China_is_going_green. In order to reduce air pollution and oilshortages, automobile manufacturers have announced their plans to develop hybrid vehicles (混合燃料汽车) for the Chinese market. Toyota's hybrid car Prius will be ready to drive in China this week. Let's have a look at the new car.
Any vehicle is a hybrid when it combines two or more sources of power. Hybrid cars run off a rechargeable battery and gasoline. Hybrid cars have special engines, which are smaller than traditional gasoline engines. They run at 99 percent of their power when the car is cruising (匀速行驶). A specially designed battery motor provides extra power for running up hills or when extra acceleration is needed.
Step into a Prius, and turn on the engine. The first thing you notice is how much quieter it is than a traditional car. At this point, the car's gasoline engine is dormant (休眠). The electric motor will provide power until the car reaches about 24 km/h. If you stay at a low speed, you are effectively driving an electric car, with no gasoline being used, and no waste gas gives off.
The onboard(车载的) computer makes the decision about when to use a gas engine, when to go electric, and when to use a combination of the two. If you go over 24 km/h, when you step on the gas pedal (油门), you are actually telling the computer how fast you want to go.
The electronic motor recharges automatically using a set of batteries. When driving at high speed, the gasoline engine not only powers the car, but also charges the batteries. Any time you use the brake, the electric motor in the wheels will work like a generator and produce electricity to recharge the batteries. As a consequence, the car's batteries will last for around 200,000 miles.The author writes this passage mainly to________.
| A．teach people how to drive a hybrid car |
| B．introduce a new kind of “green” car |
| C．show how to save their gasoline when driving a car |
| D．announce plans to develop hybrid vehicles for China |
The first sentence probably refers to ________.
| A．there will be more and more green land in China |
| B．China is still young and lacking experience |
| C．China's new cars are combinations of different green models |
| D．China has started producing environmentally friendly cars |
Which of the followings is NOT true?
| A．The hybrid cars reduce air pollution and oilshortages. |
| B．The car's gasoline engine doesn't work until it reaches about 24 km/h. |
| C．This kind of car is completely controlled by an onboard computer. |
| D．A specially designed battery motor provides extra power when needed. |
What is the most important feature of hybrid cars?
| A．They are powered by both a rechargeable battery and gasoline. |
| B．They are much quieter than traditional cars. |
| C．They only use 99 percent of their power to run up hills. |
| D．They have smaller engines than traditional gasoline ones. |
Greeks play a special game at Easter and it’s good fun! The rules of the game are as follows: 1．Everyone picks out a hard-boiled Waster Egg．2．Each player finds a partner．One person will be a “holder”, and the other will be a “tapper”．Holders should hold the egg with either the pointy end or the round end facing up．Tappers should hold the egg with that same end facing down．Tapping must be done pointy-end-to-pointy-end or round-end-to-round-end．3．With one good tap, the tapper tries to crack the holder’s egg．One player will end up with a cracked egg．4．Each player finds another partner and repeats steps 2 and 3．（After one end of the egg is cracked, players may continue to play using the uncracked end）．5．A player loses when both ends of his egg have been cracked．The winner is the person who still has an uncracked egg．6．Enjoy eating the eggs!
Dye your Easter eggs．With an adult’s help, dye hard-boiled eggs red using food coloring or egg dye．For a nice sheen, use a paper towel to rub some oil on each egg．But don’t use too much oil---you wouldn’t want your egg to slide out of your hand when you play the egg-cracking game!
Why dye eggs red? Eggs represent new life and the red dye symbolizes the pain and suffering in the past．
Why crack eggs? Some say that the cracking of the eggs symbolizes a wish to break away from human misery and enter the new life．A player has to drop out of the game when _____．
| A．the pointy end of his egg is cracked |
| B．the round end of his egg is cracked |
| C．his egg slides out of the hand |
| D．his egg is cracked at both ends |
Why is oil rubbed on the egg?
| A．To give the egg a shiny appearance |
| B．To make the game more difficult to play |
| C．To protect the hand of the player |
| D．To symbolize the wealth of the Greeks |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The holders hold the eggs with the pointy end facing up in most cases |
| B．If one end of the player’s egg is cracked, he will eat the egg |
| C．The player in the game must dye his egg red independently |
| D．It’s said that the broken eggs represent the wish to lead a new life |
Which of the following is the best title for the passage?
