Your Car Is Ready for Take-off
The flying car has been talked about for many years，but now it appears that the idea is about to become a reality.
An international company has built a two-seater plane that, at the touch of a button ，transforms into a car perfectly suitable for driving on public roads. It has been designed so that the wings fold up automatically； and it takes just 15 seconds to switch between flying and driving. With its wings fully open and the propeller(螺旋桨）spinning, it can take off from any airfield.
Flying cars are quicker than traditional ones for travelling from city to city，and they can run on ordinary fuel. Another big advantage is that they are cool ，like something you would see in an action film. At the moment 9 however, the flying car’s wheels are illegal to leave the ground. That is not because of technical reasons or problems with the design. It is because the various road and aircraft authorities simply cannot agree on whether it is a car or a plane.
“The government and the authorities have never thought seriously about a flying car, says Alan Price ，the president of the company that has developed it. “I wanted a car that could fly and drive ，but it is difficult to find an organization prepared to insure the vehicle against accidents.
Nevertheless ? the company hopes to produce and deliver its first flying car soon. The company already has orders for 40 of them. The majority the potential customers are older and some are retired。There have even been orders from some people who have no pilot's license.
The flying car will cost around $ 200.000. “For an airplane ， that’s a very reasonable price， but for a car, It's quite expensive，” explains Alan. “But it just is not possible to make a $ 10，000 flying car yet. ”
This latest means of transport will not become a mass-market item in the near future，but in the long term it has the potential to change the way you travel. It will become no more expensive than driving your car on the motorway. Travel time could be reduced by more than half.
So the next time you are told to fasten your seat belt, it may be to prepare for take-off.We know from the passage that the flying car______
| A．has to run on special fuel | B．will replace traditional planes |
| C．is popular with the rich | D．can shift between two forms |
The flying car is presently forbidden to take off because______.
| A．many people think driving it not very safe |
| B．it’s hard to decide whether it's a car or a plane |
| C．the government and the authorities don’t accept it |
| D．there are still some technical problems to be solved |
We can learn from the passage that______.
| A．few people will be able to afford a flying car |
| B．flying cars may share the market in the future |
| C．traffic jams will disappear because of flying cars |
| D．driving a flying car doesn’t require a pilot’s license |
Elective courses
International Studies (BS)
Key features
● Recognizes the “global community”
● Has close connections with practical research
● Much of the teaching is done in small discussion groups
About the course
The course gives you chances to know great power politics between nation states. It will provide more space to study particular issues such as relationship among countries in the European Union, third world debt, local and international disagreement, and the work of such international bodies as the United Nations, the European Union, NATO, and the World Bank.
The course puts theories into the working of the international system with close attention to particular countries. You will also have a better knowledge of methods of solving the international problems.
Related courses
BA (Hons) Community Management
BA (Hons) Public Policy and Management
Employment possibilities
International organizations
International business
Earth Science (BSc)
Key features
● Based on key courses and the latest research findings
● Pays much attention to practical shills
● Offers chances for fieldwork (实地考察)
About the course
The demand for natural resources is becoming an increasingly serious problem for the future of mankind. Graduates(毕业生) in Earth Science will play an important role in meeting this demand, and in knowing the meaning of using the natural resources.
The course covers geography and geology. You will carry out fieldwork in the UK and possibly overseas, and a research in and areas of interest to you in the final year.
Related courses
BSc (Hons ) Geography
BSc (Hons ) Geology
Employment possibilities
Mineral, oil, water or other related engineering industries
64.International Studies is a course in ______.
A. international politics B. international business
C. international systems D. international bodies
65 After taking the course of International Studies, the students will ______.
A. become practical and open-minded
B. have a greater ability to discuss theories
C. know how to settle international problems
D. have good jobs in any international organizations
66.Earth Science, as described in the second text, _______.
A. is attractive because of the chances for fieldwork
B. pays more attention to practical skills than theories
C. is built on important courses and the results of recent studies
D. encourages students to play a role in using natural resources
67.It can be inferred that the above two texts are written for the students who ______
A. enjoy research work B. plan to choose courses
C. study in the UK D. are interested in overseas fieldwork
The magnitude 7.9 quake struck Sichuan province on May 12 at around noontime, which may have increased the human death toll because many people were at school, and the school buildings turned out to be not firm enough to collapse because of poor construction. More than 69,000 people have been confirmed dead so far, and more than 374,000 injured, with fears of further disasters because several lakes created by rockfall dams may give way and cause sudden flooding.
