单选题The consequences of heavy drinking are well documented: failing health, broken marriages, regrettable late-night phone calls. But according to Gregory Luzaich's calculations, there can be a downside to modest drinking, too—though one that damages the wallet, not the liver. The Pek Wine Steward prevents wine from spoiling by injecting argon, an inert gas, into the bottle before sealing it airtight with silicon. Mr. Luzaich. a mechanical engineer in Windsor, Calif.—in the Sonoma County wine country—first tallied the costs of his reasonable consumption in October 2001. "I'd like to come home in the evening and have a glass of wine with dinner," he said. "My wife doesn't drink very much. so the bottle wouldn't get consumed. And maybe I would forget about it the next day, and I'd check back a day or two later, and the wine would be spoiled." That meant he was wasting most of a $15 to $20 bottle of wine. dozens of times a year. A cheek of the wine-preservation gadgets on the market left Mr. Luzaich dissatisfied High-end wine cabinets cost thousands of dollars—a huge investment for a glass-a-day drinker. Affordable preservers, meanwhile, didn't quite perform to Mr. Luzaich's liking; be thought they allowed too much oxidation, which degrades the taste of a wine. The solution, he decided, was a better gas. Many preservers pumped nitrogen into an opened bottle to slow a wine's decline, even though oenological literature suggested that argon was more effective. So when he began designing the Pek Wine Steward. a metal cone into which a wine bottle is inserted, Mr. Luzaich found that his main challenge was to figure out how best to introduce the argon. He spent months fine-tuning a gas injection system. "We used computational fluid dynamics to model the gas flow," Mr. Luzaich said. referring to a computer-analysis technique that measures how smoothly particles are flowing. The goal was to create an injector that could swap a bottle's oxygen atoms for argon atoms; argon is an inert gas, and thus unlikely to harm a nice Chianti. Mr. Luzaich, who had previously designed medical and telecommunications products, also worked on creating an airtight seal, to secure the bottle after the argon was injected. He experimented with several substances, from neoprene to a visco-elastic polymer (which he dismissed as "too gooey"), before settling on a food-grade silicon. To save wine, a bottle is placed inside the Pek Wine Steward, the top is closed, and a trigger is pulled for 5 to 10 seconds, depending on how much wine remains. When the trigger is released, the bottle is sealed automatically, preserving the wine for a week or more. the company says. "We wanted to make it very easy for the consumer," Mr. Luzaich said. "It's basically mindless." The device, which resembles a high-tech thermos, first became available to consumers in March 2004, and 8,000 to 10.000 have been sold, primarily through catalogs like those of The Wine Enthusiast and Hammacher Schlemmer The base model sells for $99; a deluxe model, which also includes a thermoelectric cooler, is $199

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Conventional wisdom says trees are good for the environment. They absorb carbon dioxide -- a greenhouse gas -- from the atmosphere and store it as carbon while releasing oxygen. The roots of trees have been thought to trap sediments and nutrients in the soil, keeping nearby rivers free flowing . Trees have also been credited with steadying the flow of these rivers, keeping it relatively constant through wet and dry seasons, thus preventing both drought and flooding. Pernicious nonsense, conclude two pieces of research published this week. The first, a four-year international study led by researchers at the University of Newcastle, in Britain, and the Free University of Amsterdam, identifies several myths about the link between forests and water. For example, in arid and semi-arid areas, trees consume far more water than they trap. And it is not the trees that catch sediment and nutrients, and steady the flow of the rivers, but the fact that the soil has not been compressed. The World Commission on Water estimates that the demand for water will increase by around 50% in the next 30 years. Moreover, around 4 billion people -- one half of the world's population -- will live in conditions of severe water stress, meaning they will not have enough water for drinking and washing to stay healthy, by 2025. The government of South Africa has been taking a tough approach to trees since it became the first to treat water as a basic human right in 1998. In a scheme praised by the hydrologists, the state penalizes forestry companies for preventing this water reaching rivers and underground aquifers. In India, large tree-planting schemes not only lose valuable water but dim the true problem identified by the hydrologists: the unregulated removal of water from aquifers to irrigate crops. Farmers need no permit to drill a borehole and, as most farmers receive free electricity, there is little economic control on the volume of water pumped. So a report of Britain's Department for International Development concludes that there is no scientific evidence that forests increase or stabilize water flow in arid or semi-arid areas. It recommends that, if water shortages are a problem, governments should impose limits on forest plantation. The second piece of research looked at how long the forests of the Amazon basin cling on to carbon. Growing trees consume carbon dioxide and it was thought that only when the tree died, perhaps hundreds of years later, would the carbon be returned to the atmosphere. No such luck. In a paper published in Nature this week, a team of American and Brazilian scientists found that trees were silently returning the carbon after just five years. Before taking an axe to trees, however, consider the merits of the tropical rainforests.

