It’s hard to track the blue whale, which has almost been killed off by commercial whaling. Attaching radio devices to it is difficult and visual sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior.
So biologists were delighted early this year when, with the help of the US Navy, they are able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days recording its sounds. This was possible because of the Navy’s former top secret system of underwater listening devices across the oceans.
Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies.
Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had used the system for closely observing a deep-sea volcanic eruption for the first time and that they planned similar studies. Other scientists have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring changes in the ocean and global temperatures. Different layers of ocean water can act as channels for sounds focusing them in the same way a stethoscope(听诊器) does when it carries faint noises from a patient’s chest to a doctor’s ear. This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in the ocean, especially low-frequency ones, can often travel thousands of miles.The underwater listening system was originally designed _________________.
| A．to trace and locate enemy ships |
| B．to observe deep sea volcanic eruptions |
| C．to study the movement of ocean currents |
| D．to replace the global radio communications network |
The deep-sea listening system makes use of __________________.
| A．the ability of sound to travel at high speed |
| B．the top-level technology of focusing sounds under water |
| C．the unique characteristic of layers of ocean water in carrying sound |
| D．low-frequency sounds traveling across different layers of water |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．New radio devices are developed for tracking the blue whales. |
| B．Blue whales are no longer endangered with the new system. |
| C．Opinions differ on the use of military technology. |
| D．Military technology has great potential in civilian use. |
What is the passage chiefly about?
| A．An effort to protect an endangered marine species. |
| B．The civilian use of a military detection system. |
| C．The exposure of a US Navy top-secret weapon. |
| D．A new way to look into the behavior of blue whales. |
As a junior at McGill University, Doreen Sykora had a difficult time when she first began college. She said, “I was always well prepared for my examinations. But when I go into class to take the exam, I would fall apart. I could just blank out because of nervousness and fear.” Hitoshi Sakamoto, an anthropology(人类学) student at Temple University in Tokyo reports similar experiences.
These two young students were experiencing something called test anxiety. Because a student worries and is stressed about a test, his or her mind does not work as well as it usually does. The student cannot write or think clearly because of the severe tension and nervousness.
Now there are special university courses to help students. In these courses, advisors and psychologists try to help students by teaching them to manage test anxiety. Such a course helps students learn to live with stress and not fail because of it. First students take a practice test to measure their worry level. If the tests show that their stress level is high, the students can take a short course to manage the fear. These courses teach students how to relax their bodies. They get training to become calm in very tense situations. By controlling their nervousness, they can let their minds work more easily. Learned information then comes out without difficulty on a test.
Doreen Sykora saw immediate results after taking such a course. She now has enthusiasm about the relaxation methods. “Mostly, what I do is imagine myself in a very calm place. Then I imagine myself picking up a pencil. I move slowly and carefully. I breathe easily and let all the tension out. With each breath, more worry leaves me. It really works too. My grades have improved greatly! I’m really doing well at McGill now. This relaxation method works not only on examinations, but it has improved the rest of my life as well.”
For Hitoshi in Tokyo, the results were much the same. He is enjoying school a lot more and learning more.What is the similarity between Doreen Sykora and Hitoshi Sakamoto?
| A．They both had experiences of test anxiety. |
| B．They failed in all the examinations. |
| C．They are students from the same university. |
| D．They both had the same poor studying habits. |
The underlined phrase “blank out” in Paragraph 1 refers to “_______.”
| A．get an extra paper |
| B．be unable to think clearly |
| C．lose interest in the exam |
| D．refuse to take the exam |
What’s the purpose of some special university student-help courses?
| A．To learn more knowledge about test anxiety. |
| B．To show a stress level experienced by students. |
| C．To help students to reduce test anxiety. |
| D．To have a better understanding of test anxiety. |
One of the most traditional features of American culture is to respect the self-made man — the man who has risen to the top through his own efforts, usually beginning by working with his hands. While the leader in business or industry or the college professor occupies a higher social position and commands greater respect in the community than the common laborer or even the skilled factory worker, he may take pains to point out that his father started life in America as a farmer or laborer of some sort.
