Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch. But he is in for an unwelcome surprise. The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer (锁止器), and a radio signal from a control centre miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again.
The idea goes like this. A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro- processor and memory, and a GPS (全球定位系统) satellite positioning receiver. If the car is stolen, a coded cellphone signal will tell the control centre to block the vehicle's engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted.
In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves. “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed,” says Martyn Randall, a security expert. He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bare minimum(="smallest)" of tools. But only if the car is more than 10 years old.
Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won't allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code beamed out by the ignition (点火) key. In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.
But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting hold of the owner's keys. And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking system.
If the stolen car travels 100 metres without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen. The hundred metres minimum avoids false alarms due to inaccuracies in the GPS signal.
Staff at the centre will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing, and keep the police informed of the vehicle's movements through the car's GPS unit.
57. The remote immobilizer is fitted to a car to ______.
A. allow the car to lock automatically when stolen
B. help the police make a surprise attack on the car thief
C. prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops
D. prevent car theft by sending a radio signal to the car owner
58. By saying “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed”, Martyn Randall suggests that ______.
A. it takes a longer time for the car thief to do the stealing
B. self-prepared tools are no longer enough for car theft
C. the thief has to make use of computer technology
D. the thief has lost interest in stealing cars over 10 years old
59. Why does the tracking system set a 100-metre minimum before sending an alarm to the operations centre?
A. To allow for possible errors in the GPS system.
B. To give the driver time to contact the operations centre.
C. To keep the police informed of the car's movements.
D. To leave time for the operations centre to give an alarm.
60. The operations centre will first ______ after receiving an alarm.
A. start the tracking system. B. contact the car owner.
C. block the car engine. D. locate the missing car.
As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your living room will have a television set and a video, Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer. Now, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for. Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them. Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year.
One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. They would go to work by train every day from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny. Most evenings Daniel wouldn’t get home until eight or nine o’clock. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. “I always wanted to have a farm then,” says Daniel, “and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It’s taken some getting used to, but it’s been worth it. I think it’s made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.
Liz, “I’m gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all.”The passage tells us that .
| A．people seldom work long hours to make money |
| B．people hardly buy more things than necessary |
| C．people are sure everything they own is in the right place |
| D．people realize there is more to life than just making money |
Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm ____.
| A．was easy to organize | B．has improved family life |
| C．was extremely expensive | D．has been a total success |
What does the author mean by saying“the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives” in the second paragraph ?
| A．People work long hours to earn their living. |
| B．To make more money through hard work is the aim of people’s life. |
| C．Long hours of hard work occupy too much of people’s life. |
| D．People spent too much time and money eating meals. |
The underlined word “downshifting” in the second paragraph refers to _________.
| A．repairing your car by yourself |
| B．spending money carefully |
| C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life |
| D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week |
Thanksgiving Day is a special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing. Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are get in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4,1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt（跪）down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast（盛宴）. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies（殖民地）began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed（宣布）the last Thursday of November in 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbours. But the Canadian Thanksgiving Day falls on the second Monday in October.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated _____.
| A．in spring | B．in summer |
| C．in autumn | D．in winter |
The first to celebrate thanksgiving were _____.
| A．some people from England | B．the American Indians |
| C．Sarah Josepha Hale | D．Governor Bradford |
We can infer from the passage that New England must be _____.
A. in the U.S.A.B. in Great Britain
C. in Canada D. on some island off the AtlanticThe passage mainly tells us _____.
A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U.S.A.
B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places
The other day at lunch I was part of a whole group of colleagues and we were talking behind our boss’s back. She’s the new principal (校长)of our middle school.
We talked about how kind she is to us. She writes notes to wish us happy holidays, or to thank us for jobs well done. She checks on us when she knows we’re facing difficulties outside of school with our health or with our families.
All too often, When we talk NICE behind someone’s back, they never know about it！I sent her a quick email to report the conversation. She replied saying how much she appreciated hearing about it!
I like to do the same for my students. Of course I give them my own compliments(恭维),but I love to let them know when others adults have noticed their good behavior and attitudes. Then it’s absolutely necessary to let THEM know it too! It matters when what they notice is good.
I’ve known from the other side how much this can mean. I often lack confidence in my own abilities as a teacher, so it gave me quite a lift when a friend who works with families in the community mentioned that he has heard several times from parents how glad they are to have their kids in my class. It just feels more important somehow to have the words said by people who don’t know I’ll ever hear them.
