单选题Passage Four You need a new vacuum cleaner. Several are on display--different prices, different features--but there are no clerks to be found. Finally a guy in a store vest slips past. You begin to ask questions, but he knows even less about vacuum cleaners than you do. Robert Odom, shopping at the Southcenter Mall near Seattle, finds "it's harder to get waited on now. Many stores have one person covering a tremendous area. You've got to go looking to find a clerk." Retailing is big business in the United States. Every day, billions of transactions take place in the nation's 1.4 million stores. Inventive technology speeds a staggering $2.5-trillion-a-year flow of purchases. But why do those bad encounters with salespeople continue to bother us so? When Yankelovich Partners asked 2,500 shoppers what was "most important to you regarding customer service," people ranked courtesy, knowledge ability and friendliness at the top. Almost two out of three said that salespeople "don't care much about me or my needs." The American Customer Satisfaction Index, developed in 1994 at the University of Michigan's National Quality Research Center, shows customer satisfaction declining about a point a year. Retailers now average a less-than- satisfactory 71 out of 100. Even top performers have slipped. What happened? John Goodman, president of Technical Assistance Research Programs, a customer-service consulting firm, told us, "To cut costs, many retailers made the mistake of trimming staff to the bone--with obvious consequences." How good is the help once you find it? Carol Cherry, founder of Shop'n Check, which monitors customer service for retailers and other clients, says, "One of the biggest problems we encounter is unknowledgeable and untrained salespeople." Bruce Van Kleeck, a vice president of the National Retail Federation, says, "We're not training as much as we used to," and urges more ongoing training for veteran salespeople. The sad fact is, stores can get away with poor customer service because customers let them. Customer-service expert John Goodman estimates that about haft of customers continue to do business with firms they feel have mistreated them. This is "behavioral loyalty," explains Jeff Ellis of Maritz Marketing Research Inc. "We may bad-mouth a store after a bad experience, but we go back because it's close to our house or carries items we like./

单选题 {{B}}Passage Three{{/B}} Tom Brennan was working in a Philadelphia office building when he noticed a black bag. The bag contained a book. This chance discovery ended a 12-day search by the Library Company of Philadelphia for a historical treasure—a 120-page diary kept 190 years ago by Deborah Logan, "a woman who knew everybody in her day," James Green, the librarian told the magazine American Libraries. Most of the diary was a record of big events in Philadelphia. It also included a description of British soldiers burning Washington, D.C. in the war of 1812. She described President James Madison on horseback as "perfectly shaking with fear" during the troubled days. George Washington, she wrote, mistook her for the wife of a French man, and praised her excellent English. The adventure of the lost book began September 4 when Cory Luxmoore arrived from England to deliver the diary of his ancestor to the Library Company, which he and his wife considered to be the best home for the diary. Green told American Libraries he had the diary in his possession "about five minutes" when Luxmoore took it back because he had promise to show it to one other person. On returning to his hotel after showing the precious book to Green, Luxmoore was shocked to realize that he had left it in the taxi. Without any delay, Green began calling every taxi company in the city, with no luck. "I've felt sick since then," Luxmoore told reporters.According to Green, no one has yet learned how the diary came to the office building. Tom Brennan received a reward of $1000, Philadelphia gained another treasure for its history, and Luxmoore told reporters, "It's wonderful news. I'm on high."

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单选题We can learn about the {{U}}hazards{{/U}} of hunting big game in stories about their ancestors. A. adventures B. pleasures C. dangers D. consequences

单选题 Early in January 2009, the temperature in Tanana, Alaska, fell to 55 below zero F. It was so cold that when the airport runway lights stopped working, crews were {{U}} {{U}} 1 {{/U}} {{/U}}from going outside to fix them. So it was a real concern when Vicky Aldridge, a nurse practitioner at the village health center, realized that 61-year-old Winkler Bifelt was bleeding {{U}} {{U}} 2 {{/U}} {{/U}}and needed medical treatment at Fairbanks Memorial Hospital, {{U}} {{U}} 3 {{/U}} {{/U}}150 miles away. The sun was already down when Aldridge made the {{U}} {{U}} 4 {{/U}} {{/U}}telephone call to Frontier Flying Service in Fairbanks. "We told them the only way we could fly was if they could find enough vehicles to {{U}} {{U}} 5 {{/U}} {{/U}}the runway with headlights so we could land," said Bob Hajdukovich, the company's president. Aldridge's next calls went to airport and town officials, who, {{U}} {{U}} 6 {{/U}} {{/U}}, called villagers. Forty-five minutes later, enough cars, trucks, minivans and snowmobiles had lined up so that the runway was {{U}} {{U}} 7 {{/U}} {{/U}}. Pilots Nate Thompson and David Fowler landed without {{U}} {{U}} 8 {{/U}} {{/U}}, and then took off again, with Bifelt. "There is this wonderful caring {{U}} {{U}} 9 {{/U}} {{/U}}in the village," Aldridge said. "If anyone needs anything, all I have to do is to call one or two people and everything will get {{U}} {{U}} 10 {{/U}} {{/U}}."

