As prices and building costs keep rising, the “do-it-yourself” (DIY) trend (趋势) in the U.S. continues to grow.
“We needed furniture(家具) for our living room.” Says John Ross, “and we just didn’t have enough money to afford it. So we decided to try making a few tables and chairs.” John got married six months ago, and like many young people these days, they are struggling to make a home at a time when the cost of living is very high. The Rosses took a 2-week course for $ 280 at a night school. Now they build all their furniture and make repairs around the house.
Jim Hatfield has three boys and his wife died. He has a full-time job at home as well as in a shoe making factory. Last month, he received a car repair bill for $ 420. “I was deeply upset about it. Now I’ve finished a car repair course, I should be able to fix the car by myself.”
John and Jim are not unusual people. Most families in the country are doing everything they can to save money so they can fight the high cost of living. If you want to become a “do-it-yourself”, you can go to DIY classes. And for those who don’t have time to take a course, there are books that tell you how you can do things yourself.We can learn from the text that many newly married people _______.
| A．find it hard to pay for what they need |
| B．have to learn to make their own furniture. |
| C．take DIY courses run by the government. |
| D．seldom go to a department store to buy things |
John and his wife went to evening classes to learn how to _____
| A．run a DIY shop | B．make or repair things |
| C．save time and money | D．improve the quality of life. |
When the writer says Jim has a full-time job at home, he means Jim ____
| A．makes shoes in his home | B．does extra work at night |
| C．does his own car and home repairs | D．keeps house and looks after his children |
Like distance runners on a measured course, all of us will move through time in a roughly predictable pattern.
In the first stage of our lives, we develop and grow, reaching toward the top of physical vitality (活力,生气).
After we grow up, however, the body begins a process of gradually wearing out.
A new awareness of physical fitness may help lengthen our years of health and vitality, yet nothing we do will work to stop the unavoidable force of aging.
Most of the changes of aging take place deep inside the body. The lungs become less able to take in oxygen. Powerful muscles gradually lose their strength. The heart loses power and pumps less blood. Bones grow easier to break.
Finally, we meet a stress, a stress that is greater than our physical resistance. Often, it is only a minor accident or chance infection (a disease caused by virus), but this time, it brings life to an end.
In 1932, a classic experiment nearly doubled the lifetime of rats, simply by cutting back the calories in their diet. The reason for the effect was then unknown.
Today, at the University of California at Berkley, Dr. Paul Seagle has also greatly lengthened the normal lifetime of rats. The result was achieved through a special protein limited diet, which had a great effect on the chemistry of the brain. Seagle showed that within the brain, specific chemicals control many of the signals that influence aging. By changing that chemical balance, the clock of aging can be reset.
For the first time, the mystery of why we age is being seriously challenged. Scientists in ma
ny fields are now making striking and far-reaching discoveries.
An average lifetime lasts 75 years, yet in each of us lies a potential for a longer life. If we could keep the vitality and resistance to disease that we have at age twenty, we would live for 800 years. What does the underlined word “it” refer to?
| A．Physical vitality. | B．Stress. | C．Aging. | D．Physical resistance. |
Which of the following is not a change of aging?
| A．The lungs become unable to take in oxygen. |
| B．People gradually lose their muscle strength. |
| C．The heart loses power and pumps less blood. |
| D．Bones tend to break more easily. |
The author believes the following except that ________.
| A．human’s life pattern is predictable |
| B．physical fitness can’t stop the force of aging |
| C．human’s lifetime will last longer than 75 years |
| D．all of the changes of aging take place deep inside the body |
How did Dr. Paul Seagle lengthen the lifetime of rats in his experiment?
| A．By limiting the protein in their diet. | B．By cutting the calories in their diet. |
| C．By resetting their clock of aging. | D．By keeping their physical fitness. |
What is probably the best title for the article?
| A．Two Great Experiments | B．The Mystery of Human Life |
| C．Ways to lengthen Human Life | D．The Breakthrough in the Study of Aging |
After battling hard times and danger for over nine months, British teenager Mike Perham made history last month as the youngest person to sail solo around the world.
The 17-year-old made the record after he cleared the Panama Canal and then sailed through the Caribbean and got home across the Atlantic.
Mike is only three months younger than Zac Sunderland, the 17-year-old American boy who had taken the crown as the youngest solo around-the-world sailor in July.
The two youngsters met in Cape Town in South Africa as they crossed the globe in different directions. Mike insisted they were not rivals(竞争对手). “No. It's two teenagers going out there, living their dream and having the adventure of a lifetime,” he said.
Mike may be young, but he is no stranger to sailing adventures. He picked up the hobby at the age of 6 when his father took him out in a small boat on a local lake. Father and son sailed separate boats across the Atlantic when Mike was 14, making him the youngest person to cross that ocean solo. That record gave him the taste for this even greater challenge.
On the recent journey, the scariest moment for Mike came when his sailboat was hit by storms in the southern Indian Ocean.
“We were picked up by what felt like a 60-foot wave and threw down on our side at 90 degrees,” he said.
“It felt like I was going right over. Stuff was flying around and I just thought ‘Oh no’.”
At other times, he had to dive into the Pacific and fix problems. He tied himself to the boat, jumped into the water and went to work with a knife in 30-second dives underneath the boat to cut a rope away.
Mike said he felt proud that he made his dream come true. “You've got to have confidence in yourself that you will make it,” he said.. What's the main idea of the passage?
| A．A British teenager became the youngest person to sail solo around the world. |
| B．How a British teenager developed his sailing hobby. |
| C．A British teenager's brave experience. |
| D．A British teenager's confidence. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Mike Perham crossed the Panama Canal. |
| B．Mike and Zac took the crown as the youngest solo around-the-world sailor at the same age. |
| C．The two youngsters crossed the globe in different directions. |
| D．Mike was never frightened during the sailing. |
What does the underlined word “taste” in the fifth paragraph mean?
| A．Flavor. | B．Preference. | C．Experience. | D．Ability. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Both Mike and Zac had adventured spirits. |
| B．Mike is older than Zac. |
| C．They both are brave but they have different goals. |
| D．Mike took up the hobby of sailing adventures at 14. |
What did Mike believe in?
| A．Having confidence in yourself will make you successful. |
| B．Braveness is important in sailing. |
| C．One should pick up a hobby as a child. |
| D．Pride goes before a fall. |
Mr. Peter Johnson, aged twenty-three, battled for half an hour to escape from his trapped car yesterday when it landed upside down in three feet of water. Mr. Johnson took the only escape route — through the boot (行李箱).
Mr. Johnson’s car had finished up in a ditch at Romney Marsin Kent after skidding on ice and hitting a bank. “Fortunately, the water began to come in only slowly,” Mr. Johnson said. “I couldn’t force the doors open because they were jammed against the walls of the ditch and dared not open the windows because I knew water would come flooding in.”
Mr. Johnson, a sweet salesman of Sitting Home Kent, first tried to attract the attention of other motorists by sounding the horn and hammering on the roof and boot. Then he began his struggle to escape.
Later he said, “It was really a half penny that saved my life. It was the only coin I had in my pocket and I used it to unscrew the back seat to get into the boot. I hammered desperately with a hammer trying to make someone hear, but no help came.”
It took ten minutes to unscrew the seat, and a further five minutes to clear the sweet samples from the boot. Then Mr. Johnson found a wrench and began to work on the boot lock. Fifteen minutes passed by. “It was the only chance I had. Finally it gave, but as soon as I moved the boot lid, the water and mud poured in. I forced the lid down into the mud and scrambled clear as the car filled up.”
His hands and arms cut and bruised (擦伤), Mr. Johnson got to Beckett Farm nearby, where he was looked after by the farmer’s wife, Mrs. Lucy Bates. Huddled in a blanket, he said, “That thirty minutes seemed like hours.” Only the tips of the car wheels were visible, police said last night. The vehicle had sunk into two feet of mud at the bottom of the ditch. Which of the following objects is the most important to Mr. Johnson?
| A．The hammer. | B．The coin. |
| C．The screw. | D．The horn. |
Which statement is true according to the passage?
| A．Mr. Johnson’s car stood on its boot as it fell down. |
| B．Mr. Johnson could not escape from the door because it was full of sweet jam. |
| C．Mr. Johnson’s car accident was partly due to the slippery road. |
| D．Mr. Johnson struggled in the pouring mud as he unscrewed the back seat. |
“Finally it gave” (Paragraph 5) means that _________.
| A．Luckily the door was torn away in the end |
| B．At last the wrench went broken |
| C．The lock came open after all his efforts |
| D．The chance was lost at the last minute |
It may be inferred from the passage that _________.
| A．the ditch was along a quiet country road |
| B．the accident happened on a clear warm day |
| C．the police helped Mr. Johnson get out of the ditch |
| D．Mr. Johnson had a tender wife and was well attended |
What is the best title for this newspaper article?
| A．The Story of Mr. Johnson, A Sweet Salesman |
| B．Car Boot Can Serve As The Best Escape Route |
| C．Driver Escapes Through Car Boot |
| D．The Driver Survived A Terrible Car Accident |
Drawings of human colonies on other planets often picture the entire community under a glass or plastic bubble. The bubble is intended to create an atmosphere with adequate oxygen and other essential elements. But similar bubble-like structures have also been constructed on earth. One of the most famous, and controversial, is a site in the Arizona desert.
Biosphere 2, as it is called, was built not far from Tucson in 1984 and is now run by Columbia University. This huge（7,200,000-cubic-foot）glass and steel construction contains several separate ecosystems, including a desert, a rain forest, and a 900,000-gallon “ocean.” The climatic conditions-humidity, temperature, air quality-are regulated by sensors and can be adjusted as needed or desired. For example, a rainstorm can be created to increase the humidity. The adjustable features of Biosphere 2 make it an ideal location to perform experiments to help determine the effects of such climatic changes as global warming.
The current conditions at Biosphere 2 are vastly different from those in 1993, when eight people who had moved into the environment with great fanfare two years earlier moved out in failure. Though promising to be self-sufficient（自足的）, these “colonists” had so much trouble regulating the environment that they reportedly had food smuggled into them. Oxygen levels became dangerously low; most plants and animals died. In taking over the unsuccessful site, Columbia hopes to erase its notorious past by focusing on small research projects that gradually answer some of Biosphere 1’s — that is, Earth’s most basic environment questions.This passage primarily deals with _________.
| A．conditions of life in Biosphere 2 |
| B．building controlled environments on other planets |
| C．why Biosphere 2 failed in the past |
| D．what makes a good biosphere colonist |
Biosphere 2 is now run by _________.
| A．a group of eight colonists |
| B．Columbia University |
| C．the city of Tucson |
| D．scientists who hope to establish Biosphere 3 |
The passage suggests that earlier colonists of Biosphere 2 _________.
| A．did not like living in a controlled environment |
| B．found it very difficult to live in a controlled environment |
| C．still are involved with Biosphere 2 |
| D．have now left the country in disgrace |
The writer helps you understand what Biosphere 2 is like by _________.
| A．comparing its features with those of an outer space biosphere |
| B．explaining the process by which it was constructed |
| C．referring to an interview with one of former inhabitants |
| D．describing its appearance and conditions |
In paragraph 3 the word “notorious” means _________.
| A．well known for something good | B．well known for something bad |
| C．very dangerous | D．quite interesting |
Making an apology is not the same as making amends. Sometimes we apologize just because it’s the easiest thing to do. What’s actually important is to identify where we go wrong, take full responsibility for our mistakes and , if possible, try to make up for them.
A recent case involving Hewlett-Packed, the US computer giant, shows the importance of presenting a sincere apology. The Chinese consumers who had bought notebook computers of certain models, which have been put on Chinese market since 2007, suffered a massive flash screen failures and overheating problems. Through investigation, Chinese AQSIQ (国家质检总局) identified these HP computers had quality problems and HP admitted this. HP made a proposal that they would extend the warranty (保修) period of such computers, but this could not satisfied the consumers. What they needed was a thorough description of the truth. HP has “sincerely” apologized. But the consumers remain angry, and say that only a product recall — as HP has done in the past — will prove that the apology is sincere.
Another apology that fell flat on its face was that of Thierry Henry, the famous French footballer. His deliberate handball in November 2009 created the goal which knocked Ireland out of the 2010 World Cup. The incident caused great anger in the football world, and eventually Henry issued an apology. Two days later, he wrote, “I’m not the referee…but if I hurt someone I’m sorry.” Better late than never, perhaps, but even then he passed the blame onto the referee!
Such high-profile cases, which attract a lot of publicity often under the spotlight, but similar incidents occur in our everyday lives. Stress caused by schoolwork and tiredness can sometimes result in outbursts of anger against friends and family. Have you ever lost your temper for minor reasons? After calming down, most people are quick to realize their mistake and apologize. But it’s just as important to identify what caused the error in the first place and take action to ensure it doesn’t happen again.
No one should hold a negative attitude to making a sincere apology. Empty words are easy to say, but they are as useless as they sound. A real show of remorse（痛悔;自责）demands hard work and commitment to put error right.What does the author intend to tell us in the case of HP?
| A．A true apology needs sincere actions. |
| B．HP should recall all the faulty computers. |
| C．Good quality makes a good company. |
| D．A company should apologize and pay for their mistakes. |
According to the author, when we do anything wrong we firstly _________.
| A．make an apology face to face honestly |
| B．admit we were wrong and try to make the wrong right |
| C．take the responsibility for apologizing to others |
| D．choose the easiest thing to do |
We can infer from the case of Thierry Henry that _________ .
| A．it’s never too late to say “I’m sorry.” |
| B．writing an apology is not a good idea |
| C．Henry didn’t identify his fault. |
| D．the football fans were mad with Henry. |
Which of the following can best explain the word “commitment” in the last paragraph?
| A．Decision. | B．Promise. | C．Agreement. | D．Responsibility. |
What’s the best title of this passage?
| A．What really puts things right |
| B．Don’t apologize easily |
| C．Making an apology — no one is out of exception |
| D．How to judge an apology — sincere enough? |