单选题The weather is a constant subject of conversation in Britain.

单选题Go to the Live Concert or CD Shelf? The decision of the New York Philharmonic to hire Alan Gilbert as its next music director has been the talk of the classical-music world ever since the sudden announcement of his appointment in 2009. For the most part, the response has been favorable, to say the least. "Hooray! At last!" wrote Anthony Tommasini, a sober-sided classical-music critic. One of the reasons why the appointment came as such a surprise, however, is that Gilbert is comparatively little known. Even Tommasini, who had advocated Gilbert"s appointment in the Times, calls him "an unpretentious musician with no air of the formidable conductor about him." As a description of the next music director of an orchestra that has hitherto been led by musicians like Gustav Mahler and Pierre Boulez, that seems likely to have struck at least some Times readers as faint praise. For my part, I have no idea whether Gilbert is a great conductor or even a good one. To be sure, he performs an impressive variety of interesting compositions, but it is not necessary for me to visit Avery Fisher Hall, or anywhere else, to hear interesting orchestral music. All I have to do is to go to my CD shelf, or boot up my computer and download still more recorded music from iTunes. Devoted concertgoers who reply that recordings are no substitute for live performance are missing the point. For the time, attention, and money of the art-loving public, classical instrumentalists must compete not only with opera houses, dance troupes, theater companies, and museums, but also with the recorded performances of the great classical musicians of the 20th century. There recordings are cheap, available everywhere, and very often much higher in artistic quality than today"s live performances, moreover, they can be "consumed" at a time and place of the listener"s choosing. The widespread availability of such recordings has thus brought about a crisis in the institution of the traditional classical concert. One possible response is for classical performers to program attractive new music that is not yet available on record. Gilbert"s own interest in new music has been widely noted: Alex Ross, a classical-music critic, has described him as a man who is capable of turning the Philharmonic into "a markedly different, more vibrant organization." But what will be the nature of that difference? Merely expanding the orchestra"s repertoire will not be enough. If Gilbert and the Philharmonic are to succeed, they must first change the relationship between America"s oldest orchestra and the new audience it hops to attract.

单选题{{B}}第三篇{{/B}} {{B}} "Salty" Rice Plant Boosts Harvests{{/B}} British scientists are breeding a new generation of rice plants that will be able to grow in soil containing salt water. Their work may enable abandoned farms to become productive once more. Tim Flowers and Tony Yeo, from Sussex University's School of Biological Sciences, have spent several years researching how crops, such as rice, could be made to grow in water that has become salty. The pair have recently begun a three-year programme, funded by the Biotechnology and Biological Sciences Research Council, to establish which genes enable some plants to survive salty conditions. The aim is to breed this capability into crops, starting with rice. It is estimated that each year more than 10m hectares (公顷) of agricultural land are lost because salt gets into the soil and stunts (妨碍生长) plants. The problem is caused by several factors. In the tropics, mangroves (红树林) that create swamps (沼泽) and traditionally formed barriers to sea water have been cut down. In the Mediterranean, a series of droughts have caused the water table to drop, allowing sea water to seep (渗透) in. In Latin America, irrigation often causes problems when water is evaporated (蒸发) by the heat, leaving salt deposits behind. Excess salt then enters the plants and prevents them functioning normally. Heavy concentrations of minerals in the plants stop them drawing up the water they need to survive. To overcome these problems, Flowers and Yeo decided to breed rice plants that take in very little salt and store what they do absorb in cells that do not affect the plants' growth. They have started to breed these characteristics into a new rice crop, but it will take about eight harvests before the resulting seeds are ready to be considered for commercial use. Once the characteristics for surviving salty soil are known, Flowers and Yeo will try to breed the appropriate genes into all manners of crops and plants. Land that has been abandoned to nature will then be able to bloom again, providing much needed food in the poorer countries of the world.

单选题Almost all economists agree that nations {{U}}gain{{/U}} by trading with one another. A. work B. profit C. rely D. prove

单选题New England town meetings, in their most highly developed form, are {{U}}assemblies{{/U}} of the voters.

单选题As soon as Jennifer asked his name and address the man rang off. A. rang back B. rang up C. hung up D. hung on

单选题It has been said that the history of Uhumanity/U is one of the survival of the fittest.

单选题The American Industry A history of long and effortless success can be a dreadful handicap (阻碍), but, if properly handled, it may become a driving force. When the United States entered just such a glowing period after the end of the Second World War, it had a market eight times larger than any competitor, giving its industries unparalleled economies of scale. Its scientists were the world"s best, its workers the most skilled. America and Americans were prosperous beyond the dreams of the Europeans and Asians whose economies the war had destroyed. It was inevitable that this primacy should have narrowed as other countries grew richer. Just as inevitably, the retreat from predominance proved painful. By the mid-1980s Americans had found themselves at a loss over their fading industrial competitiveness. Some huge American industries, such as consumer electronics, had shrunk or vanished in the face of foreign competition. By 1987 there was only one American television maker left, Zenith. (Now there is none: Zenith was bought by South Korea"s LG Electronics in July.) Foreign-made cars and textiles were sweeping into the domestic market. America"s machine-tool industry was on the ropes. For a while it looked as though the making of semiconductors, which America had sat at the heart of the new computer age, was going to be the next casualty. All of this caused a crisis of confidence. Americans stopped taking prosperity for granted. They began to believe that their way of doing business was failing, and that their incomes would therefore shortly begin to fall as well. The mid-1980s brought one inquiry after another into the causes of America"s industrial decline. Their sometimes sensational findings were filled with warnings about the growing competition from overseas. How things have changed! In 1995 the United States can look back on five years of solid growth while Japan has been struggling. Few Americans attribute this solely to such obvious causes as a devalued dollar or the turning of the business cycle. Self-doubt has yielded to blind pride. "American industry has changed its structure, has gone on a diet, and has learnt to be more quick-witted," according to Richard Cavanagh, executive dean of Harvard"s Kennedy School of Government. "It makes me proud to be an American just to see how our businesses are improving their productivity," says Stephen Moore of the Cato Institute, a think-tank in Washington, D.C. And William Sahlman of the Harvard Business School believes that people will look back on this period as "a golden age of business management in the United States".

单选题 Sony's Vision For the Future As the television, communications and telecommunications industries emerge, compatibility(兼容性) becomes a big issue for consumers. I think we should maintain open and compatible standards and create features particular to Sony, in other words, the system should be open but the services could be distinctive—like restaurants. The menus may be alike but the services are different. Being president of Sony Corporation, I am often asked by this question: With digital cameras and digital camcorders(摄像机), what will be the future of digital imaging? In 1997, optimists see non-traditional cameras—digital cameras achieving sales of one million units in Japan. We are selling a new digital camera. Even though the price is quite high, it is selling well. And laser and ink-jet printers have improved greatly for printing colour pictures. But traditional pictures are still more popular than those from today's electronic cameras. Because of that, traditional cameras and digital cameras will co-exist for a long time. If you want me to sum up Sony's vision for the next few years, all I can say is that there will be a big change. We can run our business at Sony based on today's technologies, which means the digitalisation of audio and video. But beyond 2000, there will be a big change and we should be prepared. This will be the network environment. So we are preparing for a big change in technologies and for a change in the way of thinking as well. We celebrate our 50 anniversary this year (1997), and this coincides(与……一致) with what I call the transistor cycle, which has also lasted fifty years since we started using transistors in radios. The electronic industry has undergone a big evolution. But a new technology wave started .with the invention of the microprocessor, about 14 or 15 years ago. My theory is that each business cycle lasts 50 years, with one cycle overlapping(重叠) another. The information age started 15 years ago with microprocessors and for another 10 years it will be in the takeoff stage. Like an airport, a 747 approaching the end of the runway is still gathering speed. So for information technology, for another five to seven years there will not be so much change, only increasing speed. But after that you fly. What that will mean, I cannot foresee. I'm just preparing for the takeoff stage while I'm president. The job of the next generation will be more important. I'm just in-between.