单选题To the narrator, roundness stands for ______.

单选题When we listen to a person talking, the most important thing for us to do is______.

单选题{{B}}Directions:{{/B}} Read the following text. Choose the best word (s) for each numbered blank and mark A, B, C or D on Answer Sheet 1. In October 2002, Goldman Sachs and Deutsche Bank{{U}} (1) {{/U}}a new electronic market (www. gs. com/econderivs) for economic indices that{{U}} (2) {{/U}}substantial economic risks, such as nonfarm payroll (a measure of job availability) and retail sales. This new market was made possible by a{{U}} (3) {{/U}}trading technology, developed by Longitude, a New York company providing software for financial markets,{{U}} (4) {{/U}}the Parimutuel Digital Call Auction. This is "digital"{{U}} (5) {{/U}}of a digital option: ie, it pays out only if an underlying index lies in a narrow, discrete range. In effect, Longitude has created a horse race, where each "horse" wins if and{{U}} (6) {{/U}}the specified index falls in a specified range. By creating horses for every possible{{U}} (7) {{/U}}of the index, and allowing people to bet{{U}} (8) {{/U}}any number of runners, the company has produced a liquid integrated electronic market for a wide array of options on economic indices. Ten years ago it was{{U}} (9) {{/U}}impossible to make use of electronic information about home values. Now, mortgage lenders have online automated valuation models that allow them to estimate values and to{{U}} (10) {{/U}}the risk in their portfolios. This has led to a proliferation of types of home loan, some of{{U}} (11) {{/U}}have improved risk-management characteristics. We are also beginning to see new kinds of{{U}} (12) {{/U}}for homes, which will make it possible to protect the value of{{U}} (13) {{/U}}, for most people, is the single most important{{U}} (14) {{/U}}of their wealth. The Yale University-Neighbourhood Reinvestment Corporation programme,{{U}} (15) {{/U}}last year in the city of Syracuse, in New York State, may be a model for home-equity insurance policies that{{U}} (16) {{/U}}sophisticated economic indices of house prices to define the{{U}} (17) {{/U}}of the policy. Electronic futures markets that are based on econometric indices of house prices by city, already begun by City Index and IG Index in Britain and now{{U}} (18) {{/U}}developed in the United States, will enable home-equity insurers to hedge the risks that they acquire by writing these policies. These examples are not impressive successes yet. But they{{U}} (19) {{/U}}as early precursors of a technology that should one day help us to deal with the massive risks of inequality that{{U}} (20) {{/U}}will beset us in coming years.

