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单选题That summer an army of crickets started a war with my father. They picked a fight the minute they invaded our cellar. Dad didn't care for bugs much more than Mamma, but he could tolerate a few spiders and assorted creepy crawlers living in the basement. Every farm house had them. A part of rustic living, and something you needed to put up with if you wanted the simple life. He told Mamma: Now that were living out here, you can't be jerking your head and swallowing your gum over what's plain natural, Ellen. But she was a city girl through and through and had no ears when it came to defending vermin. She said a cricket was just a noisy cockroach, just a dumb horny bug that wouldn't shut up. She said in the city there were blocks of buildings overrun with cockroaches with no way for people to get rid of them. No sir, no way could she sleep with all that chirping going on; then to prove her point she wouldn't go to bed. She drank coffee and smoked my father's cigarettes and she paced between the couch and the TV. Next morning she threatened to pack up and leave, so Dad drove to the hardware store and hurried back. He squirted poison from a jug with a spray nozzle. He sprayed the basement and all around the foundation of the house. When he was finished he told us that was the end of it. But what he should have said was: This is the beginning, the beginning of our war, the beginning of our destruction. I often think back to that summer and try to imagine him delivering a speech with words like that, because for the next fourteen days mamma kept finding dead crickets in the clean laundry. Shed shake out a towel or a sheet and a dead black cricket would roll across the linoleum. Sometimes the cat would corner one, and swat it around like he was playing hockey, then carry it away in his mouth. Dad said swallowing a few dead crickets wouldn't hurt as long as the cat didn't eat too many. Each time Mamma complained he told her it was only natural that we'd be finding a couple of dead ones for a while. Soon live crickets started showing up in the kitchen and bathroom. Mamma freaked because she thought they were the dead crickets come back to haunt, but Dad said these was definitely a new batch, probably coming up on the pipes. He fetched his jug of poison and sprayed beneath the sink and behind the toilet and all along the baseboard until the whole house smelled of poison, and then he sprayed the cellar again, and then he went outside and sprayed all around the foundation leaving a foot-wide moat of poison. For a couple of weeks we went back to finding dead crickets in the laundry. Dad told us to keep a sharp look out, He suggested that we'd all be better off to hide as many as we could from mamma. I fed a few dozen to the cat who I didn't like because he scratched and bit for no reason. I hoped the poison might kill him so we could get a puppy. A couple of weeks later, when both live and dead crickets kept turning up, he emptied the cellar of junk. Then he burned a lot of bundled newspapers and magazines which he said the crickets had turned 'into nests. He stood over that fire with a rake in one hand and a garden hose in the other. He wouldn't leave it even when Mamma sent me out to fetch him for supper. He wouldn't leave the fire, and she wouldn't put supper on the table. Both my brothers were crying. Finally she went out and got him herself. And while we ate, the wind lifted some embers onto the wood pile. The only gasoline was in the lawn mowers fuel tank but that was enough to create an explosion big enough to reach the house. Once the roof caught, there wasn't much anyone could do.
单选题With the coming of the information age, the society is becoming
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单选题According to the text, Case history is
单选题 The United States economy made progress in reducing
unemployment and moderating inflation. On the international side, this year was
much calmer than last. Nevertheless, continuing imbalances in the pattern of
world trade contributed to intermittent strains in the foreign exchange markets.
These strains intensified to crisis proportions, precipitating a further
devaluation of the dollar. The domestic economy expanded in a
remarkably vigorous and steady fashion. The resurgence in consumer confidence
was reflected in the higher proportion of incomes spent for goods and services
and the marked increase in consumer willingness to take on installment debt. A
parallel strengthening in business psychology was manifested in stepped-up rate
of plant and equipment spending and a gradual pickup in outlays for inventory.
Confidence in the economy was also reflected in the strength of the stock market
and in the stability of the bond market. For the year as a whole, consumer and
business sentiment benefited from rising public expectations that a resolution
of the conflict in Vietnam was in prospect and that East-West tensions were
easing. The underpinnings of the business expansion were to be
found in part in the stimulative monetary and fiscal policies that had been
pursued. Moreover, the restoration of sounder liquidity positions and tighter
management control of production efficiency had also helped lay the groundwork
for a strong expansion. In addition, the economic policy moves made by the
President had served to renew optimism on the business outlook while boosting
hopes that inflation would be brought under more effective control.
