If we as a nation can become more competitive, we may solve our domestic problems.

t our three-year-olds together in day-care centers, our 13-year-olds in schools and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes.

M: Why？ Don't people of the same ages share more things in common？

F: But there are problems with this age-segregation experiment. Researche shows that ten 14-year-olds grouped together will become competitive and mean. But ten people ages 2 to 80 grouped together will fall into a natural age hierarchy that teaches them all.

M: What do you think we should do？ Need we reconnect the age groups？

F: Yes. It will do good to our own mental and social health. In my opinion, we segregate the old for many reasons: prejudice, ignorance, and a lack of good alternatives.

M: And I guess younger people sometimes avoid the old to evade fears of aging and dying. Death is easier to bear in the abstract. It's much harder to watch someone we love fade before our eyes. Sometimes it's so hard that we stay away from the people who need us most.

F: I agree with you. Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young. You can learn the art of aging. You will become more accepting, and more grateful. You can understand your parents and your country's history.

M: Hey. a teacher I know once told me she can tell which kids have good relationships with grand-parents: they are quieter, calmer, and more trusting.

F: That is the point, To learn from the old, we must love them-- not just in the abstract but also in the flesh-- beside us in our homes, business, churches and schools. We must work together to build the kinds of communities that allow us to care for one another.

What shall we do according to the conversation？

A．Put our three-year-olds together in day-care centers.

B．Put our 13-year-olds in schools and sports activities.

C．Put our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes.

D．Mix people of all ages together.

听力原文：F: Tom, do you think that it is right for us to group people by age？ I mean we put our three-year-olds together in day-care centers, our 13-year-olds in schools and sports activities, and our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes.

M: Why？ Don't people of the same ages share more things in common？

F: But there are problems with this age-segregation experiment. Researches show that ten 14-year-olds grouped together will become competitive and mean. But ten people ages two to 80 grouped together will fall into a natural age hierarchy that teaches them all.

M: What do you think we should do？ Need we reconnect the age groups？

F: Yes. It will do good to our own mental and social health. In my opinion, we segregate the old for many reasons: prejudice, ignorance, a lack of good alternatives.

M: And I guess younger people sometimes avoid the old to evade fears of aging and dying. Death is easier to bear in the abstract. It's much harder to watch someone we love fade before our eyes. Sometimes it's so hard that we stay away from the people who need us most.

F: I agree with you. Fortunately, some of us have found our way to the old. And we have discovered that they often save the young. You can learn the art of aging. You will become more accepting, more grateful. You can understand your parents and your country's history.

M: Hey, a teacher I know once told me she can tell which kids have good relationships with grand-parents: they are quieter, calmer, more trusting.

F: That is the point. To learn from the old, we must love them -- not just in the abstract but also in the flesh -- beside us in our homes, business, churches and schools. We must work together to build the kinds of communities that allow us to care for one another.

What shall we do according to the conversation？

A．Put our three-year-olds together in day-care centers.

B．Put our 13-year-olds in schools and sports activities.

C．Put our 80-year-olds in senior-citizen homes.

D．Mix people of all ages together.

What can we infer form. the last paragraph？

A．The nation's Strategic Petroleum Reserve is more than adequate.

B．Democrats argue that greedy oil companies are the key factor of jumping oil price.

C．President Bush used to be reluctant to drag down the oil price.

D．The federal law bans the windfall profits tax in Bush Government.

ed 13 years ago. How many call centers does the company now operate？

M: We have six regional centers which employ between 300 and 700 people each.

W: Why did the company decide to offer its products directly by phone and Internet rather than through insurance brokers or high street shops？

M: Well, the major reason was cost. With a call centre you don't have to pay high rents for good high street locations or pay commission to brokers and agents. We can then pass on these cost savings to our customers through competitive pricing of our products.

W: Well. How does a call centre affect the quality of service a customer gets？

M: When a customer calls, he can get an instant response. The computer database shows all the customer's details. This means we can offer our customers good products, quick service and lower premiums.

W: And what products does Direct Line offer？

M: Our company provide motor, house, travel and life insurances. We also offer financial services such as mortgages, personal loans, savings and pensions.

W: Gosh, so many. Are your workers able to deal with all these different products？

M: Some workers only deal with one product, while multi-skilled staff can deal with two or three products. But the system is programmed to guide staff members in dealing with 80%--90% of enquires and claims.

W: What do you think of the future for call centers？

M: They're definitely here to stay. But as more and more new call centers are set up, it'll become harder to find good staff, so we will have to offer better conditions. In the future, staff might work at home on computer networks.

