7. If you describe a price as “reasonable” it means that you think it’s a （) price.

If open-source software is supposed to be free, how does anyone selling it make any money? It's not that different from how other software companies make money.

You'd think that a software company would make most of its money from, well, selling software. But you'd be wrong. For one thing, companies don't sell software, strictly speaking; they license it. The profit margin on a software license is nearly 100 percent, which is why Microsoft gushes billions of dollars every quarter.

But what's the value of a license to a customer? A license doesn't deliver the code, provide the utilities to get a piece of software running, or answer the phone when something inevitably goes wrong. The value of software, in short, doesn't lie in the software alone. The value is in making sure the soft ware does its job. Just as a traveler should look at the overall price of a vacation package instead of obsessing over the price of the plane ticket or hotel room, a smart tech buyer won't focus on how much the license costs and ignore the support contract or the maintenance agreement.

Open-source is not that different. If you want the software to work, you have to pay to ensure it will work. The open-source companies have refined the software model by selling subscriptions. They roll together support and maintenance and charge an annual fee, which is a healthy model, though not quite as wonderful as Microsoft's money-raking one. Tellingly, even Microsoft is casting an envious eye at aspects of the open-source business model. The company has been taking halting steps toward a similar subscription scheme for its software sales. Microsoft's subscription program, known as Soft ware Assurance, provides maintenance and support together with a software license. It lets you up grade to Microsoft's next version of the software for a predictable sum. But it also contains an implicit threat: If you don't switch to Software Assurance now, who knows how much Microsoft will charge you when you decide to upgrade?

Chief information officers hate this kind of "assurance", since they're often perfectly happy running older versions of software that are proven and stable. Microsoft, on the other hand, rakes in the software-licensing fees only when customers upgrade. Software Assurance is Microsoft's attempt to get those same licensing fees but wrap them together with the service and support needed to keep systems running. That's why Microsoft finds the open-source model so threatening: open-source companies have no vested interest in getting more licensing fees and don't have to pad their service contracts with that extra cost. In the end, the main difference between open-source and proprietary software companies may be the size of the check you have to write.

The author used the example of a traveler(Para. 3) to show that

A．the value of software should be considered as a whole.

B．tech buyers should care little about license.

C．a license doesn't comprise support and maintenance.

D．customers have to pay a lot to get a license.

If open-source software is supposed to be free, how does anyone selling it make any money? It's not that different from how other software companies make money.

You'd think that a software company would make most of its money from, well, selling software. But you'd be wrong. For one thing, companies don't sell software, strictly speaking; they license it. The profit margin on a software license is nearly 100 percent, which is why Microsoft gushes billions of dollars every quarter.

But what's the value of a license to a customer? A license doesn't deliver the code, provide the utilities to get a piece of software running, or answer the phone when something inevitably goes wrong. The value of software, in short, doesn't lie in the software alone. The value is in making sure the soft-ware does its job. Just as a traveler should look at the overall price of a vacation package instead of obsessing over the price of the plane ticket or hotel mom, a smart tech buyer won't focus on how much the license costs and ignore the support contract or the maintenance agreement.

Open-source is not that different. If you want the software to work, you have to pay to ensure it will work. The open-source companies have refined the software model by selling subscriptions. They roll together support and maintenance and charge an annual fee, which is a healthy model, though not quite as wonderful as Microsoft's money-raking one. Tellingly, even Microsoft is casting an envious eye at aspects of the open-source business model. The company has been taking halting steps toward a similar subscription scheme for its software sales. Microsoft's subscription program, known as Soft-ware Assurance, provides maintenance and support together with a software license. It lets you up-grade to Microsoft's next version of the software for a predictable sum. But it also contains an implicit threat: If you don't switch to Software Assurance now, who knows how much Microsoft will charge you when you decide to upgrade?

Chief information officers hate this kind of "assurance", since they're often perfectly happy running older versions of software that are proven and stable. Microsoft, on the other hand, rakes in the software-licensing fees only when customers upgrade. Software Assurance is Microsoft's attempt to get those same licensing fees but wrap them together with the service and support needed to keep systems running. That's why Microsoft finds the open-source model so threatening: open-source companies have no vested interest in getting more licensing fees and don't have to pad their service contracts with that extra cost. In the end, the main difference between open-source and proprietary software companies may be the size of the check you have to write.

The author used the example of a traveler (Para. 3) to show that

A．the value of software should be considered as a whole.

B．tech buyers should care little about license.

C．a license doesn't comprise support and maintenance.

D．customers have to pay a lot to get a license.

听力原文：W: Mr. Green, what do you think of the economic forecasts for next year? For example, what will happen to housing costs?

M: Well, there's good news for buyers. Prices won't increase. In fact, they'll fall slightly. There are different reasons for this. One is that it won't be so easy to borrow money. A second reason is that there are still a lot of empty new houses on the market.

W: I see. And what about food prices? Will they fall too?

M: I'm afraid not. You see, inflation will increase, so consumer prices will rise too. I think we can expect a 3% rise in prices.

W: Some economists say that unemployment will rise. Are you one of these people?

