A.The air is contaminated.B.People there are exhausted.C.It's too windy for swimming.D
A. The air is contaminated.
B. People there are exhausted.
C. It's too windy for swimming.
D. The beaches are dirty.
Section B
Directions: In this section, you will hear 3 short passages. At the end of each passage, you will hear some questions. Both the passage and the questions will be spoken only once. After you hear a question, you must choose the best answer from the four choices marked A, B, C and D.
听力原文: Bill Gates, the head of the world's biggest computer software company, has a mission: "to put computers on every office desk and in every home". Bill Gates has had this mission since he was a university student years ago. This deep personal interest, together with his technical skill and his business marketing skills, helped him to create a giant computer company and to make him wealthy.
Although he is so wealthy, Bill Gates does not want to give up. He is still very interested in his vision and he travels the globe, from Beijing to London, making quick stops in cities to sell the new software products of his company.
The central vision of Bill Gates is the "information highway". This is a network of computers that will link every home, office and shopping mall in the future. This computer network system will have an effect on business, shopping and education. Bill Gates says that the main use of this new technology will be in communication. It will be a way m find people with common interests and to share opinions with them.
But is this communication by computer along the "information highway" really a good thing? Won't we be sitting at home, only "socializing" with our computer? No, says Bill Gates. In fact, the computer network will let us choose our own intellectual direction. It will give us freedom. It will also bring good to society, because it will allow for the spread of education. When more and more people receive education, the gap between rich and poor will be narrowed.
(27)
A. His vision and his travel all over the world.
B. His expertise and business marketing skills.
C. The money we pay for the "information highway".
D. His confidence in software products.
Today adoption advocates think birth culture plays an important role in raising children from a different race.
A. Y
B. N
C. NG
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.
You see them everywhere: harried parents hauling their little ones off to classes in Mandarin, gymnastics or classical violin. At home, they're filling nurseries with "educational" rattles(响尾蛇) and mobiles. It's all for a worthy goal: making the most of the first three years of life, when critical changes in brain structure determine whether little Madison or Matthew will one day enter the Ivy League. At least that is what a growing number of parents have been led to believe. Sadly, it may all be a waste of time and money.
A 1994 report by the Carnegie Corporation led to the creation of a vast marketing effort aimed at parents of young children. The report, called "Starting Points", used neuroscience(神经科学) to make the case for more federally funded services for infants and toddlers by proclaiming that brain development in the womb and during the first year of life "is more rapid and extensive than we previously realized. "Although the science was actually quite limited—and there was certainly no proof that toys or videos could make babies smarter—the report helped focus national attention on the early years.
It also inspired actor-director Rob Reiner, who launched a campaign to convince parents and policymakers that more money should go to nurturing development during the early years. Reiner argued that focusing on "the prism of zero to 3" could solve a vast range of societal ills: teen pregnancy, drug abuse, crime. He found an eager ally in Hillary Clinton, who convened the 1997 White House Conference on Early Childhood Development and Learning. Before the conference, both Time and Newsweek published major stories on the topic and ABC ran a prime-time special. The highly publicized conference played a major role in popularizing the idea of a critical "window" that would slam shut on the third birthday. And it persuaded states and the federal government to spend millions on new programs for babies and toddlers.
By this time, eager entrepreneurs had also spotted a unique opportunity. Companies with names like Baby Einstein, Brainy Baby, Baby Prodigy(神童)and Baby Genius became part of an important industry. However, scientists say the money spent on these educational toys might be better off in a college savings account. The recent neuroscience research indicates that the brain continues to grow and develop "well into old age". On the other hand, overstimulation makes babies (and adults) anxious.
Instead of Mandarin lessons, researchers say parents would be better off spending more time talking, singing, reading and playing with their babies and toddlers. No special equipment is required. Affectionate interaction helps kids develop language and social skills. It may not be a ticket to Harvard, but it's certainly a great start.
In 1994,the Carnegie Corporation released a report to ______.
A. advocate the importance of the early-year education
B. develop the education market for parents and children
C. emphasize parent's wise investment on children
D. explain in detail the science on networks of nerves