A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys...

第1题

阅读1：A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys, people are actually more stressed at home than at work

A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys, people are actually more stressed at home than at work. Researchers measured people’s cortisol, which is a stress marker, while they were at work and while they were at home and found it higher at what is supposed to be a place of refuge.

“Further contradicting conventional wisdom, we found that women as well as men have lower levels of stress at work than at home, ” writes one of the researchers, Sarah Damske. In fact women even say they feel better at work, she notes.“ It is men, not women, who report being happier at home than at work. ”Another surprise is that findings hold true for both those with children and without, but more so for nonparents. This is why people who work outside the home have better health.

What the study doesn’t measure is whether people are still doing work when they’re at home, whether it is household work or work brought home from the office. For many men, the end of the workday is a time to kick back. For women who stay home, they never get to leave the office. And for women who work outside the home, they often are playing catch-up-with-household tasks. With the blurring of roles, and the fact that the home front lags well behind the workplace a making adjustments for working women, it’s not surprising that women are more stressed at home.

But it’s not just a gender thing. At work, people pretty much know what they’re supposed to be doing: working, marking money, doing the tasks they have to do in order to draw an income. The bargain is very pure: Employee puts in hours of physical or mental labor and employee draws out life-sustaining moola.

On the home front, however, people have no such clarity. Rare is the household in which the division of labor is so clinically and methodically laid out. There are a lot of tasks to be done, there are inadequate rewards for most of them. Your home colleagues-your family-have no clear rewards for their labor; they need to be talked into it, or if they’re teenagers, threatened with complete removal of all electronic devices. Plus, they’re your family. You cannot fire your family. You never really get to go home from home.

So it’s not surprising that people are more stressed at home. Not only are the tasks apparently infinite, the co-workers are much harder to motivate.

21.According to Paragraph 1,most previous surveys found that home_____

[A] offered greater relaxation than the workplace

[B] was an ideal place for stress measurement

[C] generated more stress than the workplace

[D] was an unrealistic place for relaxation

22. According to Damaske, who are likely to be the happiest at home？

[A] Childless wives

[B] Working mothers

[C] Childless husbands

[D] Working fathers

23.The blurring of working women's roles refers to the fact that_____

[A] it is difficult for them to leave their office

[B] their home is also a place for kicking back

[C] there is often much housework left behind

[D] they are both bread winners and housewives

24.The word“moola”(Line4,Para4)most probably means_____

[A] skills

[B] energy

[C] earnings

[D] nutrition

25.The home front differs from the workplace in that_____

[A] division of labor at home is seldom clear-cut

[B] home is hardly a cozier working environment

[C] household tasks are generally more motivating

[D] family labor is often adequately rewarded

点击查看答案

第2题

The first year of school in America, known as kindergarten（幼儿园), usually begins between the ages of five and six. Among rich countries such a late start is very strange. President Obama

The first year of school in America, known as kindergarten(幼儿园), usually begins between the ages of five and six. Among rich countries such a late start is very strange. President Obama believes it is an economic and social problem; his education secretary goes as far as to say that it is “morally wrong”. This statement has some support,as it is clear from research into vocabulary that youngsters from poor families enter kindergarten well behind those from rich families a disadvantage that usually lasts a lifetime. Children from households on welfare knew 525 words by the age of three, while the children of professionals had mastered 1,116.

Pre-school can help close this gap. So in a speech last month, Mr. Obama called for a partnership between the federal government and the state, to expand it to every American child. It later became known that “every” meant those who come from families with incomes of up to 200% above the poverty line-equal to an income of $47,000 for a family of four.

Some critics(评论家)say that sending children to school at the age of four does not work. The evidence suggests otherwise. For example, on March 20th new results were announced from a study of 9 to 11 year olds in New Jersey. This report found that disadvantaged children who had attended preschool had better literacy(读写能力), language, math and science skills. And two years of prekindergarten were better than one.

Some studies also follow the effects of early learning over lifetimes, such as its effect on crime rates and other factors that may eventually burden society. Critics have singled out a government scheme called Head Start, created in 1965, which provides poor households with a range of services including school-based early education.

