Writeanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthefollowingdrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.YoushouldwriteneatlyonANSWERSHEET2.(20points)

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

[A]MarkWilliamsandJasonMattingley,whosestudyhasjustbeenpublishedinCurrentBiology,lookedatthewayaperson"ssexaffectshisorherresponsetoemotionallychargedfacialexpressions.Peoplefromallculturesagreeonwhatsixbasicexpressionsofemotionlooklike.Whetherthefacebeforeyouisexpressinganger,disgust,fear,joy,sadnessorsurpriseseemstoberecogniseduniversally—whichsuggeststhattheexpressionsinvolvedareinnate,ratherthanlearned.[B]Moreover,mostparticipantscouldfindanangryfacejustasquicklywhenitwasmixedinagroupofeightphotographsaswhenitwaspartofagroupoffour.Thatwasinstarkcontrasttotheotherfivesortsofexpression,whichtookmoretimetofindwhentheyhadtobesortedfromalargergroup.Thissuggeststhatsomethinginthebrainisattunedtopickingoutangryexpressions,andthatitisespeciallyconcernedaboutangrymen.Also,thishighlytunedabilityseemsmoreimportanttomalesthanfemales,sincethetworesearchersfoundthatmenpickedouttheangryexpressionsfasterthanwomendid,eventhoughwomenwereusuallyquickerthanmentorecognizedeveryothersortoffacialexpression.[C]DrWilliamsandDrMattingleyshowedtheparticipantsintheirstudyphotographsoftheseemotionalexpressionsinmixedsetsofeitherfouroreight.Theyaskedtheparticipantstolookforaparticularsortofexpression,andmeasuredtheamountoftimeittookthemtofindit.Theresearchersfound,inagreementwithpreviousstudies,thatbothmenandwomenidentifiedangryexpressionsmostquickly.Buttheyalsofoundthatangerwasmorequicklyidentifiedonamalefacethanafemaleone.[D]Menarenotoriouslyinsensitivetotheemotionalworldaroundthem.Atleast,thatisthestereotypepeddledbyathousandwomen"smagazines.AndastudybytworesearchersattheUniversityofMelbourne,inAustralia,confirmsthatmenare,indeed,lesssensitivetoemotionthanwomen,withoneimportantexception.Menareacutelysensitivetotheangerofothermen.[E]DrWilliamsandDrMattingleysuspectthereasonforthisisthatbeingabletospotanangryindividualquicklyhasasurvivaladvantage—and,sinceangerismorelikelytoturnintolethalviolenceinmenthaninwomen,theabilitytospotangrymalesquicklyisparticularlyvaluable.[F]Theabilitytospotquicklythatanalphamaleisinafoulmoodwouldthushavegreatsurvivalvalue.Itwouldallowthesharp-wittedtimetochooseappeasement,defenceorpossiblyevenpre-emptiveattack.And,ifitisright,thisstudyalsoconfirmsalessonlearnedbygenerationsofbar-roomtoughguysandschoolyardbullies:ifyouwantattention,getangry.[G]Astowhymenaremoresensitivetoangerthanwomen,itispresumablybecausetheyarefarmorelikelytogetkilledbyit.Mostmurdersinvolvemenkillingothermen—eventodaythecontextofhomicideisusuallyaspontaneousdisputeoverstatusorsex.Order:

