Tayka Hotel de Sal
Where:Tahua,Bolivia
How much:About $95 a night
Why it’s cool:You’ve stayed at hotels made of brick or wood,but salt?That’s something few can claim.Tayka Hotel de Sal is made totally of salt—including the beds (though you’ll sleep on regular mattresses(床垫) and blankets).The hotel sits on the Salar de Uyuni,a prehistoric driedup lake which is the world’s biggest salt flat.Builders use the salt from the 4,633squaremile flat to make the bricks,and glue them together with a paste (糊) of wet salt that hardens when it dries.When rain starts to dissolve the hotel,the owners just mix up more salt paste to strengthen the bricks.
Green Magic Nature Resort
Where:Vythiri,India
How much:About $240 a night
Why it’s cool:Taking a pulley(滑轮)operated lift 86 feet to your treetop room is just the start of your adventure.As you look out of your open window—there is no glass!—you watch monkeys and birds in the rain forest canopy(罩篷).Later you might test your fear of heights by crossing the handmade rope bridge to the main part of the hotel,or just sit on your bamboo bed and read.You don’t even have to come down for breakfast—the hotel will send it up on the pulleydrawn “elevator”.
Dog Bark Park Inn B&B
Where:Cottonwood,Idaho
How much:$92 a night
Why it’s cool:This doghouse isn’t just for the family pet.Sweet_Willy is a 30foottall dog with guest rooms in his belly.Climb the wooden stairs beside his hind leg to enter the door in his side.You can relax in the main bedroom,go up a few steps of the loft(阁楼) in Willy’s head,or hang out inside his nose.Although you have a full private bathroom in your quarters,there is also a toilet in the 12foottall fire hydrant(消防栓) outside.
Gamirasu Cave Hotel
Where:Ayvali,Turkey
How much:Between $130 and $475 a night
Why it’s cool:This is caveman cool!Experience what it was like 5,000 years ago,when people lived in these mountain caves formed by volcanic ash.But your stay will be much more modern.Bathrooms and electricity provide what you expect from a modern hotel,and the white volcanic ash,called tufa,keeps the rooms cool,about 65in summer.(Don’t worry—there is heat in winter.)What do we know about Tayka Hotel de Sal?
A.It is located on a prehistoric lake. |
B.It should be protected against the rain. |
C.Everything in the hotel is made of salt. |
D.You have to cross a rope bridge to the hotel. |
What is the similarity of the four hotels?
A.Being expensive. |
B.Being comfortable. |
C.Being natural. |
D.Being unique. |
What does the underlined words “Sweet Willy” refer to?
A.The name of the hotel.
B.The name of the hotel owner.
C.The building of Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.
D.The name of a pet dog of the hotel owner.Which of the hotels makes you have a feeling of living in the far past?
A.Tayka Hotel de Sal.
B.Green Magic Nature Resort.
C.Dog Bark Park Inn B&B.
D.Gamirasu Cave Hotel.
Are morning people born or made? In my case it was definitely made. In my early 20s, I rarely went to bed before midnight, and I would almost always get up late the next morning.
But after a while I couldn’t ignore the high relationship between success and rising early. On those rare occasions where I did get up early, I noticed that my productivity was almost always higher. So I set out to become a habitual early riser. But whenever my alarm went off, my first thought was always to stop that noise and go back to sleep. Eventually some sleep research showed me that I was using the wrong strategy.
The most common wrong strategy is this: You assume that if you’re going to get up earlier, you’d better go to bed earlier. It sounds very reasonable, but will usually fail.
There are two main schools(流派) of thought on sleep patterns. One is that you should go to bed and get up at the same time every day. The second school says you should go to bed when you’re tired and get up when you naturally wake up. However, I have found both of them are wrong if you care about productivity. If you sleep at set hours, you’ll sometimes go to bed when you aren’t sleepy enough. You’re wasting time lying in bed awake and not being asleep.
If your sleep is based on what your body tells you, you’ll probably be sleeping more than you need. Also, your mornings may be less predictable if you’re getting up at different times.
The solution for me has been to combine both methods. I go to bed when I’m sleepy and get up with an alarm clock at a fixed time. So I always get up at the same time (in my case 5 am), but I go to bed at different times every night — sometimes at 9:30pm, and other times at midnight. Most of the time I go to bed between 10-11 pm.
However, going to bed only when I’m sleepy, and getting up at a fixed time every morning is my way. If you want to become an early riser, you can try your own.
