardexemplifiesthebestqualitiesofarchconstruction.Solidandheavy,obviouslydurable,itisshotthroughwithopenspacesthatmakeitseemlightanditsweight-bearingcapabilitieseffortless.Whenthearchisextendedindepth--whenitis,inreality,manyarchesplacedflushonebehindtheothertheresultiscalledabarrelvault.Thisvaultconstructionmakesitpossibletocreatelargeinteriorspaces.TheRomansmadegreatuseofthebarrelvault,butforitsfinestexpressionwelookmanyhundredsofyearslater,tothechurchesoftheMiddleAges.ThechurchofSainte-Foy,intheFrenchcityofConques,isanexampleofthestyleprevalentthroughoutWesternEuropefromabout1050to1200astyleknownasRomanesque.RomanesquebuildersadoptedtheoldRomanformsofroundarchandbarrelvaultsoastoaddheighttotheirchurches.Untilthisperiodmostchurcheshadbeamedwoodenroofs,whichnotonlyposedathreatoffirebutalsolimitedtheheighttowhicharchitectscouldaspire.Withthestonebarrelvault,theycouldachievethesoaring,majesticspaceweseeinthenaveofSainte-Foy.PointedArchandVaultWhiletheroundarchandvaultoftheRomanesqueerasolvedmanyproblemsandmademanythingspossible,theyneverthelesshadcertaindrawbacks.Foronething,aroundarch,tobestable,mustbeasemicircle;therefore,theheightofthearchislimitedbyitswidth.Twootherdifficultieswereweightanddarkness.Barrelvaultsarebothliterallyandvisuallyheavy,callingforhugemassesofstonetomaintaintheirstructuralstability.Also,thebuilderswhoconstructedthemdarednotmakelight-admittingopeningsinoraroundthem,forfearthearchesandvaultswouldcollapse,andsotheinteriorsofRomanesquebuildingstendtobedark.TheGothicperiodinEurope,whichfollowedtheRomanesque,solvedtheseproblemswiththepointedarch.Thepointedarch,whileseeminglynotverydifferentfromtheroundone,offersmanyadvantages.Becausethesidesarcuptoapoint,weightischanneleddowntothegroundatasteeperangle,andthereforethearchcanbetaller.Thevaultconstructedfromsuchanarchalsocanbemuchtallerthanabarrelvault.ArchitectsoftheGothicperiodfoundtheydidnotneedheavymassesofmaterialthroughoutthecurveofthevault,aslongasthemajorpointsofintersectionwerereinforced.Glossarynave:thelongcentralareainachurchwithaislesoneachside

TwoTypesofSocialGroupsOneofthemostbasicelementsofhumanlifeisthewayinwhichweformsocialgroupsandinteractwiththemembersofthosegroups.Accordingtosociologists,nooneiseverentirelyseparatefromthesocialnetworksthatsurroundhimorher,andthegroupswebelongtoplayanenormousroleindetermininghowweseeourselvesandourworld.EarlyAmericansociologistCharlesH.Cooley(1864～1929)definedtwoprincipalcategoriesofhumangroupings,andhisideasarestillwidelyacceptedtoday.Hetermedthemprimaryandsecondary,basedonthekindsofrelationshipsindividualsinthegroupsharewitheachother.Inprimarygroups,weformwhatCooleyreferredtoasprimaryrelationships.Thesearemarkedbystrong,long-lastingemotionalties,feelingsofintimacyandgenuineconcernforthewell-beingoftheotherpersonorpeople.Intangibleitems,suchaslove,respect,andsupport,areexchangedbyindividualsinprimarygroups,causingthemtofeelnurturedbytherelationshipsthegroupaffordsthem.Participationinthegroupisthereforeseenasitsownreward:thereisnoconcrete,externalgoalthatmembersareworkingtowards.Duetothetimeandeffortittakestobuildsuchclosebonds,primarygroupsaretypicallysmall.SomeprominentexamplesgivenbyCooleyincludefamilies,groupsofchildhoodfriends,andthetight-knitcommunitiesadultsenterintowiththeirneighborsorotherclosepeers.IntheviewofCooleyandlatersociologists,itistheprimarygroupthatismostimportantinthedevelopmentofanindividual'spersonalbeliefsandvalues,andassiststhatpersonwithhisorherintegrationintosocietyatlarge.Secondarygroups,incontrast,arecharacterizedbythelackofintimaterelationshipsamongtheirmembers.Thesesecondaryrelationshipsinvolvelesspersonalinteractionandweakeremotionalconnections,andthereforetheydonothaveassignificantanimpactonthedevelopmentofanindividual'sworldview.Inaddition,sincetiesbetweenindividualsarenotasstrong,manysecondarygroupseitherexistforonlyashorttimebeforedissolving,orexperiencefrequentchangesinmembership.Secondarygroupscanbequitelarge.Acompany'semployees,auniversity'sstudentbody,andevenacountry'scitizensareallexamplesofsecondarygroups.Theitemsindividualsexchangeareusuallytangibleinnature,suchasthelaborprovidedinreturnforwagesinthecaseofacommercialorganization.Mostnotably,though,thereasonthatsecondarygroupsforminthefirstplaceistoaccomplishaspecifictask.Employeesparticipateinthesecondarygroupoftheircompanywiththeintentionofcreatingaproductorservice,aswellastoreceivepay.Ifthegroupfailstoachieveitsgoal,itwillmostlikelyceasetoexist.Cooleybelievedthatbothprimaryandsecondarygroupsareuniversaltohumansocieties.Whilemodernsociologistsagreewiththis,theyhavealsoobservedthattheratioofprimarytosecondarygroupsvariesaccordingtothelevelofasociety'stechnologicaldevelopment.Inless-developednations,individualsspendmostoftheirlivesinasinglelocationwithprolongedexposuretoacertaingroupofpeople.Thisenablesthemtodevelopclosebondsmoreeasily,soprimarygroupsarecommonplace.Developedcountries,ontheotherhand,havewitnessedanincreaseinsecondarygroupsattheexpenseofprimarygroups.Thefastpace,widespreadtechnologyanddiversityoflifeinthesesocietiesmakeitharderforpeopletoconnectemotionallywitheachother.Instead,innovationssuchasInternetchatroomsandconvenienttransportationhaveexpandedthenumberofsecondarygroupsthatpeopleindevelopedsocietiesbelongto.Whiletheeffectsofsuchalossofprimarygroupsisnotyetfullyunderstood,someresearchersbelieveitexplainsmanyofthesocialproblemsfacedbysuchsocieties.Therolethatprimarygroupsplayinsocialandemotionaldevelopmentissoimportantthat,iftraditionalprimarygroupsfailtoprovideindividualswithanenvironmentinwhichtheycanexperiencethisgrowth,theymayseekitelsewhere.Theformationofstreetgangs,theuseofillegaldrugs,andotherdetrimentallifestylesseenindevelopedsocietiesmayrepresentfailedattemptstofillthevoidleftbythedisappearanceofprimarygroups.

