阅读理解Going on computer may be the toughest job a remodeling contractor ever does. In order to make a conversion within a year, a company will need to make a major shakeup. This does not mean it will take a year to start using the computer for one function such as estimating, accounting, or word processing. The total conversion process will not be accomplished in a short period with little effort. A contractor in Indiana recently said he wished someone had warned him about how tough it was going to be. With an annual volume of more than $ 500,000 and a good staff in place he still had fear. For effective use of the computer in a remodeling business, a complete change in methods of doing business usually is required. All management staff must get involved. Changes may include pre-selecting and standardizing products and systems. Developing specifications, changing the estimating system, and requiring more detailed information on time card. The list goes on and on. Without the support and active leadership of top management, this process, in all likelihood, will be fought by employees and will fail. It is true that as computer can save money by stepping up the speed of estimating and making job costing, bookkeeping, and accounting more efficient. Word processing will certainly reduce time in typing contracts, writing letters, and so on. Still, most companies do not save money using the computer. Once they have mastered the basic computer operation, they become so enthralled with its ability to do other things they never considered when it was purchased. The computer business is changing so fast that a company on computer will want to spend money on the latest hardware, newest software, and so on. That is the bad news. The good news is that the computer simply revolutionizes the company''s ability to manage and innovate. The change in management methods, the ability to use numbers, and other new capabilities provide greater control over the company and allow it to grow and make more money.

阅读理解In the 1960s, medical researchers Thomas Holmes and Richard Rahe developed a checklist of stressful events. They appreciated the tricky point that any major change can be stressful. Negative events like "serious illness of a family member" were high on the list, but so were some positive life-changing events, like marriage. When you take the Holmes-Rahe test you must remember that the score does not reflect how you deal with stress--it only shows how much you have to deal with. And we now know that the way you handle these events dramatically affects your chances of staying healthy. By the early 1970s, hundreds of similar studies had followed Holmes and Rahe. And millions of Americans who work and live under stress worried over the reports. Somehow, the research got boiled down to a memorable message. Women''s magazines ran headlines like "Stress causes illness!" If you want to stay physically and mentally healthy, the articles said, avoid stressful events. But such simplistic advice is impossible to follow. Even if stressful events are dangerous, many--like the death of a loved one--are impossible to avoid. Moreover, any warning to avoid all stressful events is a prescription for staying away from opportunities as well as trouble. Since any change can be stressful, a person who wanted to be completely free of stress would never marry, have a child, take a new job or move. The notion that all stress makes you sick also ignores a lot of what we know about people. It assumes we''re all vulnerable and passive in the face of adversity. But what about human initiative and creativity? Many come through periods of stress with more physical and mental vigor than they had Ira. fore. We also know that a long time without change or challenge can lead to boredom, and physical and mental swain.

阅读理解The biggest safety threat facing airlines today may not be a terrorist with a gun, but the man with the portable computer in business class. In the last 15 years, pilots have reported well over 100 incidents that could have been caused by electromagnetic interference. The source of this interference remains unconfirmed, but increasingly, experts are pointing the blame at portable electronic devices such as portable computers, radio and cassette players and mobile telephones. RTCA, an organization which advises the aviation industry, has recommended that all airlines ban such devices from being used during "critical" stages of flight, particularly take-off and landing. Some experts have gone further, calling for a total ban during all flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airlines. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during ail flights. Currently, rules on using these devices are left up to individual airiness. And although some airlines prohibit passengers from using such equipment during take-off and landing, most are reluctant to enforce a total ban, given that many passengers want to work during flights. The difficulty is predicting how electromagnetic fields might affect an aircraft'' s computers. Experts know that portable devices emit radiation which affects those wavelengths which aircraft'' s use for navigation and communication. But because they have not been able to reproduce these effects in a laboratory, they have no way of knowing whether the interference might be dangerous or not. The fact that aircrafts may be vulnerable to interference raises the risk that terrorists may use radio systems in order to damage navigation equipment. As worrying, though, is the passenger who can''t hear the instructions to turn off his radio because the music'' s too loud.

