单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Michael Porter, who has made his name throughout the business community by advocating his theories of competitive advantages, is now swimming into even more shark-infested waters, arguing that competition can save even America' s troubled health-care system, the largest in the world. Mr. Porter argues in "Redefining Health Care" that competition, if properly applied, can also fix what ails this sector. That is a bold claim, given the horrible state of America's health-care system. Just consider a few of its failings: America pays more per capita for health care than most countries, but it still has some 45m citizens with no health insurance at all. While a few receive outstanding treatment, he shows in heart-wrenching detail that most do not. The system, wastes huge resources on paperwork, ignores preventive care and, above all, has perverse incentives that encourage shifting costs rather than cutting them outright. He concludes that it is "on a dangerous path, with a toxic combination of high costs, uneven quality, frequent errors and limited access to care." Many observers would agree with this diagnosis, but many would undoubtedly disagree with this advocacy of more market forces. Doctors have an intuitive distrust of competition, which they often equate with greed, while many public-policy thinkers argue that the only way to fix America' s problem is to quash the private sector' s role altogether and instead set up a government monopoly like Britain's National Health Service. Mr. Porter strongly disagrees. He starts by acknowledging that competition, as it has been introduced to America' s health system, has in fact done more harm than good. But he argues that competition has been introduced piecemeal, in incoherent and counter-productive ways that lead to perverse incentives and worse outcomes: "health-care competition is not focused on delivering value for patients," he says. Mr. Porter offers a mix of solutions to fix this mess, and thereby to put the sector on a genuinely competitive footing. First comes the seemingly obvious (but as yet unrealized) goal of data transparency. Second is a redirection of competition from the level of health plans, doctors, clinics and hospitals, to competition "at the level of medical conditions, which is all but absent". The authors argue that the right measure of "value" for the health sector should be how well a patient with a given health condition fares over the entire cycle of treatment, and what the cost is for that entire cycle. That rightly emphasizes the role of early detection and preventive care over techno-fixes, pricey pills and the other failings of today's system. If there is a failing in this argument, it is that he sometimes strays toward naive optimism. Mr. Porter argues, for example, that his solutions are so commonsensical that private actors in the health system could forge ahead with them profitably without waiting for the government to fix its policy mistakes. That is a tempting notion, but it falls into a trap that economists call the fallacy of the $ 20 bill on the street. If there really were easy money on the pavement, goes the argument, surely previous passers-by would have bent over and picked it up by now. In the same vein, if Mr. Porter's prescriptions are so sensible that companies can make money even now in the absence of government policy changes, why in the world have they not done so already? One reason may be that they can make more money in the current suboptimal equilibrium than in a perfectly competitive market--which is why government action is probably needed to sweep aside the many obstacles in the way of Mr. Porter' s powerful vision.

单选题Parents who write letters to complain television companies______

单选题It is an open secret in the tech world that Google and Facebook are hardly the best of friends. But now their relations are going to sink to a new low. According to numerous reports appearing today, Burson-Marsteller, a public-relations company working for Facebook has been urging bloggers and journalists to write scathing pieces about the way in which Social Circle, a Google offering that lets users share search results and other stuff with their friends, violates users' privacy. The Financial Times's website quotes Burson-Marsteller as saying that Facebook had asked the PR fill not to reveal who it was working for. The agency admitted that agreeing to this "was not at all standard operating procedure and is against our policies, and the assignment on those terms should have been declined. " USA Today is carrying the same statement from the PR fill. There is no shortage of irony in all this. It is true that Google hardly has a stellar track record on privacy matters. The company's Google Buzz social network came under fire when it was launched for using people's Gmail contacts without their permission. And Google found itself in the middle of another stink when its Street View street-mapping service was caught "sniffing" (accidentally, Google has claimed) data from unprotected Wi-Fi networks. In March the film reached a settlement with America's Federal Trade Commission that requires it to submit to regular external audits of its approach to privacy issues. But Facebook is no angel either on privacy matters. In particular, it got its fingers badly burnt with its Beacon service, which shared people's activities on the web with their contacts. This case eventually led to Facebook having to cough up millions of dollars to resolve litigation brought against it for violating their privacy. It has also been bashed repeatedly by privacy activists for using default settings in its privacy controls that mean users' data is automatically shared broadly over the web unless they change them. Indeed, Facebook's reputation is arguably even worse than Google's in this area—which may explain why, rather than concentrating on improving its own act, it has chosen to pay third parties to take a pop at Google instead. This Babbage's coverage of Facebook's shortcomings (e. g. here) may explain why Burson-Marsteller left him off its call list. It is possible that Google may have some questions to answer about Social Circle's approach to data-sharing. But for now, it is Facebook that has egg all over its face.

