Scientific Progress
Most scientific progress is the result of careful consideration of work that has already been done. The wonderful world which lies before us today has been put up by hardworking men with clear heads and inventive mind, and these who follow them along life’s road will improve on their efforts. It is sometimes necessary to question and even to disbelieve some of the statements made by experts. Action or experiment can often end an argument or achieve a breakthrough.
When men were wondering whether it was possible to reach India by sailing westwards from Europe, and whether there was any land on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean, Christopher Columbus decides to act. He gathered some men, invited them to go on board his three ships, and set out across the dangerous waters of the Atlantic Ocean. He was successful in finding land, but it was not India. The result of his action was that the arguments came to the end.
Any young man who wishes to do research must be courageous enough to question old beliefs and do some original thinking about them. Although we seem to know so much, there are many things we don’t know. Even when we pull an atom to pieces, we do not really know what the pieces are, we often do not reach the reality behind what we discover, and the more we learn, the better we realize our ignorance.Christopher Columbus decided to set out his trip because he wants to ________
| A．travel round the world |
| B．bring words into action |
| C．discover the truth with action |
| D．bring the argument to an end |
According to the passage, the more we learn _______
| A．the more ignorance we will become |
| B．the more brilliant we are |
| C．the more confident we are of ourselves |
| D．the more we know about our ignorance |
Our present wonderful world has been built up by _______
| A．men who do not believe in others but themselves |
| B．those who work hard and dare to break way from old ideas |
| C．those who can make improvements on other people’s work |
| D．men who work extremely hard in following their teachers |
Columbus succeeded in finding out that_______
| A．the Atlantic was dangerous to get across |
| B．India was to the west of the Atlantic |
| C．There was land on the other side of the Atlantic |
| D．it was possible sail to India by crossing the Atlantic |
My friend Dr. Dong had a wonderful chance to go to Seattle to present a paper at a professional meeting. When he got back to Beijing, he told me his experience.
Dr. Dong enjoyed his first days very much. At the medical conference, he felt quite confident in his area of research and was able to perform well in his presentation. But after a few days, he began to feel uncomfortable. His medical English was fine, but the social communication skills were different.
He got more and more worri
ed that he was misunderstanding simple English greetings and table talk conventions(习俗). When someone greeted him with, “Hi, how’s it going?” he thought they had asked him “Where are you going?” and answered with the name of the conference hall, only to get a surprised stare from them. At a western style dinner, a colleague asked, “So how’re you enjoyin’ the States?” he thought he heard, “how are you enjoying your steak?” and answered that he was eating chicken, not beef. That time, they smiled, and patiently repeated the question, then both laughed at the error.
By the end of the meetings, Dr. Dong felt a deep sense of “cultural stress” and was worn out from having to pay attention to so many new expressions and ways of dealing with things. He felt his handshake was not as firm as Americans’, found that people reacted unusually when he modestly insisted his English was not good after they complimented(称赞) him, didn’t know how to accept dinner invitations properly and therefore missed out on going to several lunches, and so on. Eventually, he was so confused that he felt the full impact of “culture shock”.Why did Dr. Dong travel to Seattle?
| A．To improve his spoken English. | B．To experience culture shock. |
C．To give lectures on his researc h. |
D．To attend a medical conference. |
Which of the following best describes Dr. Dong’s experience in Seattle?
| A．Comfortable—very uncomfortable—uncomfortable. |
| B．comfortable—very uncomfortable—comfortable. |
| C．Comfortable—uncomfortable – very uncomfortable. |
| D．Comfortable—uncomfortable – very comfortable. |
Dr. Dong felt a deep sense of “cultural stress” mainly because_______.
| A．he was too modest | B．he didn’t understand cultural differences |
| C．he lacked confidence | D．he was not good at English listening |
Sustainable development is applied to just about everything from energy to clean water and economic growth, and as a result it has become difficult to question either the basic assumptions behind it or the way the concept is put to use. This is especially true in agriculture, where sustainable development is often taken as the only measure of progress without a proper appreciation of historical and cultural perspectives.
