题目内容
In the summer of 999, Leif Erikson voyaged to Norway and spent the following winter with King Olaf Tryggvason. Substantially the same account is given by both the Saga of Eric the Red and the Flat Island Book. The latter says nothing about Leif's return voyage to Greenland, but according to the former it was during this return voyage that Leif discovered America. The Flat Island Book, however, tells of another and earlier landfall by Biarni, the son of a prominent man named Heriulf, and makes that the inspiration for the voyage to the new land by Leif. In brief, like Leif, Biarni and his companions sight three countries in succession before reaching Greenland, and to come upon each new land takes 1 "doegr" (time record) more than the last until Biarni comes to land directly in front of his father's house in the last-mentioned country.
This narrative has been rejected by most later writers, and they may be justified. Possibly, Biarni was a companion of Leif when he voyaged from Norway to Greenland via America, or it may be that the entire tale is but a garbled account of that voyage and Biarni another name for Leif. It should be noted, however, that the stories of Leif's visit to King Olaf and Biarni's to that king's predecessor are in the same narrative in the Flat Island Book, so there is less likelihood of duplication than if they were from different sources. Also, Biarni landed on none of the lands he passed, but Leif apparently landed on one, for he brought back specimens of wheat, vines, and timber. Nor is there any good reason to believe that the first land visited by Biarni was Wineland. The first land was "level and covered with woods," and "there were small hillocks upon it." Of forests, later writers do not emphasize them particularly in connection with Wineland, though they are often noted incidentally; and of hills, the Saga says of Wineland only that "wherever there was hilly ground, there were vines."
Additionally, if the two narratives were taken from the same source we should expect a closer resemblance of Helluland. The Saga says of it: "They found there hellus (large flat stones)." According to the Biarni narrative, however, "this land was high and mountainous." The intervals of 1, 2, 3, and 4 "doegr" in both narratives are suggestive, but mythic formulas of this kind may be introduced into narratives without altogether destroying their historicity. It is also held against the Biarni narrative that its hero is made to come upon the coast of Greenland exactly in front of his father's home. But it should be recalled that Heriulfsness lay below two high mountains which served as landmarks for navigators.
I would give up Biarni more readily were it not that the story of Leif's voyage contained in the supposedly more reliable Saga is almost as amazing. But Leif's voyage across the entire width of the North Atlantic is said to be "probable" because it is incorporated into the narrative of a preferred authority, while Biarni's is "improbable" or even "impossible" because the document containing it has been condemned.
The author's primary concern is to demonstrate that ______.
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Silence Please
If there is one group of workers across the Western world who will be glad that Christmas is over, that group is shop workers.
It is not that they like to complain. They realize that they are going to be rushed off their feet at Christmas. They know that their employers need happy customers to make their profits that pay their wages. But there is one thing about working in a shop over Christmas that is too bad to tolerate.
That thing is music. These days, all shops and many offices have what is known as "Piped music" or "muzak" playing for all the hours that they are open. Muzak has an odd history. During the 1940s, music was played to cows as part of a scientific experiment. It was found that cows which listened to simple, happy music produced more milk. Perhaps workers and customers who listened to simple, happy music would be more productive and spend more money.
In fact, nobody knows what effect playing muzak in shops has on profits. It is simply something that everybody does. But we are learning more about the effect of constantly repeated hearings of songs on the people who have to hear them all the time.
Research shows that repeated hearings of complex pieces of music bring greater enjoyment before becoming tiresome. And that point come much sooner with simple songs.
"That's especially the case with tunes that are already familiar. Once that tipping point is reached, repeated listening become unpleasant, says Professor John Sloboda of UK's Keele University's music psychology group. "And the less control you have over what you hear, the less you like it.
That's why police forces in the US often try and resolve hostage situations by playing pop songs over and over again at high volume. Eventually, it becomes too much for the criminals to stand and they give up.
The problem gets particularly bad at Christmas, when the muzak consists entirely of the same few festive tunes played over and over again. What makes it worse for the shop workers is that they already know these runes. They get bored very quickly. Then they get irritated. Then they get angry.
Shop workers in Austria recently threatened to go on strike for the right to silence. "Shop workers can't escape the Christmas muzak. They feel as if they are terrorized all day. Especially ‘Jingle Bells’. It arouses aggressive feelings," said Gottfried Rieser, of the Austrian shop worker's union.
It is not just shop workers who complain. A survey this year by UK recruitment website Retailchoice. com found that Christmas is not only the most testing time for shop workers, but that almost half had complaints from customers about muzak. And the British Royal National Institute for the Deaf estimates that some stores play Jingle Bells 300 times each year.
"That's acoustic torture, says Nigel Rodgers of Pipedown. A group against muzak. "It's not loud but the repetitive nature causes psychological stress. "
The group wants the government to legislate against unwanted music in stores, hospitals, airports, swimming pools and other public places, claiming it raises the blood pressure and depresses the immune system.
Perhaps groups like Pipedown don't really have much to complain about. After all, surely the real point is that people have money to spend. Why complain about a bit of music？
The shop workers in the Western world are glad when Christmas is over because they don't have to
However, world grain production this year is expected to increase by two percent. That would be three percent above the average of the last five years.
But decreased production of some crops will affect prices. The F. A. O. says it expects trade in grains this year to remain slow mainly because of rising prices.
The F. A. O. is part of the United Nations. The agency released a World Food Outlook this month. The report has information on wheat, rice and coarse grains. These include barley, corn and millet.
Wheat supplies have fallen in recent years. China, and recently India, have reduced their crops. This is partly because the world is using less wheat. Wheat prices began to increase in July of 2003. The recent cuts mean prices will continue to rise.
The Food and Agriculture Organization predicts that which of the following is likely to decrease？
SECTION B INTERVIEW
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. Questions 1 to 5 are based on an interview. At the end of the interview you will be given 10 seconds to answer each of the following five questions.
Now listen to the interview.
听力原文：J: Bob, I hear you've just come back from Sri Lunka. What's it like？
B: Yes Jane, I've recently returned from a business trip to Sri Lanka. Sri Lunka is one of my favourite countries. A very beautiful country, with very high mountains, towering jungles, beautiful sandy beaches, and lovely blue seas.
J: Mmmm, sounds like heaven. More business than pleasure was it？
B: Yes unfortunately, more business than pleasure. I was only there a short while and did not get any opportunity to travel outside of Colombo, the capital.
J: Well I'm sorry to hear that, but what sort of business are you actually in？
B: I'm involved in attracting overseas students to come and study in Australia, to undertake degree studies at Australian universities.
J: Right. What subjects are they mainly interested in？
B: Well, I' ye found that students from Sri Lanka are particularly interested in accountancy and business, and also computing. Engineering is another field of study which is also quite popular.
J: Well I take it that they all speak English then, obviously before they come here.
B: Yes they do. In fact, Sri Lanka has quite a long tradition of English speaking. So we rarely have problems in English with students from Sri Lanka.
J: Well, when they go back, are there any problems with finding employment？
B: At present I would say yes, because of the current internal strife in the country, the economy is in a slump. It is not booming at all. So students returning from Australia with degrees, at present, are finding difficulties in getting appropriate employment.
J: Mmmm, that's unfortunate after all that study. How do you go about giving all the students the information about universities in Australia？
B: Jane, my visits to Sri Lanka have always been very brief, about three days. On the first evening I've always conducted a seminar presentation at one of the leading hotels in Sri Lanks. The seminar presentation is advertised well in advance and I've been successful in attracting large numbers of Sri Lanka students and their families who are interested in hearing about study opportunities at Australian universities. On the two days following the seminar presentation, I've conducted interviews for students who are serious about studying in Australia, and on each visit, I've interviewed a total of about 40 students over those two days.
J: Did all of those 40 decide to come here, or about how many per year？
B: No, certainly not the total of 40 decide to come to Australia. I would say that there would be about 25 percent who would finally make the decision to come and study in Australia.
J: Bob, what sort of help is given to those students when they come here？
B: Universities in Australia now have developed quite sophisticated support services for overseas students. Overseas students are met at the airport, they have accommodation arranged for them, they are transported to that accommodation. During the academic year, if they have study problems, they can get help from a number of academic counsellors at the universities. Similarly, if they experience welfare problems, particularly things like culture shock, which all students experience when they first arrive, there are skilled people who can assist them.
J: I see. What sort of questions do parents ask？
B: Parents are obviously concerned about how much it's going to cost them to send their children to Australia. That's probably the number one priority. But very high up in the list of priorities is security. How secure is it for their children in Australia. Given that the situation in Sri Lanka at the moment is n
流动比率用来判断企业短期债务到期前，可以转化为现金用于偿还流动负债的能力。国际上公认标准比率为()。
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