阅读理解Immigration poses two main challenges for the rich world''s governments. One is how to manage the inflow(流入)of migrants; the other, how to integrate those who are already there. Whom, for example, to allow in? Already, many governments have realized that the market for top talent is global and competitive. Led by .Canada and Australia, they are redesigning migration policies not just to admit, but actively to attract highly skilled immigrants. Germany, for instance, tentatively introduced a green card of its own two years ago for information-technology staff. Whereas the case for attracting the highly skilled is fast becoming conventional wisdom, a thornier issue is what to do about the unskilled. Because the difference in earnings is greatest in this sector, migration of the unskilled delivers the largest global economic gains. Moreover, wealthy, well-educated, ageing economies create lots of jobs for which their own workers have little appetite. So immigrants tend to cluster at the upper and lower ends of the skill spectrum. Immigrants either have university degrees or no high-school education. Mr. Smith''s survey makes the point: Among immigrants to America, the proportion with a postgraduate education, at 21%, is al most three times as high as in the native population; equally, the proportion with less than nine years of schooling, at 20%, is more than three times as high as that of the native born. All this means that some immigrants do far better than other. The'' unskilled are the problem. Research by George Boras, a Harvard university professor whose parents were unskilled Cuban immigrants, has drawn attention to the fact that the unskilled account for a growing pro portion of America''s foreign-born. Newcomers without high-school education not only drag down the wages of the poorest Americans; their children are also disproportionately likely to fail at school. These youngsters are there to stay. "The toothpaste is out of the tube," says Mark Krikorian, executive director of the Centre for Immigration Studies. And their numbers will grow. Be cause the rich world''s women spurn motherhood, immigrants give birth to many of the rich world''s babies. Foreign mothers account for one birth in five in Switzerland and one in eight in Germany and Britain. If these children grow up underprivileged and undereducated, they will create a new underclass that may take many years to emerge from poverty. For Europe, immigration creates particular problems. Europe needs it even more than the United States because the continent is aging faster than any other region. Immigration is not a permanent cure (immigrants grow old too), but it will buy time. And migration can "grease the wheels" of Europe''s sclerotic (硬化的) labor markets, argues Tito Boeri in a report published in July. However, thanks to the generosity of Europe''s welfare states, migration is also a sort of tax on immobile labor. And the more immobile Europeans are the older, the less educated the more xenophobic (恐惧外国人的) they are too.

