Archaeologists believe they are on the turning point of throwing light on the life of William Shakespeare — by excavating （发掘） what may have been the playwright’s dust hole．
Experts have begun excavating the ruins of New Place, Shakespeare’s former home in Stratford-upon-Avon, which was destroyed 250 years ago．Although little remains of the property, the team, led by Birmingham Archaeology, believes it has identified a dust hole used by the 16th century poet．
Small pieces of pottery （陶瓷） and broken clay pipe have already been found from a muddy hole on the site, which they claim could yield some of the most significant discoveries about Shakespeare in decades．The dig focuses on three areas of the property, which Shakespeare bought in 1597 when he returned to his home town from London having achieved fame — including the so-called knot garden at the back of the building．
Dr Diana Owen, Director of the Shakespeare Birthplace Trust, which owns the site, said, “We do not know if the knot garden was an area used by Shakespeare — it may have been a yard simply used by his servants．But this could actually yield some fantastic results, especially if it was an area where rubbish was thrown or the dust hole was located．”
Kevin Colls, from Birmingham Archaeology, added, “Through documentary evidence we know Shakespeare lived at New Place but we have very little information regarding the layout （布局） of the house and gardens at this time．Through archaeological fieldwork, in particular the dig of structural remains and the recovery of artefacts, we hope to fill in the blanks．”
Until October, visitors will be able to watch archaeologists and volunteers at work as they excavate the remains of the house, which was knocked down in 1759．Experts hope to unearth evidence to support theories that Shakespeare wrote many of his most famous works at the property．
71．This excavation intends to ______．
A．know something about the playwright’s dust hole
B．search for some treasure in the dust hole
C．explore the life of William Shakespeare
D．find something that Shakespeare lost
72．New Place was destroyed in the ______ century．
A．15th B．16th C．17th D．18th
73．Small pieces of pottery and broken clay pipe on the site ______．
A．could show Shakespeare’s luxurious life
B．could lead to important discoveries about Shakespeare
C．could show us that Shakespeare lived at New Place
D．could prove when New Place was knocked down
74．The underlined phrase “the blanks” in Paragraph 5 refers to ______．
A．the ruins of New Place
B．the smallest pieces of broken pottery
C．three areas of the property
D．the layout of the house and gardens of New Place
75．What can we learn from the text?
A．Shakespeare used to live at New Place．
B．Shakespeare became famous after 1597．
C．Only his servants used the knot garden．
D．Dr Diana Owen owns Shakespeare’s property．
“In only six days I lost seven pounds of weight.”
“Two full inches in the first three days!”
These are the kinds of statements used in magazine, newspaper, radio and television ads, promising new shapes and new looks to those who buy the medicine or the device. The promoters of such products say they can shape the legs, slim the face, smooth wrinkles, or in some other way add to beauty or desirability.
Often such products are nothing more than money-making things for their promoters. The results they produce are questionable, and some are dangerous no health.
To understand how these products can be legally promoted to the public, it is necessary to understand something of the laws covering their regulation. If the product is a drug, FDA（Food and Drug Administration）can require proof under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that it is safe and effective before it is put on the market. But if the product is a device, FDA has no authority to require premarketing proof of safety or effectiveness. If a product already on the marker is danger to health, FDA can request the producer or distributor to remove it from the market voluntarily, or it can take legal action ,including seizure（查封）of the product. One notable case a few years ago involved an electrical device called the Relaxacisor, which had been sold for reducing the waistline. The Relaxacisor produced electrical shocks to the body through contact pads. FDA took legal action against the distributor to stop the sale of the device on the grounds that it was dangerous to health and life. Obviously, most of the devices on the market have never been the subject of court proceedings（诉讼）,and new devices appear continually. Before buying, it is up to the consumer to judge the safety or effectiveness of such items.It can be inferred that the ads mentioned at the beginning of the passage are ______.
| A．illegal | B．unreliable |
| C．objective | D．costly |
Which of the following will the author probably agree with?A. The court is in charge A.of removing dangerous products.
B. It is possible that new products are questionable.
C.The production of a device must be approved by FDA.
