As I was reading a recent story in Slate on 20-somethings complaining about how the economy was ruining their life plans, I couldn’t help but think the 20-somethings sounded like a bunch of spoiled (宠坏) children who grew up expecting everything to be easy for them. As a 20-something myself, I certainly share their disappointment: my husband and I probably won’t be able to buy a house until we’re in our 40s, and we too are burdened by student loans(贷款). But why should it be any different? Being young persons in America, shouldn’t they take up all of the challenges and opportunities that this country offers?
Consider some of these views shared in the Slate story: Jennifer, 29, owner of a two-bedroom apartment with her husband, worries that she won’t be able to have children for at least a decade because they can’t afford to buy a house yet.
I read that, and I thought, what planet is she living on where you need to own a house in order to have kids? Has she ever visited a developing country, or even downtown areas in this one? Home ownership is a luxury(奢华), not a fertility requirement.
A 26-year-old in the story despairs(绝望) that he can’t afford to get a Ph.D. in literature. Well, that sounds a bit like expressing disappointment that no one will pay you to write poetry on the beach in Thailand for five years.
Yes, it’s sad that these young people feel so lost. But I think the problem is their extremely high expectations, not economic reality. Beth Kobliner, author of Get a Financial Life: Personal Finance in Your Twenties and Thirties, says that she thinks people’s expectations are slowly adjusting, but today’s 20-somethings grew up at a time when everyone’s wealth appeared to be expanding. Their parents probably saw their home values rise along with their investments.(投资) “So you have people who have grown up in an environment where people had great expectations of what living well means,” says Kobliner.
This recession(衰退) will certainly play a role in forcing those expectations into more realistic group. In the meantime, it seems a lot better for our mental health to focus on being grateful－for our one-bedroom apartments, for living in modern cities, or perhaps just for being able to eat three meals a day－than on longing for some kind of luxury life.
64．What makes the author think the 20-somethings sound like a bunch of spoiled children?
A．They expect everything to be easy for them.
B．They complain that the economy is spoiling their life plans.
C．They are reluctant (不愿) to face all of the challenges.
D．They are burdened by student loans.
65．The underlined word “fertility” in Paragraph 3 probably means .
A．baby production B．pleasant
C．baby comfort D．essential
66．What’s the author’s attitude towards the 20-somthings with high expectation in Paragraph 5?
A．Intolerant. B．Negative. C．Unbelieving. D．Understanding.
67．What is the best title for this passage?
A．How Young People Afford to Continue Their Study
B．Why Young People Can’t Afford to Buy a House
C．When Young People’s High Hopes Create Despair
D．What the 20-somethings’ High Expectations Are
We are seeking for qualified and experienced candidates to join our fast growing team for the following positions at Ratchathewi (Head Office), Pracha – Uthit (site), Pantai Norasing (site), Thepharak (site), and a few other incoming projects in Bangkok.
●Project Managers
－Degree in Civil / Structural Engineering
－Minimum 7 years’ working experience in similar capacity, preferably in building construction.
－Ability to plan and execute works, keep deadlines, control cost and implement continual quality improvement
－Possess leadership attributes, good interpersonal and follow-up skill to motivate subordinates and develop team spirit
－Possess a valid driving license
●Accounting Officer
—Degree in Accounting
—Minimum 1~2 years accounting experience
—Knowledge of accounting packages & spreadsheets
●Account Executive / Finance Executive
—Degree in Accounting
—Preferably 3 years’ accounting experience VAT, Withholding tax compliance & submission
—Knowledge of accounting packages & spreadsheets
—Expert at English and Thai (泰国语) spoken or written
—Ability to handle full set accounts
●Senior Admin. Asst.
—Minimum 5 years experience in Building Construction company is preferable.
—Computer literate with knowledge in Microsoft Office
—Good command of both written and oral English compulsory.
—Female preferred
●Site Supervisor
—Diploma / Certificate in Building or Civil Engineering
—Minimum 5 years’ working experience in building construction or precast (预制的) concrete manufacturing
—Able to work independently and co – ordinate work effectively
All positions mention above requires candidates with good command of both written and oral English. Interested candidate, please send your application stating full qualification, work experience and expected salary together with a copy of transcript and a recent photograph to the address below:
ASCE Construction Limited.
