Language is a major problem for the European Union (EU). The agreement or treaty (条约) which created the organization that eventually became the EU, the Treaty of Rome, stated that each country's language must be treated equally. The original six countries had only three languages between them: French. German and Dutch/Flemish. However, there are now 15 countries in the EU, with a total of 12 languages. EU documents must be translated into all these languages, and at official meetings the speeches must be translated into all the languages by interpreters.
All this translating is very expensive and time-consuming (费时的). it is said that nearly half of all employees of the EU are engaged in translating documents and speeches, and nearly half of the EU's administrative(管理方面的) costs are spent on this task. In the near future it is probably that several more countries, most of them having their own languages, will join the EU, thus making the situation even worse.
The problem is not just cost: there are practical difficulties as well. With 12 languages, there are 132 possible "translation situations" that might be needed. It is often' difficult to find people in the right place at the right time who can translate from (for example) Danish into Greek, or Dutch into Portuguese, at a high professional standard.
In practice the problem has been made less serious by the use of English in many contacts between EU officials, since almost all of them speak some English. However, any move to reduce the number of official languages (perhaps to four or five) would be a blow to the pride of the smaller countries. Another commonly suggested solution is to make English the official language for all EU business. However, powerful member countries like France and Germany are strongly against it.What's the main purpose of this passage?
| A．To give a solution to a problem. |
| B．To discuss a problem and show how serious it is. |
| C．To criticize the European Union for inefficiency(效率低). |
| D．To show that the problem cannot be solved. |
According to the writer, the use of English in contacts among EU officials has ________.
| A．angered the officials who don't speak English |
| B．reduced the number of official languages |
| C．made the problem less serious |
| D．been opposed by powerful member countries |
In paragraph three, the writer mentions "Danish into Greek" as an example of ________.
| A．a situation that might be difficult to deal with |
| B．a situation that occurs often |
| C．one of the 12 situations that requires an interpreter |
| D．languages that are easy to translate |
The writer suggests that if the number of official languages was reduced _______.
| A．the EU would not know which official languages to choose |
| B．countries whose languages were not used officially would be unhappy |
| C．only languages that are easy to translate would be used officially |
| D．the smaller member countries would be pleased |
Grown-ups know that people and objects are solid. At the movies, we know that if we reach out to touch Tom Cruise, all we will feel is air. But does a baby have this understanding?
To see whether babies know objects are solid, T. Bower designed a method for projecting an optical illusion（视觉影像） of a hanging ball. His plan was to first give babies a real ball, one they could reach out and touch, and then to show them the illusion. If they knew that objects are solid and they reached out for the illusion and found empty air, they could be expected to show surprise in their faces and movements. All the 16-to 24- week -old babies tested were surprised when they reached for the illusion and found that the ball was not there.
Grown-ups also have a sense of object permanence. We know that if we put a box in a room and lock the door, the box will still be there when we come back. But does a baby realize that a ball that rolls under a chair does not disappear and go to never-never land?
Experiments done by Bower suggest that babies develop a sense of object permanence when they are about 18 weeks old. In his experiments, Bower used a toy train that went behind a screen. When 16-week-old and 22-week-old babies watched the toy train disappear behind the left side of the screen, they looked to the right, expecting it to reappear. If the experimenter took the train off the table and lifted the screen, all the babies seemed surprised not to see the train. This seems to show that all the babies had a sense of object permanence. But the second part of the experiment showed that this was not really the case. The researcher substituted a ball for the train when it went behind the screen. The 22-week-old babies seemed surprised and looked back to the left side for the train. But the 16-week -old babies did not seem to notice the switch. Thus, the 16-week-old babies seemed to have a sense of “something permanence,” while the 22-week-old babies had a sense of object permanence related to a particular object. The passage is mainly about _____.
| A．babies' sense of sight | B．effects of experiments on babies |
| C．babies' understanding of objects | D．different tests on babies' feelings |
In Paragraph 3, “object permanence” means that when out of sight, an object _____.
| A．still exists | B．keeps its shape | C．still stays solid | D．is beyond reach |
What did Bower use in his experiments?
| A．A chair. | B．A screen. | C．A film. | D．A box. |
Which of the following statements is true?
| A．The babies didn't have a sense of direction. |
| B．The older babies preferred toy trains to balls. |
| C．The younger babies liked looking for missing objects. |
| D．The babies couldn't tell a ball from its optical illusion. |
The college entrance exam is not only a big challenge (挑战) for Chinese high school students, but also a very important exam in the lives of South Korean students.
