单选题What does a firm depend on if it wants to develop and not to be thrown out of the markets? You may say the firm should have some advantages of its own to stand still in the fierce competitive battle field of the commerce. And this is quite true. If sustainable competitive advantage depends on work force skills, American firms have a problem. Human resource management is not traditionally seen as the centre to the competitive survival of the firm in the United States. Skill acquisition is considered an individual responsibility. Labor is simply another factor of production to be hired/rented at the lowest possible cost--must as one buys raw materials or equipment. The lack of importance attached to human resource management can be seen in the corporate pecking order. In an American firm the chief financial officer is almost always second in command. The post of head of human resource management is usually a specialized job, off at the edge of the corporate hierarchy. The executive who holds it is never consulted on major strategic decisions and has no chance to move up to Chief Executive Officer. By way of contrast, in Japan the head of human resource management is central--usually the second most important executive, after the CEO, is the firm's hierarchy. While American firms often talk about the vast amounts spent on training their work force, in fact, they invest less in the skills of their employees than do either Japanese or German firms. The money they do invest is also more highly concentrated on professional and managerial employees. And the limited investments that are made in training workers are also much more narrowly focused on the specific skills necessary to do the next job rather than on the basic background skills that make it possible to absorb new technologies. As a result, problems emerge when new breakthrough technologies arrive. If American workers, for example, take much longer to learn how to operate new flexible manufacturing stations than workers in Germany (as they do), the effective cost of those stations is lower in Ger many than it is in the United States. More time is required before equipment is up and running at capacity, and the need for extensive retraining generates costs and creates bottlenecks that limit the speed with which new equipment can be employed. The result is a slower pace of technological change. And in the end the skills of the bottom half of the population affect the wages of the top half. If the bottom half can't effectively staff the processes that have to be operated, the management and professional jobs that go with these processes will disappear.

单选题 For the past several years, the Sunday newspaper supplement Parade has featured a column called "Ask Marilyn. " People are invited to query Marilyn vos Savant, who at age 10 had tested at a mental level of someone about 23 years old; that gave her an IQ of 228—the highest score ever recorded. IQ tests ask you to complete verbal and visual analogies, to envision paper after it has been folded and cut, and to deduce numerical sequences, among other similar tasks. So it is a bit confusing when vos Savant fields such queries from the average Joe (whose IQ is 100) as, what's the difference between love and fondness? Or what is the nature of luck and coincidence? It's not obvious how the capacity to visualize objects and to figure out numerical patterns suits one to answer questions that have eluded some of the best poets and philosophers. Clearly, intelligence encompasses more than a score on a test. Just what does it mean to be smart? How much of intelligence can be specified, and how much can we learn about it from neurology, genetics, computer science and other fields? The defining term of intelligence in humans still seems to be the IQ score, even though IQ tests are not given as often as they used to be. The test comes primarily in two forms: the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scale and the Wechsler Intelligence Scales (both come in adult and children's version). Generally costing several hundred dollars, they are usually given only by psychologists, although variations of them populate bookstores and the World Wide Web. Superhigh scores like vos Savant's are no longer possible, because scoring is now based on a statistical population distribution among age peers, rather than simply dividing the mental age by the chronological age and multiplying by 100. Other standardized tests, such as the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and the Graduate Record Exam (GRE), capture the main aspects of IQ tests. Such standardized tests may not assess all the important elements necessary to succeed in school and in life, argues Robert J. Sternberg. In his article "How Intelligent Is Intelligence Testing?", Sternberg notes that traditional test best assess analytical and verbal skills but fail to measure creativity and practical knowledge, components also critical to problem solving and life success. Moreover, IQ tests do not necessarily predict so well once populations or situations change. Research has found that IQ predicted leadership skills when the tests were given under low-stress conditions, but under highstress conditions, IQ was negatively correlated with leadership—that is, it predicted the opposite. Anyone who has toiled through SAT will testify that test-taking skill also matters, whether it's knowing when to guess or what questions to skip.

