"Indeed," George Washington wrote in his diary in 1785, "some kind of fly, or bug, had begun to eat the leaves before I left home." But the father of America was not the father of bug. When Washington wrote that, Englishmen hade been referring to insects as bugs for more than a century, and Americans had already created lightning-bug(萤火虫). But the English were soon to stop using the bugs in their language, leaving it to the Americans to call a bug a bug in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries.
The American bug could also be a person, referring to someone who was crazy about a particular activity. Although fan became the usual term, sports fans used to be called racing bugs, baseball bugs, and the like.
Or the bug could be a small machine or object, for example, a bug-shaped car. The bug could also be a burglar alarm, from which comes the expression to bug, that is, "to install (安装) an alarm". Now it means a small piece of equipment that people use for listening secretly to others' conversation. Since the 1840s, to bug has long meant "to cheat", and since the 1940s it has been annoying.
We also know the bug as a flaw in a computer program or other design. That meaning dates back to the time of Thomas Edison. In 1878 he explained bugs as "little problems and difficulties" that required months of study and labor to overcome in developing a successful product. In 1889 it was recorded that Edison "had been up the two previous nights discovering 'a bug' in his invented record player."
1.We learn from Paragraph 1 that __________________.
A. Americans had difficulty in learning to use the word bug
B. George Washington was the first person to call an insect a bug
C. the word bug was still popularly used in English in the nineteenth century
D. both Englishman and Americans used the word bug in the eighteenth century
2.What does the word "flaw" in the last paragraph probably mean?
A. Fault. B. Finding. C. Origin. D. Explanation.
3.The passage is mainly concerned with__________________.
A. the misunderstanding of the word bug
B. the development of the word bug
C. the public views of the word bug
D. the special characteristics of the word bug
Imagine going to sleep then waking up speaking another language. It may sound impossible， but it's actually happened.
The phenomenon(现象)of being able to suddenly speak another language is known as“Xenoglossia”， from the Greek words“xenos”(foreigner)and “glossa”(language)．
It once happened to a 13yearold girl from Croatia. After being unconscious(不省人事的)because of a disease for 24 hours in 2010，she woke up speaking fluent German. The girl， who came from the town of Knin in the south of Croatia，was studying German at school but she'd only started recently. Her parents said that she'd been reading German books and watching German TV at home， but that she wasn't fluent in the language.However ，since waking up， she's been able to communicate “perfectly”in German.What's really strange is that she's now unable to speak Croat，her mother language.Doctors at Split's KB Hospital have asked some experts to examine the girl as they try to find out what caused the change.Dr Mijo Milas said，“In earlier times this would have been considered as a miracle(奇迹)；we prefer to think that there must be an explanation—it's just that we haven't found it yet.”
In 2007，Matej Kus from Czech became unconscious after a motorbike accident. On waking up 45 minutes later，he could speak fluent English.Matej was only 18 years old at the time， and had just started studying the language and so was at a low level.Peter Waite，Kus's teammate said，“I couldn't believe what I was hearing.It was really clear English.It was unbelievable to hear him talk in unbroken English.”Unluckily，Matej's new language skills didn't last.Two days later， when he recovered fully from the accident， he'd completely forgotten his English.
We still don't know exactly what happened to the two people. Perhaps scientists will discover something new and exciting. But until then， keep studying!
1.According to the passage，what is“Xenoglossia”？
A．That someone becomes unconscious.
B．That someone speaks a new language in a sudden.
C．That someone doesn't like his mother language.
D．That someone is able to speak Greek suddenly.
2.What does the underlined word “It” in Para.3 probably refer to?
A．Having accidents.
B．Speaking fluent German.
C．The phenomenon of Xenoglossia.
D．Being unable to speak.
3.We can learn from Paragraph 3 that the girl from Croatia ______.
A． wanted to know what caused her change
B． believed she had a talent for language
C． didn't study German for a long time
D． didn't like learning German
4.Which of the following is TURE according to the test?
A. Matej Kus is now afraid of motorbike racing.
B. The girl from Croatia lost consciousness for several days.
C. The girl from Croatia was knocked unconscious in an accident.
D. Matej Kus could only speak a little English before the accident .
Food prices have risen sharply over the past few years. The good news is that the rate of increase has slowed. The bad news is that prices will not go down anytime soon.
Also，the rate of global agricultural production is slowing. Yet it needs to increase 60% over the next 40 years to feed a growing world population.
These are among the findings from the OECDFAO(the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development & the Food and Agriculture Organization)Agricultural Outlook(展望)2012－2021.
FAO DirectorGeneral Jose Graziano da Silva spoke at a news conference in Rome when the report was released. Mr.Da Silva said that，not surprisingly，the world's poorest people will feel the greatest effects of higher prices.