单选题The anhinga is a black water bird that frequents the perimeters of the everglades. A. waters B. swamps C. forests D. edges

单选题Water From the beginning, water has furnished man with a source of food and a highway to travel upon. The first (51) arose where water was a dominant element in the environment, a challenge to man's ingenuity. The Egyptians invented the 365-day calendar (52) the Nile's annual flooding. The Babylonians, who were among the most famous law-makers in ancient times, invented laws (53) water usage. Water inspired the Chinese to build a 1,000- (54) canal, a complex system which, after nearly 2,500 years, remains still practically (55) and still commands the astonishment of engineers. But the (56) never found complete solutions to their water problems. The Yellow River is also known (57) "China's Sorrow"; it is so unpredictable and dangerous (58) in a single flood it may cause a million (59) . Floods slowed the great civilization of the Indus River Valley, and inadequate drainage ruined (60) its land. Today water dominates (61) as it always has done. Its presence continues to (62) the location of his homes and cities; its violent variability can (63) man or his herds or his crops; its routes links him (64) his fellows; its immense value may (65) to already dangerous political conflicts. There are many examples of this in our own time.

单选题Invisibility Ring Scientists can"t yet make an invisibility cloak like the one that Harry Potter uses. But, for the first time, they"ve constructed a simple cloaking device that makes itself and something placed inside it invisible to microwaves. When a person "sees" an object, his or her eye senses many different waves of visible light as they bounce off the object. The eye and brain then work together to organize these sensations and reconstruct the object"s original shape. So, to make an object invisible, scientists have to keep waves from bouncing off it. And they have to make sure the object casts no shadow. Otherwise, the absence of reflected light on one side would give the object away. Invisibility isn"t possible yet with waves of light that the human eye can see. But it is now possible with microwaves. Like visible light, microwaves are a form of radiant energy. The yare part of the electromagnetic spectrum, which also includes radio waves, infrared light, ultraviolet rays, X rays, and gamma rays. The wavelengths of microwaves are shorter than those of radio waves but longer than those of visible light. The scientists" new "invisibility device" is the size of a drink coaster and shaped like a ring. The ring is made of a special material with unusual ability. When microwaves strike the ring, very few bounce off it. Instead, they pass through the ring, which bends the waves all the way around until they reach the opposite side. The waves then return to their original paths. To a detector set up to receive microwaves on the other side of the ring, it looks as if the waves never changed their paths as if there were no object in the way! So, the ring is effectively invisible. When the researchers put a small copper loop inside the ring, it, too, is nearly invisible. However, the cloaking device and anything inside it do cast a pale shadow. And the device works only for microwaves, not for visible light or any kind of electromagnetic radiation. So, Harry Potter"s invisibility cloak doesn"t have any real competition yet.

单选题{{B}}第三篇{{/B}} {{B}}Florida Hit by Cold Air Mass{{/B}} In January, 2003, the eastern two-thirds of the United States was at the mercy of a bitterly cold air mass that has endangered Florida's citrus trees, choked northern harbors with ice and left bewildered residents of North Carolina's .Outer Banks digging out of up to a foot of snow. The ice chill deepened as temperatures fell to the single digits in most of the South, with an unfamiliar dip below the freezing mark as far south as parts of interior South Florida. Temperatures in Florida plunged, with West Palm Beach dropping to a record low of 2 degrees. "We couldn't believe how cold it was," smd Martin King, who arrived this week in Orlando from England. "We brought shorts, T-shirt, and I had to go out and buy another coat." The temperature plunge posed a threat to Florida's US $9.1 billion-a-year citrus crop, more of which is still on the trees. Growers were hurrying to harvest as much of the fruit as possible before it was damaged by cold. "Time is of the essence in getting fruit to the plant," said Tom Rogers, a citrus grower who. expected to see damage to oranges and grapefruit at that time. In Florida, Governor Jeb Bush signed an emergency order to eliminate the weight limit on trucks so citrus growers could get as much fruit to market as possible. Casey Pace, a spokeswoman for Florida Citrus Mutual, said growers had sprayed trees with sprinklers, which created a layer of ice and helped maintain a temperature near freezing. Citrus frees are considered in danger of damage if the temperature drops below minus 2 degrees Celsius for four hours or mote. Snow ranging from a dusting to up to 30 centimeters blanketed the Carolinas, Tennessee and pans of Virginia.

