New York welcomes all, as the big green lady in the harbor says, no matter how poor, how tired, how hungry or how wretched. But Lady Liberty never mentioned anything about ugly, or freaky (畸形的), or downright devilish, and even she might have a hard time getting at all gushy about some of the most recent immigrants to the city.
They are snakehead fish, the nightmarish (噩梦似的) creatures from Asia that made news when they were discovered living in a Maryland pond in 2002. They were said to be able to breathe air and walk on their fins, devouring (吞食) everything in their path.
Secretary of the Interior Gale A. Norton called them "something from a bad horror movie" before ordering a federal ban. And to guarantee that they could not escape, the whole Maryland pond was poisoned.
Last month, biologists with New York State's Department of Environmental Conservation were doing a routine sampling of the fish in the brackish water at Meadow Lake in Flushing MeadowsCorona Park in Queens when, to their horror, they found a northern snakehead fish, then another and another until they had five, including one monster 28 inches long. "At that point," said James J. Gilmore Jr., a biologist who is regional supervisor of natural resources at the state agency's New York City office, "we knew we had a problem."
To confirm that the fish were snakeheads, Mr. Gilmore sent photographs to the United States Geological Survey office in Gainesville, Fla., which is mission control for the national crusade to eradicate snakeheads. "As soon as I saw the pictures, I said,' Oh no, not again,'" said Walter R. Courtenay Jr., a fisheries biologist with the Geological Survey who has tracked down snakeheads in Massachusetts, Pennsylvania and Virginia. His message to New York: Get rid of them.
The snakehead, a native of Asia, is a compact stalking machine packed with rows of sharp teeth, a torpedo-like body suited to darting out of hiding holes to chase, and catch, other fish and a voracious appetite that can lead them to devour every other fish in the lake or pond where they live. "They are top predators (食肉动物)," Mr. Gilmore said. "They will outcompete other native fish for food and dominate the lake."
The carp, white perch and pumpkinseed fish that now inhabit the 93-acre Meadow Lake will be wiped out if the snakeheads can reproduce unchecked, Mr. Gilmore said. That is why it is critical to act now, before they are well established. He believed someone might have bought several in an Asian fish store a few years ago before the ban was enforced and deliberately released them in the lake, hoping they would reproduce there and provide some inexpensive dinners.
Judging from the context, "the big green lady" (Line 1, Paragraph 1) refers to ______.
A. a lady in charge of the harbor
B. the symbol of New York City
C. the statue of liberty
D. a famous American woman
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.
Three striking facts highlight the dramatic shift in recent years in the relative economic balance of "first-world" and "third-world" economies. Last year, according to the estimates, emerging economies produced slightly more than half of world output measured at purchasing-power parity (等值). Second, they also accounted for more than half of the increase in global GDP in current-dollar terms. And third, perhaps most striking of all, the 32 biggest emerging economies, which we track weekly in The Economist and Economist.com, grew in both 2004 and 2005. Every previous year during the past three decades saw at least one country in recession--if not a deep crisis. Some economies will inevitably stumble over the coming years, but, thanks to sounder policies, most can look forward to rapid long-term growth. The young emerging economies have grown up in more ways than one.
Such happenings are part of the biggest shift in economic strength since the emergence of the United States more than a century ago. As developing countries and the former Soviet block have embraced market-friendly economic reforms and opened their borders to trade and investment, more countries are industrializing than ever before--and more quickly. During their industrial revolutions America and Britain took 50 years to double their real incomes per head; today China is achieving that in a single decade. In an open world, it is much easier to catch up by adopting advanced countries' technology than it is to be an economic leader that has to invent new technologies in order to keep growing. The shift in economic power towards emerging economies is therefore likely to continue. This is returning the world to the sort of state that endured throughout most of its history. People forget that, until the late 19th century, China and India were the world's two biggest economies and today's "emerging economies" accounted for the bulk of world production.
Many bosses, workers and politicians in the rich world fear that the success of these newcomers will be at their own expense. But rich countries will gain more than they lose from the enrichment of others. Fears that the third world will steal rich-world output and jobs are based on the old fallacy that an increase in one country's output must be at the expense of another's. But more exports give developing countries more money to spend on imports--mainly from developed economies. Faster growth in poor countries is therefore more likely to increase the output of their richer counterparts than to reduce it. The emerging economies are helping to lift world GDP growth at the very time when the rich world's ageing populations would otherwise cause growth to slow.
From the first paragraph we can learn that ______.
A. there is a dramatic shift in recent years in the world economy
B. emerging economies produced nearly half of world output
C. there are 32 emerging economies in "third-world"
D. the young emerging economies have developed rapidly in recent years
A.The service the cinemas and theatres offered.B.The ticket fares the students could a
A. The service the cinemas and theatres offered.
B. The ticket fares the students could afford.
C. The variety of seat prices.
D. The types of performance.
A.The meals that her family enjoyed in Iran.B.The generosity that relatives gave them.
A. The meals that her family enjoyed in Iran.
B. The generosity that relatives gave them.
C. The greeting that her family received from relatives.
D. The showers of hugs and kisses that relatives showed to them.