Our sense of hearing is one of the most important means of knowing what is going on around us. We are warned of danger by sounds. The sounds of music please us. Sound has a waste product, too, in the form of noise. Noise has been called unwanted sound. Noise is growing and it may get much worse before it gets any better.
Scientists, for several years, have been studying how noise affects people and animals and are alarmed by what they have learned.
Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find. Noise pollution is no joke. It is a threat that should be looked at carefully.
Sound is measured in units called decibels （分贝）. At a level of 140 decibels people feel pain in their ears.
Trucks, buses, motorcycles, airplanes, boats, and factories all make noise. This noise bothers not only our ears, but our minds and bodies as well.
There is a saying about "it is so noisy that you can't hear yourself think". Doctors who study noise believe that we must be able to hear ourselves think most of the time. If we don't, we may have headaches, other aches and pains, or even mental problems. Noise adds even more tension to a society which already faces too much stress.
1．The sense of hearing _______.
A．makes people feel angry
B．makes people want to dance
C．helps people to know what is happening around them
D．is something harmful to people
2．When sound is turned into noise, _______.
A．people become ill B．it makes people forget the past
C．people don't know how to deal with it D．it becomes a kind of pollution
3．Why does the passage say " Peace and quiet are becoming harder to find " ?
A．Sounds of over 140 decibels are common these days.
B．There are always wars going on in the world.
C．The world is making more and more noise.
D．All kinds of machines make noises.
4．Which of the following statements is TRUE?
A．Scientists are warning people noise can be harmful.
B．It's possible for man to get rid of all noises.
C．Sounds under 140 decibels are not considered to be noise.
D．Society has become more lively because there is noise now.
Some people believe that international sport creates goodwill between the nations and that if countries play games together, they will learn to live together. Others say that the opposite is true: international competitions encourage false national pride and lead to misunderstanding and hatred. There is probably some truth in both arguments, but in recent years the Olympic Games have done little to support the view that sport encourages international brotherhood. Not only was there the tragic incident including the murder of athletes, but the Games were also ruined by incidents caused mainly by smaller national contests.
One country received its second-place medals with visible anger after the hockey final. There had been noisy scenes at the end of the hockey match, the losers objecting to the final decisions. They were sure that one of their goals should not have been disallowed and that their opponents’ victory was unfair. Their manager was in great anger when he said, “This wasn’t hockey. Hockey and the International Hockey Federation are finished.” The president of the Federation said later that such behavior could result in the suspension（停赛）of the team for at least three years.
Incidents of this kind will continue as long as sport is played competitively rather than for the love of the game. The suggestion that athletes should compete as individuals, or in non-national teams, might be too much to hope for. But in the present organization of the Olympics there is far too much that encourages aggressive patriotism(爱国主义).According to the author, recently the Olympic Games have ______.
| A．created goodwill between the nations |
| B．brought about only false national pride |
| C．hardly showed any international friendship |
| D．put an end to misunderstanding and hatred |
The underlined word “disallowed”(in Paragraph 2) means “______”.
| A．permitted to pass | B．considered as reasonable |
| C．won by the other side | D．refused to accept |
What did the manager mean by saying, “Hockey and the International Hockey Federation
are finished"?
| A．His team would no longer take part in international games. |
| B．Hockey and the Federation are both ruined by the unfair decisions. |
| C．There should be no more Hockey matches organized by the Federation. |
| D．The Federation should break up. |
The author gives the example in paragraph 2 to show ______.
| A．how false national pride led to undesirable incidents in international games |
| B．that sportsmen are often against the final decisions |
| C．that competitiveness in the games discourages international friendship |
| D．that unfair decisions are common in the Olympic Games |
What conclusion can be drawn from the passage?
| A．The organization of the Olympic Games must be improved. |
| B．Athletes should compete as individuals in the Olympic Games. |
| C．A game should be played competitively rather than for the love of the game. |
| D．More and more athletes will compete for their own honor. |
Writing being largely a self-taught occupation, texts on how to get about it -though great in number- seldom are of much use.
You try, and fail. Then try again. Until at last, if you have some gift for it, the failures become less frequent, or at any rate less apparantly.
It is this ability to cover up one’s defects that is finally regarded as accomplishment or achievement.
Along the way there are the discouragements of unkind criticism, outright rejection, troublesome insecurity and irregular inability to meet debts.
It is uncommon, therefore, to come across a book containing advice of much practical value for anyone toying（漫不经心地考虑） with the dangerous idea of staring on a writing life.
A friend recently lent me such a book, however - one I wish I’d had the luck to read years ago, and which I would recommend to any young person devoted to making a career of words. It is the autobiography （自传） of the English novelist Anthony Trollope, first published in 1883, the year after his death.
Needing some means to support himself, Trollope at age 19 worked as a junior clerk in the British postal service. He was at his desk at 5:30 each morning to write for three hours. And he remained in the mail service 33 years, long after reputation and prosperity had come to him.
Now, what of his advice in his works?
1. For safety’s sake, arm yourself with some other skills, some other line of work to fall back on（求助）。 That way, failure at writing, though the disappointment may appear, will not mean ruin.
2. Do not depend too much on inspiration. Writing is a craft, which Trollope compared to the craft of shoemaking. The shoemaker who has just turned out one pair of his work sets to work immediately on the next pair.
3. Have a story to tell, but, more important than that, people with characters who will speak and move as living creatures in the reader’s mind. Without memorable characters, story alone is nothing.
