According to the American Automobile Association , since 1964 all cars sold in the United States have been equipped with seat belts (These are also called safety belts.) . Many studies of automobile accidents have shown that safety belts can save lives. One study showed that forty percent of those killed in auto accidents could have been saved if they had been wearing seat belts.
Unfortunately, belts are worn only by a small percentage of drivers and passengers — about fifteen percent in cities, and only nine percent in small towns. And safety belts cannot protect people who do not wear them.
In order to find out what kinds of people do wear seat belts, a study was made in several cities of the United States. The following facts were about those who use their safety belts:
1. They do not smoke while driving.
2. They have had more education than non-users.
3. They know someone who was injured (but not killed) in an automobile accident.
Advertisements based on these facts have been printed in newspapers and magazines in order to teach people the importance of using seat belts. But these advertisements have not helped much. Some people believe there should be a law requiring drivers and passengers to use safety belts. In Australia, where there is such a law, deaths in auto accidents have decreased twenty-four percent.The passage is mainly about ______.
| A．automobiles in the United States | B．accidents involving cars |
| C．safety belts for drivers and passengers | D．traffic jams |
The passage tells us that in Australia ______.
| A．a law requires drivers and passengers to use seat belts |
| B．about 50% of the drivers wear seat belts |
| C．the importance of seat belts is advertised in newspapers and magazines |
| D．the auto accidents have kept the same percent as in the US |
People who live in small towns _____.
| A．have fewer accidents than those who live in cities |
| B．are less likely to use seat belts than those who live in cities |
| C．welcome the passing of a law to require the use of seat belts |
| D．are against the law that requires people to use seat belts |
Many studies have shown that seat belts can save lives of those who ______.
| A．never wear seat belts |
| B．seldom wear seat belts |
| C．are wearing seat belts when the accidents happen |
| D．sit at the back of the cars |
Sometimes children do not do what their parents tell them to do.
When this happens, a parent tries to help the child to do the right thing. When this does not work, the parent usually punishes the child.
There are many things that a parent can do. One thing that people have done is to spank (打屁股) the child. When a parent spanks a child, they will use their hand or a hard object to strike them on their bottom. This is meant to show the child that they have done something wrong.
One parent remembers being spanked when he was a child. His parents used a wooden spoon. When he spanked his own children with his hand, he saw that he put a red mark on his child’s leg. He never did that again.
One problem with spanking is that it teaches the child to hit someone when they do not like what the other person is doing. Another problem with spanking is that the parent is usually angry and can hit the child too hard. Sometimes parents will use spanking for everything and not try other ways to get the child to do the right thing.
Many parents are not sure of what to do instead of spanking. Some people think that their religion tells them that spanking is okay. Some think that the law lets them do it. The courts (法院) say that parents have the right to teach their children how to behave.
Other things should be tried before a parent decides to spank a child. Telling the child exactly what is wanted from them can be one thing. Giving a child
more than one choice is another thing that can be tried. Getting down to the child’s level and taking a more child-friendly approach (方法) can help as well.According to the passage, when children do something wrong, one thing that parents usually do to punish them is to ________.
| A．strike them on the bottom |
| B．try to help them do the right thing |
| C．teach them what to do |
| D．take them to court |
Which of the following is NOT the problem caused by spanking?
| A．It teaches the child to hit others when they offend（使人不快） him or her. |
| B．The parent may get angry and hit the child too hard. |
| C．Sometimes parents may use spanking for everything. |
| D．It makes parents try other ways to make the child do right. |
Which of the following can best describe the writer’s attitude towards spanking?
| A．favorable | B．indifferent (不关心) | C．interested | D．unfavorable |
From this passage, we can conclude that ________.
| A．Good children always do the right thing. |
| B．Parents should try their best to avoid spanking their children. |
| C．Parents have no choice but to spank their children when they do something wrong. |
| D．Children can have more than one choice to avoid being spanked. |
As far back as he could remember，Larry had longed to go to Hollywood and become a film star. The young man’s hopes for success were broken again and again, however. Hollywood just did not seem interesting. When he first came to California, Larry had decided never to give up and return home without success. Therefore, he kept on trying. Someday, he told himself, his big opportunity would come.
