"In the long run," as John Maynard Keynes observed, "we are all dead. " True. But can the【1】run be elongated in a way that makes the long run【2】? And if so, how, and at what cost? People have dreamt of【3】since time immemorial. They have sought it since the first alchemist put an elixir of【4】on the same shopping list as a way to turn lead into gold. They have【5】about it in fiction, from Rider Haggard"s "She" to Frank Herbert"s "Dune". And now, with the growth of【6】knowledge that has marked the past few decades, a few researchers believe it might be within【7】. To think about the question, it is important to understand why organisms-people【8】-age in the first place. People are like machines: they【9】That much is obvious. However, a machine can always be【10】A good mechanic with a stock of spare parts can keep it going【11】. Eventually, no part of the【12】may remain, but it still carries on, like Lincoln"s famous axe that had three new handles and two new blade. The question, of course, is whether the machine is worth【13】. It is here that people and nature【14】. Or, to put it slightly【15】, two bits of nature disagree with each other. From the individual"s point of view,【16】is an imperative. You cannot reproduce unless you are alive. A fear of death is a sensible evolved response and, since【17】is a sure way of dying, it is no surprise that people want to stop it in its tracks. Moreover, even the appearance of ageing can be【18】. It【19】the range of potential sexual partners who find you attractive-since it is a sign that you are not going to be【20】all that long to help bring up baby-and thus, again, curbs your reproduction.

BSection II Reading Comprehension/B

For the average American living in the United States is like having more than half a million dollars in wealth. So says a new study from the World Bank, Where is the Wealth of Nations?: Measuring Capital for the 21st Century, which makes estimates of the contribution of natural, produced, and intangible capital to the aggregate wealth of 120 countries. Why are Americans so well off? It"s not just because of America"s fruited plains and its alabaster cities. In fact, it turns out that such natural and man-made resources comprise a relatively small percentage of our wealth. The World Bank study begins by defining natural capital as the sum of nonrenewable resources(including oil, natural gas, coal, and mineral resources), cropland, pastureland, forested areas, and protected areas. Produced capital is what many of us think of when we think of capital. It is the sum of machinery, equipment, and structures(including infrastructure)and urban land. The Bank then identifies intangible capital as the difference between total wealth and all produced and natural capital. Intangible capital encompasses raw labor; human capital, which includes the sum of the knowledge, skills, and know-how possessed by population; as well as the level of trust in a society and the quality of its formal and informal social institutions. Once the analytical framework is set up, what the researchers at the World Bank find is fascinating. "The most striking aspect of the wealth estimates is the high values for intangible capital. Nearly 85 percent of the countries in our sample have an intangible capital share of total wealth greater than 50 percent," write the researchers. They further note that years of schooling and a rule-of-law index can account for 90 percent of the variation in intangible capital. In other words, the more highly educated a country"s people are and the more honest and fair its legal system is, the wealthier it is. Let"s consider a few cases. The country with the highest per capita wealth is Switzerland at $ 648,000. The United States is fourth at $ 513,000. So if every American has $ 513,000 in capital, where is it? The vast majority of it is amassed in our political and economic institutions and our educations. The natural wealth in rich countries like the U. S. is a tiny proportion of their overall wealth—typically 1 to 3 percent—yet they have higher amounts of natural capital than poor countries. Cropland, pastures and forests are more valuable in rich countries because they can be combined with other capital like machinery and strong property rights to produce more value. Machinery, buildings, roads, and so forth account for 17 percent of the rich countries" total wealth. And 80 percent of the wealth of rich countries consists of intangible capital. "Rich countries are largely rich because of the skills of their populations and the quality of the institutions supporting economic activity," argues the World Bank study.

