C
Wearing ties was originally the mark of Britain’s most powerful classes, which made the tie itself a symbol of power and respect. And that led it to be adopted by a much larger tribe－the business tribe.
You cannot wear a tie if you work with machinery. So wearing a tie became a sign that you were a man who used your brain to make a living, rather than your hands. It showed you were serious. It showed you were a professional. It meant that everyone who wanted a job in business had to wear one. It was just impossible to take seriously a man who didn’t wear a piece of colored silk around his neck.
This is how millions of people came to be wearing ties across the world. They are part of the uniform of business.
“Ties offer a point of indifference,” says John Milne, head of the British Guide of Tie Makers, “They give a chance to say something about their own personality.”
So if you happen to meet a man with a very brightly colored tie, there is a good chance that he is the office joker. There is also a good chance that he will be wearing brightly colored socks.
Is there a future for ties? The signs are not promising. Tie wearing seems to be rare among the new bread of entrepreneurs(创业者) in the Internet and new technology industries. Many political leaders, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, now go without ties. This shows they are men of the people－but not the people wearing ties.
Up until around 1960, it was common for men across the western world to wear hats as part of their business uniform. That changed with the election of John F. Kennedy to the presidency of the United States. Kennedy never wore a hat－in fact his nickname was “hatless Jack”. Seeing that the most powerful man in the world did not have to wear a hat, millions of other men decided that they did not have to, either. Hats simply vanished across the Western world. Perhaps “tieless Tony” (former UK Prime Minister Tony Blair) will have the same effect as “hatless Jack”.
66．In Britain, ties were first used as a sign to show a person’s __________.
A．personality B．social position C．wearing style D．favorite hobby
67．In the business world, wearing a tie was necessary because _________.
A．it showed you used your brain B．it showed you got a good salary
C．it showed you were an employer D．it showed you were well-equipped
68．The underlined word “vanished” in this passage may mean _________.
A．sold B．washed C．appeared D．disappeared
69．The writer may hold the opinion that _____________.
A．Blair is the best leader in the world
B．Kennedy is the best leader in the world
C．millions of people will go to work without a tie
D．people will wear hats instead of ties
70．Which of the following statements is TURE according to the passage?
A．If you are a professional, you can’t wear a tie in Britain
B．The tie will become more fashionable and popular in the future
C．It was the election of John F．Kennedy to the presidency of the United States that changed the fact that wearing hats as part of their business uniform
D．Men across the western world didn’t wear hats as part of their business uniform until around 1960
Buying a house for most of the people is a once in a lifetime decision, which means people decide to do so only after coming across the ideal house. Surprisingly, eight in every 10 home buyers are unhappy with their houses.
A survey conducted by the Beijing Consumers’ Association (BCA) recently shows about 80 percent of the 2,315 respondents in 23 residential complexes of Beijing are dissatisfied with the soaring house prices.
They think the reasonable price in Beijing should be between 3,000 yuan and 7,000 yuan per square meter.
The quality of the buildings, the surrounding environment and traffic and property management(物业管理)are the other factors that play a role in people’s decision to buy a house.
The BCA has suggested strict sales regulations and contracts to ease house-owners’ sufferings. It has urged the authorities to impose severe punishment on developers found violating building and other rules and joining hands with others to bid up property prices, About 41.2 percent of the respondents have complained that their house have defective designs, while nearly 40 percent say the lighting and ventilation(通风)are far from satisfactory.
The landscapes in the residential areas are a source of unhappiness for 43.2 percent of the respondents, and about one-third say they were “bluffed” into buying “third grade” house. And more than half are not satisfied with the sport and entertainment facilities in their neighborhood.
Property management in the buildings, 56.5 percent of the respondents say, is way below standard compared to the high fee charged by the complexes.
60 percent of the consumers doubt the contents of developers’ advertisements, with only 6.3 percent being satisfied.
Experts have suggested consumers gather thorough knowledge about a developer and their work before deciding to buy a house from it. They should check the day-light conditions and ventilation in different weather conditions in advance, if possible. According to the passage________ of the buyers are NOT content with their houses.
| A．80％ | B．60％ | C．56.5 ％ | D．41.2％ |
Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．Most Home Buyers Are Unhappy with Their House. |
| B．Buying a House Is an Important Decision. |
| C．Thinking Carefully Before Buying a House. |
| D．The Environment Is Important When Making a Decision. |
The meaning of the underlined word probably means “_______”.
| A．fooled | B．cheated | C．asked | D．forced |
If you want to buy a flat, according to the survey, you will consider the following EXCEPT_______.
| A．property management | B．the surrounding environment |
| C．the quality of the buildings | D．the height of the building |
Cultural rules determine every aspect of food consumption. Who eats together defines social units. For example, in some societies, the nuclear family is the unit that regularly eats together. The anthropologist Mary Douglas has pointed out that, for the English, the kind of meal and the kind of food that is served relate to the kinds of social links between people who are eating together. She distinguishes between regular meals, Sunday meals when relatives may come, and cocktail parties for relatives and friends. The food served symbolizes the occasion and reflects who is present. For example, only snacks are served at a cocktail party. It would be inappropriate to serve a steak or hamburgers. The distinctions among cocktails, regular meals, and special dinners mark the social boundaries between those guests who are invited for drinks, those who are invited to dinner, and those who come to a family meal. In this example, the type of food symbolizes the category of guest and with whom it is eaten.
