单选题The simple act of surrendering a telephone number to a store clerk may not seem harmful — so much so that many consumers do it with no questions asked. Yet that one action can set in motion a cascade of silent events, as that data point is acquired, analyzed, categorized, stored and sold over and over again. Future attacks on your privacy may come from anywhere, from anyone with money to purchase that phone number you surrendered. If you doubt the multiplier effect, consider your e-mail inbox. If it's loaded with spam, it's undoubtedly because at some point in time you unknowingly surrendered your e-mail to the wrong Website. Do you think your telephone number or address is handled differently? A cottage industry of small companies with names you've probably never heard of — like Acxiom or Merlin — buy and sell your personal information the way other commodities like corn or cattle futures are bartered. You may think your cell phone is unlisted, but if you've ever ordered a pizza, it might not be. Merlin is one of many commercial data brokers that advertises sale of unlisted phone numbers compiled from various sources — including pizza delivery companies. These unintended, unpredictable consequences that flow from simple actions make privacy issues difficult to grasp, and grapple with. In a larger sense, privacy also is often cast as a tale of "Big Brother" — the government is watching you or an big corporation is watching you. But privacy issues don't necessarily involve large faceless institutions; A spouse takes a casual glance at her husband's Blackberry, a co-worker looks at e-mall over your shoulder or a friend glances at a cell phone text message from the next seat on the bus. while very little of this is news to anyone — people are now well aware there are video cameras and Internet cookies everywhere — there is abundant evidence that people live their lives ignorant of the monitoring, assuming a mythical level of privacy. People write e-mails and type instant messages they never expect anyone to see. Just ask Mark Foley or even Bill Gates, whose e-mails were a cornerstone of the Justice Department's antitrust case against Microsoft. And polls and studies have repeatedly shown that Americans are indifferent to privacy concerns. The general defense for such indifference is summed up a single phrase; "I have nothing to hide. " If you have nothing to hide, why shouldn't the government be able to peek at your phone records, your wife see your e-mail or a company send you junk mail? It's a powerful argument, one that privacy advocates spend considerable time discussing and strategizing over. It is hard to deny, however, that people behave different when they're being watched. And it is also impossible to deny that Americans are now being watched more than at any time in history.

单选题It is now believed that the dramatic changes in family structure, though regrettable, are im possible to reverse. A. striking B. emotional C. horrible D. sensational

单选题The chief functions of direct-mail advertising are to familiarize prospective buyers with a product, its name, its maker, and its merits and with the product's local distributors.

单选题I can think of nothing more ______ than arriving at the theater and discovering that I have left the tickets at home.

单选题The author believes that a study of our dime novels ______.

单选题The ______ of his first complaint led him to contemplate pursuing stronger methods to obtain satisfaction. A. success B. eminence C. efficiency D. inefficacy

单选题People who live and work in areas with elevated levels of ozone and other airborne pollutants appear to run an increased risk of lung cancer, US researchers report in the December Issue of the journal Environmental Health Perspectives. The researchers, Dr. Beeson, of Texas University and colleagues studied more than 4,000 female and 2,000 male, white, nonsmoking volunteers from 1977 to 1992. At the start of the study, the volunteers filled out questionnaires about their occupations, their exercise patterns, diet and other lifestyle choices, and their family"s health history. The questionnaires also asked whether the volunteers had any respiratory symptoms, how many hours they spent outdoors, and where they lived and worked. The researchers updated this information in 1987 and again in 1992. Using air quality monitoring station data, Beeson and colleagues then determined the levels of particle soot, ozone or "smog", sulfur dioxide, and other pollutants that the volunteers were exposed to, given where they lived and worked. Over the course of the 15-year study, 20 of the women and 16 of the men were diagnosed with lung cancer. Analyzing the relationship between exposure to airborne pollutants and lung cancer risk, the researchers found that both men and women regularly exposed to levels of particle that were higher than the National Ambient Air Quality Standard of 50 microgram per meter cubed ran an increased risk of lung cancer. And both men and women exposed to elevated levels of sulfur dioxide ran an increased risk of lung cancer. In addition, men regularly exposed to ozone levels of 80 parts per billion (ppb) ran more than three times the risk of lung cancer as men exposed to lower levels. The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) limit on ozone is 120 ppb, Beeson and colleagues report. Women, however, did not appear to run an increased risk of lung cancer if exposed to high levels of smog. "This gender difference may be due to the males spending much more time outdoors than females," they write. "This was especially true for the summer when ozone levels are higher." The difference may also have been due to hormonal differences, they add. Some research findings also suggest that the female sex hormone estrogen may partly offset the consequences of exposure to high ozone levels. "Our findings suggest that the current EPA standard of 120 ppb for ozone may not adequately protect the large portion of the US male population who live or work in communities where the current standard for ozone is frequently exceeded," Beeson and colleagues conclude. "More research with a larger number of incident cases of lung cancer is needed to better understand the observed gender difference in regard to ozone exposure as well as to better separate the independent effects of ozone, airborne particulate matter sulfur dioxide, and other airborne pollutants."

