M: Well, Shirley, now that we’ve seen the three apartments, which one do you like best? F: I don’t know, Brad. I know one thing. I didn’t like the one on the 68th Street. M: Neither did I. Let’s cross that one off. That leaves the 72nd Street one and the 80th Street one. F: The one on the 80th Street has a better view, and a very cheerful kitchen. M: Yes, and I like the carpeting in the hall. It was clean. But there was no good place to put a desk. F: That’s true. You should always just put it in a corner of the living room, but then you wouldn’t have any privacy, and the bedroom was too small. M: Right. And I do need to be able to leave my work out on the desk without having it looked into by nosy visitors. F: Oh, Brad, we don’t have that kind of visitors! But I do agree the desk shouldn’t be in the living room. It is a constant reminder of unfinished work. What about the 72 nd Street apartment? It has a dining area. We could eat in the kitchen, and put the desk in the dining area. It’s more private there. M: Yes, that sounds OK. Only, what I didn’t like about that place was the west window. It gets quite hot in the late afternoon with the sun beating down on the window. F: Didn’t you notice the air conditioner? M: No. Was there one? F: Yes. And we could improve on the curtains, too. M: That place did have the best parking facilities of the three. F: Yes, I think that apartment is best for our needs. There’s good parking, and there’s a semi-private area for your desk. That takes care of the daily activities. We’ll just let the other chips fall where they may. M: Ok. Let’s take that one. Question No. 19 How many apartments have they seen? Question No. 20 Why did Brad and Shirley cross off the apartment on the 68th Street? Question No. 21 Which considerations are crucial in Brad and Shirley’s choice of an apartment? Question No. 22 Which apartment have they decided to rent? Two. Three. Four. Five.

W: If you live in the United States, there are a number of ways that you and your family can mix Well with the local residents. Many large American cities have sports teams. If you are working with Americans, it would be a good idea to find out about the local sports teams so that you can participate in the almost inevitable discussions about “ how our team will do this year. “ Sports Review is also a good source of information from which you can learn about the most popular sports in the country. Most Americans are car owners and some are even obsessive about the subject. They can spend hours discussing the merits of foreign cars versus American cars, deciding on the best family car or the best sports car. And car repair is also a popular topic of discussion. You can contribute by talking about cars you have owned or by sharing information you’ve read in automotive magazines such as Car and Driver or Popular Mechanics. Americans watch television almost every night and attend movies regularly so naturally television shows and the latest movies become topics for discussion. If you are unable to watch American television or attend American movies, reading the entertainment section of such magazines as Time and Newsweek will keep you up-to-date on what is popular in America. Reading these magazines will also give you a broad American perspective on current events in both America and the world. They are good resources for information that you can use in discussions. Question No. 15 According to the speaker, why do we need to find out about the local sports teams in America? Question No. 16 What magazines will give you information about American movies? Question No. 17 Whom is the speaker addressing? Question No. 18 What is the main idea of the talk? To join the local residents in their daily discussion about sports. To write articles about the local sports teams for Sports Review. To try on the local sports teams so as to become a member of them. To mix well with boys and girls at local school sports teams.

