B

    Economists usually study markets.Now,two Americans have won the Nobel Prize in economics for not studying markets.They will share almost one and a half million dollars for their analysis of economic governance(治理).The winners are Elinor Ostrom of Indiana University in Bloomington and Oliver Williamson of the University of California,Berkeley.The prize in economic sciences has gone to 63 men since it was first awarded 40 years ago.Elinor Ostrom is the first woman.And,like other winners over the years,her training is not limited to economics.She is a professor of political science and of public and environmental affairs.

    Today,economic theory suggests that good resource management requires ownership,either private or public.If not,the thinking goes,then self-interest will lead to overuse and destruction of shared resources.Ecologist Garrett Hardin described this idea in 1968 as“the tragedy of the commons.”

    Elinor Ostrom showed how local decision making can lessen the tragedy.Her research has deepened understanding of how people balance their needs with those of others who depend on the same resources.    

    She studied communities like farmers in Southern  California who depended on a common water supply. She documented how people who use resources often develop ways to share them.One example is forest management.She says,“One of the absolutely key,most important variables(变量)as to

whether or not a forest survives and continues is whether local people monitor each other and its use.Not officials,locals.”

    Oliver Williamson has studied big companies and found that they often are better than markets at doing complex jobs.Under his theory,businesses act as structures for conflict resolution.

    For example,companies that own their suppliers can avoid long-term contracts and disputes over prices.This can make production more efficient and make better use of limited resources.But businesses can also abuse their power.Professor Williamson says the best way to deal with this is not by limiting the size of companies,but through industry regulation.

  The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences said economists need to do more than study markets and prices.The Nobel judges urged more research like the kind they recognized with this year’s award.

60.According to Elinor Ostrom,                 .

      A.the tragedy of the commons is caused by local decision

      B.private ownership can cause the tragedy of the commons

      C.overuse of shared resources can cause the tragedy of the commons

      D.it is not the officials but the local people who can do something to avoid the tragedy

61.This year’s Nobel Prize for economics is shared by         .

    A.Elinor Ostrom and Oliver Williamson   B.Elinor Ostrom and Garrett Hardin

    C.Oliver Williamson and Garrett Hardin   D.63 economic scientists

62.Professor Williamson proved that long-term contracts and disputes over prices can be

      avoided by big companies by                   .

      A.1imiting the size of other companies

      B.providing sufficient production

      C.sharing resources with their own suppliers

      D.setting up their own industry regulation

63.Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?

      A.Two American Economists Won the Nobel Prize for Studying Markets.

      B.Researchers of Economic Governance Won the Nobel Prize for Economics.

      C.First Woman to Win the Nobel Prize for Economic Strategies.

      D.The Tragedy of the Commons and the Big Businesses.

E

If U.S.software companies don't pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye.Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry.Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top U.S.quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country.

      Already, of the world's 12 software houses that have earned the highest rating in the world, seven are in India.That's largely because they have used new methods rejected by American software specialists.For example, for decades, quality specialists, W.Edwards Deming and J.M.Juran had urged U.S.software companies to change their attitudes to quality.But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the U.S -- but not in Japan.By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was grabbing market share with better, cheaper products.They used Deming's and Juran's ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs.In U.S.factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%.In software, it still is.

      Watts S.Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance.But his advice was seldom paid attention to.He retired from IBM in 1986.In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(evaluating) and improving software quality.It has proved its value time and again.For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60% of total software production costs.It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10%.

Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home.The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India.Let's hope that U.S.lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems.

72.What country has more highest-rating companies in the world than any other country has?

A.India.                  B.The US.             C.Brazil.                 D.Germany.

73.Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?

A.He is now still an IBM employer.B.He has worked for IBM for 37 years.   

C.India honors him highly.

D.The US pays much attention to his quality advice.

74.By what means did Japan grab its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?    

A.Its advertising was most successful.

B.Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality.

C.The US hardware industry was lagging behind

D.Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists.

75. What is the writer worrying about?

A.Many US software specialists are working for Japan.

B.The quality problem has become a worldwide problem.   

C.India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US.

D.The US will no longer be the first software player in the world

 (D)

Malaria, the world's most widespread parasitic(寄生虫引起的)disease, kills as many as three million people every year—almost all of whom are under five, very poor, and African. In most years, more than five hundred million cases of illness result from the disease, although exact numbers are difficult to assess because many people don't (or can't) seek care. It is not unusual for a family earning less than two hundred dollars a year to spend a quarter of its income on malaria treatment, and what they often get no longer works. In countries like Tanzania, Mozambique, and the Gambia, no family, village, hospital, or workplace can remain unaffected for long.

Malaria starts suddenly, with violent chills, which are soon followed by an intense fever and, often, headaches. As the parasites multiply, they take over the entire body. Malaria parasites live by eating the red blood cells they infect (感染). They can also attach themselves to blood vessels in the brain. If it doesn't kill you, malaria can happen again and again for years. The disease passed on to humans by female mosquitoes infected with one of four species of parasite. Together, the mosquito and the parasite are the most deadly couple in the history of the earth—and one of the most successful. Malaria has five thousand genes, and its ability to change rapidly to defend itself and resist new drugs has made it nearly impossible to control. Studies show that mosquitoes are passing on the virus more frequently, and there are more outbreaks in cities with large populations. Some of the disease's spread is due to global warming.

For decades, the first-choice treatment for malaria parasites in Africa has been chloroquine, a chemical which is very cheap and easy to make. Unfortunately, in most parts of the world, malaria parasites have become resistant to it. Successful alternatives that help prevent resistance are already available, but they have been in short supply and are very expensive. If these drugs should fail, nobody knows what would come next.

76. According to paragraph 1, many people don't seek care because _______.

A. they are too poor

B. it is unusual to seek care

C. they can remain unaffected for long

D. there are too many people suffering from the disease

77. People suffering from malaria _______.

A. have to kill female mosquitoes      B. have ability to defend parasites

C. have their red blood cells infected    D. have sudden fever, followed by chills

78. Which of the following may be the reason for the wide spread of the disease?

A. Its resistance to global warming.

B. Its ability to pass on the virus frequently.

C. Its outbreaks in cities with large populations.

D. Its ability to defend itself and resist new drugs.

79. It can be inferred from the passage that _______.            .

A. no drugs have been found to treat the disease

B. the alternative treatment is not easily available to most people

C. malaria has developed its ability to resist parasites

D. nobody knows what will be the drug to treat the disease

80. Which of the following questions has NOT been discussed in the passage?

A. How can we know one is suffering from malaria?

B. How many people are killed by malaria each year?

C. Why are there so many people suffering from malaria?

D. What has been done to keep people unaffected for long?

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