To extinguish (熄灭) different kinds of fires, several types of fire extinguishers have been invented. They must be ready for immediate use when fire breaks out. Most portable (手提式的) kinds operate for less than a minute, so they are useful only on small fires. The law requires ships, trains, buses and planes to carry extinguishers.
Since fuel, oxygen (氧气) and heat must be present in order for fire to exist, one or more of these things must be removed or reduced to extinguish a fire. If the heat is reduced by cooling the material below a certain temperature, the fire goes out. The cooling method is the most common way to put out a fire. Water is the best cooling material because it is low in cost and easy to get.
Another method of extinguishing fire is by cutting off the oxygen. This is usually done by covering the fire with sand, steam or some other things. A blanket may be used do cover a small fire.
A third method is called separation, which includes removing the fuel, or material easy to burn, from a fire, so that it can find no fuel.
The method that is used to put out a fire depends upon the type of fire. Fires have been grouped in three classes. Fires in wood, paper, cloth and the like are called Class A fires. These materials usually help keep the fire on. Such fires can be stopped most readily by cooling with water.
68. If a fire breaks out on a bus, which of the follow should be ready there for you to use?
A. Sand B. Water C. A blanket. D. An extinguisher.
69. To cover a small piece of burning wood with a basin in order to stop the fire is an example of .
A. separating the fire B. reducing the heat
C. removing the fuel D. cutting off the oxygen
70. In choosing how to put out a fire, we should first be clear about .
A. when it breaks out B. how it comes about
C. what kind it is D. where it takes place
71. What would the author probably discuss in the paragraph that follows?
A. Another class of fires B. Another type of extinguishers
C. How fires break out. D. How fires can be prevented.
STRANGERS parties go wild these days. The main idea of them is to never let the people know who their matches are until the last minute. These are some popular practices that are storming the world’s youth on this V-day.
Speed dating
It's exactly what the name implies. Complete with a timer, a whistle and 50 willing singles, speed dating is not the traditional dinner and a movie type of first date. Singles pay US MYM35 for three minutes with more than two dozen future dates. They ask questions and try to get to know each other. At the sound of a whistle, they do the same thing all over again—25 times in all.
Lock and key party
Women are given a lock and men are given a key, upon arriving at the party. Each key and lock has several matches. One can hunt for his/her laterto-be sweetheart in various groups, and try out the key or lock. Each time a lock and key matching the pair are entered into a ballot (票数) for top prizes!
Dinner in the dark
Waiters wearing night vision glasses guide the guests through the pitch-black dining room. They are seated at the table and familiarized with the wine glass and plate. Food is handled with the fingers. People will not see the food they are eating or the guests at their table until the dessert course. At that moment, dining partners will appear.
Message party
Have A Cocktail, Leave A Message! When you arrive, you get a tag with a number and a pad of post it notes. If you see someone you like, write a message on the message board. But wait... You've got a message... Go and collect it! You can make newfriends and win lots of gifts. The more messages you leave on the bulletin board, the more chances you have of winning prizes.What do you think the similarities of these parties are?
| A．All the parties have very strict rules for their members. |
| B．If you want to go to any of the parties, you have to buy a ticket. |
| C．All the parties are aimed at strangers who want to be lovers. |
| D．All the parties are suitable not only for the young but for the old. |
In which party does a participant have to be careful with the time?
| A．Speed dating. |
| B．Lock and key party. |
| C．Dinner in the dark. |
| D．Message party. |
If you go to the Dinner in the dark, __________.
| A．you have to wear night vision glasses |
| B．you have to eat with your hands |
| C．guests eat all the courses in the darkness |
| D．your dining partners will help you choose the food |
How many of the parties offer gifts or prizes?
| A．1. |
| B．2. |
| C．3. |
| D．4. |
Robots have proved to be valuable tools for soldiers, surgeons and homeowners hoping to keep the carpet clean. But in each case, they are designed and built specifically for the job. Now there is a movement under way to build multipurpose machines—robots that can move about in changing environmentssuch as offices or living rooms and work with their hands.
All-purpose robots are not, of course, a new idea. "It's been five or 10 years from happening for about 50 years, " says Eric Berger, co-director of the Personal Robotics Program at Willow Garage, a Silicon Valley organization. The delay is in part because even simple tasks require a huge set of capabilities. For a robot to fetch a mug, for example, it needs to make sense of data gathered by a variety of sensorslaser scanners identifying potential blocking objects, cameras searching for the target, force feedback in the fingers that grasp the mug, and more. Yet Berger and other experts are confident that real progress could be made in the next decade.
The problem, according to Willow Garage, is the lack of a common platform for all that computational effort. Instead of enlarging the capabilities of a single machine, everyone is designing robots and the software to control them, from the ground up. To help change this, Willow Garage is currently producing 25 copies of its model PR2 (for "Personal Robot 2"), a two-armed, wheeled machine that can switch off the electricity, open doors and move through a room. Ten of the robots will stay in house, but 10 more will go to outside research groups, and everyone will share their advances. This way, Berger says, if you want to build the robotic equivalent (等同物) of a Twitter (推特网站), you won't start by constructing a computer. "You build the thing that's new."The robots are mentioned to do some specific jobs EXCEPT in __________.
| A．battle fields |
| B．operation room |
| C．people's houses |
| D．wild fields |
The multipurpose robot may be identified as a machine that __________.
| A．can move about in changing environments and work with their hands |
| B．can make sense of data gathered by a variety of sensors |
| C．has a huge set of abilities to finish all the simple tasks |
| D．has identifying laser scanners, searching cameras and force feedback |
According to Willow Garage, we will make realprogress in building all-purpose robots if __________.
| A．everyone is designing robots and the software to control them |
| B．they can produce 25 copies of its model PR2 |
| C．people can enlarge the capabilities of a single machine |
| D．people can start by constructing a computer |
Ed Viesturs grew up in Rockford, Illinois, where the tallest thing on the horizon was the water tower. But on Thursday, Viesturs became the only American to climb to the top of the world's 14 highest mountains.
His last hike was up Mount Annapurna, in Asia's snowcapped Himalayas. At 26, 545 feet, its peak is the 10th highest in the world. It is the mountain that inspired him to start climbing.
"It tends to be the trickiest, the most dangerous, said Viesturs."There's no simple way to climb it. There are threatening avalanches (雪崩) and ice falls that protect the mountain."
In high school, Viesturs read French climber Maurice Herzog's tale of climbing the icy Annapurna. Herzog's story was of frostbite (冻伤) and difficulty and near-death experiences. Viesturs was hooked right away.
Viesturs got his start on Washington's Mount Rainier in 1977, guiding hikes in the summer. Fifteen years ago, he set out to walk up to the world's highest peaks. Finally, he's done.
The pioneering climber talks about mountains as if they were living creatures that should be treated with respect. "You have to use all of your senses, all of your abilities to see if the mountain will let you climb it," said Viesturs. "If we have the patience and the respect, and if we're here at the right time, under the right circumstances, they allow us to go up, and allow us to come down."
What's next for a man who can't stop climbing? "I'm going to hug my wife and kids and kind of kick back and enjoy the summer," says Viesturs. But for a man who's climbed the world's 14 tallest mountains, he will probably soon set off on yet another adventure.What record has Ed Viesturs set?
| A．He has succeeded in climbing to the world's 14th highest mountain. |
| B．He has been to the top of the world's 14 highest mountains. |
| C．He has become the first to climb to the height of 26, 545 feet. |
| D．He has become the first man to climb to the top of 14th highest mountains in the world. |
The underlined word "hooked" in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by "__________".
| A．frightened |
| B．discouraged |
| C．interested |
| D．upset |
The author used Viestures' words in Paragraph 6 to support a view that __________.
| A．mountain climbing is a dangerous sport |
| B．mountains should be regarded as living creatures |
| C．mountain climbing needs more skills than physical energy |
| D．those who like mountain climbing won't stop climbing |
What's the next probable plan of Viestures?
| A．Stopping climbing and staying with his family. |
| B．Climbing to the top of the world's 14 tallest mountains again. |
| C．Climbing another one of the highest mountains. |
| D．Writing down the experiences about his adventure. |
One of Britain's favorite pastimes, gardening is to be celebrated during the Olympics. Last week, the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell announced a public competition to design a typical British garden within London's new Olympic park.
Jowell said the idea behind the competition was to show off to the world one of the nation's favorite hobbies. It's likely the government also hopes that the competition will inspire more Brits to take an interest in the Olympics. It's a good plan, as the British love gardens almost as much as they love tea.
