单选题The Origin of the Air Mail At Blackpool Holt Thomas and Graham-White agreed to make a practical experiment in carrying mails by aeroplane. The idea,as it was first worked out, was for the aeroplane to fly from Blackpool airport across to Southport airport, and for the mails to be taken over by the Post Office there. But the programme had to be changed owing to a series of high winds. What happened in the end was that Graham-White took a mail-bag in his plane , and made a flight with it across country for a distance of about seven miles,returning to the airport. This experiment gave Graham-White the honour of being the first airman in England to carry a bag of mail across country in an aeroplane. Letters and postcards which were carried in this test,and which had a special stamp recording the fact,soon became much sought after by collectors. The second and more important experiment in British air mail transport took place in September 1911 ,and was the first of its kind in this country to obtain the official permission of the Postmaster-general. It was indeed one of the historical events in our airmail development. In this case as many as 130,000 letter and postcards were carried by aeroplane between London and Windsor. One of the airmen engaged in this pioneer service was the famous Gustav Hamel,flying a monoplane. I remember going out one afternoon to see him start off with one of the bags of mail. It was an extremely bad day for flying ,and just before the time due for the start,the wind was blowing at nearly 50 miles an hour. None of the other pilots would have thought of going up,but Hamel--one of the finest of all pilots of the British monoplane--was not to be stopped. He jumped into his machine and fairly shot off the ground. The monoplane, so long as it was near the earth, was thrown about like a small boat on an angry sea. But Hamel gave a splendid exhibition of airmanship;as soon as he reached a great height, conditions became much steadier ,and her finished his journey without accident. This was an early demonstration that an airplane was more than a fine weather machine, and that it could fight its way successfully through violent winds. This fact impressed the postal authorities a good deal,and helped those who believed that the airplane had a great commercial future.

单选题Please do not hesitate to {{U}}call{{/U}} me if I can be of further assistance.

单选题If I make a mistake, I will try to remedy it.

单选题My parents told me that we had relations in Canada and South Africa.A. villasB. relativesC. depositsD. friends

单选题下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面有4个选项。请仔细阅读短文并根据短文回答其后面的问题，从4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} Clone Farm Factory farming could soon enter a new era of mass production. Companies in the US are developing the technology needed to "clone" chickens on a massive scale. Once a chicken with desirable traits has been bred or genetically engineered, tens of thousands of eggs, which will hatch into identical copies, could roll off the production lines every hour. Billions of clones could be produced each year to supply chicken farms with birds that all grow at the same rate, have the same amount of meat and taste the same. This, at least, is the vision of the US's National Institute of Science and Technology, which has given Origen Therapeutics of Burlingame, California, and Embrex of North Carolina $ 4.7 million to help fund research. The prospect has alarmed animal welfare groups, who fear it could increase the suffering of farm birds. That's unlikely to put off the poultry industry, however, which wants disease resistant birds that grow faster on less food. "Producers would like the same meat quantity but to use reduced inputs to get there. " says Mike Fitzgerald of Origen. To meet this demand, Origen aims to "create an animal that is effectively a clone", he says. Normal cloning doesn't work in birds because eggs can't be removed and implanted. Instead, the company is trying to bulk-grow embryonic stem cells taken from fertilized eggs as soon as they're laid. "The trick is to culture the cells without them starting to distinguish, so they remain pluripotent. " says Fitzgerald. Using a long-established technique, these donor cells will then be injected into the embryo of a freshly laid, fertilized recipient egg, forming a chick that is a "chimera". Strictly speaking, a chimera isn't a clone, because it contains cells from both donor and recipient. But Fitzgerald says it will be enough if, 95 percent of a chicken's body develops from donor cells. "In the poultry world, it doesn't matter if it's not 100 percent. " he says. Another challenge for Origen is to scale up production. To do this, it has teamed up with Embrex, which produces machines that can inject vaccines into up to 50,000 eggs an hour. Embrex is now trying to modify the machines to locate the embryo and inject the cells into precisely the right spot without killing it. In future, Origen imagines freezing stem cells from different strains of chicken. If orders come in for a particular strain, millions of eggs could be produced in months or even weeks. At present, maintaining all the varieties the market might call for is too expensive for breeders, and it takes years to bread enough chickens to produce the billions of eggs that farmers need.

