JohnNash，aNobelPrizewinneranda-优题课

Imagine, one day, getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours, and then, after a full day of work, going back home to Beijing and having dinner there.
Sounds unusual, doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic, with the development of China’s high-speed railway system. And that’s not all. China has an even greater high-speed railway plan— to connect the country with Southeast Asia, and eventually Eastern Europe.
China is negotiating to extend its own high-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 10 to 15 years, eventually reaching London and Singapore.
China has proposed three such projects. The first would possibly connect Kunming with Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia. Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, and possibly to Germany. The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe.
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward, people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days.
The new system would still follow China’s high-speed railway standard. And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour, almost as fast as some airplanes.
China’s bullet train (高速客车), the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou, already has the world’s fastest average speed. It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours.
Of course, there are some technical challenges to overcome. There are so many issues that need to be settled, such as safety, rail gauge (轨距), maintenance of railway tracks. So, it’s important to pay attention to every detail.
But the key issue is really money. China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on domestic railway expansion.
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital investment. Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development.
It’ll be a win-win project. For other countries, the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business, tourism and so on, not to mention the better communication among those countries.
For China, such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources, but would also help develop China’s far west. We foresee that in the coming decades, millions of people will migrate to the western regions, where the land is empty and resources unused. With high-speed trains, people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for all. And they’ll trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries.
China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because _______.

A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions

B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways

C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries

D．the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation, business and tourism

According to the passage, the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is _______.

A．technical issues	B．safety of the system
C．financial problems	D．maintenance of railway tracks

Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed railway plan?

A．Critical.

B．Reserved.

C．Doubtful

D．Positive.

Along the river banks of the Amazon and the Orinoco there lives a bird that swims before it can fly, flies like a fat chicken, eats green leaves, has the stomach of a cow and has claws (爪) on its wings when young. They build their homes about 4.6m above the river, an important feature (特征) for the safety of the young. It is called the hoatzin.
In appearance, the birds of both sexes look very much alike with brown on the back and cream and red on the underside. The head is small, with a large set of feathers on the top, bright red eyes, and blue skin. Its nearest relatives are the common birds, cuckoos. Its most striking feature, though, is only found in the young.
Baby hoatzins have a claw on the leading edge of each wing and another at the end of each wing tip. Using these four claws, together with the beak (喙), they can climb about in the bushes, looking very much like primitive birds must have done. When the young hoatzins have learned to fly, they lose their claws.
During the drier months between December and March hoatzins fly about the forest in groups of 20 to 30 birds, but in April, when the rainy season begins, they collect together in smaller living units of two to seven birds for producing purposes.
What is the text mainly about?

A．Hoatzins in dry and rainy seasons.

B．The relatives and enemies of hoatzins.

C．Primitive birds and hoatzins of the Amazon.

D．The appearance and living habits of hoatzins.

Young hoatzins are different from their parents in that_________．

A．they look like young cuckoos

B．they have claws on the wings

C．they eat a lot like a cow

D．they live on river banks

What can we infer about primitive birds from the text?

A．They had claws to help them climb.

B．They could fly long distances.

C．They had four wings like hoatzins.

D．They had a head with long feathers on the top.

Why do hoatzins collect together in smaller groups when the rainy season comes?

A．To find more food.	B．To protect themselves better.
C．To keep themselves warm.	D．To produce their young.

Love, success, happiness, family and freedom——how important are these values to you? Here is one interview which explores the fundamental questions in life.
Question: Could you introduce yourself first?
Answer: My name is Misbah, 27 years old. I was born in a war-torn area. Right now I’m a web designer.
Q: What are your great memories?
A: My parents used to take us to hunt birds, climb trees, and play in the fields. For me it was like a holiday because we were going to have fun all day long. Those are my great memories.
Q: Does your childhood mean a lot to you?
A: Yes. As life was very hard, I used to work to help bring money in for the family. I spent my childhood working, with responsibilities beyond my age. However, it taught me to deal with problems all alone. I learnt to be independent.
Q: What changes would you like to make in your life?
A: If I could change something in my life, I’d change it so that my childhood could have taken place in another area. I would have loved to live with my family in freedom. Who cares whether we have much money, or whether we have a beautiful house? It doesn’t matter as long as I can live with my family and we are safe.
Q: How do you get along with your parents?
A: My parents supported me until I came of age. I want to give back what I’ve got. That’s our way. But I am working in another city. My only contact with my parents now is through the phone, but I hate using it. It filters(过滤)out your emotion and leaves your voice only. My deepest feelings should be passed through sight, hearing and touch.
In Misbah’s childhood, .

