单选题 Historians may well look back on the 1980s in the United States as a time of rising affluence side by side with rising poverty. The growth in affluence is attributable to an increase in professional and technical jobs, along with more two career couples whose combined incomes provide a" comfortable living". Yet simultaneously, the nation' s poverty rate rose between 1973 and 1983 from 11.1 percent of the population to 15.2, or by well over a third. Although the poverty rate declined somewhat after 1983, it was still held at 13.5 percent in 1987, comprising a population of 32:5 million Americans. The definition of poverty is a matter of debate. In 1795, a group of English magistrates decided that a minimum in come should be "the cost of a gallon loaf of bread, multiplied by three, plus an allowance for each dependent". Today the Census Bureau defines the threshold of poverty in the United States as the minimum amount of money that families need to purchase a nutritionally adequate diet, assuming they use one third of their income for food. Using this definition, roughly half the American population was poor in the aftermath of the Great Depression of the 1930s. By 1950, the proportion of the poor had fallen to 30 percent and by 1964, to 20 percent. With the adoption of the Johnson administration ' s antipoverty programs, the poverty rate dropped to 12 percent in 1969. But since then, it has stopped falling. Liberals contend that the poverty line is too low because it fails to take into account changes in the standard of living. Conservatives say that it is too high because the poor receive other forms of public assistance, including food stamps, public housing subsidies, and health care.

单选题Scholars and students have always been great travellers. The official case for "academic mobility" is now often stated in impressive terms as a fundamental necessity for economic and social progress in the world, and debated in the corridors of Europe, but it is certainly nothing new. Serious students were always ready to go abroad in search of the most stimulating teachers and the most famous academies; in search of the purest philosophy, the most effective medicine, the likeliest road to gold. Mobility of this kind meant also mobility of ideas l their transference across frontiers, their simultaneous impact upon many groups of people. The point of learning is to share it, whether with students or with colleagues; one presumes that only eccentrics have no interest in being credited with a startling discovery, or a new technique. It must also have been reassuring to know that other people in other parts of the world were about to make the same discovery or were thinking along the same lines, and that one was not quite alone, confronted by inquisition, ridicule or neglect. In the twentieth century, and particularly in the last 20 years, the old footpaths of the wandering scholars have become vast highways. The vehicle which has made this possible has of course been the aeroplane, making contact between scholars even in the most distant places immediately feasible, and providing for the very rapid transmission of knowledge. Apart from the vehicle itself, it is fairly easy to identify the main factors which have brought about the recent explosion in academic movement. Some of these are purely quantitative and require no further mention: there are far more centres of learning, and a far greater number of scholars and students. In addition one must recognise the very considerable multiplication of disciplines, particularly in the sciences, which by widening the total area of advanced studies has produced an enormous number of specialists whose particular interests are precisely defined. These people would work in some isolation if they were not able to keep in touch with similar isolated groups in other countries. Frequently these specialisations lie in areas where very rapid developments are taking place, and also where the research needed for developments is extremely costly and takes a long time. It is precisely in these areas that the advantages of collaboration and sharing of expertise appear most evident. Associated with this is the growth of specialist periodicals, which enable scholars to become aware of what is happening in different centres of research and to meet each other in conferences and symposia. From these meetings come the personal relationships which are at the bottom of almost all formalized schemes of cooperation, and provide them with their most satisfactory stimulus. But as the specialisations have increased in number and narrowed in range, there had been an opposite movement towards interdisciplinary studies. These owe much to the belief that one cannot properly investigate the incredibly complex problems thrown up by the modern world, and by recent advances in our knowledge along the narrow front of a single discipline. This trend has led to a great deal of academic contact between disciplines, and a far greater emphasis on the pooling of specialist knowledge, reflected in the broad subjects chosen in many international conferences.

单选题General Wesley Clark recently discovered a hole in his personal security—his cell phone. A resourceful blogger, hoping to call attention to the black market in phone records, made his privacy rights experiment on the general in January. For $ 89.95, he purchased, no questions asked, the records of 100 cell-phone calls that Clark had made. (He revealed the trick to Clark soon after. ) "It's like someone taking your wallet or knowing who paid you money", Clark says. "It's no great discovery, but it just doesn't feel right." Since then, Clark has become a vocal supporter of the movement to outlaw the sale of cell-phone records to third parties. The U. S.'s embrace of mobile phones—about 65% of the population are subscribers—has far outpaced efforts to keep what we do with them private. That has cleared the way for a cottage industry devoted to exploiting phone numbers, calling records and even the locations of unsuspecting subscribers for profit. A second business segment is developing applications like anonymous traffic monitoring and employee tracking. Most mobile phones are powerful tracking devices, with global-positioning systems (GPS) inside. Companies like Xora combine GPS data with information about users to create practical applications. One similar technology allows rental-car companies to track their cars with GPS. California imposed restrictions on the practice last year after a company fined a customer $ 3,000 for crossing into Nevada, violating the rental contract. Other applications have not yet been challenged. For about $ 26 a month per employee, a boss can set up a "geofence" to track how workers use company-issued cell phones or even if they go home early. About 1,000 employers use the service, developed by Xora with Sprint-Nextel. The companies selling those services insist that they care about privacy. AirSage, for example, gets data from wireless carriers to monitor drivers'cell-phone signals and map them over road grids. That lets it see exactly where gridlock is forming and quickly alert drivers to delays and alternative routes. The data it gets from wireless carrier companies are aggregated from many users and scrambled, so no one can track an individual phone. "No official can use the data to give someone a speeding ticket", says Cy Smith, CEO of AirSage. Privacy advocates say that even with those safeguards, consumers should have a choice about how their information is used. Some responsibility, of course, rests with the individual. Since his data were revealed, Clark took his mobile number off his business cards. Wireless carriers also recommend that customers avoid giving out their mobile numbers online. But Clark insists that the law should change to protect our privacy, no matter how much technology allows us to connect. "One thing we value in this country", he says, "is the freedom to be left alone. /

单选题The empty house, in a middle-class corner of southern California, is two storeys high and boasts a three-car garage. Roses bloom around a kidney-shaped swimming pool, which is green with algae. Bill Bobbitt, a county inspector, dips a ladle into the water and brings up half a dozen wriggling larvae. Mosquitoes, and the West Nile virus that some of them carry, are thriving in California's plunging property market. West Nile virus arrived in America in 1999 and made it to California three years later. Since then it is known to have infected 2,300 people in the state, of whom 76 have died. In Orange County this is the worst summer yet. By this point last year officials there had discovered nine birds that had been killed by West Nile virus and not one infected mosquito. So far this year they have found 219 infected birds and 75 infected mosquitoes. Some of this rise is due to better testing and co-operation with the animal services department, which receives most reports of dying birds. But a much bigger cause is the housing crunch. Fully 63,000 homes were foreclosed in California between April and June, according to DataQuick, a property data services outfit. In the past year the number of Orange County homeowners who have defaulted on their mortgages has more than doubled. Empty houses mean untended pools. Untended pools quickly breed mosquitoes. Dead birds are also piling up in neighbouring counties like Los Angeles, San Diego and San Bernardino, which also have high foreclosure rates. Last week 170 infected mosquitoes were discovered in the state as a whole-the highest tally ever. So far this year i3 human infections have been reported in California, but the numbers are expected to grow rapidly as the summer moves on. John Rusmisel, president-elect of the board responsible for killing the critters, says a peak in infected mosquitoes is generally followed, two or three weeks later, by a peak in human cases. In theory, owners are supposed to keep their properties in decent shape whether they live there or not. California has even passed a bill fining banks and mortgage companies that seize properties and then allow pools to fester. But Mr Bobbitt isn't waiting for the lawyers. He has treated the pool in Santa Ana with oil and synthetic growth hormones, which will keep the mosquitoes adolescent, preventing breeding. Then he tips in a few dozen mosquito fish (Gambusia affinis), which begin happily launching larvae. You can buy a lot of the fish for what a lawyer charges per hour, and some authorities, with commendable creativity, even provide them free to help control the pests.

