The Man of Many Secrets — Harry Houdini — was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes — from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his “magic” tricks.
Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.
Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.
It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini’s success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck — and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.
Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the resul
t? World-wide fame and a name remembered today. According to the passage, Houdini’s success in prison escapes depends on _______.
| A．his special tricks and supernatural powers |
| B．his unusual ability and a skeleton key |
| C．his magic tricks and inhuman powers |
| D．his wisdom and magic tricks |
In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word “this” refers to _______.
| A．his first prison escape | B．the year 1898 |
| C．the publicity | D．Harry Houdini’s success |
It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.
| A．in 1894 | B．before he married |
| C．at the age of 17 | D．when he was about 24 |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．A Skeleton Key | B．A Man of Many Secrets |
| C．World-wild Fame | D．Great Escape |
The old idea that child prodigies (神童) “burn themselves” or “overtax their brains” in the early years, and therefore are prey to failure and (at worst) mental illness is just a myth. As a matter of fact, the outstanding thing that happens to bright children is that they are very likely to grow into bright adults.
To find this out, 1, 500 gifted persons were followed up to thirty or fifty year with these results:
On adult intelligence tests, they scored as high as they did as children. They were, as a group, in good health, physically and mentally. Eighty-four percent of their group were married and seemed content with their life.
About 70 percent had graduated from colleges, though only 30 percent had graduated with honors. A few had even flunked out(退学), but nearly half of these had returned to graduate.
Of the men, 80 percent were in one of the professions or in business, managers or semi-professional jobs. The women who had remained single had offices, business, or professional occupations.
The group had published 90 books and 1, 500 articles in scientific, scholarly, and literary magazines and had collected more than 100 patents.
In a material way they didn’t do badly, either. Average income was considerably higher among the gifted people, especially the men, than for the country as a whole, despite their comparative youth when last surveyed.
In fact, far from being strange, maladjusted (难以适应) people locked in an ivory tower, most of the gifted were turning their early promises into practical reality.
55. The main idea of the passage is _____.
A. that gifted children were most likely to become bright grown-ups
B. that when the bright children grew up, they would become ordinary
C. that bright children were unlikely to be physically and mentally healthy
D. how many gifted children turned successful when they grew up
56. From the passage, we can conclude that _____.
A. half of the gifted followed up graduated from colleges
B. bright men got higher income than bright women
C. most of the gifted children became white collars when they grew up
D. each of the talented published at least one article
57. Which of the following is mentioned in the passage ?
A. Most of the gifted appeared satisfied with their life .
B. Most of the bright and successful women kept single
C. The gifted could not be fit for their social positions
D. The gifted men got full marks in intelligence tests
58. The explanation of the underlined phrase “turning their early promises into practical reality” is _____.
A. doing practical jobs and facing reality
B. realizing what they were expected
C. earning their living and keeping promises
D. doing what they have promised
One of our biggest fears nowadays is that our kids might some day get lost in a “sea of technology” rather than experiencing the natural world. Fear-producing TV and computer games are leading to a serious disconnect between kids and the great outdoors, which will change the wild places of the world, its creatures and human health for the worse, unless adults get working on child’s play.
Each of us has a place in nature we go sometimes, even if it was torn down. We cannot be the last generation to have that place. At this rate, kids who miss the sense of wonder outdoors will not grow up to be protectors of natural landscapes. “If the decline in parks use continues across North America, who will defend parks against encroachment (蚕食)?” asks Richard Louv, author of Last Child in the Woods.
Without having a nature experience, kids, can turn out just fine, but they are missing out a huge enrichment of their lives. That applies to everything from their physical health and mental health, to stress levels, creativity and cognitive (认知的) skills. Experts predict modern kids will have poorer health than their parents—and they say a lack of outside play is surely part of it; research suggests that kids do better academically in schools with a nature component and that play in nature fosters (培养) leadership by the smartest, not by the toughest. Even a tiny outdoor experience can create wonder in a child. The three-year-old turning over his first rock realizes he is not alone in the world. A clump of trees on the roadside can be the whole universe in his eyes. We really need to value that more.
