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[
"World Governments should conduct serious campaigns against smoking.",
"World governments take timid measures against smoking.",
"smoking is the most important source of income to many countries.",
"tobacco industry spends a large sum of money on medical research."
] | What is the best title of this passage? | Strictly Ban smoking
If you smoke and you still don't believe that there's a definite link between smoking and bronchial troubles, heart disease and lung cancer, then you are certainly deceiving yourself. No one will accuse you of hypocrisy. Let us just say that you are suffering from a bad case of wishful thinking.
This needn't make you too uncomfortable because you are in good company. Whenever the subject of smoking and health is raised, the governments of most countries hear no evil, see no evil and smell no evil. Admittedly, a few governments have taken timid measures.
In Britain for instance, cigarette advertising has been banned on television. The conscience of the nation is appeased, while the population continues to puff its way to smoky, cancerous death.
You don' t have to look very far to find out why the official reactions to medical findings have been so lukewarm. The answer is simply money. Tobacco is a wonderful commodity to tax. It' s almost like a tax on our daily bread.
In tax revenue alone, the government of Britain collects enough from smokers to pay for its entire educational facilities. So while the authorities point out ever so discreetly that smoking may, conceivable, be harmful, it down't do to shout too loudly about it.
This is surely the most short-sighted policy you could imagine. While money is eagerly collected in vast sums with one hand, it is paid out in increasingly vaster sums with the other. Enormous amounts are spent on cancer research and on efforts to cure people suffering from the disease.
Countless valuable lives are lost. In the long run, there is no doubt that everybody would be much better-off if smoking were banned altogether.
Of course, we are not ready for such a drastic action. But if the governments of the world were honestly concerned about the welfare of their peoples, you'd think they'd conduct aggressive anti-smoking campaigns. Far from it! The tobacco industry is allowed to spend staggering sums on advertising.
Its advertising is as insidious as it is dishonest. We are never shown pictures of real smokers coughing up their lungs early in the morning. That would never do. The advertisement always depict virile, clean-shaven young men. They suggest it is manly to smoke, even positively healthy!
Smoking is associated with the great open-air life, with beautiful girls, true love and togetherness. What utter nonsense!
For a start, governments could begin by banning all cigarette and tobacco advertising and should then conduct anti-smoking advertising campaigns of their own. Smoking should be banned in all public places like theatres, cinemas and restaurants. Great efforts should be made to inform young people especially of the dire consequences of taking up the habit. A horrific warning say, a picture of a death's head should be included in every packet of cigarettes that is sold. As individuals, we are、 certainly weak, but if governments acted honestly and courageously, they could protect us from ourselves. | 260.txt | 0 |
[
"the treatments should be paid for out of public funds.",
"the treatments are not so compulsory as they consume the limited public funds.",
"the treatments are not necessarily only paid for out of public funds.",
"the public is not obliged to pay for such treatments of no urgent nature."
] | According to the text, the public's opinion on the infertility treatments is that _ | Infertility is normally seen as a private matter. If a couple are infertile and wish they were not, that is sad. But there is understandable resistance in many countries to the idea that treatments intended to deal with this sadness-known collectively as assisted reproductive technologies, or ARTs-should be paid for out of public funds. Such funds are scarce, and infertility is not a life-threatening condition.
However, two papers presented to the "State of the ART" conference held earlier this month in Lyon argue that in Europe, at least, there may be a public interest in promoting ARTs after all. The low fertility rate in many of that continent's more developed countries means their populations are ageing and shrinking. If governments want to change this, ARTs-most significantly in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)-could offer at least part of a way to do so.
As the conference heard, IVF does seem to be keeping up the numbers in at least one country. Tina Jensen of the University of Southern Denmark has just finished a study of more than 700,000 Danish women. She found that young women in Denmark have a significantly lower natural conception rate than in past decades. That is partly, but not entirely, because they are having their children later in life. The rest of the cause is unknown, though reduced sperm quality in men may be a factor. Whatever the cause, she also found that the effect has been almost completely compensated for by an increasing use of ARTs. Denmark's native population is more or less stable, but some 3.9% of babies born there in 2003 were the result of IVF. The comparable figure for another northern European country, Britain, was 1.5%.
Without IVF, then, the number of Danes would be shrinking fast. That it is not may have something to do with the fact that in Denmark the taxpayer will cover up to six cycles of IVF treatment. In Britain, by contrast, couples are supposed to be entitled to three cycles. In practice, many of the local trusts that dish the money out do not pay for any cycles at all. Jonathan Grant, the head of the Cambridge branch of the Rand Corporation (an American think-tank), believes this is shortsighted. His paper showed that if Britain supported IVF at the Danish level then its birth rate would probably increase by about 10,000 a year.
The cost of offering six cycles to couples (and doing so in practice, rather than just in theory) would be an extra £250m-430m a year. That is not trivial, but Dr Grant reckons it is cheaper than other ways of boosting the birth rate. Some countries, for example, have tried to bribe women into having more children by increasing child benefits. According to his calculations, raising such benefits costs between £50,000 and £100,000 a year for each additional birth procured. Ten thousand extra births each year would thus cost between £500m and £1 billion.
There are, of course, some disadvantages to promoting IVF. In particular, women who use it tend to be older than those who conceive naturally, and that can lead to congenital problems in their children. But if the countries of Europe do wish to keep their populations up, making IVF more widely available might be a good way of doing so. | 3636.txt | 1 |
[
"ARTs have reversed the tendency of population decreasing in Denmark.",
"Danes's problem of low natural conception has been completely counterbalanced by the widely use of ARTs.",
"The population of Denmark is not decreasing after the adoption of ARTs.",
"IVF has played an essential role in Denmark in terms of keeping up the number of population."
] | According to the study conducted by Tina Jensen, which one of the following statements is true? | Infertility is normally seen as a private matter. If a couple are infertile and wish they were not, that is sad. But there is understandable resistance in many countries to the idea that treatments intended to deal with this sadness-known collectively as assisted reproductive technologies, or ARTs-should be paid for out of public funds. Such funds are scarce, and infertility is not a life-threatening condition.
However, two papers presented to the "State of the ART" conference held earlier this month in Lyon argue that in Europe, at least, there may be a public interest in promoting ARTs after all. The low fertility rate in many of that continent's more developed countries means their populations are ageing and shrinking. If governments want to change this, ARTs-most significantly in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)-could offer at least part of a way to do so.
As the conference heard, IVF does seem to be keeping up the numbers in at least one country. Tina Jensen of the University of Southern Denmark has just finished a study of more than 700,000 Danish women. She found that young women in Denmark have a significantly lower natural conception rate than in past decades. That is partly, but not entirely, because they are having their children later in life. The rest of the cause is unknown, though reduced sperm quality in men may be a factor. Whatever the cause, she also found that the effect has been almost completely compensated for by an increasing use of ARTs. Denmark's native population is more or less stable, but some 3.9% of babies born there in 2003 were the result of IVF. The comparable figure for another northern European country, Britain, was 1.5%.
Without IVF, then, the number of Danes would be shrinking fast. That it is not may have something to do with the fact that in Denmark the taxpayer will cover up to six cycles of IVF treatment. In Britain, by contrast, couples are supposed to be entitled to three cycles. In practice, many of the local trusts that dish the money out do not pay for any cycles at all. Jonathan Grant, the head of the Cambridge branch of the Rand Corporation (an American think-tank), believes this is shortsighted. His paper showed that if Britain supported IVF at the Danish level then its birth rate would probably increase by about 10,000 a year.
The cost of offering six cycles to couples (and doing so in practice, rather than just in theory) would be an extra £250m-430m a year. That is not trivial, but Dr Grant reckons it is cheaper than other ways of boosting the birth rate. Some countries, for example, have tried to bribe women into having more children by increasing child benefits. According to his calculations, raising such benefits costs between £50,000 and £100,000 a year for each additional birth procured. Ten thousand extra births each year would thus cost between £500m and £1 billion.
There are, of course, some disadvantages to promoting IVF. In particular, women who use it tend to be older than those who conceive naturally, and that can lead to congenital problems in their children. But if the countries of Europe do wish to keep their populations up, making IVF more widely available might be a good way of doing so. | 3636.txt | 3 |
[
"the cost of offering six cycles of IVF to couples is not high at all.",
"IVF treatment is an economical way of solving population shrinking.",
"Britain does not promote adopting IVF to boost the birth rate.",
"encouraging women to bear more babies by bonus is not so efficient to solve the problem of population shrinking."
] | From the paper of Dr Grant, it can be inferred that _ | Infertility is normally seen as a private matter. If a couple are infertile and wish they were not, that is sad. But there is understandable resistance in many countries to the idea that treatments intended to deal with this sadness-known collectively as assisted reproductive technologies, or ARTs-should be paid for out of public funds. Such funds are scarce, and infertility is not a life-threatening condition.
However, two papers presented to the "State of the ART" conference held earlier this month in Lyon argue that in Europe, at least, there may be a public interest in promoting ARTs after all. The low fertility rate in many of that continent's more developed countries means their populations are ageing and shrinking. If governments want to change this, ARTs-most significantly in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)-could offer at least part of a way to do so.
As the conference heard, IVF does seem to be keeping up the numbers in at least one country. Tina Jensen of the University of Southern Denmark has just finished a study of more than 700,000 Danish women. She found that young women in Denmark have a significantly lower natural conception rate than in past decades. That is partly, but not entirely, because they are having their children later in life. The rest of the cause is unknown, though reduced sperm quality in men may be a factor. Whatever the cause, she also found that the effect has been almost completely compensated for by an increasing use of ARTs. Denmark's native population is more or less stable, but some 3.9% of babies born there in 2003 were the result of IVF. The comparable figure for another northern European country, Britain, was 1.5%.
Without IVF, then, the number of Danes would be shrinking fast. That it is not may have something to do with the fact that in Denmark the taxpayer will cover up to six cycles of IVF treatment. In Britain, by contrast, couples are supposed to be entitled to three cycles. In practice, many of the local trusts that dish the money out do not pay for any cycles at all. Jonathan Grant, the head of the Cambridge branch of the Rand Corporation (an American think-tank), believes this is shortsighted. His paper showed that if Britain supported IVF at the Danish level then its birth rate would probably increase by about 10,000 a year.
The cost of offering six cycles to couples (and doing so in practice, rather than just in theory) would be an extra £250m-430m a year. That is not trivial, but Dr Grant reckons it is cheaper than other ways of boosting the birth rate. Some countries, for example, have tried to bribe women into having more children by increasing child benefits. According to his calculations, raising such benefits costs between £50,000 and £100,000 a year for each additional birth procured. Ten thousand extra births each year would thus cost between £500m and £1 billion.
There are, of course, some disadvantages to promoting IVF. In particular, women who use it tend to be older than those who conceive naturally, and that can lead to congenital problems in their children. But if the countries of Europe do wish to keep their populations up, making IVF more widely available might be a good way of doing so. | 3636.txt | 0 |
[
"innate.",
"instinctive.",
"cerebral.",
"acquired."
] | The word "congenital" (Line 2, Paragraph 6) most probably means _ | Infertility is normally seen as a private matter. If a couple are infertile and wish they were not, that is sad. But there is understandable resistance in many countries to the idea that treatments intended to deal with this sadness-known collectively as assisted reproductive technologies, or ARTs-should be paid for out of public funds. Such funds are scarce, and infertility is not a life-threatening condition.
However, two papers presented to the "State of the ART" conference held earlier this month in Lyon argue that in Europe, at least, there may be a public interest in promoting ARTs after all. The low fertility rate in many of that continent's more developed countries means their populations are ageing and shrinking. If governments want to change this, ARTs-most significantly in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)-could offer at least part of a way to do so.
As the conference heard, IVF does seem to be keeping up the numbers in at least one country. Tina Jensen of the University of Southern Denmark has just finished a study of more than 700,000 Danish women. She found that young women in Denmark have a significantly lower natural conception rate than in past decades. That is partly, but not entirely, because they are having their children later in life. The rest of the cause is unknown, though reduced sperm quality in men may be a factor. Whatever the cause, she also found that the effect has been almost completely compensated for by an increasing use of ARTs. Denmark's native population is more or less stable, but some 3.9% of babies born there in 2003 were the result of IVF. The comparable figure for another northern European country, Britain, was 1.5%.
Without IVF, then, the number of Danes would be shrinking fast. That it is not may have something to do with the fact that in Denmark the taxpayer will cover up to six cycles of IVF treatment. In Britain, by contrast, couples are supposed to be entitled to three cycles. In practice, many of the local trusts that dish the money out do not pay for any cycles at all. Jonathan Grant, the head of the Cambridge branch of the Rand Corporation (an American think-tank), believes this is shortsighted. His paper showed that if Britain supported IVF at the Danish level then its birth rate would probably increase by about 10,000 a year.
The cost of offering six cycles to couples (and doing so in practice, rather than just in theory) would be an extra £250m-430m a year. That is not trivial, but Dr Grant reckons it is cheaper than other ways of boosting the birth rate. Some countries, for example, have tried to bribe women into having more children by increasing child benefits. According to his calculations, raising such benefits costs between £50,000 and £100,000 a year for each additional birth procured. Ten thousand extra births each year would thus cost between £500m and £1 billion.
There are, of course, some disadvantages to promoting IVF. In particular, women who use it tend to be older than those who conceive naturally, and that can lead to congenital problems in their children. But if the countries of Europe do wish to keep their populations up, making IVF more widely available might be a good way of doing so. | 3636.txt | 0 |
[
"supportive.",
"opposing.",
"ambiguous.",
"objective."
] | According to the passage, the author's attitude towards promoting in-vitro fertilization can be said to be _ | Infertility is normally seen as a private matter. If a couple are infertile and wish they were not, that is sad. But there is understandable resistance in many countries to the idea that treatments intended to deal with this sadness-known collectively as assisted reproductive technologies, or ARTs-should be paid for out of public funds. Such funds are scarce, and infertility is not a life-threatening condition.
However, two papers presented to the "State of the ART" conference held earlier this month in Lyon argue that in Europe, at least, there may be a public interest in promoting ARTs after all. The low fertility rate in many of that continent's more developed countries means their populations are ageing and shrinking. If governments want to change this, ARTs-most significantly in-vitro fertilisation (IVF)-could offer at least part of a way to do so.
As the conference heard, IVF does seem to be keeping up the numbers in at least one country. Tina Jensen of the University of Southern Denmark has just finished a study of more than 700,000 Danish women. She found that young women in Denmark have a significantly lower natural conception rate than in past decades. That is partly, but not entirely, because they are having their children later in life. The rest of the cause is unknown, though reduced sperm quality in men may be a factor. Whatever the cause, she also found that the effect has been almost completely compensated for by an increasing use of ARTs. Denmark's native population is more or less stable, but some 3.9% of babies born there in 2003 were the result of IVF. The comparable figure for another northern European country, Britain, was 1.5%.
Without IVF, then, the number of Danes would be shrinking fast. That it is not may have something to do with the fact that in Denmark the taxpayer will cover up to six cycles of IVF treatment. In Britain, by contrast, couples are supposed to be entitled to three cycles. In practice, many of the local trusts that dish the money out do not pay for any cycles at all. Jonathan Grant, the head of the Cambridge branch of the Rand Corporation (an American think-tank), believes this is shortsighted. His paper showed that if Britain supported IVF at the Danish level then its birth rate would probably increase by about 10,000 a year.
The cost of offering six cycles to couples (and doing so in practice, rather than just in theory) would be an extra £250m-430m a year. That is not trivial, but Dr Grant reckons it is cheaper than other ways of boosting the birth rate. Some countries, for example, have tried to bribe women into having more children by increasing child benefits. According to his calculations, raising such benefits costs between £50,000 and £100,000 a year for each additional birth procured. Ten thousand extra births each year would thus cost between £500m and £1 billion.
There are, of course, some disadvantages to promoting IVF. In particular, women who use it tend to be older than those who conceive naturally, and that can lead to congenital problems in their children. But if the countries of Europe do wish to keep their populations up, making IVF more widely available might be a good way of doing so. | 3636.txt | 0 |
[
"Fond of beer and wine.",
"Punished for speeding and wrong parking.",
"Unable to speak a foreign language.",
"Not having college education."
] | What prevents Jack,an experienced taxi driver,working for Capes Taxis? | 1
Driver Wanted
(1)Clean driving license.
(2)Must be of smart appearance.
(3)Aged over 25.
Apply to:Capes Taxis,17 Palace Road,Boston.
2
Air Hostesses for International Flights Wanted
(1)Applicants must be between 20 and 33 years old.
(2)Height 1.6m to 1.75m.
(3)Education to GCSE standard.
(4)Two languages.Must be able to swim.
Apply to:Recruitment office,Southern Airline,Heathrow Airport West.HR37KK
3
Teacher Needed
For private language school.Teaching experience unnecessary.
Apply to :The Director of Studies,Instant Language Ltd,279 Canal Street,Boston. | 3353.txt | 1 |
[
"Driving for Capes Taxis.",
"Working for Southern Airlines.",
"Teaching at Instant Language Ltd.",
"None of the three."
] | Ben,aged 22,fond of swimming and driving,has just graduated from a college.Which job might be given to him? | 1
Driver Wanted
(1)Clean driving license.
(2)Must be of smart appearance.
(3)Aged over 25.
Apply to:Capes Taxis,17 Palace Road,Boston.
2
Air Hostesses for International Flights Wanted
(1)Applicants must be between 20 and 33 years old.
(2)Height 1.6m to 1.75m.
(3)Education to GCSE standard.
(4)Two languages.Must be able to swim.
Apply to:Recruitment office,Southern Airline,Heathrow Airport West.HR37KK
3
Teacher Needed
For private language school.Teaching experience unnecessary.
Apply to :The Director of Studies,Instant Language Ltd,279 Canal Street,Boston. | 3353.txt | 2 |
[
"She once broke a traffic law and was fined.",
"She can't speak Japanese very well.",
"She has never worked as an air hostess before.",
"She doesn't feel like working long hours flying abroad."