单选题Sex Change Surgery Guidelines Drafted China is set to (51) its first clinical guideline on sex-change surgery, according to a notice put on the website of the Ministry of Health yesterday. The ministry is now soliciting public and professional opinions on the draft guideline. The coming guideline aims to regulate and standardize sex reassignment surgery, part of a treatment for gender identity disorder in transsexuals. Experts (52) nearly 2,000 Chinese have undergone sex-change surgery while 100,000 to 400,000 are still considering it. However, no official number is available. In the draft, the MOH sets (53) criteria for both surgical candidates and medical institutions. Candidates for the surgery must be older than 20 and single, the draft guideline said. They are also required to prove a persistent desire for a sex change, to live for at least five consecutive years full-time in the new gender role, and to engage (54) mental therapy for at least one year. Before surgery can take place, a candidate must receive a recommendation for the operation from a (55) after an appropriate series of therapy sessions. Also, several legal requirements (56) be met before the procedure. The candidate must provide proof from police that he or she has does not have any criminal offenses in the past. Police must also agree to change the sex status on the identity card of the (57) receiver before the operation can, take (58) . The advent of such a guideline (59) to show that the government is concerned (60) the needs of a relatively small (61) of people who want to change sex. But doctors also warn that all stakeholders, including the hospital and prospective receivers, should be highly cautious about this surgery. The operation is more than a medical procedure due (62) its huge social and legal consequences. Doctors should make it clear to those (63) sex-change surgeries that the option always remains to continue to live in the original role. The guideline requires surgeons to tell patients about other options (64) hormone therapy. They are also required to explain the risks involved, and underlying social barriers including discrimination, and administrative recognition and approval. For the candidates, the surgery itself is not the big issue (65) the long run. The real issue is the kind of life he or she will have to lead afterward.

单选题下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面有4个选项。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} {{B}}The Barbie Dolls{{/B}} In the mid 1940's, the young ambitious duo Ruth and Elliot Handler, owned a company that made wooden pictures frames. It was in 1945 that Ruth and Elliot Handler joined with their close friend Harold Mattson to form a company that would be known for the most famous and successful doll ever created. This company would be named MATTEL, MATT for Mattson, and EL for Elliot. In the mid 1950's, while Visiting Switzerland, Ruth Handler purchased a German Lilli doll. Lilli was a shapely, pretty fashion doll first made in 1955. She was originally fashioned after a famous cartoon character in the West German Newsletter, Build. Lilli is the doll that would inspire Ruth Handler to design the Barbie doll. With the help of her technicians and engineers at Mattel, Barbie was born. Ruth then hired Charlotte Johnson, a fashion designer, to create Barbie's wardrobe. It was in 1958 that the patent for Barbie was obtained. This would be a fashion doll unlike any of her time. She would be long limbed, shapely, beautiful, and only 11.5 inches tall. Ruth and Elliot would name their new fashion doll after their own daughter, Barbie. In 1959, the Barbie doll would make her way to the New York Toy Show and receive a cool reception from the toy buyers. Barbie has undergone a lot of changes over the years and has managed to keep up with current trends in hairstyles, makeup and clothing. She is a reflection of the history of fashion since her introduction to the toy market. Barbie has a universal appeal and collectors both young and old enjoy time spent and memories made with their dolls.

单选题It was hard to say why the man deserved such shabby treatment. A. old B. unforgettable C. unfair D. funny

单选题The poet William Carlos Williams was a New Jersey physician.

