题目内容

The U. S. Postal Service (USPS) is losing billions of dollars a year. The government company that delivers "small mail" is losing out to email and other types of electronic communication. First-class mail amount fell from a high point of 104 million pieces in 2000 to just 64 million pieces by 2014.

Congress permits the 600.000-empIoyee USPS to hold a monopoly (垄断) over first-class and standard mail. The company pays no federal, state or local taxes; pays no vehicle fees; and is free from many regulations on other businesses. Despite these advantages, the USPS has lost $52 billion since 2007, and will continue losing money without major reforms.

The problem is that Congress is preventing the USPS from reducing costs as its sales decline, and is blocking efforts to end Saturday service and close unneeded post office locations. USPS also has a costly union-dominated workforce that slows the introduction of new ideas or methods down. USPS workers earn significantly higher payment than comparable private-sector workers. The answer is to privatize the USPS and open postal markets to competition. With the rise of the Internet, the argument that mail is a natural monopoly that needs government protection is weaker than ever.

Other countries facing declining letter amounts have made reforms Germany and the Netherlands privatized their national postal companies over a decade ago, and other European countries have followed suit. Britain floated shares of the Royal Mail on its stock exchange in 2013. Some countries, such us Sweden and New Zealand, have not privatized their national postal companies, but they have opened them up to competition.

These reforms have driven efficiency improvements in all of these countries. Additional number of workers have been reduced, productivity has risen and consumers have benefited. Also, note that cost-cutting measures—such as closing tone post offices—are good for both the economy and the environment.

Privatization and competition also encourage new changes. When the USPS monopoly over "extremely urgent" mail was stopped in 1979, we saw an explosion in efficient overnight private delivery by firms such as FedEx.

The government needs to wake up to changing technology, study postal reforms abroad and let businessmen reinvent our out-of-date postal system.

1.What do we know about the USPS?

A. Its great competitor is the delivery firm FedEx.

B. It is an old public service open to competitions.

C. Its employees don't pay federal, state or local taxes.

D. It has complete control of first-class and standard mail.

2.The author mentions some other countries in Paragraph 4 to __________.

A. explain the procedures of reform to the USPS

B. show the advantages of private postal services

C. set some examples for the government to learn from

D. prove the situation is very common around the world

3.The author probably that the USPS __________.

A. needs government’s protection as ever

B. can work together with other businesses

C. must be replaced by international companies

D. should be sold out and become a private service

4.Which of the following shows the development of ideas in this passage?

A. B.

C. D.

I: Introduction CP: Central point P: Point

Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion

练习册系列答案
相关题目

Here’s a new warning from health experts: sitting is deadly. Scientists are increasingly warning that sitting for long periods, even if you exercise regularly, could be bad for your health. And it doesn't matter where the sitting takes place--in the office, at school, in the car or before a computer or TV. Just the overall number of hours it takes matters. Several studies suggest people who spend most of their days sitting are more likely to be fat, have a heart attack or even die. While health officials have issued(发布) guidelines advising on the least amounts of physical activities, they haven’t suggested people try to limit how much time they spend in a seated position.

“After four hours of sitting, the body starts to send harmful signals,” said Ekblom-Bak of the Swedish School of Sport and Health Sciences. She explained that genes controlling the amount of glucose(葡萄糖) and fat in the body start to shut down.

Even for people who exercise, spending long periods of time sitting at a desk is still harmful. Tim Armstrong, a physical activity expert at the World Health Organization, said people who exercise every day but still spend a lot of time sitting might get more benefits if that exercise were spread across the day, rather than in a single hour.

Still in a study that tracked more than 17,000 Canadians for about a dozen years, researchers found people who sat more had a higher death risk, whether they exercised or not. Experts said more research is needed to figure out just how much sitting is dangerous, and what might be possible to offset those effects.

People should keep exercising because that has a lot of benefits,” Ekblom-Bak said. “And when they’re in the office, they should try to interrupt sitting as often as possible.”

1.The underlined word “offset" in Paragraph 6 most probably means_______.

A. get rid of B. make use of

C. work out D. turn to

2.Sitting too much is dangerous because it can________ .

A. increase glucose and fat in the body

B. make a person become lazy

C. destroy the balance of glucose and fat in the body

D. make a person unable to exercise enough in a day

3.In the opinion of Ekblom-Bak, when at work, you’d better have a rest by_______ .