{{B}}Set2{{/B}}{{B}}GadgetswithaSportingChance{{/B}}Consumerelectronics:Newsportsequipment,fromtennisracketstorunningshoes,usesprocessingpowertoenhanceperformance.Isthatfair?Whyshouldaspiringathletesstandonthesidelineswhenaspotofelectronicassistancecanputtheminthemiddleofthegame?Thatisthequestionmanysports-equipmentmakersareaskingastheysenseanopportunitytoboosttheirsaleswithhigh-techproducts.Youcouldcallittherevengeofthenerds:anewwaveofmicrochip-equippedsportinggoodspromisestoenhancetheperformanceofnovicesandnon-sportingtypesalike--andcouldevenmakedifficultsportseasier.Takecross-countryskiing.VictorPetrenko,anengineeratDartmouthCollege'sIceResearchLabinNewHampshire,hasinventedsomesmartski-brakesthat,hebelieves,willincreasethepopularityofcross-countryskiingbymakingthesportlesschallengingforbeginners.Thebrakes,currentlybeingtestedbyaskimanufacturerintheAlps,offerthenecessaryfrictionforabigger"kick-offforce"andmaketheskislesslikelytoslidebackwardsintheirtrucks.Tomakethishappen,anelectriccurrentfromthebottomoftheskispulsesthroughtheice,meltingathinlayerofsnowthatinstantlyrefreezesandactsasasortofglue.Thisisnottheonlyformofsmartskitohittheslopes.Atomic,aleadingski-makerbasedinAustria,planstointroduceasystemlaterthisyearthatrunsadiagnosticsafetychecktoensurethattheskibindingisproperlyclosed,withtheresultbeingshownonatinybuilt-inliquid-crystaldisplay.Meanwhile,tennisequipmentmanufacturersarehopingthatinnovationwillbringnewziptotheirbusinessaswell.Theycertainlyneedtodosomething:accordingtoSportScanInfo,amarket-researchfirmbasedinFlorida,salesoftennisracketsinAmericafell12.5%duringthefirsthalfof2004comparedwiththefirsthalfof2003.Withtheballclearlyintheircourt,researchersatHead,amakerofsportingequipment,havedevisedaproductthatshouldappealtoplayerssufferingfromtenniselbow.Achipinsidetheracketcontrolspiezo-electricfibres,whichconvertmechanicalenergyfromtheball'simpactintoelectricalpotentialenergy.Thisenergyisthenusedtogenerateacounter-forceinthepiezo-electricfibresthatcausesadampeningeffect.Allofthis,thefirmsays,translatesintolessstressontheelbow.Headclaimsthatresidualvibrationsintheracketaredampenedtwiceasfastasinconventionalrackets,reducingtheshockexperiencedbytheplayer'sarmbymorethan50%.Nodoubtpuristswillobjectthatthisissimplynotcricket.Rule-makersinmanysportsarenowbeingforcedtoconsidertheimplicationsofequipmentthatpromisestoaugmentathletes'performancewithelectronicmuscle.TheInternationalTennisFederation,thatbodyisresponsibleforsettingtherulesofthegame,hasspecifiedinitsmostrecentguidelinesthat"noenergysourcethatinanywaychangesoraffectstheplayingcharacteristicsofaracketmaybebuiltintoorattachedtoaracket".Yetdespitesuchwording,theguidelinedoesnotactuallyeliminatetheuseofHead'ssmartrackets,becausethereisnoexternalenergysource---thedampingeffectreliessolelyonenergyfromtheball'simpact.Thoughhigh-techequipmentmaycausecontroversyonthecourt,tennisclubshavetoadheretotheguidelinessetforthesport,explainsStuartMiller,theITF'stechnicalmanager.Andiftherulesallowself-generatedforcestomodifyaracket'sresponse,sobeit.Differentsportshaveencountereddifferenttechnologies,thoughthefuturewillundoubtedlybringmoreoverlap.Ingolf,gadgetsthatpinpointthelocationofthegreenusingtheGlobalPositioningSystem(GPS),Therule-makingbodyoftheRoyalandAncientGolfClubofSt.Andrews,whichoverseesthegameinallcountriesexceptAmericaanditsdependencies,currentlyprohibitstheuseofdistance-measuringdevices.Asaresult,golferscannotrelyonGPSaidsinatournament.Whiletechnologicalinnovationingolfequipmentshouldcontinue,theplayer'sskillshouldremainthepredominantfactor,saysDavidRickman,whoisinchargeoftheclub'srulesandequipmentstandards.Thetrendtowardshigh-techassistanceisnotlimitedtosportswithareputationforexpensivegear,however.Evenruning,thatmostbasicofsports,providesscopeforelectronicenhancement.TheAdidasrunningshoe,whichisduetobelaunchedinDecember,incorporatesabatterypoweredsensorthattakesabout1,000readingsasecond.Amicroprocessorthendirectsatinyembeddedelectricmotortoadjustthecharacteristicsofthesneaker,enableingittochangethedegreeofcushioningdependingonthesurfaceconditionsandthewearer'srunningstyleandfootposition.Theraceforthesmartestuseofmicrochipsinsportingequipment,itseems,hasbegun.

