单选题One of the main attractions of smart house is how enjoyable it can make one's life. First, a robot vacuum cleaner takes care of the housekeeping task of vacuuming, or any other cleaning. The smart house also steams all the clothes in the closet and gives ideas on what to wear for that day's weather. Bill Gates has already used this lifestyle in his home. In his house the pictures on the walls change to whatever a person wants to see and so does the temperature to make everyone comfortable. What is the overall advantage of smart house over usual houses most of us have now?A. It has a robot vacuum cleaner.B. It provides a very enjoyable life.C. It steams all the clothes in the closet.D. It gives advice on what to wear.

单选题Marxism doctrine was spelled out in the Communist Manifesto.

单选题Examination papers of the class were marked without bias.

单选题Relief workers were shocked by what they saw.

单选题Dancing in the Streets If there is one thing certain to get Brazilians on their feet, it is the Rio Carnival (狂欢节). Held in Rio de Janeiro, the country's biggest city, the carnival began on February 20 when the mayor gave key of the city to Rei Momo-the Lord of Misrule (无序之皇). On his orders, each year people turn the city into a paradise of dance and music. The following six days are so full of parades, street dancing, fantastic clothes and partying (聚会) that many people forget about eating and sleeping. "It was the passion of the carnival that attracted me to Brazil and made me settle down in Rio," said Bob Nadkarni, a British man who has lived in the city for several years. For many Brazilians, the centrepiece of the carnival is samba (桑巴舞), a typical Brazilian dance. Every year, tens of thousands of visitors and locals show off their passion and energy in the streets, following the beat (节拍) of the Latin music. The climax to this street party is the float (彩车) parade, in which floats decorated with tons of fresh flowers by various samba schools and local communities move through the city. On the top of each float stands the candidate for the Drum Queen, who is chosen at the end of the party. While most people are free to enjoy the celebrations, Rio's police officers have to keep a clear head. Following the murder of three officers in a gunfight early last week, the Brazilian Government has tightened security in Rio. The street fighting, robbery and sex crimes that accompany the carnival are very difficult to police. Carnivals began in ancient Rome as a celebration at which people fed wild wolves, in honour of the city's founder who was said to have been raised by a she-wolf. Brazil gave new life to this tradition and so, despite the troubles, the carnival will remain a symbol of the country's culture.

单选题Road Trip Vacations It's summer. In the United States, it's the season of swimming pools, barbeques, camping and road trips. Road trip vacations where the car journey is part of the fun are especially popular with college students, who like to explore the country on wheels. These budget trips are ideal for students who often have plenty of free time but little money. "Ever since I went to college, I've been traveling around a lot, exploring the country," said Austin Hawkins, a 19-year-old college student from New York. This summer, Hawkins and his friends have spent weekends traveling in New England. The best part about car trips, said Hawkins, is that you can be spontaneous (自发的). "On a road trip, if you get interested in things you see along the way you can stop and explore. " Matt Roberts, a 20-year-old student from Ohio who drove to Montreal, Canada, agrees. "With road trips you don't have to plan in advance, you can just get into a car and drive." Even with high gas prices, driving with friends is cheaper than flying. Roberts paid about 40 dollars for gas, but a round trip plane ticket would have cost nearly 400 dollars. Driving trips first became popular in the 1920s. Newly paved roads and improved cars made it possible to travel longer distances. Motels started appearing outside cities. By the 1950s, car ownership became the norm. Construction of the US interstate highway system began in 1956 and motel and restaurant chains popped up everywhere making long distance trips easier. Today, the US has the highest car ownership rate in the world. Only 8 percent of American homes have no car, according to the most recent US census. Though many college students don't own a car, most have access to one. On many of Hawkins' trips, they used a borrowed van. Hawkins' most memorable road trip took place over spring break. He and two friends drove from New York to New Orleans to volunteer, helping rebuild the city after Hurricane Katrina hit it last July. They crossed the country in two days and slept in their car in church parking lots. Roberts' road trip to Canada last winter was even more eventful. Upon arriving in Montreal, they were lost in a blizzard and shivering in the — 250 cold. To find their hotel, they turned on a laptop and drove around in circles until they found a spot with wireless Internet coverage. "I know we should have planned better, but we're young. Now, when I see those guys I always say. 'Remember when we were lost in the snow storm!' I'll never forget that./

单选题We found shelter from the rain under the tree.

