Section A Searching for love is no longer just a favorite subject for songs. It has also become a huge industry. Experts say that the industry has grown because traditional social ties in the United States have 1 . Many young people leave behind a close community of friends and family to find work in bigger cities. People work longer hours, so they have less time to meet new people. So they depend 2 on technology. This helps explain the 3 of online dating. Some estimates say 120,000 marriages a year result from 4 made on the Internet. The dating industry has also been expanding in new and interesting ways. Many companies around the country offer 5 services for finding the perfect mate. These companies are answering a large demand by single people. They are willing to 6 their time and money to find love with 7 planned methods, instead of leaving love to chance. For example, in Virginia, the company True Life Partners provides a 8 but detailed dating service. The company's owner, Stephanie Rockey, says her customers are busy professionals who do not have time to search for their life partner. Customers hire Miz Rockey's team of 9 experts to help them find people they will like based on detailed information they provide about themselves. The company says it is a team of professional personal 10 who help couples meet. But this level of attention comes at a high price. Men pay thousands of dollars for the service. But women get to take part at no cost. A. carefully B. inquire C. personalized D. invest E. notified F. recruiters G. matches H. increasingly I. desperate J. costly K. restraint L. popularity M. weakened N. shortly O. trained
Academy Award nominees who go home empty-handed may not have a shiny Oscar to show off, but they may turn out to be the bigger winners in the game of life. According to a study published in British Medical Journal on December 21, Oscar-winning screenwriters are more successful, more productive, and more 11 than losing nominees; however, they die sooner by about four years. Because success is usually linked to better health, "this is the first 12 ever that success is not associated with improved 13 ," says Donald Redelmeier, lead author of the study. Researchers 14 down information about every person who was ever nominated for an Oscar since the awards were first handed out 73 years ago. To explain the 15 findings, he offers two theories. The first is the "work-to-death hypothesis." According to Redelmeier, screenwriters are more 16 to lead unhealthy lifestyles, meaning they smoke more, exercise less, and work a lot of late-night hours, which translates into not enough sleep. Screenwriters don't have a boss to report to, which brings into 17 Redelmeier's second explanation, the "party-hearty hypothesis." "When you become a successful screenwriter, you gain status without daily accountability, and as a 18 your success may lead you to more alcohol, more parties, and more obesity," he says. Redelmeier hopes his study will 19 how important it is to lead a healthy lifestyle. "The bottom line," he says, "is that greater success may 20 lead to worse health if people fail to look after themselves." A. longevity B. flourish C. apt D. sometimes E. tracked F. respected G. account H. miracle I. occupation J. puzzling K. stress L. consequence M. internal N. fairly O. restrained
此处应为副词,作may lead to...的状语。根据may这个情态动词可以推断作者的态度并不坚决,因此只有sometimes最合适。
Section B
Questions on the Origins of Christmas
1. Why do we celebrate on December 25th? A. The Bible makes no mention of Jesus being born on December 25th and, as more than one historian has pointed out, why would shepherds be tending to their flock in the middle of winter? So why is that the day we celebrate? Well, either Christian holidays miraculously fall on the same days as pagan ones or the Christians have been crafty in converting pagan populations to religion by placing important Christian holidays on the same days as pagan ones. And people had been celebrating on December 25th (and the surrounding weeks) for centuries by the time Jesus showed up. B. The Winter Solstice, falling on or around December 21st, was and is celebrated around the world as the beginning of the end of winter. It is the shortest day and longest night and its passing signifies that spring is on the way. In Scandinavian countries, they celebrated the solstice with a holiday called Yule last from the 21st until January and burned a Yule log the whole time. In Rome, Saturnalia—a celebration of Saturn, the God of agriculture—lasted the entire end of the year and was marked by mass intoxication. In the middle of this, the Romans celebrated the birth of another God, Mithra (a child God), whose holiday celebrated the children of Rome. C. When the Christianity became the official religion of Rome, there was no Christmas. It was not until the 4th century that Pope Julius I declared the birth of Jesus to be a holiday and picked December 25th as the celebration day. By the middle ages, most people celebrated the holiday we know as Christmas. 