PTE新題匯總

PTE新題匯總

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When

countries assess their annual carbon dioxide emissions, they count up

their cars and power stations, but bush fires are not included

presumably because they are deemed to be events beyond human control. In

Australia, Victoria alone sees several hundred thousand hectares burn

each year in both 2004 and the present summer, the figure has been over 1

million hectares.

SWT

Orbital Debris

For

decades, space experts have worried that aspeeding bit of orbital

debris might one day smash a large spacecraft intohundreds of pieces and

start a chain reaction, a slow cascade of collisionsthat would expand

for centuries, spreading chaos through the heavens. In thelast decade or

so, as scientists came to agree that the number of objects inorbit had

surpassed a critical mass or, in their terms, the critical

spatialdensity, the point at which a chain reaction becomes inevitable

they grew moreanxious.

Early

this year, after a half-century of growth,the federal list of

detectable objects (four inches wide or larger) reached10,000, including

dead satellites, spent rocket stages, a camera, a hand tooland

junkyards of whirling debris left over from chance explosions

anddestructive tests. So our billion dollar of satellites are at risk.

Food and eatingin Australian

In

the past twocenturies there has been a dramatic change in the role of

food and eating inAustralian public consciousness. Public discussion of

food was largely confinedto matters of supply, distribution and price.

Towards the end of the nineteenthcentury some newspapers were offering

regular columns of advice on housekeepingtopics, including menu planning

and recipes. However, eating remainedessentially a private activity,

even when undertaken in company.

By

the latetwentieth century, food and eating had become prominent public

preoccupations.Evidence of this dramatic cultural revaluation abounds.

In bookstores, forexample cookery and all things related to it are often

among the largerdisplays.

There

are specialty stores selling all manner of cookware, tablewareand other

paraphernalia associated with food, eating and drinking.

Perhaps

mosttelling is the extension of the phenomenon of mass media celebrity

to includeculinary personalities. Scholars, too, have jumped on the

commodificationbandwagon. Now degrees in gastronomy seem set to emulate

the MBA phenomenon ofthe 1980s and food has become a respectable subject

for investigation withphilosophers, sociologists, historians, cultural

theorists, ecologists and manyothers all having a go at it.

However,

surprisingly, the question seems to haveheld little fascination for

most historians. For the best part of two centuriesthey have managed to

write their accounts of colonization and nationhood withonly scant

reference to how the settlers and their descendants fed themselves.

Electric eels

On

a field tripto the Amazon in 1 807, 1 9th-century explorer Alexander

Von Humboldt witnesseda group of horses lead through a muddy pool filled

with electric eels, which hedescribed as dramatically leaping up to

attack the intruders. But scientistshave doubted the story. An

illustration of Alexander Von Humboldts story ofthe battle between the

horses and electric eels.

The

first time Iread Von Humboldts tale, I thought it was completely

bizarre, Catania says.Why would the eels attack the horses instead of

swimming away? But then heobserved the same behavior by accident as he

transferred the eels in his labfrom one tank to another using a

metal-rimmed net. Instead of swimming away,larger eels attacked the net

by leaping out of the water.

Catania

trackedthe strength of the eels electric shock by attaching a voltmeter

to analuminium plate, or conductive metal strips to predator objects

such as acrocodile head replica.The zap a submerged eel distributes

through the water isrelatively weak when it reaches the target.

But

when an eeltouches it with its electricity-generating chin, the current

travels directlyto the target and has to travel through its body before

it gets back to thewater, Catania reported in Proceedings of the

National Academy of Sciences.

This

allows theeels to deliver shocks with a maximum amount of power to

partially submergedland animals that invade their territory, Catania

explains. It also allows themto electrify a much larger portion of the

invaders body.

Catania

found the eels leapt to attack, ratherthan receded, more often when the

water in the aquarium was lower. He arguesthe attack lets electric eels

better defend themselves during the Amazon dryseason. When theyre

cornered in small pools and make easy prey.

Overqualified worker

If

yourrecruiting efforts attract job applicants with too much experience a

nearcertainty in this weak labor market you should consider a response

that runscounter to most hiring managers MO: Dont reject those

applicants out of hand.

Instead,

take acloser look.New research shows that overqualified workers tend to

performbetter than other employees, and they dont quit any sooner.

