单选题Job sharing refers to the situation in which two people divide the responsibility of one full-time job. The two people willingly act as part-time workers, enough hours between them to fulfill the duties of a full-time worker. If they each work half the job, for example, they each receive 50 percent of the job"s wages, its holidays and its other benefits. Of course, some job sharers take a smaller or larger share of the responsibilities of the position, receiving a lesser or greater share of the benefits. Job sharing differs from conventional part-time work in that it occurs mainly in the more highly skilled and professional areas, which require higher levels of responsibility and employee commitment. Job sharing should not be confused with the term work sharing, which refers to increasing the number of jobs by reducing the number of hours of each existing job, thus offering more positions to the growing number of unemployed people. Job sharing, by contrast, is not designed to address unemployment problems; its focus, rather, is to provide well-paid work for skilled workers and professionals who want more free time for other activities. As would be expected, women constitute the bulk of job sharers. A survey carded out in 1988 by Britain"s Equal Opportunities Commission revealed that 78 percent of sharers were female, the majority of whom were between 20 and 40 years of age. Subsequent studies have come up with similar results. Many of these women were re-entering the job market after having had children, but they chose not to seek part-time work because it would have meant lower status. Job sharing also offered an acceptable shift back into full-time work after a long absence. The necessity of close cooperation when sharing a job with another person makes the actual work quite different from conventional one-position jobs. However, to ensure a greater chance that the partnership will succeed, each person needs to know the strengths, weaknesses and preferences of his or her partner before applying for a position. Moreover, there must be a fair division of both routine tasks and interesting ones. In sum, for a position to be job-shared well, the two individuals must be well matched and must treat each other as equals.

单选题The specially developed skin paint will wear off in 2-4 days, but can be removed instantly with alcohol.

单选题Comparisons were drawn between the development of television in the 20th century and the diffusion of printing in the 15th and 16th centuries. Yet much had happened 16 As was discussed before, it was not 17 the 19th century that the newspaper became the dominant pre-electronic 18 , following in the wake of the pamphlet and the book and in the 19 of the periodical. It was during the same time that the communications revolution 20 up, beginning with transport, the railway, and leading 21 through the telegraph, the telephone, radio, and motion pictures 22 the 20th-century world of the motor car and the air plane. Not everyone sees that process in 23 . It is important to do so. It is generally recognized, 24 , that the introduction of the computer in the early 20th century, 25 by the invention of the integrated circuit during the 1960s, radically changed the process, 26 its impact on the media was not immediately 27 . As time went by, computers became smaller and more powerful, and they became "personal" too, as well as 28 , with display becoming sharper and storage 29 increasing. They were thought of, like people, 30 generations, with the distance between generations much smaller. It was within the computer age that the term "information society" began to be widely used to describe the context within which we now live.

单选题Beijing Television-Station Transmitting Tower really looks magnificent at night when it"s illuminated .

单选题Woman: Have you ever visited Linda"s room? Man: No. Is there anything? Woman: Well... you can"t imagine it. It looks just like a total wreck. Question: What is Linda"s room like?

单选题For the audience to better understand the new concept, the professor elaborated it with many examples.

单选题The collapse of the Earth"s magnetic field—which guards the planet and guides many of its creatures—appears to have started seriously about 150 years ago, the New York Times reported last week. The field"s strength has decreased by 10 or 15 per cent so far and this has increased the debate over whether it signals a reversal of the planet"s lines of magnetic force. During a reversal, the main field weakens, almost vanishes, and reappears with opposite polarity. The transition would take thousands of years. Once completed, compass needles that had pointed north would point south. A reversal could cause problems for both man and animals. Astronauts and satellites would have difficulties. Birds, fish and animals that rely on the magnetic field for navigation would find migration confusing. But experts said the effects would not be a big disaster, despite claims of doom and vague evidence of links between past field reversals and species extinctions. Although a total transition may be hundreds or thousands of years away, the rapid decline in magnetic strength is already affecting satellites. Last month, the European Space Agency approved the world"s largest effort at tracking the field"s shifts. A group of new satellites, called Swarm, is to monitor the collapsing field with far greater precision. "We want to get some idea of how this would evolve in the near future, just like people trying to predict the weather," said Gauthier Hulot, a French geophysicist working on the satellite plan. "I"m personally quite convinced we should be able to work out the first predictions by the end of the mission." No matter what the new findings, the public has no reason to panic. Even if a transition is coming on its way, it might take 2 000 years to mature. The last one took place 780 000 years ago, when early humans were learning how to make stone tools. Deep inside the Earth flow hot currents of melted iron. This mechanical energy creates electromagnetism. This process is known as the geophysical generator. In a car"s generator, the same principle turns mechanical energy into electricity. No one knows precisely why the field periodically reverses. But scientists say the responsibility probably lies with changes in the disorderly flows of melted iron, which they see as similar to the gases that make up the clouds of Jupiter.

