Mr. Brown worked in a factory of a small town. He had been there for twenty years before one day he was sent to the capital for important business. He was quite excited because he had never been there before. Before he set off, he asked his wife and three daughters if they wanted him to buy something for them in London. Mrs. Brown began to think it over and then she said she wished her husband would be able to buy a nice umbrella for her, and so did their three daughters. As he was afraid he would forget it, he drew an umbrella on his hand. To his regret, he lost it at the station.
On the train Mr. Brown sat opposite to an old woman. The woman’s umbrella was so nice that he carefully looked at it and said to himself not to forget to buy a few umbrellas like it. When the train arrived at the station in London, he said good-bye to the old woman, took his bag and her umbrella and was going to get off.
“Wait a minute, sir,” shouted the old woman. “That’s my umbrella!”
Now Mr. Brown noticed that he had taken her umbrella. His face turned red at once and said in a hurry,“Oh, I’m very sorry, Madam! I didn’t mean it!”
Seven days later Mr. Brown left the capital. To his surprise, he met the old woman and sat opposite to her again. Looking at the four umbrellas, the old woman was satisfied with herself. “It seems that I had a better result than the other four women.” She thought.We can learn from the passage that Mr. Brown was ______.
| A．a conductor | B．a worker |
| C．a thief | D．an umbrella maker |
The underlined word “it” in the first paragraph refers to ______.
| A．his ticket | B．his bag |
| C．his drawing | D．his umbrella |
Why did Mr. Brown take the woman’s umbrella?
| A．Because he was lost in thought. |
| B．Because it was much like his own umbrella. |
| C．Because he thought the woman would not notice it. |
| D．Because the woman misplaced it beside Mr. Brown. |
When looking at Mr. Brown with four umbrellas, the woman felt ______.
| A．surprised | B．angry | C．fortunate | D．sad |
The forces that make Japan one of the world's most earthquake-prone（有地震倾向的） countries could become part of its long-term energy solution．
Water from deep below the ground at Japan's tens of thousands of hot springs could be used to produce electricity．
Although Japanese high-tech companies are leaders in geothermal（地热的） technology and export it, its use is limited in the nation．
"Japan should no doubt make use of its resources of geothermal energy," said Yoshiyasu Takefuji, a leading researcher of thermal-electric power production．
The disastrous earthquake and tsunami on March 11, 2011 caused a reaction against atomic power, which previously made up 30 percent of Japan's energy needs, and increased interest in alternative energies, which account for only 8 percent．
Artist Yoko Ono has called on Japan to explore its natural energy, following the example of Iceland which uses renewable energy for more than 80 percent of its needs．
For now, geothermal energy makes up less than 1 percent of the energy needs in Japan, which has for decades relied heavily on fossil fuels and atomic power．
The biggest problem to geothermal energy is the high initial cost of the exploration and constructing the factories．Another problem is that Japan's potentially best sites are already being developed for tourism or are located within national parks where construction is forbidden．
"We can't even dig 10cm inside national parks．" said Shigeto Yamada of Fuji Electric, adding that regulations protecting nature would need to be relaxed for geothermal energy to grow．
Researcher Hideaki Matsui said, "Producing electricity using hot springs is a decades-long project．We also have to think about what to do for now as energy supplies will decline in the short term．"
The Earth Policy Institute in Washington, US, believed Japan could produce 80,000 megawatts（兆瓦）and meet more than half its electricity needs with geothermal technology．
Japanese giants such as Toshiba are already global leaders in geothermal technology, with a 70 percent market share．In 2010, Fuji Electric built the world's largest geothermal factory in New Zealand．What would be the best title for the text?
| A．Alternative energies in Japan |
| B．World's largest geothermal plant |
| C．Japan takes the lead in geothermal technology |
| D．Japan thinks of geothermal energy |
What percentage of Japan's energy needs is geothermal energy?
