单选题Argument among the speakers at the conference is bordering on violence. A. is close to B. is beside C. is next to D. is alongside

单选题Sedimentary rocks cover much of the Earth’s surface, but they are often {{U}}hidden{{/U}} by a thin veneer of soil.

单选题The graduate students will {{U}}convene{{/U}} in the Student Union.

单选题Bill Gates: Unleashing Your Creativity I"ve always been an optimist and I suppose that is rooted in my belief that the power of creativity and intelligence can make the world a better place. For as long as I can remember, I"ve loved learning new things and solving problems. So when I sat down at a computer for the first time in seventh grade, I was hooked. It was a chunky old teletype machine and it could barely do anything compared to the computers we have today. But it changed my life. When my friend Paul Allen and I started Microsoft 30 years ago, we had a vision of "a computer on every desk and in every home," which probably sounded a little too optimistic at a time when most computers were the size of refrigerators. But we believed that personal computers would change the world. And they have. And after 30 years, I"m still as inspired by computers as I was back in seventh grade. I believe that computers are the most incredible tool we can use to feed our curiosity and inventiveness to help us solve problems that even the smartest people couldn"t solve on their own. Computers have transformed how we learn, giving kids everywhere a window into all of the world"s knowledge. They"re helping us build communities around the things we care about and to stay close to the people who are important to us, no matter where they are. Like my friend Warren Buffett, I feel particularly lucky to do something every day that I love to do. He calls it "tap-dancing to work". My job at Microsoft is as challenging as ever, but what makes me "tap-dance to work" is when we show people something new, like a computer that can recognize your handwriting or your speech, or one that can store a lifetime"s worth of photos, and they say, "I didn"t know you could do that with a PC!" But for all the cool things that a person can do with a PC, there are lots of other ways we can put our creativity and intelligence to work to improve our world. There are still far too many people in the world whose most basic needs go unmet. Every year, for example, millions of people die from diseases that are easy to prevent or treat in the developed world. I believe that my own good fortune brings with it a responsibility to give back to the world. My wife, Melinda, and I have committed to improving health and education in a way that can help as many people as possible. As a father, I believe that the death of a child in Africa is no less poignant or tragic than the death of a child anywhere else and that it doesn"t take much to make an immense difference in these children"s lives. I"m still very much an optimist, and I believe that progress on even the world"s toughest problems is possible—and it"s happening every day. We"re seeing new drugs for deadly diseases, new diagnostic tools, and new attention paid to the health problems in the developing world. I"m excited by the possibilities I see for medicine, for education and, of course, for technology. And I believe that through our natural inventiveness, creativity and willingness to solve tough problems, we"re going to make some amazing achievements in all these areas in my lifetime.

单选题 下面有3篇短文，每篇短文后有5道题，每道题后面有4个选项。请根据文章的内容，从每题所给的4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。{{B}}第一篇{{/B}} {{B}}Almost Human?{{/B}} Scientists are racing to build the world's first thinking robot. This is not science fiction: some say they will have made it by the year 2020. Carol Packer reports. Machines that walk, speak and feel are no longer science fiction. Kismet is the name of an android (机器人) which scientists have built at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). Kismet is different from the traditional robot because it can show human emotions. Its eyes, ears and lips move to-show when it feels happy, sad or bored. Kismet is one of the first of a new generation of androids -- robots that look like human beings -- which can imitate human feelings. Cog, another android invented by the MIT, imitates the action of a mother. However, scientists admit that so far Cog has the mental ability of a two-year-old. The optimists (乐观主义者) say that by the year 2020 we will have created humanoids (机器人) with brains similar to those of an adult human being. These robots will be designed to look like people to make them more attractive and easier to sell to the public. What kind of jobs will they do? In the future, robots like Robonaut, a humanoid invented by NASA, will be doing dangerous jobs, like repairing space stations. They will also be doing more and more of the household work for us. In Japan, scientists are designing androids that will entertain us by dancing and playing the piano. Some people worry about what the future holds: will robots become monsters (怪物)? Will people themselves become increasingly like robots? Experts predict that more and more people will be wearing micro-computers, connected to the Internet in the future. People will have micro-chips in various parts of their body, which will connect them to a wide variety of gadgets (小装置). Perhaps we should not exaggerate (夸大) the importance of technology, but one wonders whether, in years to come, we will still be falling in love, and whether we will still feel pain. Who knows?

单选题Anderson left the table, remarking that he had some work to do.