In 1575—over 400 years ago the French scholar Louis Le Roy published a learned book in which he voiced despair over the changes caused by the social and technological innovations of his time, what we now call the Renaissance. We, also, feel that our times are out of joint; we even have reason to believe that our descendants will be worse off than we are. The earth will soon be overcrowded and its resources exhausted. Pollution will ruin the environment, upset the climate and endanger human health. The gap in living standards between the rich and the poor will widen and lead the angry, hungry people of the world to acts of desperation including the use of nuclear weapons as blackmail. Such are the inevitable consequences of population and technological growth if present trends continue. The future is never a projection of the past. Animals probably have no chance to escape from the tyranny of biological evolution, but human beings are blessed with the freedom of social evolution. For us, trend is not destiny(fate). The escape from existing trends is now facilitated by the fact that societies anticipate future dangers and take preventive steps against expected changes, Despite the widespread belief that the world has become too complex foe comprehension by the human brain, modern societies have often responded effectively to critical situations. The decrease in birth rates, the partial prohibition of pesticides and the rethinking of technologies for the production and use of energy are but a few examples illustrating a sudden reversal of trends caused not by political upsets or scientific breakthroughs, but by public awareness of consequences. Even more striking are the situations in which social attitudes concerning future difficulties undergo rapid changes before the problems have come to pass—witness the heated arguments about the problems of behavior control and of genetic engineering even though there is as yet no proof that effective methods can be developed to manipulate behavior and genes on a population scale. One of the characteristics of our times is thus the rapidity with which steps can be taken to change the orientation of certain trends and even to reverse them. Such changes usually emerge from grass root movements rather than from official directives.Notes: Renaissance (14世纪—16世纪欧洲)文艺复兴(时期)。tyranny暴虐统治；暴虐行为。are blessed with幸有；有幸得到。but a few 只是几个。come to pass发生实现。As yet至今。grass root群众

If the opinion polls are to be believed, most Americans are coming to trust their government more than they used to. The habit has not yet spread widely among American Indians, who suspect an organization which has so often patronized them, lied to them and defrauded them. But the Indians may soon win a victory in a legal battle that epitomizes those abuses. Elouise Cobell, a banker who also happens to be a member of the Blackfeet tribe in Montana, is the leading plaintiff in a massive class-action suit against the government. At issue is up to $10 billion in trust payments owed to some 500,000 Indians. The Suit revolves around Individual Indian Money (11M) accounts that are administered by the Interior Department"s Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA). Back in the 1880s, the government divided more than 11m acres of tribal land into parcels of 80 to 160 acres that were assigned to individual Indians. Because these parcels were rarely occupied by their new owners, the government assumed responsibility for managing them. As the Indians" trustee, it leased the land out for grazing, logging, mining and oil drilling—but it was supposed to distribute the royalties to the Indian owners. In fact, officials admit that royalties have been lost or stolen. Records were destroyed, and the government lost track of which Indians owned what land. The plaintiffs say that money is owing to 500,000 Indians, but even the government accepts a figure of about 300,000. For years, Cobell heard Indians complain of not getting payment from the government for the oil-drilling and ranching leases on their land. But nothing much got done. She returned to Washington and, after a brush-off from government lawyers, filed the suit. Gale Norton, George Bush"s interior secretary was charged with contempt in November because her department had failed to fix the problem. In December, Judge Lam berth ordered the interior Department to shut down all its computers for ten weeks because trust-fund records were vulnerable to hackers. The system was partly restored last month and payments to some Indians, which had been interrupted, resumed. And that is not the end of it. Ms. Norton has proposed the creation of a new Bureau of Indian Trust Management, separate from the BIA. Indians are cross that she suggested this without consulting them. Some want the trust funds to be placed in receivership, under a neutral supervisor. Others have called for Congress to establish an independent commission, including Indians, to draw up a plan for reforming the whole system. A messy injustice may at last be getting sorted out.

