A powerful earthquake struck the northeastern coast of Japan at two forty-six p.m. local time on March eleventh.2011. Japan's Meteorological Agency released its first tsunami（海啸） warnings just three minutes later. The country has one of the best earthquake early warning systems in the world.
There are more than four thousand Seismic Intensity Meters in place throughout Japan to measure earthquake activity. These meters provide information within two minutes of an earthquake happening. Information about the strength and the center of the earthquake can be learned within three minutes.
There are also concrete(混凝土) sea walls around much of the Japanese coastline. But these measures proved no match for the powerful earthquake and tsunami.
Costas Synolakis ，a tsunami expert at the University of Southern California in Los Angeles said，"Japan is one of those most well-prepared countries on earth in terms of tsunami warning. They had a warning. I think what went wrong is that they had not expected the size of this event."
He says there are two reasons for this. Japan has not had any event anywhere near as big as this one in the last one hundred fifty years. And scientists had not expected such a large earthquake happening off the coast of Japan.
The nine point zero magnitude earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded worldwide. It was also the worst earthquake ever to hit Japan. The tsunami waves that followed were reported to have reached as high as thirteen meters in some areas.
Costas Synolakis says Japan's concrete sea walls were not built to handle such high waves.
Experts say early warning systems will continue to be limited by these facts until earthquakes and tsunamis can be predictedWhere can this passage probably be adapted from?
| A．A magazine on science | B．A fairy Tale |
| C．A scientific fantasy book | D．A newspaper |
Which of the following statements NOT true ?
| A．A terrible earthquake hit the northeastern coast of Japan |
| B．It was also the worst earthquake in Japan |
| C．The 9.0 earthquake was the fourth most powerful earthquake ever recorded in Japan |
| D．Japan's concrete sea walls was unable to handle such high waves. |
According to Costas Synolakis, why did Japan suffer such a loss?
| A．The country has never experienced any event as big as this one over the past 150 years |
| B．Japan has the best earthquake early warning systems in the world. |
| C．There are not concrete sea walls around all of the Japanese coastline |
| D．The government didn’t announce its first tsunami warnings three minutes earlier. |
FAT TIRE
BIKE TOURS
(FORMERLY MIKE’S TOURS—PARIS)
DAY BIKE TOUR
(Reservations(预订) not needed for this tour to visit Paris—you will love this tour!)
Whether you’re new or experienced, our goal is not to provide you with mind-bending dates and boring stories. Instead, we offer you the famous sites, all the education information, lots of unique and fascinating stories, fantastic photo options, a comfortable bike and excellent personal service from your guide. In fact, we want you to love Paris like we do and have a great time doing it! (4 hours)
|
€ 22 students, € 24 adult (Day & Night combo € 44 student, € 48 adult)
| March 1– May 14 |
11am |
| May 15 – July 31* |
11am and 3pm |
| August 1 – November 30 |
11am |
*no tours July 25
NIGHT BIKE TOUR
(Reservations not needed for this tour to visit Paris—you will love this tour!)
Our Night Tour is the way to experience the “City of Light” at its best!
Ride through the Latin Quarter and witness the best nightlife in town. Pedal down the lle de la Cité, along the river and enjoy ice cream at Berthillon (Paris’s most famous ice cream shop). See the Louvre as never before (free concert often included) and relax onboard a boat trip on the Seine. Did we mention free wine is provided on the boat?
Make no mistake — this tour is 100% different form our Day Tour in both route and information. Over 65% of our customers take both tours and we hope you will too. Also, be sure to eat something before coming or the wine may give you an unexpected hit! (4.5 hours)
€ 26 students, € 28 adult (Day & Night combo; € 44 student, € 48 adult)
