Apparently,we are safe neither at home nor in the business office.We use water in both places,but the research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects.These chemicals can cause potential harm through drinking and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house.They are released(set free)from water by daily actions like water running out
of tap,spraying from garden pipes,or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines.As the water is moving.these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health.
Does this mean we should stop bathing? No, say the scientists, but we should put all pollution into perspective. Activities at home such as the burning of coal, cooking oil, or even candles release carbon monoxide and particulates such as cigarette ashes which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near heavy traffic. New tugs, bedding, and even clothing give off that“new smell, ”which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly applied paint, newly purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ventilation (通风), these chemicals can build up to become health problems. Their poisonous effects are only now being slowly recognized.
These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise warning. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather. Even one’s car needs to be ventilated as well while in the garage.
We need further research to understand better other potential health dangers, too. For example, the effects of overcrowding of schools (carbon dioxide build-up ), the factory work environment ( an endless list of potentially dangerous substances ), and even home heating and cooling (the air conditioner may be our enemies, not our friends) have only recently started to come to light. Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that“there is no place like home.”
64.What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
A.The air we breathe in is harmful.
B.The water in everyday use is unsafe.
C.Chemicals are added to the drinking water.
D.Chemicals are released in the running water.
65.In Paragraph 2, the underlined sentence means that__________
A.bathing should be done with caution
B.homes and offices should be aired often
C.any pollution should be taken into consideration
D.we should prevent any pollution from doing harm to us
66.What is the purpose of the passage?
A.To call on us to guard our water.
B.To show us that no place is like home.
C.To make us aware of the pollution around us.
D.To argue that neither homes nor offices are safe.
The first newspaper was written by hand and put up on walls in public places. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700s the world’s first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn’t have a regularly printed newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in English was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant, which came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston .But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started the Boston Newspaper, the first newspaper published daily in the American colonies(殖民地). By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers.There are now about 1, 800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, newspapers in English have the largest circulation (发行量)in the world .But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun . It sells more than eleven million copies every year.The first regularly printed European newspaper started in ________.
A.Rome in 59 BC | B.Germany in 1609 |
C.Amsterdam in 1620 | D.England in 1621 |
The first daily newspaper in English started in _________.
A.1620 | B.1621 | C.1590 | D.1702 |
What does the author want to inform us?
A.History of newspapers |
B.History of daily newspapers |
C.The beginning of newspapers |
D.On reading newspapers |
Inventor,physicist,surveyor,astronomer,biologist,artist... Robert Hooke was all these and more. Some say he was the greatest experimental scientist of the seventeenth century. Once he worked with renowned(有名声的) men of science like Christian Huygens,Antony van Leeuwenhoek,Robert Boyle,Isaac Newton and the great architect,Christopher Wren.
Hooke’s early education began at home,under the guidance of his father. He entered Westminster School at the age of thirteen,and from there he went to Oxford,where he came in contact with some of the best scientists in England. Hooke impressed them with his skill at designing experiments and devising(发明) instruments. In 1662,at the age of twenty-eight,he was named Curator of Experiments of the newly formed Royal Society of London. Hooke accepted the job,even though he knew that it had no money to pay him!
Watching living things through the microscope was one of his favorite occupations. He devised a compound microscope for this purpose. One day while observing a cork (软木) under a microscope,he saw honeycomb-like structures. They were cells—the smallest units of life.In fact,it was Hooke who coined the term “cell” as the boxlike cells of the cork reminded him of the cells of a monastery(修道院).
Perhaps because of his varied interests,Hooke often left experiments unfinished. Others took up where he left off and then claimed sole(独占的)credit. This sometimes led to quarrels with colleagues. One work that he finished was his book MICROGRAPHIA,a volume that reveals the immense potential of the microscope. The book also includes,among other things,ideas on gravity and light which may have helped scientists like Newton while they were developing their own theories on these phenomena.
Hooke made valuable contributions to astronomy too. A crater(陨石坑) on the moon is named after him in appreciation of his services to this branch of science.From the first paragraph,we can know that Robert Hooke __________.
A.was famous because he worked with many scientists |
B.liked making friends with the famous people |
C.received a lot from other scientists |
D.made contributions to many different fields |
Robert Hooke probably went to school in __________.
A.1647 | B.1634 | C.1662 | D.1640 |
Robert Hooke made himself known to some of the best scientists in England by __________.
A.learning by himself with his father’s help |
B.introducing himself to them |
C.designing experiments and instruments |
D.refusing any reward from Royal Society of London |
Robert Hooke couldn’t get along well with his colleagues because __________.
A.he couldn’t finish his work on time sometimes |
B.he had all kinds of interests in his daily life |
C.he was too proud to look up to them |
D.the other scientists took the fruits of his experiments |
I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.
I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows(誓约) mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends,and they to me. Without them,there would be nothing to say to you today.
