Most Americans get what money they have from their work; that is, they earn an income from wages or salaries. The richest Americans, however, get most of their money from what they own — their stocks, bonds, real estate, and other forms of property, or wealth. Although there are few accurate statistics to go by, wealth in American society appears to be concentrated in very few hands. More than 20 percent of everything that can be privately owned is held by less than one percent of the adult population and more than 75 percent of all wealth is owned by 20 percent of American adults. The plain fact is that most Americans have no wealth at all aside from their homes, automobiles, and a small amount of savings.
Income in the United States is not as highly concentrated as wealth. In 1917 the richest 10 percent of American families received 26.1 percent of all income, while the poorest 10 percent received 17 percent, mainly from Social Security and other government payments. The most striking aspect of income distribution is that it has not changed significantly since the end of World War II. Although economic growth has roughly doubled real disposable (可自由使用的) family income (the money left after taxes and adjusted for inflation) over the last generation, the size of the shares given to the rich and the poor is about the same. By any measure economic inequality is great in the United States.
The reality behind these statistics is that a large number of Americans are poor. In 1918, 14 percent of the population was living below the federal government’s poverty line, which at that time was an annual income of $ 9 287 for a nonfarm family of two adults and two children. In other words, about one out of seven Americans over 31 million people was officially considered unable to buy the basic necessities of food, clothes, and shelter. The suggested poverty line in 1981 would have been an income of about $11 200 for a family of four. By this relative definition, about 20 percent of the population or more than 45 million Americans are poor.
1. What does the majority of the Americans have in terms of wealth?
A. Their income and savings.
B. Everything they own in their homes.
C. Actually, they have no wealth at all.
D. Their house, cars and small amounts of savings.
2. What is the percentage of wealth that is in the hands of most Americans?
A. More than 25%. B. Less than 25%.
C. More than 75%. D. Less than 20%.
3. Why is economic inequality still great in the US in spite of the economic growth?
A. Because the proportion of income received by the rich and the poor remains almost the same as in 1917.
B. Because the economic growth has widened the gap of the family income between the rich and the poor.
C. Because income in the US is still concentrated in the hands of the richest 10% of American families.
D. Because some Americans made great fortunes during the Second World War.
4. What can we learn from comparison of the two poverty lines in the last paragraph?
A. The poverty line of 1918 is more favorable to the poor than that of 1981.
B. The 1981 line didn’t leave much to the poor.
C. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1981 line.
D. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1918 line.
5. From the last two sentences we can see that 1981 government’s poverty line _______.
A. was of no good for the poor B. was not put into operation then
C. was officially approved D. was not helpful to the poor
NEW YORK (Reuters) Electric cars will not be dramatically cleaner than autos powered by fossil fuels until they rely less on electricity produced from usual coal-fired power plants, scientists said on Monday.
"For electric vehicles to become a major green alternative, the power fuel has to move away from coal, or cleaner coal technologies have to be developed," said Jared Cohon, the chair of a National Research Council report released on Monday.
About half of U. S. power is generated (产生) by burning coal, which gives off many times more of traditional pollutants than natural gas, and about twice as much of the main greenhouse gas carbon dioxide.
Nuclear and renewable power would have to generate a larger portion of U. S. power for electric cars to become much greener compared to gasoline-powered cars, Cohan, who is president of Carnegie Mellon University, said in an interview.
Advances in coal burning, like capturing carbon at power plants for permanent burial underground, could also help electric cars become a cleaner alternative to vehicles powered by fossil fuels, he said.
Pollution from energy sources did $120 billion worth of damage to human health, agriculture and recreation in 2008, and electricity was responsible for more than half of file damage, said the NRC report.
Electric cars have their benefits such as reducing imports of foreign oil. But they also have hidden costs.
Materials in electric car batteries are hard to produce, which adds to the energy it takes to make them. In fact, the health and environmental costs of making electric cars can be 20 percent greater than usual cars, the report said.
The report estimated that electric cars could still cost more than gas-powered cars to operate and manufacture in 2030 unless U. S. power production becomes cleaner.
64. Why are electric cars not clean enough?
A. Because they run too slowly. B. Because they are too expensive.
C. Because they rely on coal-fired power. D. Because they give off more carbon dioxide.
65. We can infer from the passage that ________.
A. electric cars will soon take the place of gas-powered cars
B. no one holds hope for electric cars at present
C. electric cars waste more energy than before
D. some people believe that electric cars are more cleaner
66. Which of the following is not mentioned as a way to make electric cars cleaner?
A. Developing cleaner coal technologies. B. Making electric cars run faster.
C. Generating more nuclear power. D. Making advances in coal burning.
67. What kind of attitude the writer holds towards the future of electric cars?
A. The writer thinks highly of electric cars.
B. The writer believes electric cars will disappear in the end.
C. The writer thinks it' s hard to popularize electric cars at present.
D. The writer thinks it' s impossible for us to use electric cars before 2030.
第三部分：阅读理解 (共20小题；每小题2分, 满分40分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项。
There is nothing else but economy that occupies the minds of Americans at present times of economic stress and recession. The negative statistics on unemployment, housing costs and consumer confidence keep coming and coming, leaving people not just scared to spend money, but also very stressed and emotionally exhausted. This stress has an impact on everything, starting with our sleep, mood, physical health, relationships, and eating habits.
