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 to 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.

单选题If I could guarantee one thing in life it would be change—the fact that it will happen even when we resist it. It is the constant motion in our lives and its power should not be taken lightly or underestimated. Change is personal, change is powerful. Think about the magnitude of the word when we talk about changing ourselves. Your desire to change may come from wanting to improve yourself in some way from the inside out. I am certainly glad when I hear this from people, because at our very core there is always work to be done. Maybe it"s about healing ourselves from a broken heart or replenishing our soul when a painful situation has left us feeling mentally, physically or spiritually depleted. Maybe it"s just that deep-down desire to be kinder to ourselves, for ourselves to treat ourselves better. Things that sound easy to change can actually be the hardest things we"ve ever done, and because of this it"s important to internalize the changes we want to make by journaling and writing down our goals. We say we"re going to be more in touch with family or be more positive, but how many times have these regular conversations remained just that conversations, insignificant words that could have been powerful if we had backed up our talk with a timeline for change? I"m talking about living a life where our words become the framework for positive actions—a life in which we stop wishing for a better job or more time with our children or better bodies, and instead think about what we must do to spur the change for ourselves. The impact that change has on each of us is incredible. The mere one-syllable word causes many of us to become fearful—at just the thought of doing something differently, trying something new or challenging ourselves in ways we never have before. The prospect of changing behaviors and thoughts that have stifled our progress should be something that we welcome. In casual conversations many people tell me they welcome change—but behind closed doors they admit they"re terrified. They are afraid of the realization that what they are doing today could be altered dramatically in a mere twenty-four hours. I can say with confidence that change has such an impact on our lives simply because it is a universal element that we all must confront. Each moment of the day we are consciously and subconsciously taking in new information and reprocessing old information in our brains. This constant influx and exchange has the ability to alter the way we view situations in our lives. Perhaps we have changed a belief or come to terms with something, or maybe we now disagree with someone because, as they tell us, we"ve "changed." The transformation is brought on by something that resonates with us or encourages us to consider a new perspective. When this happens, it"s a real breakthrough, isn"t it!

单选题Ruth Simmons joined Goldman Sachs"s board as an outside director in January 2000: a year later she became president of Brown University. For the rest of the decade she apparently managed both roles without attracting much criticism. But by the end of 2009 Ms. Simmons was under fire for having sat on Goldman"s compensation committee; how could she have let those enormous bonus payouts pass unremarked? By February the next year Ms. Simmons had left the board. The position was just taking up too much time, she said. Outside directors are supposed to serve as helpful, yet less biased, advisers on a firm"s board. Having made their wealth and their reputations elsewhere, they presumably have enough independence to disagree with the chief executive"s proposals. If the sky, and the share price, is falling, outside directors should be able to give advice based on having weathered their own crises. The researchers from Ohio University used a database that covered more than 10,000 firms and more than 64,000 different directors between 1989 and 2004. Then they simply checked which directors stayed from one proxy statement to the next. The most likely reason for departing a board was age, so the researchers concentrated on those "surprise" disappearances by directors under the age of 70. They found that after a surprise departure, the probability that the company will subsequently have to restate earnings increased by nearly 20%. The likelihood of being named in a federal class-action lawsuit also increases, and the stock is likely to perform worse. The effect tended to be larger for larger firms. Although a correlation between them leaving and subsequent bad performance at the firm is suggestive, it does not mean that such directors are always jumping off a sinking ship. Often they "trade up." Leaving riskier, smaller firms for larger and more stable firms. But the researchers believe that outside directors have an easier time of avoiding a blow to their reputations if they leave a firm before bad news breaks, even if a review of history shows they were on the board at the time any wrongdoing occurred. Firms who want to keep their outside directors through tough times may have to create incentives. Otherwise outside directors will follow the example of Ms. Simmons, once again very popular on campus.

