Miss Gogers taught physics in a New York school. Last month she explained to one of her classes about sound, and she decided to test them to see how successful she had been in her explanation. She said to them,“Now I have a brother in Los Angeles. If I was calling him on the phone and at the same time you were 75 feet away, listening to me from across the street, which of you would hear what I said earlier, my brother or you and for what reason?”
Tom at once answered,“Your brother. Because electricity travaels faster than sound waves.”“That’s every good,”Miss Gogers answered; but then one of the girls raised her hand, and Miss Gogers said.“Yes, Kate.”
“I disagree,”Kate said.“Your brother would hear you earlier because when it’s 11 o’clock here it’s only 8 o’clock in Los Angeles.” Miss Gogers was teaching her class_________.
| A．how to telephone | B．about electricity | C．about time zone | D．about sound |
Miss Gogers raised this question because she wanted to know whether______.
| A．it was easy to phone to Los Angeles |
| B．her student could hear her from 75 feet away |
| C．her students had a good command of her lesson about sound |
| D．sound waves were slower than electricity |
Tom thought that electricity was _________.
| A．slower than sound waves | B．faster than sound waves |
| C．not so fast as sound waves | D．as fast as sound waves |
Kate thought Tom was wrong because _______.
| A．clocks in Los Angeles showed a different time from those in New York |
| B．electricity was slower than sound waves |
| C．Tom was not good at physics at all |
| D．Tom’s answer had nothing to do with sound waves |
Whose answer do you think is correct according to the law of phys
ics?
| A．Tom’s | B．Kate’s | C．Bath A and B | D．Neither A nor B |
Now Hear This
What do former American president Bill Clinton and rock musician Pete Townshend have in common.'? Both men have hearing damage from exposure to loud music, and both now wear hearing aids as a consequence. As a teenager, Clinton played saxophone in a band. Townshend, who has the more severe hearing loss, was a guitarist for a band called the Who. He is one of the first rock musicians to call the public's attention to the problem of hearing loss from exposure to loud music.
Temporary hearing loss can happen after only 15 minutes of listening to loud music. One early warning sign is when your ears begin to feel warm while you listen to music at a rock concert or through headphones. One later is that an unusual sound or a ringing is sometimes produced in your head after the concert.
"What happens is that the hair cells in the inner ear are damaged, but they're not dead," says physician and ear specialist Dr. Sam Levine. According to Dr. Levine, if you avoid further exposure to loud noise, it's possible to recondition the cells somewhat. However, he adds, "Eventually, over a long period of time, hair cells are permanently damaged." And this is no small problem.
What sound level is dangerous? According to Dr. Levine, regular exposure to noise above 85 decibels (分贝) is considered dangerous. The chart below offers a comparison of decibel levels to certain sounds. Here's another measurement you can use. If you're at a rock concert and the music is so loud that you have to shout to make yourself heard, you' re at risk for hearing loss. That's when wearing protective devices such as earplugs becomes critical.
The facts are pretty frightening. But are rock bands turning down the volume.'? Most aren't. "Rock music is supposed to be loud," says drummer Andrew Sather. "I wouldn't have it any other way. And neither would the real fans of rock. "
Continued exposure to loud music and the failure to wear earplugs can lead to deafness, according to Dr. Levine. He states, "There's no cure for hearing loss. Your ears are trying to tell you something. That ringing is the scream of your hair cells dying. Each time that happens, more and more damage is done. "
| Levels of Common Noises Normal conversation50 — 65 dB Food blender 88 dB Jet plane flying above a person standing outside 103 dB Rock band during a concert 110 — 140 dB |
From Paragraph 1, we can learn that .
| A．loud music is a major cause of hearing loss |
| B．famous people tend to have hearing problems |
| C．teenagers should stay away from school bands |
| D．the problem of hearing damage is widely known |
In Paragraph 3, the underlined word "recondition" means .
| A．not to be seen | B．to fill with sound |
| C．to become larger in size | D．to make good again |
The purpose of the chart at the end of the article is to show .
| A．a list of harmful sounds |
| B．the effect of rock concerts |
| C．the noise levels of familiar sounds |
| D．relationship between daily activities and hearing loss |
Which of the following statements will Dr. Sam Levine probably agree?
| A．When your ears feel warm, your hair cells are dead. |
| B．Drummer Andrew Sather gives good advice. |
| C．Many are taking the risk of losing hearing. |
| D．Doctors know how to cure hearing loss. |
Car Talk
When I got the driving license last summer, Mom and I took our first trip around an empty parking lot. Then I found that my mother was not the best teacher for me. It wasn't that she shouted, or told me that I was doing poorly. As you can imagine, my mother's "helpful instructions" only managed to make me more nervous.
Since I could no longer practice with her, the job was placed in the hands of my father. The idea of learning from Dad was not one that thrilled me. I loved him dearly, but I just did not see Dad as someone I could be comfortable learning from. He almost never talked. We shared a typical father-daughter relationship. He'd ask how school was, and I'd say it was fine. Unfortunately, that was the most of our conversations. Spending hours alone with someone who might as well have been a stranger really scared me.
As we got into the car that first time, I was not surprised at what happened. Dad and I drove around, saying almost nothing, aside from a few instructions on how to turn. As my lessons went on, however, things began to change. Dad would turn the radio up so I could fully appreciate his favorite Stones music. And he actually began talking. I was soon hearing about past failed dates, "basic body" gym class, and other tales from his past, including some of his first meeting with Mom.
Dad' s sudden chattiness was shocking until I thought about why he was telling me so much in the car. In all the years that I had wondered why my father never spoke that much, I had never stopped to consider that it was because I had never bothered to listen. Homework, friends, and even TV had all called me away from him, and, consequently, I never thought my quiet father had anything to say.
Since I began driving with him, my driving skill has greatly increased. More important, though, is that my knowledge of who my father is has also increased. Just living with him wasn't enough—it took driving with him for me to get to know someone who was a mystery.The author couldn't practice driving with her mother because .
| A．she couldn't talk with her mother | B．her father wanted to teach her |
| C．her mother made her nervous | D．she didn't trust her mother |
At first, the idea of learning driving from her father made her .
| A．happy | B．uneasy | C．satisfied | D．disappointed |
What surprised the author when the driving lessons went on?
| A．Her Dad liked modern music. | B．Her Dad was the best teacher. |
| C．Her Dad was a chatty person. | D．Her Dad told her his sad stories. |
With her story "Car Talk", the author indicates that .
| A．fathers love their daughters dearly |
| B．mothers are less patient than fathers |
| C．family members need real communication |
| D．it takes time to improve the father-daughter relationship |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。
| Earn Money This Summer with Sunny Libraries! Do you have too much free time this summer vacation? Do you need a summer job to earn extra money? Do you want to be involved in your community (社区)? Sunny Area Library System (SALS) has job opportunities for high school students. These are good chances to get work experience. |
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| Book Theater brings children' s book stories to life. It has shows at all Sunny Libraries. Applicants should enjoy performing in front of an audience and working with young children. Work Hours: Practice: Fridays 4:00 pm — 6:00 pm Performance: Tuesdays 10:00 am Rate of Pay: $16/performance |
Computer Tutor helps guests to deal with technology problems, involving Internet searches and using the SALS Website to find materials. Applicants should have computer skills. Work Hours: Monday—Friday 9:00 am—5:00 pm Rate of Pay: $ 8/hour |
| Bookmobile helps the driver find the routes to libraries. The truck you work in is air-conditioned, and the driver is friendly. Applicants must be able to lift heavy boxes. Work Hours: Sunday and Friday 9:00 am — 4:00 pm Rate of Pay: $10/hour |
Reader Desk provides service with a smile while checking materials in and out to guests. Friendly attitude and ability to work on library data system required. Work Hours: Monday—Tuesday 8:00 am—4:00 pm Rate of Pay: $ 7.50/hour |
If you are interested in acting, should be your choice.
| A．Book Theater | B．Bookmobile |
| C．Computer Tutor | D．Reader Desk |
If you get the job of "Bookmobile", you are expected to .
| A．work with young children | B．lift heavy boxes |
| C．check materials for guests | D．repair computers |
The purpose of the advertisement is to .
| A．attract students to libraries | B．raise money for libraries |
| C．introduce new books | D．offer job opportunities |
Boredom and Creativity
Most of us think of being bored at work as a negative experience, but a new study suggests it can have positive results including an increase in creativity because it gives us time to daydream.
