考研英语二名师预测卷1

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.10选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.7选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.9选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.11选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 old misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.2选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 old misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.6选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.8选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 old misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.5选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.3选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.20选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.16选？

When George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer,is spotted outside Westminster,he is very often making an appearance on a building site,wearing a fluorescent safety jacket.It was no surprise to hear him claim once again,in his budget speech on March 19th,that"We're getting Britain building".Sadly,given the huge exlenl of Britain's housing shortage,the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much.The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy,a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes.Mr Osbome also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet,a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary,and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London.By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock,Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly,especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased.Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020,the Treasury cltums,though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash.Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending io smaU house builders-who have sLruggled to get financing in recent years which ought to have a similar effect.The new town is more advencurous.Ebbsfleei.where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007,has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years.Few have been built,mosdy because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops.public transport or infrastructure.The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site.That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built.A sinular interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates.Many of these,such as the Aylesbury Estate in SouLhwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets,are crummbling.By increasing the density on the sites,and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built,it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstniclion.Bui counciLs have been short of money to do much themselves,and private developers extract high retums in exchange for putting up capital.With central-govemment money,those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.

Ceorge Osbome's housing proposal seems to be ineffective because of_____

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.19选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.17选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.15选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.13选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.12选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1 for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.14选？

Wanen Buffett,who will host Berkshire Hathaway's annual shareholders'meeting on May 3rd,is an icon of American capitalism.At 83,he also epitomhes a sLriking demographic 1:for highly skilled people to go on working well int0 2 was once thought to be old age.Across the rich world,well-educated people 3 work longer than the less-skilled.Some 65%of American men aged 62-74 with a professional deUee are in the 4,compared with 3290 0f men with only a high-school certificate.In the European Union Lhe pattern is similar.This 5 is part of a deepening divide between the well-educated 6 and the unskiUed poor that is slicing 7 all age groups.Rapid innovation has raised the incomes of the highly skilled while 8 those of the unskilled.Those 8t the cop are working longer hours each year than those at the bottom.9 the well-qualified are extending their working lives,compared with those ofless-educated people.The 10,for indrviduals and society,are profound.The world is on the 11 rise in the number of old people,and they will live longer than ever before.12 the next 20 years the global population of those aged 65 or more will almost double,from 600m to 1.1 billion.The 13 of the 20th century,when greater longevity translated into more years in retirement 14 more years at work,has persuaded many observers that this shift will 15 slower economic growth and"secular stagnation",while the 16 ranks of pensioners will bust government budgets.But the notion of a sharp division between the working young and the 17 0ld misses a new trend,the 18 gap between the skilled and the unskilled.Employment rates are falling among younger unskiUed people,19 0lder skilled folk are working longer.The divide is most extreme in America,where well-educated baby-boomers are 20 retirement while many less-skilled youn-ger people have dropped out of the workforce.18选？

When George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer,is spotted outside Westminster,he is very often making an appearance on a building site,wearing a fluorescent safety jacket.It was no surprise to hear him claim once again,in his budget speech on March 19th,that"We're getting Britain building".Sadly,given the huge exlenl of Britain's housing shortage,the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much.The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy,a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes.Mr Osbome also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet,a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary,and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London.By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock,Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly,especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased.Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020,the Treasury cltums,though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash.Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending io smaU house builders-who have sLruggled to get financing in recent years which ought to have a similar effect.The new town is more advencurous.Ebbsfleei.where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007,has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years.Few have been built,mosdy because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops.public transport or infrastructure.The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site.That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built.A sinular interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates.Many of these,such as the Aylesbury Estate in SouLhwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets,are crummbling.By increasing the density on the sites,and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built,it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstniclion.Bui counciLs have been short of money to do much themselves,and private developers extract high retums in exchange for putting up capital.With central-govemment money,those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.

In retum for investing in estate reconstruction,private developers need_____

Text 2 Tropical rain pounds on the roof of a cavernous warehouse near Jakarta,Indonesia's capital.Inside,youngsters in orange T-shirts haul around clothes,luggage and electrical goods for Lazada,an ecommerce finn,which has just moved in.The 12,000 square metre space is three times the size of the old one,but it already looks full.Three years ago Lazada's entire stock filled a storeroom the size of a studio flat,recalls Magnus Ekbom,its twenty-something boss in Indonesia.Internet shopping accounts for less than l%of all purchases in South-East Asia-a region twice as populous as America,where the proporlion is nearly 10%.But surging smartphone use and a broadening middle class mean the market is set to multiply:perhaps five fold by 2018,reckons Frost&Sullivan,a consulting firm.Since it launched in 2012 Lazada has laid claim to six South-East Asian countries,largely unchallenged by e-commerce giants such as Amazon of the United States,Alibaba of China and Rakuten of Japan.It may soon have to fight them for its tenitory.Lazada was created by Rocket Internet,a Berlin-based investor that helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets.Rocket still holds a 24%stake,though Lazada has now raised more than$600m from inveslors including Tesco,a Bntish grocer,and Temasek,a Singaporean sover-eign-wealth fund.These deals appear to value it at about$1.3 billion,which could well make it South-East Asia's dearesl technology firm.Like other Rocket companies,Lazada is run by a group of young European emigranLs,plucked from finance and consuhing.It seems ready to stomach years oflosses.In the first half of 2014-Lhe only recent period for which results are available-it lost$50m before interest and tax,on revenues of$60m.Again like other Rocket comparues,its critics say it is just a copycat,in this case a mere clone of Amazon.Lazada's bosses say such charges underestimate the sophistication and ambition required to succeed in places such as Thailand,Indonesia,the Philippines and Vietnam.Online marketing is trickier there than in America or Europe,because locals use a much wider variety of search and social-media sites.The region's diversity means constant adjustment of online portals to suit local languages and cultures.It also means batding a hotch potch of customs rules.

Which of the following is true about Rocket Internet?

