Hi!Have you ever suddenly felt that someone you knew was in trouble—and was he? Have you ever dreamed something that came true later? Maybe you have ESP (超感觉知觉).
ESP stands for Extrasensory Perception. It may be called a sixth sense. It seems to let people know about events before they happen, or events that are happening some distance away.
Here's an example. A woman was ironing clothes. Suddenly she screamed, "My father is dead! I saw him sitting in the chair!" Just then, a telegram came. The woman's father died of a heart attack. He died sitting in a chair.
There are thousands of stories like this one on record. Scientists are studying them to find out what's behind these strange mental messages. Here's another example—one of hundreds of dreams that have come true.
A man dreamed he was walking along a road when a horse and carriage came by. The driver said, "There's room for one more." The man felt the driver seemed dead, so he ran away. The next day, when the man was getting on a crowded bus, the bus driver said, "There's room for one more."
Then the man saw that the driver's face was the same face he had seen in the dream. He wouldn't get on the bus. As the bus drove off, it crashed and burst into flames. Everyone was killed!
Some people say stories like these are coincidences. Others, including some scientists, say that ESP is real. From studies of ESP, we may someday learn more about the human mind.According to the passage, the author believes that the sixth sense is ________.
A.in existence | B.imaginative | C.not real | D.impossible |
ESP lets people know _________.
A.about events before they happen |
B.about events after they happen |
C.about events that are happening some distance away |
D.A and C |
In the last paragraph the underlined word "coincidences" probably means _______.
A.things that may not happen |
B.things that happen in a dream |
C.things that must happen |
D.things that happen by accident |
This article is mainly about ________.
A.the human dream | B.the sixth sense |
C.the human mind | D.a crowded bus |
The reading skills of young male students may improve more when huts are tutored (辅导) by women, a Canadian study shows, contradicting some school policies to hire male teachers to improve boys' literacy.
Herb Katz, an education professor at the University of Alberta, took 175 boys in the third and fourth grades, identified as struggling readers, and paired them with a research assistant who worked on their reading skills for 30 minutes a week over 10 weeks.
On average, the boys paired with female tutors felt better about their reading skills after the 10 weeks than those who were guided by a male research assistant, the study found.
Katz said the study, published in the US journal Sex Roles, may cause educational policy - makers in countries such as Australia and Britain to rethink policies that call for more male teachers to be hired to provide role models for boys whose reading skills fall behind their peers (同龄人). "It tells us that the way governments respond with policy is perhaps a little too quick and a little too simple," Katz said." Boys and girls enter kindergarten with similar reading skills, Katz said, but by the end of the third grade, boys have lower reading scores than girls. The reasons behind that difference are not entirely clear. "I don't know that reading skills fade so much as teachers may not recognize what boys are doing," he said. "We don't really know a lot about boys, even in those early years."
The boys involved in the study attended 12 schools in the City of Winnipeg, Manitoba. Most were from downtown neighborhoods. About a third were native Canadians and 55 percent came from ethnic minority groups.
60. What's the purpose of this passage?
A. To encourage boys to do more reading. B. To persuade schools to hire female teachers.
C. To advise good ways for reading skills. D. To provide some information about a study.
61. The underlined word "contradicting" in the first paragraph probably means"…".
A. finding out B. going against C. standing by D. bringing about
62. Which of the following is TRUE about the boys taking part in the study?
A. They have difficulty in reading. B. They take no interest in reading.
C. They come from different Canadian cities. D. They have no female teachers at school.
63. It can be known from the passage that _________.
A. women must be better al teaching than men
B. girls do more reading than boys
C. male teachers are preferred to help reading- troubled boys in Australia
D. governments will change their policy on hiring teachers
第四部分:阅读理解
阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。
"Reduce, reuse and recycle", this familiar environmentalist slogan tells us how to reduce the amount of rubbish that ends up in landfills and waterways.
The concept is being used to deal with one possibly dangerous form of waste – electronic junk (电子垃圾), such as old computers, cell-phones, and televisions. But this process for managing e-waste may be used in an unscrupulous way more often than not used, a recent report suggests.
"A lot of these materials are being sent to developing nations under the excuse of tense - to bridge the digital divide," said Richard Gutierrez, a policy researcher.
One of the problems is that no one proves whether these old machines work before they hit the seaways. Because of this, the report says, e-waste is a growing problem in Lagos, Nigeria, and elsewhere in the developing world. Much of the waste ends up being thrown away along rivers and roads. Often it's picked apart by poor people, who may face dangerous exposure to poisonous chemicals in the equipment.
Businessmen also pay workers a little money to get back materials such as gold and copper. This low-tech recovery process could expose workers and the local environment to many dangerous materials used to build electronics. According to Gutierrez, this shadow economy exists because the excuse of recycling and reusing electronics gives businessmen "a green passport" to ship waste around the globe. '" Developing nations must take upon some of the responsibility themselves," Gutierrez said. But, he added, "A greater part of this responsibility should fall on the exporting state."
China, for example, has become a dumping place for large amounts of e-waste. The nation is beginning to take action to stop the flow of dangerous materials across its borders. The Chinese government, after many years of denial, is finally beginning to take the lead.
56. What does the fourth paragraph mainly discuss?
A. Old computers and TVs still work before they are sent abroad.
B. Poor people break up e-waste to collect some valuable materials.
C. A lot of e-waste is dumped in developing countries.
D. The problem of e-waste is growing in developing countries.
57. From what Gutierrez said we can learn that ________.
A. exporting countries should mainly be responsible for this problem.
B. neither rich nor pour countries should be blamed for this problem
C. developing countries should be responsible for this problem
D. poor countries should be blamed for this problem
58. It can be inferred from the last paragraph that __________.
A. China has hidden a large amount of e-waste in many secret places
B. China has greatly changed her idea about the problem of e-waste
C. China has prevented poisonous materials from entering China for a long time
D. China is failing behind other countries in dealing with e-waste
59. The passage mainly tells us that ________.
A. developing countries are facing serious environmental problems
B. e-waste is a growing problem in developed countries
C. e - waste is sent to developing countries under the excuse of reuse
D. developing countries are making full use of e-waste
Microsoft founder Bill Gates has recovered his spot at the top of the US money heap, taking the place of Investor Warren Buffett as America's richest person, Forbes magazine's latest list reveals.
With 57 billion dollars net worth Gates again leads the list of 400 richest individuals in the world’s wealthiest country. He displaced Buffett who briefly held the position this year but who has seen his Berkshire Hathaway investment group's shares slip 15 percent since February and is now worth 50 billion.
According to Forbes, whose list was published late Wednesday, the golden 400 have 1.3 billion dollars net worth or more. However, their combined net worth rose only 30 billion dollars, or two percent, to 1.57 trillion dollars.
Forbes said that rising oil and dizzy art prices fuelled the entry of 31 new members into the ultra -rich club and the return of eight previous members.
A notable arrival was Mark Zuckerberg, 24, founder of the social networking site Facebook (脸谱网). Forbes estimates his worth at 1.5 billion dollars.
Meanwhile, turmoil (动荡) on the stock and housing markets saw 33 others drop off the list, including former head of the troubled insurance giant AIG, Maurice Greenberg, and a former head of the online auction site eBay, Margaret Whitman.
Biggest gainers were led by New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg who took eighth place with 20 billion dollars worth after a transaction (交易) put a new value on his Bloomberg media and financial data network.
The biggest loser was casino (赌场,娱乐场所) tycoon Sheldon Adelson, whose fortune fell 13 billion dollars over 12 months -- the equivalent to 1.5 million dollars an hour -- although he still has 15 billion dollars and occupies 15th place.
About two thirds of the list are self-made billionaires and just over 10 percent are women, led by television star Oprah Winfrey whose fortune rose 200 million dollars to 2.7 billion dollars.
68. According to Forbes, Warren Buffet is worth ________.
A. 57 billion dollars B. 50 billion dollars C. 1.5 billion dollars D.20 billion dollars
69. 31 new members entered the ultra-rich club as a result of ________.
