复合题Directions: In this part, there is a passage with ten mistakes, one in each numbered line. You may have to add a word, cross out a word or change a word. Then mark out the mistakes and put the corr

复合题Directions: In this section there are reading passages followed by multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.Passage one.Throughout the nation’ s more than 15, 000 school districts, widely differing approaches to teaching science and math have emerged. Though there can be strength in diversity, a new international analysis suggests that this variability has instead contributed to lackluster (平淡的) achievement scores by U. S. children relative to their peers in other developed countries.Indeed, concludes William H. Schmidt of Michigan State University, who led the new analysis, “no single intellectually coherent vision dominates U. S. educational practice in math or science. ” The reason, he said, “is because the system is deeply and fundamentally flawed. ”The new analysis, released this week by the National Science Foundation in Arlington, Va. , is based on data collected from about 50 nations as part of the Third International Mathematics and Science Study.Not only do approaches to teaching science and math vary among individual U. S. communities, the report finds, but there appears to be little strategic focus within a school district’ s curricula, its textbooks, or its teachers’ activities. This contrasts sharply with the coordinated national programs of most other countries.On average, U. S. students study more topics within science and math than their international counterparts do. This creates an educational environment that “is a mile wide and an inch deep, ” Schmidt notes.For instance, eighth graders in the United States cover about 33 topics in math versus just 19 in Japan. Among science courses, the international gap is even wider. U. S. curricula for this age level resemble those of a small group of countries including Australia, Thailand, Iceland, and Bulgaria. Schmidt asks whether the United States wants to be classed with these nations, whose educational systems “share our pattern of splintered visions” but which are not economic leaders.The new report “couldn’ t come at a better time, ” says Gerald Wheeler, executive director of the National Science Teachers Association in Arlington. “The new National Science Education Standards provide that focused vision, ” including the call “to do less, but in greater depth. ”Implementing the new science standards and their math counterparts will be the challenge, he and Schmidt agree, because the decentralized responsibility for education in the United States requires that any reforms be tailored and instituted one community at a time.In fact, Schmidt argues, reforms such as these proposed national standards “face an almost impossible task, because even though they are intellectually coherent, each becomes only one more voice in the babble. ”

复合题Directions: In this section there are reading passages followed by multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.Passage oneAre some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes. To some extent our intelligence is given to us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius out of a child born with low intelligence. On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings. Thus the limits of a person’ s intelligence are fixed at birth, whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment. This view, now is held by most experts, can be supported in a number of ways.It is easy to show that intelligence is something that we are born with. The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be intelligence. Thus if we take two strangers by chance from the population, it seems that their degree of intelligence will be completely different. If, on the other hand, we compare two twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other. Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth.Imagine now that we take two twins and put them in different environments. We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory separately where the work is boring. We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this shows that environment as well as birth plays an important role. This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all are likely to have similar degree of intelligence.

复合题Theobjectiveofagricultureistocollectandstoresolarenergyasfoodenergyinplantandanimalproducts,whicharethendistributedtoserveasfoodforthehumanpopulation.Tocollectsolarenergyinplantsandanimalsandtohelpcropsconvertthissolarenergyintofoodenergyandthentodistributethefoodproducts,farmersspendfossil-fuelenergyandelectricenergyintillingthesoil,fertilizing,irrigating,harvesting,andprocessing.Newkindsofenergyhavehelpedtomakearevolutioninfarmlife,farmwork,andfarmoutputsince1900.OnlyahundredyearsagointheUnitedStatesmostpeoplewereruralpeople:farmers,planters,trappers,andpioneers.Inthenineteenthcentury,mostworkwasdoneonfarmsbymusclepower,humanoranimal.Thechiefsourcesofenergyforheatingwerewoodandcoal.Manyfarmswerefortunateenoughtohaveawindmillforpumpingwater.In1900onefarmworkerwasabletosupplytheneedsofaboutsevenpeople.Incontrast,afarmworkertodaysuppliestheneedsof50people.Thefirstmajorcontributionsthatenergymadetofarmingwereintheuseofcommercialfertilizer,anenergy-intensiveproduct,andinfactory-madefarmmachinery,whichrequiredenergytoproduce.Motorizedfarmmachinery,whichalsorequiredenergyforitsoperation,firstbecamepracticalforthefarmeraround1910whenfarmtractorsbecameavailable.Duringtheperiodof1900to1971,thesizeoftheaveragefarmintheUnitedStatesmorethandoubledwhilethefarmpopulationdeclinedtoone-thirdofits1900level.Thischangewasmadepossiblebytheintroductionofnewtechnologiestothefarmingprocess,includingtheuseoftractors,commercialfertilizers,motorizedharvesters,andnewscientificmethodsoffarming.By1975therewereapproximately5milliontractorsinuseintheUnitedStateswithatotalcapacityof250millionhorsepower,consuming21gallonsofgasolineand20gallonsofdieselfuelpercapitaintheUnitedStates.Theuseofcommercialfertilizergrewbyafactorofapproximately14duringtheperiod1900to1970andisacriticalfactorintheabilitytoincreasecropyieldperunitoflandcultivated.

