Time was running out, and Mark Dickinson wasn't sure whether he'd get to see his dying 2－year－old grandson one last time. A long line at Los Angeles International Airport's security checkpoint had kept him from getting to his gate on time.
His grandson Caden would be taken off life support in a matter of hours in Denver, Colorado, with or without his grandfather's presence, according to CNN affiliate KABC.
“I was kind of panicking because I was running late, and I really thought I wasn't going to make the flight，” Dickinson told KABC.
That's when a pilot from Southwest Airlines stepped up and held the flight at the gate until Dickinson arrived. The pilot was standing by the air bridge waiting for him when Dickinson arrived in socks, so rushed that he just grabbed his shoes at security and ran through the terminal.
“I told him, ‘Thank you so much. I can't tell you how much I appreciated that.’ And he said, ‘No problem. They can't leave without me anyway，’”Dickinson told KABC.
Authorities say Dickinson's grandson, Caden Rodgers, suffered a head injury after his mother's boyfriend threw him across the room. The boyfriend reportedly told police he was drunk and high on marijuana(大麻) at the time. The child later died and the boyfriend has been charged with first－degree murder, according to the Aurora Sentinel.
Thanks to the pilot, Dickinson made it to Colorado in time to say goodbye to his grandson. Most airlines would punish any staff member who holds up a flight, according to consumer advocate Christopher Elliott, who broke the story of the sympathetic pilot on his blog. However, a Southwest spokeswoman said the pilot's actions were praiseworthy.
“You can't hold a plane for every late customer, but I think we would all agree that these were extenuating(可以原谅的) circumstances and the pilot absolutely made the right decision，” Southwest spokeswoman Marilee McInnis said. “I don't think you could ask for a better example of great service for our customers.”According to the passage, which is the correct order of the following events?
a. The pilot held the plane for Dickinson.
b. People read the story of the pilot on the Internet.
c. Caden suffered a head injury.
d. Dickinson was waiting in line at the security checking point.
d. Marilee McInnis praised the pilot's actions.
| A．d，c，a，b，e | B．c，a，d，b，e | C．c，d，a，b，e | D．d，a，b，c，e |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．The security staff prohibited Dickinson from getting to his gate on time. |
| B．The plane couldn't leave without Dickinson according to the regulations. |
| C．Dickinson made it to see his grandson one last time. |
| D．Christopher Elliott holds the view that all the airlines should advocate similar actions. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The boyfriend of Caden's mother hates him very much. |
| B．The boyfriend has been accused of first－degree murder. |
| C．Many pilots enjoy writing blog. |
| D．Dickinson had to take off his shoes at the security cheekpoint. |
In writing this passage, the author mainly tells us a story about ________．
| A．an unlucky man from Los Angeles making his flight |
| B．a poor boy being killed by his mother's boyfriend |
| C．Southwest Airlines' decision not to punish a pilot who held up the flight |
| D．a pilot holding the flight for a man going to see his dying grandson |
One spring, when I was 10, during one of my father’s layoffs(失业), I could tell my mother was unhappy. I decided to cheer her up by buying her a special Mother’s Day gift.
One day after school I rode my bike to the Agins, which, I learned years later, was known for its high-end fashions(时尚) and style. I introduced myself to Sylvia Agins, telling her I was looking for a Mother’s Day present.
“Do you think she’d like a purse?” she asked. I told her. I thought she might.
She took out an Italian handbag made of leather.She asked me what I thought, and I told her that my mom would like it.
“How much money do you have?” she asked.
“Twelve dollars,” I said.
“You’re in luck,” she told me. “It’s only $11. You have a dollar left over for the card.” She gift-wrapped the purse and thanked me for my business, and I rode off home with the package under my arm.
When my mother opened the gift the next Sunday morning, she asked in an accusing tone, “Where did you get this?”
“I bought it at the Agins. It cost me $11.” I said.
My mother was shocked into silence.
It wasn’t until many years later, when I learned that the purse was worth several hundred dollars, that I appreciated just how wonderful Sylvia Agins had been to me. I always felt bad that I never had a chance to properly thank her.
“You know, my son, what really amazes me to this day,” my mother said, “Letting you have the purse for just a few dollars was unbelievable enough. But the fact that she let you leave the store with a dollar for the card was a touch of kindness that I’ll never forget.”The author bought his mother a purse to ________.
| A．surprise his mother |
| B．make his mother happy |
| C．show his ability of making money |
| D．thank his mother for buying him a bike |
Why was the author’s mother shocked into silence?
| A．She wasn’t expecting a gift from her son. |
| B．The purse was bought from the Agins. |
| C．The author bought a card to go with the purse. |
| D．The Agins charged so little money for the purse. |
Sylvia Agins’s behavior shows that________.
| A．she is good at making money |
| B．she is kind and thoughtful |
| C．she knows how to choose presents |
| D．she is critical and mean |
Which of the following can be the best title for the text?
| A．An Unforgettable Event. |
| B．A Considerate Mother. |
| C．A Priceless Mother’s Day Gift. |
| D．A Kind-hearted Shop Owner. |
Hundreds of great books are published in America every year. And every year, editors, critics and other readers try to choose a list of favorites.
