单选题 The past year or two has tested the idea that all publicity is good publicity, at least when it comes to business. Undeserved bonuses, plunging share prices and government bail-outs, among other ills, have aroused the anger of the media and public-and created a windfall for public-relations firms. The recession has increased corporate demand for PR, analysts say, and enhanced the industry's status. "We used to be the tail on the dog," says Richard Edelman, the boss of Edelman. But now, he continues, PR is "the organizing principle" behind many business decisions. PR has done well in part because it is often cheaper than mass advertising campaigns. Its impact, in the form of favorable coverage in the media or online, can also be more easily measured. Moreover, PR firms are beginning to expand into territory that used to be the domain of advertising firms, a sign of their increasing clout. They used chiefly to pitch story ideas to media outlets and try to get their clients mentioned in newspapers. Now they also dream up and organize live events, web launches and the like. "When you look at advertising versus public relations, it's not going to be those clearly different," says Christopher Graves, the boss of Ogilvy Public Relations Worldwide. "It may be indistinguishable at some point where one ends and the other begins." PR has also benefited from the changing media landscape. The withering of many traditional media outlets has left fewer journalists from fewer firms covering business. That makes PR doubly important, both for attracting journalists' attention, and for helping firms bypass old routes altogether and disseminate news by posting press releases on their websites, for example. The rise of the internet and social media has given PR a big boost. Many big firms have a presence on social-networking sites, such as Facebook and Twitter, overseen by PR staff. PR firms are increasingly called on to track what consumers are saying about their clients online and to respond directly to any negative commentary. Perhaps the best indication of PR's growing importance is the attention it is attracting from regulators. They are worried that PR firms do not make it clear enough that they are behind much seemingly independent commentary on blogs and social networks. In October America's Federal Trade Commission published new guidelines for bloggers, requiring them to disclose whether they had been paid by companies or received free merchandise. Further regulation is likely. But that will not hamper PR's growth. After all, companies that fall foul of the rules will need the help of a PR firm.

单选题Until recently, most American entrepreneurs (企业家)were men. Discrimination against women in business, the demands of caring for families, and lack of business training had kept the number of women entrepreneurs small. Now, however, businesses owned by women account for more than ＄40 billion in annual revenues, and this figure is likely to continue rising throughout the 1980s. As Carolyn Doppelt Gray, an official of the Small Business Administration, has noted, "The 1970s was the decade of women entering management, and the 1980s has turned out to be the decade of the woman entrepreneur." What are some of the factors behind this trend? For one thing, as more women earn advanced degrees in business and enter the corporate world, they are finding obstacles. Women are still excluded from most executive suites. Charlotte Taylor, a management consultant, had noted, "In the 1970s women believed if they got an MBA and worked hard, they could become chairman of the board. Now they've found out that isn't going to happen, so they go out on their own." In the past, most women entrepreneurs worked in "women's" fields—cosmetics and clothing, for example. But this is changing. Consider ASK Computer Systems, a ＄22-million-a-year computer software business. It was founded in 1973 by Sandra Kurtzig, who was then a housewife with degrees in math and engineering. When Kurtzig founded the business, her first product was software that let weekly newspapers keep tabs on their newspaper carriers—and her office was a bedroom at home, with a shoebox under the bed to hold the company's cash. After she succeeded with the newspaper software system, she hired several bright computer-science graduates to develop additional programs. When these were marketed and sold. ASK began to grow. It now has 200 employees, and Sandra Kurtzig owns ＄66.9 million of stock. Of course, many women who start their own businesses fail, just as men often do. They still face hurdles in the business world, especially problems in raising money; the Banking and finance world is still dominated by men, and old attitudes die hard. Most businesses owned by women are still quite small. But the situation is changing; there are likely to be many more Sandra Kurtzigs in the years ahead.

