“Just take a deep breath.” “Don’t think about it.” “You’re more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash.” These are just some words given to people with a fear of flying. But as Tom Cruise, playing Lt. Daniel Kaffee in the movie A Few Good Men, said, “I get sick when I fly because I’m afraid of crashing into a large mountain. I don’t think Daniel will help.”
But there’s a new application that just may. Today, the VALK Foundation, a Dutch group that’s a partnership between KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the University of Leiden, launches the app in the US. The VALK Foundation was one of the first centers for research and fear-of-flying treatment in the world and is the organizer of three world conferences on fear of flying.
The foundation said the app, called Flight App VALK, is the first scientifically-developed, web-based treatment for people who suffer from mild to moderate fear of flying.
“The fear of flying application we have created aims to transfer all of the knowledge we have developed through our program into a mobile application that will help ease travelers’ fears,” said Dr. Lucas van Gerwen, director of the VALK Foundation. Dr. van Gerwen is also a psychologist and professional pilot with more than 30 years experience.
The foundation said up to 30% of adults are fearful fliers. The Flight App is designed to help relax passengers before and during flights by educating users about flight safety and turbulence. It explains the sounds and sensations they can expect during departure, flight and landing. And, if a passenger’s flight stress reaches a panic level, they press a special panic button which provides audio and written information to help decrease stress levels. Most importantly, the Flight App can be used during the flight in the airplane mode. Once downloaded, the program does not require Internet connection in the air.By saying the words at the beginning of the passage, people are expected to ______.
| A．decrease their fear of flying |
| B．get rid of their doubt about plane |
| C．have a good time on their flight journey |
| D．use some medicine to cure their fear of flying |
Flight App VALK is aimed to ______.
| A．help passengers experience the fear of flying |
| B．help relax passengers before and during flights |
| C．treat people who suffer from mild fear of flying |
| D．teach people the basic knowledge of taking flight |
According to the passage, the VALK Foundation ______.
| A．is a group focusing on psychology on the flight |
| B．was the first center to do research into fear of flying |
| C．organize the world conferences on fear of flying annually |
| D．focuses on researching and offering treatment on fear of flying |
What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
| A．Many adults are suffering from fear of flying |
| B．It’s convenient for people to use the Flight App |
| C．Many planes will be installed with the Flight App. |
| D．The Flight App can decrease stress levels effectively |
In which column of a newspaper can we read this passage?
| A．Culture | B．Entertainment | C．Technology | D．Education |
Amusement parks make most of their money from admission fees paid by guests attending the park. Other sources include parking fees, food and drink sales and souvenirs. Practically all amusement parks operate using one of two admission principles:
Pay-as-you-go In this form, a guest enters the park at little or no charge. The guest must then buy rides one by one, either at the attraction’s entrance or by buying ride tickets. The cost of the attraction is often based on its complexity (复杂性) or popularity. The park may allow guests to buy unlimited admissions to all attractions within the park. A pass is then shown at the attraction entrance to gain admission.
Disneyland opened in 1955 using the pay-as-you-go form. Initially, guests paid the ride admission fees at the attractions. Soon, the problems of dealing with so many coins led to the development of a ticket system that, while now out of use, is still part of the amusement-park vocabulary. In this new form, guests bought ticket books that contained a number of tickets, with “A,” “B” and “C.” Rides and attractions using an “A-ticket” were generally simple, with “B-tickets” and “C-tickets” used for the larger, more popular rides. Later, the “D-ticket” was added, then finally the now-famous “E-ticket,” which was used for the biggest rides, like Space Mountain. Smaller tickets could be traded up for use on larger rides. Disneyland, as well as the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World, gave up this practice in 1982.
The advantages include:
guests pay for only what they choose to experience
attraction costs can be changed easily
The disadvantages include:
guests may get tired of spending money almost continuously
guests may not spend as much on food or souvenirsWhat is the passage mainly about?
| A．Attractions of amusement parks |
| B．Admission fees of amusement parks. |
| C．Admission principles of amusement parks |
| D．Sources of income of amusement parks. |
According to the pay-as-you-go principle, guests _____.
| A．don’t pay at the gate of the park |
| B．must pay for each ride they take |
| C．have to pay for all rides in the park |
| D．needn’t pay after entering the park |
According to the passage, what is the meaning of the underlined word “Initially” in Paragraph 3?
| A．Gradually. | B．At the beginning. | C．At last. | D．Commonly. |
What would be introduced following the passage?
| A．The other admission principle |
| B．Amusement parks’ earnings. |
| C．Some other admission principles |
| D．Users of the pay-as-you-go principle. |
Wanted, Someone for a Kiss
We’re looking for producers to join us in the second of London 100FM. You’ll work on the station’s music programmes. Music production experience in radio is necessary, along with rich knowledge of modern dance music. Please apply(申请) in writing to Producer Vacancies, Kiss100.
