LONDON - A British judge on Thursday sentenced a businessman who sold fake(假冒的) bomb detectors(探测器) to 10 years in prison, saying the man hadn't cared about potentially deadly consequences.
It is believed that James McCormick got about $77.8 million from the sales of his detectors - which were based on a kind of golf ball finder - to countries including Iraq, Belgium and Saudi Arabia.
McCormick, 57, was convicted(判罪) of cheats last month and sentenced Thursday at the Old Bailey court in London.
"Your cheating conduct in selling a great amount of useless equipment simply for huge profit promoted a false sense of security and in all probability materially contributed to causing death and injury to innocent people," Judge Richard Hone told McCormick. "you have neither regret, nor shame, nor any sense of guilt."
The detectors, sold for up to $42,000 each, were said to be able to find such dangerous objects as bombs under water and from the air. But in fact they "lacked any grounding in science" and were of no use.
McCormick had told the court that he sold his detectors to the police in Kenya, the prison service in Hong Kong, the army in Egypt and the border control in Thailand.
"I never had any had results from customers," he said. Why was McCormick sentenced to prison?
| A．He sold bombs. |
| B．He caused death of people. |
| C．He made detectors. |
| D．He cheated in business. |
According to the judge, what McCormick had done _______.
| A．increased the cost of safeguarding |
| B．lowered people's guard against danger |
| C．changed people's idea of social security |
| D．caused innocent people to commit crimes |
Which of the following is true of the detectors?
| A．They have not been sold to Africa. |
| B．They have caused many serious problems. |
| C．They can find dangerous objects in water. |
| D．They don't function on the basis of science. |
It can be inferred from the passage that McCormick _______.
| A．sold the equipment at a low price |
| B．was well-known in most countries |
| C．did not think he had committed the crime |
| D．had not got such huge profit as mentioned in the text |
I was waiting for a phone call from my agent. He had left a message the night before, telling me that my show was to be cancelled. I called him several times, but each time his secretary told me that he was in a meeting and that he would call me later. So I waited and waited, but there was still no call. Three hours passing by, I became more and more impatient. I was certain that my agent didn’t care about my work, and he didn’t care about me. I was overcome with that thought. I started to shout at the phone, “Let me wait, will you? Who do you think you are?”
At that time I didn’t realize my wife was looking on. Without showing her surprise, she rushed in, seized the phone, tore off the wires, and shouted at the phone, “Yeah! Who do you think you are? Bad telephone! Bad telephone!” And she swept it into the wastebasket．
I stood watching her, speechless. What on earth… ?
She stepped to the doorway and shouted at the rest of the house, “Now hear this! All objects in this room – if you do anything to upset my husband, out you go!”
Then she turned to me, kissed me and said calmly, “Honey, you just have to learn how to take control. ” With that, she left the room．
After watching a crazy woman rushing in and out, shouting at everything in sight, I noticed that something in my mood had changed. I was laughing. How could I have trouble with that phone? Her antics helped me realize I had been driven crazy by small things. Twenty minutes later my agent did call. I was able to listen to him and talk to him calmly． We can infer from the passage that ________．
| A．the secretary didn’t care about the writer |
| B．the writer was bad-tempered |
| C．the agent was not responsible for his own work |
| D．the wife of the writer was not sensible |
Why did the author shout at the telephone?
| A．He was angry with his agent． |
| B．He was mad at the telephone． |
| C．He was impatient with the secretary． |
| D．He was anxious about his wife． |
What did the author’s wife do after she heard his shouting?
| A．She was speechless． |
| B．She threw the phone away． |
| C．She shouted at him． |
| D．She called the agent in person and scolded him． |
What made the author laugh?
| A．His changeable feelings． | B．His wife’s suggestion． |
| C．His own behavior． | D．His wife’s sweet kiss． |
What does the underlined word “antics” refer to?
| A．Smart words | B．Anxious feelings |
| C．Surprising looks | D．Unusual actions |
Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm.How surprised he must have been!
What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish. The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm．
When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia. Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land. The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners (吸尘器), collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish. Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before vacuum dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people．
Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur frequently in Australia. When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down. ” His statement is not surprising. The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain. Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky． What could be the feelings of Bill Tapp the moment he saw the rain of fish?
| A．excited | B．scared | C．calm | D．amazed |
Fish-falls occur in Australia ________．
A. quite often B. on large farms C. only in winter D when the air is calmThe word “infinite” is closest in meaning to _________．
| A．easy | B．difficult | C．countless | D．dangerous |
What might be the reasons of the rain of fish?
| A．Vacuum cleaners | B．Strong wind |
| C．Wind and storm | D．It is still a puzzle |
What is this passage about?
| A．A sad story． | B．Australia's northern part． |
| C．A rain of fish． | D．The damage done by floods． |
根据短文内容，从短文后的
选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
________. He had more money than he could ever spend, and he was admired and looked up to by his community._____
_____ .He was not happy. All his life he had been pursuing happiness and struggling for happiness, but he had never been able to find it.
