An Australian company, Smart Car Technologies, has developed a system that lets drivers know when they’re speeding. When the technology becomes commercially available, it could help lead-footed drivers avoid tickets and also save lives. The company that developed the product hopes to convince Australian government agencies to put the technology into use in their automobile fleets.
The product, called Speed Alert, links real-time location data and speed obtained with the help of GPS to a database of posted speed limits stored in a driver’s PDA or programmable mobile phone. The setup of the product does not need to be hooked up to a car’s speedometer. In fact, it is entirely portable. It will also work with newer phones and PDAs that have built-in GPS receivers. If a driver exceeds the speed limit, the speed is shown and an alert sounds.
Michael Paine, an Australian vehicle design engineer and traffic safety consultant, was hired to analyze the product. He told Live Science that his colleagues in the road safety field are “very enthusiastic” about what they’re now calling “intelligent speed alert.” Other research, according to Paine, shows that 40 percent of all traffic deaths involve speeding. There is also a potentially controversial future use: “Since the system is so portable, it would be easy to make it a requirement for teenage drivers to always use a speed alert device when driving,” Paine said. “The system even has the capability to record speeding violations, so parents can monitor their teenage drivers.”
The product will soon go on sale in Sydney. What’s the purpose of the new product?
A.To inform us of the new car system. | B.To introduce some improvement in cars. |
C.To limit certain drivers to safe driving. | D.To popularize the built-in car system. |
The second paragraph mainly talks about .
A.the project of the built-in product | B.why the system becomes popular |
C.the functions of GPS in cars | D.how the product is programmed |
Which of the following is true of Speed Alert according to Michael Paine?
A.Most of the traffic deaths can be avoided. | B.Speeding violations can be easily found out. |
C.The system will excite some teenage drivers. | D.The product will not be available for adults. |
What can be the best title of the passage?
A.Speed Alert and Its Future Use. | B.Progress in Car-making Science. |
C.Warning for Adventurous Drivers. | D.New In-Car Device against Speeding. |
Wu You, a 14–year–old Chinese Australian, used her diary to record what she had experienced in Guangzhou during this year’s Spring Festival travel period.
She, like tens of thousands of passengers stranded (滞留) at the Guangzhou Railway Station, had a Spring Festival she could never forget. But different from most people, she put down what she saw and heard in her diary, which was published in Australia.
Born in Sydney, Australia, Wu You’s grandfather and parents are professional painters, and she started to write diaries with pictures when she was only ten years old. She never expected to become famous because of her diary describing her life in Guangzhou.
“We originally planned to stay for half a month in Guangzhou when we arrived in January,” said Huang Qin, Wu’s mother. But the snowstorm caused the breakdown of traffic and kept the family there. “This is her first Spring Festival in China and probably the most special one,” said Huang. “We watched TV news programs every day and prayed for the snowstorm to be over soon so that stranded passengers could go home as soon as possible.”
Then Wu You started writing diaries about the snowstorm and the stranded passengers, along with the traditional customs in Guangzhou as well as local attractions such as the flower fair.
“In her diary she just wrote down what she heard and saw every day, and with her pencil she added some illustration to every diary. When we went back to Australia, people saw the diaries and asked to publish them on a local newspaper,” said Huang, “because they thought the diaries are very heart – warming.” All of Wu You’s diaries were written in English, and translated into Chinese by her mother. Through her diary, the girl shows her care to the Chinese people. In one diary, she wrote, “I really hope the warmth from people’s love can melt the cold snow and ice.”
72. Wu You wrote diaries during her stay in Guangzhou because she _______ .
A. has the habit of keeping a diary B. wished to make her name known
C. needed a means to kill time D. experienced so many interesting things
73. We can infer from the story that Wu You _____ during the Spring Festival.
A. did nothing besides watching TV and writing diaries
B. helped clear away the snow and ice
C. helped other stranded passengers in difficulty
D. had activities to get a taste of the local culture
74. The underlined word “illustration” in the last paragraph refers to _______.
A. photos B. drawings C. translations D. tips
75. Her diary is believed worth publishing mainly because it tells about the ______.
A. wonderful places in Guangzhou covered in ice and snow
B. interesting ways of locals observing the Spring Festival
C. severe disaster caused by the snowstorm
D. moving stories of the passengers being helped
It was Monday. Mrs. Smith's dog was hungry, but there was not any meat in the house.
