单选题Timothy Berners-Lee, might be giving Bill Gates a run for the money, but he passed up his shot at fabulous wealth -- intentionally--in 1990. That's when he decided not to patent the technology used to create the most important software innovation in the final decade of the 20th century: the World Wide Web. Berners-Lee wanted to make the world a richer place, not amass personal wealth. So he gave his brainchild to us all. Berners-Lee regards today's Web as a rebellious adolescent that can never fulfill his original expectations. By 2005, he hopes to begin replacing it with the Semantic Web--a smart network that will finally understand human languages and make computers virtually as easy to work with as other humans. As envisioned by Berners-Lee, the new Web would understand not only the meaning of words and concepts but also theological relationships among them. That has awesome potential. Most knowledge is built on two pillars: semantic and mathematics. In number-crunching, computers already outclass people. Machines that are equally admit at dealing with language and reason won't just help people uncover new insights; they could blaze new trails on their own. Even with a fairly crude version of this future Web, mining online repositories for nuggets of knowledge would no longer force people to wade through screen after screen of extraneous data. Instead, computers would dispatch intelligent agents, or software messengers, to explore Websites by the thousands and logically sift out just what's relevant. That alone would provide a major boost in productivity at work and at home. But there's far more. Software agents could also take on many routine business chores, such as helping manufacturers find and negotiate with lowest-cost parts suppliers and handling help-desk questions. The Semantic Web would also be a bottomless trove of eureka insights. Most inventions and scientific breakthronghs, including today's Web, spring from novel combinations of existing knowledge. The Semantic Web would make it possible to evaluate more combinations overnight than a person could juggle in a lifetime. Sure scientists and other people can post ideas on the Web today for others to read. But with machines doing the reading and translating technical terms, related ideas from millions of Web pages could be distilled and summarized. That will lift the ability to assess and integrate information to new heights. The Semantic Web, Berners-Lee predicts, "will help more people become more intuitive as well as more analytical. It will foster global collaborations among people with diverse cultural perspectives, so we have a better chance of finding the right solutions to the really big issues--like the environment and climate warming./

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} In Don Juan Lord Byron wrote, "Sweet is revenge—especially to women." But a study released on Wednesday, supported by magnetic resonance imaging, suggests that men may be the more natural avengers. In the study, when male subjects witnessed people they perceived as had guys being stroke by a mild electrical shock, their M.R.I. scans lit up in primitive brain areas associated with reward. Their brains' empathy centers remained dull. Women watching the punishment, in contrast, showed no response in centers associated with pleasure. Even though they also said they did not like the bad guys, their empathy centers still quietly glowed. The study seems to show for the first time in physical terms what many people probably assume they already know: that women are generally more empathetic than men. and that men take great pleasure in seeing revenge exacted. Men "expressed more desire for revenge and seemed to feel satisfaction when unfair people were given what they perceived as deserved physical punishment," said Dr Tania Singer, the lead researcher, of the Wellcome Department of Imaging Neuroscience at University College London. But far from condemning the male impulse for retribution, Dr. Singer said it had an important social function: "This type of behavior has probably been crucial in the evolution of society as the majority of people in a group are motivated to punish those who cheat on the rest." The study is part of a growing body of research that is attempting to better understand behavior and emotions by observing simultaneous physiological changes in the brain, a technique now attainable through imaging. "Imaging is still in its early days but we are transitioning from a descriptive to a more mechanistic type of study," said Dr. Klaas Enno Stephan, a co-author of the paper. Dr. Singer's team was simply trying to see if the study subjects' degree of empathy correlated with how much they liked or disliked the person being punished. They had not set out to look into sex differences. To cultivate personal likes and dislikes in their 32 volunteers, they asked them to play a complex money strategy game, where both members of a pair would profit if both behaved cooperatively. The ranks of volunteers were infiltrated by actors told to play selfishly. Volunteers came quickly to "very much like" the partners who were cooperative, while disliking those who hided rewards, Dr. Stephan said. Effectively conditioned to like and dislike their game-playing partners, the 32 subjects were placed in scanners and asked to watch the various partners receive electrical shocks. On scans, both men and women seemed to feel the pain of partners they liked. But the real surprise came during scans when the subjects viewed the partners they disliked being shocked. "When women saw the shock, they still had an empathetic response, even though it was reduced." Dr. Stephan said. "The men had none at all." Furthermore, researchers. found that the brain's pleasure centers lit up in males when just punishment was meted out. The researchers cautioned that it was not clear if men and women are born with divergent responses to revenge or if their social experiences generate, the responses. Dr. Singer said larger studies were needed to see if differing responses would be seen in cases involving revenge that did not involve pain. Still, she added. "This investigation would seem to indicate there is a predominant role for men in maintaining justice and issuing punishment."