Kids are not to blame. They are over-protected and frightened. It is dangerous out there from time to time, but repetitive stress from computers is replacing breaking an arm as a childhood rite（仪式）of passage.
Everyone, from developers, to schools and outdoorsy citizens, should help regain for our kids some of the freedom and joy of exploring, taking friendship in fields and woods that cement (增强) love, respect and need for landscape. As parents, we should devote some of our energies to taking our kids into nature. This could yet be our greatest cause.
51. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is that __________.
A.Richard Louv is the author of Last Child in the Woods
B. children are expected to develop into protectors of nature
C. kids missing the sense of wonder outdoors
D. parks are in danger of being gradually encroached
52. According to the passage, children without experiencing nature will _________.
A.change wild places and creatures for the better
B. keep a high sense of wonder
C. be over-protected by their parents
D. be less healthy both physically and mentally
53. According to the author, children’s breaking an arm is ___________.
A.the natural experience in their growing up
B. the fault on the part of their parents
C. the effect of their repetitive stress from computers
D. the result of their own carelessness in play
54. In writing this passage, the author mainly intends to ________.
A. show his concern about children’s lack of experience in nature
B. blame children for getting lost in computer games
C. inspire children to keep the sense of wonder about things around
D. encourage children to protect parks from encroachment
The United States is on the verge of losing its leading place in the world’s technology. So says more than one study in recent years. One of the reasons for this decline is the parallel decline in the number of U.S. scientists and engineers.
Since 1976, employment of scientists and engineers is up 85 percent. This trend is expected to continue. However, the trend shows that the number of 22-year-old the near term source of future PhDs is declining. Further adding to the problem is the increased competition for these candidates from other fields law，medicine，business，etc. While the number of U.S. PhDs in science and engineering declines，the award of PhDs to foreign nationals is increasing rapidly.
Our inability to motivate students to pursue science and engineering careers at the graduate level is compounded because of the intense demand industry has for bright Bachelor‘s and Master‘s degree holders. Too often，promising PH.D.candidates, confronting(面临) the cost and financial sacrifice of pursuing their education, find the attraction of industry irresistible.
67. The U.S.will come to lose its leading place in technology probably because ________.
A. scientists and engineers are not employed
B. the number of PH.D. degree holders is declining
C. the number of scientists and engineers is decreasing
D. the number of 22-year-ilds is declining
68. The field of science and engineering is facing a competition from ________ .
A. postgraduates B. technology
C. such fields as law，medicine and business
D. foreign nationals
69. Large-scale enterprises now need _______.
A. new inventions B. engineers
C. advanced technology D. bright graduates and postgraduates
70. PH.D. candidates "find the attraction of industry irresistible" means that _________.
A. they cannot work for industry any longer
B. they find industry is attracting more and more college students
C. they don’t think they can prevent themselves from working for industry
D. they cannot resist any attraction from all sides
More than 2 million US teenagers have suffered a serious bout（发作) of depression in the past year, according to a federal government survey released on Tuesday.
On average, 8.5 percent of adolescents aged 12 to 17 described having had a major depressive episode in the previous year, the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration reported.
But there were "striking differences" by sex, with 12.7 percent of girls and 4.6 percent of boys affected.
Depression is the leading cause of suicide, which in turn is the third-leading cause of death for 15- to 24-year-olds in the United States.
"Combined 2004 to 2006 data show that rates of past year major depressive experience among youths aged 12 to 17 generally increased with increasing age," the researchers wrote.
Researchers at SAMHSA and RTI International in Research Triangle Park, North Carolina, prepared the report using data from the National Survey on Drug Use and Health.
