The united States has about 475,000 school buses — all painted yellow. Each day they carry more than 25,000,000 children, half of all schoolchildren in the country. But these buses, on average, use four liters of diesel (柴油) fuel to travel less than sixteen kilometers. When the school year began last fall, diesel averaged 55 cents a liter nationally. The price nearly doubled, to a dollar and 8 cents, by the end of school in June.
Bob Riley speaks for the American School Bus Council. He says fuel prices for schools are not much lower than others have to pay. As a result, schools are looking for ways to reduce transportation costs. Bus routes are being redrawn or, in some cases, canceled. Some areas are buying buses that use natural gas or other alternative fuels. Other steps include fewer field trips and less travel by sports teams. And some school districts may end any bus service not required by law.
Studies show that school buses are the safest form of transportation to and from school. The American School Bus Council says cuts in bus service are bad for children and possibly the environment. It says removing buses from the road will mean an increase in other vehicles transporting students. Spokesman Bob Riley says another concern is that reducing bus services might reduce attendance.
But it could also get more children to walk or bicycle to school. And that would surely make people happy at the National Center for Safe Routes to School. More kids walking or biking safely to school is the aim of a three-year-old federal program, part of an international movement. The goal is to increase physical activity and reduce air pollution. The United States will celebrate Walk to School Day on October eighth this year. But for some students, high fuel prices could make every day a walk-to-school day.What does this passage mainly tell us?
| A．High fuel prices’ influences on school buses. |
| B．New measures to transport school students. |
| C．The safest form of student transportation. |
| D．The origin of Walk to School Day. |
In order to cut down transportation cost, many schools take the following measures EXCEPT_____.
| A．changing some bus routes |
| B．stopping some bus routes |
| C．asking parents to drive children to and from school |
| D．using other types of fuels |
The National Center for Safe Routes to School encourages more children to walk or bike to school in order to ____.
| A．save more fuels and diesel for the country |
| B．keep the children safe on their way to school |
| C．make the children live a simple life |
| D．keep the children healthy and the environment clean |
It gives me great pleasure today to say a few words in praise of a man we will all miss very much. To be honest, I can’t imagine we will do without him when he’s gone. Bill Masters almost single-handed built up our sales force in the Houston area and developed the market position that we enjoy today. In only six years, he has brought the firm from a very low fifth position in the area sales to the point where we now outsell all but one of our competitors. Not only have we got 37 per cent of the market under Bill’s leadership; we are increasing our share with each passing month.
As you know, the company has moved Bill to northern California to work his sales magic in one of this company’s competitive areas. But we know that if anyone can do it, Bill Masters can, and I know you all join me in wishing him the best of luck in his new work. The speech was made ________.
| A．at a welcome meeting | B．after someone died |
| C．when somebody was leaving | D．when they had a new manager |
How long did Masters work there?
| A．37 years. | B．Less than 5 years. |
| C．About six years. | D．Since he began to work. |
When Bill started to work in Houston area, he had to help him.
| A．many people | B．nobody | C．about 37 people | D．very few people |
Bill increased the company’s sale________.
| A．by 37 per cent every month | B．to the second largest in the area |
| C．to be the fifth largest in the area | D．five times as much as before |
You are a German living in Berlin. One day you’ re walking down the street, minding your own business, when suddenly a stranger comes up with a smile on his face. After stopping you, he holds a small electronic device (装置) close to his face and speaks slowly into it, saying, in English," Can you tell me where I can buy some sauerkraut?" What should you do? (a) Run away; (b) Call the police; or (c) Listen closely for the device to say in German," Konnen Sie mir bitte sagen, welches sauerkraut haufen kann?"
The most proper answer would be (c) because the person in front of you is only a tourist trying to enjoy himself. The device is said to be the world’s first portable(便携的) translator — a hand-held microcomputer that at the same time translates one spoken language into another. The four-pound, battery-operated product is called the Voice, and it is the invention of Advanced Products and Technologies, an American electronics company. When the Voice is introduced in the Unite States in late April — at a price of (1,500 — it will be used to translate spoken English into Italian, German, French and Spanish. The product comes with separate cartridges(盒式存储器) for each of the four languages, which can be changed when the user travels from one country to another. It will be sold in Europe soon after the US introduction, with cartridges that translate Italian, German, French and Spanish into English.
The Voice uses a microchip(微型集成电路片) to translate languages. It is Started by voice command and produces voice output through a built-in speaker. When the user makes a statement or asks a question, the Voice immediately repeats what has been said in another language. The device held by the stranger is probably a kind of________.
| A．a two-way radio | B．language translator |
| C．easily-carried speaker | D．a multi-functioned computer |
. What does the last sentence of the first paragraph mean?
| A．Can you tell me where I can buy some sauerkraut? |
| B．Can I ask for some information from the police? |
| C．Would you like to try my device? |
| D．Would you not run away if I ask you where to buy some sauerkraut? |
When the stranger says," Can you tell... sauerkraut?" he is ________.
| A．learning German from his device |
| B．asking you the way to the sauerkraut shop |
| C．making fun of you with his device |
| D．testing his device for fun |
Which of the following is not mentioned in the text?
| A．The price of the hand-held microcomputer. |
| B．The function of the product Voice. |
| C．The producer pf the small electronic device. |
| D．The number of the device sold to the European countries. |
In 1957 a doctor in Singapore noticed that hospitals were treating an unusual number of influenzalike cases. Influenza is sometimes called “flu”or a “bad cold”. He took samples from the throats of patients in his hospital and was able to find the virus（病毒）of this influenza.