Father Christmas
We’re looking for a very special person preferably over 40, to fill our Father Christmas suit.
Working days: Every Saturday from November 24 to December 15 and every day from December17 to December24 except Sunday, 10:30—16:00
Excellent pay.
Please contact(联系)the Enterprise Shopping Center, Station Parade, Eastbourne.
Accountants Assistant
When you join the them in our Revenue Administration Unit, you will be providing assistance within all parts of the Revenue Division, dealing with post and other general duties. If you are educated to GCSE grade C level we would like to talk to you. This position is equally suitable for a school leaver of for somebody who has office experience.
Wealden District Council
Software Trainer
If you are aged 24-45 and have experience in teaching and training, you could be the person we are looking for. You should be good at the computer and have some experience in programme writing. You will be allowed to make our decision, and to design courses as well as present them. Pay upwards of ￡15,000 for the right person. Please apply by sending your CV (简历) to Mrs R. Oglivie, Palmlace Limited.Who should you get in touch with if you hope to work in a radio station?
| A．Producer Vacancies, Kiss 100 |
| B．Mrs R. Oglivie, Palmlace Limited. |
| C．The Enterprise Shopping Centre |
| D．Wealden District Council. |
We learn from the ads that the Enterprise Shopping Centre needs a person who _____.
| A．is aged between 24 and 40 | B．may do some training work |
| C．should deal with general duties | D．can work for about a month |
which position is open to recent school graduates?
| A．Producer,London Kiss. | B．Father Christmas. |
| C．Accountants Assistant | D．Software Trainer |
What kind of person would probably apply to Palmace Limited?
| A．One with GCSE grade C level |
| B．One with some office experience. |
| C．One having good computer knowledge |
| D．One trained in producing music programmes |
As a boy, Charles Robert Darwin collected anything that caught his interest: insects, coins and interesting stones. He was not very clever, but Darwin was good at doing the things that interested him.
His father was a doctor, so Darwin was sent to Edinburgh to study medicine, and was planned to follow a medical career. But Charles found the lectures boring. Then his father sent him to Cambridge University to study to be a priest. While at Cambridge, Darwin’s interest in zoology and geography grew. Later he got a letter from Robert FitzRoy who was planning to make a voyage around the world on a ship, the Beagle. He wanted a naturalist to join the ship, and Darwin was recommended(推荐). That voyage was the start of Darwin’s great life.
As the Beagle sailed around the world, Darwin began to wonder how life had developed on earth. He began to observe everything. After he was home, he set to work, getting his collection in order. His first great work The Zoology of the Beagle was well received, but he was slow to make public his ideas on the origin of life.
Later Darwin and Wallace, another naturalist who had the same opinions as Darwin, produced a paper together. Darwin’s great book, On the Origin of Species by Means of Natural Selection (《物种起源》) appeared. It attracted a storm. People thought that Darwin was saying they were descended from monkeys. What a shameful idea! Although most scientists agreed that Darwin was right, the Church was still so strong that Darwin never received any honors for his work.
Afterwards, he published another great work, The Descent of Man. His health grew worse, but he still worked. “When I have to give up observation, I shall die,” he said. He was still working on 17, April, 1882. He was dead two days later.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Charles Darwin’s ideas |
| B．Charles Darwin’s works |
| C．Father of modern biology: Charles Darwin |
| D．The greatest scientist: Charles Darwin |
Darwin’s father sent him to Edinburgh to _____.
| A．make him like natural history |
| B．make him become a doctor |
| C．let him change his hobbies |
| D．have him give up his collection |
According to the passage, Charles Darwin’s whole life was changed by _____.
| A．his study at Cambridge University |
| B．his collection of coins |
| C．the naturalists at Cambridge |
| D．the voyage of the Beagle |
We can learn from the passage that _____.
| A．Darwin announced his ideas on the origin of life as soon as he finished his voyage |
| B．Wallace agreed with Darwin’s opinions and wrote The Descent of Man with him |
| C．Darwin wrote two great books and a paper during his lifetime |
| D．churchmen were strongly against Darwin’s ideas at that time |
Throughout the history of the arts, the nature of creativity has remained constant to artists. No matter what objects they select, artists are to bring forth new forces and forms that cause change-to find poetry where no one has ever seen or experienced it before.
