Two years ago this month, Doubleday published a historical thriller with an announced first printing of 85,000 and high hopes that a little-known writer named Dan Brown would catch on with the general public. “We surely expected to have a huge success, but I don’t think anyone dreamed it would be come a historic publication,“ says Stephen Rubin, president and publisher of the Doubleday Broadway Publishing Group. If the Harry Potter books stand as the essential popular read for young people, then The Da Vinci Code has captured the crown for grown-ups. A word-of-mouth sensation from the moment it came out, Brown’s controversial mix of storytelling anti speculation remains high on best-seller lists even as it begins its third year since publication. Twenty-five million books, in 44 languages, are in print worldwide and no end is in sight. Booksellers expect The Da Vinci Code to remain a best-seller well into 2005. A planned film version by Oscar-winning director Ron Howard should bring in even more readers. And at a time when consumers are supposedly minding their budgets, sales for the $24.95 hardcover have been so good that Doubleday still has set no date for a paperback. “It’s been our No.1 fiction book for two years in a row, and I can’t remember another time that happened,“ said Bob Wietrak, vice president of merchandising for Barnes & Noble Inc. “People come into our store all the time and ask for it or ask for books that are like it.“ Thanks to The Da Vinci Code, about the only books that seem able to keep up are Brown’s previous novels. Deception Point, first released in 2001, now has 3.7 million copies in print, ac cording to Simon & Schuster, Brown’s previous publisher. Angels and Demons, published in 2000 and featuring “Da Vinci“ protagonist Robert Langdon, has more than 8 million copies in print. The unprecedented success of The Da Vinci Code has been helped by wide access, with the book on sale everywhere from Wal-Mart to airports to supermarkets, often proving more popular than the mass market paperbacks available at the same outlets. The Da Vinci Code has also thrived during a time when both literary and commercial novels struggled, when a tight economy, competition from other media and election-year tensions drove the public to nonfiction works or away from books altogether. Publishers and booksellers say Brown’s novel has worked by combining narrative excitement and provocative—and disputed—historical detail.

