六、Reading comprehension.(阅读理解)20分

A

Air is an odorless(that cannot be smelled;smelless),invisible(that cannot be seen)gas that surrounds the planet earth.It is everywhere on the planet.An “empty” drinking glass and an “empty” room,to give two examples,are not really empty.Each is filled with air.When the glass is filled with water,the water pushes the air out of the glass.

Air,as a gas,has no definite(fixed,particular)shape,but,because it is matter,it takes up space.It is easy to prove that air is something that takes up space.Stuff a dry handkerchief into the bottom of a glass so that it will not fall out when the glass is turned upside-down.Push the upside-down glass,hold it straight into a jar of water till the glass is completely covered.When the glass is taken out of water,the handkerchief will be dry.The air inside the glass took up space and kept the water from coming in.

1.“Stuff a dry handkerchief into…”.The underlined word means.

A.Press tightly     B.Take out          C.Put down      D.Turn fully

2.The writer tells us that _________.

A.the experiment was done in the laboratory

B.the experiment was done outside the room

C.the experiment is easily done

D.the experiment is carried out indoors

3.Which of the following pictures gives us the correct result?

(W—water;A—air;H—handkerchief)

 

One evening in February 2007 . a student named Paula Ceely brought her car to a stop on a remote in Wales . She got out to open a metal gate that blocked her path . That's when she heard the whistle sounded by the driver of a train.Her Renault Clio parked across a railway line. Second later,she watched  the train drag her car almost a kilometre down the railway tracks.

     Ceely's  near miss  made the news because she blamed it on her GPS device(导航仪).She had never driven the route before .It was dark and raining heavily . Ceely was relying on her GPS. But it made no mention of the crossing ."I put my complete trust in the device and it led me right into the path of a speeding train ,"she told the BBC.

   W ho is to blame here ? Rick Stevenson ,who tells Ceely's story in his book When Machines Fail US, finger at the limitations of technology. We put our faith in digital devices, he says,

      but our digital helpers are too often not up to the job. They are filled with small  problems. And it’s not just GPS devices: Stevenson takes us on a tour of digital disasters involving everything from mobile phones to wireless key boards.

     The problem with his argument in the book is that it’s  not clear why he only focuses digital technology,while  there may be a number of other possible  causes. A map-maker might have left the crossing off a paper map. Maybe we should blame Ceely for not paying attention. perhaps the railway authorities are at fault for poor signaling system. Or maybe someone has studied the relative dangers and worked out that there really is something specific wrong with the CPS equipment. But Stevenson doesn’t say.

It’s a problem that runs through the book. In a section on cars, Stevenson gives an accout of the advanced techniques that criminals use to defeat computer-based locking systems for cars. He offers two independent sets of figures on car theft; both show a small rise in some parts of the country. He says that once once again not all new locks have proved reliable. Perhaps, but maybe it’s also due to the shortage of policemen on the streets. Or changing social circumstances. Or some combination of these factors .

The game between humans and their smart devices  is complex. It is shaped by economics and psychology and the cultures we live in. Somewhere in the mix of those forces there may be  way a wiser use of technology.   

If there is such a way, it should involve more than just  an awareness of the shortcomings of our machines. After all, we have lived with them for thousands  of years. They have probably been fooling us for just as long .

1.

What did Paula Ceely think was the cause of her accident?           

 A. She was not familiar with the road.           

 B. It was dark and raining heavily then.   

C. The railway works failed to give the signal.

D. Her GPS device didn’t tell her about the crossing

2.

The phrase”near miss” (paragraph 2 ) can best be replaced by _______.    

A. closebit                    B. heavy loss             C.narrow escape         D. big mistake    

3.

Which of the following would Rick Stevenson most probably agree with?          A. Modern technology is what we can’t live without.

B. Digital technology often falls short of out expectation.    

C. Digital devices are more reliable than they used to be.   

D. GPS error is not the only cause for Celery’s accident. 

4.

In the writer’s opinion, Stevenson’s argument is________.

A. one-sided     B. reasonable      C.puzzling      D.well-based

5.

What is the real concern of the writer of this article?

