MALAYSIA is agog with speculation. The government, which charged a sitting minister and a prominent businessman with corruption earlier this month, says it has a list of 18 other high-profile suspects due for similar treatment. Opposition politicians say that Rafidah Aziz, the minister of trade, should be among them. She denies any wrong-doing and says she will sue her critics for defamation—a threat they claim to welcome as a chance to prove their accusations in court. Is the pervasiveness of corruption, a problem common to most countries in South-East Asia, at last getting a proper airingThe region is certainly awash with celebrated corruption cases. Joseph Estrada, the deposed president of the Philippines, is currently on trial for "economic plunder". On February 12th, Indonesia’s supreme court finally ruled on a long-running embezzlement case against Akbar Tandjung, the speaker of parliament. In 2001, Thailand’s constitutional court heard charges that Thaksin Shinawatra, the prime minister, had concealed some assets during an earlier stint as minister.But there is less to this flurry of righteousness than meeting the eye. For starters, prosecutors have not had much success against grand defendants like Messrs Thaksin and Tandjung. Both persuaded higher courts in overturn earlier rulings against them. Mr. Estrada, too, managed to evade impeachment while in office, and prosecutors are making heavy weather of their current case againsthim. Even the convicted Mr. Rakkiat has not yet begun his prison term, since he jumped bail and went into hiding. What is more, all the countries in the region save Singapore and Malaysia still rank in the bottom half of the most recent "Corruption Perceptions Index" compiled by Transparency International, an anti-graft watchdog. Vietnam ranked 100 out of 133 countries, Indonesia 122 and Myanmar a dismal 129.This poor showing stems in part from a lack of laws, personnel and money to combat corruption. But the resource in shortest supply is political will to tackle the problem. All countries in South -East Asia have at least one anti-corruption agency. But the ones that work best, argues Jon Quah, a professor at the National University of Singapore, are centralized, independent agencies such as Thailand’s National Counter Corruption Commission. By contrast, Malaysia’s Anti-Corrnption Agency reports to the government, and so is subject to political control. The Philippines, meanwhile, has adopted no fewer than seven anti-corruption laws in the past 50 years, and created 13 anti-graft agencies, according to Mr. Quah’s count. Dramatic but disputed corruption allegations, such as the claim that the president’s husband is managing multiple slush funds, simply get lost in all this bureaucracy. According to the passage, Rafidah Aziz's critic will welcome her threat because ().
A. they could take advantage of it to accuse her.
B. it show her weak points.
C. they could make it evidence.
D. she has given them bribe.
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"Intelligence" at best is an assumptive construct--the meaning of the word has never been clear. There is (21) agreement on the kinds of behavior (22) by the term than there is on how to interpret or classify them. (23) it is generally agreed that a person of high intelligence is one who can grasp ideas (24) , make distinctions, reason logically, and make use of verbal and mathematical (25) in solving problems. An intelligence test is a (26) measure of a child’s capacity for learning, (27) for learning the kinds of things required in school. It does not measure character, social adjustment, physical (28) , manual skills, or artistic abilities. It was not designed (29) such purposes. To criticize it for such failure is roughly (30) to criticizing a thermometer for not measuring wind velocity.The other thing we have to (31) is that the assessment of the intelligence of any (32) is essentially a comparative affair. We must be sure that the (33) with which we are comparing our subjects provides a" valid" or "fair" comparison. (34) this, any test performed involves at least three factors: the (35) to do one’s best, the knowledge required for under standing (36) you have to do, and the (37) ability to do it. The first two must be equal for all that are being compared, if any comparison (38) intelligence is to be made.No one is (39) interested in the marks a little child gets on his test; instead we are interested in (40) we can conclude from his mark on the test that the child will do better or worse than other children of his age at tasks which we think require "general intelligence". 34().
A. subject
B. object
C. subordinate
D. target
The other day a British businessman, recently having visited Japan, recounted the words of a leading Japanese ship-owner. "Our ships" said this individual with a sigh, "are going fully loaded to Europe and America but these days coming back empty."Of course, this oversimplifies, but the message is clear—and for the Europeans it is especially chilling. The Asian world (including notably a reviving Japan, and to a rapidly increasing extent, China, India, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia) is supplying more and more of Europe’s and America’s needs, but the West is not reciprocating. The old and cozy image of trade being a two-way beneficial flow between East and West is fading fast.There used to be a sort of superior view that the West, and Europe in particular, would do all the thinking, innovating and designing, and the East with its cheap labor would churn out the more basic items. In due course, the cheap labor would become more expensive as incomes rose and everything would be evened out again smoothly in the world trade balance.Most of that theory was shattered long ago as it became apparent that Japan had begun to dominate world manufacturing and that the rest of Asia was following on behind. By the end of the 20th century it had become obvious that there was almost nothing the Europeans could do that rising Asia could not do better—from building motorcars and skyscrapers to the most advanced developments in biotechnology, nanotechnology and the frontiers of industrial and scientific innovation.Until recently, those in the West seeking reassurance as they saw their markets undermined by Asian competition comforted themselves with one further theory. Manufactures might be going east but in the new age of services and software the main skills and systems would stay in the West and serve rich Western markets. This was supposed to apply in particular to financial services, where London and New York still appear to command the global scene.But the global communications revolution is beginning to chip away even at this picture. With the dramatic fall in the cost of both voice and picture transmission round the world it is ceasing to matter just where many services are located. Booking services, banking services, credit card handling, help-lines, travel services, all kinds of shopping inquiries, insurance arrangements—all these and many more can be located "offshore" almost anywhere on the globe, as long as there is not much of a language problem and local labor is suitable and willing. The best title for the passage may be().
