口语表达
口语表达study 为什么会选择这个专业,家人在选择的过程中支持过你吗?
从哪里来
relax-平时怎么使自己放松,认为放松是否重要,会用多长时间,休息的时候是会在家看电视还是和朋友出去玩
口语表达PART 3
Discussion topics :
口语表达hometown 等问题
an interesting job u heard or read
工作环境等
口语表达a park: where is it? what is it look like? what happened?
口语表达apartment 和 House
fashion clothes shopping ,differences between
Questions 21-25 Choose the correct letter, A, B or C.
A New Ice Age: The Day After
Tomorrow? A William Curry is a serious,
sober climate scientist, not an art critic. But he has spent a lot of time
perusing Emanuel Gottlieb Leutze's famous painting George Washington Crossing
the Delaware, which depicts a boatload of colonial American soldiers making
their way to attack English and Hessian troops the day after Christmas in 1776.
'Most people think these other guys in the boat are rowing, but they are
actually pushing the ice away,' says Curry tapping his finger on a reproduction
of the painting. Sure enough, the lead oarsman is bashing the frozen river with
his boot. 'I grew up in Philadelphia. The place in this painting is 30 minutes
away by car. I can tell you, this kind of thing just doesn't happen
anymore.' B But it may again soon. And ice-choked scenes,
similar to those immortalised by the sixteenth century Flemish painter Pieter
Brueghel the Elder, may also return to Europe. His works, including the 1565
masterpiece Hunters in the Snow make the now-temperate European landscapes look
more like Lapland. Such frigid settings were commonplace during a period dating
roughly from 1300 to 1850 because much of North America and Europe was in the
throes of a little ice age. And now there is mounting evidence that the chill
could return. A growing number of scientists believe conditions are ripe for
another prolonged cool down, or small ice age. While no one is predicting a
brutal ice sheet like the one that covered the Northern Hemisphere with glaciers
about 12,000 years ago the next cooling trend could drop average temperatures 5
degrees Fahrenheit over much of the United States and 10 degrees in the
Northeast, northern Europe, and northern Asia. C 'It
could happen in 10 years,' says Terrence Joyce, who chairs the Woods Hole
Physical Oceanography Department. 'Once it does, it can take hundreds of years
to reverse.' And he is alarmed that Americans have yet to take the threat
seriously. D A drop of 5 to 10 degrees entails much more
than simply bumping up the thermostat and carrying on. Both economically and
ecologically, such quick, persistent chilling could have devastating
consequences. A 2002 report titled Abrupt Climate Change: Inevitable Surprises
produced by the National Academy of Sciences, pegged the cost from agricultural
losses alone at $100 billion to $250 billion while also predicting that damage
to ecologies could be vast and incalculable. A grim sampler: disappearing
forests, increased housing expenses, dwindling freshwater, lower crop yields,
and accelerated species extinctions. E Political changes
since the last ice age could make survival far more difficult for the world's
poor. During previous cooling periods, whole tribes simply picked up and moved
south, but that option doesn't work in the modern, tense world of closed
borders. 'To the extent that abrupt climate change may cause rapid and extensive
changes of fortune for those who live off the land, the inability to migrate may
remove one of the major safety nets for distressed people,' says the
report. F Isn't the earth actually warming? Indeed it is,
says Joyce. In his cluttered office, full of soft light from the foggy Cape Cod
morning, he explains how such warming could actually be the surprising culprit
of the next mini-ice age. The paradox is a result of the appearance over the
past 30 years in the North Atlantic of huge rivers of freshwater—the equivalent
of a 10-foot-thick layer—mixed into the salty sea. No one is certain where the
fresh torrents are coming from, but a prime suspect is melting Arctic ice,
caused by a buildup of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere that traps solar
energy. G The freshwater trend is major news in
ocean-science circles. Bob Dickson, a British oceanographer who sounded an alarm
at a February conference in Honolulu, has termed the drop in salinity and
temperature in the Labrador Sea—a body of water between northeastern Canada and
Greenland that adjoins the Atlantic—'arguably the largest full-depth changes
observed in the modern instrumental oceanographic record'.
