单选题With Airbus' giant A380 airliner about to take to the skies, you might think planes could not get much bigger-and you would be right. For a given design, it turns (1) , there comes a point where the wings become too heavy to generate (2) lift to carry their own weight. (3) a new way of designing and making materials could (4) that problem. Two engineers (5) University College London have devised all innovative way to customise and control the (6) of a material throughout its three-dimensional structure. In the (7) of a wing, this would make possible a material that is dense, strong and load-bearing at one end, close to the fuselage, (8) the extremities could be made less dense, lighter and more (9) . It is like making bespoke materials, (10) you can customise the physical properties of every cubic millimetre of a structure. The new technique combines existing technologies in a(n) (11) way, It starts by using finite-element-analysis software, of the type commonly used by engineers, (12) a virtual prototype of the object. The software models the stresses and strains that the object will need to (13) throughout its structure. Using this information it is then (14) to calculate the precise forces acting on millions of smaller subsections of the structure. (15) of these subsections is (16) treated as a separate object with its own set of forces acting on it-and each subsection (17) for a different microstructure to absorb those local forces. Designing so many microstructures manually (18) be a huge task, so the researchers apply an optimisation program, called a genetic algorithm, (19) . This uses a process of randomisation and trial-and-error to search the vast number of possible microstructures to find the most (20) design for each subsection.

单选题The world is undergoing tremendous changes. The rise of globalization, both an economic and cultural trend that has swept throughout the world, has forged new ground as we enter the 21st century. But are the effects of globalization always positive? Some say no. Michael Tenet, head of the International Institute for Foreign Relations in Atlanta, is worried about current resentment throughout the world toward the rise of globalization. "Ever since the 1980s and the economic collapse of the Asian Tigers in the late 1990s, there has been a re-evaluation of the role of globalization as a force for good," he said. "Incomes in many countries has declined and the gap between the most rich and the most poor has been aggravated. Without further intervention by governments, we could see a tragedy expressed in an increased level of poverty throughout the Latin America and Asia. " Yet George Frank, an influential economist who works on Wall Street, sees no such danger. "Economic liberalization, increased transparency and market-based reforms have positive effect in the long run, even if market mechanisms can produce short-term destabilization problems," he said. "What is most important is that barriers to trade continue to fall so that active competition for consumer goods reduces prices and in turn raises the average level of income. " Others feel that globalization"s cultural impact may be more important than its economic implications. Janice Yawee, a native of Africa, feels strongly that globalization is undermining her local culture and language. "Most of the world"s dialects will become extinct under globalization. We"re paving the world with McDonald"s and English slang. It tears me up inside," she said. Governments of different countries have had mixed responses to the wave of globalization. The United States is generally seen as an active proponent of greater free trade, and it certainly has enormous cultural influence by virtue of its near monopoly on worldwide entertainment. But other countries, most notably in Europe and developing nations, have sought to reduce the impact that globalization has on their domestic affairs. "When I was a boy we had very little to speak of," says one Singaporean resident. "Now our country has developed into a booming hub for international finance. " Others, however, are not so optimistic. "Globalization is an evil force that must be halted," a union official at a car plant in Detroit recently commented, "It"s sucking away jobs and killing the spirit of our country. "

单选题Increasingly, historians are blaming diseases imported from the Old World for the great disparity between the native population of America in 1492--new estimates of which jump as high as 100 million, or approximately one-sixth of the human race at that time--and the few million full-blooded Native Americans alive at the end of the nineteenth century. There is no doubt that chronic disease was an important factor in the sharp decline, and it is highly probable that the greatest killer was epidemic disease, especially as manifested in virgin-soil epidemics. Virgin-soil epidemics are those in which the populations at risk have had no previous contact with the diseases that strike them and are therefore immunologically almost defenseless. That virgin-soil epidemics were important in American history is strongly indicated by evidence that a number of dangerous maladies--smallpox, measles, malaria, yellow fever, and undoubtedly several more--were unknown in the pre-Columbian New World. The effects of their sudden introduction are demonstrated in the early chronicles of America, which contain reports of horrible epidemics and steep population declines, confirmed in many cases by quantitative analyzes of Spanish tribute records and other sources. The evidence provided by the documents of British and French colonies is not as definitive because the conquerors of those areas did not establish permanent settlements and began to keep continuous records until the seventeenth century, by which time the worst epidemics had probably already taken place. Furthermore, the British tended to drive the native populations away, rather than to enslave them as the Spaniards did, so that the epidemics of British America occurred beyond the range of colonists" direct observation. Even so, the surviving records of North America do contain references to deadly epidemics among the native population. In 1616--1619 an epidemic, possibly of pneumonic plague, swept coastal New England, killing as many as nine out of ten, During the 1630"s smallpox, the disease most fatal to the Native American people, eliminated half the population of the Huron and Iroquois confederations. In the 1820"s fever ruined the people of the Columbia River area, killing eight out of ten of them. Unfortunately, the documentation of these and other epidemics is slight and frequently unreliable, and it is necessary to supplement what little we do know with evidence from recent epidemics among Native Americans. For example, in 1952 an outbreak of measles among the Native American inhabitants of Ungava Bay, Quebec, affected 99 percent of the population and killed 7 percent, even though some had the benefit of modern medicine. Cases such as this demonstrate that even diseases that are not normally fatal can have destroying consequences when they strike an immunologically defenseless community.