Sure, it’s pleasant when we can say nice things about other people. Watch for your next opportunity to be the reporter! Make sure to tell them about the nice things being said behind their backs!Why did these colleagues talk behind their boss’s back?
| A．They were afraid of her. |
| B．She treated them badly. |
| C．She was kind to them. |
| D．It was their daily practice. |
Why did the author report their conversation to her principals?
| A．They were good friends. |
| B．The principals hated them. |
| C．She guessed her principals might be glad to hear it. |
| D．She wanted to be praised. |
What encouraged the author to be a good teacher?
| A．Others’ nice talk behind her back. |
| B．Her good knowledge in teaching. |
| C．Her rich experience in teaching. |
| D．Her principal’s help. |
In many European countries it is normal to have a long break in the middle of the day when all members of the family return to their houses to eat together. This is not very common in Britain because normally it is a long way from the place of work or school to the home. Consequently the British people tend to have a big breakfast before they go to work and the meal at midday is not spent with the members of the family but with workmates or schoolmates. Lunch is normally eaten between 12: 30 p.m. and 1: 30 p.m. Most people finish work at five thirty. It often takes at least an hour to get home from the school or workplace so people tend to eat their evening meal or “dinner” between 6: 30 p.m. and 8 p.m.
On Sundays people don’t have to work, so they take the opportunity to eat together with their family. Sunday lunch is usually the best meal of the week and many of the meals which are considered typically British are eaten for Sunday lunch. For example roast beef and Yorkshire pudding.
This is a typical British family eating together on Sunday. After lunch the father will smoke his pipe and read the newspaper sitting on his favorite armchair while his wife washes the dishes. The children will play traditional English games such as hopscotch, skipping or doctors and nurses.
Although everyone in Britain understands that “breakfast” is the first meal of the day, there is a lot of confusion about the words for other meals such as “dinner, lunch, tea, high tea, brunch and supper” and if you ask a British person what these words mean, most of them will give you a different answer according to what part of the country they are from or what social class they are from. Another example of this is the pronunciation of the word “scones” (a type of cake eaten with Devonshire clotted cream, strawberry jam and cups of tea, known as a “cream tea”)The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．the eating habits in Britain |
| B．British family eating together |
| C．the eating habits in Europe |
| D．British people give you a different answer about meals |
During the workday, the Europeans eat lunch together with the family while the British eat ________.
| A．alone | B．at home |
| C．with the boss | D．with workmates or schoolmates |
The British family eats together ________.
| A．from 12: 30 p.m. to 1: 30 p.m. |
| B．from 6: 30 p.m. to 8: 30 p.m. |
| C．on Sundays |
| D．on Saturdays |
Why do the British have a lot of confusion about the words for other meals except breakfast?
| A．Because of the different pronunciations. |
| B．Because of the different eating times. |
| C．Because of the different eating habits. |
| D．Because of the different parts of country and social classes. |
Planet Earth would be a scary place for humans if dinosaurs still ruled the world.
Though there are still some traces of life from the Jurassic Period, the Age of Dinosaurs more than 65 million years ago.
This mass extinction is believed to be the result of an asteriod（小行星）hitting Earth. A new report by the journal Biological Reviews called " The Extinction of Dinosaurs” concludes that this impact was, indeed, the cause of the dinosaurs’ demise. But the space blast(爆炸) wasn't the only reason these creatures aren't still around today.
Dinosaurs need food to survive. Meat-eating monsters like the Tyrannosaurus Rex(霸王龙) were at the top of the food chain, and fed off plant eaters like the horned Triceratops (三角恐龙). These herbivores (食草动物) were decreasing in population after the asteroid hit Earth, which left the meat-eating species less food to survive on. “In any ecosystem where you remove links to key species, that community has problems," Richard Butler, one of the review's authors, told National Ceographic.
While the herbivore population was going down, Earth's temperatures were rising when volcanoes erupted. Hot vapors and gases began wiping out some of the dinosaur population and weakening the survivors.
These changes made the asteroid's impact especially powerful. It caused more volcanoes to erupt, heated up Earth's atmosphere, and led to a sharp drop in the level of oxygen in the oceans.
With the dinosaurs gone, mammals(哺乳动物) began to evolve into bigger and more diverse species. Many animals we see today, like birds, sharks, and even some cats and dogs, appeared after the asteroid hit Earth. But none rule Earth quite like the dinosaurs did.. Which of the following words can replace the underlined word’’ demise" in Paragraph 2?
| A．Death. | B．Evolvement. |
| C．Presence. | D．Decrease. |
According to what Richard Butler said, what caused dinosaurs to die out?
| A．A shortage of clean water. |
| B．A break in the food chain. |
| C．A small variety of animals. |
| D．The constant warming climate. |
What was the negative effect of the asteroid hitting Earth?
| A．Oceans became too hot for animals. |
| B．There was less oxygen in the oceans. |
| C．Earth's climate became violent. |
| D．The majority of the plants gradually died out. |
The text is mainly about .
| A．the evolvement of mammals on Earth |
| B．the gradual process of climate change |
| C．the importance of the balance of ecosystem |
| D．the cause of the extinction of the dinosaurs |