Tianjin is a major seaport and an industrial center 120 kilometers southeast of Beijing. VOA staff’s man recently visited the port, industrial development zone and market of Tianjin and sent us a glimpse of the old and yet very modern city.Cargo ships sound their horns and they leave the port of Tianjin, China’s largest container port with a capacity of 400,000 containers a year.Masses all arranged in black steel structure line the wharf, huge arm-like craneset loads of containers on to the ships. The container storage area resembles the parking lot to the size of dozens of football fields. The modern seaport has prompted many foreign companies invest in the nearby Tianjin economic and technological development area. Companies from Taiwan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Japan, France, Germany and the United States have set up their own factories or joint venture operations with Chinese partners in the economic development area. Some factories produce steel pipes, or chemicals. Others make wrist arches, clothing, carpet or consumer electronic goods. The universal furniture company of the U.S. and Singapore joint venture produces parquet wood floor tile for export to Germany, France and the United States. The factory uses Chinese hard wood. A company spokesman says the advantages of the Tianjin economic development area are the availability of raw material and the pool of cheap labor. Which of the following is TRUE about the size of the container storage area()
A. It resembles the park to the size of 12 football fields.
B. It is about the size of 12 football fields.
C. It is about the size of dozens of basketball fields.
D. It resembles the parking lot to the size of dozens of football fields.
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Psychologists say the one factor that differentiates people who are creative from those who aren’t is belief-creative people believe they are creative. To be creative, you simply have to believe and act as if you are. Once you believe you are creative, you begin to find ideas and to imagine all kinds of probable and improbable solutions.Here are a few techniques to help you get started looking for ideas you may already have in your mind.Play a different role. Suppose you want to improve your company’s training program. Play the role of another person. Write, from the perspective of that role, what changes the person would make. Record any interesting thoughts or new ideas.Randomly pick something and compare it with your problem. Open a dictionary and randomly, without looking, pick a word. Force yourself to make a comparison between the problem and the word.Suppose you are having a problem with a manager and you randomly pick the word "pencil". You might list the characteristics of the pencil and determine how those characteristics are like your problem.Imagine you have a magic wand (魔杖). Consider what changes or actions you will use the wand to create, especially those that wouldn’t normally be possible. After letting your imagination run, ask yourself what specific features of those wishes particularly appeal to you. Think of some feasible changes of actions that embody some of those specific features.Think outrageously. The more incredible and divergent from conventional thinking an idea is, the greater the possibilities for new twists. A frozen-fish processor used this technique. A line of his frozen fish tasted bland and boring. He tried everything to improve the taste, including keeping the fish alive in holding tanks until he put a predator (食肉动物) in the holding tank with fish. The fish kept moving to escape the predator and they retained their vitality and flavor.Challenge assumptions. Reserve the assumptions you make about problems. List the assumptions and write the opposite. Henry Ford challenged the practice of having workers to go where building materials were kept. In order to build cars, by creating a system that brought the materials to the workers instead. With this reversal, the assembly line was born.Be an artist. Write a poem about your job. Poetry helps give a voice to your wildest imagination, which may lead to new ideas.Try the above methods and test if your creativity might be somewhat improved. What instruction does the author have in his mind by asking you to imagine you have a magic wand()
A. To increase your imagination power.
B. To conceive a magic trick.
C. To set up particularly attractive wishes.
D. To enable you to perform miracles.
Immediately after the Civil War, however, the diet began to change. (61) Rail transportation increased the supply and improved the quality of the milk that reached urban centers; cold storage and refrigerator cars made possible the greater consumption of fresh vegetalbes, fresh fruits, and fresh fish; and commercial canning extended the range of appetizing and healthy foods. Subsequently food statistics indicated an increased consumption of dairy products, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, sugar and syrups, coffee, tea, cocoa, and spices. Decreased consumption was shown for meats, potatoes, and grain products. (62) By and large, the American diet continued to reflect a considerable reliance upon animal products, rather than on grains, which meant that a relatively large acreage was required to feed the American public. Whereas a grain and fish diet, such as in Japan, requires only a quarter of an acre high-yield cropland and no pasture per capita, the American diet requires about two and a half acres of cropland and ten acres of pasture per capita. Also it indicated a shift toward the so-called protective foods, toward those high in vitamins and proteins. (63) This change was greatly furthered by governmental food inspection (the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906), by the increasing use of mechanical refrigerators in the 1920’s and 1930’s and of freezers for frozen food during recent decades.In the years after World War I, a food revolution took place that was reminscent of the one that occurred after the Civil War. The output of the food-manufacturing industry quadrupled from 1900 to 1940. (64) In that interval, as we have mentioned earlier, home canning gave way to commercial canning, and the labor of housekeeping was lightened.Fortunately most of the major dietary changes that have taken place since the middle of the 19th century have resulted in better nutrition for the population. In part, these shifts have taken place because of a preference for new foods rather than old, but in part, they have been made because the new foods were advocated by nutritionists. Apparently American dietary customs were not so deeply ingrained as to prevent change in the interests of better health. (65) Possibly one factor that has contributed to the readiness of Americans to accept new foods or food preparations is the general familiarity most have with a variety of regional dishes coming from many different lands. Within a small area in New York City or San Francisco, one can find restaruants specializing in French, Italian, German, Turkish, Arabian, or Chinese cuisine. And at a Chinese restaurant in the United States the chef and waiter are as likely as not to be Oriental. By and large, the American diet continued to reflect a considerable reliance upon animal products, rather than on grains, which meant that a relatively large acreage was required to feed the American public.