2. How did Americans come to love the holiday? D. The American Christmas is, like most American holidays, a mishmash of Old World customs mixed with American inventions. While Christmas was celebrated in America from the time of the Jamestown settlement, our modem idea of the holiday didn't take root until the 19th century. The History Channel credits Washington Irving with getting the ball rolling. In 1819 he published The Sketchbook of Geoffrey Crayon, gent., an account of a Christmas celebration in which a rich family invites poor folk into their house to celebrate the holiday. E. The problem was that many of the activities described in Irving's work, such as Crowning a Lord of Misrule, were entirely fictional. Nonetheless, Irving began to steer Christmas celebrations away from drunken debauchery (放荡) and towards wholesome, charitable fun. Throughout the rest of the 19th century, Christmas gained popularity and Americans adopted old customs or invented new ones, such as Christmas trees, greeting cards, giving gifts and eating a whole roasted pig. 3. Who popularized Christmas trees? F. Since time immortal, humans have been fascinated with the color green and plants that stay green through winter. Many ancient societies—from Romans to Vikings—would decorate their Homes and temples with evergreens in the winter as a symbol of the returning growing season. But the Christmas tree didn't get going until some intrepid (无畏的) German dragged home and decorated a tree in the 16th century. Legend has it that Martin Luther himself added lighted candles to his family's tree, starting the trend (and leading to countless fires through the years). In America, the Christmas tree didn't catch on until 1846 when the British royals, Queen Victoria and the German Prince Albert, were shown with a Christmas tree in a newspaper. Fashionable people in America mimicked the Royals and the tree thing spread outside of German enclaves (被围领土) in America. Ornaments, courtesy of Germany, and electric lights, courtesy of Thomas Edison's assistants, were added over the years and we haven't changed much since. 4. What's the deal with Santa Claus? G. The jolly, red-suited man who sneaks into your home every year to leave you gifts hasn't always been so jolly. The real Saint Nick was a Turkish monk who lived in the 3rd century. According to legend, he was a rich man thanks to an inheritance from his parents, but he gave it all away in the form of gifts to the less-fortunate. He eventually became the most popular saint in Europe and, through his alter ego, Santa Claus, remains so to this day. But how did a long-dead Turkish monk become a big, fat, reindeer-riding pole dweller? The Dutch got the ball rolling by celebrating the saint—called Sinter Klaas—in New York in the late-18th century. Our old friend, Washington Irving, included the legend of Saint Nick in his seminal History of New York as well, but at the turn of the 18th century, Saint Nick was still a rather obscure figure in America. H. On December 23, 1823, though, a man named Clement Clarke Moore published a poem he had written for his daughters called "An Account of a Visit from St. Nicholas," better known now as "T'was the Night Before Christmas." Nobody knows how much of the poem Moore invented, but we do know that it was the spark that eventually lit the Santa fire. Many of the things we associate with Santa—a sleigh, reindeer, Christmas Eve visits—came from Moore's poem. From 1863 to 1886, Thomas Nast's illustrations of Santa Claus appeared in Harper's Weekly—including a scene with Santa giving gifts to Union soldiers. Not much has changed since the second half of the 19th century: Santa still gets pulled in a sleigh by flying reindeer, he still wears the big red suit and he still sneaks down chimneys to drop off presents. 5. Who invented Rudolph? I. Santa did get one more friend in 1939. Robert May, a copywriter for the Montgomery Ward department store chain, wrote a little story about a 9th reindeer with a disturbing red nose for a booklet to give customers during the holiday season. Ten years later, May's brother would put the story to music, writing the lyrics and melody.
1. Drunken debauchery was regarded as old Christmas practice in America in the 19th century.
10. The trend of Christmas tree tradition in German was said to be related to Martin Luther.
F
[解析] 本题与圣诞树有关,故定位应在小标题3. Who popularized Christmas trees?下的F段。该段第4句提到Martin Luther与德国的圣诞树的流行有关,与本题所述一致。
Hints and Tips to Save Money
A. Spend less. This is not oversimplifying the best way to save money! It is essential if you are serious about being a long-term money saver. Review what you spend and look at ways you can save money. Consider making telephone calls for instance only at off-peak times. Do you really need to have newspapers and magazines delivered? Can you do without those coffees you buy at break time every day—would a flask of coffee taken to work save you money? What about using the public lending library instead of buying books or music CDs? Once you start looking for ways to spend less you will quickly become an expert and really save money. B. Establish a personal budget. This is essential for families and individuals. You will not be able to save money unless you know how much money you have coming in, and how much money you have going out. Once you have prepared a budget of incoming money and outgoing money, you will be able to identify areas where you can save. It is MUCH more difficult to save money over a long period of time (the rest of your life?) without a budget. C. Bulk is good. Think about shopping and buying in bulk. You can also save money by cooking in bulk. This is a real way you can save money with little preparation and almost no extra outlay. Always purchase in bulk when you can. Prepared foods and convenience foods will always be much more expensive than all the ingredients needed to make the food. Preparing food in bulk and in advance also gives you the opportunity to plan ahead and be more accurate in your budget. Save money by buying in bulk whenever you can. One thing to be aware of when buying in bulk is to be sure that any product you buy will get used before it goes bad—you won't save money ff you have to throw stuff away. Buying in bulk is not only a good way to save money it is also a good strategy for coping with and surviving emergencies. D. Make sure a sale is a sale. By this I mean do your price research before you commit to making an expensive purchase in a retailers money-off sale. You have to be sure the sale really is a sale and not a creative marketing strategy of the store to encourage you to spend your money without thinking. Once you have researched the true price of a product (any product) you are in a good position to take advantage of a sale, special offer or discount and really save money. "Buy one get one free", "50% off", and "Huge Discount" will only help you save money if the actual price you pay is lower than you would pay somewhere else for exactly the same product. E. Buy used. Sure, we all like to buy new. But there are huge money savings to be made in buying used. Typically cars lose one-third of their value in the first 24 months from new. Why not buy a car 24 months old? Other items such as clothes can be worth even less just the day after new. Look for ways to buy "as good as new" items and save money. Typical products you might consider buying used to save money include: cars, clothes, electrical goods, garden items...tools and sheds, household items... pots and pans—the list of used goods where you can save money is endless. F. Don't carry excessive debt. Some debt in our lives may be essential. We may need a mortgage (抵押) to purchase a home, we may need to use our credit card to make purchases until payday, but your aim to save money should be to have as little debt as possible. Credit card debt is typically the most expensive debt we may carry. You will be able to save money every month if you make it an absolute rule to pay off your outstanding balance every month. If you can have the discipline to do this you will save money by effectively having no debt, and thus no interest charge on your credit card(s). G. Save money fast. No, I mean really save some money. Each week or each month get into the habit of putting an amount, however small into your savings. You could start by saving a very small fixed amount each time and then move to putting in larger amounts once you begin to save money from your other money saving strategies. You will find that by saving money on a regular basis you will quickly build up a store of reserve money and also feel motivated to save more. The hardest part is to take the first step and start saving money—so START TODAY and save some money NOW! If you find it impossible to save money once you have it, consider having money deducted from your paycheck direct each month. This can be a great way to save money rapidly as once it is set up you will not notice it is being collected and your savings will grow with no more effort from you. H. Shop wisely. Consider markets, superstores, farmer's markets, local shops, malls and stores. Anywhere is worth checking out to see if you can save money. Farmer's markets can be particularly good places to save money. Typically you are buying direct from the producer of the product so the savings are passed on to you. Use your bulk buying strategy here—farmer's markets often offer opportunities to save money by buying larger quantities of food, for instance potatoes, rice or corn. Save money and shop wisely. I. Eat in rather than out. This is a huge area where you can save money. A cup of coffee taken out could easily cost you TWENTY times (or more) what it would cost you to make it at home. So think before you drink when you are out. Eating is the same. Fast food restaurants are counting on your eating food that you perhaps don't really need at that time but buy just because it is quick. Why not wait until you get home and have a more nutritious meal and save money at the same time? J. Use less. This money saving tip is a lesson we all need to learn. We live in a consumer society where waste is a huge problem, if we could all use and consume less there would be less waste, less power consumption, and the benefits for you are SAVING MONEY. Consider using less shampoo when you wash your hair, this may not mean washing your hair less effectively but it means not flushing the excess shampoo and your money down the drain. What about saving on heating? Turn the thermostat (恒温器) down or put on extra clothes when you are cold. Turn off lights, the TV and the computer when they are not in use. Each little saving you make will build up and enable you to save money. Huge savings in energy can be made which will save you money and be good for our planet and the other people on it.