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 does not always reflect the reality of a chosen community. They are right—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 Company, Larry Althouse, president of the company, 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. He was 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 adds, "Althouse Bus Company was established 70 years ago and has been providing quality transportation ever since. My grandfather started the business with one bus. Althouse Bus Company 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If we leave now，we should {{U}}miss{{/U}} the traffic．

单选题His parent won't let her marry anyone ______. family is poor.A. thatB. whomC. whatD. whose

单选题A Phone That Knows You're Busy It's a modern problem: you're too busy to be disturbed by incessant (连续不断的) phone calls so you turn your cellphone off. But if you don't remember to turn it back on when you're less busy, you could miss some important calls. If only the phone knew when it was wise to interrupt you, you wouldn't have to turn it off at all. Instead, it could let calls through when you are not too busy. A bunch of behavior sensors (传感器) and a clever piece of software could do just that, by analyzing your behavior to determine if it's a good time to interrupt you. If built into a phone, the system may decide you're too busy and ask the caller to leave a message or ring back later. James Fogarty and Scott Hudson at Camegie Mellon University in Pennsylvania based their system on tiny microphones, cameras and touch sensors that reveal body language and activity. First they had to study different behaviors to find out which ones strongly predict whether your mind is interrupted. The potential "busyness" signals they focused on included whether the office doors were left open or closed, the time of day, if other people were with the person in question, how close they were to each other, and whether or not the computer was in use. The sensors monitored these and many other factors while four subjects were at work. At random intervals, the subjects rated how interruptible they were on a scale ranging from "highly interruptible" to "highly not-interruptible". Their ratings were then correlated with the various behaviors. "It is a shotgun (随意的) approach, we used all the indicators we could think of and then let statistics find out which were important," says Hudson. The model showed that using the keyboard, and talking on a landline or to someone else in the office correlated most strongly with how interruptible the subjects judged themselves to be. Interestingly, the computer was actually better than people at predicting when someone was too busy to be interrupted. The computer got it right 82 percent of the time, humans 77 percent. Fogarty speculates that this might be because people doing the interrupting are inevitably biased towards delivering their message, whereas computers don't care. The first application for Hudson and Fogarty's system is likely to be in an instant messaging system, followed by office phones and cellphones. "There is no technological roadblock (障碍) to it being deployed in a couple of years," says Hudson.

单选题Sulphur has Uoccasionally/U been found in the earth in an almost pure state.

单选题The price of a 29-inch television has decreased by 300%. A. increased B. cut C. rose D. dropped

单选题Cell Phones: Hang Up or Keep Talking? Millions of people are using cell phones today. In many places it is actually considered unusual not to use one. In many countries, cell phones are very popular with young people. They find that the phones are more than a means of communication—having a mobile phone shows that they are cool and connected. The explosions around the world in mobile phone use make some health professionals worried. Some doctors are concerned that in the future many people may suffer health problems from the use of mobile phones. In England, there has been a serious debate about this issue. Mobile phone companies are worried about the negative publicity of such ideas. They say that there is no proof that mobile phones are bad for your health. On the other hand, why do some medical studies show changes in the brain cells of some people who use mobile phones? Signs of change in the tissues of the brain and head can be detected with modern scanning (扫描) equipment. In one ease, a traveling salesman had to retire at a young age because of serious memory loss. He couldn"t remember even simple tasks. He would often forget the name of his own son. This man used to talk on his mobile phone for about six hours a day, every day of his working week, for a couple of years. His family doctor blamed his mobile phone use, but his employer"s doctor didn"t agree. What is it that makes mobile phones potentially harmful? The answer is radiation. High-tech machines can detect very small amounts of radiation from mobile phones. Mobile phone companies agree that there is some radiation, but they say the amount is too small to worry about. As the discussion about their safety continues, it appears that it"s best to use mobile phones less often. Use your regular phone if you want to talk for a long time. Use your mobile phone only when you really need it. Mobile phones can be very useful and convenient, especially in emergencies. In the future, mobile phones may have a warning label that says they are bad for your health. So for now, it"s wise not to use your mobile phone too often.