A.The major causes of traffic accidents and car thefts.

B.The relationship between humans and technology

C. The shortcomings of digital devices we use.           

D. The human unawareness  of technical problems.

 

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 am 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 Jellison 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’s terrible. 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 that they have no intention of carrying out. 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 or gain in some way.
Research has been done into the way people’s behavior changes in a number of small, 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 they are saying “I wish I were somewhere else now”. They also tend to touch certain parts of the face, particularly the nose. One explanation of this may be that lying causes a slight increase in blood pressure. The tip of the nose  is very sensitive to changes and the increased pressure makes it itch.
Another gesture that gives liars away is what the writer Decmond Morris in his book Man Watching calls the “mouth cover”. He says that there are several typical forms of this ,such as covering part of the mouth with the fingers, touching the upper lip or putting a finger of the hand at one side off the mouth. Such a gesture can be understood as an unconscious(未察觉的) attempt on the part of the liar to stop himself from lying.
Of course, such gestures as rubbing the nose or covering the mouth , moving about in a chair can not be taken as proof that the speaker is lying. They simply tend to happen more often in this situation. It is one gesture alone that gives the liar away but a whole number of things , and in particular the context(上下文) which the lie is told.
【小题1】According to the passage, a white lie seems to be a lie ______.

A．that other people believew.w.^w.k.&s.5*u.c.#om高.考.资.源.网

B．that other people don’t believe

C．told in order not to hurt someone’s feelings

D．told in order to take advantage of someone

【小题2】Research suggests that women _____.

A．are better at telling less serious lies than men

B．generally lie for more than men do

C．often make promises they intend to break

D．lie at parties more often than men do

【小题3】Researchers find that when a person tells lies _____.

A．his blood pressure increases measurably

B．he looks very serious

C．he is likely to make some small changes in his behavior

D．he uses his unconscious mind

【小题4】The writer of the passage______.

A．hates lying

B．enjoys lying

C．often tells a lie

D．tries to study about lying

【小题5】Which of the following is not mentioned in the passage as a sign of lying ?

A．Touching one’s ears	B．Rubbing the nose
C．Moving in a chair	D．Covering the mouth

I first went to Harrow in the summer term. The school had the biggest swimming pool I had ever seen. It was a good joke to come up behind a naked boy, and push him into the pool. I made quite a habit of this with boys of my own size or less

One day I saw a boy wrapped in a towel on the side of the pool. He was no bigger than I was, so I thought him a fair game. Coming secretly behind, I pushed him in, holding on to his towel so that it would not get wet, I was surprised to see an angry face come out from the water, and a being of great strength making its way by fierce strokes(猛力地划) to the shore. I fled, but in vain. He overtook me, seized me violently, and threw me into the deepest part of the pool. I soon climbed out on the other side, and found myself surrounded by a crowd of younger boys. “Do you know what you have done?” they said, “It’s Amery; he is in Grade Six. He is champion at gym, he has got his football honor.”

I was frightened and felt ashamed. How could I tell his position when be was wrapped in a bath towel and so small. He didn’t seem pleased at all, so I added in a most brilliant word, “My father,  who is a great man, is also small.” At this be laughed, and after some general words about my rude behavior and how I had better be careful in the future, signified the incident was closed.

1. The writer thought Amery “a fair game” because the boy        .

  A. looked like an animal                    B. was fond of games w*w*

C. was of similar size                   D. was good at sports

2. The writer felt “ashamed” because        .

  A. he was laughed at by other boys 

B. Amery turned out to be in the same grade

C. he pushed Amery hard and hurt him     

D. he played a joke on an outstanding athlete

3. By saying “My father, who is a great man, is also small”, the writer        .

  A. tried to please Amery                    B. challenged Amery

C. threatened Amery                   D. admired his father

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. The writer could run faster than Amery.

B. The writer liked playing on boys of all sizes.

C. Amery was a student in Grade Four.

D. Amery forgave the writer for his rude behavior

5. What does the underlined word “overtook” mean?

A. catch hold of                                       B. catch up with

C. take a look at                                        D. shout at