When Mom and Dad Grow Old The prospect of talking to increasingly fragile parents about their future can be “one of the most difficult challenges adult children will ever face,“ says Clarissa Green, a Vancouver therapist. “People often tell me they don’t want to raise sensitive issues with their parents about bringing in caregivers or moving,“ she says. “They’ll say, ’I don’t want to see Dad cry.’“ But Green usually responds, “What’s wrong with that?“ Adult children, she says, need to try to join their parents in grieving their decline, acknowledge their living arrangements may on longer work and, if necessary, help them say goodbye to their beloved home. “It’s sad. And it’s supposed to be. It’s about death itself.“ There are almost four million men and women over age 65 in Canada. Nearly two thirds of them manage to patch together enough support—from family, friends, private anti government ser vices-to live independently until virtually the day they die, according to Statistics Canada. Of the Canadian seniors who live to 85 and over, almost one iii three end up being moved— sometimes kicking—to group living for the last years of their lives. Even in the best-case scenarios (可能出现的情况), such dislocations can bring sorrow. “Often the family feels guilty, and the senior feels abandoned,“ says Charmaine Spencer, a professor in the gerontology department of Simon Fraser University. Harassed with their own careers and children, adult children may push their parents too fast to make a major transition. Val MacDonald, executive director of the B.C. Seniors Services Society, cautions adult children against imposing their views on aging parents. “Many baby boomers can be quite patronizing (高人一等的),“ she says. Like many who work with seniors, MacDonald suggests adult children devote many conversations over a long period of time to collaborating on their parents’ future, raising feelings, questions and options—gently, but frankly. However, many middle-aged adults, according to the specialists, just muddle (应付) through with their aging parents. When the parents of Nancy Woods of Mulmur Hills, Ont., were in their nfid-80s, they made the decision to downsize from their large family home to an apartment in Toronto. As Woods’s parents, George and Bernice, became more frail, she believed they knew she had their best interests at heart. They agreed to her suggestion to have Meals on Wheels start delivering lunches and dinners. However, years later, after a crisis, Woods discovered her parents had taken to throwing out the prepared meals. Her dad had appreciated them, but Bernice had come to believe they were poisoned. “My father was so loyal,“ says Woods, “he had hid that my mother was overwhelmed by paranoia (偏执狂).“ To her horror, Woods discovered her dad and mom were “living on crackers and oatmeal porridge“ and were weakening from the impoverished diet. Her dad was also falling apart with the stress of providing for Bernice—a common problem when one spouse tries to do everything for an ailing partner. “The spouse who’s being cared for might be doing well at home,“ says Spencer, “but often the other spouse is burned out and ends up being hospitalized.“ Fortunately, outside help is often available to people struggling through the often-distressing process of helping their parents explore an important shift. Sons and daughters can bring in brochures or books on seniors’ issues, as well as introduce government health-care workers or staff at various agencies, to help raise issues and open up discussions, says Val MacDonald, whose nonprofit organization responds to thousands of calls a year from British Columbians desperate for information about how to weave through the dizzying array of seniors services and housing options. The long list of things to do, says MacDonald, includes assessing their ability to live independently; determining your comfort level with such things as bathing a parent; discussing with all household members whether it would be healthy for an elderly relative to move in; monitoring whether, out of pure duty, you’re overcommitting yourself to providing a level of care that could threaten your own well-being. The shock phone call that flung Nancy Woods and her parents into action came from her desperate dad. “I got this call from my father that he couldn’t cope anymore. My mother was set ting fires in the apartment,“ she says. “He didn’t want to see it for what it was. Up to then he’d been in denial.“ Without knowing she was following the advice of experts who recommend using outside sources to stimulate frank discussion with parents, Woods grabbed a copy of The 36-Hour Day: A Family Guide to Caring for Persons With A lzheimer Disease, Related Dementing Illnesses, and Memory Loss in Later Life. She read sections of the book to her dad and asked him, “Who does that sound like?“ Her father replied, “It’s Mother. It’s dementia (痴呆).“ At that point, Woods said, her dad finally recognized their tragic plight. She told her father she would help them move out of their apartment. “He nodded. He didn’t yell or roar. He took it on the chin (忍受痛苦).“ Woods regrets that she “had not noticed small details signalling Mom’s dementia.“ But she’s satisfied her dad accepted his passage into a group residence, where he and his wife could stay together in a secure unit where staff were trained to deal with patients with dementia. “From the moment they moved into the Toronto nursing home, their physical health improved. On the other hand, it was the beginning of the end in terms of their mental abilities. Perhaps they couldn’t get enough stimulation. Perhaps it was inevitable.“ After my father died in 2002, the grim reality of my mother’s sharply declining memory set in starkly. With her expanding dementia, Mom insisted on staying in her large North Shore house, even though she was confused about how to cook, organize her day or take care of her self. For the next three years we effectively imposed decisions on her, most of them involving bringing in caregivers, including family members. In 2005 Mom finally agreed, although she barely knew what was happening, to move to a nearby nursing home, where, despite great confusion, she is happier. As Spencer says, the sense of dislocation that comes with making an important passage can be “a very hard adjustment for a senior at the best of times. But it’s worse if it’s not planned not.“

Albert Schweitzer was born in 1875 in Alsace. At that time, it was a part of Germany. [32] His generous spirit was first awakened through his training as a preacher. Besides gaining a reputation as preacher, [33] he also became respected for his ability to play the organ. [35] He was a man of many talents. His concern for other people turned his attention to medicine. He had also acquired doctoral degrees in philosophy and music. His wife took an interest in medicine also and became a nurse. Many people thought that he should remain and lecture in Europe to have a strong impact on Western civilization. Though he listened to their suggestions, he ultimately decided to follow his own conscience. This led him to Africa. [34] Albert had felt that all men should accept the responsibility of helping others. He felt particularly concerned for black Africans who had been exploited by white men. He earned the money he needed by performing on the organ and by lecturing. With this money he bought equipment and opened a hospital in Africa. He was a man of great strength who faced great problems with courage. The threat of war, the reality of imprisonment during World War One as a German citizen and the unbearable heat in Africa did not make him retreat at all. [35] He believed that a man could overcome these obstacles if he had a sense of idealism. He died in 1965. Through his hard work at training. Through his training as a preacher. Through his reputation as preacher. Through his attention to medicine.