“For the millions and millions of extremely poor people， the effects of high food prices are clear—they might have to change their diets，usually to ones with poorer nutrition quality， ”he said.
In middleincome countries， people are gaining weight as they eat fewer fruits and vegetables and more of the cheaper but less nutritious foods.
The report also shows that farmers in poorer countries will be leading efforts to feed an expected 9,000,000,000 people by 2050.The outlook predicts that farmers in Latin America，the Caribbean and subSaharan Africa will drive agricultural production in the future.
Angel Gurria，SecretaryGeneral of the OECD，said：“We can feed 9,000,000,000 people by 2050 on this planet. But we have to organize ourselves better.” But there are plenty of challenges.Onefourth of all agricultural land is damaged. Many countries face water shortages(短缺)．And experts believe climate change is driving increasingly unusual weather patterns.
The report says farmers need to use more growing methods that can't cause damage to the environment.At the same time，it says governments should end economically harmful supports and spend more money to increase agricultural production.Mr.Gurria says rich and poor nations need to treat agriculture more like a business.
“In many cases，agriculture is related in people's minds to the poorest. It's related to aid. It's related to very poor living conditions，etc. We have got to shake that image away，”he said.
1.Why are people gaining weight in countries with average incomes?
A．They eat more food. B．They eat less nutritious foods.
C．They eat cheaper fruits. D．They eat cheaper vegetables.
2.It can be inferred from the text that poorer countries ______.
A．are damaging a great part of their agricultural land
B．will play a great role in feeding the growing world population
C．are spending lots of money increasing agricultural production
D．will not be so seriously affected by food prices as rich nations
3.What can be done to deal with the slow agricultural production?
A．Improving the growing methods.
B．Finding more agricultural land.
C．Preventing governments' involvement.
D．Improving farmers' living conditions.
4.Which of the following might Angel Gurria agree with?
A．Agriculture means difficulty and sadness.
B．Food prices will go down in the near future.
C．It's almost impossible to feed 9,000,000,000 people by 2050.
D．Both rich and poor countries should take agriculture seriously.
I’m an operating engineer, running crane(起重机) in New York City. I was in the countryside, playing golf when we got the call that a plane had the World Trade Centre. We checked out of the hotel immediately and started our way downtown. When I got home, I called the rescue center and they told me to come and get on the list.
The next morning I went down to the at about 5 A. M., and four hours later I the call to come down to West Street. I called my wife and told her not to me, and that I would stay in with her. I took the subway. It stopped at West Fourth Street, so I had to the rest of the way.
And somewhere in there I became when I went into something I . I once worked there in 1966 for the of the World Trade Centre. On halfway on September 12, I was frightened to see the World Trade Centre was a huge pile, maybe ten tall. And it was burning. I started to ask in which my crane might be a whistle blew suddenly warning us of some danger. I saw people running away and I really didn’t know what to do. So I did the same, too. It was as if they had the bulls go in Spain and we were running through the street. People falling down, people them up as they came by, and carrying them, just to get them out of the way, because something was extremely . I didn’t even look back. We stopped running when we got to the Battery Tunnel, and I caught my and said, “Oh, my God, I’m going to die.”
Then I a little bit, thinking about what we should do next. As we started again we knocked into a fire chief officer and we asked, “What can we do to help you?”
1.A．noticed B．reached C．hit D．passed
2.A．finding B．making C．getting D．losing
3.A．away B．near C．in D．down
4.A．volunteer B．soldier C．police D．fireman
5.A．company B．hotel C．center D．home
6.A．answered B．made C．heard D．received
7.A．be curious about B．forget about C．laugh at D．worry about
8.A．peace B．touch C．connection D．relation
9.A．walk B．complete C．cancel D．smooth
10.A．delighted B．frightened C．embarrassed D．interested
11.A．built B．met C．designed D．had
12.A．construction B．plan C．destruction D．use
13.A．miles B．centimeters C．stories D．floors
14.A．means B．numbers C．position D．directions
15.A．as B．why C．when D．because
16.A．driven B．let C．asked D．enjoyed
17.A．pushing B．giving C．looking D．picking
18.A．dangerous B．urgent C．efficient D．important
19.A．view B．sight C．breath D．sense
20.A．put down B．settled down C．knocked down D．let down
-______, Rome was not built in a day.
-So you mean that it was not built at night.
A. For the saying says B. When the proverb is said
C. As the saying goes D. If the saying is read
The house ______ Mr. Green's family for 50 years will be pulled down next week.
A. belonged to B. belonging to C. to belong to D. belongs to
