单选题The local authority ______ the company an interest-free loan to start up the new factory. A. granted B. allocated C. financed D. sponsored

单选题{{B}}Passage Two{{/B}} It is one of the world's most recognized phrased, one you might even hear in places where little English is spoken: "The name's Bond, James Bond". I've heard it from a taxi driver in Ghana and a street sweeper in Paris, and I remember the thrill of hearing Sean Connery say it in the first Bond film I saw, Gold Finger. I was a Chicago schoolgirl when it was released in 1904. The image of a candy-coloured London filled with witty people stately old buildings and a gorgeous, ice-cool hero instilled in me a deep-rooted belief that Britain was OK. When Fan Fleming created the man with the license to kill, based on his own experiences while working for the British secret service in World War II, he couldn't have imagined that his fictional Englishman would not only shake, but stir the entire world. Even world-weary actors are thrilled at being in a Bond movie. Christopher Walkon, everyone's favorite screen psycho, who played mad genius Max Zorin in 1985's A View to a Kill, gushed: "I remember first seeing DJ'No when I was 15. I remember Robert Shaw trying to strangle James Bond in from Russia with love. And now here I am trying to kill James Bond myself." Bond is the complete entertainment package: he has hot and cold running women on tap dastardly villains bent on complete world domination, and America always plays second string to cool, sophisticated Britain. Bond's England only really existed in the adventures of Bulldog Drummond, the wartime speeches of Winston Churchill and the songs of Dame Vera Lynn. When Fleming started to write his spy stories, the world knew that, while Britain was victorious in the war against Hitler, it was depleted as a result. London was bombed out, a dark and grubby place, while America was now the only place to be. It was America that was producing such universal icons as Gary Cooper's cowboy in High Noon ("A man's got to do what a man's got to do"); the one-man music revolution that was Elvis Presley: Marilyn Monroe, the walking, talking male fantasy married to Joe DiMaggio, then the most famous athlete in the world. Against this reality, Fleming had the nerve and arrogance to say that, while hot dogs and popcorn were fine, other things were more important. And those things were uniquely British: quiet competence, unsentimental ruthlessness, clear-eyed, steely determination, an ironic sense of humour and doing a job well. All qualities epitomized by James Bond. Of course, Bond was always more fairytale than fact, but what else is a film for? No expense is spared in production, the lead is suave and handsome, and the hardware is always awesome. In the latest film, the gadgets include a surfboard with concealed weapons, a combat knife with global positioning system beacon, a watch that doubles as a laser-beam cutter, an Aston Martin VI2 Vanquish with all the optional extras you've come to expect, a personal jet glider.., the list is endless. There are those who are disgusted by the Bond films unbridled glorification of the evils of sexism, racism, ageism and extreme violence, but it's never that simple.

单选题Although they had agreed to Udefer/U the action the minister ordered to act immediately.

单选题The word "tenuous" (4th paragraph) most probably mean ______.

单选题We are convinced that we are on the _______ of an important discovery.

单选题Ican_______alotmoreworkwhenI'monmyown.

单选题Japan, Singapore, and Korea will also be interested in cooperating with China in biotechnology because ______.

单选题Which of the following is clearly the author's own opinion?

单选题The lawyer Uconceded/U that her statement was true.

单选题In his book on biotechnology, Rifkin_____that "for now, the most important issue at hand is to make the new science and technology an issue of considerable public attention."

单选题From the last paragraph we can gather that ______.

单选题Even though the Italian authorities may no longer ______ any old bank that gets into trouble, the likelihood of government support for big banks has not changed enough to affect its ratings.

单选题While admitting that this forecast was ______ uncertain, the scientists warned against treating it as a cry wolf.

单选题

单选题I could never spend the time that he does poring over sports magazines, compiling Uintricate/U lists, and calculating averages.

单选题Far to the west, said the legend, was a magic land of sunshine, (1) fruit grew in all seasons. Curious mountain dwellers who journeyed to the small Spanish village found the legend (2) . But they reported that the settlement did not look (3) it ever would grow as large as its name--EI Pueblo de Nuestra Senora la Reina de Los Angeles de Porciucula. Today those (4) would not recognize the once sleepy Spanish settlement. The name has been shortened to Los Angeles. But the (5) itself has grown to enormous size. More than seven million people live in and around the city, (6) by the climate that beckoned those first visitors. Among industrial cities, Los Angeles is second in the nation, (7) Chicago. It is the aerospace production (8) of the world. And of course, no other city produces as many motion pictures and television films. The Port of Los Angeles is the nation's (9) fishing port. Since fish must be processed as soon as possible to avoid spoilage, another major industry has evolved there. The Port has become one of the world's largest fish (10) centers. From the beginning, this seemed to be a land where (11) was possible. In the 1890s (12) was discovered in this magic city. (13) people drilled wells in their basements and on their front lawns. Many became (14) . Interestingly, some of these wells are still producing. In 1886 the railroads offered (15) from Kansas City to Los Angeles for only $1. Newcomers poured into the city, drawn by the warm climate. Later came (16) They were curious to see real motion pictures and television shows being filmed. They visited Disneyland and the stretch of shops on Wilshire Boulevard known as the Miracle Mile. Today visitors are amazed at the variety of (17) available. Skiing in the mountains and surfing at the seashore are both within an hour's drive. And for (18) who enjoy spectator sports, Los Angeles has many professional and college teams. For those who want to relax, play outdoors, or observe nature, there are plenty of (19) . The city has over 300 parks. Also, lovers of culture can (20) the Los Angeles Philharmonic Orchestra.

单选题He worked ______ at his task for weeks before he felt satisfied that the results would justify his long effort.

单选题He ______ a hasty meal before going on with his thesis.

单选题Passage 3 Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has resulted in robotics- the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. And if scientists have yet to create the mechanical version of science fiction, they have begun to come close. As a result, the modern world is increasingly populated by intelligent gizmos whose presence we barely notice but whose universal existence has removed much human labor. Our factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our banking is done at automated teller terminals that thank us with mechanical politeness for the transaction. Our subway trains are control led by tireless robot-drivers. And thanks to the continual miniaturization of electronics and micro-mechanics, there are already robot systems that can perform some kinds of brain and bone surgery with sub-millimeter accuracy- far greater precision than highly skilled physicians can achieve with their hands alone. But if robots are to reach the next stage of laborsaving utility, they will have to operate with less human supervision and be able to make at least a few decisions for themselves--goals that pose a real challenge. "While we know how to tell a robot to handle a specific error," says Dave Lavery, manager of a robotics program at NASA, "we can't yet give a robot enough 'common sense' to reliably interact with a dynamic world." Indeed the quest for true artificial intelligence has produced very mixed results. Despite a spell of initial optimism in the 1960s and 1970s when it appeared that transistor circuits and microprocessors might be able to copy the action of the human brain by the year 2010, researchers lately have begun to extend that forecast by decades if not centuries. What they found, in attempting to model thought, is that the human brain's roughly one hundred billion nerve cells are much more talented- and human perception far more complicated--than previously imagined. They have built robots that can recognize the error of a machine panel by a fraction of a millimeter in a controlled factory environment. But the human mind can glimpse a rapidly changing scene and immediately disregard the 98 percent that is irrelevant, instantaneously focusing on the monkey at the side of a forest road or the single suspicious face in a big crowd. The most advanced computer systems on Earth can't approach that kind of ability, and neuroscientists still don't know quite how we do it.