完形填空 If you think you can make the planet better by clever shopping, think again. You might make it worse. You probably go shopping several times a month, providing yourself with lots of opportunities to express your opinions. If you are worried about the environment, you might buy organic food; if you want to help poor farmers, you can do your bit by buying Fairtrade products; or you can express a dislike of evil multinational companies and rampant globalization by buying only local produce. And the best bit is that shopping, unlike voting, is fun; so you can do good and enjoy yourself at the same time. Sadly, it's not that easy. 41 . People who want to make the world a better place cannot do so by shifting their shopping habits: transforming the planet requires duller disciplines, like politics. Organic food, which is grown without man-made pesticides and fertilisers, is generally assumed to be more environmentally friendly than conventional intensive farming, which is heavily reliant on chemical inputs. But it all depends on what you mean by 'environmentally friendly'. Farming is inherently bad for the environment: since humans took it up around 11 000 years ago, the result has been deforestation on a massive scale. 42 . Organic methods, which rely on crop rotation, manure and compost in place of fertiliser, are far less intensive. So producing the world's current agricultural output organically would require several times as much land as is currently cultivated. There wouldn't be much room left for the rainforest. Fairtrade food is designed to raise poor farmers' incomes. It is sold at a higher price than ordinary food, with a subsidy passed back to the farmer. But prices of agricultural commodities are low because of overproduction, 43 . Surely the case for local food, produced as close as possible to the consumer in order to minimise 'food miles' and, by extension, carbon emissions, is clear? Surprisingly, it is not. A study of Britain's food system found that nearly half of food-vehicle miles (i. e. , miles travelled by vehicles carrying food) were driven by cars going to and from the shops. Most people live closer to a supermarket than a farmer's market, so more local food could mean more food-vehicle miles. Moving food around in big, carefully packed lorries, as supermarkets do, may in fact be the most efficient way to transport the stuff What's more, once the energy used in production as well as transport is taken into account, local food may turn out to be even less green. 44 . And the local-food movement's aims, of course, contradict those of the Fairtrade movement, by discouraging rich-country consumers from buying poor-country produce. But since the local-food movement looks suspiciously like old-fashioned protectionism masquerading as concern for the environment, helping poor countries is presumably not the point. 45 . The problems lie in the means, not the ends. The best thing about the spread of the ethical-food movement is that it offers grounds for hope. It sends a signal that there is an enormous appetite for change and widespread frustration that governments are not doing enough to preserve the environment, reform world trade or encourage development. A. The aims of much of the ethical-food movement--to protect the environment, to encourage development and to redress the distortions in global trade--are admirable. B. By maintaining the price, the Fairtrade system encourages farmers to produce more of these commodities rather than diversifying into other crops and so depresses prices--thus achieving, for most farmers, exactly the opposite of what the initiative is intended to do. C. Proper free trade would be by far the best way to help,poor farmers. Taxing carbon would price the cost of emissions into the price of goods, and retailers would then have an incentive to source locally if it saved energy. D. There are good reasons to doubt the claims made about three of the most popular varieties of 'ethical' food: organic food, Fairtrade food and local food. E. But following the 'green revolution' of the 1960s greater use of chemical fertiliser has tripled grain yields with very little increase in the area of land under cultivation. F. And since only a small fraction of the mark-up on Fairtrade foods actually goes to the farmer--most goes to the retailer-the system gives rich consumers an inflated impression of their largesse and makes alleviating poverty seem too easy. G. Producing lamb in New Zealand and shipping it to Britain uses less energy than producing British lamb, because fanning in New Zealand is less energy-intensive.

完形填空　　Governments throughout the world act on the assumption that the welfare of their people depends largely on the economic strength and wealth of the community. 71. Under modern conditions, this requires varying measures of centralized control and hence the help of specialized scientists such as economists and operational research experts. 72. Furthermore, it is obvious that the strength of a country''s economy is directly bound up with the efficiency of its agriculture and industry, and that this in turn rests upon the efforts of scientists and technologists of all kinds. It also means that governments are increasingly compelled to interfere in these sectors in order to step up production and ensure that it is utilized to the best advantage. For example, they may encourage research in various ways, including the setting up of their own research centers; they may alter the structure of education, or interfere in order to reduce the wastage of natural resources or tap resources hitherto unexploited; or they may co- operate directly in the growing number of international projects related to science, economics and industry. In any case, all such interventions are heavily dependent on scientific advice and also scientific and technological manpower of all kinds. 　　73. Owing to the remarkable development in mass-communications, people everywhere are feeling new wants and are being exposed to new customs and ideas, while governments are often forced to introduce stir further innovations for the reasons given above. At the same time, the normal rate of social change throughout the world is taking place at a vastly accelerated speed compared with the past. For example , 74. in the early in industrialized countries of Europe the process of industrialization―with all the far-reaching changes in social patterns that followed--was spread over nearly a century, whereas nowadays a developing nation may undergo the same process in a decade or so. All this has the effect of building up unusual pressures and tensions within the community and consequently presents serious problems for the governments concerned. 75．Additional social stresses may also occur because of the population explosion or problems arising from mass migration movements--themselves made relatively easy nowadays by modern means of transport. As a result of all these factors, governments are becoming increasingly dependent on biologists and social scientists for planning the appropriate programs and putting them into effect.