单选题{{I}} You will hear 10 short dialogues. For each dialogue, there is one question and four possible answers. Choose the correct answer--A, B, C or D, and mark it in your test booklet. You will have 15 seconds to answer the question and you will hear each dialogue ONLY ONCE.Now look at Question 1.{{/I}}

单选题Questions 15-17 are based on the following dialogue between friends about their family. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 15-17.

单选题 A parent with a child carrying a musical instrument or a drawing board walking along a Beijing subway platform or street is a familiar sight on weekends. They are on the way to training schools. Education of their children has become the most important responsibility of parents who were sent to rural areas for "re-education" during the "Cultural Revolution" from 1966 to 1976. They lost the chance for university education and now hope their children can receive a better education than they did. As a result, these people now in their forties expose their little children to early training so that they can enter a prestigious school. The parents imagine a road to success: from excellent primary and middle schools to an elite university and then to a good job. On average, they may spend about 100 yuan a month on their children's education. And what results have these parents obtained? Most of them feel that the large investment has failed to lead to rapid progress in their children's study. "We seem to be throwing our money away," said one parent. However, many parents still think that spending more on their children's schooling will result in high scores. These parents have also introduced a "contract system", which offers rewards for good school grades. More than 80% of parents in families in Chengdu have signed contracts with their children, according to the Consumers" Times. The paper notes that the heavy pressure put on children to perform well at school has resulted in a decline in children's health. The parents' investment in their children also includes hiring tutors. A survey of 250 students in Xuzhou found that 10% of their parents hired tutors. The pay for one tutorial hour is three yuan. Liberation Daily commented that these parents have too high expectations of their children. According to the article, "They are trying to help the young plants grow by pulling them upwards." They ignore their children's psychology and perhaps will damage the real talents the children possess.

单选题The following works demonstrate Ovid's historical impact EXCEPT ______.

单选题"I do. " To Americans those two words carry great meaning. They can even change your life. Especially if you say them at your own wedding. Making wedding vows is like signing a contract. Now Americans don't really think marriage is a business deal. But marriage is serious business. It all begins with engagement. Traditionally, a young man asks the father of his sweetheart for permission to marry her. If the father agrees, the man later proposes to her. Often he tries to surprise her by "popping the question" in a romantic way. Sometimes the couple just decides together that the time is right to get married. The man usually gives his fiancée a diamond ring as a symbol of their engagement. They may be engaged for weeks, months or even years. As the big day approaches, bridal showers and bachelor's parties provide many useful gifts. Today many couples also receive counseling during engagement. This prepares them for the challenges of married life. At last it's time for the wedding. Although most weddings follow long-held traditions, there's still room for American individualism. For example, the usual place for a wedding is in a church. But some people get married outdoors in a scenic spot. A few even have the ceremony while sky-diving or riding on horseback! The couple may invite hundreds of people or just a few close friends. They choose their own style of colors, decorations and music during the ceremony. But some things rarely change. The bride usually wears a beautiful, long white wedding dress. She traditionally wears "something old, something new, something borrowed and something blue". The groom wears a formal suit or tuxedo. Several close friends participate in the ceremony as attendants, including the best husband and the maid of honor. As the ceremony begins, the groom and his attendants stand with the minister, facing the audience. Music signals the entrance of the bride's attendants, followed by the beautiful bride. Nervously, the young couple repeats their vows. Traditionally, they promise to love each other "for better, for worse, for richer, for poorer, in sickness and in health". But sometimes the couple has composed their own vows. They give each other a gold ring to symbolize their marriage commitment. Finally the minister announces the big moment: "I now pronounce you man and wife. You may kiss your bride!" At the wedding reception, the bride and groom greet their guests. Then they cut the wedding cake and feed each other a bite. Guests mingle while enjoying cake and other treats. Later the bride throws her bouquet of flowers to a group of single girls. Tradition says the one who catches the bouquet will be the next to marry. During the reception, playful friends "decorate" the couple's car with tissue paper, tin cans and a "Just Married" sign. When the reception is over, the newlyweds run to their "decorated" car and speed off. Many couples take a honeymoon, a one-to two-week vacation trip, to celebrate their new marriage. Almost every culture has rituals to signal a change in one's life. Marriage is one of the most basic life changes for people of all cultures. So it's no surprise to find many traditions about getting married.., even in America. Yet each couple follows the traditions in a way that is uniquely their own.

