单选题Read the following text. Choose the best word(s)for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1. (10 points) A few years ago, Facebook was forced to retreat from a new service called Beacon. It tracked what the social network's users were doing elsewhere on the web—which caused a huge (1) because of the loss of personal privacy. (2) , Facebook promised to make (3) efforts to better protect people's information. But (4) the firm has not been trying very hard. On November 29th America's Federal Trade Commission (FTC) (5) the results of an investigation it had conducted of Facebook. They showed that the world's biggest social network, which now (6) more than 800m users, has been making information public that it had (7) to keep private. The FTC's findings come at a(n) (8) time for Facebook, which is preparing for an initial public offering (IPO) that is almost (9) to take place next year. Some recent reports have (10) that the firm may seek a listing as early as next spring, and that it will try to (11) a whopping $10 billion in an IPO that would (12) it at $100 billion. To (13) the way for an offering, Facebook (14) needs to resolve some of the regulatory tussles over privacy that it has become embroiled in. (15) the FTC's announcement, which came as part of a settlement struck between the commission and Facebook. The FTC's investigation (16) a litany of instances in which the social network had (17) its users. In what is perhaps the most damning of the findings, the agency documents that Facebook has been (18) people's personal information with advertisers—a practice its senior executives have (19) sworn it does not indulge in. The FTC also says that the firm failed to make photos and videos on deactivated and deleted user accounts (20) after promising to do so. (295 words)

单选题Which of the following best summarizes the author's evaluation of Bailyn's fourth proposition?

单选题The best title for the text might be

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} Nuclear power's danger to health, safety, and even life itself can be summed up in one word: radiation. Nuclear radiation has a certain mystery about it, partly because it cannot be detected by human senses. It can't be seen or heard, or touched or tasted, even though it may be all around us. There are other things like that. For example, radio waves are all around us but we can't detect them, sense them, without a radio receiver. Similarly, we can't sense radio activity without a radiation detector. But unlike common radio waves, nuclear radiation is not harmless to human beings and other living things. At very high levels, radiation can kill an animal or human being outright by killing masses of cells in vital organs. But even the lowest levels can do serious damage. There is no level of radiation that is completely safe. If the radiation does not hit anything important, the damage may not be significant. This is the case when only a few cells are hit. And if they are killed outright, your body will replace the dead cells with healthy ones. But if the few cells are only damaged, and if they reproduce themselves, you may be in trouble. They reproduce themselves in a deformed way. They can grow into cancer. Sometimes this does not show up for many years. This is another reason for some of the mystery about nuclear radiation. Serious damage can be done without the victim being aware at the time that damage has occurred. A person can he irradiated and feel fine, then die of cancer five, ten, or twenty years later as a result. Or a child can be born weak or liable to serious illness as a result of radiation absorbed by its grandparents. Radiation can hurt us. We must know the truth.

单选题TheaverageAmericandrinksagallonofsodaaweek,whichdeliversroughly1,000caloriesandnonutrition.TheaverageAmericanisalsooverweightorobese.Couldchangingoneofthosethingshelpchangetheother?Agrowingnumberofofficialsthinkso,whichaccountsforaspateofproposednewtaxesonsodaasawaytodiscourageconsumptionwhileatthesametimeraisingmoneytofundotherobesity-fightinginitiatives.Some20statesandcities,fromNewMexicotoBaltimore,contemplatedsodataxesthisspring.Thereactionagainstthemhasbeenswiftandfierce.InMarch,scoresofsoda-companyemployeessportingPepsi,Cokeand7-UpgearswarmedtheKansasstatesenatetofightaproposalthatwouldhaveaddedapennyintaxforeachteaspoonofsugarinanonjuicedrink.Thatwouldhaveincreasedthepriceofa12-oz.sodabyabout10andgeneratedsome$90millioninrevenueayear."Ithoughtthisisawisechoice,"saysstatesenatorJohnVratil,who,likecounterpartsacrossthecountry,hasbeenstrugglingtoaddressbotharecession-inducedbudgetgapandrisingpublic-healthcostsstemmingfromobesity.Instead,hegotanearfulabouthowasodataxwouldkilljobs,burdenthepoorandconstituteanunwelcomegovernmentintrusionintotheAmericandiet.GovernmentinvolvementinwhatAmericanseatisnothingnew.Butwhytaxsodaandnot,say,icecream,pizzaorOreos—or,forthatmatter,thevideogamesthatdiscouragekidsfromgoingoutsidetorunaround?Washingtoncity-councilmemberMaryChehsaysit'sbecausesodaiswherescientistshaveobservedtheclearestlinktoexcesspounds.WhenChehsetouttofundherHealthySchoolsAct,whichwouldraisefoodandphysical-educationstandardsatschoolsinD.C.whereabout40%ofkidsareoverweightorobese—shedidn'tknowshe'dwindupgoingaftersoda.Butthedataoverwhelmedher:TheamountofsodathetypicalAmericandrinkshasgrownbyroughly500%overthepast60years,andofthe250to300caloriesadayAmericanshave,onaverage,addedtotheirdietssincethelate1970s,nearlyhalfhavecomefromsugareddrinks."Idon'twanttoprescribetaxesforallsortsofdietarychoices,"saysCheh,"butifweweregoingtoonlytargetonethingtomakeamaterialdifference,sodawouldbeit."Thetougherquestioniswhetherincreasingthepriceofsodawould,infact,reducethenumberofcaloriespeopleconsume.Someresearchindicatestheanswerisyes.Otherresearchleavesroomfordoubt.Thoughstudiesdoshowthata10%increaseinthepriceofsodaleadspeopletopurchaseabout10%lessofit,thatdoesn'tnecessarilymeanfolksaren'tmakingupforthosecalorieselsewhere.Howdopeoplefeelaboutsodataxes?InApril,theQuinnipiacUniversityPollingInstituteaskedresidentsofNewYorkStateiftheysupportedoropposeda"fattax"onnondietsugaredsoda.Thirty-onepercentwereinfavor,and66%wereopposed.Yetwhenaskediftheywouldsupportsuchataxifthemoneyraisedwereusedtofundhealthcare,peoplechangedtheiropinionsdramatically,with48%infavorandjust49%opposed.

