单选题Small communities, with their distinctive character—where life is stable and intensely human—are disappearing. Some have 27 from the face of the earth, others are dying slowly, but all have 28 changes as they have come into contact with an 29 machine civilization. The merging of diverse peoples into a common mass has produced tension among members of the minorities and the majority alike. The Old Order Amish, who arrived on American shores in colonial times, have 30 in the modern world in distinctive, small communities. They have resisted the homogenization 31 more successfully than others. In planting and harvest time one can see their bearded men working the fields with horses and their women hanging out the laundry in neat rows to dry. Many American people have seen Amish families, with the men wearing broad-brimmed black hats and the women in long dresses, in railway or bus 32 . Although the Amish have lived with 33 America for over two and a half centuries, they have moderated its influence on their personal lives, their families, communities, and their values. The Amish are often 34 by other Americans to be relics of the past who live a simple, inflexible life dedicated to inconvenient out-dated customs. They are seen as abandoning both modern 35 and the American dream of success and progress. But most people have no quarrel with the Amish for doing things the old-fashioned way. Their conscientious objection was tolerated in wartime, for after all, they are good farmers who 36 the virtues of work and thrift. A. accessing I. progress B. conveniences J. respective C. destined K. survived D. expanding L. terminals E. industrialized M. undergone F. perceived N. universal G. practice O. vanished H. process

单选题There are many theories about the beginning of drama in ancient Greece. The one most 25 accepted today is based on the assumption that drama 26 from ritual. The argument for this view goes as follows. In the beginning, human beings viewed the natural forces of the world—even the seasonal changes—as 27 , and they sought through various means to control these unknown and feared powers. Those measures which appeared to bring the desired results were then retained and repeated until they hardened into fixed rituals. Eventually stories arose which explained or 28 the mysteries of the rites. As time passed some rituals were abandoned, but the stories, later called myths, persisted and 29 material for art and drama. Those who believe that drama evolved out of ritual also argue that those rites contained the seed of theatre because music, dance, masks, and costumes were almost always used. Furthermore, a suitable site had to be provided for performances and when the entire community did not participate, a clear 30 was usually made between the 'acting area' and the 'auditorium'. In addition, there were performers, and, since considerable importance was attached to 31 mistakes in the enactment of rites, religious leaders usually 32 that task. Wearing masks and costumes, they often impersonated other people, animals, or supernatural beings, and mimed the 33 effect—success in hunt or battle, the coming rain, the revival of the Sun—as an actor might. 34 such dramatic representations were separated from religious activities. A. Instantly B. division C. making D. assumed E. Eventually F. veiled G. avoiding H. ensuing I. provided J. evolved K. assigned L. unpredictable M. desired N. widely O. interpret

单选题The increase in the margin rate (保证金率) from 50% to 70% was not an attempt to stem any rampant (泛滥的) speculation on the part of the public—actually the market seemed technically quite strong, with public participation essentially dignified—but rather an attempt by the Federal Reserve Board to preserve the sound underpinnings that existed in the market. Naturally, such a move had a 25 chilling effect upon prices but if the FRB had been preoccupied with undue speculation, the increase might have been to the 80% or even 90% level. Such increases in the margin rate is a 26 of a strong stock market and since 1989, such increases have resulted in interim (临时的) market highs over twelve months later. Obviously, there could be no 27 that this would once again be the case, but if history is any guideline—and if business and corporate earnings were to continue on the same course—continued optimism over the outlook for the stock market would seem more 28 than pessimism. The margin increase 29 the good rise that stocks had enjoyed for the previous year—and the fact that a 50% rate was maintained as long as it was pointed up the fact that the rise was mainly conservative in that it was concentrated in the blue chips for the most part. In past Investment Letters we have 30 the thought that speciality stocks could outperform the general market from this point. We continue to believe that this could be the case. For example, steel stocks tend to sell at a certain fixed price/earnings ratio. Below a certain ratio they are considered good value—above a certain ratio, 31 . If a company produces a unique product, it is far more difficult for market analysis to place a numerical ratio upon the company's earnings. We have also contended in the past Letters that the stock market reflects mass psychology as well as the business outlook. When investors—both the public and the institutions—are nervous and 32 they definitely hesitate to buy stocks: They seek tow price/earnings multiples and high 33 . These same investors—when they are in an optimistic frame of mind—become far less 34 with yields and more willing to pay a premium (high p/e multiples) for accelerated growth. If the public's attitude toward the auto industry is any measure, then this period seems to have been one of optimism. A. confirmation D. invariably G. pessimistic J. representation M. vicinity B. guarantee E. momentarily H. preoccupied K. speculate N. voiced C. intelligible F. overpriced I. prudent L. underscored O. yields