单选题Besides dealing with border security, INS also ______.

单选题The two directly opposite ideals of photography differ primarily in the

单选题In the author's opinion, the art of Raphael and Correggio

单选题Paragraph 4 is used in this passage to

单选题Recent years have brought minority-owned businesses in the United States unprecedented opportunities--as well as new and significant risks. Civil right activists have long argued that one of the principal reasons why Blacks, Hispanics and other minority groups have difficulty establishing themselves in business is that they lack of access to the sizable orders and subcontracts that are generated by large companies. Now Congress, in apparent agreement, has required by law that businesses awarded federal contracts of more than $ 500, 000 do their best to find minority subcontractors and record their efforts to do so on forms filed with the government. Indeed, some federal and local agencies have gone so far as to set specific percentage goals for apportioning parts of public works contracts to minority enterprises. Corporate response appears to have been substantial. According to figures collected in 1977, the total of corporate contracts with minority businesses rose from $ 77 million in 1972 to 1.1 billion in 1977. The projected total of corporate contracts with minority businesses for the early 1980's is estimated to be over $ 3 billion per year with no letup anticipated in the next decade. Promising as it is for minority businesses, this increased patronage poses dangers for them, too. First, minority firms risk expanding too fast and overextending themselves financially, since most are small concerns and, unlike large businesses, they often need to make substantial investment in new plants, staff, equipment and the like in order to perform work subcontracted to them. If, thereafter, their subcontracts are for some reason reduced, such firms can face potentially crippling fixed expenses. The world of corporate purchasing can be frustrating for small entrepreneurs who get requests for elaborate formal estimates and bids. Both consume valuable time and resources, and a small company's efforts must soon result in orders, or both the morale and the financial health of the business will suffer. A second risk is that White-owned companies may seek to cash in on the increasing apportionment through formation of joint ventures with minority-owned concerns. Of course, in many instances there are legitimate reasons for joint ventures; clearly, White and minority enterprises can team up to acquire business that neither could acquire alone. But civil right groups and minority business owners have complained to Congress about minorities being set up as "fronts" with White backing, rather than being accepted as full partners in legitimate joint ventures. Third, a minority enterprise that secures the business of one large corporate customer often runs the danger of becoming and remaining dependent. Even in the best of circumstances, fierce competition from larger, more established companies makes it difficult for small concerns to broaden their customer bases; when such firms have nearly guaranteed orders from a single corporate benefactor, they may truly have to struggle against complacency arising from their current success.

单选题Search engine Google was aiming to float on Wall Street this week, valued at up to $ 36 billion. But the Internet company's advisers are meeting this weekend to discuss possibly delaying the public listing after a sharp fall in share prices in New York on Friday. An insider said last night:' "The float is teetering on the brink -- it really is 50/50 at this stage, although many of us are optimistic." The initial public offering (IPO) of shares in Google, which could raise nearly $ 4bn, will amount to one of the biggest IPOs for years. But many US firms have shelved their IPOs amid volatile market conditions and investors appear unwilling to subscribe to new equity. A Wall Street analyst said that the Google IPO "would be a seminal event for the American stock market" as its real significance was that it would test whether or not the recovery in equity prices since the end of the Iraq war had taken hold. "If this float works, a lot of other companies will be encouraged and come to the market later in the year," the insider added. "But it will be bad news if the IPO is pulled or the shares fall sharply after the company is listed. If that happens, it could kill off the IPO market in America and elsewhere for at least 12 months." Several fund managers have already expressed reservations about Google, in particular its high valuation and the complex way the shares are being sold. Moreover, the Google flotation is taking place at a time when technology companies in the US have been shunned. On Thursday, the IPO hit a technical hitch over the failure of the company to meet its legal obligations concerning its employees' stock option plans. But the company did not think that the disclosure would mean a delay to the IPO, which is due on Tuesday. At the top of the suggested price range, Google would be valued not far short of its rival Internet firm Yahoo! -- and this has raised eyebrows within the industry. The auction is being conducted over the Internet, and potential buyers will have to register by signing on to a Google website. But only investors who have brokerage accounts with one of the 28 US banks and brokers underwriting the stock sale, will be able to apply. Google suffered a setback last month after it re- ported an unexpected slowdown in its huge growth rate. But sources close to Google's founders, Larry Page and Sergey Brin, said that the tailing-off of growth was due to seasonal factors and would not affect the IPO.

单选题The current French bestseller lists are wonderfully eclectic. In (1) . there is everything (2) blockbuster thrillers to Catherine Miller's La Vie Sexuelle de Catherine M., a novel which has been (3) praised as high art and (4) as upmarket porn. Then there are novels (5) the sticky questions of good and (6) (Le Demon et Mademoiselle Prym) and faith versus science m the modern world (L'apparition). Philosophical (7) continue in the non-fiction list. (8) this week by Michel Onfray's "Antimanuel de Philosophic". a witty talk (9) some of philosophy's perennial debates. Those who like their big issues in small chunks are also enjoying Frederic Beigbeder's Dernier Inventaire avant Liquidation. a survey of France's (10) 20th-century books, (11) with Mr. Beigbeder's (12) humour from the title on (The 50 books of the Century Chosen by You and Critiqued by Me), In Britain. meanwhile, there is olive oil all over the non-fiction list. It's a major (13) for Nigella Lawson, a domestic divinity and celebrity (14) , whose latest (15) of recipes tops the list. Annie Hawes, in second (16) . took herself (17) to the sun-drenched hills of Italy to grow her own olives and write a book about them as did Carol Drinkwater, just (18) the border in France. Fiction-wise, it's business as (19) , with the requisite holiday mix of thrillers, romance, fantasy and Harry Potter. with The Goblet of Fire still burning (20) at number three.

单选题With the increasing pace of economic globalization and competition among various countries in the market, information, technology, professionals, capital and other types of economic resources is becoming increasingly evident. International 1 is becoming progressively 2 . Previously 3 competition among enterprises in different countries is growing gradually into competition among governments that finds expression in a concentrated form. Previous 4 contention for enterprises" interests in the world market now evidences itself in the contention for 5 interests. In this new situation, to 6 national interests and to enable a country to be constantly in a favorable position in the international market, the most important thing is to have a highly 7 government that 8 the full trust of citizens. The basic objective of the study of the "government administration" is to 9 the competitive edge of a government in the international market, to 10 the efficiency and quality of government administrative behaviors, and to enhance the skills and the efficiency of government policy operations. The evident 11 between government administration and enterprise management lies in the fact 12 the former is a macro-activity and represents the overall national interests. Considering this from the 13 of the theory of behavioral efficiency function, the degree of the efficiency and quality of government administrative behaviors and the standard of the skills and the efficiency of government policy operations have a direct 14 on the amount of national interests and the degree of security and happiness of its people. Thus, to 15 the level of overall national interests requires a highly efficient enterprise management and a high-quality enterprise group with significant core competitiveness. More importantly, it requires highly efficient government administration and the government"s international competitiveness to have a 16 advantage. For China, a country that is still in the 17 of "shift in the mode of growth" and "transformation in the system", the fundamental 18 to turn this objective into a 19 is to make innovations in government administration. So, against the 20 backgrounds of economic globalization and the domestic economic transformation, how should we make innovations in government administration? I think many things can be done in this regard. Yet the most important thing is to effect the change of the concept, functions, forms and the institution of government administration.

单选题Which of the following best reflects the humanistic perspective of the five writers?

单选题Voters in rich countries think that

单选题According to the text, the cost increase in the rail industry is mainly caused by ______.