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Passage Four Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet. It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zoe Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K. Thus the American president and vice-president have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of George Bush’s predecessors (including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged (Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chretien and Koizumi). The world’s three top central bankers (Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world’s five richest men (Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht). Can this merely be coincidence One theory, dreamt up in all the spare time enjoyed by the alphabetically disadvantaged, is that the lot sets in early. At the start of the first year in infant school, teachers seat pupils alphabetically from the front, to make it easier to remember their names. So short-sighted Zysman junior gets stuck in the back row, and is rarely asked the improving questions posed by those insensitive teachers. At the time the alphabetically disadvantaged may think they have had a lucky escape. Yet the result may be worse qualifications, because they get less individual attention, as well as less confidence in speaking publicly. The humiliation continues. At university graduation ceremonies, the ABCs proudly get their awards first; by the time they reach the Zysmans most people are literally having a ZZZ. Shortlists for job interviews, election ballot papers, lists of conference speakers and attendees: all tend to be drawn up alphabetically, and their recipients lose interest as they plough through them. What does the author intend to illustrate with AAAA cars and Zodiac cars

A kind of overlooked inequality.
B. A type of conspicuous bias.
C. A type of personal prejudice.
D. A kind of brand discrimination.

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Directions: Read the following passage. For each numbered blank there are four choices marked A. B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. In the late 1960’s, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointing (21) that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and parking lot (22) . Skyscrapers are also enormous (23) , and wasters, of electric power. In one recent year, the addition (24) 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised the (25) daily demand for electricity by 120,000 kilowatts-- enough to (26) the entire city of Albany for a day. Glass-wailed skyscraper can be especially (27) . The heat loss (or gain) through a wall of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times (28) through a typical masonry wall filled with insulation board. To lessen the strain (29) heating and air-conditioning equipment, (30) of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed panels of glass, and reflective glasses (31) with silver or gold mirror films that reduce (32) as well as heat gain. However, (33) skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and (34) neighboring buildings. Skyscrapers put severe pressure on a city’s sanitation (35) , too. If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate 2.25 million gallons of raw sewage each year--as (36) as a city the size of Stamford, Connecticut, which has a (37) of more than 109,000. Skyscrapers also (38) with television reception, block bird flyways, and obstruct air traffic. Still, people (39) to build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built them--personal ambition and the (40) of owners to have the largest possible amount of rentable space.

A. power
B. capacities
C. potentials
D. capabilities

Directions: Read the following passage. For each numbered blank there are four choices marked A. B, C and D. Choose the best one and mark your answers on ANSWER SHEET 1. In the late 1960’s, many people in North America turned their attention to environmental problems, and new steel-and-glass skyscrapers were widely criticized. Ecologists pointing (21) that a cluster of tall buildings in a city often overburdens public transportation and parking lot (22) . Skyscrapers are also enormous (23) , and wasters, of electric power. In one recent year, the addition (24) 17 million square feet of skyscraper office space in New York City raised the (25) daily demand for electricity by 120,000 kilowatts-- enough to (26) the entire city of Albany for a day. Glass-wailed skyscraper can be especially (27) . The heat loss (or gain) through a wall of half-inch plate glass is more than ten times (28) through a typical masonry wall filled with insulation board. To lessen the strain (29) heating and air-conditioning equipment, (30) of skyscrapers have begun to use double-glazed panels of glass, and reflective glasses (31) with silver or gold mirror films that reduce (32) as well as heat gain. However, (33) skyscrapers raise the temperature of the surrounding air and (34) neighboring buildings. Skyscrapers put severe pressure on a city’s sanitation (35) , too. If fully occupied, the two World Trade Center towers in New York City would alone generate 2.25 million gallons of raw sewage each year--as (36) as a city the size of Stamford, Connecticut, which has a (37) of more than 109,000. Skyscrapers also (38) with television reception, block bird flyways, and obstruct air traffic. Still, people (39) to build skyscrapers for all the reasons that they have always built them--personal ambition and the (40) of owners to have the largest possible amount of rentable space.

A. affect
B. assist
C. protect
D. benefit

由于实行经济改革,从1998 年起,中国开始出现大批下岗工人。下岗工人的出现给改革的顺利进行带来了困难。请你就下岗工人的问题发表见解,并提出你的解决方案。

财物特别是贵重物品被盗是治安事故,导游人员须立即向公安部门和保险公司报案,协助有关人员查清线索,力争破案,找回被窃物品,挽回不良影响。

A. 对
B. 错

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