These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板电脑) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.
And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.
And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."
I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.
Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend.
1.When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.
A. you are travelling through time B. you are thought to be out of date
C. you will find everything wrong D. you have got to buy a new one
2.Throwing away so much electronic rubbish makes the writer feel quite _____.
A. lost and upset B. unbelievably fast
C. broken or lost D. regularly wasteful
3.The example of the businessman implies that____.
A. the businessman mastered the latest technology
B. mobile phones used to be quite big just years ago
C. the businessman was a very ridiculous person
D. the writer failed to follow modern technology
4.The passage is organized in the pattern of ____.
A. time and events B. comparison and contrast
C. cause and effect D. examples and analysis
5.Which of the following is conveyed in the passage?
A. The fast pace of change brings us no good.
B. We have to keep up with new technology.
C. Household items should be upgraded quickly.
D. We should hold on for new technology to last.
1 Day Fly-Fly Aboriginal Rock Tour
Tour Details
Operator: Adventure North Australia
Destination: Cooktown
Departs From: Cairns
Tour Description
Voted as one of Australia's Must-Do-Experiences. Treat yourself to an amazing day out with Aboriginal Elder Willie Gordon.
Depart Cairns Domestic Airport for the Skytrans Flight to Cooktown. Flight departs Cairns at 6:45 a.m.
Enjoy a 45-minute flight with wonderful views from Cairns to Cooktown as you fly along the coast between the World Heritage rainforest and the Great Barrier Reef. On arrival in Cooktown you will be met by Willie Gordon, the traditional storyteller of the Nugal-warra clan(部落).
Willie Gordon takes guests to his ancestral rock art sites, set high in the hills above Hope Vale, outside Cooktown. Here he shares the stories behind the art, and explains how the paintings speak of the most basic and important quality of life and the knowledge of his people.
The tour takes you through an impressive view of six rock art sites, including an ancestral Birth Cave and the Reconciliation Cave. This includes a 30-minute bush walk on generally easy terrian(地形). (Covered closed-on shoes must be worn.)
Return to Cooktown at 1:15 p.m. where Willie will take you to the Nature Power House Museum, Cooktown's Visitor Information Centre. Lunch is included at the Verhandah Cafe.
The rest of the afternoon is free to explore historical Cooktown before your transfer to Cooktown airport and return flight to Cairns. Flight arrives at Cairns Domestic Airport at 6:40 p.m. Own arrangements on arrival in Cairns.
Prices
Adults: $ 549.00
Children: $ 390.00
Families(2 adults and 2 children): $ 1,869.00
1.According to the passage, how will tourists arrive in Cooktown?
A. By ship. B. By car. C. By air. D. By train.
2.What do we learn about Willie Gordon?
A. He acts as the guide of the tour.
B. He is the owner of the Verhandah Cafe.
C. He works in the Nature Power House Museum.
D. He is the manager of Adventure North Australia.
3.After viewing rock art, tourists will go to__________.
A. the World Heritage rainforest B. the Great Barrier Reef
C. rock art sites outside the town D. the Nature Power House Museum
4.We learn from the passage that the whole trip lasts about__________.
A. six hours B. eight hours C. ten hours D. twelve hours
5.From the passage, the tour is designed to let the tourists__________.
A. learn about the custom B. enjoy the ancient art
C. taste the delicious snacks D. experience the lifestyle
Oscar the cat seems to have an unnatural ability for predicting when nursing home patients are going to die, by curling up (蜷伏) next to them during their final hours. His accuracy, observed in 25 cases, has led the staff to call family members once he has chosen someone. It usually means the patient has less than four hours to live. "Many family members take some comfort from it. They appreciate the companionship that the cat provides for their dying loved one," said Dosa, a doctor and assistant professor of medicine at Brown University.
The 2-year-old cat was adopted as a kitten and grew up in a third-floor dementia (痴呆) unit at the Steere House Nursing and Rehabilitation Center, where the facility treats people with Alzheimer's, Parkinson's disease and other illnesses. After about six months, the staff noticed Oscar would make his own rounds, just like the doctors and nurses. He'd smell and observe patients, then sit beside people who would end up dying in a few hours. Dosa said Oscar seems to take his work seriously. "This is not a cat that's friendly to people," he said.
"Oscar is better at predicting death than the people who work here," said Dr. Joan Teno of Brown University, who treats patients at the nursing home and is an expert on care for the terminally ill. She was convinced of Oscar's talent when he made his 13th correct call. While observing one patient, Teno said she noticed the woman wasn't eating, was breathing with difficulty and that her legs had a bluish color, signs that often mean death is near. Oscar wouldn't stay inside the room, though, so Teno thought bis streak was broken. Instead, it turned out the doctor's prediction was roughly 10 hours too early. Sure enough, during the patient's final two hours, nurses told Teno that Oscar joined the woman at her bedside.
Doctors say most of the people who get a visit from the sweet-faced, gray-and-white cat are so ill that they probably don't know he's there, so patients aren't aware he's a predictor of death. Most families are grateful for the advance warning, although one wanted Oscar out of the room while a family member died. When Oscar is put outside, he paces and meows his displeasure.
No one's certain if Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant or points to a cause. Teno wonders if the cat senses mysterious scents or reads something into the behavior of the nurses who raised him. Nursing home staff aren't concerned with explaining Oscar, so long as he gives families a better chance at saying goodbye to the dying. The staff recently gave Oscar a wall sign publicly praising his "sympathetic care."
1.What makes Oscar the cat so special?
A. He observes the cases of dying patients.
B. He curls up next to the patients.
C. He calls family members to the hospital.
D. He senses when patients are to die.
2.The passage tells us Oscar_____.
A. would go round and observe patients
B. may sometimes fail to predict death
C. is friendly and liked by every nurse
D. was born and grew up in the hospital
3.The underlined words "his streak was broken" probably mean ____.
A. his bones were severely injured
B. his magic power stopped working
C. his devotion to work got changed
D. his friendship with patients ended
4.From the passage, we learn that_____.
A. Oscar's behavior is scientifically significant
B. Oscar can read something of the nurses' behavior
C. Oscar might like to stay with the dying patients
D. Oscar is sympathetic to the dying patients
5.The best title for this passage is "____".
A. Cats Can Be Used for Looking After Patients
B. Oscar, the Sweet-Faced, Gray-and-White Cat
C. As Death Comes Calling, So Does Oscar the Cat
D. Oscar the Cat, the Best Helper of Our Hospital
I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a car and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of __36____ and what color red is. It would be ___37____ to see again, but a(n) __38____ can do strange things to people. I don’t mean I would __39___ to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate more what I had _40_____.
My parents and my teachers saw something in me ----- a __41____ to live ---- which I didn’t see, and they made me want to fight in out with _42____.
The __43___ lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. I am not talking about simply the kind of __44____ that helps me down so unfamiliar staircase alone. I __45___ something bigger than that: a confidence that I am, despite being __46____, a real, positive person; that there is a special place where I can make myself fit.
It took me years to discover and strengthen this confidence. It had to start with the easy and simple things. __47____ a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was laughing at me and I was __48____. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words __49___ in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could _50_____ where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought _51____ before playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I _52___ a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.
I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to be clear about my _53____. It was no good crying for something that I knew at the start was __54___ out of reach because that only invited bitterness of failure. I would fail something anyway, __55___ on the average I made progress.
1.A. sky B. cloud C. sunshine D. mist
2.A. helpful B. wonderful C. hopeful D. successful
3.A. disaster B. environment C. incident D. wonder
4.A. manage B. try C. want D. prefer
5.A. lost B. left C. used D. cared
6.A. purpose B. potential C. pressure D. preparation
7.A. energy B. happiness C. luck D. blindness
8.A. hardest B. dullest C. simplest D. easiest
9.A. self-respect B. self-control C. self-confidence D. self-defence
10.A. think B. consider C. guess D. mean
11.A. imperfect B. perfect C. unfair D. fair
12.A. Later B. Soon C. Once D. Then
13.A. worried B. encouraged C. shocked D. hurt
14.A. stuck B. impressed C. occupied D. held
15.A. see B. hear C. notice D. observe
16.A. important B. unimportant C. possible D. impossible
17.A. invented B. discovered C. instructed D. directed
18.A. experience B. advantages C. knowledge D. limitation
19.A. hardly B. wildly C. highly D. deeply
20.A. so B. for C. but D. and
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1.John, a fourteen-year-old young boy, is poor at math and physics and has to improve them in order to pass the final exam at school.
2.Mr. Black Smith, a labor worker on dock who would like to change to some technological job since he is already 43 and a bit too old for hard labor work. He has to work from Monday to Saturday but is free after 5:00 in the afternoon.
3.Chen Hua, a Chinese middle school student who has just moved to the USA. She will have to finish the course all in English at school there but her English is not good enough.
4.Tim, a graduated college student who wanted to quit his job and go on his study for M. A. He planned to take the MBA courses and would have to improve his math because he majored in Art at college.
5.Mrs. Tumer, a working mother with two young kids. She thinks education is a race and it's better to prepare kids more and earlier. Her neighbors, several other families share the same opinion and they are all thinking about sending their young kids to some pre-school education program.
When I was small and my grandmother died, I couldn't understand why I had no tears. But that night when my dad tried to cheer me up, my laughs turned into crying.
So it came as no surprise to learn that researchers believe crying and laughing are controlled by the same part of the brain. Just as laughing has many health advantages, scientists are discovering that so does crying.
Whatever helps us to reduce pressure is important to our emotional health, and crying seems to work well. One study found that 85 percent of women and 73 percent of men report feeling better after crying.
Besides, tears attract help from other people. Researchers agree that when we cry, people around us become kinder and friendlier and they are more ready to provide support and comfort. Tears also enable us to understand our emotions better; sometimes we don't even know we're very sad until we cry. We learn about our emotions through crying, and then we can deal with them.
Just as crying can be healthy, not crying---holding back tears of anger, pain or suffering---can be bad for physical health. Studies have shown that too much control of emotions can 1ead to high blood pressure, heart problems and some other illness. If you have a health problem, doctors will certainly not ask you to cry. But when you feel like crying, don't fight it. It's a natural, healthy and emotional response.
1.Why didn't the author cry when her grandmother died?
|
A．Because her father did not want her to feel too sad. |
|
B．Because she did not love her grandmother. |
|
C．Because she was too shy to cry at that time. |
|
D．The author doesn't give the explanation. |
2.It can be inferred from the text that _______________________.
|
A．there are two ways to keep healthy |
|
B．emotional health has a close relationship to physical health |
|
C．crying and laughing play the same roles |
|
D．crying does more good to health than laughing |
3.According to the author, which of the following statements is true?
|
A．Crying is the best way to get help from others. |
|
B．Fighting back tears may cause some health problems. |
|
C．We will never know our deep feelings unless we cry. |
|
D．We must cry if we want to reduce pressure |
4.What might be the most suitable title for the text?
|
A．Why We Cry |
B．How to Keep Healthy |
|
C．Power of Tears |
D．New Scientific Discovery |
5.What is the author's attitude to "crying"?
|
A．Positive. |
B．Negative. |
C．Touched. |
D．Upset. |
