Maybe tenyearold Elizabeth put it best when she said to her father,“But, Dad, you can't be healthy if you're dead.”
Dad, in a hurry to get home before dark so he could go for a run, had forgotten to wear his safety belt—a mistake 75% of the US population make every day. The big question is why.
There have been many myths about safety belts ever since their first appearance in cars some forty years ago. The following are three of the most common.
Myth Number One:It's best to be “thrown clear ”of a serious accident.
Truth:Sorry, but any accident serious enough to “throw you clear” is also going to be serious enough to give you a very bad landing. And chances are you'll have traveled through a windshield (挡风玻璃) or door to do it. Studies show that chances of dying after a car accident are twentyfive times greater in cases where people are “thrown clear”.
Myth Number Two:Safety belts “trap” people in cars that are burning or sinking in water.
Truth: Sorry again, but studies show that people knocked unconscious(昏迷)due to not wearing safety belts have a greater chance of dying in these accidents. People wearing safety belts are usually protected to the point of having a clear head to free themselves from such dangerous situations ,not to be trapped in them.
Myth Number Three:Safety belts aren't needed at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour(mph).
Truth:When two cars traveling at 30 mph hit each other, an unbelted driver would meet the windshield with a force equal to diving headfirst into the ground from a height of 10 meters.
1.Why did Elizabeth say to her father,“But，Dad, you can't be healthy if you're dead?”
A. He was driving at great speed. B. He was running across the street.
C. He didn't have his safety belt on. D. He didn't take his medicine on time.
2.The reason Father was in a hurry to get home was that he ________.
A. wasn't feeling very well B. hated to drive in the dark
C. wanted to take some exercise D. didn't want to be caught by the police
3.According to the text, to be “thrown clear” of a serious accident is very dangerous because you ________.
A. may be knocked down by other cars
B. may get seriously hurt being thrown out of the car
C. may find it impossible to get away from the seat
D. may get caught in the car door
4.Some people prefer to drive without wearing a safety belt because they believe ________.
A. the belt prevents them from escaping in an accident
B. they will be unable to think clearly in an accident
C. they will be caught when help comes
D. cars catch fire easily
5.What is the advice given in the text?
A. Never drive faster than 30 miles an hour.
B. Try your best to save yourself in a car accident.
C. Never forget to wear the safety belt while driving.
D. Drive slowly while you're not wearing a safety belt.
Gu Changwei was the first Chinese cinematographer to be nominated (提名) for an Oscar, he is regarded by Zhang Yimou as the best cinematographer in China. Gu was behind the camera for many of Zhang Yimou’s famous films including the one that rocketed Zhang to fame: “Red Sorghum (高粱)”. And now this master of the visual has taken on his first directing role with the film “Peacock”. So Gu Changwei has come out from behind the camera into the spotlight (聚光灯).
Gu Changwei is very serious about his directing “Peacock”. To get the authentic atmosphere, Gu took his film crew to the city of Anyang in central China’s Henan province where the story takes place, to shoot the film. He chose all new actors because he didn’t want “star” appeal to weaken the power of the story, and he also had his actors trained in the local dialect. For this film Gu has been able to get out from behind the camera to manage every aspect of the film, and to realize his own ideals in movie-making.
“Peacock” is about the life of an average family in a small town in Henan province in the late 70s and early 80s. Gu chose this story for his first movie because he grew up during this same period and it struck a chord with him.
“Peacock” wrapped up production in June, 2004. It’s aimed at the foreign film market and will be entered in February’s Berlin Film Festival, and released in China at the same time. But at the end of last October, Gu took “Peacock” to his Alma Mater, the Beijing Film Academy, one of the most famous film colleges in China, to hold a preview. The film was warmly received by both teachers and students. The underlined word “cinematographer” refers to a person who _____.
| A．has been nominated for an Oscar | B．uses a camera to shoot films |
| C．directs first-class films | D．arranges for cinema shows |
Gu didn’t employ “stars” in his film because _____.
| A．stars usually stick to their own acting styles |
| B．the stars may not be able to speak the local dialect |
| C．the stars may share the audience’s attention with the story |
| D．it was not easy for him, a fresh hand, to invite stars to join him |
Gu chose such a story for his first movie because _____.
| A．he was born in the early 1970s |
| B．he grew up in Henan province |
| C．he was popular in Henan province |
| D．the story had to do with his own experience |
From the passage we can learn that “Peacock” _____.
| A．is the film for which Gu is likely to win an Oscar prize |
| B．has already become popular both at home and abroad |
| C．has its production started last summer |
| D．will be publicly shown in spring, 2005 |
Please choose a proper title for this passage.
| A．From behind the camera into the spotlight |
| B．Chinese cinematographer to be nominated for Oscar |
| C．New faces to appear in “Peacock” |
| D．“Peacock” to enter foreign film market |
Years ago while lying in my hammock （吊床）and drinking JD from the bottle, I noticed my dog dragging something under the fence．Upon inspection, to my disappointment, I realized it was the next door neighbor’ s 10 - year - old daughter’ s rabbit．For years I had watched her come home from school and head straight out to its cage, free it and play with it in the yard．I knew that day would be no different and fearing for our dog, I had to think fast．
The rabbit was quite dirty, as if it had put up quite a struggle, so I washed it, combed it with the dog brush and blew it dry with the leaf blower．Upon finishing its grooming I jumped the fence and replaced it back in its cage hoping its death would be written off as "natural caused"．
Back to the hammock and JD．Within the hour the neighbor’ s Volvo palled in as usual and out popped the little girl, and as usual she headed straight for the cage．Only this time she stopped about six feet away and screamed: " D - A - D - D – Y！！！"
Her father, panic stricken, stood looking at the cage．Being the good neighbor that I am, I rushed to fence and asked if there was anything I could do．
Her father less than calmly shouted, "What kind of sick individual would dig up a little girl’s rabbit and put it back in its cage?"The girl was shocked because _____．
| A．the rabbit was killed by someone |
| B．the rabbit was too clean |
| C．the dead rabbit was cleaned and put back into the cage |
| D．the rabbit was asleep in the cage |
That day the girl ran to the cage _____．
| A．because her rabbit was there |
| B．because she．had a habit of going there to see her rabbit |
| C．because she wanted to see her rabbit again |
| D．because the rabbit was dead |
We can infer that the rabbit ______．
| A．was alive before the writer saw his dog dragging it |
| B．was already dead before the writer saw his dog dragging it |
| C．was in the cage playing with the dog |
| D．was at the fence seeking out for food before it was killed by the dog |
According to the story, the writer _____．
| A．was helpful to his neighbor | B．did a smart thing |
| C．was honest | D．made a mistake |
It is not often realized that women held a high place in southern European societies in the 10 th and 11 th centuries. As wife, the woman was protected by the setting up of a dowry (嫁妆) or decimum. Admittedly, the purpose of this was to protect her against the risk of desertion (遗弃)，but in reality its function in the social and family life of the time was much more important. The decimum was the wife’s right to receive a tenth of all her husband’s property. The wife had the right to withhold consent, in all transactions the husband would make, And more than just a right: the documents showed that she enjoyed a real power of decision, equal to that of her husband. In no case did the documents indicate any degree of difference in the legal status of husband and wife.
The wife shared in the management of her husband’s personal property, but the opposite was not always true. Women seemed perfectly prepared to defend their own inheritance(遗产，继承物)against husbands who tried to exceed their rights, and on occasion they showed a fine fighting spirit. A case in point is that of Maria, Vivas, a Catalan woman of Barcelona. Having agreed with her husband Miro to sell a field she had inherited, for the needs of the household, she insisted on compensation. None being offered, she succeeded in dragging her husband to the scribe to have a contract duly drawn up assigning her a piece of land from Miro’s personal inheritance. The unfortunate husband was obliged to agree, as the contract says, “for the sake of peace.” Either through the dowry or through being hot-tempered, the Catalan wife knew how to win herself, within the context of the family, a powerful economic position. A decimum was .
| A．the wife’s inheritance from her father |
| B．a gift of money to the new husband |
| C．a written contract |
| D．the wife’s right to receive one-tenth of her husband’s property |
In the society described in the passage, the legal standing of the wife in marriage was .
| A．higher than that of her husband | B．lower than that of her husband |
| C．the same as that of her husband | D．higher than that of a single woman |
What compensation did Maria Vivas get for the field?
| A．Some of the land Miro had inherited. | B．A tenth of Miro’s land. |
| C．Money for household expenses. | D．Money from Miro’s inheritance. |
Which of the following is Not mentioned as an effect of the dowry system?
| A．The husband had to share the power of decision in marriage. |
| B．The wife was protested from desertion. |
| C．The wife gained a powerful economic position. |
| D．The husband was given control over his wife’s property. |
Daredevil climber Alain Robert, known as the French Spiderman, stood strong winds and rain to climb the world’s tallest skyscraper, Taiper 101, Saturday.