This attitude toward manual(体力的) labor is now still seen in many aspects of American life. One is invited to dinner at a home that is not only comfortably but even luxuriously (豪华地) furnished and in which there is every evidence of the fact that the family has been able to afford foreign travel, expensive hobbies, and college education for the children; yet the hostess probably will cook the dinner herself, will serve it herself and will wash dishes afterward, furthermore the dinner will not consist merely of something quickly and easily assembled from contents of various cans and a cake or a pie bought at the nearby bakery. On the contrary, the hostess usually takes pride in careful preparation of special dishes. A professional man may talk about washing the car, digging in his flowerbeds, painting the house. His wife may even help with these things, just as he often helps her with the dishwashing. The son who is away at college may wait on table and wash dishes for his living, or during the summer he may work with a construction gang on a highway in order to pay for his education.From paragraph 1, we can know that in America _________.
| A．people can always rise to the top through their own efforts |
| B．people tend to have a high opinion of the self-made man |
| C．college professors win great respect from common workers |
| D．people feel painful to mention their fathers as labors. |
According to the passage, the hostess cooks dinner herself mainly because _________.
| A．servants in American are hard to get |
| B．It is easy to prepare a meal with canned food |
| C．she can hardly afford servants |
| D．she takes pride in what she can do herself |
The expression “wait on table” in the second paragraph means “_________”.
| A．work in a furniture shop |
| B．keep accounts for a bar |
| C．serve customers in a restaurant |
| D．wait to lay the table |
Recently Cathy Hagner sadly finds that life for her and her three children is set to permanent(永久的)fast-forward.
Their full school day and her job as a lawyer's assistant are busy enough. But Hanger also has to take the two boys to soccer or hockey or basketball while dropping off her daughter at piano lessons or Girl Scout Club.
Often, the exhausted family doesn't get home until 7 pm. There is just time for a quick supper before homework. In today's world, middle-class American and British parents treat their children as if they are competitors racing for some finishing line.
Parents take their children from activity to activity in order to make their future bright. It seems that raising a genius has become a more important goal than raising a happy and well-balanced child.
“Doctors across the country are reporting a growing number of children suffering from stomachaches and headaches due to exhaustion and stress,” says child expert William Doherty of the University of Minnesota.
Teachers are dealing with exhausted kids in the classroom. It's a very serious problem. Many children attend after-school clubs by necessity. But competitive pressures also create an explosion of activities. They include sports, language, music and math classes for children as young as four.
“There is a new parenting trend under way which says that you have to tap all your child’s potential at a young age; otherwise you will let him down,” says Terry Apter, a Cambridge-based child and adolescent psychiatrist(青少年精神病专家).
“It isn't entirely new: there have always been pushy parents. But what was previously seen as strange behavior is now well accepted.”From the second paragraph of this passage we can find that _______.
| A．Hagner busies herself by following a trend |
| B．Hagner doesn't spend much time on her full-time job |
| C．Hagner is interested in sports and music |
| D．Hagner wastes much time helping her children's lessons |
British parents, as the writer described in this passage, _______.
| A．treat their children as sports players |
| B．give their children little time to develop freely |
| C．bring up their children in a simple way |
| D．pay no attention to their children's lessons |
The writer's opinion about after-school clubs is that ________.
| A．activities in the country are too competitive |
| B．children should attend four clubs at a time |
| C．clubs should have more subjects for school children |
| D．some clubs result in competitive pressures |
The last paragraph tells us that in Britain _______.
| A．parents used to take their children to every club |
| B．parents have all benefited from children’s clubs |
| C．parents used to be wise on how to raise children |
| D．parents have come to know the standard of education |
Most of us are expecting high-quality customer service in our daily life, but actually enjoying a happy purchase is easier said than done.
Shoppers seldom complain to the manager or owner of a retail store, but instead they will alert their friends, relatives, co-workers, strangers—and anyone who will listen.
Store managers are often the last to hear complaints, and often find out only when their regular customers decide to frequent their competitors, according to a study jointly conducted by Verde Group and Wharton School.
“Storytelling hurts retailers and entertains consumers,” said Paula Courtney, President of the Verde Group. “The store loses the customer, but the shopper must also find a replacement.”
On average, every unhappy customer will complain to at least four others, and will no longer visit the specific store. For every dissatisfied customer, a store will lose up to three more due to negative review. The resulting “snowball effect” can be disastrous to retailers.
According to the research, shoppers who purchased clothing encountered the most problems. Ranked second and third were grocery and electronics customers.
The most common complaints include filled parking lots, cluttered (塞满了的) shelves, overloaded racks, out-of-stock items, long check-out lines, and rude salespeople.
During peak shopping hours, some retailers solved parking problems by getting moonlighting (业余兼职的) local police to work as parking attendants. Some hired flag wavers to direct customers to empty parking spaces. This guidance eliminated the need for customers to circle the parking lot endlessly, and avoided confrontation between those eyeing the same parking space.
