单选题Man: The front tire is flat, and the seat needs to be raised. Woman: Why not take it to Mr. Smith? Question: What kind of work does Mr. Smith probably do?
单选题Man: Whoops! Did any of my coffee just spill on you? Woman: Ouch] It's hot! Is that all you have to say? Question: What does the woman imply?
单选题Having come from an {{U}}affluent{{/U}} society, Dick found it difficult to adjust to a small, country town.
单选题{{B}}Passage Three{{/B}}
Through the years, our view of
what leadership is and who can exercise it has changed considerably. Leadership
competencies have remained constant, but our understanding of what it is, how it
works, and the ways in which people learn to apply it has shifted. We do have
the beginnings of a general theory of leadership, from history and social
research and above all from the thoughts of reflective practitioners such as
Moses, Julius Caesar, and James Madison, and in our own time from such disparate
sources of wisdom as Gandhi, Winston Churchill, Mao Tse-tung, and Henry
Kissinger, who have very little in common except that they have not only been
there but tried with some fairness to speculate on paper about it.
But tales and reflective observation are not enough except to convince us
that leaders are physically strong and abnormally hard workers. Today we are a
little closer to understanding how and who people lead, but it wasn't easy
getting there. Decades of academic analysis have given us more than 350
definitions of leadership. Literally thousands of empirical investigations of
leaders have been conducted in the last seventy-five years alone, but no
clear understanding exists as to what distinguishes leaders from non-leaders,
and perhaps more important, what distinguishes effective leaders from
ineffective leaders and effective organizations from ineffective
organizations. Never have so many labored so long to say so
little. Multiple interpretations of leadership exist, each providing a fragment
of insight but each remaining an incomplete and wholly inadequate explanation.
Most of these definitions don't agree with each other, and many of them would
seem quite remote to the leaders whose skills are being examined. Definitions
reflect fashions, political tides and academic trends. They don't always reflect
reality and sometimes they just represent nonsense. It's as if what Braque once
said about art is also true of leadership: "The only thing that matters in art
is the part that cannot be explained. " Many theories of
leadership have come and gone. Some looked at the leader. Some looked at the
situation. None has stood the test of time. With such a track record, it
is understandable why leadership research and theory have been so frustrating as
to deserve the label "{{U}}the La Brea Tar Pits{{/U}}" of organizational inquiry.
Located in Los Angeles, these asphalt pits house the remains of a long
sequence of prehistoric animals that came to investigate but never left the
area.
单选题Evidence exists that hearing problems may be {{U}}alleviated{{/U}} by changes in diet and exercise habits.
单选题Laws and regulations in each country have to be made ______ the constitution of the country.
单选题The student was told that his high grades in English could ______ for low grades in science.
单选题{{B}}Passage Two{{/B}}
The bat is a marvel of evolutionary
adaptation. Most of them roost during the day, and are active at night or
twilight for they can avoid objects in the dark. I have seen this phenomenon at
work. In my youth I used to explore old mining shafts in the Randsburg district.
Sometimes my intrusion disturbed clans of bats that were hanging upside down in
the dark caves. They would fly about to evident panic, but the
panic was mine, not theirs. Some flew crazily out into the daylight but some
merely returned to their perches. None ever touched me, much to my
relief. They may exist but I have never seen a stuffed nylon
bat. To children, bats may not be as lovable as koala bears. Perhaps
manufacturers do not regard them as marketable. It is not so much their hideous
faces and winged bodies that have caused us to get rid of bats, but rather the
ancient myths in which dead humans, such as Count Dracula, leave their graves at
night in the form of bats to suck blood from human victims, especially fragile
young woman. As we know from some movies these vampires must return to their
graves before daylight. Endangered young women can frustrate vampire by sleeping
with a string of garlic around their necks. There are actually
three species of bloodsucking bats. They are called vampire bats after the
ancient legends, and their tactics are indeed frightful. Like Count Dracula,
they feed at night. They make a small cut in their sleeping victim with sharp
incisor teeth, usually not even awakening their prey. Then they suck the blood
that sustains them. Should that discourage children from wanting
them as pets? As Mitchell notes from the New 'Yorker ad, bats
are clean and intelligent. Most of them are insect-eaters, and they serve nature
by destroying crop-damaging insects. They also pollinate (传授花粉) flowers
and spreading seed. Bat Conservation International claims that
without bats a host of insects/pests would multiply unchecked and many of our
planet's most valuable plants would go unpollinated. It is clear
that the bat is our friend, and that, despite its appearance, it is here to
serve humanity. I'd be the first to buy a stuffed nylon bat.
