Earthquakes are the shaking, rolling or sudden shock of the earth’s surface. Earthquakes happen along “fault lines” in the earth’s crust. Earthquakes can be felt over large areas although they usually last less than one minute. Earthquakes cannot be predicted —— although scientists are working on it!
Most of the time, you will notice an earthquake by the gentle shaking of the ground. You may notice hanging plants swaying or objects wobbling on shelves. Sometimes you may hear a low rumbling noise or feel a sharp jolt. A survivor of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco said the sensation was like riding a bicycle down a long flight of stairs.
The intensity（强度）of an earthquake can be measured. One measurement is called the Richter scale. Earthquakes below 4.0 on the Richter scale usually do not cause damage, and earthquakes below 2.0 usually can’t be felt. Earthquakes over 5.0 on the scale can cause damage. A magnitude 6.0 earthquake is considered strong and a magnitude 7.0 is a major earthquake. The Wenchuan Earthquake, which hit Sichuan Province in 2008, was magnitude 7.8.
Earthquakes are sometimes called temblors, quakes, shakers or seismic activity. The most important thing to remember during an earthquake is to DROP, COVER and HOLD ON. So remember to DROP to the floor and get under something for COVER and HOLD ON during the shaking. Which statement about earthquakes is Not correct?
| A．Earthquakes are the result of the sudden shock of the earth’s surface. |
| B．Earthquakesusually can be felt because they can last for a long time. |
| C．There are usually some signs for people to notice an earthquake. |
| D．People can feel an earthquake over 6.0 because it is very strong. |
According to the passage, when the earthquake happened, a survivor of the 1906 earthquake in San Francisco_______.
| A．was riding a bicycle | B．was just climbing the stairs |
| C．heard a low rumbling noise | D．felt like riding a bicycle |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．Most of the time, people can not feel or predict the earthquakes. |
| B．Earthquakes are sometimes called temblors, quakes shakers or seismic activity. |
| C．The Wenchuan Earthquake, which hit Sichuan Province in 2008 caused serious damage. |
| D．When an earthquake happens, it is important to drop on the floor immediately. |
Move Earth—It’s Not Science Fiction
LONDON—Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets(彗星)in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration(NASA)engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.
The plan put forward by Dr. Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams, needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun, ”Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.
In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The Sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so“seriously compromise” our biosphere(生物圈)—by cooking us.
That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation(误算)in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position, it is“most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth”. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?
| A．A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth. |
| B．Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon. |
| C．Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive. |
| D．The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth. |
If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of years.
| A．12 billion | B．6 billion |
| C．18 billion | D．24 billion |
What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?
| A．The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the Moon. |
| B．Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death. |
| C．The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth. |
| D．Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened. |
What does the underlined word“compromise”mean?
| A．Provide. | B．Benefit. |
| C．Share. | D．Endanger. |
Every year Chris Brogan posts his three words for a new year. Many others and I have followed his lead for the past three or four years. They helped me a lot. My words for last year were“passion”, “focus”and“delegate”and I stayed true to them. This year, 2013, my goals are more personal and less professional.
FOCUS
Focus is making a repeat appearance on my list this year because I’m too much of a multitasker. The problem is that I have trouble finishing one thing with so many things calling me. When I was working as a writer, all my projects were handled via a schedule, I’m putting a fitness and housekeeping routine into my schedule.
HEALTH
I get so busy taking care of everyone else, and I forget to take care of myself and this has to change. My health suffers and my weight suffers. I have to get my health in check, not only for me but because I promised my 9-year-old son. I’ll make good food and lifestyle choices. I miss being thin, and it’s time to get it back.
CELEBRATE
What good is having it if I’m not taking time to enjoy it? I have a wonderful job, a happy family, and so much to be thankful for. So how come I spend all my time working? Last summer my family took our first vacation in four years, the best thing I’ve done for myself and my family in a long time. This year, I’m making sure to take time to enjoy life and celebrate its many blessings.
