To most people, noise pollution is a jet flying over their head. For one Spanish woman, it is a neighbor playing the piano. The woman has taken her neighbor to court. Now she wants to send her neighbor to prison for over seven years on the charges of psychological damage and noise pollution.
In a country known for its noisiness, the case has raised eyebrows. Neighbors often complain about street noise in Spain, but people seeking prison time for someone practicing the piano is unheard of. At the trial, Sonia Bosom says she has been suffering noise pollution up to now due to the practice sessions of Laia Martin, who lives below her. Martin, 27, didn’t admit that she played at home that often, saying she took regular classes in other towns and mostly practiced at home on the weekends.
On the first day of the trial, the newspaper reported that Bosom told the court she now hated pianos so much that she couldn’t even stand seeing them in a film.
Bosom says years of hearing constant playing has caused her “psychological injury”. Medical reports show she has suffered from a variety of problems, including insomnia (失眠), anxiety, and panic attacks.
She says tests by local authorities have found that the sound levels made by the piano are up to 10 decibels (分贝) higher than the limit. City authorities have asked the family several times to either stop the piano playing or soundproof (隔音) the room. The family told the court they carried out soundproofing work twice but the complaints continued.
The court hasn’t made a final decision. A spokeswoman says the trial will end before May.Bosom wants to send Martin to prison because _______.
| A．Martin’s playing the piano damaged her health |
| B．Bosom suffered from heart attack |
| C．Martin refused to take regular classes in other towns |
| D．Martin flew a jet over her head |
How did Laia Martin respond to the complaints?
| A．She stopped playing the piano. |
| B．She soundproofed the room. |
| C．She didn’t admit she played at home. |
| D．She took her neighbor to court. |
Which of the following may probably be the best title for the passage?
| A．A 7-year Sentence Caused by the Piano |
| B．Pianist Charged with Noise Pollution |
| C．Health Problems of a Spanish Woman |
| D．Actions Against Noise by Local Authority |
WASHINGTON—Two-thirds of the world’s polar bear population could be gone by 2050 if predictions of melting sea ice hold true, the US Geological Survey reported on Friday.
The fate of polar bears could be even worse than that estimate, because sea ice in the Arctic might be disappearing faster than the available computer models predict, the geological survey said in a report aimed at determining whether the big white bear should be listed as a threatened species.
“There is a definite link between changes in the sea ice and the welfare of polar bears,” said Steve Amstrup, who led the research team. He says Arctic sea ice is already at the lowest this year and is expected to retreat(退却) farther this month.
That means that polar bears—some 16,000 of them -- will disappear by 2050 from parts of the Arctic where sea ice is melting most rapidly, along the north coasts of Alaska and Russia, researchers said in a telephone briefing(简报).
Other polar bears could survive beyond that date but many of those could be gone by 2100, Amstrup said. By this century’s end, the only polar bears left might live in the Canadian Arctic islands and along the west coast of Greenland.
“It is likely to result in loss of approximately two-thirds of the world’s current polar bear population by the mid 21st century,” the report’s executive summary said.
“Because the observed trajectory(轨迹)of Arctic sea ice decline appears to be underestimated by currently available models, this assessment of future polar bear status may be conservative(保守的).”
In January, the US Fish and Wildlife Service proposed listing the polar bear as a threatened species, noting polar bears depend on sea ice as a platform to hunt seals, their main food.
Without enough sea ice, polar bears would be forced onto land, but they are poor hunters once they get out of the water and ice, the researchers said. The bears’ disappearance would probably take place as young cubs(幼兽)failed to survive to adulthood and females were unable to reproduce successfully.What was the US Geological Survey intended to do?
| A．To determine whether the polar bear was in danger. |
| B．To measure how fast the sea ice melts in the Arctic. |
| C．To check the predictions of the computer models. |
| D．To find out the exact number of the polar bear. |
What causes the polar bears to disappear by 2050?
| A．The pollution of the Arctic region. | B．The sea ice melting at high speed |
| C．Fewer food sources being left. | D．The temperature getting colder. |
The key to preventing polar bears dying out seems to _______________.
