听力原文: The front-runner in the presidential election in Haiti Rene Preval has accused the electoral authorities of committing fraud in an attempt to stop him winning outright. With almost all the votes counted, Mr. Preval is just short of the majority needed to avoid a second round. Two people were killed during unrest in the city. The United Nations Security Council has called for calm and extended the mandate of its peace mission in Haiti by six months. According to official election figures with around 90 per cent of the votes counted, Rene Preval is just short of the 50 per cent he needs to avoid a second round runoff. Speaking in the Haitian capital Port-au-Prince, he said he'd seen gross errors and probably gigantic fraud. Claiming a first round victory, he urged his supporters to keep up protests, but he also called them on to be mature, responsible and non-violent.
If Rene Preval's supporters exceeded 50% of the total voters, he would ______.
A. surpass another candidate.
B. be the president of Haiti.
C. avoid a second round runoff.
D. defeat his rival in the first round.
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听力原文: The United States has strongly criticized the broadcast of previously unseen images of alleged prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib Prison in Iraq. The images, which show prisoners apparently being tortured and humiliated, have been shown on television stations across the world. The American Defense Department confirmed the authenticity of the pictures, but said releasing them could only serve to incite unnecessary violence. The American authorities are very unhappy that these new disturbing images from Abu Ghraib have seen the light of day. The State Department has dismissed them as disgusting and defended the US government's decision to try and stop their publication.
Which of the following statements about the American Defense Department is TRUE?
A. It has denied the authenticity of the pictures of abused prisoners.
B. It has supported the decision to stop the publication of the pictures.
C. It has considered the pictures of abused prisoners unacceptable.
D. It has been worrying about the violence incited by the pictures.
Affirmative action may not be the most divisive issue on the ballot, but it remains an unending source of conflict and debate at least in Michigan, whose citizens are pondering a proposal that would ban affirmative action in the public sector. No one knows whether other states will follow Michigan's lead, but partisans on both sides see the vote as crucial--a decision that could either help or hinder a movement aimed at ending "preferential treatment" programs once and for all.
Ward Connerly has no doubts about the outcome. "Them may be some ups and downs.., with regard to affirmative action, but it's ending," .says Connerly, the main mover behind the Michigan proposal, who pushed almost identical propositions to passage in California 10 years ago and in Washington state two years later. His adversaries are equally passionate. "I just want to shout from the rooftops, 'This isn't good for America'," says Mary Sue Coleman, president of the University of Michigan. She sees no need for Michigan to adopt the measure. "We have a living experiment in California, and it has failed," says Coleman.
Wade Henderson, executive director of the leadership Conference on Civil Rights, sees something deeply symbolic in the battle. Michigan, in his eyes, is where resegregation began--with a 1974 U.S. Supreme Court decision that tossed out a plan to bus Detroit children to the suburbs. Henderson sees that decision as a prelude to the hypersegregation that now defines much of Michigan. The Supreme Court is currently considering two new cases that could lead to another ruling on how far public school systems can go in their quest to maintain racial balance.
All of which raises a question: why are we still wrestling with this stuff? Why, more than a quarter of a century after the high court ruled race had a legitimate place in university admissions decisions, are we still fighting over whether race should play a role?
One answer is that the very idea of affirmative action--that is, systematically treating members of various groups differently in the pursuit of diversity or social justice--strikes some people as downright immoral. For to believe in affirmative action is to believe in a concept of equality turned upside down. It is to believe that "to treat some persons equally, we must treat them differently," as the idea was expressed by U.S. Supreme Court Justice Harry Blackmun.
That argument has never been an easy sell, even when made passionately by President Lyndon B. Johnson during an era in which prejudice was thicker than L. A. smog. Now the argument is infinitely more difficult to make. Even those generally supportive of affirmative action don't like the connotations it sometimes carries. "No one wants preferential treatment, including African-Americans," observed Ed Sarpolis, vice president of EPIC-MRA, a Michigan polling firm.
In 2003, the Supreme Court upheld the University of Michigan's right to use race in the pursuit of "diversity," even as it condemned the way the undergraduate school had chosen to do so. The decision left Jennifer Gratz, the named plaintiff, fuming. "I called Ward Connerly... and I said, 'We need to do something about this'," recalled Gratz, an animated former cheerleader. They decided that if the Supreme Court wouldn't give them what they wanted, they would take their case--and their proposition--directly to the people.
Californians disagree about the impact of Connerly's proposition on their state. But despite some exceedingly grim predictions, the sky did not fall in. Most people went about their lives much as they always had.