60. According to the passage, the underlined phrase refers to ____.
A. people who stay up until the next morning.
B. people who get up early in the morning.
C. people who feel sleepy in the morning.
D. people whose productivity is the highest in the morning.
61. Why did the author want to become a habitual early riser?
A. Because he / she wanted to form the habit of going to bed early and getting up early.
B. Because he / she had found that his / her productivity was higher when he / she got up early.
C. Because he / she wanted to see which of the two main schools of thought on sleep patterns was right
D. Because he / she was told the high relationship between success and rising early.
62. The author experienced all the following EXCEPT ____.
A. going to bed after midnight
B. getting up early occasionally
C. pressing off the alarm to go on sleeping
D. asking scholars for advice on sleeping habits
63. The passage is mainly about ____.
A. how to become an early riser B. how to have good sleep
C. wrong strategies for getting up early D. main schools of thought on sleep patterns
第三部分:阅读理解(共两节,满分40分)
第一节(共15小题,每题2分,满分30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。
The days of a pain-free visit to the dentist may not be far off. This is thanks to a little Japanese woman in a pink sweater, named Simroid. With a limited vocabulary, Simroid, the 160cm-tall robot is happy to feel your pain.
Simroid is designed to be used at medical colleges. She has realistic looking skin, eyes, and a mouth fitted with replica (仿制) teeth. Her chest also rises and falls as if she is breathing. Simroid releases a clear “ouch!” whenever a trainee dentist presses her teeth too hard with a tool. And she gives a reassuring “that’s better” when the drill hits the right place.
“We want to use the robots to train dentists to worry about whether patients are comfortable, and not just focus on medical techniques,” said Naotake Shubui, a professor at Nippon Dental University in Japan who helped develop Simroid.
The robot was one of hundreds of cutting-edge devices on display at the world’s biggest robot exhibition last week in Japan.
As scientists improve the design of robots, they could soon be serving tea to office workers or directing shoppers. Today’s robots look and act much like the humans who invented them.
In Japan, robots can already be found working as home helps, office receptionists and security guards, as well as on the factory floor. There were more than 370,000 industrial robots in use in Japan in 2005, according to a report by Macquarie bank,40 percent of the world total, with 32 robots for every 1,000 workers. The economy ministry believes that the Japanese robot market will be worth more than $52 billion by 2025.
Human work is being helped, and even replaced, by mechanical efficiency in almost every area, from golf-bag carriers to public toilet cleaners.
But many scientists believe the age of the service robot is not far off. It will arrive once machines are capable of connecting with humans on an emotional level. Judging by the Tokyo exhibition, that process has already begun.
56. Simroid is designed to _________.
A. aid dental trainees to focus on their medical techniques
B. train dentists to be able to share patients’ feelings
C. help patients relax during dental surgery
D. serve as the dentists’ assistance during dental surgery
57. Which of the following about Simroid is NOT true according to the text?
A. She is a robotic dental patient with a realistic appearance.
B. She will let out a scream whenever she feels a pain.
C. She can communicate a lot with dentists.
D. She is able to react in a human –like way to mouth pain.
58. We can learn from the text that ________.
A. robots are widely used in Japan
B. Japan has taken the lead in developing robots
C. the Japanese robot market has greatest potential in the world
D. the world’s biggest robot exhibition is held in Japan every year
59. The phrase “that process” in the last paragraph refers to ________.
A. replacing human work with robots
B. improving mechanical efficiency
C. entering the age of the service robot
D. producing a robot capable of connecting with humans on an emotional level
Now that the recession(经济衰退)is most likely over, it’s time to start looking at which companies, institutions, and individuals developed well during this unpleasant period. In the downturn that began in December 2007, the recession ruined the wealthiest consumer markets—the united States, Europe, Japan—there were very few safe shelters. But some countries, such as Peru, managed to grow right through the global recession. And some companies arranged their business so that they resisted the contraction and benefited from the trends affecting their industry. Some even managed to bring more business.
Chief among the Great Recession’s winners is McDonald’s. McDonald’s sales growth in 2008 was greater than in 2006 and 2007. while many restaurants reduced their business operation, it opened nearly 600 stores in 2008. and the chain has achieved same-store sales growth in each of 2009’s first seven months.
In 2008, after a decade of severely trading up to higher quality consumer goods and services, Americans began to trade down with a vengeance(报复). McDonald’s, which has 44 percent of its 32,000 stores in the United States, was set up to profit from trading down in two ways. Fist, in a recession, people eat out less and at home more frequently. And when they eat out, they eat at cheaper places. McDonald’s is so cheap, efficient, and convenient that it was a practical alternative to casual restaurants like Ruby Tuesday.
In the United States, McDonald’s may be a cheap source of calories in food. In other parts of the world, McDonald’s is an appealing brand, identified with middle-class, westernized consumerism. Much of the world, such as China, India, is still not developed for the Golden Arches. Coincidentally, these are the right places where its business has continued to grow during the global recession. While it faces operational challenges in markets, McDonald’s has benefited form a weakening dollar and rising incomes in Asia.
The question now for investors(投资者)is whether McDonald’s can survive the recovery. When people feel better-off, will they still stop by? The growth in same-store sales in the United States has come down a little in recent months. And there’s a rising amount of the population that has grown accustomed to eating healthier and better. Going forward, McDonald’s may face larger cultural barriers in the United States than in China.
50.From the passage we can infer that_______ in the recession.
A.the developing countries grew wealthier
B.the rich countries became unable to recover
C.the Western companies suffered a great loss
D.the opportunities were brought as well as challenges
51.McDonald’s managed to remain popular in the recession mainly because of______.
