单选题I tried to （detach） myself from the reality of these terrible events.

单选题African wild dog Finding a babysitter while you go out to work is, for example, an inconvenience. For the African wild dog, one of the continent's most endangered carnivores (食肉动物), it's a matter of life and death. A new research shows that once packs (兽群) fall below a certain size, they are not enough animals to both hunt food and stay at home protecting the young. The African wild dog has declined drastically over the past century. Habitual loss (栖息地的丧失), persecution and unexplained outbreaks of disease have all been blamed. Only 3, 000 to 5,000 animals remain, and the species is expected to go extinct within decades if the trend continues. Other large carnivores such as the spotted hyena (鬣狗) face similar pressures, yet are not declining. Now Franck Courchamp of Cambridge University has found a reason why. The dog's weakness lies in its social organization. Within each pack of up to 20 adults and pups, only the dominant male and female breed. The remaining animals help raise the pups, cooperating to hunt prey and defend the kill from other carnivores. Because pups can't keep up on a hunt, large packs leave an adult behind to protect them from predators (捕猎者), which include lions and hyenas. But leaving a babysitter also carries costs. A smaller hunting party is less able to tackle large prey and to defend the kill. There is also one less stomach in which to carry food back to the den, and one more mouth to feed when they get there. Courchamp investigated this awkward trade-off (权衡) by modeling how the costs of a babysitter change with decreasing pack size. This showed that packs of more than five adults should be able to feed all the pups and still spare a babysitter. But with smaller packs, either the hunting or the babysitting suffers, or the animals have to compensate by increasing the number of hunting excursions which itself carries a cost to the pack. Field observations in Zimbabwe supported the model. Packs of five animals or fewer left pups unguarded more frequently than larger packs did. There was also evidence that when they did leave a babysitter, they were forced to hunt more often. A pack which drops below a critical size becomes caught in a vicious circle (恶性循环), says Courchamp, who is now at Paris-Sud University. "Poor reproduction and low survival further reduces pack size, culminating in (最终造成) failure of the whole pack." And deaths caused by human activity, says Courchamp, may be what reduce pack numbers to below the sustainable threshold. Mammal ecologist Chris Carbone at London's Institute of Zoology agrees. Maintaining the integrity of wild dog packs will be vital in preserving the species, he says.

单选题Oseola MeCarty Late one Sunday afternoon in September 1999, Oseola McCarty, an elderly cleaning lady passed away in the little wooden flame house where she had lived and worked for most of her life. It may seem like an ordinary end to a humble life, but there was something quite exceptional about this woman. In the summer of 1995, McCarty gave $150, 000, most of the money she had saved throughout her life, to the University of Southern Mississippi in her hometown. The money was to help other African Americans through university. She had started her savings habit as a young child when she would return from school to clean and iron for money which she would then save. She led a simple, frugal existence, never spending on anything but her most basic needs. Her bank also advised her on investing her hard-earned savings. When she retired, she decided that she wanted to use the money to give children of limited means the opportunity to go to university. She had wanted to become a nurse, but had to leave school to look after ill relatives and work. When asked why she had given her life savings away, she replied, "I"m giving it away so that children won"t have to work so hard, like I did." After news of her donation hit the media, over 600 donations were made to the scholarship fund. One was given by media executive, Ted Turner, who reputedly gave a billion dollars. She didn"t want any fuss made over her gift, but the news got out and she was invited all over the United States to talk to people. Wherever she went, people would come up to her to say a few words or to just touch her. She met the ordinary and the famous, President Clinton included. In the last few years of her life, before she died of cancer, McCarty was given over 300 awards: she was honoured by the United Nations and received the Presidential Citizen"s Medal. Despite having no real education, she found herself with two honorary doctorates: one from the University of Southern Mississippi and the other from Harvard University. Her generosity was clearly an inspiration to many and proof that true selflessness does exist.

单选题It is strictly prohibited that access to confidential documents is denied to all but a few.

单选题This medicine may loosen your headache.

单选题Most nurses are women, but in the higher ranks of the medical profession women are in a small number .

单选题Medical facilities are being upgraded .

单选题It took him ten years to fulfill his goal.A. startB. achieveC. improveD. finish

单选题Eyespots, the most {{U}}rudimentary{{/U}} eyes, are found in protozoan flagellates, flatworms, and segmented worms.

单选题I'd {{U}}consider{{/U}} his reputation with other farmers and business people in the community, and then make a decision about whether or not to approve a loan. A. take into account B. account for C. make up for D. make out