Larry found a job parking cars for one of Hollywood’s big restaurants. His pay was basic, but since the guests were kind enough to give him more money, he managed to make a living. One day he recognized an important film director driving into the parking lot（停车场）and getting out of his car. Larry had recently heard that the man was ready to make a new picture.
Larry got into the car and prepared to drive it on into the lot and park it. Then he stopped, jumped out, and ran over to the director. “Excuse me, sir, but I think it is only fair to tell you that it is now or never if you want me in your next picture. A lot of big companies are after me.”
Instead of pushing away the boy，the director laughed，then wrote something on a card and handed it to the young man.“ Come and see me tomorrow.”
Larry got a small part in the director’s next film. He was on his way!Which of the following was Larry really interested in?
| A．Working as a waiter. | B．Becoming a film star. |
| C．Parking cars for film stars. | D．Owning a big company. |
Why did Larry find a job parking cars?
| A．Because he liked the job. |
| B．Because the parking lot was near Hollywood. |
| C．To make a living and wait for the opportunity. |
| D．To see a lot of film stars and work for them. |
After reading the story, what can we know about the film director ?
| A．He wanted to laugh at Larry. | B．He recognized Larry at first sight. |
| C．He was kind and gave Larry a try. | D．He thought Larry would become a star. |
“He was on his way”refers to the fact that_______.
| A．he gave up and returned home |
| B．he began to work towards success |
| C．he took a journey to Hollywood |
| D．he had difficulty in playing the small part |
When it comes to hard, noisy traveling, we’ve found that sometimes we’d rather read about it than actually go. Here are some bestsellers for armchair travelers.
The Station by Robert Byron. In 1928, the 22-year-old man made a journey to Mount Athos, resulting in one of the best travel books ever written, matched only by Byron’s own, much more famous The Road to Osciana.
In Darkest Africa by Henry Monton Stanley. It’s about his great efforts to save an unlucky German doctor Eduard Schnitzer, who had no desire to be rescued at all.
A Traveler’s Alphabet: Partial Memoirs by Sir Steven Runciman. A to Z and around the world. He provides priceless information of long-gone princesses, priests, and places.
South: A Memoir of the Endurance Voyage by Sir Ernest Shackleton. As the planet started the global war, Shackleton and his brave group of explorers made an unsuccessful but heroic journey to cross Antarctica from 1914 to 1917.
The Michelin Red Guide: France 2005 Reading through this final listing of all the nice hotels and wonderful restaurants in France is better than going there, listening to Chirac talk about the poisonous American culture, and spending the price of this book for a tiny cup of tea and a cookie the size of your thumb.
The Past Is a Foreign Country by David Lowenthal. This great book of an armchair exploration tells us what has happened in the past and shows the relationship between us and the past travelers.This passage is written .
A. to warn readers against traveling
B. as an introduction to famous travelers
C to sell more books about travels
D. to tell people where to travelThe underlined phrase “armchair travelers” in the first paragraph refers to those who .
| A．like to read about travels instead of travel themselves |
| B．find fun teaching others how to travel to other places |
| C．like to write about their strange traveling experiences |
| D．can only travel with special equipment for the disabled |
which of the books has a very low price according to the passage?
| A．A Traveler’s Alphabet: Partial Memoirs. |
| B．South: A Memoir to the Endurance Voyage. |
| C．The Michelin Red Guide: France 2005. |
| D．The Past Is a Foreign Country. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Henry Monton Stanley, was saved by a German doctor in Africa. |
| B．In his book, Lowenthal focuses more on history than the present. |
| C．It took Shackleton and his men 3 years to cross Antarctica. |
| D．The Station is no more famous than The Road to Osciana. |
Even before they start school, many young girls worry that they are fat. But a new study suggests watching a movie starring a stereotypically(模式化地)thin and beautiful princess may not increase children’s anxieties.
Nearly half of the 3 to 6 year old girls in a study by Professor Stacey Tantleff-Dunn and doctoral student Sharon Hayes said they worry about being fat. About one-third would change a physical feature, such as their weight or hair color.
