Psychologists are finding that hope plays a surprisingly vital role in giving people a measurable advantage in realms as (1) _________ as academic achievement, bearing up in tough jobs and coping with (2) _________ illness. And, by contrast, the loss of hope is turning out to be a stronger sign that a person may (3) _________ suicide than other factors long thought to be more likely risks.
“Hope has proven a powerful predictor of (4) _________ in every study we’ve done so far,” said Dr. Charles R. Snyder, a psychologist who has devised a (5) _________ to assess how much hope a person has.
For example, in research with 3,920 college students, Dr. Snyder and his (6) _________ found that the level of hope among freshmen at the beginning of their first semester was a more (7) _________ predictor of their college grades than were their S.A.T. scores or their grade point (8) _________ in high school, the two measures most commonly used to predict college performance. (9)“____________________________,” Dr. Snyder said. “When you compare students of equivalent intelligence and past academic achievements, what sets them apart is hope.”
In devising a way to assess hope scientifically, Dr. Snyder (10) ____________________________. “That notion is not concrete enough, and it blurs two key components of hope,” Dr. Snyder said.(11)“____________________________.”
Tests may be the most unpopular part of academic life. Students hate them because they produce fear and (1) _______ about being evaluated, and a focus on grades instead of learning for learning's sake.
But tests are also valuable. A well-constructed test (2) _______ what you know and what you still need to learn. Tests help you see how your performance (3) _______ that of others. And knowing that you'll be tested on (4) _______ material is certainly likely to (5) _______ you to learn the material more thoroughly.
However, there's another reason you might dislike tests: You may assume that tests have the power to (6) _______ your worth as a person. If you do badly on a test, you may be tempted to believe that you've received some (7) _______ information about yourself from the professor, information that says you're a failure in some significant way.
This is a dangerous-and wrong-headed-assumption. If you do badly on a test, it doesn't mean you're a bad person or stupid. Or that you'll never do better again, and that your life is (8) _______. If you don't do well on a test, you're the same person you were before you took the test-no better, no worse. You just did badly on a test. That's it.
(9) _______, tests are not a measure of your value as an individual-they are a measure only of how well and how much you studied. Tests are tools; they are indirect and (10) _______ measures of what we know.
At some point in 2008，someone，probably in either Asia or Africa，made the decision to move from the countryside to the city．This nameless person pushed the human race over a historic threshold，for it was in that year that mankind became，for the first time in its history，a predominantly urban species．
It is a trend that shows no sign of slowing．Demographers (人口统计学家) reckon that three—quarters of humanity could be city-dwelling by 2050，with most of the increase coming in the fast-growing towns of Asia and Africa．Migrants to cities are attracted by plentiful jobs，access to hospitals and education，and the ability to escape the boredom of a farmer’s agricultural life．Those factors are more than enough to make up for the squalor (肮脏)，disease and spectacular poverty that those same migrants must often at first endure when they become urban dwellers．
It is the city that inspires the latest book from Peter Smith．His main thesis is that the buzz of urban life, and the opportunities it offers for co-operation and collaboration，is what attracts people to the city， which in turn makes cities into the engines of art，commerce，science and progress．This is hardly revolutional-．tmt it is presented in a charming format．Mr．Smith has written a breezy guidebook，with a series of short chapters dedicated to specific aspects of urbanity-parks，say，or the various schemes that have been put forward over the years for building the perfect city．The result is a sort of high qfuah．tmttsually rigorous coffee-table book，designed to be dipped into rather than read from beginning to end. In the chapter on skyscrapers，for example, Mr．Smith touches on construction methods, the revolutionary invention of the automatic lift，the practicalities of living in the sky and the likelihood that as cities become more crowded，apartment living will become the norm．But there is also time for brief diversions onto bizarre ground，such as a discussion of the skyscraper index (which holds that a boom in skyscraper construction is a foolproof sign of an imminent recession)．
One obvious criticism is that the price of breadth is depth；many of Mr．Smith’s essays raise as many questions as they answer．Although that can indeed be frustrating，this is probably the only way to treat so grand a topic．The city is the building block of civilisation and of almost everything people do；a guidelx ok to the city is really，therefore，a guidebook to how a large and ever—growing chunk of humanity chooses to live．Mr．Smith’s book serves as an excellent introduction to a vast subject，and will suggest plenty of further lines of inquiry．
You never see him, but they're with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast you're traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to withstand almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. They’re known as the black box.
When planes fall from the sky, as a Yemeni airliner did on its way to Comoros Islands in the India ocean June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a French submarine (潜水艇) detected the device's homing signal five days later, the discovery marked a huge step toward determining the cause of a tragedy in which 152 passengers were killed.
In 1958, Australian scientist David Warren developed a flight-memory recorder that would track basic information like altitude and direction. That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960. Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the device was completely redesigned and moved to the rear of the plane – the area least subject to impact – from its original position in the landing wells (起落架舱). The same year, the Federal Aviation Authority required that the boxes, which were never actually black, be painted orange or yellow to aid visibility.
Modern airplanes have two black boxes: a voice recorder, which tracks pilots' conversations, and a flight-data recorder, which monitors fuel levels, engine noises and other operating functions that help investigators reconstruct the aircraft's final moments. Placed in an insulated (隔绝的) case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can withstand massive force and temperatures up to 2,000℉. When submerged, they're also able to emit signals from depths of 20,000 ft. Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazil on June 1,2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say they're still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one plane's black boxes were never recovered.
闻名于世的丝绸之路是一系列连接东西方的路线。丝绸之路延伸6,000多公里。得名于古代中国的丝绸贸易。丝绸之路上的贸易在中国、南亚、欧洲和中东文明发展中发挥了重要作用。正是通过丝绸之路，中国的造纸、火药、指南针、印刷等四大发明才被引介到世界各地。同样，中国的丝绸、茶叶和瓷器(porcelain)也传遍全球。物质文化的交流是双向的。欧洲也通过丝绸之路出口各种商品和植物，满足中国市场的需要。
For investors who desire low risk and guaranteed income, U.S. government bonds are a secure investment because these bonds have the financial backing and full faith and credit of the federal government. Municipal bonds, also secure, are offered by local governments and often have (1) ______ such as tax-free interest. Some may even be (2) ______. Corporate bonds are a bit more risky.
Two questions often (3) ______ first-time corporate bond investors. The first is "If I purchase a corporate bond, do I have to hold it until the maturity date?" The answer is no. Bonds are bought and sold daily on (4) ______ securities exchanges. However, if you decide to sell your bond before its maturity date, you're not guaranteed to get the face value of the bond. For example, if your bond does not have (5) ______ that make it attractive to other investors, you may be forced to sell your bond at a (6) ______, i.e., a price less than the bond's face value. But if your bond is highly valued by other investors, you may be able to sell it at a premium, i.e., a price above its face value. Bond prices generally (7) ______ inversely (相反地）with current market interest rates. As interest rates go up, bond prices fall, and viceversa（反之亦然）．Thus, like all investments, bonds have a degree of risk.
The second question is "How can I (8) ______ the investment risk of a particular bond issue?" Standard & Poor's and Moody's Investors Service rate the level of risk of many corporate and government bonds. And (9) ______, the higher the market risk of a bond, the higher the interest rate. Investors will invest in a bond considered risky only if the (10) ______ return is high enough.
| A) advantages B) assess C)bother D)conserved E)deduction F) discount G)embarrass H) features I) fluctuate J) indefinite K) insured L) major M) naturally N) potential O) simultaneously |