阅读理解For about three centuries we have been doing science, trying science out, using science for the construction of what we call modern civilization. Every dispensable item of contemporary technology, from canal locks to dial telephones to penicillin, was pieced together from the analysis of data provided by one or another series of scientific experiments. Three hundred years seems a long time for testing a new approach to human interliving, long enough to settle back for critical appraisal of the scientific method, maybe even long enough to vote on whether to go on with it or not. There is an argument. Voices have been raised in protest since the beginning, rising in pitch and violence in the nineteenth century during the early stages of the industrial revolution, summoning urgent crowds into the streets any day these days on the issue of nuclear energy. Give it back, say some of the voices, it doesn''t really work, we''ve tried it and it doesn''t work, go back three hundred years and start again on something else less chancy for the race of man. The principle discoveries in this century, taking all in all, are the glimpses of the depth of our ignorance about nature. Things that used to seem clear and rational, matters of absolute certainty--Newtonian mechanics, for example--have slipped through our fingers, and we are left with a new set of gigantic puzzles, cosmic uncertainties, ambiguities; some of the laws of physics are amended every few years, some are canceled outright, some undergo revised versions of legislative intent as if they were acts of Congress. Just thirty years ago we call it a biological revolution when the fantastic geometry of the DNA molecule was exposed to public view and the linear language of genetics was decoded. For a while, things seemed simple and clear, the cell was a neat little machine, a mechanical device ready for taking to pieces and reassembling, like a tiny watch. But just in the last few years it has become almost unbelievably complex, filled with strange parts whose functions are beyond today''s imagining. It is not just that there is more to do, there is everything to do. What lies ahead, or what can lie ahead if the efforts in basic research are continued, is much more than the conquest of human disease or the improvement of agricultural technology or the cultivation of nutrients in the sea. As we learn more about fundamental processes of living things in general we will learn more about ourselves.

阅读理解Physical characteristics of moving objects help explain the dynamics of energy systems.

阅读理解Questions51to55arebasedonthefollowingpassage

阅读理解PassageOne Questions 46 to 50 are based on thefollowing passage

阅读理解Programming languages Programming languages are how people talk to computers. The computer would be just as happy speaking any language that was unambiguous. The reason we have high level languages is because people can''t deal with machine language. The point of programming languages is to prevent our poor frail human brains from being overwhelmed by a mass of detail. Architects know that some kinds of design problems are more personal than others. One of the cleanest, most abstract design problems is designing bridges. There your job is largely a matter of spanning a given distance with the least material. The other end of the spectrum is designing chairs. Chair designers have to spend their time thinking about human bodies. Software varies in the same way. Designing algorithms (运算法则) for routing data through a network is a nice, abstract problem, like designing bridges. Whereas designing programming languages is like designing chairs: it''s all about dealing with human weaknesses. Most of us hate to acknowledge this. Designing systems of great mathematical elegance sounds a lot more appealing to most of us than pandering to human weaknesses. And there is a role for mathematical elegance: some kinds of elegance make programs easier to understand. But elegance is not an end in itself. And when I say languages have to be designed to suit human weaknesses, I don''t mean that languages have to be designed for bad programmers. In fact I think you ought to design for the best programmers, but even the best programmers have limitations. I don''t think anyone would like programming in a language where all the variables were the letter x with integer subscripts. If you look at the history of programming languages, a lot of the best ones were languages designed for their own authors to use, and a lot of the worst ones were designed for other people to use. When languages are designed for other people, it''s always a specific group of other people: people not as smart as the language designer. So you get a language that talks down to you. Cobol (计算机通用语言) is the most extreme case, but a lot of languages are pervaded by this spirit. It has nothing to do with how abstract the language is. C is pretty low-level, but it was designed for its authors to use, and that''s why hackers like it. The argument for designing languages for bad programmers is that there are more bad programmers than good programmers. That may be so. But those few good programmers write a disproportionately large percentage of the software. I''m interested in the question, how do you design a language that the very best hackers will like? I happen to think this is identical to the question, how do you design a good programming language? Give the Programmer as Much Control as Possible. Many languages (especially the ones designed for other people) have the attitude of a governess: they try to prevent you from doing things that they think aren''t good for you. I like the opposite approach: give the programmer as much control as you can. When I first learned Lisp (表处理语言), what I liked most about it was that it considered me an equal partner. In the other languages I had learned up till then, there was the language and there was my program, written in the language, and the two were very separate. But in Lisp the functions and macros I wrote were just like those that made up the language itself. I could rewrite the language if I wanted. It had the same appeal as open-source software. Aim for Brevity. Brevity is underestimated and even scorned. But if you look into the hearts of hackers, you''ll see that they really love it. How many times have you heard hackers speak fondly of how in, say, APL, they could do amazing things with just a couple lines of code? I think anything that really smart people really love is worth paying attention to. I think almost anything you can do to make programs shorter is good. There should be lots of library functions; anything that can be implicit should be; the syntax (句法) should be simple; even the names of things should be short. And it''s not only programs that should be short. The manual should be thin as well. A good part of manuals (说明书) is taken up with clarifications and reservations and warnings and special cases. If you force yourself to shorten the manual, in the best case you do it by fixing the things in the language that required so much explanation. Admit What Hacking Is. A lot of people wish that hacking was mathematics, or at least something like a natural science. I think hacking is more like architecture. Architecture is related to physics, in the sense that architects have to design buildings that don''t fall down, but the actual goal of architects is to make great buildings, not to make discoveries about statistics. What hackers like to do is make great programs. And I think, at least in our own minds, we have to remember that it''s an admirable thing to write great programs, even when this work doesn''t translate easily into the conventional intellectual currency of research papers. Intellectually, it is just as worthwhile to design a language programmers will love as it is to design a horrible one that embodies some idea you can publish a paper about. How to Organize Big Libraries? Libraries are becoming an increasingly important component of programming languages. They''re also getting bigger, and this can be dangerous. If it takes longer to find the library function that will do what you want than it would take to write it yourself, then all that code is doing nothing but make your manual thick. So I think we will have to work on ways to organize libraries. The ideal would be to design them so that the programmer could guess what library call would do the right thing. Are People Really Scared of Prefix Syntax? This is an open problem in the sense that I have wondered about it for years and still don''t know the answer. Prefix syntax seems perfectly natural to me, except possibly for math. But it could be that a lot of Lisp''s unpopularity is simply due to having an unfamiliar syntax. Whether to do anything about it, if it is true, is another question. What Do You Need for Server (服务器)-Based Software? I think a lot of the most exciting new applications that get written in the next twenty years will be Web-based applications, meaning programs that sit on the server and talk to you through a Web browser. And to write these kinds of programs we may need some new things. One thing we''ll need is support for the new way that server-based applications get released. Instead of having one or two big releases a year, like desktop software, server-based applications get released as a series of small changes. You may have as many as five or ten releases a day. And as a rule everyone will always use the latest version. You know how you can design programs to be debug gable (调试器)? Well, server-based software likewise has to be designed to be changeable. You have to be able to change it easily, or at least to know what is a small change and what is a momentous one. Another thing that might turn out to be useful for server based software, surprisingly, is continuations. In Web-based software you can use something like continuation-passing style to get the effect of subroutines in the inherently stateless world of a Web session. Maybe it would be worthwhile having actual continuations, if it was not too expensive. What New Abstractions Are Left to Discover? I''m not sure how reasonable a hope this is, but one thing I would really love to do, personally, is discover a new abstraction—something that would make as much of a difference as having first class functions or recursion or even keyword parameters. This may be an impossible dream. These things don''t get discovered that often. But I am always looking for.

