单选题The writer cites {{I}}the Duomo{{/I}} in the last paragraph as an example to illustrate that

单选题She always finds fault with everything. A. simplifies B. criticizes C. evaluates D. examines

单选题Pressure and Pregnancy A boy or a girl? That is usually the first question asked when a woman gives birth. Remarkably, the answer varies with where the mother lives. In rich countries the chances of its being a boy are about 5% higher than in poor ones. Equally remarkably, that figure has been falling recently. Several theories have been put forward to explain these observations. Some argue that smoking plays a role, others say that diet may be important. Neither of these ideas has been supported by evidence from large studies. But new research points to a different factor: stress. Strange as it might seem, the terrorist attacks of September 11th 2001 shed light on the enigma. Studies noting the sex of babies conceived in New York during the week of the attacks found a drop in the ratio of males to females. That is consistent with earlier studies, which revealed a similar shift in women who became pregnant during floods and earthquakes and in time of war. Moreover, a study carried out eight years ago by researchers at the University of Aarhus, in Denmark, revealed that women who suffered the death of a child or spouse from some catastrophic illness around the time they conceived were much more likely to give birth to girls than to boys. Taken together, these results suggest that acute stress to a woman at the time of conception shifts the sex ratio towards girls. However, Carsten Obel, a researcher at Aarhus who was not involved in the earlier study, wondered if the same might be true of chronic stress too. In a paper just published in Human Development , he shows that it is. Dr. Obel used a set of data collected between 1989 and 1992. During that period 8,719 expectant mothers were asked to fill in questionnaires that inquired, among other things, about their level of stress. Dr. Obel found that the more stressed a mother had been, the less chance she had of having given birth to a boy. Only 47% of children born to women in the top quartile of stress were males. That compared with 52% for women in the bottom quartile. Dr. Obel suspects the immediate cause is that male pregnancies are more likely to miscarry in response to stress than female pregnancies are, especially during the first three months. However, that is difficult to prove. More intriguing, though, is the ultimate cause, for he thinks it might be adaptive, rather than pathological. That is because the chances are that a daughter who reaches adulthood will find a mate and thus produce grandchildren. A son is a different matter. Healthy, strapping sons are likely to produce lots of grandchildren, by several women—or would have done in the hunter-gatherer societies in which most human evolution took place. Weak ones would be marginalized and maybe even killed in the cut and thrust of male competition. If a mother"s stress adversely affects the development of her fetus then selectively aborting boys, rather than wasting time and resources on bringing them to term, would make evolutionary sense. That, in turn, would explain why women in rich countries, who are less likely to suffer from hunger and disease, are more likely to give birth to sons. That this likelihood is, nevertheless, failing suggests that rich women"s lives may be more stressful than they used to be.

单选题"Liquefaction" Key to Much of Japanese Earthquake Damage The massive subduction zone earthquake in Japan caused a significant level of soil "liquefaction" that has surprised researchers with its 1 severity, a new analysis shows. "We"ve seen localized examples of soil liquefaction as extreme as this before, but the distance and 2 of damage in Japan were unusually severe," said Scott Ashord, a professor of geotechnical engineering at Oregon State University. "Entire structures were tilted and sinking into the sediments," Ashford said. "The shifts in soil destroyed water, drain and gas pipelines, crippling the utilities and infrastructure these communities need to 3 . We saw some places that sank as much as four feet." Some degree of soil liquefaction is common in almost any major earthquake. It"s a phenomenon in which soils soaked with water, particularly recent sediments or sand, can lose much of their 4 and flow during an earthquake. This can allow structures to shift or sink or 5 . But most earthquakes are much 6 than the recent event in Japan, Ashford said. The length of the Japanese earthquake, as much as five minutes, may force researchers to reconsider the extent of liquefaction damage possibly occurring in situations such as this. "With such a long-lasting earthquake, we saw 7 structures that might have been okay after 30 seconds just continued to sink and tilt as the shaking continued for several more minutes," he said. "And it was clear that younger sediments, and especially areas built on 8 filled ground, are much more vulnerable." The data provided by analyzing the Japanese earthquake, researchers said, should make it possible to improve the understanding of this soil 9 and better prepare for it in the future. Ashford said it was critical for the team to collect the information quickly, 10 damage was removed in the recovery efforts. "There"s no doubt that we"ll learn things from what happened in Japan that will help us to reduce risks in other similar 11 ," Ashford said. "Future construction in some places may make more use of techniques known to reduce liquefaction, such as better compaction to make soils dense, or use of reinforcing stone columns." Ashford pointed out that northern California has younger soils vulnerable to liquefaction—on the coast, near river deposits or in areas with filled ground. The "young" sediments, in geologic terms, may be those 12 within the past 10,000 years or more. In Oregon, for instance, that describes much of downtown Portland, the Portland International Airport and other cities. Anything 13 a river and old flood plains is a suspect, and the Oregon Department of Transportation has already concluded that 1,100 bridges in the state are at risk from an earthquake. Fewer than 15 percent of them have been reinforced to 14 collapse. Japan has suffered tremendous losses in the March 11 earthquake, but Japanese construction 15 helped prevent many buildings from collapse—even as they tilted and sank into the ground.

