Michael Fish may soon be replaced as a weather forecaster by something truly fishier---the shark(鲨鱼).
Research by a British biology student suggests that sharks could be used to predict storms.
Lauren Smith, 24, is close to completing her study on shark’s ability to sense pressure.
If her studies prove the theory, scientists may be able to monitor the behaviour of sharks to predict bad weather.
Miss Smith had previously studied the behaviour of lemon sharks in the Bahamas.
She then used their close relatives, lesser spotted dogfish, for further research at Aberdeen University.
Her work---thought to be the first of its kind to test the pressure theory ---- resulted from the observation that juvenile blacktip sharks off Florida moved into deeper water ahead of a violent storm in 2001.
Miss Smith said: “I’ve always been crazy about traveling and diving and this led me to an interest in sharks.”
“I was delighted to have been able to research in the area for my degree. I know there’s so much more we need to understand ---- but it certainly opens the way to more research.”
It has been discovered that a shark senses pressure using hair cells in its balance system.
At the Bimini Shark Lab in the Bahamas, Miss Smith fixed hi-tech sensors to sharks to record pressure and temperature, while also tracking them using GPS (Global Positioning System) technology.
In Aberdeen, she was able to study the effects of tidal(潮汐的) and temperature changes on dogfish----none of which were harmed. She also used a special lab which can mimic(模拟) oceanic pressure changes caused by weather fronts.
She is due to complete her study and graduate later this year. She says she will be looking for a job which will give her the chance to enrich her experience of shark research.The passage is most probably taken from _____.
| A．a short-story collection | B．a popular science magazine |
| C．a research paper | D．a personal diary |
What do we learn from the first four paragraph of the passage?
| A．Sharks may be used to predict bad weather. |
| B．Sharks’ behaviour can be controlled. |
| C．Michael Fish is not qualified for his job. |
| D．Lauren Smith will become a weather forecaster. |
Lauren Smith conducted her research by _______.
| A．removing hair cells from a shark’s balance system |
| B．measuring the air pressure of weather fronts |
| C．recording sharks’ body temperature |
| D．monitoring sharks’ reaction to weather changes |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A popular way of forecasting weather. |
| B．A new research effort in predicting storms. |
| C．Biologists’ interest in the secrets of sharks. |
| D．Lauren Smith’s devotion to scientific research. |
Making an advertisement for television often costs more than a movie. For example, a two-hour movie costs $6 million to make. A TV commercial（广告节目）can cost more than $6000 a second. And that does not include cost of paying for air time. Which is more valuable, the program or the ad? In terms of money-and making money is what television is all about-the commercial is by far the more important.
Research, market testing, talent, time and money—all come together to make us want to buy a product．No matter how bad we think a commercial is, it works．The sales of Charm went up once the ads began．TV commercials actually buy their way into our head．We, in turn, buy the product.
And the ads work because so much time and attention are given to them．Here are some rules of commercial ad making．If you want to get the low middle-class buyer, make sure the announcer has a tough, manly voice．Put some people in the ad who work with their hands．If you want to sell to upper-class audience, make sure that the house, the furniture, and the hair style are the types that the group identifies with(认同)．If you want the buyer feel superior to the character selling the product, then make that person so stupid or silly that everyone will feel great about himself or herself.
We laugh at commercials．We don’t think we pay that much attention to them．But facts show we are kidding ourselves．The making of a commercial that costs so much money is not kid stuff（非常简单的事物）．It’s a big, big business．And it’s telling us what to think, what we need, and what to buy．To put it simply, the TV commercial is a form of brainwashing.TV commercials are more important than other programs to television because _______.
| A．they bring in great profits |
| B．they require a lot of money to make |
| C．they are not difficult to produce |
| D．they attract more viewers than other programs |
The purpose of all the efforts made in turning out TV commercials is _______.
| A．to persuade people to buy the product |
| B．to show how valuable the product is |
| C．to test the market value of the product |
| D．to make them as interesting as TV movies |
From the rules set for making commercial ads, we can see that_______.
| A．the lower-middle-class buyer likes to work with his hand |
| B．the more stupid the characters, the more buyers of the product |
| C．ad designers attract different people with different skills |
| D．an upper-class buyer is more interested in houses and furniture than a lower-middle-class |
buyerIt is believed by the writer that_______.
| A．few people like to watch TV commercials |
| B．TV commercials are a good guide to buyers |
| C．TV commercials often make people laugh |
| D．people do not think highly of TV commercials |
“BANG!” the door caused a reverberation（冲击声）. It was just standing there, which father standing on one side, and I on the other side.
We were both in great anger, “Never set foot in this house again!” stormed father. With tears welling up in my eyes, I rushed out of the flat and ran along the street.
The street lights were shining, causing rather sad-feeling．I wandered aimlessly．
A young father who held a child in his arms walked past me．I felt as if I saw my childhood from another space: happy and carefree．
But now．．．I don’t know whether it is because I have grown up or because dad is getting old．We differ in our ways of thinking．He always put his opinions and codes of behavior on me．Whenever I do something wrong, he never admits it．We are just like two people coming from two different worlds．It feels like there is an iron door between us that can never be opened．
I wandered the streets, without a destination in mind．My heart was frozen on this hot summer night．As I walked on there were fewer and fewer people on the streets, until I had only the street lights to keep me company．When I finally reached the high-rise apartment block in which I lived ,I saw that the light was still on．
I thought to myself: “Is father waiting for me, or is he still angry with me?”
In fact, it was nothing．Perhaps, dad was throwing away some of his old stamps．Perhaps he thought they were useless．I never had the courage to tell him that I liked collecting stamps．I can’t stand his words: “I can’t throw you away, let alone these old papers ?”
All the lights were off except father’s．
Dad was always like this．Maybe he didn’t know how to express himself．After shouting at me, he never showed any mercy or any moments of regret．After an argument he has the habit of creeping up in my sleep and then tucking me underneath the covers．
This was how he always was．He has been a leader for so long that telling everyone else what to do has become his second nature．
The light was still on． “Am I wrong?” I whispered ,maybe．．．With the key in hand, I was as nervous as I had ever been．At last, I decided to open the door, as soon as I opened the door tears ran down my cheeks．I suddenly realized that the iron door that I had imagined between us did not exist at all．Love—it second to none．Decide which is the best order of the following according to what happened in the passage．
a．I opened the door and entered the house．
b．Sadly I ran out into the street．
c．I reached the place where I lived and saw my house still brightly lit．
d．I thought of my father’s kindness towards me．
e．I walked about in the street without any aim．
| A．b,e,d,c,a | B．b,e,c,d,a | C．b,e,a,c,d | D．b,e,c,a,d |
What made the writer think of his childhood?
| A．The sight of the street lights． |
| B．The sight of the empty street． |
| C．The sight of a father with a child in his arms． |
| D．The sight of light in his own house． |
Why do you think the father often shouts at his son?
| A．perhaps the father is getting older and older． |
| B．perhaps the son has already grown up． |
| C．perhaps they never agree with each other． |
| D．perhaps the father has got used to doing that． |
What conclusion can you come to after reading the passage?
| A．The father treats his son in an unfair way． |
| B．The father is actually kind to his son． |
| C．The father is neither kind nor cruel to his son． |
| D．The father is always finding fault with his son． |
阅读下列材料, 从所给的四个选项(A、Ｂ、Ｃ、Ｄ) 中，选出符合各小题要求的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
The people below are needed to take part in a sport. After the description of these people, there is information about four sports(A-D). Decide which sport would be most suitable for the person mentioned in questions 58-61 and then mark the correct letter(A-D) on your answer sheet.Bob is a very active man. He is very strong and healthy. He’d like to take part in an exciting sport. But he is afraid of water.
Simon is very fat. He would like to lose his weight. But he is not interested in double quick and excitement activity. He enjoys water sports.
Mathew hates to take part in the violent sports. He is in poor health. He wants to build up his body.
Jack is brave and risky and a good swimmer. He enjoys water game. He looks for excitement with his friend when they are on holiday.
| A．Hiking is a great way to travel. You will get close to nature and take exercise at the same time. Hiking is easy to do and doesn’t have to be very expensive. You can hike close to home or travel to other places. The basic equipment you need for hiking is simple: good shoes, clothes and a backpack. You can hike in the mountains, in a forest or along a river. You can also go for a hike in the city. Hiking is fun and exciting, but you shouldn’t forget safety. |
| B．Rafting is a good way to experience nature. If you want a normal rafting trip, choose a quiet stream or river that is wide and has few fallen trees or rocks. If you are looking for more excitement you may want to try whitewater rafting. You should always think about your safety and wear good clothes. You also need to learn the basic skills of rafting, such as how to handle the raft, how to paddle and how to get in and out of the raft. You should not go rafting unless you know how to swim, and you should always wear a life jacket. |
| C．Swimming is a good way for swim lovers. You can reduce your weight and become slim by swimming. You can train your willpower and increase your energy of your lung. You can swim in the swimming pool, in the lake, in the river or even in the sea. |
| D．Long running is a good sport, for example, Marathom is very popular with young people especially people with strong body and will. If you have hypertension or heart disease, perhaps, it is not suitable for you. |
Several days ago, a Beijing-based IT company fired about 400 people overnight. No one had expected the job cuts, which broke with traditional ways of letting go of workers in China. Moreover, what was special about this case was that the day before the 400 were fired, they all received from their boss a gift—the book “Who Moved My Cheese?”
The book—a bestseller in the US—is being used by men and women to deal with changes in their lives and work. Some large organizations, including Coca-Cola, Kodak and General Motors, ask their employees to read it in order to encourage them to be active towards changes.
Cheese is something related to everyone’s livelihood-Our jobs, the industries we work in, relationships and love as well.
With China’s official entry into the WTO, the whole nation will face up to more changes and challenges. So what we should do once this “cheese” on which we are so dependent is moved?
“Whatever challenges and changes we meet, we should face up to them bravely,” Jiang Hengwei, a civil servant said after reading the book.
Professor Zhang Yang in Renmin University of China agrees. “We should change our way of thinking. The coming competitive foreign companies and products provide us with great chances to learn from them and improve our own products to meet international standards and be more competitive.”
“With hard work and wisdom, we will create a much larger and better piece of cheese.” Zhang smiled confidently. The whole passage is about_________.
| A．a bestseller in the US |
| B．what people think about China’s entry into the WTO |
| C．the change in people’s attitude towards changes and challenges |
| D．how a book influences the Chinese workers |
The company in Beijing gave each of the 400 fired workers a copy of “Who Moved My Cheese” in order to_________.
| A．be more competitive with foreign firms | B．find an excuse for their job cuts |
| C．let the workers make a living on their own | D．encourage the fired workers |
The word “cheese” in the passage can refer to_________.
| A．something we depend on | B．a most important kind of food |
| C．change or challenge | D．way of life |
From what Hengwei and Professor Zhang Yang said, we can know that____________.
| A．they have different opinions on changes and challenges |
| B．people are not afraid of competition from foreign companies |
| C．the Chinese people are ready to face any changes and challenges |
| D．they are both greatly encouraged by the book |
Talking on a mobile phone is expensive, so a lot of people send text messages. Text messages are much cheaper than talking on a mobile phone, and you can make it cheaper by making the words shorter. You can do this by taking out “unimportant” letters in the words and using numbers instead of words (2 =" to," 3 =" free," 4 =" for," 8 =" ate," so h8 =" hate," etc.). You can also keep away from using punctuation (标点). Here is an example: Do U wnt 2 g 2 th cnma tnite (Do you want to go to the cinema tonight?)
What do you think these text messages mean?
Whr hv U bn? Iv bn wtng hrs fr a cll.
Im hm nw, why nt gv me a cll.
I gt a txt mssge frm my frnd. Shes hvng a prty on Strdy.
Mobile phone users have developed a group of symbols (符号) to show how they feel. They are called emoticons, and there are some examples below. To read an emoticon, you have to look at it sideways. For example, if you say something in a text message that is a joke, you can follow it with a smiling face. Like this: Why didt u call me? I’m so sad. (
Here are some others. Can you think of text messages where you could use them?
) laughing ( sad＜ really sad
Ⅴ shouting |·| asleep：0 shocked
8·| surprised \·o boredWhy are text messages popular?
| A．Because they are expensive. | B．Because they are cheap. |
| C．Because they are hard to write. | D．Because they are not important. |
The first paragraph tells us that we can make the text messages shorter in ways.
| A．one | B．two | C．three | D．four |
What does this text message “Do U wnt 2 cm?” mean? It means “?”.
| A．Do you want to come | B．Do you wear two caps |
| C．Do you want two cakes | D．Do you go home early |
Why do people use emoticons?
| A．Because they can show how users feel. | B．Because the symbols are beautiful. |
| C．Because text messages are short. | D．Because the users can’t make the words shorter. |