H The trend could cause a little ice age by subverting the northern
penetration of Gulf Stream waters. Normally, the Gulf Stream, laden with heat
soaked up in the tropics, meanders up the east coasts of the United States and
Canada. As it flows northward, the stream surrenders heat to the air. Because
the prevailing North Atlantic winds blow eastward, a lot of the heat wafts to
Europe. That's why many scientists believe winter temperatures on the Continent
are as much as 36 degrees Fahrenheit warmer than those in North America at the
same latitude. Frigid Boston, for example, lies at almost precisely the same
latitude as balmy Rome. And some scientists say the heat also warms Americans
and Canadians. 'It's a real mistake to think of this solely as a European
phenomenon,' says Joyce. I Having given up its heat to
the air, the now-cooler water becomes denser and sinks into the North Atlantic
by a mile or more in a process oceanographers call thermohaline circulation.
This massive column of cascading cold is the main engine powering a deep water
current called the Great Ocean Conveyor that snakes through all the world's
oceans. But as the North Atlantic fills with freshwater, it grows less dense,
making the waters carried northward by the Gulf Stream less able to sink. The
new mass of relatively freshwater sits on top of the ocean like a big thermal
blanket, threatening the thermohaline circulation. That in turn could make the
Gulf Stream slow or veer southward. At some point, the whole system could simply
shut down, and so quickly. 'There is increasing evidence that we are getting
closer to a transition point, from which we can jump to a new state. Small
changes, such as a couple of years of heavy precipitation or melting ice at high
latitudes, could yield a big response,' says Joyce. J
'You have all this freshwater sitting at high latitudes, and it can literally
take hundreds of years to get rid of it,' Joyce says. So while the globe as a
whole gets warmer by tiny fractions of one degree Fahrenheit annually, the North
Atlantic region could, in a decade, get up to 10 degrees colder. What worries
researchers at Woods Hole is that history is on the side of rapid shutdown. They
know it has happened before.
—Discover Magazine
The Sun—A Mixed Blessing
A. People in Western countries have very mixed feelings about the sun. On the one hand it evokes memories of beaches, summer holidays and playful times. Children"s books often personify the sun as a smiling, happy face—typically contrasted with angry, moody rain clouds. In fact, the sun has such positive connotations that the descriptor "sunny" refers not only to a state of weather but also to "cheery, cheerful, or joyous" moods and dispositions amongst humans. On the other hand, many people fear the sun because of its association with cosmetic degeneration that can cause people to look much older than they actually are. Even more seriously, many people see the sun as a killer—this is because excessive sun exposure can lead to skin cancer which has a very high mortality rate. So is the sun our friend or a foe? The answers are complex and contradictory.
B. Let"s start with the worst news about the sun. It is a carcinogen. As the National Toxicology Program Report on Carcinogens from the Department of Health and Human Services reports, broad-spectrum UV radiation and solar radiation (what is known as "sun rays") are thought to contribute to most of the estimated 1.5 million skin cancers diagnosed in the United States each year. This gives the sun the unfavourable distinction of being the leading carcinogen in the United States—ahead of genetic mutations, bad diets, cigarettes, alcohol, chemical exposure and other lifestyle factors. Of these diagnoses, 8,000 sufferers will perish from the condition. The primary cause of this mortality is metastic melanoma—moles that become cancerous and then spread mutated cells into the lymph nodes and eventually through the rest of the body.
