大学英语四级

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大学英语四级大学英语六级大学英语三级专四专八成人英语三级商务英语雅思 GRE

Questions on the Origins of ChristmasThe traditions we associate with Christmas have evolved over the centuries. Here are answers to five questions about these traditions, from the date we choose to celebrate to the origin of Santa.1.Why do we celebrate on December 25th?A）The Bible makes no mention of Jesus being born on December 25th and, as more than one historian has pointed out, why would shepherds be tending to their flock in the middle of winter? So why is that the day we celebrate? Well, either Christian holidays miraculously fall on the same days as Pagan ones or the Christians have been crafty in converting pagan populations to religion by placing important Christian holidays on the same days as pagan ones. And people had been celebrating on December 25th(and the surrounding weeks)for centuries by the time Jesus showed up.B）The Winter Solstice, falling on or around December 21st, was and is celebrated around the world as the beginning of the end of winter. It is the shortest day and longest night and its passing signifies that spring is on the way. In Scandinavian countries, they celebrated the solstice with a holiday called Yule last from the 21st until January and burned a Yule log the whole time.C）In Rome, Saturnalia—a celebration of Saturn, the God of agriculture—lasted the entire end of the year and was marked by mass intoxication. In the middle of this, the Romans celebrated the birth of another God, Mithra(a child God), whose holiday celebrated the children of Rome. When the Christianity became the official religion of Rome, there was no Christmas. It was not until the 4th century that Pope Julius I declared the birth of Jesus to be a holiday and picked December 25th as the celebration day. By the middle ages, most people celebrated the holiday we know as Christmas.2.How did Americans come to love the holiday?D）The American Christmas is, like most American holidays, a mishmash of Old World customs mixed with American inventions. While Christmas was celebrated in America from the time of the Jamestown settlement, our modem idea of the holiday didn’t take root until the 19th century. The History Channel credits Washington Irving with getting the ball rolling. In 1819 he published The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent. , an account of a Christmas celebration in which a rich family invites poor folk into their house to celebrate the holiday.E）The problem was that many of the activities described in Irving’s work, such as crowning a Lord of Misrule, were entirely fictional. Nonetheless, Irving began to steer Christmas celebrations away from drunken debauchery(放荡)and towards wholesome, charitable fun. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, Christmas gained popularity and Americans adopted old customs or invented new ones, such as Christmas trees, greeting cards, giving gifts and eating a whole roasted pig.3.Who popularized Christmas trees?F）Since time immortal, humans have been fascinated with the color green mid plants that stay green through winter. Many ancient societies—from Romans to Vikings—would decorate their Homes and temples with evergreens in the winter as a symbol of the returning growing season. But the Christmas tree didn’t get going until some intrepid(无畏的)German dragged home and decorated a tree in the l6th century. Legend has it that Martin Luther himself added lighted candles to his family’s tree, starting the trend(and leading to countless fires through the years). In America, the Christmas tree didn’t catch on until 1846 when the British royals, Queen Victoria and the German Prince Albert, were shown with a Christmas tree in a newspaper. Fashionable people in America mimicked the Royals and the tree thing spread outside of German enclaves(被围领土)in America. Ornaments, courtesy of Germany, and electric lights, courtesy of Thomas Edison’s assistants, were added over the years and we haven’t changed much since.4.What’s the deal with Santa Claus?G）The jolly, red-suited man who sneaks into your home every year to leave you girls hasn’t always been so jolly. The real Saint Nick was a Turkish monk who rived in the 3rd century. According to legend, he was a rich man thanks to an inheritance from his parents, but he gave it all away in the form of gifts to the less-fortunate. He eventually became the most popular saint in Europe and, through his alter ego, Santa Claus, remains so to this day. But how did a long-dead Turkish monk become a big, fat, reindeer-riding pole dweller? The Dutch got the ball rolling by celebrating the saint-called Sinter Klaas—in New York in the late-18th century. Our old friend, Washington Irving, included the legend of Saint Nick in his seminal History of New-York as well, but at the turn of the 18th century, Saint Nick was still a rather obscure figure in America.H）On December 23, 1823, though, a man named Clement Clarke Moore published a poem he had written for his daughters called “An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas. ” better known now as “T’ was the Night Before Christmas. ” Nobody knows how much of the poem Moore invented, but we do know that it was the spark that eventually lit the Santa fire. Many of the things we associate with Santa—a sleigh, reindeer. Christmas Eve visits—came from Moore’s poem. From 1863 to1886, Thomas Nast’s illustrations of Santa Claus appeared in Harper’s Weekly—including a scene with Santa giving gifts to Union soldiers. Not much has changed since the second half of the 19th century：Santa still gets pulled in a sleigh by flying reindeer, he still wears the big red suit and he still sneaks down chimneys to drop off presents.5.Who invented Rudolph?I）Santa did get one more friend in 1939. Robert May, a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store chain, wrote a little story about a 9th reindeer with a disturbing red nose for a booklet to give customers during the holiday season. Ten years later, May’s brother would put the story to music, writing the lyrics and melody. 答案解析
HalloweenA）On October 31st, dozens of children dressed in costumes knock on their neighbors’ doors and yell “Trick or Treat” when the door opens. Pirates and princesses. ghosts and popular heroes of the day an hold bags open to catch the candy or other goodies that the neighbors drop in. As they give each child a treat the neighbors exclaim over the costumes and try to guess who is under the masks. Since the 800’s November 1st is a religious holiday known as All Saints’ Day. The Mass that was said on this day was called All Hallowmas. The evening before became known as All Hakkiwe’en, or Halloween. Like some other American celebrations, its origins lie in both pre. Christian and Christian customs.B）October 31st was the eve of the Celtic new year. The Celts were the ancestors of the present-day Irish, Welsh and Scottish people. On this day ghosts walked and mingled with the living, or so the Celts thought. The townspeople baked food all that day and when night fell they dressed up and tried to resemble the souls of the dead. Hoping that the ghosts would leave peacefully before midnight of the new year. Much later, when Christianity spread throughout Ireland and October 31st was no longer the last day of the year, Halloween became a celebration mostly for children. “Ghosts” went from door to door asking for treats, or else a trick would be played on the owners of the house. When millions of Irish people immigrated to the United States in the 1840s the tradition came with them.C）Today school dances and neighborhood parties called “block parties” are popular among young and old alike. More and more adults celebrate Halloween. They dress up like historical or political figures and go to masquerade parties(化装舞会). In larger cities, costumed children and their parents gather at shopping malls early in the evening. Stores and businesses give parties with games and treats for the children. Teenagers enjoy costume dances at their schools and the more outrageous the costume the better! Certain pranks(恶作剧)such as soaping car windows and tipping over garbage cans are expected. But partying and pranks are not the only things that Halloweeners enjoy doing. Some collect money to buy food and medicine for needy children around the world.Symbols of HalloweenD）Halloween originated as a celebration connected with evil spirits. Witches flying on broomsticks with black cats, ghosts, goblins(小精灵)and skeletons have all evolved as symbols of Halloween. They are popular trick-or-treat costumes and decorations for greeting cards and windows. Black is one of the traditional Halloween colors, probably because Halloween festivals and traditions took place at night. In the weeks before October31st, Americans decorate windows of houses and schools with silhouettes(轮廓)of witches and black cats.E）Pumpkins are also a symbol of Halloween. The pumpkin is an orange-colored squash. and orange has become the other traditional