【填空题】You are going to read a passage with ten s...

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Can Burglars Jam Your Wireless Security System?

[A]Any product that promises to protect your home deserves careful examination. So it isn’t surprising that you’ll find plenty of strong opinions about the potential vulnerabilities of popular home-security systems.

[B]The most likely type of burglary (入室盗窃) by far is the unsophisticated crime of opportunity, usually involving a broken window or some forced entry. According to the FBI, crimes like these accounted roughly two-thirds of all household burglaries in the US in 2013.The wide majority of the rest were illegal, unforced entries that resulted from something like a window being left open. The odds of a criminal using technical means to bypass a security system are so small that the FBI doesn’t even track those statistics.

[C]One of the main theoretical home-security concerns is whether or not a given system is vulnerable to being blocked from working altogether. With wired setups, the fear is that a burglar (入室盗贼) might be able to shut your system down simply by cutting the right cable. With a wireless setup, you stick battery-powered sensors up around your home that keep an eye on windows, doors, motion, and more. If they detect something wrong while the system is armed, they’ll transmit a wireless alert signal to a base station that will then raise the alarm. That approach will eliminate most cord-cutting concerns—but what about their wireless equivalent, jamming? With the right device tuned to the right frequency, what’s to stop a thief from jamming your setup and blocking that alert signal from ever reaching the base station?

[D]Jamming concerns are nothing new, and they’re not unique to security systems. Any device that’s built to receive a wireless signal at a specific frequency can be overwhelmed by a stronger signal coming in on the same frequency. For comparison, let’s say you wanted to “jam” a conversation between two people—all you’d need to do is yell in the listener’s ear.

[E] Security devices are required to list the frequencies they broadcast on—that means that a potential thief can find what they need to know with minimal Googling. They will, however, need so know what system they’re looking for. If you have a sign in your yard declaring what setup you use, that’d point them in the right direction, though at that point, we’re talking about a highly targeted, semi-sophisticated attack, and not the sort forced-entry attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. It’s easier to find and acquire jamming equipment for some frequencies than it is for others.

[F] Wireless security providers will often take steps to help combat the threat of jamming attacks. SimpliSafe, winner of our Editor’s Choice distinction, utilizes a special system that’s capable of separating incidental RF interference from targeted jamming attacks. When the system thinks it’s being jammed, it’ll notify you via push alert(推送警报).From there, it’s up to you to sound the alarm manually.

[G] SimpliSafe was singled out in one recent article on jamming, complete with a video showing the entire system being effectively bypassed with handheld jamming equipment. After taking appropriate measures to contain the RF interference to our test lab, we tested the attack out for ourselves, and were able to verify that it’s possible with the right equipment. However, we also verified that SimpliSafe’s anti-jamming system works. It caught us in the act, sent an alert to my smartphone, and also listed our RF interference on the system’s event log. The team behind the article and video in question make no mention of the system, or whether or not in detected them.

[H]We like the unique nature of that software. It means that a thief likely wouldn’t be able to Google how the system works, then figure out a way around it. Even if they could, SimpliSafe claims that its system is always evolving, and that it varies slightly from system to system, which means there wouldn’t be a universal magic formula for cracking it. Other systems also seem confident on the subject of jamming. The team at Frontpoint addresses the issue in a blog on its site, citing their own jam protection software and claiming that there aren’t any documented cases of successful jam attack since the company began offering wireless security sensors in the 1980s.

[I] Jamming attacks are absolutely possible. As said before, with the right equipment and the right know-how, it’s possible to jam any wireless transmission. But how probable is it that someone will successfully jam their way into your home and steal your stuff?

[J] Let’s imagine that you live in a small home with a wireless security setup that offers a functional anti-jamming system. First, a thief is going to need to target your home, specifically. Then, he’s going to need to know the technical details of your system and acquire the specific equipment necessary for jamming your specific setup. Presumably, you keep your doors locked at night and while you’re away. So the thief will still need to break in. That means defeating the lock somehow, or breaking a window. He’ll need to be jamming you at this point, as a broken window or opened door would normally release the alarm. So, too, would the motion detectors in your home, so the thief will need to continue jamming once he’s inside and searching for things to steal. However, he’ll need to do so without tripping the anti-jamming system, the details of which he almost certainly does now have access to.

[K]At the end of the day, these kinds of systems are primarily designed to protect against the sort of opportunistic smash-and-grab attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. They’re also only a single layer in what should ideally be a many-sided approach to securing your home, one that includes common sense things like sound locks and proper exterior lighting at night. No system is impenetrable, and none can promise to eliminate the worst case completely. Every one of them has vulnerabilities that a knowledgeable thief could theoretically exploit. A good system is one that keeps that worst-case setting as improbable as possible while also offering strong protection in the event of a less-extraordinary attack.

36. It is possible for burglars to make jamming attacks with the necessary equipment and skill.

37. Interfering with a wireless security system is similar to interfering with a conversation.

38. A burglar has to continuously jam the wireless security device to avoid triggering the alarm, both inside and outside the house.

39. SimpliSafe provides devices that are able to distinguish incidental radio interference from targeted jamming attacks.

40. Only a very small proportion of burglaries are committed by technical means.

41. It is difficult to crack SimpliSafe as its system keeps changing.

42. Wireless devices will transmit signals so as to activate the alarm once something wrong is detected.

43. Different measures should be taken to protect one’s home from burglary in addition to the wireless security system.

44. SimpliSafe’s device can send a warning to the house owner’s cellphone.

45. Burglars can easily get a security device’s frequency by Internet search.

Directions:In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Countries Rush for Upper Hand in Antarctica

A) On a glacier-filled island with fjords(峡湾)and elephant seals, Russia has built Antarctica’s first Orthodox church on a bill overlooking its research base. Less than an hour away by snowmobile. Chinese laborers have updated the Great Wall Station, a vital part of China’s plan to operate five basses on Antarctica, complete with an indoor badminton court and sleeping quarters for 150 people. Not to be outdone, India’s futuristic new Bharathi base, built on stills(桩子)using 134 interlocking shipping containers, resembles a spaceship. Turkey and Iran have announced plans to build bases, too.

B) More than a century has passed since explorers raced to plant their flags at the bottom of the world, and for decades to come this continent is supposed to be protected as a scientific preserve, shielded from intrusions like military activities and mining . But an array of countries are rushing to assert greater influence here, with an eye not just towards the day those protective treaties expire, but also for the strategic and commercial that already exist.

C) The newer players are stepping into what they view as a treasure house of resources. Some of the ventures focus on the Antarctic resources that are already up for grabs, like abundant sea life. South Korea, which operates state-of–the-art bases here, is increasing its fishing of krill(磷虾)，found in abundance in the Southern Ocean, while Russia recently frustrated efforts to create one of the world’s largest ocean sanctuaries here.