单选题{{B}}Text 3{{/B}} The European Union's Barcelona summit, which ended on March 16th, was played out against the usual backdrop of noisy "anti-globalizati0n' demonstrations and massive security. If nothing else, the demonstrations illustrated that economic liberalization in Europe--the meeting's main topic--presents genuine political difficulties. Influential sections of public opinion continue to oppose anything that they imagine threatens "social Europe", the ideal of a cradle-to-grave welfare state. In this climate of public opinion, it is not surprising that the outcome in Barcelona was modest. The totemic issue was opening up Europe's energy markets. The French government has fought hard to preserve a protected market at home for its state-owned national champion, Electricite de France (EDF). At Barcelona it. made a well-flagged tactical retreat. The summiteers concluded that from 2004 industrial users across Europe would be able to choose from competing energy suppliers, which should account for "at least" 60% of the market. Since Europe's energy market is worth 350 billion (＄ 309 billion) a year and affects just about every business, this is a breakthrough. But even the energy deal has disappointing aspects. Confining competition to business users makes it harder to show that economic liberalization is the friend rather than the foe of the ordinary person. It also allows EDF to keep its monopoly in the most profitable chunk of the French market. In other areas, especially to do with Europe's tough labor markets, the EU is actually going backwards. The summiteers declared that "disincentives against taking up jobs" should be removed; 20m jobs should be created within the EU by 2010. But only three days after a Barcelona jamboree, the European Commission endorsed a new law that would give all temporary-agency workers the same rights as full-timers within six weeks of getting their feet under the desk. Six out of 20 commissioners did, unusually, vote against the measure--a blatant piece of re-regulation--but the social affairs commissioner, Anna Diamantopoulou, was unrepentant, indeed triumphant. A dissatisfied liberaliser in the commission called the directive "an absolute disaster". The summit's other achievements are still more fragile. Europe's leaders promised to increase spending on "research and development" from its current figure of 1.9% of GDP a year to 3%. But how will European politicians compel businesses to invest more in research? Nobody seems to know. And the one big research project agreed on at Barcelona, the Galileo satellite-positioning system, which is supposed to cost 3.2 billion of public money, is of dubious commercial value, since the Europeans already enjoy free access to the Americans' GPA system. Edward Bannerman, head of economics at the Centre for European Reform, a Blairite think-tank, calls Galileo "the common agricultural policy in space."

单选题The phrase "put on their thinking caps" ( Line 5, Paragraph 2) most probably means

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Caution seems the watchword among the institutional investors surveyed in our latest portfolio poll. The allocation of money between equities, bonds and cash has. on average, remained at the same levels as it did during the third quarter. While Lehman Brothers and Commerz International have increased their overall equity allocations. Daiwa has increased its bond allocation. But given the slowdown in the American economy, it is the reaction of our investors to American equity holdings that is worthy of note. While three of them. including Lehman Brothers, take a dim view of the prospects for American shares, the other four have either marginally increased their allocations, or have maintained them at the same levels as in the previous quarter. Lehman Brothers seems to have decided that the prospect for German shares is better than it is for American ones. Its allocation for American equities dropped by seven percentage points, to 45% of its equity holdings; while its German share portfolio increased by six percentage points, to 11%. Lehman's share allocation to America has dropped, even as its overall equity holdings have increased. Daiwa and Standard Life are the other two that have cut back on American equities. But Credit Suisse continues to be a cheerleader for American shares. Following its ten percentage-point increase in the third quarter, the Swiss firm increased its exposure to American equities once again in the fourth quarter. Commerz International appears to share Credit Suisse's bullish outlook: its American equity holdings have increased by four percentage points, to 490. Julius Baer is extremely bullish on American equities, with 60% of its equity funds parked there. But the average American equity holdings, among our institutional investors dropped by a percentage point in the fourth quarter. British equities seem to have become attractive—all our investors have increased their allocations. Credit Suisse, which in the third quarter cut its investment in British shares, appears to have changed its mind. It has increased its allocation by four percentage points, taking the total to 9%. On the other hand. Japanese shares have been given the thumbs-down: all our investors save Julius Baer (unchanged) and Credit Suisse (slightly up) have moved funds out of Japanese equities. It is a relatively similar story for Japanese bonds, where everybody apart from Commerz International has either dropped their yen-denominated bond holdings, or kept them unchanged. Robeco Group seems decidedly bearish, for it has sharply, cut its allocation, from 24% to 15%. Lehman Brothers. appears to have got the timing right, by raising its allocation of dollar-denominated bonds in the fourth quarter. Its increase was followed by the Fed interest-rate cut on January 3rd. Will Lehman's bearish timing prove right for American shares, too?