Halloween color. Carving pumpkins into jack-o'-lanterns is a Halloween custom also dating back to Ireland. A legend grew up about a man named Jack who was so stingy(吝啬的)that he was not allowed into heaven when he died, because he was a miser(吝啬鬼). He couldn’t enter hell either because he had played jokes on the devil. As a result, Jack had to walk the earth with his lantern until Judgement Day. The Irish people carved scary faces out of turnips(芜菁根), beets(甜菜根)or potatoes representing “Jack of the Lantern, ” or Jack-o'-lantern. When the Irish brought their customs to the United States, they carved faces on pumpkins because in the autumn they were more plentiful than turnips. Today jack-o'-lanterns in the windows of a house on Halloween night let costumed children know that there are goodie(糖果)waiting if they knock and say “Trick or Treat!”Halloween treatsDried Pumpkin SeedsF）After carving your pumpkin, separate the pulp from the seeds. Rinse the seeds and spread them out to dry. The next day, add enough melted butter or margarine(人造黄油)to coat each seed. Spread the seeds onto a cookie sheet(甜酥饼干)and bake for 20 minutes in a 300 degree oven or until they are slightly brown.Caramel (饴糖)ApplesG）Take the paper wrapping off about l00 caramels and put them in a saucepan(炖锅). Put the saucepan over a pan of boiling water. Boil the water until the caramels melt. Put a wooden stick into the top of each apple, dip the apple into the caramel. Let them cool on wax paper and enjoy!Scary StoriesH）No Halloween party is complete without at least one scary story. Usually one person talks in a low voice while everyone else crowds together on the floor or around a fire. The following is a retelling of a tare told in Britain and in North Carolina and Virginia. “What Do YOU Come For?” There was an old woman who rived all by herself, and she was very lonely. Sitting in the kitchen one night, she said, “Oh, I wish I had some company. ”I）No sooner had she spoken than down the chimney tumbled two feet from which the flesh had rotted. The old woman’s eyes bulged with terror. Then two legs dropped to the hearth(壁炉地面)and attached themselves to the feet. Then a body tumbled down, then two alms, and a man’s head. As the old woman watched, the parts came together into a great, tall man. The man danced around and around the room. Faster and faster he went. Then he stopped, and he looked into her eyes. “What do you come for?” She asked in a small voice that shivered and shook. “What do I come for?” he said. “I come for YOU!” The narrator shouts and jumps at the person near him! 答案解析
Just how much do people know about keeping their homes safe from burglary? Surprisingly, many of us make assumptions about home security that can actually increase our risk of a burglary by leaving us—and our homes—undefended. Here are some home-security myths and truths.“An alarm system doesn’t do anything. If a thief really wants to, he’ll break in anyway.”A） A home-security system cannot stop a burglar from hitting your home. But it is a strong deterrent (威慑), making him think twice before targeting you. “Criminals have told me, when they were questioned, they had walked by three or four houses that had alarm stuck to their windows and then hit the one that didn’t,” says Const. Jim Caldwell of the Edmonton Police Service. That’s because setting off an alarm could mean a call to police. And if a thief does break in, he is less likely to make a thorough search of the house. “It’s going to be a smash-and-grab,” says Normand Fiset, president of the Quebec chapter of the Canadian Security Association. “Usually they’re in and out quickly.”“Lightning never strikes twice. If my house has already been broken into, chances are that it won’t happen again.”B） Research indicates that your house is 12 times more likely to be broken into again within the next month. Susan Hall’s Toronto home was burglarized a few years ago. “The police told us, ‘Don’t be surprised if they come back after you’ve replaced everything,’” she says. In her case they didn’t, but nevertheless she promptly put her most sentimental possessions in a security box. Make it a priority to assess your home security and take steps to enhance it. If you do replace stolen merchandise, don’t put the packaging boxes out on display for roadside pickup.“If I have a security system and good locks, I don’t need to take other security measures.”C） “A lock is only as strong as the door and the door frame,” says Const. Donald Jenkins of the Halifax Regional Police. Steel doors are a good idea, too, but look for one with a solid-wood core, not a hollow door. And consider adding a solid-steel strip to the side of the door to prevent thieves from breaking the frame with an iron bar.Other steps make a difference. Install external lighting and keep bushes trimmed around doors and windows. The more visible a thief will be while breaking into your home, the tess likely it is that he’ll try. Beware-of-dog signs and locked gates also discourage criminals. And while it may seem obvious, if you do invest in good security features, make sure you actually use them. Caldwetl recently investigated a break-and- enter case in which “the guy had the best of locks, the best of alarm systems—and none of it was engaged.”“Since I live in a good neighborhood, I don’t need to worry about break-ins.”D） “Actually, the opposite is true,” says Ron Noiles, senior vice-president for personal-property insurance with Aviva Canada, a major sponsor of the Neighborhood Watch program. “Criminals look for neighborhoods where the goods are good. And those are typically the ones people believe they’re safe in.” If you take fewer safety precautions, like not locking your door, because you believe it’s unlikely you’ll suffer a break-in, you’re increasing the odds of your home becoming a target.“My house is safe because someone is always home.”It’s true that most thieves seek out unoccupied houses. But home burglary, in which criminals strike deliberately while people are home so they can let them in, do sometimes happen. “It is the most effective way of carrying out the theft because you know you won’t get surprised by the owners—you have them caught,” says Fiset. And when home invasions occur, almost half the homeowners end up injured, according to the Canadian Centre for Justice Statistics.“If I keep my curtains dosed during the day, thieves can’t see what’s inside and won’t he tempted to break in.”E） While closed curtains at night do keep thieves from looking inside, during the day they may serve as an ideal cover for burglars. Opening curtains in daytime also makes it look as though someone is home.“There’s little I can do to reduce property crime in my neighborhood.”Police experts say that getting to know your neighbors is a huge factor in combating break-ins. “If someone sees an unfamiliar car in your driveway or people moving secretly about your property, neighbors will be more inclined to call police,” says Jenkins. Consider getting involved with a local Neighborhood Watch group, or contact your local police department to set one up.Here is the initial move (from experts) to protect your home—Sound the Alarm!F） Statistics show that houses with alarm systems are less likely to be broken into, and if they are, less property is stolen. And there’s an added bonus—Home-insurance companies typically offer a discount on your payment once you have a security system installed. Unmonitored alarms sound a siren (警报器) inside or outside your house and, if you’re lucky, alert a neighbor to trouble. A system that is monitored (at a cost of around $30 a month) will summon the police. The Canadian Security Association’s Normand Fiset recommends having the alarm monitored rather than relying on neighbors to act. “When is the last time you considered calling the cops when you heard a car alarm’ in a parking lot?” he reasons. He also points out that more and more cities and towns are banning outside sirens, and an alarm that sounds only inside the house does little good.G） If your alarm is monitored, its signal travels to the monitoring service, usually through your phone line. Service personnel will call the police when there’s a problem, often phoning your home first to ensure it’s not a false alarm. (If it is, you simply supply your password to cancel it.) In many regions, the homeowner is accountable for a fee if police are called needlessly. The physical components of an alarm system—motion detectors, magnetic door or window contacts, control panel—can be either hard-wired through your home or connected with wireless-radio signals. Be sure to check that the company installing the alarm is a member of a professional association and has any licenses required by your city or town.H） Magnetic contact at the doors and windows and glass-break detection will trip the alarm if the perimeter(周界) of the house is crossed. The alarm will be set off before the thief has set foot inside your home. Motion detectors inside are functioned if a person moves inside the home while the system is armed. Ensure that the system you select gives the option of arming the perimeter and motion sensors separately. That way, the alarm can alert you to any breaking-in even when you are home.I） If you have a pet or are considering getting one, make sure your system is designed to pick up only the motion of humans. What if a thief cuts your phone line to prevent contact with the monitoring company? Although this doesn’t happen often, some systems now offer wireless-phone support. The newest technology even uses your Internet connection to send out a burglary alert. 答案解析
