WeekendMiraclesWeekendMiracles-优题课

E
Cities alarmed by deaths and injuries of pedestrians(行人) are taking efforts to make crosswalks safer for people on foot , especially seniors and children who need more time to cross streets .
A pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident in the USA every 110 minutes；one is injured every nine minutes, according to official data. Crosswalks can be especially dangerous for the elderly. Among people 70 and older, 36% of pedestrian deaths in 2006 occurred in crosswalks, compared with 21% of those younger than 70 , according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Federal Highway Administration（FHWA）advises that next year states increase by nearly 15% the amount of time traffic lights provided for pedestrians to cross the street after the flashing orange hand appears .
FHWA spokesman Doug Hecox says reasons for the change include an aging population that needs more time to cross, health-conscious Americans walking more , children encouraged to walk to prevent getting overweight and high gas prices pushing people to walk instead of drive.
Pedestrian deaths went down by 12% from 5,449 in 1996 to 4,784 in 2006. But among those in 2006, 471 were killed in crosswalks, down slightly from 488 ten years earlier, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says .
72. Which of the following is true according to the text ?
A. Among 100 pedestrian deaths there were 21 people younger than 70.
B. Old people are more likely to meet with accidents in crosswalks.
C. Traffic accidents killed more old people than young people.
D. About seven traffic accidents happened per hour.
73. What is FHWA’s suggestion to states?
A. Fixing more traffic lights.
B. Providing more crosswalks.
C. Giving pedestrians more time to cross streets.
D. Increasing the time before the orange lights appear.
74. What’s the cause of the crosswalk safety problem according to the text?
A. There’re many cars and buses on the road.
B. Pedestrians are careless.
C. Crosswalks are crowded.
D. Drivers don’t give way.
75. The report from NHTSA suggests that .
A. fewer people were injured in crosswalks
B. crosswalk safety has been greatly improved
C. much has been done to reduce traffic accidents
D. pedestrian deaths in crosswalk remain a serious problem

D
Looking for a low-cost path to self-knowledge? A way to mine your subconsciousness for clues to your motivations, desires and fears? No need to have years of treatment or analysis. Just look to your dreams.“You can ignore your dreams, but you are really doing harm to yourself,” says Lauri Quinn Loewenberg. “If so, you’re letting red flags pass you by, letting great ideas pass you by.”
Some sleep researchers believe dreams are more directly related to our moods and emotions and can serve as tools to self-understanding. Dreams occur during the REM (rapid eye movement) cycles of sleep each night. For adults, that means about every 90 minutes. The first period of REM sleep may be short, 5 to 10 minutes, followed by longer periods, finally reaching an hour or more in the fourth or fifth period.When people are dreaming, brain scans show a lot of activities. The brain is online during dreams. The experiences you have during the day are connected during dream sleep. People we know or experiences we’ve had at different times in our lives may be different in the same dream.
AmyBeth Gilstrap has had the same recurring dream that annoyed her since Hurricane Katrina drove her and her daughter and friends out of New Orleans. Ms. Gilstrap says, “It is always a spy. My job is to get people to some place.” She’s certain the dream is related to her effort in the hurricane to help several families leave. Sometimes her cats also are part of that dream. That’s because she went back into New Orleans, before it was allowed, to rescue her cats.
Today, through brain scans scientists have known that the parts of the brain that control emotion and long-term memory are active during REM sleep.
68. The passage is mainly to tell readers ______.
A. dreams are mainly caused by hard work
B. dreams can offer us a key to self-knowledge
C. dreams are only activities of our brains
D. how dreams help us solve our problems
69. According to the words from Lauri Quinn Loewenberg, ______.
A. dreams can make you feel badly ill
B. you often have red flags in your dreams
C. dreams will make your life colorful
D. you may get great help from your dreams
70. According to the passage, the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 3 refers to ______.
A. Ms. Gilstrap’s dream B. Ms. Gilstrap’s job
C. Hurricane Katrina D. New Orleans
71. According to the passage, when you are dreaming at night, ______.
A. your dream is connected with your work that day
B. the dream will generally last about 5 to 10 minutes
C. the longer dream should be in the later part of the sleep
D. your eyes will still move slowly during the time

