“Mobile phone killed my man,” screamed one headline last year. Also came claims that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones could cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones could heat the brain.
F
or anyone who uses a mobile phone, these are worrying times. But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scares and you hear a different story.
One of the oddest effects comes from the now famous “memory loss” s
tudy. Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device that imitated the microwave radiation of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers. The volunteers were good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen. Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end. But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive（认识的）abilities. “I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory,” he says.
Another expert, Tattersall, remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss. One result, for instance, suggests that nerve cell synapses（神经元突触） exposed to microwaves become more — rather than less — receptive to undergoing changes linked to memory formation.
An even happier outcome would be that microwaves turned out to be good for you. It sounds crazy, but a couple of years ago a
team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California found that mice exposed to microwaves for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours when given a cancer-causing chemical.
“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans,” says William. And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone use does damage your memories or give you cancer, the conclusion is: don’t be afraid. Mobile phone users are worried because ______.
| A．they are not sure whether mobile phones can cause memory loss |
| B．it’s said that mobile phones have a lot of side effects |
| C．one headline reported “Mobile phone killed my man” |
D．a British newspaper s howed mobile phones could heat the brain |
According to this passage, we can know that _____.
| A．the mobile phone is a most wonderful invention |
| B．there’s no need to worry about the radiation from mobile phones |
| C．something must be done to stop people using mobile phones |
| D．mobile phone companies shouldn’t cheat customers |
What would be the best title for this passage? ______.
| A．New Mobile Phones. | B．Special Mobile Phones. |
| C．New Special Investigation: Mobile Phones. | D．New Investigation. |
The word "sport" first meant something that people did in their free time. Later it often meant hunting wild animals and birds. About a hundred years ago the word was first used for organized games. This is the usual meaning of the word today. People spend a lot of their time playing football, basketball, tennis and many other sports. Such people play because they want to. A few people pay for the sport they play. These people are called professional sportsmen. They may be sportsmen for only a few years, but during that time the best ones can earn a lot of money. For example, a professional footballer in England earns more than 30, 000 dollars a year. The stars earn a lot more. International golf and tennis champions can make more than 500，000 dollars a year. Of course, only a few sportsmen can earn as much money as that.
Perhaps the most surprising thing about sportsmen and money is that the stars can earn more money from advertising than from sports. An advertisement for sports equipment does not simply say "Buy our things". It says "Buy the same shirt and shoes as...". Famous sportsmen can even advertise things like watches and food. They allow the companies to use their names or a photograph of them and they paid for this. Sport is no longer just something for people's spare time. From the passage we can learn that __________.
| A．people spend too much money on sports |
| B．the development of sports is slower than any other activity |
| C．most people enjoy sports because they can earn money |
| D．nowadays sport is not merely a pastime for people |
Nowadays, the word "sport" means __________.
| A．what people do in their spare time |
| B．hunting wild animals and birds |
| C．organized games |
| D．something people are paid to do |
People play sports for __________.
| A．fun | B．different purposes |
| C．money | D．keeping fit |
What surprises people most is that __________.
| A．the stars get more money from advertising |
| B．the word "sport" meant hunting animals |
| C．professional sportsmen are paid for what they do |
| D．only a few sportsmen can earn $500, 000 a year |
I always felt sorry for the people in wheelchair. Some people, old and weak, cannot get around by themselves. Others seem perfectly healthy, dressed in business suits. But whenever I saw someone in a wheelchair, I only saw a disability, not a person.
Then I fainted at Euro Disney due to low blood pressure. This was the first time I had ever fainted, and my parents said that I must rest for a while after First Aid. I agreed to take it easy but, as I stepped toward the door, I saw my dad pushing a wheelchair in my direction! Feeling the color burn my cheeks, I asked him to wheel that thing right back to where he found it.
I could not believe this was happening to me. Wheelchairs were fine for other people but not for me, as my father wheeled me out into the main street, people immediately began to treat me differently.
