单选题 While it's easy to get swept up in the commercialism at major sports events, one shouldn't ignore the transformative capacity of sport to produce social change. Historically, the potential for sports lies not with the values they promote, since they are invariably unjust and uneven. Instead, the possibilities that exist within sports are those that bridge divides between societies with radically different views of the world. The concept of an "Olympic Truce" is noteworthy in terms of recognising the role of international non-governmental organizations (NGOs) in influencing and brokering international relations. An Olympic Truce was launched on January 24, 1994 for the period of the Lillehammer Winter Games in an attempt to resolve the conflict in Yugoslavia. This Olympic Truce involved representatives from the World Health Organisation (WHO), UNICEF, the Red Cross, the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, and the Norwegian Government. These groups evacuated coaches, athletes, and members of the national Olympic committee from Sarajevo so that they could compete in the Games. Many African runners have provided an exhilarating spectacle for global audiences. Maria Mutola, the Mozambican former Olympic and five-time world indoor 800m champion and world record holder, routinely sends track winnings back to her country. Chamanchulo, the suburb of Maputo in which Mutola grew up, is ravaged by HIV, passed on in childbirth or breast milk to 40 percent of the children. In 2003 when Mutola became the first athlete to collect ＄1million for outright victory on the Golden League Athletic Grand Prix Circuit, part of the cash went to the foundation she endowed to help provide scholarships, clothing, education, and coaching for young athletes. Farms and small businesses have often been sustained by her winnings on the circuit, which have purchased tractors, fertilizer, and equipment to drill small wells. Catherine Astrid Salome Freeman became the first Aboriginal to represent Australia at the Olympics, at Barcelona in 1992 and became its first world champion and first Olympic champion. In doing so she became a symbol for reconciliation between a black and white Australia. Her grandmother, Alice Sibley, was one of the members of the so-called "stolen generation. " She was taken from her parents at the age of eight by a reviled 1950s Australian government policy that removed Aboriginal children removed from their parents and resettled them with white families. Her Olympic success has perhaps helped to change the face of prejudice, almost a taboo subject in a modern Australia. She herself had become perhaps one of Australia's greatest sporting icons but also a symbol of the struggle that aboriginal Australians had to endure in order to win social, civil, and political rights.

单选题Few scientific fields are as full of risk as that of research into human intelligence. The two questions that (1) over and over again are "is it a result of nature or nurture?" and "does race make a difference?" Making (2) comments about the second question can be a (3) move, as James Watson, a co-discoverer of DNA structure, recently found. He suggested that he was " (4) about the prospect of Africa" (5) "all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours (white people) (6) all the testing says not really". Such (7) by Dr. Watson are not merely (8) , they are scientifically weird. If the term (9) has any useful scientific meaning, then Africa, the continent where modern humanity began, is most racially diverse. The resulting (10) among the public forced Dr. Watson to leave his laboratory. (11) , the study of the first question (12) between intelligence and genetics— has some wiser practitioners. One of them, Terrie Moffitt, of King's College, has just (13) a project judging the relative importance of nature and nurture. Dr. Moffitt's team (14) the effect on intelligence of breastfeeding, but in a genetic context. Previous studies have shown that breastfed children are more intelligent, (15) about six IQ points, than those given baby formulas. The team, however, (16) the involvement of a gene called FADS2, which comes in two varieties, known as C and G. The researchers (17) if these two varieties interacted differently with breast milk. (18) on data from two groups of people, they found that the intelligence increase associated with breastfeeding only happened to people having (19) at least one copy of the C variety. The effect did not. (20) on the social classes or IQs of the parents.

单选题According to the author energy security can only be achieved by ______.

单选题By "terrorist risk became the pariah of perils" (Paragraph 1), the author means

单选题The third statistics as pointed out in the opening paragraph, in view of Mr Fortune Wood, is

