LastFridayIsawsomeboys______behindDaniel,_____thecomputergames.
WhenIgotoutofthecarandwalkedaboutamongthem,____oneoldmanwhoshookhisheaddisapprovingly,theyallbegantocheer.
PASSAGETWO
(1)TheNobelsaretheoriginals,ofcourse.AlfredNobel,themanwhoinventeddeadlyexplosives,decidedtotryanddosomethinggoodwithallthemoneyheearned,andgaveprizestopeoplewhomadeprogressinliterature,science,economicsand—perhapsmostimportantly—peace.
(2)NotallrewardsareasnobleastheNobels.Eventhoughmostcountrieshaveasystemofrecognizing,honoringandrewardingpeoplewhohavedonesomethinggoodintheircountries,therearenowhundredsofawardsandawardceremoniesforallkindsofthings.
(3)TheOscarsareprobablythemostfamous,atimeforthe(mostly)Americanfilmindustrytotellitselfhowgooditisandanannualopportunityforlotsofbigstarstogiveeachotherawardsandmaketearfulspeeches.AswellasthattherearealsotheGoldenGlobes,evidentlyforthesamething.
(4)Butit’snotonlyfilms---therearealsoGrammies,Brits,theMercuryPrizeandtheMTVformusic.InBritain,awriterwhowinstheBookerPrizecanexpecttoseetheirdifficult,literarynovelhitthebestsellerlistsandcompetewiththeDaVinciCodeforpopularity.TheTurnerPrizeisanawardforBritishcontemporaryartists—eachyearitcausescontroversybyapparentlygivinglotsofmoneytoartistswhodothingslikedisplayingtheirbeds,puttinganimalsinglasscasesor—thisyear—buildingagardenshed.
(5)Awardsdon’tonlyexistforarts.TherearenowawardsforSportsPersonalityoftheYear,forEuropeanFootballeroftheYearandWorldFootballeroftheYear.Thisseemsverystrange—sometimesawardscanbegoodtogiverecognitiontopeoplewhodeserveit,ortohelppeoplewhodon’tmakealotofmoneycarryontheirworkwithoutworryingaboutfinances,butprofessionalsoccerplayersthesedayscertainlyaren’tshortofcash!
(6)Manysmalltownsandcommunitiesallovertheworldalsohavetheirownawardceremonies,forlocalwritersorartists,orjustforpeoplewhohavegraduatedfromhighschoolor,gotauniversitydegree.EventheBritishCouncilhasitsownawardsfor“InnovationinEnglishLanguageTeaching”.
(7)Whyhavealltheseawardsandceremoniesappearedrecently?Shakespeareneverwonaprize, nordidLeonardoDaVinciorAdamSmithorCharlesDickens.
(8)Itwouldbepossibletosay,however,thatinthepast,scientistsandartistscouldwin“patronageformrichpeople”—akingoralordwouldgivetheartistsorscientistsmoneytohavethempainttheirpalacesorhelpthemdevelopnewwaysofmakingmoney.Withthechangeinsocialsystemsacrosstheworld,thisnolongerhappens.Alotofscientificresearchisnoweitherfundedbythestateorbyprivatecompanies.
(9)Perhapsawardceremoniesarejustthemostrecentphaseofthisprocess.
(10)However,thereismoretoitthanthat.WhenafilmwinsanOscar,manymorepeoplewillgoandseeit,orbuytheDVD.WhenawriterwinstheNobelPrize,manymorepeoplebuytheirbooks.WhenagroupwinstheMTVawards,theceremonyisseenbyhundredsofthousandsofpeopleacrosstheworld.Theresult?Thegroupsellslotsmorerecords.(11)Mostawardceremoniesarenowsponsoredbybigorganizationsorcompanies.Thismeansthatitisnotonlythepersonwhowinstheawardwhobenefits---butalsothesponsors.TheMTVawards,forexample,aregreatforpublicizingnotonlymusic,butalsoMTVitself!
(12)Onthesurface,itseemstobea“Win-win”situation,witheveryonebeinghappy,butletmeaskyouaquestion—howfardoyouthinkthatpublicityandmarketingarewinninghere,andhowmuchgenuinerecognitionofachievementistakingplace?
1.Whatistheauthor’stonewhenhementionsawardssuchastheOscars,theGoldenGlobesand
Grammies(Paras.3&4)
A.Amused.
B.Appreciative.
C.Sarcastic.
D.Serious.
2.AccordingtoPara.4,whatwouldhappentoawardwinningwriters?
A.Theywouldenjoyamuchlargerreadership.
B.Theywouldturntopopularnovelwriting.
C.Theywouldcontinuenon-fictionwriting.
D.Theywouldtrycontroversialformsofart.
3.WhichofthefollowingstatementsbestsumsupPara.6?
A.Awardsceremoniesareheldforlocalpeople.
B.Awardsceremoniesareheldonimportantoccasions.
C.Awardsceremoniesareheldincertainprofessions.
D.Awardsceremoniesareheldforallsortsofreasons.
4.AccordingtoPara.8,onedifferencebetweenscientistsandartistsinthepastandthoseatpresent
liesin_____________.
A.natureofwork
B.personalcontact
C.sourceoffunding
D.socialstatus
5.ItcanbeconcludedfromPara.12thattheauthorthinksawards________.
A.promotemarketratherthanachievements
B.dogoodtobothmarketandpopularity
C.helpthosewhoarereallytalented
D.areeffectiveinmakingpeoplepopular
AsGilbertWhite，Darwin，andothersobservedlongago，allspeciesappeartohavetheinnatecapacitytoincreasetheirnumbersfromgenerationtogeneration.Thetaskforecologistsistountangletheenvironmentaandbiologicalfactorsthatholdthisintrinsiccapacityforpopulationgrowthincheckoverthelongrun.Thegreatvarietyofdynamicbehaviorsexhibitedbydifferentpopulationmakesthistaskmoredifficult：sompopulationsremainroughlyconstantfromyeartoyear;othersexhibitregularcyclesofabundanceandscarcity;stillothersvarywildly，withoutbreaksandcrashesthatareinsomecasesplainlycorrelatedwiththeweather，andinothercasesnot.Toimposesomeorderonthiskaleidoscopeofpatterns，oneschoolofthoughtproposesdividingpopulationsintotwogroups.Theseecologistspositthattherelativelysteadypopulationshavedensity-dependentgrowthparameters;thatis，ratesofbirth，death，andmigrationwhichdependstronglyonpopulationdensity.Thehighlyvaryingpopulationshavedensity-independentgrowthparameters，withvitalratesbuffetedbyenvironmentalevents;theseratesfluctuateinawaythatiswhollyindependentofpopulationdensity.Thisdichotomyhasitsuses，butitcancauseproblemsiftakentooliterally.Foronething，nopopulationcanbedrivenentirelybydensity-independentfactorsallthetime.Nomatterhowseverelyorunpredictablybirth，death，andmigrationratesmaybefluctuatingaroundtheirlong-termaverages，iftherewerenodensity-dependenteffects，thepopulationwould，inthelongrun，eitherincreaseordecreasewithoutbound(barringamiraclebywhichgainsandlossescanceledexactly)。Putanotherway，itmaybethatonaverage99percentofalldeathsinapopulationarisefromdensity-independentcauses，andonlyonepercentfromfactorsvaryingwithdensity.Thefactorsmakinguptheonepercentmayseemunimportant，andtheircausemaybecorrespondinglyhardtodetermine.Yet，whetherrecognizedornot，theywillusuallydeterminethelong-termaveragepopulationdensity.Inordertounderstandthenatureoftheecologist’sinvestigation，wemaythinkofthedensity-dependenteffectsongrowthparametersasthesignalecologistsaretryingtoisolateandinterpret，onethattendstomakethepopulationincreasefromrelativelylowvaluesordecreasefromrelativelyhighones，whilethedensity-independenteffectsacttoproducenoiseinthepopulationdynamics.Forpopulationsthatremainrelativelyconstant，orthatoscillatearoundrepeatedcycles，thesignalcanbefairlyeasilycharacterizedanditseffectsdescribed，eventhoughthecausativebiologicalmechanismmayremainunknown.Forirregularlyfluctuatingpopulations，wearelikelytohavetoofewobservationstohaveanyhopeofextractingthesignalfromtheoverwhelmingnoise.Butitnowseemsclearthatallpopulationsareregulatedbyamixtureofdensity-dependentanddensity-independenteffectsinvaryingproportions.
1.Theauthorofthetextisprimarilyconcernedwith
[A]Discussingtwocategoriesoffactorsthatcontrolpopulationgrowthandassessingtheirrelativeimportance.
[B]Describinghowgrowthratesinnaturalpopulationsfluctuateovertimeandexplainingwhythesechangesoccur.
[C]Proposingahypothesisconcerningpopulationsizeandsuggestingwaystotestit.
[D]Posingafundamentalquestionaboutenvironmentalfactorsinpopulationgrowthandpresentingsomecurrentlyacceptedanswer.
2.Itcanbeinferredfromthetextthattheauthorconsidersthedichotomydiscussedtobe
[A]Applicableonlytoerraticallyfluctuatingpopulations.
[B]instrumental，butonlyifitslimitationsarerecognized.
[C]Dangerouslymisleadinginmostcircumstances.
[D]Acompleteandsufficientwaytoaccountforobservedphenomena.
3.tothetext，allofthefollowingbehaviorshavebeenexhibitedbydifferentpopulationsEXCEPT
[A]Roughlyconstantpopulationlevelsfromyeartoyear.
[B]Regularcyclesofincreasesanddecreasesinnumbers.
[C]Erraticincreasesinnumberscorrelatedwiththeweather.
[D]Uncheckedincreasesinnumbersovermanygenerations.
4.Thediscussionconcerningpopulationinthethirdparagraphservesprimarilyto
[A]Demonstratethedifficultiesecologistsfaceinstudyingdensity-dependentfactorslimitingpopulationgrowth.
[B]Advocatemorerigorousstudyofdensity-dependentfactorsinpopulationgrowth.
[C]Provethatthedeathratesofanypopulationareneverentirelydensity-independent.
[D]underlinetheimportanceofevensmalldensity-dependentfactorsinregulatinglong-termpopulationdensities.
5.Inthetext，theauthordoesallofthefollowingEXCEPT
[A]Citetheviewsofotherbiologists.
[B]Defineabasicproblemthatthetextaddresses.
[C]Presentconceptualcategoriesusedbyotherbiologists.
[D]Describetheresultsofaparticularstudy.
Wecanhear____fromthebackoftheroom.
