Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories，destroying fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged that their owners had to leave them，and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs. One person was killed，several were badly hurt and taken to hospital，and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.
A farmer，Mr. Tan，said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour.
“I was eating with my wife and children，”he said，“When we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him，safe but very frightened.”
Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children.
“There was no time to take anything，”she said，“A few minutes later，the roof came down.”
Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded area and the welfare department （福利机构） brought them food，clothes and shelter. How many homes altogether were damaged in the storm？
| A．Fourteen | B．Twenty-one |
| C．Twenty-nine | D．Thirty-six |
Where was Mr. Tan when the storm first began？
| A．He was in bed. | B．He was inside the house. |
| C．He was outside the house. | D．He was on the roof. |
The underlined word “shelter” in this passage means ______.
| A．something to eat | B．something to wear |
| C．somewhere to study | D．somewhere to stay |
Which of he following may be the best title for this passage？
| A．A Terrible Storm | B．A Lucky Woman |
| C．Good Soldiers | D．Clever People |
Passage 1 is from the introduction to a Zen Buddhist (禅宗的佛教僧侣) manual on the art of “mindfulness”, the practice of paying close attention to the present moment. Passage 2 is from an essay by a United States author.
Passage 1
Every morning, when we wake up, we have 24 brand-new hours to live. What a precious gift! We have the capacity to live in a way that these 24 hours will bring peace, joy, and happiness to ourselves and to others.
Peace is right here and now, in ourselves and in everything we do and see. The question is whether or not we are in touch with it. We don’t have to travel far away to enjoy the blue sky. We don’t have to leave our city or even our neighborhood to enjoy the eyes of a beautiful child. Even the air we breathe can be a source of joy.
We can smile, breathe, walk, and eat our meals in a way that allows us to be in touch with the abundance of happiness that is available. We are very good at preparing how to live, but not very good at living. We know how to sacrifice ten years for a diploma, and we are willing to work very hard to get a job, a car, a house, and so on. But we have difficulty remembering that we are alive in the present moment, the only moment there is for us to be alive. Every breath we take, every step we make, can be filled with joy, peace, and serenity. We need only to be awake, alive in the present moment.
Passage 2
The argument of both the hedonist (享乐主义者) and the guru (印度教的宗师)is that we were but to open ourselves to the richness of the moment, to concentrate on the feast before us, we would be filled with bliss. I have lived in the present from time to time and can tell you that it is much overrated. Occasionally, as a holiday from stroking one’s memories or brooding (担忧) about future worries, I grant you, it can be a nice change of pace. But to “be here now,” hour after hour, would never work. I don’t even approve of stories written in the present tense. Ads for poets who never use a past participate, they deserve the eternity they are striving for.
Besides, the present has a way of intruding whether you like it or not. Why should I go out of my way to meet it? Let it splash on me from time to time, like a car going through a puddle, and I, on the sidewalk of my solitude (孤独), will salute it grimly like any other modern inconvenience.
If I attend a concert, obviously not to listen to the music but to find a brief breathing space in which to meditate on the past and future. I realize that there may be moments when the music invades my ears and I am forced to pay attention to it, note for note. I believe I take such intrusions gracefully. The present is not always anunwelcome guest, so long as it doesn’t stay too long and cut into my remembering or brooding time.The author of Passage 1 would most likely view the author of Passage 2 as _______.
| A．failing to respect the feelings of other people |
| B．squandering (浪费) a precious opportunity on a daily basis |
| C．advocating an action without considering the consequences |
| D．attaching too much importance to the views of others |
The author of Passage 1 would most likely respond to the “argument” (line 1 Passage 2) with_______.
| A．absolute neutrality | B．partial acceptance |
| C．complete agreement | D．surprised disbelief |
In Passage 1 line 11, the list (“a job…house”) presents things that most people ________.
| A．assume they will eventually obtain |
| B．eventually realize are overrated |
| C．are unwilling to make sacrifices for |
| D．see as worth much effort to acquire |
In Passage 2 lines 8—10, the “present” is characterized as _________.
| A．an unavoidable imposition (强加) |
| B．an unsolvable puzzle |
| C．a dangerous threat |
| D．a burdensome obligation |
Which of the following phrases from Passage 2would the author of Passage 1 most likely choose as a title for Passage 1?
| A．“the hedonist and the guru” (line 1) |
| B．“a brief breathing space” (line 11) |
| C．“the feast before us” (line 2) |
| D．“an unwelcome guest” (line 14) |
From the health point of view we are living in an amazing age. We are free from many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once deadly illnesses can now be cured by modern medicine. It is almost certain that one day medicines will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased greatly. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the unbelievable killing of men, women and children on the roads. Man vs the motor-car. It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.
