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单选题{{B}}Directions:{{/B}} Read the following text. Choose the best
word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.
When an invention is made, the inventor
has three possible{{U}} (1) {{/U}}of action open to him: he can give the
invention to the world by publishing it, keep the idea{{U}} (2) {{/U}},
or patent it. A{{U}} (3) {{/U}}patent is the result of a
bargain{{U}} (4) {{/U}}between an inventor and the state, hut the
inventor gets a limited period of monopoly and publishes full details of his
invention to the public after that period{{U}} (5) {{/U}}.
Only in the most exceptional circumstances{{U}} (6) {{/U}}the
lifespan of a patent{{U}} (7) {{/U}}to alter this normal process of
events. The longest extension ever{{U}} (8) {{/U}}was to
Georges Valensi; his 1939 patent for color TV receiver circuit was extended
until 1971 because for most of the patent's normal life there was no color TV
to{{U}} (9) {{/U}}and thus no hope for reward for the
invention. Because a patent remains permanently{{U}} (10)
{{/U}}after it has terminated, the shelves of the library attached to the{{U}}
(11) {{/U}}office contain details of literally millions of ideas that
are free for anyone to use and, if{{U}} (12) {{/U}}than half a century,
sometimes even repatent. Indeed, patent experts often advise anyone{{U}}
(13) {{/U}}to avoid the high cost of conducting a search through{{U}}
(14) {{/U}}patents that the one sure way of violation of any other
inventor's right is to plagiarize a dead patent. Likewise, because publication
of an idea in any other form{{U}} (15) {{/U}}invalidates further patents
on that idea, it is traditionally{{U}} (16) {{/U}}to take ideas from
other areas of print. Much modern technological advance is{{U}} (17)
{{/U}}on these presumptions of legal security. Anyone
closely{{U}} (8) {{/U}}in patents and inventions soon learns that most
"new" ideas are, in fact, as old as the hills. It is theft reduction to
commercial practice, either through necessity or dedication, or through the
availability of new technology,{{U}} (19) {{/U}}makes news and money.
The basic patent for the theory for magnetic recording dates back to 1886. Many
of the original ideas behind television originate{{U}} (20) {{/U}}the
late 19th and early 20th century. Even the Volkswagen rear engine ear was
anticipated by a 1904 patent for a cart with the horse at the
rear.
单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}}
If you smoke, you' d better hurry. From
July 1st pubs all over England will, by law, be no-smoking areas. So will
restaurants, offices and even company cars, if more than one person uses them.
England' s smokers are following a well-trodden path. The other three bits of
the United Kingdom have already banned smoking in almost all enclosed public
spaces, and there are anti-smoking laws of varying strictness over most of
Western Europe. The smoker' s journey from glamour through toleration to
suspicion is finally reaching its end in pariah status. But
behind this public-health success story lies a darker tale. Poorer people are
much more likely to smoke than richer ones—a change from the 1950s, when
professionals and laborers were equally keen. Today only 15% of men in the
highest professional classes smoke, but 42% of unskined workers do. Despite
punitive taxation—20 cigarettes cost around £ 5.00 ( $10.00), three-quarters of
which is tax—55% of single mothers on benefits smoke. The figure for homeless
men is even higher; for hard-drug users it is practically 100%. The message that
smoking kills has been heard, it seems, but not by all. Having
defeated the big killers of the past—want, exposure, poor sanitation—governments
all over the developed world are turning their attention to diseases that stem
mostly from how individuals choose to live their lives. But the same deafness
afflicts the same people when they are strongly encouraged to give up other
sorts of unhealthy behavior. The lower down they are on practically any pecking
order--job prestige, income, education, background-the more likely people are to
be fat and unfit, and to drink too much. That tempts governments
to shout ever louder in an attempt to get the public to listenand nowhere do
they do so more aggressively than in Britain. One reason is that pecking orders
matter more than in most other rich countries: income distribution is very
unequal and the unemployed, disaffected, ill-educated rump is comparatively
large. Another reason is the frustration of a government addicted to targets,
which often aim not only to improve something but to lessen inequality in the
process. A third is that the National Health Service is free to patients, and
paying for those who have arguably brought their ill-health on themselves grows
alarmingly costly. Britain's aggressiveness, however, may be
pointless, even counter-productive. There is no reason to believe that those who
ignore measured voices will listen to shouting. It irritates the majority who
are already behaving responsibly, and it may also undermine all government
pronouncements on health by convincing people that they have an ultra-cautious
margin of error built in. Such hectoring may also be missing the
root cause of the problem. According to Mr. Marmot, who cites research on groups
as diverse as baboons in captivity, British civil servants and Oscar
nominees, the higher rates of iii health among those in more modest walks of
life can be attributed to what he calls the "status syndrome". People in
privileged positions think they are worth the effort of behaving healthily, and
find the will-power to do so. The implication is that it is easier to improve a
person' s health by weakening the connection between social position and
health than by targeting behavior directly. Same public-health experts
speak of social cohesion, support for families and better education for
all. These are bigger undertakings than a bossy campaign; but more effective,
and quieter.