完形填空 The transition to adulthood is difficult. Rapid physical growth begins in early adolescence—typically between the ages of 9 and 13—and thought processes start to take on adult characteristics. Many youngsters find these changes distressing because they do not fully understand what is happening to them. Fears and anxieties can be put to rest by simply keeping an open line of communication and preparing for change before it occurs. The main issues that arise during adolescence are: 41 A child's self worth is particularly fragile during adolescence. Teenagers often struggle with an overwhelming sense that nobody likes them, that they're not as good as other people, that they are failures, losers, ugly or unintelligent. 42 Some form of bodily dissatisfaction is common among pre-teens. If dissatisfaction is great, it may cause them to become shy or very easily embarrassed. In other cases, teens may act the opposite—loud and angry —in an effort to compensate for feelings of self-consciousness and inferiority. As alarming as these bodily changes can be, adolescents may find it equally distressing to not experience the changes at the same time as their peers. Late maturation can cause feelings of inferiority and awkwrardness. 43 Young people feel more strongly about everything during adolescence. Fears become more frightening, pleasures become more exciting, irritations become more distressing and frustrations become more intolerable. Every experience appears king-sized during adolescence. Youngsters having a difficult adolescence may become seriously depressed and/or engage in self-destructive behavior. Often, the first clue that a teenager needs professional help is a deep-rooted shift in attitude and behavior. Parents should be alert to the warning signs of personality change indicating that a teenager needs help. They include repeated school absences, slumping grades, use of alcohol or illegal substances, hostile or dangerous behavior and extreme withdrawal and reclusiveness. 44 There is tremendous pressure on adolescents to conform to the standards of their peers. This pressure toward conformity can be dangerous in that it applies not only to clothing and hairstyles; it may lead them to do things that they know are wrong. 45 Adolescence marks a period of increasing independence that often leads to conflict between teenagers and parents. This tension is a normal part of growing up — and for parents, a normal part of the letting-go process. Another normal part of adolescence is confusion over values and beliefs. This time of questioning is important as young people examine the values they have been taught and begin to embrace their own beliefs. Though they may adopt the same beliefs as their parents, discovering them on their own enables the young person to develop a sense of integrity. Although adolescence will present challenges for young people and their parents, awareness and communication can help pave the way for a smooth transition into this exciting phase of life. A. Physical Changes B. Low Self-Esteem C. Conflicts with parents D. Emerging Independence and Search for Identity E. Emotional Turbulence F. Interest in the Opposite Sex G. Peer Pressure and Conformity

完形填空 Human beings in all times and places think about their world and wonder at their place in it. Humans are thoughtful and creative, possessed of insatiable curiosity. (61) Furthermore, humans have the ability to modify the environment in which they live thus subjecting all other life forms to their own peculiar ideas and fancies. Therefore, it is important to study humans in all their richness and diversity in a calm and systematic manner, with the hope that the knowledge resulting from such studies can lead humans to a more hannonious way of living with themselves and with all other life forms on this planet Earth. "Anthropology." derives from the Greek words anthropos" human" and logos" the study of. "Bv its very name, anthropology encompasses the study of all humankind. Anthropology is one of the social sciences. (62) Social science is that branch of intellectual enquiry which seeks to study humans and their endeavors in the same reasoned, orderly, systematic, and dispassioned manner that natural scientists use for the study of natural phenomena. Social science disciplines include geography, economics, political science, psychology, and sociology. Each of these social sciences has a subfield or specialization which lies particularly close to anthropology. All the social sciences focus upon the study of humanity. Anthropology is a field-study oriented discipline which makes extensive use of the comparative method in analysis. (63) The emphasis on data gathered first-hand, combined with a cross-cultural perspective brought to the analysis of cultures past and present, makes this study a unique and distinctly important social science. Anthropological analyses rest heavily upon the concept of culture. Sir Edward Tylor''s formulation of the concept of culture was one of the great intellectual achievements of 19th century science. (64) Tylor defined culture as"... that complex whole which includes belief, art, morals, law, custom, and any other capabilities and habits acquired by man as a member of society. " This insight, so profound in its simplicity, opened up an entirely new way of perceiving and understanding human life. Implicit within Tylor''s definition is the concept that culture is learned, shared, and patterned behavior. (65) Thus, the anthropological concept of" culture, "like the concept of" set" in mathematics, is an abstract concept which makes possible immense amounts of concrete research and understanding.