It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel (方向盘), his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities．People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They say, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year-olds and completely selfish．All their hidden angers and disappointments seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.
The surprising thing is that society smiles so gently on the motorist and seems to forgive his behavior. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is ruined by road networks; and the deaths become nothing more than a number every year, to be easily forgotten.
It is high time a world rule was created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are unbelievably lax (不严格) and even the strictest are not strict enough. A rule which was universally accepted could only have an obviously beneficial effect on the accident rate．Here are a few examples of some of the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through strict tests for safety each year. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can damage a person's driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws (where they exist) should be made much stricter. Speed limits should be required on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for car factories, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may not sound good enough. But surely nothing should be considered as too severe if it results in reducing the number of deaths. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars. What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．The laws of some countries about driving are too lax. |
| B．Traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists. |
| C．Thousands of people the world over are kille6 each year. |
| D．Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents. |
What does the author think of society toward motorists?
| A．Society forgives their rude driving. |
| B．Society laughs at the motorists. |
| C．Victims of accidents are nothing. |
| D．Huge car parks are built in the cities and towns. |
What does the author mean by saying “his car becomes the extension of his personality” in Para. 2 ?
| A．Driving can represent his manners. |
| B．Driving can show his hidden qualities. |
| C．Driving can bring out his character. |
| D．Driving can show the other part of his personality. |
Which of the followings is NOT mentioned as a way against traffic accidents?
| A．Build more highways. |
| B．Stricter driving tests. |
| C．Test drivers every three years. |
| D．Raise age limit and lay down safety specifications. |
The author’s attitude towards the present traffic situation is ________.
| A．positive | B．unsatisfied | C．appealing | D．unclear |
A three-year independent investigation into the September 11, 2001 attack on the Pentagon has yielded new eyewitness evidence which, according to the Southern California-based researchers who conducted the investigation conclusively (and unfortunately), establishes as a historical fact that the violence which took place in Arlington that day was not the result of a surprise attack by suicide hijackers, but rather a military black operation involving a carefully planned and skillfully executed deception."
A CNN Reporter at the scene states that there is no evidence that a 757 hit the Pentagon.
What hit the Pentagon? A Boeing 757 loaded with passengers and fuel right? Who was on Flight 757? According to the Flight Information there were No Arabs on it. That makes me wonder if Flight 757 actually existed at all.
From the pictures and the videos, people can find that there are several doubtful points that need to be taken into consideration, for example the marker line on the grass in the satellite and ground pictures, the different colors of the smoke, the hole which the plane impacted, and the standing pylons (架线塔).
Also, from the comparison of the different pictures, people can find some other strange points. For example, the gear (齿轮) is not the matching one. The wreckage of the plane is not the one from the American Airlines. The glass on the pavement of the pole is another doubtful point. The last thing that need considering is about the collapse. One of the gif video shows the plane impacting the Pentagon. The only problem with this video footage is that it has been altered (改变) and can not be fully trusted.
These crash photos and videos shown here clearly have been doctored (篡改) and don't even match the physics of what happened. So where is the real video? It leaves me many questions. Is this a missile? It is a real enigma.Where can you possibly read this article?
| A．In a newspaper. | B．In a book. | C．On a website. | D．In a magazine. |
What the word “yielded” mean in the first sentence?
| A．given in | B．surrendered | C．given away | D．produced |
Which of the following doubtful points is not mentioned in the passage?
| A．the colors of the smoke |
| B．the model of the plane |
| C．the standing pylons |
| D．the marker line on the grass |
What is the author’s attitude towards the 911 investigation?
| A．Positive. | B．Neutral. | C．Skeptical. | D．Negative. |
Going to school means learning new skills and facts in different subjects. Teachers teach and students learn, and many scientists are interested in finding ways to improve both teaching and learning processes.
Sian Beilock and Susan Leving, two psychologists at the University of Chicago, are trying to learn about learning. In a new study about the way kids learn math in elementary school, Beilock and Levine found a surprising relationship between what female teachers think and what female students learn: If a female teacher is uncomfortable with her own math skills, then her female students are more likely to believe that boys are better than girls at math. “If these girls keep getting math-anxious female teachers in later grades, it may create a snowball effect on their math achievement,” Levine told Science News. The study suggests that if these girls grow up believing that boys are better at math than girls are, then these girls may not do as well as they would have if they were more confident.
Just as students find certain subjects to be difficult, teachers can find certain subjects to be difficult to learn—and teach. The subject of math can be particularly difficult for everyone.
The new study involved 65 girls, 52 boys and 17 first-and second-grade teachers in elementary schools in the Midwest. The students took math achievement tests at the beginning and end of the school year, and the researchers compared the scores.