单选题 Americans today don't place a very high value on intellect. Our heroes are athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, not scholars. Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education—not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive anti-intellectualism in our schools aren't difficult to find. 'Schools have always been in a society where practice is more important than intellect', says education writer Diane Ravitch. 'Schools could be a counterbalance'. Ravitch's latest book, Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of anti-intellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits. But they could and should be. Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control. Without the ability to think critically, to defend their ideas and understand the ideas of others, they cannot fully participate in our democracy. Continuing along this path, says writer Earl Shorris, 'We will become a second-rate country. We will have a less civil society'. 'Intellect is resented as a form. of power or privilege', writes historian and Professor Richard Hofstadter in Anti-Intellectualism in American Life, a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of anti-intellectualism in U.S. politics, religion, and education. From the beginning of our history, says Hofstadter, our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism. Practicality, common sense, and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book. Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalist philosophers thought schooling and rigorous book learning put unnatural restraints on children, 'We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and come out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing'. Mark Twain's Huckleberry Finn exemplified American anti-intellectualism. Its hero avoids being civilized—going to school and learning to read, so he can preserve his innate goodness. Intellect, according to Hofstadter, is different from native intelligence, a quality we reluctantly admire. Intellect is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of the mind. Intelligence seeks to grasp, manipulate, re-order, and adjust, while intellect examines, ponders, wonders, theorizes, criticizes and imagines. School remains a place where intellect is mistrusted. Hofstadter says our country's educational system is in the grips of people who 'joyfully and militantly proclaim their hostility to intellect and their eagerness to identify with children who show the least intellectual promise'.

