单选题According to the passage, what is the major driving force behind the progress toward more literacy?______

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} It was a fixing sight: there, in the Capitol itself, a U.S. Senator often mocked for his halting, inarticulate speaking, reached deep into his Midwestern roots and spoke eloquently, even poetically, about who he was and what he believed, stunning politicians and journalists alike. I refer, of course, to Senator Jefferson Smith. In Frank Capra's classic Mr. Smith Goes to Washington, Jimmy Stewart plays this simple, idealistic small-town American, mocked and scorned by the big-moneyed, oh-so-sophisticated power elite--only to triumph over a corrupt Establishment with his rock-solid goodness. At root, it is this role that soon-to-be-ex-Senator Bob Dole most aspires to play: the self effacing, quietly powerful small-town man from {{U}}Main Street{{/U}} who outwits the cosmopolitan, slick-talking snob from the {{U}}fleshpots{{/U}}. And why not? There is, after all, no more enduring American icon. How enduring? Before Americans had a Constitution, Thomas Jefferson was arguing that the new nation's future would depend on a base of agrarian yeomen free from the vices inherent in big cities. In 1840 one of the classic, image-driven presidential campaigns featured William Henry Harrison as the embodiment of rural virtues, the candidate of the log cabin and hard cider, defeating the incumbent Martin Van Buren, who was accused of dandified dress and manners. There is, of course, a huge disconnect between this professed love of the simple, unspoiled life and the way Americans actually live. As a people, Americans have spent the better part of the 20th century deserting the farms and the small towns for the cities and the suburbs; and are torn between vacationing in Disney World and Las Vegas. U.S. politicians too haven't exactly shunned the temptations of the cosmopolitan life. The town of Russell, Kansas, often seems to be Dole's running mate, but the candidate spends his leisure time in a luxury condominium in Bal Harbor, Florida. Bill Clinton still believes in a place called Hope, but the spiffy, celebrity-dense resorts of Martha's Vineyard and Jackson Hole are where he kicks back. Ronald Reagan embodied the faith-and-family pieties of the front porch and Main Street, but he fled Iowa for a career and a life in Hollywood. Still, the hunger for the way Americans believe they are supposed to live is strong, and the distrust of the intellectual hustler with his airs and his high-flown language runs deep. It makes sense for the Dole campaign to make this a contest between Dole as the laconic, quiet man whose words can be trusted and Bill Clinton as the traveling salesman with a line of smooth patter but a suitcase full of damaged goods. It makes sense for Dole to make his campaign song Thank God I'm a Country Boy--even if he is humming it 9,200 m up in a corporate jet on his way to a Florida condo.

单选题The concept of personal choice in relation to health behaviors is an important one. An estimated 90 percent of all illness may be (1) if individuals would make sound personal health choices (2) upon current medical knowledge. We all enjoy our freedom of choice and do nor like to see it (3) when it is within the legal and moral boundaries of society. The structure of American society allows us to make almost all our personal decisions that may (4) our health. If we (5) desire, we can smoke, drink excessively, refuse to wear seat belts, eat (6) foods we want, and lives (7) sedentary life-style without any exercise. The freedom to make such personal decisions is the fundamental (8) of our society, (9) the wisdom of these decisions can be questioned. Personal choices relative to (10) often cause a difficulty. As one example, a teenager may know the facts relative to smoking cigarettes and health but may be (11) by friends into believing it is a socially (12) thing to do. A (13) of actors, both inherited and environmental, influence the development of health-related behaviors, and it is (14) the scope of this text to discuss all these factors as they may affect any (15) individual. However, the decision to adopt a particular health-related behavior is (16) one of personal choices. There are healthy choices and there are unhealthy choices. Experts suggest that to knowingly give (17) over to a behavior that has a statistical probability of (18) life is similar to attempting suicide. (19) , personal health choices should (20) those behaviors that are associated with a statistical probability of increased vitality and longevity.

