Why doesn’t the unemployment rate ever reach zero? Economists, who generally believe that supply tends to meet demand, have long thought about this question. Even in good times, i.e. not now, there are people who can’t find work. And even in bad times, i.e. now, there are job openings. With over 14 million people out of work and looking for a job, you would think every available job would be filled. But that’s not the case. Not now and not ever.
On Monday, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the prize for economics to the three scholars who have done the most to explain this phenomenon. Two of the winners are Americans, Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern. The third winner is Christopher Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics and was born on Cyprus.
Like most of economics, what they have found about why the jobless and ready-employers don’t find each other seems obvious. You have to find out there is job opening you are interested in. Employers need to get resumes （简历）. It takes a while for both employers and employees to make the decision that this is what they want. And these guys came up with a frame-work to study the problem of why people stay unemployed longer than they should and what can be done about it.
So what would today’s Nobel Prize winners do to solve the current problem of the unemployed? And does the awarding of the prize contribute to the politicians’ lowering joblessness?
Speaking from his north London home, Pissarides told The Associated Press the announcement came as “a complete surprise” though his work had already helped shape thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.
For example, the New Deal for Young People, a British government policy aimed at getting 18-24-year-olds back on the job market after long periods of unemployment, “is very much based on our work,” he said.
“One of the key things we found is that it is important to make sure that people do not stay unemployed too long so they don’t lose their feel for the labor force,” Pissarides told reporters in London. “The ways of dealing with this need not be expensive training – it could be as simple as providing work experience.”According to the writer, which is true about finding jobs?
| A．It is always difficult to find a job. |
| B．Everyone can find a job in good times. |
| C．Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to find a job in bad times. |
| D．It is possible to find a job even in times as bad as now. |
What is it that leads to their winning the prize?
| A．They have found the reason for unemployment. |
| B．They have put forward a set of ideas to deal with unemployment. |
| C．They have found out why people don’t want to be employed. |
| D．They have long studied the problem of unemployment. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Pissarides thinks his work surprising. |
| B．The work of Pissarides has influenced many economists. |
| C．Some of the winners’ ideas have been put into practice. |
| D．It is probable that unemployed young people in Britain benefit from Pissarides’ work. |
According to Pissarides, _________ is effrctive in dealing with unemployment.
| A．spending large sums of money on training |
| B．teaching some knowledge of economics |
| C．providing work experience |
| D．keeping people unemployed for some time |
The National Gallery of Art in Washington, D.C., is one of the world's greatest art museums. Millions of people have entered its doors to see paintings by the world's fine artists. But if these priceless masterpieces are to be preserved, the Gallery must protect them carefully. The Gallery's 135-man guard force has successfully prevented them from being stolen, but protecting the paintings from nature is a greater problem.
In past times, the owners of paintings did not protect them from damaging changes in humidity (湿度) and temperature. As a result, the life of these paintings were shortened. In the National Gallery, however, humidity and temperature are carefully controlled. The building is air-conditioned in summer and heated in winter. The air-conditioning and heating system are so important to the life of the painting that the Gallery has two of each system. If one should fail, the extra one can take over.
Light is another enemy of paintings. Ultraviolet rays (紫外线) in light cause paintings to fade (褪色). Long ago, paintings often hung in dark churches and palaces. A coat of varnish (清漆) was a protection from the weak light. But when museums took over the care of many paintings, they were often hung in brighter light than before. Soon they were in danger of fading. The damaging effects of light were increased when the museums removed the varnish coating, yellowed with age.
To protect its paintings, the National Gallery put a special kind of glass in its skylights. This glass allows visible lights to enter the building but it keeps out harmful ultraviolet rays. The Gallery has also developed new and better varnishes which help to keep paintings from fading. Thanks to these new precautions, many of the world's greatest paintings are being well protected for future generations to enjoy.The text mainly tells us about ______.
| A．the guard force in the National Gallery |
| B．protecting great paintings from nature |
| C．priceless paintings of past times |
| D．the air-conditioning and heating systems in the National Gallery |
The underlined word "precautions" in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to ______.
| A．decorations |
| B．problems |
| C．suggestions |
| D．applications |
From the text we can infer that_______.
| A．great artists painted in dark churches and palaces |
| B．you can touch these paintings while you are in the National Gallery |
| C．the care of the world's greatest paintings is both a big responsibility and a great challenge |
| D．the guard force in the Gallery has not done a good job |
The earth is not the only body that travels around the sun. With it are eight other planets, fellow members of the sun’s family.
