Although they may not die from lack of love, adults also need a great amount of affection (友情) and companionship. In the past, many people spent their entire lives in the communities in which they were born and raised. Many more people continued to live with their parents, brothers and sisters after they were married and had children of their own. By remaining in familiar communities with relatives nearby, families had enough opportunities for friendly contact and for support in time of trouble.

    Recent studies suggest that family arrangements in Western societies have not changed as much in the last few centuries as is generally believed. Yet most sociologists agree that in modern societies, there are fewer opportunities for friendship and support from relatives outside the immediate family. Parents and children often live apart from other relatives, and seldom visit them. Also, the family moves when a parent accepts a job in another place or when it decides to live in a better neighborhood. Together, loneliness and mobility (迁移) force immediate family members to depend heavily on one another for affection and companionship.

    Because the family is one of the few ongoing sources of affection and companionship in modern societies, a high percentage of people continue to marry, even though it is possible for a single man and woman to live together without marrying. On the other hand, because affection and companionship have become so important, families are more likely to break up if the husband's or wife's emotional (情感的) needs are not met within the family circle even if all other family functions (功能) are being satisfactorily performed, and in this sense, affection and companionship have become the touchstone of the modern family.

    1. It is generally believed that ________.

    A. many people spend their lives in familiar communities

    B. a person can easily get in touch with relatives in times of difficulty

    C. the organization of the family has changed a great deal

    D. western societies have not changed much in the past few years

    2. Sociological studies show that ________.

    A. the more the family moves, the less support it gets from its distant relatives

    B. parents and children live together to make up for the lack of relatives outside the family

    C. family arrangements have changed and so there is little need for companion of relatives

    D. family members are separated from each other because of lack of support from relatives

    3. The word“touchstone”in the last paragraph may be replaced by ________.

    A. result　　　　　　    B. trouble　　　　　　　　　　 C. function　　　　    D. standard

    4. In the last paragraph, the writer mainly wants to say ________.

    A. affection and companionship are important for the family and they can be gained from nowhere but the family

    B. affection and companionship can come from the family and at the same time safeguard the family

    C. there are few ways to gain affection and companionship but the best way to get them is from the family

D. in modern societies a lot of families break up and it’s just for a lack of affection and companionship

When we can see well, we do not think about our eyes often. It is only when we can not see perfectly that we come to see how important our eyes are.

    People who are nearsighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes. Many people who do a lot of close work, such as writing and reading, become nearsighted. Then they have to wear glasses in order to see distant things clearly.

    People who are farsighted face just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty reading a book unless they hold it at arm’s length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses too.

    Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people’s eyes become cloudy because of cataracts. Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.

    When night falls, colors become fainter to the eyes and finally disappear. After your eyes have grown used to the dark, you can see better if you use the side of your eyes rather than the centers. Sometimes, after dark, you see a small thing to one side of you, which seems to disappear if you turn your head in its direction. This is because when you turn your head, you are looking at the thing too directly. Men on guard duty sometimes think they see something moving to one side of them. When they turn to look straight at it, they can not see it any more, and they believe they were mistaken. However, this mistake happens because the center of the eye, which is very sensitive in daylight, is not as sensitive as the sides of the eye after dark.

    1. We don’t know that our eyes are of great importance until ________.

    A. we think about our eyes　　　　　　　　  B. we cannot see clearly

    C. we wear glasses　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. we have to do much reading

    2. According to the passage, a ________ is more likely to be nearsighted.

    A. tailor　　　　　　　　 B. doctor　　　　　　   C. guard　　　　　　    D. painter

    3. People who are farsighted ________.

    A. cannot do a lot of close work without glasses

    B. can only see things that are very close to their eyes

    C. have difficulty reading a book if they hold it at arm’s length

    D. have the same problem as the nearsighted people

    4. To see a small thing at night, it is better to look ________.

    A. with wide open eyes　　　　　　    B. with half shut or narrowed eyes

C. straight at it　　　　　　　　　　　　    　　   D. in a slightly different direction

Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time. Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience.

    E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.

    The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun, see a great movie perhaps, and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may tire of telling the story. With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.

    E-mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E—mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.

