Few Americans remain in one position or one place for a lifetime. We moving from town to city to suburb, from high school to college in a different state, from a job in one region to a better job else

第1题

According to the third paragraph, the author tells us that older Americans ______.A．have m

According to the third paragraph, the author tells us that older Americans ______.

A．have more job opportunities than young people

B．have new chances to remain active in society

C．live below the poverty line

D．no longer believe in the promise of a happy life upon retirement

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第2题

______ Americans owned a bathtub as early as 1895. A. Many B. Not all C. All D.

______ Americans owned a bathtub as early as 1895.

A. Many

B. Not all

C. All

D. Few

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第3题

Text 4 It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in Californi

a optional Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minuts surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death-and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours. Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all understand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians-frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient-too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.

In1950, the U.S. spent .7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite resources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age-----say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm“have a duty todie and get out of the way”,so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.

I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78,Viacom chairman Sumner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53.Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s,and former surgeon general C.Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s.These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old,I wish to age as productively as they have.

Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. Ask a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.

第56题：What is implied in the first sentence？

A. Americans are better prepared for death than other people.

B. Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.

C. Americans are over-confident of their medical technology.

D. Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.

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第4题

Although_____ of racial prejudice can take the matter to court, few Americans actually did

so.

A.victims

B.targets

C.privileges

D.sacrifices

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第5题

Over the past decade,many companies had perfected the art of creating automatic behaviors-

Over the past decade, many companies had perfected the art of creating automatic behaviors-habits-among consumers. These habits have helped companies earn billions of dollars when customers eat snacks or wipe counters almost without thinking, often in response to a carefully designed set of daily cues.

"There are fundamental public health problems, like dirty hands instead of a soap habit, that remain killers only because we can't figure out how to change people's habit," said Dr. Curtis, the director the Hygiene Center at the London School of Hygiene & Tropical Medicine. " We wanted to learn from private industry how to create new behaviors that happen automatically. "

The companies that Dr. Curtis turned to-Procter & Gamble, Colgate-Palmolive and Unilever-had invested hundreds of millions of dollars finding the subtle cues in consumers' lives that corporations could use to introduce new routines.

If you look hard enough, you'll find that many of the products we use every day-chewing gums, skin moisturizers, disinfecting wipes, air fresheners, water purifiers, health snacks, teeth whiteners, fabric softeners, vitamins are results of manufactured habits. A century ago, few people regularly brushed their teeth multiple times a day. Today, because of shrewd advertising and public health campaigns, many Americans habitually give their pearly whites a cavity- preventing scrub twice a day, often with Colgate, Crest or one of the other brands.

A few decades ago, many people didn't drink water outside of a meal. Then beverage companies started bottling the production of far-off springs, and now office workers unthinkingly sip bottled water all day long. Chewing gum, once bought primarily by adolescent boys, is now featured in commercials as a breath freshener and teeth cleanser for use after a meal. Skin moisturizers are advertised as part of morning beauty rituals, slipped in between hair brushing and putting on makeup.

"Our products succeed when they become part of daily or weekly patterns", said Carol Berning, a consumer psychologist who recently retired from Procter & Gamble, the company that sold $76 billion of Tide, Crest and other products last year. "Creating positive habit is a huge part of improving our consumers' lives, and it's essential to making new products commercially viable. "

Through experiments and observation, social scientists like Dr. Berning have learned that there is power in tying certain behaviors to habitual cues through ruthless advertising. As this new science of habit has emerged, controversies have erupted when the tactics have been used to sell questionable beauty creams or unhealthy foods.

According to Dr. Curtis, habits like hand washing with soap______.