In the United States, the first day-nursery was opened in 1854. Nurseries were established in various areas during the (1)_____ half of the 19th century; most of (2)_____ were charitable. Both in Europe and in the U.S. the day nursery movement received great (3)_____ during the First World War, when (4)_____ of manpower caused the industrial employment of unprecedented numbers of women. In some European countries nurseries were established (5)_____ in munitions plants, under direct government sponsorship. (6)_____ the number of nurseries in the U.S. also rose (7)_____, this rise was accomplished without government aid of any kind. During the years following the First World War, (8)_____, Federal, State, and local governments gradually began to exercise a measure of control (9)_____ the day-nurseries, chiefly by (10)_____ them and by inspecting and regulating the conditions within the nurseries. The (11)_____ of the Second World War was quickly followed by an increase in the number of day-nurseries in almost all countries, ms women were (12)_____ called upon to replace men in the factories. On this (13)_____ the U.S. government immediately supported the nursery schools, (14)_____ $6,000,000 in July, 1942 for a nursery-school program for the children of working mothers. Many States and local communities (15)_____ this Federal aid. By the end of the war, in August, 1945, more than 100,000 children were being cared (16)_____ in daycare centers receiving Federal (17)_____. Soon afterward, the Federal government (18)_____ cut down its expenditures for this purpose and later (19)_____ them, causing a sharp drop in the number of nursery schools in operation. However, the expectation that most employed mothers would leave their (20)_____ at the end of the war was only partly fulfilled.

The Federation of American Societies for Experimental Biology(FASEB)has just released a report on the career trajectories of young life scientists in the United States. It is likely to give pause to some of those currently considering graduate training as a route to a career in the academic life sciences. The survey finds that over two decades the number of academically employed life scientists in tenured or tenure-track positions has remained stuck at about 30,000, while the number of doctoral degrees awarded in the life sciences has doubled. The data also reveal a hard-to-reach career getting farther out of reach. The age at which the average PhD holder receives his or her first full National Institutes of Health grant has risen from 34 in 1970 to 42 now. Postdocs, facing such a late start to their professional lives, are increasingly jumping ship to industry. Postdocs find themselves bouncing around the world from lab to lab, seldom earning much more than they would have done in their first year on the job market with their undergraduate degree. Funding is short, the hours are long, and prospects uncertain. Postdocs have occasionally attempted to band together in solidarity and seek a better settlement from their employers, the institutions and universities. But this movement has been stronger in the social sciences than in the hard sciences. The transient nature of the work, together with its convoluted employment structure, has made it difficult for them to speak effectively with a single voice. Instead, the plight of the postdoc will probably change only if the issue of scientific training is addressed from the top, where it may be necessary to consider the possibility that too many scientists are being trained. There is an argument that, from a national policy perspective, the current situation is ultimately productive. The pace of discovery is quickened by a sizeable workforce, and able scientists end up doing multiple jobs, most of them in the private sector of the economy. It might not be exactly what the students had in mind in the first place, but the situation hardly constitutes a major cause for concern. But FASEB"s data suggest that too many graduate schools may be preparing too many students, so that too few young scientists have a real prospect of making a career in academic science. More effort is needed to ensure that recruitment interviews include realistic assessments of prospective students" expectations and potential in the academic workplace. And training should address broader career options from day one rather than focusing unrealistically on jobs that don"t exist.

About 3 billion people live within 100 miles of the sea, a number that could double in the next decade as humans flock to coastal cities like gulls. The oceans produce $3 trillion of goods and services each year and untold value for the Earth's ecology. Life could not exist without these vast water reserves—and, if anything, they are becoming even more important to humans than before. Mining is about to begin under the seabed in the high seas—the regions outside the exclusive economic zones administered by coastal and island nations, which stretch 200 nautical miles offshore. Nineteen exploratory licences have been issued. New summer shipping lanes are opening across the Arctic Ocean. The genetic resources of marine life promise a pharmaceutical bonanza: the number of patents has been rising at 12% a year. One study found that genetic material from the seas is a hundred times more likely to have anti-cancer properties than that from terrestrial life. But these developments are minor compared with vaster forces reshaping the Earth, both on land and at sea. It has long been clear that people are damaging the oceans—witness the melting of the Arctic ice in summer, the spread of oxygen starved dead zones and the death of coral reefs. Now, the consequences of that damage are starting to be felt onshore. Thailand provides a vivid example. In the 1990s it cleared coastal mangrove swamps to set up shrimp farms. Ocean storm surges in 2011, no longer cushioned by the mangroves, rushed in to flood the country's industrial heartland, causing billions of dollars of damage. More serious is the global mismanagement of fish stocks. About 3 billion people get a fifth of their protein from fish, making it a more important protein source than beef. But a vicious cycle has developed as fish stocks decline and fishermen race to grab what they can of the remainder. According to the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), a third of fish stocks in the oceans are over-exploited; some estimates say the proportion is more than half. One study suggested that stocks of big predatory species—such as tuna, swordfish and marlin—may have fallen by as much as 90% since the 1950s. People could be eating much better, were fishing stocks properly managed.

