单选题On the Trial of the Honey Badger On a recent field trip to the Kalahari Desert, a team of researchers learn a lot more about honey badgers. The team employed a local wildlife expert Kitso Khama to help them locate and follow the badgers across the desert. Their main aim was to study the badgers" movements and behavior as discreetly (谨慎地) as possible without frightening them away or causing them to change their natural behavior. They also planned to trap a few and study them close up before releasing them in view of the animal"s reputation, this was something that even Khama was reluctant to do. "The problem with honey badgers is they are naturally curious animals, especially when they see something new," he says, "That, combined with their unpredictable nature, can be a dangerous mixture. If they sense you have food, for example, they won"t be shy about coming right up to you for something to eat. They"re actually quite sociable creatures around humans, but as soon as they feel they might be in danger, they can become extremely vicious (凶恶的). Fortunately this is rare, but it does happen." The research confirmed many things that were already known. As expected, honey badgers ate any creatures they could catch and kill. Even poisonous snakes, feared and avoided by most other animals, were not safe from them. The researchers were surprised, however, by the animal"s fondness for local melons, probably because of their high water content. Preciously researchers thought that the animal got all of its liquid requirements from its prey (猎物). The team also learnt that, contrary to previous research findings, the badgers occasionally formed loose family groups. They were also able to confirm certain results from previous research, including the fact that female badgers never socialized with each other. Following some of the male badgers was a challenge, since they can cover large distances in a short space of time. Some hunting territories cover more than 500 square kilometers. Although they seem happy to share these territories with other males, they are occasional fights over an important food source, and male badgers can be as aggressive towards each other as they are towards other species. As the badgers became accustomed to the presence of people, it gave the team the chance to get up close to them without being the subject of the animal"s curiosity--or sudden aggression. The badgers" eating patterns, which had been disrupted, returned to normal. It also allowed the team to observe more closely some of the other creatures that form working associations with the honey badger, as these seemed to badgers" relaxed attitude when near humans.

单选题Difficult to Have Hard Discoveries If there is one thing scientists have to hear, it is that the game is over. Raised on the belief of an endless voyage of discovery, they recoil (畏缩) from the suggestion that most of the best things have already been located. If they have, today"s scientists can hope to contribute no more than a few grace notes to the symphony of science. A book to be published in Britain this week, The End of Science , argues persuasively that this is the case. Its author, John Horgan, is a senior writer for Scientific American magazine , who has interviewed many of today"s leading scientists and science philosophers. The shock of realizing that science might be over came to him, he says, when he was talking to Oxford mathematician and physicist Sir Roger Penrose. The End of Science provoked a wave of denunciation (谴责) in the United States last year. "The reaction has been one of complete shock and disbelief," Mr. Horgan says. The real question is whether any remaining unsolved problems, of which there are plenty, lend themselves to universal solutions. If they do not, then the focus of scientific discovery is already narrowing. Since the triumphs of the 1960s—the genetic code, plate tectonics (板块构造学说), and the microwave background radiation that went a long way towards proving the Big Bang —genuine scientific revolutions have been scarce. More scientists are now alive, spending more money on research, than ever. Yet most of the great discoveries of the 19th and 20th centuries were made before the appearance of state sponsorship, when the scientific enterprise was a fraction of its present size. Were the scientists who made these discoveries brighter than today"s? That seems unlikely. A far more reasonable explanation is that fundamental science has already entered a period of diminished returns. "Look, don"t get me wrong," says Mr. Horgan. "There are lots of important things still to study, and applied science and engineering can go on forever. I hope we get a cure for cancer, and for mental disease, though there are few real signs of progress."

单选题The ATMs enable bank customers to access their money 24 hours a day and seven clays a week ______ ATMs are located.A. whereverB. wheneverC. howeverD. whatever

单选题Counterfeit Making and selling fake copies of well-known products has been a nice little earner for crafty craftsmen over thousands of years: In Roman Gaul, unscrupulous potters would put the seals of better-known competitors on their urns so they would sell better. Until 1980s, counterfeiting was a relatively small-scale business, restricted mainly to copying luxury fashion items, such as watches and leather goods, in limited quantities. But in the 1990s, it was transformed into a much bigger, broader industry, with large-scale production and distribution of false versions of such everyday items as biscuits and shampoo. Modern technology is making it ever easier to create near-perfect copies of branded goods for a fraction of the retail price of the real thing. By its nature, the extent of counterfeiting is hard to measure precisely, but a study by the International Chamber of Commerce reckoned that it grew from perhaps 3% of world trade in 1990 to 5% in 1995. John Pepper, chairman of Proter to enforce their piracy laws adequately; and to heap firms inhibit trade in faked versions of their products. Besides offering poorer countries trade privileges in return for a clampdown on counterfeiting, rich countries have tried convincing them that if they try harder to enforce intellectual property rights, they will win more foreign investment. But, realizing that persuasion is having little effect, they are also resorting to threats: On January 15th, America issued a warning to the Philippines, one of the world"s leading piracy centers, that it may has its trade privileges taken away unless it crack down harder on the counterfeiting gangs. But the counterfeiters are mocking his efforts: Some pirated video discs of the New James Bond film "Die Another Day", widely available on the streets, carry the taunting message "Come and catch me".

