单选题It is clear that the main reason for the rise in food prices is that______

单选题{{B}}Part A{{/B}}{{B}}Directions:{{/B}} Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.{{B}}Text 1{{/B}} It was the biggest scientific grudge match since the space race. The Genome Wars had everything: two groups with appealing leaders ready to fight in a scientific dead heat, pushing the limits of technology and rhetoric as they battled to become the first to read every last one of the 3 billion DNA "letters" in the human body. The scientific importance of the work is unquestionable. The completed DNA sequence is expected to give scientists unprecedented insights into the workings of the human body, revolutionizing medicine and biology. But the race itself, between the government's Human Genome Project and Rockville, Md., biotechnology company Celera Genomics, was at least partly symbolic, the public/private conflict played out in a genetic lab. Now the race is over. After years of public attacks and several failed attempts at reconciliation, the two sides are taking a step toward a period of calm. HOP head Francis Collins (and .Ari Patrinos of the Department of Energy, an important ally on the government side) and Craig Venter, the founder of Celera, agreed to hold a joint press conference in Washington this Monday to declare that the race was over (sort of), that both sides had won (kind of) and that the hostilities were resolved (for the time being). No one is exactly sure how things will be different now. Neither side will be turning off its sequencing machines any time soon--the "finish lines" each has crossed are largely arbitrary points, "first drafts" rather than the definitive version. And while the joint announcement brings the former Genome Warriors closer together than they've been in years, insiders say I that future agreements are more likely to take the form of coordination, rather than outright collaboration. The conflict blew up this February when Britain's Welcome Trust, an HGP participant, released a confidential letter to Celera outlining the HGP's complaints. Venter called the move "a lowlife thing to do," but by spring, there were the first signs of a thaw. "The attacks and nastiness are bad for science and our investors," Venter told Newsweek in March, "and fighting back is probably not helpful." At a cancer meeting earlier this month, Venter and Collins praised each other's approaches, and expressed hope that all of the scientists involved in sequencing the human genome would be able to share the credit By late last week, that hope was becoming a reality as details for Monday's joint announcement were hammered out. Scientists in both camps welcomed an end to the hostilities. "If this ends the horse race, science wins." With their difference behind them, or at least set aside, the scientists should now be able to get down to the interesting stuff, figuring how to make use of all that data.

单选题The authors implication is that______

单选题The gap between those who have access to computers and the Internet and those who don' t could spell trouble not only for classroom learning today, but in turn for producing the kind of students who are ready to compete for the jobs of tomorrow. By the year 2000,60 percent of all jobs will require high-tech computer skills. Over the next seven years, according to Bureau of Labor statistics, computer and technology related jobs will grow by an astounding 70 percent. "We as a nation are missing the opportunity of a lifetime," insists Riley. "The ability of all students to learn at the highest levels with the greatest resources and have the promise of a future of real opportunity-this is the potential of technology." Riley proposes dosing the gaps in technology access by providing discounted services for schools and libraries. The 1996 Telecommunications Act called for providing all K-12 public and nonprofit private schools, as well as libraries, with discounts-an Education Rate, or E-Rate-'-for telecommunication services, in May 1997, the Federal Communications Commission unanimously voted to provide $2.25 billion a year in discounts ranging from 20 to 90 percent on a sliding scale, with the biggest discounts for the poorest schools. (The E-Rate covers Internet access and internal school connections, but not computers or software.) The first round of applications for the discounts ended in April 1998 with more than 30,000 received, in time for the beginning of the school year. With the E-Rate in place, it was hoped that most U. S. classrooms would be connected to the Internet (up from 44 percent now), including almost every classroom in the nation's 50 largest school districts. However, criticism from Congress and the telecommunications industry led the FCC in Jurm to reduce the amount available for 1998 to ＄1.3 billion. Still, the importance of connecting our schools to this vast and potentially powerful learning tool called the Internet is taking hold. In a June commencement address at MIT, the first by a sitting president to be broadcast on the Internet, President Clinton firmly emphasized the need to eliminate the digital divide. "Until every child has a computer in the classroom and the skills to use it... until every student can tap the enormous resources of the Internet... until every high tech company can find skilled workers to fill its high-tech jobs... America will miss the full promise of the Information Age," he noted. "The choice," he said, "is simple. We can extend opportunity today to all Americans or leave me behind. We can erase lines of inequity or etch them indelibly. We can accelerate the most powerful engine of growth and prosperity the world has ever known, or allow the engine to stall./