When George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer,is spotted outside Westminster,he is very often making an appearance on a building site,wearing a fluorescent safety jacket.It was no surprise to hear him claim once again,in his budget speech on March 19th,that"We're getting Britain building".Sadly,given the huge exlenl of Britain's housing shortage,the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much.The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy,a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes.Mr Osbome also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet,a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary,and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London.By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock,Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly,especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased.Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020,the Treasury cltums,though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash.Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending io smaU house builders-who have sLruggled to get financing in recent years which ought to have a similar effect.The new town is more advencurous.Ebbsfleei.where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007,has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years.Few have been built,mosdy because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops.public transport or infrastructure.The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site.That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built.A sinular interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates.Many of these,such as the Aylesbury Estate in SouLhwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets,are crummbling.By increasing the density on the sites,and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built,it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstniclion.Bui counciLs have been short of money to do much themselves,and private developers extract high retums in exchange for putting up capital.With central-govemment money,those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.

According to Paragraph 2.Help to Buy is a project designed to_____

Text 2 Tropical rain pounds on the roof of a cavernous warehouse near Jakarta,Indonesia's capital.Inside,youngsters in orange T-shirts haul around clothes,luggage and electrical goods for Lazada,an ecommerce finn,which has just moved in.The 12,000 square metre space is three times the size of the old one,but it already looks full.Three years ago Lazada's entire stock filled a storeroom the size of a studio flat,recalls Magnus Ekbom,its twenty-something boss in Indonesia.Internet shopping accounts for less than l%of all purchases in South-East Asia-a region twice as populous as America,where the proporlion is nearly 10%.But surging smartphone use and a broadening middle class mean the market is set to multiply:perhaps five fold by 2018,reckons Frost&Sullivan,a consulting firm.Since it launched in 2012 Lazada has laid claim to six South-East Asian countries,largely unchallenged by e-commerce giants such as Amazon of the United States,Alibaba of China and Rakuten of Japan.It may soon have to fight them for its tenitory.Lazada was created by Rocket Internet,a Berlin-based investor that helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets.Rocket still holds a 24%stake,though Lazada has now raised more than$600m from inveslors including Tesco,a Bntish grocer,and Temasek,a Singaporean sover-eign-wealth fund.These deals appear to value it at about$1.3 billion,which could well make it South-East Asia's dearesl technology firm.Like other Rocket companies,Lazada is run by a group of young European emigranLs,plucked from finance and consuhing.It seems ready to stomach years oflosses.In the first half of 2014-Lhe only recent period for which results are available-it lost$50m before interest and tax,on revenues of$60m.Again like other Rocket comparues,its critics say it is just a copycat,in this case a mere clone of Amazon.Lazada's bosses say such charges underestimate the sophistication and ambition required to succeed in places such as Thailand,Indonesia,the Philippines and Vietnam.Online marketing is trickier there than in America or Europe,because locals use a much wider variety of search and social-media sites.The region's diversity means constant adjustment of online portals to suit local languages and cultures.It also means batding a hotch potch of customs rules.

According to Frost&Sullivan,online shopping market in Southeast Asia may_____

When George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer,is spotted outside Westminster,he is very often making an appearance on a building site,wearing a fluorescent safety jacket.It was no surprise to hear him claim once again,in his budget speech on March 19th,that"We're getting Britain building".Sadly,given the huge exlenl of Britain's housing shortage,the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much.The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy,a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes.Mr Osbome also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet,a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary,and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London.By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock,Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly,especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased.Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020,the Treasury cltums,though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash.Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending io smaU house builders-who have sLruggled to get financing in recent years which ought to have a similar effect.The new town is more advencurous.Ebbsfleei.where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007,has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years.Few have been built,mosdy because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops.public transport or infrastructure.The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site.That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built.A sinular interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates.Many of these,such as the Aylesbury Estate in SouLhwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets,are crummbling.By increasing the density on the sites,and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built,it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstniclion.Bui counciLs have been short of money to do much themselves,and private developers extract high retums in exchange for putting up capital.With central-govemment money,those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.

Ebbsfleet is mentioned in the text to show____

Text 3 Olivia Pedersen thought the Nissan Leaf parked outside her favourite lunch spot near Emory University,must be hers.But she could not open the door.Nor could she open the door of the identical Leaf behind it.Cautiously,she tried the third Leaf in line and happily drove away.More than 14,000 electric vehicles are now registered in Georgia;California is Lhe only state with more.But the juicy state incentives for buying ihem are coming under aUack.Residents can claim an income-tax credit for 20%of the cost of leasing or purchasing an electric vehicle,up to$5,000.Combined with a possible federal tax incentive worth$7,500,savvy Georgians are driving all the way to the bank in nearly-free electric cars.Nissan sells more of its Leaf models in Adanta than in any other city,according to Don Francis from Georgia,which promotes the use of cars like these.Such trends motivated Chuck Martin,a representative in Georgia's House,to sponsor a bill to end state incentives for electric vehicles.He argues that the income-tax credit costs too much-about$13.6m in 2013-and that only urban types benefit from these sorts of cars.Mr Martin's bill was voted down in committee in February,but seems to be still breathing.Another House bill,mostly to finance transport projects,would reduce the credits;it is now before the Senate.Fans of electric vehicles say Ceorgia now leads the country in clean transport.Local power companies have helped by offering off-peak prices of l.3 cents per kilowatt hour for charging the cars at night.And the sales tax levied on this power stays in the state,whereas cash spent on petrol largely goes elsewhere,says Jeff Cohen,founder of the Atlanta Electric Vehicle Development Coalition.Cutting the credits alLogether might also harm Georgia in other ways.A study by Keybridge Public Policy Economics,a consultancy,says the stale could lose$252m by 2030 if they disap-pear and people buy gas-guzzlers instead.That is because drivers will spend$714m on petrol to get around（in contrast with the$261m they would have paid in electricity bills）,and will no longer fritter away their savings from the federal electric-vehicle tax crediL in Georgia's shops.But the state's incentives may be safe in the legislature after all;the president of the Senate drives an electric car himself.