Do you have any words for 2013?The underlined word “multitasker” probably refers to a person who .
| A．makes a living by writing |
| B．always fails to finish a task on time |
| C．has several things to do at the same time |
| D．pays more attention to fitness and housekeeping |
Why does the writer have“HEALTH”as one of his three words?
| A．He wants to take better care of others. |
| B．He’s gaining weight and feeling bad. |
| C．He did not take any exercise in the past. |
| D．He got the idea from his son. |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．The word“CELEBRATE”can remind the writer to enjoy life. |
| B．The writer has a vacation with his family every four years. |
| C．The word“FOCUS”can help the writer focus on his family. |
| D．The writer used to be overweight for lack of exercise. |
The best title for the passage might be .
| A．Three Words for 2013 |
| B．Health Should Go First |
| C．Keep Organized |
| D．Goals for 2013 |
What makes humans smarter than other animals? We’ve got a bigger brain, of course. But when it comes to brains, is bigger always better?
Traditionally, scientists have thought that humans’ superior intelligence derived(源于)mostly from the fact that our brains are three times bigger than those of our nearest living relatives, chimpanzees. People even used to believe that because men have slightly larger brains than women that men are smarter.
This, however, is not the truth. Scientists at University College London in the UK have found that brain organization, and not brain size, is the key to the superiority of human intelligence, reported Live Science.
Through millions of years of evolution, our ancestors were constantly pushed to get smarter so that they could meet the demands of new environments. However, holding this growing intelligence in increasingly large brains was not the best choice because bigger brains require more energy to power. “This is when reorganization may come into play, ”said Christophe Soligo, a member of the London research team.
In the study, scientists looked at the brains of 17 species of primates(灵长目动物), including monkeys, apes and humans. They found that in the process of evolution, brains didn’t keep growing as a whole. Certain regions of the brain grew prior to others in response to species’ needs, and in this way they could make the best use of their limited brain space.
For example, when early humans were struggling to survive, the brain region in charge of using tools and finding food grew in size more than other regions. But in modern times, the prefrontal cortex(前额皮质)—the region in charge of social cognition(认知), moral judgments and goal-directed planning—grew more than the rest of the brain.
Think of the brain as a room. If a big room is poorly organized, it doesn’t necessarily store more stuff than a smaller one.
Paul Manger, professor at the University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, explains this principle using the example of whales. He told Scientific American: “Whales have big brains, absolutely. But if you look at the actual structure of the brain, it’s not very complex. Brain size only matters if the rest of the brain is organized properly. ”It has recently been found that humans are smarter than the other animals mainly because .
| A．they are a species of primates |
| B．they have much larger brains |
| C．their brain structure is more complex |
| D．they were constantly pushed to get smarter |
According to the article, in recent human evolution, .
| A．the brain kept growing in size to adapt to new environments |
| B．most regions of the brain didn’t change |
| C．the prefrontal cortex grew more than the rest of the brain |
| D．humans’ brains became increasingly simple so that humans could survive |
What can we conclude from the article?
| A．Gender makes a difference in intelligence. |
| B．The size of the brain has nothing to do with intelligence. |
| C．Species whose brain is organized properly tend to be smarter. |
| D．Larger brains are usually organized better than smaller ones. |
The method the writer uses to develop the last paragraph is .
| A．by presenting research data |
| B．by giving examples |
| C．by making a comparison |
| D．by analyzing cause and effect |
From Avatar to Lord of the Rings, plants are no strangers to playing big movie roles. However, no one has ever shot a film that plants themselves can watch until now. In a New York art gallery, seven house plants have spent the last seven weeks watching Strange Skies, the first travel documentary for a vegetable audience. All the plants sat in the cinema in rows, enjoying themselves in Italian sunshine.
The movie was made by American artist Jonathon Keats. It consists of Italian skies recorded over two months and made into a six-minute-long movie. The film shows the clear dawn(黎明), high clouds, amazing dusk and then beautiful night. The movie has no sound and the plants, of course, do not applaud. But Stephen Squibb, a professor from Harvard University, said these plants could benefit from it—the light of the movie keeps them alive because they can continue the process of turning light into energy.
