Some houses are designed to be smart. Others have smart designs. An example of the second type of house won an Award of Excellence from the American Institutes of Architects.
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Located on the shore of Sullivan’s Island off the coast of South Carolina, the award-winning cube-shaped beach house was built to replace one smashed to pieces by Hurricane（飓风）Hugo 10 years ago. In September 1989, Hugo struck South Carolina, killing 18 people and damaging or destroying 36,000 homes in the state. Before Hugo, many new houses built along South Carolina’s shoreline were poorly constructed, and enforcement of building laws wasn’t strict, according to architect Ray Huff, who created the cleverly-designed beach house. In Huff’s wake all new shoreline houses are required to meet stricter, better-enforced requirements. The new beach house on Sullivan’s Island should be able to withstand(经受) a Category 3 hurricane with peak winds of 179 to 209 kilometers per hour.
At first sight,
the house on Sullvan’s Island looks anything but hurricane-proof. Its redwood shell makes it resemble “a large party lantern” at night, according to one observer. But looks can be cheating. The house’s wooden frame is reinforced with long steel bars to give it extra strength.To further protect the house from hurricane damage, Huff raised it 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings – long, slender columns of
wood anchored deep in the sand. Pilings might appear insecure, but they are strong enough to support the weight of the house. They also elevate the house above storm attacks. The pilings allow the waves to run under the house instead of running into it. “These swells of water come on shore at tremendous speeds and cause most of the damage done to beach-front buildings,” said Huff.Huff designed the timber pilings to be partly masked by the house’s ground-to-roof shell. “The shell masks the pilings so that the house doesn’t look like it’s standing with its pant legs pulled up,” said Huff. In the event of a storm surge, the shell should break apart and let the waves rush under the house, the architect explained.
| A．to be easily reinforced | B．to look smarter in design |
| C．to meet stricter building standards | D．to be designed in the shape of cubes |
The award-winning beach house is quite strong because .
| A．it is strengthened by steel bars | B．it is made of redwood |
| C．it is in the shape of a shell | D．it is built with stone and concrete |
Huff raised the house 2.7 meters off the ground on timber pilings in order to .
A．withstand peak winds of about 200 km/hr |
| B．strike stronger pilings keep into the sand |
| C．break huge sea waves into smaller ones |
| D．prevent water from rushing into the house |
The main function of the shell is .
| A．to strengthen the pilings of the house |
| B．to give the house a better appearance |
| C．to protect the wooden frame of the house |
| D．to slow down the speed of the swelling water |
Doris Lessing was born in 1919 in Persia, moving as a child with her family to southern Rhodesia, now Zimbabwe, where she stayed in school only to the age of 14.
A year after moving to London, she published her first novel in 1950. The Grass is Singing examines unbridgeable racial conflict(冲突) in colonial Africa through the eyes of a white farmer’s wife and her black servant.
Her literary breakthrough came in 1962 with publication of The Golden Notebook, seen by many, though not necessarily Lessing, as a pioneering work of modern feminism(女权运动). A separated study of the mind of the main character, Amma Wulf, the novel explores her thoughts about Africa, politics and relationships with men and sex.
Lessing’s themes changed to psychology in her works from the 1960s, and by the 1970s the was extremely interested in the Islamic mystic tradition of Sufism(苏菲教派). Her turn toward science fiction with the Canopus series in the early 1980s was not warmly received by traditionalist critics, but she has continued to win new readers and numerous literary awards, including the David Cohen British Literary Prize and the Companion of Honour from the Royal Society of Literature, both in 2001.
Following the announcement, the Horace Engdahl told VOA why he was personally so pleased with Lessing’s selection.
“She is one of the truly great writers－of novels, short stories, fiction and non-fiction,” Engdahl said. “She is one of the few writers who have had the courage to uphold the principle of equality between the male and female experience, and she has given the impulse(冲动) to numbers of other women writers. And she is really the mother of a school that is one of the most important in our contemporary literature.”
