单选题At some point during their education, biology students are told about a conversation in a pub that took place over 50 years ago. J. B. S. Haldane, a British geneticist, was asked whether he would lay down his life for his country. After doing a quick calculation on the back of a napkin, he said he would do so for two brothers or eight cousins. In other words, he would die to protect the equivalent of his genetic contribution to the next generation. The theory of kin selection--the idea that animals can pass on their genes by helping their close relatives--is biology's explanation for seemingly altruistic acts. An individual carrying genes that promote altruism might be expected to die younger than one with "selfish" genes, and thus to have a reduced contribution to the next generation's genetic pool. But if the same individual acts altruistically to protect its relatives, genes for altruistic behavior might nevertheless propagate. Acts of apparent altruism to non-relatives can also be explained away, in what has become a cottage industry within biology. An animal might care for the offspring of another that it is unrelated to because it hopes to obtain the same benefits for itself later on (a phenomenon known as reciprocal altruism). The hunter who generously shares his spoils with others may be doing so in order to signal his superior status to females, and ultimately boost his breeding success. These apparently selfless acts are therefore disguised acts of self interest. All of these examples fit economists' arguments that Homo sapiens is also Homo economicus--maximizing something that economists call utility, and biologists fitness. But there is a residuum of human activity that defies such explanations: people contribute to charities for the homeless, return lost wallets, do voluntary work and tip waiters in restaurants to which they do not plan to return. Both economic rationalism and natural selection offer few explanations for such random acts of kindness. Nor can they easily explain the opposite: spiteful behavior, when someone harms his own interest in order to damage that of another. But people are now trying to find answers. When a new phenomenon is recognized by science, a name always helps. In a paper in Human Nature, Dr Fehr and his colleagues argue for a behavioral propensity they call "strong reciprocity". This name is intended to distinguish it from reciprocal altruism. According to Dr Fehr, a person is a strong reciprocator if he is willing to sacrifice resources to be kind to those who are being kind, and to punish those who are being unkind. Significantly, strong reciprocators will behave this way even if doing so provides no prospect of material rewards in the future.

单选题"Intelligence" at best is an assumptive construct--the meaning of the word has never been clear. It is generally agreed that a person of high intelligence is one who can grasp ideas (1) , make distinctions, reason logically, and (2) verbal and mathematical symbols in solving problems. An intelligence test is a rough measure of a child's (3) for learning, particularly for learning the kinds of things required in school. It does not (4) character, social adjustment, physical endurance, manual skills, or artistic abilities. It is not (5) to--it was not designed for such (6) . To criticize it for such failure is roughly (7) criticizing a thermometer for not measuring wind velocity. The other thing we have to notice is that the assessment of the intelligence of the (8) is essentially a comparative affair. (9) the assessment of intelligence is a comparative matter we must be sure that the (10) with which we are comparing our subjects provides a "valid" and " (11) " comparison. It is here (12) some of the difficulties which interest us begin. Any test (13) involves at least three factors: the (14) to do one's best, the knowledge required for understanding what you have to do, and the (15) ability to do it. In school populations in our culture these assumptions can be made fair and reasonable, and the value of intelligence testing has been (16) thoroughly. Its value (17) , of course, in its providing a satisfactory basis for prediction. No one is (18) interested in the marks a little child gets on his test; what we are interested in is whether we can (19) from his mark on the test that the child will do better or worse than other children of his age in (20) which we think require "general intelligence".

单选题How efficient is our system of criminal trial? Does it really do the basic job we ask of it—convicting the guilty and acquitting the innocent? It is often said that the British trail system is more like a game than a serious attempt to do justice. The lawyers on each side are so engrosses in playing hard to win, challenging each other and the judge on technical points, that the object of finding out the truth is almost forgotten. All the effort is concentrated on the big day, on the dramatic cross examination of the key witnesses in front of the jury. Critics like to compare our "adversarial" system (resembling two adversaries engaged in a contest) with the continental "inquisitorial" system, under which the judge plays a more important inquiring role. In early times, in the Middle Ages, the systems of trial across Europe were' similar. At that time trial by "ordeal"—especially a religious event--was the main way of testing guilt or innocence. When this way eventually abandoned the two systems parted company. On the continent church-trained legal officials took over the function of both prosecuting and judging, while in England these were largely left to lay people, the Justice of the Peace and the jurymen who were illiterate and this meant that all the evidence had to be put to them orally. This historical accident dominates procedure even today, with all evidence being given in open court by word of mouth on the crucial day. On the other hand, in France for instance, all the evidence is written before the trial under supervision by an investigating judge. This exhaustive pretrial looks very undramatic; much of it is just a public checking of the written records already gathered. The Americans adopted the British system lock, stock and barrel and enshrined it in their constitution. But, while the basic features of our systems are common, there are now significant differences in the way serious cases are handled. First, because the U. S. A. has virtually no contempt of court laws to prevent pretrial publicity in the newspaper and on television, Americans lawyers are allowed to question jurors about knowledge and beliefs. In Britain this is virtually never allowed, and a random selection of jurors who are presumed not to be prejudiced are empanelled. Secondly, there is no separate profession of barrister in the United States, and both prosecution and defense lawyers who are to present cases in court prepare themselves. They go out and visit the scene, track down and interview witnesses, and familiarize themselves personally with the background. In Britain it is the solicitor who prepares the case, and the barrister who appears in court is not even allowed to meet witness beforehand, British barristers also alternate doing both prosecution and defense work. Being kept distant from the preparation and regularly appearing for both sides, barristers are said to avoid becoming too personally involved, and can approach cases more dispassionately. American lawyers, however, often know their cases better. Reformers rightly want to learn from other countries~ mistakes and successes. But what is clear is that justice systems, largely because they are the result of long historical growth, are peculiarly difficult to adapt piecemeal.