| A．About 8%． | B．Below 1%． | C．Around 30%． | D．Over 80%． |
According to Shigeto Yamada, the growth of geothermal power in Japan needs ____．
| A．a change of rules | B．financial support |
| C．local people's help | D．high technology |
Geothermal energy is considered as a long-term program by _____．
| A．Yoshiyasu Takefuji | B．Hideaki Matsui |
| C．Shigeto Yamada | D．Yoko Ono |
It can be learned from the last two paragraphs that _____．
| A．the world's biggest geothermal plant was built by America |
| B．Japan will not export its geothermal technology |
| C．the potential of Japan's geothermal energy is great |
| D．it is hard to find geothermal energy in Japan |
There are records of fingerprints taken many centuries ago. The ancient Babylonians pressed the tips of their fingerprints into clay to record business trade. The Chinese used ink-on-paper finger impressions for business. However, fingerprinting wasn't used as a method for identifying criminals until the 19th century．
In 1858, Sir William Herschel was working as an official of the Hooghly district in Jungipoor, India．In order to reduce fraud（诈骗）, he had people living in the district record their fingerprints when signing business documents. A few years later, Scottish doctor Henry Faulds was working in Japan when he discovered fingerprints left by artists on ancient pieces of clay．This finding inspired him to begin investigating fingerprints．In 1880, Faulds wrote to his cousin, the famous naturalist Charles Darwin, and asked for help with developing a fingerprint classification system．Darwin refused, but sent the letter to his cousin, Sir Francis Gallon, who was an eugenicist (优生学家). Gallon began collecting fingerprints and eventually gathered some 8, 000 different samples to analyze. In 1892, he published a book called "Fingerprints", in which he outlined a fingerprint classification system—the first existence．
Around the same time, Juan Vucetich, a police officer in Buenos Aires, Argentina, was developing his own version of a fingerprinting system．In 1892, Vucetich was called in to assist with the investigation of the two boys murdered in Necoche, a village near Buenos Aires. Their mother, Francisca Rojas, accused a neighbour named Velasquez. But when Vucetich compared the fingerprints found at the murder scene to those of both Velasquez and Rojas, they matched Rojas' exactly．She admitted her crime. This was the first time fingerprints had been used in a criminal investigation.Vucetich called his system comparative dactyloscopy（指纹鉴定法）. It's still used in many Spanish-speaking countries．
Sir Edward Henry, in charge of the Metropolitan Police of London, soon became interested in using fingerprints to catch criminals. In 1896, he added to Gallon's technique, creating his own classification system, the Henry Classification System. It is the primary method of fingerprint classification throughout most of the world．Herschel had people record their fingerprints so as to_____．
| A．develop a fingerprinting system | B．prevent illegal business |
| C．put them on pieces of clay | D．collect and study fingerprints |
Who first came up with the idea of creating a fingerprint classification system?
| A．Herschel． | B．Faulds． | C．Gallon． | D．Darwin． |
The underlined word "they" in Paragraph 3 probably refers to "_____"．
| A．the fingerprints | B．the two boys | C．the crimes | D．the police officers |
We can learn from the text that _____．
| A．Faulds collected many fingerprints while in Japan |
| B．Henry's classification system is based on Gallon's |
| C．Darwin showed great interest in studying fingerprints |
| D．Vucetich's fingerprinting system is still used all over the world |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Different uses of fingerprints． |
| B．The history of fingerprinting． |
| C．Countries that first used fingerprints． |
| D．The way to collect and analyze fingerprints． |
When my grandfather died, my 83-year-old grandmother, once so full of life, slowly began to fade. No longer able to manage a home of her own, she moved in with my mother, where she was visited often by other members of her large, loving family. Although she still had her good days, it was often hard to arouse her interest.
But one chilly December afternoon three years ago, my daughter Meagan, then eight, and I were visiting her, when she noticed that Meagan was carrying her favorite doll.
“I, too, had a special doll when I was a little girl,” she told a wide-eyed Meagan. “I got it one Christmas when I was about your age. I lived in an old farmhouse in Maine, with Mom, Dad and my four sisters, and the very first gift I opened that Christmas was the most beautiful doll you’d ever want to see.”
“She had an elegant, hand-painted face, and her long brown hair was pulled back with a big pink bow. Her eyes were blue, and they opened and closed. I remember she had a body of kidskin, and her arms and legs bent at the joints.”
GG’s voice dropped low, taking on an almost respectful tone. “My doll was dressed in a pretty pink gown, decorated with fine lace. … Getting such a fine doll was like a miracle for a little farm girl like me — my parents must have had to sacrifice so much to afford it. But how happy I was that morning!”
GG’s eyes filled and her voice shook with emotion as she recalled that Christmas of long ago. “I played with my doll all morning long. And then it happened. My mother called us to the dining room for Christmas dinner and I laid my new doll down gently on the hall table. But as I went to join the family at the table, I heard a loud crash.”
“I hardly had to turn around — I knew it was my precious doll. And it was. Her lace skirt had hung down from the table just enough for my baby sister to reach up and pull on it. When I ran in, there lay my beautiful doll on the floor, her face smashed into a dozen pieces. She was gone forever.”
A few years later, GG’s baby sister was also gone, she told Meagan, a victim of pneumonia(肺炎). Now the tears in her eyes spilled over — tears, I knew, not only for a lost doll and a lost sister, but for a lost time.
Silent for the rest of the visit, Meagan was no sooner in the car going home than she exclaimed, “Mom, I have a great idea! Let’s get GG a new doll for Christmas. Then she won’t cry when she thinks about it.”