A．he was free from worry

B．he liked living in the countryside

C．he was fond of getting close to nature

D．he often spent holidays with his family

What did Misbah desire most in his childhood?

A．A colorful life.	B．A beautiful house.
C．Peace and freedom.	D．Money for his family.

How would Misbah prefer to communicate with his parents?

A．By chatting on the Internet.	B．By calling them sometimes.
C．By paying weekly visits.	D．By writing them letters.

If there were only one question left, what would it most probably be?

A．What was your childhood dream?

B．What is your biggest achievement?

C．What is your parents’ view of you?

D．What was your hardest experience in the war?

LIPITOR
ABOUT LIPITOR
Lipitor is a prescription medicine. Along with diet and exercise, it lowers “bad” cholesterol (胆固醇) in your blood. It can also raise “good” cholesterol.
Lipitor can lower the risk of heart attack in patients with several common risk factors, including family history of early heart disease, high blood pressure, age and smoking .
WHO IS LIPITOR FOR?
Who can take LIPITOR:
·People who cannot lower their cholesterol enough with diet and exercise
·Adults and children over l0
Who should NOT take LIPITOR:
·Women who are pregnant, may be pregnant, or may become pregnant. Lipitor may harm your unborn baby.
·women who are breast-feeding. Lipitor can pass into your breast milk and may harm your baby.
·People with liver (肝脏) problems
POSSIBLE SIDE EFFECTS OF LIPITOR
Serious side effects in a small number of people:
·Muscle (肌肉) problems that can lead to kidney (肾脏) problems, including kidney failure
·Liver problems. Your doctor may do blood tests to check your liver before you start Lipitor and while you are taking it.
Call your doctor right away if you have:
·Unexplained muscle pain or weakness, especially if you have a fever or feel very fired
·Swelling of the face, lips, tongue, and/or throat that may cause difficulty in breathing or swallowing
·Stomach pain
Some common side effects of LIPITOR are:
·Muscle pain
·Upset stomach
·Changes in some blood tests
HOW TO TAKE LIPITOR
DO:
·Take Lipitor as prescribed by your doctor.
·Try to eat heart-healthy foods while you take Lipitor.
·Take Lipitor at any time of day, with or without food.
·If you miss a dose (一剂), take it as soon as you remember. But if it has been more than 12 hours since your missed dose, wait. Take the next dose at your regular time.
Don’t:
·Do not change or stop your dose before talking to your doctor.
·Do not start new medicines before talking to your doctor.
What is a major function of Lipitor?

A．To help quit smoking.	B．To control blood pressure.
C．To improve unhealthy diet.	D．To lower “bad” cholesterol.

Taking Lipitor is helpful for _________.

A．breast-feeding women	B．women who are pregnant
C．adults having heart disease	D．teenagers with liver problems

If it has been over 12 hours since you missed a dose, you should _________. .

A．change the amount of your next dose

B．eat more when taking your next dose

C．have a dose as soon as you remember

D．take the next dose at your regular time

Which of the following is a common side effect of taking Lipitor?

A．Face swelling.	B．Upset stomach.
C．Kidney failure.	D．Muscle weakness.

A child who has once been pleased with a tale likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what is on the printed text in the actual situation, so much the better.
A charge (指责) made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises (出现) from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.There are also people who are against fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two -- headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say so strong that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men trying to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl -friend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.
The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is ___________ .

A．repeated without any change	B．treated as a joke
C．made some changes by the parent	D．set in the present time

According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is ________ .

A．in a realistic setting (背景)	B．heard for the first time
C．repeated too often	D．told in a different way

The advantage claimed (提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it _______.

A．makes them less fearful

B．develops their power of memory

C．makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of

D．encourages them not to have strange beliefs

One of the reasons why some people are against fairy tales is that __________.

A．they are full of imagination

B．they just make up the stories which are far from the truth

C．they are not interesting

D．they make teachers of history difficult to teach

A．a mental illness	B．overwork
C．a traffic accident	D．starvation