Apparently，we are safe neither at home nor in the business office．We use water in both places，but the research shows that chemicals added to our local water supply to kill harmful bacteria can have unwanted side effects．These chemicals can cause po
tential harm through drinking and in seemingly harmless activities as cleaning one’s house．They are released（set free）from water by daily actions like water running out of tap，spraying from garden pipes，or splashing in dishwashers and washing machines．As the water is moving, these chemicals are released into the air and then breathed in. Once inside our bodies, they start to affect our health.
Does this mean we should stop bathing? No, say the scientists, but we should put all pollution into perspective. Activities at home such as the burning of coal, cooking oil, or even candles release carbon monoxide and particulates such as cigarette ashes which have been proven as harmful to health as working or living near heavy traffic. New tugs, bedding, and even clothing give off that “new smell, ”which is a sure sign of chemicals. In the office, newly applied paint, newly purchased telephones and other telecommunications equipment, and computers release polluting chemicals, too. As offices and homes often have inadequate ventilation （通风）, these chemicals can build up to become health problems. Their poisonous effects are only now being slowly recogn
ized.
These facts suggest that, at a minimum, proper airing of newly purchased goods with an obvious chemical smell is a wise warning. Home and office windows should be opened during good weather. Even one’s car needs to be ventilated as well while in the garage.
We need further research to understand better other potential health dangers, too. For example, the effects of overcrowding of schools （carbon dioxide build-up ）, the factory work environment （ an endless list of potentially dangerous substances ）, and even home heating and cooling （the air conditioner may be our enemies, not our friends） have only recently started to come to light. Until we understand the effects of our new technological environment better, we can only hope that “there is no place like home.”What is the main idea of the first paragraph?
| A．The air we breathe in is harmful. |
| B．The water in everyday use is unsafe. |
| C．Chemicals are added to the drinking water. |
| D．Chemicals are released in the running water. |
In Paragraph 2, the underlined sentence means that .
| A．bathing should be done with caution |
| B．homes and offices should be aired often |
| C．any pollution should be taken into consideration |
| D．we should prevent any pollution from doing harm to us |
What is the purpose of the passage?
| A．To call on us to guard our water. |
| B．To show us that no place is like home. |
| C．To make us aware of the pollution around us. |
| D．To argue that neither homes nor offices are safe. |
When Lew Alcindor was 13, and obviously still growing, a group of schools began offering him scholarships (奖学金)。 The Alcindors decided to send their only child to Power Memorial Academy, a small school on Manhattan’s West Side.
At Power, Alcindor came under the control of Coach Jack Donohue, a strict young an who already gained his fame as one of the best coaches in the city. Donohue brought Alcindor along slowly. As a first-year student, the boy was not able to do much but wave his long skinny arms and shoot a basket now and then. But by the second year, when he was 15 years old and nearly 7 feet tall, Alcindor was quick and skillful enough to make the high school All-American team and to lead Power to an undefeated season.
From then on he simply got better. Some rival coaches(对方教练) used to take their teams quickly away from the floor before Power warmed up so that their players would not see him any sooner than they had to. Wearing size 16 D shoes and sucking a lollipop(棒棒糖), Alcindor would loosen up by starting his leaping lay-ups(擦板球). Then he would casually shoot the ball with either hand, to the delight of the fans.
When reporters and photographers began to follow Alcindor closely, Donohue protected his boy firmly. He simply ordered Lew to talk to no member of the press, and this suited Lew fine. He was not comfortable talking to grown-ups, perhaps because he towered over them. Discouraged photographers began following him in secret as though he were an easily-frightened giraffe. Once after ducking into a subway to escape, Alcindor told a friend that it was all becoming like policemen and robbers. “People want you not for yourself,” Donohue warned him, “but because you’re a basketball player. Don’t forget that.” Many schools offer Alcindor scholarships because ______.
| A．he was young | B．he was hardworking |
| C．he was tall for his age | D．he was skillful at playing basketball |
Which of the following best describes Donohue as a young coach?
| A．serious, popular and slow | B．tall, skillful and successful |
| C．kind, powerful and undefeated | D．well-known, strict and experienced |
Why their team fail at last?
| A．Their teams refused to play Power. | B．Their teams feared to see Alcindor. |
| C．Their teams would lose courage. | D．Their teams would lose interest. |
What does the last paragraph mainly discuss?
| A．How Donohue protected Alcindor from the press. |
| B．How Alcindor disliked meeting reporters. |
| C．Why the press followed Alcindor closed. |
| D．Why the public wanted Alcindor badly. |
Millions of people visit Yosemite National Park every year to see the tall waterfalls and mountains. These mountains are a splendid sight when viewed from the valley floor. Lots of stores, hotels, and restaurants are needed to handle the crowds. Also, water, roads, and other service systems are part of the infrastructure（ 基础设施）that must be maintained.
