Chaplin was one of the famous clown-style actors of the silent time. It was through Charlie Chaplin that the Hollywood comedy movies became famous.
Then in the 1920s came another trend of animated cartoons. They were the most popular Hollywood comedy movies of the time. The several popular characters of that era were Felix the cat, Krazy Kat and Betty Boop. However, the popularity of these movies was blocked out due to lack of sound and color. The end of 1920s, the Hollywood comedy industry marked a change brought about by the introduction of sound into the movies. This has allowed the industry to create dramatic new film styles and use verbal humor. These films were soon replacing silent movies. These films used dialogue of comedians such as the W.C Fields and the Marx Brothers. Charlie Chaplin was the last comedian to have acted in the silent films.
When the United States entered into World War II, Hollywood movies changed its course to themes related to the conflicts, and Hollywood comedy movies described more on military themes. The war time experienced a boom, where restrictions on the traveling made nearly a quarter of the money spent on attending movies.
In the 1950s, the interest shifted where the TV became popular. During this time the release of Hollywood comedy films declined (衰落). The 1960s saw an increasing number of broad, star-packed comedies. In 1970 Hollywood comedy movies reflected the anti-war sentiment, which was popular then.
In the 1980s the gag (笑料) based comedy Airplane was released, and Hollywood comedy movies paved its way for more of the same. The popular comedians of this time included Dudley Moore, Tom Hanks, etc. Jim Carrey, the Canadian actor and a comedian, came into Hollywood comedy movies in the late 1980s where he won the role in such a comedy, Copper Mountain.
The most popular Hollywood comedy movies were of John Hughes, which includes Ferris Buellers Day Off and Home Alone series of 1990s. The later films focused more on family audience. This was a revival (复兴) in comedy movies. Comedy movies remain popular till date. Why did Hollywood movies grow rapidly during World War II?
| A．People had more money at that time. |
| B．People couldn’t travel freely. |
| C．The government spent a lot of money on films. |
| D．People were made to see movies by the government. |
The theme of the 1970s Hollywood comedies is _______.
| A．domestic violence | B．desire for freedom |
| C．protests against wars | D．oversea military activities |
What does this passage mainly talk about?
| A．Development of Hollywood comedy movies. |
| B．Famous comedians in Hollywood history. |
| C．Outstanding comedies made in Hollywood. |
| D．Chaplin’s contribution to comedies. |
Which of the following shows the correct order of what happened to the Hollywood comedy movies?
a. Hollywood comedy movies focused on family audience.
b. Fewer and fewer Hollywood comedy films were released.
c. Animated cartoons of Hollywood comedy movies were popular.
d. Hollywood comedy movies once developed quickly during the war time.
e. The Hollywood comedy industry made a reform of applying sound to the movies.