[此试题无题干]

OvercomingtheLanguageBarrierThediscoverythatlanguagecanbeabarriertocommunicationisquicklymadebyallwhotravel,study,governorsell.Whethertheactivityistourism,research,government,policing,business,ordatadissemination,thelackofacommonlanguagecanseverelyimpedeprogressorcanhaltitaltogether."Commonlanguage"hereusuallymeansaforeignlanguage,butthesamepointappliesinprincipletoanyencounterwithunfamiliardialectsorstyleswithinasinglelanguage."Theydon'ttalkthesamelanguage"hasamajormetaphoricalmeaningalongsideitsliteralone.Althoughcommunicationproblemsofthiskindmusthappenthousandsoftimeseachday,veryfewbecomepublicknowledge.Publicitycomesonlywhenafailuretocommunicatehasmajorconsequences,suchasstrike,lostorders,legalproblems,orfatalaccidents--even,attimes,war.Onereportedinstanceofcommunicationfailuretookplacein1970,whenseveralAmericansateaspeciesofpoisonousmushroom.Noremedywasknown,andtwoofthepeoplediedwithindays.Aradioreportofthecasewasheardbyachemistwhoknewofatreatmentthathadbeensuccessfullyusedin1959andpublishedin1963.WhyhadtheAmericandoctorsnotheardofitsevenyearslater?PresumablybecausethereportofthetreatmenthadbeenpublishedonlyinjournalswritteninEuropeanlanguagesotherthanEnglish.Butisolatedexamplesdonotgiveanimpressionofthesizeoftheproblem--somethingthatcancomeonlyfromstudiesoftheuseoravoidanceofforeign-languagematerialsandcontactsindifferentcommunicativesituations.IntheEnglish-scientificworld,forexample,surveysofbooksanddocumentsconsultedinlibrariesandotherinformationagencieshaveshownthatverylittleforeign-languagematerialiseverconsulted.Libraryrequestsinthefieldofscienceandtechnologyshowedthatonly13percentwereforforeignlanguageperiodicals.Studiesofthesourcescitedinpublicationsleadtoasimilarconclusion:theuseofforeign-languagesourcesisoftenfoundtobeaslowas10percent.Thelanguagebarrierpresentsitselfinstarkformtofirmswhowishtomarkettheirproductsinothercountries.Britishindustry,inparticular,hasinrecentdecadesoftenbeencriticizedforitslinguisticinsularity--foritsassumptionthatforeignbuyerswillbehappytocommunicateinEnglish,andthatawarenessofotherlanguagesisnotthereforeapriority.Inthe1960s,overtwo-thirdsofBritishfirmsdealingwithnon-English-speakingcustomerswereusingEnglishforoutgoingcorrespondence;manyhadtheirsalesliteratureonlyinEnglish;andasmanyas70percentofemployeescannotcommunicateinthecustomers'languages.AsimilarproblemwasidentifiedinotherEnglish-speakingcountries,notablytheUSA,AustraliaandNewZealand.Andnon-English-speakingcountrieswerebynomeansexempt--althoughthewidespreaduseofEnglishasanalternativelanguagemadethemlessopentothechargeofinsularity.Thecriticismandpublicitygiventothisproblemsincethe1960sseemstohavegreatlyimprovedthesituation.Industrialtrainingschemeshavepromotedanincreaseinlinguisticandculturalawareness.Manyfirmsnowhavetheirowntranslationservices;totakejustoneexampleinBritain,RowntreeMackintoshnowpublishtheirdocumentsinsixlanguages(English,French,German,Dutch,ItalianandXhosa).Somefirmsrunpart-timelanguagecoursesinthelanguagesofthecountrieswithwhichtheyaremostinvolved;someproducetheirowntechnicalglossaries,toensureconsistencywhenmaterialisbeingtranslated.Itisnowmuchmorereadilyappreciatedthatmarketingeffortscanbedelayed,damaged,ordisruptedbyafailuretotakeaccountofthelinguisticneedsofthecustomer.ThechangesinawarenesshavebeenmostmarkedinEnglish-speakingcountries,wheretherealizationhasgraduallydawnedthatbynomeanseveryoneintheworldknowsEnglishwellenoughtonegotiateinit.ThisisespeciallyaproblemwhenEnglishisnotanofficiallanguageofpublicadministration,asinmostpartsoftheFarEast,Russia,EasternEurope,theArabworld,LatinAmericaandFrench-speakingAfrica.EvenincaseswhereforeigncustomerscanspeakEnglishquitewell,itisoftenforgottenthattheymaynotbeabletounderstandittotherequiredlevel--bearinginmindtheregionalandsocialvariationwhichpermeatesspeechandwhichcancausemajorproblemsoflisteningcomprehension.Insecuringunderstanding,how"we"speakto"them"isjustasimportant,itappears,ashow"they"speakto"us".