单选题Which of the following statements NOT true according to the passage?______

单选题It is implied in the first sentence that the failure of Millennium trade round could be attributed to

单选题 These are tough times for Wal-Mart, America's biggest retailer. Long accused of{{U}} (1) {{/U}}small-town America mad condemned for the selfishness of its pay, the company has lately come under{{U}} (2) {{/U}}for its meanness over employees' health-care benefits. The charge is arguably{{U}} (3) {{/U}}: the firm's health coverage, while{{U}} (4) {{/U}}less extensive than the average for big companies, is on equal terms{{U}} (5) {{/U}}other retailers'. But bad publicity, coupled with rising costs, has{{U}} (6) {{/U}}the Bentonville giant to action. WalMart is making changes that should shift the ground in America's healthcare debate. One{{U}} (7) {{/U}}is to reduce the prices of many generic, or out-of-patent, prescription drugs. Wal-Mart's critics dismiss the move as a publicity{{U}} (8) {{/U}}. The list of drugs includes only 143 different medicines and excludes many popular group. True, but short-sighted. Wal-Mart has{{U}} (9) {{/U}}retailing by using its size to squeeze suppliers and{{U}} (10) {{/U}}the gains on to consumers. It could{{U}} (11) {{/U}}the same with drugs. A "Wal-Mart effect" in drugs will not solve America's health-costs problem: group account for only a small share of drug costs, which in turn make{{U}} (12) {{/U}}only 10% of overall health spending. But it would{{U}} (13) {{/U}}. The firm's other initiative is more{{U}} (14) {{/U}}. Wal-Mart is joining the small but fast-growing group of employers{{U}} (15) {{/U}}are controlling costs by shifting to health insurance with high deductibles. Early evidence{{U}} (16) {{/U}}these plans do help firms control the cost of health insurance. But critics say that the savings are{{U}} (17) {{/U}}. They argue that the plans shift costs to sicker workers, discourage preventative care and will anyway do little to{{U}} (18) {{/U}}overall health spending, {{U}}(19) {{/U}}most of the $2 trillion that America{{U}} (20) {{/U}}health care each year goes to people with multiple chronic diseases.

单选题It can be inferred from the passage that the author would consider which of the following to be an indication of a fundamental alteration in the conditions of women' s work?

单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}} You may fall prey to a nonviolent but frightening and fast-growing crime: identity theft. It happens to at least 500, 000 new victims each year, according to government figures. And it happens very easily because every identification number you have Social Security, credit card, driver's license, telephone- "is a key that unlocks some storage of money or goods," says a fraud program manager of the US Postal Service. "So if you throw away your credit card receipt and I get it and use the number on it, I'm not becoming you, but to the credit card company I've become your account." One major problem, experts say, is that the Social Security Number (SSN) — originally meant only for retirement benefit and tax purposes — has become the universal way to identify people. It is used as identification by the military, colleges and in billions of commercial transactions. Yet a shrewd thief can easily snatch your SSN, not only by stealing your wallet, but also by taking mail from your box, going through your trash for discarded receipts and bills or asking for it over the phone on some pretext. Using your SSN, the thief applies for a credit card in your name, asking that it be sent to a different address than yours, and uses it for multiple purchases. A couple of months later the credit card company, or its debt collection agency, presses you for payment. You don't have to pay the debt, but you must clean up your damaged credit record. That means getting a police report and copy of the erroneous contract, and then using them to clear the fraud from your credit report, which is held by a credit bureau. Each step can require a huge amount of effort. In the Collins' case, the clearance of the erroneous charges from their record required three years of poring over records and ＄6, 000 in solicitor's fees. In the meantime, they were denied a loan to build a vacation home, forced to pay cash for a new heating and cooling system, hounded by debt collectors, and embarrassed by the spectacle of having their home watched by investigators looking for the missing car. Of course, thousands of people are caught and prosecuted for identity theft. But it was only last year that Congress made identity theft itself a federal crime. That law set up a special government office to help victims regain their lost credit and to streamline police efforts by tracking cases on a national scale. Consumer advocates say this may help but will not address the basic problems, which, they believe, are causing the outbreak in identity theft: industry's rush to attract more customers by issuing instant credit, inadequate checking of identity, and too few legal protections for consumers personal information.

