Life gets noisier every day and very few people can be free from noise of some sort or another. It doesn't matter where you live---in the middle of a modern city or a faraway village---the chances are that you’ll be disturbed by jet planes, transistor radios, oil-powered engines, etc. We seem to be getting used to noise, too. Some people feel quite lonely without background music while they’re working.
Scientific tests have shown that total silence can be a very frightening experience for a human being. However, some people enjoy listening to pop music which is very loud, and this can do harm to their eardrums(耳鼓). The noise level in some discos is far above the usual safety level for heavy industrial areas.
One recent report about noise and concentration suggested that although a lot of people say that any noise disturbs their concentration, what really influences their ability to concentrate is a change in the level of noise. It goes on to say that a background noise which doesn't change too much (music, for example) may even help people to concentrate..
According to this passage, the noise pollution______.
| A．has become the worst in the countryside |
| B．has become better in big cities |
C．has spread from cities to villages |
| D．has been controlled in modern cities |
.
What does background music refer to?
| A．Music played while people are working. |
| B．Music played in the backyard. |
| C．Noise that continues while you’re listening to other noises. |
| D．Music used to help people to concentrate. |
.
. Some people have their hearing harmed______.
| A．while listening to pop music | B．in complete silence |
| C．when speaking loudly | D．while watching TV |
Signs in Chinese will be set up in public areas such as airports, to benefit Chinese travelers, the Italian Government announced in late February. Now many European countries are expected to follow this example.
Despite the different languages, travel across Europe has never been so simple. Just five years ago, if you wanted to visit Germany in the north and Spain in the south in one trip, you had to wait for weeks to apply for different visas from the two countries. You also needed a calculator because both countries had different money.
Today, with a Schengen Visa issued by any member country, you can travel across 15 European countries without stopping. Since 2002, within most of the EU, there is now just one type of money called the Euro. The Euro was designed to be the only money in the EU, and already makes it easier to shop around. If you drive, your driving license and car insurance policy are valid（有效的）in the other European countries. And you can use your mobile phone everywhere.
All the countries in the continent are melting into a united Europe under the EU. For Europeans and visitors, the result is that it is more convenient to travel back and forth between the different countries. By saying the underlined sentence “Now many European countries are expected to follow this example”, the writer means that ____.
| A．more signs will be set up in Chinese in European countries |
| B．more and more Europeans have a desire to know more about China |
| C．more and more Chinese people will go to travel across Europe |
| D．Chinese is now an important language in Europe |
Compared to five years ago, traveling in Europe has become easier because ___.
| A．you needn’t drive a car |
| B．you can use a calculator to exchange money |
| C．applying for different visas is much simpler |
| D．one visa is good enough for traveling in a number of countries |
It can be inferred from the passage that _____.
| A．an increasing number of Chinese tend to travel to Europe |
| B．Chinese has become an important language in Europe |
| C．the Euro is the only money used in the EU now |
| D．it is always necessary to unite many countries into one |
My father and I were very close. I loved pleasing him, and he was always proud of my success. If I won a spelling contest(竞赛) at school, he was on top of the world. Later in life whenever I got a promotion(提升), I'd call my father right away and he'd rush out to tell all his friends. In 1970,when I was named president of the Ford Motor Company, I don't know which of us was more excited.
Like many native Italians, my parents were very open with their feelings and their loves not only at home, but also in public. Most of my friends would never hug(拥抱) their fathers. But I hugged and kissed my dad at every opportunity for nothing could have felt more natural.
He was a curious man who was always trying new things. He was the first person in Allentown to buy a motorcycle. Unfortunately, my father and his motorcycle didn't get along too well. He fell off it so often that he got rid of it just a month after buying it. As a result, he never again trusted any vehicle with less than four wheels.
Because of that motorcycle, I wasn't allowed to have a bicycle when I was growing up. Whenever I wanted to ride a bike, I had to borrow one from a friend. On the other hand, my father let me drive a car as soon as I turned sixteen. I hugged and kissed my father at every opportunity,______.
| A．even though I hated to do so |
| B．because I was told to do so by my mother |
| C．as I was named president of the Ford Motor company |
| D．for I felt it quite natural to do so |
My father trusted no vehicle with less than four wheels because _____.
| A．he did not like the way I always borrowed bicycles from friends |
| B．he thought that cars were faster than motorcycles |
| C．he liked every new model made by the Ford Motor company |
| D．he had trouble in riding his motorcycle |
Which of the following statements shows that my father was a curious man?
| A．I wasn't allowed to have a car when I was growing up. |
| B．He was the first person in town to buy a motorcycle. |
| C．He was always proud of my success. |
| D．He was very open with his feelings and his love. |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．My father loved his motorcycle. He rode through the dirty streets of Allentown every day. |
| B．I was not allowed to have a bicycle when I was growing up, but when I was just 16 I was allowed to drive a car. |
| C．My father was always proud of what I did. He was very pleased when I won a spelling contest at school. |
| D．My father bought a motorcycle, but got rid of it because he fell off it so often. |
What is the difference between a college and a university? This is a good question for students who want to attend a college or a university in the United States.
Colleges and universities have many things in common. Both provide a greater understanding of the world and its past. Both provide education in the arts and sciences. And both can help prepare young people to earn a living.
Students who complete their undergraduate studies either at a four-year college or a university receive a bachelor’s degree. One difference is that many colleges do not offer graduate studies.