C
The world record for fastest text message typing is held by a 21-year-old college student from Utah, but his flexible fingers could mean serious injury later on. Most adults aged 18-21 prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls, and ergonomics(人体工程学) researchers are starting to wonder whether it’s putting the younger generation at risk for some overuse injuries – once reserved for older adults who have spent years in front of a computer. Judith Gold, an assistant professor of Epidemiology at the College of Health Professions and Social Work, thinks this might be the case. At this year’s annual meeting of the American Public Health Association, she presented previous research which suggested that among college students, the more they texted, the more pain they had in their neck and shoulders.
“What we’ve seen so far is very similar to what we see with office workers who’ve spent most of their time at a computer,” said Gold, who directs the Ergonomics and Work Physiology Laboratory. “The way the body is positioned for texting – stationary（不动的）shoulders and back with rapidly moving fingers – is similar to the position for typing on a computer.”
Text messaging is a fairly new technology, Gold says, so this is a new area of research among ergonomists. “But given the similarities in body position, findings from research on overuse injuries from computers could be applied here,” she said.
Current studies on computer use show office workers have the tendency to get involved in such diseases as tunnel syndrome, bursitis, and tendonitis.
In Gold’s lab, she and her team use tools like special cameras, motion analysis and heart rate monitors to study the body’s position in several job-related situations. But given the popularity of text messaging among young adults, Gold wants to explore further into the physiological effects of this latest form of communication.
“Looking around our campus, you see every student on their cell phones, typing away,” she said. “It’s the age group that texts the most, so it’s important to know what the health effects may be in order to learn whether it will cause long term damage.”
64. Which of the following are ergonomics researchers not sure about?
A. A 21-year-old college student holds the world record for fastest text message typing.
B. Most adults aged 18-21 prefer texting over e-mail or phone calls.
C. Overuse of computer will cause injuries to health.
D. Over text message will cause long term damage to health.
65. Current studies on computer use will lead people to believe that ______.
A. office workers are good at texting messages
B. office workers tend to suffer from some kinds of physical problems
C. texting messages seriously damage people’s health
D. e-mails and phone calls will be forbidden
66. When texting messages, college students will ______.
A. keep moving shoulders and back
B. move fingers very fast with shoulders and back still
C. spend most of their time at a computer
D. look around their campus
67. The most suitable title of this passage may be ______.
A. Over text messaging could cause shoulder and neck pain
B. Overuse of computers could cause diseases
C. A new world record for fastest text message typing
D. A new scientific discovery by ergonomics researchers

