To be elected to the Senate a person m...

Congress makes the laws in the United States. It has two parts, which are more or less equal in power. They are known as the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is larger than the Senate whose 100 members (two from each state) serve for six years. The 435 members of the House are elected every two years, and the number from each state is determined by the population of the state. For example, California, which has a large population, has 43 representatives, while the State of Nevada has only one.
The House and Senate are divided into small groups which take care of special matters such as education or foreign affairs. The most important work of Congress is often done in these groups, which are called subcommittees.
According to the Constitution of the United States, a senator must be at least 30 years old and he must have been a citizen of the United States for nine years at the time of his election. To be elected to the House a person must be 25 years old and must have been a United States citizen for seven years. At the present time, members of Congress include businessmen, farmers, teachers, and especially lawyers. In general, senators are better known than representatives because they are fewer in number and serve for a longer time. Many American presidents served in Congress before they became president.
In the U.S. Congress, the House of Representatives and the Senate are______.

A．not equal. The House is more powerful
B．almost equal in power
C．not equal. The Senate is far more powerful
D．different. The House is more important

单项选择题

Air France SA said Monday that its second-quarter net profit fell 35 percent to 57 million ($57.4 million), but sales were steady and operating profit surged.
Earnings before interest and tax, a measure of operating income, gained 86 percent to 141 million as fuel costs fell and cargo traffic rose. Air France has been hurt less than rivals such as British Airways PLC and Lufthansa AG by the slowdown on North Atlantic routes following the war on Iraq in 2003 because it has fewer flights in that market.
Net income fell as the airline paid deferred taxes that came due. Sales rose 0.9 percent to 3.2 billion. The carrier lost about 80 million in revenue because of a four-day strike by pilots in September. An accord was reached tying future pay increases to inflation. The carrier said that first-half fuel costs fell 15 percent to 680 million. Cargo traffic rose 11 percent in the second quarter, while passenger traffic rose 1.1 percent. The airline’ s shares gained 87 cents, or 7.7 percent, to close at 12.11.
Separately, Air France and Alitalia SpA agreed to buy 2 percent stakes in each other as Europe’s second-and sixth-largest airlines deepen their partnership.
"" in "57 million" and "141 million" probably stands for______.

A．English
B．the euro
C．European
D．European Currency Unit

单项选择题

A total of 4.6 million digital televisions have been sold, and the sales of HDTV sets have quadrupled since last year. Consumers have bought HDTVs to play their DVDs and to have clearer pictures and wide screens. Only a small percentage of the people who have purchased HDTVs, however, have actually hooked their TVs up to receive high-definition television digital signals. Perhaps television viewers are having trouble keeping up with the changes in technology. Even the manufacturers of HDTVs, like Mitsubishi, Thomson Multimedia, Sony, and Samsung seem to have a tough time learning how to make their sets work with the various digital TV formats because little standardization has been required or implemented in the industry.
Some of the HDTVs Weigh over 200 lbs., and a variety of retailers offer a delivery service to the buyer’s home to help install the heavy sets. This is known as a white-glove service and usually comes with an extra fee. After HDTV purchasers get their sets home and hook them up, they will still need to Work to get the digital signals to their systems. Most of the industry’s cable providers do not yet offer high-definition programing, and only about 15% of commercial television stations have switched over to even the lowest improved digital pictures. Worse yet, viewers may need to install antenna before they can even get the digital signals to their new HDTV sets. Another frustration for home-theater seekers is that the current HDTV sets allow owners only to watch high-definition programs, not to record them.
According to the first sentence, the sales of HDTV sets since last year, by the time when this article was written, had reached______.

A．4.6 million
B．9.2 million
C．18.4 million
D．I do not know how many

单项选择题

Congress makes the laws in the United States. It has two parts, which are more or less equal in power. They are known as the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is larger than the Senate whose 100 members (two from each state) serve for six years. The 435 members of the House are elected every two years, and the number from each state is determined by the population of the state. For example, California, which has a large population, has 43 representatives, while the State of Nevada has only one.
The House and Senate are divided into small groups which take care of special matters such as education or foreign affairs. The most important work of Congress is often done in these groups, which are called subcommittees.
According to the Constitution of the United States, a senator must be at least 30 years old and he must have been a citizen of the United States for nine years at the time of his election. To be elected to the House a person must be 25 years old and must have been a United States citizen for seven years. At the present time, members of Congress include businessmen, farmers, teachers, and especially lawyers. In general, senators are better known than representatives because they are fewer in number and serve for a longer time. Many American presidents served in Congress before they became president.
The members of the Senate are elected for______years.

