St James’s Palace has announced that while Miss Middleton will wear a wedding ring．Prince William has chosen not to．
Rings are typically exchanged by couples during their wedding to represent commitment （承诺）to each other．Does it matter if husbands don’t wear a wedding ring?
Prince William’s father wears one, his grandfather doesn’t and their decisions weren’t seen as strange．But reactions to Prince William’s decision show that wedding rings for husbands are now the norm．One young man, who spoke to the BBC, thinks William is setting a bad example, saying: "I think it’s disgraceful （不光彩的）．It’s a tradition．You have to wear a ring really．And for someone of the royal family to do that, it’s not right．"
Broadly speaking, modem husbands tend to wear their wedding rings as a symbol of loyalty and faithfulness．So not wearing one can seem unusual or even dishonest to some, although men haven’t always worn them．
The wearing of wedding rings has been the done thing for centuries among wives but only became common practice among husbands during World War II．Men fighting overseas usually wore them as a reminder of wives and families back home．
Wearing rings is a safety issue（问题） for men in certain manual jobs．But how does William explain his decision? A royal officer has said he "isn’t one for jewelry"．According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．There is going to be a royal exhibition of jewelry． |
| B．Wearing rings among husbands and wives is tradition at all times． |
| C．All the male members of British royalty don’t wear wedding rings． |
| D．Wearing rings is a safety guarantee for some manual jobs． |
What is the author’s attitude towards Prince William’s decision?
| A．Subjective． | B．Objective． | C．Approving． | D．Disappointed． |
By saying "he isn’t one for jewelry", the royal officers meant that _____．
| A．Prince William is a person who doesn’t like wearing jewelry． |
| B．Prince William isn’t a person who is crazy about collecting jewelry． |
| C．Prince William considers jewelry penniless． |
| D．Prince William doesn’t wear a wedding ring for safety． |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．To Wear Wedding Rings or Not |
| B．Complaint about British Royal Disgraceful Behavior] |
| C．The History of Wearing Wedding Rings |
| D．No Ring for Wills |
The United States is not part of the Kyoto Protocol.But since 2005 more than 1,000 mayors across the country have agreed to sign their own version of the protocol.
It is called the United States Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement.Local leaders have agreed to follow the suggestions of the Kyoto Protocol in their communities.They have also agreed to urge state and federal governments to follow these suggestions.One goal is to reduce air pollution to the 1990 levels by 2012.
A “green” city might work on several kinds of environmental goals and programs.These include air quality，reducing electricity use, green building, public health, the reuse of materials, water quality and clean transportation.
The Natural Resources Defense Council works to protect the environment through action, law and science.One of its online projects is called Smarter Cities, which lists some cities that have made important environmental steps.
Washington，D.C.is also a leading city for green roofs，with over 92,000 square meters of green rooftops.The city also launched a program called “Skip the Bag，Save the River.”Stores charge people a fivecent tax for using plastic or paper shopping bags instead of reusable bags.Money from the tax will be used to clean up a local river.
New York City is using water as a renewable energy source.For several years, the city has experimented with water in the East River to create energy.Officials operating the program recently asked for permission to put into place 30 river turbine devices.
The people of Portland, Oregon are among the top recyclers in the nation.People living there recycle over half of the waste they throw out.The city has also worked to provide green transportation by providing safe bike paths and free parking spaces where electric cars can get recharged.
In Oakland, California, you can ride on one of several public hydrogenpowered(氢气作燃料的) buses.These buses release zero pollution into the air.However，they cost about five times more than common buses.The United States Conference of Mayors' Climate Protection Agreement is aimed at________.
| A．reducing energy use |
| B．reducing air pollution |
| C．improving public health |
| D．reusing waste materials |
Why are shoppers charged a fivecent tax for buying shopping bags?
| A．To clean a local lake that has been polluted. |
| B．To get enough money for the green roof project. |
| C．To prevent shoppers from using reusable bags. |
| D．To collect money for an environmental project. |
New York City is cited as an example of________.
| A．building green rooftops |
| B．making transportation clean |
| C．being good at recycling waste |
| D．using renewable energy source |
Which of the following cities encourage citizens to use bicycles?
