Microwaves may be great at warming up food, but what about warming people?
Using microwaves to directly heat owners of
a room would save much of the energy wasted by heating walls and furniture. And despite popular ideas about microwaves, this techniqu
e would be safe, according to Charles R. Burlier of the Microwave Research Center in Marlborough, New Hampshire. Low-power microwaves only penetrate (贯穿) the skin (low-power microwave penetration in a ham is about 0.2 inches, for example) and with no negative effects.
To test this idea, Buffler subjected himself to microwaves in a special room using a standard 500-watt, 2459 MHz magnetron (磁控管). He found that a person will start to feel warmth at about 20 kilowatts per square centimeter (mw. / sq. cm. ) ; a satisfactory feeling of warmth occurs between 35 and 50 mw. / sq. cm. By comparison, a person standing in noonday summer sun feels the amount of 85 mw. / sq. cm. And a frozen meat pie in your microwave oven receives about 1000 mw. / sq. cm.
In houses of the future, each room could be provided with its own magnetron, says Buffler. When you stepped into the living room, for example, a motion detector (运动感应器)would turn on the magnetron, filling the room with low-power microwaves. In the same way that a microwave oven heats up a hamburger, but not the plate it’s on, you would feel warmth from the microwaves without changing the temperature of your coffee table. (You could, however, make your favorite easy chair even more comfortable by treating it with a radiation-absorbing chemical.)
While it might be some time before homeowners are comfortable enough with the idea to set up whole-body microwave heaters in houses, Buffler says microwaves may attract livestock(家畜) farmers. Lambs that are born outdoors in winter, for example, are frequently lost to cold. Microwaves could warm the lambs safely and quickly. Which of the following can tell the main idea of the passage?
| A．A new heating system. |
| B．A new microwave oven. |
| C．A popular technique. |
| D．The magnetron. |
According to Paragraph 2, which of the following does not describe the characteristics of a microwave heater?
| A．It directly heats people in a room. |
| B．It heats walls and furniture in a room. |
| C．It is safe. |
| D．It saves energy． |
The test conducted by Buffler shows that when a person feels comfortable warmth, he receives about ________________.
| A．20 mw. / sq. cm. | B．40 mw. / sq. cm. |
| C．60 mw. / sq. cm. | D．85 mw. / sq. cm. |
According to Paragraph 4, which of the following fills the room with low-power microwaves?
| A．The magnetron. |
| B．The motion detector. |
| C．The microwave oven. |
| D．The radiation-absorbing chemical. |
Which of the following statements about
microwave heaters would Buffler most probably agree with?
| A．Microwave heaters will soon be widely used by homeowners. |
| B．Microwave heaters sometimes make people feel uncomfortable. |
| C．Perhaps microwave heaters will be first used by livestock farmers, who wish to protect their lambs in winter. |
| D．Microwave heaters cannot be accepted by the public because they are somewhat unsafe. |
According to the dictionary definition of ‘create’，ordinary people are creative every day. To create means to bring into being，to cause to exist something each of us does daily. We are creative whenever we look at or think about something in a new way.
First，this includes an awareness（意识）of our surroundings. It means using all of our senses to become aware of our world. This may be as simple as being aware of color and texture（质地），as well as taste， when we plan a meal. Above all，it is the ability to notice things that others might miss.
A second part of creativity is an ability to see relationships among things. If we believe the ex
pression，there is nothing new under the sun，the creativity is remaking or recombining（重组）the old in new ways. For example，we might do this by finding a more effective way to study or a better way to arrange our furniture，or we might make a new combination of camera lenses and filters to create an unusual photograph.
A third part of creativity is the courage and drive to make use of our new ideas，to ask for them to achieve some new results. To think up a new idea is one thing；to put the idea to work is another. These three parts of creativity are included in all the great works of geniuses，but they are also included in many of our daytoday activities.Which of the following activities is NOT a creative one according to the passage？
| A．To prepare for a meal. |
| B．To arrange the furniture in a special way. |
| C．To buy some books from a bookstore. |
| D．To write a letter with the computer. |
There is nothing new under the sun really implies that__________.
| A．a new thing can only be created at the basis of earliest things |
| B．a new thing is only a tale |
| C．we can seldom create new things |
| D．we can hardly see really new things in the world |
What does the author think about the relationship between a new thought and its being put into practice？
| A．It's more difficult to create a new thought than to use it in practice. |
| B．To find a new thought will clearly lead to the production of a new thing. |
| C．A man with an excellent ability of practice can easily become an inventor. |
| D．One may come up with a new thought，but can not put it into practice. |
When I was a boy，I belonged to the Boy Scouts（童子军），so I used to go camping every summer，and once something happened which I have never been
able to explain.
We were camping in a place above a river. After arriving，we all rushed down to the river and had a swim. Standing by the river，we noticed that it was surrounded（环绕）by cliffs（悬崖）。If someone wanted to reach the river at this point，he had to walk past our camp.
Several days later，the scoutmaster had to he away for a day. That afternoon，we had supper early. We were sitting round the fire，eating and talking，when a man walked past and went down towards the river. We all felt that this man looked very strange，but，because each of us was afraid of looking very stupid，no one said anything.
We ate rather slowly，taking as long as possible. After finishing，we collected our plates together so that we could take them to the river where we always washed them. But no one moved towards the river— we stood looking at each other ashamed. Then all shouting at once， we began talking about the man who had walked past us. We agreed how strange he looked and we wondered what he could be doing by the river. We knew that he could only return by passing through our camp.
An hour passed. Then one of the boys suggested we should creep（悄悄移动）down by the river so that we could see what the man was doing. Moving very slowly and keeping in the shadow， we crept down towards the bank. One boy climbed a tree so that he could see everything clearly. 
He called to us that there was no one there，so we ran down to the bank， looking every-where carefully. We could not understand where the man had gone.
When it got dark，we went back to our camp feeling bewildered. We told the scoutmaster what had happened in the evening. Smiling，he doubted that we had seen the man，but finally suggested we go and look again. We did，but there was no one there.
Many years have passed，but I still remember it as if it were yesterday. What did we see？I do not know. The writer in the text mainly tells us _________.
| A．the story of his childhood | B．a strange camping experience |
| C．about a stranger by the river | D．about a good place for camping. |
Why did the boys eat their supper slowly？
| A．They wanted to delay going to the river bank. |
| B．They were sailing for their scoutmaster. |
| C．They had a supper earlier than usual. |
| D．They were taking while eating. |
The word “bewildered” in the text probably means _________.
| A．ashamed | B．nervous |
| C．unable to understand | D．eager to know something |
The writer still remembers the event because________.
| A．the boys acted foolishly |
| B．the camping place is beautiful |
| C．there has been no explanation for the event |
| D．he particularly enjoyed his camping that summer. |
Everyone’s at it，even my neighbors. I thought I might be the only person left in the world who hadn't done an eBay deal. So，I decided to try my hand at online auction（网上拍卖）。
Buying for beginners：Sign up on www.ebay.co.uk. Most items（e.g. tables, computers, and books） ready for auction will come with a picture and a short description；others may be marked with "Buy It Now" and have a fixed price. You can buy these right away.
If the item is being auctioned，you offer the highest price you are prepared to pay and eBay bi
ds（出价）for you. The bid will be increased little by little until it goes beyond your highest bid，then you are emailed and asked if you would like to bid again. Auctions last up to 10 days and when they finish you get an email telling you whether you have won the item.
How to pay： Sellers decide how they would like to be paid and you need to check this before placing a bid as you might not want to post a cheque or postal orders. The easiest way is through PayPal，an online payment system that takes the money away from your credit card （信用卡）。
Selling made simple：If you plan to sell on eBay，it helps to include a picture of the item. I followed my friends' advice and put up the items I wanted to sell for a 10-day a
uction，starting on a Thursday. This way, buyers had two weekends to bid.
The big things in life：It' s easy to post a small item，but furniture is a big part of eBay and this has to be collected or sent by deliverymen (邮递员). Check the ways of delivery before you bid. What is the passage mainly about？
| A．How to make payment online. |
| B．Ways of making delivery online |
| C．Advantages of an online-auction system. |
D．How to use an online-auct ion system. |
After bidding for an item，a buyer______
| A．will get what he wants in ten days |
| B．should make payment immediately |
| C．has chances to make higher bids |
| D．may check its picture and description |
The easiest way of making payment mentioned in the passage is______
| A．through an online payment system |
| B．through a local banking system |
| C．by sending the money to the seller |
| D．by paying the deliveryman directly |
The 2012 London Olympics had enough problems to worry about. But one more has just been added --- a communications blackout caused by solar storms.
After a period of calm within the Sun, scientists have detected the signs of a fresh cycle of sunspots that could peak in 2012, just in time for the arrival of the Olympic torch in London.
Now scientists believe that this peak could result in vast solar explosions that could throw billions of tons of charged matter towards the Earth, causing strong solar storms that could jam the telecommunications (通信) satellites and interact links sending five Olympic broadcast from London.
“The Sun’s activity has a strong influence on the Earth. The Olympics could be in the middle of the next solar maximum which could affect the functions of communications satellites,” said Professor Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
At the peak of the cycle, violent outbursts called coronal mass ejections (日冕物质抛射) occur in the Sun’s atmosphere, throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged (带电) matter. “A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometers per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount, can disable satellites, cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications,” Professor Harrison added. The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.
Next week in America, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of the solar flares (太阳耀斑) and explosions as they occur.
Professor Richard Holdaway, the lab’s director, said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth “If we have advance warning, we’ll be able to reduce the damage. What you don’t want is things switching off for a week with no idea of what’s caused the problem,” he said.
The phrase underlined part in paragraph one most probably refers to _______ during the 2012 Olympics.
| A．the state of the Olympic torch being put out |
| B．the failure of broadcasting systems |
| C．the transportation breakdown in London |
| D．the destruction of weather satellites |
What can be inferred about the solar activity described in the pass
age?
| A．The most deadly matter from the corona falls onto Earth. |
| B．The solar storm peak occurs in the middle of each cycle. |
| C．It takes several seconds for the charged matter to reach Earth. |
| D．The number of sunspots decreases after coronal mass ejections. |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
| A．Solar Storms: An Invisible Killer |
| B．Solar Storms: Earth Environment in Danger |
| C．Solar Storms: Threatening the Human Race |
D． Solar Storms: Human Activities to Be Troubled |
WASHINGTON — Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else, according to researchers.
Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others --- even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a 
psychologist at the University of British Columbia.
They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000.
“Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself,” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
“Finally, participants who were randomly (随机地) required to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those required to spend money on themselves,” they said.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor adjustment in spending allocations (分配) --- as little as $5 --- may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,” Dunn said.
This could also explain why people are no happier even though US society is richer.
“Indeed, although real incomes have increased dramatically in recent decades, happiness levels have remained largely flat within developed countries across time,” they wrote.
Dune’s experiment on 630 Americans was to ________.
| A．help people make careful plans for their money | B．encourage people to be generous to others |
| C．see how to spend money is important to happiness | D． test whether $5 is enough to buy happiness |
What can we conclude according to the experiment?
| A．Happiness largely depends on the size of your bonus money. |
| B．Happiness, as a matter of fact, has nothing to do with money. |
| C．The more money you give away, the happier person you will be. |
| D．Spending money for the good of society will make you happier. |
How many different ways are used by the researchers to test their theory?
| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
The last sentence of the passage means _______.
| A．happiness does not necessary increase as money grows |
| B．people in richer countries actually have more problems |
| C．fast economic growth has a bad effect on people’s life |
| D．great increase of income contributes to keeping happiness level stable |