单选题From what you have read, would you expect manners to improve among people who

单选题The writer mentions the political elements in 19th century opera to illustrate

单选题Education is one of the key words of our time. A man, without an education, many of us believe, is an unfortunate victim of unfortunate circumstances deprived of one of the greatest twentieth-century opportunities. Convinced of the importance of education, modern states "invest" in institutions of learning to get back "interest" in the form of a large group of enlightened young men and women who are potential leaders. Education, with its cycles of instruction so carefully worked out, is punctuated by textbooks--those purchasable wells of wisdom what would civilization be like without its benefits? So much is certain: that we would have doctors and preachers, lawyers and defendants, marriages and births; but our spiritual outlook would be different. We would lay less stress on "facts and figures" and more on a good memory, on applied psychology, and on the capacity of a man to get along with his fellow-citizens. If our educational system were fashioned after its bookless past we would have the most democratic form of "college" imaginable. Among the people whom we like to call savages all knowledge inherited by tradition is shared by all; it is taught to every member of the tribe so that in this respect everybody is equally equipped for life. It is the ideal condition of the "equal start" which only our most progressive forms of modern education try to reach again. In primitive cultures the obligation to seek and to receive the traditional instruction is binding on all. There are no "illiterates"--if the term can be applied to peoples without a script--while our own compulsory school attendance became law in Germany in 1642, in France in 1806, and in England in 1976, and is still non-existent in a number of "civilized" nations. This shows how long it was before we considered it necessary to make sure that all our children could share in the knowledge accumulated by the "happy few" during the past centuries. Education in the wilderness is not a matter of monetary means. All are entitled to an equal start. There is none of the hurry that, in our society, often hampers the fui1 development of a growing personality. There, a child grows up under the ever-present attention of his parents; therefore the jungles and the savages know of no "juvenile delinquency". No necessity of making a living away from home results in neglect of children, and no father is confronted with his inability to '"buy" an education for his child.

单选题The chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee will leave the issue of INS unsettled because ______.

单选题What is the essence of this text?

单选题Compared with IBM, Microsoft is a mere young company. Founded in 1975, it rose swiftly to dominate the world of personal computing with its Windows operating system and Office suite of word-processing and other productivity tools. But the company is now showing some worrying signs of middle-age fatigue. In particular, it is struggling to find a growth strategy that will enthuse disappointed shareholders. Complaint are understandable. Since Steve Ballmer took over from Bill Gates as chief executive in 2000, Microsoft's share price has decreased and the company has lost its reputation as a tech trend-setter. It has been left behind in hot areas such as search and social networking by younger companies, some of which love to thumb their noses at their older rival. Eric Schmidt, the executive chairman of Google, recently proclaimed that leadership in the tech world had passed from Microsoft and others to a "Gang of Four" fast-growing, consumer-oriented businesses: Google, Apple, Amazon and Facebook. Few would object to that. The question is: what，if anything, can Microsoft do to change it? In at least some respects, the company appears to be suffering from similar ailments to those that laid IBM low before Lou Gerstner was hired in 1993 to get it back on its feet. These include arrogance bred of dominance of a particular area-mainframe computers at IBM, personal computers at Microsoft—and internal fiefs that hamper swift change. As IBM's experience shows, recovery in the tech world is possible. And some observers see encouraging signs of progress at Microsoft. Sarah Rotman Epps of Forrester, a research firm, reckons that Windows 8, a forthcoming version of Microsoft's operating system, could be a serious competitor to Google's Android on tablet computers if the company can get it to market next year．Microsoft is also in far better shape financially than IBM was at its lowest point, so it can afford to splash out on acquisitions such as its recent $8.5 billion purchase of Skype, an internet-phone and video-calling service. That bet and an alliance with Nokia in mobile phones show that Microsoft is trying to bulk up in promising areas. Yet sceptics worry that such initiatives are not the product of an comprehensive strategic vision, but are instead temporary moves designed to calm critics who fear Microsoft is drifting downwards. David Einhorn, a prominent hedge-fund manager whose fund holds shares in Microsoft, has publicly called for a change at the top of the firm, arguing that Mr Ballmer is "stuck in the past". So far, the company's board, chaired by Mr Gates, has backed its chief executive. But if IBM's history is a guide, Microsoft may yet end up jettisoning its leader.

