“Mobile phone killed my man,” screamed one headline last year. Also came claims that an unpublished study had found that mobile phones could cause memory loss. And a British newspaper devoted its front page to a picture supposedly showing how mobile phones could heat the brain.
For anyone who uses a mobile phone, these are worrying times. But speak to the scientists whose work is the focus of these scares and you hear a different story.
One of the oddest effects comes from the now famous “memory loss” study. Alan Preece and his colleagues at the University of Bristol placed a device that imitated the microwave radiation of mobile phones to the left ear of volunteers. The volunteers were good at recalling words and pictures they had been shown on a computer screen. Preece says he still can’t comment on the effects of using a mobile phone for years on end. But he rules out the suggestion that mobile phones have an immediate effect on our cognitive（认识的）abilities. “I’m pretty sure there is no effect on short-term memory,” he says.
Another expert, Tattersall, remarked that his latest findings have removed fears about memory loss. One result, for instance, suggests that nerve cell synapses（神经元突触） exposed to microwaves become more — rather than less — receptive to undergoing changes linked to memory formation.
An even happier outcome would be that microwaves turned out to be good for you. It sounds crazy, but a couple of years ago a team led by William Adey at the Veterans Affairs Medical Center in California found that mice exposed to microwaves for two hours a day were less likely to develop brain tumours when given a cancer-causing chemical.
“If it doesn’t certainly cause cancer in animals and cells, then it probably isn’t going to cause cancer in humans,” says William. And while there’s still no absolute evidence that mobile phone use does damage your memories or give you cancer, the conclusion is: don’t be afraid.
【小题1】 Mobile phone users are worried because ______.

A．they are not sure whether mobile phones can cause memory loss

B．it’s said that mobile phones have a lot of side effects

C．one headline reported “Mobile phone killed my man”

D．a British newspaper showed mobile phones could heat the brain

【小题2】 According to this passage, we can know that _____.

A．the mobile phone is a most wonderful invention

B．there’s no need to worry about the radiation from mobile phones

C．something must be done to stop people using mobile phones

D．mobile phone companies shouldn’t cheat customers

【小题3】 What would be the best title for this passage? ______..w.^w.k.&s.5*u.c.#om.高.考.资.源.网

A．New Mobile Phones.	B．Special Mobile Phones.
C．New Special Investigation: Mobile Phones.	D．New Investigation.

The first people who gave names to hurricanes were those who knew them best — the people of Puerto Rico. The small island of Puerto Rico is in the West Indies, off the coast of Florida. This is where all the hurricanes begin that strike the east coast of the United States. Often they pass near Puerto Rico or cross it on their way north. The people of Puerto Rico expect some of these unwelcome visitors every year. Each one is named after the Saint’s Day on which it arrives. Two of the most destructive storms were the Santo Ana in 1840 and the San Ciriaco in 1899.

Giving girls’ names to hurricanes is a fairly new idea. It all began with a story called “Storm”, written by George Stewart in 1941. In it a weatherman amused himself by naming storms after girls he knew. He named one Maria. The story describes how she Maria grew and developed, and how she changed the lives of people when she struck the United States.

Weathermen of the U.S. Army and Navy used the same system during World WarⅡ. They were studying weather conditions over the Pacific Ocean. One of their duties was to warn American ships and planes when a storm was coming. Whenever they spotted one, they gave it a girl’s name. The first one of the year was given a name beginning with [A]. The second one got a name beginning with [B]. They used all the letters from A to W, and still the storms kept coming. They had to use three lists from A to W to have enough names to go around. This was the first list of hurricane names that followed the alphabet. It served as a model for the system the Weather Bureau (局) introduced in 1942.

　　Before 1950 the Weather Bureau had no special system for naming hurricanes. When a hurricane was born down in the West Indies, the Weather Bureau simply collected information about it. It reported how fast the storm was moving and where it would go next. Weather reports warned people in the path of the hurricane, so that they could do whatever was necessary to protect themselves.

　　This system worked out fine as long as weather reports talked about only one hurricane at a time. But one week in September 1950 there were three hurricanes at the same time. The things began to get confused. Some people got the hurricanes mixed up and didn’t know which was which. This convinced the Weather Bureau that it needed a code for naming the storms in order to avoid confusion in the future.

Hurricanes were first named after the _________.

       A. date on which they occurred　 B. place where they began

　    C. amount of destruction they did　     D. particular feature they have

The practice of giving girls’ names to hurricanes was started by _________.

　    A. a radio operator       B. an author                 C. a sailor              D. local people

The purpose for which weathermen of the army and navy began using girls’ names for hurricanes was ________.

　    A. to keep information from the enemy      B. to follow the standard method of the United States

　    C. not given in the article　  D. to remember a certain girl

The Weather Bureau began naming hurricanes because it would help them _________.