D) Some scientists are examining the potential for harvesting icebergs form. Antarctica, which is estimated to have the biggest reserves of fresh water on the planet. Nations are also pressing ahead with space research and satellite projects to expand their global navigation abilities.

E) Building on a Soviet-era foothold, Russia is expanding its monitoring stations for Glonass, its version of the Global Positioning System(GPS). At least three Russian stations are already operating in Antarctica, part of its effort to challenge the dominance of the American GPS, and new stations are planned for sites like the Russian base, in the shadow of the Orthodox Church of the Holy Trinity.

F) Elsewhere in Antarctica, Russian researchers boast of their recent discovery of a freshwater reserve the size of Lake Ontario after drilling through miles of solid ice. “You can see that we’re here to stay,” said Vladimir Cheberdak, 57, chief of the Bellingshausen Station, as he sipped tea under a portrait of Fabian Gottlieb von Bellingshausen, a high-ranking officer in the Imperial Russian Navy who explored the Antarctic coast in 1820.

G) Antarctica’s mineral, oil and gas wealth are a longer-term prize. The treaty banning mining here, shielding coveted(令人垂诞的)reserves of iron ore, coal and chromium, comes up for review in 2048. Researchers recently found kimberlite(金伯利岩) deposits hinting at the existence of diamonds. And while assessments vary widely, geologists estimate that Antarctica holds at least 36 billion barrels of oil and natural gas.

H) Beyond the Antarctic treaties, huge obstacles persist to tapping these resources, like drifting icebergs that could jeopardize offshore platforms. Then there is Antarctic’s remoteness, with some mineral deposits found in windswept locations on a continent that is larger the Europe and where winter temperatures hover around minus 55 degrees Celsius.

I) But advances in technology might make Antarctica a lot more accessible three decades from now. And even before then, scholars warn, the demand for resources in an energy-hungry world could raise pressure to renegotiate Antarctica’s treaties, possibly allowing more commercial endeavours here well before the prohibitions against them expire. The research stations on King George lsland offer a glimpse into the long game on this ice-blanketed continent as nations assert themselves, eroding the sway long held by countries like the United States, Britain. Australia and New Zealand.

J) Being stationed in Antarctica involves adapting to life on the planet’s driest, windiest and coldest continent, yet each nation manages to make itself at home. Bearded Russian priests offer regular services at the Orthodox church for the 16 or so Russian speakers who spend the winter at the base, largely polar scientists in fields like glaciology and meteorology. Their number climbs to about 40 in the warmer summer months. China has arguably the fastest growing operations in Antarctica. It opened its fourth station last year and is pressing ahead with plans to build a fifth. It is building its second ice-breaking ship and setting up research drilling operations on an ice dome 13,422 feet above sea level that is one the planet’s coldest places. Chinese officials say the expansion in Antarctica prioritises scientific research. But they also acknowledge that concerns about “resource security” influence their moves.

K) China’s newly renovated Great Wall Station on King George lsland makes the Russian and Chilean bases here seem outdated. ”We do weather monitoring here and other research.” Ning Xu, 53, the chief of the Chinese base, said over tea during a fierce blizzard(暴风雪) in late November. The large base he leads resembles a snowed-in college campus on holiday break, with the capacity to sleep more than 10 times the 13 people who were staying on through the Antarctic winter. Yong Yu, a Chinese microbiologist, showed off the spacious building, with empty desks under an illustrated timeline detailing the rapid growth of China’s Antarctic operations since the 1980s “We now feel equipped to grow,” he said.

L) As some countries expand operations in Antarctica, the United States maintains three year-round stations on the continent with more than 1,000 people during the southern hemisphere’s summer, including those at the Amundsen Scott station, built in 1956 at an elevation of 9,301 feet on a plateau at the South Pole. But US researchers quietly complain about budget restraints and having far fewer icebreakers the Russia, limiting the reach of the United States in Antarctica.

M) Scholars warn that Antarctica’s political drift could blur the distinction between military and civilian activities long before the continent’s treaties come up for renegotiation, especially in parts of Antarctica that are ideal for intercepting(拦截) signals from satellites or retasking satellite systems, potentially enhancing global electronic intelligence operations.

N) Some countries have had a hard time here, Brazil opened a research station in 1984, but it was largely destroyed by a fire that killed two members of the navy in 2012, the same year that a diesel-laden Brazilian barge sank near the base. As if that were not enough. a Brazilian C-130 Hercules military transport plane has remained stranded near the runway of Chile’s air base here since it crash-landed in 2014.

O) However, Brazil’s stretch of misfortune has created opportunities for China, with a Chinese company winning the $100 million contract in 2015 to rebuild the Brazilian station.

P) Amid all the changes, Antarctica maintains its allure. South Korea opened its second Antarctic research base in 2014, describing it as a way to test robots developed by Korean researchers for use in extreme conditions. With Russia’s help, Belarus is preparing to build this first Antarctic base. Colombia said this year that it planned to join other South American nations with bases in Antarctica.

Q) “The old days of the Antarctic being dominated by the interests and wishes of white men from European. Australasian and North American states are over.” Said Klaus Dodds, a politics scholar at the University of London who specialises in Antarctica. “The reality is that Antarctica is geopolitically contested.”

36. According to Chinese officials, their activities in Antarctica lay greater emphasis on scientific research.

37. Efforts to create one of the world’s largest ocean sanctuaries failed because of Russia’s obstruction.

38. With several monitoring stations operating in Antarctica, Russia is trying hard to counter America’s dominance in the field of worldwide navigational facilities.

39. According to geologists’ estimates. Antarctica has enormous reserves of oil and natural gas.

40. It is estimated that Antarctica boasts of the richest reserves of fresh water on earth.

41. The demand for energy resources may compel renegotiation of Antarctica’s treaties before their expiration.

42. Many countries are racing against each other to increase their business and strategic influence on Antarctica.

43. Antarctica’s harsh natural conditions constitute huge obstacles to the exploitation of its resources.

44. With competition from many countries, Antarctica is no longer dominated by the traditional white nations.

45. American scientists complain about lack of sufficient money and equipment for their expansion in Antarctica.

You are going to hear a passage about high-context culture and low-context culture. Listen carefully and fill in the missing information. 音频3（请将音频调至18秒开始,播放至结束） High-context culture refers to societies or groups where people have close connections over a long period of time. Many 1________ of cultural behavior are not made explicit（明确的） because most members know what to do and what to think from years of 2_________ with each other. High-context culture relies heavily on 3_________, often nonverbal 4________ to maintain social 5_________. It can be found in Asia, most of Latin America, Africa and Middle East countries. Low-context culture refers to societies where people tend to have many connections but of shorter 6________ or for some specific reason. In these societies, cultural behavior and beliefs may need to be 7________ explicitly so that those coming into the cultural environment know how to behave. Low-context culture uses language primarily to express 8________, feelings and ideas as directly as possible. The lowest context cultures are Germany, Britain, the United States, Switzerland and Scandinavian countries. 1.