What determines the kind of person you are? What factors make you more or less bold, intelligent, or able to read a map? All of these are influenced by the interaction of your genes and the environment in which you were __1__. The study of how genes and environment interact to influence __2__ activity is known as behavioral genetics. Behavioral genetics has made important __3__ to the biological revolution, providing information about the extent to which biology influences mind, brain and behavior.　　Any research that suggests that __4__ to perform certain behaviors are based in biology is controversial. Who wants to be told that there are limitations to what you can __5__ based on something that is beyond your control, such as your genes? It is easy to accept that genes control physical characteristics such as sex, race and eye color. But can genes also determine whether people will get divorced, how __6__ they are, or what career they are likely to choose? A concern of psychological scientists is the __7__ to which all of these characteristics are influenced by nature and nurture(养育), by genetic makeup and the environment. Increasingly, science __8__ that genes lay the groundwork for many human traits. From this perspective, people are born __9__ like undeveloped photographs: The image is already captured, but the way it __10__ appears can vary based on the development process. However, the basic picture is there from the beginning.A. abilitiesB.achieveC. appealD.complaintsE.contributionsF. displayedG. essentiallyH.eventuallyI. extentJ. indicatesK. proceedsL. psychologicalM. raisedN.smartO. standard 答案解析
Tips for Those Who Travel Alone When it comes to traveling, sometimes taking a journey alone can be great. Traveling alone allows for a time of self-reflection, relaxation and self-discovery, when you can take the time to soak in the finer things the world has to offer. The independence gained by going alone allows for the opportunity to experience your choice destination exactly the way you want.Planning your trip:Where to stayA） So you’ve finally decided to take advantage of some well-earned vacation time and visit Prague, the city of your dreams. Because you’ll be all by yourself, the planning of your trip is automatically different. One of the first questions worth attention is how you’re going to spend your time in the beautiful Czech Republic capital. Are you going on a shoestring budget, or would you rather go all-out and book a room in a fancy hotel?B） Because traveling alone means your money is funding the trip, a wise choice would be to stay in youth hostels. Cast away the wrong idea that these places are uncomfortable and dirty, and accept the fact that hostels provide safe, clean, comfortable, and most importantly, cheap housing that millions of students and economical travelers take advantage of every year. It is relatively easy to book a room at a hostel via the Internet, and plenty of information is available about each one. On the other hand, if you can’t wait to take advantage of room service and a Jacuzzi bath, then turn to a hotel.Have a planC） Along with securing your accommodations, prepare a route of the journey for each day before you leave. This plan should include everything from visiting all the famous landmarks to some relaxation time, which is essential since you’ll be likely walking for miles in your comfortable shoes(invest in a good pair, it will pay off). As great as organization is, however, you may not, at times, have to be restrained by your plan so as to leave room for some sceneries unexpected or unplanned on your trip. That is exactly the beauty of traveling alone: You are your own master, and while preparation is key, there is always room to do something wild.Important information prior to takeoffD） One of the hardest parts of traveling in general is coming up with a list of what you’ll need to bring with you(or leave behind). Thinking of these all-important items becomes all the more difficult(and necessary) when you have no one else to rely on. Whatever luggage you take, make sure it’s easy to handle. The best solution is to take one hold-all, be it a suitcase or a backpack, and then a smaller bag which you can hang loosely from your shoulder. It’s also a good idea to keep a change of clothing in your shoulder bag in case your suitcase or backpack gets lost by an airline or bus company.E） If you’re heading for a foreign country, don’t leave home without a bilingual dictionary. Although a strong grasp of Czech will prove quite difficult, it is still important to learn phrases like “thank you, ” “hello, ” “please, ” and “I didn’t know she charged money for her time, ” in case you’re in trouble. Make a copy of all essential travel documents such as your passport and health insurance. Keep the copies separate or leave them behind with someone you trust, in the event of an emergency.F） Along with cash, bring a credit card as an emergency method of payment and make sure to take note of your credit card company’s customer service line in case of loss or theft. That way, you can cancel your card immediately and have a new one delivered to you while on your trip(if possible). A book to enjoy on a train ride or on the beach, a journal to record your experiences, and maps to educate yourself on the layout of the land(you can get these from a tourism bureau), can make a world of a difference. With these things in mind and a positive spirit, you are now officially ready to set out on your own.Finally thereG） You’ve taken the big step, said goodbye to family and friends, endured a long plane ride, and are finally in the place you dreamed of visiting…until now. You might be quite overwhelmed by your new surroundings, but there are ways to control these feelings of over-stimulation. Instead of being an outsider looking in, try to transform yourself into a relaxed traveler who is not held back by minor frustrations, such as long lines at the train station or delays in visiting hours of certain landmarks. If you planned accordingly, then you can afford to “waste” time at the busy tourist hotspots. Besides, you’re on vacation, and have nowhere to be! Another benefit of traveling alone is the ability to explore museums and engage in other time-consuming activities. There is no pressure to rush through exhibits or cut the visit short；pace yourself and take in the masterpieces, whether you’re art over or just a beginner.Getting aroundH） Make an effort to walk everywhere—within reason, of course. This will help you get in touch with the area(so to speak)and observe the locals in their element. Using your legs also allows you to find interesting shops and cafes more easily than if you were on some poor-quality tour bus. Your goal should be to blend in, something a well-designed(and perhaps overpriced)tour won’t likely offer. Wear loose, tight clothing because the more comfortable you feel, the more willing you will be to stay out an extra hour to explore a section you might have overlooked. Remain enthusiastic, relaxed and prepared, and the stories you will have to share upon your return will be priceless.Extra tips：I） Bring along a camera with lots of films. Leave your route with someone at home, along with the numbers of each place you’re staying at. It’s okay if your plans are sketchy, but if there is a big change in your plans, you might want to e-mail the new information to your “in case of emergency” person back home. Stay safe and keep an eye out when it comes to money or your belongings; you don’t have a companion to catch the pickpocket creeping up from behind. While having fun is important, so is safety. Be carefree, but don’t throw caution to the wind. 答案解析
