For an increasing number of students at American universities, Old is suddenly in. The reason is obvious: the graying of America means jobs. Coupled with the aging of the baby-boom (生育高峰) generation, a longer life span(寿命) means that the nation’s elderly population is bound to expand significantly over the next 50 years. By 2050, 25 percent of all Americans will be older than 65, up from 14 percent in 1995. The change brings many problems for government and society, of course. But it also creates career opportunities in medicine and health professions, and in law and business as well. “In addition to the doctors, we’re going to need more sociologists, biologists, urban planners and specialized lawyers,” says Professor Edward Schneider of the University of Southern California’s (USC) School of Gerontology (老年学).
Lawyers can specialize in “elder law” which covers everything from trusts(信托) and estates to nursing-home abuse and age discrimination. Businessmen see huge opportunities in the elder market because the baby boomers, 74 million strong, are likely to be the wealthiest group of retirees(退休者) in human history. “Any student who combines an expert knowledge in gerontology with, say, an MBA or law degree will have a license to print money,” one professor says.
Margarite Santos is a 21-year-old senior at USC. She began college as a biology major but found she was “really bored with bacteria.” So she took a class in gerontology and discovered that she liked it. She says, “I did volunteer work in retirement homes and it was very satisfying.”.“…Old is suddenly in” (Line 1, Para. 1) most probably means “_____”.
| A．America has suddenly become a nation of old people |
| B．more elderly professors are found on American campuses |
| C．gerontology has suddenly become popular |
| D．American colleges have realized the need of getting older students |
Why can businessmen make money in the emerging elder market?
| A．The elderly possess an enormous purchasing power |
| B．They can employ more gerontologists |
| C．Retirees are more generous in spending money |
| D．There are more elderly people working than before |
Who can make big money in the new century according to the passage?
| A．Retirees who are business-minded |
| B．The volunteer workers in retirement homes |
| C．Professionals with a good knowledge of gerontology |
| D．College graduates with an MBA or law degree |
.It can be seen from the passage that the expansion of America’s elderly population ______.
| A．will provide good job opportunities in many areas |
| B．will cause a heavy burden on society |
| C．may lead to nursing home abuse and age discrimination |
| D．will create new fields of study in universities |
Dogs are known for a strong sense of smell. Their noses can be trained to identify different smells. Dogs are often used in search and rescue operations and to sniff for things like drugs and explosives. Some dogs have even been trained to sniff for cancer in people.
Researchers have been trying to reproduce the extraordinary sense of smell that real dogs are born with. Now, officials at the Glasgow airport in Scotland are testing a new security device called an “electronic sniffer dog”. The electronic sniffer dog represents one of the latest developments in the area of smell technology.
A Scottish company, Cascade Technologies, joined with the French security company Morpho to develop it. The device uses lasers to identify explosive materials in gases in the air. The purpose is to identify explosives that may be hidden on a person’s body.
The machine looks similar to the metal detectors now used at airports. Passengers walk through the machine as the lasers test the surrounding air. People are not required to take off their coats, belts or shoes as part of the security process. And, unlike full-body scanners, the new device does not show images of the passengers.
Officials at Cascade Technologies say the machine can process one person per second and produce almost immediate results. They say future development could cut security processing times at airports by screening all passengers at walking speed.
Professor Yushan Yan, the head of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, points out that unlike real dogs, electronic devices do not get tired or need to be walked or require food and water. Professor Yan says real dogs also have other needs. “They also need very extensive training that could be expensive. And when they work they have to have a very skilled handler around them.”
