Scientists are learning new things about Antarctica, the coldest place on Earth. For example, the Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking. A new study found that summer ice loss in parts of Antarctica was at its highest level in 1,000 years. The study showed that Antarctic ice was melting mostly from below ice shelves, where the water is warmer than the ice.
Eric Rignot is an earth system expert at the University of California, Irvine. He also works for the American space agency, NASA. There he serves as senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory, also in California. He says ice melting from below is responsible for 55 percent of the shelf loss from 2003 to 2008. That is a much higher rate than scientists thought earlier.
Professor Rignot and his team used satellite observations, radar and computer models to measure features above the ice to learn what was going on below.
The measurements show differences from one area to the next around the continent. The major ice shelves are called Ross, Filchner and Ronne. They make up two-thirds of Antarctica’s ice shelves. But they are responsible for only 15 percent of the melting ice.
The professor says even small changes, like changes in ocean flow driven by wind, can make a huge difference in the melting of the ice shelf.
Sixty percent of the Earth’s fresh water is held in the huge Antarctic ice sheet. Professor Rignot says the study will help experts predict how the continent reacts to warmer ocean waters and helps to cause rising sea levels around the world. The study was published in the journal Science.What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．the Antarctic ice sheet is shrinking |
| B．the coldest place on earth |
| C．the major Antarctica’s ice shelves |
| D．the Atlantic Ocean are changing |
How did Eric Rignot and his team do the research?
| A．He serves as senior research scientist at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory. |
| B．They used satellite observations, radar and computer models to know the things happening below the ice. |
| C．Small changes, like changes in ocean flow driven by wind, can make a huge difference in the melting of the ice shelf. |
| D．They melted 55% of the Antarctica’s ice to prove their theory is right. |
Which is true of the following statements?
| A．Ice melting from below is responsible for 35 percent of the shelf loss from 2003 to 2008. |
| B．The major ice shelves are called Ross, Filchner and Ronne, which make up one-third of Antarctica’s ice shelves. |
| C．Sixty percent of the Earth’s fresh water is contained in the huge Antarctic ice sheet. |
| D．Summer ice loss in Antarctica was at its highest level in 1,000 years. |
Despite all the reports of Internet security attacks over the years, including the recent ones on Google’s e-mail service, many people have reacted to the break-ins with a shrug (耸肩).
Mr. Shulman and his company examined a list of 32 million passwords that an unknown hacker（黑客） stole last month from Rock You, a company that makes software for users of social networking sites like Facebook and MySpace. The list was briefly posted on the Web, and hackers and security researchers downloaded it.
The list provided an unusually detailed window into computer users’ password habits. Typically, only government agencies like the F.B.I. or the National Security Agency have had access to such a large password list.
Some Web sites try to keep back the attackers by freezing an account for a certain period of time if too many incorrect passwords are typed. But experts say that the hackers simply learn to trick the system, by making guesses at an acceptable rate, for instance.
To improve security, some Wed sites are forcing users to mix letters,numbers even symbols in their passwords. Others, like Twitter, prevent people from picking common passwords.
Still, researchers say, social networking and entertainment Web sites often try to make life simpler for their users and are unwilling to put too many controls in place.
Even commercial sites like eBay must weigh the consequences of freezing accounts, since a hacker could, say, try to win an auction（拍卖） by freezing the accounts of other potential buyers.
But owing to the reality of our overcrowded brains, the experts suggest that everyone choose at least two different passwords— a complex one for Web sites where security is vital, such as banks and e-mail, and a simpler one for less risky places, such as social networking and entertainment sites.
Mr. Moss relies on passwords at least 12 characters long, figuring that those make him a more difficult target than the millions of people who choose five-and six-character passwords.
“It’s like the joke where the hikers run into a bear in the forest, and the hiker that survives is the one who outruns his companions,” Mr. Moss said. “You just want to run that bit faster.”The underlined sentence “Many people have reacted to the break-ins with a shrug” shows that many people .
| A．don’t take seriously the hacker’s break-ins |
| B．are worried and frightened at the hacker’s break-ins |
| C．don’t know what to do with the hacker’s attacks |
| D．are eager to get helps from the experts |
According to the passage, which of the following web sites needs a more complex password?
| A．A social web site. | B．An entertainment web site. |
| C．A commercial web site. | D．A game web site. |
The Internet users are advised to in order to keep back the hackers.
| A．mix letters, numbers and symbols as well |
| B．choose passwords with at least 12 characters |
| C．choose passwords with 5 or 6 characters |
| D．choose at least two different passwords |
Which would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Password, good luck or risk! | B．Popular Passwords, High Risk! |
| C．Clever Hackers, Stupid Netizens. | D．Hacker,the Enemy of Internet Security. |
I shall never forget the night, a few years ago, when Marion J. Douglas was a student in one of my calsses. (I have not used his real name for personal reasons. As he requested.) But here is his real story as he told it before one of our adult – education classes. He told us how tragedy had struck at his home, not once, but twice. The first time he had lost his five-old daughter, a child he adored. He and his wife thought they couldn’t bear that first loss; but, as he said:“Ten months later, God gave us another little girl and she died in five days.”
