More than four out of five people admit to telling little white lies at least once a day and the preferred way of “being economical with the truth” is to use technology such as cell phones, texts and e-mails, a survey last Thursday said.
The research by UK pollsters 72 Point found that “techno-treachery(高科技说谎)” was wide-spread with nearly 75 percent of people saying gadgets made it easier to fib(撒小谎).
Just over half of respondents(被调查者) said using gadgets made them feel less guilty when telling a lie than doing it face to face.
The workplace was a favorite location for fibbing with 67 percent of the 1,487 respondents admitting they had lied at work.
The top lie was pretending to be ill (43 percent) followed by saying work had been completed when it hadn’t (23 percent). Worryingly for bosses 18 percent said they lied to hide a big mistake.
But, employers were not the only ones on the receiving end of dishonest statements. Just over 40 percent of the respondents said they had lied to their families or partners.
Key topics to lie about were: buying new clothes or the cost of them (37 percent), how good someone looked in something (35 percent), how much they had eaten (35 percent) and drunk (31 percent) and how much they weighed (32 percent).
1. The underlined phrase “being economical with the truth” probably means ________.
A. telling lies B. making apologies C. feeling guilty D.admitting mistakes
2. It can be inferred from the passage that ___________.
A. employers sometimes lie to their employees, too
B. 75% of people have ever lied to someone
C. without gadgets, people may feel more pressure when telling white lies
D. more people lie to their family than to their bosses
3. Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A. Cell phones make people more likely to lie.
B. Some people might lie to their bosses when they are not doing their work well.
C. 40% of employers admit that they have lied to their families or partners.
D. Nearly 1,500 people were questioned in the survey.
4. According to the passage, in which of the following situations are you most likely to lie?
A. You are going to spend the night at your friend’s, which your parents won’t allow.
B. Your friend is wearing a new dress and asks you how you find it.
C. You are a little too fat, and you’re trying to tell your friend how heavy you are.
D. You want to ask your boss for a sick leave, although you are not ill.
5. The main idea of the passage is that __________.
A. people are getting more likely to lie
B. gadgets are seen as the best way to tell white lies
C. most people tell white lies at the workplace
D. 18% of people lie to their bosses
Audrey Hepburn was born on May 4,1929 in Brussels, Belgium. Her father was a wealthy English banker. After her parents divorced, Audrey went to London with her mother where she went to a private girls school. While vacationing with her mother in Holland, Hitler’s army suddenly took over the town. It was here that she fell on hard times during the Nazi occupation. After the liberation, Audrey went to a ballet school in London on a scholarship and later began a modeling career. As a model, she was graceful and , it seemed ,she had found her niche in life-----until the film producers came calling. After being spotted modeling by a producers, she was signed up for a bit part in the European film Nederlands in 7 lessons in 1948. Later, she headed to America to try her luck there.
Audrey gained immediate prominence(杰出) in the U.S with her role in Roman Holiday in 1953. This film turned out to be a big success as she won an Oscar as Best Actress. This gained her enormous popularity and more plum (令人垂涎的) roles. Roman Holiday was followed by another similarly wonderful performance in the 1957 classic Funny Face (1957). In 1959, she received yet another nomination (提名) for her role in Nun’s Story. Audrey reached the top of her career when she played Holly Golightly in the film Breakfast at Tiffany’s in 1961. For this she received another nomination. One of Audrey’s most radian impressive roles was in the fine production of My Fair Lady in 1964. Her co-star Rex Harrison once was asked to identify his favorite leading lady. Without hesitation, he replied, “ Audrey Hepburn in My Fair Lady”.
By the end of the sixty, after her divorce from actor Mel Ferrer, Audrey decided to retire while she was on top. Later she married Dr. Andrea Dotti. In 1988, Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund helping children in Latin American and Africa, a position she stayed until 1993. She was named to People’s magazine as one of the 50 most beautiful people in the world. Audrey Hepburn died on January 20,1993 in Switzerland. She had made a total of 31 high quality movies.
