Made In The USA: An Export Boom
In his State of the Union address two years ago, President Obama argued that in order to recover from the economic recession, one of the few things the U．S. needed to do was to export more goods around the world. That night, the president unveiled a new goal: to double U．S. exports over the next five years. It would be an increase that the president said would “support two million jobs in America.”
Most economists dismissed the promise at the time as something unrealistic, but two years later, the U．S. is on pace to meet that goal. American exports are up 34 percent since the president gave that speech, and the number continues to rise.
Competitive In A Global Market
Marlin Steel, a metal working business in Baltimore, makes parts that ship all across the world.“We export to 36 countries，” owner Drew Greenblatt tells All Things Considered Host Guy Raz.“We're working around the clock, and we're growing.”
It's not just advanced manufacturing exports on the rise, but pork, cattle and all kinds of agricultural exports are up as well. Even American craft beer has found an export market.
Flying Dog CEO Jim Caruso says that increasingly, people all over the world are trying the beer from the Maryland－based brewery. Caruso says，“Even in those top beer－producing countries, a competitive American product is finding a market.”
Services Are Exports, Too
Another place exports are coming from is New York City—in particular, the 30th floor of a Manhattan skyscraper on 5th Avenue and 52nd Street. That's where the consulting firm Kurt Solomon lies. It doesn't actually produce a product for export; it provides management advice and strategy.
“Four out of every five Americans is now employed in the service industry，” the nation's top trade official, Ron Kirk says, “Services are a significant part of our exports, and make up about a quarter of our exported goods.” These services can include everything from legal consulting, finance, information technology and even engineering.
And There Are Other Factors
So why has there been an increase of more than 30 percent for exports in almost everything? Part of the increase, at least for the manufacturing side, is due to better technology, says Tyler Cowen, an economist.“A lot of it is being driven by smart machines，” he tells Raz，“The U．S. has high wage rates, which is a disadvantage, but if machines are doing a lot of the work, that doesn't matter.”
China factors a lot in America's export economy, too.“Wages in China have been going up as the country becomes more productive. Thus China is losing the cheap labor advantage it has held for some time.” Cowen says.
Will Jobs Grow, too?
“Companies have become more productive by dismissing workers and lowering costs.”Cowen says.“So I don't view exporting as a way of creating a very large number of jobs, but it will create more profits.”
So not every business or worker is necessarily benefiting from the export boom in the U．S., and Cowen says that could ultimately lead to a polarization(两极) of economic outcomes.
Made In the USA: An Export Boom
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Outline |
Details |
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The purpose of increasing exports |
*To help America make a (1)______ from the economic recession *To help raise the nation's (2)______ rate |
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The current situation |
*American exports have risen (3)______ thirty－four percent up to now *There has been an increase in exports in everything *The export boom does not necessarily (4)______ every business or worker |
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(5)______ contributing to the export boom |
(6)______products |
Even in those top beer－producing countries, people try craft beer from Flying Dog, a brewery (7)______ in Maryland |
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Various products |
A variety of products are provided around the world，services (8)______ for 25% |
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Lower costs |
*(9)______ take the place of labor, helping companies reduce wages *China, who used to take (10)______ of cheap labor, has given way to America in exports to some extent because of its increasing production |
If California were not already so famous for Sillicon Valley(硅谷) and Hollywood, it might be well－known for the groups of water－technology firms in its San Diego County. The reverse－osmosis (RO) spiral module, the technique that supports turning seawater and waste－water into drinkable stuff, began in San Diego in 1964. Today dozens of firms in the area supply many of the world's approximately 13，000 RO plants in places from the Persian Gulf and Israel to Australia and China.
Southern California itself, however, has not so far been a big user of its own technology. This is surprising, given that the whole American south－west faces a water problem. But now as the climate gets warmer and the population increases, there is more agreement that the existing infrastructure, consisting of vast pipes that carry water from the Sacramento Delta in the north and the Colorado River in the east, will not be enough. In places such as San Diego, which has inadequate and salty groundwater and currently imports 90% or its water, the answers must be greater conservation, reusing as much water as possible, and getting most of the rest from the sea.
The first part, conservation, has been widely accepted by the public. San Diego today uses less water with a larger population than it did in 1989, the year water consumption peaked. The second part, water recycling has been a hard sell, because of an unpleasant factor. Americans still use the term “toilet－to－tap” for recycling, even though properly treated waste－water is nowadays completely clean. Singapore made its programme acceptable in part by renaming it as NEWater.
This is where desalination comes in, which means taking the salt out of salt water. A firm called Poseidon Resources is now close to building the biggest desalination plant in America behind a power station by the beach in Carlsbad. The power plant sucks in 304m gallons of seawater a day for cooling, so Poseidon plans to change 104m gallons a day by using the RO spiral module.
Lots of people like the idea. Once fully running in 2015, the plant could produce 10% of the region's water. And there are plans for more desalination plants. Many places would need to take much less water from the endangered Colorado River. But a few people hate it a lot. Joe Geever, an expert in biology, says desalination uses too much energy and that Poseidon plant would kill too much sea life. He understands that there is a role for desalination, he says, but would rather not have it right there, right now, and on this scale.
1.Which of the following is WRONG about the RO spiral module according to the passage?
A. This technology is not widely used in its birthplace.
B. Today there are about 13，000 RO plants in the Persian Gulf, Israel, Australia and China.
C. This technology can be used in desalination plants to make sea water drinkable.
D. It is a promising water treatment technology welcomed by a lot of people.
2.How many solutions to the water problem in San Diego are mentioned in the article?
A. 2. B. 3. C. 4. D. 5.
3.What can we infer from the article?
A. The Colorado River is the main water source for California.
B. Americans still use the term “toilet－to－tap” for recycling water.
C. NEWater serves as a brand for recycled clean water in Singapore.
D. Poseidon Resources stands for the power station by the beach in Carlsbad.
4.What is Joe Geever's attitude toward building a large desalination plant at present?
A. Supportive. B. Negative. C. Optimistic. D. Vague.
Catch yourself daydreaming while washing the dishes again? If this happens often you probably have a pretty capable working memory and a sharper brain, new research suggests.
This mind wandering, it seems, actually gives your working memory a workout. Working memory is the mental work space that allows the brain to juggle multiple thoughts at the same time. The more working memory a person has, the more daydreaming they can do without forgetting the task at hand.
Researchers studied groups of people from the University of Wisconsin－Madison community, ranging in age from 18 to 65. The volunteers were asked to perform simple tasks, like pressing a button every time they took a breath or clicking in response to a letter popping up on a computer screen; these tasks were so easy that their minds were likely to wander, the researchers figured.
The researchers checked in periodically, asking the participants if their minds were on task or wandering. When the task was over, they measured each participant's working memory capacity by having them remember letters while doing math questions. Though all participants performed well on the task, the researchers noticed that the individuals who indicated their minds had wandered more than others also scored higher on the working memory test.
“What this study seems to suggest is that, when circumstances for the task aren't very difficult, people who have additional working memory resources allocate them to think about things other than what they're doing，” said Jonathan Smallwood, a study researcher of the Max Planck Institute for Human Cognitve and Brain Science.
When our minds run out of working memory, these off－topic thoughts can take the main stage without us consciously meaning them to; for instance, arriving at home with no memory of the actual trip, or suddenly realizing that they've turned several pages in a book without understanding any of the words.
“It's almost like your attention was so absorbed in the mind wandering that there wasn't any left over to remember your goal to read，” study researcher Daniel Levinson, said in a statement.
People with overall higher working memory were better able to stay focused when the task at hand required it. Those who had low working memory often had their thoughts drift away from the task, and did less well at it.
The findings add to past research suggesting these mind drifts can be positive moments. For instance, daydreaming has often been associated with creativity—researchers think that our most creative and inventive moments come when daydreaming. It's likely that the most intelligent among us also have high levels of working memory, Levinson noted.
1.The word “juggle” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “________”．
A. handle B. search C. understand D. distribute
2.What can be concluded from Jonathan Smallwood's words?
A. People who often have daydreams probably own a pretty capable working memory.
B. On the working memory test, people with wandering minds will get high score.
C. Absorbed in the mind wandering, your attention left no space for your goal.
D. Dealing with some easy jobs, people with higher working memory will daydream.
3.What is the best title of the passage?
A. Mind drifts are always positive.
B. Daydreaming is good for the mind.
C. Creative moments come with working memory.
D. The more daydreaming, the more effectively one works.
Penguins live together，but each pair has a little piece of ground of their own.When a penguin wants to walk through its neighbor’s ground，it must ask permission.If it does not do that，it will have to fight.Most of the time，penguins live on the water.They eat shell fish and look after their children carefully.