单选题In Sports, Red is the Winning Color When opponents of a game are equally matched, the team dressed in red is more likely to win, according to a new study. British anthropologists Russell Hill and Robert Barton of the University of Durham reached that conclusion by studying the outcomes of one-on-one boxing, tae kwon do, Greco-Roman-wresting, and freestyle-wrestling matches at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece. In each event Olympic staff randomly assigned red or blue clothing or body protection to competitors. When otherwise equally matched with their opponent in fitness and skill, athletes wearing red were more likely to win the bout. "Where there was a large point difference—presumably because one contestant was far superior to the other color had no effect on the outcome," Barton said, "Where there was a small point difference, the effect of color was sufficient to tip the balance." In equally matched bouts, the preponderance of red wins was great enough that it could not he attributed to chance, the anthropologists say. Hill and Barton found similar results in a review of the colors worn at the Euro 2004 international soccer tournament. Their report will be published in tomorrow"s issue of the journal Nature. Joanna Setchell, a primate researcher at the University of Cambridge in England, has found similar results in nature. Her work with the large African monkeys known as mandrills shows that red coloration gives males an advantage when it comes to mating. The finding that red also has an advantage in human sporting events does not surprise her, adding that "the idea of the study is very clever." Hill and Barton got the idea for their study out of a mutual interest in the evolution of sexual signals in primates— "red seems to be the color, across species, that signals male dominance and testosterone levels," Barton said. For example, studies by Setchell, the Cambridge primate researcher, show that dominant male mandrills have increased red coloration in their faces and rumps. Another study by other scientists shows that red plastic rings experimentally placed on the legs of male zebra finches increase the birds" dominance. Barton said he and Hill speculated that there might be a similar effect in humans. And if so, it could be apparent in sporting contests. The pair say their results indicate that sexual selection may have influenced the evolution of humans" response to color. Setchell, the primatologist, agrees. "As Hill and Barton say, humans redden when we are angry and pale when we"re scared. These are very important signals to other individuals," she said. The advantage of red may be intuitively known, judging from the prevalence of red uniforms in sports— "though it is clearly not very widely appreciated, on a conscious level at least," Barton said. He adds that the finding of red"s advantage might have implications for regulations that govern sporting attire. In the Olympic matches he surveyed for the new study, for example, it is possible some medal winners may have reached the pedestal with an unintended advantage. "That is the implication, though we cannot say that it made the difference in any one specific case," Barton said. Meanwhile, Setchell noted tongue in cheek that a red advantage may not be limited to sports. "Going by the recent election results, red is indeed quite successful," she said.

单选题There was a rapid increase in population in the last century. A. slow B. high C. shocking D. quick

单选题The minister headed the committee.A. was on the verge ofB. was on the basis ofC. was at the cost ofD. was in charge of

单选题Trying to Find a Partner One of the most striking findings of a recent poll in the UK is that of the people interviewed, one in two believes that it is becoming more difficult to meet someone to start a family with. Why are many finding it increasingly difficult to start and sustain intimate relationships? Does modern life really make it harder to fall in love? Or are we making it harder for ourselves? It is certainly the case today that contemporary couples benefit in different ways from relationships. Women no longer rely upon partners for economic security or status. A man doesn't expect his spouse to be in sole charge of running his household and raising his children. But perhaps the knowledge that we can live perfectly well without a partnership means that it takes much more to persuade people to abandon their independence. In theory, finding a partner should be much simpler these days. Only a few generations ago, your choice of soulmate (心上人) was constrained (限制) by geography, social convention and family tradition. Although it was never explicit, many marriages were essentially arranged. Now those barriers have been broken down. You can approach a builder or a brain surgeon in any bar in any city on any given evening. When the world is your oyster (牡蛎), you surely have a better chance of finding a pearl. But it seems that the old conventions have been replaced by an even tighter constraint: the tyranny of choice. The expectations of partners are inflated (提高) to an unmanageable degree: good looks, impressive salary, kind to grandmother, and right socks. There is no room for error in the first impression. We think that a relationship can be perfect. If it isn't, it is disposable. We work to protect ourselves against future heartache and don't put in the hard emotional labor needed to build a strong relationship. Of course, this is complicated by realities. The cost of housing and child-rearing creates pressure to have a stable income and career before a life partnership.

单选题Glaciers terminate where the rate of ice loss is equivalent to the forward advance of the glacier.

单选题{{B}}第三篇{{/B}} {{B}}Knitting{{/B}} My mother knew how to knit, but she never taught me. She assumed, as did many women of her generation, that knitting was no longer a skill worth passing down from mother to daughter. A combination of feminism, consumerism and household gadgetry made many women feel that such homely accomplishments were now obsolete. My grandmother still knitted, though, and every Christmas she made a pair of socks for my mother and me~ of red wool. They were the ones we wore under our ice skates, when it was really important to have warm feet. Knitting is a nervous habit that happens to be productive. It helped me quit smoking by giving my hands something else to do. It is wonderful for depression because no matter what else happens, you are creating something beautiful. Time spent in front of the television or just siting is no longer time wasted. I love breathing life into the patterns. It's true magic, finding a neglected, dog-eared old book with the perfect snowflake design, buying the same Germantown knitting worsted my grandmother used, in the exact blue to match my daughter's eyes, taking it on the brain with me every day for two months, working feverishly to get it done by Christmas, staying up late after the stockings are filled to sew in the sleeves and weave in the ends. Knitting has taught me patience. I know that if I just keep going, even if it takes months, there Will be a reward and take out the stitches between and start over again. People often ask if I would do it for money, and the answer is always a definite no. In the first place, you could not pay me enough for the hours I put into a sweater. But more important this is an activity 1 keep separate from such considerations. I knit to recover my children and other people I live in warmth and color. I knit to give them earthly that money could never buy. Knitting gives my life an alternative rhythm to the daily deadline. By day I can write about Northern Ireland or the New York City Police Department and get paid for it, but on the time train home, surrounded by people with laptops, I stage my little rebellion. I take out my old knitting bag and join the centuries of women who have knitted for love.

单选题The police are working in conjunction with tax officers on the investigation.

单选题Jack said sorry to the manager for the mistakes he had made.

单选题Gladiator was the name of

单选题Did anyone call when I was out?