] | What prevents Mary,aged 25,becoming an air hostess for international flights? | 1
Driver Wanted
(1)Clean driving license.
(2)Must be of smart appearance.
(3)Aged over 25.
Apply to:Capes Taxis,17 Palace Road,Boston.
2
Air Hostesses for International Flights Wanted
(1)Applicants must be between 20 and 33 years old.
(2)Height 1.6m to 1.75m.
(3)Education to GCSE standard.
(4)Two languages.Must be able to swim.
Apply to:Recruitment office,Southern Airline,Heathrow Airport West.HR37KK
3
Teacher Needed
For private language school.Teaching experience unnecessary.
Apply to :The Director of Studies,Instant Language Ltd,279 Canal Street,Boston. | 3353.txt | 3 |
[
"Marriage.",
"Male or female.",
"Education.",
"Working experience."
] | Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the three advertisements? | 1
Driver Wanted
(1)Clean driving license.
(2)Must be of smart appearance.
(3)Aged over 25.
Apply to:Capes Taxis,17 Palace Road,Boston.
2
Air Hostesses for International Flights Wanted
(1)Applicants must be between 20 and 33 years old.
(2)Height 1.6m to 1.75m.
(3)Education to GCSE standard.
(4)Two languages.Must be able to swim.
Apply to:Recruitment office,Southern Airline,Heathrow Airport West.HR37KK
3
Teacher Needed
For private language school.Teaching experience unnecessary.
Apply to :The Director of Studies,Instant Language Ltd,279 Canal Street,Boston. | 3353.txt | 0 |
[
"describing how the principles of classical chemistry were developed.",
"initiating a debate about the kinds of chemical reaction required for the development of life.",
"explaining how current research in chemistry may be related to broader biological concerns.",
"clarifying inherent ambiguities in the laws of classical chemistry."
] | The author is mainly concerned with | Chemistry and Biology
About a century ago, the Swedish physical scientist Arrhenius proposed a low of classical chemistry that relates chemical reaction rate to temperature. According to his equation, chemical reactions are increasingly unlikely to occur as temperature approaches absolute zero, and at absolute zero, reactions stop. However, recent experiment evidence reveals that although the Arrhenius equation is generally accurate in describing the kind of chemical reaction that occurs at relatively high temperature, at temperatures closer to zero a quantum-mechanical effect known as tunneling comes into play; this effect accounts for chemical reactions that are forbidden by the principles of classical chemistry. Specifically, entire molecules can tunnel through the barriers of repulsive forces from other molecules and chemically react even though these molecules do not have sufficient energy, according to classical chemistry, to overcome the repulsive barrier.
The rate of any chemical reaction, regardless of the temperature at which it takes place, usually depends on a very important characteristic known as its activation energy. Any molecule can be imagined to reside at the bottom of a so-called potential well of energy. S chemical reaction corresponds to the transition of a molecule from the bottom of one potential well to the bottom of another. In classical chemistry, such a transition can be accomplished only by going over the potential barrier between the well, the height of which remain constant and is called the activation energy of the reaction. In tunneling, the reacting molecules tunnel from the bottom of one to the bottom of another well without having to rise over the barrier between the two wells. Recently researchers have developed the concept of tunneling temperature: the temperature below which tunneling transitions greatly outnumber Arrhenius transitions, and classical mechanics gives way to its quantum counterpart.
This tunneling phenomenon at very low temperatures suggested my hypothesis about a cold prehistory of life: formation of rather complex organic molecules in the deep cold of outer space, where temperatures usually reach only a few degrees Kelvin. Cosmic rays might trigger the synthesis of simple molecules, such as interstellar formaldehyde, in dark clouds of interstellar dust. Afterward complex organic molecules would be formed, slowly but surely, by means of tunneling. After I offered my hupothesis, Hoyle and Wickramashinghe argued that molecules of interstellar formaldehyde have indeed evolved into stable polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch. Their conclusions, although strongly disputed, have generated excitement among investigators such as myself who are proposing that the galactic clouds are the places where the prebiological evolution of compounds necessary to life occurred. | 230.txt | 2 |
[
"In both, reacting molecules have to rise over the barrier between the two wells.",
"In both types of reactions, a transition is made from the bottom of one potential well to the bottom of another.",
"In both types of reactions, reacting molecules are able to go through the barrier between the two wells.",
"In neither type of reaction does the rate of a chemical reaction depend on its activation energy."
] | In which of the following ways are the mentioned chemical reactions and tunneling reactions alike? | Chemistry and Biology
About a century ago, the Swedish physical scientist Arrhenius proposed a low of classical chemistry that relates chemical reaction rate to temperature. According to his equation, chemical reactions are increasingly unlikely to occur as temperature approaches absolute zero, and at absolute zero, reactions stop. However, recent experiment evidence reveals that although the Arrhenius equation is generally accurate in describing the kind of chemical reaction that occurs at relatively high temperature, at temperatures closer to zero a quantum-mechanical effect known as tunneling comes into play; this effect accounts for chemical reactions that are forbidden by the principles of classical chemistry. Specifically, entire molecules can tunnel through the barriers of repulsive forces from other molecules and chemically react even though these molecules do not have sufficient energy, according to classical chemistry, to overcome the repulsive barrier.
The rate of any chemical reaction, regardless of the temperature at which it takes place, usually depends on a very important characteristic known as its activation energy. Any molecule can be imagined to reside at the bottom of a so-called potential well of energy. S chemical reaction corresponds to the transition of a molecule from the bottom of one potential well to the bottom of another. In classical chemistry, such a transition can be accomplished only by going over the potential barrier between the well, the height of which remain constant and is called the activation energy of the reaction. In tunneling, the reacting molecules tunnel from the bottom of one to the bottom of another well without having to rise over the barrier between the two wells. Recently researchers have developed the concept of tunneling temperature: the temperature below which tunneling transitions greatly outnumber Arrhenius transitions, and classical mechanics gives way to its quantum counterpart.
This tunneling phenomenon at very low temperatures suggested my hypothesis about a cold prehistory of life: formation of rather complex organic molecules in the deep cold of outer space, where temperatures usually reach only a few degrees Kelvin. Cosmic rays might trigger the synthesis of simple molecules, such as interstellar formaldehyde, in dark clouds of interstellar dust. Afterward complex organic molecules would be formed, slowly but surely, by means of tunneling. After I offered my hupothesis, Hoyle and Wickramashinghe argued that molecules of interstellar formaldehyde have indeed evolved into stable polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch. Their conclusions, although strongly disputed, have generated excitement among investigators such as myself who are proposing that the galactic clouds are the places where the prebiological evolution of compounds necessary to life occurred. | 230.txt | 1 |
[
"neutral.",
"skeptical.",
"mildly positive.",
"very supportive."
] | The author's attitude toward the theory of a cold prehistory of life can best be described as | Chemistry and Biology
About a century ago, the Swedish physical scientist Arrhenius proposed a low of classical chemistry that relates chemical reaction rate to temperature. According to his equation, chemical reactions are increasingly unlikely to occur as temperature approaches absolute zero, and at absolute zero, reactions stop. However, recent experiment evidence reveals that although the Arrhenius equation is generally accurate in describing the kind of chemical reaction that occurs at relatively high temperature, at temperatures closer to zero a quantum-mechanical effect known as tunneling comes into play; this effect accounts for chemical reactions that are forbidden by the principles of classical chemistry. Specifically, entire molecules can tunnel through the barriers of repulsive forces from other molecules and chemically react even though these molecules do not have sufficient energy, according to classical chemistry, to overcome the repulsive barrier.
The rate of any chemical reaction, regardless of the temperature at which it takes place, usually depends on a very important characteristic known as its activation energy. Any molecule can be imagined to reside at the bottom of a so-called potential well of energy. S chemical reaction corresponds to the transition of a molecule from the bottom of one potential well to the bottom of another. In classical chemistry, such a transition can be accomplished only by going over the potential barrier between the well, the height of which remain constant and is called the activation energy of the reaction. In tunneling, the reacting molecules tunnel from the bottom of one to the bottom of another well without having to rise over the barrier between the two wells. Recently researchers have developed the concept of tunneling temperature: the temperature below which tunneling transitions greatly outnumber Arrhenius transitions, and classical mechanics gives way to its quantum counterpart.
This tunneling phenomenon at very low temperatures suggested my hypothesis about a cold prehistory of life: formation of rather complex organic molecules in the deep cold of outer space, where temperatures usually reach only a few degrees Kelvin. Cosmic rays might trigger the synthesis of simple molecules, such as interstellar formaldehyde, in dark clouds of interstellar dust. Afterward complex organic molecules would be formed, slowly but surely, by means of tunneling. After I offered my hupothesis, Hoyle and Wickramashinghe argued that molecules of interstellar formaldehyde have indeed evolved into stable polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch. Their conclusions, although strongly disputed, have generated excitement among investigators such as myself who are proposing that the galactic clouds are the places where the prebiological evolution of compounds necessary to life occurred. | 230.txt | 2 |
[
"Molecules of interstellar formaldehyde can evolve into complex organic molecules.",
"Interstellar formaldehyde can be synthesized by tunneling.",
"Cosmic rays can directly synthesize complex organic molecules.",
"The galactic clouds are the places where prebilogical evolution of compounds necessary to life occurred."
] | Which of the following best describes the hypothesis of Hoyle and Wickramasinghe? | Chemistry and Biology
About a century ago, the Swedish physical scientist Arrhenius proposed a low of classical chemistry that relates chemical reaction rate to temperature. According to his equation, chemical reactions are increasingly unlikely to occur as temperature approaches absolute zero, and at absolute zero, reactions stop. However, recent experiment evidence reveals that although the Arrhenius equation is generally accurate in describing the kind of chemical reaction that occurs at relatively high temperature, at temperatures closer to zero a quantum-mechanical effect known as tunneling comes into play; this effect accounts for chemical reactions that are forbidden by the principles of classical chemistry. Specifically, entire molecules can tunnel through the barriers of repulsive forces from other molecules and chemically react even though these molecules do not have sufficient energy, according to classical chemistry, to overcome the repulsive barrier.
The rate of any chemical reaction, regardless of the temperature at which it takes place, usually depends on a very important characteristic known as its activation energy. Any molecule can be imagined to reside at the bottom of a so-called potential well of energy. S chemical reaction corresponds to the transition of a molecule from the bottom of one potential well to the bottom of another. In classical chemistry, such a transition can be accomplished only by going over the potential barrier between the well, the height of which remain constant and is called the activation energy of the reaction. In tunneling, the reacting molecules tunnel from the bottom of one to the bottom of another well without having to rise over the barrier between the two wells. Recently researchers have developed the concept of tunneling temperature: the temperature below which tunneling transitions greatly outnumber Arrhenius transitions, and classical mechanics gives way to its quantum counterpart.
This tunneling phenomenon at very low temperatures suggested my hypothesis about a cold prehistory of life: formation of rather complex organic molecules in the deep cold of outer space, where temperatures usually reach only a few degrees Kelvin. Cosmic rays might trigger the synthesis of simple molecules, such as interstellar formaldehyde, in dark clouds of interstellar dust. Afterward complex organic molecules would be formed, slowly but surely, by means of tunneling. After I offered my hupothesis, Hoyle and Wickramashinghe argued that molecules of interstellar formaldehyde have indeed evolved into stable polysaccharides such as cellulose and starch. Their conclusions, although strongly disputed, have generated excitement among investigators such as myself who are proposing that the galactic clouds are the places where the prebiological evolution of compounds necessary to life occurred. | 230.txt | 0 |
[
"All international managers can learn culture.",
"Business diversity is not necessary.",
"Views differ on how to treat culture in business world.",
"Most people do not know foreign culture well."
] | According to the passage, which of the following is true? | Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. 『This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture-one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald's. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer. | 775.txt | 2 |
[
"is in line with the theories of the school advocating the business is business the world around",
"is different from the model of McDonald's",
"shows the reverse of globalization",
"has converged cultural differences"
] | According to the author, the model of Pepsi . | Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. 『This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture-one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald's. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer. | 775.txt | 0 |
[
"both propose that companies should tailor business approaches to individual cultures",
"both advocate that different policies be set up in different countries",
"admit the existence of cultural diversity in business world",
"Both A and B"
] | The two schools of thought . | Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. 『This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture-one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald's. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer. | 775.txt | 2 |
[
"who are interested in researching the topic of cultural diversity",
"who have connections to more than one type of culture",
"who want to travel abroad",
"who want to run business on International Scale"
] | This article is supposed to be most useful for those . | Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. 『This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture-one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald's. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer. | 775.txt | 3 |
[
"earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas",
"all have the quality of patience",
"will follow the overseas local cultures",
"adopt the policy of internationalization"
] | According to Fortune, successful international companies . | Culture is one of the most challenging elements of the international marketplace. 『This system of learned behavior patterns characteristic of the members of a given society is constantly shaped by a set of dynamic variables: language, religion, values and attitudes, manners and customs, aesthetics, technology, education, and social institutions.』① To cope with this system, an international manager needs both factual and interpretive knowledge of culture. To some extent, the factual knowledge can be learned; its interpretation comes only through experience.
The most complicated problems in dealing with the cultural environment stem from the fact that one cannot learn culture-one has to live it. Two schools of thought exist in the business world on how to deal with cultural diversity. One is that business is business the world around, following the model of Pepsi and McDonald's. In some cases, globalization is a fact of life; however, cultural differences are still far from converging.
The other school proposes that companies must tailor business approaches to individual cultures. Setting up policies and procedures in each country has been compared to an organ transplant; the critical question centers around acceptance or rejection. The major challenge to the international manager is to make sure that rejection is not a result of cultural myopia or even blindness.
Fortune examined the international performance of a dozen large companies that earn 20 percent or more of their revenue overseas. The internationally successful companies all share an important quality: patience. They have not rushed into situations but rather built their operations carefully by following the most basic business principles. These principles are to know your adversary, know your audience, and know your customer. | 775.txt | 1 |
[
"It is named after a South American fisherman.",
"It takes place almost every year all over the world.",
"It forces fishermen to stop catching fish around Christmas.",
"It sees the changes of water flow direction in the ocean."
] | What can we learn about El Nino in Paragraph 1? | El Nifio, a Spanish term for "the Christ child", was named by South American fisherman sho noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American's economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino's harmful effects-and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority. | 638.txt | 3 |
[
"Agricultural harvests in rich countries fall.",
"Droughts become more harmful than floods.",
"Rich countries' gains are greater than their losses.",
"Poor countries suffer less from droughts economically."
] | What may El Ninos bring about to the countries affected? | El Nifio, a Spanish term for "the Christ child", was named by South American fisherman sho noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American's economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino's harmful effects-and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority. | 638.txt | 2 |
[
"more investment should go to risk reduction",
"governments of poor countries need more aid",
"victims of El Nino deserve more compensation",
"recovery and reconstruction should come first"
] | The data provided by ODI in Paragraph 4 suggest that | El Nifio, a Spanish term for "the Christ child", was named by South American fisherman sho noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American's economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino's harmful effects-and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority. | 638.txt | 0 |
[
"To introduce El Nino and its origin.",
"To explain the consequences of El Nino.",
"To show ways of fighting against El Nino.",
"To urge people to prepare for El Nino."
] | What is the author's purpose in writing the passage? | El Nifio, a Spanish term for "the Christ child", was named by South American fisherman sho noticed that the global weather pattern, which happens every two to seven years, reduced the amount of fishes caught around Christmas. El Nifio sees warm water, collected over several years in the western Pacific, flow back eastwards when winds that normally blow westwards weaken, or sometimes the other way round.
The weather effects both good and bad, are felt in many places. Rich countries gain more from powerful Nifio, on balance, than they lose. A study found that a strong Nifio in 1997 helped American's economy grow by 15 billion, partly because of better agricultural harvest, farmers in the Midwest gained from extra rain. The total rise in agricultural in rich countries in growth than the fall in poor ones.
But in Indonesia extremely dry forests are in flames. A multi-year drought in south-east Brazil is becoming worse. Though heavy rains brought about by El Nino may relieve the drought in California, they are likely to cause surface flooding and other disasters.
The most recent powerful Nino, in 1997-98, killed around 21,000 people and caused damage worth $36 billion around the globe. But such Ninos come with months of warning, and so much is known about how they happen that governments can prepare. According to the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), however, just 12% of disaster-relief funding in the past two decades has gone on reducing risks in advance, rather than recovery and rebuilding afterwards. This is despite evidence that a dollar spent on risk-reduction saves at least two on reconstruction.
Simple improvements to infrastructure can reduce the spread of disease. Better sewers make it less likely that heavy rain is followed by an outbreak of the disease of bad stomach. Stronger bridges mean villages are less likely to be left without food and medicine after floods. According to a paper in 2011 by Mr Hsiang and co-authors, civil conflict is related to El Nino's harmful effects-and the poorer the country, the stronger the link. Though the relationship may not be causal, helping divided communities to prepare for disasters would at least reduce the risk that those disasters are followed by killing and wounding people. Since the poorest are least likely to make up for their losses from disasters linked to El Nino, reducing their losses needs to be the priority. | 638.txt | 3 |
[
"A Time to Sell Stock.",
"A Strong Stock Market",
"Raising the Margin Rate",
"Price/earnings Ratio in Steel"
] | The title that best expresses the ideas of this passage is | A Strong Stock Market
The increase in the margin rate from 50% to 70% was not anattempt to stem any rampant speculation on the part of thepublic-actually the market seemed technically quite strong,with public participation essentially dignified-but rather anattempt by the Federal Reserve Board to preserve the soundunderpinnings that existed in the market. Naturally, such amove had a momentarily chilling effect upon prices but if theFRB had been preoccupied with undue speculation, the increase might have been to the 80% oreven 90% level. Such an increases in the margin rate is a confirmation of a strong stock marketand since 19…,such increases have resulted in interim market highs over twelve months later.Obviously, there could be no guarantee that this would once again be the case, but if history isany guideline-and if business and corporate earnings were to continue on the samecourse-continued optimism over the outlook for the stock market would seem more prudentthan pessimism.