单选题Seeing the World Centuries Ago If you enjoy looking through travel books by such familiar authors as Arthur Former or Eugene Fodor, it will not surprise you to lean that travel writing has a long and venerable history. Almost from the earliest annals of recorded time individuals have found ready audiences for their accounts of journeys to strange and exotic locales. One of the earliest travel writers, a Greek geographer and historian named Strabo, lived around the time of Christ. Though Strabo is known to have traveled from east of the Black Sea west to Italy and as far south as Ethiopia, he also used details gleaned from other writers to extend and enliven his accounts. His multivolumed work Geography provides the only surviving account of the cities, peoples, customs, and geographical peculiarities of the whole known world of his time. Two other classic travel writers, the Italian Marco Polo and the Moroccan Ibn Battutah, lived in roughly the same time period. Marco Polo traveled to China with his father and uncle in about A. D. 1275 and remained there 16 or 17 years, visiting several other countries during his travels. When Marco returned to Italy he dictated his memoirs, including stories he had heard from others, to a scribe, with the resulting book II million being an instant success. Though difficult to attest to the accuracy of all he says, Marco"s book impelled Europeans to begin their great voyages of exploration. Ibn Battutah"s interest in travel began on his required Muslim journey to Mecca in 1325, and during his lifetime he journeyed through all the countries where Islam held sway. His travel book the Rihlah is a personalized account of desert journeys, court intrigues, and even the effect of the Back Death in the various lands he visited. In almost 30 years of traveling it is estimated that Ibn Battutah covered more than 75,000 miles.

单选题I must have waited for ten minutes before the telephone operator put me through. A. hung up B. hung on C. hung over D. hung round

单选题The story was very Utouching/U.

单选题Culture Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions. To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience. The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald's. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging. The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness. Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer.

单选题School phobia can be cured, usually with tranquilizers and psychological methods. Rehabilitation takes about two years. Yet victims who are put in clinics or mental wards often prefer to stay there. Their day is filled with activities like knitting, painting, music, free time, and sports. Treatment of school phobia is mainlyA. psychological.B. social.C. educational.D. cultural.

单选题The moon was obscured by thick clouds.

单选题He boasted that he was the best swimmer in his school.A. braggedB. allegedC. claimedD. praised

单选题G8 Summit Leaders of the Group of Eight Major Industrialized Nations (G8) will meet in Scotland in July this year. Representatives from China, India, Mexico, South Africa and Brazil have also been invited. Here"s what the G8 leaders want from the meeting. British Prime Minister Tony Blair wants the G8 to cancel debt to the world"s poorest countries. He wants them to double aid to Africa to 50 billion pounds by 2010. He has also proposed reducing subsidies to Western farmers and removing restrictions on African exports. This has not got the approval of all members because it will hurt their agricultural interests. On climate change, Blair wants concerted (共同的) action by reducing carbon emissions (排放). US President George W. Bush agrees to give help to Africa. But he says he doesn"t like the idea of increasing aid to countries as it will increase corruption. Bush said he would not sign an agreement to cut greenhouse gas emissions at the summit, according to media. The US is the only G8 member not to have signed the Kyoto Protocol (京都议定书). Although the US is the world"s biggest polluter, Bush so far refuses to believe there is sufficient scientific data to establish beyond a doubt that there is a problem. French President Jacques Chirac supports Blair on Africa and climate change. He is determined to get the US to sign the climate change deal. German Chancellor Gerhard Schroder remains doubtful of Blair"s Africa proposals. Schroder"s officials have dismissed the notion that money will solve Africa"s problems as "old thinking." Berlin says that African states should only receive extra money if they can prove they"ve solved the corruption problem. Russian President Vladimir Putin was doubtful about the value of more aid to Africa. But he has seen a way to make this work to his advantage. Putin intends to use the aid to Africa as a springboard (跳板) next year to propose aid to the former Soviet republics of Georgia, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan and Moldova. Japanese Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi"s priorities are a seat on the UN Security Council, for which he will be lobbying (游说) at the summit. And he"s concerned about the Democratic People"s Republic of Korea"s nuclear weapons programme.