阅读理解Eight Tips for Eating Well A healthy balanced diet contains a variety of types of food, including lots of fruit, vegetables and starchy (淀粉类) foods such as wholemeal bread and wholegrain cereals; some protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, eggs and lentils; and some dairy foods. 1. Base your meals on starchy foods Starchy foods such as bread, cereals, rice, pasta and potatoes are a really important part of a healthy diet. Try to choose wholegrain varieties of starchy foods whenever you can. Starchy foods should make up about a third of the food we eat. They are a good source of energy and the main source of a range of nutrients in our diet. As well as starch, these foods contain fiber, calcium, iron and B vitamins. Most of us should eat more starchy foods—try to include at least one starchy food with each of your main meals. So you could start the day with a wholegrain breakfast cereal, have a sandwich for lunch, and potatoes, pasta or rice with your evening meal. Wholegrain foods contain more fiber and other nutrients than white or refined starchy foods. We also digest wholegrain foods more slowly so they can help make us feel full for longer. 2. Eat lots of fruit and vegetable Most people know we should be eating more fruit and vegetable. But most of us still aren''t eating enough. Try to eat at least 5 portions of a variety of fruit and vegetable every day. It might be easier than you think. Try adding up your portions during the meals throughout the day. You can choose from fresh, frozen, tinned, dried or juiced, but remember potatoes count as a starchy food, not as portions of fruit and vegetable. 3. Eat more fish Most of us should be eating more fish—including a portion of oily fish each week. It''s an excellent source of protein and contains many vitamins and minerals. Aim for at least two portions of fish a week, including a portion of oily fish. You can choose from fresh, frozen or canned—but remember that canned and smoked fish can be high in salt. What are oily fish? Some fish are called oily fish because they are rich in certain types of fats, called omega 3 fatty acids, which can help keep our hearts healthy. How much oily fish? Although most of us should be eating more oily fish, women who might have a baby one day should have a maximum of 2 portions of oily fish a week (a portion is about 140g). And 4 is the recommended maximum number of portions for other adults. Anyone who regularly eats a lot of fish should try and choose as wide a variety as possible. 4. Cut down on saturated (饱和的) fat and sugar Fats To stay healthy we need some fat in our diets. What is important is the kind of fat we are eating. There are two main types of fat: --saturated fat—having too much can increase the amount of cholesterol (胆固醇) in the blood, which increases the chance of developing heart disease --unsaturated fat—having unsaturated fat instead of saturated fat lowers blood cholesterol Try to cut down on food that is high in saturated fat and have foods that are rich in unsaturated fat instead, such as vegetable oils, oily fish, avocados, nuts and seeds. Foods high in saturated fat are: meat pies, sausages, meat with visible white fat, hard cheese, butter and lard, pastry, cakes and biscuits, cream, soured cream and crème fra?che, coconut oil, coconut cream or palm oil. For a healthy choice, use just a small amount of vegetable oil or a reduced-fat spread instead of butter, lard or ghee. And when you are having meat, try to choose lean cuts and cut off any visible fat. Sugar Most people are eating too much sugar. We should all be trying to eat fewer foods containing added sugar, such as sweets, cakes and biscuits, and drinking fewer sugary soft and fizzy drinks. Having sugary foods and drinks too often can cause tooth decay, especially if you have them between meals. Many foods that contain added sugar can also be high in calories so cutting down could help you control your weight. How do I know if a food is high in added sugar? Take a look at the label. The ingredients list always starts with the biggest ingredient first. But watch out for other words used to describe added sugars, such as sucrose, glucose, fructose, maltose, hydrolyzed starch and invert sugar, corn syrup and honey. If you see one of these near the top of the list, you know the food is likely to be high in added sugars. Another way to get an idea of how much sugar is in a food is to have a look for the "Carbohydrates" (碳水化合物) figure on the label. But this figure can''t tell you how much is from added sugars, which is the type we should try to cut down on. High is more than 15 g sugars per 100g. Low is 5g sugars or less per 100g. If the amount of sugars per 100g is in-between these figures, then that is a medium level of sugars. Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much sugars you will get from it. Sometimes you will only see a figure for total "Carbohydrates" , not for "Carbohydrates (of which sugars)" , which means the figure also includes the carbohydrate from starchy foods. 5. Try to eat less salt—no more than 6g a day Eating too much salt can raise your blood pressure. And people with high blood pressure are three times more likely to develop heart disease or have a stroke than people with normal blood pressure. Adults and children over 11 should have no more than 6g salt a day. Younger children should have even less. Remember that the amount you eat of a particular food affects how much salt you will get from it. 6. Get active and try to be a healthy weight It''s not a good idea to be either underweight or overweight. Being overweight can lead to health conditions such as heart disease, high blood pressure or diabetes. Being underweight could also affect your health. If you''re worried about your weight, ask your a dietitian (营养学家) for advice. But if you think you just need to lose a little weight, the main things to remember are: --only eat as much food as you need --make healthy choices—it''s a good idea to choose low-fat and low-sugar varieties, eat plenty of fruit and vegetable and wholegrains --get more active It''s also important to eat a variety of types of food so you get all the nutrients your body needs. Physical activity is a good way of using up extra calories, and helps control our weight. But this doesn''t mean you need to join a gym. Just try to get active every day and build up the amount you do. For example, you could try to fit in as much walking as you can into your daily routine. Try to walk at a good pace. Whenever we eat more than our body needs, we put on weight. This is because we store any energy we don''t use up—usually as fat. Even small amounts of extra energy each day can lead to weight gain. 7. Drink plenty of water We should be drinking about 6 to 8 glasses (1.2 liters) of water, or other fluids, every day to stop us getting dehydrated. When the weather is warm or when we get active, our bodies need more than this. But avoid drinking soft and fizzy drinks that are high in added sugar. Alcohol There is nothing wrong with the occasional drink. But drinking too much can cause problems. Alcohol is also high in calories, so cutting down could help you control your weight. Women can drink up to 2 to 3 units of alcohol a day and men up to 3 to 4 units a day, without significant risk to their health. A unit is half a pint of standard strength (3% to 5% ABV) beer, lager or cider, or a pub measure of spirit. A glass of wine is about 2 units and alco-pops are about 1.5 units. For good health, it''s a good idea to spread your drinking throughout the week and avoid binge drinking. Drinking heavily over a long period of time can damage the liver. 8. Don''t skip breakfast Breakfast can help give us the energy we need to face the day, as well as some of the vitamins and minerals we need for good health. Some people skip breakfast because they think it will help them lose weight. But missing meals doesn''t help us lose weight and it isn''t good for us, because we can miss out on essential nutrients. Research shows that eating breakfast can actually help people control their weight. This is probably because when we don''t have breakfast we''re more likely to get hungry before lunch and snack on foods that are high in fat and sugar, such as biscuits, doughnuts or pastries. So why not go for a bowl of wholegrain cereal with some sliced banana and a glass of fruit juice for a healthy start to the day?

阅读理解The persistent haze over many of our cities is a reminder of the polluted air that we breathe

阅读理解When we worry about who might be spying .on our private lives, we usually, think about the Federal agents. But the private sector outdoes the government every time. It''s Linda Tripp, not the FBI, who is facing charges under Maryland''s laws against secret telephone taping. It''s our banks, not the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), that pass our private financial data to telemarketing firms. Consumer activists are pressing Congress for better privacy laws without much result so far. The legislators lean toward letting business people track our financial habits virtually at will. As an example of what''s going on, consider U.S. Bancorp, which was recently sued for deceptive practices by the state of Minnesota. According to the lawsuit, the bank supplied a telemarketer called MemberWorks with sensitive customer data such as names, phone numbers, bank-account and credit-card numbers, Social Security numbers, account balances and credit limits. With these customer lists in hand, MemberWorks started dialing for dollars -- selling dental plans, videogames, computer software and other products and services. Customers who accepted a "free trial offer" had 30 days to cancel. If the deadline passed, they were charged automatically through their bank or credit-card accounts. U. S. Bancorp collected a share of the revenues. Customers were doubly deceived, the lawsuit claims. They didn''t know that the bank was giving account numbers to MemberWorks. And if customers asked, they were led to think the answer was no. The state sued MemberWorks separately for deceptive selling. The company denies that it did anything wrong. For its part, U.S. Bancorp settled without admitting any mistakes. But it agreed to stop exposing its customers to nonfinancial products sold by outside firms. A few top banks decided to do the same. Many other banks will still do business with MemberWorks and similar firms. And banks will still be mining data from your account in order to sell you financial products, including things of little value, such as credit insurance and credit-card protection plans. You have almost no protection from businesses that use your personal accounts for profit. For example, no federal law shields "transaction and experience" information -- mainly the details of your bank and credit-card accounts. Social Security numbers are for sale by private firms. They''ve generally agreed not to sell to the public. But to businesses, the numbers are an open book. Self-regulation doesn''t work. A firm might publish a privacy-protection policy, but who enforces it? Take U.S. Bancorp again. Customers were told, in writing, that "all personal information you supply to us will be considered confidential." Then it sold your data to MemberWorks. The bank even claims that it doesn''t "sell" your data at all. It merely "shares" it and reaps a profit. Now you know.

