Four hundred and three babies are crying loudly. Do you know how to make them quiet in 41 seconds? There is an amazing new product on sale in Japan which does exactly this. It is an LP (a long-playing record) of sounds from inside a mother's body, which a hospital doctor recorded. In tests with the record she played the LP to 403 crying babies. After 41 seconds none of the babies was crying and 161 of them were sleeping.
The record began as an experiment by Professor Hajime Minooka of the Nippon Medical University near Tokyo. He was looking for something natural that helps new-born babies go to sleep. The sound of the mother's heart-beat and other body sounds are the things the babies heard inside their mothers. They feel safe and happy when they hear these sounds again. And they go to sleep.
Hospitals in Osaka and Tokyo are using the LP. 10,000 young couples are using it too. Toshiba Music Company who make and sell the records are very happy. One and a half million couples(夫妇) marry every year in Japan. Many will have babies, so the LP will definitely(明确的、干脆地) be a hit!
60.The experiment was made on ___ babies.
A. 10,000 B. 564 C. 403 D. 161
61. What is TRUE according to the text?
A. About 55% of the crying babies fall asleep after 41 seconds hearing the LP.
B. The LP sounds were first recorded by Professor Hajime Minooka.
C. The LP is produced and sold by Toshiba Music Company.
D. One million and a half babies are born in Japan every year.
62. Babies feel ___ when they hear these LP sounds.
A. the sounds be their mothers' voices
B. as if they were inside their mothers
C. the music natural and soft
D. themselves sleeping together with their mothers
63 "Many will have babies, so the LP will definitely be a hit!" The word "hit" means"____".
A. popularity B. amazement C. strike D. experiment
The journey to the moon had been the first step toward future exploration(探险) in space. The distance between the Moon and Earth is very short indeed when compared with the distances between Earth and the other planets. Mars, the nearest planet to Earth is millions of miles away. Traveling to the planets will be man’s next aim. Such travels will be more challenging than the trip to the moon and certainly more adventurous.
Recently, two American spaceships, Vikings 1 and 2, landed on Mars trying to discover whether that planet has any life on it. So far the signs of life on Mars has neither confirmed(确认) nor ruled out. Russians have discovered that the surface of Venus(金星) is so hot that it is almost certain that there is no life there. Also the atmosphere of Venus is extremely dense(稠) and the pressure is nearly a hundred times greater than that of the Earth’s atmosphere.
Scientists believe man may find planets which have the same conditions as those we have on Earth , but man should realize Earth will be his only home for a long time and begin to love and care for it.
According to the passage, traveling to the planets will be ________.
A.much easier and even more interesting |
B.far more exciting and dangerous |
C.man’s final aim |
D.man’s first step |
Which of the following is Not true?
A.Mars is nearer to the earth than the moon. |
B.The moon is much nearer to the earth than Mars. |
C.Of all the planets, Mars is the nearest to the earth. |
D.All the planets are much farther to the earth. |
From the passage, we can guess______________.
A.there is life on Mars |
B.there is no life on Mars |
C.the atmosphere of Mars is not so dense as that of Venus |
D.scientists will have little hope to find the answers |
Man can live on under the conditions of ______________.
A.much too hot surface |
B.the same pressure as we get on earth |
C.normal atmosphere as we have on earth |
D.both B and C |
I made a pledge (发誓) to myself on the way down to the vacation beach cottage. For two weeks I would try to be a loving husband and father. Totally loving. No ifs, ands or buts.
The idea had come to me as I listened to a talk on my car radio. The speaker was quoting (引用) a Biblical (圣经的) passage about husbands being considerate towards their wives. Then he went on to say, “Love is an act of will. A person can choose to love.” To myself, I had to admit that I had been a selfish husband. Well, for two weeks that would change.
And it did. Right from the moment I kissed Evelyn at the door and said, “That new yellow sweater looks great on you.”