The following paragraphs are given in a wrong order. For Questions 41-45, you are required to reorganize these paragraphs into a coherent article by choosing from the list A-G. Some of the paragraphs have been placed for you. (10 points)A. 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.B. Proof of warming 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.C. 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 Mid-western heat wave of 1995 killed 669 people in Chicago. In 1996, we had a season of record heat spells, and 1997 was the single warmest 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.D. 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. In the United States, for instance, between a third and a half of all cancers are skin cancers widely blamed on UV exposure. Australia has the highest rate of skin cancer in the world, with estimates that two out of three people will get at least one skin cancer in their lifetime.E. "Many scientists agree that the emissions resulting from human activities are substantially increasing the atmospheric concentration of the greenhouse gases," writes Jeremy Leggett in his book Global Warming: The Greenpeace Report (Oxford University Press, 1990). "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 1℃ to 3℃ 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.F. 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.G. Add to this scenario the possibility of natural disasters such as volcanic activity, comets, solar winds, sunspot activity, or earthquakes that could drastically affect world security. How long is the stability of the planet going to be immune from these types of significant occurrences? Winter storms and random weather extremes such as record-breaking extreme hot, cold, and winds are signals that we should act on the results of climate change. Through its innovations, the self-sufficient home is one way of helping limit human environmental degradation and increasing resource sustainability.Order: F is the first paragraph and G is the last.

BSection III Writing/B

An annual census of wolves at Yellowstone National Park has found a sharp drop in the population. But park biologists, who suspect a deadly disease, canine parvovirus, say they will let nature take its course. "Parvo can be vaccinated for and can be treated, but we wouldn"t do it because we couldn"t catch every animal", Daniel Stahler, a park waif biologist, said, "And this allows them to build up a natural resistance". The census found 22 pups, compared with 69 last year. The total count of wolves dropped m 118 from 171, the lowest since 2000. "It was somewhat devastating to have such poor pup survival", Mr. Stahler said. "But research shows that young pups can bounce back from it quite successfully". That pups have suffered the decline seems to suggest the culprit is parvo, said Ed Bangs, waif recovery coordinator for the United States Fish and Wildlife Service here. Nursing pups receive immunity from their mother"s milk. but the immunity drops when nursing stops. The large number of wolves in the park might also be a factor. "When you have a big litter and adults are having trouble killing enough to feed all these pups, and the animals are stressed, parvo flares up", Mr. Bangs said. "If you have 15 brothers and sisters instead of 3, you don"t get enough to eat; parvo kills you". Canine parvovirus was discovered in the United States in 1978. Extremely hardy, the disease spread rapidly to domestic dogs and then into wild animal populations. Biologists suspect that it was introduced to Yellowstone by a tourist"s infected dog or a coyote. Because parvo is so hardy, it persists in the soil for months. A wolf could catch it from simply sniffing infectious soil. the biologists said. The disease has hit wolves on the northern range, the elk-filled meadows of the northern half of the park, especially hard. Out of 49 pups born there, 8 survived. Some scientists, including Mr. Bangs, theorize that the park may have overshot its capacity for wolves and that the numbers are naturally adjusting downward, with disease being one of the agents. The long-term carrying capacity of the park, he said, is probably 110 to 150 wolves. Wolves have been killed in other ways, too. Frequent encounters among competing wolf packs are the biggest cause of death among adults. In the first five years of their reintroduction to the park, one or two animals a year were killed by other wolves. That number has risen to four or five a year. Vehicles also take a toll, Fourteen wolves have been killed by vehicles in the last 10 years, eight of them near Mile Marker 30 on Route 191, a straight stretch on the western side of the park where motorists tend to speed and wolves are plentiful.

