Many French teachers and parents complain that their kids are less bright than they were. They say young people visit museums less often and spend too much time on the Internet. They only read comics and listen to music, and like American culture more than their own. But is this true? A recent survey shows that many French kids spend their time as other kids always have.
Most French teens love music, with 86% putting it as their top hobby, above the cinema, sport and television. French kids read a lot and like different things, from Japanese cartoons to American novels. Many French people worry that their children watch too many American films and listen to too much American music. But the results of this survey show that French young people like their own culture.
As Silvia Berlin, a student from Paris, says, "I love watching American TV, but I watch more French programmes. I love being French!"Many French teachers and parents
| A．think their kids are as clever as they were |
| B．don' t think their kids are as clever as they were |
| C．think their kids are more clever than they were |
| D．don' t think their kids are clever at all |
Most French teens' top hobby is
| A．going to the movies | B．doing sport |
| C．watching TV | D．listening to music |
The French kids like all of the following except _________ .
| A．Japanese history | B．Japanese cartoons |
| C．American films | D．American music |
This passage is mainly about a survey of______.
| A．French parents' complaint |
| B．French kids' study |
| C．French kids' interests |
| D．French teachers' complaint |
Do you scream on a roller coaster ride? You slowly climb up a steep slope until an almost vertical(垂直的) drop, and then... Ahhhhhhhh! Thrill-seekers like me are in luck because theme parks are pushing the boundaries of technology to create the fastest, tallest, scariest roller coasters the world has ever known.
Alton Towers in Britain opened the world's first 14-1oop roller coaster a few months ago, called The Smiler. Over in Abu Dhabi, Ferrari World claims to have the world's fastest one. Ferrari World's Formula Rossa ride sends out passengers from 0-240km/h in just 4. 9 seconds. During this rapid acceleration they experience G-forces only fighter pilots usually feel: Up to 4. 8G. The designer of several rides at Alton Towers, said: "While we can stand 6-8Gs for very short periods of time, ff we experience 5G for more than five seconds we're likely to "black out."
On modern roller coasters passengers experience about 3G in tight turns and loops. But while we may have reached the limit in terms of G-forces, there is no technological limit to how fast or how high roller coasters can go---it's all down to money. Alton Towers' The Smiler cost ~18m to build.
Some companies are finding other ways to keep us amused. There's a move towards indoor rides where the experience is improved by audio-visual technologies. For example, a company called Dynamic Structures is currently developing a "coal-mine-themed" ride for a client in Dubai that will combine speed and G-forces with 3D projection effects and robotics, which will trick your brain into thinking you're really falling.
I can't wait to enjoy this one. What about you: Do you like being upside down?The underlined phrase "black out" in the second paragraph probably means .... .
| A．stop breathing | B．lose consciousness for a short time |
| C．lose memory forever | D．bleed to death |
We can learn from the passage that __
| A．all the theme parks are creating the fast roller coasters |
| B．the Smiler sends out passengers from 0-240km/h in just 4.9 seconds |
| C．it is unusual for fighter pilots to feel up to 4.8G |
| D．the more the money is spent, the faster the roller coaster can go |
The feature of the "coal-mine-themed" ride is
| A．3Dtechnologies | B．indoor rides | C．G-forces | D．dynamic structures |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．The Fastest Roller Coaster | B．The Smiler and G-forces |
| C．Screaming for Fun | D．The New Technology |
One of the most famous basketball players in the New Castle ' s history was paralyzed(瘫痪的) in a wheelchair one day and was walking the next. Citizens of New Castle simply refer to it as " The Miracle" .
Joel Haler woke up in his dorm room at Hope College last October totally paralyzed from the waist down. Four hospitals later, the only way he could walk was through Robotic Walking Treatment.
"This past Tuesday ,I was doing the Robotic walk and lasted ten minutes, " Joel said. After that, he gave up. Joel w-anted to accept the inevitable (不可避免的事) and cancelled his next Robotic Walking Treatment appointment.
Then , the night before his cancelled appointment, he woke up to a terrible pain. An hour and a half later ,the serious pain left him with an unusual feeling in his legs.
" As it continued to move up my legs ,it became more and more painful and it took an hour and a half to reach my hips(臀部) , " Joel recalled.
"I stood up and walked into my parents' room. ' Mom and dad, look! ' ," he said proudly.
" He said something and I was like, ' Joell Joel ! You ' re walking ! You ' re walking ! ' We jumped out of bed , cried and hugged, " Joel ' s mom Karen remembered.
"I burst into tears. It ' s hard seeing your son not be able to walk .but he was standing there , walking , " Joel ' s father Eric said , tearfully.