单选题 How Poverty Changes the Brain A. You saw the pictures in science class—a profile view of the human brain, sectioned by function. The piece at the very front, right behind where a forehead would be if the brain were actually in someone's head, is the pre-frontal cortex (前额皮质). It handles problem-solving, goal-setting, and task execution. And it works with the limbic system (边缘系统), which is connected and sits closer to the center of the brain. The limbic system processes emotions and triggers emotional responses, in part because of its storage of long-term memory. B. When a person lives in poverty, a growing body of research suggests the limbic system is constantly sending fear and stress messages to the prefrontal cortex, which overloads its ability to solve problems, set goals, and complete tasks in the most efficient ways. C. This happens to everyone at some point, regardless of social class. The overload can be prompted by a number of things, including an overly stressful day at work or a family emergency. People in poverty, however, have the added burden of ever-present stress. They are constantly struggling to make ends meet and often bracing themselves against class bias that adds extra strain or even trauma to their daily lives. And the science is clear—when brain capacity is used up on these worries and fears, there simply isn't as much bandwidth for other things. D. Economic Mobility Pathways, or EMPath, has built its whole service-delivery model around this science, which it described in its 2014 report, 'Using Brain Science to Design New Pathways Out of Poverty.' The Boston nonprofit started out as Crittenton Women's Union, a merger of two of the city's oldest women-serving organizations, both of which focused on improving the economic self-sufficiency of families. It continues that work with a new name and a burgeoning (迅速发展的) focus on intergenerational mobility. After years of coaching adults and watching those benefits trickle down to children, EMPath has brought children into the center of its model—offering a way out of intergenerational poverty with brain science. E. Elisabeth Babcock, the president and CEO of EMPath, said people in poverty tend to get stuck in vicious cycles where stress leads to bad decision-making, compounding other problems and reinforcing the idea that they can't improve their own lives. F. 'What we're trying to do is create virtuous cycles where people take a step and they find out they can accomplish something that they might not have thought they could accomplish, and they feel better about themselves,' Babcock said. Maybe that step helps them earn more money, solves a child-care problem that leads to better child behavior, or simply establishes a sense of control over their own lives. All of these things reduce stress, freeing up more mental bandwidth for further positive steps. G. It's true that exposure to the constant stresses and dangers of poverty actually changes people's brains. A1 Race, the deputy co-director of the Center on the Developing Child at Harvard University, which has an enduring partnership with EMPath, says children who grow up in and remain in poverty are doubly affected. But the sections of the brain in question are also known to be particularly 'plastic,' Race said, meaning they can be strengthened and improved well into adulthood. H. EMPath's Intergenerational Mobility Project, known as Intergen, uses three tools—one for adults, one for kids, and one for the family as a whole—to frame how they think about their individual and collective lives. The child and adult tools use a bridge metaphor to illustrate how various domains are all important for ultimate success—if a single pillar on a bridge is weakened, according to the metaphor, the whole bridge could collapse. 'The Bridge to Self-sufficiency,' for adults, guides parents to consider family stability, well-being, financial management, education and training, and employment and career management. 'The Child Bridge to a Brighter Future' similarly guides children in thinking about health and well-being, social-emotional development, self-regulation, preparing for independence, and educational progress. 'The Family Carpool Lane Tool,' meanwhile, helps parents and their children align (公开支持) individual and family goals. Working together, they can avoid traffic and cruise through the fast lane. I. Intergen mentors visit participating families and facilitate conversations that prompt both adults and children to make future-oriented and contextualized decisions, ones that take into account other important domains. Their goal is to help the adults in the families become mentors for themselves and their children. Eventually, they hope, they make their own contributions obsolete (淘汰的). J. Stephanie Brueck, the senior coordinator of the Intergenerational Mobility Project, recently sat down with a single room, Ginnelle V., and Ginnelle's five children, four girls and one boy who range in age from kindergarten through college-aged. Over the last year, Brueck has helped the family think through both personal and family goal-setting. Ginnelle's youngest, 5-year-old Cyres, has a medical condition that likely will require an invasive surgery that can be delayed through certain exercises. The family's doctor gave them an overwhelming list of dozens of exercises, few of which Cyres can do on his own. Still, exercise became Cyres's personal goal for the Intergen Project. K. Brueck created an easier-to-use fitness plan and helped Ginnelle think about working up to the doctor's original list—starting with five push-ups, for example, and helping Cyres eventually reach the recommended 25. Looking back, Ginnelle thinks it's strange she couldn't break down an overwhelming task into more approachable steps on her own. L. 'I'm an adult, and I have a brain,' Ginnelle said. But she describes her roadblocks much like brain science predicts. 'Depending on how busy your mind is or how busy your life is, you tend to see things in black and white—'I need to get this done,' versus 'If I can't do this completely I can't get this done,'' she said, pausing before settling on something closer to reality. 'Life is gray.' M. In families that have participated in the Intergen Project for at least a year, 86% of children demonstrate an increase in EMPath's externally validated measure of executive functioning, and 86% of families report an increase in household order and alignment based on another externally validated measure of 'chaos' in the home, according to the most recent program data from Brueck. N. Babcock calls these outcomes 'kind of startling.' They're unusually good, and EMPath is in the process of piloting the Intergen tools in Jackson, Mississippi, and the Seattle area to see if they're replicable by other organizations in the communities they serve. O. EMPath's impact, historically, has been striking. 'We have people in our programs that have made it all the way out of poverty to a family-sustaining wage,' Babcock said. 'Most organizations that are working with low-income families are trying to get them connected into jobs. Ours is trying to get them to a place where they can sustain themselves and their families.' P. At the heart of these outcomes is a reliance on science. EMPath mentors understand the way the brain works, and their interventions are designed to help families effectively rewire their brains. Again, Ginnelle's own interpretation of the program lines up. When discussing the benefits for her children, she says the family goal- setting does more than simply foster togetherness, which is a benefit in its own right. 'It's going to empower them to understand that they can make a change,' Ginnelle said. 'That things don't have to be a certain way if they are not happy.' Q. Poverty creates barriers to developing this sense of control over one's own life. And EMPath is among the minority of agencies helping families break them down—using an understanding of the human brain to effect lasting change.

单选题 中国人素有“家园”“故乡”的文化传统，表达了一方人与一方水土的关系。一个城市的人居环境往往成为一方人物、土地、生适、历史、理想、未来的复杂聚合体，成为家园意识最好的物质载体。古代先贤在规划建设城市的时候，早已把自己的内心世界全都放在物质空间里了，他们的规划与生俱来就有一种“吾土吾民”的文化情怀，一种载着山川人物的文化基因，一种贯通古今的历史精神，一种基于地方自豪而展现出的文化自信，城市成了这一方水土最重要的标志和记忆。这些丰厚的本土规划经验，形成了具有中国精神的优秀规划传统。