单选题{{B}}Part A{{/B}}{{B}}Directions:{{/B}}Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. (40 points){{B}}Text 1{{/B}} September 11th 2001 drew the transatlantic alliance together; but the mood did not last, and over the five years since it has pulled ever further apart. A recent poll for the German Marshall Fund shows that 57% of Europeans regard American leadership in world affairs as "undesirable". The Iraq war is mainly to blame. But there is another and more intractable reason for the growing division: God. Europeans worry that American foreign policy under George Bush is too influenced by religion. The "holy warriors" who hijacked the planes on September 11th reintroduced God into international affairs in the most dramatic of ways. It seems that George Bush is replying in kind, encouraging a clash of religions that could spell global catastrophe. Dominique Moisi, a special adviser at the French Institute for International Relations, argues that "the combination of religion and nationalism in America is frightening. We feel betrayed by God and by nationalism, which is why we are building the European Union as a barrier to religious warfare." Josef Braml, of the German Institute for International and Security Affairs, complains that in America "religious attitudes have more of an influence on political choices than in any other western democracy." The notion that America is too influenced by religion is not confined to the elites.Three in five French people and nearly as many Dutch think that Americans are too religious—and that religion skews what should be secular decisions. Europeans who think that America is "too religious" are more inclined to anti-Americanism than their fellow countrymen. 38% of Britons have an unfavourable view of America, but that number rises to 50% among people who are wary of American religiosity. Is America engaged in a faith-based foreign policy? Religion certainly exerts a growing influence on its actions in the world, but in ways more subtle and complicated than Europeans imagine. It is true that America is undergoing a religious revival "Hot" religions such as evangelical Protestantism and hardline Catholicism are growing rapidly while "cool" mainline versions of Christianity are declining. It is also true that the Republican Party is being reshaped by this revival. Self-identified evangelicals provided almost 40% of Mr. Bush's vote in 2004; if you add in other theological conservatives, such as Mormons and traditional Catholics, that number rises closer to 60%. All six top Republican leaders in the Senate have earned 100% ratings from the Christian Coalition. It is also true that Mr. Bush frequently uses religious rhetoric when talking of foreign affairs. On September 12th he was at it again, telling a group of conservative journalists that he sees the war on terror as "a confrontation between good and evil", and remarking, "It seems to me that there's a Third Awakening" (in other words, an outbreak of Christian evangelical fervour, of the sort that has swept across America at least twice before). And Christian America overall is taking a bigger interest in foreign policy. New voices are being heard, Such as Sam Brownback, a conservative senator from Kansas who has led the fight against genocide in Darfur, and Rick Warren, the author of a bestseller called The Purpose-Driven Life, who is sending 2 000 missionaries to Rwanda. Finally, it is true that religious figures have done some pretty outrageous things. Pat Robertson called for the assassination of Hugo Chavez, the president of Venezuela. Lieu- tenant-General William "Jerry" Boykin, deputy under-secretary of defence for intelligence, toured the country telling Christian groups that radical Muslims hate America "because we' re a Christian nation and the enemy is a guy named Satan". He often wore uniform.

单选题"Equal Justice Under Law,' reads the motto atop the U.S. Supreme Court building. The words am lofty, but for the thousands of people who trudge through the criminal-justice system daily and who speak no English, the phrase means legally nothing. For many of these defendants, the words are also legally empty. American justice for those who do not comprehend English is "anything but uniform, let alone understandable. There are no nationwide standards for court interpreters, little training and virtually no monitoring. "Everybody gets a piece of due process," says David Fellmeth, a senior court interpreter in New York city. "But how big a piece depends on the interpreter." Horror stories regularly fill court dockets. In a New York federal court, a translated undercover wire quotes a Cuban defendant: "I don' t even have the ten kilos." The defendant means kilos of currency (Cuban cents), but the translated statement suggests kilograms of drugs. In a New Jersey homicide trial, the prosecutor asks whether the testimony of a witness is lengthier than the translation. "Yes," responds the Polish interpreter, "but everything else was not important." Congress tried to surmount the language barriers in the federal courts by passing legislation eleven years ago authorizing Government-paid interpreters for those who do not speak English. So far, though, only 308 people have passed the rigorous Spanish-only federal certification process—a cadre far too small to handle the 43,000 annual requests for interpreters in 60 languages. The situation in the states is breaker. Last year Cook County, IH, processed 40,000 requests, and the New York courts sought out interpreters 250 times a day. As in the federal system, Spanish is the language most in demand. Only a handful of states test their interpreters for language skills. Thus in many local courts, translation may be a free-lance project for the secretary who speaks a little French or a favor requested from a relative of the defendant. "A family member is the worst person you can use," says Maureen Dunn, an interpreter for the deaf. "They have their own side of the story, and they add and omit things." Besides, interpretation is a sophisticated art. It demands not only a broad vocabulary and instant recall but also the ability to reproduce tone and nuance and a good working knowledge of street slang. "Most people believe that if you are bilingual, you can interpret," says Jack Leeth of the Administrative Office of the U.S. Courts. "That's about as true as saying that if you have two hands, you can automatically be a concert pianist." Professional interpreters are among the first to admit the sad state of translation in the courts. They are often relegated to clerical status, with low pay, and asked to work without time to prepare. Says New York interpreter Gabriel Felix: "We could use a central administrator, dictionaries and in some courts a place to hang our coats, a chair and a desk. " Some jurisdictions are trying to make improvements. New York and New Jersey are broadening their testing and sending their interpreters to school for further training. The Federal Government is working on new requirements for Navajo and Haitian-Creole interpreters. And in Los Angeles a federal lawsuit is demanding certified interpreters in immigration proceedings. For now, however, the quality of court interpreting around the country depends on the luck of the draw.