The margin increase underscored the good rise that stocks had enjoyed for the previousyear-and the fact that a 50% rate was maintained as long as it was pointed up the fact that therise was mainly conservative in that it was concentrated in the blue chips for the most part. In pastInvestment Letters we have voiced the thought that speciality stocks could outperform thegeneral market from this point. We continue to believe that this could be the case. For example,steel stocks tend to sell at certain fixed price/earnings ratios. Below a certain ratio they areconsidered good value-above a certain ratio, overpriced. If a company produces a uniqueproduct it is far more difficult for market analysis to place a numerical ratio upon the company'searnings. We have also contended in the past Letters that the stock market reflects masspsychology as well as the business outlook. When investors-both the public and theinstitutions-are nervous and pessimistic they definitely hesitate to buy stocks: they seek lowprice/earnings multiples and high yields. These same investors-when they are in an optimisticframe of mind-become for less preoccupied with yields and more wiling to pay a premium(highp/e multiples) for accelerated growth. If the public's attitude towards the auto industry is anymeasure, then this period seems to have been one of optimism. | 222.txt | 1 |
[
"They look to the FRB for help.",
"They buy steel",
"They buy automobile stocks.",
"They look for high yields."
] | When investors are pessimistic what do they do? | A Strong Stock Market
The increase in the margin rate from 50% to 70% was not anattempt to stem any rampant speculation on the part of thepublic-actually the market seemed technically quite strong,with public participation essentially dignified-but rather anattempt by the Federal Reserve Board to preserve the soundunderpinnings that existed in the market. Naturally, such amove had a momentarily chilling effect upon prices but if theFRB had been preoccupied with undue speculation, the increase might have been to the 80% oreven 90% level. Such an increases in the margin rate is a confirmation of a strong stock marketand since 19…,such increases have resulted in interim market highs over twelve months later.Obviously, there could be no guarantee that this would once again be the case, but if history isany guideline-and if business and corporate earnings were to continue on the samecourse-continued optimism over the outlook for the stock market would seem more prudentthan pessimism.
The margin increase underscored the good rise that stocks had enjoyed for the previousyear-and the fact that a 50% rate was maintained as long as it was pointed up the fact that therise was mainly conservative in that it was concentrated in the blue chips for the most part. In pastInvestment Letters we have voiced the thought that speciality stocks could outperform thegeneral market from this point. We continue to believe that this could be the case. For example,steel stocks tend to sell at certain fixed price/earnings ratios. Below a certain ratio they areconsidered good value-above a certain ratio, overpriced. If a company produces a uniqueproduct it is far more difficult for market analysis to place a numerical ratio upon the company'searnings. We have also contended in the past Letters that the stock market reflects masspsychology as well as the business outlook. When investors-both the public and theinstitutions-are nervous and pessimistic they definitely hesitate to buy stocks: they seek lowprice/earnings multiples and high yields. These same investors-when they are in an optimisticframe of mind-become for less preoccupied with yields and more wiling to pay a premium(highp/e multiples) for accelerated growth. If the public's attitude towards the auto industry is anymeasure, then this period seems to have been one of optimism. | 222.txt | 3 |
[
"Because analysis have difficulty in deciding upon a fixed price/earnings ratio.",
"Because the activity had been limited to blue chips.",
"Because the rise was conservative.",
"Because of the FRB action."
] | Why does the writer believe that speciality stocks could outperform the general market? | A Strong Stock Market
The increase in the margin rate from 50% to 70% was not anattempt to stem any rampant speculation on the part of thepublic-actually the market seemed technically quite strong,with public participation essentially dignified-but rather anattempt by the Federal Reserve Board to preserve the soundunderpinnings that existed in the market. Naturally, such amove had a momentarily chilling effect upon prices but if theFRB had been preoccupied with undue speculation, the increase might have been to the 80% oreven 90% level. Such an increases in the margin rate is a confirmation of a strong stock marketand since 19…,such increases have resulted in interim market highs over twelve months later.Obviously, there could be no guarantee that this would once again be the case, but if history isany guideline-and if business and corporate earnings were to continue on the samecourse-continued optimism over the outlook for the stock market would seem more prudentthan pessimism.
The margin increase underscored the good rise that stocks had enjoyed for the previousyear-and the fact that a 50% rate was maintained as long as it was pointed up the fact that therise was mainly conservative in that it was concentrated in the blue chips for the most part. In pastInvestment Letters we have voiced the thought that speciality stocks could outperform thegeneral market from this point. We continue to believe that this could be the case. For example,steel stocks tend to sell at certain fixed price/earnings ratios. Below a certain ratio they areconsidered good value-above a certain ratio, overpriced. If a company produces a uniqueproduct it is far more difficult for market analysis to place a numerical ratio upon the company'searnings. We have also contended in the past Letters that the stock market reflects masspsychology as well as the business outlook. When investors-both the public and theinstitutions-are nervous and pessimistic they definitely hesitate to buy stocks: they seek lowprice/earnings multiples and high yields. These same investors-when they are in an optimisticframe of mind-become for less preoccupied with yields and more wiling to pay a premium(highp/e multiples) for accelerated growth. If the public's attitude towards the auto industry is anymeasure, then this period seems to have been one of optimism. | 222.txt | 0 |
[
"They look for accelerated growth.",
"They buy speciality stocks.",
"They look for high yields.",
"They are more prudent."
] | When investors are optimistic, what do they do? | A Strong Stock Market
The increase in the margin rate from 50% to 70% was not anattempt to stem any rampant speculation on the part of thepublic-actually the market seemed technically quite strong,with public participation essentially dignified-but rather anattempt by the Federal Reserve Board to preserve the soundunderpinnings that existed in the market. Naturally, such amove had a momentarily chilling effect upon prices but if theFRB had been preoccupied with undue speculation, the increase might have been to the 80% oreven 90% level. Such an increases in the margin rate is a confirmation of a strong stock marketand since 19…,such increases have resulted in interim market highs over twelve months later.Obviously, there could be no guarantee that this would once again be the case, but if history isany guideline-and if business and corporate earnings were to continue on the samecourse-continued optimism over the outlook for the stock market would seem more prudentthan pessimism.
The margin increase underscored the good rise that stocks had enjoyed for the previousyear-and the fact that a 50% rate was maintained as long as it was pointed up the fact that therise was mainly conservative in that it was concentrated in the blue chips for the most part. In pastInvestment Letters we have voiced the thought that speciality stocks could outperform thegeneral market from this point. We continue to believe that this could be the case. For example,steel stocks tend to sell at certain fixed price/earnings ratios. Below a certain ratio they areconsidered good value-above a certain ratio, overpriced. If a company produces a uniqueproduct it is far more difficult for market analysis to place a numerical ratio upon the company'searnings. We have also contended in the past Letters that the stock market reflects masspsychology as well as the business outlook. When investors-both the public and theinstitutions-are nervous and pessimistic they definitely hesitate to buy stocks: they seek lowprice/earnings multiples and high yields. These same investors-when they are in an optimisticframe of mind-become for less preoccupied with yields and more wiling to pay a premium(highp/e multiples) for accelerated growth. If the public's attitude towards the auto industry is anymeasure, then this period seems to have been one of optimism. | 222.txt | 0 |
[
"assess their aims for learning",
"learn more to earn more",
"evaluate their politicians and statesmen",
"keep knowledge to themselves"
] | This passage suggests that students should _ . | We are part of a world in which men thrill to the touch of gold and hearts respond to the word money instead of being thrilled by the thought of good. We five in a world in which we are taught that the pursuit of happiness is an equation for the most rapid acquisition of money, by whatever means.
If profit and money are your first priorities, and compassion and commitment to people your least concern, you have done little other than accumulate some facts and compile some information for future reference. If making money is your daydream and losing money your nightmare, if poverty is your worst fear and making money your most fervent prayer, you have missed the opportunity for education. You have failed yourself and have only received Nome instruction. | 4160.txt | 0 |
[
"does what he is told",
"gets a better education to get a better job",
"makes principles of education for self-betterment of their aims",
"approaches the benefits of being well-off"
] | The educational procedure should be one in which the student _ . | We are part of a world in which men thrill to the touch of gold and hearts respond to the word money instead of being thrilled by the thought of good. We five in a world in which we are taught that the pursuit of happiness is an equation for the most rapid acquisition of money, by whatever means.
If profit and money are your first priorities, and compassion and commitment to people your least concern, you have done little other than accumulate some facts and compile some information for future reference. If making money is your daydream and losing money your nightmare, if poverty is your worst fear and making money your most fervent prayer, you have missed the opportunity for education. You have failed yourself and have only received Nome instruction. | 4160.txt | 2 |
[
"people's welfare should be the chief concern in learning",
"profit has nothing to do with people",
"poverty is good for the soul",
"knowledge is not the main objective for learning"
] | The author seems to feel that _ . | We are part of a world in which men thrill to the touch of gold and hearts respond to the word money instead of being thrilled by the thought of good. We five in a world in which we are taught that the pursuit of happiness is an equation for the most rapid acquisition of money, by whatever means.
If profit and money are your first priorities, and compassion and commitment to people your least concern, you have done little other than accumulate some facts and compile some information for future reference. If making money is your daydream and losing money your nightmare, if poverty is your worst fear and making money your most fervent prayer, you have missed the opportunity for education. You have failed yourself and have only received Nome instruction. | 4160.txt | 0 |
[
"The Benefit of Education",
"Education Motivation-Progress or Profit",
"Self-Education",
"Profit and Money"
] | A good title for the selection might be _ . | We are part of a world in which men thrill to the touch of gold and hearts respond to the word money instead of being thrilled by the thought of good. We five in a world in which we are taught that the pursuit of happiness is an equation for the most rapid acquisition of money, by whatever means.
If profit and money are your first priorities, and compassion and commitment to people your least concern, you have done little other than accumulate some facts and compile some information for future reference. If making money is your daydream and losing money your nightmare, if poverty is your worst fear and making money your most fervent prayer, you have missed the opportunity for education. You have failed yourself and have only received Nome instruction. | 4160.txt | 1 |
[
"a very bad dream",
"unhappiness",
"sleeplessness",
"a hazard to your health"
] | The word "nightmare" in the last paragraph is nearest in meaning to _ . | We are part of a world in which men thrill to the touch of gold and hearts respond to the word money instead of being thrilled by the thought of good. We five in a world in which we are taught that the pursuit of happiness is an equation for the most rapid acquisition of money, by whatever means.
If profit and money are your first priorities, and compassion and commitment to people your least concern, you have done little other than accumulate some facts and compile some information for future reference. If making money is your daydream and losing money your nightmare, if poverty is your worst fear and making money your most fervent prayer, you have missed the opportunity for education. You have failed yourself and have only received Nome instruction. | 4160.txt | 0 |
[
"Technology.",
"Wind.",
"Government drive.",
"Geographical location."
] | Which of the following is NOT cited as a main reason for Denmark's world leadership in wind power? | If you want to know why Denmark is the world's leader in wind power, start with a three-hour car trip from the capital Copenhagen --mind the bicyclists --to the small town of Lem on the far west coast of Jutland. You'll feel it as you cross the 6.8 km-long Great Belt Bridge：Denmark's bountiful wind，so fierce even on a calm summer's day that it threatens to shove your car into the waves below. But wind itself is only part of the reason. In Lem，workers in factories the size of aircraft hangars build the wind turbines sold by Vestas，the Danish company that has emerged as the industry's top manufacturer around the globe. The work is both gross and fine；employees weld together massive curved sheets of steel to make central shafts as tall as a 14-story building，and assemble engine housingsthat hold some 18,000 separate parts. Most impressive are the turbine's blades, which scoop the wind with each sweeping revolution. As smooth as an Olympic swimsuit and honed to aerodynamic perfection，each blade weighs in at 7,000 kg，and they're what help make Vestas' turbines the best in the world. "The blade is where the secret is，"says Erik Therkelsen，a Vestas executive. "If we can make a turbine，it's sold. "
But technology, like the wind itself is just one more part of the reason for Denmark's dominance. In the end，it happened because Denmark had the political and public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader and to follow through. Beginning in 1979，the government began a determined programme of subsidies and loan guarantees to build up its wind industry. Copenhagen covered 30% of investment costs，and guaranteed loans for large turbine exporters such as Vestas. It also mandated that utilities purchase wind energy at a preferential price-thus guaranteeing investors a customer base. Energy taxes were channeled into research centres，where engineers crafted designs that would eventually produce cutting-edge giants like Vestas'3-magawatt(MW)V90 turbine.
As a result. wind turbines now dot Denmark. The country gets more than 1 9％of its electricity from the breeze(Spain and Portugal，the next highest countries，get about 1 0％)and Danish companies control one-third of the global wind market，earning billions in exports and creating a national champion from scratch. "They were out early in driving renewables，and that gave them the chance to be a technology leader and a job-creation leader,"says Jake Schmidt，international climate policy director for the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council. "They have always been one or two steps ahead of others."
The challenge now for Denmark is to help the rest of the world catch up. Beyond wind，the country(pop.5.5 million)is a world leader in energy efficiency，getting more GDP per watt than any other member of the E. U. Carbon emissions are down 13.3％from 1990 levels and total energy consumption has barely moved，even as Denmark's economy continued to grow at a healthy clip. With Copenhagen set to host all-important U. N. climate change talks in December --where the world hopes for a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol -- and the global recession beginning to hit environmental plans in capitals everywhere，Denmark's example couldn't be more timely. "We'll try to make Denmark a showroom."says Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "You can reduce energy use and carbon emissions，and achieve economic growth."
It's tempting to assume that Denmark is innately green，with the kind of Scandinavian good conscience that has made it such a pleasant global citizen since，oh，the whole Viking thing. But the country's policies were actually born from a different emotion，one now in common currency： fear. When the 1973 oil crisis hit，90％of Denmark's energy came from petroleum，almost all of it imported. Buffeted by the same supply shocks that hit the rest of the developed world，Denmark launched a rapid drive for energy conservation，to the point of introducing car-free Sundays and asking businesses to switch off lights during closing hours. Eventually the Mideast oil started flowing again，and the Danes themselves began enjoying the benefits of the petroleum and natural gas in their slice of the North Sea. It was enough to make them more than self-sufficient. But unlike most other countries，Denmark never forgot the lessons of l973，and kept driving for greater energy efficiency and a more diversified energy supply. The Danish parliament raised taxes on energy to encourage conservation and established subsidies and standards to support more efficient buildings. "It all started out without any regard for the climate or the environment，"says Svend Auken，the former head of Denmark's opposition Social Democrat Party and the architect of the country's environmental policies in the 1990s. "But today there's a consensus that we need to build renewable power."
To the rest of the world，Denmark has the power of its example showing that you can stay rich and grow green at the same time. "Denmark has proven that acting on climate can be a positive experience，not just painful,"says NRDC's Schmidt. The real pain could come from failing to follow in their footsteps. | 253.txt | 3 |
[
"the government's determination.",
"the country's subsidy and loan policies.",
"the importance of export to the country.",
"the role of taxation to the economy."
] | The author has detailed some of the efforts of the Danish Government in promoting the wind industry in order to show | If you want to know why Denmark is the world's leader in wind power, start with a three-hour car trip from the capital Copenhagen --mind the bicyclists --to the small town of Lem on the far west coast of Jutland. You'll feel it as you cross the 6.8 km-long Great Belt Bridge：Denmark's bountiful wind，so fierce even on a calm summer's day that it threatens to shove your car into the waves below. But wind itself is only part of the reason. In Lem，workers in factories the size of aircraft hangars build the wind turbines sold by Vestas，the Danish company that has emerged as the industry's top manufacturer around the globe. The work is both gross and fine；employees weld together massive curved sheets of steel to make central shafts as tall as a 14-story building，and assemble engine housingsthat hold some 18,000 separate parts. Most impressive are the turbine's blades, which scoop the wind with each sweeping revolution. As smooth as an Olympic swimsuit and honed to aerodynamic perfection，each blade weighs in at 7,000 kg，and they're what help make Vestas' turbines the best in the world. "The blade is where the secret is，"says Erik Therkelsen，a Vestas executive. "If we can make a turbine，it's sold. "
But technology, like the wind itself is just one more part of the reason for Denmark's dominance. In the end，it happened because Denmark had the political and public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader and to follow through. Beginning in 1979，the government began a determined programme of subsidies and loan guarantees to build up its wind industry. Copenhagen covered 30% of investment costs，and guaranteed loans for large turbine exporters such as Vestas. It also mandated that utilities purchase wind energy at a preferential price-thus guaranteeing investors a customer base. Energy taxes were channeled into research centres，where engineers crafted designs that would eventually produce cutting-edge giants like Vestas'3-magawatt(MW)V90 turbine.
As a result. wind turbines now dot Denmark. The country gets more than 1 9％of its electricity from the breeze(Spain and Portugal，the next highest countries，get about 1 0％)and Danish companies control one-third of the global wind market，earning billions in exports and creating a national champion from scratch. "They were out early in driving renewables，and that gave them the chance to be a technology leader and a job-creation leader,"says Jake Schmidt，international climate policy director for the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council. "They have always been one or two steps ahead of others."
The challenge now for Denmark is to help the rest of the world catch up. Beyond wind，the country(pop.5.5 million)is a world leader in energy efficiency，getting more GDP per watt than any other member of the E. U. Carbon emissions are down 13.3％from 1990 levels and total energy consumption has barely moved，even as Denmark's economy continued to grow at a healthy clip. With Copenhagen set to host all-important U. N. climate change talks in December --where the world hopes for a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol -- and the global recession beginning to hit environmental plans in capitals everywhere，Denmark's example couldn't be more timely. "We'll try to make Denmark a showroom."says Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "You can reduce energy use and carbon emissions，and achieve economic growth."