A．two
B．three
C．four
D．six

单项选择题

The idea of test-tube babies may make you either delighted at the wonders of modem medicine or irritated while considering the moral, or legal, or technological implications-of starting life in a laboratory. But if you’ve ever been pregnant yourself, one thing is certain: You wonder what it’s like to carry a test-tube baby. Are these pregnancies normal Are the babies normal
The earliest answers come from Australia, where a group of medical experts at the Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne have taken a look at the continent’s first nine successful invitro pregnancies. The Australians report that the pregnancies themselves seemed to have proceeded according to plan, but at birth some unusual trends did show up. Seven of the nine babies turned out to be girls. Six of the nine were delivered by Caesarean section. And one baby, a twin, was born with a serious heart defect and a few days later developed life-threatening problems.
What does it all mean Even the doctors don’t know for sure, because the numbers are so small. The proportion of girls to boys is high, but until there are many more test-tube babies no one will know whether that’s something that just happened to be like that or something special that happens when egg meets sperm in a test tube instead of a fallopian tube. The same thing is true of the single heart defect. It usually shows up in only 15 out of 60,000 births in that part of Australia, but the fact that it occurred in one out of nine test-tube babies does not necessarily mean that they are at special risk. One thing the doctors can explain is the high number of Caesareans. Most of the mothers were older, had long histories of fertility problems and in some cases had had surgery on the fallopian tubes, all of which made them likely candidates for Caesareans anyway.
The Australian researchers report that they are quite encouraged. All the babies are now making normal progress, even the twin with the birth defects.
What concern will the test-tube baby raise according to the passage

A．Whether the pregnancies of test-tube babies would be normal.
B．Whether the test-tube babies would be encouraged.
C．Why the proportion of defected babies is so high.
D．Why the number of Caesareans is so high.

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
The author refers to the ocean bottom as a "frontier" in Paragraph 1 because it______.

单项选择题

Air France SA said Monday that its second-quarter net profit fell 35 percent to 57 million ($57.4 million), but sales were steady and operating profit surged.
Earnings before interest and tax, a measure of operating income, gained 86 percent to 141 million as fuel costs fell and cargo traffic rose. Air France has been hurt less than rivals such as British Airways PLC and Lufthansa AG by the slowdown on North Atlantic routes following the war on Iraq in 2003 because it has fewer flights in that market.
Net income fell as the airline paid deferred taxes that came due. Sales rose 0.9 percent to 3.2 billion. The carrier lost about 80 million in revenue because of a four-day strike by pilots in September. An accord was reached tying future pay increases to inflation. The carrier said that first-half fuel costs fell 15 percent to 680 million. Cargo traffic rose 11 percent in the second quarter, while passenger traffic rose 1.1 percent. The airline’ s shares gained 87 cents, or 7.7 percent, to close at 12.11.
Separately, Air France and Alitalia SpA agreed to buy 2 percent stakes in each other as Europe’s second-and sixth-largest airlines deepen their partnership.

单项选择题

A total of 4.6 million digital televisions have been sold, and the sales of HDTV sets have quadrupled since last year. Consumers have bought HDTVs to play their DVDs and to have clearer pictures and wide screens. Only a small percentage of the people who have purchased HDTVs, however, have actually hooked their TVs up to receive high-definition television digital signals. Perhaps television viewers are having trouble keeping up with the changes in technology. Even the manufacturers of HDTVs, like Mitsubishi, Thomson Multimedia, Sony, and Samsung seem to have a tough time learning how to make their sets work with the various digital TV formats because little standardization has been required or implemented in the industry.
Some of the HDTVs Weigh over 200 lbs., and a variety of retailers offer a delivery service to the buyer’s home to help install the heavy sets. This is known as a white-glove service and usually comes with an extra fee. After HDTV purchasers get their sets home and hook them up, they will still need to Work to get the digital signals to their systems. Most of the industry’s cable providers do not yet offer high-definition programing, and only about 15% of commercial television stations have switched over to even the lowest improved digital pictures. Worse yet, viewers may need to install antenna before they can even get the digital signals to their new HDTV sets. Another frustration for home-theater seekers is that the current HDTV sets allow owners only to watch high-definition programs, not to record them.
"Hook up" as in "hooked their TVs up" underlined in Paragraph 1. most probably means to______.

