单选题Disobedience will bring ______ on the nation: fatal disease, famine, wild beasts ravaging the land, and war leading to exile.

单选题Historians have only recently begun to note the increase in demand for luxury goods and services that took place in 18th-century England. McKendrick has explored the Wedgwood firm's remarkable success in marketing luxury pottery; Plumb has written about the proliferation of provincial theaters, musical festivals, and children's toys and books. While the fact of this consumer revolution is hardly in doubt, three key questions remain: Who were the consumers? What were their motives? And what were the effects of the new demand for luxuries? An answer to the first of these has been difficult to obtain. Although it has been possible to infer from the goods and services actually produced what manufactures and servicing trades thought their customers wanted, only a study of relevant personal documents written by actual consumers will provide a precise picture of who wanted what. We still need to know how large this consumer market was and how far down the social scale the consumer demand for luxury goods penetrated. With regard to this last question, we might note in passing that Thompson, while rightly restoring laboring people to the stage of 18th-century English history, has probably exaggerated the opposition of these people to the inroads of capitalist consumerism in general; for example, laboring people in eighteenth-century England readily shifted from home-brewed beer to standardized beer produced by huge, heavily capitalized urban breweries. To answer the question of why consumers became so eager to buy, some historians have pointed to the ability of manufacturers to advertise in a relatively uncensored press. This, however, hardly seems a sufficient answer. McKendrick favors a Veblen model of conspicuous consumption stimulated by competition for status. The "middling sort" bought goods and services because they wanted to follow fashions set by the rich. Again, we may wonder whether this explanation is sufficient. Do not people enjoy buying things as a form of self-gratification? If so, consumerism could be seen as a product of the rise of new concepts of individualism and materialism(a preoccupation with or stress upon material rather than intellectual or spiritual things), but not necessarily of the frenzy for conspicuous competition. Finally, what were the consequences of this consumer demand for luxuries? McKendrick claims that it goes a long way toward explaining the coming of the Industrial Revolution. But does it? What, for example, does the production of high-quality pottery and toys have to do with the development of iron manufacture or textile mills? It is perfectly possible to have the psychology and reality of a consumer society without a heavy industrial sector. That future exploration of these key questions is undoubtedly necessary should not, however, diminish the force of the conclusion of recent studies: the insatiable demand in eighteenth-century England for frivolous as well as useful goods and services foreshadows our own world.

单选题The low operating costs of the foreign company will______the high labor costs the business pays in its own country.(2003年中国社会科学院考博试题)

单选题When I decided to quit my full time employment it never occurred to me that I might become a part of a new international trend. A lateral move that hurt my pride and blocked my professional progress prompted me to abandon my relatively high profile career although, in the manner of a disgraced government minister, I covered my exit by claiming "I wanted to spend more time with my family". Curiously, some two-and-a-half years and two novels later, my experiment in what the Americans term "downshifting" has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality, I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of the philosophy of "having it all" preached by Linda Kelsey for the past seven years in the page of She magazine, into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit of everything. I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of " juggling your life " and making the alternative move into "downshifting" brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status. Nothing could persuade me to return to the kind of life Kelsey used to advocate and I once enjoyed: 12 hour working days, pressured deadlines, the fearful strain of office politics and the limitations of being a parent on "duality time". In America, the move away from juggling to a simpler, less materialistic lifestyle is a well-established trend. Downshifting — also known in America as "voluntary simplicity" — has, ironically, even bred a new area of what might be termed anticonsumerism. There are a number of best-selling downshifting self-help books for people who want to simplify their lives. There are newsletters, such as The Tightwad Gazette, that give hundreds of thousands of Americans useful tips on anything from recycling their ding-film to making their own soap. There are even support groups for those who want to achieve the mid-1990s equivalent of dropping out. While in America the trend started as a reaction to the economic decline — after the mass redundancies caused by downsizing in the late-1980s—and is still linked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least among the middle-class down-shifters of my acquaintance, we have different reasons for seeking to simplify our lives. For the women of my generation who were urged to keep juggling through the 1980s, downshifting in the mid-1990s is not so much a search for the mythical good life — growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one — as a personal recognition of your limitations.

单选题Although her research topic had been approved by her thesis advisor, the library persisted in ______ the documents.

单选题The attack of the World Trade Center will leave a ______ impression on those who have witnessed the explosion.

单选题If we say something is______,we mean that we find it extremely pleasant or enjoyable.(2004年上海理工大学考博试题)

单选题A doctor will be guilty of murder if he ______.

单选题______ among young people is difficult to expect or achieve. A. Assurance B. Probability C. Reliance D. Conformity

单选题No one really knows who composed this piece of music, but it had been ______ to Bach.