“Oh, Tom, you noticed,” she said, surprised and pleased, maybe a little puzzled.
After the long drive, I wanted to sit and read. Evelyn suggested a walk on the beach. I started to refuse, but then I thought, “Evelyn’s been alone here with the kids all the week and now she wants to stay with me.” We walked on the beach when the children flew their kites.
So it went. Two weeks of not calling the Wall Street firm where I am a director; a visit to the shell museum though I usually hate museums. Relaxed and happy, that’s how the whole vacation passed, I made a new pledge to keep on remembering to choose love. There was one thing that went wrong with my experiment, however. Evelyn and I still laugh about it today. Last night at our cottage, preparing for bed, Evelyn stared at me with the saddest expression.
“What’s the matter?” I asked her.
“Tom,” she said in a voice filled with sorrow, “do you know anything I don’t?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well…that checkup (体检) I had several weeks ago…our doctor…Did he tell you anything about me? Tom, you’ve been so good to me... Am I dying?”
It took a moment for it all to sink in. Then I burst out laughing.
“No, honey,” I said, wrapping her in my arms. “You’re not dying; I’m just starting to live.”
From the story we may infer that Tom went to the beach cottage ________.
A.with his family | B.with Evelyn | C.alone | D.with his children |
During the two weeks on the beach, Tom showed more love to his wife because ________.
A.she looked lovely in her new clothes |
B.he had made a lot of money in Wall Street |
C.he was determined to be a good husband |
D.she was seriously ill |
The underlined words “one thing” in the passage refer to the fact that ________.
A.he praised her sweater, which puzzled her |
B.she insisted on visiting a museum, which he hated |
C.he knew something about her illness but didn’t tell her |
D.he was so good to her that she thought she must be dying |
By saying “I’m just starting to live”, Tom means that ________.
A.he is just beginning to understand the real meaning of work |
B.he is just beginning to enjoy his life as a loving husband |
C.he lived an unhappy life before and is now starting to change |
D.he is beginning to feel sorry for what he did to his wife |
Large wall posters for kids. Your kids will love these cool posters by artist Darla Daly—zebras boarding in the skateboard park, a group of jungle animals playing in the playground and two giraffes taking a drive in the city. Your kids will enjoy decorating their bedroom walls with these posters and their friends will think they are the coolest!
Displaying 1 to 4 (of 4 products)
Name: Alphabet Wall Art Size: 44×72cm (17.5’×28’) Dispatch time: at 9:00 a.m. every day Prices: $6.8/piece Colorful alphabet art for your kids’ bedroom and playroom. A fun, educational art piece that all kids will enjoy. Kids and babies will love learning their animals and the ABC at the same time! |
Name: Kids World Map Size: 45×75cm (17.5’×29.5’) Dispatch time: at 5:00 a.m. on Wednesday Prices: $7.2/piece A Colorful, large print by artist Carla Daly. Your kids will love this illustrated world map showing the lands, oceans and the fun animals that live in them. An educational map that will keep your kids amused for hours! |
Name: Skateboard Park Size: 44×60cm (17.5’×23.5’) Dispatch time: at 9:00 a.m. on weekends Prices: $8.8/piece Fun zebra children’s wall art! Children and kids will love these fun animals enjoying this popular kids’ sport. Boys and girls will enjoy decorating their bedroom walls with this colorful bedroom wall art. |
Name: City slickers Size: 44×55cm (17.5’×23.5’) Dispatch time: at 2:00 pm. every day except Friday Prices: $6.5/piece Cute kids wall art of two cool giraffes taking a drive through the city. Unusual, fun style for kids walls! Your kids will love this fun giraffe wall art. Boys and girls will have fun decorating their bedroom walls with this colorful bedroom wall art. |
The passage is written for ________.
A.teachers | B.students | C.kids | D.parents |
. Which poster has the biggest size?