According to Paragraph l,Georgia may______

Text 2 Tropical rain pounds on the roof of a cavernous warehouse near Jakarta,Indonesia's capital.Inside,youngsters in orange T-shirts haul around clothes,luggage and electrical goods for Lazada,an ecommerce finn,which has just moved in.The 12,000 square metre space is three times the size of the old one,but it already looks full.Three years ago Lazada's entire stock filled a storeroom the size of a studio flat,recalls Magnus Ekbom,its twenty-something boss in Indonesia.Internet shopping accounts for less than l%of all purchases in South-East Asia-a region twice as populous as America,where the proporlion is nearly 10%.But surging smartphone use and a broadening middle class mean the market is set to multiply:perhaps five fold by 2018,reckons Frost&Sullivan,a consulting firm.Since it launched in 2012 Lazada has laid claim to six South-East Asian countries,largely unchallenged by e-commerce giants such as Amazon of the United States,Alibaba of China and Rakuten of Japan.It may soon have to fight them for its tenitory.Lazada was created by Rocket Internet,a Berlin-based investor that helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets.Rocket still holds a 24%stake,though Lazada has now raised more than$600m from inveslors including Tesco,a Bntish grocer,and Temasek,a Singaporean sover-eign-wealth fund.These deals appear to value it at about$1.3 billion,which could well make it South-East Asia's dearesl technology firm.Like other Rocket companies,Lazada is run by a group of young European emigranLs,plucked from finance and consuhing.It seems ready to stomach years oflosses.In the first half of 2014-Lhe only recent period for which results are available-it lost$50m before interest and tax,on revenues of$60m.Again like other Rocket comparues,its critics say it is just a copycat,in this case a mere clone of Amazon.Lazada's bosses say such charges underestimate the sophistication and ambition required to succeed in places such as Thailand,Indonesia,the Philippines and Vietnam.Online marketing is trickier there than in America or Europe,because locals use a much wider variety of search and social-media sites.The region's diversity means constant adjustment of online portals to suit local languages and cultures.It also means batding a hotch potch of customs rules.

Lazada's bosses argue Lhat to survive in Southeast Asia market,one needs to be______

Text 2 Tropical rain pounds on the roof of a cavernous warehouse near Jakarta,Indonesia's capital.Inside,youngsters in orange T-shirts haul around clothes,luggage and electrical goods for Lazada,an ecommerce finn,which has just moved in.The 12,000 square metre space is three times the size of the old one,but it already looks full.Three years ago Lazada's entire stock filled a storeroom the size of a studio flat,recalls Magnus Ekbom,its twenty-something boss in Indonesia.Internet shopping accounts for less than l%of all purchases in South-East Asia-a region twice as populous as America,where the proporlion is nearly 10%.But surging smartphone use and a broadening middle class mean the market is set to multiply:perhaps five fold by 2018,reckons Frost&Sullivan,a consulting firm.Since it launched in 2012 Lazada has laid claim to six South-East Asian countries,largely unchallenged by e-commerce giants such as Amazon of the United States,Alibaba of China and Rakuten of Japan.It may soon have to fight them for its tenitory.Lazada was created by Rocket Internet,a Berlin-based investor that helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets.Rocket still holds a 24%stake,though Lazada has now raised more than$600m from inveslors including Tesco,a Bntish grocer,and Temasek,a Singaporean sover-eign-wealth fund.These deals appear to value it at about$1.3 billion,which could well make it South-East Asia's dearesl technology firm.Like other Rocket companies,Lazada is run by a group of young European emigranLs,plucked from finance and consuhing.It seems ready to stomach years oflosses.In the first half of 2014-Lhe only recent period for which results are available-it lost$50m before interest and tax,on revenues of$60m.Again like other Rocket comparues,its critics say it is just a copycat,in this case a mere clone of Amazon.Lazada's bosses say such charges underestimate the sophistication and ambition required to succeed in places such as Thailand,Indonesia,the Philippines and Vietnam.Online marketing is trickier there than in America or Europe,because locals use a much wider variety of search and social-media sites.The region's diversity means constant adjustment of online portals to suit local languages and cultures.It also means batding a hotch potch of customs rules.

We can learn from Paragraph I that______

When George Osbome,Chancellor of the Exchequer,is spotted outside Westminster,he is very often making an appearance on a building site,wearing a fluorescent safety jacket.It was no surprise to hear him claim once again,in his budget speech on March 19th,that"We're getting Britain building".Sadly,given the huge exlenl of Britain's housing shortage,the chancellor's proposed interventions do not add up to much.The biggest announcement was that the government will extend Help to Buy,a scheme that guarantees mortgages for people purchasing newly built homes.Mr Osbome also hopes to build a new town at Ebbsfleet,a patch of post-industrial land in the Thames estuary,and promises to speed up the redevelopment of several rotting 1960s and 1970s social housing estates in London.By making it easier for house builders to shift their stock,Help to Buy has probably helped boost building slightly,especially in northern cities where construction had all but ceased.Extending the programme will boost Britain's housing stock by 120,000 by 2020,the Treasury cltums,though it will also expose taxpayers to any future house-price crash.Mr Osborne also announced a new fund to support lending io smaU house builders-who have sLruggled to get financing in recent years which ought to have a similar effect.The new town is more advencurous.Ebbsfleei.where a high-speed rail link to London opened in 2007,has had plans for new homes for almost 20 years.Few have been built,mosdy because the site is a partially flooded quarry with little in the way of shops.public transport or infrastructure.The government's new idea is to create a development corporation with control over planning and the ability to borrow to clean up and prepare the site.That was how post-war new towns such as Milton Keynes and Stevenage were built.A sinular interventionism is visible in the plan to rebuild 1960s estates.Many of these,such as the Aylesbury Estate in SouLhwark and Robin Hood Gardens in Tower Hamlets,are crummbling.By increasing the density on the sites,and using the proceeds of selling the extra houses built,it ought to be possible to cover the cost of reconstniclion.Bui counciLs have been short of money to do much themselves,and private developers extract high retums in exchange for putting up capital.With central-govemment money,those projects ought to move quicker and councils ought to get more for their land.

