选择知识点

C

Automation refers to the introduction of electronic control and automatic operation of productive machinery. It reduces the human factors, mental and physical, in production, and is designed to make possible the manufacture of more goods with fewer workers. The development of automation in American industry has been called the “Second Industrial Revolution”.
   Labour’s concern over automation arises from uncertainty about the effects on employment, and fears of major changes in jobs. In the main, labour has taken the view that resistance to technical change is unfruitful. Eventually, the result of automation may well be an increase in employment, since it is expected that vast industries will grow up around manufacturing, maintaining, and repairing automation equipment. The interest of labour lies in bringing about the transition with a minimum of inconvenience and distress to the workers involved. Also, union spokesmen emphasize that the benefit of the increased production and lower costs made possible by automation should be shared by workers in the form of higher wages, more leisure, and improved living standards.
   To protect the interests of their members in the era of automation, unions have adopted a number of new policies. One of these is the promotion of supplementary unemployment benefit plans. It is emphasized that since the employer involved in such a plan has a direct financial interest in preventing unemployment, he will have a strong drive for planning new installations so as to cause the least possible problems in jobs and job assignment. Some unions are working for dismissal pay agreements, requiring that permanently dismissed workers be paid a sum of money based on length of service. Another approach is the idea of the “improvement factor”, which calls for wage increases based on increases in productivity. It is possible, however, that labour will rely mainly on reduction in working time.

C

When many people are worried that there are no more heroes in the modern era，two university students who lost their

lives to rescue drowning children have shown that heroes still 

exist. According to the Inner Mongolia Morning Post, the tragedy (悲剧）occurred on the afternoon of

 December 14,2002 when three school students skating on a frozen lake in Qingcheng Park in Hohhot 

fell through the ice into the freezing water．  

More than 20 university students who happened to be near the spot immediately went to the rescue of

the children. Two children were quickly rescued but the third died. The child’s body was not found for

three hours. Two of the rescuers，Liu Ye and Hao Longbiao，also died of cold and exhaustion（筋疲力尽）.The body of Hao who

took the lead in jumping into the lake was not found until the next day．A 

student who was unwilling to tell his name said he and his classmates from the local college were taking photos at the lake．

When they heard the children's cries for help， they went to the ice hole hand in 

hand to rescue the children． But the ice kept breaking， causing most of them to fall into the icy water．

Local residents held mourning ceremonies（祭奠仪式） at the lake．

Eight of the students were seriously affected by the freezing water and were being kept in hospital

for further observation， but their lives were no longer in danger．

49. When the three students fell into water，the university students were              

50. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage？    

51. It can be inferred that         ．  

52. The author wrote the passage to        ​．     

D

In the USA, many high schools and some colleges and universities have a special celebration once a year called Homecoming. Former students and teachers come back to the school to enjoy the memories of their time there and the many Homecoming activities. Homecoming might last for only one day or for several days, even one week.

High schools usually choose one boy and one girl from the senior class to be the “Homecoming King” and “Homecoming Queen”. The students usually choose a boy and a girl who have done a lot for the school.

Most schools have a Homecoming parade. The school band will often lead the way, followed by many different cars and trucks.

Most schools also have a football game for Homecoming—and, of course, tailgate parties. A tailgate party is a group of people drinking and eating around the back, or tailgate, of someone’s pick-up truck.

There are many other activities that might be a part of the Homecoming celebration. There might be a school-wide picnic one day; another day, there may be plays, concerts, competitions or games, all depending on a school’s traditions.

Homecoming celebrations nearly always end with a dance and/or a great dinner. The school is decorated beautifully, and a band is paid to come and play. Students dress up: guys in suits and girls in beautiful dresses. 

  I log (登录)onto a computer at the doctor's office to say I have arrived and then wait until a voice calls me into the examination room.      

There, a robotic nurse directs me onto a device and then takes my blood pressure. Some time later, in steps the doctor, who is also a robot. He notes down my symptoms and gives me a prescription (处方). I pay for my visit using a credit card machine and return home without having met another human being.     