11. When you find it impossible to save money once you have it, you can deduct it from your paycheck direct each month.
Passage One Some Americans are a little nervous about the nation's future, but others feel secure, knowing that the man they consider the most powerful person in the world isn't going anywhere. Just who is this behind-the-scenes guy they think has more power than George W. Bush ever will? He's Alan Greenspan, a 74-year-old expert economist who heads the Federal Reserve, commonly known as the Fed. Unlike the president, who has to please the voters and compromise with Congress, Greenspan doesn't have to answer to anyone. But that doesn't mean his job is easy. Basically, Greenspan is in charge of keeping the nation's economy stable. The economy is sort of like a balloon: blow in too much air, and it pops. But with too little air, it falls to the floor. Greenspan helps decide when to blow more air into the economy. In this case, the air in a balloon is the amount of money in the economy. Greenspan can make the economy grow by increasing the money supply, or keep the economy from inflating too much by decreasing the money supply. His goal is for the economy to grow and contract gradually. Rapid changes can harm businesses and consumers. After years of very nigh growth, the American economy is starting to slow down. Recently, corporations have been making less money and people are starting to have a harder time finding jobs. Greenspan is hoping to ease the economy into a soft landing. It's just like to make the car come to a gentle stop instead of hitting a brick wall. If he succeeds, the country will avoid two possible problems: rising prices and high unemployment. At the Fed's meeting, Greenspan and the other members decided that the economy was growing at an OK rate, but that there is a possibility of a serious slowdown, and in order to solve that, they could lower interest rates at the next meeting in an attempt to encourage people to borrow and spend. While there's no way to know what they will decide, one thing is certain: the decisions that Greenspan and the Federal Reserve Board make will affect everyone who earns, borrows or spends money.
1. It is certain that Greenspan ______.
A.is more powerful than George W. Bush
B.has to answer to someone in the government
C.is an expert economist directing the Federal Reserve
D.has to please the voters and compromise with Congress
第4段把经济与气球进行类比,指出气球中的空气就是经济中总的货币量,根据倒数第2句...increasing the money supply....decreasing...可推断出答案为选项B。根据第5段最后一句,选项C和D是经济发展改善后可能带来的结果,而不是使经济稳定的手段。第4段第3句表明Greenspan帮助决定什么时候向经济中注入“空气”,所以选项A排除。
3. According to the fourth paragraph, decreasing the money supply can keep the economy from ______.
A.developing too fast
B.growing too slowly
C.changing too rapidly
D.remaining too stable
A B C D
A
本题考查对inflating too much的理解。第4段第5句用or连接两个分句,对比说明通过增加或减少货币量可促进或压制经济的发展速度,因此,inflate应与grow或develop意思相近。
4. Greenspan may help the country to avoid the problems EXCEPT ______.
In only two decades Asian Americans have become the fastest-growing U.S. minority. As their children began moving up through the nation's schools, it became clear that a new class of academic achievers was emerging. Their achievements are reflected in the nation's best universities, where mathematics, science and engineering departments have taken on a decidedly Asian character. This special liking for mathematics and science is partly explained by the fact that Asian-American students who began their educations abroad arrived in the U.S. with a solid grounding in mathematics but little or no knowledge of English. They are also influenced by the promises of a good job after college. Asians feel there will be less unfair treatment in areas like mathematics and science because they will be judged more objectively. And the return on the investment in education is more immediate in something like engineering than with an arts degree. Most Asian-American students owe their success to the influence of parents who are determined that their children take full advantage of what the American educational system has to offer. An effective measure of parental attention is homework. Asian parents spend more time with their children than American parents do, and it helps. Many researchers also believe there is something in Asian culture that breeds success, such as ideals that stress family values and emphasize education. Both explanations for academic success worry Asian Americans because of fears that they feed a typical racial image. Many can remember when Chinese, Japanese and Filipino immigrants were the victims of social isolation. Indeed, it was not until 1952 that laws were laid down giving all Asian immigrants the right to citizenship.
6. While making tremendous achievements at college, Asian-American students ______.
A.feel they are mistreated because of limited knowledge of English
B.are afraid that their academic successes bear a strong Asian character
C.still worry about unfair treatment in academic areas
D.generally feel it a shame to have to depend on their parents
7. What are the major factors that determine the success of Asian Americans?
A.Solid foundation in basic mathematics and Asian culture.
B.Hard work and intelligence.
C.Hard work and a limited knowledge of English.
D.Asian culture and the American educational system.
