How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation (通货膨胀)? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate. Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market. Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past. Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques.

   I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life. "The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound. It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands. Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control. This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves."

     Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time. Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts. They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout tire time. So it seems that the first clocks were human beings.

     However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time. They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun. They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks. Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past.

    Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home. After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in air antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?

1.According to the passage, collecting antique clocks____.

A.     can hardly keep the value of your savings

B.      will cost much of your savings

C.      may increase your wealth

D.     needs your bravery

2.By quoting (引用) the remark of a being from another planet, the author intends to____.

A. suggest human beings are controlled by a clock

B. describe why clocks can rule the planet Earth

C. tell readers what clocks look like

D. compare chicks to human beings

3. Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time?

A. Counting the beating of one's own heart.

B. Making use of candles, sand and water.

C. Observing shadows cast by the sun.

D. Keeping slaves busy day and night.

4.The underlined phrase stately homes in paragraph 4 means

A.     state-owned houses

B.      houses in very good condition

C.      grand houses open to the public

D.     houses where statesmen meet regularly

5.The purpose of the passage is

A. to introduce the culture of antique clocks

B. to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks

C. to compare different ways to make a future profit

D. to explain convenient and reliable ways of telling time

 

New York: Staying positive through the cold season could be your best defence against getting ill, new study findings suggest.

In an experiment that exposed healthy volunteers to a cold or flu virus, researchers found that people with a generally sunny disposition were less likely to fall ill. The findings, published in the journal Psychosomatic Medicine, build on evidence that a “positive emotional style” can help protect us from the common cold and other illnesses.

Researchers believe the reasons may be both objective----as in happiness improving immune, function----and subjective----as in happy people being less troubled by a sore throat or funny nose. "People with a positive emotional style may have different immune responses to the virus," explained lead study author Dr Sheldon Cohen of Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. "And when they do get a cold, they may interpret their illness as being less severe."

Cohen and his colleagues had found in a previous study that happier people seemed less likely to catch a cold, but some questions remained as to whether the emotional trait itself had the effect.

For the new study, the researchers had 193 healthy adults complete standard measures of personality traits, self-perceived health and emotional "style." Those who tended to be happy, energetic and easy-going were judged as having a positive emotional style, while those who were often unhappy, tense and hostile had a negative style.

The researchers gave them nasal(鼻的) drops containing either a cold virus or a particular flu virus. Over the next six days, the volunteers reported on any aches, pains, sneezing or congestion they had, while the researchers collected objective data, like daily mucus production. Cohen and his colleagues found that based on objective measures of nasal woes, happy people were less likely to develop a cold.

1.Which is the best title for the passage?

   A. Stay Away From Being Negative

   B. Positive or Negative, It’s Up To You

   C. An Effective Medicine For Being Fit

   D. Warm People Likely To Keep Cold Away

2.According to Dr Cohen’s research, the reason why some people are unlikely to catch a cold is that ___________________.

   A. their cheerful mood benefits the immune system

   B. they have developed a certain gene against flu virus

   C. they are less likely to have s sore throat and funny nose

   D. they have got a stronger self-confidence in their health

3.The underlined word “disposition” (paragraph 2) probably means ________.

   A. character        B. day       C. future       D. occupation

4.The passage is probably written for ___________________.

   A. medical students  B. lead authors   C. the public    D. the volunteers

 

Drunken driving –sometimes called America’s socially accepted form of murder—has become a national epidemic (流行病). Every hour of every day about three Americans on average are killed by drunken drivers，adding up to an incredible 250,000 over the past ten years. A drunken driver is usually referred to as one with 0.10-blood alcohol content or roughly three beer glasses of wine or shots of whisky drunk within two hours. Heavy drinking used to be an acceptable part of the American manly image and judges were lenient in most courts，but the drunken killing has recently caused so many well-publicized tragedies，especially concerning young children，that public opinion is no longer so tolerant.

    Twenty states have raised the legal drinking age to 21，reversing a trend in the 1960s to reduce it to 18. After New Jersey lowered it to 18，the number of people killed by 18-20 years old drivers more than doubled，so the state recently upped it back to 21.

    Reformers，however，fear raising the drinking age will have little effect unless accompanied by educational programs to help young people to develop ‘responsible attitudes’ about drinking and teach them to resist peer pressure to drink.

    Though new laws have led to increased arrests and tests in many areas already，to a marked drop in accidents，some states are also punishing bars for serving customers too many drinks. A bar in Massachusetts was fined for serving six or more double brandies to a customer who was ‘obviously drunk’ and later drove off the road，killing a 9-year-old boy.