单选题Alaska is an American state that

单选题Some abnormal human behavior may be caused by eating substances that upset delicate chemical balances in the brain.

单选题The government is debating the education laws.

单选题The consumer went to the manager to make a complaint.A. customerB. assistantC. teacherD. student

单选题2 The scientists began to {{U}}accumulate{{/U}} data.

单选题Oil and Economy Could the bad old days of economic decline be about to return? Since OPEC agreed to supply-cuts in March, the price of crude oil has jumped to almost $26 a barrel, up from less than $10 last December. This near-tripling of oil prices calls up scary memories of the 1973 oil shock, when prices quadrupled, and 1979—1980, when they also almost tripled. Both previous shocks resulted in double-digit inflation and global economic decline. So where are the headlines warning of gloom and doom this time? The oil price was given another push up this week when Iraq suspended oil exports. Strengthening economic growth, at the same time as winter grips the northern hemisphere, could push the price higher still in the short term. Yet there are good reasons to expect the economic consequences now to be less severe than in the 1970s. In most countries the cost of crude oil now accounts for a smaller share of the price of petrol than it did in the 1970s. In Europe, taxes account for up to four-fifths of the retail price, so even quite big changes in e price of crude oil have a more muted effect on pump prices than in the past. Rich economies are also less dependent on oil than they were, and so less sensitive to swings in the oil price. Energy conservation, a shift to other fuels and a decline in the importance of heavy, energy-intensive industries have reduced oil consumption. Software, consultancy and mobile telephones use far less oil than steel or car production. For each dollar of GDP ( inconstant prices) rich economies now use nearly 50% less oil than in 1973. The OECD estimates in its latest Economic Outlook that, if oil prices averaged $22 a barrel for a full year, compared with $13 in 1998, this would increase the oil import bill in rich economies by only 0.25% -0.5% of GDP. That is less than one-quarter of the income loss in 1974 or 1980. On the other hand, oil-importing emerging economies—to which heavy industry has shifted—have become more energy-intensive, and so could be more seriously squeezed. One more reason not to lose sleep over the rise in oil prices is that, unlike the rises in the 1970s, it has not occurred against the background of general commodity-price inflation and global excess demand. A sizable portion of the world is only just emerging from economic decline. The Economist"s commodity price index is broadly unchanging from a year ago. In 1973 commodity prices jumped by 70%, and in 1979 by almost 30%.

单选题The pressure on her from her family caused her to resort to the drastic measures.

单选题Flowers and Yeo have started a programme

单选题The police believe the motive for the murder was jealousy.

单选题The once barren hillsides are now good farmland. A. hairless B. bare C. empty D. bald

单选题The dentist has decided to extract her bad tooth.

单选题 下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面有4个选项。请根据文章的内容，从每题所给的4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} {{B}} Storms Sink Ships{{/B}} Rescuers have found the bodies of over 130 people killed in two ferry disasters in Bangladesh. The accidents happened during a storm that hit the country on April 21. Hundreds more are missing or feared dead. The two ferries sank in different rivers near the capital city of Dhaka as strong winds and rain hit the South Asian country. The government has since banned all ferries and other boats from travelling at night during the April-May stormy season. One of the ferries, MV Mitali, was carrying far more people than it was supposed to. About 400 passengers fitted into a space made for just 300, police said. The second ferry carried about 100 passengers. "The number of deaths is certain to rise," said an official in charge of the rescue work. "No one really knows how many people were on board the ferry or how many of them survived ." Ferries in Bangladesh don't always keep passenger lists, making' it difficult to determine the exact number of people on board. Besides the ferry .accidents, at least 40 people were killed and 400 injured by lightning strikes, falling houses and trees and the sinking of small boats. Storms are common this time of year in Bangladesh, as are boating accidents. Ferry disasters take away hundreds of lives every year in a nation of 130 million people. Officials blame these river accidents on a lack of' safety measures, too many passengers in boats and not enough checks on weather conditions. Ferries are a common means of transport in Bangladesh. It is a country covered by about 230 rivers. Some 20,000 ferries use the nation's waterways (水路) every year. And many of them are dangerously overcrowded (过度拥挤). Since 1977, more than 3,000 people have died in some 260 boating accidents.

单选题It is said the houses along this street will soon be pulled down.A. demolishedB. constructC. pulled offD. pulled in

单选题The Market Investigation The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are as closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market. In the international market, goods on sale coming from countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting (报价), what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc.Then, how can we obtain such information? There are many channels that we can make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor's offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot. Certainly, ace-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course, there are some other ways of making market investigations.

单选题The Constitution's vague nature has given it the flexibility to be adapted when circumstances change. A. imprecise B. apparent C. clear D. easy

单选题At midnight, we were aroused by a knock at the door. ______