Nowadays the cost of a new car has fallen in real terms so that it is cheaper than ever to own one, and better road conditions have also attracted more drivers. The result is overcrowding on the road system, which is one of the problems the local governments are faced with.
When people travel to other towns, the problem might be relieved by getting them to park outside the town. Buses could be provided to take them into the centre. These Park and Ride projects are increasingly popular in the UK. At Southerton, for example, a council-funded project led to a 15% drop in city centre traffic over five months.
What the council found, though, was that the project proved somewhat unpopular with shop owners in the area outside the centre. Many of their shops relied on passing car drivers for some of their trade. As the number of people driving past dropped, so did their incomes.
Making car driving expensive is another way of encouraging people to use public transport more. Road taxes tend to mean that people use their cars less. Fining drivers who are in areas where cars have been banned can also tend to encourage them to leave their cars behind.
However, one thing has to be got right for any solution to succeed. If we expect people to give up the habit of driving, we must give them an alternative they can rely on. Constant delays, unannounced changes to the timetable and sudden cancellations all discourage people from using public transport. People will only see it as a real choice if the buses and trains are on time. What causes overcrowding on the road system according to Paragraph 1?
A.The reduced/lowed cost of a new car and better road conditions |
B.The reduced/lowed cost of a new car |
C.better road conditions |
D.People are wealthier than before. |
What should people do when traveling to other towns according to the Park and Ride projects?
A.They should park in the park, and take a taxi to the centre. |
B.They should take the bus to other towns instead of driving. |
C.They should park outside the town, and take the bus to the centre. |
D.If they don’t use public transport, they’ll be fined. |
What are some shop owners’attitude to the project?
A.supportive | B.objective |
C.opposed | D.subjective |
Why are people unwilling to use public transport according to Paragraph 5?
A.Because buses constantly delay and even sudden cancellations. |
B.Because the timetable changes without announcement. |
C.Because they want to show off their cars and driving skills. |
D.Because public transport can not satisfy the passengers. |
How many ways are mentioned to solve the overcrowding?
A.Two | B.Three | C.Four | D.Five |
“In only six days I lost seven pounds of weight.”
“Two full inches in the first three days!”
These are the kinds of statements used in magazine,newspaper,radio and television ads,promising new shapes and new looks to those who buy the medicine or the device. The promoters of products say they can shape the legs,slim the face,smooth wrinkles,or in some other way to add to beauty or desirability.
Often such products are nothing more than moneymaking things for their promoters. The results they produce are questionable,and some are dangerous to health.
To understand how these products can be legally promoted to the public,it is necessary to understand something of the laws covering their regulation. If the product is a drug,FDA(Food and Drug Administration)can require proof under the Food,Drug,and Cosmetic Act that is safe and effective before it is put on the market. But if the product is a device,FDA has no authority to require premarketing proof of safety or effectiveness. If a product already on the market is a danger to health,FDA can request the producer or distributor to remove it from the market voluntarily, or it can take legal action,including seizure(查封)of the product.
One notable case a few years ago involved an electrical device called the Relaxacisor,which had been sold for reducing the waistline (腰围). The Relaxacisor produced electrical shocks to the body through contact pads. FDA took legal action against the distributor to stop the sale of the device on the grounds that it was dangerous to health and life.
Obviously,most of the devices on the market have never been the subject of court proceedings(法律诉讼),and new devices appear continually. Before buying,it is up to the consumer to judge the safety or effectiveness of such items.It can be inferred that the ads mentioned in the text are________.
A.objective | B.costly | C.unreliable | D.illegal |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
A.The court is in charge of removing dangerous products.
B.New products are more likely to be questionable.
C.The production of a device must be approved by FDA.
D.The promoters usually just care about profits.FDA can ask for the proof of safety and effectiveness of a product________.
A.if it is a drug |
B.if it is a device |
C.if its consumers make complaints |
D.if its distributors challenge FDA's authority |
The Relaxacisor is mentioned as________.
A.a product which was designed to produce electricity |
B.a product whose distributor was involved in a legal case |
C.a successful advertisement of a beauty product |
D.an example of a quality beauty product |
The author intends to________.
A.make consumers aware of the promoters' false promises |
B.show the weakness of the law on product safety |
C.give advice on how to keep young and beautiful |
D.introduce the organization of FDA |
I came to study in the United States a year ago .Yet I did not know the real American society until I was injured in a car accident because after the accident I had to see a doctor and go to court.
After the accident, my roommate called a doctor for me. I was very grateful and determined to repay him one day. But the next day, he asked me to pay him $200 for what he had done. I was astonished. He had good reason to charge me, he said. And if I wanted to collect money from the person who was responsible for my injury, I’d have to have a good lawyer. And only a good doctor can help me get a good lawyer .Now that he had helped me find a good doctor, it was only fair that I should pay him.
But every day I went to see the doctor, I had to wait about 50 minutes. He would see two or three patients at the same time, and often stop treating one so as to see another. Yet he charged me $115 each time .The final examination report consisted of ten lines, and it cost me $215.
My lawyer was all smiles the first time we met. But after that he avoided seeing me at all. He knew very well the other party was responsible for the accident, yet he hardly did anything. He simply waited to collect his money. He was so irresponsible that I decided to dismiss him. And he made me pay him $770.
Now I had to act as my own lawyer. Due to my inexperience, I told the insurance company the date I was leaving America. Knowing that, they played for time…and I left without getting a cent.The author’s roommate offered to help him because________.
A.he felt sorry for the author |
B.he thought it was a chance to make some money |
C.he knew the doctor was a very good one |
D.he wanted the author to have a good lawyer |
The word “charge” in the third paragraph means_________ .
