单选题What {{U}}puzzles{{/U}} me is why his books are so popular. A. confuses B. shocks C. influences D. concerns

单选题Traffic is bad, particularly in the city center.

单选题During his lifetime he was able to accumulate quite a fortune, A. control B. spend C. collect D. exchange

单选题Learning Disabilities Learning disabilities are very common. They affect perhaps 10 percent of all children. Four times as many boys as girls have learning disabilities. Since about 1970, new research has helped brain scientists understand these problems better. Scientists now know there are many different kinds of learning disabilities and that they are caused by many different things. There is no longer any question that all learning disabilities result from differences in the way the brain is organized. You cannot look at a child and tell if he or she has a learning disability. There is no outward sign of the disorder. So some researchers began looking at the brain itself to learn what might be wrong. In one study, researchers examined the brain of a learning-disabled person who had died in an accident. They found two unusual things. One involved cells in the left side of the brain, which control language. These cells normally are white. In the learning disabled person, however, these cells were gray. The researchers also found that many of the nerve cells were not in a line the way they should have been. The nerve cells were mixed together. The study was carried out under the guidance of Norman Geschwind, an early expert on learning disabilities. Doctor Geschwind proposed that learning disabilities resulted mainly from problems in the left side of the brain. He believed this side of the brain failed to develop normally. Probably, he said, nerve ceils there did not connect as they should. So the brain was like an electrical device in which the wires were crossed. Other researchers did not examine brain tissue. Instead, they measured the brain"s electrical activity and made a map of the electrical signals. Frank Dully experimented with this technique at Children"s Hospital Medical Center in Boston. Doctor Dully found large differences in the brain activity of normal children and those with reading problems. The differences appeared throughout the brain. Doctor Dully said his research is evidence that disabilities involve damage to a wide area of the brain, not just the left side.

单选题The river widens considerably as it begins to turn west.

单选题What percentage of the earth's water can man actually use at present?

单选题Living Standards Around the World The differences in living standards around the world are vast. In 1993, the average American had an income of about $25,000. In the same year, the average Mexican earned $7,000, and the average Nigerian earned $1,500. Not surprisingly, this large variation in average income is reflected in various measures of the quality of life. Changes in living standards over time are also large. In the United States, incomes have historically grown about 2 percent per year (after adjusting for changes in the cost of living). At this rate, average income doubles every 35 years. In some countries, economic growth has been even more rapid. In Japan, for instance, average income has doubled in the past 20 years, and in South Korea it has doubled in the past 10 years. What explains these large differences in living standards among countries and over time? The answer is surprisingly simple. Almost all variation in living standards is attributable to differences in countries' productivity—that is, the amount of goods and services produced from each hour of a worker's time. In nations where workers can produce a large quantity of goods and services per unit of time, most people enjoy a high standard of living; in nations where workers are less productive, most people must endure a more meager existence. Similarly, the growth rate of a nation's productivity determines the growth rate of its average income. The fundamental relationship between productivity and living standards is simple, but its implications are far-reaching. If productivity is the primary determinant of living standards, other explanations must be of secondary importance. For example, people might think that labor unions or minimum-wage laws contributed to the rise in living standards of American workers over the past century. Yet the real hero of American workers is their rising productivity. The relationship between productivity and living standards also has great implications for public policy. When thinking about how any policy will affect living standards, the key question is how it will affect our ability to produce goods and services. To improve living standards, policymakers need to raise productivity by ensuring that workers are well educated, have the tools needed to produce goods and services, and have access to the best available technology.

