Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch．But he is in for an unwelcome surprise．The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer, and a radio signal from a control centre miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again．

The idea goes like this．A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro-processor and memory, and a GPS （全球定位系统） satellite positioning receiver．If the car is stolen, a coded （编码的） cellphone signal will tell the control centre to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted．

In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves．“The_pattern_of_vehicle_crime_has_changed,” says Martyn Randall, a security expert．He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools．But only if the car is more than 10 years old．

Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won’t allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code sent out by the ignition （点火） key．In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997．

But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting hold of the owner’s keys．And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking system．

If the car travels 100 metres without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen．The hundred metres minimum avoids false alarms due to inaccuracies in the GPS signal．

Staff at the centre will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing, and keep police informed of the vehicle’s movements via the car’s GPS unit．

The remote immobilizer is fitted to a car to ________．

       A．prevent car theft by sending a radio signal to the car owner

       B．help the police make a surprise attack on the car thief

       C．prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops

       D．allow the car to lock automatically when stolen

By saying “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed”, Martyn Randall suggests that ________．

       A．it takes a longer time for the car thief to do the stealing

       B．self-prepared tools are no longer enough for car theft

       C．the thief has to make use of computer technology

       D．the thief has lost interest in stealing cars over 10 years old

________ is necessary in making a modern car tougher to steal．

       A．A coded ignition key          B．A unique ID card

       C．A special cellphone signal         D．A GPS satellite positioning receiver

The operations centre will first ________ after receiving an alarm．

       A．start the tracking system  B．contact the car owner

       C．block the car engine D．locate the missing car

“What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?”The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.

     The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people. but here’s the true answer:

     The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8,1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.

     While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

     For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.

     As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.

     When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.

     For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.

     My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said , “Thanks for being here.”

     For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.

     It’s the most important thing I have ever done.

     The experience taught me two lessons.

     First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people I cared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that--- just be there when someone needed me.

     Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.

     From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write----or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.

1.When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author __________.

A felt it was not an interesting question           

B. thought for a while and spoke his mind

C. gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view   

D. didn’t give the real answer

2.When he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _________.

A. He had to stay with his family             B. His friend did not need his help.

C. He would not be of much help                 D. the baby would be in the doctor’s care

3.What can we infer from the author’s description of the scene at the hospital?

A. He found out that he was in the way.             

B. He would have felt guilty if he had not been there.

C. He regretted that he went too later.

D. His friend would have felt better if he had not been there.

4.Which of the following is conveyed in this story?

A.Family and relatives can not take the place of friends.

B.More people are a great comfort when one is in trouble.

C.It is best to be here when someone needs you.

D.You can certainly help a friend if you want to.

5.The author learned from his own experience that_______.

A.what is taught in school is usually of no use.

B.a lawyer cannot learn much in classrooms

C.a lawyer should know people’s feeling first

D.he needs to be able to feel as well as think logically

6.The underlined sentence in the last paragraph suggests that the author_______.

A.is fond of writing poems

B.is going to coach the kid’s team

C.is determined to make friends with everybody

D.is fully aware of the importance of being helpful to those in need

 

根据短文内容, 从下面A到F选项中选出能够概括每段主题的最佳选项, 选项中有一项为多余项

A. Tools of thought B. A reflection of your personality C. An indication of your intelligence D. The explosive effect of words E. A direction of the history F. Change the direction of your life

 

(填涂说明：E="A+D  " F="B+D  " G="C+D" )

1.

The extent of your vocabulary indicates the degree of your intelligence. Your brain power will increase as you learn to know more words. Here's the proof. Two classes in a high school were selected for an experiment. Their ages and their environment were the same. Each class represented an identical cross-section of the community. One, the control class, took the normal courses. The other class was given special vocabulary training. At the end of the period the marks of the latter class surpassed those of the control group, not only in English, but in every subject, including mathematics and the sciences. Similarly it has been found by Professor Lewis M.Terman, of Stanford University, that a vocabulary test is as accurate a measure of intelligence as any three units of the standard and accepted Stanford-Binet I.Q. tests.

2.

The study of words is not merely something that has to do with literature. Words are your tools of thought. You can't even think at all without them. Try it. If you are planning to go down town this afternoon you will find that you are saying to yourself: "I think I will go down town this afternoon." You can't make such a simple decision as this without using words. Your words are your keys for your thoughts. And the more words you have at your command the deeper, clearer and more accurate will be your thinking.

3.

A command of English will not only improve the processes of your mind. It will give you assurance; build your self-confidence; lend color to your personality; increase your popularity. Your words are your personality. Your vocabulary is you. Your words are all that we, your friends, have to know and judge you by. You have no other medium for telling us your thoughts-for convincing us, persuading us, giving us orders.

4.

Words are explosive. Phrases are packed with TNT.A simple word can destroy a friendship. The proper phrases in the mouths of clerks have quadrupled the sales of a department store. The wrong words used by a campaign orator have lost an election. For instance, on one occasion the four unfortunate words, "Rum, Romanism and a Rebellion" used in a Republican campaign speech threw the Catholic vote and the presidential victory to Grover Cleveland. Ears are won by words. Soldiers fight for a phrase. "Make the world safe for Democracy." "All out for England." "V for Victory." The " Remember the Maine" of Spanish war days has now been changed to "Remember Pearl Harbor."

