In 1986, when Monty Reed was a member of the Army Rangers (黑鹰突击 队), he had an accident. "It was a night jump, and we were jumping low," he recalls. "We were training. Somebody got too close to my parachute (降落伞)."The parachute below blocked Reed’s air and his parachute failed to open. Reed crashed a hundred feet to the ground, breaking his back in five places.
The next morning, Reed could not move. "Doctors said it was likely that I would never walk again." Reed stared out of his hospital window, wondering what the future would be like. It was the saddest moment of his life. "The experts are telling me my body doesn’t work! What am I supposed to do?" he thought.
To distract (转移注意力) himself, he picked up a book: Robert Heinlein’s Starship Troopers. The science-fiction describes a set of man-made muscles that would allow people to carry 2,000 pounds. He thought that if he could build something like that, it might be able to lift him out of his wheelchair. So he began his project and finally succeeded in building a set of robot legs. Several years later, he made an amazing recovery and was able to get up and walk away from his wheelchair. He even jumped out of an airplane again to celebrate.
Reed wanted to do something for others with the second chance that life had given him. He has now perfected the robot legs that can get the injured, the elderly and the paralyzed (瘫痪的) out of their wheelchairs. Now he has started his own company to make the legs. "I’ve seen them compete in marathons and go swimming and mountain climbing," he said. "So never give up!"
| A．his feet hit the ground too hard |
| B．his parachute was under another person’s |
| C．another person’s parachute stopped his from opening |
| D．he was training to jump at night |
| A．create a new kind of wheelchair for himself |
| B．discover how to make man-made muscles |
| C．learn how to jump out of an airplane |
| D．stop himself from thinking about his pain |
| A．He didn’t lose heart in the face of difficulty. |
| B．He is fond of reading science fiction. |
| C．He spent the rest of his life in a wheelchair. |
| D．He didn’t believe what the doctors said. |
| A．become a famous writer like Robert Heinlein |
| B．return to the Army Rangers and continue with his jumps |
| C．compete in games and marathons and go swimming |
| D．help more patients in wheelchairs to recover |
2010 was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards(暴风雪), landslides(滑坡)and droughts
killed at least a quarter million people in 2010---the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
“It just seemed like it was back-to-back (接二连三) and it came waves,” said C
raig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
“The term ' 100-year event ' really lost its meaning this year.”
And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.
Even though many disasters seem accidental, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and strange year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.
Poor construction and development practices make earthquake more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable building (危房) in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes the river breaches(攻破), or the tropical cyclone (旋风) hits, more people die.
The January earthquake that killed well more than 220000 people in Haita is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people, many of them living in poverty, and more poorly built shanties (棚户区) than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010, total deaths would have probably been in the 80 000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.
Climate scientists say Earth's climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warning, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.
The excessive (过多的) amount of extreme weather of 2010 is a clear sign of man-made global warning that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave ---setting a national record of 111 degrees --- would happen once every 100000 years without global warning.
Preliminary (之前的) data show that 18 counties broke their records for the hottest day ever.
White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warning. "The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society's emissions of heat-trapping (吸热的)gases and particles are sh
arply reduce." What does the second paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．How the Earth struck back in 2010. | B．Why the Earth struck back. |
| C．How terrorism attacks struck. | D．What natural disaster mean to us. |
What does the underlined word "it" refer to in the third paragraph?
| A．Earthquake. | B．The Earth. | C．2010 | D．Natural disaster. |
What do the fifth, sixth and seventh paragraphs mainly tell us?
| A．The reason why there were so mainly disasters in 2010. |
| B．The way that natural disasters happened. |
| C．The way that man built buildings. |
| D．The way that people lived. |
What is the way to cut back on the number of natural disasters?
| A．To build stronger houses. |
| B．To develop less. |
| C．To reduce the emissions of heat-trapping gases and particles greatly. |
| D．To forecast the happening of natural disasters correctly. |
Why did the writer give the example of th
e earthquake that happened in Haiti?
| A．To show more people's living in vulnerable building can cause more people to die in an earthquake. |
B．To sho w Haiti is a poor country. |
| C．To show Port-au-Prince is too crowded. |
| D．To show man's forecast ability of an earthquake reduced. |
“Most experiences of absent-mindedness ,forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room , are caused by a simple lack of attention, ” says Schacter. “You’re supposed to remember something, but you haven’t encoded（编码） it deeply.”
Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impression on recalling it later. Failure to encode properly can create troublesome situations. If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don’t pay attention to what you did because you’re involved in a conversation, you’ll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your cupboard.“
Your memory itself isn’t failing you, ” says Schacter, “Rather, you didn’t give your memory system the information it needed.” http://wx.jtyjy.com/
Lack of interest can also lead to absent -mindedness. “A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago, ” says Zelinski, “ may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox.”Women have slightly better m
emories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory depends on just that.
“Visual cues（ 视觉提示 ）can help prevent absent--mindedness, ”says Schacter, “But be sure the cue is clear and available. ”If you want to remember to take a medicine with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table—don’t leave it in the medicine box and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket.
