【每日阅读训练——速度3系列】【速度3-2】&【越障3-2】

fox0923

刚刚意识到今天是我值勤，差点忘记。。另外，我用kiss做标题的symbol,这样就可以吸引大众的关注了，嘿嘿。。。而且我们在找帖子的时候会比较明显。。。

令补充一下置顶贴， 大家可以从这里找到近期和以前的速度越障练习，Good Luck！
http://forum.chasedream.com/GMAT_RC/thread-562296-1-1.html

[速度3-2]
Drops to drink
Jul 19th 2011, 17:00 by TheEconomist online
计时1 （266 words）
SINGAPORE’S average annual rainfall is more than double that of notoriouslysoggy Britain, so the casual observer might be surprised to learn that theplace has a shortage of drinking water. Yet with around 7,000 people per squarekilometre, Singapore is the third most densely populated country in the world.Its land mass is not large enough to supply the thirst of its 5m inhabitants.
One answer is to desalinate seawater. That, though, is expensive, so theSingaporean government is keen to find cheaper ways of doing it. And, incollaboration with Siemens, a German engineering conglomerate, it may have doneso, for Siemens says its demonstration electrochemical desalination plant onthe island can transform seawater into drinking water using less than half theenergy required by the most efficient previous method.
To make seawater fit for human consumption its salt content of approximately3.5% must be cut to 0.5% or less. Existing desalination plants do this in oneof two ways. Some employ distillation, which needs about 10 kilowatt-hours(kWh) of energy per cubic metre of seawater processed. The energy is used toheat the brine, partially evaporating it, and to condense the resulting watervapour. Other plants employ reverse osmosis. This uses special membranes whichact as molecular sieves by passing water molecules while holding back the ions,such as sodium and chloride, that make water salty. Generating the pressureneeded to do this sieving consumes about 4kWh per cubic metre of water. TheSiemens system, by contrast, consumes only 1.8kWh per cubic metre, and the firmhopes to get that down to 1.5kWh.
计时2 （271 words）
It works using a process called electrodialysis, in which the seawater ispumped into a series of channels walled by membranes that have slightlydifferent properties from those used in reverse osmosis. Instead of passingwater molecules, these membranes pass ions. Moreover, the membranes employed inelectrodialysis are of two types. One passes positively charged ions. The otherpasses negatively charged ones. The two types alternate, so that each channelhas one wall of each type. Two electrodes flanking the system of channels thencreate a voltage that pulls positively charged ions such as sodium in onedirection and negatively charged ions such as chloride in the other.
The result is that the ions concentrate in half of the channels, creating astrong brine, while fresher water accumulates in the other half. As the brineemerges, it is thrown away. The fresher water, though, is put through the sameprocess twice more and eventually has its salt concentration reduced to 1%.
That is not bad, but is still double what is potable. There is therefore onefurther step in the process. This is to employ an ion-exchange resin inaddition to the membranes. Such resins increase the electrical conductivity ofthe system and allow one more passage to bring the salt concentration downbelow 0.5%, which makes the water potable.
A demonstration plant has been operating since December, and a full-scalepilot plant is now under construction and should be completed by 2013. If allgoes well, then, Singapore’s inhabitants will soon no longer feel likeColeridge’s ancient mariner, that there is water, water, everywhere, but not adrop to drink.

