In the future your automobile（汽车） will run on water instead of gas! You will be able to buy a supercomputer that fits in your pocket! You might even drive a flying car!
For each prediction that has come true today, several others have missed by a mile. Many of these predictions didn’t consider how people would want to use the technology, or if people really needed it in their lives or not. Let’s look at some predictions from the not-too-distant past.
Robot Helpers
Where’s the robot in my kitchen? Nowhere, of course. And he’s probably not coming anytime soon. Robots do exist today, but mostly in factories and other manufacturing environments.
Back in the 1950s, however, people said that by now personal robots would be in most people’s homes.
So why hasn’t it happened? Probably because robots are still too expensive and clumsy. And maybe the idea of robots cooking our dinners and washing our clothes is just too weird. At home we seem to be doing fine without them.
Telephones of Tomorrow
In 1964 an American company introduced the video telephone. They said by the year 2000 most people would have a video phone in their homes. But of course the idea hasn’t caught on yet.
Why? The technol
ogy worked fine, but it over—looked something obvious: people’s desire for privacy（隐私）. Would you want to have a video phone conversation with someone after you just step out of the shower（淋浴）? Probably not---it could be embarrassing! Just because a technology available doesn’t always mean people will want to use it.
And finally, how about that crazy pre
diction of the flying car? It’s not so crazy anymore! But a flying car remains one of the most fascinating technology ideas to capture our imagination. Keep watching the news, or perhaps the sky outside your window, to see what the future will bring.
The whole passage is mainly about ________________.
| A．predictions that have come true. | B．predictions that haven’t come true. |
| C．why predictions don’t come true easily. | D．what technology will bring about. |
The author of this passage won’t believe that _________________.
| A．predictions needn’t consider people’s practical use of technology. |
| B．the future isn’t always easy to guess. |
| C．not all past predictions have come true. |
| D．many of the high—tech things our parents thought we’d be using by now |
simply never appeared.
The underlined word “weird” probably means __________.
| A．wonderful | B．stupid | C．practical | D．strange |
What does the author think of the flying car?
| A．It is too difficult to imagine. | B．It is too crazy an idea. |
| C．It is likely to be made. | D．It is often reported in the news. |
There was once, in a little market-town not far from Upsala (瑞典一城市), a peasant who lived there with his family, digging the earth during the week and singing in the choir on Sundays. This peasant had a little daughter to whom he taught the musical alphabet before she knew how to read. Daae was a great musician, perhaps without knowing it. Not a violinist in Scandinavia played as he did. His reputation was widespread and he was always invited to set the couples dancing at weddings and other festivals. His wife died when Christine was entering upon her sixth year. Then the father, who cared only for his daughter and his music, sold his land and went to Upsala in search of fame and fortune. He found nothing but poverty.
He returned to the country, wandering from fair to fair, playing his Scandinavian music pieces, while his child, who never left his side, listened to him in delight or sang to his playing. One day, at Ljimby Fair, Professor Valerius heard them and took them to Gothenburg. He insisted that the father was the first violinist in the world and that the daughter had the making of a great artist. Her education and instruction were provided for. She made rapid progress and charmed everybody with her prettiness, her grace of manner and her real eagerness to please.
When Valerius and his wife went to settle in France, they took Daae and Christine with them. "Mamma" Valerius treated Christine as her daughter. As for Daae, he became ill with homesickness. He never went out of doors in Paris, but lived in a sort of dream which he kept up with his violin. For hours at a time, he remained locked up in his bedroom with his daughter, playing and singing, very, very softly.
Daae seemed not to recover his strength until the summer, when the whole family went to stay at Perros-Guirec, in a far-away corner of Brittany, where the sea was of the same color as in his own country. Often he would play his saddest tunes on the beach and pretend that the sea stopped its roaring to listen to them. And then he persuaded Mamma Valerius to allow him to leave for a while. At the time of the "pardons," the village festivals and dances, he went off with his violin, as in the old days, and was allowed to take his daughter with him for a week. They gave the smallest villages music to last them for a year and slept at night in a barn, refusing a bed at the inn, lying close together on the straw, as when they were so poor in Sweden. At the same time, they were very neatly dressed, refused the halfpence offered to them; and the people around could not understand the behaviour of this country violinist, who walked heavily on the roads with that pretty child who sang like an angel from Heaven. They followed them from village to village. When he was in the countryside, Daae did NOT __________.
| A．work on his land | B．sing in the choir on Sundays |
| C．make a fortune at weddings and festivals | D．teach his daughter how to sing |
The 3rd sentence “He insisted …” in the 2nd paragraph showed Professor Valerius’ ______.
| A．hope for Daae and Christine | B．appreciation of Daae and Christine |
| C．sympathy for Daae and Christine | D．love for Daae and Christine |
While Daae was in Paris, he never went out of doors because he was ________.
| A．always sleepy | B．so homesick that he fell ill |
| C．too busy teaching his daughter | D．willing to be locked up with his daughter |
What made people curious about the father and daughter was that _______.
| A．the father made very good music |
| B．the daughter sang like an angel from Heaven |
| C．the father walked strangely with his daughter |
| D．they appeared to be badly off but refused money offered |
Do you remember the game “Telephone”? A message gets passed from person to person, and everyone laughs at how distorted(曲解) it becomes. As a game, telephone can be fun. In real life, sending messages through third parties fouls things up. It is important for family members who have “business” with other family members to take it up directly.