单选题Sometime the 3-year-old child has trouble______fact from fiction. A. separating B. to separate C. having separated D. for separating

单选题These papers have helped to ______ the causes of depression and ways out of depression.

单选题 "If you had to identify, in one word, the reason the human race has not achieved, and never will achieve, its full potential, that word would be meetings." Thus spoke humorist Dave Barry, and many of us would agree. But it doesn't have to be this way. Some tips for having a good one: Start and end strongly. Running a productive meeting isn't rocket science. As Denver-based consultant Teri Schwartz notes, much of it boils down to opening and conducting every meeting with a purpose and closing it with a plan for "going forward." Problems arise when people forget this. "It's like flying a plane," says Schwartz. "Most crashes happen at takeoff and landing." Pick a leader. Four years ago, Cleveland's KeyCorp Bank adopted a new principle: Always assign someone to lead. "The worst thing you can do is go into a meeting with no one in charge," says the bank's senior EVP and chief risk officer, Charles Hyle. "It turns into a shouting match." Think small. Be realistic about what you can accomplish. "You can't solve world hunger in an hour," Schwartz says. By the same token, keep the number of attendees manageable to stimulate discussion. "When you have too many people in the room," says Hyle, "everyone clams up as if their mouths were sealed." Direct, don't dominate. "People hate it when they can't get their work done because they have to go to somebody else's meeting," says Columbia Business School professor Michael Feiner. So encourage others to speak up and get involved, especially junior staffers. "They need to believe it's not his meeting or her meeting, but 'our' meeting," Feiner says. Lay down the rules of engagement. Everyone should understand who will take notes and how decisions will be made. Remember that consensus is typically a bad thing. "It means there isn't enough dialogue or debate," says Feiner, "and that's the lifeblood of any innovative organization." Jon Petz, the author of Boring Meetings Suck, suggests assigning follow-up tasks during the final five to ten minutes, then repeating them later in a group e-mail so that there's no confusion.

单选题 I was desperately nervous about becoming car-free. But eight months ago our elderly people carrier was hit by a passing vehicle and the damage was so bad it had to be written off. No problem, I thought: we'll buy another. But the insurance payout didn't even begin to cover the costs of buying a new car—I worked out that, with the loan we'd need plus petrol, insurance, parking permits and tax, we could easily be looking at around ￡600 a month. And that's when I had my fancy idea. Why not just give up having a car at all? The more I thought about it, the more sensible it seemed. I live in London. We have a railway station behind our house, a tube station 10 minutes' walk away, and a bus stop at the end of the street. A new car club had just opened in our area, and one of its shiny little red Peugeots was parked nearby. If any family in Britain could live without a car, I reasoned, then surely we were that family? But my new car-free passion, sadly, wasn't shared by my family. My teenage daughters were horrified. What would their friends think about our family being "too poor to afford a car"? (I wasn't that bothered what they thought, and I suggested the girls could take the same approach.) My friends, too, were astonished at our plan. What would happen if someone got seriously ill overnight and needed to go to hospital? (an ambulance?) How would the children get to and from their many events? (buses and trains?) People smiled indulgently, as though this was another of my mad ideas, before saying they were sure I'd soon realize that a car wasn't a luxury, it was a necessity. Eight months on, I wonder whether we'll ever own a car again. The idea that you "have" to own a car, especially if you live in a city, is all in the mind. I live— and many other city-dwellers do too—in a community that has never been better served by public transport, and yet car ownership has never been higher. We worry about rising car costs, but we'd be better off asking something much more basic. Do I really need a car? The answer turned out to be no, and I'm a lot richer because I dared to ask the question.

