Drunken driving—sometimes called America’s socially accepted form of murder—has become a national epidemic（流行病）. Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers, adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past ten years. A drunken driver is usually referred to as one with 0.10-blood alcohol content or roughly three beer glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American manly image and judges were lenient in most courts, but the drunken killing has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies, especially concerning young children, that public opinion is no longer so tolerant（忍受）.
Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21, reversing a trend（逆转潮流）in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18, the number of people killed by 18—20-year-old drivers more than doubled, so the state recently upped it back to 21.
Reformers, however, fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop “responsible attitudes” about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.
Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests in many areas already, to a marked drop in accidents, some states are also punishing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A bar in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who was “obviously drunk” and later drove off the road, killing a nine-year-old boy.
As the accidents continue to occur daily in every state, some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years national prohibition（禁令）of alcohol that began in 1919, which President Hoover called the “noble experiment”. They forgot that legal prohibition didn’t stop drinking, but encouraged political corruption（腐败）and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally, there is no easy solution.What can be inferred from the fact of the traffic accidents in New Jersey?
| A．Young drivers were usually bad. |
| B．The legal drinking age should be raised. |
| C．Some drivers didn’t surprise the legal drinking age. |
| D．Drivers should not be allowed to drink. |
The underlined word “lenient” in the first paragraph means .
| A．merciful | B．cruel | C．serious | D．determined |
As regards drunken driving, public opinion has changed because .
| A．judges are no longer lenient |
| B．new laws are introduced in some states |
| C．drivers do not appreciate their manly image |
| D．the problem has attracted public attention |
Which of the following statements best shows the writer’s opinion of drunken driving?
| A．It is difficult to solve this problem. |
| B．It may lead to organized crime. |
| C．The new laws can stop heavy drinking |
| D．There should be no bars to serve drinks. |
Women are on their way to holding more than half of all American jobs. The latest government report shows that their share of non-farm jobs nearly reached fifty percent in September, 2009.
The job market continues to suffer the effects of last year’s financial crash. On the one hand more women have entered the labor market over the years, and on the other hand the economic recession (衰退) has hit men harder than women. In October the unemployment rate for men was almost 11% compared to 8% for women.
Industries that traditionally use lots of men have suffered deep cuts. For example, manufacturing (制造业) and building lost more jobs last month. But health care and temporary employment services have had job growth. Both of those industries employ high percentages of women.
Thirty years ago, women earned sixty-two cents for every dollar that men earned. Now, for those who usually work full time, women earn about eighty percent of what men earn. And a recent study from the University of California, Davis, reveals that women hold fifty-one percent of well-paid management and professional jobs. Yet the study also shows that men still hold about nine out of every ten top positions at most companies. The results have remained largely unchanged for five years.
Also, a new research paper in the journal Sex Roles looks at the experiences of women who are the main earners in their families. Rebecca Meisenbach at the University of Missouri in Columbia interviewed fifteen women. She found that they all value their independence and many enjoy having the power of control, though not all want it. But they even feel more pressure and worry. That is partly because of cultural expectations that working women should still take care of the children. Also, men who are not the main earners may feel threatened.Which of the following is a reason why women have a larger share of jobs?
| A．Women workers are paid less than men. |
| B．More women now have higher education than men. |
| C．The economic recession has affected men more than women. |
| D．Industries that traditionally use lots of men now need more women. |
There have been an increasing number of jobs for women in .
| A．manufacturing | B．building | C．health care | D．farming |
In the late 1970s, if a man earned 500 dollars a month, a woman probably earned .
| A．＄260 | B．＄310 | C．＄400 | D．＄500 |
If a woman is the main earner in her family, she probably .
| A．hopes to be less independent | B．has the power of control |
| C．feels a bit threatened | D．is less worried |
TOKYO— At first glance, Japanese cellphones are young people’s favorites, with elegant design and quick access to the Internet. However, despite years of competition in overseas markets, Japan’s cellphone makers have little presence beyond the country’s shores.
The only Japanese cellphone maker with any meaningful global share is Sony Ericsson, and that company is a London-based joint venture(合资企业)between a Japanese electronics maker and a Swedish telecommunications firm.
