What accounts for the great outburst of major inventions in early America-breakthroughs such as the telegraph, the steamboat and the weaving machine Among the many shaping factors, I would single out the country’s excellent elementary schools; a labor force that welcomed the new technology; the practice of giving premiums to inventors; and above all the American genius for nonverbal, "spatial" thinking about things technological. Why mention the elementary schools Because thanks to these schools our early mechanics, specially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states, were generally literate and at home in arithmetic and in some aspects of geometry and trigonometry. Acute foreign observers related American adaptiveness and inventiveness to this educational advantage. As a member of a British commission visiting here in 1853 reported, "With a mind prepared by thorough school discipline, the American boy develops rapidly into the skilled workman." A further stimulus to invention came from the "premium" system, which preceded our patent system and for years ran parallel with it. This approach, originated abroad, offered inventors medals, cash prizes and other incentives. In the United States, multitudes of premiums for new devices were awarded at country fairs and at the industrial fairs in major cities. Americans flocked to these fairs to admire the new machines and thus to renew their faith in the beneficence of technological advance. Given this optimistic approach to technological innovation, the American worker took readily to that special kind of nonverbal thinking required in mechanical technology. As Eugene Ferguson has pointed out, "A technologist thinks about objects that cannot be reduced to unambiguous verbal descriptions; they are dealt with in his mind by a visual, nonverbal process... The designer and the inventor.., are able to assemble and manipulate in their minds devices that as yet do not exist." This nonverbal "spatial" thinking can be just as creative as painting and writing. Robert Fulton once wrote, "The mechanic should sit down among levers, screws, wedges, wheels, etc. , like a poet among the letters of the alphabet, considering them as an exhibition of his thoughts, in which a new arrangement transmits a new idea." When all these shaping forces — schools, open attitudes, the premium system, a genius for spatial thinking- interacted with one another on the rich U. S. mainland, they produced that American characteristic, emulation. Today that word implies mere imitation. But in earlier times it meant a friendly but competitive striving for fame and excellence. The best title for this passage might be ______.
A. Inventive Mind
B. Effective Schooling
C. Ways of Thinking
D. Technological Advance
When Gina Garro and Brian Duplisea adopted 4-month-old Andres from Colombia last month, they were determined to take time off from work to care for him. Though Garro’s $ 40,000 salary will cover their mortgage, the couple will have to freeze their retirement accounts, and pray that nothing goes wrong with the car. "It takes away from your cushion and your security," says Garro. "Things will be fight. ’ The 1993 Family and Medical Leave Act was supposed to help families like Garro’s, offering a safety net to employees who want to take time off to nurture newborns, tend to their own major illnesses or care for sick relatives. But while the law guarantees that workers won’t lose their jobs, it doesn’t cover their paychecks. One survey last year showed that while 24 million Americans had taken leaves since 1999, 2.7 million more wanted to, but couldn’t afford it. That may change soon. In response to increasing demands from voters, at least 25 states are now exploring new ways to offer paid leave. One possibility: tapping state disability funds. A handful of states — New York, New Jersey, California, Rhode Island and Hawaii — already dip into disability money to offer partial pay for women on maternity leave. But that doesn’t help dads or people caring for elderly parents. New Jersey and New York may soon expand disability programs to cover leave for fathers and other caretakers. Thirteen states, including Arizona, Illinois and Florida, have proposed using unemployment funds to pay for leave. Massachusetts has been especially creative. When the state’s acting governor, Jane Swift, gave birth to twin daughters in May, she drew attention to the issue with her own "working maternity leave": she telecommuted part-time but earned her usual full-time salary. Even before Swift returned to work last week, the state Senate unanimously passed a pilot plan that would use surplus funds from a healthinsurance program for the unemployed to give new parents 12 weeks off at half pay. Another plan, proposed in the House, would require employers to kick in $ 20 per worker to set up a "New Families Trust Fund". Businesses would get tax credits in return. This week Swift is expected to announce her own paid-leave plan for lower-income mothers and fathers. Polls show widespread public support — another reason Swift and other politicians across the country have embraced the issue. Still, not everyone’s wild about the idea. People without children question why new parents — the first group to get paid leave under many of the proposed plans — should get more government perks than they do. Business groups are resistant to proposals that would raid unemployment funds; several have already filed suit to block them. As the economy slows, many companies say they can’t afford to contribute to proposed new benefit funds either. Business lobbyists say too many employees already abuse existing federal family-leave laws by taking time off for dubious reasons or in tiny time increments. The proposed laws, they say, would only make matters worse. For Garro and Duplisea, though, the new laws could make all the difference. As Melina fixes a peanut-butter-and-jelly sandwich, Duplisea hugs a snoozing Andres against his T shirt. "We’re trying to do the right thing by two kids, and we have to sacrifice," Duplisea says. In Massachusetts and plenty of other states, help may be on the way. From the first paragraph, we learn that ______.
A. the couple have made a lot of sacrifices to take care of their children’
B. Garro can earn more money so she should go back to work
C. Duplisea’s boss is so considerate as to allow him to keep his job
D. Garro and Duplisea used to live a comfortable and easy life
建筑结构吊装主要是指使用起重机械将预制构件或构件组合单元安放到设计位置上去的工艺过程。( )
A. 对
B. 错
In the United States the first day nursery was opened in 1854. Nurseries were established in various areas during the (31) half of the 19th century; most of (32) were charitable. Both in Europe and in the U. S. , the day-nursery movement received great (33) during the First World War, when (34) of manpower caused the industrial employment of unprecedented numbers of women. In some European countries nurseries were established even in munitions plants, under direct government (35) . Although the number of nurseries in the U. S. also rose (36) , this rise was accomplished without government aid of any kind. During the years following the First World War, (37) , Federal, State, and local governments gradually began to (38) a measure of control in the day nurseries, chiefly by (39) them and by inspecting and regulating the conditions within the nurseries. The (40) of the Second World War was quickly followed by an increase in the number of day nurseries in almost all countries, as women were again (41) to replace men in the factories. On this (42) the U.S. government immediately came to the support of the nursery schools, (43) $ 6,000,000 in July, 1942, for a nursery-school program for the children of working mothers. Many states and local communities (44) this Federal aid. By the end of the War, in August, 1945, more than 100, 000 children were being cared (45) in daycare centers receiving Federal (46) . Soon afterward, the Federal government drastically (47) its expenditures for this purpose and later (48) them, causing a sharp drop in the number of nursery schools in operation. However, the expectation (49) most employed mothers would leave their jobs at the end of the War was only partly (50) .
A. impose
B. exercise
C. implement
D. enforce