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。
If cars had wings,they could fly and that just might happen,beginning in 2011.The company Terrafugia,based in Woburn,Massachusetts,says it plans to deliver its carplane,the Transition,to customers by the end of 2011.
“It's the next ‘wow’ vehicle,” said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh.“Anybody can buy a Ferrari,but as we say,Ferraris don't fly.”
The carplane has wings that unfold for flying-a process the company says takes one minute-and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies,although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations,and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports:You drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go. When you land,you fold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don't have to store it at an airport-you park it in the garage at home.
The carplane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds,including fuel and passengers. Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under the bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界的) conditions.
The Transition's price tag:$194,000.But there may be additional charges for options like a radio,a transponder or a GPS. Another option is a fullplane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation,it is the necessary safety option,” Gersh said.
So far,the company has more than 70 orders with deposits. “We're working very closely with them,but there are still some remaining steps,” Brown said.We can learn from the first two paragraphs that ________.
A.carplanes will be popular in 2011 |
B.people might drive a carplane in 2011 |
C.both the Transition and Ferrari can take off and land |
D.Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts |
It takes the carplane one minute to ________.
A.fold and unfold its wings |
B.unfold wings for flying |
C.land in the airport |
D.meet flying safety regulations |
According to the passage,which of the following is NOT true?
A.The carplane needs a runway to take off and land.
B.To meet aircraft regulations,the company has been working with FAA.
C.The carplane may fly as high as normal planes.
D.People can park the carplane in the garage at their home.The underlined word “it” in the last but one paragraph refers to ________.
A.the radio |
B.the transponder |
C.the GPS |
D.the fullplane parachute |
What's the best title for the passage?
A.Cars with wings may be just around the corner |
B.Which to choose:a Ferrari or a carplane? |
C.A more convenient and cheaper way to fly |
D.Cars with wings can fly as fast as planes |
Can dogs and cats live in peace in the same home? People who are thinking about adopting a dog as a friend for their cat are worried that they will fight. A recent research has found a new way for success. According to the study, if the cat is adopted before the dog, and if they are introduced when still young (less than 6 months for cats, a year for dogs), it is highly probable that the two pets will get along swimmingly. Twothirds of the homes interviewed reported a positive relationship between their cat and dog.
However, it wasn't all sweetness and light. There was a reported coldness between the cat and dog in 25% of the homes, while attacking and fighting were observed in 10% of the homes. One reason for this is probably that some of their body signals are just opposite. For example, when a cat turns its head away it signals attack, while a dog doing the same signals admitting defeat.
In homes with cats and dogs living peacefully, researchers observed a surprising behaviour. They are learning how to talk each other's language. It is a surprise that cats can learn how to talk “dog”, and dogs can learn how to talk “cat”.
What's interesting is that both cats and dogs have appeared to develop their intelligence. They can learn to read each other's body signals, suggesting that the two may have more in common than was previously thought. Once familiar with each other's presence and body language, cats and dogs can play together, greet each other nose to nose, and enjoy sleeping together on the sofa. They can easily share the same water bowl and in some cases groom (梳理) each other.
The advantage of this research on cats and dogs may not only about pets — to people who don't get along, including neighbors, colleagues at work, and even world superpowers. If cats and dogs can learn to get along, surely people have a good chance.The underlined word “swimmingly” in Paragraph 1 is closest in meaning to .
A.early | B.sweetly |
C.quickly | D.suprisingly |
Some cats and dogs may fight when .
A.they are cold to each other |
B.they look away from each other |
C.they understand each other's signals in a wrong way |
D.they are introduced at an early age |
What is found surprising about cats and dogs?
A.They eat and sleep together. |
B.They observe each other's behaviors. |
C.They learn to speak each other's language. |
D.They know something from each other's voices. |
What can we human beings learn from cats and dogs?
A.We should learn to live in peace. |
B.We should know more about animals. |
C.We should live in peace with animals. |
D.We should learn more body languages. |
The rising costs of health care have become a problem for many countries in the world. To deal with this problem, it is recommended that a big part of the government’s health budget be used for health education and disease prevention instead of treatment. Actually, many kinds of diseases are preventable in many ways and preventing a disease is usually much cheaper than treating it. For example, people could avoid catching a cold if they dressed warmly when the weather starts getting cold. But many people get sick because they fail to do so, and have to spend money seeing a doctor.