C. Even if you are lucky enough to avoid skin cancer, the sun can still have damaging effects on your skin. This is known as premature aging, so-called because sun damage mimics the skin"s natural aging process, but does so at a much earlier age. The sun causes premature aging by breaking down and mutating collagen—a fibrous, "glue"-like substance that supports and connects tissue and is responsible for the firmness, suppleness, elasticity and overall appearance of the skin. Skin"s collagen production slows and eventually stops due to aging anyway, but sun exposure accelerates this process. It also mutates collagen cells, producing visible abnormalities on the skin. The slowing collagen production appears as wrinkles, sagging and fine lines, while the mutated cells can take the form of a leathery skin texture, facial ruddiness and blemishes known as liver spots. Together these can dissolve signs of youth and vitality from a person"s looks—an image that contrasts starkly with the smooth, tanned and youthful-looking models we often associate with summer!
D. The sun does have a lot of positive things to offer humans, however. Firstly, it staves off Seasonal Affective Disorder (SAD), an appropriate acronym for a mood disorder caused by insufficient exposure to light—as such, it is typically associated with winters and is sometimes called "winter blues" or "winter depression". SAD, once treated with scepticism by health experts but now widely acknowledged to be a legitimate condition, can create a number of distressing problems. Sufferers may oversleep and find it difficult to be roused in the morning, crave "comfort foods" high in carbohydrates, lack energy, find it difficult to concentrate and may withdraw from social exposure. Together these symptoms can lead to depression, pessimistic feelings of hopelessness and an inability to find pleasurable activities. Researchers are not yet sure of the exact physical mechanism that causes SAD, but they do know that exposure to bright life is an effective remedy. The sun definitely has a palliative effect here.
E. In other ways, the health-improving effects of the sun can be even more powerful. These effects typically relate to Vitamin D, of which the sun is a great source for two reasons. Firstly, it is completely free, and secondly, our bodies have natural mechanisms that prevent an overdose from internally-generated Vitamin D from the sun. Although this vitamin can be sourced from milk, cod liver oil and supplements, solar radiation is still the primary source for most humans. It"s preventative role is important: Vitamin D seems to protect against prostate, breast, colon, kidney and ovarian cancers, benefit bone health, as well as reduce overall mortality and the occurrence of cardiovascular events—mortality from strokes and heart attacks is up to forty percent higher in some countries during winter months, a connection linked to lack of sun exposure. In fact, skin cancer rates rise with proximity to the equator amongst light-skinned people, but the prognosis of most other cancers is exactly the opposite. Indeed, the overall benefits of sun exposure outweigh the risks when it comes to cancer, even though the sun is a well-documented carcinogen.
F. Ultimately, moderation and protection may be the key when it comes to sun exposure. This is true of other carcinogens such as alcohol as well—studies suggest that binge drinkers and teetotallers experience higher levels of many health problems than people who drink moderate amounts of alcohol on social occasions. Healthy access to the sun involves wearing broad-spectrum sunscreen before every exposure (even in winter)and not staying in the sun any longer than is necessary, which is about five minutes for adequate Vitamin D exposure. With these simple steps, the sun once again becomes our friend and not our foe.
