When friends come to visit us in the evening, they spend their time telling us they are in a hurry and looking at their watches. It isn’t that our friends are all very busy, it is just that we haven’t got a television. People think that we are very strange. “But what do you do in the evening?”，they are always asking. The answer is very simple. Both my wife and I have hobbies. We certainly don’t spend our evenings staring at the walls. My wife enjoys cooking and painting and often attends evening classes in foreign languages. This is particularly useful as we often go abroad for our holidays. I collect stamps and I’m always busy with my collection. Both of us enjoy listening to the music and playing chess together.
Sometimes there are power cuts and we have no electricity in the house. This does not worry us, we just light candles and carry on with what we were doing before. Our friends, however, are lost---no television!---So they don’t know what to do. On such evenings our house is very full ---they all come to us. They all have a good time. Instead of sitting in silence in front of the television, everybody talks and plays games. The couple have not got a television, because .
| A．they are not rich enough |
| B．they are strange people |
| C．they enjoy spending evenings in their own ways |
| D．they don’t know what to do when there are power cuts |
Both of them are interested in .
| A．learning languages | B．traveling |
| C．staying home alone | D．watching people play games |
At night when there is no electricity, the couple .
| A．have to stare at the walls | B．can do nothing but sit in silence |
| C．will have many visitors | D．have to go out for candles |
The best title for this passage is _____.
| A．Why Do We Need a Television? | B．Candle! But No Electricity! |
| C．Different Friends, Different Hobbies. | D．We Go Without Televisions! |
Zheng He (1371-1435), or Cheng Ho, is arguably（可论证地） China’s most famous navigator. Starting from the beginning of the 15th Century, he traveled to the West seven times. In 28 years, he traveled more than 50,000km and visited over 30 countries, including Singapore. Zheng He died in the tenth year of the reign（统治） of the Ming emperor Xuande (1435) and was buried in the southern suburbs of Bull’s Head Hill (Niushou) in Nanjing.
In 1985, during the 580th anniversary（周年纪念） of Zheng He’s voyage, his tomb（坟墓） was rebuilt. The new tomb was built on the site of the original tomb in Nanjing and reconstructed according to the customs of Islamic teachings, as Zheng He was a Muslim.
At the entrance to the tomb is a Ming-style building, which was a memorial hall. Inside are paintings of the man himself and his navigation maps. To get to the tomb, there are newly laid stone platforms and steps. The stairway consists of 28 stone steps that are divided into four sections with each section having seven steps. This represents Zheng He’s seven journeys to the West. The Arabic words which mean “Allah (God) is great” are written on top of the tomb.
Zheng He built many wooden ships, some of which are the largest in history, in Nanjing. Three of the shipyards still exist today.
56. Zheng He’s tomb was rebuilt ________.
A. because he was a Muslim B. following the Islamic customs
C. to celebrate Zheng’s 580th birthday D. beside the original one
57. You can see _____ at Zheng He’s tomb.
A. a Ming-style hall in the tombB. ZhengHe’s portraits and his maps for his voyage
C. Arabic-style buildings and materials D. four flights of 28 stone steps
58. The passage mainly tells us ______.
A. how ZhengHe built his ships B. something about his tomb
C. that ZhengHe was a Muslim navigator D. about ZhengHe, his voyages and his tomb
A device that stops drivers form falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months.
The system, called Driver Alert, aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20% - 40% that are caused by tiredness. Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30% of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue.
Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband. The device, worn by drivers or pilots, gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey. After each sound the driver must respond by squeezing the steering wheel (方向盘). A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound the driver’s response.
Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time. Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond, but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy.
In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds, showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest. If the driver’s response continues to slow down, the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible.
The device has been delivered to the department’s laboratories for testing. If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time, are successful, the makers will bring the product to market within about a year.
72. According to the text, Driver Alert ______.
A. aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents B. has gone through testing at laboratories
C. aims to prevent drivers form sleeping D. has been on sale for 12 months
73. How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
A. By sounding a warning. B. By touching the wristband.
C. By checking the driving time. D.By pressing the steering wheel.
74. We can learn form the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ____
A. about 400 milliseconds B. below 500 milliseconds
C. over 500 milliseconds D. about 4 minutes
75. When the driver gets sleepy while driving, Driver Alert ______.
A. moves more regularlyB. stops working properly
C. opens the window for the driverD. sounds more frequently and loudly
When I was small and my grandmother died I couldn’t understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laugh turned into crying.