All penguins are good parents—the male penguins are perhaps the best parents in the world. They walk in the sea in the middle of the dark Antarctic water. They choose their wives in the dark.They can only hear them—not see them.Then the female penguins lay their eggs and go away for about two months.The males take care of the eggs.If the eggs get cold，there will be no chicks.There is no food.The snow falls heavily and the wind blows strongly—sometimes at 150 kilometers an hour.The penguins do not move.When the females return from the sea，they will not remember their husbands.It does not matter.Only one thing matters—the eggs.Male penguins never fight—unless a penguin leaves a chick for a minute.They then fight because they all want it.They are strange and wonderful birds.
1.It seems interesting and unusual that the male penguins choose their wives ______.
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A．when the female penguins return from the sea |
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B．just by hearing in the darkness |
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C．each time they see the lovely females |
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D．after they have had their own grounds |
2.Male penguins fight when ______.
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A．they choose their wives |
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B．they see a chick left alone |
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C．they want to get something to eat |
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D．they walk through their neighbors’ ground |
3.From the passage we know that ______.
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A．penguins live a hard life |
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B．penguins live in pairs |
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C．penguins will fight if one walks through others’ ground without permission |
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D．each penguin has a little piece of ground of its own |
4.The penguins choose their wives in the dark. We can infer that ______.
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A．penguins like nights very much |
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B．there is no daytime in that place at all |
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C．the weather is cloudy and rainy all the year around |
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D．the sun can’t shine there for nearly half a year every year |
5.Which of the following is NOT true?
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A．Female penguins take care of the eggs. |
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B．Female penguins often have their new husbands. |
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C．Male penguins use their ears to choose wives. |
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D．Male penguins don’t move when they take care of eggs，even though the wind often blows strongly. |
Some teenagers admire those excellent artists who gain their success through their great efforts while ___16___ envy those young actresses who are discovered by famous directors and start glittering careers ___17___ their early 20s. Like Gong Li and Zhang Ziyi who were discovered by Zhang Yimou, the new lucky girl is 19-year-old Zhang Yuqi from Shandong Province.
__18__ (choose) by Hong Kong comedy actor and director Stephen Chow, Zhang made her first film performance in Chow's new successful movie, CJ7 or A Hope. The movie___19__(bring ) to the screen on January 31, 2008.
In the sci-fi movie, Chow plays a poor father working very hard to support his 9-year-old son. One day, Chow discovers a strange "toy" in the garbage __20__gives it to his son as a birthday present. Soon the "toy" turns out to be a communication device lost by aliens, who__21__(desperate) want it back. Zhang stars as his son's beautiful teacher, with __22__ Chow falls in love, not knowing that she is a robot. Although Zhang feels ___23___(fortune), as A Hope has made her__24__ overnight star, the student at Shanghai Drama Academy has to learn to adapt to the competitive film world.
"It's a good start, a good opportunity and a stressful challenge as well for__25__ age," Zhang said.
In 1956 Phoenix, Arizona, was a city with boundless blue 1 . One day as I walked around the house with my sister Kathy’s new parakeet （小鹦鹉）on my finger, I wanted to show Perky what the sky looked like. I took him into the backyard, and then, to my horror , Perky flew off. The enormous, blue sky swallowed up my sister’s blue 2 and suddenly he had gone, clipped wings and all.
I told Kathy about Perky's disappearance and I was anxious that she would blame me. But , unexpectedly, Kathy managed to 3 me. With fake optimism, she even tried to convince me that Perky would find a new 4 . But I was far too clever to 5 that such a thing was possible.
Decades later, I watched my own 6 growing. We shared their activities, spending soccer Saturdays in folding chairs with the 7 of the kids’ friends, the Kissells. The two families went camping around Arizona together. We became the best of friends. One evening, the game was to tell Great Pet stories. One person claimed（宣称） to 8 the oldest living goldfish. Someone else had a psychic dog. Then Barry, the father of the other family, took the floor and ___9___that the Greatest Pet of All Time was his blue parakeet, Sweetie Pie.
"The best thing about Sweetie Pie," he said, "was the 10 we got him. One day, when I was about eight, out of the clear, blue sky, a little blue parakeet just 11 down and landed on my finger."
When I was finally able to 12 , we examined the amazing evidence. The dates and the locations and the pictures of the bird all 13 . It seems our two families had been 14 long before we ever met. Forty years later, I ran to my sister and said, "You were 15 ! Perky lived!"
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