单选题But two hurdles stand in the way of Russia's realizing its space dreams: a collapsing public-education system and a brain drain that for decades has been siphoning off the country's highly trained engineers as they move to better-paying jobs in the West. A. obstacles B. prophecies C. hassles D. outcomes

单选题The failure of electricity put all the computers in the region out of ______.

单选题Oil is derived from the ______ of microscopic sea creatures, and is even older, according to most geologists. A. layouts B. reminders C. remains D. leftovers

单选题Questions 21—23 are based on the passage about vanity stamps. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 21—23.

单选题It is unfortunate that, owing to lack of money, these experiments must now ______ before the objective has been achieved.

单选题Young John showed no consistency when he did excellent work the first part of the year and very poor work after that.

单选题Abortion The word alone causes civil conversation to flee the room. This is largely because the pro-choice and pro-life positions are being defined by their extremes, by those who scream accusations instead of arguments. More reasonable voices and concerns, on both sides of the fence, are given little attention. For example, pro-life extremists seem unwilling to draw distinctions between some abortions and others, such as those resulting from rape with an underage child. They would make no exception in the recent real-life case of a woman who discovered in her fifth month that her baby would be born dead due to severe disabilities. On the other hand, pro-choice extremists within feminism insist on holding inconsistent positions. The pregnant woman has an unquestionable right to abort, they claim. Yet if the biological father has no say whatsoever over the woman's choice, is it reasonable to impose legalobligations upon him for child support? Can absolute legal obligation adhere without some sort of corresponding legal rights? The only hope for progress in the abortion dialogue lies in the great excluded middle, in the voices of average people who see something wrong with a young girl forced to bear the baby of a rapist. Any commentary on abortion should include a statement of the writer's position. I represent what seems to be a growing "middle ground" in pro-choice opinion. Legally, I believe in the right of every human being to medically control everything under his or her own skin. Many things people have a legal right to do, however, seem clearly wrong to me: adultery, lying to friends, walking past someone who is bleeding on the street~ Some forms of abortion fall into that category. Morally speaking, my doubts have become so extreme that I could not undergo the procedure past the first three months and I would attempt to dissuade friends from doing so. Partial-birth abortion has thrown many pro-choice advocates into moral chaos. I find it impossible to view photos of late-term abortion--the fetus' contorted features, the tiny fully formed hands, the limbs ripped apart--without experiencing nausea. This reaction makes me ineffectual in advocating the absolute right to abortion. I stand by the principle, "a woman's body, a woman's right" but I don't always like myself for doing so. Fanatics on both sides are using reprehensible and deceitful tactics. An honest dialogue on abortion must start by re-setting the stage, by denouncing the approaches that block communication.

单选题Because of a recent obstacle in production, sales have dropped and accordingly profits have ______. A. declined B. increased C. broken D. maintained