5.

Words have changed the direction of history. Words can also change the direction of your life. They have often raised a man from mediocrity to success. If you consciously increase your vocabulary you will unconsciously raise yourself to a more important station in life, and the new and higher position you have won will, in turn, give you a better opportunity for further enriching your vocabulary. It is a beautiful and successful cycle.

（ Today’s opportunity erase yesterday’s failures.）

 

 

     He's an old cobbler  (修鞋匠)  with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he at first told me: “I haven't time. Take them to the other fellow on the main street ; he'll fix them for you right away.”

     But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman  (手艺人).  “No,” I replied, “the other fellow can't do it well.”

      “The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-wait” -- without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap (鞋带) you might as well just throw away the pair.

      My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled. He wiped his hands on his blue apron ( 围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week.”

      I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf.

      “See what I can do?” he said with pride.  “Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work.. ”

      When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft.

      These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old, way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption  (消费) rather than a way to realize their own abilities. In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.

1.Which of the following is true about the old cobbler.'?

     A. He was equipped with the best repairing tools.

     B. He was the only cobbler in the Marais.

     C. He was proud of his skills.

     D. He was a native Parisian.

2.The sentence “He was something out of an ancient legend.” ( paragraph 7 ) implies that       

     A. nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him

     B. it was difficult to communicate with this man

     C. the man was very strange

     D. the man was too old

3.According to the author, many people work just to           .

     A. realize their abilities     B. gain happiness    C. make money   D. gain respect

4.This story wants to tell us that            .

     A. craftsmen make a lot of money          B. whatever you do, do it well

     C. craftsmen need self-respect              D. people are born equal

 

                       Meditation in Indonesian Business

  It looked like a typical business meeting. Six men, neatly dressed in white shirts and ties filed into the boardroom of a small Jakarta company and sat down at a long table. But instead of consulting files or hearing reports, they closed their eyes and began to meditate（冥想）, consulting the spirits of ancient Javanese kings. Mysticism touches almost every aspect of life in Indonesia and business is no exception. One of the meditators said his weekly meditation sessions are aimed mainly at bringing the peace of mind that makes for good decision-making. But the insight gained from mystic communication with spirits of wise kings has also helped boost the profits of his five companies.

  Mysticism and profits have come together since the 13th century introduction of Islam to Indonesia by Indian Moslem merchants. Those devout traders, called ‘Wali Ullah’ or ‘those close to God, ’ energetically spread both trade and religion by adapting their appeals to the native mysticism of Java. Legends attribute magic power of foreknowledge to the Wali Ullah. These powers were believed to be gained through meditation and fasting.

  Businessman Hadisiko said his group fasts and meditates all night every Thursday to become closer to God and to contact the spirits of the great men of the past. ‘If we want to employ someone at the managerial level, we meditate together and often the message comes that this man can’t hole onto money or he is untrustworthy. Or maybe the spirits will tell us he should be hired.’  Hadiziko hastened to add that his companies also hold modern personnel management systems and that formal qualifications are essential for a candidate even to be considered. Perspective investments also are considered through mystic meditation. ‘With the mind relaxed and open, it is easier to be objective in judging the risk of a new venture. Meditation and contact with the wisdom of the old leaders sharpens your own insight and intuition. Then you have to apply that intuition to the information you have and work hard to be successful. ’ Mystic meditation helped reverse a business slide his companies experienced in the mid-1980. Operating with normal business procedures, he lost more than $ 3 millions in that year alone. Meditation brought back his peace of mind. Putting the right persons in the right jobs and gaining confidence in his business decisions were the keys to a turning around that has brought expansion and profitability. The mysticism in Handspike’s boardroom is part of a growing movement in Indonesia called Kebatinan – the ‘search for the inner self.’

  One of his managers, Yusuf Soemado, who studied business administration at Harvard University, compared the idea of mystic management to western system of positive thinking. ‘Willpower and subconscious mind are recognized as important factors in business. Such approaches as psycho-cybernetics, Carnegie’s think and growth rates, or the power of positive thinking are western attempts to tap the same higher intelligence that we contact through meditation,’ he said.

What is the most important factor in their doing business?

A Mysticism.  B Religion.  C Meditation.  D Investment.

Whom do they consult?

A The spirits of ancient Javanese kings.  B Wali Ullah.  C Old Kings.  D Carnegie.

Why did Hadisike hasten to add ‘his companies also hold modern personnel management systems…’?

A He thought Mysticism was not so good as expected.

B To show they too focused on qualifications.

C To show they hired qualified persons.

D To show the possibility of combination of the scientific management with religion.

According to the passage, the function of the meditation is

A to gain profit from the god.  B to gain peace of mind to make decision.

C to gain foreknowledge.     D to gain objective conclusion.

What does ‘operating with normal business procedures’ refer to?

A .Adopting the western way of doing business.

B Ordinary way of doing business without meditation and fasting.

C Contact with God.

D Putting right persons in the right jobs.