Gardening is an iconic activity in Britain. In many ways it defines Brits, perhaps because they are some of the world's keenest gardeners. The garden is seen as a private retreat (清净的场所) in the UK. Most Brits would far rather sit in their garden for instance than visit a park. They see their garden as an extension of their house outdoors, which is why so many Brits are as garden-proud as they are houseproud. There also seems to be something about the nourishing (滋养的) act of gardening that appeals tothe nation's gentle temperament (气质).
Interestingly, gardening has never been as widely enjoyed as it is today in Britain. Its growing popularity is no doubt due to people's increased awareness of the environment and the success of several popular gardening programs.
Historically, Brits are also skillful gardeners. As Jowell noted when she made her announcement, if gardening were an Olympic sport then green-fingered Brits "would win gold, silver and bronze".
Of course, the irony of Brits' passion for gardening is that their climate is so wet that there are very few months in the year they can sit outside and enjoy their gardens. In fact, it may be the very precious-ness of these few warm months that make gardens so prized and valued by Brits.What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Brits' favorite tea. |
| B．Brits' favorite pastime in the garden. |
| C．A public competition. |
| D．A typical British garden. |
The purpose of the competition is __________.
| A．to support the 2012 London Olympics |
| B．to require participants to design a typical British garden in their backyard |
| C．to attract foreign visitors |
| D．to show off one of the favorite hobbies |
The underlined word "iconic" in the third paragraph means __________.
| A．有代表性的 |
| B．活跃的 |
| C．积极的 |
| D．受欢迎的 |
Which of the following sentences does NOT contribute to people's love for gardens in Britain?
| A．Brits think of their gardens as an extension of their house outdoors. |
| B．Brits value the short warm months when they get to enjoy their gardens. |
| C．Brits do not have many public parks to relax themselves in. |
| D．Brits' gentle temperament makes them enjoy something like gardening. |
What can we conclude from the passage?
| A．Brits love their gardens more than they love their houses. |
| B．Brits enjoy sitting in their gardens as much as sitting in a park. |
| C．Brits don't adore gardening as much as before. |
| D．Brits are known to love gardening as much as they love tea. |
Isaac Stern was more than a great violin player. He was one of the most honored musicians in the world, an international cultural ambassador. And hewas also a teacher and activist. For more than sixty years, Mr Stern performed excellent music. He performed in concerts around the world and on recordings.
Isaac Stern was born in 1920 in Ukraine. His parents moved to California the following year. He began taking violin lessons after hearing a friend play the instrument. Later, he began studying music at the San Francisco Conservatory (旧金山音乐学院). He progressed quickly. When he was sixteen, he played with the San Francisco Symphony Orchestra. The next year, he performed in New York and was praised by music critics.
Isaac Stern became one of the busiest musicians of his day. He played more than one hundred concerts a year. He also became one of the most recorded musicians in history. Isaac Stern also supported artistic development and freedom.
In 1979, Isaac Stern visited China. He met with Chinese musicians and students. He taught them about classical Western music. His visit was made into a film. It is called From Mao to Mozart: Isaac Stern in China. It won an Academy Award for best documentary film.
In 1984, Isaac Stern received the Kennedy Center Honors Award for his gifts to American culture through music. He expressed his thoughts about the part that music plays in life. He said music is an important part of a civilized life. He said people need music as much as they need bread.
Isaac Stern died in 2001 at the age of eighty-one. He was a major influence on music in the twentieth century. He leaves the world richer with his many recordings.What did Isaac Stern think of music?
| A．Necessary. |
| B．Difficult. |
| C．Entertaining. |
| D．Interesting. |
The passage mentioned Isaac Stern's visit to China mainly to __________.
| A．encourage people to develop the international relationship |
| B．advise the readers to take up music |
| C．introduce more achievements of Isaac Stern |
| D．show he acted as an international cultural ambassador |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Isaac Stern?
| A．He was born in California in the 1920s. |
| B．He had visited many countries to advertise his recordings. |
| C．He played less than one hundred concerts in all. |
| D．His excellent music life lasted over 60 years. |
From the passage, we can infer that __________.
| A．Isaac Stern influenced the culture in the 20th century a lot |
| B．Isaac Stern was one of the most active musicians of his day |
| C．Isaac Stern was so busy that he couldn't spare time to educate the youth |
| D．Isaac Stern led a rich life in his later life |
What will be the best title for the passage?
| A．Isaac Stern and the Awards He Got |
| B．Isaac Stern's Life of Pursuing Music |
| C．Isaac Stern: One of the Most Honored Musicians |
| D．Isaac Stern's Visit to China |