单选题It is a favorite pastime of older people to lament the defects of the young. Every generation seems to be convinced that in its day, standards were higher, schools were tougher and kids were smarter. But if I.Q. scores are any measure, and even their critics agree they measure something, people are getting smarter. Researchers who study intelligence say scores around the world have been increasing so fast that a high proportion of people regarded as normal at the turn of the century would be considered way below average by today's tests. Psychologists offer a variety of possible explanations for the increase, including better nutrition, urbanization, more experience with test taking, and smaller families. Some even say that television and video games have made children's brains more agile. But no explanation is without its critics, and no one can say with certainty what effects, if any, the change is having on how people lead their daily lives. It is all the more mysterious because it seems to be happening in the absence of a simultaneous increase in scores on achievement tests. One explanation for the rise is ruled out: genetics. Because the increase has taken place in a relatively short period of time, it cannot be due to genetic factors. The worldwide pattern of rising scores in industrialized nations was discovered by Dr. James R. Flynn, now a professor at the University of Otego, New Zealand. He began looking into the subject in the 1980's in an effort to rebut Dr. Arthur Jensen, the professor from the UC Berkeley who argued that even if the environments of blacks and whites were equalized, the 15-point gap in I. Q. scores between the races would only be partly eliminated. As Dr. Flynn investigated, he found that I. Q. scores were going up almost everywhere he looked. Although the gap remains, Dr. Flynn said the movement in scores suggests that the gap need not be permanent. If blacks in 1995 had the same mean I. Q. that whites had in 1945, he said, it may be that the average black environment of 1995 was equivalent in quality to the average white environment of 1945. "Is that really so implausible?" Dr. Flynn asked. Meanwhile, the kinds of intelligence that are promoted and respected vary from time to time, said Dr. Patricia Greenfield, a psychology professor at the UCLA. Playing computer games like Tetris promotes very different skills from reading novels. The new skills, she said, are manifested in the world. "Flynn will tell you we don't have more Mozarts and Beethovens," Dr. Greenfield said, "I say, look at the achievements of science, like DNA. Or look at all the technological developments of this century. /

单选题Why is acid rain little understood?______

单选题Come on, my fellow white folks, we have something to confess. Out with it, friends, the biggest secret known to whites since the invention of powdered rouge: welfare is a white program. The numbers go like this: 61% of the population receiving welfare, listed as "means-tested cash assistance" by the Census Bureau, is identified as whit e, while only 33% is identified as black. These numbers notwithstanding, the Republican version of "political correctness" has given us "welfare cheat" as a new term for African American since the early days of Ronald Reagan. Our confession surely stands: white folks have been gobbling up the welfare budget while blaming someone else. But it's worse than that. If we look at Social Security, which is another form of welfare, although it is often mistaken for an individual insurance program, then whites are the ones who are crowding the trough. We receive almost twice as much per capita, for an aggregate advantage to our race of ＄10 billion a year--much more than the ＄ 3. 9 billion advantage African American gain from their disproportionate share of welfare. One sad reason: whites live an average of six years longer than African Americans, meaning that young black workers help subsidize a huge and growing "over-class" of white retirees. I do not see our confession bringing much relief. There's a reason for resentment, though it has more to do with class than with race. White people are poor too, and in numbers far exceeding any of our more generously pigmented social groups. And poverty as defined by the government is a vast underestimation of the economic terror that persists at incomes--such as ＄ 20,000 or even ＄ 40,000 and above--that we like to think of as middle class. The problem is not that welfare is too generous to blacks but that social welfare in general is too stingy to all concerned. Naturally, whites in the swelling "near poor" category resent the notion of whole races supposedly frolicking at their expense. Whites, near poor and middle class, need help too--as do the many African Americans. So we white folks have a choice. We can keep pretending that welfare is black program and a scheme for transferring our earnings to the pockets of shiftless, dark-skinned people. Or we can clear our throats, blush prettily and admit that we are hurting too--for cash assistance when we're down and out, for health insurance, for college aid and all the rest. Racial scapegoating has its charms, I will admit: the surge of righteous anger, even the fun--for those inclined--of wearing sheets and burning crosses. But there are better, nobler sources of white pride, it seems to me. Remember this: only we can truly, deeply blush.

单选题The new package of measures is inevitably a complicated one due to ______.

