being="" down?5.We can infer from the passage that vigorous protests occurred in India because （ ）.'>
A few decades ago, it was still possible to leave home and go somewhere else: the architecture was different, the landscape was different, the language, lifestyle, dress, and values were different. That was a time when we could speak of cultural diversity. But with economic globalization, diversity is fast disappearing. The goal of the global economy is that all countries should be homogenized. When global hotel chains advertise to tourists that all their rooms in every city of the world are identical, they don’t mention that the cities are becoming identical too: cars, noise, smog, corporate high-rises, violence, fast food, McDonalds, Nikes, Levis, Barbie Dolls, American TV and film. What’s the point of leaving home?There are many causes for this dreary turn of events, but one is central: economic globalization and institutions like the World Bank and the WTO promote a specific kind of homogenizing development that frees the largest corporations in the world to invest and operate in every market, everywhere. For these agencies and corporation, diversity is not a primary value: efficiency is. Diversity is an enemy because it requires differentiated sales appeal. What corporations love is creating the same values, the same tastes, using the same advertising, selling the same products, and driving out small local competitors. Mass marketers prefer homogenized consumers. They also prefer places with low wages, cheap resources, and the least restrictive environmental and labor laws.The new rules of global trade are primarily set by the ultra-secretive World Trade Organization (WTO), which now rivals the International Monetary Fund (IMF) as the most powerful, yet undemocratic body in the world. Its rules are specifically designed to serve global corporate expansion and the homogenization process. They make it nearly impossible for nation-states to prevent certain harmful forms of corporate development, no matter what problems they bring. So we find that European bankers can dominate Third World economies ; Asian companies can cut down Canadian and Brazilian forests ; American corporations can dominate the whole world’s farmers and food supply ; Disney can homogenize consciousness and McDonalds can homogenize tastes, globally. Every country loses while global corporations win.Corporate invasions into diverse cultures often occur over vigorous protests by local governments and populations that try to protect local business, culture, health, food safety, and local livelihoods. Not everyone wants to become like everyone else. ( More than one million of India’s small farmers protested against the entry of industrial agriculture, specifically Cargill Corporation and Kentucky Fried Chicken. ) Millions of others have protested against the invasion and promotion of genetically engineered foods which are destroying local livelihoods and threatening public health. But when countries try to slow down these corporate invasions—or create laws that protect local resources, or jobs, or health standards一they may find the laws challenged at the WTO as illegal restrictions against foreign investment. In fact, a recently proposed addition to the WTO would make it nearly impossible for any country to prevent imports of biotech food products—despite public concern over health aspects.Meanwhile, all places are starting to merge. In rural France, local cheese farms are sucked up by giant agribusiness. In England, small towns in the countryside have high-speed freeways and trucks jamming through them despite mass opposition. Rice paddies in Bali are turned into hotel resorts. Small farms in Japan become executive golf courses. Small businesses and retail shops everywhere, including the U. S. , are being driven under by untaxed e-commerce, which the WTO may soon codify. Nepalese villages have Sylvester Stallone on their billboards, Barbie in their stores, and Jay Leno on their TV sets.Every place is becoming everyplace else: monoculture. “Get the
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A luxury express train jumped the tracks on a bridge in eastern India, killing at least 50 on the spot. According to the Northern Railway spokesman, the death（ ）is expected to rise.
A.toll B.figure C.span D.yield
1.When researchers reported that middle-aged men without wives were twice as likely to die during a 10-year span as men with wives（ ）.2.According to the passage, a man （ ） was likely to have the lowest survival rates.3.The word "discount" (line 4 of paragraph 3) most probably means （ ） .4.The word "this" in line 4 of paragraph 5 refers to（ ） .5.Which of the following can be the title for the passage?
