ThetriptotheUnitedStatedopened-优题课

PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION (30 points)
Directions: There are 3 passages in this part. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should choose the answer that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
A
One dark and stormy night, an elderly man and his wife entered the hall of a small hotel in Philadelphia, hoping to get room for the night.
The clerk, a friendly man with a beautiful smile, explained that there were three conferences in town. “All of our rooms are taken,” the clerk said, “but I can't send a nice couple like you into the rain at one o’clock in the morning. Would you perhaps be willing to sleep in my room? It’s not a suite(套房), but it will be good enough to make you comfortable for the night.” The couple agreed.
As the elderly man paid the bill the next morning, he told the clerk, “You are the kind of person who should be the boss of the best hotel in the United States. Maybe someday I’ll build one for you.” The clerk looked at them and smiled. The three of them had a good laugh.
Two years passed. The clerk had almost forgotten the incident when he received a letter from the elderly man, asking the clerk to pay him a visit. The elderly man met him in New York, and led him to the corner of the Fifth Avenue and 34th Street. He then pointed to a great new building there, a reddish stone one with watchtowers(塔楼) thrusting up to the sky, and told the clerk that it was the hotel he had just built for him。
That wonderful building was the original Waldorf-Astoria Hotel. And this young clerk whose names was George C. Boldt never foresaw the return of events that would lead him into the manager of one of the world's most attractive hotels.
56 .When the elderly couple left the hotel, they .
A. tried to make the clerk pleased
B. wanted to build the same hotel in the future
C. hoped that the clerk would replace the boss of the hotel
D. thought the clerk was talented in managing hotels
57. Why did the elderly man build a hotel for the clerk?
A. He was grateful to the clerk. B. They had a bet(打赌) at first.
C. He wanted to fool the clerk. D. He wanted to sell the hotel.
58. According to the text, the clerk .
A. helped the couple because he thought they were poor
B. hoped that the old couple could give him a large amount of money
C. didn't expect to receive things in return from the old couple
D. became rich, thanks to his own efforts
59. From the text, we can infer that .
A. anybody can be a successful manager B. old people are always very rich
C. good luck is always waiting for lucky people D. kindness can bring a good return
60. What do you think of the clerk?
A. He was willing to help. B. He was very attractive.
C. He tried to make money for his hotel． D. He liked making friends

Communication technologies are far from equal when it comes to conveying the truth. The first study to compare honesty across a range of communications media has found that people are twice as likely to tell lies in phone conversations as they are in emails. The fact that emails are automatically recorded—and can come back to haunt(困扰) you—appears to be the key to the finding.
Jeff Hancock of Cornell University in Ithaca, New York, asked 30 students to keep a communications diary for a week. In it they noted the number of conversations or email exchanges they had lasting more than 10 minutes, and confessed to how many lies they told. Hancock then worked out the number of lies per conversation for each medium. He found that lies made up 14 percent of emails, 21 percent of instant messages, 27 percent of face-to-face interactions and an astonishing 37 percent of phone calls.
His results, to be presented at the conference on human-computer interaction in Vienna, Austria, in April, have surprised psychologists. Some expected emailers to be the biggest liars, reasoning that because deception makes people uncomfortable, the detachment(非直接接触) of emailing would make it easier to lie. Others expected people to lie more in face-to-face exchanges because we are most practiced at that form of communication.
But Hancock says it is also crucial whether a conversation is being recorded and could be reread, and whether it occurs in real time. People appear to be afraid to lie when they know the communication could later be used to hold them to account, he says. This is why fewer lies appear in email than on the phone.
People are also more likely to lie in real time—in an instant message or phone call, say—than if they have time to think of a response, says Hancock. He found many lies are spontaneous(脱口而出的) responses to an unexpected demand, such as: “Do you like my dress?”
Hancock hopes his research will help companies work out the best ways for their employees to communicate. For instance, the phone might be the best medium for sales where employees are encouraged to stretch the truth. But given his result, work assessment, where honesty is a priority, might be best done using email.
66. Hancock’s study focuses on ________.
A. the consequences of lying in various communications media
B. the success of communications technologies in conveying ideas
C. people’s preference in selecting communications technologies
D. people’s honesty levels across a range of communications media
67. Hancock’s research finding surprised those who believed that ________.
A. people are less likely to lie in instant messages
B. people are unlikely to lie in face-to-face interactions
C. people are most likely to lie in email communication
D. people are twice as likely to lie in phone conversations
68. According to the passage, why are people more likely to tell the truth through certain media of communication?
A. They are afraid of leaving behind traces of their lies
B. They believe that honesty is the best policy
C. They tend to be relaxed when using those media
D. They are most practiced at those forms of communication
69. According to Hancock, the telephone is a preferable medium for promoting sales because ________.
A. salesmen can talk directly to their customers
B. salesmen may feel less restrained to exaggerate
C. salesmen can impress customers as being trustworthy
D. salesmen may pass on instant messages effectively
70. It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
A. honesty should be encouraged in interpersonal communications
B. more employers will use emails to communicate with their employees
C. email is now the dominant medium of communication within a company
D. suitable media should be chosen for different communication purposes

It was when I was attending high school that I first read Asimov’s stories. At the time, a few SF magazines began to introduce this author and translate a few pieces from his “Robot Series”. Of Asimov’s works, the one that left the deepest impression on me was Pebble in the Sky. This novel directly influenced my early SF writing.
Asimov was one of the leading writers of Western science fiction’s Golden Age, so although his writing may not have a direct influence on writers of today, his underlying （潜在的） influence on many levels is undeniable — the famous Three Laws of Robotics, and many classic writing techniques, for example. Of course, his influence is related to the atmosphere that existed in the Golden Age; a science fiction writer today has a hard time reaching that level no matter how outstanding he or she is. Asimov’s novels are marked by a fully integrated logical system, and his stories are a pleasure to read — this is the reason his novels still attract readers today. Naturally, Western science fiction has few people these days who follow Asimov’s creative methods; instead they are closely connected to mainstream artistic trends, employing large amounts of postmodern techniques. This type of science fiction has a hard time blossoming on Chinese soil. The majority of Chinese SF readers would rather read the classic works of Asimov. This is an important question that faces today’s Chinese science fiction writers.
Compared with the “Robot Series”, Asimov’s “Foundation Series” is a little less well-known in China. This is mostly due to the large influence of the Three Laws, and moreover, the Foundation novels have never been completely introduced here. In fact, the Foundation series creates an entire world, even grander than that of the “Robot Series”; this science fiction epic（史诗） had a direct influence on later Western science fiction, the most famous example being Star Wars.
61. We can know from the passage that the author is a _______ .
A. science fiction writer B. science fiction publisher
C. high school student D. novel translator
62. The Three Laws of Robotics are most probably .
A. stories written by Asimov B. writing techniques employed by Asimov
C. techniques to build robots D. characters in Asimov’s science fiction
63. The main purpose of the passage is to .
A. compare Asimov with other science fiction writers
B. attract people to read Asimov’s stories
C. introduce Asimov’s influence on SF writing
D. explain why Asimov is popular in China
64. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. “Foundation Series” were translated into Chinese earlier than “Robot Series”
B. Science fiction of postmodern style is not popular with Chinese readers
C. Asimov is the greatest science fiction writer in Western countries
D. The writing techniques by Asimov are better than the postmodern ones
65. In the writer’s opinion, Asimov’s “Foundation Series” .
A. were not as successful as his “Robot Series”
B. are better known to Chinese readers than his “Robot Series”
C. were more logically organized than his “Robot Series”
D. were written better than his “Robot Series” in some ways