"Times of economic stress lead to increased rates of depression," says Dr. Christopher Palmer, director of continuing education at McLean Hospital in Belmont, Massachusetts. "It worsens illness in people who have been constantly depressed. But it also causes new cases of depression. Just the fear of losing one's job can put people over the edge. "
And, without any doubt, just depression alone can create a variety of negative health effects.
1. SLEEP
33 per cent of Americans reported that they have lost sleep due to the economic crisis.
26 per cent say they are sleeping less than 6 hours per night, which is considered to be at least one hour less than the most favorable 7 to 8 hours recommended by sleep experts.
2. MENTAL HEALTH, STRESS AND HEART
80 per cent of Americans reported last year that the economy is a significant source of stress; 49 per cent said the situation makes them feel nervous or anxious; 48 per cent reported that they felt very sad and have developed depression.
Nearly twice the risk of heart attack or death was found in coronary-artery-disease patients with the highest levels of depression or anxiety. Among those individuals, a 10 per cent higher risk of heart attack or death was found in those whose anxiety rose over time.
3. RELATIONSHIPS
The chances of violent behavior are nearly 6 times higher for individuals who are left without a job.
Workplace stress can lead to domestic violence.
Money is the number one source of disagreement in the early years of marriage.
56. Which of the following is true according to the text?
A. Now Americans don't dare to spend money.
B. Now most Americans have problem in sleeping.
C. Economy is the most troubling problem for Americans.
D. Economic crisis has destroyed many American families.
57. How does the economic crisis affect Americans according to the passage?
A. They sleep fewer than six hours.
B. They sleep less than the proper amount.
C. Diseases caused by economy make them sleepless.
D. They lose sleep at night.
58. If a person is out of work, he might _________.
A. become more violent B. get divorced C. get rid of workplace stressD. go mad
59. The best title of this passage probably is _________.
A. The World Economic Crisis Are Getting worse
B. Economic Crisis Affects Our Health
C. Economic Crisis Causes Trouble to Sleep
D. Ordinary People Suffer Greatly in Economic Crisis
Each cell in the human body contains about 25,000 to 35,000 genes, which carry information that determines your traits. Traits are characteristics you inherit from your parents; this means your parents pass some of their characteristics on to you through genes. For example, if both of your parents have green eyes, you might inherit the trait of green eyes from them. Or if your mom has freckles, you might inherit that trait and wind up with a freckled face. And genes aren’t just in humans — all animals and plants have genes, too.
Genes hang out all lined up on thread-like things called chromosomes. Chromosomes come in pairs, and there are hundreds, sometimes thousands of genes in one chromosome. The chromosomes and genes are made of DNA, which is short for deoxyribonucleic acid.
Chromosomes are found inside cells, the very small units that make up all living things. A cell is so tiny that you can only see it through the lens of a strong microscope, and there are billions of cells in your body. Most cells have one nucleus. The nucleus, which is sort of egg-shaped, is like the brain of the cell. It tells every part of the cell what to do. How does the nucleus know so much? It contains our chromosomes and genes. Tiny as it is, the nucleus has more information in it than the biggest dictionary you’ve ever seen.
71. What is the best title of this passage?
A. What Is a Gene? B. How Do Genes Work?
C. What Does A Gene Consist of? D. How Do Nucleus Command Cells?
72. What does the underlined word “inherit” probably mean in the first paragraph?
A. carryB. sendC. obtain D. pass
73. Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. The parents pass some characteristics on to their children.
B. All living things receive traits from the old generations.
C. One’s green eyes might be passed on from the parents.
D.A mother’s freckled face might affect her young’s face.
74. From the passage we can know that______________.
A. genes can decide all your characteristics from parents.
B. genes exist inside cells that make up all living things.
C. genes tells every part of the cell what to do .
D. Chromosomes come in pairs containing genes.
75. From the passage we can conclude that ___________.
A. not all cells have one nucleus inside .
B. not all living things are made up of cells.
C. genes aren’t in humans but in animals and plants.
D. DNA is made of chromosomes and genes.
After blogging regularly for two months, people felt they had better social support and friendship networks than those who didn’t blog. Blogging can help you feel less isolated, more connected to a community and more satisfied with your friendships. Both online and face-to-face, a new Australian research has found
Researchers James Baker and Professor Susan Moore from Swinburne have written two papers investigating the psychological benefits of blogging-regularly updating personal web pages with information that invites others to comment.