Children's hearts are big, and bats need love,
too.
单选题Scraps of food could soon be helping power your home, thanks to an ultra-cheap bacteria-driven battery. Its developers hope that instead of feeding the dog or making garden compost(混合肥料) ,organic household waste could top up your home's electricity. Although such "microbial fuel cells" (MFCs)have been developed in the past, they have always proved extremely inefficient and expensive. Now Chris Melhuish and technologists at the University of the West of England(UWE)in Bristol have come up with a simplified MFC that costs as little as £10 to make. Right now, their fuel cell runs only on sugar cubes, since these produce almost no waste when broken down, but they aim to move on to carrot power. "It has to be able to use raw materials, rather than giving it a refined fuel," says Melhuish. Inside the Walkman-sized battery, a colony of E. coil bacteria produce enzymes that break down carbohydrates, releasing hydrogen atoms. The cell also contains chemicals that drive a series of redox, or reduction and oxidation reactions, stripping electrons from the hydrogen atoms and delivering them steadily to the fuel cell's anode(正极). This creates a voltage that can be used to power a circuit. To prove the MFC works, the researchers are using it to power a small light-sensitive robot. And when a number of the cells are connected in series, they could power domestic appliances, running a 40-watt bulb for eight hours on about 50 grams of sugar. Earlier MFCs were inefficient because they relied on energy-hungry filters and pumps. By experimenting with different anode materials, the UWE team have figured out how to make their system work: they dump the bacteria and redox chemicals directly into the cell. In its current form, the UWE team says its organic battery can produce eight times as much power as any previous MFC. But Melhuish wants to improve this, both by scaling it up and finding a better mix of redox chemicals.
单选题{{B}}Passage Four{{/B}}
Diego Chiapello, legally blind since
birth, isn't one of Italy's famous "mama's boys" who live with their parents
into adulthood. The 27-year-old lives alone in Milan, works as a network
administrator, loves diving and dreams of sailing across the Atlantic with a
sight-impaired (有视力障碍的) crew. Obviously, he's not your average
disabled person--but especially so in Italy. The country has more barriers to
integration than almost anywhere else on the continent. Among European
countries, Italy ranks third from the bottom in accessibility for the disabled,
ahead of only Greece and Portugal. People who use wheelchairs, especially, find
it difficult to navigate the country's cobblestone (鹅卵石) streets, ride buses or
visit restaurants, shops and museums. Less than a quarter of Italy's disabled
hold jobs compared with 47 percent for Europe. But the biggest
obstacle for the country's physically challenged may, in fact, be the fabled
Italian family. Because of the social defect that still attaches to
disabilities, "they tend to keep disabled people at home and out of public
view," explains Giovanni Marri, head of an employment training center in Milan
that caters to the handicapped. Thus while 15 percent of the country's families
include a disabled person, according to surveys, only 2 percent of Italians
report going to school with a disabled person and only 4 percent work with
one. Italians are beginning to recognize the problem. Over the
past decade, the government has passed laws targeting everything from workplace
discrimination to accessibility requirements. A recent study by the European
Union found that 85 percent of Italians admit that public transportation and
infrastructure (基础设施) are inadequate for the handicapped, and 97 percent say
action is needed. But the biggest barrier is psychological. "Italian companies
are afraid of hiring disabled people," says Chiapello. The only way to alter
that, he says, is for Italy's disabled to do 'what he did--get out of the house
and demand change.