Two of them, Mercury (水星) and Venus, are nearer while the other six, namely Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, also in their given order from the sun, are farther from the sun than the earth is. The farther they are, the longer trips they make around the sun. People noticed long ago that these traveling bodies moved around in the sky in definite paths. It is a force called gravity that holds them in their paths.
We know that every little bit of matter in the universe pulls upon every other bit of matter. The pull between two bodies is proportional (成比例的) to the product of their masses. Because the sun is so large the pull between the sun and the planets are thus great. If it were not for this pull, the planets would fly off into space. In the same way there exists a pull between the earth and the moon, which keeps the moon traveling in its orbit around our planet, the earth. Gravity holds you to its surface, and pulls back to it the ball which you throw into the air. Of course the ball also pulls on the larger earth but the earth is so much larger that the pull is not noticed.
Now remember that large bodies exert a greater pull than smaller ones which contain less material. But each object in the universe, no matter how small, pulls on all other objects to some degree.There are ________ that travel around the sun in the sun’s family.
| A．nine planets | B．eight planets |
| C．one star and ten planets | D．the earth and the sun |
Which two planets make the longest trips around the sun among all the planets in the solar system?
| A．Mercury and Venus. | B．Neptune and Pluto. |
| C．Saturn and Uranus. | D．Mars and Jupiter. |
From the passage we can see__________
| A．all the objects, big or small, must exert the same pull on one another |
| B．large objects exert the same pull on anybody as small objects |
| C．small objects exert the same on large ones |
| D．each object in the universe exerts a pull on all other objects |
From the sentence “The pull between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses.” We can infer that the pull between__________
| A．the sun and the moon is greater than between the sun and the earth |
| B．the earth and the moon is greater than that between the sun and the earth |
| C．the sun and the earth is greater than that between the earth and the moon |
| D．the sun and the earth is the same as that between the earth and the moon |
A newly-wed couple on a four-month honeymoon were hit by six natural disasters, including the Australian floods, Christchurch earthquake and Japanese tsunami.
Stefan and Erika Svanstrom left Stockholm, Sweden, on December 6 and were immediately stranded in Munich, Germany, due to one of Europe's worst snowstorms. Travelling with their baby daughter, they flew on to Cairns in Australia which was then struck by one of the most tremendous tonadoes in the nation's history. From there, the couple, in their 20s, were forced to shelter for 24 hours on the cement floor of a shopping centre with 2,500 others. "Trees were being knocked over and big branches were scattered across the streets," Mr Svanstrom told Sweden's Express newspaper. "We escaped by the skin of our teeth," said Svanstrom.
They then headed south to Brisbane but the city was experiencing massive flooding, so they crossed the country to Perth where they narrowly escaped raging bush fires. The couple then flew to Christchurch, New Zealand, arriving just after a massive magnitude 6.3 earthquake destroyed the city on February 22. Mrs. Svanstrom said, "When we got there the whole town was a war zone." "We could not visit the city since it was completely blocked off, so instead we travelled around before going to Japan." But days after the Svanstroms arrived, Tokyo was rocked by Japan's largest earthquake since records began. "The trembling was horrible and we saw roof tiles fly off the buildings," Mr. Svantrom said. "It was like the buildings were swaying back and forth."