You are going to hear a passage about High-speed rail (HSR) in China. Listen carefully and fill in the missing information. 补录3 High-speed rail (HSR) in China refers to any railway in China with 1. train service at the speed of 2. km/h or higher as internationally recognized. By this definition, China has the world's 3. HSR network with over 16,000 km of track in service as of December 2014which is more than the rest of the world's high-speed rail tracks 4. , and a length of 16,775.5 km is 5. or in planning. Since high-speed rail service in China was 6. on April 18, 2007, daily ridership has grown from 237,000 in 2007 to 2.49 million in 2014, making the Chinese HSR network the most 7. used in the world. Cumulative ridership had reached 2.9 billion by October 2014. 1.

6.3 信息匹配题课后习题 Section B Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2. Passage One Can Burglars Jam Your Wireless Security System? Any product that promises to protect your home deserves careful examination. So it isn't surprising that you'll find plenty of strong opinions about the potential vulnerabilities of popular home-security systems. The most likely type of burglary (入室盗窃) by far is the unsophisticated crime of opportunity, usually involving a broken window or some forced entry. According to the FBI, crimes like these accounted for roughly two-thirds of all household burglaries in the US in 2013. The wide majority of the rest were illegal, unforced entries that resulted from something like a window being left open. The odds of a criminal using technical means to bypass a security system are so small that the FBI doesn't even track those statistics. One of the main theoretical home-security concerns is whether or not a given system is vulnerable to being blocked from working altogether. With wired setups, the fear is that a burglar (入室盗窃) might be able to shut your system down simply by cutting the right cable. With a wireless setup, you stick battery-powered sensors up around your home that keep an eye on windows, doors, motion, and more. If they detect something wrong while the system is armed, they'll transmit a wireless alert signal to a base station that will then raise the alarm. That approach will eliminate most cord-cutting concerns-but what about their wireless equivalent, jamming? With the right device tuned to the right frequency, what's to stop a thief from jamming your setup and blocking that alert signal from ever reaching the base station? Jamming concerns are nothing new, and they're not unique to security systems. Any device that's built to receive a wireless signal at a specific frequency can be overwhelmed by a stronger signal coming in on the same frequency. For comparison, let's say you wanted to "jam" a conversation between two people-all you'd need to do is yell in the listener's ear. Security devices are required to list the frequencies they broadcast on-that means that a potential thief can find what they need to know with minimal Googling. They will, however, need to know what system they're looking for. If you have a sign in your yard declaring what setup you use, that'd point them in the right direction, though at that point, we're talking about a highly targeted, semi-sophisticated attack, and not the sort of forced entry attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. It's easier to find and acquire jamming equipment for some frequencies than it is for others. Wireless security providers will often take steps to help combat the threat of jamming attacks. SimpliSafe, winner of our Editors' Choice distinction, utilizes a special system that's capable of separating incidental RF interference from targeted jamming attacks. When the system thinks it's being jammed, it'll notify you via push alert (推送警报). From there, it's up to you to sound the alarm manually. SimpliSafe was singled out in one recent article on jamming, complete with a video showing the entire system being effectively bypassed with handheld jamming equipment. After taking appropriate measures to contain the RF interference to our test lab, we tested the attack out for ourselves, and were able to verify that it's possible with the right equipment. However, we also verified that SimpliSafe's anti-jamming system works. It caught us in the act, sent an alert to my smartphone, and also listed our RF interference on the system's event log. The team behind the article and video in question make no mention of the system, or whether or not it detected them. We like the unique nature of that software. It means that a thief likely wouldn't be able to Google how the system works, then figure out a way around it. Even if they could, SimpliSafe claims that its system is always evolving, and that it varies slightly from system to system, which means there wouldn't be a universal magic formula for cracking it. Other systems also seem confident on the subject of jamming. The team at Frontpoint addresses the issue in a blog on its site, citing their own jam protection software and claiming that there aren't any documented cases of a successful jam attack since the company began offering wireless security sensors in the 1980s. Jamming attacks are absolutely possible. As said before, with the right equipment and the right know-how, it's possible to jam any wireless transmission. But how probable is it that someone will successfully jam their way into your home and steal your stuff? Let's imagine that you live in a small home with a wireless security setup that offers a functional anti-jamming system. First, a thief is going to need to target your home, specifically. Then, he's going to need to know the technical details of your system and acquire the specific equipment necessary for jamming your specific setup. Presumably, . you keep your doors locked at night and while you're away, so the thief will still need to break in. That means defeating the lock somehow, or breaking a window. He'll need to be jamming you at this point, as a broken window or opened door would normally release the alarm. So, too, would the motion detectors in your home, so the thief will need to continue jamming once he's inside and searching for things to steal. However, he'll need to do so without tripping the anti-jamming system, the details of which he almost certainly does not have access to. At the end of the day, these kinds of systems are primarily designed to protect against the sort of opportunistic smash-and-grab attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. They're also only a single layer in what should ideally be a many-sided approach to securing your home, one that includes common sense things like sound locks and proper exterior lighting at night. No system is impenetrable, and none can promise to eliminate the worst case completely. Every one of them has vulnerabilities that a knowledgeable thief could theoretically exploit. A good system is one that keeps that worst-case setting as improbable as possible while also offering strong protection in the event of a less-extraordinary attack. 1. It's possible for burglars to make jamming attacks with the necessary equipment and skill. 2. Interfering with a wireless security system is similar to interfering with a conversation. 3. A burglar has to continuously jam the wireless security device to avoid triggering the alarm, both inside and outside the house. 4. SimpliSafe provides devices that are able to distinguish incidental radio interference from targeted jamming attacks. 5. Only a very small proportion of burglaries are committed by technical means. 