问答题 Practice 2 　　Until recently, scientists knew little about life in the deep sea, nor had they reason to believe that it was being threatened. Now, with the benefit of technology that allows for deeper exploration, researchers have uncovered a remarkable array of species inhabiting the ocean floor at depths of more than 660 feet, or about 200 meters. At the same time, however, technology has also enabled fishermen to reach far deeper than ever before, into areas where bottom trawls can destroy in minutes what has taken nature hundreds and in some cases thousands of years to build. 　　Many of the world's coral species, for example, are found at depths of more than 200 meters. It is also estimated that roughly half of the world's highest seamounts - areas that rise from the ocean floor and are particularly rich in marine life - are also found in the deep ocean. 　　These deep sea ecosystems provide shelter, spawning and breeding areas for fish and other creatures, as well as protection from strong currents and predators. Moreover, they are believed to harbor some of the most extensive reservoirs of life on earth, with estimates ranging from 500,000 to 100 million species inhabiting these largely unexplored and highly fragile ecosystems.

问答题 Practice 3 　　Information and communications are central to modern society and organizations. One approach to understand the working environment is to consider an organization as a communications system. An organization that has open lines of communication with valid, honest information going up, down, and throughout the organization will be much more effective and a much better place to work than the organization that attempts to restrict the flow of information or distort and deceive. When leadership attempts to keep workers in the dark, workers tend to become distrustful. This undermines their cooperation. 　　It is easy to understand the value and importance of open, honest communications and valid information. Yet, few organizations are able to function in this manner. In the long run, poor communication will undermine the entire organization. Restricting communication and distorting information are symptoms of short-range thinking. We must avoid these stupid, short-sighted traps and constantly strive for and open communications system with objective information.

问答题 Practice 1 　　Our greatest responsibility is the active defense of the American people. Twenty-eight months have passed since September 1lth, 2001—over two years without an attack on American soil. And it is tempting to believe that the danger is behind us. That hope is understandable, comforting and false. The killing has continued in Bali, Jakarta, Casablanca, Riyadh, Mombassa, Jerusalem, Istanbul, and Baghdad. The terrorists continue to plot against America and the civilized world. And by our will and courage, this danger will be defeated. 　　Inside the United States, where the war began, we must continue to give our homeland security and law enforcement personnel every tool they need to defend us. And one of those essential tools is the Patriot Act, which allows federal law enforcement to better share information, to track terrorists, to disrupt their cells, and to seize their assets. For years, we have used similar provisions to catch embezzlers and drug traffickers. If these methods are good for hunting criminals, they are even more important for hunting terrorists. Key provisions of the Patriot Act are set to expire next year. The terrorist threat will not expire on that schedule. Our law enforcement needs this vital legislation to protect our citizens. You need to renew the Patriot Act.（2004 State of the Union Address—President George W. Bush）

问答题 Practice 1 　　Twenty years ago, Motorola looked upon the Japanese with something close to fear. The Chicago company’s television-manufacturing division had been large and profitable in the 1960s. By the early 1970s, however, high costs and a rising tide of inexpensive Japanese TVs were taking a heavy toll. “The Japanese were very aggressive”, recalls Motorola spokesman Mario Salvadori. “They wanted to get market share.” With cutthroat pricing, they did—eventually running nearly every U.S. electronic company out of the TV business. Motorola sold its Quasar TV unit to a Japanese company in 1974. But while other U.S. companies were floored for foreign competition, Motorola refocused its energies, It turned to wireless communications—an industry it had pioneered (with mobile radios and walkie-talkie) in the 1920s. It was a prescient move.

问答题 Practice 10 　　Every British citizen who is employed (or self-employed) is obliged to pay a weekly contribution to the national insurance and health schemes. An employer also makes a contribution for each of his employees, and the Government too pays a certain amount. This plan was brought into being in 1948. Its aim is to prevent anyone from going without medical services, if he needs them, however poor he may be; to ensure that a person who is out of work shall receive a weekly sum of money to subsist on; and to provide a small pension for those who have reached the age of retirement. 　　Everyone can register with a doctor of his choice and if he is ill he can consult the doctor without having to pay for the doctor's service, although he has to pay a small charge for medicines. The doctor may, if necessary, send a patient to a specialist, or to hospital~ in both cases treatment will be given without any fees being payable. Those who wish may become private patients, paying for their treatment, but they must still pay their contributions to the national insurance and health schemes.