| A．ecbda | B．dabec | C．cedba | D．decab |
A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo 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．
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 warms 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 markers will bring the product to market within about a year．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 |
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 |
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 400 minutes |
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 |
I really love my job because I enjoy working with small children and like the challenges and awards from the job．I also think my work is important．There was a time when I thought I would never have that sort of career（职业）．
I wasn’t an excellent student because I didn’t do much schoolwork．In my final term I started thinking what I might do and found I didn’t have much to offer．I just accepted that I wasn’t the type to have a career．
I then found myself a job．Looking after two little girls，It wasn’t too bad at first．But the problems began when I agreed to live in，so that I would be there if my boss had to go out for business in the evening．We agreed that if I had to work extra hours one week，she’d give me time off the next．But unfortunately，it didn’t often work out．I was getting extremely tired and fed up，because I had too many late nights and early mornings with the children．
One Sunday，I was in the park with the children，and met Megan who used to go to school with me，I told her about my situation．She suggested that I should do a course and get a qualification（资格证书）if I wanted to work with children．I didn’t think I would be accepted because I didn’t take many exams in school．She persuaded me to phone the local college and they were really helpful．My experience counted for a lot and I got on a part – time course．I had to leave my job with the family，and got work helping out at a kindergarten．
Now I’ve got a full – time job there．I shall always be thankful to Megan．I wish I had known earlier that you could have a career，even if you aren’t top of the class at school．What is the author’s present job？
| A．Working part – time in a college． |
| B．Taking care of children for a family． |
| C．Helping children with their schoolwork． |
| D．Looking after children at a kindergarten． |
When staying with the two girls’family，the author__________．
| A．was paid for extra work |
| B．often worked long hours |
| C．got much help from her boss |
| D．took a day off every other week |
Why did the author leave her first job？
| A．She found a full – time job． |
| B．She was fed up with children． |
| C．She decided to attend a part – time course． |
| D．She needed a rest after working extra hours． |
What has the author learned from her own experiences？
| A．Less successful students can still have a career． |
| B．Qualifications are necessary for a career． |
| C．Hard work makes an excellent student． |
| D．One must choose the job she likes． |
Welcome to Adventureland！
Everyone loves Adventureland ！The Parks and Exhibitions were built for you to explore(探索)，enjoy，and admire their wonders．Every visit will be an unforgettable experience．You will go away enriched，longing to come back．What are you going to do this time？
The Travel Pavilion
Explore places you have never been to before，and experience different ways of life．Visit the Amazon jungle(丛林)village，the Turkish market，the Tai floating market，the Berber mountain house and others．Talk to the people there who will tell you about their lives，and things they make．You can try making a carpet，making nets，fishing…
The Future Tower
This exhibition shows how progress will touch our lives．It allows us to look into the future and explore the cities of the next century and the way we’ll be living then．Spend some time in our space station and climb into our simulator(模拟装置)for the Journey to Mars！
The Nature Park
This is not really one park but several．In the Safari Park you can drive among African animals in one of our Range Cruisers：see lions，giraffes，elephants in the wild．Move on to the Ocean Park to watch the dolphins and whales．And then there is still the Aviary to see…
The Pyramid
This is the center of Adventureland．Run out of film，need some postcards and stamps？For all these things and many more，visit our underground shopping center．Come here for information and ideas too．The Travel Pavilion is built to help visitors _______．
| A．realize the importance of travelling |
| B．become familiar with mountain countries |
| C．learn how to make things such as fishing nets |
| D．learn something about different places in the world |
If you are interested in knowing about what people’s life will be，you may visit
_______．
| A．the Travel Pavilion |
| B．the Future Tower |
| C．the Safari Park |
| D．the Pyramid |
If you want to get a toy lion to take home，where will you most likely go？
| A．The Pyramid． |
| B．The Nature Park． |
| C．The Future Tower． |
| D．The Travel Pavilion． |
It is easy to lose patience with science today． The questions are pressing: How dangerous is air pollution? What about low-level radiation? When will that horrible earthquake strike California? And why can't we predict weather better? But the evidence is often described as "uncertain", forcing scientists to base their points of view almost as much on intuition（直觉）as on science．
When historians and philosophers of science listen to these questions, some conclude that science may not be able to solve all these problems any time soon． The unknowns can grow into riddles that are impossible to solve． Because of the unstable and changing state of the earth's atmosphere, for example, scientists have struggled for centuries to predict the weather with precision（精确） but failed．