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Many countries have a tradition of inviting foreigners to rule them. The English called in William of Orange in 1688, and, depending on your interpretation of history, William of Normandy in 1066. Both did rather a good job. Returning the compliment, Albania asked a well-bred Englishman called Aubgrey Herbert to be their king in the 1920s. He refused-and they ended up with several coves called Zog. America, the country of immigrants, has no truck with imported foreign talent. Article two of the constitution says that "no person except a natural-born citizen.., shall be eligible to the office of the president". This is now being challenged by a particularly irresistible immigrant: Arnold Schwarzenegger. Barely a year has passed since the erstwhile cyborg swept to victory in California's recall election, yet there is already an Amend-for-Arnold campaign collecting signatures to let the Austrian-born governor have a go at the White House. George Bush senior has weighed in on his behalf. There are several "Arnold amendments" in Congress. one allows foreigners who have been naturalized citizens for 20 years to become president. (The Austrian became American in 1983.) It is easy to dismiss the hoopla as another regrettable example of loopy celebrity politics. Mr. Schwarzenegger has made a decent start as governor, but he has done little, as yet, to change the structure of his dysfunctional state. Indeed, even if the law were changed, he could well be elbowed aside by another incomer, this time from Canada. the Democratic governor of Michigan, Jennifer Granholm, who appears to have fewer skeletons in her closet than the hedonistic actor. Moreover, changing the American constitution is no doddle. It has happened only 17 times since 1791 (when the first ten amendments were codified as the bill of rights). To change the constitution, an amendment has to be approved by two-thirds of both houses of Congress, and then to be ratified by three-quarters of the 50 states. The Arnold amendment is hardly in the same category as abolishing slavery or giving women the vote. And, as some wags point out, Austrian imports have a pretty dodgy record of running military superpowers.

单选题Cabinet meetings outside London are rare and reluctant things. Harold Wilson held one in Brighton in 1966, but only because the Labour Party was already there for its annual conference. In 1921 David Lloyd George summoned the Liberals to Inverness because he didn't want to cut short his holiday. Gordon Brown's decision to hold his first cabinet meeting after the summer break in Birmingham, on September 8th, was born of a nobler desire to show the almost nine tenths of Britons who live outside London that they are not ignored. He will have to do better: constitutionally, they are more sidelined now than ever. Many legislatures use their second chamber to strengthen the representation of sparsely populated areas (every American state, from Wyoming to California, gets two votes in the Senate, for example). Britain's House of Lords, most of whose members are appointed supposedly on merit, has the opposite bias. A survey by the New Local Government Network (NLGN), a think-tank, finds that London and two of its neighbouring regions are home to more peers than the rest of Britain combined; even Birmingham, the country's second-largest city, has just one. Oddly, this distortion is partly thanks to reforms that were supposed to make the Lords more representative. By throwing out most of the hereditary peers in 1999, Labour paved the way for a second chamber that was less posh, less white and less male than before. But in booting out the landed gentry, it also ditched many of those who came from the provinces. The Duke of Northumberland (270th in the Sunday Times's " Rich List") may not be a member of a downtrodden minority. But Alnwick Castle, his family pile, is in the North-east region, home to just 2% of the Lords' members now. Geographically speaking, the duke and his fellow toffs were champions of diversity. The government now wants to reintroduce some geographical fairness, but minus dukes. Long-incubated plans to reform the Lords would see it converted during the next parliament into a body that is mainly or entirely elected. A white paper in July outlined various electoral systems, all based on regional or sub-regional constituencies. Some would like to see the seat of government prised out of the capital altogether, though in the past this has normally required a civil war or a plague. Southerners whisper that no one would show up if Parliament were based in a backwater such as Manchester. But many don't now. The NLGN found that peers resident in Northern Ireland vote least often. But next from the bottom are the London-dwellers, who show up for less than a third of the votes on their doorstep. Even the eight who live abroad are more assiduous. The north may seem an awfully long way away, but apparently so is Westminster.

单选题Armstrong's quote is utilized in the last paragraph because______.

单选题Microsoft company in the software world