(27)

A．Because the company does not have to pay as many claims as competitors.

B．Because the company rent no shops and pay no commission.

C．Because the company does not have to pay for advertising.

D．Because the company offers many products and services.

I had to attend a scholarship award ceremony.

M: Oh well, congratulations. I hope you were rewarded handsomely!

W: Well, every bit helps. So, about your lecture, I understand you were talking about extinctions.

M: Yes. Well, the crux of my talk was just that we tend to think of extinction as a dramatic event, but most species die out over quite a period of time.

W: Why do they die off？ I thought they were continuously improving themselves. Natural selection, I think you once mentioned.

M: Ah, but you see while there is natural Competition between the species, what determines which species survive is largely by chance.

W: I don't get it. Why do species bother competing？

M: Well, there are short-term advantages. But many species also are helped by others. For example, the common housefly and cockroaches might have died off years ago if not for humans.

W: But you're not saying that humans are so successful merely because of chance？

M: To a certain extent, humans were initially lucky enough to have the right weather conditions and a lack of predators, but now, of course, we survive by ingenuity!

W: go we may never become extinct.

M: No, because we may be in a crash course to extinction by our continuous exploitation of the environment. We are a relatively young species and our time is hot yet overdue.

W: But there are 6 billion of us!

M: Yes and there're many more houseflies too! Each with the capacity to spread one disease from one person to another in a fast period of time.

(20)

A．She is writing a competitive paper for a scholarship.

B．She is doing a paper.

C．She missed the lecture.

D．She is planning to attend the scholarship award ceremony.

听力原文：W: Professor Marnes, I wonder if you can fill me in on your lecture last Friday. I had to attend a scholarship award ceremony.

M: Oh well, congratulations. I hope you were rewarded handsomely!

W: Well, every bit helps. So, about your lecture, I understand you were talking about extinctions.

M: Yes. Well, the crux of my talk was just that we tend to think of extinction as a dramatic event, but most species die out over quite a period of time.

W: Why do they die off？ I thought they were continuously improving themselves. Natural selection, I think you once mentioned.

M: Ah, but you see while there is natural Competition between the species, what determines which species survive is largely by chance.

W: I don't get it. Why do species bother competing？

M: Well, there are short-term advantages. But many species also are helped by others. For example, the common housefly and cockroaches might have died off years ago if not for humans.

W: But you're not saying that humans are so successful merely because of chance？

M: To a certain extent, humans were initially lucky enough to have the right weather conditions and a lack of predators, but now, of course, we survive by ingenuity!

W: go we may never become extinct.

M: No, because we may be in a crash course to extinction by our continuous exploitation of the environment. We are a relatively young species and our time is hot yet overdue.

W: But there are 6 billion of us!

M: Yes and there're many more houseflies too! Each with the capacity to spread one disease from one person to another in a fast period of time.

(20)

A．She is writing a competitive paper for a scholarship.

B．She is doing a paper.

C．She missed the lecture.

D．She is planning to attend the scholarship award ceremony.

had to attend a scholarship award ceremony.

M: Oh well, congratulations. I hope you were rewarded handsomely.

W: Well, every bit helps. So, about your lecture, I understand you were talking about extinctions.

M: Yes. Well, the crux of my talk was just that, we tend to think of extinction as a dramatic event, but most species die out over quite a period of time.

W: Why do they die off？ I thought they were continuously improving themselves. Natural selection, I think you once mentioned.

M: Ah, but you see while there is natural competition between the species, what determines which species survive is largely by chance.

W: I don't get it. Why do species bother competing？

M: Well, there are short-term advantages. But many species also are helped by others. For example, the common housefly and cockroaches might have died off years ago if not for humans.

W: But you're not saying that humans are so successful merely because of chance？

M: To a certain extent, humans were initially lucky enough to have the right weather conditions and a lack of predators, but now, of course, we survive by ingenuity!

W: So we may never become extinct.

M: NO, because we may be in a crash course to extinction by our continuous exploitation of the environment. We are a relatively young species and our time is not yet overdue.

W: But there are 6 billion of us.

M: Yes, and there're many more houseflies too! Each with the capacity to spread one disease from one person to another in a fast period of time.

(23)

A．She is writing a competitive paper for a scholarship.

B．She is doing a paper.

C．She missed the lecture.

D．She is planning to attend the scholarship award ceremony.

听力原文：W: Professor Marnes, I wonder if you can fill me in on your lecture last Friday. I had to attend a scholarship award ceremony.

M: Oh well, congratulations. I hope you were rewarded handsomely!

W: Well, every bit helps. So, about your lecture, I understand you were talking about extinctions.

