2012年11月12日星期一

奥巴马连任总统:Four More Years


2012年美国大选结果于当地时间7日凌晨出炉。奥巴马目前已经获得274张选举人票,击败对手罗姆尼,成功连任。虽然美国经济自金融危机以来仍未完全实现复苏,但失业率已经显著下降。凭借个人魅力、拯救汽车业、通过医改法案、结束伊拉克战争、制定从阿富汗撤军时间表、击毙本?拉登等突出政绩,奥巴马成功击败罗姆尼。
THE END: Obama Wins IA, VA, CO, OH: Obama 303 — Romney 206
Here is the current count from CNN, CBS and Fox's projections:
Obama: 303— Romney: 206
Obama: Vermont, Connecticut, Delaware, DC, Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Maine (3/4), Rhode Island, Michigan, New York, New Jersey, New Mexico, Minnesota, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, New Hampshire, Washington, Hawaii, California, Ohio, Iowa, Oregon
NYTimes: Virginia, Colorado to Obama
Romney: Kentucky, Indiana, Oklahoma, Georgia, Arkansas, Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, Kansas, Louisiana, Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Texas, Wyoming, Utah, Montana, Arizona, Idaho, North Carolina, Missouri,
Mitt Romney conceded the presidential election Tuesday, telling supporters in Boston that he has called President Barack Obama to congratulate him on winning the rep-election.
Romney's remarks were gracious and short, calling on lawmakers and job creators to look beyond political lines and solve the problems facing the country.
"I believe in America. I believe in the people of America," Romney said. "This election is over but our principles endure."
"Paul and I have left everything on the field. We have given our all to this campaign," he added. "I so wish that I had been able to fulfill your hopes to lead the country, but the nation chose another leader."
Altogether, the speech clocked in at just under five minutes. And then he left the stage:
"Thank you guys."

雅思阅读T/F/NG题型的快速判断法


考生一般会认为真假题是最容易的,但令人惊奇的是,有很多考生考得最差的就是这部分。通常真假题的选择是“True/False/Not mentioned”或“Accurate/Inaccurate/Not Given”。请熟悉以下一些字句,不要因搞不清意思而答错问题:
- must - usually - certainly - can/may only - absolutely essential
- can - should - necessary to - need to - should not (shouldn‘t)
- will - won‘t - unnecessary to - need not (needn‘t) - it is optional
- may - might - have to - sometimes - it is possible
- yet - always - cannot (can‘t) - not required to - strictly prohibited
- never - could - often - ought to - don‘t have to
- but - however - an exception is - on the other hand - must not (mustn‘t)
有时候,您认为最有把握听得出来的答案往往有错。如您不小心听清楚的话,只差一两个字意思便会刚刚相反,有时候,讲者讲出来的跟答案完全一样,但要是您不留心还是会出错,因此作答时要小心,不要分神。下面给大家总结阅读中的T/F/NG的快速判断法:
1、含有only的90%是F,10%是NG.像“only, all, most ”形容词比较级,最高级,在原文中出现“always, invariably, usually”等绝对性的词,一般选F.
2、原文中对理论的学科加以限定(如领域或范围、人名、国名及时间),题目去除以上限制是NG.
3、NG的情况:在NG中很经常出现的一个考点就是“no less than A”,要记住这个的意思是相当于“A+1”。
4、原文中有“it is predicted(excepted, anticipated)that ”,题目中有“real, truth, fact ”这两种也是F的情况!
5、原文中有条件状语从句或表明条件的固定搭配“if(provided that), but for(except for) if not(unless), but that(except that) ”或是表明条件限制的介词短语及形容词短语,题目中去除任何条件的限制这些都是F.
6、原文中有A事物或A状态,题目中只有A事物或A状态,这是NG.另外,原文中有“vow, promise, swear, pledge”+动作状态,题目中去除以上的限定,这种情况也是NG.

雅思阅读T/F/NG题型的解题技巧


许多英语考试的题型已经逐渐向雅思靠拢,今年新四六级的考题就有一道T/F/N的题型,这种阅读题,是有做题技巧的,我们可以看看关于这道题的分析:
阅读理解分成两个部分,仔细阅读和快速阅读,各占分值的25%和10%. 快速阅读这部分是以前没有出现过的,在新四级的题型当中,出现了非判断的题型, 是非判断题是雅思考试中的一个常见阅读考试题型,这就说明我们的四六级考试逐渐和国际性的考试靠拢。那么我们有何应对策略呢?
首先题目是若干个陈述句组成,要求根据原文所给的信息,判断每个陈述句是对(Yes)、错(No)、还是未提及(Not Given)。这种题型的难度在于,在对和错之外还有第三种状态:未提及。很多情况下似乎很难区分“错”和“未提及”。 但是不要紧张,大多数题目还是有规律可循的。
(1)找出题目中的关键词, 最好先定位到原文中的一个段落。 将题目中的关键词与原文各段落的小标题或每段话的第一句相对照。有些问题能先定位到原文中的一个段落,这将大大加快解题时间,并提高准确率。但并非每个题目都是如此。
(2)从头到尾快速阅读该段落,根据题目中的关键词,在原文中找出与题目相关的一句或几句话。 确定一个段落后,答案在该段落中的具体位置是未知的。所以,需要从头到尾快速阅读该段落,找出该段落中与题目相关的一句话或几句话,通常是一句话。
(3)仔细阅读这一句话或几句话,根据第二大步中的原则和规律,确定正确答案。
(4)要注意顺序性,即题目的顺序和原文的顺序基本一致。按照问题的顺序,第一题的答案应在文章的前部,第二题的答案应在第一题的答案之后。这个规律也有助于大家确定答案的位置。然后就是根据原文判断正误了。我们总结了几个原则,可以帮助大加快速找到答案。
首先,我们来看样题, 浏览了各个段落的标题后,我们已经清楚的知道,这一篇文章是在讲landfill.
问题1:The passage gives a general description of the structure and use of a landfill. 由各个标题综合来看,这个是正确的没错。
这里可以总结出一个原则: 题干是原文的归纳与总结。即根据原文中的做出推断或归纳,答案选Yes.
问题2: Most of the trash that Americans generate ends up in landfills.这里提到的是美国垃圾处理的方法。我们可以找到标题为: How Is Trash Disposed of ?在这一段中我们就可以找到答案。 Most of the trash和57 percent is buried in landfills. 相对应。
这里可以总结出一个原则: 题干在用词、结构、含义等方面都与原文保持一致。就是正确的(Yes)。
问题3: Compared with other major Industrialized countries, America buries a much higher percentage of its solid waste in landfills. 我们在垃圾处理的那段看到了有关国家间垃圾处理的比较: The United States ranks somewhere in the middle of the major countries (United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, France and Japan) in landfill disposal. Ok,文中的说法和其问题,不吻合,可见是错误的。
这里可以总结出一个原则: 题干与原文截然相反,有明显矛盾。答案是No.
问题4: Landfills are like compost piles in that they speed up decomposition of the buried trash. 这个陈述句的意思是landfill是什么?那么回到原文What is landfill?来找答案,看到那一段的最后一句就是答案。A landfill is not like a compost pile, where the purpose is to bury trash in such a way that it will decompose quickly. 题干与原文截然相反,有明显矛盾。所以是不正确的(No)。(原则同上)
问题5: In most countries the selection of a landfill site is governed by rules and regulations. 题干说到了landfill site(垃圾掩埋法的地点)的选择,我们看到标题Proposing the Landfill的段落中,原文中有一句话,In most parts of the world, there are regulations that govern where a landfill can be placed and how it can operate. 原文的叙述和题干是一致的,因此答案是Yes.
问题6:In the United States the building of landfills is the job of both federal and local governments. 题干中说在美国,垃圾掩埋的建造是当地联合政府的职责。根据答案顺次出现的原则,问题5出现的那一段,In the United States, taking care of trash and building landfills are local government responsibilities.题干与原文之间不是完全对等的。因此是错误的。答案是No.这里可以总结出一个原则: 题干与原文的矛盾不明显,但意思又未能完全对等。答案是No
问题7:Hazardous wastes have to be treated before being dumped into landfills. 这一题根据题目中的关键词我们可以找出该词所对应的位置,最后一个标题段,但是我们无法找到完全对等的信息,但是也未出现矛盾,这情况下,选择Not Given.
这里可以总结出一个原则: 题干的内容原文根本没有提到,即题目在原文中找不到根据。答案选NOT GIVEN.
这道题是新四级样题中的一道题,雅思的考题要变化,但是基本原则是通用的。从这里我们也可以看出,雅思的题型已经被越来越多人所接受。

雅思阅读List of headings题标题结构的启示


经常有同学问如下问题:文章没读通,能否选对标题?答案是:并非完全不能!雅思阅读的做题技巧的目的归根到底就是:在有限阅读能力的基础上实现正确答题的最大化。文章是鲜活的,技巧是灰色的。技巧如同相面,不用深入地去了解一个人,而只是从外在形式上给此人的性格做出判断。这样的技巧是纯粹的,是有限功能技巧,因为相面不是科学。但是,即便相面也并非无规律可循。
标题是篇章和段落内容最言简意赅的表述。标题的形式对文章及段落的形式有控制作用;标题的内容对文章和段落的内容同样有控制作用。
一、标题为名词性短语。当标题为名词性短语时,首先要注意核心名词的数。复数预示篇章和段落中信息的并列形式。以剑五第四套题Question1-3为例:
标题:iii Fragile regions and the reasons for the expansion. 当中的and预示section A的两段结构。regions的复数形式对应第一段中three types: deserts, mountains and Arctic areas 的并列形式。reasons的复数形式对应第二段第一句和第二句之间的and并列和三、四句间的also关系。
标题:v Some of the disruptive effects of wilderness tourism. 当中的effects为复数,直接指向section B 的第三段第一句的another problem. another problem说明section B为有关 problem的三段并列形式。
启示:文章中并列结构的段落必然对应核心名词为复数的选项。查看段落中有无并列。(and, but, or , rather than, 以及名词并列等等)
二、标题为 -ing 结构。当标题为 -ing 结构时,首先注意该非谓语动词是否为持续而非瞬间动作。-ing 结构为持续性动作,可能预示篇章、段落为process或procedure 的形式。例如:1、众所周知的Recycling of waste paper
2、标题Approaching the city 对应的段落中会出现After……soon…… and then这样的词汇。
三、标题为句子时。(另帖讨论)
这里只是List of headings 题型解题方法之段落相面法的一点引言或者其中几个小点而已。时间有限,只能给大家一个思路。

雅思阅读实战模拟题:Biomimetics


IELTS Reading Subtest
Part I
Reading Passage 1
You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-14 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below.
Questions 1-6
Reaidng Passage 1 has seven sections A-G
Choose the most suitable headings for sections A-D and F-G from the the list of headings below .
Write the appropriate numbers i-x in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.
i The possible application of artifical lateral lines in the future
ii The two tests on the artifical version of a fishy sense organ
iii The features of artificial lateral-line system in Dr. Liu’s tests
iv The origin of human inspration for inventions from the nature
v The importance of series of flow sensors for survival of fish
vi The impact of natural lateral line system on modern society
vii The great invention of artificial lateral-line system in biology
viii Advantage of hair sensors over heating filaments in the test
ix Superiority of natural lateral-line system to the artifical one
x The direction-guiding function of natural lateral-line system
1 Section A
2 Seciton B
3 Seciton C
4 Seciton D
Example Answer
Section E ii
5 Section F
6 Section G
Lateral Thinking
Section A
Inventors have long tried to copy nature. Most, though, have looked to the skies and the land, rather than the sea, for inspiration. And even when they have attempted to imitate marine life, they have tended to consider it through mammalian eyes. Submarines, for example, use the familiar human senses of sight and sound to build images of their surroundings.
Section B
But that is not the way that fish do it. Although fish can see and hear, they also rely a lot on a series of flow sensors strung along the sides of their bodies. These sensors are known as the lateral-line system. To navigate like a fish, it would help to sense like one. And, in research just published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Chang Liu, of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, and his colleagues describe the first attempts to do so.
Section C
A natural lateral-line system consists of about 100 sense cells that run from the gills to the tail on each side of the fish. The cells detect subtle water movements, and from the different times that the individual cells are stimulated by these movements the fish‘s brain is able to reconstruct an image of what caused them in the first place. Blind a shoaling fish such as a herring and it can still follow its mates. Cut its lateral lines and it rapidly gets lost.
Section D
Dr Liu‘s artificial lateral line was somewhat shorter than a natural one. It consisted of 16 tiny flow sensors, rather than 100. The sensors themselves contained heated filaments and worked by recording how quickly the heat was lost. The faster that water moved past a filament, the quicker the filament lost heat. The output from the sensors was fed into a computer that had been programmed to try to work out what was going on in a simplified version of the way that a fish brain would.
Section E
First, the researchers tested whether their system could locate the small pulsing movement caused by a vibrating ball. Not only was the pattern of recordings along the artificial lateral line similar to the pattern recorded from the nerve cells of a real fish, but the computer could also decipher it to follow the source of the pulse as it moved along different paths.
The next test was whether the array could detect vortices left in the wake of escaping prey. The “prey”, in this case, was a cylinder with water flowing around it. This time, the artificial lateral-line system could work out the general direction of the source and identify the pattern of the vortices. Much like weather vanes in whirlwinds, some sensors in a vortex receive water flowing one way while those on the other side find it flows in the opposite direction. Those in the middle are left unruffled, in the eye of the storm.
Section F
Having proved his point, Dr Liu is now trying to design sensors that work more like the sense cells in a real lateral line. Instead of heated filaments, these sensors have artificial hairs. The hairs flutter in moving water as flags do in moving air, and the way in which they flutter contains information about the direction and speed of the water moving past them. This principle should allow the team to build more sensitive arrays. Heating filaments in water causes bubbles to form, so turning the power up too much stops them working. Hair sensors do not suffer from the same upper limit.
Section G
Artificial lateral lines would have many applications. The most obvious would be in submarines, both manned and unmanned. In the case of military submarines they would have the advantage over sonar of being passive. Sending out a ping is a dead giveaway—literally so, in time of war. And merely listening for sound cannot detect stationary threats. A lateral-line system could. The vortices thrown off by water moving past even a stationary object would be visible to it.
Dr Liu also speculates about using lateral lines to detect air-movements. That could lead to some far less obvious applications, such as a lateral line-enabled iPod that automatically pumps up the volume in response to the onrushing air of an underground train or similar big, noisy object. That would, indeed, be an inventive brush with nature.
Questions 7-12
Do the following statemets reflect the claims of the writer in Reading Passage 1?
In Boxes 7-12 on your answer sheet write
TRUE if the statemenht reflets the claims of the writer
FALSE if the statement contradicts the claims of the writer
NOT GIVEN if it is possbile to say what the writer thinks about this
7 Inventors have long counted on the skies and the land rather than the sea to provide new ideas for their inventions.
8 Unlike submarine, fish uses the familiar human senses of sight and sound to build images of their surroundings.
9 The cells in the natural lateral-line system can detect water movements which are not immediately noticeable.
10 Like any other shoaling fish, a small blind salman can still follow its mates without losing its way in water.
11 The most obvious application of the artificial lateral lines would be only in human-operated submarines in the future.
12 An artifical lateral-line system could detect the existence of the vortices caused by water passing even a motionless object.
Questions 13-14
Choose the appropriate letters A-D and write them in boxes 13-14 on your answe sheet.
13 According to the information in the text, which of the following statements describes the relationship between speed and amount of heat lost in Dr.Liu’s artificial lateral-line system?
A When the water moved at a faster pace, it took longer time for the heated filaments to lose their heat.
B If the water moved very slowly past a heated filament, the filament would lose its heat fairly rapidly.
C The speed of water moving past a heated filament was in direct proportion to the amount of heat it lost.
D The speed of water moving past a heated filament was inversely proportional to the amount of heat it lost .
14 According to the information in the text, which of the following statements is NOT the charateristics of the natural lateral-line system in Dr.Liu’s tests on the artifical version of a fishy sense organ ?
A The purppose of the first test was to investigate whether the system could locate the small pulsing movement caused by a vibrating ball.
B The first test demonstrated that the pattern recorded from both the artificla lateral-line system and the nerve cells of a real fish was similar.
C The next test intended to explore whether the artificial system could identify the general direction of the source and the pattern of the vortices.
D The second test showed that the vortices flew in the same direction on both sides of the sensors, but with different pattern in the middle area.
Part II
Notes to Reading Passage 1
1. Lateral
(adj.) 侧面的;横(向)的。
lateral thinking
侧向/横向思维模式:一种通过使用自己的想象力,而不是凭借逻辑分析或其它传统的思维模式来思考起先不明显的解决问题之办法。
2. sensor.
n. 传感器;灵敏元件。
flow sensor 流量传感器。
3. proceedings
n. (复数) 记录, 纪要,学报,年报; 汇编。
本词在文章里的意思为“国家科学院年报,科学文献汇编”。
4. stimulate
v 刺激, 激励。
e.g. Alcohol stimulates the action of the heart. 酒刺激心脏的活动。
Exercise stimulates the flow of blood. 体操促进血液流动。
5. shoaling
n. 浅滩, 沙洲, 鱼群。
shoaling fish 浅水鱼。
6. herring
n. 青鱼, 鲱 鱼 。
a red herring 熏青鱼 。
7. filaments
n. 细丝, 灯丝。
8. feed
v. 送料, 加水; .供给(with); 加进(原料)…。
本词在文章里的意思为 “把数据输入电脑”。
9. pulsing
n. 脉冲调制, 脉冲的产生, 脉 [波、搏] 动。
air pulsing气动脉冲, 脉冲运动。
10. decipher
v. 译解 (密码等)。
11. array
n. 排列, 编队, 军队。
本词在文章里的意思为 “传感器方阵,传感器组合元件”。
12. vortices (单数) , vortex (复数)
n. 旋涡, 旋风, 涡流。
13. wake
n.(船后的)航迹,尾波,(飞机后面的)尾流,尾波。
in the wake 接踵而至;在…之后。
e.g. The truck left clouds of dust in its wake.车后扬起了一阵尘土。
the psychic trauma in the wake of the 9-11 terrorist attack.
9-11恐怖袭击之后产生于人们的心理创伤。
14. cylinder
n. 圆筒, 圆柱体, 汽缸, 柱面。
本词在文章里的意思为“由于周围旋涡而形成的水柱”。
15. vane
n . 风向标, 风环; (螺旋桨的) 翼, 叶片。
16. whirlwind .
n. 旋风, 旋流; 旋涡。
17. unruffled
adj. 不起皱的, 不骚动的, 不混乱的, 安静的。
本词在文章里的意思为“那些置于旋涡中间,风眼周围的传感器保持不动状态”。
18. eye of storm
风吹来的方向, 风眼,风的中心。
19. flutter
v. 振翅; 飘动, 鼓翼.
e.g. The flag fluttered in the wind.旗帜在风中飘扬。
20. turn up
把声音开大;把力量加大。
21. ping
n. 子弹飞过空中的声音, 砰砰声。
22. dead
adj. 突然的, 绝对的, 完全的。
e.g. a dead certainty绝对确实。
23. giveaway
n. 泄漏机密。
本词在文章里的意思为“无意中发出的任何形式的声音都会泄露军情或军事秘密”。
24. stationary
adj. .固定的;不动的。
25. ipod
iPod =Inductive Potential Divider 电感性电位分压器; 苹果牌 MP3/4 媒体播放器。
本词在文章里的意思为“安装有横向系统的MP3/4能够根据地铁火车或类似体积大,噪音高的物体高速运动时产生的气流的大小来自动提高(放声)音量”。
26. pump up
v. 抽空, 抽干, 注满, 打满, 加足马力。
e.g. He pumped up his tires. 他给车胎打足了气。
27. onrushing
adj. 汹涌奔流的, 风驰电掣般的(气流)。
28. brush
n.(常与with连用)小冲突, 小的遭遇战。
e.g. a brush with the police与警察发生的小冲突。
本词在文章里的意思为“与大自然的一次较量,对大自然形成的挑战”。
Part III
Keys to the Questions 1-14
1. iv
Explanation
See the first two sentences in Section A “Inventors have long tried to copy nature. Most, though, have looked to the skies and the land, rather than the sea, for inspiration”.
2. v
Explanation
See the first sentence in the Section B “Although fish can see and hear, they also rely a lot on a series of flow sensors strung along the sides of their bodies.”.
3. x
Explanation
See the first two sentences in Section C “The cells detect subtle water movements, and from the different times that the individual cells are stimulated by these movements the fish‘s brain is able to reconstruct an image of what caused them in the first place.”.
4. iii
Explanation
See the first two sentences in Section D“Dr Liu‘s artificial lateral line was somewhat shorter than a natural one…The sensors themselves contained heated filaments and worked by recording how quickly the heat was lost”.
5. viii
Explanation
See the sentences in Section F “Instead of heated filaments, these sensors have artificial hairs… Heating filaments in water causes bubbles to form, so turning the power up too much stops them working. Hair sensors do not suffer from the same upper limit”.
6. i
Explanation
See the first sentence in each paragrph of Section G“Artificial lateral lines would have many applications. Dr Liu also speculates about using lateral lines to detect air-movements”.
7. TRUE
Explanation
See the first two sentences in Section A“Inventors have long tried to copy nature. Most, though, have looked to the skies and the land, rather than the sea, for inspiration”.
8. FALSE
Explanation
See the last sentence in Section A “Submarines, for example, use the familiar human senses of sight and sound to build images of their surroundings”.
9. TRUE
Explanation
See the second sentence in Section C“The cells detect subtle water movements.”
10. NOT GIVEN
Explanation
See the last two sentences in Section C “Blind a shoaling fish such as a herring and it can still follow its mates. Cut its lateral lines and it rapidly gets lost”.
11. FALSE
Explanation
See the first two sentences in Section G “Artificial lateral lines would have many applications.The most obvious would be in submarines,both manned and unmanned.”
12. TRUE
Explanation
See the last two sentences in Section G “A lateral-line system could. The vortices thrown off by water moving past even a stationary object would be visible to it.”
13 .C
Explanation
See the fourth sentence in Section D “The faster that water moved past a filament, the quicker the filament lost heat.”
14 D
Explanation
See the last two sentences in the first paragraph of Section E “A lateral-line system could. The vortices thrown off by water moving past even a stationary object would be visible to it.”