BEUING(AssociatedPress美联社)

第三节阅读理解(共10小题；每小题2分，满分20分)
A
A marketing director for a famous computer manufacturer was designing a new advertisement for his company. While researching consumers’ response to his product, he asked, “Ships are commonly referred to as ‘she’ or ‘her’. What gender (性别) would you give to your computer? Give four reasons to support your answer.
A large group of women reported that the computers should be referred to as “he” or “him” because:
1. In order to get their attention, you have to turn them on.
2. They have a lot of data, but are still hard to understand.
3. They are supposed to help you solve problems, but half the time they are problems.
4. As soon as you buy one, you realize that, if you had waited a little longer you could have had a better model.
The men, on the other hand, said that computers should be referred to as “she” or “her” because:
1. The language they use to communicate with other computers is impossible to understand for most men.
2. Even your smallest mistakes are stored in the long-term memory and will be remembered forever.
3. As soon as you get one, you find yourself spending half your money on accessories (附件) for it.
21. In fact, computers really_______.
A. should be referred to as “she” B. should be talked about as “he”
C. are neither “she” nor “he” D. are either “he” or “she”
22. Why did the man ask people such a strange question?
A. Because he was a marketing director of a computer company.
B. Because he was not sure whether to use “she” or “he” for his computer.
C. Because he wanted to make special computers for men and women.
D. Because he was planning an advertisement for his computer.
23. From the women’s answers, we can see_______.
A. they generally don’t know as much about computer as men do
B. they want to use a computer without turning it on
C. they can’t make up their minds when to buy a new computer
D. they love computers as much as they love their husbands

E
Some people have it easy. When their kids ask them what they do at work, they can give a simple, direct answer: “I put out fires” or “I teach primary school”. As a theoretical physicist, I never had this luck. Society has come to expect many things from the physicists. It used to be that we only had to discover the basic laws of the world and supply the techniques that would power the next Silicon Valley. With these expectations we were fairly comfortable: they are the sorts of things we think we know how to do. What makes us uncomfortable and what makes it hard for us to tell our kids what we’re up to is that in this century we have become, though unwillingly, gurus on questions such as “What is the nature of Reality?”
We now deal with a whole new class of problems. We ask how the world began and what the nature of matter is. The answers we are coming up with are just not easy to comprehend for the average person.
So, when physicists get out of their cars in the morning, have a cup of coffee and sit down in front of their computers, they leave a familiar world and enter a place where things act in strange ways that are impossible for ordinary people to understand.
72. According to the passage, in a way physicists are .
A. honestB. comfortable C. strange D. unlucky
73. By what the writer says about physicists, we know that physicists .
A. don’t like their careers
B. live in two different worlds
C. are coming up with new answers to old questions
D. don’t have to tell people what they are doing
74. From the passage we can conclude that theoretical physicists .
A. contributed to the new industry in Silicon Valley
B. only have to answer the basic questions about the world
C. have disappointed the expectations of many people
D. have found it hard to make themselves popular
75. What’s the main idea of the passage?
A. Society seems to know a bit about physicists’ work.
B. Most people are expecting to know what physicists are doing.
C. Physicists are doing more and more difficult jobs.
D. It’s impossible for average people to know physicists’ work.

D
Here are a few tips we’ve put together to help you learn English well.
Speak, speak, speak!
Practise speaking as often as you can—even speaking to yourself is good practice. Try recording yourself whenever you can. Compare your pronunciation with the master version, see how you can do better and have another try. If you do this several times, you will find that each version is better than the last.
Why not learn with someone else?
It helps if you can learn with someone else. If you can persuade a friend or family member to study with you, it will make you keep working. Agree times to meet and set goals for the week, and test each other regularly.
Don’t get stuck by a word you don’t know
Practise improvising (即兴的) ways of getting your meaning across while speaking spontaneously (本能), even if you don’t know the exact words or phrases. Think of things you might want to say whenever you have spare time. A basic example is the use of tenses. If you don’t know the past tense but want to talk about yesterday, use the verb in the present tense and use the word for “yesterday”. Use facial expressions, hand movements, anything to get your meaning across.
Language learning is also about intuition (直觉)
Guesswork is important in learning a new language. When listening to recorded material, you aren’t expected to understand everything first time round. If you play the same piece several times, you will most probably understand something new each time. Learn to make maximum use of all the clues you can pick up. For example, what do the speakers sound like? Happy? Angry? Calm? Etc.
Build up your vocabulary
A wide vocabulary is the key to successful language learning but don’t try to learn too much at once. It’s best to study frequently, for short periods of time. Take a maximum of six or seven items of vocabulary and learn them. Put them into sentences to fix them in your mind, then come back to them later. Much of the vocabulary in the course is presented by topic.
And above all, have fun!
68. Why should one have himself recorded when practicing speaking?
A. To encourage others to start.
B. To record his own progress.
C. To improve his speaking.
D. To compare himself with others.
69. Which of the following is the most important in learning English?
A. Speaking. B. Pleasure. C. Intuition. D. Vocabulary.
70. It is important in Tip 3 that is helpful when you are learning English.
A. body language B. a good memory C. a good friend D. a proper dictionary
71. Which of the following seems NOT to be true in learning a language?
A. Practice makes perfect. B. A good beginning is half done.
C. Rome is not built in a day. D. Don’t run before you can walk.