So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing come from the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so, too, does crying.
Whatever it takes for us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional (情感的) health, and crying seems to study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.
Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendly and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we' re very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through Crying, and then we can deal with them.
Just as crying can be healthy, not crying — holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering — can be bad for physical (身体的) health, Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can lead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illnesses. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural — and healthy — emotional response (反应).
60. Why didn't the author cry when her grandmother died?
A. Because her father did not want her to feel too sad.
B. Because she did not love her grandmother.
C. Because she was too shy to cry at that time.
D. Tie author doesn’t give the explanation.
61. It can be inferred from the text that ______.
A. there are two ways to keep healthy
B. crying does more good to health than laughing
C. crying and laughing play the same roles
D. emotional health has a close relationship to physical health
62. According to the author, which of the following statements is true?
A. Crying is the best way to get help from others.
B. Fighting back tears may cause some health problems.
C. We will never know our deep feelings unless we cry.
D. We must cry if we want to reduce pressure.
63. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. Power of Tears B. How to Keep Healthy
C. Why We Cry D. A New Scientific Discovery
Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent（具备智能的）. They will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill.
The touch-screen devices（触摸屏装置）are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week. “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexandor, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc, which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.
Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.
Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.
“The whole model is driven by advertisers’ need to get in front of shoppers,” said Alexandor. “They’re not watching 30-second TV ads anymore.”
People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system（系统）that will organize the trip around the store. If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.
The device also keeps a record of what you buy. When you’re finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.
The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $160,000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $500 for each device.
53. The underlined word “they” (paragraph 1) refers to______.
A. supermarkets B. shop assistants
C. shopping carts D. shop managers
54. Which of the following is the correct order of shopping with computerized shopping carts?
a. Start the system. b. Make a shopping list.
c. Find the things you want. d. Go to a self-checkout stand.
A. abdc B. bacd C. acbd D. bcad
55. We can learn from the last paragraph that______.
A. intelligent shopping carts cost a large sum of money
B. the Concierge is cheaper than the Buddy devices
C. shop assistants with computer knowledge are well paid
D. average stores prefer the Concierge to the Buddy devices
56. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. New age for supermarkets B. Concierge and Shopping Buddy
C. New computers make shopping carts smarter
D. Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable
The twentieth century saw greater changes than any century before: changes for the better, changes for the worse; changes that brought a lot of benefits（益处） to human beings, changes that put man in danger. Many things caused the changes, but, in my opinion, the most important was the progress in science.
Scientific research in physics and biology has vastly broadened our views. It has given us a deeper knowledge of the structure（结构）of matter and of the universe; it has brought us a better understanding of the nature of life and of its continuous development. Technology —the application（应用）of science —has made big advances that have benefited us in nearly every part of life.
The continuation of such activities in the twenty-first century will result in even greater advantages to human beings: in pure science — a wider and deeper knowledge in all fields of learning; in applied science — a more reasonable sharing of material benefits, and better protection of the environment.
Sadly, however, there is another side to the picture. The creativity of science has been employed in doing damage to mankind. The application of science and technology to the development and production of weapons（武器）of mass destruction has created a real danger to the continued existence of the human race on this planet. We have seen this happen in the case of nuclear weapons, Although their actual use has so far occurred only in the Second World War, the number of nuclear weapons that were produced and made ready for use was so large that if the weapons had actually been used, the result could have been the ruin of the human race, as well as of many kinds of animals.
William Shakespeare said, "The web of our life is of a mingled yarn (纱线), good and ill具together. " The above brief review of the application of only one part of human activities – science—seems to prove what Shakespeare said. But does it have to be so? Must the ill always go together with the good? Are we biologically programmed for war?
73.From the fourth paragraph, we can infer that________.
A. a great many nuclear weapons were actually used for war
B. a large number of nuclear weapons should have been used for war
C. the author is doubtful about the ruin of human beings by nuclear weapons
D. the author is anxious about the huge number of nuclear weapons on the earth
74.The underlined word "mingled" in the last paragraph most probably means________.
A. simple B. mixed C. sad D. happy
75.What do you think the author is most likely to suggest if he continues to write?
A. Further application of science to war.
B. More reading of William Shakespeare.
C. Proper use of science in the new century.
D. Effective ways to separate the good from the ill.