A. turmoil on the stock and housing market
B. media and financial data network
C. rising oil and dizzy art prices
D. investment
70. The purpose of the author using the television star Oprah Winfrey as an example is to _________.
A. tell the readers that television stars make money easily
B. prove that a millionaire can become a billionaire
C women can also be billionaires
D. tell the readers that most of the billionaires are self-made
It's hardly surprising that weather is a favorite topic for so many people around the world -- it affects where we choose to five, what we wear, our moods, and perhaps even our national characteristics. Studies have shown that changeable weather can make it difficult to concentrate, cloudy skies slow down reaction, and high humidity with hot, dry winds makes many people bad-tempered.
If you live in a place like Britain, where the weather seems to change daily if not hourly, you could be forgiven for thinking that the weather is random (任意的,随机的). In fact the weather is controlled by systems which move around areas of the globe. In the UK the weather depends on depressions, often called lows, and anticyclones, also known as highs. These systems staff in the Atlantic Ocean, and make their way across the British Isles from the west to the east.
Highs bring sunny weather, while lows bring rain and wind. In modern times, human activities seem to be changing weather patterns. Gases produced by heavy industry, change the temperature of the Earth's surface, and affect cloud formation. Some researchers say that factories in Europe and North America may have been one of the causes of the droughts in Africa in the 1980s.
The human race has always tried to guess the weather, especially in areas of the world where there are frequent changes. Traditional rhymes point to early attempts to identify weather patterns, popular poems include:
Red sky at night, shepherds' delight; Red sky in the morning, shepherds' warning.
Flies will Swarm before a storm,
Rain before 7, clear by 11.
While folk wisdom can still provide a guide to help forecast weather, today's methods of prediction increasingly rely on technology. Satellites, balloons, ships, aircrafts and weather centers with sensitive monitoring equipment, send data to computers. The data is then processed, and the weather is predicted. However, even this system cannot predict weather for longer than about a week.
64. When weather keeps changing, ________.
A. people become bad - tempered B. people's reaction slows down
B. people find it hard to focus on their work D. people become hungrier
65. The weather in Britain is ________.
A. random B. moist (湿润的) C. depressing D. satisfying
66. According to a traditional rhyme, if there is a red sky at night, the next day will be __________.
A. windy B. rainy C. fine D. snowy
67. Which of the following statements is tree?
A. Anticyclones often bring rain and wind.
B. Weather forecasting has been done for a long time.
C. Weather could never be predicted.
D. Modem methods of weather prediction are developed from folk wisdom.
I remember my math teacher Mr. Young very well. He stood out because the kids made fun d him. He was missing one of his fingers, and always pointed at students with his middle finger.
I was not very good at English and math. No matter how hard I tried, I just could not figure out why I did not understand what all the other kids found so easy to learn.
One day, I was told that if I got one more E on my report card, I would be taken to the “big person for kids”
I tried really hard for weeks. I just couldn't understand how to make different parts of members into whole things.
The day before report cards were to come out, 1 knew that Mr. Young would give me an E, just like he always did.
I went to Mr. Young and told him that the orphanage (孤儿院) was going to send me to the big person if I got another E on my report card. He told me there was nothing he could do; it would be unfair to the other kids if he gave me a better grade than I had actually earned.
I smiled at him and said, "Mr. Young, do you know how the kids make fun of you because you’re missing your finger?" He looked at me, moved his mouth to one side and said nothing.
“They shouldn’t do that to you because you can't help having a finger, Mr. Young. Just like I can’t help not being able to learn numbers and stuff like that.” I said
The next day, when I got my report card, I tucked it into one of my books. While on the school bus, I opened it: Geography, B+; Mechanical Drawing, C-; English, D-l; History, C-; Gym, B+; Art, C; Math, D-.
That math grade was the most favorite one I ever received. Because I knew that someone in the world finally understood what it was like for me to be missing a finger inside my head.
59. From the second paragraph we can infer that the boy is _________ in some subjects.
A. mind-blowing (给人印象极深的 ) B. slow-witted (头脑迟钝的)
C. fun-loving D. badly- behaved
60. Where may the boy live according to the passage?
A. In an orphanage. B. In a big prison. C. In the school dormitory. D. In his home.
61. What grade should the boy have got in the math test this time?
A. D-. B. B + C. D. D. E.
62. The underlined word "tucked" in the passage most probably means “________”.
A. stuck B. listed C. hid D. copied
63. The reason why the boy remembers Mr. Young is that ________.
A. he missed one of his fingers B. he treated his students very well