A．have a hood over the TV
B．be connected to
C．relate oneself to
D．keep contact with

单项选择题

The idea of test-tube babies may make you either delighted at the wonders of modem medicine or irritated while considering the moral, or legal, or technological implications-of starting life in a laboratory. But if you’ve ever been pregnant yourself, one thing is certain: You wonder what it’s like to carry a test-tube baby. Are these pregnancies normal Are the babies normal
The earliest answers come from Australia, where a group of medical experts at the Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne have taken a look at the continent’s first nine successful invitro pregnancies. The Australians report that the pregnancies themselves seemed to have proceeded according to plan, but at birth some unusual trends did show up. Seven of the nine babies turned out to be girls. Six of the nine were delivered by Caesarean section. And one baby, a twin, was born with a serious heart defect and a few days later developed life-threatening problems.
What does it all mean Even the doctors don’t know for sure, because the numbers are so small. The proportion of girls to boys is high, but until there are many more test-tube babies no one will know whether that’s something that just happened to be like that or something special that happens when egg meets sperm in a test tube instead of a fallopian tube. The same thing is true of the single heart defect. It usually shows up in only 15 out of 60,000 births in that part of Australia, but the fact that it occurred in one out of nine test-tube babies does not necessarily mean that they are at special risk. One thing the doctors can explain is the high number of Caesareans. Most of the mothers were older, had long histories of fertility problems and in some cases had had surgery on the fallopian tubes, all of which made them likely candidates for Caesareans anyway.
The Australian researchers report that they are quite encouraged. All the babies are now making normal progress, even the twin with the birth defects.
What does the word "invitro" underlined in Paragraph 2 most probably mean

A．Normal.
B．Test-tube.
C．Built-in.
D．Formal.

单项选择题

Congress makes the laws in the United States. It has two parts, which are more or less equal in power. They are known as the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is larger than the Senate whose 100 members (two from each state) serve for six years. The 435 members of the House are elected every two years, and the number from each state is determined by the population of the state. For example, California, which has a large population, has 43 representatives, while the State of Nevada has only one.
The House and Senate are divided into small groups which take care of special matters such as education or foreign affairs. The most important work of Congress is often done in these groups, which are called subcommittees.
According to the Constitution of the United States, a senator must be at least 30 years old and he must have been a citizen of the United States for nine years at the time of his election. To be elected to the House a person must be 25 years old and must have been a United States citizen for seven years. At the present time, members of Congress include businessmen, farmers, teachers, and especially lawyers. In general, senators are better known than representatives because they are fewer in number and serve for a longer time. Many American presidents served in Congress before they became president.
The number of the members in the House from each state______.

A．is fixed, two from each state
B．depends on how many people the state has
C．depends on the size of the state
D．depends on the location of the state

单项选择题

A total of 4.6 million digital televisions have been sold, and the sales of HDTV sets have quadrupled since last year. Consumers have bought HDTVs to play their DVDs and to have clearer pictures and wide screens. Only a small percentage of the people who have purchased HDTVs, however, have actually hooked their TVs up to receive high-definition television digital signals. Perhaps television viewers are having trouble keeping up with the changes in technology. Even the manufacturers of HDTVs, like Mitsubishi, Thomson Multimedia, Sony, and Samsung seem to have a tough time learning how to make their sets work with the various digital TV formats because little standardization has been required or implemented in the industry.
Some of the HDTVs Weigh over 200 lbs., and a variety of retailers offer a delivery service to the buyer’s home to help install the heavy sets. This is known as a white-glove service and usually comes with an extra fee. After HDTV purchasers get their sets home and hook them up, they will still need to Work to get the digital signals to their systems. Most of the industry’s cable providers do not yet offer high-definition programing, and only about 15% of commercial television stations have switched over to even the lowest improved digital pictures. Worse yet, viewers may need to install antenna before they can even get the digital signals to their new HDTV sets. Another frustration for home-theater seekers is that the current HDTV sets allow owners only to watch high-definition programs, not to record them.
A majority of HDTV consumers could not enjoy high-quality digital pictures because______.

A．they did not tune in to the right channel
B．they did not install the system
C．the market retailers created the confusion on purpose
D．the manufacturers did not have a uniform standard for their sets

单项选择题

Air France SA said Monday that its second-quarter net profit fell 35 percent to 57 million ($57.4 million), but sales were steady and operating profit surged.
Earnings before interest and tax, a measure of operating income, gained 86 percent to 141 million as fuel costs fell and cargo traffic rose. Air France has been hurt less than rivals such as British Airways PLC and Lufthansa AG by the slowdown on North Atlantic routes following the war on Iraq in 2003 because it has fewer flights in that market.
Net income fell as the airline paid deferred taxes that came due. Sales rose 0.9 percent to 3.2 billion. The carrier lost about 80 million in revenue because of a four-day strike by pilots in September. An accord was reached tying future pay increases to inflation. The carrier said that first-half fuel costs fell 15 percent to 680 million. Cargo traffic rose 11 percent in the second quarter, while passenger traffic rose 1.1 percent. The airline’ s shares gained 87 cents, or 7.7 percent, to close at 12.11.
Separately, Air France and Alitalia SpA agreed to buy 2 percent stakes in each other as Europe’s second-and sixth-largest airlines deepen their partnership.
Which of the following is NOT a trouble confronting Air France

A．Deferred taxes being due.
B．The shrinking French market.
C．A four-day strike by pilots in September.
D．The war on Iraq.

