Death Valley is the lowest, hottest, driest area in North America. This California National Park has less than 5 cm of rainfall a year and temperature up to 53℃ in summer. That’s enough to keep Americans away during the hottest months from June to August. But it is the high temperature and terrible heat that draw their most crazy fans, the foreign tourists. From all over the world, they come to the valley floor in cars, carrying maps and water bottles, and fanning themselves with newspapers to keep cool.
About 1.3 million visitors enter the park each year, from June through August. 90% of them are foreigners. They go there to experience the summer heat that gives Death Valley its name. The average high in July is 53.2 ℃ and the low 30 ℃. For August, the average high is 52.2 ℃ and the low 29.4 ℃.
So what do Americans think of the foreign visitors who arrive for the heat, just when locals from the United States try to avoid it? Park manager Brenda Henson says, “ The foreigners want to experience the heat in Death Valley. We think it’s crazy.”
In fact, Death Valley is a series of salt flats (盐滩) 225 km long and 6 km to 26 km wide. Birds and animals are largely absent, and only the hardiest plants have some chance of existence in this extreme place.
One tourist from Paris concluded, “ We come to it because we can tell all our friends and family that we’ve been to the hottest place in the world.”The real attraction of Death Valley for foreigners is that _____.
| A．summer heat keeps Americans away |
| B．experiencing the heat in it is cool |
| C．it is a series of salt flats |
| D．it is a famous place in the world. |
What does the underlined word “ hardiest” in Paragraph 4 mean?
| A．Most difficult. | B．Most energetic. | C．Strongest. | D．Best. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．The hottest time in Death Valley is from June to August. |
| B．Not all the visitors to Death Valley are foreigners. |
| C．The lowest temperature in Death Valley is 29.4 ℃. |
| D．Death Valley is made up of salt flats. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Crazy Fans of Death Valley. |
| B．Importance of Death Valley. |
| C．Beauty of California National Park. |
| D．The Best Tourist Attraction in North America. |
The disaster at the Chernobyl(former USSR前苏联) power station happened quickly and without warning. It was in the early hours of April 26, 1986 when the cooling system of the reactor(反应堆) failed. Minutes later, a violent (猛烈地) explosion blew the top off the reactor and blasted(爆炸生成) a huge cloud of radioactive gas high into atmosphere. Two people were killed imm
ediately. Hundreds received powerful radiation overdose (过量). And more than 25,000 had to b
e taken away from their homes.
Days later, the radioactive cloud had spread as far as Scotland. Its radiation was weak, but all over Europe radioactive rain was falling. In some areas people were advised not to eat fresh vegetables, or drink fresh milk, and the sale of meat was forbidden.
The accident at Chernobyl was the world’s worst nuclear accident. In Britain, it convinced (使……相信) many people that all nuclear power stations should be shut down for good. But the Central Electricity Generating Board didn’t agree. They claimed that ·similar disasters could not happen in Britain because of safer designs, fewer deaths are caused using nuclear fuel (燃料) than by mining for coal or drilling for oil and gas. Nuclear accidents are unusually fewer compared with other types of accidents-such as air crashes, fires or dam break-down more nuclear power stations are necessary because the world’s
supplies of oil, coal and natural gas are running out.
In 1957 in Cumbria (Britain) a nuclear reactor overheated and caught fire. No one was killed but fourteen workers received radiation overdose. Small amounts of gas and dust were let out over the local countryside.
An official report said the accident was nearly a full-scale disaster. The Nuclear Authority wanted the report published but the Prime Minister at the time refused. He thought that it would make people less confident in Britain’s nuclear industry. Thirty years later, the cabinet(内阁) records of 1957 were published. Only then did the public discover what had really happened in Cumbria.. One result of the Chernobyl nuclear disaster was that ______.
| A．25,000 people were killed |
| B．fresh foods were polluted |
| C．people in Scotland were taken away from their homes |
| D．hundreds of houses in Chernobyl were destroyed |
.According to the passage, nuclear accidents______.
| A．are most unlikely to cause death | B．are always kept secret from the public |
| C．can only happen in underdeveloped countries | D．may happen in any country that has nuclear power station. |
. After the nuclear accident at Chernobyl many people in Britain _______.
| A．still believed it could not happen in their country. |
| B．were not convinced that nuclear power stations could be safe |
| C．accepted that there would be fewer deaths than in drilling for oil |
| D．supported nuclear power stations because world fuel supplies were low |
.. The British Government refused to publish the report on the Cumbria accident because _______.
| A．Britain’s supplies of oil, coal and gas were running out |
| B．it takes thirty years for the effects of radiation to appear |
| C．fewer people died in that accident than in other types of accidents |
D．it was conce rned that the British people would doubt their country’s nuclear expertise (核技术) |
A Battery’s Worst Nightmare(噩梦)
Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life!When the fuel runs out in your laptop or mobile phone, you just fill
up and go.