阅读理解Space Tourism Make your reservations now. The space tourism industry is officially open for business, and tickets are going for a mere $20 million for a one-week stay in space. Despite reluctance from National Air and Space Administration (NASA) , Russia made American businessman Dennis Tito the world''s first space tourist. Tito flew into space aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket that arrived at the International Space Station (ISS) on April 30, 2001. The second space tourist, South African businessman Mark Shuttleworth, took off aboard the Russian Soyuz on April 25,2002, also bound for the ISS. Lance Bass of N Sync was supposed to be the third to make the $20 million trip, but he did not join the three-man crew as they blasted off on October 30,2002, due to lack of payment. Probably the most incredible aspect of this proposed space tour was that NASA approved of it. These trips are the beginning of what could be a profitable 21st century industry. There are already several space tourism companies planning to build suborbital vehicles and orbital cities within the next two decades. These companies have invested millions, believing that the space tourism industry is on the verge of taking off. In 1997, NASA published a report concluding that selling trips into space to private citizens could be worth billions of dollars. A Japanese report supports these findings, and projects that space tourism could be a $10 billion per year industry within the next two decades. The only obstacles to opening up space to tourists are the space agencies, who are concerned with safety and the development of a reliable, reusable launch vehicle. Space Accommodations Russia''s Mir space station was supposed to be the first destination for space tourists. But in March 2001, the Russian Aerospace Agency brought Mir down into the Pacific Ocean. As it turned out, bringing down Mir only temporarily delayed the first tourist trip into space. The Mir crash did cancel plans for a new reality-based game show from NBC, which was going to be called Destination Mir. The Survivor-like TV show was scheduled to air in fall 2001. Participants on the show were to go through training at Russia''s cosmonaut (宇航员) training center, Star City. Each week, one of the participants would be eliminated from the show, with the winner receiving a trip to the Mir space station. The Mir crash has ruled out NBC''s space plans for now. NASA is against beginning space tourism until the International Space Station is completed in 2006. Russia is not alone in its interest in space tourism. There are several projects underway to commercialize space travel. Here are a few of the groups that might take tourists to space: -Space Island Group is going to build a ring-shaped, rotating "commercial space infrastructure (基础结构)" that will resemble the Discovery spacecraft in the movie "2001: A Space Odyssey. "Space Island says it will build its space city out of empty NASA space-shuttle fuel tanks (to start, it should take around 12 or so) , and place it about 400 miles above Earth. The space city will rotate once per minute to create a gravitational pull one-third as strong as Earth''s. -According to their vision statement, Space Adventures plans to "fly tens of thousands of people in space over the next 10-15 years and beyond, around the moon, and back, from spaceports both on Earth and in space, to and from private space stations, and aboard dozens of different vehicles..." -Even Hilton Hotels has shown interest in the space tourism industry and the possibility of building or co-funding a space hotel. However, the company did say that it believes such a space hotel is 15 to 20 years away. Initially, space tourism will offer simple accommodations at best. For instance, if the International Space Station is used as a tourist attraction, guests won''t find the luxurious surroundings of a hotel room on Earth. It has been designed for conducting research, not entertainment. However, the first generation of space hotels should offer tourists a much more comfortable experience. In regard to a concept for a space hotel initially planned by Space Island, such a hotel could offer guests every convenience they might find at a hotel on Earth, and some they might not. The small gravitational pull created by the rotating space city would allow space-tourists and residents to walk around and function normally within the structure. Everything from running water to a recycling plant to medical facilities would be possible. Additionally, space tourists would even be able to take space walks. Many of these companies believe that they have to offer an extremely enjoyable experience in order for passengers to pay thousands, if not millions, of dollars to ride into space. So will space create another separation between the haves and have-nots? The Most Expensive Vacation Will space be an exotic retreat reserved for only the wealthy? Or will middle-class folks have a chance to take their families to space? Make no mistake about it, going to space will be the most expensive vacation you ever take. Prices right now are in the tens of millions of the dollars. Currently, the only vehicles that can take you into space are the space shuttle and the Russian Soyuz, both of which are terribly inefficient. Each spacecraft requires millions of pounds of fuel to take off into space, which makes them expensive to launch. One pound of payload (有效载重) costs about $10,000 to put into Earth''s orbit. NASA and Lockheed Martin are currently developing a single-stage-to-orbit launch space plane, called the Venture-Star, that could be launched for about a tenth of what the space shuttle costs to launch. If the Venture-Star takes off, the number of people who could afford to take a trip into space would move into the millions. In 1998, a joint report from NASA and the Space Transportation Association stated that improvements in technology could push fares for space travel as low as $50,000, and possibly down to $20,000 or $10,000 a decade later. The report concluded that at a ticket price of $50,000, there could be 500,000 passengers flying into space each year. While still leaving out many people, these prices would open up space to a tremendous amount of traffic. Since the beginning of the space race, the general public has said, "Isn''t that great — when do I get to go?" Well, our chance might be closer than ever. Within the next 20 years, space planes could be taking off for the Moon at the same frequency as airplanes flying between New York and Los Angeles.

