I had the meanest mother in the whole world.While other kids ate candy for breakfast, I had to have cereal, eggs or toast.When others had cokes and candy for lunch, I had to eat a sandwich.As you can guess, my supper was different from the other kids' also.But at least, I wasn't alone in my sufferings.My sister and two brothers had the same mean mother as I did.
My mother insisted upon knowing where we were at all times.She had to know who our friends were and where we were going.We had to wear clean clothes and take a bath everyday.
The worst is yet to come.We had to be in bed by nine each night and up at eight the next morning.We couldn't sleep till noon like our friends.So while they slept --- my mother actually had the nerve to break the Child Labor Law.She made us work.We had to wash dishes, make beds, learn to cook and all sorts of cruel things.I believe she lay awake at night thinking up mean things to do to us.
Through the years, things didn't improve a bit.We could not lie in bed, "sick" like our friends did, and miss school.Our marks in school had to be up to par.Our friends' report cards had beautiful colors on them, black for passing, red for failing.My mother, being as different as she was, would settle for nothing less than ugly black marks.With our mother behind us, talking, hitting and demanding respect, none of us was allowed the pleasure of being a drop-out.
My mother was a complete failure as a mother.Out of four children, a couple of us attained some higher education.None of us have ever been arrested or divorced.Each of my brothers served his time in the service of this country.She forced us to grow up into God-fearing, educated, honest adults.Using this as a background, I am now trying to raise my three children.I am filled with pride when my children call me mean.Why? Because now I thank God every day for giving me the meanest mother in the whole world.What can we infer from the passage?
A.The author is not happy to have such a mean mother. |
B.The author's mother broke the Child Labor Law to make money. |
C.The author's mother failed to educate her children to be honest adults. |
D.The author is strict with her children. |
Why couldn’t the author eat candy for breakfast?
A.Because she preferred cereal, eggs or toast to candy. |
B.Because her mother couldn’t afford for candy. |
C.Because her mother thought it not good to eat candy for breakfast. |
D.Because her mother had to give candy to the author’s sister and two brothers. |
The author’s mother made her children work because _________ .
A.she had trouble falling into sleep. |
B.she could not keep such a big family without her children’s help. |
C.she was teaching her children to live by themselves. |
D.she had no time to do the housework. |
Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch.But he is in for an unwelcome surprise.The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer, and a radio signal from a control centre miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again.
The idea goes like this.A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro-processor and memory, and a GPS (全球定位系统) satellite positioning receiver.If the car is stolen, a coded (编码的) cellphone signal will tell the control centre to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted.
In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves.“The_pattern_of_vehicle_crime_has_changed,” says Martyn Randall, a security expert.He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools.But only if the car is more than 10 years old.
Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won’t allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code sent out by the ignition (点火) key.In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997.
But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting hold of the owner’s keys.And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking system.
If the car travels 100 metres without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen.The hundred metres minimum avoids false alarms due to inaccuracies in the GPS signal.
Staff at the centre will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing, and keep police informed of the vehicle’s movements via the car’s GPS unit.The remote immobilizer is fitted to a car to ________.
A.prevent car theft by sending a radio signal to the car owner |
B.help the police make a surprise attack on the car thief |
C.prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops |
D.allow the car to lock automatically when stolen |
By saying “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed”, Martyn Randall suggests that ________.
A.it takes a longer time for the car thief to do the stealing |
B.self-prepared tools are no longer enough for car theft |
C.the thief has to make use of computer technology |
D.the thief has lost interest in stealing cars over 10 years old |
________ is necessary in making a modern car tougher to steal.
A.A coded ignition key | B.A unique ID card |
C.A special cellphone signal | D.A GPS satellite positioning receiver |
The operations centre will first ________ after receiving an alarm.
A.start the tracking system | B.contact the car owner |
C.block the car engine | D.locate the missing car |
D
A mysterious machine found in a 2,000-year-old Greek shipwreck may have been used to calculate the positions of planets, predict when eclipses (日、月蚀) were to occur, and study other parts of astronomy (天文学). When it was found underwater about 100 years ago, the machine was in poor shape. Its metal pieces had become one mass (堆), and then broke into pieces.