W: Are you still having trouble with your car? M: Yes! It’s been in the repair shop three times this month. I should get a new car, instead of a secondhand one. But I can’t afford to buy a new one. W: New cars cost a fortune these days. My brother-in-law just paid $15,000 for his new one. That’s almost half as much as they paid for their house ten years ago. M: But what can you do without a car? We can’t get along without them. W; We all depend too much on our cars. I drive my husband to the train and drive the children to school. Then I drive to the store for food and drive the kids home from school. After that it’s time to drive to the railroad station again. M: Remember when drive-in movies were new? Now lots of people watch movies from their cars. W: And now there are drive-in banks where you can cash a check without going into the bank. In some places there are drive-in libraries, churches, and post offices. M: I’ve even read about a wedding that was performed in a car. W: Where was that? M: There was an article about it in last night’s newspaper. There’s a town in Florida where you can get married without getting out of your car. I remember the name of the town—Lovelady, Florida. W: Do you mean that the minister marries the couple in their automobile? M: No. There’s no minister. They aren’t church marriages. The justice of the peace gets into the car to perform the ceremony. W: In spite of all these modern conveniences, people still feel tired at the end of the day. M; People don’t get any exercise. They have stopped going to tennis courts or baseball fields. That’ s why they get fat. W; So then they buy expensive machines to give them exercises at home. M: It really doesn’t make sense. Question No. 27 Which of the following is TRUE about the man? Question No. 28 Which of the following drive-in facilities is NOT mentioned in the conversation? Question No. 29 According to the newspaper, what happened in the town of Lovelady, Florida? Question No. 30 What main idea is discussed in the conversation? He bought a secondhand car. He had just inherited a fortune. He used to go to work by train. He was overcharged by the repair shop.

I want this new school year to be a good one for my students as they learn about everything from calculus to Shakespeare to failure. That’s right. Failure. We all need to fail a little. In fact, the secret of success might just be that. Consider the path of Henry David Thoreau. By many accounts, Thoreau was a failure. Folks thought he should have been a civic leader. He could have been a doctor, a lawyer, a teacher. He might even have made congressman or governor. Instead, the Harvard man seemed to spend most of his time loafing in the woods near his hometown over Walden Pond. Everyone just scratched their heads and wondered why such a promising young fellow wasn’t a “success. “I’m not suggesting that my students drop classes for the woods, but it’s important to remember that ideas on success vary, even in these enlightened times. The lessons of failure are an important part of the curriculum of success. We learn from them. They push us to do better; they teach us humility. As a teacher, I expect students to revise their work, to build on the “failure“ of the first draft to achieve clarity and insight in the final draft. That’ s a good model for most things in life. Part of the problem, though, is that we live in a country obsessed by results. In school it is the A student who gets all the perks even though getting an A doesn’t always measure how much a person really knows. A’s are icons of honor. F’s are badges of defeat. We idealize icons and look up to heroes such as George Washington or John Glenn. Yet we shouldn’t discount the heroes who labor outside the limelight. Those are the men and women who quietly go about the business of raising a family and taking care of their neighbors. The most admirable are ones who invent their own success. They know how to seize the moment and let the chips fall where they may. They know that the best way to measure success is by living each day to the fullest. True success is giving something back. And you don’t have to have a lot in the wallet to attain it. There are many people, young and old, who give back by serving in literacy campaigns and soup kitchens. As my father used to say: “Make sure you leave the world a better place than it was when you entered it. At least clean up after yourself. “ The beginning of the school year is a good time to start reorienting ourselves. It’s a good time to see our failures in a new light. After Thoreau died in 1862, his mentor, Ralph Waldo Emerson, lamented that Henry hadn’t blossomed into a great leader of the nation. His books were little read, his ideas seemed skewed. And yet, less than 100 years later, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. pointed to Thoreau’s essay Civil Disobedience as one of the sparks that ignited the civil rights movement and profoundly shaped American society. Not a bad legacy for a failure.

Extract 3 For at least five centuries attempts have been made to devise a system of notation to record the sequence of movements in dances. Scholars believe that ancient Egyptians made use of hieroglyphs to do this and that the Romans employed a method of notation for formal gestures. Since then, many other systems have been devised. Some were published and achieved a measure of popularity for a while, but almost all, until the present day, fell eventually into disuse. It is significant that music notation, which opened the way for development in the art of music as we know it today, was first conceived in its modern form in the eleventh century, but was not established as a uniform system till the beginning of the eighteenth. Dance notation got off to a much later start and has undergone a long succession of false attempts. That so many unsuccessful beginnings were made is not surprising. Dance is more complex than music because it exists in space as well as in time and because the body itself is capable of so many simultaneous modes of action. Consequently, the problems of formulating a movement notation that can be easily written and read are numerous.

Question No. 1 George started his new job with King Brothers only a month ago, and he wants to invite his boss, the Sales Manager, to dinner. George now works with his brother. George wants to invite his brother to dinner. George is now a salesman. George is the sales manager.

Question No. 6 May is a time for green grass, picnics, and unfortunately, examinations. In the United States, high school students take their final examinations at the end of every school year. May is a time for American students to enjoy sunshine and fine weather. May is a time for American students to learn more about gardening. Each year in May American students would take part in outdoor activities. Each year in May American students would sit for their final exams.

As any parent will tell you, small cuts and minor grazes are unavoidable among small children. Such cuts and grazes will usually need little or no treatment. The bleeding will clean the wound naturally, and it should stop within a few minutes, as the blood clots and dries. More serious cuts may need to be gently cleaned with soft cotton and warm water. They should then be dressed with a clean cotton bandage. Follow this simple checklist of questions. Ask yourself each of these questions in order to make sure you treat cuts and grazes properly: Firstly, is the cut on the face? If it is, call a doctor as soon as possible—especially if the eye is injured. Secondly, is the cut near the eye? If it is, put a clean piece of cotton wool over it and press down firmly for about five minutes. Thirdly, ask yourself if the cut is still bleeding badly. If it is, dress it with a clean cotton bandage and call a doctor as soon as possible. Fourthly, is the cut a deep one, and is it wide open? If it is, clean the cut gently, with clean cotton wool and a little warm water, then hold it closed with an adhesive dressing. Fifth question; Was the cut made by a nail or a long, sharp piece of wood? If it was, there may be some dirt in the cut. Let it bleed for a while, to clean itself. Then clean it with cotton wool and warm water and dress it with a clean cotton bandage. Finally, don’t forget that young children can become very easily upset or shocked by a cut—especially if it is a serious one. Try to keep them calm, and quiet. Don’t give them anything to drink but keep their lips wet with a little water. Question No. 23 What do we learn from the beginning of the talk? Question No. 24 According to the talk, when should you call a doctor immediately? Question No. 25 What should you do if the cut is made by a nail or a sharp piece of wood? Question No. 26 What should you do if the child is nervous or upset? Small cuts and minor grazes usually need little or no treatment. Small cuts and minor grazes are too uncommon to be neglected. Small children are naughty and should be under close supervision. Small children can become very easily upset or shocked by a cut.

Sentence No. 1 Evidence shows that older people who participate in lifelong learning are healthier, more active and have more social contacts.

How many people in the United States own a computer? According to a recent survey, three out of four American adults—76 percent—claimed to own a computer. Nowadays people use computers for simple tasks such as writing e-mail letters and for more complex tasks such as e-commerce or e-banking. Children use computers to play games, or they use them to do homework. With the popularity of personal computers, computers will be more advanced, and they will be easily accessible by people all around the world.

Many people are surprised to learn that Antarctica is nearly twice the size of the United States. The name Antarctica was coined to mean “opposite to the Arctic. “ It is just that in many ways. Antarctica is a high, ice-covered landmass. In the Arctic the landmasses are grouped around the ice-covered Arctic Ocean. Largely because of this difference, the climate of the two areas is very different. Antarctica is the coldest area in the world. On the average it is about 30 degrees colder than the Arctic. At the South Pole, nearly 10,000 feet high, monthly mean temperatures run well below zero. Only in coastal regions do temperatures sometimes rise above freezing in the summer(December to March). In contrast, near the North Pole monthly mean temperatures often rise above freezing. At both poles, daily temperatures may drop far below the monthly mean. At the American South Pole Station, winter temperatures sometimes fall below-100 degrees Fahrenheit. Elsewhere, on higher parts of the south polar plateau, even lower temperatures are recorded. A temperature of-127 degrees Fahrenheit was measured in August 1960. It is the world’s record low temperature. Partly because of this climatic difference, the land animals and plants of the two regions are very different. On the continent of Antarctica, there are very few plants. In the Arctic there are many plants. In some of the few ice-free areas of Antarctica, mosses, lichens, and algae are found. Penguins populate Antarctic coastlines but do not exist in the Arctic. The land animals of the Arctic are foxes, bears, reindeer, and lemmings. These animals are unknown in the Antarctic. Old rock layers show that this “oppositeness“ between north and south extends far back into the early chapters of earth history. Ice is the great feature of Antarctica. More than 4. 5 million square miles of ice sheet cover the area. Great rivers of ice, called glaciers, push down the mountains. Antarctica is the storehouse of about 85 percent of the total world supply of ice. The icecap is very thick, averaging nearly 8,000 feet. At one spot, scientists have found the distance from the surface to the rock underneath the ice to be more than 13,000 feet. If this great volume of ice were to melt, the volume of the world oceans would increase, and sea level would rise, and there would be a threat to coastal areas. Extreme atmospheric changes would have to take place for this to happen.

After a decades-long search for a manageable balance between motherhood and career, a group of American women have found work in a place that sounds like paradise. At the Minneapolis headquarters of Best Buy, an electronics retailer, almost 2,000 employees are allowed to turn up for work when they like—as long as their jobs get done. A unique experiment in flexible work hours is attracting international attention as a possible solution to one of the most familiar dilemmas faced by employers and their female workforces: how do you make jobs and families compatible? For Traci Tobias, 36, a manager in Best Buy’s travel office, the transformation of the company into a pioneer of flexible working practices has produced one incalculable benefit: “My kids have stopped saying every morning, ’Mommy, I don’t want you to go to work’. “ The introduction of what Best Buy calls a “results oriented work environment“ was partly intended to reverse a trend among valued female employees who were opting for part-time jobs as more compatible with family life. It is also aimed at cutting the worker stress and executive burnout that are increasingly troubling US corporations. The programme goes far beyond the variable starting and finishing hours of many companies’ so-called flexitime schedules. It measures worker performance not by the hours clocked at a desk, but by the achievement of company goals. Best Buy officials acknowledge that their programme may not suit every employer, and the company has experienced significant hiccups in changing a corporate culture that placed a premium on long working hours and personal sacrifice. Ambitious employees who believed they could get ahead by working late at their office desks are wondering if anyone will notice their effort. Yet the results from Minneapolis have been striking. After phasing in the programme over the past three years, Best Buy now offers almost half its employees the chance to work their own hours. Not only has worker productivity risen, but a recent office survey found that 98% of the company’s managers favored flexible schedules for their staff. Behind the experiment lie two contradictory trends that are common in most western societies. Rapid advances in communication technology have made working from home or on the road as easy as working in an office. At the same time, surveys have repeatedly found that the US workforce spends far too much time in the office. The national holiday average is only 14 days a year, and a recent study by the Families and Work Institute discovered that 36% of workers did not take all the time off that was owing to them, mainly because they were afraid their employers would regard them as insufficiently dedicated. Other surveys have noted that the average worker fritters away more than two hours of his day on time-wasting activities such as personal Internet surfing, socializing with other employees and conducting personal business.

The right business name is important. If you choose the wrong one, you might end up with something that sends all the wrong messages. To be successful, your business name needs to define your identity and say what’s special about what you are offering. Think about the market you want to sell into, and why your customer will prefer to buy YOUR product or service rather than someone else’s. A good business name is one that tells customers what to expect. For example, Early Learning Centre appeals to parents because it tells them that the toys it sells are educational. Illiterate names have caught on everywhere, that is, names that involve deliberately misspelled words. Kwik-Fit, the company that promises to fit car parts speedily, was one of the first in the UK. The name was the brainchild of Kwik-F it’s chief executive, who, as a schoolboy, earned extra pocket money cleaning ovens. He advertised himself as Kookers Kleaned! Some people grumble about these misspellings, arguing, for example, that children will copy them, but even these purists don’t hesitate to buy an ice cream from Phun Phlavours! These misspellings work because they catch the eye. The trouble is, as more and more are invented, they lose their impact. But unusual names are not always the most effective. Names like Tie Rack or Body Shop which just say what your company is about can work just as well. They are short, and they have an honest no-nonsense ring to them. Sometimes using a personal name can achieve the same effect: Laura Ashley projects a gentle and elegant image that makes the customer feel comfortable about buying that company’s products. Consider too the impact your name will have when people hear it or read it. What effect does it have when spoken over the telephone? Snappy Happy Snaps may describe your photographic agency, but it sounds ridiculous over the phone. When your name appears in Yellow Pages or similar directories, usually amongst a hundred others offering a similar service, you want yours to be the one that catches the eye. One trick is to ensure that the first letter of your name appears early in the alphabet. A business in Finland called itself by the meaningless name Quello, simply because there is no letter Q in Finnish, so Quello was the only entry in the directory under that letter! If you deal with overseas customers, check that your name won’t cause you problems. A good translation agency will help you avpid the trap of choosing a name that means something offensive in another language. There is a famous case of a stick deodorant manufactured by an Asian company who had selected a name which meant something really bad in English. The matter was made worse by the instruction printed on it in English, which read ’Push up bottom’.

Extract 1 May saw the premiere of my first full-length narrative ballet—The Ballet Shoes—for the London Children’s Ballet. I have to say, I was wondering if it was going to come off or not. In the studio the week before, I could see nothing exciting—no action. The dancing was coming along okay but the children’s acting seemed stiff and contrived. Well, that’s one lesson I’ve learned—don’t worry about children performing. Or at least, not until they reach a shy/awkward adolescence where self-criticism overrides any fun. No, as soon as this lot set foot on the stage, the dance floor might as well have been a trampoline. They were well and truly stage-struck, jumping and whirling around like crazy. Thanks to the efforts of too-many-people-to-mention, the premiere went according to plan. I wasn’t really able to watch it objectively that night but when I came back to see the last show—the seventh performance in four days, I was actually smiling along with most of the audience. I have to admit to having watery eyes and after twenty-odd Sundays of losing my voice, all was forgotten and I was very proud of “my children“!

Extract 2 On Tuesday I went to the opening night of choreographer Ella Winter’s new dance show. The work was produced in collaboration with a linguist, a landscape designer, a heart surgeon and an architect. The score, by Antonio Prandini, samples Italian folk songs and their lyrics. There is a minimalist set—white boxes—incorporating a video installation. And there are Winter’s eight dancers. The dance involves mechanical-looking repeated-action sequences and a running montage of mime laughs, whistles, hissing breaths, and twists of the feet. At times, the dancers enact the lyrics of the songs—there are brief fragments of duet—but long sections are difficult to understand or merely banal. Many hands, on this occasion, had not made light work. At times, I found myself musing on Winter’s collaborators. According to Winter, they had given her and her dancers different objectives, and each had brought a method of expression which had not been available to the dancers before. No doubt, but it’s hard to view the result, as Winter claims, as something unique in the sphere of contemporary dance. I’ ve been an admiring spectator of Winter as both dancer and choreographer for over 30 years now, but I felt subtly defeated by the show. For me, it seemed a private conversation with a likeminded few. You had to be wearing very strong contemporary-dance goggles to make anything of it.

远古以来，我国各族人民就劳动、生息、繁衍在祖国的土地上。各民族之间建立了紧密的政治经济文化联系，早在两千多年前就形成了幅员广阔的统一国家。悠久的中华文化，成为维系民族团结和国家统一的牢固纽带。我们的先人历来把独立自主视为立国之本。中国作为人类文明发祥地之一，在几千年的历史进程中，文化传统始终没有中断。近代中国虽屡遭列强欺凌，国势衰败，但经过全民族的百年抗争，又以巨人的姿态重新站立起来。