    We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don’t take the place of any of the old ways.

    1. The purpose of this passage is to ________.

    A. explain how to use the Internet

    B. describe the writer’s joy of keeping up with the latest technology

    C. tell the merits (价值) and usefulness of the Internet

    D. introduce the reader to basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet

    2. The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to ________.

    A. spend lee time working　　　　　　　　   B. have more free time with his child

    C. work at home on weekends　　　　　　 D. work at a speed comfortable to him

    3. According to the writer, E-mail has an obvious advantage over the telephone because the former helps one ________.

    A. reach a group of people at one time conveniently

    B. keep one’s communication as personal as possible

    C. pass on much more information than the later

    D. get in touch with one’s friends faster than the later

    4. The best title for this passage is ________.

    A. Computer: New Technological Advances

    B. Internet: New Tool to Maintain Good Friendship

    C. Computers Have Made Life Easier

D. Internet a Convenient Tool for Communication

The greatest recent changes have been in the lives of women. During the twentieth century there was an unusual shortening of the time of a woman’s life spent in caring for children. A woman marrying at the end of the 19th century would probably have been in her middle twenties, and would be likely to have seven or eight children, of whom four or five lived till they were five years old. By the time the youngest was fifteen, the mother would have been in her early fifties and would expect to live a further twenty years, during which custom, chance and health made it unusual for her to get paid work. Today women marry younger and have fewer children. Usually a woman’s youngest child will be fifteen when she is forty-five and is likely to take paid work until retirement at sixty. Even while she has the care of children, her work is lightened by household appliances (家用电器) and convenience foods.

    This important change in women’s way of life has only recently begun to have its full effect on women’s economic position. Even a few year ago most girls left school at the first opportunity and most of them took a full-time job. However, when they married, they usually left work at once and never returned to it. Today the school-leaving age is sixteen, many girls stay at school after that age, and though women tend to marry younger, more married women stay at work at least until shortly before their first child is born. Many more afterwards, return to full or part-time work. Such changes have led to a new relationship in marriage, with both husband and wife accepting a greater share of the duties and satisfaction of family life, and with both husband and wife sharing more equally in providing the money and running the home, according to the abilities and interest of each of them.

    1. We are told that in an average family about 1890 ________.

    A. many children died before they were five

    B. the youngest child would be fifteen

    C. seven of eight children lived to be more than five

    D. four or five children died when they were five

    2. When she was over fifty, the late 19th century mother ________.

    A. would expect to work until she died

    B. was usually expected to take up paid employment

    C. would be healthy enough to take up paid employment

    D. was unlikely to find a job even if she is now likely

    3. Many girls, the passage says, are now likely to ________.

    A. marry so that they can get a job,

    B. leave school as soon as they can

    C. give up their jobs for good after they are married

    D. continue working until they are going to have a baby

    4. According to the passage, it is now quite usual for women to ________.

    A. stay at home after leaving school　　 B. marry men younger than themselves

C. start working again later in life　　　　 D. marry while still at school

In cars of normal design, the petrol (汽油) system is made up of three parts: storage tanks (储油箱), a pump and a carburetor (汽化器).

    The petrol tank is fitted at the back of the car where it is out of the way, yet easily filled at a gas station. Tanks are in various capacity (溶量) but they usually hold enough petrol for 250-300 miles running. Because the tank is at the opposite end of the car from the carburetor, which is fitted high up on the engine, a pump is needed to draw the petrol from one to the other, as it is from the carburetor that the petrol in finally fed into the engine. Pumps can be of two kinds: electrically operated or mechanically driven from the engine.

    1. The text tells the reason why ________.

    A. there are different types of tanks in capacity

    B. the tank is designed at the back of the car

    C. the pump in mechanically driven from the engine

    D. the petrol is fed into the engine the carburetor

    2. It is necessary to use a pump to send petrol to carburetor because ________.

    A. the engine needs supply with a certain amount of petrol

    B. the pump can press the petrol to recycle

    C. the carburetor has difficulty in drawing petrol from the tank

    D. the tank isn’t fitted in proper position

    3. According to the text one tube (管道) of the ________ may be joined to the ________ directly.

    A. pump, engine　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. carburetor, engine

C. tank, carburetor　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. engine, tank

What exactly is a lie? Is it anything we say which we know is untrue? Or is it something more than that ? For example, suppose a friend wants to borrow some money from you. You say “I wish I could help you but I’m short of money myself”. In fact, you are not short of money but your friend is in the habit of not paying his debts and you don't want to hurt his feelings by reminding him of this. Is this really a lie?