“I realized there was a much larger audience—plants—that were not being serviced, ”Keats said. “I wanted to provide plants with entertainment that companies such as Disney provide for humans. ”Meanwhile, Keats also wants to explore plants’ sensibilities(敏感性)further. He plans to open a“restaurant for plants”at a Californian museum.
One visitor, photographer Abbas Ebrahimi, admired(羡慕)the green audience, “Plants are better than us. We die and go, while in spring they come back each time. ”But when talking about the movie, he said after thinking for a few minutes, “It doesn’t mean anything to me at all. It’s just about light. For some people, it might mean something. ”What can we learn about Keats according to the passage?
| A．He is an artist from Harvard University. |
| B．He opened a restaurant for plants. |
| C．He made the film Strange Skies. |
| D．He liked recording Italian skies. |
It can be learned that Strange Skies .
| A．has already created beautiful sound |
| B．was shot from dawn to dusk |
| C．made plants play roles in it |
| D．is the first travel film for plants |
What did Stephen Squibb think of Strange Skies?
| A．He thought it had explored plants’ sensibilities. |
| B．He thought it meant nothing to him. |
| C．He thought it could keep plants growing. |
| D．He thought it offered entertainment to plants. |
Why did Abbas Ebrahimi admire the green audience?
| A．Because they die and re-grow in spring. |
| B．Because they mean something to him. |
| C．Because there are more plants than people. |
| D．Because they can enjoy the movie. |
While students in Hainan are quite used to clear skies, Beijing teenagers are not so lucky. As another warm winter approaches, the city can expect the normal clouds of smoke caused by air pollution.
But things may start to improve soon. The government is co-operating with a US-based environmental protection agency to update existing buses and trucks with clean fuel technology. The new technology could reduce air pollutants in existing diesel engines(柴油机)by 40 percent. The programme will begin by testing buses in Beijing to see if the technology can be applied to them.
“We encourage the development of public transports. But at the same time we need to reduce pollution from them, ”said an official.
Efforts are being made to improve the capital’s environment with tighter controls on emissions(排放). Some heavily polluting factories and construction sites, such as those owned by the steel giant Shougang Group, have been asked to cut production in November and December or be closed.
Beijing was the third polluted city in the world at the end of last century, according to the UN. But thanks to recent measures, the capital has made some progress. Last year 224 clear days were rated as having good air quality. In 1998 the air quality index(指数)gave just 100 days as good.
“I am glad to see an improvement, ”said a senior 1 boy living in the northwest of Beijing. “Compared to other places, the air quality of Beijing is still worrying though. I hate pollution. Once I was riding my bike in the morning when I almost had a traffic accident because I couldn’t see a car only metres away from me in fog. ”
In early October, the skies were covered by such a thick fog that a display show by the visiting French Air Force was called off.
Rapid development, industry, traffic fumes and sandstorms from the desert all contribute to the city’s bad air. The passage is mainly about .
| A．a programme aiming at improving Beijing’s air quality |
| B．progress made in Beijing’s air quality |
| C．Beijing’s air pollution |
| D．the differences between Hainan and Beijing |
Which of the following is NOT the measure taken or to be taken to improve Beijing’s air quality?
| A．Clean fuel technology will be used in public transports. |
| B．Some factories have been asked to cut production. |
| C．Some construction sites have been told to be closed. |
| D．A display show of airplanes has been called off. |
We can infer from the passage that, with the aim of being an ecological(生态的)city, .
| A．far more still needs to be done |
| B．nothing else needs to be done |
| C．all traffic has to be closed |
| D．the development of the city has to be slowed down |
Which of the following is NOT correct according to the passage?
| A．Beijing’s air quality is getting worse and worse. |
| B．Rapid development, industry, traffic fumes and sandstorms are all the causes of bad air quality. |
| C．People see clouds of smoke in the sky in the winter of Beijing. |
| D．The government is making efforts to stop air pollution. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号