C
The French submarine is called Le Triomphant, meaning“the winner”.The name of the British submarine is Vanguard,meaning“the leading position in an army”.It’s clear from the submarines’names that they were made for victory.
However,it was an accident,rather than a victory,that led these two submarines to recently make news headlines across the world.
On February 16,Britain and France admitted that two of their nuclear—armed submarines,HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant,collided while deep in the Atlantic in early February.Both submarines were on secret patrols(巡逻)and carrying nuclear arms when they collided.
Le Triomphant had no idea that it had run into HMS Vanguard until several days later.The French navy at first believed that Le Triomphant had hit an“object,probably a container(集装箱)”.
Investigations have begun to work out how such a collision could have happened.Both submarines are equipped with state-of~the—art(最先进的)technology that is supposed to find other submarines.Yet,neither submarine saw the other until it was too late.
One idea being considered was that their anti-sonar(抗声纳)equipment,which hides submarines,was just too effective in hiding one from the other.
Submarines use sonar to sense what is in the sea near them.Sonar is a submarine’s ear.Many sea animals use sonar as well.Dolphins produce high-pitched(声调高的)clicks.when these clicks hit an object,some of the sound will echo(发出回声)back to the“sender”.By listening to the echo and working out the time it took before the echo came back,the dolphin can work out how far away the object is.
There are two kinds of sonar:active sonar,which sends out signals,and passive sonar,which listens for signals with extremely sensitive microphones.
The two submarines were designed to be very quiet and as hidden as possible.because a submarine’s job description(工作职责)is not to be found.Many modern submarines do not use active sonar,only passive sonar.This makes it very difficult for a submarine to“hear”if another submarine is near.
Britain’s Ministry of Defense(国防部) has said the collision did not lead to any radioactive leaks(放射物泄漏).The chance of a full nuclear explosion was almost impossible.However,experts say that if the walls of the submarines had broken,or a fire had been started,there could have been a major disaster.
A senior British Navy source told The Sun newspaper that the possible consequences of such a collision were“unthinkable”.
“It’s very unlikely there would have been a nuclear explosion.But a radioactive leak was a possibilitv.That would have been a national disaster.”he said.
64、What has made HMS Vanguard and Le Triomphant well known recently?
A、l heir names carried very positive meanings..
B、They collided in the Atlantic this February.
C、They are both equipped with advanced technology.
D、They are both nuclear—armed submarines.
65、What’s the probable reason for the accident?
A、The two submarines were moving at a high speed.
B、Their anti—sonar equipment was too effective.
C、They were not equipped with active sonar..
D、The submarines were designed to be too quiet.
66、Which of the following is the right order in which the dolphin senses the object’s position?
a、The sound hitting the object.
b、Producing high—pitched sound.
c、The sound echoing back.
d、Working out the time to come back.
e、Receiving the sound.
A、b一a—c—d—e B、d—a—e—c—b C、b—c—d—a—e D、b—a—c—e—d
67、Which of the following is NOT true about the passage?
A、Both of the submarines carried nuclear arms when they collided.
B、Many modern submarines do not use passive sonar so as to be as hidden as possible.
C、The collision may have caused a disaster if a fire had been started.
D、There would have been a nuclear explosion if the two submarines had collided harder.
Don't you just love ice skating every winter? I am sure, that since winter is approaching, your skates are set to come out, just waiting to be used. Impress your friends with your new trick on how to ice -skate backwards with the help of these tips. Skating backwards on ice is a bit difficult but once you master the basic, there' s nothing like it. Follow the steps given below and you will be able to skate backwards in no time.
Stand Straight
The first thing that you need to do is, stand straight. If you feel that you are falling backwards, then just put your chin up and slightly bend your knees. Don't worry; this happens to all.
Confidence is What You Need
The most important step while learning how to skate backwards, is having enough confidence in yourself and in what you are doing. How can you achieve this? By practice. Just practice rolling backwards down a gentle slop every single day or just by pushing off from a wall or something of that sort. But before you do that, make sure that the place where you are practicing is free from any kind of debris (碎片) because otherwise, you could end up in the hospital due to some accident. While going backwards, just get used to the feeling of moving backwards. One of the important ice skating tips and techniques is that if you feel that you are losing your balance, then scissor (做剪式运动) your skates. Keep practicing this till you are confident about it.