阅读理解Some people believe that you have to be a special kind of person to sell a product. But although it is clear that a successful salesman does need special talents and an outgoing personality, many of the skills he uses are used by us all: we build and maintain relationships with different kinds of people, we listen to and take notes of what they tell us and don’t just enjoy the sound of our own voices, and we explain things to them or discuss ideas with them. A firm may depend on their own sales team and or on the salesmanship of their distributors, Wholesalers or retailers. But any company needs to establish a personal relationship with its major clients (''key accounts'' ) and potential customers ('' prospects'' ). It is often said that '' people do business with people''s a firm doesn''t just deal impersonally with another firm, but a person in the buying department receives personal visits from people representing the firm’s suppliers on a regular basis. Keeping sales people '' on the road'' is much more expensive than employing them to work in the office and much of their time is spent unproductively travelling. Telephone selling may use this time more productively, but a face-to-face meeting and discussion is much more effective. Companies involved in the export trade often have a separate export sales force, whose travel and accommodation expenses may be very high. Serving overseas customers may consequently often be done by phone, telex or letter and personal visits may be infrequent. Many firms appoint an overseas agent or distributor whose own sales force takes over responsibility for selling their products in another county. A sales department consists of many people who are based in different parts of the country or the world, who don’t have the day-to-day contact and opportunities for communicating with each other that office-base staff have. For this reason, firms holds regular sales conferences where their entire sales force can meet, receive information and ask questions about new products and receive training.

阅读理解Why does cream go bad faster than butter? Some researchers think they have the answer, and it comes down to the structure of the food, not its chemical composition---a finding that could help rid some processed foods of chemical preservatives. Cream and butter contain pretty much the same substances, so why cream should sour much faster has been a mystery. Both are emulsions--tiny globules of one liquid evenly distributed throughout another. The difference lies in what'' s in the globules and what'' s in the surrounding liquid, says Brocklehurst, who led the investigation. In cream, fatty globules drift about in a sea of water. In butter, globules of a watery solution are locked away in a sea of fat. The bacteria which make the food go bad prefer to live in the watery regions of the mixture. "This means that in cream, the bacteria are free to grow throughout the mixture," he says. When the situation is reversed, the bacteria are locked away in compartments buried deep in the sea of fat. Trapped in this way, individual colonies cannot spread and rapidly nm out of nutrients. They also slowly poison themselves with their waste products. "In butter, you get a serf-limiting system which stops the bacteria growing," says Brocklehurst. The researchers already working with food companies keen to see if their products can be made resistant to bacterial attack flux)ugh alterations to the food''s structure. Brocklehurst believes it will be possible to make the emulsions used in salad cream, for instance, more like that in butter, The key will be to do this while keeping the salad cream liquid and not turning it into a solid lump.

阅读理解passage two A controversy erupted in the scientific community in early 1998over the use of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) fingerprinting incriminal investigations. DNA fingerprinting was introduced in1987 as a method to identify individuals based on a patternseen in their DNA, the molecule of which genes are made. DNAis present in every cell of the body except red blood cells. DNAfingerprinting has been used successfully in various ways, suchas to determine paternity where it is not clear who the father ofa particular child is. However, it is in the area of criminalinvestigations that DNA fingerprinting has potentially powerful and controversial uses. 　　DNA fingerprinting and other DNA analysis techniques have revolutionized criminal investigationsby giving investigators powerful new tools in the attempt to trove guilt, not just establishinnocence. When used in criminal investigations, a DNA fingerprint pattern from a suspect iscompared with a DNA fingerprint pattern obtained from such material as hairs or blood found atthe scene of a crime. A match between the two DNA samples can be used as evidence to convict asuspect. 　　The controversy in 1998 stemmed form a report published in December 1991 by populationgeneticists Richard C. Lewontin of Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., and Daniel L. Hartlcalled into question the methods to calculate how likely it is that a match between two DNAfingerprints might occur by chance alone. In particular, they argued that the current methodcannot properly determine the likelihood that two DNA samples will match because they camefrom the same individual rather than simply from two different individuals who are members ofthe same ethnic group. Lewontin and Hartl called for better surveys of DNA patterns methods areadequate. 　　In response to their criticisms, population geneticists Ranajit Chakraborty of the University ofTexas in Dallas and Kenneth K.Kidd of Yale University in New Haven, Conn., argued that enoughdata are already available to show that the methods currently being used are adequate. InJanuary 1998, however, the federal Bureau of Investigation and laboratories that conduct DNAtests announced that they would collect additional DNA samples form various ethnic groups in anattempt to resolve some of these questions. And, in April, a National Academy of Sciences calledfor strict standards and system of accreditation for DNA testing laboratories.

