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Paragraph 1 In times of economic crisis, Americans turn to their families for support. If the Great Depression is any guide, we may see a drop in our skyhigh divorce rate. But this won’t necessarily represent an increase in happy marriages. In the long run, the Depression weakened American families, and the current crisis will probably do the same.Paragraph 2 We tend to think of the Depression as a time when families pulled together to survive huge job losses. By 1932, when nearly one-quarter of the workforce was unemployed, the divorce rate had declined by around 25% from 1929. But this doesn’t mean people were suddenly happier with their marriages. Rather, with incomes decreasing and insecure jobs, unhappy couples often couldn’t afford to divorce. They feared neither spouse could manage alone.Paragraph 3 Today, given the job losses of the past year, fewer unhappy couples will risk starting separate households. Furthermore, the housing market meltdown will make it more difficult for them to finance their separations by selling their homes.Paragraph 4 After financial disasters family members also tend to do whatever they can to help each other and their communities. A 1940 book, The Unemployed Man and His Family, described a family in which the husband initially reacted to losing his job "with tireless search for work." He was always active, looking for odd jobs to do.Paragraph 5 The problem is that such an impulse is hard to sustain. Across the country, many similar families were unable to maintain the initial boost in morale (士气). For some, the hardships of life without steady work eventually overwhelmed their attempts to keep their families together. The divorce rate rose again during the rest of the decade as the recovery took hold.Paragraph 6 Millions of American families may now be in the initial stage of their responses to the current crisis, working together and supporting one another through the early months of unemployment.Paragraph 7 Today’s economic crisis could well generate a similar number of couples whose relationships have been irreparably (无法弥补地) ruined. So it’s only when the economy is healthy again that we’ll begin to see just how many broken families have been created. In the Great Depression many unhappy couples chose to stick together because ()

A. starting a new family would be hard
B. they expected things would turn better
C. they wanted to better protect their kids
D. living separately would be too costly

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Paragraph 1 People are being lured (引诱) onto Facebook with the promise of a fun, free service, without realizing they’re paying for it by giving up loads of personal information. Facebook then attempts to make money by selling their data to advertisers that want to send targeted messages.Paragraph 2 Most Facebook users don’t realize this is happening. Even if they know what the company is up to, they still have no idea what they’re paying for Facebook, because people don’t really know what their personal data is worth.Paragraph 3 The biggest problem, however, is that the company keeps changing the rules. Early on, you could keep everything private. That was the great thing about Facebook—you could create your own little private network. Last year, the company changed its privacy rules so that many things—your city, your photo, your friends’ names—were set, by default (默认), to be shared with everyone on the Internet.Paragraph 4 According to Facebook’s vice-president Elliot Schrage, the company is simply making changes to improve its service, and if people don’t share information, they have a "less satisfying experience."Paragraph 5 Some critics think this is more about Facebook looking to make more money. Its original business model, which involved selling ads and putting them at the side of the page, totally failed. Who wants to look at ads when they’re online connecting with their friendsParagraph 6 The privacy issue has already landed Facebook in hot water in Washington. In April, Senator Charles Schumer called on Facebook to change its privacy policy. He also urged the Federal Trade Commission to set guidelines for social-networking sites. "I think the senator rightly communicated that we had not been clear about what the new products were and how people could choose to use them or not to use them," Schrage admits.Paragraph 7 I suspect that whatever Facebook has done so far to invade our privacy, it’s only the beginning. Which is why I’m considering deactivating (撤销) my account. Facebook is a handy site, but I’m upset by the idea that my information is in the hands of people I don’t trust. That’s too high a price to pay. What does Senator Charles Schumer advocate()

A. Setting guidelines for advertising on websites.
Banning the sharing of users’ personal information.
C. Formulating regulations for social-networking sites.
D. Removing ads from all social-networking sites.

Paragraph 1 Junk food is everywhere. We’re eating way too much of it. Most of us know what we’re doing and yet we do it anyway.Paragraph 2 So here’s a suggestion offered by two researchers at the Rand Corporation: Why not take a lesson from alcohol control policies and apply them to where food is sold and how it’s displayedParagraph 3 "Many policy measures to control obesity (肥胖症) assume that people consciously and rationally choose what and how much they eat and therefore focus on providing information and more access to healthier foods," note the two researchers.Paragraph 4 "In contrast," the researchers continue, "many regulations that don’t assume people make rational choices have been successfully applied to control alcohol, a substance—like food—of which immoderate consumption leads to serious health problems."Paragraph 5 The research references studies of people’s behavior with food and alcohol and results of alcohol restrictions, and then lists five regulations that the researchers think might be promising if applied to junk foods. Among them:Paragraph 6 Density restrictions: licenses to sell alcohol aren’t handed out unplanned to all comers but are allotted (分配) based on the number of places in an area that already sell alcohol. These make alcohol less easy to get and reduce the number of psychological cues to drink.Paragraph 7 Similarly, the researchers say, being presented with junk food stimulates our desire to eat it. So why not limit the density of food outlets, particularly ones that sell food rich in empty calories And why not limit sale of food in places that aren’t primarily food storesParagraph 8 Display and sales restrictions: California has a rule prohibiting alcohol displays near the cash registers in gas stations, and in most places you can’t buy alcohol at drive-through facilities. At supermarkets, food companies pay to have their wares in places where they’re easily seen. One could remove junk food to the back of the store and ban them from the shelves at checkout lines. The other measures include restricting portion sizes, taxing and prohibiting special price deals for junk foods, and placing warning labels on the products. What do the Rand researchers think of many of the policy measures to control obesity()

