The private automobile(私家车)has long played an important role in the United States. In fact, it has become a necessary and important part of the American way of life. In 1986, sixty-nine percent of American families owned at least one car, and thirty-eight percent had more than one. By giving workers rapid transportation, the automobile has freed them from having to live near their place of work. This has encouraged the growth of the cities, but it has also led to traffic problems.
For farm families the automobiles is very helpful. It has made it possible for them to travel to town very often for business and for pleasure, and also to transport their children to distant schools.
Family life has been affected(影响)in various ways. The car helps to keep families together when it is used for picnics, outings, and other shared experiences. However, when teenager children have the use of the car, their parents can't keep an eye on them. There is a great danger if the driver has been drinking alcohol or taking drugs—or is “showing off” by speeding or breaking other traffic laws. Mothers of victims(受害者)of such accidents have formed an organization called MADD(Mothers Against Drunk Driving). These women want to prevent further tragedies(悲剧). These women want to prevent further tragedies(悲剧). They have worked to encourage the government to limit the youngest drinking age. Students have formed a similar organization SADD(Student Against Drunk Driving)and are spreading the same message among their friends.
For many Americans the automobile is a necessity. But for some, it is also a mark of social position and for young people, a sign of becoming an adult. Altogether, cars mean very much to Americans.Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the text?
| A．Cars have encouraged the growth of the cities. |
| B．Cars can bring families together when they go for picnics. |
| C．Cars have enabled people to live far from their place for work. |
| D．Cars help city families to transport their children to faraway schools. |
What has been done to deal with the problem of drunk driving?
| A．Parents have paid more attention to their children. |
| B．Some organizations have been set up against drunk driving. |
| C．Mothers have tried to persuade their children not to drink alcohol. |
| D．University students have asked the government to solve the problem. |
We can infer from the text that________in American.
| A．it will be more difficult for people to get new cars |
| B．parents will not allow their children to have their own cars |
| C．the government will encourage people to use public transportation |
| D．cars will still be popular though they have caused many problems |
With only fish and birds for company, Eric Erden has been rowing across the Pacific Ocean to Australia in his 23-foot-long boat since he left California on July 10, 2009.
This is the first part of Eric’s trip around the world using only his own energy. He will row, bike, and walk without help from any motors at all. His plan includes climbing the tallest mountain on each of the six continents he visits, to honour the memory of a fellow climber.
He says he is doing this to show kids that they can achieve any goal, but he also hopes to have some great adventures along the way.
Storms and huge waves regularly force him in the wrong direction and even threaten to overturn his boat. “Sometimes I really feel scared,”says a somewhat embarrassed Eric. “But that’s part of the journey. I knew this wouldn’t be easy when I started.”
Protein bars give him energy, and he boils water to heat freeze-dried meals on a one-burner stove. A sun-powered machine removes salt from ocean water so he can drink it, but when that fails he sometimes tries to collect rainwater in a bucket.
He’s not bothered by any of the hardships. Eric sees the world as a laboratory where there is much to learn. And when his trip around the world takes him across land, he enjoys meeting people —especially children. He has already visited several schools and shared his story.Why is Eric making this trip?
| A．To encourage children to reach for their goal. |
| B．To learn to overcome various hardships. |
| C．To do experiments all over the world. |
| D．To honour the memory of a fellow climber. |
What does Eric plan to do on each of the six continents he will visit?
| A．Visit schools to share his story. |
| B．Study the culture of the local people. |
| C．Climb the tallest mountain. |
| D．Cycle from one end to the other. |
How does Eric mainly get drinking water?
| A．He boils the seawater on a stove. |
| B．He has brought fresh water with him. |
| C．He collects rain water in a bucket. |
| D．He uses a special machine to make seawater fresh. |
Which of the following words best describes Eric’s character?
| A．Determined. | B．Intelligent. | C．Fearless. | D．Lonely. |
Parents and kids today dress alike, listen to the same music, and are friends. Is this a good thing? Sometimes, when Mr. Ballmer and his 16-year-old daughter, Elizabeth, listen to rock music together and talk about interests both enjoy, such as pop culture, he remembers his more distant relationship with his parents when he was a teenager.
“I would never have said to my mom, ‘Hey, the new Weezer album is really great. How do you like it?’”says Ballmer. “There was just a complete gap in taste.”
Music was not the only gulf. From clothing and hairstyles to activities and expectations, earlier generations of parents and children often appeared to move in separate orbits.