It was Thursday , January 23 , when he could finally walk. That date made perfect sense to Joel. He had dreamt of a calendar that only said "J 23 " . He didn't know what to make of it until "a little boy at church ,four years old, came up to me and said, ' you will walk on a Thurs-day ' , " Joel recalled.
So the 20-year-old college student, who could only walk with the aid of a robot on Tuesday ,was walking on his own. According to the passage , " The Miracle" is that ________
| A．Joel Haler became the most famous basketball player |
| B．Robotic Walking Treatment could cure paralysis |
| C．Joel Haler could walk again after three months ' paralysis |
| D．a paralyzed boy could play basketball well |
Which part of Joel Haler' s body didn't work?
| A．His whole body. | B．His legs and feet. |
| C．His arms and hands. | D．His arms and legs. |
Before Joel Haler ' s walking again , his attitude to the illness was ______.
| A．positive | B．indifferent | C．optimistic | D．hopeless |
It was 3:45 in the morning when the vote was finally taken. After six months of arguing and final 16 hours of hot parliamentary debates, Australia’s Northern Territory became the first legal authority in the world to allow doctors to take the lives of incurably ill patients who wish to die. The measure passed by the convincing vote of 15 to 10. Almost immediately word flashed on the Internet and was picked up, half a world away, by John Hofsess, executive director of the Right to Die Society of Canada. He sent it on by way of the group’s online service, Death NET. Says Hofsess: “We posted bulletins all day long, because of course this isn’t just something that happened in Australia. It’s world history.”
The full import may take a while to sink in. The NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law has left physicians and citizens alike trying to deal with its moral and practical implications. Some have breathed sighs of relief, others, including churches, right-to-life groups and the Australian Medical Association, bitterly attacked the bill and the hurry of its passage. But the tide is unlikely to turn back. In Australia—where an aging population, life-extending technology and changing community attitudes have all played their part—other states are going to consider making a similar law to deal with euthanasia (安乐死). In the US and Canada, where the right-to-die movement is gathering strength, observers are waiting for the dominoes (多米诺骨牌) to start falling.
Under the new Northern Territory law, an adult patient can request death — probably by a deadly injection or pill — to put an end to suffering. The patient must be diagnosed (诊断) as Terminally Ill by two doctors. After a “cooling off” period of seven days, the patient can sign a certificate of request. After 48 hours the wish for death can be met. For Lloyd Nickson, a 54-year-old Darwin resident suffering from lung cancer, the NT Rights of Terminally Ill Law means he can get on with living without the haunting fear of his suffering: a terrifying death from his breathing condition. “I’m not afraid of dying from a spiritual point of view, but what I was afraid of was how I’d go, because I’ve watched people die in the hospital fighting for oxygen and clawing at their masks,” he says. Which of the following has the similar meaning to “But the tide is unlikely to turn back.”?
| A．What happened in Australia can change world history. |
| B．It is impossible to pass the NT Rights of the Terminally Ill Law. |
| C．Doctors are allowed by law to take the lives of the ill patients. |
| D．That the Law has been passed probably can’t be changed. |
From the second paragraph we learn that __________.
| A．the objection to euthanasia is slow to come in other countries |
| B．physicians and citizens share the same view on euthanasia |
| C．changing technology is chiefly responsible for the hurry passage of the law |
| D．it takes time to realize the significance of the law’s passage |
By saying “observers are waiting for the dominoes to start falling”, the author means __________.
| A．observers are taking a wait-and-see attitude towards the future of euthanasia |
| B．similar bills are likely to be passed in the U.S., Canada and other countries |
| C．observers are waiting to see the result of the game of dominoes |
| D．the effect-taking process of the passed bill may finally come to a stop |
We can learn from the passage that Lloyd Nickson __________.
| A．will face his death with calm when dying |
| B．experiences a lot the suffering of a lung cancer |
| C．has an intense fear of terrible suffering |
| D．undergoes a cooling off period of seven days |
The author’s attitude towards euthanasia seems to be that of __________.
| A．opposition | B．doubt | C．approval | D．anxiety |
Smoggy weather has become common in China. But these days, air pollution levels in the north eastern city of Harbin surpassed the previous record levels.
The city was essentially shut down after PM2. 5, fine Particulate(微粒物) pollution that is considered hazardous(有害的) . reached levels of 1000 micrograms per cubic meter-40 times the safety level remended by the World Health Organization. Schools, motorways and an airport were closed on Tuesday as visibility in some areas of the city dropped to less than 10 meters.