We can learn from Paragraph 3 that extending Help to Buy_____

Text 2 Tropical rain pounds on the roof of a cavernous warehouse near Jakarta,Indonesia's capital.Inside,youngsters in orange T-shirts haul around clothes,luggage and electrical goods for Lazada,an ecommerce finn,which has just moved in.The 12,000 square metre space is three times the size of the old one,but it already looks full.Three years ago Lazada's entire stock filled a storeroom the size of a studio flat,recalls Magnus Ekbom,its twenty-something boss in Indonesia.Internet shopping accounts for less than l%of all purchases in South-East Asia-a region twice as populous as America,where the proporlion is nearly 10%.But surging smartphone use and a broadening middle class mean the market is set to multiply:perhaps five fold by 2018,reckons Frost&Sullivan,a consulting firm.Since it launched in 2012 Lazada has laid claim to six South-East Asian countries,largely unchallenged by e-commerce giants such as Amazon of the United States,Alibaba of China and Rakuten of Japan.It may soon have to fight them for its tenitory.Lazada was created by Rocket Internet,a Berlin-based investor that helps out startups designed to dominate emerging markets.Rocket still holds a 24%stake,though Lazada has now raised more than$600m from inveslors including Tesco,a Bntish grocer,and Temasek,a Singaporean sover-eign-wealth fund.These deals appear to value it at about$1.3 billion,which could well make it South-East Asia's dearesl technology firm.Like other Rocket companies,Lazada is run by a group of young European emigranLs,plucked from finance and consuhing.It seems ready to stomach years oflosses.In the first half of 2014-Lhe only recent period for which results are available-it lost$50m before interest and tax,on revenues of$60m.Again like other Rocket comparues,its critics say it is just a copycat,in this case a mere clone of Amazon.Lazada's bosses say such charges underestimate the sophistication and ambition required to succeed in places such as Thailand,Indonesia,the Philippines and Vietnam.Online marketing is trickier there than in America or Europe,because locals use a much wider variety of search and social-media sites.The region's diversity means constant adjustment of online portals to suit local languages and cultures.It also means batding a hotch potch of customs rules.

The underlined word"hotch-potch"（Line 6,Para.5）most probably means______

Text 3 Olivia Pedersen thought the Nissan Leaf parked outside her favourite lunch spot near Emory University,must be hers.But she could not open the door.Nor could she open the door of the identical Leaf behind it.Cautiously,she tried the third Leaf in line and happily drove away.More than 14,000 electric vehicles are now registered in Georgia;California is Lhe only state with more.But the juicy state incentives for buying ihem are coming under aUack.Residents can claim an income-tax credit for 20%of the cost of leasing or purchasing an electric vehicle,up to$5,000.Combined with a possible federal tax incentive worth$7,500,savvy Georgians are driving all the way to the bank in nearly-free electric cars.Nissan sells more of its Leaf models in Adanta than in any other city,according to Don Francis from Georgia,which promotes the use of cars like these.Such trends motivated Chuck Martin,a representative in Georgia's House,to sponsor a bill to end state incentives for electric vehicles.He argues that the income-tax credit costs too much-about$13.6m in 2013-and that only urban types benefit from these sorts of cars.Mr Martin's bill was voted down in committee in February,but seems to be still breathing.Another House bill,mostly to finance transport projects,would reduce the credits;it is now before the Senate.Fans of electric vehicles say Ceorgia now leads the country in clean transport.Local power companies have helped by offering off-peak prices of l.3 cents per kilowatt hour for charging the cars at night.And the sales tax levied on this power stays in the state,whereas cash spent on petrol largely goes elsewhere,says Jeff Cohen,founder of the Atlanta Electric Vehicle Development Coalition.Cutting the credits alLogether might also harm Georgia in other ways.A study by Keybridge Public Policy Economics,a consultancy,says the stale could lose$252m by 2030 if they disap-pear and people buy gas-guzzlers instead.That is because drivers will spend$714m on petrol to get around（in contrast with the$261m they would have paid in electricity bills）,and will no longer fritter away their savings from the federal electric-vehicle tax crediL in Georgia's shops.But the state's incentives may be safe in the legislature after all;the president of the Senate drives an electric car himself.

Chuck Martin seek8 to end state incentives for electric vehicles because______

Text 4 As the country with the European Union's faslest ageing population,Gennany has repeatedly adjusted its pension system to avert a slow-motion demographic disaster.The biggest reform came during Angela Merkel's first term as chancellor.Then,as now,Christian Democrats were yoked with Social Democrats in a"grand coalition".In 2007 the coalition decided that the normal retirement age should gradually rise from 65 t0 67.Mrs Merkel has since preached similar demographic and econonuc wisdom to most of her EU partners,crilicizing France in particular ror straying off the right path.So it comes as something of a shock that Mrs Merkel,now in her third term and running another grand coalition,is reversing course.On the campaign trail for last September's election,she promised to raise pensions for older mothers.The Social Democrats countered wiLh promises to let certain workers retire at 63 instead of 65.As coalilion partners,they will do both at once.It falls to Andrea Nahles,the labour minister and a Social Democrat who likes to wave the banner of"social justice",to push the pension package through parliament by the summer so that it can take effecl on July lst.A previous reform let women with children born after 1992 treat three of their stay-at-home maternily years if Lhey h8d worked and paid full pension contributions.The new"mother pension"will be for the 8m-9m women who took time off for children before 1992.They will be allowed to count two of those years,instead of just one,as working years for pension purposes.The second part of Mrs Nahles's reforms,retirement at 63,is aimed at people who have contributed to the pension system for at least 45 years.But Mrs Nahles wants to count not only years spent working or caring for children or other family members but also periods of short-term unemploy-ment.Separately,she will also boost the pensions of people who cannot work due to disability,and spend more money to help them to recover.Individually,these proposals may seem noble-minded.But as a package,the plan is"short-sighted and one~sided,"thinks Axel Bersch-Supan,a pension adviser at the Munich Centre for the Economics of Ageing.It benefits the older generation,which is already well looked after,at the expense of younger people who will have to pay higher contributions or taxes."The financial and psychological costs of the pension al 63 are disastrous,"Mr Bersch-Supan says.There wiU no longer be any incentive to keep working longer.In some cases,people may,in effect,retire at 61,register as unemployed for two years,and then draw their full pensions.

