A programmer and an engineer are sitting next to each other on a long flight from Los Angeles to New York．The programmer leans over to the engineer and asks if he would like to play a fun game．The engineer just wants to take a nap, so he politely declines and rolls over to the window to catch a few winks．
The programmer persists and explains that the game is really easy and has a lot of fun．He explains, "I ask you a question, and if you don't know the answer, you pay me $5．Then you ask me a question, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $5．" Again, the engineer politely refuses and tries to get to sleep．
The programmer, now somewhat anxious, says, "OK, if you don't know the answer you pay me $5, and if I don't know the answer, I'll pay you $50!" This catches the engineer's attention, and he sees no end to this torment（折磨） unless he plays, so he agrees to the game．
The programmer asks the first question．"What's the distance from the earth to the moon?'' The engineer doesn't say a word, but reaches into his wallet, pulls out a five dollar bill and hands it to the programmer．Now, it's the engineer's turn．He asks the programmer, "What goes up a hill with three legs, and comes down on four?" The programmer looks up at him with a puzzled look．He takes out his laptop computer and searches all of his references．After about an hour, he wakes the engineer and hands him $50．The engineer politely takes the $50 and turns away to try to get back to sleep．The programmer, more than a little angry, shakes the engineer and asks, "Well, so what's the answer?" Without a word, the engineer reaches into his wallet, hands the programmer $5, and turns away and goes back to sleep．What's the best title for the passage?
| A．A Boring Conversation | B．A Fun Game |
| C．A Trick During The Flight | D．A Question Without Answer |
What kind of person is the programmer according to what he said?
| A．Confident． | B．Selfish． | C．Greedy． | D．Generous． |
What can we infer according to the last sentence?
| A．The engineer has little money with him． |
| B．Actually the engineer doesn't know the answer, either． |
| C．The engineer is bored with programmer． |
| D．The engineer beats the programmer at last． |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．In the beginning the engineer is not interested in the game． |
| B．The engineer is too sleepy to want to play the game． |
| C．At last the engineer gains $45 from the programmer． |
| D．Nobody knows the answer to the engineer's question． |
Does technology pose a threat to the purity of Chinese language?
Many Chinese use instant messenger tools such as MSN or QQ, listen to music on MP3 players and log on the Internet using ADSL—most without knowing the literal Chinese translation of the abbreviations(缩略词). But they don’t have to, as many English letters have become part of the local vocabulary.
A dozen abbreviations including GDP, NBA, IT, MP3, QQ, DVD and CEO are among the 5,000 most-frequently used words in the Chinese media last year, according to a report on the 2006 Language Situation in China.
The report said some parents are so keen on English letters that a couple tried to name their baby “@”, claiming the character used in email addresses reflects their love for the child. While the “@”is obviously familiar to Chinese e-mail users, they often use the English word “at” to pronounce it “ai ta”,or “love him”.
The study collected more than 1 billion language samples from newspapers, magazines, TV, radio and websites. The annual report is jointly compiled by the Ministry of Education and the State Language Commission.
“Nowadays, more and more English abbreviations are being used in Chinese, making them an important part of modern language,” said Hou Min, a professor at Communication University of China.
“The abbreviations have gained popularity because of the ease of usage,” Hou said. For example, DNA is much simpler to use than its Chinese version. “As more Chinese people learn foreign languages, especially English, in recent years, using abbreviations has become a trend among educated people,” she added.
Some language scholars fear such usage will contaminate(污染)the purity of Chinese and cause confusion in communication. Which of the following is TRUE about the report on the 2006 Language Situation in China?
| A．The report is compiled by the Ministry of Education alone. |
| B．The report is compiled every year. |
| C．The report is compiled every two years. |
| D．The report is based on over 1 billion language samples from websites. |
Why does the author use the example of a couple who tried to name their baby “@”?
| A．To show Chinese is badly polluted by English. |
| B．To express the couple’s love for the child. |
| C．To indicate “@”is a very common sign among the e-mail users. |
| D．To show some people are very enthusiastic over English letters. |
Why are the English abbreviations becoming more and more popular according to the passage?
| A．Because English is the most common language in the world. |
| B．Because using English abbreviations is a fashion. |
| C．Because English abbreviations are easy and simple to use. |
| D．Because English abbreviations are easy to pronounce. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．People should know clearly the exact Chinese translation of English abbreviations. |
| B．More and more Chinese people will use English abbreviations in the future. |
| C．Most parents like to give their child English names now. |
| D．Language scholars hate to use English abbreviations. |
Why did humans evolve to walk upright? Perhaps because it’s just plain easier. Make that “energetically less costly”, scientifically speaking.
