Should we allow modern buildings to be built next to older buildings in a historic area of a city? In order to answer this question, we must first examine     1     people really want to preserve the historic feel of an area. Not all historical buildings are attractive. However, there may be other reasons -- for example, economic reasons –    2     they should be preserved. So, let us assume that historical buildings are both attractive and important to the majority of people. What should we do then if a new building     3     (need)?

In my view, new architectural styles can exist perfectly well alongside an older style. Indeed, there are many examples in my own home town     4     modern designs have been placed very successfully next to old buildings.     5     the building in question is pleasing and does not dominate its surroundings too much, it often improves the attractiveness of the area.

It is true that there are examples of new buildings which     6     (spoil) the area they are in, but the same can be said of some old buildings too. Yet people still speak against new buildings in historic areas. I think this is simply     7     people are naturally conservative and do not like change.

Although we have to respect people’s feelings as fellow users of the buildings, I believe that it is the duty of the architect and planner     8     (move) things forward . If we always reproduced what was there before, we would all still be living in caves. Thus, I would argue     9     copying previous architectural styles and choose something fresh and different , even though that might be the     10     (risky) choice.

British cuisine(烹饪) has come of age in recent years as chefs combine the best of old and new. Why does British food have a(n)     11     for being so bad? Because it is bad! Those are not the most     12     words to hear just before eating lunch at one of the smartest British restaurants, but head chef Neil Tomes has more to say.

“The past 15 years or so have been a noticeable period of improvement for food in England,” the English chef says, citing the     13     in British cuisine towards better ingredients, preparation and cooking methods, and more     14     presentation. Chefs such as Delia Smith, Nigel Slater, Jamie Oliver and Gordon Ramsay made the public realize that cooking and eating didn’t have to be a boring thing. “It’s no longer the case that the common man in England is     15     to show he knows about food,” Tomes says.

There was plenty of room for improvement. The problems with the nation’s cuisine can be     16     back to the Second World War. Before the War, much of Britain’s food was imported and when German U-boats began attacking ships bringing food to the country, Britain went on rations (配给). “As rationing came to an end in the 1950s, technology picked up and was used to mass-produce food,” Tomes says. “And by then people were just happy to have a decent quantity of food in their kitchens.”

They weren’t looking for cured meats, organic produce or beautiful     17    ; they were looking for whatever they could get their hands on, and this     18     for quantity over quality prevailed for decades, meaning a generation was brought up with food that couldn’t     19     with neighboring France, Italy, Belgium or Spain.

Before star chefs such as Oliver began making cooking fashionable, it was hard to find a restaurant in London that was open after 9 p.m. But in recent years the capital’s culinary (烹饪的) scene has developed to the point that it is now confident of its ability to     20     the tastes of any international visitor.

Shanghai’s Metro operators are fed up with passengers eating food on the go and they want the practice gone. They’re responding to the ______ complaints made by other passengers who dislike the smell of food in the trains and the mess that’s often ______. Now, lawmakers are considering a ______ on all food and drink on the Metro that could ______ by the end of the year.

According to Ding Wei of the Shanghai government, 80 percent of people surveyed ______ the ban and he says, “It is necessary to ban eating and drinking on trains to ______ the smooth operation.” Ding admits, ______, that there is some opposition to the ban and some questions ______ how it could be enforced.

Should bottled water be banned? How about snacks for people who have low blood sugar and need to keep their blood sugar ______? Or, what about children eating their breakfast on the way to school? And what’s to be done with all those vending machines on the platforms which ______ eating by selling snacks and drinks?

These are questions that have to be dealt with, but subway systems in other cities have introduced eating bans ______. Singapore and Hong Kong are food free. Toronto has a ban against “pungent(刺鼻的)” foods on its system. And New York was pressed to introduce a ban after an infamous food fight in 2011. A woman was eating spaghetti on the train and when people complained of the mess and the smell, she started throwing the spaghetti at them! She was later ______ for causing a public disturbance.

