The British last an average of eight minutes and twenty-two seconds before they lose temper, according to new research.
The Internet has increased people’s service demands and it is destroying the classic British characteristic of patience.More than half of the British have admitted they lose their temper quicker than ever before.People have become so used to the speed and convenience of the Internet that more than seven in ten get angry if forced to wait longer than one minute for a web page to download.
Being kept on hold made the British see red more than anything else, with the average person reaching their impatience limit after five minutes and four seconds.
In today’s fast food culture, restaurant rage starts after only eight minutes and thirty-eight seconds, when the average diner will start to wonder whether the meal they have ordered will ever arrive.
People running late to meet a friend should not leave it any longer than ten minutes and one second if they do not want to face their anger.
Finally, when receiving a text or voicemail, be warned that the clock is ticking as the average Englishman expects a response within thirteen minutes and sixteen seconds.
Mark Schmid, of telecom giant TalkTalk, which conducted the research among 2,050 people, said that the speed of the online world is making us less prepared to wait for things to happen in the offline world.“This is causing people to reach the point of impatience earlier than ever before.”
60.Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A.More than half of the British get angry more easily than before.
B.Waiting for an Internet page to download will make half of the British angry.
C.Any Englishman may last 8 minutes and 22 seconds before they lose temper.
D.Waiting for friends to show up within 10 minutes and 1 second will not be acceptable.
61.The underlined word “rage” in the passage can be replaced by ___________.
A.disappointment B.sadness C.annoyance D.worry
62.According to the passage, the following things may make people impatient EXCEPT ___________.
A.the response to a text massage B.the food service in a restaurant
C.the speed of the Internet D.the business trade
63.The passage is mainly about ___________.
A.how long the British can keep their temper
B.when people lose temper easily
C.what makes the British lose temper quicker
D.why the Internet influences people’s life
People say time is relative.But relative to what.I do know that sometimes time“seems”to be moving slower.Remember Christmas Eve when you were a child? It was the longest night of the year.It lasted forever! And now it seems like I just paid my bill yesterday...and it’s due again!
People tell me all too frequently…I need more time! Oh ,really?…Mother Teresa,Michelangelo,and Helen Keller all had 24 hours a day.Look what they did with their time!
Is it that we need to manage our time better…or our priorities(重点)?You’ve heard the expression“first things first.”The first step in understanding the power of time is to understand that it is limited.Why is it then that some people get a lot more done? We know the answer.They use their time smartly.
One day an expert on time management was speaking to a group of students and announced a quiz.He pulled out a wide-mouthed jar.Next,he placed about a dozen fist-sized rocks,one at a time , into the jat, until no more would fit.“Is it full?” he asked.”Yes,”responds the class.”Oh really?” he asked.So he took out a bucket of gravel(砂砾), which he managed to work down into the spaces between the larger rocks.“Is it full now?” he asked.
Wising up,one answered,‘'Probably not.”Sure enough, he took out a bucket of sand,which he poured into the empty spaces.”Is it full now?” he asked.”No,” reply the students confidently.So he took a glass of water and filled it in.Then he asked,“What is my point?’’
One said,‘'No matter how full your schedule is,if you try really hard,you can always fit some more things into it!”
“No,”the speaker replied,“It tells us if you don’t put the big rocks in first, you’ll never get them in at all.’’
What are the big rocks? The things you should put in to your jar first.
The rich don’t get 25 hours and the poor don’t get 23…we all get the same.Let’s use them wisely! Invest your time wisely!
49.What does the point of the quiz lie in_______.
A.How to put more things into ajar. B.How well the students learn the lesson.
C.How to get more done in limited time D.The skill and order is very important.
50. “The big rocks”in this passage refers to_______?
A.difficult points. B.advantages C.minor things D.focuses
51. How is the passage mainly developed?
A.By inferring. B.By comparing.
C.By listing examples. D.By giving facts.