阅读理解Passage One Schools are not just a microcosm of society: they mediate it too

阅读理解The recent dramatic increase in the use of computer-mediated communication (CMC), notably the use of voice mail (v-mail) and electronic mail (e-mail), marks this trend in human communication as one of the most significant changes in our society since computers were introduced. Is there a direct relationship between preference to either of them and how computer literate an individual is? Is a preference for v-mail or e-mail related to gender or work position? Is there an age difference? That is, will older individuals who began their work careers with secretaries, rather than laptops(便携式电脑), prefer v-mail over e-mail? V-mail is defined as the storing and forwarding of digitized audio messages, and e-mail is defined as the computer-to-computer exchange of text messages. Using the computer for inter personal communication was a "reinvention" process; it was a process of developing new uses for already existing technology. Individual computer users quickly saw the computer, originally a data processing device, in a new light. They saw the computer as a means of freeing them from communication time and space constraints. The saturation of the use of CMC has reached such proportions that in 1996, the number of pieces of e-mail circulated through the Internet (94 billion) exceeded the number of pieces of mail processed by the US Postal Service. Historically, the development of v-mail in industry followed the development of e-mail; both means of CMC now are an integral part of most of our every day routines. Many of us would be extremely inconvenienced if either v-mail or e-mail suddenly were unavailable. Some individuals lean toward oral/aural-based modes and might be more comfortable with a telephone technology. Others prefer the concrete nature of text messages and might be more comfortable with reading messages rather than listening to them. Not having typing skills or strong listening skills can greatly influence preference. In the technology acceptance model (TAM), scientists concluded that usefulness and ease of use are two variables that determine the adoption and use of information technology. Where as media richness in technologies (MRT) can be used to compare information technologies with respect to resolving equivocality(含糊)or reducing uncertainty, the TAM can provide a comparison of technologies with respect to their acceptance and use. Some scientists claim that e-mail messages promote accuracy because senders of these messages can take their time in composing and editing, whereas v-mail users cannot. Thus, e-mail is argued to foster more accurate information because it is based on a written medium. Like e-mail, v-mail allows communication without the sender and receiver being physically present at the same time. Because v-mail is aural, it possesses its own set of distinctive characteristics. Intonation (声调), inflection, and emotion add to the meaning of the message. On the other hand, v-mail lacks the precision of e-mail. Not having a visual mode to keep one remember an item points to a common problem. With voice messages, as anyone who has tried to note a phone number rattled off quickly on a v-mail message can attest.

阅读理解Washington and Lee University is cited as an example to show that the gap of graduation ratesd between whites and minorities can _____.

阅读理解We wanted to get involved with something where we could work directly with children, more hands-on than fundraising. Our daughter said she was tired of listening to us complain about how sad the TV news always was, how nobody helped make a difference. It was our time to either put up or shut up. Of course, it was exactly the push we needed to get started. So she helped us to do some research, and we learned how the non-profit organization, CASA, helps change seemingly forgotten children''s lives by connecting them with volunteer CASAs (Court Appointed Special Advocates) who help them navigate the impersonal child welfare and legal systems. Too often, judges must make decisions either without knowing much about the children or with inaccurate information. A CASA role is to provide information to the court so that it can make an intelligent decision. A CASA becomes an advocate for the child both in court and in everyday life. All that''s required is a willingness to help out and some common sense. Usually, the children we work with don''t have anyone to stand up for them or fight for them, not only in court, but also in matters of education, health, and family. We just go ahead and do whatever a loving parent would do to get the services the child needs. One case we had concerned two brothers, Steven and Thomas. Steven was known for his bad behavior. At the same time, he would hardly speak. It wasn''t until he got placed in a loving foster home that we learned he had a hearing problem. Soon, hearing aids in both ears corrected a lot of Steven''s frustration and behavior problems. Actually, it was an amazing case all around. This foster family wanted to adopt both boys. As we dug further into the case, we learned a younger brother nobody in the system seemed to be aware of—Brian—was in a different foster home. Once we found Brian, the couple who wanted to adopt Steven and Thomas said, "We''ll take him, too. " Some time later, we arranged to meet the boys at a bowling alley to see how they were doing. All three of them came running up to us, and Steven kept talking and talking and talking. He wanted to tell us everything that had happened since we''d last seen him. The hearing aids drew him out of his shell so much that his adoptive parents joked and said we''d created a monster. It''s a good feeling when you see a child go from one extreme to another. Not only the affection you have for them, but also the affection they show you makes you feel as if you''re part of the family. We''re really proud of that case. Then, there was Michael, a mentally disturbed boy who was very withdrawn and for whom Children and Family Services couldn''t find foster placement. We had been to court with him maybe a dozen times before, and whenever we went, we would take him to lunch to make it a little easier for him. One time when we went to court and asked the judge for permission to take him to lunch, an attorney objected , saying he had information that Michael was going to run away and that it wasn''t safe for us to take him out. The judge asked for our response. All of a sudden, Michael jumped up, and he yelled out, "Run away? Where am I going to run? No one wants me!" The judge looked at us and said, "Mr. and Mrs. Forstadt, would you like to take him to lunch? Would you like to take him to dinner? Wherever you would like to take him, be my guest." So that''s what we do. We go into court. The caseloads of both attorneys and social workers are so immense that they really don''t have the time to spend with the child or know much about the children''s lives. But a CASA knows more about these children than anyone in the courtroom. The information we provide weighs heavily in a judge''s decision because he or she knows we have done our homework. Judges also understand that CASAs always report reliable, firsthand information, since their only responsibility is to the child. The children we deal with have been dumped. They''ve been dumped by parents and relatives. They''ve been abused and abandoned. It gets to a point where they don''t trust anyone so we try to renew that trust and succeed in many cases. But when Court Appointed Special Advocates make a promise, they keep a promise, something these kids are not used to. Knowing that we are keeping promises is a hell of a good feeling. We give children something they''ve never had before—reliability and consistency. And one case at a time, we make a difference.

