When Gretch en Baxter gets home from work as a New York City book editor, she checks her cellphone at the door. "I think we are attached to these devices (装置)in a way that is not always positive, " says Baxter, who'd rather focus at home on her husband and 12-year-old daughter. "It's there but we get crazy sometimes and we don't know where it should stop. "
Americans are connected at unprecedented (前所未有的)levels—93% now use cellphones or wireless devices; one-third of those are "smartphones" that allow users to surf the Internet and check e-mails, among other things. The benefits are obvious： checking messages on the road, staying in touch with friends and family, efficiently using time once spent waiting around.
The downside： Often, we're effectively disconnecting from those in the same room.
That's why, despite all the technology that makes communicating easier than ever, 2010 was the Year We Stopped Talking to One Another. From texting at dinner to posting on Facebook at work or checking e-mails while on a date, the connectivity revolution is creating a lot of divided attention. Many analysts say it's time to step back and reassess.
"What we're going to see in the future is new opportunities for people to be connected like never before, " says Scott Campbell, assistant professor of communication studies at the University of Michigan, who studies the social implications (暗示)of using mobile devices. "It can be a good thing. But I also see the traditional social structure is getting somewhat torn apart. "
Sherry Turkic, director of the MIT Initiative on Technology and Self in Cambridge, Mass, wants to remind people that technology can be turned off. "Our human purpose is to really have connections with people," she says. "We have to reclaim (收回)it. It's not going to happen naturally." According to the first paragraph, Gretchen Baxter thinks _____ .
| A．cellphones are not always helpful |
| B．we benefit a lot from the invention of cellphones |
| C．using cellphones too much may be bad for health |
| D．cellphones play an important role in her life |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．People communicate more now than in the past. |
| B．Using mobile devices can focus people's attention quickly. |
| C．93% of Americans often use cellphones to surf the Internet. |
| D．The use of mobile devices has a negative effect on the traditional social structure. |
What is Sherry Turkle’s attitude towards using mobile devices?
| A．Positive. |
| B．Negative. |
| C．Confused. |
| D．Uncertain. |
The main purpose of the passage is to tell readers that _____ .
| A．something must be done for people to get a real connection with others |
| B．cellphones may be replaced by new devices |
| C．cellphones should be turned off on some occasions |
| D．people should have more connections with others |
The Internet has opened up a whole new on-line world for us to meet, chat and go where we've never been before.
But just as in face-to-face communication, there are some basic rules of behavior that should be followed when online. The basic rule is simple: treat others in the same way you would want to be treated．Imagine how you'd feel if you were in the other person's shoes.
For anything you're about to send: ask yourself, "Would I say this to the person's face?" If the answer is no, rewrite and reread．Repeat the process till you feel sure that you'd feel comfortable saying the words to the person's face.
If someone in the chat room is rude to you, your instinct is to fire back in the same manner. But try not to do so. You should either ignore the person, or use your chat software to block their messages. If it was caused by a disagreement with another member, try to fix the situation by politely discussing it. Remember to respect the beliefs and opinions of others in the chat room.
Everyone was new to the network once. Offer advice when asked by newcomers, as they may not be sure what to do or how to communicate. When someone makes a mistake whether it's a stupid question or an unnecessarily long answer be kind about it. If it's a small mistake, you may not need to say anything. Even if you feel strongly about it, think twice before saying anything. Having good manners yourself doesn't give you license to correct everyone else.
If you do decide to tell someone about a mistake, point it out politely. At the same time, if you find you are wrong, be sure to correct yourself and apologize to those that you have offended.
It is not polite to ask others personal questions such as their age, sex, and marital status. Unless you know the person very well, and you are both comfortable with sharing personal information, don't ask such questions.When you send short messages to a person, you must _____.
| A．make sure that they mean no harm | B．read them again and again |
| C．say something good to hear | D．repeat them later to the person's face |
If you are hurt in the chat room by others, you should _____
| A．fight back in the same way | B．take them seriously |
| C．have none of them | D．be angry at them |
If a newcomer who communicates on line makes any mistakes, you _____.
| A．should point them out sharply |
| B．shouldn’t give any advice unless required by them |
| C．should say something about them |
| D．should take your responsibility to correct them |
This passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．some rules of Internet communication. | B．ways of sending messages |
| C．rules of the chat room | D．ways of making friends on the Internet |
While drunken driving may be on the decline, traffic safety experts remain puzzled over how to deal with another alcoholrelated danger: drunken pedestrains.