Another common experience of absent - mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you’re there. Most likely, you were thinking about something else. “Everyone does this from time to time, ”says Zelinski. “The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you’ll likely remember.”The writer of the passage thinks that encoding properly is very important because ________.
| A．it enables us to recall something from our memory |
| B．it slows down the process of losing our memory |
| C．it helps us understand our memory system better |
| D．it helps us to get back to where we were |
One possible reason why women have a little better memories than men is that________.
| A．they rely more on the environment |
| B．they have a wider range of interests |
| C．they have an unusual power of focusing their attention |
| D．they are more interested in what’s happening around them |
Why can a note in the pocket hardly serve as a reminder? ________.
| A．It will easily get lost |
| B．It is out of your sight |
| C．It’s not clear enough for you to read |
| D．It might get mixed up with other things |
From the last paragraph we can learn that________.
| A．repetition might help improve our memory |
| B．memory depends to a certain extent on the environment |
| C．we’d better return to where we were if we forget things |
| D．we should think about something else while doing one thing |
The passage is mainly about ________.
| A．the memory system of persons |
| B．a way of encoding and recalling |
| C．the causes of absent-mindedness |
| D．the impression of the environment on memory |
Energy is very important in modern life. People use energy to run machines, heat and cool their homes, cook, give light, and transport people and products from place to place. Most energy comes from fossil fuels—petroleum, coal, and natural gas. However, burning fuels causes pollution. Also, if we don’t find new kinds of energy, we will use up all the fossil fuels in the twenty-first century. Scientists are working hard to find other kinds of energy for the future. What might these sources of energy be?
Energy from the wind
All over the world, people use the power of the wind. It turns windmills and moves sailboats. It is a clean source of energy, and there is lots of it. Unfortunately, if the wind does not blow, there is no wind energy.
Energy from water
When water moves from a high place to a lower place, it makes energy. This energy is used to create electricity. In Brittany, France, for example, waterpower produces enough energy to light a town of 40,000people. Waterpower gives energy without pollution. However, people have to build dams to use this energy. Dams cost a lot of money, so water energy is expensive.
Energy from the earth
There is heat in rocks under the earth. Scientists use this heat to make geothermal energy. San Francisco gets half of the energy it needs from geothermal power. This kind of energy is cheap, but it is possible only in a few places in the world.
Energy from the sun
Solar panels on the roofs of houses can turn energy from the sun into electricity. These panels can create enough energy to heat an entire house. Solar power is clean and there is a lot of it in sunny places. But when the weather is bad, there is no sunlight for energy.What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Advantage of the energy from nature. |
| B．The future of the energy. |
| C．Scientists have been working hard to research other kinds of energy. |
| D．Energy is the most important power in the word. |
From the first paragraph we know ______.
| A．energy can do everything for people |
| B．all the energy causes pollution |
| C．the new kinds of energy are badly needed |
| D．scientists have found other kinds of energy for the future |
What is the writer’s opinion about the energy?
| A．Try to use water energy more though it costs a lot. |
| B．Each natural energy has its own advantages and disadvantages. |
| C．Solar power is environmental. |
| D．Wind power is the cheapest but we can’t get. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．In order to protect our environment, we should try other kinds of energy. |
| B．All scientists in the world will unite to find energy. |
| C．People in modern life use energy every day. |
| D．Energy changes people’s lives. |
In China， most people ride bikes to school，or to work，or to places where they want to go．So China is called “kingdom of bicycles”．
But Americans are a people on the wheel．Wherever you go， you will see cars．There are so many cars that there is a traffic jam here and there．Now， more and more Americans would not consider it a healthy way of life．In fact， many Americans are strongly against the advancement of the wheel．We should
encourage people to use less cars to save our environment and the energy．
Everyone wants to reduce pollution．But the pollution problem is very serious．People drive cars and the waste gas from them causes air pollution．On the other hand， the need for energy increases every day， and some sources of energy are running out． Oil will last for no more than 40 years， while coal could last another 300 years．The way we’re heading is towards a world where people are going to go cold and hungry．Now in China many rich men live away from downtown．On holidays they go to some big cities and places of interest．Most of them use their own cars．But China is a country with a population of over 1．3 billion．So， if you have enough money in the future，what will you do?According to the passage， most Chinese people go to school or work by_________．
| A．bike | B．bus | C．train | D．plane |
In America， you will see _________ everywhere．
| A．bikes | B．cars | C．oil | D．coal |
The waste gas from cars causes_________．
| A．air pollution | B．traffic jams |
| C．waste of money | D．energy problems |
The end of the last paragraph suggests that_________．
| A．Americans should give up their cars |
| B．the energy should be saved around the world |
| C．Chinese shouldn’t become a people on the wheel |
| D．rich Chinese shouldn’t use their own cars in China |
When you don’t 
speak, you may be still communicating. It is true that you may not wish to say anything. But your very silence may show your wish to be left alone or to stay uninvolved, which is the message you want to send.
So it has been said that while we speak with our vocal organs, we converse with our whole bodies. All of us communicate with one anther nonverbally (非口头地), as well as with words. Sometimes we know what we are doing with the use of gestures such as the thumbs-up sign to indicate that we approve. But most of the time we are not aware that we are doing it.
Body language serves a variety of purpose. Firstly it can replace verbal communication, as with the use of gesture. Secondly, it can modify (修饰) verbal communication. Loudness and tone of voice is an example here. Thirdly it regulates social interaction: turn taking is largely governed by non-verbal signals. Fourthly it conveys our emotions. Finally it conveys our attitude towards ourselves and towards the people we are communicating with. This is particularly important for successful cross-cultural communications.
Every culture has its own body language. So in order to achieve a more successful cross-cultural communications, we heed not only what to say but also how to say it appropriately. Observation shows that a truly bilingual person switches his body language at the same time he switches language.The underlined word “converse” in the second paragraph can be replaced by ____.
| A．continue | B．complain | C．communicate | D．compete |
The underlined word “This” in the third paragraph refers to___.
| A．the fact that body language serves a variety of purposes |
| B．the fact that body language can modify verbal communication |
| C．the fact that body language regulates social interaction |
| D．the fact that body language conveys our attitude |
Body language varies____.
| A．from culture to culture | B．from year to year |
| C．from time to time | D．from person to person |
The best title for the passage is “____”.
| A．Verbal Language | B．Communication Skills |
| C．Ways to Communication | D．Body Language |