单选题"WHAT'S the difference between God and Larry Ellison?" asks an old software industry joke. Answer: God doesn't think he's Larry Ellison. The boss of Oracle is hardly alone among corporate chiefs in having a reputation for being rather keen on himself. Indeed, until the bubble burst and the public turned nasty at the start of the decade, the cult of the celebrity chief executive seemed to demand bossly narcissism, as evidence that a firm was being led by an all-conquering hero. Narcissus met a nasty end, of course. And in recent years, boss-worship has come to be seen as bad for business. In his management bestseller, "Good to Great", Jim Collins argued that the truly successful bosses were not the serf-proclaimed stars who adorn the covers of Forbes and Fortune, but instead self-effacing, thoughtful, monkish sorts who lead by inspiring example. A statistical answer may be at hand. For the first time, a new study, "It's All About Me", to be presented next week at the annual gathering of the American Academy of Management, offers a systematic, empirical analysis of what effect narcissistic bosses have on the firms they run. The authors, Arijit Chatterjee and Donald Hambrick, of Pennsylvania State University, examined narcissism in the upper levels of 105 firms in the computer and software industries. To do this, they had to solve a practical problem: studies of narcissism have hitherto relied on surveying individuals personally, something for which few chief executives are likely to have time or inclination. So the authors devised an index of narcissism using six publicly available indicators obtainable without the co-operation of the boss. These are: the prominence of the boss's photo in the annual report; his prominence in company press releases; the length of his "Who's Who" entry; the frequency of his use of the first person singular in interviews; and the ratios of his cash and non-cash compensation to those of the firm's second-highest paid executive. Narcissism naturally drives people to seek positions of power and influence, and because great self-esteem helps your professional advance, say the authors, chief executives will tend on average to be more narcissistic than the general population. How does that affect a firm? Messrs Chatterjee and Hambrick found that highly narcissistic bosses tended to make bigger changes in the use of important resources, such as research and development, or in spending and leverage; they carried out more and bigger mergers and acquisitions ; and their results were both more extreme (more big wins or big losses) and more transient than those of firms run by their humbler peers. For shareholders, that could be good or bad. Although (oddly) the authors are keeping their narcissism ranking secret, they have revealed that Mr Ellison did not come top. Alas for him, that may be because the study limited itself to people who became the boss after 1991--well after he took the helm. In every respect Mr Ellison seems to be the classic narcissistic boss, claims Mr Chatterjee. There is life in the old joke yet.

单选题{{B}}Text 4{{/B}} If phone calls and web pages can be beamed through the air to portable devices, then why not electrical power, too? It is a question many consumers and device manufacturers have been asking themselves for some time. But to seasoned observers of the electronics industry, the promise of wireless recharging sounds depressingly familiar. In 2004 Splashpower, a British technology firm, was citing “very strong” interest from consumer-electronics firms for its wireless charging pad. Based on the principle of electromagnetic induction (EMI) that Faraday had discovered in the 19th century, the company’s “Splashpad” contained a coil that generated a magnetic field when a current flowed through it. When a mobile device containing a corresponding coil was brought near the pad, the process was reversed as the magnetic field generated a current in the second coil, charging the device’ s battery without the use of wires. Unfortunately, although Faraday’s principles of electromagnetic induction have stood the test of time, Splashpower has not — it was declared bankrupt last year without having launched a single product. Thanks to its simplicity .and measurability, electromagnetic induction is still the technology of choice among many of the remaining companies in the wireless-charging arena. But, as Splashpower found, turning the theory into profitable practice is not straightforward. But lately there have been some promising developments. The first is the formation in December 2008 of the Wireless Power Consortium, a body dedicated to establishing a common standard for inductive wireless charging, and thus promoting its adoption. The new consortium’s members include big consumer-electronics firms, such as Philips and Sanyo, as well as Texas Instruments, a chipmaker. Fierce competition between manufacturers of mobile devices is also accelerating the introduction of wireless charging. The star of this year’s Consumer Electronics Show held in Las Vegas was the Pre, a smart-phone from Palm. The Pre has an optional charging pad, called the Touchstone, which uses electromagnetic induction to charge the device wirelessly. As wireless-charging equipment based on electromagnetic induction heads towards the market, a number of alternative technologies are also being developed. PowerBeam, a start-up based in Silicon Valley, uses lasers to beam power from one place to another. It now seems to be a matter of when, rather than if, wireless charging enters the mainstream. And if those in the field do find themselves languishing in the disillusionment, they could take some encouragement from Faraday himself. He observed that “nothing is too wonderful to be true if it be consistent with the laws of nature.” Not even a wirelessly rechargeable iPhone.

