You may have never heard of Lanthanum, Cerium or Neodymium, but these elements (元素) and others known as “rare earth” play a major role in modern technology. They can actually be found in many places on the earth, but not in quantities that can be mined. Only a few countries — China, America, India, Australia, Brazil and Malaysia have any that can be mined enough to be traded.
Even though some of these elements such as Cerium are as abundant as Copper, they are not found in concentrated amounts on the earth’s surface. They are often mixed together with other metals, which makes extraction (提取) of these elements an expensive and an environmentally messy process. It was due to this reason that the term “rare earth” was invented.
Rare earth metals are used widely in our life. Rechargeable car batteries, computers, iPhones, DVD players, computer monitors, televisions, lighting, lasers, glass polishing, and superconductors all use quantities of rare earth metals. Also, with the advancement in “green” technology like solar panels, these shiny materials are becoming more important than ever. An average electric car uses 10 pounds of Lanthanum for its rechargeable battery!
America has large deposits (存储量) of rare earths and has one of the first mines. It was opened in Southern California in 1940. The element “Europium” was the first metal to be separated in quantity for use in color televisions. However, in the 1980’s and 1990’s, as China started producing these elements in Inner Mongolia, the mines in America and elsewhere could not keep pace. The mine in Mountain Pass, California also failed environmental regulations and shut down in 2002.
Now, recognizing the importance of having more than one supplier of this important resource, other rare earth owning countries like India and Australia are either dusting off their rare earth mines or speeding up their production. It is believed that the debate over rare earths will become louder in the coming months and years.What can we learn about rare earths?
| A．They are actually as abundant as Copper. |
| B．They can be mined easily as other metals. |
| C．They can only be found in a few countries. |
| D．They are not really as rare as they are named. |
Compared with China, America _____.
| A．paid more attention to Europium |
| B．has larger deposits of rare earths |
| C．started producing rare earths earlier |
| D．has more rare earth mines |
It can be inferred from the text that rare earths _____.
| A．are now in great demand |
| B．can now be used in few fields |
| C．are harmful to the environment |
| D．will soon be replaced by other metals |
四、阅读理解
There’s a box of chocolates in the fridge. It’s been there for more than a week since I was given it as a present. I do love chocolates, but they make me fat if I eat too many! Can I control myself? If I eat one, will I have to eat all of them?
My son Harry is obsessed with playing Wii(/wi:/, 任天堂的一款游戏机) games. Sometimes, it’s difficult to get him to concentrate on his homework because he wants to play some more.
Last week I had to wake up a student in my class. I asked him why he was so tried and he said he had stayed up late to play his favourite Internet game, Farmville. He said he just couldn’t stop playing it! Now his academic work is suffering because he can’t control his urge to play games.
What my son, my student, and I myself need is simply self-control.
In the late 1960’s, American psychologist Walter Mischel launched an experiment about self-control. He left a group of four-year-olds in a room and told them that if they could wait 20 minutes, they could have two marshmallows, a kind of sweet. If they couldn’t wait, he would only give them one.
In videos of the experiment, you can see children squirming, kicking, hiding their eyes—desperately trying to control themselves. Some did wait patiently, while others couldn’t wait a single minute.
Years later, the self-controlled children turned out to get higher SAT scores and got into better colleges. The children who couldn’t wait were more likely to become bullies.
So, the chocolates are still in the fridge. My son Harry is doing his homework with a promise that he can play on the Wii later, and my student says he will try harder to control himself. We all have our own temptations. But if we can control them, we will achieve more.
1. Which of the following is different from the other three?
A. The writer. B. Harry. C. The writer’s student. D. Walter Mischel.
2. We can know from paragraph 5 to paragraph 7 that _________
A. all the children got two marshmallows
B. all the children waited patiently
C. self-control can help children succeed later
D. the children who lack self-control get higher SAT scores
3. Which of the following statement is true?
A. The writer is addicted to Wii.
B. The writer’s son is addicted to Farmville.
C. The writer’s student is addicted to chocolates.
D. The writer’s student is addicted to Farmville.
4. What does the underlined word mean in paragraph 5?
A. Something we can eat. B. A kind of toy.
C. A kind of mushroom. D. A kind of prize.
Farmers use different kinds of soil conservation methods to protect their land from damage by farming and the forces of nature . One important form of soil conservation is the use of windbreaks . Windbreaks are barriers formed by trees and other plants with many leaves . Farmers plant them in lines around their fields .
Windbreaks stop the wind from blowing soil away . They also keep the wind from destroying or damaging crops . They are very important for growing grains , such as wheat . There have been studies done on windbreaks in parts of West Africa , for example . These found that grain harvests can be twenty percent higher in fields protected by windbreaks compared to fields without such protection .
However , windbreaks seem to work best when they allow a little wind to pass through . If the wall of trees and plants stops wind completely , then violent air motions will take place close to the ground . These motions will lift soil into the air where it will be blown away .
For this reason , a windbreaks is best if it has only sixty to eighty percent of the trees and plants needed to make a solid line . An easy role to remember is that windbreaks can protect areas up to ten times the height of the tallest trees in the windbreaks .
These should be at least two lines in each windbreak . One line should be large trees . The second line , right next to it , can be shorter trees and other plants with leaves . Locally grown trees and plants are best for windbreaks .
1.What is the best title for the passage?
| A.Building a windbreak to protect soil |
B.Building a windbreak to protect crops |
| C.Using a windbreak to improve grains |
D.Using a windbreak to improve plants |
2.In the fifth paragraph the author tells us windbreaks______.
| A.do not work at all |
B.do not stop wind fully |
| C.will not take place |
D.will not allow wind to pass through |
3.According to the passage , which of the following statement is wrong ?
