A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders: Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British English and American English? How important are these differences?
Certainly! There are some differences between British and American English. There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “have a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital!” and “Do you have a pen?”. Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British English and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British English, “color” and “honor” are American.
These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling, and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.According to the passage, a student who is learning to speak American English might be afraid that___.
| A．British English cannot understand him |
| B．American people cannot understand him |
| C．the grammar is too hard for him |
| D．the spelling is too hard for him |
American English and British English are different in ________.
| A．spelling | B．pronunciation |
| C．grammar | D．all of the above |
What is not mentioned (提及) in the passage?
| A．Whether there are differences between British English and American English. |
| B．Whether British and American English are one language or two. |
| C．How the differences between British English and American English came about. |
| D．How important the differences are. |
Most ________ say “ Do you have a watch?”
| A．British people | B．Americans | C．children | D．teachers |
According to this passage, British people and Americans have ________ difficulty in understanding each other.
| A．little | B．much | C．some | D．great |
Last year college students in America spent an estimated $700 on textbooks on average. The National Association of College Stores reported more than five billion dollars in sales of textbooks and course materials.
The association spokesman Charles Schmidt says electronic textbooks now just make up 2%～3% of sales. But he says that is expected to reach 10%～15% by 2012.
Online versions(版本) are now available for many of the most popular college textbooks. An etextbook can cost half the price of a new print textbook. But students usually lose access to them after the end of the term. And the books cannot be placed on more than one device(设备)，so they are not easy to share.
So what do students think of etextbooks？Administrators at Northwest Missouri State University wanted to find it out. Earlier this year they tested them with 500 students in 20 classes.
The university is unusual. It provides laptop computers for all 7,000 of its fulltime students. It does not require students to buy their textbooks either. They rent them to save money. The school aims to save even more by moving to etextbooks.
The students in the survey reported that downloading the books from the Internet was easy. They liked the idea of carrying lighter backpacks. And 56% said they were better able to find information.
But most found that using etextbooks did not change their study habits. And 60% felt they read more when they were reading on paper. In all，almost half the students said they still liked physical textbooks better.
But the survey found that cost could be a big influence.55% said they would choose etextbooks if using them meant their textbook rental fee would not increase.
Roger Von Holzen heads the Center for Information Technology in Education at Northwest Missouri State University. He tells us that administrators are disappointed with the etextbooks now available because the majority are not interactive(交互式的)．
He thinks growth will come when more digital books include video，activities，games and other ways to interact with the information. The technology is improving. But for now，most of the books are just words on a screen.Etextbooks are not better than paper books in that________.
| A．they cost more money |
| B．they’re difficult to carry |
| C．they’re not convenient to share |
| D．they can’t be downloaded from the Internet |
How many surveyed students think paper books make better reading?
| A．60%. | B．56%. | C．55%. | D．50%. |
It can be inferred from the text that in the future________.
| A．digital books will be more popular |
| B．the digital books available need improvement |
| C．free digital books are available online |
| D．digital books will replace print textbooks |
Where we live，on the eastern shore of Maryland，the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips.
The Canada geese know this place，as do the white swans and the ducks. In autumn，they come home for the winter. Once or twice each year，snow and frozen rain move into the area. When this happens，if the river is at its narrowest，there is a freeze which hardens the water to ice.
One morning，a friend of mine set the breakfast table beside the huge window，which overlooked the Tred Avon River. Suddenly she leaned forward and cried out，“There is a goose out there.”
We saw the figure of a large Canada goose，very still，its wings folded tight to its sides，its feet frozen into the ice.
Then from the dark skies，she saw a line of swans. They floated from the top of the sky downward and at last landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now，with one hand against her mouth，unbelieving. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose，she feared that life it still had might be pecked(啄) out by those great swan bills.
Instead，those bills began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down，again and again. It went on for a long time. At last，the goose’s head was lifted. Its body was pulled. Then the goose was free and stood on the ice. And the swans stood in the air watching. Then，as if it had cried，“I cannot fly.” Four of the swans came down around it. Their powerful beaks chipped off the ice held in the feathers. Slowly，the goose spread its wings as far as they would go，and moved slowly into the sky.