A．should be further cultivated

B．should be changed gradually

C．are deeply rooted in history

D．arc basically private concern

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第6题

听力原文：An American study found, on average, a child watches between four and five hours

听力原文： An American study found, on average, a child watches between four and five hours of television each weekday, and ten hours on Saturday and Sunday. It was also noted that a typical child watches 25, 000 hours of television before his or her 18th birthday. In the life of Children, watching television is a significant sensory ex perience. Many children easily spend more time with the box than they do with any other form. of entertainment. Each year children read less and less and watch television more and more. In fact, Americans of all ages watch more television each year. The typical child sits in front of the television about four hours a day -- and for children in lower socioeconomic families the a mount of time thus spent is even greater. In either case, the child spends more time with TV than he or she spends talking to parents, playing with peers, attending school, or reading books. TV time appropriates family time, play time, and the reading time that could pro mote language development. Watching TV is a passive event. Children and adults, remain completely immobile while viewing the box. Most viewing experiences, at least among Americans, are both quiet and non-inter active. All attention is given to the images. Just like the operating room light, television creates an environment that attacks and beats the child; he can respond to it only by bringing into play his shutdown mechanism, and thus becomes more passive. Children arc often hooked. A highly active child will remain inactive while watching TV because that is what the medium requires. To morrow, we shall talk about violence on TV and its effects on children.

(33)

A．Children's IQ and TV.

B．The whole amount of time children spend watching TV.

C．The effect TV has on learning.

D．The amount of time the average child spends watching TV.

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第7题

What is happiness？ We Americans believe that the right to 【C1】______ happiness is issued t

o us with the birth 【C2】______ , but no one seems quite sure 【C3】______ way it ran.

【C4】______ , we Americans seem to be 【C5】______ to the idea of buying our way to happiness. We shall all have 【C6】______ it to Heaven when we 【C7】______ enough.

And at the same time the 【C8】______ of American commercialism are hugely dedicated to making us deliberately 【C9】______ .

Advertising is one of our major 【C10】______ , and advertising exists not to 【C11】______ desires but to create them--and to create them faster than any man's 【C12】______ can satisfy them. We are taught that to 【C13】______ is to be happy, and then we are 【C14】______ to want. We are even told it is our 【C15】______ to want. It was only a few years ago, to 【C16】______ a single example, that car dealers across the country were flying banners that 【C17】______ "You Auto Buy Now". They were calling 【C18】______ Americans, as an act approaching patriotism, to buy at once, 【C19】______ money they did not have, automobiles they did not really need, and which they would be required to grow tired of by the time the next year's 【C20】______ were released.

【C1】

A．pursue

B．persist

C．preserve

D．prevail

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第8题

It is said that in England death is pressing, in Canada inevitable and in California optio

nal. Small wonder. Americans' life expectancy has nearly doubled over the past century. Failing hips can be replaced, clinical depression controlled, cataracts removed in a 30-minute surgical procedure. Such advances offer the aging population a quality of life that was unimaginable when I entered medicine 50 years ago. But not even a great health-care system can cure death—and our failure to confront that reality now threatens this greatness of ours.

Death is normal; we are genetically programmed to disintegrate and perish, even under ideal conditions. We all under stand that at some level, yet as medical consumers we treat death as a problem to be solved. Shielded by third-party payers from the cost of our care, we demand everything that can possibly be done for us, even if it's useless. The most obvious example is late-stage cancer care. Physicians—frustrated by their inability to cure the disease and fearing loss of hope in the patient—too often offer aggressive treatment far beyond what is scientifically justified.

In 1950, the U.S. spent $12.7 billion on health care. In 2002, the cost will be $1540 billion. Anyone can see this trend is unsustainable. Yet few seem willing to try to reverse it. Some scholars conclude that a government with finite re sources should simply stop paying for medical care that sustains life beyond a certain age—say 83 or so. Former Colorado governor Richard Lamm has been quoted as saying that the old and infirm "have a duty to die and get out of the way", so that younger, healthier people can realize their potential.

I would not go that far. Energetic people now routinely work through their 60s and beyond, and remain dazzlingly productive. At 78, Viacom chairman Stunner Redstone jokingly claims to be 53. Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor is in her 70s, and former surgeon general C. Everett Koop chairs an Internet start-up in his 80s. These leaders are living proof that prevention works and that we can manage the health problems that come naturally with age. As a mere 68-year-old, I wish to age as productively as they have.

Yet there are limits to what a society can spend in this pursuit. Ask a physician, I know the most costly and dramatic measures may be ineffective and painful. I also know that people in Japan and Sweden, countries that spend far less on medical care, have achieved longer, healthier lives than we have. As a nation, we may be overfunding the quest for unlikely cures while underfunding research on humbler therapies that could improve people's lives.

