week3.docx

1、week3Somehow California is always at the cutting edge, be it in the flower-power days of the 1960s or the dotcom boom of the 1990s. As Kevin Start points out in his history of the state, California has long been one of the prisms through which the American people, for better and for worse, could gli

2、mpse their future.Mr. Starr is too good a historian to offer any pat explanation; instead, he concentrates on the extraordinary array of people and events that have led from the mythical land of Queen Calafia, through the rule of Spain and Mexico, and on to the governorship of Arnold Schwarzenegger,

3、 an iron-pumping film star with an Austrian accent. Moreover, he does so with such elegance and humor that his book is a joy to read.What emerges is not all Californian sunshine and light. Think back to the savage violence that accompanied the 1849 Gold Rush; or to the exclusion orders against the C

4、hinese; or to the riots that regularly marked industrial and social relations in San Francisco. California was very much the Wild West, having to wait until 1850 before it could force its way to statehood.So what tamed it? Mr. Starrs answer is a combination of great men, great ideas and great projec

5、ts. He emphasizes the development of Californias infrastructure, the development of agriculture; the spread of the railroads and freeways; and, perhaps the most important factor for todays hi-tech California, the creation of a superb set of public universities.All this, he writes, began with water,

6、the sine qua non of any civilization. He goes on cheerfully to note the monumental damage to the environment caused by irrigation projects that were plagued by claims of deception, double-dealing and conflict of interest.One virtue of this book is its structure. Mr. Starr is never trapped by his chr

7、onological framework. In- stead, when the subject demands it, he manages deftly to flit back and forth among the decades. Less satisfying is his account of Californias cultural progress in the 19th and 20th centuries: does he really need to invoke so many long-forgotten writers to accompany such nam

8、es as Jack London, Frank Norris, Mark Twain or Raymond Chandler?But that is a minor criticism for a book that will become a California classic. The regret is that Mr. Starr, doubtless pressed for space, leaves so little room-just a brief final chapter-for the implications of the past for Californias

9、 future. He poses the question that most Americans prefer to gloss over: is California governable? For all its impressive growth, there remains a volatility in the politics and governance of California, which became perfectly clear to the rest of the nation in the fall of 2003 when the voters of Cal

10、ifornia recalled one governor and elected another.Indeed so, and Mr. Start wisely avoids making any premature judgment on their choice. Ills such as soaring house prices, grid locked freeways and embattled public schools, combined with the budgetary problems that stem from the tax revolt of 1978 wou

11、ld test to the limit any governor, even the Terminator3. As Mr. Starr notes, no one should cite California as an unambiguous triumph: There has always been something slightly bipolar about California. It was either utopia or dystopia, a dream or a nightmare, a hope or a broken promise-and too infreq

12、uently anything in between. 21. The phrase sine qua non in Para. 5, Line 1 possibly means _.A the essential elementsB the premiseC the contributionD the advantage22. Which one of the following is NOT the characteristic of the book? _A The distributional imbalance of each of the part.B The chaotic ar

13、rangement and design of the structure.C The improper selection of some materials.D The cautious view and attitude of the writer.23. What is the most adverse potential problem for the development of California? _A The residents are hypocritical, reluctant to face the reality.B There exist some elemen

14、ts of political instability.C The merits and demerits co-exist.D Economic crisis and the harsh conditions in front24. From the text we can learn that Mr. Start is very _ as a historian.A conservativeB cunning and shrewdC objective and cannyD critical and aggressive25. The purpose of the writer is ma

15、inly to _.A give a brief account of California and its problemsB inform us why California is so attractive and enduringC promote and popularize a would-be classical bookD make a comment on Mr. Starr and a review of his masterpieceIt is generally believed that the greatest damage of old age is the lo

16、ss of mental faculties. With the near doubling of life expectancy in the past century has come a mixed blessing. A few great thinkers and artists remained productive in their later years-Galileo, Monet, Shaw, Stravinsky, Tolstoy-but even they were not what they had been in their primes. In sciences,

17、 the boom falls sooner still: A person who has not made his great contribution to science before the age of 30 will never do so, said Einstein.Imagine if we could transplant old brains into younger bodies: would our minds stay young, or would we be senile teenagers, scaling mountains and skateboardi

18、ng at 120, but forgetting where we put the cars keys. Is the brain uniquely vulnerable to the ravages of time? Can anything be done?Indisputable evidence from many studies shows that a higher level of education and greater mental activity throughout life correlated with lower cognitive losses in old

19、 age. These benefits apply to all sorts of cognitive losses, including those associated with dementia. Some researchers believe that mental application in early life produces complex neural connections that provide a reserve later on; others argue that education merely gives people the means to cope

20、 with and compensate for their losses.K. Warner Shay, a professor of human development and psychology at Pennsylvania State University, has studied age-related change in more than 5,000 people, some for more than 40 years. Comparing earlier with later recruits, Mr. Shay concludes that the rate of me

21、ntal decline is slowing, a change he attributes to better education, healthier diet, lessened exposure to serious disease, and more mental activity. Youve got to practise, Mr. Shay says. If you dont solve problems, you no longer can solve problems. Retirement can be particularly hard, he adds, becau

22、se for many people, work is their most challenging activity. Retirement is good for people whove had routine jobs-they may find something more stimulating. But its disadvantageous for people in high-level jobs, who are less likely to find something as stimulating as the job they had. K. Anders Erics

23、son, a psychology professor at Florida State University, confirms Mr. Shays emphasis on the virtue of practice. Initially interested in expert performance like musicians, he found that many geniuses arent really so different from everyone else-they just practise harder and longer, benefiting from sh

24、eer labor, rather than from some special gift. Professional musicians who continue to practise assiduously as they age continue to play well, while amateurs who just play for pleasure show age-related declines.Mr. Ericssons studies failed to show significant generalized fitness from mental exercise.

25、 If you play tennis, you improve your general fitness, but the greatest improvement is specific to tennis, not to other sports. Its the same with cognitive exercise. You have to look at your life and pick what you want to improve.26. According to the context, a mixed blessing (Para. 1) most probably

26、 means _.A living longer and losing moreB living shorter and getting moreC having a long life and making great contributionsD achieving success both in young age and in old age27. Scientific studies indicate that _.A higher levels of education are related to greater mental awareness in young ageB hi

27、gher levels of education are irrelevant to lower levels of mental decline in old ageC a higher level of education is the exclusive factor that can slow the rate of mental declineD less mental activity in life can probably result in higher cognitive losses in old age.28. According to the text, retire

28、ment can benefit those who _.A have always had very busy work in their livesB have previously had depressing work experiencesC can find more stimulating activities than they had through workD have had high-level jobs or very stimulating work experiences29. The example of tennis is mentioned in the l

29、ast paragraph to suggest that mental exercise _.A can counter age-related mental decline in a comprehensive wayB offers benefits directly bound up with that kind of exerciseC should be paired with physical exercise for maximum benefitD is comparable to physical activities in term of its importance t

30、o overall health30. Throughout this text the author mainly intends to _.A underline the difficulties directly related to agingB argue that old age need not be a barrier to successC comment on different theories of mental decline in old ageD state how people can counter the impact of aging on mental

31、facultiesAt the fall 2001 Social Science History Association convention in Chicago, the Crime and Justice net-work sponsored a forum on the history of gun ownership, gun use, and gun violence in the United States. Our purpose was to consider how social science history might contribute to the public

32、debate over gun control and gun rights. To date, we have had little impact on that debate. It has been dominated by mainstream social scientists and historians, especially scholars such as Gary Kleck, John Lott, and Michael Bellesiles, whose work, despite profound flaws, is politically congenial to either opponents or proponents of gun c