计时3 （219 words）
OneLess Sad Sports Bar
A makeover show for dodgy drinking establishments.
By Troy PattersonPosted Friday, July 22, 2011, at 6:46 PM ET
Bar Rescue (Spike, Sundays at 10 p.m. ET) is to taprooms asKitchen Nightmares is to hash houses. On each episode, a hospitalityexpert named Jon Taffer plunges into a diseased watering hole and administersthe disinfecting agent of his professional expertise. It elevates the tone ofthe proceedings that Taffer is witty, direct, and constitutionally inclined topromote himself as a consultant rather than as a paroxysm-pronepseudo-celebrity. Incidentally, I wonder if there's room out there for a themebar on the theme of bars that need makeovers, with its drinks menu offering"troubleshooters" and its waitresses always on break.
Taffer's first task is to reform Angel's Sport Bar, which is located in theInland Empire, an area identified by some as "the Riverside-San Bernardino-Ontariometropolitan area" and by others as "the region of California that any travelagencies or colleges just don't want the rest of the world to know about."Incidentally, the recent news that David Lynch is opening a Mulholland Drive-style nightclub in Paris encourages usto wonder whether he'd considering launching an Inland Empire-themedjoint in Indio, with a completely incomprehensible drinks menu and waitresses doing the Loco-motion at irregular intervals.
计时4 （276 words）
Bar Rescue euphemizes Corona, the particular town where Angel'smakes its Bud-guzzling home, as "blue collar," but Angel's has falleninto barely subsisting as a no-collar establishment. It is a poor excuse for abiker bar. Early on, one regular explains his attitude-adjustment-hour plan byparaphrasing Lita Ford: "You don't get laid on Friday night, you get in afight." It ain't no big thing, you might think, but Taffer's statisticssay otherwise. He claims that if there are six or more motorcycles parked infront of a bar, then 88 percent of women over the age of 34 will refuse tocross its threshold. Keep your eye on the bottom line and disregard thosestudies demonstrating that the other 12 percent are kind of fun to have around.
On a related note, Angel's stands adjacent to a strip club, which is alsocalled Angel's and is also owned by the week's saved soul, whose name is Renée.When Taffer and his wife, Nicole—who also serves as his "reconspecialist"—make an initial incognito visit to the bar, they aredispleased that there is little to distinguish it from its neighbor. Both arewindowless and neon-riddled, and with the bar's credit-card machine alwaysdown, patrons are directed to an ATM that charges a $6 fee. Nicole doesn't knowif she'd be comfortable getting out of here safely by herself or even findingthe exit. But the host sees an opportunity to make Angel's morefemale-friendly. Reimagining it as a scalably upscale whiskey bar, he envisionsit attaining "a level of respectability where at least you can come inhere and your wife won't kill you."
计时5 （309 words）
The morning after that first visit, Taffer tours the place with Renée,noting the staples dotting the wall by the front door, the squirrel damage outback, and the thick miasma of apathy all over. In one of very few resorts toprofanity, he calls her place a shithole, and she cries. "When her eyesfilled up with tears, it showed me embarrassment, it showed me pride," hesays. It showed me that very few of Renée's facial muscles are mobile,but Taffer is the motivational type, and that is not his concern. Rather, herdistress is "the beginning of an emotion I can build on."
Everything proceeds quite briskly from here, from physical renovation tospiritual rebuilding. The shiftless general manager, Wayne, in fact proves soshiftless that he cannot even be bothered to frown when getting fired, but mostof the waitstaff is impressed that Taffer is seeking its input. "They'reactually asking us what we think," says someone, maybe DeeDee, perhapsmisreading the situation. In fact, Taffer is operating on the assumption, notungenerous, that the waitstaff is capable of thought.
The staff's mixological lessons come from a guy who used to be a big deal atMilk& Honey, which is a bit like sending John Maynard Keynes to teach themhow to use the cash register. "What's a cocktail?" inquires one ofhis charges; the dear thing learns how to make a Gold Rush and, more importantly, how to pour a drink to make it look stiffer than it is.Meanwhile, a nightlife expert teaches the waitresses how to make proper eyecontact, a skill they'd never had a chance to develop, as their customers' eyeswere generally otherwise occupied. As one of the girls says when questionedabout her attire: "The management actually said that they wanted to gear itmore toward bikini."
自由阅读
With its relaunch, Angel's is rechristened, in a nod to its illustriousheritage, as Racks, and its signage boasts of billiards and bourbon in colorsalleged to stimulate the appetite. "It looks so classy!" says awaitress, naturally. Taffer is proud. Renée is smiling, or would be if shecould. And the mixologist is as pleased as planter's punch at the way the floorstaff is handling the top-shelf stuff: "They upsold really well."


[越障3-2]

Where the state does too little
China’s insurance industry holds a mirror to thegovernment
Jul 21st 2011 | Hong Kong |from the print edition
THE insurance industry, designed asit is to smooth over life’s dramas, is meant to be somewhat dull. Insurersthemselves mostly conform to this type: they produce modest, consistentreturns—steady growth and, to reassure the skittish, a dividend. Things aredifferent in China. Dividends are a trivial component of share prices, and theindustry’s growth prospects are breathtaking, not boring.



One measure of its buoyancy is theindustry’s resilience in the face of a series of recent setbacks. Concerns overquestionable sales practices have prompted regulators to restrict banks’distribution of life-insurance products, a channel that is responsible forabout half of all life sales. If that was not bad enough, the end of subsidiesfor car purchases introduced during the global crisis removed a main impetusfor sales of car-insurance policies. Car insurance is three-quarters of thecountry’s property and casualty business.


Even so life-insurance sales are offby only 5% so far this year, compared with the same period in 2010, andcar-insurance sales, after slowing early in the year, seem to be rebounding. Inthe longer term most analysts are looking at 15% earnings growth for both lifeand non-life products for years to come. Optimists think growth in excess of 20%a year is a good bet.


Some of the reasons for this rosyprospect are obvious: China’s size, its growing wealth and the immaturity ofthe industry (see chart) all explain its potential. But the fact that theindustry has so far to go also reflects two historic shifts in governmentpolicy, one which set the market back and the other now propelling it forward.


The first shift dates back to therevolution and wiped out the industry. British firms began selling policies inChina in 1846. In 1875 a precursor to the current China Merchants group enteredthe market. AIG was founded in Shanghai in 1919. Small agencies peddlingpolicies speckled the streets of major cities, says Paul French, aShanghai-based writer.


All, however, were tossed out orshut down after the revolution on the premise that the state provided all, sothere was no need for a separate intermediary. Even hard-core communists weregradually convinced of the need for shipping insurance for the country’s tinyforeign trade—no one wanted to allow anything on a boat if there wasn’t a clearway of being reimbursed if it did not arrive. A single company, the People’sInsurance Company of China (PICC), was established as a government monopoly,although the amount of business it did was trivial.


Things began to change in 1988 whenChina Merchants was able to convince the government that it should be allowedback into the business it had set up for China a century before. It waspermitted to establish Ping An Insurance, at first providing coverage for trucksmoving goods from a single part of Shenzhen in the south of the country.Eventually, insurance offices were established at the end of each truck route.


From these modest roots, anextraordinarily valuable industry has emerged. Ping An is now worth $66billion. PICC has been broken up into at least three bits. One part, ChinaLife, is the only pure insurance company in the world worth more than Ping An;another part, carrying the old PICC name and selling property and casualtyinsurance, is worth $20 billion; a third will go public soon. Various otherinsurance companies have emerged as well, often carved out of a state entity.China Pacific, a Shanghai-based firm, is worth $30 billion. Along with thesegiants there are hundreds of smaller outfits and dozens of foreign-linkedventures, all crowding into what they sense is a growing market.


That growth reflects the secondgreat shift in government policy. Having previously dispensed with insurance asredundant in a socialist society, the new China has reversed course. The stateis intimately involved in business and many aspects of life, but the provisionof social insurance—for ill-health, accidents and old age—is either inadequateor non-existent. In the case of a disaster, help is unlikely to come from thecourts or from government. That creates a staggeringly large gap for insurers.


The most popular life-insuranceproducts tend to be simple: pay a premium for 10-15 years and get a return,plus protection for your family in the case of death. They are useful forretirement, for a child’s education or for an emergency. As investmentproducts, however, they are less attractive than they once were. Banks haverecently had to raise reserves: that has created a hunger for deposits whichhas pushed up what they are willing to pay. It is now common to be offered 3%for a one-year bank deposit and 5.5% for a five-year one. Insurers are allowedto guarantee only a 2.5% return; policies linked to the stockmarket that danglethe promise of much higher returns have disappointed recently.


That might hurt if enough customersmoved in search of higher returns. But in China many people are only justbecoming affluent enough to invest. There is lots of opportunity for agentswith a product to flog. China Life has more than 700,000 agents working on itsbehalf; other firms have armies of salesmen, too.


