复合题Will there ever be another Einstein? This is theundercurrent of conversation at Einstein memorial meetingsthroughout the year. A new Einstein will emerge,scientists say. But it may take a long time. After all,more than 200 years separated Einstein from his nearestrival, Isaac Newton.Many physicists say the next Einstein hasnt been bornyet, or is a baby now. Thats because the quest for aunified theory that would account for all the forces ofnature has pushed current mathematics to its limits. Newmath must be created before the problem can be solved.But researchers say there are many other factors workingagainst another Einstein emerging anytime soon.For one thing, physics is a much different field today. InEinsteins day, there were only a few thousand physicistsworldwide, and the theoreticians who could intellectuallyrival Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar withseats to spare.Education is different, too. One crucial aspect ofEinsteins training that is overlooked is the years ofphilosophy he read as a teenager—Kant, Schopenhauer andSpinoza, among others. It taught him how to thinkindependently and abstractly about space and time, and itwasnt long before he became a philosopher himself.“The independence created by philosophical insight is—inmy opinion—the mark of distinction between a mere artisan(工匠) or specialist and a real seeker after truth, ”Einstein wrote in 1944.And he was an accomplished musician. The interplay betweenmusic and math is well known. Einstein would furiouslyplay his violin as a way to think through a knotty physicsproblem.Today, universities have produced millions of physicists.There arent many jobs in science for them, so they go toWall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their analyticalskills to more practical—and rewarding—efforts.“Maybe there is an Einstein out there today, ” saidColumbia University physicist Brian Greene, “but it wouldbe a lot harder for him to be heard. ”Especially considering what Einstein was proposing.“The actual fabric of space and time curving? My God,what an idea! ” Greene said at a recent gathering at theAspen Institute. “It takes a certain type of person whowill bang his head against the wall because you believeyoull find the solution. ”Perhaps the best examples are the five scientific papersEinstein wrote in his “miracle year” of 1905. These“thought experiments” were pages of calculations signedand submitted to the prestigious journal Annalen derPhysik by a virtual unknown. There were no footnotes orcitations.What might happen to such a submission today?“We all get papers like those in the mail, ” Greene said.“We put them in the junk file. ”What does the author tell us about physicists today?

复合题TheArtsandCraftsMovementintheUnitedStateswasresponsibleforsweepingchangesinattitudestowardthedecorativearts,thenconsideredtheminororhouseholdarts.ItsfocusondecorativeartshelpedtoinduceUnitedStatesmuseumsandprivatecollectorstobegincollectingfurniture,glass,ceramics,metalwork,andtextilesinthelatenineteenthandearlytwentiethcenturies.Thefactthatartisans,whowerelookedonasmechanicsorskilledworkersintheeighteenthcentury,arefrequentlyconsideredartiststodayasdirectlyattributabletotheArtsandCraftsMovementofthenineteenthcentury.Theimportancenowplacedonattractiveandharmonioushomedecorationcanalsobetracedtothisperiod,whenVictorianinteriorarrangementswererevisedtoadmitgreaterlightandmorefreelyflowingspaces.TheArtsandCraftsMovementreactedagainstmechanizedprocessesthatthreatenedhandcraftsandresultedincheapened,monotonousmerchandise.FoundedinthelatenineteenthcenturybyBritishsocialcriticsJohnRuskinandWilliamMorris,themovementreveredcraftasaformofart.Inarapidlyindustrializingsociety,mostVictoriansagreedthatartwasanessentialmoralingredientinthehomeenvironment,andinmanymiddle-andworking-classhomescraftwastheonlyformofart,Ruskinandhisfollowerscriticizednotonlythedegradationofartisansreducedtomachineoperators,butalsotheimpendinglossofdailycontactwithhandcraftedobjects,fashionedwithpride,integrity,andattentiontobeauty.IntheUnitedStatesaswellasinGreatBritain,reformersextolledthevirtuesofhandcraftedobjects:simple,straightforwarddesign;solidmaterialsofgoodquality;andsound,enduringconstructiontechniques.Thesecriteriawereinterpretedinavarietyofstyles,rangingfromrationalandgeometrictoromanticornaturalistic.Whetherabstract,stylized,orrealisticallytreated,theconsistentthemeinvirtuallyallArtsandCraftsdesignisnature.TheArtsandCraftsMovementwasmuchmorethanaparticularstyle;itwasaphilosophyofdomesticlife.Proponentsbelievedthatifsimpledesign,high-qualitymaterials,andhonestconstructionwererealizedinthehomeanditsappointments,thentheoccupantswouldenjoymoralandtherapeuticeffects.Forbothartisanandconsumer,theArtsandCraftsdoctrinewasseenasamagicalforceagainsttheundesirableeffectsofindustrialization.

