Computer programmer David Jones earns ￡35,000 a year designing new computer games, yet he cannot find a bank ready to let him have a credit card(信用卡). Instead, he has been told to wait another two years, until he is 18. The 16yearold works for a small firm in Liverpool, where the problem of most young people of his age is finding a job. David' s firm releases(推出) two new games for the fast growing computer market each month.
But David's biggest headache is what to do with his money. Even though he earns a lot, he cannot drive a car, take out a mortgage(抵押贷款),or get credit cards. David got his job with the Liverpoolbased company four months ago, a year after leaving school with six Olevels and working for a time in a computer shop.“I got the job because the people who run the firm knew I had already written some programs,”he said. David spends some of his money on records and clothes, and gives his mother 50 pounds a week. But most of his spare time is spent working.
“Unfortunately, computing was not part of our studies at school,”he said.“But I had been studying it in books and magazines for four years in my spare time. I knew what I wanted to do and never considered staying on at school. Most people in this business are fairly young, anyway.”David added：“I would like to earn a million and I suppose early retirement(退休) is a possibility. You never know when the market might disappear.”In what way is David different from people of his age?
| A．He often goes out with friends. |
| B．He lives with his mother. |
| C．He has a handsome income. |
| D．He graduated with six Olevels. |
What is one of the problems that David is facing now?
| A．He is too young to get a credit card. |
| B．He has no time to learn driving. |
| C．He has very little spare time. |
| D．He will soon lose his job. |
Why was David able to get the job in the company?
| A．He had done well in all his exams. |
| B．He had written some computer programs. |
| C．He was good at playing computer games. |
| D．He had learnt to use computers at school. |
Why did David decide to leave school and start working?
| A．He received lots of job offers. |
| B．He was eager to help his mother. |
| C．He lost interest in school studies. |
| D．He wanted to earn his own living. |
Your youngest son or daughter has just graduated from high school, and soon he or she will trade his or her bedroom in your home for a college residence hall. You’re starting to worry about the coming silence in your home and are wondering how you will fill the hours that you previously spent with your son or daughter attending his or her school and sporting events.
Take heart — the empty nest “is often worse in anticipation (预料) than in day-to-day practice”, says psychologist Bert Hayslip Jr.
Hayslip, who has studied retirement adjustment (调整) and other aging problems, such as aging sleeplessness, for many years, points out that, more often than not, children who leave do not completely cut off contact with their parents. He advises parents to think of it as a series of life events, instead of a sudden change. He also says an empty nest can cause bigger problems to surface “if a couple hasn’t looked after their marriage while raising their children”. According to Hayslip, some couples may find they no longer have anything in common once the children are out of the house.
Thinking of an empty nest as the loss of children makes the adjustment more difficult. “With the empty-nest syndrome (综合症), parents actually need to deal with the loss of the parenting control over children, not with having really lost their children,” Hayslip says. “They just have to find a new way to get along with their children.”
“Relating to their college-age children in this new way will come easily to parents as the months pass. As with many things, the passage of time heals the pain of loss,” Hayslip says.What does the “empty nest” mean?
| A．Children’s cutting off contact with their parents. |
| B．Children’s not liking spending time with their parents. |
| C．Children’s growing up and leaving home. |
| D．Children’s not accepting parents’ care and love. |
What does the underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．Retirement adjustment. | B．Aging problem. |
| C．Sleeplessness. | D．The reality of empty nest. |
Why do many parents find it hard to adjust to the empty-nest life？
| A．Because they think they have actually lost their children. |
| B．Because they often disagree with their children on many things. |
| C．Because their children completely cut off contact with them. |
| D．Because these parents don’t have anything in common. |
According to Hayslip, what parents actually lose in an “empty nest” is _______.
| A．their children’s love for them |
| B．their control over children |
| C．their interest in life |
| D．their contact with children |
When the Farnsworth family moved to their new farm in 1919, eleven-year-old Philo was surprised to find it wired for electricity. This unusual circumstance contributed to his fate — to become an important inventor of the twentieth century.
By thirteen, Farnsworth had become a self-taught electrical engineer. He was able to fix the farm’s generator（发电机）when none of the adults could. In 1922, he read an article about a new idea of John Baird, a Scottish scientist, who had been working with the cathode ray tube (阴极射线管) for the transmission of electronic pictures and wanted to attempt it himself.
Farnsworth studied everything he could find on the subject. Although many older engineers with money backers were already developing television, Farnsworth made a bold decision — he was going to perfect a working model of it before anybody else.
In college, Farnsworth continued his research with cathode ray and vacuum tubes, but the death of his father, the only money maker in the family, forced him to give up this research and find a job. His first job was for George Everson, with whom Farnsworth discussed his dream of television. While acknowledging the achievements of those who came before, Farnsworth thought that he could get closer. Everson agreed to risk $6,000 for the research.
Backers came in 1927 to see the first American television, one year after Baird’s. They were astonished to see the image of a single white line resolve itself on the screen before them, and agreed that this new invention was worth putting money into.