单选题Massive changes in all of the world"s deeply cherished sporting habits are underway. Whether it"s one of London"s parks full of people playing softball, and Russians taking up rugby, or the Superbowl rivaling the British Football Cup Final as a televised spectator event in Britain, the patterns of players and spectators are changing beyond recognition. We are witnessing a globalization of our sporting culture. That annual bicycle race, the Tour de France, much loved by the French is a good case in point. Just a few years back it was a strictly continental affair with France, Belgium and Holland, Spain and Italy taking part. But in recent years it has been dominated by Colombian mountain climbers, and American and Irish riders. The people who really matter welcome the shift toward globalization. Peugeot, Michelin and Panasonic are multi-national corporations that want worldwide returns for the millions they invest in teams. So it does them literally a world of good to see this unofficial world championship become just that. This is undoubtedly an economic-based revolution we are witnessing here, one made possible by communications technology, but made to happen because of marketing considerations. Sell the game and you can sell Coca Cola or Budweiser as well. The skilful way in which American football has been sold to Europe is a good example of how all sports will develop. The aim of course is not really to spread the sport for its own sake, but to increase the number of people interested in the major money-making events. The economics of the Superbowl are already astronomical. With seats at US $125, gate receipts alone were a staggering $10,000,000. The most important statistic of the day, however, was the $100,000,000 in TV advertising fees. Imagine how much that becomes when the eyes of the world are watching. So it came as a terrible shock, but not really as a surprise, to learn that some people are now suggesting that soccer change from being a game of two 45-minute halves, to one of four 25-minute quarters. The idea is unashamedly to capture more advertising revenue, without giving any thought for the integrity of a sport which relies for its essence on the flowing nature of the action. Moreover, as sports expand into world markets, and as our choice of sports as consumers also grows, so we will demand to see them played at a higher and higher level. In boxing we have already seen numerous, dubious world title categories because people will not pay to see anything less than a "World Title" fight, and this means that the. title fights have to be held in different countries around the world!

单选题Against a backdrop of drastic changes in economy and population structure, younger Americans are drawing a new 21 st-century road map to success, a latest poll has found. Across generational lines, Americans continue to prize many of the same traditional milestones of a successful life, including getting married, having children, owning a home, and retiring in their sixties. But while young and old mostly agree on what constitutes the finish line of a fulfilling life, they offer strikingly different paths for reaching it. Young people who are still getting started in life were more likely than older adults to prioritize personal fulfillment in their work, to believe they will advance their careers most by regularly changing jobs, to favor communities with more public services and a faster pace of life, to agree that couples should be financially secure before getting married or having children, and to maintain that children are best served by two parents working outside the home, the survey found. From career to community and family, these contrasts suggest that in the aftermath of the searing Great Recession, those just starting out in life are defining priorities and expectations that will increasingly spread through virtually all aspects of American life, from consumer preferences to housing patterns to politics. Young and old converge on one key point: Overwhelming majorities of both groups said they believe it is harder for young people today to get started in life than it was for earlier generations. While younger people are somewhat more optimistic than their elders about the prospects for those starting out today, big majorities in both groups believe those "just getting started in life" face a tougher climb than earlier generations in reaching such signpost achievements as securing a good-paying job, starting a family, managing debt, and finding affordable housing. Pete Schneider considers the climb tougher today. Schneider, a 27-year-old auto technician from the Chicago suburbs, says he struggled to find a job after graduating from college. Even now that he is working steadily, he said, "I can"t afford to pay my monthly mortgage payments on my own, so I have to rent rooms out to people to make that happen." Looking back, he is struck that his parents could provide a comfortable life for their children even though neither had completed college when he was young. "I still grew up in an upper middle-class home with parents who didn"t have college degrees," Schneider said. "I don"t think people are capable of that anymore."

单选题It came as something of a surprise when Diana, Princess of Wales, made a trip to Angola in 1997, to support the Red Cross"s campaign for a total ban on all anti-personnel landmines. Within hours of arriving in Angola, television screens around the world were filled with images of her comforting victims injured in explosions caused by landmines. "I knew the statistics," she said. "But putting a face to those figures brought the reality home to me; like when I met Sandra, a 13-year-old girl who had lost her leg, and people like her." The Princess concluded with a simple message: "We must stop landmines". And she used every opportunity during her visit to repeat this message. But, back in London, her views were not shared by some members of the British government, which refused to support a ban on these weapons. Angry politicians launched an attack on the Princess in the press. They described her as "very ill-informed" and a "loose cannon". The Princess responded by brushing aside the criticisms: "This is a distraction we do not need. All I"m trying to do is help." Opposition parties, the media and the public immediately voiced their support for the Princess. To make matters worse for the government, it soon emerged that the Princess"s trip had been approved by the Foreign Office, and that she was in fact very well-informed about both the situation in Angola and the British government"s policy regarding landmines. The result was a severe embarrassment for the government. To try and limit the damage, the Foreign Secretary, Malcolm Rifkind, claimed that the Princess"s views on landmines were not very different from government policy, and that it was "working towards" a worldwide ban. The Defence Secretary, Michael Portillo, claimed the matter was "a misinterpretation or misunderstanding." For the Princess, the trip to this war-torn country was an excellent opportunity to use her popularity to show the world how much destruction and suffering landmines can cause. She said that the experience had also given her the chance to get closer to people and their problems.