But Professor Yan says there is an important area where man’s best friend still wins compared to technology. “In terms of sensitivity and selectivity, the current technology out there is still inferior. The real dog has amazing capability of identifying some really minor amount of explosives.” The electronic sniffer dogs will be used to____
| A．replace real dogs to be as pets for people |
| B．search for and rescue people who are in trouble |
| C．help people look after patients in the hospital |
| D．identify drugs and explosives in places like the airport |
Which of the following is true of the electronic sniffer dog?
| A．The device uses lasers to examine for explosive materials. |
| B．People have to take off their clothes when walking through the device. |
| C．The device will show images of the passengers. |
| D．The device can process all passengers at walking speed. |
The advantages of the electronic sniffer dog over the real dog include the following EXCEPT______
| A．its convenience | B．its high efficiency |
| C．its sensitivity | D．its low consumption |
The underlined word “inferior” in the last paragraph most probably has the meaning of_____.
| A．concentrating all one’s effort on a specific area |
| B．not as good as sb. / sth. else |
| C．that cannot be clearly understood |
| D．necessary for completeness |
The future of pinnipeds (鳍足动物)looks much brighter today than it once did. At one time, about 100 years ago, it seemed certain that many pinnipeds in the world would be destroyed by human hunters. Today, it appears that most species( 物种) of pinnipeds are out of danger.
Hunting was not controlled during the 18th and 19th centuries, because little was known about the lives of pinnipeds. Whales and pinnipeds were hunted for the oil from their body fat. This oil was used in lamps before electric lights were invented. Millions of seals and other pinnipeds were used to provide oil for the lamps of the world. As a result, the numbers of many pinniped species fell rapidly.
Several things happened that helped to save pinnipeds. First, species that were hunted to near extinction (灭绝) were left alone because their numbers were too low and the cost of hunting them went up greatly. At the same time, electric lights were invented and the market for seal oil became smaller. Finally, governments around the world made laws to protect pinnipeds.
As a result of all these things, the numbers of most pinniped species have grown in recent years. With some species, such as Northern fur seals, there may be as many animals alive today as there were before all the hunting began.
However, oil is still a danger to pinnipeds and all sea animals. But this time it’s not because they are hunted for their oil. The oil that puts them in danger is from oil spills(泄露) in the sea. The oil covers their fur and reduces their body temperatures. Oil also sticks to the foods they eat. This modern danger to pinnipeds and their environment is one we must work to prevent. During the 18th and 19th century, _______.
| A．people had realized the importance of pinnipeds |
| B．pinnipeds were hunted for their meat |
| C．pinnipeds had a better life than today |
| D．many families were using lamps |
What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
| A．How electric lights were invented. |
| B．When people began to protect pinnipeds. |
| C．What governments around the world have done to save pinnipeds. |
| D．Why the numbers of some pinnipeds have increased. |
It can be inferred from the passage that________.
| A．the market for seal oil is growing |
| B．Northern fur seals aren’t in much danger now |
| C．oil spills are the biggest problem for pinnipeds |
| D．stricter laws need to be made to protect pinnipeds |
In which part of a magazine can we most probably read this passage?
| A．Wildlife. | B．Lifestyle. |
| C．Tourism. | D．Environment. |
The associates I hired in my bicycle and lawn mower shop like myself were never perfect; however, they were excellent. Working with them as they improved taught me new ways to show forgiveness, understanding, and patience.
One day the placement officer asked me to interview a young man who was having trouble finding a job. He told me that David was a little shy, did not talk much and was afraid to go on with interviews. He requested that I give David an interview just for practice. He plainly told David that I had no positions open at the time and the interview was just for practice.
When David came in for the interview, he hardly said a word. I told him what we did at the bicycle shop and showed him around. I told David to keep showing up because the number one thing an employer wanted in an associate was dependability.
David was very quiet ( he was evaluated as a slow learner in school). Every ten days or so, for weeks after the interview, David walked into the bicycle shop and stood by the front door. He never said a word, just stood by the door.
One day, shortly before Christmas, a large truck came to the shop, packed with 250 new bicycles. It had to be unloaded right away or the driver would leave.
It was raining. Some of my workers (without physical limitations) chose not to brave the weather to get into work, so I was short-handed. It seemed everything was going wrong and on top of it, David came in the front door and just stood there. I looked at him and shouted, “Well, all right! Fill out a time card and help me unload this truck!”
