单选题Now
单选题The story of Mr. Buffett is noted to suggest that
单选题One of the many theories about alcoholism is the learning and reinforcement theory, which explains alcoholism by considering alcohol drinking as a reflex response to some stimulus and as a way to reduce an inner drive state such as fear or anxiety. Characterizing life situations in terms of approach and avoidance, this theory holds that persons tend to be drawn to pleasant situations or repelled by unclean, sanity ones. In the latter case, alcohol drinking is said to reduce the tension or feelings of unpleasantness and to replace them with the feeling of pleasure generally observed in most persons after they have consumed one or more drinks. Some experimental evidence tends to show that alcohol reduces fear in an approach-avoidance situation. Conger trained one group of rats to approach a food goal and trained another group to avoid electric shock. After an injection of alcohol the pull away from the shock was measurably weaker, while the pull toward food was unchanged. The obvious troubles experienced by alcoholic persons appear to contradict the learning theory in the explanation of alcoholism. The discomfort, pain, and punishment they experience should presumably discourage the alcoholics from drinking. The fact that alcoholic persons continue to drink in the face of family discord, loss of job, and illness is explained by the proximity of the drive of reduction to the consumption of alcohol; that is, alcohol has the immediate effect of reducing tension while the unpleasant consequences of drunken behavior came only later. The learning pattern, therefore, favors the establishment and repetition of the resort to alcohol. In fact, the anxieties and feelings of guilt caused by the consequences of excessive alcohol drinking may themselves become the signal for another time of alcohol abuse. The way in which the desire for another drink could be caused by anxiety is explained by the process of stimulus generalization: conditions or events securing at the time of reinforcement tend to acquire all the features of stimuli. When alcohol is consumed in association with a state of anxiety or leer, the emotional state itself takes on the properties of a stimulus, thus triggering another time of drinking. The role of punishment is becoming increasingly important in explaining a cause of alcoholism based on the principles of learning theory. While punishment may serve to suppress a response, experiments have shown that in some cases it can serve as a reward and reinforce the behavior. Thus if the alcoholic person has learned to drink under conditions of both reward and punishment, either type of condition may trigger renewed drinking.
单选题Recalculating the global use of phosphorus, an important fertilizer element of modem agriculture, a team of researchers warns that the world"s stocks may soon be in short supply and that overuse in the industrialized world has become a leading cause of the pollution of lakes, rivers and streams,
Writing in the Feb. 14 edition of the journal
Environmental Research Letters
, Stephen Carpenter of the University of Wisconsin-Madison and Elena Bennett of McGill University report that the human use of phosphorus, primarily in the industrialized world, is causing the widespread eutrophication of fresh surface water. What"s more, the minable global stocks of phosphorus are concentrated in just a few countries and are in decline, posing the risk of global shortages within the next 20 years. "There is a finite amount of phosphorus in the world," says Carpenter, one of the world"s leading authorities on lakes and streams. "This is a material that"s becoming rarer and we need to use it more efficiently."
Phosphorus is an essential element for life. Living organisms, including humans, have small amounts and the element is crucial for driving the energetic processes of cells. In agriculture, phosphorus mined from ancient marine deposits is widely used to boost crop yields. The element also has other industrial uses.
But excess phosphorus from fertilizer that washes from farm fields and suburban lawns into lakes and streams is the primary cause of the algae blooms that destroy freshwater ecosystems and degrade water quality. Phosphorus pollution poses a risk to fish and other water life as well as to the animals and humans who depend on clean fresh water. In some instances, excess phosphorus sparks blooms of toxic algae, which pose a direct threat to human and animal life.
"If you have too much phosphorus, you get eutrophication," explains Carpenter, of the cycle of excessive plant and algae growth that significantly degrades bodies of fresh water. "Phosphorus stimulates the growth of algae and weeds near shore and some of the algae can contain cyanobacteria, which are toxic. You lose fish. You lose water quality for drinking." The fertilizer-fueled algae blooms themselves amplify the problem as the algae die and release accumulated phosphorus back into the water.
