YoumayhaveheardthetermtheAmeri-优题课

Even as Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda wrapped up a tired appearance before Congress，the head of the world’s largest automaker wasn’t leaving his problems behind．
Toyota faces a criminal investigation by federal lawyers in New York．The company is now being investigated．Its US dealerships（特许经销商）in difficulty now are facing repairs to potentially millions of customer cars that have been recalled．The company is offering customers money back for rental cars and other expenses．
Its lawyers are busy preparing to cope with lawsuits．A new hearing will be conducted. And the cost to Toyota’s reputation is only now starting．
Despite back-to-back hearings this week，left to be said were a better explanation for slow actions to deal with the faults and believable promises that the problems that led to sudden，unintended accelerations will be fixed．
Toyoda said those changes were being made nearly around the clock，but during three hours of often tense questions and answers he repeated that there was no link to the vehicle’s electronic systems．
Many drivers making complaints against Toyota and the government say their acceleration problems had nothing to do with floor mat interference(油门踏板故障)or sticky gas pedals(刹车)．Outside experts have suggested electronic problems.
House lawmakers expressed serious criticism on Toyoda，the grandson of the company’s founder．
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA)is seeking records on Toyota’s recalls and is conducting its own review on whether electronics were behind the car faults．NHTSA also continues to look into steering（转向操控装置）complaints from drivers of the popular Corolla model．
Toyota has recalled 8.5 million cars，more than 6 million of them in the United States．
It may be a while before car buyers believe that Toyota really makes safe cars．
Toyota’s January sales already fell 16 percent even as most other automakers jumped back from last year’s bad results．Analyst Koji Endo of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo said he expects February sales，due out next week，to be down 30 percent to 40．Toyota’s sales problem could continue beyond that．
It will take some time to feel the full effect of this，he said．
67．The best title for this passage is．
A．Toyota is in trouble B．Toyota is under hearing
C．Toyota is finished D．Toyota is still running
68．What is the purpose of the hearing?
A．America hopes that Toyota apologizes to the US customers．
B．America wants to get Toyota out of the US market．
C．America wants to help Toyota out of difficulty．
D．America hopes that Toyota admits their cars have electronic system problem．
69．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Toyota provides very good post sale service．
B．Toyota’s biggest market is in the United States．
C．Toyota will become better．
D．Toyota’s dealership in the US will all be closed．
70．The last sentence of this passage indicates .
A．Analyst Koji Endo is fully confident about Toyota
B．Toyota could meet a worse situation
C．Toyota would get out of trouble sooner or later
D．Toyota would build up a better reputation among its customers

I hear many parents complain that their teenage children are rebelling (叛逆). I wish it were so. At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents. You should be learning to stand on your own feet. But take a good look at the present rebellion. It seems that teenagers are all taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of starting acting independently, most of them are holding one another's hands for reassurance (放心).
They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music. But they all end up listening to the same record. Their reason for thinking or acting in such a way is that the crowd is doing it. They have come out of their cocoon (茧) into a larger cocoon.
It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly developed a market for teenagers. These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. This is a great roadblock for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path.
But the roadblock is worth climbing over. The path is worth following. You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records. You may have some thoughts that you don't care to share at once with your classmates. Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come—with the people who respect you for who you are. That's the only kind of popularity that is really important.
63. The author's purpose in writing this passage is to tell______.
A. readers how to be popular with people around
B. teenagers how to learn to make a decision for themselves
C. parents how to control and guide their children
D. people how to understand and respect each other
64. According to the author, many teenagers think they are brave enough to act on their own, but in fact most of them______.
A. have much difficulty understanding each other
B. lack confidence
C. dare not deal with any problems alone
D. are very much afraid of getting lost
65. The author thinks of advertisements as ______to teenagers.
A. instructive B. attractive C. beneficial D. influential
66. The main idea of the last paragraph is that a teenager should______.
A. differ from others in as many ways as possible
B. become popular with others
C. find his real self
D. rebel against his parents and the popularity wave

The Kingdome in Seattle was destroyed on March 26，2000．It was taken down to make room for a new stadium．The blast(爆破)from the failing building caused the earth to shake as if an earthquake had happened．

