WhenColonelHarlandSandersretir-优题课

WASHINGTON, Sept. 23 — The House of Representatives, which prides itself on being " the People’s House" has been turning into, a rich men’s club.
The representatives newly elected in 1984 were almost four times as wealthy as the first term lawmakers elected only six years before, according to a new study on the members’ financial reports.
Behind this remarkable swing, the study says, there are two main factors: a court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns, and the enormous growth in the cost of pursuing a seat in Congress. As a result, it is increasingly difficult for candidates of modest means, particularly women to amount successful challenges to entrenched office holders.
One solution, the authors contend, is a system of public financing for campaigns, but Congress seems in no mood to change the political rules any time soon.
"The lower chamber is going upper class," said Mark Green, the President of the Democracy Project, a public policy institute based in New York. ".But this evolution from a House of Representatives to a House of Lords denies the diversity of our democracy. It establishes a de facto property qualification for office that increasingly says: The people with low and middle income need not apply. "
The Democracy Project produced the study in cooperation with the United States Public Interests Research Group, a similar institute situated in Washington. But their research was not entirely theoretical. In 1980 Mr. Green was the unsuccessful Democratic candidate for Congress in New York’s 15th District, in Manhattan. The winner was. Bill Green, one of the wealthiest members of Congress.
5. What can we know from the passage?
A. The House of Representatives is poor men’s club.
B. The House of Representatives was made up of people with low and middle income.
C. The House of Representatives, was rich men’s club;
D. The House of Representatives is made up of people with low and middle income.
6. What does "this remarkable swing" in the third paragraph refer to?
A. The House of Representatives prides itself on being" the people’s House".
B. The new study based on the members’ financial reports.
C. A court decision that outlawed limits on what candidates could give to their own campaigns.
D. The representatives elected now are much wealthier than those elected a few years ago.
7. Which of the following is wrong according to the study?
A. Any honest man can become a representative of the House.
B. Women are more difficult than men to be an entrenched office holder.
C. Limits on what a candidate could give to his campaign are outlawed.
D. One must spend much money getting a seat in the Congress.
8. What is the United States Public Interests Research Group like?
A. The House of Representatives.
B. A public policy institute based in New York.
C. A public policy institute based in Washington.
D. The House of Lords.
9. What does the writer think of the study?
A. Doubtful.B. Believable. C. Opposed. D. Normal.

Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards. One reason for their interests is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive design. There are 100, 000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a bank card simply by using a photograph or a business card.
The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian. Five years later the first British telephone cards appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries. People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space. It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business. In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4,000 pounds. The first Japanese card has a value of about 28,000 pounds. Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors’ magazine.
1. The passage is mainly about ______.
A. the history of phone cardsB. phone cards collecting as a hobby
C. reasons for phone cards collecting D. the great variety of phone cards
2. When did people in Britain begin to use phone cards?
A. In 1971. B. In 1975. C. In 1976. D. In 1981.
3. The main reason for most people to collect phone cards is that ______.
A. they find the cards beautiful and easy to keep
B. they like to have something from different countries
C. they want to make money with cards
D. they think the cards are convenient to use
4. The writer mentions a market in Paris in order to show that
A. card collecting is popular among young people
B. French and Japanese cards are the most valuable
C. people can make money out of card collecting
D. card collectors’ magazines are very useful

Beauty has always been regarded as something praiseworthy. Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive (主管的) circle, beauty can become a liability.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his. way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Interestingly, though, the rise of the attractive overnight successes was connected more to personal relationships and less to ability than that of the unattractive overnight successes.
Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman considered to be more feminine has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the " manly" qualities required.
This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently,” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates (候选人). She asked 125 undergraduate students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.
5. The underlined word "liability" most probably means ______.
A. disadvantage B. advantage C. misfortune D. trouble
6. Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness ______.
A. turns out to be a disadvantage to men
B. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women
C. has as little effect on men as on women
D. affects men and women alike
7. It can be inferred from the passage that people’s views on beauty are often ______.
A. practical B. supportive C. old-fashioned D. one-sided
8. The author writes this passage to______.
A. give advice to job-seekers who are attractive
B. discuss the disadvantages of being attractive
C. demand equal rights for women
D. state the importance of appearance

