When Babbage was working at Cambridge, a new idea occurred to him. He wanted to construct a calculating machine to work out the solutions（解法）to maths problems not only with correctness but also with a speed beyond the power of any human mind. His machine could solve problems involving（涉及）long rows of figures in one continuous operation（运算）.
In 1822 Babbage exhibited his invention and won a prize from the government. After that, he immediately started to work on a larger machine designed to solve more difficult problems. Although he received some money left by his father, the money was not enough to support his design. He wrote to the government about his plan and was given ￡2500 to start with, a sum worth much more in those days than it is now.
Babbage continued his work in London for four years. Then his health broke down, and he had to take a long holiday abroad. When he returned to London in 1828, he was at the end of his resources. Many bills remained unpaid. His chief assistant and co-workers quarreled with him and left with many expensive tools. For one year no work was done. During this period, Babbage, whose mind was always active, suddenly thought of a completely new idea for the machine. He rushed to meet the government officials to explain his new idea. But this time, they were unwilling to help him. For eight years, they refused to say whether they wanted the machine or not, and their final answer was “No.”
From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the position of professor at Cambridge very successfully. But his greatest work was the unfinished calculating machine which stood covered in dust in his house. It was the beginning of the modern computer.
60．The machine Babbage designed would solve difficult maths problems _________.
A．in one operation with few mistakes
B．in more than one operation without any mistakes
C．in more than one operation with slight mistakes
D．in one operation without any mistakes
61．Babbage failed to continue his research work in 1828 mainly because _______.
A．he was in poor health B．he almost ran out of money
C．his co-workers argued with him D．he spent all his money on his bills
62．Babage explained his new idea to the government officials, expecting that _________.
A．they would agree to his plan B．they would pay for his new idea
C．they would support him with money D．they would exhibit his new design
63．From the passage, we can infer that __________.
A．Babbage failed to be a famous scientist at Cambridge
B．Babbage always had new ideas but gave them up easily
C．Babbage always needed support from the government officials
D．Babbage was the first designer of the modern computer
Here is an astonishing and significant fact: Mental work alone can’t make us tired. It sounds absurd. But a years ago, scientists tried to find out how long the human brain could labor without reaching a stage of fatigue (疲劳). To the amazement of these scientists, they discovered that blood passing through the brain, when it is active, shows no fatigue at all! If we took a drop of blood from a day laborer, we would find it full of fatigue toxins(毒素) and fatigue products. But if we took blood from the brain of an Albert Einstein, it would show no fatigue toxins at the end of the day.
So far as the brain is concerned, it can work as well and swiftly at the end of eight or even twelve hours of effort as at the beginning. The brain is totally tireless. So what makes us tired?
Some scientists declare that most of our fatigue comes from our mental and emotional(情绪的) attitudes. One of England’s most outstanding scientists, J.A. Hadfield, says, “The greater part of the fatigue from which we suffer is of mental origin. In fact, fatigue of purely physical origin is rare.” Dr. Brill, a famous American scientist, goes even further. He declares, “One hundred percent of the fatigue of sitting worker in good health is due to emotional problems.”
What kinds of emotions make sitting workers tired Joy Satisfaction No! A feeling of being bored, anger, anxiety, tenseness, worry, a feeling of not being appreciated---those are the emotions that tire sitting workers. Hard work by itself seldom causes fatigue. We get tired because our emotions produce nervousness in the body.What surprised the scientists a few years ago?
| A．Fatigue toxins could hardly be found in a laborer’s blood. |
| B．The brain could work for many hours without fatigue. |
| C．Albert Einstein didn’t feel worn after a day’s work. |
| D．A mental worker’s blood was filled with fatigue toxins. |
According to the author, which of the following can make sitting workers tired?
| A．Challenging mental work. | B．Endless tasks. |
| C．Physical labor. | D．Unpleasant emotions. |
Which of the following is properly used to describe the author’s attitude to the scientists’ idea?
| A．He hesitates to accept them. | B．He doubts them. |
| C．He argues against them. | D．He agrees with them. |
It is implied in the passage that in order to stay energetic, sitting workers need to ___________.
| A．enjoy their work | B．have some good food. |
| C．exercise regularly | D．discover fatigue toxins |
完形填空，阅读下面短文，从短文后各题所给的四个选项（A, B, C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项。
A young businessman was traveling down a narrow street, driving a bit too fast in his new Benz. He was watching for kids darting out from between parked cars and ________ when he thought he saw something.
As his car passed, one child appeared, and a brick smashed into the Benz’s side door. He slammed on the brakes and ________ the Benz back to the spot from ________ the brick had been thrown.
He jumped out of the car, ________ some kid and pushed him up against a parked car, shouting “What was that all about and who are you? Just what on earth are you doing?” ________ a head of steam, he went on “That’s a new car and that brick you threw is gonna cost a lot of money. Why did you do it?” “Please, mister, please, I’m sorry. I didn’t know what else to do!” pleaded the youngster.
“It’s my brother,” he said. “He rolled ________ the stairs and fell out of his wheelchair and I can’t ________ him up.”
________, the boy asked the businessman, “Would you please help me get him back into his wheelchair? He’s hurt and he’s too heavy for me.”
Moved beyond words, the driver tried to swallow the ________ swelling lump in his ________ . He lifted the young man back into the wheelchair and took out his handkerchief and wiped the ________ , checking ________ that everything was going to be okay.
“Thank you, sir. And God bless you,” the ________ child said to him. The man then watched the little boy push his brother to the sidewalk toward their home.
It was a long walk back to his Benz...a long, ________ walk. He never did ________ the side door. He kept the damage to remind him not to ________life so fast that someone has to ________ a brick at you to get your attention.
Life whispers in your soul and ________ to your heart. Sometimes, when you don’t have the time to listen...Life throws a brick at your head.
It’s your choice: Listen to the whispers of your soul ________ wait for the brick!
Do you sometimes ignore loved ones because your life is too fast and busy ________ them to wonder whether you really love them?
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The World Wildlife Fund (WWF) says more than half of the world’s wildlife population has been lost, which the conservation group says has placed the health of the planet at risk.
The WWF recently released its 10th Flagship Living Planet Report. The group warns the condition of the world's animals is worse than its earlier reports showed, indicating worldwide action is needed.
The WWF is worried about the loss of and damage to Earth’s environment. The report provides information about more than 10,000 animal populations from 1970 to 2010. These populations are called “vertebrate species,” or animals with backbones — like fish, birds, mammals, amphibians and reptiles. The report shows these populations have dropped by 52 percent in just 40 years. It warns freshwater species have fallen by 76 percent, which is almost twice the loss of land and ocean species. Most of these losses are in the tropics, with the biggest drop in Latin America.
Marco Lambertini, the WWF’s International Director-General said, “This is about losing natural habitats. This is about converting forests, grasslands, and wetlands into agriculture mainly, and it is about unsustainable use of wildlife. Illegal hunting has been actually increasing over the last 10 years, which definitely a driving force for extinction, particularly of large species.”
The report also notes what it calls the world’s “Ecological Footprint”, that is, the effect of human activities on the planet. Mr. Lambertini says there has been an increase in carbon dioxide gases and the pouring of nitrogen into oceans and rivers from fertilizers used in agriculture, which certainly cannot continue.
“We are consuming on average every year about the equivalent of about 1.5, one and a half times the resources available to the planet. That means we are cutting trees more quickly than they can be restored. We are fishing the oceans more quickly than fishing stocks can reproduce, and we are emitting in the atmosphere more CO2 than the natural systems can actually absorb, which is clearly not sustainable.”
Mr. Lambertini warns climate change affects almost everyone on the planet and that whole species may disappear if the world does not reduce the effects of humans on the climate.According to the passage, what kind of species faces the biggest drop in population?
| A．Land and ocean species. |
| B．Animals with backbones. |
| C．Freshwater species in Latin America. |
| D．Freshwater species in the tropics. |
All the following can contribute to the loss of world’s wildlife population EXCEPT ________.
| A．turning wildlife habitats into agriculture land. |
| B．making sustainable use of wildlife. |
| C．hunting illegally. |
| D．emitting CO2 gases and pouring nitrogen. |
Which does the underlined word “converting” in paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Conserving. | B．Conveying. |
| C．Exchanging. | D．Transforming. |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．Marco is much concerned about human’s current behaviors towards wildlife. |
| B．what the planet provides now can satisfy human’s sustainable development. |
| C．more than half of the world’s wildlife population has been lost. |
| D．if humans reduce the effects on the climate, the whole species will not disappear. |
When computer servers operate a complex program, they can get very hot. Cooling the servers can be costly. So researchers asked what would happen if the heat created by the servers could be captured and used?