　    A. collect information more rapidly　  B. warn people more efficiently

　    C. make use of military (军事的) records　 D. remember them

New York Times---( DINITIA SMITH )Tomorrow is the 433d anniversary of Shakespeare’s birth. A recent survey shows that more people are watching him, reading him and studying him than ever before.

Consider the recent yearly conference of the Shakespeare Association of America in Washington, where more than 600 people who study or admire Shakespeare from 18 countries took in topics like ‘‘Whither Attribution Studies,’’ ‘‘Unpopular Shakespeare’’ and ‘‘Sex Me Here,’’ a talk on breast-feeding and Lady Macbeth.

‘‘The national media is saying that fewer students’ taking Shakespeare,’’ Barbara Mowat, the editor of The Shakespeare Quarterly, observed in a speech at the conference. ‘‘But Shakespeare is thriving.’’ The association’s membership has increased by a third since 1990.

The Shakespeare business is so good these days that W. W. Norton is introducing a huge new collections of the plays into the already crowded field just in time for tomorrow’s birthday anniversary. Priced at $44.95, ‘‘The Norton Shakespeare: Based on the Oxford Edition’’ runs for 3,420 pages, offering introductions, illustrations and notes and three versions(版本) of ‘‘King Lear.’’

Today, movies and videos have made the plays even more accessible. Last year, ‘‘William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet’’ was No. 1 at the box office when it opened, and it grossed nearly $50 million. In New York in January, crowds lined up in the freezing cold to see Kenneth Branagh’s four-hour ‘‘Hamlet.’’ The students select a scene and then have a violent discussion about it.’’ Influenced by films, professors are increasingly teaching students by having them perform the plays.

1.Why people from 18 countries came to Washington this year?

A. To celebrate Shakespeare’s 433d birth day only.

B. To watch some plays by Shakespeare as planned.

C. To celebrate Shakespeare’s birthday and study his works.

D. To discuss how to teach students using Shakespeare’s plays.

2.What does the underlined word “ field” in the fourth paragraph refer to?

A. Washington D.C.                              B. Shakespeare Association.

C. The birthday anniversary.                  D. The Shakespeare business.

3.Which of the many plays by Shakespeare was most popular the year before?

A. King Lear.                                            B. Hamlet.

C. Macbeth.                                              D. Romeo and Juliet.

4.What does the author want to prove by using so many examples about Shakespeare?

A. More and more people are becoming interested in Shakespeare.

B. Shakespeare business is being run well in America nowadays.

C. Plays by Shakespeare can be used at school for more studies.

D. Shakespeare belongs not only to Britain but also to the USA.

 

(C)

Most American students said goodbye to expensive fruits these days. In school canteens across the country, cheaper fruits like apples and oranges heave replaced them. “People are afraid to spend now” said Linda Morrow, who owns a shoe and handbag store. “They basically don’t know what the future will bring and keep waiting till after the Presidential Election.”

The current financial crisis(金融危机)， during which several of the country’s biggest banks have been forced to sell or close, has made lots of Americans unwilling to buy expensive goods.

Samira Martino, a restaurant owner in Miami, found everyone is ordering water instead of juice and more people are sharing meals. In more than two dozen interviews with the Associated Press across the country last month, American talked about their concerns, from worries about small businesses to doubts about simply making ends meet.

The crisis began last year. Experts blame it on U.S. banks lending money too easily. A lot of people and companies, who borrowed money, have found themselves unable to pay it back. This left the banks, as well as the people who put their money in the banks, without money. Since the banks borrowed money between themselves and even across borders, the whole world’s financial markets were involved.

This month the U.S. government agreed on a $ 700 billion plan to try to save the financial market. But a turn-around(转机) is not sure. President George W. Bush has warned it will take some time for the full effects of the plan to take hold in an economy that has had a world of trouble.

Last week top finance officials from 20 major economies promised to work together to find a way out of the money trouble. They believe the current crisis is the worst since the Great Depression in 1929. And they all think international cooperation is the key to solve it.

51. From the first paragraph, we can infer that______

A. apples and oranges become more expensive

B. people are worrying about the Election

C. people are expecting a turn-around after the Election

D. expensive fruits are in short supply in American markets

52. Samira Martino’s restaurant is mentioned in the passage in order to ______

A. show that people cut down their expenses.

B. attract more people to come to his restaurant

C. show how hard he is trying to run his business

D. encourage people to start businesses like him

53. What is the cause of the current financial crisis of America?

A. The Presidential Election

B. U.S. banks lending money too easily.

C. The decreasing economy.

D. America’s rapid development.

54. According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A. Many students can not eat expensive fruits in school canteens.

B. Americans are very worried about their lives.

C. The international cooperation is most needed.

D. The current financial crisis is the worst in American history.

55. This passage mainly talks about______

A. the terrible life of Americans

B. the situation of the financial crisis

C. the way to go through the crisis

D. the world financial market