单选题Their business Uflourished/U when they moved to downtown area.
单选题Only thoroughly unpleasant people leave the ______ of their picnics to spoil the appearance of the countryside.
单选题Companies can maintain good business relations by Uabiding by/U their promises and agreements.
单选题{{B}}Passage Two{{/B}}
California has a new program called the Digital
Textbook Initiative. "Starting this fall with high school math and science, we
will be the first state in the nation to provide schools with a state-approved
list of digital textbooks. " That was Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger in
June,talking about his effort to get schools to use materials available free
online. He listed reasons why he thinks digital textbooks make sense.
California approves traditional textbooks in six-year cycles. Digital ones
can offer the latest information. They lighten the load of school bags. They
save paper and trees, and make learning more fun and interactive. And above all,
he said, they help schools with their finances. The state has
had to make severe cuts in school spending because of deep financial problems.
More than six million students attend California public schools.
Earlier this year, California invited content developers to offer digital
math and science materials for high schools. These had to meet at least 90% of
the state's learning requirements.Specially trained teachers examined 16
textbooks and approved ten of them. Six of the ten were
published by the CK 12 Foundation, a nonprofit group that had been developing
digital science and math books for about two years. The foundation paid teachers
and other education professionals to write and edit them. The money came from a
group financed by the Khosla Family. California cannot require
schools to use the digital textbooks. Individual school districts will have to
decide for themselves. Susan Martimo, a California Department
of Education official, says she does not expect widespread use right away. Her
best guess is that some schools with a lot of technology will be the first to
use them, but only in addition to their traditional books.
School administrators point out that the texts may be flee online, but
students need a way to access them. Not everyone has a computer or electronic
reader. Schools could print out copies, but that would not help the environment.
Also, there is the cost to train teachers to use digital textbooks effectively.
单选题A plot to ______ the President was uncovered by government agents.
单选题
单选题Isn't it ________ when you learn something you've never known before?
单选题One of the most widely discussed subjects these days is. energy crisis. Automobile drivers cannot get gasoline; homeowners may not get enough heating oil; factories are (56) by a fuel shortage. The crisis has (57) questions about the large oil companies and windfall (58) . Critics of the oil industry charge that the major companies are getting richer because of the oil shortage. Shortage, of course, drives prices up. As oil prices rise, the critics say, the oil companies will make more money (windfall profits) without doing a thing to (59) the extra cash. "Windfall" profits are sudden unearned profits--profits made (60) luck, or some special turn of events. The word itself tells what "windfall" means--something blown down by the wind, such as trees, or fruit (61) from trees. But the word has taken on a special meaning. This meaning (getting something unearned) was first used in medieval England. This is (62) it started: at that time much of the land was in the hands of (63) barons. The rest of the people, commoners, lived and worked on their vast estates. They planted the seed, cared for the farm animals and harvested the crops. Not all the land, however, was used for farming. Every baron kept a large private forest for (64) deer and wild bear. When hungry, the people sometimes would kill the animals in the lord's forest for food. And there were times (65) they might cut down trees for fuel. So, strong laws were passed to protect the forests, and the animals. Violations were severely (66) . But there was one way people could get wood from the forest. If they found trees blown down by the wind ("windfall") they were free to take them for use as fuel in their homes. And that is the meaning that has come down to us--something good gotten by luck or (67) . The common people of old England, often hungry and cold, must often have prayed for a good strong wind. Critics today (68) that the oil industry has also been praying for something just like it --some political or military (69) that might produce a windfall--a rise in oil prices and profits. The oil companies deny that this is so. In Congress, critics of the oil companies have proposed a (70) on such profits. The debate on rising oil price will go on for some time, and most likely we will hear more and more about windfall profits.
单选题Woman: Where do you plan to go for dinner?
Man: I was thinking of going to Joe’s. It’s a stone’s throw away. Besides, the environment is good.
Question: What can we learn about Joe’s?
单选题The audience, hostile at first, were greatly ______ by her excellent performance.