A. taking a walk around your office

B. chatting online or playing computer games

C. sending your friends emails

D. listening to music while sitting

4.Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A. More and More People Sit Too Much

B. Side Effects of Sitting Too Much

C. Don’t Sit Too Much While Working

D. Sitting Too Much Could Be Dangerous

短文改错

假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。

增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号(∧),并在其下面写出该加的词。

删除：把多余的词用斜线(﹨)划掉。

修改：在错的词下划一横线,并在该词下面写出修改后的词。

注意：1．每处错误及其修改均限一词。

2．只允许修改10处,多者（从第11处起）不计分。

Mrs. White was in hurry to visit her grandson because she missed her very much. It was nearly three months when she last saw her grandson. When she was walking by a playground, a football fly in her direction. She was already in her seventy. Should she kick the ball back and should she just go past leave it where it was? Finally she gave it a kick with greatly effort and the ball went straight on into the goal. What amazing it was! She helped them win the game.

书面表达

假设你是新华中学高三2班的学生李华,你的英国笔友Simon刚转学,感到一切都很陌生。他在邮件中向你询问如何尽快融入新环境。请你根据以下信息回信。

1.多跟同学交流沟通;

2.积极参加学校活动;

3.向老师寻求帮助。

注意:1.词数:100左右;

2.可适当增加细节,以使行文连贯;

3.开头和结尾已给出,不计入总词数。

Dear Simon,

Does happiness have a scent?

When someone is happy, can you smell it?

You can usually tell when someone is happy based on seeing them smile, hearing them laugh or perhaps from receiving a big hug. But can you also smell their happiness? Surprising new research suggests that happiness does indeed have a scent, and that the experience of happiness can be transmitted through smell, reports Phys.org.

For the study, 12 young men were shown videos meant to bring about a variety of emotions while researchers gathered sweat samples from them. All of the men were healthy and none of them were drug users or smokers, and all were asked to abstain from drinking or eating smelly foods during the study period.

Those sweat samples were then given to 36 equally healthy young women to smell, while researchers monitored their reactions. Only women were selected to smell the samples, apparently because previous research has shown that women have a better sense of smell than men and are also more sensitive to emotional signaling—though it's unclear why only men were chosen to produce the scents.

Researchers found that the behavior of the women after smelling the scents—particularly their facial expressions—indicated a relationship between the emotional states of the men who produced the sweat and the women who sniffed them.

“Human sweat produced when a person is happy brings about a state similar to happiness in somebody who breathes this smell,” said study co-author Gun Semin, a professor at Koc University in Turkey.

This is a fascinating finding because it not only means that happiness does have a scent, but that the scent is capable of transmitting the emotion to others. The study also found that other emotions, such as fear, seem to carry a scent too. This ensures previous research suggesting that some negative emotions have a smell, but it is the first time this has proved to be true of positive feelings.

Researchers have yet to isolate(分离) exactly what the chemical compound for the happiness smell is, but you might imagine what the potential applications for such a finding could be. Happiness perfumes, for instance, could be invented. Scent therapies（香味疗法）could also be developed to help people through depression or anxiety.

Perhaps the most surprising result of the study, however, is our broadened understanding of how emotions get communicated, and also how our own emotions are potentially managed through our social context and the emotional states of those around us.

1.What is the main finding of the new research?

A. Pleasant feelings can be smelt out.

B. Negative emotions have a smell.

C. Men produce more sweats.

D. Women have a better sense of smell.

2.The underlined part “abstain from” in Paragraph 3 probably means _________.

A. continue B. practice C. avoid D. try

3.What is the application value of the new research?

A. Perfumes could help people understand each other.

B. Some smells could be created to improve our appearance.

C. Perfumes could be produced to cure physical diseases.

D. Some smells could be developed to better our mood.

4.We can learn from the last paragraph that .

A. happiness comes from a scent of sweat

B. social surroundings can influence our emotions

C. people need more emotional communication

D. positive energy can deepen understanding

Muir succeeds ______ other designers have failed—her clothes are Original, yet stylish.

A. that B. what C. which D. where

Meyer and his team were the first ______ how the disease spreads from

animals to humans.

A. showing B. show C. to show D. shown

书面表达：

假如你是李华，你的英国朋友Cindy最近身体不舒服，来信向你询问如何保持健康。

请你给她回信并提出建议，内容如下：

1． 注意合理饮食：多吃鱼，豆类等有营养的食品及新鲜蔬菜和水果，不要吃太多的肉和甜食；

2． 多参加体育锻炼；

3． 保证充足睡眠，不要熬夜，每天至少睡8个小时。

注意：1．词数：100左右

2．信的开头和结尾已给出，但不计入总词数。

3．参考词汇：有营养的：nutritious

Dear Cindy

Yours

Li Hua

I ____ about w hat you’ve said and I’ve decided to take your advice.

A. thought B. have been thinking

C. was thinkingD. had thought

违法和不良信息举报电话：027-86699610 举报邮箱：58377363@163.com

精英家教网