6. It is difficult to crack SimpliSafe as its system keeps changing. 7. Wireless devices will transmit signals so as to activate the alarm once something wrong is detected. 8. Different measures should be taken to protect one's home from burglary in addition to the wireless security system. 9. SimpliSafe's device can send a warning to the house owner's cellphone. 10. Burglars can easily get a security device's frequency by Internet search. Passage Two Can Burglars Jam Your Wireless Security System? Any product that promises to protect your home deserves careful examination. So it isn't surprising that you'll find plenty of strong opinions about the potential vulnerabilities of popular home-security systems. The most likely type of burglary (入室盗窃) by far is the unsophisticated crime of opportunity, usually involving a broken window or some forced entry. According to the FBI, crimes like these accounted for roughly two-thirds of all household burglaries in the US in 2013. The wide majority of the rest were illegal, unforced entries that resulted from something like a window being left open. The odds of a criminal using technical means to bypass a security system are so small that the FBI doesn't even track those statistics. One of the main theoretical home-security concerns is whether or not a given system is vulnerable to being blocked from working altogether. With wired setups, the fear is that a burglar (入室盗窃) might be able to shut your system down simply by cutting the right cable. With a wireless setup, you stick battery-powered sensors up around your home that keep an eye on windows, doors, motion, and more. If they detect something wrong while the system is armed, they'll transmit a wireless alert signal to a base station that will then raise the alarm. That approach will eliminate most cord-cutting concerns-but what about their wireless equivalent, jamming? With the right device tuned to the right frequency, what's to stop a thief from jamming your setup and blocking that alert signal from ever reaching the base station? Jamming concerns are nothing new, and they're not unique to security systems. Any device that's built to receive a wireless signal at a specific frequency can be overwhelmed by a stronger signal coming in on the same frequency. For comparison, let's say you wanted to "jam" a conversation between two people-all you'd need to do is yell in the listener's ear. Security devices are required to list the frequencies they broadcast on-that means that a potential thief can find what they need to know with minimal Googling. They will, however, need to know what system they're looking for. If you have a sign in your yard declaring what setup you use, that'd point them in the right direction, though at that point, we're talking about a highly targeted, semi-sophisticated attack, and not the sort of forced entry attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. It's easier to find and acquire jamming equipment for some frequencies than it is for others. Wireless security providers will often take steps to help combat the threat of jamming attacks. SimpliSafe, winner of our Editors' Choice distinction, utilizes a special system that's capable of separating incidental RF interference from targeted jamming attacks. When the system thinks it's being jammed, it'll notify you via push alert (推送警报). From there, it's up to you to sound the alarm manually. SimpliSafe was singled out in one recent article on jamming, complete with a video showing the entire system being effectively bypassed with handheld jamming equipment. After taking appropriate measures to contain the RF interference to our test lab, we tested the attack out for ourselves, and were able to verify that it's possible with the right equipment. However, we also verified that SimpliSafe's anti-jamming system works. It caught us in the act, sent an alert to my smartphone, and also listed our RF interference on the system's event log. The team behind the article and video in question make no mention of the system, or whether or not it detected them. We like the unique nature of that software. It means that a thief likely wouldn't be able to Google how the system works, then figure out a way around it. Even if they could, SimpliSafe claims that its system is always evolving, and that it varies slightly from system to system, which means there wouldn't be a universal magic formula for cracking it. Other systems also seem confident on the subject of jamming. The team at Frontpoint addresses the issue in a blog on its site, citing their own jam protection software and claiming that there aren't any documented cases of a successful jam attack since the company began offering wireless security sensors in the 1980s. Jamming attacks are absolutely possible. As said before, with the right equipment and the right know-how, it's possible to jam any wireless transmission. But how probable is it that someone will successfully jam their way into your home and steal your stuff? Let's imagine that you live in a small home with a wireless security setup that offers a functional anti-jamming system. First, a thief is going to need to target your home, specifically. Then, he's going to need to know the technical details of your system and acquire the specific equipment necessary for jamming your specific setup. Presumably, . you keep your doors locked at night and while you're away, so the thief will still need to break in. That means defeating the lock somehow, or breaking a window. He'll need to be jamming you at this point, as a broken window or opened door would normally release the alarm. So, too, would the motion detectors in your home, so the thief will need to continue jamming once he's inside and searching for things to steal. However, he'll need to do so without tripping the anti-jamming system, the details of which he almost certainly does not have access to. At the end of the day, these kinds of systems are primarily designed to protect against the sort of opportunistic smash-and-grab attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. They're also only a single layer in what should ideally be a many-sided approach to securing your home, one that includes common sense things like sound locks and proper exterior lighting at night. No system is impenetrable, and none can promise to eliminate the worst case completely. Every one of them has vulnerabilities that a knowledgeable thief could theoretically exploit. A good system is one that keeps that worst-case setting as improbable as possible while also offering strong protection in the event of a less-extraordinary attack. 11. It's possible for burglars to make jamming attacks with the necessary equipment and skill. 12. Interfering with a wireless security system is similar to interfering with a conversation. 13. A burglar has to continuously jam the wireless security device to avoid triggering the alarm, both inside and outside the house. 14. SimpliSafe provides devices that are able to distinguish incidental radio interference from targeted jamming attacks. 15. Only a very small proportion of burglaries are committed by technical means. 16. It is difficult to crack SimpliSafe as its system keeps changing. 17. Wireless devices will transmit signals so as to activate the alarm once something wrong is detected. 18. Different measures should be taken to protect one's home from burglary in addition to the wireless security system. 19. SimpliSafe's device can send a warning to the house owner's cellphone. 20. Burglars can easily get a security device's frequency by Internet search.

