Driving through snowstorm on icy roads for long distances is a most nerve-racking experience. It is a paradox that the snow, coming (1) gently, blowing gleefully in a high wind, all the while (2) down a treacherous carpet, freezes the windows, (3) the view. The might of automated man is (4) . The horses, the powerful electrical systems, the deep-tread tires, all go (5) nothing. One minute the road feels (6) ,and the next the driver is sliding over it, light as a (7) ,in a panic, wondering what the heavy trailer trucks coming up (8) the rear are going to do. The trucks are like (9) when you have to pass them, not at sixty or seventy (10) you do when the road is dry, but at twenty-five and thirty. (11) their engines sound unnaturally loud. Snow, slush and (12) of ice spray from beneath the wheels, obscure the windshield, and rattle (13) your car. Beneath the wheels there is plenty of (14) for you to slide and get mashed to a pulp. Inch (15) inch you move up, past the rear wheels, the center wheels, the cab, the front wheels, all (16) too slowly by. Straight ahead you continue, (17) to cut over sharply would send you into a slip, (18) in front of the vehicle. At last, there is (19) enough, and you creep back over, in front of the truck now, but (20) the sound of its engine still thundering in your ears. 12()
A. flakes
B. flocks
C. chips
D. cakes
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再贴现是指贴现银行持______向中国人民银行进行贴现,通过转让汇票取得中国人民银行再贷款的行为。
关系模式R(U,F),其中U={A,B,C,D,E},F={AC→E,E→D,A→B,B→D}。关系模式R的候选键是 (45) , (46) 是无损连接并保持函数依赖的分解。 (45)处填()。
AC
B. ED
C. AB
D. ABC
In spite of "endless talk of difference," American society is an amazing machine for homogenizing people. There is "the democratizing uniformity of dress and discourse, and the casualness and absence of deference" characteristic of popular culture. People are absorbed into "a culture of consumption" launched by the 19th-century department stores that offered " vast arrays of goods in an elegant atmosphere. Instead of intimate shops catering to a knowledgeable elite," these were stores" anyone could enter, regardless of class or background. This turned shopping into a public and democratic act. " The mass media, advertising and sports are other forces for homogenization. Immigrants are quickly fitting into this common culture, which may not be altogether elevating but is hardly poisonous. Writing for the National Immigration Forum, Gregory Rodriguez reports that today’s immigration is neither at unprecedented levels nor resistant to assimilation. In 1998 immigrants were 9.8 percent of population; in 1990,13.6 percent. In the 10 years prior to 1990,3.1 immigrants arrived for every 1,000 residents; in the 10 years prior to 1890,9.2 for every 1,000. Now, consider three indices of assimilation--language, home ownership and intermarriage. The 1990 Census revealed that "a majority of immigrants from each of the fifteen most common countries of origin spoke English ’well’ or ’very well’ after ten years of residence. "The children of immigrants tend to be bilingual and proficient in English. " By the third generation, the original language is lost in the majority of immigrant families. " Hence the description of America as a "graveyard" for languages. By 1996 foreign-born immigrants who had arrived before 1970 had a home ownership rate of 75.6 percent, higher than the 69.8 percent rate among native-born Americans. Foreign-born Asians and Hispanics "have higher rates of intermarriage than do U.S.-born whites and blacks. "By the third generation, one third of Hispanic women are married to non-Hispanics, and 41 percent of Asian-American women are married to non-Asians. Rodriguez notes that children in remote villages around the world are fans of superstars like Arnold Schwarzenegger and Garth Brooks, yet "some Americans fear that immigrants living within the United States remain somehow immune to the nation’s assimilative power." Are there divisive issues and pockets of seething anger in America Indeed. It is big enough to have a bit of everything. But particularly when viewed against America’s turbulent past, today’s social indices hardly suggest a dark and deteriorating social environment. The text suggests that immigrants now in the U. S.______.
A. are resistant to homogenization
B. exert a great influence on American culture
C. are hardly a threat to the common culture
D. constitute the majority of the population
Bankers have been blaming themselves for their troubles in public. Behind the scenes, they have been taking aim at someone else: the accounting standard-setters. Their rules, moan the banks, have forced them to report enormous losses, and it’s just not fair. These rules say they must value some assets at the price a third party would pay, not the price managers and regulators would like them to fetch. Unfortunately, banks’ lobbying now seems to be working. The details may be unknowable, but the independence of standard-setters, essential to the proper functioning of capital markets, is being compromised. And, unless banks carry toxic assets at prices that attract buyers, reviving the banking system will be difficult. After a bruising encounter with Congress, America’s Financial Accounting Standards Board (FASB) rushed through rule changes. These gave banks more freedom to use models to value illiquid assets and more flexibility in recognizing losses on long-term assets in their income statement. Bob Herz, the FASB’s chairman, cried out against those who "question our motives. "Yet bank shares rose and the changes enhance what one lobby group politely calls "the use of judgment by management." European ministers instantly demanded that the International Accounting Standards Board (IASB) do likewise. The IASB says it does not want to act without overall planning, but the pressure to fold when it completes it reconstruction of rules later this year is strong. Charlie McCreevy, a European commissioner, warned the IASB that it did "not live in a political vacuum" but "in the real word" and that Europe could yet develop different rules. It was banks that were on the wrong planet, with accounts that vastly overvalued assets. Today they argue that market prices overstate losses, because they largely reflect the temporary illiquidity of markets, not the likely extent of bad debts. The truth will not be known for years. But bank’s shares trade below their book value, suggesting that investors are skeptical. And dead markets partly reflect the paralysis of banks which will not sell assets for fear of booking losses, yet are reluctant to buy all those supposed bargains. To get the system working again, losses must be recognized and dealt with. America’s new plan to buy up toxic assets will not work unless banks mark assets to levels which buyers find attractive. Successful markets require independent and even combative standard-setters. The FASB and IASB have been exactly that, cleaning up rules on stock options and pensions, for example, against hostility from special interests. But by giving in to critics now they are inviting pressure to make more concessions. According to Paragraph 4,McCreevy objects to the IASB’s attempt to______.
A. keep away from political influences
B. evade the pressure from their peers
C. act on their own in rule-setting
D. take gradual measures in reform