A villa (别墅) designed to resist earthquakes with “self-healing” cracks in its walls, thanks to nanotechnology (纳米技术) applications with self-healing polymers (聚合物), is to be built on a Greek mountainside. The villa’s walls will include special particles that turn into a liquid when squeezed (压榨) under pressure, flow into cracks, and then harden to form a solid material.
The NanoManufacturing Institute (NMI), based in Leeds University, will play a key role in an EU project to construct the home by December 2010. The project, called “Intelligent Safe and Secure Buildings” (ISSB) is funded under the EU’s Sixth Framework program. This potentially life-saving scheme is led by German building manufacturer Knauf. The villa will be built in Amphilochia, in western Greece, where Knauf currently runs a manufacturing plant. If the experiment is successful, more tremor-resistant（防震）homes could be built in earthquake zones across the globe. NMI chief executive Professor Terry Wilkins said, “What we’re trying to achieve here is very exciting. We’re looking to use polymers in much tougher situations than ever before on a larger scale.” Monitors contained in the villa’s walls will be able to collect vast amounts of data about the building over time. Wireless sensors(传感器) will record any stresses and vibrations, as well as temperature, humidity and gas levels.
The walls are to be built from new load-bearing steel frames and high-strength gypsum（石膏）board. Prof Wilkins said, “If there are any problems, the intelligent sensor network will be able to alert residents immediately so they have time to escape. If whole groups of houses are so constructed, we could use a larger network of sensors to get even more information. If the house falls down, we have got hand-held devices that can be used over the ruins to pick out where the embedded（嵌入的）sensors are hidden to get some information about how the villa collapsed. Also, we can get information about anyone who may be around, so it potentially becomes a tool for rescue.” The aim of the passage is to ________.
| A．report a piece of interesting news |
| B．promote tremor-resistant homes |
| C．inform us of the nanotechnology development |
| D．tell us something about a tremor-resistant home |
The villa can resist earthquakes because _______.
| A．it will be built on a special place |
| B．the cracks in its walls can be healed by the polymers |
| C．the special particles can make its walls stronger |
| D．the intelligent sensor network can tell people where there is a crack |
If the tremor-resistant home falls down, _______.
| A．rescue work can be done more quickly and accurately |
| B．the intelligent sensor network will stop working |
| C．no one can be hurt in the earthquake |
| D．a warning signal will be given to other residents |
What Prof Wilkins said suggests that _______.
| A．he is doubtful about the project |
| B．he thinks the tremor-resistant home is perfectly designed |
| C．he is confident in the tremor-resistant home |
| D．the tremor-resistant home still needs to be tested in a real situation |
It can be inferred from the passage that tremor-resistant home _______.
| A．is still being tried out |
| B．is already under construction |
| C．has been in wide use |
| D．will be put into wide use soon |
Too many people want others to be their friends, but they don't give friendship back. That is why some friendships don't last very long. To have a friend, you must learn to treat your friend the way you want your friend to treat you. Learning to be a good friend means learning three rules: be honest; be generous (宽宏大量的); be understanding.
Honesty is where a good friendship starts. Friends must be able to trust one another. If you do not tell the truth, people usually find out. If a friend finds out that you haven't been honest, you may lose your friend's trust. Good friends always rely on one another to speak and act honestly.
Generosity means sharing and sharing makes a friendship grow. You do not have to give your lunch money or your clothes. Naturally you will want to share your ideas and feelings. These can be very valuable to a friend. They tell your friend what is important to you. By sharing them, you help your friend know better.
Sooner or later everyone needs understanding and help with a problem. Something may go wrong at school. Talking about the problem can make it easier to solve. Turning to a friend can be a first step in solving the problem. So to be a friend you must listen and understand. You must try to put yourself in your friend's place so that you can understand the problem better.