A few books showed up on list after list of the best fiction from this year. One of them was Ann Patchett's State of Wonder. Publishers Weekly described the novel as one "readers will hate to see end." The story centers on a drug researcher from Minnesota named Maria Singh. She travels to Brazil to investigate the death of a co-worker. Her search takes her deep into the Amazon area and danger. But she also goes deep into her own soul for a close look at who she is, what she has lost in her life and how she wants the future to look. Ann Patchett lives in Tennesee. She told Publishers Weekly magazine that the state is dense and leafy, like the Amazon jungle. She visited that area while doing research for the novel.
Chad Harbach's name was also all over the critics' best lists this year for his first book, The Art of Fielding. The New Yorker magazine praised the novel for the easy way it joins a love of baseball with a love of literature. The book is about a college baseball star. He suffers a mental crisis and begins to fail on the playing field as a result. But the book is about much more than the sport of baseball. It also is a story of love, loss, friendship and growing up. Chad Harbach says his own upbringing influenced the book.
The Marriage Plot also got a lot of attention this year. It is the third book from Pulitzer Prize winner Jeffrey Eugenides. He spent almost ten years writing it. The Marriage Plot is also a story about becoming an adult. It follows the lives of three students in their final year of college and beyond. Leonard struggles with manic depression, Mitchell, with religious belief and Madeleine struggles with her feelings for both men.The underlined words "readers will hate to see end" mean _______.
| A．Readers don’t like Ann Patchett’s writing style. |
| B．Readers don’t like reading State of Wonder. |
| C．Readers love State of Wonder very much. |
| D．Readers don’t want to read the end of State of Wonder. |
What can we learn from the second paragraph?
| A．During the research Maris thinks a lot about her own thoughts and feelings. |
| B．The story focuses on a scientific research. |
| C．Maria Singh’s co-worker died of a serious illness. |
| D．The subject of Maria Singh’s study was supported by Publishers Weekly. |
It can be inferred that _______.
| A．Chad had mental problems in his childhood |
| B．Chad became famous for The Art of Fielding |
| C．more and more readers like Chad’s book |
| D．The Art of Fielding is only about the story of baseball. |
The following statements about The Marriage Plot are true except that ______.
| A．it took its author about 10 years to finish the book |
| B．it is about the lives of three college students |
| C．Mitchell in the story struggles with religious belief |
| D．its author’s character is similar to Madeleine’s |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．People’s reading preference. |
| B．Three famous writers. |
| C．The introduction of three well reviewed books. |
| D．The common features of interesting books. |
“In only six days I lost seven pounds of weight.”
“Two full inches in the first three days!”
These are the kinds of statements used in magazine, newspaper, radio and television ads, promising new shapes and new looks to those who buy the medicine or the device. The promoters of such products say they can shape the legs, slim the face, smooth wrinkles, or in some other way add to beauty or desirability.
Often such products are nothing more than money-making things for their promoters. The results they produce are questionable, and some are dangerous no health.
To understand how these products can be legally promoted to the public, it is necessary to understand something of the laws covering their regulation. If the product is a drug, FDA（Food and Drug Administration）can require proof under the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act that it is safe and effective before it is put on the market. But if the product is a device, FDA has no authority to require premarketing proof of safety or effectiveness. If a product already on the marker is danger to health, FDA can request the producer or distributor to remove it from the market voluntarily, or it can take legal action ,including seizure（查封）of the product. One notable case a few years ago involved an electrical device called the Relaxacisor, which had been sold for reducing the waistline. The Relaxacisor produced electrical shocks to the body through contact pads. FDA took legal action against the distributor to stop the sale of the device on the grounds that it was dangerous to health and life. Obviously, most of the devices on the market have never been the subject of court proceedings（诉讼）,and new devices appear continually. Before buying, it is up to the consumer to judge the safety or effectiveness of such items.It can be inferred that the ads mentioned at the beginning of the passage are ______.
| A．illegal | B．unreliable |
| C．objective | D．costly |
Which of the following will the author probably agree with?A. The court is in charge A.of removing dangerous products.
B. It is possible that new products are questionable.
C.The production of a device must be approved by FDA.
