Andrew Carneigie, known as the King of Steel, built the steel industry in the United States, and, in the process, became one of the wealthiest men in America. His success resulted partly from his ability to sell the product and partly from his policy of expanding during periods of economic decline, when most of his competitors were reducing their investments. Carnegie believed that individuals should progress through hard work, but he also felt strongly that the wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society. He opposed charity, preferring instead to provide educational opportunities that would allow others to help themselves. “He who dies rich, dies disgraced”, he often said. Among his more noteworthy contributions to society are those that bear his name, including the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh, which has a library, a museum of fine arts, and a museum of national history. He also founded a school of technology that is now part of Carnegie-Mellon University. Other philanthropic(慈善的) gifts are the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace to promote understanding between nations, the Carnegie Institute of Washington to fund scientific research, and Carnegie Hall to provide a center for the arts. Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie’s generosity. His contributions of more than five million dollars established 2,500 libraries in small communities throughout the country and formed the nucleus of the public library system that we all enjoy today.

1.The author quoted(引述) “he who dies rich, dies disgraced” in the passage to show______.

 A. He felt strongly that the wealthy should use their fortunes for the benefit of society.

 B. He opposed charity.

C. The wealthy die from their fortunes

 D. The wealthy die from not contributing to society.

2.Carnegie’s success includes following aspects EXCEPT_____.

 A. his policy of expanding.

B. his ability to sell the product

C. his ability to produce the product 

D. his hard work

3.Which of the following may NOT be philanthropic gifts to society according to the passage?____

   A. the Carnegie Institute of Washington.

B. the Carnegie Institute of Pittsburgh.

C. the steel industry.

   D. the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace.

4.What is the meaning of “Few Americans have been left untouched by Andrew Carnegie’s generosity.” in the passage?________

    A. Few Americans have touched Andrew Carnegie’s generosity.

B. Many Americans have touched Andrew Carnegie’s generosity.

C. we all enjoy Andrew Carnegie’s generosity today.

D. Many Americans were given Andrew Carnegie’s generosity.

 

Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that the perfect portable bike would be “like a magic carpet…You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag”. Then he paused: “But you’ll always be limited by the size of the wheels. And so far no one has invented a folding wheel.”

It was a rare — indeed unique — occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right. A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel. His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces. All the bits fitted into Grout’s Wonderful Bag, a leather case.

Grout’s aim: to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train. Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel: his bike was a huge beast. And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage: in Grout’s day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple. You couldn’t do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated （充气的） tyre.

So, in a 21st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead? It is not. A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons, has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse （椭圆）. Throughout, the tyre remains inflated.

Will the young Fitzsimons’s folding wheel make it into production? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But his inventiveness shows two things. First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances. It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago: there’s plenty still to go for. Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions. You can buy a folding bike for less than £1,000 that can be knocked down so small that it can be carried on a plane — minus wheels, of course — as hand baggage.

Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible. Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie’s imagination? No. But it’s progress.

1.We can infer from Paragraph 1 that the Brompton folding bike        .

A．was portable

B．had a folding wheel

C．could be put in a pocket

D．looked like a magic carpet

2.We can learn from the text that the wheels of the Grout Portable        .

A．were difficult to separate

B．could be split into 6 pieces

C．were fitted with solid tyres

D．were hard to carry on a train

3.We can learn from the text that Fitzsimons’s invention        .

A．kept the tyre as a whole piece

B．was made into production soon

C．left little room for improvement

D．changed our views on bag design

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Three folding bike inventors

B．The making of a folding bike

C．Progress in folding bike design

D．Ways of separating a bike wheel

 

 (09·湖南D篇)

Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that the perfect portable bike would be “like a magic carpet…You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag”. Then he paused: “But you’ll always be limited by the size of the wheels. And so far no one has invented a folding wheel.”

It was a rare — indeed unique — occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right. A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel. His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces. All the bits fitted into Grout’s Wonderful Bag, a leather case.

Grout’s aim: to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train. Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel: his bike was a huge beast. And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage: in Grout’s day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple. You couldn’t do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated （充气的） tyre.

So, in a 21st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead? It is not. A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons, has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse （椭圆）. Throughout, the tyre remains inflated.

Will the young Fitzsimons’s folding wheel make it into production? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But his inventiveness shows two things. First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances. It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago: there’s plenty still to go for. Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions. You can buy a folding bike for less than £1,000 that can be knocked down so small that it can be carried on a plane — minus wheels, of course — as hand baggage.

Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible. Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie’s imagination? No. But it’s progress.

69. We can infer from Paragraph 1 that the Brompton folding bike        .

A. was portable

B. had a folding wheel

C. could be put in a pocket

D. looked like a magic carpet

70. We can learn from the text that the wheels of the Grout Portable        .

A. were difficult to separate

B. could be split into 6 pieces

C. were fitted with solid tyres

D. were hard to carry on a train

71. We can learn from the text that Fitzsimons’s invention        .

A. kept the tyre as a whole piece

B. was made into production soon

C. left little room for improvement

D. changed our views on bag design

72. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Three folding bike inventors

B. The making of a folding bike

C. Progress in folding bike design

D. Ways of separating a bike wheel

 

 “It’s the best…uhh…What? You don’t want it?...,”the inexpertienced young man uttered,his hope dashed.

“Again,you disappointed me,Andrew.When are you going to learn? You have to be sure and confident. And think how best to make him part with his money. Apply yourself, Son. All your college education will not help if you don’t put your mind to selling. Think on your feet. Use psychology,” Andrew spoke with diffidence overwhelmed by his father’s criticism.

“You’ve been in this shop for six months and you haven’t succeeded in selling a single computer. I tell you what. I’ll give you one more chance. I’ll give you another three more weeks. If you still can’t make one sale, I’ll call in your elder brother to replace you. He will also take over the shop when I retire. There. I’ll just give you one last chance to prove yourself,” said Mr. Whitely, his patience wearing thin.

Andrew’s heart missed a beat. This time he would have to do it. Do or Die! A sense of urgency gripped him. Somehow he must prove himself to his father.

It was now the end of the day and the shop was being closed. The assistant employed by his father, called Mike, chuckled and put his arms round poor Andrew to comfort him,“ Sort it out yourself. It’s gotta come from yourself.” he said.

The shop was located in a bustling shopping center. Andrew left the shop and walked round the complex aimlessly and by chance entered a large bookstore. He glanced at the books and was about to leave when his eyes caught some interesting titles:‘ How to increase your confidence,’‘ The art of communication,’‘How to sell well’amongst others.

The next minute he was out of the store with the shopping bag bugling with books. In his apartment (for he loves separately from his parents and little sister),he settled himself in his easy chair and devoured the contents of the books, one by one. His keen intelligence enabled him to focus the details that matter and pick out the ideas and techniques expounded.In a week his image underwent a transformation. Gone was the stubble that used to give him an untidy image likened to a heroin addict.He was also smartly dressed now. Instead of his usual slurred speech and incoherence ,he spoke with clarity, purpose and forcefulness.He was more convincing and persuasive. Above all, confidence flowed from his being and he seemed to have learned a few tricks of the selling trade. He worked hard at his sales pitch and one day he succeeded in selling a computer. His first sale. He had finally achieved the quota of one sale within the given time frame of three weeks. The job, the shop, was his. He had to thank Mike for it. And now he had to go beyond his first successs and score, consistently and persistently. Nevertheless he had proved himself at last and the future looked bright and promising.

1.

We learn from the story that at the beginning Andrew’s father_________.

  A.holds the view that Andrew is hopeless

  B.has lost his patience with Andrew

  C.has given the shop to Andrew

  D.still hopes Andrew will improve

2.

We learn from the story that Andrew_________.

  A.has turned himself into an experienced sales manager

  B.has tried in vain to get his job done in six months

  C.has let his father down in the end

  D.has done well with the help of Mike

3.

What’s the most significant change of character in Andrew?

  A.He’s more convincing.                   B.He’s more hard-working.

  C.He is more confident.                   D.He is more intelligence.

4.

What conclusion can we draw from the story?

  A.Success depends on hard work,talent,and willingnesss to make changes.

  B.However hard you try, you won’t achieve success without others’ help

  C.It takes time to succeed, you have to try again and again and never give up

  D.It’s good communication skills and some tricks that result in big business.

 

A super drug that could remove Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆症)，heart disease and diabetes (糖尿病) and help people live to 100 is being developed by scientists. Their research is based on the identification of three genes that help prolong lives and prevent diseases which occur in old age. Medically controlling the proteins made by the “ longevity genes” will allow millions to live longer, predicts Dr Nir Barzilai.

  Those whose DNA strongly features the three genes are 80 percent less likely to develop Alzheimer’s. The genes also fight against the deadly impact of smoking, poor diet, obesity and lack of exercise.

  Already, several laboratories are working on a pill to imitate the benefits of the genes and Dr Barzilai thinks it could be tested within three years. The pill could remove some diseases that damage old age. “ The advantage of finding a gene that involves longevity is that we can develop a drug that will imitate exactly what this gene is doing,” he said.

  Of the three longevity genes, two genes increase the production of so-called good cholesterol(胆固醇), which reduces the risk of heart disease. The third prevents diabetes. They were discovered by Dr Barzilai’s team while studying the DNA of 500 Ashkenazi Jews with an average age of 100. The chances of living that long are one in 10,000 but the group, which shared relatively few common ancestors, was 20 times more likely to hit the entury. Dr Barzilai said: “ 30 percent of them were obese or overweight and 30 percent smoked two acks of cigarettes a day for more than 40 years, however they can live to 100.”

  But Andrew Ketteringham of the Alzheimer’s Society said: “Alzheimer’s disease, a most common disease, is likely to be caused by a combination of genetic disosition(遗传倾向), lifestyles and life events. Many genes are probably involved.

1.Some people are able to live to 100 years because of ______.

   A. a magical medicine  B. three special genes    C. good living habits     D. longevity proteins

2.Why does the discovery of the longevity genes mean a lot?

   A. Because it can bring great benefits to scientific labs.             

B. Because it can help people change their unhealthy genes

   C. Because it helps produce a drug that can make people live longer.  

D. Because it will help scientists build up a new branch of biology.

3. From Paragraph 4 we can infer that ________.

   A. longevity genes can create good cholesterol.                   

B. the volunteers share some common ancestors

   C. bad habits are likely to have no effect on the volunteers           

D. longevity genes protect the volunteers against bad habits

4.What is Andrew Ketteringham’s attitude toward the study?

   A. Positive    B. Negative         C. Critical                 D. Cautious