A.Windbreaks are barriers .
B.Windbreaks can be used to make fences .
C.In general , there are two lines in all in every windbreak .
D.Windbreaks can protect areas .
You wake up in the morning , the day is beautiful and the plans for the day are what you have been looking forward to for a long time . Then the telephone rings , you say hello , and the drama starts . The person on the other end has a depressing (令人沮丧的)tone in his voice as he starts to tell you how terrible his morning is and that there is nothing to look forward to . Are you still in a wonderful mood ?Impossible !
Communicating with negative people can wash out your happiness . It may not change what you think , but communicating long enough with them will make you feel depressed for a moment or a long time .
Life brings ups and downs , but some people are stuck in the wrong idea that life has no happiness to offer . They only feel glad when they make others feel bad . No wonder they can hardly win others’ pity or respect .
When you communicate with positive people , your spirit stays happy and therefore more positive things are attracted . When the dagger of a negative person is put in you , you have the heavy feeling that all in all , brings you down .
Sometimes we have no choice but to communicate with negative people . This could be a co-worker , or a relative . In this case , say what needs to be said as little as possible , Some times it feels good to let out your anger back to the negative person , but all this does is to lower you to that same negative level and they won’t feel ashamed of themselves about that .
Negativity often affects happiness without even being realized . The negative words of another at the start of the day can cling to you throughout the rest of your day ,which makes you feel bad and steals your happiness . Life is too short to feel negative . Stay positive and avoid negativity as much as possible .
1.The purpose of the first paragraph is to ______.
| A.make a comparison |
B.offer an evidence |
| C.introduce a topic |
D.describe a daily scence |
2.How can negative people have effect on us ?
| A.By influencing our emotion . |
B.By telling us the nature of life . |
| C.By changing our way of thinking . |
D.By comparing their attitude to life with ours . |
3. Some negative people base their happiness on .
| A.other people’s pity for them |
B.making other people unhappy |
| C.building up a positive attitude |
D.other people’s respect for them |
4.According to the passage , to reduce negative people’s influence on us , we are advised .
A.to change negative people’s attitude to life
B.to show our dissatisfaction to negative people
C.to make negative people feel ashamed of themselves
D.to communicate with negative people as little as possible
How Much to Tip
You’re out to dinner . The food is delicious and the service is fine . You decide to leave a big fat tip . Why ? The answer may not be as simple as you think .Tipping , psychologists have found , is not just about service . Instead , studies have shown that tipping can be affected by psychological reactions to a series of different factors from the waiter’s choice of words , to how they carry themselves while taking orders , to the bill’s total . Even how much waiters remind customers of themselves can determine how much change they pocket by the end of the night .“Studies before have shown that mimicry brings into positive feelings for the mimicker ,”wrote Rick van Baaren , a social psychology professor . “ There studies show that people who are being mimicked become more generous toward the person who mimics thorn .”
So Rick van Baaren divided 59 waiters into two groups . He requested that half serve with a phrase such as “ Coming up ! ” Those in the other half were instructed to repeat to orders and preferences back to the customers . Rick van Baaren then compared their take home . The results were clear－it plays to mimic your customers . The copycat waiters earned almost double the amount of tips to the other group .
Leonard Green and Joe Myerson , psychologists at Washington University in St . Louis found the generosity of a tipper may be limited by his bill . After research on the 1,000 tips left for waiters , cab drivers , hair stylists , they found tip percentages in these three areas dropped as customers’bills went up . In fact , tip percentages appear to plateau when bills topped ＄100 and a bill for ＄200 made the worker gain no bigger percentage tip than a hill for ＄100 .
“That’s also a point of tipping ,” Green says . “ You have to give a little extra to the cab driver for being there to pack you up and something to the waiter for being there to serve you . If they weren’t there you’d never get any service . So part of the idea of a tip is for just being there .”
1.How many factors affecting the customers’ tipping are mentioned in the passage ?
A.1 B.2 C.3 D.4
2.These studies show that ______.
A.tipping can be affected by physical reactions to many different waiter’s factors
B.people who are being mimicked usually tip less to the person who mimics them
C.the mimic waiters can get almost twice as much money as the other group
D.mimicry makes the mimicker feel bad
3.According to the passage , which of the following will be likely to show the right change of the tip percentages ?
4.We know from the passage that the writer seems to ______.
A.object to Mr Green’s idea about tipping
B.think part of Mr Green’s explanation is reasonable
C.give his generous tip to waiters very often
D.support the opinions of Mr Green and Rick van Baaren about tipping
It gives me great pleasure today to say a few words in praise of a man we will all miss very much . To be honest , I can’t imagine we will do without him when he’s gone . Bill Masters almost single-handed built up our sales force in the Houston area and developed the market position that we enjoy today .In only six years , he has brought the firm from a very low fifth position in the area sales to the point where we now outsell all but one of our competitors . Not omly have we got 37 per cent of the market under Bill’s leadership ; we are increasing our share with each passing month .
As you know , the company has moved Bill to northern California to work his sales magic in one of this company’s competitive areas . But we know that if anyone can do it , Bill Masters can , and I know you all join me in wishing him the best of luck in his new work .
1.The speech was made ______.
A.at a welcome meeting B.after someone died
C.when somebody was leaving D.when they had a new manager
2.How long did Masters work there ?
A.37 years . B.Less than 5 years .
C.About six years . D.Since he began to work .
3.When Bill started to work in Houston area , who had to help him ?
A.many people B.nobody C.about 37 people D.very few people
4.Bill increased the company’s sale ______.
A.by 37 per cent every month B.to the second largest in the area
C.to be the fifth largest in the area D.five times as much as before