单选题Crystal Ear One day a friend asked my wife Jill if I wanted a hearing aid. "He certainly does," replied Jill. After hearing about a remarkable new product, Jill finally got up the nerve to ask me if I'd ever thought about getting a hearing aid. "No way," I said. "It would make me look 20 years older. " "No, no, " she replied. "This is entirely different. It's Crystal Ear! " Jill was right. Crystal Ear is different—not the old-styled body worn or over-the-ear aid, but an advanced personal sound system so small that it's like contacts (隐形眼镜) for your ears. And Crystal Ear is super-sensitive and powerful, too. You will hear sounds your ears have been missing for years. Crystal Ear will make speech louder, and the sound is pure and natural. I couldn't believe how tiny it is. It is smaller than the tip of my little finger and it's almost invisible when worn. There are no wires, no behind-the-ear device. Put it in your ear and its ready-to-wear mold (形状) fits comfortably. Since it's not too loud or too tight, you may even forget that you're wearing it! Use it at work or at play. And if your hearing problem is worse in certain situations, use Crystal Ear only when you need it. Hearing loss, which occurs typically prior to teenage years, progresses throughout one's lifetime. Although hearing loss is now the world's number one health problem, nearly 90 percent of people suffering hearing loss choose to leave the problem untreated. For many millions, treating hearing loss in a conventional way can involve numerous office visits, expensive testing and adjustments to fit your ear. Thanks to Crystal Ear, the "sound solution" is now convenient. Almost 90 percent of people with mild hearing loss, and millions more with just a little hearing drop-off (下降), can be dramatically helped with Crystal Ear. Moreover, its superior design is energy-efficient, so batteries can last months. Crystal Ear is now available to help these people treat their hearing loss with a small hearing amplifier (放大器).

单选题He Useized/U the opportunity to present his proposal to the teacher.

单选题Merge the following two short sentences into one new sentence.

单选题第三篇 Sino-Japan Animosity Lessens Chinese and Japanese people view each other slightly more positively than last year, according to a survey released on Wednesday at a press conference in Beijing. The survey is jointly sponsored by China Daily and Genron NPO, a Japanese think tank similar to the American Council on Foreign Relations. It also found overwhelming agreement in both countries that Sino-Japanese relations were important. The survey is a part of the Beijing-Tokyo Forum, an annual gathering of senior government officials and representatives from Chinese and Japanese NGOs designed to improve communication and understanding between the two countries. Conducted every year for five years now, the survey focused on two different groups of people: ordinary citizens, and intellectuals. In China, the intellectual group was comprised mainly of university students from well-known schools like Peking University. In Japan, the "intellectual" group was mainly made up of previous members of Genron NPO. Among ordinary Chinese polled, 35.7 percent said they have "very good" or "relatively good" impressions of Japan, a 5.5-percentage-point increase compared with last year. 45.2 percent of Chinese students had a positive impression of Japan, two percentage points more than last year. Only 26.6 percent of Japanese have a positive impression of China, however. Still, an overwhelming majority of the respondents from each country said Sino-Japanese relations were "important" and wanted their leaders to deepen talks and cooperation with each other. But 51.9 percent of ordinary people and 42.4 percent of students in China said they saw no change in relations between the two countries over the last year. In Japan, 64.8 percent of those ordinary people and 53.4 percent of intellectuals surveyed shared the view that there was no improvement in bilateral ties this year. Historical issues and territorial disputes remain two major obstacles to improving bilateral relations, the survey found. What concerns the Chinese most are historical issues, visits by Japanese officials to Yasukuni Shrine, and the Nanjing Massacre. Perceptions on economic and trade relations have improved, though. About 47 percent of ordinary Japanese said China had been "helpful" this year in fighting the global economic crisis, compared with just 30 percent last year. The percent of Japanese intellectuals who said Chinese economic growth was good for Japan increased from 65.8 percent to 81.4 percent this year. Cooperation in East Asian issues, trade and investment, energy, and the environment and climate change top the list of common concerns that people in China and Japan want their leaders to talk about in bilateral meetings, the survey found. Civil exchanges were regarded by the most people from the both countries as an important way to improve relations. 90.7 percent of the students and 85.7 percent of the ordinary people in China and 95.8% of intellectuals and 74.8% of the ordinary people in Japan viewed civil exchanges as "important" or "relatively important". Chinese and Japanese both learn about each other"s countries mostly through television news and newspapers, the survey found.

单选题Many people in the region have died from the epidemic disease.