单选题 A useful definition of an air pollutant is a compound added directly or indirectly by humans to the atmosphere in such quantities as to affect humans, animals, vegetation, or material adversely. Air pollution requires a very flexible definition that permits continuous change. When the first air pollution laws were established in England in the fourteenth century, air pollutants were limited to compounds that could be seen or smelled—a far cry from the extensive list of harmful substances known today. As technology has developed and knowledge of the health aspects of various chemicals has increased, the list of air pollutants has lengthened. In the future, even water vapour might be considered an air pollutant under certain conditions. Many of the more important air pollutants, such as sulphur oxides, carbon monoxide, and nitrogen oxides, are found in nature. As the earth developed, the concentrations of these pollutants were altered by various chemical reactions; they became components in biogeochemical cycles. These reactions serve as an air purification scheme by allowing the compounds to move from the air to the water or soil. On a global basis, nature's output of these compounds dwarfs that resulting from human activities. However, human production usually occurs in a localized area, such as a city. In this localized region, human output may be dominant and may temporarily overload the natural purification scheme of the cycles. The result is an increased concentration of noxious chemicals in the air. The concentrations at which the adverse effects appear will be greater than the concentrations that the pollutants would have in the absence of human activities. The actual concentration need not be large for a substance to be a pollutant; in fact the numerical value tells us little until we know how much of an increase this represents over the concentration that would occur naturally in the area. For example, sulphur dioxide has detectable health effects at 0.08 parts per million (ppm), which is about 400 times its natural level. Carbon monoxide, however, has a natural level of 0.1ppm and is not usually a pollutant until its level reaches about 15ppm.

单选题 For years, the U.S. has experienced a shortage of registered nurses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that while the number of nurses will increase by 19 percent by 2022, demand will grow faster than supply, and that there will be over one million unfilled nursing jobs by then. So what's the solution? Robots. Japan is ahead of the curve when it comes to this trend. Toyohashi University of Technology has developed Terapio, a robotic medical cart that can make hospital rounds, deliver medications and other items, and retrieve records. It follows a specific individual, such as a doctor or nurse, who can use it to record and access patient data. This type of robot will likely be one of the first to be implemented in hospitals because it has fairly minimal patient contact. Robots capable of social engagement help with loneliness as well as cognitive functioning, but the robot itself doesn't have to engage directly—it can serve as an intermediary for human communication. Telepresence robots such as MantaroBot, Vgo, and Giraff can be controlled through a computer, smartphone, or tablet, allowing family members or doctors to remotely monitor patients or Skype them, often via a screen where the robot's 'face' would be. If you can't get to the nursing home to visit grandma, you can use a telepresence robot to hang out with her. A 2016 study found that users had a 'consistently positive attitude' about the Giraff robot's ability to enhance communication and decrease feelings of loneliness. A robot's appearance affects its ability to successfully interact with humans, which is why the RIKENTRI Collaboration Center for Human-Interactive Robot Research decided to develop a robotic nurse that looks like a huge teddy bear. RIBA (Robot for Interactive Body Assistance), also known as 'Robear', can help patients into and out of wheelchairs and beds with its strong arms. On the less cute and more scary side there is Actroid F, which is so human-like that some patients may not know the difference. This conversational robot companion has cameras in its eyes, which allow it to track patients and use appropriate facial expressions and body language in its interactions. During a month-long hospital trial, researchers asked 70 patients how they felt being around the robot and 'only three or four said they didn't like having it around.' It's important to note that robotic nurses don't decide courses of treatment or make diagnoses (though robot doctors and surgeons may not be far off). Instead, they perform routine and laborious tasks, freeing nurses up to attend to patients with immediate needs. This is one industry where it seems the integration of robots will lead to collaboration, not replacement.

单选题 Directions: Recent years have seen a growing consumer audience who is willing to spend money on digital content. Do you think people should pay for online content? Write an essay to state your opinion. You are required to write at least 150 words but no more than 200 words.

单选题 风水 风水(Fengshui)是中国历史悠久的一门玄术(magic art)，起源于战国时代(the Warring States Period)。风水的核心思想是人与自然的和谐，建议人们通过顺应自然规律、优化自然环境来提高自己的生活质量。早期的风水主要是选择合适地方的一门学问，即宫殿、住宅、村落、墓地的位置、坐向(direction)和建设等方法及原则。风水一直以来颇具争议，有人把它和迷信联系在一起，有人则认为它是一门严谨的科学，是中华民族五千年来积累下来的宝贵文化遗产。

