How should one invest a sum of money in inflation (通货膨胀)? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.
I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."
Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.
However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.
Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in an antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?According to the passage, collecting antique clocks ________.
| A．can hardly keep the value of your savings |
| B．will cost much of your savings |
| C．may increase your wealth |
| D．needs your bravery |
By quoting (引用) the remark of a being from another planet, the author intends to ________.
| A．suggest human beings are controlled by a clock |
| B．describe why clocks can rule the planet Earth |
| C．tell readers what clocks look like |
| D．compare clocks to human beings |
Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time?
| A．Counting the beating of one's own heart. |
| B．Making use of candles, sand and water. |
| C．Observing shadows cast by the sun. |
| D．Keeping slaves busy day and night. |
The purpose of the passage is ________.
| A．to introduce the culture of antique clocks |
| B．to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks |
| C．to compare different ways to make a future profit |
| D．to explain convenient and reliable ways of telling time |
Usually, when your teacher asks a question, there is only one correct answer. But there is one question that has millions of correct answers. That question is “What’s your name?” Everyone gives a different answer, but everyone is correct.
Have you ever wondered about people’s names? Where do they come from? What do they mean?
People’s first names, or given names, are chosen by their parents. Sometimes the name of a grandparent or other member of the family is used. Some parents choose the name of a well-known person. A boy could be named George Washington Smith; a girl could be named Helen Keller Jones.
Some people give their children names that mean good things. Clara means “bright”; Beatrice means “one who gives happiness”; Donald means “world ruler”; Leonard means “as brave as a lion”.
The earliest last names, or surnames, were taken from place names. A family with the name Brook or Brooks probably lived near a brook (小溪); someone who was called Longstreet probably lived on a long, paved road. The Greenwood family lived in or near a leafy forest.
Other early surnames came from people’s occupations. The most common occupational name is Smith, which means a person who makes things with iron or other metals. In the past, smiths were very important workers in every town and village. Some other occupational names are: Carter—a person who owned or drove a cart; Potter—a person who made pots and pans.
The ancestors of the Baker family probably baked bread for their neighbors in their native village. The Carpenter’s great-great-great-grandfather probably built houses and furniture.
Sometimes people were known for the color of their hair or skin, or their size, or their special abilities. When there were two men who were named John in the same village, the John with gray hair probably became John Gray. Or the John who was very tall could call himself John Tallman. John Fish was probably an excellent swimmer and John Lightfoot was probably a fast runner or a good dancer.
Some family names were made by adding something to the father’s name. English-speaking people added –s or –son. The Johnsons are descendants of John; the Roberts family’s ancestor was Robert. Irish and Scottish people added Mac or Mc or O. Perhaps all of the MacDonnells and the O’Donnells are descendants of the same Donnell. Which of the following aspects do the surnames in the passage NOT cover?
| A．Places where people lived. | B．People’s characters. |
| C．Talents that people possessed. | D．People’s occupations. |
According to the passage, the ancestors of the Potter family most probably _______.
| A．owned or drove a cart | B．made things with metals |
| C．made kitchen tools or containers. | D．built houses and furniture. |
Suppose an English couple whose ancestors lived near a leafy forest wanted their new-born son to become a world leader, the baby might be named ________.
| A．Beatrice Smith | B．Leonard Carter |
| C．George Longstreet | D．Donald Greenwood |
The twentieth century saw greater changes than any century before. Changes for the better, changes for the worse, changes that brought a lot of benefits to human beings, changes that put man in danger. Many things caused the changes, but, in my opinion, the most important was the progress in science.
Scientific research in physics and biology has vastly broadened our views. It has given us a deeper knowledge of the structure of matter and of the universe. It has brought us a better understanding of the nature of life and of its continuous development. Technology in the application of science has made big advances that have benefited us in nearly every part of life.
The continuation of such activities in the twenty-first century will result in even greater advantages to human beings; in pure science—a wider and deeper knowledge in all fields of learning; in applied science--- a more reasonable sharing of material benefits, and better protection of the environment.
Sadly, however, there is another side to the picture. The creativity of science has been employed in doing damage to mankind. The application of science and technology to the development and production of weapons of mass destruction has created a real danger to the continued existence of the human race on this planet. We have seen this happen in the case of nuclear weapons. Although their actual use has so far occurred only in the Second World War, the number of nuclear weapons that were produced and made ready for use was so large that if the weapons had actually been used, the result could have been the ruin of the human race, as well as of many kinds of animals.
William Shakespeare said, “The web of our life is of a mingled yarn, good and ill together.” The above brief review the application of only one part of human activities—science seems to prove what Shakespeare said. But does it have to be so? Must the ill always go together with the good? Are we biologically programmed for war?Which of the following best shows the structure of the passage?
="Paragraph" 1,②="Paragraph" 2, ③="Paragraph" 3, ④="Paragraph" 4,⑤="Paragraph" 5） From the fourth paragraph, we can infer that ______.
| A．a great many nuclear weapons were actually used for war |
| B．a large number of nuclear weapons should have been used for war |
| C．the author is doubtful about the ruin of human beings by nuclear war |
| D．the author is anxious about the huge number of nuclear weapons on the earth |
The underlined word “mingled” most probably means______
| A．simple | B．mixed | C．sad | D．happy |
What do you think the author is most likely to suggest if he continues to write?
| A．Further application of science to war. |
| B．More reading of William Shakespeare. |
| C．Proper use of science in the new century. |
| D．Effective ways to separate the good from the ill. |
Students who work during term time to support themselves at university are far more likely to graduate with a poor degree, according to a government-funded study published yesterday.