And Sony Ericsson has been hit by big losses. Its market share was just 6.3 percent in the first quarter of 2009, behind Nokia of Finland, Samsung Electronics and LG of South Korea, and Motorola of Illinois.
This year, Mr Natsuno, who developed a popular wireless Internet service called i-Mode, invited some of the best minds in the field to debate how Japanese cellphones could go global.
“The most amazing thing about Japan is that even the average person out there will have a very advanced phone, ”said Mr Natsuno. Japan has 100 million users of advanced third-generation smart phones, twice the number of the United States, a much larger market. Many Japanese rely on their phones, not a PC, for Internet access.
Indeed, Japanese cellphone makers thought they had positioned themselves to dominate（支配）the age of digital data. But they were a little too clever. In the 1990s, they set a standard for the second-generation network that was refused everywhere else. Then Japan quickly adopted a third-generation standard in 2001. However, it made Japanese phones too advanced for most markets.
Several Japanese companies are now considering a push into overseas markets, including NEC. Panasonic, Sharp, Toshiba and Fujitsu are said to be planning similar moves.
“Japanese cellphone makers need to either look overseas, or exit the business”, said Kenshi Tazaki, a managing vice president at the consulting firm Gartner Japan.Through the first paragraph, the author intends to tell us that___________.
| A．Japanese cellphones are popular with young people |
| B．Japanese cellphones don’t sell well abroad |
| C．Japanese cellphones are very advanced |
| D．Japanese cellphones are specially designed for young people |
The cellphone company with the largest global market share is located in______.
| A．Japan | B．America | C．South Korea | D．Finland |
Why are Japanese cellphone makers a little too clever?
| A．Because their technical standards are too advanced to be accepted overseas. |
| B．Because they only produce advanced cellphones. |
| C．Because they used the second-generation network earlier than others. |
| D．Because their phones are more advanced than PCs. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Japanese cellphone companies are unsuccessful. |
| B．Japan has more cellphone users than the US. |
| C．Japanese cellphone industry intends to expand overseas markets. |
| D．Going global—a difficult task for Japanese companies. |
On the day of a big event, many people came to Big Bend Mountain to watch. John Henry and the salesman stood side by side. Even early in the day, the sun was burning hot.
The competition began. John Henry kissed his hammer and started working. At first, the steam-powered drill worked two times faster than he did. Then, he started working with a hammer in each hand. He worked faster and faster. In the mountain, the heat and dust were so thick that most men would have had trouble breathing. The crowd shouted as clouds of dust came from inside the mountain.
The salesman was afraid when he heard what sounded like the mountain breaking. However, it was only the sound of John Henry at work. Polly Ann and her son cheered when the machine was pulled from the tunnel of the mountain. It had broken down. Polly Ann urged John Henry to come out. But he kept working, faster and faster. He dug deep into the darkness, hitting the steel so hard that his body began to fail him. He became weak, and his heart burst.
John Henry fell to the ground. There was a terrible silence. Polly Ann did not move because she knew what had happened. John Henry’s blood spilled over the ground. But he still held one of the hammers. “I beat them,” he said. His wife cried out, “Don’t go, John Henry.”“Bring me a cool drink of water,”he said. Then he took his last breath.
His friends carried his body from the mountain. They buried him near the house where he was born. Crowds went there after they heard about John Henry’s death.
Soon, the steam drill and other machines replaced the steel-drivers. Many laborers left their families to look for work. They took the only jobs they could find. As they worked, some sang about John Henry.What does the big event mentioned in Paragraph 1 refer to?
| A．John Henry’s work on a machine. |
| B．A competition between John Henry and a salesman. |
| C．John Henry’s work with his hammer and the steel. |
| D．A competition between John Henry and a drill. |
The underlined word “tunnel ”in Paragraph 3 probably means “”.
| A．flat ground | B．big rock | C．underground passage | D．hard metal |
What happened to John Henry when he fell to the ground?
| A．He was tired and had to have a rest. |
| B．He had heart trouble and was dying. |
| C．He was thirsty and wanted to drink some water. |
| D．He was injured slightly and was bleeding. |
What do we know about John Henry?
