Starting next year, Ford Motor Co. will allow parents to limit the speed at which their teenage children drive their car.
The company will make a new feature on many models that can limit teen drivers to 80 mph(130 kph), using a computer chip(芯片) in the key.
Parents in the United States, where most teens can get their driving license at 16, also have the option of programming the car key to limit the audio system volume(音量), and to sound continuous alarm if the driver doesn’t wear a seat belt.
More than half of parents surveyed worry that their teenage children are driving at unsafe speeds, talking on hand-held cell phones or texting while driving, or otherwise driving without due care and attention. More than a third of parents also are concerned that their teens do not always fasten their safety belts when driving.
“Our message to parents is, hey, we are proving you some conditions to give your new drivers that may allow you to feel a little more comfortable in giving them the car more often,” said Jim Buczkowski, Ford’s director of electronic and electrical systems engineering.
More than 5,000 US teens die each year in car crashes. The rate of crashes, fatal(致命的) and nonfatal, per mile driven for 16-year-old drivers is almost 10 times the rate for drivers aged 30 to 59, according to the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration.
The new feature, called “MyKey”, will be standard on an unspecified number of Ford models when the new models come out late next summer. The feature will spread to the entire Ford, Lincoln and Mercury Lineup as models are updated, spokesman Wes Sherwood said.
The company already uses computer chips in its keys to prevent thefts. The car won’t start unless it recognizes the chip in the key.
“It’s making use of existing technology, and through the magic of software, we’re able to build features on top of the features we already have,” Buczkowski said.
According to the passage, MyKey can ______.
| A．limit speed and prevent thefts |
| B．adjust the audio system’s volume |
| C．remind drivers to answer the phone |
| D．help drivers wear a seat belt |
According to Jim Buczkowski, MyKey ______.
| A．helps parents feel more comfortable in their cars |
| B．provides parents more chances to get along with children |
| C．helps parents feel less worried when giving cars to children |
| D．discourages parents from giving cars to their children more often |
From the passage, we can learn that ______.
| A．teens often drive 10 times faster than adults |
| B．many parents think their children drive too fast |
| C．Ford will take over Lincoln and Mercury Lineup |
| D．MyKey has nothing to do with existing technology |
Ford Motor Company’s new car key may be most welcomed by ______.
| A．teens | B．passengers | C．parents | D．policemen |
The world is filled with many interesting sounds. Some are very pleasant to hear; others are unpleasant to our ears. In a day, you probably hear hundre
ds of different sounds.
All sounds are different. Some may be soft; others may be loud. Some sounds are high; others are low.
Some sounds are useful. Without sound we c
annot talk or listen to one another. The ringing alarm clock (闹钟)makes people wake up. The hooting of a horn (喇叭声) on the road warns careless people of danger.
We make sounds by making things move to and fro(来回地). This to-and-fro movement is called vibration (振动). It means moving up and down or forwards(向前地) and backwards(向后的) very fast. This makes sound waves(波).
We can make sounds in many ways, for example, by shouting, clapping our hands and striking the table. We can make sounds only by making things vibrate. We can talk because we can make our vocal cords (声带) vibrate. Our vocal cords are in a sound box or voice box. Two vocal cords vibrate when our lungs(肺) force the air through them. We can make sounds ______.
| A．by making things still |
| B．by making things vibrate |
| C．by making things jump up and down |
| D．by changing the positions of things |
Some sounds are useful because ______.
| A．they can wake people up |
| B．they can warn people to be careful when they are crossing the road |
| C．they make it possible for people to talk or listen to each other |
| D．all of the above |
When the air is through our vocal cords, it can make them ______.
| A．vibrate | B．breathe the air |
| C．talk to each other | D．move forward and backward |
Sounds are different because ______.
| A．different sounds have different vibrations |
| B．different sounds have different sound waves |
| C．different sounds have different vocal cords |
| D．both A and B |
Surtsey was born in 1963.Scientists saw the birth of this island. It began at 7.30 a.m. on 14th November. A fishing boat was near Iceland. The boat moved under the captain's（船长）feet. He noti
ced a strange smell. He saw some black smoke. A volcano（火山）was breaking out. Red-hot rocks, fire and smoke were rushing up from the bottom（底部）of the sea. The island grew quickly. It was 10 meters high the next day and 60 meters high on 18th November.
Scientists flew there to watch. It was exciting. Smoke and fire were still rushing up. Pieces of red-hot rock were flying into the air and falling into the sea. The sea was boiling and there was a strange light in the sky. Surtsey grew and grew. Then it stopped in June 1967.It was 175 meters high and 2 kilometers long. And life was already coming to Surtsey. Plants grew. Birds came. Some scientists built a house. They want to learn about this young island. A new island is like a new world.Surtsey is ______.
| A．an island not far from Iceland | B．a new volcano |
| C．a fishing boat | D．a place in Iceland |
When did scientist fly there to watch?
| A．Before the volcano broke out. | B．As soon as the volcano broke out. |
| C．About four days after the volcano broke out. | |
| D．After the volcano stopped rushing up. |
Put the following sentences in correct order.
a. The captain found the boat was moving. b. A new island appeared in the sea.
c. Fire, smoke and rocks were seen rushing up. d. A fishing boat was near Iceland.
e. The island grew quickly.
| A．d-a-c-b-e | B．a-b-c-d-e | C．a-b-e-c-d | D．b-e-d-a-c |
When was Surtsey born?
| A．1964 | B．1963 | C．1962 | D．1965 |
Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again. They want to bring water to the deserts， so people can live and grow food. They are learning a lot about the deserts. But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time. Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time.