单选题{{B}}Text 1{{/B}} A study by scientists in Finland has found that mobile phone radiation can cause changes in human cells that might affect the brain, the leader of the research team said. But Darius Leszczynski, who headed the 2-year study and will present findings next week at a conference in Quebec, said more research was needed to determine the seriousness of the changes and their impact on the brain or the body. The study at Finland's Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority found that exposure to radiation from mobile phones can cause increased activity in hundreds of proteins in human cells grown in a laboratory, he said. "We know that there is some biological response. We can detect it, with our very sensitive approaches, but we do not know whether it can have any physiological effects on the human brain or human body," Leszczynski said. Nonetheless the study, the initial findings of which were published last month in the scientific journal Differentiation, raises new questions about whether mobile phone radiation can weaker/the brain's protective shield against harmful substances. The study focused on changes in cells that line blood vessels and on whether such changes could weaken the functioning of the blood-brain barrier, which prevents potentially harmful substances from entering the brain from the bloodstream, Leszczynski said. The study found that a protein called hsp27 linked to the functioning of the bloodbrain barrier showed increased activity due to irradiation and pointed to a possibility that such activity could make the shield more permeable, he said. "Increased protein activity might cause cells to shrink--not the blood vessels but the cells themselves—and then tiny gaps could appear between those cells through which some molecules could pass." he said. Leszczynski declined to speculate on what kind of health risks that could pose, but said a French study indicated that headache, fatigue and sleep disorders could result. "These are not life-threatening problems but can cause a lot of discomfort," he said, adding that a Swedish group had also suggested a possible link with Alzheimer's disease. "Where the truth is I do not know," he said. Leszczynski said that he, his wife and children use mobile phones, and he said that he did not think his study suggested any need for new restrictions on mobile phone use.

单选题Why should we bother reading a book? All children say this occasionally. Many among our educated classes are also asking why, in a world of accelerating technology, increasing time poverty and diminishing attention spans, should they invest precious time sinking into a good book? The beginnings of an answer lie in the same technology that has posed the question. Psychologists from Washington University used brain scans to see what happens inside our heads when we read stories. They found that "readers mentally simulate each new situation encountered in a narrative". The brain weaves these situations together with experiences from its own life to create a new mental synthesis. Reading a book leaves us with new neural pathways. The discovery that our brains are physically changed by the experience of reading is something many of us will understand instinctively, as we think back to the way an extraordinary book had a transformative effect on the way we viewed the world. This transformation only takes place when we lose ourselves in a book, abandoning the emotional and mental chatter of the real world. That's why studies have found this kind of deep reading makes us more empathetic, or as Nicholas Carr puts it in his essay, The Dreams of Readers, "more alert to the inner lives of others". This is significant because recent scientific research has also found a dramatic fall in empathy among teenagers in advanced western cultures. We can't yet be sure why this is happening, but the best hypothesis is that it is the result of their immersion in the internet. So technology reveals that our brains are being changed by technology, and then offers a potential solution—the book. Rationally, we know that reading is the foundation stone of all education, and therefore an essential underpinning of the knowledge economy. So reading is—or should be—an aspect of public policy. But perhaps even more significant is its emotional role as the starting point for individual voyages of personal development and pleasure. Books can open up emotional and imaginative landscapes that extend the corridors of the web. They can help create and reinforce our sense of self. If reading were to decline significantly, it would change the very nature of our species. If we, in the future, are no longer wired for solitary reflection and creative thought, we will be diminished. But as a reader and a publisher, I am optimistic. Technology throws up as many solutions as it does challenges: for every door it closes, another opens. So the ability, offered by devices like e-readers, smartphones and tablets, to carry an entire library in your hand is an amazing opportunity. As publishers, we need to use every new piece of technology to embed long-form reading within our culture. We should concentrate on the message, not agonize over the medium.

单选题Correctly exercising foresight is shown in the case of

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} Plato asked "What is man?" and St Augustine asked "Who am I?' A new breed of criminals has a novel answer: "I am you!" Although impostors have existed for ages, the growing frequency and cost of identity theft is worrisome. Around 10m Americans are victims annually, and it is the leading consumer-fraud complaint over the past five years. The cost to businesses was almost $50 billion, and to consumers $5 billion, in 2002, the most recent year that America's Federal Trade Commission collected figures. After two recent, big privacy disasters, people and politicians are calling for action. In February, ChoicePoint, a large data-collection agency, began sending out letters warning 145,000 Americans that it had wrongly provided fraudsters with their personal details, including Social Security numbers. Around 750 people have already spotted fraudulent activity. And on February 25th, Bank of America revealed that it lost data tapes that contain personal information on over lm government employees, including some Senators. Although accident and not illegality is suspected, all must take precautions against identity theft. Faced with such incidents, state and national lawmakers are calling for new regulations, including over companies that collect and sell personal information. As an industry, the firms—such as ChoicePoint, Acxiom, LexisNexis and Westlaw—are largely unregulated. They have also grown enormous. For example, ChoicePoint was founded in 1997 and has acquired nearly 60 firms to amass databases with 19 billion records on people. It is used by insurance firms, landlords and even police agencies. California is the only state, with a law requiring companies to notify individuals when their personal information has been compromised—which made ChoicePoint reveal the fraud (albeit five months after it was noticed, and after its top two bosses exercised stock options). Legislation to make the requirement a federal law is under consideration. Moreover, lawmakers say they will propose that rules governing credit bureaus and medical companies are extended to data-collection firms. And alongside legislation, there is always litigation. Already, ChoicePoint has been sued for failing to safeguard individuals' data. Yet the legal remedies would still be far looser than in Europe, where identity theft is also a menace, though less frequent and costly. The European Data Protection Directive, implemented in 1998, gives people the right to access their information, change inaccuracies, and deny permission for it to be shared. Moreover, it places the cost of mistakes on the companies that collect the data, not on individuals. When the law was put in force, American policymakers groaned that it was bad for business. But now they seem to be reconsidering it,

