单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} 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The number of names on the no-fly list increases rapidly from 16 to 20,000 most probably because

单选题Education should be various because______.

单选题The energy crisis, which is being felt around the world, has dramatized how the careless use of the earth's resources has brought the whole world to the brink of disaster. The over-development of motor transport, with its increase of more cars, more highways, more pollution, more suburbs, more commuting, has contributed to the near-destruction of our cities, the broke up of the family, and the pollution not only of local air but also of the earth's atmosphere. The disaster has arrived in the form of the energy crisis. Our present situation is unlike war, revolution or depression. It is also unlike the great natural disasters of the past. Worldwide resources exploitation and energy use have brought us to a state where long-range planning is essential. What we need is not a continuation of our present serious state, which endangers the future of our country, our children, and our earth, but a movement forward to a new norm in order to work rapidly and effectively on planetary problems. This country has been falling back under the continuing exposures of loss morality and the revelation that lawbreaking has reached into the highest places in the land. There is a strong demand for moral revival and for some devotion that is vast enough and yet personal enough to enlist the devotion of all. In the past it has been only in a way in defense of their own country and their own ideals that and people have been able to devote themselves wholeheartedly. This is the first time that we have been asked to defend ourselves and what we hold dear in cooperation with all the other inhabitants of this planet, who share with us the same endangered air and the same endangered oceans. There is a common need to reassess our present course, to change that course and to devise new methods through which the world can survive. This is a priceless opportunity. To grasp it we need a widespread understanding of nature in the crisis confronting us—and the world—a crisis that is no passing inconvenience, no byproduct of the ambitions of the oil-producing countries, no environmentalists' mere fears, no by-product of any present system of government. What we face is the outcome of the invention of the last four hundred years. What we need is a transformed life style. This new life style can flow directly from science and technology, but its acceptance depends on a sincere devotion to finding a higher quality of life for the world' s children and future generation.

单选题Why does a tuner often stand in the wings?

单选题 Entire cities and counties have banned them. McDonald's and Kentucky Fried Chicken have declared to give them up-as have Starbucks, Ruby Tuesday, and a host of other former sources of sinful pleasures. In response to the 2006 Food and Drug Administration requirement that trans fats be listed on nutrition labels, makers of packaged goods have brought their totals down to zero. Last month, Frito-Lay even got the FDA's blessing to put a claim on products loaded with healthy, unsaturated fats that replacing bad fats with good ones may protect against heart disease. Does this mean that junk food is now the new health food? "No!" says Robert Eckel. immediate past president of the American Heart Association, whose "Face the Fats" education campaign points out that a "zero trans fats" label doesn't tell the whole story. "People know trans fats are not good for them," says Eckel. "But they do not understand that replacing them with saturated fat is not a good option." And that, in some cases, is what's happening. Yes, the food industry is experimenting with ways to keep the saturated fat content low-by using unsaturated options such as canola and sunflower oils, for example. But some manufacturers, unwilling to sacrifice taste and texture, are turning back to less-than-healthful choices such as palm oil and butter. Baked goods have proved particularly unwilling to change. The solid fats that provide their light texture and flakiness as well as the rich flavor typically are either highly saturated or are "partially hydrogenated" oils that contain trans fats. Makers of fried foods have had an easier task, since certain liquid unsaturated oils can do as tasty a job. Snack makers, too, have found the switch to be relatively manageable. Manufacturers are raising nutrition experts' eyebrows with other tricks, too. Walter Willett, a professor of epidemiology and nutrition at Harvard whose research showed that trans fats promote heart disease, says that some companies now are fully, rather than partially, hydrogenating vegetable oil. Full hydrogenation doesn't create trans fats as it solidifies the oil, but it does produce an acid; a saturated fat which seems in preliminary research to promote inflammation, thus contributing to heart disease. "I'm not in favor of using totally hydrogenated oil until more is known," he says. A recent study by the International Food Information Council Foundation shows that about 42 percent of Americans-a 9 percent increase over last year-are trying to cut back on certain healthy tats along with trans fats. "All people hear is that fat is bad, bad, bad," says Susan Borra, president of the foundation. In fact, most people need more of the good kind.