单选题By comparing past problems with present ones, the author draws attention to the

单选题Many foreigners who have not visited Britain call all the inhabitants English, for they are used to thinking of the British Isles as England. 1 , the British Isles contain a variety of people, and only the people of England call themselves,English. The others 2 to themselves as Welsh, Scottish, or Irish, 3 the case may be; they are often slightly annoyed at being 4 as "English". Even in England there are many differences in 5 character and speech. The chief 6 is between southern England and northern England. South of a line going from Bristol to London, people speak the type of English usually 7 by toreign students, 8 there are local variations. Further north, regional 9 is usually "broader" than that of southern Britain. Northerners are 10 to claim that they work harder than Southerners, and are more 11 . They are openhearted and hospitable; foreigners often find that they make friends with them 12 . Northerners generally have hearty 13 : the visitor to Lancashire or Yorkshire, for instance, may look forward to receiving generous 14 at meal times. In accent and character the people of the Midlands 15 a gradual change from the southern to the northern type of Englishman. In Scotland the sound 16 by the letter " R" is generally a strong sound, and " R" is often pronounced in words in which it would be 17 in southern English, The Scots are said to be a serious, cautious, thrifty people, 18 inventive and somewhat mystical. All the Celtic peoples of Britain (the Welsh, the Irish, the Scots) are frequently 19 as being more " fiery" than the English. They are of a race that is quite 20 from the English.

单选题Prolonged and excessive use of alcohol can seriously undermine an individual's health. Physical deterioration occurs. Large quantities of alcohol can directly damage body tissue and indirectly cause malnutrition. Nutritional deficiencies can result for several reasons. Alcohol contains empty calories, which have no significant nutritive value. When consumed in substantial amounts, alcohol curbs one' s appetite for more wholesome foods. Excessive alcohol intake can interfere with the proper digestion and absorption of food. Therefore, even the heavy drinker who does eat a well-balanced diet is deprived of me essential nutrients. Maintenance of a drinking habit can deplete economic resources otherwise available for buying good, wholesome food. Malnutrition itself further reduces the body' s ability to utilize the nutrients consumed. The result of damaged tissue and malnutrition can be brain injury, heart disease, diabetes, or cancer of the liver, and weakened muscle tissue. Untreated alcoholism can reduce one's life span by ten to twelve years. Heavy alcohol consumption also affects the body's usage of other drugs and medications. The dosages required by excessive drinkers may differ from those required by normal or non-drinkers. Serious consequences can be incurred unless the prescribing physician is aware of the patient's drinking habits. Sudden death may result from excessive drinking. It might occur when the individual has ingested such a large amount of alcohol that the brain center controlling breathing and heart action is adversely affected, or when taking some other drugs, particularly sleep preparations along with alcohol. Death, as a result of excessive drinking, can come during an automobile accident since half of all fatal traffic accidents involve the use of alcohol. Many self-inflicted deaths, as well as homicides, involve the use of alcohol. It is important to remember that alcohol is a drug that is potentially addictive. Once the user is hooked on alcohol, withdrawal symptoms occur when it is not sufficiently available to body cells. At the onset of developing alcohol addiction, these symptoms may be relatively mild and include hand tremors, anxiety, nausea, and sweating. As dependency increases, so does the severity of the withdrawal syndrome and the need for medical assistance to cope with it. In 1956 the American Medical Association supported the growing acceptance of alcoholism as an illness, falling under the treatment jurisdiction of the medical profession. Since then, the medical resources for problems of acute and chronic intoxication have increased and improved.

单选题To which of the following statements would the author most likely agree?

