Global Positioning Systems are now a part of everyday driving in many countries. These satellite-based systems provide turn-by-turn directions to help people get to where they want to go. But, they can also cause a lot of problems, send you to the wrong place or leave you completely lost. Many times, the driver is to blame. Sometimes a GPS error is responsible. Most often, says Barry Brown, it is a combination of the two.
We spoke to Mr. Brown by Skype. He told us about an incident involving a friend who had flown to an airport in the eastern United States. There he borrowed a GPS-equipped car to use during his stay. Barry Brown: “And they just plugged in an address and then set off to their destination. And, then it wasn’t until they were driving for thirty minutes that they realized they actually put in a destination back on the West Coast where they lived. They actually put their home address in. So again, the GPS is kind of 'garbage in garbage out'.”
Mister Brown says this is a common human error. But, he says, what makes the problem worse has to do with some of the shortcomings, or failures, of GPS equipment. Barry Brown: “One problem with a lot of the GPS units is they have a very small screen and they just tell you the next turn. Because they just give you the next turn, sometimes that means that it is not really giving you the overview that you would need to know that it’s going to the wrong place.”
Barry Brown formerly served as a professor with the University of California, San Diego. While there, he worked on a project with Eric Laurier from the University of Edinburgh. The two men studied the effects of GPS devices on driving by placing cameras in people’s cars. They wrote a paper based on their research. It is called “The Normal, Natural Troubles of Driving with GPS.” It lists several areas where GPS systems can cause confusion for drivers. These include maps that are outdated, incorrect or difficult to understand. They also include timing issues related to when GPS commands are given.
Barry Brown says to make GPS systems better we need a better understanding of how drivers, passengers and GPS systems work together.In Paragraph 2, Mr. Brown mentioned his friend in the conversation to _____________.
| A．build up his own reputation |
| B．laugh at his stupid friend |
| C．prove the GPS system is only garbage |
| D．describe an example of human error |
With which of the following statement would Barry Brown most likely agree?
| A．GPS units are to blame for the most GPS service failures. |
| B．We should introduce higher standard for the driving license. |
| C．Cameras are urgently needed to help improve GPS systems. |
| D．Drivers, GPS systems and passengers should unite to improve GPS systems. |
What is Mr. Brown’s attitude towards GPS?
| A．Unconcerned | B．Prejudiced | C．Objective | D．Critical |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．driving with GPS can be difficult |
| B．driving confusions can be caused by small screen |
| C．driving without GPS should be much more convenient |
| D．GPS equipment in driving: to be deserted or improved? |
Modern life is impossible without traveling. The fastest way of traveling is by air. With a modern airliner you can travel in one day to places which it took a month or more to get to a hundred years ago.
Traveling by train is slower than by air, but it has its own advantages. For example, you can see the country you are traveling through. Besides,the modern train has comfortable seats and dining cars. It makes even the longest journey enjoyable and comfortable.
Some people prefer to travel by sea when possible. There are large liners and river boats. You can visit many other countries and different places. Traveling by sea is a very pleasant way to spend a holiday.
Many people like to travel by car. You can make your own timetable. You can travel three or four hundred miles or only fifty or one hundred miles a day, just as you like. You can stop wherever you wish—where there is something interesting to see, at a good restaurant where you can enjoy a good meal, or at a hotel to spend the night. That is why traveling by car is popular for pleasure trips, while people usually take a train or a plane when they are traveling on business.
From the passage, we know the fastest way of traveling is .
| A．by car | B．by train | C．by air | D．by sea. |
If we travel by car, we can .
| A．make the longest journey enjoyable |
| B．make our own timetable |
| C．travel to a very far place in several minutes |
| D．travel only fifty or one hundred miles a day |
The underlined word “It” in the second paragraph refers to .
