Part B: Reading Comprehension 20%
A
Backpacks are convenient. They can hold your books, your lunch, and a change of clothes, leaving your hands free to do other things. Someday, if you don’t mind carrying a heavy load, your backpack might also power your MP3 player, keep your cell phone running, and maybe even light your way home.
Scientists from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia and the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Mass., have invented a backpack that makes electricity from energy produced while its wearer walks.
The backpack’s electricity-creating powers depend on springs used to hang a cloth pack from its metal frame. The frame sits against the wearer’s back, and the whole pack moves up and down as the person walks. A mechanism with gears(传动装置) collects energy from this motion and transfers it to an electrical generator.
Surprisingly, the researchers found, people walk differently when they wear the springy packs. As a result, wearers use less energy than when carrying regular backpacks. Also, the way the new packs ride on wearers’ backs makes them more comfortable than standard packs.
The backpack could be especially useful for soldiers, scientists, mountaineers, and emergency workers who typically carry heavy backpacks. These people often rely on global positioning system(GPS) receivers, night-vision goggles(夜视镜), and other battery-powered devices to get around and do their work. Because the pack can make its own electricity, users don’t need to give up space in their packs to lots of extra batteries.
For the rest of us, power-generating backpacks could make it possible to walk, play video games, watch TV, and listen to music, all at the same time. Electricity-generating packs aren’t on the market yet, but if you do get one eventually, just make sure to look both ways before crossing the street!
65. The passage introduces a new kind of ______ backpack.
| A．electronic | B．electricity-producing |
| C．electron-generating | D．electricity-controlling |
66. The new backpack makes use of ______ to produce power.
batteries placed at the bottom of the frame
the motion of the pack while the wearer walks
energy the wearer consumes for carrying the pack
the collective motion of a mechanism and some gears
67. From the passage, we can infer that ______.
the backpacks of mountaineers may become smaller in the future
the new backpack can hardly be produced due to its potential danger
the new backpack will someday replace MP3 players and cell phones
the backpack will also provide electricity for lighting our houses
68. An enormous disadvantage of power-generating backpacks might be that ______.
they may stop working at any time
it takes quite a while to have the energy transferred
they may distract the wearer’s attention from road safety
they will be extremely heavy with the mechanism
Readers of many different periods have considered Du Fu to be the greatest poet of the Chinese tradition. Such general agreement can partially be explained by the immense variety of his work, which holds up quite well to different tastes and historical changes in fashion. Like Shakespeare in English tradition, Du Fu's poetry came to be so deeply bound up with the constitution of literary value that generation after generation of poets and critics rediscovered themselves and their interests in some aspect of the poet.
Chinese critics from the Song Dynasty referred to Du Fu as the "poet-historian". Du Fu witnessed a typically political and social situation; the common people still lived in poverty while the emperor and his top officials enjoyed a foolishly luxurious life. He composed many poems，which expressed his dissatisfaction with the government and his great pity for the common people. Du Fu used his poems to comment on current events and historical images. Du Fu became the historian by creating his responses to particular situations.
Du Fu was talented. When he was young, he wanted to get a good job in the government. Unfortunately Du Fu was refused several times. He was in his fifties when he began to serve as a minor official in Changan( Xi'an).
Du Fu was dismissed in the form of a transfer to the post of personnel administrator in Huazhou and so he left Changan. And in 759 he arrived in Chengdu. He set up a modest cottage with some money he borrowed from his friend who served as a local governor. In the cottage he had a simple and peaceful life for three years, writing about 240 poems.
Du Fu left Chengdu after 762 and wandered in the southern provinces and eventually died of illness in 770. After his death, the people in Chengdu built a shrine (神殿)on the site of his garden to honor him, which is known as part of Du Fu Thatched Cottage now. Why does the author compare Du Fu to Shakespeare?
| A．Du Fu's poetry was written following Shakespeare's style. |
| B．Du Fu's poetry referred to the social change critically. |
| C．Du Fu and Shakespeare were best friends. |
| D．Shakespeare read a lot of Du Fu's poems. |
Du Fu ______ when he was young.
| A．didn't want to be an official |
| B．was worried about the education |
| C．wasn't liked by the emperor |
| D．wasn't offered an opportunity to work in the government |
What did Du Fu describe in most of his poems?
| A．The luxurious life that the emperor and his top officials enjoyed. |
| B．His happy life. |
| C．His responses to particular situations. |
| D．His dissatisfaction with the government and his great pity for the common people. |
What did the people do after Du Fu died according to the passage?
| A．They destroyed his cottage. |
| B．They rebuilt the cottage he had lived into a high building. |
| C．They built a shrine to honor him. |
| D．They made a carved statue of him. |
What's the title of the passage?
| A．Du Fu—the Most Important Politician in Tang Dynasty |
| B．The Origin of Du Fu Thatched Cottage |
| C．Du Fu—One of the Greatest Poets in Tang Dynasty |
| D．Du Fu Was Not a Skilled Survivor in Government Politics |
Alone in the darkness under layers of rubble (碎石)，Dan Woolley felt blood streaming from his head and leg.
Woolley, an aid worker, husband, and father of two boys, followed instructions on his cell phone to survive the January 12 earthquake in Haiti.
"I had an app that had pre -downloaded all this information about treating wounds. So I looked up excessive bleeding and I looked up compound fracture(断裂)，" Woolley told CNN.
The application on his iPhone (网络电话)is filled with information about first aid and CPR from the American Heart Association. "So I knew I wasn't making mistakes," Woolley said. "That gave me confidence to treat my wounds properly."
Trapped in the ruins of the Hotel Montana in，he used his shirt to bandage his leg, and tied his belt around the wound. To stop the bleeding on his head, he firmly pressed a sock to it. Concerned he might have been experiencing shock，Woolley used the app to look up what to do. It warned him not to sleep. So he set his phone alarm to go off every 20 minutes.
Once the battery got down to less than 20 percent of its power， Woolley turned it off. By then, he says, he had trained his body not to sleep for long periods, drifting off only to wake up within minutes.
With his injuries tended to，he wrote a note to his family in his journal: "I was in a big accident, an earthquake. Don't be upset at God. He always provides for his children even in hard times. I'm still praying that God will get me out, but he may not. But even so he will always take care of you."
After more than 60 hours, Woolley was pulled from the rubble. "Those guys are rescue heroes," he said of the crew that pulled him out. Which of the following best summarizes the passage?
| A．How to Deal with the Wound |
| B．Try to Get in Touch with Outside |
| C．How to Stay Awake under the Ground |
| D．An Unforgettable Experience in the Earthquake |
When Woolley treated his wounds, ______.
| A．he kept looking through information about first aid |
| B．he carried out the process with much confidence |
| C．he felt nervous without the nurse's help |
| D．he had to operate by the light of iPhone |
Woolley set his phone alarm to go off every 20 minutes because ______.
| A．he tried his best to communicate with rescuers |
| B．he was forced to stay awake to check his wounds |
| C．he was afraid that sleep might do harm to him |
| D．he needed to use the app to look up what to do |
The underlined sentence suggests that ______.
| A．he turned off his iPhone to save power |
| B．the battery of his iPhone doesn't last long |
| C．he didn't want his iPhone to disturb him |
| D．his iPhone went off because of lack of power |
Tomb-Sweeping Day
A well-known poem by Tang Dynasty writer Du Mu tells of a sad scene in early April: "Rains fall heavily as Qing Ming comes， and passers-by with lowered spirits go. "Qing Ming Day, the traditional tomb-sweeping day, falls on April 4—6 each year. It is a time for remembering loved ones who have departed. People visit their ancestors' graves to sweep away the dirt.
Its origin dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period. Jin prince Chong'er ran away from the country with his supporters due to persecution. They were homeless for 19 years and things got so bad that Chong'er began to starve to death. One of the prince's faithful followers, Jie Zitui, cut a piece of muscle from his own leg and served it to his master. Chong'er was saved and, in 636 BC, he took back the throne.
He rewarded the officials who had stayed loyal to him but he forgot about Jie Zitui. By the time Chong'er remembered him, a heartbroken Jie Zitui had traveled deep into the mountains. Chong'er wanted to persuade Jie to come home， so he had the hills set on fire. But Jie was later found beside a large tree, with his old mother on his back. Both were dead.
Saddened by the tragedy, Chong'er ordered that fires could not be lit on the day of Jie Zitui's death. From this comes Hanshi Day, or Cold Food Day. People visited Jie Zitui's tomb the next day to pay their respects. Over time, Hanshi Day was replaced with tombsweeping day. This passage is mainly about ______ .
| A．a poem called Qingming which was written by Du Mu |
| B．the story between Chong'er and Jie Zitui |
| C．the origin of Qingming Day |
| D．Chong'er rewarded his loyal followers |
According to the passage, which statement is NOT right?
A. Hanshi Day has another name, Cold Food Day.
B. Chong'er was forced to leave his country in 617 BC.
C. Qingming Day is a traditional festival, which is on April 5 every year.
D. Qingming Day dates back to the Spring and Autumn Period. Cold Food Day started from ______.
| A．the Tang Dynasty |
| B．the Ming Dynasty |
| C．617 BC |
| D．the Spring and Autumn Period |
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS，Tuberculosis (结核病)and Malaria was created in 2002. It is an alliance of business, government and civilian partnerships. A new report from the Global Fund says almost five million lives have been saved through the six hundred programs it supports.