You are going to read a text about the topic of nuclear fusion, followed by a list of explanations(or examples). Choose the best explanation/example from the list. Scientists say they have achieved small-scale nuclear fusion in a tabletop experiment, using tried and true techniques that are expected to generate far less controversy than past such claims. This latest experiment relied on a tiny crystal to generate a strong electric field. While the energy created was too small to harness cheap fusion power, the technique could have potential uses in medicine, spacecraft propulsion, the oil drilling industry and homeland security, said Seth Putterman, a physicist at the University of California at Los Angeles. Putterman and his colleagues at UCLA, Brian Naranjo and Jim Gimzewski, report their results in Thursday"s issue of the journal Nature. (41) Held up to ridicule Previous claims of tabletop fusion have been met with skepticism and even derision by physicists. (42) Sound theoretical basis Fusion experts said the UCLA experiment will face far less skepticism because it conforms to well-known principles of physics. (43) Energy in waiting Fusion power has been touted as the ultimate energy source and a cleaner alternative to fossil fuels like coal and oil. Fossil fuels are expected to run short in about 50 years. (44) Process of fusion In the UCLA experiment, scientists placed a tiny crystal that can generate a strong electric field into a vacuum chamber filled with deuterium gas, a form of hydrogen capable of fusion. Then the researchers activated the crystal by heating it. (45) Commercial uses UCLA"s Putterman said future experiments will focus on refining the technique for potential commercial uses, including designing portable neutron generators that could be used for oil well drilling or scanning luggage and cargo at airports. In the Nature report, Putterman and his colleagues said the crystal-based method could be used in "microthrusters for miniature spacecraft." In such an application, the method would not rely on nuclear fusion for power generation, but rather on ion propulsion, Putterman said. "As wild as it is, that"s a conservative application," he said.A. In fusion, light atoms are joined in a high-temperature process that frees large amounts of energy. It is considered environmentally friendly because it produces virtually no air pollution and does not pose the safety and long-term radioactive waste concerns associated with modern nuclear power plants, where heavy uranium atoms are split to create energy in a process known as fission.B. The resulting electric field created a beam of charged deuterium atoms that struck a nearby target, which was embedded with yet more deuterium. When some of the deuterium atoms in the beam collided with their counterparts in the target, they fused. The reaction gave off an isotope of helium along with subatomic particles known as neutrons, a characteristic of fusion. The experiment did not, however, produce more energy than the amount put in—an achievement that would be a huge breakthrough.C. Another technique, known as sonoluminescence, generates heat through the collapse of tiny bubbles in a liquid. Some scientists claim that nuclear fusion occurs during the reaction, but those claims have sparked sharp debate.D. In a Nature commentary, Michael Saltmarsh of the Oak Ridge National Laboratory said the process was in some ways "remarkably low-tech", drawing upon principles that were first recorded by the Greek philosopher Theophrastus in 314 B.C. "This doesn"t have any controversy in it because they"re using a tried and true method," David Ruzic, professor of nuclear and plasma engineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, told The Associated Press. "There"s no mystery in terms of the physics."E. In one of the most notable cases, Dr. B. Stanley Pons of the University of Utah and Martin Fleischmann of Southampton University in England shocked the world in 1989 when they announced that they had achieved so-called cold fusion at room temperature. Their work was discredited after repeated attempts to reproduce it failed.F. The technology also could conceivably give rise to implantable radiation sources, which could target cancer cells while minimizing damage to healthy tissue. "You could bring a tiny crystal into the body; place it next to a tumor, turn on the radiation and blast the tumor," Putterman told MSNBC.com.

The majority of successful senior managers do not closely follow the classical rational model of first clarifying goals, assessing the problem, formulating options, estimating likelihood of success, making a decision, and only then taking action to implement the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical activities, these senior executives rely on what is vaguely termed "intuition" to manage a network of interrelated problems that require them to deal with ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise; and to integrate action into the process of thinking. Generations of writers on management have recognized that some practicing managers rely heavily on intuition. In general, however, such writers display a poor grasp of what intuition is. Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others view it as an excuse of capriciousness. Isenberg"s recent research on the cognitive processes of senior managers reveals that managers" intuition is neither of these. Rather, senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct ways. First, they intuitively sense when a problem exists. Second, managers rely on intuition to perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. This intuition is not arbitrary or irrational, but is based on years of painstaking practice and personal experience that build skills. A third function of intuition is to synthesize isolated bits of data and practice into an integrated picture, often in an "Aha!" experience. Fourth, some managers use intuition as a check on the results of more rational analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with the formal decision analysis models and tools, and those who use such systematic methods for reaching decisions are occasionally suspicious of solutions suggested by these methods which run counter to their sense of the correct course of action. Finally, managers can use intuition to bypass in-depth analysis and move rapidly to find out a plausible solution. Used in this way, intuition is an almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a manager recognizes familiar patterns. One of the implications of the intuitive style of executive management is that "thinking" is inseparable from acting. Since managers often "know" what is right before they can analyze and explain it, they frequently act first and explain later. Analysis is invariably tied to action in thinking/acting cycles, in which managers develop thoughts about their companies and organizations not by analyzing a problematic situation and then acting, but by acting and analyzing in close concert. Given the great uncertainty of many of the management issues that they face, senior managers often initiate a course of action simply to learn more about an issue. They then use the results of the action to develop a more complete understanding of the issue. One implication of thinking/acting cycles is that action is often part of defining the problem, not just of implementing the solution.Notes:capriciousness 多变，反复无常cognitive 认识的run counter to 与...背道而驰；违反bypass 绕过in close concert一齐，一致given prep. 考虑到，由于

