These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板电脑) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.
And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.
And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."
I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.
Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend. When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.
| A．you are travelling through time | B．you are thought to be out of date |
| C．you will find everything wrong | D．you have got to buy a new one |
Throwing away so much electronic rubbish makes the writer feel quite _____.
| A．lost and upset | B．unbelievably fast |
| C．broken or lost | D．regularly wasteful |
The example of the businessman implies that____.
| A．the businessman mastered the latest technology |
| B．mobile phones used to be quite big just years ago |
| C．the businessman was a very ridiculous person |
| D．the writer failed to follow modern technology |
The passage is organized in the pattern of ____.
| A．time and events | B．comparison and contrast |
| C．cause and effect | D．examples and analysis |
Which of the following is conveyed in the passage?
| A．The fast pace of change brings us no good. |
| B．We have to keep up with new technology. |
| C．Household items should be upgraded quickly. |
| D．We should hold on for new technology to last. |
Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end—with commercials thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste. " "Drink Good'n Wet Root Beer. " "Fill up with Pacific Gas. " Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of “ You Need It! Buy It Now!"?
The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you've traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed—new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it's fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless or daring, the ride can be as thrilling as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the right or the left-hand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you've got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.
The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there's a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat, of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you've sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the arm rests—even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.According to the writer, long bus rides and TV shows are similar in that __________.
| A．they are both long and boring, with commercials disturbing you all the time |
| B．they both have a beginning, middle, and an end, with commercials in between |
| C．they are both exciting, with new things to see in every three or four minutes |
| D．they both make you sit in your seat uncomfortably for a very long time |
The writer sounds as if he likes __________.
| A．reckless bus drivers | B．sleeping on bus trips |
| C．salty food | D．commercials |
The writer thinks that the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are __________.
| A．tiring | B．comfortable | C．exciting | D．boring |
When passengers get tired, they tend to __________.
| A．watch the commercials | B．eat food |
| C．cross their legs | D．change their ways to sit |
What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To warn people of the danger on long bus trips. |
| B．To persuade readers to take a long bus trip. |
| C．To describe the writer's own feelings from long bus trips. |
| D．To explain how bus trips and television shows differ. |
I was blind, but I was ashamed of it if it was known. I refused to use a white stick and hated asking for help. After all, I was a teenage girl, and I couldn't bear people looking at me and thinking I was not like them. I must have been a terrible danger on the roads; coming across me wandering through the traffic, motorists probably would have to step rapidly on their brakes. Apart from that, there were all sorts of disasters that used to occur on the way to and from work.
One evening, I got off the bus about hallway home where I had to change buses, and as usual I ran into something, "I'm awfully sorry, " I said and stepped forward only to run into it again. When it happened a third time, I realized I had been apologizing to a lamp post. This was just one of the stupid things that constantly happened to me. So I carried on and found the bus stop, which was a request stop, where the bus wouldn't stop unless passengers wanted to get on or off. No one else was there and I had to try to guess if the bus had arrived.
Generally in this situation, because I hated showing I was blind by asking for help, I tried to guess at the sound. Sometimes I would stop a big lorry and stand there feeling stupid as it drew away. In the end, I usually managed to swallow my pride and ask someone at the stop for help.
But on this particular evening no one joined me at the stop; it seemed that everyone had suddenly decided not to travel by bus. Of course I heard plenty of buses pass, or I thought I did. But because I had given up stopping them for fear of making a fool of myself, I let them all go by. I stood there alone for half an hour without stopping one. Then I gave up. I decided to walk on to the next stop.The girl refused to ask for help because she thought __________.
| A．she might be recognized |
| B．asking for help looked silly |
| C．she was normal and independent |
| D．being found blind was embarrassing |
After the girl got off the bus that evening, she __________.
| A．began to run | B．hit a person as usual |
| C．hit a lamp post by accident | D．was caught by something |
At the request stop that evening, the girl __________.
| A．stopped a big lorry |
| B．stopped the wrong bus |
| C．made no attempt to stop the bus |
| D．was not noticed by other people |
What was the problem with guessing at the sound to stop a bus?
| A．Other vehicles also stopped there. |
| B．it was unreliable for making judgments. |
| C．More lorries than buses responded to the girl. |
| D．it took too much time for the girl to catch the bus. |
Finally the girl decided to walk to the next stop, hoping __________.
| A．to find people there |
| B．to find more buses there |
| C．to find the bus by herself there |
| D．to find people more helpful there |
Bissel is a small village of the West Sahara. It lies next to a 1. 5square-kilometer oasis (绿洲), from where three days and nights are generally required to go out of the desert. However, before Ken Levin discovered it in 1926, none of the Bissel villagers had ever walked out of the desert. Reportedly, they were not unwilling to leave this barren land. Many had previously tried but failed, always somehow finding themselves back at the oasis after several days of trying to walk out.
