[Reading Comprehension]
试题详情
文章:


| Line | Scientists long believed that two nerve clusters in |
| the human hypothalamus, called suprachiasmatic | |
| nuclei (SCNs), were what controlled our circadian | |
| rhythms. Those rhythms are the biological cycles | |
| (5) | that recur approximately every 24 hours in |
| synchronization with the cycle of sunlight and | |
| darkness caused by Earths rotation. Studies have | |
| demonstrated that in some animals, the SCNs | |
| control daily fluctuations in blood pressure, body | |
| (10) | temperature, activity level, and alertness, as well as |
| the nighttime release of the sleep-promoting agent | |
| melatonin. Furthermore, cells in the human retina | |
| dedicated to transmitting information about light | |
| levels to the SCNs have recently been discovered. | |
| (15) | Four critical genes governing circadian cycles |
| have been found to be active in every tissue, | |
| however, not just the SCNs, of flies, mice, and | |
| humans. In addition, when laboratory rats that | |
| usually ate at will were fed only once a day, peak | |
| (20) | activity of a clock gene in their livers shifted by |
| 12 hours, whereas the same clock gene in the | |
| SCNs remained synchronized with light cycles. While | |
| scientists do not dispute the role of the SCNs in | |
| controlling core functions such as the regulation of | |
| (25) | body temperature and blood pressure, scientists |
| now believe that circadian clocks in other organs | |
| and tissues may respond to external cues other than | |
| light—including temperature changes—that recur | |
| regularly every 24 hours. |
| Line | The fact that superior service can generate a |
| competitive advantage for a company does not | |
| mean that every attempt at improving service will | |
| create such an advantage. Investments in service, | |
| (5) | like those in production and distribution, must be |
| balanced against other types of investments on the | |
| basis of direct, tangible benefits such as cost | |
| reduction and increased revenues. If a company is | |
| already effectively on a par with its competitors | |
| (10) | because it provides service that avoids a damaging |
| reputation and keeps customers from leaving at an | |
| unacceptable rate, then investment in higher | |
| service levels may be wasted, since service is a | |
| deciding factor for customers only in extreme | |
| (15) | situations. |
| This truth was not apparent to managers of one | |
| regional bank, which failed to improve its | |
| competitive position despite its investment in | |
| reducing the time a customer had to wait for a | |
| (20) | teller. The bank managers did not recognize the |
| level of customer inertia in the consumer banking | |
| industry that arises from the inconvenience of | |
| switching banks. Nor did they analyze their service | |
| improvement to determine whether it would attract | |
| (25) | new customers by producing a new standard of |
| service that would excite customers or by proving | |
| difficult for competitors to copy. The only merit of | |
| the improvement was that it could easily be | |
| described to customers. |
The passage suggests which of the following about service provided by the regional bank prior to its investment in enhancing that service?
The table summarizes information in several categories about the 9 stores in a small grocery chain. The table also includes chain-wide averages where appropriate.
For each of the following statements, select True if the statement can be verified to be true based on the information provided. Otherwise, select False.



For over two centuries, no one had been able to make Damascus blades—blades with a distinctive serpentine surface pattern—but a contemporary sword maker may just have rediscovered how. Using iron with trace impurities that precisely matched those present in the iron used in historic Damascus blades, this contemporary sword maker seems to have finally hit on an intricate process by which he can produce a blade indistinguishable from a true Damascus blade.
Which of the following, if true, provides the strongest support for the hypothesis that trace impurities in the iron are essential for the production of Damascus blades?