单选题Who (Doesn"t) Let the Dogs Bark? For the past year, Cornelia Czarnecki said, the barking of her neighbor"s German shepherd has awakened her repeatedly at 4 a.m. The dog often barks for hours at a time, said Mrs. Czarnecki, a Clifton resident. "That dog is out there barking day and night, and we don"t know what to do anymore," she said. Mrs. Czarnecki became so upset about the dog that she filed a municipal complaint against him under the town"s general noise ordinance. The case is set to be heard in municipal court on August 6. Complaints like the ones Mrs. Czarnecki lodged with the police and city officials led the Clifton City Council to draft an ordinance that could result in fines for residents whose dogs are "barking, howling, crying" or making any other loud noises for more than 30 minutes in an hour. "I can"t wait," Mrs. Czarnecki said. The council took up the ordinance for a first reading on Tuesday; a final vote is scheduled on August 8. "It"s a quality of life issue," said Councilman Frank C. Fusco, who introduced the measure. Clifton is far from alone in seeking to silence noisy dogs. At least 144 of New Jersey"s municipalities have laws that address whining and barking, according to a municipal ordinance database online at www. generalcode. com. In New York, at least 30 towns in Nassau and Suffolk Counties have similar laws, as do about 25 towns in Westchester County. Connecticut has a statewide law barring dogs that are a "nuisance" because of "excessive barking or other disturbance." Many of the ordinances in the region are general prohibitions against excessive whining or barking. In Westchester, the City of New Rochelle ran into trouble with its law in 1997 after a resident challenged a citation. A city judge ruled that the ordinance was unconstitutionally vague because it did not include details about time of day and duration of barking, and the city changed the law in 1998. "Many of these ordinances go back to the 1800s," said the New Rochelle corporation counsel, Bernis Shapiro. "They"re just carried forward and they don"t get changed until an issue comes up." In May 2006, Hillsborough Township in Somerset County passed an ordinance to specifically address barking, but no complaints have been filed since then, said Lt. Bill Geary of the Hillsborough Police Department. Other New Jersey towns, including Bloomsbury in Hunterdon County and Manville in Somerset, considered such ordinances but withdrew them after residents complained that they would be unenforceable. As for those who contend that a barking dog should be a low priority, Councilman Fusco said, "If the dog was next to your house, you"d sing a different song." Mr. Fusco said he was confident that the ordinance proposed in Clifton would be supported by his fellow council members. At the same time, he knows that some residents may object. But David Axelrod, a groomer at Furrs N Purrs on Valley Road, said he did not think the measure was tough enough. "Thirty minutes is extremely generous," he said. "There is no reason why a dog should be barking that long." The ordinance says barking must be sustained to be illegal, and it bans excessive barking only froml0 p.m. to 7 a.m. Under the ordinance, a resident complains to the City Health Department, which sends a warning note. If the barking continues, the resident takes the complaint to municipal court, where fines can start at $250. Before a court date, the city would most likely try to resolve the matter through mediation, said the city attorney, Matthew T. Priore. Last year about a dozen warning letters were sent to residents about their barking dogs, Clifton officials said. Currently, residents can complain about barking under the city"s general noise ordinance, but they have to essentially prosecute the case in municipal court themselves, Mr. Fusco said. Under the proposed ordinance, residents would appear as a witness in a case presented by the municipal prosecutor. "The new ordinance has some bite to it," Mr. Fusco said. Eric M. Zwefiing, director of the Rutgers University Noise Technical Assistance Center, trains police officers on noise complaints and writes municipal noise codes. "One of the things I say to the officers I train is that if people were fundamentally civil to each other, we"d all be out of work," he said. Mr. Zwerling, the owner of a chocolate Labrador named Bosco, said he had his own appreciation of the barking problem. "A dog is barking for one of two reasons—either it needs attention or it is trying to alert you to something," he said. "In either case, you should be attending to it."

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 percent 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 (热量单位，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 percent less body fat than normal control mice, despite the fact that they ate 55 percent 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 mice 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Our statistics show that we {{U}}consume{{/U}} all that we are capable of producing. A. waste B. buy C. use D. sell

单选题A small number of firms have stopped trading.A. hotelsB. shopsC. restaurantsD. companies

单选题You will be meeting her presently.