'>Mothers and matchmakers have always known that not being monied is a definite health hazard. But when a team of research from the University of California, San Francisco, reported a few weeks ago that middle-aged men without wives were actually twice as likely to die during a 10-year span as men with wives, the espoused and the spouseless alike stopped to take notice. It was the kind of news that swept through offices and watering holes — and it made people feel smug and anxious, depending on their circumstances. Now the researchers who conducted the study are trying to find out what accounted for the dramatic differences in survival rates.The investigators, headed by UCSF associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics Maradee A. Davis, had set cut to examine the effect of various living arrangements on mortality. Because of the buttering social support marriage is known to provide. Davis and her colleagues fully expected to find that men and women dwelling alone fared worst in survival rates. It came as some surprise, however, that in their study population, subjects who shared living quarters with people other than a spouse had the same lower survival rates as those who lived by themselves."The critical factor," Davis says, "seems to be the presence of a spouse."The lower survival rates for the spouseless were found primarily in men who were widowed, separated or divorced, rather than in those who had never been married. Davis and her colleagues have already eliminated certain health factors as causes of higher mortality by adjusting their data to discount the effects of smoking, alcohol consumption, obesity and lack of exercise. Now they will look more closely at a variety of other considerations, such as blood pressure, cholesteric levels and chronic illnesses.While many middle-aged men now know the difference between a cheese grater and a garlic press, nutrition may still account for some of the California study's findings. Previous research by Davis' team showed that unmarried man-even if they lived with other people—ate less healthy diets
5.The word “mean” (line 2, paragraph 5) can be best replaced by（ ） .
6.The structure of this passage can be described as（ ） .
7.The tone of this passage is（ ） .
8.The main topic of this passage is（ ） .
'>The function of the office is to perform administrative work. First, it must provide the necessary communications with customers, banks, governments, and other outside organizations. Second, it must service the information requirements within the company itself. In order to meet these needs efficiently, the Office Manager must employ the most appropriate business methods, systems and equipment.In an efficient administrative structure, clerical operations are organized so that they add to the profitability of the business. However, in many countries the number of clerical staff has increased while the total number of workers employed in production has fallen.To ensure that office services run smoothly, there must be the means to check, sort, copy and file correspondence and other paperwork. Today there is a growing range of machine that can be used to do such jobs. The size and resources of a company will determine how mechanized or computerized its office systems are.The office must give maximum service at minimum cost. A balance must be kept between production, marketing, and administration. As a company develops and grows, the contribution of administration will vary in kind and in value.The most important objective in modem offices is the processing of data in order to provide a means of business control, but in many companies there are weaknesses in the ability to manage communications efficiently. For example, some data are often used only by individual managers, and different departments in the same company may use different data processing systems. In order to contribute to business efficiency, however data processing must be a centralized service. The system which is required is one that looks at the total needs of a business and therefore assists management in making appropriate decisions quickly.An office may receive information by telecommunications, by mail or by computer. An office worker must have skill in language and arithmetic to handle this and other business information properly. Almost all office jobs require at least a high school education. Many employers prefer people who have taken courses beyond the high school level. A person can get such advanced training at a community college, or business or vocational school.An office requires a staff of managers to plan and direct work. As a business grows, so does the amount of information that must be handled by its office workers. The managers coordinate the activities of these employees so that accurate records can be kept concerning correspondence, inventory, payroll, sales, and taxes.
1.The office manager has to use the most suitable business system in order to（ ） .2.According to the passage, the function of the office manager is to（ ） .
3.In what way are some companies inefficient in managing communications?4.The degree of computerization in a company's office is limited by（ ） .
5.The word “mean” (line 2, paragraph 5) can be best replaced by（ ） .
6.The structure of this passage can be described as（ ） .
7.The tone of this passage is（ ） .
8.The main topic of this passage is（ ） .
A.ensure that office services run economically B.check and copy business correspondence C.service the information requirements of the company D.provide means of business negotiation问题2： A.provide the necessary information for the local authority B.keep a balance between production, marketing and administration C.assist management in making appropriate decisions quickly D.make sure that administrative work is performed efficiently问题3： A.By not making data available to all managers. B.By was using the same data processing systems. C.By checking business correspondence. D.By depending on a manufacturing base.问题4： A.the business methods and systems B.the corrThe（ ） of the lake is covered with reeds and rushes.
A.bank B.shore C.band D.coast
According to a United States law passed in 1986, states participating in daylight saving time（ ） advance their clocks one hour on the last Sunday in April.
A.conceptually B.systematically C.simultaneously D.purposefully