复合题Periodically in history, there come periods of greattransition in which work changes its meaning. There was atime, perhaps 10, 000 years ago, when human beings stoppedfeeding themselves by hunting game and gathering plants,and increasingly turned to agriculture. In a way, thatrepresented the invention of “work” .Then, in the later decades of 18th century, as theIndustrial Revolution began in Great Britain, there wasanother transition. In which the symbols of work were nolonger the hoe and the plow; they replaced by the mill andthe assembly line.And now we stand at the brink of a change that will be thegreatest of all, for work in its old sense will disappearaltogether. To most people, work has always been aneffortful exercising of mind or body—compelled by thebitter necessary of earning the necessities of life—plusan occasional period of leisure in which to rest or havefun.With the Industrial Revolution, machinery—powered firstby steam, then by electricity and internal combustionengines—took over the hard physical tasks and relievedthe strain on human and animal muscles.There remained, however, the “easier” labor—the laborthat required the human eyes, ears, judgment and mind butno sweating. It nevertheless had its miseries, for ittended to be dull,repetitions, and boring. And there isalways the sour sense of endlessly doing somethingunpleasant under compulsion.And yet, such jobs have been characteristic of the humancondition in the first three quarters of the 20th century.They made too little demand on the human mind and spiritto keep them freshand alive, made too much demand for anymachine to serve the purpose—until now.The electronic computer, invented in the 1940’ s andimprove at the breakneck speed, was a machine that , forthe first time, seemed compact enough, versatile enoughand (most important of all) cheap enough to serve as thebrains of affordable machines that their place on theassembly line and in the office.This means that the dull, the boring, the repetitious, themind-stultifying work will begin to disappear from the jobmarket—is already beginning to disappear. This, ofcourse, will introduce two vital sets of problem—isalready introducing them.First, what will happened to the human beings who havebeing working at these disappearing jobs?Second, what will happen to the human beings that will dothe news that will appear—jobs are demanding, interestingand mind-exercising, but that require a high-tech level ofthought and education?Clearly there will be a painful period of transition, onethat is starting already, and one that will be in fullswing as the 21st century begins.The first problem, that of technological unemployment,will be temporary, for it will arise out of the fact thatthere is now a generation of the employees who have notbeen educated to fit the computer age. However, (inadvantage nations, at least) they will be the lastgeneration to be so lacking, so that with them thisproblem will disappear or, at least, diminish to the pointof noncrisis proportions.The second problem, that of developing a large enoughnumber of high-tech minds to run a high-tech world—willbe no problem at all, once we adjust our thinking.In the first place, the computer age will introduce atotal revolution in our notions of educations, and isbeginning to do so now. The coming of the computer willmark learning fun, and a successfully stimulated mind willlearn quickly. It will undoubtedly turn out that the“average” child is much intelligent and creative than wegenerally suppose. There was a time, after all. When theability to read and write was confined to a very smallgroup of “scholars” and almost all of them would havescouted the notion that just about anyone could learn theintricacies of literacy. Yet with mass education generalliteracy came to be a fact.Right now, creativity seems to be confined to a very few,and it’ s easy to suppose that that is the way it must be.However, with the proper availability of computerizededucation, humanity will surprise the elite few onceagain.According to the author, why will there be a painful period of transition in full swing as the 21st century begins?

复合题Based on the sales figures, consumers are increasingly content to turn to the web to get their holiday shopping done. 【A1】________by survey data and heaping evidence, however, we’re increasingly dissatisfied with online shopping in general. By most accounts, the Christmas we have just passed was a terrific holiday 【A2】________for e-commerce. Online sales on Cyber Monday increased 【A3】________17% over last year, and e-retail sales shot up even more sharply on Thanksgiving and Black Friday. Overall, e-commerce purchases were up around 15% for the season, and, according to comScore, at least 12 days during the season 【A4】________ the $1 billion mark for online sales.What’s more, December 25 may have come and gone, but we’re still in the thick of the holiday shopping season, thanks to post-Christmas and post-New Year’s sales—and especially thanks to the increased popularity of gift cards. Yet as more consumers turn to online shopping before and after the holidays, more critics are 【A5】________ their dissatisfaction with e-retail. The biggest argument in favor of online shopping is that it eliminates the 【A6】________ of having to go to a store, but still, online shopping is hardly without troubles. Perhaps the most public critique of online shopping 【A7】________ in a New York Times op-ed just before Christmas. In it, the author wrote of her experience purchasing and shipping holiday gifts. The piece’s title—”The Hell of Online Shopping”—reveals that the experience didn’t 【A8】________ so well. Among the problems: purchased items were shipped to the 【A9】________ people; presents that were supposed to be gift-wrapped never were; cards alerting the recipients 【A10】________ the goods came from were buried deep inside packages or weren’t included at all; and, of course, clearing up these matters 【A11】________customer service was a maddening, time-consuming process. Complaints about online shopping aren’t limited to obvious cases in【A12】________ orders were screwed up. In its annual Holiday E-Retail Shopping Index, the analytics firm ForeSee asked more than 24,000 consumers about their recent online shopping experiences, and overall, we’re not overjoyed. On a 100-point satisfaction scale, e-retail as a 【A13】________ received a score of 78, down from 80 in the 2011 holiday season.While there are many reasons【A14】________consumers seem to be less satisfied with e-retail, the growing trend of disappointment may in fact be benefiting the world’s largest e-retailer, Amazon. Every time a retailer screws up a customer’s 【A15】________ , and every time a site tries to sell items at absurdly high prices, Amazon looks better and better by comparison. Not only is Amazon arguably the best in the business with speedy, efficient processes for purchasing and customer service, it is also famous for especially competitive pricing. It’s no wonder that for the eight year in a row, Amazon received the highest overall customer satisfaction rating.