Retailers can relieve the headaches by redesigning store layouts, pre-stocking sales items, hiring speedy and experienced cashiers, and having sales representatives on hand to answer questions.
Most importantly, salespeople should be diplomatic and polite with angry customers.
“Retailers who’re responsive and friendly are more likely to smooth over issues than those who aren’t so friendly,” said Professor Stephen Hoch. “Maybe something as simple as a greeter at the store entrance would help.”
Customers can also improve future shopping experiences by filing complaints to the retailer, instead of complaining to the rest of the world. Retailers are hard-pressed to improve when they have no idea what is wrong.Why are store managers often the last to hear complaints?
| A．Most customers won’t bother to complain even if they have had unhappy experiences. |
| B．Customers have no easy access to store managers. |
| C．Few customers believe the service will be improved. |
| D．Customers would rather relate their unhappy experiences to people around them. |
What does Paula imply by saying “the shopper must also find a replacement” (Line 2, Para. 4)
| A．New customers are bound to replace old ones. |
| B．Most stores provide the same kind of service. |
| C．Not complaining to manager causes the shopper some trouble too. |
| D．It is not likely the shopper can find the same products in other stores. |
Shop owners often hire moonlighting police as parking attendants so that shoppers________.
| A．can stay longer browsing in the store |
| B．won’t have trouble parking their cars |
| C．won’t have any worrier about security |
| D．can find their cars easily after shopping |
What contributes most to smoothing over issues with customers?
| A．Design of store layout. |
| B．Hiring of efficient employees |
| C．Huge supply of goods for sale. |
| D．Manners of the salespeople. |
To achieve better shopping experiences, customers are advised to ________.
| A．exert pressure on stores to improve their service |
| B．voice their dissatisfaction to store managers directly |
| C．settle their disputes with stores in a diplomatic |
| D．shop around and make comparisons between stores |
Are you single or married? Are you a cat or a dog owner? Do you exercise, or are you a “couch potato” (a person who sits on the sofa all day watching TV, eating and basically doing nothing)? These questions and many others are about your lifestyle.
People in the United States feel that they can choose their lifestyles and even shape their own identities. The great variety of lifestyles leads to constant national discussion of choices that people make. This freedom of choice is fun and exciting, but it also creates stress and uncertainty. In newspapers, lifestyle issues are discussed in the features or style section. In The Chicago Tribune this section is called “Tempo”. People turn to this section for lively discussion on lifestyle choices they face with regard to their personal identities, their families, and their social lives.
Many American people believe that they can make their lives happy and satisfying despite their problems. If they lack confidence or tend to feel anxious, shy, angry, or depressed, they believe that they can change themselves. Self-help books, magazines, and feature articles are filled with advice from experts about steps to take to become a happier or more satisfied person and to improve one’s self-respect. Part of this research for self-improvement is a belief that even one’s own appearance can be controlled. This is why there are so many articles in the newspaper about looking young, wearing the latest fashions, and becoming physically fit.
Lifestyle choices also involve moral and social issues. How should children be raised? How should people behave on a date? How should elderly people be treated? How can people stay happily married? All these kinds of issues are constantly discussed and are constantly changing. Not only are experts such as psychologists consulted, but stars from the political and entertainment worlds are held up as lifestyle leaders as well. In the newspaper, feature articles called profiles discuss in detail the personal lives or public work of movie stars, authors, artists, and exceptional individuals who are not stars. The lifestyle choices these people make contribute to the public discussion of all the issues that people think about.
A well-known advertising slogan is “Just do it.” In the culture of the United States, people believe that they can take action and become the kind of people they want to be and live the way they want to live.The section “Tempo” in The Chicago Tribune mainly discusses ______.
| A．lifestyle choices |
| B．current affairs |
| C．experts’ opinions on life |
| D．how to improve one’s self-respect |
According to the author, Americans are pretty sure that they can ______.
| A．control their own appearance |
| B．solve all the problems in their life |
| C．live a happy life in spite of their problems |
| D．improve their life by following the elders’ advice |
According to the passage, people’s opinions on moral or social issues can be influenced by ______.
| A．their superiors |
| B．family members |
| C．friends and colleagues |
| D．experts and famous people |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．Just Do It |
| B．Make Our Lives Happy |
| C．Lifestyles in the United States |
| D．Choosing the Way We Live |