As is often the case in China,foreign firms face huge barriers. With one exception, they are required toenter the country through joint ventures or to hold only tiny, direct stakes.The exception is AIA, which was recently spun out of AIG. Its erstwhile parentwas quick to follow China Merchants in successfully pushing for a new licencebased on its history, and managed to obtain approvals for five provinces.


AIA’s life-insurance operations havethe largest market share of any foreign firm as a result, at a trivial-sounding1%. Even that sliver still accounts for 8% of all its new business, notes MarkKellock, an analyst with Barclays Capital. Up that share just a little and theimpact on AIA would be vast. China’s insurance market may be daunting. Dull itis not.
Source：http://www.economist.com/node/18988634

抓抓sandra

嘿嘿~明智~btw以后发的附上汇总贴的链接把？这样方便意外闯入的了解咱的练习方法哈~忘记说了，咱今天开始LSAT哈~我贴过来~


今天这篇是LSAT第01套SESSION III的第二篇文章，请大家仔细做完再看答案（好废话~~）~~


The refusal of some countries to extradite persons accused or convicted of terrorist act has focused attention on the problems caused by the political offense exception to extradition. Extradition is the process by which one country returns an accused or convicted person found within its borders to another country for trial or punishment. Under the political offense exception, the requested state may, if it considers the crime to be a “political offense,” deny extradition to the requesting state.
Protection of political offenses is a recent addition to the ancient practice of extradition. It is the result of two fundamental changes that occurred as European monarchies were replaced by representative governments. First, these governments began to reject what had been a primary intent of extradition, to expedite the return of political offenders, and instead sought to protect dissidents fleeing despotic regimes. Second, countries began to contend that they had no legal or moral duty to extradite offenders without specific agreements creating such obligations. As extradition laws subsequently developed through international treaties, the political offense exception gradually became an accepted principle among Western nations.
There is no international consensus, however, as to what constitutes a political offense. For analytical purposes illegal political conduct has traditionally been divided into two categories. “Pure” political offenses are acts perpetrated directly against the government, such as treason and espionage. These crimes are generally recognized as nonextraditable, even if not expressly excluded from extradition by the applicable treaty. In contrast, common crimes, such as murder, assault, and robbery, are generally extraditable. However, there are some common crimes that are so inseparable from a political act that the entire offense is regarded as political. These crimes, which are called “relative” political offenses, are generally nonextraditable. Despite the widespread acceptance of these analytic constructs, the distinctions are more academic than meaningful. When it comes to real cases, there is no agreement about what transforms a common crime into a political offense and about whether terrorist acts fall within the protection of the exception. Most terrorists claim that their acts do fall under this protection.
Nations of the world must now balance the competing needs of political freedom and international public order. It is time to reexamine the political offense exception, as international terrorism eradicates the critical distinctions between political offenses and nonpolitical crimes. The only rational and attainable objective of the exception is to protect the requested person against unfair treatment by the requesting country. The international community needs to find an alternative to the political offense exception that would protect the rights of requested persons and yet not offer terrorists immunity from criminal liability.
题目
6.    In the passage, the author primarily seeks to
(A) define a set of terms
(B) outline a new approach
(C) describe a current problem
(D) expose an illegal practice
(E) present historical information


7.    According to the passage, when did countries begin to except political offenders from extradition?
(A) when the principle of extraditing accused or convicted persons originated
(B) when some nations began refusing to extradite persons accused or convicted of terrorist acts
(C) when representative governments began to replace European monarchies
(D) when countries began to refuse to extradite persons accused or convicted of common crimes
(E) when governments began to use extradition to expedite the return of political offenders


8.    Given the discussion in the passage, which one of the following distinctions does the author consider particularly problematic?
(A) between common crimes and “relative” political offense
(B) between “pure” political offenses and common crimes
(C) between “pure” political offenses and “relative” political offenses
(D) between terrorist acts and acts of espionage
(E) between the political offense exception and other exceptions to extradition


9.    According to the author, the primary purpose of the political offense exception should be to
(A) ensure that terrorists are tried for their acts
(B) ensure that individuals accused of political crimes are not treated unfairly
(C) distinguish between political and nonpolitical offenses
(D) limit extradition to those accused of “pure” political offenses
(E) limit extradition to those accused of “relative” political offenses


10.    It can be inferred from the passage that the author would agree with which one of the following statements about the political offense exception?
(A) The exception is very unpopular.
(B) The exception is probably illegal.
(C) The exception is used too little.
(D) The exception needs rethinking.
(E) The exception is too limited.
11.    When referring to a balance between “the competing needs of political freedom and international public order” (lines 54-55) the author means that nations must strike a balance between
(A) allowing persons to protest political injustice and preventing them from committing political offenses
(B) protecting the rights of persons requested for extradition and holding terrorists criminally liable
(C) maintaining the political offense exception to extradition and clearing up the confusion over what is a political offense
(D) allowing nations to establish their own extradition policies and establishing an agreed-upon international approach to extradition
(E) protecting from extradition persons accused of “pure” political offenses and ensuring the trial of persons accused of “relative” political offenses


12.    The author would most likely agree that the political offense exception
(A) has, in some cases, been stretched beyond intended use
(B) has been used too infrequently to be evaluated
(C) has been a modestly useful weapon again terrorism
(D) has never met the objective for which it was originally established
(E) has been of more academic than practical value to political dissidents


13.    Which one of the following, if true, would give the author most cause to reconsider her recommendation regarding the political offence exception (lines 62-66)?
(A) More nations started refusing to extradite persons accused or convicted of terrorist acts.
(B) More nations started extraditing persons accused or convicted of treason, espionage, and other similar crimes.
(C) The nations of the world sharply decreased their use of the political offense exception protect persons accused of each of the various types of “pure” political offenses.
(D) The nations of the world sharply decreased their use of the political offense exception to protect persons accused of each of the various types of “relative” political offenses.
(E) The nations of the world started to disagree over the analytical distinction between “pure” political offenses and “relative” political offenses.













答案（白色字体，请用鼠标选中此行查看）：CCABD     BAD

fox0923

图书馆打瞌睡，这就是10：32am没有睡觉的后果。不过主要还是因为后边坐着一个孟加拉人，身上总有股味道让我不得不最终卧倒 。。。抓抓, lsat文章要怎样展开进行讨论--每道题都探讨还是怎样？是不是也post一下summary比较好，不过我大致扫了一下，觉得挺难的。。。另外，抓抓你有没有答案解释？要是可以的话，我在想把它也post到第二天的新贴子里合并速度练习一起传上来。。？！

抓抓sandra

哈。。可以在图书馆学习很幸福的啊~学校图书馆放假就关门了。。平时也根本没空调神马的。。- -
LSAT的解析我找过貌似都找不到的，所以这个星期的7篇LSAT我贴出来之后大家一起读，读完一是要写summary（逻辑结构），二是要写题目的解析（考点、原文对应），三就是大家有什么疑问和感受可以互相交流探讨~

fox0923

哈。。可以在图书馆学习很幸福的啊~学校图书馆放假就关门了。。平时也根本没空调神马的。。- -
LSAT的解析我找过貌似都找不到的，所以这个星期的7篇LSAT我贴出来之后大家一起读，读完一是要写summary（逻辑结构），二是要写题目的解析（考点、原文对应），三就是大家有什么疑问和感受可以互相交流探讨~

-- by 会员 抓抓sandra (2011/7/27 9:13:45)

好的，明白了。。我这里的图书馆也是那种对外开放的，不过环境还是不错的，就是得早去等着站好位。。。
今天莫名的困，好像抽了大烟似的。。。唉，再一次原谅自己，明天再读贴的文章吧。。

superbat28

哈。。可以在图书馆学习很幸福的啊~学校图书馆放假就关门了。。平时也根本没空调神马的。。- -
LSAT的解析我找过貌似都找不到的，所以这个星期的7篇LSAT我贴出来之后大家一起读，读完一是要写summary（逻辑结构），二是要写题目的解析（考点、原文对应），三就是大家有什么疑问和感受可以互相交流探讨~

-- by 会员 抓抓sandra (2011/7/27 9:13:45)

好的，明白了。。我这里的图书馆也是那种对外开放的，不过环境还是不错的，就是得早去等着站好位。。。
今天莫名的困，好像抽了大烟似的。。。唉，再一次原谅自己，明天再读贴的文章吧。。

-- by 会员 fox0923 (2011/7/27 10:36:55)

那是我昨天的状态。。。我被你打败了。。。fox！~！！~~~~~
速度3.2……
1.100s
2.88s
3.60s（没怎么读懂。。）
4.60s剩四行。。决定重读。。
5.60s剩小一半。。

貌似只有我中午读文章哇？~哎。。。我晚上回宿舍都没法读。。。T T

superbat28

今天还有LSAT做啊。。。做SAT不好嘛

superbat28

越障。。。我读了9min。。。。。。。。  

 保险应作为一种保障人类生存的工具，应该有稳定的interest和适当的dividends。但在中国是不同的情况，分红占了trivial of share prices, 而保险业的发展是breathtaking，而不是boring
 尽管之前在中国生命保险和车险都曾出现过下降的情形，尤其是车险，在经济危机出现时出现了下降。但是它们都又有了rebound的趋势，甚至达到15%。乐观者估计，明年这个上升幅度甚至可以达到20%
 这样的rebound可以归因于以下几个方面：中国的size，中国的growth of wealth，以及这个行业的immature而造成的发展潜力。但是，我们不应忽视的是这样的rebound也是由于中国两个policy所造成的，一个使保险业回到正轨，一个推动着它前进。
 英国在中国第一个卖保险，那时1846年的事。随后1919年AIG在上海建立。而中国实施的一个政策，建立了PICC。（为什么建立。。。忘掉了。。。）
 随后，平安保险也建立了，起初是卖给那些truck公司，担保其货物的。随着近些年的发展，像PICC，平安和一家新在上海成立的公司，都逐渐变成了大的公司，资本金都非常高。
 而第二个政策则是与social insurance有关。之前，中国人在得病时既不能从court也不能从government那里得到抚恤，从而造成了一个赔偿的GAP。因此，他们就制定了一个什么什么政策。。。然后就开始卖这个保险了吧。。。
 有一个问题是，中国存款利率高于保险所能带回来地收益率。比如，一年定期是3%，二年定期是5.5%，而保险每年只能拿回2.5%的利息，所以保险不能带回高利息是有点disappointing的。
 但这也不是事，因为很多中国人刚刚富有到可以去投资的地步，而且事实也发现许多保险公司都有armies of salesmen.
 中国对外国保险公司有barrier，除非外国保险公司通过joint venture hold或占据tiny stables才可以进入中国市场。但这也有一个例外，就是AIA公司（不知道之前和AIG有过什么纠葛。。），它得到了在5个省份卖保险的许可。
 这5个省份的许可，占据了AIA 1%的利润，8%的新business利润。尽管小，但貌似意义不小吧。。。

superbat28

LAST！~~
我一般都是边读边抄的。。所以有些我觉得看懂记下的东西，哪怕是重要的信息，我可能也没记。。所以不在以下回忆之内。。 总之，我觉得我的逻辑简图肯定是不够全面的，仅供参考。。

1. The refusal of 一些国 to extradite 罪犯 of terrorist act has focus attention on the problems caused by the 政治攻击 exception to extradition. 定义什么是extradite。而requested state may, deny extradite the person to the 发邀国。

2. extradite是result of 两个变化，这两个变化发生在君主制被government取代时：
第一，government began to reject what had been a primary intent of extradition.
第二，政府began to 认为that 没有legal or moral duty to extradite

然而，国际对political offense并无定论。一般，非法活动分为两类，pure political offence,这是不可extradite的；common crimes，是可extradite的。但有些CC，so inseparable from political,被称为RPO，而成为不可extradite的

最后一段。。。没好好读，我检讨……我就知道作者提议要reexamine这个分类。。。

fox0923

bat：Fox的睡战持续了9个小时，我自己也被自己打败了，今天不得不红牛了，脑子晕晕的。

1. 2lines 74s
2. 1.5line 72s
3. 1.5line 75s （bar的问题不太熟悉）
4. 2lines   80s
5. 4lines   90s (只有最后一段比较清晰，后面三篇描述性内容太多）