WASHINGTON—More than one in 10 of the nation’s airline pilots are cleared to carry a handgun while flying, and the number will continue to grow, according to a Transportation Security Administration projection.
The Federal Air Marshal Service, a TSA agency that runs the armed-pilots program, reports that 85,000 to 90,000 pilots and crewmembers flying domestic passengers and cargo planes are eligible(符合条件的) to carry a gun. That puts the number of armed pilots at about 9,500.
The TSA projects the program to grow to 16.5% of eligible pilots by the year 2011. Aviation experts were surprised and alarmed that so many pilots are toting guns in the sky.
“That’s a big number compared to what I thought it would be,” said aviation-security consultant Rich Roth, who said he had predicted there would be fewer than 1,000 armed pilots. The 5-year-old program trains pilots for one week and arms them with 40-caliber semiautomatic pistols.
“That’s a scary number,” said Joseph Gutheinz, a former Transportation Department special agent and aviation attorney in Houston. “By allowing so many pilots the opportunity to fly armed, we’re giving terrorists opportunity to identify somebody who has a gun and overpower him.”
Capt. Bob Hesselbein, head of security for the Air Line Pilots Association, said the number of armed pilots is “a tremendous deterrent(威慑)” to hijackings. “The challenge of an organized terrorist team is to take control of the cabin, then the flight deck.”
Armed pilots have come under scrutiny(审查) since March 22 when the gun of a US Airways pilot fired in the cockpit(驾驶座) of Flight 1536 as it approached Charlotte from Denver. No one was hurt, and the plane landed safely after the bullet pierced(穿透) the fuselage. The best title for this passage is “_____”.
| A．More than 10% of pilots allowed to fly armed |
| B．Less than 10% of pilots allowed to fly armed |
| C．More than 16.5% of pilots allowed to fly armed |
| D．No chances for terrorists to hurt pilots |
From this passage we can infer that about 9,500 pilots in the USA are allowed to carry _____ while flying.
| A．shotguns | B．40-caliber automatic pistols |
| C．handguns | D．all the above |
Joseph Gutheinz’s attitude towards pilots’ carrying guns while flying is _____.
| A．positive | B．negative | C．angry | D．surprised |
Why did the US Airways pilot fire his gun in the cockpit of Flight 1536 as it approached Charlotte from Denver?
| A．To kill the terrorists who tried to hijack the plane. |
| B．To escape from the hijackings. |
| C．To tell the hijackers that he had a gun. |
| D．The passage doesn’t give the reason. |
Televisions, stereos, telephones, and computers have changed the way we spend our time and what we know about the world. Some of the changes brought about by these material possessions have improved our way of life, but others have made it worse. Our young teenagers turn on the television, play the stereo, play games on the computer, talk on the telephone, and eat all the same time. This drives me right up the wall to instant insanity(精神失常).
However, teens of today place too great an importance on material property. They spend an average of several hours a day watching television, listening to stereos, playing on the computer, playing video games, and talking on the telephone. Families no longer watch television together and there is great lack of communication. Materialism is evident when an otherwise intelligent teenager drives their parents crazy, and into debt, when misusing communication equipment. Teens judge and admire other teens for what they own and have, rather than for what they are or what they can do. They no longer care about values, like honesty, integrity(正直), freedom, talent, quality and other values and morals.
However, good or bad, communication devices are here to stay. It is up to us, as parents, to stop our beloved teenagers from misusing and abusing our communication equipment and devices. We need to avoid the problems they present and to make the most of their opportunities they possess and hold for us all.The writer’s attitude toward the modern material possessions is generally _____.
| A．positive | B．negative | C．neutral | D．indifferent |
According to the writer, teens’ overuse of communication equipment can do harm to _____.
| A．their own health | B．their own study |
| C．their own morality | D．their neighbors’ life |
The writer attributes (归咎) the unsatisfactory behavior of teens to _____.
| A．teens’ too much free time | B．parents’ non-interference |
| C．inadequate school education | D．material property |
It can be inferred from the passage that the writer seems to be most annoyed at ______.
| A．all the modern material possession | B．eating while talking on the phone |
| C．the decline in teens’ morality | D．all the communication equipment |
According to US research, it can take up to ten years to become a near-native English speaker. Asian and Spanish students took between five and ten years to reach native speaker performance in English-only schools. Fluency obviously doesn’t happen overnight. But time can definitely make you a better speaker.