复合题Passage AThere are few more sobering online activities thanentering data into college-tuition calculators and gaspingas the Web spits back a six-figure sum. But economists sayfamilies about to go into debt to fund four years ofpartying, as well as studying, can console themselves withthe knowledge that college is an investment that, unlikemany bank stocks, should yield huge dividends.A 2008 study by two Harvard economists notes that the“labor-market premium to skill” —or the amount collegegraduates earned thats greater than what high-schoolgraduate earned—decreased for much of the 20th century,but has come back with a vengeance (报复性地) since the1980s. In 2005, the typical full-time year-round U. S.worker with a four-year college degree earned $50, 900, 62%more than the $31, 500 earned by a worker with only a high-school diploma.Theres no question that going to college is a smarteconomic choice. But a look at the strange variations intuition reveals that the choice about which college toattend doesnt come down merely to dollars and cents.Does going to Columbia University (tuition, room and board$49, 260 in 2007-08) yield a 40% greater return thanattending the University of Colorado at Boulder as an out-of-state student ($35, 542) ? Probably not. Does being anout-of-state student at the University of Colorado atBoulder yield twice the amount of income as being an in-state student ($17, 380) there? Not likely.No, in this consumerist age, most buyers arentevaluating college as an investment, but rather as aconsumer product—like a car or clothes or a house. Andwith such purchases, price is only one of many crucialfactors to consider.As with automobiles, consumers in todays collegemarketplace have vast choices, and people search for theone that gives them the most comfort and satisfaction inline with their budgets. This accounts for the willingnessof people to pay more for different types of experiences(such as attending a private liberal-arts college or goingto an out-of-state public school that has a great marine-biology program) . And just as two auto purchasers mightspend an equal amount of money on very different cars,college students (or, more accurately, their parents)often show a willingness to pay essentially the same pricefor vastly different products. So which is it? Is collegean investment product like a stock or a consumer productlike a car? In keeping with the automotive worldshottest consumer trend, maybe its best to characterizeit as a hybrid (混合动力汽车) ; an expensive consumerproduct that, over time, will pay rich dividends.The two Harvard economists note in their study that, for much of the 20th century, _____.

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.From the passage, we can infer all except that _____.

复合题Passage AAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, portraitureis, “a representation or delineation of a person,especially of the face, made by life, by drawing,painting, photography, engraving. . . a likeness. ” However,this simplistic definition disregards the complexities ofportraiture. Portraits are works of art that engage withideas of identity as they are perceived, represented, andunderstood in different times and places, rather thansimply aim to represent a likeness. These concepts ofidentity can encompass social hierarchy, gender, age,profession, and the character of the subject, among otherthings. Rather than being fixed, these features areexpressive of the expectations and circumstances of thetime when the portrait was made. It is impossible toreproduce the aspects of identity; it is only possible toevoke or suggest them. Consequently, even though portraitsrepresent individuals, it is generally conventional ortypical—rather than unique—qualities of subject that arestressed by the artist. Portrait art has also undergonesignificant shifts in artistic convention and practice.Despite the fact that the majority of portraits portraythe subject matter in some amount of verisimilitude, (anappearance of being true or real) , they are still theoutcome of prevailing artistic fashions and favoredstyles, techniques, and media.Therefore, portrait art is a vast art category whichprovides a wide range of engagements with social,psychological, and artistic practices and expectations.Since portraits are distinct from other genres or artcategories in the ways they are produced, the nature ofwhat they represent, and how they function as objects ofuse and display, they are worthy of separate study. First,during their production, portraits require the presence ofa specific person, or