ThisisnewsontheHour,EdWilsonre-优题课

Culture helps human societies survive in changing natural environment．For example, the end of the last Ice Age, beginning about 15,000 years ago, brought a big challenge to which humans had to adapt．Before this time, large parts of the northern hemisphere were covered in great sheets of ice that contained much of the earth' s water．In North America, large animals that wandered the vast tundra （冰原） provided people with food and materials for clothing and simple shelters．When the earth became warm, large Ice Age animals disappeared, and many land areas were covered by rising sea levels from melting ice．But people survived, they developed new technologies and learned how to survive on new plant and animal species． Finally some people settled into permanent villages, durable houses and farms．
Cultural adaptation has made humans one of the most successful species on the planet． Through history, major developments in technology, medicine, and nutrition have allowed people to reproduce and survive in ever-increasing numbers．The global population has risen from 8 million during the Ice Age to about 6 billion today．
However, the successes of culture adaptation can also create problems in the long run．Over the last 200 years, people have begun to use large quantities of natural resources and energy and to produce a great amount of material and chemical wastes．The global population now consumes some important natural resources—such as petroleum, wood, and minerals—faster than nature can produce them．Many scientists believe that in the process of burning fuels and producing wastes, people may be changing the global climate in unpredictable and possibly harmful ways．Thus, the adaptive success of the present-day global culture of production and trade may be temporary．
What is the first paragraph mainly talking about?

A．How the human beings survived in the Ice Age．

B．What the situation was like during the Ice Age．

C．What caused the Ice Age to come to an end．

D．Why the Ice Age was very important．

To deal with the problems, human beings should ______according to the passage．

A．stop developing any longer

B．reduce the overuse of natural resources

C．stop the global warming and using natural resources

D．save more animals in case they all die out

Which of the following is the problem caused by cultural adaptation according to the passage?

A．A very developed culture came into being．

B．New technologies have been developed．

C．Natural resources have been used up．

D．Human activities have done damage to the balance of nature．

Which of the following can be the best tide of the passage?

A．Natural Environment Should Be Protected．

B．The Success of Cultural Adaptation Is Not Permanent．

C．The Global Population Is Increasing Since Ice Age．

D．Human Beings Are Capable of Surviving on Earth.

With the growth of the European Union and increased globalisation, English is increasingly the lingua franc a（通用语） in European businesses, and those who speak it have become the elite （精英）of the workforce．
In the past, only a few specialists in a company were needed to communicate with foreign businesses．However, in these days of multinational companies, where workers are required to communicate with other employees from several countries, a common language is essential and English has become the logical choice．
Nowadays, even blue-collar workers in many companies are required to speak English．For example, just over three years ago, a Dutch company．United Pan-European Communications （UPC）, was contracted to build a TV studio in Amsterdam．The job involved many electricians—more than the company could find in the Netherlands．There were plenty of qualified electricians in nearby France and Belgium, but the American and Dutch executives of UPC wanted everyone on the job to speak and understand the same language．So, the UPC hired British electricians and flew them to Amsterdam every Monday, accommodating them in hotels all over the city, and flying them home on Friday evenings．
Increasingly, workers who can speak English earn salaries 25-35% higher than those who can' t．They are also eligible （有条件被选中的） for a wider range of high-level jobs．
The problem is that, while the ability to speak English is fast becoming essential for getting a good job, there is a shortage of people who can speak it．According to a recent European Commission report, only about 41% of continental Europeans can speak English, and only 29% speak it well enough to carry on a conversation．Many companies are solving this problem by setting up English language schools within the workplace．English language schools all over Europe are expanding at a huge rate, and governments are looking at ways to improve English tuition in schools．
One result of this modem urge to learn English is that a generation gap is appearing． According to a European Union study, 67% of Europeans between 15 and 24 say they can speak English while only 18% of those over 55 say they can．Increasingly, all over Europe, it is the children who are leading the parents．
In European companies, workers who speak English ________．

A．find it easy to carry on a conversation	B．have an advantage over other workers
C．must be white-collar workers	D．travel to many different countries

Why did the UPC hire the British electricians?

A．There were not enough electricians in nearby France and Belgium．

B．British electricians were more qualified than those in the Netherlands．

C．The UPC wanted all the employees to speak English．

D．The UPC meant to show they were rich enough to accommodate and fly them．

What can you learn from the passage about European people?

A．More young people can speak English well than older people.

B．67% Europeans can speak English very well．

C．18% of the people over 55 can't speak English．

D．Over half the people can speak English．

Another food which is closely associated with Americans is apple pie．Apple pie is often served hot with a spoon of ice cream or a slice of cheese at the end of the biggest meal of the day—dinner, and it is a favorite dessert throughout the nation, if a person is typical of Americans, we can say, "He is as American as apple pie．"
It is true that the apple and apple pie do not originate in America, but the expression "as American as apple pie" is not the product of a pure imagination．As early as 1625, the English colonists, having brought orchards （果园） on this new land and in most of the colonial times, the apple was a main material of both plain and fancy cooking．The first Massachusetts governor, William Endicott, was one of many keen apple planters who helped to lay the foundations for today' s apple-growing industry in America．
A major attraction of the apple for the colonists was that it could be made into cider （苹果酒）. Like most Europeans, English colonists held a strong suspicion （怀疑） of drinking water, and since grapegrowing was hindered by plant peats, cider became an alternative to wine．Cheap and easy to produce, it was the American drink of first choice well into the nineteenth century． Whether it was dried, raw or cooked, the apple also found its way into numerous colonial dishes, including apple sauces, pudding, stuffings and many desserts．Therefore, the conclusion to be drawn here is obvious．The apple pie became known as American, not because it was invented on this land （since it was proved that Europeans had been eating apple pies for centuries）, but because, thanks to the huge orchards in the states of Washington and New York, America became the world's largest apple-producing nation．
If a person is said to be as American as apple pie, it means that _______．