Studythefollowingphotoscarefullyandwriteanessayinwhichyoushould1)describethephotosbriefly,2)interpretthesocialphenomenonreflectedbythem,andthen3)giveyourpointofview.Youshouldwrite160-200wordsneatlyonANSWERSHEET2.(20points)

Lots of creatures already reproduce without sex. Since the birth of Louise Brown, the first test-tube baby, in 1978, (1)_____ of human beings (2)_____ in laboratory glassware rather than in bed. If human cloning becomes possible—and since the birth of a sheep called Dolly, (3)_____ doubt that it will be feasible to clone a person by 2025—even the link between sex organs and reproduction (4)_____. You will then be able to take a cutting from your body and grow a new person, (5)_____ you were a willow tree. (6)_____, we have already divorced sex from reproduction. In the 1960s, the contraceptive pill freed women to enjoy sex for its own sake. (7)_____, greater tolerance of homosexuality signaled society"s acceptance of non-reproductive sex of another sort. These changes are only continuations of a (8)_____ that started perhaps a million years ago. Human beings (9)_____ the interest in infertile, social sex with a few other species: dolphins, apes and some birds. But (10)_____ sex is too good for human beings to (11)_____, more and more people will abandon it as a (12)_____ of reproduction. In the modern world, you can (13)_____ have sex and parenthood without suffering the bit (14)_____. Some Hollywood actresses (15)_____ the urge for mothering by electing to adopt children (16)_____ spoil their figures (as they see it) by childbearing. For people as beautiful as this, the temptation to (17)_____ a clone (reared in a surrogate womb) could one day be (18)_____. However, human cloning and designer babies are probably not (19)_____. Even assuming that the procedures are judged safe and efficient in farm animals, still a long way off, they will be heavily (20)_____, if not banned, by many governments for human beings.

It was inevitable that any of President George W. Bushes fans had to be very disappointed by his decision to implement high tariffs on steel imported to the U.S. The president"s defense was pathetic: He argued that the steel tariffs were somehow consistent with free trade, that the domestic industry was important and struggling, and that the relief was a temporary measure to allow time for restructuring. One reason that this argument is absurd is that U.S. integrated steel companies ("Big Steel") have received various forms of government protection and subsidy for more than 30 years. Instead of encouraging the industry to restructure, the long-term protection has sustained inefficient companies and cost U.S. consumers dearly. As Anne O. Krueger, now deputy managing director of the International Monetary Fund, said in a report on Big Steel: "The American Big Steel industry has been the champion lobbyist and seeker of protection. It provides a key and disillusioning example of the ability special interests to lobby in Washington for measures which hurt the general public and help a very small group. Since 1950s, Big Steel has been reluctant to make the investments needed to match the new technologies introduced elsewhere. It agreed to high wages for its unionized labor force. Hence, the companies have difficulty in competing not only with more efficient producers in Asia and Europe but also with technologically advanced U.S. mini mills, which rely on scrap metal as an input. Led by Nucor Cot., these mills now capture about half of overall U.S. sales. The profitability of U.S. steel companies depends also on steel prices, which, despite attempts at protection by the U.S. and other governments, are determined primarily in world markets. These prices are relatively high as recently as early 2000 but have since declined with the world recession to reach the lowest dollar values of the last 20 years. Although these low prices are unfortunate for U.S. producers, they are beneficial for the overall U.S. economy. The low prices are also signal that the inefficient Big Steel companies should go out of business even faster than they have been. Instead of leaving or modernizing, the dying Big Steel industry complains that foreigners dump steels by selling at low prices. However, it is hard to see why it is bad for the overall U.S. economy if foreign producers wish to sell us their goods at low prices. After all, the extreme case of dumping is one where foreigners give us their steel for free and why would that be a bad thing?

