单选题By 2010 the European Commission predicts transcontinental freight traffic will have risen 50 percent as a result of European expansion, and much of that will have to cross the enormous obstacle of the Alps. Right now the only practical way for most heavy traffic to get through is by truck and tunnel. And while that could change if safer and cleaner rail lines were opened, the chances are that won't happen anytime soon. Several private trucking companies have adapted quickly and creatively to the demands of European unification. Some of the bigger truckers trace cargoes with the Global Positioning System and sophisticated computers. And if trucks also bring more road hazards and pollution, at present there is no alternative. Right now only 8 percent of European merchandise moves by rail, compared with more than 40 percent in the United States. Delays are so common that the average speed for freight is about 18km an hour. The railways have had trouble outgrowing a heritage of national rivalries and open warfare between Europe's countries. The result is what another European Commission report calls "a mosaic of badly interconnected national systems. " Language barriers remain a problem, requiring crew changes at some borders. Switching systems and signals differ. And efficiency is more of a dream than a goal. Europe's railroads still have to deal with "phantom trains" that run so late that they combine with others and disappear from the railroad's records. In an era when many companies depend on a "just-in-time" inventories to make a profit, railroads are rarely on time at all. Yet there is little official enthusiasm for changing the system. The reality is that governments have helped create the imbalance between road and rail in Europe—and government action will likely be needed to fix it. The French emphasis on using rail to move people instead of goods, for instance, has helped cripple freight service. "All the investments went to passenger traffic," says Denis Douté, director of freight services for the French rail company SNCF. Freight trains have had to find "windows" to run in between passenger trains, unlike those in the United States, which often travel on separate tracks. The further development of the freight network requires massive investments to modernize existing infrastructure and open new ones. However, the political will to fund that kind of investment is lacking, which means the citizens will have to hold their noses for a while longer.

单选题Gaining a new customer costs ______ keeping an old one.

单选题The chairman says he needs an assistant that he can ______ to take care of problems that may occur in his absence.

单选题He soon received promotion, for his superiors realized that he was a man of considerable ______. A. ability B. future C. possibility D. opportunity

单选题Woman: Did you see Ann? I heard she got laid off?. Man: No, that"s terrible. Can I do anything for her? Question: What did the woman say about Ann?

单选题{{B}}Passage Four{{/B}} Politically, the nations of the world will become more tightly integrated because of rapidly improving telecommunications and transportation. A global culture will develop rapidly as the nations colonize each other. The emerging global culture will pick and choose its clothing style, culinary (烹饪用的) specialties, drinks, games, sports, customs, and other cultural artifacts from countries everywhere. A network of superhighways will link up the nations of Asia, Europe, and Africa Macroengineers now are talking enthusiastically about a tunnel under the Mediterranean at Gibraltar (直布罗陀) to link Europe with Africa. Construction might start early in the twenty-first century, but financing such a project poses a major challenge. Meanwhile, superhighways will crisscross the Eurasian land mass, allowing residents of Shanghai and Hong Kong to drive comfortably and rapidly to Paris, Rome, and Stockholm. Travelers in a hurry will, of course, still prefer to fly, especially over long distances. Space-planes should be in service within the next 20 years, making flights from Tokyo to New York in only a couple of hours. On the ground, high-speed maglev trains (磁悬浮火车) will whisk passengers to their destinations. Humans will push out the frontiers of human settlement in all directions. The moon will acquire its first permanent base, and perhaps the first Lunarians (月球居民) will be born. The human population living in space will rise steadily, as manufacturing develops abroad spacecraft and the resources of asteroids (小行星) are explored. Advancing technology will also solve many of the problems of living and working in unfriendly environments on Earth, so the population of Antarctica and the polar regions will climb steadily. The forbidding Himalaya Mountains may experience a development boom, including, perhaps, luxury hotels for tourists on once-forbidding Mount Everest. The pace of ocean development will speed up. Ocean farming will become increasingly attractive as food prices rise. Studies have shown that the biological productivity of the ocean can be greatly increased by adding certain chemicals. An "ocean rush" could develop, and coastal nations with extensive ocean claims stand to benefit. However, conflicts between nations over ocean resources will likely intensify.

单选题I should be the ______ man to think highly of those who wake up to persons of influence. A. right B. very C. last D. same

单选题Woman: Oh, this chicken soup is spoiled. Man: Maybe we ought to tell the waiter about it. Question: What does the man mean?

单选题His business was very successful, but it was at the ______ of his family life. A. consumption B. credit C. exhaustion D. expense

单选题Woman: Bill, I want to have a few words with you about your performance in class lately.Man: I know I've gone down. I just haven't been studying as much as I ought to.Question: What is Bill's problem? A. He doesn't like to perform in class. B. He doesn't work hard enough. C. He has gone away lately. D. He feels depressed.

单选题Speaker A: Do you mind waiting, while I grab my wallet? Speaker B: ______ We've still got time. A. Take it easy. B. Yes, please. C. I sure do. D. No hurry.

单选题The computer will be capable ______ whether Princeton will have sun or rain one month away.

单选题The population of China is ______ than ______ of any other country in the world. A. larger, the one B. more, that C. larger, that D. more, the one

单选题The discrepancy in the company accounts is so ______ that no auditor could have failed to notice it. A. spontaneous B. conspicuous C. notorious D. superfluous

单选题All that he had learned only made him feel how little he knew in comparison with ______ remained to be known. A. what was B. what C. which was D. that

单选题I had the pleasure of ______ with your husband in the states when he was lecturing there three years ago.

单选题Adam Smith was the founder of economics as a distinct field of study. He wrote only one book on the subject— The Wealth of Nations , published in i776. Smith was 53 years old at the time. His friend David Hume found the book such hard going that he doubted many people would read it. But Hume was wrong—people have been reading it for more than 200 years now. The Wealth of Nations , in Smith"s view, was the result not of accumulating gold or silver, as many of that time believed, but of ordinary people working and trading in free markets. To Smith, the remarkable thing about the wealth produced by a market economy is that it does not result from any organized plan, rather, it is the unintended outcome of the actions of many people, each of whom is pursuing the incentives the market offers with his or her own interests in mind. "It is not from the benevolence of the butcher, the brewer, or the baker that we expect our dinner, but from their regard to their own interest, every individual is continually exerting himself to find out the most advantageous employment for whatever capital he can command. By directing that industry in such a manner as its produce may be of the greatest value, he intends only his own gain, and he is in this, as in many other cases, led by an invisible hand to promote an end which was a part of his intention. " Much of the discipline of economics as it has developed over two centuries consists of elaboration of ideas found in Smith"s work. The idea of the "invisible hand" of market incentives that channels people"s efforts in directions that are beneficial to their neighbors remains one of the most durable of Smith"s contributions.

单选题______ the distance was too long and the time was short, we decided not to drive to Florida. A. Discovering B. To discover4 C. To have discovered D. Discovered

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 trapped 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 (业余的) 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 that 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 (立体声音响). I count myself extremely lucky to have been born before TV became so common: I 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 (卡拉OK) liberating. It is almost the only electronic thing that gives them back their own voice. Even if their voices are hopelessly out of tune, at least it is meaningful self-entertainment.

单选题Now ways are found ______ these materials out of the rubbish and use them again. A. for taking B. to have taken C. to take D. taking