完形填空It would be very hard to deny that pregnancy is a taxing process for women. The physical effects of pregnancy alone can make for eye-watering reading (literally: eye-watering is one potential side-effect), let alone the psychological ones. Pregnancy can be, and often is, the most stressful and demanding period of a woman's life, at least in the biological sense. As a result, many women find they need as much information, help and support as possible during pregnancy. But depressingly often, a line can be crossed from 'helpful' to 'oppressive'. As soon as a woman becomes pregnant, many seem to think she is now public property. 41 It's an understandable occurrence; countless people have direct experience with pregnancy, so feel well informed on the matter. Combine this with the fact that it blatantly invokes the 'think of the children!' response and you get a lot of people with strong opinions and an assumed moral obligation to share them. 42 Just this month we had the baffling report which claimed smoking during pregnancy causes the child to turn gay, via mechanisms that are no doubt 100% plausible and not at all exaggerated. And just recently there is the research that claims a pregnant woman's fatty diet may alter a baby's brain. This latest report is actually based on a study in mice. It's a bit alarmist to imply a phenomenon only just observed in animal studies definitely occurs in humans, but better safe than sorry. Not that diet affecting pregnancy is a new concept. It already causes diabetes and alters DNA of the foetus. 43 We don't want women thinking they can stop being body conscious, just because there's someone else inside it. But they mustn't overdo it though, being underweight is not ideal either. But then again, neither is being too tall or too short, and what exactly they're expected to do about that is anyone's guess. As for what pregnant women can eat, that's a whole other minefield. And it's not as if it's all consistent, either. 44 Surely carrying a baby is stressful enough without having to shop around for quantum legumes? It's enough to drive you to drink. Except that's not allowed either; drinking while visibly pregnant often elicits the same sort of response as applauding at a funeral. Smoking is arguably worse again. Having so much to deal with while everyone is dictating and judging your behaviour and your hormones are engaged in all-out warfare with each other, without the option of any of the typical unhealthy comforts we allow ourselves, is bound to prove very stressful. 45 At least once the baby is born, it's all over then. Every pregnant woman, like every human, is different, and can experience the process in ways that are poles apart from those of others. And sadly, there are plenty of expectant mothers out there with problems of their own that mean they genuinely do need this level of involvement and observation in order to protect the child. However, assuming that this is the default norm is doing a huge disservice to the majority of capable pregnant women. A. Even if you genuinely believe the foetus's well-being is unquestionably the priority over the mother's, this is bad. Oxygen is a priority over food and water for humans, but excluding them is just as harmful in the long term. B. For example, don't eat peanuts as they increase the risk of a child developing allergies. As well as that, do eat peanuts because they decrease the risk of a child developing allergies. So pregnant women are meant to both increase and decrease their peanut intake. C. This may prove stressful enough for pregnant women, but luckily the mainstream media is always on hand to dispense more warnings and restrictions regarding pregnant women's behaviour, lest they start thinking they can relax for a minute. D. Aside from the odd deeply cynical marketing strategy, it's probably fair to say that it's all a result of good intentions; people are just trying to help. And that's fine; it's nice when people want to help. E. Being overweight in general is also bad if you're pregnant. Luckily, pregnant women never feel the urge to eat a lot of weird food or anything. Of course, if they do, then at least dieting is safe. F. Expectant mothers are regularly bombarded by (usually unsolicited) advice, tips, warnings and a worrying number of horror stories about pregnancies gone wrong. These are all given with a view to being helpful, which is nice but makes complaining seem somewhat churlish. G. Except that's bad too; stress is very harmful to a baby, so if you're an expectant mother you'd better learn to find the whole process wonderfully relaxing ASAP, or you're risking harm to the baby and therefore a terrible human being.

完形填空　　Solar energy is called a renewable resource because on a human time scale it is essentially inexhaustible, it is expected to last at least 6.5 billion years while the sun completes its life cycle. 46) A potentially renewable resource can be renewed fairly rapidly (hours to several decades) through natural processes, examples of which include forest trees, grassland grasses, wild animals, fresh lake and stream water, groundwater, fresh air, and fertile soil. 　　47) One important potentially renewable resource for us and other species is biological diversity or biodiversity, which consists of the life forms that can best survive variety of conditions currently found on Earth. Kinds of biodiversity include (1) genetic diversity( variety in the genetic makeup among individuals within a single species), (2) species diversity (variety among the species or unique forms of life found in different habitats of the planet), and ( 3 ) ecological diversity (variety of forests, deserts, grasslands, streams, lakes, oceans, wetlands, and other biological communities). 48)This rich variety of genes, species, and biological communities gives us food, wood, fibers, energy, raw materials, industrial chemicals, and medicines―all of which pour hundreds of billions of dollars into the world economy each year. Earth''s vast list ''of life forms and biological communities also provides free recycling and purification services and natural pest control. 　　Potentially renewable resources, however, can be exhausted. 49)The highest rate at which a potentially renewable resource can be used indefinitely without reducing its available supply is called its sustainable yield. If a resource''s natural replacement rate is exceeded, the available supply begins to shrink―a process known as environmental degradation. 　　Several types of environmental degradation can change potentially renewable resources into nonrenewable or unusable resources. In the United States, one-fourth of the groundwater withdrawn each year is not replenished (filled up again). Between 25% and 50% of the world''s wetlands (55% in the U. S. ) have been drained, built upon, or seriously polluted. Almost half of the world''s tropical forests have been cleared. Thousands of wildlife species become extinct each year, mostly because of human activities. If habitat destruction continues at present rates, as many as 1.5 million species could disappear over the next 25 years―a drastic loss in vital Earth capital. 50)These examples help explain why most environmental scientists believe that over the next few decades, the danger of degradation and exhaustion is greatest for potentially renewable resources, not nonrenewable resources ( except for petroleum and perhaps a few scarce minerals for which we can''t find economically and environmentally acceptable substitutes).