Geography: American Southern Coastlands Professor: Of anywhere in the United States, ______ that climate has the greatest impact on human geography. There are several factors ______—humid subtropical climate, a long growing season, mild winter temperatures, and warm humid summers. There are 9 months or more of potential growth for agricultural crops ______ the Southern Coastlands. What is more, ______ is more than 125 centimeters, ______ when warm temperatures support plant growth and sunlight is plentiful. It is enough rain for most agricultural activities ______. These ______ two important results. Farmers can ______ until late in the fall ______ as long as agricultural conditions are met. I mean, ______, control of insect pests and ______. It has even been possible to harvest two crops and sometimes more for vegetable farmers. Of greater importance is the fact that there is the chance to produce specialty crops that cannot be ______ the United States. Although ______ have been produced has slowly moved southward along the peninsula"s interior, ______ in contributing to Florida"s economy. ______ grown in Florida, oranges and grapefruits are most important. Most oranges, about 80% today, are processed rather than being sold fresh. The processing of oranges ______ other parts of the economy as more people are employed in the industry and sales are not ______, but continue all year long. The grapefruit is produced in a similar area as the orange, but ______ is only about 25% of the orange. These two ______ in south Texas, but with irrigation. Production costs for citrus fruits mainly come from harvesting. The fruit must be ______ from the trees. During the harvesting season, thousands of ______ Florida to do the physically strenuous work in the citrus groves. In the mainland United States, it is only in the Southern Coastlands that sugarcane production is found. It is in production ______ and needs more than one year ______. It is ______ and needs a large amount of water—more than 125 centimeters per year. Rice has fewer climatic requirements than sugarcane. ______, it will mature according to ______ in the summer. In Louisiana and Texas, rice is ______. ______, there are parts of the Southern Coastlands which are one of the country"s main areas for growing vegetables. In the winter, ______ fresh vegetables grown in Florida and along the southern part of states ______.

Narrator Listen to a lecture in an art class. Now get ready to answer the questions. You may use your notes to help you answer.

Patents and lnventions When an invention is made, the inventor has three possible courses of action open to him: first, he can give the invention to the world by publishing it; keep the idea secret or patent it. Secrecy obviously evaporates once the invention is sold or used, and there is always the risk that in the meantime another inventor, working quite independently will make and patent the same discovery. A granted patent is the result of a bargain struck between an inventor and the state, whereby, in return for a limited period of monopoly (16 years in the UK), the inventor publishes full details of his invention to the public. Once the monopoly period expires, all those details of the invention pass into the public domain.A. [■] Only in the most exceptional circumstances is the life-span of a patent extended to alter this normal process of events.B. [■] The longest extension ever granted was to Georges Valensi: his 1939 patent for color TV receiver circuitry was extended until 1971,C. [■] Because for most of the patent's normal life there was no color TV to receive and thus no hope of reward for the invention.D. [■] George Valensi was more fortunate than most of other inventors. Because a patent remains perpetually published after it has expired, the shelves of the library attached to the British Patent Office contain details of literally millions of ideas that are free for anyone to use and, if older than half a century, sometimes even re-patent. Indeed, patent experts often advise anyone wishing to avoid the high cost of conducting a search through live patents, that the one sure way of avoiding infringement of any other inventor's rights is to plagiarize a dead patent. Likewise; because publication of an idea in any other form permanently invalidates future patents on that idea, it is traditionally safe to cull ideas from other areas Of print. Much modern technological advance is based on these presumptions of legal security. Anyone closely involved in patents and inventions soon learns that most "new" ideas are, in fact, as old as the hills. It is their reduction to commercial practice, either through necessity, dedication or the availability of new technology, that makes news and money. The basic patents for the manufacture of margarine and the theory of magnetic recording date back to 1869 and 