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} For anyone who is set on a career in fashion it is not enough to have succeeded in college. The real test is whether they can survive and become established during their early 20s, making a name for themselves in the real world where business skills can count for as much as flair and creativity ... Fashion is a hard business. There is a continuous amount of stress because work is at a constant breakneck speed to prepare for the next season's collections. It is extremely competitive and there is the constant need to cultivate good coverage in newspapers and magazines. It also requires continual freshness because the appetite for new ideas is insatiable (不能满足的). "We try to warn people before they come to us about how tough it is" ,says Lydia Kemeny, the Head of Fashion at St. Martin's School of Art in London, "and we point out that drive and determination are essential." This may seem far removed from the popular image of trendy(时髦的)and dilettante(浅薄的) young people spending their time designing pretty dresses. That may well be what they do in their first year of study but a good college won't be slow in introducing students to commercial realities. "We don't stamp on the blossoming flower of creativity but in the second year we start introducing the constraints of price, manufacturability, marketing and so on." Almost all fashion design is done to a brief(任务提示，说明). It is not a form of self-expression as such, although there is certainly room for imagination and innovation. Most young designers are going to end up as employees of a manufacturer or fashion house and they still need to be able to work within the characteristic style of their employer. Even those students who are most avant-garde[(艺术等)激进派] in their own taste of clothes and image may need to adapt to produce designs which are right for the mainstream Marks and Spencer type of market. They also have to be able to work at both the exclusively expensive and the cheap end of the market and the challenge to produce good design inexpensively may well be more demanding than where money is no object.

单选题When it comes to the slowing economy, Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet. But the 47-year-old manicurist isn't cutting, filling or polishing as many nails as she'd like to, either. Most of her clients spend $12 to $50 weekly, but last month two longtime customers suddenly stopped showing up. Spero blames the softening economy. "I'm a good economic indicator," she says. "I provide a service that people can do without when they're concerned about saving some dollars." So Spero is downscaling, shopping at middle-brow Dillard's department store near her suburban Cleveland home, instead of Neiman Marcus. "I don't know if other clients are going to abandon me, too," she says. Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening. Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job. Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan ~ Co. may still be worth toasting.

单选题The simple act of surrendering a telephone number to a store clerk may seem innocuous—so much so that many consumers do it with no questions asked. Yet that one action can set in motion a cascade of silent events, as that data point is acquired, analyzed, categorized, stored and sold over and over again. Future attacks on your privacy may come from anywhere, from anyone with money to purchase that phone number you surrendered. If you doubt the multiplier effect, consider your e-mail inbox. If it's loaded with spam, it's undoubtedly because at some point in time you unknowingly surrendered your e-mail to the wrong Web site. Do you think your telephone number or address are handled differently? A cottage industry of small companies with names you've probably never heard of—like Acxiom or Merlin—buy and sell your personal information the way other commodities like corn or cattle futures are bartered. You may think your cell phone is unlisted, but if you've ever ordered a pizza, it might not be. Merlin is one of many commercial data brokers that advertises sale of unlisted phone numbers compiled from various sources—including pizza delivery companies. These unintended, unpredictable consequences that flow from simple actions make privacy issues difficult to grasp, and grapple with. In a larger sense, privacy also is often cast as a tale of "Big Brother"—the government is watching you or a big corporation is watching you. But privacy issues don't necessarily involve large faceless institutions: A spouse takes a casual glance at her husband's Blackberry, a co-worker looks at e-mail over your shoulder or a friend glances at a cell phone text message from the next seat on the bus. While very little of this is news to anyone—people are now well aware there are video cameras and Internet cookies everywhere—there is abundant evidence that people live their lives ignorant of the monitoring, assuming a mythical level of privacy. People write e-mails and type instant messages they never expect anyone to see. Just ask Mark Foley or even Bill Gates, whose e-mails were a cornerstone of the Justice Department's antitrust case against Microsoft. And polls and studies have repeatedly shown that Americans are indifferent to privacy concerns. The general defense for such indifference is summed up a single phrase: "I have nothing to hide. " If you have nothing to hide, why shouldn't the government be able to peek at your phone records, your wife see your e-mail or a company send you junk mail? It's a powerful argument, one that privacy advocates spend considerable time discussing and strategizing over. It is hard to deny, however, that people behave different when they're being watched. And it is also impossible to deny that Americans are now being watched more than at any time in history.

