单选题For office innovators, the unrealized dream of the "paperless" office is a classic example of high-tech hubris(傲慢). Today's office drone is drowning in more paper than ever before.But after decades of hype, American offices may finally be losing their paper obsession. The demand for paper used to outstrip the growth of the US economy, but the past two or three years have seen a marked slowdown in sales — despite a healthy economic scene. Analysts attribute the decline to such factors as advances in digital databases and communication systems. Escaping our craving for paper, however, will be anything but an easy affair. " Old habits are hard to break," says Merilyn Dunn, a communications supplies director. " There are some functions that paper serves where a screen display doesn't work. Those functions are both its strength and its weakness. " In the early to mid-1990s, a booming economy and improved desktop printers helped boost paper sales by 6 to 7 percent each year. The convenience of desktop printing allowed office workers to indulge in printing anything and everything at very little effort or cost. But now, the growth rate of paper sales in the United States is flattening by about half a percent each year. Between 2004 and 2005, Ms. Dunn says, plain white office paper will see less than a 4 percent growth rate, despite the strong overall economy. A primary reason for the change, says Dunn, is that for the first time ever, some 47 percent of the workforce entered the job market after computers had already been introduced to offices. "We're finally seeing a reduction in the amount of paper being used per worker in the workplace," says John Maine, vice president of a pulp and paper economic consulting firm. " More information is being transmitted electronically, and more and more people are comfortable with the information residing only in electronic form without printing multiple backups. " In addition, Mr. Maine points to the lackluster employment market for white-collar workers — the primary driver of office paper consumption for the shift in paper usage. The real paradigm shift may be in the way paper is used. Since the advent of advanced and reliable office-network systems, data storage has moved away from paper archives. The secretarial art of "filing" is disappearing from job descriptions. Much of today's data may never leave its original digital format. The changing attitudes toward paper have finally caught the attention of paper companies, says Richard Harper, a researcher at Microsoft. " All of a sudden, the paper industry has started thinking, 'We need to learn more about the behavioural aspects of paper use, '" he says. "They had never asked, they'd just assumed that 70 million sheets would be bought per year as a literal function of economic growth. " To reduce paper use, some companies are working to combine digital and paper capabilities. For example, Xerox Corp. is developing electronic paper: thin digital displays that respond to a stylus, like a pen on paper. Notations can be erased or saved digitally. Another idea, intelligent paper, comes from Anoto Group. It would allow notations made with a stylus on a page printed with a special magnetic ink to simultaneously appear on a computer screen. Even with such technological advances, the improved capabilities of digital storage continue to act against " paperlessness," argues Paul Saffo, a technology forecaster. In his prophetic and metaphorical 1989 essay, " The Electronic Pinata(彩罐)," he suggests that the increasing amounts of electronic data necessarily require more paper. The information industry today is like a huge electronic pinata, composed of a thin paper crust surrounding an electronic core, " Mr. Saffo wrote. The growing paper crust "is most noticeable, but the hidden electronic core that produces the crust is far larger — and growing more rapidly. The result is that we are becoming paperless, but we hardly notice at all. " In the same way that digital innovations have increased paper consumption, Saffo says, so has video conferencing — with its promise of fewer in-person meetings — boosting business travel. "That's one of the great ironies of the information age," Saffo says. "It's just common sense that the more you talk to someone by phone or computer, it inevitably leads to a face-to-face meeting. The best thing for the aviation industry was the Internet. "

单选题Terrorists murder and kidnap people, ______ bombs, hijack airplanes, set fires, and commit other serious crimes.

单选题Jim Ayers had investigated all manner of felonies in his fourteen-year career with the Oregon State Police. Like most officers who had hired on as troopers, he was tall and well-muscled. He had thick, wavy hair, and a rumbling deep voice. He had worked the road for eight years, investigating accidents. He had seen much tragedy, but he had also learned what was "normal" tragedy—if there could be such a thing—and what was "abnormal" tragedy. Ayers had become an expert in both arson investigation and psychosexual crimes, and he had investigated innumerable homicides. Jerry Finch had a few years on him, both in age and experience. Together the two men drove to the scene at 79th and the Sunset, not knowing what to expect. The best detectives are not tough. If they were, they would not have the special intuitive sense that enables them to see what laymen cannot. But Jim Ayers, like his peers, usually managed to hide his own pain over what one human being can do to another behind a veneer of black humor and professional distance. After arriving at the scene, Finch and Ayers gazed down at the slender woman who lay on the freeway shoulder, her face and head disfigured by some tremendous force. They walked around the Toyota van and saw the scratch—like dents in its right front end and where a mm signal lens was broken out. Randy Blighton was still on the scene and he told Finch and Ayers how he had found the van butting against the median barrier of the freeway. That would have broken the signal light. They found the signal lens itself lying on the freeway in the fast lane. They also saw the beige purse that had been forcing the accelerator down before Bhghton kicked it away. It would have been enough to keep her engine running while the car was in gear. With flashlights Finch and Ayers looked into the van, playing light over the child's carseat, the blood splatter on the interior roof, the splash of blood on the interior hump over the transmission, and the pools of blood on the floor behind the front seats. A white plastic produce bag fluttered on the passenger-side floor. It too bore bloodstains. Jim Ayers had come to a bleak conclusion. The purpose of sending the van onto the highway was to cause it to be hit by other vehicles. Had that happened, had vehicles approaching at fifty-five to sixty-five miles an hour rounded the curve, they would have ineluctably smashed into the driver's side of the van, and even though a fire might not have resulted, the evidence of the woman's body and from the vehicle itself would have been obliterated. Further, in all likelihood, a chain reaction of accidents would have ensued, vehicle after vehicle piling up on this foggy night. Clearly, all whoever had perpetrated this crime cared about was that the crime he covered by a grinding collision of jagged steel, flying glass shards, and a proliferation of bodies.

单选题The {{U}}dispute{{/U}} between the faculty and the administration was not resolved until the faculty members got better working conditions.

单选题Ms. Rice, with customary class, simply expressed hope that this episode wouldn't ______ the charity in spite of the previous scandals. A. taint B. enhance C. sprain D. sponsor

单选题Unfortunately, the rate of his expenditures______his income.

单选题During an international crisis, many ______ messages will generally emanate from the president's office.

单选题The few remaining pockets of resistance were finally ______ into submission by the ruthless methods of the conquering army.

单选题According to government statistics, men of all social classes in Britain visit pubs quite regularly, 1 the kind of pub they go to may be different and their reasons for going there 2 too. Nowadays they often take their wives or girl-friends, which 3 to be the case. The fact is that the typical English pub is changing, partly 4 the licensing laws not being so strict as they 5 , but also because publicans are trying to 6 away with the old Victorian 7 of the pub and 8 provide couples with an atmosphere where they can both enjoy themselves. Pub used not to open 9 at certain times. The result was that they were usually 10 with men who seemed to be drinking as much as possible in the time 11 . But that kind of pub is rapidly becoming a thing of the past. Curiously enough, the old British licensing laws, which foreigners found so objectionable and absurd, were 12 introduced as a 13 measure to stop workers drinking in the First World War. 14 , the strong Puritanical 15 in Parliament took 16 of the law and 17 it. Opening hours are 18 limited to eight hours a day, but the publican can now choose which hours 19 him best. And these days you can even get a cup of coffee if you prefer 20 beer. But in spite of this the Puritans would never dream of admitting that a pub could become a repeatable place.

单选题Absent impartiality on the part of the psychotherapist, a patient's conflicts may be exacerbated.

单选题Probation offers another way to 1 a jail sentence. The person is given a suspended sentence and is set free. The 2 of probation are to allow those who can 3 in normal society and to help them not to repeat their crimes. The decision as 4 who should be placed on probation and who should go behind bars is 5 to the judge. Parole, which 6 people in prison to finish their terms in the outside world is another way of 7 the number of inmates in our prisons. But 8 , unless something is done to help the person on parole, there is a good chance that he will wind up 9 in prison. In the past, a parole officer used to keep in 10 with the person on parole and tried to help him 11 up a normal life. Recent studies have found, 12 , that parole officers themselves need help. There are just not enough 13 them to go around. One system that might be an 14 remedy for this problem seems to be the halfway house. Halfway houses offer job and personal 15 services for paroles. Society has no control over 16 who are released when their jail terms are 17 . While a person is on parole, however, authorities 18 halfway houses can keep very close 19 with paroles and help with problems of 20 to normal life.

