单选题The conclusion can be drawn from the text that in the wake of Andersen's scandal, the government

单选题In 1999, the price of oil hovered around $16 a barrel. By 2008, it had (1) the $100 a barrel mark. The reasons for the surge (2) from the dramatic growth of the economies of China and India to widespread (3) in oil-producing regions, including Iraq and Nigeria's delta region. Triple-digit oil prices have (4) the economic and political map of the world, (5) some old notions of power. Oil-rich nations are enjoying historic gains and opportunities, (6) major importers—including China and India, home to a third of the worlds population— (7) rising economic and social costs. Managing this new order is fast becoming a central (8) of global politics. Countries that need oil are clawing at each other to (9) scarce supplies, and are willing to deal with any government, (10) how un-pleasant, to do it. In many poor nations with oil, the profits are being, lost to corruption, (11) these countries of their best hope for development. And oil is fueling enormous investment funds run by foreign governments, (12) some in the west see as a new threat. Countries like Russia, Venezuela and Iran are well supplied with rising oil (13) , a change reflected in newly aggressive foreign policies. But some unexpected countries are reaping benefits, (14) costs, from higher prices. Considering Germany, (15) it imports virtually all its oil, it has prospered from extensive trade with a booming Russia and the Middle East. German exports to Russia (16) 128 percent from 2001 to 2006. In the United States, as already high gas prices rose (17) higher in the spring of 2008, the issue cropped up in the presidential campaign, with Senators McCain and Obama (18) for a federal gas tax holiday during the peak summer driving months. And driving habits began to (19) , as sales of small cars jumped and mass transport systems (20) the country reported a sharp increase in riders,

单选题Critelli's response to the real cause of her aunt's death was

单选题Every year New Zealanders living in London can be seen loading up Kombi vans and heading off to experience the "classic European holiday". The trip usually starts in the north of France, after crossing the channel from Dover in England to Calais, driving down through France, over the Pyrenees into Spain, west into Portugal and then across the Continent to Italy and often beyond. There are numerous reasons young New Zealanders take this rite of passage—as well as seeing all the fantastic sights and tasting the delights of Europe's food and wine, it's relatively inexpensive. The Kombi is transport and accommodation all in one, cutting down significantly on costs. There is just one problem. As the Kombis become "antique", these trips are usually punctuated with numerous roadside sessions as the van sits idle, in no hurry to start, while you swelter in the hot sun. But do not let this deter you. Travelling Europe in your own vehicle means no public transport schedules to cramp your style, the ability to explore the quaint, off-the- beaten-track villages where the "real" locals live, freedom to not have to book accommodation in advance—you can nearly always get a campsite and can load your vehicle with cheap, fantastic regional wines and souvenirs. With these bonuses in mind, here are some suggestions for planning the great Europe road adventure. The key to a pleasurable driving experience is a good navigator and a driver with a cool head. If you do not feel relaxed driving' around New Zealand's cities and highways, then you probably will not enjoy driving around Europe. As co-pilot to the driver, you need to read (and understand) maps, look out for turn-offs--and keep the music playing. Language is not a big problem once a few essential terms are mastered. The biggest challenge is in the cities, where traffic can be chaotic and elaborate one-way systems and narrow, cobbled alleyways can make finding your destination hard work. It can be easier to leave the vehicle on the outskirts of town or in a camping ground and use public transport. This also avoids paying for costly parking.