单选题According to the text, scholars and students are great travelers because

单选题 College sports in the United States are a huge deal. Almost all major American universities have football, baseball, basketball and hockey programs, and{{U}} (1) {{/U}}millions of dollars each year to sports. Most of them earn millions{{U}} (2) {{/U}}as well, in television revenues, sponsorships. They also benefit{{U}} (3) {{/U}}from the added publicity they get via their teams. Big-name universities{{U}} (4) {{/U}}each other in the most popular sports. Football games at Michigan regularly{{U}} (5) {{/U}}crowds of over 90, 000. Basketball's national collegiate championship game is a TV{{U}} (6) {{/U}}on a par with any other sporting event in the United States,{{U}} (7) {{/U}}perhaps the Super Bowl itself. At any given time during fall or winter one can{{U}} (8) {{/U}}one's TV set and see the top athletic programs--from schools like Michigan, UCLA, Duke and Stanford--{{U}} (9) {{/U}}in front of packed houses and national TV audiences. The athletes themselves are{{U}} (10) {{/U}}and provided with sch61arships. College coaches identify{{U}} (11) {{/U}}teenagers and then go into high schools to{{U}} (12) {{/U}}the country's best players to attend their universities. There are strict rules about{{U}} (13) {{/U}}coaches can recruit--no recruiting calls after 9 p. m. , only one official visit to a campus--but they are often bent and sometimes{{U}} (14) {{/U}}. Top college football programs{{U}} (15) {{/U}}scholarships to 20 or 30 players each year, and those student-athletes, when they arrive{{U}} (16) {{/U}}campus, receive free housing, tuition, meals, books, etc. In return, the players{{U}} (17) {{/U}}the program in their sport. Football players at top colleges{{U}} (18) {{/U}}two hours a day, four days a week from January to April. In summer, it's back to strength and agility training four days a week until mid-August, when camp{{U}} (19) {{/U}}and preparation for the opening of the September-to-December season begins{{U}} (20) {{/U}}During the season, practices last two or three hours a day from Tuesday to Friday. Saturday is game day. Mondays are an officially mandated day of rest.

单选题Which of the following is closest in meaning to the sentence "It was shooting blind.., to look for evidence of life..."

单选题The word "snazzy" ( Line 5, Paragraph 3) probably means

单选题It is called softwood, but these days it is producing nothing but hard feelings. Softwood is used to build houses stuff that in skilled hands changes from a pile of wood into a recognizable home in mere days. In the United States, about 10% of such softwood comes from Canada. But on March 2rid the Department of Commerce announced that it would slap a tariff of around 9% on Canadian softwood. The Americans contend that Canada is subsidizing its timer industry, and dumping wood on to its neighbor for sale at prices that do not cover its production cost. The Canadians hotly deny this, and the two sides are volleying expertise at each other." They've hired their experts and we've hired ours." says John Allan, president of the British Columbia Lumber Trade council. In Canada the provincial governments own forests, and each province is given considerable freedom in pricing its "stumpage", as standing trees are oddly called. American critics say the Canadians all but give away those uncut trees. John Perez-Garcia, a professor of forestry at the University of Washington in Seattle, estimates that Canadian logging companies pay as much as 40 % less for standing trees than they would if the market set the price. Not so, retort the Canadians. Dan Evans, manager of log exports for British Columbia's government, points out that stumpage fees cover only a small portion of what it costs a Canadian company to send lumber across the border. These companies, he says, have to build their own roads, reforest logged lands, and pay the cost of planning their sales. "We feel we price our timber competitively." It is worth noting that for years American companies were themselves accused of receiving subsidies; stumpage prices for trees cut down on federal land were long criticized as too low. Then they were quiet on the subject. But now that most American produced lumber comes from private forests, government subsidies are anathema. In Seattle, Robb Dunn, president of a chain of ten lumber stores, says his customers will just have to put up with higher prices. Some reckon the tariff will increase new-home prices by as much as $13, 000. That may be a bit high, although lumber prices have gone up lately, they are still below the peak reached last summer. And rising interest rates may slow the American housing market, cutting demand. The two sides hope to continue talks. One way out might be an agreement under which Canada taxes its lumber companies until it reforms its pricing policies to American's satisfaction. But Mr. Allan, for one, is not optimistic. The United states, he says, has not negotiated in good faith: "Its government just can't get a grip in its timber industry, which is too powerful./