D. The promoters usually just care about profits.FDA can ask for the proof of safety and effectiveness of a product ________.
| A．if its consumers make complaints |
| B．if it is a device |
| C．if it is a drug |
| D．if its distributors challenge FDA’s authority |
The Relaxacisor is mentioned in the passage as_______.
| A．a product which was designed to produce electricity |
| B．a product whose distributor was involved in a legal case |
| C．a successful advertisement of a beauty product |
| D．an example of a quality beauty product |
By writing the passage, the author intends to _______.
| A．make consumers aware of the promoters’ false promises |
| B．show the weakness of the law on product safety |
| C．give advice on how to keep young and beautiful |
| D．introduce the organization of FDA |
Will there be a time in our lives when cars don’t crash? When we can just sit back and relax and our cars will drive themselves. Auto technology experts say “yes”. And they say that some of those advances may happen quicker than you might think.
They will require the users to input the name of the destination or the complete address of the location that they want to go and the cars’ artificial intelligence takes them there automatically without a driver. They will run on solar power in the daytime and ethanol fuel (乙醇燃料) at night. Toyota, BMW and Honda will completely control the trade of driverless car business together and will have the cheapest driverless cars. Fossil fuels will be completely incompatible (不相配的) with these cars.
Driverless cars will not require a driver’s license of any grade to operate. Anyone with basic literacy and computer skills who are at least 16 years of age will be legally allowed to operate the vehicle with absolutely no restrictions. This would give the young users permission to operate the driverless cars on major highways as well as secondary roads without needing a separate classification. In addition to all this, drunken people will be able to use their own automobiles to return home because they are not “driving” the vehicle.
What’s more, car insurance will become obsolete because there will be no more automobile accidents after the year 2025. This is because the driverless car will have all safety methods in place by the car’s artificial intelligence to prevent automobile accidents. Global positioning systems will become mandatory (强制的) in all newly-manufactured cars after 2010, and will be the most important part in the driverless car.Who will not be able to use driverless cars?
| A．Adults with basic literacy and computer skills. |
| B．Adults who are drunk. |
| C．Adults without computer skills. |
| D．Adults without a driver’s license. |
We can infer from the second paragraph that driverless cars.
| A．will need fewer fossil fuels |
| B．will not need a human’s instructions |
| C．will run on solar power only |
| D．will be environmentally friendly |
What will prevent the driverless car from crashing?
| A．Artificial intelligence. |
| B．Global positioning systems. |
| C．The people inside. |
| D．Car insurance. |
The underlined word “obsolete” in the last paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．difficult to get | B．quite important |
| C．dangerous | D．out of business |
Which of the following may be the best title of the passage?
| A．Car safety. | B．Driverless cars. |
| C．The future cars. | D．New technology in cars. |
From the same place that brought you the Robot Suit HAL comes the “motorized knee”．Designed by researchers at Japan's Tsukuba University, the device supports the flex(弯曲 ) of the knee, which enables a runner to use 30% less muscle power compared to running unassisted.
Coming in a kit (成套工具), the device consists of a small motor that helps flex the knee, a sensor that detects the knees' degree of flex, and a safety lever (杠杆)—all of which attach to the user's leg.The user is also forced to carry a backpack that holds a control unit and battery to power the motor.All up the device weighs around 5kg，which will probably lessen the performance benefits of wearing the device somewhat.In experiments runners wearing the device could jog at 7.5kmh, which is hardly anything special—but predictably they could do it for longer.
Curiously, the makers of the motorized knee say it isn't designed for the physically handicapped.Rather it is intended for people who want to run in a more efficient way.I can't help thinking this cuts down the potential market considerably.After all, most runners I know do it for the sake of their fitness.Wouldn't a device that is designed to do some of the work mean that someone would have to run for longer to receive the same fitness benefits?
Regardless, the research team expects to commercialize the kit within the next three years, by which time they also plan to have made the device significantly smaller and lighter.To make sure that the device runs smoothly，________.
| A．the user should be equipped with other related units |
| B．the device should be improved through experiments |
| C．the user shouldn't be physically handicapped |
| D．the device should be smaller and lighter |
What is the special feature of the device according to the passage?
| A．It helps its user run faster. |
| B．It helps save physical strength. |
| C．It adds more fun to running. |
| D．It helps its user keep a good shape. |
In the author's opinion, the device________.
| A．should specially serve the disabled |
| B．won't be popular with people at all |
| C．does harm to its user's health |
| D．may not sell as well as expected |
Which of the following aspects of the device is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Its advantages. | B．Its components. |
| C．Its weight. | D．Its price. |
In which column of a newspaper would this passage be found?
| A．Science. | B．Health. |
| C．Education. | D．Business. |