Today, the generation gap has not disappeared, but it is getting narrow in many families. Conversations on subjects such as sex and drugs would not have taken place a generation ago. Now they are comfortable and common. And parent—child activities, from shopping to sports, involve a feeling of trust and friendship that can continue int0 adulthood.
No wonder greeting cards today carry the message, “To my mother, my best friend.”
But family experts warn that the new equality can also result in less respect for parents. “There’s still a lot of strictness and authority on the part of parents out there, but there is a change happening,”says Kerrie, a psychology professor at Lebanon Valley College. “In the middle of that change, there is a lot of confusion among parents.”
Family researchers offer a variety of reasons for these evolving roles and attitudes. They see the 1960s as a turning point. Great cultural changes led to more open communication and a more democratic process that encourages everyone to have a say.
“My parents were on the ‘before’side of that change, but today’s parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the ‘after’side,”explains Mr. Ballmer. “It’s not something easily accomplished by parents these days, because life is more difficult to understand or deal with, but sharing interests does make it more fun to be a parent now.”The underlined word gulf in Para.3 most probably means _________.
| A．interest | B．distance |
| C．difference | D．separation |
Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?
| A．Parents help their children develop interests in more activities. |
| B．Parents put more trust in their children’s abilities. |
| C．Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs. |
| D．Parents share more interests with their children. |
The change in today’s parent-child relationship is _________.
| A．more confusion among parents |
| B．new equality between parents and children |
| C．1ess respect for parents from children |
| D．more strictness and authority on the part of parents |
The purpose of the passage is to _________.
| A．describe the difficulties today’s parents have met with |
| B．discuss the development of the parent—child relationship |
| C．suggest the ways to handle the parent—child relationship |
| D．compare today’s parent—child relationship with that in the past |
For hundreds of years, Japan has been hit, from time to time, by tsunamis（海啸）, which are caused by earthquakes or underwater volcanoes. The story of the boy Yuuki is the story of such a disaster.
Yuuki lived with his family in a seaside village, below a small mountain. One day, as he played on top of the mountain, Yuuki felt a small earthquake but it was not strong enough to frighten anybody. Soon after, however, Yuuki noticed the sea darken and begin running away from the shore very fast, leaving behind wide areas of beach that had never been seen before.
Yuuki remembered reading that just before a terrible tsunami, the sea suddenly and quickly rolls backward. He ran to the beach, warning the villagers who had gathered to admire the new beach land.
But no one listened. They laughed at him and continued playing in the new sand.
Desperate, Yuuki could think of only one thing to do. He lit a tree branch, raced to the rice fields and began burning the harvested rice. Then he called out, “Fire! Fire! Everyone run to the mountain! Now!”
When everyone reached the mountain top, a villager cried out, “Yuuki is mad! I saw him set the fire.”Yuuki hung his head in shame, but said nothing as the villagers screamed at him.
Just then, someone shouted, “Look!”
In the distance a huge dark wave of water was speeding towards the shore. When it hit the shore, it destroyed everything.
On the mountain everyone stared at the village ruins in terror.
“I'm sorry I burned the fields,”said Yuuki, his voice trembling.
“Yuuki,”the village chief answered. “You saved us all.”
The villagers cheered and raised Yuuki into the air. “We were going to celebrate our rice harvest tonight,”said one, “but now we’ll celebrate that we’re all still alive!”Where was Yuuki when the earthquake struck?
| A．On the beach. | B．On the mountain. |
| C．In the rice fields. | D．At home. |
In what order did the following events take place?
a.Yuuki ran to the rice fields.
b.The villagers paid no attention to Yuuki’s word.
c.Yuuki went to warn the villagers.
d.The village was in ruins.
e.The people were screaming at Yuuki.
| A．c, b, d, a, e | B．a, c, d, b, e | C．c, b, a, e, d | D．a, c, d, e, b |
How did Yuuki save the villagers from the disaster?
| A．He told them about the earthquake. |
| B．He explained why the sea was flowing out. |
| C．He told the village chief to warn the people. |
| D．He set fire to the rice field. |
What were the people planning to do before the tsunami struck their village?
| A．Burn the rice crop. | B．Play on the beach. |
| C．Climb the mountain. | D．Celebrate the rice harvest. |
Human remains of ancient settlements will be reburied and lost to science under a law that threatens research into the history of humans in Britain, a group of leading archeologists (考古学家) says. In a letter addressed to the justice secretary, Ken Clarke, 40 archaeologists write of their “deep and widespread concern” about the issue. It centers on the law introduced by the Ministry of Justice in 2008 which requires all human remains unearthed in England and Wales to be reburied within two years, regardless of their age. The decision means scientists have too little time to study bones and other human remains of national and cultural significance.