单选题Tom Alciere Mr. Alciere had not tried to conceal this. He posted vigorous notes on Internet discussion boards; one, in October, declared that "nobody will ever be safe until the last cop is dead." He often joined in radio talk-shows, sometimes describing himself as "Angry Tom". But in his election campaign Mr. Alciere was much mistier: he promised only to fight for individual freedom. He later said that he did not bring up his opinions about the police because nobody asked. This has prompted some soul-searching among journalists, and others, who failed to spot Angry Tom behind Candidate Tom. Mr. Alciere blames the voters. In one Internet message, he called his constituents "a bunch of fat, stupid, ugly old ladies that watch soap operas, play bingo, read tabloids and don"t know the metric system". These people, be it noted, are part of the New Hampshire electorate that is so often admired for its maverick charm, wielding much power in the choice of America"s presidents through its first-in-the-nation primary. The point is that New Hampshire pays attention to presidential races, but considers its own state law makers pretty unimportant. As Ken Gidge, a radio talk-show host puts it, quite possibly "a dog-catcher in a particular community has more power". New Hampshire"s legislature has 400 members who face re-election every two years and earn an annual salary of $100. The legislature is a "dinosaur with a tiny little brain", a symbol of New Hampshire"s disdain for government, says Arnie Arnesen, a political science professor at Franklin Pierce College. She claims that, in the past, some of its members have been found to have mental problems. No doubt others held opinions as pungent as Mr. Alciere"s; but they did not have an Internet on which to publicize them. At first, Mr. Alciere refused to leave his seat, insisting he was "not a nut". Then he said that he would step down, if 11 law makers pledged to bring his pet bills to a roll-call vote. He wants to legalize drugs, ban involuntary commitments to mental institutions, and replace state schools with online education. On January 10th, a compromise was reached, another freshman Republican agreed to submit eight of his proposals, and Mr. Alciere resigned. Some think he should have been kept around—to remind voters that they sometimes get what they deserve.

单选题Snow Ranger The two things, snow and mountains, which are needed for a ski area are the two things that cause avalanches, large mass of snow and ice crushing down the side of a mountain, often called "White Death." It was the threat of the avalanche and its record as a killer of man in the western mountains that created the snow ranger. He first started on avalanche control work in the winter of 1937, 38 at Alta, Utah, in Wasatch National Forest. This mountain valley was becoming well known to skiers. It was dangerous. In fact, more than 120 persons had lost their lives in 1936 and another 200 died in 1937 as a result of avalanches before it became a major ski area. Thus, development of Alta and other major ski resorts in the west was dependent upon controlling the avalanche. The Forest Service set out to do it, and did with its corps of snow rangers. It takes many things to make a snow ranger. The snow ranger must be in excellent physical condition. He must be a good skier and a skilled mountain climber. He should have at least a high school education, and the more college courses in geology, physics, and related fields he has, the better. He studies snow, terrain, wind, and weather. He learns the conditions that produce avalanches. He learns to forecast avalanches and to bring them roaring on down the mountainsides to reduce their killing strength. The snow ranger learns to do this by using artillery, by blasting with TNT, and by the difficult and skillful art of skiing avalanches down. The snow ranger, dressed in a green parka which has a bright yellow shoulder patch, means safety for people on ski slopes. He pulls the trigger on a 75 mm. Recoilless rifle, skis waist deep in powder testing snow stability, or talks with the ski area's operator as he goes about his work to protect the public from the hazards of deep snow on steep mountain slopes.

单选题Lateral Thinking Lateral thinking (迂回思维), first described by Edward de Bono in 1967, is just a few years older than Edward's son. You might imagine that Caspar was raised to be an adventurous thinker, but de Bono name was so famous, Caspar's parents worried that any time he would say something bright at school, his teachers might snap, "Where do you get that idea from?" "We had to be careful and not overdo it," Edward admits. Now Caspar is at Oxford— which once looked unlikely because he is also slightly dyslexic (诵读困难). In fact, when he was applying to Oxford, none of his school teachers thought he had a chance. "So then we did several thinking sessions," his father says, "using my techniques and, when he went up for the exam, he did extremely well." Soon after, Edward de Bono decided to write his latest book, "Teach Your Children How to Think", in which he transforms the thinking skills he developed for brain-storming businessmen into informal exercises for parents and children to share. Thinking is traditionally regarded as something executed in a logical sequence, and everybody knows that children aren't very logical. So isn't it an uphill battle, trying to teach them to think? "You know," Edward de Bono says, "if you examine people's thinking, it is quite unusual to find faults of logic. But the faults of perception are huge! Often we think ineffectively because we take too limited a view. " "Teach Your Child How to Think" offers lessons in perception improvement, of clearly seeing the implications of something you are saying and of exploring the alternatives.