A. They should be implemented effectively.
B. They provide misleading information.
C. They are based on wrong assumptions.
D. They help people make rational choices.

Paragraph 1 It is pretty much a one-way street. While it may be common for university researchers to try their luck in the commercial world, there is very little traffic in the opposite direction. Pay has always been the biggest deterrent, as people with families often feel they cannot afford the drop in salary when moving to a university job. For some industrial scientists, however, the attractions of academia (学术界) outweigh any financial considerations.Paragraph 2 Helen Lee took a 70% cut in salary when she moved from a senior post in Abbott Laboratories to a medical department at the University of Cambridge. Her main reason for returning to academia mid-career was to take advantage of the greater freedom to choose research questions. Some areas of inquiry have few prospects of a commercial return, and Lee’s is one of them.Paragraph 3 The impact of a salary cut is probably less severe for a scientist in the early stages of a career. Guy Grant, now a research associate at the Unilever Centre for Molecular Informatics at the University of Cambridge, spent two years working for a pharmaceutical (制药的) company before returning to university as a post-doctoral researcher. He took a 30% salary cut but felt it worthwhile for the greater intellectual opportunities.Paragraph 4 Higher up the ladder, where a pay cut is usually more significant, the demand for scientists with a wealth of experience in industry is forcing universities to make the transition (转换) to academia more attractive, according to Lee. Industrial scientists tend to receive training that academics do not, such as how to build a multidisciplinary team, manage budgets and negotiate contracts. They are also well placed to bring something extra to the teaching side of an academic role that will help students get a job when they graduate, says Lee, perhaps experience in manufacturing practice or product development. "Only a small number of undergraduates will continue in an academic career. So someone leaving university who already has the skills needed to work in an industrial lab has far more potential in the job market than someone who has spent all their time on a narrow research project.\ The word "deterrent" (Para. 1) most probably refers to something that ()

A. keeps someone from taking action
B. helps to move the traffic
C. attracts people’s attention
D. brings someone a financial burden

Paragraph 1 Several recent studies have found that being randomly (随机地) assigned to a roommate of another race can lead to increased tolerance but also to a greater likelihood (可能性) of conflict.Paragraph 2 Recent reports found that lodging with a student of a different race may decrease prejudice and compel students to engage in more ethnically diverse friendships.Paragraph 3 An Ohio State University study also found that black students living with a white roommate saw higher academic success throughout their college careers. Researchers believe this may be caused by social pressure.Paragraph 4 In a New York Times article, Sam Boakye—the only black student on his freshman year floor—said that "if you’re surrounded by whites, you have something to prove."Paragraph 5 Researchers also observed problems resulting from pairing interracial students in residences.Paragraph 6 According to two recent studies, randomly assigned roommates of different races are more likely to experience conflicts so strained that one roommate will move out.Paragraph 7 An Indiana University study found that interracial roommates were three times as likely as two white roommates to no longer live together by the end of the semester.Paragraph 8 Grace Kao, a professor at Penn said she was not surprised by the findings. "This may be the first time that some of these students have interacted, and lived, with someone of a different race," she said.Paragraph 9 At Penn, students are not asked to indicate race when applying for housing.Paragraph 10 "One of the great things about freshman housing is that, with some exceptions, the process throws you together randomly," said Undergraduate Assembly chairman Alec Webley. "This is the definition of integration."Paragraph 11 "I’ve experienced roommate conflicts between interracial students that have both broken down stereotypes and reinforced stereotypes," said one Penn resident advisor (RA). The RA of two years added that while some conflicts "provided more multicultural acceptance and melding (融合)," there were also "jarring cultural confrontations."Paragraph 12 The RA said that these conflicts have also occurred among roommates of the same race.Paragraph 13 Kao said she cautions against forming any generalizations based on any one of the studies, noting that more background characteristics of the students need to be studied and explained. What does Sam Boakye’s remark mean ()

A. White students tend to look down upon their black peers.
Black students can compete with their white peers academically.
C. Black students feel somewhat embarrassed among white peers during the freshman year.
D. Being surrounded by white peers motivates a black student to work harder to succeed.

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