Believe it or not, optical illusion（错觉）can cut down highway crashes.

　　Japan is a case in point. It has reduced automobile crashes on some roads by nearly 75 percent using a simple optical illusion. Bent stripes, called chevrons （人字形），painted on the roads make drivers think that they are driving faster than they really are, and thus drivers slow down.

　　Now the American Automobile Association Foundation for Traffic Safety in Washington D. C. is planning to repeat Japan's success. Starting next year, the foundation will paint chevrons and other patterns of stripes on selected roads around the country to test how well the patterns reduce highway crashes.

　　Excessive speed plays a major role in as much as one fifth of all fatal traffic accidents, according to the foundation. To help reduce those accidents, the foundation will conduct its tests in areas where speed-related hazards are the greatest curves, exit slopes, traffic circles, and bridges.

　　Some studies suggest that straight, horizontal（水平的）bars painted across roads can initially cut the average speed of drivers in half. However, traffic often returns to full speed within months as drivers get used to seeing the painted bars.

　　Chevrons, scientists say, not only give drivers the impression that they are driving faster than they really are but also make a lane appear to be narrower. The result is a longer lasting reduction in highway speed and the number of traffic accidents.

　　1.The passage mainly discusses ________.

　　A. a new way of highway speed control

　　B. a new pattern for painting highways

　　C. a new approach to training drivers

　　D. a new type of optical illusion

　　2.On roads painted with chevrons, drivers tend to feel that________.

　　A. they should avoid speed-related hazards

　　B. they are driving in the wrong lane.

　　C. they should slow down their speed.

　　D. they are approaching the speed limit.

　　3.The advantage of chevrons over straight, horizontal bars is that the former ________.

　　A. can keep drivers awake

　　B. can cut road accidents in half.

　　C. will have a longer effect on drivers

　　D. will look more attractive

　　4.What does the author say about straight, horizontal bars painted across roads?

　　A. They are falling out of use in the United States.

　　B. They tend to be ignored by drivers in a short period of time.

　　C. They are applicable only on broad roads

　　D. They cannot be applied successfully to traffic circles.

To me, life without music would not be exciting. I realize that this is not true for everybody. Many people get along quite well without going to the concert and listening to the record. But music plays an important part in everyone's life, whether he realizes it or not. Try to imagine, for example, what films or TV plays would be like without music? Would the feeling, the plot（情节）, and the great interests, be so exciting or moving? I’m not sure about that.

　　Now, we have been speaking of music in its more common meaning—the kind of music we hear in the concert hall. But if we look at some parts of music more closely, we discover them in our everyday life too— in the rhythm of the sea, the melody of a bird in the woods and so on. So music has meaning for everyone, in some way or other. And, of course, it has special meaning for those who have spent all their lives working on playing or writing music.

　　It is well said, “Through music a child enters into a world of beauty, expresses himself from his heart, feels the joy of doing things alone, learns to take care of others, develops his mind and makes his body strong.”

　　1.What does the writer want to tell us?

　　A. Life with music everywhere.　　　B. Life cannot be enjoyed without music.

　　C. Importance of music in life.　　　 D. Development of music in history.

　　2.According to the writer, __________.

　　A. those who do not go to the concerts don't need music at all

　　B. a film without music will not seem so exciting or interesting

　　C. only through music can a child enter into a world of beauty

　　D. nobody but musicians can discover music in the rhythm of the sea

How soon will it be before robots become so intelligent that they will be able to do things, such as teaching language or looking after patients in hospital? Some experts believe this will happen within twenty years while others disagree.

　　One London company, UAS （Universal Automated Systems）has already developed machines that can be used as “home-helps” for old people unable to look after themselves and who are living on their own or in special homes. These machines can now do such things as cooking eggs and cleaning the floor, and the company says that future models still accept simple voice instructions（指令） and be controlled by a “brain” that is the equivalent（相当的）of the latest IBM microcomputer. The director of UAS, Mr. Henry Jeffries, believes that in the next five to ten years companies will have developed even more sophisticated（复杂的）robots for use in industry. By this time, it is likely that they will also have begun to sell new forms of these machines into ordinary homes. Robots could do a wide range of household tasks, such as preparing meals, washing dishes, cleaning the house and so on. By then, the price of such machines may have come down to as little as $1, 000.

　　But Dr. Sandra Lomax, who has done research into artificial intelligence （人工智能） at Sussex University and MIT （Massachusetts Intelligence of Technology）, believes we have a long way to go before we can develop truly intelligent machines.