Nowadays, incoming generations really rely now on the power of the “Internet“ when it comes to searching for information. Just type the word or phrase you’re looking【C1】______ and click, there goes your answer. So why【C2】______ wasting time turning the pages of encyclopedias if in just a snap of a finger you have what you needed? People underestimate the power of encyclopedias. Well, technically, all of them are【C3】______ sources which means, they are like the walls that can fully support your data. They are first hand accounts done by professionals and【C4】______ . On the other hand, Internet information I’m not saying all of them, are【C5】______ secondary, or third hand sources【C6】______ basically means that they have been edited or【C7】______ .They maybe data collected from several sources and were put together. However, the problem here is the errors which the writer or the author【C8】______ . He/she may have different under standing on the data than you,【C9】______ you have actually seen the data. So it is like you’re just a kid listening to other’s story instead of you telling your own.【C10】______ from that, you’re not 100% sure that the author is【C11】______ . He/she maybe just a kid posting and posting wrong ideas for【C12】______ . What I would like to【C13】______ here is that manual research is still stronger than any other. There is freedom in it, freedom to give your【C14】______ , under standing, insights towards these first-based ideas. You also type your work【C15】______ gathering the data so you become more【C16】______ with it because writing is the last stage of learning since you make an output out of your【C17】______ . Unlike the one in the Internet, some people also tend to “copy-paste“ their works【C18】______ ever reading them. So they don’t absorb【C19】______ must be absorbed. As they say, “No Pain, No Gain“, so working hard with your research will surely be a【C20】______ and a strong one.

________________ (除非你和保险公司签订货物保险合同), you are not entitled to a repayment for the goods damaged in delivery.

Directions: For this part, you are allowed 30 minutes to write a short essay entitled Do College Students Need Career Orientation? You should write at least 150 words following the outline given below. 1. 许多大学生缺乏明确的职业规划 2．职业规划的重要性 3．我的看法 Do College Students Need Career Orientation?

M: I just wonder why Janet never becomes an actress in the advertisement. You know, a lot of famous ac tresses do that for more fame and fortune. She should at least give it a try. W: I think she has her own ideas and can resist the temptation. Q: What does the woman say about Janet? She is not a very famous actress. She is not very much tempted by big money. She has no idea of how to make advertisements. She is not so fortunate as other actresses.

W: With us now, is Malcolm Bricklin, CEO of Visionary Vehicles. M: Hello, everyone. W: We have been hearing a couple of things about this news that [22] Ford Motor Company is slashing up to 30,000 jobs, shutting down 14. plants nationwide. Is it a big deal if we are no longer manufacturing these cars, Malcolm? M: I think it’s a huge deal. I mean the companies are massive employers both directly and indirectly. If you look at Ford after their restructuring, they’ve actually got 87,000 employees which is twice as many as Microsoft have worldwide. Moreover, if you look at those jobs, they are very high-paying jobs. These are people who can afford to buy their own products. W: Er, [23] it seems to indicate a big hit for our economy if these jobs go bye-bye. M: Yeah, it’s a really sad day for America. W: But it is not as if cars are stopped being made, right? M: Correct. Still a large number of cars are being made by American manufacturers. More than half of the American cars sold in America are American. [24] So what has happened over time is that as the market share has fallen: foreign car companies Rave come fin taken over plants and set up new plants, and they have taken over that capacity. So, it is not like there are fewer cars being produced in America than there were 30 years ago. W: Let me ask you about the Chinese coming in. What would it mean to American jobs, if and when that happens? M: [25] The Chinese cars we have seen so far aren’t that great and they don’t have the branding necessary to make a huge impact in the world stage. It is closing down some factories in the US. It no longer offers high-paying jobs. The number of its employees is doubled after the restructuring. It is manufacturing as many cars as before.