D. The promoters usually just care about profits.FDA can ask for the proof of safety and effectiveness of a product ________.
| A．if its consumers make complaints |
| B．if it is a device |
| C．if it is a drug |
| D．if its distributors challenge FDA’s authority |
The Relaxacisor is mentioned in the passage as_______.
| A．a product which was designed to produce electricity |
| B．a product whose distributor was involved in a legal case |
| C．a successful advertisement of a beauty product |
| D．an example of a quality beauty product |
By writing the passage, the author intends to _______.
| A．make consumers aware of the promoters’ false promises |
| B．show the weakness of the law on product safety |
| C．give advice on how to keep young and beautiful |
| D．introduce the organization of FDA |
Will there be a time in our lives when cars don’t crash? When we can just sit back and relax and our cars will drive themselves. Auto technology experts say “yes”. And they say that some of those advances may happen quicker than you might think.
They will require the users to input the name of the destination or the complete address of the location that they want to go and the cars’ artificial intelligence takes them there automatically without a driver. They will run on solar power in the daytime and ethanol fuel (乙醇燃料) at night. Toyota, BMW and Honda will completely control the trade of driverless car business together and will have the cheapest driverless cars. Fossil fuels will be completely incompatible (不相配的) with these cars.
Driverless cars will not require a driver’s license of any grade to operate. Anyone with basic literacy and computer skills who are at least 16 years of age will be legally allowed to operate the vehicle with absolutely no restrictions. This would give the young users permission to operate the driverless cars on major highways as well as secondary roads without needing a separate classification. In addition to all this, drunken people will be able to use their own automobiles to return home because they are not “driving” the vehicle.
What’s more, car insurance will become obsolete because there will be no more automobile accidents after the year 2025. This is because the driverless car will have all safety methods in place by the car’s artificial intelligence to prevent automobile accidents. Global positioning systems will become mandatory (强制的) in all newly-manufactured cars after 2010, and will be the most important part in the driverless car.Who will not be able to use driverless cars?
| A．Adults with basic literacy and computer skills. |
| B．Adults who are drunk. |
| C．Adults without computer skills. |
| D．Adults without a driver’s license. |
We can infer from the second paragraph that driverless cars.
| A．will need fewer fossil fuels |
| B．will not need a human’s instructions |
| C．will run on solar power only |
| D．will be environmentally friendly |
What will prevent the driverless car from crashing?
| A．Artificial intelligence. |
| B．Global positioning systems. |
| C．The people inside. |
| D．Car insurance. |
The underlined word “obsolete” in the last paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．difficult to get | B．quite important |
| C．dangerous | D．out of business |
Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?
| A．Car safety. | B．Driverless cars. |
| C．The future cars. | D．New technology in cars. |
From the same place that brought you the Robot Suit HAL comes the “motorized knee”．Designed by researchers at Japan's Tsukuba University, the device supports the flex(弯曲 ) of the knee, which enables a runner to use 30% less muscle power compared to running unassisted.
Coming in a kit (成套工具), the device consists of a small motor that helps flex the knee, a sensor that detects the knees' degree of flex, and a safety lever (杠杆)—all of which attach to the user's leg.The user is also forced to carry a backpack that holds a control unit and battery to power the motor.All up the device weighs around 5kg，which will probably lessen the performance benefits of wearing the device somewhat.In experiments runners wearing the device could jog at 7.5kmh, which is hardly anything special—but predictably they could do it for longer.
Curiously, the makers of the motorized knee say it isn't designed for the physically handicapped.Rather it is intended for people who want to run in a more efficient way.I can't help thinking this cuts down the potential market considerably.After all, most runners I know do it for the sake of their fitness.Wouldn't a device that is designed to do some of the work mean that someone would have to run for longer to receive the same fitness benefits?
Regardless, the research team expects to commercialize the kit within the next three years, by which time they also plan to have made the device significantly smaller and lighter.To make sure that the device runs smoothly，________.
| A．the user should be equipped with other related units |
| B．the device should be improved through experiments |
| C．the user shouldn't be physically handicapped |
| D．the device should be smaller and lighter |
What is the special feature of the device according to the passage?
| A．It helps its user run faster. |
| B．It helps save physical strength. |
| C．It adds more fun to running. |
| D．It helps its user keep a good shape. |
In the author's opinion, the device________.
| A．should specially serve the disabled |
| B．won't be popular with people at all |
| C．does harm to its user's health |
| D．may not sell as well as expected |
Which of the following aspects of the device is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Its advantages. | B．Its components. |
| C．Its weight. | D．Its price. |
In which column of a newspaper would this passage be found?
| A．Science. | B．Health. |
| C．Education. | D．Business. |
On a recent Saturday evening at around midnight our home became the victim of an egg bombing.Early next morning I was ready to wash off the mess above our front bedroom windows.As I climbed up，I noticed that the glass in a small window just under the roof line was very badly broken.On a closer check，the crack ran around over half of the outer edge of the window.As the awning(雨篷)protected the window，it was clear to me that the damage had not been caused by the egg bombing.I discovered that the window was very loose.