The programs operate in 144 countries, many in sub’ Saharan Africa. The Global Fund has approved proposals for more than nineteen billion dollars to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The report says two and one-half million people infected with HIV now are being treated with antiretroviral medicines. It says there has been a major decrease in AIDS deaths in many countries as a result.
The report also says about six million people with active tuberculosis are being treated for the disease. The number of deaths from TB is dropping around the world.
The Global Fund has given out more than one hundred million bed nets in its battle against malaria. The bed nets are treated with a poison to kill mosquitoes. The report says ten of the countries in Africa with the highest cases of malaria have reported decreases in new cases. An increasing number of countries are reporting a drop of more than fifty percent in malaria deaths, the report says.
Rifat Atun is director of strategy, performance and evaluation at the Global Fund. He says the programs the fund supports saved at least 3,600 lives every day last year. And he says more lives can be saved in the future if the programs continue to receive the money they need.
The Global Fund was established as a financial tool. It has several guiding ideas. It works to support programs that come from national plans and goals. It tries to find balance in dealing with places, diseases and interventions. And the Global Fund is open in its work to avoid corruption (腐败)or the appearance of corruption.
Most of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS，Tuberculosis and Malaria comes from the world's leading industrial nations. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Foundation of the Global Fund |
| B．The Global Fund Established as a Financial Tool |
| C．Almost 5 Million Lives Saved through the Global Fund |
| D．An Alliance of Business, Government and Civilian Partnerships |
According to the passage，which of the following statements is true?
| A．There has been a minor decrease in AIDS deaths in many countries as a result. |
| B．An decreasing number of countries are reporting a drop of more than fifty percent in malaria deaths. |
| C．Most of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria comes from the developed countries. |
| D．The Global Fund has approved proposals for more than £ 19 billion to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. |
According to the last but one paragraph, which is not the function of the Global Fund?
| A．It isn't used as a financial tool but as a medical tool. |
| B．It works to support programs coming from national plans and goals. |
| C．It tries to find balance in dealing with places, diseases and interventions. |
| D．It works to avoid corruption or the appearance of corruption in an open way. |
In which section of the newspaper would this passage most likely appeared?
| A．Business. | B．Science. |
| C．Politics. | D．Health. |
Scientists in the United States have developed a method that may help to predict earthquakes earlier. They say it could give people who live in deadly earthquake areas enough warning to leave before an earthquake hits.
Currently, the most modem systems for predicting earthquakes find them only a short time before the event. Like most strong earthquakes , the one that hit Southwestern China in May was not identified early enough for people to flee the area. That earthquake killed more than 69,000 people, which rated eight point zero in intensity.
But scientists who study earthquakes are reporting that new technology could measure very small changes in the Earth's surface. Their report was published this month in Nature magazine.
Fenglin Niu is a seismologist in Rice University in Houston, Texas. He and his team performed experiments along California's San Andreas Fault, an area famous for its many earthquakes. The team placed highly sensitive electrical devices about one kilometer below ground in two different places. The devices were able to measure even small changes in air pressure on the Earth's surface. The scientist says such changes are caused when rocks push together, forcing air out of small cracks in the rock. When this happens, seismic waves travel faster than usual through the rock.
The experiment was performed near Parkfield，California. Two earthquakes hit the area in late 2005. The first took place on December 25. A smaller earthquake struck five days later. The scientists noted changes in the Earth's surface about ten hours before the first earthquake struck. That earthquake rated three in intensity. They then found similar changes taking place two hours before the other earthquake struck five days later.
If additional tests confirm the changes are linked to earthquakes ，the scientists believe that their equipment could be used for early warning systems. A system that provides a warning signal ten hours before a major earthquake could help move people from the area and save lives.
The scientists now hope they can find earthquakes with even greater intensity by placing their equipment deeper in the ground. What is the best title for the passage?
| A．A new way to help predict earthquakes |
| B．The earthquake in Southwestern China |
| C．A better understanding of earthquakes |
| D．Early warning systems of earthquakes |
If the new way works, ______ .
| A．fewer earthquakes will break out |
| B．rescue workers can save more buried people in ruins |
| C．a warning can be given at least ten days before the major earthquake |
| D．fewer people will be killed in an earthquake |
The devices can predict the earthquake by ______ .
| A．reaching the center of the earthquake |
| B．detecting the temperature changes in the Earth's crust |
| C．measuring changes in air pressure on the Earth's surface |
| D．recording sound waves under the ground |
We can infer that ______ .
| A．the equipment is perfect enough to be used in practice |
| B．it is unknown if greater earthquakes can be predicted by the equipment |
| C．the deeper the equipment is placed, the less accurate the measurement is |
| D．the equipment has helped save many lives in the earthquake in Sichuan in May |