单选题Sport psychology research has documented the important rote of significant adults such as parents and coaches in youth participants' psychosocial development and achievement motivation. However, the situation concerning parents and coaches in youth sport is somewhat of a conundrum—the roles of coach and parent are often synonymous, suggesting not simply an independent relationship with the child participant. In recent years, a growing body of literature has emerged on parent influence in youth sport based on these and other theories. First, research shows that parents who are more supportive and less pressuring of their children are associated with youth participants who report higher perceived competence, enjoyment, and intrinsic motivation toward sport. Second, parents who encourage their child's participation and exhibit enjoyment of physical activity are related to children who report higher perceived competence and attraction toward physical activity. Finally, parents who hold stronger positive beliefs about their child's physical competence are associated with children who report higher self-perceptions, value toward sport, and physical activity levels. A prevalent phenomenon of North American culture is the parent-coach dual role. Most coaches in competitive youth sport are parents of one or more of their players. Brown estimated that about 90% of the volunteer coaches in a given community are a parent of one or more team members. Although one can forward several positive aspects of the parent-coach phenomenon, there is also the potential for youth to perceive stress from this parent-child relationship. Several researchers reported that adolescent athletes felt pressure from their coaches and parents to perform well, and desired that parents be sources of social support and leave skill and strategy instruction to the coach's domain. Collectively, anecdotal accounts and empirical data suggest that exploring the benefits and costs of parents coaching their children is a worthy topic from both theoretical and applied perspectives. Therefore, based on previous research on the role of parents and coaches in youth development, the purpose of the present study was to gain knowledge about the parent-coach phenomenon in competitive youth sport. We accomplished this purpose by interviewing youth soccer players who were coached by their parent, the child's teammates, and the parent-coach. We expect that child participants would identify both positive and negative aspects of having a parent as their coach, in line with previous research, but we were most curious to know if different issues would be raised about the unique parent-coach/child-athlete relationship.

单选题In most parts of the world, climate change is a worrying subject. Not so in California. At a recent gathering of green luminaries--in a film star's house, naturally, for that is how seriousness is often established in Los Angeles--the dominant note was self-satisfaction at what the state has already achieved. And perhaps nobody is more complacent than Arnold Schwarzenegger. Unlike A1 Gore, a presidential candidate turned prophet of environmental doom, California's governor sounds cheerful when talking about climate change. As well he might: it has made his political career. Although California has long been an environmentally-conscious state, until recently greens were concerned above all with smog and redwood trees. "Coast of Dreams", Kevin Starr's authoritative history of contemporary California, published in 2004, does not mention climate change. In that year, though, the newly-elected Mr. Schwarzenegger made his first tentative call for western states to seek alternatives to fossil fuels. Gradually he noticed that his efforts to tackle climate change met with less resistance, and more acclaim, than just about all his other policies. These days it can seem as though he works on nothing else. Mr. Schwarzenegger's transformation from screen warrior to eco-warrior was completed last year when he signed a bill imposing legally-enforceable limits on greenhouse--gas emissions--a first for America. Thanks mostly to its lack of coal and heavy industry, California is a relatively clean state. If it were a country it would be the world's eighth- biggest economy, but only its 16th-biggest polluter. Its big problem is transport--meaning, mostly, cars and trucks, which account for more than 40% of its greenhouse-gas emissions compared with 32% in America as a whole. The state wants to ratchet down emissions limits on new vehicles, beginning in 2009. Mr. Schwarzenegger has also ordered that, by 2020, vehicle fuel must produce 10% less carbon: in the production as well as the burning, so a simple switch to corn-based ethanol is probably out. Thanks in part to California's example, most of the western states have adopted climate action plans. When it comes to setting emission targets, the scene can resemble a posedown at a Mr. Olympia contest. Arizona's climate-change scholars decided to set a target of cutting the state's emissions to 2000 levels by 2020. But Janet Napolitano, the governor, was determined not to be out-muscled by California. She has declared that Arizona will try to return to 2000 emission levels by 2012. California has not just inspired other states; it has created a vanguard that ought to be able to prod the federal government into stronger national standards than it would otherwise consider. But California is finding it easier to export its policies than to put them into practice at home. In one way, California's self-confidence is fully justified. It has done more than any other state--let alone the federal government--to fix America's attention on climate change. It has also made it seem as though the problem can be solved. Which is why failure would be such bad news. At the moment California is a beacon to other states. If it fails, it will become an excuse for inaction.

