Three “Great Walls” built around the United States’ Tornado Alley could reduce tornadoes from destroying billions of dollars in property and endangering millions of lives, a physicist has claimed.
Professor Rongjia Tao of Temple University, Philadelphia unveiled a proposal this week calling for the construction of three 1,000-foot barriers up to 100 miles long, which would act like hill ranges and soften winds before tornadoes could form, the BBC reports.
The $16.9 billion plan would call for the faux hill ranges in North Dakota, along the border between Kansas and Oklahoma, and in Texas and Louisiana, ostensibly saving billions of dollars in damage every year, Tao said. The walls would not shelter towns, he said, but instead would soften the streams of hot southern and cold northern air that form tornadoes when they clash in the first place.
But critics laughed at Tao’s proposals. Leading tornado experts pointed to areas that are already protected by hill ranges the size of the barriers Tao is proposing, yet still have plenty of tornados, like parts of Oklahoma, Arkansas and Missouri. And even if the plan did work, it would create more problems than it would solve, scientists said, by creating catastrophic weather side effects.
“Everybody I know is of 100% agreement – this is a poorly conceived idea,” Professor Joshua Wurman of the Center for Severe Weather Research. “From what I can gather his concept of how tornadoes form is fundamentally flawed（有缺陷的）. Meteorologists（气象学家） cringe（尴尬） when they hear about ‘clashing（交锋） hot and cold air’. It’s a lot more complicated than that.”What does the underlined word “unveiled”mean in the fourth paragraph？
| A．reminded | B．came up with | C．referred | D．applied |
What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．The different opinions on the proposal that the walls will reduce the loss caused by tornadoes. |
| B．How to solve the problems that are caused by tornadoes. |
| C．The proposal mentioned in the paragragh is totally wrong. |
| D．The proposal to reduce tornadoes is effective. |
From the passage, we can infer that__________.
| A．the tornadoes form by clashing（交锋） hot and cold air. |
| B．if the walls are built, they will work well. |
| C．if the plan is carried out, we will have more problems than expected. |
| D．The walls not only soften the winds but also shelter the towns. |
Which of following statements is true according to the passage？
| A．Leading tornado experts think that would soften the streams of hot southern and cold northern air that form tornadoes. |
| B．Professor Joshua Wurman pointed out that the plan will be expensive. |
| C．Professor Rongjia Tao is against the construction of walls to prevent the tornadoes. |
| D．the plan will not be carried out because it will creating serious weather side effects. |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
WHAT can help you make a fortune in the future? Graduating from a top university might not be enough．A new study from the University of Essex in Britain has shown that the more friends you have in school, the more money you'll earn later．
The idea that popularity could have a serious influence on one's earning potential shouldn't come as too much of a surprise．The researchers noted that if you want to get ahead in life, social skills and networking are easily as powerful as talent and hard work．
"If a person has lots of friends, it means that he or she has the ability to get along with others in all kinds of different situations," said Xu Yanchun, 17, from Nantou High School in Shenzhen, who totally agreed with the recent finding．" Also, friends always help each other．They not only create wider social circles for you but lift your mood when you are occasionally in low spirits," said Xu．She believed that all this helps you “earn a higher salary”．
Maybe that's why some people think the younger generations are in the age of Friendalholism （交友狂症）?A woman even complained that the networking website Facebook's 5,000-friend limit was too low for her large reserve of social contacts．
But what does a friend mean? Should friends be regarded as a form of currency?
" Call me uncool, but I think of a friend as an actual person with whom I have an actual history and whom I enjoy actually seeing．It seems, however, ．that this is no longer the definition of ' friend'," said Meghan Daum, who works with The Los Angeles Times in the US．
Daum dislikes the idea that quantity trumps quality in the age of friendaholism．She thought the idea of friendship, at least among the growing population of Internet social networkers, was to get as many of not-really -friends as possible．For example, a friend might be someone you might know personally but who could just as easily be the friend of a friend of some other Facebook friend you don't actually know．Although she agreed that social ties grease （润滑） the wheels of life, she also warned, "Too bad one thing money can't buy is a real friend．"
56．What can friends do in the eyes of Xu Yanchun?
A．They can help you with your schoolwork．
B．They teach you how to make more money．
C．They introduce their friends to you．
D．They help you to get rid of sadness and cheer up．
57．What will be needed if you are to achieve success according to the researchers?
A．Social skills, friends, good mood and fortune．
B．Social skills, talent, hard work and the facebook．
C．Social skills, networking, potential and fortune．
D．Social skills, networking, talent and hard work．
58．We learn that Meghan Daum's attitude towards friends-is somewhat____．
A．up-to-date B．traditional C．confused D．optimistic
59．What does the word "trumps" in the last paragragh mean?
A．is worse than B．is equal to C．is better than D．is similar to
To the Editor,
I have been reading your newspaper, the Hometown Gazette, for the past two years, ever since I moved to Smithville. We moved here from New York City, so I am accustomed(习惯的) to reading excellent newspapers such as The New York Times . In fact, we still have the Times delivered on Sundays. The entire family enjoys reading the recipes（食谱） in the magazine, as well as the Styles section.
The Times is great, but the Gazette is another story. I’ve never read an article that doesn’t contain at least three or four spelling or grammatical errors. For instance, in last week’s issue you misspelled the word “secretary”, used a singular verb with a plural noun, and used “it’s” as a possessive (所有格). And that was just in the lead story! In case you never went to elementary school, “it’s” means “it is ”.It’s also a possessive adjective!