问答题 Practice 4 　　Both language and culture are learned by children without special organized programs of instruction, but motivation to learn is very high since language is the most effective means for a child to obtain what he or she wants. If the learning of a new language begins before lower adolescence, one is likely to be able to speak such a language with complete naturalness, but if learned after upper adolescence some hangover of a mother-tongue feature is very likely to persist. But not only do languages exhibit such learning patterns, but so do cultural traits, for example, shaking hands, kissing, and embracing. 　　Although many persons assume that languages exist in dictionaries and grammars, in fact they only exist in people’s heads. But this is equally true of cultural traits, which indicate clearly a they only exist in people’s heads. But this is equally true of cultural traits, which indicate clearly a person’s value system when crucial decisions need to be made before there is any time to think about alternatives, for example, diving into a flooding stream to rescue a drowning child.

问答题 Practice 1 　　The point is that, apart from many of the polygraphers being unqualified, the tests themselves are by no means free from error, primarily because they discount human imagination and ingenuity. Think of all those perfectly innocent people, with nothing to be afraid of, who blush and stammer when a customs officer asks them if they have anything to declare. Fear, and a consequently heightened electrical response, may not be enough to establish guilt. It depends on whether the subject is afraid of being found out or afraid of being wrongfully convicted. On the other hand, the person who is really guilty and whose past experience has prepared him for such tests can distort the results by anticipating the crucial questions or deliberately giving exaggerated responses to neutral ones! 　　The success rate of up to 90% claimed for lie detectors is misleadingly attractive. If we refer such a figure to a company with 500 employees, twenty of whom are thieves, the lie detector could catch 18 of them but in doing so would place 32 innocent employees under suspicion.

问答题 Practice 5 　　If you think American cooking means opening a package and tossing the contents into the microwave, think again. On the one hand, it's true that Americans thrive on cold cereal for breakfast, sandwiches for lunch and instant dinners. From busy homemakers to professional people, many Americans enjoy the convenience of prepackaged meals that can be ready to serve in 10 minutes or less. On the other hand, many Americans recognize the value of cooking skills. Most Americans will admit that there's nothing better than a good home-cooked meal. 　　Probably every cook has his or her own cooking style. But there are some basic techniques and principles that most people follow. For example, baking is a primary method of preparing food in America. The dinner menu often has roast meats and other baked goods. For that reason, Americans would find it next to impossible to live without an oven. American cooks give special attention to the balance of foods, too. In planning a big meal they try to include a meat, a few vegetables, some bread or pasta and often a dessert. They also like to make sure the meal is colorful. Having several different colors of food on the plate usually makes for a healthy meal.

问答题 Practice 4 　　The other kind of bank—the Bank of the United States was simultaneously a commercial bank and a quasi-public central bank. The First Bank of the United States, chartered by the Congress in 1791, owed its existence to Alexander Hamilton who, shortly after becoming Secretary of the Treasury, showed remarkable insight into the financial problems of the young country and the economic implications of banking. The First Bank of the United States operated much like a private bank. But unlike a regular commercial bank, it had the federal government as a partner and number one customer. The Bank served as the fiscal agent for the government, holding government tax receipts, paying government bills, performing various financial housekeeping tasks. In return, the government kept its cash as deposits with the First Bank of the United States, giving it a huge financial base. The First Bank’s federal charter, moreover, allowed it to operate branches in all states, giving it a big competitive edge over regular state-chartered banks, which could operate only in the states that chartered them. Gradually the First Bank of the United States evolved into a sort of banker’s bank, gaining the power to police lesser commercial banks.

问答题 Practice 5 　　It is obvious today that America has defaulted on this promissory note insofar as her citizens of color are concerned. Instead of honoring this sacred obligation, America has given the Negro people a bad check; a check which has come back marked “insufficient funds.” But we refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. We refuse to believe that there are insufficient funds in the great vaults of opportunity of this nation. So we have come to cash this check—a  check that will give US upon demand the riches of freedom and the security of justice. 　　We have also come to this hallowed spot to remind America of the fierce urgency of now. This is no time to engage in the luxury of cooling off or to take the tranquilizing drug of gradualism. Now is the time to make real the promises of democracy. Now is the time to rise from the dark and desolate valley of segregation to the sunlit path  of racial justice. Now is the time to open the doors of opportunity to all of God's children. Now is the time to lift our nation from the quick sands of racial injustice to the solid rock of brotherhood. ( I have a dream—Martin Luther King, Jr.）