A.its good operation B.the American food culture
C.its low price and convenience D.the weak value of dollars
52.The underlined word “contraction” in Paragraph I means__________.
A.formal written agreement B.influence on industry
C.disappointing management D.process of reduced trade
53.What can be the best title for this passage?
A.Who Won the Recession
B.Who Traded down in the Recession
C.How Western Business Survived the Recession
D.How McDonald’s Kept Growing after the Recession
To be concerned with proper child development is to be concerned about making sure that children have daily access to both mothers’ and fathers’ parenting.
If Heather is being raised by two mommies and Brandon is being raised by Daddy and his new husband-roommate, Heather and Brandon might have two adults in their lives, but they are being deprived of the benefits found in the unique influences found in a mother and father’s differing parenting styles. Much of the value mothers and fathers bring to their children is due to the fact that mothers and fathers are different. And by cooperating together and complementing each other in their differences, they provide these good things that same-sex caregivers cannot. The important value of these gender-based differences in healthy child-development will be explored here.
The fathering difference is explained by fathering scholar Dr. Kyle Pruett of Yale Medical School in his book Fatherneed: Why Father Care is as Essential as Mother Care for Your Child. Pruett says dads matter simply because “fathers do not mother.” A father, as a male parent, brings unique contributions to the job of parenting that a mother cannot.
Likewise, a mother, as a female parent, uniquely impacts the life and development of her child, as Dr. Brenda Hunter explains in her book, The Power of Mother Love: Transforming Both Mother and Child. Erik Erikson explained that father love and mother love are qualitatively different kinds of love. Fathers love more dangerously because their love is more expectant than a mother’s love.
Dr. Pruett also explains that fathers have a clear style of communication with children. Babuism by 8 weeks, can tell the difference between a male or female communicating with them. Stanford psychologist Eleanor Maccoby, in her book The Two Sexes, explains mothers and fathers respond differently to babies. Mothers are more likely to provide warm care for a envying baby. Whether they realize it or not, children are learning at earliest age that men and women are different and have different ways of dealing with life, other adults and their children.
58.This passage is mainly about___________.
A.three experts’ differen t arguments
B.the introductions to the three famous books
C.mothers and fathers’ different parenting styles
D.the value of parents’ parenting in healthy child-development
59.Which can replace the underlined phrase “deprived of” in Para. 2?
A.providedB.keptC.taken awayD.turned down
60.Which of the following about Dr. Pruett is TRUE?
A.He thinks fathers make more contribution to the job of parenting than mothers.
B.He thinks fathers have better communication with children than mothers.
C.He thinks same – set caregivers cannot bring children good things.
D.He thinks children need father care as well as mother card.
My Best Enemy
Once again, I was in a new school. So was a girl in my class named Lisa. That’s where the similarities ended.
I was tall and she was small. My thick black hair had been recently cut short into an untidy style. Her natural blonde hair flowed to her waist and looked great. I was 12 and one of the oldest in the class while she was 11 and the youngest. I was awkward and shy. She wasn’t. I couldn’t stand her, considering her my enemy. But she liked me and wanted to be friends.
One day, she invited me over and I said yes—I was too shocked to answer any other way. My family had moved six times in six years, and I had never managed to develop any friendships. But this girl who wore the latest fashions wanted me to go home with her after school. She lived in a fun part of town that had two pizza places, an all-right bookstore, a movie theater and a park. As we walked from the school bus stop through her neighborhood, I tried to guess which house might be hers. Was it the white one with the perfect lawn or the three –story house with a front porch? I got very surprised when she led me into an old apartment building. She lived on the fourth floor in a two-room place with her mother, her stepfather, her two brothers and her sister.
When we got into the room she shared with her sister, she took out a big case of Barbies, which was my next surprise. I had never played with them. We sat on the floor, laughing as we made up crazy stories about the Barbies. We found out that we both wanted to be writers when we were older and both had wild imaginations. We had a great day that afternoon.
Lisa was loved by the whole neighborhood. The bookstore owners lent her fashion magazines; the movie theater gave her free tickets…. Soon I was included in her magic world. We slept over at each other’s houses and spent every free moment together.
Lisa, my first real friend since childhood, helped me get through the rough years of early adolescence(青春期)and taught me an amazing and very surprising thing about making friends: you worst enemy can turn out to be your best friend.
54.The writer and Lisa were similar in the way that________ .
A.they were both new students B.they had the same hair styles
C.they were both tall D.they were of the same age
55.One day Lisa invited the writer____________.
A.to go to the movie B.to go to her home
C.to go to walk in a parkD.to go to a pizza place
56.In the passage the writer described Lisa as a girl who was___________ .
A.awkward and shy B.rich and happy
C.quiet and lonely D.friendly and lovely
57.Which of the following did the writer learn from Lisa?
A.How to make up stories. B.How to deal with enemies.
C.How to make friends. D.How to live a better life.