单选题Honda is mentioned in the second paragraph to suggest that

单选题{{B}}Directions:{{/B}}Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C, and D on ANSWER SHEET 1. Analysts have their go at humor, and I have read some of this interpretative literature,{{U}} (1) {{/U}}without being greatly instructed. Humor can be{{U}} (2) {{/U}},{{U}} (3) {{/U}}a frog can, but the thing dies in the process and the innards are{{U}} (4) {{/U}}to any but the pure scientific mind. One of the things{{U}} (5) {{/U}}said about humorists is that they are really very sad 'people clowns with a breaking heart. There is some truth in it, but it is badly{{U}} (6) {{/U}}. It would be more{{U}} (7) {{/U}}, I think, to say that there is a deep vein of melancholy running through everyone's life and that the humorist, perhaps more{{U}} (8) {{/U}}of it than some others, compensates for it actively and{{U}} (9) {{/U}}Humorists fatten on troubles. They have always made trouble{{U}} (10) {{/U}}They struggle along with a good will and endure pain{{U}} (11) {{/U}}, knowing how well it will{{U}} (12) {{/U}}them in the sweet by and by. You find them wrestling with foreign languages, fighting folding ironing hoards and' swollen drainpipes, suffering the terrible{{U}} (13) {{/U}}of tight boots. They pour out their sorrows profitably, in a{{U}} (14) {{/U}}of what is not quite fiction nor quite fact either. Beneath the sparking surface of these dilemmas flows the strong{{U}} (15) {{/U}}of human woe. Practically everyone is a manic depressive of sorts, with his up moments and his down moments, and you certainly don't have to be a humorist to {{U}}(16) {{/U}}the sadness of situation and mood. But there is often a rather fine line between laughing and crying, and if a humorous piece of writing brings a person to the point{{U}} (17) {{/U}}his emotional responses are untrustworthy and seem likely to break over into the opposite realm, it is{{U}} (18) {{/U}}humor, like poetry, has an extra content, it plays{{U}} (19) {{/U}}to the big hot fire which is Truth, and sometimes the reader feels the{{U}} (20) {{/U}}.