an image of the individual to berepresented, in almost all cases. In the majority ofinstances, the production of portraiture has necessitatedsittings, which result in interaction between thesubject(s) and artist throughout the creation of the work.In certain instances, portrait artists depended on acombination of direct involvement with their subjects. Ifthe sitter is of high social standing or is occupied andunavailable to sit in the studio regularly, portraitistscould use photographs or sketches of their subject. InEurope, during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, thesitting time was sometimes decreased by focusing solely onthe head and using professional drapery painters to finishthe painting. For instance, Sir Peter Lily, the Englishartist, had a collection of poses in a pattern book thatenabled him to focus on the head and require fewersittings from his aristocratic patrons. Portrait painterscould be asked to present the likeness of individuals whowere deceased. In this sort of instance, photographs orprints of the subject could be reproduced. Theoretically,portraitists could work from impressions or memories whencreating a painting, but this is a rare occurrenceaccording to documented records. Nonetheless, whether thework is based on model sittings, copying a photograph orsketch, or using memory, the process of painting aportrait is closely linked with the implicit or explicitattendance of the model.Furthermore, portrait painting can be differentiated fromother artistic genres like landscape, still life, andhistory by its connection with appearance, or likeness. Assuch, the art of portrait painting got a reputation forimitation, or copying, instead of for artistic innovationor creativity; consequently it is sometimes viewed asbeing of a lower status than the other genres. Accordingto Renaissance art theory, (which prevailed until thestart of the nineteenth century) fine art was supposed torepresent idealized images, as well as to be original andcreative instead of to copy other works. Portraiture, incomparison, became linked with the level of a mechanicalexercise as opposed to a fine art. Michelangelos wellknown protest that he would not paint portraits becausethere were not enough ideally beautiful models is only oneexample of the dismissive attitude to portraiture thatpersisted among professional artist—even those who,ironically, made their living from portraiture. In thetime of modernism, during the nineteenth and twentiethcenturies, the attitude towards portraiture was critical.Even so, artists from around the globe kept paintingportraits in spite of their theoretical objections.Picasso, for instance, became renowned for cubist still-life painting early in his career, but some of his mosteffective early experiments in this new style were hisportraits of art dealers.What can be inferred from Michelangelo’ s view of portraiture?

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. ”What’ s the reaction of the zapovedniks to Murovyovka Nature Park project?

复合题Americanuniversitiesareacceptingmoreminoritiesthanever.Graduatingthemisanothermatter.BarryMills,thepresidentofBowdoinCollege,wasjustifiablyproudofBowdoin’seffortstorecruitminoritystudents.Since2002,thesmall,eliteliberalartsschoolinBrunswick,Maine,hasboostedtheproportionofso-calledunder-representedminoritystudentsinenteringfreshmanclassesfrom8%to13%.“Itisourresponsibilitytoreachoutandattractstudentstocometoourkindsofplaces,”hetoldaNEWSWEEKreporter.ButBowdoinhasnotdonequiteaswellwhenitcomestoactuallygraduatingminorities.While9outof10whitestudentsroutinelygettheirdiplomaswithinsixyears,only7outof10blackstudentsmadeitto,graduationdayinseveralrecentclasses.“Ifyoulookatwhoenterscollege,itnowlookslikeAmerica’”saysHilaryPennington,directorofpostsecondaryprogramsfortheBillMelindaGatesFoundation,whichhascloselystudiedenrollmentpatternsinhighereducation.“Butifyoulookatwhowalksacrossthestageforadiploma,it’sstilllargelythewhite,upper-incomepopulation.”TheUnitedStatesoncehadthehighestgraduationrateofanynation.Nowitstands10th.ForthefirsttimeinAmericanhistory,thereistheriskthattherisinggenerationwillbelesswelleducatedthanthepreviousone.Thegraduationrateamong25-to34-year-oldsisnobetterthantherateforthe55-to64-year-oldswhoweregoingtocollegemorethan30yearsago.Studiesshowthatmoreandmorepoorandnon-whitestudentswanttograduatefromcollege—buttheirgraduationratesfallfarshortoftheirdreams.Thegraduationratesforblacks,Latinos,andNativeAmericanslagfarbehindthegraduationratesforwhitesandAsians.AstheminoritypopulationgrowsintheUnitedStates,lowcollegegraduationratesbecomeathreattonationalprosperity.Theproblemispronouncedatpublicuniversities.In2007theUniversityofWisconsin-Madison—oneofthetopfiveorsoprestigiouspublicuniversities-graduated81%ofitswhitestudentswithinsixyears,butonly56%ofitsblacks.Atless-selectivestateschools,thenumbersgetworse.Duringthesametimeframe,theUniversityofNorthernIowagraduated67%ofitswhitestudents,butonly39%ofitsblacks.Communitycollegeshavelowgraduationratesgenerally-butrock-bottomratesforminorities.ArecentreviewofCaliforniacommunitycollegesfoundthatwhileathirdoftheAsianstudentspickeduptheirdegrees,only15%ofAfrican-Americansdidsoaswell.Privatecollegesanduniversitiesgenerallydobetter,partlybecausetheyoffersmallerclassesandmorepersonalattention.Butwhenitcomestoasignificantgraduationgap,Bowdoinhascompany.NearbyColbyCollegeloggedan18-pointdifferencebetweenwhiteandblackgraduatesin2007and25pointsin2006.MiddleburyCollegeinVermont,anothertopschool,hada19-pointgapin2007anda22-pointgapin2006.Themostselectiveprivateschools—Harvard,Yale,andPrinceton—showalmostnogapbetweenblackandwhitegraduationrates.Butthatmayhavemoretodowiththeirabilitytoselectthebeststudents.AccordingtodatagatheredbyHarvardLawSchoolprofessorLaniGuinier,themostselectiveschoolsaremorelikelytochooseblackswhohaveatleastoneimmigrantparentfromAfricaortheCaribbeanthanblackstudentswhoaredescendantsofAmericanslaves.“Highereducationhasbeenabletoduckthisissueforyears,particularlythemoreselectiveschools,bysayingtheresponsibilityisontheindividualstudent,”saysPenningtonoftheGatesFoundation.“Iftheyfail,it’stheirfault.”Somecriticsblameaffirmativeaction—studentsadmittedwithlowertestscoresandgradesfromshakyhighschoolsoftenstruggleateliteschools.Butabiggerproblemmaybethatpoorhighschoolsoftensendtheirstudentstocollegesforwhichtheyare“undermatched”:theycouldgetintomoreelite,richerschools,butinsteadgotocommunitycollegesandlow-ratedstateschoolsthatlacktheresourcestohelpthem.Someschoolsoutforprofitcynicallyincreasetuitionsandcountonstudentloansandfederalaidtofootthebill-knowingfullwellthatthestudentswon’tmakeit,“Theschoolkeepsthemoney,butthekidleaveswithloadsofdebtandnodegreeandnoabilitytogetabetterjob.Collegesarenotholdinguptheirend,”saysAmyWilkinsoftheEducationTrust.Acollegeeducationisgettingevermoreexpensive.Since1982tuitionshavebeenrisingatroughlytwicetherateofinflation.In2008thenetcostofattendingafour-yearpublicuniversity—afterfinancialaid—equaled28%ofmedianfamilyincome,whileafour-yearprivateuniversitycost76%ofmedianfamilyincome.Moreandmorescholarshipsarebasedonmerit,notneed.Poorerstudentsarenotalwaysthebest-informedconsumers.Oftentheywindupdeeplyindebtorsimplyunabletopayafterayearortwoandmustdropout.Thereoncewasatimewhenuniversitiestookprideintheirdropoutrates.Professorswouldbegintheyearbysaying,“Looktotherightandlooktotheleft.Oneofyouisnotgoingtobeherebytheendoftheyear.”ButsuchaDarwinianspiritisbeginningtogivewayasatleastafewcollegesfaceuptothegraduationgap.AttheUniversityofWisconsin-Madison,thegaphasbeenroughlyhalvedoverthelastthreeyears.Theuniversityhaspouredresourcesintopeercounselingtohelpstudentsfrominner-cityschoolsadjusttotherigorandfasterpaceofauniversityclassroom-andalsotohelpminoritystudentsovercomethestereotypethattheyarelessqualified.Wisconsinhasa“laserlikefocus”onbuildingupstudentskillsinthefirstthreemonths,accordingtoviceprovostDamonWilliams.Stateandfederalgovernmentscouldsharpenthatfocuseverywherebybroadlypublishingminoritygraduationrates.ForyearsprivatecollegessuchasPrincetonandMIThavehadsuccessbringingminoritiesontocampusinthesummerbeforefreshmanyeartogivethemsomepreparatorycourses.Thenewertrendistostartrecruitingpoorandnon-whitestudentsasearlyastheseventhgrade,usinginnovativetoolstoidentifykidswithsophisticatedverbalskills,Suchpro-gramscanbeexpensive,ofcourse,butcheapcomparedwiththemillionsalreadyinvestedinscholarshipsandgrantsforkidswhohavelittlechancetograduatewithoutspecialsupport.Witheffortandmoney,thegraduationgapcanbeclosed.WashingtonandLeeisasmall,selectiveschoolinLexington,Va.ItsstudentbodyisLessthan37%blackandlessthan2%Latino.Whiletheschoolusuallygraduatedabout90%ofitswhites,thegraduationrateofitsblacksandLatinoshaddippedto63%by2007.“Wewentthroughadramaticshift,”saysDawnWatkins,thevicepresidentforstudentaffairs.Theschoolaggressivelypushedreenteringofminoritiesbyotherstudentsand“partnering”withparentsataspecialpre-enrollmentsession.Theschoolhaditsfirst-everblackhomecoming.Lastspringtheschoolgraduatedthesameproportionofminoritiesasitdidwhites.IftheUnitedStateswantstokeepupintheglobaleconomicrace,itwillhavetopaysystematicattentiontograduatingminorities,notjustenrollingthem.