单选题 Generally speaking, a British is widely regarded as a quiet, shy and conservative person who is{{U}} (1) {{/U}}only among those with whom he is acquainted. When a stranger is at present, he often seems nervous, even{{U}} (2) {{/U}}. You have to take a commuter train any morning or evening to (3) the truth of this. Serious-looking businessmen and women sit reading their newspapers or dozing in a comer; hardly anybody talks, since to do so would be considered quite{{U}} (4) {{/U}}. {{U}} (5) {{/U}}, there is an unwritten but clearly understood code of behavior which, once broken, makes the offender immediately the object of{{U}} (6) {{/U}}. It has been known as a fact that a British has a{{U}} (7) {{/U}}for the discussion of their weather and that, if given a chance, he will talk about it{{U}} (8) {{/U}}. Some people argue that it is because the British weather seldom{{U}} (9) {{/U}}forecast add hence becomes a source of interest and{{U}} (10) {{/U}}to everyone. This may be so.{{U}} (11) {{/U}}a British cannot have much{{U}} (12) {{/U}}in the weathermen, who, after promising fine, sunny weather for the following day, are often proved wrong{{U}} (13) {{/U}}a cloud over the Atlantic brings rainy weather to all districts! The man in the street seems to be as accurate -- or as inaccurate as the weathermen in his{{U}} (14) {{/U}}. Foreigners may be surprised at the number of references{{U}} (15) {{/U}}weather that the British{{U}} (16) {{/U}}to each other in the course of a single day. Very often conversational greetings are{{U}} (17) {{/U}}by comments on the weather. "Nice day, isn't it?" "Beautiful!" may well be heard, instead of "Good morning, how are you?" Although the foreigner may consider this exaggerated and comic, it is{{U}} (18) {{/U}}pointing out that it could be used to his advantage. If he wants to start a conversation with a British but is at a loss to know{{U}} (19) {{/U}}to begin, he could do well to mention the state of the weather. It is a safe subject which will{{U}} (20) {{/U}}an answer from even the most reserved of the British.

单选题{{B}}Text 2{{/B}} Those of us hurrying to finish our taxes by tomorrow's deadline will probably be subjected to thoughts of the I.R.S. (Internal Revenue Service) as an all-powerful bully. But the truth is, the government is not always a match for the tax advisors of wealthy people, so a lot of taxes will go unpaid at the top of the income scale. Lawyers who represent high-income taxpayers earn more than 10 times what senior government lawyers do—an obvious disadvantage for the government agencies in attracting and retaining top talent. The lawyers who write our tax rules are overworked and sometimes inexperienced, so that they leave loopholes that are exploited by more experienced private lawyers. And the government always loses cases which it should win, and provides private lawyers with precedents. As this vicious cycle shows, skimping (节约) on tax administration is a false economy. Instead, if we substantially increase government salaries and staffing levels, we can raise more revenue, with lower tax rates and less waste. Four reforms should be adopted immediately. First, the government should focus on hiring talented young lawyers, since the pay disparity with the private sector is narrower for them. These efforts will be more effective if Congress helps new graduates repay student loans, which often are more than $100,000. A loan repayment program would be a powerful recruiting device. Second, the government should tap another promising talent pool—recent retirees from private practice—to mentor young lawyers. The salary gap is less of an issue for retirees, and the opportunity to give back to the tax system can be quite appealing. Third, the government should retain a small team of a dozen top tax lawyers at salaries closer to the market rate. They can serve as a rapid reaction force, deciding whether to shut down a new aggressive strategy immediately or to let it be evaluated through usual government channels. Fourth, the government should retain private lawyers to help with high-priority projects. An important constraint is that lawyers who represent private clients may view it as a conflict to help the government. But this is not always true. Through bar associations, private lawyers already volunteer to review proposed changes in the tax law and offer ways to improve them. Tax academics can also be a valuable and conflict-free source of expertise, since they ordinarily do not represent clients. And some tax litigators (诉讼律师) may view it as a prestigious opportunity and a patriotic service to represent the government in a tax case that could set an important precedent. The tax system can be only as strong as the people who run it, so the government has to recruit and retain the most promising talent. A tax system can be fair and efficient only when it is administered soundly.