At 87, Doris Lessing is the oldest Nobel Literature winner sine the first prizes were awarded in 1901.What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Doris Lessing writes The Golden Notebook |
| B．Doris Lessing is a pioneer of modern feminism |
| C．Doris Lessing wins the Nobel Prize for Literature |
| D．Doris Lessing is concerned about Africa |
It can be inferred from the passage that .
| A．there are only two characters in The Grass is Singing |
| B．The Golden Notebook is regarded as Lessing’s masterpiece by herself |
| C．life in Africa in her early age lays a solid foundation for her writing |
| D．Doris Lessing is strongly against traditional culture in Africa |
According to the fourth paragraph, .
| A．Lessing began to believe in Christ in the 1970s |
| B．Lessing’s science fiction won readers |
| C．Lessing had won two literary medals for her writings |
| D．Lessing changed her themes to meet the needs of traditional critics |
According to the Horace Engdahl, Lessing wins Nobel Prize mainly because .
| A．she has rich experience in living in Africa |
| B．she is a head master of an important school |
| C．she encourages women writers to struggle against men |
| D．she makes great contributions to equal rights for women |
Sports play an important role in British life. The most popular sport is football. Cricket is also popular in England, but is less important in the other home nations. Rugby union and rugby league are the other major team sports. Tennis is the most important sport for the two weeks of the Wimbledon Championships(温布尔登网球锦标赛)
Football
The modern global game of football developed from traditional British football games in the 19th century. Club football is organized separately in each of the home nations. English football has a league system which combines thousands of clubs. Scotland has a similar but smaller club football structure. The top level league in Wales is the league of Wales. In Northern Ireland the main league is the Irish Football League.
Each season the most successful clubs from each of the home nations qualify for(使…具有…的资格) the two Europe wide club competitions organized by UEFA(欧足联), the UEFA Champions League and the UEFA Cup.
Cricket
Cricket was invented in England. It is regarded as England’s national summer game and it is probably the second most widely covered sport.
There are eighteen professional country clubs, seventeen of them in England and one in Wales. Each summer the country clubs compete in the first class Country Championship, which consist of two leagues of nine teams and in which matches are played over four days.
Rugby
Like football, rugby union and rugby league both developed from traditional British football games in the 19th century. For much of the 20th century there was great antagonism between rugby leagues, which was a mainly working class game based in the industrial areas of northern England, and rugby union, which is a mainly middle class game in England, and is also popular in the other home nations.
Tennis
Tennis is yet another sport which originated in the United Kingdom and the governing body of the sport is the LTA(草地网球协会). However, no British man has won Wimbledon since 1936 and no British woman since 1977. The only British players of either sex to reach the world top 50 in recent years are Greg Rusedski, who learnt his tennis in Canada, and Tim Henman and Andrew Murray ,who did not pass through the LTA system either.What do we know about football?
| A．The top clubs represent the UK in the two Europe competitions. |
| B．Football is a newly-invented game in England |
| C．The top level league in England is the Irish Football League |
| D．Club football is an organized union in the UK. |
From the passage we can learn .
| A．There exist all professional county clubs in England. |
| B．Rugby leagues was enjoyed by middle class |
| C．Tennis is in the charge of LTA |
| D．Greg Rusedski did not pass through the LTA system. |
The underlined “antagonisim” in the sixth paragraph probably means .
| A．preference | B．friendliness | C．similarity | D．opposition |
From what can we read the passage?
| A．tour guidebook | B．book review |
| C．news report | D．news magzine |
“Old wives’ tales” are beliefs passed from one generation to another. For example, most of us remember our parents’ telling us to eat more of certain foods or not to do certain things. Is there any truth in these teachings? Some of them agree with present medical thinking, but others have not passed the test of time.
Did your mother ever tell you to eat your carrots because they are good for your eyes? Scientists now report that eating carrots can help prevent a serious eye disease called macular degeneration. Eating just one carrot a day can reduce the possibility of getting this disease by 40%. Garlic(蒜) is good for you, too. It can kill the type of virus that causes colds.
Unfortunately, not all of Mom’s advice passed the test of medical studies. For example, generations of children have been told not to go swimming within an hour after eating. But research suggests that there is no danger in doing so. Do sweets cause tooth problems? Well, yes and no. Sticky sweets made with grains tend to cause more problems than sweets made with simple sugars.