Considering that there was no better way. Mrs. Smith took a piece of paper, and wrote the following words on it: “Give my dog half a pound of meat.” Then she gave the paper to her dog and said gently: “Take this to the butcher (*person whose job is selling meat). and he's going to give you your lunch today.”
Holding the piece of paper in its mouth, the dog ran to the butcher's. It gave the paper to the butcher. The butcher read it carefully, recognized that it was really the lady's handwriting and soon did it as he was asked to. The dog was very happy, and ate the meat up at once.
At noon, the dog came to the shop again. It gave the butcher a piece of paper again. After reading it,he gave it half a pound of meat once more.
The next day, the dog came again exactly at noon. And as usual, it brought a piece of paper in the mouth. This time, the butcher did not take a look at paper, and gave the dog its meat, for he had regarded the dog as one of his customers (*people who buy sth. from a shop).
But, the dog came again at four o'clock. And the same thing happened once again. To the butcher's more surprise, it came for the third time at six o'clock, and brought with it a third piece of paper. The butcher felt a bit puzzled. He said to himself, “This is a small dog. Why does Mrs. Smith give it so much meat to eat today?”
Looking at the piece of paper, he found that there were not any words on it!
68.Mrs Smith treated her little dog quite_________.
A. cruelly B. fairly C. kindly D. friendly
69.It seemed that the dog knew well that the paper Mrs Smith gave it_______.
A. might do it much harm B. could do it much good
C. would help the butcher D. was worth many pounds
70.The butcher did not give any meat to the dog __________.
A. before he felt sure that the words were really written by Mrs. Smith
B. when he found that the words on the paper were not clear
C. because he had sold out all the meat in his shop
D. until he was paid enough by Mrs. Smith
71.From its experience, the dog found that ________.
A. only the paper with Mrs. Smith's words in it could bring it meat
B. the butcher would give the meat to it whenever he saw it
C. Mrs Smith would pay for the meat it got from the butcher
D. a piece of paper could bring it half a pound of meat
The financial climate, the job market, family tensions, Obama moving into the Lincoln bedroom. Even the climate’s getting in on the list. Yup, change is everywhere in 2009.
If you’re not careful, all kinds of strange things might happen in your otherwise ordered life, so it’s best to work at avoiding change whenever it rears its head.(抬头)
Here are 5 ways to do just that:
1. Ignore any opportunities. How many times have you taken a chance, only for things to go wrong? How many times have you seized an opportunity only for it to slip between your fingers? There’s always another screw-up(皱脸) waiting for you, so it’s better to stay right where you are. Where you are right now is a known quantity - it’s safe, warm and comfortable. Doesn’t that sound better than going out there, screwing up and looking stupid? |
2. Set your expectations low. If you’re one of the people out there looking to make a change in 2009 rather than having change made for you, you’d better set your expectations low. |
3. Keep on running and don’t look back. The best thing to do is to set things out so that you can do everything. It’s good to be busy and running around after everyone else will mean that everyone’s happy and there’s no room for change to happen. It’s a win-win! |
4. Recognize that most changes are too big. Face it; there are some tasks you’re just not up to. Landing that exciting new job, getting a promotion, taking on the ‘big project’ or building a relationship that really works -these are all big challenges and you don’t want to bite off more than you can chew. |
5. Ignore that little voice inside You might sometimes hear a little voice in your head that tells you you’re not happy or that something has to change. This little trouble maker can speak up at any time and throw the Spanner of Confusion in the works, and it has only one thing on its mind -to take you out of your comfort zone and make you change. |
Imagine if everyone went around listening to what they really wanted and acted on it - chaos.
No, best to ignore it and carry on with what you’re doing.
64.The purpose of writing this passage is _______.
A.to attract the readers’ interest in change in 2009
B.to introduce ways to avoid change in 2009
C.to discuss whether people should change in 2009
D.to tell the readers the news of American New President- Obama
65.Supposing you are safe, warm and comfortable now, you should _______.
A.set your expectations low B.keep on running and don’t look back
C.ignore any opportunities D.ignore that little voice inside
66.The underlined sentence “You don’t want to bite off more than you can chew” implies_____.
A.you are too small to eat too much food.
B.you have big challenges to fight.
C.you are afraid of challenging some difficult tasks.