Although the long, cold winter has already started in South Korea, the annual (一年一度的) national exams have made the atmosphere very heated.
More than 675,000 South Korean high school graduates took the college entrance exam last Wednesday. They usually take exams in Korean, maths, sociology (社会学), history and foreign languages.
Officially there is one college place for every 1.33 students. But because all the students want to go to the top universities in the country, the competition can reach one place for 10 students. The students want to attend these colleges for both their famous names and better job opportunities.
Because students face fierce competition, they have to study very hard to realize their dreams. Park Seung said he and his classmates often go to school before 7:30 a.m. After school has finished at 6:30 p.m., most of them go to the library to continue their study instead of returning home. Since many libraries in South Korea are open 24 hours a day, they often stay long into the night. Many of the Senior 3 students only sleep for three to four hours a day. “I feel a lot of pressure, but I have to study very hard in order to make my dream come true. This is my lifetime goal and it will be a turning point in my life which could decide my future,” Park said.
The exam day is a very serious day for the whole of South Korea. Vehicles are not allowed within a 200-metre radius (范围) of all the test sites to make sure the students have quiet surroundings. Tooting (吹奏) of horns is forbidden, even airplanes are ordered to avoid landing and take-off near the test sites during listening comprehension test hours.
Students are told their scores in December before they apply for college. This is followed by face-to-face oral tests. There are public and private universities in South Korea. Many private universities are well-known, but their fees can be 18, 000 yuan each term. This has made a lot of students think again.What do we know about South Korean annual national exams?
| A．Senior 3 students have to compete fiercely because there is only one place for 10 students. |
| B．Senior 3 students have to stay long into night at school. |
| C．Many of the Senior 3 students can’t have enough sleep. |
| D．Airplanes are ordered to avoid landing and take-off during national exams. |
We can infer that there are almost ________ college places for high school graduates.
| A．675, 000 | B．507, 520 | C．500, 000 | D．600, 000 |
The students want to study in top colleges mainly because ________.
| A．they can succeed more easily in future | B．they can learn more |
| C．they can make more money | D．it is interesting to study there |
Before students are allowed to colleges ________.
| A．they will be interviewed | B．they will ask questions of colleges |
| C．they will not be tested any more | D．first they will pay all the education fee at all |
Long bus rides are like television shows. They have a beginning, a middle, and an end with commercials （商业广告） thrown in every three or four minutes. The commercials are unavoidable. They happen whether you want them or not. Every couple of minutes a billboard glides by outside the bus window. "Buy Super Clean Toothpaste. ""Drink Good Wet Root Beer." "Fill up with Pacific Gas." Only if you sleep, which is equal to turning the television set off, are you spared the unending cry of "You Need It! Buy It Now!"
The beginning of the ride is comfortable and somewhat exciting, even if you’ve traveled that way before. Usually some things have changed—new houses, new buildings, sometimes even a new road. The bus driver has a style of driving and it’s fun to try to figure it out the first hour or so. If the driver is particularly reckless （鲁莽的） or daring, the ride can be as thrilling （惊心动魄的） as a suspense story. Will the driver pass the truck in time? Will the driver move into the rightor the lefthand lane? After a while, of course, the excitement dies down. Sleeping for a while helps pass the middle hours of the ride. Food always makes bus rides more interesting. But you’ve got to be careful of what kind of food you eat. Too much salty food can make you very thirsty between stops.