单选题The Republican Party has lost its mind. To win elections, a party needs votes, obviously, and constituencies. First, however, it needs ideas. In 1994--95, the Republican Party had after long struggle advanced a coherent, compelling set of political ideas expressed in a specific legislative agenda. The political story of 1996 is that this same party, within the space of six weeks, then became totally, shockingly intellectually deranged. Then, astonishingly, on the very moment of their philosophical victory, just as the Republicans prepared to carry these ideas into battle in November, came cannon fire from the rear. Pat Buchanan first came out to declare a general insurrection. The enemy, according to Buchanan, is not the welfare state. It is that conservative icon, capitalism, with its ruthless captains of industry, greedy financiers and political elites (Republicans included, of course). All three groups collaborate to let foreigners--immigrants, traders, parasitic foreign-aid loafers--destroy the good life of the ordinary American worker. Buchananism would support and wield a big and mighty government apparatus to protect the little guy from buffeting, a government that builds trade walls and immigrant-repelling fences, that imposes punitive taxes on imports, and that polices the hiring and firing practices of business with the arrogance of the most zealous forcer. Republicans have focused too much on the mere tactical dangers posed by this assault. Yes, it gives ammunition to the Democrats. Yes, it puts the eventual nominee through a bruising campaign and delivers him tarnished and drained into the ring against Bill Clinton. But the real danger is philosophical, not tactical. It is axioms, not just policies, that are under fire. The Republican idea of smaller government is being ground to dust--by Republicans. In the middle of an election year, when they should be honing their themes against Democratic liberalism, Buehanan's rise is forcing a pointless rearguard battle against a philosophical corpse, the obsolete paleoconservatism--a mix of nativism, protectionism and isolationism--of the 1930s. As the candidates' debate in Arizona last week showed, the entire primary campaign will be fought on Buchanan's grounds, fending off his Smoot-Hawley-Franco populism. And then what? After the convention, what does the nominee do? Try to resurrect the anti-welfare state themes of the historically successful '94 congressional campaign? Political parties can survive bruising primary battles. They cannot survive ideological meltdown. Dole and Buchanan say they are fighting for the heart and soul of the Republican Party. Heart and soul, however, will get you nowhere when you've lost your way--and your mind.

单选题The world has spent on preparations for war more than $112 billion a year, roughly $ 450 per head for every man, woman, and child in the world. Let us consider for a moment what could be done with this sum of money if it were spent on peace and not on war. Some of it, at any rate, in the more prosperous countries, could be spent on the reduction of taxation. The rest should be spent in ways that will, at the same time, be of benefit to mankind and a solution to the economic problem of conversion from war industry to the expansion of peace industries. As to this expansion, let us begin with the most elementary of all needs, namely food. At present, the majority of mankind suffers from undernourishment, and in view of the population explosion, this situation is likely to grow worse in the coming decades. A very small part of what is now being spent upon armaments would rectify our predicament. Not only could the American surplus of grain, which was for many years uselessly destroyed, be spent in relief of famine, but, by irrigation, large regions now desert could be made fertile, and, by improvement in transport, distribution from regions of excess to regions of scarcity could be facilitated. Housing, even in the richest countries, is often disastrously inadequate. This could be remedied by a tiny fraction of what is being spent on missiles. Education everywhere, but especially in the newly liberated countries of Africa and Asia, demands an expenditure many times as great as that which it receives at present. But it is not only greater expenditure that is needed in education. If the terror of war were removed, science could be devoted to improving human welfare, instead of to the invention of increasingly expensive methods of mutual slaughter, and schools would no longer think it a part of their duty to promote hatred of possible enemies by means of ignorance tempered by lies. By the help of modern techniques, the world could enter upon a period of happiness and prosperity far surpassing anything known in previous history. All this is possible. It requires only a different outlook on international affairs and a different state of mind toward those nations which are now regarded as enemies. This is possible. I repeat, but it cannot be done all at once. To reverse the trend of affairs in the most powerful nation of the world is no light task and will require a difficult process of reeducation.

单选题"I'm a total geek all around," says Angela Byron, a 27-year-old computer programmer who has just graduated from Nova Scotia Community College. And yet, like many other students, she "never had the confidence" to approach any of the various open-source software communities on the internet--distributed teams of volunteers who collaborate to build software that is then made freely available. But thanks to Google, the world's most popular search engine and one of the biggest proponents of open-source software, Ms Byron spent the summer contributing code to Drupal, an open-source project that automates the management of websites. "It's awesome," she says. Ms Byron is one of 419 students (out of 8,744 who applied) who were accepted for Google's "summer of code". While it sounds like a hyper-nerdy summer camp, the students neither went to Google's campus in Mountain View, California, nor to wherever their mentors at the 41 participating open-source projects happened to be located. Instead, Google acted as a matchmaker and sponsor. Each of the participating open-source projects received $500 for every student it took on; and each student received $4,500 ($500 right away, and $4,000 on completion of their work). Oh, and a T-shirt. All of this is the idea of Chris DiBona, Google's open-source boss, who was brainstorming with Larry Page and Sergey Brin, Google's founders, last year. They realised that a lot of programming talent goes to waste every summer because students take summer jobs flipping burgers to make money, and let their coding skills degrade. "We want to make it better for students in the summer," says Mr. DiBona, adding that it also helps the open- source community and thus, indirectly, Google, which uses lots of open-source software behind the scenes. Plus, says Mr. DiBona, "it does become an opportunity for recruiting." Elliot Cohen, a student at Berkeley, spent his summer writing a "Bayesian network toolbox" for Python, an open-source programming language. "I'm a pretty big fan of Google," he says. He has an interview scheduled with Microsoft, but "Google is the only big company that I would work at," he says. And if that doesn't work out, he now knows people in the open-source community, "and it's a lot less intimidating./