单选题The editorial criticizes a report issued by a US-Canadian "acid rain" ______ headed by Drew Lewis.

单选题Now that in scientific communities the use of computers is widespread, and supposing that there is sufficient time, there exist no complicated problem ______ can be addressed with some hope of resolution.

单选题 We all associate colors with feelings and attitudes. In politics, dark blue often means "tradition", and red means "social change". But blue can also mean sadness (I'm feeling blue). White is often for purity, although in China white is worn for funerals, and red is used to express the joy of a wedding, in western Europe white is worn at weddings and black for funerals. Advertisers are aware of the importance of selecting colors according to the way people react to them. Soap powders come in white and light blue packets ( clean and cold, like ice); cereals often come in brown packets (tike wheat fields), but cosmetics never come in brown jars (dirty). Where do these ideas come from? Max Luscher from the University of Geneva believes that in the beginning life was dictated by two factors beyond our control: night and day. Night brought passivity, and a general slowing down of metabolism; day brought with it the possibility of action, and increased in the metabolic rate, thus providing us with energy and initiative. Dark blue, therefore, is the color of quietness and passivity, bright yellow the color of hope and activity. In prehistoric times, activity as a rule took one of two forms: either we were hunting and at- tacking, or we were being hunted and defending ourselves against attack. Attack is universally re- presented by the color red; serf-preservation by its complement green.

单选题Railway services are not yet sound enough economically without government subsidy.

单选题Passage 4 It is no secret among athletes that in order to improve performance you've got to work hard. However, hard training breaks you down and makes you weaker. It is rest that makes you stronger. Improvement only occurs during the rest period following hard training. This adaptation is accomplished by improving efficiency of the heart and certain systems within the muscle cells. During recovery periods these systems build to greater levels to compensate for the stress that you have applied. The result is that you are now at a higher level of performance. If sufficient rest is not included in a training program, imbalance between excess training and inadequate rest will occur, and performance will decline. The overtralnlng syndrome (综合征) is the name given to the collection of emotional, behavioral, and physical symptoms due to overtraining that has persisted for weeks to months. It is marked by cumulative exhaustion that persists even after recovery periods. The most common symptom is fatigue. This may limit workouts and may be present at rest. The athlete may also become moody, easily irritated, have altered sleep pattems, become depressed, or lose the competitive desire and enthusiasm for the sport, some will report decreased appetite and weight loss. Physical symptoms include persistent muscular soreness, increased frequency of viral (病毒性的) illnesses, and increased incidence of injuries. The treatment for the overtraining syndrome is rest. The longer the overtraining has occurred, the more rest required. Therefore, early detection is very important. If the overtraining has only occurred for a short period of time (e. g 3—-4 weeks) then interrupting training for 3—5 days is usually sufficient rest. It is important that the factors that lead to overtraining be identified and corrected. Otherwise, the overtraining syndrome is likely to recur. The overtraining syndrome should be considered in any athlete who manifests symptoms of prolonged fatigue and whose performance has leveled offor decreased. It is important to exclude any underlying illness that may be responsible for the fatigue.

单选题Hard work and malnutrition ______ his health and he looked thin and pale. A. impaired B. promoted C. accelerated D. wedged

单选题The Neoplatonists' conception of a deity, in which perfection was measured by abundant fecundity, was contradicted by that of the Aristotelians, in which perfection was displayed in the ______ of creation.

单选题The selection of medical professionals are currently based on ______.

单选题The wine glasses were so______ that I was afraid to carry them home by bus.

单选题The passage primarily discusses the pipeline's ______.

单选题Disabled people are now able to care for many of their own needs, ______ educational goals, and maintain jobs.