单选题 Biologically, there is only one quality which distinguishes us from animals: the ability to laugh. In a universe which appears to be utterly devoid of humor, we enjoy this supreme luxury. And it is a luxury, for unlike any other bodily process, laughter does not seem serve a biologically useful purpose. In a divided world, a laughter is a unifying force. Human begins oppose each other on a great many issues. Nations may disagree about systems of government and human relations may be plagued by ideological factions and political camps, but we all share the ability to laugh. And laughter, in turn, depends on the most complex and subtle of all-human qualities: a sense of humor. Certain comic stereotypes have a universal appeal. This can best be seen from the world-wide popularity of Charlie Chaplain's early films. The little man at odds with society never fails to amuse no matter which country we come from. As that great commentator on human affairs, Dr. Samuel Johnson, once remarked, "Men have been wise in very different modes; but they have always laughed in the same way." A sense of humor may take various forms and laughter may he anything from refined tinkle to an earthquaking roar, but the effect is always the same. Humor helps us to maintain a correct sense of values. It is the one quality which political fanatics appear to lack. If we can see the funny side, we never make the mistake of taking ourselves too seriously. We are always reminded that tragedy is not really far removed from comedy, so we never get a lop-sided view of things. This is one of the chief functions of satire and irony. Human pain and suffering are so grim; we hover so often on the brink of war, political realities are usually enough to plunge us into total despair. In such circumstances, cartoons and satirical accounts of somber political events redress the balance. They take the wind out of pompous and arrogant politicians who have lost their sense of proportion. They enable us to see that many of our most profound actions are merely comic or absurd. We laugh when a great satirist like Swift writes about wars in Gulliver's Travels. The Lilliputians and their neighbors attack each other because they can't agree which end to break an egg. We laugh because we are meant to laugh; but we are meant to weep too. It is no wonder that in totalitarian regimes any satire against the Establishment is wholly banned. It is too powerful weapon to be allowed to flourish. The sense of humor must be singled out as man's most important quality because it is associated with laughter. And laughter, in turn, is associated with happiness. Courage, determination, initiative--these are qualities we share with other forms of life. But the sense of humor is uniquely human. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key.

单选题It is developing a service that will let you create all online identity that can ______ various claims that it will back up.

单选题The actress was very______at the insulting question raised by her opponent at the conference. A. extraterrestrial B. explicit C. indignant D. innovative

单选题There is a range of activities which require movements of about one to four or five miles. These might be leisure activities, such as moving from home to swimming pool, tennis club, the theater or other cultural centers, or to a secondary or more advanced school, or they might be movements associated with work and shopping in the central areas of cities. The use of cars capable of carrying five people at 80 mph for satisfying these needs is wasteful of space and most productive of disturbance to other road users. The use of the bicycle, or some more modem derivative of it, is probably worth more consideration than has recently been given to it. The bicycle itself is a remarkably efficient and simple device for using human muscular energy for transportation. In pure energy terms, it is four to five times as efficient as walking, even though human walking itself is twice as efficient as the movement of effective animals such as dogs or gulls. It is still widely used, not only in some developing countries where bicycles are major means of people and goods, but in a few richer towns such as Amsterdam in Holland and Cambridge in England. It usually gives inadequate protection from the weather, is not very suitable for carrying goods, and demands considerable muscular work to make progress against wind or uphill. It also offers its rider no protection against collisions with other vehicles. All these difficulties could, however, be greatly eliminated, if not removed, with relatively small changes in design. The whole machine could be enclosed in a plastic bubble which would provide some protection in case of accidents. It would be easy to add a small petrol or electric motor. A wide variety of designs would be possible. As in rowing, we might employ the power of the arms or the general body musculature, as well as those of the legs; more muscular exercise would be good for the health of many people in cities, and a wide use of bicycle like muscle-powered vehicles would be a useful way to ensure this. It could also provide ample opportunities for showing off by the young and vigorous.

单选题They hit only the smaller people like me, while the politicians will of course ______it with money.

单选题Which of the following aspects is the focus of the fourth paragraph?