The first, published in the latest issue of the journal CyberPsychology and Behaviour. compares the mental health of people intending to blog with that of people not planning to blog. Moore says the researchers messaged 600 MySpace users personally and directed them to an online survey. A total of 134 completed the questionnaire. 84 intended to blog and 50 didn’t.
“We found potential bloggers were less satisfied with their friendships and they felt less socially integrated; they didn’t feet as much part of a community as the people who weren’t interested in blogging …”Moore says. “It was as if they were saying ‘I’m going to do this blogging and it’s going to help me’.”
And it seemed to do the trick, as the researchers’ second study shows. This study which is yet to be published, was conducted two months later. The researchers sent out questionnaires(调查问卷)to the same group of MySpace users, this time 59 responded Bloggers reported a greater sense of belonging to a group of like-minded people and feeling more confident because they could rely on others for help. All respondents, whether or not they blogged, reported feeling less anxious, depressed and stressed after two months of online social networking.
“So going onto MySpace had lifted the mood of all participants in some way,” Moore says. “Maybe they’d just made more social connections.”
Moore acknowledges this is early research and hopes to follow a larger group of people for a longer period time to test some of the research findings.
66. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The mental health of bloggers.
B. Blogging improves one’s social life.
C. What kind of people are likely to blog.
D. Blogging has become more and more popular.
67. It can be inferred from the fourth paragraph that _________.
A. those who were not interested in blogging didn’t have good mental health
B. people were likely to become bloggers if they felt socially isolated
C. potential bloggers were those who had mental health problems
D. potential bloggers usually held a wrong view about blogging
68.The purpose of the second study is to find out _________.
A. what people do on MySpace
B. how many people became bloggers
C. how people felt after blogging for two months
D. how many people kept blogging after two months
69. The second study shows that________.
A. online social networking can do people good
B. only bloggers benefit from online social networking
C. not many potential bloggers became real bloggers
D. not all bloggers found the help they needed
70. The main purpose of people going onto MySpace is probably to _______.
A. exchange goods B. entertain themselves
C. seek help D. exchange views
One of the founding fathers of the internet has predicted the end of traditional television. Vint Serf, who helped to build the internet while working as a researcher in America, said that television was approaching its “iPod moment.”
In the same way that people now download their favorite music onto their iPods, he said that viewers would soon be downloading most of their favorite programmers onto their computers. “85 percent of all video we watch is pre-recorded, so you can set your system to download it at any time,”said Mr. Cerf, who is now the vice-president of Goggle.
“You’re still going to need live television for certain things--like news, sporting events and emergencies--but increasingly it will be almost like iPod, where you download content to look at later.”
Although television-on-demand has not yet become a main activity in the UK, the BBC, 1TV and Channel 4 have all invested a lot of money in technology which Mr. Cerf think will enable viewers to watch their favorite shows on their computers.
However, some critics(批评家)have warned that the Internet will collapse(崩溃)if millions of people try to download programmers at the same time.
Over the next four years, scientists think the number of videos watched over the Internet will double, with people moving from short chips to hour-long programmes.
Broadband companies claim that the service will cause“traffic jams”,which will cost millions of pounds to solve. Mr. Cerf dismissed these warnings, saying that critics had predicted 20 years ago that the net would collapse when people all around the world started to use it at the same time, “We’re far from exhausting (用尽)the capacity,” he said.“I want every one of the six billion people in the planet to be able to connect to the Internet.”
61.Vint Cerf is all the following EXCEPT that ___________.
A. a researcher in the United States
B. the vice-president of Goggle
C. one of the founders of the Internet
D. a manager of a broadband company
62. Which of the following is NOT something Vint Cerf has predicted?
A. Traditional television will soon have its iPod moment.
B. The number of videos watched over the Internet will double.
C. Viewers will be able to download TV programmers onto their iPods.
D. Viewers will be able to watch their favorite TV shows on the Internet.
63. According to the passage, people can always do all the following EXCEPT ____________.
A. watch short clips over the Internet
B. download live TV over the Internet
C. download per-recorded videos over the Internet
D. listen to their favorite music on their computers
64. Some critics are now predicting __________.
A. the Internet will collapse if millions of people use it at the same time
B. people all over the world will be able to connect to the Internet
C. the Internet will crash if too many people download TV programmes at the same time
D. the videos people watch over the Internet
65. This passage mainly tells us __________.
A. a Goggle expert is predicting the end of traditional television
B. the Internet will never be used to download people's favourite shows
C. the Internet will become more popular
D. something about Vint Cerf