U.S. airlines are seeing a major interruption because of hundreds of flights canceled due to the ash cloud from the Icelandic volcano, but European flight companies will face the biggest losses.
The airline business has been tough: The decline dramatically slowed traffic; February heavy snow forced U.S. airlines to cancel thousands of flights; and now the ashes from the volcano stopped all traffic in and out of northern Europe for days.
"For U.S. flight companies, it'll be a relatively short-term hit," said Michael Boyd, president of Boyd Group International, an aviation (航空学) consulting firm. "We think right now they're down about $80 million in terms of lost income, and they're down domestically about 80,000 passengers that would have been flying domestically but aren't because they can't get here."
Delta announced that volcano-related interruption grounded about 400 flights until Monday at a cost of $20 million in lost revenues. But compare that to the recent snowstorms, when the airline canceled 7,000 flights and lost $65 million in revenue.
The disruption has created uncertainty for customers, but analysts say U.S. airlines won't face as many costs as you might think. They are not flying in extra planes to handle the passengers in trouble because, airline analyst Robert Mann said, companies simply don't have them.
"Airlines run a very lean operation now," Mann said. "So, since there are no spare aircraft or crews, the airlines will attempt to maximize loads on every one of their aircraft that do fly. But it may take days, or in some cases a week or so, to get some of these customers to where they want to go."
46. Which negative consequences mentioned in the passage did the disasters cause?
A. coldness, pollution and airlines’ losses
B. airport damage, pollution and slow traffic
C. passenger delay, coldness and airport damage
D. passenger delay, airlines’ losses and slow traffic
47. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. The fewest airplanes will fly the trapped passengers to their destinations.
B. All the customers are sure to be sent to their destinations in time.
C. The U.S. and U.K. airlines suffered the same losses in the natural disasters.
D. The volcano eruption reduced the traffic to and from northern Europe.
48. What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
A. the troubles that the airlines will face after the ash cloud disappears
B. the measures that the airlines will take to maximize their profit
C. the present situation of the airlines and their plan to deliver the passengers
D. the reasons why the airlines run a fine operation
49. Why will it take a long time for airlines to send the passengers to their different destinations?
A. Because the passengers enjoy staying in airports to talk with one another.
B. Because the airlines don’t have spare planes or employees to serve.
C. Because the airlines don't have enough financial support after the disaster.
D. Because the passengers are asking for full refund from the airlines.
50. The passage is most probably from_______.
A．a novel B．a news report
C．a magazine D．a thesis
The richest man in the world is an American, Bill Gates. He started Microsoft, the company that makes computer programs and operating systems. Two years ago, Mr Gates and his wife Melinda decided to use some of their money to improve the lives of people in developing countries. They started the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle»Washington. The foundation has twenty-four thousand million dollars. It is the biggest not-for-profit organization in the world. Bill and Melinda Gates started the foundation because they believed progress in medical science and information technology was not reaching people in developing countries. Their foundation finances programs aimed at improving health and education in poor countries. One of the foundation's major goals is the develop-ment of new medicines to prevent and treat tuberculosis(肺结核），malaria(疾疾）and AIDS. The World Health Organization reports that these three diseases kill more than five million people a year.
Another leading foundation project is an effort to reduce death rates for babies in poor countries. The foundation also supports efforts to provide necessary medicines to prevent diseases among children in seventy-four developing countries. It also supports training programs for health workers. Bill and Melinda Gates are also concerned about connecting people to the Internet computer system. The foundation believes men and women of all ages and races should be able to use the Internet as a tool for life-long learning. For example, the foundation gave nine million dollars to more than three hundred fifty public libraries in Chile (智利）for computers and technology training. The Gates Foundation usually provides money to developing countries in the form of a gift or a grant. However, there are conditions for receiving grants. Governments or other not-for-profit organizations working in a country must promise to provide an equal amount of money. The receiver must also meet performance goals or risk losing the money.What's NOT the aim of the Bill and Melinda GatesFoundation?
| A．Providing information technology for the developing countries. |
| B．Developing new medicines to prevent diseases. |
| C．Earning more money from these developing countries. |
| D．Helping men and women of all ages and races use the Internet. |
What do you think of Bill Gates from this passage?