Even though science can tell us that some of our traditional beliefs don’t hold water, there is still a lot of truth in the old wives’ tales. After all, much of this knowledge has been accumulated(积累) from thousands of years of experience in family health care. We should respect this body of knowledge even as we search for clear scientific support to prove it true or false.The author develops the third paragraph mainly .
| A．by cause and effect | B．by order in space |
| C．by examples | D．by order in time |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?
| A．Eating garlic is good for our eyes. |
| B．Carrots prevent people from catching colds. |
| C．Swimming after a meal is dangerous. |
| D．Sticky sweets are damaging to our teeth. |
What is the author’s attitude toward “old wives’ tales” in the text?
| A．Objective. | B．Subjective. | C．Dissatisfied. | D．Curious. |
The phrase “hold water” in the last paragraph most probably means “ .”
| A．to be valuable | B．to be believable |
| C．to be admirable | D．to be suitable |
Fish have different personalities which change as they experience life’s highs and lows．according to British biologists．
Researchers identified different“personalities” in their fish by observing the boldness or shyness of individuals，according to The Nature．Like people，some fish are very confident in the face of novelty(新奇事物)or conflict；while others are silent and fear．
The scientists selected particularly bold and shy rainbow trout，and tested whether they changed their outlook depending on what life threw at them．They arranged some fish to fight and others to watch to see how both the participants and observers responded to victories and defeats．Winning or losing a fight，or even watching fellow fish overcome the difficulties influenced the future behavior of the creatures studied in the lab．
The researchers made fish compete with much larger or smaller opponents．to ensure that they would win or lose their fights．These bold fish that won their fights tended to be even bolder when later presented with a novel food item；losing their fight caused them to be much more cautious．
Fish also learn by watching others．Bold fish watching a shy fish exploring a mystery object were much more nervous when later given a novelty item for themselves．
Predictably，shy fish that won a fight also gained more confidence，but surprisingly，shy fish that lost their fights also grew bolder when exploring strange new food，Sneddon said，adding that this could be due to what she calls a“desperado effect”(亡命徒效应)．
The new research suggests that animals can gradually adapt their personalities．The results echo the effects that life experience can have on human．What does．the underlined word“creatures’’probably refer to?
| A．Fish． | B．Participants． | C．Observers． | D．Researchers． |
The third paragraph of the text is mainly about—————．
| A．a conclusion of the research |
| B．an explanation of fish characters |
| C．a statement of the experiment |
| D．a description of fish fights |
What can we know from the research?
| A．Bold losing fish become—e bolder when presented With a novel food item． |
| B．Losing their fights causes the bold fish to be much more courageous． |
| C．Bold fish watching a shy fish exploring a mystery get less nervous． |
| D．Shy fish losing fights grow more confident in exploring new food． |
What’s the main idea of the text?’
| A．Fish have stress in the fierce fights． |
| B．Fish care about winning or losing a fight． |
| C．Fish have adaptable personalities． |
| D．Fish can learn a lot by watching others． |
The London 20120lympics are being praised as a sporting and logistical(后勤)success，but the influence on economy is far less certain．Some London tourist attractions，businesses and hotels reported that their business actually fell during the Games．But as Olly Barratt reports from London，the overall UK economy is looking for long-term results．
Showing an Olympic-sized party like this cost the UK almost l 5 billion dollars．But while spectators went to east London’S Olympic Park，central London has been much quieter than。normal． Arthur lRason，a central London stallholder，said，“Am I taking less? Yeah，I’m taking less．There’S no question about it．”
Restaurants were among businesses that reported lower takings than normal at this time of year．And one tourism trade association says a survey of its members found the Games had had a negative influence all over the UK．But during the recent recession(不景气)，British officials still insist the Games were worth it．Boris Johnson，Mayor of London said，“I think it’S been an amazing display of what you can do if you plan and you work for years and years on a project．
And I think it’s a great advertisement for British engineering and British industry．" The government hopes the Games will be a great help to the British brand worldwide，and they are also an opportunity to sweet-talk potential investors from all over the world．And a fall in takings for some attractions should not have come as a surprise．Where is the London’S Olympic Park located?
| A．Central London． | B．East London． |
| C．West London． | D．Outside London． |
Mayor of London thinks the Games’effect on British economy is——．
| A．positive | B．disappointing |
| C．negative | D．uncertain |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．The British government did badly in organizing the Games． |
| B．Businesses in central London were improved during the Games． |
| C．Most British businessmen thought poorly of the London Games． |
| D．Most British officials were worried about the future of British economy． |
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