This is a true story. I just think of it in the bad moment，and from it comes only one hopeful question：If so for birds，why not for man？Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Why Not for Man? | B．Graceful Swans |
| C．Swans’ Brave Act | D．I Just Couldn’t Believe It! |
What happened to the Canada goose?
| A．It was deserted by other geese. |
| B．It was stuck in the ice. |
| C．It was wounded and couldn’t fly. |
| D．It was lost in the water. |
At first the author’s friend was worried that________.
| A．the swans would not help the Canada goose |
| B．she didn’t care about this matter any more |
| C．the swans wouldn’t identify with the Canada goose |
| D．the swans would peck the Canada goose to death |
What did the swans do when they saw the Canada goose couldn’t fly?
| A．They chipped off the ice held in its feathers. |
| B．They waited patiently for the ice held in its feathers to melt. |
| C．They came down and lifted it up to the sky together. |
| D．They stayed with it and protected it. |
Below is a selection from a popular science book.
If blood is red, why are veins (静脉) blue?
Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish colour. Although blood looks red when it's outside the body, when it's sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin, it's more of a dark reddish purple color. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison.
Which works harder, your heart or your brain?
Which works harder depends on whether you are busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker. But, in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you’re sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it.
Why do teeth fall out, and why don't they grow back in grown-ups?
Baby (or "milk") teeth do not last long; they fall out to make room for bigger, stronger adult teeth later on. Adult teeth fall out when they become damaged, decayed and infected by bacteria. Once this second set of teeth has grown in, you're done. When they're gone, they’re gone. This is because nature figures you're set for life, and what controls regrowth of your teeth switches off.
Do old people shrink as they age?
Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn't because they're shrinking all over. They simply lose height as their spine(脊柱) becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effects of gravity. Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again? No, because old people don't really shrink! It is not that they are growing backwards — their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it's because the spine has shortened a little or, more often, become more bent and curved.
Why does spinning（旋转） make you dizzy (眩晕的)?
Because your brain gets confused between what you're seeing and what you're feeling. The brain senses that you’re spinning using special gravity-and-motion-sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision and balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning the system goes out of control, and your brain thinks you're moving while you're not!
Where do feelings and emotions come from?
Mostly from an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system. All mammals have this brain area — from mice to dogs, cats, and humans. So all mammals feel basic emotions like fear, pain and pleasure. But since human feelings also involve other newer bits of the brain, we feel more complex emotions than any other animal on the planet.
If exercise wears you out, how can it be good for you?
Because our bodies adapt to everything we do to them. And as far as your body is concerned, it’s "use it, or lose it”! It's not that exercise makes you healthy; it's more that a lack of exercise leaves your body weak and easily affected by disease.What is the color of blood in a vein near the surface of the skin?
| A．Blue. | B．Light yellow. | C．Red. | D．Dark reddish purple. |
Why do some old people look a little shrunken as they age?
| A．Because their spine is in active use. |
| B．Because they are more easily affected by gravity. |
| C．Because they keep growing backwards. |
| D．Because their spine becomes more bent. |
Which of the following statements about our brain is true?
| A．In the long run, our brain probably works harder than our heart. |
| B．When our brain senses the spinning, we will fell dizzy. |
| C．The brains of the other mammals are as complex as those of humans. |
| D．Our feelings and emotions come from the most developed area in our brain. |
What is the main purpose of the selection?
| A．To give advice on how to stay healthy. |
| B．To provide information about our body. |
| C．To challenge new findings in medical research. |
| D．To report the latest discoveries in medical science. |
One might expect that theever-growing demands of the tourist trade would bring nothing but good for the countries that receive theholiday-makers. Indeed, a rosypicture is painted for the long-term future of the holiday industry. Every month sees the building of a new hotel somewhere,and every month another rock-bound Pacific island is advertised as the “last paradise (天堂) onearth”.
However, the scale andspeed of this growth seem setto destroy the very things tourists want to enjoy. In those countries where therewas a rush tomake quickmoney out of sea-side holidays, over-crowded beaches and theconcrete jungles ofendless hotels have begun to lose their appeal.
