单选题The last sentence of the text' gives an example of horses encountered in dreams of two different people in order to______.

单选题Britain's bosses would have you believe that business in Britain is groaning under red tape and punitive tax levels, inhibiting enterprise and putting British firms at a disadvantage compared with overseas competitors. As usual, reality paints a far different picture from the tawdry image scrawled by the CBI and Tory frontbenchers. Not only do British businesses pay lower levels of corporation tax than their counterparts abroad but they benefit from the most savage legal hamstringing of trade unionism. But boardroom fat cats in Britain have one further advantage over their competitors, which is their total inability to feel any sense of shame. The relatively poor performance since the 1990s of pension investment funds, overseen by the top companies themselves, has brought about a wide-ranging cull of occupational pension schemes. Final salary schemes have been axed in favour of money purchase or have been barred to new employees and, in many companies, staff have been told that they will have to increase pensions fund payments to ensure previously guaranteed benefits. At a time when the government has been deliberately running down the value of the state retirement pension and driving pensioners towards means-tested benefits, the increasingly shaky nature of occupational schemes has brought about higher levels of insecurity among working people. However, it's not all doom and gloom. There is a silver lining. Unfortunately, that silver lining doesn't shine too brightly outside the corridors of corporate power, where directors are doing what they are best at--looking after number one. Bosses are not only slurping up huge salaries, each-way bonuses and golden parachutes. They have also, as TUC general secretary Brendan Barber says, got "their snouts in a pensions trough." If having contributions worth one-thirtieth of their salary each year paid into a pension scheme is good enough for directors, why do most workers only receive one-sixtieth? And if companies only donate 6 per cent of an employee's salary for money purchase schemes, why do they give 20～30 per cent for directors' schemes? The answer, which will be no secret to many trade Unionists, is that we live in a class divided society in which big business and the rich call the shots. The Child Poverty Action Group revelation that Britain also has the worst regional social inequality in the industrialised world--second only to Mexico--illustrates how fatuous are claims that this country enjoys social justice and opportunities for all. The stark facts of inequality, Based on class, gender, age and race, that are outlined in the CPAG Poverty book ought to dictate a new government approach to tackling poverty. Inequality and poverty cannot be tackled by allowing Big business and the rich to dodge their responsibilities to society and to use their positions of power to seize the lion's share.

单选题Attacks on Jose Manuel Barroso, the president of the European Commission, have intensified before the European election held between June 4th and 7th, and ahead of a European Union summit when national leaders will discuss his reappointment to a second five- year term. On the left, the Party of European Socialists (PES) calls Mr. Barroso a conservative who "puts markets before people". Should the PES emerge as the largest group in the European Parliament, it will try to block him. But prominent federalists are also unimpressed. Guy Verhofstadt, a former Belgian prime minister, speaks for many in Brussels when he denounces Mr. Barroso for a lack of ambition for Europe. Mr. Verhofstadt invokes the memory of Jacques Delors, the pugnacious Frenchman who ran the commission from 1985 to 1995．Mr. Delors proposed many ambitious plans, he says, and got 30% of them: that 30% then became the European internal market. Mr. Verhofstadt thinks that last autumn Mr. Barroso should have proposed such things as a single EU financial regulator, a single European bad bank, or a multi-trillion issue of "Eurobonds". That would have triggered a " big fight" with national governments, he concedes. But "maybe the outcome would have been 10%, 20% or 30% of his plan. " The French president, Nicolas Sarkozy, has endorsed a second tenn for Mr. Barroso, a former centre-right prime minister of Portugal. Yet he seems keen to make him sweat. French officials have briefed that the decision on Mr. Barroso's future taken at the June 18th-19th summit should be only political, leaving a legally binding nomination for later. Yet the attacks on Mr. Barroso are unlikely to block him. No opinion poll shows the PES overtaking the centre-right European People's Party in the European Parliament. The centre- right leaders who hold power in most of Europe have endorsed Mr. Barroso, as have the (nominally) centre-left leaders of Britain, Spain and Portugal. This helps to explain why the PES, for all its bluster, has not fielded a candidate against Mr. Barroso. It is equally wrong to pretend that Europe was ready for a federalist big bang last autumn. Officials say Mr. Barroso spent the first weeks of the economic crisis bridging differences between Britain and France on such issues as accounting standards and the regulation of rating agencies. Later, he kept the peace between Mr. Sarkozy and the German chancellor, Angela Merkel, after the French president pushed for summits of EU leaders from euro-area countries (Ms Merkel thought that sounded like a two-speed Europe). In any case France has no veto over Mr. Barroso's reappointment: the decision is now taken by majority vote. Some diplomats suggest that France's stalling tactics are meant to extract such concessions as a plum portfolio for its commissioner. Those calling for "European" action often talk as if they are describing an elegant mechanism, needed to make the union work properly. They argue that only a single financial regulator can police Europe's single market, or complain that 27 national bail-out plans lack "coherence". In fact, these apparently structural calls for "more Europe" are pitches for specific ideological programmes. Thus, in a joint statement on May 30th Mr. Sarkozy and Ms Merkel announced that "Liberalism without rules has failed. " They called for a European economic model in which capital serves "entrepreneurs and workers" rather than "speculators", and hedge funds and bankers' pay are tightly regulated. They added that competition policies should be used to favour the "emergence of world-class European companies", and gave warning against a "bureaucratic Europe" that blindly applies "pernickety rules". If all this sounds like Europe as a giant Rhineland economy, that is no accident. Mr. Verhofstadt, a continental liberal, means something different by "Europe" He agrees that the crisis "represents the crash of the Anglo-American model". But he is not keen on heavy regulation. When he calls for economic policies to reflect Europe's " way of thinking", he means things like raising savings. Above all, he considers the nation-state to be incapable of managing today's "globalised" economy, so Europe must take over. This is fighting talk. Britain, notably, does not accept that everything about the Anglo-Saxon model has failed, nor is it about to cede more power to Brussels. And it has allies, notably in eastern Europe.

