单选题Climate Are you planning a vacation? If you like hot and extremely dry summers, go to Phoenix, Arizona. For hot temperatures but lots of rain and thunderstorms, try Miami, Florida. If you want average temperatures and rainfall, St. Louis, Missouri, is the spot. Or if you're a cold-weather fan, head to Fairbanks, Alaska. Its winters are very cold with very little precipitation (降雨). Each of these cities has a certain type of weather. The average weather for a place over many years is called climate, and in no two places in the world it is exactly the same. How can this be! Many things in nature, such as sunshine, temperature, and precipitation, affect climate. Nearness to mountains, oceans, and large lakes affects it too. Another factor is altitude, or height above sea level. Air cools as altitude increases. So a city at a higher altitude may be colder than one at a lower altitude. Finally, winds affect climate. They move heat and moisture between the oceans and continents. Winds keep the tropics from overheating. They keep the polar regions from getting overly cold. Climate changes over long periods of time. Some scientists think, for example, that the earth's climate changed at the time of the dinosaurs. They think the dinosaurs died because of the change. What causes a climate to change! One possible cause may be changes in the sun. Sunspots, for example, are cool, dark spots that form on the sun. Sunspots may decrease precipitation on the earth and cause unusually dry periods. Changes in the atmosphere may change climate too. Volcanic eruptions, for instance, release solid particles into the air. These particles may form a cloud that blocks out the sun's heat. Human activity is another cause of climate change. Air pollution and the reduction of forest cover may have long-term effects on climate.

单选题More Than a Ride to School The National Education Association claims, "The school bus is a mirror of the community." They further add that, unfortunately, what appears on the exterior (外部) does not always reflect the reality of a chosen community. They are right, and sometimes it reflects more! Just ask Liesl Denson. Riding the school bus has been more than a ride to school for Liesl. Bruce Hardy, school bus driver for Althouse Bus Company has been Liesl"s bus driver since kindergarten. Last year when Liesl"s family moved to Parkesburg, knowing her bus went by her new residence, she requested to ride the same bus. This year Liesl is a senior and will enjoy her last year riding the bus. She says, "It"s been a great ride so far! My bus driver is so cool and has always been a good friend and a good listener. Sometimes when you"re a child adults do not think that what you have to say is important. Mr. Hardy always listens to what you have to say and makes you feel important." Her friends Ashley Batista and Amanda Wolfe agree. Bruce Hardy has been making Octorara students feel special since 1975. This year he will celebrate 30 years working for Althouse Bus Transportation. Company President, Larry Althouse acknowledges Bruce Hardy"s outstanding record. "You do not come by employees like Bruce these days; he has never missed a day of work and has a perfect driving record. Recognized in 2000 by the Pennsylvania School Bus Association for driving 350,000 accident free miles, Hardy"s reputation is made further evident through the relationships he has made with the students that ride his bus." Althouse further added, "Althouse Bus Transportation was established 70 years ago and has been providing quality transportation ever since. My grandfather started the business with one bus. Althouse Bus Transportation is delighted to have the opportunity to bring distinctive and safe service to our local school and community and looks forward to continuing to provide quality service for many more years to come." Three generations of business is not all the company has enjoyed. Thanks to drivers like Bruce Hardy, they have been building relationships through generations. Liesl"s mother Carol also enjoys fond memories of riding Bruce Hardy"s bus to the Octorara School District.

单选题This sort of thing is {{U}}bound{{/U}} to happen.

单选题Easy Learning Students should be jealous. Not only do babies get to doze their days away, but they've also mastered the fine art of learning in their sleep. By the time babies are a year old they can recognize a lot of sounds and even simple words. Marie Cheour at the university of Turku in Finland suspected that they might progress this fast because they learn language while they sleep as well as when they are awake. To test the theory, Cheour and their colleagues studied 45 newborn babies in the first days of their lives. They exposed all the infants to an hour of Finnish vowel sounds-one that sounds like "oo", another like "ee" and a third boundary vowel peculiar to Finnish and similar languages that sounds like something in between. EEG recording of the infants brains before and after the session showed that the newborns could not distinguish the sounds. Fifteen of the babies then went back with their mothers, while the rest were split into two sleepstudy groups. One group was exposed throughout their night-time sleeping hours to the same three vowels, while the others listened to the other, easier-to-distinguish vowel sounds. When tested in the morning, and again in the evening, the babies who'd heard the tricky boundary vowels all night showed brainwave activity indicating that they could now recognize this sound. They could identify the sound even when its pitch was changed, while none of the other babies could pick up the boundary vowel at all. Cheour doesn't know how babies accomplish this nighttime learning, but she suspects that the special ability might indicate that unlike adults, babies don't "turn off" their cerebral Cortex while they sleep. The skill probably fades in the course of the first years of life, she addsoso forget the idea that you can pick up the tricky French vowels as an adult just by slipping a language tape under your pillow. But while it may not help grown-ups, Cheour is hoping to use the sleeping hours to give remedial help to babies who are genetically at risk of language disorders.