In some New Guinea societies, the nuclear family is not the unit that eats together. The men take their meals in a men’s house, separately from their wives and children. Women prepare and eat their food in their own houses and take the husband’s portion to the men’s house. The women eat with their children in their own houses. This pattern is also widespread among Near Eastern societies.
Eating is a metaphor that is sometimes used to signify marriage. In many New Guinea societies, like that of the Lese on the island of New Ireland in the Pacific and that of the Trobriand Islanders, marriage is symbolized by the couple’s eating together for the first time. Eating symbolizes their new status as a married couple. In U.S. society, it is just the reverse. A couple may go out to dinner on a first date.
Other cultural rules have to do with taboos against eating certain things. In some societies, members of a family group, arc not allowed to eat the animal or bird that is their ancestor. Since they believe themselves to be children of that ancestor, it would be like eating that ancestor or eating themselves.
There is also an association between food prohibitions and rank, which is found in its most extreme form in the caste (social class) system of India. A caste system consists of ranked groups, each with a different economic specialization. In India, there is an association between caste and the idea of pollution. Members of highly ranked groups can be polluted by coming into contact with the bodily secretions, particularly saliva（唾液）,of individuals of lower-ranked castes. Because of the fear of pollution, Brahmans and other high-ranked individuals will not share food with, not eat from the same plate as, not even accept food from an individual or from a low-ranking class.According to the passage, who will NOT eat together?
| A．The English during regular meals. |
| B．Americans on their first date. |
| C．Men and women in Near Eastern societies. |
| D．Newly-married people on the island of New Ireland. |
In Paragraph 4, the underlined word "taboos" means _____________.
| A．favors | B．prohibitions | C．hatred | D．gossips |
According to the passage, eating together indicates all the following EXCEPT .
| A．the type of food | B．social relations. |
| C．marital status | D．family ties. |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Different kinds of food in western countries. |
| B． Relations between food and social units. |
| C． Symbolic meanings of different kinds of food. |
| D．Food consumption in different cultures. |
Every summer, no matter how urgent work schedule is, I take off one day exclusively for my
son. We call it dad-son day. This year our third stop was the amusement panic, where we discovered
that he was tall enough to ride one of the fastest roller coasters (过山车)in the world. We experienced through face-stretching turns and circles for ninety seconds. Then, as we stepped off the ride, in a calm voice, he remarked that it was not as exciting as other rides he’d been on. As I listened, I began to sense something seriously out of balance.
Throughout the season, I noticed similar events all around me. Parents found it hard to find new stimulations for cold kids. Surrounded by ever-greater stimulation, their young feces were looking disappointed and bored
Facing their children’s complaints of "nothing to do", parents were spending large numbers of dollars for various forms of entertainment In many cases the money seemed to do little more than buy relief from the terrible complaint of their bored children. This set me thinking the obvious question: "How can it be so hard for kids to find something to do when there’s been such a range of stimulating entertainment available to them?"
What really worries me is the strength of the stimulation. I watch my little daughter’s &ce as she absorbs bloody special effects in movies.
Why do children facing such excitement seem starved for more? Thai was, I realized, the point I discovered during my own adolescence that what creates excitement is not going fast, but going faster. Excitement has less to do with speed than changes in speed.
I am concerned about the increasing effect of years at these levels of feverish activity. It is no mystery to me why many teenagers appear uninterested and burned out, with a "been there, done that" air of indifference toward much of life. As increasing numbers of friends’ children are advised to take medicine to deal with inattentiveness at school or anti-depressants (抗抑郁药)to help with the loss of interest and joy in their lives—I question the role of kids’ boredom in some of the diagnoses (处方).