“Your current requirement that all archaeologically unearthed human remains should be reburied, whether after a standard period of two years or a further special extension, is contrary to basic principles of archaeological and scientific research and of museum practice,” they write.
The law applies to any pieces of bone uncovered at around 400 dig sites, including the remains of 60 or so bodies found at Stonehenge in 2008 that date back to 3,000 BC. Archaeologists have been granted a temporary extension to give them more time, but eventuallly the bones will have to be returned to the ground.
The arrangements may result in the waste of future discoveries at sites such as Happisburgh in Norfolk, where digging is continuing after the discovery of stone tools made by early humans 950,000 years ago. If human remains were found at Happisburgh, they would be the oldest in northern Europe and the first indication of what this species was. Under the current practice of the law those remains would have to be reburied and effectively destroyed.
Before 2008, guidelines allowed for the proper preservation and study of bones of sufficient age and historical interest, while the Burial Act 1857 applied to more recent remains. The Ministry of Justice assured archaeologists two years ago that the law was temporary, but has so far failed to revise it.
Mike Parker Pearson, an archaeologist at Sheffield University, said: “Archaeologists have been extremely patient because we were led to believe the ministry was sorting out this problem, but we feel that we cannot wait any longer.”
The ministry has no guidelines on where or how remains should be reburied, or on what records should be kept.According to the passage, scientists are unhappy with the law mainly because ______.
| A．it is only a temporary measure on the human remains |
| B．it is unreasonable and thus destructive to scientific research |
| C．it was introduced by the government without their knowledge |
| D．it is vague about where and how to rebury human remains |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．Temporary extension of two years will guarantee scientists enough time. |
| B．Human remains of the oldest species were dug out at Happisburgh. |
| C．Human remains will have to be reburied despite the extension of time. |
| D．Scientists have been warned that the law can hardly be changed. |
What can be inferred about the British law governing human remains?
| A．The Ministry of Justice did not intend it to protect human remains. |
| B．The Burial Act 1857 only applied to remains uncovered before 1857. |
| C．The law on human remains hasn’t changed in recent decades. |
| D．The Ministry of Justice has not done enough about the law. |
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
| A．New discoveries should be reburied, the government demands. |
| B．Research time should be extended, scientists require. |
| C．Law on human remains needs thorough discussion, authorities say. |
| D．Law could bury ancient secrets for ever, archeologists warn. |
I went on line to check if my pay was in my bank account（账户）. To my amazement I discovered that not only had I been paid, but a company I’d never worked for had also paid me! I know I would have been beside myself (情绪失控) if my own salary was not in my account, so I tried to get the money back to the right person. Easier said than done.
The bank couldn’t help as it “wasn’t a bank problem.” The human-resource department at the company that paid me was unable to help as I didn’t have enough details. I rang the bank again. Thankfully I had a sympathetic call operator who gave me a name, so I again rang the company “Daniel” worked for.
I expected the bank would contact me to arrange to take the money from my account and repay Daniel. I heard nothing for a month and the money remained in my account when Daniel called, explaining he’d tried to get back his money but had been unsuccessful as neither the bank nor his company felt it was their error. He had rung to ask if I could speak to the bank, but after chatting for a few minutes we realized we could probably fix this problem ourselves.
We decided I would take the money from my account and he would pick it up from me. Due to my busy job I was unable to meet Daniel personally but he left me a lovely bottle of wine in exchange for what was rightfully his. I never had any intention of keeping Daniel’s pay but red tape（繁琐手续）made it difficult to do the right thing. It all came down to two people being able to do what a huge bank and a large company couldn’t do — admit a mistake has occurred and fix it.What was the attitude of the author towards the extra money in his bank account?
| A．He didn’t know what to do with it. | B．He felt lucky to get it. |
| C．He thought of keeping it for himself. | D．He wanted to return it to the right person. |
How was the problem solved in the end?
| A．The author and Daniel solved the problem themselves. |
| B．It cost Daniel a lovely bottle of wine to get back his money. |
| C．The author gave the money back to the company. |
| D．The call operator offered to solve their problem. |
From the passage we can infer that _________.
| A．the bank could solve the problem soon and easily with the red tape |
| B．some large organizations usually have troublesome official rules |
| C．Daniel didn’t know the error until he contacted the author |
| D．it was easy for a company to have a mistake which had occurred fixed |