It's tempting to assume that Denmark is innately green，with the kind of Scandinavian good conscience that has made it such a pleasant global citizen since，oh，the whole Viking thing. But the country's policies were actually born from a different emotion，one now in common currency： fear. When the 1973 oil crisis hit，90％of Denmark's energy came from petroleum，almost all of it imported. Buffeted by the same supply shocks that hit the rest of the developed world，Denmark launched a rapid drive for energy conservation，to the point of introducing car-free Sundays and asking businesses to switch off lights during closing hours. Eventually the Mideast oil started flowing again，and the Danes themselves began enjoying the benefits of the petroleum and natural gas in their slice of the North Sea. It was enough to make them more than self-sufficient. But unlike most other countries，Denmark never forgot the lessons of l973，and kept driving for greater energy efficiency and a more diversified energy supply. The Danish parliament raised taxes on energy to encourage conservation and established subsidies and standards to support more efficient buildings. "It all started out without any regard for the climate or the environment，"says Svend Auken，the former head of Denmark's opposition Social Democrat Party and the architect of the country's environmental policies in the 1990s. "But today there's a consensus that we need to build renewable power."
To the rest of the world，Denmark has the power of its example showing that you can stay rich and grow green at the same time. "Denmark has proven that acting on climate can be a positive experience，not just painful,"says NRDC's Schmidt. The real pain could come from failing to follow in their footsteps. | 253.txt | 0 |
[
"Denmark's energy-saving efforts cannot be followed by other countries.",
"Denmark can manufacture more wind turbines for other countries.",
"Denmark's energy-saving Success offers the world a useful model.",
"Denmark aims to show the world that it can develop even faster."
] | What does the author mean by"Denmark's example couldn't be more timely"? | If you want to know why Denmark is the world's leader in wind power, start with a three-hour car trip from the capital Copenhagen --mind the bicyclists --to the small town of Lem on the far west coast of Jutland. You'll feel it as you cross the 6.8 km-long Great Belt Bridge：Denmark's bountiful wind，so fierce even on a calm summer's day that it threatens to shove your car into the waves below. But wind itself is only part of the reason. In Lem，workers in factories the size of aircraft hangars build the wind turbines sold by Vestas，the Danish company that has emerged as the industry's top manufacturer around the globe. The work is both gross and fine；employees weld together massive curved sheets of steel to make central shafts as tall as a 14-story building，and assemble engine housingsthat hold some 18,000 separate parts. Most impressive are the turbine's blades, which scoop the wind with each sweeping revolution. As smooth as an Olympic swimsuit and honed to aerodynamic perfection，each blade weighs in at 7,000 kg，and they're what help make Vestas' turbines the best in the world. "The blade is where the secret is，"says Erik Therkelsen，a Vestas executive. "If we can make a turbine，it's sold. "
But technology, like the wind itself is just one more part of the reason for Denmark's dominance. In the end，it happened because Denmark had the political and public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader and to follow through. Beginning in 1979，the government began a determined programme of subsidies and loan guarantees to build up its wind industry. Copenhagen covered 30% of investment costs，and guaranteed loans for large turbine exporters such as Vestas. It also mandated that utilities purchase wind energy at a preferential price-thus guaranteeing investors a customer base. Energy taxes were channeled into research centres，where engineers crafted designs that would eventually produce cutting-edge giants like Vestas'3-magawatt(MW)V90 turbine.
As a result. wind turbines now dot Denmark. The country gets more than 1 9％of its electricity from the breeze(Spain and Portugal，the next highest countries，get about 1 0％)and Danish companies control one-third of the global wind market，earning billions in exports and creating a national champion from scratch. "They were out early in driving renewables，and that gave them the chance to be a technology leader and a job-creation leader,"says Jake Schmidt，international climate policy director for the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council. "They have always been one or two steps ahead of others."
The challenge now for Denmark is to help the rest of the world catch up. Beyond wind，the country(pop.5.5 million)is a world leader in energy efficiency，getting more GDP per watt than any other member of the E. U. Carbon emissions are down 13.3％from 1990 levels and total energy consumption has barely moved，even as Denmark's economy continued to grow at a healthy clip. With Copenhagen set to host all-important U. N. climate change talks in December --where the world hopes for a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol -- and the global recession beginning to hit environmental plans in capitals everywhere，Denmark's example couldn't be more timely. "We'll try to make Denmark a showroom."says Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "You can reduce energy use and carbon emissions，and achieve economic growth."
It's tempting to assume that Denmark is innately green，with the kind of Scandinavian good conscience that has made it such a pleasant global citizen since，oh，the whole Viking thing. But the country's policies were actually born from a different emotion，one now in common currency： fear. When the 1973 oil crisis hit，90％of Denmark's energy came from petroleum，almost all of it imported. Buffeted by the same supply shocks that hit the rest of the developed world，Denmark launched a rapid drive for energy conservation，to the point of introducing car-free Sundays and asking businesses to switch off lights during closing hours. Eventually the Mideast oil started flowing again，and the Danes themselves began enjoying the benefits of the petroleum and natural gas in their slice of the North Sea. It was enough to make them more than self-sufficient. But unlike most other countries，Denmark never forgot the lessons of l973，and kept driving for greater energy efficiency and a more diversified energy supply. The Danish parliament raised taxes on energy to encourage conservation and established subsidies and standards to support more efficient buildings. "It all started out without any regard for the climate or the environment，"says Svend Auken，the former head of Denmark's opposition Social Democrat Party and the architect of the country's environmental policies in the 1990s. "But today there's a consensus that we need to build renewable power."
To the rest of the world，Denmark has the power of its example showing that you can stay rich and grow green at the same time. "Denmark has proven that acting on climate can be a positive experience，not just painful,"says NRDC's Schmidt. The real pain could come from failing to follow in their footsteps. | 253.txt | 2 |
[
"the country's long tradition of environmental awareness.",
"the country's previous experience of oil shortage.",
"the country's grave shortage of natural resources.",
"the country's abundant wind resources."
] | According to the passage，Denmark's energy-saving policies originated from | If you want to know why Denmark is the world's leader in wind power, start with a three-hour car trip from the capital Copenhagen --mind the bicyclists --to the small town of Lem on the far west coast of Jutland. You'll feel it as you cross the 6.8 km-long Great Belt Bridge：Denmark's bountiful wind，so fierce even on a calm summer's day that it threatens to shove your car into the waves below. But wind itself is only part of the reason. In Lem，workers in factories the size of aircraft hangars build the wind turbines sold by Vestas，the Danish company that has emerged as the industry's top manufacturer around the globe. The work is both gross and fine；employees weld together massive curved sheets of steel to make central shafts as tall as a 14-story building，and assemble engine housingsthat hold some 18,000 separate parts. Most impressive are the turbine's blades, which scoop the wind with each sweeping revolution. As smooth as an Olympic swimsuit and honed to aerodynamic perfection，each blade weighs in at 7,000 kg，and they're what help make Vestas' turbines the best in the world. "The blade is where the secret is，"says Erik Therkelsen，a Vestas executive. "If we can make a turbine，it's sold. "
But technology, like the wind itself is just one more part of the reason for Denmark's dominance. In the end，it happened because Denmark had the political and public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader and to follow through. Beginning in 1979，the government began a determined programme of subsidies and loan guarantees to build up its wind industry. Copenhagen covered 30% of investment costs，and guaranteed loans for large turbine exporters such as Vestas. It also mandated that utilities purchase wind energy at a preferential price-thus guaranteeing investors a customer base. Energy taxes were channeled into research centres，where engineers crafted designs that would eventually produce cutting-edge giants like Vestas'3-magawatt(MW)V90 turbine.
As a result. wind turbines now dot Denmark. The country gets more than 1 9％of its electricity from the breeze(Spain and Portugal，the next highest countries，get about 1 0％)and Danish companies control one-third of the global wind market，earning billions in exports and creating a national champion from scratch. "They were out early in driving renewables，and that gave them the chance to be a technology leader and a job-creation leader,"says Jake Schmidt，international climate policy director for the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council. "They have always been one or two steps ahead of others."
The challenge now for Denmark is to help the rest of the world catch up. Beyond wind，the country(pop.5.5 million)is a world leader in energy efficiency，getting more GDP per watt than any other member of the E. U. Carbon emissions are down 13.3％from 1990 levels and total energy consumption has barely moved，even as Denmark's economy continued to grow at a healthy clip. With Copenhagen set to host all-important U. N. climate change talks in December --where the world hopes for a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol -- and the global recession beginning to hit environmental plans in capitals everywhere，Denmark's example couldn't be more timely. "We'll try to make Denmark a showroom."says Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "You can reduce energy use and carbon emissions，and achieve economic growth."
It's tempting to assume that Denmark is innately green，with the kind of Scandinavian good conscience that has made it such a pleasant global citizen since，oh，the whole Viking thing. But the country's policies were actually born from a different emotion，one now in common currency： fear. When the 1973 oil crisis hit，90％of Denmark's energy came from petroleum，almost all of it imported. Buffeted by the same supply shocks that hit the rest of the developed world，Denmark launched a rapid drive for energy conservation，to the point of introducing car-free Sundays and asking businesses to switch off lights during closing hours. Eventually the Mideast oil started flowing again，and the Danes themselves began enjoying the benefits of the petroleum and natural gas in their slice of the North Sea. It was enough to make them more than self-sufficient. But unlike most other countries，Denmark never forgot the lessons of l973，and kept driving for greater energy efficiency and a more diversified energy supply. The Danish parliament raised taxes on energy to encourage conservation and established subsidies and standards to support more efficient buildings. "It all started out without any regard for the climate or the environment，"says Svend Auken，the former head of Denmark's opposition Social Democrat Party and the architect of the country's environmental policies in the 1990s. "But today there's a consensus that we need to build renewable power."
To the rest of the world，Denmark has the power of its example showing that you can stay rich and grow green at the same time. "Denmark has proven that acting on climate can be a positive experience，not just painful,"says NRDC's Schmidt. The real pain could come from failing to follow in their footsteps. | 253.txt | 1 |
[
"Not to save energy could lead to serious consequences.",
"Energy saving cannot go together with economic growth.",
"Energy saving efforts can be painful but positive.",
"Denmark is a powerful leader in the global wind market."
] | Which of the following is NOT implied in the passage? | If you want to know why Denmark is the world's leader in wind power, start with a three-hour car trip from the capital Copenhagen --mind the bicyclists --to the small town of Lem on the far west coast of Jutland. You'll feel it as you cross the 6.8 km-long Great Belt Bridge：Denmark's bountiful wind，so fierce even on a calm summer's day that it threatens to shove your car into the waves below. But wind itself is only part of the reason. In Lem，workers in factories the size of aircraft hangars build the wind turbines sold by Vestas，the Danish company that has emerged as the industry's top manufacturer around the globe. The work is both gross and fine；employees weld together massive curved sheets of steel to make central shafts as tall as a 14-story building，and assemble engine housingsthat hold some 18,000 separate parts. Most impressive are the turbine's blades, which scoop the wind with each sweeping revolution. As smooth as an Olympic swimsuit and honed to aerodynamic perfection，each blade weighs in at 7,000 kg，and they're what help make Vestas' turbines the best in the world. "The blade is where the secret is，"says Erik Therkelsen，a Vestas executive. "If we can make a turbine，it's sold. "
But technology, like the wind itself is just one more part of the reason for Denmark's dominance. In the end，it happened because Denmark had the political and public will to decide that it wanted to be a leader and to follow through. Beginning in 1979，the government began a determined programme of subsidies and loan guarantees to build up its wind industry. Copenhagen covered 30% of investment costs，and guaranteed loans for large turbine exporters such as Vestas. It also mandated that utilities purchase wind energy at a preferential price-thus guaranteeing investors a customer base. Energy taxes were channeled into research centres，where engineers crafted designs that would eventually produce cutting-edge giants like Vestas'3-magawatt(MW)V90 turbine.
As a result. wind turbines now dot Denmark. The country gets more than 1 9％of its electricity from the breeze(Spain and Portugal，the next highest countries，get about 1 0％)and Danish companies control one-third of the global wind market，earning billions in exports and creating a national champion from scratch. "They were out early in driving renewables，and that gave them the chance to be a technology leader and a job-creation leader,"says Jake Schmidt，international climate policy director for the New York City-based Natural Resources Defense Council. "They have always been one or two steps ahead of others."
The challenge now for Denmark is to help the rest of the world catch up. Beyond wind，the country(pop.5.5 million)is a world leader in energy efficiency，getting more GDP per watt than any other member of the E. U. Carbon emissions are down 13.3％from 1990 levels and total energy consumption has barely moved，even as Denmark's economy continued to grow at a healthy clip. With Copenhagen set to host all-important U. N. climate change talks in December --where the world hopes for a successor to the expiring Kyoto Protocol -- and the global recession beginning to hit environmental plans in capitals everywhere，Denmark's example couldn't be more timely. "We'll try to make Denmark a showroom."says Prime Minister Anders Fogh Rasmussen. "You can reduce energy use and carbon emissions，and achieve economic growth."
It's tempting to assume that Denmark is innately green，with the kind of Scandinavian good conscience that has made it such a pleasant global citizen since，oh，the whole Viking thing. But the country's policies were actually born from a different emotion，one now in common currency： fear. When the 1973 oil crisis hit，90％of Denmark's energy came from petroleum，almost all of it imported. Buffeted by the same supply shocks that hit the rest of the developed world，Denmark launched a rapid drive for energy conservation，to the point of introducing car-free Sundays and asking businesses to switch off lights during closing hours. Eventually the Mideast oil started flowing again，and the Danes themselves began enjoying the benefits of the petroleum and natural gas in their slice of the North Sea. It was enough to make them more than self-sufficient. But unlike most other countries，Denmark never forgot the lessons of l973，and kept driving for greater energy efficiency and a more diversified energy supply. The Danish parliament raised taxes on energy to encourage conservation and established subsidies and standards to support more efficient buildings. "It all started out without any regard for the climate or the environment，"says Svend Auken，the former head of Denmark's opposition Social Democrat Party and the architect of the country's environmental policies in the 1990s. "But today there's a consensus that we need to build renewable power."
To the rest of the world，Denmark has the power of its example showing that you can stay rich and grow green at the same time. "Denmark has proven that acting on climate can be a positive experience，not just painful,"says NRDC's Schmidt. The real pain could come from failing to follow in their footsteps. | 253.txt | 1 |
[
"pollution problems in general",
"people in North America or Europe are living happier than those in other parts",
"people drilling wells to check chemicals in well water",
"underground water pollution"
] | This passage is mainly about _ . | If you live in a city in North America or Europe, you have probably never thought much about water. Whenever you need some, you turn on the tap and there it is. Millions of people in other parts of the world are not so lucky. They have trouble getting enough clean water for their basic needs. This situation may soon become common all around the world, scientists believe. In fact, they say that the lack of clean water may be one of the biggest issues in the twenty-first century.
The reasons for this are clear. On the one hand. people are using more water than ever before. Over the last fifty years, the population of the world has more than doubled. On the other hand, many sources of surface water such as rivers, lakes, and streams are too polluted and unhealthy for use as drinking water.
This has forced more and more people to drill wells so they can get water form underground. There are enormous amounts of water deep underground in lakes called aquifers. Until recently, scientists believed this underground water was safe from pollution. Then, in the 1980s. people in the United States began to find chemicals in their well water, and scientists took a closer look at what was happening. Weldon Spring, Missouri, for example, was the site of a bomb factory during World War Ⅱ. The factory was destroyed after the war. but poisonous chemicals remained on the ground. Very slowly, these chemicals dripped down through the ground and into the aquifer. Once they did, however, the water form that aquifer was no longer drinkable.
It probably never will be drinkable again, Underground water is not renewed regularly by the rain, like lake or river water. Thus, if a harmful chemical gets into an aquifer, it will stay there for a very long time. Furthermore, it is nearly imp6ssible to remove all the water in an aquifer and clean out the pollutants.
Industrial sites like Weldon Spring are one cause of underground water pollution. There are thousands of such sites in the United States alone, and many others around the world. Underground water pollution is also caused by modern farming methods, which require the use of large amounts of chemicals in the fields. And finally, yet another important cause of underground water pollution is waste. That includes solid waste thrown away in dumps and landfills, and also untreated human and animal waste.
The situation is indeed very serious. Fortunately, there are many aquifers and they are very large. Only a small number have been seriously damaged so far. But if the world does not want to go thirsty in the near future, further pollution must be prevented. Around the world, governments must make real changes in industry, agriculture, and waste disposal. | 941.txt | 3 |
[
"clean water is no longer available for people in Europe",
"there will always be enough water for everyone",
"the water problem will soon be resolved in the twenty-first century",
"many more people may soon. be without clean water"
] | In the first paragraph scientists express the idea that _ . | If you live in a city in North America or Europe, you have probably never thought much about water. Whenever you need some, you turn on the tap and there it is. Millions of people in other parts of the world are not so lucky. They have trouble getting enough clean water for their basic needs. This situation may soon become common all around the world, scientists believe. In fact, they say that the lack of clean water may be one of the biggest issues in the twenty-first century.
The reasons for this are clear. On the one hand. people are using more water than ever before. Over the last fifty years, the population of the world has more than doubled. On the other hand, many sources of surface water such as rivers, lakes, and streams are too polluted and unhealthy for use as drinking water.
This has forced more and more people to drill wells so they can get water form underground. There are enormous amounts of water deep underground in lakes called aquifers. Until recently, scientists believed this underground water was safe from pollution. Then, in the 1980s. people in the United States began to find chemicals in their well water, and scientists took a closer look at what was happening. Weldon Spring, Missouri, for example, was the site of a bomb factory during World War Ⅱ. The factory was destroyed after the war. but poisonous chemicals remained on the ground. Very slowly, these chemicals dripped down through the ground and into the aquifer. Once they did, however, the water form that aquifer was no longer drinkable.