单选题Unilever's CFO thinks that Wood's comments are

单选题It can be inferred from the passage that the author wants to

单选题Massive changes in all of the world's deeply cherished sporting habits are underway. Whether it's one of London's parks full of people playing softball, and Russians taking up rugby, or the Superbowl rivaling the British Football Cup Final as a televised spectator event in Britain, the patterns of players and spectators are changing beyond recognition. We are witnessing a globalization of our sporting culture. That annual bicycle race, the Tour de France, much loved by the French is a good case in point. Just a few years back it was a strictly continental affair with France, Belgium and Holland, Spain and Italy taking part. But in recent years it has been dominated by Colombian mountain climbers, and American and Irish riders. The people who really matter welcome the shift toward globalization. Peugeot, Michelin and Panasonic are multi-national corporations that want worldwide returns for the millions they invest in teams. So it does them literally a world of good to see this unofficial world championship become just that. This is undoubtedly an economic-based revolution we are witnessing here, one made possible by communications technology, but made to happen because of marketing considerations. Sell the game and you can sell Coca Cola or Budweiser as well. The skilful way in which American football has been sold to Europe is a good example of how all sports will develop. The aim of course is not really to spread the sport for its own sake, but to increase the number of people interested in the major money-making events. The economics of the Superbowl are already astronomical. With seats at US $125, gate receipts alone were a staggering $10,000,000. The most important statistic of the day, however, was the $100,000,000 in TV advertising fees. Imagine how much that becomes when the eyes of the world are watching. So it came as a terrible shock, but not really as a surprise, to learn that some people are now suggesting that soccer change from being a game of two 45-minute halves, to one of four 25-minute quarters. The idea is unashamedly to capture more advertising revenue, without giving any thought for the integrity of a sport which relies for its essence on the flowing nature of the action. Moreover, as sports expand into world markets, and as our choice of sports as consumers also grows, so we will demand to see them played at a higher and higher level. In boxing we have already seen numerous, dubious world title categories because people will not pay to see anything less than a "World Title" fight, and this means that the title fights have to be held in different countries around the world!

单选题Reading to oneself is a modern activity which was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical. In (1) world during the fifteenth century the term " reading" (2) meant reading aloud. Only during the nineteenth century did silent reading become commonplace. One should be wary, however, of (3) that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is a(n) (4) to others. Examination of factors related to the (5) development of silent reading reveals that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in (6) . The last century saw a steady gradual increase in (7) and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, the number of potential listeners (8) , and thus there was some (9) in the need to read aloud. As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the flourishing of reading as a (10) activity in such public places as libraries, railway carriages and offices, where reading aloud would (11) distraction to other readers. Towards the end of the century there was still (12) argument over whether books should be used for information or treated (13) , and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way (14) weakening. Indeed this argument still remains with us in education. (15) its virtues, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was (16) by the printed mass media on the one hand and by books and periodicals for a (17) readership on the other. By the end of the century students were being recommended to adopt attitudes to books and to use skills in reading them which were inappropriate, (18) not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural, and technological changes in the century had greatly (19) what the term "reading" (20) .

单选题What can be said of the normal process of aging, from a linguistic point of view? In general (1) , there is a clear and (2) relationship: no-one would have much difficulty (3) a baby, a young child, a teenager, a middle-aged person, or a very old person from a tape recording. With children, (4) is possible for specialists in language development, and people experienced (5) child care, to make very detailed (6) about how language correlates with age in the early years. (7) is known about the patterns of linguistic change that affect older people. It is plain that our voice quality, vocabulary, and style alter (8) we grow older, but research (9) the nature of these changes is in its earliest stages. However. a certain amount of (10) is available about the production and (11) of spoken language by very old people, especially regarding the phonetic changes that take place. Speech is (12) to be affected by reductions in the (13) of the vocal organs. The muscles of the chest (14) , the lungs become less elastic, the ribs (15) mobile: as a result, respiratory efficiency at age 75 is only about half (16) at age 30, and this has (17) for the ability to speak loudly, rhythmically, and with good tone In addition, speech is affected by poorer movement of the soft palate and changes in the facial skeleton, especially around the mouth and jaw. There are other, more general signs of age. Speech rate slows, and fluency may be more erratic. Hearing (18) , especially after the early fifties. Weakening (19) of memory and attention may affect the ability to comprehend complex speech patterns. But it is (20) all had news: vocabulary awareness may continue to grow, as may stylistic ability—skills in narration, for example. And grammatical ability seems to be little affected.