How Exercises WorkA）When you exercise or compete in sports, you notice several things about your body. You breathe heavier and faster, your heart beats faster, your muscles hurt and you sweat. These are all normal responses to exercise whether you work out regularly or only once in a while or whether you are a “weekend warrior” or a trained athlete. When you watch world-class athletes compete, you see the same responses, only magnified. The body has an incredibly complex set of processes to meet the demands of working muscles. Every system in the body is involved. In this article, we will look at how your body responds to strenuous exercise how muscles, blood circulation, breathing and body heat are affected. You will also see how these responses can be enhanced by training.Your Body’s Response to ExerciseB）Any type of exercise uses your muscles. Running, swimming, weightlifting—any sport you can imagine—uses different muscle groups to generate motion. In running and swimming, your muscles are working to accelerate your body and keep it moving. In weightlifting, your muscles are working to move a weight. Exercise means muscle activity! As you use your muscles, they begin to make demands on the rest of the body. In strenuous exercise, just about every system in your body either focuses its efforts on helping the muscles do their work, or it shuts down. For example, your heart beats faster during strenuous exercise so that it can pump more blood to the muscles, and your stomach shuts down during strenuous exercise so that it does not waste energy that the muscles can use. When you exercise, your muscles act something like electric motors. Your muscles take in a source of energy and they use it to generate force. An electric motor uses electricity to supply its energy. Your muscles are biochemical motors, and they use a chemical called adenosine triphosphate (ATP) for their energy source.C）During the process of “burning” ATP, your muscles need three things: They need oxygen, because chemical reactions require ATP and oxygen is consumed to produce ATP. They need to eliminate metabolic wastes (carbon dioxide, lactic acid) that the chemical reactions generate. They need to get rid of heat. Just like an electric motor, a working muscle generates heat that it needs to get rid of. In order to continue exercising, your muscles must continuously make ATP. To make this happen, your body must supply oxygen to the muscles and eliminate the waste products and heat. The more strenuous the exercise, the greater the demands of working muscle. If these needs are not met, then exercise will cease—that is, you become exhausted and you won’t be able to keep going. To meet the needs of working muscle, the body has an orchestrated response involving the heart, blood vessels, nervous system, lungs, liver and skin. It really is an amazing system!Exercise and ATPD）For your muscles—in fact, for every cell in your body—the source of energy that keeps everything going is called ATP. Adenosine triphosphate (ATP) is the biochemical way to store and use energy. The entire reaction that turns ATP into energy is a bit complicated, but here is a good summary: Chemically, ATP is an adenine nucleotide bound to three phosphates. There is a lot of energy stored in the bond between the second and third phosphate groups that can be used to fuel chemical reactions. When a cell needs energy, it breaks this bond to form adenosine diphosphate (ADP) and a free phosphate molecule. In some instances, the second phosphate group can also be broken to form adenosine monophosphate (AMP).E）When the cell has excess energy, it stores this energy by forming ATP from ADP and phosphate. ATP is required for the biochemical reactions involved in any muscle contraction. As the work of the muscle increases, more and more ATP gets consumed and must be replaced in order for the muscle to keep moving. Because ATP is so important, the body has several different systems to create ATP. These systems work together in phases. The interesting thing is that different forms of exercise use different systems, so a sprinter is getting ATP in a completely different way from a marathon runner! ATP comes from three different biochemical systems in the muscle, in this order:● phosphagen system● glycogen-lactic acid system● aerobic respirationExercise and the Phosphagen SystemF）A muscle cell has some amount of ATP floating around that it can use immediately, but not very much--only enough to last for about three seconds. To replenish the ATP levels quickly, muscle cells contain a high-energy phosphate compound called creatine phosphate. The phosphate group is removed from creatine phosphate by an enzyme called creatine kinase, and is transferred to ADP to form ATP. The cell turns ATP into ADP, and the phosphagen rapidly turns the ADP back into ATP. As the muscle continues to work, the creatine phosphate levels begin to decrease. Together, the ATP levels and creatine phosphate levels are called the phosphagen system. The phosphagen system can supply the energy needs of working muscle at a high rate, but only for 8 to 10 seconds.Exercise and the Glycogen-Lactic Acid SystemG）Muscles also have big reserves of a complex carbohydrate called glycogen. Glycogen is a chain of glucose molecules. A cell splits glycogen into glucose. Then the cell uses anaerobic metabolism (anaerobic means “without oxygen”) to make ATP and a byproduct called lactic acid from the glucose. About 12 chemical reactions take place to make ATP under this process, so it supplies ATP at a slower rate than the phosphagen system. The system can still act rapidly and produce enough ATP to last about 90 seconds. This system does not need oxygen, which is handy because it takes the heart and lungs some time to get their act together. It is also handy because the rapidly contracting muscle squeezes off its own blood vessels, depriving itself of oxygen-rich blood. There is a definite limit to anerobic respiration because of the lactic acid. The acid is what makes your muscles hurt. Lactic acid builds up in the muscle tissue and causes the fatigue and soreness you feel in your exercising muscles.Exercise and Aerobic RespirationH）By two minutes of exercise, the body responds to supply working muscles with oxygen. When oxygen is present, glucose can be completely broken down into carbon dioxide and water in a process called aerobic respiration. The glucose can come from three different places:● remaining glycogen supplies in the muscles;● breakdown of the liver’s glycogen into glucose, which gets to working muscle through the bloodstream;● absorption of glucose from food in the intestine, which gets to working muscle through the bloodstream.Aerobic respiration can also use fatty acids from fat reserves in muscle and the body to produce ATP. In extreme cases (like starvation), proteins can also be broken down into amino acids and used to make ATP. Aerobic respiration would use carbohydrates first, then fats and finally proteins, if necessary. Aerobic respiration takes even more chemical reactions to produce ATP than either of the above systems. Aerobic respiration produces ATP at the slowest rate of the three systems, but it can continue to supply ATP for several hours or longer, so long as the fuel supply lasts.What Happens When You ExerciseI）So imagine that you start running. Here’s what happens: The muscle cells burn off the ATP they have floating around in about 3 seconds. The phosphagen system kicks in and supplies energy for 8 to 10 seconds. This would be the major energy system used by the muscles of a 100-meter sprinter or weight lifter, where rapid acceleration, short-duration exercise occurs. If exercise continues longer, then the glycogen-lactic acid system kicks in. This would be true for short-distance exercises such as a 200- or 400-meter dash or 100-meter swim. Finally, if exercise continues, then aerobic respiration takes over. This would occur in endurance events such as an 800-meter dash, marathon run, rowing, cross-country skiing and distance skating. When you start to look closely at how the human body works, it is truly an amazing machine! 答案解析
如果交易者（），可考虑卖出玉米期货合约。答案解析
Can We Replant the Planet’s Rainforests?A）It’s hard not to be impressed by rainforests. Towering, aged trees called emergent stretch almost 250 feet (76 meters) into the air, surpassing the interwoven canopy that both covers and houses more than half of the world’s species. Though rainforests contain nearly half of all the planet’s trees, they only cover about 7 percent of the surface of the land.B）Despite the importance of rainforests, deforestation practices continue. Though the term can apply to natural causes like forest fires, it’s commonly linked to human activities, like logging, agriculture and mining—all important for our economy. But by stripping (剥夺) the land of these resources, we must accept the consequences of our actions. Chopping down rainforests increases the likelihood of soil erosion, landslides and flooding. It also decreases biodiversity and medical resources. More than 25 percent of modem medicine is derived from rainforest plants, and only 1 percent of rainforest plant species have been studied for potential medicinal uses. Deforestation also destroys the homelands of indigenous cultures and affects the livelihoods of millions of other people, many of whom live in the world’s poorest regions.C）In an effort to counteract this destruction, conservation efforts are blossoming across the globe. Among these are reforestation projects, aimed at increasing the amount of living trees and physically linking remaining forests together, to combat habitat loss and prevent species extinction. There are many challenges facing these projects. Firstly, rainforests