单选题In the wake of 11 September, Visionics, a leading manufacturer, issued a fact sheet explaining how its technology could enhance airport security. They called it "protecting civilization from the faces of terror". The company's share price skyrocketed, as did the stocks of other face-recognition companies, and airports across the globe began installing the software and running trials. As the results start to come in, however, the gloss (光滑表面) is wearing off. No matter what you might have heard about face-recognition software, Big Brother is not so good as expected. The concern was based largely on an independent assessment of face-recognition systems carried out in 2000 in the U. S. by the Department of Defense. These tests found that to catch 90 percent of suspects at an airport, face-recognition software would have to raise a huge number of false alarms. One in three people would end up being dragged out of the line and that's assuming everyone looks straight at the camera and makes no effort to disguise himself. Results from the recent airport trials would seem to justify that concern. Most face-recognition systems use some kind of geometric technique to translate a picture of a face into a set of numbers that capture its characteristics. Once it has identified these boundaries, the software calculates their relative sizes and positions and converts this geometry into what Visionics calls a "faceprint". Feed the software a series of mugshots, and it'll calculate their faceprints. Then it can monitor live CCTV images for the faces of known suspects. When it finds a match, it raises an alarm. Even if the system does manage to capture a face, the problems aren't over. The trouble is that a suspect's faceprint taken from live CCTV is unlikely to match the one in the database in every detail. To give themselves the best chance of picking up suspects, operators can set the software so that it doesn't have to make an exact match before it raises the alarm. But there's a price to pay. the more potential suspects you pick up, the more false alarms you get. You have to get the balance just right. Despite the disappointing tests, some people insist that face-recognition technology is good enough to put terrorists off. After all the claims and counter-claims, with no one able to discern (洞察) the truth, the industry may soon have to face up to reality.

单选题The scenery on the way was truly {{U}}spectacular{{/U}}, with beautiful mountains, rivers and valleys, and I took a lot of pictures from the window.

单选题{{B}}Passage Five{{/B}} For decades, researchers have grappled with the problem of creating a machine that can tell, definitively, whether a person is lying. Until recently, their work has been far from successful. The past generation of lie-detection technologies has been put under scientific scrutiny and found {{U}}wanting{{/U}}. But science, ever resourceful, is coming up with new ideas. The problem with past lie detectors is that it relies on second-hand signs of lying, such as a person's breathing rate, pulse, blood pressure which a good actor can suppress. Furthermore, someone who is telling the truth might exhibit just these signals, because the very act of being questioned by the authorities is stressful. Instead, current research is looking directly at the source of lies, the brain itself. Daniel Langleben uses a brain-scanning technique called functional magnetic-resonance imaging to probe his subjects' honesty. The lie which those subjects are asked to tell is a small one: they have to persuade Dr. Langleben that they are holding a particular playing card when often they are actually holding a different one. Each successful deception earns a subject $20. The researchers have not had to hand out much cash, though. The brains of lying subjects light up in particular places in ways that they do not in the honest. Another brain-probing lie-detection technique, based on electroencephalography (EEG), has actually made it out of the laboratory and into the courtroom. Lawrence Farwell calls it MERMER (memory and encoding related multifaceted electroencephalographic response). MERMER works by hooking someone up to an EEG machine and asking him about specific details of, for example, a crime scene. Lack of a brainwave called P300 denotes lack of familiarity with the details in question, suggesting any denial should he taken at face value. The technique has already stood up to legal scrutiny twice. It will soon be used again, in the appeal by Jimmy Slaughter against his conviction for murdering his ex-girlfriend, Melody Wuertz. MERMER suggests that Mr. Slaughter had no recollection of important facts about the murder, such as which rooms the victim' body was located in. Although not yet foolproof, these methods do offer possible alternatives to the antiquated techniques of the polygraph. The truth is out there. It is just a question of finding it.

单选题When the Pacific War broke out, Edward was drafted by the navy and served four full years on a big aircraft carrier.

