Many people believe the glare from snow causes snow blindness. Yet, with dark glasses or not, they find themselves suffering from headaches and watering eyes, and even snow blindness, when exposed to several hours of “snow light”.
The United States army has now determined that glare from snow does not cause snow blindness in troops in a snow-covered country. Rather, a man’s eyes often find nothing to focus on in a broad space of snow-covered without-grass land. So his gaze continually moves and jumps back and forth over the entire landscape in search of something to look at. Finding something, hour after hour, the eyes never stop searching and the eyeballs become tired and the eye muscles ache. Nature makes up for this discomfort by producing more and more fluid (液体) which covers the eyeball. The fluid covers the eyeball in
increasing quantity until it makes eyes difficult to see clearly, and the result is total, even though for a short time, snow blindness.
Experiments lead the Army to a simple method of overcoming this problem. Scouts (侦察员) ahead of the troops are trained to shake snow from evergreen bushes, creating a dotted line as they cross completely snow-covered landscape. Even the scouts themselves throw lightweight, dark-colored objects ahead on which they can focus too. The men following can then see something. Their gaze is arrested. Their eyes focus on a bush and having found something to see, stop searching the snow-blanketed landscape. By focusing their attention on one object at a time, the men can cross the snow without becoming hopelessly snow-blind or lost. In this way the problem of crossing a continuous white land is overcome.
68. To prevent snow blindness caused by the strong light from snow, wearing glasses or not _________.
A. depends on whether the snow is white enough
B. makes no difference
C. makes much difference
D. depends on whether the snow is thick
69. When the eyes are tired, tears flow out __________.
A. to clear the vision B. to make the eyes stop searching
C. to make the vision unclear D. to produce more and more liquid
70. Snow blindness can be prevented by ___________
A. moving one’s gaze back and forth
B. walking ahead and keeping looking around
C. making up for the discomfort of one’s eyes
D. providing the eyes with something to focus on
71. What is the probable meaning of the underlined part “Their gaze is arrested.”?
A. They get something to look at. B. They can only look at one spot.
C. Their eye
s are clear. D. They can’t see freely.
根据所给汉语，写出单词正确形式（每小题2分，共20分）I know you don’t like her but try not to make it so o__________ （明显的）.
The hotel offers its guests a wide v______ (种类) of amusements.
The v________ (志愿者) for community service are doing a good job.
He s_________ (受苦) a lot when he was a child.
Today there are about 5,000 e_______(濒危) animals and at least one species dies out every year.
We are g________ (感激的) to you for your timely help.
They r________ (与......相似) each other in shape but not in color.
We want to make our products a________ (可获得的) to a wider market.
The s________ (斗争) for independence was long and hard.
While I was working as a waiter last month, my friend was l_____ (躺) on the beach.
Bright red post boxes, the Queen and queuing—what do they all have in common? They are all important parts of British life. At least I thought so.
However, the ability to queue for long periods of time, once believed to be a traditional characteristic of the British, is no longer tolerated by people in the UK, according to a survey done for British bank Barclays.
Once upon a time, queuing was seen as normal. During World WarⅡ, everyone had to queue up to receive their daily supply of foods. In fact, if you didn't stand up and wait in line with all the others, it was seen as uncivilized.
The famous English double-decker buses, with only one entrance, might also help explain why queuing was seen as a part of British life. Almost always, there is queue to get on.
But perhaps the British are tired of being pushed past by the Spanish, the Italians or the French as they queue up to get a table at a restaurant. The people of these other European countries have more than one entrance to their buses, which explains their more relaxed attitude to the queue.
Two minutes is now the longest time most British people are prepared to stand and wait. But could it be that the Internet, which allows us to carry out tasks quickly, is the main reason why British people are no longer prepared to queue?
"Used to buying without delay, customers are even giving up purchases rather than wait their turn," says Stuart Neal of Barclaycard. "Shoppers are also less likely to queue for long if the item they are buying is of low value."
Perhaps I will have to replace "queuing" with "impatience" in my list of things I relate to the British. What can we learn about the tradition of queuing in Britain?
| A．It was considered a symbol of a civilized behavior. |
| B．It was a long time tradition as old as the Queen. |
| C．It was a product of the slow pace of life. |
| D．It has made the Britain different from other Europeans. |
According to the passage, the British gradually stopped queuing because ______.
| A．they prefer shopping online |
| B．the Internet has changed their way of life |
| C．what they are buying is of low value |
| D．they follow the example of foreigners |
It can be learned from the text that ______.
| A．the British used to buy without delay |
| B．the British have to queue to receive food |
| C．the British get impatient with queuing for long |
| D．the British prefer to take double-decker buses |
The author's main purpose of writing the passage is _______.
| A．to tell us the influence of the Internet on the British ways of life |
| B．to compare the cultural difference between Britain and other countries |
| C．to report his research on the British ways of life |
| D．to talk about the changes in the attitude to queuing in Britain |
Imagine a mass of floating waste is two times the size of the state of Texas. Texas has a land area of more than 678 000 square kilometers. So it might be difficult to imagine anything twice as big. All together, this mass of waste flowing in the North Pacific Ocean is known as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch. It weighs about 3 500 000 tons. The waste includes bags，bottles and containers—plastic products of all kinds.
