单选题When her husband laughed at her reaction, Isabel decided ______.

单选题Judging from tales about the rise and fall of empires, there is always a point when things are going so well that the emperors doubt that anything could ever go wrong. "Thrift," warned Nero's adviser Seneca, "comes too late when you find it at the bottom of your purse. " In the Old World, nations grew fat and then lazy, until they collapsed under their own weight. But that was not to be our story. American greatness—the vision of the founders, the courage of the pioneers, the industry of the nation builders—reflected a mighty faith in the power of sacrifice as a muscle that made young nations strong. Banks were like gyms for the soul: the first savings banks in Boston and New York were organized as charities, where "humble journeymen" could exercise good judgment, store their money and not be tempted to waste it on drink. Architect Louis Sullivan carved the word THRIFT over the door of his "jewel box" bank nearly a century ago, for it was private virtue that made public prosperity possible. That virtue died with the baby boom, but it had been ailing ever since the Depression, argues cultural historian David Tucker in the Decline of Thrift in America. That crisis, he writes, invited economists to recast thrift as "the contemptible vice which threw sand in the gears of our consumer economy". A White House report in 1931 urged parents to let children pick out their own clothes, and furniture, thereby creating in the child "a sense of personal as well as family pride in ownership, and eventually teaching him that his personality can be expressed through things". Somewhere along the way, thrift did not just stop being a value; it became a folly. Saving was for suckers; you'd miss the ride, die leaving money on the table when you could have lived it up. There are no pockets in a shroud, as the saying goes. We once saved about 15% of our income. By the roaring 80s the rate was 4% now we're in negative numbers. Bob Hope liked to joke that "a bank is a place that will lend you money if you can prove that you don't need it". But that too changed as easy credit bloomed and usury became another of those vices that had somehow lost its juice. The average American has nine credit cards with a total $17,000 balance. We borrow against our houses and pensions to live in a way that dares us to actually grow old. "Never invest in any idea you can't illustrate with a crayon. " Fidelity mastermind Peter Lynch advised, but we embraced all kinds of investments about which we understand nothing except the hollow. Promise that they would never fail. When the economy began to swoon we kept spending, effectively sending ourselves rebate checks from accounts already way overdrawn, as if it would make us feel better to buy a new TV and charge it to our kids. George W. Bush has never been reluctant to frame policy debates in moral terms, targeting an "axis of evil", casting tax cuts as the removal of unfair burdens on hardworking people, calling tariff reduction a moral imperative. But thrift is one virtue he never invokes, and a restoration of restraint is a strain of conservatism he seldom promotes. In fact, it was after the most tragic day in modem US history, when Bush urged people who wanted to help to go shopping, that profligacy officially replaced prudence as a patriotic duty. There's no way to tell during this current distress whether we' re repenting or just retrenching. Thrift store sales are up. Cars are shrinking. P. Diddy retired his private jet to save on gas. In hard times, people often rediscover the peace that prudence brings, when you try to spend a little less than you have because tomorrow might be worse. But that feels almost un-American; we're optimists by nature, and we've been living large for so long that solvency feels like a sacrifice. It will take some sustained character education and leadership to understand that morning in America is more likely to come again if we prepare for midnight.

单选题Christmas tree in New Zealand is the red

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单选题Which person carried out research in the Amazon region?

单选题Which statement is TRUE according to the passage?