单选题The author implies that a BAC of 0.1 percent______

单选题The love affair with business started in the 1980s and has grown into a mighty passion backed not just by money but by glamour and class. In 2009 the money ran out, but the mood was one of such chaos and confusion that it was hard to tell what was going on underneath. In 2010 it will become clear that the class and glamour are draining away from business too. It will be the end of the affair: business will be cool no longer. Throughout this affair the business schools played the role of cupid. First, they made the study of business into an (almost) respectable academic discipline. More importantly, they made it socially acceptable, something even the classiest person could aspire to. But in 2010, for the second year running, tens of thousands of overqualified MBAs will emerge with nowhere exciting to go. A very few will land jobs in investment banking, but those who want grand jobs in big companies or consultancies will be disappointed. Increasingly they will go crawling back to their old employers to do pretty much whatever they were doing before for pretty much the same money, thus making them question whether it is really worth the $160,000 that a top MBA costs. This is not going to be a little recessionary dip. It will be a more fundamental reappraisal. The magical myth of the MBA has for some time left the facts behind. In furore, those who stump up will do so because they want to learn the skills, not because they think they are buying entry into a cool and exclusive club. Some good things will follow from this. There will be fewer smart Alecs who think they know it all pouring into companies. There has been a bear market in management bullshit since the credit crunch began. In 2010 the decline of the MBA will cut off the supply of bullshit at source. Pretentious ideas about business will be in retreat. But there will be bad things too: if fewer bright, ambitious people go into business, economies may suffer. Instead the talent will go increasingly into the public sector, the law, medicine--which are already bursting with bright people as it is. While the decline of the B-schools will weaken the glamour of business in general, the government will do its bit too with increasing regulation. In 2010,being a board director of a listed company will never have been less fun: not only will the procedural side be more demanding, there will be even greater public hysteria over what directors are paid. And with those at the top having such a grim time, it is unrealistic to expect any excitement at the bottom.

单选题Conventional wisdom says trees are good for the environment. They absorb carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas -- from the atmosphere and store it as carbon while releasing oxygen. The roots of trees have been thought to trap sediments and nutrients in the soil, keeping nearby rivers free flowing . Trees have also been credited with steadying the flow of these rivers, keeping it relatively constant through wet and dry seasons, thus preventing both drought and flooding. Pernicious nonsense, conclude two pieces of research published this week. The first, a four-year international study led by researchers at the University of Newcastle, in Britain, and the Free University of Amsterdam, identifies several myths about the link between forests and water. For example, in arid and semi-arid areas, trees consume far more water than they trap. And it is not the trees that catch sediment and nutrients, and steady the flow of the rivers, but the fact that the soil has not been compressed. The World Commission on Water estimates that the demand for water will increase by around 50% in the next 30 years. Moreover, around 4 billion people -- one half of the world's population -- will live in conditions of severe water stress, meaning they will not have enough water for drinking and washing to stay healthy, by 2025. The government of South Africa has been taking a tough approach to trees since it became the first to treat water as a basic human right in 1998. In a scheme praised by the hydrologists, the state penalizes forestry companies for preventing this water reaching rivers and underground aquifers. In India, large tree-planting schemes not only lose valuable water but dim the true problem identified by the hydrologists: the unregulated removal of water from aquifers to irrigate crops. Farmers need no permit to drill a borehole and, as most farmers receive free electricity, there is little economic control on the volume of water pumped. So a report of Britain's Department for International Development concludes that there is no scientific evidence that forests increase or stabilize water flow in arid or semi-arid areas. It recommends that, if water shortages are a problem, governments should impose limits on forest plantation. The second piece of research looked at how long the forests of the Amazon basin cling on to carbon. Growing trees consume carbon dioxide and it was thought that only when the tree died, perhaps hundreds of years later, would the carbon be returned to the atmosphere. No such luck. In a paper published in Nature this week, a team of American and Brazilian scientists found that trees were silently returning the carbon after just five years. Before taking an axe to trees, however, consider the merits of the tropical rainforests.

单选题The author' s attitude toward the issue of "science vs. antiscience" is ______.

单选题Anthropology is the study of human beings as creatures of society. It (1) its attention upon those. physical characteristics and industrial techniques, those conventions and values, which (2) one community from all others that belong to a different tradition. The distinguishing mark of anthropology among the social sciences is that it includes for serious study other societies (3) our own. For its purposes any social (4) of mating and reproduction is as significant as our own. To the anthropologist our customs and those of a New Guinea tribe are two possible social schemes for (5) a common problem, and in so far as he remains an anthropologist he is (6) to avoid any weighting of one (7) the other. He is interested in human behavior, not as it is shaped by one tradition, our own, but as it has been shaped by any tradition (8) He is interested in a wide (9) of custom that is found in various cultures, and his object is to understand the way in which these cultures change and (10) , the different forms through which they express themselves and the (11) in which the customs of any peoples function in the lives of the (12) . Now custom has not been commonly regarded as a (13) of any great moment. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely (14) of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behavior at its most commonplace. (15) , it is the other way round. Traditional custom is a mass of detailed behavior more astonishing than (16) any one person can ever evolve in individual actions. Yet that is a rather (17) aspect of the matter. The fact (18) first rate importance is the predominant role that custom (19) in experience and belief, and the very great varieties it may (20)

单选题Which of the following does the author mention as a characteristic of the practice of psychohistorians?______

单选题Those who consider the poverty line high point out that ______.