单选题Once upon a time, innovation at Procter today, they could even be in the majority. " As Procter & Gamble has found, the United States is no longer an isolated market. Americans are more open than ever before to buying foreign-made products and to selling U S-made products overseas.

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} Elections often tell you more about what people are against than what they are for. So it is with the European ones that took place last week in all 25 European Union member countries. These elections, widely trumpeted as the world's biggest-ever multinational democratic vote, were fought for the most part as 25 separate national contests, which makes it tricky to pick out many common themes. But the strongest are undoubtedly negative. Europe's voters are angry and disillusioned-and they have demonstrated their anger and disillusion in three main ways. The most obvious was by abstaining. The average overall turnout was just over 45%, by some margin the lowest ever recorded for elections to the European Parliament. And that average disguises some big variations: Italy, for example, notched up over 70%, but Sweden managed only 37%. Most depressing of all, at least to believers in the European project, was the extremely low vote in many of the new member countries from central Europe, which accounted for the whole of the fall in turnout since 1999. In the biggest, Poland, only just over a fifth of the electorate turned out to vote. Only a year ago, central Europeans voted in large numbers to join the EU, which they did on May 1st. That they abstained in such large numbers in the European elections points to early disillusion with the European Union-as well as to a widespread feeling, shared in the old member countries as well, that the European Parliament does not matter. Disillusion with Europe was also a big factor in the second way in which voters protested, which was by supporting a ragbag of populist, nationalist and explicitly anti-EU parties. These ranged from the 16% who backed the UK Independence Party, whose declared policy is to withdraw from the EU and whose leaders see their mission as "wrecking" the European Parliament, to the 14% who voted for Sweden's Junelist, and the 27% of Poles who backed one of two anti-EU parties, the League of Catholic Families and Selfdefence. These results have returned many more Eurosceptics and trouble-makers to the parliament: on some measures, over a quarter of the new MEPS will belong to the "awkward squad". That is not a bad thing, however, for it will make the 'parliament more representative of European public opinion. But it is the third target of European voters' ire that is perhaps the most immediately significant, the fact that, in many EU countries, old and new, they chose to vote heavily against their own governments. This anti-incumbent vote was strong almost everywhere, but it was most pronounced in Britain, the Czech Republic, Germany, Poland and Sweden. The leaders of all the four biggest European Union countries, Tony Blair in Britain, Jacques Chirac in France, Gerhard Schroder in Germany and Silvio Berlusconi in Italy, were each given a bloody nose by their voters. The big question now is how Europe's leaders should respond to this. By a sublime (or terrible) coincidence, soon after the elections, and just as The Economist was going to press, they were gathering in Brussels for a crucial summit, at which they are due to agree a new constitutional treaty for the EU and to select a new president for the European Commissi6n. Going into the meeting, most EU heads of government seemed determined to press ahead with this agenda regardless of the European elections--even though the atmosphere after the results may make it harder for them to strike deals.

单选题 With Airbus' giant A380 airliner about to take to the skies, you might think planes could not get much bigger-and you would be right. For a given design, it turns{{U}} (1) {{/U}}, there comes a point where the wings become too heavy to generate{{U}} (2) {{/U}}lift to carry their own weight.{{U}} (3) {{/U}}a new way of designing and making materials could{{U}} (4) {{/U}}that problem. Two engineers{{U}} (5) {{/U}}University College London have devised all innovative way to customise and control the{{U}} (6) {{/U}}of a material throughout its three-dimensional structure. In the{{U}} (7) {{/U}}of a wing, this would make possible a material that is dense, strong and load-bearing at one end, close to the fuselage,{{U}} (8) {{/U}}the extremities could be made less dense, lighter and more{{U}} (9) {{/U}}. It is like making bespoke materials,{{U}} (10) {{/U}}you can customise the physical properties of every cubic millimetre of a structure. The new technique combines existing technologies in a(n){{U}} (11) {{/U}}way, It starts by using finite-element-analysis software, of the type commonly used by engineers,{{U}} (12) {{/U}}a virtual prototype of the object. The software models the stresses and strains that the object will need to{{U}} (13) {{/U}}throughout its structure. Using this information it is then{{U}} (14) {{/U}}to calculate the precise forces acting on millions of smaller subsections of the structure.{{U}} (15) {{/U}}of these subsections is{{U}} (16) {{/U}}treated as a separate object with its own set of forces acting on it-and each subsection{{U}} (17) {{/U}}for a different microstructure to absorb those local forces. Designing so many microstructures manually{{U}} (18) {{/U}}be a huge task, so the researchers apply an optimisation program, called a genetic algorithm,{{U}} (19) {{/U}}. This uses a process of randomisation and trial-and-error to search the vast number of possible microstructures to find the most{{U}} (20) {{/U}}design for each subsection.

单选题What does the author mean by "turn it into riches" ( Line I 1, Paragraph 1 )?