PART THREE READING COMPREHENSION
Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage.
A
An Indian civil servant, SM Raju, has come up with a new way of providing employment for millions of poor people in Bihar. His campaign to encourage people to plant trees effectively addresses two burning issues of the world: global warming and shrinking job opportunities.
Mr Raju’s success could clearly be seen on 30 August, 2009 when he organized 300,000 villagers from over 7,500 villages in northern Bihar to engage in a mass tree planting ceremony.
Mr Raju has linked his “social forestry” program to the central government’s National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (NREGA), which is also designed to provide employment for poor people. Under NREGA — started in February 2006 as the government’s most ambitious employment generation scheme for poor people — the authorities are bound by law to provide a minimum of 100 days of employment a year for members of families living below the poverty line. About 44% of Bihar’s population fall into this category.
Mr Raju says that Bihar — being the poorest and most lawless state of India — hasn’t been able to spend the allocated (分配的) NREGA funds. “This is because of a lack of awareness among officials about the scheme,” he said. “So the idea struck to my mind: why not involve families below the poverty line in social forestry and give them employment under this scheme for 100 days? Under the scheme, each family can earn a minimum of 10,200 rupees ($210).”
The civil servant immediately made a plan of his idea. In June, Mr Raju published a booklet of “dos and don’ts” and distributed it to village heads. His plan meant that NREGA funds were fully used — in the past this hasn’t always been the case.
“I told the villagers they would get 100 days employment in a year simply by planting trees and protecting them. The old and disabled would be given preference,” he explained.
Every village council has now been given a target of planting 50,000 saplings — a group of four families have to plant 200 trees and they must protect them for three years till the plants grow stronger.
“They would get the full payment if they can ensure the survival of 90% of the plants under their care. For a 75-80% survival rate, they’ll be paid only half the wage. For less than 75%, the families in the group will be replaced,” the guidelines say.
Significantly, his scheme has even stopped the migration of poor labourers from the area in search of employment elsewhere.
56. According to the passage, the main purpose of SM Raju’s “social forestry” program is to _____.
A. promote the practice of NREGA
B. make efforts to prevent global warming
C. increase the employment of poor people
D. prevent poor people from migrating elsewhere
57 According to the passage, the poor people in Bihar don’t make full use of NREGA funds because _____.
A. the local officials don’t realize the importance of NREGA
B. the local government doesn’t get enough support from the central government
C. the local poor people know little about NREGA
D. Bihar is the most lawless state in India
58. We can infer from the passage that _____.
A. most people in Bihar will benefit from NREGA
B. the old and disabled people are not involved in tree planting
C. families who can’t ensure 75% survival rate of the trees will not be paid
D. Raju’s new plan will reduce Bihar’s population below the poverty line
59. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. There’s a good way to deal with global warming
B. Tree planting provides employment for the poor
C. Tree planting solves the problem of unemployment
D. Raju’s “social forestry” program wins the support of NREGA
60. How can villagers get more NREGA funds?
A. Thinking better ways to stop global warming
B. Working hard for one hundred days
C. Planting more trees and ensuring the survival of plants
D. Stopping moving from the area to search employment elsewhere

Waterland, California, June 26,2001—two cars dropped from sight, falling into the bottom (底部) of a 400-feet deep sinkhole (陷洞) which appeared suddenly. At a town 12 miles from Waterland, two bedrooms of one house dropped into a hole 60 feet across and 35 feet deep part of the next house hung dangerously over the hole.
Sinkholes have been happening without warning in this part of California for years. So far there is no way to predict (预告) when or where one will appear. But when one does, others usually follow in the same area, usually along a straight line.
The worst sinkhole in recent appeared in 1996. It was 70 feet across and 150 feet deep. It destroyed in one house, damaged several others and broke the walls of a city block. One hole, 15-feet deep, opened up this year in the middle of a highway, 19 seconds after a car had driven by. Others in the same area took place at night damaging houses, swallowing up trees and parts of streets and making 23 frightened people run away from their homes in night clothes.
Sinkholes happen when the weather is dry. The earth at the surface begins to drop into empty space under the ground, like sand falling in huge hourglass (沙漏). This is how a sinkhole is formed.
71. From the text we know sinkhole do not happen ______.
A. during the period of wet weather B. in a straight line
C. in the dry season D. at night
72. When one sinkhole appears, others usually follow ________.
A. everywhere B. on straight highway only
C. nearby D. in the places far away
73. Sinkholes take place because ________.
A. there are large holes under houses
B. Waterland has an underground lake
C. there are too many heavy things on the surface of the earth
D. dry earth moves and fills underground holes
74. Which of the following is not talked about in the text?
A. Sinkholes cause car accidents B. Sinkholes destroy houses
C. Sinkholes kill people D. Sinkholes damage streets
75. This text mainly tells us that ________.
A. sinkholes always happen without any warning
B. sinkholes have been happening in the Waterland area, causing some damage
C. even drivers cannot keep away from sinkholes
D. why a sinkhole happens and how its name has been formed

A．similarities	B．friendship
C．differences	D．differences and the similarities