Scientists placed more than 200 earthquake recorders in the earth to measure the movement．They found which parts of the
city shook the most．This information helped them know which parts of the city would be damaged in a real earthquake at an early time．
A real earthquake happened on February 28, 2001 in Seattle．The Nisqually earthquake was 6.8 on the Richter scale(里氏6.8级)．It damaged the same parts of Seattle that scientists had predicted from the pulling down of the Kingdome．It was a plate quake．It started deep in the earth, 37 miles below the surface on the Juan de Fuca Plate．Sometimes，huge plates under the earth cause earthquakes when the plates move against each other suddenly．
Scientists have learned that deep earthquakes have very few aftershocks(余震)．The Nisqually earthquake had only 4 ones．Another earthquake in California that was close to the surface had over 120 aftershocks．Scientists do not know why the deep earthquakes have fewer aftershocks．
Scientists plan to blast in the ground near Seattle with the purpose of testing the plate．The shockwaves from the blast will jump off the plate and give them all idea of where the plate is and how it is moving．This will give them more information in case another real earthquake hits the area．
56．Why were the scientists interested in the pulling down of the Seattle Kingdome?
A．To predict what might happen in a real earthquake．
B．To see which areas near the Kingdome would shake the hardest．
C．To measure the movement of the Earth with earthquake recorders．
D．All of the above．
57．What will happen after a deep earthquake according to the scientists?
A．There will be little damage．
B．There will be many aftershocks．
C．There will be very few aftershocks．
D．The Richter scale of the quakes will be 6.8 or more．
58．According to the passage，have the most aftershocks．
A．deep earthquakes B．shockwave earthquakes
C．earthquakes close to the surface D．earthquakes more than 6.8 Richter scale
59．By studying the blast in the ground near Seattle, scientists hope to
A．destroy the Kingdome
B．learn where the plate is and how it is moving
C．find out how many plates there are in the ground there
D．know which places are likely to have the most damage

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60．This advertisement is written for people who want to ·
A．find out where the club is B. get something free from the club
C．develop stamp collection as a hobby D．make money through collecting stamps
61. From the advertisement we can learn．
A．Collectors Club is among the biggest clubs of its kind in the country
B．how much you must pay to become a member of the club
C．today is the last day for stamp collectors to join the club
D．members may receive a set of album pages every month
62．Where is this advertisement most probably found?
A．In a newspaper． B．On a web page．
C．In a magazine． D．On a TV program．

Climate has been a major driver of armed conflict in Africa, research shows—and future warming is likely to increase the number of deaths from war. US researchers found that across the continent, conflict was about 50% more likely in unusually warm years.
Writing in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), they suggest conflict arises when the food supply is not enough in warm conditions. Climatic factors have been mentioned as a reason for several recent conflicts. One is the fighting in Darfur in Sudan that has killed 200,000 people and forced two million more from their homes. Previous research has shown an association between lack of rain and conflict, but this is thought to be the first clear evidence of a temperature link.
The researchers used databases of temperatures across sub-Saharan Africa for the period between 1981 and 2002, and looked for connections between above average warmth and civil conflict in the same country that left at least 1,000 people dead. "Studies show that crop output in the region is really sensitive to small shifts in temperature, even of half a degree or so," research leader Marshall Burke, from the University of California at Berkeley, told BBC News.
"Our findings provide strong motivation to increase investments in African adaptation to climate change by such steps as developing crop varieties less sensitive to extreme heat and promoting insurance plans to help protect farmers from negative effects of the hotter climate," said Dr Burke. "If the argument is that the trend towards rising temperatures will increase conflict, then we need to do something around climate change, but more fundamentally we need to resolve the conflicts in the first place."
If the sub-Saharan climate continues to warm and little is done to help its countries better adapt to high temperatures, the human costs are likely to be unimaginable. If temperatures rise across the continent as computer models project, future conflicts are likely to become more common, researchers suggest. Their study shows an increase of about 50% over the next 20 years.
When projections of social trends such as population increase and economic development were included in their model of a future Africa, temperature rise still emerged as a likely major cause of increasing armed conflict. At next month's UN climate summit (峰会) in Copenhagen, governments are due to debate how much money to put into helping African countries prepare for and adapt to negative effects of climate change.
68. According to the passage, which of the following is one of the reasons for the fighting in Darfur in Sudan?
A. Shortage of drinking water. B. Racial discrimination.
C. Rising temperature. D. Demand for planting land.
69. What can we know from the research done by the US researchers?
A. There is no close relation between rainfall and conflict.
B. Temperature greatly affects crop production in sub-Saharan Africa.
C. Temperature will rise by about 50% in Africa over the next two decades.
D. With world cooperation, conflicts in Africa will be reduced by half 20 years later.
70. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Something must be done to help sub-Saharan countries with better adaptation to climate change to avoid disaster.
B. Conflicts in sub-Saharan countries are sure to be on the rise in future.
C. Temperature in sub-Saharan countries will rise at a faster speed.
D. High temperatures will make sub-Saharan countries unfit to live in.