“Just take a deep breath.” “Don’t think about it.” “You’re more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash.” These are just some words given to people with a fear of flying. But as Tom Cruise, playing Lt. Daniel Kaffee in the movie A Few Good Men, said, “I get sick when I fly because I’m afraid of crashing into a large mountain. I don’t think Daniel will help.”
But there’s a new application that just may. Today, the VALK Foundation, a Dutch group that’s a partnership between KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the University of Leiden, launches the app in the US. The VALK Foundation was one of the first centers for research and fear-of-flying treatment in the world and is the organizer of three world conferences on fear of flying.
The foundation said the app, called Flight App VALK, is the first scientifically-developed, web-based treatment for people who suffer from mild to moderate fear of flying.
“The fear of flying application we have created aims to transfer all of the knowledge we have developed through our program into a mobile application that will help ease travelers’ fears,” said Dr. Lucas van Gerwen, director of the VALK Foundation. Dr. van Gerwen is also a psychologist and professional pilot with more than 30 years experience.
The foundation said up to 30% of adults are fearful fliers. The Flight App is designed to help relax passengers before and during flights by educating users about flight safety and turbulence. It explains the sounds and sensations they can expect during departure, flight and landing. And, if a passenger’s flight stress reaches a panic level, they press a special panic button which provides audio and written information to help decrease stress levels. Most importantly, the Flight App can be used during the flight in the airplane mode. Once downloaded, the program does not require Internet connection in the air.
1.By saying the words at the beginning of the passage, people are expected to ______.
A. decrease their fear of flying
B. get rid of their doubt about plane
C. have a good time on their flight journey
D. use some medicine to cure their fear of flying
2.According to the passage, the VALK Foundation ______.
A. is a group focusing on psychology on the flight
B. was the first center to do research into fear of flying
C. organize the world conferences on fear of flying annually
D. focuses on researching and offering treatment on fear of flying
3.Flight App VALK is aimed to ______.
A. help passengers experience the fear of flying
B. help relax passengers before and during flights
C. treat people who suffer from mild fear of flying
D. teach people the basic knowledge of taking flight
4.What does the last paragraph mainly tell us?
A. Many adults are suffering from fear of flying
B. It’s convenient for people to use the Flight App
C. Many planes will be installed with the Flight App
D.The Flight App can decrease stress levels effectively
5.In which column of a newspaper can we read this passage?
A. Culture B. Entertainment
C. Technology D. Education
Looking back on my childhood. I am convinced that naturalists are born and not made. Although we were brought up in the same way, my brothers and sisters soon abandoned their pressed flowers and insects. Unlike them, I had no ear for music and languages. I was not an early reader and I could not do mental arithmetic.
Before Word War I we spent our summer holidays in Hungary. I have only the dim memory of the house we lived in, of my room and my toys. Nor do I recall clearly the large family of grandparents, aunts, uncles and cousins who gathered next door. But I do have a crystal clear memory of dogs, the farm animals, the local birds and above all, the insects.
I am a naturalist, not a scientist. I have a strong love of the natural world, and my enthusiasm has led me into varied investigations. I love discussing my favorite topics and enjoy burning the midnight oil reading about other people’s observations and discoveries. Then something happens that brings these observations together in my conscious mind. Suddenly you fancy you see the answer to the riddle. Because it all seems to fit together .This has resulted in my publishing 300 papers and books. Which some may light honor, with the title of scientific research.
But curiosity a keen eye, a good memory and enjoyment of the animal and plant world do not make a scientist? One of the outstanding and essential qualities required is self-discipline, a quality I lack. A scientist can be made a naturalist. If you can combine the two, you get the best of both worlds.
1.According to the author, a born naturalist should first of all be _____
A.full of ambition B. self-disciplined
C. full of enthusiasm D. knowledgeable
2.The first paragraph tells us that the author _____
A.lost his hearing when he was a child
B. didn’t like his brothers and sisters
C. was interested in flowers and insects in his childhood
D. was born to a naturalist’s family
3.The author says that he is a naturalist rather than a scientist probably because he thinks he ____.
A.just rends about other peoples observations and discoveries.
B.Lacks some of the qualities required of scientist.
C.Has a great deal of trouble doing mental arithmetic.
D.Come up with solutions in most natural ways.
4.The author can’t remember him relatives clearly because__
A.He didn’t live very long with them
B.He was too young when he lived with them.
C.The family was extremely large
D.He was fully occupied with observing nature.
5.Which of the following statements is true?
A. The author believes that a born naturalist can not be scientist.
B. The author read a lot of books about the natural world and oil industry
C. The author’s brothers and sisters were good at music and languages.
D. The author spent a lot of time working on riddles.
My newly-rented small apartment was far away from the centre of London and it was becoming essential for me to find a job, so finally I spent a whole morning getting to town and putting my name down to be considered by London Transport for a job on the underground. They were looking for guards, not drivers. This suited me. I couldn’t drive a car but thought that I could probably guard a train, and perhaps continue to write my poems between stations. The writers Keats and Chekhov had been doctors. T.S. Eliot had worked in a bank and Wallace Stevens for an insurance company. I’d be a subway guard. I could see myself being cheerful, useful, a good man in a crisis. Obviously I’d be overqualified but I was willing to forget about that in return for a steady income and travel privileges — those being particularly welcome to someone living a long way from the city centre.