68.Where did Audrey Hepburn become famous?
A. England B. America C. Switzerland D. Belgium
69.We can infer that Audrey Hepburn was _______.
A. a learned woman B. satisfied with her marriage
C. a woman with sympathy D. very popular as a model
70.Choose the right order about the life of Audrey Hepburn.
a. Audrey began a modeling career.
b. Audrey went to London with her mother
c. Audrey became popular in the film Roman Holiday
d. Audrey became a special ambassador to the United Nations UNICEF fund
e. Hitler’s army suddenly took over the town
f. Audrey married Dr. Audrey Dotti.
A. a, b, c, d, e, f B. b, e, a, c, f, d C. c, a, b, f, e, d D. b, e, f, c, a, d
71.The underlined word “ niche” in Paragraph 1 is the closest in the meaning of_____?
A. position B. companion C. talent D. enjoyment
Elective courses
International Studies (BS)
Key features
● Recognizes the “global community”
● Has close connections with practical research
● Much of the teaching is done in small discussion groups
About the course
The course gives you chances to know great power politics between nation states. It will provide more space to study particular issues such as relationship among countries in the European Union, third world debt, local and international disagreement, and the work of such international bodies as the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, and the World Bank.
The course puts theories into the working of the international system with close attention to particular countries. You will also have a better knowledge of methods of solving the international problems.
Related courses
BA (Hons) Community Management
BA (Hons) Public Policy and Management
Employment possibilities
International organizations
International business
Earth Science (BSc)
Key features
● Based on key courses and the latest research findings
● Pays much attention to practical shills
● Offers chances for fieldwork (实地考察)
About the course
The demand for natural resources is becoming an increasingly serious problem for the future of mankind. Graduates(毕业生) in Earth Science will play an important role in meeting this demand, and in knowing the meaning of using the natural resources.
The course covers geography and geology. You will carry out fieldwork in the UK and possibly overseas, and a research in and areas of interest to you in the final year.
Related courses
BSc (Hons ) Geography
BSc (Hons ) Geology
Employment possibilities
Mineral, oil, water or other related engineering industries
64.International Studies is a course in ______.
A. international politics B. international business
C. international systems D. international bodies
65 After taking the course of International Studies, the students will ______.
A. become practical and open-minded
B. have a greater ability to discuss theories
C. know how to settle international problems
D. have good jobs in any international organizations
66.Earth Science, as described in the second text, _______.
A. is attractive because of the chances for fieldwork
B. pays more attention to practical skills than theories
C. is built on important courses and the results of recent studies
D. encourages students to play a role in using natural resources
67.It can be inferred that the above two texts are written for the students who ______
A. enjoy research work B. plan to choose courses
C. study in the UK D. are interested in overseas fieldwork
The magnitude 7.9 quake struck Sichuan province on May 12 at around noontime, which may have increased the human death toll because many people were at school, and the school buildings turned out to be not firm enough to collapse because of poor construction. More than 69,000 people have been confirmed dead so far, and more than 374,000 injured, with fears of further disasters because several lakes created by rockfall dams may give way and cause sudden flooding.
Clark Burchfiel, Schlumberger Professor of Geology, and Leigh Royden, professor of geology and geophysics in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, have been doing extensive research in that region of China and the Tibetan plateau(高原) for more than two decades, but had found no signs that suggested such a large earthquake might strike the area.
The team operated 25 broadband seismograph (地震仪) stations in this region of western Sichuan for more than a year. "Nobody was thinking there would be a major earthquake in that area," Royden says. "This earthquake was quite unusual, and may have involved a simultaneously(同时发生的) severe break of two separate but neighboring faults," she continued.
The region is extremely unusual geologically, Royden says, because of the very steep slopes at the boundary between the Sichuan Basin to the east and the Tibetan plateau to the west. The altitude rises sharply by about 3,500 meters (more than two miles) over a span of only about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles).