阅读理解Imagine eating everything delicious you want - with none of the fat. That would be great, wouldn''t it? New "fake fat" products appeared on store shelves in the United States recently, but not everyone is happy about it. Makers of the products, which contain a compound called olestra, say food manufacturers can now eliminate fat from certain foods. Critics, however, say the new compound can rob the body of essential vitamins and nutrients (营养物) and can also cause unpleasant side effects in some people. So it''s up to consumers to decide whether the new fat-free products taste good enough to keep eating. Chemists discovered olestra in the late 1960s, when they were searching for a fat that could be digested by infants more easily. Instead of finding the desired fat, the researchers created a fat that can''t be digested at all. Normally, special chemicals in the intestines (肠) "grab" molecules of regular fat and break them down so they can be used by the body. A molecule of regular fat is made up of three molecules of substances called fatty acids. The fatty acids are absorbed by the intestines and bring with them the essential vitamins A, D, E, and K. When fat molecules are present in the intestines with any of those vitamins, the vitamins attach to the molecules and are carried into the bloodstream. Olestra, which is made from six to eight molecules of fatty acids, is too large for the intestines to absorb. It just slides through the intestines without being broken down. Manufacturers say it''s that ability to slide unchanged through the intestines that makes olestra so valuable as a fat substitute. It provides consumers with the taste of regular fat without any bad effects on the body. But critics say olestra can prevent vitamins A, D, E, and K from being absorbed. It can also prevent the absorption of carotenoids (类胡萝卜素), compounds that may reduce the risk of cancer, heart disease, etc. Manufacturers are adding vitamins A, D, E, and K as well as carotenoids to their products now. Even so, some nutritionists are still concerned that people might eat unlimited amounts of food made with the fat substitute without worrying about how many calories they are consuming.

阅读理解In the world of entertainment, TV talk shows have undoubtedly flooded every inch of space on daytime television. And anyone who witches them regularly knows that each one varies in style and format. But no two shows are more profoundly opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows. Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of "trash talk (废话)". The topics on his show are as shocking as shocking can be. For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show themes of love, sex, cheating, guilt, hate, conflict and morality to a different level. Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is a display and exploitation of society''s moral catastrophes (灾难), yet people are willing to eat up the intriguing predicaments (困境)of other people''s lives. Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes TV talk show to its extreme, but Oprah goes in the opposite direction. The show focuses on the improvement of society and an individual''s quality of life. Topics range from teaching your children responsibility, managing ''your work week, to getting to know your neighbors. Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being dumped on society. Jerry ends every show with a "final word". He makes a small speech that sums up the entire moral of the show. Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable. Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone. The show''s main target audience are middle-class Americans. Most of these people have the time, money, and stability to deal with life''s tougher problems. Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of an association with the young adults of society. These are 18 to 21-year-olds whose main troubles in life involve love, relationship, sex, money and peers. They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned underneath the show''s exploitation. While the two shows are as different as night and day, both have ruled the talk show circuit for many years now. Each one caters to a different audience while both have a strong following from large groups of fans. Ironically, both could also be considered pioneers in the talk show world.

