Schedules (timetables), as the 21st century people know, simply did not exist in the 17th and 18th c
enturies. We are upset if a plane arrives an hour late. Our ancestors weren’t upset if an April ship didn’t show up until June. They began to worry in July and were often happy when it showed up in August. When a long-distance ship finally did get to the port, the whole city became busy and excited. Businessmen hurried down to check the goods they had ordered. The ship would probably stay in port for at least three days, often a week, to take on businessmen, give the sailors a rest, find out about the latest news, weather conditions, and so on.
Travel time could only be approximate (近似的). One never knew when the winds would be good. So even though “average(平均的) sailing time” was given, time could change considerably, shortening the voyage (travel by sea) by up to 25% or putting it off by up to 500% or more! The average run from England to Boston was about a month and a half, but there were also voyages of three months. One voyage in 1640 lasted six months!
Travel time is not the same in both directions, due to the winds and currents. This is especially true in the Caribbean, where winds are from the southeast the entire
year. Ships sailing west across the Atlantic spend longer than ships sailing east, and the contrary (opposite) winds can prevent a ship from actually making it to the harbor even if it gets close. One ship was held off the North Carolina coast for 17 days before being able to land! What can we learn from the first paragraph?
| A．No sailor was allowed to have fun when the ship reached land. |
| B．People in ancient times didn’t care about other people’s safety. |
| C．The ship would leave for a voyage when all of the preparations were made. |
| D．A long-distance ship would create a lot of excitement in the place where it landed. |
According to the passage, travel time can’t be fixed due to _____.
| A．the people at the port | B．average sailing time |
| C．the changeable climate | D．the businessmen and the sailors |
The underlined word “currents” in the third paragraph means ______.
| A．the movement of water | B．the movement of winds |
| C．direction of the traveling ship | D．travel time of ships |
What is the difference between a modern voyage timetable and the one from the 17th or 18th century?
| A．There were no exact timetables for traveling both in ancient and modern times. |
| B．Travel time was the same in both directions in ancient times while the modern one was not. |
| C．The modern voyage timetable is more exact than the ancient one. |
| D．The modern voyage timetable is only approximate while the ancient one was not. |
Why did the ships sailing west spend longer than ships sailing east in Caribbean?
| A．Because of the southeast winds the entire year. |
| B．Because sailors didn’t know when the winds blew. |
| C．Because travel time was not affected by wind. |
| D．Because sometimes the ship was held off by the wind. |
Do you know about a series of books that say they are fordummies? These American self-help books have been translated intomore than thirty-nine languages including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish.
“Dummy " is a word for a stupid person. The dummy books arenot really for stupid people. They are designed to show people howto do something they may never have tried before, like painting ahouse or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way thatthey are for dummies, such as World History for Dummies, Rabbitsfor Dummies, Chinese Cooking for Dummies, and Wedding Planningfor Dummies. The first such book, DOS for Dummies, was publishedin 1991. It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred and fiftymillion dummy books have been sold.
The dummies, com website explains the idea behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. Firstthey can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Thenthey show how the information can be interesting and easy. Thepublishers say that the books do not provide more information thannecessary. They give readers just enough information to do whatthey want. They say that the dummy books give the best and easiestway to do something. And the books use simple and easy language.
There are more than one thousand different dummy books. Areport in New York Times says that the top-selling dummy books arethose that explain technology and personal finance.
The publishers say that the best-selling dummy books are thoseproviding information many people need—like information aboutdiseases, education and cooking. People interested in opera, car re-pair and wine can also find dummy books to help them. And thereare even more dummy books to come. The publishers say that theypublish about two hundred new dummy books every year. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Books for Dummies |
| B．The Easiest, the Best |
| C．Books for Stupid People |
| D．New Ideas behind the Books |
According to the dummies, com website, people can __________ withthe help of dummy books.
| A．do some personal things |
| B．learn any foreign language |
| C．become expert in cooking |
| D．do anything they want |
The dummy books have been popular because __________.
| A．they provide just what is needed and are easy to understand |
| B．they provide abundant information on the concerning subject |
| C．people can learn to do anything with just one copy |
| D．people can save lots of money through self-teaching |
According to New York Times, we know that books on __________ sell best.
| A．diseases and education |
| B．opera and car repairing |
| C．technology and personal finance |
| D．cooking and world history |
EVERYBODY in this world is different from one another. Butdo you know that understanding differences can help you bettermanage your money?
As we grow up, we gradually develop a set of our own values orbeliefs. These are influenced by society, our family, the educationwe receive and so on. Once this value system is set up, it's not easyto change later in life.
Financial experts say that everyone also has their own belief ofhow to manage their finances. This is part of our value system and ithas a great impact on the way we look after our money.