When I call my dentist's office and actually get a human being on the line, I am thrilled. And when I see the introduction of yet more self-service checkout stations at the grocery store, I feel like shouting, "When it comes to cashiers, make mine human, please!"    

After all, human cashiers sometimes give you a store coupon (优惠券) for items you are buying. Even more than that, real-life cashiers often take an interest in particularly cute children, which can brighten a young mother's day. A cashier may also show compassion (同情)for an elderly person struggling to get that last penny out of her purse. 

What technological device would do any of this? I don't want to go back to the Stone Age, but I'm also worried about a world run by machines. Sometimes when you're chatting with someone, you discover things you need to know. Maybe a receptionist needs prayers said for a sick child. Maybe a salesperson can offer a bit of encouragement to a customer who is feeling tired.       

Machines can be efficient and cost-effective and they often get the job done just fine. But they lack an element so important to everyday life.      

Call it the spirit, the soul or the heart. It is something no machine will ever have. It is being human that prompts us to smile at others, which may be what they need at that moment.  

                                                                                                          B

Anna Schiferl hadn’t even got out of bed when she reached for her cell phone and typed a text to her mom, one recent Saturday. Mom was right downstairs in the kitchen. The text? Anna wanted an egg for breakfast. Soon after, Joanna Schiferl called, “If you want to talk to me, Anna, come downstairs and see me!” Anna laughs about it now. “I was kind of being lazy, ” she admits.

These days, many people with cell phones prefer texting to a phone call. And that’s creating a communication divide, of sorts—the talkers vs. the texters. Some would argue that it’s no big deal. But many experts say the most successful communicators will, of course, have the competence to do both. And they fear that more of us are unable to have—or at least are avoiding—the traditional face-to-face conversations.

Many professors say it is not common to see students outside of class. “I sit in my office hours lonely now because if my students have a question, they email me, often late at night,” says Renee Houston, a professor at the University of Puget Sound in Washington state. “And they never call.”

As Anna sees it: “There are people you’ll text, but won’t call. It’s just a way to stay in touch with each other.”  Some believe that scores of texts each day keep people more connected. “The problem is that the conversation isn’t very deep, ” says Joseph Grenny, co-author of the book Crucial Conversations: Tools for Talking When Stakes are High.

“The problem has been there since we’ve had telephones—probably since the time of a telegraph,” Grenny says. Texting is just the latest way to do that. Though they may not always be so good at deep conversations themselves, Grenny suggests that parents model the behavior for their children and put down their own cell phones. He says that they also should set limits, as Anna’s mom did when she made the “no texting to people in the same house” rule.

B

Famous US columnist (专栏作家) George F. Will once wrote: “Baseball is a habit. The slow build to the end of each game, the rhythm of the long season – these are the essentials and they are remarkably unchanged over nearly a century and a half. Of how many American institutions (制度) can that be said?”

He is right. Baseball, only one word, is enough to make millions of people in the US think of many images – spring afternoons, cold beers and hot dogs.

As the USA Today newspaper put it, “A hot dog at the ballpark is always better than one out of the microwave.”

Delicious treats aside, baseball is also a game for fathers and sons to enjoy. They play catch with each other on lawns (草坪) and in parks for many years. Fathers pass down favorite teams to their sons. Grandfathers share stories of games played long ago.

Many US children try to collect trading cards with the pictures of their favorite players on them. In schools it is as likely for friends to trade baseball cards as it is for them to trade lunches.

Baseball players are known as “the boys of spring” because that is the time of year at which the sport is most often played; indeed, the new season of MLB (Major League Baseball) began on April 3. And the players come in all shapes and sizes. To play baseball you don’t have to be tall like a basketball player or strong like an American footballer. You just need to want to have fun.

Besides, baseball games are not as fast-paced (快节奏的) as basketball games so they allow viewers to relax, talk and get to know each other.

Today, baseball is not the US’ most-watched sport, but it is its most historical. It has gone past being simply a game and has become part of the fabric (构造) of US culture.

As The Telegraph newspaper noted, “Baseball is as American as apple pie, red, white and blue (the colors of the US national flag) and Grandma’s house.”