单选题John was {{U}}irritated{{/U}} by the necessity for polite conversation.

单选题The child's abnormal behavior puzzled the doctor. A. funny B. frightening C. repeated D. unusual

单选题More Than Just Money When Patricia Rochester decided to go back to school after ten years as a staff nurse at Toronto Western Hospital. Her employer not only cheered her on. But also Paid her tuition and gave her a day off with pay every week to study. Throughout her years at the hospital, Rochester has also taken workshops on everything from coaching peers to career development——courses that she believes have helped her advance at work. "I"m now head of the mentoring (指导) program for new hires. Students and staff nurses." she says. "There"s a lot of room for personal improvement here." Perhaps as important, Rochester says her employer supports and values her work. If you put in overtime. The nurse points out "you get your meals—they"ll order in pizza or Greek food or Chinese." And if staffers feel stiff and stressed from too many hours on the ward. They can call for a flee 15-minute shoulder-and-neck massage (按摩) or even sign up for an eight-week evening course on meditation skills and stress-relief. If that"s not enough, employees can take advantage of five family days a year that can be used if the kids come down with the flu or an aging parent needs ferrying to an important doctor"s appointment. And they have access to a range of perks (好处) such as special rates on hotel rooms, drugstore purchases, and scholarships for employees" children. You might wonder how an organization can provide such resources and still survive. But University Health Network is one of a number of progressive employers in Canada that have discovered that investing in staff is good business. If such initiatives help companies cut down on turnover (人员更替) alone, they"re well worthwhile. Says Prem Benimadhu, a vice-president at the Conference Board of Canada. It costs anywhere from $3.300 to rehire support staff, an average $13,300 for technical staff and a whopping (巨资) $43,000 for an executive position, according to one study of Conference Board members. Innovative initiatives help companies attract talented employees, cut down on sick days (which cost Canadian businesses an estimated $17 billion a year, or an average of $3,550 per Employee) and keep employees more interested in their work. With the substantial talent shortage that already exists in Canada and the prospect of mass retirement over the next five years—as many as 50 or 60 percent in some sectors—Benimadhu says that intelligent employers are putting a renewed focus on the people who work for them.

单选题Why do you want to throw away those books?

单选题He possesses a remarkable gift for music. A. ability B. capacity C. talent D. competence

单选题After listening to the testimony, the members of the jury delivered their {{U}}verdict{{/U}}.

单选题 Teaching Is "One of the Least Popular Jobs in the UK" 1 The UK government has just published a report on the future of secondary-school teaching (pupils aged 11-16), and the conclusion of the report is that many secondary schools now face great difficulties in finding people who want to be teachers. Since the 1980s, the number of graduates who say they would "seriously consider" teaching as a career has fallen sharply, from 64% in 1982 to just 17% today. The report suggests that urgent action needs to be taken in order to encourage more intelligent young graduates into teaching. 2 The main drawback of secondary teaching, according to the report, is the low salary. Earnings in teaching are much lower than in many other jobs, and this means that fewer and fewer young people decide to be teachers. Joanne Manners, 24, is a good example : "I graduated in maths last year, and I was thinking of doing a teacher-training course to become a maths teacher—but when I looked into the details, it became clear that teaching isn't a very lucrative (赚钱的 ) job these days. I saw I could earn twice as much if I worked in marketing or advertising, and so I decided not to become a teacher. " 3 It's not just about the money, however. The survey concluded that another reason why people don' t want to be teachers is that some teenagers behave very badly in school. A lot of schools have problems with discipline, and it seems clear that children do not have the same respect for teachers as in the past. Here's the view of Dave Hallam, an accountant from London: "I think parents are to blame. They should have stricter rules with their children at home and also teach their children to have more respect for teachers. " 4 "I love teaching: it's my passion. I've been a secondary-school teacher of Spanish for ten years now, and although it's a very demanding job, it's very satisfying. When I see my students passing their Spanish exams, or singing along to Spanish pop songs, it makes me feel so proud," says Brian Jones, who works in a secondary school in London. So what does he think the government should do to encourage more people to become teachers? "My view is that the government should reduce the burden of work on teachers. I find that I always have too much work to do. " 5 The report is clear that the problem of teacher shortage is a very serious one. It says that the government should raise teachers' pay significantly, to catch up with workers in other professions. It also suggests that the government could launch a nationwide publicity campaign, with some advertisements on TV and in the newspapers, to show the positive sides of teaching to young people. Another solution could be to set a maximum number of hours per week that teachers can work, in order to reduce stress on teachers. "Hopefully," the report concludes, "these solutions can improve the poor image of secondary teaching, and increase the number of young people who want to become teachers in the future."

单选题This meeting which should be held today is postponed to next week. A. delayed B. flourished C. poised D. enquire

单选题The book shifted her outlook from social to spiritual, for its theme was that before you change other people you have to change yourself.