The engine, about the size of a ten-cent coin, starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen (氢). Its tiny parts are etched onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are imprinted onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.
But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency(效率). Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like their scaled-up parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down th
e work, according to Columbia University professor Luc Frechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.
The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that
will operate 10 times better than batteries do. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t available until at least the end of the next ten years. .
. According to the passage, the title suggests that ________.
| A．batteries should be greatly improved | B．petrol will be used instead of batteries |
| C．the time of batteries will be gone forever | D．pollution caused by batteries must be prevented |
.
What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” (In Paragraph 3)?
| A．Problem. | B．Advantage. | C．Invention. | D．Technique. |
.
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The new invention doesn’t need any fuel. |
| B．The new engine has been produced in quantity. |
| C．The new invention is much cheaper than the battery. |
| D．The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale. |
.
. What is the main purpose of this passage?
| A．To introduce a new invention to readers. | B．To persuade readers not to use batteries. |
| C．To show us how the new invention works. | D．To declare when the engine will be on sale. |
Of all the areas of learning the most important is the development of attitudes. Emotional reactions as well as logical thought processes affect the behavior of most people. “The burnt child fears the fire” is one example. Another is the rise of despots(独裁者) like Hitler. Both these examples also point out the fact that attitudes come from experiences. In the one case the experience was direct and impressive; in the other it was indirect and cumulative(累积的). The Nazis got certain ideas largely by the speeches they heard and the books they read.
The classroom teacher in the elementary school is in a key position to influence(影响) attitudes. This is true partly because children obtain attitudes from those adults who they respect.
Another reason is that pupils are often curious about a subject in school that has only been touched upon at home or has possibly never occurred to them before. To a child who has previously got little knowledge of Mexico, his teacher’s method of dealing with such a unit will greatly affect his attitude toward Mexicans.
However, when children go to school with undesirable attitudes, it is unwise for the teacher to change their feelings by praising or scolding them. She can achieve the proper effect by helping them obtain good experiences.
For example, first-grade pupils afraid of policemen will probably change their attitudes after a classroom 
chat with the neighborhood officer in which he explains how he protects them. In the same way a class of older children can develop attitudes through discussio
n, research outside reading and all-day trips.
Finally a teacher must not constantly show her own attitudes because her influence can be no good if she has personal prejudices(偏见). This is especially true in respect to controversial(引起争议的) questions on which children should be encouraged to reach their own decision as a result of objective analysis(分析) of all the facts.. The passage mainly tells us _____.
| A．attitudes affect our actions |
B．teachers play an important role in develop ing children’s attitudes |
| C．attitudes can be changed by some classroom experiences |
| D．teachers gradually affect pupils’ attitudes by their attitudes |
. In the first paragraph the writer gives us two examples to _____.
| A．show that attitudes come from experiences | B．compare with each other |
| C．show all experiences are direct and impressive | D．tell experiences from attitudes |
.When children in school have unpleasant attitudes, teachers should _____.
| A．change their feelings by scolding them | B．think highly of their good attitudes |
| C．help them by giving them good experiences | D．take no notice of their feelings |
.The passage specially states in the last paragraph that _____.
| A．direct experiences are more valuable than indirect ones |
| B．what a child learns in school has already been introduced at home |
| C．teachers can sometimes have a bad influence on children |
| D．teachers should always cover up their own attitudes |
Most of us use the telephone several times a day to talk with friends or make social arrangements(安排). These calls are usually quite easy and require little planning.
Using the telephone for business purpose is different. In any organization the person on the telephone represents the company and gives an impression of the firm to the outside world.
If you want to ensure good public relations, you need to master effective telephone techniques.
You should try to give an impression of an efficient, friendly, progressive company eager to give good service.
