Whenanantdies,otherantstakeito-优题课

D
Men and women who serve in the United States armed forces are proud of the names like
doughboy and GI Joe．The names have come from the American Civil War．
After the American Civil War in the eighteen sixties，a writer in a publication called Beadle’s Monthly used the word doughboy to describe Civil War soldiers．But word expert Charles Funk says that early writer could not explain where the name started．
About twenty years later，someone did explain．She was the wife of the famous American general George Custer．Elizabeth Custer wrote that a doughboy was a sweet food served to Navy men on ships．She also said the name was given to the large buttons on the clothes of soldiers．For example，the soldiers enjoyed their new GI very much．They looked smart and felt comfortable．Elizabeth Custer believed the name changed over time to mean the soldiers themselves．
By World War Two，soldiers were called other names．The one most often heard was GI, or GI Joe．Most people say the letters GI were a short way to say general issue or government issue．The name came to mean several things．It could mean the soldier himself．It could mean things given to soldiers when they joined the military such as weapons，equipment or clothes．And，for some reason，it could mean to organize，or clean．Soldiers often say，“We GI’d the place．”And when an area looks good．soldiers may say the area is“GI．”Strangely，though，GI can also mean poor work，a job badly done．
Some students of military words have another explanation of GI．They say that instead of government issue or general issue，GI came from the words galvanized iron．The American soldier was said to be like galvanized iron，a material produced for special strength．The Dictionary of Soldier Talk says GI was used for the words galvanized iron in a publication about the vehicles of the early twentieth century．
Today，a doughboy or GI may be called a grunt(咕哝声)．Nobody is sure of the exact beginning of the word．But，the best idea probably is that the name comes from the sound that troops make when ordered to march long distances carrying heavy equipment．
68．Originally the word“doughboy”referred to．
A．the American Civil War B．a word expert in the 1860s
C．the American Civil War writers D．a sweet food and the buttons
69．It was who found how the name doughboy came about．
A．Elizabeth Custer B．George Custer
C．Charles Funk D．Beadle's Monthly
70．What does GI mean in the example in Paragraph 4 ?
A．Clothes． B．Weapons．
C．Government issues． D．Vehicles．
71．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Navy soldiers used to 1ike sweet food a lot in the wars．
B．Much noise was made when soldiers carried equipment．
C．Galvanized iron was a symbol of the soldiers．
D．A US soldier can be called a doughboy，a GI or a grunt．

C
Although women lead healthier, longer lives, the cruel opinion that they become "old” sooner than men is widespread in the workplace, research shows.
A survey of more than 2,600 managers and personnel professionals showed that age discrimination is not only common in the workplace, but is shot through with inconsistencies (矛盾).
Six in ten managers reported being a victim of age discrimination -- usually because they were turned down for a job for being too old or too young. Yet more than a fifth admitted that they used age as an important standard.
Although the survey found widespread agreement that older workers were better than younger colleagues when it came to reliability, commitment (承担义务), loyalty (忠诚) and customer service, these qualities were not necessarily considered to be worthy of advancement.
A large number of persons believed that workers between 30 and 39 had the best promotion chances, with only 2 per cent giving examples of 50-year-olds or above.
There was evidence that people were considered old at different ages in different jobs. A young man working in IT said he was considered too old by the age of 28.
In fact there was no evidence to suggest that older workers were less valuable to companies than younger workers, in fact the opposite was often true because older workers often brought experience.
The findings also suggested that the Government's ideas on age in the workforce may also be out of step with reality.
64.Which is the discrimination mentioned in this passage?
A. The healthier women are, the sooner they will lose their jobs.
B. Society knows women should be respected, but it doesn't offer them any jobs.
C. Female managers respect male workers, but male managers don't respect female workers.
D. victims of age discrimination consider age as an important standard.
65.Older workers are better than younger colleagues because they have many advantages except that they are _____.
A. dependable B. married C. faithful D. helpful
66.Why does the writer mention a young man working in IT?
A. Because the writer thinks it a pity that this young man is old.
B. Because it's an example of different age standards in different jobs.
C. Because IT industry is developing too fast.
D. Because the writer doesn't think the young man is old.
67. Which statement is true according to the writer's attitude?
A. The present age standard doesn't go with reality.
B. The present age standard is reasonable.
C. women should work longer than men.
D. Young workers should learn from old workers.