When interviewed by Ken Levin, an expert at the British Royal College of Sciences, the villagers explained that no matter which direction they walked it always brought them back to the village.
Why couldn't the Bissel villagers walk out of the desert? Levin was very puzzled. He had, by himself, managed to walk north from the village and reach the nearest town in three and a half days. He decided to carry out an experiment to solve the mystery. He and a Bissel villager called Argutel, would walk out of the desert together. They prepared enough water for a half-a-month journey and two camels. But this time Ken Levin didn't bring his compass. Levin would follow Argutel.
Ten days later, they had walked for about 500 miles but were still in the desert. On the 11th morning, an oasis came into their view. They were back at Bissel. Levin now understood why the Bissel people couldn't escape the desert. They had no knowledge of the North Star, which had for centuries provided sailors and other travelers with a point of direction. In the desert, if a person goes forward relying only on their senses, they will not be able to travel in a straight line. Rather they will travel in a very large circle and eventually track back to where they began. Levin explained to Argutel the function of the North Star and said, "As long as you rest in the daytime and walk towards the brightest star at night, you would be able to walk out of the desert. " Argutel did as he was told. Three days later, he came to the edge of the desert.
Now in the West Sahara, Bissel has become a bright pearl, where tens of thousands of tourists come every year. Argutel's bronze statue stands in the center of the town. On its base are the words: __________.Villagers in Bissel had never walked beyond the desert because __________.
| A．they had no method to find their way out |
| B．they were discouraged by their failures |
| C．they had a fear of the outside world |
| D．they had no desire to leave the oasis |
Ken Levin asked Argutel to walk to the north in order to __________.
| A．see how far away Bissel was to the edge of the desert |
| B．prove that people could walk out of the desert |
| C．tell people not to walk in circles |
| D．show Argutel was a great person |
According to the passage, Ken Levin __________.
| A．knew Argutel before he came to the village |
| B．came to Bissel to do experiments on behalf of his college |
| C．became the first man to walk out of the desert from Bissel Village |
| D．taught Bissel villagers knowledge of the North Star when he first arrived |
It can be inferred from the passage that __________.
| A．Ken Levin didn't walk south because it would take more days |
| B．the use of a compass was necessary to walk out of the desert |
| C．tourism in Bissel has been greatly developed and improved |
| D．Argutel became the leader of Bissel after his return |
Which of the following can most probably be found at the base of Argutel's statue?
| A．Two heads are better than one. |
| B．Where there is a will, there is a way. |
| C．A long journey starts with the first step. |
| D．A new life starts from the fixed direction. |
Arthur sat at the desk in his room, pencil in hand. He had to write a story for his English class by Friday. "! don't know what to write about, " he complained to his dog Toby, who was asleep at his feet. Arthur was talkative when speaking to his friends, yet he had trouble finding words when he had to write.
By bedtime Arthur had drawn a picture of Toby smiling. He had drawn a tree with its branches blowing in the strong wind. He had also written a note asking his friend Lee to go to the movies on Saturday. But he had not written a single word of his story.
On Wednesday, Mrs. Solomon, Arthur's English teacher, asked the class to turn in the first draft of their stories. His heart sinking, Arthur turned in the only work he had—the page with his name, the drawings and the note.
