There is a saying in French—“Si vieillesse pouvait, si jeunesse savait”—which means roughly “if age had the ability, if youth had the knowledge.” I was reminded of this saying the other day when I saw an interview with a distinguished Asian neurosurgeon(神经外科医生), now retired, about the impact of computer technology on modern surgery.
He was referring to the difficulty people of his age had in using the new techniques, but also to the fact that younger surgeons, who are more comfortable with the technology, lack some of the wisdom of experience.
It struck me that this problem is not just confined(局限于) to specialized fields such as medicine, but is widespread in modern life. There are many areas where the rapid growth of technology has widened the generation gap.
Young people are at ease with modern technology and propose all sorts of ways for using and developing it. But they often lack the experience needed to see further into the future to the possible dangers that a particular development may cause.
Older people see all sorts of difficulties and dangers, but are sometimes ignored, or even accused of being against progress, if they point out potential problems. Equally, they may see potential uses, but not have the technical skills to put them into practice themselves or the trust in the younger generation to do so.
Enthusiasm and inexperience come into conflict with caution and arrogance, usually with unsatisfactory results for both sides.
What is needed is the development of a partnership, based on mutual respect, which can deliver real progress by combining enthusiasm and caution in a constructive way, rather than in conflict with each other. The old need to give the younger generation the time, the resources and, above all, the authority to develop new ideas and use their skills. In exchange, the young need to turn more actively to the older generation to seek their advice and exploit their greater experience of the world in foreseeing and overcoming potential problems.The passage is mainly about ________.
| A.the impact of computer technology on modern surgery |
| B.an interview with a distinguished Asian neurosurgeon |
| C.new generation gap between the old and the young |
| D.a conflict between knowledge and experience |
The French saying in the first paragraph is used to ________.
| A.introduce the topic |
| B.show the difference between French and English |
| C.make readers confused |
| D.prove the writer’s wisdom |
What did the retired neurosurgeon probably mention in his interview?
| A.Old people’s enthusiasm in obtaining new technology. |
| B.Old people’s difficulty in using computers. |
| C.Young surgeons’ bad manners in working. |
| D.Young surgeons’ difficulty in getting experience. |
In the writer’s view, what advantage do the older generation have?
| A.They are happy with modern technology. |
| B.They are easy to learn new techniques. |
| C.They can foresee the future of the young generation. |
| D.They are rich in work experience. |
What conclusion can be drawn from the last paragraph?
| A.The young and the old should respect and learn from each other. |
| B.The young should teach the old modern technology. |
| C.The old should maintain their authority in every field. |
| D.The young and the old should work independently. |
Have you ever heard the story of the four-minute miles? Many years ago, people believed that it was impossible for a human Being to run a mile in less than four minutes until Roger Banister proved it wrong in 1954.
What happens if you put an animal in a pond? Any animal, big or small, will swim its way through. What happens when someone, who doesn't know how to swim, falls in deep waters? They drown. If an animal who has not learnt swimming could escape by swimming, why not you? Because you believe you will drown while the animal doesn't.
Have you ever wondered why the letters are organized in a particular order on your keyboard? You might have thought it is to increase the typing speed. Most people never question it. But the fact is that this system was developed to reduce the typing speed at a time when typewriter parts would jam(堵塞) if the operator typed too fast.
These three cases show the power of our beliefs. There is no other more powerful directing force in human behavior than belief. Your beliefs have the power to create and to destroy. A belief delivers command to your nervous system.
I used a snake in my workshops for children to show them how unrealistic some of their beliefs are. Students of a school in India, said snakes are slippery and slimy and poisonous. After doing an exercise for changing beliefs, they handled my snake and found it to be dry and clean. They also remembered that only three types of poisonous snakes exist in India.
Did this story end the way you thought? Review your beliefs now and find out which ones you need to change?In the author’s opinion, if a person in deep water doesn’t know how to swim, he will drown because______.
| A.he is afraid of water. |
| B.he believes he will drown. |
| C.he hasn’t learnt to swim before. |
| D.he don’t want to live in the world. |
The author thinks that the letters organized in a particular order on your keyboard in order to ______
A. save more space
B. satisfy the operator
C.reduce one’s typing speed
D increase one’s typing speedThe author’s experiment shows that____
| A.snakes are dry and clean |
| B.snakes can be caught easily |
| C.snakes are slimy and poisonous |
| D.snakes in India aren’t poisonous |
According to the passage, we know that_____
| A.students from India have unrealistic beliefs on how to live a better life |
| B.an animal who hasn’t learnt how to swim will drown if you put it in pond. |
| C.most people don’t like the order the letters are arranged on your keyboard |
| D.Roger Banister was the first person who ran a mile in less than four minutes. |
The main idea of this passage should be that______.
| A.Beliefs are very powerful. |
| B.Beliefs make us seem stupid. |
| C.Changing your beliefs now is necessary. |
| D.People should always believe in themselves. |
John Fisher, a builder, and his wife Elizabeth wanted more living space, so they left their small flat for an old 40-meter-high castle tower. They have spent five years turning it into a beautiful home with six floors, winning three architectural prizes.
“I love the space, and being private,” Elizabeth says. “You feel separated from the world. If I am in the kitchen, which is 25 meters above the ground floor, and the doorbell rings, I don’t have to answer it because visitors can’t see I am in!”
There are 142 steps to the top so if I go up and down five or six times a day, it’s very good exercise! But having to carry heavy things to the top is terrible, so I never buy more than two bags of shopping from the supermarket at a time. Except for that, it’s a brilliant place to live.
“When we first saw the place, I asked my father’s advice about buying it, because we couldn’t decide. After paying for it, we were a bit worried because it looked awful. But we really loved it, and knew how we wanted it to look.”
“Living here can be difficult—yesterday I climbed a four-meter ladder to clean the windows. But when you stand on the roof you can see all the way out to the sea on a clear day, and that’s a wonderful experience. I am really glad we moved. ”What is the writer trying to do in the text?
| A.describe how to turn an old tower into a house |
| B.recommend(推荐) a particular builder |
| C.describe what it is like to live in a tower |
| D.explain how to win prizes for building work |
Which of the following best describes Elizabeth’s feelings about the tower?
| A.She wanted it as soon as she saw it. |
| B.She likes most things about it. |
| C.She has been worried since they paid for it. |
| D.She finds it unsuitable to live in. |
What problem does Elizabeth have with living in such a tall building?
| A.Her visitors find it hard to see if she is at home. |
| B.She feels separated from others. |
| C.She cannot bring home lots of shopping at once. |
| D.It is impossible to clean any of the windows. |
How will John and Elizabeth advertise their tower if they sell it?
A.![]() |
B.![]() |
C.![]() |
D.![]() |
Parents whose children show a special interest in a particular sport feel it very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers. Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men and women? For many children it means starting school work very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place. It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing.
Another problem is of course money. In many countries money for training is available from government for the very best young sportsmen and women. If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development—and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc. can all be very expensive.
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age. Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed. Professional trainers, however, believe that it is only by training young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person. It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training.This article is most probably taken from________.
| A.a letter |
| B.an advertisement |
| C.a personal diary |
| D.a newspaper article |
According to the passage, parents whose children show a special interest in a sport_______.
| A.feel uncertain if they should let their children train to be sports men or women |
| B.try to get financial(财务的)support from the government for their children’s training |
| C.have to get medical advice from doctors about training methods |
| D.prefer their children to be trained as young as possible |
The underlined phrase“to take a second place”means_________.
| A.to repeat the activities at some other place |
| B.to become less important |
| C.all things considered, they are of poor quality |
| D.to happen again |
Strange things happen when you travel, because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones. The time difference between two zones is one hour. You can have days with more than twenty-four hours and days with fewer than twenty- four hours. You can have weeks with more than seven days and weeks with fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-trip across the Atlantic Ocean , your ship come into a different time zone every day. As you come into each zone, the time changes one hour. If you travel west, you set your watch back. If you travel east, you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you make a trip by ship across the Pacific Ocean , you cross the International Date Line. This is the point where a new day begins when you cross the line, you change one full day. If you travel east, today becomes yesterday, if you travel west it is tomorrow.Something interesting will happen to the time if you travel because .
| A.a day has always fewer than twenty-four hours |
| B.a day has always more than twenty- four hours |
| C.a day has more or fewer than twenty-four hours, |
| D.some time zones are large and some time zones are small |
The time difference between two time zones is .
| A.twenty-four hours | B.one hour |
| C.two hours | D.twenty-three hours |
If we cross the Atlantic Ocean, we .
| A.change one full day | B.set our watch back |
| C.set our watch ahead | D.set our watch back or ahead |
If we travel east across the International Date Line on July 5th, the date becomes July.
| A.3rd | B.4th | C.5th | D.6th |
Which of the following sentences is true?
| A. If we travel around the world, we will get into trouble in telling the time. |
| B.If we travel west across the Atlantic Ocean, we will have twenty-three hours. |
| C. If we travel by ship across the Atlantic Ocean, we will cross the International Date Line. |
| D. If we travel across the Pacific Ocean, today becomes tomorrow. |
A rainforest is an area covered by tall trees with the total high rainfall spreading quite equally through the year and the temperature rarely dipping below 16℃.Rainforests have a great effect on the world environment because they can take in heat from the sun and adjust the climate. Without the forest cover, these areas would reflect more heat into the atmosphere,warming the rest of the world. Losing the rainforests may also influence wind and rainfall patterns, potentially causing certain natural disasters all over the world.
In the past hundred years, humans have begun destroying rainforests in search of three major resources (资源): land for crops, wood for paper and other products, land for raising farm animals. This action affects the environment as a whole. For example,a lot of carbon dioxide(二氧化碳)in the air comes from burning the rainforests. People obviously have a need for the resources we gain from cutting trees but we will suffer much more than we will benefit.
There are two main reasons for this. Firstly, when people cut down trees, generally they can only use the land for a year or two. Secondly, cutting large sections of rainforests may provide a good supply of wood right now, but in the long run it actually reduces the world’ s wood supply.
Rainforests are often called the world’s drug store. More than 25% of the medicines we use today come from plants in rainforests. However, fewer than 1% of rainforest plants have been examined for their medical value. It is extremely likely that our best chance to cure diseases lies somewhere in the world’s shrinking rainforests.Why did humans destroy rainforests in the past hundred years?
| A.They tried to get crops and paper |
| B.They needed other products |
| C.They wanted to raise farm animals |
| D.They aimed to get three major resources. |
Rainforests can help to adjust the climate because they________.
| A.reflect more heat into the atmosphere |
| B.bring about high rainfall throughout the world |
| C.rarely cause the temperature to drop lower than 16℃ |
| D.reduce the effect of heat from the sun on the earth |
What does the word “this” underlined in the third paragraph refer to?
| A.We will lose much more than we can gain. |
| B.Humans have begun destroying rainforests. |
| C.People have a strong desire for resources. |
| D.Much carbon dioxide comes from burning rainforests. |
It can be inferred from the text that________.
| A.we can get enough resources without rainforests |
| B.there is great medicine potential in rainforests |
| C.we will grow fewer kinds of crops in the gained land |
| D.the level of annual rainfall affects wind patterns |
What might be the best title for the text?
| A.How to Save Rainforests |
| B.How to Protect Nature |
| C.Rainforests and the Environment |
| D.Rainforests and Medical Development |