单选题What do you suppose was the attitude of Dr. Samuel Johnson towards ladies preaching?______

单选题Making good coffee is not a simple business. Coffee bushes must be grown in shade. A hillside is best--but it mustn't be too (1) . After three years, the bushes will start to (2) bright-red coffee "cherries", which are picked, processed to (3) the inner part, and spread out to dry for days, (4) on concrete. They are (5) again to separate the bean, which needs to rest, preferably for a few months. Only then can it be roasted, ground and brewed (6) the stuff that dreams are suppressed with. In Mexico and parts of Central America, (7) in Colombia, most coffee farmers are smallholders. They found it especially hard to (8) the recent fall in the coffee price. The (9) of their income makes it hard for farmers to invest to (10) their crop, says Fernando Celis. The fall forced many small farmers to (11) other crops, or migrate to cities. For farmers, one way out of this (12) is to separate the price they are paid (13) the international commodities markets. This is the (14) of Fair-trade, an organization which certifies products as "responsibly" sourced. Fair-trade determines at what price farmers make what it considers a (15) profit. Its current (16) is that the appropriate figure is 10% above the market price. (17) , sales of Fair-trade-certified coffee have increased from $ 22. 5m per year to $ 87m per year since 1998. This is still a tiny fraction of the overall world coffee trade, worth $10 billion (18) But there are plenty of other markets for high-quality coffee. Some small producers can (19) more by marketing their coffee as organic or "bird-friendly" because, unlike large, mechanized plantations, they have (20) shade trees.

单选题Could a simple memory workout make you smarter? An intriguing new study by researchers at the University of Michigan suggests it can—a finding that adds a wrinkle to the prevailing notion that IQ is largely fixed by genes. The study involved 62 elementary-and middle-school children from southeast Michigan who were randomly assigned to train on one of two video game-like computer tasks. One group performed a mental training exercise aimed at improving working memory, the ability to hold and retrieve information in the short term. The other group practiced general knowledge and vocabulary skills. Both groups trained for one month, five times a week for 15 minutes per session. At the end of the intervention, many of the kids who had engaged in the working-memory task had boosted a key attribute of their intelligence—by some five points. Specifically, they improved their performance on tests of so-called fluid intelligence, the ability t9 solve new problems and reason abstractly. Researchers have long debated whether fluid intelligence—considered a significant predictor of educational success—could be reliably improved by training. Fluid intelligence is thought to be independent of learning, experience or education and, therefore, mainly governed by genes. By contrast, the other component of overall intelligence, crystallized intelligence, which involves the acquisition of discrete bits of knowledge, improves with learning. The Michigan researchers found that kids had not only enhanced their fluid intelligence after training on the working-memory tasks, but that they also maintained the gains for three months after training ended. There were several limitations to the findings, however. To start, the size of children's improvements was inconsistent. It's possible that kids who saw greater gains in fluid intelligence were those who started out at lower ability levels and simply had more room to improve. Further, not every child improved. The authors suggested that students who failed to benefit from the working-memory training found the task too difficult or boring, and became frustrated and disengaged. Indeed, the training task is a chore, even when dressed up in a video game. The job of the child is to press the space bar whenever the character returns to a spot where it has previously been, and to ignore the other irrelevant locations. As the children advance in the task, these locations move further back in time, forcing them to sort through an increasing amount of information. Perhaps more importantly, it's not clear whether higher scores on tests of fluid intelligence have any real-world significance: whether they naturally translate to better grades or improvements in other abilities-or for that matter whether they predict better jobs or more life success down the line. For now, the Michigan researchers are planning to investigate whether the same training task could benefit children with deficits in working memory and attention. Lead author Susanne Jaeggi and her team are also working on an intervention that can be easily implemented in schools and other educational settings.