BSection I Use of EnglishDirections: Read the following text. Choose the best word(s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D./B

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

Eating healthily costs about $1.50 more per person daily, according to the most thorough review yet of the affordability of a healthy diet. "For many low-income families, an【C1】______$1.50 daily is quite a lot," says Mayuree Rao, "It【C2】______to about $550 more per year per person, and that could be a real【C3】______to healthy eating." Rao and her colleagues reached their【C4】______after analysing 27 studies from 10 high-income countries, comparing price【C5】______for healthy versus unhealthy ingredients and diets.【C6】______one study compared the cost of a diet rich in fruit and vegetables versus one that was【C7】______in them. Another compared prices of【C8】______healthy and less healthy items, such as wholegrain versus white bread. Individual items were【C9】______matched in price. Meats【C10】______the largest difference: healthier options cost an average of 29 cents per serving more than unhealthy options. 【C11】______this, comparisons of whole diets showed that healthier diets cost averagely $1.48 more per day. This shows that comparisons based on single ingredients don't tell the full【C12】______. "It tells us that,【C13】______, it doesn't cost more to eat healthier based on one nutrient," says Rao. "But there's growing evidence that the【C14】______of foods in your diet【C15】______your disease risk more than any single nutrient, so we think our【C16】______finding that healthier diets cost about $1.50 more has the most public health【C17】______." As to why healthier food has become more【C18】______Rao says that it may be because the food industry organizes itself and the types of food it produces to【C19】______its own economies of scale,【C20】______than what's best for consumers.

WhatQualitiesShouldaManagerHave?A.Studythechartcarefullyandwriteanessayof160-200words.B.Youressayshouldcoverthreepoints:1)thequalitiesanenterpriseexpectsmostfromitsmanagers2)possiblereasons3)youropinion

After World War Ⅱ the glorification of an ever-larger GNP formed the basis of a new materialism, which became a sacred obligation for all Japanese governments, businesses and trade unions. Anyone who mentioned the undesirable by-products of rapid economic growth was treated as a heretic. Consequently, everything possible was done to make conditions easy for the manufacturers. Few dared question the wisdom of discharging untreated waste into the nearest water body or untreated smoke into the atmosphere. This silence was maintained by union leaders as well as by most of the country"s radicals; except for a few isolated voices, no one protested. An insistence on treatment of the various effluents would have necessitated expenditures on treatment equipment that in turn would have given rise to higher operating costs. Obviously, this would have meant higher prices for Japanese goods, and ultimately fewer sales and lower industrial growth and GNP. The pursuit of nothing but economic growth is illustrated by the response of the Japanese government to the American educational mission that visited Japan in 1947. After surveying Japan"s educational program, the Americans suggested that the Japanese fill in their curriculum gap by creating departments in chemical and sanitary engineering. Immediately, chemical engineering departments were established in all the country"s universities and technical institutions. In contrast, the recommendation to form sanitary engineering departments was more or less ignored, because they could bring no profit. By 1960, only two second-rate universities, Kyoto and Hokkaido, were interested enough to open such departments. The reluctance to divert funds from production to conservation is explanation enough for a certain degree of pollution, but the situation was made worse by the type of technology the Japanese chose to adopt for their industrial expansion. For the most part, they simply copied American industrial methods. This meant that methods originally designed for use in a country that stretched from the Atlantic to the Pacific with lots of air and water to use as sewage receptacles were adopted for an area a fraction of the size. Moreover, the Japanese diet was much more dependent on water as a source of fish and as an input in the irrigation of rice; consequently discharged wastes built up much more rapidly, in the food chain.Notes: heretic 异教徒。sanitary 卫生的。for the most part 基本上。receptacle 储存地。

A.Studythefollowingcartooncarefullyandwriteanessayinnolessthan200words.B.Youressaymustbewrittenclearly.C.Youressayshouldmeettherequirementsbelow:1)Describethecartoon,2)deducethepurposeofthedrawerofthepicture,and3)giveyourcomments.

