Although man has known asbestos for many hundreds of years, it was not until 160 years ago that it was mined for the first time on the North American continent. H. W. Johns, owner of a New York City Supply Shop for roofers, was responsible for(对…负责) the opening of that first mine.
Mr. Johns was given a piece of asbestos which had been found in Italy. He experimented with the material and then showed its surprising powers to his customers. After putting on a pair of asbestos gloves, which looked much like ordinary work gloves, he took red-hot coals from the fireplace and played with them in his hands. How astonished the customers were to discover that he was not burned at all. You can well imagine that he had increasing business in asbestos roofing materials. However, because it was very expensive to transport (carry) them from Italy to the United States, Mr. Johns sent out a young scientist to seek a source nearer home. This young man found great vein(岩脉), in the province of Quebec in Canada.
Ever since 1881 Quebec has led the world in the production of this unusual mineral, which is made up of magnesium, silicon, iron, and oxygen. When it is mined, the asbestos is heavy, just as you would expect a mineral to be. When it is separated, a strange thing happens; the rock breaks down into fine, soft, soapy fibres(纤维).
Scientists do not know why the rock can be separated easily into threads(线), but they have found thousands of uses of this fireproof material, of the so-called “cloth of stone”.
40. Which title best expresses the main idea of this passage?
A. Asbestos mined in Canada B. Fireproof matter
C. A “wonder” mineral D. A new roofing material
41. Johns proved his ability as a salesman by_______.
A. going into roofing business B. carrying asbestos from Italy
C. sending a trained scientist D. showing the use of asbestos gloves
42. Which is the most important character of asbestos that the author wants to show us?
A. It is like thread. B. It feels soapy. C. It burns easily. D. It is unusually heavy.
43. The author’s main purpose in writing this passage was to _______.
A. show the need for more scientists B. compare asbestos with other minerals
C. increase the sales of asbestos D. present facts about asbestos
When we see well, we do not think about our eyes very often. It is only when we cannot see perfectly that we realize how important our eyes are.
People who are near-sighted can only see things that are very close to their eyes, Everything else seems blurry (="unclear)." Many people who do a lot of work, such as writing, reading and sewing become near—sighted. Then
People who are far-sighted suffer from just the opposite problem. They can see things that are far away, but they have difficulty in reading a book unless they hold it at arm’s length. If they want to do much reading, they must get glasses, too.
Other people do not see clearly because their eyes are not exactly the right shape. They have what is called astigmatism (散光). This, too, can be corrected by glasses. Some people’s eyes become cloudy because of cataracts (白内障). Long ago these people often became blind. Now, however, it is possible to operate on the cataracts and remove them.
Having two good eyes is important for judging distances. Each eye sees things from a slightly different angle (角度). To prove this to yourself, look at an object out of one eye; then look at the same object out of your other eye. You will find the object’s relation to the background and other things around it has changed. The difference between these two different eye views helps us to judge how far away an object is. People who have only one eye cannot judge distance as people with two eyes. We should take good care of our eyes .
| A．only when we can see well |
| B．only when we cannot see perfectly |
| C．even if we can see well |
| D．only when we realize how important our eyes are |
When things far away seem indistinct(模糊不清) , one is probably .
| A．near-sighted | B．far-sighted |
| C．astigmatic | D．suffering from cataracts |
The underlined word "suffer "in the third paragraph probably means .
| A．experience | B．imagine |
| C．feel pain | D．are affected with |
Having two eyes instead of one is particularly useful for .
| A．seeing at night | B．seeing objects far away |
| C．looking over a wide area | D．judging distances |
People who suffer from astigmatism have .
| A．one eye bigger than the other |
| B．eyes that are not exactly the right shape |
| C．a difficulty that can be corrected by an operation |
| D．an eye difficulty that cannot be corrected by glasses |
The man sitting opposite Robert was the Financial Controller. Everybody called him “the FC” for short. He made all the decisions about money. Robert needed some more. That was why he had to see him. The two men did not get on very well. In fact, they had always disliked each other.
“Your request is out of the question,” the FC said. Robert had difficulty in controlling himself, but he managed somehow. He explained that he wanted the money in order to make more programmes.
“And why do you want to do that?” the FC asked sharply. Again, Robert almost lost his temper. “Because more and more people are listening to my department’s programmes. There’s great demand for them,” he answered.
The FC did not seem to believe him. But Robert had a report on the numbers of listeners to all EBC programmes. The FC became less confident (自信). Robert threw the report down on the table and told him to read it.
The FC looked at it in silence. The figures (数字) proved that he had been wrong, but he did not want to admit it. “Well,” he finally said, “I may have made a small mistake.” Robert noticed the word “may.” He got up to leave. But he had the feeling that he would get the money after all.In the story the Financial Controller was a person who was in charge of________.
A. Robert’s department’s programmes. B. EBC programmes.
C. EBC money. D. both B and C.“Your request is out of the question.” Here “out of the question”means_______.
| A．without any question | B．with some question. | C．impossible. | D．possible. |
Robert decided to make more programmes because________.
| A．he wanted to meet the needs of the listeners. |
| B．“the FC”disliked him |
| C．the members of his department wanted him to do so. |
| D．he wanted to show himself off. |
Why were more and more people listening to Robert’s programmes?