No two friendships are exactly alike (相同的). But all true friendships have three things in common. If you plan to keep your friends, you must practice honesty, generosity and understanding.Some friendships don't last long because _____.
| A．there are too many people who want to make friends |
| B．those who give others friendship receive friendship from others |
| C．some people receive friendship but don't give friendship back |
| D．they don't know friendship is something serious |
According to the passage, honesty is _____.
| A．something countable |
| B．the base of friendship |
| C．as important as money |
| D．more important than anything else |
In the third paragraph, the underlined word 'they' refers to (指) _____.
| A．generosity and friendship |
| B．generosity and sharing |
| C．your ideas and feelings |
| D．your clothes |
The best title of this passage is _____.
| A．How to Be a Friend |
| B．Honesty Is the Best Policy |
| C．A Friend in Need Is a Friend indeed |
| D．Three Important Points in Life |
Fuzhou Road is famous for its book stores.
Shanghai’s City of Books (Nandong)
Address: No. 345, Nanjing Road. E. near Shandong Road N.
Tel: 6322-1557
Opening Hour: 9:30—21:30
It is a branch of Shanghai’s City of Books. It doesn’t sell any foreign language books, but you can buy CDs of computer games and software.
Traffic: Metro Line No. 2 (Nanjing Road E. Station)
Shanghai’s City of Books
Address: No. 465, Fuzhou Road
Tel: 6391-4848
Opening Hour: 9:30—20:30
This is the biggest book store in Shanghai with six floors. Each floor has different kinds of books, but most English books are for Chinese students preparing for exams.
Foreign Language Bookstore
Address: No. 390, Fuzhou Road
Tel: 6322-3200
Opening Hour: 9:00—18:00
You can find many English novels on the ground floor, as well as dictionaries. There is a corner on the ground floor for foreigners who want to learn Chinese.
On the higher floors, you can find some professional books in English. Of course, many of the books are for Chinese students.
Shanghai Culture Commercial Building
Address: No. 355, Fuzhou Road
Opening Hour: 9:00—17:30
This store has a variety of stationery (文具) and painting materials. If you major in painting or art, this is a good place to find professional materials.If you want to buy CDs of computer games, you can get off at ______.
| A．Nanjing Road E. Station | B．Shandong Road N. Station |
| C．Fuzhou Road E. Station | D．Nanjing Road N. Station |
If your foreign friends want to learn Chinese, you can suggest they go to ______.
| A．No. 345, Nanjing Road. | B．No. 465, Fuzhou Road |
| C．No. 390, Fuzhou Road | D．No. 355, Fuzhou Road |
From the introduction of the four book shops, Li Hua can buy a drawing-board as a birthday gift for her sister between ______.
| A．9:30 and 21:30 | B．9:30 and 20:30 |
| C．9:00 and 18:00 | D．9:00 and 17:30 |
People often ask me how I became successful in that six-year period of time while many of the people I knew did not. The answer is simple: The things I found to be easy to do, they found to be easy not to do.
I found it easy to set the goals that could change my life. They found it easy not to. I found it easy to read the books that could affect my thinking. They found that easy not to. I found it easy to attend the classes. They said it probably really wouldn’t matter. Six years later, I’m a millionaire and they are all still blaming the economy, the government and company policies. They neglected(忽视) to do the basic, easy things.
In fact, the primary reason most people are not doing can be summed up in a single word: neglect. It is not the lack of money – banks are full of money. It is not the lack of opportunity – the government continues to offer the most opportunities. It is not the lack of books – libraries are full of books – and they are free! It is not the schools – the classrooms are full of good teachers. We have plenty of good advisors. The major reason that so few take advantage of all that we have is neglect.
Don’t do the things which cause us to feel guilty(感到内疚的) and guilt erodes our self-confidence. As our self-confidence reduces, so does the level of our activity. And as our activity goes down, so do our results. And as our results suffer, our attitude begins to weaken. And as our attitude begins changing from positive to negative, our self-confidence becomes even less … and on and on it goes.
So my suggestion is that when giving choice of “easy to” and “easy not to”, do not neglect to do the simple, basic, “easy” but potentially life-changing activities.Why did the author become a millionaire in six years?
| A．He was a very lucky man. |
| B．He didn’t come across difficulties. |
| C．He did some basic and easy things. |
| D．He set himself long-term life goals. |
The underlined word “erodes” in Paragraph 4 probably means “_____”.
| A．changes | B．neglects |
| C．weakens | D．exposes |
What is the main reason that some people fail to succeed?
| A．They don’t have good opportunities. |
| B．They neglect the importance of success. |
| C．They lack the government’s support. |
| D．They don’t make use of what they have. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Being self-confident works |
| B．Nothing can not be neglected |
| C．Everything is easy to do |
| D．Success is easy, but so is neglect |
Why are so many people afraid to fail? Quite simply because we forget that failure is part of the human life and that every person has the right to fail. Every person is able to fight failure and finally succeed.