复合题In the following article, some paragraphs have beenremoved. For questions 16-20, choose the most suitableparagraphs from the list A~F to fit into each of thenumbered gaps. There is ONE paragraph which does not fitin any of the gaps. Mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1.Grow-ups, as any child will tell you, are monstroushypocrites, especially when it comes to television. It isto take their minds off their own telly-addiction thatadults are so keen to hear and talk about the latestreport on the effects of programs on children. Surely allthat nonsense they watch must be desensitizing them,making them vicious, shallow, acquisitive, lessresponsible and generally sloppy about life and death. Butno, not a scrap of convincing evidence from thesociologists and experts in the psyches of children.For many years now parents, teachers and newspaper editorshave been disappointed by the various studies, andsociologists are beginning to fail into disrepute forfailing to come attuned to the desired results. The latestreport, “Popular TV and Schoolchildren” , perhaps moreattuned to the authoritarian times in which we live,assumes greater moral leadership and hands out laurels andwooden spoons to TV shows and asserts, as educatorsshould, the importance of having values.The kids, on the other hand, will not be switching offKenny Everett now they have been told how sexist andtrivial he is. (As if they didn’ t know! ) Nor, I suspect,will they have become more sexist and trivial themselvesfrom watching him.The nation has lived with the box for more than 30 yearsnow and has passed from total infatuation—revivedtemporarily by the advent of color—to the present casualobsession which is not unlike that of the well-adjustedalcoholic. And now the important and pleasant truth isbreaking, to the horror of program makers and theirdetractors alike, that television really does not affectmuch at all.This is tough on those diligent professionals who produceexcellent work; but since—as everyone agrees—awfulprograms far outnumber the good, it is a relief to knowthe former cannot do much harm. Television cannot evenmake impressionable children less pleasant.And if TV imparts little bad, there is no reason to thinkit does much good either. It has failed spectacularly tomake our children more callous and violent, and it hasfailed by way of “Jackanory” or “Blue Peter” to forgea young nation of origami adepts, or dog handlers orbuilders of lawn mower out of coat hangers and wire corks.Television turns out to be no great transformer of mindsor society. We are not, en masse(全体地) , as it was oncepredicted we would be, fantastically well-informed aboutother culture or about the origins of life on earth.People do not remember much from television documentarybeyond how good it was. Only those who know somethingabout the subject in the first place retain theinformation.Documentariesare not what most people want to watch anyway. Television is at its most popular when it celebrates its own present. Its ideal subjects are those that need not be remembered and can be instantly replaced,where what matters most is happening now and what is going to happen next. Sport, news, panel games, cop shows, long- running soap opera, situation comedies—these occupy us only for as long as they are on.However good is or bad it is, a night’ s viewing is wonderfully forgettable. It’ s a little sleep, it’ s entertainment; our morals and for that matter, our brutality, remain intact. The box is further neutralized by the sheer quantity people watch. The more of it you see, the less any single bit of it matter. Of course, some programs are infinitely better than other. There are gifted people working in television. But seen from a remoter perspective—say , four hours a night viewing for three months—the quality of individual programs means as much as the quality of each car in the rush-hour traffic. For the heavy viewer, TV has only two meaningful states— on and off. What are the kids doing? Watching TV. No need to talk what, the answer is sufficient. Soon, I’ ll go up there and turn it off. Like a light bulb it will go out and the children will do something else.It appears the nation’ s children spend more time in frontof their TVs than in the classroom. Their heads are fullof TV—but that’ s all, just TV. The Kojak violence theywitness is TV violence, sufficient to itself. It dose notbrutalize them to the point where they cannot grieve theloss of a pet, or be shocked at some minor playgroundviolence. Children, like everyone else, know thedifference between TV and life. TV knows its place. Itimparts nothing but itself; it has its own rules, its ownlanguage, its own priorities.It is because this little glowing, chattering screenbarely resembles life at all that it remains so usefullyineffectual. To stare a brick wall would waste time.Whatever the TV/video industry might now say, televisionwill never have the impact on civilization that theinvention of the written word has had. The book—hislittle hinged thing—is cheap, portable, virtuallyunbreakable, endlessly reusable, has instant replayfacilities and in slow motion if you want it, needs nopower lines, batteries or aerials, work in panes and traintunnels, can be stored indefinitely without muchdeterioration.Why does the author say that the “the box is neutralized by the quantity people watch” ?

复合题Directions: There are two passages in this section. Eachpassage is followed by five questions or incompletestatements. Read the passages carefully. Then answer thequestions or complete the statements in no more than 10words. Write your answers on your Answer Sheet. (2 pointsfor each question)Passage OneAmong the problems afflicting a burgeoning worldpopulation, over crowding, poverty and environmentaldegradation are combining to put at risk the very essenceof our survival-food. “If by the beginning of the nextcentury we have failed to satisfy the very basic needs ofthe two billion very poor and four billion poor, life forthe rest of us could be extremely risky anduncomfortable, ” predicts Dr. Klaus Lampe of theInternational Rice Research Institute (IRRI) in thePhilippines. This is a highly threatening, even terrifyingprediction for Asia, where 70 percent of the world’ s poorlive but where reserves of good quality arable land havepractically run out. Although the world regards Asia asthe focus of an economic and industrial miracle, withoutadequate supplies of food, Lampe says, chaos could easilyresult in many countries. And the impact will be feltwidely throughout the region. In the 1990s alone, he says,the cities of Asia will be swollen by a further 500million people-nearly equal to the population of theUnited States and European Community combined. The onlygrowing population in Asia is that of the poor. Primeproductive land is being used for city expansion andbuilding roads, while thousands of hectares are beingtaken out of production each year because of salinity oralkalinity.From the mid-1960s’ when the Green Revolution began, Asianfood production doubled through a combination of high-yielding crops, expanded farming area and greaterintensification. From now on, growing enough food willdepend almost entirely on increasing yield from the same,or smaller, area of land. However, a mysterious threat isemerging in the noticeably declining yields of rice fromareas that have been most intensively farmed. Unlessscientists can unravel why this is so, food output in Asiamay actually stagnate at a time when population willdouble. Such issues, Lampe argues, while seen as remote bymany countries and international corporations will strikeat their economic base as well. Societies that are toopoor or driven by internal strife and civil war will bebad for investment or as markets for goods. Pressure froma rising tide of environmental and political refugees mayalso be felt.One significant factor undermining agricultural economiesof developing countries has been the farm trade warbetween the U. S. and the E. C. “We talk aboutenvironmental degradation and dangerous chemicals, yetspend billions of U. S. dollars and ECUs producing thingswe don’ t want which ruin local production systems andincomes for poor people, ” Lampe says. And instead ofdeveloped countries helping struggling nations to developsustainable food production systems, their policies tendto erode and destroy them.When world grain prices are bad, farmers in Asia’ suplands turn from rice to cash crops to supplement fallingincomes, or clear larger areas of rainforest withcatastrophic environmental consequences within just a fewyears. Cleared rainforest soils are highly erosive; evenwhere they are not, they rapidly become acid and toxicunder intense cultivation and plants die, forcing theclearing of ever large areas. Research at the IRRI hasindicated that intensive rice production-growing two orthree crops a year on the same land-is showing signs ofyield declines as great as 30 percent.Evidence for this comes from as far a field as India, thePhilippines and Indonesia. At the same time, agriculturalresearch worldwide has been contracting as governments,non-government bodies and private donors reduce fundingbecause of domestic economic pressures. This means, Lampesays, that at risk is the capacity to solve such problemsas rice yield decline and research to breed the newgeneration of super-yielding crops. Yet rice will beneeded to feed more than half the human population-anestimated 4. 5 billion out of 8. 3 billion people by2030Compared with the building of weapons of massdestruction or the mounting of space missions to Mars,Lampe says, the devising of sustainable farming systemshas little political appeal to most governments: To them Isay: I hope you can sleep well at night.

