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y. [B] pensation. [C] interaction. [D] reminder. 44. Why does CareerSite‘s agent offer each job hunter only three job options? [A] To focus on better job matches. [B] To attract more returning visits. [C] To reserve space for more messages. [D] To increase the rate of success. 45. Which of the following is true according to the text? [A] Personal search agents are indispensable to jobhunters. [B] Some sites keep Emailing job seekers to trace their demands. [C] Personal search agents are also helpful to those already employed. [D] Some agents stop sending information to people once they are employed. Text 2 Over the past century, all kinds of unfairness and discrimination have been condemned or made illegal. But one insidious form continues to thrive: alphabetism. This, for those as yet unaware of such a disadvantage, refers to discrimination against those whose surnames begin with a letter in the lower half of the alphabet. It has long been known that a taxi firm called AAAA cars has a big advantage over Zodiac cars when customers thumb through their phone directories. Less well known is the advantage that Adam Abbott has in life over Zo? Zysman. English names are fairly evenly spread between the halves of the alphabet. Yet a suspiciously large number of top people have surnames beginning with letters between A and K. Thus the American president and vicepresident have surnames starting with B and C respectively; and 26 of Gee Bush‘s predece ssors ( including his father) had surnames in the first half of the alphabet against just 16 in the second half. Even more striking, six of the seven heads of government of the G7 rich countries are alphabetically advantaged ( Berlusconi, Blair, Bush, Chirac, Chr233。 The world’s three top central bankers ( Greenspan, Duisenberg and Hayami) are all close to the top of the alphabet, even if one of them really uses Japanese characters. As are the world‘s five richest men ( Gates, Buffett, Allen, Ellison and Albrecht)。 Co. may still be worth toasting. 51. By“Ellen Spero isn‘t biting her nails just yet” ( Line 1, Paragraph 1), the author means [A] Spero can hardly maintain her business. [B] Spero is too much engaged in her work. [C] Spero has grown out of her bad habit. [D] Spero is not in a desperate situation. 52. How do the public feel about the current economic situation? [A] Optimistic. [B] Confused. [C] Carefree. [D] Panicked. 53. When mentioning“the $4 million to $10 million range” ( Lines 34, Paragraph 3) the author is talking about. [A] gold market. [B] real estate. [C] stock exchange. [D] venture investment. 54. Why can many people see“silver linings”to t he economic showdown? [A] They would benefit in certain ways. [B] The stock market shows signs of recovery. [C] Such a slowdown usually precedes a boom. [D] The purchasing power would be enhanced. 55. To which of the following is the author likely to agree? [A] A now boom, on the horizon. [B] Tighten the belt, the single remedy. [C] Caution all right, panic not. [D] The more ventures, the more chances. Text 4 Americans today don‘t place a very high value on intellect. Our heroes are athletes, entertainers, and entrepreneurs, not scholars. Even our schools are where we send our children to get a practical education—— not to pursue knowledge for the sake of knowledge. Symptoms of pervasive antiintellectualism in our schools aren’t difficu lt to find. “Schools have always been in a society where practical is more important than intellectual, ”says education writer Diane Ravitch.“Schools could be a counterbalance.”Razitch‘s latest bock , Left Back: A Century of Failed School Reforms, traces the roots of antiintellectualism in our schools, concluding they are anything but a counterbalance to the American distaste for intellectual pursuits. But they could and should be. Encouraging kids to reject the life of the mind leaves them vulnerable to exploitation and control. Without the ability to think critically, to defend their ideas and understand the ideas of others, they cannot fully participate in our democracy. Continuing along this path, says writer Earl Shorris, “We will bee a second rate country. We will have a less civil society.” “Intellect is resented as a form of power or privilege , ”writes historian and professor Richard Hofstadter in AntiIntellectualism in American life, a Pulitzer Prize winning book on the roots of antiintellectualism in US politics, religion, and education. From the beginning of our history, says Hofstadter, our democratic and populist urges have driven us to reject anything that smells of elitism. Practicality, mon sense, and native intelligence have been considered more noble qualities than anything you could learn from a book. Ralph Waldo Emerson and other Transcendentalist philosophers thought schooling and rigorous book learning put unnatural restraints on children: “We are shut up in schools and college recitation rooms for 10 or 15 years and e out at last with a bellyful of words and do not know a thing.”Mark Twain‘s Huckleberry Finn exemplified American anti intellectualism. Its hero avoids being civilized—— going to school and learning to read—— so he can preserve his innate goodness. Intellect, according to Hofstadter, is different from native intelligence, a quality we reluctantly admire. Intellect is the critical, creative, and contemplative side of the mi