复合题Nowadays everybody must be familiar with the words “pollution” and “population” . They are so well known that they from the subject of many a polite dinner-table discussion. The assembled company will nod its heads wisely and agree that “Something must be done” . Or perhaps a short argument will ensure: for there are those will claim that these problems have been exaggerated, who will laugh mockingly at people they call “doomsday ecologists” .Yet nobody can deny that pollution is rampant. The atmosphere is filthy. The introduction of smokeless zones has prevented pollution in the air from chimney and fires, but what of the fumes which pour out of cars, lorries and areoplanes? By the side of motorways the air is hazy and thick with the bitter sickly smell of burnt oil.Poisonous fumes from factories have sometimes made acres of surrounding land barren. Nor is the problem confined to land. Tons and tons of untreated chemical waste are pumped daily into rivers and the sea, and dead fish are to be seen floating in the water and washed up on the shores of seas , lakes and streams, while lethal oil slicks floating on the surface of the sea bring death to millions of sea- birds. Meanwhile, we are cheerfully using up the world’ s resources, and making needless water. Non-returnable bottles are convenient for manufactures but encourage litter, are often dangerous to dispose of and above all have merely to be replaced by others. Plastic, that wonderful substance is extremely difficult to dispose of at all. Yet now we make furniture out of it, while nearly all our goods are gaily and often unnecessarily wrapped up in it. This is to make us buy more, of course, and spend more. But alas, even food is short supply, for there are too many people in the world, and our number is growing rapidly.The more people, the more consumption, the more wastage of resources. The more people the world has to support, the more it will have to educate to face dwindling supplies. All people have an equal right to live, so why are some starving while others have enough to eat, and more? Surely at more rates, we must not eat more than we need, or waste what we don’ t.In London, the two monster problems have confronted each other threateningly for some time. Now, perhaps, pollution is winning. The place is grinding to a halt. People who do menial work cannot afford the high prices of accommodation, and they may be scandalously exploited by unscrupulous landlords. The population in such areas may be dense, with whole families squeezed into the room, yet the increasing number of derelict houses in the same areas tells another story.People who may go outside London to seek jobs, but they find many other cities have the same problems, albeit to a lesser extent. Filth and high prices have combined to make London and some other centers depressing places to live in. Depression fosters crime and violence, and these latter are increasing. The community, at a loss, is beginning to destroy itself.Who is to blame? The police, say some people, for not keeping order over traffic or criminals. The teachers, say the parents, who don’ t educate the kids right Then there are the transport workers. They are to blame for the rush hours, traffic jams and the daily misery of getting to and from work on too few buses.Is it surprising, then, that these three central groups of workers should be in short supply in London? Neither in policemen, teachers nor transport workers are highly paid. They work long, hard and sometimes dangerous hours, for which they receive little thanks from the community at large, since their presence is taken for granted. They are only noticed to be criticized. The teachers leave: many schools can only give their children part-time education. Juvenile boredom, then delinquency, increases. There are too few policemen to cope. The bus drivers, or the underground drivers go on strike for better pay and condition, and so the whole metropolis is gradually coming to a standstill.Politicians say we aren’ t to worry. We have only to vote for them and they will pull all to right. Yet, when elected, they seem to forget about the vast, amorphous, everyday problems that surround us.So, what with one thing and another, you see no way out, Like nearly all of us you just give up because you have a normal hard day’ s work ahead of you and you haven’ t the energy even to begin to cope with anything extra. Pollution, population; these problems can wait, you say. BUT THEY CAN’ T.Should the teachers, policemen, transport workers be blamed for the problems we have? If not, why?