单项选择题

The idea of test-tube babies may make you either delighted at the wonders of modem medicine or irritated while considering the moral, or legal, or technological implications-of starting life in a laboratory. But if you’ve ever been pregnant yourself, one thing is certain: You wonder what it’s like to carry a test-tube baby. Are these pregnancies normal Are the babies normal
The earliest answers come from Australia, where a group of medical experts at the Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne have taken a look at the continent’s first nine successful invitro pregnancies. The Australians report that the pregnancies themselves seemed to have proceeded according to plan, but at birth some unusual trends did show up. Seven of the nine babies turned out to be girls. Six of the nine were delivered by Caesarean section. And one baby, a twin, was born with a serious heart defect and a few days later developed life-threatening problems.
What does it all mean Even the doctors don’t know for sure, because the numbers are so small. The proportion of girls to boys is high, but until there are many more test-tube babies no one will know whether that’s something that just happened to be like that or something special that happens when egg meets sperm in a test tube instead of a fallopian tube. The same thing is true of the single heart defect. It usually shows up in only 15 out of 60,000 births in that part of Australia, but the fact that it occurred in one out of nine test-tube babies does not necessarily mean that they are at special risk. One thing the doctors can explain is the high number of Caesareans. Most of the mothers were older, had long histories of fertility problems and in some cases had had surgery on the fallopian tubes, all of which made them likely candidates for Caesareans anyway.
The Australian researchers report that they are quite encouraged. All the babies are now making normal progress, even the twin with the birth defects.
Which of the following statements about the experiment mentioned in the passage is true

A．Only the twins are defected.
B．Most of the babies are delivered by means of Caesarean.
C．There are some troubles during all mothers’ pregnancies.
D．One baby appears to be abnormal.

单项选择题

Congress makes the laws in the United States. It has two parts, which are more or less equal in power. They are known as the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is larger than the Senate whose 100 members (two from each state) serve for six years. The 435 members of the House are elected every two years, and the number from each state is determined by the population of the state. For example, California, which has a large population, has 43 representatives, while the State of Nevada has only one.
The House and Senate are divided into small groups which take care of special matters such as education or foreign affairs. The most important work of Congress is often done in these groups, which are called subcommittees.
According to the Constitution of the United States, a senator must be at least 30 years old and he must have been a citizen of the United States for nine years at the time of his election. To be elected to the House a person must be 25 years old and must have been a United States citizen for seven years. At the present time, members of Congress include businessmen, farmers, teachers, and especially lawyers. In general, senators are better known than representatives because they are fewer in number and serve for a longer time. Many American presidents served in Congress before they became president.
To be elected to the Senate a person must______.

A．be at least 25 years old
B．be at least 30 years old
C．have been a citizen for seven years
D．be a lawyer

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
The word "inaccessible" underlined in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to______.

A．unrecognizable
B．unreachable
C．unusable
D．unsafe

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
In the 1910s most North Americans believed that the Nuclear Family______.

A．wouldn’t last long
B．was the normal family structure
C．had no social and economic basis
D．was unworthy

单项选择题

Air France SA said Monday that its second-quarter net profit fell 35 percent to 57 million ($57.4 million), but sales were steady and operating profit surged.
Earnings before interest and tax, a measure of operating income, gained 86 percent to 141 million as fuel costs fell and cargo traffic rose. Air France has been hurt less than rivals such as British Airways PLC and Lufthansa AG by the slowdown on North Atlantic routes following the war on Iraq in 2003 because it has fewer flights in that market.
Net income fell as the airline paid deferred taxes that came due. Sales rose 0.9 percent to 3.2 billion. The carrier lost about 80 million in revenue because of a four-day strike by pilots in September. An accord was reached tying future pay increases to inflation. The carrier said that first-half fuel costs fell 15 percent to 680 million. Cargo traffic rose 11 percent in the second quarter, while passenger traffic rose 1.1 percent. The airline’ s shares gained 87 cents, or 7.7 percent, to close at 12.11.
Separately, Air France and Alitalia SpA agreed to buy 2 percent stakes in each other as Europe’s second-and sixth-largest airlines deepen their partnership.
Why did Air France’s net income fall despite rising sales

A．Because it had to pay deferred taxes that came due.
B．Because the French market was shrinking.
C．Because of a four-day strike by pilots in September.
D．Because the Iraqi war had reduced Atlantic flights.