21. The kindergarten in other rich countries usually begins()than in America.

A. earlier

B. later

C. slower

22. Which is TRUE about the vocabulary size of the two groups of kids？

A. Poor preschool kids have a larger vocabulary than rich ones.

B. Rich preschool kids have a larger vocabulary than poor ones.

C. There is no obvious difference between the two groups of kids.

23. Which of the following about the New Jersey study is TRUE？

A. There is no evidence to support the New Jersey study.

B. Two years of prekindergarten were better than one.

C. Sending children to school at the age of four is not going to help.

24. The phrase “single out” in the last paragraph means().

A. count

B. think about

C. choose

25. Which of the following is an appropriate title for this passage？

A. Secondary Education.

B. Preschool Education.

C. Poor Kids' Education.

点击查看答案

第3题

Extensive new studies suggest that the world has made extraordinary progress in reduc

ing poverty in recent decades. The research suggests that the pace of economic progress has been rapid and continued for decades, built on the foundations of relative political stability, rising trade, and economic liberalization (自由化) after two world wars. One new study, published recently by the Institute for International Economics in Washington, find that the proportion of the 6.1 billion people in the world who live on $1 a day or less shrank from 63 percent in 1950 to 35 percent in 1980 and 12 percent in 1999. by some other measures, the progress has been more modest. Still, economists agree that poverty has plunged in key nations such as India and especially China, thanks to slowing population growth as well as economic freedom. "This is a huge success for the world as a whole," says Harvard University economist Richard Cooper. "We are doing something right. "

The news comes as the World Bank is about to open its annual meeting in Washington—an event that has been troubled in recent years by protests that the Bank and its sister Institution, the International Monetary Fund (IMF 国际货币组织), have done too little for the world's poor. (80) The new economic research will not put an end to that dispute. Vast populations remain poor, and many still question the wisdom of World Bank policies. Nonetheless, the research findings are helpful to understand what policies should be followed by those institutions and hundreds of other development groups working very hard to hasten the pace of world economic progress. If dramatic gains are under way, the present policies—calling for open markets, free business activities, and tight monetary control—are working and correct.

But critics of IMF and World Bank policies maintain that such economic success stories as Japan, China, South Korea and Singapore are rooted in more than just "free" markets. These nations have managed to grow rapidly, and thereby reduce poverty, by limiting imports when their domestic industries were young, pushing exports to rich nations, and putting controls on purely international financial flows. They have been open to foreignowned factories but have often insisted that those investors share the knowledge and skill on modern technologies.

The word "plunged" in the first paragraph means ______.

A．decreased

B．climbed

C．increased

D．dropped into water

点击查看答案

第4题

阅读理解：根据文章内容，完成选择题。The first year of school in America, known as kindergar

阅读理解：根据文章内容，完成选择题。

The first year of school in America, known as kindergarten, usually begins between the ages of five and six. Among rich countries such a late start is very strange. President Obama believes it is an economic and social problem; his education secretary goes as far as to say that it is "morally wrong”. This statement has some support, as it is clear from research into vocabulary that youngsters from poor families enter kindergarten well behind those from rich families—a disadvantage that usually lasts a lifetime. Children from households on welfare knew 525 words by the age of three, while the children of professionals had mastered 1,116.

Pre-school can help close this gap. So in a speech last month, Mr. Obama called for a partnership between the federal government and the states to expand it to every American child. It later became known that "every" meant those who come from families with incomes of up to 200% above the poverty line—equal to an income of $47,000 for a family of four.

Some critics say that sending children to school at the age of four does not work. The evidence suggests otherwise. For example, on March 20thnew results were announced from a study of 9 to 11 year olds in New Jersey. This report found that disadvantaged children who had attended pre-school had better literacy (读写能力), language, maths and science skills. And two years of pre-kindergarten were better than one.

Some studies also follow the effects of early learning over lifetimes, such as its effect on crime rates and other factors that may eventually burden society. Critics have singled out a government scheme called Head Start, created in 1965, which provides poor households with a range of services including school-based early education.