The eastern part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch is about l 600 kilometers west of California. The western part is west of the Hawaiian Islands and east of Japan. The area has been described as a kind of oceanic desert，with light winds and slow moving water currents. The water moves so slowly that garbage from all over the world collects there.
In recent years，there have been growing concerns about the floating garbage and its effect on sea creatures and human health. Scientists say thousands of animals get trapped in the floating waste，resulting in death or injury. Even more die from a lack of food or water after swallowing pieces of plastic. The trash can also make animals feel full，lessening their desire to eat or drink.
The floating garbage also can have harmful effects on people. There is an increased threat of infection of disease from polluted waste，and from eating fish that swallowed waste. Divers can also get trapped in the plastic.
Its existence first gained public attention in l997. That was when racing boat captain and oceanographer Charles Moore and his crew sailed into the garbage while returning from a racing event. Five years earlier，another oceanographer learned of the trash after a shipment of rubber duckies got lost at sea. Many of those toys are now part of the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch.
In August，2009，a team from the University of California，San Diego became the latest group to travel to it. They were shocked by the amount of waste they saw. They gathered hundreds of sea creatures and water samples to measure the garbage patch’s effect on ocean environment.How did the writer introduce the topic of the passage?
| A．By giving an example. | B．By listing the facts. |
| C．By telling a story. | D．By giving a comparison. |
What do we know about the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?
| A．It is made up of various kinds of plastic products. |
| B．It is a solid mass of floating waste materials. |
| C．It lies l60 000 kilometers east of California. |
| D．It is described as a kind of oceanic land. |
Why do people pay attention to the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch?
| A．Because it may prevent the flow of ocean water. |
| B．Because the polluted plastic products will affect the food chain. |
| C．Because it maybe form an island in the pacific. |
| D．Because ships may be trapped in the floating waste. |
For an increasing number of students at American universities, Old is suddenly in. The reason is obvious: the graying of America means jobs. Coupled with the aging of the baby-boom (生育高峰) generation, a longer life span(寿命) means that the nation’s elderly population is bound to expand significantly over the next 50 years. By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65, up from 14 percent in 1995. The change brings many problems for government and society, of course. But it also creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions, and in law and business as well. “In addition to the doctors, we’re going to need more sociologists, biologists, urban planners and specialized lawyers,” says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Gerontology (老年学).
Lawyers can specialize in “elder law” which covers everything from trusts(信托) and estates to nursing-home abuse and age discrimination. Businessmen see huge opportunities in the elder market because the baby boomers, 74 million strong, are likely to be the wealthiest group of retirees(退休者) in human history. “Any student who combines an expert knowledge in gerontology with, say, an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money,” one professor says.
Margarite Santos is a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major but found she was “really bored with bacteria.” So she took a class in gerontology and discovered that she liked it. She says, “I did volunteer work in retirement homes and it was very satisfying.”.“…Old is suddenly in” (Line 1, Para. 1) most probably means “_____”.
| A．America has suddenly become a nation of old people |
| B．more elderly professors are found on American campuses |
| C．gerontology has suddenly become popular |
| D．American colleges have realized the need of getting older students |
Why can businessmen make money in the emerging elder market?
| A．The elderly possess an enormous purchasing power |
| B．They can employ more gerontologists |
| C．Retirees are more generous in spending money |
| D．There are more elderly people working than before |
Who can make big money in the new century according to the passage?
| A．Retirees who are business-minded |
| B．The volunteer workers in retirement homes |
| C．Professionals with a good knowledge of gerontology |
| D．College graduates with an MBA or law degree |
.It can be seen from the passage that the expansion of America’s elderly population ______.
| A．will provide good job opportunities in many areas |
| B．will cause a heavy burden on society |
| C．may lead to nursing home abuse and age discrimination |
| D．will create new fields of study in universities |
Harry Houdini was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic or supernatural power. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in clubs in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity (宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape from ankle chains. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks. She passed it quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? Worldwide fame and a name remembered today.According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on ______.
| A．his special tricks and supernatural powers |
| B．his unusual ability and skeleton key |
| C．his magic tricks and supernatural powers |
| D．his wisdom and magic tricks |
It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous ______ .
| A．in 1894 | B．before he married |
| C．at the age of 17 | D．when he was 24 |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Houdini was a famous American magician. |
| B．Houdini was first recognized in Chicago. |
| C．Houdini first entered the entertainment world together with his wife. |
| D．Houdini was popular with people from Europe and America. |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Skeleton Key | B．A Secret Prisoner |
| C．Worldwide Fame | D．Great Escapes |