When tension arises in a relationship between two people, a frequent way of dealing with this is to send messages through a third person. Family doctors refer to the process as ‘triangulation”. Following a quarrel, a mother may say to her son, “Tell your father to pass the salt”, which may be answered by, “Tell your mother to get her own salt.” In many long cases of triangulation, the middleman becomes severely disturbed.
Two years ago, Ruth and Ralph Gordon brought their 17-year-old daughter for treatment. Lucille was not doing well in school, using drugs heavily. When I began to work with her, she was uncommunicative and aggressive. After some time, however, she opened up and told me her parents rarely talked to each other, but both used her as a middleman. Mrs. Gordon was sexually unsatisfied and suggested to Lucille that she ask her father to go for marriage advice. Mr. Gordon told Lucille that he was seeing another woman, and he urged Lucille to speak to her mother about improving her behaviour. Caught in this confusing situation, Lucille became more and more troubled. It wasn’t until she refused to play middleman that she began to improve. When either parent began to send a message through her, she learned to say, “Tell him/her yourself!”
You’ll find that when family members learn to dial each other directly, there’s rarely a busy signal or wrong number. With direct dialing, a sense of freshness is created. The underlined words “foul things up” in the 1st paragraph means ________.
| A．create things | B．improve things | C．remove things | D．ruin things |
“Triangulation” in the 2nd paragraph refers to _________.
| A．the process of sending messages through a 3rd person |
| B．the middleman who becomes severely disturbed |
| C．the tension in a relationship between 2 people |
| D．the argument between a mother and a father |
Through the example of Lucille and her parents, the writer hopes to tell the readers that _______.
| A．family members should learn to get their messages across directly |
| B．parents should send their children taking drugs for treatment |
| C．children can hardly get used to their parents’ troubles |
| D．children should refuse the requests of their parents |
Qian Xuesen is one of the pioneers of China’s space science. As a world-famous expert on aerospace rockets and aerodynamics, he obtained great achievements in the areas of applied mechanics, engineering cybernetics and system engineering and made distinguished contributions to the foundation and development of Chinese aerospace undertaking(事业).
He graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1934, and Qian Xuesen went to the United States to study in MIT, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, one year later. After receiving master’s degree in MIT, he went to study in California Institute of Technology and received PhD degrees in both aerospace and mathematics.
In 1955, six years after the founding of People’s Republic of China, Qian Xuesen returned to his motherland. His return brought China the hope of developing space science and its own missiles. In 1956, Qian Xuesen put forward “Proposal on the Development of China’s Aviation Industry for National Defense”. With the support from Zhou Enlai, the premier, and marshal Nie Rongzheng, Qian Xuesen began to prepare for the establishment of China’s first missile and rocket research and development structure, the Fifth Research Institute of State Ministry of Defense. Henceforth(从此以后), he has long been in charge of the chief technological research and development of China’s missile, rocket and spacecraft.
Due to research and development led by Qian Xuesen, China successfully exploded its first atom bomb in 1964. Later, China launched its first man-made satellite, Dong Fang Hong I, to the earth orbit on April 24, 1970, becoming the fifth country in the world to independently launch satellite following the former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USA, France and Japan. The satellite floated around the earth, blaring(高声播放)the song Dong Fang Hong, which has the same name as the satellite.
As a forerunner leading the development of China’s aerospace science and technology, Qian Xuesen also provided chances for young scientists. Wang Yongzhi, former chief designer of China’s manned-space project, has benefited a lot from Qian Xuesen. “He suggested that rocket of the second generation should be developed by our second generation scientists. This suggestion gave us chances to be general designers.” Recalling the experience working with Qian Xuesen, Sun Jiadong, general designer of China’s lunar orbiter project, is very grateful. “He put great expectation on us and trusted us a lot. Whenever we made mistakes, he seldom blamed us, but helped us to find out the reason so we could avoid it in the future.”
Honored as Father of China’s Missile and King of Rockets, Qian Xuesen never stopped his work on scientific research after he retired. He said he had no time to review the past, but looked forward to the future.When did Qian xuesen begin to study in Massachusetts Institute of Technology?
| A．In 1955. | B．In 1935. | C．In 1936. | D．In 1934. |
Which of the following is about the five countries that launched man-made satellite independently before 1970?
| A．The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the UK, France, China and Japan. |
| B．The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, the USA, Japan, Canada and China. |
| C．America, France, Japan, China and Australia. |
| D．The former Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, America, France, Japan and China. |
What does the underlined word “forerunner”(Paragraph 5) probably mean?
| A．A leader. | |
| B．A competitor. | C．A pioneer. |
| D．A successful scientist. |
According to the passage, which of the following about Qian Xuesen is NOT true?
