复合题ItisquiteafeattobeinvisiblewhileoccupyingsubstantialbuildingsincentralLondonflanktheRoyalAcademyofArts.Butthat’sjustwhattheLinnaeanSociety,theRoyalSocietyofChemistry,theGeologicalSocietyofLondon,theSocietyofAntiquariesofLondonandtheRoyalAstronomicalSocietymanagedtodofornearlyacentury.Then,in2004,HerMajesty’sGovernmentnotonlynoticedbutalsoquestionedtheirrighttoremainatBurlingtonHouse,asthecomplexiscalled.TotheLearnedSocietiesthismayhaveseemedabitterirony.In1857,thegovernmentofapreviousqueenhadbuiltBurlingtonHouseexpresslytohousethemall.Reverenceforsuchinstitutions,alongwiththevalueofrealestate,wasnotwhatithadbeeninVictoria’sday.Buttheirtermsofoccupancyremainedunchanged.WhentheymovedintoBurlingtonHouse,onlytheRoyalAcademy,runbysupposedlyimpracticalartists,askedforalease.Itwasgiven999yearsatapeppercornrent.TheSocietiesandtheirallegedlyhard-headedscientistmemberswereleaselessandrent-free.Asdecadespassed,keepingalowprofilemusthaveseemedasensibleidea.Indeed,by1920,somefellowsoftheSocietyofAntiquariesofLondon(SAL),thoughtitessential.Whena1919ActofParliamentmadeitillegaltobarwomenfromsuchsocietiesmerelybecauseoftheirgender,acommitteeofSALfellowspressedforimmediateaction:womenmustbeinvitedtobecomefellowsatonce.Thiswasnotinordertofightpreviouswrongs.Itwastoavoidcriticismandwithittheriskthatpeoplemightnoticethatnorentwasbeingpaid.Thedangeraverted,headsstayedbelowtheparapet.Butdangerreappearedin2004.WithreputedaimofClarifyingSAL’spresenceatBurlingtonHouse,thegovernmentbroughtasuitagainstit.RumorsweptthroughintellectualLondonthat,infact,thegovernmentwantedtoturftheSocietiesoutortogetafullmarketrent,whichwouldhaveamountedtomuchthesamething.Alarmedfeathersfromfiveaviariesofrarebirdswentflying.Now,threeyearslater,feathersaresmooth.Indeed,cooingcanbeheardoccasionallyfromBurlingtonHouse.CompromisesreachedwiththegovernmenthavinggiventheLearnedSocietiessecurityoftenureataffordablerents.Inreturn,theSocietieshavebegunintroducingthemselvestooneanotherandtothepublic.Theyhavecreateda“culturalcampus”inthecourtyardtosharescholarshipandconviviality—andreflecttheirnewappreciationthatthereisstrengthinnumbers,Earlierthisyear,theLinnaeanSocietyannounceditwasproducingadigitalarchiveofitspricelesscollectionsofspecimens,manuscriptsandlettersoftheworldfamousSwedishnaturalist,CarlLinnaeus,onthe300thanniversaryofhisbirth.TheSAL,also300thisyear,iscelebratingwithanine-monthseriesoflectures.OnSeptember26th,DavidStarkey,oneofthemosthigh-profileofits2300fellows,willtalkabout“TheAntiquarianEndeavor”atSt.James’sChurch,Piccadilly.OnNovember8thatHarvard,hometomanyofSAL’s100American-basedfellows,FelipeFernndes-Armestotackles“DonFrancisco’snose-piece:formingnewempiresinRenaissanceAmerica.”Thebiggestbirthdayeventisanexhibitionof150ofSAL’streasuresattheRoyalAcademyfromSeptember15thtoDecember2nd.AmongthesetreasuresisanoilonoakportraitofQueenMaryIpaintedbyHansEworthin1554andaglowing12th-centuryenamelcasketdesignedtoholdtheremainsofThomasBecket.Howgoodthatinvisibilityisathingofthepast.

复合题Self-esteemiswhatpeoplethinkaboutthemselves—whetherornottheyfeelvaluedandwhenfamilymembershaveself-respect,pride,andbeliefinthemselves,thishighself-esteemmakesitpossibletocopewiththeeverydayproblemsofgrowingup.Successfulparentbeginsbycommunicatingtochildrenthattheyarelovedfornootherreasonsthanjustbecausetheyexist,Throughtouchandtoneofvoiceparentstelltheirinfantswhetherornottheyarevalued,specialandloved,anditisthesemessagesthatformthebasisofthechild’sself-esteem.Whenchildrengrowupwithloveandaremadetofeellovabledespitetheirmistakesandfailures,theyareabletointeractwithothersinaresponsible,honestandlovingway.Ahealthyself-esteemisaresourceforcopingwhendifficultiesarise,makingiteasiertoseeaproblemastemporary,manageable,andsomethingfromwhichtheindividualcanemerge.If,however,childrengrowupwithoutloveandwithoutfeelingsofself-worth,theyfeelunlovableandworthlessandexpecttobecheated,takenadvantageofandlookeddownuponbyothers.Ultimatelytheiractionsinvitethistreatment,andtheirself-defeatingbehaviorturnsexpectationsintoreality.Theydonothavethepersonalresourcestohandleeverydayproblemsinahealthyway,andlifemaybeviewedasjustonecrisisafteranother.Withoutahealthyself-esteemtheymaycopebyactingoutproblemsratherthantalkingthemoutorbywithdrawingandremainingindifferenttowardsthemselvesandothers.Theseindividualsgrowuptoliveisolated,lonelylives,lackingtheabilitytogivethelovethattheyhaveneverreceived.Self-esteemisakindofenergy,andwhenitishigh,peoplefeelliketheycanhandleanything.Itiswhatonefeelswhenspecialthingsarehappeningoreverythingisgoinggreat.Awordofpraise,asmile,agoodgradeonareportcard,ordoingsomethingthatcreatespridewithinoneselfcancreatetheenergy.Whenfeelingsabouttheself-havebeenthreatenedandself-esteemislow,everythingbecomesmoreofaneffort.Itisdifficulttohear,see,orthinkclearly,andothersseemrude,inconsiderate,andrough.Theproblemisnotwithothers,itiswiththeself,butoftenitisnotuntilenergiesarebacktonormalthattherealproblemisrecognized.Childrenneedhelpunderstandingthattheirself-esteemandtheself-esteemofthosetheinteractwithhaveadirecteffectoneachoilier:Forexample,alifegirlcomeshomefromschoolandsays“Ineedloving,becausemyfeelingsgothurttoday.”Themotherrespondstochild’sneedtobeheldandloved.Ifinsteadthemothersaidshewastoobusytoholdthelittlegirl,theoutcomewouldhavebeendifferent.Theinfant’sself-esteemistotallydependentonfamilymembers,anditisnotuntilaboutthetimethechildentersschoolthatoutsideforcescontributetofeelingsabouttheself.Achildmustalsolearnthatamajorresourceforahealthyself-esteemcomesfromwithin.Someparentsraisetheirchildrentodependonexternalratherthaninternalreinforcementthroughpracticessuchasplayingforgoodgradesonreportcardsorexchangingspecialprivilegesforgoodbehavior.Thechildlearnstorelyonotherstomaintainahighself-esteemandisnotpreparedtoliveinaworldinwhichdesirablebehaviordoesnotautomaticallyproduce.atangiblerewardsuchatasmile,money,orspecialprivileges.Maintainingahealthyself-esteemisachallengethatcontinuesthroughoutlife.Onefamilyfoundthattheycouldhelpeachotheridentifypositiveattitudes.Oneeveningduringanelectricstormthefamilygatheredaroundthekitchentable,andeachpersonwrotedowntwothingsthattheylikedabouteachfamilymember.Thesepiecesofpaperwerefoldedandgiventotheappropriateperson,whoonebyoneopenedtheirspecialmessages.Thefatherlatercommented,“Itwasquiteanexperience,openingeachlittlepieceofpaperandreadingthemessage.Istillhavethosegifs,andwhenI’vehadareallybadday,IreadthroughthemandIalwayscomeawayfeelingbetter.”Thefoundationofhealthyfamilydependsontheabilityoftheparentstocommunicatemessagesoflove,trust,andself-worthtoeachchild.This is the basis on which self-esteem is built, and as the child grows, self-esteem is reflected in the way he or she interacts with others.