The case is different for scientists of astronomy． For example, they think that the gravitational force of a nearby space vehicle, though tiny, is able to change the path of a much larger planet if the vehicle spends enough time close to it． With the aid of Newton's laws of gravitational attraction, ground controllers can predict the path of a planetary probe （探测仪）-or satellite-with incredible accuracy． They do this by calculating the gravitational force from each of the passing planets until the probe speeds beyond the edge of the solar system．A much more difficult task is to calculate what happens when two or three times of such force pull on the probe at the same time． Such procedures can, of course, be very difficult, but for experiments, they are effective．
This range of questions-from simple problems to those impossibly complex-has resulted in nicknames for various fields of study: "soft" sciences and " hard " sciences．“Soft” sciences admit a great degree of uncertainty． Academicians tend to judge fields such as sociology, psychology, and political science as “soft” because they are assumed to be understandable, of unnecessary mathematical accuracy, and concerned with everyday affairs such as interpersonal relationships． However, "hard" sciences, such as astronomy and chemistry, are said to offer precise answers． Precise definitions for "hard" sciences vary, but the characteristics of "hard" sciences include: producing testable predictions; performing controlled experiments; relying on quantifiable data and mathematical models; a high degree of accuracy and objectivity; and generally applying a pure form of the scientific methodWe can learn from the passage that ．
| A．a large planet is able to change the size of a tiny planet |
| B．ground controllers can affect the gravitational force of planets |
| C．calculating the probe speeds beyond the solar system is possible |
| D．predicting the weather is more difficult than predicting the path of a satellite |
According to the author, "soft" sciences ．
| A．allow for certain inaccuracy |
| B．focus on personal relationships |
| C．are based on controlled experiments |
| D．are rooted in data and mathematical models |
What might be the best title for the passage?
| A．Science, a Long History? |
| B．Science, Accurate or Not? |
| C．Science and Its Functions |
| D．Science and Its Application |
What is the author's attitude towards science in this passage?
| A．Objective． | B．Sceptical． |
| C．Disapproval． | D．Optimistic |
Etymology, the study of words and word roots, may sound like the kind of thing done by boring librarians in small, dusty rooms． Yet etymologists actually have a uniquely interesting job． They are in many ways just like archaeologists （考古学家） digging up the physical history of people and events． The special aspect of etymology is that it digs up history, so to speak, through the words and phrases that are left behind．
The English language, in particular, is a great field to explore history through words As a language, English has an extraordinary number of words． This is partly due to its ability to adapt foreign words so readily． For example, " English" words such as kindergarten （from German）, croissant （from French）, and cheetah （from Hindi） have become part of the language with little or no change from their original sounds and spellings． So English-language etymologists have a vast world of words to explore．
Another enjoyable thing about etymology for most word experts is solving word mysteries（谜）． No, etymologists do not go around solving murders, like the great detective Sherlock Holmes． What these word experts solve are mysterious origins of some of our most common words
One of the biggest questions English language experts have pursued is how English came to have the phrase OK． Though it is one of the most commonly used expressions, its exact beginning is a puzzle even to this day． Even its spelling is not entirely consistent-unless you spell it Okay, it is hard even to call it a word．
Etymologists have been able to narrow OK’s origin down to a likely, although not certain, source（来源）． It became widely used around the time of Martin Van Buren's run for president in 1840． His nickname was Old Kinderhook． What troubles word experts about this explanation is that the phrase appeared in some newspapers before Van Buren became well known． It is likely that Van Buren could be called its primary source Etymologists will doubtlessly keep searching for the initial source． However, it is clear that OK’s popularity and reputation have topped those of the American president to whom it has been most clearly linked．The author mentions the words like "croissant" in Paragraph 2 to indicate ．
| A．words have changed a lot in the two languages |
| B．what English-language etymologists are exploring now |
| C．English has absorbed many words from other foreign languages |
| D．the English vocabulary is difficult to the non-English-speaking people |
The underlined word "pursued" in Paragraph 4 means ．
| A．looked upon | B．dug up |
| C．put in | D．set down |
We can learn from the passage that etymologists ．
| A．discover the possible origin of words |
| B．help detectives to solve mysterious murders |
| C．write interesting stories for some newspapers |
| D．explore the English language as well as the recent events |
What is the main purpose of the passage?
| A．To present the history of English words |
| B．To explain the procedure of an etymologist's job |
| C．To introduce the pleasure of the study of words and word roots． |
| D．To teach readers how to distinguish English and non-English words |