| A．He won the competition finally. | B．He was buried under the mountain. |
| C．He loved his work very much. | D．He said nothing before his death. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Humans can never beat machines. | B．John Henry was regarded as a hero. |
| C．Laborers hated machines very much. | D．It was easy for laborers to find work. |
The TV shows a baby’s pram (婴儿车) rolling off a train platform as the mother makes a mad rush to save her son, but she is too late and it falls onto the rails in front of an incoming train. This heart-stopping scene happened yesterday at Ashburton station in Melbourne, Australia. But the story has a happy ending: the six-month-old baby survived with just a cut on his forehead, although the pram was dragged about 35 metres by the braking train. The nurse Jon Wright said the boy just “needed a feed and a sleep” and didn’t need to stay in hospital.
“Luckily, he was strapped (绑) into his pram at the time, which probably saved his life. I think the child is extremely lucky, ” Wright told the Herald Sun newspaper after the baby was taken to hospital with minor injuries.
Fortunately the train was already slowing down to stop at the station so it stopped quickly when the driver put on the brakes as soon as he saw the pram fall in front of him. Rail firm Connex is to look into how the pram rolled off the platform. The accident came one day after Connex started a child safety awareness activity warning parents to keep babies strapped into their prams at all times while on platforms.
The accident happened at the same time as the “balloon boy ”story in the US, in which a six-year-old Colorado boy was reported to be trapped in a flyaway balloon. However, he was later found hiding in the family’s garage. Many people believe that it had all been a publicity stunt by the parents. No such doubts surround the baby on the train platform.In the accident, the baby .
| A．almost fell onto the rails |
| B．needed to stay in hospital |
| C．was badly injured by the train |
| D．was pulled a long distance in the pram by the train |
The child was not killed most probably because.
| A．the mother strapped him into his pram |
| B．the platform is not very high |
| C．he was well fed and asleep |
| D．the mother rushed to save him |
Why could the train stop quickly?
| A．Because it had just begun to move. |
| B．Because it was moving slowly at that time. |
| C．Because the mother took measures quickly. |
| D．Because the driver saw the pram fall. |
The underlined word “stunt” in the last paragraph probably means .
| A．something silly | B．something funny |
| C．something done to attract attention | D．something done to avoid bad luck |
The Red Panda isn’t much bigger than an average size house cat. At first you may think it’s a bear because of its name. They’re actually a member of the raccoon(浣熊) family which you can tell if you look at their appearance. The Red Panda has a long bushy tail that is useful in two ways. It helps them stay balanced when they are high up in the trees and it keeps them warm in cold weather. Their fur is thick and reddish brown, which may be why they’re known as the fire fox.
The Red Panda can be found in forested mountains. They’re originally from the forested mountain in the Himalayas in India, Nepal and Southern China. Bamboo is the most important part of their diet. They only eat the young leaves and shoots (嫩芽) of a bamboo plant. Red Pandas have a very low metabolic(新陈代谢的) rate in order to deal with their low energy diet and cool environmental temperatures.
They’re very shy and gentle and don’t hang around the wild too much during the day. If they feel endangered, they’ll stand on their back legs and make a hissing(嘶嘶) sound. Red Pandas are good climbers and spend most of their time living mainly in trees. Their claws are very strong and help them hold onto the branches. They sleep in an unusual way by curling up tightly and wrapping their tails around their heads while sitting on a branch. Sometimes they’ll sleep with their head beneath their chest and behind their back feet. This is the same position as an American raccoon sleeps.You can tell that the Red Panda is a member of the raccoon family from ____.
| A．its name | B．its appearance | C．its diet | D．its living place |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The Red Panda can only be found in India, Nepal and Southern China. |
| B．The Red Panda’s tail can help it stay balanced when it is high up in the trees. |
| C．The Red Panda eats the whole of the bamboo. |
| D．The Red Panda has high metabolic rate when the temperature is low. |
What will Red Pandas do when they are in trouble?
| A．They will hang around the wild during the day. |
| B．They will climb into the trees. |
| C．They will wrap their tails around their heads. |
| D．They will stand on their back legs and make a hissing sound. |
The Red Panda holds onto the branches with its ____.
| A．tail | B．fur | C．back legs | D．claws |