Neurologiststendtodividetheexperienceofloveintothreedistinctcategories:attraction,lustandattachment.Thecombinationofallthreecanmakeforanintoxicatingandlastingbond,buttheyarenotalwaysexperiencedtogether.Frequently,forexample,welustafterthosewithwhomwehavenodesireofhavingalong-termrelationship;atothertimes,wefeel"attached"topeopleinthesenseofbeingdrawntothememotionallyorspiritually,butnotdrawntothemphysically.Itisaccuratetodescribetheseas"stages"oflove—lusttendstocomefirst,thenattraction,whichlastsformonthsoryears,andfinallyattachment,whichcankeeppeopletogetherfordecades.Theseareseparatechemicalsubstrates,sotheycanoverlap;however,evidencesuggeststhatattractionhasalimitedlifespan.Lustistypicallyexperiencedsoonafterpuberty.Thisiswhenestrogenandtestosterone—theunderlyingchemicalsubstratesforlustinwomenandmenrespectively—activatethemselvesinourbodiesforthefirsttime.Theprimarypurposeoflustisbelievedtobeprocreation,andtheexperienceisoneoffeelingphysicallydrawn,oreven"pulled"towardsanotherperson.Pheromones,physicalattractivenessandoursocialisedpredispositionsforwhatweseekinamatearethefactorsthatactivatethesensationoflust.Despitethestrengthitcanhaveoverourpsyche,lustonitsownisaveryfleetingexperience.Itcanfirmlysteerpeopletogetherfortheirinitialencounters,butithasnopowertokeepthemthere.Iftherelationshipistolast,somethingcalledattractionmusttakeplace.Attractionistheintoxicatingsensationexperiencedintheinitialperiodofknowingsomeone.The"symptoms"includedizziness,flushedskin,andalossofappetiteandsleep.ThesearearesultofachemicalcocktailofdopamineandnorepinephrinethatPEA—atransmitterchemical—unleashesintothebloodstreamwhenattractiontakesplace.Dopamineisresponsiblefortheblissfulfeelingsofself-confidence,joyandmotivationthatnewlovebringsabout;norepinephrine,similartoadrenaline,bringsaboutpalpitationsandanxiety.Attractionhasmorestayingpowerthanlust;whileitsintensityfadesafterafewweeks,theeffectofthePEAtransmissioncancontinueforsometimebetweeneighteenmonthsandfouryears.Afterthat,ourbodiesbuildupanaturaltolerance.Atthisstage,atransitiontoaphasecalledattachmentcanoccur.The"rush"ofattractionisreplacedbyendorphinslikeoxytocinandvasopressinthatfeellikeagentle,warmsortofpleasantness—asafefeelingthatcalmsthemind,numbspainandsoothesanxiety.Thisisamuchmorepleasantfeelinginwhichtospendanextendedperiodoftime—potentially,forty,fiftyormoreyears,dependingonwhenyoumeetyourpartner.Itallowsyoutoliveyourlifewithsomeone,withouttheirbeingthecentralobsessionofyourlife.Unfortunately,thereisnoguaranteethatPEAtransmissionwillevolveintotheendorphinstage—inmanyinstances,itwillbereplacedbyafeelingofemptinessanddissatisfaction.Itisnotacoincidencethatpeakdivorceratesoccuratbetweenfourandsevenyears,asPEAtransmissionwearsawayandattachmentdoesnotmaterialiseinmanypeople"sbrains.Evenneurologistsagreethatchemistryisn"teverything.Therearenumerousotherfactorssuchascultureandpersonality,forwhichsciencemayneverhaveanexplanation.Whiledopamineisbliss,however,ignoranceisnot—neurologyhasmuchtocontributetosatisfactioninourpersonallives.ItmaynotbeagoodideatocommittomarriageorspendingtherestofyourlifewithsomeoneifyoustillfeeltheblissfulrushofPEAtransmission,forexample.Onceyourbrainhassuccumbedtothewarmingopiatesofoxytocinandvasopressin,thiswillbeasafercommitment.Attachmentbringsotherneedstotheforeground,however;whilepeopleenjoythesecuritythatattachmentbringsabout,theydonotlosetheirdesiresforeitherlustorattraction.LosingtheabilitytogiveyourpartnertherushofPEAtransmission,whileknowingthathemayfeelthisforotherpeople,canbringaboutjealousyandanxietyinpeople.Acknowledginganddiscussingtheseinsecuritiescanalleviatethemasitislikelythat,tosomeextent,bothpartnerswillbefeelingthem.
According to the text, {{B}}FIVE{{/B}} of the following statements are true.
Write the corresponding letters in answer boxes 18 to 22 in any order.