| A．help young polar bears to survive the cold winter |
| B．have large number of seals living in the oceans |
| C．make sure there is enough sea ice in the Arctic |
| D．provide chances for adult polar bears to reproduce |
Read the advertisements carefully. Then answer the questions that follow.
| WE NEED OFFICE CLEANERS! Three people are required for professional cleaning in the CBD area. Working hours from 5:00 pm on Mondays, Wednesdays & Fridays. Approximately five hours per shift. A good record is necessary. Experience preferred. Phone 63457843 now. |
| FLORIST WANTED! Are you a creative and trained florist with at least two years of experience? Then this may be just what you are seeking. The city’s leading Florist Artist Studio needs another part-time member on their wedding team. Please phone 6098 7888 now! |
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| WANT TO WORK AS A DENTAL NURSE? This is an exciting opportunity for a qualified dental nurse with a confident and cheerful personality to work in the School Dental Health Schemae. You must be able to get along well with children because work involves talking to groups about dental health practices. For further information, visit our website at:schooledntalservices@ gov. sg. And fax your resume to 62344567. |
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| INTERESTED IN CHILDCARE? Qualified person or preschool teacher needed for busy childcare center, south of the river. Full-time work guaranteed. Immediate start necessary. The candidate must be able to work as a co-operative team member. Phone 63452345 for an interview and fax resume to 63452345. |
You may find the above advertisements.
| A．in a store window | B．in a newspaper |
| C．in a school magazine | D．on a company notice-board |
The position of a(n)is a part-time job.
| A．preschool teacher | B．artist |
| C．florist | D．dental nurse |
Which of the following is the most important for the childcare job?
| A．Cooking skills. | B．Childcare experience. |
| C．The ability to start work in two weeks. | D．The ability to work well with other people. |
The office cleaners will be required to work abouthours a week.
| A．5 | B．10 | C．15 | D．20 |
Over the last 70 years, researchers have been studying happy and unhappy people and finally found out ten factors that make a difference. Our feelings of well-being at any moment are determined to a certain degree by genes. However, of all the factors, wealth and age are the top two.
Money can buy a degree of happiness. But once you can afford to feed, clothe and house yourself, each extra dollar makes less and less difference.
Researchers find that, on average, wealthier people are happier. But the link between money and happiness is complex. In the past half-century, average income has sharply increased in developed countries, yet happiness levels have remained almost the same. Once your basic needs are met, money only seems to increase happiness if you have more than your friends, neighbors and colleagues.
“Dollars buy status, and status makes people feel better,” conclude some experts, which helps explain why people who can seek status in other ways－scientists or actors, for example－may happily accept relatively poorly-paid jobs.
In a research, Professor Alex Michalos found that the people whose desire－not just for money, but for friends, family, job, health－rose furthest beyond what they already had, tended to be less happy than those who felt a smaller gap(差距). Indeed, the size of the gap predicted happiness about five times better than income alone. “The gap measures just blow away the only measures of income.” Says Michalos.
Another factor that has to do with happiness is age. Old age may not be so bad. “Given all the problems of aging, how could the elderly be more satisfied?” asks Professor Laura Carstensen.
In one survey, Carstensen interviewed 184 people between the ages of 18 and 94, and asked them to fill out an emotions questionnaire. She found that old people reported positive emotions just as often as young people, but negative emotions much less often.
Why are old people happier? Some scientists suggest older people may expect life to be harder and learn to live with it, or they’re more realistic about their goals, only setting ones that they know they can achieve. But Carstensen thinks that with time running out, older people have learned to focus on things that make them happy and let go of those that don’t.
“People realize not only what they have, but also that what they have cannot last forever,” she says. “A goodbye kiss to a husband or wife at the age of 85, for example, may bring far more complex emotional responses than a similar kiss to a boy or girl friend at the age of 20.”According to the passage, the feeling of happiness __________.
| A．has little to do with wealth | B．increases gradually with age |
| C．is determined partly by genes | D．is measured by desires |
Some actors would like to accept poorly-paid jobs because the jobs ____________.
| A．make them feel much better | B．improve their social position |
| C．provide chances to make friends | D．satisfy their professional interests |
Aged people are more likely to feel happy because they are more _________.
| A．optimistic | B．successful | C．practical | D．emotional |
Professor Alex Michalos found that people feel less happy if __________.
| A．the gap between reality and desire is bigger |
| B．they have a stronger desire for friendship |
| C．their income is below their expectation |
| D．the hope for good health is greater |
Sandra Cisneros was born in Chicago in 1954 to a Mexican American family. As the only girl in a family of seven children, she often felt like she had “seven fathers,” because her six brothers, as well as her father, tried to control her. Feeling shy and unimportant, she retreated(躲避) into books. Despite her love of reading, she did not do well in elementary school because she was too shy to participate.
In high school, with the encouragement of one particular teacher, Cisneros improved her grades and worked for the school literary magazine. Her father encouraged her to go to college because he thought it would be a good way for her to find a husband. Cisneros did attend college, but instead of searching for a husband, she found a teacher who helped her join the famous graduate writing program at the University of Iowa. At the university’s Writers’ Workshop, however, she felt lonely----a Mexican American from a poor neighborhood among students from wealthy families. The feeling of being so different helped Cisneros find her “Creative voice.”
“It was not until this moment when I considered myself truly different that my writing acquired a voice. I knew I was a Mexican woman, but I didn’t think it had anything to do with why I felt so much imbalance in my life, but it had everything to do with it! That’s when I decided I would write about something my classmates couldn’t write about.”
Cisneros published her first work, The House on Mango Street, when she was twenty-nine. The book tells about a young Mexican American girl growing up in a Spanish-speaking area in Chicago, much like the neighborhoods in which Cisneros lived as a child. The book won an award in 1985 and has been used in classes from high school through graduate school level. Since then, Cisneros has published several books of poetry, a children’s book, and a short-story collection.Which of the following is TRUE about Cisneros in her childhood?
| A．She had seven brothers. | B．She felt herself a nobody. |
| C．She was too shy to go to school. | D．She did not have any good teachers. |
The graduate program gave Cisneros a chance to _____.
| A．develop her writing style | B．run away from her family |
| C．make a lot of friends | D．work for a school magazine |
According to Cisneros, what played the decisive role in her success?
| A．Her early years in college. | B．Her training in the Workshop. |
| C．Her childhood experience | D．Her feeling of being different. |
What do we learn about The House on Mango Street?
| A．It wasn’t success as it was written in Spanish. |
| B．It is the only book ever written by Cisneros. |
| C．It is quite popular among students. |
| D．It won an award when Cisneros was twenty-nine. |
The Most Direct Solution to Any Problem
When trying to solve various problems in life, an approach I find very useful is tofirst identify what I’d consider the most direct solution, regardless of how I feel about actually implementing (实施) it. What isthe clearest, most direct path tomy goal or the most efficient way to get around an obstacle?
Many problems will have multiple direct solutions, but often thesesolutions will be unpleasant at first glance because they’ll require courage, self-discipline, creativity, orpersistence to implement.
For example, suppose you want to lose weight. And suppose we can say that one of direct solutionsis to eat the same as you’re eating now and increase your exercise output by 500 calories a day. It may require discipline and persistence, but most people would agree that it will work if you follow through.
Another example: However, you don’t know how that person feels about you. One direct solution would be to simply walk up, explain your thoughts and feelings, and ask if she or he is interested in discussing the possibility of a closerrelationship. This will take less than a minute to say, and whatever the outcome is, at least you know where you stand.
Anyhow it’s very simple and straightforward.
What’s the simplest and quickest way to reach your goal, assuming that you had limitless courage and discipline?
| A．Of course this solution may require a lot of courage toovercome the possibility of rejection. |
| B．But if we can get ourselves to follow through, we know the solutions will actually work. |
| C．See if you can identify the most direct solution to some of your problems. |
| D．So the best way to overcome the difficulty is to ask your friends for advice. |
E. If you implement this rather simple solution, you’lllose weight.
F. Suppose you’re interested in starting a relationship with someone.
G. However, the solution implemented does not work.