The family returned to Stockholm on March 29,2011 after a much calmer visit to their last destination China. But Mr. Svanstrom, who also survived the destructive Boxing Day tsunami that hit southeast Asia in 2004, said the marriage was still going strong. He added, "I know marriages have to endure some trials, but I think we have been through most of them." "We've certainly experienced more than our fair share of catastrophes, but the most important thing is that we're together and happy." Mrs. Svantrom added: “ To say we were unlucky with the weather doesn’t really cover it! It’s so absurd that now we can only laugh.”How many countries did the couple visit during their honeymoon?
| A．6. | B．5. | C．4. | D．3. |
What's the right order of the following things according to the passage?
a. The couple headed south to Brisbane.
b. The couple flew to Cairns.
c. The couple flew to Christchurch.
d. The couple were stranded in Munich.
| A．a-b-c-d |
| B．a-c-b-d |
| C．d-b-c-a |
| D．d-b-a-c |
By saying "We escaped by the skin of our teeth.", Mr. Svanstrom meant that _____
| A．The tornadoes was tremendous |
| B．They escaped from the tornadoes easily. |
| C．They had a narrow escape from the tornadoes |
| D．There was something wrong with their teeth |
According to the last two paragraphs, which word can best describe Mr. Svanstrom?
| A．ambitious. |
| B．enthusiastic |
| C．considerate |
| D．optimistic |
People are talking about the “new economy.” It’s very different from the “old economy”.
In the old economy, people travel to work. They buy things in stores. They use the post office, the fax and the telephone to send information. They see people face-to-face at their jobs or in stores. People get information from newspapers, radio, television, books and libraries.
In the new economy, people do business through the “net,” which is a connection of millions of computers everywhere in the world. In the new economy, workers often work at home. They can get information online. They can communicate with employers and co-workers by e-mail. Businesses have “virtual (虚拟)stores”. They are websites on which customers can see the products. Businesses can sell to customers anywhere in the world.
In the new economy, people live a fast paced, convenient and colorful life. The whole world develops more quickly than before. But the new economy is a double-edge sword. Its disadvantage is also obvious. For example, the Internet has led to a huge increase in credit card cheating. Some illegal websites offer some cheap or banned goods or services. Online shoppers who enter their credit card information may never receive the goods they want to buy and their card information could even be for sale in an illegal website. So people in the new economy should be smarter and knowledgeable.The cause of the differences between the new economy and the old economy is ____.
| A．the change of people’s idea |
| B．the business people do |
| C．the use of the Internet |
| D．the change of people’s life |
“But the new economy is a double-edge sword ” in the last passage means_____.
| A．The new economy is as sharp as a sword |
| B．The new economy has advantages and disadvantages |
| C．The new economy is better than the old economy |
| D．Both the new economy and the old economy have disadvantages |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．People can get all kinds of information on the Internet. |
| B．Telephone, radio, television, newspapers and so on will disappear in the new economy. |
| C．People in the new economy should have high quality. |
| D．Life in the new economy is more comfortable than the one in the old economy. |
Are you interested in country music? I like it very much! It will take me away for a while after I am tired .The guitars and songs will take me to mountains and fields.
Country music usually talks of everyday life and feelings. It’s the spirit of America, easy to understand, slow and simple.
Country music developed in the Southern United States. It was the folk music of American countryside. Many of songs tell about the lives of farmers .They talk about love, crops or death.
The life of the countryside can be hard, so the words in country music are often sad. At first, people played the music only at family parties. But it became more popular later. In the 1920s, people played country songs on the radio, and they made them into records.
When people in the countryside moved to towns and cities to look for work, they took their music with them. Country music continued to change and became popular across America.
John Denver was one of America’s most famous country singers in the 1970s.His song “Take Me home, Country Roads” is well-known and people still play it today.Country music is usually about _______.
| A．everyday life and feelings |
| B．farmers’ feelings |
| C．the lives of workers |
| D．the lives of farmers |
People began to make country song records _______.
| A．in the 1920s | B．in 1920 |
| C．in the 1970s | D．in 1970 |
Why did Country music become popular in America?
| A．Because city people liked the music. |
| B．Because farmers moved to cities with their music and it continued to change. |
| C．Because country music talked about city people’s lives. |
| D．Because country music developed in the Southern Africa |
Who is famous for the song “Take Me Home, Country Roads”?
| A．A farmer in the countryside |
| B．A person who moved to towns |
| C．John Denver |
| D．John Denver’s brother |
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