单选题Something Men Do Not Like to Do Eric Brown hates shopping. "It's just not enjoyable to me," said the 28-year-old. Chicago man who was carrying several shopping bags along the city's main street, Michigan Avenue. "When I'm out (1) , I basically know what I want to get. I rush in. I buy it. I (2) ." Common wisdom says that guys hate to shop. You can ask generations of men. But people who study shopping say that a number of social, cultural and economic factors are now (3) this "men-hate-to-shop" notion. " (4) social class, ethnicity, age — men say they hate to shop," says Sharon Zukin, a City University of New York sociology professor. "Yet when you ask them deeper questions, it turns out that they (5) to shop. Men generally like to shop for (6) , music and hardware. But if you ask them about the shopping they do for books or music, they'll say 'Well that's not shopping. That's (7) .'" In other words, what men and women call "buying things" and how they approach that task are (8) . Women will (9) through several 1,000-square-metre stores in search of the perfect party dress. Men will wander through 100 Internet sites in search of the (10) digital camcorder. Women see shopping as a social event. Men see it as a mission or a (11) to be won. "Men are frequently shopping to win," says Mary Ann McGrath, a marketing professor at Loyola University of Chicago. "They want to get the best deal. They want to get the best one, The last one and if they do that it (12) them happy." When women shop, "they're doing it in a way where they want (13) to be very happy," says McGrath. "They're kind of shopping for love." In fact, it is in clothing where we see a male-female (14) most clearly. Why, grumble some men, are all male clothes navy, grey, black or brown? But would they wear Light green and pink? "These days, many guys wear a sort of uniform", says Paco Underhill, author of Why We Bye, "It's been hard for them to understand what it means to be fashion-conscious in a business way. It becomes much, much easier if you (15) your range of choices." grumble n. 抱怨，发牢骚 ethnicity n. 种族特点 camcorder n. 摄像放像机

单选题Smoking is not permitted in the office.

单选题I hate his adopting an air of importance when he is talked to.

单选题As a writer, he turned out three novels that year.

单选题There was no {{U}}alternative{{/U}} but to close the road. A. way B. means C. choice D. reason

单选题Volcanoes There are thousands of volcanoes (火山) all over the world. What makes volcanoes? What happens? The inside of the earth is very hot. Because it is very, very hot, the rock has melted like ice. It has become liquid, like water. It is always boiling, like water in a kettle. If you have seen a kettle boiling, you know that the steam and boiling water try to get out. The very hot melted rock inside the earth also tries to get out. Usually it cannot because the outside of the earth is too thick and strong. But in some places the outside of the earth is thin and weak. Sometimes a crack appears. The hot melted rock, which we call "lava" (熔岩), pushes out through the crack and bursts through. Steam and gas shoot up into the air and the hot melted lava pours out. Big pieces of rock may be thrown high into the air. After a while the volcano becomes quiet again. The melted lava becomes hard. Later the same thing happens again and again. Each time more hot lava pours out on top of the cold lava and then becomes hard. In this way a kind of mountain is built up, with a hole down the middle. Perhaps the volcano will then be quiet. Perhaps it will start again hundreds of years later. Vesuvius is the name of a very famous volcano in Italy. It first came to life many, many years ago. It was quiet for hundreds of years. Then in the year 79 it suddenly burst. A great cloud of smoke shot up into the sky with great burning rocks. Hot lava poured down its sides. About 3,000 people were killed. This has happened again many times since that year. Sometimes no damage was caused, or only little damage. But there was serious damage in the years 472, 1631, 1794, 1861, 1872 and 1906. You can see that a volcano can stay alive for many years. There was also serious damage in 1914 but there has not been any since that year.

单选题Rising College Selectivity Rising college selectivity doesn"t mean that students are smarter and more serious than in the past, although a few clearly are. It"s a function of excess demand for higher education occurring at a time of increased financial privatization of the industry. The recession has only increased demand. The vast majority of students aren"t going to college because of a thirst for knowledge, or even for the cultural and social adventure they hope to have. They"re there because they need a job, and they need to get the credentials—and, one hopes the knowledge and skills behind the credentials—that will get them into the labor market. As higher education has become a seller"s market, the institutions in a position to do so are doing what comes naturally: raising their tuitions and their admissions requirements, but at the expense of contributing to the national goal to increase college attainment. The result is that the United States is losing ground in the international race for educational talent, because although we have some of the best institutions in the world, the whole is less than the sum of its parts. The increasing stratification of higher education is happening on the spending side, as well. As the selective institutions have become more expensive and less attainable, the rest have had to struggle with the responsibility to enroll more students without being paid to do so. Gaps between rich and poor have grown even more dramatically than gaps in entering test scores. While spending is a poor measure of educational quality, we can"t seriously expect to increase educational attainment if we"re not prepared to do something to address these growing inequities in funding. That said, the educational policy problem in our country is not that the elite institutions are becoming more selective. They are what they are, and they"re getting more like themselves all the time. The problem is on the public policy side. The president and many governors have set a goal to return America to a position of international leadership in educational attainment. It"s the right goal, we just need a financing strategy to get there. That doesn"t mean just more money, although some more money will be needed. It also means better attention to effectiveness and to efficiency, and to making sure that spending goes to the places that will make a difference in educational attainment. We know how to do it, if we want to.