Universities are generally bigger, offer more programs and do more research. Modern universities developed from those of the Middle Ages in Europe. The word “university” comes from the Latin “universitas”. This described a group of people organized for a common purpose. The word “college” comes from a Latin word with a similar meaning, “collegium”. In England, colleges were formed to provide students with places to live in. Usually each group of students was studying the same thing. So college came to mean an area of study. But a college can also be a part of a university. The first American universities divided their studies into a number of areas and called each one a college. This is still true.
Programs in higher learning may also be called schools. The University of Arizona in Tucson, for example, has 18 colleges and 10 schools. They include the colleges of pharmacy (制药学), education, engineering and law. They also include the schools of architecture, dance and public administration.
College is also used as a general term for higher education. A news report might talk about “college students” even if they include students at universities. Or someone might ask, “Where do you go to college?”
Today, most American colleges offer an area of study called liberal arts. These are subjects first developed and taught in ancient Greece. They include language, philosophy and mathematics. The purpose is to train a person’s mind instead of teaching job skills. The passage is probably written to _________.
| A．persuade students to go to college instead of schools |
| B．tell students the differences between colleges and universities |
| C．help students make a better choice of what kind of colleges they should go to |
| D．inform students about how much they are going to spend in going to college |
When the term “college students” appears in a newspaper, it may refer to ________.
| A．only students studying in colleges |
| B．students studying in colleges in the USA |
| C．only students studying in universities |
| D．students receiving higher education |
What can we learn from the passage?
| A．Both universities and colleges include different schools. |
| B．The purpose of liberal arts is to train a person’s job skill. |
| C．Both universities and colleges can help prepare students to make a living. |
| D．Most American universities have 18 colleges and 10 schools. |
The area of study called liberal arts is designed to _______.
| A．get students ready to earn a living |
| B．teach students subjects from engineering to philosophy |
| C．help students achieve a stronger and clearer mind |
| D．encourage more students to begin the study of arts |
Have you thanked your grandma today? You might want to consider it. A recent study found that kids live longer when a grandmother takes part in their daily lives.
Most animals die soon after their childbearing years are over. Women, however, often live for many years after they stop having kids.
To try to understand why, researchers from Finland looked at birth and death records of two communities from the 18th and 19th centuries, one in Finland and one in Canada. In these communities, 537 Finnish women and 3,290 Canadian women were grandmothers who had lived past the age of 50.
For every decade they lived beyond 50, the researchers found that the women ended up with an average of two extra grandkids. It didn’t matter what the differences in health or living conditions were between the two communities or from family to family.
Grandchildren were also more likely to live into adulthood if their grandmothers were alive when they were born. If their grandmothers were younger than 60 at the time, that was even better. The study also found that women had children 2 to 3 years earlier if their own mothers were still alive at that time than those whose mothers had died.
The researchers suggested that grandmothers have provided important assistance in raising their grandchildren for at least the past 200,000 years. As a result, they helped extend everyone’s lifespan.
So, don’t take your grandma for granted!How many women in the survey in the two communities were grandmothers who had lived past the age of 50?
| A．537. | B．3,290. | C．3,827. | D．2,753. |
According to the passage, what influence did it have on a woman if her mother was still alive?
| A．She was also more likely to live into adulthood. |
| B．She had children 2 to 3 years earlier. |
| C．She ended up with an average of two extra grandkids. |
| D．It had no influence on her. |
How did grandmothers help extend everyone’s lifespan?
| A．They provided them with better living conditions. |
| B．They provided assistance in raising their grandchildren. |
| C．They helped with housework. |
| D．They made everyone happy. |
According to the passage, we don’t know that _______.
| A．kids live longer when grandmothers take part in their daily lives |
| B．most animals die soon after their childbearing years are over |
| C．women often live for many years after they stop having kids |
| D．grandchildren are less likely to live into adulthood if their grandmothers are alive |
American women experience a great variety of lifestyle. A typical American woman may be single. She may also be divorced or married. She may be a homemaker, a doctor or a factory worker. It is very difficult to generalize about American women. However, one thing that many American women have in common is their attitudes about themselves and their roles in American life.
Historically, American women have always been very independent. The first settlers to come to New England were ten young couples that had left behind their extended families. The women were alone in a new, undeveloped country with their husbands. This has two important effects. First of all, this was the uncivilized environment that demanded every person to share in developing it and in survival. Women worked with their husbands and children to make themselves accepted in this new land. Second, because they were in a new land without the established influence of older members of society, women felt free to step into non—traditional roles.
This role of women was strengthened in later years as Americans move west again, leaving families behind and meeting a new environment. Even later, in the east, as new settlers arrived, women often found jobs more easily than men. Women became the supporters of the family.
Within the established lifestyle of the industrialized twentieth century, the strong role of women was not attractive as in the early days of the country. Some women stepped into the men’s jobs as factory and business workers. After the war, some women stayed in these positions, and others left their jobs with a new sense of ability.A typical American woman is______________.
| A．single or married | B． divorced |
| C．sure about herself and her role | D． all of the above |
During the industrialized twentieth century, the role of women__________.
| A．was found out |
| B．was as important as before. |
| C．declined |
| D．was stronger than that of the early days |
Women took part in men’s job during the time of_________.
| A．the Second World War |
| B． the Westward Movement |
| C． the early immigration |
| D． the industrialized twentieth century. |
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