单选题There are over 6,000 different computer and online games in the world now. A segment of them are considered to be both educational and harmlessly entertaining. One such game teaches geography and another trains pilots. Others train the player in logical thinking and literate, which is more important in this technology-driven era.
But the dark side of the computer games has become more and more obvious. "A segment of games features anti-social themes of violence, sex and crude language," says David Walsh, president of the National Institute on Media and Family. "Unfortunately. It"s a segment that seems particularly popular with kids aged from eight to fifteen."
One study showed that almost 90 percent of the computer and online games young people preferred contained violence. The investigators said, "There are not just games anymore. These are learning machines. We"re teaching kids in the most incredible manner what it"s like to pull the trigger. What they are not learning are the real-life consequences.
They also said, "The new and more sophisticated games are even worse, because they have better graphics and allow the player to participate in even more realistic violent acts." In the game Carmageddon, for example, the player will have driven over and killed up to 33,000 people by the time all levels are compelled. A description of the outcome of the game says: "Your victims not only squish under your tires and splatter blood on the windshield, they also get on their knees and beg for mercy, or commit suicide. If you like, you can also dismember them."
Is all this simulated violence harmful? Approximately 3,000 different studies have been conducted on this subject. Many have suggested that there is a connection between violence in games and increased aggressiveness in the players.
Some specialists downplay the influence of the games, saying that other factors must be taken into consideration, such as the possibility that kids who already have violent tendencies are choosing such games. But could it be that violent games still play a contributing role? It seems unrealistic to insist that people are not influenced by what they see. If that were true, why would the commercial world spend billions of dollars annually for television advertising?
单选题{{B}}Passage 3{{/B}}
The beginning of what was to become the
United States was characterized by inconsistencies in the values and behavior of
its population, inconsistencies that were reflected by population,
inconsistencies that were reflected by its spokesmen, who took conflicting
stances in many areas, but on the subject of race, the conflicts were
particularly vivid. The idea that the Caucasian race and European civilization
were superior was well entrenched in the culture of the colonists at the very
time that the "egalitarian" republic was founded. Voluminous historical evidence
indicates that, in the mind of the average colonist, the African was a heathen,
he was black, and he was different in crucial philosophical ways. As time
progressed, he was also increasingly captive, adding to the conception of
deviance. The African, therefore, could be justifiaby (and even
philanthropically) treated as property according to the reasoning of
slavetraders and slaveholders. Although slaves were treated as
objects, bountiful evidence suggests that they did not view themselves
similarly. There are many published autobiographies of slaves. African- American
scholars are beginning to know enough about West African culture to appreciate
the existential climate in which the early captives were raised and which
therefore could not be totally destroyed by the enslavement experience. This was
a climate that defined individuality in collective terms. Individuals were
members of a tribe, within which they had prescribed roles determined by the
history of their family within the tribe. Individuals were inherently a part of
the natural elements on which they depended, and they were actively related to
those tribal members who once lived and to those not yet born.
The colonial plantation system which was established and into which
Africans were thrust did virtually eliminate tribal affiliations. Individuals
were separated from kin. Interrelation- ships among kin kept together were often
transient because of sales. A new identification with those slaves working and
living together in a given place could satisfy what was undoubtedly a natural
tendency to be a member of a group. New family units became the most important
attachments of individual slaves. Thus, as the system of slavery was gradually
institutionalized, West African affiliation tendencies adapted to it.
This exceedingly complex dual influence is still reflected in black
community life, and the double consciousness of black Americans is the major
characteristic of African-American mentality. Du Bois articulated this divided
consciousness as follows: The history of the American Negro is
the history of this strife--this longing to attain self-conscious manhood, to
merge his double self into a better and truer self. In this merging, he wishes
neither of the older selves to be best. Several black political
movements have looked upon this duality as destructively conflictual and have
variously urged its reconciliation. Thus, the integrationists and the black
nationalists, to be crudely general, have both been concerned with resolving the
conflict, but in opposite directions.