    Professor Jerald Jullion of the University of Southern California has made a scientific study of lying. According to him, women are better liars than men, particularly when telling a“white lie”, such as when a woman at a party tells another woman that she likes her dress when she really thinks it looks awful. However, this is only one side of the story. Other researchers say that men are more likely to tell more serious lies, such as making a promise which they have no intention (意图) of fulfilling. This is the kind of lie politicians and businessmen are supposed to be particularly skilled at the lie from which the liar hopes to profit (获利) or gain in some way.

    Research has also been done into the changes of people’s behavior in a number of small, clearly unimportant ways when they lie. It has been found that if they are sitting down at the time they tend to move about in their chairs more than usual. To the trained observer (观察者) they are saying “I wish I were somewhere else now”. They also tend to touch certain parts of the face more often, in particular the nose. One explanation of this may be that lying causes a slight increase in blood pressure. The nose is very sensitive to such changes and the increased pressure makes it itch (发痒).

    Another gesture which gives liars away is that the writer Desmond Morris in his book Man Watching calls “the mouth cover”. He says there are several typical forms of this, such as covering part of the mouth with fingers, touching the upper-lip or putting a finger of the hand at one side of the mouth. Such a gesture can be understood as an unconscious attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself or herself from lying.

    Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth, or moving about in a chair cannot be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to occur more frequently in this situation. It is not one gesture along that gives the liar away but a whole number of things, and in particular the context in which the lie is told.

    1. According to the passage a“white lie”seems to be a lie ________.

    A. that other people believe

    B. that other people don’t believe

    C. told in order to avoid offending (冒犯) someone

    D. told in order to take advantage of someone

    2. Research suggests that women ________.

A. are better at telling lies than men do

B. generally lie far more than men

C. often make promises they intend to break

D. lie at parties more often than men do

    3. Researchers find that when a person tells lies ________.

    A. his blood pressure increases measurably

    B. he looks very serious

    C. he tends to make some small changes in his behaviors

    D. he uses his unconscious mind

    4. One reason people sometimes rub their noses when they lie is that ________.

    A. they wish they were somewhere else

    B. the nose is sensitive to physical changes caused by lying

    C. they want to cover their mouths

    D. they are trying to stop themselves from telling lies

    5. Which of the following may best betray (出卖) a liar?

    A. The touching of the tip of one’s nose.     B. The change of one’s behaviors.

C. “The mouth cover”gesture. 　　　　　　　　　　 D. The situations in which his lies are told.

Recently a Boeing 707 left London with 128 passengers. A minute after it took off, a fire broke out in one of the motors. It could not be controlled and the crew decided to turn back. Firemen in special fire-engines (消防车) rushed to meet the plane. It was coming in very fast with black smoke behind it. It landed and moved along at full speed. The fire-engines sped along behind it. The plane came to a stop. Within seconds the firemen were fighting the fire. At the same time, special doors and windows in the plane were thrown open. The crew worked calmly but very quickly. The passengers got to the ground by sliding down a special piece of cloth from the plane to the ground. In less than two minutes all the passengers and crew were out. Nobody was hurt. And the firemen had brought the fire under control. Such things seldom happen but when they do, the airport and crew are ready to deal with them.

    1. When the plane caught fire, the crew ________.

A. were forced to go on flying

B. managed to put out the fire in the air

C. managed to return to the London Airport

D. managed to continue their flight

    2. Finally, the firemen ________.

    A. watched all the passengers getting off the plane

    B. got most of the passengers off the burning plane

    C. saved some crew members, who were hurt, from the plane

    D. were able to stop the fire spreading to the other parts of the plane

    3. Which of the following is true?

    A. When the fire broke out, the crew felt very nervous.

    B. The minute the plane stopped, the passengers jumped off it one after another.

    C. The plane was burnt down in the fire completely.

    D. The plane crew know what to do when there is fire in the air plane.

    4. The article is mainly about ________.

    A. how the crew and the firemen dealt with the fire

    B. what the plane was equipped with

    C. how the crew worked in the plane

    D. what the crew did to calm the passengers

    (5. Which of the following is not true?

