When Major Mary Jennings Hegar was serving as a captain in Afghanistan, her aircraft was shot down by enemy fire while she and her crew were taking back injured soldiers. Though injured, she completed the rescue mission (任务) while under fire on the ground and received the Purple Heart and the Distinguished Flying Cross for “outstanding heroism and selfless devotion to duty.”
However, Hegar did not get prizes for serving in combat (战斗), for it is illegal for women to be in official combat(作战) positions and to get the benefits that come with them. Hegar and three other service women filed a lawsuit(诉讼) in federal court in San Fransico on Nov. 27 in a long-overdue challenge to the Pentagon's (五角大楼) ban.
Many military women who constitute 14% of the 1.4 million active members of the military object to the policy because it stops them from applying for some 238,000 jobs and excludes (排除) them from certain promotions. It is particularly unfair because it doesn't protect women in service. Fully 85% of women, who have served since Sept.11, report having served in a combat zone or an area where they were faced with combat or immediate danger according to the lawsuit, and half reported being involved in combat operations. At least 860 female troops have been wounded and 144 killed in the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.
The ban does another bad thing: drive talented women out of service. Hegar says she is asked to leave the Air National Guard for a Reserve Liaison position because she is excluded(不包括，排除) from jobs she would like to apply for. Another woman who is suing, Captain Alexandra Zoe Bedell who was sent twice to Afghanistan, left active duty last year, because of the combat exclusion policy.
It is hard to see how the Pentagon could meet this burden. Clearly, women are capable of taking challenging, dangerous combat assignment, because as the careers of Hegar and others like her have shown they are doing it now. The Pentagon's policy is based on “outdated idea of women”, just the sort of thing the Constitution forbids.
But the Pentagon should not wait for the courts to order it to treat female service members equally. There can be little doubt that a court will eventually do just that and little doubt that, in the very near future, the no-combat rule, like the racial segregation (隔离) of troops and “Don't ask, don’t tell,” will seem like an ancient relic (遗物) of unenlightened (愚昧无知的) times.What can we know about Major Mary Jennings Hegar from the first paragraph?
| A．She failed in the rescue mission. |
| B．Her deeds were awarded by authorities |
| C．While taking back the injured soldiers some crew died. |
| D．When she was serving as a captain her aircraft crashed. |
The underlined word “constitute” in the fourth paragraph means_______ .
| A．take up | B．make up | C．set up | D．build up |
Many military women objected to the policy mainly because _______ .
| A．it had an effect on women’s rights |
| B．it was unfair to protect women in service |
| C．it prevented them from some jobs and promotions |
| D．it was opposed to women’s volunteering for combat |
What does the writer want to tell us in the last two paragraphs?
| A．Pentagon should stop the ban immediately. |
| B．Pentagon will not obey the court's decision. |
| C．Pentagon should have more women soldiers. |
| D．The public should be patient with the Pentagon. |
Who owns the large American companies that produce cars, washing machines, and television sets? They are owned by a large group of people called stockholders.
A company must have money to build factories and to buy machinery. To get this money, it sells shares of stock（股份）. Each share of stock is a share in the ownership of the company. The person who buys a share of stock becomes a part owner of the company. He is called a stockholder. A company can have thousands of stockholders. Sometimes a very large company is owned by millions of stockholders.
Few persons can afford to buy a whole company, but the average individual can become part owner of a business. He can save his dollars and buy a share of stock in a large company. A person does not have to be wealthy to be a stockholder.
When a company makes money, each stockholder may receive a dividend(股息) check, which is his share of the profits（利润）. Parts of a company’s profits are not paid out to the stockholders. This money is used by the company so it can grow larger. If the company does well, its shares of stock become more valuable.
More than 20 million people own shares of stock in America’s companies. By owning stock, they are helping America’s businesses grow. They are also putting their money to work to earn more money. The story makes you think that _____.
| A．a farmer is not allowed to buy the shares of stock |
| B．if a company does well, its shares of stock have no value |
| C．a person may own a part of the company that makes TV sets |
| D．the only people who can buy stocks are those who are wealthy |
A dividend is the stockholder’s share of the _____.
| A．company’s profits |
| B．company’s savings |
| C．company’s income |
| D．products made by the company |
Why do companies keep part of their profits?
| A．They want to buy the shares of stock, too. |
| B．They cannot find all the names of their stockholders. |
| C．They use the money to help the company grow larger. |
| D．They think they have sent their stockholders enough money. |
A Brooklyn man who was quarreling with his girlfriend yesterday threw a dog off the balcony（阳台） of her 23rd-story apartment in TriBeCa, killing it, the police said.