单选题Bad traveling conditions had seriously______their progress to their destination in that region. A. tugged B. demolished C. hampered D. destroyed
单选题
Nearly two thousand years have passed
since a census decreed by Caesar Augustus became part of the greatest story ever
told. Many things have changed in the intervening years. The hotel industry
worries more about overbuilding than overcrowding, and if they had to meet an
unexpected influx, few inns would have a manger to accommodate the weary guests.
Now it is the census taker that does the traveling in the fond hope that a
highly mobile population will stay put long enough to get a good sampling.
Methods of gathering, recording, and evaluating information have presumably been
improved a great deal. And where then it was the modest purpose of Rome to
obtain a simple head count as an adequate basis for levying taxes, now batteries
of complicated statistical series furnished by governmental agencies and private
organizations are eagerly scanned and interpreted by sages and seers to get a
clue to future events. The Bible does not tell us how the Roman census takers
made out, and as regards our more immediate concern, the reliability of present
day economic forecasting, there are considerable differences of opinion. They
were aired at the celebration of the 125th anniversary of the American
Statistical Association. There was the thought that business forecasting might
well be on its way from an art to a science, and some speakers talked about
newfangled computers and highfalutin mathematical systems in terms of excitement
and endearment which we, at least in our younger years when these things
mattered, would have associated more readily with the description of a fair
maiden. But others pointed to the deplorable record of highly esteemed forecasts
and forecasters with a batting average below that of the Mets, and the
President-elect of the Association cautioned that "high powered statistical
methods are usually in order where the facts are crude and inadequate, the exact
contrary of what crude and inadequate statisticians assume". We left his
birthday party somewhere between hope and despair and with the conviction, not
really newly acquired, that proper statistical methods applied to ascertainable
facts have their merits in economic forecasting as long as neither forecaster
nor public is deluded into mistaking the delineation of probabilities and trends
for a prediction of certainties of mathematical
exactitude.
单选题
单选题I was ______ by the court to repossess this property.
单选题A good driver must have a good ______of distance.
单选题It is______of you to turn down the radio while your sister is still ill in bed.
单选题It is important that an undergraduate ______a grade point average of B "in his major field.(2008年四川大学考博试题)
单选题
单选题She told her story, ______ now and then to wipe the tears from her eyes.
单选题In contrast to rock musicians, jazz players prefer to spend their time with their music and tend to measure success by that single standard, as a trombonist once put it: "A jazz musician would rather play a good concert for three people than a bad one for three thousand. "All the same, with their fellow players, jazzmen are collegiate and gregarious, exchange musical ideas in a spirit of mutual support or friendly competition, uniting in a collaborative effort to raise the level of their art. Even the greatest individuals have benefited from the talents of others.
In this legendary band, Duke Ellington provided star soloists with the ideal framework for their abilities. At the same time, they inspired him with the rich material of their personal idioms and phrases, which found their way into his compositions. In fact, Ellington was so adept at recycling what he heard that one of them described him as "not a composer but a compiler".
Ellington"s creative gifts were genuine and vast, but for much of his life he did receive crucial assistance not only from the involvement of his band, but from an actual day-in, day-out collaborator. In 1938 he met Billy Strayhorn, a young pianist-composer who was immediately brought into the ducal fold. Strayhorn became Ellington"s altered ego, contributing scores to the band but functioning even more importantly as a silent partner, completing pieces Ellington left unfinished, reworking others and acting as all-purpose composer—sometimes credited, more often not.
Ellington provided Strayhorn with financial security, artistic respect and the creative medium of the Ellington band. Throughout their partnership—which lasted until Strayhorn"s death in 1967—they never had a contract. Ellington simply paid all creative equal and friends, describing him as "my favorite human being", Strayhorn, a homosexual bon vivant, brilliant but self-effacing, let Ellington take both the glory and the strain of stardom, while he relieved some of the artistic pressure with a talent comparable to the leader"s own.
