C
Maybe ten-year-old 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 twenty five 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 are not needed at speeds of less than 30 miles per hour
(mph) .
Truth: When two cars traveling at 30mph hit each other, an unbelted driver would meet the windshield with a force equal to driving headfirst into the ground from a height of 10 meters.
64. 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.
65. 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
66. 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
67. 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 safety belt while driving.
D. Drive slowly while you’re not wearing a safety belt.
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure—and so soon—that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I'm dead—take me away” when it is dead.
But there's a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don't move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I'm not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I'm not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I'm dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I'm not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical dies away. Other nearby ants then notice the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.What is the function of the first paragraph?
| A．Leading the following paragraphs. |
| B．Showing the main idea of the passage. |
| C．Introducing the background of the passage. |
| D．Giving a summary of the passage. |
Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
| A．is weaker than | B．is stronger than | C．is better than | D．is worse than |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving. |
| B．When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical. |
| C．A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical. |
| D．Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other. |
Israel has passed a law banning the use of underweight models in advertising. Known as the “Photoshop Law”, it also requires that agencies tell their audience if they’ve digitally changed pictures to make models look thinner.
The new law forbids the use of models with a body mass index of 18.5 or less, a standard based on internationally accepted measures. The figure matches the set of fixed limits by the U. S. Department of Health.
The law doesn’t set a money amount that can be gained in court from such a suit. Lawmakers realize that it may be a long and difficult process to prove in court that a company broke the new law, but they feel that simply having the law in place will accomplish what they want; stopping advertising companies from continuing to influence Israelis with images of unhealthy-looking models as the gold standard of beauty.
Some modeling agencies in Israel aren’t happy. They say that the indexes on which the law is based are arbitrary (任意的)and are not suitable for every model. Many models who are totally healthy girls might be disqualified because of the law. Some models are naturally thin and unable to gain weight and the new law would unfairly prevent them from finding jobs.
However, plus-size American supermodel Emme told CNN that she thinks the law will cause other countries to make similar measures against showing underweight models. “I think this is fantastic because so many young women and men are suffering to look in a way that is unrealistic and unhealthy,” she said.What is “Photoshop Law” about?
| A．Banning the use of underweight models. |
| B．Banning underweight models in advertising. |
| C．Banning changing pictures digitally. |
| D．Banning models in advertising. |
The underlined word “suit” in Paragraph 3 means .
| A．a set of clothing |
| B．a group of rooms |
| C．an action in court |
| D．a performance in advertising |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．All models are happy about the law. |
| B．All advertising agencies are happy about the law. |
| C．The law makes no sense. |
| D．There are arguments over the beauty standard of models. |
Pacing and Pausing
Sara tried to befriend her old friend Steve's new wife, but Betty never seemed to have anything to say. While Sara felt Betty didn't hold up her end of the conversation, Betty complained to Steve that Sara never gave her a chance to talk. The problem had to do with expectations about pacing and pausing.
Conversation is a turn-taking game. When our habits are similar, there's no problem. But if our habits are different, you may start to talk before I'm finished or fail to take your turn when I'm finished. That's what was happening with Betty and Sara.
It may not be coincidental that Betty, who expected relatively longer pauses between turns, is British, and Sara, who expected relatively shorter pauses, is American. Betty often felt interrupted by Sara. But Betty herself became an interrupter and found herself doing most of the talking when she met a visitor from Finland. And Sara had a hard time cutting in on some speakers from Latin America or Israel.
The general phenomenon, then, is that the small conversation techniques, like pacing and pausing, lead people to draw conclusions not about conversational style but about personality and abilities. These habitual differences are often the basis for dangerous stereotyping (思维定式). And these social phenomena can have very personal consequences. For example, a woman from the southwestern part of the US went to live in an eastern city to take up a job in personnel. When the Personnel Department got together for meetings, she kept searching for the right time to break in --- and never found it. Although back home she was considered outgoing and confident, in Washington she was viewed as shy and retiring. When she was evaluated at the end of the year, she was told to take a training course because of her inability to speak up.
That's why slight differences in conversational style --- tiny little things like microseconds of pause --- can have a great effect on one's life. The result in this case was a judgment of psychological problems --- even in the mind of the woman herself, who really wondered what was wrong with her and registered for assertiveness training.What did Sara think of Betty when talking with her?
| A．Betty was talkative. |
| B．Betty was an interrupter. |
| C．Betty did not take her turn. |
| D．Betty paid no attention to Sara. |
According to the passage, who are likely to expect the shortest pauses between turns?
| A．Americans. | B．Israelis. | C．The British. | D．The Finns. |
We can learn from the passage that ______.
| A．communication breakdown results from short pauses and fast pacing |
| B．women are unfavorably stereotyped in eastern cities of the US |
| C．one's inability to speak up is culturally determined sometimes |
| D．one should receive training to build up one's confidence |
Is your family interested in buying a dog? A dog can be a pleasant companion（伙伴） to your family, but if you choose the wrong kind of dog，you will have a lot of troubles.