Maintain Speed
Confident now? Great! Now the next step is to maintain your speed. While rolling in a straight line with one skate, with the other try sculling (滑浆), that is, keep pushing yourself backwards with an outwards stroke (滑动). Now bring the skate which you were using to scull, and then again, repeat the same process. Make sure that you put most of your weight on the skate which is moving straight and not the one with which you are sculling. Now, try the same thing using the other foot. Again keep doing this till you are confident enough.
Increase Your Speed Now
Once you are confident that you can scull with either foot, the next thing that you have to do is increase your speed. Try some of your own tricks now. Scull with either foot or with both at the same time.
Scull and Be Aware
While you keep one foot straight, keep sculling with the other. You can do that simultaneously (同时,一起) with both feet. Concentrate on what you are doing but don't get so involved that you don't see where you are going. If you are not watching your back, you might just bang against something or someone. According to the text confidence comes from ______ .
A.constant exercise | B.strict coaches |
C.high speed | D.good techniques |
Which is the right order of ice - skating backwards?
a. Increasing your speed. b .Being able to scull with one foot.
c. Being about to stand straight.d. Trying some different tricks.
A.c→a→d→b | B.c→b→d→a | C.c→b→a→d | D.a→c→b→d |
In the last paragraph the author mainly wants to express ______ .
A.one must be brave to learn to ice - skate backwards |
B.skating and keeping cautious are both important |
C.it’s difficult to concentrate when ice - skating backwards |
D.it' s a common thing to hit someone when ice - skating backwards |
The purpose of the text is _____ .
A.to offer some advice on ice - skating backwards |
B.to introduce the culture of ice-skating backwards |
C.to explain advantages of ice - skating backwards |
D.to compare different ways of ice - skating backwards |
This is a time of year when we think about giving and receiving presents. Can you find a little extra to give? On this page we suggest a few organizations you might like to help.
Littleton Children’s Home
We DON’T want your money, but children’s toys, books and clothes IN GOOD CONDITION would be very welcome.
Also, we are looking for friendly families who would take our children into their homes for a few hours or days as guests. You have so much─will you share it?
Phone Sister Thomas on 55671
Children’s Hospice
We look after a small number of very sick children. This important work needs skill and love. We cannot continue without gifts or money to pay for more nursing staff. We also need storybooks and toys suitable for quiet games.
Please contact the Secretary, Little Children’s Hospice, Newby Road.
Street Food
In the winter weather, it’s no fun being homeless. It’s even worse if you’re hungry. We give hot food to at least fifty people every night. It’s hard work, but necessary. Can you come and help? If not, can you offer a little money? We use a very old kitchen, and we need some new saucepans(平底锅). Money for new ones would be most welcome indeed.
Contact Street Food, c/o Mary’s House, Elming Way. Littleton Phone 27713
Littleton Youth Club
Have you got an unwanted chair?─a record-player?─a pot of paint ? Because we can use them!
We want to get to work on our meeting room!
Please phone 66231 and we’ll be happy to collect anything you can give us.
Thank you!
The Night Shelter
We offer a warm bed for the night to anyone who has nowhere to go. We rent the former Commercial Hotel on Green Street. Although it is not expensive, we never seem to have quite enough money. Can you let us have a few pounds? Any amount, however small, will be such a help.
Send it to us at 15, Green St, Littleton. Please make check payable to Night Shelter.What kind of people are these organizations designed for?
A.Homeless and sick children |
B.Less fortunate members of our society |
C.Hungry people who have no beds to sleep in |
D.Friendly members of our society to help others |
If you like children and you could offer a happy family to a homeless child, you may contact _____.
A.Street Food | B.The Night Shelter |
C.Littleton Children’s Home | D.Children’s Hospice |
What can be concluded from the passage?
A.There are too many social problems in this society. |
B.People are very poor during the time of giving. |
C.To offer help is just an excuse for these organizations to collect money. |
D.There are many organizations trying to solve social problems. |
What kind of things would Littleton Youth Club like to collect?
A.Old furniture and second-hand electrical equipment. |
B.An apartment and some saucepans. |
C.Hot food and storybooks. |
D.A sum of money and children’s toys. |
One of my wonderful memories is about a Christmas gift. Unlike other gifts, it came without wrap(包装).
On September 11th. 1958. Mum gave birth to Richard. After she brought him home from hospital, she put him in my lap, saying. "I promised you a gift, and here it is. " What an honor! I turned four a month earlier and none of my friends had such a baby doll of their own. I played with it day and night. I sang to it. I told it stories. 1 told it over and over how much I loved it!
One morning, however, I found its bed empty. My doll was gone! I cried for it. Mum wept and told me that the poor little thing had been sent to a hospital. It had a fever. For several days, I heard Mum and Dad whispering such words as "hopeless", "pitiful", and "dying", which sounded ominous.
Christmas was coming. "Don’t expect any presents this year." Dad said, pointing at the socks I hung in the living room. "If your baby brother lives, that'll be Christmas enough.” As he spoke, his eyes filled with tears. I'd never seen him cry before.
The phone rang early on Christmas morning. Dad jumped out of bed to answer it. From my bedroom I heard him say. "What? He's all right?" He hung up and shouted upstairs. " The hospital said we can bring Richard home!"
"Thank God.'" I heard Mum cry.
From the upstairs window, I watched my parents rush out to the car. I had never seen them happy. And I was also full of joy. What a wonderful day! My baby doll would be home. I downstairs. My sacks still hung there flat. But I knew they were not empty; they were filled with love!What happened to the author on September 11 1958 ?
A.He received a doll | B.He got a Christmas gift. |
C.He became four years old. | D.He got a baby brother. |
What does the underlined word “ominous” in Paragraph 3 probably mean?
A.Fearful. | B.Boring. | C.Difficult. | D.Impossible. |
Which word can best describe the feeling of the father when Christmas was coming?
A.Excitement. | B.Happiness. | C.Disappointment. | D.Sadness. |
What is the passage mainly about ?
A.A sad Christmas day. | B.A special Christmas gift. |
C.Life with a lovely baby. | D.Memories of a happy family. |
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, lie clues 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 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 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 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 |
Being honest are fundamental requirements if you want to grow spiritually and follow your true destination of personal development. It's not simply about being honest with people. While that will make you a better person and a more accepted one it's more importantly about being honest with yourself.
Living your life honestly means that you've decided to live openly and to show your true self to others and that you can be relied upon to be trustworthy. On the other hand, dishonesty is all about shade and concealment and living your life in 'dark corners'. When you're dishonest, it means that you remain living in the dark and cannot grow spiritually.
Honesty produces trust-trust in ourselves and in all those around us. Trust in turn produces confidence which we all need to overcome life's problems and which also encourages us to take risks in order to achieve our goals.
You'll have no doubt you have heard expressions such as "what goes around, comes around" and "you get back, what you give out in life" and that's very true. If you don't live your lives honestly, you can be assured that the people you'll attract will turn out to be very similar to you and it's therefore unavoidable that one day you'11 be on the receiving end of someone's dishonest actions or words.
There may be situations where telling the whole truth causes you to bring a lot of pain on somebody else. For example, John may have told Paul that he can't go on a weekend fishing trip with him because he has a family commitment arranged that weekend. You know differently and that the real reason John isn't going is because he hates Paul. When Paul asks you if you know whether the reason is true, what do you say? Well, in situations like this, it's often better to be economical with the truth. You might say that you don't know why John can't go or that you think he has something on that weekend." Of course, this isn't telling the complete truth but you are sparing Paul's feelings on something that won't, after all, have strong influence on Paul's future.If you want to grow spiritually, it is best for you to______.
A.follow your destination |
B.be true to yourself |
C.plan your personal development |
D.accept honest people as ends |
The passage tells us that if you choose to live a dishonest life, you will_____.
A.suffer from dishonesty |
B.become very attractive |
C.influence honest people |
D.have attractive friends |
The example in the last paragraph is used to prove that______.
A.we should always tell the truth |
B.John is not a trustworthy person |
C.telling lies causes pain on someone else |
D.sometimes we can't be completely honest |
What is the main idea of the passage?
A.We should be economical with the truth. |
B.People can gain from dishonesty. |
C.Honesty helps you develop. |
D.Trust produces confidence. |