Finally, of course, the economy was able to grow as vigorously as it did
because sufficient flexibility existed in terms of idle men and
machines. The United States balance of payments deficit
declined sharply. Nevertheless, by any other test, the deficit remained very
large, and there was actually a substantial deterioration in our trade account
to a sizable deficit, almost two thirds of which was with Japan. While the
overall trade performance proved disappointing, there are still good reasons for
expecting the delayed impact of devaluation to produce in time a significant
strengthening in our trade picture. Given the size of the Japanese component of
our trade measures undertaken by Japan. Also important will be our own efforts
in the United States to fashion internal policies consistent with an improvement
in our external balance.
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单选题You will hear three dialogues or monologues. Before listening to each one,
you will have 5 seconds to read each of the questions which accompany it. While
listening, answer each question by choosing A, B, C or D. After listening, you
will have 10 seconds to check your answer to each question. You will hear each
piece once only.
单选题 Questions 14~16 are hosed on a text about ice phrases. Yon now have 15 seconds to read Questions 14~6.
单选题 The tango has probably traveled further and gone
through more changes than almost{{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}.
African slaves brought the tango to Haiti and Cuba in the 18th century; in Cuba,
the tango was influenced by the local Cuban dance,{{U}} {{U}} 2
{{/U}} {{/U}}"the Havana". From there{{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}}
{{/U}}took the tango in Argentina in the 19th century,{{U}} {{U}} 4
{{/U}} {{/U}}it was changed once again and became popular in the{{U}}
{{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}. It was an erotic dance of working class
people by this time.{{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}made it difficult
for middle-class Europeans to accept. {{U}} {{U}}
7 {{/U}} {{/U}}at the beginning of this century, the tango was refined,
so that it{{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}its erotic features. It was
preformed in{{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}casino ballrooms. The
tango, in its sophisticated European{{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}}
{{/U}}, became popular in England and in the USA. Once{{U}} {{U}} 11
{{/U}} {{/U}}, the tango became the rage in London and Paris. People began
to{{U}} {{U}} 12 {{/U}} {{/U}}the Viennese waltz custom of
dancing in restaurants between the{{U}} {{U}} 13 {{/U}} {{/U}}of
a meal Proprietors{{U}} {{U}} 14 {{/U}} {{/U}}this, "for
the pleasure of the customers and for the benefit of their digestion"! After
"tango teas"{{U}} {{U}} 15 {{/U}} {{/U}}everywhere, even in
private houses, Latin American music was played for the tango,{{U}}
{{U}} 16 {{/U}} {{/U}}more and more people owned
gramphones. The tango returned in{{U}} {{U}} 17
{{/U}} {{/U}}in a freer, more exotic form than{{U}} {{U}} 18
{{/U}} {{/U}}. Rudolph Valentino, the Holly-wood film star, began his{{U}}
{{U}} 19 {{/U}} {{/U}}as a professional tango partner in American
tea-rooms. Valentino{{U}} {{U}} 20 {{/U}} {{/U}}immortalized the
dance on film.
单选题It can be inferred from the passage that the war on terrorism can not draw enough support to justify a U. S. -dominated order because______.
单选题To achieve the desired result, humorous stories should be delivered______.
单选题WhichuniversitydidhistorianPatriceHigonnetgraduatefrom?A.StanfordUniversityB.HarvardUniversityC.MassachusettsInstituteofTechnologyD.UniversityofMichigan
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单选题It"s almost an article of faith: your best ally in the fight against cancer is a doggedly optimistic outlook. And it would seem that mounting evidence of the links between emotional and physical well-being would support that view. The only problem is that there is no good evidence to support that belief when it comes to cancer. Moreover, the "
tyranny
" of positive thinking often becomes just one more burden for the sick.
It was research in the 1970s and "80s that first popularized the idea that attitude might affect cancer outcomes. Such research led doctors to encourage patients to think happy thoughts and visualize their immune system blasting away cancer cells. But most of those studies have been dismissed as either flawed or inconclusive. A review of 37 studies that was published in the
British Medical Journal
in 2002 found that although a positive outlook does correlate with the perception of less pain by patients—a real benefit-there is "little consistent evidence that coping styles play an important part in survival from or recurrence of cancer."
Still, the optimism theory remains attractive. One reason is that Americans live in a culture that desires control. We want to believe that we can beat cancer by imposing our will on the disease. A better reason is that mental states like depression and chronic anxiety have been shown to have physical consequences that affect the progression of such illnesses as heart disease and diabetes. While a similar connection is biologically plausible for cancer, it is far from proven.