单选题{{B}}Directions:{{/B}} In this part of the test, there are five short passages. Read each passage carefully, and then do the questions that follow. Choose the best answer from the four choices given and mark the corresponding letter with a single bar across the square brackets on your machine-scoring Answer Sheet. Remember Farid Seif? Mr.Seif is the Houston Iranian-American businessman who mistakenly carried a Glock handgun through security, onto a plane, all the Way from Houston to Indianapolis. When he got to his destination and realized his mistake, he alerted security officials. There was reportedly " nothing else" in Mr.Serf's carry-on besides the weapon. Yet the security screeners at George Bush International. America's eighth-busiest airport, missed it entirely. The scariest part of that story was that Transportation Security Administration officials told reporters that this type of incident was " not uncommon. " Now another Texas airport，Dallas-Fort Worth, is proving the point. This week, a high-level TSA source told the local NBC affiliate that " An undercover TSA agent was able to get through security at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport with a handgun during testing of the enhanced-imaging body scanners. " The TSA insider who blew the whistle on the test also said that none of the TSA agents who Ailed to spot the gun on the scanned image were disciplined. The source said the agents continue to work the body scanners today. This is not confidence-inspiring. If TSA screeners can't even stop guns getting through security, Why are they taking away our bottled water? Incidents like this only lend incentives to TSA critics who say the whole airport security apparatus is an enormous waste of time and money. The TSRs attitude towards the reporting of these SOrtS of messes isn't helpful, either. They only provided the NBC with a brief statement claiming that they don't reveal the results of secret testing for "security reasons" and arguing that "advanced imaging technology is an effective tool to detect both metallic and nonmetallic items hidden on passengers. "That'S pretty much the public affairs equivalent of sticking their fingers in theft ears and saying "lalalalala we can't hear you! " It is really hard to have an accountable TSA without greater transparency about the results of secret testing. Instead of leaking hints to the press that failure rates have decreased since the last public reports, the TSA should back up its whispering with actual data. If it won't, some enterprising congressional committee should order it." Trust US that this works " just isn't cutting it anymore.

单选题Several large studies have found ______ lower odds of heart disease among regular nut eaters. A. confidently B. consistently C. conceptually D. contemptuously

单选题 The term "g" (general intelligence) represents a measure of overall cognitive ability across a variety of tests. It's not the same as IQ but it does tend to correlate. Everyone agrees that "g" tends to run in families. But is this down to genetics or to environmental influences? However, no single gene has yet been conclusively linked to intelligence. Rather it appears to be a case of complex interactions on many levels between many different genes. Identical twins have exactly the same genes, while non-identical twins share about half their genes. Another feature of twins that makes them an ideal choice for studies is that they tend to be raised in pretty much the same environment. If a particular feature is the same in identical twins, but not in non-identical twins, then chances are it's mainly genes that are controlling that feature. So what do the twin studies show? Well, first degree relatives tend to have "g" correlation of about 0.4～0.5. (Perfect correlation is 1; correlation of 0 means that the two things in question are totally unrelated). Identical twins have a correlation of 0.85, while for non identical twins it's about 0.6. Which suggests that genes play a very important role, but are not the only factor, since if they were, the correlation between identical twins would be 1. Identical twins reared apart are almost as similar in "g" scores as those reared together. Adopted children and their adoptive parents have a "g" correlation of zero, while adopted children and their biological parents tend to have the same correlations as any parent-child pair. So although genes don't seem to be the only thing affecting intelligence, their effects seem to be constant and apparently not overridden by environment. Does heritability of intelligence alter over a lifetime? Remarkably, it appears so. "g" heritability climbs gradually from 20% in babies to 40% in children, peaking at 60% in adults. Why this should be is still a matter of speculation. It's been suggested that as our cognitive abilities become more complex, new genes may come into play that were not needed when brain functions were less sophisticated. Or individuals may be drawn towards environments that fit with their genetic makeup, as time goes by and genetic effects that started out small in childhood build up together during adulthood.