It probably never will be drinkable again, Underground water is not renewed regularly by the rain, like lake or river water. Thus, if a harmful chemical gets into an aquifer, it will stay there for a very long time. Furthermore, it is nearly imp6ssible to remove all the water in an aquifer and clean out the pollutants.
Industrial sites like Weldon Spring are one cause of underground water pollution. There are thousands of such sites in the United States alone, and many others around the world. Underground water pollution is also caused by modern farming methods, which require the use of large amounts of chemicals in the fields. And finally, yet another important cause of underground water pollution is waste. That includes solid waste thrown away in dumps and landfills, and also untreated human and animal waste.
The situation is indeed very serious. Fortunately, there are many aquifers and they are very large. Only a small number have been seriously damaged so far. But if the world does not want to go thirsty in the near future, further pollution must be prevented. Around the world, governments must make real changes in industry, agriculture, and waste disposal. | 941.txt | 3 |
[
"people in Europe don't turn off their taps",
"people drill too many wells and pollute them",
"the population has been continuously rising",
"there is not much underground water"
] | One reason for water shortage is that _ . | If you live in a city in North America or Europe, you have probably never thought much about water. Whenever you need some, you turn on the tap and there it is. Millions of people in other parts of the world are not so lucky. They have trouble getting enough clean water for their basic needs. This situation may soon become common all around the world, scientists believe. In fact, they say that the lack of clean water may be one of the biggest issues in the twenty-first century.
The reasons for this are clear. On the one hand. people are using more water than ever before. Over the last fifty years, the population of the world has more than doubled. On the other hand, many sources of surface water such as rivers, lakes, and streams are too polluted and unhealthy for use as drinking water.
This has forced more and more people to drill wells so they can get water form underground. There are enormous amounts of water deep underground in lakes called aquifers. Until recently, scientists believed this underground water was safe from pollution. Then, in the 1980s. people in the United States began to find chemicals in their well water, and scientists took a closer look at what was happening. Weldon Spring, Missouri, for example, was the site of a bomb factory during World War Ⅱ. The factory was destroyed after the war. but poisonous chemicals remained on the ground. Very slowly, these chemicals dripped down through the ground and into the aquifer. Once they did, however, the water form that aquifer was no longer drinkable.
It probably never will be drinkable again, Underground water is not renewed regularly by the rain, like lake or river water. Thus, if a harmful chemical gets into an aquifer, it will stay there for a very long time. Furthermore, it is nearly imp6ssible to remove all the water in an aquifer and clean out the pollutants.
Industrial sites like Weldon Spring are one cause of underground water pollution. There are thousands of such sites in the United States alone, and many others around the world. Underground water pollution is also caused by modern farming methods, which require the use of large amounts of chemicals in the fields. And finally, yet another important cause of underground water pollution is waste. That includes solid waste thrown away in dumps and landfills, and also untreated human and animal waste.
The situation is indeed very serious. Fortunately, there are many aquifers and they are very large. Only a small number have been seriously damaged so far. But if the world does not want to go thirsty in the near future, further pollution must be prevented. Around the world, governments must make real changes in industry, agriculture, and waste disposal. | 941.txt | 2 |
[
"chemicals in well Water",
"many sources of surface water",
"more aquifers than other places",
"chemicals in the bomb factory"
] | In Weldon Spring, people found _ . | If you live in a city in North America or Europe, you have probably never thought much about water. Whenever you need some, you turn on the tap and there it is. Millions of people in other parts of the world are not so lucky. They have trouble getting enough clean water for their basic needs. This situation may soon become common all around the world, scientists believe. In fact, they say that the lack of clean water may be one of the biggest issues in the twenty-first century.
The reasons for this are clear. On the one hand. people are using more water than ever before. Over the last fifty years, the population of the world has more than doubled. On the other hand, many sources of surface water such as rivers, lakes, and streams are too polluted and unhealthy for use as drinking water.
This has forced more and more people to drill wells so they can get water form underground. There are enormous amounts of water deep underground in lakes called aquifers. Until recently, scientists believed this underground water was safe from pollution. Then, in the 1980s. people in the United States began to find chemicals in their well water, and scientists took a closer look at what was happening. Weldon Spring, Missouri, for example, was the site of a bomb factory during World War Ⅱ. The factory was destroyed after the war. but poisonous chemicals remained on the ground. Very slowly, these chemicals dripped down through the ground and into the aquifer. Once they did, however, the water form that aquifer was no longer drinkable.
It probably never will be drinkable again, Underground water is not renewed regularly by the rain, like lake or river water. Thus, if a harmful chemical gets into an aquifer, it will stay there for a very long time. Furthermore, it is nearly imp6ssible to remove all the water in an aquifer and clean out the pollutants.
Industrial sites like Weldon Spring are one cause of underground water pollution. There are thousands of such sites in the United States alone, and many others around the world. Underground water pollution is also caused by modern farming methods, which require the use of large amounts of chemicals in the fields. And finally, yet another important cause of underground water pollution is waste. That includes solid waste thrown away in dumps and landfills, and also untreated human and animal waste.
The situation is indeed very serious. Fortunately, there are many aquifers and they are very large. Only a small number have been seriously damaged so far. But if the world does not want to go thirsty in the near future, further pollution must be prevented. Around the world, governments must make real changes in industry, agriculture, and waste disposal. | 941.txt | 0 |
[
"polluting all aquifers in the United States",
"minor sources of underground water pollution",
"causing problems in bomb factories",
"the three main sources of underground water pollution"
] | We can infer from this passage that industry, farming, and waste are _ . | If you live in a city in North America or Europe, you have probably never thought much about water. Whenever you need some, you turn on the tap and there it is. Millions of people in other parts of the world are not so lucky. They have trouble getting enough clean water for their basic needs. This situation may soon become common all around the world, scientists believe. In fact, they say that the lack of clean water may be one of the biggest issues in the twenty-first century.
The reasons for this are clear. On the one hand. people are using more water than ever before. Over the last fifty years, the population of the world has more than doubled. On the other hand, many sources of surface water such as rivers, lakes, and streams are too polluted and unhealthy for use as drinking water.
This has forced more and more people to drill wells so they can get water form underground. There are enormous amounts of water deep underground in lakes called aquifers. Until recently, scientists believed this underground water was safe from pollution. Then, in the 1980s. people in the United States began to find chemicals in their well water, and scientists took a closer look at what was happening. Weldon Spring, Missouri, for example, was the site of a bomb factory during World War Ⅱ. The factory was destroyed after the war. but poisonous chemicals remained on the ground. Very slowly, these chemicals dripped down through the ground and into the aquifer. Once they did, however, the water form that aquifer was no longer drinkable.
It probably never will be drinkable again, Underground water is not renewed regularly by the rain, like lake or river water. Thus, if a harmful chemical gets into an aquifer, it will stay there for a very long time. Furthermore, it is nearly imp6ssible to remove all the water in an aquifer and clean out the pollutants.
Industrial sites like Weldon Spring are one cause of underground water pollution. There are thousands of such sites in the United States alone, and many others around the world. Underground water pollution is also caused by modern farming methods, which require the use of large amounts of chemicals in the fields. And finally, yet another important cause of underground water pollution is waste. That includes solid waste thrown away in dumps and landfills, and also untreated human and animal waste.
The situation is indeed very serious. Fortunately, there are many aquifers and they are very large. Only a small number have been seriously damaged so far. But if the world does not want to go thirsty in the near future, further pollution must be prevented. Around the world, governments must make real changes in industry, agriculture, and waste disposal. | 941.txt | 3 |
[
"temporary delight",
"enjoyment in progress",
"happiness in retrospect",
"lasting reward"
] | Jennifer Senior suggests in her article that raising a child can bring . | It's no surprise that Jennifer Senior's insightful, provocative magazine cover story, "I love My Children, I Hate My Life," is arousing much chatter - nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that "the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight."
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive - and newly single - mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual "Jennifer Aniston is pregnant" news. Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing? It doesn't seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their "own" (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake.
It's hard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it's interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren't in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting " the Rachel" might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston. | 2218.txt | 2 |
[
"celebrity moms are a permanent source for gossip",
"single mothers with babies deserve greater attention",
"news about pregnant celebrities is entertaining",
"having children is highly valued by the public"
] | We learn from Paragraph 2 that . | It's no surprise that Jennifer Senior's insightful, provocative magazine cover story, "I love My Children, I Hate My Life," is arousing much chatter - nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that "the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight."
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive - and newly single - mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual "Jennifer Aniston is pregnant" news. Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing? It doesn't seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their "own" (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake.
It's hard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it's interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren't in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting " the Rachel" might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston. | 2218.txt | 3 |
[
"are constantly exposed to criticism",
"are largely ignored by the media",
"fail to fulfill their social responsibilities",
"are less likely to be satisfied with their life"
] | It is suggested in Paragraph 3 that childless folks . | It's no surprise that Jennifer Senior's insightful, provocative magazine cover story, "I love My Children, I Hate My Life," is arousing much chatter - nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that "the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight."
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive - and newly single - mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual "Jennifer Aniston is pregnant" news. Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing? It doesn't seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their "own" (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake.
It's hard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it's interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren't in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting " the Rachel" might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston. | 2218.txt | 0 |
[
"soothing",
"ambiguous",
"compensatory",
"misleading"
] | According to Paragraph 4, the message conveyed by celebrity magazines is . | It's no surprise that Jennifer Senior's insightful, provocative magazine cover story, "I love My Children, I Hate My Life," is arousing much chatter - nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that "the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight."
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive - and newly single - mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual "Jennifer Aniston is pregnant" news. Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing? It doesn't seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their "own" (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake.
It's hard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it's interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren't in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting " the Rachel" might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston. | 2218.txt | 3 |
[
"Having children contributes little to the glamour of celebrity moms.",
"Celebrity moms have influenced our attitude towards child rearing.",
"Having children intensifies our dissatisfaction with life.",
"We sometimes neglect the happiness from child rearing."
] | Which of the following can be inferred from the last paragraph? | It's no surprise that Jennifer Senior's insightful, provocative magazine cover story, "I love My Children, I Hate My Life," is arousing much chatter - nothing gets people talking like the suggestion that child rearing is anything less than a completely fulfilling, life-enriching experience. Rather than concluding that children make parents either happy or miserable, Senior suggests we need to redefine happiness: instead of thinking of it as something that can be measured by moment-to-moment joy, we should consider being happy as a past-tense condition. Even though the day-to-day experience of raising kids can be soul-crushingly hard, Senior writes that "the very things that in the moment dampen our moods can later be sources of intense gratification and delight."
The magazine cover showing an attractive mother holding a cute baby is hardly the only Madonna-and-child image on newsstands this week. There are also stories about newly adoptive - and newly single - mom Sandra Bullock, as well as the usual "Jennifer Aniston is pregnant" news. Practically every week features at least one celebrity mom, or mom-to-be, smiling on the newsstands.
In a society that so persistently celebrates procreation, is it any wonder that admitting you regret having children is equivalent to admitting you support kitten-killing? It doesn't seem quite fair, then, to compare the regrets of parents to the regrets of the children. Unhappy parents rarely are provoked to wonder if they shouldn't have had kids, but unhappy childless folks are bothered with the message that children are the single most important thing in the world: obviously their misery must be a direct result of the gaping baby-size holes in their lives.
Of course, the image of parenthood that celebrity magazines like Us Weekly and People present is hugely unrealistic, especially when the parents are single mothers like Bullock. According to several studies concluding that parents are less happy than childless couples, single parents are the least happy of all. No shock there, considering how much work it is to raise a kid without a partner to lean on; yet to hear Sandra and Britney tell it, raising a kid on their "own" (read: with round-the-clock help) is a piece of cake.
It's hard to imagine that many people are dumb enough to want children just because Reese and Angelina make it look so glamorous: most adults understand that a baby is not a haircut. But it's interesting to wonder if the images we see every week of stress-free, happiness-enhancing parenthood aren't in some small, subconscious way contributing to our own dissatisfactions with the actual experience, in the same way that a small part of us hoped getting " the Rachel" might make us look just a little bit like Jennifer Aniston. | 2218.txt | 1 |
[
"About 25 million.",
"More than 25 million.",
"Less than 25 million.",
"Less than 225 million"
] | If now America has 250 million people.how many of them are engaged inagriculture and forestry? | Although the United States covers so much land andthe land produces far more food than the presentpopulation needs，its people are by now almostentirely an urban society Less than a tenth of thepeople are engaged in agriculture and forestry，and most of the rest live in or aroundtowns，small and large.Here the traditional pictureis changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical smalltown may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live insmall towns any more.Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1argecities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each-a larger proportion than inGermany or England，let alone France.The statisticsof urban and rural populationshould be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as ruraltravel by car to work in a nearby town each day.As the rush to live out of town continues.ruralareas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at whatmoment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives ina metropolitan rather than a small town environment. | 2395.txt | 2 |
[
"United States.",
"Germany.",
"France.",
"England."
] | Which of the following four countries has the smallest proportion of people living inmetropolitan areas? | Although the United States covers so much land andthe land produces far more food than the presentpopulation needs，its people are by now almostentirely an urban society Less than a tenth of thepeople are engaged in agriculture and forestry，and most of the rest live in or aroundtowns，small and large.Here the traditional pictureis changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical smalltown may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live insmall towns any more.Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1argecities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each-a larger proportion than inGermany or England，let alone France.The statisticsof urban and rural populationshould be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as ruraltravel by car to work in a nearby town each day.As the rush to live out of town continues.ruralareas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at whatmoment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives ina metropolitan rather than a small town environment. | 2395.txt | 2 |
[
"Of a large city with its suburbs.",
"Of small and large towns.",
"Of urban areas.",
"Of rural areas."
] | What's the meaning of the word"metropolitan"in the middle of the passage? | Although the United States covers so much land andthe land produces far more food than the presentpopulation needs，its people are by now almostentirely an urban society Less than a tenth of thepeople are engaged in agriculture and forestry，and most of the rest live in or aroundtowns，small and large.Here the traditional pictureis changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical smalltown may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live insmall towns any more.Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1argecities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each-a larger proportion than inGermany or England，let alone France.The statisticsof urban and rural populationshould be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as ruraltravel by car to work in a nearby town each day.As the rush to live out of town continues.ruralareas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at whatmoment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives ina metropolitan rather than a small town environment. | 2395.txt | 0 |
[
"Most small towns become gradually crowded",
"Small towns are still similar to each other.",
"As the traditional picture is changing，towns are different.",
"Small towns are turning into large cities"
] | According to the passage，what can we learn about small towns in the UnitedStates? | Although the United States covers so much land andthe land produces far more food than the presentpopulation needs，its people are by now almostentirely an urban society Less than a tenth of thepeople are engaged in agriculture and forestry，and most of the rest live in or aroundtowns，small and large.Here the traditional pictureis changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical smalltown may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live insmall towns any more.Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1argecities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each-a larger proportion than inGermany or England，let alone France.The statisticsof urban and rural populationshould be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as ruraltravel by car to work in a nearby town each day.As the rush to live out of town continues.ruralareas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at whatmoment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives ina metropolitan rather than a small town environment. | 2395.txt | 1 |
[
"Because they are the same.",
"Because the rush takes place too quickly",
"Because the process is gradual.",
"Because more and more Americans live in metropolitan"
] | Why is it hard to say when a piece of country becomes a suburb? | Although the United States covers so much land andthe land produces far more food than the presentpopulation needs，its people are by now almostentirely an urban society Less than a tenth of thepeople are engaged in agriculture and forestry，and most of the rest live in or aroundtowns，small and large.Here the traditional pictureis changing：every small town may still be very like other small towns，and the typical smalltown may represent a widely accepted view of the country，but most Americans do not live insmall towns any more.Half the population now lives in some thirty metropolitan areas(1argecities with their suburbs、of more than a million people each-a larger proportion than inGermany or England，let alone France.The statisticsof urban and rural populationshould be treated with caution because so many people who live in areas classified as ruraltravel by car to work in a nearby town each day.As the rush to live out of town continues.ruralareas within reach of towns are gradually filled with houses，so that it is hard to say at whatmoment a piece of country becomes a suburb But more and more the typical American lives ina metropolitan rather than a small town environment. | 2395.txt | 2 |
[
"have adapted to a new set of moral standards",
"are longing for the return of the good old days",
"have realized the importance of material things",
"are awakening to the lowering of their moral standards"
] | Professor Elshtain is pleased to see that Americans_ . | The decline in moral standards-which has long concerned social analysts-has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation's moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that 'I'm in it for me' has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness," Ms. Elshtain says.
Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today's greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age," Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful ( ) longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can't be bought." | 1043.txt | 3 |
[
"its growing wealth",
"the self-centeredness of individuals",
"underestimating the impact of social changes",
"the prejudice against women and minorities"
] | The moral decline of American society is caused mainly by_ . | The decline in moral standards-which has long concerned social analysts-has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation's moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that 'I'm in it for me' has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness," Ms. Elshtain says.
Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today's greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age," Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful ( ) longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can't be bought." | 1043.txt | 1 |
[
"Great mobility.",
"Concern for one's neighbors.",
"Emphasis on individual effort.",
"Ever-weakening social bonds."
] | Which of the following characterizes the traditional communities? | The decline in moral standards-which has long concerned social analysts-has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation's moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that 'I'm in it for me' has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness," Ms. Elshtain says.
Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today's greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age," Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful ( ) longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can't be bought." | 1043.txt | 1 |
[
"was something unheard of",
"was by no means a rare occurrence",
"attracted a lot of public attention",
"began to appear in analysts' data"
] | In the 1950s, classroom violence_ . | The decline in moral standards-which has long concerned social analysts-has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation's moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that 'I'm in it for me' has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness," Ms. Elshtain says.
Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today's greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age," Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful ( ) longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can't be bought." | 1043.txt | 0 |
[
"if people can return to the \"golden age\"",
"when women and men enjoy equal rights",
"when people rid themselves of prejudice",
"if less emphasis is laid on material things"
] | According to Elshtain, the current moral decline may be reversed_ . | The decline in moral standards-which has long concerned social analysts-has at last captured the attention of average Americans. And Jean Bethke Elshtain, for one, is glad.
The fact that ordinary citizens are now starting to think seriously about the nation's moral climate, says this ethics professor at the University of Chicago, is reason to hope that new ideas will come forward to improve it.
But the challenge is not to be underestimated. Materialism and individualism in American society are the biggest obstacles. "The thought that 'I'm in it for me' has become deeply rooted in the national consciousness," Ms. Elshtain says.
Some of this can be attributed to the disintegration of traditional communities, in which neighbors looked out for one another, she says. With today's greater mobility and with so many couples working, those bonds have been weakened, replaced by a greater emphasis on self.
In a 1996 poll of Americans, loss of morality topped the list of the biggest problems facing the And Elshtain says the public is correct to sense that: Data show that Americans are struggling with problems unheard of in the 1950s, such as classroom violence and a high rate of births to unmarried mothers.
The desire for a higher moral standard is not a lament for some nonexistent "golden age," Elshtain says, nor is it a wishful ( ) longing for a time that denied opportunities to women and minorities. Most people, in fact, favor the lessening of prejudice.
Moral decline will not be reversed until people find ways to counter the materialism in society, she says. "Slowly, you recognize that the things that matter are those that can't be bought." | 1043.txt | 3 |
[
"If the camper van didn't break down on the way.",
"If the amount of alcohol and tobacco were not too large.",
"If he carried cigarettes and spirits for personal use.",
"If he hadn't asked others to drive the car."
] | How could Richard Evans have avoided such a trouble? | Customs officers' powers are excessive, but so is smuggling
RICHARD EVANS, a retired lorry driver, and his family were travelling in Spain last summer when their camper van broke down. They left it to be brought ba
ck by the AA. But customs officers at Dover claimed it was being used for smuggling. They seized the vehicle and all its contents, including 9,000 cigarettes and 20 bottles of spirits. The van, worth ¡ê20,000 ($30,800), is still impounded. It even took Mr. Evans six months to recover his 90-year-old mother-in-law's wheelchair.
Under European Union regulations, people may import an unlimited quantity of alcohol and tobacco, so long as it is for their own personal use. Had Mr. Evans been driving his van himself, he would probably have had no trouble. Cases like this are putting Customs and Excise's considerable powers under scrutiny. A recent stinging High Court judgment about another vehicle seizure said, "the mindset of those determining these policies has not embraced the world of an internal market where excise goods can move freely across internal frontiers." And, on September 18th, the EU announced that it was giving Britain two months to prove that customs officers were not breaching consumers' rights to shop freely in Europe. "Cross-border shopping...is a fundamental right under EU law and should not be regarded as a form of tax evasion," said Frits Bolkestein, the internal market commissioner.
Customs officers have an impossible job. Excise duty and VAT on a pack of premium brand cigarettes account for 79% of the recommended retail selling price of ¡ê4.51. An identical pack costs ¡ê1.97 in Belgium. One in every five cigarettes smoked in Britain--some 17 billion altogether--has been smuggled. The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association reckons that 80% of hand-rolling tobacco is smuggled.
The main weapon Customs and Excise has in tackling abuse is to seize cars in which it suspects goods are being smuggled. Guidelines suggest "personal use" can mean only up to 800 cigarettes, for example. Anyone bringing in more can be asked to explain. In the past three years, customs officers have impounded more than 22,000 vehicles. Tellingly, only a fifth of seizures are contested, and fewer than 1% of appeals are successful. Officials say the value of cross-channel smuggling has fallen sharply in the past year, from ¡ê1.6 billion to ¡ê400m.
Some customs officers, though, have clearly been over-zealous. And the recent High Court case ruled that the legislation under which Customs and Excise operates wrongly reverses the burden of proof. The defendant must prove that he is not bringing in tobacco and so forth for a commercial purpose. It also said that customs officers must have "reasonable grounds" for searches: suspicion and instinct are not enough. The government is appealing.
The minister in charge of Customs and Excise, John Healey, accepts that there is an urgent need to respond to questions about the "legitimacy" of the Customs regime. But he says the charge that Customs are abusing their powers is wrong: "Customs," he says, "never stop at random, they never do blanket searches. They always have some ground for stopping people." Tell that to Mr Evans. | 1128.txt | 3 |
[
"Critical.",
"Optimistic.",
"Indifferent.",
"Supportive."
] | How does the EU feel about the behavior of Customs and Excise? | Customs officers' powers are excessive, but so is smuggling
RICHARD EVANS, a retired lorry driver, and his family were travelling in Spain last summer when their camper van broke down. They left it to be brought ba
ck by the AA. But customs officers at Dover claimed it was being used for smuggling. They seized the vehicle and all its contents, including 9,000 cigarettes and 20 bottles of spirits. The van, worth ¡ê20,000 ($30,800), is still impounded. It even took Mr. Evans six months to recover his 90-year-old mother-in-law's wheelchair.
Under European Union regulations, people may import an unlimited quantity of alcohol and tobacco, so long as it is for their own personal use. Had Mr. Evans been driving his van himself, he would probably have had no trouble. Cases like this are putting Customs and Excise's considerable powers under scrutiny. A recent stinging High Court judgment about another vehicle seizure said, "the mindset of those determining these policies has not embraced the world of an internal market where excise goods can move freely across internal frontiers." And, on September 18th, the EU announced that it was giving Britain two months to prove that customs officers were not breaching consumers' rights to shop freely in Europe. "Cross-border shopping...is a fundamental right under EU law and should not be regarded as a form of tax evasion," said Frits Bolkestein, the internal market commissioner.
Customs officers have an impossible job. Excise duty and VAT on a pack of premium brand cigarettes account for 79% of the recommended retail selling price of ¡ê4.51. An identical pack costs ¡ê1.97 in Belgium. One in every five cigarettes smoked in Britain--some 17 billion altogether--has been smuggled. The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association reckons that 80% of hand-rolling tobacco is smuggled.
The main weapon Customs and Excise has in tackling abuse is to seize cars in which it suspects goods are being smuggled. Guidelines suggest "personal use" can mean only up to 800 cigarettes, for example. Anyone bringing in more can be asked to explain. In the past three years, customs officers have impounded more than 22,000 vehicles. Tellingly, only a fifth of seizures are contested, and fewer than 1% of appeals are successful. Officials say the value of cross-channel smuggling has fallen sharply in the past year, from ¡ê1.6 billion to ¡ê400m.
Some customs officers, though, have clearly been over-zealous. And the recent High Court case ruled that the legislation under which Customs and Excise operates wrongly reverses the burden of proof. The defendant must prove that he is not bringing in tobacco and so forth for a commercial purpose. It also said that customs officers must have "reasonable grounds" for searches: suspicion and instinct are not enough. The government is appealing.
The minister in charge of Customs and Excise, John Healey, accepts that there is an urgent need to respond to questions about the "legitimacy" of the Customs regime. But he says the charge that Customs are abusing their powers is wrong: "Customs," he says, "never stop at random, they never do blanket searches. They always have some ground for stopping people." Tell that to Mr Evans. | 1128.txt | 0 |
[
"By doing blanket searches.",
"By seizing the suspect cars.",
"By limiting shopping in Europe.",
"By stopping at random."
] | How can Customs and Excise check the smuggling effectively? | Customs officers' powers are excessive, but so is smuggling
RICHARD EVANS, a retired lorry driver, and his family were travelling in Spain last summer when their camper van broke down. They left it to be brought ba
ck by the AA. But customs officers at Dover claimed it was being used for smuggling. They seized the vehicle and all its contents, including 9,000 cigarettes and 20 bottles of spirits. The van, worth ¡ê20,000 ($30,800), is still impounded. It even took Mr. Evans six months to recover his 90-year-old mother-in-law's wheelchair.
Under European Union regulations, people may import an unlimited quantity of alcohol and tobacco, so long as it is for their own personal use. Had Mr. Evans been driving his van himself, he would probably have had no trouble. Cases like this are putting Customs and Excise's considerable powers under scrutiny. A recent stinging High Court judgment about another vehicle seizure said, "the mindset of those determining these policies has not embraced the world of an internal market where excise goods can move freely across internal frontiers." And, on September 18th, the EU announced that it was giving Britain two months to prove that customs officers were not breaching consumers' rights to shop freely in Europe. "Cross-border shopping...is a fundamental right under EU law and should not be regarded as a form of tax evasion," said Frits Bolkestein, the internal market commissioner.
Customs officers have an impossible job. Excise duty and VAT on a pack of premium brand cigarettes account for 79% of the recommended retail selling price of ¡ê4.51. An identical pack costs ¡ê1.97 in Belgium. One in every five cigarettes smoked in Britain--some 17 billion altogether--has been smuggled. The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association reckons that 80% of hand-rolling tobacco is smuggled.
The main weapon Customs and Excise has in tackling abuse is to seize cars in which it suspects goods are being smuggled. Guidelines suggest "personal use" can mean only up to 800 cigarettes, for example. Anyone bringing in more can be asked to explain. In the past three years, customs officers have impounded more than 22,000 vehicles. Tellingly, only a fifth of seizures are contested, and fewer than 1% of appeals are successful. Officials say the value of cross-channel smuggling has fallen sharply in the past year, from ¡ê1.6 billion to ¡ê400m.
Some customs officers, though, have clearly been over-zealous. And the recent High Court case ruled that the legislation under which Customs and Excise operates wrongly reverses the burden of proof. The defendant must prove that he is not bringing in tobacco and so forth for a commercial purpose. It also said that customs officers must have "reasonable grounds" for searches: suspicion and instinct are not enough. The government is appealing.
The minister in charge of Customs and Excise, John Healey, accepts that there is an urgent need to respond to questions about the "legitimacy" of the Customs regime. But he says the charge that Customs are abusing their powers is wrong: "Customs," he says, "never stop at random, they never do blanket searches. They always have some ground for stopping people." Tell that to Mr Evans. | 1128.txt | 1 |
[
"They are abusing their power.",
"They deprive Europeans of their right to a free shop.",
"They seize the car for no good reason.",
"Their power is too excessive."
] | What is the charge against Customs and Excise? | Customs officers' powers are excessive, but so is smuggling
RICHARD EVANS, a retired lorry driver, and his family were travelling in Spain last summer when their camper van broke down. They left it to be brought ba
ck by the AA. But customs officers at Dover claimed it was being used for smuggling. They seized the vehicle and all its contents, including 9,000 cigarettes and 20 bottles of spirits. The van, worth ¡ê20,000 ($30,800), is still impounded. It even took Mr. Evans six months to recover his 90-year-old mother-in-law's wheelchair.
Under European Union regulations, people may import an unlimited quantity of alcohol and tobacco, so long as it is for their own personal use. Had Mr. Evans been driving his van himself, he would probably have had no trouble. Cases like this are putting Customs and Excise's considerable powers under scrutiny. A recent stinging High Court judgment about another vehicle seizure said, "the mindset of those determining these policies has not embraced the world of an internal market where excise goods can move freely across internal frontiers." And, on September 18th, the EU announced that it was giving Britain two months to prove that customs officers were not breaching consumers' rights to shop freely in Europe. "Cross-border shopping...is a fundamental right under EU law and should not be regarded as a form of tax evasion," said Frits Bolkestein, the internal market commissioner.
Customs officers have an impossible job. Excise duty and VAT on a pack of premium brand cigarettes account for 79% of the recommended retail selling price of ¡ê4.51. An identical pack costs ¡ê1.97 in Belgium. One in every five cigarettes smoked in Britain--some 17 billion altogether--has been smuggled. The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association reckons that 80% of hand-rolling tobacco is smuggled.
The main weapon Customs and Excise has in tackling abuse is to seize cars in which it suspects goods are being smuggled. Guidelines suggest "personal use" can mean only up to 800 cigarettes, for example. Anyone bringing in more can be asked to explain. In the past three years, customs officers have impounded more than 22,000 vehicles. Tellingly, only a fifth of seizures are contested, and fewer than 1% of appeals are successful. Officials say the value of cross-channel smuggling has fallen sharply in the past year, from ¡ê1.6 billion to ¡ê400m.
Some customs officers, though, have clearly been over-zealous. And the recent High Court case ruled that the legislation under which Customs and Excise operates wrongly reverses the burden of proof. The defendant must prove that he is not bringing in tobacco and so forth for a commercial purpose. It also said that customs officers must have "reasonable grounds" for searches: suspicion and instinct are not enough. The government is appealing.
The minister in charge of Customs and Excise, John Healey, accepts that there is an urgent need to respond to questions about the "legitimacy" of the Customs regime. But he says the charge that Customs are abusing their powers is wrong: "Customs," he says, "never stop at random, they never do blanket searches. They always have some ground for stopping people." Tell that to Mr Evans. | 1128.txt | 0 |
[
"Evans should learn a lesson from his experience",
"what John Healey has said is good for Evans",
"he does not believe what John Healey has said",
"Evans should understand what he has experienced"
] | By ¡°Tell that to Mr Evans.¡±(Last Line, Paragraph 6), the author means _ . | Customs officers' powers are excessive, but so is smuggling
RICHARD EVANS, a retired lorry driver, and his family were travelling in Spain last summer when their camper van broke down. They left it to be brought ba
ck by the AA. But customs officers at Dover claimed it was being used for smuggling. They seized the vehicle and all its contents, including 9,000 cigarettes and 20 bottles of spirits. The van, worth ¡ê20,000 ($30,800), is still impounded. It even took Mr. Evans six months to recover his 90-year-old mother-in-law's wheelchair.
Under European Union regulations, people may import an unlimited quantity of alcohol and tobacco, so long as it is for their own personal use. Had Mr. Evans been driving his van himself, he would probably have had no trouble. Cases like this are putting Customs and Excise's considerable powers under scrutiny. A recent stinging High Court judgment about another vehicle seizure said, "the mindset of those determining these policies has not embraced the world of an internal market where excise goods can move freely across internal frontiers." And, on September 18th, the EU announced that it was giving Britain two months to prove that customs officers were not breaching consumers' rights to shop freely in Europe. "Cross-border shopping...is a fundamental right under EU law and should not be regarded as a form of tax evasion," said Frits Bolkestein, the internal market commissioner.
Customs officers have an impossible job. Excise duty and VAT on a pack of premium brand cigarettes account for 79% of the recommended retail selling price of ¡ê4.51. An identical pack costs ¡ê1.97 in Belgium. One in every five cigarettes smoked in Britain--some 17 billion altogether--has been smuggled. The Tobacco Manufacturers' Association reckons that 80% of hand-rolling tobacco is smuggled.
The main weapon Customs and Excise has in tackling abuse is to seize cars in which it suspects goods are being smuggled. Guidelines suggest "personal use" can mean only up to 800 cigarettes, for example. Anyone bringing in more can be asked to explain. In the past three years, customs officers have impounded more than 22,000 vehicles. Tellingly, only a fifth of seizures are contested, and fewer than 1% of appeals are successful. Officials say the value of cross-channel smuggling has fallen sharply in the past year, from ¡ê1.6 billion to ¡ê400m.
Some customs officers, though, have clearly been over-zealous. And the recent High Court case ruled that the legislation under which Customs and Excise operates wrongly reverses the burden of proof. The defendant must prove that he is not bringing in tobacco and so forth for a commercial purpose. It also said that customs officers must have "reasonable grounds" for searches: suspicion and instinct are not enough. The government is appealing.
The minister in charge of Customs and Excise, John Healey, accepts that there is an urgent need to respond to questions about the "legitimacy" of the Customs regime. But he says the charge that Customs are abusing their powers is wrong: "Customs," he says, "never stop at random, they never do blanket searches. They always have some ground for stopping people." Tell that to Mr Evans. | 1128.txt | 2 |
[
"one thinks bad or good",
"one feels in danger",
"one faces in the outside world",
"one tries to escape from real life"
] | We learn from the passage that an emotion is created by something . | According to psychologists（）, an emotion is aroused when a man or animal views something as either bad or good. When a person feels like running away from something he thinks will hurt him, we call this emotion fear. if the person wants to remove the danger by attacking it, we call the emotion anger. The emotions of joy and love are aroused when we think something can help us. An emotion does not have to be created by something in the outside world. it can be created by a person's thoughts.
Everyone has emotions. Many psychologists believe that infants are born without emotions. They believe children learn emotions just as they learn to read and write. A growing child not only learns his emotions but learns how to act in certain situations because of an emotion.
Psychologists think that there are two types of emotion: positive and negative. Positive emotions include love, liking, joy, delight, and hope. They are aroused by something that appeals to a person. Negative emotions make a person unhappy or dissatisfied. They include anger, fear,despair, sadness, and disgust. in growing up, a person learns to cope with the negative emotions in order to be happy.
Emotions may be weak or strong. Some strong emotions are so unpleasant that a person will try any means to escape from them. in order to feel happy, the person may choose unusual ways to avoid the emotion.
Strong emotions can make it hard to think and to solve problems. They may prevent a person from learning or paying attention to what he is doing. For example, a student taking an examination may be so worried about failing that he cannot think properly. The worry drains valuable mental energy he needs for the examination. | 1836.txt | 0 |
[
"Children learn emotions as they grow up.",
"Babies are born with emotions.",
"Emotions fall into two types in general.",
"People can cope with the negative emotions in life."
] | Which of the following is NOT true? | According to psychologists（）, an emotion is aroused when a man or animal views something as either bad or good. When a person feels like running away from something he thinks will hurt him, we call this emotion fear. if the person wants to remove the danger by attacking it, we call the emotion anger. The emotions of joy and love are aroused when we think something can help us. An emotion does not have to be created by something in the outside world. it can be created by a person's thoughts.
Everyone has emotions. Many psychologists believe that infants are born without emotions. They believe children learn emotions just as they learn to read and write. A growing child not only learns his emotions but learns how to act in certain situations because of an emotion.