阅读理解In general, our society is becoming one of giant enterprises directed by a bureaucratic (官僚主义的) management in which man becomes a small, well-oiled cog in the machinery. The oiling is done with higher wages, well-ventilated factories and piped music, and by psychologists and "human- relations" experts; yet all this oiling does not alter the fact that man has become power-less, that he does not wholeheartedly participate in his work and that he is bored with it. In fact, the blue and the white-collar workers have become economic puppets who dance to the tune of automated machines and bureaucratic management. The worker and employee are anxious, not only because they might find themselves out of a job; they are anxious also because they are unable to acquire any real satisfaction or interest in life. They live and die without ever having confronted the fundamental realities of human existence as emotionally and intellectually independent and productive human beings. Those higher up on the social ladder are no less anxious. Their lives are no less empty than those of their subordinates. They are even more insecure in some respects. They are in a highly competitive race. To be promoted or to fall behind is not a matter of salary but even more a matter of self-respect. When they apply for their first job, they are tested for intelligence as well as for the tight mixture of submissiveness and independence. From that moment on they are tested again and again by the psychologists, for whom testing is a big business, and by their superiors, who judge their behavior, sociability, capacity to get along, etc. This constant need to prove that one is as good as or better than one''s fellow-competitor creates constant anxiety and stress, the very causes of unhappiness and illness. Am I suggesting that we should return to the preindustrial mode of production or to nineteenth-century "free enterprise capitalism"7 Certainly not. Problems are never solved by returning to a stage which one has already outgrown. I suggest transforming our social from a bureaucratically managed industrialism in which maximal production and consumption are ends in themselves into a humanist industrialism in which man and full development of his potentialities--those of and of reason--are the aims of all social arrangements. Production and consumption should serve only as means to this end, and should be prevented from ruling man.

阅读理解Imagine a world in which there was suddenly no emotion -- a world in which human beings could feel no love or happiness, no terror or hate. Try to imagine the consequences of such a transformation. People might not be able to stay alive: knowing neither joy nor pleasure, anxiety nor fear, they would be tm likely to repeat acts that hurt them as acts that were beneficial. They could not learn: they could not benefit from experience because this emotionless world would lack rewards and punishments. Society would soon disappear: people would be as likely to harm one another as to provide help and support. Human relationships would not exist: in a world without friends or enemies, there could be no marriage, affection among companions, or bonds among members of groups. Society''s economic underpinnings (支柱) would be destroyed: since earning $10 million would be no more pleasant than earning $10, there would be no incentive to work. In fact, there would be no incentives of any kind. For as we will see, incentives imply a capacity to enjoy them. In such a world, the chances that the human species would survive are next to zero, because emotions are the basic instrument of our survival and adaptation. Emotions structure the world for us in important ways. As individuals, we categorize objects on the basis of our emotions. True we consider the length, shape, size, or texture, but an object''s physical aspects are less important than what it has done or can do to us -- hurt us, surprise us, anger us or make us joyful. We also use categorizations colored by emotions in our families, communities, and overall society. Out of our emotional experiences with objects and events comes a social feeling of agreement that certain things and actions are" good" and others are" bad" , and we apply these categories to every aspect of our social life -- from what foods we eat and what clothes we wear to how we keep promises and which people our group will accept. In fact, society exploits our emotional reactions and attitudes, such as loyalty, morality, pride, shame, guilt, fear and greed, in order to maintain itself. It gives high rewards to individuals who perform important tasks such as surgery, makes heroes out of individuals for unusual or dangerous achievements such as flying fighter planes in a war, and uses the legal penal (刑法的) system to make people afraid to engage in antisocial acts.