复合题For half a century an influential group of Western linguists, led by Noam Chomsky, have argued that language is an innate human faculty, the product of a “language organ’ ’ in the mind. Other prominent “innatists” include Steven Pinker, an evolutionary psychologist and author of “The Language Instinct” , and Derek Bickerton, a linguist at the University of Hawaii and developer of a “bioprogramme” theory of language. Innatists believe that all languages share fundamental features. And linguistic innatism is part of a wider debate about just how much of human nature is wired into the brain.Daniel Everett, a linguist at Bentley University in Massachusetts, disagrees on both innatism and the fundamental similarity of languages. He spent years learning tiny languages in forbidding jungle villages, experiences he recounted in his 2008 memoir, “Don’ t Sleep, There Are Snakes” . In his new book, “Language: The Cultural Tool” , Mr. Everett moves away from narrow linguistic anthropology to broad theory.He argues that language is not the product of a “language organ” but an extension of general intelligence.Instead of unfolding in the same way in Paris and Papua New Guinea, languages are crafted by their speakers to meet their needs. He cites the Pirahii, the Brazilian Amazonian group he has spent the longest time living with. There are no numbers beyond two in Pirahii because, Mr. Everett argues, they have no money, engage in little barter trade, do not store food for the future and do not think about the distant past. This “living for the moment” , which the Pirahii enjoy (they think Western life sounds dreadful) , shapes their language.That different cultures have different words is unsurprising. It is when these differences affect cognition (the Pirahii cannot do maths, for example) that things get interesting. But Mr. Everett’ s most controversial argument, and his biggest challenge to linguistic innatism, is about grammar.Mr. Chomsky has argued that “recursion” is the key feature of all human language. This is the embedding of smaller units inside bigger ones: a subordinate clause is a kind of recursion, embedding a sentence in a bigger one. Mr. Everett says that the Pirahii lack grammatical recursion, and that even if recursion is universal (Piraha use it in stories if not within sentences) , this does not prove the existence of the language organ. Information is naturally organized with smaller bits nesting inside larger ones. That nearly all humans would find this linguistically useful is little different than widely varying societies independently inventing the bow and arrow— it is simply useful, and no proof of an instinct. True instincts, like turtles making their way to the sea or ducklings bonding with their mothers, require no learning. Language does. Animals do not truly excel in their deployment of basic instincts, whereas some humans clearly use language much better than others.But Mr. Everett, in trying to reach a popular audience while making an argument aimed at professional linguists, makes some awkward compromises. He cites a paper by other researchers claiming to have found that there are no features that are common to all languages, an argument that is crucial to his thesis. But he does not give enough detail for the reader. Later he even contradicts himself, saying that all languages have nouns and verbs.He argues that differences between societies lead to profound differences between languages, but fails to drive the point home fully. The Wari people use the word “hole” or “vagina” as the ordinary word for “wife” . Could this be denigrating of women? Or, since the birth canal is the point of departure for human life, could it be a way of praising them? Mr. Everett is not sure. Or take Banawa, another Amazonian language, in which the default gender of an unknown person or mixed group of people is feminine, not masculine as in most languages. The Banawa also practice rigid gender segregation, even whipping young girls bloody after their first menstruation. Could the unusual gender-assignment of Banawa be a product of this gender-segregated Banawa society? “The only answer at present is, ‘Perhaps’ , ” he writes. Even the lack of grammatical recursion in Piraha, Mr. Everett’ s key piece of evidence that it is culture that creates language, cannot tell the whole tale. Similar tribal cultures have languages bristling with recursion.Mr. Everett thinks it possible that culture influences grammar, but he is not sure. He acknowledges that conjecture about what causes linguistic differences has been a staple of much irresponsible amateur linguistics. It is hard to work out where culture has affected language, where language affects culture and cognition (a hot topic of psycholinguistic research) , and where the differences are unrelated. Mr. Everett has taken a shot across the innatists’ bow, and an impressively modest and reasoned one given that Mr. Chomsky once called him a charlatan. His case is not wholly proven, but it deserves a serious reading, and a response beyond name-calling.

复合题InBritainarrangementsforinvitingandentertainingguestsataweddingareusuallytheresponsibilityofthebride’sfamily.Inmostcasesitismainlyfriendsandrelationsofbothfamilieswhoareinvitedbutwhenthebride’sfatherisbusinessmanofsomekind,theweddingreceptionmayprovideausefuloccasionforestablishingsocialconnectionswithclientsorcustomersandotherpeoplewhosegoodwillmaybeofadvantagetohim.Itis,however,thebride’smotherwhohasthejobofsendingouttheformalprintedinvitationcards.Inthecaseofachurchwedding,thevicarofeachparishinwhichthebrideandbridegroomliveisnormallyinformedaboutamonthinadvanceoftheceremonysothatanannouncementofthecomingweddingcanbemadeinchurchoneachofthreeSundaysbeforeittakesplace.Anyonewhomayknowofanexistingmarriageofeitherpartnerisorderedtogiveinformationaboutit,thoughthismeansofavoidingbigamymusthavebeenmoreeffectiveinthedayswhenpeoplemovedabouttheworldlessthantheydotoday.Oftenuptoahundredormorepeopleattendthereligiousserviceandthebrideusuallywearsthetraditionallongwhitedressandveil,whileherbridesmaids,whoareoftenchildren,wearlongdressesinattractivecolors.Thismayalsohappeninthecaseofacivilweddinginaregisterofficebutisprobablylessusual.Thereceptionwhichfollowsmaybeheldinarestaurant,alocalhallor,whentherearefewguests,inthebride’sownhome.Refreshmentsareprovided,aspecialicedwedding-cakeiscut(usuallytotheaccomplishmentofspeeches)anddistributedtotheguests,toastsaredrunkanddancingmayfollow.Atsomepointinthecelebrations,thebridegoesofftochangeintoeverydayclothesandthenleavesthepartywithherhusbandtogoontheirhoneymoon,thejourneytheywillmaketogether,ofteninromanticsurroundingsabroad.