单选题Euthanasia has been a topic of controversy in Europe since at least 1936. On an average of six times a day, a doctor in Holland practices "active" euthanasia: (1) administering a lethal drug to a (2) ill patient who has asked to be relieved (3) suffering. Twenty times a day, life prolonging treatment is withheld or withdrawn (4) there is no hope that it can (5) an ultimate cure. "Active" euthanasia remains a crime on the Dutch statute books, punishable (6) 12 years in prison. But a series of court cases over the past 15 years has made it clear that a competent physician who (7) it out will not be prosecuted. Euthanasia, often called "mercy killing", is a crime everywhere in Western Europe. (8) more and more doctors and nurses in Britain, Germany, Holland and elsewhere readily (9) to practicing it, most often in the "passive" form of withholding or withdrawing (10) The long simmering euthanasia issue has lately (11) into a sometimes fierce public debate, (12) both sides claiming the mantle of ultimate righteousness. Those (13) to the practice see themselves (14) sacred principles of respect for life, (15) those in favor raise the banner of humane treatment. After years (16) the defensive, the advocates now seem to be (17) ground. Recent polls in Britain show that 72 percent of British (18) favor euthanasia in some circumstances. An astonishing 76 percent of (19) to a poll taken late last year in France said they would like the law changed to (20) mercy killings. Obviously, pressure groups favoring euthanasia and "assisted suicide" have grown steadily in Europe over the years.

单选题We can see from the available statistics that ______.

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} At the start of the year, The Independent on Sunday argued that there were three overwhelming reasons why Iraq should not be invaded: there was no proof that Saddam posed an imminent threat; Iraq would be even more unstable as a result of its liberation; and a conflict would increase the threat posed by terrorists. What we did not know was that Tony Blair had received intelligence and advice that raised the very same points. Last week's report from the Intelligence and Security Committee included the revelation that some of the intelligence had warned that a war against Iraq risked an increased threat of terrorism. Why did Mr. Blair not make this evidence available to the public in the way that so much of the alarmist intelligence on Saddam's weapons was published? Why did he choose to ignore the intelligence and argue instead that the war was necessary, precisely because of the threat posed by international terrorism? There have been two parliamentary investigations into this war and the Hutton inquiry will reopen tomorrow. In their different ways they have been illuminating, but none of them has addressed the main issues relating to the war. The Foreign Affairs Committee had the scope to range widely, but chose to become entangled in the dispute between the Government and the BBC. The Intelligence Committee reached the conclusion that the Government's file on Saddam's weapons was not mixed up, but failed to explain why the intelligence was so hopelessly wrong. The Hutton inquiry is investigating the death of Dr. David Kelly, a personal tragedy of marginal relevance to the war against Iraq. Tony Blair has still to come under close examination about his conduct in the building-up to war. Instead, the Defence Secretary, Geoff Hoon, is being fingered as if he were master-minding the war behind everyone's backs from the Ministry' of Defence. Mr. Hoon is not a minister who dares to think without consulting Downing Street first. At all times he would have been dancing to Downing Street's tunes, Mr. Blair would be wrong to assume that he can draw a line under all of this by making Mr.Hoon the fall-guy. It was Mr. Blair who decided to take Britain to war, and a Cabinet of largely skeptical ministers that backed him. It was Mr. Blair who told MPs that unless Saddam was removed, terrorists would pose a greater global threat--even though he had received intelligence that suggested a war would lead to an increase in terrorism. Parliament should be the forum in which the Prime Minister is called more fully to account, but lain Duncan Smith's support for the war has neutered an already inept opposition. In the absence of proper parliamentary scrutiny, it is left to newspapers like this one to keep asking the most important questions until the Prime Minister answers them.

单选题The main concern of the last paragraph is______.

单选题In his 1979 book, The Sinking Ark, biologist Norman Myers estimated that (1) of more than 100 human-caused extinctions occur each day, and that one million species (2) lost by the century's end. Yet there is little evidence of (3) that number of extinctions. For example, only seven species on the (4) species list have become extinct (5) the list was created in 1973. Bio- (6) is an important value, according to many scientists. Nevertheless, the supposed (7) extinction rates bandied about are achieved by multiplying unknowns by (8) to get imponderables. Many estimates, for instance, rely a great deal on a "species-area (9) ", which predicts that twice as many species will be found on 100 square miles (10) on ten square miles. The problem is that species are not distributed (11) , so which parts of a forest are destroyed may be as important as (12) . (13) , says Ariel Lugo, director of the International Institute of Tropical Forestry- in Puerto Rico, "Biologists who predict high extinction rates (14) the resiliency of nature. " One of the main causes of extinctions is (15) According to the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research, what destroys (16) trees is not commercial logging, but "poor farmers who have no other (17) for feeding their families than slashing arid bunting a (18) of forest". In countries that practice modern (19) agriculture, forests are in no danger. In 1920, U.S. forests covered 732 million acres. Today they cover 737 million. Forests in Europe (20) from 361 million to 482 million acres between 1950 and 1990.