单项选择题

Congress makes the laws in the United States. It has two parts, which are more or less equal in power. They are known as the House of Representatives and the Senate. The House of Representatives is larger than the Senate whose 100 members (two from each state) serve for six years. The 435 members of the House are elected every two years, and the number from each state is determined by the population of the state. For example, California, which has a large population, has 43 representatives, while the State of Nevada has only one.
The House and Senate are divided into small groups which take care of special matters such as education or foreign affairs. The most important work of Congress is often done in these groups, which are called subcommittees.
According to the Constitution of the United States, a senator must be at least 30 years old and he must have been a citizen of the United States for nine years at the time of his election. To be elected to the House a person must be 25 years old and must have been a United States citizen for seven years. At the present time, members of Congress include businessmen, farmers, teachers, and especially lawyers. In general, senators are better known than representatives because they are fewer in number and serve for a longer time. Many American presidents served in Congress before they became president.
Which of the following is true

A．A representative serves for two years.
B．To become a senator is easier than to become a representative.
C．A senator performs his duties for a shorter time than a representative.
D．All presidents were representatives and then senators before becoming president of theUnited States.

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
We know from this passage that Mr. Armstrong Williams was, at the time when the story went public, all the following EXCEPT______.

A．column writer
B．business owner
C．TV commentator
D．government official

单项选择题

The idea of test-tube babies may make you either delighted at the wonders of modem medicine or irritated while considering the moral, or legal, or technological implications-of starting life in a laboratory. But if you’ve ever been pregnant yourself, one thing is certain: You wonder what it’s like to carry a test-tube baby. Are these pregnancies normal Are the babies normal
The earliest answers come from Australia, where a group of medical experts at the Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne have taken a look at the continent’s first nine successful invitro pregnancies. The Australians report that the pregnancies themselves seemed to have proceeded according to plan, but at birth some unusual trends did show up. Seven of the nine babies turned out to be girls. Six of the nine were delivered by Caesarean section. And one baby, a twin, was born with a serious heart defect and a few days later developed life-threatening problems.
What does it all mean Even the doctors don’t know for sure, because the numbers are so small. The proportion of girls to boys is high, but until there are many more test-tube babies no one will know whether that’s something that just happened to be like that or something special that happens when egg meets sperm in a test tube instead of a fallopian tube. The same thing is true of the single heart defect. It usually shows up in only 15 out of 60,000 births in that part of Australia, but the fact that it occurred in one out of nine test-tube babies does not necessarily mean that they are at special risk. One thing the doctors can explain is the high number of Caesareans. Most of the mothers were older, had long histories of fertility problems and in some cases had had surgery on the fallopian tubes, all of which made them likely candidates for Caesareans anyway.
The Australian researchers report that they are quite encouraged. All the babies are now making normal progress, even the twin with the birth defects.
Which of the following explanations regarding the high number of Caesarean operations is NOT true

A．Some mothers have passed the best age for a natural delivery.
B．Some mothers have fertility problems.
C．Some mothers favor the operations of this type.
D．Some mothers have had surgical operations on their fallopian tubes.

单项选择题

A total of 4.6 million digital televisions have been sold, and the sales of HDTV sets have quadrupled since last year. Consumers have bought HDTVs to play their DVDs and to have clearer pictures and wide screens. Only a small percentage of the people who have purchased HDTVs, however, have actually hooked their TVs up to receive high-definition television digital signals. Perhaps television viewers are having trouble keeping up with the changes in technology. Even the manufacturers of HDTVs, like Mitsubishi, Thomson Multimedia, Sony, and Samsung seem to have a tough time learning how to make their sets work with the various digital TV formats because little standardization has been required or implemented in the industry.
Some of the HDTVs Weigh over 200 lbs., and a variety of retailers offer a delivery service to the buyer’s home to help install the heavy sets. This is known as a white-glove service and usually comes with an extra fee. After HDTV purchasers get their sets home and hook them up, they will still need to Work to get the digital signals to their systems. Most of the industry’s cable providers do not yet offer high-definition programing, and only about 15% of commercial television stations have switched over to even the lowest improved digital pictures. Worse yet, viewers may need to install antenna before they can even get the digital signals to their new HDTV sets. Another frustration for home-theater seekers is that the current HDTV sets allow owners only to watch high-definition programs, not to record them.
According to the passage, which of the following offers most of the HDTV programmes so far

A．Retailer delivery services.
B．Cable providers.
C．Commercial television stations.
D．HDTV set manufacturers.