复合题Thehigh-techrevolutionhasinspiredaseeminglyendlessstreamofnewandexcitingelectronicproductsthatwejustcan’tlivewithout.Infact,thedizzyingspeedoftechnologicalinnovationcanmakelastyear’smustthisyear’sjunk.Andthat’stheproblem.Theaveragelifespanofapersonalcomputerhasshrunktoaround19months—andthishasnothingtodowithworn-outmiceordamageddiskdrives.Simplyput,electronicproductscanbecomeobsoletebeforeyou’veevenfiguredouthowtheywork.Sowhathappenstoallthoseoldkeyboards,monitors,andCPUs?Mostarestashedawayintheatticorforgotteninacorporatewarehouse,takingupvaluablespace.Butmanyendupinlandfills,andthatiswherethetroublereallybegins.Computermonitorscancontainupto3.5kgofleadandcanactuallybeconsideredhazardouswasteoncethey”arenolongerinuse.Circuitboardsinelectronicproductscontaincadmium(镉),chromium(铬)andmercury,allofwhicharetoxicsubstancesthatcanleachintogroundwaterifleftinalandfill.Unfortunately,thisdisposalproblemisnotgoingtodisappearanytimesoon—infact,itisgrowingbytheminute.InJapanalone,consumersthrowawaysome20millionTVs,washingmachines,refrigeratorsandairconditionerseachyear.InEurope,6millionmetrictonsofelectricalandelectronicequipmentweregeneratedin1998alone,andthatvolumeisexpectedtoincreasethreetofivepercentperyear—whichmeansby2010itcouldnearlydouble.What’stobedonewithallthistechno-trash?Electronicsmanufacturersareworkinghardtoanswerthisquestion.TheEuropeanCommissionhasproposedadirectivethatwouldrequireallelectronicsmanufacturerstotakebackandproperlydisposeofallelectronicproducts,regardlessoftheirage.Thedetailsarestillbeingironedout,butsomeversionofthedirectivewillmostprobablybecomelawinthenextfewyears.SimilarlegislationisintheworkintheU.S.andhasalreadypassedinJapan.Asthecostsofsuchprogramscouldquicklybecomeprohibitive,companiesaresearchingfornewwaysoftacklingdisposalissuesbeforetheybecomeaproblem.Onewaytoreducewasteistoavoidthrowingthinginthefirstplace.Manycompaniesreusepartsfromoldproductsinnewmodels.Thisisnotcheating—itmakesbothenvironmentalandeconomicsense.

复合题Passage BOne of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’ s mistakes. It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that, ” and it is even harder to say “I was wrong, and you were right about that. ”I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago. He told me he had been the manager of a certain grocery store in the neighborhood where I grew up, and he asked me if I remembered the egg cartons. Then he related an incident and I began to remember vaguely the incident he was describing.I was about eight years old at the time, and I had gone into the store with my mother to do the weekly grocery shopping. On that particular day, I must have found my way to the dairy food department where the incident took place.There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there was an impressive display of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons. The cartons were stacked three or four feet high. I must have stopped in front of a display to admire the stacks. Just then a woman came by pushing her grocery cart and knocked off the stacks of cartons. For some reasons, I decided it was up to me to put the display back together, so I went to work.The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened. When he appeared, I was on my knees inspecting some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken, but to him it looked as though I was the culprit. He severely reprimanded me and wanted me to pay for any broken eggs. I protested my innocence and tried to explain, but it did no good. Even though I quickly forgot all about the incident, apparently the manager did not.Which of the following can serve as the best title of the passage?

复合题Passage AMurovyovka Nature Park, a private nature reserve, is the result of the vision and determination of one man, Sergei Smirenski. The Moscow University Professor has gained the support of international funds as well as local officials, businessmen and collective farm.Thanks to his efforts, the agricultural project is also under way to create an experimental farm to teach local farmers how to farm without the traditionally heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Two Wisconsin farmers, Don and Ellen Padley, spent last summer preparing land in Tanbovka district, where the park is located, and they will return this summer to plant it.Specialists from the University of Utah also came to study the local cattle industry, looking to develop possibilities for beef exports to Japan.Separately, 10 New Jersey school teachers will spend the summer in the district running summer camps for the local children that will stress field trips and lecture on the nature around them.These programs, particularly the agricultural project, are getting some funding support from the United States, including from the MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the US Agency for International Development. The Trust for Mutual Understanding and the Weeden Foundation are also supporting the International Crane Foundation’ s work in creating the park.The World Bank is funding a small project to study the possibilities for eco-tourism in the Amur basin region. Delta Dream Vacations, a Delta Airlines subsidiary, is looking into flights to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok for ecology tours, with some of the money going to support the zapovedniks [totally wild preserves used only for scientific research] in the region.But this money has also generated a jealous attempt by the local wildlife service to block the Murovyovka project.They said, “Give us their money, and we’ ll do better, ” Smirenski says. They went to the local court to get a court order to halt the contract. Although they were successful at that level, the Amur regional government, with encouragement from Moscow, has already moved to reverse the decision as illegal.“I don’ t pay attention to this negative side. ” Smirenski says in characteristic optimistic fashion. “I decided we should continue to create. ”Beyond Murovyovka, there are even vaster grasslands and wetlands in the Amur basin that are vital nesting areas for rare birds such as the eastern white stork, and the red-crowned, white-naped, and hooded cranes. A complex of 100, 000 hectares, for example, lies largely unprotected in Zhuravalini [literally “a place for cranes” ] downstream from Murovyovka. Creation of a national park, allowing for tourist use, has been proposed for this area.A key part of the conservation strategy is to gain the support of regional governments by getting them to see that such internationally backed nature projects can lead to business and other ties, particularly to countries like Japan and China. For example, the cranes that nest in Russia have been tracked by satellite to wintering grounds in Izumi, on Japan’ s southern Kyushu Island. This linkage has proved useful in bringing regional officials from both countries together.Last summer, 100 Japanese school children from the Tama region outside of Tokyo came to Khabarovsk on the Amur to experience the kind of untouched nature that has disappeared from Japan. As part of the exchange, the Mayor of Tama donated 26 second-hand fire trucks to his counterpart. “After this, the mayor of Khabarovsk said, ‘Now I will listen to you, about your birds and all your problems, ’ ” recounts Smirenski. “Now the officials understand what cranes mean to them. ”For what purpose will the summer camps in the area be designed?