单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}} Africa's elephants are divided between the savannahs of eastern and southern Africa and the forests of central Africa. Some biologists reckon the forest ones-smaller, with shorter, straighter tusks-may even constitute a distinct species. But not for long, at the latest rate of poaching. The high price of ivory is increasing the incentive to kill elephants everywhere in Africa, and especially in places where there is virtually no law. The latest reports suggest that the forest elephant population is collapsing on the back of rising Chinese demand for ivory. Some conservationists argue that a recent decision by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) to auction 108 tonnes of stockpiled ivory from southern Africa may be prompting more poaching in central and eastern Africa, as criminals seek to mix illicit ivory in with the legitimate kind. But some economists maintain that the legitimate sale of ivory lowers prices, thus decreasing the incentive to poach. A study of a previous sale of ivory suggested it did not lead to more intensive poaching. Either way, the Congo basin is " hemorrhaging elephants ", says TRAFFIC, which monitors trade in wildlife. The head of the 790,000-hectare (1,952,000-acre) Virunga National Park in eastern Congo, Emmanuel de Merode, reports that 24 elephants have been poached in his park so far this year. The situation is dire: 2,900 elephants roamed Virunga when Congo became independent in 1964,400 in 2006, and fewer than 200 today. Most have been poached by militias, particularly Hutu rebels from Rwanda who hack off the ivory and sell it to middlemen in Kinshasa, Congo's capital, who then smuggle it to China. Once ivory has left its country of origin, and if it is not seized by customs officials, it can be hard to identify its source and those responsible for acquiring it. But forensic help may be at hand. Scientists from the University of Washington are using genetic markers in elephant dung to identify exactly where ivory has been poached. This should help governments in countries such as Tanzania and Zambia, which are capable of catching poachers, but not in anarchic eastern Congo, where 120-odd rangers have been killed in Virunga in recent years trying to protect elephants and gorillas. With an influx of businessmen and other officials from China engaged in infrastructure projects such as road building and logging, the slaughter is expected to accelerate. Forest elephants may survive in large numbers only in remote protected pockets of the Congo basin, such as the Odzala-Koukoua National Park in Congo-Brazzaville and Minkebe National Park in northeast Gabon.