| A．The suffering of the Greeks | B．The Easter holidays |
| C．Celebrate Greek Easter | D．A special game |
With the rapid social development, the Internet now provides social networks that include online movies and videos．The major television networks have much less control over your mind and their broadcasts for entertainment and, more importantly, advertising．It has long been known that television’s audience will spend more time on the Internet than watching TV．People have found another means of entertainment by going to websites which seem to satisfy their specific interests more completely．This isn’t very good news for the television networks．
The influence of people using DVRs （Digital Video Recorder） also has led to fewer and fewer viewers watching television commercials．Market research indicates the effectiveness of TV ads is getting weaker as a result．Many DVR owners are fast forwarding and skipping television commercials．With viewers now spending an average of four times longer on the Internet and more viewers avoiding commercials, this trend isn’t good for television’s advertising revenues（收益）．
Major TV advertisers know full well that their advertising dollars on TV aren’t as an effective investment as they once were．The major players in advertising have been moving towards the Internet as a serious alternative means of advertising．
For thousands of people involved in Internet marketing, it’s history-making to share the revenue that previously all went to major television networks．There’s already a group of Internet marketers being paid a larger amount of advertising revenue．These are everyday people that work usually from home on their own．Advertisers can direct their advertising to websites where viewer types are more likely to be interested in their product or service．
The development of the Internet and its role and change in our lives cannot be compared to any other form of media created throughout the history of mankind．People are going to websites for entertainment because _______．
| A．they’d like to follow the last trend |
| B．there are fewer commercials |
| C．there are more movies and videos |
| D．they can choose what meets their particular needs |
We can learn from the second paragraph that ______．
| A．viewers are bored with television commercials |
| B．the television viewing time should be limited |
| C．many television commercials are of poor quality |
| D．there are more commercials on DVRs than on TV |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____．
| A．people spend time on the Internet mainly for entertainment |
| B．most people prefer to work at home nowadays |
| C．the Internet will attract more and more advertisers |
| D．the appearance of TV changed our lives |
The passage mainly tells us ________．
| A．the rapid social development |
| B．the fast development of the Internet advertising |
| C．the way to advertise on the Internet |
| D．the influence of television commercials |
“To be or not to be”.Outside the Bible, these six words are the most famous in all the literature of the world.They were spoken by Hamlet when he was thinking aloud, and they are the most famous words in Shakespeare because Hamlet was speaking not only for himself but for every thinking man and woman.To be or not to be----to live or not to live, to live richly and abundantly and eagerly, or to live dully and meanly and scarcely．A philosopher(哲学家) once wanted to know whether he was alive or not, which is a good question for everyone to put to himself occasionally.He answered it by saying, “I think, therefore I am.”
But the best definition of existence I ever saw was one written by another philosopher who said, “To be is to be in relations.” If this is true, then the more relations a living thing has, the more it is alive．To live abundantly means simply to increase the range and intensity （强度）of our relations．Unfortunately, we are so constituted (自作决定的)that we get to love our routine．But other than our regular occupation, how much are we alive? If you are interested only in your regular occupation, you are alive only to that extent．So far as other things are concerned----poetry and prose, music, pictures, sports unselfish friendships, politics, international affairs----you are dead.
On the contrary, it is true that every time you acquire a new interest----even more, a new accomplishment----you increase your power of life．No one who is deeply interested in different kinds of subjects can remain unhappy.The real pessimist is the person who has lost interest．
Bacon said that a man dies as often as he loses a friend．But we gain new life by contacts with new friends, and new ideas and thoughts, too．Where your thoughts are, there will be your life also．If your thoughts are limited only to your business, only to your physical welfare, only to your narrow circle of the town in which you live, then you live in a narrow restricted (有限的) life．But if you are interested in the characters of a good novel, then you are living with those highly interested people; if you listen intently to fine music, you are always away from immediate surroundings and living in a world of passion and imagination．
To be or not to be ---- to live intensely and richly, or merely to exist, that depends on ourselves.Let us widen and intensify our relations．While we live, let us live．What does the author mainly want to do by this passage?
| A．Argue against an idea． | B．Put forward an idea． |
| C．Introduce some famous sayings． | D．Explain some famous sayings． |
What does the underlined word “pessimist” most probably mean?
| A．Somebody who always expects the worst to happen． |
| B．Somebody who is always interested in making new friends． |
| C．Somebody who always lives in a world of passion and imagination． |
| D．Somebody who likes to live a rich and abundant life． |
Which of the following behaviors is most probably NOT encouraged by the author?
| A．Thinking more than your own business． |
| B．Caring only about your physical welfare． |
| C．Reading good novels． |
| D．Listening to fine music． |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．To be or not to be, that is a question． | B．I think, therefore I am． |
| C．To be is to be in relations． | D．A man dies as often as he loses a friend． |
Many of the most damaging types of weather begin quickly, strike suddenly, and disappear rapidly, destroying small areas while leaving neighboring areas untouched. Such event as a tornado(龙卷风) struck the northeastern part of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987. Total damages from the tornado went beyond $250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm.