复合题Directions: Please read the following passages and then answer IN COMPLETE SENTENCES the questions which follow each passage. Use only the information from the passage you have just read and write

复合题Passage AIt can be shown in facts and figures that cycling is thecheapest, most convenient, and most environmentallydesirable form of transport in towns, but such coldcalculations do not mean much on a frosty winter morning.The real appeal of cycling is that it is so enjoyable. Ithas none of the difficulties and tensions of other ways oftravelling so you are more cheerful after a ride, eventhough the rush hour.The first thing a non-cyclist says to you is “But isn’ tit terribly dangerous?” It would be foolish to deny thedanger of sharing the road with motor vehicles and it mustbe admitted that there are an alarming number of accidentsinvolving cyclists. However, although police recordsindicate that the car driver is often to blame, the answerlies with the cyclists. It is possible to ride in such away as to reduce risks to a minimum.If you decide to join the thousands in Britain who are nowreturning to cycling as a cheap, satisfying form oftransport, your first problem will be trying to decidewhat bike to buy. Here are three simple rules for buying abike:1)Always buy the best you can afford. Of course there hasto be a meeting point between what you would really likeand economic reality, but aim as high as you can and youwill get the benefit not only when you ride but also ifyou want to sell. Well-made bikes keep their value verywell. And don’ t forget to include in your calculationsthe fact that you’ ll begin saving money on fares andpetrol the minute you leave the shop.2) Get the best frame, the main structure of the bicycle,for your money as you can. Cheap brakes, wheels or gearscan easily be replaced by more expensive ones, but theframe sets the upper limit on any transformation. Youshould allow for the possibility that your cyclingambitions will grow with practice. When you begin, thefour miles to work may be the most you ever dream of, butafter a few months a Sunday ride into the country beginsto look more and more desirable. The best thing is to buya bike just a little bit better than you think you’ llneed, and then grow into it. Otherwise, try to get a modelthat can be improved.3) The fit is vital. Handlebars and seat height can beadjusted but you must get the right sized frame. On thewhole it is best to get the largest size you can manage.Frame sizes are measured in inches and the usual adultrange is from 21 inches to 25 inches, though extreme sizesoutside those measurements can be found. Some people sayif you take four inches off from your inside legmeasurement you will end up with the right size of bike.The basic principle though is that you should be able tostand with legs either side of the crossbar (the bar thatgoes from the handlebars to the seat) with both feetcomfortably flat on the ground.As regards road safety, the author thinks that _____.

复合题Direction: There are 2 passages in this part. Each passageis followed by some questions. For each of them there arefour choices marked A. B. C. and D. You should choose thebest answer and write it down on your Answer Sheet.Passage 2Mathematicians may spend hours just trying to figure out aline of equations. All the while, they feel dumb andinadequate. Then one day, these young mathematiciansbecome established, become professors, acquire secretariesand offices. They dont want to feel stupid anymore. Andthey stop doing great work.In a way, you cant really blame scientists for backingoff. Stumbling around in the dark can be dangerous. “Byits very nature, the edge of knowledge is at the same timethe edge of ignorance, ” is how one cosmologist put it.“Many who have visited it have been cut and bloodied bythe experience. ” All the more reason its so refreshingthat readers of science stories dont seem to mind a bitof confusion. Every Science writer I know has had theexperience of readers coming up to them any saying: “Gee,that was fascinating; I didnt understand it, but Ivebeen thinking about it all day. ” Readers often inquireabout books where they can read further on a subject, oreven primary sources.Editors, however, seem to absorb difficulty differently.If they dont understand something, they often think itcant be right—or that its not worth writing about.Either the writers arent being clear, or the scientistsdont know what theyre talking about. Why thedifference? May theory is that editors are not justordinary fork. They tend to be very accomplished people.Theyre used to being the smartest guys in the room. Soscience makes them feel uncomfortable. And because theycant bear to feel dumb, science coverage suffers.So what is it about science that makes them uneasy? Surelyit is more than the obvious fact that its hard tounderstand things that arent yet understood. In scienceit can be just as hard to understand what is understood.Relatively and quantum mechanics have been around fornearly a century, yet they remain confusing in some senseeven to those who understand these theories well. We knowtheyre correct because theyve been tested sothoroughly in so many ways. But they still dont makesense.On the other hand, what should they? The fact that we havelearned to understand what the universe was doing back toa nanosecond after its birth is literally unbelievable.But the universe doesnt care what we can or cannotbelieve. It doesnt speak our language, so theres noreason it should “make sense” . Thats why sciencedepends on evidence. Its essential to know not only whatscientists know, but also what they know they dont know.This is an unfamiliar concept to editors used to dealingwith politics or sports.For all these reasons and more, good science journalistsknow that if theyre not dealing with subject matter thatmakes them dizzy, theyre probably not doing their jobs.The best editors understand all this.

复合题In the place of the King, two chief executives were chosen annually by the whole body of citizens. These were known as praetors or leaders, but later received the title of consuls. The participation of a colleague in the exercise of supreme power and limitation of the tenure to one year prevented the chief magistrate from becoming autocratic. The character of the Senate was altered by the enrollment of the plebeian members, known as conscripti, and hence the official designation of the senators thereafter was patres conscripti (conscript fathers) . As yet, only patricians were eligible for the magistracies, and the discontent of the plebs led to a violent struggle between the two orders and the gradual removal of the social and political disabilities under which the plebs had labored.In 494 B. C. a secession of plebeian soldiers led to the institution of the tribune plebes, who were elected annually as protectors of the plebs; they had the power to veto the acts of patrician magistrates, and thus served as the leaders of the plebs in the struggles with the patricians. The appointment of the decemvirate, a commission of ten men, in 451 B. C. resulted in the drawing up of a famous code of laws. In 445 B. C. , under the Canuleian law, marriages between patricians and members of the plebs were declared legally valid. By the Licinuian- Sextian laws, passed in 367 B. C. , it was provided that one of the two consuls should thenceforth be plebeian. The other magistracies were gradually opened to the plebs: in 365 B. C. the dictatorship, an extraordinary magistracy, the incumbent of which was appointed in times of great danger; in 350 B. C. , the censorship; in 337 B. C. , the praetorship; and in 300 B. C. , the pontifical and augural colleges.These political changes gave rise to a new aristocracy, composed of patrician and wealthy plebeian families, and admission to the Senate became almost the hereditary privilege of these families. The Senate, which had originally possessed little administrative power, became a powerful governing body, dealing with matters of war and peace, foreign alliances, the founding of colonies, and the handling of the state finances. The rise of this new nobilitas brought to an end the struggles between the two orders, but the position of the poorer plebeian families was not improved, and the marked contrast between the conditions of the rich and the poor led to struggles in the later Republic between the aristocratic party and the popular Party.The external history of Rome during this period was chiefly military. Rome had acquired the leadership of Latium before the close of the regal period. Assisted by their allies, the Romans fought wars against the Etruscans, the Volscians, and the Aequians. The military policy of Rome became more aggressive in the 60 years between 449 and 390 B. C. The defeat of the Romans at Allia and the capture and burning of Rome by the Gauls under the leadership of the chieftain Brennus in 390 B. C. were great disasters, but their effect was temporary. The capture of the Etruscan city of Veii in 396 B. C. by the solider and statesman Marcus Furius Camillus spelled the beginning of the end of Etruscan independence. Other Etruscan cities hastened to make peace, and by the middle of the 4th B. C. all southern Etruria was kept in the check by Roman garrisons and the denationalized by an influx of Roman colonists. Vistories over the Volscians, the Latins, and the Hernicans gave Romans control of central Italy and brought them into conflict with the Samnites of southern Italy, who were defeated in a series of three wars, extending from 343 to 290 B. C. A powerful coalition was at this time formed against Rome, consisting of Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls in the north, and of Lucanians, Bruttians, and Samnites in the south; this coalition endangered the power of Rome, but the northern confederacy was defeated in 283 B. C. and the southern states soon after.Which one is in the central Italy?

