Jack Hitt Examines Why Amateurs Are the Job Creators
Forget Wall Street types—they don’t create jobs, not like startups and backyard inventors do. This American Life’s Jack Hitt, author of Bunch of Amateurs, says dorm-room innovators can save America.
After getting ticked that her dying computer battery required a tangle of plug s and wires, a 22-year-old college student named Meredith Perry decided she'd poke around the subject to find out why wireless hadn’t made the leap to electricity. It’s the classic amateur move, and the story feels vague ly familiar, right? Because you know where it’s going: this paleobiology student, who was interning at NASA not long ago, is now the CEO of uBeam, a company poise d to revolutionize life in the digital sphere.
But it’s the details of Perry’s success that make the story. Once seized with a desire to know why, in a world of remote control and Wi-Fi, we were still worrying about wires and adaptor bricks, she repaired to that authoritative source of inspiration: Wikipedia. Her investigations led one way or another but often to experts who told her that it was all too complicated and that the physics made it impossible.
Perry now gives TedxTalks about innovation and gumption, dissing the old guard’s boxed-in mentality. Turns out, those Wiki entries were enough for her to link two well-known technologies. Piezoelectricity is a form of power that is recharged through slight motion. So, Perry thought, forget about the difficulty of sending standard electricity through the air, why not send ultrasound waves—humans can’t hear or feel them—across a room to a piezoelectric battery?
Funding is now gathering behind uBeam. And should the startup deliver on this idea’s promise, next year we’ll all be toss ing out the name “Meredith Perry” the way we currently sling“Mark Zuckerberg.”
The emergence of new startups and the reappearance of the backyard (or dorm-room) inventor is no real mystery. The era of the amateur typically revives right around the time it’s declared by conventional wisdom to be over. Our time, people breezily insist, is too complicated, too confusing, too corporate, too professional, too specialized for there to be any real amateur pursuits. And then, one day, that no longer seems to be true. A “maker” movement arises and flourishes, and DIY shops and labs pop up across the country.
Economic slumps and burst bubbles also help. It might just be random chance that when David Packard tinkered in a Palo Alto garage with William Hewlett in 1938, it was the height of the Great Depression. That garage was recently designated a Registered National Landmark. Why? Because in a country of backyard inventors, that’s the location of a lot of American ingenuity.
It might also be more random chance that the two Steves, Jobs and Wozniak, holed up
in a Cupertino garage during the stagflationary mid-’70s until they emerged with the first modern desktop. But probably not. The economy matters. These days, the Internet seems almost to have sped up the process, so in the future it might be a few dorm rooms that become registered landmarks.
Meredith Perry, the Founder and CEO of uBeam, speaks at this year's TED Conference in Nashville.
An amateur revival is on the way, in part not just because the current generation is learning the hard way that necessity is the mother of invention, but also because that’s how it typically happens here. In recent years, Wall Street investors have managed to flatter themselves with talk of being “job creators” and “risk takers.” But that’s ridiculous. By their own admission, they’re in the exact opposite business. The entire phylum of what they do is called “hedging risk,” not diving into it. And the recent rise of the phrase “job creators” is a bit of Frank Luntz jibber jabber meant to neutralize a lot of populist talk about “the rich.”
Refusing to join in the general flattery of big money these days is itself the real risk. Ask Nick Hanauer, an Amazon investor. He’s the guy who gave a Ted Talk recently that was so controversial the Ted commissariat refused to post it online until public pressure forced them to relent. Hanauer had found the one idea that Ted was afraid to spread, because, as curator Chris Anderson explained, “it would be unquestionably regarded as out and out political.” Hanauer’s treachery was not that he ta lked about income inequality, his stated subject. The entire nation has been openly discussing that subject ever since the Occupy Wall Street dude walked into a public park. Here’s the real treason that dinged Hanauer as a Ted-sanctioned talker: “Rich busi nesspeople like me don’t create jobs.”
City rankings
Hong Kong's best
Jul 3rd 2012, 10:25 by A.B.
