第四节阅读理解（共20小题。每小题2分，满分40分）
It is well-known that fatigue driving(疲劳驾驶)is very dangerous．A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months．
The device is a kind of system, which is called Driver Alert，and it aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20％—40％that are caused by tiredness．Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30％ of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue．
Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband．The device，worn by drivers or pilots，gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey．After each sound the driver must respond by squeezing the steering wheel．A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound and the driver’s response．
Driver’s response time is directly related to tiredness．Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond，but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy．
In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds，showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest．If the driver’s response continues to slow down，the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible．
The device has been delivered to the department’s laboratories for testing．If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time，are successful，the makers will bring the product to market within about a year．
1．According to the text，Driver Alert ________
A．aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents B．has been on sale for12 months
C．has gone through testing at laboratories D．aims to prevent drivers from sleeping
2．How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
A．By sounding a warning． B．By checking the driving time．
C．By touching the wrist band． D．By pressing the steering wheel．
3．We Can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ________.
A．about 400 milliseconds B．over 4 seconds
C．below 500 milliseconds D．about 4 minutes
4．What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
A．The device is expected to be marketed in about one year．
B．The device will go through the tests soon．
C．The tests have been scheduled for six months．
D．All the drivers will soon use the Driver Alert．
Lots of kids go through times when they’d like to change their hair. Often, it’s girls who are most concerned(关心的), but boys may be interested in how their hair looks, too. Sometimes hair will change as you get older----all by itself----when you go through puberty(青春期).
Maybe it used to be lighter and now it’s darker. Or maybe it’s oilier than it used to be, and now you need to wash it more. It’s also normal, as you’re getting older, to notice your appearance more often. You might suddenly decide you want a hairstyle like other kids at school have. But some styles and looks require chemical treatments and long hours in the chair at the hair salon. Some people dye(染)their hair a different color, get a bunch of braids(辫子），or make their hair straight when it’s curly（卷曲). Are these treatments OK for kids? That’s something you should discuss with your parents. At any age, any chemical or heat applied to(应用于) the hair can damage the hair or cause it to break off.
Any styling that pulls hard on the hair can also hurt the scalp(头皮) or cause hair loss. Styling tools, such as curling irons and straightening irons, get very hot and can cause burns. And chemicals used to color, curl, or straighten hair can be very harmful if they get into your eyes or onto your skin.The word “kid”in this passage refers to ____________.
| A．girls | B．boys | C．students | D．not only girls but also boys |
Which of the following is NOT the cause of changes of one’s hair mentioned in the passage?
| A．Change the hair style to act in a play. |
| B．It changes naturally with the age. |
| C．You want to make yourself look beautiful or cool. |
| D．A boy’s hair may become darker and darker when he gets older. |
What’s the main idea of the last two paragraphs of this passage?
| A．If you want to change the color of your hair, you have to use chemical. |
| B．Hair can be straightened with an instrument. |
| C．You’d better change your hair with the help of your parents. |
| D．Hair change by chemicals or instruments can harm the hair or the scalp。 |
When my daughter was in the fifth grade, she came home from school almost every night with three or more hours of homework. It was my duty to help her get it done. One night she worked until midnight doing her homework.
I felt annoyed, but I didn’t want the teacher to think I was lazy. So I never complained. I wasn’t sure, but it seemed to me that five hours of homework was a bit too much for a fifth grade student.
Later, I found out that parents and educators have discussed about homework for more than a century. Parents who like more homework want to give their children every advantage to succeed in today’s world. Some educators see homework as a way to help students perform better in tests.
Other parents dislike the recent trend toward more homework. They don’t want to stay up until midnight helping their children. They would prefer to spend their time going to the park or reading some really good books with their children. Added to the opposition(反对)are those who say that homework increases the gap(差距)between the rich and the poor. That’s because middle class families do better when it comes to helping their children with their homework.
So, who is right? Is homework an enemy or a help? According to experts, the truth lies somewhere in the middle.The author thought that her daughter’s homework _________.
| A．was too difficult |
| B．was too much to finish |
| C．was done more carefully than other students’ |
| D．could be done as long as she helped her daughter |
The author never complained to the teacher because _________.
| A．she was too angry to talk with the teacher. |
| B．she did not like complaining. |
| C．she was afraid of being thought lazy by the teacher. |
| D．her daughter would be annoyed if she complained. |
In the last paragraph, experts __________.
| A．think middle school students should do lots of homework. |
| B．haven’t come up with any idea to solve this problem. |
| C．think homework should be given, but not too much. |
| D．support the idea that homework is good for students. |
As most people know, in the past few years, sandstorms have swept across many cities and areas of North China, polluting the air and disturbing daily lives of human beings. People look dirty and suffer many kinds of illnesses, such as breath difficulty. The sandstorm is such a serious problem that it has not only undermined the industrial and agricultural development of our country but also caused a lot of trouble to the living conditions of the Chinese people. It is expected that effective(有效的) measures should be taken as soon as possible through our joint efforts to limit its occurrence.
