单选题The drama {{U}}depicts{{/U}} those conditions at the turn of the century.

单选题The megaphone makes the voice sound louder because it points sound waves in one direction and keeps them from spreading out in all directions.

单选题The substance can be added to gasoline to accelerate the speed of automobiles,

单选题 {{B}}Shopping online{{/B}} Internet retailer AMAZON. COM on Wednesday released a rare and revealing peek at its customers' shopping habits, taken from a September e-mail poll of 2,072 customers of its French, German and United kingdom sites. The company said the research was done in the name of improving customer service. "We have to learn from the nuances and idiosyncrasies of each nation's shopping habits to see how we can serve our customers better this Christmas, "said Robin Terrell, managing director of Amazon. co. uk. The findings paint a unique picture of the shopping habits of the world's largest online retailer, plus their motivation and preferences. For instance, the round-the-clock convenience of e-commerce ranked above price as the prime motivating factor for online shoppers, the company said. And more purchases are made from home than work. According to the poll results, 31 percent of shoppers plunk down their credit card during work hours, against 67 percent at home or in a home office. The notable exception is Ireland, where 46 percent of shoppers polled do so while at their office desk. The British are the second worst offenders, with 40 percent admitting to on-the-job shopping, while the Danes are the most honorable, with one in five making a purchase while on the job. At 53 percent, the majority of Europeans shop in the evenings at home. Austrians and Germans are the most avid night owl shoppers, with 63 percent and 62 percent, respectively, reporting this habit. The Germans, though, are the least likely group to shop online after 10 p. m., the study said. Other findings include: the French and British are most active shoppers with three in 10 visiting e-commerce sites more than 10 times per month; and the Irish have the greatest concentration of shopaholics—one in ten hit the cyber—shops more than 20 times a month, twice the European average. In contrast, just 1 percent of Italians polled shop online more than 20 times per month. The least active group are the Dutch, with 25 percent reporting they shop online once a month or less. But among the senior set, Dutch "silver surfers"—Internet users above the age of 50—shop online 20 percent of the time, Amazon said. The French, meanwhile, like to get an early and late crack at online shopping with 18 percent logging on after 10 p.m. and 11 before 10 a. m., the company said. And what about the Swedes? According to the survey, the Swedes are most likely among those polled to buy something they hadn't planned on purchasing.

单选题They are endeavoring to reform the present rules.A. tryingB. workingC. doingD. making

单选题Customers may also be permitted to overdraft their current accounts for a short period in anticipation of a credit item coming in.

单选题Don't Count on Dung Conservationists (自然保护主义者) may be miscalculating the numbers of the threatened animals such as elephants, say African and American researchers. The error occurs because of a flaw in the way they estimate animal numbers from the piles of dung (粪) the creatures leave behind. The mistake could lead researchers to think that there are twice as many elephants as there really are in some regions, according to Andrew Plumptre of the Wildlife Conservation Society (WCS) in New York. Biologist Katy Payne of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, agrees. "We really need to know elephant numbers and the evidence that we have is quite indirect," says Payne, who electronically tracks elephants. Counting elephants from planes is impossible in the vast rainforests of Central Africa. So researchers often estimate elephant numbers by counting dung piles in a given area. They also need to know the rate at which dung decays. Because it's extremely difficult to determine these rates, however, researchers counting elephants in one region tend to rely on standard decay rates established elsewhere. But researchers at the WCS have found that this decay rate varies from region to region depending on the climate and environment. Using the wrong values can lead the census astray (离开正道), says Plumptre. He and his colleague Anthony Chifu Nchanji studied decaying elephant dung in the forests of Cameroon. They found that the dung decayed between 55 and 65 per cent more slowly than the dung in the rainforests of neighbouring Gabon. If researchers use decay rates from Gabon to count elephants in Cameroon, they would probably find more elephants than are actually around. This could mean estimates in Cameroon are at least twice as high as those derived from decay rates calculated locally, says Plumptre. " However accurate your dung density estimate might be, the decay rate can severely affect the result. " Plumptre also says that the dung-pile census should be carried out over a region similar in size to an elephant's natural range. The usual technique of monitoring only small, protected areas distorts numbers because elephants move in and out of these regions, he says. "If the elephant population increases within the protected area, you can not determine whether it is a real increase or whether it is due to elephants moving in because they are being poached (入侵偷猎) outside. " Plumptre says that similar problems may also affect other animal census studies that rely on indirect evidence such as nests, tracks or burrows (地洞).