单选题"Sloganeering" did not originate in the 1960s. The term has a rich history. It originated from the Gaelic word slaughgharim, which signified a "host-shout," "war cry," or "gathering word or phrase of one of the old Highland clans; hence the shout or battle cry of soldiers in the field." English-speaking people began using the term by 1704. The term at the time meant "the distinctive note, phrase, or cry of any person or body of persons." Slogans were common throughout the European continent during the middle ages, and they were utilized primarily as "passwords to insure proper recognition of individuals at night or in the confusion of battle." The American revolutionary rhetoric would not have been the same without "the Boston Massacre," "the Boston Tea Party," "the shot heard around the world," and shouts of "no taxation without representation."... Slogans operate in society as "social symbols" and, as such, their intended or perceived meaning may be difficult to grasp and their impact or stimulation may differ between and among individuals and groups... Because slogans may operate as "significant symbols" or as key words that have a standard meaning in a group, they serve both expressive and persuasive functions. Harold Lasswell recognized that the influencing of collective attitudes is possible by the manipulation of significant symbols such as slogans. He believed that a verbal symbol might evoke a desired reaction or organize collective attitudes around a symbol, Murray Edelman writes that "to the political scientist patterning or consistency in the context in which specific groups of individuals use symbols is crucial, for only through such patterning do common political meaning and claims arise." Thus, the slogans a group uses to evoke specific responses may provide us with an index for the group's norm, values, and conceptual rationale for its claims. Slogans are so pervasive in today's society that it is easy to underestimate their persuasive power. They have grown in significance because of the medium of television and the advertising industry. Television, in addition to being the major advertising medium, has altered the nature of human interaction. Political images are less personal and shorter. They function as summaries and conclusions rather than bases for public interaction and debate. The style of presentation in television is more emotional, but the content is less complex or ideological. In short, slogans work well on television. The advertising industry has made a science of sloganeering. Today, communication itself is a problem because we live in an "overcommunicated" society. Advertisers have discovered that it is easier to link product attributes to existing beliefs, ideas, goals, and desires of the consumer rather than to change them. Thus, to say that a cookie tastes "homemade" or is as good as "Mom used to make" does not tell us if the cookie is good or bad, hard or soft, but simply evokes the fond memories of Mother's baking. Advertisers, then, are more successful if they present a product in a way that capitalizes on established beliefs or expectations of the consumer. Slogans do this well by crystallizing in a few words the key idea or theme one wants to associate with an issue, group, product, or event. "Sloganeering" has become institutionalized as a virtual art form; and an advertising agency may spend months testing and creating the right slogan for a product or a person. Slogans have a number of attributes that enhance their persuasive potential for social movements. They are unique and readily identifiable with a specific social movement or social movement organization. "Gray Power," for instance, readily identifies the movement for elderly Americans, and "Huelga" (strike in Spanish) identifies the movement to aid Mexican American field workers in the west and southwest.

单选题Their differences were irreconcilable: they had no alternative ______ the law to settle the dispute between them.

单选题Charles Ⅱ was another monarch ______ maligned by Victorian historians.

单选题Cyberspace, data superhighway, multi-media—for those who have seen the future, the linking of computers, television and telephones will change our lives forever. Yet for all the talk of a forthcoming technological utopia little attention has been given to the implications of these developments for the poor. As with all new high technology, while the West concerns itself with the "how". the question of "for whom" is put aside once again. Economists are only now realizing the full extent to which the communications revolution has affected the world economy. Information technology allows the extension of trade across geographical and industrial boundaries, and transnational corporations take full advantage of it. Terms of trade, exchange and interest rates and money movements are more important than the production of goods. The electronic economy made possible by information technology allows the haves to increase their control on global markets--with destructive impact on the have-nots. For them the result is instability. Developing countries which rely on the production of a small range of goods for export are made to feel like small parts in the international economic machine. As "futures" are traded on computer screens, developing countries simply have less and less control of their destinies. So what are the options for regaining control? One alternative is for developing countries to buy the latest computers and telecommunications themselves—so-called "development communications" modernization. Yet this leads to long-term dependency and perhaps permanent constraints on developing countries' economies. Communications technology is generally exported from the U. S., Europe or Japan; the patents, skills and ability to manufacture remain in the hands of a few industrialized countries. It is also expensive, and imported products and services must therefore be bought on credit--credit usually provided by the very countries whose companies stand to gain. Furthermore. when new technology is introduced there is often too low a level of expertise to exploit it for native development. This means that while local elites, foreign communities and subsidiaries of transnational corporations may benefit, those whose lives depend on access to the information denied it.

单选题Mr. Johnson is still on excellent ______ with his ex-wife.

单选题I didn't say anything like that at all. You are purposely ______ my ideas to prove your point. A. revising B. contradicting C. distorting D. distracting

单选题She was delirious last night, but she seems quite lucid this morning.

单选题In the US, psychologists at a number of universities are making a serious study of how rumors are born, how they ______ and how they can finally be killed off.

单选题The poetry of Ezra Pound is sometimes difficult to understand because it contains so many ______ references.

单选题Blair tends to feel useless and unwanted in a society that gives so much ______ to those who compete well.