单选题 At the heart of the debate over illegal immigration lies one key question: are immigrants good or bad for the economy? The American public overwhelmingly thinks they're bad. Yet the consensus among most economists is that immigration, both legal and illegal, provides a small net boost to the economy. Immigrants provide cheap labor, lower the prices of everything from farm produce to new homes, and leave consumers with a little more money in their pockets. So why is there such a discrepancy between the perception of immigrants' impact on the economy and the reality? There are a number of familiar theories. Some argue that people are anxious and feel threatened by an inflow of new workers. Others highlight the strain that undocumented immigrants place on public services, like schools, hospitals, and jails. Still others emphasize the role of race, arguing that foreigners add to the nation's fears and insecurities. There's some truth to all of these explanations, but they aren't quite sufficient. To get a better understanding of what's going on, consider the way immigration's impact is felt. Though its overall effect may be positive, its costs and benefits are distributed unevenly. David Card, an economist at the UC Berkeley, notes that the ones who profit most directly from immigrants' low-cost labor are businesses and employers—meatpacking plants in Nebraska, for instance, or agricultural businesses in California. Granted, these producers' savings probably translate into lower prices at the grocery store, but how many consumers make that mental connection at the checkout counter? As for the drawbacks of illegal immigration, these, too, are concentrated. Native low-skilled workers suffer most from the competition of foreign labor. According to a study by George Borjas, a Harvard economist, immigration reduced the wages of American high-school dropouts by 9% between 1980—2000. Among high-skilled, better-educated employees, however, opposition was strongest in states with both high numbers of immigrants and relatively generous social services. What worried them most, in other words, was the fiscal(财政的) burden of immigration. That conclusion was reinforced by another finding: that their opposition appeared to soften when that fiscal burden decreased, as occurred with welfare reform in the 1990s, which curbed immigrants' access to certain benefits. The irony is that for all the overexcited debate, the net effect of immigration is minimal. Even for those most acutely affected—say, low-skilled workers, or California residents—the impact isn't all that dramatic. 'The unpleasant voices have tended to dominate our perceptions,' says Daniel Tichenor, a political science professor at the University of Oregon. 'But when all those factors are put together and the economists calculate the numbers, it ends up being a net positive, but a small one.' Too bad most people don't realize it.

单选题 长江 长江(the Yangtze River)是世界第三长河，中国第一长河，全长6380公里。它发源于青海省，一路无数河流汇入，向东注入东海(the East China Sea)。作为中国古文化的发祥地，长江在历史、文化和经济上都对中国的发展有着极其重要的作用。长江是中国重要的运输线，被称为“黄金水道”(the Golden Waterway)，它将内陆和沿海的港口以及其他主要城市连接在一起。长江沿岸的自然风景非常秀丽，有众多的旅游景观。辽阔的长江流域(the Yangtze Basin)，拥有丰富的自然资源，自古以来就是中国最重要的农业生产基地。

单选题 It is easy to miss amid the day-to-day headlines of global economic recession, but there is a less conspicuous kind of social upheaval (剧变) underway that is fast altering both the face of the planet and the way human beings live. That change is the rapid acceleration of urbanization. In 2008, for the first time in human history, more than half the world's population was living in towns and cities. And as a recently published paper shows, the process of urbanization will only accelerate in the densely to come—with an enormous impact on biodiversity and potentially on climate change. As Karen Seto, the lead author of the paper, points out, the wave of urbanization isn't just about the migration of people into urban environments, but about the environments themselves becoming bigger to accommodate all those people. The rapid expansion of urban areas will have a huge impact on biodiversity hotspots and on carbon emissions in those urban areas. Humans are the ultimate invasive species—when they move into new territory, they often dis-place the wildlife that was already living there. And as land is cleared for those new cities—especially in the dense tropical forests—carbon will be released into the atmosphere as well. It's true that as people in developing nations move from the countryside to the city, the shift may reduce the pressure on land, which could in turn be good for the environment. This is especially so in desperately poor countries, where residents in the countryside slash and bum forests each growing season to clear space for fanning. But the real difference is that in developing nations, the move from rural areas to cities often leads to an accompanying increase in income—and that increase leads to an increase in the consumption of food and energy, which in turn causes a rise in carbon emissions. Getting enough to eat and enjoying the safety and comfort of living fully on the grid is certainly a good thing—but it does carry an environmental price. The urbanization wave can't be stopped—and it shouldn't be. But Seto's paper does underscore the importance of managing that transition. If we do it the right way, we can reduce urbanization's impacts on the environment. 'There's an enormous opportunity here, and a lot of pressure and responsibility to think about how we urbanize,' says Seto. 'The one thing that's clear is that we can't build cities the way we have over the last couple of hundred years. The scale of this transition won't allow that.' We're headed towards an urban planet no matter what, but whether it becomes heaven or hell is up to us.