单选题A child will ______ in the future if he starts to speak later than others.

单选题The author gives the example of Pacific islands climate change to

单选题If the CDC's map turns all red, it means

单选题An issue that many corporate executives ignore is the possibility that aggressive people seek reinforcement for their own destructive acts. Television violence, for instance, and the widespread public concern accompanying it have led to calls for strict controls on the depiction of violent programs. In their decision making, some producers do not take responsibility for the equally important minority. Instead, they may gear their content toward the masses, who crave sexually explicit and violent action. Fortunately, this group has the ability to disseminate violent action rationally, realizing that in reality, people who commit acts of violence have to compensate for their actions by taking full responsibility for the harm they cause to others. Not everyone can distinguish fact from fantasy. Studies show that in one week of content analysis of prime-time output on seven New York City channels, there were 3, 421 acts and threats of violence observed. Children's fictional entertainment programs had three times the frequency of violent acts or threats recorded in adult programs. Similarly, aggressive adults are seeking reinforcement for their own anti-social behavior from seeing attractive television characters behave in the same way. Behavioral evidence has indicated that the anti-social effects of violent television portrayals are strongest and are most likely to occur among individuals who are already aggressive. The ethical question is, should television submit to mass appeal or take into consideration the effects on certain members of society, including children? The consequences of televising violence are not only harmful to some viewers but concurrently affect the television stations in the form of loss of viewers and possibly gaining a bad reputation. Even though many associations have been condemning television violence, their efforts have had little effect on the large money-making corporations. In his article, " Sex and Violence " , Joe Saltzman states, " If, as producers argue, violence is a part of the human condition, then so is responsibility. In real life, you just do not commit mayhem and then go on to the next scene. " It is also necessary to realize that violence is part of our nature and of our life. Almost every day we are participants and observers of violence, whether it is natural violence, theatrical or fictional violence, sporting event violence, or political violence. To exclude all scenes of violence form television would be to falsify the picture of life. Television media can " encourage or aid " destructive behavior, not " cause " it. We hope that the decision makers will promote strong moral, ethical values in their decision making or at least consider them, in order to help prevent our violent self-destructive behavior.

单选题 The digital onslaught of e-books and Amazon-style e-tailers have put bookstores in an existential dilemma. Digital books are said to outsell print titles by 2015 in Britain, and even sooner in America. With the demise of HMV, that music-peddling giant, still fresh in everyone's minds, bricks-and-mortar bookstores appear to be on borrowed time. So, what is the future of the bookstore? This was the burning questions on everyone's lips at a recent event at Foyles's flagship bookshop on Charing Cross Road in London. For a bookstore to remain successful, it must improve "the experience of buying books," says Alex Lifschutz, an architect whose London-based practice is designing the new Foyles. He suggests an array of approaches: "small, quiet spaces cocooned with books; larger spaces where one can dwell and read; other larger but still intimate spaces where one can hear talks from authors about books, literature, science, travel and cookery." The atmosphere is vital, he adds. Exteriors must buzz with activity, entrances must be full of eye-catching presentations and a bar and cafe is essential. There are plenty of ways to delight the bookstore customer, but few are easily monetised. The consensus is that bookstores need to become cultural destinations where people are prepared to pay good money to hear a concert, see a film or attend a talk. The programming will have to be intelligent and the space comfortable. Given how common it is for shoppers to browse in shops only to buy online later, some wonder whether it makes sense to charge people for the privilege. But forcing people to pay for the privilege of potentially paying for goods could deter shoppers altogether. A more attractive idea might be a membership scheme like those offered by museums and other cultural venues. Unlike reward cards, which offer discounts and other nominal benefits, a club membership could provide priority access to events (talks, literary workshops, retreats) and a private lounge where members can eat, drink and meet authors before events. Different memberships could tailor to the needs of children and students. To survive and thrive, bookstores should celebrate the book in all its forms: rare, second-hand, digital, self-printed and so on. Digital and hybrid readers should have the option of buying e-books in- store, and budding authors should have access to self-printing book machines. The latter have been slower to take off in Britain, but in America bookstores are finding them to be an :important source of revenue. The bookstore of the future will have to work hard. Service will be knowledgeable and personalised, the inventory expertly selected, spaces well-designed and the cultural events attractive. Whether book stores, especially small independents are up to the challenge, is not clear. The fate of these stores is a cliff-hanger.