Psychologists think that there are two types of emotion: positive and negative. Positive emotions include love, liking, joy, delight, and hope. They are aroused by something that appeals to a person. Negative emotions make a person unhappy or dissatisfied. They include anger, fear,despair, sadness, and disgust. in growing up, a person learns to cope with the negative emotions in order to be happy.
Emotions may be weak or strong. Some strong emotions are so unpleasant that a person will try any means to escape from them. in order to feel happy, the person may choose unusual ways to avoid the emotion.
Strong emotions can make it hard to think and to solve problems. They may prevent a person from learning or paying attention to what he is doing. For example, a student taking an examination may be so worried about failing that he cannot think properly. The worry drains valuable mental energy he needs for the examination. | 1836.txt | 1 |
[
"explain why people have emotions",
"show how people avoid the negative emotions",
"explain what people should do before emotions",
"define and classify people's emotions"
] | The author's purpose of writing this passage is to . | According to psychologists（）, an emotion is aroused when a man or animal views something as either bad or good. When a person feels like running away from something he thinks will hurt him, we call this emotion fear. if the person wants to remove the danger by attacking it, we call the emotion anger. The emotions of joy and love are aroused when we think something can help us. An emotion does not have to be created by something in the outside world. it can be created by a person's thoughts.
Everyone has emotions. Many psychologists believe that infants are born without emotions. They believe children learn emotions just as they learn to read and write. A growing child not only learns his emotions but learns how to act in certain situations because of an emotion.
Psychologists think that there are two types of emotion: positive and negative. Positive emotions include love, liking, joy, delight, and hope. They are aroused by something that appeals to a person. Negative emotions make a person unhappy or dissatisfied. They include anger, fear,despair, sadness, and disgust. in growing up, a person learns to cope with the negative emotions in order to be happy.
Emotions may be weak or strong. Some strong emotions are so unpleasant that a person will try any means to escape from them. in order to feel happy, the person may choose unusual ways to avoid the emotion.
Strong emotions can make it hard to think and to solve problems. They may prevent a person from learning or paying attention to what he is doing. For example, a student taking an examination may be so worried about failing that he cannot think properly. The worry drains valuable mental energy he needs for the examination. | 1836.txt | 3 |
[
"he can not think properly",
"he can't pay attention to it",
"he can't pay attention to it",
"he is not full of energy"
] | We can safely conclude that a student may fail in an exam if . | According to psychologists（）, an emotion is aroused when a man or animal views something as either bad or good. When a person feels like running away from something he thinks will hurt him, we call this emotion fear. if the person wants to remove the danger by attacking it, we call the emotion anger. The emotions of joy and love are aroused when we think something can help us. An emotion does not have to be created by something in the outside world. it can be created by a person's thoughts.
Everyone has emotions. Many psychologists believe that infants are born without emotions. They believe children learn emotions just as they learn to read and write. A growing child not only learns his emotions but learns how to act in certain situations because of an emotion.
Psychologists think that there are two types of emotion: positive and negative. Positive emotions include love, liking, joy, delight, and hope. They are aroused by something that appeals to a person. Negative emotions make a person unhappy or dissatisfied. They include anger, fear,despair, sadness, and disgust. in growing up, a person learns to cope with the negative emotions in order to be happy.
Emotions may be weak or strong. Some strong emotions are so unpleasant that a person will try any means to escape from them. in order to feel happy, the person may choose unusual ways to avoid the emotion.
Strong emotions can make it hard to think and to solve problems. They may prevent a person from learning or paying attention to what he is doing. For example, a student taking an examination may be so worried about failing that he cannot think properly. The worry drains valuable mental energy he needs for the examination. | 1836.txt | 1 |
[
"stops",
"ties",
"weakens",
"flows gradually"
] | As used in the last sentence, the word drains means . | According to psychologists（）, an emotion is aroused when a man or animal views something as either bad or good. When a person feels like running away from something he thinks will hurt him, we call this emotion fear. if the person wants to remove the danger by attacking it, we call the emotion anger. The emotions of joy and love are aroused when we think something can help us. An emotion does not have to be created by something in the outside world. it can be created by a person's thoughts.
Everyone has emotions. Many psychologists believe that infants are born without emotions. They believe children learn emotions just as they learn to read and write. A growing child not only learns his emotions but learns how to act in certain situations because of an emotion.
Psychologists think that there are two types of emotion: positive and negative. Positive emotions include love, liking, joy, delight, and hope. They are aroused by something that appeals to a person. Negative emotions make a person unhappy or dissatisfied. They include anger, fear,despair, sadness, and disgust. in growing up, a person learns to cope with the negative emotions in order to be happy.
Emotions may be weak or strong. Some strong emotions are so unpleasant that a person will try any means to escape from them. in order to feel happy, the person may choose unusual ways to avoid the emotion.
Strong emotions can make it hard to think and to solve problems. They may prevent a person from learning or paying attention to what he is doing. For example, a student taking an examination may be so worried about failing that he cannot think properly. The worry drains valuable mental energy he needs for the examination. | 1836.txt | 2 |
[
"correct a common misunderstanding about termites",
"introduce the idea that termites only take the form of ants during certain life stages",
"argue that not all white ants are social insects",
"Illustrate the large variety of insect species that live in colonies"
] | The author mentions "white ants" in the beginning of the passage in order to | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 0 |
[
"They are a kind of ant, but they are unlike most ants in many ways.",
"They form colonies that grow at first and then gradually decline.",
"Their workers are all males, and their soldiers are all females.",
"They go through a life state called the nymph stage."
] | According to paragraph 1, which of the following is true about termites? | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 3 |
[
"keep their food moist",
"withstand cold temperatures in winter",
"protect their bodies from drying out",
"keep nest temperatures high"
] | According to paragraph 2, termites need to live in nests with high humidity in order to | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 2 |
[
"achieve",
"observe",
"overcome",
"reflect"
] | The word "attain" in the passage is closet in meaning to | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 0 |
[
"determined",
"clever",
"ambitious",
"successful"
] | The word "ingenious" in the passage is closest in meaning to | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 1 |
[
"Skilled",
"Famous",
"Early",
"Revolutionary"
] | The word "Renowned" in the passage is closest in meaning to | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 1 |
[
"insulate the microclimate in one part of the nest from the microclimate in another part",
"Allow moist outside air to get inside regardless of whether it is warm or cool",
"rapidly decrease the humidity inside when it gets hot outside",
"Provide the oxygen needed in the nest"
] | According to paragraph 3, the nests of some tropical termite species have the ability to | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 3 |
[
"The walls are built out of soil mixed with termite saliva.",
"The nests can be as tall as they are wide at the base.",
"The interior of the nest is kept as humid as possible.",
"The termites use hollow, thin-walled ridges to travel from one part of the nest to another."
] | According to paragraphs 3 and 4, all of the following are true of the nests of Macroternes natalensis EXCEPT: | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 3 |
[
"It carries water up from the soil into the interior.",
"It dries the air by using up moisture as it grows.",
"It heats and adds humidity to the inside of the nest.",
"It lessens the effects of the metabolism of so many termites."
] | According to paragraph 4, how does the fungus grown by Macrotermes natalensis affect the environment of the nest? | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 2 |
[
"The concentration of cool air in the cellar",
"The construction of exceptionally long tunnels",
"The even distribution of oxygen from attic to cellar",
"The diffusion of gases into and out of the ridges"
] | According to paragraph 5, what does the thinness of the ridge walls make possible? | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 3 |
[
"It becomes more humid as water vapor diffuses into the tunnels.",
"It loses carbon dioxide and gains oxygen.",
"It reaches the interior of the nest through pores in the walls.",
"It moves in the same direction as the air in the center of the nest."
] | According to paragraph 5, what happens to the air in the ridge tunnels of Macrotermes natalensis nests? | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 1 |
[
"It has a higher concentration of oxygen in the cellar than in the attic.",
"It is the same temperature as the air on the outside of the mound.",
"It contains over 250 quarts of oxygen which circulate continuously.",
"It is most humid in the cellar and gradually loses moisture as it rises to the attic."
] | Paragraph 5 supports which of the following about the air that flows through the interior of a Macrotermes natalensis mound? | Termites, social insects which live in colonies that, in some species, contain 2 million individuals or more, are often incorrectly referred to as white ants. But they are certainly not ants. Termites, unlike ants, have gradual metarnorphosis with only three life stage: egg, nymph, and adult. Ants and the other social members of their order, certain bees and wasps, have complete metarnorphosis in four life stages; egg, larva, pupa, and adult. The worker and soldier castes of social ants, bees, and wasps consist of only females, all daughters of a single queen that mated soon after she matured and thereafter never mated again. The worker and soldier castes of termites consist of both males and females, and the queen lives permanently with a male consort.
Since termites are small and soft-bodied, they easily become desiccated and must live in moist places with a high relative humidity. They do best when the relative humidity in their nest is above 96 percent and the temperature is fairly high, an optimum of about 79°F for temperate zone species and about 86°F for tropical species. Subterranean termites, the destructive species that occurs commonly throughout the eastern United States, attain these conditions by nesting in moist soil that is in contact with wood, their only food. The surrounding soil keeps the nest moist and tends to keep the temperature at a more or less favorable level. When it is cold in winter, subterranean termites move to burrows below the frost line.
Some tropical termites are more ingenious engineers, constructing huge above-ground nests with built-in "air conditioning" that keeps the nest moist, at a constant temperature, and well supplied with oxygen. Among the most architecturally advanced of these termites is an African species, Macroternes natalensis. Renowned Swiss entomologist Martin Luscher described the mounds of this fungus-growing species as being as much as 16 feet tall, 16 feet in diameter at their base, and with a cement-like wall of soil mixed with termite saliva that is from 16 to 23 inches thick. The thick and dense wall of the mound insulates the interior microclimate from the variations in humidity and temperature of the outside atmosphere. Several narrow and relatively thin-walled ridges on the outside of the mound extend from near its base almost to its top.
According to luscher, a medium-sized nest of Macrotermes has a population of about 2 million individuals. The metabolism of so many termites and of the fungus that they grow in their gardens as food helps keep the interior of the nest warm and supplies some moisture to the air in the nest. The termites saturate the atmosphere of the nest, bringing it to about 100 percent relative humidity, by carrying water up from the soil.
But how is this well-insulated nest ventilated? Its many occupants require over 250 quarts of oxygen (more than 1,200 quarts of air) per day. How can so much oxygen diffuse through the thick walls of the mound? Even the pores in the wall are filled with water, which almost stops the diffusion of gases. The answer lies in the construction of the nest. The interior consists of a large central core in which the fungus is grown, below it is "cellar" of empty space, above it is an "attic" of empty space, and within the ridges on the outer wall of the nest, there are many small tunnels that connect the cellar and the attic. The warm air in the fungus gardens rises through the nest up to the attic. From the attic, the air passes into the tunnels in the ridges and flows back down to the cellar. Gases, mainly oxygen coming in and carbon dioxide going out, easily diffuse into or out of the ridges, since their walls are thin and their surface area is large because they protrude far out from the wall of the mound. Thus air that flows down into the cellar through the ridges is relatively rich in oxygen, and has lost much of its carbon dioxide. It supplies the nest's inhabitants with fresh oxygen as it rises through the fungus-growing area back up to the attic. | 2267.txt | 0 |
[
"Performing physical examinations.",
"Locating places which attract terrorists.",
"Detecting drugs and water contamination.",
"Monitoring food processing."
] | Which of the following is within the capacity of the artificial nose being developed? | There's simple premise behind what Larry Myers does for a living: If you can smell it, you can find it.
Myers is the founder of Auburn University's Institute for Biological Detection Systems, the main task of which is to chase the ultimate in detection devices-an artificial nose.
For now, the subject of their research is little more than a stack of gleaming chips tucked away in a laboratory drawer. But soon, such a tool could be hanging from the belts of police, arson investigators and food-safety inspectors.
The technology that they are working in would suggest quite reasonably that, within three to five years, we'll have some workable sensors ready to use. Such devices might find wide use in places that attract terrorists. Police could detect drugs, bodies and bombs hidden in cars, while food inspectors could easily test food and water for contamination.
The implications for revolutionary advances in public safety and the food industry are astonishing. But so, too, are the possibilities for abuse; Such machines could determine whether a woman is ovulating , without a physical exam-or even her knowledge.
One of the traditional protectors of American liberty is that is has been impossible to search everyone. That's getting not to be the case.
Artificial biosensors created at Auburn work totally differently from anything ever seen before. Aroma Scan, for example, is a desktop machine based on a bank of chips sensitive to specific chemicals that evaporate into the air. As air is sucked into the machine, chemicals pass over the sensor surfaces and produce changes in the electrical current flowing through them. Those current changes are logged into a computer that sorts out odors based on their electrical signatures.
Myers says they expect to load a single fingernail-size chip with thousands of odor receptors ， enough to create a sensor that's nearly as sensitive as a dog's nose. | 3538.txt | 2 |
[
"negligence of public safety",
"an abuse of personal freedom",
"a hazard to physical health",
"a threat to individual privacy"
] | A potential problem which might be caused by the use of an artificial nose is ________. | There's simple premise behind what Larry Myers does for a living: If you can smell it, you can find it.
Myers is the founder of Auburn University's Institute for Biological Detection Systems, the main task of which is to chase the ultimate in detection devices-an artificial nose.
For now, the subject of their research is little more than a stack of gleaming chips tucked away in a laboratory drawer. But soon, such a tool could be hanging from the belts of police, arson investigators and food-safety inspectors.
The technology that they are working in would suggest quite reasonably that, within three to five years, we'll have some workable sensors ready to use. Such devices might find wide use in places that attract terrorists. Police could detect drugs, bodies and bombs hidden in cars, while food inspectors could easily test food and water for contamination.
The implications for revolutionary advances in public safety and the food industry are astonishing. But so, too, are the possibilities for abuse; Such machines could determine whether a woman is ovulating , without a physical exam-or even her knowledge.
One of the traditional protectors of American liberty is that is has been impossible to search everyone. That's getting not to be the case.
Artificial biosensors created at Auburn work totally differently from anything ever seen before. Aroma Scan, for example, is a desktop machine based on a bank of chips sensitive to specific chemicals that evaporate into the air. As air is sucked into the machine, chemicals pass over the sensor surfaces and produce changes in the electrical current flowing through them. Those current changes are logged into a computer that sorts out odors based on their electrical signatures.
Myers says they expect to load a single fingernail-size chip with thousands of odor receptors ， enough to create a sensor that's nearly as sensitive as a dog's nose. | 3538.txt | 3 |
[
"preset",
"entered",
"processed",
"simulated"
] | The word "logged" (Line 5, Para. 7) most probably means"________ ". | There's simple premise behind what Larry Myers does for a living: If you can smell it, you can find it.
Myers is the founder of Auburn University's Institute for Biological Detection Systems, the main task of which is to chase the ultimate in detection devices-an artificial nose.
For now, the subject of their research is little more than a stack of gleaming chips tucked away in a laboratory drawer. But soon, such a tool could be hanging from the belts of police, arson investigators and food-safety inspectors.
The technology that they are working in would suggest quite reasonably that, within three to five years, we'll have some workable sensors ready to use. Such devices might find wide use in places that attract terrorists. Police could detect drugs, bodies and bombs hidden in cars, while food inspectors could easily test food and water for contamination.
The implications for revolutionary advances in public safety and the food industry are astonishing. But so, too, are the possibilities for abuse; Such machines could determine whether a woman is ovulating , without a physical exam-or even her knowledge.
One of the traditional protectors of American liberty is that is has been impossible to search everyone. That's getting not to be the case.
Artificial biosensors created at Auburn work totally differently from anything ever seen before. Aroma Scan, for example, is a desktop machine based on a bank of chips sensitive to specific chemicals that evaporate into the air. As air is sucked into the machine, chemicals pass over the sensor surfaces and produce changes in the electrical current flowing through them. Those current changes are logged into a computer that sorts out odors based on their electrical signatures.
Myers says they expect to load a single fingernail-size chip with thousands of odor receptors ， enough to create a sensor that's nearly as sensitive as a dog's nose. | 3538.txt | 1 |
[
"to develop microchips with thousands of odor receptors",
"to invent chips sensitive to various chemicals",
"to design a computer program to sort out smells",
"to find chemicals that can alter the electrical current passing through"
] | To produce artificial noses for practical use, it is essential ________. | There's simple premise behind what Larry Myers does for a living: If you can smell it, you can find it.
Myers is the founder of Auburn University's Institute for Biological Detection Systems, the main task of which is to chase the ultimate in detection devices-an artificial nose.
For now, the subject of their research is little more than a stack of gleaming chips tucked away in a laboratory drawer. But soon, such a tool could be hanging from the belts of police, arson investigators and food-safety inspectors.
The technology that they are working in would suggest quite reasonably that, within three to five years, we'll have some workable sensors ready to use. Such devices might find wide use in places that attract terrorists. Police could detect drugs, bodies and bombs hidden in cars, while food inspectors could easily test food and water for contamination.
The implications for revolutionary advances in public safety and the food industry are astonishing. But so, too, are the possibilities for abuse; Such machines could determine whether a woman is ovulating , without a physical exam-or even her knowledge.
One of the traditional protectors of American liberty is that is has been impossible to search everyone. That's getting not to be the case.
Artificial biosensors created at Auburn work totally differently from anything ever seen before. Aroma Scan, for example, is a desktop machine based on a bank of chips sensitive to specific chemicals that evaporate into the air. As air is sucked into the machine, chemicals pass over the sensor surfaces and produce changes in the electrical current flowing through them. Those current changes are logged into a computer that sorts out odors based on their electrical signatures.
Myers says they expect to load a single fingernail-size chip with thousands of odor receptors ， enough to create a sensor that's nearly as sensitive as a dog's nose. | 3538.txt | 0 |
[
"cautious",
"approving",
"suspicious",
"overenthusiastic"
] | The author's attitude towards Larry Myers' works is ________. | There's simple premise behind what Larry Myers does for a living: If you can smell it, you can find it.
