1 . The Occupy Wall Street protest movement has raised serious questions about the role of capitalist institutions, particularly corporations in American society. Well before the first protester set foot in Zucotti Park, a heckler(扰乱分子) urged Mitt Romney to tax corporations rather than people. Romney’s response-- “Corporations are people” stirred a brief but intense controversy. Now thousands of demonstrators have in effect joined the heckler, denouncing(抨击) corporations as “enemies of the people.”
Far more important than questions about what corporations are is the question of what attitude we should have toward them. Should we, as corporate public relations statements often suggest, think of them as friends (if we buy and are satisfied with their products) or as family (if we work for them)? Does it make sense to be loyal to a corporation as either a customer or as an employee？More generally, even granted that corporations are not fully persons in the way that individuals are, do they have some important moral standing in our society？
My answer to all these questions is no, because corporations have no core dedication to fundamental human values. Such corporations exist as instruments of profit for their shareholders. In fact, left to themselves, they can be serious threats to human values that conflict with the goal of corporate profit. Corporations are a particular threat to truth, a value essential in a democracy, which places a premium on the informed decisions of individual citizens. The corporate threat is most apparent in advertising, which explicitly aims at convincing us to prefer a product regardless of its actual merit. Their defining goal is to generate profit. There are cases when telling the truth is the best means to advance corporate profits. In 1982, when seven people in Chicago died from poisoned Tylenol, Johnson & Johnson appealed to its credo, which makes concern for its customers primary corporate goal，and told the entire truth about what had happened. This honesty turned a potential public-relations disaster into a triumph. But Johnson & Johnson’s impressive corporate credo ends by saying, “Our final responsibility is to our stockholders and must make solid profit. The credo is unclear about what happens when there is a conflict between responsible action and long-term profit.
None of this means that corporations are evil or that socialism should replace the free-enterprise system. As Michel Foucault said of all power structures, it’s not that corporations are bad but that they are dangerous. The self-serving corporate speech that fills our media and halls of government is particularly dangerous for our democracy. At least for this reason, the Occupy Wall Street protesters are right to distrust corporations.
1. Mitt Romney most probably believes that ___________.| A．individuals should pay more taxes than corporations |
| B．corporations should not be forced to pay more taxes |
| C．people should care more about corporations’ development |
| D．corporations should enjoy all the legal rights as people do |
| A．should be set as moral examples of the society |
| B．take employees’ faithfulness as part of their goals |
| C．contribute little to the most essential human values |
| D．are actually means by which people share profits |
| A．corporations always make profits at the expense of people’s health |
| B．customers should always keep an eye on the quality of any product |
| C．corporations take economic profit as their priority essentially |
| D．corporation profit is always in contradiction with customer interests |
| A．Corporations, People and Truth |
| B．Corporations Are Different from People |
| C．Corporations Are Untrustworthy |
| D．The Occupy Wall Street Protest |
2 . In a recent series of experiments at the University of California, researchers studied toddlers’ thinking about winners and losers, bullies (欺凌) and victims.
In the first experiment, toddlers (学步儿童) watched a scene in which two puppets (木偶) had conflicting goals: One was crossing a stage from right to left, and the other from left to right. The puppets met in the middle and stopped. Eventually one puppet bowed down and moved aside, letting the other one pass by. Then researchers asked the toddlers which puppet they liked. The result: 20 out of 23 toddlers picked the higher-status puppet — the one that did not bow or move aside. It seems that individuals can gain status for being dominant (占优势的) and toddlers like winners better than losers.
But then researchers had another question: Do toddlers like winners no matter how they win? So, researchers did another experiment very similar to the one described above. But this time, the conflict ended because one puppet knocked the other down and out of the way. Now when the toddlers were asked who they liked, the results were different: Only 4 out of 23 children liked the winner.
These data suggest that children already love a winner by the age of 21-31 months. This does not necessarily mean that the preference is inborn: 21 months is enough time to learn a lot of things. But if a preference for winners is something we learn, we appear to learn it quite early.
Even more interesting, the preference for winners is not absolute. Children in our study did not like a winner who knocked a competitor down. This suggests that already by the age of 21-31 months, children’s liking for winners is balanced with other social concerns, including perhaps a general preference for nice or helpful people over aggressive ones.
In a time when the news is full of stories of public figures who celebrate winning at all costs, these results give us much confidence. Humans understand dominance, but we also expect strong individuals to guide, protect and help others. This feels like good news.