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

单选题 On America's Gulf coast, massive industrial facilities stand idle. Miles of twisting stainless-steel pipes and huge storage tanks gleam uselessly in the sun. They are a reminder of the hundreds of billions of dollars that America has invested in terminals for handling imports of liquefied natural gas (LNG). Thanks to the boom in domestic shale gas, those imports are no longer needed. America produces nearly as much gas as it consumes, and will soon produce far more. So the obvious thing to do with those idle terminals is to re-engineer them to handle exports. Instead of receiving shiploads of liquefied gas and re-gasifying it, they should be taking American gas, liquefying it and loading it onto tankers. Converting these plants will not be cheap—each one will cost at least $5 billion. But the potential rewards are much larger. In America gas sells for around $3.40 per million British thermal units (mBTU). In Europe it costs around $12. In gas-poor Asia, spot cargoes change hands for as much as $20 per mBTU. Since it costs roughly $5 per mBTU to liquefy the stuff, ship it and turn it back into gas, America could be making a fortune from gas exports. To the extent that such exports displaced dirty coal, they would also help curb global warming. Most of America's two dozen LNG import terminals have applied for export licences. Yet only one, Sabine Pass in Louisiana, has actually started retooling its kit. Gas from there will start flowing onto global markets by the end of 2015. Why has every other terminal been so slow to seize this opportunity? Converting a plant is not easy: firms must build now upon row of expensive fridges, known as "liquefaction trains", to get gas moving in the opposite direction. But the real hold-up is political. No LNG facility besides Sabine has yet received permission to export. American law requires the Department of Energy to determine whether gas exports are in the public interest, and President Barack Obama's administration is in no hurry to make up its mind.

单选题New technology links the world as never before. Our planet has shrunk. It"s now a "global village" where countries are only seconds away by fax or phone or satellite link. And, of course, our ability to benefit from this high-tech communications equipment is greatly enhanced by foreign language skills. Deeply involved with this new technology is a breed of modern businesspeople who have a growing respect for the economic value of doing business abroad. In modern markets, success overseas often helps support domestic business efforts. Overseas assignments are becoming increasingly important to advancement within executive ranks. The executive stationed in another country no longer need fear being "out of sight and out of mind." He or she can be sure that the overseas effort is central to the company"s plan for success, and that promotions often follow or accompany an assignment abroad. If an employee can succeed in a difficult assignment overseas, superiors will have greater confidence in his or her ability to cope back in the United Sates where cross-cultural considerations and foreign language issues are becoming more and more prevalent. Thanks to a variety of relatively inexpensive communications devices with business applications, even small businesses in the United States are able to get into international markets. English is still the international language of business. But there is an ever-growing need for people who can speak another language. A second language isn"t generally required to get a job in business, but having language skills gives a candidate the edge when other qualifications appear to be equal. The employee posted abroad who speaks the country"s principal language has an opportunity to fast-forward certain negotiations, and can have the cultural insight to know when it is better to move more slowly. The employee at the home office who can communicate well with foreign clients over the telephone or by fax machine is an obvious asset to the firm.

单选题Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won an Award of Excellence from the American Institute of Architects. Located on the shore of Sullivan"s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane Hugo 10 years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state. Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina"s shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement of building codes wasn"t strict, according to architect RayHuff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. In Hugo"s wake, all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced codes. The new beach house on Sullivan"s Island should be able to withstand a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour. At first sight, the house on Sullivan"s Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble "a large party lantern" at night, according to one observer. But looks can be deceiving. The house"s wooden frame is reinforced with long steel rods to give it extra strength. To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings—long, slender columns of wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also elevate the house above storm surges. The pilings allow the surges to run under the house instead of running into it. "These swells of water come ashore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach- front buildings." said Huff. Huff designed the timber pilings to be partially concealed by the house"s ground-to-roof shell. "The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn"t look like it"s standing with its pant legs pulled up." said Huff. In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.