Families should sit down and thoroughly discuss the possible problems before buying a dog. Even if the children in your family are the ones who want the dog, the parents are the ones who are really responsible for seeing that the animal is properly cared for. If you don’t know much about dogs, it is a good idea to go to the library for books about different kinds of dogs, as well as books about how to train a young dog. In reading about the different breeds(种类)you should know that a dog described(描述)as very alert(机敏灵活的)may be too active. When a book describes a dog as an excellent hunting dog, it probably means that the dog won’t be happy living in a small house. Dog breeds vary(变化)in popularity as the years go by. One of the most popular dogs these days is the German shepherd（牧羊犬）. This is because it provides protection as well as companionship（陪伴）. The family should be warned that these dogs grow up to be very big, and may be too powerful for children to control. If space is limited, a toy dog may be a good choice. These dogs are very small and easy to train. They don’t need to be walked daily, since they can exercise in the home.According to the passage, one can get information about different kinds of dogs.
| A．by going to the library |
| B．by asking someone who has enough experience about different kinds of dogs |
| C．by buying a dog and training it |
| D．by reading books about dogs |
The German shepherd is a popular dog.
| A．because it is easy to train |
| B．because it is big and strong |
| C．because it is powerful and friendly |
| D．because it is alert and active |
Which is the best topic of the passage?
| A．The care and proper selection of dogs for families. |
| B．Different breeds of dogs. |
| C．Responsibility for seeing that dogs are properly cared for. |
| D．Different kinds of books about dogs. |
The issue of privacy versus openness is a paradox, particularly when it comes to the American home. “Lots” or “yards” (gardens) can be large and many are not enclosed by the walls, fences or hedges so popular in other cultures. Similarly, “window treatments” frame the window. but the use of European-style net curtains to screen out nosy neighbors is rare. In the same style, first-time visitors to an American home may be proudly given the full tour; even walk-in closets and en suite bathrooms are not considered off-limits. They may also be encouraged to help themselves to a soda from the fridge. All this gives an impression of openness.
Yet Americans do value their personal space and privacy. A Brazilian expatriate (侨民) who dropped in on her usually friendly Connecticut neighbors unannounced got the clear impression she should have called first. Similarly while a typical suburban home features large, shared areas, such as an open-plan kitchen and family room or “den”, ample private space is also allowed in the floor plan. A visit to a family home in the evening would likely find the family members dispersed, each independently watching TV, on the phone, surfing the Internet, or otherwise recharging batteries in the privacy of their own bedroom.
American individualism, expansiveness, and abundance are expressed in lifestyle. Despite the fact that the average household size has declined over the past thirty years from3.1 people to 2.6 people per household, the average size of a new family home increased during the same period from 1,500 to 2,200 square feet.
A common observation is just how outsized everything is. The beds are king-sized, the TVs have giant screens, the burgers are “whoppers (庞然大物),” appliances are “industrial” size. The largest popcorn or soda at the movies can be “supersized.” Closets are “walk in,” and some cars are the size of a military vehicle.The passage suggests that Americans__________.
| A．are rich enough to afford large size houses and luxurious electricity appliances |
| B．are very shy when talking about keeping their privacy and their personal space |
| C．would like to express their lifestyles in public to show them off |
| D．enjoy openness as well as individualism although they seem to contradict each other |
Why can we say that American individualism, expansiveness, and abundance are expressed in their lifestyle?
| A．Because the average size of a new house has increased during the past thirty years. |
| B．Because Americans often use European-style net curtains to screen out nosy neighbors. |
| C．Because many houses are equipped with walk-in closets. |
| D．Because the house size, outsized household furniture and independent living habits have proved it. |
The underlined phrase in the passage means________.
| A．filling a battery with electrical power |
| B．recovering your strength and energy by resting for a while |
| C．changing your batteries again |
| D．obtaining new batteries because old ones are running out |
According to the passage, if you drop in on an American family which is usually friendly to you in the evening, you________.
| A．will be deeply impressed by their family get-together scene |
| B．will be invited to a party which is well-prepared |
| C．will find family members scattered, and enjoying themselves individually |
| D．will be warmly welcomed even if they don’t get informed of your visit earlier |