More than 67,700 youths aged 12 to 17 answered questions about mood and depression. They were also asked to rate how depression affected them using the Sheehan Disability Scale, which measures impact on family, friends, chores at home, work and school.
Researchersdefined a major depressive episode as two weeks or longer of depressed mood or loss of interest or pleasure, and at least four other symptoms(症状) such as problems with sleep, energy, concentration or self-image.
Nearly half of the teenagers who had major depression said it severely damaged their ability to function in at least one of the areas on the disability scale.
"Fortunately, depression responds very well to early intervention and treatment," SAMHSA Administrator Terry Cline said in a statement.
63. The underlined word “ episode ”in paragraph 2 has the similar meaning as the given word
A. experiment B. feeling C. expression D. experience
64. The main reasons which lead to serious depressive symptoms include .
A. no family or friends or jobs or interests at all
B. low spirits , unhappiness , lack of sleep and poor concentration
C. poor health , sex discrimination , less energy and loss of interest
D. suicide , sandness , lack of confidence and depression
65. What can be implied , but is not stated directly ?
A. depression is the third-leading cause of suicide
B. There were more girl students suffering depression than boys
C. There were over 2 million American teens suffering depression in the past two years
D. The students surveyed were aged between `12 and 17
66. What will the following paragraph probably talk about according to the passage ?
A. How to recover from stress B. How to prevent and treat depression
C. How to live a comfortable life D. How to have a happy feeling
People tend to think of computers as isolated machines, working away all by themselves. Some personal computers do without an outside link, like someone's secret cabin in the woods. But just as most of homes are tied to a community by streets, bus routes and electric lines, computers that exchange intelligence are part of a community local, national and even global network joined by telephone connections.
The computer network is a creation of the electric age, but it is based on old-fashioned trust. It cannot work without trust. A rogue (流氓) loose in a computer system called hacker is worse than a thief entering your house. He could go through anyone's electronic mail or add to, change or delete anything in the information stored in the computer's memory. He could even take control of the entire system by inserting his own instructions in the software that runs it. He could shut the computer down whenever he wished, and no one could stop him. Then he could program the computer to erase any sign of his ever having been there.
Hacking, our electronic-age term for computer break-in is more and more in the news, intelligent kids vandalizing（破坏）university records, even pranking (恶作剧) about in supposedly safeguarded systems. To those who understand how computer networks are increasingly regulating life in the late 20th century, these are not laughing matters. A potential for disaster is building: A dissatisfied former insurance-company employee wipes out information from some files; A student sends out a "virus", a secret and destructive command, over a national network. The virus copies itself at lightning speed, jamming the entire network thousands of academic, commercial and government computer systems. Such disastrous cases have already occurred. Now exists the possibility of terrorism by computer. Destroging a system responsible for air-traffic control at a busy airport, or knocking out the telephones of a major city, is a relatively easy way to spread panic. Yet neither business nor government has done enough to strengthen its defenses against attack. For one thing, such defenses are expensive; for another, they may interrupt communication, the main reason for using computers in the first place.
59. People usually regard computers as .
A. a small cabin at the end of a street
B. part of a network
C. means of exchanging intelligence
D. personal machines disconnected from outside
60. The writer mentions “ a thief ”in the second paragraph most probably to .
A. look into the case where hackers and thieves are the same people
B. demand that a computer network should be set up against thieves
C. tell people that thieves like to steal computers nowadays
D. show that a hacker is more dangerous than a thief
61. According to the passage , a hacker may do all the damages below EXCEPT .
A. destroying computer systems .
B. creating many electronic-age terms .
C.. entering into computer systems without being discovered
D. attacking people’s e-mails
62. By saying “ Now exists the possibility of terrorism by computer ”(the underlined ) the writer means that .
A. students who send out a “ virus ”may do disastrous damages to thousands of computers
B. some people may spread fear in public by destroying computer systems
C. some employees may erase information from some files
D. some terrorists are trying to contact each other using electronic mails