单选题Zimbabweans cope with the shortage of the dollars that count in various ways. The government grabs them from other people. On February 9th. it told the country's banks to start selling all their hard- currency inflows to the central bank and the state petrol-importing monopoly, at the official rate. It said that Zimbabwean embassies abroad face power cuts because they cannot pay their bills. But if staff in Moscow felt chilly, the grab did not warm them. Exporters told their customers to delay payments. Hard-currency inflows fell by some 90%, forcing the government to relent. Business folk were relieved. The economy is so stormy that many exporters stay afloat only by selling American dollars on the black market. Others try to keep their foreign earnings offshore. This is not easy, since most sell tobacco, gold, roses and other goods that can be observed and recorded as they leave the country. But some quietly set up overseas subsidiaries to buy their own products at artificially low prices. The subsidiary then sells the goods m the real buyer, and keeps the proceeds abroad. Since petrol, which must be imported, is scarce, some employers give their staff bicycles. But the two local bicycle makers have gone bankrupt, so bicycles must be imported too. Where possible, local products are replaced for imports. One firm, for example, has devised a way to make glue using oil from locally-grown castor beans instead of petroleum-based chemicals. But even the simplest products often have imported components. One manufacturer found it could not make first-aid kits, because it could not obtain zips for the bags. The local zip-maker had no dollars to import small but essential metal studs. An order worth $8,000 was lost for want of perhaps $100 in hard cash. Rich individuals are putting their savings into tangible assets, though not houses or land, which they fear the government may seize. Instead, they buy movable goods such as cars or jewellery. Unlike the Zimbabwean dollar, such assets do not lose half their value every year. Jewellery is also an easy way m move money abroad. Wear it on the plane, sell it in London. and leave the money there. The poor have fewer options. A typical unskilled wage now buys a loaf of bread and a litre of milk a day, plus the bus fare to work. For most poor Zimbabweans, the only measure against inflation is to plant maize in the back yard and hope they can harvest it before their landlord expels them.

单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}} 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 beings 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 be 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 lopsided 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; hut 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 oflife. But the sense of humor is an unique human quality. If happiness is one of the great goals of life, then it is the sense of humor that provides the key.

单选题The 1978 - 1987 averages of productivity are less than ______.

单选题Yasuhisa Shizoki, a 51-year old MP from Japan's ruling Liberal Democratic Party (LDP), starts tapping his finger on the dismal economic chart on his coffee table. "Unless we change the decision-making process," he says bluntly, "we are not going to be able to solve this kind of problem." With the economy in such a mess, it may seem a bit of a diversion to be trying to sort out Japan's political structures as well as its economic problems. Since co-writing a report on political reform, which was released by an LDP panel last week, Mr Shiozaki has further upset the party's old guard. Its legionaries, flanked by columns of the bureaucracy, continue to hamper most attempts to overhaul the economy. Junichiro Koizumi was supposed to change all that, by going over their heads and appealing directly to the public. Yet nearly a year after becoming prime minister, Mr Koizumi has precious little to show for his efforts. His popularity is now flagging and his determination is increasingly in doubt. As hopes of immediate economic reform fade, optimists are focusing on another potential benefit of Mr Koizumi's tenure. They hope that his highly personalized style of leadership will pave the way for a permanent change in Japanese politics: towards more united and authoritative cabinets that are held directly accountable for their policies. As that hap pens, the thinking goes, real economic reforms will be able to follow. Unfortunately, damage limitation in the face of scandal too often substitutes for real reform. More often, the scandals serve merely as distractions. What is really needed is an overhaul of the rules themselves. A leading candidate for change is the 40-year-old system--informal but religiously followed--through which the LDP machinery vets every bill before it ever gets to parliament. Most legislation starts in the LDP’s party committees, which mirror the parliamentary committee structure. Proposals then go through two higher LDP bodies, which hammer out political deals to smooth their passage. Only then does the prime minister's cabinet get fully involved in approving the policy. Most issues have been decided by the LDP mandarins long before they reach this point, let alone the floor of parliament, leaving even the prime minister limited influence, and allowing precious little room for public debate and even less for accountability. As a result, progress will probably remain slow. Since they know that political reform leads to economic reform, and hence poses a threat to their interests, most of the LDP will resist any real changes. But at least a handful of insiders have now bought into one of Mr Koizumi's best slogans: "Change the LDP, change Japan./