The area where the quake occurred is part of the boundary between two of the Earth's structural plates, where the Indian and Asian plates meet in an ongoing collision that has created the Himalayan mountains and the Tibetan plateau. But in central and eastern Tibet, unlike most other areas of continental collision, much of the movement of crust(地壳) is hidden from view. Instead of thickening the entire crust by folding and faulting, the surface of the eastern Tibetan plateau is not deformed(变形的) and is being lifted upward by thickening of a weak crustal layer more than 15 km below the surface.
60. Why did the school buildings collapse in the earthquake, according to the passage?
A. They had too long a history.
B. They were poorly built.
C. They were crowded with students and teachers.
D. They were damaged by the earthquake.
61. Based on Para. 1, why does the writer think that more people will be killed or injured after
the earthquake?
A. Because there will be more aftershocks after the major quake.
B. Because more school buildings will collapse after the quake.
C. Because destructive flooding caused by rockfall dams is likely to occur..
D. Because there was not enough medical care for the injured in the area.
62. What can we infer from this passage?
A. There was no prediction that such a large-scale quake might occur there.
B. Researchers had done little research in that area before the earthquake struck it.
C. The 5.12 earthquake was the most destructive in the world.
D. If more research had been done, the destruction could have been avoided.
63. Which one can be used as the best title for this passage?
A. The Great Disasters.
B. The Earthquake was very frightening.
C. The Causes of the earthquake.
D. An Extremely Unusual Earthquake.
第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每小题2分,满分40分)
A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo(接受) testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months.
The system, called driver Alert, 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(疲劳).
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(方向盘). A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound and the driver’s response.
Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time. 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.
56. How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
A. By sounding a warning. B. By touching the wristband.
C. By checking the driving time. D. By pressing the steering wheel.
57. 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. below 500 milliseconds
C. over 500 milliseconds D. about 4 minutes
58. When the driver gets sleepy while driving, Driver Alert ______.
A. moves more regularly B. stops working properly
C. opens the window for the driver D. sounds more frequently and loudly
59. According to the text, Driver Alert ______.
A. aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents
B. has gone through testing at laboratories
C. aims to prevent drivers from sleeping
D. has been on sale for 12 months
Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers advised, “Barbara, be enthusiastic(热情的)! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience.” How right they were!
“Nothing great was ever done without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste(浆糊) that helps you hang in there when the things get tough. It is the inner voice that tells you, “I can do it!” when others shout, “No, you can’t!” It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn’t stop working on her experiments.
We are all born with wide-eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is the childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such youthful air, whatever their age. At 90, cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing the cello(大提琴). As the music flowed through his fingers, his shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As writer and poet Samuel Ullman once worte, “Years wrinkle(起皱纹) the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”
Enthusiastic people also love what they do, not considering money or title or power. Patricia Mellratl, a retired director of the Missouri Rpertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, “My father, long ago, told me, ‘I never made any money until I stopped working for it.’”
We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-been”. We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after “what-can-be”. We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses finding pleasure in the sweet of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow.
What is the passage mainly talking about?
Enthusiasm is more important than experience.
Enthusiasm can give people more success and fame
Enthusiastic people will never get old
Enthusiasm can make you succeed and enjoy life.
We can infer that enthusiasm is more important for a person especially when __________.
A. he is in trouble B. he is getting old
C. he can do what he love D. he has succeeded
73. The author mentions Pablo Casals in the third paragraph to show that ______.
A. enthusiasm can make people feel young
B. music can arouse people’s enthusiasm
C. enthusiasm can give people inspiration needed to succeed
D. enthusiasm can keep people healthy
74. How many examples are referred in the passage to show the importance of enthusiasm?
A. Three B. Four C. Five D. Six
75. Which proverb(谚语) may the writer agree with according to the last paragraph?
A. A good beginning makes a good ending
B. Don’t cry over the spoiled milk
C. Love me, love my dog
D. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy