Everybody hates rats. But in the earthquake capitals of the world—Japan, Los Angeles, Turkey—rats will soon be man’s new best friends.
What happens after an earthquake? We sent in rescue dogs. Why? Because they can smell people. Dogs save lives. They help rescuers to find living people. But dogs are big and they can’t get into small spaces. So now a new research project is using a smaller animal to save lives: the rat.
How does it work? First, the rat is trained to smell people. When this happens, the rat’s brain gives a signal (信号). This is sent to a small radio on its back, and then the rescuers follow the radio signals. When the rat’s brain activity jumps, the rescuers know that someone is alive. The rat has smelled that person.
Although there are already robots which can do this job, rats are better. Christian Linster at Cornell University, New York, says, “‘Robots ’noses don’t work well when there are other smells around. Rats are good at that.” Rats can also see in the dark. They are cheaper and quicker to train than dogs, and unlike robots, they don’t need electricity(电)!
The “rat project” is not finished, but Julie Ryan of International Rescue Corps in Scotland says, “It would be fantastic. A rat could get into spaces we couldn’t get to and a rat would get out of it if it wasn’t safe.” Perhaps for the first time in history, people will be happy to see a rat in a building (but only after an earthquake, of course).
1.In the world earthquake capitals, rats will become man’s best friends because they can .
A. take the place of man’s rescue jobs
B. find the position of people alive who are trapped in buildings
C. serve as food for people alive who are trapped in buildings.
D. get into small spaces
2.In doing rescue jobs, .
A. rats smell better than dogs
B. dogs don’t need to be trained to smell people
C. robots’ sense of smell can be affected by other smells around
D. rats can see in the dark and smaller than robots
3.Rats have all the following advantages EXCEPT that .
A. they are more fantastic than other animals
B. they are less expensive to train than dogs
C. they don’t need electricity
D. they are small and can get into small places
4.After reading the passage we can know .
A. at present rats have taken the place of dogs in searching for people
B. the “rat project” has been completed
C. people are now happy to see a rat in a building
D. now people still use dogs and robots in performing rescues
A woman named Emily renewing her driver’s license at the County Clerk’s office was asked to state her occupation. She hesitated, uncertain how to classify herself.
“What I mean is,” explained the recorder, “do you have a job, or are you just a …”
“Of course I have a job,” said Emily. “I’m a mother.”
“We don’t list ‘mother’ as an occupation… ‘housewife’ covers it,” said the recorder.
One day I found myself in the same situation. The clerk was obviously a career woman, confident and possessed of a high sounding title. “What is your occupation?” she asked.
The words simply popped out. “I’m a Research Associate in the field of Child Development and Human Relations.”
The clerk paused, ballpoint pen frozen in midair.
I repeated the title slowly, then I stared with wonder as my statement was written in bold, black ink on the official questionnaire.
“Might I ask,” said the clerk with new interest, “Just what you do in this field?”
Coolly, without any trace of panic in my voice, I heard myself reply, “I have a continuing program of research (what mother doesn’t), in the lab and in the field (normally I would have said indoors and out). Of course, the job is one of the most demanding in the humanities (any mother care to disagree?), and I often work 14 hours a day (24 is more like it). But the job is more challenging than most careers and rewards are more of a satisfaction rather than just money.”
There was an increasing note of respect in the clerk’s voice as she completed the form, stood up, and showed me out.
As I drove into our driveway, buoyed up (受鼓舞) by my glamorous new career, I was greeted by my lab assistants---ages 13, 7, and 3.
Upstairs I could hear our new experimental model (a 6 month old baby), in the child-development program, testing out a new vocal pattern.
I felt proud! I had gone on the official records as someone more distinguished and indispensable (不可缺少的) to mankind than “just another mother.”
Motherhood…What a glorious career! Especially when there’s a title on the door.
1.What can we infer from the conversation between the woman and the recorder at the beginning of the passage?
A. The recorder was impatient and rude.
B. The woman felt ashamed to admit what her job was.
C. The author was upset about the situation that mothers faced.
D. Motherhood was not recognized and respected as a job by society.
2.How did the female clerk feel at first when the author told her occupation?
A. curious B. indifferent C. puzzled D. interested
3.Why did the woman clerk show more respect for the author?
A. Because the author cared little about rewards.
B. Because she thought the author did admirable work.
C. Because she admired the author’s research work in the lab.
D. Because the writer did something she had little knowledge of.
4.What is the author’s purpose of writing the passage?
A. To show how you describe your job affects your feelings toward it.
B. To argue that motherhood is a worthy career and deserves respect.
C. To show that the author had a greater job than Emily.
D. To show that being a mother is hard and boring work.
For years we have been told that encouraging a child’s self-respect is important to his or her success in life. But child experts are now learning that too much praise can lead to the opposite effect, Praise-aholic kids who expect it at every turn may become teens who seek the same kind of approval from their friends when asked if they want to go in the backseat of the car.