Undergraduates with part-time jobs are a third less likely to get a first or upper second-class degree than other students, harming their career chances. Students from the poorest backgrounds were most likely to take jobs during term because they could not depend on help from their parents.
The report, commissioned (委托) by the Department for Education and Skills, also found a clear relation between fear of debt and employment in non-graduate jobs. Students from poorer backgrounds are known to be more unwilling to be in debt than those from middle class families.
The study of 8,600 people who graduated in 1999 was made by Peter Elias, of Warwick University, and Kate Purcell, from Bristol Business School. They found that twice as many first-class degrees were awarded to students who did not work during term compared with those who did. Between 35 and 38 percent who worked during term achieved a lower second, compared with about 28 percent of those who did not.
Professor Elias said that the increase in school fees next year to ￡3,000 would have to be monitored (监控) carefully for its effect on poorer students. "Higher education is going to be a harder struggle for those who do not come with all the advantages," he said.
He suggested that universities could get in touch with employers to provide work experience on good salaries to choose students during holidays, so that they did not have to work during term.What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．Students at university like to take part-time jobs to support themselves, |
| B．Term-time jobs at university lead to poorer examination results. |
| C．The school fees are becoming higher and higher at university. |
| D．Students at university have much difficulty getting first-class degrees. |
Why did lots of students take term-jobs at university?
| A．No one would lend them money to continue their study. |
| B．They wanted to improve themselves by taking part-time jobs, |
| C．Their families were poor and couldn't afford the high expense. |
| D．They thought earning money was more important than studying. |
Students who took term-jobs at university ____.
| A．had no possibility to study better than those who didn't |
| B．couldn't graduate from school normally in the future |
| C．might have trouble in finding a job in the future |
| D．were more independent than those who didn't in the future |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Poor students can't take part-time jobs all the time at university. |
| B．Employers have the duty to help poor students solve the money problem. |
| C．First class degrees couldn't be given to the students whose families were poor. |
| D．High school fees are one of the important reasons why students have to take term-jobs. |
A programmer and an engineer are sitting next to each other on a long flight from Los Angeles to New York．The programmer leans over to the engineer and asks if he would like to play a fun game．The engineer just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks．
The programmer persists and explains that the game is really easy and has a lot of fun．He explains, "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5．Then you ask me a question, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $5．" Again, the engineer politely refuses and tries to get to sleep．
The programmer, now somewhat anxious, says, "OK, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $50!" This catches the engineer's attention, and he sees no end to this torment（折磨） unless he plays, so he agrees to the game．
The programmer asks the first question．"What's the distance from the earth to the moon?'' The engineer doesn't say a word, but reaches into his wallet, pulls out a five dollar bill and hands it to the programmer．Now, it's the engineer's turn．He asks the programmer, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down on four?" The programmer looks up at him with a puzzled look．He takes out his laptop computer and searches all of his references．After about an hour, he wakes the engineer and hands him $50．The engineer politely takes the $50 and turns away to try to get back to sleep．The programmer, more than a little angry, shakes the engineer and asks, "Well, so what's the answer?" Without a word, the engineer reaches into his wallet, hands the programmer $5, and turns away and goes back to sleep．What's the best title for the passage?
| A．A Boring Conversation | B．A Fun Game |
| C．A Trick During The Flight | D．A Question Without Answer |
What kind of person is the programmer according to what he said?
| A．Confident． | B．Selfish． | C．Greedy． | D．Generous． |
What can we infer according to the last sentence?
| A．The engineer has little money with him． |
| B．Actually the engineer doesn't know the answer, either． |
| C．The engineer is bored with programmer． |
| D．The engineer beats the programmer at last． |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．In the beginning the engineer is not interested in the game． |
| B．The engineer is too sleepy to want to play the game． |
| C．At last the engineer gains $45 from the programmer． |
| D．Nobody knows the answer to the engineer's question． |
The scientists observed that the more junk food the rats ate, the more they wanted to eat – a behavior very similar to that of rats addicted(上了瘾的) to heroin, a dangerous drug. Johnson said the experiment shows that the brain chemistry of obesity(肥胖) and drug addiction may be quite similar.
In their experiment, Johnson and his team studied the “pleasure center” of rats’ brains. The pleasure center is a complicated network of nerve cells. If the animal exercises or eats, the cells reward the animal by releasing chemicals into the body that make it feel good. And when the body feels good, the animal – or person – will want to do the behavior again.
For the experiment, Johnson fed foods like cheesecake to one group of rats. Food like this is high in calories and fat. Another group of rats got a regular diet. The rats that ate junk food started to eat more and more.
“They’re taking in twice the amount of calories as the control rats,” says Paul Kenny, one of Johnson’s colleagues.
Kenny and Johnson wanted to know what was going on in the brains of these rats. They first designed a way to deliver a small electrical charge to the rats’ brains. This electrical charge would stimulate the pleasure centers to release pleasure-causing chemicals. The rats could control how much stimulation – and how much pleasure – they received by running on a wheel. The more the rat ran, the more pleasure it received.
The rats that had been eating junk food started running more and more. This behavior suggested that the junk-food-eating rats needed more brain stimulation to feel good compared with rats on a normal diet. In other words, their pleasure centers were becoming less sensitive and the junk food didn’t make them feel good unless they ate more and more.
Experiments like this one could help scientists understand how chemicals in the brain contribute to obesity. With that information, they may be able to help people avoid obesity in the first place.
(Note: Answer the questions or complete the statements in NO MORE THAN TEN WORDS.) The scientists suggested it was actually ___________________ that made the rats feel good.
How did the scientist know what was happening in the brains of the junk-food-eating rats?
What was the purpose of the experiment mentioned in the article?