单选题I have extreme sense of happiness at this moment.A. hopeB. wishC. feelingD. dream

单选题Haute Tech In recent years, backpacks have begun sporting outside pockets that are, not coincidentally, the perfect size for an iPod. Handbags routinely feature cell-phone compartments. And now, from practical to modem, the fashion industry is taking a cue from these gadgets, integrating their technologies into the fabrics rather than merely providing storage for them. Known as "haute(高级定做服装) tech." these designs sometimes resemble costumes borrowed from the set of a sci-fi thriller. Like all old mood ring, one dress can sense the mood of its wearer by gauging his or her gestures and then respond with all appropriate song from its MP3-integrated hood (风帽, 兜帽). The innovations know no bounds, and can be quite funny: Erik De Nijs, a student at the Utrecht School of the Arts in the Netherlands, created a pair of tech jeans that incorporates a wireless Bluetooth keyboard into the lap of the pants. Speakers are integrated into the knees of the jeans and a mouse is conveniently stored in the hack pocket. While some might find this kind of lap typing mildly valgar, it highlights the way haute tech is pushing practical, wearable technology. Other garments use a nickel-anti-titanium (镍和钛) shape-memory alloy to move shinning panels of fabric as if they are breathing, like coral (珊瑚) shifting with the title. " Clothing becomes the interface to tell a story, "says British haute tech designer DiMainstone, au artist in residence at New York's Eyebeam studio. One of Mainstone's newest projects, Sharewear, stems from the idea thin in today's fast-paced society, time for" intimate bomey encounters" is limited. So Mainstone created a costume made up of modules inspired by icons of the home, like the armrest of a favorite sofa. In addition to looking cool, Sharewear is meant to evoke the idea that clothing serves both to shelter and to define us—just like our homes. "I wanted that esthetic of something that was very familiar." Mainstone says. Widely credited as the founder of haute tech, British designer Hussein Chalayan-twice named British designer of the year-is the subject of a fun and fascinating new exhibit at the London Design Museum called "From Fashion and Back" (through May 17), which highlights his 15-year career. Among the items on display: a garment made of crystals and 200 moving lasers to create a living light show, and two LED—screen video dresses that illuminate underwater sea life. Chalayan believes that integrating technology with fashion is "the only way in the world to create something new," he says. "These are the prototypes for things to. come. They need this investment. /

单选题Bladder wrack, a tough, leathery brown seaweed, {{U}}clings to{{/U}} rocks tenaciously.

单选题Computers in Cars You"re far from home on a lonely road. Shadowy forests stretch away on both sides. A thick mist (雾) makes it difficult to see far beyond your car"s windshield (挡风玻璃). "Can this be route 90A?" you wonder. If it is, you should be near a town. Yet there"s no hint of one. Night is closing in. And you"re low on gasoline. This is a situation where an in-car computer that can navigate would be a big help. A car computer that navigates? Yes! Such computers exist. Several experimental models are being tested by General Motors, Ford, Chrysler, and several foreign car makers. These computers vary in detail. But they all contain series of maps on videodiscs or videotapes. For example, one computer system contains 13,300 maps covering the continental US. Before starting out on a trip, a driver can type in the code for the region he or she plans to drive through. The computer then shows a map of that region. At the same time, a tiny radio receiver linked to the computer goes to work. It picks up signals from navigation satellites such as the NAVSTAR network. Using these signals, the computer shows the car"s position at all times and displays this position on the map. The computer can also calculate and display the best route to follow. A navigation computer may also receive and use data about road construction, weather conditions, and traffic jams. This information would be displayed to the driver and the computer would also use the information to work out alternate (交替的) routes. Most cars nowadays also contain computers that help cars run more efficiently. Microprocessors (微处理机) control certain engine functions by regulating the mixing of fuel. Data on car speed, oil pressure, revolutions per minute, engine temperature, and fuel level can be displayed as digital data (numbers) or warning lights. Some auto designers suggest that a central computer display be used to clearly present such timely information as car speed and fuel level. Warning lights would indicate a drop in oil pressure or a sudden rise in engine temperature. To get more information on these conditions, the driver could call it up on the computer display screen. When needed, the computer could be "asked" to provide navigation aid or information about the car"s condition.

