A volcanic eruption in Iceland has sent ash across northern Europe. Airlines have stopped or changed the flights across the Atlantic Ocean, leaving airport hundreds of passengers stuck in airports.
Grimsvotn is one of the largest and most active volcanoes in Europe. What makes Grimsvotn different is that it lies under a huge glacier(冰川) of ice up to 12 maters thick. The hot volcano heats up the ice above it, which then forms a layer of water between the glacier and the volcano. This layer of water puts pressure on the volcano, keeping it stable, As the water flows out from under the glacier, the pressure lifts. The lava(岩浆) from the volcano then comes up to the surface. This is exactly what happened today.
Now, airlines have to make changes to their flights so as not to fly through the clouds of
volcanic ash. According to KLM, one of Europe’s biggest airlines, airplanes cannot
go under the cloud or over it. Going through the cloud can result in ash getting stuck in
the airplane’s engines, causing damage to the plane.
The eruption has also caused problems for animals in Iceland. The volcano left ash and sharp, glass-like rocks all over the countryside. Farmers are keeping their animals inside to stop them from eating ash-covered grass or the sharp object.
1. What makes Grimsvotn different from other volcanoes?
A. It is below ice. B. It lies under the sea
C. It is the largest volcano D. It is lava affects the airlines
2. What keeps Grimsvotn still?
A. The slow flow of water B. The low water temperature
C. The thick glacier D. The water pressure
3. Which of the following is the result of the volcanic eruption?
A. People stop traveling in Europe
B. Airlines suffer from the loss of planes
C. It becomes dangerous for animals to eat outside
D. Farmers have lost many of their animals
4. This text is most probably taken from_________.
A. a research paper B. a newspaper report
C. a class presentation D. a geography textbook.
President Barack Obama has complained about the loss of privacy that comes with being leader of the United States, regretting the loss of simple pleasures such as a long walk or a trip to the car wash or supermarket.
“I just miss---I miss being anonymous,” he said. “I miss Saturday morning, rolling out of bed, not shaving, getting into my car with my girls, driving to the supermarket, squeezing the fruit, getting my car washed, taking walk. I can't take a walk”.
His dream, he said, was to “go through Central Park and watch for passing by…spend the day watching people --- I miss that”.
Faced with angry criticism for playing more golf than most previous occupants of the White House, he explained that the sport was simply the best way of getting away from it all. “It's the only excuse I have to get outside for four hours.” he told Hearst magazines.
Though he said he enjoyed his life in the White House, he felt disappointed with some of the ways of Washington, which he has failed in his permission to change, such as the "kabuki dance" among political parties before serious policy discussions begin. His comments may be seen as vindication（证实）by critics who have accused him of appearing too detached（漠然）, and being slow to engage in vital issues such as Libya and the near shutdown of the US government last week.
Since arriving at the White House in January 2009, Mr. Obama has already racked up 60 rounds of golf in office, more than George W Bush did in his eight years. In terms of ability, Golf Digest magazine has ranked Mr. Obama eighth out of the 18 presidents who played the game since it became established in the early 20th century. What do the second paragraph and the third paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．Obama likes living a busy life. |
| B．Obama used to spend most of his time with his family. |
| C．Obama wishes to enjoy simple pleasures. |
| D．He used to wash his car himself. |
According to Obama, he plays golf to.
| A．release his pressure | B．keep fit |
| C．balance his work | D．show his ability |
We can infer from the passage that Obama is kabuki dance.
| A．curious about | B．interested in |
| C．content with | D．tired of |
Which of the following statements is from the critics?
| A．The president lost lots of privacy, but he loves the life in the White House. |
| B．There are always unnecessary procedures among political parties. |
| C．The president seems to be indifferent (漠不关心的) towards some really important issues. |
| D．The president is really a great golf player. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．Obama's favorite pastime. |
| B．Obama’s complaints about lack of privacy as president. |
| C．The public's criticism of Obama. |
| D．Obama's regrets for being the US president. |
A woman renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”
“Of course I have a job,” said Emily. “I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.
One day I found myself in the same situation. The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. “What is your occupation?” she asked.
The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.
I repeated the title slowly, and then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”
Coolly, without any trace of panic（恐慌，惊慌） in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t）, in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (依托) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7 and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”
Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?
| A．The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was. |
| B．The recorder was impatient and rude. |
| C．The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced. |
| D．Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society. |
How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?
| A．curious | B．puzzled | C．indifferent | D．interested |
How did the author feel when describing her job to the clerk?
| A．calm | B．panic-stricken | C．confident | D．cool |
Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?
| A．Because the author cared little about rewards. |
| B．Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab. |
| C．Because she thought the author did admirable work. |
| D．Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of. |
What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?
| A．To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it. |
| B．To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect. |
| C．To show that the author had a grander job than Emily. |
| D．To show that being a mother is hard and boring work. |
Barack Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs—what do they have in common? They are, of course, all Americans. And according to a survey by social networking site badoo. com, they all best illustrate(举例说明) the word “cool”. 
But just what does it mean to say someone is “cool”? Most would answer that it is something to do with being independent-minded and not following the crowd.
Yale University art professor Robert Farris Thompson says that the term “cool” goes back to 15th century West African philosophy(哲学). “Cool” relates to ideas of grace(优雅) under pressure.
“In Africa, ” he writes, “coolness is a positive quality which combines calmness, silence, and life.”
The modern idea of “cool” developed largely in the US in the period after World War II. “Post-war ‘cool’ was in part an expression of war-weariness (n. 厌战情绪)
. . . it went against the strict social rules of the time,” write sociologists Dick Pountain and David Robins in Cool Rules:Anatomy of an Attitude.
But it was the American actor James Dean who became the symbol for “cool” in the hugely successful 1955 movie Rebel without a Cause. Dean plays a tough guy who disobeys his parents and the authorities. He always gets the girl, smokes cigarettes, wears a leather jacket and beats up bullies(欺凌弱小者). In the movie, Dean showed what “cool” would mean to American young people for the next 60 years.
Today the focus of “cool” has changed to athletics (体育运动) stars. Often in movies about schools, students gain popularity on the athletics field more than in the classroom. This can be seen quite clearly in movies like Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die.
But many teenagers also think being smart is cool. Chess and other thinking games have been becoming more popular in schools.
“Call it the Harry Potterization of America—a time when being smart is the new cool,” writes journalist Joe Sunnen.Barack Obama, Lady Gaga and Steve Jobs are mentioned in the first paragraph to ________.
| A．introduce the topic | B．draw our attention |
| C．tell us what they have in common | D．tell us what is “cool” |
If you were considered “cool” in Africa in the 15th century, you ________.
| A．thought and acted differently from the majority |
| B．had a calm and quiet attitude towards life |
| C．didn’t observe rules and authorities |
| D．had all kinds of “bad” manners |
The heroes in Varsity Blues and John Tucker Must Die are likely to be those who ________.
| A．do very well in their studies |
| B．are very skilled at sports |
| C．are good at chess and other thinking games. |
| D．have supernatural powers like Harry Potter |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the article?
| A．It is generally considered “cool” to be independent-minded and not to follow the crowd. |
| B．“Cool” was used as early as the 15th century. |
| C．Disobeying one’s parents and the authorities is considered “cool” among American young people nowadays. |
| D．Getting the first place in an exam can also be considered “cool”. |
What does the article mainly talk about?
| A．The origin of the word “cool”. |
| B．The kinds of people who are “cool”. |
| C．The changing meaning of the word “cool”. |
| D．How to be a “ cool” person. |
John Blanchard stood up from the bench, straightened his Army uniform, and studied the crowd of people making their way through Grand Central Station. He looked for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.
His interest in her had begun thirteen months before in a Florida library. Taking a book off the shelf he found himself intrigued, not with the words of the book, but with the notes penciled in the margin. The soft handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and insightful mind. In the front of the book, he discovered the previous owner’s name, Miss Hollis Maynell. With time and effort he located her address. She lived in New York City. He wrote her a letter introducing himself and inviting her to correspond. The next day he was shipped overseas for service in World War II.
During the next year and one month the two grew to know each other through the mail. Each letter was a seed falling on a fertile heart. A romance was starting Blanchard requested a photograph, but she refused. She felt that if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like.
When the day finally came for him to return from Europe, they scheduled their first meeting —7:00 PM at the Grand Central Station in New York. “You’ll recognize me,” she wrote, “by the red rose I’ll be wearing on my lapel.” So at 7:00 he was in the station looking for a girl whose heart he loved, but whose face he’d never seen.
I’ll let Mr. Blanchard tell you what happened: A young woman was coming toward me, her figure long and slim. Her blonde hair lay back in curls from her delicate ears; her eyes were blue as flowers. Her lips and chin had a gentle firmness, and in her pale green suit she was like springtime come alive. I stared at her, entirely forgetting to notice that she was not wearing a rose. As I moved, a small, attractive smile curved her lips. “Going my way , sailor?” she murmured.
Almost uncontrollably I made one step closer to her, and then I saw Hollis Maynell. She was standing almost directly behind the girl. A woman well past 40, she had graying hair tucked under a worn hat. She was more than plump, her thick-ankled feet thrust into low-heeled shoes. The girl in the green suit was walking quickly away. I felt as though I was split in two, so keen was my desire to follow her, and yet so deep was my longing for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned me and upheld my own.
And there she stood. Her pale, plump face was gentle and sensible, her gray eyes had a warm and kindly twinkle. I did not hesitate. My fingers gripped the small worn blue leather copy of the book that was to identify me to her.
This would not be love, but it would be something precious, something perhaps even better than love, a friendship for which I had been and must ever be grateful. I squared my shoulders and saluted and held out the book to the woman, even though while I spoke I felt choked by the bitterness of my disappointment. "I'm Lieutenant John Blanchard, and you must be Miss Maynell. I am so glad you could meet me; may I take you to dinner?"
The woman's face broadened into a tolerant smile. "I don't know what this is about, son," she answered, "but the young lady in the green suit who just went by, she begged me to wear this rose on my coat. And she said if you were to ask me out to dinner, I should go and tell you that she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!"
It's not difficult to understand and admire Miss Maynell's wisdom. The true nature of a heart is seen in its response to the unattractive. "Tell me whom you love," Houssaye wrote, "And I will tell you who you are． "How did John Blanchard get to know Miss Hollis Maynell?
| A．They lived in the same city． |
| B．They were both interested in literature． |
| C．John knew Hollis's name from a library book． |
| D．John came across Hollis in a Florida library． |
Hollis refused to send Blanchard a photo because .
| A．she was only a middle - aged woman |
| B．she wasn't confident about her appearance |
| C．she thought true love is beyond appearance |
| D．she had never taken any photo before they knew |
How could Blanchard recognize Hollis?
| A．She would be wearing a rose on her coat． |
| B．She would be holding a book in her hand． |
| C．She would be standing behind a young girl． |
| D．She would be wearing a scarf around her neck． |
What was the real Miss Hollis Maynell like?
| A．She was a plump woman with graying hair． |
| B．She was a slightly fat girl, with blonde hair． |
| C．She was a middle - aged woman in her forties． |
| D．She was a young, pretty girl wearing a green suit． |
When Blanchard went over to greet the woman, he was．
| A．satisfied and confident |
| B．disappointed but well - behaved |
| C．annoyed and bad - mannered |
| D．shocked but inspired |
Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?
| A．A Test of Love | B．The Symbol of Rose |
| C．Love is blind | D．Don't Judge a Book by its Cover |
Most people know precious gemstones (宝石) by their appearances. An emerald flashes deep green, a ruby seems to hold a red fire inside, and a diamond shines like a star. It’s more difficult to tell where the gem was mined, since a diamond from Australia or Arkansas may appear the same to one from the Democratic Republic of the Congo. However, recently, a team of scientists has found a way to identify a gemstone’s origin.
Beneath the surface of a gemstone, on the tiny level of atoms and molecules（分子）, lie clues (线索) to its origin. At this year’s meeting of the Geological Society of America in Minneapolis, Catherine McManus reported on a technique that uses lasers (激光) to clarify these clues and identify a stone’s homeland. McManus directs scientific research at Materialytics, in Killeen, Texas. The company is developing the technique. “With enough data, we could identify which country, which mining place, even the individual mine a gemstone comes from,” McManus told Science News.
Some gemstones, including many diamonds, come from war-torn countries. Sales of those “blood minerals” may encourage violent civil wars where innocent people are injured or killed. In an effort to reduce the trade in blood minerals, the U.S. government passed law in July 2010 that requires companies that sell gemstones to determine the origins of their stones.
To figure out where gemstones come from, McManus and her team focus a powerful laser on a small sample of the gemstone. The technique is called laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy. Just as heat can turn ice into water or water into steam, energy from the laser changes the state of matter of the stone. The laser changes a miniscule part of the gemstone into plasma, a gas state of matter in which tiny particles（微粒）called electrons separate from atoms.
The plasma, which is superhot, produces a light pattern. (The science of analyzing this kind of light pattern is called spectroscopy.) Different elements（元素）produce different patterns, but McManus and her team say that gemstones from the same area produce similar patterns. Materialytics has already collected patterns from thousands of gemstones, including more than 200 from diamonds. They can compare the light pattern from an unknown gemstone to patterns they do know and look for a match. The light pattern acts like a signature, telling the researchers the origin of the gemstone.
In a small test, the laser technique correctly identified the origins of 95 out of every 100 diamonds. For gemstones like emeralds and rubies, the technique proved successful for 98 out of every 100 stones. The scientists need to collect and analyze more samples, including those from war-torn countries, before the tool is ready for commercial use.
Scientists like Barbara Dutrow, a mineralogist from Louisiana State University in Baton Rouge, find the technique exciting. “This is a basic new tool that could provide a better fingerprint of a material from a particular locality,” she told Science News. We learn from Paragraph 1 that __________________.
| A．an emerald and a ruby are names of diamonds. |
| B．it’s not difficult to tell where the gem was mined. |
| C．appearances help to identify the origin of gemstones. |
| D．diamonds from different places may appear the same. |
Why did the U.S. government pass law that requires companies selling gemstones to determine the origins of their stones?
| A．To look for more gemstones. |
| B．To encourage violent civil wars. |
| C．To reduce the trade in blood minerals. |
| D．To develop the economy. |
Which of the following facts most probably helps McManus and her team in identifying the origin of stones?
| A．Heat can turn ice into water or water into steam. |
| B．Gemstones from the same area produce similar light patterns. |
| C．Laser can changes a miniscule part of the gemstone into plasma. |
| D．Materialytics has already collected patterns from thousands of gemstones. |
From the last two paragraphs, what can be inferred about the laser technique?
| A．It is ready for commercial use. |
| B．People can use the new tool to find more gemstones. |
| C．It can significantly reduce the gemstones trade in blood minerals. |
| D．It will bring about a revolutionary change in identifying the origin of minerals. |
The author wrote this passage mainly to ________.
| A．tell us how to identify the origin of diamonds. |
| B．introduce a laser technique in identifying a stone’s origin |
| C．prove identifying the origin of gemstones are difficult |
| D．attract our attention to reducing trade in blood minerals |