A locavore is someone who eats foods produced locally. Locavores usually define local as within 160 kilometers. Local is a popular word these days in food advertising. Farmers markets are also popular. These are often held once a week, usually in a big outdoor space. And some people grow their own food at home or in community gardens.
Locally grown food can cost more but locavores find it more satisfying. Not just the taste, but the fact that they are supporting local producers. And some believe eating local foods is healthier. This may be true in terms of freshness, but it also depends on how the food was produced. Restaurants are also joining the local food movement. And local food is involved in another movement—" slow food " ，whose aim is to honor the tradition of foods prepared and enjoyed with time and care, like a fine wine.
The city of Sonoma, California, is getting in the spirit of the local food movement. The city is located in the wine-making Sonoma Valley. Next week, the City Council is expected to approve changes to make it easier to raise chickens and rabbits on smaller properties.
No one is sure how many people want to. But anyone with a single family house and a fenced backyard could keep as many as sixteen chickens and eight rabbits. Larger properties could have more. Either way, a permit and inspection would be required.
Residents could sell eggs but not meat. City officials did re-search about other places with similar rules. They learned that people often end up giving their chickens names and treating them like pets.
If the happens, Sonoma residents will have no trouble finding boy names for roosters. Under the proposed new rules, the city will not permit any roosters other than those now living there. City officials want to avoid early morning wake-up calls for the neighbors. As one Sonoma official explained：”You don't need a rooster to have eggs." The best title of the passage is that _________.
| A．Locavores like their food close to home |
| B．Farmers markets are popular |
| C．How to raise roosters at home |
| D．Locally grown food can cost more |
The advantage of eating locally grown food is _________.
| A．the price is low |
| B．it is fresh |
| C．it can support the local economy |
| D．both B and C |
According to the passage, the following terms have a close connection with local food movement EXCEPT _________.
| A．farmers markets and food advertisements |
| B．locavores and healthy food |
| C．restaurants and slow food |
| D．pets and boy names |
The underlined word " that " in the last paragraph refers to —_________
| A．a permit and inspection would be required |
| B．residents could sell eggs but not meat |
| C．city officials did research about other places with similar rules |
| D．people often end up giving their chickens names and treating them like pets |
There is no doubt that adults, and even highly educated adults, vary greatly in the speed and efficiency of their reading. Some proceed very lowly throughout; others dash along too quickly and then have to regress. Poor readers in particular may lack the ability to vary their manner of reading according to the type of reading matter and to their intentions in reading it. A good reader can move at great speed through the text of a novel or similar light reading matter. He may be able to skim a page, picking up a word or two here and there, and gain a general idea of what the text is about without really reading it. In reading more difficult material, with the intention of taking in the whole of it, he will proceed more slowly, but even then he will vary his pace, concentrating on the key words and passages, perhaps re-reading them several times and pass more quickly over the remainder. A less efficient reader tends to maintain the same speed whatever the material he reads. Consequently, even light reading matter gives him little pleasure because he reads so slowly. But this pace may be too fast for really difficult material which requires special concentration at difficult points.
A type of reading which necessitates(需要) careful attention to detail is proofreading, in which the reader, in order to detect misprints in a sample print, has to notice not so much the meaning of what he reads as the exact shape and order of letters and words in the text. This is extremely difficult for most people, since they are accustomed to overlooking such details. In fact, considerable practice is required to practise this task efficiently and it can be done only by reading very slowly, and by paying comparatively little attention to the general meaning of the text.
68．This article is mainly concerned with ________.
A．the ability to read fast
B．difference in the speed and efficiency of reading
C．different reading skills
D．the reading speed of highly educated adults
69．According to the article, there is a difference in reading speed ________.
A．among adult readers
B．among young educated people
C．among readers who have different experiences
D．between the poorly educated and the highly educated
70．The underlined word "regress" can be best replaced by "________".
A．regret B．stop C．move slowly D．go back
71．The author believes a good reader should ________.
A．always read at great speed
B．read carefully and catch every detail
C．always review the text he has read
D．change his speed according to the type of text
If US software(软件) companies don’t pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye. Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry. Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top US quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country.
Already, of the world’s 12 software houses that have earned the highest position in the world, seven are in India. That’s largely because they have used new methods American software specialists refused to use. For example, for years, quality specialists, W. Edwards Deming and J.M. Juran had tried to persuade US software companies to change their attitudes to quality. But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the US--but not in Japan. By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was taking its market share with better, cheaper products. They used Deming’s and Juran’s ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs. In US factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%. In software, it still is.
Watts S. Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance(保证). But his advice was seldom paid attention to. He retired from IBM in 1986. In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(评估) and improving software quality. It has proved its value time and again. For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60 % of total software production costs. It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10 %.
Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home. The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India. Let’s hope that US lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems.
64. Which country has the most first-class software companies in the world?
A. Germany. B. The USA. C. Brazil. D. India.
65. Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?
A. He is now still an IBM employer.
B. He has worked for IBM for 37 years.
C. The US pays much attention to his quality advice.
D. India honors him highly.
66. By what means did Japan take its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?
A. Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality.
B. Its advertising was most successful.
C. The US hardware industry was falling behind.
D. Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists.
67. What is the writer worrying about?
A. Many US software specialists are working for Japan.
B. The quality problem has become a worldwide problem.
C. The US will lose its lead in software in the world.
D. India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US.
Koeler took special notice of the tall woman who was nicely dressed, but she was wearing ugly, thick-soled(厚底) shoes.