复合题In the place of the King, two chief executives were chosen annually by the whole body of citizens. These were known as praetors or leaders, but later received the title of consuls. The participation of a colleague in the exercise of supreme power and limitation of the tenure to one year prevented the chief magistrate from becoming autocratic. The character of the Senate was altered by the enrollment of the plebeian members, known as conscripti, and hence the official designation of the senators thereafter was patres conscripti (conscript fathers) . As yet, only patricians were eligible for the magistracies, and the discontent of the plebs led to a violent struggle between the two orders and the gradual removal of the social and political disabilities under which the plebs had labored.In 494 B. C. a secession of plebeian soldiers led to the institution of the tribune plebes, who were elected annually as protectors of the plebs; they had the power to veto the acts of patrician magistrates, and thus served as the leaders of the plebs in the struggles with the patricians. The appointment of the decemvirate, a commission of ten men, in 451 B. C. resulted in the drawing up of a famous code of laws. In 445 B. C. , under the Canuleian law, marriages between patricians and members of the plebs were declared legally valid. By the Licinuian- Sextian laws, passed in 367 B. C. , it was provided that one of the two consuls should thenceforth be plebeian. The other magistracies were gradually opened to the plebs: in 365 B. C. the dictatorship, an extraordinary magistracy, the incumbent of which was appointed in times of great danger; in 350 B. C. , the censorship; in 337 B. C. , the praetorship; and in 300 B. C. , the pontifical and augural colleges.These political changes gave rise to a new aristocracy, composed of patrician and wealthy plebeian families, and admission to the Senate became almost the hereditary privilege of these families. The Senate, which had originally possessed little administrative power, became a powerful governing body, dealing with matters of war and peace, foreign alliances, the founding of colonies, and the handling of the state finances. The rise of this new nobilitas brought to an end the struggles between the two orders, but the position of the poorer plebeian families was not improved, and the marked contrast between the conditions of the rich and the poor led to struggles in the later Republic between the aristocratic party and the popular Party.The external history of Rome during this period was chiefly military. Rome had acquired the leadership of Latium before the close of the regal period. Assisted by their allies, the Romans fought wars against the Etruscans, the Volscians, and the Aequians. The military policy of Rome became more aggressive in the 60 years between 449 and 390 B. C. The defeat of the Romans at Allia and the capture and burning of Rome by the Gauls under the leadership of the chieftain Brennus in 390 B. C. were great disasters, but their effect was temporary. The capture of the Etruscan city of Veii in 396 B. C. by the solider and statesman Marcus Furius Camillus spelled the beginning of the end of Etruscan independence. Other Etruscan cities hastened to make peace, and by the middle of the 4th B. C. all southern Etruria was kept in the check by Roman garrisons and the denationalized by an influx of Roman colonists. Vistories over the Volscians, the Latins, and the Hernicans gave Romans control of central Italy and brought them into conflict with the Samnites of southern Italy, who were defeated in a series of three wars, extending from 343 to 290 B. C. A powerful coalition was at this time formed against Rome, consisting of Etruscans, Umbrians, and Gauls in the north, and of Lucanians, Bruttians, and Samnites in the south; this coalition endangered the power of Rome, but the northern confederacy was defeated in 283 B. C. and the southern states soon after.The political changes led to _____.

复合题Passage AThe Taming of Demon GoutGout is the aristocrat of diseases. Ancient philosophers and physicians attributed to high living, and it has often afflicted men of exceptional talent. Michelangelo suffered from gout, as did Galileo, Martin Luther, Samuel Johnson, Darwin, Sitting Bull, Theodore Roosevelt and, more recently, Cyrus Vance. Gout was called opprobrium medicorum—the physicians’ shame—because so little could be done to treat it. Victims faced excruciating pain, severe crippling and often death from kidney failure. But modem medicine has turned the demon gout into amicus medicorum—the physicians’ friend.The typical gout patient is a middle-aged man. Hobbling into the doctor’ s office, he complains of a severe throbbing pain in a joint. The disease usually strikes the foot, but it can also afflict the knee, ankle, elbow and hand. The spot is so sore, he says, that a bed sheet resting lightly on it, or even the wisp of a breeze, produces almost unbearable agony.One look at the red and swollen toe, hot and full of fluid, tells the physician that he is probably dealing with gout. To confirm the preliminary diagnosis, the doctor draws a sample of fluid from the inflamed spot. Using a microscope, he searches for thin crystals of uric acid, a natural by-product of metabolism that rises to abnormal levels in gout sufferers.Rheumatologists have learned just how the uric-acid crystals create the painful symptoms of gout. A tiny urate crystal, explains New York University’ s Dr. Gerald Weissman, lodges in a white blood cell near the joint. Eventually, the cell ruptures and dies, releasing toxic enzymes that cause inflammation and searing pain.Relief: The first stage of treatment is to relieve the acute symptoms. Doctors used to prescribe colchicine, an extract of the autumn crocus whose medicinal value was first discovered by the ancient Greeks. But colchicine has unpleasant side effects, including diarrhea and vomiting. So today, most physicians favor indomethacin, a potent pain killer that also reduces swelling and inflammation. Relief from the pain begins almost immediately.The second phase of treatment is prevention. Gout patients are usually put on a lifelong course of daily medication. Small doses of colchicine are given for up to a year, followed by one of two newer drugs: probenicid, which increases the excretion of uric acid from the body, or allopurinol, which inhibits production of uric acid. With these medications, many patients never experience a second attack.The latest research has punctured some of the popular myths about gout.Examples:—Overeating. For centuries, gout was blamed on rich food, and patients were kept on a strict diet. Gluttony cannot cause the disease, but eating certain foods can bring on an attack. Uric acid is produced by the breakdown of substances called purines, which are concentrated in organ meats, sardines, anchovies, scallops and other delicacies. Happily, with proper drugs, the gout victim need not curb his appetite. Advises Dr. Gerald Rodnan of the University of Pittsburgh: “Be merry and take your medicine. ”—Drinking. Alcohol does block the kidneys’ ability to excrete uric acid, but gout patients on medication may imbibe moderately without fear of an attack.—Talent. For mysterious reasons, gout seems to strike the eminent and successful in disproportionate numbers. Studies of soldiers and college students have demonstrated some correlation between high intelligence and high uric- acid levels. “The connection is beyond grandmothers’ tales, ” says Weissman, “but a lot of trivial explanations are possible. Maybe bright people eat more meat or don’ t urinate as much. ”Why does a doctor draw a quantity of fluid from a possible gout sufferer?

