单选题Can animals have a sense of humor? Sally Blanchard, publisher of a newsletter called the Pet Bird Report, thinks a pet parrot may have pulled her leg. That's one explanation for the time her African gray parrot, named Bongo Marie, seemed to feign distress at the possible death of an Amazon parrot named Paco. It happened one day when Blanchard was making Cornish game hen for dinner. As Blanchard lifted her knife, the African gray threw back its head and said, "Oh, no! Paco!" Trying not to laugh, Blanchard said, "That's not Paco," and showed Bongo Marie that the Amazon was alive and well. Mimicking a disappointed tone, Bongo Marie said, "Oh, no," and launched into a hoarse laugh. Was the parrot joking when it seemed to believe the other bird was a goner? Did Bongo Marie comprehend Blanchard's response? Studies of African grays have shown that they can understand the meaning of words—for example, that red refers to a color, not just a particular red object. Parrots also enjoy getting a reaction out of humans, and so, whether or not Bongo Marie's crocodile tears were intentional, the episode was thoroughly satisfying from the parrot's point of view.

单选题International sport should create goodwill between the nations, but in the present organization of the Olympics, somehow encourages ______ patriotism.

单选题Totally Uperplexed by/U the first question on the exam, he passed on to the second.

单选题He was not ______ and preferred to be alone most of the time.

单选题Writers learn as apprentices do except that they have no master to work for except themselves and the market. The fact is that writing is an empirical art, which can only be learned by doing it. This fact is no reflection on the art of writing. Because skill is acquired in a seemingly haphazard way it is none the worse, indeed sometimes the better, for it. As in every art you must have at least the foundation of a gift, without which it is useless to proceed; but if the foundation exists, then success—not merely economic— is largely a matter of persistence and of making the most of opportunities. Experience is a hard school. Wastage among aspiring writers is high and most survivors have to rely on another job. The pros and cons of that situation are debatable. Working out in the world is not solely a form of insurance; it can also be a vital source of material and incentive, particularly for the fiction writer. Many well-known authors labored away at other jobs for part or all of their lives, and either profited there from or made their names notwithstanding. Economic security frees the mind from worry, but a routine job also consumes mental energy which might otherwise be harnessed to creative output. This applies as much to freelance journalism and other ancillary activities of authorship as to nonliterary employment. A regular stint of reviewing, reading manuscripts for publishers, broadcasting, lecturing, and the like, may oil the machinery of the mind, but it may also use up horsepower to the point of exhaustion. Moreover, continuity of creation is often vital—whether for the construction of a work of fiction or for historical research or, indeed, for any idea that has to be digested into literary form. Interruptions nowadays, however, are a professional hazard that all authors have to contend with, but they are not insuperable and not the worst threat to a living literature.

单选题1 Gene therapy and gene-based drugs are two ways we could benefit from our growing mastery of genetic science. But there will be others as well. Here is one of the remarkable therapies on the cutting edge of genetic research that could make their way into mainstream medicine in the coming years. While it's true that just about every cell in the body has the instructions to make a complete human, most of those instructions are inactivated, and with good reason: the last thing you want for your brain cells is to start churning out stomach acid or your nose to turn into a kidney. The only time cells truly have the potential to turn into any and all body parts is very early in a pregnancy, when so-called stem cells haven't begun to specialize. Yet this untapped potential could be a terrific boon to medicine. Most diseases involve the death of healthy cells—brain cells in Alzheimer's, cardiac cells in heart disease, pan creatic cells in diabetes, to name a few. If doctors could isolate stem cells, then direct their growth, they might be able to furnish patients with healthy replacement tissue. It was incredibly difficult, but last fall scientists at the University of Wisconsin man aged to isolate stem cells and get them to grow into neural, gut, muscle and bone cells. The process still can't be controlled, and may have unforeseen limitations; but if ef forts to understand and master stem-cell development prove successful, doctors will have a therapeutic tool of incredible power. The same applies to cloning, which is really just the other side of the coin; true clo ning, as first shown with the sheep Dolly two years ago, involves taking a developed cell and reactivating the genome within, resetting its developmental instructions to a pristine state. Once that happens, the rejuvenated cell can develop into a full-fledged animal, ge netically identical to its parent. For agriculture, in which purely physical characteristics like milk production in a cow or low fat in a hog have real market value, biological carbon copies could become routine within a few years. This past year scientists have done for mice and cows what Ian Wilmut did for Dolly, and other creatures are bound to join the cloned menagerie in the coming year. Human cloning, on the other hand, may be technically feasible but legally and emo tionally more difficult. Still, one day it will happen. The ability to reset body cells to a pristine, undeveloped state could give doctors exactly the same advantages they would get from stem cells, the potential to make healthy body tissues of all sorts, and thus to cure disease. That could prove to be a true "miracle cure. /

单选题In spite of ______reviews in the press, tile production of her play was almost certain oblivion by enthusiastic audiences whose acumen was greater than that of the critics. A. lukewarm... condemned to B. scathing... exposed to C. lackluster... rescued from D. sensitive... reduced to

单选题That singular achievement was not just about Korea's arrival as a football force but as a self-confident mature nation to be ______ seriously. A. coped B. shown C. established D. taken

单选题Any Democratic president will try to ______ the United States from the mess in Iraq, yet all would face rigid constraints. A. knockout B. distinguish C. overture D. extricate

单选题When snow collects on top of a building during the winter, the weight sometimes weakens the construction and occasionally causes the roof to collapse.