HONG KONG is the “best city” in the world, according to the winning entry in a competition devised by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) and BuzzData, a data-sharing company. Competitors were asked to combine data from the EIU's liveability ranking with data from other sources to create a new ranking. Filippo Lovato, an architect concerned with urban planning, did this to winning effect with his “Spatially Adjusted Liveability Index”. This added seven new indicators on “spatial adjustments” to the EIU's ranking. Mr Lovato assessed cities' green space, sprawl, natural assets, cultural assets, connectivity, isolation and pollution on a scale of 1 to 5, and then gave the resultant combined score 25% of the weight of his new index. The remaining 75% derives from the five categories that make up the EIU's ranking: stability, healthcare, culture and environment, education, and infrastructure.
Mr Lovato only examined 70 cities, rather than the 140 in the EIU's full ranking—he does have a day job after all—and in his efforts to choose the biggest and most geographically diverse places, he excluded the likes of Melbourne, Vancouver and Vienna, which occupy the top three slots in the main EIU table. Hong Kong, which comes 10th in the shortened, 70-strong liveability ranking, tops Mr Lovato's index thanks to particularly good scores for green space, (lack of) sprawl, natural assets and (lack of) isolation. Amsterdam comes second, six places higher than in the EIU table, thanks to good scores for connectivity (how easy is it to get to the rest of the world) and natural assets.
Mr Lovato's methodology can be seen here. For example, he uses proximity of UNESCO World Heritage Sites as a proxy for cultural assets. And he has decided that isolation is a bad thing for a city on the grounds that it
"negatively affects leisure opportunities and the possibilities of discovering different ways of life". So Shanghai scores the best possible "isolation" score and Stockholm the worst. I suspect these ideas won't meet with universal approval, though Hong Kongers may be more approving than most.
Sidney Harman, the 91-year-old founder of a stereo equipment company, has agreed to acquire Newsweek magazine from Washington Post Co.
Mr. Harman beat out three other final bidders, including investment firm OpenGate Capital and hedge fund Avenue Capital Group, for the 77-year-old magazine. Terms of the transaction weren't disclosed. However, little to no cash will change hands, people familiar with the matter said.
'Despite my years, I bring energy and a fresh approach,' Mr. Harman said. 'And I'm an experienced and knowledgeable businessman. I have a fundamental respect for the role of journalism and I think it has done no harm when you bring discipline to it.'
Like most magazines, Newsweek has suffered advertising losses as marketers cut back and turned to cheaper alternatives in digital media while its usefulness has been questioned in the era of Internet and cable news. Other bidders appeared better situated to manage costs. Investment firm OpenGate Capital already publishes TV Guide magazine while hedge fund Avenue Capital Group had a deal lined up with magazine publisher American Media Inc. to handle back-office functions like printing and advertising sales.
Post Co. showed that this was not a purely financial transaction by telling Avenue it was uncomfortable handing over Newsweek to a group that would include National Enquirer publisher AMI.
Mr. Harman has agreed to keep a 'majority' of Newsweek's more than 300 employees, said Post Co., which will assume pension and retirement obligations. Certain severance costs for people not retained by the new owner will also fall on Post Co., according to a person familiar with the transaction.
'In seeking a buyer for Newsweek, we wanted someone who feels as
strongly as we do about the importance of quality journalism,' said Post Co. Chairman Donald Graham in a statement.
One employee Newsweek won't keep is editor Jon Meacham, who told his staff Monday that he plans to resign.
Mr. Harman is absorbing an operation with total expenses expected to be about $180 million this year and has agreed to assume far more in liabilities than his nearest competitors, according to a person familiar with the matter. But it was his commitment to retain more employees that ultimately allowed him to prevail at the end of the three-month process.