Traditional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-lived local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to study carefully the slight atmospheric changes that come before these storms. In most nations, for example, weather-balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at places separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited data, traditional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large areas than they do forecasting specific local events.
Until recently, the observation intensive (十分细致) method needed for exact, very short-range forecasts, or “Nowcasts,” was not possible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was extremely high, and the difficulties concerned in rapidly collecting and processing the weather data from such a network were hard to overcome.
Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems. Radar(雷达) systems and satellites are all able to make detailed, nearly continuous observation over large areas at a lower cost. Communications satellites can send out data around the world cheaply and immediately, and modern computers can quickly collect and analyze this large amount of weather information.
Meteorologists(气象学者) and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment able to change weather data into words and graphic displays(图解) that forecasters can understand easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, nowcasting is becoming a reality.Why can’t traditional computer models predict short-lived local storms?
| A．The weather data people collect are often wrong. |
| B．Detailed weather data in some small areas are not available. |
| C．The computers are not advanced enough to predict them. |
| D．The computers are not used to forecast specific local events. |
The word “Nowcast” in Paragraph 3 means .
| A．a network to collect storm data |
| B．a way of collecting weather data |
| C．a more advanced system of weather observation |
| D．a forecast which can predict weather in the small area |
What can make “Nowcasts” a reality according to the passage?
| A．Scientific and technological advances. | B．Advanced computer programs. |
| C．Computer scientists. | D．Meteorologists. |
What does the passage mainly talk about?
A.The advantages of “Nowcatsts”.
B.A tornado in Edmonton, A1bertA.
C.The difficulty in predicting tornado.
D.A great development in weather forecast.
Beldon and Canfield are two seashore towns, not far apart．Both towns have many hotels, and in summer the hotels are full of holiday-makers and other tourists．
Last August there was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel in Beldon．The next day, this news appeared on page two of the town’s newspaper.The Beldon Post:
FIRE AT SEABREEZE
Late last night firemen hurried to the Seabreeze Hotel and quickly put out a small fire in a bedroom．The hotel manager said that a cigarette started the fire.We say again to all our visitors： “Please don’t smoke cigarettes in bed.” This was Beldon’s first hotel fire for five years.
The Canfield Times gave the news in these words on page one：
ANOTHER BELDON HOTEL CATCHES FIRE
Last night Beldon firemen arrived just too late to save clothing, bedclothes and some furniture at the Seabreeze Hotel．An angry holiday-maker said, “An electric lamp probably started the fire．The bedroom lamps are very old at some of these hotels．When I put my bed side light on, I heard a funny noise from the lamp.” We are glad to tell our readers that this sort of adventure does not happen in Canfield．
What are the facts, then? It is never easy to find out the exact truth about an accident．There was a fire at the Seabreeze Hotel last August: that is one fact．Do we know anything else? Yes, we know that firemen went to the hotel．
Now what do you think of the rest of the “news” ?Which of the following best gives the main idea of this text?
| A．Beldon and Canfield are both good places for tourists in summer． |
| B．A fire broke out at night in Seabreeze Hotel last summer． |
| C．Two newspapers gave reports on the same matter． |
| D．It was not easy to find out exact truth from newspapers． |
Which of the following are probably facts?
a.The fire broke out in a bedroom at the hotel．
b.A cigarette started the fire．
c.An old lamp started the fire．
d.The fire broke out at night．
e.There has never been a fire in Canfield．
| A．b and c | B．c and e | C．a and d | D．a and c |
The Canfield Times used the headline like this in order to make its readers think _____________．
| A．hotels in Beldon often catch fire |
| B．hotels in Beldon don’t often catch fire |
| C．Beldon was a good place except that hotels there are not quite safe |
| D．this was the second fire at the Seabreeze Hotel |
The Canfield newspaper gave a report just the opposite to the Beldon Post by saying that _______．
| A．the bedroom lamps were very old at the Seabreeze Hotel |
| B．the bedroom lights made funny noise when the fire took place |
| C．the firemen failed to save clothing, bedclothes and other things |
| D．such accidents never happened in Canfield for the past 5 years |