1. Kindergarten in rich countries other than America usually begins at the age of {A; B; C}

A. four

B. seven

C. six

2. According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE？{A; B; C} A. Poor pre-school kids have a larger vocabulary than rich kids.

B. President Obama believes that early education can solve all economic and social problems.

C. Rich pre-school kids have a richer vocabulary than poor kids.

3. Which of the following about the New Jersey study is TRUE？{A; B; C}

A. There is no evidence to support the New Jersey study.

B. Two years of pre-kindergarten were better than one.

C. Sending children to school at the age of four is not going to help.

4. The phrase "single out" in the last paragraph means {A; B; C}.

A. choose

B. think about

C. count

5. Which of the following is an appropriate title for this passage？{A; B; C}

A. Secondary Education

B. Pre-school Education

C. Poor Kids' Education

点击查看答案

第5题

-------------------------------------------（）

A.They are going to meet new friends there

B.They are going to learn lots of new things

C.They are going to study new subjects

点击查看答案

第6题

阅读理解：Some of the world's most sign significant problems hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture

Questions 1 to 5 are based on the following passage.

Some of the world's most sign significant problems hit headlines. One example comes from agriculture. Food riots and hunger make news. But the trend lying behind these matters is rarely talked about. This is the decline in the growth in yields of some of the world's major crops. A new study by the University of Minnesota and McGill University in Montreal looks at where, and how far, this decline is occurring.

The authors take a vast number of data points for the four most important crops: rice, wheat, corn and soyabeans(大豆). They find that on between 24% and 39% of all harvested areas, the improvement in yields that took place before the 1980s slowed down in the 1990s and 2000s.

There are two worrying features of the slowdown. One is that it has been particularly sharp in the world's most populous(人口多的)countries, India and China. Their ability to feed themselves has been an important source of relative stability both within the countries and on world food markets. That self-sufficiency cannot be taken for granted if yields continue to slow down or reverse.

Second,yield growth has been lower in wheat and rice than in corn and soyabeans. This is problematic because wheat and rice are more important as foods, accounting for around half of all calories consumed. Corn and soyabeans are more important as feed grains. The authors note that "we have preferentially focused our crop improvement efforts on feeding animals and cars rather than on crops that feed people and are the basis of food security in much of the world."

The report qualifies the more optimistic findings of another new paper which suggests that the world will not have to dig up a lot more land for farming in order to feed 9 billion people in 2050, as the Food and Agriculture Organisation has argued.

Instead, it says, thanks to slowing population growth, land currently ploughed up for crops might be able to revert(回返)to forest or wilderness. This could happen. The trouble is that the forecast assumes continued improvements in yields, which may not actually happen.

1.What does the author try to draw attention to？

A.Food riots and hunger in the world.

B.The decline of the grain yield growth.

C.News headlines in the leading media.

D.The food supply in populous countries.

2.Why does the author mention India and China in particular？

A.Their self-sufficiency is vital to the stability of world food markets.

B.Their food yields have begun to decrease sharply in recent years.

C.Their big populations are causing worldwide concerns.

D.Their food self-sufficiency has been taken for granted.

3.What does the new study by the two universities say about recent crop improvement efforts？

A.They fail to produce the same remarkable results as before the 1980s.

B.They contribute a lot to the improvement of human food production.

C.They play a major role in guaranteeing the food security of the world.

D.they focus more on the increase of animal feed than human food grains.

4.What does the Food and Agriculture Organisation say about world food production in the coming decades？

A.The growing population will greatly increase the pressure on world food supplies.

B.The optimistic prediction about food production should be viewed with caution.

C.The slowdown of the growth in yields of major food crops will be reversed.

D.The world will be able to feed its population without increasing farmland.

5.How does the author view the argument of the Food and Agriculture Organisation？

A.It is built on the findings of a new study.

B.It is based on a doubtful assumption.

C.It is backed by strong evidence.

D.It is open to further discussion.

点击查看答案

第7题

The idea for the new project came to Jack ______ to his study recently.A. while devoti

The idea for the new project came to Jack ______ to his study recently.