Pedestrians struck and killed by cars often are extremely drunk. In fact, they are intoxicated more frequently-and with higher bloodalcohol levels-than drunken drivers who are killed in accidents, various studies have shown. Forty percent of adult pedestrians involved in fatal crashes have a bloodalcohol level of at least 0.10-which by law in most states signifies intoxication-compared to only 25 percent of drivers in deadly accidents, according to recent federal data.
Some types of pedestrain accidents have been declining nationally, especially those involving children, but the number of adult pedestrians who are drunk when killed in traffic has remained relatively steady at 2500 a year. The total number of pedestrians killed annually in U.S. traffic accidents is at least 7000, or one of every seven highway accidents resulting in death.
“We’re dealing here, we think, with a very severe drinking problem that leads to a severe highway safety problem,” said Richard Blomberg, president of Dunlap and Associates Inc, in Norwalk, Coon.
Blomberg, whose consulting company found a very high rate of alcohol involvement in a controlled study of pedestrian accidents in New Orleans, was among several researchers who spoke on the topic at the annual meeting of the Research council’s Transportation Research Board(TRB) in Washington in January.
Pedestrian accidents have not received enough attention in the past, according to Kay Colpitts, who chairs the board’s committee on pedestrians. Few methods exist to monitor walking habits, she said, and researchers have been mystified about how to prevent disasters.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Traffic Safety. | B．Drunken Drivers. |
| C．Drunken Pedestrian Accidents. | D．A Severe Highway Safety problem. |
.Among the causes of walkers’ accidents, the most serious problem is .
| A．long delays in traffic signals that may make people cross streets without paying attention to traffic rules |
| B．alcohol |
| C．a lack of adult keeping eyes on many children involved in accidents |
| D．former drunken drivers whose licenses are not allowed to use for a time |
According to recent federal data, drunken drivers with an over 0.10 bloodalcohol level in deadly accidents .
| A．are 15 percent less than drunken adult walkers with the same level |
| B．are 2500 a year |
| C．are at least 7000 in US traffic accidents |
| D．make up oneseventh of highway accidents |
According to the passage, what is Blomberg?
| A．A researcher. | B．A specialist in traffic safety. |
| C．A clerk of a consulting company. | D．A government official |
A strong wind can be a dangerous thing — sometimes it is powerful enough to knock you off your feet. But to plants, the wind is a source of new life, carrying them or their spores (孢子) thousands of miles.
A NASA satellite called QuikSCAT has discovered highways of wind over the Earth's oceans. Scientists believe these invisible roads may explain why many nonflowering plants, such as mosses (苔) and lichens (地衣), grow where they do.
The satellite is able to send microwaves (微波) from space to the surface of the ocean. The pattern of signals that come back shows which way the winds are blowing.
Using this data, the scientists studied a group of islands in the southern hemisphere (半球), near Antarctica．Winds tend to blow anticlockwise (逆时针) in this region, but there are lots of local differences.
When the researchers compared these local patterns to botanical (植物学) data, they found that the wind had an important effect on where species of mosses, lichens, and other nonflowering plants grow.
For example, Bouvet Island and Heard Island, share 30 per cent of their moss species, 29 per cent of liverworts (叶苔), and 32 per cent of lichens — even though they are 4,430 kilometers apart. In contrast, Gough Island and Bouvet Island, separated by just 1,860 kilometers of sea, share only 16 per cent of mosses and 17 per cent of liverworts. They have no lichens in common.
Ferns (蕨类植物) and flowering plants don't travel as well in the wind, so they don't show the same kinds of distribution (分布) patterns.This story is about _____.
| A．the discovery of wind highways | B．how wind travels |
| C．how wind affects different plants | D．one function of the wind |
The underlined word "data" in the fourth paragraph means _____.
| A．signal | B．pattern | C．information | D．research |
Which of the following is wrong?
| A．Bouvet Island, Heard Island and Gough Island are all in the southern hemisphere. |
| B．Winds in the researched area blow anti-clockwise. |
| C．The scientists shouldn't base this research on how winds affect where ferns grow. |
| D．Without the discovery of QuikSCAT, the research wouldn't have made sense. |
Which of the following diagrams shows the correct position of the islands?