单选题For the first time, George Bush has acknowledged the existence of secret CIA prisons around the world, where key terrorist suspects—100 in all, officials say—have been interrogated with " an alternative set of procedures ". Fourteen of the suspects, including the alleged mastermind of the September 11th attacks, were transferred on Monday to the American naval base at Guantánamo Bay in Cuba, where some will face trial for war crimes before special military commissions. Many of these men—as Mr. Bush confirmed in a televised speech at the White House on September 6th—are al-Qaeda operatives or Taliban fighters who had sought to withhold information that could "save American lives". "In these cases, it has been necessary to move these individuals to an environment where they can be held secretly (and) questioned by experts," the president said. He declined to say where they had been held or why they had not simply been sent straight to Guantánamo, as some 770 other suspected terrorists have been. Mr. Bush also refused to reveal what interrogation methods had been used, saying only that, though "tough", they had been "safe and lawful and necessary". Many believe that the main purpose of the CIA"s prisons was to hide from prying eyes the torture and other cruel or degrading treatment used to extract information from prisoners. But Mr. Bush insisted that America did not torture: "It"s against our laws, and it"s against our values. I have not authorised it—and I will not authorise it." The Pentagon this week issued its long-awaited new Army Field Manual, forbidding all forms of torture and degrading treatment of prisoners by army personnel—though not the CIA. For the first time, it specifically bans forced nakedness, hooding, the use of dogs, sexual humiliation and "waterboarding" (simulated drowning)—all practices that have been used at Guantánamo and Abu Ghraib. So why did the president decide now to reveal the CIA"s secret programme? Partly, he confessed, because of the Supreme Court"s recent ruling that minimum protections under the Geneva Conventions applied to all military prisoners, no matter where they were. This has put American agents at risk of prosecution for war crimes. Mr. Bush has now asked Congress to ban suspected terrorists from suing American personnel in federal courts.

单选题American mythology loves nothing more than the reluctant hero: the man whose natural talents have destined him for more than obliging obscurity. George Washington, we are told, was a leader who would have preferred to have been a farmer. Thomas Jefferson, a writer. Martin Luther King, Jr., a preacher. These men were roused from lives of perfunctory achievement, our legends have it, not because they chose their own exceptionalism, but because we, the people, chose it for them. We—seeing greatness in them that they were too humble to observe themselves—conferred on them uncommon paths. Historical circumstance became its own call of duty, and the logic of democracy proved itself through the answer. Neil Armstrong was a hero of this stripe: constitutionally humble, circumstantially noble. Nearly every obituary written for him this weekend has made a point of emphasizing his sense of privacy, his sense of humility, his sense of the ironic ordinary. And yet every aspect of Armstrong"s life made clear: On that day in 1969, he acted on our behalf, out of a sense of mission that was communal rather than personal. The reluctant hero is also the self-sacrificing hero. And so Armstrong was an icon fit for America"s particular predilections: one who made history, yet one who recognized the ultimate contingency of his own history-making. One who, Washington-like, preferred quiet retirement over continued fame. "Nothing is more typical of Armstrong, or more estimable," Anthony Lane put it, "than his decision not to go into politics; heaven knows what the blandishments, or the invitations, must have been. And Armstrong, by dint of being the first man to tread not upon terra firma but upon the gray dust of terra incognita, rose above the fray and stayed there." And so Armstrong"s loss is not merely a loss for all the obvious reasons, but also because it signals a small shift in American mythology. If Armstrong"s was the age of the reluctant hero, ours is the age of adamant heroism. Our icons strive and struggle and seek. Our familiar figures are people who, whether or not their talents entitle them to it, explicitly sought their own fame. That is largely to the good. It means a democratic culture, a culture where systematized notions of merit—based on race, based on class—dissolve into the broader cultural will. But it also means a shift in how we see success and ourselves as seekers of it. The tension Armstrong embodied so succinctly—publicity on the one hand, humility on the other—is dissipating. The humility factor is dissolving into a culture that often equates fame with power. Our current icons are less the people who have been called to duty, and more the people who have battled their way into it—the subjects, rather than the predicates, of their own greatness. The reluctant hero is diminishing. Armstrong"s passing signals an end to that myth.

单选题 In the past 35 years, hundreds of millions of Chinese have found productive, if often exhausting, work in the country's growing cities. This extraordinary mobilization of labour is the biggest economic event of the past half-century. The world has seen nothing on such scale before. Will it see anything like it again? The answer lies across the Himalayas in India. India is an ancient civilization but a youthful country. Its working-age population is rising by about 12m people a year, even as China's shrank last year by 3m. Within a decade India will have the biggest potential workforce in the world. Optimists look forward to a bumper "demographic dividend", the result of more workers per dependant and more saving out of income. This combination accounted for perhaps a third of the East Asian miracle. India "has time on its side, literally," boasted one prominent politician, Kamal Nath, in a 2008 book entitled "India's Century". But although India's dreamers have faith in its youth, the country's youngest have growing reason to doubt India. The economy raised aspirations that it has subsequently failed to meet. From 2005 to 2007 it grew by about 9% a year. In 2010 it even grew faster than China (if the two economies are measured consistently). But growth has since halved. India's impressive savings rate, the other side of the demographic dividend, has also slipped. Worryingly, a growing share of household saving is bypassing the financial system altogether, seeking refuge from inflation in gold, bricks and mortar. The last time a Congress-led government liberalized the economy in earnest—in 1991—over 40% of today's Indians had yet to be born. Their anxieties must seem remote to India's elderly politicians. The average age of cabinet minister is 65. The country has never had a prime minister born in independent India. One man who might buck that trend, Rahul Gandhi, is the son, grandson and the great-grandson of former prime ministers. India is run by gerontocrats (老年统治者) and epigones (子孙): {{U}}grey hairs and groomed heirs{{/U}}. The apparent indifference of the police to the way young women in particular are treated has underlined the way that old India fails to protect new India.

单选题Artificial hearts have long been the stuff of science fiction. In "Robocop" , snazzy cardiac devices are made by Yamaha and Jensen, and in "Star Trek", Jean-Luc Picard, captain of the Enterprise, has one implanted in the year 2328. In the present day, however, their history has been more chequered. The first serious attempt to build one happened in the 1980s, when Jarvik-7, made by Robert Jarvik, a surgeon at the University of Utah, captured the world"s attention. But Jarvik-7 was a complicated affair that needed to be connected via tubes to machines outside the body. The patient could not go home, nor even turn around in bed. Various other designs have been tried since, but all were seen as temporary expedients intended to tide a patient over until the real thing became available from a human donor. That may be about to change. This week, America"s Food and Drug Administration gave its approval to a new type of artificial heart made by Abiomed, a firm based near Boston. The agency granted a "humanitarian device exemption", a restricted form of approval that will allow doctors to implant the new device in people whose hearts are about to fail but who cannot, for reasons such as intolerance of the immunosuppressive drugs needed to stop rejection, receive a transplant. Such people have a life expectancy of less than a month, but a dozen similarly hopeless patients implanted with Abiomed"s heart survived for about five months. Unlike Dr. Jarvik"s device, this newfangled bundle of titanium and polyurethane aims to set the patient free. An electric motor revolving up to 10,000 times a minute pushes an incompressible fluid around the Abiomed heart, and that fluid, in turn, pushes the blood—first to the lungs to be oxygenated, and then around the body. Power is supplied by an electric current generated in a pack outside the body. This induces current in the motor inside the heart. All diagnostics are done remotely, using radio signals. There are no tubes or wires coming out of the patient. The charger is usually plugged into the mains, but if armed with a battery it can be carried around for hours in a vest or backpack, thus allowing the patient to roam freely. Most strikingly, the device"s internal battery can last half an hour before it needs recharging. That allows someone time to take a shower or even go for a quick swim without having to wear the charger. Abiomed"s chairman, Michael Minogue, does not claim that his firm"s product will displace human transplants. Even so, the firm has big ambitions. It is already developing a new version that will be 30% smaller (meaning more women can use it) and will last for five years. That should be ready by 2008—320 years earlier than the writers of "Star Trek" predicted.

单选题American Museum of Natural History is one of the largest natural and historic museums in the world and one of the main natural history research and education centres in the United States, set up in 1869 and located in the west of the Central Park, Manhattan District, New York. It 1 7 hectares in its total area, 2 classical types of buildings. The 3 of ancient creatures and humanity is 4 the first place of all the museums in the world, 5 the representative samples from South America, Africa, Europe, Asia and Australia were collected, besides those from the 6 country, the United States. In the museum, there are five kinds of exhibits, including astronomy, mineralogy, human history, and animals in the 7 times and those in modern times. There are thirty-eight exhibition halls with different 8 from 500 to 1,500 square metres. Besides these, there is a Roosevelt Memorial Hall in 9 of President Roosevelt who supported the 10 of the museum, which is also used to have a special exhibition, showing the new important 11 on natural sciences and 12 affairs and social problems, and special topics connected closely with the life of the citizens. Besides this, it is also used for avocation 13 to have all kinds of scientific activities in the laboratories, centres of natural science and centres for citizens. There are more than 10 14 research departments mainly 15 for collection of samples, research and work of publication. In the museum, there are 16 and sub-libraries of Aulspond ancient amniote, with about 300 thousand books and magazines 17 natural history, many of 18 are very valuable monographs for the first edition. It has published many expert books and magazines, and a large number of propaganda materials, 19 which are the two magazines, Natural History and Members of Museum that have the biggest 20 of their magazines.