单选题{{B}}第二篇{{/B}} Buick in China The first Buick model off the line was just the beginning of General Motors' long march into the Chinese market. A total of 23,000 cars rolled out of the factory in 1999．This year, Shanghai GM Buick aims to produce 50,000 cars. It is interesting to review the long negotiations with the Chinese government to set up Shanghai GM Buick. The biggest issue was who would supply the car parts and how the parts would get from the factory to the Buick plant. A car is made up of more than 30,000 parts. Parts manufacturers in China don't have the technological know-how to make all the necessary parts. Therefore, at the beginning, about half the necessary parts will be shipped to Shanghai from North America. These parts are made at GM's Tillsonburg Ontario facility. The trains carry the parts over 3,000 miles to the Port of Vancouver. From Vancouver, the parts are shipped to Shanghai. All told, the door-to-door delivery time is 17 days. But there may be a 42-day delay between steel plates leaving the steel works in America and arriving in Shanghai. To prevent the long-distance shipping and delay, Shanghai GM Buick has asked Shanghai Baoshan steelworks to produce plates of similar quality. "Imported car parts are our biggest headache," says Jay Hunt. "local suppliers are very responsive. " To our surprise, however, the cost of localized production is much higher than buying from overseas. The reason is that although labor costs are low in China, wages comprise only 20% of the cost of producing car parts. Small-scale production in China makes production costs very high. The deputy general manager, Laurence Zahner said, "Only if the price of domestic parts drops 30% shall we be able to qualify for the international market. " Thankfully, a solution has appeared. Foreign car parts makers are coming to the Yangtse River Delta to set up joint ventures. Shanghai GM Buick will depend on those parts makers for car parts. Perhaps the Buick plant will not worry about the agreement with the Chinese partner any longer. The agreement says that in the first year of production, the Buick plant must have 42% of locally made parts, and in the second year, the locally made parts rise to 60%, and in the third year, 80%.

单选题Department Store A mainstay of retailing in the United States is the department store, a large-scale retailing instituting that has a very broad and deep product assortment(分类), tires not to compete on the basis of price, and provides a wide array or customer services. Traditional department stores offer a greater variety of merchandise and services than does any other type of retail store. They feature both"soft goods" —such as apparel, sheets, towels, and bedding (寝具)—and "hard goods" —including furniture, appliances, and consumer electronics. Department stores also attract— and satisfy—consumers by offering many customer services. The combination of destinctive, appealing merchandise and numerous customer services is designed to allow the stores to maintain the manufacturers'suggested retail prices. That is, department stores strive to charge" full" or "nondiscounted" (不打折扣的) prices. Department stores face mounting problems, however, Largely due to their prime locations and customer services, their operation expenses are considerably higher than those of most other kinds of retail business. Many manufacturers'brands that used to be available exclusively thorough department stores are now widely distributed and often carry discounted prices in other outlets. And the quality of personal service, especially knowledgeable sales help, has deteriorated in some department stores. Intense horizontal competition is also hurting department stores. Other types of retailers are aiming at consumers who have long supported department stores. Speciality stores, off-price retailers, and even some discount houses have been particularly aggressive in trying to lure shoppers sway from department stores. To varying degrees retail chains compete against department stores. Consequently, many department stores have modified their target markets or elements of their marketing mixes. The May Department Stores Company has targeted middle-income consumers, rejecting high-priced European designer lines and instead concentrating on fashionable apparel with moderate prices. Penney's dropped three lines of hard goods—home electronics, sporting goods, and photographic equipment. Penney's, Ward's, and Sears are all converting their very large stores into a collection of limited-me "superstores". Some department stores are also trying to be more price-competitive. Most notably, in 1989 Sears abandoned its practice of promoting temporarily reduced prices and adopted a strategy of "everyday low prices". With this policy, prices will always be lower than or as low as competitors.

单选题Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a function of poetry?

单选题In prehistoric times people seldom stayed anywhere for very long because their food supply usually ran out.