Despite the basic biological, chemical, and physical similarities found in all living things, a diversity of life exists not only among and between species but also within every natural population. The phenomenon of diversity has had a long history of study because so many of the variations that exist in nature are visible to the eye. 【F1】 It has been suggested that sexual reproduction became the dominant type of reproduction among organisms because of its inherent advantage of variability, which is the mechanism that enables a species to adjust to changing conditions. New variations are potentially present in genetic differences, but how preponderant a variation becomes in a gene pool depends upon the number of offspring the mutants or variants produce(differential reproduction).【F2】 It is possible for a genetic novelty(new variation)to spread in time to all members of a population, especially if the novelty enhances the population"s chances for survival in the environment in which it exists. Thus, when a species is introduced into a new habitat, it either adapts to the change by natural selection or by some other evolutionary mechanism or else it eventually dies off. Because each new habitat means new adaptations, habitat changes have been responsible for the millions of different kinds of species and for the heterogeneity within each species. The total number of animal and plant species is estimated at between 2,000,000 and 4,500,000; authoritative estimates of the number of extinct species range from 15,000,000 up to 16,000,000,000.【F3】 Although the use of classification as a means of producing some kind of order out of this staggering number of different types of organisms appears as early as the book of Genesis—with references to cattle, beasts, fowl, creeping things, trees, etc. —the first scientific attempt at classification is attributed to the Greek philosopher Aristotle, who tried to establish a system that would indicate the relationship of all things to each other. He arranged everything along a scale, or "ladder of nature", with nonliving things at the bottom; plants were placed below animals, and man was at the top.【F4】 Other schemes that have been used for grouping species include large anatomical similarities, such as wings or fins, which indicate a natural relationship, and also similarities in reproductive structures. 【F5】 At the present time taxonomy is based on two major assumptions; one is that similar body construction can be used as a criterion for a classification grouping; the other is that, in addition to structural similarities, evolutionary and molecular relationships between organisms can be used as a means for determining classification.

ModernizationandMoralCultivationWriteanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthedrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,andthen3)supportyourviewwithexamples.

EducationFeesWriteanessayof160-200wordsbasedonthedrawing.Inyouressay,youshould1)describethedrawingbriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaning,and3)giveyourcomments.

Low levels of literacy and numeracy have a damaging impact on almost every aspect of adults, according to a survey published yesterday, which offers (1)_____ of a developing underclass. Tests and (2)_____ with hundreds of people born in a week in 1958 graphically illustrated file (3)_____ of educational underachievement. The effects can be seen in unemployment, family (4)_____, low incomes, depression and social inactivity. Those who left school at 16 with poor basic skills had been employed for UP to four years less than good readers (5)_____ they reached 37. Professor John Bynner, of City University, who carried the research, said that today"s (6)_____ teenagers would even encounter greater problems because the supply of (7)_____ jobs had shrunk. Almost one fifth of the 1,700 people interviewed for yesterday"s report had poor literacy and almost half (8)_____ with innumeracy, a proportion (9)_____ other surveys for the Basic Skills Agency. Some could not read a child"s book, and most found difficult (10)_____ written instruction. Poor readers were twice as likely to be a low wage and four times likely to live in a household where partners worked. Women in this (11)_____ were five times as likely to be (12)_____ depressed, (13)_____ both tended to feel they had no control over their lives, and to trust others (14)_____. Those who had low literacy and numeracy were seldom (15)_____ in any community organization and less likely than others to (16)_____ in a general election. There had been no (17)_____ in the literary level of (18)_____. Alan Wells, the agency"s director, said: "The results emphasize the dangers of developing an underclass people, who were out of work, (19)_____ depressed and often labeled themselves as (20)_____. There is a circle of marginalization, with the dice against these people and their families."

