American magician David Blaine left the glass box in which he had lived for 44 days without food on October 19．2003．Hundreds of people came to watch the end of his starvation experiment, which has become one of London’s main tourist attractions.
Looking thinner and darker, 30-year-old Blaine was taken out of his box over the River Thames and immediately went to hospital．He was then slowly reintroduced to food, a process doctors say could be life threatening．He had been drinking only water since September 5.
A native of Brooklyn, New York, Blaine first became known as a street magician in the early 1990s．He soon found himself doing magic tricks in bars for the likes of American actor Leonardo DiCaprio and his super model friends.
Over the last decade Blaine has become famous with a combination of breathtaking magic and clever tricks aimed at getting a lot of attention.
In 1999, he was buried in a coffin(棺材) for one week and, in 2000, he spent 62 hours in a giant block of ice．Last year he stood on top of a 25-meter pillar(柱子) in the center of New York for 35 hours before jumping into a pile of boxes.
“I think a lot of people are unable to accept that they’re able to do what they can do,” he said．“They don’t realize we can survive．The human being is an amazing creation.” But he seems to have suffered from spending so long in the glass box．He said that at times he was unable to see, had serious back pains and lost his sense of taste.It is __________ for David Blaine to eat food after such a long starvation.
| A．pleasant | B．delicious | C．dangerous | D．important |
Having spent such a long time in the glass box, he suffered the following EXCEPT that __________.
| A．he had become blind | B．he had serious back pains |
| C．he lost his sense of taste | D．he was in weak health |
Which of the following can best describe David Blaine?
| A．Serious | B．Adventurous | C．Mad | D．Crazy |
Which of the following is NOT true of David Blaine?
| A．Blaine immediately went to hospital after he was taken out of his box. |
| B．Blaine was born and brought up in England. |
| C．In Blaine’s opinion, people can create a wonder． |
| D．Blaine didn’t have any food for 44 days. |
WASHINGTON——Chinese Vice-President XiJinping arrived at Andrews Air Force Base in Washington，February 13，2012．Vice-President XiJinping said he would explore important problems in an active and practical manner with his America hosts on Monday during his five-day official trip here after arriving at Andrews Air Force Base in the afternoon．
In a written statement given upon his arrival，Xi said as the international situation experiences complex and complete changes，China and the United States have more extensive common interests and shoulder more important common responsibilities on the present world stage.
The purpose of the current visit is to “carry out the important consensus reached by President Hu with President Obama during his visit to the United States in January last year and to advance the building of the China—US cooperative partnership based onmutual respect and mutual benefit,” said Xi.
According to Xi，bilateral(双边的)relations have moved forward in spite of some twists and turns during the past several decades.
“This has brought enormous benefits to our two countries and two peoples，and has had a positive，farreaching impact on peace，stability and the prosperity of the AsiaPacific region and the world at large.”
Xi said that “whether we can seize opportunities，tackle challenges and build a cooperative partnership at the new historical starting point matters to the future of our two countries and the world as a whole.”
Xi said he looks forward to engaging in extensive dialogue and exchanges with Americans from various sectors to enhance cooperation and strengthen friendship.
Xi is scheduled to meet US senior government officials，including Henry Kissinger，Brent Scowcroft，Zbigniew Brzezinski，Madeleine Albright and Henry Paulson this evening to listen to their advice on ChinaUS ties. Meetings between Xi and US VicePresident Biden and President Obama are scheduled on Tuesday.The passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．Xi's fiveday official trip |
| B．ChinaUS cooperative partnership |
| C．Xi is set to discuss important bilateral problems |
| D．China and the US have more common interests |
It can be inferred from the second paragraph that ______.
| A．the current world stage remains peaceful |
| B．China and US should build the cooperative partnership |
| C．Xi himself wrote a statement about his arrival |
| D．China and the US have the equal rights |
The underlined word “consensus” in Paragraph 3 means ______.
| A．agreement |
| B．opinion |
| C．partnership |
| D．benefit |
According to the passage，bilateral relations between China and US have experienced ______.
| A．enormous dialogues |
| B．extensive exchanges |
| C．many challenges |
| D．various hardships |
What is Xi's attitude towards the visit?
| A．Respectful. |
| B．Optimistic. |
| C．Approving. |
| D．Expectant. |
Life is difficult.
It is a great truth because once we truly understand and accept it, then life is no longer difficult.
Most people do not fully see this truth. Instead they complain(抱怨) about their problems and difficulties as if life should be easy. It seems to them that difficulties stand for a special kind of suffering especially forced on them or else on their families, their class, or even their nation.
What makes life difficult is that the process of facing and solving problems is a painful one. Problems, depending on their nature, cause sadness, or loneliness(孤独) or regret or anger or fear. These are uncomfortable feelings, often as painful as any kind of physical pain. And since life causes a lot of problems, life is always difficult and is full of pain as well as joy.
Yet, it is in this whole process of solving problems that life has its meaning. Problems are the serious test that tells us success from failure. When we want to encourage the growth of human spirit, we encourage the human ability to solve problems, just as in school we set problems for our children to solve. It is through the pain of meeting and working out problems that we learn. As Benjamin Franklin said, "Those things that hurt, instruct(指导)." It is for this reason that wise people learn not to fear but to welcome the pain of problems. From the passage, it can be inferred that_______.
| A．everybody has problems |
| B．we become stronger by facing and solving the problems of life |
| C．life is difficult because our problems bring us pain |
| D．people like to complain about their problems |
The writer probably used just one short sentence in the first paragraph to ___.
| A．save space |
| B．persuade readers |
| C．make readers laugh |
| D．get readers' attention |
The main idea of paragraph 3 is that _________.
| A．most people feel life is easy |
| B．the writer feel life is easy |
| C．the writer likes to complain about his problems |
| D．most people complain about how hard their lives are |
According to the passage, we give school children difficult problems to solve in order to ______.
| A．encourage them to learn |
| B．teach them to fear the pain of solving the problems |
| C．help them learn to deal with pain |
| D．teach them how to respect problems |
The saying from Benjamin Franklin "Those things that hurt, instruct" suggests that ______.
| A．we do not learn from experience |
| B．we do not learn when we are in pain |
| C．pain teaches us important lessons |
| D．pain cannot be avoided |
As civilization proceeds in the direction of technology, it passes the point of supplying all the basic essentials of life-food, shelter, clothes and warmth. Then we are faced with a choice between using technology to provide and fulfill needs which have now been regarded as unnecessary or, on the other hand, using technology to reduce the number of hours of work which a man must do in order to earn a given standard of living. In other words, we either raise our standard of living above that necessary for comfort and happiness or we leave it at this level and work shorter hours.
I shall take it for granted that mankind has, by that time, chosen the latter alternative. Men will be working shorter and shorter hours in their paid employment. It follows that the housewife will also expect to be able to have more leisure in her life without lowering her standard of living. It also follows that human domestic servants will have completely ceased to exist. Yet the great majority of the housewives will wish to be relieved completely from the routine operations of the home such as scrubbing the floors or the bath of the cooker, or washing the clothes or washing up, or dusting or sweeping, or making beds.
By far the most logical step to relieve the housewife of routine is to provide a robot which can be trained to the requirements of a particular home and can be programmed to carry out half a dozen or more standard operations, when switched by the housewife. As civilization develops in the direction of technology, ________.
| A．the basic essentials of life must be supplied |
| B．it is important to supply the basic essentials of life |
| C．it is no longer so important as it was in the past to supply all the basic essentials of life |
| D．it is not necessary to supply the basic essentials of life |
According to the author, we are faced with________.
| A．the choice of providing and fulfilling our needs |
| B．the choice of using technology |
| C．the choice of earning a standard of living |
| D．a choice between using technology to provide and fulfill needs to reduce the number of working hours |
What alternative will mankind have chosen in future?
| A．To leave our standard of living at this level and work shorter hours. |
| B．To raise our standard of living. |
| C．To fulfill needs which have been regarded as unnecessary. |
| D．To lower our standard of living and work shorter hours. |
Now most housewives wish to________.
| A．stop doing their housework |
| B．do more housework to improve their life |
| C．get rid of the heavy burden of their housework |
| D．do only simple and light housework |
It can be inferred that robots will be invented ______.
| A．to take the place of housewives |
| B．to help manage a family |
| C．to do the routine of housework instead of human |
| D．to provide the daily necessities for man |
A California family drives a car that could help protect the environment.
When Jon and Sandy go to the store or to their daughters’ soccer games, they drive in high-tech style. They drive a ＄1 million, fuel-cell-powered car. It may be the world’s most expensive car and one of the most environmentally friendly cars.
The FCX is the first fuel-cell-powered car to be used by a family
anywhere in the world. The FCX uses hydrogen and oxygen for fuel.
Car makers have been working to develop vehicles that are better for the environment. They are developing cars that use fuel other than gasoline.
what is fuel cell technology?
Fuel cell technology works by changing the chemicals hydrogen and oxygen into water. This process produces electricity, and water vapor which comes out of the exhaust pipe. Most cars release dangerous gases such as carbon monoxide(一氧化碳) and carbon dioxide. Many scientists say these gases are major contributors to global warming.
“The FCX is driven just like any other vehicle on the road, but
without the gases which pollute the environment, ” scientists say.
Fuel cell technology has been around since the 1800s, but scientists have yet been to perfect it. They say it may take years before the technology is ready for widespread use.
Creating environmentally friendly cars
Another earth-friendly car is already on the market.
Hybrid cars use both gasoline and an electric motor. They are becoming more popular with customers because they cut pollution and improve fuel efficiency. Which of the following about the FCX is NOT true?
| A．It may be the most expensive car in the world. |
| B．It is one of the most environmentally friendly cars. |
| C．It releases dangerous gases to pollute the air. |
| D．It uses hydrogen and oxygen for fuel other than gasoline. |
According to the passage, what is the major cause for global warming?
| A．Gases from FCX. |
| B．Water vapor from cars. |
| C．Hydrogen and oxygen. |
| D．Gases from cars. |
From the passage, we know that fuel cell technology _______.
| A．works by water |
| B．has a history for over two hundred years |
| C．works by electricity |
| D．has been widely used since the 1800s |
We can infer from the passage that _______ .
| A．future cars will be environmentally friendly |
| B．there will be no gasoline for cars |
| C．people can’t afford to buy cars in the future |
| D．global warming has been stopped |
Hybrid cars are popular because _______ .
| A．they are the fuel-cell-powered cars |
| B．they are energy-saving and cut pollution |
| C．they are perfect cars in the world |
| D．they produce gases to pollute the environment |
I can’t remember a winter being as cold as this in Pennsylvania, but I’m sure there were colder days.
Even though the daylight hours are growing longer minute by minute, it’s easy to find an excuse not to go out unless you absolutely must, but then again I often have to push myself to accomplish things.
People I speak to have been in all kinds of nasty moods. They say they’re “under the weather,” not feeling good about this time of year.
As I stood outside with my two dogs yesterday, it was so cold that my nose and face felt frozen and my ears were stinging. Of course, that doesn’t matter to Ricky and Lucy. They have a routine they must go through to find just the fighting spot no matter how cold or hot it is. So I wait.
But this time it was different. As cold as it was, I suddenly was excited thinking about how wonderful this extreme cold really was.
Then the sun broke through the clouds and memories of summer’s extremely hot days flashed through my mind. I could remember standing in the heat of the afternoon, with sweat pouring down my brow and the hot, burning sun against my face. I reminded myself then and there that in the cold of the winter I would wish I had this heat.
I was grateful for the extremes. Without the extremes in my life, I would never appreciate the days when things were just right. Without the extremes, life would be boring.
It’s being pushed to one of the extremes that makes us appreciate the middle more. Health challenges remind us that we need to pay more attention to how we live. Financial extremes remind us that when things go smoothly it’s also time to save for raining days.
I’ve come to the conclusion that all too often I find a reason not to be happy with where I am at that moment. Whether it’s hot or cold, good health or bad, in the money or out of it, I always want it to be different.
I’m tired of being “Under the Weather!” What is the author’s attitude towards the extremes in life?
| A．Grateful. |
| B．Critical. |
| C．Sensitive. |
| D．Unconcerned. |
That day the writer waited in the terrible cold because ______.
| A．his dogs wanted to hunt |
| B．his dogs had a routine |
| C．he wanted to be different |
| D．he wanted to face the cold bravely |
The underlined word “nasty” in the third paragraph can be replaced by ______.
| A．unpleasant |
| B．violent |
| C．favorable |
| D．unusual |
At last the author drew a conclusion that ______.
| A．happiness cannot be gained by complaints |
| B．his present situation really disappointed him |
| C．things will be different whatever the situation is |
| D．happiness will fail to come to you if you can find a reason |
What is the best title for this passage?
| A．Follow the Routine |
| B．Two Extremes in Life |
| C．Weather Information |
| D．Changes should be Expected |