单选题 阅读下面的短文，文中有15处空白，每处空白给出了4个选项，请根据短文的内容从 4个选项中选择1个最佳答案。 {{B}} Singing Alarms Could Save the Blind{{/B}} If you cannot see, you may not be able to find your way out of a burning building - and that could be fatal. A company in Leeds could {{U}}(51) {{/U}} all that with directional (定向的) sound alarms capable of guiding you to the exit. Sound Alert, a company run {{U}}(52) {{/U}} the University of Leeds, is installing the alarms in a residential home for {{U}}(53) {{/U}} people in Sommerset and a resource centre for the blind in Cumbria. The alarms produce a {{U}}(54) {{/U}} range of frequencies that enable the brain to {{U}}(55) {{/U}} where the sound is coming from. Deborah Withington of Sound Alert says that the alarms use most of the frequencies that can be {{U}}(56) {{/U}} by humans. "It is a burst of white noise that people say sounds like static (静电噪音) on the radio," she says. "its life-saving potential is {{U}}(57) {{/U}}." She conducted an experiment in which people were filmed by thermal-imaging (热效应成像) cameras trying to find their {{U}}(58) {{/U}} out of a large smoke-filled room. It {{U}}(59) {{/U}} them nearly four minutes to find the door without a sound alarm, {{U}}(60) {{/U}} only 15 seconds with one. Withington studies how the brain {{U}}(61) {{/U}} sounds at the university. She says that the {{U}}(62) {{/U}} of a wide band of frequencies can be pinpointed (精确地确定) more easily than the source of a narrow band. Alarms {{U}}(63) {{/U}} on the same concept have already been installed on emergency vehicles. The alarms will also include rising or falling frequencies to {{U}}(64) {{/U}} whether people should go up or down stairs. They were {{U}}(65) {{/U}} with the aid of a large grant from British Nuclear Fuels.

单选题Think and Act or Act and Think The majority of successful senior managers do not closely follow the classical rational model of first clarifying goals, assessing the problem, formulating options, estimating likelihoods of success, making a decision, and only then taking action to implement the decision. Rather, in their day-by-day tactical maneuvers, these senior executives rely on what is vaguely termed intuition to manage a network of interrelated problems that require them to deal with ambiguity, inconsistency, novelty, and surprise; and to integrate action into the process of thinking. Generations of writers on management have recognized that some practicing managers rely heavily on intuition. In general, however, such writers display a poor grasp of what intuition is. Some see it as the opposite of rationality; others view it as an excuse for capriciousness. Isenberg"s recent research on the cognitive processes of senior managers reveals that managers" intuition is neither of these. Rather, senior managers use intuition in at least five distinct ways. First, they intuitively sense when a problem exists. Second, managers rely on intuition to perform well-learned behavior patterns rapidly. This intuition is not arbitrary or irrational, but is based on years of painstaking practice and hands-on experience that build skills. A third function of intuition is to synthesize isolated bits of data and practice into an integrated picture, often in an Aha! Experience. Fourth, some managers use intuition as a check on the results of more rational analysis. Most senior executives are familiar with the formal decision analysis models and tools, and those who use such systematic methods for reaching decisions are occasionally leery of solutions suggested by these methods which run counter to their sense of the correct course of action. Finally, managers can use intuition to bypass in-depth analysis and move rapidly to engender a plausible solution. Used in this way, intuition is an almost instantaneous cognitive process in which a manager recognizes familiar patterns. One of the implications of the intuitive style of executive management is that thinking is inseparable from acting. Since managers often know what is right before they can analyze and explain it, they frequently act first and explain later. Analysis is inextricably tied to action in thinking/acting cycles, in which managers develop thoughts about their companies and organizations not by analyzing a problematic situation and then acting, but by acting and analyzing in close concert. Given the great uncertainty of many of the management issues that they face, senior managers often instigate a course of action simply to learn more about an issue. They then use the results of the action to develop a more complete understanding of the issue. One implication of thinking/acting cycles is that action is often part of defining the problem, not just of implementing the solution.

单选题She is incapable of doing the demanding job.

单选题He often finds fault with my work.

单选题Insects thrive all over, from the hottest deserts to the snow-clad peaks of lofty mountains. A. silently B. totally C. everywhere D. overhead

单选题The nursery is bright and ( cheerful )．