单选题 下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} {{B}} Too Late to Regret It{{/B}} When I was a junior, I met a second-year student in my department. He wasn't tall or good-looking, but he was very nice, attractive and athletic. He had something that I admired very much. He was natural, warm, and sincere. I disregarded (不顾) my parents' disapproval. We were very happy together, He picked me up from my dorm every morning, and after class we would sit alongside the stream that ran through campus, or sunbathe (晒太阳) on the lawn. At night he would walk me back to my dorm. He came from a poor family, but in order to make me happy, he borrowed money from his friend to buy presents and meals for me. Our fellow students looked up to him as a role model, and the girls envied (妒忌) me. He wasn't a local, but wanted to stay here after graduation. I thought we had a future together. However, when I got a part-time job during the summer vacation, people began giving me a lot of pressure, saying that a pretty, intelligent girl like me should find a better guy to spend time with. This was also what my family thought. He spent the summer in his hometown, so I was all by myself. When he got back, I began finding fault with him, But his big heart and warmth soon drove all unpleasant thoughts away. However, I had no idea how badly I had hurt him and that things would get worse. I had a good part-time job off campus that paid pretty well. With my good performance at school, I also got admission to graduate school at one of China's best universities. He, on the other hand, did not do so well at school or at work. I had to worry about his living expenses, job and scores. Almost all my colleagues and friends advised me to break up with him. Then we had a quarrel last June. He was in great pain, and my cold words and bad moods started turning him away. Graduation time was drawing near, and he said he wanted to go back to his hometown. He said that he couldn't put up with me anymore. I was shocked and looked at him in despair. True love happens only once, but I found it out too late.

单选题In the United States, the national flag is usually displayed outdoor between sunrise and sunset.A. storedB. foldedC. respectedD. exhibited

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 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 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We were {{U}}astonished{{/U}} to hear that their football team had won the champion. A. amazed B. interested C. amused D. satisfied

单选题Eat More, Weigh Less, Live Longer Clever genetic detective work may have found out the reason why a near-starvation diet prolongs the life of many animals. Ronald Kahn at Harvard Medical School in Boston, US, and his colleagues have been able to extend the lifespan (寿命) of mice by 18 per cent by blocking the rodent"s (啮齿动物) increase of fat in specific cells. This suggests that thinness-and not necessarily diet-promotes long life in "calorie (热量卡) restricted" animals. "It"s very cool work," says aging researcher Cynthia Kenyon of the University of California, San Francisco. "These mice eat all they want, lose weight and live longer. It"s like heaven." Calorie restriction dramatically extends the lifespan of organisms as different as worms and rodents. Whether this works in humans is still unknown, partly because few people are willing to submit to such a strict diet. But many researchers hope they will be able to trigger the same effect with a drug once they understand how less food leads to a longer life. One theory is that eating less reduces the increase of harmful things that can damage cells. But Kahn"s team wondered whether the animals simply benefit by becoming thin. To find out, they used biology tricks to disrupt the insulin (胰岛素) receptor (受体) gene in lab mice—but only in their fat cells. "Since insulin is needed to help fat cells store fat, these animals were protected against becoming fat," explains Kahn. This slight genetic change in a single tissue had dramatic effects. By three months of age, Kahn"s modified mice had up to 70 per cent less body fat than normal control mice, despite the fact that they ate 55 per cent more food per gram of body weight. In addition, their lifespan increased. The average control mouse lived 753 days, while the thin rodents averaged a lifespan of 887 days. After three years, all the control mica had died, but one-quarter of the modified rodents were still alive. "That they get these effects by just manipulating the fat cells is controversial," says Leonard Guarente of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who studies calorie restriction and aging. But Guarente says Kahn has yet to prove that the same effect is responsible for increased lifespan in calorie-restricted animals. "It might be the same effect or there might be two routes to long life," he points out, "and that would be very interesting."

