单选题Some of the crops failed. ______, the cotton did pretty well. [A] Then [B] Besides [C] Therefore [D] However
单选题An eccentric is by definition someone whose behaviour is abnormal, someone who refuses to conform to the accepted norms of his society. This, of course, immediately begs the question, "What is normal?" Most of us, after all, have our quirks and oddities. It may be a passion for entering newspaper competitions, a compulsion for collecting beer mats, a tendency to write indignant letters to the press on every conceivable subject. Eccentricity is the assertion of our individuality. Within most of us that urge is constantly in conflict with the contrary force. It is as though in the depths of our psyche we have two locomotives head-to-head on the same track, pushing against each other. One is called individualism and the other conformity and in most of us it is conformity that is the more powerful. The desire to be accepted, loved, appreciated, to feel at one with our fellows, is stronger than the desire to stand out in the crowd, to be our own man, to do our own thing.
Notice, for example, how people who have unusual hobbies, strong opinions, or unconventional behaviour, tend to congregate. They form clubs, hold meetings, and organise rallies where they can get together and discuss their common enthusiasms or problems. The important word is "common". They look for other people with whom they can share what in the normal run of events is regarded by relatives, friends and neighbours as an oddity. A crowd, even a small crowd, is reassuring.
Probably all of us recognise a tension within ourselves between the two forces of individualism and conformity, for at the same time that most of us are going with the crowd, we tend to resent any suggestion that this is what we are doing. We feel a self-conscious need to assert our individuality as when the belligerent man at the bar informs his small audience, "Well, I say what I think." Or the wary stranger to whom we have just been introduced announces, "You must take me as you find me. I don"t stand on ceremony."
Any of us can, at any time, reverse this trend. We can stoke the boiler of individualism, assert our own personality. Many people have made it to the top in their chosen professions, basically by doing just that. One example is Bob Dylan, the American singer, who has gone on record as saying, "When you feel in your gut what you are doing and then dynamically pursue it— don"t back down and don"t give up—then you"re going to mystify a lot of folk." But that self conscious assertion of individuality is not eccentricity, at least not in the early stages. When a pop singer deliberately wears bizarre clothes to gain publicity, or a society hostess makes outrageous comments about her guests in order to get herself noticed in the gossip columns, that is not eccentricity. However, if the pop star and the society hostess perpetuate such activities until they become a part of themselves, until they are no longer able to return to what most of us consider "normal behaviour", then they certainly would qualify. For the most important ingredient of eccentricity is its naturalness. Eccentrics are not people who deliberately try to be odd, they simply are odd.
The true eccentric is not merely indifferent to public opinion, he is scarcely conscious at all. He simply does what he does, because of who he is. And this marks the eccentric as essentially different from, for example, enthusiasts, practical jokers, brilliant criminals, exhibitionists and recluses. These people are all very conscious of the world around them. Much of what they do, they do in reaction to the world in which they live. Some wish to make an impression on society, some wish to escape from society, but all are very much aware of society. The eccentric alone goes on his merry way regardless.
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{{B}}Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following
talk.{{/B}}
单选题To us, it seems so natural to put up an umbrella to keep the water off when it rains. But actually the umbrella was not invented as protection against rain. Its first use was as a shade against the sun. Nobody knows who first invented it, but the umbrella was used in very ancient times. Probably the first to use it were the Chinese, way back in the 1th century B.C. We know that the umbrella was used in ancient Egypt and Babylon as a sunshade. And there was a strange thing connected with its use: it became a symbol of honor and authority. In the Far East, in ancient times, the umbrella was allowed to be used only by royalty or by those in high office. In Europe, the Greeks were the first to use the umbrella as a sunshade. And the umbrella was in common use in ancient Greece. But it is believed that the first persons in Europe to use the umbrella as protection against the rain were the ancient Romans. During the Middle Ages, the use of the umbrella practically disappeared. Then it appeared again in Italy in the late sixteenth century. And again it was considered a symbol of power and authority. By 1680, the umbrella appeared in France, and later on in England. By the eighteenth century, the umbrella was used against rain throughout most of Europe. Umbrellas have not changed much in style during all this time, though they have become much lighter in weight. It was not until the twentieth century that women' s umbrella began to be made, in a whole variety of colors.