单选题Wireless technology is introduced as

单选题Historically, humans get serious about avoiding disasters only after one has just struck them. (1) that logic, 2006 should have been a breakthrough year for rational behavior. With the memory of 9/11 still (2) in their minds, Americans watched hurricane Katrina, the most expensive disaster in U.S. history, on (3) TV. Anyone who didn't know it before should have learned that bad things can happen. And they are made (4) worse by our willful blindness to risk as much as our (5) to work together before everything goes to hell. Granted, some amount of delusion is probably part of the (6) condition. In A.D. 63, Pompeii was seriously damaged by an earthquake, and the locals immediately went to work ()7 , in the same spot—until they were buried altogether by a volcano eruption 16 years later. But a (8) of the past year in disaster history suggests that modern Americans are particularly bad at (9) themselves from guaranteed threats. We know more than we (10) did about the dangers we face. But it turns (11) that in times of crisis, our greatest enemy is (12) the storm, the quake or the (13) itself. More often, it is ourselves. So what has happened in the year that (14) the disaster on the Gulf Coast. In New Orleans, the Army Corps of Engineers has worked day and night to rebuild the floodwalls. They have got the walls to (15) they were before Katrina, more or less. That's not (16) , we can now say with confidence. But it may be all (17) can be expected from one year of hustle. Meanwhile, New Orleans officials have crafted a plan to use buses and trains to (18) the sick and the disabled. The city estimates that 15,000 people will need a (19) out. However, state officials have not yet determined where these people will be taken. The (20) with neighboring communities are ongoing and difficult.

单选题Scientists have long warned that some level of global warming is a done deal—due in large part to heat-trapping greenhouse gases humans already have pumped skyward. Now, however, researchers are fleshing out how much future warming and sea-level rise the world has triggered. The implicit message: "We can't stop this, so how do we live with it?" says Thomas Wigley, a climate researcher at NCAR. One group, led by Gerald Meehl at NCAR, used two state-of-the-art climate models to explore what could happen if the world had held atmospheric concentrations of greenhouse gases steady since 2000. The results: Even if the world had slammed on the brakes five years ago, global average temperatures would rise by about 1 degree Fahrenheit by the end of the 21st century. Sea levels would rise by another 4 inches over 20th-century increases. Rising sea-levels would continue well beyond 2100, even without adding water from melting glaciers and ice sheets. The rise highlights the oceans' enormous capacity to absorb heat and its slow reaction to changes in atmospheric conditions. The team ran each model several times with a range of "what if" concentrations, as well as observed concentrations, for comparison. Temperatures eventually level out, Dr. Meehl says in reviewing his team's results. "But sea-level increases keep ongoing. The relentless nature of sea-level rise is pretty daunting." Dr. Wigley took a slightly different approach with a simpler model. He ran simulations that capped concentrations, at 2000 levels. If concentrations are held constant, warming could exceed 1.8 degrees F. by 2400. The two researchers add that far from holding steady, concentrations of greenhouse gases continue to rise. Thus, at best, the results point to the least change people can expect, they say. The idea that some level of global climate change from human activities is inevitable is not new. But the word has been slow to make its way into the broader debate. "Many people don't realize we are committed right now to a significant amount of global warming and sea-level rise. The longer we wait, the more climate change we are committed to in the future," Meehl says. While the concept of climate-change commitment isn't new, these fresh results "tell us what's possible and what's realistic" and that for the immediate future, "prevention is not on the table," says Roger Pielke Jr., director of the Center for Science and Technology Policy Research. To Pielke and others, this means adaptation should be given a much higher priority that it's received to date. "There's a cultural bias in favor of prevention," he says. But any sound policy includes preparation as well, he adds. "We have the scientific and technological knowledge we need to improve adaptation and apply that knowledge globally./