1886 respectively. Many of the original ideas behind television stem from the late 19th and early 20th century, well before Baird aroused public interest. Every stereo gramophone sold today owes its existence to the theory patented by Blumlein in 1931, and even the Volkswagen rear engine car was anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the rear. Such anticipations can have surprising significance. The German chemical giant, BASF, was recently refused a patent for the clever idea of pumping expanded plastics into a submerged ship and thereby floating it to the surface. The grounds of the refusal were that the German Examiner had once seen a Walt Disney cartoon in which Donald Duck had performed a similar trick on a sunken boat with table-tennis balls. If the BASF scheme proves successful in practice and enables valuable wrecks to be salvaged it is likely that Walt Disney will be credited as the inventor. Even the apparently safe history of the telephone and gramophone contains some surprises. US legal case law details how an American called Drawbaugh had ideas for a telephone which anticipated Bell's patents of 1875—1876 by five years, but it was Alexander Graham Bell who made the system practical on a commercial level and was acknowledged and rewarded as inventor. The future will produce many similar situations. Patents are daily being granted for ideas from inventors for schemes that cannot yet work—but that one day, following massive investment by industry, will become a reality. It is remarkably easy to sit in the comfort of an armchair and patent pipe dreams which are nothing more than prophecies of the future and problems for others to solve.

ECTOTHERMY AND ENDOTHERMY 1 Many biological systems are based on the process of homeostasis, which means "steady state." Homeostasis is the ability to maintain balance. Homeostatic mechanisms enable animals to survive changes in their external environment by regulating conditions within their bodies. Conditions in the external environment, such as temperature, may vary widely, but conditions in the {{U}}internal environment{{/U}} can vary only within a narrow range necessary for survival. 2 Temperature is a {{U}}constraint{{/U}} for animals, all of which must maintain biochemical stability. When an animal's body temperature drops too low, its metabolism slows, thus reducing the amount of energy the animal can use for activity. If body temperature rises too high, metabolic reactions become unbalanced, and enzyme activity is hindered. Animals can succeed only in a limited range of body temperatures, and for most, this is between 0 and 40 degrees Celsius. 3 One way to classify animals is to emphasize their source of body heat. For instance, "cold-blooded" animals are those that must warm their body with heat from the surrounding environment, and "warm-blooded" animals are those that can heat themselves. However, these traditional terms are inaccurate and misleading. Some "cold-blooded" animals, such as lizards, have higher body temperatures when active than many "warm-blooded" animals have when hibernating. Physiologists prefer the terms "ectotherm" and "endotherm" because they reflect the fact that an animal's body temperature is a balance between heat loss and heat gain. 4 All animals produce heat from cellular metabolism, but in most the heat is conducted away as fast as it is produced, so the amount of heat obtained from metabolism is very small. In these animals, the ectotherms, body temperature is determined almost entirely by their surroundings. Most invertebrates, fishes, amphibians, and reptiles are ectotherms. In contrast, some animals are able to generate and retain enough heat from metabolism to elevate their own body temperature to the{{U}} optimum{{/U}} level. These animals are called the endotherms because the source of their body heat is internal. Mammals, birds, some fishes, and numerous insects are endotherms. 5 Ectotherms warm their body mainly by absorbing heat from their environment. Ectotherms cannot control their body temperature physiologically, yet many are able to regulate it behaviorally by selecting areas of the environment with a more favorable temperature. Some, such as desert lizards, {{U}}exploit{{/U}} hour-to-hour changes in solar radiation to keep their body temperature relatively constant. In the morning, the lizard absorbs the sun's heat through its head, while keeping the rest of its body protected from the cool air. Later, the lizard will emerge to bask in the sun. At noon, with its body temperature high, it seeks shade under a rock. When the air temperature drops in the late afternoon, it emerges and lies parallel to the sun's rays. 6 Endotherms, on the other hand, derive most or all of their body heat from their own metabolism. A consistently warm body temperature requires active metabolism, which includes