2015考研英语阅读理解精读P18—医学 Passage 18(Doctor-assisted Suicide：Is It Ever an Option?) Should doctor-assisted suicide ever be a legal option? It involves the extreme measure of taking the life of a terminally ill patient when the patient is in extreme pain and the chances for recovery appear to be none.Those who argue against assisted suicide do so by considering the roles of the patient，the doctor，and nature in these situations. Should the patient take an active role in assisted suicide? When a patient is terminally ill and in great pain，those who oppose assisted suicide say that it should not be up to that patient to decide what his or her fate will be.There are greater powers at work that determine when a person dies，for example，nature.Neither science nor personal preference should take precedence over these larger forces. What role should the doctor have? Doctors，when taking the Hippocratic oath，swear to preserve life at all costs，and it is their ethical and legal duty to follow both the spirit and the letter of this oath.It is their responsibilities to heal the sick，and in the cases when healing is not possible，then the doctor is obliged to make the dying person comfortable.Doctors are trained never to hasten death.Those who oppose assisted suicide believe that doctors who do help terminally ill patients die are committing a crime，and they should be dealt with accordingly.Doctors are also，by virtue of their humanness，capable of making mistakes.Doctors could quite possibly say，for instance，that a cancer patient was terminal，and then the illness could later turn out not to be so serious.There is always an element of doubt concerning the future outcome of human affairs. The third perspective to consider when thinking about assisted suicide is the role of nature.Life is precious.Many people believe that it is not up to human beings to decide when to end their own or another’s life.Only nature determines when it is the right time for a person to die.To assist someone in suicide is not only to break criminal laws，but to break divine 1aws as well. These general concerns of those who oppose assisted suicide are valid in certain contexts of the assisted suicide question.For instance，patients cannot always be certain of their medical conditions.Pain clouds judgment，and so the patient should not be the sole arbiter of her or his own destiny.Patients do not usually choose the course of their medical treatment，so they shouldn’t be held completely responsible for decisions related to it.Doctors are also fallible，and it is understandable that they would not want to make the final decision about when death should occur.Since doctors are trained to prolong life，they usually do not elect to take it by prescribing assisted suicide. I believe that blindly opposing assisted suicide does no one a service.If someone is dying of
考研英语阅读理解模拟试题及答案(三) Passage 11 Dream is a story that a personwatchesor even takes part in during sleep. Dream events are imaginary, but they are related to real experiences and needs in the dreamer's life. They seem real while they are taking place. Some dreams are pleasant, others are annoying, and still others are frightening. Everyone dreams, but some persons never recall dreaming. Others remember only a little about a dream they had just before awakening and nothing about earlier dreams. No one recalls all his dreams. Dreams involve little logical thought. In most dreams, the dreamer cannot control what happens to him. The story may be confusing, and things happen that would not happen in real life. People see in most dreams, but they may also hear, smell, touch, and taste in their dreams. Most dreams occur in color. but persons who have been blind since birth do not see at all in dreams. Dreams are a product of the sleeper's mind. They