单选题International ______should be reduced between the two countries when this agreement is signed.

单选题These openness measures are equally important in the ______ of public health.

单选题{{B}}Passage Three{{/B}} A report published recently brings bad news about air pollution. It suggests that it could be as damaging to our health as exposure to the radiation from the 1986 Ukraine nuclear power disaster. The report was published by the UK Royal Commission on Environmental Pollution. But what can city people do to reduce exposure to air pollution? Quite a lot, it turns out. Avoid walking in busy streets. Choose side streets and parks instead. Pollution levels can fall a considerable amount just by moving a few meters away from the main pollution source—exhaust fumes (烟气). Also don't walk behind smokers. Walk on the windward side of the street where exposure to pollutants can be 50 percent less than on the downwind side. Sitting on the driver's side of a bus can increase your exposure by 10 percent, compared with sitting on the side nearest the pavement. Sitting upstairs on a double-decker can reduce exposure. It is difficult to say whether traveling on an underground train is better or worse than taking the bus. Air pollution on underground trains tends to be less toxic than that at street level, because underground pollution is mostly made up of tiny iron particles thrown up by wheels hitting the rails. But diesel and petrol fumes have a mixture of pollutants. When you are crossing a road, stand well back from the curb while you wait for the light to change. Every meter really does count when you are close to traffic. As the traffic begins to move, fumes can be reduced in just a few seconds. So holding your breath for just a moment can make a difference, even though it might sound silly. There are large sudden pollution increases during rush hours. Pollution levels fall during nighttime. The time of year also makes a big difference. Pollution levels tend to be at their lowest during spring and autumn when winds are freshest. Extreme cold or hot weather has a trapping effect and tends to cause a build-up of pollutants.

单选题We hadn't met for about 15 years, but I recognized her ______ I saw her.

单选题Man: After high school, I'd like to go to college and major in business administration. I really like power and enjoy telling people what to do. Woman: You're very ambitious. But I'd rather spend my college days finding out what children are interested in. Child's psychology is for me. Question: What do we learn from the conversation?

单选题{{B}}Passage Three{{/B}} As the global village continues to shrink and cultures collide, it is essential for all of us to become more sensitive, more aware of, and more observant to the body language (motions/gestures) that surround us each day. And as many of us cross over cultural borders, it would be fitting for us to respect, learn, and understand more about the effective and powerful "silent language" of gestures. Without gestures, our world would be static and colorless. The social anthropologists, Edward T. Hall claims 60 percent of all our communication is nonverbal. In that case, how can we possibly communicate with one another without gestures? The world is a giddy montage (蒙太奇) of vivid gestures--the ones used by traffic police, street vendors, expressway drivers, teachers, children on playground and athletes with their exuberant (热情洋溢的) hugging, clenched fists and "high fives". People all over the world use their hands, heads, and bodies to communicate expressively. Gestures and body language communicate as effectively as words- maybe even more effectively. We use gestures daily, almost instinctively, from beckoning to a waiter, or punctuating a business presentation with visual signals to airport ground attendants guiding an airline pilot into the jet-way or a parent using a whole dictionary of gestures to teach a child. Gestures are woven into our social lives. The "vocabulary" of gestures can be at once informative and entertaining...but also dangerous. Gestures can be menacing, warm, instructive, or even sensuous. Bear in mind that some gestures are in general use, but there may always be exceptions. In recent years, Western and contemporary values and ideas have become more popular and have either influenced, altered, and even replaced, some of the more traditional gestures. Understanding human behavior is tricky stuff. No two people behave in precisely the same way. Nor do people from the same culture all perform exactly the same gestures and body language uniformly. For almost any gestures there will probably be a minority within a given nationality who might say, "Well, some might attach that meaning to it, but to me it means..." and then they will provide a different interpretation. In the world of gestures, the best single piece of advice is to remember the two A's--"ask" and be "aware". If you see a motion or gesture that is new or confusing, ask a local person what it signifies. Then, be aware of the many body signs and customs around you.