完形填空 So what is depression? Depression is often more about anger turned 1 than it is about sadness. But it's usually 2 as sadness. Depression can 3 at all ages, from childhood to old age, and it's the United States' No. 1 4 problem. When someone is depressed, her behavior 5 change and she loses interest in activities she 6 enjoyed (like sports, music, friendships). The sadness usually lasts every day for most of the day and for two weeks or more. What 7 depression? A 8 event can certainly bring 9 depression, but some will say it happens 10 a specific cause. So how do you know if you're just having a bad day 11 are really depressed? Depression affects your 12 , moods, behavior and even your physical health. These changes often go 13 or are labeled 14 simply a bad case of the blues. Someone who's truly 15 depression will have 16 periods of crying spells, feelings of 17 (like not being able to change your situation) and 18 (tike you'll feel this way forever), irritation or agitation. A depressed person often 19 from others, Depression seldom goes away by itself, and the greatest 20 of depression is suicide. The risk of suicide increases if the depression isn't treated.

完形填空 Do we learn more from people whose views we share in common than from those whose ideas contradictors? The speaker claims so, for the reason that disagreement can cause stress and inhabit learning. I concede that undue discord can impede learning. Otherwise, in my view we learn far from discourse and debate with those whose ideas we oppose than from people whose ideas are in accord with our own. 41 Admittedly, under some circumstances disagreement with others can be counterproductive to learning. For supporting examples, one need look no further than a television set. On today's typical television or radio talk show, disagreement usually manifests itself in meaningless rhetorical bouts and shouting matches, during which opponents vie to have their own message heard, but have little interest either in finding any common ground with or in acknowledging the merits of the opponent's viewpoint. Understandably, neither the combatants nor the viewers learn anything meaningful. In fact, these battles only serve to reinforce the predispositions and biases of all concerned. The end result is that learning is impeded. 42 Disagreement can also inhibit learning when two opponents disagree on fundamental assumptions needed for meaningful discourse and debate. For example, a student of paleontology learns little about the evolution of an animal species under current study by debating with an individual whose religious belief system precludes the possibility of evolution to begin with. And, economics and finance students learn little about the dynamics of a laissez-faire system by debating with a socialist whose view is that a centralized power should control all economic activity. 43 Aside from the foregoing two provisions, however, I fundamentally disagree with the speaker's claim. Assuming common ground between two rational and reasonable opponents willing to debate on intellectual merits, both opponents stand to gain much from that debate. Indeed it is primarily through such debate that human knowledge advances, whether at the personal, community, or global level. 44 At the personal level, by listening to their parents' rationale for their seemingly oppressive rules and policies, teenagers can learn how certain behaviors naturally carry certain undesirable consequences. At the same time, by listening to their teenagers concerns about autonomy and about peer pressures parents can learn the valuable lesson that effective parenting and control are two different things. At the community level, through dispassionate dialogue an environmental activist can come to understand the legitimate economic concerns of those whose jobs depend on the continued profitable operation of a factory. Conversely, the latter might stand to learn much about the potential public-health price to be paid by ensuring job growth and a low unemployment rate. Finally, at the global level, two nations with opposing political or economic interests can reach mutually beneficial agreements by striving to understand the other's legitimate concerns for its national security, its political sovereignty, the stability of its economy and currency, and so forth. 45 In sum, unless two opponents in a debate are each willing to play on the same field and by the same rules, I concede that disagreement can impede learning. Otherwise, reasoned discourse and debate between people with opposing viewpoints is the very foundation upon which human knowledge advances. Accordingly, on balance the speaker is fundamentally correct. A. Communication makes both parties know more about each other which make an agreement. B. The argument itself cannot expand knowledge. C. Reasonable debate plays a positive role in knowledge advances. D. A basic common knowledge made contribution to the argument from which people learn something. E. Generally, knowledge is gained by argument. F. Learning can be interrupted by the argument. G. Communication is closely associated with argument.

完形填空 Chronic insomnia is a major public health problem. And too many people are using 1 therapies, even while there are a few treatments that do work. Millions of Americans 2 awake at night counting sheep or have a stiff drink or 3 an pill, hoping it will make them sleepy. 4 experts agree all that self-medicating is a bad idea, and the causes of chronic insomnia remain 5 . Almost a third of adults have trouble sleeping, and about 10 percent have 6 of daytime impairment that signal true insomnia. But 7 the complaints, scientists know surprisingly little about what causes chronic insomnia, its health consequences and how best to treat it, a panel of specialists 8 together by the National Institutes of Health concluded Wednesday. The panel called 9 a broad range of research into insomnia, 10 that if scientists understood its 11 causes, they could develop better treatments. Most, but not all, insomnia is thought to 12 other health problems, from arthritis and depression to cardiovascular disease. The question often is whether the insomnia came first or was a result of the other diseases and how trouble sleeping in 13 complicates those other problems. Other diseases 14 , the risk of insomnia seems to increase with age and to be more 15 among women, especially after their 50s. Smoking, caffeine and numerous 16 drugs also affect sleep. The NIH is spending about $200 million this year on sleep-related research, some 17 to specific disorders and others 18 the underlying scientific laws that control the nervous system of sleep. The agency was 19 the pane's review before deciding what additional work should be 20 at insomnia.