单选题Based on the passage, it can be predicted that Chandler

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} Companies have embarked on what looks like the beginnings of a re-run of the mergers and acquisitions (M&A) wave that defined the second bubbly half of the 1990s. That period, readers might recall, was characterized by a collective splurge that saw the creation of some of the most indebted companies in history, many of which later went bankrupt or were themselves broken up. Wild bidding for teleeoms, internet and media as- sets, not to mention the madness that was Daimler' s $ 40 billion motoring takeover in 1998—1999 of Chrysler or the Time-Warner/AOL megs-merger in 2000, helped to give mergers a thoroughly bad name. A consensus emerged that M&A was a great way for in- vestment banks to reap rich fees, and a sure way for ambitious managers to betray investors by trashing the value of their shares. Now M&A is back. Its return is a global phenomenon, but it is perhaps most striking in Europe, where so far this year there has been a stream of deals worth more than $ 600 billion in total, around 40% higher than in the same period of 2004. The latest effort came this week when France' s Saint-Gobain, a building-materials firm, unveiled the de- tails of its 3.6 billion ( $ 6.5 billion) hostile bid for BPB, a British rival. In the first half of the year, cross-border activity was up threefold over the same period last year. Even France Telecom, which was left almost bankrupt at the end of the last merger wave, recently bought Amena, a Spanish mobile operator. Shareholder's approval of all these deals raises an interesting question for companies everywhere: are investors right to think that these mergers are more likely to succeed than earlier ones.'? There are two answers. The first is that past mergers may have been judged too harshly. The second is that the present rash of European deals does look more ration- al, but—and the caveat is crucial—only so far. The pattern may not hold. M&A' s poor reputation stems not only from the string of spectacular failures in the 1990s, but also from studies that showed value destruction for acquiring shareholders in 8.0% of deals. But more recent studies by economists have introduced a note of caution. Investors should look at the number of deals that succeed or fail (typically measured by the impact on the share price), rather than ( as you might think) weighing them by size. For example, no one doubts that the Daimler-Chrysler merger destroyed value. The com- bined market value of the two firms is still below that of Daimler alone before the deal. This single deal accounted for half of all German M&A activity by value in 1998 and 1999, and probably dominated people' s thinking about mergers to the same degree. Throw in a few other such monsters and it is no wonder that broad studies have tended to find that mergers are a bad idea. The true picture is more complicated.

单选题On Mar. 14, when Wal-Mart Stores Inc. announced its first foray into Japan, the Bentonville (Ark.) retailing giant placed a big bet that it could succeed where countless other foreign companies have failed. In the past five years, a number of famous Western brands have been forced to close up shop after failing to Catch on in Japan, one of the world's largest—but most variable—consumer markets. May Wal-Mart make a go of it where others have stumbled? One good sign is that the mass marketer is not rushing in blindly. It has taken an initial 6.1% stake in ailing food-and-clothing chain Seiyu Ltd., which it can raise to a controlling 33.4% by yearend and to 66.7% by 2007. That gives Wal-Mart time to revise its strategy—or run for the exits. The question is whether Wal-Mart can apply the lessons it has learned in other parts of Asia to Japan. This, after all, is a nation of notoriously finicky consumers—who have become even more so since Japan slipped into a decade long slump. How will Wal-Mart bring to bear its legendary cost-cutting savvy in a market already affected by falling prices? Analysts are understandably skeptical. "It is uncertain whether Wal-Mart's business models will be effective in Japan," Standard & Poor's said in a Mar. 18 report. Much depends on whether Seiyu turns out to be a good partner. The 39-year-old retailer is a member of the reputed Seibu Saison retail group that fell on hard times in the early '90s. It also has deep ties to trading house Sumitomo Corp. , which will take a 15% stake in the venture with Wal-Mart. Perhaps the best thing that can be said of Seiyu's 400-odd stores is that they're not as deeply troubled as other local retailers. Still, there's a gaping chasm between the two corporate cultures. "We've never been known for cheap everyday pricing," says a Seiyu spokesman. Another potential problem is Sumitomo, which may not want to lean on suppliers to the extent that Wal-Mart routinely does. The clock is ticking. Wal-Mart executives say they need several months to "study" the deal with Seiyu before acting on it, but in the meantime a new wave of hyper-competitive Japanese and foreign rivals are carving up the market. If Wal-Mart succeeds, it will reduce its reliance on its home market even further and—who knows?—it may even revolutionize Japanese retailing in the same way it has in the U. S.

单选题Airline delays may result in

单选题Bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles in public. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else: the accounting standard-setters. Their rules, moan the banks, have forced them to report enormous losses, and it"s just not fair. These rules say they must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the price managers and regulators would like them to fetch. Unfortunately, banks" lobbying now seems to be working. The details may be unknowable, but the independence of standard-setters, essential to the proper functioning of capital markets, is being compromised. And, unless banks carry toxic assets at prices that attract buyers, reviving the banking system will be difficult. After a bruising encounter with Congress, America"s Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rushed through rule changes. These gave banks more freedom to use models to value illiquid assets and more flexibility in recognizing losses on long-term assets in their income statement. Bob Herz, the FASB"s chairman, cried out against those who "question our motives." Yet bank shares rose and the changes enhance what one lobby group politely calls "the use of judgment by management." European ministers instantly demanded that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) do likewise. The IASB says it does not want to act without overall planning, but the pressure to fold when it completes its reconstruction of rules later this year is strong. Charlie McCreevy, a European commissioner, warned the IASB that it did "not live in a political vacuum" but "in the real world" and that Europe could yet develop different rules. It was banks that were on the wrong planet, with accounts that vastly overvalued assets. Today they argue that market prices overstate losses, because they largely reflect the temporary illiquidity of markets, not the likely extent of bad debts. The truth will not be known for years. But bank"s shares trade below their book value, suggesting that investors are skeptical. And dead markets partly reflect the paralysis of banks which will not sell assets for fear of booking losses, yet are reluctant to buy all those supposed bargains. To get the system working again, losses must be recognized and dealt with. America"s new plan to buy up toxic assets will not work unless banks mark assets to levels which buyers find attractive. Successful markets require independent and even combative standard-setters. The FASB and IASB have been exactly that, cleaning up rules on stock options and pensions, for example, against hostility from special interests. But by giving in to critics now they are inviting pressure to make more concessions.