In a lab in Oxford University"s experimental psychology department, researcher Roi Cohen Kadosh is testing a relatively new brain-stimulation technique which may help people learn and improve their understanding of math concepts. The electrodes (a small piece of metal or other substance that is used to take an electric current) are【C1】______in a tightly fitted cap and worn around the head. The device, run off a 9-volt battery commonly used in smoke detectors, induces only a【C2】______current and can be targeted to【C3】______areas of the brain or applied generally. The mild current reduces the【C4】______of side effects, which has【C5】______possibilities about using it, even in individuals【C6】______a disorder, as a general cognitive【C7】______. Scientists also are investigating its use to treat mood disorders and【C8】______conditions. Dr. Cohen Kadosh"s【C9】______work on learning enhancement and brain stimulation is one example of the long journey faced by scientists【C10】______ brain-stimulation and cognitive-stimulation techniques. 【C11】______other researchers in the community, he has dealt with public【C12】______about safety and side effects, plus【C13】______from other scientists about whether these findings would hold in the wider population. There are also ethical questions about the technique. 【C14】______it truly works to enhance cognitive performance, should it be【C15】______to anyone who can afford to buy the device—which already is【C16】______for sale in the U.S.? Should parents be able to perform such stimulation on their kids without【C17】______? "It"s early days but that hasn"t stopped some companies from【C18】______ the device and marketing it as a learning tool," Dr. Cohen Kadosh says. "Be very【C19】______ ." However, if the technique continues to show【C20】______, "this type of method may have a chance to be the new drug of the 21st century," says Dr. Cohen Kadosh.

In the following text, some sentences have been removed. For Questions 41-45, choose the most suitable one from the list (A、B、C、D、E、F、G……) to fit into each of the numbered blank. There are several extra choices, which do not fit in any of the gaps. (10 points) Internet, computer-based global information system. The Internet is composed of many interconnected computer networks. Each network may link tens, hundreds, or even thousands of computers, enabling them to share information with one another and to share computational resources such as powerful supercomputers and databases of information. The Internet has made it possible for people all over the world to communicate with one another effectively and inexpensively. (41)______. The Internet has brought new opportunities to government, business, and education. Governments use the Internet for internal communication, distribution of information, and automated tax processing. In addition to offering goods and services online to customers, businesses use the Internet to interact with other businesses. (42)______. Use of the Internet has grown tremendously since its inception. The Internet"s success arises from its flexibility. Instead of restricting component networks to a particular manufacturer or particular type, Internet technology allows interconnection of any kind of computer network. (43)______. Internet service providers (ISPs) provide Internet access to customers, usually for a monthly fee. A customer who subscribes to an ISP"s service uses the ISP"s network to access the Internet. Because ISPs offer their services to the general public, the networks they operate are known as public access networks. (44)______. An organization that has many computers usually owns and operates a private network, called an intranet, which connects all the computers within the organization: To provide Internet service, the organization connects its intranet to the Internet. Unlike public access networks, intranets are restricted to provide security. (45)______.A. The current number of people who use the Internet can only be estimated. One survey found that there were 61 million Internet users worldwide at the end of 1996, 148 million at the end of 1998, and 407 million by the end of 2000. Some analysts said that the number of users was expected to double again by the end of 2002.B. Only authorized computers at the organization can connect to the intranet, and the organization restricts communication between the intranet and the global Internet. The restrictions allow computers inside the organization to exchange information but keep the information confidential and protected from outsiders.C. Unlike traditional broadcasting media, such as radio and television, the Internet does not have a centralized distribution system. Instead, an individual who has Internet access can communicate directly with anyone else on the Internet, make information available to others, find information provided by others, or sell products with a minimum overhead cost.D. No network is too large or too small, too fast or too slow to be interconnected. Thus, the Internet includes inexpensive networks that can only connect a few computers within a single room as well as expensive networks that can span a continent and connect thousands of computers.E. Many individuals use the Internet for communicating through electronic mail (e-mail), for news and research information, shopping, paying bills, and online banking. Educational institutions use the Internet for research and to deliver courses and course material to students.F. In the United States, as in many countries, ISPs are private companies; in countries where telephone service is a government-regulated monopoly, the government often controls ISPs.G. The Internet has doubled in size every 9 to 14 months since it began in the late 1970s. In 1981 only 213 computers were connected to the Internet. By 2000 the number had grown to more than 100 million.

Comparisons were drawn between the development of television in the 20th century and the diffusion of printing in the 15th and 16th centuries. Yet much had happened【C1】______. As was discussed before, it was not【C2】______the 19th century that the newspaper became the dominant pre-electronic【C3】______, following in the wake of the pamphlet and the book and in the【C4】______of the periodical. It was during the same time that the communications revolution【C5】______up, beginning with transport, the railway, and leading【C6】______through the telegraph, the telephone, radio, and motion pictures【C7】______the 20th-century world of the motor car and the air plane. Not everyone sees that process in【C8】______. It is important to do so. It is generally recognized,【C9】______, that the introduction of the computer in the early 20th century, 【C10】______by the invention of the integrated circuit during the 1960s, radically changed the process,【C11】______its impact on the media was not immediately【C12】______. As time went by, computers became smaller and more powerful, and they became "personal" too, as well as【C13】______, with display becoming sharper and storage【C14】______increasing. They were thought of, like people,【C15】______generations, with the distance between generations much【C16】______. It was within the computer age that the term "information society" began to be widely used to describe the【C17】______within which we now live. The communications revolution has【C18】______both work and leisure and how we think and feel both about place and time, but there have been【C19】______views about its economic, political, social and cultural implications. "Benefits" have been weighed【C20】______"harmful" outcomes. And generalizations have proved difficult.

Anthropology is the study of human beings as creatures of society. It fastens its attention upon those physical characteristics and industrial techniques, those conventions and values, which distinguish one community from all others that belong to a different tradition. The distinguishing mark of anthropology among the social sciences is that it includes for serious study more other societies than our own. For its purposes any social regulation of mating and reproduction is as significant as our own, though it may be that of the Sea Dyaks, and have no possible historical relation to that of our civilization. To the anthropologist, our customs and those of a New Guinea tribe are two possible social schemes for dealing with a common problem, arid in so far as he remains an anthropologist he is bound to avoid any weighting of one in favor of the other, lie is interested in human behavior, not as it is shaped by one tradition, our own, but as it has been shaped by any tradition whatsoever. He is interested in a wide range of custom that is found in various cultures, and his object is to understand the way in which these cultures change and differentiated, the different forms through which they express themselves and the manner in which the customs of any peoples function in the lives of the individuals. Now custom has not been commonly regarded as a subject of any great moment. The inner workings of our own brains we feel to be uniquely worthy of investigation, but custom, we have a way of thinking, is behavior at its most commonplace. As a matter of fact, it is the other way round. Traditional custom is a mass of detailed behavior more astonishing than what any one person can ever evolve in individual actions. Yet that is a rather trivial aspect of the matter. The fact of first rate importance is the predominant role that custom plays in experience and belief, and the very great varieties it may manifest.

The manager was sympathetic, but he could do nothing.