单选题It could be inferred from the last paragraph that______
单选题{{B}}Part C{{/B}}{{B}}Directions:{{/B}} Read the following text carefully and then
translate the underlined segments into Chinese. Your translation should be
written clearly on ANSWER SHEET 2. (10 points)
What is the point of telling you about this second book? Well,
it all hinges on the dates involved. The latter story was written in the early
1960s, whereas the Goosebumps series dates from the 1990s. (46) {{U}}This makes
the point rather dear: The sands have shifted radically in 30 years. A
"debunking" book like this is no longer fashionable{{/U}}. Who today wants to read
about anything as thought-provoking and "uncool" as debunking? Where once a
movie was commonplace? (47) {{U}}The "magical realism" movement, where natural and
supernatural events happily converge, has become enormously influential in
serious literature, as well{{/U}}. Movie and television viewers and readers of
serious literature are given the tacit message that me line between the natural
and supernatural is blurry, and perhaps even nonexistent. Not
surprisingly, concomitant with these high--and pap--culture trends comes a
profoundly disturbing collective shift in attitude. (48) {{U}}The general public
no longer views science, let alone the ultimate truths of the universe, with a
sense of awe and mystery, but instead considers it conservative and mundane,
"trapped" in logical thinking.{{/U}} It is as if the shackles of rigidity have
been removed when "open-minded" attitudes are conveyed on television, in books,
in movies about ESP, UFQ, or any of a thousand other varieties of alleged
paranormal phenomena. (49) {{U}}The great danger, in my estimation, is not so much
that vast numbers of children and adults will get sucked wholesale into truly
goofy belief systems, but that they will be misled into accepting the implicit
message that science is boring, conservative, dose-minded, devoid of mystery,
and a negative force in society.{{/U}} Again, this message is not overt, but
tacit, perhaps not even consciously intended. Yet it is precisely this
subliminality that makes it so insidious and dangerous. I have
no quick fixes. I do not know how to quickly and easily repair decades of
damage. I do not even fully understand why the sands have shifted so radically.
(50) {{U}}All I can do is look on in sadness and worry about the future of
rational inquiry, bemoaning the loss of awe toward genuine mysteries that our
society was once lucky enough to possess{{/U}}.