Next, let’s talk about earthquakes on our Planet. Some countries have large numbers of earthquakes. Japan is one of them. Others do not have many; for example, there are few earthquakes【C1】______. There is often a great noise during an earthquake. The ground vibrates. Houses【C2】______. Trains run off the lines. Sometimes there is【C3】______ of human lives. Earthquakes often happen near volcanoes, but this is 【C4】______. The centres of some earthquakes are【C5】______. The bottom of the sea suddenly moves. The powerful forces【C6】______break the rocks. The coast is shaken and great waves appear. These waves, also known as seismic waves or tsunamis, can【C7】______and rush over the land when they reach it. They are【C8】______to break down houses and other buildings. Very often fires followed the most serious earthquakes. In【C9】______, the great earthquake at San Francisco broke the gas-pipes. The gas【C10】______, and soon large numbers of fires were burning in the city. The water-pipes were also【C11】______; so it was not possible to put the fires out.【C12】______. The Tokyo earthquake of 1923 happened just before noon. People were【C13】______on their fires at that time. When the ground shook, the fires shook too.【C14】______were thrown on the different parts of the houses, some of which were made of wood. Soon【C15】______fires were burning in the city. What kind of building【C16】______in an earthquake? A building with concrete walls is perhaps the best. 【C17】______will make it even stronger. The frame holds the different parts together, and the walls【C18】______. There is less chance of fire because concrete and steel do not burn. Over the years【C19】______the results of the earthquake in different part of the world, and【C20】______that this kind of building is the safest.Next, let’s talk about earthquakes on our planet. Some countries have large numbers of earthquakes. Japan is one of them. Others do not have many; for example, there are few earthquakes in Britain. There is often a great noise during an earthquake. The ground vibrates. Houses fall down. Trains run off the lines. Sometimes there is a heavy loss of human lives. Earthquakes often happen near volcanoes, but this is not always true. The centres of some earthquakes are under the sea. The bottom of the sea suddenly moves. The powerful forces inside the earth break the rocks. The coast is shaken and great waves appear. These waves, also known as seismic waves or tsunamis, can travel long distances and rush over the land when they reach it. They are strong enough to break down houses and other buildings. Very often fires followed the most serious earthquakes. In 1906, the great earthquake at San Francisco broke the gas-pipes. The gas escaped, and soon large numbers of fires were burning in the city. The water-pipes were also shaken and broken; so it was not possible to put the fires out. There was no water. The Tokyo earthquake of 1923 happened just before noon. People were cooking meals on their fires at that time. When the ground shook, the fires shook too. Hot materials were thrown on the different parts of the houses, some of which were made of wood. Soon 134 fires were burning in the city. What kind of building stands up best in an earthquake? A building with concrete walls is perhaps the best. A steel frame will make it even stronger. The frame holds the different parts together, and the walls do not easily fall. There is less chance of fire because concrete and steel do not burn. Over the years scientists carefully studied the results of the earthquake in different part of the world, and they are convinced that this kind of building is the safest.

M: I’m going to Boston next week and I’d like to make some reservations. Can you fix that for me? W: Sure. What dates are you travelling on? M: Err, starting Monday, June 18. About midday—late morning or early afternoon. W: Let me just check, please. Yes. I can get you on a noon flight from New Orleans to Boston. How does that sound? M: That’s just fine. W: OK. Now, where are you planning to stay? M: Top Hotel Boston. Would you make reservations for Monday, June 18 and Tuesday, June 19. Two nights, single with bath, please. By the way, I prefer it in the non-smoking area. W: June 18 and 19, single with bath, non-smoking area, Top Hotel Boston. Yes, they have the room available. M: Fine. Question No. 11 What is the man doing? Question No. 12 When is the man’s flight? Question No. 13 How long is the man going to stay in Boston? Question No. 14 Which of the following is NOT a requirement by the man for his accommodation? Attending a business meeting. Reserving a table in a restaurant. Booking a ticket for a concert. Making travelling arrangements.