　　“Preparing an omelet（煎蛋） may seem easy enough. But suppose one of the eggs has gone bad, even the most ‘intelligent’ robot would probably still use it. If something slightly unusual needs doing—something that requires even a little bit of ordinary human imagination, a robot is useless. They need programming for even the simplest of tasks and are not able to learn form experience. And teaching a robot how to recognize a bad egg is far more difficult than teaching it to prepare the omelet the egg goes into.” She says.

　　1.A London company called UAS has already developed a machine which___________.

　　A. can teach languages and care for the patients in hospital

　　B. can help old people do certain jobs in the house

　　C. is controlled by microcomputer “brain”

　　D. can accept simple voice instructions

　　2.Dr. Sandra Lomax thinks that__________.

　　A. no robot will ever be able to prepare an omelet

　　B. a robot will soon be able to do unusual house work which people can't do

　　C. we can programme a robot to learn from experience

　　D. making an omelet is easier for a robot than recognizing a bad egg

阅读理解

人类从开始做饭洗衣，就开始了对环境的污染。幸亏环境有自净力，人类才安全生息。人口急速增加，工业迅猛发展，环境不堪重负。土地、空气、水的污染已影响到人类的健康和幸福，沉重代价唤起了人们的醒悟：地球是我们共有的家园，需要我们精心呵护。

　　 The earth is our home. We must take care of it. This means keeping the land, air and water clean.

　　  Pollution is a "dirty" word. To pollute means to make things unfit or unclean to us. Pollution comes in many ways. We see it, smell it, taste it and drink it. Pollution is beginning to threaten our health, our happiness and our life.

　　  Man has been polluting the earth from the time he first made fire, washed his clothes in the river and threw his waste on the ground. When land was used up or water became dirty, man moved on to another place. At first the problem was not so serious because there was plenty of clean air, land and water. There weren't so many people then and their wants were fewer. All the dirty things could be absorbed by nature and soon covered over. But this is no longer true. The increase of population and the development of industry have changed that. Man is slowly poisoning his surroundings.

　　 Through the use of poison, man has polluted the land, killing the animals. By putting dirty water and chemicals into river and lakes we have polluted our drinking water, killing the fish.

Our increasing population is part of the problem. More people, more waste. Where is this all to end? Are we turning the world into a big rubbish dump, or is there any hope that we can get rid of the pollution? Fortunately, millions of people have been warned of the danger of pollution. Large numbers of people are now working hard to bring pollution under control.

All the following statements are true except "_______" according to the passage.

  A. We live on the earth, so we should pay more attention to it.

  B. To pollute means to make air, water and soil unfit for use.

  C. All the waste produced by modern industry can be absorbed and made harmless.

  D. Man is now fighting a battle against different kinds of pollution.

阅读理解

在英美几乎每个家庭每天都买报纸。读报成了他们生活中不可或缺的一个内容，因为报纸能给他们提供各种各样的信息。

    Almost every family in American or England buys at least one copy of a newspaper each day．Some people buy as many as two or three different papers．

    Why do people read newspapers?

    Newspapers supply us with news about events in our hometowns, in our country，and in other parts of the world．Today we can read about important things that took place in foreign countries on the same day they happened, even in countries far away．But hundreds of years ago，news of things took months or even years to travel from one country to another．In those times，news was often passed from one person to another and never entirely true．Newspapers today supply us with more than just what happened in our country or in other countries．If we want to know what the weather will be like，we can read the weather reports．If we want to find out what films are being shown，or what plays or concerts we can go to, we can look in the newspapers．

    In many counties people put notices in newspapers if they are trying to get a job，hunting for a house or rooms that they can rent，or even looking for a person who is lost．

This article tells us ______．

A．most people read newspapers

B．all people read newspapers

C． every person in America or England reads newspapers

D．all families read newspapers

阅读理解

The Pentagon

五角大楼

    美国号称世界头号军事大国，其武力干涉几乎渗透到全球，有人开玩笑说：“只要五角大楼打个喷嚏，整个地球都会震动。”五角大楼是什么? 让我们揭开它神秘的面纱，好好地认识一下这座建筑的运作职能吧。

    The Pentagon，or the headquarters of the US Department of Defense，is one of the largest office buildings in the world，taking up a total land of 583 acres．The five-sided structure itself occupies an area of 29 acres．Each of its five outside wails is 921 feet long．It has three times the floor space as the Empire State Building or half again as much space as either of the New York's World Trade Center towers．

    Working inside this huge building are over 25 000 employees，one half of them being civilians and the other half members of the U．S． armed forces．During the last year of the Second World War there were 37 000 people，both military and civilian，working inside the Pentagon．In the Korean and Vietnam War periods，31 000．The employees are scattered among hundreds of offices that occupy a floor space of 3705793 square feet．