单选题At the time when this article was written, the situation for doctors in Philadelphia seemed to be
单选题A variety of significant, attractive short-term benefits will drive the development of modern self-sufficient homes. These include security from severe weather, climate changes, and natural disasters; security from infectious diseases and related health problems; a fresh and nutritious diet; a dependable food supply; and security from global unrest. But the real benefit of Earth Homes will be the long-term sustainability of our planet. It should be no secret that the planet is experiencing unusual weather and climate abnormalities. The 10 hottest years in recorded history have all been in the last 15 years; the 1990s were the hottest decade on record. The Midwestern heat wave of 1995 killed 669 people in Chicago. In 1996, we had a season of record heat spells, and 1997 was the single wan nest year on record--until 1998 shattered global temperature records. Record-high temperatures throughout the southern United States during the summer of 1998 forced the shutdown of Walt Disney World's water parks because of the threat of a viral encephalitis outbreak. The United Nations and insurers blame unusual weather for thousands of deaths and billions of dollars in damage. Many scientists agree that the emissions resulting from human activities are substantially increasing the atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases. These increases will enhance the greenhouse effect, resulting in warming of the earth's surface. In 1990, scientists predicted that, if greenhouse gas emissions are not sharply decreased, we might experience a 1C to 3C rise in global temperatures. They suggested that we would have to cut in half our use of coal, oil, and gas in order to lower our emissions enough to maintain concentrations of greenhouse gases at the current levels. Proof of warning includes a decrease in the amount of snow that covers the Northern Hemisphere, a simultaneous decrease in Arctic sea ice, continued melting of alpine glaciers, and a rise in sea level. Rain has even been reported for the first time in Antarctica, and an ice-free patch of ocean about a mile wide has recently opened near the North Pole. Meanwhile, studies have shown that the carbon dioxide concentration in our atmosphere has been steadily increasing since 1958. Even though the rate of emissions from fossil fuels has been reduced, concentration has risen consistently. In 1995, the size of the ozone hole over Antarctica doubled to about the size of Europe. For the first time in recorded history, the hole stretched over populated areas, exposing residents in southern Chile and Argentina to very high levels of ultraviolet (UV) radiation. Studies have shown that a 1% decrease in ozone in the stratosphere produces a 2% increase in UV radiation reaching the ground, posing more risks to humans.
单选题John Mack and Mary Meeker shared similarities in that they both
单选题Some oil companies plan to get rid of some of the pollution they produce by pumping it into rocks deep inside the Earth, where they say it will stay for thousands of years. Other people ,though, aren't so sure this is advisable; environmental groups say that putting this pollution back into the Earth is a bad idea. When oil burns, it doesn' t just produce heat: it also produces carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide is a natural part of the air, but because people burn so much oil, there' s too much carbon dioxide in the air. This extra carbon dioxide is pollution; some scientific studies show that carbon dioxide is one of the" greenhouse gases" that is causing the Earth' s temperature to rise. Environmentalists say that the oil companies' plans may not work. The oil companies say they are making sure that the gas will never escape, but environmentalists wonder how the oil companies can be so sure that the gas won' t seep into the air. They also point out that there' s no way to check to make sure the gas isn' t leaking. In addition, the environmentalists point out that the pumping costs money--for research and for equipment--that the oil companies should be spending on preventing pollution, rather than on just moving it someplace else. Another problem, say some people who are concerned about the Earth, is that if the oil companies find a cheap way to get rid of their pollution, they won' t look for new kinds of energy. These environmentalists say that energy companies should be researching ways to use hydrogen, wind power, and solar power instead of finding better ways to use oil. They argue that continuing to use oil means that we will still need to buy oil from other countries instead of producing our own cheap, clean energy. Environmentalists also say that burying pollution just pushes the problem into the future, rather than really solving it. They say that if the oil companies pump carbon dioxide into the rocks inside the Earth, it will be there for thousands of years, and that no one knows if this plan--even if it works--might turn into a pollution problem for all of us in the future. The oil companies insist that their plan is safe, and that putting the gas inside the Earth is a reasonable way to deal with it. They point out that there is a lot of room in the Earth for this extra gas, and that putting carbon dioxide inside the Earth means that the gas won't be in the air, and if it' s not in the air, it won' t make the Earth warmer.
单选题 The dawn of the oil age was fairly recent. Although
the stuff was used to waterproof boats in the Middle East 6,000 years ago,
extracting it in earnest began only in 1859 after an oil strike in Pennsylvania.