单选题 When we worry about who might be spying on our private lives, we usually think about the Federal agents. But the private sector outdoes the government every time. It's Linda Tripp, not the FBI, who is facing charges under Maryland's laws against secret telephone taping. It's our banks, not the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), that pass our private financial data to telemarketing firms. Consumer activists are pressing Congress for better privacy laws without much result so far. The legislators lean toward letting business people track our financial habits virtually at will. As an example of what's going on, consider U. S. Bancorp, which was recently sued for deceptive practices by the state of Minnesota. According to the lawsuit, the bank supplied a telemarketer called Member- Works with sensitive customer data such as names, phone numbers, bank-accounts and credit-card numbers, Social Security numbers, account balances and credit limits. With these customer lists in hand, MemberWorks started dialing for dollars—selling dental plans, videogames, computer software and other products and services. Customers who accepted a "free trial offer" had 50 days to cancel. If the deadline passed, they were Charged automatically through their bank or credit-card accounts. U.S. Bancorp collected a share of the revenues. Customers were doubly deceived, the lawsuit claims. They didn't know that the bank was giving account numbers to MemberWorks. And if customers asked, they were led to think the answer was no. The state sued McmberWorks separately for deceptive selling. The company defends that it did anything wrong. For its part, U.S. Baneorp settled without admitting any mistakes. But it agreed to stop exposing its customers to nonfinancial products sold by outside firms. A few top banks decided to de the same. Many other banks will still do business with MemberWorks and similar firms. And banks will still be mining data from your account in order to sell you financial products, including things of little value, such as credit insurance and credit-card protection plans. You have almost no protection from businesses that use your personal accounts for profit. For example, no federal law shields "transaction and experience" information—mainly the details of your bank and credit-card accounts. Social Security numbers are for sale by private firms. They've generally agreed not to sell to the public. But to businesses, the numbers are an open book. Self-regulation doesn't work. A firm might publish a privacy-protection policy, but who enforces it? Take U.S. Bancorp again. Customers were told, in writing, that "all personal information you supply to us will be considered confidential." Then it sold your data to MemberWorks. The bank even claims that it doesn't "sell" your data at all: It merely "shares" it and reaps a profit. Now you know.

单选题Phonetics is the study of ______. A. all the sounds that occur in the world's languages B. speech sounds used by human languages to represent C. the differences between sounds used In human languages and sounds in nature D. how phonological differences can lead to misunderstanding

单选题Dr Thomas Starzl, like all the pioneers of organ transplantation, had to learn to live with failure. When he performed the world's first liver transplant 25 years ago, the patient, a three-year-old boy, died on the operating table. The next four patients didn't live long enough to get out of the hospital. But more determined than discouraged, Starzl and his colleagues went back to their lab at the University of Colorado Medical School. They devised techniques to reduce the heavy bleeding during surgery, and they worked on better ways to pre- vent the recipient's immune system from rejecting the organ — an ever-present risk. But the triumphs of the transplant surgeons have created yet another tragic problem: a severe shortage of donor organs. "As the results get better, more people go on the waiting lists and there's wider disparity between supply and need," says one doctor. The American Council on Transplantation estimated that on any given day 15 000 Americans are waiting for organs. There is no shortage of actual organs; each year about 5 000 healthy people die unexpectedly in the United States, usually in accidents. The problem is that fewer than 20 percent become donors. This trend persists despite laws designed to encourage organ recycling. Under the federal Uniform Anatomical Gift Act, a person can authorize the use of his organs after death by signing a statement. Legally, the next of kin can veto these posthumous gifts, but surveys indicate that 70 to 80 percent of the public would not interfere with a family member's decision. The biggest roadblock, according to some experts, is that physicians don't ask for donations, either because they fear offending grieving survivors or because they still regard some transplant procedures as experimental. When there aren't enough organs to go around, distributing the available ones becomes a matter of deciding who will live and who will die. Once donors and potential recipients have been matched for body size and blood type, the sickest patients customarily go to the top of the local waiting list. Beyond the seriousness of the patients' condition, doctors base their choice on such criteria as the length of time the patient has been waiting, how long it will take to obtain an organ and whether the transplant team can gear up in time.

