With the possible exception of equal rights, perhaps the most controversial issue across the United States today is the death penalty. Many argue that it is an effective deterrent (威慑) to murder, while others maintain there is no convincing evidence that the death penalty reduces the number of murders.
The principal argument advanced by those opposed to the death penalty, basically, is that it is cruel and inhuman punishment, which is the mark of a brutal society, and finally that it is of questionable effectiveness as a deterrent to crime anyway.
In our opinion, the death penalty is a necessary evil. Throughout recorded history there have always been those extreme individuals in every society who were capable of terribly violent crimes such as murder. But some are more extreme than others.
For example, it is one thing to take the life of another in a fit of blind rage, but quite another to coldly plot and carry out the murder of one or more people in the style of a butcher. Thus, murder, like all other crimes, is a matter of relative degree. While it could be argued with some conviction that the criminal in the first instance should be merely separated from society, such should not be the fate of the latter type murderer.
The value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime may be open to debate. But the overwhelming majority of citizens believe that the death penalty protects them. Their belief is strengthened by evidence which shows that the death penalty deters murder. For example, from 1954 to 1963, when the death penalty was consistently imposed in California, the murder rate remained between three and four murders for each 100,000 population. Since 1964 the death penalty has been carried out only once, and the murder rate has risen to 10.4 murders for each 100,000 population. The sharp climb in the state’s murder rate, which began when executions stopped, is no coincidence. It is convincing evidence that the death penalty does deter many murderers. If the bill reestablishing the death penalty is banned, innocent people will be murdered—some whose lives may have been saved if the death penalty were in effect. This is literally a life or death matter. The lives of thousands of innocent people must be protected.
1.The principal purpose of this passage is to________.
A.speak for the majority B.initiate a ban
C.criticize the government D.argue for the value of the death penalty
2.The author’s response to those who urge the death penalty for all is likely to be________.
A.negative B.friendly
C.supportive D.neutral
3.According to the Paragraph 4, it can be inferred that________.
A.the death penalty is the most controversial issue in the United States today
B.the ban of the bill reestablishing the death penalty is of little importance
C.the second type of murderers should be sentenced to death
D.the value of the death penalty as a deterrent to crime is not to be debated
4.The passage attempts to establish a relationship between________.
A.the effects of execution and the effects of isolation
B.the murder rate and the imposition of the death penalty
C.the importance of equal rights and that of the death penalty
D.executions and murders
5.The author’s attitude towards “death penalty” is________.
A.opposing B.supporting
C.neutral D.not clear
In many aspects, nowadays business environment has changed greatly since the late 1980s. The end of the cold war completely altered the very nature of the world’s politics and economics. In just a few short years, globalization has started a variety of trends with profound consequences: the opening of markets, true global competition, widespread deregulation (解除政府对……的控制) of industry, and an abundance of accessible capital. we have experienced both the benefits and risks of a truly global economy, with both wall street and main street (平民百姓) feeling the pains of economic disorder half a world away.
At the same time, we have fully entered the information age, starting breakthroughs in information technology, which have irreversibly altered the ability to conduct business unconstrained by the traditional limitations of time or space. Today, it’s almost impossible to imagine a world without intranets, e-mail, and portable computers. With amazing speed, the internet is profoundly changing the way we work, shop, do business, and communicate.
As a consequence, we have truly entered the post-industrial economy. We are rapidly shifting from an economy based on manufacturing and commodities to one that places the greatest value on information, services, support, and distribution. That shift, in turn, attaches great importance to “knowledge workers,” a new class of wealthy, educated, and mobile people who view themselves as free agents in a seller’s market.
Beyond the field of information technology, the increasing pace of technological change in virtually every industry has created entirely new business, wiped out others, and produced a great demand for continuous innovation (创新).New product, process, and distribution technologies provide powerful levers for creating competitive value. More companies are learning the importance of destructive technologies-----innovations that hold the potential to make a product line, or even an entire business segment, virtually outdated.
Another major trend has been the consumer and business markets. There’s a growing appreciation that superficially similar groups of customers may have very different preferences in terms of what they want to buy and how they want to buy it. Now, new technology makes it easier, faster, and cheaper to identify and serve targeted micro-markets in ways that were physically impossible or prohibitively expensive in the past. Moreover, the trend feeds on itself, a business’s ability to serve sub-markets fuels customers’ appetites for more and more specialized offerings.