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} In a paper just published in Science, Peter Gordon of Columbia University uses his study of the Piraha and their counting system to try to answer a tricky linguistic question. The Piraha, a group of hunter-gatherers who live along the banks of the Maiei River in Brazil, use a system of counting called "one-two-many". In this, the word for "one" translates to "roughly one" (similar to "one or two" in English), the word for "two" means "a slightly larger amount than one" (similar to "a few" in English), and the word for "many" means "a much larger amount". This question was posed by Benjamin Lee Whorl in the 1930s. Whorl studied Hopi, an Amerindian language very different from tile Eurasian languages that had hitherto been the subject of academic linguistics. His work led him to suggest that language not only influences thought but, more strongly, that it determines thought. While there is no dispute that language influences what people think about, evidence suggesting it determines thought is inconclusive. For example, in 1972, Eleanor Rosch and Karl Heider investigated the colour-naming abilities of the Dani people of Indonesia. The Dani have words for only two colours.- black and white. But Dr. Rosch and Dr. Heider found that, even so, Dani could distinguish and comprehend other colours. That does not support the deterministic version of the Whorl hypothesis. While recognising that there are such things as colours for which you have no name is certainly a cognitive leap, it may not be a good test of Whorf's ideas. Colours, after all, are out there everywhere. Numbers, by contrast, are abstract, so may be a better test. Dr. Gordon therefore spent a month with the Piraha and elicited the help of seven of them to see how far their grasp of numbers extended. The tests began simply, with a row of, say, seven evenly spaced batteries. Gradually, they got more complicated. The more complicated tests included tasks such as matching numbers of unevenly spaced objects, replicating the number of objects from memory, and copying a number of straight lines from a drawing. In the tests that involved matching the number and layout of objects they could see, participants were pretty good when faced with two or three items, but found it harder to cope as the number of items rose. Things were worse when the participants had to remember the number of objects in a layout and replicate it "blind", rather than matching a layout they could see. In this case the success rate dropped to zero when the number of items became, in terms of their language, "many". And line drawing produced the worst results of all--though that could have had as much to do with the fact that drawing is not part of Piraha culture as it did with the difficulties of numerical abstraction. Indeed, Dr. Gordon described the task of reproducing straight lines as being accomplished only with "heavy sighs and groans".

单选题To which of the following is the author likely to agree?

单选题Cheques have largely replaced money as a mean s of exchange, for they are widely accepted everywhere. Though this is very (1) for both buyer and seller, it should not be forgotten that cheuqes are not real money: they are quite (2) in themselves. A shop-keeper always runs a certain (3) when he accepts a cheque and he is quite (4) his rights if, (5) , he refuses to do so. People do not always know this and are shocked if their good faith is called (6) . An old and very wealth friend of mine told me he had an extremely unpleasant (7) . He went to a famous jewellery shop which keeps a large (8) of precious stones and asked to be shown some pearl necklaces. After examining several trays, he (9) to buy a particularly fine string of pearls and asked if he could pay (10) cheque. The assistant said that this was quite (11) , but the moment my friend signed his name, he was invited into the manager's office. The manager was very polite, but he explained that someone with (12) the same name had them with a (13) cheque not long age. He told my friend that the police would arrive (14) any moment and he had better stay (15) he wanted to get into serious trouble. (16) , the police arrived soon afterwards They apologized to my friend for the (17) and asked him to (18) a note which had been used by the thief in a number of shop. The note (19) : "I have a gun in my pocket. Ask no questions and give me all the money in the safe." (20) , my friend's handwriting was quite unlike the thief's.