| A．the modern train in the country |
| B．the comfortable seat or dining car |
| C．the traveler on the modern train |
| D．the slower way of traveling |
D
Trapped on the 37th Floor
Melinda Skaar wasn’t expecting any phone calls．Skaar was working late in her office at the First Interstate bank of California．By 10:45 that night she was almost ready to go home when the phone rang．
Picking it up，she heard a guard shouting．“There is a fire！ Get out of there！”
Skaar didn’t panic．She figured that it was just a small fire．Her office building was huge．There were 62 floors and her desk was on the 37th floor．
Skaar called out to office mate Stephen Oksas，who also stayed late to work．But when they got to the hallway，they were met by a cloud of black smoke．Rushing back，Skaar shut the door and filled the space at the bottom of the door with her jacket to keep the smoke out．
Then they called 911．Before they could call their families，however，the line went dead．That meant that they were completely cut off from the outside world．All they could do was wait and hope someone would come to rescue them．
Minutes ticked by．Smoke began to float into the office．Soon it became hard for them to breathe．
Looking around，Skaar noticed a small workroom．It seemed to have cleaner air．So they crowded there．That helped for a while，but in time even the workroom was filled with deadly smoke．
Hopeless，they tried to break the windows，but the glass was not breakable．Everything they threw at just bounced back．
Defeated，they struggled back to the workroom．They felt weak and dizzy ．Soon Skaar found Oksas had passed out．
As Skaar and Oksas lay near death，rescuers were rushing to find them．At last，at about 4 a．m．，firefighters found them．
Skaar and Oksas knew they were lucky to be alive．“Sunday is my birthday，” Skaar told a reporter．She would be turning 29．But she knew she had already got the best present possible——the gift of life．What did Skaar and Oksas do when they were stopped by the fire？
| A．They called their families． |
| B．They waited where they were． |
| C．They tried to run down the stairs． |
| D．They rushed back and shut the door． |
The first sentence of the passage is to ____________．
| A．introduce Skaar |
| B．get the reader’s attention |
| C．explain the cause of the event |
| D．tell the background information |
The following helped Skaar and Oksas survive the fire except _____________．
| A．calling 911 for help |
| B．breaking the windows to get some fresh air |
| C．crowding in a small workroom for clean air |
| D．shutting the door and keeping the smoke out with a jacket |
What can we conclude from Skaar’s action in the fire？
| A．She is cleverer than Oksas． |
| B．She was trained as a firefighter． |
| C．She remained calm in the face of danger． |
| D．She had had the experience of being caught in fire． |
C
More surprising，perhaps，than the current difficulties of traditional marriage is the fact that marriage itself is alive and thriving (兴盛)．As Skolnick notes，Americans are marrying people—relative to Europeans，more of us marry and we marry at a younger age．Moreover，after a decline in the early 1970s，the rate of marriage in the United States is now increasing．Even the divorce rate needs to be taken in this pro-marriage context: some 80 percent of divorced individuals remarry．Thus，marriage remains，by far，the preferred way of life for the vast majority of people in our society．
What has changed more than marriage is the nuclear family．Twenty-five years ago，the typical American family consisted of a husband，a wife and two or three children．Now，there are many marriages in which couples have decided not to have any children．And there are many marriages where at least some of the children are from the wife’s previous marriage，or the husband’s，or both．Sometimes these children spend all of their time with one parent from the former marriage;sometimes they are shared between the two former spouses．
Thus，one can find the very type of family arrangement．There are marriages without children;marriages with children from only the present marriage;marriages with “full time”children from the present marriage and “part-time” children from former marriages．There are stepfathers，stepmothers，half-brothers，and half-sisters．It is not all the unusual for a child to have four parents and eight grandparents！ There are enormous changes from the traditional nuclear family．But even so，even in the midst of all this，one thing remains constant: most Americans spend most of their adult lives married．By calling Americans marrying people the author means that ______．
| A．more of Americans，as compared with Europeans，prefer marriage and they accept it at a younger age |
| B．Americans expect more out of marriage than Europeans |
| C．there are more married couples in USA than in Europe |
| D．Americans are more traditional than Europeans |
Which of the following can be presented as the picture of today’s American families？
| A．A typical American family consists of only a husband and a wife． |
| B．Many types of family arrangements have become socially acceptable． |
| C．Americans prefer to have more kids than before． |
| D．There are no nuclear families any more． |
Even though great changes have taken place in the structure of American families ______．
| A．the functions of marriage remain unchanged |
| B．most Americans prefer a second marriage |
| C．the vast majority of Americans still have faith in marriage |
| D．marriage is still enjoyed by all Americans |
B
In Britain and other countries，young people sometimes take a “gap year，” a year off between high school and college．This idea never gained a big following in America．Recent news reports have suggested that interest may be growing，though there are no official numbers．
Charles Deacon，Dean of Admissions at Georgetown University in Washington，D．C．，estimates that in the current first-year class of 1，600 students，only about 25 decided to take a year off．He says this number hasn’t changed much over the years．