Axel Bersch-Supan believes that Nahles's proposals are_____

Text 3 Olivia Pedersen thought the Nissan Leaf parked outside her favourite lunch spot near Emory University,must be hers.But she could not open the door.Nor could she open the door of the identical Leaf behind it.Cautiously,she tried the third Leaf in line and happily drove away.More than 14,000 electric vehicles are now registered in Georgia;California is Lhe only state with more.But the juicy state incentives for buying ihem are coming under aUack.Residents can claim an income-tax credit for 20%of the cost of leasing or purchasing an electric vehicle,up to$5,000.Combined with a possible federal tax incentive worth$7,500,savvy Georgians are driving all the way to the bank in nearly-free electric cars.Nissan sells more of its Leaf models in Adanta than in any other city,according to Don Francis from Georgia,which promotes the use of cars like these.Such trends motivated Chuck Martin,a representative in Georgia's House,to sponsor a bill to end state incentives for electric vehicles.He argues that the income-tax credit costs too much-about$13.6m in 2013-and that only urban types benefit from these sorts of cars.Mr Martin's bill was voted down in committee in February,but seems to be still breathing.Another House bill,mostly to finance transport projects,would reduce the credits;it is now before the Senate.Fans of electric vehicles say Ceorgia now leads the country in clean transport.Local power companies have helped by offering off-peak prices of l.3 cents per kilowatt hour for charging the cars at night.And the sales tax levied on this power stays in the state,whereas cash spent on petrol largely goes elsewhere,says Jeff Cohen,founder of the Atlanta Electric Vehicle Development Coalition.Cutting the credits alLogether might also harm Georgia in other ways.A study by Keybridge Public Policy Economics,a consultancy,says the stale could lose$252m by 2030 if they disap-pear and people buy gas-guzzlers instead.That is because drivers will spend$714m on petrol to get around（in contrast with the$261m they would have paid in electricity bills）,and will no longer fritter away their savings from the federal electric-vehicle tax crediL in Georgia's shops.But the state's incentives may be safe in the legislature after all;the president of the Senate drives an electric car himself.

A study suggests that cutting the credits in Georgia might______

Text 3 Olivia Pedersen thought the Nissan Leaf parked outside her favourite lunch spot near Emory University,must be hers.But she could not open the door.Nor could she open the door of the identical Leaf behind it.Cautiously,she tried the third Leaf in line and happily drove away.More than 14,000 electric vehicles are now registered in Georgia;California is Lhe only state with more.But the juicy state incentives for buying ihem are coming under aUack.Residents can claim an income-tax credit for 20%of the cost of leasing or purchasing an electric vehicle,up to$5,000.Combined with a possible federal tax incentive worth$7,500,savvy Georgians are driving all the way to the bank in nearly-free electric cars.Nissan sells more of its Leaf models in Adanta than in any other city,according to Don Francis from Georgia,which promotes the use of cars like these.Such trends motivated Chuck Martin,a representative in Georgia's House,to sponsor a bill to end state incentives for electric vehicles.He argues that the income-tax credit costs too much-about$13.6m in 2013-and that only urban types benefit from these sorts of cars.Mr Martin's bill was voted down in committee in February,but seems to be still breathing.Another House bill,mostly to finance transport projects,would reduce the credits;it is now before the Senate.Fans of electric vehicles say Ceorgia now leads the country in clean transport.Local power companies have helped by offering off-peak prices of l.3 cents per kilowatt hour for charging the cars at night.And the sales tax levied on this power stays in the state,whereas cash spent on petrol largely goes elsewhere,says Jeff Cohen,founder of the Atlanta Electric Vehicle Development Coalition.Cutting the credits alLogether might also harm Georgia in other ways.A study by Keybridge Public Policy Economics,a consultancy,says the stale could lose$252m by 2030 if they disap-pear and people buy gas-guzzlers instead.That is because drivers will spend$714m on petrol to get around（in contrast with the$261m they would have paid in electricity bills）,and will no longer fritter away their savings from the federal electric-vehicle tax crediL in Georgia's shops.But the state's incentives may be safe in the legislature after all;the president of the Senate drives an electric car himself.

The author's attitude towards Georgia's policies on electric cars seems to be______

Text 4 As the country with the European Union's faslest ageing population,Gennany has repeatedly adjusted its pension system to avert a slow-motion demographic disaster.The biggest reform came during Angela Merkel's first term as chancellor.Then,as now,Christian Democrats were yoked with Social Democrats in a"grand coalition".In 2007 the coalition decided that the normal retirement age should gradually rise from 65 t0 67.Mrs Merkel has since preached similar demographic and econonuc wisdom to most of her EU partners,crilicizing France in particular ror straying off the right path.So it comes as something of a shock that Mrs Merkel,now in her third term and running another grand coalition,is reversing course.On the campaign trail for last September's election,she promised to raise pensions for older mothers.The Social Democrats countered wiLh promises to let certain workers retire at 63 instead of 65.As coalilion partners,they will do both at once.It falls to Andrea Nahles,the labour minister and a Social Democrat who likes to wave the banner of"social justice",to push the pension package through parliament by the summer so that it can take effecl on July lst.A previous reform let women with children born after 1992 treat three of their stay-at-home maternily years if Lhey h8d worked and paid full pension contributions.The new"mother pension"will be for the 8m-9m women who took time off for children before 1992.They will be allowed to count two of those years,instead of just one,as working years for pension purposes.The second part of Mrs Nahles's reforms,retirement at 63,is aimed at people who have contributed to the pension system for at least 45 years.But Mrs Nahles wants to count not only years spent working or caring for children or other family members but also periods of short-term unemploy-ment.Separately,she will also boost the pensions of people who cannot work due to disability,and spend more money to help them to recover.Individually,these proposals may seem noble-minded.But as a package,the plan is"short-sighted and one~sided,"thinks Axel Bersch-Supan,a pension adviser at the Munich Centre for the Economics of Ageing.It benefits the older generation,which is already well looked after,at the expense of younger people who will have to pay higher contributions or taxes."The financial and psychological costs of the pension al 63 are disastrous,"Mr Bersch-Supan says.There wiU no longer be any incentive to keep working longer.In some cases,people may,in effect,retire at 61,register as unemployed for two years,and then draw their full pensions.