Myers is the founder of Auburn University's Institute for Biological Detection Systems, the main task of which is to chase the ultimate in detection devices-an artificial nose.
For now, the subject of their research is little more than a stack of gleaming chips tucked away in a laboratory drawer. But soon, such a tool could be hanging from the belts of police, arson investigators and food-safety inspectors.
The technology that they are working in would suggest quite reasonably that, within three to five years, we'll have some workable sensors ready to use. Such devices might find wide use in places that attract terrorists. Police could detect drugs, bodies and bombs hidden in cars, while food inspectors could easily test food and water for contamination.
The implications for revolutionary advances in public safety and the food industry are astonishing. But so, too, are the possibilities for abuse; Such machines could determine whether a woman is ovulating , without a physical exam-or even her knowledge.
One of the traditional protectors of American liberty is that is has been impossible to search everyone. That's getting not to be the case.
Artificial biosensors created at Auburn work totally differently from anything ever seen before. Aroma Scan, for example, is a desktop machine based on a bank of chips sensitive to specific chemicals that evaporate into the air. As air is sucked into the machine, chemicals pass over the sensor surfaces and produce changes in the electrical current flowing through them. Those current changes are logged into a computer that sorts out odors based on their electrical signatures.
Myers says they expect to load a single fingernail-size chip with thousands of odor receptors ， enough to create a sensor that's nearly as sensitive as a dog's nose. | 3538.txt | 1 |
[
"In 1850 the United States had less than 10,000 miles of railroad track.",
"By the end of the 1850s, Ohio and Illinois contained more railroad track than any other state in the country.",
"Much of the railroad track built in the United States during the 1850s was located west of the Appalachian Mountain.",
"By 1860 there were more miles of railroad track in the United States than in any other country."
] | According to paragraph 1, each of the following is true about railroad track in the United States EXCEPT: | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 1 |
[
"Most new farms were located along the tracks.",
"Farmers began to grow wheat as a commercial corp.",
"Many farmers decided to grow a wider variety of crops.",
"Demand for manufactured goods increased among farmers."
] | It can be inferred from paragraph 2 that the new railroads had which of the following effects on farm communities? | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 3 |
[
"famous.",
"important.",
"growing.",
"busy."
] | The word "bustling" in the passage (paragraph 3) is closest in meaning to | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 3 |
[
"Northwestern farmers almost completely stopped shipping goods by steamboat.",
"Many western goods began to be shipped east by way of Chicago rather than south to New Orleans.",
"Chicago largely replaced New York and other eastern cities as the final market for goods for the West.",
"The value of goods shipped west soon became greater than the value of goods shipped east."
] | According to paragraph 3, in what way did the new rail networks change western trade? | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 1 |
[
"There was no reliable way to get goods from New Orleans to eastern cities.",
"The cost of shipping goods by river to New Orleans continued to increase.",
"Goods shipped from New Orleans' neighboring areas had a significant competitive advantage because of their lower transportation costs.",
"The temperatures and humidity."
] | According to paragraph 3, what was a disadvantage of shipping goods from northwestern areas to New Orleans? | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 1 |
[
"the price of corn nearly doubled during that same period.",
"demand for grain increased sharply outside the United States.",
"farmers in the Northeast and Midwest began to specialize in cash crops.",
"many farmers had borrowed heavily to purchase land and equipment for raising wheat."
] | Paragraph 4 supports the idea that the price of wheat more than doubled between 1845 and 1855 because | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 1 |
[
"dominated.",
"changed.",
"improved.",
"created."
] | The word "transformed" in the passage (paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 1 |
[
"looked for.",
"lived on.",
"preferred.",
"built."
] | The word "erected" in the passage (paragraph 5) is closest in meaning to | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 3 |
[
"To provide a reason why people from the eastern woodlands of the United States were impressed when they saw the prairie.",
"To identify an obstacles to the development of the railroad lines fanning out from Chicago.",
"To explain why the transformation of the prairies by commercial agriculture was so remarkable.",
"To provide evidence supporting the claim that the prairies had fertile, deep black soil."
] | Why does author point out that "Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person"(paragraph 5)? | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 3 |
[
"they could not plow it effectively with the tools that were available.",
"prairie land was usually very expensive to buy.",
"the soil along boundaries between the forest and the prairie was more fertile than the soil of the open prairie.",
"the railroad lines had not yet reached the open prairie when the first settlers arrived."
] | According to paragraph 5, the first settlers generally did not farm open prairie land because | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 0 |
[
"extra goods",
"commercial goods",
"unprocessed goods",
"transportable goods"
] | The word "surpluses" in the passage (paragraph 6) is closest in meaning to | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 0 |
[
"Reducing annual fires.",
"Dividing the land into large, regularly-shaped lots.",
"Planting trees that eventually formed woodlots.",
"Fencing off their farms."
] | According to paragraph 8, prairie farmers changed the landscape by doing all of the following EXCEPT: | By 1850 the United States possessed roughly 9,000 miles of railroad track; ten years later it had over 30,000 miles, more than the rest of the world combined. Much of the new construction during the 1850s occurred west of the Appalachian Mountains - over 2,000 miles in the states of Ohio and Illinois alone.
The effect of the new railroad lines rippled outward through the economy. Farmers along the tracks began to specialize in corps that they could market in distant locations. With their profits they purchased manufactured goods that earlier they might have made at home. Before the railroad reached Tennessee, the state produced about 25,000 bushels (or 640 tons) of wheat, which sold for less than 50 cents a bushel. Once the railroad came, farmers in the same counties grew 400,000 bushels (over 10,000 tons) and sold their crop at a dollar a bushel.
The new railroad networks shifted the direction of western trade. In 1840 most northwestern grain was shipped south down the Mississippi River to the bustling port of New Orleans. But low water made steamboat travel hazardous in summer, and ice shut down traffic in winter. Products such as lard, tallow, and cheese quickly spoiled if stored in New Orleans' hot and humid warehouses. Increasingly, traffic from the Midwest flowed west to east, over the new rail lines. Chicago became the region's hub, linking the farms of the upper Midwest to New York and other eastern cities by more than 2,000 miles of track in 1855. Thus while the value of goods shipped by river to New Orleans continued to increase, the South's overall share of western trade dropped dramatically.
A sharp rise in demand for grain abroad also encouraged farmers in the Northeast and Midwest to become more commercially oriented. Wheat, which in 1845 commanded $1.08 a bushel in New York City, fetched $2.46 in 1855; in similar fashion the price of corn nearly doubled. Farmers responded by specializing in cash crops, borrowing to purchase more land, and investing in equipment to increase productivity.
As railroad lines fanned out from Chicago, farmers began to acquire open prairie land in Illinois and then Iowa, putting the fertile, deep black soil into production.Commercial agriculture transformed this remarkable treeless environment. To settlers accustomed to eastern woodlands, the thousands of square miles of tall grass were an awesome sight. Indian grass, Canada wild rye, and native big bluestem all grew higher than a person. Because eastern plows could not penetrate the densely tangled roots of prairie grass, the earliest settlers erected farms along the boundary separating the forest from the prairie. In 1837, however, John Deere patented a sharp-cutting steel plow that sliced through the sod without soil sticking to the blade. Cyrus McCormick refined a mechanical reaper that harvested fourteen times more wheat with the same amount of labor. By the 1850s McCormick was selling 1,000 reapers a year and could not keep up with demand, while Deere turned out 10,000 plows annually.
The new commercial farming fundamentally altered the Midwestern landscape and the environment. Native Americans had grown corn in the region for years, but never in such large fields as did later settlers who became farmers, whose surpluses were shipped east. Prairie farmers also introduced new crops that were not part of the earlier ecological system, notably wheat, along with fruits and vegetables.
Native grasses were replaced by a small number of plants cultivated as commodities. Corn had the best yields, but it was primarily used to feed livestock. Because bread played a key role in the American and European diet, wheat became the major cash crop. Tame grasses replaced native grasses in pastures for making hay.
Western farmers altered the landscape by reducing the annual fires that had kept the prairie free from trees. In the absence of these fires, trees reappeared on land not in cultivation and, if undisturbed, eventually formed woodlots. The earlier unbroken landscape gave way to independent farms, each fenced off in a precise checkerboard pattern. It was an artificial ecosystem of animals, woodlots, and crops, whose large, uniform layout made western farms more efficient than the more-irregular farms in the East. | 3675.txt | 2 |
[
"vexation.",
"irritability.",
"discouragement",
"neutrality"
] | Up until 1950, efforts to establish that brain processes and mental experience are related would most likely have been met with | By 1950, the results of attempts to relate brain processes to mental experience appeared rather discouraging. Such variations in size, shape, chemistry, conduction speed, excitation threshold, and the like as had been demonstrated in nerve cells remained negligible in significance for any possible correlation with the manifold dimensions of mental experience.
Near the turn of the century, it had been suggested by Hering that different modes of sensation, such as pain, taste and color, might be correlated with the discharge of specific kinds of nervous energy, However, subsequently developed methods of recording and analyzing nerve potentials failed to reveal any such qualitative diversity. It was possible to demonstrate by other methods refined structural differences among neuron types; however, proof was lacking that the quality of the impulse or its conduction was influenced by these differences, which seemed instead to influence the developmental patterning of the neural circuits. Although qualitative variance among nerve rigidly disproved, the doctrine was generally abandoned in favor of the opposing view, namely, that nerve impulses are essentially homogeneous in quality and are transmitted as "common currency" throughout the nervous system. According to this theory, it is not the quality of the sensory nerve impulses that determines the diverse conscious sensations they produce, but, rather, the different areas of the brain into which they discharge, and there is some evidence for this view. In one experiment, when an electric stimulus was applied to a given sensory field of the cerebral cortex of a conscious human subject, it produced a sensation of the appropriate modality for that particular locus, that is, a visual sensation from the visual cortex, an auditory sensation from the auditory cortex, and so on. Other experiments revealed slight variations in the size, number, arrangement, and interconnection of the nerve cells, but as for as psychoneural correlations were concerned, the obvious similarities of these sensory fields to each other seemed much more remarkable than any of the minute differences.
However, cortical as diverse as those of red, black, green and white, or touch, cold, warmth, movement, pain, posture and pressure apparently may arise through activation of the same cortical areas. What seemed to remain was some kind of differential patterning effects in the brain excitation: it is the difference in the central distribution of impulses that counts. In short, Brain theory suggested a correlation between mental experience and the activity of relatively homogenous nerve-cell units conducting essentially homogeneous impulses through homogeneous cerebral tissue. To match the multiple dimensions of mental experience psychologists could only point to a limitless variation in the spatiotemporal patterning of nerve impulses. | 1757.txt | 2 |
[
"lack of differentiation among nerve impulses in human beings.",
"similarities in the views of the scientists.",
"similarity of sensations of human beings.",
"continuous passage of nerve impulses through the nervous system."
] | The author mentions "common currency" primarily in order to emphasize the | By 1950, the results of attempts to relate brain processes to mental experience appeared rather discouraging. Such variations in size, shape, chemistry, conduction speed, excitation threshold, and the like as had been demonstrated in nerve cells remained negligible in significance for any possible correlation with the manifold dimensions of mental experience.
Near the turn of the century, it had been suggested by Hering that different modes of sensation, such as pain, taste and color, might be correlated with the discharge of specific kinds of nervous energy, However, subsequently developed methods of recording and analyzing nerve potentials failed to reveal any such qualitative diversity. It was possible to demonstrate by other methods refined structural differences among neuron types; however, proof was lacking that the quality of the impulse or its conduction was influenced by these differences, which seemed instead to influence the developmental patterning of the neural circuits. Although qualitative variance among nerve rigidly disproved, the doctrine was generally abandoned in favor of the opposing view, namely, that nerve impulses are essentially homogeneous in quality and are transmitted as "common currency" throughout the nervous system. According to this theory, it is not the quality of the sensory nerve impulses that determines the diverse conscious sensations they produce, but, rather, the different areas of the brain into which they discharge, and there is some evidence for this view. In one experiment, when an electric stimulus was applied to a given sensory field of the cerebral cortex of a conscious human subject, it produced a sensation of the appropriate modality for that particular locus, that is, a visual sensation from the visual cortex, an auditory sensation from the auditory cortex, and so on. Other experiments revealed slight variations in the size, number, arrangement, and interconnection of the nerve cells, but as for as psychoneural correlations were concerned, the obvious similarities of these sensory fields to each other seemed much more remarkable than any of the minute differences.
However, cortical as diverse as those of red, black, green and white, or touch, cold, warmth, movement, pain, posture and pressure apparently may arise through activation of the same cortical areas. What seemed to remain was some kind of differential patterning effects in the brain excitation: it is the difference in the central distribution of impulses that counts. In short, Brain theory suggested a correlation between mental experience and the activity of relatively homogenous nerve-cell units conducting essentially homogeneous impulses through homogeneous cerebral tissue. To match the multiple dimensions of mental experience psychologists could only point to a limitless variation in the spatiotemporal patterning of nerve impulses. | 1757.txt | 0 |
[
"Cognitive experience manifested by sensory nerve impulses are influenced by the area of the brain stimulated.",
"Qualitative diversity in nerve potentials can now be studied more accurately.",
"Sensory stimuli are heterogeneous and are greatly influenced by the nerve sensors they produce.",
"Differentiation in neural modalities influences the length of nerve transmissions."
] | Which of the following theories is reinforced by the depiction of the experiment in lines 16-19? | By 1950, the results of attempts to relate brain processes to mental experience appeared rather discouraging. Such variations in size, shape, chemistry, conduction speed, excitation threshold, and the like as had been demonstrated in nerve cells remained negligible in significance for any possible correlation with the manifold dimensions of mental experience.
Near the turn of the century, it had been suggested by Hering that different modes of sensation, such as pain, taste and color, might be correlated with the discharge of specific kinds of nervous energy, However, subsequently developed methods of recording and analyzing nerve potentials failed to reveal any such qualitative diversity. It was possible to demonstrate by other methods refined structural differences among neuron types; however, proof was lacking that the quality of the impulse or its conduction was influenced by these differences, which seemed instead to influence the developmental patterning of the neural circuits. Although qualitative variance among nerve rigidly disproved, the doctrine was generally abandoned in favor of the opposing view, namely, that nerve impulses are essentially homogeneous in quality and are transmitted as "common currency" throughout the nervous system. According to this theory, it is not the quality of the sensory nerve impulses that determines the diverse conscious sensations they produce, but, rather, the different areas of the brain into which they discharge, and there is some evidence for this view. In one experiment, when an electric stimulus was applied to a given sensory field of the cerebral cortex of a conscious human subject, it produced a sensation of the appropriate modality for that particular locus, that is, a visual sensation from the visual cortex, an auditory sensation from the auditory cortex, and so on. Other experiments revealed slight variations in the size, number, arrangement, and interconnection of the nerve cells, but as for as psychoneural correlations were concerned, the obvious similarities of these sensory fields to each other seemed much more remarkable than any of the minute differences.
However, cortical as diverse as those of red, black, green and white, or touch, cold, warmth, movement, pain, posture and pressure apparently may arise through activation of the same cortical areas. What seemed to remain was some kind of differential patterning effects in the brain excitation: it is the difference in the central distribution of impulses that counts. In short, Brain theory suggested a correlation between mental experience and the activity of relatively homogenous nerve-cell units conducting essentially homogeneous impulses through homogeneous cerebral tissue. To match the multiple dimensions of mental experience psychologists could only point to a limitless variation in the spatiotemporal patterning of nerve impulses. | 1757.txt | 0 |
[
"Nerve cells.",
"Nerve impulses.",
"Cortical areas.",
"Spatial patterns of nerve impulses."
] | It can be inferred from the passage that which of the following exhibit the LEAST qualitative variation? | By 1950, the results of attempts to relate brain processes to mental experience appeared rather discouraging. Such variations in size, shape, chemistry, conduction speed, excitation threshold, and the like as had been demonstrated in nerve cells remained negligible in significance for any possible correlation with the manifold dimensions of mental experience.
Near the turn of the century, it had been suggested by Hering that different modes of sensation, such as pain, taste and color, might be correlated with the discharge of specific kinds of nervous energy, However, subsequently developed methods of recording and analyzing nerve potentials failed to reveal any such qualitative diversity. It was possible to demonstrate by other methods refined structural differences among neuron types; however, proof was lacking that the quality of the impulse or its conduction was influenced by these differences, which seemed instead to influence the developmental patterning of the neural circuits. Although qualitative variance among nerve rigidly disproved, the doctrine was generally abandoned in favor of the opposing view, namely, that nerve impulses are essentially homogeneous in quality and are transmitted as "common currency" throughout the nervous system. According to this theory, it is not the quality of the sensory nerve impulses that determines the diverse conscious sensations they produce, but, rather, the different areas of the brain into which they discharge, and there is some evidence for this view. In one experiment, when an electric stimulus was applied to a given sensory field of the cerebral cortex of a conscious human subject, it produced a sensation of the appropriate modality for that particular locus, that is, a visual sensation from the visual cortex, an auditory sensation from the auditory cortex, and so on. Other experiments revealed slight variations in the size, number, arrangement, and interconnection of the nerve cells, but as for as psychoneural correlations were concerned, the obvious similarities of these sensory fields to each other seemed much more remarkable than any of the minute differences.
However, cortical as diverse as those of red, black, green and white, or touch, cold, warmth, movement, pain, posture and pressure apparently may arise through activation of the same cortical areas. What seemed to remain was some kind of differential patterning effects in the brain excitation: it is the difference in the central distribution of impulses that counts. In short, Brain theory suggested a correlation between mental experience and the activity of relatively homogenous nerve-cell units conducting essentially homogeneous impulses through homogeneous cerebral tissue. To match the multiple dimensions of mental experience psychologists could only point to a limitless variation in the spatiotemporal patterning of nerve impulses. | 1757.txt | 1 |
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