D.there are some big challenges you can’t fight.
67.The best way of dealing with that little voice inside is _______.
A.to change something at once B.to have a chat with the speaker
C.to ignore it and go on with what you are doingD.to discuss it with the trouble maker
IV. 阅读理解:(第一节15小题,每小题2分;第二节5小题,每小题2分;满分40分)
Stress ---- learning to relax
During the course of our growing, sometimes everything seems to go wrong at once. Maybe you have got behind with school work, quarreled with a friend, lost something you really liked and you're in trouble at home too. As more things happen we get more stressed, which means we get too tired and can't think properly, which means more things go wrong!
What happens when you feel stressed?
When you get worried or stressed out about something it affects your body in a number of ways.
○ Your heart beats faster.
○ Muscles tense.
○ Your stomach feels tight or you feel sick.
○ Your breathing gets faster.
○ You sweat more.
○ It is hard to get to sleep, or you wake up feeling like you didn't really sleep because you still feel tired.
What can you do if you feel stressed?----Relaxation
There are different things you can do to relax.
Exercise is great and it can help you sleep if you are doing some as part of your day. If you're not sure what to do, look up 'Exercise' on this site for some ideas.
Exercise to move about (dancing, running, jumping, walking and bike riding) is very good, but if you are not an active person then here are some ideas for you.
Exercise to do if you are a couch potato(电视迷) or a computer freak(电脑迷) or a bookworm .
While you are sitting you can still exercise.
Look at the diagrams.
61. What will happen when things go wrong?
A. Falling behind in study. B. Making friends with others.
C. Picking up some money D. Feeling well
62. Where can we find this passage?
A. In a newspaper. B. In a magazine.
C. In a textbook. D. At a website.
63. The underlined word “bookworm” in the third line from the bottom probably means_______.
A. an insect that eats books B. someone who likes reading very much
C. a worm that likes books D. a person who often does sports outside
Determined to make school more related to the workplace, Roosevelt High School in Portland, Oregon, developed a school-to-work program. In their first year, students are offered some job pathways in natural resources, human services, health care, business, arts and communication. The following year, each student chooses one of the pathways and examines it in depth, spending three hours a week watching someone on the job. Such a program is also in practice in some other states.
The school-to-work program is built around a partnership(伙伴关系). For example, Eastman Kodak, a major employer(雇主) in Colorado, introduces students to business by helping them construct(建设) a model city using small pieces of wood. “The children use the models to decide on the best place to set up schools,” says Lucille Mantelli , director for Eastman Kodak in Colorado. Kodak introduces math by teaching fifth graders to use their pocket money properly. They also provide one-on-one job watching experiences and offer chances of practice for high school juniors and seniors. “Students come to the workplace two or three hours a week,” explains Mantelli. “They do the job for us. We pay them and they get school credits (学分). We also give them our views on their performance and developmental opportunities.”
In these partnerships, everybody wins. The students tend to(倾向于) take more difficult courses than students in schools that don’t offer such programs. Business benefits(获益) by having a better prepared workforce needed in future years. “It’s a way for us to work with the school systems to develop the type of workforce we’ll need in future years,” Mantelli continued. “We need employees who understand the basics of reading and writing. We need them to be good at math and to be comfortable working on a team.”
“Our theory is that they can learn as much outside the classroom as in. All students have the ability to change the world, not just to live in it. To do that, they have to know how to solve problems and use critical(批判的)thinking skills. We need to encourage them to dream about jobs that go beyond what they see today,” concludes(得出结论) a school-to-work program organizer.
58. Using the example of Eastman Kodak in Colorado, the writer shows us ____.
A. what the school decides to do
B. why the students get paid for their jobs
C. where the students have their math class
D. what role the business plays in the program
59. The main purpose of the school-to-work program is to _____.
A. offer students more difficult courses
B. introduce new job opportunities to schools
C. improve relations between students and teachers
D. make what students learn in school related to the workplace
60. According to the text, Lucille Mantelli is ____.
A. a math teacher B. a school designer
C. a company manager D. a program organizer
61. What does the writer mean by saying “…everybody wins.” (Paragraph 3)?
A. Students get school credits by taking examinations.
B. Both students and business benefit from the program.
C. The working conditions of the company have improved greatly.
D. Every teacher and student gets paid for working outside the school.