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Curiously, some two-and-a-half years and two novels later, my experiment in what the Americans term "down shifting" has turned my tired excuse into an absolute reality. I have been transformed from a passionate advocate of the philosophy of "having it all", preached by Linda Kelsey for the past seven years in the page of She magazine, into a woman who is happy to settle for a bit of everything.
I have discovered, as perhaps Kelsey will after her much-publicized resignation from the editorship of She after a build-up of stress, that abandoning the doctrine of "juggling your life", and making the alternative move into "downshifting" brings with it far greater rewards than financial success and social status. Nothing could persuade me to return to the kind of life Kelsey used to advocate and I once enjoyed: 12-hour working days, pressured deadlines, the fearful strain of office politics and the limitations of being a parent on "quality time".
In America, the move away from juggling to a simpler, less materialistic lifestyle. is a well-established trend. Down shifting—also known in America as "voluntary simplicity"—has, ironically, even bred a new area of what might be termed anti-consumerism. There are a number of best-selling downshifting serf-help books for people who want to simplify their lives; there are newsletters, such as The Tightwad Gazette, that give hundreds of thousands of Americans useful tips on anything from recycling their cling-film to making their own soap; there are even support groups for those who want to achieve the mid-'90s equivalent of dropping out.
While in America the trend started as a reaction to the economic decline—after the mass redundancies caused by downsizing in the late '80s—and is still linked to the politics of thrift, in Britain, at least among the middle-class down shifter of my acquaintance, we have different reasons for seeking to simplify our lives.
For the women of my generation who were urged to keep juggling through the '80s, downshifting in the mid-90s is not so much a search for the mythical good life—growing your own organic vegetables, and risking turning into one—as a personal recognition of your limitations.
Which of the following is true according to Paragraph 1?

A. Full-time employment is a new international trend.
B. The writer was compelled by circumstances to leave her job.
C. A lateral move means stepping out of full-time employment.
D. The writer was only too eager to spend more time with her family.

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The future of this company is ______: many of its talented employees are flowing into more

A. at odds
B. in trouble
C. in vain
D. at stake

Specialisation can be seen as a response to the problem of an increasing accumulation of scientific knowledge. By splitting up the subject matter into smaller units, one man could continue to handle the information and use it as the basis for further research. But specialisation was only one of a series of related developments in science affecting the process of communication. Another was the growing professionalisation of scientific activity.
No clear-cut distinction can be drawn between professionals and amateurs in science: exceptions can be found to any rule. Nevertheless, the word "amateur" does carry a connotation that the person concerned is not fully integrated into the scientific community and, in particular, may not fully share its values. The growth of specialisation in the nineteenth century, with its consequent requirement of a longer, more complex training, implied greater problems for amateur participation in science. The trend was naturally most obvious in those areas of science based especially on a mathematical or laboratory training, and can be illustrated in terms of the development of geology in the United Kingdom.
A comparison of British geological publications over the last century and a half reveals not simply an increasing emphasis on the primacy of research, but also a changing definition of what constitutes an acceptable research paper. Thus, in the nineteenth century, local geological studies represented worthwhile research in their own right; but, in the twentieth century, local studies have increasingly become acceptable to professionals only if they incorporate and reflect on the wider geo logical picture. Amateurs, on the other hand, have continued to pursue local studies in the old way. The overall result has been to make entrance to professional geological journals harder for amateurs, a result that has been reinforced by the wide spread introduction of refereeing, first by national journals in the nineteenth century and then by several local geological journals in the twentieth century. As a logical consequence of this development, separate journals have now appeared aimed mainly towards either professional or amateur readership. A rather similar process of differentiation has led to professional geologists coming together nationally within one or two specific societies, whereas the amateurs have tended either to remain in local societies or to come together nationally in a different way.
Although the process of professionalisation and specialisation was already well under way in British geology during the nineteenth century, its full consequences were thus delayed until the twentieth century. In science generally, however, the nineteenth century must be reckoned as the crucial period for this change in the structure of science.
The growth speeialisation in the 19th century might be more clearly seen in sciences such as ______.

A. sociology and chemistry
B. physics and psychology
C. sociology and psychology
D. physics and chemistry

Mr Miller bought his house simply because the flat he used to live in was too expensive.

A. Right
B. Wrong

Part A
Directions: You will hear a talk. As you listen, answer Questions 1-10 by circling TRUE or FALSE. You will hear the talk ONLY ONCE. You now have 1 minute to read Questions 1-10.
听力原文: Do It Yourself Magazine organizes a competition every summer to elect the“Handyman of the year”. The winner of this year iS Mr.Roy Miller. a Sheffield postman. A journalist and a photographer have come to his house. The journalist is interviewing Mr. Miller for an article in the magazine.
W:Well, I'm very impressed by all the work you've done on your house, Mr. Miller. How long have you been working on it?
M:I first became interested in Do-it-Yourself several years ago. You see, my son Paul is disabled. He's in a wheel-chair and I just had to make alterations to the house. I couldn't afford to pay workmen to do it. I had to learn to do it myself.
W:Had you had any experience in this kind of work?Did you have any practical skills?
M:No. 1 got a few books from the library but they didn't help very much. So I decided to go to evening classes so that I could learn basic carpentry and electrical wiring.
W:What sort of changes did you make to the house?
M:First of all, practical things to help Paul. You never really realize the problems handicapped people have until it attacks your own family. Most government buildings, for example, have steps up to the door. They don't plan buildings so that disabled people can get in and out. We used to live in a flat, and of course, it was totally unsuitable. Just imagine the problems a disabled person would have in your house. We needed a larger house with wide corridors so that Paul could get from one room to another. We didn't have much money and we had to buy this one. It's over ninety years old and it was in a very bad state of repair.
W:Where did you begin?
M:The electrical. I completely rewired the house so that Paul could reach all the switches. I had to lower the light switches and raise the power-points. I went on to do the whole house so that Paul could reach things and go where he needed.
W:What else did you do?
M:By the time I'd altered everything for Paul, do-it-yourself had become a hobby. I really enjoyed doing things with my hands. Look, I even installed smoke-alarms.
W:What was the purpose of that?
M:I was very worried about fire. You see, Paul can't move very fast. I fitted them so that we would have plenty of warning if there were a fire. I put in a complete burglar-alarm system. It took weeks.The front door opens automatically. and I'm going to put a device on Paul's wheelchair so that he'll be able to open and close it when he wants.
W:What are you working on now?
M:I've just finished the kitchen. I've designed it so that he can reach everything. Now I'm building an extension so that Paul will have a large room on the ground floor where he can work.
W:There's a $10,000 prize. How are you going to spend it?
M:I am going to start my own business so that I can convert ordinary houses for disabled people. I think I've become an expert on the subject.
Though Paul is disabled, he managed to move around in the house.

A. Right
B. Wrong

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