单选题People living in the Middle East first learned to grow plants for food about 10,000 year ago.

单选题When he got out of the manager"s office, from his facial expression we knew that his proposal must have been turned down .

单选题She has proved that she can be relied on in a crisis.A. lived onB. depended onC. lived offD. believed in

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

单选题Computer Mouse The basic computer mouse is an amazingly clever invention with a relatively simple design that allows us to point at things on the computer and it is very productive. Think of all the things you can do with a mouse like selecting text for copying and pasting, drawing,and even scrolling on the page with the newer mice with the wheel. Most of us use the computer mouse daily without stopping to think how it works until it gets dirty and we have to learn how to clean it. we learn to point at things before we learn to speak, so the mouse is a very natural pointing device. Other computer pointing devices include light pens, graphics tablets and touch screens, but the mouse is still our workhorse. The computer mouse was invented in 1964 by Douglas Englehart of Stanford University. As computer screens became more popular and arrow keys were used to move around a body of text,it became clear that a pointing device that allowed easier motion through the text and even selection of text would be very useful. The introduction of the mouse,with the Apple Lisa computer in 1983, really started the computer public on the road to relying on the mouse for routine computer tasks. How does the mouse work? we have to start at the bottom, so think upside down for now. It all starts with the mouse ball. As me mouse ball in the bottom of the mouse rolls over the mouse pad, it presses against and turns two shafts. The shafts are connected to wheels with several small holes in them. The wheels have a pair of small electronic light-emitting devices called light-emitting diodes(LED) mounted on either side. One LED sends a light beam to the LED on the other side. As the wheels spin and a hole rotates by, the light beam gets through to the LED on the other side. But a moment later the light beam is blocked until the next hole is in place. The LED detect a changing pattern of light, converts the pattern into an electronic signal, and sends the signal to the computer through wires in a cable that goes out of the mouse body. This cable is the tail that helps give the mouse its name. The computer interprets the signal to tell it where to position the cursor on the computer screen. So'far we have only discussed the basic computer mouse that most of you probably have or have used. One problem with this design is that the mouse gets dirty as the ball rolls over the surface and picks up dirt. Eventually you have to clean your mouse. The newer optical mice avoid this problem by having no moving parts.

单选题Although Peter is only 25 years old, he earns a large income.

单选题There is always excitement at the Olympic Games when an athlete breaks a previous record of performance.A. beatsB. matchesC. maintainsD. announces

单选题A Life with Birds For nearly 17 years David Cope has worked as one of the Tower of London's Yeoman Warders, better (51) to tourists as Beefeaters. David, 64, lives in a three-bedroomed (52) right at the top of the Byward Tower, one of the gatehouses. "From our bedroom we have a marvellous (53) of Tower Bridge and the Thames. " says David. The Tower of London is famous for its ravens, the large black birds which have lived there for over three centuries. David was immediately (54) by the birds and when he was offered the post of Raven Master eight years ago he had no hesitation in (55) it. "The birds have now become my life and I'm always aware of the fact that I am maintaining a (56) The legend says that if the (57) leave the Tower, England will fall to (58) , and it's my job to make (59) this doesn't happen!" David devotes about four hours a day to the care of the ravens. He has (60) to love them and the fact that he lives right (61) them is ideal. "I can keep a close eye on them (62) , and not just when I'm working. " At first, David's wife Mo was not keen on the (63) of life in the Tower, but she too will be sad to leave when he retires next year. "When we (64) our windows we see history all around us, and we are taking it in and (65) it up for our future memories. /