Asian athletes have had a spare time in the first two days of the World Indoor Championships in Birmingham, England. But Chinese hurdler(跨栏运动员) Liu Xiang surprised everyone by taking the bronze medal in the men's 60-meter hurdles.
Liu became the first Chinese male athlete to get a world indoor medal in the 18-year history of the championship and was the only Asian medallist this time.
"Karaoke (卡拉OK)! That's what I'm going to do. I'm going to get a big group of my friends together and sing. I love both Western and Chinese music but especially Michael Jackson," said Liu after clocking 7.52 seconds in the final to take his place on the podium (领奖台).
"Frankly speaking, I didn't think I was in the shape to win a medal," Liu said. "On my arrival here, my aim was just to fight my way into the final. After I did that, I thought I might just get into the top six. I knew British hurdler Colin Jackson was going to be here and he's the world record holder indoors and out."
"There was also Cuba's reigning (统治的) Olympic champion Anier Garcia and Allen Johnson, from the United States." It was Johnson, the reigning world outdoor champion, who was successful in 7.47 seconds with Garcia second and Jackson finished back in fifth.
Now Liu will never underestimate his chances again and is aiming for glory in Paris later this year.
"There is the World Championship outdoors in the summer and I have now got to think that I can get a medal. I can never again think that I can't get a medal," he said. Liu's success here marks his rapid transition into the senior ranks.
"The university gives me a lot of flexibility. My courses are very easy and the teachers are very helpful," said Liu.
They might have to be even more accommodating(乐于助人的) now if Liu starts taking on celebrity status, although an invite to his homecoming karaoke party may help. The first sentence "Asian athletes have had a spare time in the first two days…" means "________".
| A．Asian athletes can do things at their will in the first two days |
| B．Asian athletes haven't any achievements in the first two days |
| C．Asian athletes could match athletes from other continents |
| D．Asian athletes are tired of competing in the first two days |
The underlined sentence means "________".
| A．I was not satisfied with my performances |
| B．winning a medal can't show what I have done |
| C．I didn't think I was able to win a medal |
| D．I haven't told anyone about my achievements in the hurdles |
Liu ________ the World Championship outdoors in Paris later this year.
| A．is busy preparing for |
| B．has great pressure on |
| C．is more confident of his ability in |
| D．pays little attention to |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Liu Xiang was the youngest athlete to take part in the competition in England. |
| B．Liu Xiang was the first Asian medallist to get a world indoor medal. |
| C．Liu Xiang is not only a good athlete but a music-lover. |
| D．Liu Xiang finds it hard to get along with teachers in university. |
I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and hated asking for help. After all, I was a teenage girl, and I couldn't bear people to look at me and think I was not like them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads. Coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to step rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that use d to occur on the way to and from work.
One evening, I got off the bus about halfway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something. “I’m awfully sorry，” I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamppost. This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn't stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to try to guess if the bus had arrived.
Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.
But on this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; it seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself, I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.The girl refused to ask for help because she thought ________．
| A．she might be recognized |
| B．asking for help looked silly |
| C．she was normal and independent |
| D．being found blind was embarrassing |
After the girl got off the bus that evening, she ________．
| A．began to run |
| B．hit a person as usual |
| C．hit a lamppost by accident |
| D．was caught by something |
At the request stop that evening, the girl ________．
| A．stopped a big lorry |
| B．stopped the wrong bus |
| C．made no attempt to stop the bus |
| D．was not noticed b y other people |
What was the problem with guessing at the sound to stop a bus?
| A．Other vehicles also stopped there. |
| B．It was unreliable for making judgments. |
| C．More lorries than buses responded to the girl. |
| D．It took too much time for the girl to catch the bus. |
Finally the girl decided to walk to the next stop, hoping ________．
| A．to find people there |
| B．to find more buses there |
| C．to find the bus by herself there |
| D．to find people more helpful there |
Dude Ranch
If you have little cowboys and cowgirls at home, thrill them by visiting a dude ranch (度假牧场) on your next vacation. Your children can learn about nature, enjoy horseback riding, and gain an entirely new perspective. You can choose between programs that have you spending quality time with your kids, and programs that are for children only. This summer, enjoy the great outdoors — at a dude ranch!
For more information, visit: www.ranchweb.com/categorydisplay.htm
Six Flags Great Adventure
Have a classic vacation by visiting one of the most famous theme park chains. With locations all over the U.S., there’s sure to be a Six Flags near you. Take the whole family and be back at work on Monday. Escape the summer heat with countless water rides. Take your kids to have brunch with Bugs Bunny, or check out the new Safari Park, where you can interact with real animals.
For more information, visit: www.sixflags.com/national/index.aspx
Roswell UFO Festival
Do you have science fiction fans in your household? Encourage their interests and experience a special vacation at the annual Roswell UFO Festival. Come in costume (化妆服) if you wish, and join the parade (游行). Attend lectures by famous authors and researchers, or watch up-and-coming bands perform. Even if you’re not a believer, you can still enjoy the artwork, music, and great celebration.
For more information, visit: www.roswellufofestival.com
Earthplace
It’s not easy being green, but it can be fun if you visit the exhibits at Earthplace in Westport, Connecticut. This 62-acre wildlife reserve is committed to educating the public about the environment and promoting positive action to preserve nature. The exhibits provide hands-on features that make learning fun for your kids. After touring the exhibits, visit the garden and the playground, and enjoy the summer weather.
For more information, visit: www.earthplace.org/index.htmlDude Ranch and Six Flags Great Adventure are similar in that ______.
| A．they are both suitable for a family vacation |
| B．they both take place in the city |
| C．they both allow people to have brunch |
| D．they both provide water rides |
Which will you join if you want to learn how to protect nature?
| A．Dude Ranch. |
| B．Six Flags Great Adventure. |
| C．Roswell UFO Festival. |
| D．Earthplace. |
Who would be most interested in Roswell UFO Festival?
| A．A kid who loves music. |
| B．A kid who likes adventure. |
| C．A kid who is interested in aliens. |
| D．A kid who likes first-hand experience. |
A man and his girlfriend were married. It was a large celebration. All of their friends and family came to see the lovely ceremony. Everyone could tell that the love they had for each other was true.
A few months later, the wife came to the husband with a piece of advice, “I read in a magazine, a while ago, about how we can strengthen our marriage,” she offered. “Each of us will write a list of the things that we find a bit annoying with the other person. Then, we can talk about how we can fix them together and make our lives happier together.”
The husband agreed. So each of them tried to think of the things that annoyed them about the other and wrote down what they came up with. The next morning, at the breakfast table, they decided that they would go over their lists.
“I’ll start,” offered the wife. She took out her list. It had many items on it, enough to fill three pages. In fact, as she started reading the list of the little annoyances, she noticed that tears were starting to appear in her husband’s eyes because he never thought that he had so many shortcomings.
The wife continued to read until she had read all three pages to her husband. “Now, you read your list and then we’ll talk about the things on both of our lists,” she said happily.
Quietly the husband stated, “I don’t have anything on my list. I think that you are perfect. I don’t want you to change anything for me. You are lovely and wonderful and I wouldn’t want to try and change anything about you.” The wife, touched by his honesty and the depth of his love for her and his acceptance of her, turned her head and wept.
In life, there are enough times when we are disappointed, depressed and annoyed. We don’t really have to go looking for them. We have a wonderful world that is full of beauty, light and promise. Why waste time in this world looking for the bad, disappointing or annoying when we can look around us and see the wonderful things before us?Why were there tears in the husband’s eyes when the wife read his annoyances?
| A．Because he had no courage to face his shortcomings. |
| B．Because he never thought he had so many annoyances in his wife’s eyes. |
| C．Because he was sorry that he didn’t find any annoyance about his wife. |
| D．Because he didn’t think he deserved to have such a perfect wife. |
After hearing the husband’s words, the wife felt .
| A．moved and ashamed | B．sad and disappointed |
| C．satisfied and proud | D．surprised and confused |
The story is intended to tell us that .
| A．disappointment cannot be avoided in our life |
| B．young couples should be more tolerant (宽容的) to each other |
| C．we should turn a blind eye to other people’s blame |
| D．we should try to look for and see the wonderful things around us |
Mozilla has shown off a prototype(雏形) for a $25 (£15) smart phone that is aimed at the developing world.
The company, which is famed mostly for its Firefox browser(浏览器), has partnered with the Chinese low-cost chip maker Spreadtrum.
While not as powerful as more expensive models, the phone will run apps and make use of mobile internet.
It would appeal to the sorts of people who currently buy cheap “feature” phones, analysts said.
Feature phones are highly popular in the developing world as a halfway point between “dumb” phones --- just voice calls and other basic functions --- and fully-developed smart phones.
Mozilla hopes that it will take an early lead in a market that is now being targeted by mobile phone producers who see the developing world as the remaining area for massive growth.
It will face fierce competition from bigger, more popular brands, however --- with more announcements of this kind expected over the course of the next couple of days at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona.
“These solutions expand the global accessibility of open web smart phones to first-time and entry-level smart phone buyers by reducing the time and cost required for handset makers to bring these phones to market,” said Spreadtrum in a press statement.
Mozilla said the phone “redefines”(重新定义) the entry-level phone market.
The concept of a cheap smart phone may seem likely to appeal to consumers in developed countries, particularly those who locked into long contracts in order to pay part of the cost of the likes of the Apple iPhone and Samsung Galaxy range.
But analyst Carolina Milanesi, from Kantar World panel, said it should not be seen as a competitor.Which of the following is true about the $25 smart phone?
| A．It has all the functions of an iPhone. |
| B．It is specially designed for the developed world. |
| C．It will attract the present “feature” phone users. |
| D．It is made by the Chinese low-cost chip maker Spreadtrum. |
What is the feature of a “feature” phone?
| A．Though cheap, it can completely replace the iPhone. |
| B．It is just used for voice calls and other basic functions. |
| C．It has nearly all the functions of a fully-developed smart phone. |
| D．Its functions are between those of a “dumb” phone and a fully-developed smart phone. |
We can learn from the text that at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona ________.
| A．new cheap smart phones will beat high-end ones |
| B．the $25 smart phone coming from Mozilla will be the best seller |
| C．quite a few companies will announce their new cheap smart phones |
| D．Mozilla will be the only company to announce its new cheap smart phone |
Which of the following held a negative attitude towards the cheap smart phone?
| A．Mozilla. | B．Spreadtrum. |
| C．Samsung. | D．Carolina Milanesi. |
Elephants are able to differentiate between ethnicities(种族) and sexes, and can tell an adult from a child --- all from the sound of a human voice.
This is according to a study in which researchers played voice recordings to wild African elephants.
The animals showed more fear when they heard the voices of adult Masai men.
Livestock-herding Masai people do come into conflict with elephants, and this suggests that animals have adapted to specifically listen for and avoid them.
The study is published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Prof Karen McComb and Dr Graeme Shannon from the University of Sussex led the study. They explained that in previous research they had used similar playback experiments to show that elephants could tell --- from the sound of a lion’s roar --- whether the animal was a female or a more dangerous male.
Prof McComb wanted to find out if the animals used their very sharp sense of hearing to identify a potential danger from humans.
The scientists recorded Masai men, women and children saying, in their own language, “Look, look over there, a group of elephants is coming”.
They also recorded Kamba men saying this phrase.
While cattle-herding Masai people often come across free-ranging elephants, which can result in violent conflict, the Kamba people’s more agricultural lifestyle does not generally bring them into aggressive touch with the animals.
When the team played recordings of these different voices through a hidden loudspeaker, they found that elephant family groups reacted more fearfully in response to the voice of a Masai man, than to a Kamba man’s voice.
And the adult male Masai voices encouraged far more of these defensive reactions than the voices of women or boys.An elephant can tell a man from a woman by sense of ________.
| A．touch | B．sight | C．smell | D．hearing |
How did the researchers get to know the elephants’ special ability of identification?
| A．By observing the elephants in the zoo. |
| B．By playing voice recordings to them. |
| C．By recording the behaviours of elephants. |
| D．By communicating with them in a special way. |
We can learn from the passage that elephants are especially afraid of ________.
| A．Masai men | B．Masai women |
| C．Kamba men | D．Kamba women |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Elephants and human beings |
| B．Differences between human voices |
| C．Elephants recognise human voices |
| D．Elephants conflict with human beings |