Andrea Nahles's pension reforms focus on the following parts except_____

Text 3 Olivia Pedersen thought the Nissan Leaf parked outside her favourite lunch spot near Emory University,must be hers.But she could not open the door.Nor could she open the door of the identical Leaf behind it.Cautiously,she tried the third Leaf in line and happily drove away.More than 14,000 electric vehicles are now registered in Georgia;California is Lhe only state with more.But the juicy state incentives for buying ihem are coming under aUack.Residents can claim an income-tax credit for 20%of the cost of leasing or purchasing an electric vehicle,up to$5,000.Combined with a possible federal tax incentive worth$7,500,savvy Georgians are driving all the way to the bank in nearly-free electric cars.Nissan sells more of its Leaf models in Adanta than in any other city,according to Don Francis from Georgia,which promotes the use of cars like these.Such trends motivated Chuck Martin,a representative in Georgia's House,to sponsor a bill to end state incentives for electric vehicles.He argues that the income-tax credit costs too much-about$13.6m in 2013-and that only urban types benefit from these sorts of cars.Mr Martin's bill was voted down in committee in February,but seems to be still breathing.Another House bill,mostly to finance transport projects,would reduce the credits;it is now before the Senate.Fans of electric vehicles say Ceorgia now leads the country in clean transport.Local power companies have helped by offering off-peak prices of l.3 cents per kilowatt hour for charging the cars at night.And the sales tax levied on this power stays in the state,whereas cash spent on petrol largely goes elsewhere,says Jeff Cohen,founder of the Atlanta Electric Vehicle Development Coalition.Cutting the credits alLogether might also harm Georgia in other ways.A study by Keybridge Public Policy Economics,a consultancy,says the stale could lose$252m by 2030 if they disap-pear and people buy gas-guzzlers instead.That is because drivers will spend$714m on petrol to get around（in contrast with the$261m they would have paid in electricity bills）,and will no longer fritter away their savings from the federal electric-vehicle tax crediL in Georgia's shops.But the state's incentives may be safe in the legislature after all;the president of the Senate drives an electric car himself.

Supporters of electric vehicles believe that these cars are______

Text 4 As the country with the European Union's faslest ageing population,Gennany has repeatedly adjusted its pension system to avert a slow-motion demographic disaster.The biggest reform came during Angela Merkel's first term as chancellor.Then,as now,Christian Democrats were yoked with Social Democrats in a"grand coalition".In 2007 the coalition decided that the normal retirement age should gradually rise from 65 t0 67.Mrs Merkel has since preached similar demographic and econonuc wisdom to most of her EU partners,crilicizing France in particular ror straying off the right path.So it comes as something of a shock that Mrs Merkel,now in her third term and running another grand coalition,is reversing course.On the campaign trail for last September's election,she promised to raise pensions for older mothers.The Social Democrats countered wiLh promises to let certain workers retire at 63 instead of 65.As coalilion partners,they will do both at once.It falls to Andrea Nahles,the labour minister and a Social Democrat who likes to wave the banner of"social justice",to push the pension package through parliament by the summer so that it can take effecl on July lst.A previous reform let women with children born after 1992 treat three of their stay-at-home maternily years if Lhey h8d worked and paid full pension contributions.The new"mother pension"will be for the 8m-9m women who took time off for children before 1992.They will be allowed to count two of those years,instead of just one,as working years for pension purposes.The second part of Mrs Nahles's reforms,retirement at 63,is aimed at people who have contributed to the pension system for at least 45 years.But Mrs Nahles wants to count not only years spent working or caring for children or other family members but also periods of short-term unemploy-ment.Separately,she will also boost the pensions of people who cannot work due to disability,and spend more money to help them to recover.Individually,these proposals may seem noble-minded.But as a package,the plan is"short-sighted and one~sided,"thinks Axel Bersch-Supan,a pension adviser at the Munich Centre for the Economics of Ageing.It benefits the older generation,which is already well looked after,at the expense of younger people who will have to pay higher contributions or taxes."The financial and psychological costs of the pension al 63 are disastrous,"Mr Bersch-Supan says.There wiU no longer be any incentive to keep working longer.In some cases,people may,in effect,retire at 61,register as unemployed for two years,and then draw their full pensions.

Merkel has astonished the public because she_____

The colourful chalkboards and baskets of fruit that greet customers at the entrances of Whole Foods Market's shops paint a rosy picture.Yet shares in the American seUer of organic and natural food have fallen by more than 40%since hitting a peak last October,in a period when stock markets have been strong.41.It is not that the retailer is in immediate crisis:its latest quarterly figures,on July 30th,showed sales and profits both up a bit.And it is not that people are going off the idea of paying more for food produced without chemical fertilisers,pesticides or additives:the Intemational Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements reckons that the industry's worldwide revenues were a record of 63 biUion in 2012;and Techsci Research,a market-research firm,predicts that the American market for such foods-the world's largest-may grow by 14%by 2018.42.The problem is that at Whole Foods,shoppers have been paying way over the cost of regular produce,and its success in getting them to do so has now attracted a lot of competitors,from rival organics chains like Sprouts and Trader Joe's to mass-market retailers like Walmart and Costco.As a result,the pnce premium for organic produce is crashing down.On a recent shopping trip,a pound of organic apples cost 2.99 at Wbole Foods but just l.99 at Sprouts and even less at Costco.43.The firm has been trimming costs to keep its margins up,but the slump in its share price reflects investors'expectation that this cannot continue,that profits will suffer and that Whole Foods'dominance of the market is coming to an end.44.That the company has had to recall a number of products-in late July it and other grocers recalled plums and peaches suspected of contanunation with Listeria bacteria-has made it harder to maintain an air of superiority over its competitors.Organic foods'claim to superiority is questionable anyway.Both Britain's Food Standards Agency and the Annals of Internal Medicine,a journal,concluded after reviewing the extensive studies on the issue that there is no substantial difference in the nutriliousness of organics and non-organics.In some respects organics may be bad for the environment,because growing them uses land less efficiendy than non-organics.45.As for"natural"foods,there is no official definition of this,in America at least;so the label,which Whole Foods also applies to many products,is close to meaningless.Alan McHughen,a bota-nist at the University of California,Riverside,argues that the whole industry is"99%marketing;and public perception,"reeling people in through a fabricated concept of a time when food,and life in general,was simple and wholesome.If true,the trick has worked nicely for Whole Foods.But its success has attracted so many imitators that it is losing its uniqueness.Even recent speculation about a takeover bid has failed to lift its shares.It may insist its food is sustainable.But it seem8 its prices are not.41选？