Why is more and more land becoming desert？ Scientists think that people make deserts. People are doing bad things to the earth.
Some places on the earth don’t get much rain. But they still don’t become deserts. This is because some green plants are growing there. Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places. Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier. Plants do not let the wind blow(吹) the dirt away. When a bit of rain falls， the plants hold the water. Without plants， the land can become desert more easily. Deserts ________.
| A．never have any plants or animals in them |
| B．can all be turned into good land before long |
| C．are becoming smaller and smaller |
| D．get very little rain |
Smallgreenplantsareveryimportanttodryplaces because __________.
| A．they don’t let the sun make the earth even drier |
| B．they don’t let the wind blow the soil away |
| C．they hold water |
| D．All of the above. |
After reading this passage, we learn that __________.
| A．plants can keep dry land from becoming desert |
| B．it is good to get rid of the grass in the deserts |
| C．all places without much rain will become deserts |
| D．it is better to grow crops on dry land than to cut them |
Bill Javis took over our village news-agency at a time of life when most of us only want to relax. He just thought he would like something but not too much to do, and the news-agency was ready-made. The business produced little enough for him, but Bill was a man who only wanted the simplicity (简单)and order (秩序) and regularity (规律) of the job. He had been a long-serving sailor, and all his life had done everything by the clock.
Every day he opened his shop at six a.m. to catch the early trade (买卖); the papers arrived on his door-step before that. Many of Bill’s customers were city workers, and the shop was convenient for the station（邮局）. Business was tailing off by 10 o’clock, so at eleven sharp Bill closed for lunch. It was hard luck on anybody who wanted a paper or magazine in the afternoon, for most likely Bill would be down on the river bank, fishing, and his nearest competitor was five kilometers away. Sometime in the afternoon, the evening paper landed on the doormat, and at 4 o’clock Bill reopened. The evening rush lasted till seven, and it was worthwhile.
He lived in a flat above the shop, alone. Except in the very bad weather, you always knew where to find him in the afternoon, as I have said. Once, on a sunny afternoon, I walked home along the river bank from a shopping trip to the village. By my watch it was three minutes past four, so I was astonished to see Bill sitting there on his little chair with a line in the water. He had had no luck, I could see, but he was making no effort to move.
“What’s wrong, Bill?” I called out from the path.
For answer, he put a hand in his jacket and took out a big, golden object. For a moment I had no ide
a what it could be, and then it suddenly went off with a noise like a fire engine. Stopping the bell, Bill held the thing up and called back, “Ten to four, you see, and this is dead right.” I had never known anyone carrying a brass alarm clock (闹表) round with him before.Bill opened the shop so early in the day because _______．
| A．he liked to do as much as possible before he went to work |
| B．the shop had to be open when the morning papers came |
C．he was never sure of  the time |
| D．it was then that he did a lot of business |
You might say “hard luck” to someone who _______．
| A．has just heard some very good news |
| B．is less fortunate than he or she ought to be |
| C．puts great effort into whatever he or she tries |
| D．fails through his or her own fault entirely |
On that sunny afternoon, the writer was surprised when he saw Bill because _______．
| A．he thought it was late for Bill to be still fishing |
| B．he thought Bill was ill, since he was not moving at all |
| C．Bill had not caught anything, and that seemed strange |
| D．Bill stayed in his flat |
From the information given in the passage, who or what do you think was wrong?
| A．The bell was; it must have gone off at the wrong time. |
| B．Bill was; he had dropped off to sleep. |
| C．The writer’s watch was fast. |
D．Bill’s clock was wrong; it was very old. |
Animals seem to have the sense (本能) to eat when they are hungry and they do not eat more than their bodies need．It has been demonstrated that rats will, when given a choice over a period of time, prefer water with vitamins to water without vitamins even though there is no difference in taste or smell between the two water bottles. When a fragrant（香的） flavor (味道) was added to the vitamin-enriched water, the rats did seem to prefer it and kept drinking it ,even after the vitamins were switched to the clear water．In time, however, they broke the habit and went back to where the necessary vitamins were．
In a classic experiment, babies of 6 to 12 months old were placed in a cafeteria（自助） feeding arrangement, with a wide selection of baby food before them．They were given whatever food they pointed to or appeared interested in．We are told that at first they showed some unusual eating patterns, but that over a period of time they managed to select well-balanced diet．
So, in selecting food, rats and babies do seem to know and act on what's best for them．Apparently, there is a kind of “body wisdom”, which humans soon lose. Most of us do not eat as wisely as we could．Many of our food preferences are culturally determined and influenced by long-established（长期养成的）habits．Some people eat foxes, dogs and blackbirds, while we eat cows and pigs．So what people eat and how much they eat seems to be greatly influenced by what is going on around them．
53．The expression “the habit” in paragraph 1 refers to drinking water which _______．
A. has no smell B. is tasteless C. has vitamins D. is flavored (有味道的) According to the passage, adults eating habits differ from those of babies because _______．
| A．adults know better than babies what kind of food are good for their health |
| B．adults usually cannot resist (抵制) the temptation (诱惑) of various delicious foods |
| C．adults' eating habits are closely related to the social and cultural customs |
| D．adults have more choices of food than babies in eating patterns |
The author implied in the passage that most of us _______．
| A．eat a balanced diet |
| B．choose the food that is of nutrition |
| C．have the habits influenced by the surroundings |
| D．like to eat the food with a fragrant flavor． |
As far as their eating habits are concerned, babies and rats are similar in that _______．
| A．both have the wisdom to choose a balanced diet |
| B．both prefer flavored food and drink |
| C．both have the same eating patterns |
| D．both develop a taste for the same kinds of flavors |