A．he always prefers apple pie as a dessert	B．his favourite pie is apple pie
C．he behaves and thinks in the American way	D．he is good at making American apple pie

The apple can be used to make into all of the following except _______．

A．wine

B．sauces

C．pudding

D．cider

The underlined word hindered in Paragraph 3 means．________．

A．promoted

B．prevented

C．improved

D．enlarged

It can be concluded from the passage that_______．

A．the apple pie was first served in America

B．the English colonists developed a taste for the apple only after they, arrived at the New World

C．the expression "as American as apple pie" is a pure imagination

D．the apple pie is traditionally associated with Americans due to their large apple production

I am a person who does not like to wait．I don' t like lines, being put on hold when making a phone call, arriving at an appointment to find that my companion will be delayed and of course, I don * t like waiting rooms．
However, I realize that my agony(痛苦） will not be good for me, as an increasingly, crowded world can only mean one thing—more waiting．
Owing to this, I have taken a measure and decided to turn my disappointment to productive ends．In short, I am looking for what I call "waiting in line books"．
These are books that contain material designed for being read in shortened words, so there is no extended story line to lose track of．Another requirement is that they be small enough to slip neatly into my back pocket．
The other day I went to the supermarket．Convinced that the rain would keep most people away, I was surprised to see that the place was crowded with shoppers．Every checkout was open—and jammed! But I could take out my pocket book and go to work．
The more the world demands that I wait, the more I learn from my waiting library．Look at these titles: One Hundred Things Every American Should Know; The Poetry of Robert Frost; Living Thoughts of Leading Thinkers; Still More Toasts．I have learned interesting and enriching things and much knowledge from these books．
On a recent visit to the general store, I placed my order at the counter along with six or seven other people．The one female employee seemed to have her hands full as she rushed about．"Just be patient," she said to me．
No problem．I quietly opened my dictionary of prose （散文） and poetical quotations． Perhaps the other customers regarded me as a bookish, lonely soul．But little did they realize that I was enjoying the company of Shakespeare, Thoreau, Homer and Ben Johnson．
According to the passage, the world ______．

A．needs to produce many materials to use	B．is becoming more and more crowded
C．loses tracks of story line increasingly	D．is crowded with shoppers everywhere

How did the author overcome his agony of waiting?

A．By reading books designed to be read in shortened words．

B．By arriving early for an appointment．

C．By taking measures to produce some books for readers．

D．By keeping most people away from the supermarket for some reasons．

Which of the following can't be carried in the author's pocket?

A．One Hundred Things Every American Should Know

B．The Poetry of Robert Frost

C．Living Thoughts of Leading Thinkers

D．Homer and Ben Johnson

Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．The author succeeded in changing his agony into fun．

B．The author was a bookish and lonely soul.

C．Six or seven employees in the store were busy in rushing about．

D．There were fewer customers in the supermarket on rainy days．

Wal-Mart is not just the world's largest retailer （零售商）. It's the world's largest company, which sells in three months what number-two retailer Home Depot sells in a year.
Wal-Mart exercises its power for just one purpose: to bring the lowest possible prices to its customers. At Wal-Mart, that goal is never reached. The retailer has a clear policy for suppliers: On basic products that don't change, the price Wal-Mart will pay, and will charge shoppers, must drop year after year. But what almost no one outside the world of Wal-Mart and none of its 21,000 suppliers know is the high cost of those low prices. To survive in the face of its pricing demands, makers of everything from bikes to jeans have had to close US plants in favor of obtaining products from abroad.
Indeed, the real story of Wal-Mart, the story that never gets told, is the story of the pressure the biggest retailer constantly applies to its suppliers in the name of bringing us "every day low prices".
The giant retailer' s low prices often come with a high cost. Wal-Mart' s pressure can crush the companies it does business with and force them to send jobs overseas. Are we shopping our way straight to the unemployment line? Of course, US companies have been moving jobs offshore for decades, long before Wal-Mart was a retailing power. But there is no question that the chain is helping accelerate the loss of American jobs to low-wage countries such as Thailand.
People ask, "How can it be bad for things to come into the US cheaply?" Sure, it's great to have bargains. But you can' t buy anything if you' re not employed.
There is no question that Wal-Mart's drive to squeeze out cost has benefited consumers. By now, it is accepted wisdom that Wal-Mart makes the companies it does business with more efficient and focused. Wal-Mart itself is known for continuous improvement in its ability to handle, move, and track goods. It is legendary （传奇） for forcing its suppliers to redesign everything from their packaging to their computer systems. It is also legendary for quite straightforwardly telling them what it will pay for their goods.
How do suppliers meet the requirements of Wal-Mart?

A．To sell even more goods in three months.

B．To cut down the employment rate sharply.

C．To charge shoppers at a much higher price.

D．To run the business in a well-organized way.

Wal-Mart's low price policy results in ____.

A．more high-paying jobs

B．better designed packages

C．bigger profit of its partners

D．more jobless American workers

What can we infer from the passage?

A．Still more quality goods will be provided.

B．The food you get at Wal-Mart costs least.

C．The value of Mal-Mart is over assessed.

D．Wal-Mart is a very demanding company.

What's the best title for the passage?

A．The Fortune Wal-Mart Makes

B．The Wal-Mart you don't Know

C．The Biggest Retailer—Wal-Mart

D．The Money Saving Tip in Wal-Mart