阅读理解Britain almost more than any other country in the world must seriously face the problem of building upwards, that is to say of accommodating a considerable proportion of its population in high blocks of flats. It is said that the Englishman objects to this type of existence, but if the case is such, he does in fact differ from the inhabitants of most countries of the world today. In the past our own blocks of fiats have been associated with the lower-income groups and they have lacked the obvious provisions, such as central heating, constant hot water supply, electrically operated lifts from top to bottom, and so on, as well as such details, important notwithstanding (然而), as easy facilities for disposal of dust and rubbish and storage places for baby carriages on the grounds for washing. It is likely that the dispute regarding flats versus individual houses will continue to rage in for a long time as far as Britain is concerned. And it is unfortunate that there should be hot feelings on both sides whenever this subject is raised. Those who oppose the building of flats base their case primarily on the assumption (设想) that everyone prefers an individual home and garden and on the high cost per unit of accommodation. The latter ignores the higher cost of providing full services to a scattered community and the cost in both money and time of the journeys to work for the suburban resident.

阅读理解When people care enough about something to do it well, those who do it best tend to be far better than everyone else. There''s a huge gap between Leonardo and second-rate contemporaries. A top-ranked professional chess player could play ten thousand games against an ordinary club player without losing once. Like chess or painting or writing novels, making money is a very specialized skill. But for some reason we treat this skill differently. No one complains when a few people surpass all the rest at playing chess or writing novels, but when a few people make more money than the rest, we get editorials saying this is wrong. Why? The pattern of variation seems no different than for any other skill. What causes people to react so strongly when the skill is making money? I think there are three reasons we treat making money as different: the misleading model of wealth we learn as children; the disreputable way in which, till recently, most fortunes were accumulated; and the worry that great variations in income are somehow bad for society. As far as I can tell, the first is mistaken, the second outdated, and the third empirically false. Could it be that, in a modern democracy, variation in income is actually a sign of health? When I was five I thought electricity was created by electric sockets. I didn''t realize there were power plants out there generating it. Likewise, it doesn''t occur to most kids that wealth is something that has to be generated. It seems to be something that flows from parents. Because of the circumstances in which they encounter it, children tend to misunderstand wealth. They confuse it with money. They think that there is a fixed amount of it. And they think of it as something that''s distributed by authorities (and so should be distributed equally), rather than something that has to be created (and might be created unequally). In fact, wealth is not money. Money is just a convenient way of trading one form of wealth for another. Wealth is the underlying stuff—the goods and services we buy. When you travel to a rich or poor country, you don''t have to look at people''s bank accounts to tell which kind you'' re in. You can see wealth — in buildings and streets, in the clothes and the health of the people. Where does wealth come from? People make it. This was easier to grasp when most people lived on farms, and made many of the things they wanted with their own hands. Then you could see in the house, the herds, and the granary the wealth that each family created. It was obvious then too that the wealth of the world was not a fixed quantity that had to be shared out, like slices of a pie. If you wanted more wealth, you could make it. This is just as true today, though few of us create wealth directly for ourselves. Mostly we create wealth for other people in exchange for money, which we then trade for the forms of wealth we want. Because kids are unable to create wealth, whatever they have has to be given to them. And when wealth is something you'' re given, then of course it seems that it should be distributed equally. As in most families it is. The kids see to that. "Unfair," they cry, when one sibling (兄弟姐妹) gets more than another. In the real world, you can''t keep living off your parents. If you want something, you either have to make it, or do something of equivalent value for someone else, in order to get them to give you enough money to buy it. In the real world, wealth is (except for a few specialists like thieves and speculators) something you have to create, not something that''s distributed by Daddy. And since the ability and desire to create it vary from person to person, it''s not made equally. You get paid by doing or making something people want, and those who make more money are often simply better at doing what people want. Top actors make a lot more money than B-list actors. The B-list actors might be almost as charismatic, but when people go to the theater and look at the list of movies playing, they want that extra oomph (吸引力) that the big stars have. Doing what people want is not the only way to get money, of course. You could also rob banks, or solicit bribes, or establish a monopoly. Such tricks account for some variation in wealth, and indeed for some of the biggest individual fortunes, but they are not the root cause of variation in income. The root cause of variation in income is the same as the root cause of variation in every other human skill. The second reason we tend to find great disparities of wealth alarming is that for most of human history the usual way to accumulate a fortune was to steal it: in pastoral societies by cattle raiding; in agricultural societies by appropriating others'' estates in times of war, and taxing them in times of peace. In conflicts, those on the winning side would receive the estates confiscated from the losers. In more organized societies, the ruler and his officials used taxation instead of confiscation. But here too we see the same principle: the way to get rich was not to create wealth, but to serve a ruler powerful enough to appropriate it. But it was not till the Industrial Revolution that wealth creation definitively replaced corruption as the best way to get rich. In England, at least, corruption only became unfashionable when there started to be other faster ways to get rich. Thirdly, one often hears a policy criticized on the grounds that it would increase the income gap between rich and poor. As if it were an axiom (公理) that this would be bad. It might be true that increased variation in income would be bad, but I don''t see how we can say it''s axiomatic. Indeed, it may even be false, in industrial democracies. In a society of serfs (农奴) and warlords, certainly, variation in income is a sign of an underlying problem. But serfdom is not the only cause of variation in income. A 747 pilot doesn''t make 40 times as much as a checkout clerk because he is a warlord. His skills are simply much more valuable. I''d like to propose an alternative idea: that in a modern society, increasing variation in income is a sign of health. Technology seems to increase the variation in productivity at faster than linear rates. If we don''t see corresponding variation in income, there are three possible explanations: (a) that technical innovation has stopped, (b) that the people who would create the most wealth aren''t doing it, or (c) that they aren''t getting paid for it. If you suppress variations in income, whether by stealing private fortunes, as feudal rulers used to do, or by taxing them away, as some modern governments have done, the result always seems to be the same. Society as a whole ends up poorer. If I had a choice of living in a society where I was materially much better off than I am now, but was among the poorest, or in one where I was the richest, but much worse off than I am now, I’d take the first option. If I had children, it would arguably be immoral not to. It''s absolute poverty you want to avoid, not relative poverty. If, as the evidence so far implies, you have to have one or the other in your society, take relative poverty. You need rich people in your society not so much because in spending their money or they create jobs, but because of what they have to do to get rich. I’m not talking about the trickle-down effect here. I’m not saying that if you let Henry Ford get rich, he''ll hire you as a waiter at his next party. I’m saying that he''ll make you a tractor to replace your horse.