Landscape(风景) is another unchanging element of art. It can be found from ancient times through the 17th-century Dutch painters to the 19th-century romanticists and impressionists. In the 1970s Alfred Leslie, one of the new American realists, continued this practice. Leslie sought out the same place where Thomas Cole, a romanticist, had produced paintings of the same scene a century and a half before. Unlike Cole who insists on a feeling of loneliness and the idea of finding peace in nature, Leslie paints what he actually sees. In his paintings, there is no particular change in emotion, and he includes ordinary things like the highway in the background. He also takes advantage of the latest developments of color photography(摄影术) to help both the eye and the memory when he improves his painting back in his workroom.
Besides, all art begs the age-old question: What is real? Each generation of artists has shown their understanding of reality in one form or another. The impressionists saw reality in brief emotional effects, the realists in everyday subjects and in forest scenes, and the Cro-Magnon cave people in their naturalistic drawings of the animals in the ancient forests. To sum up, understanding reality is a necessary struggle for artists of all periods.
Over thousands of years the function of the arts has remained relatively constant. Past or present, Eastern or Western, the arts are a basic part of our immediate experience. Many and different are the faces of art, and together they express the basic need and hope of human beings.
| A．an object for artistic creation | B．a collection of poems |
| C．an unusual quality | D．a natural scene |
| A．they are close in style to works in ancient times |
| B．they look like works by 19th-century painters |
| C．they draw attention to common things in life |
| D．they depend heavily on color photography |
| A．It will not be found in future works of art. |
| B．It does not have a long-lasting standard. |
| C．It is expressed in a fixed artistic form. |
| D．It is lacking in modern works of art. |
| A．They express people's curiosity about the past. |
| B．They make people interested in everyday experience. |
| C．They are considered important for variety in form. |
| D．They are regarded as a mirror of the human situation. |
| A．History of the arts. |
| B．Basic questions of the arts. |
| C．New developments in the arts. |
| D．Use of modern technology in the arts. |
When a first-time father saw his newborn son, he immediately noticed the baby's ears obviously standing out from his head. He expressed his concern to the nurse that some children might tease his child. A doctor examined the baby and reassured the new dad that his son was healthy- the ears presented only a minor problem with its appearance.
But the nervous father persisted. He wondered if the child might suffer psychological effects of ridicule, or if they should consider plastic surgery. The nurse assured him that it was really no problem, and he should just wait to see if the boy grows into his ears.
The father finally felt more optimistic about his child, but now he worried about his wife's reaction to those large ears. She had been delivered by operation, and had not yet seen the child.
“She doesn't take things as easily as I do,” he said to the nurse.
By this time, the new mother was settled in the recovery room and ready to meet her new baby. The nurse went along with the dad to lend some support in case this inexperienced mother became upset about her baby's large ears.
The baby was in a receiving blanket with his head covered for the short trip through the cold air-conditioned corridor. The baby was placed in his mother's arms, who eased the blanket back so that she could look at her child for the first time.
She took one look at her baby's face and looked to her husband and gasped, “Oh, Honey! Look! He has your ears!”
No problem with Mom. She married those ears...and she loves the man to whom they are attached.
The poet Kahlil Gibran said, “Beauty is not in the face; beauty is a light in the heart.” It's hard to see the ears when you're looking into the light.When the father first saw his baby, he was worried that________.
| A．The baby might not grow up healthily |
| B．The baby might be laughed at by others. |
| C．The baby might disappoint its mother |
| D．the baby might have mental problems. |
According to the doctor and nurse, the baby’s ears________.
| A．could not function well. | B．looked the same as others. |
| C．only caused a small problem. | D．needed to have plastic surgery. |
What is true about the baby’s mother?
| A．She blamed her husband for the baby’s big ears. |
| B．She was the first to discover the baby’s large ears. |
| C．She suggested having an operation on the baby immediately. |
| D．She found something similar between the baby and its father. |
What does the underlined word they refer to?
| A．The ears. | B．The parents |
| C．The doctor and nurse. | D．The problems |
What’s the function of the last paragraph?
| A．To advise readers to listen carefully. |
| B．To draw a conclusion from the story. |
| C．To criticize the wrong attitude to physical beauty. |
| D．To stress the importance of doctor-patient relationship. |