Every day 25 million U.S. children ride school buses. The safety record for these buses is much better than for passenger cars; but nevertheless, about 10 children are killed each year riding on large school buses, and nearly four times that number are killed outside buses in the loading zones. By and large, however, the nation’s school children are transported to and from school safety.
Even though the number of school bus accidents is not large, the safety of children is always of intense public concern. While everyone wants to see children transported safely, people are divided about what needs to be done-particularly whether seat belts should be compulsory.
People in favour of seat belts on school buses-many of them parents and medical organizations-argue that seat belts are necessary not only to reduce fatality and injury, but also to teach children lessons about the importance of using them routinely in any moving vehicle. A side benefit, they point out, is that seat belts help keep children in their seats, away from the bus driver.
People who object to seat belt installation suggest that children are already well protected by the school buses that follow the Nation Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s (NHTSA) safety requirements set in 1977. They also believe that many children won’t wear seat belts anyway, and that may damage the belts or use them as weapons to hurt other children.
A new Research council report on school bus safety suggest that there are alternate safety devices and procedures that may be more effective and less expensive. For example, the study committee suggested that raising seat backs four inches may have the same safety effectiveness as seat belts.
The report sponsored by the Department of transportation at the request of Congress, re
views seat belts extensively while taking a broader look at safety in and around school buses.According to the passage, who has the greatest degree of control of the school buses “safety”?
| A．A new Research Council. | B．The Department of Transportation. |
| C．The Medical Organization. | D．National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. |
It may be inferred from this passage that . .
| A．many of the opponents(反对者) of seat belt installation are parents and officials of the Department of Transportation |
| B．proposals of seat belts on school buses would be seriously considered |
| C．an alternate safety device (raising seat backs four inches) may be taken into consideration |
| D．The Department of Transportation may either take the idea of seat belts or other measures when it reviews the whole situation |
The title below which best expresses the idea of the passage is“”.
| A．Making School Buses Even Safer for Children | B．Seat Belts Needed on School Buses |
| C．Alternate Safety Devices and Procedures | D．Safety in and around School Buses |
Have you ever dreamed of visiting a planet in the Milky Way (银河系)? While the trip sounds exciting, it would take years and years to reach your destination. So in the future, bedtime for astronauts may be more than a few hours of regular shut eye. They would have to sleep for years.
European researchers are now conducting hibernation experiments. The study may help them understand whether humans could ever sleep through the years it would take for a space flight to distant planets. "If there was an effective technology, it could make deep-space travel a reality," said Mark Ayre of the European Space Agency last month.
What seems like a science fiction is not completely unlikely. Researchers have been able to use chemicals to put living cells into a sleep-like state where they don’t age. They have now moved on to the small, non-hibernating mammals (哺乳动物) like rats.
A major challenge is the fact that cells can be very simple systems, whereas body organs are far more complex (复杂的). "It’s like moving from a simple Apple computer to a supercomputer," said Marco Biggiogera, a hibernation researcher at Italy’s University of Pavia．Just like bears and frogs, the hibernation of human beings would cause a person’s metabolism (新陈代谢) to lower so they would need less energy.
Medical research, however, is just half of a space flight hibernation system. There is a challenge of designing a suitable protective shelter (栖身所). Such a shelter would provide the proper environment for hibernation, such as the proper temperature. It would also have to monitor (监控) life functions and serve the physiological needs of the hibernator.
According to Ayre, the six-person Human Outer Planets Exploration Mission (使命) to Jupiter’s moon (木星的卫星) Callisto could be an opportunity to use human hibernation. The mission aims to send six persons on a five-year flight to Callisto, where they will spend 30 days, in 2045.According to the article, the hibernation research ______.
| A．is just an idea | B．is always a science fiction |
| C．has already finished successfully | D．has made some progress |
In a hibernating state, a person needs ______.
| A．less sleep | B．more food | C．less energy | D．more movement |
The first try of the hibernation technology _____ the six-person Human Outer Planets
Exploration Mission to Jupiter’s moon Callisto.
| A．will be | B．has been planned for |
| C．is certain to be | D．may be |
What is the best title of the article?
| A．Hibernation Study For Space Travel | B．Welcome To Our Space Travel |
| C．To Hibernate, To Live Longer | D．Welcome To The Milky Way |