Just a few meters away，we have a small area for playing basketball and on most days of the week there are up to six young people who play there，including both my sons.My thoughts immediately turned to what could have happened if the broken glass in the window had gone unnoticed for much longer and then suddenly broke.Then my two sons and their friends would be likely to be seriously injured.The pain that could have been caused by the broken glass would never go away.
Frequently in life，the small things that happen to us may cause some form of pain，sadness，discomfort or anger.My personal experience with the egg bombing on that Saturday evening reminded me that in most cases there is always a flip_side to everything that happens to us and that often it can provide a positive outcome or an even greater benefit，if not now，then at some time in the future.
From now on whenever I see or break an egg，I will think of the egg bombing incident and say a thankyou to those latenight trickers.I will always be reminded of JeanPaul Sartre's words，“What is important is not what happens to us，but how we respond to what happens to us.”The egg bombing on that Saturday evening resulted in________.
| A．a broken window |
| B．a dirty awning |
| C．a loose roof |
| D．a mess above windows |
What was the author's concern after he found the broken glass in the window?
| A．His sons and their friends might face unexpected problems. |
| B．People in the bedroom would be seriously injured. |
| C．The place for playing basketball was crowded. |
| D．It would be difficult to fix the cracked glass. |
The underlined phrase “flip side” in Paragraph 3 refers to something________.
| A．different | B．safe |
| C．positive | D．important |
What has the author learned from the egg bombing incident?
| A．Better early than late. |
| B．A bad thing never dies. |
| C．Bad luck comes in threes. |
| D．Every cloud has a silver lining.(凡事总有好的一面) |
The author used JeanPaul Sartre's words to suggest we should________.
| A．learn to forgive |
| B．be kind to others |
| C．have a right attitude |
| D．keep the past in mind |
Let's be honest：If you like to take lots of vacation，the United States is not the place to work.Besides a handful of national holidays，the typical American worker gets two or three precious weeks off out of a whole year to relax and see the world—much less than what people in many other countries receive.Only 57% of the US workers use up all of the days they're entitled (授权) to，compared with 89% of workers in France, a recent research found.
So what's going on here？A big reason for the difference is that paid time off is supported by law in many parts of the world.Germany is among more than two dozen industrialized countries—from Australia to Slovenia to Japan—that require employers to offer four weeks or more of paid vacation to their workers，according to a 2009 study by the human resources consulting company Mercer.Finland, Brazil and France are the champions, guaranteeing six weeks of time off.
But employers in the United States have no duty under federal law to offer any paid vacation, so about a quarter of all American workers don't have access to it，government figures show.That makes the US the only advanced nation in the world that doesn't guarantee its workers annual leave，according to a report titled “NoVacation Nation” by the Center for Economic and Policy Research, a liberal policy group.
But the fear of layoffs(下岗) and the everfaster pace of work mean many Americans don't want to be absent from the office—anxious that they might look like they're not willing to work hard.Or they worry they won't be able to deal with the backlog (积压未办之事)of work waiting for them after a vacation.
Working more makes Americans happier than Europeans, according to a study published recently in the Journal of Happiness Studies.That may be because Americans believe more than Europeans do that hard work is associated with success, wrote Adam OkuliczKozaryn，the study's author and an assistant professor at the University of Texas at Dallas.“Americans increase their happiness by working, and Europeans increase their happiness through vacation，” he found.Which of the following countries has the longest paid vacation?
| A．America. | B．Germany. |
| C．Australia. | D．France. |
What does the underlined word “it”in Paragraph 3 refer to?
| A．Federal law. | B．Paid vacation. |
| C．Annual leave. | D．Long vacation. |
Why are many Americans unwilling to be absent from the office?
a．They enjoy their work very much.
b．They are afraid of being fired.
c．They are not protected by law.
d．They are worried about falling behind.
| A．a，b | B．a，d |
| C．c，d | D．b，d |
What does the study in the Journal of Happiness Studies find?
| A．Americans get more happiness from work than Europeans. |
| B．Americans believe happiness is the most important thing. |
| C．Europeans believe more hard work leads to success. |
| D．Europeans do not like taking long vacations. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Why American workers have fewer vacations. |
| B．The reasons why American workers dislike work. |
| C．How workers in different countries take vacations. |
| D．Why American workers are happier than Europeans. |