Healthy soda? That may strike some as an oxymoron. But for Coca-Cola and PepsiCo, it"s a marketing opportunity. In coming months, both companies will introduce new carbonated drinks that are fortified with vitamins and minerals: Diet Coke Plus and Tava, which is PepsiCo"s new offering. They will be promoted as "sparkling beverages". The companies are not tailing them soft drinks because people are turning away from traditional soda, which has been hurt in part by publicity about its link to obesity. While the soda business remains a $68 billion industry in the United States, consumers are increasingly reaching for bottled water, sparkling juices and green tea drinks. In 2005, the mount of soda sold in this country dropped for the first time in recent history. Even the diet soda business has slowed. Coca-Cola"s chief executive, E. Neville Isdell, clearly frustrated that his industry has been singled out in the obesity debate, insisted at a recent conference that his diet products should be included in the health and wellness category because, with few or no calories, they are a logical answer m expanding waistlines. "Diet and light brands are actually health and wellness brands", Mr. Isdell said. He asserted that Diet Coke Plus was a way to broaden the category to attract new consumers. Tom Pirko, president of Bevmark, a food and beverage consulting firm, said it was "a joke" to market artificially sweetened soft drinks as healthy, even if they were fortified with vitamins and minerals. Research by his firm and others shows that consumers think of diet soft drinks as "the antithesis of healthy", he said. These consumers "comment on putting something synthetic and not natural into their bodies when they consume diet colas", Mr. Pirko said. "And in the midst of a health and welfare boom, that ain"t good". The idea of healthy soda is not entirely new. In 2004, Cadbury Schweppes caused a stir when it unveiled 7Up Plus, a low-calorie soda fortified with vitamins and minerals. Last year, Cadbury tried to extend the healthy halo over its regular 7Up brand by labeling it "100 percent natural". But the company changed the label to "100 percent natural flavor" after complaints from a nutrition group that a product containing high-fructose com syrup should not be considered natural, and 7Up Plus has floundered. The new fortified soft drinks earned grudging approval from Michael F. Jacobsen, executive director of the Center for Science in the Public Interest. a nutrition advocacy group and frequent critic of regular soft drinks, which it has labeled "liquid candy". A survey by Morgan Stanley found that only 10 percent of consumers interviewed in 2006 considered diet colas a healthy choice, compared with 14 percent in 2003. Furthermore, 30 percent of the consumers who were interviewed last year said that they were reluctant to drink beverages with artificial sweeteners, up from 21 percent in 2004.

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

Europe is not a gender-equality heaven. In particular, the corporate workplace will never be completely family-friendly until women are part of senior management decisions, and Europe" s top corporate-governance positions remain overwhelmingly male. Indeed, women hold only 14 percent of positions on European corporate boards. The Europe Union is now considering legislation to compel corporate boards to maintain a certain proportion of women—up to 60 percent. This proposed mandate was born of frustration. Last year, Europe Commission Vice President Viviane Reding issued a call to voluntary action. Reding invited corporations to sign up for gender balance goal of 40 percent female board membership. But her appeal was considered a failure: only 24 companies took it up. Do we need quotas to ensure that women can continue to climb the corporate ladder fairly as they balance work and family? "Personally, I don"t like quotas," Reding said recently. "But I like what the quotas do." Quotas get action: they "open the way to equality and they break through the glass ceiling," according to Reding, a result seen in France and other countries with legally binding provisions on placing women in top business positions. I understand Reding"s reluctance—and her frustration. I don"t like quotas either; they run counter to my belief in meritocracy, governance by the capable. But, when one considers the obstacles to achieving the meritocratic ideal, it does look as if a fairer world must be temporarily ordered. After all, four decades of evidence has now shown that corporations in Europe as well as the US are evading the meritocratic hiring and promotion of women to top positions—no matter how much "soft pressure" is put upon them. When women do break through to the summit of corporate power—as, for example, Sheryl Sandberg recently did at Facebook—they attract massive attention precisely because they remain the exception to the rule. If appropriate pubic policies were in place to help all women—whether CEOs or their children"s caregivers—and all families, Sandberg would be no more newsworthy than any other highly capable person living in a more just society.