单项选择题

Air France SA said Monday that its second-quarter net profit fell 35 percent to 57 million ($57.4 million), but sales were steady and operating profit surged.
Earnings before interest and tax, a measure of operating income, gained 86 percent to 141 million as fuel costs fell and cargo traffic rose. Air France has been hurt less than rivals such as British Airways PLC and Lufthansa AG by the slowdown on North Atlantic routes following the war on Iraq in 2003 because it has fewer flights in that market.
Net income fell as the airline paid deferred taxes that came due. Sales rose 0.9 percent to 3.2 billion. The carrier lost about 80 million in revenue because of a four-day strike by pilots in September. An accord was reached tying future pay increases to inflation. The carrier said that first-half fuel costs fell 15 percent to 680 million. Cargo traffic rose 11 percent in the second quarter, while passenger traffic rose 1.1 percent. The airline’ s shares gained 87 cents, or 7.7 percent, to close at 12.11.
Separately, Air France and Alitalia SpA agreed to buy 2 percent stakes in each other as Europe’s second-and sixth-largest airlines deepen their partnership.

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
What happened to the Nuclear Family in the middle of the twentieth century

A．It changed greatly.
B．It was criticized.
C．It remained a normal structure.
D．It was lost.

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
The author mentions "outer space" underlined in Paragraph 1 because______.

A．the Earth’ s climate millions of years ago was similar to conditions in outer space
B．it is similar to the ocean floor in being alien to the human environment
C．rock formations in outer space are similar to those found on the ocean floor
D．techniques used by scientists to explore outer space were similar to those used in ocean exploration

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
From the context, the word "pundit" underlined in Paragraph 1 is probably similar to all the following terms EXCEPT______.

A．bandit
B．journalist
C．anchorman
D．commentator

单项选择题

A total of 4.6 million digital televisions have been sold, and the sales of HDTV sets have quadrupled since last year. Consumers have bought HDTVs to play their DVDs and to have clearer pictures and wide screens. Only a small percentage of the people who have purchased HDTVs, however, have actually hooked their TVs up to receive high-definition television digital signals. Perhaps television viewers are having trouble keeping up with the changes in technology. Even the manufacturers of HDTVs, like Mitsubishi, Thomson Multimedia, Sony, and Samsung seem to have a tough time learning how to make their sets work with the various digital TV formats because little standardization has been required or implemented in the industry.
Some of the HDTVs Weigh over 200 lbs., and a variety of retailers offer a delivery service to the buyer’s home to help install the heavy sets. This is known as a white-glove service and usually comes with an extra fee. After HDTV purchasers get their sets home and hook them up, they will still need to Work to get the digital signals to their systems. Most of the industry’s cable providers do not yet offer high-definition programing, and only about 15% of commercial television stations have switched over to even the lowest improved digital pictures. Worse yet, viewers may need to install antenna before they can even get the digital signals to their new HDTV sets. Another frustration for home-theater seekers is that the current HDTV sets allow owners only to watch high-definition programs, not to record them.
On the whole, this passage is positioned to dwell on______.

A．the overall picture of the HDTV sector
B．how the giant TV makers should offer better products
C．a lament over consumers’ inability to use a high-end TV set
D．a criticism of the.TV makers for doing nothing about a big problem

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
Which of the following is true of the Glomar Challenger

A．It is a type of submarine.
B．It is an ongoing project.
C．It has gone on over 100 voyages.
D．It made its first DSDP voyage in 1968.

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
In the middle of the twentieth century, people in North America______.

A．were tired of the Nuclear Family
B．wanted to give up the Nuclear Family
C．believed that the Nuclear Family was hopeful
D．were indifferent to the Nuclear Family

单项选择题

The idea of test-tube babies may make you either delighted at the wonders of modem medicine or irritated while considering the moral, or legal, or technological implications-of starting life in a laboratory. But if you’ve ever been pregnant yourself, one thing is certain: You wonder what it’s like to carry a test-tube baby. Are these pregnancies normal Are the babies normal
The earliest answers come from Australia, where a group of medical experts at the Queen Victoria Medical Center in Melbourne have taken a look at the continent’s first nine successful invitro pregnancies. The Australians report that the pregnancies themselves seemed to have proceeded according to plan, but at birth some unusual trends did show up. Seven of the nine babies turned out to be girls. Six of the nine were delivered by Caesarean section. And one baby, a twin, was born with a serious heart defect and a few days later developed life-threatening problems.
What does it all mean Even the doctors don’t know for sure, because the numbers are so small. The proportion of girls to boys is high, but until there are many more test-tube babies no one will know whether that’s something that just happened to be like that or something special that happens when egg meets sperm in a test tube instead of a fallopian tube. The same thing is true of the single heart defect. It usually shows up in only 15 out of 60,000 births in that part of Australia, but the fact that it occurred in one out of nine test-tube babies does not necessarily mean that they are at special risk. One thing the doctors can explain is the high number of Caesareans. Most of the mothers were older, had long histories of fertility problems and in some cases had had surgery on the fallopian tubes, all of which made them likely candidates for Caesareans anyway.
The Australian researchers report that they are quite encouraged. All the babies are now making normal progress, even the twin with the birth defects.
What is the author’s tone in this passage

A．Depressed.
B．Optimistic.
C．Opposing.
D．Negative.