单选题D. Until

单选题 A few years ago, James Green began to dread work. He dragged himself out of bed every morning and plodded through New York's Penn Station, trying to manage a "game face" for his office at Giant Realm, an online advertising network. But Mr. Green wasn't just any manager at the company; he was the CEO. And he was burned out on the job. Companies and managers are equipped to handle job fatigue among employees, but what happens when burnout-described as persistent fatigue, detachment or resentment triggered by excessive work and stress-strikes the top boss? More companies might soon find out. An uncertain economy, shareholder discontent and mounting expectations to deliver results have made the lives of chief executives more stressful, management experts say. And while few executives publicly acknowledge burnout, researchers studying the issue say it is more common than previously thought. In one study conducted by Harvard Medical School faculty, 96% of senior leaders reported feeling burned out to some degree, with one-third describing their burnout as extreme. Burned-out bosses complain of lost focus and mental clarity, and feelings that they're always behind. Company performance can suffer as they struggle to make decisions or treat staff fairly, according to management and medical experts. Yet HR departments usually assume, wrongly, that CEOs and other senior executives {{U}}"have it to together. "{{/U}} For Mr. Green, a turnaround specialist who spent a decade reviving struggling firms and preparing them for sale, fining hundreds of workers and answering investor demands left him feeling hollow. But he kept {{U}}that{{/U}} to himself. "If you want to be a real leader, you can't go around being emotionally unstable," he says. Eventually, the 51-year-old executive said he felt he "just had to check out." Taking time off to travel or sail is a common fantasy among executives, but leaves aren't a sure fix for burnout, says Gabriela Corá, a psychiatrist and author of "Leading Under Pressure." Dr. Corá, who has treated some executive patients, generally recommends sleep, exercise and sometimes prescription medication, such as antidepressants. Preventing burnout is one focus of a recently launched Harvard Business School workshop for executives at a career crossroads. John Davis, an HBS management professor and faculty chair of the Crossroads Program, says many bosses lack "good thermostats" for gauging their levels of fatigue. What's more, the executives say they simply can't afford to step off the "treadmill" to solve the problem, he adds. But just as Frits van Paasschen, CEO of Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. says, "The energy comes from somewhere-you draw down from a bank, and at some point you have to put it back in."

单选题The function of the office is to perform administrative work. First, it must provide the necessary communications with customers, banks, government departments, and other outside organizations. Second, it must service the information requirements within the company itself. In order to meet these needs efficiently, the Office Manager must employ the most appropriate business methods, systems and equipment. In an efficient administrative structure, clerical operations are organized so that they add to the profitability of the business. However, in many countries the number of clerical staff has increased while the total number of workers employed in production has fallen. In Britain, for example, the total workforce in the years 1919-1976 went up by 25%, while the number of people who were employed in clerical work increased by 150%. For a country such as Britain, which depends on a manufacturing base, that can mean inefficiency. To ensure that office services run smoothly, there must be the means to check, sort, copy and file correspondence and other paperwork. Today there is a growing range of machines that can be used to do such jobs. The size and resources of a company will determine how mechanized or computerized its office systems are. The office must give maximum service at minimum cost. A balance must be kept between production, marketing, and administration. As a company develops and grows, the contribution of administration will vary in kind and in value. The most important objective in modern offices is the processing of data in order to provide a means of business control, but in many companies there are weaknesses in the ability to manage communications efficiently. For example, some data are often used only by individual managers, and different departments in the same company may use different data processing systems. In order to contribute to business efficiency, however, data processing must be a centralized service, The system which is required is one that looks at the total needs of a business and therefore assists management in making appropriate decisions quickly.

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} Ours is a society that tries to keep the world sharply divided into masculine and feminine, not because that is the way the world is, but because that is the way we believe it should be. It takes unwavering belief and considerable effort to keep this division. It also leads us to make some fairly foolish judgments, particularly about language. Because we think that language also should be divided into masculine and. feminine we have become very skilled at ignoring anything that will not fit our preconceptions. We would rather change what we hear than change our ideas about the gender division of the world. We will call assertive girls unfeminine, and supportive boys effeminate, and try to ehan4ge them while still retaining our stereotypes of masculine and feminine talk. This is why some research on sex differences and language has been so interesting. It is an illustration of how wrong we can be. Of the many investigators who set out to find the stereotyped sex differences in language, few have had any positive results. It seems that our images of serious taciturn (沉黙的) male speakers and gossipy garrulous (饶舌的)female speakers are just that: images. Many myths associated with masculine and feminine talk have had to be discarded as more research has been undertaken. If females do use more trivial words than males, stop talking in mid-sentence, or talk about the same things over and over again, they do not do it when investigators are around. None of these characteristics of female speech have been found. And even when sex differences have been found, the question arises as to whether the differences is in the eye or ear of the beholder, rather than in the language. If males do not speak in high-pitched voices, it is not usually because they are unable to do so. The reason is more likely to be that there are penalties. Males with high-pitched voices are often the object of ridicule. But pitch is not an absolute, for what is considered the right pitch for males varies from country to country.

单选题The family is the center of most traditional Asians' lives. Many people worry about their families welfare, reputation, and honor. Asian families are often (1) , including several generations related by (2) or marriage living in the same home. An Asian person's misdeeds are not blamed just on the individual but also on the family—including the dead (3) . Traditional Chinese, among many other Asians, respect their elders and feel a deep sense of duty (4) them. Children repay their parents' (5) by being successful and supporting them in old age. This is accepted as a (6) part of life in China. (7) , taking care of the aged parents is often viewed as a tremendous (8) in the United States, where aging and family support are not (9) highly. (10) , in the youth-oriented United States, growing old is seen as a bad thing, and many old people do not receive respect. Filipinos, the most Americanized of the Asians, are (11) extremely family-oriented. They are (12) to helping their children and will sacrifice greatly for their children to get an education. (13) , the children are devoted to their parents, who often live nearby. Grown children who leave the country for economic reasons (14) send large parts of their income home to their parents. The Vietnamese family (15) people currently (16) as well as the spirits of the dead and of the as-yet unborn. Any (17) or actions are done fi'om family considerations, not individual desires. People's behavior is judged (18) whether it brings shame or pride to the family. The Vietnamese do not particularly believe in self-reliance; in this way, they are the (19) of people in the United States. Many Vietnamese think that their actions in this life will influence their (20) in the next life.

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Opportunities for water companies are flowing around the world because of looming shortages and decades of underinvestment. Saudi Arabia and Algeria, where water shortages have become acute, are placing billions of dollars of contracts out to bid to improve water supplies for their growing populations. The trend is expected to grow, as 40% of the world's population will suffer water shortages by 2050, according to the United Nations Development Program. Global warming is expected to exacerbate the problem. Saudi Arabia began privatizing water services after shortages sparked riots last November in Jeddah. Loay Ahmed Musallam, the deputy water minister, said the first contract to manage water supplies for Riyadh would be awarded this year. By 2010, private companies will provide water for half the population, he added. Saudi Arabia plans to invest $ 37 billion over five years to improve water pipelines. Leaks cost 1 million cubic meters of water a day--the output of seven desalination plants--the minister said. Even after putting contracts out to bid, governments still face politically sensitive decisions. In Saudi Arabia, for example, water tariffs are among the lowest in the world. Musallam said Saudis consumed twice as much water as Britons in spite of living in one of the driest parts of the globe. The government is introducing measures to encourage water conservation. Even in the US, the shortfall between actual investment and the industry's real needs is estimated to be $122 billion for waste water treatment and $100 billion for drinking water over the next 12 years, said Michael Dean of the Environmental Protection Agency. "People take for granted clean, safe, inexpensive water, but the old ways of paying for water in the US no longer meet our needs," Dean said. Water services in the US are mainly owned by municipalities, which fiercely resist privatization. Gasson says decades of underinvestment are catching up with the water industry. "Either tariffs or subsidies will have to rise. We are at an inflection point. Investment now is unavoidable," he said. David Lloyd Owen, a British consultant, estimated the investment shortfall for the global water industry at $1.2 trillion over the next 20 years. "The question is how to overcome political resistance to the involvement of the private sector," he said. "The water industry is one of the most conservative in the world. By and large, it is still run by bureaucrats and engineers," Owen said. "There is also a passionate and well-organized lobby against privatization." He sees more room for the private sector as technology for desalination and recycling come to play an increasing role in the industry. Banks are also becoming more creative in matching the financing of capital outlays in the industry with the long lives of water treatment facilities.