6.3 信息匹配题课后作业 Section B Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2. Passage One Can Burglars Jam Your Wireless Security System? [A] Any product that promises to protect your home deserves careful examination. So it isn't surprising that you'll find plenty of strong opinions about the potential vulnerabilities of popular home-security systems. [B] The most likely type of burglary (入室盗窃) by far is the unsophisticated crime of opportunity, usually involving a broken window or some forced entry. According to the FBI, crimes like these accounted for roughly two-thirds of all household burglaries in the US in 2013. The wide majority of the rest were illegal, unforced entries that resulted from something like a window being left open. The odds of a criminal using technical means to bypass a security system are so small that the FBI doesn't even track those statistics. [C] One of the main theoretical home-security concerns is whether or not a given system is vulnerable to being blocked from working altogether. With wired setups, the fear is that a burglar (入室盗窃) might be able to shut your system down simply by cutting the right cable. With a wireless setup, you stick battery-powered sensors up around your home that keep an eye on windows, doors, motion, and more. If they detect something wrong while the system is armed, they'll transmit a wireless alert signal to a base station that will then raise the alarm. That approach will eliminate most cord-cutting concerns-but what about their wireless equivalent, jamming? With the right device tuned to the right frequency, what's to stop a thief from jamming your setup and blocking that alert signal from ever reaching the base station? [D] Jamming concerns are nothing new, and they're not unique to security systems. Any device that’s built to receive a wireless signal at a specific frequency can be overwhelmed by a stronger signal coming in on the same frequency. For comparison, let's say you wanted to "jam" a conversation between two people-all you'd need to do is yell in the listener's ear. [E] Security devices are required to list the frequencies they broadcast on-that means that a potential thief can find what they need to know with minimal Googling. They will, however, need to know what system they're looking for. If you have a sign in your yard declaring what setup you use, that'd point them in the right direction, though at that point, we're talking about a highly targeted, semi-sophisticated attack, and not the sort of forced entry attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. It's easier to find and acquire jamming equipment for some frequencies than it is for others. [F] Wireless security providers will often take steps to help combat the threat of jamming attacks.SimpliSafe, winner of our Editors' Choice distinction, utilizes a special system that's capable of separating incidental RF interference from targeted jamming attacks. When the system thinks it’s being jammed, it'll notify you via push alert (推送警报). From there, it's up to you to sound the alarm manually. [G] SimpliSafe was singled out in one recent article on jamming, complete with a video showing the entire system being effectively bypassed with handheld jamming equipment. After taking appropriate measures to contain the RF interference to our test lab, we tested the attack out for ourselves, and were able to verify that it's possible with the right equipment. However, we also verified that SimpliSafe's anti-jamming system works. It caught us in the act, sent an alert to my smartphone, and also listed our RF interference on the system's event log. The team behind the article and video in question make no mention of the system, or whether or not it detected them. [H] We like the unique nature of that software. It means that a thief likely wouldn't be able to Google how the system works, then figure out a way around it. Even if they could, SimpliSafe claims thatits system is always evolving, and that it varies slightly from system to system, which means there wouldn’t be a universal magic formula for cracking it. Other systems also seem confident on the subject of jamming. The team at Frontpoint addresses the issue in a blog on its site, citing their own jam protection software and claiming that there aren't any documented cases of a successful jam attack since the company began offering wireless security sensors in the 1980s. [I] Jamming attacks are absolutely possible. As said before, with the right equipment and the right know-how, it's possible to jam any wireless transmission. But how probable is it that someone will successfully jam their way into your home and steal your stuff? [J] Let's imagine that you live in a small home with a wireless security setup that offers a functionalanti-jamming system. First, a thief is going to need to target your home, specifically. Then, he’s going to need to know the technical details of your system and acquire the specific equipment necessary for jamming your specific setup. Presumably, you keep your doors locked at night and while you're away, so the thief will still need to break in. That means defeating the lock somehow, or breaking a window. He'll need to be jamming you at this point, as a broken window or openeddoor would normally release the alarm. So, too, would the motion detectors in your home, so the thief will need to continue jamming once he's inside and searching for things to steal. However, he'll need to do so without tripping the anti-jamming system, the details of which he almost certainly does not have access to. [K] At the end of the day, these kinds of systems are primarily designed to protect against the sort of opportunistic smash-and-grab attack that makes up the majority of burglaries. They're also only single layer in what should ideally be a many-sided approach to securing your home, one that includes common sense things like sound locks and proper exterior lighting at night. No system is impenetrable, and none can promise to eliminate the worst case completely. Every one of them has vulnerabilities that a knowledgeable thief could theoretically exploit. A good system is one that keeps that worst-case setting as improbable as possible while also offering strong protection in the event of a less-extraordinary attack. 1. It's possible for burglars to make jamming attacks with the necessary equipment and skill. 2. Interfering with a wireless security system is similar to interfering with a conversation. 3. A burglar has to continuously jam the wireless security device to avoid triggering the alarm, both inside and outside the house. 4. SimpliSafe provides devices that are able to distinguish incidental radio interference from targeted jamming attacks. 5. Only a very small proportion of burglaries are committed by technical means. 6. It is difficult to crack SimpliSafe as its system keeps changing. 7. Wireless devices will transmit signals so as to activate the alarm once something wrong is detected. 8. Different measures should be taken to protect one's home from burglary in addition to the wireless security system. 9. SimpliSafe's device can send a warning to the house owner's cellphone. 10. Burglars can easily get a security device's frequency by Internet search. Passage Two The Secret to Raising Smart Kids [A] I first began to investigate the basis of human motivation-and how people persevere after setbacks-as a psychology graduate student at Yale University in the 1960s. Animal experiments by psychologists at the University of Pennsylvania had shown that after repeated failures, most animals conclude that a situation is hopeless and beyond their control. After such an experience an animal often remains passive even when it can affect change-a state they called learned helplessness. [B] People can learn to be helpless, too. Why do some students give up when they encounter difficulty, whereas others who are no more skilled continue to strive and learn? One answer, I soon discovered, lay in people's beliefs about why they had failed. [C] In particular, attributing poor performance to a lack of ability depresses motivation more than does the belief that lack of effort is to blame. When I told a group of school children who displayed helpless behavior that a lack of effort led to their mistakes in math, they learned to keep trying when the problems got tough. Another group of helpless children who were simply rewarded for their success on easier problems did not improve their ability to solve hard math problems. These experiments indicated that a focus on effort can help resolve helplessness and generate success. [D] Later, I developed a broader theory of what separates the two general classes of learners-helpless versus mastery-oriented. I realized these different types of students not only explain their failures differently, but they also hold different "theories" of intelligence. The helpless ones believe intelligence is a ‘fixed characteristic: you have only a certain amount, and that's that. I call this a “fixed mind-set (思维模式).” Mistakes crack their self-confidence because they attribute errors to a lack of ability, which they feel powerless to change. They avoid challenges because challenges make mistakes more likely. The mastery-oriented children, on the other hand, think intelligence is not fixed and can be developed through education and hard work. Such children believe challenges are energizing rather than intimidating (令人生畏); they offer opportunities to learn. Students with such a growth mind-set were destined (注定) for greater academic success and were quite likely to outperform their counterparts. [E] We validated these expectations in a study in which two other psychologists and I monitored 373 students for two years during the transition to junior high school, when the work gets more difficult and the grading stricter, to determine how their mind-sets might affect their math grades. At the beginning of seventh grade, we assessed the students' mind-sets by asking them to agree or disagree with statements such as "Your intelligence is something very basic about you that you can't really change." We then assessed their beliefs about other aspects of learning and looked to see what happened to their grades. [F] As predicted, the students with a growth mind-set felt that learning was a more important goal than getting good grades. In addition, they held hard work in high regard. They understood that even geniuses have to work hard. Confronted by a setback such as a disappointing test grade, students with a growth mind-set said they would study harder or try a different strategy. The students who held a fixed mind-set, however, were concerned about looking smart with less regard for learning. They had negative views of effort, believing that having to work hard was a sign of low ability. They thought that a person with talent or intelligence did not need to work hard to do well. Attributing a bad grade to their own lack of ability, those with a fixed mind-set said that they would study less in the future, try never to take that subject again and consider cheating on future tests. [G] Such different outlooks had a dramatic impact on performance. At the start of junior high, the math achievement test scores of the students with a growth mind-set were comparable to those of students who displayed a fixed mind-set. But as the work became more difficult, the students with a growth mind-set showed greater persistence. As a result, their math grades overtook those of the other students by the end of the first semester-and the gap between the two groups continued to widen ·during the two years we followed them. [H] A fixed mind-set can also hinder communication and progress in the workplace and discourage or ignore constructive criticism and advice. Research shows that managers who have a fixed mind-set are less likely to seek or welcome feedback from their employees than are managers with a growth mind-set. [I] How do we transmit a growth mind-set to our children? One way is by telling stories about achievements that result from hard work. For instance, talking about mathematical geniuses who were more or less born that way puts students in a fixed mind-set, but descriptions of great mathematicians who fell in love with math and developed amazing skills produce a growth mind-set. [J] In addition, parents and teachers can help children by providing explicit instruction regarding the mind as a learning machine. I designed an eight-session workshop for 91 students whose math grades were declining in their first year of junior high. Forty-eight of the students received instruction in study skills only, whereas the others attended a combination of study skills sessions and classes in which they learned about the growth mind-set and how to apply it to schoolwork. In the growth mind-set classes, students read and discussed an article entitled "You Can Grow Your Brain." They were taught that the brain is like a muscle that gets stronger with use and that learning prompts the brain to grow new connections. From such instruction, many students began to see themselves as agents of their own brain development. Despite being unaware that there were two types of instruction, teachers reported significant motivational changes in 27% of the children in the growth mind-set workshop as compared with only 9% of students in the control group. [K] Research is converging (汇聚) on the conclusion that great accomplishment and even genius is typically the result of years of passion and dedication and not something that flows naturally from a gift. 36. The author's experiment shows that students with a fixed mind-set believe having to work hard is an indication of low ability. 37. Focusing on effort is effective in helping children overcome frustration and achieve success. 38. We can cultivate a growth mind-set in children by telling success stories that emphasize hard work and love of learning. 39. Students' belief about the cause of their failure explains their attitude toward setbacks. 40. In the author's experiment, students with a growth mind-set showed greater perseverance in solving difficult math problems. 41. The author conducted an experiment to find out about the influence of students' mind-sets on math learning. 42. After failing again and again, most animals give up hope. 43. Informing students about the brain as a learning machine is a good strategy to enhance their motivation for learning. 44. People with a fixed mind-set believe that one's intelligence is unchangeable. 45. In the workplace, feedback may not be so welcome to managers with a fixed mind-set.

