Section B(20 minutes, 10 points) [Dmf.PUe
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The Bush crowd bristles at the use of the "Q-word"--quagmire(沼泽)---to describe American involvement in Iraq. But with our soldiers fighting and dying with no end in sight, who can deny that Mr. Bush has gotten us into "a situation from which extrication is very difficult," which is a standard definition of quagmire? RD ;A
More than 1,730 American troops have already died in Iraq. _____66 one of six service members, including four women, who were killed .She was a suicide bomber struck their convoy in Falluja last week. Ndyo)11z
With evidence mounting that U.S. troop strength in Iraq was inadequate, Mr. Bush told reporters at the White House, "There are some who feel that the conditions are such that they can attack us there. My answer is, Bring'em on." 7Jd&9&O U
_____67 A New Jersey Democrat said: "I am shaking my head in disbelief. When I served in the Army in Europe during World War II, I never heard any military commander-let alone the commander in chief-invite enemies to attack U.S. troops." Sz]1`%_H/
_____68"We've learned that Iraqis are courageous and that they need additional skills," said Mr. Bush in his television address. "And that is why a major part of our mission is to train them so they can do the fighting, and then our troops can come home." LabI5+g
Don't hold your breath. _____69 e2 g`T{6M
Whether one agreed with the launch of this war or not, the troops doing the fighting deserve to be guided by leaders in Washington who are at least minimally competent at waging war. _____70A. It was an immature display of street-corner machismo(男子气概)that appalled people familiar with the agonizing ordeals of combat. `tc
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B. The American death toll in Iraq at that point was about 200, but it was clear that a vicious opposition was developing. hlz/TIP^N3
C. This is another example of the administration's inability to distinguish between a strategy and a wish. Qz_4Ms<o
D. Some were little more than children when they signed up for the armed forces, like Ramona Valdez, who grew up in the Bronx and was just 17 when she pined the Marines. * P&lAyt6
E. The latest fantasy out of Washington is that American-trained Iraqi forces will ultimately be able to do what the American forces have not: defeat the insurgency and pacify Iraq. 2=%]Ax"R
F. That has not been the case, which is why we can expect to remain stuck in this tragic quagmire for the foreseeable luture. $ f||!g
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Passage Two O7 yj<
[HQ/MkP-Z
Over the past few years, outcries from food activists have changed many Americans' eating habits: Criticism of widespread pesticide use led many consumers to organic foods, and early warnings prompted shoppers to shun irradiated and genetically altered food. _____71 Major players have muscled laws through state legislatures. The statutes make it illegal to suggest that a particular food is unsafe without a "sound scientific basis" for the claim. these so-called banana bills are under discussion in several U.S. states. kf#S"[/E
Banana bill backers believe the laws will protect agricultural producers from losses like those following the Alar scare in 1989, when the TV magazine show 60 Minutes publicized a Natural Resources Defense Council report charging that the chemical, which enhances the which enhances the appearance of apples, causes cancer _____72. `-K[$V
Banana bill foes say the laws simply serve to repress those who speak out against risky food-produce with "acceptable" level of pesticides, genetically altered tomatoes, milk from cows injected with the growth hormone rbST, which boosts milk production. =WEDQ\ c
_____73 They call them an insult to free speech and an impediment to covering critical food safety issues, notes Nicols Fox in American Journalism Review (March 1995). Most critics question the laws' requirement that only charges based on "reasonable and reliable" evidence be allowed. _____74 After all, it's unlikely that agribusinesses will accept even the best evidence if it threatens their bottom line. Fox notes that even though the Environmental Protection Agency affirmed that Alar posed unacceptable health risks, Washington State Farm Bureau spokesperson Peter Stemberg insists that EPA's challenged accepted wisdom. Science is "subject to second opinion."-- opinions that challenged accepted wisdom. 0%,?z`UY
Instead of attacking what they sneer as‘just science," food producers should be listening to the public's food worries, says Sierra's Raubcr, who cites a recent Young & Rubicam poll that found that 4 out of 5 Americans are "very concerned about food safety.”_____75 A case in point is rbST maker Monsanto, who fought and eventually lost a battle to keep dairy producers from advertising that their milk came from rbST free cows. n36iY'<) G
