The days of the hunter are almost over in India. This is partly because there is practically nothing left to kill, and partly because some steps have been taken mainly by banning tiger-shooting to protect those animals which still survive.
Some people say that Man is naturally a hunter. I disagree with this view. Surely our earliest forefathers, who at first possessed no weapons, spent their time digging for roots, and were no doubt themselves often hunted by meat-eating animals.
I believe the main reason why the modern hunter kills is that he thinks people will admire his courage in overpowering dangerous animals. Of course, there are some who truly believe that the killing is not really the important thing, and that the chief pleasure lies in the joy of the hunt and the beauty of the wild countryside. There are also those for whom hunting in fact offers a chance to prove themselves and risk death by design; these men go out after dangerous animals like tigers, even if they say they only do it to rid the countryside of a threat. I can respect reasons like these, but they are clearly different from the need to strengthen your high opinion of yourself.
The greatest big-game hunters expressed in their writings something of these finer motives. One of them wrote：
“You must properly respect what you are after and shoot it clearly and on the animal’s own territory (领地).You must fix forever in your mind all the wonders of that particular day. This is better than letting him grow a few years older to be attacked and wounded by his own son and eventually eaten, half alive, by other animals. Hunting is not a cruel and senseless killing — not if you respect the thing you kill, not if you kill to enrich your memories, not if you kill to feed your people.”
I can understand such beliefs, and can compare these hunters with those who hunted lions with spears and bravely caught them by the tail. But this is very different from many tiger-shoots I have seen, in which modern weapons were used. The so-called hunters fired from tall trees or from the backs of trained elephants. Such methods made tigers seem no more dangerous than rabbits.
59．There is no more hunting in India now partly because ________.
A．it is dangerous to hunt there B．hunting is already out of date
C．hunters want to protect animals D．there are few animals left to hunt
60．The author thinks modern hunters kill mainly ________.
A．to make the countryside safe B．to earn people’s admiration
C．to gain power and influence D．to improve their health
61．What do we learn about the big-game hunters?
A．They hunt old animals. B．They mistreat animals.
C．They hunt for food. D．They hunt for money.
62．What is the author’s view on the tiger-shoots he has seen?
A．Modern hunters lack the courage to hunt face-to-face.
B．Modern hunters should use more advanced weapons.
C．Modern hunters like to hunt rabbits instead of tigers.
D．Modern hunters should put their safety first.
Getting rid of dirt, in the opinion of most people, is a good thing. However, there is nothing fixed about attitudes to dirt.
In the early 16th century, people thought that dirt on the skin was a means to block out disease, as medical opinion had it that washing off dirt with hot water could open up the skin and let ills in. A particular danger was thought to lie in public baths. By 1538, the French king had closed the bath houses in his kingdom. So did the king of England in 1546. Thus began a long time when the rich and the poor in Europe lived with dirt in a friendly way. Henry IV, King of France, was famously dirty. Upon learning that a nobleman had taken a bath, the king ordered that, to avoid the attack of disease, the nobleman should not go out.
Though the belief in the merit of dirt was long-lived, dirt has no longer been regarded as a nice neighbor ever since the 18th century. Scientifically speaking, cleaning away dirt is good to health. Clean water supply and hand washing are practical means of preventing disease. Yet, it seems that standards of cleanliness have moved beyond science since World War Ⅱ. Advertisements repeatedly sell the idea: clothes need to be whiter than white, cloths ever softer, surfaces to shine. Has the hate for dirt, however, gone too far?
Attitudes to dirt still differ hugely nowadays. Many first-time parents nervously try to warn their children off touching dirt, which might be responsible for the spread of disease. On the contrary, Mary Ruebush, an American immunologist(免疫学家)，encourages children to play in the dirt to build up a strong immune system. And the latter position is gaining some ground.The kings of France and England in the 16th century closed bath houses because.
| A．they lived healthily in a dirty environment. |
| B．they believed disease could be spread in public baths |
| C．they thought bath houses were too dirty to stay in |
| D．they considered bathing as the cause of skin disease |
Which of the following best describes Henry IV’s attitude to bathing?
| A．Uninterested. | B．Curious. |
| C．Approving. | D．Afraid. |
How does the passage mainly develop?
| A．By following the order of time. |
| B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By providing examples. |
| D．By following the order of importance. |
What is the author’s purpose in writing the passage?
| A．To stress the role of dirt. |
| B．To introduce the history of dirt. |
| C．To present the change of views on dirt. |
| D．To call attention to the danger of dirt. |
Miscioscio, 60, a marketing consultant in Pearl River, N.Y., says she's addicted to her Sony e-reader. She buys or borrows a print book only when it's not available digitally. Miscioscio says most of her friends and relatives have also switched to e-books for the convenience and lower prices. Last winter, she notes, she vacationed in Costa Rica and says “at least 75% of those reading were reading electronically. I was shocked to see people taking their e-readers onto the loungers (躺椅) in the pool.”