单选题In recent years, there has been an increasing awareness of the inadequacies of the judicial system in the United States. Costs are staggering both for the taxpayers and the litigants—and the litigants, or parties, have to wait sometimes many years before having their day in court. Many suggestions have been made concerning methods of ameliorating the situation, but as in most branches of government, changes come slowly. One suggestion that has been made in order to maximize the efficiency of the system is to allow districts that have an overabundance of pending cases to borrow judges from other districts that do not have such a backlog. Another suggestion is to use pretrial conferences, in which thejudge meets in his chambers with the litigants and their attorneys in order to narrow the issues, limit the witnesses, and provide for a more orderly trial. The theory behind pretrial conferences is that judges will spend leas time on each case and parties will more readily settle before trial when they realize the adequacy of their claims and their opponents' evidence. Unfortunately, at least one study has shown that pretrial conferences actually use more judicial time than they save, rarely result in pretrial settlements, and actually result in higher damage settlements. Many states have now established another method, small-claims courts, in which cases over small sums of money can be disposed of with considerable dispatch. Such proceedings cost the litigants almost nothing. In California, for example, the parties must appear before the judge without the assistance of counsel. The proceedings are quite informal and there is no pleading—the litigants need to make only a one-sentence statement of their claim. By going to this type of court, the plaintiff waives any right to a jury trial and the right to appeal the decision. In coming years, we can expect to see more and more innovations in the continuing effort to remedy a situation which must be remedied if the citizens who have valid claims are going to be able to have their day in court.

单选题One of the many theories about alcoholism is the learning and reinforcement theory, which explains alcoholism by considering alcohol drinking as a reflex response to some stimulus and as a way to reduce an inner drive state such as fear or anxiety. Characterizing life situations in terms of approach and avoidance, this theory holds that persons tend to be drawn to pleasant situations or repelled by unpleasant ones. In the latter case, alcohol drinking is said to reduce the tension or feelings of unpleasantness and to replace them with the feeling of pleasure generally observed in most persons after they have consumed one or more drinks. Some experimental evidence tends to show that alcohol reduces fear in an approach-avoidance situation. Conger trained one group of rats to approach a food goal and trained another group to avoid electric shock. After an injection of alcohol the pull away from the shock was measurably weaker, while the pull toward food was unchanged. The obvious troubles experienced by alcoholic persons appear to contradict the learning theory in the explanation of alcoholism. The discomfort, pain, and punishment they experience should presumably discourage the alcoholics from drinking. The fact that alcoholic persons continue to drink in the face of family discord, loss of job, and illness is explained by the proximity of the drive of reduction to the consumption of alcohol; that is, alcohol has the immediate effect of reducing tension while the unpleasant consequences of drunken behavior came only later. The learning pattern, therefore, favors the establishment and repetition of the resort to alcohol. In fact, the anxieties and feelings of guilt caused by the consequences of excessive alcohol drinking may themselves become the signal for another time of alcohol abuse. The way in which the desire for another drink could be caused by anxiety is explained by the process of stimulus generalization : conditions or events securing at the time of reinforcement tend to acquire all the features of stimuli. When alcohol is consumed in association with a state of anxiety or fear, the emotional state itself takes on the properties of a stimulus, thus triggering another time of drinking.The role of punishment is becoming increasingly important in explaining a cause of alcoholism based on the principles of learning theory, While punishment may serve to suppress a response, experiments have shown that in some cases it can serve as a reward and reinforce the behavior. Thus if the alcoholic person has learned to drink under conditions of both reward and punishment, either type of condition may trigger renewed drinking.

单选题Which of the following would most seriously undermine the validity of the model of El Nifio mentioned?

单选题The word "diffuses" in Para. 3 is closest in meaning to ______.