The number of girls worried about being fat at such a young age concerns Tantleff-Dunn because of the potential effects later in life. Studies have shown young girls worried about their body image are more likely to suffer from eating disorders when they are older.
The encouraging news for parents is that taking their young daughters to see the new Disney film “The Princess and the Frog” isn’t likely to influence how they see their bodies.
“The media have a great effect on how young girls see their bodies. That’s why it’s important for parents to use movies such as ‘The Princess and the Frog,’ to start conversations with their children about weight, skin color and their views of beauty. They can explain that princesses’ tiny waists are not realistic for girls and that children don’t need Cinderella’s golden hair or Snow White’s porcelain(瓷制的) skin to look good,” Tantleff-Dunn said.
“We need to help our children challenge the images of beauty, particularly thinness, that they see and idolize, and encourage them to question how much appearance should be part of their self-worth,” said Tantleff-Dunn. “We should help them build a positive self-image with an appreciation for many different types of body features.” And as their children’s most important role models, parents also should avoid criticizing their own bodies. Tantleff-Dunn worries that young girls caring too much about their appearance may .
| A．have diet trouble in the future |
| B．cause trouble when they are older |
| C．have mental problems later in life |
| D．have difficulty in communication |
What is especially considered as beauty by girls according to the passage?
| A．Having black hair. | B．Having a slim body. |
| C．Having golden skin. | D．Having big bright eyes. |
Parents can help kids build a positive self-image by .
| A．encouraging kids to act as role models |
| B．preventing kids seeing beautiful models |
| C．telling kids the importance of appearance |
| D．avoiding complaining of their own bodies |
The writer writes the passage mainly to
| A．explain the meaning of beauty |
| B．introduce a new research finding |
| C．stress the influence of media on girls |
| D．teach girls how to become a princess |
Boom boom!( I’m here, come to me!)
Krak krak!( Watch out, a leopard (豹)！)
Hok hok hok!( Hey, crowned eagle!)
Very good — you’ve already mastered half the basic vocabulary of the Campbell’s monkey, which lives in the forests of the Tai National Park in Ivory Coast. The adult males have six types of call, each with a specific meaning, but they can mix two or more calls together into a message with a different meaning.
Having spent months recording the monkeys’ calls in response to both natural and artificial stimuli (刺激物), a group led by Klaus Zuberbuhler of the University of St. Andrews in Scotland argues that the Campbell’s monkeys have a certain form of syntax(句法).
This is likely to be controversial because despite great effort to teach chimpanzees(大猩猩) language, they showed little or no ability to combine the sounds they learned into a sentence with a larger meaning. Syntax, basic to the structure of language, uniquely belongs to humans.
“Krak” is a call that warns of leopards in the neighborhood. The monkeys give it in response to real leopards and to leopard shouting broadcast by the researchers. The monkeys can vary the call by adding “-oo”: “Krak-oo” seems to be a general word for hunter, but one given in a special context – when monkeys hear but don’t see a hunter, or when they hear the alarm calls of another species.
The “boom-boom” call invites other monkeys to come toward the male making the sound. Two booms can be combined with a series of “krak-oos”, with a meaning entirely different to that of either of its single parts. “Boom boom krak-oo krak-oo krak-oo” is the monkey’s version of “Timber!” – it warns of falling trees.
If Zuberbuhler is correct, the Campbell’s monkeys can both vary the meaning of specific calls by adding something and combine calls to make a different meaning.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A group of scientists. | B．Calls of Campbell’s monkeys. |
| C．The lifestyle of monkeys. | D．The importance of language. |
According to the passage, chimpanzees .
| A．don’t communicate by sounds |
| B．only understand simple sentences |
| C．fail to learn language from humans |
| D．are not related to the Campbell’s monkeys |
If the Campbell’s monkeys hear a lion’s shouting, they will call “”.
| A．Krak | B．Boom | C．Boom boom krak-oo krak-oo krak-oo | D．Krak-oo |
According to the passage, it seems that .
| A．Zuberbuhler has spent years in the forests |
| B．the writer isn’t sure of Zuberbuhler’s opinions |
| C．the Campbell’s monkeys are cleverer than other animals |
| D．the Campbell’s monkeys can express six meanings by calls |