| March 1 – March 31 |
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday 7pm |
| April 1 – October 31* |
Everyday 7pm |
| November 1 – November 15 |
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday 7pm |
*no tours June 21 & July 14
OUR HEADQUARTERS
0156581054 / www.FatTireBikeToursParis.com / info@ FatTireBikeToursParis.com
1. According to the schedule, which day might be appropriate for a Day & Night Combo?
A. A Saturday in November. B. Any day in June.
C. A Friday in March. D. A Monday in May.
2. If a teacher and his five students plan to visit Paris during daytime, they must pay __________.
A. €268 B. €158 C. €134 D. €142
3. One may taste the best ice cream and enjoy free wine in __________.
A. the Day Bike Tour B. the Night Bike Tour
C. the Tour on the Seine D. the Tour to the Louvre
4. The following statements are true EXCEPT __________.
A. For further information, one can call 0156581054.
B. One can attend free concert on the boat trip on the Seine.
C. The route of the Day Bike Tour is totally different from that of the Night Bike Tour.
D. No reservations are needed for attending both the Bike Tours.
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
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。
Barrier Islands
Texas has an extensive coastline that runs along the Gulf of Mexico. If you look closely at the map, you’ll notice that there are narrow islands located just off the coast of Texas. These are called barrier islands.
Barrier islands stretch along about 15 percent of the world’s coastlines. They are separated from the mainland by a shallow body of water. Some barrier islands spread out for more than 100 miles. In Texas, some of the largest barrier islands include Galveston Island, Mustang Island, and Padre Island.
Barrier islands are fragile (脆弱的) areas that contain an interdependent community of land, plants, and animals. All three need each other to exist. If one is harmed in some way, then the other two can suffer. For example, barrier islands are in constant danger of erosion, or loss of land, from wind, waves, and people. The steady movement of ocean waves and wind moves sand along the beaches. This movement contributes to erosion, which changes the shape and size of a barrier island over time. Plants not only provide animals with food and shelter, but it also helps keep an island’s sand and soil in place. When people pick native plants, it advances the process of erosion. This can harm the environmental balance that keeps an island’s ecosystem healthy. For this reason, visitors to barrier islands are usually warned to leave plants alone and to stay on roads and public beaches so that the land, plants, and animals are not disturbed.
As their name suggests, barrier islands provide a natural barrier that helps block the mainland from very bad weather such as strong windstorms and hurricanes. This protection saves lives, homes, and money every year. Barrier islands are also a major source of income for an area’s economy. Padre Island, for example, is visited every year by hundreds of thousands of tourists who take advantage of its sandy beaches and beautiful waters that are perfect for swimming, boating, and fishing. The dollars that tourists spend on the island help financially support the region and state.
1．Paragraph 3 is mostly about _____________.
A．what barrier islands are like B．how barrier islands form
C．how barrier islands can exist D．why barrier islands are important
2．Which of the following can do harm to barrier islands?
A．Keeping plants wherever they are. B．Going wherever visitors like.
C．Fishing on public beaches. D．Driving about on roads.
3．We can tell from the article that the author ___________.
A．lives on Padre Island and loves it
B．cares about the ecosystem on barrier islands
C．wishes less and less travelers would visit barrier islands
D．is concerned about the beautiful waters around the islands
4．Barrier islands are important because they ___________.
A．help prevent bad weather damaging mainland
B．bring in much more money than mainland
C．can protect rare plants and animals
D．provide more shelters for people
When Lew Alcindor was 13, and obviously still growing, a group of schools began offering him scholarships (奖学金). The Alcindors decided to send their only child to Power Memorial Academy, a small school on Manhattan’s West Side.
At Power, Alcindor came under the control of Coach Jack Donohue, a strict young man who already gained his fame as one of the best coaches in the city. Donohue brought Alcindor along slowly. As a first-year student, the boy was not able to do much but wave his long skinny arms and shoot a basket now and then. But by the second year, when he was 15 years old and nearly 7 feet tall, Alcindor was quick and skillful enough to make the high school All-American team and to lead Power to an undefeated season.
From then on he simply got better. Some rival coaches(对方教练) used to take their teams quickly away from the floor before Power warmed up so that their players would not see him any sooner than they had to. Wearing size 16 D shoes and sucking a lollipop(棒棒糖), Alcindor would loosen up by starting his leaping lay-ups(擦板球). Then he would casually shoot the ball with either hand, to the delight of the fans.
When reporters and photographers began to follow Alcindor closely, Donohue protected his boy firmly. He simply ordered Lew to talk to no member of the press, and this suited Lew fine. He was not comfortable talking to grown-ups, perhaps because he towered over them. Discouraged photographers began following him in secret as though he were an easily-frightened giraffe. Once after ducking into a subway to escape, Alcindor told a friend that it was all becoming like policemen and robbers. “People want you not for yourself,” Donohue warned him, “but because you’re a basketball player. Don’t forget that.”
1. Many schools offer Alcindor scholarships because ______.
A. he was young B. he was hardworking
C. he was tall for his age D. he was skillful at playing basketball
2.. Which of the following best describes Donohue as a young coach?
A. serious, popular and slow B. tall, skillful and successful
C. kind, powerful and undefeated D. well-known, strict and experienced
3.. Why did some rival coaches take their teams away from the floor before Power warmed up?
A. Their teams refused to play Power. B. Their teams feared to see Alcindor.
C. Their teams would lose courage. D. Their teams would lose interest.
4.. What does the last paragraph mainly discuss?
A. How Donohue protected Alcindor from the press.
B. How Alcindor disliked meeting reporters.
C. Why the press followed Alcindor closely.
D. Why the public wanted Alcindor badly.
Supermarkets are trying out new computers that make shopping carts more intelligent(具备智能的). They will help shoppers find paper cups or toilet soap, and keep a record of the bill.
The touch-screen devices(触摸屏装置) are on show at the Food Marketing Institute’s exhibition here this week, “These devices are able to create value and get you around the store quicker,” said Michael Alexander, manager of Springboard Retail Networks Inc., which makes a smart cart computer called the Concierge.
Canadian stores will test the Concierge in July. A similar device, IBM’s “Shopping Buddy”, has recently been test-marketed at Stop & Shop stores in Massachusetts.
Neither device tells you how many fat grams or calories are in your cart, but they will flash you with items on sale. The idea is to make it easier for people to buy, not to have second thoughts that maybe you should put something back on the shelf.
“The whole model is driven by advertisers’ need to get in front of shoppers,” said Alexander. “They’re not watching 30-second TV ads anymore.”
People can use a home computer to make their shopping lists. Once at the store, a shopper can use a preferred customer card to start a system(系统) that will organize the trip around the store. If you’re looking for toothpicks, you type in the word or pick it from a list, and a map will appear on the screen showing where you are and where you can find them.
The device also keeps a record of what you buy. When you’re finished, the device figures out your bill. Then you go to the checker or place your card into a self-checkout stand and pay.
The new computerized shopping assistants don’t come cheap. The Buddy devices will cost the average store about $160,000, and the Concierge will cost stores about $500 for each device.
1. The underlined word “they” (paragraph 1) refers to ______.
A. supermarkets B. shop assistants C. shopping carts D. shop managers
2. Which of the following is the correct order of shopping with computerized shopping carts?
a. Start the system. b. Make a shopping list.
c. Find the things you want. d. Go to a self-checkout stand.
A. abdc B. bacd C. acbd D. bcad
3. We can learn from the last paragraph that ______.
A. intelligent shopping carts cost a large sum of money
B. the Concierge is cheaper than the Buddy devices
C. shop assistants with computer knowledge are well paid
D. average stores prefer the Concierge to the Buddy devices
4. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. New age for supermarkets
B. Concierge and Shopping Buddy
C. New computers make shopping carts smarter
D. Touch-screen devices make shopping enjoyable
In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.
First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For ten hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.
I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $ 100 a week.
But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.
I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.
1. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?
A. To pay for his schooling.
B. To save for his future.
C. To support his family
D. To gain some experience
2. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT ______.
A. loading boxes in the freezing cold
B. having limited time for breaks
C. working and studying at the same time
D. getting no pay for lunch time
3. What is the subject discussed in the text?
A. The writer’s unhappy school life.
B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.
C. The writer’s experience to earn money.
D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.
4. How is the text organized?
A. Topic—Argument—Explanation
B. Opinion—Discussion—Description
C. Main idea—Comparison—Supporting examples
D. Introduction—Supporting examples—Conclusion
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