单选题Shares in Burger King (BK) soared on September 1st on reports that the fast-food company was talking to several private-equity firms interested in buying it. How much beef was behind these stories was unclear. But lately the company famous for the slogan "Have It Your Way" has certainly not been having it its own way. There may be arguments about whether BK or McDonald's serves the best fries, but there is no doubt which is more popular with stockmarket investors: the maker of the Big Mac has supersized its lead in the past two years. Recession has favoured McDonald's over BK, whose share price has fallen by half since the economy was flame-grilled in the summer of 2008. Shares in McDonald's have risen, reaching an all-time high in August. Same-store sales at BK have fallen for five successive quarters. Why has McDonald's been eating BK's lunch? Among other things, BK has always had a higher proportion of sales to young men, who have been hit especially hard by the recession. McDonald's, by contrast, has for several years wooed women and older people with relatively healthy salads and drinkable coffee. BK has struggled to follow suit. At the same time, it has had to contend with angry shareholders, as the rising cost of beef and other ingredients has clobbered its profits. BK may also have cannibalised its existing sales by offering value meals that were a bit too irresistible. BK is used to changes in ownership. It went from being part of Pillsbury, a food company, to Grand Metropolitan, a British conglomerate, then to Diageo, a drinks giant. In 2002 it was sold to a group of private-equity investors: TPG, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs. They did a fair job, improving sales with better marketing. They also helped turn around the most troubled of the franchisees who operate most BK restaurants. In 2006 BK floated its shares again. Its bosses may hope that going private once more will protect them from short-term stock market pressures while they ponder how to beat McDonald's. If BK does go private, it may be part of a trend in the private-equity industry—now that some of the bigger firms have rediscovered their appetite for deals—of gobbling up the companies they had taken public during the bubble years but which are now trading cheaply. TPG, Bain Capital and Goldman Sachs still own a sizeable stake in BK, despite listing it on the New York Stock Exchange in 2006. However, it seems that other private-equity firms are interested in buying it. If that happens, no doubt BK servers will appreciate the irony : the act of passing a company from one private-equity firm to another is known in the business as "flipping".

单选题The spokesman of Japan's "Enlightenment" thinks that

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} 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 {{U}}deranged{{/U}}. 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, Buchanan'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Over the last decade, demand for the most common cosmetic surgery procedures, like greatest enlargements and most jobs, has increased by more than 400 percent. According to Dr. Dai Davies, of the Plastic Surgery Partnership in Hammersmith, the majority of cosmetic surgery patients are not chasing physical perfection. Rather, they are driven to fantastic lengths to improve their appearance by a desire to look normal. "What we all crave is to look normal, and normal is what is prescribed by the advertising media and other external pressures. They give us a perception of what is physically acceptable and we feel we must look like that. " In America, the debate is no longer about whether surgery is normal; rather, it centers on what age people should be before going under the knife. New York surgeon Dr. Gerard Amber recommends "maintenance" work for people in their thirties. "The idea of waiting until one needs heroic transformation is silly, " he says, "By then, you've wasted 20 great years of your life and allowed things to get out of hand. " Dr. Imber draws the line at operation on people who are under 18, however. "It seems that someone we don't consider old enough to order a drink shouldn't be considering plastic surgery. " In the UK cosmetic surgery has long been seen as the exclusive domain of the very rich and famous. But the proportionate cost of treatment has fallen substantially, bringing all but the most advanced laser technology within the reach of most people. Dr. Davies, who claims to "eater for the average person", agrees. He says, "I treat a few of the rich and famous and an awful lot of secretaries. Of course, ￡ 3,000 for an operation is a lot of money. But it is also an investment for life which costs about half the price of a good family holiday. " Dr. Davies suspects that the increasing sophistication of the fat injecting and removal techniques that allow patients to be treated with a local anesthetic in an afternoon has also helped promote the popularity of cosmetic surgery. Yet, as one woman who, recently paid ￡ 2,500 for liposuction to remove fat from her thighs admitted, the slope to becoming a cosmetic surgery veteran is a deceptively gentle one. "I had my legs done because they'd been bugging me for years. But going into the clinic was so low key and effective it whetted my appetite. Now I don't think there's any operation that I would rule out having if I could afford it. /