单选题To be a good poet one needs, among other things, a very ______ imagination.

单选题{{B}}Passage One{{/B}} Despite much loose talk about the new global economy, today's international economic integration is not unprecedented. The 50 years before the first world war saw large cross-border flows of goods, capital and people. That period of globalization, like the present one, was driven by reductions in trade barriers and by sharp falls in transport costs, thanks to the development of railways and steamships. The present surge of globalization is in a way, a resumption (恢复) of that previous trend. The earlier attempt at globalization ended abruptly with the first world war, after which the world moved into a period of fierce trade protectionism and tight restrictions on capital movement. During the early 1930s, America sharply increased its tariffs, and other countries retaliated (报复), making the Great Depression even greater. The volume of world trade fell sharply. International capital flows virtually dried up in the interwar period as governments imposed controls to try to insulate (隔离) their economies from the impact of a global slump. Capital controls were maintained after the second world war, as the victors decided to keep their exchange rates fixed on arrangement known as the Bretton Woods System, named after the American town in which it was approved. But the big economic powers also agreed that reducing trade barriers was vital to recovery. They set up the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which organized a series of negotiations that gradually reduced import tariffs. GATT was replaced by the World Trade Organization (WTO) in 1995. Trade flourished. In the early 1970s, the Bretton Woods System collapsed and currencies were allowed to float against one another at whatever rates the markets set. This signaled the rebirth of global capital market. America and Germany quickly stopped trying to control the inflow and outflow of capital, Britain abolished capital controls in 1979 and Japan (mostly) in 1980. This is part of the reason why continental Europeans tend to worry more about the power of global capital markets. America has been exposed to them for much longer. Two forces have been driving these increased flows of goods and money. The first is technology. With the costs of communication and computing falling rapidly, the natural barriers of time and space that separate national markets have been falling too. The second driving force has been liberalization. As a result of both the GATT negotiations and unilateral (单方面的，单边的) decisions, almost all countries have lowered barriers to foreign trade. Most countries have welcomed international capital as well.

单选题At the Kyoto conference on global warming in December 1997, it became abundantly clear how complex it has become to work out international agreements relating to the environment because of economic concerns unique to each country. It is no longer enough to try to forbid certain activities or to reduce emissions of certain substances. The global challenge of the interlink between the environment and development increasingly bring us to the core of the economic life of states. During the late 1980s we were able, through international agreements, to make deep cuts in emissions harmful to the ozone layer (臭氧层). These reductions were made possible because substitutions had been found for many of the harmful chemicals and, more important, because the harmful substances could be replaced without negative effects on employment and the economies of states. Although the threat of global warming has been known to the world for decades and all countries and leaders agree that we need to deal with the problem, we also know that the effects of measures, especially harsh measures taken in some countries, would be nullified (抵消) if other countries do not control their emissions. Whereas the UN team on climate change has found that the emissions of carbon dioxide would have to be cut globally by 60% to stabilize the content of CO2 in the atmosphere, this path is not feasible for several reasons. Such deep cuts would cause a breakdown of the world economy. Important and populous (人口众多的) low or medium-income countries are not yet willing to undertake legal commitments about their energy uses. In addition, the state of world technology would not yet permit us to make such a big leap. We must, however, find a solution to the threat of global warming early in the 21st century. Such a commitment would require a degree of shared vision and common responsibilities new to humanity. Success lies in the force of imaginations, in imaging what would happen if we fail to act. Although many living in cold regions would welcome the global-warming effect of a warmer summer, few would cheer the arrival of the subsequent tropical diseases, especially where there had been none.

单选题Ted: I ate four hamburgers, Mom. Mother: Well, you"ve made a pig of yourself. Question: What do we learn from the conversation?

单选题He insisted that the meeting ______ till next Monday. A. be put off B. was put off C. is put off D. would be put off

单选题You should go over your notes ______ you can after class. A. as early as B. sooner or later C. the same as D. so soon that

单选题To keep her job, she has to ______ the bad temper of her boss.

单选题Australia"s foreign language skills are declining, Voice of America has reported. New figures show that only 13 percent of high school graduates can speak a foreign language. But four decades ago, 40 percent had foreign language skills. Professor Elise Tipton, from the University of Sydney, says increasingly students do not feel the need to learn another language to boost their career. She believes that Australia"s economic boom, which is driven by red-hot demand for its minerals, is helping mask serious deficiencies in its language skills. Australia does business very successfully in English with most of its trading partners. But as the world"s economic power shifts to emerging regions such as Asia, its language gap could soon be exposed. According to the new figures, less than 6.5 percent of high school graduates are proficient in an Asian language. Academics worry that this means Australia will increasingly be isolated from its economically important Asian neighbors. Dilip Dutta, from the economics and business faculty at Sydney University, says language skills can enhance trading opportunities. If Australians want to trade with Asian countries, it is very important for them to learn the language that will help them to get closer to the culture. But students have different opinions about Asian language learning. Pippa McCowage, a 22-year-old Australian student, says many young Australians have a half-hearted approach to foreign languages, and the language curriculum is often weak. "while we"re encouraged in high school to learn another language, it"s not really apparent to me as a realistic expectation that you will have to speak it," said McCowage. "For example, I learned Japanese in high school, when I went on an exchange in Year 10; I found that the Japanese students of my age had a much greater proficiency in English than I did in Japanese. So in that sense, it almost discourages you." At present, about 70 percent of Australia"s major exports go to Asia and the Australian government has been keen on developing closer economic and diplomatic ties with Asia. Academics say that, as Asia becomes one of the world"s economic powerhouses, Australia needs to improve its language skills if it is to take full advantage of the business opportunities on its doorstep.

单选题Jim was ______ asking his mother to buy him a new bike, so she finally gave in.

