The most frightening words in the English language are “our computer is down.” You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down.”
“If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket.”
“I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so.” I looked down at the counter and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, “What do you do?”
“We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not.”
“So when it goes down, you go down with it.”
“That’s right, sir.”
“How long will the computer be down?” I wanted to know.
“I have no idea. Sometimes it’s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There is no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’s down, it won’t answer us.”
After the girl told me they had no backup computer, I said, “Let’s forget the computer. What about your planes? They are still flying, aren’t they?”
“I can’t tell without asking the computer.”
“Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’s flying to Washington.” I suggested.
“I wouldn’t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’t take you if you didn’t have a ticket.”
“Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?”
“I wouldn’t know,” she said, pointing at the desk screen. “Only IT knows. It can’t tell me.”
By this time there were quite a few people standing in line. The words soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went, some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.The word “down” in the sentence ‘Our computer is down.’ means _____________.
| A．falling | B．downcast | C．drop | D．dead |
The best title of the article is _________.
| A．Asking the Computer |
| B．The Computer of the Airport |
| C．The Most Frightening Words |
| D．When the Computer Is Down |
What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?
| A．She could answer the passengers’ questions |
| B．She could do nothing. |
| C．She could sell a ticket. |
| D．She could write out a ticket. |
If cars had wings, they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2012. The company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2012.
“It’s next ‘wow’ vehicle,” said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh. “Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car-plane has wings that unfold for flying-a process the company says takes one minute-and fold back up for driving. A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both. The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly. They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go. When you land, you hold up the wings and hit the road. There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport-you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet. It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,430 pounds, including fuel and passengers. Thrrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under the bad weather instead of flying into marginal(临界的) conditions.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000. But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, , a transponder or a GPS. Another option is a full-plane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option.” Gersh said.
So far, the company has more than 70 orders with deposits. “We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,” Brown said.We can learn from the first two paragraphs that _________.
| A．car-planes will be popular in 2012-4-6 |
| B．people might drive a car-plane in 2012 |
| C．both the Transition and Ferrari can take off and land |
| D．Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts |
It takes the car-plane one minute to _________.
| A．fold and unfold its wings | B．unfold wings for flying |
| C．land in the airport | D．meet flying safety regulations |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A. The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.
B. To meet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.
C. The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.
D. People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home.
The crisis at Japan’s Fukushima Daiichi nuclear energy center caused by the terrible earthquake has raised questions about the future of the nuclear energy industry. Arjun is president of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research in the United States. He says the disaster in Japan is historic.
This week, the chairman of America’s nuclear agency said there is little chance that harmful radiation(辐射) from Japan could reach the United States. Gregory also said America has a strong program in place to deal with earthquake threats. No new nuclear power centers have been built in the United States since 1979. That was when America’s worst nuclear accident happened at the Three Mile Island center in Pennsylvania. The accident began to turn public opinion against nuclear energy. At present, about twenty percent of electricity in the United States comes from nuclear energy.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said Germany would close seven nuclear power centers for the time being while energy policy is reconsidered. The European Union is planning to test all centers in its twenty-seven member nations.
Developing nations are less willing to slow down the development of nuclear. China says it will continue with plans to build about twenty-five new nuclear reactors(核反应堆). And India, under a cooperation agreement with the United States, plans to spend billions on new centers in the coming years.
Nuclear reactors supply fourteen percent of global electricity. Nuclear energy is a clean resource, producing no carbon gases. But radioactive waste is a serious problem to be solved. So is the presence of nuclear power centers in earthquake areas like the one near Bushehr, lran.We can learn from the text that America ________.
| A．experienced a terrible nuclear accident 32 years ago |
| B．has a strong program to deal with radiation danger |
| C．depends heavily on nuclear energy to produce electricity |
| D．will check all the reactors before cooperating with India |
According to the text, which country will be most likely to have a similar disaster?
| A．German. | B．Iran | C．India. | D．China. |
How does the author seem to feel about the future of nuclear energy?
| A．Satisfied. | B．Pleased. | C．Worried. | D．Surprised. |
The best title of the text is ______.
| A．Various Opinions on Japan’s Nuclear Disaster |
| B．Japan’s Disaster is Likely to Run Out of Control |
| C．America Shows Great Concern for Japan’s Nuclear Crisis |
| D．Japan’s Disaster Throws Doubt on Nuclear Energy Industry |
You are busy filling out the application form for a position you really need; let’s assume you once actually completed a couple of years of college work or even that you completed your degree. Isn’t it tempting to lie just a little, to claim on the form that your diploma(毕业文凭) represents a Harvard degree? Or that you finished an extra couple of years back at State University?
More and more people are turning to an utter deception(欺骗) like this to land their first job or to move head in their careers. For personnel officers, like most Americans, value degrees from famous schools. A job applicant may have a good education anyway, but he or she assumes that chances of being hired are better with a diploma from a well-known university. Registrars(注册主任)at most well-known colleges say that they deal with dishonest claims like these at the rate of about one per week.
Personnel officers do check up on degrees listed on application forms. If it turns out that an applicant is lying, most colleges are unwilling to accuse the applicant directly. One lvy League school refers to them as “special cases”, One well-known West Coast school, in perhaps the most delicate phrase of all, says these claims are made by “no such people”.