Furthermore, asimple managerial tactic empowerment can mitigate any

dissatisfaction they mayfeel.

The

prejudiceagainst too-good employees is pervasive. Companies tend to

prefer an applicantwho is a perfect fit over someone who brings more

intelligence, education, orexperience than needed. On the surface, this

bias makes sense: Studies haveconsistently shown that employees who

consider themselves overqualified exhibithigher levels of discontent.

For example, over-qualification correlated wellwith job dissatisfaction

in a 2008 study of 156 call-center reps by Israeliresearchers Saul Fine

and Baruch Nevo. And unlike discrimination based on ageor gender,

declining to hire overqualified workers is perfectly legal.

But

even before the economic downturn, a surplusof overqualified candidates

was a global problem, particularly in developingeconomies, where rising

education levels are giving workers more skills thanare needed to

supply the growing service sectors. If managers can get beyondthe

conventional wisdom, the growing pool of too-good applicants is a

greatopportunity. Berrin Erdogan and Talya N. Bauer of Portland State

University inOregon found that overqualified workers feelings of

dissatisfaction can bedissipated by giving them autonomy in decision

making. At stores whereemployees didnt feel empowered, over-educated

workers expressed greaterdissatisfaction than their colleagues did and

were more likely to state anintention to quit. But that difference

vanished where self-reported autonomywas high.

Presidential election

According

to theUnited States Constitution, a presidential election is to be held

once everyfourth year. The process of electing a President and

Vice-President begins longbefore Election Day. Candidates from both

major and minor political parties andindependent candidates begin to

raise money and campaign at least one year inadvance of the general

presidential election. In order to officially representa political

party, a candidate must be nominated by that party.

This

primarynomination process is a contest that often produces factions

within politicalparties. These divisions impact the policy stances and

agendas of thecandidates running for nomination as they attempt to

garner the support ofparty leaders and activists. The nominating process

officially begins with thefirst state primaries and caucuses, which

usually occur in the month ofFebruary of the election year. It is at

these local events that voters aregiven their first chance to

participate in electing the nations next President.

There

are many factors that influence who willultimately become the candidate

for a party. The publics perception of thecandidates is influenced by

such things as media reports, public opinion polls,candidate preference

surveys, and advertising. These factors will helpdetermine the perceived

strengths and weaknesses of the candidates in themonths leading up to

the caucuses and primaries.

FIB

Volcanos eruption

Volcanoes

blast more than 100 milliontons of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere

every year but the gas is usuallyharmless. When a volcano erupts, carbon

dioxide spreads out into the atmosphereand isnt concentrated inone spot.But sometimes the gas gets trapped underground under enormous pressure. If itescapes to the surface in a dense cloud, it can push out oxygen-rich air and become deadly.

Growth of the internet

The exponential growth of the internetwas heralded,in the 1990s, as revolutionizing the production and dissemination of information. Somepeople saw the internet as a means of democratizing access to knowledge.For people concerned withAfrican development, it seemed to offer the possibility of leapfrogging overthe technology gap that separates Africa from advanced industrializedcountries.

The United Nations

The

United Nations is an internationalorganization founded in 1945. Due to

its unique international character, andthe powers vested in its founding

Charter, the organization can take action on a widerange of issues and provide a forum for its 193 Member States to express theirviews,

through the General Assembly, the Security Council, the Economic

andSocial Council and other bodies and committees. The work of the

United Nationsreaches every corner ofthe globe. Although best known for peacekeeping, peacebuilding, conflict prevention,

andhumanitarian assistance, there are many other ways the United

Nations and itssystem (specialized agencies, funds, and programmes)

affect our lives and makethe world a better place.

WFD

1. There is clearly a need for further research inthis field.

2. The artists candidates ties xxx earns creditsfor politics.

3. The art xxx earn value of critic.

4. Students are instructed to hand in theirassignments by the end of this week.

5. Some people argue that education is not thatimportant.

6. She has made a significant contribution to thefield of chemistry.

7. (The) Equality has not yet been achieved inthis society.

8. Before attending the lecture, you must registeronline or by post.

9. All of the assignments should be submitted inperson to the faculty office.

10. Fashiontrends help people to make life interesting.

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