are full of ancient, gigantic trees; these aren’t the saplings you buy at your local nursery. Much of the action of a rainforest’s ecosystem takes place in the lofty upper reaches, which can present problems for reforestation efforts since towering trees take decades to grow. Secondly, rainforest trees closely rely on their evolutionary playmates—the surrounding flora and fauna—to create the delicate conditions needed to sustain functions such as nutrient cycles and pollination.D）So while rainforests provide a flourishing (欣欣向荣的) habitat for life, the success of that habitat relies on a fragile balance of ecological factors. Take away the trees and you have a major problem. But if the soil’s bacteria and other microorganisms (微生物), which break down the nutrient-rich organic matter that tumbles to the dark forest floor, are also eliminated, the rainforest is destroyed. If the insects and birds that act as critical pollinators go extinct, life will falter. So, can we push up our sleeves, grab a shovel, dig in and just start replanting the rainforests? To a certain extent, we can. However, while efforts at reforestation have significant value, they’re usually not as crucial as preserving existing rainforests. Rainforest conservation is just as important as trying to reforest other areas.E）Reforestation can be accomplished by nature, by humans or through a combination of the two. Some reforestation efforts focus on growing forests quickly because these woodlands are key to many of Earth’s natural cycles, such as the carbon and water cycles. Replanting deforested land with quick-growing exotic tree species, like eucalyptus or Australian acacia, can help solve immediate problems such as soil erosion and elevated carbon levels. However, exotic trees may make the land unsuitable for future rainforest cultivation by changing the soil’s original characteristics. Scientists need to study individual situations to determine what type of impact each foreign species will make on the area’s microbial life, and what the appropriate choices are for reforestation. On a positive note, fast-growing secondary forests and tree farms can replace primary forests as a source for agricultural and energy needs.F）A primary forest is basically one that’s undisturbed by humans and has suffered very few ecological disruptions (中断). There are several other names for a primary forest, such as old growth and primeval forest. A secondary forest is one that has regrown after a destructive event, like a fire or logging. Primary forests usually have much higher levels of biodiversity than secondary ones, which is part of the reason conservationists are trying to save old growth. In areas where deforestation is severe, remaining patches of primary forests are often located at great distances from other surviving rainforests or reforested regions. This makes animal survival and recolonization, as well as plant cross-pollination, difficult and can impede efforts to sustain actual rainforest ecology. Although the parcels of vegetative land can increase the chance of some species’ short-term survival, researchers say the species are likely doomed to extinction over the long term.G）One-way conservationists seek to protect rainforest species is to reforest the corridors of trees that lie between rainforest parcels. This gives plants and animals access to a larger habitat and the chance to mix with other populations, which can boost their genetic diversity and help prevent extinction through isolation for most species. Conservationists can help cultivate these arboreal arteries into supportable rainforest habitats by working to have these corridors widened. The wider the corridors are, the safer they become for migrating animals to use.H）It’s also important to reforest and enlarge areas adjacent to these surviving parcels. This provides an easy means for species to inhabit new territory and expand viable rainforest ecology. Researchers are exploring several options for improving and easing reforestation efforts. One inventive method involves bats. Installing man-made bat roosts in deforested areas can encourage these uniquely flight-enabled mammals (like the spectacled flying fox) to spread seeds and begin the process of rainforest regeneration. Activities like installing bat roosts are examples of how people are a part of natural reforestation efforts. Reforestation efforts are sprouting up all around the world.I）Numerous conservation groups are working to preserve, enlarge and connect the world’s rainforests. Let’s take a closer look at some of those projects. Rwanda’s government and various ecological groups are paying special attention to the Gishwati Forest Reserve. Once a vast rainforest, activities such as deforestation and refugee resettlement reduced it to a fraction of its original size around the turn of the century. Since then, reforestation has somewhat increased the size of the forest, but it remains a sliver of its original size. A project called the Rwandan National Conservation Park is gaining momentum, and those people involved with the project are working to bring the rainforest back and connect it with larger, surviving rainforests nearby. These individuals and organizations are looking to accomplish this through the use of wide tree corridors. They also plan to increase the acreage of the core forest and study the ecology of the forest’s animals, particularly its chimpanzees. 答案解析
能够将市场价格风险转移给( )是期货市场套期保值功能的实质。答案解析
The US CongressA） The US congress is the legislative branch of the federal government. It is a bicameral (两院制的) law-making body of more than 500 members. Its two chambers are respectively called the House of Representatives and the Senate. The American two-house legislature, a product of the compromise between big states and small ones, embodies the American principle of balances and checks. All bills must carry both houses before becoming laws.Representatives vs.SenatorsB） The House of Representatives is the lower house of the bicameral Congress. The membership of the House is distributed among the states according to their different populations. Since 1910, the House has had a permanent membership of 435, with each Representative representing about half a million Americans. Under the principle that each state is guaranteed at least one representative, Nevada, a state with a small population. sends only one Representative to the House. California has more than 40 Representatives in the House because of its large population.C） The election of Representatives is organized by the state legislature which divides the state into a number of districts known as Congressional districts. Each district, with a population of nearly half a million, elects one Representative to the House. A Representative’s term of office is set at two years, but there is no limit to the number of his terms. A new Representative can hardly feel easy about his position. Hardly has he begun his work in the Congress when he finds it’s time for him to seek re-election.D） The Senate is the upper house of the US Congress. Representation in the Senate is based on the principle of state equality. The Senate is comprised of l00 Senators, two from each of the fifty states. Senators have been directly elected by voters of their respective states since 1913. Their term of office is six years. With one-third of the Senate seats up for election every two years. A Senator must be at least thirty years old and a citizen for nine years.The PrestigeE） Generally speaking, Senators are accorded greater prestige than their colleagues in the lower house. Many Representatives aspire to win the election to the Senate. Senators derive their prestige from the following facts. They are less numerous, for there are fewer than one fourth as many Senators as Representatives, or Congressmen. Elected by the whole state instead of a single congressional district, most Senators represent more constituents (选民) than do House members. They are less worried by the problem of seeking re-electives. What’s more, the Senate has special powers which it does not share with the House. It has the power to approve or deny proposed treaties, nominations proposed by the President. In line with the tradition of “senatorial courtesy (礼貌)” , the Senate always rejects a nominee who is objected to by a Senator of the state from which he comes.F） It won’t do to neglect the importance of the Senate in foreign affairs. Without its cooperation and support, the President can hardly take any significant action in foreign relations. A Secretary of State on good terms with the Senators is always important for the President. Foreign countries must try to establish good relations with the US Senate if they intend to make a bargain with the United States.Leaders of the Home and the SenateG） The presiding (主持的) officer of the Senate is the Vice President who functions as a kind chairman when the Senate is in session (开会). The chief spokesman of the House is known as the Speaker who is the