B
Economists usually study markets．Now，two Americans have won the Nobel Prize in economics for not studying markets．They will share almost one and a half million dollars for their analysis of economic governance(治理)．The winners are Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University in Bloomington and Oliver Williamson of the University of California，Berkeley．The prize in economic sciences has gone to 63 men since it was first awarded 40 years ago．Elinor Ostrom is the first woman．And，like other winners over the years，her training is not limited to economics．She is a professor of political science and of public and environmental affairs．
Today，economic theory suggests that good resource management requires ownership，either private or public．If not，the thinking goes，then self-interest will lead to overuse and destruction of shared resources．Ecologist Garrett Hardin described this idea in 1968 as“the tragedy of the commons．”
Elinor Ostrom showed how local decision making can lessen the tragedy．Her research has deepened understanding of how people balance their needs with those of others who depend on the same resources．
She studied communities like farmers in Southern California who depended on a common water supply． She documented how people who use resources often develop ways to share them．One example is forest management．She says，“One of the absolutely key，most important variables(变量)as to
whether or not a forest survives and continues is whether local people monitor each other and its use．Not officials，locals．”
Oliver Williamson has studied big companies and found that they often are better than markets at doing complex jobs．Under his theory，businesses act as structures for conflict resolution．
For example，companies that own their suppliers can avoid long-term contracts and disputes over prices．This can make production more efficient and make better use of limited resources．But businesses can also abuse their power．Professor Williamson says the best way to deal with this is not by limiting the size of companies，but through industry regulation．
The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said economists need to do more than study markets and prices．The Nobel judges urged more research like the kind they recognized with this year’s award．
60．According to Elinor Ostrom，．
A．the tragedy of the commons is caused by local decision
B．private ownership can cause the tragedy of the commons
C．overuse of shared resources can cause the tragedy of the commons
D．it is not the officials but the local people who can do something to avoid the tragedy
61．This year’s Nobel Prize for economics is shared by．
A．Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson B．Elinor Ostrom and Garrett Hardin
C．Oliver Williamson and Garrett Hardin D．63 economic scientists
62．Professor Williamson proved that long-term contracts and disputes over prices can be
avoided by big companies by．
A．1imiting the size of other companies
B．providing sufficient production
C．sharing resources with their own suppliers
D．setting up their own industry regulation
63．Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?
A．Two American Economists Won the Nobel Prize for Studying Markets．
B．Researchers of Economic Governance Won the Nobel Prize for Economics．
C．First Woman to Win the Nobel Prize for Economic Strategies．
D．The Tragedy of the Commons and the Big Businesses．

第二部分阅读理解(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项。
A
Each time I see a balloon, my mind flies back to a memory of when I was a six-year-old girl. It was a rainy Sunday and my father had recently died. I asked my mom if Dad had gone to heaven. "Yes, honey. Of course," she said.
"Can we write him a letter?"
She paused, the longest pause of my short life, and answered, "Yes."
My heart jumped. "How? Does the mailman go there?" I asked.
"No, but I have an idea." Mom drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon. I asked her what it was for.
"Just wait, honey. You'll see." Mom told me to write my letter. Eagerly, I got my favorite pen, and poured out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink. I wrote about my day, what I learned at school, how Morn was doing, and even about what happened in a story I had read. For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still alive. I gave the letter to Mom. She read it over, and a smile crossed her face.
She made a hole in the corner of the letter where she looped(缠绕) the balloon string. We went outside and she gave me the balloon. It was still raining.
"Okay, on the count of three, let go. One, two, three."
The balloon, carrying my letter, darted(猛冲) upward against the rain. We watched until it was swallowed by the mass of clouds.
Later I realized, like the balloon, that Dad had never let his sickness get him down. He was strong. No matter what he suffered, he'd persevere, dart up, and finally transcend(超越) this cold world and his sick body. He rose into sky and became something beautiful. I watched until the balloon disappeared into the gray and white and I prayed that his strength was hereditary(遗传的). I prayed to be a balloon.
56. When the girl asked her mother if they could write to her father, her mother ______.
A. felt it hard to answer B. thought her a creative girl
C. believed it easy to do so D. found it easy to lie
57. When the girl was told that she could send a letter to her father, she ______.
A. jumped with joy B. became excited
C. started writing immediately D. was worried that it couldn't be delivered
58. In the eyes of the author, what was the rain like?
A. An incurable disease. B. An unforgettable memory.
C. The hard time her father had. D. The failures her father experienced.
59. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The strong red balloon B. An unforgettable experience
C. Fly to paradiseD . A great father

E
If U．S．software companies don't pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye．Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry．Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top U．S．quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country．
Already, of the world's 12 software houses that have earned the highest rating in the world, seven are in India．That's largely because they have used new methods rejected by American software specialists．For example, for decades, quality specialists, W．Edwards Deming and J．M．Juran had urged U．S．software companies to change their attitudes to quality．But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the U．S -- but not in Japan．By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was grabbing market share with better, cheaper products．They used Deming's and Juran's ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs．In U．S．factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%．In software, it still is．
Watts S．Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance．But his advice was seldom paid attention to．He retired from IBM in 1986．In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(evaluating) and improving software quality．It has proved its value time and again．For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60% of total software production costs．It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10%．
Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home．The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India．Let's hope that U．S．lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems．
72．What country has more highest-rating companies in the world than any other country has?
A．India． B．The US． C．Brazil． D．Germany．
73．Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?
A．He is now still an IBM employer．B．He has worked for IBM for 37 years．
C．India honors him highly．
D．The US pays much attention to his quality advice．
74．By what means did Japan grab its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?
A．Its advertising was most successful．
B．Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality．
C．The US hardware industry was lagging behind
D．Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists．
75． What is the writer worrying about?
A．Many US software specialists are working for Japan．
B．The quality problem has become a worldwide problem．
C．India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US．
D．The US will no longer be the first software player in the world