听力题JamaileMorallywasaccusedofallEXCEPT________.

听力题Welearnfromthepassagethatabouttwo-thirdsofthecoursesaretaughtthrough

听力题Accordingtothepassage,whenarechildrenfirstexpectedtostudyhard?

听力题 Haitian hunger strikers at the US naval base at Cuantanamo Bay, Cuba have begun refusing all fluids and medical treatment. Fifteen of the two hundred sixty-seven Haitians at the base said they are prepared to die, if necessary, to force the US to admit the rest of them. The Haitians are eligible to pursue political asylum in the US, but have been barred from entry, because most have the AIDS virus. The Clinton Administration says it will lift the ban on their entry, but it is not known when. Haitian hunger strikers at the US naval base at Cuantanamo Bay, Cuba have begun refusing all fluids and medical treatment. Fifteen of the two hundred sixty-seven Haitians at the base said they are prepared to die, if necessary, to force the US to admit the rest of them. The Haitians are eligible to pursue political asylum in the US, but have been barred from entry, because most have the AIDS virus. The Clinton Administration says it will lift the ban on their entry, but it is not known when.

听力题Londontaxidriversareveryefficient________.

听力题Themanlosehistemper________.

听力题Linda sounds ______ about the success of the campaign plan.

听力题WhathashappenedtotheCubans?

听力题WhostagedtheprotestonSaturday?

听力题Accordingtothegovernmentsource,theunrestwassparkedby________.

听力题 The combined left-wing opposition in France has defeated President Jacques Chirac''s ruling Conservative coalition in the first round of the country''s parliamentary elections. Projections by French television give the socialist-led opposition 40% of the vote, and Mr. Chirac''s center-right coalition 37%. If the left secures a majority of seats in parliament, socialist leader Lionel Jospin will likely become Prime Minister in a power sharing his arrangement with President Chirac. The combined left-wing opposition in France has defeated President Jacques Chirac''s ruling Conservative coalition in the first round of the country''s parliamentary elections. Projections by French television give the socialist-led opposition 40% of the vote, and Mr. Chirac''s center-right coalition 37%. If the left secures a majority of seats in parliament, socialist leader Lionel Jospin will likely become Prime Minister in a power sharing his arrangement with President Chirac.

听力题Thewinnersofthereportedelectionsare______.

听力题 The US has designated thirty international groups as terrorist organizations, barring them from receiving money, weapons or other support from US citizens. The new terrorist list includes a Palestinian group Hamas, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, Cambodia''s Khmer Rouge, the Basque separatist group ETA, Sri Lanka''s Tamil Tigers, and the Peruvian-based Shining Path, and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary movement. The list does not include the Irish Republican Army, or the Palestinian Liberation Organization. US Secretary of State, Madelyn Allbright says the affected groups will have their US visas revoked and US financial assets frozen. The US has designated thirty international groups as terrorist organizations, barring them from receiving money, weapons or other support from US citizens. The new terrorist list includes a Palestinian group Hamas, the pro-Iranian Hezbollah, Cambodia''s Khmer Rouge, the Basque separatist group ETA, Sri Lanka''s Tamil Tigers, and the Peruvian-based Shining Path, and Tupac Amaru Revolutionary movement. The list does not include the Irish Republican Army, or the Palestinian Liberation Organization. US Secretary of State, Madelyn Allbright says the affected groups will have their US visas revoked and US financial assets frozen.

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