leader of the majority party in the House. The Speaker is the most influential figure in the House because he directs his party’s forces in legislative battles.How the Congress worksH） The Congress is a legislative body, but it relies on its various committees to do preparatory work.. The Senate and the House have several dozen standing and special committees to deal with problems of different natures. The seats of the committees are divided between the two parties in proportion to their respective membership in the Congress. But the committee chairman is always a member of the majority party who has been in the Senate or the House without interruption for longer than anybody else on the committee. The custom is known as “seniority rule” . Most proposed laws in the Congress are known as bills. All bills introduced during a two-year congressional term are designated “HR” in the House and “S” in the Senate, with consecutive (连续的) numbers assigned in order in which they are introduced in each house. After this, the bills are referred to the relevant committees for further study.I） To assess the bill at its true worth, the relevant committee usually organizes its sub-committee to conduct detailed study. There is no doubt that the sub-committee will study the literal sense of the bill. But it also holds meetings with the citizens who want to state their opinions about the bill. These meetings are commonly known as hearings. The purpose of the sub-committee in holding these hearings is to obtain information on the bill before it. The sub-committee may summon people to appear at the hearings and to testify. After finishing study of the bill, the sub-committee will report the result to the full committee. The committee chairman then has a choice between two things. He can send the bill to the house for further consideration. He can also postpone, or kill it by putting it aside and not reporting it. For this reason, a committee chairman is regarded as an important person in the Congress. It won’t do to neglect them. 答案解析
Some years ago I was offered a writing assignment that would require three months of travel through Europe. I had been abroad a couple of times, but I could hardly __1__ to know my way around the continent. Moreover, my knowledge of foreign languages was __2__ to a little college French.　　 I hesitated. How would I, unable to speak the language, __3__ unfamiliar with local geography or transportation systems, set up __4__ and do research? It seemed impossible, and with considerable __5__ I sat down to write a letter begging off. Halfway through, a thought ran through my mind: you can't learn if you don't try. So I accepted the assignment.　　There were some bad __6__. But by the time I had finished the trip I was an experienced traveler. And ever since, I have never hesitated to head for even the most remote of places, without guides or even __7__ bookings, confident that somehow I will manage.　　The point is that the new, the different, is almost by definition __8__. But each time you try something, you learn, and as the learning piles up, the world opens to you.　　I've learned to ski at 40, and flown up the Rhine River in a __9__. And I know I'll go on doing such things. It's not because I'm braver or more daring than others. I'm not. But I'll accept anxiety as another name for challenge and I believe I can __10__ wonders.A. accomplishB. advancedC. balloonD. claimE. constantlyF. declareG. interviewsH. limitedI. manufactureJ. momentsK.newsL. reducedM. regretN. scaryO. totally 答案解析
Kindle Killers? The Boom in New E-ReadersA． Amazon, the online retailing giant, did more than any other company to turn the sale of digital books into a real business with the 2007 launch of the Kindle electronic reader. The company has sold an estimated 1.7 million units of the hand held device in the US, and it's getting ready to ship millions more. On Oct.6, Amazon announced that it would soon begin selling Kindles -- complete with a key feature that allows users to wirelessly download e-books from Amazon -- in more than 100 countries.B． Success breeds imitators. Amazon is about to be attacked by a squadron of would-be Kindle killers being brought to market by some of the biggest names in consumer electronics and publishing. To complicate the increasingly competitive landscape even further, Apple and, according to rumor, Microsoft are working on tablet computers that could prove to be handy e-readers but with more functions and features, such as video display capability and full web browsers. "2009 is a breakout year fore-readers," says Sarah Rotman Epps, an analyst with Forrester Research."But we're still in the early stages."C． The early stages have lasted a longtime. E-readers have been around for more than a decade, but the devices weren't popular due to high cost, proprietary (专利的) display formats and the reluctance of book publishers to sell digital versions of their best-selling titles. Now, just as digital music was driven into the mainstream by Apple's iPod and iTunes, Amazon's Kindle andonline bookstore, which sells more than 350,000 titles, are proving there's amass market for e-books. Total industry revenue from digital-book downloads has risen 149% this year, according to the Association of American Publishers,while e-reader sales are expected to reach 3 million by Dec.31, according to For rester Research. Almost a million of the devices could be sold during the upcoming holiday season alone. In 2010, sales are projected to double, to 6 million.That kind of growth is hard to come by in the recession-wracked technology industry, and a crowd is starting to gather. Around the world, at least 17 e-readers are in development or already on the market.D． Among the better-known entrants is Asustek -- the Taiwanese company of China practically invented the netbook category with its ASUS Eee-PC, and it is working on a product called the Eee-reader that it hopes to have on the market in time for Christmas. South Korea's two powerhouse consumer-electronics companies, Samsung and LG Electronics, are wading in too. Samsung earlier this year introduced a reader called the Papyrus in South Korea; reports circulating in the technology blogosphere say LG is developing a prototype with a large,11.5- inch (diagonal） flexible screen. Meanwhile, Japan's Fujitsu has released the world's first dedicated e-reader with a colour screen, although so far the device is only available in Japan.E． It isn't just tech companies that are joining the fray. Bricks-and-mortar bookseller Barnes & Noble, which in the US offers access to 750,000 e-books on its website, is rumored to be pondering the development of its own e-reader to rival the Kindle. (The retailer already has a partnership to sell e-readers made by IREX, a spin-off of Holland's Royal Philips Electronics.)Major newspaper and magazine publishers,which are suffering mightily from the loss of subscribers and advertisers to the recession and the Internet, are also getting involved. News Corp. chairman and CEO Rupert Murdoch, owner of The Wall Street Journal, is reportedly considering a deal with Japanese consumer-electronics giant Sony, which in 2004 introduced the first commercially viable e-reader, to use a black-and-white display technology called electronic ink (also used by the Kindle. Sony is rolling out a new family of e-readers, including a pocket- size version and one with a large screen that's geared toward newspapers and magazines.F． One reason e-readers are getting traction is that competition is driving down prices. Amazon has cut the price of the Kindle by $100 over the past six months, to $259. As e-readers proliferate(激增) and price disparities narrow, manufacturers are trying to differentiate their products by adding features such as MP3 players and touch screens. The eSlick by Foxit,based in Fremont, Calif., allows users to listen to songs while reading .Asustek recently unveiled a prototype e-reader with two screens, which would more closely duplicate the traditional reading experience, although the devicethat the company expects to release later this year will have a single screen.G． At the same time, new display technologies are emerging that promise to improve battery life and make devices more portable and easier to read. UK-based Plastic Logic hopes to introduce nextyear the first e-reader with a plastic screen that will reduce glare and be less prone to cracking when dropped by ham-fisted owners. Electronic-ink technology is set to move from black and white to colour by the end of 2010.Even video is on the horizon. "We'll see a range of models start to appear over the first half of 2010 offering a range of different reading and productivity experiences," says Neil Jones, CEO of UK-based In teread, which in May launcheda $249 e-reader called the COOL-ER.H. Newcomers will have a hard time breaking Amazon's chokehold in the US, where the company controls 60% of the e-reader market, according to Forrester Research. But the edge Amazon gained when it launchedthe Kindle could be blunted by evolving technology and changing consumer needs.Currently, more people read e-books on their smart phones than they do on dedicated devices like e-readers.I. And there's the looming threat posed by next-generation tablet computers. Apple, the king of cool handheld devices, is rumored to be readying a tablet computer with all the functions of a laptop aswell as iPhone-like touch capabilities for release early next year. Microsoft has been secretive about its plans for a tablet, but a video making the rounds of the blogosphere shows a dual-LCD-screen prototype that closes like a book."E-readers are a transitional technology," says Rotman Epps of Forrester Research. It means that just as the e-reader is taking off, it may be becoming obsolete. 答案解析