单选题The doctor was in a ______ whether he should tell the patient the truth.

单选题European conservatives, until the end o the 19th century, rejected democratic principles and institutions. Instead they opted for monarchies or for authoritarian government.

单选题Placido Domingo has sung in opera house throughout the United States and {{U}}abroad{{/U}}.

单选题They have announced that the two failing firms have eventually merged.

单选题The first step in planning a marketing strategy for a new product is to analyze the {{U}}breakdown{{/U}} of sales figures for competitive products.

单选题When I was still an architecture student, a teacher told me, "We learn more from buildings that fall down than from buildings that stand up.' What he meant was that construction is as much the result of experience as of theory. Although structural design follows established formulas, the actual performance of a building is complicated by the passage of time, the behavior of users, the natural elements—and unnatural events. All are difficult to simulate. Buildings, unlike cars, can't be crash-tested. The first important lesson of the World Trade Center collapse is that tall buildings can withstand the impact of a large jetliner. The twin towers were supported by 59 perimeter columns on each side. Although about 30 of these columns, extending from four to six floors, were destroyed in each building by the impact, initially both towers remained standing. Even so. the death toll (代价)was appalling—2245 people lost their lives. I was once asked, how tall buildings should be designed given what we'd learned from the World Trade Center collapse. My answer was, "Lower. " The question of when a tall building becomes unsafe is easy to answer. Common aerial fire-fighting ladders in use today are 100 feet high and can reach to about the 10th floor, so fires in buildings up to 10 stories high can be fought from the exterior (外部). Fighting fires and evacuating occupants above that height depend on fire stairs. The taller the building, the longer it will take for firefighters to climb to the scene of the fire. So the simple answer to the safety question is "Lower than 10 stories." Then why don't cities impose lower height limits? A 60-story office building does not have six times as much rentable space as a 10-story building. However, all things being equal, such a building will produce four times more revenue and four times more in property taxes. So cutting building heights would mean cutting city budgets. The most important lesson of the World Trade Center collapse is not that we should stop building tall buildings but that we have misjudged their cost. We did the same thing when we underestimated the cost of hurtling along a highway in a steel box at 70 miles per hour. It took many years before seat belts, air bags, radial tires, and antilock brakes became commonplace. At first, cars simply were too slow to warrant concern. Later, manufacturers resisted these expensive devices, arguing that consumers would not pay for safety. Now we do—willingly.

单选题In recent years there has been an increasing number of large oil spills. These spills, some of which have occurred directly at the site of extraction and others during transportation, have had in adverse effect on marine organisms. Because of the importance of these organisms in the life cycle, research has been carried out in order to identify more accurately the reactions of these organisms to oil. A recent study has revealed that it is essential to understand that there is not one but rather, at least four possible ways in which oil can affect an organism. First, as a result of an organism's ingestion of oil, direct lethal toxicity (毒性), that is, death by poisoning, can occur. However, in cases where the effect is less extreme, sub-lethal toxicity occurs. While cellular and physiological processes are involved in both cases in the latter, the organism continues to survive. Second, in some cases, oil forms a covering on the organism. This covering, referred to as coating, can result in smothering, that is, death of the organism due to lack of air. In instances where the effects of coating are less severe, interference with movement and loss of insulated properties of feathers or fur may occur. The third effect of oil on marine organisms is the tainting or contamination of edible organisms. This results from the incorporation of hydrocarbons (碳化氢) into the organism, thus making it unfit for human consumption. The final effect which this study has revealed is that of habitual changes. The alterations in the physical and chemical environment brought about by oil spills result in a change in the species composition of a region. The implications of this must recent study are far-reaching. An oil spill in a particular region could critically upset the balance of nature, the total effect only becoming apparent after many years.

单选题Our readers are comfortable with our clear, ______words that inform and entertain them.