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Why Are Airlines Withholding Seats?

Behind the screen indeed

[D] An awful plot goes on behind airline and travel booking screens, and much of it is strictly off-limits to consumers. What we do know is that for decades now airlines have become masters of what the industry calls yield management, offering millions of combinations of fares based on advance purchase patterns and other booking trends, so nearly everyone pays a different price based on when they buy. But now that paying extra for your seat selection has become common practice, securing your reservation is just half the battle.

[E] Some industry experts have connected the dots. “They’re trying to get people to buy premium seats,” says George Hobica, USATODAY.com’s Fly Guy columnist and the founder of Airfarewatchdog.com. “They want to increase revenue. And we’re getting more complaints about it. ” He notes that it “really annoys” passengers who want to sit together, particularly when traveling with small children.

[F] He’s echoed by Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition(联盟):“With yield management, consumers are aware and they know that airlines are constantly changing prices on seats. But if this is true, it is unethical—they’re grossly misleading us. The thing that I find so offensive is conveying to me that I have no options, but if I wait a week or two then I do have options. ”

[G ] According to the airlines, the reason for ancillary (附加的)revenue is unbundling (分类计价)ticket prices, so passengers who desire a given service—say checking a bag or ordering a soft drink—pay for it, while those who don’t are spared the cost. But as Mitchell notes, “There’s another twist to this. The airlines are saying fees are for ‘optional services.’ Well, seats aren’t optional!”

[H ] Of course, securing a good seat isn’t an issue if you’re in first class or you’re an elite member of a frequent flyer program. But what about the rest of us? As I’ve pointed out repeatedly in recent columns, we’re faced with record-high load factors, the highest for the U.S. airline industry since World War II. But even with the average percentage of occupied seats for domestic flights at 82.7%, it’s still an average—some flights will be fuller but others will not, particularly weeks in advance. Yet searching for seats keeps getting harder and harder.

Seats for sale

[I ] Hobica cites the major airlines as the prime culprits (起因)，but he also notes even low-cost carriers can make securing seats difficult. On the flip side, he credits JetBlue and Virgin America for providing customers with clear policies. And then there is British Airways, which allows passengers in economy and business classes to

select seats only 24 hours in advance. I asked an airline representative if seeing fewer free seats is a trend, and the response was: “That’s going to vary because there are so many variables. ” [J] I decided to check on seat availability at Delta.com. I inquired about economy-class availability for two seats on a busy route—Atlanta to Chicago—and conducted an apples-to-apples search for the same morning departure seven days in advance, and again 14 days in advance. For the flight one week out, a total of only eight seats were available, one preferred and seven standard, but only one set of two seats together. For the flight two weeks out, a total of 29 seats were available, consisting of 20 preferred and only nine standard, and still with only one set together. Remarkable how even twice the booking time still produced so few “free” seats, separately or together, yet there were plenty of seats that could be bought for the right price. [K] I contacted Delta and a spokesman said the price for preferred economy varies “depending on a number of different factors,” so customers need to compare

the costs on a flight-by-flight basis. The preferred seats are reserved primarily for Medallion (大勋章)members, and become available without additional charge 24 hours prior to departure. When asked if Delta has received complaints about a dearth of free seats, he stated, “Overall, our seat program has been received very well. ”

[L] But my findings dovetailed (吻合)with recent complaints filed with Airfarewatchdog: (1) When (my husband) tried to get a seat assignment on the first flight there was just one “complimentary (免费的)seat” (near the back in the middle) available... the other available seats had to be purchased for $69. On the connecting flight there were no “complimentary seats” at all! Is this legal? He bought and paid for a ticket on these flights and now he is supposed to “buy” a seat! (2) (After) paying for the flight, a message popped up and said that I could only get a seat assignment when I checked in. In order to get a confirmed seat, I had to pay $129 extra! Unless I pay, without a confirmed seat, I am the first one to be bumped from the flight if they are overbooked. How do they get away with this? (3) Does checking in online at the 24-hour mark before the flight give me a number in line or let me select seats then? Or do we all rush the gate with our boarding passes (and no seat assignment) in order to get the seat assignment?

How to respond?

[M] So what can you do? It’s a tough proposition. Usually I would offer strategies for countering such airline initiatives, but in this case the options are limited. That’s why some believe the U.S. Department of Transportation should investigate these practices. As Mitchell says, “The airlines are holding all the cards with this one. There is a sore need for transparency on this. When people are confused, they make bad decisions. ”

[N] That said, consider the following: (1) When budgeting your airfares, make sure you consider not just baggage fees but the added cost of seat selection—for all travelers and in both directions. (2) If possible, book early, when there should be more seats available, and check in early too. Why the qualifier “should”? Because if availability is artificially manipulated, it’s hard to be certain. (3) Book airlines that offer more transparent seat- selection policies. Of course, this is not an issue with Southwest and other carriers that offer “open seating” policies. (4) Finally, the last resort is what Hobica calls “horse trading”: negotiating seat swaps with other passengers. But this has become a risky and undesirable option with flights so full, overhead bins (行李仓)so crammed and fellow passengers who may have paid for premium seats in advance.