| A．In 1956, he made good preparations for the Fifth Research Institute of State Ministry of Defence. |
| B．He made outstanding contributions to the establishment and development of Chinese aerospace undertaking. |
| C．He returned to China, bringing China the hope of developing space science and its own missiles. |
| D．He devoted all his life to China’s space science. |
It can be inferred from Paragraph 5 that _________.
| A．Qian Xuesen is very concerned about the development of young scientists |
| B．The help of Qian Xuesen is beneficial to young scientists |
| C．Qian Xuesen gives many opportunities to general designers |
| D．When the chief designers do something wrong, Qian Xuesen helps them find out the cause |
Many college-bound freshmen are worrying about more than just who their roommates will be this fall. They may also be nervous about the well-known fact that they are likely to gain weight this school year. Or will they? While many of us remember the extra weight that showed up right around the start of our college careers, we are not always clear on how much weight we realize gained or why.
Many nutrition experts and psychologists think that it is the change in environment and the stress of a new beginning that cause the typical college freshmen to gain extra pounds. As students start a new stage of their lives, many eat to deal with the stress of change or loneliness. Often, college students are making meals or choosing foods independently for the first time in their lives. If they live in the college dormitory, they have a wide variety of foods to select from that may be higher in calories and fatter than the foods they consumed living at home. In addition, college social events usually center around food. I clearly remember sitting in my dorm cafeteria for two or three hours on a Saturday morning socializing with my new friends. Instead of eating only one meal, we would start with breakfast, eat throughout the duration of our socializing, and finish with lunch. Food also makes an appearance after late-night parties, as part of a school day, or simply to break the monotony(单调 ).
So will this year’s typical freshmen really gain 15 pounds? According to a 2006 Tufts University study, students enrolling in college this fall will gain weight, but maybe not the assumed 15 pounds. Based on the students surveyed, the study found that men can expect to gain an average of 6 pounds and women an average of 4.5 pounds during the freshman year.According to the passage, it is obvious that __________.
| A．the foods the freshmen had at home may be healthier than those in the dorm cafeteria |
| B．to break the monotony, the students should start with breakfast, and finish with lunch |
| C．the students should eat to deal with the stress of change or loneliness in new situations |
| D．the boys may gain less pounds than the girls during the first year in the college |
Nutrition experts and psychologists think that __________.
| A．students should get used to the stress of change through foods they had at home |
| B．the new environment and the stress have something to do with the students’ extra pounds |
| C．students should know in what way they gain so much weight |
| D．choosing foods independently can make people lose weight naturally |
From the writer’s experience, the writer thinks that ____________.
| A．foods in the dorm cafeteria are all higher in calories and fatter |
| B．the best way to break the monotony is through breakfast, lunch and supper |
| C．students in college will gain an average of about 5.25 pounds every fall |
| D．social events in the college are usually celebrated around food |
This passage is mainly about ______________.
A how and why the freshmen gain extra pounds
B. the experience of the freshmen in the college
C. the freshmen with trouble in a new environment
D. the views of the nutrition experts and psychologists about gaining weight
BRITAIN is a popular tourist place. But tours of the country have pros and cons.
Good news
Free museums: No charge for outstanding collections of art and antiquities(古董).
Pop music: Britain is the only country to rival (与……比敌)the US on this score.
Black cabs: London taxi drivers know where they are going even if there are never enough of them at weekends or night.
Choice of food: Visitors can find everything from Ethiopian to Swedish restaurants.
Fashion: Not only do fashion junkies love deeply and respect highly brand names such as Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen; street styles are justly loved, too.
Bad news
Poor service: “It’s part of the image of the place. People can dine out on the rudeness they have experienced,” says Professor Tony Seaton of Luton University’s International Tourism Research Center.
Poor public transport: Trains and buses are promised to defeat the keenest tourists, although the over-crowded London tube is inexplicably(不可解的) popular.
Lack of language: Speaking slowly and clearly may not get many foreign visitors very far, even in the tourist traps.
Rain: Still in the number one complaint.
No air-conditioning: So that even splendidly hot summer become as unbearable as the downpours.
Overpriced hotels: The only European country with a higher rate of tax on hotel rooms is Denmark.
Licensing hours: Alcohol is in short supply after 11 p.m. even in 24-hour cities.What do tourists complain most?
| A．Poor service. |
| B．Poor public transport. |
| C．Rain. |
| D．Overpriced hotels. |
What do we learn about pop music in Britain and the US through this passage?
| A．Pop music in Britain is better than that in the US. |
| B．Pop music in Britain is as good as that in the US. |
| C．Pop music in Britain is worse than that in the US. |
| D．Pop music in Britain is quite different from that in the US. |
When is alcohol not able to get?
| A．At 9:00p.m. | B．At 10:00p.m. | C．At 11:00p.m. | D．At 12:00p.m. |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．You have to pay to visit the museums. | B．It’s very cheap to travel by taxi there. |
| C．You cannot find Chinese food there. | D．The public transport is poor there. |
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