Little kids ran in front of me, forcing my father to stop the wheel chair suddenly. Bitterness set in as I was thrown back and forth. "Stupid kids—they have perfectly good legs. Why can't they watch where they are going?" I thought. People stared down at me, pity in their eyes. Then they would look away, maybe because they thought the sooner they forgot me the better.
"I'm just like you!" I wanted to scream. "The only difference is you've got legs, and I have wheels."
People in wheelchairs are not stupid. They see every look and hear each word. Looking out at the faces, I finally understood: I was once just like them. I treated people in wheelchairs exactly the way they did not want to be treated. I realized it is some of us with two healthy legs who are truly disabled. The author once __________ when she was healthy.
| A．laughed at disabled people |
| B．looked down upon disabled people |
| C．imagined herself sitting in a wheelchair |
| D．saw some healthy people moving around in wheelchairs |
Facing the wheelchair for the first time, the author __________.
| A．felt curious about it |
| B．got ready to move around in it right away |
| C．refused to accept it right away |
| D．thought it was ready for his father |
The experience of the author tells us that "__________".
| A．life is the best teacher |
| B．people often eat their bitter fruit |
| C．life is so changeable that nobody can foretell |
| D．one should not do to others what he would not like others do to him |
Which is the best title for this passage?
| A．How to Get Used to Wheelchairs |
| B．The Wheels Are as Good as Two Legs |
| C．People with Two Legs Are Truly Healthy |
| D．The Difference between Healthy People and the Disabled |
Wilderness
"In wilderness (荒野) is the preservation of the world." This is a famous saying from a writer regarded as one of the fathers of environmentalism. The frequency with which it is borrowed mirrors a heated debate on environmental protection: whether to place wilderness at the heart of what is to be preserved.
As John Sauven of Greenpeace UK points out, there is a strong appeal in images of the wild, the untouched; more than anything else, they speak of the nature that many people value most dearly. The urge to leave the subject of such images untouched is strong, and the danger exploitation (开发) brings to such landscapes (景观) is real. Some of these wildernesses also perform functions that humans need—the rainforests, for example, store carbon in vast quantities. To Mr. Sauven, these "ecosystem services" far outweigh the gains from exploitation.
Lee Lane, a visiting fellow at the Hudson Institute, takes the opposing view. He acknowledges that wildernesses do provide useful services, such as water conservation. But that is not, he argues, a reason to avoid all human presence, or indeed commercial and industrial exploitation. There are ever more people on the Earth, and they reasonably and rightfully want to have better lives, rather than merely struggle for survival. While the ways of using resources have improved, there is still a growing need for raw materials, and some wildernesses contain them in abundance. If they can be tapped without reducing the services those wildernesses provide, the argument goes, there is no further reason not to do so. Being untouched is not, in itself, a characteristic worth valuing above all others.
I look forward to seeing these views taken further, and to their being challenged by the other participants. One challenge that suggests itself to me is that both cases need to take on the question of spiritual value a little more directly. And there is a practical question as to whether wildernesses can be exploited without harm.
This is a topic that calls for not only free expression of feelings, but also the guidance of reason. What position wilderness should enjoy in the preservation of the world obviously deserves much more serious thinking. John Sauven holds that __________.
| A．many people value nature too much |
| B．exploitation of wildernesses is harmful |
| C．wildernesses provide humans with necessities |
| D．the urge to develop the ecosystem services is strong |
What is the main idea of Para.3?
| A．The exploitation is necessary for the poor people. |
| B．Wildernesses cannot guarantee better use of raw materials. |
| C．Useful services of wildernesses are not the reason for no exploitation. |
| D．All the characteristics concerning the exploitation should be treated equally. |
What is the author's attitude towards this debate?
| A．Objective. | B．Disapproving. | C．Sceptical. | D．Optimistic. |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub-point (次要点)
C: Conclusion
A couple from Miami, Bill and Simone Butler, spent sixty-six days in a life-raft (救生艇) in the seas of Central America after their boat sank.