Though occasionally there was discord over the matter of official composer credit in their joint works, Ellington always publicly acknowledged his colleague"s contributions, and the many Strayhorn originals in Ellington"s book speak for themselves, including the band"s famous theme and greatest hit, "Take the Train". Thought the young man was adept at imitating the ducal style, his own unique voice, full of subtle impressionist colors, influenced a generation of later jazz composers.
单选题A(High-grade) B(written) paper is C(frequently) D(obtained) from cotton rags.
单选题American companies are evolving from mass-production manufacturing to______ enterprises.
单选题New York ______ second in the production of apples, producing 850,000,000 pounds this year.
单选题The author______us as consistently fair and accurate about the issues.(2013年3月中国科学院考博试题)
单选题Giving the child problems he cant solve will only frustrate him.
单选题
单选题There are four basic types of competition in business that form a continuum from pure competition through monopolistic competition and oligopoly (商品供应垄断) to monopoly. At one end of the continuum, pure competition results when every company has a similar product. Companies that deal in commodities such as wheat or corn are often involved in pure competition. In pure competition, it is often the ease and efficiency of distribution that influences purchase. In contrast, in monopolistic competition, several companies may compete for the sale of items that may be substituted. The classic example of monopolistic competition is coffee and tea. If the price of one is perceived as too high, consumers may begin to purchase the other. Coupons and other discounts (折扣) are often used as part of a marketing strategy to influence sales. Oligopoly occurs when a few companies dominate the sales of a product or service. For example, only five airline carriers control more than 70 percent of all ticket sales in the United States. In oligopoly, serious competition is not considered desirable because it would result in reduced revenue for every company in the group. Although price wars do occur, in which all companies offer substantial savings to customers, a somewhat similar tendency to raise prices simultaneously is also usual. Finally, monopoly occurs when only one firm sells the product. Some monopolies have been tolerated for producers of goods and services that have been considered basic or essential, including electricity and water. In these cases, it is government control, rather than competition, that protects and influences sales.
单选题States are considering major changes in prepaid college tuition programs - raising prices, restricting participation of canceling them - as they grapple with financial woes. Nationwide, families will likely have to pay more to participate, or accept that they might not cover tuition when children go to college.
Colorado has closed its prepaid plan to new investors and told existing ones that it may not cover future tuition increases. Wisconsin stopped selling its plan Dec. 20. Maryland and Illinois are among states hiking prices by 20% or more.
Prepaid plans let parents lock in tuition by paying for it now, protecting them against rising costs. But the hear market has hurt investment returns, leaving the plans unable to keep up with big increases in tuition. So far, Colorado is the only state that has told participants their investments may not cover tuition, and no plan has missed a payment.
Other states have said they will fulfill obligations, even if it requires a legislative bailout. Still, the financial problems have forced thousands to grapple with uncertainty - something prepaid plans were designed to avoid. More than 1 million families have an estimated $ 8 billion invested in the plans, says < Saving for College. com >.
Some states, including Colorado, may replace the prepaid plan with a guaranteed investment contract, a CD-like investment that"s backed by an insurance company. Investors get a minimum rate of return, but no guarantee that it will cover tuition.
Wisconsin"s EdVest program is encouraging investment in a stable value fund, which is similar to a guaranteed investment contract, in its investment plan. Wisconsin"s prepaid plan never guaranteed to cover tuition inflation. It also never got a lot of investors, possibly because it lacked that guarantee.
In Florida, a task force is considering limiting the state"s prepaid program to low-income families. Ohio officials are also looking at limiting participation, but it"s a measure they hope to avoid. "Program administrators are looking for alternatives," says Andrea Feirstein, a state-plan consultant.
Maryland recently boosted its prices by up to 30%; Illinois by up to 23%. The increases have made some prepaid plans uneconomical for parents of older children. In Ohio, the price of one year"s tuition for a child over 12 months old is $ 8, 000, more than 40% above current tuition at Ohio State. SO it may not be a good deal for children starting college in three or four years because tuition may not jump that much that fast.