单选题Dogs are social animals and without proper training, they will behave like wild animals. They will soil your house, destroy your belongings, bark excessively, fight other dogs and even bite you. Nearly all behavior problems are perfectly normal dog activities that occur at the wrong time or place or are directed at the wrong thing. The key to preventing or treating behavior problems is learning to teach the dog to redirect its normal behavior to outlets that are acceptable in the domestic setting. One of the best things you can do for your dog and yourself is to obedience train it. Obedience training doesn"t solve all behavior problems, but it is the foundation for solving just about any problem. Training opens up a line of communication between you and your dog. Effective communication is necessary to instruct your dog about what you want it to do. Training is also an easy way to establish the social rank order. When your dog obeys a simple request of "come here, sit," it is showing obedience and respect for you. It is not necessary to establish yourself as top dog or leader of the pack by using extreme measures. You can teach your dog its subordinate role by teaching it to show submission to you. Most dogs love performing tricks for you to pleasantly accept that you are in charge. Training should be fun and rewarding for you and your dog. It can enrich your relationship and make living together more enjoyable. A well-trained dog is more confident and can more safely be allowed a greater amount of freedom than an untrained animal.

单选题Genetics may determine to what extent you"re swayed by the alcohol consumption of people around you. A study published in a recent issue of Psychological Science found that people with a particular genetic profile are far more likely than others without the gene to drink more when they see someone else drinking heavily. The finding is quite meaningful and illustrates "how much genetics determines drinking patterns of individuals exposed to other drinkers," said psychiatrist Dr. Marc Galanter of New York University Langone Medical Center. The study focused on different versions of a receptor for the neurotransmitter dopamine, which controls feelings of pleasure. Previous work had shown that one form of this receptor, which contains a series of seven repeats of the same DNA sequence, is associated with increased alcohol cravings in a variety of situations. To see if this DNA influenced reactions to social drinking situations, Helle Larsen of Radboud University Nijmegen in the Netherlands, recruited young adult volunteers—allegedly to watch and evaluate TV commercials between 4 and 9 pm in a setting that resembled a typical Dutch pub. However, Larsen"s real objective was to see how many drinks each person consumed during the study"s break times. The researchers also collected DNA samples from each participant to see which version of the dopamine receptor they possessed. Larsen and her colleagues found that people with the seven-repeat version of the dopamine receptor were far more likely than those with a different version to drink heavily when they saw others doing so. The researchers suggest that individuals with this particular genetic background are much more sensitive to others" drinking behaviors. It"s not clear why this particular version of the dopamine receptor might trigger increased responsiveness to others" drinking, although some researchers have speculated that people with this receptor are less sensitive to dopamine"s actions and so are likely to drink more to try to feel its pleasurable effects. The authors also noted that seeing others drink lightly didn"t boost the urge to drink more in those with the receptor; only witnessing heavy drinking triggered the desire. While emphasizing that the results are preliminary and need replication, the authors said the study setup simulated a real-life situation, similar to that faced in a bar, restaurant or at a party. Individuals with this genetic propensity may have to avoid many social drinking situations if they wish to curb their own alcohol intake. Social psychologist Henry Wechsler, of the Harvard School of Public Health, cautioned that a couple of aspects of the experiment may have influenced the results, however. The drinks offered during the study were free, but "studies have shown that price has a significant effect on drinking behavior," he said. Also, it"s possible that the participants" behavior was altered because they thought of themselves as being under the watch of "responsible scientists," he said. "They may consider themselves protected from harms associated with heavy drinking."