When the researchers began to study what was left of the machine, they thought it might have something to do with astronomy. To find out more, they recently used advanced imaging methods, including X-ray computer tomography (断层摄影术), to look inside the metal parts and to check for ancient writing on the machine.
According to their research, the researchers believed that this machine could have been used to compute eclipses of the sun and moon and was also able to show the movements of planets. A user could pick a day in the future and, work out a planet’s position on that date by moving some sort of crank (曲柄) on the machine.
Besides, the researchers discovered that the machine had at least 30 bronze gears (齿轮) with as many as 225 teeth, likely all cut by hand.
With all the collected information, the researchers came up with a new model for how the machine operated. The model has 29 of the 30 known gears and five more that were probably there but never found. Also,the new picture adds a previously undiscovered spiral dial (螺旋刻度盘) to the back of the machine near the bottom. A hand moving around the dial could have pointed to eclipses over a period of 18 years.
71. The passage is most probably taken from _____.
A. a short-story collection
B. a popular science magazine
C. a political report
D. an old personal diary
72. What is the passage mainly about?
A. New research on calculating the positions of planets.
B. A popular way of computing eclipses of the sun and moon.
C. Scientists’ interest in the secrets of a 2,000-year-old Greek shipwreck.
D. A mysterious machine which could be used for astronomical research.
73. What do we learn from the third paragraph of the passage?
A. The machine might have been used to calculate the positions of the planets.
B. Scientists made great progress in predicting eclipses of the sun and moon.
C. The researchers discovered some secrets in the Greek shipwreck.
D. The machine can be of great help for people working out the sizes of planets.
74. The researchers made a new model because they____.
A. wished to repair the broken machine
B. wanted to study the shipwreck more conveniently
C. hoped to know how the machine worked
D. expected it to be used in modern scientific research
75. Which of the following statements is TRUE about the old machine?
A. It has 35 gears on it.
B. It has a spiral dial.
C. It was invented about 100 years ago.
D. Its gears have many teeth.
C
Since we are social beings, the quality of our lives depends in large measure on our interpersonal relationships. One strength of the human condition is our possibility to give and receive support from one another under stressful (有压力的) conditions. Social support makes up of the exchange of resources among people based on their interpersonal ties. Those of us with strong support systems appear better able to deal with major life changes and daily problems. People with strong social ties live longer and have better health than those without such ties. Studies over types of illnesses, from depression to heart disease, show that the presence of social support helps people defend themselves against illness, and the absence of such support makes poor health more likely.
Social support cushions stress in a number of ways. First, friends, relatives and co-workers may let us know that they value us. Our self-respect is strengthened when we feel accepted by others in spite of our faults and difficulties. Second, other people often provide us with informational support. They help us to define and understand our problems and find solutions to them. Third, we typically find social companionship supportive. Taking part in free-time activities with others helps us to meet our social needs while at the same time distracting (转移注意力) us from our worries and troubles. Finally, other people may give us instrumental support money aid, material resources, and needed services - that reduces stress by helping us resolve and deal with our problems.
66. Interpersonal relationships are important because they can ________
A. make people live more easily B. smooth away daily problems
C. deal with life changes D. cure types of illnesses
67. The researches show that people's physical and mental health _______
A. lies in the social medical care systems which support them
B. has much to do with the amount of support they get from others
C. depends on their ability to deal with daily worries and troubles
D. is related to their courage for dealing with major life changes
68. Which of the following is closest in meaning to the underlined word "cushions"?
A. takes place of B. makes up of
C. lessens the effect of D. gets rid of
69. Helping a sick neighbor with some repair work in spare time is an example of ________
A. instrumental support B. informational support
C. social companionship D. the strengthening of self-respect
70. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. Interpersonal relationships. B. Kinds of social support.
C. Ways to deal with stress.D. Effects of stressful condition.
B
Have you ever wondered why you sometimes take an almost immediate liking to a person you have just met? We often get the first impression of a people based on the color of a person’s skin or the manner in which he or she dressed. Meaning is conveyed not only by words or verbal languages but also by nonverbal communication systems, such as body behaviors.