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
What has changed the Nuclear Family in North America

A．People have changed their ideas about marriage.
B．Women become more independent.
C．The economy is changing.
D．All of the above factors are acting together.

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
A "nationally syndicated television show" underlined in Paragraph 1 is most possibly a TVshow that______.

A．can be organized like a national game
B．can be aired in many towns in the USA
C．might be somehow eradicated someday
D．must be shown everywhere across the country

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
The word "extracting" underlined in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to______.

A．breaking
B．locating
C．removing
D．analyzing

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
As mentioned in the passage, Rod Paige was certainly __

A．a secretary in charge of education in the NCLB program
B．a secretary in charge of TV Education for American children
C．one of the many men interviewed on radio in 2004
D．the man in charge of the Education Ministry of the United States

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
What is the major factor that has raised the divorce rate in North America

A．The increasing equality of women.
B．Relaxation of the divorce laws.
C．The significant reduction of the shame on divorce.
D．Men having more chances to know women.

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
In Paragraph 4, "until death do us part" probably means remaining married______.

A．until death
B．to the particular person until death
C．to one person at a time
D．until one leaves

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
The Deep Sea Drilling Project was significant because it was______.

A．an attempt to find new sources of oil and gas
B．the first extensive exploration of the ocean bottom
C．composed of geologists from all over the world
D．funded entirely by the gas and oil industry

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
Obviously, the word "arrangement" underlined in Paragraph 3 refers to the fact that __

A．he was arranged to speak about his involvement
B．a campaign was under way to promote the administration
C．he was paid for speaking on NCLB developments
D．some critics made an arrangement to criticize him

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
The word "strength" underlined in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to______.

A．basis
B．purpose
C．discovery
D．endurance

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
"The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California"means that Mr. George Miller is______.

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
In Paragraph 5, "two-tier system" means some______.

A．men have many wives while others have none
B．people are very rich while others are very poor
C．people have too much work to do while others have nothing to do
D．people control others

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
According to the passage, "No Child Left Behind (NCLB)" was most possibly a new______.

A．law recently passed
B．campaign at large
C．Bush government plan
D．broadcast program

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
The word "they" underlined in Paragraph 4 refers to______.

A．years
B．climates
C．sediments
D．cores

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
Many wives work outside their home because they______.

A．want to be independent
B．don’t want to stay at home
C．don’t have to take care of their children
D．want to make money for their home

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
The "contract" appearing in Paragraph 4 is quite likely referring to______.

A．an arrangement between USA TODAY and the "Freedom of Information Act"
B．a commercial agreement between the Bush administration and Mr. Armstrong Williams
C．an arrangement between the Education Department and the Ketchum public relations company
D．a volunteer agreement between Mr. Armstrong Williams and the No Child Left Behind effort

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
" ’Stranger-oriented’ socialization system" in Paragraph 5 probably means______.

A．strangers come home to take care of children
B．neighbors don’t know each other
C．mothers work outside their home and become strange to their children
D．children become strange to their parents

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
Deep-ocean sediments provide better information about the world’s past climate because they______.

A．are well protected
B．have land-based evidence
C．are in isolation
D．have a longer history

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
The reason that this story was made known to the public was the fact that______.

A．USA TODAY requested Freedom of Information Act to act on its behalf
B．Freedom of Information Act requested USA TODAY to act on its behalf
C．USA TODAY managed to obtain copies of the documents that contained the contract
D．Freedom of Information Act so stated that USA TODAY was able to obtain the documents