Those countries with little experience of tourism cansuffer most. In recentyears,Nepal set out to attract foreign visitors to fund developments in health andeducation. Its forests, full ofwildlife and rare flowers, wereoffered to tourists as one more untouched paradise. Infact, the nature all toosoon felt the effects of thousands of holiday-makers traveling through the forest land.Ancient tracks became major routes for thewalkers, with the consequent exploitation ofprecious trees and plants.
Not only the environment of a country can suffer from the sudden growth of tourism. The people as well rapidly feel its effects. Farmland makes way for hotels, roads and airports; the old way of life goes away. The one-time farmer is now the servant of some multi-national organization; he is no longer his own master. Once it was his back that bore the pain; now it is his smile that is exploited. No doubt he wonders whether he wasn’t happier in his village working his own land.
Thankfully, the tourist industry is waking up to the responsibilities it has towards those countries that receive its customers. The protection of wildlife and the creation of national parks go hand in hand with tourist development and in fact obtain financial support from tourist companies. At the same time, tourists are being encouraged to respect not only the countryside they visit but also its people.
The way tourism is handled in the next ten years will decide its fate and that of the countries we all want to visit. Their needs and problems are more important than those of the tourist companies. Increased understanding in planning world-wide tourism can preserve the market for these companies. If not, in a few years’ time the very things that attract tourists now may well have been destroyed.What does the author indicate in the last sentence of Paragraph 1?
| A．The Pacific island is a paradise. |
| B．The Pacific island is worth visiting. |
| C．The advertisement is not convincing. |
| D．The advertisement is not impressive. |
The example of Nepal is used to suggest _________.
| A．its natural resources are untouched |
| B．its forests are exploited for farmland |
| C．it develops well in health and education |
| D．it suffers from the heavy flow of tourists |
Which of the following determines the future of tourism?
| A．The number of tourists. |
| B．The improvement of services. |
| C．The promotion of new products. |
| D．The management of tourism. |
The author’s attitude towards the development of the tourist industry is __________.
| A．optimistic | B．doubtful | C．objective | D．negative |
“I stepped out and was flabbergasted,” local journalist Bahram Baloch told the BBC. “I could see this gray, dome-shaped (圆顶形的) body in the distance, like a giant whale swimming near the surface. Hundreds of people had gathered to watch it in disbelief.”
This island has become a global curiosity. How was it formed in just a few minutes?
As you might already know, many islands in the sea are formed by volcanoes. There are numerous volcanoes under the sea. As the hot lava erupts and cools down, it piles up and forms the shape of a mountain. When the mountain “grows” to higher than the sea level, the part that’s above the water is what we call an “island”.
This is how the island was formed after the Pakistan earthquake, except that instead of a regular volcano, it was a “mud volcano” that brought about this island. Lava is not the only thing that’s locked under the Earth’s crust — there is also gas. When an earthquake happens and breaks part of the crust, the gas is released at an extremely high speed, pushing mud up to the surface, according to National Geographic.
But only earthquakes that are extremely powerful can cause mud volcanoes to push up enough mud to produce islands — and this 7.7-magnitude earthquake in Pakistan was strong enough. The island is about 20 meters high, up to about 90 meters wide and 30 meters long, nearly the size of a soccer field.
In fact, mud volcano islands aren’t new. This is the fourth island of this kind in the region since 1945. But those islands usually didn’t last long.
“It will probably be gone within a couple of months,” said Bill Barnhart, a researcher with the US Geological Survey. After all, “it’s just a big pile of mud that was on the seafloor that got pushed up”.What is the article mainly about?
| A．The disastrous effects of coastal earthquakes. |
| B．The difference between mud volcanoes and regular volcanoes. |
| C．How islands are formed by mud volcanoes. |
| D．The great natural wonders of Pakistan. |
The underlined word “flabbergasted” in Paragraph 2 is closest in meaning to __________.
| A．surprised | B．disappointed | C．worried | D．curious |
We can infer from the article that __________.
| A．the new island near the coast of Pakistan actually took a few months to form |
| B．scientists still know little about different types of volcanoes |
| C．another earthquake is likely to happen in Pakistan within a couple of months |
| D．not all volcanoes change the geological appearance of the Earth |
According to the article, islands formed by mud volcanoes __________.
| A．are quite difficult to locate |
| B．usually disappear after a short period of time |
| C．are formed by hot lava from volcanoes |
| D．used to be part of the Earth’s crust |