1. One of the purposes of the experiments is to ________.| A．teach toddlers how to gain higher status |
| B．offer toddlers a chance to watch a scene |
| C．observe the process of toddlers’ solving a conflict |
| D．find out toddlers’ attitude toward winners and losers |
| A．obeying rules |
| B．gaining status |
| C．giving in to the other |
| D．showing good manners |
| A．They are excellent learners. |
| B．They are always changeable. |
| C．They show mercy to the loser. |
| D．They value kindness over winning. |
| A．Disappointing. | B．Encouraging. |
| C．Unexpected. | D．Controversial. |
Innocence is such a precious gift. It’s explained as freedom from guilt or wrong doing. Just imagine never having to worry about anything and having a guilt free mind. Some people wish to save this kind of innocence from being lost from childhood to adulthood.
What would the world be like if innocence were never lost? One way it would benefit humanity is the lack of hatred （仇恨）among the world. During youth, there may be an occasional argument, even a little physical fight, but nothing like firing a handgun at a fellow human being. And children are blind towards the racial differences of others. A kid will hang out with any other kid. It is the lack of innocence and the ignorance we learn from adults that influence children otherwise. Another benefit is the constant desire for fun and adventure. With very little if any time at all for fun，the adventurous mind is lost in time with the responsibilities placed upon adults. If innocence were kept alive, these ambitions would never depart from our lives.
However, other people actually hate the idea of innocence lasting for ever. They feel that the lack of organization and mental power of those with innocence would cause extremely destructive consequences to society in general. A large number of individuals would never have the urge to learn, work, and act upon the necessary needs for humanity to survive. Without a proper education which is usually provided by those who no longer live in a world of innocence, people would not have the desire to succeed, get a good job in life, or provide income for their families, which would hurt the lives of children.
The lack of a good education and career would also harm the economy. As long as innocence is kept alive, no one would be terribly angered at the lack of effort people put out in the workplace, resulting in a strong decline in production and quality of needed goods.
Maybe it is wrong in wanting to save innocence. It sure is a nice thought, though. Perhaps innocence was meant to be lost. It was God’s will to make things the way they are, and there is a good purpose for everything. All that remains to be said about innocence is to enjoy it while it lasts.
1. Author believes that the loss of innocence in adulthood should be _____.| A．avoided | B．ignored |
| C．accepted | D．encouraged |
| A．proper education would be provided |
| B．there would be no racial discrimination |
| C．more happy families would be guaranteed |
| D．people would realize their childhood dreams |
| A．motivational will |
| B．mental ability |
| C．adventurous ambitions |
| D．needed goods |
CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点) C: Conclusion
A． | B． |
C． | D． |
Then a visitor showed up. “Do you want to write a song?” asked Anita Kruse, 49, rolling a cart equipped with an electronic keyboard, a microphone and speakers. Simran stared. “Have you ever written a poem?” Anita Kruse continued. “Well, yes,” Simran said.
Within minutes, Simran was reading her poem into the microphone. “Some bird soaring through the sky,” she said softly. “Imagination in its head…” Anita Kruse added piano music, a few warbling (鸣, 唱) birds, and finally the girl’s voice. Thirty minutes later, she presented Simran with a CD of her first recorded song.
That was the beginning of Anita Kruse’s project, Purple Songs Can Fly, one that has helped more than 125 young patients write and record songs. As a composer and pianist who had performed at the hospital, Kruse said that the idea of how she could help “came in one flash”.
The effect on the kids has been great. One teenage girl, curling (蜷缩) in pain in her wheelchair, stood unaided to dance to a hip-hop song she had written. A 12-year-old boy with Hodgkin’s disease who rarely spoke surprised his doctors with a song he called I Can Make It.
“My time with the kids is heartbreaking because of the severity of their illnesses,” says Anita Kruse. “But they also make you happy, when the children are smiling, excited to share their CD with their families.”
Simran is now an active sixth grader and cancer-free. From time to time, she and her mother listen to her song, Always Remembering, and they always remember the “really sweet and nice and loving” lady who gave them a shining moment in the dark hour.
1. Simran Jatar lay in bed in hospital because ________.
| A．most of her hair had fallen out |
| B．she was receiving treatment for cancer |
| C．she felt depressed and quit from school |
| D．she was suffering from a pain in her back |
| A．It helps young patients record songs. |
| B．It is supported by singers and patients. |
| C．It aims to replace the medical treatment. |
| D．It offers patients chances to realize their dreams. |
| A．Most children are naturally fond of music. |
| B．He was brave enough to put up performance. |
| C．The project has positive effect on young patients. |
| D．Singing is the best way to treat some illnesses. |
| A．Purple Songs Can Fly |
| B．Singing Can Improve Health |
| C．A Shining Moment in Life |
| D．A Kind Woman—Anita Kruse |