Photos from Harbin showed residents covering their mouths with masks and scarves, and moving like ghostly shadows through the fog. Cars and motorcycles are moving slowly as traffic came to a standstill with traffic lights barely visible. .
Just days previously , the World Health Organization's International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) classified air pollution as a carcinogen(致癌物) . It stated that there is " sufficient evidence" that exposure to outdoor air pollution causes lung cancer and also linked it with an increased risk of bladder cancer. It's said that exposure has increased significantly particularly in " rapidly industrial countries with large populations".
"The air we breathe has become polluted with a mixture of cancer-causing substances" , Dr Kurt Straif , head of the IARC said in a press released. "We now know that outdoor air pollution is not only a major risk to health in general, but also a leading environmental cause of cancer deaths. "
On the Chinese social media site Weibo , many users complained about the pollution and shared their concerns. References to "feed people with smog "have become popular on Weibo and there is a sarcastic play on the expression "serve the people" , as the two have a similar pronunciation.
"The impact of air pollution on people will be gradual. There won't be a sudden outbreak of symptoms, but normally three to five days after the smoggy weather occurs, there is a peak in the number of people seeing doctors, " Deng Ying, a doctor at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University was quoted as saying. As thick smog has become a common scene in Harbin, ______
| A．students there can go to school as usual |
| B．residents in the city can see as far as 20 meters |
| C．traffic lights can be easily visible |
| D．the urban traffic has been seriously influenced |
When exposed to outdoor air pollution, what kind of disease can be caused?
| A．Cancer of stomach | B．Breast cancer | C．Bladder cancer | D．Ovarian cancer |
According to Dr Kurt Straif , we can learn that_______.
| A． the effect of the. smoggy weather is gradual |
| B． air pollution is the man environmental cause, of cancer deaths |
| C．exposure has greatly increased in countries with large populations |
| D．"feed people with smog" has bee a hot word |
The purpose of this passage is to
| A．awaken people's environmental awareness |
| B．warn people not to go out in smoggy weather |
| C．call for the public to wear their masks |
| D．advise people not to live in Harbin |
It is one of the most annoying words in the English language and it seems there is no escaping it．The word “huh?” is in worldwide use, a study found．
Researchers discovered that languages spoken in countries from Ghana and Laos to Iceland and Italy all include ‘‘huh?”, or something that sounds very like it. They said that while the study may sound silly，the word is an absolutely necessary part of speech．Without it and similar words，it would be impossible to show that we haven’t heard or understood what had been said and this would lead to constant misunderstandings．
But while other words used in the same context，such as ‘‘sorry'’ or‘ ‘what”，vary widely across languages，“huh?” remains unchanged．
The Dutch researchers carefully studied ten languages from around the world，including Siwu, which is spoken in Ghana, and an Australian Aboriginal language，as well as Italian，Spanish，Dutch and Mandarin Chinese．
They analyzed tapes of recorded conversations for words that sounded like ‘‘huh?” and were used to request that whatever had just been said be repeated．All contained a version of ‘‘huh?”．The word was also found in another 21 languages．While there were subtle differences in each country, all sounded basically the same．
This is surprising because normally unrelated languages will use very different words to describe the same thing．For instance，the Japanese for “dog’’ is ‘‘inu”，while the French is‘ ‘chien”．It is thought that languages around the world have developed their own version of “huh?’’ because the sound is quick and simple to form，as well as being easily understood．
The researchers，said that it might seem unimportant to carry out scientific research into a word like “huh?'’ but in fact this little word is an essential tool in human communication．They also have an answer for those who claim that ‘‘huh?’’ isn’t a word．They say that it qualifies because of the small differences in its pronunciation in different languages．It also can be considered a word because it’s something we learn to say，rather than a grunt or cry that we are born knowing how to make．According to researchers，the word “huh?” is very important in speech because of .
| A．its important function in communication |
| B．its simple and easy sound and spelling |
| C．its popularity in every language |
| D．its stable meaning in language development |
If you hear someone you’re speaking to say “huh?”, what should you do?
| A．You should apologize to her for speaking in a low voice． |
| B．You should invite her to share her different views politely． |
| C．You should try to say what you’ve just said again in a clearer way． |
| D．You should ask her to repeat what she says before that. |
The main method used in the research of “huh?” was_____________．
| A．comparing different words with the same meaning in different languages |
| B．interviewing language experts in universities |
| C．talking with people from ten different countries |
| D．analyzing the recorded conversations in different languages |
According to researchers，‘‘huh?” should be considered a word rather than a sound because __________ .
| A．it is pronounced quite differently around the world |
| B．it is something humans learn to say |
| C．there is a clear and consistent spelling of the word |
| D．it is listed in most dictionaries |