It was used to make kerosene, the main fuel for artificial lighting after
overfishing led to a shortage of whale blubber. Other liquids produced in the
refining process, too unstable or smoky for lamplight, were burned or dumped.
But the unwanted petrol and diesel did not go to waste for long, thanks to the
development of the internal-combustion engine a few years later.
Since then demand for oil has, with a couple of {{U}}blips{{/U}} in the 1970s
and 1980s, risen steadily alongside ever-increasing travel by car, plane and
ship. Three-fifths of it ends up in fuel tanks. With billions of Chinese and
Indians growing richer and itching to get behind the wheel of a car, the big oil
companies, the International Energy Agency (IEA) and America's Energy
Information Administration all predict that demand will keep on
rising. We believe that they are wrong, and that oil is close
to a peak. This is not the "peak oil" widely discussed several years ago, when
several theorists, who have since gone strangely quiet, reckoned that supply
would flatten and then fall. We believe that demand, not supply, could decline.
In the rich world oil demand has already peaked: it has fallen since 2005. Even
allowing for all those new drivers in Beijing and Delhi, two revolutions in
technology will dampen the world's thirst for the black stuff.
The first revolution was led by a man from Texas who has just died. George
Mitchell championed "fracking" as a way to release huge supplies of
"unconventional" gas from shale (a smooth soft rock) beds. This, along
with vast new discoveries of conventional gas, has recently helped increase the
world's reserves from 50 to 200 years. The other great change is in automotive
technology. Rapid advances in engine and vehicle design also threaten oil's
dominance. Foremost is the efficiency of the internal-combustion engine itself.
Petrol and diesel engines are becoming ever more frugal. Not
surprisingly, the oil "supermajors" and the IEA disagree. They point out that
most of the emerging world has a long way to go before it owns as many cars, or
drives as many miles per head, as America. But it would be foolish to predict
from the rich world's past to booming Asia's future. The sorts of environmental
policies that are reducing the thirst for fuel in Europe and America by imposing
ever-tougher fuel-efficiency standards on vehicles are also being adopted in the
emerging economies.
单选题{{B}}Directions:{{/B}}Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for
each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.
In his 1979 book, The Sinking Ark,
biologist Norman Myers estimated that {{U}}(1) {{/U}} of more than 100
human-caused extinctions occur each clay, and that one million species
{{U}}(2) {{/U}} by the century's end. Yet there is little evidence of
{{U}}(3) {{/U}} that number of extinctions. For example, only seven
species on the {{U}}(4) {{/U}} species list have become extinct
{{U}}(5) {{/U}} the list was created in 1973. Bio-
{{U}}(6) {{/U}} is an important value, according to many scientists.
Nevertheless, the supposed mass extinction rates bandied about are {{U}}(7)
{{/U}} by multiplying {{U}}(8) {{/U}} by improbables to get
imponderables. Many estimates, for instance, rely a great deal
on a "species-area {{U}}(9) {{/U}} ", which predicts that twice as many
species will be found on 100 square miles {{U}}(10) {{/U}} on ten square
miles. The problem is that species are not distributed {{U}}(11) {{/U}}
, so bow much of a forest are destroyed may be as important as {{U}}(12)
{{/U}} . {{U}} (13) {{/U}} , says Ariel Lugo,
director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry in Puerto Rico,
"Biologists who predict high {{U}}(14) {{/U}} rates {{U}}(15)
{{/U}} the resiliency of nature". One of the main muses of
extinctions is deforestation. According to the Consultative Group on
International Agricultural Research, what destroys tropical trees is not
commercial logging, {{U}}(16) {{/U}} "poor farmers who have no other
{{U}}(17) {{/U}} for feeding their families than slashing and burning a
{{U}}(18) {{/U}} of forest". In countries that practice
modern {{U}}(19) {{/U}} agriculture, forests are in {{U}}(20)
{{/U}} danger. In 1920, U. S. forests covered 732 million acres. Today they
cover 737 million.
单选题The present situation about the work-life balance problem is 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 or D on ANSWER SHEET 1.