That is the finding of Dr. Sandi Mann from the University of Central Lancashire. Dr. Mann conducted two studies. In the first experiment, 40 people were asked to carry out a boring task. They were told to copy numbers out of a telephone directory for 15 minutes. After that they were asked to complete another task. A pair of cups were given to each of them. Everyone tried to come up with different uses of the cups, and was given a chance to display their creativity. Meanwhile, another group of 40 people were just asked to come up with uses for the cups without doing any boring tasks before. It turned out that the 40 people who had first copied out the telephone numbers were more creative than the control group(对照组).
To see if daydreaming was a factor in this effect, a second boring task was introduced that allowed even more daydreaming than the boring writing task. This second study saw 30 people copying out the numbers as before, but also included a second group of 30 reading rather than writing them.
Again the researchers found that the people in the control group were least creative, but the people who had just read the names were more creative than those who had to write them out. This suggests that more passive boring activities, like reading or perhaps attending meetings, can lead to more creativity. Compared with reading, writing reduced the scope（范围） for daydreaming. As a result, it reduces the effects of boredom on creativity.
Dr. Mann says: “Boredom at work has always been seen as something to be avoided, but perhaps we should accept it in order to promote our creativity. What we want to do next is to see what the practical implications of this finding are. Do people who are bored at work become more creative in other areas of their work -- or do they go home and write novels?”Who proved to be the most creative in the two studies?
| A．The people who attended meetings. |
| B．The people who did the reading task. |
| C．The people who invented uses for cups. |
| D．The people who copied telephone numbers. |
The studies conducted by Dr. Mann indicate that creativity results from _______.
| A．creative tasks |
| B．controlled activities |
| C．the range of daydreaming |
| D．reading and writing ability |
What is Dr. Mann’s attitude towards boredom at work?
| A．Positive. |
| B．Skeptical. |
| C．Subjective. |
| D．Disapproving. |
What will Dr. Mann probably continue to research in their study?
| A．The real causes of creativity. |
| B．The actual use of boredom. |
| C．The practical reasons of boredom. |
| D．The writing ability improved by boredom. |
Going Green
For career（职业） changers thinking about growth and advancement potential, forget the blue-collar and white-collar categories: Green is the way to go. According to Bracken Hendricks, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Progress, careers that promote environmental responsibility will become main stream within a decade. “The growth in green careers will be like the Internet boom, which not only created new jobs, but also had an influence on the overall economy（经济）,” he says.
The increasing environmental problems and need for eco-friendly products and services are creating a new job section of green-collar jobs. Many countries of the world have realized the importance and need for energy-saving products and services. It is expected that by 2025 about 25% of the jobs in developed countries will be of green-collar jobs. Doesn’t the data look promising for the future?
Green-collar jobs have become a bright career chances for all. And jobs will pop up at every income level, from environmental manager to gardener. For example, many countries including the United States have understood that fossil fuels have negative effect on the environment which can later become a serious danger to mankind. As a result, possibilities are being explored to find alternatives to satisfy demands in a better way. The increasing demand of newer resources（资源） has creating the need for experts and researchers who can find better ways to deal with the ongoing needs. In addition, in order to meet the increasing demands of environment-friendly equipment, both green product designer and educated and trained workers are needed. Management of environmental organizations also demands a large number of environmental managers.
Where can you find green-collar jobs? Internet is undoubtedly the best way to find information on almost any matter. Nowadays, different kinds of jobs are being posted online. Search through a couple of job websites to look for a bright future in energy conversion and recycling of waste management. Check regularly and find the right work for yourself. People who read newspapers can also find different kinds of green-collar jobs.Why does Bracken Hendricks mention the Internet Boom in Paragraph One?
| A．To explain the importance of technology. |
| B．To provide evidence of his recent research. |
| C．To indicate the bright future of green careers. |
| D．To inform us of the way of finding green-collar jobs. |
Which of the following probably creates green-collar jobs?
| A．Promoting services. |
| B．Training employees. |
| C．Consuming fossil fuels. |
| D．Developing new resources. |
What is mainly talked about in Paragraph 3?
| A．The requirements for green employees. |
| B．The development of the green industry. |
| C．The economic influence of green careers. |
| D．The job chances in the environmental industry. |
The passage is written to _______.
| A．discuss eco-friendly services |
| B．introduce promising career chances |
| C．suggest ways of saving energy at work |
| D．explain the best method of finding jobs |