Complicating the problem, says Carpenter, is the fact that excess phosphorus in the environment is a problem primarily in the industrialized world, mainly Europe, North America and parts of Asia. In other parts of the world, notably Africa and Australia, soils are phosphorus poor, creating a stark imbalance. Ironically, soils in places like North America, where fertilizers with phosphorus are most commonly applied, are already loaded with the element. Bennett and Carpenter argue that agriculture practices to better conserve phosphate within agricultural ecosystems are necessary to avert the widespread pollution of surface waters. Phosphorus from parts of the world where the element is abundant, they say, can be moved to phosphorus deficient regions of the world by extracting phosphorus from manure, for example, using manure digesters.
单选题According to the text, evidences of the insight of the public into the dangers which surround us can be found in all of the following EXCEPT
单选题
单选题{{B}}Part A{{/B}}{{B}}Directions:{{/B}}Reading 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}}
The history of responses to the work of
the artist Sandro Botticelli (1444 ~1510) suggests that widespread appreciation
by critics is a relatively recent phenomenon. Writing in 1550, Vasari expressed
an unease with Botticelli's work, admitting that the artist fitted awkwardly
into his evolutionary scheme of the history of art. Over the next two centuries,
academic art historians defamed Botticelli in favor of his fellows Florentine,
Michelangelo. Even when anti-academic art historians of the early nineteenth
century rejected many of the standards of evaluation adopted by their
predecessors, Botticelli's work remained outside of accepted taste, pleasing
neither amateur observers nor {{U}}connoisseurs{{/U}}. (Many of his best paintings,
however, remained hidden away in obscure churches and private homes.)
The primary reason for Botticelli's unpopularity is not difficult to
understand: most observers, up until the midnineteenth century, did not consider
him to be noteworthy, because his work, for the most part, did not seem to these
observers to exhibit the traditional characteristics of fifteenth-century
Florentine art. For example, Botticelli rarely employed the technique of strict
perspective and, unlike Michelangelo, never used chiaroscuro.
Another reason for Botticelli's unpopularity may have been that his
attitude toward the style of classical art was very different from that of his
contemporaries. Although he was thoroughly exposed to classical art, he showed
little interest in borrowing from the classical style. Indeed, it is paradoxical
that a painter of large-scale classical subjects adopted a style that was only
slightly similar to that of classical art. In any ease, when
viewers began to examine more closely the relationship of Botticelli's work to
the tradition of fifteenth-century Florentine art, his reputation began to grow.
Analyses and assessments of Botticelli made between 1850 and 1870 by the artists
of the Pre-Raphaelite movement, as well as by the writer Pater (although he,
unfortunately, based his assessment on an incorrect analysis of Botticelli's
personality), inspired a new appreciation of Botticelli throughout the
English-speaking world. Yet Botticelli's work, especially the Sistine frescoes,
did not generate worldwide attention until it was finally subjected to a
comprehensive and scrupulous analysis by Home in 1908. Home rightly demonstrated
that the frescoes shared important features with paintings by other
fifteenth-century Florentines-- features such as skillful representation of
anatomical proportions, and of the human figure in motion. However, Home argued
that Botticelli did not treat these qualities as ends in themselves--rather,
that he emphasized clear depletion of a story, a unique achievement and one that
made the traditional Florentine qualities less central. Because of Home's
emphasis crucial to any study of art, the twentieth century has come to
appreciate Bottieelli's achievements.