Unfortunately, these systems are starting to break down. It is not just in Yosemite but in national parks around the nation.
Yosemite is thirty years old according to Dennis Galvin, a National Park Service worker. The park is not only old but worn out. Two or three times as many visitors come every year. That is too many visitors for the park to deal with.
Four years ago a storm washed out a water pipeline in the Grand Canyon. The National Park Service had to send water trucks to provide water for the visitors. Last month pipe almost broke again and roads had to be closed for a while.
Why hasn’t the National Park Service kept up the park repairs? There is lack of money. The United States has 378 mountains, parks, and wilderness areas. Between three and four billion dollars are needed for repairs.
Yosemite is one national park that does have money fro repairs. It has two hundred million dollars but cannot spend it any way it chooses. When the park workers started widening the road, they were forced to stop by the Sierra Club. The club claimed that the road work was damaging the Merced River that runs through the park.
A Sierra Club lawyer, Julia Olson, feels that the infrastructure needs to be moved out of Yosemite. That way less pressure will be put on the already crowed park. According to the text, the mountains in Yosemite look most splendid when
they are appreciated from _______ .
| A．the bottom of the valleys | B．the top of the mountains |
| C．the side of the mountains | D．the edge of the valleys |
National parks like Yosemite in the U.S. find it increasingly difficult to
meet the need of visitors because _______ .
| A．their transport management needs improving |
| B．they spend too much on their service systems |
| C．their service systems frequently go out of order |
| D．they need help from environmental organizations |
The main problem of Yosemite Park is its ________ .
| A．modern water pipes | B．overcrowdedness | C．lack of water | D．narrow roads |
According to the text, the Sierra Club is most likely to be _______ .
| A．an environmental group | B．an information center |
| C．a travel service | D．a law firm |
Compassion is a desire within us to help others. With effort, we can translate compassion into action. An experience last weekend showed me this is true. I work part-time in a supermarket across from a building for the elderly. These old people are our main customers, and it’s not hard to lose patience over their slowness. But last Sunday, one aged gentleman appeared to teach me a valuable lesson. This untidy man walked up to my register(收款机) with a box of biscuits. He said he was out of cash(现金), had just moved into his room, and had nothing in his cupboards. He asked if we could let him have the food on trust. He promised to repay me the next day.
Icouldn’t help staring at him. I wondered what kind of person he had been ten or twenty years before, and what he would be like if luck had gone his way. I had a hurt in my heart for this kind of human soul, all alone in the world. I told him that I was sorry, but store rules didn’t allow me to do so. I felt stupid and unkind saying this, but I valued my job.
Just then, another man, standing behind the first, spoke up. If anything, he looked more pitiable. “Charge it to me,” was all he said.
What I had been feeling was pity. Pity is soft and safe and easy. Compassion, on the other hand, is caring in action. I thanked the second man but told him that was not allowed either. Then I reached into my pocket and paid for the biscuits myself. I reached into my pocket because these two men had reached into my heart and taught me compassion. The aged gentleman who wanted to buy the biscuits ______.
| A．promised to obey the store rules |
| B．forgot to take any money with him |
| C．hoped to have the food first and pay later |
| D．could not afford anything more expensive |
Which of the following best describes the old gentleman?
| A．kind and lucky | B．poor and lonely |
| C．friendly and helpful | D．hurt and disappointed |
The writer acted upon the store rules because ______.
| A．he wanted to keep his present job |
| B．he felt no pity for the old gentleman |
| C．he considered the old man dishonest |
| D．he expected someone else to pay for the old man |
What does the writer learn from his experience?
| A．Wealth is more important than anything else. |
| B．Helping others is easier said than done. |
| C．Experience is better gained through practice. |
| D．Obeying the rules means more than compassion. |
Most people around the world are right-handed . This also seems to be true in history . In 1799 , scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s . Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed , so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history . Today , only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed .
Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones ? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs . For most people , the left hand is used to find things or hold things . The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain . The right side of the brain , which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together , controls the left person’s hands and eyes work together , controls the left hand . The left-side of the brain , which controls the right hand , is the centre for thinking and doing problems . These findings show that more artists should be left-handed , and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs .
No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed . Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born . However , this doesn’t happen to everyone , so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed . One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents . If a person does not receive the gene（基因）for right-handedness , he / she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with .
Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness , people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual . A long time ago , left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children , but today they don’t have to . After studying works of art made at different times in history , the scientists found .
A. art began from 1, 500 B.C.
B. the works of are ended in the 1950s
C. most people shown in the works of art are right-handed
D. most people shown in the works of art are left-handedHow many people in the world are left-handed now ?
| A．Less than one sixth . | B．More than a half . |
| C．About 40% . | D．The passage doesn’t tell us . |
What is the left hand for most people used to do ?
| A．It’s used to find or hold things . |
| B．It’s used to work with things . |
| C．It’s used to make a person’s eyes work together . |
| D．It’s the centre for thinking and doing problems . |
According to the passage , which of the following is NOT true ?
| A．No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed . |
| B．Left-handedness is cleverer than right-handedness . |
| C．Today children are not made to use their right hands only . |
| D．Scientists think there must be some reason why people become left-handed . |
The best title for this passage is .
| A．Scientist’s New Inventions |
| B．Left-handed People |
| C．Which Hand |
| D．Different Brains , Different Hands |
Parents have widely different views on the problem of pocket money . Four new fathers were asked this question and this is how they answered .
Ashish Khanna :Although many argue that pocket money helps develop children’s sense of value , I don’t agree . I wouldn’t give my child any pocket money . First of all , I never got pocket money and I seem to have a good value for money . If my child ever needed something and I felt it was a reasonable（合理）request , I would buy it for him .
Sharad Sanghi : No , I wouldn’t give my child pocket money because I don’t want to create the perception（观念） of “ her ” money and “ my ” money . Besides , if I refuse to buy her something that I think is bad for her , she may buy it with her pocket money on the sly . In this way , I would lose control over my child’s requests . I feel it also encourages children to care more about money than anything else . I don’t want my child to start judging other children by the amount of money or pocket money they have .
Rakesh Shah : Yes , I would give my child pocket money . I feel that children should learn to spend money intelligently and not go overboard spending . They will learn what their limitations（限制）are and feel the difficulty when they have to pay for something that is over in their own pockets .
Rajiv Patel : Yes , I would give my child pocket money because it is important that she learns to manage money . I will give her a fixed amount every month and if she spends the money before the month is over , then she will learn a lesson and not spend money so freely .
Vikram Desai : Yes , I would certainly give my child pocket money . But I would not give it to him on a weekly or monthly basis . He would have to earn it . If he helped me finish some of my jobs or helped his mother with housework , I would reward him . This helps him realize that “ money does not grow on trees ” and it requires hard work to earn money .Ashish Khanna may agree that .
| A．he was given too much pocket money when young |
| B．he can take much control of his child by money |
| C．he will buy anything he thinks his child really needs |
| D．pocket money helps children develop a good value for money |
The underlined phrase “ on the sly ” in Paragraph 3 is the closest in meaning to “ ”.
| A．for free | B．at a lower price | C．happily | D．secretly |
What do Rakesh Shah and Rajiv Patel have in common ?
| A．They want their children to learn to manage money . |
| B．They ask their children to get pocket money by working . |
| C．They teach their children the difficulty of making money . |
| D．They allow their children to spend money freely . |
According to Vikram Desai , children’s earning money by themselves makes them know that .
| A．money is not easy to get |
| B．money can be gotten from the trees |
| C．one can get lots of money if he / she works hard |
| D．money is not so important for people nowadays |
Who would give his child pocket money every month ?
| A．Ashish Khanna . | B．Sharad Sanghi . | C．Rakesh Shah . | D．Rajiv Patel . |
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