1.According to the first paragraph, the changes in the business environment in the past decades can be due to __________.
A.technological advances B.worldwide economic disorder
C.the fierce competition in industry D.the globalization of economy
2.What idea does the author want to convey in the second paragraph ?
A.The rapid development of information technology has taken businessmen by surprise.
B.The internet, intranets, e-mail, and portable computers have entered every corner of the world.
C.Information technology has removed the restrictions of time and space in business transactions.
D.The way we do business today has brought about startling breakthroughs in information technology.
3.If a business wants to boom in the post-industrial economy, ________.
A.it has to invest more capital in the training of free agents to operate in a seller’s market
B.it should try its best to satisfy the increasing demands of mobile knowledgeable people
C.it should not overlook the importance of information, services, support, and distribution
D.it has to provide each of its employees with the latest information about the changing market
4.In the author’s view, destructive technologies are innovations which _________.
A.demand a radical change in providing services
B.can eliminate an entire business
C.may destroy the potential of a company to make any profit
D.call for continuous improvement in ways of doing business
5.With the consumer and business markets, ________.
A.an increasing number of companies have broken down
B.manufacturers must focus on one special product to remain competitive in the market
C.it is physically impossible and prohibitively expensive to do business in the old way
D.businesses have to meet individual customers’ specific needs in order to succeed
Allen Cook and his daughter Melissa were renovating(整修) her house, when they found a beautiful, heart-warming love story. “The envelope in the ceiling was old and yellow. It had never been opened, It was unbelievable when my son-in-low started reading it. In the letter she was talking about the baby she was going to have,” Allen Cook said.
The story began in May 4, 1945, the typed letter was written by a woman named Virginia to her husband, Rolf Christoffersen. At the time, he was a sailor in the Norwegian navy. The envelope was marked “return to sender” and never found its way to her husband. Allen’s daughter used the Internet to find the phone number of someone named Rolf Christoffersen and gave him a call, leading her to his son in Santa Barbara, California.
“Someone called me at my office. They just googled my name because I have the same name as my father. Melissa asked me where I grew up and I told her. She told me she had the letter,” Christoffersen’s son, 66 now, said. The younger Christoffersen wasn’t yet born when his mother Virginia wrote the letter, but he said her words were very special to him. His mother, who died six years ago, wrote about her love for her husband.
“I love you Rolf, as I love the warm sun, and that is what you are for my life, the sun about which everything else revolves around me,” she wrote. Seventy-two years later, her words were finally heard by her husband. Christoffersen immediately called his father, who is now 96. And read the letter to him over the phone. “I was so surprised after all these years. I was very emotional,” the elder Christoffersen said.
The long-lost letter was finally received just before Mother’s Day; it was another tangible connection to Virginia Christoffersen. “It’s Mother’s Day and reading her words reminded me just what a wonderful person she was and how much she loved us” her son said, through tears.
1.The envelope found by Allen and his daughter ________.
A.was hard to believe for everyone
B.told a pretty and touching love story
C.told a story about Melissa and her husband
D.was written by a man whose wife joined the services
2.How did Allen’s daughter find the phone number?
A.By searching the Internet. B.With the help of the public.
C.By the address on the envelope. D.With the help of the Norwegian navy.
3.It can be inferred that the baby Virginia mentioned in the letter might be ________.
A.the father of Melissa who found the letter
B.the younger Christoffersen in Santa Barbara
C.6 years older than the younger Christoffersen
D.a younger brother of the younger Christoffersen
4.Elder Christoffersen knew the details of the letter through ________.
A.his neighbor telling him face to face
B.his son reading to him on the phone
C.the email that Melissa sent to him
D.the post on the Internet posted by Melissa
5.What did the younger Christoffersen think of the long-lost love letter?
A.A reminder of his mother. B.A precious gift to his father.
C.A present from his mother. D.A precious gift of Mother’s Day.
The movie theater is a fantasy land that takes the dreams of anyone. It attracts groups of different tastes. There are certain characteristics that distinguish these people from one another. And the characteristics also help guide directors towards what is going to be the next big cinematic presentation.
The Regulars
They are basically amateur movie critics themselves due to the amount of movies they watch. They do not decide more between movies and can generally see two or even three in one sitting. So older people are the regulars due to their plenty of free time they have.