A.Alphabet Wall Art. | B.Kids World Map. | C.Skateboard Park. | D.City Slickers. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
A.Kids can just learn some English letters on Alphabet Wall Art. |
B.City Slickers posters can be bought at 2:00 p.m. every day in a week. |
C.Kids can get some geography knowledge on Kids World Map. |
D.Kids can find two cool giraffes on Skateboard Park. |
The underlined word “illustrated” in Poster II means “________” in Chinese.
A.印刷 | B.装饰 | C.展示 | D.图解 |
It has always been said that women are not good drivers, because they simply don’t have very good driving ability. On the other hand, most car accidents happen to men; very few happen to women.
From this, we can see that women are much more careful while driving. Another very interesting fact is that in the past, women preferred to let their husbands be the only driver in the family rather than have a driving license. Somehow they were prevented from making this step in their life, but nowadays there are many women that want to pass their driving tests at an early age.
However, we have to admit that men are more skillful drivers than women, but this does not mean that a woman cannot become a good driver by accumulating (积累) experience. So more and more teenagers and women around the age of thirty now want to pass their driving tests. While taking their driving lessons, they also have a number of special lessons with their parents or somebody in the family that has a driving license. This is just to improve their driving abilities and help them to pass the tests more easily.
To conclude, we can say that women are not such bad drivers. They just need more experience than men in order to be able to drive well. And on the other hand, there are a number of women that show better driving skills than the men around them.
Compared with the past, nowadays many women ________.
A.prefer to have a driving license | B.have more accidents while driving |
C.are somehow prevented from driving | D.are the only driver in the family |
What advantage do women have over men in driving?
A.They have more skills. | B.They are much more careful. |
C.They know more traffic rules. | D.They have more driving experience. |
What can we infer from the passage?
A.Teenage girls cannot take driving tests. |
B.Men didn’t allow women to drive in the past. |
C.With enough experience, women can become good drivers. |
D.Women can easily pass their tests by taking driving lessons. |
The passage mainly talks about ________.
A.women and their driving ability |
B.men and their driving ability |
C.why men are better drivers than women |
D.why more women like to have a driving license |
The 2012 London Olympics had enough problems to worry about. But one more has just been added --- a communications blackout caused by solar storms.
After a period of calm within the Sun, scientists have detected the signs of a fresh cycle of sunspots that could peak in 2012, just in time for the arrival of the Olympic torch in London.
Now scientists believe that this peak could result in vast solar explosions that could throw billions of tons of charged matter towards the Earth, causing strong solar storms that could jam the telecommunications (通信) satellites and interact links sending five Olympic broadcast from London.
“The Sun’s activity has a strong influence on the Earth. The Olympics could be in the middle of the next solar maximum which could affect the functions of communications satellites,” said Professor Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
At the peak of the cycle, violent outbursts called coronal mass ejections (日冕物质抛射) occur in the Sun’s atmosphere, throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged (带电) matter. “A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometers per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount, can disable satellites, cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications,” Professor Harrison added. The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.
Next week in America, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of the solar flares (太阳耀斑) and explosions as they occur.
Professor Richard Holdaway, the lab’s director, said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth “If we have advance warning, we’ll be able to reduce the damage. What you don’t want is things switching off for a week with no idea of what’s caused the problem,” he said.
The phrase underlined part in paragraph one most probably refers to _______ during the 2012 Olympics.
A.the state of the Olympic torch being put out |
B.the failure of broadcasting systems |
C.the transportation breakdown in London |
D.the destruction of weather satellites |
What can be inferred about the solar activity described in the passage?
A.The most deadly matter from the corona falls onto Earth. |
B.The solar storm peak occurs in the middle of each cycle. |
C.It takes several seconds for the charged matter to reach Earth. |
D.The number of sunspots decreases after coronal mass ejections. |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A.Solar Storms: An Invisible Killer |
B.Solar Storms: Earth Environment in Danger |
C.Solar Storms: Threatening the Human Race |
D.![]() |