Clark Burchfiel, Schlumberger Professor of Geology, and Leigh Royden, professor of geology and geophysics in the Department of Earth, Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences at MIT, have been doing extensive research in that region of China and the Tibetan plateau(高原) for more than two decades, but had found no signs that suggested such a large earthquake might strike the area.
The team operated 25 broadband seismograph (地震仪) stations in this region of western Sichuan for more than a year. "Nobody was thinking there would be a major earthquake in that area," Royden says. "This earthquake was quite unusual, and may have involved a simultaneously（同时发生的） severe break of two separate but neighboring faults," she continued.
The region is extremely unusual geologically, Royden says, because of the very steep slopes at the boundary between the Sichuan Basin to the east and the Tibetan plateau to the west. The altitude rises sharply by about 3,500 meters (more than two miles) over a span of only about 50 kilometers (about 30 miles).
The area where the quake occurred is part of the boundary between two of the Earth's structural plates, where the Indian and Asian plates meet in an ongoing collision that has created the Himalayan mountains and the Tibetan plateau. But in central and eastern Tibet, unlike most other areas of continental collision, much of the movement of crust（地壳） is hidden from view. Instead of thickening the entire crust by folding and faulting, the surface of the eastern Tibetan plateau is not deformed（变形的） and is being lifted upward by thickening of a weak crustal layer more than 15 km below the surface.
60. Why did the school buildings collapse in the earthquake, according to the passage?
A. They had too long a history.
B. They were poorly built.
C. They were crowded with students and teachers.
D. They were damaged by the earthquake.
61. Based on Para. 1, why does the writer think that more people will be killed or injured after
the earthquake?
A. Because there will be more aftershocks after the major quake.
B. Because more school buildings will collapse after the quake.
C. Because destructive flooding caused by rockfall dams is likely to occur..
D. Because there was not enough medical care for the injured in the area.
62. What can we infer from this passage?
A. There was no prediction that such a large-scale quake might occur there.
B. Researchers had done little research in that area before the earthquake struck it.
C. The 5.12 earthquake was the most destructive in the world.
D. If more research had been done, the destruction could have been avoided.
63. Which one can be used as the best title for this passage?
A. The Great Disasters.
B. The Earthquake was very frightening.
C. The Causes of the earthquake.
D. An Extremely Unusual Earthquake.
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo(接受) testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months.
The system, called driver Alert, aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20%--40% that are caused by tiredness. Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30% of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue（疲劳）.
Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband. The device, worn by drivers or pilots gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey. After each sound the driver must respond by squeezing the steering wheel(方向盘). A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound and the driver’s response.
Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time. Usually, a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond, but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds, it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy.
In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds, showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest. If the driver’s response continues to slow down, the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warns that the driver must stop as soon as possible.
The device has been delivered to the department’s laboratories for testing. If these tests, scheduled for six months’ time, are successful, the makers will bring the product to market within about a year.
56. How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?
A. By sounding a warning. B. By touching the wristband.
C. By checking the driving time. D. By pressing the steering wheel.
57. We can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ________
A. about 400 milliseconds B. below 500 milliseconds
C. over 500 milliseconds D. about 4 minutes
58. When the driver gets sleepy while driving, Driver Alert ______.
A. moves more regularly B. stops working properly
C. opens the window for the driver D. sounds more frequently and loudly
59. According to the text, Driver Alert ______.
A. aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents
B. has gone through testing at laboratories
C. aims to prevent drivers from sleeping
D. has been on sale for 12 months
Years ago, when I started looking for my first job, wise advisers advised, “Barbara, be enthusiastic（热情的）! Enthusiasm will take you further than any amount of experience.” How right they were!
“Nothing great was ever done without enthusiasm,” wrote Ralph Waldo Emerson. It is the paste（浆糊） that helps you hang in there when the things get tough. It is the inner voice that tells you, “I can do it!” when others shout, “No, you can’t!” It took years and years for the early work of Barbara McClintock, a geneticist who won the 1983 Nobel Prize in medicine, to be generally accepted. Yet she didn’t stop working on her experiments.