A．Washington，D.C. B．New York.
C．Portland. D．Oakland.One obvious disadvantage of adopting hydrogenpowered buses is________.
| A．its high cost | B．side effect |
| C．zero pollution | D．large space |
In a moment of personal crisis, how much help can you expect from a New York taxi driver? I began studying this question and answers are interesting.
One morning, I got into three different taxis and announced，“Well，it's my first day back in New York in seven years.I've been in prison.”Not a single driver replied，so I tried again.“Yeah，I shot a man in Reno.”I explained, hoping the driver would ask me why, but nobody asked.The only response came from a Ghanaian driver，“Reno? That is in Nevada？”
Taxi drivers were uniform sympathetic when I said I'd just been fired.“This is America，”a Haitian driver said.“One door is closed.Another is open.”He argued against my plan to burn down my boss' s house.A Pakistani driver even turned down a chance to profit from my loss of hope；he refused to take me to the middle of the George Washington Bridge—a $20 trip.“Why do you want to go there? Go home and relax.Don't worry.Take a new job.”
One very hot weekday in July, while wearing a red ski mask and holding a stuffed pillowcase with the word “BANK” on it, I tried calling a taxi five times outside different banks.The driver picked me up every time.My ride with a Haitian driver was typical of the superb assistance I received.
“Let's go across the park，” I said.“I just robbed the bank there.I got $25,000.”
“$25,000？” he asked.
“Yeah，you think it was wrong to take it？”
“No, man.I work 8 hours and I don't make almost $70.If I can do that，I will do it too.”
As we approached 86th and Lexington, I pointed to the Chemical Bank.
“Hey，there is another bank，”I said，“Could you wait here a minute while I go inside？”
“No，I can't wait.Pay me now.” His unwillingness may have had something to do with money—taxi drivers think the rate for waiting time is too low—but I think he wanted me to learn that even a bank robber can't expect unconditional support.From the Ghanaian driver's response, we can infer that________.
| A．he was afraid of the author |
| B．he thought the author was crazy |
| C．he looked down upon the author |
| D．he was indifferent to the killing |
Why did the Pakistani driver refuse to take the author to the middle of the George Washington Bridge?
| A．Because he was able to help the author to find a new job. |
| B．Because he wanted to go home and relax. |
| C．Because he thought that the author would commit suicide. |
| D．Because it was far away from his home. |
In the author's opinion, the driver's unwillingness to wait outside the Chemical Bank indicates________.
| A．the driver thought it wrong to support a taxi rider unconditionally |
| B．the driver was frightened and wanted to leave him as soon as possible |
| C．the driver did not want to help a suspect to escape from a bank robbery |
| D．the driver thought that the rate for waiting time was too low |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about New York taxi drivers?
| A．They are ready to help you do whatever you want to. |
| B．They are sympathetic with those who are out of work. |
| C．They refuse to pick up those who would kill themselves. |
| D．They work only for money. |
The passage mainly discusses________.
| A．the way to please taxi riders |
| B．the way to deal with taxi riders |
| C．taxi drivers' attitude to riders in personal trouble |
| D．taxi drivers' attitude to troublesome taxi riders |
All of us, at some point, experience nights where we have difficulty falling asleep or staying asleep. The National Institute of Health estimates that one in three adults has bouts of infrequent sleeplessness or insomnia, while one in 10 sufferes from chronic insomnia. Being unable to get a good night's sleep can cause disruptions in our daytoday life. But persistent sleeplessness can lead to physical and emotional health problems.
The body needs sleep to rejuvenate itself and rebuild the cells necessary to keep the immune system strong and the brain functioning properly. Everyone's body requires a different amount of sleep to accomplish these goals. The average amount of sleep needed by an adult is around seven or eight hours a night. However, some people can function quite well with less than that, while others need more to be at peak performance.