Daily habits like eating more healthy food would have kept millions of families from becoming bankrupt if the patients had taken measures for early prevention. For instance, keeping a balanced diet, such as not consuming too much animal fat and insuring a steady intake of vegetables and frits, seems to be quite important.
One very effective and costless way of prevention is regular exercise, which is necessary for a healthy mind and body. Regular exercise, such as running, walking, and playing sports is a good way to make people feel better and reduce stress.
In addition, health education plays a key role in improving people’s health. By giving people more information about health, countries could help people understand the importance of disease prevention and ways to achieve it. For example, knowing one’s family medical history is an effective way to help keep healthy. Information about health problem among close relatives will make them aware of what they should do to prevent certain diseases through lifestyle changes, Which will work before it is too late.
However, stressing disease prevention does not mean medical treatment is unimportant. After all, prevention and treatment are just two different means toward the same effect. In conclusion, we could save money on health care and treat patients more successfully if our country spends more money on health prevention and education.What’s the best title of the passage?
A.Prevention or Education? | B.Prevention or Treatment? |
C.Health or Illness? | D.Exercise or Illness? |
Which of the following can replace the underlined word “bankrupt”?
A.Unable to be cured | B.Unable to pay one’s debts |
C.Stronger than ever before | D.More successful than ever before |
We learn form the passage that _______
A.dressing warmly can prevent disease |
B.a balanced diet is cheaper than regular exercise |
C.the more health education, the better |
D.the government’s health budget should be increased |
Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
“Hey, little boy, will you support me when I’m getting old?” Wang Wenshan, 35, asked his newborn baby as he picked him up at home.
The Chinese tradition of raising sons to support parents in their old age has been weakened by the rapidly growing economy and improving standard of living. As is the case with more and more developed countries, China faces an aging society. People are living longer and having fewer children. Therefore, many Chinese families are falling into a 4-2-1 family pattern: a couple raises one child and supports four elderly parents. But few realize that a problem is likely to happen ahead.
The aging of the population is a trend that now affects a growing number of countries. Not long ago, the Information Office of the State Council, China’s cabinet, issued a white paper on measures China is taking to help its elderly population. The paper said China’s population entered the aging period at the end of the 20th century and the proportion of people aged 60 and above accounted for over 10 percent of the entire population. By the end of 2005, China had nearly 144 million people over 60, accounting for 11 percent of population, according to the white paper.
An expanding aged population inevitably means that many issues must be settled, as the problem concerns every aspect of society. It puts more pressure on each family, causing disturbing economic consequences and serious social problems. It also challenges the labor force supply and the pension system.
“I used to think that it’s not an issue for me to provide for the aged,” said Wang, whose parents and parents-in-law all enjoy pensions and medical insurance. But last year Wang’s father suffered a serious illness and afterward Wang began to feel the pressure on his shoulders.
After his father recovered, Wang opened bank accounts for each parent and deposited some money into the account every month to prepare for future uncertainties. In addition, he has to save money every month to provide for his son’s future education. “I’m now breaking my back working to support my family: saving pensions for the parents, my son’s education funds, and living costs.”
Wang also bought some commercial old-age insurance for himself. “We have to take precautions before it is too late, and many of my colleagues share the same view,” he said. Which of the following is not caused by an aging society?
A.Social problem |
B.The problem of the pension system |
C.More pressure on the family |
D.Unemployment |
From the passage, we can infer _______
A.the aging people problem is one of the concerns for the Chinese government |
B.China will encourage young couples to have more than one child |
C.many people have realized the problem of aging society |
D.children will not support their parents in an aging society |
Which of the following can be used to replace the underlined word inevitably?