    A. Airport should have twenty-four-hour fire service.

    B. The plane crew should be given a great deal of training in dealing with fires.

    C. Modern planes should be specially equipped to meet dangerous situations.

    D. Fire is no longer great danger to modern planes

The phone is ringing at the other end of the line and it clicks as it is being answered. A voice says quickly,“Hello! Will you hold, please?”Then there is another click, followed by silence. It seems like hours before someone comes back on the line-that is, if you don’t hang up first.

    Office calls are, perhaps, the most difficult and the most important part of a secretary’s work. The first impression that a client (当事人) recessives (有倒退倾向) about a business is very often through a telephone contact. A caller who is left hanging on“hold”will get the feeling that he or she has been forgotten or ignored. If a call is answered rudely, the caller may become angry. And if the call is not routed directly to the right person, the caller may feel that he or she is getting the “runaround”.

    Laura Neelham is a secretary in the executive offices of a large manufacturing (生产，制造 ) company. As a good secretary, Laura knows that all phone calls must be answered promptly and handled efficiently. She knows that a secretary must be pleasant and helpful, no matter how busy she is or what kind of mood she may be in. She knows she must keep calm if a caller gets impatient or becomes angry; also, of course, she knows she can never allow herself to lose her temper. If she does not have the information the caller asks for, she must know who does have the information. Finally, she knows that one of her most important responsibilities is to“screen”telephone calls and to know which calls to refer to her boss, which calls to refer to other people, and which calls to handle herself.

    A well-handled telephone call will give the caller a good impression of the company he or she is dealing with. For this reason, an office secretary who can handle telephone calls cheerfully, tactfully, and efficiently is a valuable asset to any organization.

　　 1. What do you think about "to handle phone calls"?

    A. It’s extremely difficult.　　　　    B. It’s quite necessary.

    C. It’s very important.　　　　　　　　 D. It’s very boring.

    2. One can get his first impression about a business through ________.

    A. telephone contacts　　　　　　　　   B. newspaper advertisements

    C. telegrams　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. person-person contacts

    3. What does the word“runaround”in the article mean?

    A. “an unpleasant excuse”.　　　　　　 B. “a flat refusal”.

    C. “a not-warm welcome”.　　　　　　 D. “an unhelpful response”.

    4. The definition of the word“screen”in the third paragraph is probably ________.

    A. to give an answer

    B. to show something on a piece of cloth

    C. to protect from view with a screen

    D. to separate things of one sort from things of another

    5. This passage is mainly about ________.

    A. well-handled telephone calls

    B. the importance of how office calls are dealt with

    C. an efficient office secretary called Laura Needham

D. a secretary being a valuable asset to her country

The prizes are awarded by the Nobel foundation for outstanding achievements or contributions in five areas. A prize is given in chemistry, physics, medicine or physiology, literature and peace. Each prize has three parts. The first part is a gold medal. Second, a winner of a Nobel Prize is given a diploma saying that he has been awarded the prize. The third part of the prize is a large amount of money.

    Often a prize is awarded to just one person, but not always. Sometimes a prize is shared. It may be awarded to two or more people who have worked together to reach a goal. Since the Nobel Prizes are international prizes, scientists, inventors, writers, and diplomats from all countries may receive a prize. Sometimes, two people from countries with different political views may even share a prize. An example of this is the 1973 Peace Prize, which was awarded to Henry Kissinger of the United States and to Le Due Tho of North Vietnam for the Vietnam peace negotiations. It is also sometimes true that a prize is not given. If there is not outstanding achievement in one of the five areas, no prize is given in that area. In 1972, for example, no Nobel peace prize was given.