复合题Before 1815 manufacturing in the United States had been done in homes or shops by skilled artisans. As master craft workers, they imparted the knowledge of their trades to apprentices and journeymen. In addition, women often worked in their homes part-time, making finished articles from raw material supplied by merchant capitalists. After 1815 this older form of manufacturing began to give way to factories with machinery tended by unskilled or semiskilled laborers. Cheap transportation networks, the rise of cities, and the availability of capital and credit all stimulated the shift to factory production.The creation of a labor force that was accustomed to working in factories did not occur easily. Before the rise of the factory, artisans had worked within the home. Apprentices were considered part of the family, and masters were responsible not only for teaching their apprentices a trade but also for providing them some education and for supervising their moral behavior. Journeymen knew that if they perfected their skill, they could become respected master artisans with their own shops. Also, skilled artisans did not work by the clock, at a steady pace, but rather in bursts of intense labor alternating with more leisurely time.The factory changed that. Goods produced by factories were not as finished or elegant as those done by hand, and pride in craftsmanship gave way to the pressure to increase rates of productivity. The new methods of doing business involved a new and stricter sense of time. Factory life necessitated a more regimented schedule, where work began at the sound of a bell and workers kept machines going at a constant pace. At the same time, workers were required to discard old habits, for industrialism demanded a worker who was alert, dependable, and self-disciplined. Absenteeism and lateness hurt productivity and, since work was specialized, disrupted the regular factory routine, industrialization not only produced a fundamental change in the way work was organized; it transformed the very nature of work.The first generation to experience these changes did not adopt the new attitudes easily. The factory clock became the symbol of the new work rules. One mill worker who finally quit complained revealingly about “obedience to the ding-dong of the bell—just as though we are so many living machines.” With the loss of personal freedom also came the loss of standing in the community. Unlike artisan workshops in which apprentices worked closely with the masters supervising them, factories sharply separated workers from management. Few workers rose through the ranks to supervisory positions, and even fewer could achieve the artisan’s dream of setting up one’s own business. Even well-paid workers sensed their decline in status.In this newly emerging economic order, workers sometimes organized to protect their rights and traditional ways of life. Craft workers such as carpenters, printers, and tailors formed unions, and in 1834 individual unions came together in the National Trades’ Union. The labor movement gathered some momentum in the decade before the Panic of 1837, but in the depression that followed, labor’s strength collapsed. During hard times, few workers were willing to strike or engage in collective action. And skilled craft workers, who spearheaded the union movement, did not feel a particularly strong bond with semiskilled factory workers and unskilled laborers. More than a decade of agitation did finally bring a workday shortened to 10 hours to most industries by the 1850’s, and the courts also recognized workers’ right to strike, but these gains had little immediate impact.Workers were united in resenting the industrial system and their toss of status, but they were divided by ethnic and racial antagonisms, gender, conflicting religious perspectives, occupational differences, political party loyalties, and disagreements over tactics. For them, the factory and industrialism were not agents of opportunity but reminders of their loss of independence and a measure of control over their lives. As United States society became more specialized and differentiated, greater extremes of wealth began to appear. And as the new markets created fortunes for the few, the factory system lowered the wages of workers by dividing labor into smaller, less skilled tasks.

复合题Amongalltheabilitieswithwhichanindividualmaybeendowed,musicaltalentappearsearliestinlife.Veryyoungchildrencanexhibitmusicalprecocityfordifferentreasons.Somedevelopexceptionalskillasaresultofawell-designedinstructionalregime,suchastheSuzukimethodfortheviolin.Somehavethegoodfortunetobebornintoamusicalfamilyinahouseholdfilledwithmusic.Inanumberofinterestingcases,musicaltalentispartofanotherwisedisablingconditionsuchasautismormentalretardation.Amusicallygiftedchildhasaninborntalent;however,theextenttowhichthetalentisexpressedpubliclywilldependupontheenvironmentinwhichthechildlives.Musicallygiftedchildrenmasteratanearlyagetheprincipalelementsofmusic,includingpitchandrhythm.Pitch-ormelody-ismorecentralincertaincultures,forexample,inEasternsocietiesthatmakeuseoftinyquarter-toneintervals.Rhythm,soundsproducedatcertainauditoryfrequenciesandgroupedaccordingtoaprescribedsystem,isemphasizedinsub-SaharanAfrica,wheretherhythmicratioscanbeverycomplex.Allchildrenhavesomeaptitudeformakingmusic.Duringinfancy,normalchildrensingaswellasbabble,andtheycanproduceindividualsoundsandsoundpatterns.Infantsasyoungastwomonthscanmatchtheirmother’ssongsinpitch,loudness,andmelodicshape,andinfantsatfourmonthscanmatchrhythmicstructureaswell.Infantsareespeciallypredisposedtoacquirethesecoreaspectsofmusic,andtheycanalsoengageinsoundplaythatclearlyexhibitscreativity.Individualdifferencesbegintoemergeinyoungchildrenastheylearntosing.Somechildrencanmatchlargesegmentsofasongbytheageoftwoorthree.Manyotherscanonlyapproximatepitchatthisageandmaystillhavedifficultyinproducingaccuratemelodiesbytheageoffiveorsix.However,bythetimetheyreachschoolage,mostchildreninanyculturehaveaschemaofwhatasongshouldbelikeandcanproduceareasonablyaccurateimitationofthesongscommonlyheardintheirenvironment.Theearlyappearanceofsuperiormusicalabilityinsomechildrenprovidesevidencethatmusicaltalentmaybeaseparateanduniqueformofintelligence.Therearenumeroustalesofyoungartistswhohavearemarkable“ear”orextraordinarymemoryformusicandanaturalunderstandingofmusicalstructure.Inmanyofthesecases,thechildisaverageineveryotherwaybutdisplaysanexceptionalabilityinmusic.Eventhemostgiftedchild,however,takesabouttenyearstoachievethelevelsofperformanceorcompositionthatwouldconstitutemasteryofthemusicalsphere.Everygenerationinmusichistoryhashaditsfamousprodigies—individualswithexceptionalmusicalpowersthatemergeatayoungage.Intheeighteenthcentury,WolfangAmadeusMozartbegancomposingandperformingattheageofsix.Asachild,Mozartcouldplaythepianolikeanadult.Hehadperfectpitch,andatageninehewasalsoamasteroftheartofmodulation—transitionsfromonekeytoanother—whichbecameoneofthehallmarksofhisstyle.Bytheageofeleven,hehadcomposedthreesymphoniesand30othermajorworks.Mozart’swell-developedtalentwaspreservedintoadulthood.Unusualmusicalabilityisaregularcharacteristicofcertainanomaliessuchasautism.Inonecase,anautisticgirlwasabletoplay“HappyBirthday”inthestyleofvariouscomposers,includingMozart,Beethoven,Verdi,andSchubert.Whenthegirlwasthree,hermothercalledherbyplayingincompletemelodies,whichthechildwouldcompletewiththeappropriatetoneintheproperoctave.Fortheautisticchild,musicmaybetheprimarymodeofcommunication,andthechildmayclingtomusicbecauseitrepresentsahaveninaworldthatislargelyconfusingandfrightening.