单选题According to the passage, "things formerly judged to be best left unsaid" (Line 2, Par

单选题To be a good friend, you have to give of yourself, nonetheless not so much that you lose yourself. This is a pretty predictable recipe for happiness. Giving to others—a reliable way of fostering friendships—makes us happier than taking things for ourselves. In the light of research led by Dr. Elizabeth Dunn at the University of British Columbia, money can purchase happiness...on the prerequisite that you utilize it on other people. Researchers administered three studies consecutively. First, they surveyed more than 600 Americans and found that spending money on gifts and charities led to greater happiness than spending money on oneself. Subsequently they probed into workers who had just received bonuses and observed that their happiness did not hinge on the size of their bonus but on the decision they made about what to do with whatever amount of money they received. Those who spent more of their bonus on others were happier than those who spent the money on themselves. Finally, the researchers simply distributed money to a good many subjects, instructing some to spend the money on themselves and others to spend the money on others. At the end of the day, the ones who spent money on others were a good deal happier. As a consequence, having friends and treating them generously is clearly a winning strategy in life. But what about in business? If you watch even a single episode of any reality TV show based on a competition, such as The Apprentice, you'll hear a single phrase crop up more often than any other: "I'm not here to make friends!" Is that true? Are we better off being cutthroat than collaborative? Once you're on the job, having a best friend at work is a strong predictor of ensuing success. People might define "best" loosely (think of this as kindergarten where you can have more than one "best" friend), but according to a Gallup Organization study of more than 5 million workers over 35, 56% of the people who say they have a best friend at work are engaged, productive, and successful while only 8% of the ones who don't are. Another remarkable study, spanning decades, revealed that friendships in high school were an effective predictor of increased wages in adulthood—to the tune of 2% per person who considered you a close friend. To put it otherwise, if in high school three people regarded you as one of their closest same-sex friends, your earnings in adulthood work would be 6% higher. The happy truth is that the competitors who say they're not here to make friends don't win eventually. That's true for reality TV, for business, and for life as well.

单选题For more than four centuries, to be Swedish was to be Lutheran (路德教派的). Every newborn there was automatically registered as a member of the Church of Sweden, the official Lutheran denomination. The marriage between church and state was so strong that it took an act of Parliament to change the prayer book, and bishops were chosen by members of the Cabinet. But Sweden, like the rest of Western Europe, has been transformed by a wave of immigration. The Stockholm phone book is still full of Larsons and Ericssons, but there are also listings now for folks named al-Ghusan, Ng, and Singh. Many of these newcomers have brought along their own religion. To the Swedes, with their unbending commitment to egalitarianism, it no longer seemed fair to give official favour to one faith over the others. The Swedish government made a huge leap of faith last New Year's Day, which was to disestablish the Church of Sweden and to pull the plug on public subsidies and government control over a faith that maintains a church in virtually every city and hamlet throughout this peninsula. A year later, the church leaders say that the separation they feared has been a blessing. "I think we all see a stronger sense of commitment now," says Pastor David Olson. "People realize it's up to them to maintain our churches, no the government. " That is not to say many people show up in their churches on Sunday mornings. "It is a secular society," shrugged Mr. Olson, who routinely preaches before three dozen people in an imposing old church that seats 900. "People don't go to mass. They don't even know how to go. They call me up and say, ' Do I need to reserve a seat for Sunday morning?' " Still the church has traditionally played a key role in Swedish life. "People go at the special times—Christmas, Easter, and baptisms, weddings, funerals," notes the Reverend Christina Berglund. "The Church of Sweden is rooted in people's consciousness. They feel an attachment to the church building itself in their home town. " One of the major concerns about the disestablishment was how to maintain the churches now that tax revenue will no longer pay for their upkeep. To solve this problem, the government has agreed to continue collecting the annual payment that always went to Church of Sweden. But now the "church tax" will be voluntary, an optional check-off box on the tax return form. And the government will allocate the money to Roman Catholic, Muslim, Jewish, and other faiths as well as the Lutherans.

单选题The purpose of the author in writing this passage is to urge the Fed