Bipedalism—walking on two feet, is one of the defining characteristics of being humans, and scientists have debated for years how it came about. In the latest attempt to find an explanation, researchers trained five chimps(黑猩猩)to walk on a treadmill(跑步机)while wearing masks that allowed measurement of their oxygen consumption. The chimps were measured both while walking upright and while moving on their legs and knuckles(膝关节).That measurement of the energy needed to move around was compared with similar tests on humans and the results are published in this week’s online edition of “Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences”.
It turns out that humans walking on two legs use only one-quarter of the energy that chimps use while knucklewalking on four limbs(肢).And the chimps, on average, use as much energy using two legs as they did when they used all four limbs.
However, there were differences among chimps in how much energy they used, and this difference corresponded to their different manner of walking and anatomy(解剖构造).One of the chimps used less energy on two legs, one used about the same and the others used more, said David Raichlen, assistant professor of anthropology at the University of Arizona.
“What we were surprised at was the variation(变异) ”, he said in a telephone interview. Interview. “That was pretty exciting, because when you talk about how evolution works, variation is the bottom line, without variation there is no evolution.”
Walking on two legs freed our arms, opening the door to drive the world, said Raichlen. “We think about the evolution of bipedalism as one of first events that led hominids(原始人)down the path to being humans.”
The research was supported by the National Science Foundation and the L.S.B.Leakey Foundation. The underlined word “Bipedalism” in Paragraph 2 probably means____.
| A．moving sideways | B．walking upright |
| C．walking on four legs | D．running fast |
We can infer from the passage that____.
| A．scientists have no idea on how humans’ walking on two legs came about |
| B．scientists have had different views on why chimps walk on four legs |
| C．scientists have had different views on how humans’ walking on two legs vame about |
| D．scientists have had similar views on how humans’ walking on two legs came about |
What is Paragraph 4 mainly about?
| A．How chimps saved energy. |
| B．Why chimps didn't walk on two legs. |
| C．David Raichlen studied chimps. |
| D．Different chimps consumed different energy. |
According to the passage, humans walk upright in order to____.
| A．conserve energy | B．differ from other animals |
| C．free their brains | D．strengthen their legs |
Observer 2007-03-28 13:54
Nothing could be more shameful for McDonald’s and KFC. They are violating labour’s rights. The government must immediately bring the guilty to justice. A stricter government inspection system must be enforced to protect the workers.
Nathan 2007-03-28 21:39
It is known that McDonald’s and KFC and other fast-food restaurants pay the lowest wage they possibly can to get their employees. I think it’s kind of funny that these two restaurants have not yet set up unions. It is also known that they also take every possible measure e(legal, and sometimes illegal) to prevent their employees from forming or joining unions. I think it is high time that government enforced the law that they have made.
Cushman 2007-03-28 22:32
The deepest reason is that China has a large population. If you complain that the pay is very low, the boss will tell you that can go to other places and that there are a lot of people waiting for the job. Today finding a job is not very easy, so you don’t have many choices, and you have to face the reality.
Chip 2007-03-29 20:33
If wages were too low, people wouldn’t work for them, but they do, so it proves the wages are reasonable. Sure, they could raise the wages, but why should they? The workers are still working, still willing to show up on time, and it keeps costs lower. Were they to raise wages, they would have to FIRE more workers, and the price of burgers would go up. Then people wouldn’t buy them, then McDonald’s would once again FIRE more workers because of a reduced demand, and you’d be back in the same boat, just with less people working.What are they debating about?
| A．McDonald’s and KFC pay too low a salary to their employees. |
| B．Setting up a social security system. |
| C．Fast-food restaurants have no rights to fire workers. |
| D．McDonald’s and KFC will be punished for their behaviour. |
According to Chip, it is____for McDonald’s and KFC to give employees a low salary.
| A．unacceptable | B．shameful | C．acceptable | D．illegal |
In the opinion of Cushman, the key to the problem is that____.
| A．the social security net has not been set up |
| B．China has too large a population |
| C．the government has not taken stronger steps to protect workers |
| D．the unions have not played an important part to raise the wages. |
The underlined word “they” in Nathan’s words refers to____.
| A．the employees | B．governments |
| C．all the restaurants | D．fast-food restaurants |
Sicily, an island of Italy, is home to beautiful beaches, outstanding food, and a bit of Italian history on every corner. It’s located just southwest of the Italian mainland and it’s the largest Mediterranean island.
Invaded(侵略)by many armies over the centuries, it became the site of Roman and Greek colonies. Those cultures remain to this day.
Although they have a rich culture and history, Sicilian people lead a simple life. Living on land with fertile(肥沃的) soil, most of them work in agriculture, fishing and mining, and of course tourism.
In Sicily, most stores and businesses are closed from one to four in the afternoon. Street become crowded around five as people start to go out and engage in a variety of activities. They may take a walk to the shops, enjoy a pastry(糕点)or just meet up with friends.
Food is one of the great pleasures of Sicilian people. There is an old Sicilian saying：“With a contented stomach, your heart is forgiving. With an empty stomach you forgive nothing.” People will go miles out their way to eat fresh seafood. Pasta(意大利面)is the main food Each region has its seasonal pasta dishes, and every family cook their own specialty. Bread is common too. As another Sicilian saying goes, “A table without bread is like a day without sunshine.” In Sicily, bread is always freshly baked or bought, and usually twice a day. Invaders from Rome and Greece came to Sicily______.
| A．by bike | B．by ship | C．on foot | D．by train |
The underlined sentences mean Sicilian people______.
| A．can always forgive other’s mistakes |
| B．can’t stand going hungry |
| C．like eating |
| D．may make mistakes when they are hungry |
According the author, Pasta changes with______.
| A．weather | B．age | C．social position | D．season |
The best title of this passage might be______.
| A．Sicily—an Island of Italy |
| B．Sicily—the Site of Roman and Greek Colonies |
| C．Italy’s most Beautiful Island |
| D．SiTALY’S Tasty Island Culture |
Drinking small amount of hard Japanese rice wine apparently never hurt 114-year-old Kamato Hongo.She is now the world’s oldest living person, according to Guinness World Records.
“Hongo inherited（继承）the title Monday after the death of the previous record holder, Maud Farris-Luse ,of Coldwater , Mich.,”the record-keeping company said on its website.Farris-Luse was 115 years and 56 days old then.
“Hongo, born on Sept .16,1887, was raised on a farm and counts drinking Japanese rice wine among her favorite things ─ along with black salt, pork ,sashimi（生鱼片）and green tea,”according to Guinness. “She also likes traditional Japanese dancing.”
“The key is not storing up stress,”said her 45-year-old grandson Tsuyoshi Kurauchi. “If you do that, you can eat or drink anything.”
“Hongo mothered seven children, more than 20 grandchildren, and even outlived her eldest daughter, who died two years ago while in her 90s,”according to Kurauchi, who described Hongo as a “warm, caring grandmother”.
She lived in a nursing home in Kagoshima, a city about 615 miles southwest of Tokyo on the island of Kyushu, which has reputation for record-breaking longevity among its residents.
Hongo was born in the nearby town of Isen, home to the late Shigechiyo Izumi, who also held the Guinness record as the world’s oldest person. He died in 1986 at the age of 120.
Recently , another Kyushu resident was regarded as the world’s oldest man. Retired silkworm farmer Yukichi Chuganji graduated into the spot on Jan . 4 with the death of his predecessor, Antonio Todde of Italy. Chuganji turns 113 on Saturday.
There are an estimated 15,000 Japanese over the age of 100, and women make up about 80 percent of the total.The sentence “The key is not storing up stress.”in Paragraph 4 means “ ___________”.
| A．The most important is to mind everything that has been done. |
| B．The most important is to forget the unpleasant things. |
| C．The most important is to reduce the heavy load of learning and work. |
| D．The most important is to remember what brings you unhappiness. |
Who is considered to be the world’s oldest man alive in the passage?
| A．Maud Farris-Luse. | B．Shigechiyo Izumi. |
| C．Yukichi Chuganji. | D．Kamato Hongo. |
Which of the following is not true about Kamato Hongo?
| A．She is the world’s oldest person alive. |
| B．She loves drinking Japanese rice wine. |
| C．She is fond of traditional Japanese dancing. |
| D．She cares about everything that happens around her. |
The passage mainly talks about ___________________ .
| A．the fact that women are living longer than men |
| B．something about the Japanese oldest living lady |
| C．the fact that Kagoshima is famous for longevity |
| D．the secret of living longer |