The Erie Canal was the first important national waterway built in the US. It crossed New York from Buffalo on Lake Erie Troy to Albany on the Hudson River. It joined the Great Lakes with the Atlantic Ocean. The canal served as a route over which industrial goods could flow into the west, and materials could pour into the east. The Erie Canal helped New York develop into the nation’s largest city.
The building of the canal was paid for entirely by the state of New York. It cost $ 7 143 789, but it soon gained its price many times over. Between 1825, when the canal was opened, and 1882, when toll charges(过运河费) were stopped, the state collected $121 461 891.
For a hundred years before the Erie was built, people had been talking about a canal which could join the Great Lakes and the Atlantic Ocean. The man who planned the Erie Canal and carried the plan through was De Witt Clinton. Those who were against the canal laughingly called it “Clinton’s Ditch(沟)”. Clinton talked and wrote about the canal and drew up plans for it. He and Governor Morris went to Washington in 1812 to ask for help for the canal, but they were unsuccessful.
Clinton became governor of New York in 1817, and shortly afterwards, on July 4, 1817, broke ground for the canal in Rome, N.Y. The first part of the canal was completed in 1820. As the canal grew, towns along its course developed fast. The length of the canal is 363 miles.We can see that the Erie Canal ________.
| A．joined the Great Lakes together |
| B．crossed New York from north to south |
| C．played an important part in developing New York City |
| D．was the first waterway built in the US |
It can be inferred that ________ into the Atlantic Ocean.
| A．the Great Lakes flow | B．the Hudson River flows |
| C．Lake Erie flows | D．the Erie Canal flows |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The Erie Canal brought profits of over $114, 000, 000. |
| B．It’s 363 miles from the Great Lakes to the Atlantic Ocean. |
| C．The West was more advanced than the East when the canal was built. |
| D．Many other states helped New York built the canal. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Clinton broke ground for the canal at both ends. |
| B．Clinton started building the canal before he became governor. |
| C．All parts of the canal were completed at the same time. |
| D．Construction of the canal took eight years. |
Parents whose children show a special interest in a sport feel very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers．Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men or women? For many children it means starting schoolwork very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place．It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing．
Another problem is of course money．In many countries money for training is available from government for the best young sportsmen and sportswomen．If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc．All can be expensive.
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age．Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed．Professional trainers, however, believe that it is only by training young when young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person．It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training．Where can we most probably find this passage?
| A．An advertisement. | B．A diary. |
| C．A newspaper. | D．A notice board. |
What does the underlined phrase “to take a second place” in the first paragraph mean?
| A．To become less important. |
| B．To put it at another place. |
| C．To happen again. |
| D．They are the most important of all the things. |
Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
| A．It’s easy to make a decision when your children want to take up sports. |
| B．Most of the students may become top sports men after a long period of training. |
| C．Early training may damage young muscles |
D．It’s not very expensive for parents to support t heir children’s development in sports. |
Our bodies are wonderfully skillful at keeping balance．When the temperature jumps, we sweat to cool down．When our blood pressure falls, our hearts can do something．As it turns out, though, our natural state is always changing．Researchers are finding that everything from blood pressure to brain function changes regularly with the cycles of sun, moon and seasons．And their insights （洞察力） are getting new ways for keeping away such common killers as heart disease and cancer．Only one doctor in 20 has a good knowledge of the scientific use of time in medicine．But according to a new American Medical Association, three out of four are eager to change that．“The field is exploding,” says Michael Smolensky．“Doctors used to look at us like, What spaceship did you get off ? Now they're thirsty to know more．”
In medical school, most doctors learn that people with chronic conditions should take their medicine regularly．“It’s a terrible way to treat disease,” says Dr Richard Martin．For example, asthmatics （气喘患者） are most likely to suffer during the night．Yet most patients try to keep a constant level of medicine in their blood day and night, whether by breathing in on an inhaler （吸入器） four times a day or taking a pill each morning and evening．In recent studies, researchers have found that a large mid afternoon dose of a bronchodilator （支气管扩张剂） can be as safe as several small doses, and better for preventing nighttime attacks．