As the accidents continue to occur daily in every state，some Americans are even beginning to speak well of the 13 years national prohibition of alcohol that began in 1919，which President Hoover called the ‘noble experiment’. They forgot that legal prohibition didn’t stop drinking，but encouraged political corruption and organized crime. As with the booming drug trade generally，there is no easy solution.

1.Statistics issued in New Jersey suggested that ____________.

A. many drivers were not of legal age.　　      B. young drivers were often bad drivers.

　　C. the level of drinking increased in the 1960s.    D. the legal drinking age should be raised.

2.The underlined word ‘lenient’ in the first paragraph means ‘_________’.

A. serious          B. cruel                C. merciful         D. determined

3.In America, public opinion about drunken driving has changed because __________.

A.  judges are no longer tolerant

B.  new laws are introduced in some states

C.  the increasing number of traffic accidents has got the attention of the public

D.  drivers do not appreciate their manly image any more

4.Which of the following best shows the writer’s opinion of drunken driving?

A. It may lead to organized crime.          B. It is difficult to solve this problem.

C. The new laws can stop heavy drinking.        D. There should be no bars to serve drinks. 

 

For more than ten years John Grimshaw has been pioneering a gentle revolution. He aims to get us going by bike on Britain’s network of disused railways. He works as an engineer for Sustrans, a Bristol-based charity.

He believes that there is no benefit or logic behind the building of bigger and faster roads that only encourage people to use cars more extravagantly(过分地). Britain’s roads being built ignore all but the motorists while miles of railway tracks no longer used by trains lie wasted.

His organization started work in 1994 with a modest five mile track from Bristol to Bath, and cyclists and walkers now make a million journeys a year on the path. Sustrans has since completed a further 150 miles throughout Britain with the help of volunteer workers.

Building such paths is not easy or cheap. Sustrans buys or leases(租借) land from British Rail and the paths can cost from 6,000 pounds up to 8, 0000 pounds per kilometer to build. Money comes from central and local government, charity bodies and gifts from individuals.

To encourage more walkers and cyclists along its paths, Sustrans plans to construct a work of art on every mile of path it builds. Most of their tracks quickly transport people from the city to the countryside. The latest route runs from the heart of Glasgow to Loch Lomond. Relics (遗迹)of the great railway age litter the routes—station houses, signals boxes and even steam trains.

Some might consider John Grimshaw a traveler from the past, out of touch with the modern world, but for many he is preparing the way for an alternative for a car-mad world.

The aim of Sustrans is to _________.

a. encourage people to use cars more efficiently

b. use old railway lines for leisure purposes

c. provide a cycling network across Britain

d. build better and faster roads

How does Sustrans finance its work?

a. with a mixture of money from the government and donations

b. with money from British Rail

c. by leasing its land

d. by using volunteer workers

Which of the following is TRUE?

a. Sustrans will not build any more tracks after Glasgow to Loch Lomond

b. Sustrans will have to clear the track of relics

c. Sustrans makes the countryside more accessible to the public

d. Sustrans believes more drivers will use their tracks.

This booklet is designed to help you and your family plan for and survive a major earthquake. By taking action to be prepared, you can lessen the impact of an earthquake on your family. Set aside some emergency supplies, and teach your family what to do at home during and after a disaster. You could be without help for up to 72 hours, so learn to cope for at least that long.

Movement of the ground is seldom the actual cause of death or injury. Most casualties（意外） result from partial building collapse and falling objects and debris, like toppling chimneys, falling bricks, ceiling plaster, and light fixtures. Many of these conditions are easily preventable.

Because earthquakes occur without warning, it’s important to take steps now to prepare, so that you know what you can do and how to respond — constructive, protective action is possible.

Have on hand for Any Emergency – Ideas for Home, Workplace, and Car.

Because you don’t know where you will be when an earthquake occurs, prepare a disaster supplies.

59．Who is the passage mainly written for ?

A．scientists B．parents     C．the public        D．teachers

60．How can we lessen the impact of an earthquake on our family?

A．Stay at home

B．Keep away from high buildings

C．learn some knowledge about the cause of earthquakes

D．know what to do in a disaster

61．What will the writer talk about next?

A．emergency supplies        B．first aid

C．toppling chimneys      D．ceiling plaster

62．which can be the best title of this passage?

A．Are You Prepared for the Next Earthquake 

B．Earthquakes Occur without Warning

C．How to prevent earthquakes           

D．Cause of Earthquakes