oxidation of foods, cellular respiration, and muscular contraction. Conversely, a warm body temperature contributes to the high levels of metabolism required for extended periods of intense physical activity. This is one reason endotherms can generally endure vigorous activity longer than ectotherms. However, being endothermic is {{U}}energetically{{/U}} expensive, especially in a cold environment. Because much of an endotherm's daily intake of calories is used to generate heat, the endotherm must eat more food than an ectotherm of the same size. Endothermy allows birds and mammals to stabilize their internal temperature so that biochemical processes and nervous system functions can proceed at steady levels of activity. These animals maintain a constant body temperature through a delicate balance between heat production and heat loss. {{U}}This is why endotherms can remain active in winter and exploit habitats denied to ectotherms.{{/U}} If the animal becomes too cool, it can generate heat by increasing muscular activity (exercise or shivering), or it can decrease heat loss by increasing insulation. In general, birds and mammals are warmer than their surroundings, but they also have mechanisms for cooling the body in a hot environment. If the animal becomes too warm, it decreases heat production and increases heat loss by evaporative cooling (sweating or panting).

Hudson River School The Hudson River School encompasses two generations of painters inspired by Thomas Cole's awesomely Romantic images of America's wilderness in the Hudson River Valley and also in the newly opened West. The Hudson River painters, the first coherent school of American art, helped to shape the themes of the American landscape. Beginning with the works of Thomas Cole (1801—1848) and Asher B. Durand (1796—1886) and evolving into the Luminist and late Romantic schools, landscape painting was the prevalent genre of 19th century American art. With roots in European Romanticism and with correspondences to European painters, the Hudson River painters, nonetheless, set about to heed Emerson's call "to ignore the courtly Muses of Europe" and define a distinct vision for American art. The artists translated these ideas into an aesthetic that was sweeping and spontaneous. Like the vast nation that lay before them, which they celebrated with a sense of awe for its majestic natural resources and a feeling of optimism for the huge potential it held, the Hudson River painters depicted a New World wilderness in which man, though minuscule as he was beside the vastness of creation, nevertheless retained that divine spark that completed the circle of harmony. Wilderness was something that Europe no longer possessed— it was uniquely American. These artists painted grandiose and detailed scenery of the Hudson Valley and New England filled with awe and optimism often combined with a moral message. As Thomas Cole maintained, if nature were untouched by the hand of man—as was much of the primeval American landscape in the early 19th century—then man could become more easily acquainted with the hand of God. Sharing the philosophy of the American Transcendentalists that painting should become a vehicle through which the universal mind could reach the mind of mankind, the Hudson River painters believed art to be an agent of moral and spiritual transformation. The impetus to celebrate the glories of the Hudson Valley began before Thomas Cole, but it was Cole with his literary and dramatic instincts and his years of European study who made the most coherent and articulated case for a new art for a new land. He did much to revolutionize not only the styles and themes of American painting, but the methods. Cole sketched from nature, frequently dramatic scenes in the Catskills or White Mountains, and then returned to his studio to compose his large scale canvasses, alive with tactile brushwork and atmospheric lighting that seemed to breathe. The influence of the Hudson River School was carried into the mid-19th century by artists like John Frederick Kensett and Martin Johnson Heade, who came to be known as Luminists because of their experiments with the effects of light on water and sky, and by Frederic Edwin Church. Church, who based himself in his panoramic home in the Catskills at Olana, sought more extensive horizons for his canvasses. Like Walt Whitman he tried to contain multitudes. He traveled the globe, painting scenery from the Hudson Valley to the American West to the Andes, Amazon, and Arctic, and he laid the foundation for the post-Civil War generation of landscape painters. A painting which has become a virtual emblem for the Hudson River School is KINDRED SPIRITS by Asher B. Durand, which hangs in New York City's Public Library. In it Durand depicts himself, together with Cole, on a rocky promontory in serene contemplation of the scene before them; the gorge with its running stream, the gossamer Catskill mists shimmering in a palette of subtle colors, framed by foliage.A. [■] In the foreground stands one of the school's famous symbols—a broken tree stump—what Cole called a "memento mori" or reminder that life is fragile and impermanent;B. [■]only Nature and the Divine within the Human Soul are eternal.C. [■]As Cole and Durand firmly believed, if the American landscape was a new Garden of Eden, then it was they, as artists, who kept the keys of entry.D. [■]