单选题Who does the author intend to write the passage for?

单选题According to the author, what is the result of the Soviet Union's change in economic policy, in the 1970's?

单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}} I came across an old country guide the other day. It listed all the tradesmen in each village in my part of the country, and it was impressive to see the great variety of services which were available on one’s own doorstep in the late Victorian countryside. Nowadays a superficial traveler in rural England might conclude that the only village tradesmen still flourishing were either selling frozen food to the inhabitants or selling antiques to visitors. Nevertheless, this would really be a false impression. Admittedly there has been a contraction of village commerce, but its vigor is still remarkable. Our local grocer’s shop, for example, is actually expanding in spite of the competition from supermarkets in the nearest town. Women sensibly prefer to go there and exchange the local news while doing their shopping, instead of queueing up anonymously at a supermarket. And the proprietor knows well that personal service has a substantial cash value. His prices may be a bit higher than those in the town, but he will deliver anything at any time. His assistants think nothing of bicycling down the village street in their lunch, hour to take a piece of cheese to an old-age pensioner who sent her order by word of mouth with a friend who happened to be passing. The more affluent customers telephone their shopping lists and the goods are on their doorsteps within an hour. They have only to hint at a fancy for some commodity outside the usual stock and the grocer a red-faced figure, instantly obtains it for them. The village gains from this sort of enterprise, of course. But I also find it satisfactory because a village shop offers one of the few ways in which a modest individualist can still get along in the world without attaching himself to the big battalions of industry or commerce. Most of the village shopkeepers I know, at any rate, are decidedly individualist in their ways. For exampie, our shoemaker is a formidable figure: a thick-set, irritable man whom children treat with marked respect, knowing that an ill-judged word can provoke an angry eruption at any time. He stares with contempt at the pairs of cheap, mass-produced shoes taken to him for repair: has it come to this, he seems to be saying, that he, a craftsman, should have to waste his skills upon such trash? But we all know he will in fact do excellent work upon them. And he makes beautiful shoes for those who can afford such luxury.

单选题California is having problems with its death penalty. It hasn"t executed anyone since 2000, when a federal court ruled that its method of lethal injection was improper and could cause excessive pain. The state spent five years coming up with a better method — and last month, a judge threw that one out too. One indication of just how encumbered California"s capital-punishment system is: the prisoner who brought the latest lethal-injection challenge has been on death row for 24 years. It isn"t just California. The Death Penalty Information Center reported last month that the number of new death sentences nationally was down sharply in 2011, dropping below 100 for the first time in decades. It also reported that executions were plummeting — down 56% since 1999. There has long been an idea about how the death penalty would end in the U. S. : the Supreme Court would hand down a sweeping ruling saying it is unconstitutional in all cases. But that is not what is happening. Instead of top-down abolition, we seem to be getting it from the bottom up— governors, state legislatures, judges and juries quietly deciding not to support capital punishment. New Jersey abolished its death penalty in 2007. New Mexico abolished its death penalty in 2009. There are now 16 states — or about one-third of the country — that have abolished capital punishment. There are several reasons we seem to be moving toward de facto abolition of the death penalty. A major one has been the growing number of prisoners on death row who have been exonerated — 139 and counting since 1973, according to a list maintained by the Death Penalty Information Center. Even many people who support capital punishment in theory balk when they are confronted with clear evidence that innocent people are being sentenced to death. Another factor is cost. Money is tight these days, and more attention is being paid to just how expensive death-penalty cases are. A 2008 study found that California was spending $137 million on capital cases — a sizable outlay , particularly since it was not putting anyone to death. According to the polls, a majority of the country has not yet turned against the death penalty — but support is slipping. In 1994, 80% of respondents in a GaUup poll said they supported the death penalty for someone convicted of murder. In 2001, just 61% did. In polls where respondents are given a choice between the death penalty or life without parole and restitution , a majority has gone with the non-death option. Many opponents of the death penalty are still hoping for a sweeping Supreme Court ruling, and there is no denying that it would have unique force. Five Justices, with a stroke of their pens, could end capital punishment nationwide. But bottom-up, gradual abolition has other advantages. What we are seeing is not a small group of judges setting policy. It is a large number of Americans gradually losing their enthusiasm for putting people to death.