复合题Passage BDavid Landes, author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations:Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor, credits the worlds economic and social progress over the last thousand years to “Western civilization and its dissemination. ” The reason, he believes, is that Europeans invented systematic economic growth. First, science developed as an autonomous method of intellectual inquiry that successfully disengaged itself from the social constraints of organized religion and from the political constraints of centralized authority. Though European lacked a political center, its scholars benefited from the use of single vehicle of communication: Latin. This common tongue facilitated an adversarial discourse in which new ideas about the physical world could be tested, demonstrated, and then accepted across the continent and eventually across the world. Second, Landes espouses a generalized form of Max Webers thesis that the values of work, initiative, and in vestment made the difference for Europe. Despite his emphasis on science, Landes does not stress the nation of rationality as such.In his views, “what counts is work, thrift, honesty,patience, [and] tenacity. ” The only route to economic success for individuals or states is working hard, spending less than you earn, and investing the rest in productive capacity. This is his fundamental explanation of the problem posed by his books subtitle: “Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. ” For historical reasons—an emphasis on private property, an experience of political pluralism, a temperate climate, and an urban style—Europeans have, on balance, followed those practices and therefore have prospered. Third, and perhaps most important, Europeans were learners. They “learned rather greedily, ” as Joel Mokyr put it in a review of Landes book. Even if Europeans possessed indigenous technologies that gave them an advantage (spectacles, for example) , as Landes believes they did, their most vital asset was the ability to assimilate knowledge from around the world and put it to use—as in borrowing the concept of zero and rediscovering Aristotles Logic from the Arabs and taking paper and gunpowder from the Chinese via the Muslim world. Lnades argues that a systematic resistance to learning from other cultures had become the greatest handicap of the Chinese by the 18th Century and remains the greatest handicap of Arab countries today.Although his analysis of European expansion is almost nonexistent, Landes doesnt argue that Europeans were beneficent bearers of civilization to benighted world. Rather, he relies on his own commonsense law: “When one group is strong enough to push another around and standsto gain by it, it will do so. ” In contrast to the new school of world historians, Landes believes that specific cultural values enabled technological advances that in turn made some Europeans strong enough to dominate people in other parts of the world. Europeans therefore proceeded to do so with great viciousness and cruelty. By focusing on their victimization in this process, Landes holds, some postcolonial states have wasted energy that could have been put into productive work and investment. If one could sum up Landess advice to these states in one sentence, it might be “Stop whining and get to work. ” This is particularly important, indeed hopeful, advice, he would argue, because success is not permanent. Advantages are not fixed, gains from trade are unequal, and different societies react differently to market signals. Therefore, not only is there hope for undeveloped countries, but developed countries have little cause to be complacent, because the current situation “will press hard” on them.The thrust of studies like Landess is to identify those distinctive features of European civilization that lie behind.Europes rise to power and the creation of modernity more generally. Other historians have placed a greater emphasis on such features as liberty, individualism, and Christianity. In a review essay, the art historian Craig Clunas listed some of the less well-known linkages that have been proposed between Western culture and modernity, including the propensities to think the quantitatively, enjoys pornography, and consumes sugar. All such proposals assume the fundamental aptness of the question: What elements of European civilization led to European success? It is a short leap from this assumption to outright triumphalism. The paradigmatic book of this school is, of course, The End of History and the Last Man, in which Francis Fukuyama argues that after the collapse of the Nazism and communism in the 20th Century, the only remaining model for human organization in the industrial and communications ages is a combination of market economics and limited, pluralist, democratic government.The cultural elements identified by Landes _____ those identified by other historians.

复合题In this section there are four passages followed by 20 questions or unfinished statements, each with four suggested answers marked A. B, C and D. Choose the one that you think is the correct answer

复合题Immigrationposestwomainchallengesfortherichworld’sgovernments.Oneishowtomanagetheinflowofmigrants;theother,howtointegratethosewhoarealreadythere.Whom,forexample,toallowin?Already,manygovernmentshaverealizedthatthemarketfortoptalentisglobalandcompetitive.LedbyCanadaandAustralia,theyareredesigningmigrationpoliciesnotjusttoadmit,butactivelytoattracthighlyskilledimmigrants.Germany,forinstance,tentativelyintroducedagreencardofitsowntwoyearagoforinformation-technologystaff.Whereasthecaseforattractingthehighlyskilledisfastbecomingconventionalwisdom,athornierissueiswhattodoabouttheunskilled.Becausethedifferenceinearningsisgreatestinthissector,migrationoftheunskilleddeliversthelargestglobaleconomicgains.Moreover,wealthy,well-educated,ageingeconomiescreatelotsofjobsforwhichtheirownworkershavelittleappetite.Soimmigrantstendtoclusterattheupperandlowerendsoftheskillspectrum.Immigrantseitherhaveuniversitydegreesornohigh-schooleducation.Mr.Smith’ssurveymakesthepoint:AmongimmigrantstoAmerica,theproportionwithapostgraduateeducation,at21%,isalmostthreetimesashighasinthenativepopulation;equally,theproportionwithlessthannineyearsofschooling,at20%,ismorethanthreetimesashighas,thatofthenative-born.Allthismeansthatsomeimmigrantsdofarbetterthanothers.Theunskilledaretheproblem.ResearchbyGeorgeBuries,aHarvardUniversityprofessorwhoseparentswereunskilledCubanimmigrants,hasdrawnattentiontothefactthattheunskilledaccountforagrowingproportionofAmerica’sforeign-born.Newcomerswithouthigh-schooleducationnotonlydragdownthewagesofthepoorestAmericans;theirchildrenarealsodisproportionatelylikelytofailatschool.Thereyoungstersaretheretostay.“Thetoothpasteisoutofthetube”,saysMarkKrikorian,executivedirectoroftheCenterforImmigrationStudies.Andtheirnumberswillgrow.Becausetherichworld’swomenspurnmotherhood,immigrantsgivebirthtomanyoftherichworld’sbabies.ForeignmothersaccountforonebirthinfiveinSwitzerlandandoneineightinGermanyandBritain.Ifthesechildrengrowupunderprivilegedandundereducated,theywillcreateanewunderclassthatmaytakemanyyearstoemergeformpoverty.ForEurope,immigrationcreatesparticularproblems.EuropeneedsitevenmorethantheUnitedStatesbecausethecontinentisageingfasterthananyotherregion.Immigrationisnotapermanentcure(immigrantsgrowoldtoo),butitwillbuytime.Andmigrationcan“greasethewheels”ofEurope’sscleroticlabourmarkets,arguesTitoBoeriinareportpublishedinJuly.However,thankstothegenerosityofEurope’swelfarestates,migrationisalsoasortoftaxonimmobilelabour.AndthemoreimmobileEuropeansaretheolder,thelesseducated—hemorexenophobictheyaretoo.