The Young Parents
Children’s movies are their entertainment of choice, and they tend to choose light-hearted humor over everything. Usually friendly, this group are great at socializing. As for the movie category for children, directors trust this group as they know what is wanted and expected in the types of movies.
The Couple
They are quick to get into the cinema and usually buy what is required by the female partner. What is usually a similar theme in their movies is at least a hinting at a love story of some sort. These groups are excellent test subjects for the production of Nicholas Sparks type movies as they feel like their love story is the next big production and thus directors are drawn towards them.
The Noisy Teens
These types can interrupt a movie countless times. Though they may buy tons of food, they seem somehow not to send the food into their mouths and employees find much food is left on the floor as if a food fight went on during the film. Action and adventure movies come out usually for this crowd because the plot and fast-paced nature of the film usually keep the teens at bay for that time period.
1.The text would most benefit ________.
A.film lovers B.movie directors
C.theater visitors D.cinema bosses
2.What do we learn about the Couple?
A.They are required to get into the cinema soon.
B.Both of them enjoy movies of different themes.
C.The female partner often decides what they see.
D.They like to judge the quality of the love-story films.
3.Which group will probably pay little attention to the subject of the movie?
A.The Regulars. B.The Young Parents.
C.The Couple. D.The Rowdy Teens.
4.What kind of movies most likely attracts the teens?
A.Light-hearted humor movies. B.Nicholas Sparks type movies.
C.Exciting movies about the war. D.Romantic love-story movies.
5.What’s the text mainly about?
A.Analysis of movie theater goers.
B.Movies for people with different tastes.
C.Approaches to attracting audiences.
D.The recipe to pick a popular movie.
Have you ever been asked the question “What do you want to be when you grow up?” I am someone who’s _________ been able to answer the question. The problem wasn’t that I didn’t have any _________ ---- it was that I had too many. In high school, I liked English, math and art and I built websites and I played the guitar. This _________ after my high school, _______ at a certain point, I started to get bored. And usually I would try and _______ anyway, because I had already devoted so much time and energy and sometimes money to this field. But eventually this sense of _______ would get to be too much. And I would have to let it go.
This pattern caused me a lot of _________ for two reasons. The first was that I wasn’t _______ how I was going to turn any of this into a career. I thought that I would eventually have to _______ one thing, deny all of my other passion. The __________ reason was that I worried that there was something wrong with this, and something wrong with me for being __________ to stick with anything. I was afraid of commitment. ________, there is nothing wrong with me. I am just a multipotentialite(多重潜力者). A multipotentialite is someone __________ many interests and creative pursuits. It is easy to see your multipotentiality as a limitation that you need to __________. But what I have learnt is that there are three multipotentialite __________: Idea synthesis(综合), rapid learning and adaptability.
In fact, some of the best teams are made up of a specialist and multipotentialites. The specialist can dive in deep ideas, __________ the multipotentialite brings a width of knowledge to the project. It is a __________ partnership. So what I hope is this: If you are a ________ at heart, then by all means, specialize. But to the multipotentiallites, please __________ your many passions and follow your curiosity. The world __________ multipotentialites.
1.A.always B.sometimes C.never D.still
2.A.thoughts B.interests C.questions D.subjects
3.A.happened B.changed C.stopped D.continued
4.A.because B.but C.so D.when
5.A.insist B.agree C.save D.compare
6.A.satisfaction B.achievement C.freedom D.boredom
7.A.desperation B.surprise C.excitement D.anxiety
8.A.curious B.brave C.sure D.careful
9.A.know B.control C.involve D.pick
10.A.other B.important C.simple D.same
11.A.unable B.pleased C.easy D.willing
12.A.Personally B.Actually C.Perfectly D.Luckily
13.A.for B.like C.with D.regarding
14.A.refuse B.guard C.search D.overcome
15.A.powers B.results C.weaknesses D.restrictions
16.A.since B.while C.because D.although
17.A.real B.new C.beautiful D.limited
18.A.thinker B.specialist C.scientist D.student
19.A.achieve B.discover C.combine D.accept
20.A.needs B.fears C.annoys D.challenges
The poor girl, ________ for not finishing homework on time, is in low sprits now.
A.scolding B.being scolded
C.having been scolded D.to be scolded