4. Meet your deadlines. Life is endlessly “painful and troublesome” for writers who can’t finish their work on time.
5. Do not be carried away by praise. And, above all, do not be injured by criticism.
6. Understand the risks of writing for a living. “The career, when successful, is pleasant enough certainly; but when unsuccessful, it is of all careers the most painful.”This passage mainly discusses__________.
| A．the difficulties and risks of making a career of words |
| B．the uselessness of instructions contained in writing guidebooks |
| C．the autobiography of the 19th century English novelist Anthony Trollope |
| D．sound advice provided in Anthony. Trollope’s autobiography |
From the context we can figure out that the underlined word “defect” in Paragraph 3 means__.
| A．advantage | B．fault | C．truth | D．disadvantage |
According to the author, writing _______.
| A．is basically a self-taught occupation and no instructions on how to deal with it are of any practical use |
| B．is a “trial and error” process and it does not count whether you have the gift for writing or not |
| C．for a living is the most pleasant of all careers, full of praise and enjoyment |
| D．sometimes provides good hopes of winning public praise and escaping povert |
From the passage we may infer that the author is most probably
| A．an instructor of writing | B．a writer |
| C．an educator | D．a publisher |
Forgiving someone who has hurt you or let you down is never an easy thing. Several new studies, however, say that it could have a lot of health benefits. When you think of forgiveness, you probably don’t think of it as being a health or medical problem. Studies from Stanford University, on the other hand, show that something like anger can change your well-being.
When cartoon book characters like the incredible（难以置信） Hulk get angry, they change colours and often gain special power. In the real world, anger is less obvious and may be more dangerous. That’s why Professor Fred Luskin, founder of the Stanford Forgiveness Project and author of Forgive for Good, says holding on to anger and hatred can harm your physical and mental health. Two new studies seem to show the same idea.
The studies find that people who are able to forgive feel less stress, less back pain, and less depression（沮丧）。 They also have fewer headaches, lower blood pressure, and fewer problems on sleeping.
So it doesn’t matter if your anger is caused by the traffic or other things. Learning to let it go is important. Techniques such as deep breath or thought can help. Or just ask yourself if it’s worth hurting yourself by staying angry with someone else.
Forgiveness does not mean that you simply accept what happened and say it’s OK. Instead, it’s a way of making peace with yourself about what happened in the past. The author of the passage tries to make his viewpoint clear ______.
| A．by raising his own examples. | B．based on his own experience. |
| C．by mentioning some studies. | D．by mentioning some typical patients. |
The example of the cartoon book characters is taken in the passage to____.
| A．support the viewpoint that anger and hatred harm physical and mental health. |
| B．introduce a famous expert. |
| C．let the reader know the different colours of cartoon faces. |
| D．show how to control one’s temper. |
The underlined phrase “holding on to” in this passage possibly means“__”。
| A．removing. | B．keeping up. | C．getting rid of. | D．learning about. |
The best title for this passage is probably _______.
| A．Forgiveness. | B．Forgiveness Is Good for Health. |
| C．A Secret to Keeping Health. | D．Anger Is Bad for Health. |
Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers．Brain-computer interface（BCI） technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines．
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated（展示）a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts．
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand．He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts．
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells．These send signals through the spinal cord（脊髓）to the muscles to give us the ability to move．But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says．“Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices．”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user．This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp（头皮）and sends them to a computer．The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair． The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path．They help the computer react to commands from the brain．
Prof．Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands．“The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices．One example is this wheelchair．”
He says his team has set two goals．One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from．And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time．BCI is a technology that can .
| A．help to update computer systems |
| B．link the human brain with computers |
| C．help the disabled to recover |
| D．control a person's thoughts |
How did Tavella operate the wheelchair in the laboratory?
| A．By controlling his muscles． |
| B．By talking to the machine． |
| C．By moving his hand． |
| D．By using his mind． |
The team will test with real patients to.
| A．make profits from them |
| B．prove the technology useful to them |
| C．make them live longer |
| D．learn about their physical condition |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center |
| B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works |
| C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled |
| D．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries |
Usually, when your teacher asks a question, there is only one correct answer. But there is one question that has millions of current answers. That question is “What’s your name?” Everyone gives a different answer, but everyone is correct.
Have you ever wondered about people’s names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?
People’s first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used. Some parents choose the name of a well-known person. A boy could be named George Washington Smith; a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means “bright”; Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”; Donald means “world ruler”; Leonard means “as brave as a lion”.
The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near brook(小溪)；someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road. The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.
Other early surnames came from people’s occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, smiths were very important workers in every town and village. Some other occupational names are: Carter — a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter —a person who made pots and pans.
The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village. The Carpenter’s great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.
Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin, or their size, or their special abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with the gray hair probably became John Gray. Or the John was very tall could call himself John Tallman. John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
Some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. English-speaking people added –s or –son. The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family’s ancestor was Robert. Irish and Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the McDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell.Which of the following aspects do the surnames in the passage NOT cover?
| A．Places where people lived. |
| B．People’s characters. |
| C．Talents that people possessed. |
| D．People’s occupations. |
According to the passage, the ancestors of the Potter family most probably _______.
| A．owned or drove a cart |
| B．made things with metals |
| C．made kitchen tools or contains |
| D．built houses and furniture |
Suppose and English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their new-born son to become a world leader, the baby might be named _______.
| A．Beatrice Smith | B．Leonard Carter |
| C．George Longstreet | D．Donald Greenwood |
The underlined word “descendants” in the last paragraph means a person’s _____.
| A．later generations | B．friends and relatives |
| C．colleagues and partners | D．later sponsors |