If the night belongs to asthma, the dawn belongs to high blood pressure and heart disease．Heart attacks are twice as common at 9 a．m．as at 11 p．m．Part of the reason is that our blood pressure falls at night, then rises as we start to work for the day．“Doctors know that,” says Dr．Henry Black of Chicago's Medical Center, “but until now, we haven't been able to do anything about it．” Most blood - pressure drugs provide 18 to 20 hours of relief （减缓）．But because they’re taken in the morning, they're least effective when most needed．“You take your pill at 7 and it's working by 9,” says Dr．William White of the University of Connecticut Health Center “But by that time you've gone through the worst four hours of the day with no protection．” Bedtime medicine would prevent high blood pressure, but it would also push blood pressure to dangerously low levels during the night．Researchers are finding that _________ ．
| A．heart disease and cancer are the most common killers of human beings |
| B．only blood pressure and brain function are decided by cycles of sun, moon and seasons |
| C．the functions of human bodies have much to do with nature |
| D．any change in human bodies goes with changes in the surroundings |
According to the author, it is best for asthmatics to
take their medicine _________ ．
| A．at certain time |
| B．each morning and evening |
| C．when the disease occurs |
| D．at midafternoon |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A．Doctors know more about illnesses than before．
B．Doctors in the U．S．used to be thirsty to know more about the new medical field．
C．The researchers' insights are providing new methods to prevent common killers．
D．The correct use of time in medicine attracts more attention in medical circle in the U．S．A．The suggested title for this passage might be _________．
| A．Medicine Is Everything | B．Treatment Is Everything |
| C．Timing Is Everything | D．Prevention Is Everything |
Among various programs, TV talk shows have covered every inch of space on daytime television．And anyone who watches them regularly knows that each one is different in style．But no two shows are more opposite in content, while at the same time standing out above the rest, than the Jerry Springer and Oprah Winfrey shows．
Jerry Springer could easily be considered the king of "rubbish talk"．The topics on his show are as surprising as can be．For example, the show takes the ever-common talk show titles of love, sex, cheating, and hate, to a different level．Clearly, the Jerry Springer show is about the dark side of society, yet people are willing to eat up the troubles of other people's lives．
Like Jerry Springer, Oprah Winfrey takes the TV talk show to its top．But Oprah goes in the opposite direction．The show is mainly about the improvement of society and different quality of life．Contents are from teaching your children lessons, managing your work week, to getting to know your neighbors．
Compared to Oprah, the Jerry Springer show looks like poisonous waste being poured into society．Jerry ends every show with a "final word"．He makes a small speech about the entire idea of the show．Hopefully, this is the part where most people will learn something very valuable．
Clean as it is, the Oprah show is not for everyone．The show's main audience are middle-class Americans．Most of the people have the time, money and ability to deal with life's tough problems．Jerry Springer, on the other hand, has more of a connection with the young adults of society．These
are 18-to 21year-olds whose main troubles in life include love, relationship, sex, money and drug．They are the ones who see some value and lessons to be learned through the show's exploitation．Compared with other TV talk shows, both the Jerry Springer and the Oprah Winfrey shows are____．
| A．more interesting | B．unusually poplar |
| C．more detailed | D．more formal |
Though the social problems Jerry Springer talks about appear unpleasant, people who watch the shows ______．
| A．remain interested in them |
| B．are ready to face up to them |
| C．remain cold to them |
| D．are willing to get away from them |
Which of the following is likely to be a topic of the Oprah Winfrey show?
| A．A new type of robot． | B．National hatred． |
| C．Family income planning． | D．Street accident． |
We can learn from the passage that
the two talk shows ____．
| A．have become the only ones of its kind |
| B．exploit the weaknesses in human nature |
| C．appear at different times of the day |
| D．attract different people |
Take a look at the following list of numbers: 4, 8, 5, 3, 7, 9, 6. Read them loud. Now look away and spend 20 seconds memorizing them in order before saying them out loud again. If you speak English, you have about a 50% chance of remembering those perfectly. If you are Chinese, though, you’re almost certain to get it right every time. Why is that? Because we most easily memorize whatever we can say or read within a two-second period. And unlike English, the Chinese language allows them to fit all those seven numbers into two seconds.
That example comes from Stanislas Dahaene’s book The Number Sense. As Dahaene explains: Chinese number words are remarkably brief. Most of them can be spoken out in less than one-quarter of a second (for instance, 4 is “si” and 7 “qi”). Their English pronunciations are longer. The memory gap between English and Chinese apparently is entirely due to this difference in length.
It turns out that there is also a big difference in how number-naming systems in Western and Asian languages are constructed. In English, we say fourteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen and nineteen, so one might expect that we would also say oneteen, twoteen, threeteen, and fiveteen. But we don’t. We use a different form: eleven, twelve, thirteen and fifteen. For numbers above 20, we put the “decade” first and the unit number second (twenty-one, twenty-two), while for the teens, we do it the other way around (fourteen, seventeen, eighteen). The number system in English is highly irregular. Not so in China, Japan, and Korea. They have a logical counting system. Eleven is ten-one. Twelve is ten-two. Twenty-four is two-tens-four and so on.
That difference means that Asian children learn to count much faster than American children. Four-year-old Chinese children can count, on average, to 40. American children at that age can count only to 15. By the age of five, in other words, American children are already a year behind their Asian friends in the most fundamental of math skills.
The regularity of their number system also means that Asian children can perform basic functions, such as addition, far more easily. Ask an English-speaking seven-year-old to add thirty-seven plus twenty-two in her head, and she has to change the words to numbers (37+22). Only then can she do the math: 2 plus 7 is 9 and 30 and 20 is 50, which makes 59. Ask an Asian child to add three-tens-seven and two-tens-two, and then the necessary equation(等式) is right there, in the sentence. No number translation is necessary: it’s five-tens-nine.
When it comes to math, in other words, Asians have a built-in advantage. For years, students from China, South Korea, and Japan --- outperformed their Western classmates at mathematics, and the typical assumption is that it has something to do with a kind of Asian talent for math. The differences between the number systems in the East and the West suggest something very different --- that being good at math may also be rooted in a group’s culture.What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．The Asian number-naming system helps grasp advanced math skills better. |
| B．Western culture fail to provide their children with adequate number knowledge. |
| C．Children in Western countries have to learn by heart the learning things. |
| D．Asian children’s advantage in math may be sourced from their culture. |
What makes a Chinese easier to remember a list of numbers than an American?
| A．Their understanding of numbers. |
| B．Their mother tongue. |
| C．Their math education. |
| D．Their different IQ. |
Asian children can reach answers in basic math functions more quickly because ____________.
| A．they pronounce the numbers in a shorter period |
| B．they practice math from an early age |
| C．English speaking children translate language into numbers first |
| D．American children can only count to 15 at the age of four |
After the U.S. House of Representatives passed a bill aimed at retaliatory(报复的) action against China for its “significantly undervalued” currency, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner urged the IMF to pressure China to adopt “more flexible, more market-directed exchange-rate management”. This is a coded message to China: You’re keeping on purpose your currency cheap, and the U.S. economy is paying the price. So cut it out --- or else. The normally dull IMF meeting became the latest battleground for the U.S. to be against a fast developing China.
Our new conventional wisdom is that China’s policy leads to make trade deficits (逆差) greater and the loss of American jobs. Dozens of candidates have run ads attacking a competitor for allowing China to take advantage of us. In the election-year view, China grew 10% annually for the past decade while maintaining low inflation(通涨) only by taking advantage of its artificially low currency. The idea that the U.S. is not responsible for its own economy is a black-is-white view. It argues that China and its currency are causing the lion’s share of harm.
This is an argument born of fear. It covers a fact that the economies of China and the U.S. have become beneficial to each other. Those trillions in reserves that China accumulates: Where do they go? Back to the U.S. in the form of lending money to the federal government. Those made-in-China goods that account for the trade deficit: Whom do they benefit? China, yes, but also American consumers and companies. Without China, American companies could not have maintained their profitability in recent years. Take two brand names, Caterpillar and Nike. Both have their products made in China, but both also view China as a fast-growing market for their products.
George Soros warned recently that a currency war could put the world into disorder more damaging than anything caused by the financial crisis of the 1930s. He’s right. Whether we like it or not, we live in a global system. The zero-sum attitude toward China and its currency is a relic, the remaining of an earlier time when nations defined economic life.
China is far from perfect and seeks its own advantage, but holding it accountable for our domestic problems is beyond outdated. It reflects a dangerous refusal to deal with the world as it is. Retaliating against China over currency will not regain high-end jobs in the U.S., which needs more our own demand. It will not renew construction or retool the American labor force. It will not rebuild rotting bridges or create a next-generation energy network. Which of the following argument can be supported by the writer?
| A．China is the winner in the Sino-US trade. |
| B．China’s rapid development over the past ten years is based on its low inflation. |
| C．The world’s economy will benefit from China’s policy changes on its currency. |
| D．The US will get hurt if it tries hard on damaging China’s economy. |
This passage is in a tone that is ____________.
| A．in favor of China |
| B．in the shoes of US |
| C．blaming China’s low currency policy |
| D．helping IMF solve the world’s economic problem |
The writer makes his point of view clear through the passage by using _____________.
| A．reasonable analysis |
| B．leaders’ quotations |
| C．figure examples |
| D．moving stories |
China’s currency policy ________.
| A．will help increase the demand in the US |
| B．is unable to equip the American labor force with new working skills |
| C．could guide the world economy for the next decade |
| D．is to be controlled by the international currency groups |
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