单选题This month Singapore passed a bill that would give legal teeth to the moral obligation to support one's parents. Called the Maintenance of Parents Bill, it received the backing of the Singapore Government. That does not mean it hasn't generated discussion. Several members of the Parliament opposed the measure as un-Asian. Others who acknowledged the problem of the elderly poor believed it a disproportionate response. Still others believe it will subvert relations within the family; cynics dubbed it the "Sue Your Son" law. Those who say that the bill does not promote filial responsibility, of course, are right. It has nothing to do with filial responsibility. It kicks in where filial responsibility fails. The law cannot legislate filial responsibility any more than it can legislate love. All the law can do is to provide a safety net where this morality proves insufficient. Singapore needs this bill not to replace morality, but to provide incentives to shore it up. Like many other developed nations, Singapore faces the problems of an increasing proportion of people over 60 years of age. Demography is inexorable. In 1980, 7.2% of the population was in this bracket. By the turn of the century, that figure will grow to 11%. By 2030, the proportion is projected to be 26%. The problem is not old age per se. It is that the ratio of economically active people to economically inactive people will decline. But no amount of government exhortation or paternalism will completely eliminate the problem of old people who have insufficient means to make ends meet. Some people will fall through the holes in any safety net. Traditionally, a person's insurance against poverty in his old age was his family. This is not a revolutionary concept. Nor is it uniquely Asian. Care and support for one's parents is a universal value shared by all civilized societies. The problem in Singapore is that the moral obligation to look after one's parents is unenforceable. A father can be compelled by law to maintain his children. A husband can be forced to support his wife. But, until now, a son or daughter had no legal obligation to support his or her parents. In 1989, an advisory council was set up to look into the problems of the aged. Its report stated with a tinge of complacency that 95% of those who did not have their own income were receiving cash contributions from relations. But what of the 5% who aren't getting relatives' support? They have several options:(a) get a job and work until they die;(b) apply for public assistance (you have to be destitute to apply) ; or(c) starve quietly. None of these options is socially acceptable. And what if this 5% figure grows, as it is likely to do, as society ages? The Maintenance of Parents Bill was put forth to encourage the traditional virtues that have so far kept Asian nations from some of the breakdowns encountered in other affluent societies. This legislation will allow a person to apply to the court for maintenance from any or all of his children. The court would have the discretion to refuse to make an order if it is unjust. Those who deride the proposal for opening up the courts to family lawsuits miss the point. Only in extreme cases would any parent take his child to court. If it does indeed become law, the bill's effect would be far more subtle. First, it will reaffirm the notion that it is each individual's -- not society's--responsibility to look after his parents. Singapore is still conservative enough that most people will not object to this idea. It reinforces the traditional values and it doesn't hurt a society now and then to remind itself of its core values. Second, and more important, it will make those who are inclined to shirk their responsibilities think twice. Until now, if a person asked family elders, clergymen or the Ministry of Community Development to help get financial support from his children, the most they could do was to mediate. But mediators have no teeth, and a child could simply ignore their pleas. But to be sued by one's parents would be a massive loss of face. It would be a public disgrace. Few people would be so thick-skinned as to say, "Sue and be damned". The hand of the conciliator would be immeasurably strengthened. It is far more likely that some sort of amicable settlement would be reached if the recalcitrant son or daughter knows that the alternative is a public trial. It would be nice to think that Singapore doesn't need this kind of law. But that belief ignores the clear demographic trends and the effect of affluence itself on traditional bonds. Those of us who pushed for the bill will consider ourselves most successful if it acts as an incentive not to have it invoked in the first place.

单选题Leacock can be described as all of the following EXCEPT ______.

单选题A summary of the physical and chemical nature of life must begin; not on the Earth, but in the Sun; in fact, at the Sun's very center. It's here that is to be found the source of the energy that the Sun constantly pours out into space as light and heat. This energy is liberated at the center of the Sun as billions upon billions of nuclei hydrogen atoms collide with each other and fuse together to form nuclei of helium, and, in doing so, release some of the energy that is stored in the nuclei of atoms. The output of light and heat of the Sun requires that some 600 million tons of hydrogen be converted into helium in the Sun every second. This the Sun has been doing for several thousands of millions of years. The nuclear energy is released at the Sun's center as high - energy gamma radiation, a form of electromagnetic radiation like light and radio waves only of very much shorter wavelength. This gamma radiation is absorbed by atoms inside the Sun, to be reemitted at slightly longer wavelengths. This radiation, in its turn, is absorbed and reemitted. At the energy filters through the layers of the solar interior, it passes through the X - ray part of the spectrum, eventually becoming light. At this stage, it has reached what we call the solar surface, and can escape into space, without being absorbed farther by solar atoms. A very small fraction of the Sun's light and heat is emitted in such directions that, after passing unhindered through interplanetary space, it hits the Earth. A simple magnifying glass, focusing the Sun's rays, can scoarch, a piece of wood or set a scrap of paper on fire. Solar radiation can also be concentrated on a much larger scale. It can burn a hole through thick steel plate, for example, or simulate the thermal shock of a nuclear blast. It can, that is, with the help of a super reflector of the sort that has been set up by French scientists high in the Pyreness. The world's largest solar furnace is a complex of nearly 20, 000 mirrors. It can concentrate enough sunlight to create temperatures in excess of 6000 degrees Fahrenheit. The furnace's appearance is as spectacular as its power. Its glittering eight - story - high reflector towers over very old houses. Anchored against a concrete office and laboratory building, the huge reflector consists of nearly 9000 separate mirrors. For the furnace to operate, these small mirrors must be adjusted so that their light will meet exactly at a focal point 59 feet in front of the giant reflector.

单选题We can learn from the passage that the tired land has fully recovered ______.

单选题Where is Westminster Abbey?

单选题Among the following four American colonial writers, who was the writer of Poor Richard's Almanac?

单选题 Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview, you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following 5 questions. Now listen to the interview.