Even researchers who believe that studies will ultimately establish links between stress and the progression of cancer, like Stanford"s Dr. David Spiegel, know
the picture is complex.
"It isn"t a matter of "Fix it in your mind, and you fix it in your body,"" he says, "but it would be strange if what goes on in our minds didn"t affect how our bodies deal with illness."
So where does that leave cancer patients? Doctors know that individuals will always bring their own disposition—sunny, sour or sarcastic—to bear on their illness and treatment. Pressuring them to be models of positive thinking is useless. Worse, it could cause them to hide their fears and reject support. But clinicians must remain alert for signs of depression, which can affect the outcome of any disease if it interferes with treatment. And many patients will also need—and welcome—help to improve poor coping skills. Spiegel says, "Having worked with people with life-threatening illnesses for 30 years, it"s clear that there are better and worse ways to deal with these things." False optimism isn"t helpful, but neither is despair.
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单选题The demoralizing environment, decrepit (老朽的) building and minimal materials make the high school experience for these children an uphill battle. Merely graduating from such a high school is difficult, much less becoming a high-caliber science or engineering student. Schools with students from a higher socioeconomic level would not tolerate the obstacles I encountered dally. Improvements need to be made efficiently and made soon, or the divisions among people in this country will only become more extreme. Of course, there are things that concerned citizens can do to help. Get involved with a school, especially one in a poor area. Volunteer to give a presentation or just to spend time with the children. My students were excited to talk to an insurance salesperson who came to give a career exploration lecture. They not only were genuinely interested in the opportunities he described but also were amazed that such a man would donate an afternoon to them. Although those measures can help, they are not enough. For teaching to be effective, the entire environment of the inner city needs to be changed. Teaching someone the difference between velocity and acceleration is irrelevant if the person is hungry and scared. Programs that educate parents in child-rearing, organize low-income groups into cooperative units, fight drug trafficking and help to clean up the ghettos physically will improve the life in the community. The small alterations and "new" proposals currently filling the newspapers are certainly not strong enough to transform a decaying and demoralized school structure that has been disintegrating for decades. Inner-city schools need so much more, and the children deserve so much more than our society is willing to give. Like many other people, I entered the teaching profession eager to investigate change and found many institutionalized obstacles in my way. It should not be so difficult to make a difference.
单选题 In targeting consumers what Pepsi calls the "Power
of One" makes perfect sense: it's all about making sure. that everybody who buys
a salty bag of Tostitos or Lay's potato chips has to think twice before passing
up that thirst quenching bottle of Pepsi or Mountain Dew across the
aisle. In the back offices of supermarkets and discount stores,
Pepsi is waging another kind of war, {{U}}pitching{{/U}} itself not just as a
supplier but also as a partner in a highly competitive business. Coined. Pepsi,
Frito Lay and Tropicana account for $ 11 billion in retail sales at supermarkets
-- hefty numbers that Coke can't match. "We represent up to 13% of their
profits," says PepsiCo's new senior vice president for sales and marketing, AI
Carey. Last month Carey accompanied Enrico and the presidents of Pepsi, Prito
and Tropicana on a historic first joint call on a major retailer to remind the
customer of those figures. For Enrico, the reengineering of
PepsiCo could be the crowning achievement of a career filled with magic acts.
The 54-year-old chairman started as an associate product manager for Frito Lay
and became president of Pepsi Cola at 39. In the 1980s he became famous as the
cola warrior who beat Coke and bragged about it. As its president in the 1990s,
he rejuvenated Frito Lay. Then he turned around the restaurant division before
deciding it was too expensive to keep. "Nobody can bull Roger, because he knows
every one of our businesses clearly", says Indra Nooyi, the company's chief
strategist. Enrico has spent a long time picking these businesses apart and
relearning them, in order to completely reshape them. What
Enrico discovered was that forging a new PepsiCo meant changing a corporate
oulture that was in love with itself. Pepsi has always attracted some of
America's hottest executive talent, and it let these managers run their
businesses. {{U}}In a world where scale matters, such freedom has a price.{{/U}}
"Frankly, we had a long-standing culture of autonomous business units," says
Frito Lay chief executive officer Steve Reinemund. So while managers were
ricocheting off each other in search of their next promotion, or chasing new
restaurant chains or joint ventures in far flung parts of the world, Coke stuck
with the game it knew, steadily increasing the stakes along the way with
billions of dollars of investment in soft drinks, nothing else. "The bet had
been made, and we didn't raise or call it." says Enrico. "We didn't even
play."