503/19E K.S.L. Tower (11TH Floor), Sri-Ayudthaya Rd., Thanon Phayathai,
Ratchathewi, Bangkok 10400
TEL: - 02642-6272 , 02642-6120
FAX: - 02642-6273
E-MAIL: asce_construction@hotmail.comIf you want to apply for the position
of a project manager, you must have .
| A．the ability to work independently | B．a degree in accounting |
| C．six years of experience at least | D．the qualification to drive |
Most of the positions require the following EXCEPT .
| A．a suitable degree | B．certain working experience |
| C．professional computer knowledge | D．a good command of English |
Which position prefers a woman candidate?
| A．A ccounting Officer. | B．Senior Admin. Asst. |
| C．professional computer knowledge | D．a good command of English |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Candidates can only apply by mail. |
| B．More companies will be founded in Bangkok. |
| C．Candidates must be able to speak both English and Thai. |
| D．You will benefit from your work experience. |
Hikosaburo Yasuda of Nakano, Japan, plans to buy an iPad to keep up with junior members in his computer club．"It's
important to always try new things, otherwise you get left behind," he says．
Yasuda is 95 years old．He and his colleagues, looking for easier ways to search the Web and send e-mail, represent a potential market for Apple （AAPL）'s iPad．The company has sold 3．27 million iPads since its launch in April, 
but doesn't break down sales figures by customer age, making it impossible to know with certainty how many seniors are buying them．However, anecdotal evidence suggests it's a hit with the elderly．
The iPad's intuitive interface （直观界面） makes it appealing to senior citizens around the world, says Takahiro Miura, a researcher at the University of Tokyo: "The iPad is a good tool for the elderly because it's very forgiving of mistakes．" Miura's team uses computers to help train senior citizens to rejoin the workforce．"Unlike the PC, it doesn't require previous knowledge," he says．
James Cordwell, a technology analyst at Atlantic-Equities in London, says the iPad's popularity with the elderly is helping Apple reach beyond its traditional base of younger customer. “The world’s population, especially in developed markets, is getting older, and it’s probably a market where Apple has least entered,” Cordwell says. Elderly users are “a key source of growth for them in the future.”
The elderly in Japan, who make up an estimated 22 percent of the population, may prove particularly receptive to the iPad. They spend more than any other group in the country except for those under 30, according to a report by Japan's Cabinet Office. Motoo Kitamura, 78, a former gas salesman, bought an iPad to help him communicate with his 2-year-old grandson and stave off dementia. "Trying new things like that is a good mental exercise," he says. The underlined part “a hit” in Paragraph 2 may probably mean “”.
| A．a hard strike | B．a heavy burden | C．quite popular | D．very familiar |
Which of the following is NOT an advantage of the iPad over the PC?
| A．It has intuitive interface. | B．It is easier to operate. |
| C．It is more accessible to beginners. | D．It is a good mental exercise. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The people under thirty are the largest consumers in Japan except for the elderly. |
| B．The traditional customers of AAPL’s products are usually the yong. |
| C．The elderly will soon grow into the largest customer group in place of the young. |
| D．The elderly in Japan have great enthusiasm for latest hi – tech products. |
What could be the best title for the passage?
| A．The iPad leads Apple to the elderly |
| B．Ipad hits Japan’s store shelves |
| C．Ipad’s arrival in Tokyo causes Uapanese to reflect |
| D．AAPL attempts to balance the old and the yong |
It s just a small, white envelope stuck among the branches of our Christmas tree．It has been there for the past 10 years or so．It all began because my husband Mike hated Christmas—the commercial aspects of Christmas-overspending．Knowing he felt this way, I decided one year to avoid the usual presents．The idea came in an unusual way．
Our son Kevin, who was 12 that year, was wrestling at the junior level at the school he attended; and shortly before Christmas, there was a match against a team sponsored by a church．These youngsters, dressed in ragged clothes, presenting a sharp contrast to our boys in their beautiful dresses and shoes．As the match began, I was alarmed to see that the other team was wrestling without headgear, a kind of light helmet designed to protect a wrestler's ears．It was a luxury that the poor team obviously could not afford．Well, we ended up defeating them．Mike, seated beside me, shook his head sadly, "
I wish just one of them could have won," he said．"They have a lot of potential, but losing like this could take the heart right out of them．" That's when the idea for his present came．That afternoon, I went to a local sporting goods store and bought wrestling headgear and shoes for the youngsters and sent them anonymously （匿名地） to the church．On Christmas Eve? I placed the envelope on the tree, the note inside telling Mike what I had done and that this was his gift from me．His smile was the brightest thing about Christmas that year and in the following years．
For each Christmas, I followed the tradition．The envelope became the highlight of our Christmas．It was always the last thing opened on Christmas morning and our children, ignoring their new toys, would stand with wide-eyed expectation as their dad lifted the envelope from the tree to show its contents．As the children grew, they joined．
May we all remember the reason for Christmas, and the true Christmas spirit this year and always．God bless梡ass this along to your friends and loved ones．The author avoids usual Christmas presents because her husband _____．
| A．likes cheap Christmas presents |
| B．likes expensive Christmas presents |
| C．dislikes spending much on large Christmas presents |
| D．dislikes spending much on unmeaningful Christmas gifts |
The underlined word "luxury" in Paragraph 2 means "_____"．
| A．something of poor quality | B．something abundant |
| C．something strange | D．something expensive |
From the passage we can infer that in character the husband is _____．
| A．modest and mature | B．kind and practical |
| C．strong-willed and vain | D．optimistic and outgoing |
What is the most exciting thing for the family at Christmas?