A.ask as a price | B.accuse |
C.be responsible | D.claim |
Both the doctor and the lawyer in this passage are very__________.
A.friendly | B.busy | C.professional | D.selfish |
What conclusion can you draw from the story?
A.Going to court is something very common in America. |
B.One must be very careful while driving a car. |
C.There are more bad sides in America than good sides. |
D.Money is more important than other things in the US. |
Water is very important to living things. Without water there can be no life on the earth. All animals and plants need water. Man also needs water. We need water to drink, to cook our food and to clean ourselves. Water is needed in offices, factories and schools. Water is needed everywhere.
There is water in seas, rivers and lakes. Water is found almost everywhere. Even in the desert part of the world, there is some water in the air. You can not see or feel it when it is a part of the air. The water in the seas, rivers and lakes is a liquid, the water in the air is a gas, and we call it water vapour (蒸气).
Clouds are made of water. They may be made of very small drops of water. They may also be made of snow crystals(结晶体). Snow crystals are very very small crystals of ice. Ice is frozen water. It is a solid. There can be snow and ice everywhere in winter.
Water may be a solid or a liquid or a gas. When it is a solid, it may be as hard as a stone. When it is a liquid, you can drink it. When it is a gas, you can not see or feel it.Where can we find water?
A.We can find water when it turns into vapour. |
B.Water is only in seas and rivers. |
C.We can see water in deserts here and there. |
D.Water can be found almost everywhere. |
We can drink water when it is
A.a solid | B.aliquid |
C.in the air | D.turned into ice |
Clouds are made of
A.seas, rivers and lakes |
B.blocks of ice |
C.very small drops of water or snow crystals |
D.solid, liquid and gas |
Water has three states(状态). They are
A.solid, liquid and gas |
B.solid, vapour, snow |
C.drops of water, blocks of ice and crystals of water |
D.ice, snow and air |
Modern man has cleared the forests for farmland and for wood, and has also carelessly burned them. More than that, though, he has also interfered (干涉) with the invisible bonds between the living things in the forests. There are many examples of this kind of destruction. The harmfulness of man’s interference can be seen in what happened many years ago in the forest of the Kaibab plateau (凯亚巴布高原) of northern Arizona. Man tried to improve on the natural web of forest life and destroyed it instead.
The Kaibab had a storybook forest of large sized pine, Douglas fir, white fir, blue and Engelmann spruce. In 1882 a visitor noted, "We, who ... have wandered through its forests and parks, have come to regard it as the most enchanting region it has ever been our privilege (特权) to visit.” This was also the living place of the Rocky Mountain mule deer. Indians hunted there every autumn to gather meat and skins. The forest also had mountain lions, timber wolves and bobcats that kept the deer from multiplying too rapidly.
Then, in 1906, President Theodore Roosevelt made the Kaibab a national game preserve. Deer hunting was forbidden. Government hunters started killing off the deer’s enemies. In 25 years’ time, 6,250 mountain lions, wolves and bobcats were killed. Before the program, there were about 4,000 deer in the Kaibab, by 1924, there were about 100,000.
The deer ate every leaf and twig they could reach. But there was not nearly enough food. Hunting of deer was permitted again. This caused a slight decrease in the deer herd (鹿群),but a far greater loss resulted from starvation (饥饿) and disease. Some 60 percent of the deer herd died in two winters. By 1930 the herd had dropped to 20,000 animals. By 1942 it was down to 8,000. The destruction of the environment of the Kaibab resulted from
A.interfering with natural cycle of forest life |
B.turning the forest into cultivated land |
C.forest fires caused by man’s carelessness |
D.cutting the trees for building materials |
"Engelmann spruce"(Para. 2) is most likely the name of .
A.an animal | B.a tree | C.a mountain | D.a game |
The number of the deer in the Kaibab had increased enormously inyears’ time.
A.25 | B.6 | C.12 | D.18 |
Years later, large numbers of deer in the Kaibab died mainly because of .
A.the cold | B.the organized kill |
C.the poor management | D.the shortage of food |
The clock struck eleven at night. The whole house was quiet. Everyone was in bed except me. Under the strong light, I looked sadly before a huge pile of troublesome stuff they call “books”.
I was going to have my examination the next day. "When can I go to bed?" I asked myself. I didn’t answer, in fact I dared not.
The clock struck 12."Oh, dear!" I cried, "ten more books to read before I can go to bed!” We pupils are the most wretched(可怜的) creatures in the world. Dad does not agree with me on this. He did not have to work so hard when he was a boy.
The clock struck one. I was quite hopeless now. I forgot all I had learnt. I was too tired to go on. I did the only thing I could. I prayed, “Oh, God, Please help me pass the exam tomorrow. I do promise to work hard afterwards, Amen.” My eyes were heavy, so heavy that I could hardly open them. A few minutes later, with my head on the desk, I fell asleep.When the author was going over his lessons, all the others in the house were_____ .
A.working in bed | B.asleep |
C.outside | D.quietly laughing at him |
Reviewing his lessons didn’t help him because ________.
A.it was too late at night |
B.he was very tired |
C.he hadn’t studied hard before the examination |
D.his eyes lids were so heavy that he couldn’t keep them open |
What do you suppose happened to the author?
A.He failed in the exam |
B.He passed the exam by luck |
C.He went to a church to pray again |
D.He was punished by his teacher |
The best title for the passage would be __________ .
A.The Night Before the Examination |
B.Working Far into the Night |
C.A Slow Student |
D.Going Over My Lessons |