The researchers also gave the students tests to tell whether the students believed a math superstar had to be a boy. Then the researchers turned to the teachers: To find out which teachers were anxious about math, the researchers asked the teachers how they felt at times when they came across math, such as when reading a sales receipt. A teacher who got nervous looking at the numbers on a sales receipt, for example, was probably anxious about math.
Boys, on average, were unaffected by a teacher’s anxiety. On average, girls with math-anxious teachers scored lower on the end-of-the-year math tests than other girls in the study did. Plus, on the test showing whether someone thought a math superstar had to be a boy, 20 girls showed feeling that boys would be better at math—and all of these girls had been taught by female teachers with math anxiety.
According to surveys done before this one, college students who want to become elementary school teachers have the highest levels of anxiety about math. Plus, nine of every 10 elementary teachers are women, Levine said. Sian Beilock and Susan Levine carried out the new research in order to ___________.
| A．know the effects of teaching on learning |
| B．study students’ ways of learning math |
| C．prove women teachers are unfit to teach math |
| D．find better teaching methods for teachers |
The underlined part in paragraph 2 most probably means that girls may ___________.
| A．end up learning math anxiety from their teachers |
| B．study the ways their female teachers behave |
| C．have an influence on their math-anxious female teachers |
| D．gain unexpected achievement in such subjects as math |
In the study, what were the teachers required to do?
| A．Prepare two math achievement tests for the students |
| B．Tell their feelings about math problems |
| C．Answer whether a math superstar had to be a boy |
| D．Compare the students’ scores after the math tests |
What is the finding of the new study?
| A．No male students were affected by their teachers’ anxiety |
| B．Almost all the girls got lower scores in the tests than the boys |
| C．About 30% of the girls thought boys are better at math than girls |
| D．Girls with math-anxious teachers all failed in the math tests |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．117 students and teachers took part in the new study |
| B．The researchers felt surprised at the findings of their study |
| C．Beilock and Levine are interested in teaching math |
| D．Men teachers are better at teaching math than women teachers |
A villa (别墅) designed to resist earthquakes with “self-healing” cracks in its walls, thanks to nanotechnology (纳米技术) applications with self-healing polymers (聚合物), is to be built on a Greek mountainside. The villa’s walls will include special particles that turn into a liquid when squeezed (压榨) under pressure, flow into cracks, and then harden to form a solid material.
The NanoManufacturing Institute (NMI), based in Leeds University, will play a key role in an EU project to construct the home by December 2010. The project, called “Intelligent Safe and Secure Buildings” (ISSB) is funded under the EU’s Sixth Framework program. This potentially life-saving scheme is led by German building manufacturer Knauf. The villa will be built in Amphilochia, in western Greece, where Knauf currently runs a manufacturing plant. If the experiment is successful, more tremor-resistant（防震）homes could be built in earthquake zones across the globe. NMI chief executive Professor Terry Wilkins said, “What we’re trying to achieve here is very exciting. We’re looking to use polymers in much tougher situations than ever before on a larger scale.” Monitors contained in the villa’s walls will be able to collect vast amounts of data about the building over time. Wireless sensors(传感器) will record any stresses and vibrations, as well as temperature, humidity and gas levels.
The walls are to be built from new load-bearing steel frames and high-strength gypsum（石膏）board. Prof Wilkins said, “If there are any problems, the intelligent sensor network will be able to alert residents immediately so they have time to escape. If whole groups of houses are so constructed, we could use a larger network of sensors to get even more information. If the house falls down, we have got hand-held devices that can be used over the ruins to pick out where the embedded（嵌入的）sensors are hidden to get some information about how the villa collapsed. Also, we can get information about anyone who may be around, so it potentially becomes a tool for rescue.” The aim of the passage is to ________.
| A．report a piece of interesting news |
| B．promote tremor-resistant homes |
| C．inform us of the nanotechnology development |
| D．tell us something about a tremor-resistant home |
The villa can resist earthquakes because _______.
| A．it will be built on a special place |
| B．the cracks in its walls can be healed by the polymers |
| C．the special particles can make its walls stronger |
| D．the intelligent sensor network can tell people where there is a crack |
If the tremor-resistant home falls down, _______.
| A．rescue work can be done more quickly and accurately |
| B．the intelligent sensor network will stop working |
| C．no one can be hurt in the earthquake |
| D．a warning signal will be given to other residents |
What Prof Wilkins said suggests that _______.
| A．he is doubtful about the project |
| B．he thinks the tremor-resistant home is perfectly designed |
| C．he is confident in the tremor-resistant home |
| D．the tremor-resistant home still needs to be tested in a real situation |
It can be inferred from the passage that tremor-resistant home _______.
| A．is still being tried out |
| B．is already under construction |
| C．has been in wide use |
| D．will be put into wide use soon |