The end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning. You know it will soon be over and there’s a kind of expectation and excitement in that. The seat of course, has become harder as the hours have passed. By now you’ve sat with your legs crossed, with your hands in your lap, with your hands on the armrests even with your hands crossed behind your head. The end comes just at no more ways to sit.According to the passage, what do the passengers usually see when they are on a long bus trip?
| A．Buses on the road. | B．Films on television. |
| C．Advertisements on the billboards. | D．Gas stations. |
What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To give the writer’s opinion about long bus trips. |
| B．To persuade you to take a long bus trip. |
| C．To explain how bus trips and television shows differ. |
| D．To describe the billboards along the road. |
The writer feels long bus rides are like TV shows because____ .
| A．the commercials both on TV shows and on billboards along the road are fun |
| B．they both have a beginning, a middle, and an end, with commercials in between |
| C．the drivers are always reckless on TV shows just as they are on buses |
| D．both traveling and watching TV are not exciting. |
The writer thinks the end of the ride is somewhat like the beginning because both are____ .
| A．exciting | B．comfortable | C．tiring | D．boring |
It doesn’t matter when or how much a person sleeps, but everyone needs some rest to stay alive. That’s what all doctors thought, until they heard about Al Herpin. Al Herpin, it was said, never slept. Could this be true? The doctors decided to see this strange man themselves.
Al Herpin was 90 years old when the doctors came to his home in New Jersey. They thought for sure that he got some sleep of some kind. So they stayed with him and watched every movement he made. But they were surprised. Though they watched him hour after hour and day after day, they never saw Herpin sleeping. In fact, he did not even own a bed. He never needed one.
The only rest that Herpin sometimes got was sitting in a comfortable chair and reading newspapers. The doctors were puzzled by his strange continuous sleeplessness. They asked him a lot of questions, hoping to find an answer. They found only one answer that might explain this question. Herpin remembered some talk about his mother having been injured several days before he was born. But that was all. Was this the real reason? No one could be sure.
Herpin died at the age of 94.The doctors came to Herpin’s home in order to __________.
| A．treat him for his illness |
| B．find the reason why some old people didn’t need any sleep. |
| C．get some proof to show his sleeplessness was not really true. |
| D．help him to have a rest in some day. |
After watching him closely, the doctors came to believe that Al Herpin ________.
| A．needed some kind of sleep. |
| B．needed no sleep at all. |
| C．was too old to need any sleep. |
| D．often slept in a chair. |
Al Herpin’s condition could be regarded as ___________.
| A．an unusual one | B．a common one |
| C．very healthy | D．very funny |
The main idea of this passage is that ____________.
| A．large numbers of people do not need sleep |
| B．everyone needs some sleep to stay alive |
| C．people can live longer by trying not to sleep at all |
| D．a person was found who actually didn’t need any sleep |
After we meet people, it is up to us to make them our friends．Let us stop a moment and consider what really makes a friend. The major qualities like faithfulness, devotion, friendliness，flash through our minds. But it is the large number of very small particular qualities that make up one’s whole character, such as cheerfulness, friendliness and punctuality. After all, “to make a friend, be a friend” is not such a big and difficult order. Ther
e are particular favorable qualities, which attract others to us, and some fundamental psychological do’s and don’ts．
If you are in the presence of a shy person, talking and asking casual questions may bring him out of his shell. Think of what would be most acceptable to the other person for you to talk, or to listen. Either way, the goal is to make yourself pleasant．
Always remember to listen, but listen intelligently. To have anyone “hang on our words” is the most unnoticeably clever way in the world to please somebody．For a few extremely happy seconds we are the center of attraction，but when it is our turn to be audience，let us remember how we felt as the actor，and let’s be genuinely interested in what the other fellow is saying．
Other people will l
ike us, if we like them. If you want friends, keep your mind and heart open to friendship. Be alive to the other person’s world．This passage is mainly about________.
| A．the way of talking to a shy person |
| B．some favorable qualities to be a psychologist |
| C．how to make yourself attractive to listeners |
| D．how to make a friend and be a friend |
The underlined part “bring him out of his shell” in the second paragraph most probably means________.
| A．make him become active | B．make him feel more nervous |
| C．help him understand the question better | D．help him listen intelligently |
According to the passage，an important way in making friends is to________.
| A．attract them | B．be attracted | C．listen attentively | D．talk widely |
Of the qualities in a friend，which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
| A．Faithfulness. | B．Devotion． | C．Punctuality. | D．Unselfishness. |
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