A. The fight over the Rospuda valley is the biggest wildlife issue in
Europe.B. Primeval forests have not been destroyed by people.C. The Via
Baltica has almost been completed.D. The Polish government is emphasising
policies that aid transport links.E. There are no musk orchids outside
Poland.F. A recent protest almost became violent.G. Several Polish
wildlife sites are protected under the Natura scheme.H. Via Baltica may
damage other protected areas.
According to the text, FIVE of the following statements are true. Write the
corresponding letters in answer boxes 18 to 22 in any order.
A. The presence of MRSA in British hospitals contributed to an
election being held.B. S.aureus likes living up people's
noses.C. Methicillin is ineffective against MRSA.D. Only a
few antibiotics are expensive.E. Producing antibiotics is not very
profitable.F. Vaccines help reduce the amount of antibiotics needed to
fight superbugs.G. Cardiac surgery greatly increases the risk of
getting MRSA.H. Response rates to vaccines often depend on what is
wrong with the patient.
{{B}}SECTION 1: QUESTIONS 1-10{{/B}} Listen to two students
talking about libraries in Australia.
Questions 1-2
Choose the correct letter from A-D for each
answer.
Which is correct about the Nile crocodile?
The Biology and Psychology of Crowding
in Man and Animals A Of the great myriad
of problems which man and world face today, there are three significant trends
which stand above all others in importance: the unprecedented population growth
throughout the world—a net increase of 1,400,000 people per week—and all of its
associations and consequences; the increasing urbanisation of these people, so
that more and more of them are rushing into cities and urban areas of the world;
and the tremendous explosion of communication and social contact throughout the
world, so that every part of the world is now aware of every other part. All of
these trends are producing increased crowding and the perception of
crowding. B It is important to emphasise at the outset
that crowding and density are not necessarily the same. Density is the number of
individuals per unit area or unit space. It is a simple physical measurement.
Crowding is a product of density, communication, contact, and activity. It
implies a pressure, a force, and a psychological reaction. It may occur at
widely different densities. The frontiersman may have felt crowded when someone
built a homestead a mile away. The suburbanite may feel relatively uncrowded in
a small house on a half-acre lot if it is surrounded by trees, bushes and a
hedgerow, even though he lives under much higher physical density than did the
frontiersman. Hence, crowding is very much a psychological and ecological
phenomenon, and not just a physical condition. C A
classic crowding study was done by Calhoun (1962), who put rats into a physical
environment designed to accommodate 50 rats and provided enough food, water, and
nesting materials for the number of rats in the environment. The rat population
peaked at 80, providing a look at cramped living conditions. Although the rats
experienced no resource limitations other than space restriction, a number of
negative conditions developed: the two most dominant males took harems of
several female rats and occupied more than their share of space, leaving other
rats even more crowded; many females stopped building nests and abandoned their
infant rats; the pregnancy rate declined; infant and adult mortality rates
increased; more aggressive and physical attacks occurred; sexual variation
increased, including hyper-sexuality, inhibited sexuality, homosexuality, and
bisexuality. D Calhoun's results have led to other
research on crowding's effects on human beings, and these research findings have
suggested that high density is not the single cause of negative effects on
humans. When crowding is defined only in terms of spatial density (the amount of
space per person), the effects of crowding are variable. However, if crowding is
defined in terms of social density, or the number of people who must interact,
then crowding better predicts negative psychological and physical
effects. E There are several reasons why crowding makes
us feel uncomfortable. One reason is related to stimulus overload—there are just
too many stimuli competing for our attention. We cannot notice or respond to all
of them. This feeling is typical of the hurried mother, who has several children
competing for her attention, while she is on the phone and the doorbell is
ringing. This leaves her feeling confused, fatigued and yearning to withdraw
from the situation. There are strong feelings of a lack of privacy—being unable
to pay attention to what you want without being repeatedly interrupted or
observed by others. F Field studies done in a variety of
settings illustrate that social density is associated with negative effects on
human beings. In prison studies, males generally became more aggressive with
increases in density. In male prison, inmates living in conditions of higher
densities were more likely to suffer from fight. Males rated themselves as more
aggressive in small rooms (a situation of high spatial density), whilst the
females rated themselves as more aggressive in large rooms (Stokols et al.