一．考研阅读的基本解题思路：（四步走） 第一，扫描提干，划关键项。 第二，通读全文，抓住中心。 1.通读全文，抓两个重点： ①首段（中心句、核心概念常在第一段，常在首段出题）； ②其他各段的段首和段尾句。（其他部分略读，有重点的读） 2.抓住中心，用一分半时间思考3个问题： ①文章叙述的主要内容是什么？ ②文章中有无提到核心概念？ ③作者的大致态度是什么？ 第三，仔细审题，返回原文。（仔细看题干，把每道题和原文的某处建立联系，挂起钩）定位原则： ①通常是由题干出发，使用寻找关键词定位原则。（关键词：大写字母、地名、时间、数字等） ②自然段定位原则。出题的顺序与行文的顺序是基本一致的，一般每段对应一题。 ★要树立定位意识，每一题、每一选项都要回到原文中某一处定位。 第四，重叠选项，得出答案。（重叠原文=对照原文） 1. 通过题干返回原文：判断四个选项，抓住选项中的关键词，把选项定位到原文的某处比较，重叠选项，选出答案。 2.作题练习要求：要有选一个答案的理由和其余三个不选的理由（高中的时候大家都这样做的） 二．阅读理解的解题技巧 1.例证题： ①例证题的标记。当题干中出现example, case, illustrate, illustration, exemplify 时。 ②返回原文，找出该例证所在的位置，既给该例子定位。 ③搜索该例证周围的区域，90%向上，10%向下，找出该例证支持的观点。例子周围具有概括抽象性的表达通常就是它的论点。 注意：举例的目的是为了支持论点或是为了说明主题句。举例后马上问这个例子说明了什么问题？不能用例子中的话来回答这个问题。 ④找出该论点，并与四个选项比较，得出选项中与该论点最一致的答案。 ⑤例证题错误答案设计的干扰特征经常是：就事论事。即用例子中的某一内容拉出来让你去选。 要求：在阅读中，遇到长的例子，立即给这个例子定位，即找出起始点，从哪开始到哪结束。 2.指代题： ①返回原文，找出出题的指代词。 ②向上搜索，找最近的名词、名词性短语或句子（先从最近点开始找，找不到再找次近的，一般答案不会离得太远）。 ③将找到的词、词组或句子的意思代入替换该指代词，看其意思是否通顺。 ④将找到的词、词组或句子与四个选项进行比较，找出最佳答案。 3. 词汇题：“搜索代入”法
Text1 Habits are a funny thing. We reach for them mindlessly, setting our brains on auto-pilot and relaxing into the unconscious comfort of familiar routine. “Not ch In but habit rules the unreflecting herd,” William Wordsworth said in the 19th century. the ever-changing 21st century, even the word “habit” carries a negative connotation. So it seems antithetical to talk about habits in the same context as creativity and innovation. 习惯是件有趣的事情。我们无意识间养成了一些习惯，我们的大脑是自动运 转的，轻松进入熟知套路所带来的不自觉舒适状态。“这并非选择，而是习惯控 制了那些没有思想的人”，这是威廉?华兹华斯（William Wordsworth）19世纪时 说的话。在现在这个日新月异的21世纪，甚至习惯这个词本身也带有负面涵义。 因此，在创造和革新的背景下来谈论习惯，似乎显得有点矛盾。 But brain researchers have discovered that when we consciously develop new habits, we create parallel synaptic paths, and even entirely new brain cells, that can jump our trains of thought onto new, innovative tracks. But don’t bother trying to kil off old habits; once those ruts of procedure are worn into the hippocampus, they there to stay. Instead, the new habits we deliberately ingrain into ourselves create parallel pathways that can bypass those old roads. 但大脑研究人员发现，当我们有意识地培养新的习惯的时候，我们创建了平 行路径，甚至是全新的脑细胞，可以让我们的思路跳转到新的创新轨道上来。但 是，不必费心试图摈弃各种旧习惯；一旦这些程序惯例融进大脑，它们就会留在 那里。相反，我们刻意培养的新习惯会创建平行路径能避开原来那些老路。 “The first thing needed for innovation is a fascination with wonder,” says D Markova, author of “The Open Mind” and an executive change consultant for Professional Thinking Partners. “But we are taught instead to ‘decide,’ just as decide is to kill off president calls himself ‘the Decider.’” She adds, however, that “to all possibilities but one. A good innovational thinker is always exploring the many other possibilities.” 大学英语
考研英语阅读理解精读100篇之经济类
考研英语阅读理解精读100篇之经济类 unit1 unit1 Some of the concerns surrounding Turkey’s application to join the European Union, to be voted on by the EU’s Council of Ministers on December 17th, are economic-in particular, the country’s relative poverty. Its GDP per head is less than a third of the average for the 15 pre-2004 members of the EU. But it is not far off that of one of the ten new members which joined on May 1st 2004 (Latvia), and it is much the same as those of two countries, Bulgaria and Romania, which this week concluded accession talks with the EU that could make them full members on January 1st 2007. Furthermore, the country’s recent economic progress has been, according to Donald Johnston, the secretary-general of the OECD, "stunning". GDP in the second quarter of the year was 13.4% higher than a year earlier, a rate of growth that no EU country comes close to matching. Turkey’s inflation rate has just fallen into single figures for the first time since 1972, and this week the country reached agreement with the IMF on a new three-year, $10 billion economic programme that will, according to the IMF’s managing director, Rodrigo Rato, "help Turkey... reduce inflation toward European levels, and enhance the economy’s resilience". Resilienc e has not historically been the country’s economic strong point. As recently as 2001, GDP fell by over 7%. It fell by more than 5% in 1994, and by
2020年考研英语阅读理解模拟试题：医学（4） It is a startling claim， but one that Congresswoman Deborah Pryce uses to good effects： the equivalent of two classrooms full of children are diagnosed with cancer every day. Mrs. Pryce lost her own 9-year-old daughter to cancer in 1999. Pediatric cancer remains a little-understood issue in America， where the health-care debate is consumed with the ills， pills and medical bills of the elderly. Cancer kills more children than any other disease in MERICA. 1） although there have been tremendous gains in cancer survival rates in recent decades， the proportion of children and teens diagnosed with different forms of the disease increased by almost a third between 1975 and 2001. 2） Grisly though these statistics are， they are still tiny when set beside the number of adult lives lost to breast cancer （41，000 each year） and lung cancer （164，000）。Adbocates foor more money for child cancer prefer to look at life-years lost， the average age for cancer diagnosis in a young child is six， while the average adult is diagnosed in their late 60s. Robert Arceci， a pediatric cancer export at Johns Hopkins， points out that in terms of total life-years saved， the benefit from curing pediatric cancer victims is roughly the same as curing adults with breast cancer. There is an obvious element of special pleading in such calculations， all the same， breast cancer has attracted a flurry of publicity， private fund-raising and money from government. Childhood cancer has received less attention and cash. Pediatric cancer， a term which covers people up to 20
考研英语：阅读理解精选练习 在考研英语的学习中，阅读理解占到60%的分值（包括阅读理解A、B、C三部分）。其重要性不言而喻。如何提高阅读理解得分能力，将是决战考研英语成败的关键一环。而想要有效提升阅读能力，唯有在实战演练中不断磨砺、体会并归纳总结做题的经验教训，才能有所成效。下面，就跟着都教授每天学一点，每天进步一点吧！ Consumers should celebrate that; the firms’losses are their gains. But there is a catch. Comparisonsites, whether for insurance or something else, introduce a new layer of costs,including their own splashy advertising campaigns. In theory, competition in the market for comparison sites ought to keep those costs down. But in a recentpaper, David Ronayne of Warwick University argues that consumers often lose outfrom comparison sites. They earn a commission for each shopper who uses them to buy insurance. That referral cost is incorporated into the price the consumer ends up paying. If the increased costs outweigh the saving the comparison enables, consumers end up worse off. 1. Why consumers often lose out from the comparison sites? (A) The referral cost will be increasedby splashy advertising campaigns. (B) Consumers may not earn the commissionwhen buying the insurance. (C) The new layer of costs may increasethe price of insurance. (D) The insurance company may spend moreon comparison sites. 题目解析： 1. Why consumers often lose out from the comparison sites? (A) The referral cost will be increased by splashy advertising campaigns. referral cost和splashy advertising campaigns之间是没有关系的（看译文你就知道了） (B) Consumers may not earn the commission when buying the insurance. 这个干扰项就是我从文中随便找了几个词拼凑在一起的。Commission你都不知道是什么就瞎选！ (C) The new layer of costs may increase the price of insurance. Comparison sites, whether for insurance or something else, introduce a new layer of costs. 这句话看的明白吧：新的成本是会加到保险价格上的，羊毛出在羊身上啊！ 正确答案C！！！） (D) The insurance company may spend more on comparison sites. 保险公司才没有花更多呢。 定位其实两个句子都是可以的： That referral cost is incorporated into the price the consumer ends up paying. Comparison sites, whether for insurance or something else, introduce a new layer of costs.
精心整理2011年考研英语(一)阅读真题全文翻译及答案（七绝俗手版） 2011-01-16 21-25CBDBA Text1 ThedecisionoftheNewYorkPhilharmonictohireAlanGilbertasitsnextmusicdirectorhasbeenthet alkoftheclassical-musicworldeversincethesuddenannouncementofhisappointmentin2009.Fort
hemostpart,theresponsehasbeenfavorable,tosaytheleast.“Hooray!Atlast!”wroteAnthonyTo mmasini,asober-sidedclassical-musiccritic。 2009年纽约交响乐团突然宣布聘用艾伦·吉尔伯特为下一位乐曲指挥，从那时起一直到现在，这次任命都成为古典音乐界的话题。退一步说，从总体上看，反应还是不错的。如冷静的古典音乐评论家安东尼·托姆西尼就这样写：从长时间来看，这次委命是英明的。 ,orbootupmycomputeranddownloadstillmorerecordedmusicfromiTunes。 就我的观点而言，我不知道吉尔伯特是不是一位伟大的指挥家，甚至连他是不是算好的指挥家也不敢确定。可以确信的是，虽然他演出了很多令人印象深刻的有趣的乐曲。然而，我不需要访问AveryFisherHall（可能是纽约交响乐团所在地，即吉尔伯特表演之所），或者其他地方才能听到有趣的管弦乐。（作者意思是，不需要听吉尔伯特，到处可以听到有趣的管弦乐。）我所做的，只需要到我的CD棚里去，随便打开我的电脑，从ITUNES上就可下载比那（当指吉尔伯特表演的）多得多的类似的音乐。
TEXT 2 He emerged, all of a sudden, in 1957: the most explosive new poetic talent of the English post-war era. Poetry specialised, at that moment, in the wry chronicling of the everyday. The poetry of Yorkshire-born Ted Hughes, first published in a book called “The Hawk in the Rain” when he was 27, was unlike anything written by his immediate predecessors. Driven by an almost Jacobean rhetoric, it had a visionary fervour. Its most eye-catching characteristic was Hughes's ability to get beneath the skins of animals: foxes, otters, pigs. These animals were the real thing all right, but they were also armorial devices—symbols of the countryside and lifeblood of the earth in which they were rooted. It gave his work a raw, primal stink. It was not only England that thought so either. Hughes's book was also published in America, where it won the Galbraith prize, a major literary award. But then, in 1963, Sylvia Plath, a young American poet whom he had first met at Cambridge University in 1956, and who became his wife in the summer of that year, committed suicide. Hughes was vilified for long after that, especially by feminists in America. In 1998, the year he died, Hughes broke his own self-imposed public silence about their relationship in a book of loose-weave poe ms called “Birthday Letters”.In this new and exhilarating collection of real letters, Hughes returns to the issue of his first wife's death, which he calls his “big and unmanageable event”. He felt his talent muffled by the perpetual eavesdropping upon his every move. Not until he decided to publish his own account of their relationship did the burden begin to lighten. The analysis is raw, pained and ruthlessly self-aware. For all the moral torment, the writing itself has the same rush and vigour that possessed Hughes's early poetry.
考研英语：阅读理解之八大考点 考生应能读懂选自各类书籍和报刊的不同类型的文字材料（生词量不超过所读材料总词汇量的3%），还应能读懂与本人学习或工作有关的文献资料、技术说明和产品介绍等。对所读材料，考生应能： 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 4篇（总长度约为1600词）文章的内容，从每题所给出的4个选项中选出最佳答案，共20小题，每小题2分，共40分 一、
1.提问方式： 1)直接提问(Main idea型) ?The text intends to express the idea that. . . ?We can draw a conclusion from the text that. . . ?What is the passage mainly about? ?The passage is mainly. ?From the passage we learn that. . . ?The passage is mainly about. . . ?he key point of the passage is that. . . ?This passage mainly deals with. . . ?The main point the author makes in the passage is. ?What does this passage mainly discuss? ?The general/ main/ central idea of the passage is. ?The passage is primarily concerned with. . . 2)给文章定标题 The best title for the text may be. . . Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?' A best title for the passage could be. A best title for the passage might be. This passage can be entitled. . . 3)提问写作目的( Purpose型) ?The article is written to explain. ?The purpose of the passage is. ?This passage is intended to… 2.解题技巧： 1) ①.重点读文章的首段开头部分，如果文章中有这样的主旨句， 那么再看四个选择项，如其中一项所含的信息同主旨句中的信息相似，该项即为正确答案 ②.重点读各段的开头和结尾，四个选项中能涵盖文章各段内容的一项， 就是正确答案
2015考研英语阅读理解精读P18—工学 类 Passage 18 Tennis hopeful Jamie Hunt, 16, felt he could not become a world-class junior player while attending a regular school. The international circuit has players on the road 50% of the time--and it's hard to focus on your backhand when you're worrying about being on time for homeroom. So last year Hunt, who hones his ground strokes at Elite TNT Tennis Academy in April Sound, Texas, enrolled for academics in the $9,750-a-year University of Miami Online High School (UMOHS), a virtual school that caters to athletes. "The online school gives me the flexibility I need," says Hunt. "The workload is the same, but I can do it anywhere. It's nicer to ask a question face-to-face with a teacher, but in some ways it prepares me better for college because I have to be more independent." A year ago, Hunt's world junior ranking was 886; now it's 108. Virtual high schools, which allow students to take classes via PC, have emerged as an increasingly popular education alternative, particularly for on-the-go athletes. UMOHS has more than 400 students enrolled, 65% of whom are athletes. Accredited by the 100-year-old Southern Association of Colleges and Schools, UMOHS offers honors and advanced-placement classes. All course material is online, along with assignments and due dates. For help, says principal Howard Liebman, "a student may e-mail, instant message or call the teacher." Dallas mom Lori Bannon turned to another online school, Laurel Springs in Ojai, Calif. Bannon, who has a medical degree from Harvard, didn't want to compromise the education of her daughter Lindsay, 13, an élite gymnast who spends eight hours a day in the gym. "Regular school was not an option," says Bannon, "but I wanted to make sure she could go back at grade level if she quit gymnastics." Laurel Springs' enrollment has increased 35% a year for the past four years, to 1,800 students. At least 25% are either athletes or child entertainers. Educators are split on the merits of such schools. Paul Orehovec, an enrollment officer for the University of Miami, admits, "I was somewhat of a skeptic. But when I looked into their programs and accreditation, I was excited. UMOHS is the first online school to be granted membership in the National Honor Society." Kevin Roy, Elite's director of education, sees pitfalls and potential in virtual schools. "You will never have that wonderful teacher who inspires you for life," says Roy. "But the virtual school offers endless possibilities. I don't know where education's imagination will take this." 注(1)：本文选自Time;11/29/2004, p149-149, 1/2p, 1c; 注(2)：本文习题命题模仿对象2004年真题text 4第1、2题(1、2)，text 1 第2 题(3)，text 3第5 题(5)和2000年真题text 4第4题(4); 1. What does Jamie Hunt get from the virtual school? [A] the ability to perfect his tennis skills [B] the time to do his school work
2014考研英语阅读冲刺练习模拟测试 及答案(3) Passage Those who welcomed the railway saw it as more than a rapid and comfortable means of passing. They actually saw it as afactor in world peace. They did not foresee that the railway would be just one more means for the rapid movement of aggressive armies. None of them foresaw that the more weare together-the more chances there are of war. Any boy or girl who is one of a large family knows that. Whenever any new invention is put forward, those for it and those against it can always find medical men to approve or condemn. The anti-railway group produced doctors who said that tunnels would be most dangerous to public health: they would produce colds, catarrhs (粘膜炎) and consumptions. The deafening noise and the glare of the engine fire, would have a bad effect on the nerves. Further, being moved through the air at a high speed would do grave injury to delicate lungs. In those with high blood-pressure, the movement of the train might produce apoplexy (中风). The sudden plunging of a train into the darkness of a tunnel, and the equally sudden rush into full daylight, would cause great damage to eyesight. But the pro-railway group was of course able to produce equally famous medical men to say just the opposite. They said that the speed and swing of the train would equalize the circulation, promote digestion, tranquilize the nerves, and ensure good sleep. The actual rolling-stock was anything but comfortable. If it was a test of endurance to sit for four hours outside a coach in rain, or inside in dirty air, the railway offered little more in the way of comfort. Certainly the first-class carriages had cushioned seats; but the second-class had only narrow bare boards, while the third-class had nothing at all; no seats and no roof; they were just open trucks. So that third-class passengers gained nothing from the few mode except speed. In the matter of comfort, indeed they lost; they did, on the coaches, have a seat, but now they had to stand all the way, which gave opportunities to the comic (滑