单选题In a democratic society citizens are encouraged to form their own opinions on candidates for public office, taxes, constitutional amendments, environmental concerns, foreign policy, and other issues. The opinions held by any population are shaped and manipulated by several factors: individual circumstances, the mass media, special-interest groups, and opinion leaders. Wealthy people tend to think differently on social issues from poor people. Factory workers probably do not share the same views as white-collar, nonunion workers. Women employed outside their homes sometimes have perspectives different from those of full-time homemakers. In these and other ways individual status shapes one's view of current events. The mass media, especially television, are powerful influences on the way people think and act. Government officials note how mail from the public tends to "follow the headlines. " Whatever is featured in newspapers and magazines and on television attracts enough attention that people begin to inform themselves and to express opinions. The mass media have also created larger audiences for government and a wider range of public issues than existed before. Prior to television and the national editions of newspapers, issues and candidates tended to remain localized. In Great Britain and West Germany, for example, elections to the national legislatures were usually viewed by voters as local contests. Today's elections are seen as struggles between party leaders and programs. In the United States radio and television have been beneficial to the presidency. Since the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt and his "fireside chats," presidents have appealed directly to a national audience over the heads of Congress to advocate their programs. Special-interest groups spend vast sums annually trying to influence public opinion. Public utilities, for instance, tried to sway public opinion in favor of nuclear power plants. Opposed to them were citizens' organizations that lobbied to halt the use of nuclear power. During the 1960s the American Medical Association conducted an unsuccessful advertising campaign designed to prevent the passage of Medicare. Opinion leaders are usually such prominent public figures as politicians, show-business personalities, and celebrity athletes. The opinions of these individuals, whether informed and intelligent or not, carry weight with some segments of the population. Some individuals, such as Nobel Prize winners, are suddenly thrust into public view by the media. By quickly reaching a large audience, their views gain a hearing and are perhaps influential in shaping views on complex issues.

单选题By citing the detailed numbers related to the plant, the author intends to show that

单选题 We all know whether we are left-handed or right-handed; hardly any of us know whether we are leftfaced. Yet according to Professor Karl Smith of the University of Wisconsin we are all almost {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}one or the other. Right-faced people are more {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}than left-faced people, and there is a striking {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}between left-facedness and musical talent. Beethoven was left-faced. {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}were Brahms, Schubert, Wagner, Tchaikovsky and the {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}of other well-known living performers of all kinds of music. The idea of facedness {{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}from many years of computerized study of people's lip, tongue and jaw movement {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}they were talking. Smith and his colleagues found that in most people one side of the face was more {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}than the other. There are other {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}of facedness, some of which can be {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}in static pictures; in tight-faced people the right-side of the face is {{U}} {{U}} 11 {{/U}} {{/U}}compressed between jaw and brow; the right eyebrow tends to be higher; dimples and wrinkles are less {{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}than on the left. From a study of more than 500 people Smith found that the {{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}of right-faced people {{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}about nine in ten among Americans to two in three among Acapulco Mexicans. The fact that {{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}twins were always both right-faced or left-faced suggests a {{U}} {{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}origin for facedness. Those talented musical artists-"singers and instrumentalists who perform classical, operatic, country and jazz music are almost without exception left-faced." Smith's findings {{U}} {{U}} 17 {{/U}} {{/U}}with theories that the fight hemisphere of the brain (which controls the left side of the face) is {{U}} {{U}} 18 {{/U}} {{/U}}for musical performance, the left hemisphere for {{U}} {{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}. The idea of facedness, he says, "suggests new {{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}} {{/U}}to the study of all aspects of cerebral dominance and its relation to handedness and speech disabilities".

单选题21 Which of the following statements does the author agree with?