完形填空 Our marine life now is being 1 by a gathering minefield of plastic in our oceans, and the images in the following make for 2 viewing. A rainbow runner fish with a(n) 3 kaleidoscope of plastic bits in its liver. A mahi mahi fish with plastic bottle caps in its stomach. Or the mussels and clams, the filters of the sea, that harbour hidden microplastics, 4 to our naked eye. Our first reaction to the above scene is often disgust. 5 this reflex quickly 6 to a more sobering thought: the 7 impact of the eight million metric tons of plastic pollution that enter our ocean every year. Not just 8 of our mounting ecological misdeeds, this 9 also directly 10 to poison us where we are truly vulnerable: our plates. The 11 of such a future impact how we shop for food. Last year, a European shopper survey 12 by the research firm McKinsey Company, 13 a long-known trend: quality food continues to be more important than price. In other words, shoppers 14 care about consuming safe food, and willingly 15 it with their wallets. That is all about to 16 . New technology is now 17 this information gap and 18 the power of knowledge to consumers. By cataloging the long trail of supply chain data on encrypted ledgers, the 19 world of the global food network will be exposed. Shoppers will soon be able to follow the 'story of the fish'—a report card 20 the product's original photo, place of catch, initial weight, species type, vessel and crew details, RFID tag number, catch water details and more.

完形填空 Nonverbal communication is hugely important: in any interaction with others, its importance is multiplied across cultures. This is because we tend to look for nonverbal cues when verbal messages are unclear or ambiguous, as they are more likely to be across cultures. 41 Low-context cultures like the United States and Canada tend to give relatively less emphasis to nonverbal communication. This does not mean that nonverbal communication does not happen, or that it is unimportant, but that people in these settings tend to place less importance on it than on the literal meanings of words themselves. In high-context settings such as Japan or Colombia, understanding the nonverbal components of communication is relatively more important to receiving the intended meaning of the communication as a whole. 42 For instance, it may be more socially acceptable in some settings in the United States for women to show fear, but not anger, and for men to display anger, but not fear. At the same time, interpretation of facial expressions across cultures is difficult. In China and Japan, for example, a facial expression that would be recognized around the world as conveying happiness may actually express anger or mask sadness, both of which are unacceptable to show overtly. 43 For a Westerner who understands smiles to mean friendliness and happiness, this smile may seem out of place and even cold, under the circumstances. Even though some facial expressions may be similar across cultures, their interpretations remain culture specific. It is important to understand something about cultural starting-points and values in order to interpret emotions expressed in cross-cultural interactions. 44 In a comparison of North American and French children on a beach, a researcher noticed that the French children tended to stay in a relatively small space near their parents, while US children ranged up and down a large area of the beach. 45 These examples of differences related to nonverbal communication are only the tip of the iceberg. Careful observation, ongoing study from a variety of sources, and cultivating relationships across cultures will all help develop the cultural fluency to work effectively with nonverbal communication differences. A. These differences of interpretation may lead to conflict. Suppose a Japanese person is explaining her absence from negotiations due to a death in her family. She may do so with a smile, based on her cultural belief that it is not appropriate to inflict the pain of grief on others. B. Another variable across cultures has to do with ways of relating to space. Crossing cultures, we encounter very different ideas about polite space for conversations and negotiations. North Americans tend to prefer a large amount of space, perhaps because they are surrounded by it in their homes and countryside. Europeans tend to stand more closely with each other when talking, and are accustomed to smaller personal spaces. C. Americans are serious about standing in lines, in accordance with their beliefs in democracy and the principle of 'first come, first served.' The French, on the other hand, have a practice of line jumping, that irritates many British and U S Americans. D. Since nonverbal behavior arises from our cultural common sense, we use different systems of understanding gestures, posture, silence, spatial relations, emotional expression, touch, 'physical appearance, and other nonverbal cues. Cultures also attribute different degrees of importance to verbal and nonverbal behavior. E. The difficulty with space preferences is not that they exist, but the judgments that get attached to them. If someone is accustomed to standing or sitting very close when they are talking with another, they may see the other's attempt to create more space as evidence of coldness, or a lack of interest. F. It is said that a German executive working in the United States became so upset with visitors to his office moving the guest chair to suit themselves that he had it bolted to the floor. G. Some elements of nonverbal communication are consistent across cultures. For example, research has shown that the emotions of enjoyment, anger, fear, sadness, disgust, and surprise are expressed in similar ways by people around the world. Differences surface with respect to which emotions are acceptable to display in various cultural settings, and by whom.