单选题Summer is winding down, but it's still not too late to put the top down and hit the road. For those of us who can't spring for a Corvette or a BMW, here's some good news: Two of the coolest convertibles on the road are also more affordable—Volkswagen's New Beetle and Chrysler's PT Cruiser. Both start at about $20,000, seat four, and get between 22 and 24 miles per gallon from their four- cylinder engines. Each has fully insulated cloth tops with rear windows made of real glass, which makes them comfortable to use in winter. Front-wheel drive helps make them safer to drive over snow and ice. Both also offer high-performance turbocharged models starting at about $25,000．Both have bulging fenders and cool, retro personalities. Beyond that, they're very different. The PT Cruiser focuses on practicality, while the Beetle is more fun to drive. That fun comes from the car's chassis, suspension, and overall structure. Crank the steering into a turn and the car follows like an eager puppy. The engine isn't powerful, but loves to rev, so you can downshift to accelerate. The New Beetle Convertible has developed an unfortunate reputation as a "chick car" for its cute looks and the lack of power in the standard model. But for an extra $1,600, VW offers its turbocharged version, with a 150 horsepower, 1.8 liter engine, which gives the car some snap. Even so, the convertible top eliminates what little practicality the New Beetle hatchback offers. To fit the folding top, the back seat Was narrowed and angled so upright it's uncomfortable. And the folded top sits above a tiny trunk, with only five cubic feet of capacity and accessible through a smaller porthole. Weekend trippers had better not have kids — or plan to rough it with more than a backpack or two. Interior storage is also minuscule. As with the New Beetle hatchback, the windshield is disconcertingly far away, and the wipers clear only a small slit of a view in front. Compared with the profile of the hatchback, however, the convertible sports a top that's lower and a little less cartoonlike. The PT Cruiser, on the other hand, looks its sinister best with the top up. Peeling the top off reveals its cutesy "roll hoop". (Chrysler denies the hoop offers rollover protection and calls it a light bar.) But the Cruiser, like its four-door brethren, offers all the year-round practicality the original Beetle convertible did in its day. The back seat is comfortable for two people, and the trunk is roomy. Unfortunately, it's also hard to access because the big trunk lid gets in the way when open. So instead of standing to load or unload the car, you have to squat or kneel. But the storage space is huge — the biggest I've seen in any convertible. And the back seats fold forward in case you need to carry some long cargo. The interior offers four cup holders and several large storage bins. The 220-horsepower turbocharged engine in the GT model makes the Cruiser seriously quick, which backs up its hot-rod looks. But after that, the driving experience falls apart. Like its hot-rod inspirations, the Cruiser is best on a straight, smooth road. Over bumps, its floppy chassis wobbles like jello. On the highway, the Cruiser I tested needed continual corrections to stay in its lane. The manual shifter on the GT proved sloppy; it was hard to be sure which gear the car was about to engage. Several times I hit fifth gear when aiming for third. Chrysler apparently anticipated this problem, as a brief warning chimes to let you know when you're in reverse. Neither the PT Cruiser convertible nor the New Beetle is perfect. But for fun in the sun or even the fall what could be better? Both cars brought constant waves, smiles, and stories from passersby. What's a convertible about if it isn't looking good on the road and brightening your day?

单选题The word "reciprocating" in paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to ______.

单选题 {{I}}Questions 14-16 are based on the following interview with Lisa Lynch about the US Labor Department's report on job increase. You now have 15 seconds to read Questions 14-16.{{/I}}