The effect of the baby boom on the
schools helped to make possible a shift in thinking about the role of public
education in the 1920's. In the 1920's, but especially{{U}} (1)
{{/U}}the Depression of the 1930's, the United States experienced a{{U}}
(2) {{/U}}birth rate. Then with the prosperity{{U}} (3)
{{/U}}on by the Second World War and the economic boom that followed it,
young people married and{{U}} (4) {{/U}}households earlier and began
to{{U}} (5) {{/U}}larger families than had their{{U}} (6)
{{/U}}during the Depression. Birth rates rose to 102 per thousand in 1946,
106.2 in 1950, and 118 in 1955.{{U}} (7) {{/U}}economics was probably
the most important{{U}} (8) {{/U}}, it is not the only explanation for
the baby boom. The increased value placed{{U}} (9) {{/U}}the idea of the
family also helps to{{U}} (10) {{/U}}this rise in birth rates. The baby
boomers began streaming{{U}} (11) {{/U}}the first grade by the
mid-1940's and became a{{U}} (12) {{/U}}by 1950. The public school
system suddenly found itself{{U}} (13) {{/U}}The wartime economy meant
that few new schools were buih between 1940 and 1945.{{U}} (14) {{/U}},
large numbers of teachers left their profession during that period for
better-paying jobs elsewhere. {{U}} (15) {{/U}}, in the
1950's, the baby boom hit an antiquated and inadequate school system.
Consequently, the custodial rhetoric of the 1930's no longer made{{U}} (16)
{{/U}}; keeping youths ages sixteen and older out of the labor market by
keeping them in school could no longer be a high{{U}} (17) {{/U}}for an
institution unable to find space and staff to teach younger children. With the
baby boom, the focus of educators{{U}} (18) {{/U}}turned toward the
lower grades and back to basic academic skills and{{U}} (19) {{/U}}. The
system no longer had much{{U}} (20) {{/U}}in offering nontraditional,
new, and extra services to older youths.
单选题The latest bad news is that reading and writing scores on the SAT have once again declined. The language competence of high schoolers fell steeply in the 1970s and has never recovered. This is very worrisome, because the best single measure of the overall quality of our primaries and secondary schools is the average verbal score of 17-year-olds. This score correlates with the ability to learn new things readily, to communicate with others and to hold down a job. It also predicts future income. The most credible analyses have shown that the chief causes are vast curricular changes, especially in the critical early grades. In the decades before the Great Verbal Decline, a content-rich elementary school experience evolved into a content-light, skills-based, test-centered approach. Cognitive psychologists agree that early childhood language learning (ages 2 to 10) is critical to later verbal competence, not just because of the remarkable linguistic plasticity of young minds, but also because of the so-called Matthew Effect. The name comes from a passage in the Scriptures: "For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath." Those who are language-poor in early childhood get relatively poorer, and fall further behind, while the verbally rich get richer. The origin of this cruel truth lies in the nature of word learning. The more words you already know, the faster you acquire new words. This sounds like an invitation to vocabulary study for tots, but that's been tried and it's not effective. Most of the word meanings we know are acquired indirectly, by intuitively guessing new meanings as we understand the overall gist of what we are hearing or reading. The Matthew Effect in language can be restated this way: "To those who understand the gist shall be given new word meanings, but to those who do not there shall ensue boredom and frustration." Clearly the key is to make sure that from kindergarten on, every student, from the start, understands the gist of what is heard or read. If preschoolers and kindergartners are offered substantial and coherent lessons concerning the human and natural worlds, then the results show up five years or so later in significantly improved verbal scores. By staying on a subject long enough to make all young children familiar with it, the gist becomes understood by all and word learning speeds up. This is especially important for low-income children, who come to school with smaller vocabularies and rely on school to impart the knowledge base affluent children take for granted. Current reform strategies focus on testing, improving teacher quality and other changes. Attention to these structural issues has led to improvements in the best public schools. But it is not enough.