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} In science fiction there is to be found the recurrent theme of the omniscient computer which ultimately takes over the ordering of human life and affairs. Is this possible? I believe is it not: but also believe that the arguments commonly advanced to refute this possibility are the worng ones. First it is often said that computers "do not really think". This I submit is nonsense: if computers do not think, then nor do human beings. For how do I define the process of thinking? I present data—say, an examination paper—to a student, which he scans with a photoelectric organ we call an "eye", the computer scans its data with a photoelectric organ we call a "tape-reader". There is then a period when nothing obvious happens, through electroencephalogram—for the student. Lastly, information based on the data is transcribed by means of a mechanical organ called a "hand" by the student and a "teleprinter" by the computer. In other words, the actions of man and machine differ only in the appliances they use. Secondly, it is said that computers "only do what they are told", that they have to be programmed for every computation they undertake. But I do not believe that I was born with an innate ability to solve quadratic equations or to identify common members of the Britain flora: I, too, had to be programmed for these activities, but I happened to call my programmers by different names, such as "schoolteacher", "lecture" or "professor". Lastly, we are told that computers, unlike human beings, cannot interpret their own results. But interpretation is always of one set of information in the light of another set of information: it consists simply of finding the joint pattern in two sets of data. The mathematics of doing this is cumbersome but well known; the computer would be perfectly willing to do the job if asked.

单选题On April 20, 2000, in Accra, Ghana, the leaders of six West African countries declared their intention to proceed to monetary union among the non-CFA franc countries of the region by January 2003, as first step toward a wider monetary union including all the ECOWAS countries in 2004. The six countries 1 themselves to reducing central bank financing of budget deficits 2 10 percent of the previous years government 3 ; reducing budget deficits to 4 percent of the second phase by 2003; creating a Convergence Council to help 4 macroeconomic policies; and 5 up a common central bank. Their declaration 6 that, "Member States 7 the need 8 strong political commitment and 9 to 10 all such national policies 11 would facilitate the regional monetary integration process." The goal of a monetary union in ECOWAS has long been an objective of the organization, going back to its formation in 1975, and is intended to 12 broader integration process that would include enhanced regional trade and 13 institutions. In the colonial period, currency boards linked sets of countries in the region. 14 independence, 15 , these currency boards were 16 , with the 17 of the CFA franc zone, which included the francophone countries of the region. Although there have been attempts to advance the agenda of ECOWAS monetary cooperation, political problems and other economic priorities in several of the region"s countries have to 18 inhibited progress. Although some problems remain, the recent initiative has been bolstered by the election in 1999 of a democratic government and a leader who is committed to regional 19 in Nigeria, the largest economy of the region, raising hopes that the long-delayed project can be 20 .

单选题What can be inferred from the words of Robson Walton and Lee Scott?

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} The last-minute victory of the Texas Longhorns in this year's Rose Bowl--America's college football championship--was the kind of thing that stays with fans forever. Just as well, because many had paid vast sums to see the game. Rose Bowl tickets officially sold for＄175 each. On the internet, resellers were hawking them for as much as ＄ 3,000 a pop. "Nobody knows how to control [this]," observed Mitch Dorger, the tournament's chief executive. Re-selling tickets for a profit, known less politely as scalping in America or touting in Britain, is booming. In America alone, the "secondary market" for tickets to sought-after events is worth over ＄10 billion, reckons Jeffrey Fluhr, the boss of StubHub, an online ticket market. Scalping used to be about burly men lurking outside stadiums with fistfuls of tickets. Cries of "Tickets here, tickets here" still ring out before kick off. But the internet has created a larger and more efficient market. Some internet-based ticket agencies, such as tickco, com and dynamiteticketz, com act as traditional scalpers, buying up tickets and selling them on for a substantial mark-up. But others like StubHub have a new business mode — bring together buyers and sellers, and then take a cut. For each transaction, StubHub takes a juicy 25%. Despite its substantial commission—far higher than those charged by other online intermediaries including eBay or Craigslist—StubHub is flourishing. The firm was set up in 2000 and this year's Rose Bowl was its biggest event ever. The Super Bowl in early February will bring another nice haul, as have U2 and Rolling Stones concerts. Unlike eBay, which is the largest online trader in tickets, StubHub guarantees each transaction, so buyers need not worry about fraud. The company's revenues, now around ＄ 200m, are tripling annually (despite its start in the dotcom bust). And there is plenty more room to grow. Mr. Fluhr notes that the market remains "highly fragmented", with tiny operations still flourishing and newspaper classifieds not yet dead. But there are risks. Some events are boosting prices to cut the resale margins; others are using special measures to crack down. This summer, tickets to the soccer World Cup in Germany will include the name and passport number of the original purchaser and embedded chips that match the buyer to the tickets. Then there are legal worries. In America, more than a dozen states have anti-scalping laws of various kinds. New Mexico forbids the reselling of tickets for college games; Mississippi does so for all events on government-owned property. Such laws are often ignored, but can still bite. In Massachusetts, where reselling a ticket for more than ＄ 2 above face value is unlawful, one fan brought a lawsuit last autumn against 16 companies (including StubHub) over his pricey Red Sox tickets.

