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"Opinion" is a word that is used carelessly today. It is used to refer to matters of taste（1）, and judgment. This casual use would probably cause little confusion if people didn't（2）too much importance to opinion. Unfortunately, most do attach great importance （3） it. "I have as much right to my opinion as you to yours," and "Everyone's entitled to his opinion," are （4）expressions. In fact, anyone who would challenge another's opinion is likely to be branded intolerant.Is that label accurate? Is it intolerant to challenge another’s opinion? It （5）on what definition of opinion you have in mind. For example, you may ask a （6）"What do you think of the new Ford cars?" And he may reply, "In my （7）, they're ugly." In this case, it would not only be （8）to challenge his statement, but foolish. For it's obvious that by opinion lie means his personal （9）, a matter of taste. And as the old saying goes, 'It's pointless to argue about matters of taste."But consider this very different use of the term, a newspaper （10） that the Supreme Court has delivered its opinion in a controversial case. Obviously the justices did not share their personal preferences, their mere （11） and dislikes, they stated their considered judgment, painstakingly arrived at after thorough inquiry and deliberation.Most of what is referred to as opinion falls somewhere （12）these two extremes. It is not an expression of taste. Nor is it careful judgment. Yet it may（13）elements of both. It is a view or belief more or less casually arrived at, with or without （14）the evidence.Is everyone entitled to his opinion? Of course, this is not only （15）, but guaranteed. We are free to act on our opinions only so long as, in doing so, we do not harm others.

I am afraid to sleep. I have been afraid to sleep for the last few weeks. I am so tired that, finally, I do sleep, but only for a few minutes. It is not a bad dream that wakes me; it is the reality I took with me into sleep. I try to think of something else.Immediately the woman in the marketplace comes into my mind.I was on my way to dinner last night when I saw her. She was selling skirts. She moved with the same ease and loveliness I often saw in the women of Laos. Her long black hair was as shiny as the black silk of the skirts she was selling. In her hair, she wore three silk ribbons, blue, green, and white. They reminded me of my childhood and how my girlfriends and I used to spend hours braiding ribbons into our hair.I don’t know the word for “ribbons”, so I put my hand to my own hair and, with three fingers against my head, I looked at her ribbons and said “beautiful”. She lowered her eyes and said nothing. I wasn’t sure if she understood me (I don’t speak Laotian very well).I looked back down at the skirts. They had designs in them: squares and triangles and circles of pink and green silk. They were very pretty. I decided to buy one of those skirts, and I began to bargain with her over the price. It is the custom to bargain in Asia. In Laos bargaining is done in soft voices and easy moves with the sort of quiet peacefulness.She smiled, more with her eyes than with her lips. She was pleased by the few words I was able to say in her language, although they were mostly numbers, and she saw that I understood something about the soft playfulness of bargaining. We shook our heads in disagreement over the price; then, immediately, we made another offer and then another shake of the head. She was so pleased that unexpectedly, she accepted the last otter I made. But it was too soon. The price was too low. She was being too generous and wouldn’t make enough money. I moved quickly and picked up two more skirts and paid for all three times as much before she had a chance to lower the price for the larger purchase. She smiled openly then, and, for the first time in months, my spirit lifted. I almost felt happy.The feeling stayed with me while she wrapped the skirts in a newspaper and handed them to me. When I left, though, the feeling left, too. It was as thought it stayed behind in marketplace. I left tears in my throat, I wanted to cry. I didn't, of course.I have learned to defend myself against what is hard; without knowing it, I have also learned to defend myself against what is soft and what should be easy.I get up, light a candle and want to look at the skirts. They are still in the newspaper that the woman wrapped them in. I remove the paper and raise the skirts up to look at them again before I pack them. Something falls to floor. I reach down and feel something cool in my hand. I move close to the cradle light to see what I have. There are five long silk ribbons in my hand, all different colors. The woman in the marketplace! She has given these ribbons to me!There is no defense against a generous spirit, and this time I cry, and very hard, as if I could make up for all the months that I didn’t cry.1.The author of the story has been in sleep for the last few weeks.2.A woman in the marketplace comes into my mind because she reminded me of my childhood.3.The woman was selling skirts with designs of squares and triangles and circles of pink and green silk.4.The author could speak some Laotian though she did not speak it well.5.Bargaining is a custom in Asia and the author did not know how to do it.6.The author had wanted to buy one skirt, but she ended up with three because the skirts were so cheap and pretty.7.The author felt happy after the purchase because she had paid for the skirts at the price set so that the woman could make some money through this large purchase.8.The author surely comes from another part of Asia because she knows how to behave well in local culture.9.The woman in the market actually understood the author perfectly and knew very well that she liked those ribbons.10.The author cried eventually when she looked at the skirts because she was deeply moved by the woman's generous spirit.

Suppose you will take part in a class debate next week, and you are given the debate question "Which is top priority, to eliminate inequality or poverty in our country?"Write a speech for the debate and clarify your own viewpoint towards whatever your position will be (just one position). But be sure that your argument will be supported with ample examples or evidence. Do remember to provide a title for your speech.The length of your speech is expected to be between 250 and 300 words. Write your speech on the ANSWER SHEET.

When companies do business overseas, they come in contact with people from different cultures. These individuals often speak a different language and have their own particular custom and manners. （1） .For example, in France, business meetings begin promptly at the designated time and everyone is expected to be there. （2） to cool their heels as a means of letting them know the importance of promptness. Unless one is aware of such expected behaviors he may end up insulting the people with whom he hopes to establish trade relations.（3）. For example, if a transaction is conducted with Russia, payment may be made in rubles. Of course, this currency is of little value to the American firm. It is, therefore, necessary to convert the foreign currency to American dollars. How much are these Russian rubles worth in terms of dollars? （4）. Thus there is an established rate, although it will often fluctuate from day to day. For example, the ruble may be worth 0.75 on Monday and 0.72 on Tuesday because of an announced wheat shortage in Russia.A third unique problem is trade barriers. For one reason or another, all countries impose trade barriers on certain goods crossing their borders. （5）. For example, the United States permits strategic military material to be shipped abroad only after government permission has been obtained. Most trade barriers, however, are designed to restrict import. Two of the most common import barriers are quotas and tariffs.

Migration is usually defined as "permanent or semi-permanent change of residence." This broad definition, of course, would include a move across the street or across a city. Our concern is with movement between nations, not with internal migration within nations, although such movements often exceed international movements in volume. Today, the motives of people who move short distances are very similar to those of international migrants.Students of human migration speak of "push" and "pull" factors, which influence an individual's decision to move from one place to another. Push factors are associated with the place of origin. A push factor can be as simple and mild a matter as difficulty in finding a suitable job, or as traumatic as war, or severe famine. Obviously, refugees who leave their homes with guns pointed at their heads are motivated almost entirely by push factors (although pull factors do influence their choice of destination).Pull factors are those associated with the place of destination. Most often these are economic, such as better job opportunities or the availability of good land to farm. The latter was an important factor in attracting settlers to the United States during the 19th century. In general, pull factors add up to an apparently better chance for a good life and material well-being than is offered by the place of origin. When there is a choice between several attractive potential destinations, the deciding factor might be a non-economic consideration such as the presence of relatives, friends, or at least fellow countrymen already established in the new place who are willing to help the newcomers settle in. Considerations of this sort add to the development of migration flow.Besides push and pull actors, there are what the sociologists call "intervening, obstacles". Even if push and (or) pull factors are very strong, they still may be outweighed by intervening obstacles, such as the distance of the move, the trouble and cost of moving, the difficulty of entering the new country, and the problems likely to be encountered on arrival. The decision to move is also influenced by "personal factors" of the potential migrant. The same push-pull factors and obstacles operate differently on different people, sometimes because they are at different stages of their lives, or just because of their varying abilities and personalities. The prospect of packing up everything and moving to a new and perhaps very strange environment may appear interesting and challenging to an unmarried young man and appallingly difficult to a slightly older man with a wife and small kids. Similarly, the need to learn a new language and customs may excite one person and frighten another.Regardless of why people move, migration of large numbers of people causes conflict. The United States and other western countries have experienced adjustment problems with each new wave of immigrants. The newest arrivals are usually given the lowest-paid jobs and are resented by native people who may have to compete with them for those jobs. It has usually taken several decades for each group to be accepted into the mainstream of society in the host country.1. The author thinks that pull factors（）.2.47. People's decisions to migrate might be influenced by all the following EXCEPT （） .3.48. The word "destination" in the first line of the third paragraph means （） .4.49. To move to a new place may appear interesting and challenging to （） .5.50. The purpose of the passage is to discuss （） .

When gas station manager Roger Randolph realized it was costing him money each time someone filled up with $4-a-gallon gas, he hung a sign on his pumps: “No more credit cards.” He may be the first in West Virginia to ban plastic, but gas station operators nationwide are reporting similar woes as higher prices translate into higher credit card fees the managers must pay, squeezing profits at the pump. “The more they buy, the more we lose,” said Randolph, who manages Mr. Ed’s Chevron in St. Albans. “Gas prices go up, and our profits go down.” His complaints target the so-called interchange fee, a percentage of the sale price paid to credit card companies on every transaction. The percentage is fixed, usually at just under 2 percent, but the dollar amount of the fee rises with the price of the goods or services. As gas tops $4 a gallon, that pushes fees toward 10 cents a gallon. Now stations, which typically mark up gasoline by 11 to 12 cents a gallon, are seeing profits shrink or even reverse.In a good month, Randolph’s small operation would yield a $60 profit on gasoline sales. But that’s been buried as soaring prices forced the station to pay about $500 a month in interchange fees. “At these prices, people aren’t making any money,” said Jeff Lenard, spokesman for the Alexandria, Va.-based National Association of Convenience Stores. “It’s brutal.” Lenard’s group reports convenience stores paid roughly $7.6 billion in credit card fees last year, while making $3.4 billion in profits.The credit card companies say fees are just part of the cost of doing business. MasterCard has capped interchange fees for gas purchases of $50 or more, said company spokeswoman Sharon Gamsin. Accepting MasterCard also gives gas stations “increased sales, greater security and convenience, lower labor costs, and speed for their customers at the pump,” Gamsin said in an e-mail to The Associated Press. Visa argues that the fees are offset “by the tangible benefits to stations and their customers, such as the ability to pay at the pump,” the company said in a statement to the AP.1. Why do some gas station owners no longer accept credit cards?2.What is the average interchange fee paid by gas station owners?3.How much profit does the average gas station owner make on a gallon of gas?4.Visa believes that allowing customers to pay with a credit card offers（）to everyone involved.5. When profits are "shrinking", they are（）.

The world's oceans have warmed 50 percent faster over the last 40 years than previously thought due to climate change, Australian and US climate researchers reported Wednesday. Higher ocean temperatures expand the volume of water, contributing to a rise in sea levels that is submerging small island nations and threatening to do damage in low-lying, densely-populated delta regions around the globe.The study, published in the British journal Nature, adds to a growing scientific chorus of warnings about the pace and consequences of rising oceans. It also serves as a corrective to a massive report issued last year by the Nobel, winning UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), according to the authors.Rising sea levels are driven by two things: the thermal expansion of sea water, and additional water from melting sources of ice. Both processes are caused by global warming. The ice sheet that sits at the top of Greenland, for example, contains enough water to raise world ocean levels by seven metres (23 feet), which would bury sea-level cities from Dhaka to Shanghai.Trying to figure out how much each of these factors contributes to rising sea levels is critically important to understanding climate change, and forecasting future temperature rises, scientists say. But up to now, there has been a perplexing gap between the projections of computer-based climate models, and the observations of scientists gathering data from the oceans.The new study, led by Catia Domingues of the Centre for Australian Weather and Climate Research, is the first to reconcile the models with observed data. Using new techniques to assess ocean temperatures to a depth of 700 metres (2,300 feet) from 1961 to 2003, it shows that thermal warming contributed to a 0.53 millimetre-per-year rise in sea levels rather than the 0.32 mm rise reported by the IPCC.1.36. What happens when the ocean's temperature rises?2.37. The rise in water levels is especially dangerous for small island nations and（）.3.38. The new study（）.4.39. Ultimately, the new study should help scientists to（）.5.40. What was the main finding of the study?

English as an official language has gained momentum as proponents keep going to the ballot box with measures that discourage bilingual ballots, notices and documents. Thirty stales now have （1） specifying that official government communications be in English, says U.S. English, a group （2） promotes the laws. This year such bills are under（3）in 19 legislatures. "It's multiplying tremendously," says Mauro Mujica, a Chilean immigrant and chairman and CEO of U.S. English. "We've made（4）progress."Critics do not see progress. Some say the increase in the measures nationwide sends a hostile（5）to newcomers. "It just poisons the atmosphere in local communities," says John Trasvina, （6）and general counsel of the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund. Typically the proposed laws（7）that documents, ballots and other communications be published in English. Exemptions are communications to protect（8）health and safety or efforts to promote tourism.Advocates say they are not suggesting that English be the only language（9）but that it be the only language used in dealing with government. Mujica, who speaks Spanish in his home, says requiring English for official business encourages,（10）to learn English. That will help them to assimilate（11）U.S. society and prosper in its economy, he says. "We're making it too easy for people to function in other languages," he complains.But the effectiveness of the movement is in question since federal sometimes trumps a state's official English law. For（12）, the Voting Rights Act requires certain localities to publish bilingual ballots. “They've raised the level of anger（13） languages other than English, (but) haven't really changed the government's or businesses' way of doing（14），”Trasvina said. Rob Toonkel, spokesman for U.S. English, says that is not true. He says the laws do not cover everything（15）ensure that things like driver's licenses, zoning forms and the day-to-day activities are overwhelmingly in English.

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