So what should we do with the frightening sandstorms? Some experts put forward practical suggestions as follows: For one thing, more funs(基金)ought to be put into tree planting and forest protection so as to keep more water resources within the surface of the earth. For another, governments of all countries should make laws on environmental protection.For example, banning the use of throw-away chopsticks and punishing illegal tree cutting. Scientists should also study and find ways to cut down the degree of its destruction and to improve the whole environment.
How people look forward to sunny days with little breeze(微风)touching their faces now and forever! Nevertheless, I am fully confident that the golden days can come back so long as everyone tried his best to protect natural environment from today on.The underlined word”undermined”(in Paragraph 1)means __________.
| A．weakened | B．encouraged | C．kept | D．made |
From the first paragraph, we can infer _________.
| A．China has taken no measures to prevent sandstorms. |
| B．sandstorms can cause much damage to human beings and their daily lives. |
| C．the sandstorm is the most dangerous natural disaster to human beings. |
| D．more sandstorms will happen in the near future in North China. |
How many ways do some experts put forward to fight against sandstorm?
| A．5 | B．4 | C．3 | D．2 |
What’s the author’s attitude towards the situation to sandstorms’ problems?
| A．Unconfident | B．Optimistic | C．Regretful | D．Satisfied |
Rome had the Forum. London has Speaker' s Corner. Now always-on-the-go New Yorkers have Liz and Bill.
Liz and Bill, two college graduates in their early 2Os, have spent a whole year trying to have thousands of people talk to them in subway stations and on busy street corners. Just talk.
Using a 2-foot-tall sign that says, "Talk to Me," they attract conversationalists, who one evening included a mental patient, and men in business suits.
They don't collect money. They don't push religion (宗教). So what's the point?
"To see what happens," said Liz. "We simply enjoy life with open communication(交流)."
Shortly after the September 11, 2001 attacks, they decided to walk from New York City to Washington, a 270-mile trip. They found they loved talking to people along the way and wanted to continue talking with strangers after their return.
"It started as a crazy idea," Liz said. "We were so curious about all the strangers walking by with their life stories. People will talk to us about anything: their jobs, their clothes, their childhood experiences, anything."
Denise wanted to talk about an exam she was about to take. She had stopped by for the second time in two days, to let the two listeners know how it went.
Marcia had lost her husband to a serious disease. "That was very heavy on my mind,” Marcia said. "To be able to talk about it to total strangers was very good," she explained.
To celebrate a year of talking, the two held a get-together in a city park for all the people they had met over the past year. A few hundred people showed up, as well as some television cameramen and reporters.
They may plan more parties or try to attract more people to join their informal talks. Some publishers have expressed interest in a book, something they say they'll consider.What did Liz and Bill start doing after September 2001?
| A．Chatting with people. |
| B．Setting up street signs. |
| C．Telling stories to strangers. |
| D．Organizing a speaker's corner. |
What they have been doing can be described as______.
| A．pointless | B．normal |
| C．crazy | D．successful |
Why are Denise and Marcia mentioned in the text?
| A．They knew Liz and Bill very well. |
| B．They happened to meet the writer of the text. |
| C．They organized the get-together in the city park. |
| D．They are examples of those who talked to Liz and Bill. |
What will Liz and Bill do in the future?
| A．Go in for publishing. | B．Do more television programs. |
| C．Continue what they am doing. | D．Spend more time reading books. |
How do they like the idea of writing a book?
| A．They have decided to wait a year or two. |
| B．They will think about it carefully. |
| C．They agreed immediately. |
| D．They find it hard to do that. |
Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life.
We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day,my mother spoke to me in her gentle,loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I would walk again if I want to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her.A year I returned to school—walking on my own !
When the Great Depression(大萧条)hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel(汽车旅馆)for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, Mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business,we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed.Fifteen years later,we had the largest hotel system in the world—Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $1billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situations. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.What Kemmons’mom often told him during his childhood was______
| A．caring | B．moving | C．encouraging | D．interesting |
According to the author, who played the most role in making him walk back to school again?
| A．Doctors | B．Nurses | C．Friends | D．Mom |
What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?
| A．His terrible experience in the hotel |
| B．His previous business success of various levels |
| C．His mom’s support |
| D．His wife’s suggestion |
Which of the following best describles Kemmons’s mother?
| A．Modest,helpful and hard—working |
| B．loving, supportive and strong—willed(有坚强意志的) |
| C．careful, helpful and beautiful |
| D．strict, sensitive and supportive. |
Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?
| A．Self-cofidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family |
| B．Mom’s encouragement, clear goals. Self—confidence and hard work |
| C．Clear goals,mom’s encouragemen, a poor family and higher education. |
| D．Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities |