Broken rubber bands and flat tires requiring replacement could soon be a thing of the past.
French researchers have developed a new kind of rubber that can repair itself when broken.The new rubber is made from widely available materials including vegetable oil and a common industrial chemical.All the materials are considered safe to the environment and can be easily reused.
The best part is that the new rubber can be repaired and used again and again without losing its strength or ability or stretch.When cut, the rubber can be made new again, simply by pressing the two broken ends back together.
The product can be repaired at room temperature, around twenty degrees Centigrade;other self-healing materials require higher temperatures for repair.
Traditionally, rubber substances are made from huge molecules(分子)connected by strong chemical links, or bonds.The new rubber is made of smaller molecules.The molecules are linked together using hydrogen bonds.When connected in this way, the molecules act like one long molecule, forming what is called supramolecular networks(超分子网).When the rubber is cut, the molecules attempt to connect with whatever molecule is near them.When pressed together, the molecules are able to repair themselves at the molecular level, making the repaired rubber like new.
However, time is an important element in the process.If the broken ends are not brought together quickly, a repair is not possible.This is because molecules will form bonds with molecules on their own side.The inventors say the surfaces of the rubber can be repaired within a week of being separated.
The rubber is the creation of scientists at the Industrial Physics and Chemistry Higher Education Institution in Paris.The organization is part of France's National Center for Scientific Research.The new material is described in greater detail in the research publication Nature.According to the introduction, which of the following is NOT the advantage of the new rubber?
| A.It can be made as easily as common rubber. |
| B.It is environmentally-friendly. |
| C.It can repair itself at room temperature. |
| D.It is made of smaller molecules. |
What does the 5th paragraph mainly tell us?
A.Why t he new rubber is unique. |
| B.Why the new rubber can repair itself. |
| C.The new rubber is made from huge molecules. |
| D.The new rubber is different from the common rubber. |
If we want to know more about the technology of this kind of new rubber, where can we get the information?
| A.In the researchers' diary. | B.In a guide book. |
| C.In a research magazine. | D.In a newspaper. |
Fidenzio Salvatori is determined that the city of Toronto will have an outdoor marketplace for merchants from its immigrant community, complete with dancing and other forms of amusement form their native countries. “Toronto is truly multicultural (多元文化的),” he said in a newspaper interview. “It’s a city from many places, and multicultural marketplace will help Torontonians to understand and appreciate the rich variety of cultural groups in our city.”
Salvatori, aged 23, will soon complete his studies at the University of Toronto. He was eleven years old when he came to Canada from Italy with his parents. “Most of Toronto’s immigrants are from lands where the marketplace has always been part of daily life,” he said.
Salvatori has been interested in getting an open-air market for Toronto for the last three years. This year, with the help of two fellow students, he prepared a proposal on the subject and presented it to the city’s Executive committee, asking for their support. The proposal pointed out Toronto’s rich variety of national groups, “whose customs include market shopping.”
Under a Canadian government program for multiculturalism, the three students have received two thousand dollars with which they will do a study to find out whether Toronto’s immigrant businessmen would support an open-air market. They hope the merchants will support the plan strongly. “A study done earlier this year showed that 90 percent of shoppers would be in favor of it,” Salvatori said. “At first it would be an experiment. But we think it will prove to be good business for the merchants, as well as tourist attraction.”
61. What is Fidenzio Salvatori’s purpose of having an outdoor marketplace for Toronto?
A. To provide different forms of amusement.
B. To keep the cultural variety of the city.
C. To inspire its immigrant community.
D. To satisfy its immigrant merchants.
62. Fidenzio Salvatori, with two other students, has got two thousand dollars from the government ______.
A. to make an experiment B. to perform a research
C. to start a marketplace D. to operate a business
63.According to Salvatori, the marketplace may also help to improve Toronto’s ______.
A. market management B. travel industry
C. community service D. city planning
64.It can be inferred from the text that the Canadian government supports ______.
A. the protection of different cultures B. the plan of an open-air market
C. the request of merchants D. the attitude of shoppers
MONTREAL (Reuters) – Crossing the US-Canada border (边界) to go to church on a Sunday cost a US citizen $ 10,000 for breaking Washington’s strict new security (安全) rules.
The expensive trip to church was a surprise for Richard Albert, who lives right on the Canadian border. Like the other half-dozen people of Township 15, crossing the border is a daily occurrence for Albert. The nearby Quebec village of St. Pamphile is where they shop, eat and go to church.
There are many such situations in these areas along the largely unguarded 5,530-mile border between Canada and the US – which in some cases actually runs down the middle of streets or through buildings.
As a result, Albert says he did not expect any p0roblems three weeks ago when he returned home to the US after attending church in Canada, as usual, The US customs (海关) station in this area is closed on Sundays, so he just drove around the locked gate, as he had done every weekend since the pate appeared last May, following a tightening of border security. Two days later, Albert was told to go to the customs office, where an officer told him he had been caught on camera crossing the border illegally (非法).
Ottawa has given out sp0ecial passes to some 300 US citizens in that area so they can enter the country when Canadian customs stations are closed, but the US stopped a similar program last May. That forces the people to a 200-mile detour along hilly roads to get home through another border checkpoint.