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 your answer in the corresponding space in your Answer Sheet.(1)What are those of us who have chosen careers in science and engineering able to do about our current problems?(2) First, we can help destroy the false impression that science and engineering have caused the current world troubles. On the contrary, science and engineering have made vast contributions to better living for more people. Second, we can identify the many areas in which science and technology, more considerably used, can be of greater service in the future than in the past to improve the quality of life. While we can make many speeches, and pass many laws, the quality of our environment will be improved only through better knowledge and better application of that knowledge. Third, we can recognize that much of the dissatisfaction we suffer today results from our very successes of former years. We have been so greatly successful in attaining material goals that we are deeply dissatisfied that we cannot attain other goals more rapidly. We have achieved a better life for most people, but we are unhappy that we have not spread it to all people. We have reduced many sources of environmental disasters, but we are unhappy that we have not conquered all of them. It is our raised expectation rather than our failures which now cause our distress. (3) Granted that many of our current problems must be cured more by social, political, and economic instruments than by science and technology, yet science and technology must still be the tools to make further advances in such things as clean air, clean water, better transportation, better housing, better medical care, more adequate welfare programs, purer food, conservation of resources, and many other areas.

复合题Passage AWith medicine, the benefit of biotechnology has been obvious. People readily accept it when they see how better drugs and clearer diagnoses improve their lives. Why is it different when biotech is applied to agriculture? The answer is that the clearest gains from the current crop of genetically modified (GM) plants go not to consumers but to producers. Indeed, that was what their developers intended: an appeal to farmers offered the suppliers of GM technology the best hope of a speedy return. For consumers, especially in the rich world, the benefits of super-yielding soybeans are less clear: the world, by and large, already has too much food in its stores; developing countries principally lack money, not food as such. Yet companies still pitch their products as a cure for malnutrition even though little that they are doing can justify such a noble claim. In boasting the technology as the only answer to everything from pest control to world hunger, the industry has fed the popular view that its products are unsafe, unnecessary and bad for the environment.Of the two main charges against GM crops, by far the weaker is that they are unsafe to eat. Critics assert that genetic engineering introduces into food genes that are not present naturally, cannot be introduced through conventional breeding and may have unknown health effects that should be investigated before the food is sold to the public. GM crops such as the maize and soybeans that now blanket America certainly differ from their garden variety neighbors. But there is a broad scientific consensus that the present generation of GM foods is safe. Even so, this does little to reassure consumers. Food frights such as “mad cow” disease and revelations of cancer-causing dioxin in Belgian food have sorely undermined their confidence in scientific pronouncements and regulatory authorities alike. GM foods have little future in Europe until this faith can be restored.The second big worry about GM food is that it may harm the environment. The producers argue that the engineered traits—such as resistance to certain brands of herbicide or types of insects and virus—actually do ecological good by reducing chemical use and improving yields so that less land needs to go under the plough. Opponents retort that any such benefits are far outweighed by the damage such crops might do. They worry that pesticide-resistant genes may spread from plants that should be saved to weeds that have to be killed. They fear a loss of biodiversity. They worry that the in-built resistance to bugs that some GM crops will have may poison insects such as Monarch butterfly, and allow other, nastier bugs to develop a natural resistance and thrive.Many of the fears are based on results from limited experiments, often in the laboratory. The only way to discover whether they will arise in real life, or whether they will be any more damaging than similar risks posed by conventional crops and farming practice, is to do more research in the field. Banning the experimental growth of GM plants as some protesters want simply deprives scientists of their most fruitful laboratory.By presenting the case of GM food, the author of the passage probably aims to _____.