单选题The Village Green in New Milford, Connecticut, is a snapshot of New England charm: a carefully manicured lawn flanked by scrupulously maintained colonial homes. Babysitters dandle kids in the wooden gazebo, waiting for commuter parents to return from New York. On a lazy afternoon last week Caroline Nicholas, 16, had nothing more pressing to do than pinken in the early-summer sunshine and discuss the recent events in town. "I don't think a lot of older people knew there were unhappy kids in New Milford," she said. "I could see it coming. " In a five-day period in early June eight girls were brought to New Milford Hospital after what hospital officials call suicidal gestures. The girls, all between 12 and 17, tried a variety of measures, including heavy doses of alcohol, over-the counter medicines and cuts or scratches to their wrists. None was successful, and most didn't require hospitalization; but at least two attempts, according to the hospital, could have been fatal. Their reasons seemed as mundane as the other happenstances of suburban life. "I was just sick of it all," one told a reporter. "Everything. Life. " Most alarming, emergency-room doctor Frederick Lohse told a local reporter that several girls said they were part of a suicide pact. The hospital later backed away from this remark. But coming in the awake of at least six teen suicide attempts over the previous few months, this sudden cluster—along with the influx of media—has set this well-groomed suburb of 23 000 on edge. At a town meeting last Wednesday night, Dr Simon Sobo, chief of psychiatry at the hospital, told more than 200 parents and kids, "We're talking about a crisis that has really gotten out of hand. " Later he added, "There have been more suicide attempts this spring than I have seen in the 13 years I have been here. " Sobo said that the girls he treated didn't have bad problems at home or school. "Many of these were popular kids," he said. " They got plenty of love. " But beneath the reassuring signs, a swath of teens here are not making it. Some say that drugs, both pot and "real drugs," are commonplace. Kids have shown up with LIFE SUCKS and LONG LIVE DEATH penned on their arms. A few girls casually display scars on their arms where they cut themselves. "You'd be surprised how many kids try suicide," said one girl, 17, "You don't want to put pain on other people; you put it on yourself. " She said she used to cut herself "just to release the pain. " Emily, 15, a friend of three of the girls treated in June, said one was having family problems, one was "upset that day" and the third was "just upset with everything else going on. " She said they weren't really trying to kill themselves—they just needed attention. As Sobo noted, "What's going on in New Milford is not unique to New Milford. " The same underlying culture of despair could be found in any town. But teen suicide, he added, can be a "contagion. " Right now New Milford has the bug—and has its bad.

单选题If you want this pain killer, you'll have to ask the doctor fur a ______.

单选题According to the passage, all of the following are true EXCEPT that ______.

单选题The full ______ of changes in computer technology will be felt within the next few years. A. affect B. impact C. action D. importance

单选题It is always useful to have savings to ______.

单选题Before high school teacher Kimberly Rugh got down to business at the start of a recent school week, she joked with her students about how she'd had to clean cake out of the corners of her house after her 2-year-old son's birthday party. This friendly combination of chitchat took place not in front of a blackboard but in an E-mail message that Rugh sent to the 145 students she's teaching at the Florida Virtual School, one of the nation's leading online high schools. The school's motto is "any time, any place, any path, any pace". Florida's E-school attracts many students who need flexible scheduling, from young tennis stars and young musicians to brothers Tobias and Tyler Heeb, who take turns working on the computer while helping out with their family's clam-farming business on Pine Island, off Florida's southwest coast. Home-schoolers also are well represented. Most students live in Florida, but 55 hail from West Virginia, where a severe teacher shortage makes it hard for many students to take advanced classes. Seven kids from Texas and four from Shanghai round out the student body. The great majority of Florida Virtual Schooler-- 80 percent are enrolled in regular Florida public or private high schools. Some are busy overachievers. Others are retaking classes they barely passed the first time, The school's biggest challenge is making sure that students aren't left to sink or swim on their own. After the school experienced a disappointing course completion rate of just 50 percent in its early years, Executive Director Julie Young made a priority out of what she calls "relationship-building," asking teachers to stay in frequent E-mail and phone contact with their students. That personal touch has helped: The completion rate is now 80 percent. Critics of online classes say that while they may have a limited place, they are a poor substitute for the face-to-face contact and socialization that take place in brick-and-mortar classrooms. Despite opportunities for online chats, some virtual students say they'd prefer to have more interaction with their peers. Students and parents are quick to acknowledge that virtual schooling isn't for everyone. "If your child's not focused and motivated, I can only imagine it would be a nightmare," says Patricia Haygood of Orlando, whose two daughters are thriving at the Florida school. For those who have what it takes, however, virtual learning fills an important niche. "I can work at my own pace, on my own time," says Hackney. "It's the ultimate in Student responsibility./

单选题Scientists are searching for the oldest tree __________ because it can teach them a great deal about many issues related with climate change.

单选题Born of the same parents, he bears no ______ his brothers.

单选题This is a ______ table.

单选题It is all very well to blame traffic jams, the cost of petrol and the quick pace of modern life, but manners on the roads are becoming horrible. You might tolerate the rode and inconsiderate driver, but nowadays the well-mannered motorist is the exception to the rule. Perhaps the situation calls for a "Be Kind to Other Drivers" campaign; otherwise, it may get completely out of hand. Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense. It takes the most cool-headed and good-tempered of drivers to resist the temptation to revenge when subjected to uncivilized behaviors. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards relieving the tensions of motoring. A friendly nod or a wave of acknowledgement in response to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of goodwill and tolerance so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such acknowledgements of politeness are all too rare today. Many drivers nowadays don"t even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it. However, improper politeness can also be dangerous. A typical example is the driver who waves a child across a crossing into the path of oncoming vehicles that may be unable to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they care to. A veteran driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if motorists learn to filter correctly into traffic streams one at a time without causing the total blockages (堵塞) that give rise to bad temper. Unfortunately, modern motorists can not even learn to drive, let alone be well-mannered on the road. Years ago the experts warned us that the car-ownership explosion would demand a lot more give-and take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart.