It’snottoolate!CLEARINGVACANCI-优题课

It’s the place where smart people make smart machines work even smarter. But for the people who work in it, Silicon Valley (硅谷) is more than just a high technology hothouse. It’s also in the heart of sunny California, a great place to start a family and raise kids. What could be better?
But something is happening to the children. Up until the age of two they develop normally. Their proud parents watch and smile as they take their first steps and speak their first words. But then everything seems to go backwards. The children become locked into their own small world, unable to communicate at all.
They call it the “curse of Silicon Valley,” but the medical name for the condition is autism（孤独症）. It used to be thought that autism was a mental illness. Now doctors are sure that it is a disease transmitted genetically (遗传). It seems that the people leading the communications revolution are having children who cannot communicate at all.
But even the parents have trouble communicating. Asperger’s Syndrome (综合症) is connected with autism. People who have it are highly intelligent and often brilliant with numbers or systems but have no social skills, which makes Asperger’s sufferers into excellent computer professionals. Unfortunately, many of the children of two Asperger’s parents in Silicon Valley seem to be developing serious autism.
There is little anyone can do. And there is no cure in sight. Some argue that no cure should be found．“It may be that autistics are essentially (本质上) different from normal people, but that these differences make them valuable for the evolution (进化) of the human race,” says Dr Kirk Wilhelm of the University of California．“To remove the genes (基因) for autism could be terrible.
It seems that the children of Silicon Valley are paying the price of genius.
A person who has autism usually _____.

A．has difficulty in speaking	B．loses communication skills
C．has difficulty in working	D．hates people around

Which of the following best explains “curse of Silicon Valley”?

A．The children are brought up in Silicon Valley.

B．Autism is just a result of working in Silicon Valley.

C．The children suffer from autism due to their parents in Silicon Valley.

D．Autism makes the children in Silicon Valley unable to communicate.

Some people think that no cure of autism should be found because ______.

A．autism cannot be cured	B．autism isn’t a disease
C．harm will be done to the children	D．autism is necessary in some way

What does the writer seem to feel about the children of Silicon Valley?

A．It’s a pity that they cannot have a normal life.

B．They are the pride of the human race.

C．They are sure to have a bright future.

D．It’s likely that they will have a normal life.

Do you find getting up in the morning so difficult that it’s painful? This might be called laziness, but Dr. Kleitman has a new explanation. He has proved that everyone has a daily energy cycle.
During the hours when you labor through your work you may say that you’re “hot”, that’s true. The time of day when you feel most energetic is when your cycle of body temperature is at its peak(最高峰). For some people the peak comes during the forenoon. For others it comes in the afternoon or evening. No one has discovered why it is so, but it leads to such familiar monologues(自言自语)as: “Get up, John! You’ll be late for work again!” the possible explanation to the trouble is that John is at his temperature—and—energy peak in the evening. Much family quarrelling ends when husbands and wives realize what these energy cycles mean, and which cycle each member of the family has.
You can’t change your energy cycle, but you can learn to make your life fit it better. Habit can help, Dr. Kleitman believes. Maybe you’re sleepy in the evening but feel you must stay up late anyway. Counteract(对抗)your cycle to some extent by habitually staying up later than you want to. If your energy is low in the morning but you have an important job to do early in the day, rise before your usual hour. This won’t change your cycle, but you’ll get up steam and work better at your low point.
Get off to a slow start which saves your energy. Get up with a leisurely yawn(呵欠)and stretch. Sit on the edge of the bed a minute before putting your feet on the floor. Avoid the troublesome search for clean clothes by laying them out the night before. Whenever possible, do routine work in the afternoon and save tasks requiring more energy or concentration for your sharper hours.
If a person finds getting up early a problem, most probably ______.
A．he is a lazy person
B．he refuses to follow his own energy cycle
C．he is not sure when his energy is low
D he is at his peak in the afternoon or evening
Which of the following may lead to family quarrels according to the passage?

A．Not knowing about the energy cycle

B．Familiar monologues

C．A change in a family member’s energy cycle

D．Attempts to control the energy cycle of other family members

If one wants to work more efficiently at his low point in the morning, he should ______.

A．change his energy cycle	B．overcome his laziness
C．get up earlier than usual	D．go to bed earlier

You are advised to rise with a yawn and stretch because it will ______.

A．help to keep your energy for the day’s work

B．help you to control your temper early in the day

C．enable you to concentrate on your routine work

D．keep your energy cycle under control all day

"It takes an entire village to raise a child." That's an old proverb (谚语) that is being quoted more and more often these days. And I'm pleased about that.
Today, more and more schools are reaching out to involve parents, community members and businesses（工商企业）to help shape a child's future.
Parents need to be involved in their children's education in many ways. Helping children with homework and studying, going on a field trip, teaching a craft（手工艺）or coaching a child's sports team are all great ways to be involved with your child's education. And don't forget to communicate with teachers ---- they need and respect your input. Studies show that children learn more and schools function better when parents and schools work together. It's important to stay in touch with your child's education all through his or her school career.
Communities can help children create and achieve new goals. Help with homework, read to a child, coach a children's team, or provide emotional（情感上的）support. Help solve problems and build self-esteem（自尊心）. Kids need role models and advisers can be role models by sharing their experiences and wisdom.
Businesses can also help shape our children's future. Invite a class from your local school to visit your workplace. You may be providing a glimpse that opens a new world of possibilities. Show students what goes on during a typical day. Give a mini course for students: how to use a computer; how products are made; how machinery works. You may have a developing electrician, teacher, nurse, or even a newspaper reporter on your hands.
It really does take an entire village to raise a child．So share the responsibility（职责）-- and the joy -- of bringing a child to his or her full potential（潜能）.
The implied advice in the proverb "It takes an entire village to raise a child." is that ______.

A．All the people in a village should give food to a child.

B．Schools, parents, and other organizations should share the responsibility of shaping a
child's future.

C．Children should be brought up in the village where they were born.

D．Schools should be set up in the village where a child was raised.

The text was written mainly for ______.

A．parents and members in organizations

B．teachers and students

C．newspaper reporters and developing electricians

D．education experts and government officials

Students can get developed in practical working skill through ______.

A．parental involvement	B．community activities
C．business training	D．school teaching

Which is NOT true according to the passage?

A．Parents play an important part in children’s education.

B．Communities have not a bit effect on the way to new and high ideal.

C．Educating a child well demands of the work not only from school but from other
organizations.

D．Businesses may arrange some training courses for students.

Australia is famous for its beautiful beaches. And Australian people love swimming and going to the beach. But it wasn't always that way.
Different Climate, Different habits
When Europeans first invaded Australia, the only people here who were good at swimming were the Aboriginal people. The Europeans came from climates where it was too cold to swim. Also some people worried that they would get sick if they wet their whole body.
However the warm climate of Australia soon changed their attitude to swimming. At first, only men swam. They swam naked - there were no women to see them.
Cover up!
By the 1880’s and 90’s visiting the beach was very fashionable and a lot of people went there, especially in warm weather. They wore everyday street clothes - much more than people wear at the beach today.
In those days, people believed they should cover most of their body so it would not be seen by the opposite sex. Special bathing costumes were designed for women. These costumes used a lot of cloth and were very heavy when wet, making it difficult to swim.
Laws Made and Laws Changed
The government decided to stop men swimming naked．It passed a law which forbade bathing between 6am and 7pm. Many people objected to this law and wrote letters to the government asking it to change the laws. In 1903, the laws changed; people could swim in the daytime, but they had to wear neck-to-knee costumes.
The Shrinking Costume
As time passed, swimming costumes became smaller and more convenient.
At first men and women were covered from neck to knee. Then the arms became bare. Then more of the legs were uncovered．Each new change was regarded by many as shocking and rude and people wrote letters to the newspapers complaining about the new costumes. Nowadays some people go to special "nude (裸体) beaches" to swim naked．
However, most people cover their bodies more than they did ten years ago -- not because they think bare skin is shocking -- but to protect their skin from the harmful rays of the sun.
The climate of Australia _____.

A．made European setters think differently about swimming

B．change European setters’ swimming costume

C．made European setters hotter

D．made European setters swim naked

During the late 19th century, swimmers should _____.

A．hide when they see a person of the opposite sex

B．cover their bodies

C．wear many heavy clothes

D．take no notice of their clothes

According to the law just before1903, people must _____.

A．not swim in the main daylight hours

B．only swim between 6am and 7pm

C．have a bath at 6am and 7pm

D．swim with neck-to-knee costumes between 6am and 7pm

The last paragraph of the passage states that _____.

A．people worry about getting skin cancer from too much sun

B．people protect their ten-year-old sons from bare skin

C．people are shocked by the sun

D．people think it rude to swim with the smaller costumes

Six Americans are working on a new highway. But this highway won't have any traffic．It's an "ice highway" to the South Pole.
The team has just finished a second year of work on the 1,020-mile highway. "The road is the greatest single footprint of activity we've seen in the Antarctic (南极洲)," said Alan Hemmings, an Australian environmentalist.
The highway will provide a new way for supplies to be trekked (拉, 搬) across the earth on tractor-pulled sleds (雪橇). This method will use a lot less fuel than an aircraft, the current (当前的) way that scientists and supplies reach the Amundsen-Scott Base, a U.S. research station in the South Pole. The highway will also allow for equipment that is too big for planes to carry to be brought to Antarctica．Even with these benefits, there is one disadvantage—a round trip on the road will be 30 days, compared to a few hours by plane.
Making this 20-foot-wide road isn't easy, and it takes a lot of time. The crew (工作队) has been working on the road for two summers, when it's warmer and easier to work with the ice. It probably won't be completed until 2006.
Crevasses (裂缝), or cracks, in the land often make the construction difficult. Crevasses are kind of like pot holes that form when surface ice is stretched．This can be very dangerous, especially when the crevasses are hidden under a layer (层) of snow and can't be seen.
"Last year it took us three months to go three miles across a crevasse field, full of dangerous, hidden crevasses," said the project's manager, John Wright. Each year, more crevasses appear and they have to be filled with snow and ice so the road is safe for travel. The road will also be lined with green flags so travelers know where the safe surface is.
It will probably take ______ years to complete the ice highway.

A．2

B．4

C．6

D．8

When it is finished, the highway will not be used for ______.

A．giving supplies to the research station in the South Pole

B．taking scientists to the South Pole

C．taking travelers to a tour of Antarctic

D．bringing huge equipment to Antarctic

How many miles can be covered at most each day if you take the ice highway to the South
Pole?

A．30.

B．34.

C．68.

D．88.

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．Other crevasses won’t appear if a crevasse has been filled.

B．Many new crevasses will form after a crevasse has been filled.

C．Travelers can drive their sleds on the ice highway freely.

D．There will be less danger if the crevasses are covered by snow.