Albert has requested that the customs office change their decisions on the fine, but he has not attended a Sunday church since. “I feel like I’m living in a p0rison,”he said.
41.We learn from the text that Richard Albert is _______.
A.an American living in Township 15
B.a Canadian living in a Quebec village
C.a Canadian working in a customs station
D.an American working in a Canadian church
5.2.Albert was fined because he ________.
A.failed to obey traffic rules
B.broke the American security rules
C.worked in St. Pamphile without a pass
D.damaged the gate of the customs office.
63.The underlined word “detour” in Paragraph 5 means _________.
A.a drive through the town B.a race across the fields
C.a roundabout way of traveling D.a journey in the mountain area
7.4.What would be the best title for the text?
A.A Cross-country Trip B.A Special Border Pass
C.An Unguarded Border D.An Expensive Church Visit
If the world were a village of 1,000 people it would include:
• 584 Asians
• 124 Africans
• 95 Eastern and Western Europeans
• 84 Latin Americans
• 55 former Soviets ( including Lithuanians, Latvians, Estonians, and other national groups)
• 52 North Americans
• 6 Australians and New Zealanders
The people of the village would speak:
• 165 Mandarin
• 86 English
• 83 Hindu/Urdu
• 64 Spanish
• 58 Russian
• 37 Arabic
The above list covers the mother tongues of only half the village.
One-third of the people in the village are children, and only 60 are over the age of 65. Just under half of the married women in the village have access to modem equipments.
This year 28 babies will be born. Ten people will die, 3 of them for lack of food, 1 from cancer. Two of the deaths will be of babies born within the year. With the 28 births and 10 deaths, the population of the village next year will be 1,018.
In this village of 1,000 persons, 200 people receive 75 percent of the income; another 200 receive only 2 percent of the income.
About one-third have access to clean, safe drinking water.
Of the 670 adults in the village, half can not read nor write.
The village has a total yearly budget (预算), public and private, of over $3 million—$ 3,000 per person if it is distributed evenly. Of the total $3 million:
$ 181,000 goes to weapons and warfare
$ 159,000 to education
$ 132,000 to health care
These weapons are under the control of just 100 of the people. The other 900 are watching them with deep anxiety, wondering whether they can learn to get along together.
60. Which of the following is true about Mandarin according to the text?
A. Nearly one-third of Asian people speak Mandarin in the village.
B. About 8.25 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.
C. About 16. 5 per cent of the people speak Mandarin in the village.
D. Nearly all the Mandarin-speaking people are from Asia in the village.
61. Which of the following problems is NOT mentioned in the text?
A. Poverty. B. Education. C. Environment. D. Marriage.
62. The underlined part “have access to” (in Para. 4( means_____.
A. use B. buy C. produceD. try
63. The last sentence in the text implies that most of the people long for _____.
A. a peaceful world B. good education
C. better health care D. a life without anxiety
Every year more people recognize that it is wrong to kill wildlife for “sport.” Progress in this direction is slow because shooting is not a sport for watching, and only those few who take part realize the cruelty and destruction.
The number of gunners, however, grows rapidly. Children too young to develop proper judgments through independent thought are led along way away by their gunning parents. They are subjected to advertisements of gun producers who describe shooting as good for their health and gun carrying as a way of putting redder blood in the veins (血管). They are persuaded by gunner magazines with stories honoring the chase and the kill. In school they view motion pictures which are supposedly meant to teach them how to deal with arms safely but which are actually designed to stimulate (刺激) a desire to own a gun. Wildlife is disappearing because of shooting and because of the loss of wild land habitat (栖息地). Habitat loss will continue with our increasing population, but can we slow the loss of wildlife caused by shooting? There doesn't seem to be any chance if the serious condition of our birds is not improved.
Wildlife belongs to everyone and not to the gunners alone. Although most people do not shoot, they seem to forgive shooting for sport because they know little or nothing about it. The only answer, then, is to bring the truth about sport shooting to the great majority of people.
Now, it is time to realize that animals have the same right to life as we do and that there is nothing fair or right about a person with a gun shooting the harmless and beautiful creatures. The gunners like to describe what they do as character-building, but we know that to wound an animal and watch it go through the agony of dying can make nobody happy. If, as they would have you believe, gun-carrying and killing improve human-character, then perhaps we should encourage war.
72. According to the text, most people do not seem to be against hunting because___________.
A. they have little knowledge of it B. it helps to build human character
C. it is too costly to stop killing wildlife D. they want to keep wildlife under control
73. The underlined word "agony" in the last paragraph probably means______________.
A. form B. Condition C. pain D. sadness
74. According to the text, the films children watch at school actually__________.
A. teach them how to deal with guns safely B. praise hunting as character-building
C. describe hunting as an exercise D. encourage them to have guns of their own 75. It can be inferred from the text that the author seems to_____________.
A. blame the majority of people B. worry about the existence of wildlife
C. be in favour of war D. be in support of character-building
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 and 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.
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 regularly B. stops working properly
C. opens the window for the driver D. sounds more frequently and loudly