单选题It can be inferred from the fifth paragraph that______.

单选题The word "doctored" ( Line 9, Paragraph 1 ) probably means

单选题The double meaning of the word "sinister" refers to

单选题It"s often been said that history is written by the winners. This was never more true than on March 12, when the Texas board of education voted 10-5 in favor of curriculum standards that would promote conservative takes on controversial issues in the pages of the state"s textbooks. The changes, expected to win final approval in May, include an increased emphasis on and sympathetic treatment of such Republican standards as the National Rifle Association and the Moral Majority. They also boast the advantage of capitalism and the role of Christianity in the nation"s founding. Even Thorn as Jefferson"s profile will be reduced; some board members were less than fond of his ideas about the division of church and state. This is not Texas" first such skirmish. Since the 1970s, the state has tried to drop books that were seen as too liberal or anti-Christian, to omit passages on the gay-rights movement and to tone down global-warming arguments. But the nation"s battle over textbooks stretches back almost half a century earlier. In 1925, Tennessee"s Butler Act (which was abolished in 1967) made it illegal to teach "any theory that denies the story of the Divine Creation of man as taught in the Bible". The Scopes "monkey trial" famously followed. In 1974, a clash erupted in Kanawha County, West Virginia, over the controversial writings of such authors as George Orwell, Arthur Miller and Alien Ginsberg. Opposition was so heated that some schools were threatened with explosions. As one of America"s largest textbook buyers, the Longhorn State has a good deal of sway over what is sold to schools nationwide. And while Napoleon may have maintained that "history is the version of past events that people have decided to agree upon", getting Texans to come together on the past may prove to be their Waterloo.

单选题That rapscallion who leaps off the monkey bars, landing smack onto an innocent 3-year-old bystander, and skips off, giggling all the while? According to a new paper out of Israel, he may not feel all that bad about the incident. The study, conducted by Dr. In bal Kivenson Bar-On at the University of Haifa, shows that high levels of fearlessness in 3-and 4-year-olds is strongly associated with aggression and a lack of sympathy. This news will likely surprise risk-loving America, where parents typically beam with pride when their undaunted child mounts the big slide. Fearlessness is a far-end point on the spectrum of what psychologists call the "approach and withdrawal dimension"—people's tendency to approach new stimuli (to gain information and acquire new skills ) and withdraw from unfamiliar stimuli (to avoid danger). Striking the right balance is considered crucial to man's survival. But what about preschoolers'? There's a clear downside, Dr. Kivenson Bar-On discovered, after she observed lots of preschool play and machinations. In total, she documented 80 children at preschool, home and in the lab, measuring their propensity for fearlessness and other social and emotional characteristics at the beginning and end of one year. Fearlessness was measured by observing reactions to various fright-inducing situations: separation from parents, the roar of a vacuum cleaner, a jack-in-the-box and the like. Those who displayed greater levels of fearlessness, the study found, had no trouble recognizing facial expressions of anger, surprise, happiness and sadness in other children—but they had a hard time identifying fear. Over all, they were "emotionally shallow" and showed lower levels of sympathy. They took advantage of friends and lacked regret over inappropriate conduct. "These findings," the paper explains, " suggest that fearlessness in preschool constitutes a clear risk factor for developmental pathways that lead to problems in morality, conscience development, and severe antisocial behaviors. " At the same time, fearless children tended to be highly sociable. "One of the most interesting findings was that we could discriminate between friendliness and sympathy," Dr. Kivenson Bar-On said. "These kids are curious, easygoing and friendly, but they have a hard time recognizing emotional distress in others. " Jamie Ostrov, a psychology professor at the State University at Buffalo who studies aggression, says that children at the extreme end of the fearless spectrurn "may be charming, but they're also highly manipulative and deceptive and skilled at getting their way—even at age 3 or 4. " It could be that fearless children need stronger distress cues to active their autonomic nervous systems, limiting their ability to detect distress cues in others. It seems to be, if I'm not worried about this, you can't be, either. But should we be?