The man, John Jefferson, 43, of Bedford-Stuyvesant, has been charged（指控） with robbery, criminal possession of a weapon and animal cruelty, the police said. He was taken to Bellevue Hospital Center yesterday for psychiatric evaluation（精神病鉴定）, they said.
The incident began shortly before 11 a.m., the police said, when Mr. Jefferson went to visit his girlfriend, Eugenia Miller, 41, at her apartment on 80 North Moore Street. She had filed a police report on Friday accusing（控告）Mr. Jefferson of stealing from her, but yesterday she allowed him in and they began arguing, the police said.
Mr. Jefferson threatened Ms. Miller with a knife, and she called 911, the police said. When officers arrived at her door, she ran into the hallway and Mr. Jefferson stayed in the apartment, they said. Mr. Jefferson began throwing Ms. Miller’s things off the balcony, first the television, the air-conditioner and clothes, then her dog, Ribsy, the police and witnesses said.
The dog had lived in the neighborhood for more than a decade and was well liked by children. “He was like a person and he would hang out with us guys or go visit kids at the basketball court,” said neighbors. The man was taken to hospital because _____.
| A．he killed a pet dog |
| B．he was badly injured |
| C．his girlfriend asked to do so |
| D．he needed a psychiatric evaluation |
John Jefferson was accused of the following except _____.
| A．his arguing with his girlfriend |
| B．criminal possession of a weapon |
| C．animal cruelty |
| D．robbery |
From the passage we know that _____.
| A．the dog was badly hurt and sent to hospital |
| B．the dog was popular in the neighborhood |
| C．the dog was able to play basketball |
| D．the dog never went out |
Some students get so nervous before a test, they do poorly even if they know the material. Sian Beilock has studied these highly anxious test-takers.
Sian Beilock: “They start worrying about the consequences. They might even start worrying about whether this exam is going to prevent them from getting into the college they want. And when we worry, it actually uses up attention and memory resources.I talk about it as your cognitive horsepower that you could otherwise be using to focus on the exam.”
Professor Beilock and another researcher, Gerardo Ramirez, have developed a possible solution. Just before an exam, highly anxious test-takers spend ten minutes writing about their worries about the test.
Sian Beilock: “what we think happens is when students put it down on paper , they think about the worst that could happen and they reappraise the situation. They might realize it’s not as had as they might think it was before and, in essence(本质上), it prevents these thoughts from popping up when they’re actually taking a test.”
The researchers tested the idea on a group of twenty anxious college students. They gave them two short math tests. After the first one, they asked the students to either sit quietly or write about their feelings about the upcoming second test.
The researchers added to the pressure. They told the students that those who did well on the second test would get money. They also told them that their performance would affect other students as part of a team effort.
Professor Beilock says those who sat quietly scored an average of twelve percent worse on the second test. But the students who had written about their fears improved their performance by an average of five percent.
Next, the researchers used younger students in a biology class. They told them before final exams either to write about their feelings or to think about things unrelated to the test.
Prefessor Beilock says highly anxious students who did the writing got an average grade of B+, compared to a B- for those who did not.
Sian Beilock: “What we showed is that for students who are highly test-anxious, who’d done our writing intervention, all of a sudden there was no relationship between test anxiety and performance. Those students most likely to worry were performing just as well as their classmates who don’t normally get nervous in these testing situations.”
But what if students do not have a chance to write about their fears immediately before an exam or presentation? Professor Beilock says students can try it themselves at home or in the library and still improve their performance.What may happen if students have the problem of test anxiety?
| A．Test anxiety can improve students’ performance to some degree. |
| B．Students’ attention and memory resources run out when worried. |
| C．Students may not be admitted into their favorite college if worried |
| D．Test anxiety is sure to cause students to fail the test. |
Which of the following if TRUE?
| A．In the first math test, students who sat quietly performed better. |
| B．In the second math test, students who wrote about their feelings did worse. |
| C．Some college students are highly anxious test-takers while others are not in the tests. |
| D．The result in the math test agrees with that in the biology test. |
What does the underlined phrase “popping up” mean?
| A．Giving out | B．Fading away | C．Becoming clearly | D．Appearing suddenly |
what is most probably Sian Beilock?
| A．A psychology professor. | B．A philosophy researcher. |
| C．A politics professor | D．A tutor |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．It is a common practice for students being worried before a test. |
| B．Being worried before tests does harm to students’ performance. |
| C．Anxious students overcome test anxiety by writing down fears. |
| D．It is important for students to overcome test anxiety. |
American society is not nap (午睡)-friendly. In fact, says David Dinges, a sleep specialist at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, “There’s even a prohibition against admitting we need sleep”. Nobody wants to be caught napping or found asleep at work. To quote a proverb: “Some sleep five hours, nature requires seven, laziness nine and wickedness eleven.”