完形填空 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 peoples, 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 4 being classified as 'English'. Even in England there are many 5 in regional character and speech. The chief 6 is between southern England and northern England. South of a 7 going from Bristol to London, people speak the type of English usually learnt by foreign students, 8 there are local variations. Further north regional speech is usually ' 9 ' than that of southern Britain. Northerners are 10 to claim that they work harder than Southerners, and are more 11 . They are open-hearted 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 20 a race that is quite distinct from the English.

完形填空　　In Cambodia, the choice of a spouse is a complex one for the young male. It may involve not only his parents and his friends, __1__those of the young woman, but also a matchmaker. A young man can __2__ a likely spouse on his own and then ask his parents to __3__the marriage negotiations, or the young man’s parents may take the choice of a spouse, giving the child little to say in the selection. __4__, a girl may veto the spouse her parents have chosen. __5__ a spouse has been selected, each family investigates the other to make sure its child is marrying __6__ a good family. 　　The traditional wedding is a long and colorful affair. Formerly it lasted three days, __7__1980s it more commonly lasted a day and a half. Buddhist priests offer a short sermon and __8__ prayers of blessing. Par--ts of the ceremony involve ritual hair cutting,__9__cotton threads soaked in holy water around the bride's and groom's wrists, and __10__a candle around a circle of happily married and respected couples to bless　the __11__.　Newlyweds traditionally move in with the wife's parents and may__12__ with them up to a year, __13__they can build a new house nearby. 　　Divorce is legal and easy to __14__, but not common. Divorced persons are __15__ with some disapproval. Each spouse retains ___16___ property he or she __17__ into the marriage, and jointly-acquired property is __18__ equally. Divorced persons may remarry, but a gender prejudice __19__up.　The divorced male doesn't have a waiting period before he can remarry __20__the woman must wait ten months.

完形填空There is much discussion in the literature these days about how one "defines" sustainability, sustainable development, and related concepts. Many argue that the concept is useless because it cannot be "adequately defined". 46) Most of this discussion is misdirected because it attempts to cast the problem as definitional, when in fact it is a problem of prediction, and it fails to take into account the many time and space scales over which the concept of sustainability must apply. Defining sustainability is actually quite easy: A sustainable system is one that survives for some specified (finite) time. The problem is that one knows one has a sustainable system only after the fact. Thus, what usually pass for definitions of sustainability are actually predictions of what set of conditions will actually lead to a sustainable system. 　　47) For example, keeping harvest rates of potentially renewable resources such as trees and wildlife below rates of natural renewal should, one could argue, lead to a sustainable natural resource extraction system. But that is a prediction, not a definition. Usually there is so much uncertainty in our ability to estimate natural rates of renewal and our ability to observe and regulate harvest rates that a simple prediction such as this is always highly suspect. 　　Likewise, sustainable economic development can be observed only after the fact. 48)Most "definitions" of sustainable development include elements of a sustainable scale of the economy relative to its ecological life support system; a fair distribution of resources and opportunities between current and future generations, as well as between individuals in the current generation; and an efficient allocation of resources that adequately accounts for natural capital. Note that these three components of sustainable economic development are actually "predictors" of sustainability and not really elements of a definition. Like all predictions, they are uncertain and are subject to much discussion and disagreement. 　　49) The second problem is that when one says a system has achieved sustainability, one does not mean an infinite life span, but rather a life span that is consistent with the system''s expected time and space scale. We expect an organism to have a longer life span, the species to have an even longer life span, and the planet to last much longer. But no system is expected to have an infinite life span. 　　The real problems are not so much defining the goal as predicting what policies will lead to its achievement. Here there is ample room for, and need of, vigorous discussion, debate, analysis, and modeling in order to determine which policies have the best chance of achieving the goal of sustainability. 50) Given the huge uncertainties involved, it is of particular importance in this regard to select policies that are precautionary, that is, they do not take unnecessary risks that could decrease the chances for sustainability they do not rely on hoped-for technological fixes for their successes.

完形填空Almost all our major problems involve human behavior, and they cannot be solved by physical and biological technology alone. What is needed is a technology of behavior, but we have been slow to develop the science from which such a technology might be drawn. 61)One difficulty is that almost all of what is called behavioral science continues to trace behavior to states of mind, feelings, traits of character, human nature, and so on. Physics and biology once followed similar practices and advanced only when they discarded them. 62)The behavioral sciences have been slow to change partly because the explanatory items often seem to be directly observed and partly because other kinds of explanations have been hard to find. The environment is obviously important, but its role has remained obscure. It does not push or pull, it selects, and this function is difficult to discover and analyze. 63 )The role of natural selection in evolution was formulated only a little more than a hundred years ago, and the selective role of the environment in shaping and maintaining the behavior of the individual is only beginning to be recognized and studied. As the interaction between organism and environment has come to be understood, however, effects once assigned to states of mind, feelings, and traits are beginning to be traced to accessible conditions, and a technology of behavior may therefore become available. It will not solve our problems, however, until it replaces traditional prescientific views, and these are strongly entrenched. Freedom and dignity illustrate the difficulty. 64 )They are the possessions of the autonomous (selfgoveming) man of traditional theory, and they are essential to practices in which a person is held responsible for his conduct and given credit for his achievements. A scientific analysis shifts both the responsibility and the achievement to the environment. It also raises questions concerning" values". Who will use a technology and to what ends? 65 ) Until these issues are resolved, a technology of behavior will continue to be rejected, and with it possibly the only way to solve our problems.

完形填空 Research suggests that British people are becoming increasingly detached from wildlife, the countryside and nature. Most people in the survey admitted they felt they were 1 touch with the natural world, 2 a third said they did not know enough about the subject to teach their own children. One in three people could not 3 an oak tree. This detachment has negative 4 for conservation. People simply won't rally round to save something they are not really 5 of. A major report last year already warned that Britain is among 'the 6 nature-depleted countries in the world'. 7 this is urban alienation at its most literal. Humans have 8 so decisively in the processes that create life on Earth 9 we are increasingly aware only of our own interventions, 10 not of the vast ecosystems that make them possible. Nature reminds us that we are a small part of something vast, 11 , ever-evolving and infinitely precious. It reminds us that, as part of this 12 , we are precious, too. 13 all around us is self-destruction. Senior doctors and health charities warn that 14 drinking will kill 65,000 people over the next five years. They are asking urgently 15 a crackdown on cheap alcohol and 16 restrictions on the advertising of liquor to help to 17 the problem. The problem, however, seems existential to me. Many people are trying to 18 from themselves and their lives. 19 , the measures work, simply making it harder for people to purchase their poison. But it's a strategy that makes a difference only 20 so many other aspects of a life have already gone wrong.

完形填空A. Perhaps our most dangerous bias is that we naturally assume that everyone else is more susceptible to thinking errors, a tendency known as the 'bias blind spot.' This 'meta-bias' is rooted in our ability to spot systematic mistakes in the decisions of others—we excel at noticing the flaws of friends—and inability to spot those same mistakes in ourselves. In each instance, we readily forgive our own minds but look harshly upon the minds of other people. B. When people face an uncertain situation, they don't carefully evaluate the information or look up relevant statistics. Instead, their decisions depend on a long list of mental shortcuts, which often lead them to make foolish decisions. These shortcuts aren't a faster way of doing the math; they're a way of skipping the math altogether. Asked about the bat and the ball, we forget our arithmetic lessons and instead default to the answer that requires the least mental effort. C. What explains this result? One provocative hypothesis is that the bias blind spot arises because of a mismatch between how we evaluate others and how we evaluate ourselves. When considering the irrational choices of a stranger, for instance, we are forced to rely on behavioral information; we see their biases from the outside, which allows us to glimpse their systematic thinking errors. However, when assessing our own bad choices, we tend to engage in elaborate introspection. We scrutinize our motivations and search for relevant reasons; we lament our mistakes to therapists and ruminate on the beliefs that led us astray. D. For more than five decades, Daniel Kahneman, a Nobel Laureate and professor of psychology at Princeton, has been asking questions like this and analyzing our answers. His disarmingly simple experiments have profoundly changed the way we think about thinking. While philosophers, economists, and social scientists had assumed for centuries that human beings are rational agents, Kahneman demonstrated that we're not nearly as rational as we like to believe. E. Here's a simple arithmetic question: A bat and ball cost a dollar and ten cents. The bat costs a dollar more than the ball. How much does the ball cost? The vast majority of people respond quickly and confidently, insisting the ball costs ten cents. This answer is both obvious and wrong. (The correct answer is five cents for the ball and a dollar and five cents for the bat.) F. The problem with this introspective approach is that the driving forces behind biases—the root causes of our irrationality—are largely unconscious, which means they remain invisible to self-analysis and impermeable to intelligence. In fact, introspection can actually compound the error, blinding us to those primal processes responsible for many of our everyday failings. We spin eloquent stories, but these stories miss the point. The more we attempt to know ourselves, the less we actually understand. G. In many instances, smarter people are more vulnerable to these thinking errors. Although we assume that intelligence is a buffer against bias—that's why those with higher S. A. T. scores think they are less prone to these universal thinking mistakes—it can actually be a subtle curse. Order: 41 →D→ 42 → 43 → 44 →C→ 45

完形填空　Our world of the mid-1990s faces potentially bursting change. The question is in what direction will it take us? 46) Will the change come from worldwide initiatives that reverse the degradation of the planet and restore hope for the future, or will it come from continuing environmental deterioration that leads to economic decline and social instability? 　　There is no precedent for the rapid substantial change we need to make. 47) Building an environmentally sustainable future depends on restructuring the global economy, major shifts in human reproductive behavior, and dramatic changes in values and lifestyles. Doing all this quickly adds up to a revolution that is driven and defined by the need to restore the earth''s environmental systems. If this Environmental Revolution succeeds, it will rank with the Agricultural and Industrial Revolutions as one of the great economic and social transformations in human history. 　　Like the Agricultural Revolution, it will dramatically alter population trends. 48) While the former set the stage for enormous increases in human numbers, this revolution will succeed only if it stabilizes human population size, reestablishing a balance between people and natural system on which they depend. In contrast to the Industrial Revolution, which was based on a shift to fossil fuels, this new transformation will be based on a shift away from fossil fuels. 　　49) The two earlier revolutions were driven by technological advances―the first by the discovery of farming and the second by the invention of the steam engine, which converted the energy in coal into mechanical power. The Environmental Revolution, while it will obviously need new technologies, will be driven primarily by the restructuring of the global economy so that it does not destroy its natural support system. 　　The pace of the Environmental Revolution needs to be far faster than that of its predecessors. The Agricultural Revolution began some 10,000 years ago, and the Industrial Revolution has been under way for about two centuries. But if the Environmental Revolution is to succeed, it must be compressed into a few decades. Progress in the Agricultural Revolution was measured almost exclusively in the growth in food output that eventually enabled farmers to produce a surplus that could feed city dwellers. Similarly, industrial progress was gained by success in expanding the output of raw materials and manufactured goods. 50) The Environmental Revolution will be judged by whether it can shift the world economy into an environmentally sustainable development path, one that leads to greater economic security, healthier lifestyles, and a worldwide improvement in the human condition.