52. The text is written mainly
A.to explain the origin of the expression “first things first”
B.to call on us to use our time in a smart manner
C.to introduce a meaningful class given by an expert
D.to tell us about the relativity and the power of time
There were times when it was only schoolchildren who felt sick before they got their grades.But now teachers in Germany are scared, too, as they are being graded by their students.
Many teachers are opposed to it.They don’t mind being evaluated.But they are upset because the results are then being posted on the Internet and accessible to millions of Internet users.On the website www. spickmich.de during the past four months students have posted evaluations of 100,000 teachers.
The teachers are graded on categories such as “motivated”, “good instruction,” “easy examinations”, or even “sexy.” Many teachers think that their privacy has been violated.
The creators of the website say that the students are only being offered the chance to provide teachers with some feedback about their classroom instruction.Bernd Dicks, who founded the website with three friends, says that the students are largely quite satisfied with their teachers.On a grading scale of one to six, the teachers’ average grade is 2.7 and it has been improving lately.He often says the impression is that students are bullying(欺负) their teachers.But there is also bullying of the students by teachers.
“Teachers must also learn to live with criticism,” he added.But still, the website is not totally immune from manipulation(操纵), as one teacher near the northern city of Hanover recently proved.He registered himself on the website as a student and then rated his own teaching colleagues highly.Within a few days, seven of his colleagues were listed in the top 10 rankings of Germany’s best teachers.
45. Many teachers are opposed to the website because .
A.their privacy has been violated B.they are afraid of being assessed
C.their evaluations are unfair D.the results are not satisfying
46.The founders of the website intended to .
A.get the students to know their teachers better
B.conduct a survey on teachers’ performances
C.help the teachers to improve their teaching
D.change the teachers’ ways of giving instructions
47.From what the teacher in Hanover did, we can infer .
A.he intended to help his colleagues
B.there was some disadvantage of the website
C.his colleagues were more popular than him
D.he wanted to know how he was evaluated
48.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
A.Teachers get graded by pupils B.Teachers are angry with website
C.Teachers need self-assessment D.New invention in assessing teachers
An Australian company, Smart Car Technologies, has developed a system that lets drivers know when they’re speeding.When the technology becomes commercially available, it could help lead-footed drivers avoid tickets and also save lives.The company that developed the product hopes to convince Australian government agencies to put the technology into use in their automobile fleets.
The product, called Speed Alert, links real-time location data and speed obtained with the help of GPS(全球定位系统) to a database of posted speed limits stored in a driver’s PDA or programmable mobile phone.The setup of the product does not need to be hooked(钩住) up to a car’s speedometer.In fact, it is entirely portable.It will also work with newer phones and PDAs that have built-in GPS receivers.If a driver exceeds(超过) the speed limit, the speed is shown and an alert sounds.
Michael Paine, an Australian vehicle design engineer and traffic safety consultant, was hired to analyze the product.He told Live Science that his colleagues in the road safety field are “very enthusiastic” about what they’re now calling “intelligent speed alert.” Other research, according to Paine, shows that 40 percent of all traffic deaths involve speeding.There is also a potentially future use: “Since the system is so portable, it would be easy to make it a requirement for teenage drivers to always use a speed alert device when driving,” Paine said.“The system even has the function to record speeding violations(违背), so parents can monitor their teenage drivers.”
The product will soon go on sale in Sydney.
41.What’s the purpose of the new product_______.
A.To inform us of the new car system. B.To introduce some improvement in cars.
C.To limit certain drivers to safe driving. D.To popularize the built-in car system.
42.Lead-footed drivers refer to the ones .
A.who drive too carelessly B.that drive extremely fast
C.who are partly disabled D.that drive too slowly
43.The second paragraph mainly talks about .
A.the project of the built-in product B.why the system becomes popular
C.the functions of GPS in cars D.how the product is programmed
44.Which of the following is true of Speed Alert according to Michael Paine?
A.Most of the traffic deaths can be avoided.
B.Speeding violations can be easily found out.
C.The system will excite some teenage drivers.
D.The product will not be available for adults.
HONG KONG-----Hong Kong Disneyland is too crowded,a senior Chinese tourism official said today,hinting that another Disney Park is necessary to accommodate demand from China’s huuge population.
The comments by Shao Qiwei,director of China’s State Administration of Tourism, came a day after Shanghai’s mayor Han Zheng said the city was preparing to build China’s second Disney theme park.
“China has a very large population.We now have 1.3 bullion people. The market is very large.As far as I know,Hong Kong Disneyland is now very crowded.”said Shao,whose comments were broadcast on Hong Kong’s Cable TV.
The Hong Kong theme park,which opened in September,was widely criticized in January when it turned away hundreds of Lunar New Year holiday makers from mainland China because the park was full. Chaos(混乱) erupted when angry crowds tried to force their way into the park.
The embarrassing incident prompted a public apology from Hong Kong Disneyland Managing Director Bill Ernest and a dressing down from Hong Kong’s leader Donald Tsang.Authorities are carefully studying the issue of overcrowding in preparation for the possible building of the Disney park in Shanghai.Shao said.
The official Xinhua News Agency reported Tuesday that no agreement has been reached on the park in Shanghai,quoting senior vice president of Walt Disney Parks and Resorts, Leslie Goodman. Hong Kong Disneyland is a joint venture between The Walt Disney Co. and the local government, which shouldered the bulk of the park’s construction fees.
68.Why is it necessary to build a Disney park in Shanghai?
A.Hong Kong Disneyland can’t meet the need of the large population.
B. Hong Kong Disneyland is too small and very crowded.
C.Hong Kong Disney Park was criticized by tourists.
D. Hong Kong Disneyland is far from the mainland.
69.Hundreds of visitors from mainland China got angry because_____.
A.the services in the park were not as good as expected.
B.they were not allowed to go into the park.
C.the park was too crowded. D. chaos happened at the entrance to the park.
70.The building of a Disney park in Shanghai_____.
A.has been agreed to by The Walt Disney Co.B.is financed by The Walt Disney Co.
C.willl be in the charge of the Shanghai government.
D.remains to be discussed with The Walt Disney Co.
The story goes that two friends were walking through the desert. During some point of the journey they had an argument, and one friend slapped the other one in the face. The one who got slapped was hurt, but without saying anything, wrote in the sand: "Today my best friend slapped me in the face." They kept on walking until they found an oasis(绿洲), where they decided to take a bath. The one who had been slapped got stuck in the mire and started drowning, but the friend saved him. After he recovered from the near drowning, he wrote on a stone: "Today my best friend saved my life." The friend who had slapped and saved his best friend asked him, "After I hurt you, you wrote in the sand and now you write on a stone. Why?"
The other friend replied: "When someone hurts us we should write it down in the sand where winds of forgiveness can erase it away. But when someone does something good for us, we must engrave it in the stone where no wind can ever erase it."
You have to learn to write your hurts in the sand and to carve your benefits in the stone.
64.One friend slapped the other because ____.
A.he was angry that his friend took him to the desert by mistake.
B.He was angry that his friend did not agree with him about something.
C.He was angry that his friend kept wasting time writing and carving.
D.He had to save his friend from drowning, and this almost took his own life.
65.The underlined sentence means we should _____.
A.not let others know we are angry with them by letting wind erase what we write down.
B.gradually forgive others for bad things they have done to us as time goes by.
C.make sure what we write in the desert does not remain long .
D.not try to find stones to record things on in a desert.
66.What is the right understanding of the last sentence of the passage?
A.We should write and carve to record different kinds of feelings.
B.We should record different kinds of things in different ways.
C.We should remember only good things others have done to us and let go bad things.
D.We should remember things that others do to us, including both good things and bad things.
67.Which of the following can be the proper title of the passage?
A.True Friendship B.Sand and Stone
C.Hurts and Benefits D.Forgiveness and Gratitude