It came with devastating force,a natural disaster of strange intensity that shocked the world and killed tens of thousands.The waters have now receded,but disease and food and water shortages trouble a number of countries around the Indian Ocean.Millions of survivors face serious problems.
The number of survivors in need of food aid after the Indian Ocean disaster has climbed to 5 million people.They stretch from Somalia to Thailand,and the figure could rise further,the United Nations has said.
Relief teams hope to reach all of the estimated 700 000 hungry in Sri Lanka within three more days.It could take longer before enough food aid gets to the nearly 1 million people in need in hard-to-reach parts of Indonesia.Another serious problem is the need for purified water.
Although aid had poured in from all over the world to the disaster areas,“Logistics is the big problem here—just getting the stuff out to people who need it,”said Ron Libby,emergency management specialist at the USA agency for International Development.
Relief efforts are hindered by the difficulty of delivering aid to the more than 1000 islands scattered across hundreds of kilometers of ocean.
For those who survived the tsunami's force,disease is now the No.1 problem.Five million people are short of water,food and basic sanitation across the region.World Health Organization(WHO) crisis chief David Navarro said 50 000 more people could die from disease and other causes,as has been the case in previous humanitarian emergencies.
WHO said it had already received a handful of reports of malaria(疟疾) and dengue fever(登革热) and hundreds of reports of diarrhea(腹泻) and infected wounds.It said millions of water purification tablets had been sent to Asia,along with sanitation engineers to rebuild water sanitation infrastructure.
Psychologists are warning that mental health problems caused by the tsunami could prove harder to resolve than the physical damage.
Some survivors say they are plagued by recurring nightmares about walls of water.Many locals are afraid to return to beachside homes.Officials also warn that suicide rates could rise dramatically as parents struggle with guilt at losing children.
Psychologists estimate that 20 to 30 per cent of people who face traumatic events eventually develop symptoms,such as alcohol abuse,lack of concentration at work and an inability to develop close relationships.
Although the Thai Government has offered to build temporary beachside housing,many refugee families are refusing to come down from the hills.Others are afraid to go back to jobs on the sea.
Over 150 000 people were killed by the tsunami,but hundreds and thousands more have been left with no means to earn a living.
In the village of Akirapettai in India,all that is left is the twisted wreckage of the fishing fleet.Dakshina Murti,a fisherman,not only lost three family members,but also lost his boats,his nets,everything.
“Everything's gone,”he says.With no government aid so far,all he has is a wreck.There are several million people who suffered the same experience.Homes have been destroyed,as well as wharves,docks,and sheds.
For now,rebuilding the economy remains a distant concept.This passage is mainly about _________that happened around the Indian Oceans.
A.the causes of the tsunami | B.the result after the tsunami |
C.the sign of the tsunami | D.the warning of the tsunami |
According to what the United Nations has said,the number of survivors in need of food aid after the disaster _________.
A.is not more than 5 million | B.is less than 5 million |
C.has reached 5 million | D.won't reach 5 million |
From the passage we learn that _________ is the most serious problem for the time being.
A.disease | B.food | C.water | D.house |
The passage tells us that such a disaster,as tsunami will cause diseases and _________ as well.
A.Dengue fever | B.diarrhea | C.Malaria | D.mental health problem |
Its well known that our human memory can fail us. People can be forgetful, and they can sometimes also remember things incorrectly, with damaging consequences in the classroom, courtroom, and other areas of life. Now, researchers show for the first time that bumblebees(大黄蜂) can be unreliable witnesses too.
Bumblebees are rather clever animals, which explains why Chittka has been studying learning and memory in the insects for the last 20 years.
Most times when people have studied memory in animals, errors in performance have been taken to mean that the animals failed to learn the task or perhaps learned it and then forgot. But what if animals can experience a more interesting type of memory failure?
To find out, Chittka first trained bumblebees to expect a reward when visiting a yellow artificial flower followed by one with black-and-white rings. During subsequent tests, bees were given a choice between three types of flowers. Two were the types they’d seen in the training before. The third had yellow-and-white rings, representing a mixed-up version of the other two. Minutes after the training, the bees showed a clear preference for the flower that recently rewarded them.
One or three days later, however, something very different happened when the bumblebees’ memory was put to the test. At first, the bees showed the same preference displayed in the earlier tests, but as the time went on, they began selecting the flower with yellow rings, even though they’d never actually seen that one in training before.
Chittka says that insects make similar errors in the conjunction (结合) of long-term memories as humans do. The ability to extract (提取) common features between different events in the environment might come at the expense of remembering every detail correctly. In bees, with their limited brain capacity (容量), the pressure to store main features of several objects rather than each individual object might be much greater, compared with humans.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.Human memory can fail sometimes. |
B.Bumblebees make false memories too. |
C.Humans are not as clever as bumblebees. |
D.Bumblebees have extraordinary memory. |
Which of the following is the closest in meaning to the underlined word subsequent?
A.scientific | B.accurate |
C.following | D.exceptional |
What does the test mentioned in Paragraph 4 tell us?
A.Short-term memories serve the bees well. |
B.The yellow artificial flower appeals to the bees. |
C.Bumblebees like the flowers with yellow-and-white rings. |
D.Bees have remarkable abilities to distinguish colors. |
We can infer from the passage that ______.
A.Chittka thinks that bumblebees failed to remember the color of the flowers |
B.Researchers have learned that bumblebees are unreliable animals |
C.There exist no similarities between the memory errors in humans and bees. |
D.It is less challenging for humans than bees to store main features of several objects. |
Alibaba started taking the lead in China by connecting big Chinese manufacturers(制造商) with big buyers across the world. Its business-to-business site, Alibaba.com allowed business to buy almost everything. Alibabas advantage wasnt hard to judge: size. Alibaba is just big, even by Chinese standards. Its market attracts 231 million active buyers, 8 million sellers, 11.3 billion orders a year — and Alibaba is just the middleman. It encourages people to use its markets — not charging small sellers a percentage of the sale.
If you want a quick look into the influence of Alibaba on daily Chinese life, take my experience. I moved to Beijing a year ago and quickly got tired of visiting small stores across the crowded, polluted city of 20 million people in search of new electronics, bathroom furnishings, and anything else my wife wanted. “You’re looking for what exactly? Why not try it? ” my Chinese teacher asked me one day. With that, my wonderful new relationship with Alibaba began.
Alibaba’s original business-to-business model now is second to consumer buying. Chinese retail(零售) buying makes up 80% of Alibaba’s profit, and leading that group is Taobao, with 800 million items(物品) for sale and the most unbelievable selection of things you’ll ever find. TMall.com is Alibaba’s other big site, where you can find brand name goods from Nike and Unilever near the lowest prices.
What I have a hard time explaining to friends and family back in the U.S. is how China has gone beyond traditional shopping — big-box retailers especially —in favor of online purchases on Taobao and a few other sites. In smaller towns than Beijing, where big retailers have not yet traveled, shopping online is shopping, and shopping is Taobao.
I have a list of some of my recent purchases on Taobao for a sense of how wide the marketplace is. Almost everything arrived a day or two after ordering with free shipping. I’m not even a big buyer, because I need friends to help me search the Chinese-language site. When I was searching my purchase history on my Chinese teacher’s iPad, which helps me buy goods, I looked through with great difficulty about 10 of her purchases for every one of mine. Alibabas advantage mainly lies in .
A.its low price |
B.its big size |
C.its not charging small sellers |
D.its business-to-business service |
What can we learn from the underlined sentence in the passage?
A.Alibaba will continue to develop. |
B.Alibaba stands out as the best online site. |
C.Alibaba acts as a bridge between the buyers and sellers. |
D.Alibaba is of middle size among all the online sites. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
A.TMall.com provides more profit than Taobao. |
B.The authors Chinese teacher is also an online purchase lover. |
C.Taobao has no obvious advantage over other similar online sites. |
D.Alibabas business-to-business service earns more money than retail. |
What is the passage mainly about?
A.Shopping online in China is TaoBao. |
B.How the author purchases online in China. |
C.Shopping online goes beyond traditional shopping. |
D.Alibaba influences peoples daily purchase in China. |
As a leading Chinese language school and a cultural exchange institute in China, Global Exchange Education Center has been providing Mandarin (or Putonghua) language courses and cultural exchange programs for over a decade.
How to apply for our programs
■In order to apply for all of our programs, you must be
at least 18 years old.
in good health,
a senior high school graduate.
■Application Procedure for Chinese Language Programs
Step 1. Send us a completed application form by email or fax.
Step 2. Send us $ 60 application fee after receiving our email confirmation.
Step 3. Arrange the payment transfer.
Step 4. Plan the trip to Beijing.
■Application Procedure for Chinese Business Internship (实习)Program
Step 1. Send us a completed application form with your CV and personal statement for the program by email or fax.
Step 2. Send us $ 310, including $60 application fee and $ 250 internship placement deposit, after receiving our letter of acceptance for the program.
Step 3. Arrange final payment transfer after receiving our second confirmation.
Step 4. Plan the trip to Beijing.
■Personal Statement for applicants for Chinese Business Internship Program
You should state why you want to take this program and what your expectations of the program are. How you will make use of this program in your future career.
■ APPLICATION DEADLINES
The applications for most programs are reviewed on a rolling basis. You are encouraged to submit your application ahead of the application deadlines.
■Confirmation
Having received your application, Global Exchange Education Center usually sends out an email confirmation for the booking within 2-5 working days.The text is probably written for ______.
A.junior high graduates | B.international students |
C.job seekers | D.language trainers |
If you apply for both of the programs, the total application fees will be ______.
A.$120 | B.$310 | C.$250 | D.$ 370 |
Which of the following is not necessarily included i
n applicants personal statement?
A.Their purposes of taking the program. |
B.Their expectations of the program. |
C.Their future practice of the program. |
D.Their feedbacks on the program. |
The world’s richest man might seem to have it all,but Bill Gates has one regret.The self-made billionaire said he felt stupid for not knowing any foreign languages.
Speaking in his third Ask Me Anything question-and-answer session for online forum Reddit(红迪网),the Microsoft founder said that he wished he spoke French,Arabic or Chinese.
He said:“I took Latin and Greek in high school and got A's and I guess it helps my vocabulary.I keep hoping to get time to study one of these—probably French because it is the easiest.I did Duolingo for a while but didn’t keep it up.”
Gates,who is worth $79.3 billion,praised Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg for surprising an audience in Beijing when he spoke fluent Chinese,“Mark Zuckerberg amazingly learned Chinese and did a Q&A with Chinese students—unbelievable,isn’t it?”he said.
This isn’t the first time for Gates to admit his regret over language.He also showed his habits at home and personal insights.
Last February, Gates said he likes to do the dishes himself—to his own special standards every night and also told the interviewer that his wife,Melinda,would likely want Samuel L.Jackson to play her husband in a biopic(传记片).
He also admitted that he would pick up a $100 bill if he found it on the street.
As he took the top spot on Forbes(福布斯)28th Annual Billionaires list last year for the fourth time,he said he is pretty basic when it comes to so ending on clothes and food,but that he enjoys investing in shoes and racquets(球拍)when he plays tennis.
When asked a life lesson he had to learn the hard way,the billionaire said staying up too late is a habit he is still trying to break.‘‘Don’t stay up too late even if the book is really exciting.You will regret it in the morning.Pam still working on this problem,”he said.Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
A.Bill Gates’Regret |
B.The Richest Billionaire |
C.An Interview with Bill Gates |
D.How Bill Gates Succeeded |
The underlined part in Paragraph 8 may actually mean that_____.
A.it is important to lay a good foundation of life |
B.he never cares about buying food and clothing |
C.food and clothing are basic needs for people’s life |
D.he doesn’t spend much money on food and clothes |
What advice did Bill Gates give?
A.Avoid staying up too late. |
B.Be a good language learner. |
C.Do the dishes yourself at home. |
D.Pick up the $100 bills in the streets. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Bill Gates is also the founder of Facebook |
B.Bill Gates topped the list of Forbes 28 times. |
C.Bill Gates was good at learning languages in high schoo1. |
D.Bill Gates’wife wants Samuel to play a game with Gates. |
Thick dust rose and a large building collapsed. This was the scene in Zhu Zhou,Hunan Province on May 17. Nine people were killed and 16 injured.
Things were similar in the Sichuan earthquake. Thousands of people were buried in the ruins and lost their lives. What if we could have warned them?
People are always racking their wits to find a way of preventing buildings’ collapse. Better materials and technology help,but they are not a solution.
Just like humans,a building has its own life cycle from “birth” to “death”.If we know when a building is going to collapse,we can repair it in advance or get out of it before it falls. Now,scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a material that turns red before it breaks. The invention could be used in things like climbing ropes or bridge supports. The research was led by Nancy Sottos,a professor at the university’s Beckman Institute,and Douglas Davis,a graduate research assistant.
The secret behind the color—changing material is a type of molecule (分子).A molecule is a group of atoms held together by chemical bonds. Imagine you and your friends standing in a circle,holding hands. Each person stands for one atom,your hands represent the bonds,and the entire circle represents a molecule. If one person lets go of his or her hands,the molecule changes color. The research team put the molecule into a soft material. When the researchers stretched the material,it turned bright red for a few seconds before it broke into two pieces. When they repeatedly stretched and relaxed the material,without breaking it,it only turned a little red.
The major problem is that light can get rid of the red color. When the team shone bright light on the molecule,the broken bond was fixed,and the color disappeared. Scientists have yet to do more research before the color—changing molecules can be used outside the lab.What does the passage mainly introduce?
A.The collapse of a large building in Zhu Zhou, Hunan Province. |
B.A type of molecule that can be put into a soft material |
C.A material that turns red before it breaks. |
D.A way of preventing building from collapsing. |
The underlined words “racking their wits” in the third paragraph mean ________.
A.suffering a lot | B.collecting beyond imagination |
C.losing a lot | D.thinking very hard |
Which of the following is a WRONG statement?
A.Thousands of people died from the collapse of buildings in the Sichuan earthquake because they hadn’t been warned. |
B.There is no building that will never collapse. |
C.A new material has been applied to buildings to warn people of collapse. |
D.A color—changing material can turn red before it breaks. |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.The color—changing molecules are certain to be used outside the lab. |
B.There will be less collapse with the help of the color—changing material. |
C.The bright light may make the material’s warning system useless. |
D.The problem caused by bright light will be solved by scientists soon. |