Robert, dressed in a red rain jacket, tights and climbing shoes, climbed up ropes hung down the side of the 101-storey, 1,667-foot office tower, reaching the top in around four hours. “It was a very big moment and I felt a lot of satisfaction though I was already so tired and nearly all of my muscles were painful. I felt completely eased,” said Robert after taking the ride down in one of the tower’s lifts, the world’s fastest.
Several hundred onlookers and shoppers gathered at the base of the tower watching and cheering Roberts progress through live pictures on a large television screen. At times he disappeared from view as clouds passed by the top of the tower surrounding the upper storeys.
The 42-year-old Frenchman has covered scores of well-known structures around the world including the Empire State Building and the Eiffel Tower–without permission or any safety equipment or ropes.
This time Robert was wearing a harness(背带) fastened to safety ropes for the entire climb. He used the ropes to pull himself up most of the way, using his hands and feet to climb up the walls for only short sections. He said the management had requested he wear the ropes and safety equipment, which had also become necessary due to the rain making the windows and frames very slippery. Robert said he would not carry his pity the next time. The text mainly tells us that .
| A．another world record was broken by a Frenchman. |
| B．the French Spiderman climbed the world’s tallest building |
| C．how Alain Robert got the name “daredevil” |
| D．Alain Robert was praised for his great success |
During his climbing up Taipei 101, Alai Robert .
| A．never felt tired all the time |
| B．never used his hands and feet |
| C．had stayed somewhere for a short rest |
| D．was not seen on the television screen sometimes |
When Alain Robert climbed the Empire State Building, he was likely to .
| A．use only his hands and feet | B．be 42 years old |
| C．carry some safety equipment | D．get permission of someone |
According to the text, we can infer that .
| A．Alain Robert spent three hours climbing Taipei 101 |
| B．Alain Robert chose a rainy day on purpose |
| C．Alain Robert will climb Taipei 101 a second time |
| D．Alain Robert got lots of help from onlookers |
THE BRONTE FAMILY
Yorkshire, England was the setting for two great novels (小说) of the 19th century. These were Charlotte Bronte’s Jane Eyre and Emily Bronte’s Wuthering Heights. The youngest sister, Anne, was also a gifted novelist, and her books have the same extraordinary quality as her sisters’.
Their father was Patrick Bronte, born in Ireland. He moved with his wife, Maria Bronte, and their six small children to Haworth in Yorkshire in 1820. Soon after, Mrs. Bronte and the two eldest children died, leaving the father to care of the remaining three girls and a boy.
Charlotte was born in 1816. Emily was born in 1818 and Anne in 1820. Their brother Branwell was born in 1817. Left to themselves, the children wrote and told stories and walked over the hills. They grew up largely self-educated. Branwell showed a great interest in drawing. The girls were determined to earn money for his art education. They took positions as teachers or taught children in their homes.
As children they had all written many stories. Charlotte, as a young girl, alone wrote 22 books, each with 60 to 100 pages of small handwriting. Therefore, they turned to writing for income. By 1847, Charlotte had written The Professor; Emily, Wuthering Heights; and Anne, Agnes Grey. After much difficulty Anne and Emily found a publisher(出版商), but there was no interest shown in Charlotte’s book. (It was not published until 1859.) However, one publisher expressed an interest in seeing more of her works. Jane Eyre was already started, and she hurriedly finished it. It was accepted at once; thus each of the sisters had a book published in 1847.
Jane Eyre was immediately successful; the other two, however, did not do so well. People did not like Wuthering Heights. They said it was too wild, too animal-like. But gradually it came to be considered one of the finest novels in the English language. Emily lived only a short while after the publication of the book, and Anne died in 1849.
Charlotte published Shirley in 1849, and Villette in 1853. In 1854 she married Arthur Bell Nicholls. But only a year later, she died of tuberculosis(肺结核) as her sisters had.We know from the text that .
| A．Jane Eyre was published in 1847 |
| B．Charlotte Bronte wrote 22 books in all |
| C．the Bronte sisters received good education |
| D．Patrick Bronte helped his daughters with their writing |
The underlined words “the other two” in the 5 th paragraph refer to .
| A．Shirley and Villette | B．The Professor and Agnes Grey |
| C．Agnes Grey and Wutheriing Heights | D．The Professor and wuthering Heights |
What do we know about the Bronte sisters from the text?
| A．Their novels interested few publishers. |
| B．None of them had more than two books published. |
| C．None of them lived longer than 40 years old. |
| D．Emily was the least successful of the three. |