To avoid complete lies, some job seekers claim that they “attended” or “were associated with” a college or university. After careful checking, a personnel officer may discover that “attending” means being dismissed after one semester. It may be that “being as sociated with” a college means that the job-seeker visited his younger brother for a football weekend. One school that keeps records of false claims says that the practice dates back at least to the turn of the century—that’s when they began keeping records, anyhow.
If you don’t want to lie or even stretch the truth, there are companies that will sell you a fake diploma. One company, with offices in New York and on the West Coast, will put your name on a diploma from any number of non-existent colleges. The price begins at around twenty dollars for a diploma from “Smoot State University”. The prices increase rapidly for a degree from the “University of Purdue”. As there is no Smoot State and the real school in Indiana is properly called Purdue University, the prices seem rather high for one sheet of paper.The writer mainly wants to tell us that _______.
| A．college degrees can now be purchased easily |
| B．it is very hard for people to find jobs |
| C．lying about college degrees is becoming a widespread problem |
| D．employers are no longer interested in applicants’ actual performances |
The underlined word “utter” in the second paragraph means “______”.
| A．thorough | B．careful | C．incomplete | D．spoken |
Once finding applicants with false diplomas, most colleges would _________.
| A．keep the records of them | B．drive them out of college |
| C．avoid direct conflicts with them | D．accuse them of such behavior |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．US employers value their job applicants with a degree from top universities |
| B．University of Purdue and Purdue University are the same school |
| C．people with fake diplomas can get their first jobs in the US easily |
| D．people pay the same price for a fake diploma from different universities |
阅读下面的短文，请根据文后的要求答题（请注意问题后的词数要求）
[1] Teens need independence, but how do you make sure they are safe? It’s tough to decide when to give your teen more freedom. One parent’s decision for his or her teen may not be right for other parents and their teens. Although every child is different, there are many experiences common to the teenage years. The most common may be the pull and push between dependence and independence.
[2] Many teens are putting themselves at risk for committing(从事) acts of violence and other crimes. No wonder so many parents are concerned, even frightened; no wonder so many try to control the behavior of their teenage children. So, it is important for parents to make rules for their young children.
[3] However, as children get older, they need to learn to make some of their own decisions and life choices. Teens need the chance to practice good decision-making skills, and to manage new life experiences. Parents need to try their best to support their children.
[4] Respect is a two-way street but it starts with you, which means that you should give your teens the respect that you would like to be given. Give them praise for their knowledge and abilities; pay attention to and listen to them. That means showing confidence in your teens, and being supportive. Parents should believe in your teens; set high standards for them, encourage them, expect them to achieve their goals, and provide consistent（一贯的；始终如一的）love and support —including practical help—so they can achieve the promise that lies within them.
[5] Teens are learning to take care of themselves as they prepare for adulthood. That’s what growing up is all about. Give them and appropriate（适当的） amount of freedom and independence. Encourage and promote responsibility and good decision—offering support and gentle help with difficult decisions. Let your teens know they will be given _________________ as they show increasingly responsible behavior.Who is this passage most probably written for? (no more than 5 words)
____________________________________________________________________________What’s the common experience of the teenagers? (no more than 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________Why should parents attempt to make rules for their children?
____________________________________________________________________________Fill in the blank in Paragraph 5 with proper words (no more than 5 words)
____________________________________________________________________________What are the fourth and fifth paragraphs mainly about? (no more than 10 words)
____________________________________________________________________________
Ever since they were first put on the market in the early 1990s, genetically modified (GM, 转基因) foods have been increasingly developed and marketed in many countries in the world, mainly on the basis of their promise to end the worldwide food crisis. But can GM technology solve world hunger problems? Even if it would, is it the best solution?
Despite what it promises, GM technology actually has not increased the production potential of any crop. In fact, studies show that the most widely grown GM crop, GM soybeans, has suffered reduced productivity. For instance, a report that analysed nearly two decades of research on major GM food crops shows that GM engineering has failed to significantly increase US crop production.
Something else, however, has been on the rise, While GM seeds are expensive, GM companies tell farmers that they will make good profits by saving money on pesticides（杀虫剂）. On the contrary, US government data show that GM crops in the US have produced an overall increase in pesticide use compared to traditional crops. “The promise was that you could use less chemicals and boost production. But neither is true,” said Bill Christison, President of the US National Farm Coalition.
At the same time, the authors of the book World Hunger: Twelve Myths argue that there actually is more than enough food in the world and that the hunger crisis is not caused by production, but by problems in food distribution and politics. These indeed deserve our efforts and money. Meanwhile, the rise in food prices results from the increased use of crops for fuel rather than food, according to a 2008 World Bank report.
As a matter of fact, scientists see better ways to feed the world. Another World Bank report concluded that GM crops have little to offer to the challenges of worldwide poverty and hunger, because better ways out are available, among which “green” farming is supposed to be the first choice.The author develops the second paragraph mainly .
| A．by classification | B．by comparison |
| C．by example | D．by process |
What does the underlined word “boost” in the third paragraph probably mean?
| A．Control. | B．Evaluate | C．Obtain. | D．Increase. |
GM companies promise farmers that they will benefit from ______________.
| A．practicing “green” farming |
| B．use of less chemicals |
| C．fair distribution of their crops |
| D．using more crops for fuel |
Which of the following best describes the attitude of the author towards GM technology?
| A．Optimistic | B．Defensive | C．Disapproving | D．Casual |
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