There are three main types of influenza virus. The most important of these are types A and B, each of them having several sub-groups（亚群）. At the hospital the doctor recognized that the outbreak was because of a virus group A, but he did not know the sub-group. He reported the outbreak to the World Health Organization in Geneva. W. H. O. published the important news together with reports of the same kind of outbreak in Hong Kong, where about 15％～20％ of the population had become ill.
As soon as the London doctors received the package of throat samples, they began to test them. They found that they could reproduce themselves at a very high speed. Continuing their careful tests, the doctor checked the effect of medicine used against all the known sub-groups of type A virus. On this virus, none of them was of any use.
Having separated the virus, the two doctors now made tests on some selected seleceted animals. In a short time the usual signs of the disease appeared. These experiments showed that the new virus spread easily, but that it was not a killer. Scientists, like the general public, called it simply “Asian flu”. The Asian flu mentioned in the passage ____. [ ]
| A．had something to do with a virus group B |
| B．was reported to W. H. O in Geneva by a doctor in Hong Kong |
| C．broke out not only in Singapore but also in Hong Kong |
| D．was taken from the throats of the patients in a hospital in Singapore |
London doctors considered ____. [ ]
| A．Asian flu as a bad cold |
| B．there were three main types of influenza |
| C．it was necessary to test the other groups of virus besides group A |
| D．the influenza called “Asian flu”a new one |
The Singapore doctor helped the world by ____. [ ]
| A．making those with Asian flu well again |
| B．killing the virus that caused Asian flu |
| C．finding the sub-group of the virus |
| D．reporting the outbreak of Geneva |
The Asian flu virus ____. [ ]
| A．was a killer |
| B．was very weak |
| C．could reproduce very quickly |
| D．died very fast |
Mr Reese was born in a big city. His father had several companies and got a lot of money. He could give his son all the young man wanted. He was busy with his business and never asked him how he got along with his studies. So the boy spent most time in the restaurants or cinemas. Of course he was weak at his lessons and learned nothing at school. He made many friends but none of them was good and when they knew he came from a rich family, they began to teach him to gamble（赌博）. Of course he lost much money.
Now Mr Reese was twenty and finished middle school. He could not do anything. But his father didn't mind it until one day he found the young man had sold one of his companies. He became so angry that he made him leave his house. The young man couldn't gamble any longer. His friends made him pay his debt. He had to ask his mother to help him and the woman often gave him some money. But one evening his father happened to find it. The old man stopped his wife from doing so. They began to fight in the room. The young man brought out a knife and killed his father. His mother helped him to run away, but soon after that he was caught and sentenced（判刑）to death.
It was a cold and wet day. Suddenly it began to rain hard when Mr Reese was being sent to the execution ground（刑场）. Soon both he and the soldiers were wet through. He said angrily, “Bad luck! I shall be shot in such bad weather!”
“Don't complain（抱怨）, brother, ”said one of the soldiers. ‘You're luckier than us all. We'll have to go back to the city after that!”Old Reese never wanted to know about his son's studies because ____. [ ]
| A．he was sure his son was good at his lessons |
| B．he spent all his energies on his business |
| C．he knew nothing about the education |
| D．his wife looked after their children |
The bad young men taught Young Reese to gamble in order ____. [ ]
| A．to play with him |
| B．to spend spare time |
| C．that the could get much money from him |
| D．that they could find jobs in his father's companies |
Old Reese became angry because ____. [ ]
| A．his son had learned nothing at school. |
| B．his son was weak at all his lessons |
| C．his son couldn't do anything in the companies |
| D．his son had lost one of his companies |
Mr Reese complained ____. [ ]
| A．he was sentenced to death |
| B．he would be shot |
| C．he went to the execution ground on foot |
| D．he would be shot in bad weather |
Paul was a good athlete when he was a middle school student. He liked running and jumping and won some medals at the sports meetings. So he was tall and strong. Suddenly war broke out and the young man joined the army. He was sent to the front and killed several enemy soldiers. Two years later he raturned to his home town and found a job at the police station. People had known about his bravery by then and they all liked the polite young man.
One day a few young men had drunk too much before they came in a cinema. They danced and sang there and the film couldn't be shown. Paul was ill that day and went to the hospital. When he was passing there, the young men were beating an old man. He went to stop them and they began to fight. He caught them all and sent them to the police station. Since then all the bad men in the town were afraid of the brave policeman.
It was a summer evening. The weather was hot and few people could stay indoors. Paul was on duty and sat by the telephone. Suddenly in rushed a beautiful girl with a book in her hand. She stood there, shaking in her shoes.
“What's the matter, madam? ”asked Paul.
“I wish you could protect me sir, ”answered the girl.
“Protect? ”Paul said in surprise. “For what? ”
The girl showed the book to Paul. The young man understood at once: it was a book about Ghosts（鬼）！Paul won some medals because ____. [ ]
| A．he was a middle school student |
| B．he was tall and strong |
| C．he kept doing morning exercises |
| D．he was good at running and jumping. |
Paul was ____ after he joined the army. [ ]
| A．a good athlete |
| B．a brave soldier |
| C．a polite policeman |
| D．a brave policeman |
Paul sent the young men to the police station because ____. [ ]
| A．they made some trouble（闹事）at the cinema |
| B．they drank much in the restaurant |
| C．they wouldn't see the filin |
| D．they wanted to fight with him |
Paul sat by the telephone that evening because ____. [ ]
| A．he was waiting for an important call |
| B．he was going to call somebody |
| C．he was on duty |
| D．he wasn't afraid of hotness |