单选题 下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道小题。请根据短文内容，为每题确定1个最佳选项。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} Crop Problem Advances in technology have helped more of the world's population live better and longer, and that is part of our problem[ Better health standards have kept larger number of people alive. The world's population is now almost four billion and expected to double in 25 years. Growing population and slowly rising living standards have increased our need for food at the rate of 30 million tons per year. As a result, the world's stockpile of food(食物储备) is declining by about 10 million tons per year. From the early 1950s until 1972 ,world food production increased greatly. The Green Revolution (绿色革命) extended scientific techniques to agriculture in the form of hybrid seed (杂交种)and poultry (禽类), chemical fertilizers (化学肥料) and pesticides (杀虫剂), and complex irrigation systems. Strains (品种) of corn (玉米), sorghum (高粱), soybeans (大豆), wheat and rice were developed to flourish under particular climate and soil conditions. In the United States, corn production rose to 110 bushels(蒲式耳：谷物、水果、蔬菜等容量单位，在英国相当于36,368升，在美国相当于35,238升) per acre from only 26 bushels per acre in the early 1900s. Milk production rose to 10,000 pounds per cow per year, compared with 600 in India. Chickens were bred to eat less, grow to maturity in shorter time, and produce more eggs. As a result of such scientific advances, our twelve midwestern states alone now feed one fourth of the world's people. Crop disaster in 1972 brought an apparent end to the growth in production. Much of the extra yields had come from the use of chemical fertilizers, primarily petroleum based and now in short supply. The drop in world supplies of petroleum-based fertilizers is expected to cause a drop in crop yields of ten tons for each one ton decline in fertilizers applied. This presents a particular problem for underdeveloped nations that often lack the foreign exchange necessary for buying fertilizer. The problem is so severe that Philip Handier, president of the National Academy of Sciences, has predicted one million child deaths per month in these nations by the year 2025.

单选题Everyone aboard the plane perished in the air crash.A. survivedB. disappearedC. diedD. left

单选题If headaches only occur at night, lack of fresh air is often the cause.

单选题The policeman stopped him when he was driving home and accused him of speeding.

单选题 The Natural Balance Being Altered The balance of nature is a very elaborate and delicate system of check and countercheck. It is continually being altered as climates change, as new organisms evolve, as animals or plants spread to new areas. But the alterations have in the past, for the most part, been slow. whereas with the arrival of civilized man, their speed has been multiplied much: from the evolutionary time-scale where change is measured by periods of ten or a hundred thousand years, they have been transferred to the human time-scale in which centuries and even decades count. Everywhere man is altering the balance of nature. He is facilitating the spread of plants and animals into new regions. Sometimes deliberately, sometimes unconsciously. He is covering huge areas with new kinds of plants, or with houses, factories, slagheaps and other products of his civilization. He gets rid of some species on a large scale, but favors the multiplication of others. In brief, he has done more in five thousand years to alter the biological aspect of the planet than has nature in five million years. Many of these changes which he has brought about have had unforeseen consequences. Who would have thought that the throwing away of a piece of Canadian waterweed would have caused half the waterways of Britain to be blocked for a decade? Or that provision of pot cacti for lonely settlers' wives would have led to Eastern Australia being covered with forests of prickly pears? Who would have predicted that the cutting down of forests on the Adriatic coast, or in parts of Central Africa, could have reduced the land to a semi-desert with the very soil washed away from the bare rock? Who would have thought that improved communications would have changed history by the spreading of disease- sleeping sickness into East Africa, measles into Ocean, AIDS around the whole world? These are spectacular examples, but examples on a smaller scale are everywhere to be found. We made a nature sanctuary for rare birds, providing absolute security for all species; and we may find that some common and hardy kind of birds multiplies beyond measure and drive away the rare kinds in which we are particularly interested. We see, owing to some little change brought about by civilization, the starting spread over the English countryside in hordes. We improve the yielding capacities of our cattle; and find that how they exhaust the pastures which were sufficient for less demanding stock. We gaily set about killing the carnivores that disturb our domestic animals, the hawks that eat our fowls and game-birds; and find that in so doing we are also removing the brake that restrains the multiplication of mice and other little rodents that gnaw away the farmers' profits.