单选题The word "ammo" ( Line 7, Paragraph 2) most probably means
单选题
单选题Most plants can make their own food from sunlight, (1) some have discovered that stealing is an easier way to live. Thousands of plant species get by (2) photosynthesizing, and over 400 of these species seem to live by pilfering sugars from an underground (3) of fungi(真菌). But in (4) a handful of these plants has this modus operandi been traced to a relatively obscure fungus. To find out how (5) are (6) , mycologist Martin Bidartondo of the University of California at Berkeley and his team looked in their roots. What they found were (7) of a common type of fungus, so (8) that it is found in nearly 70 percent of all plants. The presence of this common fungus in these plants not only (9) at how they survive, says Bidartondo, but also suggests that many ordinary plants might prosper from a little looting, too. Plants have (10) relations to get what they need to survive. Normal, (11) plants can make their own carbohydrates through photosynthesis, but they still need minerals. Most plants have (12) a symbiotic relationship with a (13) network of what are called my corrhizal fungi, which lies beneath the forest (14) . The fungi help green plants absorb minerals through their roots, and (15) , the plants normally (16) the fungi with sugars, or carbon with a number of plants sharing the same fungal web, it was perhaps (17) that a few cheaters—dubbed epiparasites—would evolve to beat the system. (18) , these plants reversed the flow of carbon, (19) it into their roots from the fungi (20) releasing it as "payment./
单选题The term "betray" (Line 2, Paragraph 2) most probably means
单选题According to the passage, which organizations raised the proposal to stop the practice of lie detection evidence in military court?______
单选题It can be seen from the passage that the problem of resource conservation in agriculture______
单选题Europe has long prided itself on the notion that, even if its cousin across the At- lantic had surpassed it in matters geopolitical and military, its cultural cachet remained unrivaled. Europe was the capital of great literature, haute couture, the nouvelle vague. American culture may have spread to even the most remote reaches of the globe, but it was lowbrow. Superman and Hollywood blockbusters versus Picasso and Cannes. But, as it turns out, America is actually winning the culture race for global audiences and leaving Europe in the dust, says French journalist Frtdtric Martel in his book, Mainstream. Martel spent five years traveling to 30 countries to conduct his research, and his conclusions are striking, especially coming from a Frenchman. American businesses are far smarter than their European counterparts at using new digital materials to distribute movies, music, television shows, and books all around the globe. Most of all, they excel in producing a "culture that everyone likes," says Martel. But mainstream doesn't only mean Americanized. The strength of the U.S. is to be able to create universal content that caters to different interests. Yet the U.S. is now getting some stiff competition from other countries that thrive in exporting their own cultural content. India, Brazil, China, and South Korea are fast becoming regional cultural powers, symbolized by the rising fame of Bollywood, telenovelas, and K-pop. In Latin America, in particular, Brazil is much more of a threat in the regional marketplace than the U.S. And in the Arab world," big multimedia groups are trying to unify a very diverse population by offering an alternative to the Western model. This developing-world surge means Europe lags behind even more. In part, it's because Europe's default definition of "high culture" finds few fans abroad. European films and literature are increasingly seen as too ob-scure, arrogant, and self-referential to appeal to mass audiences. In part, it's because each nation has its own cultural industry and little, if any, cohesion across EU borders. And Europe could learn a few things from the U.S. For example, American producers have figured out how to go for the margins as well as the middle-- which is to say, to diversify and market to a whole range of tastes and groups. The result: even though the U.S. may be losing financial and political clout, it's gaining soft power through its cultural, media, and technological exports. Europe can regain this soft-power edge only if it embraces some new notions: that mass culture is not necessarily "bad culture," and that diversity, including contributions from immigrants and new arrivals, could make its films, books, and art more accessible to audiences abroad. That is, if Europe really wants to be part of the mainstream.
单选题
单选题Many countries have a tradition of inviting foreigners to rule them. The English called in William of Orange in 1688, and, depending on your interpretation of history, William of Normandy in 1066. Both did rather a good job. Returning the compliment, Albania asked a well-bred Englishman called Aubgrey Herbert to be their king in the 1920s. He refused—and they ended up with several coves called Zog. America, the country of immigrants, has no truck with imported foreign talent. Article two of the constitution says that "no person except a natural-born citizen.., shall be eligible to the office of the president". This is now being challenged by a particularly irresistible immigrant: Arnold Schwarzcnegger. Barely a year has passed since the erstwhile cyborg swept to victory in California's recall election, yet there is already an Amend-for-Arnold campaign collecting signatures to let the Austrian-born governor have a go at the White House. George Bush senior has weighed in on his behalf. There are several "Arnold amendments" in Congress: one al- lows foreigners who have been naturalized citizens for 20 years to become president. (The Austrian became American in 1983. ) It is easy to dismiss the hoopla as another regrettable example of loopy celebrity politics. Mr. Schwarzenegger has made a decent start as governor, but he bas done little, as yet, to change the structure of his dysfunctional state. Indeed, even if the law were changed, he could well be elbowed aside by another incomer, this time from Canada: the Democratic governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, who appears to have fewer skeletons in her closet than the hedonistic actor. Moreover, changing the American constitution is no doddle. It has happened only 17 times since 1791 (when the first ten amendments were codified as the bill of rights). To change the constitution, an amendment has to be approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, and then to be ratified by three-quarters of the 50 states. The Arnold amendment is hardly in the same category as abolishing slavery or giving women the vote. And, as some wags point out, Austrian imports have a pretty dodgy record of running mil- itary superpowers.