复合题Passage AMurovyovka Nature Park, a private nature reserve, is the result of the vision and determination of one man, Sergei Smirenski. The Moscow University Professor has gained the support of international funds as well as local officials, businessmen and collective farm.Thanks to his efforts, the agricultural project is also under way to create an experimental farm to teach local farmers how to farm without the traditionally heavy use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. Two Wisconsin farmers, Don and Ellen Padley, spent last summer preparing land in Tanbovka district, where the park is located, and they will return this summer to plant it.Specialists from the University of Utah also came to study the local cattle industry, looking to develop possibilities for beef exports to Japan.Separately, 10 New Jersey school teachers will spend the summer in the district running summer camps for the local children that will stress field trips and lecture on the nature around them.These programs, particularly the agricultural project, are getting some funding support from the United States, including from the MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Brothers Fund, and the US Agency for International Development. The Trust for Mutual Understanding and the Weeden Foundation are also supporting the International Crane Foundation’ s work in creating the park.The World Bank is funding a small project to study the possibilities for eco-tourism in the Amur basin region. Delta Dream Vacations, a Delta Airlines subsidiary, is looking into flights to Khabarovsk and Vladivostok for ecology tours, with some of the money going to support the zapovedniks [totally wild preserves used only for scientific research] in the region.But this money has also generated a jealous attempt by the local wildlife service to block the Murovyovka project.They said, “Give us their money, and we’ ll do better, ” Smirenski says. They went to the local court to get a court order to halt the contract. Although they were successful at that level, the Amur regional government, with encouragement from Moscow, has already moved to reverse the decision as illegal.“I don’ t pay attention to this negative side. ” Smirenski says in characteristic optimistic fashion. “I decided we should continue to create. ”Beyond Murovyovka, there are even vaster grasslands and wetlands in the Amur basin that are vital nesting areas for rare birds such as the eastern white stork, and the red-crowned, white-naped, and hooded cranes. A complex of 100, 000 hectares, for example, lies largely unprotected in Zhuravalini [literally “a place for cranes” ] downstream from Murovyovka. Creation of a national park, allowing for tourist use, has been proposed for this area.A key part of the conservation strategy is to gain the support of regional governments by getting them to see that such internationally backed nature projects can lead to business and other ties, particularly to countries like Japan and China. For example, the cranes that nest in Russia have been tracked by satellite to wintering grounds in Izumi, on Japan’ s southern Kyushu Island. This linkage has proved useful in bringing regional officials from both countries together.Last summer, 100 Japanese school children from the Tama region outside of Tokyo came to Khabarovsk on the Amur to experience the kind of untouched nature that has disappeared from Japan. As part of the exchange, the Mayor of Tama donated 26 second-hand fire trucks to his counterpart. “After this, the mayor of Khabarovsk said, ‘Now I will listen to you, about your birds and all your problems, ’ ” recounts Smirenski. “Now the officials understand what cranes mean to them. ”According to the passage, what links Khabarovsk and Izumi?

复合题Passage BDavid Landes, author of The Wealth and Poverty of Nations:Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor, credits the worlds economic and social progress over the last thousand years to “Western civilization and its dissemination. ” The reason, he believes, is that Europeans invented systematic economic growth. First, science developed as an autonomous method of intellectual inquiry that successfully disengaged itself from the social constraints of organized religion and from the political constraints of centralized authority. Though European lacked a political center, its scholars benefited from the use of single vehicle of communication: Latin. This common tongue facilitated an adversarial discourse in which new ideas about the physical world could be tested, demonstrated, and then accepted across the continent and eventually across the world. Second, Landes espouses a generalized form of Max Webers thesis that the values of work, initiative, and in vestment made the difference for Europe. Despite his emphasis on science, Landes does not stress the nation of rationality as such.In his views, “what counts is work, thrift, honesty,patience, [and] tenacity. ” The only route to economic success for individuals or states is working hard, spending less than you earn, and investing the rest in productive capacity. This is his fundamental explanation of the problem posed by his books subtitle: “Why Some Are So Rich and Some So Poor. ” For historical reasons—an emphasis on private property, an experience of political pluralism, a temperate climate, and an urban style—Europeans have, on balance, followed those practices and therefore have prospered. Third, and perhaps most important, Europeans were learners. They “learned rather greedily, ” as Joel Mokyr put it in a review of Landes book. Even if Europeans possessed indigenous technologies that gave them an advantage (spectacles, for example) , as Landes believes they did, their most vital asset was the ability to assimilate knowledge from around the world and put it to use—as in borrowing the concept of zero and rediscovering Aristotles Logic from the Arabs and taking paper and gunpowder from the Chinese via the Muslim world. Lnades argues that a systematic resistance to learning from other cultures had become the greatest handicap of the Chinese by the 18th Century and remains the greatest handicap of Arab countries today.Although his analysis of European expansion is almost nonexistent, Landes doesnt argue that Europeans were beneficent bearers of civilization to benighted world. Rather, he relies on his own commonsense law: “When one group is strong enough to push another around and standsto gain by it, it will do so. ” In contrast to the new school of world historians, Landes believes that specific cultural values enabled technological advances that in turn made some Europeans strong enough to dominate people in other parts of the world. Europeans therefore proceeded to do so with great viciousness and cruelty. By focusing on their victimization in this process, Landes holds, some postcolonial states have wasted energy that could have been put into productive work and investment. If one could sum up Landess advice to these states in one sentence, it might be “Stop whining and get to work. ” This is particularly important, indeed hopeful, advice, he would argue, because success is not permanent. Advantages are not fixed, gains from trade are unequal, and different societies react differently to market signals. Therefore, not only is there hope for undeveloped countries, but developed countries have little cause to be complacent, because the current situation “will press hard” on them.The thrust of studies like Landess is to identify those distinctive features of European civilization that lie behind.Europes rise to power and the creation of modernity more generally. Other historians have placed a greater emphasis on such features as liberty, individualism, and Christianity. In a review essay, the art historian Craig Clunas listed some of the less well-known linkages that have been proposed between Western culture and modernity, including the propensities to think the quantitatively, enjoys pornography, and consumes sugar. All such proposals assume the fundamental aptness of the question: What elements of European civilization led to European success? It is a short leap from this assumption to outright triumphalism. The paradigmatic book of this school is, of course, The End of History and the Last Man, in which Francis Fukuyama argues that after the collapse of the Nazism and communism in the 20th Century, the only remaining model for human organization in the industrial and communications ages is a combination of market economics and limited, pluralist, democratic government.Landes believes that _____.