复合题Passage BAll Eskimos live most of their lives close to salt or fresh water. They may follow game inland for several hundred miles, but they always return to the shores of rivers, lakes, or seas.Eskimo land has a bare look. Large rocks, pebbles, and sand cover much of the surface. Plants called lichen grow right on rock. And where there is enough soil, even grass, flowers, and small bushes manage to live. No trees can grow on Eskimo land, so geographers sometimes call this country the Arctic plains. Some animals, such as rabbits and caribou, eat the plants. Others, like the white fox and grey wolf, eat the rabbits and caribou. The Eskimo is a meat-eater, too, and may even eat a wolf when food is scarce.The Eskimo year has two main parts: a long, cold winter and a short, cool summer. Spring and fall are almost too short to be noticed. Summer is the good time, when food is usually plentiful. But it is also the time when the Eskimos are very busy. Winter is never far away, and the men must bring home extra meat for the women to prepare and store. For seldom can enough animals be killed in winter to feed a family.The Far North is sometimes called the land of the midnight sun. This is true in the middle of summer, for between April 21st and August 21st the sun never sets in Northern Greenland. But in midwinter the Far North is a land with no sun shining at all. Around Oct. 21st the Eskimos of Northern Greenland see the sun setting straight south of them, and they don’ t see it again until February 22nd. All places on earth get about the same amount of daylight during a year. As a result, if summer is lighter, winter has to be darker.Winter nights in the Far North are seldom pitch-black. As in the rest of the world, the stars and moon provide a little light. The northern lights also help the Eskimos to see. And with the ground covered with snow, even a little light is reflected back to the Eskimo’ s eyes.The best title for the passage is _____.

复合题Directions: Read the following passages and then answer the questions which follow each passage. Use only information from the passage you have just read and write your answer in the corresponding space on your answer sheet.As Erin White watched the election results head towards victory for Barack Obama, she felt a burden lifting from her shoulders. “In that one second, it was a validation for my whole race, ” she recalls.“I’ ve always been an achiever, ” says White, who is studying for an MBA at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. “But there had always been these things in the back of my mind questioning whether I really can be who I want. It was like a shadow, following me around saying you can only go so far. Now it’ s like a barrier has been let down. ”White’ s experience is what many psychologists had expected — that Obama would prove to be a powerful role model for African Americans. Some hoped his rise to prominence would have a big lingering racist attitudes? There is no easy way to measure racism directly; instead psychologists assess what is known as “implicit bias” , using a computer-based test that measures how quickly people associate positive and negative words — such as “love” or “evil” — with photos of black or white faces. A similar test can also measure how quickly subjects associate stereotypical traits — such as athletic skills or mental ability — with a particular group. In a study that will appear in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Plant’ s team tested 229 students during the height of the Obama fever. They found that implicit bias has fallen by as much as 90% compared with the level found in a similar study in 2006. “That’ s an unusually large drop, ” Plant says.In a study that will appear in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, Plant’ s team tested 229 students during the height of the Obama fever. They found that implicit bias has fallen by as much as 90% compared with the level found in a similar study in 2006. “That’ s an unusually large drop, ” Plant says.While the team can’ t be sure their results are due solely to Obama, they also showed that those with the lowest bias were likely to subconsciously associate black skin colour with political words such as “government” or “president” . This suggests that Obama was strongly on their mind, says Plant.Drop in biasBrian Nosek of the University of Virginia in Charlottesville, who runs a website that measures implicit bias using similar test, has also observed a small drop in bias in the 700, 000 visitors to the site since January 2007, which might be explained by Obama’ s rise to popularity. However, his preliminary results suggest that change will be much slower coming than Plant’ s results suggest.Talking honestly“People now have the opportunity of expressing support for Obama every day, ” says Daniel Effron at Stanford University in California. “Our research arouses the concern that people may now be more likely to raise negative views of African Americans. ” On the other hand, he says, it may just encourage people to talk more honestly about their feelings regarding race issues, which may not be such a bad thing.Another part of the study suggests far more is at stake than the mere expression of views. The Obama effect may have a negative side. Just one week after Obama was elected president, participants were less ready to support policies designed to address racial inequality than they had been two weeks before the election.It could, of course, also be that Obama’ s success helps people to forget that a disproportionate number of black Americans still live in poverty and face huge obstacles when trying to overcome these circumstances. “Barack Obama’ s family is such a salient (出色的) image, we generalise it and fail to see the larger picture — that there’ s injustice in every aspect of American life, ” says Cheryl Kaiser of the University of Washington in Seattle. Those trying to address issues of racial inequality need to constantly remind people of the inequalities that still exist to counteract the Obama’ s effect, she says.Though Plant’ s findings were more positive, she too warns against thinking that racism and racial inequalities are no longer a problem. “The last thing I want is for people to think everything’ s solved. ”Sting in the tailAshby Plant is one of a number of psychologists who seized on Obama’ s candidacy to test hypotheses about the power of role models. Their work is already starting to reveal how the “Obama effect” is changing people’ s views and behavior. Perhaps surprisingly, it is not all good news: there is a sting in the tail of the Obama effect.But first the good news. Barack Obama really is a positive role model for African Americans, and he was making an impact even before he got to the White House. Indeed, the Obama effect can be surprisingly immediate and powerful, as Ray Friedman of Vanderbilt University and his colleagues discovered.They tested four separate groups at four key stages of Obama’ s presidential campaign. Each group consisted of around 120 adults of similar age and education, and the test assessed their language skills. At two of these stages, when Obama’ s success was less than certain, the tests showed a clear difference between the scores of the white and black participants-an average of 12. 1 out of 20, compared to 8. 8, for example. When the Obama fever was at its height, however, the black participants performed much better. Those who had watched Obama’ s acceptance speech as the Democrats’ presidential candidate performed just as well, on average, as the white subjects. After his election victory, this was true of all the black participants.Dramatic shiftWhat can explain this dramatic shift? At the start of the test, the participants had to declare their race and were told their results would be used to assess their strengths and weaknesses. This should have primed the subjects with “stereotype threat” an anxiety that their results will confirm negative stereotypes, which has been shown to damage the performance of African Americans.Obama’ s successes seemed to act as a shield against this. “We suspect they felt inspired and energized by his victory, so the stereotype threat wouldn’ t prove a distraction, ” says Friedman.Lingering racismIf the Obama effect is positive for African Americans, how is it affecting their white compatriots (同胞) ? Is the experience of having a charismatic (有魅力的) black president modifying these circumstances. “Barack Obama’ s family is such a salient (出色的) image, we generalize it and fail to see the larger picture — that there’ s injustice in every aspect of American life, ” says Cheryl Kaiser of the University of Washington in Seattle. Those trying to address issues of racial inequality need to constantly remind people of the inequalities that still exist to counteract the Obama’ s effect, she says.These findings do not only apply to Obama, or even just to race. They should hold for any role model in any country. “There’ s no reason we wouldn’ t have seen the same effect on our views of women if Hillary Clinton or Sarah Palin had been elected, ” says Effron. So the election of a female leader might have a downside for other women.Beyond raceWe also don’ t yet know how long the Obama effect — both its good side and its bad — will last. Political sentiment is notoriously changeable: What if things begin to go wrong for Obama, and his popularity slumps?And what if Americans become so familiar with having Obama as their president that they stop considering his race altogether? “Over time he might become his own entity, ” says Plant. This might seem like the ultimate defeat for racism, but ignoring the race of certain select individuals — a phenomenon that psychologists call subtyping — also has an insidious (隐伏的) side. “We think it happens to help people preserve their beliefs, so they can still hold on to the previous stereotypes. ” That could turn out to be the cruelest of all the twists to the Obama effect.