Under normal conditions the act of communication requires the presence of at least two persons: one who sends and one who receives the communication. In order to communicate thoughts and feelings, there must be a conventional system of signs or symbols which mean the same to the sender and the receiver. [29] The means of sending communications are too numerous and varied for systematic classification; therefore, the analysis must begin with the means of receiving communications. Reception of communication is achieved by our senses. Sight, hearing and touch play the most important roles. Smell and taste play very limited roles. [30] Examples of visual communication are gesture and imitation. Although both frequently accompany speech, there are systems that rely solely on sight, such as those used by deaf and dumb persons. Another means of communicating visually is by signals of fire, smoke, flags or flashing lights. Feelings may be simply communicated by touch such as by handshaking, although a highly-developed system of handshaking disables blind, deaf, and dumb persons to communicate intelligently. Whistling to someone, clapping hands in a theater, and other forms of communication by sound rely upon the ear as a receiver. The most fully developed form of auditory communication is, of course, the spoken language. [31] The means of communication mentioned so far have two features in common: they last only a short time, and the persons involved must be relatively close to each other. Therefore, all are restricted in time and space. Communication actually takes place when the message is received. There are more means of receiving than of sending communications. Reception of communication involves use of the senses. It is hard to organize by typing the means of sending communication.

More wood was removed from forests in 2005 than ever before, one of many troubling environmental signs highlighted on Thursday in the Worldwatch Institute’s annual check of the planet’s health. The Washington-based think tank’s “Vital Signs 2007-2008“ report points to global patterns ranging from rising meat consumption to Asian economic growth it says are linked to the broader problem of climate change. “I think climate change is the most urgent challenge we have ever faced,“ said Erik Assadourian, director of the Vital Signs project. “You see many trends in climate change, whether we are talking about grain production which is affected by droughts and flooding, or meat production as livestock production makes up about 20 percent of greenhouse gas emissions,“ he told reporters in a telephone interview before the report’s release. Assadourian said the key message of the report was that unsustainable consumption patterns were responsible for climate change linked to carbon emissions and other ecological woes. He said of the 44 trends tracked by the report, 28 were “pronouncedly bad“ and only six were positive. The trends range from the spread of avian flu to the rise of carbon emissions to the number of violent conflicts. The growing use of wind power is among the few trends seen as positive. Some of the points highlighted in the report include: --Meat production hit a record 276 million metric tons (43 kilograms or 95 pounds per person) in 2006. --Meat consumption is one of several factors driving rising soybean demand. Rapid expansion of soybean plantations in South America could displace 22 million hectares (54 million acres) of tropical forest and savanna (热带大草原) in the next 20 years. --The rise in global seafood consumption comes as many fish species become scarcer. In 2004, people ate 156 million metric tons of seafood, the equivalent of three times as much seafood per person as in 1950. Other analysts and think tanks have focused on different trends they say mean less cause for alarm. For example, they point out that while more wood is being removed from forests on a global scale, many parts of Europe and North America have experienced reforestation in recent decades.

I’m very glad to know that ________________ (作为一些服务的回报，我的老板慷慨地同意将我欠的债一笔勾销).

M: Why do you think that way? W: While I admit there is very little discrimination here on campus towards orientation, appearance and nationality, [19] women are not treated equally. Women are not represented in many faculties. They also hold fewer senior faculty positions, are not represented well in administration and, do you know, not once has there been a female president of the student union. M: You are running for president of the student union on the issue of equality, but you are not going to be a winner, I suppose. Most students feel women have equality nowadays. W: Not the students I have talked to, particularly the women. [20] My brother is a lawyer and he says the women in his fn-m have to work much harder than the men if they want to become a partner in the firm. M: [19] So you are going to champion women’s rights for the election. W: Yes, [19] my campaign will focus on that but I will not ignore other issues such as transportation, cafeterias and so on. I have been a student here for 4 years and am aware of all the issues. If I can make this campus a better place for all students, then as a woman, I would be setting an excellent role model. And, I am sure I can do a better job than Jerry did this year. M: What did Jerry accomplish this year? W: [21] Next to nothing. He put pressure on the cafeterias to be a little more environmentally friendly [21] but that is all about it. To prove women’s diligence. To seek gender equality on campus. To improve transportation and accommodation. To put pressure on male students.