A. Rising of the Oriental.
B. The West's Nightmare.
C. Tomorrow's Honor Has Gone.
D. Globalization Cause Crisis.
Teachers need to be aware of the emotional, intellectual, and physical changes that young adults experience. And they also need to give serious (21) to how they can best (22) such changes. Growing bodies need movement and (23) , but not just in ways that emphasize competition. (24) they .are adjusting to their new bodies and a whole host of new intellectual and emotional challenges; teenagers are especially self-conscious and need the (25) that comes from achieving success and knowing that their accomplishments are (26) .by others. However, the typical teenage lifestyle is already filled with so much competition that it would be (27) to plan activities in which there are more winners than losers, (28) , publishing newsletters with many student-written book reviews, (29) student artwork, and sponsoring book discussion clubs. A variety of small clubs can provide (30) opportunities for leadership, as well as for practice in successful (31) dynamics. Making friends is extremely important to teenagers, and many shy students need the (32) of some kind of organization with a supportive adult (33) visible in the background.In these activities, it is important to remember that the young teenagers have (34) attention spans. A variety of activities should be organized (35) participants can remain active as long as they want and then go on to (36) else without feeling guilty and without letting the other participants (37) . This does not mean that adults must accept irresponsibility. (38) they can help students acquire a sense of commitment by (39) for roles that are within their (40) and their attention spans and by shavings clearly stated rules. 37().
A. strengthen
B. accommodate
C. stimulate
D. enhance
Benjamin Barber’s Fear’s Empire presents a case against the recent unilateral impulses in U. S. foreign policy. According to Barber, empire is not inherent in U.S. dominance but is, rather, a temptation—one to which the Bush administration has increasingly succumbed. In confronting terror- ism, Washington has vacillated between appealing to law and undermining it. Barber’s thesis is that by invoking a right to unilateral action, preventive war, and regime change, the United States has undermined the very framework of cooperation and law that is necessary to fight terrorist anarchy. A foreign policy oriented around the use of military force against rogue states, Barber argues, reflects a misunderstanding of the consequences of global interdependence and the character of democracy. Washington cannot run a global order driven by military action and the fear of terrorism. Simply put, American empire is not sustainable.For Barber, the logic of globalization trumps the logic of empire: the spread of Mc World under- mines imperial grand strategy. In most aspects of economic and political life, the United States depends heavily on other states. In an empire of fear, the United States attempts to order the world through force of arms. But this strategy is self-defeating: it creates hostile states bent on overturning the imperial order, not obedient junior partners.Barber proposes instead a cosmopolitan order of universal law rooted in human community: "Lex humana works for global comity within the framework of universal rights and law, conferred by multilateral political, economic, and cultural cooperation—with only as much common military action as can be authorized by common legal authority; whether in the Congress, in multilateral treaties, or through the United Nations." Terrorist threats, Barber concludes, are best confronted with a strategy of "preventive democracy"—democratic states working together to strengthen and extend liberalism.Barber’s overly idealized vision of cosmopolitan global governance is less convincing, however, than his warnings about unilateral military rule. Indeed, he provides a useful cautionary note for liberal empire enthusiasts in two respects. First, the two objectives of liberal empire—upholding the rules of the international system and unilaterally employing military power against enemies of the American order—often conflict. Second, the threats posed by terrorism and weapons of mass destruction are not enough to legitimate America’s liberal empire. During the Cold War, the United States articulated a vision of community and progress within a U. S. -lead free world, infusing the exercise of U.S. power with legitimacy. It is doubtful, however, that the war on terrorism, in which countries are either "with us or against us", has an appeal that can draw enough support to justify a U. S. -dominated order. The author's attitude towards Barber's theory in Fear's Empire can be best described as().
A. minor disapproval.
B. suspect.
C. objective.
D. indifferent.