M: Yes. Well, the crux of my talk was just that we tend to think of extinction as a dramatic event, but most species die out over quite a period of time.

W: Why do they die off？ I thought they were continuously improving themselves. Natural selection, I think you once mentioned.

M: Ah, but you see while there is natural Competition between the species, what determines which species survive is largely by chance.

W: I don't get it. Why do species bother competing？

M: Well, there are short-term advantages. But many species also are helped by others. For example, the common housefly and cockroaches might have died off years ago if not for humans.

W: But you're not saying that humans are so successful merely because of chance？

M: To a certain extent, humans were initially lucky enough to have the right weather conditions and a lack of predators, but now, of course, we survive by ingenuity!

W: go we may never become extinct.

M: No, because we may be in a crash course to extinction by our continuous exploitation of the environment. We are a relatively young species and our time is hot yet overdue.

W: But there are 6 billion of us!

M: Yes and there're many more houseflies too! Each with the capacity to spread one disease from one person to another in a fast period of time.

(20)

A．She is writing a competitive paper for a scholarship.

B．She is doing a paper.

C．She missed the lecture.

D．She is planning to attend the scholarship award ceremony.

on strike here, they're stuck in a traffic jam. It took me two hours to go two miles yesterday evening. And this morning many of the taxis, too, have joined in, leaving me with no alternative but to start walking. And it' s bitterly cold!

The strikes are serious protests about serious issues, but I'm struck, as so often on these occasions, by something much more mundane. People are once again talking to people; strangers are going out of their way to befriend strangers, allies for a week or two in their shared frustration. Parisian motorists, even, normally the most competitive of individualists, have been seen leaving notes in their parked cars saying where they are going and when they expect to leave in case anymore wants a lift.

Remove the technology of modem life, it seems, and we often start to be nice to one another again. Technology can isolate us, for all its benefits. It started, I guess, with the chimney. Before there were chimneys, we all had to huddle together in one room Just to keep warm, master and maid, cowman and son of the house. Then some unknown genius came up with the idea of the chimney, and the social stratification of society increased dramatically as all withdrew into their own quarters. Central heating, which is, more truthfully, decentralized heating, made it worse, and now we have our walkmans, our microwaves, or, if we' re really trendy, the Internet and e-mail. You can get by, these days, without actually speaking to anyone at all. Just the odd grunt to show that you' re alive !

I liked the survey which asked teenagers how they laid a table for a meal. Did they put the knife on the fight and the fork on the left, or did they put them both together？ And 40 percent said one and 20 percent the other, but 40 percent didn't know! They had never sat down at a table together but had always, as they say, been grazers, helping themselves from the fridge and carrying the food off to their own comer to munch on their own.

If progress means that we don' t need to talk to each other anymore, then I'm getting worried. You can' t begin to love and befriend your neighbors if you never talk to them, and vice versa, they can't love you. It becomes a recipe for a world of solitaries. But most of us weren't destined to be hermits. People need people to be truly people, as the Parisians, in spite of all their frustrations, are discovering again this week. "Try walking instead" was my motto for this morning, but perhaps the motto for us all this festive month might be "Turn it off, whatever it is, and try talking instead!"

According to the author, the advent of modem technology may NOT______.

A．isolate us from the test of the society.

B．enable us to enjoy a much more convenient life.

C．leave people alone so that they may become truly people.

D．help people become grazers who are used to helping themselves from the fridge and carrying the food off to their own comer to munch on their own.

听力原文： Finally there is one more element to business success that we haven't talked about. I know what you think I'm going to say, luck and you're partially right. Good entrepreneurs know how to make their own luck and that means being in the right place at the right time with the right product. Let me give you a little example, early in this century, if you’re a traveler by train and subway and you happen to get a little thirsty in the station, where would you go for some water？ There were no big soda machine at every corner or even drinking fountains, yet there were thousands of thirsty travelers out there, well, what they did was drank water out of one little tin cup that was passed from one thirsty commuter to the next. That's right, everybody drank out of the same cup, and you can bat it didn’t get washed after every user. Will, that was the right time for the right product and there was a man who had it. His name is H M and his product was the disposable paper cup. He came up with it just as the nation was becoming concerned about their health risks associated with the tin cups. Laws were passed outlying the things; reports were published showing just what sorts of germs can be passed around from sharing them. Mr. M road that way to become the best known producers of one of the most successful paper products of all time. He originally called his product health cups, but later changed the nature, so can anyone guess what that name might be？

(44)

A．Successful business practices.

B．Famous inventors.

C．Public health concerns.

D．Unsuccessful inventions.