单选题Few creations of big technology capture the imagination like giant dams. Perhaps it is humankind"s long suffering at the mercy of flood and drought that makes the idea of forcing the waters to do our bidding so fascinating. But to be fascinated is also, sometimes, to be blind. Several giant dam projects threaten to do more harm than good.
The lesson from dams is that big is not always beautiful. It doesn"t help that building a big, powerful dam has become a symbol of achievement for nations and people striving to assert themselves. Egypt"s leadership in the Arab world was cemented by the Aswan High Dam. Turkey"s bid for First World status includes the giant Ataturk Dam.
But big dams tend not to work as intended. The Aswan Dam, for example, stopped the Nile flooding but deprived Egypt of the fertile silt that floods left—all in return for a giant reservoir of disease which is now so full of silt that it barely generates electricity.
And yet, the myth of controlling the waters persists. This week, in the heart of civilized Europe, Slovaks and Hungarians stopped just short of sending in the troops in their contention over a dam on the Danube. The huge complex will probably have all the usual problems of big dams. But Slovakia is bidding for independence from the Czechs, and now needs a dam to prove itself.
Meanwhile, in India, the World Bank has given the go-ahead to the even more wrong-headed Narmada Dam. And the bank has done this even though its advisors say the dam will cause hardship for the powerless and environmental destruction. The benefits are for the powerful, but they are far from guaranteed.
Proper, scientific study of the impacts of dams and of the cost and benefits of controlling water can help to resolve these conflicts. Hydroelectric power and flood control and irrigation are possible without building monster dams. But when you are dealing with myths, it is hard to be either proper, or scientific. It is time that the world learned the lessons of Aswan. You don"t need a dam to be saved.
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单选题 For centuries man dreamed of achieving vertical
height. In 400 A. D. Chinese children played with a fan-like toy that spun
upwards and fell back to earth as rotation ceased. Leonardo da Vinci conceived
the first mechanical apparatus, called a "Helix", which could carry a man
straight up, but this was only a design and was never tested.
The ancient dream was finally realized in 1940 when a Russian immigrant, an
aeronautical engineer, piloted a strange-looking craft of steel tubing with a
rotating fan on top. It rose awkwardly and vertically into the air from a
standing start, hovered a few feet above the ground, went sideways and
backwards, and then settled back to earth. That vehicle was called a
helicopter. Imaginations were fired. Men dreamed of
commuting to work in their own personal helicopter. Every man would have one in
his backyard. People anticipated that vertical flight transports would carry
millions of passengers as do the airliners of today. Such fantastic
expectations were not fulfilled. The helicopter has now become
an extremely versatile machine. It excels in military missions, carrying
troops, guns and strategic instruments where other aircraft cannot go.
Corporations use them as airborne offices, many metropolitan areas use them in
police work, construction and logging companies employ them in various
advantageous ways, engineers use them for site selection and surveying, and oil
companies use them as the best way to make offshore and remote work stations
accessible to crews and supplies. Any urgent mission to a hard-to-get-to place
is a likely task for a helicopter. Among their other multitude of uses, they
deliver people across town, fly to and from airports, assist in rescue work, and
aid in the search for missing or wanted persons.
单选题Questions 16 to 18 are based on the passage you have just heard.
单选题If a company wants its new pay structure to be successful, it is necessary to __________.
单选题{{B}} Questions 11 to 18 are based on the conversation you have just heard.{{/B}}
单选题Kate and Lenny ________ and kissed each other when they met again after ten years.
单选题A.Forpeopletoshareideasandshowfarmproducts.B.Forofficialstoeducatethefarmingcommunity.C.Forfarmerstoexchangetheirdailynecessities.D.Forfarmerstocelebratetheirharvests.
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单选题What does "the truth will out" mean in the last sentence?
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单选题Questions 12 to 15 are based on the conversation you have just heard.
单选题The quotation in the first paragraph is used to show _______.
单选题Why do companies take downsizing?
单选题Thoughts of suicide haunted Anita Rutnam long before she arrived at Syracuse University. She had a history of mental illness and had even attempted to kill herself. During her junior year of college, she tried again. On a February morning in 1998, just days after a campus counselor recommended she be hospitalized for her suicidal tendencies, Rutnam threw herself off the eighth floor of a Syracuse dormitory. Miraculously, she survived. But three years later, Rutnam still feels the effects of that day. She has not been able to finish college and is suing her former school for malpractice. Her suit asserts that, given the campus counselor's advice, school officials should have done more to prevent her suicide attempt. This incident and others have thrown a spotlight on an issue that is causing growing concern in dorm rooms and students center. Are colleges providing adequate care for students who may be struggling with a range of mental illnesses? In the Syracuse case, a spokesman for the school contends, "The University tried repeatedly to help Anita, and we felt that they acted appropriately." But lawyers are busy there and elsewhere. After accidents, suicide is the second biggest killer of kids in college. And while the number of students who kill themselves on campus is no higher than that of 18-to-24-year-olds in the general population, a series of sensational incidents has raised the question of whether troubled students are getting proper attention. So what are the schools' responsibilities to at-risk students, particularly those who may be genetically predisposed (易患……病的) to mental illness? College can be a breeding ground for psychiatric problems. Poor eating habits and irregular sleeping patterns—especially combined with the academic stress of college life—may all play roles in triggering mental problems. Additionally, many of the major psychiatric illnesses including depression often do not manifest themselves until the late teens or early 20s.
单选题What does the author think about experimenting on apes?
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单选题Questions 1 and 2 are based on the following news. At the end of the news item, you will be given 20 seconds to answer the questions.
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