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 I the corresponding space on your answer sheet.For many years, scientists couldn’ t figure out how atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living things. Plants, fish, dinosaurs, and people are made of atoms and molecules, but they are put together in a more complicated way than the molecules in the primitive ocean. What’ s more, living things have energy and can reproduce, while the chemicals on the Earth 4 billion years ago were lifeless.After years of study, scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases. These are molecules with millions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms. How could such complicated molecules have been formed in the primitive soup？ Scientists were stumped.Then, in 1953, two scientists named Harold Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth. They set up some tubes and bottles in a closed loop, and put in some of the same gases that were present in the atmosphere 4 billion years ago: water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen.Then they shot an electric spark through the gases to simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth, circulated the gases through some water, sent them back for more sparks, and so on. After seven days, the water that the gases had been bubbling through had turned brown. Some new chemicals were dissolved in it. When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained amino acids-the very kind of molecules found in all living things.

复合题Directions: In this section there are reading passages followed by multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.Passage fourWilfred Emmanuel-Jones was a teenager before he saw his first cow in his first field. Born in Jamaica, the 47- year-old grew up in inner-city Birmingham before making a career as a television producer and launching his own marketing agency. But deep down he always nurtured every true Englishman’ s dream of a rustic life, a dream that his entrepreneurial wealth has allowed him to satisfy. These days he’ s the owner of a thriving 12-hectare farm in deepest Devon with cattle, sheep and pigs. His latest business venture: pushing his brand of Black Fanner gourmet sausages and barbecue sauces. “My background may be very urban, ” says Emmanuel-Jones. “But it has given me a good idea of what other urbanites want. ”And of how to sell it. Emmanuel-Jones joins a herd of wealthy fugitives from city life who are bringing a new commercial know-how to British farming. Britain’ s burgeoning farmers’ markets-numbers have doubled to at least 500 in the last five years — swarm with specialty cheese makers, beekeepers or organic smallholders who are redeploying the business skills they learned in the city. “Everyone in the rural community has to come to terms with the fact that things have changed. ” Says Emmanuel- Jones. “You can produce the best food in the world, but if you don’ t know how to market it, you are wasting your time. We are helping the traditionalists to move on. ”The emergence of the new class of super peasants reflects some old yearnings. If the British were the first nation to industrialize, they were also the first to head back to the land. “There is this romantic image of the countryside that is particularly English, ” says Alun Howkins of the University of Sussex, who reckons the population of rural England has been rising since 1911. Migration into rural areas is now running at about 100, 000 a year, and the hunger for a taste of the rural life has kept land prices buoyant even as agricultural incomes tumble. About 40 percent of all farmland is now sold to “lifestyle buyers” rather than the dwindling number of traditional farmers, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.What’ s new about the latest returnees is their affluence and zeal for the business of producing quality foods, if only at a micro-level. A healthy economy and surging London house prices have helped to ease the escape of the would-be rustics. The media recognize and feed the fantasy. One of the big TV hits of recent years, the “River Cottage” series, chronicled the attempts of a London chef to run his own Dorset farm.Naturally, the newcomers can’ t hope to match their City salaries, but many are happy to trade any loss of income for the extra job satisfaction. Who cares if there’ s no six-figure annual bonus when the land offers other incalculable compensations？Besides, the specialist producers can at least depend on a burgeoning market for their products. Today’ s eco-aware generation loves to seek out authentic ingredients. “People like me may be making a difference in a small way, ” Jan McCourt, a onetime investment banker now running his own 40-hectare spread in the English Midlands stocked with rare breeds.Optimists see signs of far-reaching change: Britain isn’ t catching up with mainland Europe; it’ s leading the way. “Unlike most other countries, where artisanal food production is being eroded, here it is being recovered, ” says food writer Matthew Fort. “It may be the mark of the next stage of civilization that we rediscover the desirability of being a peasant. ” And not an investment banker.