To start with, it is important to remember that the nature of agriculture has changed markedly throughout history, and will continue to do so. Medieval agriculture in northern Europe fed, clothed and sheltered a popularly rural society with a much lower population density than it is today. It had smallest effect on biodiversity, and any pollution it caused was typically localized. In terms of energy use and the nutrients captured in the product it was relatively inefficient.
Contrast this with farming since the start of the industrial revolution. Competition from overseas led farmers to specialize and increase yields. Throughout this period food became cheaper, safer and m
ore reliable. However, these changes have also led to habitat loss and to decreasing biodiversity.
What’s more, demand for animal products in developing countries is growing so fast that meeting it will require an extra 300 million tons of grain a year by 2050.yet the growth of cities and industry is reducing the amount of water available for agriculture in many regions.
All this means that agriculture in the 21st century will have to be very different from how it was in the 20th. This will require complete thinking. For example, we need to move away from the idea that traditional practices are unavoidably more sustainable than new ones. We also need to abandon the idea that agriculture can be “zero impact”. The key will be to abandon the rather simple and unchangeable measures of sustainability, which centre on the need to maintain production without increasing damage.
Instead we need a more dynamic explanation, one that looks at the pros and cons of all the various way land is used. There are many different ways to measure agricultural performance besides food yield: energy use, environmental costs,
water purity, carbon footprint and biodiversity. It is clear, for example, that the carbon of transporting tomatoes from Spain to the UK is less than that of producing them in the UK with additional heating and lighting. But we do not know whether lower carbon footprints will always be better for biodiversity.
What is critical is recognizing that sustainable agriculture is not just about sustainable food production.How do people often measure progress in agriculture?
| A．By its productivity. |
| B．By its impact on the environment. |
| C．By its sustainability. |
| D．By its contribution to economic growth. |
What does the author think of traditional farming practices?
| A．They have remained the same over the centuries. |
| B．They have not kept pace with population growth. |
| C．They are not necessarily sustainable. |
| D．They are environmentally friendly. |
What will agriculture be like in the 21st century?
| A．It will go through thorough changes. |
| B．It will supply more animal products. |
| C．It will abandon traditional farming practices. |
| D．It will cause zero damage to the environment. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing this passage?
| A．To remind people of the need of sustainable development. |
| B．To suggest ways of ensuring sustainable food production. |
| C．To advance new criteria for measuring farming progress. |
| D．To urge people to rethink what sustainable agriculture is. |
The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are as closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market.
In the international market, goods on sale coming from different countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting（报价）, what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc. Then, how can we obtain such information? There are many channels that we can make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor's offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot.
Certainly, face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course, there are some other ways of making market investigations.In making market investigations, one should ______.
| A．get enough information concerned | B．advertise his products |
| C．produce high quality goods | D．none of the above |
The word "indispensable" in the first line means ______.
| A．impossible | B．necessary |
| C．advisable | D．available |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．The relationship between market investigation and sales promotion is just as that of the lips and teeth. |
| B．It is impossible to succeed in selling a product without market investigation. |
| C．There are various ways of making market investigation. |
| D．Production goes before market investigation. |
All the following are channels to get market information except ________.
| A．to have commercial counsellor' s office of our embassies stationed abroad |
| B．to promote the quality of our own products |
| C．to send trade groups abroad every now and then |
D．to have face-to-face talk s with foreign businessmen |
Baekeland and Hartmann report that the “short sleepers” had been more or less average in their sleep needs until the men were in their teens. But at about age 15 or so, the men voluntarily began cutting down their nightly sleep time because of pressures from school, work, and other activities. These men tended to view their nightly periods of unconsciousness as bothersome interruptions in their daily routines.
In general, these “short sleeps” appeared ambitious, acti
ve, energetic, cheerful, conformist(不动摇) in their opinions, and very sure about their career choices. They often held several jobs at once, or workers full-or part-time while going to school. And many of them had a strong urge to appear “normal” or “acceptable” to their friends and associates.
