Pretoria, South Africa – Hundreds of swimmers play in the water along a South Africa beach. Suddenly a huge shark appears off shore and heads for the bathers. Before it can get close to the swimmers, the shark, for some mysterious reason, starts swimming parallel to the beach. Then it turns away from the shore and heads out to sea, leaving the swimmers untouched.
Such a scene will soon become common along shark-in-fasted (鲨鱼成群的) shores. An electrical engineer from the University of Pretoria has developed an electrical system that repels (击退) sharks by controlling their movements. Confused by this action, the sharks end up turning away from the beach.
In this unusual shark-repellent method, an insulated (绝缘的) cable is buried on the bottom of the sea around a beach where people swim. When an electric current is sent through the cable, an electric field is produced in the water above the cable.
When shark swims into the electric field, nerve cells just below the shark' s skin will sense the field. The electricity produces a reflex (反射作用) action in the shark' s muscles, causing the dangerous animal to swim parallel to the cable. Confused by increasing loss of control of its muscles, the shark suddenly changes its direction and heads seaward, away from the electric field.
In a test of the invisible new shark-repellent system, a cable was placed around a beach in St. Lucia, an island around the beach a long time ago to keep sharks away from swimmers, and a net was left in place during the experiment.
When the electric field was left on for more than a year and a half, no sharks were found in the net. However, when the power was turned off,89 sharks ended up in the net.
Using the electric-wall method instead of net to protect bathers would avoid the needless death of many sharks, said biologists. Currently, thousands of sharks die each year when they become trapped in protective nets that surround holiday resorts in Africa and Australia. About 10 to 15 humans are killed by sharks annually.
1．Why doesn' t the shark attack the swimmers according to the passage?
A．Because there are so many swimmers in the water.
B．Because the shark isn’t so hungry as to eat the swimmers.
C．Because of some mysterious power from the heaven.
D．Because there is an invisible electric field confusing the shark.
2．An electrical engineer from the University of Pretoria has developed __ .
A．a protective net
B．a new shark-repellent system
C．the electric field
D．an insulated cable
3．An electric field is produced in the water above the cable .
A．only when a shark swims into the electric field
B．only when an insulated cable is buried on the bottom of the sea around a beach where people swim
C．only when an electric current is sent through the cable
D．only when the sharks are trapped in protective nets
4．Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A．Protective nets had been fixed earlier than the new shark-repellent system.
B．The new shark – repellent system will probably replace the protective nets.
C．Thousands of sharks have died each year since this new system was put into use.
D．Using the electric-wall instead of nets would avoid the needless death of many sharks.
Finding the right school for your child is a process. You will want to read about the school, talk to any friends who are involved in the school and, most important of all, visit the school.
The first step in finding out about Indian Creek is to request an information packet. We will be happy to send you a packet containing a brochure(小册子), the fee structure and an application. The packet should answer most of your general questions about the school.
In order to get a true sense of Indian Creek School, you should come for an Admission Tour, which includes a personal meeting focusing on your child, a tour of the building and the classrooms, and a discussion of the curriculum(课程).
This visit is no less important if the child for whom you are seeking admission is a teenager than if he or she is a three-year-old one. Every school has a different “school climate.” If you visit two or three schools, you will notice that each “feels” different. You know your child best and you will quickly develop a sense of whether a school is the right match or not.
●The initial point of entry for Indian Creek Students is at the pre-kindergarten level for three year olds.
●Children must be three years old by August 31st.
●We also have major points of entry from grade six to grade nine. At each of these levels, we open new sections and accept students in addition to those moving up from our own lower grades.
●There are scattered(零散的) openings available throughout the program due to attrition(学生流失). Once an opening occurs, students spend a day at ICS, part of which includes admission testing. You can NOT get to know about ICS by ________.
| A．getting an information packet |
| B．taking an admission tour |
| C．asking friends involved in ICS |
| D．taking an admission test |
During the Admission Tour, you can ________.
| A．having a meeting with the children |
| B．decide on the design of the classrooms |
| C．talk with the school about the courses |
| D．choose the weather suitable for study |
Which of the following is NOT accepted for ICS when there is no attrition?
| A．A boy who will be 3 years old by July. |
| B．A fifth grader originally studying in ICS. |
| C．An eighth grader from another school. |
| D．A fourth grader from another school. |
The text is intended for ________.
| A．teachers |
| B．parents |
| C．kindergarteners |
| D．school kids |
Dear Abby,
I am a very conservative woman. I don’t drink, dance, wear makeups or pants. I enjoy the company of friends despite（尽管）our differences and thought they enjoyed mine.