复合题Directions: Read the following passages and then answer IN COMPLETE SENTENCES the questions which follow each passage. Use only information from the passage you have just read and write your answer

复合题Passage 2In science, a theory is a reasonable explanation of observed events that are related. A theory ofteninvolves an imaginary model that helps scientists picture the way an observed event could beproduced. A good example of this is found in the kinetic molecular theory, in which gases arepictured as being made up of many small particles that are in constant motion.A useful theory, in addition to explaining past observations, helps to predict events that have not asyet been observed. After a theory has been publicized, scientists design experiments to test the theory.If observations confirm the scientists’ predictions, the theory is supported. If observations do notconfirm the predictions, the scientists must search further. There may be a fault in the experiment, orthe theory may have to be revised or rejected.Science involves imagination and creative thinking as well as collecting information and performingexperiments. Facts by themselves are not science. As the mathematician Jules Henri Pioneered said,“Science is built with facts just as a house is built with bricks, but a collection of facts cannot becalled science any more than a pile of bricks can be called a house.”Most scientists start an investigation by finding out what other scientists have learned about aparticular problem. After known facts have been gathered, the scientist comes to the part of theinvestigation that requires considerable imagination. Possible solutions to the problem areformulated. These possible solutions are called hypotheses.In a way, any hypothesis is a leap into the unknown. It extends the scientist’s thinking beyond theknown facts. The scientist plans experiments, performs calculations, and makes observations to testhypotheses. For without hypotheses, further investigation lacks purpose and direction. Whenhypotheses are confirmed, they are incorporated into theories.In the last paragraph, the author refers to hypothesis as “a leap into the unknown” in order to show that hypotheses _____.

复合题The American dream has taken hit after hit the past half- decade. It just suffered another blow, based on a new poll. Yet young people seem determined to turn things around, giving us all cautious cause for optimism.When writer James Truslow Adams coined the phrase in 1931 he called the American dream “that dream of a land in which life should be better and richer and fuller for everyone, with opportunity for each according to ability or achievement. ” So it was all about opportunity, which largely has disappeared amid a poor job market, heavy debts, and wages that have stalled for 25 years.In more recent times, the American dream became closely identified with home ownership. But that idea suffered a blow in the housing bust. Just 65% of Americans own their home, down from 69% pre-bust, and four out of five Americans are rethinking the reasons they’ d want to buy a house.Perhaps the newest definition of the American dream comes from the National Endowment for Financial Education, which found that nearly half of adults define the dream as a comfortable retirement. Most just want to quit work at 65 or 67 and not worry. That’ s their dream, which far outpaces the 17% who cling to homeownership as the embodiment of Adam’ s vision.Now we see yet another blow to yet another version of the American dream, which at times has been described as each generation doing better than the last. Seven in 10 Americans say that when today’ s children are adults, they’ ll have less financial security than adults today, according to an Allstate/National Journal Heartland Monitor poll.Adults overwhelmingly believe childhood and parenthood were better for earlier generations; 79% say it was better to have been a child when they were young. Most believe today’ s kids will have a poorer chance of holding a steady job and owning a home without too much debt, and that their children will have less opportunity to achieve a comfortable retirement.The downbeat view doesn’ t stop here. Adults also believe that today’ s children will display less patriotism, a poorer work ethic, and less civic responsibility when they come of age.All this pessimism would be deadly troublesome if not for one thing: young people aren’ t buying it. More than half of teens in the poll say it’ s better to be a kid today, and nearly half say that when they are their parents’ age they will have more opportunity—not less.Maybe that’ s because young people learned a lot during the Great Depression. They saw their parents get socked. But with no real assets at risk themselves they came through it unscathed, financially speaking, and yet took the lessons to heart and are more conscious about spending and debt than Mom and Dad have been.Maybe that’ s because they’ ve seen stocks come roaring back and the housing market begin to recover. Mom and Dad may not be whole yet, and still stinging. But those who began their careers in the past five years and were smart enough to sign up for a 401 (k) have been building wealth steadily.Maybe that’ s because, stereotypes be damned, they know something about their work ethic that boomers and other elders do not: Millennials are pretty darned committed to their careers—they just see it in different terms.Or maybe it’ s just because young people can’ t imagine life without the internet or smartphones or, well, reality TV. Toddlers today play on iPads. With mobile technology, young professionals can get their jobs done at the beach. By comparison, older generations grew up in the dinosaur age. We had outrageous long-distance bills, three channels and a TV with rabbit ears. Dude, what’ s so great about that?