What is implied in the first sentence？

A．Americans are better prepared for death than other people.

B．Americans enjoy a higher life quality than ever before.

C．Americans are over-confident of their medical technology.

D．Americans take a vain pride in their long life expectancy.

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第9题

Passage Two A particular area in which assumptions and values differ between cultures is

Passage Two

A particular area in which assumptions and values differ between cultures is that of friendship. Friendships among Americans tend to be shorter and less intense than these among people from many other cultures. At least many observers from abroad have this impression.Because Americans are taught to be self-reliant，because they live in a very mobile society，and for many other reasons as well，they tend to avoid deep involvement with other people. Furthermore，Americans tend to“compartmentalize”their friendships，having their“friends at work”，“friends at school”，a“tennis friend”，and so on. Americans often seem very friendly even when you first meet them. This friendliness does not usually mean that the American is looking for a deeper relationship.

The result of these attitudes and behaviors is sometimes viewed by foreigners as an“inability to be friends”. Other times it is seen as a normal way to retain personal happiness in a mobile，ever-changing society.

People normally have in their minds stereotypes about people who are different from themselves. Stereotypes are based on limited and incomplete experience and information，but they shape people’s thoughts and expectations. Americans have many stereotypes about foreign students in general（for example，that they are very hard working intelligent，and rich that they do speak English well）and about particular categories of foreign students（Chinese are polite and good at mathematics，for example，or Italians are emotional）. And foreign students have their own stereotypes of Americans，for example，that they are arrogant，rude，and generous.

There are two stereotypes that often affect male-female relationships involving U.S. and foreign students. The first is the idea，held by some foreign males，that American females are invariably willing，if not anxious to have sex. The second common stereotype，held by some American females，is that male foreign students have no interest in American females other than having with them. The existence of these and other stereotypes can give rise to considerable misunderstanding and can block the development of a mutually satisfactory relationship between particular individuals. Stereotypes seem unavoidable given the way the human mind seeks to categorize and classify information，so it is not realistic to suppose people can“forget their stereotypes”. But they can be aware of their stereotypes，and be ready to find exceptions to them.

36. Consuming friendship，Americans .

A. look for a deeper relationship in a close circle

B. avoid deep relationship with other people

C. are friendly at first but do not remain so later on

D. do not make good friends

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第10题

Near the end of a five-day tour of highly automated, high-tech Japanese factories, the Ame

rican visitor was overwhelmed and feeling a little inferior. Watching a string of gleaming stereo sets move down an assembly line, he turned to the plant manager and said, "Gosh, even your industrial design is better than ours.

"Ah, yes," replied the manager, "but America has treasures that Japan can never hope to possess."

"You mean our mineral wealth and bountiful farms？

"Ah, no. I was referring to Caltech and MIT."

America's scientific institutions--its technological universities and government laboratories--are the en vy of the world , producing ideas, devices and medicines that have made the U.S. prosperous, improved the lives of people around the globe and profoundly affected their perception of the world and the universe. This tremendous creativity is reflected in tile technical reports that are published in scientific journals throughout the world. Fully 35 % of them come from scientists doing their research at American institutions.

Yet American dominance can no longer be taken for granted. Many recent U. S. achievements and a wards stem in large measure from generous research grants of the past, and any weakening of government and industry commitment to support of basic research could in the next few decades cost the nation its scientific leadership. Some slipping is already divalent. In high-energy physics, where Americans once reigned supreme, Western Europe now spends roughly twice as much money as the U. S. Result. the major high-energy physics discoveries of tile past few years have been made not by Americans but by Europeans.

Even so, money alone cannot guarantee scientific supremacy. Freedom of inquiry, an intellectually stimulating environment and continuous recruitment of the best minds must accompany it. That combination has been achieved in many U.S. institutions--educational, governmental and industrial--but perhaps no where more successfully than at the National Institutes of Health, Bell Laboratories and Caltech.

America's technological universities and government laboratories are generally ______.

A．loved by scientists in other parts of the world

B．disliked by scientists in other parts of the world

C．admired by scientists in other parts of the world

D．jealous of scientists in other parts of the world

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