According to our different values, experts put us in three categories. They are:the ant, the cricket and the snail. The ant—works first
Just like ants who work heart and soul in summer in order tostore food for winter, these people don't care about enjoying the moment. They work very hard and save money they earn so that theycan enjoy life when they get old and retired, The ant loves to savebut they could make more out of their money if they were willing toinvest in some funds and stocks with low risk. The cricket——fun first
The cricket wants to enjoy everything now and doesn't think toomuch about the future. They even borrow money when they really wantsomething. Many young people now belong to this group. These peoplehave little savings. When they get old, they might have problems. They should learn to save and buy insurance. The snail—lives under pressure
The snail refers to people who make life difficult for them-selves. They take big long-term loans from the bank in order to buythings such as luxury houses. They are happy to take big loans eventhough they are not sure whether they can afford it. This can causeproblems in the future. They should plan more carefully. People with character of the snail would like to __________.
| A．enjoy life at the moment without thinking much about the future |
| B．put work before everything else |
| C．live a luxury life at all costs |
| D．take the risk of investing a large sum of money |
Our beliefs and values are affected by the following except __________.
| A．society | B．our family |
| C．education | D．money |
This passage mainly talks about __________.
| A．the spending nature of people |
| B．the relation between man and insects |
| C．the insects in nature |
| D．the problems with dealing with money |
Which of the following has the character that the author prefers?
| A．The ant. | B．The cricket. |
| C．The snail. | D．None of the above. |
Chile is a country of southwest South America with a longPacific coastline. Santiago is the capital and the largest city. Thepopulation of the country is about 11，329，736.
A long time ago, Chile belonged to Spain, a European country, because it was colonized by Spain in 1541，Many of Chileans, how-ever, did not want to be ruled by Spain.
Led by Bernardo O'Higgins, some of them formed a smallarmy. They attacked the Spanish soldiers at different times and different places.
This made the King of Spain very angry. He sent more soldiersto Chile to deal with them.
Although there were far more Spanish soldiers than freedomfighters, they refused to surrender and fought bravely.
At last, however, in 1814，they were forced to retreat to thetown of Rancagua near Santiago. There, O'Higgins and his men weresurrounded by the Spanish army and O'Higgins was wounded by anenemy bullet.
It seemed as if their fight for freedom were over. But O'Higginsrefused to surrender. Even though he was wounded, he ordered hismen to collect as many mules, cows, sheep and dogs as possible. Shouting at the top of his voice, he rode into the animals. Frightened, they began to run. They ran straight at the Spanishsoldiers. Now it was the Spaniards' turn to be frightened. Theyturned and run away from the animals as fast as they could, allowingO'Higgins and his men to escape to the mountains.
There he built up his army, and in 1818 he defeated the Spanish and the country declared its independence. He then became thefirst president of the new, free nation in the same year. The first paragraph is written mainly to __________.
| A．show the location of Chile |
| B．offer supporting details |
| C．stress the importance of capital |
| D．give a general introduction and lead to the topic |
According to the passage, Spanish governed Chile for about __________ years.
| A．1541 | B．273 |
| C．277 | D．400 |
Which description about Chile is NOT right?
| A．Spain ruled Chile at one time. |
| B．Chile borders on the Pacific. |
| C．Chile lies in the southwest of South America. |
| D．Chile is one colony which belongs to Spain. |
We can infer from the passage that __________.
| A．Bernardo O'Higgins became the first president of the new Chile |
| B．Bernardo O'Higgins was not only brave but also intelligent |
| C．Bernardo O'Higgins was good at raising animals |
| D．Rancagua is far from Santiago |
What doesn't happened in 1818?
| A．O'Higgins broke through the enemy by using terrible animals. |
| B．Eventually, O'Higgins defeated the Spanish army, |
| C．Chile broke away from the rule of the King of Spain. |
| D．O'Higgins turned the first president of the free country. |
More than three billion people are at risk from indoor air pollution because of the heating or cooking fuels they use. Most live inAfrica, India and China. They use wood, crop waste, animal waste orcoal. These solid fuels may be the least costly fuels available. Butthey are also a major cause of health problems and death.
The Aprovecho Research Center has been designing cookingstoves for the developing world. People having less money use woodor biomass for cooking; the richer people use oil and gas. It's estimated that wood is running out more quickly than oil and gas.
The group has made stoves using mud, bricks, sheet metal, clay, ceramics and old oil drums. Most of the stoves look like large, deep cooking pots. They have an opening at the bottom for the fireand a place on top to put a pot.