When asked to recall their dreams, the “short sleepers” did poorly. More than this, they seemed to prefer not remembering. In similar fashion, their usual way of dealing with psychological problems was to deny that the problem existed, and then to keep busy in the hope that the trouble would go away.
The sleep patterns of the “short sleepers” were similar to, but less extreme than, sleep patterns shown by many mental patients categorized as manic(疯人).
The “long sleepers” were quite different indeed. Baekeland and Hartmann report that these young men had been lengthy sleeps since childhood. They seemed to enjoy their sleep, protected it, and were quite concerned when they were occasionally robbed of their desired 9 hours of nightly bed rest. They tended to recall their dreams much better than did the “short sleepers.”
Many of the “long sleepers” were shy, anxious, introverted (内向), inhibited (压抑), passive, mildly depressed, and unsure of themselves (particularly in social situations). Several openly states that sleep was an escape from their daily problems. According to the report,______.
| A．many short sleepers need less sleep by nature |
| B．many short sleepers are forced to reduce their nightly sleep time because they are busy with their work |
| C．long sleepers sleep a longer period of time during the day |
| D．many long sleepers preserve their sleeping habit formed during their childhood |
Many “short sleepers” are likely to hold the view that _____.
| A．sleep is a withdrawal from the reality |
| B．sleep interferes with their sound judgment |
| C．sleep is the least expensive item on their routine program |
| D．sleep is the best way to deal with psychological troubles |
It is stated in the third paragraph that short sleepers _____.
A．are ideally vigorous  even under the pressures of life |
| B．often neglect the consequences of inadequate sleep |
| C．do not know how to relax properly |
| D．are more unlikely to run into mental problems |
When sometimes they cannot enjoy adequate sleep, the long sleepers might ____.
| A．appear disturbed | B．become energetic |
| C．feel dissatisfied | D．be extremely depressed |
Our quarrel with efficiency is not that it gets things done, but that it is a thief of time when it leaves us no leisure to enjoy ourselves, and that it strains our nerves when we try to get things done perfectly. In building bridges, American engineers calculate so finely and exactly as to make the two ends come together within one-tenth of an inch. But when two Chinese begin to dig a tunnel from both sides of a mountain both come out on the other side. --The Chinese’s firm belief is that it doesn’t matter so long as a tunnel is dug through, and if we have two instead of one, why, we have a double track to boot.
The pace of modern industrial life forbids this kind of glorious and magnificent idling. But, worse than that, it imposes upon us a different conception of time as measured by the clock and eventually turns the human being into a clock himself. (This sort of thing is bound to come to China, as is evident, for instance, in the case of a factory of twenty thousand workers. The luxurious prospect of twenty thousand workers coming in at their own sweet pleasure at all hours is, of course, somewhat terrifying.)Nevertheless, such efficiency is what makes life so hard and full of excitement. A man who has to be punctually at a certain place at five o’clock has the whole afternoon from one to five ruined for him already. Every American adult is arranging his time on the pattern of the schoolboy - three o’clock for this, five o’clock for that, six-thirty for change of dress, six-fifty for entering the taxi, and seven o’clock for arriving at the destination. It just makes life not worth living.The writer objects to efficiency mainly on the grounds that it ____.
| A．gives us rights to have too much leisure time |
| B．urges us to get things done punctually |
| C．robs us of leisure time |
| D．imposes on us a perfect concept of time |
In the eyes of the author, the introduction of industrial life gives rise to ____.
| A．the excitement of life |
| B．magnificent idling of time |
| C．more emphasis on efficiency |
| D．terrifying schoolboy |
The passage tells us ____.
| A．Chinese workers come to work when it is convenient |
| B．all Americans are forced to be efficient against their will |
| C．Chinese engineers are on better terms with the management |
| D．Americans ought not to work so hard for efficiency |
The author believes that relaxing the rule of punctuality in factories would lead to ____.
| A．great trouble | B．increased production |
| C．a hard and exciting life | D．successful completion of a tunnel |