| A．Preparing gifts． | B．Exchanging gifts． |
| C．Opening the envelope． | D．Writing Christmas cards． |
Family quarrels and lack of free time can promote headaches in children. This is what Jennifer Gassmann and her partners have concluded in a study that appears in the current issue of the Deutsches Arzteblatt International. This study was a component of a large-scale study entitled “Children, Adolescents, and Headaches”, in which data were collected in four annual “waves” from 2003 to 2006.
Up to 30% of children around the world complain of headaches at least once a week. Out of a variety of possible factors tested in a larger study, the authors chose to look at the ones related to the children’s family and leisure time.
According to the study, boys who experience more than one family quarrel per week have a 1.8 times higher risk of developing headaches. The amount of free time available to them seems to be even more important: boys who seldom have time to themselves have a 2.1 times higher risk of developing headaches.
The behavior of parents when children complain of headaches also seems to play a major role. Both positive and negative responses from parents teach children that they can gain advantages from headaches. These responses have a particularly strong effect on the frequency of symptoms in girls, with supportive responses raising the risk of recurrent(周期性的) headaches by 25%.
The genders also differed with respect to headache frequency. Twice as many girls as boys had their symptoms at least once a week. The ages of the children, however, seemed to have no more than a minor effect on their headaches.
The study may become a reminder for parents, especially for those unpeaceful families.
68. What is the passage mainly about?
A. How family quarrels and lack of free time can promote headaches in children.
B. A new study on the frequency of headaches in children.
C. Factors which lead to children’s having headaches.
D. Advice for parents wanting to keep their children from having headaches.
69. We learn from the study that ______________.
A. most children have headaches at least once a week
B. the way a family behaves is the chief factor for the headaches of children
C. parents are to blame for the increase in headaches in children
D. girls are more likely to get headache symptoms than boys
70. Parents should learn from the passage that ______________.
A. they should spend more time with their children
B. they should avoid quarreling
C. they shouldn’t care when their children have headaches
D. they should treat boys and girls differently
Could you stand the noise of a street-sweeper truck going up and down the street outside of your house three times a week at 4 a.m.? The noise —described by Blomberg as “loud as a NASCAR(全国赛车联合会) race car but at a speed of 5 miles per hour” — annoyed him so much that he tried to persuade the city to reschedule street sweeping to begin at 6 a.m. He also founded the nonprofit Noise Pollution Clearinghouse, an organization that provides research and information to others whose request for quiet might otherwise fall on deaf ears.
Hearing loss, in fact, is the most obvious medical consequence of noise pollution, but it is hardly the only one, explains environmental psychologist Arline Bronaft. In her research, Bronzaft found that constant noise exposure could reduce children’s learning ability and cognitive(认知的) development. Beyond all that, regularly, “you’ve got to take a break from sound,” says Bronzaft.
The bad news, says Blomberg, is that “the last century was the noisiest in history.” The good news, he continues, is that the greener we get, the quieter we’ll also get. Electric cars and lawn equipment, for instance, make less noise, just as more fuel-efficient vehicles do. Improved technology can also provide measures to make the problem less serious. Fire engines and police cars could replace those loud sirens(警报器) with other models; and you can turn down the volume inside your home by replacing noisy household appliances with quieter, energy-saving models.
“ I don’t think you can name a noise source that I can’t find a way to make quieter,” says Blomberg. But the real challenge is to change people’s attitudes. “ In the 1960s, we made it unacceptable to throw litter out of the window of your car,” he says. Today it’s time to recognize that “noise is to the soundscape as litter is to the landscape.” The goal is to “create a culture where you do not throw your aural (听觉的) litter out of the window.
64. What do we know about the Noise Pollution Clearinghouse?
A. It was founded by the city leaders.
B. It was supported by NASCSR.
C. It can rearrange the time of street sweeping.
D. It aims to help those who want more peace and quiet.
65. Which of the following makes the most noise?
A. Electric cars. B. Loud sirens. C. Lawn equipment.D. Police cars.
66. As Blomberg says, _____________.
A. it’s impossible to make a noise-maker quieter
B. it’s difficult to quiet people down
C. in the 1960s, throwing “sound” out of the window was forbidden
D. street sweeping should be stopped forever
67. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
A. Reducing Noise Pollution B. Children’s Mental Development
C. Vehicles that Make Less Noise D. Forbidding Throwing Litter