阅读理解Power Struggle Arnold Schwarzenegger has a mission: he wants to terminate global warming. In June, the California governor called for the state to cut down drastically its greenhouse-gas emissions to 80% of 1990 levels in the next 45 years. "The debate is over," he said in a forthright speech in San Francisco. "We know the science. We see the threat. And we know the time for action is now." This was fighting talk, but if any advanced economy can pull off such drastic cuts in emissions, this high-technology Pacific Rim state and its 36 million residents probably can. Schwarzenegger has help. He gets support from a team of state energy-conservation experts who have been in the business for years. And first among them is Arthur Rosenfeld. More than three decades ago, Rosenfeld helped to trigger the state''s successful fight to cut energy consumption; today he is one of the five members of California''s Energy Commission. Rosenfeld spent decades as a physics professor at the University of California, Berkeley. He now commutes weekly between his home overlooking San Francisco Bay and Sacramento, the capital, in an energy-saving car that the state provides. The Energy Commission''s job isn''t easy: to help the most populous US state figure out how it might cut greenhouse-gas emissions and make money doing it. Under control In his office, Rosenfeld pulls out a data plot of which he is particularly fond. It shows electricity consumption per capita from 1960 to 2002, with one line for California and one for the United States. In 1960, both lines sit at 4,000 kilowatt-hours per person. They rise at roughly the same pace to about 7,000 kilowatthours in the early 1970s. But at the point when the US energy crisis struck that decade, the lines diverge dramatically: California virtually flatlines its energy use per citizen — even though its economy was outpacing the rest of the nation. The state''s electricity use per capita today is the lowest in the nation at 6,800 kilowatt-hours, compared with 12,800 kilowatthours for the country overall. The strategies that helped California achieve those conservation goals may now help it in its greenhouse-gas cuts. State energy experts, including Rosenfeld, don''t foresee California adopting many radical new technologies to meet its ambitious goals. Rather, a steady application of proven technologies should do much of the job. California''s $1.5-trillion gross annual product makes it the world''s sixth largest economy, behind France and ahead of Italy. It is the planet''s ninth-largest emitter of greenhouse gases. "California is not an insignificant actor, and we are seen as a world leader in protecting the environment," says Eileen Tutt, a senior officer at the California Environmental Protection Agency. Still, the governor''s pledge, made on the United Nations World Environment Day, invited more support. Schwarzenegger is a tax-cutting Republican who is deeply suspicious of government regulation. Beset by budget fights and union opposition, he has dropped in popularity with the state''s generally Democratic voters since his election two years ago. But his energy policies, building on those of a string of governors of both parties, get him reputation from longtime activists. "The governor is a real-life climate action hero today," Nancy Ryan, a senior economist with the group Environmental Defense, told reporters. Specifically, Schwarzenegger vowed that California will cut its greenhouse-gas emissions to below 2000 levels by 2010 and to less than the 1990 level of 373 million tonnes by 2020. But then the governor added the final, ambitious goal to cut emissions by a further 80% by 2050. Out on a limb His policy stands in opposite contrast to that of the federal administration under President George W. Bush, who has refused to ratify the Kyoto Protocol to reduce greenhouse-gas emissions. The president has said that such action would squeeze the US economy too much. California officials say that they can do it while boosting the economy and creating jobs. The state''s strong environmental policies in the past, they point out, occurred while its economy thrived. Success will require the cooperation of several interlocking agencies. The Energy Commission plays a major role, as do the state''s Environmental Protection Agency, Air Resources Board and Public Utilities Commission. Schwarzenegger''s proclamation renewed their "absolute licence to go out and make California a model country for greenhouse policies", says Stephen Schneider, a physicist and climate-policy analyst at Stanford University. State officials have much at stake. California''s climate could change utterly if a warmer world redirected storm paths. Rising temperatures could cause winter rain instead of snow in the Sierra Nevada mountains, triggering floods for which the state''s aqueducts(沟渠) and dams are not prepared. Plus, its coast is vulnerable to a rise in sea level. Other states have also recognized their vulnerability to climate change, and have independently taken climate policy into their own hands. Local legislators, from mayors of cities to state governors, have begun their own versions of Kyoto-like regulations. In the northeast, nine states have agreed to limit carbon dioxide emissions from more than 600 power plants in the region. On the west coast, California has joined with Oregon and Washington in a governors'' initiative to encourage energy efficiency and conservation. But of all the states, California''s example has caused effect: in recent years many other states have adopted California''s standards for car pollution rather than the more lax federal standards. And the state is now attracting international attention. In September, its Public Utilities Commission, Energy Commission and the Pacific Gas and Electric Company signed a pact (合同) with China''s Jiangsu province to train officials and utility executives in energy-conservation tactics. Earlier this month, Schwarzenegger led a sales delegation to China to tout (吹捧) the state''s energy-saving technologies, and another team from the state''s Air Resources Board travelled to Belgium to brief European air-quality experts on energy policies. California''s approach to energy conservation has helped it save money. The state sets electricity rates for private utilities, and sometimes provides subsidies to help power companies induce customers to cut their consumption. If they do, the state gives money back to the companies — through rate adjustments and other payments — that makes up for what the firms would have earned had they built additional power plants. The Energy Commission calculates that the total power bill for residents is about $16 billion lower each year than if the state had not launched its conservation campaign. Conservation has also managed to prevent some 18 million tonnes of carbon pollution being emitted from power plants — equivalent to taking 12 million cars off the roads. After allowing for the cost of measures such as changed building practices, appliances and subsidies, the net saving is about $12 billion. And deeper energy cuts should pay more, the commission says. The Air Resources Board estimates that planned reductions in greenhouse-gas emissions by 2020, from motor vehicles alone, could save Californians $256 million annually by 2010 (mostly from smaller fuel bills), and $4.8 billion annually by 2020. Cut and dried? But will the state''s longer-term emissions policy succeed? Schneider is unsure how cost-effective the whole plan will be. Earlier stages may pay for themselves, he says, but the final leap to the 80% cut is unlikely to come without costs. "It would take a total modification of our fuel infrastructure(基础设施)," he notes. So far, even state planners aren''t sure how they will meet the later goals. "We don''t have the details, but we''ll have a report to the governor''s office in January," says Tutt. Some fresh ideas are already in the works. One notion, is to place 1 million solarpanel (太阳能) systems on rooftops by 2018. California gets about 11% of its electricity from geothermal, wind, biomass and solar units; for the United States overall, the number is around 2%. California aims to increase its share of renewable sources to 20% by 2010 and to 33% by 2020. Also helpful will be the vehicle clean-up legislation enacted just before Schwarzenegger''s arrival. This requires car manufacturers, starting in 2009, to cut greenhouse-gas emissions from new cars and trucks by 22% by 2013 and 33% by 2017. But the law remains in dispute — perhaps predictably, car companies have sued. They argue that carbon dioxide is not a pollutant, and that regulating it at state level would pre-empt (先占) federal control over the fuel-efficiency standards in new cars. In the long run, the governor has chosen hydrogen-fuelled cars as his personal crusade. Wind power figures large in state plans. California pioneered wide-scale use of it and already has more than 14,000 wind turbines. In a good breeze their combined capacity is 2,100 megawatts — about the same as two nuclear power plants. State energy officials estimate that wind alone, in principle, can generate an additional 30,000 megawatts.

阅读理解What Does the Location of Colleges Mean? I. Urban College Campuses As Different as the Cities in which They''re Located Cities are centers of culture, art, design, communication, and manufacturing. There''s much to do with every aspect from museums to street musicians. Because of this, you can enjoy yourself and boost your education at the same time. Different Types of College Campuses Some colleges are self-contained islands within a city, such as Rice University whose 285-acre campus is bounded by a hedge and a double row of oak trees. Others spread over city blocks, such as Boston University. Don''t assume all city colleges are huge — there are many small city schools, too. Life Experience You''ll find opportunities for internships (实习) that can help you test career paths, build experience, and get your foot in the door. Money Cities put a bigger dent (凹痕) in your wallet than suburban or rural areas. Everything is more expensive, including rent, food, and entertainment. Of course, some cities have a higher cost of living than others. The good news is that your student I.D. can get you discounts. Public Transportation Most likely, you won''t need a car. Buses, trains, and taxis are the best ways to get around. In fact, having a car in some cities can be a major headache. I See City People Cities are full of interesting people from all cultures and walks of life. Sure, meeting new people is part of the college experience anyway, but make sure you''re comfortable around crowds — on the streets, on subways, and in line for the movies. Where Are the Trees? Don''t expect a pastoral (田园的) setting. Get ready for tall buildings, asphalt (沥青) highways. However, cities do usually have an oasis (绿洲) or two, such as parks and zoos, within walking distance, as well as athletic complexes. Plus, you can probably take day trips to natural settings. Safety First If you decide to attend a college in the city, make sure you know the risks. Learn how to protect yourself and avoid unsafe situations. Ask about the crime rate when you go on your college visit. Cities can encompass the qualities promoted by colleges — free thinking, diversity, and fun. If you''re looking for these qualities, but in another setting, perhaps a suburban or rural locale is right for you. II. Suburban College Campuses The "Burbs" Some people have a biased impression of the suburbs, based on what they''ve seen on television and in the movies. What are they — and the colleges in them — really like? Here the term "suburb" is used loosely, to include small cities, large towns, or the residential areas near cities. For example, both Bates College in Lewiston, Maine and Boston College in Chestnut Hill, Massachusetts are in suburbs, though the areas are very different. The Best of Both Environments Suburban schools usually offer a taste of the city and country nearby, since you''re close to both. It''s for this reason that many people are drawn to this setting. Community Within a Community Suburban colleges usually have their own communities, with various activities and even their own culture. Fortunately, the collegiate and residential communities tend to complement each other — creating places to live and learn for both the town residents and students. For example, the University of Oregon''s School of Music and the city of Eugene collaborate to host the annual Oregon Bach Festival. Mixed Bag of People The suburbs are not as diverse as cities, but can be slightly more integrated than rural areas. This mix adds to the character of a suburban town, drawing in aspects of both urban and rural life. For example, at Carroll College a suburban school in Helena, Montana, you can be the sophisticated urbanite (都市人) by attending a play at Grandstreet Community Theater or fulfill your cowboy inclinations by going horseback riding. A Sense of History Most suburban neighborhoods have a story behind them. For example, Flagler College is located in St. Augustine, America''s oldest city. The college reflects the town''s old-world character. Before choosing a suburban college, take the time to learn about the area''s history. Who settled the town? What is its major industry? It may reveal something about the community''s personality and residents. Car or no Car? If you don''t have a car, you can still get around using public or your school''s transportation, but your options may be limited. If you have a car, the surrounding attractions (the city or country) will be more accessible. Towns and college car policies can vary, so be sure to ask the students for advice. III. Rural College Campuses The Great Outdoors at Your Dorm''s Doorstep Rural colleges, usually near wilderness areas, have educational opportunities related to science and nature — not to mention fun outdoor activities. For example, Western State College''s proximity to the Rocky Mountains makes it a great school to attend if you''re studying geology. Hands-On Environmental Studies Going to a school with access to outdoor facilities gives you a chance for hands-on learning, such as at a working dairy farm of national park. For example, join a research team studying fruit and vegetable crops as part of your agricultural science class at Alcorn State University. A Haven for Outdoor Enthusiasts Sports or hobbies such as skiing, rock climbing, fishing, or Whitewater rafting may be short trips from the campus or even on-campus. Of course, activities are local to the area. A Way Off-Campus Although the campus is usually the focal point for rural colleges, you''ll need transportation to make the most of the area. Don''t worry if you don''t have a car or a friend who has one. Most rural schools or towns provide free or cheap transportation for college students. Ask about it during a campus visit. A Sense of Community Many rural colleges are self-contained. For example, they hold most of their school activities on-campus, and organizations and clubs are usually a large part of student life. Plus, most rural schools are residential, with the majority of students living on-campus. This self-containment creates a sense of community among students, more so than at suburban or city schools. A Connection with the Town Even though rural colleges have their own things going on, they often have a rich relationship with the surrounding community, too. For example, the town is usually the home for many professors, and residents often show support for the college at sport events, lectures, or plays. A Secure Environment Smaller towns or less populated areas are known as places where people may leave their cars unlocked or their front doors open. Although crime can happen anywhere, you may feel safer at a rural college compared to a city school. Be sure to inquire about crime and safety on your campus visit.

阅读理解Resilience Is About How You Recharge, Not How You Endure [A] As constant travelers and parents of a 2-year-old, we sometimes fantasize about how much work we can do when one of us gets on a plane, undistracted by phones, friends, or movies

阅读理解At the end of the passage，the author suggests that_______．

阅读理解PassageOne Economicallyspeaking,arewebetteroffthanweweretenyearsago?Twentyyearsago？Intheirthirstforevidenceonthisissue,commentatorsseizedontherecentreportbytheCensusBureau,whichfoundthataveragehouseholdincomeroseby5

阅读理解AIDS The disease AIDS has become the leading cause of death among young adults in America. Much recent American culture deals with people living with or dying of AIDS. The story of AIDS and its effect on American life is not story today on the VOA Special English program THIS IS AMERICA. AIDS is Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome. The human immunodeficiency virus called HIV is believed to cause AIDS. There is no cure. People who get the disease will die. AIDS itself does not kill. However, it attacks and destroys the body''s defense system that fights against infection. When this happens, a person has little ability to fight off many other diseases including pneumonia, cancer and tuberculosis. A recent government report says AIDS is the leading cause of death among Americans between the ages of 25 and 44. The report says deaths caused by AIDS in this age group have increased every year since the disease was first recognized in 1981. Last year more than 80 thousand new AIDS cases were reported in the United States. Studies show that in 1993 most of the new cases were among minority populations, especially African-Americans and Hispanics. A new study says the number of women in the United States with AIDS has increased sharply. The study says AIDS is increasing faster among women than among men. Eighteen percent of AIDS patients are women. This is almost 3 ties the rate 10 years ago. Most women get the AIDS virus from having sexual relations with men. Pregnant women with the disease can pass it to their babies. The effect of AIDS in America is greatest in large cities. AIDS is the leading cause of death among all people in 79 cities. It is the leading cause of death among women in 15 cities. These include New York City and Miami, Florida. Doctors in the United States first noted AIDS 14 years ago in homosexual men in New York and California. In the United States AIDS spread first among homosexual men. Then it appeared in people who shared needles to put illegal drugs into their blood. It also appeared in people who had received infected blood products at hospitals. The AIDS virus is spread through the exchange of infected blood or body fluids released during sexual activity. It also is spread by having sexual relations with someone who has the virus. And it is spread by sharing drug needles that have infected blood on them. Health officials in the United States believe that public education is the best way to limit the spread of AIDS. In the past few years, public programs have taught children and adults the facts about AIDS. Teenagers and adults have been taught how to protect against AIDS. One method is to use rubber devices called condoms during sexual relations. More than 440 thousand people in the United States have gotten AIDS since the disease was first recognized. More than 250 thousand of them have died. Facts about AIDS are collected by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Atlanta, Georgia. Harold Jaffe is an official there. Dr. Jaffe says the effect of AIDS on American society is greater than the numbers of death. This is because AIDS mainly kills young people—the future of the nation. AIDS has created many kinds of reactions in America. Many people are frightened by the threat of AIDS. Some have changed their sexual activity to reduce their chances of getting the disease. Some hate and fear people with AIDS. Others have great sympathy for people living with the disease. AIDS activists have tried to reduce the public''s fear of people with AIDS. They want to show that people with AIDS are just like other people. Private groups have done a lot to help people with AIDS. They organize support groups where people with AIDS and their families can discuss their problems. These groups also have established many special centers where people with AIDS can receive treatment. Many people with AIDS are involved in the arts. They are writers, actors, musicians, painters and dancers. They have organized many events to gain money for AIDS education, research ad treatment. And they have used the arts to help educate the public about AIDS. In recent years the subject of AIDS has become a large part of American culture. There have been books, television programs, movies, songs and plays about people with AIDS. Many have won awards. Last year, for example, the first major motion picture that dealt with AIDS was released. It is called PHILADELPHIA. It was about a lawyer with AIDS, who was dismissed from his job. Several plays about people with AIDS have been produced on Broadway in New York City. The most famous is called ANGELS IN AMERICA. It is about AIDS, sexual religion and politics during the 1980s. Many art museums across America take part in a yearly event called DAY WITHOUT ART. It is a way of remembering the people who have died from AIDS. Some museums close on that day. Some remove paintings from the walls and cover statues. Activists have worked to increase sympathy for people with AIDS. Several years ago, activists created a huge cloth covering called the AIDS Memorial Quilt. It is made of thousands of pieces of material joined together. People made each piece to honor a friend or family member who died of AIDS. The quilt has been shown in many American cities. American advertising has begun creating messages about people with AIDS. For example, Nike, a company that makes sports shoes, has a new television advertisement. It shows an athlete who runs long distance races. He is identified as having HIV. The ad is meant to show that many people with HIV, or AIDS, lead active lives. AIDS has affected several famous American athletes. Two years ago, former tennis player Arthur Ashe died of the disease. At about the same time, former basketball player Magic Johnson announced that he has the AIDS virus. The most recent athlete to be affected is Gregory Louganis. Louganis won a number of gold medals in Olympic diving competition. He announced on television that he has AIDS. President Clinton met with Louganis and praised him for discussing his sickness. Mr. Clinton said it is important to educate the public. Activists have succeeded in educating Americans about AIDS and the people who have it. They also have been urging the federal government to increase efforts to find a cure for AIDS. Scientists first identified the virus that is believed to cause AIDS in 1983. Many of them then thought they could produce an anti-AIDS vaccine. Such a medicine could be given to people to protect against the disease. However, scientists at American government agencies, universities and drug companies have failed to produce an anti-AIDS vaccine. But they are continuing effort to find better treatments for a cure.