1973). These differences relate to the different personal space requirements of
the genders. Besides, Baum and Greenberg found that high density leads to
decreased attraction, both physical attraction and liking towards others and it
appears to have gender differences in the impact that density has on attraction
levels, with males experiencing a more extreme reaction. Also, the greater the
density is, the less the helping behaviour. One reason why the level of helping
behaviour may be reduced in crowded situations links to the concept of diffusion
of responsibility. The more people that are present in a situation that requires
help, the less often help is given. This may be due to the fact that people
diffuse responsibility among themselves with no-one feeling that they ought to
be the one to help. G Facing all these problems, what are
we going to do with them? The more control a person has over the crowded
environment the less negatively they experience it, thus the perceived crowding
is less (Schmidt and Keating). The ability to cope with crowding is also
influenced by the relationship the individual has with the other people in the
situation. The high density will be interpreted less negatively if the
individual experiences it with people he likes. One of the main coping
strategies employed to limit the impact of high density is social withdrawal.
This includes behaviours such as averting the gaze and using negative body
language to attempt to block and potential intrusions.
—The Ohio Journal of Science
The Secret of Secret
Santa A When it comes to Christmas
presents, do you give as good as you get? Most people think they do. Even
President Barack Obama is on record saying he goes one better. 'Here's the
general rule: I give nicer stuff than I get,' he told Oprah Winfrey in a
pre-Christmas interview last year. That may seem ungrateful, but consider the
implications. Most people believe that the gifts they get are not as good as the
ones they give. No wonder Christmas is so often a crushing
disappointment. B There is a better way: abandon the
ritual of mutual gift-giving in favour of a much more rational system called
secret Santa. The beauty of this is that you only have to buy one present for
each social circle you belong to, rather than one for everyone you
know. C In the original version of secret Santa each
member of a group—colleagues, say—is anonymously assigned to buy a gift for
another and give it to them at the Christmas party. Thankfully, that game has
evolved into something more Machiavellian: thieving Santa, also known as dirty
Santa or the Grinch game. As its name suggests, this revolves around theft and
dirty tricks. In its simplest version, everybody buys a present costing between,
say, £10 and £20. They then secretly deposit it, gift-wrapped, into a sack. To
start the game, numbers are drawn out of a hat to decide the order of
play. D Now the horse-trading begins. The first player
must take a present from the sack and open it. The second player then has a
choice—open a new present, or steal the already opened one. If they choose to
steal, player 1 gets to open another present, but they are not allowed to steal
their present straight back. Player 3 now enters the fray, either opening a new
present or stealing an opened one, whereupon the victim gets to play again,
either stealing a different present or opening another new one. And so it goes
on until everybody has had a turn and there are no more unopened
presents. E The system is not without its flaws, however.