单项选择题

At the beginning of the twentieth century, North American society held, as an ideal, the Nuclear Family. This presumably perfect residential, social, and economic unit consisted of an adult male, an adult female and their minor children. This structure was thought to be stable and long lasting.
However, a few decades later, the structure of that ideal family was being altered radically even while it was being touted as the structure to be aimed for. Popular magazines bemoaned the loss of the Nuclear Family and its replacement with inferior forms.
There are a number of factors that are acting in concert to apply pressure on the Nuclear Family and generate a variety of new structures. Some of these are:
The definition of marriage has changed somewhat in that few people now consider it to last "until death do us part." The concept of monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman) has been modified to a form now referred to as serial monogamy (the marriage of one man and one woman at a time). This reflects the increasing equality of women and men in terms of economic advantage and the recognition that many women no longer depend on men for their survival. Women are acquiring independence and have become empowered to make their own choices. With this independence, the need to form a relationship with a man becomes less important. This change embodies the concept that the marriage is temporary and can be terminated by either partner at any time. Associated with this, of course, is the relaxation of the divorce laws and the significant reduction of the shame that had one time been attached to divorce.
The economy of North America has resulted in a two-tier system of a few rich who control most of the resources and a large portion of the population who control almost none of the resources. Because of this, many couples are forced to have both partners with full-time jobs outside the home. There are unintended byproducts of the need for a double income. The most important of these is the replacement of a mother-oriented socialization of children to a "stranger-oriented" socialization system reflected in the growth of the childcare industry. Also, either partner is financially able to end the marriage without significant hardship.
The combination of these changes will in the coming decades have a profound effect on the structure of the family of North America. As a result, the family will be a fluid, constantly changing structure with variable household arrangements as the norm.
The author’s purpose is to

A．give the basic facts of marriage in North America
B．explain the reasons why the divorce rate is high in North America
C．introduce why both husband and wife have to work outside their home
D．give a picture of family structural change in North America

单项选择题

The ocean bottom—a region nearly 2.5 times greater than the total land area of the Earth —is a vast frontier that even today is largely unexplored and uncharted. Until about a century ago, the deep-ocean floor was completely inaccessible, hidden beneath waters averaging over 3,600 meters deep. Totally without light and subjected to intense pressures hundreds of times greater than at the Earth’s surface, the deep-ocean bottom is a hostile environment to humans, in some ways as forbidding and remote as the void of outer space.
Although researchers have taken samples of deep-ocean rocks and sediments for over a century, the first detailed global investigation of the ocean bottom did not actually start until 1968, with the beginning of the National Science Foundation’s Deep Sea Drilling Project (DSDP). Using techniques first developed for the offshore oil and gas industry, the DSDP’s drill ship, the Glomar Challenger, was able to maintain a steady position on the ocean’s surface and drill in very deep waters, extracting samples of sediments and rock from the ocean floor.
The Glomar Challenger completed 96 voyages in a 15-year research program that ended in November 1983. During this time, the vessel logged 600,000 kilometers and took almost 20,000 core samples of seabed sediments and rocks at 624 drilling sites around the world. The Glomar Challenger’s core samples have allowed geologists to reconstruct what the planet looked like hundreds of millions of years ago and to calculate what it will probably look like millions of years in the future. Today, largely on the strength of evidence gathered during the Glomar Challenger’s voyages, nearly all earth scientists agree on the theories of plate tectonics and continental drift that explain many of the geological processes that shape the Earth.
The cores of sediment drilled by the Glomar Challenger have also yielded information critical to understanding the world’s past climates. Deep-ocean sediments provide a climatic record stretching back hundreds of millions of years, because they are largely isolated from the mechanical erosion and the intense chemical and biological activity that rapidly destroy much land-based evidence of past climates. This record has already provided insights into the patterns and causes of past climatic change—information that may be used to predict future climates.
Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage as being a result of the Deep Sea Drilling Project

A．Geologists were able to determine the Earth’s appearance hundreds of millions of years ago.
B．Two geological theories became more widely accepted.
C．Information was revealed about the Earth’s past climatic changes.
D．Geologists observed forms of marine life never before seen.

单项选择题

Seeking to build support among black families for its education reform law, the Bush administration paid a prominent black pundit $240,000 to promote the law on his nationally syndicated television show and to urge other black journalists to do the same.
The campaign, part of an effort to promote No Child Left Behind (NCLB), required commentator Armstrong Williams "to regularly comment on NCLB during the course of his broadcasts," and to interview Education Secretary Rod Paige for TV and radio spots that were aired during the show in 2004.
Williams said Thursday he understands that critics could find the arrangement unethical,but "I wanted to do it because it’s something I believe in." The top Democrat on the House Education Committee, Rep. George Miller of California, called the contract "a very questionable use of taxpayers’ money" that is "probably illegal".
The contract, detailed in documents obtained by USA TODAY through a Freedom of Information Act request, also shows that the Education Department, through the Ketchum public relations firm, arranged with Williams to use contacts with America’s Black Forum, a group of black broadcast journalists, "to encourage the producers to periodically address" NCLB. He persuaded radio and TV personality Steve Harvey to invite Paige onto his show twice. Harvey’s manager, Rushion McDonald, confirmed the appearances.
The "appearances" at the end of the passage refer to______.

A．a group of black broadcast journalists
B．producers periodically address NCLB
C．Rod Paige had interviews in a TV show
D．Rushion McDonald saw Steve Harvey

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