C
The world’s first plastic magnet (磁性) to work at room temperature has passed the elementary test of magnetism. Its creators at the University of Durham in the UK have used it to pick iron filings (铁屑) from a laboratory bench.
In 2001, chemists from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln claimed to have created the world’s first plastic magnet, but it only worked below 10 Kelvin (开氏温度). Other researchers have made plastic magnets, but generally they only function at extremely low temperatures, or their magnetism at room temperature is too weak to be business use.
So the Durham team can claim to have made the first plastic magnet that could be used in everyday products. One of the most likely applications is in the magnetic coating of computer hard discs, which could lead to a new generation of high-capacity discs.
Jerry Torrance, a material scientist who is an adviser to some of the world’s largest electronics and engineering companies, including IBM, describes the work as “a great scientific breakthrough”. However, he says that practical applications are probably still a long way off.
At first the new polymer (聚合物) showed little sign of magnetism, and after three months the researchers had reached the point where they felt that trying to induce (诱发) magnetism in this polymer was a waste of time. “Just as we were about to give up and try a different way, we decided to check the samples for a last time,” says Sean Giblin.
It was a fortunate decision, because over the months the original polymer had developed magnetic characteristics. Further groups of polymer proved its magnetism and ruled out the possibility that the magnetism had been caused by pollution. In addition, X-ray diffraction data (衍射数据) showed an increase in the straight line of the polymer chains over three months, which probably accounts for the increase in magnetism.
Although the polymer’s magnetism is weak compared with metal magnets, the researchers are confident that they can improve it. And in addition to computer hard discs, the team thinks that plastic magnets could have important medical applications because organic magnetic materials are less likely to be rejected by the body.
64. The plastic magnets made by the chemists from University of Nebraska-Lincoln and other researchers couldn’t be used in everyday products because .
A. they didn’t pass the elementary test of magnetism
B. they couldn’t pick up iron filings from a laboratory bench
C. they wouldn’t work at room temperature
D. they could only be used at high temperature
65. The increase in magnetism over the months is probably caused by .
A. checking the samples B. a wise decision
C. pollution
D. the increase in the straight line of the polymer chains
66. The plastic magnets could be used .
A. to compare with the metal magnets
B. to coat computer hard discs
C. to produce medicine
D. to lower the temperature
67. What would be the best title for the passage?
A. The Birth of Practical Plastic Magnet
B. The World’s First Plastic Magnet
C. A Fortunate Decision
D. The Applications of Plastic Magnets

B
Because he wrote his name so that it could be read easily, John Hancock has a place in the dictionary.
John Hancock was a wealthy man who helped the patriots in the American Revolution. He was president of the Continental Congress. He was also governor of Massachusetts and one of the first men of sign the Declaration of Independence. Yet he is remembered best for his large signature.
The story is told that when Hancock sat down to sign the Declaration of Independence, he said that he would write his signature large enough for John Bull to read without his glasses. Hancock’s signature on the Declaration is four the three-quarter inches long—an inch longer than his usual signature.
Today John Hancock can be used to mean any person’s signature.
60. The passage is mainly about .
A. the American Revolution B. John Hancock’s handwriting
C. how an American expression began
D. signing the Declaration of Independence
61. Hancock is remembered best because he .
A. was governor of Massachusetts
B. helped the patriots in the Revolution
C. signed his name in large letters
D. was president of the Continental Congress
62. John Bull is .
A. another name for Uncle Sam B. England’s Uncle Sam
C. a name that stands for England D. both B and C
63. According to the dictionary, a John Hancock is a .
A. governor B. man who sign petitions
C. strong patriot D. person’s signature

A．Mother’s Club in China.	B．BabyCare and Doctors.
C．American Company Model.	D．Educational Toys in China