How Your Language Affects Your Wealth and Health A. Does the language we speak determine how healthy and rich we will be? New research by Keith Chen of YaleBusiness School suggests so. The structure of languages affects our judgments and decisions about the futureand this might have dramatic long-term consequences.B. There has I seen a lot Of research into how we deal with the future. For example, the famous marshmallow (棉花糖.studies of Walter Mischel and colleagues showed that being able to resist temptation is predictive of futuresuccess. Four-year-old kids were given a marshmallow and were told that if they do not eat that marshmallowand wait for the experimenter to come back, they will get two marshmallows instead of one. Follow-up studiesshowed that the kids who were able to wait for the bigger future reward became more successful young adults.C. Resisting our impulses for immediate pleasure is often the only way to attain the outcomes that are importantto us. We want to keep a slim figure but we also want that last slice of pizza. We want a comfortableretirement, but we also want to drive that dazzling car, go on that dream vacation, or get those gorgeous shoes.Some people are better at delaying gratification (满足. than others. Those people have a better chance ofaccumulating wealth and keeping a healthy life style. They are less likely to be impulse buyers or smokers, orto engage in unsafe sex.D. Chen's recent findings suggest that an unlikely factor, language, strongly affects our future-oriented behavior. Some languages strongly distinguish the present and the future. Other languages only weakly distinguish thepresent and the future. Chen's recent research suggests that people who speak languages that weaklydistinguish the present and the future are better prepared for the future. They accumulate more wealth and theyare better able to maintain their health. The way these people conceptualize the future is similar to the waythey conceptualize the present. As a result, the future does not feel very distant and it is easier for them to actin accordance with their future interests.E. Different languages have different ways of talking about the future. Some languages, such as English, Korean,and Russian, require their speakers to refer to the future explicitly ( 明确的.. Every time English-speakers talkabout the future, they have to use future markers such as "will" or "going to." In other languages, such asMandarin, Japanese, and German, future markers are not obligatory (强制性的.. The future is often talkedabout similar to the way present is talked about and the meaning is understood from the context. A Mandarinspeaker who is going to go to a seminar might say "Woqu ting jiangzuo," which translates to "I go listenseminar." Languages such as English constantly remind their speakers that future events are distant. Forspeakers of languages such as Mandarin future feels closer. As a consequence, resisting immediate impulsesand investing for the future is easier for Mandarin speakers.F. Chert analyzed individual-level data from 76 developed and developing countries. This data includes people'seconomic decisions, such as whether they saved any money last year, the languages they speak at home,demographics (人口统计资料., and cultural factors such as "saving is an important cultural value for me."He also analyzed individual-level data on people's retirement assets, smoking and exercising habits, andgeneral health in older age. Lastly, he analyzed national-level data that includes national savings rates, countryGDP and GDP growth rates, country demographics, and proportions of people speaking different languages.G. People's savings rates are affected by various factors such as their income, education level, age, religiousconnection, their countries' legal systems, and their cultural values. After those factors were accounted for, theeffect of language on people’s savings rates turned out to be big．Speaking a language that has obligatoryfuture markers，such as English，makes people 30 percent less likely to save money for the future．This effectis as large as the effect of unemployment．Being unemployed decreases the likelihood of saving by about 30 percent as well．H.Similar analyses showed that speaking a language that does not have obligatory future markers，such asMandarin，makes people accumulate more retirement assets，smoke less，exercise more，and generally behealthier in older age．Countries’national savings rates are also affected by language．Having a larger proportion of people speaking languages mat does not have obligatory future markers makes national savingsrates higher．I. At a more practical level，researchers have been looking for ways to help people act in accordance with theirlong-term interests．Recent findings suggest that making the future feel closer to the present might improvefuture-oriented behavior．For instance，researchers recently presented people with renderings of their futureselves made using age-progression algorithms(算法.that forecast how physical appearances would changeover time．One group of participants saw a digital representation of their current selves in a virtual mirror，andthe other group saw an age-morphed version of their future selves．Those participants who saw the age-morphed version of their future selves allocated more money toward a hypothetical savings account．Theintervention brought people’s future to the present and as a result they saved more for the future。J.Chen’s research shows that language structures our future-related thoughts．Language has been used before toalter time perception with surprising effects．Ellen Langer and colleagues famously improved older people’sphysical health by simple interventions including asking them to talk about the events of twenty years ago as ifit they were happening now．．Talking about the past as if it were the present changed people’s mindsets andtheir mindsets affected their physical states．Chen’s research points at the possibility that the way we talkabout the future can shape our mindsets．Language can move the future back and forth in our mental spaceand this might have dramatic influences on our judgments and decisions．答案解析
在我国，某交易者在4月28日卖出10手7月份白糖期货合约同时买入10手9月份白糖期货合约，价格分别为5350元/吨和5400元/吨。5月5日该交易者对上述合约全部对冲平仓7月和9月合约平仓价格分别为5380元/吨和5480元/吨。该套利交易（）元。（白糖期货交易单位为10吨/手，不计手续费等费用）答案解析
Wise buying is a positive way in which you can make your money go further. The way you go about purchasing an article or a service can actually 1 you money or can add to the cost. Take the 2 example of a hairdryer. If you are buying a hairdryer, you might think that you are making the 3 buy if you choose one whose look you like and which is also the cheapest 4 price. But when you get it home you may find that it takes twice as long as a more expensive 5 to dry your hair.The cost of the electricity plus the cost of your time could well make your hairdryer the most expensive one of all.　　So what principles should you 6 when you go out shopping? If you keep your home, your car or any valuable 7 in excellent condition, you'll be saving money in the long run. Before you buy a new 8 , talk to someone who owns one .If you can, use it or borrow it to check it suits your particular purpose. Before you buy an expensive 9 , or a service, do check the price and what is on offer. If possible, choose 10 three items or three estimates.A. possessionB. saveC. bestD. applianceE. materialF. fromG. simpleH. withI. inJ. elementK. modelL. itemM. easyN. adoptO. reasonable 答案解析