Then one day he heard about a hidden temple in Nepal that had a special room that contained the secret of happiness._______ .After many years searching and countless hardships he arrived there. He was tired and penniless, but he knew that none of that mattered now because he had found the temple. He asked a wise, smiling monk(和尚)if he could enter the special room. The monk agreed and showed him to the stairs leading to the room.____
__ .He stared into the room with sunlight streaming through the window and saw what he had come so far to find. There hanging on the wall was the secret of happiness. The man looked at his reflection in the mirror and laughed.
____ .Happiness is a choice that we can make. Don’t spend the rest of your life searching the world for happiness then. Just look at the mirror and laugh. Let the happiness flow from your heart, mind, and soul until it fills your life and the lives of all around you.
| A．He immediately sold all that he owned and set out to find this hidden temple. |
| B．The man found the secret of happiness at last. |
| C．But he knew that something was missing in his life. |
| D．He climbed them with legs shaking with expectation and slowly opened the door. |
E. There was once a very wealthy and successful man.
F. It is time we all realized that we were the secret of our own happiness.
G. It was difficult to find the temple in Nepal.
Pingyao, in the center of Shanxi Province, is a famous historic cultural city of China and a world cultural heritage site (世界文化遗址). It’s 90 kilometers south of Taiyuan on the Fen River.
People lived in Pingyao during the New Stone Age. Its long period as a country government seat has left Pingyao with lots of historic buildings and sites, with a 2,700-year history. Ninety-nine of them are under government protection, including Zhengguo Temple, Shuanglin Temple and Pingyao Ancient City.
During the Ming and Qing Dynasties, businessmen organized commercial (商业的) groups that did business nationwide. Shanxi Province had some of the most important ones and Pingyao was their center. In 1823, a store, known as Rishengchang(Sunrise Prosperity), traded in bank checks rather than in silver or gold coins. It was the beginning of modern Chinese banking. Branch banks were soon set up in major cities in China and other parts of Asia, leading to great development in Pingyao. Its Lacquer ware (漆器) became well known.
In Pingyao Ancient City are many traditional houses and commercial buildings, 3,797 of which are protected and more than 400 of which are
in good condition. Not only do the houses in Pingyao show Shanxi’s history and culture, but this large number is valuable for studying its history, customs, and ancient buildings and art. Most of these houses are still used as homes and shops of local people.
In 1997, Ancient Pingyao City was listed in World Heritage List as “ World Culture Heritage Site”. What does the
underlined word “them”(in the 2nd paragraph) refer to?
| A．Historic buildings and sites. | B．The three temples. |
| C．The country government seats. | D．The 2,700-year history. |
Which of the following about Pingyao is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Its location (位置). | B．Its tourism. |
| C．Its business. | D．Its history. |
During the Ming and Qing dynasties, Pingyao was a leading center in __________.
| A．agriculture | B．raising cattle |
| C．commercial trade | D．making gold coins |
If you want to know about the history of banking in China, you’ll visit __________.
| A．Sunrise Prosperity | B．Zhengguo Temple |
| C．A lacquer ware store | D．A commercial house |
The main idea of the passage is that______________.
| A．Pingyao was the center of commerce |
| B．There are many ancient architecture in Pingyao |
| C．Pingyao was listed in World Heritage List |
| D．Pingyao is a historic cultural city |
Directions: The following people are expressing their thoughts (1--4) to show their concern for food, environment and so on. After that are pieces of related information (A--E). Now decide which piece of information would be most suitable for the thought and idea mentioned in questions1---4 and mark your answer letter (A---E) on your answer sheet. There is one extra paragraph which you do not need to use.
______ How I was struck by the clear water and fresh air in my childhood! But everything has changed, that is, the clear water and fresh air are nowhere to be found again as they were. Above all, a great deal of waste hardly rots away.
_____More and more people are beginning to have a good knowledge of the importance of a safer and cleaner environment, which in turn forces the business to be cleaned up.
____ I’m very much fond of growing some vegetables of my own in my small garden, for many vegetables on sale in markets are actually becoming more and more dangerous as a result of widespread pesticides.
____ Nowadays it is very convenient for consumers to find and buy green food in supermarkets as they are clearly marked.
| A．“Organic produce is always better,” Gold said. “The food is free of pesticides, and you are generally supporting family farms instead of large farms. And more often than not it is locally grown and seasonal, so it is more tasty.” Gold is one of a growing number of shoppers buying into the organic trend, and supermarkets across Britain are counting on more like him as they grow their organic food business. |
| B．The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the public accept the old attitude of “Buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it.” The public pressure is on, and gradually business is cleaning up its act.[ |
| C．Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless methods of production and lack of consumer demand for environment-friendly products have contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastic, and metal containers are produced, and these are difficult to get rid of. |
| D．Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarket products carry labels (标签) to show that the product is green. Some companies have made the manufacturing (制造) of clean and safe products their main selling point and emphasize it in their advertising. |
E. Market research shows that Gold and others who buy organic food can generally give clear reasons for their preferences - but their knowledge of organic food is far from complete. For example, small amounts of pesticides can be used on organic products. And about three quarters of organic food in Britain is not local but imported to meet growing demand. “The demand for organic food is increasing by about one third every year, so it is a very fast-growing market,” said Sue Flock, a specialist in this line of business.