In the late 1970s, Aprovecho produced a popular stove calledthe Lorena. The Lorena was good at reducing smoke and warminghomes. But new tests years later found that it was not efficient. Theused twice as much wood as an open fire, and took muchlonger to heat food. Since then, they have experimented with count-less other designs.
Their goal is to make an inexpensive stove—let's say fivedollars— that makes little smoke, and it's safe for health and reducesglobal warming and deforestation(采伐森林).
Aprovecho has now partnered with a stove manufacturer inChina. The company is making Aprovecho's first mass producedstoves. They are said to use 40% - 50% less wood than an openfire, and produce 50% -70% less smoke. A company called Stove-Tec is selling them through its Web site for less than ten dollars. Dean Still says that more than one hundred thousand have been soldso far. The underlined word " biomass " ，in Paragraph 2 refers to __________
| A．oil and gas | B．wood |
| C．coal | D．crop waste or animal waste |
The following sentence is taken from the passage, it is probablyplaced at the end of __________.
A World Health Organization estimate that over 1,500,000 people a year die from breathing smoke from solid fuels.
| A．Paragraph 1 | B．Paragraph 2 |
| C．Paragraph 3 | D．Paragraph 4 |
Which information about the Lorena mentioned in Paragraph 4is WRONG?
| A．It was a popular stove which began to produce in 1970. |
| B．It was able to be used to bring down smoke. |
| C．It was good at heating houses. |
| D．It turned to consume more fuel later. |
Stoves the Aprovecho Research Center has been designingshould have the following characteristics ：__________.
（1）enormous （2）costly （3）efficient (4)low-carbon (5)cleaner
| A．1. 2. 4 | B．3. 4. 5. |
| C．2. 3. 5. | D．1. 3. 4. |
You can probably read the passage in a magazine about __________
A climate change
B. financial crisis
C. an environmentally-friendly life
D. commercial advertisement
Greg Woodburn, a student at the University of Southern California, spends much time cleaning sneakers. Some once belonged tohim; some were his friends. But soon they will have new owners; underprivilegedchildren in the US and 20 other countries, thanks toWoodburn's Share Our Shoes (S. 0. S.) charity.
He was once a football star in high school. " I started thinkingabout all the things I got from running—the health benefits, thefriendships, the confidence, " he says. “And I realized there arechildren who don't even have shoes.”
Woodburn gathered up his own slightly worn sneakers, thenput out a call to teammates and the town. His goal was to have 100pairs by Christmas 2007. Surprisingly the count climbed to 500pairs. Back then, the sneakers came from donation boxes at the localsporting goods store and from door-to-door pickups. Woodburn hasnow set up collection boxes at two high schools. To date, S. 0. S. hascollected and donated over 3，000 pairs.
Woodburn has cleaned almost all of them. “People think of itas dirty work, “He says.”But I like doing it. As I work, I imaginewho will get each pair. “It takes three to five minutes to clean onepair, and he'll do up to 100 pairs at a time.
To ship the footwear, Woodburn teamed with Sports Gift, anonprofit organization that provides soccer and baseball equipmentto children around the world, whose founder and president saidGreg's running shoes were a nice addition. For many recipients, theshoes represent opportunity. Two boys in Southern California attended school on alternate(间隔的）days because they shared a pair of shoes. They were too big for one boy and too small the other. Thanksto S. 0. S. ，each brother received his own pair of shoes. The boysnow attend school daily. When they graduate, they say, they willhelp a stranger, just as Woodburn helped them. The underlined word “underprivileged" in Paragraph I mostprobably means __________.
| A．modest | B．poor |
| C．naughty | D．aggressive |
According to the passage, which of the following statement isfalse of Greg Woodburn?
| A．Greg Woodburn was a football star when he was a senior student. |
| B．Greg Woodburn is the founder of Share Our Shoes (S. 0. S.). |
| C．Greg Woodburn has donated more than 100 shoes so far. |
| D．Greg Woodburn spends a lot of time cleaning almost all theshoes. |
We can infer from Paragraph 3 that __________.
| A．many people support Woodburn's Share Our Shoes (S. 0. S.)charity |
| B．Greg Woodburn collects shoes only by setting up collection boxes |
| C．high school students don't value their sneakers |
| D．Greg Woodburn collected 3，000 shoes by Christmas 2007 |
In the last paragraph the author mainly wants to tell us __________
| A．Sports Gift is a department of Woodburn's S. 0. S. |
| B．there are so many poor families in Southern California. |
| C．the shoes from S. 0. S. are too big for some children. |
| D．the shoes from S. 0. S. play an important part in somechildren's life. |
According to the passage, which of the following words can bestdescribe Greg Woodburn?
| A．Do-nothing. | B．Hot-headed. |
| C．Warm-hearted. | D．Self-serving. |