Sleeplessness can be caused by many different things. Most people experience sleeplessness for a short period of time due to an outside stimulus such as stress, improper diet, a poor sleeping environment or an acute medical concern such as the flu. Once the stimulus passes, the ability to sleep will usually return. Chronic sleeplessness may be caused by ongoing health concerns such as the physical pain of arthritis or the emotional pain of anxiety and depression.
Prolonged sleeplessness can have a negative effect on the way the body performs daily tasks. Those that suffer from sleepless nights may find themselves feeling drowsy or fatigued during the day. The ability to concentrate or focus on a task diminishes and you are less mentally alert. Because the body needs sleep to support a healthy immune system, those that are sleepdeprived may be more susceptible to both acute and chronic illnesses such as high blood pressure and diabetes.
Sleeplessness not only takes a toll on your physical self but also your emotional wellbeing. Being unable to sleep well for a few nights may only produce minor irritability. However, if sleeplessness becomes chronic, the price could be much higher in the form of anxiety, depression and possibly substance abuse. Those with chronic sleeplessness may turn to controlled substances such as sleeping pills and alcohol to aid them in their quest for a good night's sleep.
There are numerous home remedies for mild sleeplessness. Prepare your body for sleep by avoiding caffeinated drinks such as tea or coffee before bed. Don't exercise strenuously before bedtime; instead do something relaxing such as meditate or take a warm bath. Go to bed only when you feel sleepy and not because of a selfappointed bedtime.Finally, create a favorable sleeping environment by removing stimulants from your bedroom such as extra lighting or a television. If you still cannot find relief, it may be time to visit your physician for help. A sleep study will be done that can help to determine the cause of the sleeplessness and possible solutions.
Mark Twain has been called the inventor of the American novel.And he surely deserves additional praise：the man who popularized the clever literary attack on racism.
I say clever because antislavery fiction had been the important part of the literature in the years before the Civil War.H.B.Stowe's Uncle Tom's Cabin is only the most famous example.These early stories dealt directly with slavery.With minor exceptions，Twain planted his attacks on slavery and prejudice into tales that were on the surface about something else entirely.He drew his readers into the argument by drawing them into the story.
Again and again，in the postwar years，Twain seemed forced to deal with the challenge of race.Consider the most controversial，at least today，of Twain's novels，Adventures of Huckleberry Finn.Only a few books have been kicked off the shelves as often as Huckleberry Finn，Twain's most widely read tale.Once upon a time，people hated the book because it struck them as rude.Twain himself wrote that those who banned the book considered the novel “trash and suitable only for the slums(贫民窟)．”More recently the book has been attacked because of the character Jim，the escaped slave，and many occurences of the word nigger.(The term Nigger Jim，for which the novel is often severely criticized，never appears in it.)
But the attacks were and are silly—and miss the point.The novel is strongly antislavery.Jim's search through the slave states for the family from whom he has been forcibly parted is heroic.As J．Chadwick has pointed out，the character of Jim was a first in American fiction—a recognition that the slave had two personalities，“the voice of survival within a white slave culture and the voice of the individual：Jim，the father and the man.”
There is much more.Twain's mystery novel Pudd'nhead Wilson stood as a challenge to the racial beliefs of even many of the liberals of his day.Written at a time when the accepted wisdom held Negroes to be inferior(低等的)to whites，especially in intelligence，Twain's tale centered in part around two babies switched at birth.A slave gave birth to her master's baby and，for fear that the child should be sold South，switched him for the master's baby by his wife.The slave's lightskinned child was taken to be white and grew up with both the attitudes and the education of the slaveholding class.The master's wife's baby was taken for black and grew up with the attitudes and intonations of the slave.
The point was difficult to miss：nurture(养育)，not nature，was the key to social status.The features of the black man that provided the stuff of prejudice—manner of speech，for example—were，to Twain，indicative of nothing other than the conditioning that slavery forced on its victims.