In a sane world, the battle in Michigan, and indeed the battle over affirmative action writ large, would offer an opportunity to seriously engage a question the enemies and defenders of affirmative action claim to care about; how do you go about creating a society where all people--not just the lucky few--have th
A. He advocates banning on affirmative action in the public sector.
B. He put forward similar proposals in other states several years ago.
C. He's sure that Michigan's movement will end preferential treatment programs.
D. He is quite confident about the outcome of his propositions in Washington.
SECTION C NEWS BROADCAST
Directions: In this section you will hear everything ONCE ONLY. Listen carefully and then answer the questions that follow. At the end of each news item, you will be given 10 seconds to answer the questions.
听力原文: The French President Jaeque Chirac has ordered the return to port of a decommissioned aircraft carrier after the highest court in France halted its final voyage to an Indian scrap yard. Environmental groups including Green peace say that asbestos on board the ship the Clemenceau will be a health hazard to any workers involved in dismantling it. The Clemenceau has proved a toxic headache for France, with this just the latest chapter in a series of embarrassments. Now, France's highest court has issued a ruling, ordering the transfer to be suspended and President Chirac has agreed that the Clemenceau should return to France until a definitive solution is found. The issue had already begun to overshadow his visit to India due at the end of this week. The French President is also ordering test to discover exactly how much asbestos is still on board.
France's highest court halted the final voyage of the Clemenceau because ______.
A. the French President Jacque Chirac has ordered the return of it.
B. some substances on board the ship may harm people's health.
C. the Clemenceau should return to France at the end of the week.
D. the French President is ordering a test to discover what is on board.
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:W: Good morning. We seem to be hearing more and more nowadays about the "breakup of the family" that "parents aren't as good as they used to be" or that "the lack of good old-fashioned family life is one of the main causes of the rise in juvenile crime. ' To look at the family and the role of parents in this day and age, we've invited to the studio Dr. Nell, a well-known sociologist, Dr. Neil, are parents "worse" than they used to be? Is the family breaking up?
M: Well, let's remember first of all that people have been saying for years that "the family and family life are going to be dogs". But in spite of that, I think family life is different now, and noticeably different.
W: In what way?
M: In a number of ways. You see, in addition to a substantial increase in divorce in many countries, urn, fewer people are getting remarried.
W: So you're saying that there are now more one-parent or single-parent families.
M: Oh, yes, most definitely. Far more than there ever used to be. But not only are there more one-parent families, but families in general seem to be smaller. And the reasons for that are numerous.
W: Nevertheless, there must also be other differences between family life now and that of, say, thirty or forty years ago. What about families in which both parents go out to work?
M: Yes. "Dual career" families, as we call them, are much more common. And what's more, parents who both want to continue with their careers often do so when their children are still very young indeed.
W: Yes, we receive a lot of letters from people who disapprove of mothers going on with full-time careers while their children are still toddlers. But besides these differences, I know that you have recently highlighted in some of your research yet another way in which the family unit is different now.
M: Yes, the "substitute parent". More and more parents, certainly in the United States and in England and other European countries, are paying more people to look after their children. They are paying for substitutes, if they like.
W: You mean, like baby sitters, play groups and so on.
M: Yes, but there are other substitutes as well of course. Teachers, youth club leaders...
W: And television, in its own way?
M: Most definitely.
W: Let's go back to teachers for the moment. Um, primary school teachers have always really had a substitute parent role, haven't they? Whereas the teachers of older children teach reading, writing and academic subjects, the primary school teacher has always reinforced what the parents are doing-helping children to ac quire good habits and so on, as well as perhaps to start them reading and writing.
M: Yes, and sometimes the situation has created confusion.
W: Oh, you mean, because of different "messages" that children might be getting from parents and teachers?
M: Yes.
W: There are people now of course who think that, because of more parents going out to work, teachers of older children should take on--or at least be aware of the fact that they are parent substitutes.
M: Yes, there are people who think that. But it's very difficult because of the amount of time teachers have in which to teach what they have to teach.
W: Can we go back for a moment to smaller families which we mentioned earlier? Are there perhaps any noticeable effects of smaller families?
M: Yes, the main thing, I think, is that there's less mixing of ages. It's said, for example, that girls learn to be parents by being involved with younger children.
W: And fewer children are mixing with younger children.
M: Yes.
W: But that's not of primary importa
A. Parents are not as good as they used to be.
B. More people are getting remarried after divorce.
C. There are more one parent or single parent families.
D. More people approve of mothers going out to work.