[单项选择]As the new economy has cooled, there has Been a steady drumbeat of layoff announcements. More than 36,000 dotcom employees were cut in the second half of last year, including some 10,000 last month. But th6 firings went well beyond dotcomland. There were more than 480,000 layoffs through November. General Motors is laying off 15,000 workers with the closing of Oldsmobile. Whirlpool is trimming 6,300 workers; Aetna is letting go 5,000.
The remarkable thing is that US unemployment has so far stayed strikingly low. While the NASDAQ plunged and growth trailed off last year, the unemployment rate fluctuated between 3.9% and 4.1%. That pales compared with the unemployment rates during Old Economy dark years like 1992 (7.5%) and 1982 (9.7%).
And it gives the lie to an Old Economy article of faith--that there was a "natural rate of unemployment below which the economy could not operate without spurring inflation". The supposed natural rate: just under 6%.
How to account fo
A. Because the labor conflicts with the management.
B. Because the other companies lay off their employees.
C. Because it has lost its credits in the world.
D. Because the global economy declines.

[单项选择]As the new economy has cooled, there has Been a steady drumbeat of layoff announcements. More than 36,000 dotcom employees were cut in the second half of last year, including some 10,000 last month. But th6 firings went well beyond dotcomland. There were more than 480,000 layoffs through November. General Motors is laying off 15,000 workers with the closing of Oldsmobile. Whirlpool is trimming 6,300 workers; Aetna is letting go 5,000.
The remarkable thing is that US unemployment has so far stayed strikingly low. While the NASDAQ plunged and growth trailed off last year, the unemployment rate fluctuated between 3.9% and 4.1%. That pales compared with the unemployment rates during Old Economy dark years like 1992 (7.5%) and 1982 (9.7%).
And it gives the lie to an Old Economy article of faith--that there was a "natural rate of unemployment below which the economy could not operate without spurring inflation". The supposed natural rate: just under 6%.
How to account fo
A. Less than 3.9%.
B. More than 7.5%.
C. More than 9.7%.
D. Less than 6.0%.

[单项选择]In the 160 years in which "handedness" has been studied we have learned quite a lot, but we still cannot precisely describe what causes humans ------- to use one hand over the other, or why human populations are ------- toward right-hand use rather than left-hand use.
A. (A) infrequently … prejudiced
B. (B) habitually … neutral
C. (C) preferentially … biased
D. (D) perennially … disinterested
E. (E) invariably … indisposed

[单项选择]General election in New Zealand has been held about （　） since 1879.
A. every two years
B. every three years
C. every four years
D. every five years

[单项选择]While no woman has been President of the United States, yet the world does have several thousand years of experience with female leaders, and I have to acknowledge it: their historical record puts men’s to shame.
A notable share of the great leaders in history have been women: Queen Hatshepsut and Cleopatra of Egypt, Empress Wu Zetian of China, Isabella of Castile, Queen Elizabeth I of England, Catherine the Great of Russia, and Maria Theresa of Austria. Granted, I’m neglecting the likes of Bloody Mary, but it’s still true that those women who climbed to power in monarchies had an astonishingly high success rate.
Research by political psychologists points to possible explanations. Scholars find that women, compared with men, tend to excel in consensus-building and certain other skills useful in leadership. If so, why have female political leaders been so much less impressive in the democratic era Margaret Thatcher was a transformative figure, but women have been mediocre pr
A. Women have had a better record than men throughout history.
B. Women have far exceeded men in leadership throughout history.
C. Women have made men ashamed of their own historical record.
D. Women have far exceeded men in recording experience throughout history.

[填空题]Although New Orleans has been a part of the United States for almost two centuries, its population ______ (对…感到自豪) its French heritage.