Text 4 As the country with the European Union's faslest ageing population,Gennany has repeatedly adjusted its pension system to avert a slow-motion demographic disaster.The biggest reform came during Angela Merkel's first term as chancellor.Then,as now,Christian Democrats were yoked with Social Democrats in a"grand coalition".In 2007 the coalition decided that the normal retirement age should gradually rise from 65 t0 67.Mrs Merkel has since preached similar demographic and econonuc wisdom to most of her EU partners,crilicizing France in particular ror straying off the right path.So it comes as something of a shock that Mrs Merkel,now in her third term and running another grand coalition,is reversing course.On the campaign trail for last September's election,she promised to raise pensions for older mothers.The Social Democrats countered wiLh promises to let certain workers retire at 63 instead of 65.As coalilion partners,they will do both at once.It falls to Andrea Nahles,the labour minister and a Social Democrat who likes to wave the banner of"social justice",to push the pension package through parliament by the summer so that it can take effecl on July lst.A previous reform let women with children born after 1992 treat three of their stay-at-home maternily years if Lhey h8d worked and paid full pension contributions.The new"mother pension"will be for the 8m-9m women who took time off for children before 1992.They will be allowed to count two of those years,instead of just one,as working years for pension purposes.The second part of Mrs Nahles's reforms,retirement at 63,is aimed at people who have contributed to the pension system for at least 45 years.But Mrs Nahles wants to count not only years spent working or caring for children or other family members but also periods of short-term unemploy-ment.Separately,she will also boost the pensions of people who cannot work due to disability,and spend more money to help them to recover.Individually,these proposals may seem noble-minded.But as a package,the plan is"short-sighted and one~sided,"thinks Axel Bersch-Supan,a pension adviser at the Munich Centre for the Economics of Ageing.It benefits the older generation,which is already well looked after,at the expense of younger people who will have to pay higher contributions or taxes."The financial and psychological costs of the pension al 63 are disastrous,"Mr Bersch-Supan says.There wiU no longer be any incentive to keep working longer.In some cases,people may,in effect,retire at 61,register as unemployed for two years,and then draw their full pensions.

Which of the foUowing is the best title for the text?

Text 4 As the country with the European Union's faslest ageing population,Gennany has repeatedly adjusted its pension system to avert a slow-motion demographic disaster.The biggest reform came during Angela Merkel's first term as chancellor.Then,as now,Christian Democrats were yoked with Social Democrats in a"grand coalition".In 2007 the coalition decided that the normal retirement age should gradually rise from 65 t0 67.Mrs Merkel has since preached similar demographic and econonuc wisdom to most of her EU partners,crilicizing France in particular ror straying off the right path.So it comes as something of a shock that Mrs Merkel,now in her third term and running another grand coalition,is reversing course.On the campaign trail for last September's election,she promised to raise pensions for older mothers.The Social Democrats countered wiLh promises to let certain workers retire at 63 instead of 65.As coalilion partners,they will do both at once.It falls to Andrea Nahles,the labour minister and a Social Democrat who likes to wave the banner of"social justice",to push the pension package through parliament by the summer so that it can take effecl on July lst.A previous reform let women with children born after 1992 treat three of their stay-at-home maternily years if Lhey h8d worked and paid full pension contributions.The new"mother pension"will be for the 8m-9m women who took time off for children before 1992.They will be allowed to count two of those years,instead of just one,as working years for pension purposes.The second part of Mrs Nahles's reforms,retirement at 63,is aimed at people who have contributed to the pension system for at least 45 years.But Mrs Nahles wants to count not only years spent working or caring for children or other family members but also periods of short-term unemploy-ment.Separately,she will also boost the pensions of people who cannot work due to disability,and spend more money to help them to recover.Individually,these proposals may seem noble-minded.But as a package,the plan is"short-sighted and one~sided,"thinks Axel Bersch-Supan,a pension adviser at the Munich Centre for the Economics of Ageing.It benefits the older generation,which is already well looked after,at the expense of younger people who will have to pay higher contributions or taxes."The financial and psychological costs of the pension al 63 are disastrous,"Mr Bersch-Supan says.There wiU no longer be any incentive to keep working longer.In some cases,people may,in effect,retire at 61,register as unemployed for two years,and then draw their full pensions.