For example, if the first player opens a poor present they are likely to be
stuck with it, while the player picked to go last has a good chance of getting a
really good present, perhaps the best. For that reason there are many variants
designed to spread the pain. One is to allow dispossessed players to steal a
present back, although this tends to lead to endless rounds of tit-for-tat
larceny. Another is to set a limit on how many times an individual present can
be stolen. F If you have never played thieving Santa,
give it a go. It's fun. Fun, though, can be overrated. What you really want is
to win—and that means ending up with the best possible present. So how should
you 8o about getting it? Imagine you are playing a game in which a present can
only be stolen once and it is your turn. There are three opened presents on the
table and four in the sack. One of the opened ones is not bad, and if you steal
it you can keep it. But there may be even better ones in the sack, so why not
gamble? Then again, if you open a really good present somebody is certain to
steal it from you, and you risk ending up with something really terrible. What
to do? G Here is where a strategy developed by game
theorists Arpita Ghosh and Mohammad Mahdian of Yahoo Research in Santa Clara,
California, can help. 'I heard about this game at a New Year's party, from
somebody who had just been playing it at Christmas,' says Ghosh. 'I thought it
would be fun to analyse.' H Ghosh and Mahdian decided to
play a simplified version of the game. Assuming certain things—that the players
are sober, for example, and that everybody puts the same value on the same
presents. They wanted to work out how to 'maximise the expected utility'. Or, in
English, to work out what you theoretically expect to get out of a transaction
before it has happened. They started by thinking about the game's final round,
where all but one of the players has had a turn and there is just one unopened
present left in the sack. In this case the strategy is pretty obvious. If all
the presents are worth somewhere between £10 and £20, the expected value of the
final unopened present is £15. The rational strategy, therefore, is to look
around the table and steal any present worth more than that. But remember, if
the top present has been unwrapped it is likely to have been stolen already so
you won't be able to have it. So if there isn't a present worth more than £15
that hasn't already been stolen, open the one in the sack. This means that the
final player has an expected utility of at least £15, which is about as good as
it gets. Expected utility, of course, is not the same as what you actually get.
You might think that the final present is trash, in which case the strategy
wasn't much help. But at least you can console yourself that it was correct in
theory. I Ghosh and Mahdian then started to work
backwards through each player's turn—a process known as backward induction—to
derive a general strategy. Their next stop was the last-but-one player, where
there are two unopened presents. This is a bit more complicated than before, as
you have to take into account the possibility of opening a really good present
which is immediately stolen. This possibility means that the last-but-one player
must have a lower steal threshold than the final player. Ghosh and Mahdian's
calculations show that a player in this position should steal any present worth
£13.75 or more. If there is no such present available, they should open a new
one. This 'threshold strategy' turns out to work for all players, except the
first, who has no choice but to open an unopened gift. The steal threshold
itself rises as each player takes their turn because the fewer people left to
pick a present, the fewer opportunities there are for someone to steal yours.
What this means is the steal threshold starts low; in an 8-player game it is
approximately 11.56 for the second player. But, surprisingly, it delivers an
expected utility of slightly more than £15 for all players—except poor old
player 1, of course, who is more or less guaranteed to 'take one for the team'
and get something pretty lousy. J 'When your turn
arrives, have a look at the gifts that you can possibly steal,' says Ghosh. 'If
the best of those is good enough, where "good enough" depends on how many
unopened gifts remain, steal it. If the best of those is not good enough, open a
new gift. What this is really all about is making sure you get the best of the
rubbish.' This should perhaps be known as 'minimising your futility', Ghosh
said. So what of the first player, who seems doomed to pick the short straw?
This is an acknowledged problem in real-world thieving Santa, and is usually
solved by giving the first player a chance to steal right at the end. In this
case all the players have an expected utility of exactly £15. With all this
strategy at her fingertips, you would expect Ghosh to be arranging secret Santa
games every year. 'Actually no,' she says. 'I've never played it.' Typical
theorist.
—New Scientist
Which THREE situations conform to the house insurance claim terms?
{{B}}Qusetions 11-15{{/B}}Answer the following questions using {{B}}NO MORE
THAN THREE WORDS AND/OR A NUMBER{{/B}} for each answer.
According to the text, {{B}}FIVE{{/B}} of the following statements are true.
Write the corresponding letters in answer boxes 18 to 22 in any order.
A. British oil production has halved in recent years.B. The weather
conditions in the North Sea are not good.C. Oil fields are being looked for
in areas with more difficult underwater conditions.D. Britain is expected to
have over half the world market in underwater technology in the future.E.
The discovery of large oil fields is less common nowadays.F. Offshore energy
generation offers opportunities for developers of underwater technology.G.
One suggestion is to construct fossil-fuel power plants offshore.H. The oil
industry is complaining that the government is not focussing enough on training
people with the skills the industry needs.