So here’s what I want to tell you today:get a life. A real life,not a desire of the next promotion(提升),the bigger paycheck and the larger house.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love,and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure(休闲) but work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.
It is so easy to waste our lives,our days,our hours,and our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of living. I learned to live many years ago. Something really,really bad happened to me,something that changed my life. If I had my choice,it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what,today,seems to be the hardest lesson of all.
I learned to love the journey,not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and tried to give some of it back because I believed in it,completely and totally. And I tried to do that,in part,by telling others what I had learned.
By telling them this:read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a deadly illness,because if you do,you will live with joy and passion(激情) as it ought to be lived.The best title of this passage probably is “________”.
A.Love Your Friends | B.Live a Real Life |
C.Don’t Waste Time | D.Be a Good Mother and Wife |
How did the author form her view of life?
A.Through social experience. |
B.By learning from her friends. |
C.Through an unfortunate experience. |
D.From her children and husband. |
By the underlined sentence “It is so easy to exist instead of living.” in the fifth paragraph,the author really means that people tend to________.
A.make a living rather than live a real life |
B.work rather than enjoy life |
C.waste a lot in life |
D.forget the most important lesson in life |
It can be inferred from the passage that________.
A.the author is a success in personal life |
B.the author doesn’t try her best to work well |
C.the author spends all her time caring for her children |
D.the author likes traveling very much |
Last year college students in America spent an estimated $700 on textbooks on average. The National Association of College Stores reported more than five billion dollars in sales of textbooks and course materials.
The association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now just make up 2%~3% of sales. But he says that is expected to reach 10%~15% by 2012.
Online versions(版本) are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. An etextbook can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access to them after the end of the term. And the books cannot be placed on more than one device(设备),so they are not easy to share.
So what do students think of etextbooks?Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find it out. Earlier this year they tested them with 500 students in 20 classes.
The university is unusual. It provides laptop computers for all 7,000 of its fulltime students. It does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to etextbooks.
The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks. And 56% said they were better able to find information.
But most found that using etextbooks did not change their study habits. And 60% felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all,almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better.
But the survey found that cost could be a big influence.55% said they would choose etextbooks if using them meant their textbook rental fee would not increase.
Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State University. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the etextbooks now available because the majority are not interactive(交互式的).
He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video,activities,games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving. But for now,most of the books are just words on a screen.Etextbooks are not better than paper books in that________.
A.they cost more money |
B.they’re difficult to carry |
C.they’re not convenient to share |
D.they can’t be downloaded from the Internet |
How many surveyed students think paper books make better reading?
A.60%. | B.56%. | C.55%. | D.50%. |
It can be inferred from the text that in the future________.
A.digital books will be more popular |
B.the digital books available need improvement |
C.free digital books are available online |
D.digital books will replace print textbooks |
Where we live,on the eastern shore of Maryland,the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips.
The Canada geese know this place,as do the white swans and the ducks. In autumn,they come home for the winter. Once or twice each year,snow and frozen rain move into the area. When this happens,if the river is at its narrowest,there is a freeze which hardens the water to ice.
One morning,a friend of mine set the breakfast table beside the huge window,which overlooked the Tred Avon River. Suddenly she leaned forward and cried out,“There is a goose out there.”
We saw the figure of a large Canada goose,very still,its wings folded tight to its sides,its feet frozen into the ice.
Then from the dark skies,she saw a line of swans. They floated from the top of the sky downward and at last landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now,with one hand against her mouth,unbelieving. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose,she feared that life it still had might be pecked(啄) out by those great swan bills.
Instead,those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down,again and again. It went on for a long time. At last,the goose’s head was lifted. Its body was pulled. Then the goose was free and stood on the ice. And the swans stood in the air watching. Then,as if it had cried,“I cannot fly.” Four of the swans came down around it. Their powerful beaks chipped off the ice held in the feathers. Slowly,the goose spread its wings as far as they would go,and moved slowly into the sky.
This is a true story. I just think of it in the bad moment,and from it comes only one hopeful question:If so for birds,why not for man?Which would be the best title for the passage?
A.Why Not for Man? | B.Graceful Swans |
C.Swans’ Brave Act | D.I Just Couldn’t Believe It! |
What happened to the Canada goose?
A.It was deserted by other geese. |
B.It was stuck in the ice. |
C.It was wounded and couldn’t fly. |
D.It was lost in the water. |
At first the author’s friend was worried that________.
A.the swans would not help the Canada goose |
B.she didn’t care about this matter any more |
C.the swans wouldn’t identify with the Canada goose |
D.the swans would peck the Canada goose to death |
What did the swans do when they saw the Canada goose couldn’t fly?
A.They chipped off the ice held in its feathers. |
B.They waited patiently for the ice held in its feathers to melt. |
C.They came down and lifted it up to the sky together. |
D.They stayed with it and protected it. |