SOIL QUALITY1 Soil is a renewable resource, but only on a very long time scale, as it takes hundreds or thousands of years for the natural processes of erosion, organic decay, and accumulation to create soils．Soil quality and the potential to produce crops can vary enormously from region to region and among various soil types． 2 One important factor affecting the productivity of soils ever time is agriculture．Top-quality lands are brought into production earlier because of their higher potential to produce food．As more and more land has been brought under agricultural production, the average quality of land has decreased, reducing potential productivity per hectare．Crops {{U}}deplete{{/U}} soil fertility by consuming nutrients, and this eventually reduces crop yields．Poor management practices lead to soil compaction and soil pollution as well as loss of soil cover．Without proper management and the constant addition of nutrients and energy in the form of fertilizers and irrigation, crop production falls over time． 3 {{U}}Within the scientific community, there is little doubt that soil quality is diminishing in many areas around the world．{{/U}}Scientists have found that the quality of one quarter of the world's soils has experienced some degradation, and the pace of degradation has accelerated over the past 50 years．The loss of soil fertility has caused a slowing in the growth of agricultural productivity．Annual crops tend to degrade soils more than perennial crops, and common property lands generally suffer more degradation than private lands． 4 Today, irrigated cropland produces about one-third of the world's food．Approximately 18 percent of the world's cropland is irrigated, and scientists project this amount to double by 2020．Irrigation can increase crop yields per hectare to two or three times the yields of land watered only by rain．However, there are also some harmful side effects．Besides increasing crop productivity in the short run, irrigation can lead to sharp drops in crop productivity in the long run by causing excessive salt buildup and rising water tables． 5 One of the most critical soil quality problems related to irrigation is the increase in concentration of dissolved salts．This process, salinization, affects an estimated one-fourth of the world's irrigated cropland．In some places, irrigation water contains as much as 3.5 tons of salt per 1.000 cubic meters．As the water flows over and through the ground, it dissolves salts, increasing the salinity of the water．Since some crops require 6.000 to 10.000 cubic meters of water per hectare, land can receive tens of tons of salt per hectare． As the water evaporates, high concentrations of salts such as sodium chloride are left behind in the topsoil．Salt buildup can {{U}}stunt{{/U}} crop growth, decrease yields, kill crop plants, and eventually make the land unproductive． 6 A problem that often accompanies salinization in dry regions is {{U}}waterlogging{{/U}}, which often occurs when farmers apply heavy amounts of irrigation water in an attempt to prevent salts from accumulating．However, unless the water drains properly, it collects underground and gradually raises the water table closer to the surface, thereby bringing salts to the surface and concentrating them．Saltwater then envelops the fragile root systems of plants, killing the plants and converting fertile fields to wet deserts．This is a particularly serious problem in California's heavily irrigated San Joaquin Valley, where soils contain a clay layer that prevents water from flowing through the ground．Worldwide, at least one-tenth of all irrigated land is subject to {{U}}waterlogging{{/U}}． 7 Another serious soil problem is erosion, the loss of soils from water and wind action． Soil erosion occurs on agricultural land without vegetative cover for protection or because of poor agricultural management．Scientists estimate that topsoil on cultivated land is being lost 16 to 300 times faster than it is being replaced．In many parts of the world, a shift away from traditional agricultural practices is placing greater pressure on the soil, which in turn is causing an increase in soil erosion rates．Studies in the United States suggest that the loss of just 2.5 centimeters of topsoil reduces {{U}}corn and wheat yields{{/U}} by 6 percent．Glossary: degradation: loss of quality