Data centers of large Internet companies such as Google and Microsoft have thousands of computer servers. As these servers process information, they create large amounts of heat, so they need huge cooling systems, which send the heat into the air.
The Dutch company Nerdalize thinks paying for electricity to operate the servers and then paying again to cool them is a waste of energy. So it developed a device called the e-Radiator, a computer server that also works as a heating source.
Boaz Leupe, the chief executive officer of Nerdalize, says the e-Radiator saves money because companies don’t have to pay to cool their servers. “…The kilowatt hour you are using is used twice — once to heat the home and once to compute the client’s task without the cooling expenses.”
At present five homeowners in the Netherlands are testing the heating device in their homes.
“We compensate the electricity the server uses, and that we can do because of the computer clients on the other side, and, in that way, homeowners actually get heating for free, and computer users don’t have to pay for the expenses of the data center.”
Jan Visser is one of the participants in the year-long experiment. He notices that the amount of heat produced by the e-Radiator depends on the work being done by the computer server. He reveals it cannot be used as the primary source of heat. But he is ready to try it. “If it provides enough warmth, I will be able to use my home’s heating system less, which will save me money.” he added.
Nerdalize says e-Radiators create heat temperatures of up to 55 degrees Celsius. It’s also said that the devices could save users up to $440 in heating costs a year.What can we learn from this passage?
| A．E-Radiator can save homeowners a big sum of money in cooling the computers. |
| B．Google and Nerdalize developed the heating device, e-Radiator. |
| C．E-Radiator has been put into use in the Netherlands. |
| D．The heating device will benefit computer users as well as homeowners. |
According to the passage, what’s Jan Visser’s attitude towards e-Radiator?
| A．Cautious. | B．Positive. | C．Satisfied. | D．Doubtful. |
Where can we most probably read the passage?
| A．In an economic report. |
| B．In a science magazine. |
| C．In an education newspaper. |
| D．In a computer guide book. |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．Money-saving heating device. |
| B．E-Radiator, the primary source of heat. |
| C．Hot computers could be used to heat home. |
| D．Nerdalize developed e-Radiator, a heating system. |
The government in China plans to end its one-child per family policy and instead let families have two children.
The plan was announced Thursday after high-level political meetings in Beijing. The official Xinhua news agency says the country’s top legislature must approve the proposal before it becomes law.
A Chinese Communist Party statement gave a number of reasons for the change in policy. The statement said the change is meant to balance population development. It said the move also attempts to stop a declining birth rate and strengthen the country’s work force.
China, the world's most populous country, launched the one-child policy in 1980. But the government permitted only a small number of couples to have two children. For example, some rural families were given approval to have two children. A total of 19 rural provinces have a partial two-child policy. That policy states if the first-born is a girl, a second child is permitted.
In 2013, the Chinese government gave other couples a chance to have two children. Families could have two if one parent was an only child.
A teacher and population expert, Jiang Quanbao, explained how Chinese families will react to the policy. “Too many young people in the cities are probably no longer interested in having a second child,”he said. “People in rural farming villages may be more interested. But again, some of them are already allowed to have two children.”
At the end of 2014, China had a population of 1.37 billion people. A total of 800 million of them are employed. But that job market population is expected to drop by 2050. With the two-child policy, an increase in births will ease the labor shortage, starting in 20 years.Which of the following is NOT the reason for the two-child policy?
| A．To ease the present labor shortage. |
| B．To balance population development. |
| C．To strengthen the country’s work force. |
| D．To stop a declining birth rate. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．In the 1980s rural families could have two children if the first-born was a girl. |
| B．Due to the boom in population, by 2050 more young people will become unemployed. |
| C．Chinese government changes its population policy to greet the new situation in social development. |
| D．Few young people in the cities show much interest in the new policy because of financial pressure. |
The writer writes this passage ________.
| A．To educate. | B．To inform. |
| C．To advertise. | D．To analyze. |