| A．Clever. |
| B．Rich. |
| C．Able. |
| D．Warm-hearted. |
What's the main idea of this passage?
| A．Bill Gates, the richest man. |
| B．Bill Gates set up foundation to help the people in developing countries. |
| C．Information technology needs popularizing. |
| D．The people in developing countries need to be helped. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true ac-cording to the passage?
| A．Tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS kill many people every year. |
| B．A person can receive a grant as long as he lives in a developing country. |
| C．Gates Foundation is the largest not-for-profit organization in the world. |
| D．Bill Gates supported training health workers. |
What's the meaning of the underlined word “grant”？
| A．Money. |
| B．Food. |
| C．Clothes. |
| D．Equipment. |
For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called latchkey (门锁钥匙）children. They're children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern.
Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said，“We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. There were so many keys. It never came to my mind what they meant. ” Slowly, she learned they were house keys.
She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the effect working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.
The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet. The second is TV. They'll often play it at high volume. It's hard to get statistics (统计数字）on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone. The main idea about "latchkey children” is that they_________
| A．are growing in numbers |
| B．are also found in middle-class neighborhoods |
| C．watch too much television during the day |
| D．suffer problems from being left alone |
Which sentence in the second paragraph is the topic sentence?
| A．We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. |
| B．A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. |
| C．Iwas constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. |
| D．Slowly, she learned they were house keys. |
Themain feeling these children have when they areat home by themselves is_________.
| A．tiredness |
| B．freedom |
| C．loneliness |
| D．fear |
We may draw a conclusion that_________.
| A．latchkey children enjoy having such a large amount of time alone |
| B．latchkey children try to hide their feeling |
| C．latchkey children often watch TV with their parents |
| D．it's difficult to find out how many latchkey children there are |
So long as teachers fail to tell the difference be-tween teaching and learning, they will continue to undertake to do for children that which only children can do for themselves. Teaching children to read is not passing reading on to them. It is certainly not endless hours spent in activities about reading. Douglas insists that “reading cannot be taught directly and schools should stop trying to do the impossible".
Teaching and learning are two entirely different processes. They differ in kind and function. The function of teaching is to create the conditions and the climate that will make it possible for children to plan cleverly the most efficient (有效的）system for teaching themselves to read. Teaching is also a public activity： It can be seen and observed.
Learning to read involves all that each individual does to understand the world of printed language. Almost all of it is private, for learning is an occupation of the mind, and that process is not open to public scrutiny.
If teacher and learner roles are not interchangeable, what then can be done through teaching that will aid the child in the long search for knowledge? Smith has one principle rule for all teaching instructions. "Make learning to read easy, which means making reading a meaningful, enjoyable and frequent experience for children. ”
When the roles of the teacher and the learner are seen for what they are, and when both the teacher and the learner fulfill them properly, then much of the pressure and feeling of failure for both is got rid of. Learning to read is made easier when teachers create an environment where children are given the chance to solve the problem of learning to read by reading. The problem with the reading course as mentioned in the first paragraph is that _____.
| A．too much time is spent in teaching about reading |
| B．reading tasks are given with little guidance |
| C．it is one of the most difficult school courses |
| D．students spend limited hours in reading |
The teaching of reading will be successful if _____.
| A．teachers can make their teaching activities ob-servable |
| B．teachers can teach their students how to read |
| C．teachers can improve conditions at school for the students |
| D．teachers can enable students to develop their own way of reading |
The word "scrutiny" (Paragraph 3) most probably means “ _____ ”.
| A．unbelief |
| B．control |
| C．inquiry |
| D．observation |
Themain idea of the passage is that _____.
| A．reading is more complicated than believable |
| B．reading ability is something gained rather than taught |
| C．teachers should encourage students to read as widely as possible |
| D．teachers should do as little as possible in helping students learn to read |
If your boss asks you to work in Moscow this year, he'd better offer you more money to do so—or even double that depending on where you live now. That's because Moscow has just been found to be the world's most expensive city for the second year in a row by Mercer Human Resources Consulting.
Using the cost of living in New York as a base, Mercer determined Moscow is 34. 4 percent more expensive including the cost of housing, transportation, food, clothing, household goods and entertainment(娱乐）
A two-bedroom flat in Moscow now costs $4，000 a month； a CD $24. 83，and an international news-paper $6. 30，according to Mercer. By comparison, a fast food meal with a hamburger(汉堡包)is a steal at $4. 80.
London takes the No. 2 place, up from No. 5 a year ago, thanks to higher cost of housing and a stronger British pound relative to the dollar. Mercer estimates(估算）London is 26 percent more expensive than New York these days. Following London closely are Seoul and Tokyo, both of which are 22 percent more expensive than New York, while No. 5 Hong Kong is 19 percent more costly.
Among North American cities, New York and Los Angeles are the most expensive and are the only two listed in the top 50 of the world's most expensive cities. But both have fallen since last year's study—New York came in 15th, down from 10th place, while Los Angeles fell to 42nd from 29th place a year ago. San Francisco came in a distant third at No. 54，down 20 places from a year earlier.
Toronto, meanwhile, is Canada's most expensive city but fell 35 places to take 82nd place worldwide. In Australia, Sydney is the priciest place to live in and No. 21 worldwide. What do the underlined words “a steal” in Para-graph 3 mean?
| A．An act of stealing. | B．Something delicious. | C．Something very cheap. | D．An act of buying. |
London has become the second most expensive city because of __________.
| A．the high cost of clothing |
| B．the stronger pound against the dollar |
| C．its expensive transportation |
| D．the high prices of fast food meals |
Which city is the third most expensive on the list?
| A．Tokyo. |
| B．Hong Kong. |
| C．Moscow. |
| D．Sydney. |
Which city has dropped most on the list in North America?
| A．New York. |
| B．Los Angeles. |
| C．San Francisco. |
| D．Toronto. |
On November 18，1995，Itzhak Perlman, the world famous violinist, came on stage to give a concert at Lincoln Centre in New York City. If you have ever been to a Perlman concert, you know that getting on stage is not easy for him. He got polio(小儿麻搏症）as a child, and has to walk with the aid of two crutches (拐杖）now.
That night Perlman walked slowly to his chair. Then he sat down and began to play. But, suddenly, one of the strings on his violin broke. You could hear it break—it broke with a loud noise.
People thought to themselves，"He would have to get up to either find another violin or find another string for this one. ”
But he didn't. Instead, he waited a moment, closed his eyes and then signaled the conductor to begin again. The orchestra(管弦乐队）began, and he played from where he had stopped. He played with such passion and such power.
Of course, everyone knows that it is impossible to play a symphonic work with just three strings. But that night Itzhak Perlman refused to know that. You could see him changing and recomposing (重新作曲）the piece in his head.
When he finished, there was a silence in the room. Then people rose and cheered. We were all on our feet, doing everything we could to show how much we appreciated what he had done.
He smiled and then he said in a quiet tone，“ Youknow, sometimes it is the artist's task to find out how much music you can make with what you have left. ”
His words have stayed in my mind ever since I heard them. That is also the way of life. Perhaps our task in this quickly changing world in which we live is to make music, at first with all that we have, and then, when that is no longer possible, to make music with what we have left. Holding a concert is challenging for Perlman because __________.
| A．he is just a world famous violinist |
| B．he has never performed on stage before |
| C．he is physically disabled as a result of a disease |
| D．he has difficulty in moving his body |
When Perlman had just begun playing，__________.
| A．there was something wrong with the violin |
| B．he fell ill suddenly |
| C．an accident happened and caused a disturbance |
| D．a very loud noise arose from the audience |
If one of the strings suddenly broke, what would an ordinary player do?
| A．He would cancel the concert. |
| B．He would find another violin or find another string. |
| C．Another performer would play instead. |
| D．The concert would be put off. |
The audience rose and cheered __________.
| A．to show they are satisfied with Perlman's performance |
| B．to thank the orchestra for their passionate performance |
| C．to ask Perlman for another performance |
| D．to express their appreciation of what Perlman had done |
The lesson we draw from the story is that __________.
| A．we should make the best of what we have |
| B．what we have is more important than what is lost |
| C．we should not care about what is lost |
| D．the way of life is to always live with music |