Before calling
Choose the right time. Consider the cost, urgency and convenience. When calling overseas, you need to consider the time difference.
Check the number. A great deal of money is wasted each year on dialing wrong numbers.
Plan your call. Make a list of points and questions to be raised.
Be prepared. Gather any files, papers or information that may be needed during the call. It is unprofessional to have to say “Hold on while I look for that.”
If y
ou have to ask a caller to hold on, keep going back and assuring him/her that you will be as quick as possible.
Avoid interruptions. Call at a time when you are unlikely to be distracted(分心).
During the call
Be courteous, polite. Make time for suitable greetings like “How are you today, Jim?” and “Did you enjoy your holiday”?
Put a smile in your voice. Remember, your caller can not see you, so use intonation to good effect and try to sound confident, decisive, helpful, and interested.
Check your notes. Look back at your notes to ensure that you have covered everything and quote figures and other data correctly.
Get feedback. Make sure the caller understands the message correctly, especially deadlines and actions that are involved.
Be courteous. Finish by thanking the caller for his or her time and trouble.
After the call
Make notes. Let it become a habit to make notes of the call and place them in an appropriate file.
Take actions. If you need to send a letter of confirmation or inform someone in your organization about any details of the call, do it immediately so that you do not forget important points. Before calling, you have to _____.
| A．stay at your company only | B．learn important data and figures by heart |
| C．get things ready for the communication | D．choose the right time and place |
During the call, it is unsuitable to _____.
| A．be decisive | B．be heard in low spirits | C．check your notes | D．get feedback |
What does the underlined word “courteous” in the passage mean?
| A．Polite. | B．Active. | C．Effective. | D．Correct. |
Standardized exam in American public education are being reformed. Over the next four years, hundreds of university professors and testing experts will work together to design new assessment system.
The new tests will be computer-based and will measure higher-order skills ignored by the multiple-choice exams used in all states，including students’ ability to read complex texts, synthesize(合成)information and do research projects．
Because the new tests will be computerized and will be administered several times throughout the school year, they can provide faster feedback(反馈)to teachers．If these plans work out, It’ll turn the current testing system upside down．
One group，led by Florida，will be made up of 25 states and the District of Columbia．The group was awarded $170 million．The other group, whose membership over-laps the first，has31 states and is led by Washington．The group was given $160 million．Twelve of the 44 states are
participating in both groups but are expected eventually to choose one set of tests．
The two groups are supposed to work in a friendly competition，though their plans are very similar．Both groups will produce tests that rely heavily on technology and both groups’ tests will include so-called performance-based tasks，designed to mirror complex，real-world situations．
In performance-based tasks，students are given a problem－they could be told, for example, to suppose they are a mayor who needs to reduce a city’s pollution—and must write about how they would solve the problem．
The new tests could be useful to teachers by giving them information on what their students are le
arning, but it might also require some mid-course adjustments.
Over the past decade, the federal No Child Left Behind law has emphasized helping low-achieving students improve their basic reading and math by encouraging states to produce tests that measure relatively low-1evel skills. Although the Bush-era law is still on the books, two
years of Obama administration policy have been leading schools in new directions． . . What is the main idea of this passage?
| A．Obama’s education policy takes the lead. |
| B．A computer-based testing system is adopted. |
| C．American education system has been changed. |
| D．Experts are reinventing the student testing system. |
. Why are multiple-choice exams to be given up?
| A．Because they are not computer-based. |
| B．Because they can’t test students’ higher-order skills. |
| C．Because they can’t provide proper feedback for teachers. |
| D．Because they can’t test students’ general reading ability. |
. The underlined part in Para. 4 probably means________.
| A．the two groups have some shared members |
| B．the other group is more demanding than the first |
| C．the groups have different tasks of their own |
| D．the other group does better than the first group in the task |
. According to the passage, performance-based tasks may refer to tasks that______.
| A．are related to real-world problems |
| B．have to be performed in an imaginary world |
| C．teach us theories through complex problems |
| D．can only be completed by relying heavily on technology |
. . From the last paragraph, we can infer that_________.
| A．the No child Left Behind policy is not helpful |
| B．the Obama administration’s policy is highly praised |
| C．the two policies both emphasize math and reading abilities |
| D．the two policies both emphasize the development of practical skills |
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