Nonverbal communication is important because we use the actions of others to learn about their affective emotional states .Our emotions are reflected in our posture, face, and eyes—be it fear, joy, anger, or sadness—so we can express them without ever saying a word .For this reason, most of us rely heavily on what we learn through our eyes.
Nonverbal communication is significant in human interaction because it is usually responsible for the first impressions. More importantly, those first messages usually influence the perception(感知) of everything else that follows. Even how we select friends and sexual partners is grounded in first impressions with nonverbal communication.
Nonverbal communication is important because it is culture-related. It is based on different beliefs, religions, values and customs in different cultures. When, where, how, and to whom people display his or her specific nonverbal behaviors is greatly affected by culture and context. Culture determines what the appropriate nonverbal behavior is. For example, feelings of friendship exist everywhere but their expression varies. It may be appropriate in some countries for man to embrace each other and for women to hold hands; in other countries these displays of affection may be shocking. Each culture has its own specific interpretation on nonverbal communication. What is acceptable in one culture may be completely unacceptable in another. One culture may determine that snapping fingers to call a waiter is acceptable; another may consider this gesture rude.
61. What is the best title of the passage?
A. Nonverbal communication and first impression
B. Nonverbal communication is culture-related
C. Nonverbal and verbal communication
D. The importance of nonverbal communication
62. We can know a person’s feeling through our eyes because_________.
A. we can see a person’s feeling on his face.
B. a person’s emotions can be reflected through eyes.
C. a person’s feeling can be reflected through his body languages
D. we can see a person’s feeling through his posture
63. Which of the following statements is not True?
A. Meaning can be conveyed both by words and body language.
B. We can use nonverbal communication to learn about a person’s emotional states.
C. We often get the first impression by what a person says.
D. The first impression can affect what we will do in the following.
64. How many reasons are mentioned in the text to show nonverbal communication is important?
A. 2 B. 3 C. 4 D.5
65. What can we conclude from the last paragraph?
A. we can use different ways to express friendship
B. each culture has its own specific interpretation on nonverbal communication
C. snapping fingers to call a waiter is acceptable
D. learning a country’s culture is very important.
第三部分阅读理解(共20小题;每小题2分,满分40分)
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
This week in our Foreign Student Series,we talk about getting an American education online.A student named Hendra has written to us from Indonesia asking about a good online university.Finding the right online program requires research.Talking to advisers and recruiters(招募者)can help.Keep in mind,though,that they might have a financial interest to direct you to certain programs.
The Council on Higher Education Accreditation(CHEA)recognizes a group in Washington,D.C.,to accredit(授权)schools that offer distance learning.One hundred and ten programs in the United States and six other countries are accredited by the Distance Education and Training Council.
We asked the executive director,Michael Lambert,for advice on choosing a distance learning program.He says the first thing is to go on the CHEA Web site to find if a school is accredited.The address is c-h-e-a dot o-r-g.Next,make sure the school offers what you need.Do you need a degree,or will a certificate or license be enough?
Another consideration is cost.Often the published price does not include all the costs --like books.Technology requirements can also add to the costs.Will you need to get new software or a high-speed Internet connection or even a new computer to take the classes you want?
Also,consider the level of interaction that an online program offers.You might never meet the teacher or other students in person.
Finally,and this is our own advice,find out what others say on the Internet for comments or news stories about schools that interest you.Just remember that what people say is not always fair or true.
56.This passage is probably from ________.
A.a magazineB.a newspaper
C.a text book D.a radio program
57.This passage is mainly about ________.
A.how to get an American education online
B.what to learn in an American university
C.the introductions to schools offering distance learning
D.the advantages of online education
58.What else should be taken into consideration about cost besides the published price?
A.The cost for books and technology requirements.
B.The cost for books and a new computer.
C.The cost for new software and a high-speed Internet connection.
D.The cost for technology requirements and even a classroom.
59.How can you find the information about schools accredited to offer distance learning easily?
A.Ask the members of CHEA. B.Go on the website of chea.org.
C.Ask Michael Lambert for help.D.Talk to advisers and recruiters.
60 According to Michael Lambert,________.
A.to get a certificate or a license is much easier than to get a degree
B.it’s not fair for the schools to charge extra money beside the published price
C.the level of interaction that an online program offers is quite considerable
D.people’s comments about schools are always unbelievable