Now the woman was taken to a room for questioning. There it was found that the soles of the shoes were hollow(中空的). They were opened. Some diamonds fell out on the floor. Their total weight was 3377 carats(克拉).
The young woman broke down in tears. Then she told her story. For years she had dreamed of coming to live in America, she said. At last she had managed to get the papers she needed to come to the U.S. Then a strange man called on her. He said he would pay for her trip and give her one hundred dollars. All she had to do was to smuggle the diamonds past the U.S. Customs. The man gave her the shoes and also bought her a plane ticket. Just before she got on the plane, he gave her an envelope. He said that it was the hundred dollars he had promised.
The weeping woman handed the envelope to Koeler. He tore it open. There was only eighteen dollars. She was cheated. In the end the woman was trialed and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for her part in the smuggling.
60. Where did the story happen?
A. At an airport. B. At a police station.
C. At a railway station. D. In a custom office in China.
61. The underlined word “smuggling ” in this passage most probably means_____.
A. 偷税 B. 盗窃 C. 走私 D. 交换
62. The woman had agreed to smuggle the diamonds______.
A. in order to get the papers she needed B. in hope of selling them
C. in return for some money and a free trip D. so as to share them with the man
63. Which is the right order of the events(事件)given in the passage?
a. She wanted to live in the U.S.
b. She arrived in the U.S.
c. She was given an envelope.
d. She was given a plane ticket.
e. She was found out.
f. She was put into prison.
A. a, d, c, b, e, f B. a, b, c, e, f, d
C. a, c, d, b, e, f D. a, b, d, c, e, f
In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work every day. In New York, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bicycles to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air from car engines.For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bicycle riders. For example, they want the city to draw special lanes（车道） for bicycles only on some of the main streets, because when bicycle riders must use the same lanes as cars, there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.But no bicycle lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea—they say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets don’t like the idea—they say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business.The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park—the largest place of open ground in New York—is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bicycles only.But Bike for a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown. 56. In New York , a group of bike riders______.A. are keeping practising for healthB. have no cars of their ownC. are complaining（埋怨） there are not enough busesD. are trying to settle the problem of air pollution57. The bike riders suggest that______.A. bicycles should be used instead of carsB. bicycle lanes should be drawnC. fewer buses or cars should be used
D. the number of special lanes should be increased
58. The advantage of the special lanes is that______.
A. they will make cars and buses run slowly
B. they will make it easier for bike riders to go to parks
C. they will make the city more beautiful
D. the lanes will prevent accidents
59. The government has not decided whether special lanes should be drawn______.
A. so that everyone is disappointed
B. because there are different opinions
C. because most people travel by train
D. because Bike for a Better City is not strong enough
Even as Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda wrapped up a tired appearance before Congress，the head of the world’s largest automaker wasn’t leaving his problems behind．
Toyota faces a criminal investigation by federal lawyers in New York．The company is now being investigated．Its US dealerships（特许经销商）in difficulty now are facing repairs to potentially millions of customer cars that have been recalled．The company is offering customers money back for rental cars and other expenses．
Its lawyers are busy preparing to cope with lawsuits．A new hearing will be conducted. And the cost to Toyota’s reputation is only now starting．
Despite back-to-back hearings this week，left to be said were a better explanation for slow actions to deal with the faults and believable promises that the problems that led to sudden，unintended accelerations will be fixed．
Toyoda said those changes were being made nearly around the clock，but during three hours of often tense questions and answers he repeated that there was no link to the vehicle’s electronic systems．
Many drivers making complaints against Toyota and the government say their acceleration problems had nothing to do with floor mat interference(油门踏板故障)or sticky gas pedals(刹车)．Outside experts have suggested electronic problems.
House lawmakers expressed serious criticism on Toyoda，the grandson of the company’s founder．
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration(NHTSA)is seeking records on Toyota’s recalls and is conducting its own review on whether electronics were behind the car faults．NHTSA also continues to look into steering（转向操控装置）complaints from drivers of the popular Corolla model．
Toyota has recalled 8.5 million cars，more than 6 million of them in the United States．
It may be a while before car buyers believe that Toyota really makes safe cars．
Toyota’s January sales already fell 16 percent even as most other automakers jumped back from last year’s bad results．Analyst Koji Endo of Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo said he expects February sales，due out next week，to be down 30 percent to 40．Toyota’s sales problem could continue beyond that．
It will take some time to feel the full effect of this，he said．
67．The best title for this passage is．
A．Toyota is in trouble B．Toyota is under hearing
C．Toyota is finished D．Toyota is still running
68．What is the purpose of the hearing?
A．America hopes that Toyota apologizes to the US customers．
B．America wants to get Toyota out of the US market．
C．America wants to help Toyota out of difficulty．
D．America hopes that Toyota admits their cars have electronic system problem．
69．What can we infer from the passage?
A．Toyota provides very good post sale service．
B．Toyota’s biggest market is in the United States．
C．Toyota will become better．
D．Toyota’s dealership in the US will all be closed．
70．The last sentence of this passage indicates .
A．Analyst Koji Endo is fully confident about Toyota
B．Toyota could meet a worse situation
C．Toyota would get out of trouble sooner or later
D．Toyota would build up a better reputation among its customers