Wrong. The way not to fall asleep at work is to take naps when you need them. “We have to totally change our attitude toward napping,” says Dr. William Dement of Stanford University, the godfather of sleep research.
Last year a national commission led by Dement identified an “American sleep debt” which one member said was as important as the national debt. The commission was concerned about the dangers of sleepiness: people causing industrial accidents or falling asleep while driving. This may be why we have a new sleep policy in the White House. According to recent reports, President Clinton is trying to take a ha1f-hour snooze (瞌睡) every afternoon.
About 60 percent of American adults nap when given the opportunity. We seem to have “a mid afternoon quiet phase,” also called “a secondary sleep gate.” Sleeping 15 minutes to two hours in the early afternoon can reduce stress and make us refreshed. Clearly, we were born to nap.
We Superstars of Snooze don't nap to replace lost shut-eye or to prepare for a night shift.Rather, we “snack” on sleep, whenever, wherever and at whatever time we feel like it. I myself have napped in buses, cars, planes and on boats; on floors and beds; and in libraries, offices and museums.It is commonly accepted in American society that too much sleep is.
| A．unreasonable | B．criminal | C．harmful | D．costly |
The research done by the Dement Commission shows that Americans ________.
| A．don't like to take naps |
| B．are terribly worried about their national debt |
| C．sleep less than is good for them |
| D．have caused many industrial and traffic accidents |
The purpose of this article is to.
| A．warn us of the wickedness of napping |
| B．explain the danger of sleepiness |
| C．discuss the side effects of napping |
| D．convince the reader of the necessity of napping |
The underlined phrase “American sleep debt” in Para. 3 is the result of.
| A．the traditional misconception the Americans have about sleep |
| B．the new sleep policy of the Clinton Administration |
| C．the rapid development of American industry |
| D．the Americans' worry about the danger of sleepiness |
The second sentence of the last paragraph tells us that it is .
| A．preferable to have a sound sleep before a night shift |
| B．good practice to eat something light before we go to bed |
| C．essential to make up for cost sleep |
| D．natural to take a nap whenever we feel the need for it |
If you have ever been rock climbing, you will know that it is not a very easy sport. In fact, you probably felt quite defeated when you first tried to do any serious climbing. Indoor and outdoor rock climbing are both extremely demanding and require practice to get good at. It is one of the most physically and mentally demanding sports.
There are three basic types of rock climbing. Top roping is the most common type and the climber need to climb with a partner. The second type, which is very similar to top roping, is called lead climbing. In both of the types, the climber can sit off the wall and rest on the rope. The third type is called bouldering. Bouldering is a type of free climbing without any ropes. This is the most demanding of all climbing types. The climber must be able to complete the climbing without taking a rest on the rope.
Believe it or not, climbing is said to be about 75% legs and only 25% arms. To climb efficiently and successfully, a person needs to have a wonderful technique. One of the major rules of rock climbing is to always have three points touching the wall, whether it is both feet and one hand, or one foot and both hands, as it is much easier to have your weight cases will not do the climbing; they only hold you into the wall so that your legs are actually pushing you upward. Also, the closer you are to the wall, the easier it is to climb.
Rock climbing may sound a bit too extreme for the everyday person, but it is really an amazing workout. Once you get into the sport, and learn how to position your body and rest your weight, then you can begin to deal with some difficult problems. The great thing about rock climbing is that it is mentally challenging as well. You are constantly analyzing the way your body moves and how to do certain moves on the wall. For anyone who wants to get into shape, rock climbing is a fun and effective way to exercise muscles.What does the author think of rock climbing?
| A．It is an easy sport. | B．It is challenging. |
| C．It is quite dangerous. | D．It is extremely difficult. |
From the text we know that _____________.
| A．indoor rock climbing is much easier than outdoor rock climbing |
| B．while rock climbing, people depend mainly on their arms |
| C．ordinary people can practise rock climbing |
| D．during climbing, the climber can always stop for a rest |
While climbing, it is much easier for a rock climber if he __________.
| A．takes a rope | B．has a partner |
| C．has three points touching the wall | D．uses feet more often |
__________ will make rock climbing easier.
| A．Keeping the body closer to the wall |
| B．Resting more often on the arms |
| C．Resting more often on the feet |
| D．Pushing forward without thinking of the problems |
By rock climbing, one can _______.
| A．get more weight and stronger muscles |
| B．get both physical and mental exercises |
| C．have a terrible experience that will last long |
| D．probably feel quite defeated |