Most parents work hard at preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards(标准). When a child finishes making a table, the mother describes it as “perfect” even though it doesn’t stand still. Another way is to blame others. If John fails in science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.
There’s a problem with the two ways. It makes a child unprepared for life in the real world. Young children need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time, and that it’s possible to enjoy a game even when you don’t win. A child often feels terrible, of course, when he is not invited to a birthday party, or is not chosen into a football team. But parents should not say “It doesn’t matter.” quickly. The young should be allowed to experience failure and be helped to come out of it.
Failure never gives people pleasure. It hurts both adults and children. But it can be really good to your life when you learn to use it. You must learn to ask “Why did I fail?” Don’t blame anyone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong and how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about asking them. Success just repeats what has been done. It is not as good a teacher as failure. You can learn how to give a good party from an unsuccessful one.How do most parents prevent their children from failure?
| A． They give them some presents. |
| B． They don’t tell them that they have failed. |
| C． They don’t blame others. |
| D． They help them to come out of failure. |
Which of the following does a person need to learn when he fails?
| A． It’s impossible to enjoy a game if he misses it. |
| B． He is the worst of all. |
| C． It’s natural not to win a game and no one can win all the time. |
| D． His teammates are not good enough. |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A． Learning from Failure |
| B． Ways of Preventing Failure |
| C． Reasons of Failure |
| D． Getting Pleasure from Failure |
There was once a man called Mr．Flowers, and flowers were his only joy in life．He spent all his free time in one of his four glass-houses and grew flowers of every color, with long and difficult names, for competitions．He tried to grow a rose of a new color to win the silver cup (银杯) for the Rose of the Year．
Mr．Flowers’ glass-houses were very near to a middle school．Boys of around thirteen of age were often tempted (引诱) to throw a stone or two at one of Mr．Flowers’ glass-houses．So Mr．Flowers did his best to be in or near his glass-houses at the beginning and end of the school day．
But it was not always possible to be on watch at those times．Mr．Flowers had tried in many ways to protect his glass, but nothing that he had done had been useful．He had been to school to report to the headmaster; but this had not done any gooD.He had tried to drive away the boys that threw stones into his garden; but the boys could run faster than he could, and they laughed at him from far away．He had even picked up all the stones that he could find around his garden, so that the boys would have nothing to throw; but they soon found others．
At last Mr．Flowers had a good ideA.He put up a large notice (布告) made of good, strong wood, some meters away from the glass-houses．On it he had written the words: DO NOT THROW STONES AT THIS NOTICE．After this, Mr．Flowers had no further trouble; the boys were much more tempted to throw stones at the notice than at the glass-houses．It was Mr．Flowers’ hope to ________．
| A．build glass-houses in his free time |
| B．grow the Rose of the Year in a silver cup |
| C．win a silver cup for growing a rose of a new color |
| D．grow a rose with the longest name |
Boys were often tempted to ________．
| A．throw stones at Mr．Flowers’ glass-house |
| B．throw stones at Mr．Flowers from their school |
| C．be in or near by Mr．Flowers’ glass-houses |
| D．play with Mr．Flowers near his glass-houses |
Mr．Flowers stayed in or near by his glass-houses _______．
| A．at times when school-boys were walking near them |
| B．all the school day when there were no boys about |
| C．where he could not be seen by the boys passing |
| D．at the beginning and end of the school day |
Mr．Flowers had tried to ______ to protect his glass．
| A．be on watch in his free time |
| B．ask the headmaster for help |
| C．pick up all the stones around his garden |
| D．do all the above |
Mr．Flowers’ good idea was to ______．
| A．write some words on the glass |
| B．put up a large notice to cover his glass-houses |
| C．give the boys something else to throw stones at |
| D．send for policemen |