After testing his own memory, German psychologist Hermann Ebbinghaus discovered that humans forget most of what they learn in the first 20 minutes.
So cramming right before a speaking exam is not likely to be as effective as practicing regularly over time. The more you practice, the more familiar new words will become. In the classroom, studies have also shown that repeating oral tasks improves a speaker’s performance.
One of the best repetition exercises is the 4/3/2 technique. Speakers give the same talk to three different listeners with a progressive decrease in delivery time, starting at four minutes, then three, and finally two minutes. This exercise has been proven to help learners speak faster. It can also result in less hesitation and more grammatical accuracy. While time dose make a difference when it comes to speaking perfect English, it would not hurt to brush up on your other language skills.
Studies have also shown that reading can increase your speaking vocabulary. After one month of an extensive reading program, a 27-year-old student of French became more familiar with 65 percent of the new words.
Aside from choosing the right learning methods, having certain personality traits may also help. US linguistics expert Stephen Krashen believes those with high motivation, self-confidence and a low level of anxiety are better equipped for speaking success.
Krashen says students who don’t have these qualities are more likely to have a “mental block”. “Even if they understand the message, the input will not reach the part of the brain responsible for language acquisition,” he writes in his book Principles and Practice in second Language Acquisition.According to the passage, if you want to be a near-native speaker, you need _____.
| A．long-term speaking practice and much reading |
| B．speaking practice for ten years only |
| C．long-term speaking practice, much reading and certain qualities |
| D．cramming new words every day |
The author put forward the 4/3/2 technique just to show that _____.
| A．you should speak to 3 different people |
| B．you should speak to 3 different people at 3 different times |
| C．it can prevent you from making grammar mistakes |
| D．it is really a good way to make you a better speaker |
The example of a 27-year-old student of French in the passage mainly means that _____.
| A．reading can enlarge your vocabulary for your speaking |
| B．reading can make you memorize just 65 percent of the new words |
| C．the 27-year-old student of French is very clever |
| D．in one month, you can improve your speaking ability |
The underlined phrase “linguistics expert” means a person who is quite expert at _____.
| A．languages | B．spoken language |
| C．scientific research | D．teaching English |
Danielle Steel, America's sweetheart, is one of the hardest working women in the book business. Unlike other productive authors who write one book at a time, she can work on up to five. Her research time before writing takes at least three years. Once she has fully studied her subjects, ready to dive into a book, she can spend twenty hours nonstop at her desk.
Danielle Steel comes from New York and was sent to France for her education. After graduation, she worked in the public relations and advertising industries. Later she started a job as a writer which she was best fit for. Her achievements are unbelievable: 390 million copies of books in print, nearly fifty New York Times best-selling novels, and a series of "Max and Martha" picture books for children to help them deal with the real-life problems of death, new hobbies and new schools. Her 1998 book about the death of her son shot to the top of the New York Times best-selling list as soon as it came out. Twenty-eight of her books have been made into films. She is listed in the Guinness Book of World Records for one of her books being the Times best-seller for 381 weeks straight.
Not content with a big house, a loving family, and a view of the Golden Gate Bridge, Danielle Steel considers her readers to be the most important resource(资源) and has kept in touch with them by e-mail. While she is often compared to the heroines(女主人公) of her own invention, her life is undoubtedly much quieter. But, if she does have anything in common with them, it is her strength of will and her inimitable(独特的) style. There is only one Danielle Steel.Children who have read "Max and Martha" picture books may know ______.
| A．how to deal with affairs at school |
| B．what to do if Max and Martha die |
| C．what to do when new babies are born into their families |
| D．how to solve the difficult problems in their writing classes |
One of Danielle Steel's achievements is that ______.
| A．some TV plays were based on her books |
| B．her picture books attracted a lot of young men |
| C．one of her books became a best-seller in 1998 |
| D．she wrote the Guinness Book of World Records |
We can learn from the passage that Danielle Steel _____.
| A．lives an exciting life | B．value her readers a lot |
| C．writes about quiet women | D．is pleased with her achievements |
There is one word that is on the lips of Americans , day and night , “Sorry”.