BROOKSVILLE — It’s the time of year again, when young bears are on their own for the first time. And that means more sightings where bears usually aren’t supposed to be.
This weekend, a 258-pound black bear took a brief tour of Brooksville, with police and firefighters chasing.
Another black bear, weighing just 100 pounds, was spotted Saturday, crossing busy U. S. 19 near a retirement community in Spring Hill. Several other bear reports have come from Citrus County.
"It is really difficult for the younger bears to find their own land around here, " said Niki Everitt, bear hot line director for the Gulf Coast Conservancy.
Brooksville’s bear first was spotted late Thursday crossing State Road 50, headed toward Tom Varn Park. Police and firefighters tracked the bear through the park and the Brooksville Quarry golf course.
The bear then wounded down the middle of Broad Street before being surrounded near Luigi’s Pizza. An official with the Florida Game and Fresh Water Fish Commission came with a tranquilizer spear(加入镇静剂的矛).planning to stick the bear by hand. "The guy saw the size of the bear and figured that wasn’t a great idea, "said Capt. Frank Phillips of the Brooksville Fire Department.
Emergency officials waited until a tranquilizer gun was brought from Land O’ Lakes. The bear then got a free ride to the Chassahowitzka Wildlife Management Area.
It is not unusual for bears to move into living areas this time of year, experts say. Mothers give their male baby bears the boot once the youngsters are 2 years old. With living areas growing, the young bears keep finding smaller and smaller areas in which they can set up their own land.
"They’ re trying to find a land of their own, where they won ‘t get beat up, " said Lt. Rip Stalvey, a game commission spokesman.
Everitt said people should not be too concerned about the recent bear sightings, since" we have never had a bear attack in Florida."
Black bears mainly eat the tender and fresh leaves of Sabal palms, as well as acorns and berries. Recent weeks of dry weather likely have reduced their food supply.
"If we don’t get some relief soon," Everitt said," we’re probably going to see a lot more of it."
1. What’s the main idea of this passage?
A. Bear sightings in living areas worry people.
B. Policemen try hard to get the bears controlled.
C. People take up too much land from bears.
D. ears come out to disturb people’s lives.
2. Which is true according to the passage?
A. The 100-pound bear was caught near Luigi’s Pizza.
B The Gulf Coast Conservancy makes bears homeless.
C. Brooksville’s bear was too large to be caught by hand.
D. Bears frequently visit humans’ living areas.
3. Bear sightings can usually be expected ______.
A. in the cold season B. in the warm season
C. near lakes or rivers D. near Luigi’s Pizza
4. The underlined phrase "give their male baby bears the boot" means______.
A. make them wear the boots B. find new homes for them
C. drive them away from home D. keep them in safe places

The A-level question Have 22 continuous years of rises in A-level pass rate made the exam worthless? David Miliband, the minister for School Standards, insists the answer is a firm " no". And he said it was wrong that " more will mean worse and more education for more people will mean lower standards". Figures show that — despite the rise in A-grades to 21. 6 per cent — only 22,000 out of 600,000 18-year-olds gain three A-grade passes. Put another way, that means — in a primary class of 30 pupils — only one will get three A-grades. The center right Bow Group, in a pamphlet published today, however, says nine out of ten scholars believe A-grades have been devalued over the past ten years.
Two inquiries (调查) — both set up by the Government’s exams watchdogs — one of which included independent teaching experts, refused to accept that there had been any " dumping down" of A-level standards. But while they conclude that the exam questions have not become easier, changes in examining methods have almost certainly made it easier to gain top-grade passes.
As a result of the exams shake-up introduced in 2000, students sit six different types of exams to make up an A-level during the course of their two years of study. Only 20 per cent of the marks are set for the end-of-term exam. This makes it easier for teachers to help their pupils with the right answers.
Mr Miliband said yesterday, " My argument is not that today ‘s generation of pupils are cleverer than their parents; it is that schools and teachers are getting better at getting the best out of them. "
5. From the writer’s point of view, the rise in A-grades to 21. 6 per cent shows ______.
A. it is generally thought more education means lower standards
B. the rise in the A-level pass rate has made the exam worthless
C. the quality of the 18-year-olds has become lower
D. it is still hard for the general pupils to get three A-grade passes
6. The underlined word " they" in the second paragraph refers to ______.
A. the exams watchdogs B. the independent teaching experts
C. the A-level standards D. the two inquiries
7. As a result of the exams shake-up introduced in 2000 ______.
A. the pass rate for A-levels was set to rise continuously
B. the exam became easier than it had been before 2000
C. pupils could have many more choices of test after 2000
D. it soon became popular with teachers and pupils
8. What does this passage mainly discuss?
A. How reliable and effective the A-level grading system is.
B. How the A-level system helps universities select pupils.
C. How the pass rate has been increased in recent years.
D. How the A-level grading system has changed over the years.