David worked for my bicycle shop for eighteen years. He came to work every day thirty minutes early. He could talk; however, he rarely chose to. He drove my truck and made deliveries. The customers would praise David, saying, “He doesn’t talk, but he really shows you how to operate a lawn mower!”The author gave David an interview to _______
| A．find a person who is reliable |
| B．find a part-time worker in need |
| C．give him some practice |
| D．show sympathy for him |
The author finally hired David because________
| A．there were no other workers in the shop then |
| B．he needed someone who was willing to work then |
| C．David kept showing up |
| D．He realized David was dependable |
We can infer from the last paragraph that_______
| A．some customers just play jokes on David |
| B．David has had his character changed through work |
| C．the author prefers David to be more outgoing |
| D．the author feels lucky to hire David |
For about three years now, I have been writing poetry. It was not until my junior year in high school that I developed an interest, love, and skill for writing poetry.
Back in elementary school, I love to write stories. I would write stories on post-it notes and anywhere I could. Yet when I had to write a limerick （五行打油诗）for an assignment, I could not wrap my head around poetry. I had a very hard time figuring out how to rhyme words and have the words make sense. I eventually tossed the paper with the attempted limerick in the trash. I did not try my hand at poetry again until several years later.
Many years later in my freshman year of high school, my English teacher gave my class a poetry project as an assignment. I still remember my limerick assignment and was afraid of doing the poetry. For the project, we had to analyze a poem and write a response to it. I choose to respond to Robert Frost’s poem Fire and Ice. I also wrote my own poem first. I become really excited when writing the poem.
Two years later, I started writing poetry, as a hobby and for fun. To learn how good or bad my poems were, I handed them in to some magazines and contests. I won second place in the North Carolina Poetry Society’s Sherry Pruitt Award Contest with a poem called The Ocean, and had my two poems published as high merit (优等) poems. I have continued to write poetry, and have even self-published three collections of poetry in both print and e-book formats, which can be found at my store on Lulu.
Now, I love writing poetry, but I don’t hate writing short stories. I just find it more difficult and not my style of writing, even though I still write short stories occasionally.When the author was a pupil, he ____.
| A．liked writing stories |
| B．was good at writing poetry |
| C．could understand poetry well |
| D．was often praised by his teacher |
When given the poetry project in high school, the author was ______.
| A．excited | B．annoyed |
| C．confident | D．worried |
The author took up writing poetry as a hobby when he ____.
| A．was in Grade Three in high school |
| B．worked as a storekeeper |
| C．was in Grade One in high school |
| D．was at college |
How did the author increase his confidence in writing poetry?
| A．He wrote a lot of poems and asked advice from his teacher |
| B．He published three collections of poetry by himself |
| C．He submitted his poems to magazines contests |
| D．He gave up writing stories and only wrote poetry |
Ereading and ebooks are slowly conquering the world.Compared to traditional paper books，ebooks in some schools and universities attract more interest because the information flow seems much easier to manage and comes in a greatly higher quantity.
Japan is known for the reformminded attitude towards the gadget(精巧装置) world and for the fact that it is one of the first countries that encouraged in the educational system the emailing of homework.
The digital textbook looks like the logical step in the world of learning.It is natural but it is also completely untraditional.
The plan of the largest publishing companies to get in line with the trend is to save a large quantity of paper and make the kids become interested in learning using a cool gadget.Many USA universities and colleges have made students be used to the procedure of downloading the courses and of course the procedure involves interactive software and also the chance of using the computer.
The traditional education system is still unwilling when it comes to giving up books.The standard approach of information taught out of a book and Shakespeare read out of an old school novel makes studying English as traditional as it can be.
In a world where kids would rather see the movie than read a book，the digital age has brought along a completely different flavor to reading.Bringing that flavor in school will make teaching a greener and also a completely different matter.Why are ebooks so popular in the world?
| A．It's cheap to buy. |
| B．It's effective to use. |
| C．It's convenient to bring. |
| D．It's the latest fashion. |
Which of the following words can best take the place of the word “reformminded” in the second paragraph?
| A．Oldfashioned. | B．Aggressive. |
| C．Rejecting. | D．Progressive. |
In America，the students are encouraged to________．
| A．apply the procedure of downloading the courses |
| B．communicate with their teachers using computer |
| C．research some interactive software for their studies |
| D．do their homework in computer instead of in paper |
What's the author's attitude to the digital textbooks?
| A．Being against. | B．Being for. |
| C．Not mentioned. | D．Being neutral. |
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