完形填空A. The particles examined in this study are known as PM2.5, or particulate matter that's 2.5 micrometers big—30 times smaller than a human hair. They are emitted by various types of industry and fuel burning, but in the United States, the biggest source of PM2.5 is cars, says Ziyad Al-Aly, the study's senior author and an assistant professor of medicine at Washington University at St. Louis. When there's lots of PM2.5 in the air, the air might look smoggy or hazy. In lighter concentrations, the particles are invisible. B. Previous research has found that Latino children living in areas with more air pollution had a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes. But other studies on the association between the two have generated mixed results. C. Scientists are just beginning to understand what exactly makes PM2.5 so harmful, but a major reason is that it's so small and contains toxic metals. Its size allows it to penetrate the lungs and enter the bloodstream. There, it can circulate to different organs and cause inflammation. The inflammation increases insulin resistance. Eventually, this insulin resistance can become so severe the pancreas becomes unable to pump out enough insulin to compensate, and diabetes can set in. D. It's fairly well known that a bad diet, a lack of exercise, and genetics can all contribute to type 2 diabetes. But a new global study points to an additional, surprising culprit: the air pollution emitted by cars and trucks. E. The study, published in The Lancet Planetary Health, linked data from 1.7 million American veterans who had been followed for a median of 8.5 years with air data from the EPA and NASA. It also aggregated past international research on diabetes and air pollution to devise a model to estimate diabetes risk based on the level of pollution, and it used the Global Burden of Disease study to estimate how many years of healthy life were lost due to this air-pollution-induced diabetes. Globally, 8.2 million years of healthy life were lost in 2016 to pollution-linked diabetes, it showed. The study authors controlled for things like obesity and BMI, so it wasn't the case that heavier people simply lived in more polluted neighborhoods and were also more likely to get diabetes. F. Though other research has shown a link between diabetes and air pollution in the past, this study is one of the largest of its kind, and it's unique because it both is longitudinal and includes several types of controls. What's more, it also quantifies exactly how many diabetes cases in the world are attributable to air pollution: 14 percent in 2016 alone. In the United States, it found, air pollution is responsible for 150,000 cases of diabetes. G. This new study makes an even stronger case, suggesting that the current limits on air pollution in the United States might be too high. The EPA's pollution threshold on particulate matter is 12μg/m3, or micrograms per cubic meter of air, but this study says the risk of diabetes starts at about 2.4μg/m3. Among people exposed to between five and 10μg/m3 of particulate matter, about 21 percent developed diabetes. At the threshold of current 'safe' levels, 24 percent do. For each 10μg/m3 increase in particulate matter, the risk of developing diabetes goes up by 15 percent. This risk is present regardless of whether the individual becomes obese or not. D→ 41 → 42 → 43 → 44 →B→ 45

完形填空 Perhaps more than any other profession, science places a premium on being correct. Of course, most scientists make plenty of mistakes 1 the way. Yet not all errors are created equal. Historians have 2 a number of instances in which an incorrect idea proved far more 3 than thousands of others that were trivially mistaken or 4 correct. These are the productive mistakes: errors that 5 on deep, fundamental features of the world around us and 6 further research that leads to major 7 . Mistakes they certainly are. But science would be far worse off without them. Niels Bohr, for example, created a 8 of the atom that was wrong in nearly every way, yet it 9 the quantum-mechanical revolution. 10 enormous skepticism, Alfred Wegener argued 11 centrifugal forces make the continents move (or 'drift') along the surface of the earth. He had the right phenomenon, albeit the wrong 12 . And Enrico Fermi thought that he had created nuclei heavier than uranium, rather than (as we now know) having stumbled 13 nuclear fission. Two other instances of productive mistakes, one from physics in the 1970's and one from biology in the 1940's illustrate this 14 dramatically. The authors of the mistakes were not hapless bumblers who 15 , in retrospect, to get lucky. 16 they steadfastly asked questions that 17 of their colleagues broached and 18 ideas that not many at the time had considered. In the process, they 19 the critical groundwork for today's burgeoning fields of biotechnology and quantum information science. They were 20 , and the world should be thankful for their errors.