Twain's racial tone was not perfect.One is left uneasy，for example，by the lengthy passage in his autobiography(自传)about how much he loved what were called“nigger shows”in his youth—mostly with white men performing in blackface—and his delight in getting his mother to laugh at them.Yet there is no reason to think Twain saw the shows as representing reality.His frequent attacks on slavery and prejudice suggest his keen awareness that they did not.
Was Twain a racist？Asking the question in the 21st century is as wise as asking the same of Lincoln.If we read the words and attitudes of the past through the“wisdom”of the considered moral judgments of the present，we will find nothing but error.Lincoln，who believed the black man the inferior of the white，fought and won a war to free him.And Twain，raised in a slave state，briefly a soldier，and inventor of Jim，may have done more to anger the nation over racial injustice and awaken its collective conscience than any other novelist in the past century.How do Twain's novels on slavery differ from Stowe's?
| A．Twain was more willng to deal with racism. |
| B．Twain's attack on racism was much less open. |
| C．Twain's themes seemed to agree with plots. |
| D．Twain was openly concerned with racism. |
Recent criticism of Adventures of Huckleberry Finn arose partly from its________.
| A．target readers at the bottom |
| B．antislavery attitude |
| C．rather impolite language |
| D．frequent use of “nigger” |
What best proves Twain's antislavery stand according to the author?
| A．Jim's search for his family was described in detail. |
| B．The slave's voice was first heard in American novels. |
| C．Jim grew up into a man and a father in the white culture. |
| D．Twain suspected that the slaves were less intelligent. |
The story of two babies switched mainly indicates that________.
| A．slaves were forced to give up their babies to their masters |
| B．slaves' babies could pick up slaveholders' way of speaking |
| C．blacks' social position was shaped by how they were brought up |
| D．blacks were born with certain features of prejudice |
What does the underlined word “they” in Paragraph 7 refer to?
| A．The attacks. | B．Slavery and prejudice. |
| C．White men. | D．The shows. |
What does the author mainly argue for?
| A．Twain had done more than his contemporary writers to attack racism. |
| B．Twain was an admirable figure comparable to Abraham Lincoln. |
| C．Twain's works had been banned on unreasonable grounds. |
| D．Twain's works should be read from a historical point of view. |
If cars had wings，they could fly and that just might happen，beginning in 2012.The company Terrafugia，based in Woburn，Massachusetts，says it plans to deliver its carplane，the Transition，to customers by the end of 2012.
“It's the next ‘wow’ vehicle，” said Terrafugia，vice president Richard Gersh.“Anybody can buy a Ferrari，but as we say，Ferraris don't fly.”
The carplane has wings that unfold for flying—a process the company says takes one minute—and fold back up for driving.A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies，although it is both.The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations，and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly.They say it saves you the trouble of trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports：you drive the car to the airport and then you're good to go.When you land，you fold up the wings and hit the road.There are no expensive parking fees because you don't have to store it at an airport—you park it in the garage at home.
The carplane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet.It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds，including fuel and passengers.Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying into marginal(边缘的) conditions.
The Transition's price tag：$194,000.But there may be additional charges for options like a radio，transponder or GPS.Another option is a fullplane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation，it is the necessary safety option，”Gersh said.
So far，the company has more than 70 orders with deposits.“We're working very closely with them，but there are still some remaining steps，” Brown said.We can learn from the first paragraph that ________.
| A．carplanes will be popular in 2012 |
| B．people might drive a carplane in 2012 |
| C．both the Transition and the Ferrari can take off and land |
| D．Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts |
It takes the carplane one minute to ________.
| A．fold and unfold its wings |
| B．unfold wings for flying |
| C．land in the airport |
| D．meet flying safety regulations |
According to the passage，which of the following is NOT true?
A．The carplane needs a runway to take off and land.
B．To meet aircraft regulations，the company has been working with FAA.
C．The carplane may fly as high as normal planes.
D．People can park the carplane in the garage at their home.The underlined word “it” in the last but one paragraph refers to ________.
| A．the radio |
| B．the transponder |
| C．the GPS |
| D．the fullplane parachute |
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