B
Austin Children’s Museum
This 7,000-square-foot museum aims to entertain and educate children up to age 9. In its Global City exhibit, people can go shopping for groceries, order lunch at a dinner, pretend that they’re doctors or construction workers, and more. In other fun exhibits, they learn about Austin’s history, explore the world of water, and experience life on a large Texas farm.
Open time: From Tuesday to Saturday, 10:00 am~ 5:00 pm
On Sunday, 12:00 am ~ 5:00 pm
Address: 201 Colorado St, Austin, Texas 78701
Phone: 512-4722499
Brooklyn Children’s Museum
Founded in 1899, it is the world’s oldest children’s museum, featuring interactive exhibits，workshops and special events. The Mystery of Things teaches children about cultural and scientific objects and Music Mix welcomes young virtuosos(名家)。
Open time: From Wednesday to Friday, 2:00 pm ~ 5:00 pm
On Saturday and Sunday, 10:00am ~ 5:00 pm
Address: 145 Brooklyn Ave, Brooklyn, New York 1213
Phone: 718-7354400
Children’s Discovery Museum
This museum’s hands-on exhibits explore the relationships between the natural and the created worlds, and among people of different cultures and times. Exhibits include Streets, a 5/8-scale copy of an actual city, with street lights, and waterworks, which shows how pumps can move water through a reservoir system.
Open time: From Monday to Saturday, 10:00 am~ 5:00 pm
On Sunday, from noon. Closed on holidays.
Address: 180 Woz Way, Guadalupe River Park, San Jose, California 95110
Phone: 408-2985437
Children’s Museum of Indianapolis
This museum is the largest of its kind. Exhibits cover science, culture, space, history, and explorations. Among them are the Space Quest Planetarium ( additional fee),the 33-foot-high Water Clock, the Playscape gallery for preschools, and the Dinosphere exhibit, along with hands-on science exhibits. The largest gallery, the Center for Exploration, is designed for ages 12 and up.
Open time: From Tuesday to Sunday, 10:00 am ~ 5:00 pm
Closed on Thanksgiving Day and December 25.
Address: 3000 N Meridian St, Indianapolis, Indiana 46208
Phone: 317-3343322
60. Suppose that December 25 is Tuesday, which of the following museums can you visit?
A. Austin Children’s Museum.
B. Brooklyn Children’s Museum.
C. Children’s Discovery Museum.
D. Children’s Museum of Indianapolis.
61. If you want to see how pumps can move water through a reservoir system, you should visit the museum in ___.
A. Texas B. New York C. California D. Indiana
62. After entering the museum, you need to pay an additional fee to see ___.
A. the Center for Exploration B. the Space Quest Planetarium
C. the Global City exhibit D. Waterworks
63. The purpose of writing this passage is to ___.
A. ask adults to visit museums
B. compare some museums and decide which one is the best
C. introduce some museums and encourage parents to visit them with their children
D. introduce some exhibits and museums to foreigners

第三部分阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
(A)
Fang Wei had planned to study in Britain for his master's degree,but had to keep putting it off. These days,however,Fang is quite happy about the delay since the exchange rate of the British pound against the RMB has been descending.
“The change means I can save a large sum of money for my studies.” said Fang. “I pay a lot of attention to the poundtoRMB exchange rate every day now.” Last Tuesday the rate broke the 10yuan mark for the first time since 2005.
So，what is an exchange rate？
This is the standard term for the comparison of two currencies and tells how much one currency is worth when measured by the other. For example,the poundtoRMB exchange rate last Wednesday was 9.88，meaning that one pound was worth the same as 9.88 yuan.
But how could this affect our lives？
The exchange rate is important for anyone wanting to travel to or study in a foreign country.
A higher RMB value is good news for Chinese tourists and students. That's because any given amount of RMB can be exchanged for a larger amount of foreign money than with a lower RMB value. It therefore buys more abroad.
For example,according to Chinese agencies that handle study abroad,the cost for university study in Britain used to be around 20,000 pounds a year. At the beginning of 2008，when the poundtoRMB exchange rate stood at 14,Chinese students had to have 280,000 yuan for a year. But now that the rate has fallen to less than 10 yuan，200,000 yuan is enough for a year in Britain.
However，the stronger yuan may be bad news for Chinese exporters. A rising RMB means that Chinese products are becoming expensive and less attractive on foreign markets.
56.Why did Fang Wei have to put off his study in Britain？
A. Because he didn't have enough money.
B. Because the exchange rate of the poundtoRMB was too high.
C. Because he didn't get the letter from the university he had applied for.
D. The passage didn't tell us.
57.What's the meaning of the underlined word “descending” in Paragraph 1？
A. Turning down. B. Putting off.
C. Falling down. D. Going up.
58.If the poundtoRMB exchange rate was 12, Fang Wei would have paid 240,000 yuan for a year's study. Now the rate is 9.6，how much can he save if he goes to study in Britain？
A.46,000 yuan. B.42,800 yuan.
C.192,000 yuan. D.48,000 yuan.
59 .When RMB has a higher value in the currency exchange market，the following are right except that 　　　　.
A. it shows we have a strong economic potential
B. it indicates we have a stable political environment
C. it will help our export business
D. it is beneficial for Chinese students and travelers to foreign countries