Although the size of the workforce depends a great deal on the size of the total population, there are several other influences which also affect it. The age distribution of the total population has a very (21) effect on the available workforce. If the population has a high (22) of very young people or of (23) too old to work, then the available workforce would be lower than (24) there were an (25) spread age distribution. If the population grows raidly (26) natural increase, i.e., the number of births greatly (27) the number of deaths, then as a total population increases the proportion of the workforce (28) .Sometimes a population is described as aging, (29) means that the birth rate is either falling or growing very slowly, and as people retire (30) the workforce there are insufficient numbers of young people entering it to (31) those who are leaving it. The population is top heavy with older people. So the (32) of the population in the workforce declines when there is (33) a rapid increase in births or a falling birth rate.The age distribution of the population has several important effects on the economy. If the population is aging and there is an increase in the number of people retiring (34) a corresponding increase in the number entering the workforce, this raises the problem of the ability of the economy to provide a (35) level of social services to the retired group. If the (36) are to be cared (37) in special homes or hotels, finance must be (38) for that purpose. If the size of the workforce is small relative (39) the total population, then the government tax receipts are relatively low and either the government has less money available to it or the workforce members have to be (40) more heavily. 40().
A. loaded
B. imposed
C. taxed
D. executed
Immediately after the Civil War, however, the diet began to change. (61) Rail transportation increased the supply and improved the quality of the milk that reached urban centers; cold storage and refrigerator cars made possible the greater consumption of fresh vegetalbes, fresh fruits, and fresh fish; and commercial canning extended the range of appetizing and healthy foods. Subsequently food statistics indicated an increased consumption of dairy products, fresh fruit, fresh vegetables, sugar and syrups, coffee, tea, cocoa, and spices. Decreased consumption was shown for meats, potatoes, and grain products. (62) By and large, the American diet continued to reflect a considerable reliance upon animal products, rather than on grains, which meant that a relatively large acreage was required to feed the American public. Whereas a grain and fish diet, such as in Japan, requires only a quarter of an acre high-yield cropland and no pasture per capita, the American diet requires about two and a half acres of cropland and ten acres of pasture per capita. Also it indicated a shift toward the so-called protective foods, toward those high in vitamins and proteins. (63) This change was greatly furthered by governmental food inspection (the Pure Food and Drug Act was passed in 1906), by the increasing use of mechanical refrigerators in the 1920’s and 1930’s and of freezers for frozen food during recent decades.In the years after World War I, a food revolution took place that was reminscent of the one that occurred after the Civil War. The output of the food-manufacturing industry quadrupled from 1900 to 1940. (64) In that interval, as we have mentioned earlier, home canning gave way to commercial canning, and the labor of housekeeping was lightened.Fortunately most of the major dietary changes that have taken place since the middle of the 19th century have resulted in better nutrition for the population. In part, these shifts have taken place because of a preference for new foods rather than old, but in part, they have been made because the new foods were advocated by nutritionists. Apparently American dietary customs were not so deeply ingrained as to prevent change in the interests of better health. (65) Possibly one factor that has contributed to the readiness of Americans to accept new foods or food preparations is the general familiarity most have with a variety of regional dishes coming from many different lands. Within a small area in New York City or San Francisco, one can find restaruants specializing in French, Italian, German, Turkish, Arabian, or Chinese cuisine. And at a Chinese restaurant in the United States the chef and waiter are as likely as not to be Oriental. Possibly one factor that has contributed to the readiness of Americans to accept new foods or food preparations is the general familiarity most have with a variety of regional dishes coming from many different lands.