单选题In many places water is becoming scarcer. Treating it as a right makes the scarcity worse. Ideally, efficient water use would be encouraged by charging for it, but attempts to do so have mostly proved politically impossible. A more practicable alternative is a system of tradable waterusage rights. As our explains, many water problems have global causes: population growth, climate change, urbanization and, especially, changing diets. It takes 2,000 liters of water to grow a kilo of vegetables but 15,000 liters to produce a kilo of beef—and people are eating more meat. The problems also have global implications. Without a new green revolution, farmers will need 60% more water to feed the 2 billion extra people who will be born between now and 2025. Yet there is, globally, no shortage of water. Unlike other natural resources (such as oil), water cannot be used up. It is recycled endlessly, as rain, snow or evaporation. On average, people are extracting for their own uses less than a tenth of what falls as rain and snow each year. The central problem is that so much water is wasted, mainly by farmers. Agri-culture uses three-quarters of the world's water. Because water is usually free, thirsty crops like alfalfa (苜蓿) are grown in arid California. Wheat in India and Brazil uses twice as much water as wheat in America. Dry countries like Pakistan export textiles though a 1 kg bolt of cloth requires 11,000 liters of water. Any economist knows what to do: price water to reflect its value. But decades of trying to do that for agriculture have run into powerful resistance from farmers. They reject scarcity pricing for the reason that water falls from the skies. No government owns it, so no government should charge for it. There is a way out. Australian farmers have the right to use a certain amount of water free. They can sell that right to others. But if they want more water themselves, they must buy it from a neighbor. The result of this trading is a market that has done what markets do: allocate resources to more productive use. Australia has endured its worst drought in modern history in the past ten years. Water supplies in some farming areas have fallen by half. Yet farmers have responded to the new market signals by switching to less thirsty crops and kept the value of farm output stable. Water productivity has doubled. Australia's system overcomes the usual objections because it confirms farmers' rights to water and lets them have much of it for nothing.

单选题Which of the following questions does the text answer?

单选题When a country is under-populated, newcomers are not competitors, but assistants. If more come they may produce not only new quotas, but a 1 as well. In such a state of things land is 2 and cheap. The possession of it 3 no power or privilege. No one will work for another for wages 4 he can take up new land and be his own master. Hence it will pay no one to own more land than he can 5 by his own labor, or with such aid as his own family 6 . Hence, again, land 7 little or no rent; there will be no landlords living on rent and no laborers living on 8 , but only a middle class of yeoman farmers (自耕农). All are 9 on an equality, and democracy becomes the political form, because this is the only state of society in which equality, on which democracy is 10 , is realized as a fact. The same effects are powerfully 11 by other facts. In a new and under-populated country the industries which are most profitable are the extractive industries. The 12 of these, with the exception of some kinds of mining, is that they call 13 only a low organization of labor and small amount of capital. Hence they allow the workman to become 14 his own master, and they educate him to freedom, independence, and self 15 . At the same time, the social groups being only 16 marked off from each other, it is easy to 17 from one class of occupations, and consequently from one social grade, to another. Finally, under the same circumstances, education, skill, and superior training have but inferior value compared with what they have in 18 populated countries. The 19 lie in an under-populated country, with the 20 , unskilled, manual occupations, and not with the highest developments of science, literature, and art.

单选题{{B}}Part A{{/B}}{{B}}Directions:{{/B}}Reading the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. {{B}}Text 1{{/B}} The title of the biography The American Civil War Fighting for the Lady could hardly be more provocative. Thomas Keneally, an Australian writer, is unapologetic. In labeling a hero of the American civil war a notorious scoundrel be switches the spotlight from the brave actions of Dan Sickles at the battle of Gettysburg to his earlier premeditated murder, of the lover of his young and pretty Italian-American wife, Teresa. It is not the murder itself that disgusts Mr Keneally but Sickles's treatment of his wife afterwards, and how his behavior mirrored the hypocritical misogyny of 19th-century America. The murder victim, Philip Barton Key, Teresa Sickles's lover, came from a famous old southern family. He was the nephew of the then chief justice of the American Supreme Court and the son of the writer of the country's national anthem. Sickles, a Tammany Hall politician in New York turned Democratic congressman in Washington, shot Key dead in 1859 at a corner of Lafayette Square, within shouting distance of the White House. But the murder trial was melodramatic, even by the standards of the day. With the help of eight lawyers, Sickles was found not guilty after using the novel plea of "temporary insanity". The country at large was just as forgiving, viewing Key's murder as a gallant crime of passion. Within three years, Sickles was a general on the Unionist side in the American civil War and, as a new friend of Abraham and Mary Lincoln, a frequent sleepover guest at the White House. Mrs Sickles was less fortunate. She was shunned by friends she had made as the wife of a rising politician. Her husband, a serial adulterer whose many mistresses included Queen Isabella Ⅱ of Spain and the madam of an industrialized New York whorehouse, refused to be seen in her company. Laura, the Sickles's daughter, was an innocent victim of her father's vindictiveness and eventually died of drink in the Bowery district of New York. Sickles's bold actions at Gettysburg are, in their own way, just as controversial. Argument continues to rage among scholars, as to whether he helped the Union to victory or nearly caused its defeat when he moved his forces out of line to occupy what he thought was better ground. James Longstreet, the Confederate general who led the attack against the new position, was in no doubt about the brilliance of the move. Mr Keneally is better known as a novelist. Here he shows himself just as adept at biography, and achieves both his main aims. He restores the reputation of Teresa Sickles, "this beautiful, pleasant and intelligent girl", and breathes full and controversial life into a famous military engagement.

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. Most plants can make their own food from sunlight,{{U}} (1) {{/U}}some have discovered that stealing is an easier way to live, Thousands of plant species get by{{U}} (2) {{/U}}photosynthesizing, and over 400 of these species seem to live by pilfering sugars from an underground{{U}} (3) {{/U}}of fungi(真菌). But in{{U}} (4) {{/U}}a handful of these plants has this modus operandi been traced to a relatively obscure fungus. To find out how{{U}} (5) {{/U}}are{{U}} (6) {{/U}}, mycologist Martin Bidartondo of the University of California at Berkeley and his team looked in their roots. What they found were{{U}} (7) {{/U}}of a common type of fungus, so{{U}} (8) {{/U}}that it is found in nearly 70 percent of all plants. The presence of this common fungus in these plants not only{{U}} (9) {{/U}}at how they survive, says Bidartondo, but also suggests that many ordinary plants might prosper from a little looting, too. Plants have{{U}} (10) {{/U}}relations to get what they need to survive. Normal,{{U}} (11) {{/U}}plants can make their own carbohydrates through photosynthesis, but they still need minerals. Most plants have{{U}} (12) {{/U}}a symbiotic relationship with a{{U}} (13) {{/U}}network of what are called mycorrhizal fungi, which lies beneath the forest{{U}} (14) {{/U}}. The fungi help green plants absorb minerals through their roots, and{{U}} (15) {{/U}}, the plants normally{{U}} (16) {{/U}}the fungi with sugars, or carbon. With a number of plants sharing the same fungal web, it was perhaps{{U}} (17) {{/U}}that a few cheaters—dubbed epiparasites—would evolve to beat the system.{{U}} (18) {{/U}}, these plants reversed the flow of carbon,{{U}} (19) {{/U}}it into their roots from the fungi{{U}} (20) {{/U}}releasing it as "payment."

单选题The influence of socialization process may

单选题When is an endangered species not an endangered species? When it lives in the sea, apparently. Despite continuing carnage in the ocean, marine creatures were refused any protection at the United Nations conference on trade in wildlife that ended yesterday in Doha, Qatar. Tigers, rhinos and elephants are all better protected after the meeting of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (Cites). But hammerhead sharks, bluefin tuna and other marine species should be quaking in their skins. For when it comes to fish, the world has decided that scientific evidence of imminent demise is not reason enough to defend them against overexploitation. The conflict between trade and conservation is nothing new, but it is pretty well established that if you let trade in wildlife run rampant (蔓延的), soon there will be nothing left to sell. That is why the UN set up Cites in the first place. So why did fish get such a raw deal? Is it that we care less about life that is so very different from us? Do the emotionless eyes of fish leave our hearts cold? Is it an extension of the convenient myth that fish feel no pain? The truth is far more shocking. All fingers of blame point directly at Japan. The high value of bluefin tuna--a single specimen can reach $112 000--led it to orchestrate a full-scale campaign against proposals to ban trade in the species. Diplomatic missions were sent to developing nations to bully them into agreeing with Japan's conviction that fish cannot be endangered. That way of thinking is grounded in ignorance. The oceans long seemed infinite in their capacity to produce such riches, and any sign that this was not so was hidden by our inability to peer into the depths. Science has now stripped back the veil and revealed the extent of the depletion. It is this science that Japan and its allies have chosen to not to see. Unfortunately for life in the sea, Japan's campaign made waves far beyond the bluefin. Sharks are in dire trouble thanks to some people's appetite for using their fins in soup. About 73 million sharks are killed each year as a result, and sharks don't reproduce fast. But far from favoring a ban, nations voted against even the most basic monitoring of the trade. Red and pink corals have now all but vanished from the Mediterranean and are being stripped from the Pacific, but proposals to control that trade were also swept away. Fish don't recognise borders and boundaries. Yet one nation, Japan, by its cynical use of political power is robbing the world of a shared resource.

单选题It's been called the Gig Economy, Freelance Nation, the Rise of the Creative Class, and the e-economy, with the "e" standing for electronic, entrepreneurial. Everywhere we look, we can see the U.S. workforce undergoing a massive change. No longer do we work at the same company for 25 years, waiting for the gold watch, expecting the benefits and security that come with full-time employment. We're no longer simply lawyers, or photographers, or writers. Instead, we're part-time lawyers-cure-amateur' photographers who write on the side. Today, careers consist of piecing together various types of work, juggling multiple clients, learning to be marketing and accounting experts, and creating offices in bedrooms/coffee shops. Independent workers abound. We call them freelancers, contractors, sole proprietors, consultants, temps, and the self-employed. This transition is nothing less than a revolution. We haven't seen a shift in the workforce so significant in almost 100 years since we transitioned from an agricultural to an industrial economy. Now, employees are leaving the traditional workplace and opting to piece together a professional life on their own. As of 2005, one-third of our workforce participated in this "freelance economy". Statistics show that number has only increased over the past six years. While the economy has unwillingly pushed some people into independent work, many have chosen it because of greater flexibility that lets them skip the dreary office environment and focus on more personally fulfilling projects. These trends will have an enormous impact on our economy and our society: We don't actually know the true composition of the new workforce. After 2005, the government stopped counting independent workers in a meaningful and accurate way. Studies have shown that the independent workforce has grown and changed significantly since then. Jobs no longer provide the protections and security that workers used to expect. The basics such as health insurance, protection from unpaid wages, a retirement plan, and unemployment insurance are out of reach for one-third of working Americans. Independent workers are forced to seek them elsewhere, and if they can't find or afford them, then they go without. Therefore, it's time to build a new support system that allows for the flexible and mobile way that people are working. This new, changing workforce needs to build economic security in profoundly new ways. For the new workforce, the New Deal is irrelevant. When it was passed in the 1930s, the New Deal provided workers with important protections and benefits but those securities were built for a traditional employer-employee relationship. The New Deal has not evolved to include independent workers. (424 words)

单选题Sometimes we have specific problems with our mother; sometimes, life with her can just be hard work. If there are difficulties in your (1) , it's best to deal with them, (2) remember that any (3) should be done (4) person or by letter. The telephone is not a good (5) because it is too easy (6) either side to (7) the conversation. Explain to her (8) you find difficult in your relationship and then (9) some new arrangements that you think would establish a (10) balance between you. Sometimes we hold (11) from establishing such boundaries because we are afraid that doing (12) implies we are (13) her. We need to remember that being (14) from our mother does not (15) mean that we no longer love her. If the conflict is (16) and you cannot find a way to (17) it, you might decide to give up your relationship with your mother for a while. Some of my patients had (18) "trial separations". The (19) allowed things to simmer down, enabling (20) .