单选题{{B}}第三篇{{/B}} Problems of the Elderly Gerontologists (老年人问题学者) study how old people are treated within a society and how the elderly deal with the inevitable problems of aging, particularly those involving health and income. Health problems include normal losses in hearing, eyesight, and memory, and the increased possibility of chronic(慢性的)diseases. These losses are gradual and proceed at different rates for each individual. In general, the health of old people today is better than that of earlier generation-a condition that is likely to improve still further as more people receive better medical care throught their lives. Because most old people are no longer in the labor force, a steady source of income is necessary. Systems of pensions and benefits are characteristic of industrial societies. One example is Social Security in the U. S. , which is now increased automatically as the cost of living rises, thus reducing somewhat the effect of inflation. Although the income of retired people is about half that of working people, most manage to remain financially independent. Income needs and health are what people consider most when they decide whether to re-tire or not. Putting an end to the limit on the retirement age is not expected to cause many workers to stay on the job if they can afford to retire. The need to relieve strains on the Social Security System, however, has led to legislation that gradually raises the age at which people can get full benefits. This might force them to work longer in the future. Elderly people themselves often display high spirits, satisfaction with life, and feelings of self-worth. The important factors are health and income. The task of modern societies is to ensure that the aged have their basic needs met and that they can continue to function in the community.

单选题Medieval cities grew rapidly when they had {{U}}harbors{{/U}} nearby.

单选题阅读下面这篇短文，短文后列出7个句子，请根据短文的内容对每个句子做出判断。 {{B}}Ancient Water From Afar{{/B}} It streaked across the sky on a warm March evening last year, then crashed into a street in the small town of Monahans, Texas. When seven boys quit their basketball game to inspect the damage, they found a shiny, black grapefruit-size rock settled in the asphalt (沥青). Word of the “flaming rock” traveled quickly in newspapers and on TV. The next day, NASA scientist Everett Gibson arrived and took the meteorite(陨石) , later named Monahans 1998, back to a lab in Houston. There researchers broke open the extraterrestrial (地球外的)rock with a hammer and chisel (凿子). To their surprise, they struck water. A team led by Michael Zolensky of the Johnson Space Center reports this discovery in a journal. It’s the first time anyone has found liquid water in an object from space—and a suggestion that life may exist out side our planet. Meteorites containing water are probably not scarce, Zolensky says. But by the time researchers get their hands on the rocks, minerals that trap the water have dissolved away, and the water have evaporated. Worse, some researchers destroy the evidence by cutting meteor ites open with rock saws and water. “I’m betting this isn’t such a rare finds it’s just that people have been mistreating their meteorites,” Zolensky says. Of course, Zolensky’s team did get a bit lucky. Monahans 1998 was safe in their lab less than two days after it hit the Earth, so they examined an unusually fresh sample. The scientists were keen to find vivid purple crystals of halite (岩盐)inside the meteorite, since halite is a salt mineral usually formed from liquid water. Even more curious were the hundreds of tiny bubbles suspended in the halite crystals. Zolensky’s team analyzed the bubbles by shining a laser beam through them and confirmed they were made of salty brine (盐水). By dating the halite, Zolensky’s team found the water trapped inside it formed at least 4.5 billion years ago, back when most scientists believe our solar system was born. That means the briny object amy help researchers learn about the gaseous nebulas(星云)that gave rise to our sun and planets. But how did the meteorite get wet? One possibility is that a passing comet smashed into the rock, dropping off a load of liquid water. Or the rock might have chipped off an asteroid (小行星)that holds pools of fluid. Zolensky’s team still needs to study whether the water comes from our own solar system. One thing is certain, however: the Monahans meteorite will fuel the debate on extraterrestrial life, “Water is a life-giver, so if you want to study where life came from in the solar system, you have to follow where water came from,” Zolensky says. A wet rock from space doesn’t mean little green men are coming soon to a planet near you, but it does raise hopes that we’re not alone in the universe.

单选题"Initial expectations were too great, "explained Alex Slawsby, senior analyst of mobile devices at IDC (International Data Company)of US. " It was a solution to a problem no one thought they had. " But now, helped by growing industry support, shipments of Bluetooth devices are expected to increase about 60 per cent in 2004 to 88 million units. That's up from 55 million sold in 2003, according to US research firm Gartner. How many units of Bluetooth were sold in 2003?A. 88 millionB. 55 millionC. 33 millionD. 60% more than the previous year.