Lateral Thinking
Lateral thinking (迂回思维), first described by Edward de Bono in 1967, is just a few years older than Edward’s son. You might imagine that Caspar was raised to be an adventurous thinker, but de Bono name was so famous, Casper’s parents worried that any time he would say something bright at school, his teachers might snap, “Where do you get that idea from”
“We had to be careful and not overdo it,” Edward admits. Now Casper is at Oxford —— which once looked unlikely because he is also slightly dyslexic (通读困难). In fact, when he was applying to Oxford, none of his school teachers thought he had a chance. “So then we did several thinking sessions,” his father says, “using my techniques and, when he went up for the exam, he did extremely well.” Soon after, Edward de Bono decided to write his latest book, “Teach Your Children How to Think”, in which he transforms the
A. he was careful and often overworked
B. all of his school teachers thought he had a chance
C. he used in the exam the techniques provided by his father
D. he read the book “Teach Your Child How to Think” before the exam
Brazil has become one of the developing world’s great successes at reducing population growth --but more by accident than design. While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.
Brazil’s population growth rate has dropped from 2.99 % a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93 % a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World countries.
Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas (通俗电视连续剧) and installment (分期付款)plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world’s biggest producers of soap operas. Globe, Brazil’s most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps
A. haven't attached much importance to birth control
B. would soon join Brazil in controlling their birth rate
C. haven't yet found an effective measure to control their population
D. neglected the role of TV plays in family planning
Passage Four
In 10 years, the mutual-fund industry won’t even be called that. The term "mutual fund" will be much too confining to encompass(包括) the various types of mixed investment vehicles(手) that will be available to investors around the world. Technology, especially the Internet, will be the most significant driver, affecting every aspect of the mutual-fund industry, from products and delivery to providers and customers.
The future version of today’s mutual funds will be available for purchase across the globe by citizens of many nationalities in just about any currency. The average investor will be able to trade bonds as well as stocks with ease 24-hours a day, 365 days a year by using voice-held, satellitelinked PCs. A Brazilian citizen, for example, will be able to buy shares of the Vanguard 500 Index Fund in London at midnight, using its price in New York at 02:00 Greenwich Time, to be settled in Japanese yen.
With the
A. The future citizens of different countries can have a purchase across the globe by means of mutual funds.
B. The advantage of an investment product through the Internet will accelerate its consumption.
C. Technology will have a mild effect on mutual fund industry and investment products.
D. Investment products in the next 10 years will show up in slight differences of investment objectives.
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