These areas rely on agriculture almost ________, having few mineral resources and a
A) respectively
B) extraordinarily
C) incredibly
D) exclusively
A) respectively
B) extraordinarily
C) incredibly
D) exclusively
第1题
A.respectively
B.incredibly
C.extraordinarily
D.exclusively
第2题
听力原文: The need to feed a growing population is putting much pressure on the world's supply of water. With 97% of the world's water too salty to be drunk or used in agriculture, the worldwide supply of water needs careful management, especially in agriculture. Although the idea of a water shortage seems strange to someone fortunate enough to live in a high rainfall country, many of the world's agricultural industries experience constant water shortages.
Although dams can be built to store water for agricultural use in dry areas and dry seasons, the costs of water redistribution are very high. Not only is there the cost of the engineering itself, but there is also an environmental cost to be considered. Where valleys are flooded to create dams, houses are lost and wildlife homes destroyed. Besides, water may flow easily through pipes to fields, but it cannot be transported from one side of the world to the other. Each country must therefore rely on the management of its own water to supply its farming requirements.
This is particularly troubling for countries with agricultural industries in areas dependent on irrigation. In Texas, farmers' overuse of irrigation water resulted in a 25% reduction of the water stores. In the Central Valley area of southeastern USA, a huge water engineering project provided water for farming in dry valleys, but much of the water use has been poorly managed.
Saudi Arabia's attempts to grow wheat in desert areas have been the pumping of huge quantities of irrigation water from underground reserves. Because there is no rainfall in these areas, such reserves can only decrease, and it is believed that fifty years of pumping will see them run dry.
Questions 32 to 35 are based on the passage you have just heard.
32. What is the passage mainly about?
33. What do we learn from the passage?
34. What can be learned from the passage?
35. What is most likely to be discussed next?
(33)
A.Water supply and increasing population.
B.Water use management and agriculture.
C.Water redistribution and wildlife protection.
D.Water shortages and environmental protection.
第3题
Old age in the United States presents many
problems and opportunities. With the result of 【S1】______
improved medical services, people live longer than they
used to. This increase in longevity creates a wide range
of social needs that didn't exist when the average life
expectancy was higher. The medical specialty of 【S2】______
gerontology (老年医学) has opened research areas and
careers related to the elderly.
Because of changes in the family structure from
extended to nuclear, the elderly has to create existences 【S3】______
apart from basically small family units. This situation is
complicated by the fact many of their friends may have 【S4】______
died and their children may have moved away.
The elderly person must set up a new life. Often,
the elderly must rely on a fixed income—Social
Security and pensions—and gradually diminished 【S5】______
savings. While some live with their children, many
more live by themself, with a friend, or in a nursing 【S6】______
home.
Moreover, the increasing proportion of elderly 【S7】______
people has given .them a new political power. They have
formed organizations such as the Grey Panthers to voice
their own need and concerns over local , state, and 【S8】______
federal agencies. Lobbying (国会院外游说活动) for
such issues as increased Social Security benefits, better
healthy care, income tax benefits, and rent controls 【S9】______
have brought to the public an increased awareness of the 【S10】______
determination of the elderly to assert their ability to
deal effectively with their own lives.
【S1】
第4题
The conditions we live in are different from those of any prior civilization, and they give less support to men's claims of superiority than perhaps any other historical era. When these conditions weaken that support, men can rely only on previous tradition, or their attempts to socialize their children, to shore up their faltering advantages. Such rhetoric is not likely to be successful against the new objective conditions and the claims of aggrieved women. Thus, men are correct when they feel they are losing some of their privileges, even if many continue to laugh at the women's liberation movement.
The new conditions can be listed concretely, but I shall also give you a theoretical formulation of the process. Concretely, because of the increased use of various mechanical gadgets and devices, fewer tasks require much strength. As to those that still require strength, most men cannot do them either. Women can now do more household tasks that men once felt only they could do, and still more tasks are done by repair specialists called in to do them. With the development of modern warfare, there are few, if any, important combat activities that only men can do. Women are much better educated than before.
With each passing year, psychological and sociological research reduces the areas in which men are reported to excel over women and discloses far more overlap in talents, so that even when males still seem to have an advantage, it is but a slight one. It is also becoming more widely understood that the posts in government and business are not best filled by the stereotypical aggressive male but by people, male or female, who are sensitive to others' needs, adept in obtaining cooperation, and skilled in social relations. Finally, in one sphere after another, the number of women who try. to achieve rises, and so does the number who succeed.
It can be inferred that' the main source of men's resistance to women's liberation is the feeling that ______.
A.women are now better educated
B.women can now hold executive positions
C.men are no longer indispensable
D.men are no longer superior
第5题
Economizing of the Poor
Comprehending Economizing of the Poor
Walking down the aisles of a supermarket, low-income shoppers must consider a number of factors including quantity, price, quality and nutritional differences when selecting food products. Food-purchase decisions by the poor often entail balances among taste, preference and quality factors--either real or perceived--to meet spending constraints. Within broad product categories such as cereal, cheese, meat and poultry, and fruits and vegetables, shoppers can choose among many substitutable products. Low-income shoppers can extend their food dollars in a number of ways. They may shop in discount food stores; they may purchase and consume less food than higher-income shoppers; they may purchase low-priced (and possibly lower quality) food products; or they may rely on some combination of all three. A better understanding of how the poor economize in food spending addresses important policy questions raised by researchers, nutrition educators, and food-assistance program managers.
The Correlation between the Location and Price
Whether the poor face significantly different food prices due to where they shop for food remains an unresolved empirical question. Extensive research over the years has tried to answer the question--Do the poor pay less for food? The Economic Research Service (ERS) in 1997 received the results of studies comparing price differences in grocery stores across different income levels and combined these with current census data on the distribution of low-income households by urbanization type. The ERS study concluded that, in general, the poor face higher prices due to their greater representation in urban and rural areas (as opposed to suburban areas), where food prices tend to be higher.
Higher Prices but Less Spending
Based on results from household surveys, ERS also found that despite facing higher prices, low-income shoppers spend less than higher-income shoppers for food purchased in food stores. Due to their level of aggregation and lack of in-store sales and promotion information, such surveys shed little light on the economizing practices of households. To learn more about how low-income shoppers spend less for food despite facing higher prices, we obtained food-store purchase data that incorporate per-capita quantity and expenditure-measure equivalents (household measures adjusted for household size) across income levels.
The Main Economizing Practices
The resulting comparisons describe how individuals with different levels of income vary in their food-spending patterns. By using actual transaction data, detailed information about the product purchased (for example, price, product description, package size, and brand name) as well as the condition of purchase (promotion, coupon, or sale item) was obtained. From these, the average unit cost (per ounce, per pound) for each item was calculated. Low-income shoppers may use four primary economizing practices to reduce their food spending. First, they may purchase a greater proportion of discounted products. Second, they may purchase more private-label products (generic or store brand) versus brand products than higher-income shoppers buy. Third, they may take advantage of volume discounts by purchasing larger package sizes. Fourth, they may purchase a less-expensive food product within a product class. Although quality differences such as freshness, convenience and taste often contribute to prices differences, differences in nutritional quality are also evident.
More Spending on Promotional Items
The use of promotions is measured by comparing the percentage of expenditures and quantities of each product purchased on promotion (manufacurers' coupons, store coupons, store sales, and other promotions). For random-weight cheese, fruit, vegetables and meat in 1998, low-income households (less than $ 25,000 per ye
A.Y
B.N
C.NG
第7题