Pension system in Germany has been adjusLed to_____

The colourful chalkboards and baskets of fruit that greet customers at the entrances of Whole Foods Market's shops paint a rosy picture.Yet shares in the American seUer of organic and natural food have fallen by more than 40%since hitting a peak last October,in a period when stock markets have been strong.41.It is not that the retailer is in immediate crisis:its latest quarterly figures,on July 30th,showed sales and profits both up a bit.And it is not that people are going off the idea of paying more for food produced without chemical fertilisers,pesticides or additives:the Intemational Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements reckons that the industry's worldwide revenues were a record of 63 biUion in 2012;and Techsci Research,a market-research firm,predicts that the American market for such foods-the world's largest-may grow by 14%by 2018.42.The problem is that at Whole Foods,shoppers have been paying way over the cost of regular produce,and its success in getting them to do so has now attracted a lot of competitors,from rival organics chains like Sprouts and Trader Joe's to mass-market retailers like Walmart and Costco.As a result,the pnce premium for organic produce is crashing down.On a recent shopping trip,a pound of organic apples cost 2.99 at Wbole Foods but just l.99 at Sprouts and even less at Costco.43.The firm has been trimming costs to keep its margins up,but the slump in its share price reflects investors'expectation that this cannot continue,that profits will suffer and that Whole Foods'dominance of the market is coming to an end.44.That the company has had to recall a number of products-in late July it and other grocers recalled plums and peaches suspected of contanunation with Listeria bacteria-has made it harder to maintain an air of superiority over its competitors.Organic foods'claim to superiority is questionable anyway.Both Britain's Food Standards Agency and the Annals of Internal Medicine,a journal,concluded after reviewing the extensive studies on the issue that there is no substantial difference in the nutriliousness of organics and non-organics.In some respects organics may be bad for the environment,because growing them uses land less efficiendy than non-organics.45.As for"natural"foods,there is no official definition of this,in America at least;so the label,which Whole Foods also applies to many products,is close to meaningless.Alan McHughen,a bota-nist at the University of California,Riverside,argues that the whole industry is"99%marketing;and public perception,"reeling people in through a fabricated concept of a time when food,and life in general,was simple and wholesome.If true,the trick has worked nicely for Whole Foods.But its success has attracted so many imitators that it is losing its uniqueness.Even recent speculation about a takeover bid has failed to lift its shares.It may insist its food is sustainable.But it seem8 its prices are not.42选？

The colourful chalkboards and baskets of fruit that greet customers at the entrances of Whole Foods Market's shops paint a rosy picture.Yet shares in the American seUer of organic and natural food have fallen by more than 40%since hitting a peak last October,in a period when stock markets have been strong.41.It is not that the retailer is in immediate crisis:its latest quarterly figures,on July 30th,showed sales and profits both up a bit.And it is not that people are going off the idea of paying more for food produced without chemical fertilisers,pesticides or additives:the Intemational Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements reckons that the industry's worldwide revenues were a record of 63 biUion in 2012;and Techsci Research,a market-research firm,predicts that the American market for such foods-the world's largest-may grow by 14%by 2018.42.The problem is that at Whole Foods,shoppers have been paying way over the cost of regular produce,and its success in getting them to do so has now attracted a lot of competitors,from rival organics chains like Sprouts and Trader Joe's to mass-market retailers like Walmart and Costco.As a result,the pnce premium for organic produce is crashing down.On a recent shopping trip,a pound of organic apples cost 2.99 at Wbole Foods but just l.99 at Sprouts and even less at Costco.43.The firm has been trimming costs to keep its margins up,but the slump in its share price reflects investors'expectation that this cannot continue,that profits will suffer and that Whole Foods'dominance of the market is coming to an end.44.That the company has had to recall a number of products-in late July it and other grocers recalled plums and peaches suspected of contanunation with Listeria bacteria-has made it harder to maintain an air of superiority over its competitors.Organic foods'claim to superiority is questionable anyway.Both Britain's Food Standards Agency and the Annals of Internal Medicine,a journal,concluded after reviewing the extensive studies on the issue that there is no substantial difference in the nutriliousness of organics and non-organics.In some respects organics may be bad for the environment,because growing them uses land less efficiendy than non-organics.45.As for"natural"foods,there is no official definition of this,in America at least;so the label,which Whole Foods also applies to many products,is close to meaningless.Alan McHughen,a bota-nist at the University of California,Riverside,argues that the whole industry is"99%marketing;and public perception,"reeling people in through a fabricated concept of a time when food,and life in general,was simple and wholesome.If true,the trick has worked nicely for Whole Foods.But its success has attracted so many imitators that it is losing its uniqueness.Even recent speculation about a takeover bid has failed to lift its shares.It may insist its food is sustainable.But it seem8 its prices are not.43选？

The colourful chalkboards and baskets of fruit that greet customers at the entrances of Whole Foods Market's shops paint a rosy picture.Yet shares in the American seUer of organic and natural food have fallen by more than 40%since hitting a peak last October,in a period when stock markets have been strong.41.It is not that the retailer is in immediate crisis:its latest quarterly figures,on July 30th,showed sales and profits both up a bit.And it is not that people are going off the idea of paying more for food produced without chemical fertilisers,pesticides or additives:the Intemational Federation of Organic Agriculture Movements reckons that the industry's worldwide revenues were a record of 63 biUion in 2012;and Techsci Research,a market-research firm,predicts that the American market for such foods-the world's largest-may grow by 14%by 2018.42.The problem is that at Whole Foods,shoppers have been paying way over the cost of regular produce,and its success in getting them to do so has now attracted a lot of competitors,from rival organics chains like Sprouts and Trader Joe's to mass-market retailers like Walmart and Costco.As a result,the pnce premium for organic produce is crashing down.On a recent shopping trip,a pound of organic apples cost 2.99 at Wbole Foods but just l.99 at Sprouts and even less at Costco.43.The firm has been trimming costs to keep its margins up,but the slump in its share price reflects investors'expectation that this cannot continue,that profits will suffer and that Whole Foods'dominance of the market is coming to an end.44.That the company has had to recall a number of products-in late July it and other grocers recalled plums and peaches suspected of contanunation with Listeria bacteria-has made it harder to maintain an air of superiority over its competitors.Organic foods'claim to superiority is questionable anyway.Both Britain's Food Standards Agency and the Annals of Internal Medicine,a journal,concluded after reviewing the extensive studies on the issue that there is no substantial difference in the nutriliousness of organics and non-organics.In some respects organics may be bad for the environment,because growing them uses land less efficiendy than non-organics.45.As for"natural"foods,there is no official definition of this,in America at least;so the label,which Whole Foods also applies to many products,is close to meaningless.Alan McHughen,a bota-nist at the University of California,Riverside,argues that the whole industry is"99%marketing;and public perception,"reeling people in through a fabricated concept of a time when food,and life in general,was simple and wholesome.If true,the trick has worked nicely for Whole Foods.But its success has attracted so many imitators that it is losing its uniqueness.Even recent speculation about a takeover bid has failed to lift its shares.It may insist its food is sustainable.But it seem8 its prices are not.45选？