复合题WhenwarringparentsheadtocourttofightoverchildcustodyinNewYork,theirlawyersoftenlettheminonalittlesecret:Themostpowerfulpersonintheprocessisnotthejudge.Itisnottheotherparent,notoneofthelawyers,notevenachild.No,themostimportantpersonindeterminingwhogetscustody,andonwhatterms,isfrequentlyacourt-appointedforensicevaluator.Forensics,astheyareoftencalled,canbepsychiatrists,psychologistsorsocialworkers;theyinterviewthefamiliesandusuallymakedetailedrecommendationstojudges,rightdowntowhogetsthechildrenonWednesdaysandalternateweekends.Andthejudgesusuallygoalong.Forensicreports,whichtheparentspayfor,cancostasmuchas$40,000orevenmore.Therearenostandardsforwhocanbeanevaluatororwhatshouldgointoanassessment.Thecourtsystemdoesnottrackwhogetstheselucrativeappointments,muchlesswhetherevaluatorstendtofavorfathersormothersorjoincustody.【】Somelawyersandparentssuspectthatcronyismplaysabigroleinsomeappointments,butgiventhesecrecysurroundingmatrimonialcases,thatishardtoprove,ordisprove.Otherssaythereisnowheretolodgecomplaintsaboutmistreatment.Andmany—includingsomeforensics—questionwhetherthereisanyscientificbasistojustifytheevaluators’recommendations.InSuffolkCounty,judgesrepeatedlyappointedapsychologistwhowasnotlicensedtopracticeinNewYorkState.InManhattan,anevaluatorremainedonacaseeventhoughtherewasevidencethathehadbusinessdealingswithonespouse’slawyer.InWestchesterCounty,anexpertchargedparents$57,000forareportthatthejudgefoundextremelybiasedtowardthefather.Thoughtheyhavebeenaroundforyears,court-appointedforensicshavebecomeincreasinglycommonplace-andcontroversial—inNewYork,whichmaybethehighconflictcustodycapitalofthenation.Butsimilardebatesaboutcustodyevaluatorsaregoingonacrossthecountry,expertssay,asdivorceratescontinuetoriseandcourtstrytocopewiththeneedsofchildrencaughtupinacontentiousprocess.“It’sboilingovereverywhere,”saidPeterSalem,executivedirectoroftheAssociationofFamilyandConciliationCourts.InArizona,thegovernorrecentlysignedalawchangingthestate’sprocessforinvestigatingcomplaintsaboutpsychologists,inpartbecauseofcontroversyoverforensicevaluations.InLouisiana,acommitteeofthestateboardgoverningsocialworkersisconsideringcreatingstandardsforevaluations.Andoverthelastfewyears,Californiahasadoptedaseriesofcourtrulesthatrequiretrainingforforensics,setstandardsforevaluationsandprovidemechanismsforfilinggrievancesagainstevaluators,saidPhilipM.Stahl,apsychologistandfrequentlectureroncustodyevaluations.“It’stheonlystatewheretherulesareveryspecific,”hesaid.InNewYork,forensics’behaviorsarebeingdebatedatjudicialconferences,psychiatricconventionsandimpromptumeetingsofdisgruntledparents.Eventhecourtsystemhasdecidedtotakeanotherlookatthem,throughacommissionappointedinFebruarybythestate’schiefjudge.Whilesomebelievesthatforensics“havereallybecomearbitersofwhathappensinacase,othersthinkthatisasitshouldbeclaimingthat“theywereextremelyhelpfulevencritical“Custodycasesaredifficultandemotionallyfraught.Judgesmustdecidecustodycasesbasedonthebestinterestofthechildinquestion,andtheycanappointa“neutralexpert”whenevertheythinkitwouldbehelpfulinmakingthatdecision.Somejudgesasktheparties’lawyerstoagreeonaforensicortoprovidealistofcandidates,otherssimplynameanevaluator.Somejudgeshaveveryspecificquestionstheywantaddressed;othersjustcallforanevaluation.Many,thoughnotall,wantdetailedrecommendations.TheAmericanPsychologicalAssociation’sguidelinesstatethatwhileevaluatorsmaydeterminewhethereitherparenthasseverepsychologicalproblems,whichisnottheirmaingoal.Rather,evaluatorsaresupposedtojudgetheparties“parentingcapacity”andhowthatfitsthepsychologicalneedsofthechild.Intheend,theevaluatorgivesthecourtareportthatusuallymakesdetailedrecommendationsaboutcustodyarrangements.Theparentsarenotgenerallygivencopies;insomecases,theyarenotevenallowedtoreadthereports.Atthatpoint,theparentsusuallysettle.“Whichwewouldmuchprefer,fortheparties’sake,”saidJusticeJacquelineW.Silbermann,theadministrativejudgeformatrimonialmattersinNewYorkState.Thereports’usefulnessinencouragingsettlementsisonereasonjudges’orderthem,shesaid.