My heart filled with pride as I listened to my sympathetic little daughter. But where would we find a doll to match GG’s fond memories?
Where there’s a will, as they say, there’s a way. When I told my best friends, Liz and Chris, about my problem, Liz put me in touch with a local doll-make. From a doll supply house I ordered a long brown hair and a kidskin body to copy the outfit GG had so lovingly described. Liz volunteered to put the doll together, and Chris helped me make the doll’s outfit. Meagan wrote the story of the lost doll by giving examples.
Finally our creation was finished. To our eyes it was perfect. But there was no way it could be exactly like the doll GG had loved so much and lost. Would she think it looked anything like it?
On Christmas Eve, Meagan and I carried our happily packed gift to GG, where she sat surrounded by children, parents, aunts, uncles and cousins. “It’s for you,” Meagan said, “but first you have to read the story that goes with it.”
GG no sooner got through the first page than her voice cracked and she was unable to go on, but Meagan took over where she left off. Then it was time to open her present.
I’ll never forget the look on GG’s face as she lifted the doll and held it to her chest. Once again her tears fell, but this time they were tears of joy. Holding the doll in her frail arms, she repeated over and over again, “She’s exactly like my old doll, exactly like her.”
And perhaps she wasn’t saying that just to be kind. Perhaps however impossible it seemed, we had managed to produce a close copy of the doll she remembered. But as I watched my eight-year-old daughter and her great-grandmother examining the doll together, I thought of a likelier explanation. What GG really recognized, perhaps, was the love that inspired the gift. And love, wherever it comes from, always looks the same.GG moved in with her daughter because____.
| A．she wanted to live with a large family |
| B．she was not able to live on her own due to her weakness |
| C．her husband passed away |
| D．she thought it was the children’s obligation to take care of her |
Why did GG become very emotional on a December afternoon?
| A．Because she saw her great granddaughter’s doll. |
| B．Because she recalled her dead parents. |
| C．Because she was surrounded by her offspring. |
| D．Because she felt lonely during the Christmas season. |
What can we infer from Paragraph 5?
| A．GG’s doll was important and was a symbol of many things. |
| B．GG showed great respect for his husband’s love. |
| C．GG missed the great old days she spent with her family. |
| D．GG was grateful for her long life. |
What happened to GG’s baby sister?
| A．She envied her sister all her life. |
| B．She felt guilty for breaking GG’s doll and decided to go. |
| C．She left home at a young age. |
| D．She died of some disease at a young age. |
Why did Meagan’s mum feel proud of her daughter?
| A．Because she was clever. | B．Because she was loving. |
| C．Because she was sensitive. | D．Because she was imaginative. |
The main idea of the passage is that ____.
| A．treating the elderly well is moral |
| B．it is impossible to copy the exact doll for the elderly |
| C．love, the permanent rhythm of life, will always remain in the elderly’s heart |
| D．physical comfort from children rather than psychological care is important |
Are you a compulsive spender, or do you hold on to your money as long as possible? Are you a bargain hunter? Would you rather use charge accounts than pay cash? Your answers to these questions will reflect your personality. According to psychologists, our individual money habits not only show our beliefs and values, but can also stem from past problems.
Experts in psychology believe that for many people, money is an important symbol of strength and influence. Husbands who complain about their wives’ spending habits may be afraid that they are losing power in their marriage. Wives, on the other hand, may waste huge amounts of money because they are angry at their husbands. In addition, many people consider money a symbol of love. They spend it on their family and friends to express love, or they buy themselves expensive presents because they need love.
People can be addicted to different things — for example, alcohol, drugs, certain foods, or even television. They are compulsive in their addictions, i.e. they must satisfy these needs to feel comfortable. In the same way, according to psychologists, compulsive spenders must spend money. For people who buy on credit, furthermore, charge accounts are even more exciting than money: in other words, they feel that with credit, they can do anything. Their pleasures in spending enormous amounts are actually greater than those they get from the things they buy.
There is even a special psychology of bargain hunting. To save money, of course, most people look for sales, low prices, and discounts. Compulsive bargain hunters, however, often buy things that they don’t need just because they are cheap. They want to believe that they are helping their budgets, but they are really playing an exciting game: when they can buy something for less than other people, they feel that they are winning. Most people, experts claim, have two reasons for their behavior: a good reason for the things that they do and the real reason.
It is not only scientists, of course, who understand the psychology of spending habits, but also business people. Stores, companies, and advertisers use psychology to increase business: they consider people’s needs for love, power, or influence, their basic values, their beliefs and opinions, etc. in their advertising and sales methods.
Psychologists often use a method called “behavior therapy(疗法)” to help individuals solve their personality problems. In the same way, they can help people who feel that they have problems with money: they give them “assignments”. If a person buys something in every store that he enters, for instance, a therapist might teach him self-discipline in this way: on the first day of his therapy, he must go into a store, stay five minutes, and then leave. On the second day, he should stay for ten minutes and try something on. On the third day, he stays for fifteen minutes, asks the salesclerk a question, but does not buy anything. Soon he will learn that nothing bad will happen to him if he doesn’t buy anything, and he can solve the problem of his compulsive buying.If you use charge accounts, ____.
| A．you pay in cash | B．you pay with credit card |
| C．you pay less than you should | D．you pay more than you should |
Compulsive bargain hunters buy things for all the following reasons except that ____.
| A．the things they buy are cheap |
| B．they believe they can balance their budgets |
| C．they get psychological satisfaction |
| D．they really need the things they buy |
Behavior therapy in this case aims at____.
| A．helping businessmen to increase their business |
| B．helping compulsive spenders to buy less |
| C．finding out how people will react if they are allowed to buy |
| D．finding out what people will do in front of a bargain |
The underlined word “those” in Paragraph 3 refers to ____.
| A．different things | B．their addictions |
| C．charge accounts | D．their pleasures |
From the passage we can conclude that ____.
| A．how you spend money reveals if you are psychologically healthy |
| B．money is a necessity and will bring you happiness if you have much |
| C．compulsive buying problems can be solved by taking some medicine |
| D．all businessmen understand well the psychology of customers |
Skiping classes violates school rules and a poor attendance record will damage your final mark. But some college students still try every means to escape classes. The number of these rebels may be much bigger than you think. Three students from Anhui Normal University established Itaoke. Com in June. The website quickly attracted 2 000 registered members in three months. On the website, students share their experiences of skipping classes and even post ads to look for someone to stand in for them to attend courses. Its embarrassing for universities to see this shameful behavior discussed:
However，it's good for schools and teachers to know via the website the reasons why students skip classes，according to Professor Xiao Haitao from Shenzhen University: Xao pointed out that some`students skip classes because of laziness.Others play truant because the teaching is truly dissatisfactory,“Universities can seek improvements to give a cure to the class-skipping problem，”said Xiao.
Chen Yang，21，thinks that he is “forced" to skip some courses because of the poor teaching. the senior，majoring in English at Yangtze University, thinks that he's wasting time in the classroom when the teacher reads the textbook word for word or hands him outdated reading materials. He would rather skip classes to study in the library, watch online videos of Harvard or Yale lectures，or sit in on(旁听）other courses he is interested in. Chen draws a clear line between himself and those who skip classes in order to get more sleep or fool around on campus. He emphasized：“I skip classes with a clear goal，which is to probe into areas I'm interested in and broaden my horizons.”
Li Sicen，President of the National Taiwan University，seems to be on Chen's side. Li claimed that he supported those students who skip classes for good reasons.
However，Professor Xiao warns students that Li is not giving permission for students to skip classes. Xiao suggests that Li was just showing his understanding of truancy in a limited number of cases.
In Professor Pan Cuiqiong's opinion，students tend to jump to the conclusion that a certain course is boring and useless. "To clear students' misunderstanding，teachers should use materials closely related to students’lives and adapt interactive teaching methods，”said Pan.
Besides offering teachers more training，schools also need to give students different optional courses and ensure that they can attend the courses they are interested in，according to Professor Xiao. Many Chinese students have the experience of being kicked out of an optional course because its size is limited. They are then forced to choose courses they dislike and are likely to skip them. We may learn from Sydney University in Australia. There aren't any problems with numbers---if a course is popular then there will be more than one class per week.The underlined word“rebels" in Paragraph 1 refers to
| A．students who embarrass their universities |
| B．students who establish websites |
| C．students who skip classes |
| D．students who quarrel with their parents |
Chen Yang Skips some courses because____.
| A．his school is more student-centered |
| B．he wants to get more sleep |
| C．he wants to fool around on campus |
| D．the teaching style needs much improvement |
According to the passage，we learn that Professor Xiao____.
| A．is giving permission for students to skip classes |
| B．thinks it's embarrassing for the three students to establish ltaoke. com |
| C．thinks the website will help to know why students skip classes |
| D．claimed that he supported those students who skip classes for good reasons |
Which of the following measures is NOT mentioned to stop students skipping classes?
| A．Teachers should adopt practical materials and flexible teaching methods. |
| B．Schools should offer teachers more training: |
| C．Schools need to ensure that students can attend various courses they are interested in. |
| D．Students should be punished if they skip classes. |