复合题Self-esteemiswhatpeoplethinkaboutthemselves—whetherornottheyfeelvaluedandwhenfamilymembershaveself-respect,pride,andbeliefinthemselves,thishighself-esteemmakesitpossibletocopewiththeeverydayproblemsofgrowingup.Successfulparentbeginsbycommunicatingtochildrenthattheyarelovedfornootherreasonsthanjustbecausetheyexist.Throughtouchandtoneofvoiceparentstelltheirinfantswhetherornottheyarevalued,specialandloved,anditisthesemessagesthatformthebasisofthechild’sself-esteem.Whenchildrengrowupwithloveandaremadetofeellovabledespitetheirmistakesandfailures,theyareabletointeractwithothersinaresponsible,honestandlovingway.Ahealthyself-esteemisaresourceforcopingwhendifficultiesarise,makingiteasiertoseeaproblemastemporary,manageable,andsomethingfromwhichtheindividualcanemerge.If,however,childrengrowupwithoutloveandwithoutfeelingsofself-worth,theyfeelunlovableandworthlessandexpecttobecheated,takenadvantageofandlookeddownuponbyothers.Ultimatelytheiractionsinvitethistreatment,andtheirself-defeatingbehaviorturnsexpectationsintoreality.Theydonothavethepersonalresourcestohandleeverydayproblemsinahealthyway,andlifemaybeviewedasjustonecrisisafteranother.Withoutahealthyself-esteemtheymaycopebyactingoutproblemsratherthantalkingthemoutorbywithdrawingandremainingindifferenttowardsthemselvesandothers.Theseindividualsgrowuptoliveisolated,lonelylives,lackingtheabilitytogivethelovethattheyhaveneverreceived.Self-esteemisakindofenergy,andwhenitishigh,peoplefeelliketheycanhandleanything.Itiswhatonefeelswhenspecialthingsarehappeningoreverythingisgoinggreat.Awordofpraise,asmile,agoodgradeonareportcard,ordoingsomethingthatcreatespridewithinoneselfcancreatetheenergy.Whenfeelingsabouttheself-havebeenthreatenedandself-esteemislow,everythingbecomesmoreofaneffort.Itisdifficulttohear,see,orthinkclearly,andothersseemrude,inconsiderate,andrough.Theproblemisnotwithothers,itiswiththeself,butoftenitisnotuntilenergiesarebacktonormalthattherealproblemisrecognized.Childrenneedhelpunderstandingthattheirself-esteemandtheself-esteemofthosetheyinteractwithhaveadirecteffectoneachother.Forexample,alittlegirlcomeshomefromschoolandsays“Ineedloving,becausemyfeelingsgothurttoday.”Themotherrespondstochild’sneedtobeheldandloved.Ifinsteadthemothersaidshewastoobusytoholdthelittlegirl,theoutcomewouldhavebeendifferent.Theinfant’sself-esteemistotallydependentonfamilymembers,anditisnotuntilaboutthetimethechildentersschoolthatoutsideforcescontributetofeelingsabouttheself.Achildmustalsolearnthatamajorresourceforahealthyself-esteemcomesfromwithin.Someparentsraisetheirchildrentodependonexternalratherthaninternalreinforcementthroughpracticessuchasplayingforgoodgradesonreportcardsorexchangingspecialprivilegesforgoodbehavior.Thechildlearnstorelyonotherstomaintainahighself-esteemandisnotpreparedtoliveinaworldinwhichdesirablebehaviordoesnotautomaticallyproduce.atangiblerewardsuchatasmile,money,orspecialprivileges.Maintainingahealthyself-esteemisachallengethatcontinuesthroughoutlife.Onefamilyfoundthattheycouldhelpeachotheridentifypositiveattitudes.Oneeveningduringanelectricstormthefamilygatheredaroundthekitchentable,andeachpersonwrotedowntwothingsthattheylikedabouteachfamilymember.Thesepiecesofpaperwerefoldedandgiventotheappropriateperson,whoonebyoneopenedtheirspecialmessages.Thefatherlatercommented,“Itwasquiteanexperience,openingeachlittlepieceofpaperandreadingthemessage.Istillhavethosegifs,andwhenI’vehadareallybadday,IreadthroughthemandIalwayscomeawayfeelingbetter.”Thefoundationofhealthyfamilydependsontheabilityoftheparentstocommunicatemessagesoflove,trust,andself-worthtoeachchild.Thisisthebasisonwhichself-esteemisbuilt,andasthechildgrows,self-esteemisreflectedinthewayheorsheinteractswithothers.

复合题Giventhelackoffitbetweengiftedstudentsandtheirschools,itisnotsurprisingthatsuchstudentsoftenhavelittlegoodtosayabouttheirschoolexperience.Inonestudyof400adultswhohadachieveddistinctioninallareasoflife,researchersfoundthatthree-fifthsoftheseindividualseitherdidbadlyinschoolorwereunhappyinschool.FewMacArthurPrizefellows,winnersoftheMacArthurAwardforcreativeaccomplishment,hadgoodthingstosayabouttheirprecollegiateschoolingiftheyhadnotbeenplacedinadvancedprograms.Anecdotalreportssupportthis.PabloPicasso,CharlesDarwin,MarkTwain,OliverGoldsmith,andWilliamButlerYeatsalldislikedschool.SodidWinstonChurchill,whoalmostfailedoutofHarrow,aneliteBritishschool.AboutOliverGoldsmith,oneofhisteachersremarked,“Neverwassodullaboy.”Oftenthesechildrenrealizethattheyknowmorethantheirteachers,andtheirteachersoftenfeelthatthesechildrenarearrogant,inattentive,orunmotivated.Someofthesegiftedpeoplemayhavedonepoorlyinschoolbecausetheirgiftswerenotscholastic.MaybewecanaccountforPicassointhisway.Butmostfaredpoorlyinschoolnotbecausetheylackedabilitybutbecausetheyfoundschoolunchallengingandconsequentlylostinterest.Yeatsdescribedthelackoffitbetweenhismindandschool:“BecauseIhadfounditdifficulttoattendtoanythinglessinterestingthanmyownthoughts,1wasdifficulttoteach.”Asnotedearlier,giftedchildrenofallkindstendtobestrong-willednonconformists.Nonconformityandstubbornness(andYeats’slevelofarroganceandself-absorption)arelikelytoleadtoconflictswithteachers.Whenhighlygiftedstudentsinanydomaintalkaboutwhatwasimportanttothedevelopmentoftheirabilities,theyarefarmorelikelytomentiontheirfamiliesthantheirschoolsorteachers.AwritingprodigystudiedbyDavidFeldmanandLynnGoldsmithwastaughtfarmoreaboutwritingbyhisjournalistfatherthanhisEnglishteacher.High-IQchildren,inAustraliastudiedbyMiracaGrosshadmuchmorepositivefeelingsabouttheirfamiliesthantheirschools.AbouthalfofthemathematiciansstudiedbyBenjaminBloomhadlittlegoodtosayaboutschool.Theyalldidwellinschoolandtookhonorsclasseswhenavailable,andsomeskippedgrades.

复合题Intheearlydaysofseatravel,seamenonlongvoyageslivedexclusivelyonsaltedmeatandbiscuits.Manyofthemdiedofscurvy,adiseaseofthebloodwhichcausesswollengums,lividwhitespotsonthefleshandgeneralexhaustion.Ononeoccasion,in1535,anEnglishshiparrivedinNewfoundlandwithitscrewdesperatelyill.Themen’slivesweresavedbyIroquoisIndianswhogavethemvegetableleavestoeat.Graduallyitcametoberealizedthatscurvywascausedbysomelackinthesailors’dietandCaptainCook,onhislongvoyagesofdiscoverytoAustraliaandNewZealand,establishedthefactthatscurvycouldbewardedoffbytheprovisionoffreshfruitforthesailors.Nowadaysitisunderstoodthatadietwhichcontainsnothingharmfulmayyetresultinseriousdiseaseifcertainimportantelementsaremissing.Theseelementsarecalled“vitamins”.Quiteanumberofsuchsubstancesareknownandtheyaregivenletterstoidentifythem,A,B,C,D,andsoon.Differentdiseasesareassociatedwithdeficienciesofparticularvitamins.EvenaslightlackofVitaminC,forexample,thevitaminmostplentifulinfreshfruitandvegetables,isthoughttoincreasesignificantlyoursusceptibilitytocoldsandinfluenza.Thevitaminsnecessaryforahealthybodyarenormallysuppliedbyagoodmixeddiet,includingavarietyoffruitandgreenvegetables.Itisonlywhenpeopletrytoliveonaveryrestricteddiet,sayduringextendedperiodsofreligiousfasting,orwhentryingtoloseweight,thatitisnecessarytomakespecialprovisiontosupplythemissingvitamins.

复合题OnefeatureofnewfoundwealthinthedevelopingworldhasbeentheembraceofWesternluxurylabels.Butsincetheglobaleconomyfellapart,therichclasseshavecooledtheirspendingonChanelhandbagsandGuccishoes.Thatdoesntmeantheyvegivenupluxuryfashionaltogether.Theyareturningtosmaller,localdesignerswhoareusingthemarketdepressiontodevelophomemadeluxurybrandsandcompetewithArmanibyprovidinghigh-qualityluxuryproductsatafractionoftheprice.InIndia,thecrisishastranslatedintoanunexpectedopportunityforManishAroraandRajeshPratapSingh,twoofthecountrysmosttalenteddesigners.BothtranslateaspectsofIndiancultureandtasteintouniquecontemporarycollections,combiningIndiancolor,senseanddecorationwithstrictWesterntailoring.TheirpieceshaveglobalappealbutalsospeakspecificallytoIndiancustomers.Foraslittleas$350,IndianshopperscanpurchaseadressateitherdesignersmainstoreinMumbai,indulgingtheirinnerpursuitoffashionwithoutfeelingguilty.“Indiandesignershavebeensensitivetomarketconditionsandhaveadjustedboththeirproductsandprices,allowingcustomerstohaveasenseofgettingagoodbargainevenatthetopend.”SaysluxuryretailconsultantSabinaChopra.Thesemarketsallsharecertaintraits:cheap,highlyskilledcraftlabor;interestinabundantcolorandornament;andanewclassofmillionairesstilldiscoveringthepleasuresofdistinctconsumption.TheirconsumersaredelightedtobuyastatementpiecebyoneoftheirowndesignersforathirdofthepriceofacomparableWesterncreation.Itgoesbeyondsavings;theresanelementofprideatwork,too.NolongercontenttosimplycontributecheaplaborforWesternarticles,theyredevelopingluxuryintheirownimage.Thissenseofpoweristhestartofashiftthatpromisestotransformtheluxurybusinessintoatrulyglobalizedmarketplace.Today,Westernbrandsarelearningtoexisttogetherwithlocalbrandsinforeignmarkets.Tomorrow,theyrelikelytofaceseriouscompetitionfromtheseupstartsontheirhomerangeofLondon,Milan,ParisorNewYork.

复合题Ametaphorisapoeticdevicethatdealswithcomparison.Itcomparessimilarqualitiesoftwodissimilarobjects.Withasimplemetaphor,oneobjectbecomestheother:Loveisarose.Althoughthisdoesnotsoundlikeaparticularlyrichimage,ametaphorcancommunicatesomuchaboutaparticularimagethatpoetsusethemmorethananyothertypeoffigurativelanguage.Thereasonforthisisthatpoetscomposetheirpoetrytoexpresswhattheyareexperiencingemotionallyatthatmoment.Consequently,whatthepoetimagineslovetobemayormaynotbeourperceptionoflove.Therefore,thepoet’sjobistoenableustoexperienceit,tofeelitthesamewaythatthepoetdoes.Weshouldbeabletonodinagreementandsay,“Yes,that’sit!Iunderstandpreciselywherethispersoniscomingfrom.”Let’sanalyzethisremarkablyunsophisticatedmetaphorconcerningloveandtherosetoseewhatitoffers.Becausethepoetusesacomparisonwitharose,firstwemustexaminethecharacteristicsofthatflower.Aroseisspectacularinitsbeauty,itspetalsarevelvetysoft,anditsaromaissoothingandpleasing.It’spossibletosaythataroseisactuallyaveritablefeasttothesenses:thevisual,thetactile,andtheaural[morecommonlyknownasthesensesofsight,touch,andsound].Therose’sappearanceseemstoborderonperfection,eachpetalseeminglysymmetricalinform.Isn’tthisthewayone’sloveshouldbe?Alovedoneshouldbeadelighttoone’ssensesandseemperfect.However,thereisanotherdimensionaddedtothecomparisonbyusingarose.Roseshavethorns.Thisisthecomprehensiveimagethepoetwantstocommunicate;otherwise,adaisyoramumwouldhavebeenpresentedtotheaudienceastheultimaterepresentationoflove—butthepoetdidn’t,insteadconveyingtheideathatrosescanbetreacherous.Socanlove,themetaphortellsus.Whenonereachesoutwithabsolutetrusttotouchtheobjectofhisorheraffection,ouch,athorncancausegreatharm!“Becareful,”themetaphoradmonishes:Loveisafeasttothesenses,butitcanoverwhelmus,anditcanalsohurtus.Itcanprickusandcauseacutesuffering.Thisisthepoet’sperceptionoflove—anadmonition.Whatisthepoint?Justthis:Ittookalmost14sentencestoclarifywhatasimplemetaphorcommunicatesinonlyfivewords!Thatistheartistryandthejoyofthesimplemetaphor.

复合题Passage AAccording to the Oxford English Dictionary, portraitureis, “a representation or delineation of a person,especially of the face, made by life, by drawing,painting, photography, engraving. . . a likeness. ” However,this simplistic definition disregards the complexities ofportraiture. Portraits are works of art that engage withideas of identity as they are perceived, represented, andunderstood in different times and places, rather thansimply aim to represent a likeness. These concepts ofidentity can encompass social hierarchy, gender, age,profession, and the character of the subject, among otherthings. Rather than being fixed, these features areexpressive of the expectations and circumstances of thetime when the portrait was made. It is impossible toreproduce the aspects of identity; it is only possible toevoke or suggest them. Consequently, even though portraitsrepresent individuals, it is generally conventional ortypical—rather than unique—qualities of subject that arestressed by the artist. Portrait art has also undergonesignificant shifts in artistic convention and practice.Despite the fact that the majority of portraits portraythe subject matter in some amount of verisimilitude, (anappearance of being true or real) , they are still theoutcome of prevailing artistic fashions and favoredstyles, techniques, and media.Therefore, portrait art is a vast art category whichprovides a wide range of engagements with social,psychological, and artistic practices and expectations.Since portraits are distinct from other genres or artcategories in the ways they are produced, the nature ofwhat they represent, and how they function as objects ofuse and display, they are worthy of separate study. First,during their production, portraits require the presence ofa specific person, or an image of the individual to berepresented, in almost all cases. In the majority ofinstances, the production of portraiture has necessitatedsittings, which result in interaction between thesubject(s) and artist throughout the creation of the work.In certain instances, portrait artists depended on acombination of direct involvement with their subjects. Ifthe sitter is of high social standing or is occupied andunavailable to sit in the studio regularly, portraitistscould use photographs or sketches of their subject. InEurope, during the seventeenth and eighteenth century, thesitting time was sometimes decreased by focusing solely onthe head and using professional drapery painters to finishthe painting. For instance, Sir Peter Lily, the Englishartist, had a collection of poses in a pattern book thatenabled him to focus on the head and require fewersittings from his aristocratic patrons. Portrait painterscould be asked to present the likeness of individuals whowere deceased. In this sort of instance, photographs orprints of the subject could be reproduced. Theoretically,portraitists could work from impressions or memories whencreating a painting, but this is a rare occurrenceaccording to documented records. Nonetheless, whether thework is based on model sittings, copying a photograph orsketch, or using memory, the process of painting aportrait is closely linked with the implicit or explicitattendance of the model.Furthermore, portrait painting can be differentiated fromother artistic genres like landscape, still life, andhistory by its connection with appearance, or likeness. Assuch, the art of portrait painting got a reputation forimitation, or copying, instead of for artistic innovationor creativity; consequently it is sometimes viewed asbeing of a lower status than the other genres. Accordingto Renaissance art theory, (which prevailed until thestart of the nineteenth century) fine art was supposed torepresent idealized images, as well as to be original andcreative instead of to copy other works. Portraiture, incomparison, became linked with the level of a mechanicalexercise as opposed to a fine art. Michelangelos wellknown protest that he would not paint portraits becausethere were not enough ideally beautiful models is only oneexample of the dismissive attitude to portraiture thatpersisted among professional artist—even those who,ironically, made their living from portraiture. In thetime of modernism, during the nineteenth and twentiethcenturies, the attitude towards portraiture was critical.Even so, artists from around the globe kept paintingportraits in spite of their theoretical objections.Picasso, for instance, became renowned for cubist still-life painting early in his career, but some of his mosteffective early experiments in this new style were hisportraits of art dealers.The author talks about Picasso as an example of an artist who _____.

复合题Directions: In his section there are two reading passage followed by multiple-choice questions. Read the passages and then mark your answers on your answer sheet.Passage BDespite Denm