It’s a pity that this tiny little hick(乡下) town has only one newspaper, because I’d like to have an alternative(替换物) to the rag you publish. I find it hard to believe your news stories. If you can’t spell correctly. How can you get your facts right?
I’ve been meaning to get this off my chest for some time. Please cancel my subscription(订阅). And buy yourself a dictionary.
Sincerely,
Jane Z, Jones Which phrase from the passage shows the writer’s prejudice(偏见)?
| A．get this off my chest |
| B．three or four spelling or grammatical errors |
| C．tiny little hick town |
| D．reading the recipes in the magazine |
The author’s tone in this passage can best be described as
| A．happy | B．angry | C．sympathetic(同情的) | D．objective |
Which statement of the following is not true according to the passage?
| A．The writer once lived in New York City, so he was used to reading the Times. |
| B．The entire family enjoys reading the Styles section in the mafazine. |
| C．The writer has long been planning to express his dissatisfaction with the local newspaper |
| D．It is obvious that the editors of the newspaper are not very careful about their work. |
Do you know about a series of books that say they are “for dummies”? These American self-help books have been translated into more than thirty-nine language including Chinese, Arabic, Russian, French, German, Greek and Spanish.
“Dummy” is a word for a stupid person. The dummies books are not really for stupid people. They are designed to show people how to do something they may never have tried before, like painting a house or learning a language. The books all say in a funny way that they are for dummies, such as World History for Dummies, Rabbits for Dummies, Chinese Cooking for Dummies, and Wedding Planning for Dummies. The first such book, Dos for Dummies, was published in 1991. It helped people learn how to use the DOS operating system for computers. Since then, more than one hundred fifty million dummies books have been sold.
The dummies. Com website explains the idea behind the books. It says that they show that people can be taught to do anything. First they can make fun of ideas that are difficult to understand. Then they show how the information can be interesting and easy. The publishers say that the books do not provide more information than necessary. They give readers just enough information to do what they want. They say that the dummies books give the best and easiest way to do something. And the books use simple and easy language.
These are more than one thousand different dummies books. A report in New York Times say that the top-selling dummies books are those that explain technology and personal finance.
The publishers say that the best-selling dummies books are those providing information many people need-like information about diseases books to help them. And there are even more dummies books to come. The publishers say that they publish about two hundred new dummies books every year. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．Books for Dummies | B．The Easiest, the Best |
| C．Self-Help Books | D．New Ideas behind the books |
According to the dummies.com website, people can with the help of dummies books.
| A．simple some personal things | B．do anything they want |
| C．become expert in any field | D．learn any foreign language |
The dummies books have been popular because
| A．they provide just what is needed and are easy to understand |
| B．they provide abundant information on the concerning subject |
| C．people can learn to do anything with just one copy |
| D．people can save lots of money through self-teaching |
According to New York Times, we know that books on sell best.
| A．technology and personal finance | B．opera and car repairing |
| C．diseases and education | D．cooking and world history |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The first dummies book was on Chinese cooking. |
| B．The dummies books will continue to be popular |
| C．Fifty million different dummies books have been published. |
| D．The simple language was intended for child readers. |
Robert Spring, a 19tth century forger(伪造者)，was so good at his profession that he was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of Americans. Spring was born in England in 1813 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he became rich by selling his small but real collection of early U.S. autographs（手稿）. Discovering his ability at copying handwriting, he began imitating signatures of George. Washington and Ben Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection(察觉), he sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale.
Forgers have a hard time selling their products. A forger can’t deal with a respectable buyer but people who don’t have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways to make their work look real. For example, they buy old books to use the aged paper of the title page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemical.
In Spring’s time right after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the Southern states, so Spring invented a respectable maiden lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny’s financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters and manuscripts(手稿). Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. All this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty, leaving sharp-eyed experts the difficult task of separating his forgeries from the originals.Why did Spring sell his false autographs in England and Canada?
| A．There is a greater demand there than in America. |
| B．There was less chance of being detected there. |
| C．Britain was Spring’s birthplace. |
| D．The price were higher in England and Canada. |
After the Civil War, there was a great demand in Britain for
| A．Southern money |
| B．Signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin |
| C．Southern manuscripts and letters |
| D．Civil War battle plans |
According to the passage, forgeries are usually sold to
| A．sharp-eyed experts | B．persons who aren’t experts |
| C．book dealers | D．owners of old books |
Who was Miss Fanny Jackson?
| A．The only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson |
| B．A little –known girl who sold her father’s to Robert Spring |
| C．Robert Spring’s daughter |
| D．An imaginary person created by Spring. |
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 a.m. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark exvept for a single light in a ground floor window.
I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice.
After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car.
She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated. ”
“Oh, you’re such a good man.” She said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “ Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“ Oh, I’m in no hurry.” She said, “I’m on my way to a hospice (临终医院)。 I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter(计价器)
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl.
Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
At down, she suddenly said, “I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I owe you?” She asked.
“Nothing.” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto me tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment joy.”The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to .
| A．Show she was familiar with the city |
| B．reach the destination on time |
| C．let the driver earn more money |
| D．see some places for the last time. |
The taxi driver did not charge the old woman because he
| A．wanted to do her a favor |
| B．shut off the meter by mistake |
| C．had received her payment in advance |
| D．was in a hurry to take other passenhers |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Giving is always a pleasure |
| B．People should respect each other |
| C．An act of kindness can bring people great joy. |
| D．People should learn to appreciate others’ concern. |