单选题The ex-husbands are pitiful because they have got no wives to sympathize with them.

单选题Many of novelist Carson McCullers' characters are {{U}}isolated{{/U}} people. A. solitary B. gloomy C. feeble D. frugal

单选题A Gay Biologist Molecular biologist Dean Homer has blue eyes, light brown hair and a good sense of humor. He smokes cigarettes, spends long hours in an old laboratory at the US National Institute of Health, and in his free time climbs up cliffs and points his skis down steep slopes. He also happens to be openly, matter of factly gay. What is it that makes Homer who he is? What, for that matter, accounts for the talents and traits that make up anyone"s personality? Hamer is not content merely to ask such questions; he is trying to answer them as well. A pioneer in the field of molecular psychology, Homer is exploring the role genes play in governing the very core of our individuality. To a remarkable extent, his work on what might be called the gay, thrill-seeking and quit-smoking genes reflects how own genetic predispositions. That work, which has appeared mostly in scientific journals, has been gathered into an accessible and quite readable form in Homer"s creative new book, Living with Our Genes. "You have about as much choice in some aspect of your personality." Homer and co-author Peter Copeland write in the introductory chapter, "as you do in the shape of your nose or the size of your feet." Until recently, research into behavioral genetics was dominated by psychiatrists and psychologists, who based their most compelling conclusions about the importance of genes on studies of identical twins. For example, psychologist Michael Bailey of Northwestern University famously demonstrated that if one identical twin is gay, there is about a 50% likelihood that the other will be too. Seven years ago, Hamer picked up where the twin studies left off, homing in on specific strips of DNA that appear to influence everything from mood to sexual orientation. Hamer switched to behavioral genetics from basic research, after receiving his doctorate from Harvard, he spent more than a decade studying the biochemistry of a protein that cells use to metabolize heavy metals like copper and zinc. As he was about to turn 40, however, Hamer suddenly realized he had learned as much about the protein as he cared to. "Frankly, I was bored," he remembers, "and ready for something new." Homosexual behavior, in particular, seemed ripe for exploration because few scientists had dared tackle such an emotionally and politically charged subject. "I"m gay," Hamer says with a shrug, "but that was not a major motivation. It was more of a question of intellectual curiosity—and the fact that no one else was doing this sort of research."

单选题China does a lot of trade with many countries.

单选题She {{U}}eventually{{/U}} married the most persistent one of her admirers.

单选题Which of the following is said to be the most expensive and harmful?

单选题The main idea of the passage is to explain

单选题It's natural for us to {{U}}speculate{{/U}} about the reasons for their visit.

单选题It is not easy to remain {{U}}tranquil{{/U}} when events suddenly change your life. A. calm B. upset C. steady D. severe

单选题We cannot {{U}}exist{{/U}} without air, food or water. A. expand B. rise C. live D. quit

单选题They agreed to modify their policy.

单选题The company {{U}}recommended{{/U}} that a new gas station be built here. A. ordered B. insisted C. suggested D. demanded

单选题Throughout the year 1979, there was a sharply rising rate of inflation in the United States.A. grimlyB. steeplyC. constantlyD. roughly

单选题I don"t think Peter is too young to take care of the pet dog properly .

单选题Preferences Vary on Circumstances of Dying Among terminally (晚期) ill people, attitudes differing on what they think constitute a 1 or bad death, the results of a new study suggest. Dr. Elizabeth K. Vig of the University of Washington in Seattle and colleagues interviewed 26 men with 2 heart disease or cancer. The men were asked to describe good and bad deaths, and they also answered 3 about their preferences for dying. In this small study, terminally ill men described good and bad deaths 4 , Vig said. They did not hold the same views about such issues 5 the presence of others at the very end of life or preferred location of death. Many of the men considered 6 in their sleep to be a good death. The reasons were varied and included not 7 that death was imminent (即将发生的), and that death would be painless. For close to half of the men, a prolonged (拖延的) death was 8 a bad death. Some of the men associated a prolonged death with prolonged pain, 9 others thought a prolonged death would be difficult for their families. Most men said that their 10 were very important to them, but this did not mean that they wanted relatives close at the 11 of death. "Valuing family did not also 12 wanting family present at the very end of life," Vig said. "In fact, some expressed concerns 13 burdening loved ones," Vig said. For instance, some men were worried about the emotional or 14 impact on their family members, according to the Washington researcher. Some were worried 15 their need for care would be a burden on their families, she said.

单选题Many factory workers find their jobs tiresome .