Language is a major problem for the European Union(EU).The agreement or treaty (条约) which created the organization that eventually became the EU, the Treaty of Rome,stated that each country’s language must be treated equally.The original six countries had only three languages between them:French, German and Dutch . However, there are now 15 countries in the EU, with a total of 12 languages. EU documents must be translated into all these languages,and at official meetings, the speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.
All this translating is very expensive and time consuming . It is said that nearly half of all employees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches, and nearly half of the EU’s administrative (管理方面的) costs are spent on this task.In the near future it is probable that several more countries, most of them having their own languages, will join the EU, thus making the situation even worse.
The problem is not just cost:there are practical difficulties as well. With 12 languages,there are 132 possible “translation situations” that might be needed.It is often difficult to find people in the right place at the right time who can translate from (for example) Danish into Greek, or Dutch into Portuguese, at a high professional standard.
In practice, the problem has been made less severe by the use of English in many contacts between EU officials,since almost all of them speak some English. However, any action to reduce the number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller countries. Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU business. However, this is strongly resisted by powerful member countries like France and Germany. What’s the main purpose of this passage?
A.To give a solution to a problem. |
B.To find out a problem and show how severe it is |
C.To criticize the European Union![]() |
D.To show that the problem cannot be solved. |
According to the writer,the use of English in contacts among EU officials has _________.
A.angered the officials who don’t speak English |
B.increased the number of official languages |
C.reduced the effect of the problem |
D.been supported by powerful member countries |
The writer mentions “Danish into Greek” as an example of ________.
A.a situation that might be difficult to deal with |
B.a situation that occurs at times |
C.one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter |
D.languages easily being interpreted |
The writer suggests that if the number of offici
al languages were reduced, ________
A.the EU would not know which official languages to choose |
B.countries whose languages were not used officially would be unhappy |
C.only easy languages would be us![]() |
D.the smaller member countries would be pleased |
Robert was born in a small town in England. His father has a farm and can supply him enough money to finish university where he's studying law. The young man studies hard and hopes to be a famous lawyer.
Last Monday their term was over. Robert said to his father on the telephone that he was going to travel in a small country during his summer holiday. His father agreed to his plan and posted some money to him. So he started four days ago. Their plane landed at the only airport of the country safely. He took a taxi and got to a hotel in the centre of the capital. He felt hungry and tired. So he had a dinner and then a good sleep. This morning he was all right and was going to visit some places of interest. He met an English visitor while he was having breakfast and the man told him to be careful of thieves.
Robert thanked the man and left. But he thought he was smart(机灵的)and strong and he decided to have a try. He brought out a piece of paper and wrote on it, “A pig has stolen my wallet(钱包)!”Then he put the note into his empty wallet. After that he put the wallet into a pocket and set off. He did all carefully and hoped to find out who would steal it.
“Everything went well, ”Robert thought to himself after he had returned to the hotel. He brought out his wallet and put his money into it again. He had a look at the note. To his surprise, it was rewritten. It said, “Your uncle has touched your wallet!”
56. Robert can study in the university because ____.
A. he wants to be a lawyer B. his father is a rich farmer
C. he's smart and strong D. he keeps his wallet well
57. Robert went to the small country to ____.
A. make fun of the thieves B. catch some thieves
C. visit the places of interest D. have a nice meal and a good sleep there
58. The English visitor thought ____.
A. there were a lot of thieves in the city B. Robert could deal with the thieves
C. it was dangerous to travel in the city D. Robert had to take good care of himself
In 1957 a doctor in Singapore noticed that hospitals were treating an unusual number of influenzalike cases. Influenza is sometimes called “flu”or a “bad cold”. He took samples from the throats of patients in his hospital and was able to find the virus(病毒)of this influenza.
There are three main types of influenza virus. The most important of these are types A and B, each of them having several sub-groups(亚群). At the hospital the doctor recognized that the outbreak was because of a virus group A, but he did not know the sub-group. He reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization in Geneva. W. H. O. published the important news together with reports of the same kind of outbreak in Hong Kong, where about 15%~20% of the population had become ill.
As soon as the London doctors received the package of throat samples, they began to test them. They found that they could reproduce themselves at a very high speed. Continuing their careful tests, the doctor checked the effect of medicine used against all the known sub-groups of type A virus. On this virus, none of them was of any use.
Having separated the virus, the two doctors now made tests on some selected seleceted animals. In a short time the usual signs of the disease appeared. These experiments showed that the new virus spread easily, but that it was not a killer. Scientists, like the general public, called it simply “Asian flu”.
72. The Asian flu mentioned in the passage ____.
A. had something to do with a virus group B
B. was reported to W. H. O in Geneva by a doctor in Hong Kong
C. broke out not only in Singapore but also in Hong Kong
D. was taken from the throats of the patients in a hospital in Singapore
73. London doctors considered ____.
A. Asian flu as a bad cold
B. there were three main types of influenza
C. it was necessary to test the other groups of virus besides group A
D. the influenza called “Asian flu”a new one
74. The Singapore doctor helped the world by ____.
A. making those with Asian flu well again B. killing the virus that caused Asian flu
C. finding the sub-group of the virus D. reporting the outbreak of Geneva
75. The Asian flu virus ____.
A. was a killer B. was very weak C. could reproduce very quickly D. died very fast
Ruben lived in a small village. There was no school there and he had to study in a school in the town. It was nearly five kilometres away from his village. His father couldn't buy a bike for him and he had to go to school on foot. He got up early in the morning. Usually he had to run there in order not to miss the first class. He kept running every day and it was helpful to him. He's strong and tall now and he ran faster than any other man in his village. He took part in several sports meetings and won some medals. The young man is proud of(以……自豪)it and always wants to have a race with others.
One day his mother was ill and his father told him to buy some medicine for headache in the town. The young man got there soon. There were many people in the chemist's shop while he was waiting there. And when his turn came, he could't find his money. An old woman hinted(暗示)a young man had stolen it. He saw the thief had already left the shop. He ran towards him quickly. The thief found it and began to run. He was happy and tried to catch up with him.
“Let's have a race and see who will run faster, ”Ruben called out behind.
Soon after that he caught up with the thief. But he didn't stop and went on running. At a crossing one of his friends asked, “What are you running for, Ruben? ”
“I'm running after(追)a thief. ”
“Where's the thief, then? ”
“He wants to show that he'll run faster than me, but he's fallen behind!”
59. Ruben had to run to school because ____.
A. he had no bike B. he hoped to win some medals
C. his village was a little far from the school D. he was afraid to be late for class
60. ____ , so he won some medals.
A. Ruben is good at running B. Ruben went to school on time
C. Ruben often took part in the sports meetings. D. Ruben likes to have a race with others
61. The phrase “a chemist's shop”in the story means ____.
A. 化工商店 B. 药店 C. 化工厂D. 制药厂
62. Ruben's money was stolen ____.
A. on his way to the town B. before he went in the shop
C. when he was waiting in the shop D. after he had left the shop
63. Ruben was happy because ____.
A. he could easily catch the thief B. he had a chance(机会)to have a race
C. he knew who had stolen his money D. he would win another medal that day
Cancer Research UK has launched an online chat forum for cancer patients to swap stories or share experiences on how to cope with such a disastrous disease.
But Cancer Chat is a forum with a difference:it has an information safety net.
This means that a Cancer Research UK team will keep a watching brief to ensure that patients are not subjected to rogue “cancer cures’’ or scientifically unreasonable information.
Anyone can have access to the messages posted on Cancer Chat but if people wish to post a message they will need to register.
And Rebekah Gibbs,a cancer patient and star e f TV’S Casualty has voiced her support for the new project.“I think Cancer Chat is a brilliant idea,’’she said.“I have written a public diary about what I went through with breast cancer and I have had such a heart-warming response from other people going through the same thing.
“The idea of a Cancer Chat forum means you can share information about treatment and side effects and you can really open up about your feelings online in a way that can be difficult when talking to close friends and family.And with Cancer Research UK.monitoring the forum people can be guaranteed the quality of information being exchanged.”
Cancer Chat will also encourage its users to check out any cancer questions on its CancerHelp UK website which is specially designed to give patients and their families 6,000 pages of up-to-date information that is easy to understand and explains a wide range of treatments for different types of cancer and give details of clinical trials.There is also a UK database of cancer clinical trials.
The award-winning website attracts around one million visitors a month and Cancer Research UK hopes that some of these visitors will also want to post comments on the Cancer Chat forum.
For those who do not have access to computers and have questions about cancer, the charity's team of cancer information nurses are available during office hours to talk over patients’ concerns on the phone.Cancer Chat is quite different from other forums in that.
A.it has the support of a famous TV actress |
B.it is a source of reliable information |
C.it provides a huge amount of cancer information |
D.it attracts a great number of visitors from all over the world each month |
The underlined word “swap’’ in the first paragraph most probably means.
A.invent | B.write | C.print | D.exchange |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A.Rebekah Gibbs has written a private diary about her breast cancer. |
B.CancerHelp UK offers information on cancer treatment and clinical trials.k+s-5#u![]() |
C.The messages posted on this forum are available to all visitors. |
D.People with no computers available can also receive help. |
Which of the following can be the best title for this passage?
A.A wonderful website CancerHelp UK |
B.Come on.Turn to Cancer Research UK |
C.Online Cancer Chat with a Safety Net |
D.A Major Breakthrough in Cancer |
When someone steps on your toe by accident, you will hurt plenty.But it hurts even more, if you think the person does the same thing on purpose.Earlier studies have found that the feeling of pain can change with how it is experienced.That is why giving people sugar pills and saying they are medicine can make them feel better.
This study examined whether self-reported pain is indeed higher when the events producing the pain are understood as intentionally caused by another person.For the study, the researchers told 40 volunteers that they were going to do a series of tasks, including color matching, number counting and discomfort assessment.This last task involved their receiving a brief electric shock to the wrist.They were told that a partner, sitting in another room, would choose which task they would do, and a computer screen helped them to know their partner’s choice.
In some cases, the volunteers were told their partner had chosen the pain tolerance test.In others, they were told the computers would select the pain tolerance test regardless of their partner’s choice.When volunteers thought that their partners were making the shocks on them on purpose, the feeling made the pain worse.As a matter of fact, they were the same.
This study provides evidence that the experience of pain changes depending upon how they think when people have been harmed.Specifically, the meaning of a harm — whether it was intended — influences the amount of pain it causes.So, although a broken toe may hurt, an intentionally broken toe should hurt more.It can be concluded from the text that _______.
A.the feeling of pain varies from one person to another k+s-5#u![]() |
B.long-lasting pain damages people’s health |
C.pain is greater if harm seems to be intentionally done |
D.people suffer more from accidental pain |
What can we infer from the text?
A.People can reduce pain by relaxing. |
B.Researchers study how pain is caused. |
C.Everyone should know the effect of pain. |
D.People should think more about pain. |
What does the underlined word “they” in the third paragraph refer to?
A.Volunteers. | B.Computers. |
C.Shocks. | D.Pains. |
What’s the author’s attitude to the result of the study? k+s-5#u
A.Indifferent. | B.Sceptical. |
C.Disapproving. | D.Approving. |