The next day I sat down, with almost a hundred other candidates, for the intelligence test. I must have done all right because after about half an hour’s wait I was sent into another room for a psychological test. This time there were only about fifty candidates. The interviewer sat at a desk. Candidates were signaled forward to occupy the seat opposite him when the previous occupant had been dismissed, after a greater or shorter time. Obviously the long interviews were the more successful ones. Some of the interviews were as short as five minutes. Mine was the only one that lasted a minute and a half.
I can remember the questions now: “Why did you leave your last job?” “Why did you leave your job before that?” “And the one before that?” I can’t recall my answers, except that they were short at first and grew progressively shorter. His closing statement, I thought, revealed a lack of sensitivity which helped to explain why as a psychologist, he had risen no higher than the underground railway. “You’ve failed the psychological test and we are unable to offer you a position.”
Failing to get that job was my low point. Or so I thought, believing that the work was easy. Actually, such jobs — being a postman is another one I still desire — demand exactly the sort of elementary yet responsible awareness that the habitual dreamer is least qualified to give. But I was still far short of full self-understanding. I was also short of cash.
1.The writer applied for the job chiefly because _________.
A．he could no longer afford to live without one
B．he wanted to work in the centre of London
C．he was not interested in any other available job
D．he had received some suitable training
2.The writer thought he was overqualified for the job because _________.
A．he often traveled underground B．he had written many poems
C．he had worked in a company D．he could deal with difficult situations
3.What does the writer realize now that he did not realize then?
A．How unpleasant ordinary jobs can be
B．How unsuitable he was for the job.
C．How difficult it is to be a poet
D．How badly he did in the interview.
4.The length of his interview meant that _________.
A．he did not like the interviewer at all
B．he had not done well in the intelligence test
C．he was not going to be offered the job
D．he had little work experience to talk about
5.What’s the writer’s opinion of the psychologist?
A. He was rather unsympathetic. B. He was unhappy with his job.
C. He was quite inefficient. D. He was very aggressive（有进取心的）.
An increase in students applying to study economics at university is being attributed to the global economic crisis awakening a public 36 for knowledge about how the financial system 37 .
Applications for degree courses beginning this autumn were up by 15% this January, 38 UCAS, the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service. A spokesman for the Royal Economic Society said applications to do economics at A-level were 39 up.
Professor John Beath, the president of the society, and a 40 lecturer at St Andrews University, said his first-year lectures—which are open to students from all departments—were 41 crowds of 400, rather than the 42 250.
“There are a large number of students who are not economics 43 who would like to learn something about it. One of the things I have done this year is to 44 my teaching to contemporary events in a way that one hasn’t 45 done.” He added.
University applications 46 7% last year. But there were rises 47 average in several subjects. Nursing saw a 15% jump, with people’s renewed 48 in careers in the public sector, which are seen as more secure in economic crisis.
A 49 study showed almost two thirds of parents believed schools should do more to teach pupils about financial 50 and almost half said their children had asked them what was 51 , although a minority of parents felt they did not understand it themselves well enough to explain.
Zack Hocking, the head of Child Trust Funds, said: “It’s possible that one good thing to arise from the 52 will be a generation that’s financially 53 and better equipped to 54 their money through times of economic 55 .”
1.A．concern B．thirst C．sense D．taste
2.A．works B．performs C．serves D．affects
3.A．in terms of B．according to C．on account of D．in spite of
4.A．yet B．once C．also D．still
5.A．outstanding B．inspiring C．convincing D．leading
6.A．catching B．appealing C．drawing D．covering
7.A．usual B．regular C. average D．common
8.A．majors B．interests C．preferences D．standards
9.A．attach B．adapt C．approach D．relate
10.A．generally B．frequently C．traditionally D．originally
11.A．raised B．rose C．fell D．struck
12.A．by B．in C．over D．above
13.A．effect B．focus C．interest D．benefit
14.A．recent B．late C．present D．unique
15.A．matters B．affairs C. events D．issues
16.A．taking up B．going on C．calling up D．keeping on
17.A．overturn B．downturn C．breakthrough D．breakout
18.A．cleverer B．smarter C．brighter D．wiser
19.A．strugglt B．measure C．manage D．earn
20.A．stability B．puzzle C．uncertainty D．recovery
Most highways are lined with billboards of advertisement，which__________by passing cardrivers.
A．are intended to be read B．are intended to be reading
C．are intending to reading D．are intending to read
The idea of travelling abroad really_______ a lot of Chinese people.That's why every year witnesses more people applying for passports.
A．takes to B．attends to C．appeals to D．Caters to