单选题{{B}}Text 1{{/B}} Henric Ibsen, author of the play “ A Doll’s House” , in which a pretty, helpless housewife abandons her husband and children to seek a more serious life, would surely have approved. From January 1st, 2008, all public companies in Norway are obliged to ensure that at least 40% of their board directors are women. Most firms have obeyed the law, which was passed in 2003. But about 75 out of the 480 or so companies it affects are still too male for the government’s liking. They will shortly receive a letter informing them that they have until the end of February to act, or face the legal consequences — which could include being dissolved. Before the law was proposed, about 7% of board members in Norway were female, according to the Centre for Corporate Diversity. The number has since jumped to 36%. That is far higher than the average of 9% for big companies across Europe or America’s 15% for the Fortune 500. Norway’s stock exchange and its main business lobby oppose the law, as do many businessmen.” I am against quotas for women or men as a matter of principle,” says Sverre Munck, head of international operations at a media firm. “ Board members of public companies should be chosen solely on the basis of merit and experience,” he says. Several firms have even given up their public status in order to escape the new law. Companies have had to recruit about 1,000 women in four years. Many complain that it has been difficult to find experienced candidates. Because of this, some of the best women have collected as many as 25-35 directorships each, and are known in Norwegian business circles as the “ golden skirts” . One reason for the scarcity is that there are fairly few women in management in Norwegian companies — they occupy around 15% of senior positions. It has been particularly hard for firms in the oil, technology and financial industries to find women with enough experience. Some people worry that their relative lack of experience may keep women quiet on boards, and that in turn could mean that boards might become less able to hold managers to account. Recent history in Norway, however, suggests that the right women can make strong directors. “Women feel more compelled than men to do their homework,” says Ms. Reksten Skaugen, who was voted Norway’s chairman of the year for 2007.

单选题“scarcely that” ( Par

单选题Horse thieves, cattle rustlers, bank robbers, train and stagecoach robbers, highwaymen, murderers, these were but some of the criminals who infested the American frontier during the 19th century. In English legend Robin Hood can be considered a bandit, but the outlaws of the Old West were far more violent men and women without any scruples when it came to taking property or life. The careers of many outlaws have been glamorized through fictional accounts of their deeds and their exploits have been the basis for many movie scripts. The era of the American outlaw lasted about 100 years roughly from 1800 to 1900．There had been lawlessness during the Colonial Era. Frontiers have always attracted misfits, failures and renegades who hope to profit by being beyond the reach of government. In the years just before the Revolutionary War, gangs of horse thieves in the back country of South Carolina were broken up by organized bands of farmers called regulators. As frontier settlement expanded rapidly after the Revolution, more opportunities for criminals opened, two common types of bandits were highwaymen and river pirates. Highwaymen accosted people who traveled on foot or horseback, while river pirates preyed upon the boat traffic on the Ohio, Mississippi, and other rivers. Some bandits engaged in both. Criminals in the West gathered momentum with the gold rushes to California, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, and other states. Stagecoaches and trains carrying gold and money became prime targets for bands of outlaws. Bank robberies emerged after the California Gold Rush of 1849 and as prosperity found its way to frontier towns. The first stage robbery was recorded in 1851, and the first train robbery happened in 1866. After the Civil War there was the growth of the cattle kingdom in Texas and neighboring states. Cattle rustling and horse theft turned into significant operations. Range wars bred a great amount of violence. Cattlemen fought over land and water rights, and they fought with great bitterness against sheep farmers. In Texas, range wars were fought over the use of barbed wire to fence grazing land. By the end of the 19th century, the frontier era was past. Major crime shifted to the cities. Ethnic gangs had existed in the slums for decades, preying mostly on their fellow immigrants. With the arrival of Prohibition in the 1920s, an impetus was given to the formation of organized crime as it exists today.

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 1m 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 theft 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.