One time as I was walking on the street , a young man ran by hurriedly , brushing against my handbag . Even as he continued on his way , he turned back and said “sorry” to me . Even in a rush , he didn’t forget to apologize .
One day , after I bought some apples , the salesman was giving me the change , but I wasn’t ready for it , and a coin dropped on the ground, “I’m sorry ,” he said while bending down to pick it up . I was puzzled —why would he apologize when it was my fault ?
Another time , I stepped on a man’s foot in an escalator . At the same time , we both said “sorry” . I thought it interesting : was it really necessary for him apologize ?
Later on , an American friend explained to me that according to the American ideas, the escalator is public place which everyone should be able to stand in . After someone occupies a position in the escalator , making it difficult for someone else to find a place to stand in , isn’t it necessary to express an apology ?
During my stay in America , I gradually realized that when friction (摩擦) occurs in daily life , Americans don’t care much about who is responsible . If someone is troubled , a “sorry” is always necessary . Even if the other person is hurt , the “sorry” would cool tempers . Perhaps this is why I never saw anyone quarreling on the buses , subways or streets in America .When I was walking in the street , ____ .
| A．a young man wanted to rob me of my bag |
| B．a young man ran by and wanted to brush my bag |
| C．a young man said sorry to me for touching my bag |
| D．a young man came hurriedly to help me with my bag |
When the salesman gave me the change , _____
| A．I purposely didn’t want to accept it from the salesman |
| B．the salesman purposely didn’t want to pass it to me |
| C．I was slower to accept it than the salesman to give it to me |
| D．the salesman was slower to give it to me than I could accept it |
The man on whose feet I stepped apologized to me because ____ .
| A．the escalator is a public place |
| B．the man was very afraid of me |
| C．the “sorry” said to me was for everyone |
| D．there wasn’t enough room to get my feet in |
In this passage , the author seems to feel _____ the Americans’ “sorry”.
| A．angry with | B．disappointed with | C．interested in | D．approving of |
In some urban centers, workholism is so common that people do not consider it unusual: they accept the lifestyle as normal. Government workers in Washington D. C., for example, frequently work sixty to seventy hours a week. They don’t do this because they have to; they do it because they want to.
Workholism can be a serious problem. Because true workaholics (工作狂) would rather work than do anything else, they probably don’t know how to relax.
Is workholism always dangerous? Perhaps not. There are, certainly, people who work well under stress. Some studies show that many workaholics have great energy and interest in life. Their work is so pleasurable that they are actually very happy. For most workaholics, work and entertainment keep them busy and creative.
Why do workaholics enjoy their jobs so much? There are several advantages to work. Of course, it provides people with paychecks, and this is important. But it offers more than financial security. It provides people with self-confidence; they have a feeling of satisfaction when they’ve produced a challenging piece of work and are able to say, “I made that.” Psychologists claim that work gives people an identity through participation in work, they get a sense of self and individualism. In addition, most jobs provide people with a socially acceptable way to meet others. Perhaps some people are compulsive about their work, but their addiction seems to be a safe-even an advantageous-one.The passage indicates that workaholics ______.
| A．just know work but nothing else |
| B．are willing to work hard for long hours without pay |
| C．find their work provide them more satisfaction and self-confidence than how much they are paid |
| D．has the work with more responsibility than others |
One of the reasons that some people are not willing to quit their jobs even in their eighties and nineties is that ______.
A. they are in the need of financial security
B. they would rather work than be disturbed by domestic affairs
C. they long for a sense of identity and being accomplished
C. they may have health problems from sheer boresomThis passage is mainly about ______.
| A．workaholics are usually successful people, but their lives are in a mess |
| B．workholism can lead to serious problems but it can also create a joyful life |
| C．people who are absorbed in their work may enjoy movies, sports and other kinds of entertainment |
| D．those who work even under difficult conditions may be very happy |
It can be inferred from the passage that ______.
| A．in the eyes of all the common people workaholics are peculiar |
| B．to workaholics, work is the sole source of happiness |
| C．a piece of challenging work may provide the workaholics a sense of satisfaction |
| D．workaholics are as addicted to their job as other people are to drugs or alcohol |
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