单选题An inventor can generally make a big profit if he ______ his or her invention.

单选题{{B}}TEXT B{{/B}} Soil quality is one of the most basic and perhaps least understood indicators of land health. Soil supports plant growth and represents the living reservoir that buffers tile flows of water, nutrients, and energy through an ecosystem. Soil quality refers to the capacity of a soil to perform these beneficial functions and is determined by its texture, structure, water-holding capacity, porosity, organic matter content, and depth, among other properties. Because soils naturally vary in their capacity to perform these functions, we must tie our understanding of soil quality to landscapes and land use. We must understand soil quality for two important reasons: First, we must match our use and management of land to soil capability. Second, we must establish baseline understanding about soil quality so we can recognize ongoing trends. If soil quality is stable or improving, we have a good indicator that the ecosystem is sustainable. If soil quality is deteriorating, the larger ecosystem will almost certainly decline with it. People describe soil types in all kinds of ways such as heavy, light, sandy, clay, loam, poor or good. Soil scientists describe soil types by how much sand, silt and clay is present. This is called texture. It is possible to change the texture by adding different things to the soil. You can roughly estimate the texture of a soil by a simply method called "manual texturing", through determining the feel of a moist sample when rubbed between the thumb and forefinger. If the soil sample is predominantly sand, it will feel very gritty. If it is predominantly silt, it will feel smooth or slippery to the touch. And if it is predominantly clay, it will feel sticky. Particle size has a lot to do with a soil's drainage and nutrient holding capacity. Sand is the largest particle and doesn't hold many nutrients. Silt is a soil particle whose size is between sand and clay. When wet, silt feels smooth but not sticky. Clay is smooth when dry and sticky when wet. Soils high in clay content are called heavy soils. Clay also can hold a lot of nutrients, but doesn't let air and water through it well. To better understand how big these three soil particles are, think of them like this. If a particle of sand were the size of a basketball, then silt would be the size of a baseball, and clay would be the size of a golf ball.

单选题Charles Dickens describes the Chartist Movement in his novel named ______.A. A Tale of Two Cities B. Oliver TwistC. Great Expectations D. Hard Times

单选题There are three main political parties in Canada: the Liberal Party, New Democratic Party and ______.A. the Progressive PartyB. the Conservative PartyC. the Republic PartyD. the Labour Party

单选题Which is NOT Benjamin Jonson's comedy?A. The Alchemist B. Every Man in His HumorC. Volpone D. The Merchant of Venice

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单选题In large part as a consequence of the feminist movement, historians have focused a great deal of attention in recent years on determining more accurately the status of women in various periods. Although much has been accomplished for the modern period, pre-modern cultures have proved more difficult: sources are restricted in number, fragmentary, difficult to interpret, and often contradictory. Thus it is not particularly surprising that some earlier scholarship concerning such cultures has so far gone unchallenged. An example is Johann Bachofen's 1861 treatise on Amazons, women-ruled societies of questionable existence contemporary with ancient Greece. Starting from the premise that mythology and legend preserve at least a nucleus of historical fact, Bachofen argued that women were dominant in many ancient societies. His work was based on a comprehensive survey of references in the ancient sources to Amazonian and other societies with matrilineal customs--societies in which descent and property rights are traced through the female line. Some support for his theory can be found in evidence such as that drawn from Herodotus, the Greek "historian" of the fifth century B. C. , who speaks of an Amazonian society, the Sauromatae, where the women hunted and fought in wars. A woman in this society was not allowed to marry until she had killed a person in battle. Nonetheless, this assumption that the first recorders of ancient myths have preserved facts is problematic. If one begins by examining why ancients refer to Amazons, it becomes clear that ancient Greek descriptions of such societies were meant not so much to represent observed historical fact--real Amazonian societies--but rather to offer "moral lessons" on the supposed outcome of women's rule in their own society. The Amazons were often characterized, for example, as the equivalents of giants and centaurs, enemies to be slain by Greek heroes. Their customs were presented not as those of a respectable society, but as the very antitheses of ordinary Greek practices. Thus, I would argue, the purpose of accounts of the Amazons for their make Greek recorders was didactic, to teach both male and female Greeks that all-female groups, formed by withdrawal from traditional society, are destructive and dangerous. Myths about the Amazons were used as arguments for the male-dominated status quo, in which groups composed exclusively of either sex were not permitted to segregate themselves permanently from society. Bachofen was thus misled in his reliance on myths for information about the status of women. The sources that will probably tell contemporary historians most about women in the ancient world are such social documents as gravestone, wills, and marriage contracts. Studies of such documents have already begun to show how mistaken we are when we try to derive our picture of the ancient world exclusively from literary sources, especially myths. (467)