While inside the building they tell time by 4 200 clocks，drink from 685 water fountains，utilize 280 rest rooms，consume 30 000 cups of coffee，6 000 tins of milk and 5 000 bottles of soft drinks of various kinds every day，with a total staff of 600 persons preparing and serving food and drinks to the Pentagon employees，daily．

    Notes

    Pentagon n．五边形；五角大楼　　  civilian n．平民

    military n．军人　　　　　　　　  scatter v．分散

    utilize v．利用；应用　　　　　　 consume v．消耗

    Comprehension question

The building is called “the Pentagon ”because________．

A．it is the largest building in the world

B．it lies in the U．S．A．

C．it has five sides

  D．it is a secret place

阅读理解

Pub Etiquette in Britain

英国的酒吧礼仪

在公共场所，英国人讲究先来后到，但在生意兴隆的酒吧里看不到排队的现象，整个酒吧井然有序。如果有一天你到英国酒吧消遣，你应该注意些什么呢？

Amazingly for British, who love queues, there is no formal line-up－the bar staff are skilled at knowing whose turn it is. You are permitted to try to attention, but there are rules about how to do this. Do not call out, tap coins on the counter, snap your finger or wave like a drowning swimmer. Do not scowl or sign or roll your eyes. And whatever you do, do not ring the bell hanging behind the counter－this is used by the landlord to signal closing time. The key thing is to catch the bar worker’s eyes. You could also hold an empty glass or some money, but do not wave them about. Do adopt an expectant, hopeful, even slightly anxious facial expression. If you look too contented and complacent, the bar staff may assume you are already being served.

Always say“please”and try to remember some of the British bar staffs hates. They do not like people to keep others waiting while they make up their minds. They don’t like people standing idly against the bar when there are a lot of customers waiting for service. And they do not like people who wait until the end of the order before asking for such drinks as Guinness stout which take considerably longer to pour than other drinks. If you follow these tips you should be able to buy yourself a drink. Speaking of tips, you should never offer the bar staff a cash gratuity. The correct behavior is to offer them a drink. Pubs pride themselves on their egalitarian. A tip in cash would be a reminder of their service role, whereas the offer of a drink is a friendly gesture.

Notes

scowl v.　怒容；皱眉　　　　　　　　　expectant  adj.  期待的

complacent  adj. 自满的　　　　　　　 idly  adv. 无效地；懒洋洋地

stout  n. 烈性黑啤酒　　　　　　　　  gratuity  n.　小费

egalitarian   n.　＆ adj. 平等；平均主义（的）

Which statement is true?

A. The British bar staffs dislike people who make up their minds immediately.

B. They like people who can wait in line.

C. They hope people who want to have another drink ring the bell hanging behind the counter.

D. If you offer them a drink to express your tips, they will feel happy.

阅读理解

THE WORLD'S NEW FACES

    It will come as no surprise that the earth is going to be a much more crowded place in the next century. From global population of about 5.4 billion today, the United Nations Fund for Population Activities says we'll see a rise to 8.2 billion people in 2025. The U. N. expects total population to stabilize (稳定) at 11.6 billion sometime later in the 2000s. More than ninety percent of the population growth will occur in developing countries. Eighteen of the world's twenty largest cities will be in these lands as the number of urban dwellers (居民) swells (膨胀) from roughly two billion to 5.1 billion. The United States and Europe, which accounted for twenty-two percent of the world's population, will be home to less than nine percent of its people in 2025. By contrast (对照), Africa's share of the total will climb from nine percent in 1950 to nearly twenty percent by 2015. Ethiopia should double in size to almost 100 million people. In about the same time period, India will overtake China as the world's most-populous country.

　　 For the United States, the big news won't be an abundance (丰富，充裕) of new faces; experts predict (预言) the country will grow from its present 250 million population and stabilize at about 350 million sometime before the middle of the next century. The important changes will be in American ethnic (种族的) make-up. Twenty years from now, the United States' white, non-Hispanic (西班牙的) majority will peak (到达最高点) at 195 million, and then may decline in numbers. Asian-Americans will become an increasingly important minority, while African-Americans whose population growth rate is slowing dramatically will become the second largest minority behind Hispanics, a half-million of whom are now thought to be emigrating to the United States legally and otherwise, each year.