单选题Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following talk.
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单选题Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following conversation.
单选题According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true about Google?
单选题 It is already common knowledge, on the beaches and
in the cafes of mainland Europe, that Americans work too hard—just as it is well
known on the other side of the Atlantic that Europeans, above all the French and
the Germans, are slackers who could do with a bit of America's vigorous work
ethic. But a new survey suggests that even those vacations
American employees do take are rapidly vanishing, to the extent that 40 per cent
of workers questioned at the start of the summer said they had no plans to take
any holiday at all for the next six months, more than at any time since the late
1970s. It is probably mere coincidence that George W. Bush, one
of the few Americans who has been known to enjoy a French-style month off during
August, cut back his holiday in Texas to a fortnight. But the survey by the
Conference Board research group, along with other recent statistics, suggests an
epidemic of overwork among ordinary Americans. A quarter of
people employed in the private sector in the US get no paid vacation at all,
according to government figures. Unlike almost all other industrialized nations,
including Britain, American employers do not have to give paid
holidays. The average American gets a little less than four
weeks of paid time off, including public holidays, compared with 6.6 weeks in
the UK—where the law requires a minimum of four weeks off for full-time
workers—and 7.9weeks for Italy. One study showed that people employed by the US
subsidiary of a London-based bank would have to work there for 10 years just to
be entitled to the same vacation time as colleagues in Britain who has just
started their jobs. Even when they do take vacations,
overworked Americans find it hard to switch off. One in three find not checking
their email and voicemail more stressful than working, according to a study by
the Travelocity website, while the traumas of travel take their own toll. "We
commonly complain we need a vacation from our vacations," the author Po Bronson
wrote recently. "We leave home tired; we come back exhausted "
Christian Schneider, a German-born scholar at the Wharton business school in
Philadelphia, argues that there is "a tendency to really relax in Europe, to
disengage from work. When an American finally does take those few days of
vacation per year they are most likely to be in constant contact with the
office. " Mindful that well-rested workers are more productive
than burnt-out ones, the accounting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers has started
closing all its US offices completely twice a year, for 10 days over Christmas
and about five around Independence Day. "We wanted to create an environment
where people could walk away and not worry about missing a meeting, a conference
call or 300 emails," Barbara Kraft, a partner at the company, told the New York
Times. Left to themselves, Americans fail to take an average of
four days of their vacation entitlement—an annual national total of 574 million
unclaimed days.
单选题Research into self-awareness consistently shows that most people think and speak highly of themselves. Time and again, subjects see positive traits as more self-descriptive than negative ones, they rate themselves more highly than they rate others, they rate themselves more highly than they are rated by others, they overestimate their contribution to team efforts, and they exaggerate their control over life events. It"s not that we consciously flatter ourselves, either. The response is more like a mindless reflex. In fact, when subjects are busy or distracted as they make self-ratings, the judgments they come up with are quicker and even more favorable.
Most people also exhibit "unrealistic optimism", a tendency to predict a uniquely bright and rosy future for themselves. College students asked to predict their own future compared to that of their classmates believed, on average, that they were more likely to graduate higher in their class, get a better job, earn a higher salary, have a happier marriage, and bear a gifted child. They also believed that they were less likely to get fired, become depressed, become involved in a car accident, or suffer from a heart attack. Many other examples illustrate this point—as when voters predict that their favored candidate will prevail and sports fans bet on their favorite teams to win.
Psychologists used to agree that an accurate perception of reality is vital to mental health. More and more, however, this view is being challenged by research on positive illusions. Are these illusions a sign of well-being or symptoms of disorder?