单选题Man: Are you sure Bob and Tim will come to help today? Woman: No problem. They"re men of their words. Question: What does the woman want to tell the man?

单选题If those " mad moments "— when you can"t recall what your friend has told you or where you left your keys—are becoming more frequent, mental exercises and a healthy brain diet may help. Just as bodies require more maintenance with the passing years, so do brains, which scientists now know show signs of aging as early as the 20s and 30s. "Brain aging starts at a very young age, younger than any of us have imagined and these processes continue gradually over the years," said Dr. Gary Small, the director of the Center on Aging at the University of California, Los Angeles. "I"m convinced that it is never too early to get started on a mental or brain-fitness program," he added. In his book, "The Memory Bible," the 51-year-old neuroscientist lists what he refers to as the 10 commandments for keeping the brain young. They include training memory, building skills, minimizing stress, mental exercises, brain food and a healthy lifestyle. It"s a game plan for keeping brain cells sparking and neural networks in tip-top shape. "Misplacing your keys a couple of times doesn"t mean you should start labeling your cabinets. Memory loss is not an inevitable consequence of aging. Our brains can fight back," he said. Small provides the weapons for a full-scale attack. According to him, simple memory tests give an indication of what you are up against and tools such as look, snap and connect are designed to make sure that important things such as names and dates are never forgotten. "So if you want to learn names and faces, for example, you meet Mrs. Beatty and you notice a distinguishing facial feature, maybe a prominent eyebrow," said Small. "You associate the first thing that comes to mind. I think of the actor Warren Beatty so I create a mental snapshot of Warren Beatty kissing her brow. " Small admits it may sound a bit strange but he says it works. " Mental exercises could be anything from doing crossword puzzles and writing with your left hand if you are right handed or learning a language. It could be anything that is fun that people enjoy doing", he added. He also recommends physical exercise, a low-fat diet and eating foods rich in omega-3 fatty acids, such as fish, walnuts and Brazil nuts, and fruits and vegetables high in antioxidants (抗氧化剂) including blueberries and onions in addition to reducing stress.

单选题Even plants can run a fever, especially when they"re under attack by insects or disease. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away—straight up. A decade ago, adapting the infrared scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide (杀虫剂]) spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don"t have pest (害虫) problems. Even better, Paley"s Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running "fevers". Farmers could then spotspray, using 40 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would. The bad news is that Paley"s company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. "This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States," says George Other of Texas A&M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago.

单选题The company has the right to end his employment at any time.

单选题Man: It"s such a warm day. I think I"ll do some reading in the sunshine. Woman: I"d like to join you but I find it easier to concentrate here. Question: What is the woman going to do?

单选题Enraged by being taxed without being given representation, New Englanders tipped tea into Boston harbor.

单选题A major reason for conflict in the animal world is territory. The male animal establishes an area. The size of the area is sufficient to provide food for him, his mate and their off spring. Migrating birds, for example, used up the best territory in the order of "first come, first 1 " The late arrivals may acquire 2 territories, but less food is available, or they are too close to the 3 of the enemies of the species. 4 there is really insufficient food or the danger is very great, the animal will not 5 . In this way, the members of the species which are less fit will not have offspring. When there is conflict 6 territory, animals will commonly use force, or a show of force, to decide which will stay and which will go. It is interesting to note, 7 , that animals seem to use only the minimum amount of force 8 to drive away the intruder. There is usually no killing. In the case of those animals which are capable of 9 each other great harm, 10 is a system for the losing animal to show the winning animal that he wishes to submit. When he shows this, the victor normally stops fighting.

单选题The government is to ban payments to witnesses by newspapers seeking to buy up people involved in prominent cases 1 the trial of Rosemary West. In a significant 2 of legal controls over the press, Lord Irvine, the Lord Chancellor, will introduce a 3 bill that will propose making payments to witnesses 4 and will strictly control the amount of 5 that can be given to a case 6 a trial begins. In a letter to Gerald Kaufman, chairman of the House of Commons media select committee, Lord Irvine said he 7 with a committee report this year which said that self regulation did not 8 sufficient control. 9 of the letter came two days after Lord Irvine caused a 10 of media protest when he said the 11 of privacy controls contained in European legislation would be left to judges 12 to Parliament. The Lord Chancellor said introduction of the Human Rights Bill, which 13 the European Convention on Human Rights legally 14 in Britain, laid down that everybody was 15 to privacy and that public figures could go to court to protect themselves and their families.

单选题Woman: What can I do for you? Man: I would like to get my money work for me. Woman: There are two kinds. One is relatively safe but offers a low return on your money, the other promises high profits but that involves considerable speculation. Which one do you prefer? Question: What is the probable relationship between the two speakers?

单选题A: ______ B: Yes, it"s not like what the radio said at all.

单选题In the United States, the provisions of the constitution of any state may not conflict with those of the Federal Constitution.

单选题A: You look more beautiful in such a nice dress. B: ______

单选题Although it seemed to take all her strength, the patient ______ up a smile to her room.