1.This article is primarily about ________

A. population growth in developing countries

B. population growth in developed countries

C. the reason why the world's population is changing

D. how the population is changing in different parts of the world

2. Which statement can be inferred from the first paragraph of this article?

A. China is the most populous country in the world today.

B. India is the most populous country in the world today.

C. Ethiopia will be the most populous country in the future.

D. In the future, China's population will grow faster than India's.

3. According to the article, how is the population of the United States going to change?

A. African-Americans will become the largest minority.

B. There will be more people from different ethnic background.

C. The number of white non-Hispanics will increase rapidly.

D. Asian-Americans will become the second largest minority.

4. The underlined word "overtake" in the second paragraph means_______

A. take the place of　　　　　　　　 B. pass by

C. catch up　　　　　　　　　　    D. take

5. Which of the following statements is true?

A. The population of the American whites will peak all the time.

B. The population of the American whites will decline all the time.

C. The population of the American whites will peak and then decline.

D. The population of the American whites will decline and then peak.

阅读理解

Information from the pioneer spacecraft of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) obviously proves the theory that the burning 900-degree Fahrenheit surface temperature of Venus (金星) is due to an atmospheric greenhouse effect caused mainly by a blanket of carbon dioxide. Such a greenhouse effect is created when energy in the form of sunlight easily passes through a planet’s atmosphere, warms is surface, and becomes heat radiation that is then held in by the atmosphere. The orbiting spacecraft has collected Venus’s atmosphere from top to bottom so that NASA’s scientists are able to prove the exact amount of sunlight received at various places in the planet’s atmosphere and on its surface. Measurements of atmosphere, temperature, and radiative heating foresee Venus’s surface temperature very exactly. The planet is closer to the Sun than it is to the Earth, and it has a thin atmosphere like the Earth’s but Venus atmosphere is made up of more than ninety percent carbon dioxide, compared to less than four percent in that of the Earth. Because of its higher percentage of carbon dioxide, Venus’s atmosphere receives much more heat radiation than the Earth’s does. Thus the Venus studies are believed to be important to the understanding of possible bad effects on Earth’s agriculture and sea levels that could result from the long-term use of fuels, which add carbon dioxide to the atmosphere．

Notes

1. atmospheric adj．大气(中)的

2. carbon dioxide 二氧化碳

3．orbit vt.使(人造卫星、宇宙飞船等)进入空间轨道；绕轨道运行

4．amount n．总数，总额

5．compare vt．把……比作(to)

1．Which of the following would be the most suitable title for the passage?

A．A New Theory

B．Measuring Planetary Temperatures

C．The Journey of Pioneer Spacecraft

D．The Greenhouse Effect on Venus

2．According to the passage, what happens to heat radiation on Venus?

A．It disappears at the planet’s surface．

B．It is received by the atmosphere．

C．It creates energy．

D．It is changed into other kind of energy．

 (丢失三道题)

阅读理解

Escaping a fire is a serious matter, knowing what to do during a fire can save a life. It is important to know the way you can use and show them to everyone in the family, such as stairs and fire escapes, but not lifts. From the lower floors of a building, escape through windows is possible. Learn the best way of leaving by window with the least chance of serious injury.

    The second floor window is usually not very high from the ground. A person of average height, hanging by the fingertips will have a drop of about 6 feet to the ground. It is about the height of an average man. Of course, it is safer to jump a short way than to stay in a burning building.

    Windows are also very useful when you are waiting for help. Be sure to keep the door closed before opening the window. Otherwise, smoke and fire may be drawn into the room. Keep your head low at the window to be sure you get enough fresh air rather than smoke that may have leaked into the room.

　　 On a second or third floor, the best windows for escape are those which open onto a roof. From the roof a person can drop to the ground more safely. Dropping onto the cement might end in injury. Bushes and grass can help to break a fall.

1. Which of the following people seldom use when trying to escape a fire?

   A. Windows.　　　　　　　　　　 B. Doors.

   C. Fire escapes.　　　　　　　　  D. Lifts.

2. How far from the ground is the second floor window?

   A. About 12 feet.

   B. About 3 feet.

   C. Nearly 10 feet.

   D. About height of an average man.

3. According to the passage, windows are _________of escaping a fire.

   A. the only way

   B. the best way

   C. safer than any other ways

   D. one of the many possible ways

4. The writer tells us that _________.

   A. breathing in smoke might be harmful

   B. smoke will enter the room by an open window

   C. fresh air can't reach the second floor

   D. to keep your head low will help you escape a fire

5. If you are on the ground floor when a fire breaks out, you'd better drop _________.

    A. directly onto the ground

    B. first onto a roof and then onto the cement

    C. first onto a roof and then onto bushes or grass

D. onto the cement rather than bushes or grass