Twenty-one days after they left Panama in their boat, Simony, they met some whales (鲸鱼). "They started to hit the side of the boat," said Bill, "and then suddenly we heard water." Two minutes later, the boat was sinking. They jumped into the life-raft and watched the boat go under the water.
For twenty days they had tins of food, biscuits, and bottles of water. They also had a fishing-line and a machine to make salt water into drinking water—two things which saved their lives. They caught eight to ten fish a day and ate them raw (生的). Then the line broke. "So we had no more fish until something very strange happened. Some sharks (鲨鱼) came to feed, and the fish under the raft were afraid and came to the surface. I caught them with my hands. "
About twenty ships passed them, but no one saw them. After fifty days at sea their life-raft was beginning to break up. Then suddenly it was all over. A fishing boat saw them and picked them up. They couldn't stand up. So the captain carried them onto his boat and took them to Costa Rica. Their two months at sea was over. The whales hit the side of the boat, and then __________.
| A．they brought in a lot of water |
| B．they broke the side of the boat |
| C．they pulled the boat |
| D．they went under the water |
After their boat sank the couple __________.
| A．jumped into the life-raft |
| B．heard water |
| C．watched the boat go under water |
| D．stayed in the life-raft |
During their days at sea, __________ saved their lives.
| A．tins of food and bottles of water |
| B．a fishing-line and a machine |
| C．whales and sharks |
| D．Twenty passing ships |
When they saw the fishing boat which later picked them up, __________.
| A．they were too excited to stand up |
| B．they couldn't wait to climb onto the boat |
| C．their life-raft was beginning to break up |
| D．they knew their two months at sea would be over |
After giving a talk at a high school, I was asked to pay a visit to a special student. An illness had kept the boy home, but he had expressed an interest in meeting me, and it would mean a great deal to him. I agreed.
During the nine-mile drive to his home, I found out something about Matthew. He had muscular dystrophy (肌肉萎缩症). When he was born, the doctor told his parents that he would not live to five years old, then they were told again he would not live to ten. Now he was thirteen. He wanted to meet me because I was a gold-medal weight lifter, and I knew about overcoming obstacles and going for my dreams.
I spent over an hour talking to Matthew. Never once did he complain or ask "Why me?" He talked about winning and succeeding and going for his dreams. Obviously, he knew what he was talking about. He didn't mention that his classmates had made fun of him because he was different. He just talked about his hopes for the future, and how one day he wanted to lift weight with me.
When we finished talking, I went to my briefcase (公文包) and pulled out the first gold medal I won and put it around his neck, I told him he was more of a winner and knew more about success and overcoming obstacles than I ever would. He looked at it for a moment, then took it off and handed it back to me. He said, "You are a champion. You earned that medal. Someday when I get to the Olympics and win my own medal, I will show it to you."
Last summer I received a letter from Matthew's parents telling me that Matthew had passed away. They wanted me to have a letter he had written to me a few days before: Dear Rick,
My mom said I should send you a thank-you letter for the picture you sent me. I also want to let you know that the doctors tell me that I don't have long to live anymore. But I still smile as much as I can.
I told you someday I was going to the Olympics and win a gold medal. But I know now I will never get to do that. But I know I'm a champion, and God knows that too. When I get to Heaven, God will give me my medal and when you get there, I will show it to you. Thank you for loving me.
Yours,
Matthew The boy wanted to meet the author because __________.
| A．he was interested in weight lifting |
| B．he wanted to get a gold medal |
| C．he admired the author very much |
| D．he wanted the author to know him |
The underlined part in the third paragraph probably means " __________ "
| A．Why do you come to see me? |
| B．Why do I have to stay at home? |
| C．Why does the disease fall on me? |
| D．Why not give a gold medal to me? |
We can infer from the passage that __________.
| A．Matthew is a determined boy |
| B．Rick used to have the same disease |
| C．Matthew became a champion finally |
| D．Rick regarded Matthew as normal |
The boy refused the author's medal because __________.
| A．he was not worthy of it |
| B．he would not be pitied by others |
| C．he knew he would die soon |
| D．he thought he himself could earn one in the future |