单选题Why does the writer put the suggestion that, advisory councils should be set up______

单选题Like many other aspects of the computer age, Yahoo began as an idea, (1) into a hobby and lately has (2) into a full-time passion. The two developers of Yahoo, David Filo and Jerry Yang, Ph. D candidates (3) Electrical Engineering at Stanford University, started their guide in April 1994 as a way to keep (4) of their personal interest on the Internet. Before long they (5) that their homebrewed lists were becoming too long and (6) . Gradually they began to spend more and more time on Yahoo. During 1994, they (7) yahoo into a customized database designed to (8) the needs of the thousands of users (9) began to use the service through the closely (10) Internet community. They developed customized software to help them (11) locate, identify and edit material (12) on the Internet. The name Yahoo is (13) to stand for "Yet Another Hierarchical Officious Orale", but Filo and Yang insist they selected the (14) because they considered themselves yahoos. Yahoo itself first (15) on Yang's workstation, "akebono", while the search engine was (16) on Filo's computer, "Konishiki". In early 1995 Marc Andersen, co-founder of Netscape Communication in Mountain View, California, invited Filo and Yang to move their files (17) to larger computers (18) at Netscape. As a result Stanford's computer network returned to (19) , and both parties benefited. Today, Yahoo (20) organized information on tens of thousands of computers linked to the web.

单选题Concrete is probably used more widely than any other substance except water, yet it remains largely unappreciated. “Some people view the 20th century as the atomic age, the space age, the computer age — but an argument can be made that it was the concrete age,” says cement specialist Hendrik Van Oss. “It’s a miracle material.” Indeed, more than a ton of concrete is produced each year for every man, woman and child on Earth. Yet concrete is generally ignored outside the engineering world, a victim of its own ubiquity and the industry’s conservative pace of development. Now, thanks to environmental pressures and entrepreneurial innovation, a new generation of concretes is emerging. This high-tech assortment of concrete confections promises to be stronger, lighter, and more environmentally friendly than ever before. Concrete is also a climate-change villain. It is made by mixing water with an aggregate, such as sand or gravel, and cement. Cement is usually made by heating limestone and clay to over 2,500 degrees F. The resulting chemical reaction, along with fuel burned to heat the kiln, produces between 7% and 10% of global carbon-dioxide emissions. “When we have to repeatedly regenerate these materials because they’re not durable, we release more emissions,” says Victor Li who has created a concrete suffused by synthetic fibers that make it stronger, more durable, and able to bend like a metal. Li’s creation does not require reinforcement, a property shared by other concretes that use chemical additives. Using less water makes concrete stronger, but until the development of plasticizers, it also made concrete sticky, dry, and hard to handle, says Christian Meyer, a civil engineering professor at Columbia University. Making stronger concretes, says Li, allows less to be used, reducing waste and giving architects more freedom. “You can have such futuristic designs if you don’t have to put rebar in there, or structural beams,” says Van Oss. A more directly “green” c6nerete has been developed by the Australian company TecEeo. They add magnesium to their cement, forming a porous concrete that actually scrubs carbon dioxide from the air. While experts agree that these new concrete will someday be widely used, the timetable is uncertain. Concrete companies are responsive to environmental concerns and are always looking to stretch the utility of their product, but the construction industry is slow to change. “When you start monkeying around with materials, the governing bodies, the building departments, are very cautious before they let you use an unproven material,” Meyer says. In the next few decades, says Van Oss, building codes will change, opening the way for innovative materials. But while new concretes may be stronger and more durable, they are also more expensive — and whether the tendency of developers and the public to focus on short-term rather than long-term costs will also change is another matter.

单选题For health insurance, the United States has taken the road less traveled. The United States is the only rich country without universal health insurance. People in the United States spend the most, rely heavily on the private sector, and obtain care from the world's most complicated delivery system. While some supporters have expressed satisfaction, if not pride, in these remarkable qualities, others contend that the United States faces unique limitations in reforming health care. In her exceptional book, Parting at the Crossroads, Antonia Maioni compares the formation of the U.S. and Canadian health-care systems for the years 1930—1960. The United States and Canada are often considered the most similar of Western democracies. They share a common border, are wealthy, and have federal government. Their trade unions are only moderately powerful, and their populations are diverse and young. Nevertheless, their health-insurance systems are nearly opposite. The United States relies on a mix of government plans, targeted to the elderly and indigent, and employment-based plans, which the government indirectly supports. Canada offers public health insurance to all qualified residents, with the private sector providing supplementary services in some provinces. Labor organizations became strong advocates for health-insurance reform in both countries. Their impact partially depended on political institutions and how other actors, particularly organized medicine, wielded them. Canada's governmental and electoral systems allowed labor to cooperate with a social democratic party in the Saskatchewan province, which established a universal program. The Saskatchewan program demonstrated universal insurance feasibility, spurring the dominant Liberals to introduce a national universal program. In contrast, the U.S. electoral system effectively precluded third-party formation, forcing organized labor to dilute its health-insurance goals because it was one of many interests represented by the Democratic Party. Maioni suggests that economic vitality is important for the future of both countries' systems, but the prognosis is uncertain. Despite recent concerns about the Canadian government's budgetary health, Maioni contends that widespread support protects universal insurance. Conversely, Maioni seems pessimistic about options for U.S. universal health insurance. Despite economic buoyancy, dissension will likely prevent reforms. Although a devastating economic downturn would make health finance difficult in either country, the U.S. system seems especially vulnerable. Employment-based insurance and medicare both rely on labor market attachment. High, chronic unemployment could result in coverage loss and financial difficulties for employer insurance and medicare, swelling the uninsured pool. Such a crisis could provide an opening for universal health insurance. In any case, whether the United States relies on the public or private sector, escalating health expenditures figure into budgets of government, corporations, and families. The U.S. health care system's future may depend on Americans' willingness to devote more of their national income to health care.

单选题France, which prides itself as the global innovator of fashion, has decided its fashion industry has lost an absolute right to define physical beauty for women. Its lawmakers gave preliminary approval last week to a law that would make it a crime to employ ultra-thin models on runways. The parliament also agreed to ban websites that "incite excessive thinness" by promoting extreme dieting. Such measures have a couple of uplifting motives. They suggest beauty should not be defined by looks that end up impinging on health. That"s a start. And the ban on ultra-thin models seems to go beyond protecting models from starving themselves to death—as some have done. It tells the fashion industry that it must take responsibility for the signal it sends women, especially teenage girls, about the social tape-measure they must use to determine their individual worth. The bans, if fully enforced, would suggest to women (and many men) that they should not let others be arbiters of their beauty. And perhaps faintly, they hint that people should look to intangible qualities like character and intellect rather than dieting their way to size zero or wasp-waist physiques. The French measures, however, rely too much on severe punishment to change a culture that still regards beauty as skin-deep—and bone-showing. Under the law, using a fashion model that does not meet a government-defined index of body mass could result in a $85,000 fine and six months in prison. The fashion industry knows it has an inherent problem in focusing on material adornment and idealized body types. In Denmark, the United States, and a few other countries, it is trying to set voluntary standards for models and fashion images that rely more on peer pressure for enforcement. In contrast to France"s actions, Denmark"s fashion industry agreed last month on rules and sanctions regarding the age, health, and other characteristics of models. The newly revised Danish Fashion Ethical Charter clearly states: "We are aware of and take responsibility for the impact the fashion industry has on body ideals, especially on young people." The charter"s main tool of enforcement is to deny access for designers and modeling agencies to Copenhagen Fashion Week (CFW), which is run by the Danish Fashion Institute. But in general it relies on a name-and-shame method of compliance. Relying on ethical persuasion rather than law to address the misuse of body ideals may be the best step. Even better would be to help elevate notions of beauty beyond the material standards of a particular industry.

单选题 What impact can mobile phones have on their users' health? Many people worry about the supposed ill effects caused by radiation from handsets and base stations, {{U}}(1) {{/U}} the lack of credible evidence of any harm. But evidence for the beneficial effects of mobile phones on health is rather more {{U}}(2) {{/U}} Indeed, a systematic review {{U}}(3) {{/U}} out by Rifat Atun and his colleagues at Imperial College, rounds up 150 {{U}}(4) {{/U}} of the use of text-messaging in the {{U}}(5) {{/U}} of health care. These uses {{U}}(6) {{/U}} three categories: efficiency gains; public-health gains; and direct benefits to patients by {{U}}(7) {{/U}} text-messaging into treatment regimes. Using texting to {{U}}(8) {{/U}} efficiency is not profound science, but big savings can be achieved. Several {{U}}(9) {{/U}} carried out in England have found that the use of text-messaging reminders {{U}}(10) {{/U}} the number of missed appointments with family doctors by 26-39%, and the number of missed hospital appointments by 33-50%. If such schemes were {{U}}(11) {{/U}} nationally, this would translate {{U}}(12) {{/U}} annual savings of ￡256-364 million. Text messages can also be a good way to deliver public-health information, particularly to groups {{U}}(13) {{/U}} are hard to reach by other means. Text messages have been used in India to {{U}}(14) {{/U}} people about the World Health Organization's strategy to control lung disease. In Iraq, text messages were used to support a {{U}}(15) {{/U}} to immunize nearly 5 million children {{U}}(16) {{/U}} paralysis. {{U}} (17) {{/U}}, there are the uses of text-messaging as part of a treatment regime. These involve sending reminders to patients to {{U}}(18) {{/U}} their medicine, or to encourage accordance with exercise regimes. However, Dr. Rifat notes that the evidence for the effectiveness of such schemes is generally {{U}}(19) {{/U}}, and more quantitative research is {{U}}(20) {{/U}}

单选题The telecommunications, pharmaceutical, and airline industries all have undergone radical changes in recent years. Pharmaceutical companies, which once sold drugs to the doctors that dispensed them, switched to the solution-selling method and started dealing with health-care companies. And many major airlines consolidated at the same time that low-cost firms like Jet Blue entered the market. In each of these industries, the game changed, and with new rules came new ways to win. That is the premise of Harvard Business School's "Changing the Game. Negotiation and Competitive Decision Making." The program, which covers not only deal-making but also topics as diverse as online auctions and strategic partnerships, "is for companies that are going through fundamental change in the way things are done," says Max Bazerman, program chair and professor of business administration at the school. This is not a program for novices, says Bazerman; most participants have already attended a general negotiation program. In "Changing the Game," participants learn to understand their thought processes regarding negotiation, to compare rational and intuitive decision-making strategies, and to identify common mistakes made by even the most experienced professionals. By focusing on competitive environments, the program draws on some of the most advanced concepts from the emerging areas of behavioral economics, behavioral decision research, and behavioral finance. Participants engage in simulated negotiations that highlight the tension between creating and assessing value, and learn how to think about both simultaneously. The soup-to-nuts simulations encompass preparation, team building, negotiating, and feedback, as well as the development of a conceptual structure for thinking about negotiations more rationally. Participants then apply that structure in their critiques of several large-scale negotiation cases. Ultimately participants apply their newly-honed analytic skills to their own companies and critique of past negotiations. Negotiations can take many forms, of course. Bazerman notes that auctions are becoming increasingly common. Thanks to a renewed focus on driving clown costs, auctions have emerged as a valuable way for buyers to exert maximum leverage (although the course offers advice to sellers as well). Here again, coursework focuses both on analysis of case studies and on simulations that give participants a chance to roll up their sleeves and put themselves to the test. "Max's approach is more pragmatic than other programs I've taken," says Gerry Dully, senior vice president of global marketing and logistics at Methanex, a producer of methanol based in Vancouver. "Looking at my prior experience, I could see what mistakes I made, and I'm more conscious of them now. The course had a profound impact on how I've modified my behavior in negotiating situations. /

单选题Mountaineering is a sport which involves ______.

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} In the end, a degree of sanity prevailed. The militant Hindus who had vowed to breach a police cordon and start the work of building a temple to the god Ram at the disputed site of Ayodhya decided to respect a Supreme Court decision barring them from the area. So charged have Hindu-Muslim relations in India become in recent weeks, as the declared deadline of March 15th neared, that a clash at Ram's supposed birthplace might well have provoked bloodshed on an appalling scale across the nation. It has, unfortunately, happened often enough before. But the threat has not vanished. The court's decision is only an interim one, and the main Hindu groups have not given up on their quest to build their temple. Extreme religious violence, which seemed in recent years to have faded after the Ayodhya-related explosion of 1992--1993, is again a feature of the political landscape. Though faults lie on both sides (it was {{U}}a Muslim attack on Hindus in a train in Gujarat{{/U}} that started the recent slaughter), the great bulk of victims were, as always, Muslims. Once again, educated Hindus are.to be heard inveighing against the "appeasing" of Muslims through such concessions as separate constitutional status for Kashmir or the right to practice Islamic civil law. Once again, the police are being accused of doing little or nothing to help Muslim victims of {{U}}rampaging{{/U}} Hindu mobs. Once again, India's 130m Muslims feel unequal and unsafe in their own country. Far too many Hindus would refuse to accept that it is “their own country" at all. The wonder of it, perhaps, is that things are not worse. While the world applauds Pakistan for at last locking up the leaders of its extreme religious groups, in India the zealots still support, sustain and to a degree constitute the government. The BJP, which leads the ruling coalition, was founded as a political front for the Hindu movement. It is simply one, and by no means the dominant, member of what is called the Sangh Pariwar, the "family of organizations". Other members of the family are much less savoury. There is the VHP, the World Hindu Organization, which led the movement to build the Ram temple. There is the Bajrang Dal, the brutalist "youth wing" of the VHP. There is substantial evidence that members of the VHP and the Bajrang Dal helped to organize the slaughter of hundreds of Muslims in Gujarat after 58 Hindus were killed on a train as they returned from Ayodhya.

单选题Bill Keaggy collects grocery lists because

单选题Exposure to asbestos fibres is harmful to people' s health ______.

单选题The word "instinct" probably means ______.

单选题The relentless march of technology into everyday life has always given rise to debate about whether it is a good or a bad thing. Some believe that the Internet and computer software are making humans more stupid or shallow. But others argue that computer programs in the form of video games can make people smarter or improve specific skills, such as spatial awareness. Shawn Green and Alexandre Pouget, from the University of Rochester, in New York state, set out to find an answer. Their study, reported in Current Biology, involved a number of experiments. In one, the participants had to watch 12 dots moving randomly on a screen and quickly assess their aggregate direction of movement. Another test asked participants to work out the direction of specific sounds embedded within stereo white noise. In both tests the video-garners did better. However, the scientists were aware that gamers could have been born with improved abilities to perform such tasks, which were possibly what attracted them to gaming in the first place. Consequently, a third test was necessary to see if these abilities could have been learnt. The non-gaming volunteers were put through 50 hours of video-game training. For some this involved playing fast-action shoot-em-up games such as "Call of Duty 2" and "Unreal Tournament", but others were given a slow-moving life-strategy game, " The Sims 2". The researchers found that those trained with action games raised their performance to the level of the experienced garners. Moreover, they were more efficient in their use of visual or auditory evidence than those playing with the Sims. The researchers conclude that fast action video-games players develop an enhanced sensitivity to what is going on around them and that this may help with activities such as multitasking, driving, reading small print, navigation and keeping track of friends or children in a crowd. The precise neural mechanism for this effect, however, is still unknown. What is known is that people make decisions based on probabilities that are constantly being calculated and refined in their heads—something called "probabilistic inference". The brain collects small pieces of information, eventually gathering enough to make an accurate decision. When driving a car, for example, many probabilities will be collated to make decisions such as whether or not to brake. The more efficient someone is at collecting visual and auditory information, the faster he can reach the threshold needed to make a decision. Shawn Green, Alexandre Pouget suggest that reaction times in the population will probably improve with the rise of fast-action video-games. There are a lot of players : last year a report estimated that 67% of American households contained at least one video-gamer. And if video-gamers are really better equipped to make quick decisions, they might also turn out to be better drivers and end up in fewer accidents. However, the notion that gamers acquire some minor physical skills may not pacify concerned parents. What, after all, of the skills they are not acquiring when shooting virtual cops instead of reading or talking?

单选题So what is depression? Depression is often more about anger turned (1) than it is about sadness. But it's usually (2) as sadness. Depression can (3) at all ages, from childhood to old age, and it's the United States' No. 1 (4) problem. When someone is depressed, her behavior (5) change and she loses interest in activities she (6) enjoyed (like sports, music, friendships). The sadness usually lasts every day for most of the day and for two weeks or more. What (7) depression? A (8) event can certainly bring (9) depression, but some will say it happens (10) a specific cause. So how do you know if you're just having a bad day (11) are really depressed? Depression affects your (12) , moods, behavior and even your physical health. These changes often go (13) or are labeled (14) simply a bad case of the blues. Someone who's truly (15) depression will have (16) periods of crying spells, feelings of (17) (like not being able to change your situation) and (18) (tike you'll feel this way forever), irritation or agitation. A depressed person often (19) from others, Depression seldom goes away by itself, and the greatest (20) of depression is suicide. The risk of suicide increases if the depression isn't treated.

单选题______ have an average of three children.