Robot ManagementA.Robots have been the stuff of science fiction for so long that it is surprisingly hard to see them as the stuff ofmanagement fact. A Czech playwright, Karel Capek, gave them their name in 1920 (from the Slavonic wordfor "work".. An American writer, Isaac Asimov, confronted them with their most memorable dilemmas.Hollywood turned them into superheroes and super villains. When some film critics drew up lists ofHollywood's 50 greatest good guys and 50 greatest baddies, the only character to appear on both lists was arobot, the Terminator.B.It is time for management thinkers to catch up with science-fiction writers. Robots have been doing auxiliaryjobs on production lines since the 1960s. The world already has more than lm industrial robots. There is nowan acceleration in the rates at which they are becoming both cleverer and cheaper: an explosive combination.Robots are learning to interact with the world around them. Their ability to see things is getting ever closer tothat of humans, as is their capacity to ingest information and act on it. Tomorrow's robots will increasinglytake on delicate, complex tasks. And instead of being imprisoned in cages to stop them colliding with people,they will be free to wander.C.America's armed forces have blazed a trail here. They now have no fewer than 12,000 robots serving in theirranks. Peter Singer, of the Brookings Institution, a think-tank ( 智囊团., says mankind' s 5,000-year monopolyon the fighting of war is breaking down. Recent additions to the battlefield include tiny "insects" that performreconnaissance (侦查 .missions and giant "dogs" to terrify enemies. The Pentagon is also working on theEATR, a robot that fuels itself by eating whatever biomass ( 生物量 .it finds around it.D.But the civilian world cannot be far behind. Who better to clean sewers or suck up nuclear waste than theseremarkable machines? The Japanese have made surprisingly little use of robots to clear up after the recentearthquake, given their world leadership in this area. They say that they had the wrong sort of robots in thewrong places. But they have issued a global call for robotic assistance and are likely to put more robots towork shortly.E.As robots advance into the service industries they are starting to look less like machines and more like livingcreatures. The Paro (made by/LIST, a Japanese research agency.is shaped like a baby seal and responds toattention. Honda's robot, ASIMO, is humanoid and can walk, talk and respond to commands.F.Until now executives have largely ignored robots, regarding them as an engineering rather than a managementproblem. This cannot go on: robots are becoming too powerful and ubiquitous (无处不在的.. Companies mayneed to rethink their strategies as they gain access to these new sorts of workers. Do they really need tooutsource production to China, for example, when they have clever machines that work ceaselessly withoutpay? They certainly need to rethink their human-resources policies--starting by questioning whether theyshould have departments devoted to purely human resources.G.The first issue is how to manage the robots themselves. Asimov laid down the basic rule in 1942: no robotshould harm a human. This rule has been reinforced by recent technological improvements: robots are nowmuch more sensitive to their surroundings and can be instructed to avoid hitting people. But the Pentagon'splans make all this a bit more complicated: many of its robots will be, in essence, killing machines.H.A second question is how to manage the homo side of homo-robo relations. Workers have always worded that new technologies will take away their livelihoods, ever since the original Luddites' fears about mechanisedlooms. That worry takes on a particularly intense form when the machines come with a human face: Capek'splay that gave robots their name depicted a world in which they initially brought lots of benefits but eventuallyled to mass unemployment and discontent. Now, the arrival of increasingly humanoid automatons inworkplaces, in an era of high unemployment, is bound to provoke a reaction.I.So, companies will need to work hard to persuade workers that robots are productivity-enhancers, not just job-eating aliens. They need to show employees that the robot sitting alongside them can be more of a helpmatethan a threat. Audi has been particularly successful in introducing industrial robots because the car makerasked workers to identify areas where robots could improve performance and then gave those workers jobsoverseeing the robots. Employers also need to explain that robots can help preserve manufacturing jobs in therich world: one reason why Germany has lost fewer such jobs than Britain is that it has five times as manyrobots for every 10,000 workers.J.These two principles---don't let robots hurt or frighten people--are relatively simple. Robot scientists aretackling more complicated problems as robots become more sophisticated. They are keen to avoid hierarchies(层级.among rescue-robots (because the loss of the leader would render the rest redundant.. So they areusing game theory to make sure the robots can communicate with each other in egalitarian (平等.ways. Theyare keen to avoid duplication between robots and their human handlers. So they are producing morecomplicated mathematical formulae in order that robots can constantly adjust themselves to human intentions.This suggests that the world could be on the verge of a great management revolution: making robots behavelike humans rather than the 20th century's preferred option, making humans behave like robots. 答案解析
某日，大豆的9月份期货合约价格为3500元/吨，当天现货市场上的同种大豆价格为3000元/吨。则下列说法中不正确的是( )。答案解析
For many Americans, 2013 ended with an unusually bitter cold spell. Late November and December __1___ early snow and bone-chilling temperatures in much of the country, part of a year when, for the first time in two __2___, record-cold days will likely turn out to have outnumbered record-warm ones. But the U.S. was the exception: November was the warmest ever ___3__, and current data indicates that 2013 is likely to have been the fourth hottest year on record.Enjoy the snow now, because __4___ are good that 2014 will be even hotter, perhaps the hottest year since records have been kept.That's because, scientists are predicting, 2014 will be an El Niuo year.El Niuo, Spanish for "the child", __5___ when surface ocean waters in the southern Pacific become abnormally warm. So large is the Pacific, covering 30% of the planet's surface, that the __6___ energy generated by its warming is enough to touch off a series of weather changes around the world. El Niuo are ___7__ with abnormally dry conditions in Southeast Asia and Australia. They can lead to extreme rain in parts of North and South America, even as southern Africa ___8__ dry weather. Marine life may be affected too: El Niuos can ___9__ the rising of the cold, nutrient-rich (营养丰富的) water that supports large fish _10__,and the unusually warm ocean temperatures can destroy coral (珊瑚).A. additionalB. associatedC. boreD. chancesE. communicatedF. decadesG. experiencesH. globallyI. logicallyJ. occursK. populationsL. realizeM. reduceN. sawO. specifi 答案解析
In recent years, more and more foreigners are involved in the teaching programs of theUnited States. Both the advantages and the disadvantages1 using foreign faculty in teaching positions have to be2 , of course. It can be said that the foreign background that makes the faculty member from abroad an asset also3 problems of adjustment, both for the university and for the individual. The foreign research scholar usually isolates himself in the laboratory as a means of protection; 4 , what he needs is to be fitted to a highly organized university system quite different from5 at home. He is faced in his daily work with differences in philosophy, arrangements of courses and methods of teaching. Both the visiting professor and his students6 a common ground in each other’s cultures, some concept of what is already in the minds of American students is7 for the foreign professor. While helping him to adapt himself to his new environment, the university must also 8certain adjustments in order to take full advantage of what the newcomer can9 . It isn’t always known how to make creative use of foreign faculty, especially at smaller colleges. This is thought to be a10 where further study is called for. The findings of such a study will be of value to colleges and universities with foreign faculty.A. field B. possess C. consideredD. express E. offer F. create G. requiredH. of I. emerge J. make K. lack L. however M. scope N. cause O. that 答案解析
A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you 1 the two to do something for your local 2 ?　　It may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to 3it in the garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.　　4 , a biodegradable (生物可降解的)mobile phone was introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage 5 to recycle.　　Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other 6and can be hard or soft. and able to change shape. Overtime it can also break down into the soil without giving out any toxic 7. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this new type of cover turns into waste, it 8 nitrates(硝酸盐). These feed the seed and help the flower grow.　　Engineers have designed a small 9 window to hold the seed. They have made sure it only grows when the phone is thrown away.　　"We've only put sunflower seeds into the covers so far. But we are working with plant 10 to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time," said one scientist.A. Recently B. consumer C. chemical D. environment E. combineF. transparent G. buy H. companion I. experts J. forms K. buryL. paper M. paper N. plastic O. Usually 答案解析