阅读理解The decline of traditional religion in the West has not removed the need for men and women to find a deeper meaning behind existence. Why is the world way it is and how do we, as conscious individuals, fit into the great scheme? There is a growing feeling that science, especially what is known as the new physics, provides answers where religion remains vague and faltering. Many people in search of a meaning to their lives are finding enlightenment in the revolutionary developments at the frontiers science. Much to the bewilderment of professional scientists, quasi — religious cults are being formed around such unlikely topics as quantum physics, space—time relativity, black holes and the big bang. How can physics, with its reputation for cold precision and objective materialism, provide such fertile soil for the mystical? The truth is that the spirit of scientific enquiry has undergone a remarkable transformation over the past 50 years. The twin revolutions of the Theory of Relativity, with its spacewarps and timewarps, and the quantum theory, which reveals the shadowy and unsubstantial nature of atoms, have demolished the classical image of a clockwork universe slavishly unfolding along a predetermined pathway. Replacing this sterile mechanism is a world full of shifting indeterminism and subtle interactions which have no counterpart in daily experience. To study the new physics is to embark on a journey of wonderment and paradox, to glimpse the universe in a novel perspective, in which subject and object, mind and matter, force and field, become intertwined. Even the creation of the universe itself has fallen within the province of scientific enquiry. The new cosmology provides, for the first time, a consistent picture of how all physical structures, including space and time, came to exist out of nothing. We are moving towards an understanding in which matter, force, order and creation are unified into a single descriptive theme. Many of us who work in fundamental physics are deeply impressed by the harmony and order which pervades the physical world. To me the laws of the universe, from quarks to quasars, dovetail (吻合) together so felicitously that the impression there is something behind it all seems overwhelming. The laws of physics are so remarkably clever that they can surely only be a manifestation of genius.

阅读理解Some lawmakers in Sweden propose that genderless pronouns be used in the Swedish language.

阅读理解Our multimillion nerve-cell central nervous system has its roots in the scattered nerve cells of tiny, lowly organisms that lived in water half a billion years ago. Nerve cells evidently first appeared in coelenterates —"hollow-gutted" organisms like hydra and the sea anemone. A coelenterate''s nerve network lacks any kind of centralized control. This probably began with flatworms — the first creatures to possess a head, specialized sense cells help flatworms respond more flexibly than sea anemones to outside stimulus. But like most animals without a backbone, flatworms act mostly by instinct and reflex. Intelligent behavior remained impossible until the appearance of relatively big, complex types of brain — the types we find among the backboned animals, or vertebrates. The tiniest fish has a larger brain than the largest insect. But the development of a fish''s three-part brain reflects that beast''s unin-tellectual priorities. Much of the forebrain deals only with smell. The midbrain handles vision, the hind-brain, balance. With early mammals the brain grew larger and more complex. Sense coordination shifted from the midbrain to the forebrain, a developing structure capped by a folded cerebrum to handle memory and learning. Meanwhile the hindbrain gained a large cerebellum to coordinate complicated movements. Advanced mammals such as monkeys, apes, and humans (the primates) have brains derived from ancestors that took to living in the trees, when vision mattered more than smell. Accordingly the once-big "smell" part of the forebrain grew smaller, while the part that handles vision grew much larger.

阅读理解What do some experts say about doctors' involvement in medical cost analysis?

阅读理解Passage Two On Jan

阅读理解"I''ve never met a human worth cloning," says cloning expert Mark Westhusin from his lab at Texas A he''s put up $ 3.7 million so far to fund A&M''s research. Contrary to some media reports, Missy is not dead. The owner wants a twin to carry on Missy''s fine qualities after she does die. The prototype is, by all accounts, athletic, good-natured and supersmart. Missy''s master does not expect an exact copy of her. He knows her clone may not have her temperament. In a statement of purpose, Missy''s owner and the A&M team say they are "both looking forward to studying the ways that her clones differ from Missy." Besides cloning a great dog, the project may contribute insight into the old question of nature vs. nurture. It could also lead to the cloning of special rescue dogs and many endangered animals. However, Westhusin is cautious about his work. He knows that even if he gets a dog pregnant, the offspring, should they survive, will face the problems shown at birth by other cloned animals: abnormalities like immature lungs and heart and weight problems. "Why would you ever Want to clone humans," Westhusin asks, "when we''re not even close to getting it worked out in animals yet?"

阅读理解Fair competition might create a strong incentive for insurers to charge less.