M: Well, Shirley, now that we’ve seen the three apartments, which one do you like best? F: I don’t know, Brad. I know one thing. I didn’t like the one on the 68th Street. M: Neither did I. Let’s cross that one off. That leaves the 72nd Street one and the 80th Street one. F: The one on the 80th Street has a better view, and a very cheerful kitchen. M: Yes, and I like the carpeting in the hall. It was clean. But there was no good place to put a desk. F: That’s true. You should always just put it in a corner of the living room, but then you wouldn’t have any privacy, and the bedroom was too small. M: Right. And I do need to be able to leave my work out on the desk without having it looked into by nosy visitors. F: Oh, Brad, we don’t have that kind of visitors! But I do agree the desk shouldn’t be in the living room. It is a constant reminder of unfinished work. What about the 72 nd Street apartment? It has a dining area. We could eat in the kitchen, and put the desk in the dining area. It’s more private there. M: Yes, that sounds OK. Only, what I didn’t like about that place was the west window. It gets quite hot in the late afternoon with the sun beating down on the window. F: Didn’t you notice the air conditioner? M: No. Was there one? F: Yes. And we could improve on the curtains, too. M: That place did have the best parking facilities of the three. F: Yes, I think that apartment is best for our needs. There’s good parking, and there’s a semi-private area for your desk. That takes care of the daily activities. We’ll just let the other chips fall where they may. M: Ok. Let’s take that one. Question No. 19 How many apartments have they seen? Question No. 20 Why did Brad and Shirley cross off the apartment on the 68th Street? Question No. 21 Which considerations are crucial in Brad and Shirley’s choice of an apartment? Question No. 22 Which apartment have they decided to rent? Two. Three. Four. Five.

The first man who cooked his food, instead of eating it raw, lived so long ago that we have no idea who he was or where he lived. We do know, however, that for thousands of years, food was always eaten cold and raw. Early peoples who lived in hot regions could depend on the heat of the sun to cook their food. For example, in the desert areas of the southwestern United States, the Indians cooked their food by placing it on a flat stone in the hot sua They cooked pieces of meat and thin cakes of corn meal in this fashion. The Bible tells us that the Jews were skilled cooks. The Book of Genesis, for instance, relates the story of Rebecca, who put food in a pan and placed it over burning charcoal. The Jews also knew the art of baking at an early point in their history. Carvings left by the ancient Jews show dough being put into a small round oven to be baked. In the troubled times of the Middle Ages, trade between countries dwindled. People lived on what they could grow in their gardens or bring back from the hunt, and the food they ate was simply prepared. Beans and turnips were the main vegetables eaten in Europe, and honey was used to sweeten food. The manuscripts of the Middle Ages tell us that boiling and broiling were the two most common methods of cooking. Bread was baked in the homes of rich people or in public bakeries, but the common man had no oven in his home. People killed their livestock, hoping to preserve it through the winter by salting it. However, salt was expensive and people did not always use enough of it to keep the meat from spoiling. It was not until the nineteenth century that the masses of people in Europe changed their ways of cooking. This change took place because the cast-iron cooking stove was invented. Until the stove came into use, fireplaces and spits had been in general use; sometimes a baking oven had been built into the sides of the fireplace. In northern Europe, stoves had been used for several centuries for heating. However, it was a long time before a stove was developed that would cook and bake, as well as heat. Our methods of cooking have not changed very much in the last century, but we do have better equipment that makes cooking easier and more convenient. With modern standardized measures, we can follow recipes exactly and produce successful dishes more often.

Americans are much more likely than citizens of other nations to believe that they live in a meritocracy, i. e. government by people selected according to merit. But this self-image is a fantasy: America actually stands out as the advanced country in which it matters most who your parents were, the country in which those born on one of society’s lower rungs have the least chance of climbing to the top or even to the middle. And if you ask why America is more class-bound in practice than the rest of the Western world, a large part of the reason is that our government falls down on the job of creating equal opportunity. The failure starts early: in America, the holes in the social safety net mean that both low-income mothers and their children are all too likely to suffer from poor nutrition and receive inadequate health care. It continues once children reach school age, where they encounter a system in which the affluent send their kids to good, well-financed public schools or, if they choose, to private schools, while less-advantaged children get a far worse education.