46. Behind the airline and travel booking screens, a terrible plot is being carried out, much of which is rigorously kept confidential from passengers.

47. The airlines’ excuse for additional fees is unbundling ticket prices, so those who want the given service like baggage check and soft drink ordering will have to pay.

48. Whether some carriers withhold seats on purpose for earning consumers，premium is a question deserving to be cleared up.

49. Mitchell holds that there is an urgent need for transparency on carriers seat assignments.

50. While Hobica ascribes the main responsibilities to the major airlines, he also mentions that the low-cost carriers are making securing seats difficult.

51. Some believe that, in order to solve the problem of airlines，withholding seats, some actions should be taken by the U.S. Department of Transportation.

52. When people budget their airfares, they should consider both the baggage fees and the added cost of seat selection.

53. Kevin Mitchell considers the so-called yield management of the industry unethical and misleading.

54. What the spokesman of Delta says suggests that the preferred economy-class tickets are available 24 hours in advance of the plane’s departure.

55. The last strategy to counter the airline’s initiatives is to exchange seats with other passengers by negotiating with them.

Section B（2016年6月英语六级卷2试题）

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Reform. and Medical Costs

[A]American are deeply concerned about the relentless rise in health care costs and health insurance premiums. They need to know if reform. will help solve the problem. The answer is that no once has an easy fix rising medical costs. The fundamental fix—reshaping how care is delivered and how doctors are paid in a wasteful, abnormal system—is likely to be a achieved only through trial and incremental(渐进的)gains.

[B]The good news is that a bill just approved by the House and a bill approved by the Senate Finance Committee would implement or test many reforms that should help slow the rise in medical costs over the long term. As report in The New England Journal of Medicine concluded. "Pretty much every proposed innovation found in the health policy Iiterature these days is contained in these measures."

[C]Medical spending, which typically rises faster than wages and the overall economy, is propelled by two things: the high prices charged for medical services in this country and the volume of unnecessary care delivered by doctors and hospitals, which often perform. a lot more tests and treatments than patient really needs.

[D]Here are some of the important proposals in the House and Senate bills to try to address those problem, and why it is hard to know how well they will work.

[E]Both bills would reduce the rate of growth in annual Medicare payments to hospital, nursing homes and other providers by amounts comparable to the productivity savings routinely made in other industries with the help of new technologies and new ways to organize work. This proposal could save Medicare more than $100 billion over the next decade. If private plans demanded similar productivity savings from providers, and refused to let providers shift additional costs to them, the savings could be much larger. Critics say Congress will give in to lobbyists and let inefficient provider off the hook(放过). That is far less likely to happen if Congress also adopts strong "pay-go" rules requiring that any increase in payments to providers be offset by new taxes or budge cuts.

[F]The Senate Finance bill would impose an excise tax(消费税)on health insurance plans that cost more than $8,000 for an individual or $21,000 for a family. It would most likely cause

Insures to redesign plans to fall beneath the threshould. Enrollees would have to pay more money for many services out of their own pockets, and that would encourage them to think twice about whether an expensive or redundant test was worth it. Economists project that most employers would shift money from expensive health benefits into wages, The House bill has no similar tax. The final legislation should.

[G]Any doctor who has wrestled with multiple forms from different insurers, or patients who have tried to understand their own parade of statements, know that simplification ought to save money. When the health insurance industry was still cooperating in reform. efforts, its trade group offered to provide standardized forms for automated processing. It estimated that step would save hundreds of billions of dollars over the next decade. The bills would lock that pledge into law.

[H]The stimulus package provided money to convert the inefficient, paper-driven medical system to electronic records that can be easily viewed and transmitted .This requires open investments to help doctors convert. In time it should help restrain costs by eliminating redundant test, preventing drug inter actions, and helping doctors find the best treatments.

[I]Virtually all experts agree that the fee-for-service system—doctors are rewarded for that the cost of care is so high. Most agree that the solution is to push doctors to accept fixed payments to care for a particular illness or for a patient's needs over a year. No one knows how to make that happen quickly. The bills in both houses would start pilot projects within Medicare. They include such measures as accountable care organizations to take charge of a patient's needs with an eye on both cost and quality, and chronic disease management to make sure the seriously ill, who are responsible for the bulk of all health care costs, are treated properly. For the most part, these experiments rely on incentive payments to get doctors to try them.

[J]Testing innovations do no good unless the good experiments are identified and expanded and the bad ones arc dropped. The Senate bill would create an independent commission to monitor the pilot programs and recommend changes in Medicare's payment policies to urge providers to adopt reforms that work. The changes would have to be approved or rejected as a whole by Congress, making it hard for narrow-interest lobbies to bend lawmakers to their will.

[K]The bills in both chambers would create health insurance exchanges on which small businesses and individuals could choose from an array of private plans and possibly a public option. All the plans would have to provide standard benefit packages that would be easy to compare. To get access to millions of new customers, insures would have a strong incentive to sell on the exchange. And the head-to-head competition might give them a strong incentive to lower their prices, perhaps by accepting slimmer profit margins or demanding better deals from providers.

[L]The final legislation might throw a public plan into the competition, but thanks to the fierce opposition of the insurance industry and Republican critics, it might not save much money. The one in the House bill would have to negotiate rates with providers, rather than using Medicare rates, as many reformers wanted.

[M]The president's stimulus package is pumping money into research to compare how well various treatments work. Is surgery, radiation or careful monitoring best for prostate(前列腺)cancer? Is the latest and most expensive cholesterol-lowering drug any better than its common competitors? The pending bills would spend additional money to accelerate this effort.

[N]Critics have charged that this sensible idea would lead to rationing of care. (That would be true only if you believe that patients should have an unrestrained right to treatments proven to be inferior.) As a result, the bills do not requires, as they should, that the results of these studies be used to set payment rates in Medicare.

[O]Congress needs to find the courage to allow Medicare to pay preferentially for treatments proven to be superior. Sometimes the best treatment might be the most expensive. But overall, we suspect that spending would come down through elimination of a lot of unnecessary or even dangerous tests and treatments.

[P]The House bill would authorize the secretary of health and human services to negotiate drug prices in Medicare and Medicaid. Some authoritative analysts doubt that the secretary would get better deals than private insurers already get. We believe negotiation could work. It does in other countries.