Mr．Deacon says the most common reason for taking a “gap year” is to have a chance to travel，but he says international students may take a “gap year” to meet requirements at home for military duty．
Some high school graduates see a year off as a chance to recover after twelve years of required education，but it can also give students a chance to explore their interests．Students hoping to be doctors，for example，could learn about the profession by volunteering in a hospital．
Many colleges and universities support gap-year projects by permitting students to delay their admission．Experts say students can grow emotionally and intellectually as they work at something they enjoy．
The Harvard admissions office has an essay on its Web site called “Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation．” It praises the idea of taking time off to step back，think and enjoy gaining life experiences outside the pressure of studies．It also notes that students are sometimes admitted to Harvard or other colleges partly because they did something unusual with that time．
Of course，a gap year is not for everyone．Students might miss their friends who go on directly to college，and parents might worry that their children will decide not to go to college once they take time off．Another concern is money．A year off，away from home，can be costly．
Holly Bull’s job is to specialize in helping students plan their gap year．She notes that several books have been written about this subject．She says these books along with media attention and the availability of information on the Internet have increased interest in the idea of a year off，and she points out that many gap-year programs cost far less than a year of college．What is the passage mainly about？
| A．If you want to go to an American university，take a gap year first． |
| B．More and more American students are choosing to take a year off． |
| C．It is likely that taking a “gap year” is becoming popular in America． |
| D．Americans hold different opinions towards students’ taking a “gap year”． |
How many reasons for students’ taking a “gap year” are mentioned in the passage？
| A．2 | B．3 | C．4 | D．5． |
The essay “Time Out or Burn Out for the Next Generation．” suggests that ______．
| A．every student must take a“gap year”before applying for a famous university |
| B．some famous universities encourage students to gain more life experiences |
| C．taking a‘gap year’can make students free from life learning |
| D．the stress of studies does harm to the students’ health |
What can we learn from the passage？
| A．Charles Deacon doesn’t support the idea of the students’ taking a “gap year”． |
| B．Books and media have contributed to the students’ interest in school learning． |
| C．Parents might disagree with the program，concerned about their children’s future． |
| D．Experts agree taking a year off will benefit the students emotionally and physically． |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
A
It’s interesting that technology often works as a servant for us，yet frequently we become a servant to it．E-mail is a useful tool but many feel controlled by this new tool．The average business person is getting about 80 e-mails per day and many feel that about 80% of the messages in their “Inbox” are of little or no value．
So，I have four suggestions to help you to become better at “Erasing E-mail”．
1．Get off the lists．The best way to deal with a problem is to never have it．If you are receiving a lot of unwanted e-mails，ask to be removed from the various lists．This would include your inclusion in unwanted lists．
2．“Unlisted address”．Just as you keep an “unlisted” telephone number that you share only with those whom you want to have direct access to，you might want to get a separate e-mail address only for the important communications you wish to receive．
3．Check it once or twice per day．Many I speak with are becoming chained to their email server，monitoring incoming email continuously．Maybe this is because e-mail creates its own sense of urgency，but most of the communications are not all that urgent．I respond to them a couple of times per day．
4．Deal with it．As you open each e-mail，do one of the following:
a．If it requires a quick response，respond to it and delete it．
b．If it requires a response but is not the best use of your time，try to find someone else to do it．
c．If it is going to take any serious amount of time to respond，schedule it for action in your Day Planner and then download the message，save it，or print it out for future action．
I personally receive about 250 e-mails per day and by practicing the suggestions above，I can handle that volume in about an hour，taking advantage of this fantastic tool but not being controlled by it to make sure I’m doing more important tasks in my day．If you get unwanted e-mails，the best you can do is to ________．
| A．make a list of them |
| B．put them into unwanted lists |
| C．send them to a special address |
| D．ask to be deleted from different lists |
For the important communications，the writer suggests that you ______．
| A．have a direct access for them |
| B．have several e-mail servers for them |
| C．get a separate e-mail address for them |
| D．get an unlisted phone number for them |
To avoid being chained by the coming e-mails，what you can do is to ________．
| A．respond urgent ones only |
| B．reply to all of them at the same time |
| C．handle them a couple of times daily |
| D．keep replying to e-mails all day long |
To deal with an e-mail you get，you can do the following EXCEPT _______．
| A．responding right away if it’s urgent |
| B．downloading every e-mail before you reply |
| C．scheduling it for later reply if it takes much time |
| D．asking someone else to reply to it if it’s not at your convenience |
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