M: No, I'm not. I think it'll decrease. Trade with other countries has improved dramatically over the past year. And the increase in demand for goods means that there will be more jobs.

W: Well, if unemployment falls, can we expect wages to fall too?

M: No, no. The average wage will increase. Not very much, I'm afraid, but there will be a slight increase.

W: One financial question, Mr. Green. What will happen to petrol prices? Will they increase or decrease next year?

M: That's a very difficult question to answer because we don't know what'll happen in the oil producing countries. I have a feeling that prices will go down. However, I could be wrong!

W: Mr. Green, thank you very much for your time.

M: My pleasure.

(20)

A．Housing costs.

B．Average wage.

C．Unemployment.

D．Oil prices.

You Are What You Think

Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty? Do you keep your eye upon the dough-nut(油炸圈饼), not upon the hole? Suddenly these cliches(陈词滥调)are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking.

A fast-growing body of research—104 studies so far, involving some 15,000 people—is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. "If we could teach people to think more positively," says psychologist Craig A. Anderson of Rice University in Houston, "it would be like inoculating(接种)them against these mental ills."

1. Influence on their abilities

"Your abilities count," explains psychologist Michael F. Scheier of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, "but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will." In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways.

Take, for example, your job. In a major study, psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and colleague Peter Schulman surveyed sales representatives at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. They found that the positive thinkers among long-time representatives, sold 37 percent more insurance than did the negative thinkers. Of newly hired representatives, optimists sold 20 percent more.

Impressed, the company hired 100 people who had failed the standard industry test but had scored high on optimism. These people who might never have been hired, sold 10 percent more insurance than did the average representatives.

How did they do it? The secret to an optimist's success, according to Seligman, is in his "explanatory style". When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself. "I'm no good at this," he says, "I always fail." The optimist looks for other explanations. He blames the weather, the phone connection, even the other person. That customer was in a bad mood, he thinks. When things go right, the optimist takes credit while the pessimist thinks success is due to luck.

Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy(预言能力). "If people feel hopeless," says Anderson, "they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed."

A sense of control, according to Anderson, is the real test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like a toy of fate and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done.

2. Influence on their health

Optimists may think they are better than the facts would justify—and sometimes that's what keeps them from getting sick. In a long-term study, researchers examined the health histories of a group of Harvard graduates, all of whom were in the top half of their class and in fine physical conditions. Yet some were positive thinkers, and some negative. 20 years later, there were more middle-age diseases among the pessimists than the optimists.

Many studies suggest that the pessimists' feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Dr. Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to avoid life's blows, he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He eats unhealthy food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.

3. What underlines pessimism and optimism?

Most people are a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction or the other. It is a p

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

You Are What You Think

Do you see the glass as half-full rather than half-empty? Do you keep your eye upon the dough-nut (油炸圈饼), not upon the hole? Suddenly these cliches (陈词滥调) are scientific questions, as researchers scrutinize the power of positive thinking.

A fast-growing body of research--104 studies so far, involving some 15,000 people--is proving that optimism can help you to be happier, healthier and more successful. Pessimism leads, by contrast, to hopelessness, sickness and failure, and is linked to depression, loneliness and painful shyness. "If we could teach people to think more positively," says psychologist Craig A. Anderson of Rice University in Houston, "it would be like inoculating (接种) them against these mental ills."

1. Influence on their abilities

"Your abilities count," explains psychologist Michael F. Scheier of Carnegie-Mellon University in Pittsburgh, "but the belief that you can succeed affects whether or not you will." In part, that's because optimists and pessimists deal with the same challenges and disappointments in very different ways.

Take, for example, your job. In a major study, psychologist Martin E.P. Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania and colleague Peter Schulman surveyed sales representatives at the Metropolitan Life Insurance Co. They found that the positive thinkers among long-time representatives, sold 37 percent more insurance than did the negative thinkers. Of newly hired representatives, optimists sold 20 percent more.

Impressed, the company hired 100 people who had failed the standard industry test but had scored high on optimism. These people who might never have been hired, sold 10 percent more insurance than did the average representatives.

How did they do it? The secret to an optimist's success, according to Seligman, is in his "explanatory style". When things go wrong the pessimist tends to blame himself. "I'm no good at this," he says, "I always fail." The optimist looks for other explanations. He blames the weather, the phone connection, even the other person. That customer was in a bad mood, he thinks. When things go right, the optimist takes credit while the pessimist thinks success is due to luck.

Negative or positive, it was a self-fulfilling prophecy (预言能力). "If people feel hopeless," says Anderson, "they don't bother to acquire the skills they need to succeed."

A sense of control, according to Anderson, is the real test for success. The optimist feels in control of his own life. If things are going badly, he acts quickly, looking for solutions, forming a new plan of action, and reaching out for advice. The pessimist feels like a toy of fate and moves slowly. He doesn't seek advice, since he assumes nothing can be done.

2. Influence on their health

Optimists may think they are better than the facts would justify--and sometimes that's what keeps them from getting sick. In a long-term study, researchers examined the health histories of a group of Harvard graduates, all of whom were in the top half of their class and in fine physical conditions. Yet some were positive thinkers, and some negative. 20 years later, there were more middle-age diseases among the pessimists than the optimists.