My own work is focused on the chemical imbalances and biological factors related to behavioral and emotional disorders. These are complex problems. Yet I’ve been reflecting more and more on how lie pace of life and the strength of stimulation may be contributing to the rising rates of psychological problems among children and adolescents in our society.The reason why the author felt surprised in the amusement park was that ________.
| A．his son was not as excited by the roller coasters ride as expected |
| B．his songs enjoyed turns and circles with his face stretched |
| C．his son appeared upset but calm while riding the roller coasters |
| D．his son could keep his balance so well on the fast moving roller coasters |
According to the author, children will probably feel excited ________.
| A．if their parents allow them to ride roller coasters very often |
| B．since parents spend money on the same form of entertainment |
| C．after they take anti-depressants according to the diagnoses |
| D．if they are often exposed to more stimulating entertainment |
From his own experience, the author came to the conclusion that children seem to expect _______.
| A．a much wider variety of sports facilities |
| B．activities that require complicated skills |
| C．the change of the forms of recreation |
| D．more challenging physical exercise |
. In order to relieve children’s boredom, the author would probably suggest ________.
| A．adjusting the pace of life and strength of stimulation |
| B．promoting the practice of dad-son days |
| C．consulting a specialist in child psychology |
| D．balancing school work with after school activities |
I once had my Chinese MBA students brainstorming on “two-hour business plans”. I separated them into six groups and gave them an example: a restaurant chain. The more original their idea, the better, I said. Finally, five of the six groups presented plans for restaurant chains. The sixth proposed a catering service. Though I admitted the time limit had been difficult, I expressed my disappointment.
My students were middle managers, financial analysts and financiers from state owned enterprises and global companies. They were not without talent or opinions, but they had been shaped by an educational system that rarely stressed or rewarded critical thinking or inventiveness. The scene I just described came in different forms during my two years’ teaching at the school. Papers were often copied from the Web and the Harvard Business Review. Case study debates were written up and just memorized. Students frequently said that copying is a superior business strategy, better than inventing and creating.
In China, every product you can imagine has been made and sold. But so few well developed marketing and management minds have been raised that it will be a long time before most people in the world can name a Chinese brand.
With this problem in mind, partnerships with institutions like Yale and MIT have been established. And then there’s the “thousand talent scheme”: this new government program is intended to improve technological modernization by attracting top foreign trained scientists to the mainland with big money. But there are worries about China’s research environment. It’s hardly known for producing independent thinking and openness, and even big salary offers may not be attractive enough to overcome this.
At last, for China, becoming a major world creator is not just about setting up partnerships with top Western universities. Nor is it about gathering a group of well-educated people and telling them to think creatively. It’s about establishing a rich learning environment for young minds. It’s not that simple.Why does the author feel disappointed at his students?
| A．Because there is one group presenting a catering service. |
| B．Because the six groups made projects for restaurant chains. |
| C．Because all the students copied a case for the difficult topic. |
| D．Because the students’ ideas were lacking in creativeness. |
We can infer from the passage that ________.
| A．China can make and sell any product all over the world |
| B．high pay may not solve the problem of China’s research environment |
| C．cooperation with institutions has been set up to make a Chinese brand |
| D．the new government program are aimed at encouraging imagination |
Which is the best title of the passage?
| A．Look for a New Way of Learning. | B．Reward Creative Thinking. |
| C．How to Become a Creator. | D．Establish a technical Environment. |
Most American students go to traditional public schools．There are about 88, 000 public schools, all over the US．Some students attend about 3000 independent public schools called charter schools．
Charter schools are self-governing．Private companies operate some charter schools．They are similar in some ways to traditional public schools．They receive tax money just as other public schools do．Charter schools must prove to local or state governments that their students are learning．These governments provide the schools with the agreement called a charter that permits them to operate．
Charter schools are different because they do not have to obey most laws governing traditional public schools．Local, state, or federal governments cannot tell them what to teach．Each school can choose its own goals and decide the ways it wants to reach them．Class size is usually smaller than in traditional public schools．
The Bush Administration strongly supports charter schools as a way to re-organize public schools that are failing to educate students．But some education agencies and unions oppose charter schools．One teachers' union has just made public the results of the first national study comparing the progress of students in traditional schools and charter schools．
The American Federation of Teachers criticized the government's delay in releasing the results of the study, which is called the National Assessment of Educational Progress．Union education experts say the study shows that charter school students performed worse on math and reading tests than students in regular public schools．
Some experts say the study is not a fair look at charter schools because students in those schools have more problems than students in traditional schools．Other education experts say the study results should make charter school officials demand improved student progress．If a private company wants to operate a charter school, it must______．
| A．try new methods of teaching | B．prove its management ability |
| C．obey the local and state laws | D．get the government's permission |
What's the government's attitude toward charter schools?
| A．Doubtful | B．Supportive. | C．Subjective． | D．Optimistic． |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．More students choose to attend charter schools． |
| B．Charter schools are better than traditional schools． |
| C．Students in charter schools are well educated． |
| D．People have different opinions about charter schools． |
It can be interred from the text that ___.
| A．charter schools are part of the public education system |
| B．one-on-one attention should be paid to students |
| C．the number of charter schools will be limited |
| D．charter schools are all privately financed |