On our most recent outing, however, they laughed at my religious jewelry, commented on my “lack of fashion,” and made me feel guilty for not wanting to stay out late.
Despite this, they are great friends and would help me at the drop of a hat. I don’t bring up their being overweight, or that I think some of the clothes they wear are ugly. I don’t criticize them for sleeping around. I wish they would accept me for who I am.
I am considering not going out with them the next time they ask, but I don’t really want it to come to that. Any suggestions?
—Just an Old-Fashioned Girl
_____________________________________________________________________
Dear Old-Fashioned Girl,
Just this: It’s time for you to start cultivating relationships with people whose values are more like your own. The friends you have described may be lovely, but their comments were out of line and folks are known by the company they keep. If you spend a lot of time with the women you have described, people will begin to make assumptions(臆断) about you.
—Abby The underlined word “conservative” is closest in meaning to ________.
| A．beautiful |
| B．old-fashioned |
| C．overweight |
| D．ordinary-looking |
When did Old-fashioned Girl feel guilty?
| A．When her friends stayed out late. |
| B．When she stayed out late with her friends. |
| C．When she refused her friends’ request to stay out late. |
| D．When her friends refused her to stay out late with them. |
Which of the following could Old-fashioned Girl most possibly agree to?
| A．It is easier to forgive an enemy than to forgive a friend. |
| B．Only your real friends will tell you when your face is dirty. |
| C．The friend is the one who knows all about you, and still likes you. |
| D．True friendship comes when silence between two people is comfortable. |
According to Abby, it’s a good idea for Old-fashioned Girl to ________.
| A．talk with her friends |
| B．understand her friends |
| C．forgive her friends |
| D．break up with her friends |
Suddenly all the lights on that crowded underground train went out. Then it stopped in that dark tunnel(隧道).
We waited. We expected the lights to come on again soon. But nothing happened. Then I began to smell something. Yes, I could smell smoke. So I asked myself, “Is this train on fire?” People around me then began to cry out in fear. “The train is on fire!” they cried.
Then the woman standing next to me suddenly fell on the floor. I realized she was overcome by the smoke. Then I saw flames appearing. “If something does not happen soon,” I said to myself, “I will be burnt alive!”
But as I stood there in the dark in that crowded burning train, I could see no way to escape. I thought, “No one can save me from certain death but God. Only God can make a way for any of us to escape death in this train.”
Before the flames reached me, I found the open door and I climbed out of the train into the dark tunnel. Then as quickly as I could, I ran from the burning train down the tunnel. Now as I ran I could hear hundreds of people that were locked in that burning train, crying out for help. I knew I could do nothing to help them, so I ran on.
Then for two hours I kept walking in that dark train tunnel. At last I saw a light in the distance. I asked myself “Why did God enable me to escape death?” I decided, “God must have a purpose for saving my life. He must want me to help other people experience what He could do for them.” What caused the woman next to me to fall?
| A．The fire. |
| B．Fear. |
| C．The smoke. |
| D．Anxiety. |
The passengers failed to escape because ________.
| A．they didn’t find the way out |
| B．they were too frightened to move |
| C．the fire and smoke were too much |
| D．too many people were in their way |
What would the author most possibly do after he saw the exit from the tunnel?
| A．Going home. |
| B．Blaming himself. |
| C．Calling reporters. |
| D．Returning to help. |
Between which two paragraphs can the following paragraph be put?
