Conservation or Wasted Effort?
The black robin (旅鸫) is one of the world's rarest birds. It is a small, wild bird, and it lives only on the island of Little Mangere, off the coast of New Zealand. In 1967 there were about fifty black robins there; in 1977 there were fewer than ten.(46)
Energetic steps are being taken to preserve the black robin.(47) The idea is to buy another island nearby as a special home, a "reserve", for threatened wild life, including black robins. The organizers say that Little Mangere should then be restocked (重新准备) with the robin's food. Thousands of the required plants are at present being cultivated in New Zealand.
Is all this concern a waste of human effort? (48) Are we losing our sense of what is reasonable and what is unreasonable?
In the earth's long, long past hundreds of kinds of creatures have evolved, risen to a degree of success and died out. In the long, long future there will be many new and different forms of life. Those creatures that adapt themselves successfully to what the earth offers will survive for a long time.(49) This is nature's proven method of operation.
The rule of selection--"the survival of the fittest"--is the one by which human beings have themselves arrived on the scene. We, being one of the most adaptable creatures the earth has yet produced, may last longer than most. (50) You may take it as another rule that when, at last, human beings show signs of dying out, no other creature will extend a paw (爪) to postpone our departure. On the contrary, we will be hurried out.
Life seems to have grown too tough for black robins. I leave you to judge whether we should try to do anything about it.
A Some creatures, certain small animals, insects and birds, will almost certainly outlast (比…长久) man, for they seem even more adaptable.
B Those that fail to meet the challenges will disappear early.
C Detailed studies are going on, and a public appeal for money has been made.
D Both represent orders in the classification of life.
E Is it any business of ours whether the black robin survives or dies out?
F These are the only black robins left in the world.
答案：F C E B A
Should the U.S. halt human space flight?
The Columbia accident has revived the debate on whether the rewards of human space exploration are worth the risks No. I was a teacher when men first landed on the moon in 1969, and I remember how it moved my students and this country.(46) And we haven't ventured outward since then. That's 30 years too long! America's human space-flight program is adrift, with no clear vision or goals beyond the completion of the International Space Station.
I want NASA to establish a phased series of goals over the next 20 years, including human visits to asteroids that cross the Earth's orbit, establishing a research and living facility for humans on the moon, and human expeditions to the surface of. Mars and its moons. (47)
An astronaut is today's Christopher Columbus, who sailed into the unknown and discovered the Americas. The knowledge we gain from having actual people exploring can never be replaced by robots.(48) Robots are useful, but humans can do things that robots can't.www.zcyy8.com
The real obstacle we face in overcoming the drift in the nation's human space-flight program is not technological and it's not financial. (49)
The lesson from the Columbia accident is not that humans don't belong in space.
______(50)
A Instead, we should honor the memory of the lost astronauts by pushing our exploration of space future.
B Astronauts are key to this expanded exploration.
C It's the lack of commitment to get started.
D Until then, we should stop risking people's lives by sending them into space.
E It is now more than 30 years since the last American left the surface of the moon and returned to Earth.
F Our ability to send humans into space and have them return gives us amazing information about ourselves and our universe.
答案：E B F C A
Why Would They Falsely Confess?
Why on earth would an innocent person falsely confess to committing a crime? To most people, it just doesn't seem logical. But it is logical, say experts, if you understand what can happen in a police interrogation (审讯) room.
Under the right conditions, people's minds are susceptible (易受影响的) to influence, and the pressure put on suspects during police grillings (盘问) is enormous. (46) "The pressure is important to understand, because otherwise it's impossible to understand why someone would say he did something he didn't do. The answer is: to put an end to an uncomfortable situation that will continue until he does confess."
Developmental psychologist Allison Redlich recently conducted a laboratory study to determine how likely people are to confess to things they didn't do.(47) The researchers then intentionally crashed the computers and accused the participants of hitting the "alt" key to see if they would sign a statement falsely taking responsibility.
Redlich's findings clearly demonstrate how easy it can be to get people to falsely confess: 59 percent of the young adults in the experiment immediately confessed. (48) Of the 15- to 16-year-olds,72 percent signed confessions, as did 78 percent of the 12- to 13-year-olds.
"There's no question that young people are more at risk," says Saul Kassin, a psychology professor at Williams College, who has done similar studies with similar results. (49)
Both Kassin and Redlich note that the entire "interrogation" in their experiments consisted of a simple accusation--not hours of aggressive questioning--and still, most participants falsely confessed.
Because of the stress of a police interrogation, they conclude, suspects can become convinced that falsely confessing, is the easiest way out of a bad situation.(50)
A In her experiment, participants were seated at computers and told not to hit the "alt" key, because doing so would crash the systems.
B "In some ways," says Kassin, "false confession becomes a rational decision."
C "It's a little like somebody's working on them with a dental (牙齿的) drill," says Franklin 确Zimring, a law professor at the University of California at Berkeley.
D "But adults are highly vulnerable too."
E How could an innocent person admit to doing something he didn't do?
F Redlich also found that the younger the participant, the more likely a false confession.
答案：C A F D B
Public Relations
Public relations is a broad set of planned communications about the company, including publicity releases, designed to promote goodwill and a favorable image.
Publicity then is part of public relations when it is initiated by the firm, __(1)__. Since public relations involves communications with stockholders, financial analysts, government officials, and other noncustomer groups, it is usually placed outside the marketing department, perhaps as a staff department or outside consulting firm reporting to top management. This organizational placement can be a limitation because the public relations department or consultant will likely not be in tune with marketing efforts. Poor communication and no coordination may be the consequences. __(2)__, this influence generally may be less than that provided by the other components of the public image mix.
Publicity may be in the form of news releases ___(3)___. Publicity on the other hand should not be divorced from the marketing department, as it can provide a useful adjunct to the regular advertising. Furthermore, __(4)__; some can result from an unfavorable press as a reaction to certain actions or lack of actions that are controversial or even downright ill-advised.
The point we wish to emphasize is that a firm is deluding itself if it thinks its public relations function, whether within the company or an outside firm, can take care of public image problems and opportunities. Many factors impact on the public image. Many of these have to do with the way the firm does business, __ (5)__. Public relations and directed publicity may help highlight favorable newsworthy events, and may even succeed in toning down the worst of unfavorable publicity, but the other components of the public image mix create more lasting impressions.
EXERCISE
A) that have favorable overtones for the company initiated by the public relations department
B) not all publicity is initiated by the firm
C) usually in the form of press releases or press conferences
D) such as its product quality, the servicing and handling of complaints, and the tenor of the advertising
E) what it means to the company is
F) Although the basic purpose of public relations is to provide positive influence on the public image
KEY: C F A B D