[Q] Missing from these bills is any serious attempt to rein in malpractice costs. Malpractice awards do drive up insurance premiums for doctors in high-risk specialties, and there is some evidence doctors engage in "defensive medicine" by performing tests and treatments primarily to prove they are not negligent should they get sued.

37.With a tax imposed on expensive health insurance plans, most employers will likely transfer money from health expenses into wages.

38.Changes in policy would be approved or rejected as a whole so that lobbyists would find it hard to influence lawmakers.'

39.It is not easy to curb the rising medical costs in America.

40.Standardization of forms for automatic processing will save a lot of medical

41.Republicans and insurance industry are strongly opposed to the creation of a public insurance plan.

42.Conversion of paper to electronic medical records will help eliminate redundant tests and prevent drug interactions.药物相互作用

43.【题干】The high cost of medical services and unnecessary tests and treatments have driven up medical expenses.

44.One main factor that has driven up medical expenses is that doctors are compensated for the amount of care rather than its effect.

45.Contrary to analysts' doubts, the author believes drug prices may be lowered through negotiation.

46.Fair competition might create a strong incentive for insurers to charge less.

Section B(2016年6月英语四级卷2真题及答案)

Directions: In this section, you are going to read a passage with ten statements attached to it. Each statement contains information given in one of the paragraphs. Identify the paragraph from which the information is derived. You may choose a paragraph more than once. Each paragraph is marked with a letter. Answer the questions by marking the corresponding letter on Answer Sheet 2.

Could Food Shortages Bring Down Civilization?

[A] For many years I have studied global agricultural, population, environmental and economic trends and their interactions. The combined effects of those trends and the political tensions they generate point to the breakdown of governments and societies. Yet I, too, have resisted the idea that food shortages could bring down not only individual governments but also our global civilization.

[B] I can no longer ignore that risk. Our continuing failure to deal with the environmental declines that are undermining the world food economy forces me to conclude that such a collapse is possible.

[C] As demand for food rises faster than supplies are growing, the resulting food-price inflation puts severe stress on the governments of many countries. Unable to buy grain or grow their own, hungry people take to the streets. Indeed, even before the steep climb in grain prices in 2008, the number of failing states was expanding. If the food situation continues to worsen, entire nations will break down at an ever increasing rate. In the 20th century the main threat to international security was superpower conflict; today it is failing states.

[D] States fail when national governments can no longer provide personal security, food security and basic social services such as education and health care. When governments lose their control on power, law and order begin to disintegrate. After a point, countries can become so dangerous that food relief workers are no longer safe and their programs are halted. Failing states are of international concern because they are a source of terrorists, drugs, weapons and refugees(难民), threatening political stability everywhere.

[E] The surge in world grain prices in 2007 and 2008—and the threat they pose to food security——has a different, more troubling quality than the increases of the past. During the second of the 20th century, grain prices rose dramatically several times. In 1972, for instance, the Soviets. I recognizing their poor harvest early, quietly cornered the world wheat market. As a result, wheat prices elsewhere more than doubled, pulling rice and com prices up with them. But this and other price shocks were event-driven——drought in the Soviet Union, crop-shrinking heat in the U.S. Corn Belt. And the rises were short-lived: prices typically returned to normal with the next harvest.

[F]In contrast, recent surge in world grain prices is trend-driven, making it unlikely to reverse without a reversal in the trends themselves. On the demand side, those trends include the ongoing addition of more than 70 million people a year, a growing number of people wanting to move up the food chain to consume highly grain-intensive meat products, and the massive diversion(转向)of U.S. grain to the production of bio-fuel.

[G]As incomes rise among low-income consumers, the potential for further grain consumption is huge. But that potential pales beside the never-ending demand for crop-based fuels. A fourth of this year's U.S. grain harvest will go to fuel cars.

[H]What about supply? The three environmental trends——the shortage of fresh water, the loss of topsoil and the rising temperatures——are making it increasingly hard to expand the world's grain supply fast enough to keep up with demand. Of all those trends, however, the spread of water shortages poses the most immediate threat. The biggest challenge here is irrigation, which consumes 70% the world's fresh water. Millions of irrigation wells in many countries are now pumping water out of underground sources faster than rainfall can refill them. The result is falling water tables(地下水位)in countries with half the world's people, including the three big grain producers——China, India and the U.S.

[I]As water tables have fallen and irrigation wells have gone dry, China's wheat crop, the world's largest, has declined by 8% since it peaked at 123 million tons in 1997. But water shortages are even more worrying in India. Millions of irrigation wells have significantly lowered water tables in almost every state.

[J]As the world's food security falls to pieces, individual countries acting in their own self-interest are actually worsening the troubles of many. The trend began in 2007, when leading wheat-exporting countries such as Russia and Argentina limited or banned their exports, in hopes of increasing local food supplies and thereby bringing down domestic food prices. Vietnam banned its exports for several months for the same reason. Such moves may eliminate the fears of those living in the exporting countries, but they are creating panic in importing countries that must rely on what is then left for export.

[K]In response to those restrictions, grain-importing countries are trying to nail down long-term trade agreements that would lock up future grain supplies. Food-import anxiety is even leading to new efforts by food-importing countries to buy or lease farmland in other countries. In spite of such temporary measures, soaring food prices and spreading hunger in many other countries are beginning to break down the social order.

[L]Since the current world food shortage is trend-driven, the environmental trends that cause it must be reversed. We must cut carbon emissions by 80% from their 2006 levels by 2020, stabilize the world's population at eight billion by 2040, completely remove poverty, and restore forests and soils. There is nothing new about the four objectives. Indeed, we have made substantial progress in some parts of the world on at least one of these——the distribution of family-planning services and the associated shift to smaller families.

[M]For many in the development community, the four objectives were seen as positive, promoting development as long as they did not cost too much. Others saw them as politically correct and morally appropriate. Now a third and far more significant motivation presents itself: meeting these goals may necessary to prevent the collapse of our civilization. Yet the cost we project for saving civilization would amount to less than $200 billion a year, 1/6 of current global military spending. In effect, our plan is the new security budget.

37.The more recent steep climb in grain prices partly results from the fact that more and more people want to consume meat products.

38.Social order is breaking down in many countries because of food shortages.

39.Rather than superpower conflict, countries unable to cope with food shortages now constitute the main threat to world security.

40.Some parts of the world have seen successful implementation(实施) of family planning.

41.The author has come to agree that food shortages could ultimately lead to the collapse of world civilization.

42.Increasing water shortages prove to be the biggest obstante to boosting the world's grain production.

43.The cost for saving our civilization would be considerably less than the world's current military spending.

44.To lower domestic food prices, some countries limited or stopped their grain exports.

45.Environmental problems must be solved to case the current global food shortage.

46.A quarter of this year's American grain harvest will be used to produce bio-fuel for cars.