A B C D
D
文章第2段第1句说明了第一个原因是American educational system,最后一句说明了第二个原因为Asian culture,即选项D。选项A中的solid foundation in basic mathematics在文章第1段提到,但这只是亚裔美国学生偏爱数学和理工科的部分原因,选项B和C无原文依据,且选项C后半部分也不合情理。
8. Few Asian-American students major in human sciences mainly because ______.
A.their English is not good enough
B.they are afraid they might meet with unfair judgment in these areas
C.there is a wide difference between Asian and Western cultures
D.they know little about American culture and society
Passage Two There seems never to have been a civilization without toys, but when and how they developed is unknown. They probably came about just to give children something to do. In the ancient world, as is today, most boys played with some kinds of toys and most girls with another. In societies where social roles are rigidly determined, boys pattern their play after the activities of their fathers and girls after the tasks of their mothers. This is true because boys and girls are being prepared, even in play, to step into the roles and responsibilities of the adult world. What is remarkable about the history of toys is not so much how they changed over the centuries but how much they have remained the same. The changes have been mostly in terms of craftsmanship, mechanics, and technology. It is the universality of toys with regard to their development in all parts of the world and their persistence to the present that is amazing. In Egypt, the Americas, China, Japan and among the Arctic (北极的) peoples, generally the same kinds of toys appeared. Variations depended on local customs and ways of life because toys imitate their surroundings. Nearly every civilization had dolls, little weapons, toy soldiers, tiny animals and vehicles. Because toys can be generally regarded as a kind of art form, they have not been subject to technological leaps that characterize inventions for adult use. The progress from the wheel to the oxcart to the automobile is a direct line of ascent (进步). The progress from a rattle (拨浪鼓) used by a baby in 3000 BC to one used by an infant today, however, is not characterized by inventiveness. Each rattle is the product of the artistic tastes of the times and subject to the limitations of available materials.
1. The reason why the toys most boys play with are different from those that girls play with is that ______.
A.their social roles are rigidly determined
B.most boys would like to follow their fathers' professions
C.boys like to play with their fathers while girls with their mothers
5. The author uses the example of a rattle to show that ______.
A.in toy-making there is a continuity in the use of materials
B.even the simplest toys can reflect the progress of technology
C.it often takes a long time to introduce new technology into toy-making
D.even a simple toy can mirror the artistic tastes of the time
A B C D
D
文章最后一句提到,每一个拨浪鼓是当时的艺术品位的产物,因此选项D为正确答案。
The struggle against malnutrition (营养不良) and hunger is as old as man himself, and never across the face of our planet has the outcome been more in doubt. Malnutrition tortures an estimated 400 million to 1.5 billion of the world's poor. Even in the rich U.S., poverty means malnutrition for an estimated ten to twenty million. Hardest hit are children, whose growing bodies demand two and a half times more protein, than those of adults. Nutrition experts estimate that 70 percent of the children in low-income countries are affected. Badly-shaped bodies tell the sad story of malnutrition. Medical science identifies two major types of malnutrition which usually occur in combination. The first, kwashiorkor, is typified by the bloated (肿胀的) look, the opposite of what we associate with starvation. Accumulated fluids pushing against wasted muscles account for the plumpness (丰满) of hands, feet, belly and face. Caused by an acute lack of protein, kwashiorkor can bring brain damage, irritability, loss of appetite and so on. On the other hand, stick limbs, a bloated belly, wide eyes, and the stretched-skin face of an old person mark victims of marasmus, a word taken from the Greek "to waste away". Lacking calcium (钙) as well as protein, sufferers may weigh only half as much as normal. With fat gone, the skin hangs or draws tight over bones. Children, whose growing bodies require large amounts of protein, suffer in greatest numbers, but perhaps only three percent of all child victims suffer the extreme stages described. Scientists are working hard to develop new weapons against malnutrition and starvation. But two thirds of the human population of 3.9 billion live in the poorest countries which also have the highest birth rates. Thus, of the 74 million people added to the population each year, four out of five will be born in a have-not country—a country unable to supply its people's nutritional needs.
6. Malnutrition is ______.
A.not as serious as before
B.still as serious as before
C.more serious than before
D.inclined to be less serious
A B C D
C
本题考查双重否定句的理解。依据是文章第1句话,其中never...been more in doubt则表示“从未(像现在这样)更令人置疑”,也就是说,现在营养不良的问题比以往任何时候都更严峻,因此选项C正确。
7. The phrase "waste away" (Line 2, Para. 3) means ______.