Arthur wasn't surprised when Mrs. Solomon asked him to stay after class the next day. But he was surprised by what she said to him. “ This is an attractive story, Arthur. The dog, the movie, the tree in the wind—I can't wait to find out how they all fit together. "
"That isn't my story, Mrs. Solomon, " Arthur admitted. "I haven't been able to think of one yet. "
"Oh, I think you have the seed (种子) of a story there, " Mrs. Solomon replied, "Look at your note and the pictures and see if a story comes to you. "
That night Arthur sat at his desk, and this is what he wrote: "One Saturday Mike went downstairs to meet his friend Julio at the cinema. It looked as if it might rain, so Mike carried his umbrella. Suddenly a big storm blew in, bending the trees. The noise of the wind sounded like the barking of Mike's dog Toby. Toby really hated storms and barked whenever he wanted to be let inside. Then Mike realized that it wasn't the sound of the wind. It was Toby. The dog was running after him down the busy street, barking. The sound was filled with blame. Mike felt guilty because he had left Toby outside. He turned and headed home with Toby running beside him. Mike let Toby in the door just as the rain started to pour down. "
Arthur had a story in the end. The last thing he did was to write his name proudly at the top of the page.What can we know from the first paragraph?
| A．It was very quiet in the house. |
| B．Arthur was talking to his friends. |
| C．Arthur was doing his homework at school. |
| D．Arthur was a little pleased with his story. |
Why did Arthur turn in the page with only his name, the drawings and the note at first?
| A．Because he had no time to fit them together. |
| B．Because he had difficulty in writing a story. |
| C．Because he wasn't willing to do his homework. |
| D．Because he wanted to show his talent for drawing. |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 probably mean?
| A．Toby is an imaginative and lovely dog. |
| B．The small tree will grow into a big one. |
| C．His friend Lee can give him a lot of support. |
| D．He can develop his story based on the first draft. |
What kind of teacher do you think Mrs. Solomon is?
| A．She is a strict teacher. |
| B．She is a wise teacher. |
| C．She is an honest teacher. |
| D．She is an energetic teacher. |
What can we infer (推断) from the story?
| A．Arthur is a shy and quiet student. |
| B．Arthur isn't very satisfied with his story. |
| C．There will be a storm on Saturday. |
| D．Encouragement is important in teaching. |
Liu Qian, a magician from Taiwan, cast his spell (魔法) over an audience of thousands on the CCTV Spring Festival Show. Die-hard fans are still trying to work out the secrets behind many of the tricks he performed.
But Liu, 32, when asked, laughed off the idea that there might be an "answer" to his magic. "The most fascinating thing is the puzzling process. People enjoy how magicians make the impossible come true, " said Liu.
Few people today believe in the possibility of real magic. They also often fail to consider magicians' devotion to their art. It can take a magician years' of practice to perfect a trick before he performs it on stage.
Part of Liu's star appeal is his astonishing skill. However, when he began in the industry, he was all embarrassingly clumsy. "I could practice thousands of times for one single act. It wasn't much fun, " he said.
No magician's supernatural powers on stage extend to their life off stage. Liu says his life was no easier or funnier because he was a magician.
He developed an interest in magic at a young age, but didn't consider making a living out of it until he graduated from university. He had studied Japanese and found himself unable to find a job. "My parents never considered being a magician as a proper job. To begin with, I had little confidence I would be doing this in the long term, " he said.
Yet Liu felt a powerful calling to become a magician. "For many people, magic somehow means a miracle, which is something we all secretly wish for no matter how hard-bitten we become, " he said
Liu may be right. A popular modern dream is of the fairy godmother, who waves her magic wand (魔杖) and makes our dreams come true. But according to Liu, we all have the power to create magic in our lives. As Liu puts it: it's not the magic that makes it work; it's the way we work that makes it magic. According to the passage, we can tell that __________.
| A．being a famous magician, Liu Qian leads a comfortable life |
| B．it is a hard job for magicians to perform magic tricks well |
| C．Liu Qian's parents supported his wish to be a magician |
| D．Liu Qian showed great talents for magic tricks when he first took it up |
Talking of whether there's real magic, Liu Qian believes __________.
| A．there is no real magic and what counts in our life is the way we work |
| B．if we secretly wish for something, magic will turn out to be a miracle |
| C．the puzzling process of performing magic tricks is the answer to magic |
| D．there exists a fairy godmother waving her magic wand to make our dreams come true |
Which of the following is similar to the underlined sentence in meaning?
| A．All roads lead to Rome. |
| B．A miss is as good as a mile. |
| C．Every dog has his day. |
| D．No pains, no gains. |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Magic Power by Liu Qian |
| B．The Magic Skill |
| C．A Popular Magician—Liu Qian |
| D．How to Be a Successful Magician |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Liu Qian is a born magician. |
| B．Liu Qian studied magic at university. |
| C．Liu Qian became successful mainly because he was hardworking. |
| D．Godmother helped him. |