I have nothing to say about whether or not "A Day Without Immigrants" had a positive or negative effect on the question of how the federal government should deal with the huge population of undocumented illegal immigrants in this country. I'll leave that question to others.
Regardless of how you feel about the event, one conclusion is obvious. Using the theme of" A Day Without" as a way to focus national attention on a particular subject is a great idea, and could serve as a method for increasing public awareness about other issues that affect daily life in America. Here are my top three examples:
"A Day Without Speeding." How hard could this be? If all drivers would strictly obey every posted speed limit on highways, downtown, on neighborhood streets, and in parking lots for one 24-hour cycle, the benefits would be huge.
"A Day Without Losing Your Temper." A higher degree of difficulty here, and I know that from personal experience. When something goes wrong at home or on the job, there may be brief satisfaction in yelling or kicking the furniture, but erupting with anger usually doesn't do anything to solve the problem, and in many cases it makes the situation more unpleasant.
"A Day Without Having All The Answers." I would like to get a break from hearing anyone speak the phrase, "Here's what you're doing wrong." Right now the US is jampacked with citizens who believe they can point out the cause of every single problem in existence and then solve it on the spot. I believe they need to be quiet sometimes and use their ears instead of their voices.
I wonder how would average Americans react to such a collective pause? Would it be a day of angry protests, or joyful celebrations?The first paragraph suggests .
| A．the writer is against A Day Without Immigrants |
| B．immigrants are not equally treated by the US federal government |
| C．the writer cares little about the problems of the country. |
| D．some people move to America without the permission of the US government |
"The event" in the second paragraph is related to .
| A．"A Day Without Immigrants" |
| B．"A Day Without Having All The Answers" |
| C．"A Day Without Speeding" |
| D．"A Day Without Losing Your Temper" |
According to the writer, losing one's temper is .
| A．personal | B．satisfying | C．pointless | D．unpleasant |
The writer suggest a day without having all the answers because .
| A．he thinks the American are too proud |
| B．he doesn't think what he is doing is wrong |
| C．he wants others to keep quiet |
| D．the writer is so tired that he needs a break |
B
No one is glad to hear that his body has to be cut open by a surgeon（外科医生）and part of it taken out．Today，however，we needn’t worry about feeling pain during the operation．The sick person falls into a kind of sleep，and when he awakes， the operation is finished．But these happy conditions are fairly new．
Long ago，operation usually had to be done while the sick man could feel everything．The sick man had to be held down on a table by force while the doctors did their best to save him．He could feel all the pain if his leg or arm was being cut off，and his fearful cries filled the room and the hearts of those who watched．
Soon after 1770，Josept Priestley discovered a gas which is now called “laughing gas”．Laughing gas became known in America．Young men and women went to parties to try it． Most of them spent their time laughing，but one man at a party，Horace Wells，noticed that people didn’t seem to feel pain when they were using this gas．He decided to make an experiment on himself．He asked a friend to help him．
Wells took some of the gas，and his friend pulled out one of Wells’ teeth．Wells felt no pain at all．
As he didn’t know enough about laughing gas，he gave a man less gas than he should have．The man cried out with pain when his tooth was being pulled out．
Wells tried again，but this time he gave too much of the gas，and the man died．Wells never forgot this terrible event．
24. Long ago，when the sick man was operated on, he _________．
A．could feel nothing B. could not want anything
C．could feel all the pain D．could do anything
25. Using the laughing gas, the people did not seem to _________．
A．be afraid of anything B．feel pain
C．want to go to the parties D．be ill
26. If a man took less laughing gas than he should have when an operation went on, he _________．
A．felt nothing B．felt very comfortable
C．still felt pain D．would die
27. One who took too much of the laughing gas _________．
A．would laugh all the time B．would die
C．would never feel pain D. would be very calm
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.