Meier, 43, a marketing director in Beaver Falls, prefers her books on paper, not screens. After working on a computer all day, she says, “I want a book in my hand. Turning over its pages is my way of knowing it's time to relax and slow down.” Meier, who's sticking with physical books, doesn't consider herself any kind of digital “resister.” “I'm comfortable with all forms of technology,” she says. “However, when it comes to books, I suppose I'm a traditionalist. My preference will always be the real thing.”
To her, part of the joy of reading is the book itself: “pulling it from the shelf, inspecting the cover, letting it fall open to a random page.”
Both have lots of company. Statistics show that e-book sales grew 43% last year, but that's a slowdown compared with the triple-digit increases in recent years. E-books remain the fastest-growing part of the book market but account for only about 20% of all sales, reported by publishers.
Miscioscio and Meier are at opposite ends of a book business in transition. Even though e-book sales have grown more than 4,000% since 2008, it's unlikely that physical books will disappear the way records did in the music industry.Miscioscio will ______ when a book is not available digitally.
| A．give up reading such kind of books |
| B．switch to the book of lower price |
| C．buy the book on paper |
| D．take an e-reader onto the loungers |
According to Meier, her “preference” refers to ______.
| A．paper book | B．part of joy |
| C．a random page | D．an e-book |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Records are unlikely to disappear in the music industry. |
| B．Miscioscio and Meier are two opponents in book business. |
| C．The market share of e-books is bigger than that of paper books. |
| D．Physical books will remain to be accepted to some people. |
What is the passage mainly concerned with?
| A．E-books will dominate the book industry eventually. |
| B．Readers go their own way in choosing books. |
| C．New technology brings more benefits for readers. |
| D．Physical books will disappear gradually in the future. |
Here is your best chance to travel around the UK in 2015: More than 200 B&Bs (bed & breakfast) across England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland are selected to offer you amazing services for your stay at their lowest prices! Don’t miss it. Just collect the vouchers (活动券) in our B&B Daily and book the stays for your travel following the terms and conditions below:
●The offer includes a room for the night and a breakfast the next morning.
● The offer is valid for a basic twin or double room only.
● The stay must be booked directly with the chosen B&Bs before 28/04/2015.
● Each voucher can only be used by the holder to book one room for one night.
●The offer is ￡20 per room, per night. If voucher holders book additional services such as lunch, evening meal or activities, an extra charge is required. Please check directly with your chosen B&Bs to see what extra services are available.
● Vouchers must be presented on arrival. If no vouchers are presented, the B&Bs may reserve the right to charge at full price for every night of stay.
● Vouchers may not be used together with any other offer.
● The voucher holders must pay for the stay in full at the time of booking. Meanwhile, additional ￡10 has to be paid to confirm the booking and will be returned on arrival.
● The B&Bs reserve the right to refuse voucher holders’ bookings for people under the age of 18.How much should be paid for a two-night stay when you book a room with vouchers?
| A．￡75. | B．￡35. | C．￡50. | D．￡55. |
What right do the B&Bs reserve?
| A．To request extra charges as tips. |
| B．To refuse bookings for guests under the age of 18. |
| C．To charge at full price for stays not confirmed. |
| D．To charge extra￡10 for bookings with no vouchers. |
According to the passage, the voucher holders can ________.
| A．book the stays through B&B Daily |
| B．use the B&B offer together with other offers |
| C．book either a basic twin or double room at the chosen B&Bs |
| D．have lunch or evening meal without paying any extra money |
Educating girls quite possibly outputs a higher rate of return than any other investment (投资) available in the developing world. Women’s education may be an unusual field for economists, but raising women’s contribution to development is actually as much an economic as a social problem. And economics, with its emphasis on motivation, provides an explanation for why so many girls can’t receive education.
Parents in low-income countries fail to invest in their daughters because they do not expect them to make an economic contribution to the family: girls grow up only to marry into somebody else’s family and bear children. Girls are thus seen as less valuable than boys and are kept at home to do housework while their brothers are sent to school—the prediction turns into reality, trapping women in a vicious circle (恶性循环) of neglect.
An educated mother, on the other hand, has greater earning abilities outside the home and faces an entirely different set of choices. She is likely to have fewer but healthier children and can insist on the development of all her children, ensuring that her daughters are given a fair chance. The education of her daughters then makes it much more likely that the next generation of girls, as well as of boys, will be educated and healthy. The vicious circle is thus transformed into a good circle.
Few will disagree with it that educating women has great social benefits. But it has enormous economic advantages as well. Most obviously, there is the direct effect of education on the wages of female workers. Wages rise by 10 to 20 per cent for each additional year of schooling. Such big returns are impressive by the standard of other available investments, but they are just the beginning. Educating women also has a significant influence on health practices, including family planning.The author argues that educating girls in developing countries is ________.
| A．troublesome | B．rewarding |
| C．labor-saving | D．expensive |
What does the underlined part probably mean?
| A．Girls will turn out to be less valuable than boys. |
| B．Girls will be capable of realizing their own dreams. |
| C．Girls will eventually find their goals in life beyond reach. |
| D．Girls will be increasingly discontented with their life at home. |
The author believes that a vicious circle can turn into a good one when ________.
| A．women care more about education |
| B．girls can gain equal access to education |
| C．a family has fewer but healthier children |
| D．parents can afford their daughters’ education |
The passage mainly discusses ________.
| A．unequal treatment of boys and girls in developing countries |
| B．the potential earning power of well-educated women |
| C．the major contributions of educated women to society |
| D．the economic and social benefits of educating women |
Finding time to enjoy life is becoming harder and harder. As the average workweek lengthens, leisure time drops. Yet some of the world’s busiest people are able to develop rewarding careers and also make time for family and leisure activities. Here is their best advice plus that of time-management experts:
1. Use your peak hours wisely.
People tend to be most alert in late morning and midevening. Afternoon brings an increase in sleepiness. Use your high-efficiency hours to handle difficult jobs or engage in creative thinking. For low-efficiency times, concentrate on cleaning up or sorting your mail. By adapting to your mental condition, you can accomplish more in less time.
2. Make a plan.
Just 20 minutes of organizing can save an hour of extra effort remembering what must be done. “Don’t try to carry your life around in your head,” says Lucy Hedrick, author of Five Days to an Organized Life. “Write things down so you can free your brain for more inventive pursuit (追求).”
3. Discourage drop-ins.
The person who welcomes every visitor will get plenty of conversation but won’t accomplish much.
The trick is to develop harmless ways to protect yourself from minute-stealing interruptions. David E. Levy, a public-relations consultant (顾问), uses an alternative to the open-door policy by keeping his door half open. The message is clear: he really doesn’t want you to come in, but you can if it is important.
4. Tame (驯服) the telephone.
Few devices save more minutes—or waste so many more—than the telephone. Signal the end of your conversation with a phrase such as “Before we hang up…” You can save even more time by not taking every incoming call.
Keep a record of when people you call regularly are least busy and call them at those times. Even better, make appointments to call important contacts.
To help us gain an extra hour every day, a clockmaker in Dallas has created a timer measuring each minute at 57.6 seconds. The 2.5 seconds borrowed from each minute add up to an extra 60 minutes at the end of each day.According to Lucy Hedrick, you should ________.
| A．carry out your plans when you are free |
| B．stop occupying your mind with lots of things |
| C．forget everything annoying when taking a walk |
| D．enjoy your life whenever you can |
Why does David E. Levy keep his door half open?
| A．To show drop-ins are not welcome at all. |
| B．To tell drop-ins to come if they want. |
| C．To keep unimportant visitors from dropping in. |
| D．To indicate he is expecting a visitor. |
Who works most efficiently according to the passage?
| A．An editor who is trying to produce a title for his article in the afternoon. |
| B．A manager who is designing selling plans with his office door open. |
| C．A visitor to a mayor without making an appointment. |
| D．A student in class without taking any incoming calls. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Gain an Extra Hour Every Day |
| B．Live One Day at a Time |
| C．How to Live Your Life to the Fullest |
| D．Create Your Own Opportunities |