单选题The hospital, though very new or young in its age, was somehow able to ______ the severe medicine shortage. A. sustain B. suspend C. tolerate D. detain

单选题This young man took a law degree with {{U}}distinction{{/U}} and found a job in a well known law firm. A. difference B. perfection C. separation D. honor

单选题 The worst thing about television and radio is that they entertain us, saving us the trouble of entertaining ourselves. A hundred years ago, before all these devices were invented, if a person wanted to entertain himself with a song or a piece of music, he would have to do the singing himself or pick up a violin and play it. Now-, all he has to do is turn on the radio or TV As a result, singing and music have declined. Italians used to sing all the time. Now, they only do it in Hollywood movies. Indian movies are mostly a series of songs and dances wrapped around silly stories. As a result, they don't do much singing in Indian villages anymore. Indeed, ever since radio first came to life, there has been a terrible decline in amateur singing throughout the world. There are two reasons for this sad decline: One, human beings are astonishingly lazy. Put a lift in a building, and people would rather take it than climb even two flights of steps. Similarly, invent a machine that sings, and people would rather let the machine sing than sing themselves. The other reason is people are easily embarrassed. When there is a famous, talented musician readily available by pushing a button, which amateur violinist or pianist would want to try to entertain family or friends by himself ? These earnest reflections came to me recently when two CDs arrived in the mail: They are historic recordings of famous writers reading their own works. It was thrilling to hear the voices from a long dead past in the late 19th century. But today, reading out loud anything is no longer common. Today, we sing songs to our children until they are about two, we read simple books to them till they are about five, and once they have learnt to read themselves, we become deaf. We're alive only to the sound of the TV and the stereo. I count myself extremely lucky to have been born before TV became so common. 1 was about six before TV appeared. To keep us entertained, my mother had to do a good deal of singing and tell us endless tales. It was the same in many other homes. People spoke a language; they sang it, they recited it; it was something they could feel. Professional actors' performance is extraordinarily revealing. But I still prefer my own reading. Because it's mine. For the same reason, people find karaoke liberating. It is almost the only electronic thing that gives them back their own voice. Even if their voices are hoarse and hopelessly out of tune. At least it is meaningful self-entertainment.

单选题This honor recognizes the work done by these private enterprises {{U}}on behalf{{/U}} of charity. A. in the face of B. in the process of C. in the course of D. in the interests of

单选题The sales manager was so {{U}}adamant{{/U}} about her idea that it was out of the question for any one to talk her out of it. A. adaptable B. anxious C. firm D. talkative

单选题Residents in big cities in China tend to {{U}}dispose of{{/U}} some old furniture when moving. A. get possession of B. get rid of C. hold on to D. keep track of

单选题A.AnnlikesorangeT-shirtsbest.B.AnnhatestowearanorangeT-shirtinthedaytime.C.AnnwearsanorangeT-shirttokeepmosquitoesaway.D.Themandoesn'tlikeanorangeT-shirt.

单选题Passage One Headphones used with MP3 digital music players like the iPod may interfere with heart pacemakers (起搏器) and implantable defibrillators (除颤器) , U.S. researchers said. The MP3 players themselves posed no threat to pacemakers and defibrillators, used to normalize heart rhythm. But strong little magnets inside the headphones can foul up the devices if placed within 1.2 inches of them, the researchers told an American Heart Association meeting in New Orleans. Dr. William Maisel of the Medical Device Safety Institute in Boston led a team that tested eight models of MP3 player headphones, including clip-on and earplug types, in 60 defibrillator and pacemaker patients. They placed the headphones on the patients' chests, directly over the devices. The headphones interfered with the heart devices in about a quarter of the patients--14 of the 60--and interference was twice as likely in those with a defibrillator than with a pacemaker. Another study presented at the meeting showed that cellular phones equipped with wireless technology known as Bluetooth are unlikely to interfere with pacemakers. A pacemaker sends electrical impulses to the heart to speed up or slow heart rhythm. The magnet, however, could make it deliver a signal no matter what the heart rate is, the researchers said. An implantable defibrillator signals the heart to normalize its rhythm if it gets too fast or slow. A magnet could de-activate it, making it ignore an abnormal heart rhythm instead of delivering an electrical shock to normalize it. The devices usually go back to working the right way after the headphones are removed, the researchers said. "The main message here is: it's fine for patients to use their headphones normally, meaning they can listen to music and keep the headphones in their ears. But what they should not do is put the headphones near their device," Maisel said in a telephone interview. So that means people with pacemakers or defibrillators should not place the headphones in a shirt pocket or coat pocket near the chest when they are not being used, and should not place them over their chest or have others who are wearing headphones rest their head on the patient's chest, Maisel said.