单选题The ______ of such I. Q. tests full of questions on American culture was not questioned at that time. A. significance B. validity C. efficiency D. justification

单选题By analyzing the modern expansion of Western culture, this article concludes that it is of practical significance to ______ the dominant position of Chinese national culture. A. recall B. retort C. restore D. retard

单选题Here's my simple test for a product of today's technology: I go to the bookstore and check the shelves for remedial books. The more books, the more my suspicions are raised. If computers and computer programs supposedly are getting easier to use, why are so many companies still making a nice living publishing books on how to use them? Computers manipulate information, but information is invisible. There's nothing to see or touch. The programmer decides what you see on the screen. Computers don't have knobs like old radios. They don't have buttons, not real buttons. Instead, more and more programs display pictures of buttons, moving even further into abstraction and arbitrariness. I like computers, but I hope they will disappear, that they will seem as strange to our descendents as the technologies of our grandparents appear to us. Today's computers are indeed getting easier to use, but look where they started: so difficult that almost any improvement was welcome. Computers have the power to allow people within a company, across a nation or even around the world to work together. But this power will be wasted if tomorrow's computers aren't designed around the needs and capabilities of the human beings who must use them--a people centered philosophy, in other words. That means retooling computers to mesh with human strengths--observing, communication and innovating--instead of asking people to conform to the unnatural behavior computers demand. That just leads to error. Many of today's machines try to do too much. When a complicated word processor attempts to double as a desk-top publishing program or a kitchen appliance comes with half a dozen attachments, the product is bound to be clumsy and burdensome. My favorite example of a technological product on just the fight scale is an electronic dictionary. It can be made smaller, lighter and far easier to use than a print version, not only giving meanings but even pronouncing the words. Today's electronic dictionaries, with their tiny keys and barely readable displays, are primitive but they're on the fight track. We would no longer have to learn the arbitrary ways of the computer. We could simply learn the tools of our trade--sketchpads, spreadsheets and schedules. How wonderful it would be to ignore the capricious nature of technology--and get on with our work.

单选题The speed at which an animal lives is determined by measuring ______.

单选题The case against Robert Jones was ______for lack of evidence.

单选题Free will allows us to indulge our ______ passions; freedom leads us in the higher path to unlock life's mystic secrets. A. discharging B. fleeting C. colluding D. displacing

单选题John was so ______ in his book that he did not hear the doorbell ring.

单选题If we continue to consume our fossil fuel supply without restraint, then someday it will be______.

单选题How is the passage organized?

单选题______ its misrepresentation, Clinton's statement is appropriate as a celebration of biology's increasing relevance to countries' health and wealth.

单选题As an excellent shooter, Peter practiced aiming at both ______ targets and moving targets.

单选题The word "jinx" (Line 1, Paragraph 6) probably means ______.

单选题{{B}}Passage Four{{/B}} Handwriting analysis (graphology) circumvents the law by frying to determine an employee's traits (e. g. stability) according to some handwriting group stereotype to which he or she belongs. (Indeed, some graphologists have m little respect for the law and m much confidence in their stereotyping that they have proposed using the technique in lieu of court proceedings to identify and prosecute criminals!) The analysis works by comparing the speed, size, slant, form, pressure, layout, and continuity of an individual's handwriting with various patterns and typologies, and assimilating this person's script into these types. As a result the individual judged ceases to be an individual and becomes little more than a composite of traits. This end result differs little from judgments based on race, sex, religion, etc. Granted, no individual is totally unique. Any evaluation of character, or for that matter skills, turns, in some measure, on employing generic ideas about virtue, vice, and technical competence. Still, there is a human individuality which manifests itself in our imagination and in the innovative arguments we choose to advance. Standardized handwriting analysis is far less respectful of individuality in this latter sense than other modes of screening. Individuals who are asked to write a personal essay describing their qualifications in their own terms; and who are given an opportunity in an interview to describe their motivations in seeking a particular job retain far more of what makes them distinctive. This more personalized format gives the individual an opportunity to express unusual or provocative opinions the employer may not have previously considered. Upon reflection, the employer may think these comments so pertinent that s/he awards the job to this candidate. Handwriting analysis, though, is ostensibly purely formal. It does not provide the candidate with any opportunity to distinguish himself or herself in this substantive fashion. At best, graphology will yield some vague assessment such as "the candidate is highly creative". It is worth remembering what the driving force is behind graphological testing. Handwriting analysis, like automated telephone screening, is increasingly being used early in the hiring process because it purports to deliver salient, accurate information cheaply. Yet precisely because these techniques are standardized, the data has reduced value. Judgments about the precise relevance of some perceived character traits to a job are rarely straightforward. Good interviewers learn through training and through interaction itself to qualify previous judgments. Perhaps the candidate who fails to make eye contact has a guilty conscience (as it is standardly assumed). On the other hand, perhaps the candidate is a recent immigrant from a country where eye contact is considered rude. Alternate interpretations sometimes suggest themselves in a face-to-face encounter with individuals who are fully present in their living, acting, and speaking personhood. Handwriting analysis, done at a distance by an expert who has never even met the candidate, will not stimulate the evaluator's imagination in the way the in-person interview 6r personal essay might. On the contrary, the cheapness of the technique stems from its elimination of the important human activity of hypothesizing about the case at hand.