单选题 What's your earliest childhood memory? Can you remember learning to walk? Or talk? The first time you heard thunder or watched a television program? Adults seldom{{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}events much earlier than the year or so before entering school, {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}children younger than three or four{{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}retain any specific, personal experiences. A variety of explanations have been{{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}by psychologists for this " childhood amnesia " . One argues that the hippocampus, the region of the brain which is{{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}for formling memories, does not mature until about the age of two. But the most popular theory{{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}that, since adults don't think like children, they cannot{{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}childhood memories. Adults think in words, and their life memories are like stories or{{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}—one event follows another as in a novel or film. {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}, when they search through their mental{{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}for early childhood memories to add to this verbal life story, they don't find any that fit the{{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}. It's like trying to find a Chinese word in an English dictionary. Now psychologist Annette Simms of the New York State University offers a new{{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}for childhood amnesia. She argues that there simply aren't any early childhood memories to recall. According to Dr. Simms, children need to learn to use someone else's spoken{{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}of their personal{{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}in order to turn their own short-term, quickly forgotten{{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}of them into long-term memories. {{U}} {{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}, children have to talk about their{{U}} {{U}} 17 {{/U}} {{/U}}and hear others talk about them—Mother talking about the afternoon{{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}} {{/U}}looking for seashells at the beach or Dad asking them about their day at Ocean Park. Without this{{U}} {{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}reinforcement, says Dr.Simms, children cannot form{{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}} {{/U}}memories of their personal experiences.

单选题Campaigns have become so expensive, and the politicians must spend so much of their time raising money, that neither the candidate nor the lobbyists have time for the old-fashioned schmoozing that was once the hallmark of the lobbying trade. It's all very businesslike now for both sides. For the politicians, the challenge is how to raise the most money in the least amount of time. For the lobbyists, the challenge is to know which politicians to shower with money in order to get maximum results. Moderate politics, a willingness to study issues and seek workable compromise, is no longer cost-effective. The politicians who send out fund-raising letters promising to give each issue careful study won't raise a dime. But if that politician targets those who are known to favor a certain issue and he lets that group know he will champion their cause no matter who opposes it, the money rolls in. The amount he can raise depends on how sharply he can draw a contrast between those who favor an issue and those who oppose it. There are sincere people on every side of every issue, but one reason that Congress continues to debate and vote on so many of the same issues over and over—like gun control and abortion—is that such issues bring in money to both sides. Liberals who favor gun control rail at the antics of the well-financed gun lobby, but in truth they welcome the endless debate over guns because it is a proven way to raise money from their supporters, just as the pro-gun lobby is a ready source of campaign cash for pro-gun forces. The debates over the perennials, as insiders call them, have little impact on the country, since they usually bring little or no change in the laws. But they are not really about the country's business; they are about the business of the members themselves and their own survival. What is remarkable about the process is that when members have to do it, they can put the partisan games aside and do what is necessary. In the weeks before the September 11 attack, the Senate had been in a nasty partisan fight over "who lost the big surpluses" that had been projected earlier in the year. Yet, in the week after the attack, the House and Senate authorized forty billion dollars in disaster relief and passed the legislation by a unanimous vote. Afterward, I asked the Senate Democratic leader Tom Daschle how the country could afford to spend so much in light of all the earlier concern about who had lost the surplus. "Well," he said, "I think the question is, Can we afford not to?/