We are all born with wide-eyed, enthusiastic wonder and it is the childlike wonder that gives enthusiastic people such youthful air, whatever their age. At 90, cellist Pablo Casals would start his day by playing the cello（大提琴）. As the music flowed through his fingers, his shoulders would straighten and joy would reappear in his eyes. As writer and poet Samuel Ullman once worte, “Years wrinkle(起皱纹) the skin, but to give up enthusiasm wrinkles the soul.”
Enthusiastic people also love what they do, not considering money or title or power. Patricia Mellratl, a retired director of the Missouri Rpertory Theater in Kansas City, was once asked where she got her enthusiasm. She replied, “My father, long ago, told me, ‘I never made any money until I stopped working for it.’”
We can’t afford to waste tears on “might-have-been”. We need to turn the tears into sweat as we go after “what-can-be”. We need to live each moment whole-heartedly, with all our senses finding pleasure in the sweet of a backyard garden, the simple picture of a six-year-old, and the beauty of a rainbow.
What is the passage mainly talking about?
Enthusiasm is more important than experience.
Enthusiasm can give people more success and fame
Enthusiastic people will never get old
Enthusiasm can make you succeed and enjoy life.
We can infer that enthusiasm is more important for a person especially when __________.
A. he is in trouble B. he is getting old
C. he can do what he love D. he has succeeded
73. The author mentions Pablo Casals in the third paragraph to show that ______.
A. enthusiasm can make people feel young
B. music can arouse people’s enthusiasm
C. enthusiasm can give people inspiration needed to succeed
D. enthusiasm can keep people healthy
74. How many examples are referred in the passage to show the importance of enthusiasm?
A. Three B. Four C. Five D. Six
75. Which proverb(谚语) may the writer agree with according to the last paragraph?
A. A good beginning makes a good ending
B. Don’t cry over the spoiled milk
C. Love me, love my dog
D. All work and no play makes Jack a dull boy
A serious problem for today’s society is who should be responsible for our elderly and how to improve their lives. It is not only a financial problem but also a question of the system we want for our society. I would like to suggest several possible solutions to this problem.
First, employers should take the responsibility for their retried employees. To make this possible, a percentage of profits should be set aside for this purpose. But when a company must take life long responsibility for its employees, it may suffer from a commercial disadvantage due to higher employee costs.
Another way of solving the problem is to return the responsibility to the individual. This means each person must save during his working years to pay for his years of retirement. This does not seem a very fair model since some people have enough trouble paying for their daily life without trying to earn extra to cover their retirement years. This means the government might have to step in to care for the poor.
In addition, the government could take responsibility for the care of the elderly. This could be financed through government taxes to increase the level of pensions. Furthermore, some institutions should be created for senior citizens, which can help provide a comfortable life for them. Unfortunately , as the present situation in our country shows, this is not a truly viable answer. The government can seldom afford to care for the elderly, particularly when it is busy trying to care for the young.
One further solution is that the government or social organizations establish some workplaces especially for the elderly where they are independent.
To sum up, all these options have advantages and disadvantages. Therefore, it is reasonable to expect that some combination of these options may be needed to provide the care we hope to give to our elderly generations.
66. What is the passage mainly about?
The problem faced by the old in society.
Why we should take responsibility for the old.
How we can improve the lives of the old
Where the old can go to get their pensions.
According to the passage, how can the government help to improve the lives of retired people?
Set aside some profits to help people with problems after they retire
Increase saving levels of people during their working years
Increase the discounts for food and transport for the old
Make available pensions for those who have retired
The underlined word “viable” most probably means ____.
A. impossible B. practical C. usefull D. successful
69. What can be concluded from the passage?
A. Taking care of the old is mainly an issue of money
B. Employers should allow their workers to retire at a later age
C. Becoming independent should be the goal of most old people
D. There is no single solution to the problem of the old
70. What is the writer’s main purpose of writing this article?
A. To point out the need for government supporting for old people
B. To make general readers aware of the problems of retired people
C. To discuss some possible solutions to an important social problem
D. To instruct retired people on how they can have a happier life.