单选题The British historian Niall Ferguson speculated that the end of American______ might not fuel an orderly shift to a multipolar system.(厦门大学2008年试题)

单选题It is a treasure hunt with a difference: conducted not with metal detectors, but by negotiation. Italy is at last reaping the benefits of a two-year campaign to regain smuggled antiquities. Five American museums have been talked into returning works that they claim to have acquired in good faith. Almost 70 of the finest are now on display in Rome—and they have just been joined by the only known intact work by Euphronios, an Athenian vase-painter. New ground is also being broken with the return of nine items from the private collection of a New York philanthropist, Shelby White. This is the first pact negotiated with an individual. Francesco Rutelli, the culture minister, met Ms White twice in America before the deal was done. She has always maintained that she and her late husband had no idea that the pieces were suspect. A tenth item from their collection, also by Euphronios, is being sent back to Italy in 2010. Under Italian law, any classical artefacts found on Italian soil belong to the state, even if (like Euphronios' vases) they originated in Greece. A former head of the J. Paul Getty Museum in Los Angeles and an American art dealer have been on trial for almost three years in Rome, charged with trafficking in illegally excavated objects. Both deny wrongdoing. Their charge was followed by a deal that officials say is crucial for efforts to curb the traffic in smuggled antiquities. Switzerland has undertaken to require importers of classical artifacts to produce proofs of origin and of legal export. The deals with the museums have all involved give-and-take. In exchange for works claimed by Italy, the museums have been given others on long-term loan. "Italian lovers of art and archaeology will get back what has been stolen, while others abroad will profit from the exhibition of sometimes even more beautiful works," says Mr Rutelli. The deal with the Getty museum was the hardest to do but also the most productive. 40 of the works on show in Rome come from there. But they do not include the "Getty bronze", which the Italians had hoped to retrieve. This third-century BC statue, attributed to Lysippos, Greek sculptor, was caught by Italian fishermen in 1964. The Getty insists that it was found in international waters. The Italians say it was still illegally exported.

单选题I am sorry I opened your handbag but I ______ it for mine.

单选题She ______ for a while and was unable to make a decision, so she asked for my help.

单选题All of the international delegates attending the conference ______ to bring a souvenir from their own countries. A. has asked B. is asking C. were asked D. was asking

单选题As she has a kindly, outgoing nature, she is a ______ hostess and has a wide circle of very good friends.

单选题This is not ______ of the overwhelming opinion of the British people.

单选题The instructions on how to use the new machine ______ that nobody seemed to be able to understand.

单选题Another example of the exercise of power by Congress was the action it took during the Reconstruction Period after the Civil War. It has already been noted that President Johnson favored a lenient policy toward the South and attempted to carry out Lincoln's "10 percent plan". He pardoned most of the Southern leaders and permitted them to restore their state governments. They were permitted to elect Senators and Representatives. Congress, however, led by the Radical Republican Thaddeus Stevens, had other ideas about the handing of the defeated Confederacy. Congress favored punitive policies. The South should be treated as conquered territory, and its readmission should be handled by Congress rather than the President. Congress opposed the "Johnson Governments" and the "Black Codes" passed by Southern states which virtually restored former slaves to their masters. Accordingly, it passed the Reconstruction Act of 1867. This measure divided the South into five military districts and provided that a seceded state would be readmitted in the Union only after it had ratified the 14th Amendment which provided that all persons born or naturalized in the United States should be citizens of the United States and of the state in which they resided, granted equality before the law to all persons, and prohibited a state from depriving any person of life, liberty, or property without due process of law. Congress also barred rebel leaders from federal office, repudiated the Confederate debt, and reduced the representation of states which barred qualified persons from voting. Later it adopted the 15th Amendement guaranteeing the Negroes the right to vote. Johnson vigorously opposed these measures. He vetoed the Reconstruction Act and others, only to see Congress repass them over his veto. After such passage of the Tenure of Office Act, Johnson, believing it unconstitutional, violated it and removed a member of his Cabinet without consulting Congress. The House of Representatives proceeded to impeach Johnson. The Senate, however, failed, by one vote, to reach the two-thirds majority necessary for his removal.