Bill Gates, the head of the world’s biggest computer software company, has a mission: “to put computers on every office desk and in every home.“ Bill Gates has had this mission since he was a university student years ago. [26] This deep personal interest, together with his technical skill and his business marketing, skills, helped him to create a giant computer company and to make him wealthy. Although he is so wealthy, Bill Gates does not want to give up. He is still very interested in his vision and he travels the globe, from Beijing to London, making quick stops in cities to sell the new software products of his company. The central vision of Bill Gates is the “information highway“. [27] This is a network of computers that will link every home, office and shopping mall in the future. This computer network system will have an effect on business, shopping and education. Bill Gates says that the main use of this new technology will be in communication. It will be a way to find people with common interests and to share opinions with them. But is this communication by computer along the “information highway“ really a good thing? Won’t we be sitting at home, only “socializing“ with our computer? No, says Bill Gates. In fact, the computer network will let us choose our own intellectual direction. It will give us freedom. [28] It will also bring good to society, because it will allow for the spread of education. When more and more people receive education, the gap between rich and poor will be narrowed. His vision and his travel all over the world. His expertise and business marketing skills. The money we pay for the “information highway“. His confidence in software products.

A researcher says lead in the environment could be a major cause of violence by young people. Doctor Herbert Needleman is a professor at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine in Pennsylvania. He says the【B1】______ of lead in the brain changes the neurons that control actions and that can cause a person to act in antisocial and【B2】______ ways. Lead is a metal that is【B3】______ dangerous to babies and young children. They can get it into their bodies by breathing or【B4】______ lead dust, or by eating soil or pieces of lead paint. Children with high levels of lead can【B5】______ brain and nervous system damage, learning【B6】______ , slow growth, headaches and hearing loss. In the 19th century, Doctor Needleman found lower scores on【B7】______ tests even in children who did not have such signs of lead【B8】______ . After that, lead was removed from gasoline and paint in the United States. Yet many homes still have old lead paint. Lead was also used in older water pipes. In fact,【B9】______ . The newest research shows that even very small amounts of lead in bones can affect brain development. 【B10】______ . In 2008, such tests were done on 190 young people who were in jail and the findings showed that their average levels were higher than normal. And, in 2002,【B11】______ . Yet these levels were still considered safe by the government.

The human criterion for perfect vision is 20/20 for reading the standard lines on a Snellen eye chart without a hitch. The score is determined by how well you read lines of letters of different sizes from 20 feet away. But being able to read the bottom line on the eye chart does not approximate perfection as far as other species are concerned. Most birds would consider us very visually handicapped. The hawk, for instance, has such sharp eyes that it can spot a dime on the sidewalk while perched on top of the Empire State Building. It can make fine visual distinctions because it is blessed with one million cones (视锥细胞) per square millimeter in its retina (视网膜). And in water, humans are farsighted, while the kingfisher, swooping down to spear fish, can see well in both the air and water because it is endowed with two foveae(凹窝)-areas of the eye, consisting mostly of cones, that provide visual distinctions. One fovea permits the bird, while in the air, to scan the water below with one eye at a time. This is called monocular vision. Once it hits the water, the other fovea joins in, allowing the kingfisher to focus both eyes, like binoculars, on its prey at the same time. A frog’s vision is distinguished by its ability to perceive things as a constant motion picture. Known as “bug detectors“, a highly developed set of cells in a frog’s eyes responds mainly to moving objects. So, it is said that a frog sitting in a field of dead bugs wouldn’t see them as food and would starve. The bee has a “compound“ eye, which is used for navigation. It has 15,000 facets that divide what it sees into a pattern of dots, or mosaic. With this kind of vision, the bee sees the sun only as a single dot, a constant point of reference. Thus, the eye is a superb navigational instrument that constantly measures the angle of its line of flight in relation to the sun. A bee’s eye also gauges flight speed. And if that is not enough to leave our 20/20 “perfect vision“ paling into insignificance, the bee is capable of seeing something we can’t ultraviolet light. Thus, what humans consider to be “perfect vision“ is in fact rather limited when we look at other species. However, there is still much to be said for the human eye. Of all the mammals, only humans and some primates can enjoy the pleasures of color vision.

It is essential that ________________ (这些申请表尽早寄回).

I don’t think ________________ (你在主人面前卖弄你懂得更多知识不明智), for it may offend him.

He wasn’t asked to take on the chairmanship of the society, ________________.(因为考虑到他无法得到全体成员的欢迎).

When The Da Vinci Code was first published,______.

The Da Vinci Code causes dispute most because of ______.

Doubleday only sells the hardcover Da Vinci Code because ______.

What made Angels and Demons sell well?

According to the last paragraph, during the time of tight economy,______.