A. Because he always lost his temper (脾气).
B. Because he disliked “the FC.”
C. Because the programmes were rich and to the taste of the listeners.
D. We don’t know.Who do you think won the argument(争论)in the end?
| A．The Financial Controller. | B．Robert. | C．Nobody. | D．The listeners. |
At five he was collecting old newspapers to make money. And when he was 15 he signed his schoolmates up to start a baby-sitting circle.
Now 20, third-year Cambridge University student, Peter Blackburn is managing director of a company with a £ 30,000 plan. And he thinks it will make more than $15,000 by next summer.
He set up Peter Black born Ltd last year to bring out a new, color term-planner that now students all over the UK are using.
“I felt that most of the planners going around were pretty unimaginative,” he says, “I believed that I could do a better job and decided to have a go”.
Blackburn admits that he is putting far more effort into business than his computer studies course at university. While fellow students are out with their friends, he keeps in touch with his business office in Lancashire by movable phone. Before he set up the company he spent one holiday preparing a plan that would persuade his bank to lend him money.
“Most students work hard for a good degree because they believe that will help them get a job to support themselves,” he says “I work hard at my company, because that is what will support me next year, after I leave college.”
Friends believe that Blackburn will make £ 1 million within 5 years.
He is not quite so sure, however. “There’s a lot to be done yet,” he says.
Choose the right order of the facts given in the passage.
a. He spent his holiday preparing a plan.
b. He collected newspapers.
c. He set up his own company.
d. He asked the bank for money.
e. He set up a babysitting circle.
| A．e, b, c, a, d | B．b, e, a, d, c | C．b, e, d, a, c | D．b, e, c, a, d |
When he was quite young, Blackburn ____ .
| A．already made a lot of money | B．already had a business brain |
| C．was already managing director of a company | D．already set up his own business |
The underlined expression in the fourth paragraph “have a go,” here means ____ .
| A．give up this job and have a new one | B．leave the company |
| C．have a try | D．develop my business quickly |
In spite of a college student, Blackburn ____ .
| A．spends more time on his business than on his studies course |
| B．keep in touch with his business office by movable phone |
| C．seldom goes out with his friends |
| D．often spends whole holiday preparing business plan |
Which of the following best explain why Blackburn works hard at his company?
| A．He wants to do more business practice before he leaves college. |
| B．He wants to make more money before he leaves college. |
| C．He wants to get a good job like most students after he leaves the college. |
| D．he depends on the company for his living in the future. |
The first newspapers were written by hand and put up on walls in public place. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700’s the world’s first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn’t have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was the Daily Courant (每日新闻). It came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started The Boston Newsletter (波斯顿新闻通讯), the first newspaper published in the American colonies. By 1760, the colonies had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation (发行量) in the world. But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Dhimbun (朝日新闻). It sells more than eleven million copies every day.The first daily newspaper came out in _____.
| A．59 BC | B．700’s | C．1609 | D．1620 |
The first regularly published newspaper in Europe was printed in _____.
| A．England | B．Germany | C．France | D．Sweden |
The first printed newspaper in America came out in _____.
| A．Washington | B．New York | C．Boston | D．New Orleans |
Today there are about _____ daily newspaper printed in the United States.
| A．1621 | B．1704 | C．1760 | D．1800 |
Which is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The first regularly published newspaper in the English language was printed in Amsterdam. |
| B．English language newspaper sells more than 11 million copies every day. |
| C．Europe didn't have a regularly published newspaper in 1608. |
| D．The first daily English newspaper came out in March 1702. |
Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories, destroying (摧毁) fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged (破坏) that their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or broken roofs. One person was killed, several were badly hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.
A farmer, Mr. Tan, said that the storm began early in the morning and lasted for over an hour.
“I was eating with my wife and children,” he said, “When we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best to climb out but then I saw that one of my children was missing. I went back inside and found him,
safe but very frightened.”
Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she felt that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children.
“There was no time to take anything,” she said, “A few minutes later, the roof came down.”
Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded (水淹的) area and the welfare department (福利机构) brought them food, clothes and shelter. How many homes altogether (总共) were damaged in the storm?
| A．Fourteen | B．Twenty-one |
| C．Twenty-nine | D．Thirty-six |
Where was Mr. Tan when the storm first began?
| A．He was in bed. | B．He was inside the house. |
| C．He was outside the house. | D．He was on the roof. |
Mrs. Woo and her family didn’t get hurt because _________.
| A．her husband knew there would be a storm |
| B．they were all outside the house when the storm became worse |
| C．she felt the house was moving |
| D．the welfare department helped her |
The underlined word “shelter” in this passage means ______.
| A．something to eat | B．something to wear |
| C．somewhere to study | D．somewhere to stay |
Which of he following may be the best title for this passage?
| A．A Terrible Storm | B．A Lucky Woman |
| C．Good Soldiers | D．Clever People |
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