Many studies suggest that the pessimists' feeling of helplessness undermines the body's natural defenses, the immune system. Dr. Christopher Peterson of the University of Michigan has found that the pessimist doesn't take good care of himself. Feeling passive and unable to avoid life's blows, he expects ill health and other misfortunes, no matter what he does. He eats unhealthy food, avoids exercise, ignores the doctor, has another drink.

3. What underlines pessimism and optimism?

Most people arc a mix of optimism and pessimism, but are inclined in one direction

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

Bargaining Lessons

Bargaining skills are most important when negotiating for more expensive goods -- most typically handicrafts -- but you can practice many of them on vendors in the local marketplace, where a fiasco(大失败) is just a good laugh. Some of the most challenging, complex, and instructive bargaining you will do is in the public produce market.

The produce is usually sold by the kilo, and these prices are sometimes displayed. But don't expect to start bargaining after they have already weighed it and told you the standard price. Many of the scales just collect dust, because the buyers offer a price for exactly the pieces they want, after guessing the weight, If you think in pounds, instead of kilos, you are already at a disadvantage. In the beginning, you should have a few items weighed, and maybe pay the kilo price -- this is a long learning experience. At some point you will get a feeling for what a good price is for a medium avocado(锷梨), a small papaya(番木瓜果), or a large pineapple. Then you go to a new country, or just down to the coast, and the prices all change! Don't forget to factor in quality, too!

In more underdeveloped areas, weight may be ignored altogether, and various measurements are used. The single piece is basic, but many goods may be sold by the "pile", the bundle, the handful, the cupful, the hatful and several other strange ones. Then you can also bargain about whose pile, hand, hat, or cup is used. Cloth material and rope is often sold by lengths that you have never heard of before.

As with other bargaining, you should be able to get the price down if you buy more things from the same vendor. Now it starts to get really complicated. You want two tomatoes, two avocados, and a papaya) The vendor offers you a smaller papaya and only one avocado for your price. You accept the papaya but put back another avocado. Then she adds some to your price and throws in two limes, which you never even asked for! Now you are completely at sea, and she has only started warming up. Limes at 20 cents a kilo, tomatoes at 45, (how much would those tomatoes weigh?), avocados at ... how much was that? Let's see ... Then you are interrupted, "Hey, Randy, get two extra avocados will you, and a couple of red onions." Oh, my God, here, just take all my money, and give me some food!

The good news is that a major miscalculation in the marketplace (like a factor of ten) may only cost two dollars, and will be about what you would pay at home. If you go to the vegetable market every morning, even if only for lunch supplies and some fruit, you will not only have great fun, but you will quickly pick up some sharp bargaining skills, and from some of the nicest experts you will ever come across!

Team Bargaining

Go shopping with a friend. The best reason is that they can talk you out of an unwise purchase, or out of a shop that you find difficult to escape. They can also offer a second opinion on the usefulness, value, or beauty of the merchandise you are considering. It is best if only one of you is actually buying in any particular shop, and the other is assigned to be on guard against ploys(策略) that draw you away from rational bargaining.

Use your palmer as a foil in the negotiations. You can say things to each other which would be more confrontational if said directly to the vendor. Your partner can point out flaws in the merchandise, tell you there is better stuff down the road, that you cannot afford it, and that you already spent too much money. She' can say things like "The German guys got some yesterday that were better than this for the same price. Come on, let's go take a look at them." Most vendors selling to tourists will understand enough of this to get the message loud and clear.

You can seem genuinely interested in the merchandise and friendly to the vendor', while your partner points out all the dis

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

SECTION A CONVERSATIONS

Directions: In this section you will hear several conversations. Listen to the conversations carefully and then answer the questions that follow.

听力原文：M: Lisa, do you think it's good that Miss Rice's been nominated to be chairman of the department?

W: Yes, I do. Rice is so well liked. She really gets along with people well. She really knows how to handle them.

M: That's true. And I do think it's nice that it's a woman that's been nominated. You know women have had trouble for such a long time. But in the long run I think it's important that a man is the head of the English department.

W: Why? And what's so special about a man?

M: Because men are stronger than women.

W: I don't think that has anything to do with it. I think we should look at it as to who is more qualified.

M: But I think men are basically, inherently stronger than women.

W: Don't be so chauvinistic, Garry. Look at Thatcher, for example. She is an exception to the rule.

M: I think that she's just lucky enough to beat the men at their own game.

W: Well, Garry. That's because women aren't so accepted, it may be putting Rice in a difficult situation if she is made department head. And that's why we have to support her, even bring up false arguments.

M: Well, I'm just wondering how her fellow male colleagues in the university are going to react to a woman as the department head.

W: That's a good point, and I think that since we all know she's qualified, so with our support she can do it.

M: OK, I will try.

Which of the following is NOT the reason that Lisa thinks Rice is qualified for the position?

A．She is well liked and has good qualifications.

B．She gets well along with other people.

C．She knows how to deal with and handle people.

D．Women are more likely to be accepted by others.