    Someone must decide whether or not to give an award. The process of nominating and choosing Nobel Prize winners have two parts. First, nominations, or recommendations, of people who might deserve a Nobel Prize, are made. The nominations in physics and chemistry are made by the Royal Academy of Science in Stockholm. The nominations in medicine or physiology are made by the Caroline Medical Institute, which is also in Stockholm. The Swedish Academy, along with the French and Spanish Academies, makes nominations in literature. The peace prize nominations are made by a committee of the Norwegian government. Many nominations are made in each area. Nominations from these groups begin the process of choosing the Nobel Prize winners.

    The second part of the process of choosing Nobel Prize winners is to decide which of the nominees deserves the award in each area. This decision is made by the Nobel Foundation in Stockholm. The Foundation may decide to give the awards to an individual or to several people in each area. Or the Foundation may decide not to give a prize at all in any area.

    1. A Nobel Prize is given in the form of ________.

    A. a large sum of money

    B. a diploma and a gold medal

    C. a large amount of money together with a gold medal and a diploma

    D. a prize certificate

    2. The 1973 Peace Prize was awarded to ________.

    A. two persons　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  B. Henry Kissinger

    C. Le Due Tho　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. two individuals from different countries

    3. Sometimes no prize is awarded when ________.

    A. there is no remarkable achievement in that area

    B. there is no suitable nomination

    C. there is a war

    D. there is financial shortage

    4. The decision of literature prize winner is made by ________.

    A. the Swedish Academy and the French and Spanish Academies

    B. the Nobel Foundation

    C. a committee for the Norwegian government

D. the Royal Academy of Science in Stockholm

Ford, the second largest car maker in the world, celebrates its 100th birthday this month.

    And it is already looking forward to its next 100 years. Ford expects to have nearly half its cars powered by fuel cells by the year 2050.

    In the meantime, another car maker in the US, General Motors (GM), is building the technology for cars to be powered by fuel cells.

    So, what makes fuel cells so special? Why are car makers so enthusiastic (热衷的) about them?

    Fuel cells are based on an electrochemical process. They change chemical energy from hydrogen (氢) and oxygen into electrical energy.

    Fuel cells pollute much less than traditional power sources. They produce little more than water as a byproduct. Car makers expect them to cut CO₂ emissions (散发) in half and so make cars more environmentally friendly.

    Fuel cells are not dependent on oil supplies. Instead, they run on hydrogen, the most common element in the universe. And they can be refueled. Car makers expect fuel cells to lessen the industry’s need to rely on decreasing oil supplies.

    Using fuel cells, without the traditional motor, engineers have many more possibilities for developing cars.

    A fuel cell frame can last 20 years, so car bodies could change with drivers’ needs or even with the seasons and be replaced at will.

    Owners could switch from a sports car to a family car while keeping the same fuel cell frame. This is a much cheaper solution to buying a whole new vehicle.

    “A fuel cell car is more than just a new concept car, it’s the start of a revolution in how cars are designed, built and used.”Said GM Chief Executive Rick Wagoner.

    While this may sound great, fuel cells are still too expensive to produce. For cars, they can be ten times the price of normal engines.

    The current test models can cost US $1 million or more.

    Besides Ford and GM, a number of other car makers are now testing fuel cell vehicles. And all are aiming for mass production by 2010. By that time, the cost of buying a fuel cell car should be as affordable as that of a traditional car.

    1. The problem facing the fuel cell car is that ________.

    A. it’ll be hard to produce in large quantities

    B. it’ll be too dear for people to buy

    C. people can’t get used to it

    D. its body changes too quickly

    2. The underlined word“they”(in Paragraph 6) refers to“________”.

    A. hydrogen and oxygen　　　　　　　　　　　　    B. car makers

    C. fuel cells　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D. traditional power sources

    3. The underlined word“lessen”(in Paragraph 6) probably means ________.

    A. reduce　　　　　　　　　　 B. keep　　　　　　　　  C. display　　　　　　  D. increase

    4. It can be concluded that this article is mainly written for ________.

    A. car experts　　    B. car engineers　　 C. general readers   D. students of science

    5. The main purpose of writing this article is ________.

    A. to announce a business plan

    B. to sell a new type of cars

    C. to introduce a new type of car power source

D. to introduce two America’s car makers