Many professions are associated with a particular stereotype. The classic (1) of a writer, for example, is (2) a slightly crazy-looking person, (3) in an attic, writing away furiously for days (4) end. Naturally, he has his favorite pen and note-paper, or a beat-up typewriter, (5) which he could not produce a readable word.
Nowadays, we know that such images bear little (6) to reality. But are they completely (7) In the case of at least one writer, it would seem not. Dame Muriel Spark, who (8) 80 in February, in many ways resembles this stereotypical "writer". She is certainly not (9) , and she doesn’t work in an attic. But she is rather particular (10) the tools of her trade.
She insists on writing with a (11) type of pen in a certain type of notebook, which she buys from a certain stationer in Edinburgh called James Thin. In fact, so (12) is she that, i
A. incredible
B. susceptible
C. superstitious
D. suspicious
(三)
①不久前，一位年轻的中国女士雇了几十辆“大奔”去机场隆重地接回她的心肝宝贝一只藏獒。此犬价值三四百万元人民币!
②高盛集团在一份报告中曾把中国列为仅次于日本的全球第二大奢侈品市场，并预测今年有望超越东瀛邻国，成为第一大奢侈品市场!见多识广的美国《华尔街日报》评论员则这样写道：“富人们的奢华盛宴从未结束过……而最新一轮打开炫耀性消费香槟酒瓶塞的国家就是中国。”
③然而，有关国际组织不久前曾断言，如果全世界发展中国家特别是中国达到西方国家的人均消费水平，那么，按照目前欧美人均的资源消耗量计算，必须有两个半地球供人类“享用”，否则，今天人类赖以生存的地球资源将会出现令人恐惧和绝望的枯竭。这是一种预警，也是一种谴责。
④对我国而言，奢华之风不但会极大地固化我国现已存在的地区差距和贫富差距，而且会加剧权力寻租式的“官腐”和投机赌徒式的“民败”。社会各阶层成员在攀比奢华中的心理失衡势必会造成巨大的社会失衡。不健康的风气和对物质利益的恶性追求，为社会动荡积蓄起巨大的破坏性能量。一旦爆发，不但会使经济发展的安全阀门——社会稳定出现动摇乃至崩塌，而且会使一切成就损失殆尽。从这个角度说，奢华只会令中国为维持稳定增加无比巨大的社会成本，甚至最终招致无妄之灾!
⑤也许有人会说，奢华不也是一种对消费的刺激吗，这难道不是另一种形式的扩大内需吗笔者以为这是一种短视，犹如饮鸩止渴。马克斯·韦伯曾经认真分析过西方市场经济、工业化的发展与人们精神世界的关系。他认为，在新教教义所包含的伦理中，人们正是因为把勤奋、节俭、创造财富等视为不可抗拒必须敬畏的“上帝的意志”，才使得财富得到积累，最终使工业革命取得了成功。他的这一观点破解了西方新教伦理与近现代西方工业化的内在联系，也对中国人认识人类传统美德在经济发展中的作用颇有启迪。在现实世界中，
TEXT D
The miserable fate of Enron’s employees will be a landmark in business history, one of those awful events that everyone agrees must never be allowed to happen again. This urge is understandable and noble: thousands have lost virtually all their retirement savings with the demise of Enron stock. But making sure it never happens again may not be possible, because the sudden impoverishment of those Enron workers represents something even larger than it seems. It’s the latest mm in the unwinding of one of the most audacious promise of the 20th century.
The promise was assured economic security — even comfort — for essentially everyone in the developed world. With the explosion of wealth, that began in the 19th century it became possible to think about a possibility no one had dared to dream before. The fear at the center of daily living since caveman days — lack of food warmth, shelter -- would at last lose its power to terrify.
A. the corporate lay-offs
B. the government cuts in welfare spending
C. the economic restructuring
D. the warning power of labors unions
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