Studythefollowingpicturecarefullyandwriteanessayof160-200wordsinwhichyoushould1)describethepicturebriefly,2)explainitsintendedmeaningandthen3)giveyourpointofview.

A set of genes play a role in learning to read and do math, but this ability is not just gene-driven,【C1】______schooling and help from parents are also vital【C2】______. Early mathematical ability and literacy are known to 【C3】______ in some families, but the genes【C4】______affect this have until now been【C5】______unknown. Scientists looked into a data pool called the Twins Early Development Study, which【C6】______12-year-olds from nearly 2,800 British families. The team compared twins and【C7】______children to see how they【C8】______in tests for maths and reading comprehension, and then matched the children"s genomes. Between 10 percent and half of the genes involved in reading were also involved in math, they found, and tiny variants in these【C9】______genes influence skill level. 【C10】______it"s also clear how important our life experience is in making us better at one or the other. It"s this complex【C11】______of nature and nurture as we grow up【C12】______shapes who we are. Professor Robert Plomin said the study was the first to estimate the【C13】______from DNA alone on learning ability. But, he stressed, the genetic variants that were identified were not【C14】______"literacy or numeracy" genes. 【C15】______they formed part of a more complex mechanism in which many genes each 【C16】______ a small, but combined, effect on learning ability. "Children differ 【C17】______ in how easy or difficult they find learning, and we need to recognize and【C18】______ these individual differences," said Plomin. "Heritability does not【C19】______ that anything is set in stone—it just means it may take more effort from parents, schools and teachers to【C20】______ the child up to speed."

In the 1960s, Peru"s sugar industry was among the most efficient in the world. It was all downhill thereafter. A military government expropriated the sugar estates on the country" s north coast, turning them into government-owned co-operatives. Having peaked at 1m tonnes in 1975, output fell to 400,000 tonnes by the early 1990s. But since then the sugar industry has passed into private hands again. Over the past decade production has returned to its historic peak—and is now set to boom. The change has been gradual. The government has sold its stake in the industry in tranches. But now investors are piling in. As in other parts of South and Central America they are attracted by higher prices for sugar because of its use for ethanol. Industry sources predict that land under sugar will expand by 10,000 hectares (25,000 acres) a year, more than doubling output over the next decade. That would turn Peru into an exporter—though not on the scale of Brazil or Colombia. Last year, local investors secured a controlling stake in Casa Grande, the largest sugar plantation. Bioterra, a Spanish company, plans a $ 90m ethanol plant nearby. Maple, a Texas company, has bought 10,600 hectares of land in the northern department of Piura. Its plans call for an investment of $120m and ethanol production of 120m litres a year. Brazilian and Ecuadorean investors are also active. Part of the attraction is that Peru has signed a free-trade agreement with the United States. Provided that it can satisfy the concerns of the new Democratic-controlled Congress in Washington D. C., about the enforcement of labour rights, this agreement should be approved later this year. It would render permanent existing trade preferences under which ethanol from Peru can enter the United States dutyfree. By contrast, ethanol exported from Brazil, the world"s biggest producer, must pay a tariff of 54 cents a gallon. Two harsh realities might sour these sweet dreams. Colombia, Central America and the Dominican Republic all enjoy similar preferences and have similar plans. Colombia already produces 360m litres a year of ethanol, much of it for export. The second question is whether sugar—a thirsty crop—is the best use of Peru"s desert coastal strip, with its precarious water supply. One of the country"s achievements of the past decade has been the private sector"s development of new export crops. It would be ironic if these businesses were threatened by sugar"s privatisation.