This double bereavement was almost too much to bear. “I couldn’t take it,” this father told us. “I couldn’t sleep, I couldn’t eat, I couldn’t rest or relax. My nerves were entirely shaken and my confidence gone.” At last he went to doctors; one recommended sleeping pills and another recommended a trip. He tried both, but neither helped. He said:“My body felt as if it was surrounded in a vice(大钳子), and the jaws of the vice were being drawn tighter and tighter.” The tension of grief(悲伤)——if you have ever been paralyzed(使瘫痪)by sorrow, you know what he meant.
But thank God, I had one child left ——a four —year— old son. He gave me the solution to my problem. One afternoon as I sat around feeling sorry for myself, he asked; ‘Daddy, will you build a boat for me?’ I was in no mood to build a boat; in fact, I was in no mood to do anything. But my son is a persistent little fellow! I had to give in.
Building that toy boat took me about three hours. By the time it was finished, I realized that those three hours spent building that boat were first hours of mental relaxation and peace that I had had in months! I realized that it is difficult to worry while you are busy doing something that requires planning and thinking. In my case, building the boat had knocked worry out of the ring. So I determined to keep busy.
The following night, I went from room to room in the house, making a list of jobs that ought to be done. Scores of items needed to be repaired: bookcase, stair steps, storm windows, window-shades, locks, leaky taps. Amazing as it seems, in the course of two weeks I had made a list of 242 items that needed attention.
“During the last two years I have completed most of them. I am busy now that I have no time for worry.”
No time for worry! That is exactly what Winston Churchill said when he was working eighteen hours a day at the height of the war. When he was asked if he worried about his huge responsibilities, he said :“I am too busy. I have no time for worry.”The underlined word “bereavement” in the second paragraph refers to .
| A．having lost a loved one | B．having lost a valuable article |
| C．having lost a profit-making business | D．having lost a well-paid job |
Marion felt his body as if it was caught in a vice because.
| A．he couldn’t earn enough money to support his family |
| B．he was suffering from sleeplessness disease |
| C．he couldn’t get out of mental pressure |
| D．he felt tired of adult-education classes |
Marion made a list of over 200 items that needed to be repaired because .
| A．he hadn’t been able to spare time to mend them |
| B．he wanted to kill his free time by repairing them |
| C．the items had actually been broken and needed attention |
| D．repairing the items helped crowd worry out of his mind |
At the end of the passage, the author wrote about Winston Churchill in order to .
| A．prove that he followed Churchill’s example |
| B．support his student’s solution to his problem |
| C．show that he was successful in his career |
| D．clarify how his conclusion was reached |
It was shortly before midnight, and Dr Patricia was getting ready for bed. The phone rang on the end of the line was a woman about to break a promise.
The woman was her mother’s neighbor. Flora Harris had made the neighbor swear she wouldn’t tell her daughter she’d had a heart attack and was in the hospital, for fear her daughter would worry. The neighbor wisely decided to disobey orders.
Harris desperately wanted to get to the hospital immediately, but she couldn’t. She lives in Washington, D. C, and her mother lives in California.
For the past year a half, Harris has gone to Los Angeles every other month to take care of her mother. Flora Harris takes care of her husband, James, who’s 91 and has Alzheimer’s disease. They live in their own home, and a caregiver comes to help them a few hours a day.
Harris is one of many Americans facing the heartache of how to take care of aging parents from afar. She’s often worried, not to mention exrtemely busy with a demanding job, two teenage daughters and the frequent trips to California.
In some ways, Harris is lucky. She has the resources to make the trips to Los Angeles. Plus, Harris is a doctor who treats the elderly.
“But it’s still tough,” she says. “I can foresee what the next few years are going to look like, and it’s not a pretty picture. My father’s going to need diapers (尿布). There will come a time when he won’t recognize me and he’s easily excited. I worry he’s going to be violent and hurt my mother.”
So what do you do when you live a continent away from your aging, sick parents? There are no magic answers. You can hire someone to help, but you can’t oursource it completely.Why was the woman thought to have broken a promise?
| A．She failed to take care of Flora. |
| B．She was not supposed to call Harris at midnight. |
| C．She couldn’t go to hospital on time. |
| D．She told Harris about her mother’s illness. |
What can we learn about Patricia Harris from the passage?
| A．She thinks it harder to look after her parents the next few years. |
| B．Her parents cannot take of themselves at all. |
| C．She cannot do a demanding job. |
| D．She cannot afford to go to California often. |
What does the underlined word “outsource” in the last paragragh mean?
| A．Arrange somebody outside to do a job. |
| B．Work something out by oneself. |
| C．Speak something out for help. |
| D．Understand something. |
What’s the main idea of this passage?
| A．Aging people in the USA are increasing. |
| B．The rate of heart disease is high in America. |
| C．It is difficult to tend aging parents from afar. |
| D．Harris advises on tending aging parents from afar. |
Star Wars Millennium Falcon
This is a gift that, if we’re being honest, many dads want to own for themselves. This huge ship is the greatest Star Wars toy. It lights up and makes some noises. Every boy from 3 to 53 will absolutely like it, if they can find room for it. I dare say even a few grandfathers might go for it.
Biscuit—the Loving Pup
You may clearly know that a pet can be a great thing to a child’s development but you probably don’t think that you can take care of a dog properly. The robot dog Biscuit is less likely to exacerbate the disorder of your house and except for a few dead batteries, won’t leave any surprises on the floor. It will be a good playmate for your kids.
JVC KD-10 Headphones
It’s increasingly common for kids to enjoy themselves on long journeys with a portable (便携式的)DVD player or an iPod MP3, but the headphones that come with expensive electronics are seldom suitable for young ears. Kids should use JVC headphones that have a sound limiter that can be set by the concerned parent.
Sparrow-kids Routemaster Kit
Sparrow-kids Kit makes a huge range of craft (工艺) tools. There are lots of pretty but achievable projects for young girls to take up their (safe plastic) needles and sew.
Holz Wooden Airport
It might be said that Britain doesn’t need another airport but when it’s a traditional wooden toy like this all of you would agree that it’s a good thing. Treated with a little care, this play-set could easily entertain your young air traffic controllers.The underlined word “exacerbate” in the second paragraph can be replaced by “”.
| A．worsen | B．improve | C．protect | D．cure |
Which of the gifts is designed mainly for girls?
| A．Holz Wooden Airport. | B．Sparrow-kids Routemaster Kit |
| C．Star Wars Millennium Falcon. | D．Biscuit—the Loving Pup. |
The five things listed in the passage are .
| A．presents for the whole family | B．gifts mainly for children |
| C．craft tools for children | D．the latest high-tech products |
Women are on their way to holding more than half of all American jobs. The latest government report shows that their share of non-farm jobs nearly reached fifty percent in September, 2009.
The job market continues to suffer the effects of last year’s financial crash. On the one hand more women have entered the labor market over the years, and on the other hand the economic recession (衰退) has hit men harder than women. In October the unemployment rate for men was almost 11% compared to 8% for women.
Industries that traditionally use lots of men have suffered deep cuts. For example, manufacturing (制造业) and building lost more jobs last month. But health care and temporary employment services have had job growth. Both of those industries employ high percentages of women.
Thirty years ago, women earned sixty-two cents for every dollar that men earned. Now, for those who usually work full time, women earn about eighty percent of what men earn. And a recent study from the University of California, Davis, reveals that women hold fifty-one percent of well-paid management and professional jobs. Yet the study also shows that men still hold about nine out of every ten top positions at most companies. The results have remained largely unchanged for five years.
Also, a new research paper in the journal Sex Roles looks at the experiences of women who are the main earners in their families. Rebecca Meisenbach at the University of Missouri in Columbia interviewed fifteen women. She found that they all value their independence and many enjoy having the power of control, though not all want it. But they even feel more pressure and worry. That is partly because of cultural expectations that working women should still take care of the children. Also, men who are not the main earners may feel threatened.Which of the following is a reason why women have a larger share of jobs?
| A．Women workers are paid less than men. |
| B．More women now have higher education than men. |
| C．The economic recession has affected men more than women. |
| D．Industries that traditionally use lots of men now need more women. |
There have been an increasing number of jobs for women in .
| A．manufacturing | B．building | C．health care | D．farming |
In the late 1970s, if a man earned 500 dollars a month, a woman probably earned .
| A．＄260 | B．＄310 | C．＄400 | D．＄500 |
If a woman is the main earner in her family, she probably .
| A．hopes to be less independent | B．has the power of control |
| C．feels a bit threatened | D．is less worried |