单选题The Pew Foundation discovered in a recent 1 that tensions over inequality in wealth now 2 tensions over race and immigration. But income inequality isn"t really the problem. A new upper class is the problem. And their wealth isn"t what sets them 3 or creates so much 4 toward them. Let"s take a guy—call him Hank—who built a successful auto-repair business and 5 it to 30 locations, and now his 6 in the business is worth $100 million. He went to a second-tier state university, or maybe he didn"t complete college at all. He grew up in a working-class or middle-class home and married a woman who didn"t complete college, either. He now lives in a neighborhood with other rich people, but they"re mostly other people who got rich the same way he did. He has a lot of money, but he doesn"t have power or influence over national culture, politics or economy, 7 does he even have any particular influence over the culture, politics or economy of the city where he lives. He"s just rich. The new upper class is different. It consists of the people who run the country. By "the people who run the country," I mean a small 8 of people—well under 100,000, by a 9 definition—who are 10 for the films and television shows you watch, the news you see and read, the success (or failure) of the nation"s leading corporations and financial institutions and the jurisprudence, legislation and regulations produced by government. What makes the new upper class new is that its members not only have power and influence but also increasingly 11 a common culture that 12 them from the rest of the country. Fifty years ago, the people who rose to the most influential positions overwhelmingly had Hank"s kind of 13 , thoroughly 14 in the American mainstream. They have 15 tastes and preferences and seek out enclaves of others who share them. Their culture 16 little with the lifestyle or the popular culture of the rest of the nation; in fact, members of the new upper class increasingly 17 that mainstream lifestyle and culture. If this divide continues to widen, it will completely destroy 18 has made America"s national civic culture 19 : a fluid, 20 society where people from different backgrounds live side by side and come together for the common good.

单选题Ernest Hemingway was one of the most important American writers in the history of contemporary American literature. He was the 1 spokesperson for the Lost Generation and also the sixth American to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (1954). His writing style and personal life 2 a 3 influence on American writers of his time. Hemingway was born on July 21, 1899 in a doctor"s family in Oak Park, in the 4 of Chicago. The novel 5 established Hemingway"s 6 was The Sun Also Rises (1926). The story described a group of 7 Americans and Britons living in France. That is to 8 , it described the life of the members of the 9 Lost Generation after World War I. Hemingway"s second major novel was A Farewell to Arms (1929), a love story 10 in wartime Italy. That novel was 11 by Death in the Afternoon (1932) and Green Hills of Africa (1935). His two 12 of short stories Men without Women (1927) and Winner Take Nothing (1933) established his fame 13 the master of short stories. In the late 1930"s, Hemingway began to express 14 about social problems. His novel To Have and Have Not (1937) 15 economic and political injustices. The novel For Whom the Bell Tolls (1940) 16 the conflict of the Spanish Civil War. In 1952, Hemingway published The Old Man and the Sea , for 17 he won the 1953 Pulitzer Prize. In 1954, Hemingway was 18 the Nobel Prize of Literature. Later, being 19 and ill, he shot 20 on July 2, 1961.

单选题 Two years ago Japan was struck by a strong earthquake that triggered a disastrous tsunami. Now comes a sobering account of the human and environmental toll. Gretel Ehrlich, an American writer, flew to the north-east coast of the island of Honshu three months after the quake. A student of Japanese poetry and Buddhist philosophy, she was drawn to "meet those who faced the wave and survived". Readers of her book can witness the devastation through keen eyes. This stretch of coastline was described by a 17th-century poet, Basho, as the most beautiful spot in Japan. In June 2011 it was "a plain of chaos, a monstrous picture that no eye, no painting could truly capture". Roving the 1,300 kilometres (800 miles) of shattered coast, Ms. Ehrlich seeks out survivors and relays their stories. Pervasive are reports on the radiation spewing from the damaged Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant, reflections on human suffering and resilience, and a series of dreadful facts. More than 28,700 people died in Japan; thousands more went missing. The tsunami wave rose 38 metres (124 feet), washing away entire towns. The reactor meltdown caused "the worst maritime contamination disaster in recorded history". The energy released was 600m times that of the bomb dropped on Hiroshima. "Three sorrows: quake, tsunami, meltdown", encapsulates the disaster. Ms. Ehrlich does not provide a comprehensive reckoning, but a set of stories. The tsunami is retold as it happens through a blog updated as a fisherman races out to sea, uploading observations from his mobile phone. Months later, corpses still surface. One mother has rented an industrial digger and ceaselessly explores the river channel searching for her child. "The sea floor is covered in debris," an old fisherman says. "{{U}}If you go trolling for flatfish, you might pull out a dead friend.{{/U}}"