I cried, “God, if it is not my time to die, please help me!” Then I heard a noise. It was like a door opening. It was on my right hand side. So in the dark, I at once began to push my way forward to where that noise came from.
| A．Between Paragraph 2 and 3. |
| B．Between Paragraph 3 and 4. |
| C．Between Paragraph 4 and 5. |
| D．Between Paragraph 5 and 6. |
I promised Michael I wouldn’t mention this until the season was over．Now l think it's time．
Early last season, I wrote a column about an art of kindness I had seen Jordan do to a disabled child outside the stadium．After it ran，I got 
a call from a marl in the western suburbs．He said，“I read what you wrote about Jordan．but I thought I should tell you another thing I saw．”
Here it comes, I thought. It always does. Write something nice about a person, and people call you up to say that the person is not so nice.
A few weeks later Jordan and I were talking about something else before a game, and I brought up what the man had said. Was the man right? Had Jordan really been talking to those two boys in that poor and dirty .neighborhood?
"Not two boys," Jordan said. "But four."
And he named them. He said four names. And what did they talk about?
"Everything,” Jordan said. " Anything. I’ve asked to see their grades so that I can check to see if they're paying attention to their study. If it turns out that one or two of them may need teaching, I make sure they get it."
It's just one more part of Michael Jordan's life one more thing that no one knows about, and one more thing Jordan does fight for. The NBA season is over now, and those boys have their memories. So do J! When the expert reviewers begin to tuna against Jordan as they surely will, I'll think about those boys under the streetlight, waiting for the man they know to come. For someone they can depend on.The writer wrote this story about Jordan and his young friends because _______
| A．he thought highly of Jordan's deeds |
| B．he hated to see Jordan do something bad |
| C．he believed it was time to help the disabled |
| D．he felt sure he needn't keep the promise then |
A man in the western suburbs
made a call to_______
| A．know why Jordan stopped in a bad area |
| B．get a chance to become famous himself |
C．let the writ er know Jordan was not that nice |
| D．offer an example to show how Jordan helped others |
Jordan talked with the boys because he _______.
| A．needed their support |
| B．had promised to do so |
| C．liked to teach them to play basketball |
| D．wanted to make sure they all studied well |
The text implies that Jordan is _______.
| A．an excellent basketball player |
| B．good at dealing with problems of life |
| C．always ready to make friends with young people |
| D．willing to do whatever he can for the good of society |
Violinprodigies (神童), I learned, have come in distinct waves from distinct regions. Most of the great performers of the late 19t
h and early 20th centuries were born and brought up in Russia and Eastern Europe. I asked Isaac Stern, one of the world’s greatest violinists the reason for this phenomenon. “It is very clear,” he told me. “They were allJews and Jews at the time were severely oppressed and ill-treated in that part of the world. They were not allowed into the professional fields, but they were allowed to achieve excellence on a concert stage.” As a result, every Jewish parent’s dream was to have a child in the 
music 
school because it was a passport to the West.
Another element in the emergence of prodigies, I found, is a society that values excellence in a certain field tonurture(培育) talent. Nowadays, the most nurturing societies seem to be in the Far East. “In Japan, a most competitive society, with stronger discipline than ours,” says Isaac Stern, children are ready to test their limits every day in many fields, including music. When Western music came to Japan after World War II, that music not only became part of their daily lives, but it became a discipline as well. The Koreans and Chinese as we know, are just as highly motivated as the Japanese.
That’s a good thing, because even prodigies must work hard. Next to hard work, biological inheritance plays an important role in the making of a prodigy. J. S. Bach, for example, was the top of several generations of musicians, and four of his sons had significant careers in music. Jewish parents in Eastern Europe longed for their children to attend music school because ________.
A. it 
would allow them access to a better life in the West
B. Jewish children are born with excellent musical talent
C. they wanted their children to enter into the professional field
D. it would enable the family to get better treatment in their own country（A） Nurturing societies as mentioned in the passage refer to societies that ________.
A. are highly motivated in the education of music
B. treasure talent and provide opportunities for its full development
C. encourage people to compete with each other
D. promise talented children high positions（B）Which of the following contributes to the emergence of musical prodigies according to the passage?
A. a natural gift. B. extensive knowledge of music.
C. very early training. D. a prejudice-free society.（A） Which of the following titles best summarizes the main idea of the passage?
| A．Jewish Contribution to Music | B．Training of Musicians in the World |
| C．Music and Society | D．The Making of Music Prodigies |