In 1988 two psychologists reviewed the relevant research and noticed that people who are mildly depressed or low in self-esteem have less inflated and sometimes more realistic views of themselves than do others who are better adjusted. Their self-appraisals are more likely to match appraisals of them made by neutral others, they are less likely to exaggerate their control over uncontrollable events, and they make more balanced predictions about the future. Based on these results, psychologists arrived at the provocative conclusion that when it comes to the self, positive illusions—not accurate perceptions of reality—promote health and well-being. In their words, "these illusions help make each individual"s world a warmer and more active and beneficent place in which to live." In fact, research involving people under stress—such as people with serious illnesses—shows that perceived control, optimism, and other positive beliefs are "health protective" psychological resources that help people cope with adversity.
Others are not so sure that eternal optimists are better off than hard realists. They argue that positive illusions can give rise to chronic patterns of self-destruction—as when people escape from self-awareness through the use of drugs and deny health-related problems until it s too late for treatment. In studies of interpersonal relations, people with inflated rather than realistic views of themselves were rated less favorably on certain dimensions by their own friends. In these studies, self-enhancing men were seen as assertive and ambitious, which are OK, but also as boastful, condescending, hostile, and inconsiderate. Self-enhancing women were seen as more hostile, more defensive and sensitive to criticism, more likely to overreact to minor setbacks, and less well liked by others. Consistent with these findings, other research shows that people filled with high self-esteem are more likely to lash out angrily in response to criticism, rejection, and other bruises to the ego. The result. People with inflated self-images may make a good first impression on others but they are liked less and less as time wears on.
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Questions 11～15
Eric Liu has spent most of his life climbing up the social
ladder without looking back. The son of Chinese immigrants from Taiwan, he grew
up learning to play down his ethnic identity in the mostly white community of
Wappingers Falls, N.Y. Then he went on to amass a heap of power credentials: he
graduated from Yale, at 25 he wrote speeches for President Clinton, and now he's
at Harvard Law School. In his provocative, wonderfully honest new book, The
Accidental Asian, Liu, 29, finally pauses long enough to reflect on his
assimilationist's guilt, on the feeling that he's left something behind without
knowing exactly what it is. Half cultural commentary, half memoir, "Accidental"
is a remarkable accomplishment—both a defense of assimilation and an intense
recounting of personal loss. Though he's one of Asian America's
biggest stars, Liu doesn't act or feel particularly Asian- American. He married
a white woman—half of all Asian-Americans intermarry, he points out. He says he
cannot escape the feeling that the Asian-American identity is "contrived" and
"unnecessary". "Asian-Americans are only as isolated as they want to be," he
writes. "They do not face the levels of discrimination and hatred that demand an
enclave mentality. The choice to invent and sustain a pan- Asian identity is
just that: a choice, not an imperative. " His book, which just
hit stores, is already infuriating Asian-Americans who have a fierce sense of
ethnic pride. "Liu has been totally co-opted by the white mainstream," says Bert
Wang, who works on labor issues and anti-Asian violence, and christened his rock
band Superchink. "But would he be where he is today if he weren't Asian? They
love him because he's this novelty who's pro-assimilation." Jeff Yang, the
founder of A. Magazine, a sort of Asian Vanity Fair, finds Liu's view misguided
and a bit naive. "Race is an obsession in our society," he says. "To be out of
the racial equation takes us away from the table of dialogue completely. But
we're creating a culture out of our common experiences: immigration, being
perceived as strangers in our own land, serving as a bridge between East and
West. " But even the most militant Asian-Americans admit to an
identity crisis. Chinese, Koreans, Filipinos and other "Asians" have not only
different cultures and languages but deep historical antagonisms toward one
another. More than anything, what binds them together in America is what they
look like—the exact basis for their stigmatization. The Asian-American "race" is
just three decades old, born with the immigration boom in 1965. "Race is
fundamentally an invention," says Liu. "And just as something can be invented,
so it can be dismantled. If you believe in the identity, I can respect that. I'm
just not sure it'll last another generation. " The economic
success many Asian-Americans have achieved may only further weaken that
identity. They account for 4 percent of the population, and have the highest
median income of all races, including whites. A higher percentage of them earn
advanced degrees than of any other group. But those statistics hide the growing
number of poor immigrants who feel increasingly alienated from upper-class
Asians. "The poor are an embarrassment to professionals who don't want to be
seen as peasants," says Peter Kwong, head of Asian-American Studies at New
York's Hunter College. "You're taught to be ashamed of your parents," says
Chinatown labor activist Trinh Duong, whose mother works in a garment factory.
Some activists, who say they have a hard time drawing attention to the plight of
those immigrants, try to play down the achievements of upper-class Asians and
chafe at the "model minority" stereotype. "That label is clearly part of a
hostile discourse between whites and blacks," says Kwong. "Whites are basically
saying to blacks, 'We're not racist, and the reason you're not as successful is
because you're not working as hard as Asians'." Yet the
abstract debate over assimilation can't do justice to the complex emotional
acrobatics of dealing with your own ethnicity. While Liu grew up trying to fit
into white America, that was the last thing I wanted. I was taught that Asians
were smarter and harder-working than everyone else and that explained their
success when the truth is that immigration laws favored professionals, a highly
selective group to begin with. There seemed to be no way to have ethnic pride
without ethnocentrism. The only solution, it seemed, was to try and transcend
race to erase racial concerns by ignoring them. I started to think a lot like
Liu. But something always comes along to jolt me out of this
colorblind slumber. The rising number of incidents of anti-Asian violence.
College-admission quotas against us. Coverage of the campaign- finance scandals,
filled with "shadowy" Orientals creeping into power, practicing the ancient
Chinese art of guanxi, a scarily exotic word for "connections." And why
do so many articles on race neglect to mention us? Why do so many reports from
the Census Bureau include only blacks, whites and Hispanics? Is
racial identity formed only through racial persecution? I was once berated by a
white classmate for claiming I had never been persecuted, which made me wish
that I had. But I can't help feeling that it would be contrived to suddenly
become passionate about my ethnicity, or to dredge up racial scars that don't
exist. Liu says, "Race for people of color should be as much of an option as
ethnicity is for whites." But in America, trying to forget about being a
minority can still get you in as much trouble as being one.
单选题Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following conversation.
单选题Questions 23-26
单选题Questions 23-26
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单选题"Is jazz a kind of folk music? Is it a performing style? How is it different from other kinds of music?" There is no simple answer to these questions, because the most important quality of jazz comes from its unique combination of different musical sources over a period of almost 400 years. The quality that unites the many different jazz forms is, in some degree, separate from its musical sources. That quality is the expression of freedom. The idea of freedom is central. The ancestors of jazz were black people from West Africa who were brought to America as slaves, or forced laborers, from the early 1600s to the mid-1800s. Most of them remained slaves until President Lincoln set them free on January 1,1863, during the American Civil War. With the loss of their personal freedom and the breaking up of their families, the slaves also lost the social traditions of their music from Africa. The complex rhythms (节奏) of this music involved a number of people performing together. The breaking apart of these social groups forced slaves to create new songs, that is, to develop a completely new musical tradition. Using some of the remembered African rhythms, the slaves gradually began to add some features of the European classical music that was played by the slave-owners. The slaves were also influenced by American folk songs. But the result of adding these borrowed elements to the complex African rhythms was the beginning of a completely new kind of music. Still, this music only existed privately among groups of slaves. The salves' work had another effect on their music. It introduced new kinds of musical rhythms. Some of these rhythms became work songs to accompany their planting and picking of cotton. Other rhythms were developed by teams of workers who needed to lift heavy loads of cotton onto carts that passed through the fields. Later, during the building of the railroads, individual workers created new songs to match the sharp rhythms of steel as they put the rails into place.
单选题How can I ever concentrate if you ______ continually ______ me with foolish questions? [A] have ... interrupted [B] had ... interrupted [C] are ... interrupting [D] were ... interrupting