A. while devoting

B. while devoting himself

C. while he was devoted

D. while devoted

点击查看答案

第8题

？？？？Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:Apopularly-held view has it that

？？？？Questions 11 to 15 are based on the following passage:

Apopularly-held view has it that “opportunity to learn” is the key to educational success -i.e.the more time children spend on a subject, the better they do at it. According to the recent study there seems little correlation between time spent on a subject and performance of pupils in tests. Young Austrians spend exceptionally long hours on math and science lessons; for them it pays off in higher test scores. But so do New Zealand&39;s teenagers and they do not do any better than, say Norwegians, who spend an unusually short time on lessons in both subjects. Next and of particular interest to cash-strapped governments there appears to be little evidence to support the argument, often heard from teachers&39; unions, that the main cause of educational under achievement is under funding. Low-spending countries such as South Korea and the Czech Republic are at the top. High-spenders such as America and Denmark do much worse. Obviously there are dozens of reasons other than spending why one country does well, another badly, but the success of the low–spending Czechs and Koreans does show that spending more on schools is not aprerequisite（前提） for improving standards.

Another article of faith among the teaching profession that children are bound to do better in small classes is also being undermined by educational research. The study found that France, America and Britain, where children are usually taught in classes of twenty-odd, do significant1y worse than East Asian countries where almost twice as many pupils are crammed into each class. Again, there may be social reason why some countries can cope better with large classes than others. All the same, the comparis on refutes the argument that larger is necessarily worse, Further, the study even cast some doubt over the cultural explanation for the greater success o fEast Asia: that there is some hard-to-define Asian culture, connected with parental authority and a strong social value on education, which makes children more eager to learn and easier to teach. Those who make this argument say it would of course be impossible to replicate such oriental magic in the West.

Yet the results of the study suggest that this is, to put it mildly, exaggerated. If “culture” makes English children so poor at math, then why have they done so well at science (not far behind the Japanese and South Koreans)？Any why do English pupils do well at science and badly at math, while in France it is the other way around ？A less mystical, more mundane explanation suggests it self English school: teach science well and math badly; French schools teach math better than science; East Asia schools teach both subjects well.

The passage is mainly concerned with ___.？？

？？A.establishing a relationship between culture and education

B.exposing educational myths

C.introduction educational philosophies

D.comparing education philosophies

All of the following are common-held beliefs about education EXCEPT___.

A.time spent on a subject correlates with academic success

B.educational achievements correlate with the money spent

C.large classes contribute to poor educational achievement

D.culture is not a deciding factor in school performance

Which of the following statements is supported by the passage？

A.Austrian teenagers do better than New Zealands teenagers

B.Low-spending will lead to good school performance.

C.Students in large classes will do better than students in small class.

D.Asian culture makes students eager to learn and easy to teach.

The fact that English pupils do well at science and badly at math while in France it is the other way around is attributable to ___.A.cultural values

B.teaching methods

C.class size

D.money spent

Which of the following countries does worse in science？A.Japan.

B.South Korea

C.Britain.

D.France

请帮忙给出每个问题的正确答案和分析，谢谢！

点击查看答案

第9题

The older New England villages have changed relatively little () a gas station or two in recent decades.

A.study

B.except

C.besides

点击查看答案

第10题

What is found in the study？A. More people passed the tests in New York than in any oth

What is found in the study？

A. More people passed the tests in New York than in any other cities.

B. Different kinds of people acted differently in the New York tests.

C. Four out of five people passed the politeness test in the study.

D. Manypeople in the experiment passed the tests by guessing.

点击查看答案

第11题

The new trend in artificial intelligence research stems from ______.A．the shift of the foc

The new trend in artificial intelligence research stems from ______.

A．the shift of the focus of study on to the recognition of the shapes of objects

B．the belief that human intelligence cannot be duplicated with logical, step-by-step programs

C．the aspirations of scientists to duplicate the intelligence of a ten-month-old child

D．the efforts made by scientists in the study of the similarities between transistors and brain ceils

点击查看答案

A new study suggests that contrary to most surveys. People art actually more stressed at h