单选题A lot of people were ready to work long hours because high unemployment meant that they could easily be ______.

单选题Woman: Come on, we're almost there. I'll race you to the top of the hill. Man: I'm so out of shape. I might have to crawl the rest of the way. Question: What can be inferred about the man? A. He's tired. B. He lost the race. C. He has already been to the top of the hill. D. He prefers doing exercise indoors.

单选题Believe me, my memory is ______, if not better than it was in my teenage years.

单选题{{B}}Passage Two{{/B}} Americans usually consider themselves a friendly people. Their friendships, however, tend to be shorter and more casual than friendships among people from other cultures. It is not uncommon for Americans to have only one close friend during their lifetime, and consider other "friends" to be just social acquaintances. This attitude probably has something to do with American mobility and the fact that Americans do not like to be dependent on other people. They tend to "compartmentalize" (划分) friendships, having "friends at work", "friends on the softball team", "family friends", etc. Because the United States is a highly active society, full of movement and change, people always seem to be on the go. In this highly charged atmosphere, Americans can sometimes seem brusque (无礼的) or impatient. They want to get to know you as quickly as possible and then move on to something else. Sometimes, early on, they will ask you questions that you may feel are very personal. No insult is intended; the questions usually grow out of their genuine interest or curiosity, and their impatience to get to the heart of the matter. And the same goes for you. If you do not understand certain American behavior or you want to know more about them, do not hesitate to ask them questions about themselves. Americans are usually eager to explain all about their country or anything "American" in which you may be interested. So much so in fact that you may become tired of listening. It doesn't matter, because Americans tend to be uncomfortable with silence during a conversation. They would rather talk about the weather or the latest sports scores, for example, than deal with silence. On the other hand, don't expect Americans to be knowledgeable about international geography or world affairs, unless those subjects directly involve the United States. Because the United States is not surrounded by other nations, some Americans tend to ignore the rest of the world.

单选题It is ______ probable that he will fall in the coming examination.

单选题In terms of leisure time activities, people in the United States ______.

单选题A: I think tourism is a great way of helping the economies of developing countries.B: ______. A. Yes, I agree. I myself like nothing better than travel. B. Maybe. Can you explain the advantage of developing tourism? C. Well, in my opinion, the governments of developing countries should create more job opportunities for their people. D. Yes, it is. Without tourism, those countries would be much worse off.

单选题______ relatively costly, the diesel engine is highly efficient and needs servicing infrequently.

单选题Researchers said it was clear that the world's oceans play a major role in queuing up rapid climate changes, but that thus far the mechanics (机制，结构) of such changes were poorly understood. "It's like being blindfolded and walking toward the edge of a cliff, " said Wallace Brocker, a professor of environmental sciences at Columbia University. "We don't understand (the factors) so we don't really know what to look for. " Using ice cores drilled from glaciers and other ice sheets, the researchers have developed a model showing world temperatures' rising and falling with unsettling frequency over the past 110000 years. While some of the changes have been slow and steady, such as the end of the last Ice Age some 12 000 years ago, others have been swift and unexpected, such as the rapid warming of the North Atlantic from 1920 to 1930 and the Dust Bowl drought of the 1930s. The most drastic temperature changes-believed to be as much as 18 degrees Fahrenheit over the space of just a few years-exceed any recorded in human history, they said. This was not intended to alarm the public, but that they hoped it would stimulate policy makers to prepare for the possibility of rapid temperature flux. Greenhouse gases, emitted by fossil fuels such as oil and coal, have been linked by many researchers to a rise in global temperatures. A 1997 Kyoto Treaty on global warming sought to cut emissions of such gasses by developed nations, but the Bush administration this year spurned (轻蔑或傲慢 地拒绝) the treaty, saying pollution controls would be too costly for the U. S. economy. The NAS panel called for research to identify what it described as " no-regrets" measures that would cost relatively little and would be good policies regardless of the extent of environmental change. Such measures could include regulations to reduce damage to water, air and land, or slow climate change, or helping societies cope with abrupt climate changes by developing new financial instruments such as weather derivatives (衍生证券) and catastrophe bonds to reflect the risks. Societies have faced both gradual and abrupt climate changes for millennial and have learned to adapt through various mechanisms, such as moving indoors, developing irrigation for crops, and migrating away from inhospitable (不适宜居住的) regions. It is important not to be fatalistic (宿命论的) about the threats posed by abrupt climate changes.

单选题One-room schools are part of the heritage of the United States, and the mention of them makes people feel a vague long for the way things were. One-room schools are an endangered species, however. For more than a hundred years, one-room schools have been systematically shut down and their students sent away to centralized schools. As recently as 1930 there were 149,000 one-room schools in the United States. By 1970 there were 1,800. Today, of nearly 800 remaining one-room schools. More than 350 are in Nebraska. The rest are scattered through a few other states that have on their road maps wide-open spaces between towns. Now that there are hardly any left, educators are beginning to think that maybe there is something yet to be learned from one-room schools, something that served the pioneers that might serve as well today. Progressive educators have come up with progressive-sounding names like "peer-group teaching" and "multi-age grouping" for educational procedures that occur naturally in the one-room schools. In a one-room school the children teach each other because the teacher is busy part of the time teaching someone else. A fourth grader can work at a fifth-grade level in math and a third-grade level in English without the stigma associated with being left back or the pressures of being skipped ahead. A youngster with a learning disability can find his or her own level without being separated from the other pupils. In larger urban and suburban schools today, this is called "main streaming". A few hours in a small school that has only one classroom and it becomes clear why so many parents feel that one of the advantages of living in Nebraska is that their children have to go to a one-room school.

单选题Woman: I can"t wait to see the look on Mary"s face when she opens our gift. Man: Neither can I. Question: What does the man mean?