单选题In no______ should you do this without help and advice from your doctor— restricting the diet of small children can be very dangerous.(2002年10月中国科学院考博试题)

单选题Our football team's ______ has been excellent during the whole year.

单选题What draws my firm"s attention is the design of cities. When we designed America"s first "green" office building two decades ago, we felt very 1 But today, the idea that buildings can be good for people and the environment will be increasingly influential in years to come. Back in 1984 we discovered that most manufactured products for decoration weren"t designed for 2 use. The "energy-efficient" buildings constructed after the 1970s energy crisis revealed indoor air quality problems caused by materials such as paints and carpet. So, we"ve been focusing on these materials 3 to the molecules, looking for ways to make them safe for people and the planet. Home builders can now use materials that don"t 4 the quality of the air, water, or soil. 5 , our basic design strategy is focused not simply on being "less bad" but on creating completely healthful materials that can be either safely returned to the soil 6 reused by industry again. In fact, the world"s largest manufacturer has already 7 a fully and safely recyclable carpet. No one 8 to create a building that destroys the planet. But our current industrial systems are inevitably causing these conditions. So 9 simply trying to reduce the damage, we are adopting a positive approach. We"re giving people healthful products and an opportunity to make choices that have a 10 effect on the world. It"s not just the building industry, either. Entire cities are taking these environmentally positive approaches to design, planning and building.

单选题 Governments that want their people to prosper in the burgeoning world economy should guarantee two basic rights: the right to private property and the right to enforceable contracts, says Mancur Olson in his book Power and Prosperity. Olson was an economics professor at the University of Maryland until his death in 1998. Some have argued that such rights are merely luxuries that wealthy societies bestow, but Olson turns that argument around and asserts that such rights are essential to creating wealth. "In comes are low in most of the countries of the world, in short, because the people in those countries do not have secure in dividual rights," he says. Certain simple economic activities, such as food gathering and making handicrafts, rely mostly on individual labor; property is not necessary. But more advanced activities, such as the mass production of goods, require machines and factories and offices. This production is often called capital-intensive, but it is really property-intensive, Olson observes. "No one would normally engage in capital-intensive production if he or she did not have rights that kept the valuable capital from being taken by bandits, whether roving or stationary," he argues. "There is no private property without government—individuals may have possessions, the way a dog possesses a bone, but there is private property only if the society protects and defends a private right to that possession against other private parties and against the government as well." Would-be entrepreneurs, no matter how small, also need a government and court system that will make sure people honor their contracts. In fact, the banking systems relied on by developed nations are based on just such an enforceable contract system. "We would not deposit our money in banks...if we could not rely on the bank having to honor its contract with us, and the bank would not be able to make the profits it needs to stay in business if it could not enforce its loan contracts with borrowers," Olson writes. Other economists have argued that the poor economies of Third World and communist countries are the result of governments setting both prices and the quantities of goods produced rather than letting a free market determine them. Olson agrees there is some merit to this point of view, but he argues that government intervention is not enough to explain the poverty of these countries. Rather, the real problem is lack of individual rights that give people incentive to generate wealth. "If a society has clear and secure individual rights, there are strong incentives (刺激，动力) to produce, invest, and engage in mutually advantageous trade, and therefore at least some economic advance," Olson concludes.

单选题His trick convinced none but the most ______. A. credulous B. plausible C. trustworthy D. feasible

单选题______ inflation, driven by rising food and oil costs, is striking hardest at the world's very poor, who are forced to spend 60 to 80 percent of their income on food. A. Surging B. Sprouting C. Spilling D. Spinning

单选题I'm ______ according to my own experience, that the present situation will continue for a long time. A. assuming B. pretending C. illustrating D. appealing

单选题Villagers and those newly arrived from Europe, fed up with terms of employment and tenancy in the rural areas, took advantage of cheap modern transportation to move into the cities.

单选题Human facial expressions differ from those of animals in the degree to which they can be ______ controlled and modified. A.deliberately B.consequently C.originally D.absolutely

单选题Scientists use observation and experimentation to examine a specific concept ______ existing theories and principles. A. in the light of B. in view of C. as to D. in the interest of