单选题Income Income may be national income and personal income. Whereas national income is defined as the total earned income of all the factors of production--namely, profits, interest, rent, wages, and other compensation for labor, personal income may be defined as total money income received by individuals before personal taxes are paid. National income does not equal GNP (Gross National Product) because the factors of production do not receive payment for either capital consumption allowances or indirect business taxes, both of which are included in GNP. The money put aside for capital consumption is for replacement and thus is not counted as income. Indirect taxes include sales taxes, property taxes, and excise taxes that are paid by businesses directly to the government and so reduce the income left to pay for the factors of production. Three-fourths of national income goes for wages, salaries, and other forms of compensation to employees. Whereas national income shows the income that the factors of production earn, personal income measures the income that individuals or households receive. Corporation profits are included in national income because they are earned. Out of these profits, however, corporation profit taxes must be paid to the government, and some money must be put into the business for expansion. Only that part of profits distributed as dividends goes to the individual; therefore, out of corporation profits only dividends count as personal income. The factors of production earn money for social security and unemployment insurance contributions, but this money goes to government (which is not a factor of production), not to individuals. It is therefore part of national income but not part of personal income. On the other hand, money received by individuals when they collect social security or unemployment compensation is not money earned but money received. Interest received on government bonds is also in this category, because much of the money received from the sale of bonds went to pay for war production and that production no longer furnishes a service to the economy. The money people receive as personal income may be either spent or saved. However, not all spending is completely voluntary. A significant portion of our income goes to pay personal taxes. Most workers never receive the money they pay in personal taxes, because it is withheld from their paychecks. The money that individuals are left with after they have met their tax obligations is disposable personal income. Disposable income can be divided between personal consumption expenditures and personal savings. It is important to remember that personal saving is what is left after spending.

单选题People disagree because they look at the same problem from a different perspective. A. prospect B. vision C. method D. view

单选题Jack {{U}}said sorry{{/U}} to the manager for the mistakes he had made. A. excused B. pardoned C. forgave D. apologized

单选题She had never {{U}}longed{{/U}} so keenly to go on with her university work in her life as she did that day.

单选题The new garment fits her perfectly.

单选题Shopping for Clothes Shopping for clothes is not the same experience for a man as it is for a woman. A man goes shopping because he needs something. His purpose is settled and decided in advance. He knows what he wants, and his objective is to find it and buy it; the price is a secondary consideration. All men simply walk into a shop and ask the assistant for what they want. If the shop has it in stock, the salesman promptly produces it, and the business of trying it on follows at once. All being well, the deal can be and often is completed in less than five minutes, with hardly any chat and to everyone"s satisfaction. For a man, slight problems may begin when the shop doesn"t have what he wants. In that case the salesman, as the name implies, tries to sell the customer something else, he offers the nearest he can to the article required. No good salesman brings out such a substitute impolitely; he does so with skill : "I know this jacket is not the style you want, sir, but would you like to try it for size? It happens to be the color you mentioned. " Few men have patience with this treatment, and the usual response is: "This is the right color and may be the right size, but I should be wasting my time and yours by trying it on. " Now how does a woman go about buying clothes? In almost every respect she does so in the opposite way. Her shopping is not often based on need. She has never fully made up her mind what she wants, and she is only "having a look round". She is always open to persuasion; indeed she sets great store by what the saleswoman tells her, even by what companions tell her. She will try on any number of things. Uppermost in her mind is the thought of finding something that everyone thinks suits her. Contrary to a lot of jokes, most women have an excellent sense of value when they buy clothes. They are always on the lock-out for the unexpected bargain. Faced with a roomful of dresses, a woman may easily spend an hour going from one rail to another, to and fro, often retracing her steps, before selecting the dresses she wants to try on. It is a laborious process, but apparently an enjoyable one. Most dress shops provide chairs for the waiting husbands.

单选题The standards set four years ago in Seoul may be far below the athletes' {{U}}capabilities{{/U}} now. A. capacities B. strengths C. possibilities D. abilities