阅读理解There is certainly much work which is exceedingly irksome and an excess of work is always very painful. I think, however, that, provided work is not excessive in amount, even the dullest work is to most people less painful than idleness. There are, in work, all grades, from mere relief of tedium up to the profoundest delights, according to the nature of the work and the abilities of the individual. Most of the work that most people have to do is not in itself interesting, but even such work has certain great advantages. To begin with, it fills a good many hours of the day without the need of deciding what one shall do. Most people, when they are left free to .fill their own time according to their own choice, are at a loss to think of anything sufficiently pleasant to be worth doing. And whatever they decide on, they are troubled by the feeling that something else would have been more pleasant. To be able to fill leisure intelligently is the ultimate product of civilization, and at present very few people have reached this level. Moreover the exercise of choice is in itself tiresome. Except to people with unusual initiative it is positively agreeable to be told what to do at each hour of the day, provided the orders are not too unpleasant. Most of the idle rich suffer unspeakable boredom as the price of their freedom from drudgery. At times they may find relief by hunting big game in Africa, or by flying round the world, but the number of such sensations is limited, especially after youth is past. Accordingly the more intelligent rich men work nearly as hard as if they were poor, while rich women for the most part keep themselves busy with innumerable trifles ''of whose earth-shaking importance they are firmly persuaded. Work therefore is desirable, first and foremost, as a preventive of boredom, for the boredom that a man feels when he is doing necessary though uninteresting work is as nothing in comparison with the boredom that he feels when he has nothing to do with his days. With this ad- vantage of work another is associated, namely that it makes holidays much more delicious when they come. Provided a man does not have to work so hard as to impair his vigor, he is likely to find far more zest in his free time than an idle man could possibly find. The second advantage of most paid work and of some unpaid work is that it gives chances of success and opportunities for ambition. In most work success is measured by income, and while our capitalistic society continues, this is inevitable. It is only where the best work is concerned that this measure ceases to be the natural one to apply. The desire that men feel to in- crease their income is quite as much a desire for success as for the extra comforts that a higher income can acquire.

阅读理解When British voters go to the polls during General Elections to decide who will govern them they usually have a choice of at least three candidates who will each represent one of the three main political parties in Britain today. The Labour Party is the party of the left, the Tory or Conservative Party represents the right, and between the two, with policies and opinions of its own, is the smaller Liberal Party. Britain is divided into over 600 political units known as "constituencies", each with its own candidates who stand for Parliament hoping to be elected (or re-elected) with large majorities. The cities and large towns are themselves divided into constituencies and they also choose the Members of Parliament (MPs) who will represent their views in the Houses of Parliament at Westminster. Here, in the House, the government of the day led by its Prime Minister and his Cabinet — a team of specially selected minister — carries out its duties of governing the country. Various proposals are put forward for debate and discussion and these may, eventually, become part of the law of the land. The government in office has to face the criticism of the other parties which are opposition. This is the sort of democratic process that the majority of British people seem to favour. Her Majesty''s Government is watched over by Her Majesty''s Opposition, and thus a certain balance of power is maintained. Decisions are made by a majority vote and this, of course, is where the other parties, the Liberals, the National and Regional parties (such as the Scottish or Welsh National Party) and other independent parties can exercise their influence. Some issues may be decided on a mere handful of votes. Before General Elections most prospective candidates visit their constituencies to canvass for votes by addressing public meetings, talking to people in the streets, publishing political leaflets or by touring the area in cars fitted with loudspeakers. Sometimes quite a carnival atmosphere is created, especially when a candidate in one of the rural districts arrives on horse-back or by tractor to attract attention!

阅读理解The fitness movement that began in the late 1960s and early 1970s centered around aerobic exercise. Millions of individuals became engaged in a variety of aerobic activities, and literally thousands of health spas developed around the country to capitalize on this emerging interest in fitness, particularly aerobic dancing for females. A number of fitness spas existed prior to this aerobic fitness movement, even a national chain with spas in most major cities. However, their focus was not on aerobics, but rather on weight-training programs designed to develop muscular mass, strength, and endurance in their primarily male enthusiasts. There fitness spas did not seem to benefit financially from the aerobic fitness movement to better health, since medical opinion suggested that weight-training programs offered few, if any, health benefits. In recent years, however, weight training has again become increasingly popular for males and for females. Many current programs focus not only on developing muscular strength and endurance but on aerobic fitness as well. Historically, most physical-fitness test usually included measures of muscular strength and endurance, not for health-related reasons, but primarily because such fitness components have been related to performance in athletics. However, in recent years, evidence has shown that training programs designed primarily to improve muscular strength and endurance night also offer some health benefits as well. The American College of Sports Medicine now recommends that weight training be part of a total fitness program for healthy Americans. Increased participation in such training is one of the specific physical activity and fitness objectives of Healthy People 2000:National Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Object.