单选题 Reading to oneself is a modern activity which was almost unknown to the scholars of the classical. In{{U}} (1) {{/U}}world during the fifteenth century the term " reading"{{U}} (2) {{/U}}meant reading aloud. Only during the nineteenth century did silent reading become commonplace. One should be wary, however, of{{U}} (3) {{/U}}that silent reading came about simply because reading aloud is a(n){{U}} (4) {{/U}}to others. Examination of factors related to the{{U}} (5) {{/U}}development of silent reading reveals that it became the usual mode of reading for most adult reading tasks mainly because the tasks themselves changed in{{U}} (6) {{/U}}. The last century saw a steady gradual increase in{{U}} (7) {{/U}}and thus in the number of readers. As readers increased, the number of potential listeners{{U}} (8) {{/U}}, and thus there was some{{U}} (9) {{/U}}in the need to read aloud. As reading for the benefit of listeners grew less common, so came the flourishing of reading as a{{U}} (10) {{/U}}activity in such public places as libraries, railway carriages and offices, where reading aloud would{{U}} (11) {{/U}}distraction to other readers. Towards the end of the century there was still{{U}} (12) {{/U}}argument over whether books should be used for information or treated{{U}} (13) {{/U}}, and over whether the reading of material such as newspapers was in some way{{U}} (14) {{/U}}weakening. Indeed this argument still remains with us in education.{{U}} (15) {{/U}}its virtues, the old shared literacy culture had gone and was{{U}} (16) {{/U}}by the printed mass media on the one hand and by books and periodicals for a{{U}} (17) {{/U}}readership on the other. By the end of the century students were being recommended to adopt attitudes to books and to use skills in reading them which were inappropriate,{{U}} (18) {{/U}}not impossible, for the oral reader. The social, cultural, and technological changes in the century had greatly{{U}} (19) {{/U}}what the term "reading"{{U}} (20) {{/U}}.

单选题{{B}}Part A{{/B}}Directions: Read the following four texts. Answer the questions below each text by choosing A, B, C or D． {{B}}Text 1{{/B}} Cabinet meetings outside London are rare and reluctant things. Harold Wilson held one in Brighton in 1966, but only because the Labour Party was already there for its annual conference. In 1921 David Lloyd George summoned the Liberals to Inverness because he didn't want to cut short his holiday. Gordon Brown's decision to hold his first cabinet meeting after the summer break in Birmingham, on September 8th, was born of a nobler desire to show the almost nine tenths of Britons who live outside London that they are not ignored. He will have to do better: constitutionally, they are more sidelined now than ever. Many legislatures use their second chamber to strengthen the representation of sparsely populated areas (every American state, from Wyoming to California, gets two votes in the Senate, for example). Britain's House of Lords, most of whose members are appointed supposedly on merit, has the opposite bias. A survey by the New Local Government Network (NLGN), a think-tank, finds that London and two of its neighbouring regions are home to more peers than the rest of Britain combined; even Birmingham, the country's second-largest city, has just one. Oddly, this distortion is partly thanks to reforms that were supposed to make the Lords more representative. By throwing out most of the hereditary peers in 1999, Labour paved the way for a second chamber that was less posh, less white and less male than before. But in booting out the landed gentry, it also ditched many of those who came from the provinces. The Duke of Northumberland (270th in the Sunday Times's " Rich List") may not be a member of a downtrodden minority. But Alnwick Castle, his family pile, is in the North-east region, home to just 2% of the Lords' members now. Geographically speaking, the duke and his fellow toffs were champions of diversity. The government now wants to reintroduce some geographical fairness, but minus dukes. Long-incubated plans to reform the Lords would see it converted during the next parliament into a body that is mainly or entirely elected. A white paper in July outlined various electoral systems, all based on regional or sub-regional constituencies. Some would like to see the seat of government prised out of the capital altogether, though in the past this has normally required a civil war or a plague. Southerners whisper that no one would show up if Parliament were based in a backwater such as Manchester. But many don't now. The NLGN found that peers resident in Northern Ireland vote least often. But next from the bottom are the London-dwellers, who show up for less than a third of the votes on their doorstep. Even the eight who live abroad are more assiduous. The north may seem an awfully long way away, but apparently so is Westminster.