阅读理解Should doctors ever lie to benefit their patients — to speed recovery or to conceal the approach of death? In medicine as in law, government, and other lines of work, the requirements of honesty often seem dwarfed by greater needs: the need shelter from brutal news or to uphold a promise of secrecy; to expose corruption or to promote the public interest. What should doctors say, for example, to a 46-year-old man coming for a routine physical checkup just before going on vacation with his family who, though he feels in perfect health, is found to have a form of cancer that will cause him to die within six months? Is it best to tell him the truth? If he asks, should the doctors deny that he is ill, or minimize the gravity of the prognosis? Should they at least conceal the truth until after the family vacation? Doctors confront such choices often and urgently. At times, they see important reasons to lie for the patient''s own sake; in their eyes, such lies differ sharply from self-serving ones. Studies show that most doctors sincerely believe that the seriously ill do not want to know the truth about their condition, and that informing them risks destroying their hope, so that they may recover more slowly, or deteriorate faster, perhaps even commit suicide. As one physician wrote: "Ours is a profession which traditionally has been guided by a precept that transcends the virtue of uttering the truth for truth''s sake, and that is '' as far as possible do no harm''." Armed with such a precept, a number of doctors may slip into deceptive practices that they assume will "do no harm" and may well help their patients. They may prescribe innumerable placebos, sound more encouraging than the facts warrant, and distort grave news, especially to the incurably ill and the dying. But the illusory nature of the benefits such deception is meant to bestow is now coming to be documented. Studies show that, contrary to the belief of many physicians, an overwhelming majority of patients do want to be told the truth, even about grave illness, and feel betrayed when they learn that they have been misled. We are also learning that truthful information, humanely conveyed, helps patients cope with illness: helps them tolerate pain better, need less medication, and even recover faster after surgery. Not only do lies not provide the "help" hoped for by advocates of benevolent deception: they invade the autonomy of patients and make them unable to decide on informed choices concerning their health.

阅读理解Physical Features of the Country The Map The map on the adjoining page represents the portion of the North American continent which is at the present time occupied by the people of the United States. As you look upon the map imagine that you are in the air, looking down upon it as from a balloon, and take notice of what you see. On the east and on the west are the shores of two oceans. That on the east is the Atlantic. The Pacific is on the west. The Lake Country Toward the north is an immense tract of nearly level land, covered with forests, all of which are filled with water and form lakes, some large and others small. This land, though level, is high, so that there is a very considerable though gradual descent from the lakes to the ocean. The lakes are kept constantly full by the rains and by the melting of the snows, and the surplus waters flow off in one vast channel, northward and eastward to the sea. One of the large lakes, though still much higher than the sea, is marked as a low lake, for it is two or three hundred feet below the level of the others, and the water flowing from the upper lakes into it, in descending from one level to the other, passes over a high precipice (悬崖), thus producing an immense fall, which is the celebrated Niagara (尼亚加拉大瀑布). The surplus waters of all the large lakes flow off finally in a northeasterly direction, almost exactly parallel to the coast until they reach the sea. The river thus formed is now known as the St. Lawrence. All this region of the lakes is inhabited — during the summer season, immense numbers of beasts run upon the land, birds fly in the air, and fishes swim in the water. In the winter, the region is buried deep in ice and snow. The birds at that season have all flown. The animals have retired to dens and holes, where some sleep, torpid (蛰伏), till the spring returns, and others digging beneath the frosty ground, gain their livelihood there by digging for roots, or gnawing (咬) the bark of trees, or catching the fish that are still swimming in the shallow waters. The Great Central Valley South of the lake country, and occupying a very large portion of the whole interior of the continent, is a broad though shallow valley, bounded both on the east and on the west by ranges of mountains. The extent of the valley is marked on the map, not only by the mountains which bound it on the east and on the west, but also by the ramifications (支流) of the great river which drains it. These ramifications are seen spreading in every direction, like the branches of a mighty tree, and meeting in the south in one great trunk. This is the great river Mississippi, with its thousand tributaries (支流). The Soil of the Great Valley The soil of the whole valley is extremely fertile. However, it is so broad and so shallow that it would have more the appearance of an extended plain than of a valley. It is what is called an alluvial (冲积的) formation; that is, a very large portion of the territory has been covered with deposits (沉淀物) from the rivers themselves, left after overflows and floods. These deposits have accumulated, in the course of ages, to a great depth, and they form an exceedingly rich and fertile soil. The rivers twist and turn this way and that in meandering (蜿蜒) through these plains. When it rains hard or snows begin to melt, huge water washes the banks, and brings down great masses of earth and great numbers of immense trees into the water. The earth thus washed in is carried down by the flood. After being mingled with a great variety of animal and vegetable remains, the earth is distributed over widely extended districts below. When the water has overflowed the banks, the soil is covered by a new layer of fertility. Formation of Islands in the River The trees float on, too, upon the current (水流，洪流). Some trees might still be dragged by their roots and get lodged along the banks or in the bed of the stream. In this latter case they intercept others coming down, and so create an obstruction, around which sand and sediment (沉淀物) accumulate, until an island is formed. There is another way by which islands are formed. The river is washing continually upon its banks, and sometimes cuts through a narrow neck. A new channel is thus made for a part of the water, while the rest flows on round the circuit in the old course. By this means an island is formed, which may, perhaps, continue for centuries to divide the stream.

阅读理解What can be done to minimize the negative impact of urbanization according to Seto?

阅读理解Passage One Questions 21 to 25 are based on the following passage