As it stands now, the proposed law in Shanghai says first offenders will be given a warning and ______ offenders will be fined between 50 and 500 yuan.

Ultimately, though, the success of the ban will depend on people believing that it’s in their best ______, that riding on a clean, relatively odor free, subway is good for everyone and that selfish behavior won’t be tolerated. And is it really too much to ask hungry riders to curb their appetites until they arrive at their destination? It’s the Metro, ______, not a restaurant on wheels!

For most thinkers since the Greek philosophers, it was self-evident that there is something called human nature, something that constitutes the essence of man. There were various views about what constitutes it, but there was agreement that such an essence exists—that is to say, that there is something by virtue of which man is man. Thus man was defined as a rational being, as a social animal, an animal that can make tools, or a symbol-making animal.

More recently, this traditional view has begun to be questioned. One reason for this change was the increasing emphasis given to the historical approach to man. An examination of the history of humanity suggested that man in our time is so different from man in previous times that it seemed unrealistic to assume that men in every age have had in common something that can be called “human nature.” The historical approach was reinforced, particularly in the United States, by studies in the field of cultural anthropology (人类学). The study of primitive peoples has discovered such a diversity of customs, values, feelings, and thoughts that many anthropologists arrived at the concept that man is born as a blank sheet of paper on which each culture writes its text. Another factor contributing to the tendency to deny the assumption of a fixed human nature was that the concept has so often been abused as a shield behind which the most inhuman acts are committed. In the name of human nature, for example, Aristotle and most thinkers up to the eighteenth century defended slavery. Or in order to prove the rationality and necessity of the capitalist form of society, scholars have tried to make a case for acquisitiveness, competitiveness, and selfishness as natural human characters. Popularly, one refers cynically to “human nature” in accepting the inevitability of such undesirable human behavior as greed, murder, cheating and lying.

Another reason for skepticism about the concept of human nature probably lies in the influence of evolutionary thinking. Once man came to be seen as developing in the process of evolution, the idea of a substance which is contained in his essence seemed untenable(站不住脚). Yet I believe it is precisely from an evolutionary standpoint that we can expect new insight into the problem of the nature of man.

Our company, Eastern Energy, is here to help and provide you with personal advice on any matters connected with your bill or any other questions about your gas and electricity supply.

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Throughout the nineteenth century and into the twentieth, citizens of the United States maintained a bias against big cities. Most lived on farms and in small towns and believed cities to be centers of corruption, crime, poverty, and moral degradation. Their distrust was caused, in part, by a national ideology that proclaimed farming the greatest occupation and rural living superior to urban living. This attitude prevailed even as the number of urban dwellers increased and cities became an essential feature of the national landscape. Gradually, economic reality overcame ideology. Thousands abandoned the precarious life on the farm for more secure and better paying jobs in the city. But when these people migrated from the countryside, they carried their fears and suspicious with them. These new urbanities, already convinced that cities were overwhelmed with great problems, eagerly embraced the progressive reforms that promised to bring order out of the chaos of the city.

One of many reforms came in the area of public utilities. Water and sewerage systems were usually operated by municipal governments, but the gas and electric networks were privately owned. Reformers feared that the privately owned utility companies would charge excessive fees for these essential services and deliver them only to people who could afford them. Some city and state governments responded by regulating the utility companies, but a number of cities began to supply these services themselves. Proponents of these reforms argued that public ownership and regulation would insure widespread access to these utilities and guarantee a fair price.

While some reforms focused on government and public behavior, others looked at the cities as a whole. Civic leaders, convinced that physical environment influenced human behavior, argued that cities should develop master plans to guide their future growth and development. City planning was nothing new, but the rapid industrialization and urban growth of the late nineteenth century took place without any consideration for order. Urban renewal in the twentieth century followed several courses. Some cities introduced plans to completely rebuild the city core. Most other cities contented themselves with zoning plans for regulating future growth. Certain parts of town were restricted to residential use, while others were set aside for industrial or commercial development.