The implication (含义) of saying “You are the prettiest girl in class,” or talking about the goals she scored but not her overall( 全面的) efforts, is that you love her only when she looks the best, scores the highest, achieves the most. And this carries over to the classroom.
Social psychologist Carol Dweck, PhD, tested the effects of overpraise on 400 fifth grades while she was at Columbia University. She found that kids praised for “trying hard” did better on the tests and were more likely to take on difficult assignments than those praised for being “smart”.
“ Praising attributes (品质) or abilities makes a false promise that success will come to you because you have that quality, and it devalues efforts, so children are afraid to take on challenges, ” says Dweck, now at Stanford University. “They figure they’d better quit while they’ re ahead.”
1.The underlined words “ Praise-aholic kids” refer to kids who are _______.
A. tired of being praised
B. worthy of being praised
C. very proud of being praised
D extremely fond of being praised.
2.The author quoted (引用) Dr. Dweck’s words in the last paragraph in order to make the article ______.
A. better-known B. better-organized
C. more believable D. more interesting
3.We can infer from the passage that ____________.
A. praise for efforts should be more encouraged
B. praise for results works better than praise for efforts
C. praising a child’s achievements benefits his or her success in life.
D. praising a child’s abilities encourages him or her to take on challenges
The Internet will open up new vistas (前景), create the global village——you can make new friends all around the world. That, at least, is what it promised us. The difficulty is that it did not take the human mind into account. The reality is that we cannot keep relationships with more than a limited number of people. No matter how hard the Internet tries to put you in communication, its best efforts will be defeated by your mind.
The problem is twofold（双重的）. First, there is a limit on the number of people we can hold in mind and have a meaningful relationship with. That number is about 150 and is set by the size of our brain. Second, the quality of your relationships depends on the amount of time you invest in then. We invest a lot in a small number of people and then distribute what’s left among as many others as we can. The problem is that if we invest little time in a person, our engagement with that person will decline until eventually it dies into “someone I once knew”.
This is not, of course, to say that the Internet doesn’t serve a socially valuable function. Of course it does. But the question is not that it allows you to increase the size of your social circle to include the rest of the world, but that you can keep your relationships with your existing friends going even though you have to move to the other side of the world.
In one sense, that’s a good thing. But it also has a disadvantage. If you continue to invest in your old friends even though you can no longer see them, then certainly you aren’t using your time to make new friends where you now live. And I suspect that probably isn’t the best use of your time. Meaningful relationships are about being able to communicate with each other, face to face. The Internet will slow down the rate with which relationships end, but it won’t stop that happening eventually.
1.The number of friends we can keep relationships with is decided by__________.
A. the Internet B. the time we have C. the place we live D. the mind
2.The underlined word “engagement” in the second paragraph probably means “__________”.
A. appointment B. connection C. interview D. agreement
3.The author holds the view that___________.
A. the Internet helps to keep in touch with friends far away
B. the Internet determines the quality of social relationships
C. the Internet greatly increases the size of social circles
D. the Internet is of no value in social communication
4.What will the author encourage us to do?
A. To keep in touch with old friends when we have moved away.
B. To chat with friends often on the Internet.
C. To make more new friends face to face.
D. To stop using the Internet to make new friends.
5.What is the author’s attitude towards the use of the Internet to strengthen relationships?
A. He thinks it useless B. He is hopeful of it.
C. He approves of it. D. He doubts it.
Sea turtles have been on Earth for millions of years, but they may soon die out. The main 1 to them is people who kill them for food, according to Dr. Wallace J. Nichols of the University of California.
But the latest news may 2 turtle hunting: Dr. Nichols has found that sea turtles 3 a lot of pollution from the ocean. This pollution is unhealthy for both turtles and humans. It can cause __4__ damage to their bodies and lead to death. Research shows that many people get sick and even die from eating sea turtle meat.
In the US, most people have never eaten turtle. This is because turtles are 5 by the United States law, which makes it 6 to harm or kill these amazing animals. “But many people in other countries still eat them,” explains Nichols. “Our first 7 was to save turtles; now we must save 8 too.”
Davis said he also wants to send out a bigger 9 that we should protect the oceans. “The health of the ocean, animals in the ocean, and our own health are all 10 . A clean ocean is really good for us too because of the food we eat from there.”
1.A. doubt B. stream C. danger D. worry
2.A. accelerate B. slow C. improve D. change
3.A. cause B. expand C. absorb D. reduce
4.A. accidental B. occasional C. unknown D. serious
5.A. qualified B. protected C. restricted D. produced
6.A. impossible B. difficult C. illegal D. abnormal
7.A. goal B. impression C. difficulty D. cost
8.A. Earth B. ocean C. people D. animals
9.A. advertisement B. message C. sign D. problem
10.A. concerned B. disturbed C. developed D. connected
—Would you like me to help you with the maths problem?
—___________ It’s a most difficult one.
A.With pleasure. B.Why not?
C.That’s all right. D.It’s my pleasure.