单选题The best title for the article is______
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}}
"I've never met a human worth cloning,"
says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from the cramped confines of his lab at Texas
A & M University. "It's a stupid endeavor.' That's an interesting choice of
adjective, coming from a man who has spent millions of dollars trying to clone a
13-year-old dog named Missy. So far, he and his team have not succeeded, though
they have cloned two calves and expect to clone a cat soon. They just might
succeed in cloning Missy later this year--or perhaps not for another five years.
It seems the reproductive system of man's best friend is one of the mysteries of
modem science. Westhusin's experience with cloning animals
leaves him vexed by all this talk of human cloning. In three years of work on
the Missyplicity project, using hundreds upon hundreds of canine eggs, the
A&M team has produced only a dozen or so embryos carrying Missy's DNA. None
have survived the transfer to a surrogate mother. The wastage of eggs and the
many spontaneously aborted fetuses may be acceptable when you're dealing with
cats or bulls, he argues, but not with humans. "Cloning is incredibly
inefficient, and also dangerous," he says. Even so, dog cloning
is a commercial opportunity, with a nice research payoff. Ever since Dolly, the
sheep, was cloned in 1997, Westhusin's phone at A&M College of Veterinary
Medicine has been ringing busily. Cost is no obstacle for customers like Missy's
mysterious owner, who wishes him remain unknown to protect his privacy. He's
plopped down $ 3. 7 million so far to fund the research because he wants a twin
to carry on Missy's fine qualities after she dies. But he knows her clone may
not have her temperament. In a statement of purpose, Missy's owner and the
A&M team say they are "both looking forward to studying the ways that her
clone differs from Missy." The fate of the dog samples will
depend on Westhusin's work. He knows that even if he gets a dog viably pregnant,
the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by
other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight
problems. "Why would you ever want to clone humans," Westhusin asks, "when we're
not even close to getting it worked out in animals
yet?"
单选题
单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}}
Without an oversized calendar tacked to
their kitchen wall, Fern Reiss and her family could never keep track of all the
meetings, appointments, home-schooling lessons, and activities that fill their
busy days. "I'm not sure they make a calendar large enough for us," says Ms.
Reiss of Newton, Mass. , explaining that her life revolves around "two
companies, three children, a spouse, a lot of community involvement, a social
life, the kids' social life, and volunteering in a soup kitchen every week."
"Everybody we know is leading a frenetic life," she adds. "Ours is frenetic,
too, but we're spending the bulk of our time with our kids. Even though we're
having a crazy life, we're having it in the right way." Although
extreme busyness is hardly a new phenomenon, the subject is getting renewed
attention from researchers. "A good life has to do with life having a direction,
life having a narrative with the stories we tel1 ourselves," Chuck Darrah, an
anthropologist, says. "Busyness fragments all that. We're absolutely focused on
getting through the next hour, the next day, the next week. It does raise
questions: If not busyness, what? If we weren't so Busy, what would we be doing?
If people weren't so busy, would they be a poet, a painter?" For
the Reisses, part of living a good life, however busy, means including the
couple's children in volunteer work and community activities. "We want the kids
to see that that's a priority," she says, Between working full
time as a publicist, caring for her home, spending time with her husband and
extended family, and helping her grandmother three times a week, a woman .says,
"I am exhaust- ed all the time." Like others, she concedes that she sets
"somewhat unrealistic expectations" for what she can accomplish in a
day, Being realistic is a goal Darrah encourages, saying, "We
can do everything, but we can't do everything well and at the same time." He
cautions that busyness can result in "poor decisions, sloppy quality, and
neglect of the things and people that matter most in the long run." He advises:
"Stop taking on so much, and keep in perspective what's most important to you."
Darrah's own schedule re- mains full, but he insists he does not feel busy. His
secret? Confining activities to things he must do and those he wants to do. He
and his wife do not overschedule their children. To those with one eye on the
calendar and the other on the deck, Darrah offers this advice: "Before you take
anything on, ask yourself: Do you have to do this? Do you want to do this? Live
with a kind of mindfulness so you don't wake up and discover that your life is a
whirl of transportation and communication, and you've hollowed yourself
out."