A.Surprisingly | B.Certainly | C.Hopefully | D.Unluckily |
Form the text we can see that _______
A.China is the only country to face an aging society |
B.Most of the developing countries face an aging society |
C.countries with a large population face an aging society |
D.more and more developed countries face an aging society |
William Butler Yeats, a most famous Irish writer, was born in Dublin on June 13, 1865. His childhood lacked the harmony(和睦)that was typical of a happy family. Later, Yeats shocked his family by saying that he remembered “little of childhood but its pain”. In fact, he inherited(继承)excellent taste in art from his family—both his father and his brother were painters. But he finally settled on literature, particularly drama(戏剧)and poetry.
Yeats had strong faith in the coming of new artistic movements. He set himself the fresh task in founding an Irish national theatre in the late 1890s. His early theatrical experiments, however, were not received favorably at beginning. He didn’t lose heart, and finally enjoyed success in his poetical drama.
Compared with his dramatic works, Yeats’s poems attract much admiring notice. The subject matter includes love, nature, history, time and aging. Though Yeats generally relied on very traditional forms, he brought modern sensibility to them. As his literary life progressed, his poetry grew finer and richer, which led him to worldwide recognition.
He had not enjoyed a major public life since winning the Nobel Price in 1923. Yet, he continued writing almost to the end of his life. Had Yeats stopped writing at age 40, he would probably now be valued as a minor poet, for there is no other example in literary history of a poet who produces his greatest works between the ages of 50 and 75. After Yeats’ death in 1939, W. H. Auden wrote, among others, the following lines:
Earth, receive an honored guest:
William Yeats is laid to rest.
Let the Irish vessel(船)lie
Emptied of its poetry.Which of the following can describe Yeats’s family?
A.It filled Yeats’s childhood with laughter |
B.It was shocked by Yeats’s choice |
C.It was a typically wealthy family |
D.It had an artistic atmosphere |
According to the passage, what do we know about Yeats’s life?
A.Yeats founded the first Irish theater |
B.Yeats stuck to modern forms in his poetry |
C.Yeats began to produce his best works from the 1910s |
D.Yeats was not favored by the public until the 1923 Noble Prize |
What kind of feeling is expressed in W. H. Auden’s lines?
A.Envy | B.Sympathy | C.Emptiness | D.Admiration |
What is the passage mainly about?
A.Yeats’s literary achievements | B.Yeats’s historical influence |
C.Yeats’s artistic ambition | D.Yeats’s national honor |
I never got along with Dad. But when he was dying. I set off for Nebraska to be with him and my family. I stopped for the night at a hotel with a pool, hoping it would relax me.
The pool area was empty as I walked into the still water. A man in a bathing suit appeared. He sat on the edge of the pool with his legs moving up and down in the water. He had dark hair and deep brown eyes and smiled. “Where are you going?” he asked. When I told him about my father, he asked how we got along. I tried to change the subject, but then for some reason, I told him everything.
Finally the man said, “Even with all the trouble, remember, your father still loves you.” All at once, warm and clear childhood memories came flooding back: Dad running alongside my wobbling(摇摆的)bicycle, the proud hug he gave me at my high school graduation, his laugh when I caught him off guard with a tickle(挠痒). “Yes, I know he does, ” I heard myself say. And for the first time in years I believed it. The man left, leaving me alone with my comforting thoughts.
Back in my room, as I went to bed, I decided it was time to forgive my father. Then I wished he’d forgive me too. The phone bell woke me up at 3 am. My sister’s voice sent a shiver(寒战)through me: Dad had just died. I had wanted to see him and make peace. But as sadness was beginning to surround me, I remembered that the man by the pool had already brought Dad and me together. From the passage we learn that the author _________
A.didn’t know his father was seriously ill |
B.always thought highly of his father |
C.lived in Nebraska far away from his family |
D.was going to see his father |
When the author was in the pool, ___________
A.many other people were there too |
B.he talked a lot with the man by the pool |
C.he greeted the may by the pool first |
D.the man by the pool told him everything about his family |
What made the author change his original idea about his father?
A.That he was reminded that his father actually loved him |
B.That the man by the pool mentioned his interesting childhood |
C.That he remembered his father had taught him to ride a bike |
D.That he knew his father would leave him forever |
In the last paragraph, the author was sad that he ________
A.hadn’t accepted the kind stranger’s advice |
B.had no chance to make peace with his father |
C.hadn’t obeyed his father when he was young |
D.hadn’t stayed with his father before |