In 1930, Farnsworth won a patent (专利权) for his all-electronic TV. By the time he died, he had earned over 300 American and foreign patents for electronic and mechanical devices. When Farnsworth was at a young age, he _______
| A．had to drop out of school to help on the family farm |
| B．was sent to school to study electrical engineering |
| C．wanted to be the first person to invent the television |
| D．had shown a surprising ability in the electrical field |
What difficulty did Farnsworth meet when he first began his research on the television?
| A．His parents didn’t support his work. |
| B．He didn’t have enough knowledge in this field. |
| C．He didn’t have enough money for his research. |
| D．No one was interested in this research. |
How old was Philo Farnsworth when he invented the first American television?
| A．11. | B．13. | C．19. | D．22. |
From the passage, we can learn that Farnsworth is ______.
| A．the first person who worked for the transmission of electronic pictures |
| B．an inventor who improved on somebody else’s idea |
| C．an inventor who always came up with an original idea |
| D．a person who earned over 300 American patents for electronic devices |
What makes a person a scientist？Does he have ways or tools of learning that are different from those of others？The answer is “no”. It isn’t the tools a scientist uses but how he uses these tools which make him a scientist. You will probably agree that knowing how to use a power is important to a carpenter(木匠).You will probably agree，too，that knowing how to investigate(调查)，how to discover information，is important to everyone. The scientist，however，goes one step further；he must be sure that he has a reasonable answer to his questions and that his answer he gets to many questions is into a large set of ideas about how the world works.
The scientist’s knowledge must be exact. There’s no room for half right or right just half the time. He must be as nearly right as the conditions permit. What works under one set of conditions at one time must work under the same conditions at other times. If the conditions are different，any changes the scientist observes in a demonstration(实证)must be explained by the changes in the conditions. This is one reason why investigations are important in science. Albert Einstein，who developed the Theory of Relativity，arrived at this theory through mathematics. The accuracy(正确性)of his mathematics was later tested through investigation. Einstein’s ideas were proved to be correct. A scientist uses many tools for measurements. Then the measurements are used to make mathematical calculations(计算)that may test his investigations.What makes a scientist according to the passage？
| A．The tools he uses. | B．His ways of learning. |
| C．The way he uses his tools. | D．The various tools he uses. |
“...knowing how to investigate，how to discover information，is important to everyone.” The writer says this to show_______.
| A．the importance of information |
| B．the difference between scientists and ordinary people |
| C．the importance of thinking |
| D．the difference between carpenters and ordinary people |
A sound（合理的） scientific theory should be one that_______.
| A．works under one set of conditions at one time and also works under the same conditions at other times |
| B．doesn’t allow any change even under different conditions |
| C．leave no room for improvement. |
| D．can be used for many purposes |
What is the main idea of the passage？
| A．Scientists are different from ordinary people. |
| B．The Theory of Relativity. |
| C．Exactness is the core(核心)of science. |
| D．Exactness and way of using tools are the keys to making of a scientist. |
Newspapers in Great Britain vary greatly in their ways of carrying the news. There are serious papers for those who want to know about important happenings everywhere, both at home and abroad. There are popular newspapers for those who prefer entertainment to information.
The London newspaper that is best known outside Great Britain is probably the Times. It began in 1785, and is well accepted for believable news and serious opinions on the news. It calls itself an independent paper, which means that it does not give its support to a particular political party. Its leading articles give the opinions of the editors, not those of the owners of the paper.
Letters to the editor are printed in the newspaper. These parts of the Times are always interesting. Most of the letters are serious subjects. But from time to time there will be long letters on the subject which is not at all serious, perhaps on a new fashion of dress, or the bad manners of the young people, compared with manners of thirty years ago. If you want to get pleasure, please buy yourself .
| A．a serious newspaper | B．foreign newspaper |
| C．any independent paper | D．a popular newspaper |
The Times is an independent paper because .
| A．it supports no political parties |
| B．it is not controlled by the British Government |
| C．it gives special support to all the political parties. |
| D．the editor’s opinions are not examined by the owners of the paper |
The underlined word “vary” in the passage probably means “ ”.
| A．improve | B．compete with each other |
| C．are different | D．keep in touch with each other |
Across the planet there are millions of people who engage in some type of meditation, the practice of concentrating and clearing the mind to bring the body into a state of peace, at least a semi-regular basis. For some, particularly among practitioners of Eastern religions such as Buddhism and Hinduism, this is part and parcel of their religious practice.
For others, particularly in Western cultures, meditation tends to be a response to stress. With the world economy approaching meltdown and people worried about their job or their ability to keep their home, it’s a way for people to attain a state of peace of mind and well-being.
For those interested in taking up the practice, instruction in meditation for beginners can be found in literally thousands of sources.
One of the most popular styles of mediation in the West, with classes offered in most major cities, is called Transcendental Meditation. TM, as it is known among its practitioners, first came to worldwide attention when the Beatles began practicing it in 1967. For direct, guided, personal instruction in meditation for the beginner, TM may be the hallmark.
Part of the confusion about how to practice meditation effectively is due to the fact that there are literally hundreds of techniques championed by various groups and individuals. As a general principle, it might be said that all meditation techniques seek to have the practitioner attain a state of consciousness that is different to our ordinary state of awareness. They attempt to train people to clear their minds and achieve a sense of inner peace. It sounds simple enough, but of the huge number of people experiment with meditation, very few are able to maintain its practice over the long haul. In most cases, this is due to frustration over the inability to experience any dramatic, instantly recognizable effects.
This is quite a sad state of affairs, that so few these days are willing or equipped to persist in something that doesn’t provide immediate life-changing results. It reflects a culture in which demands for discipline and sustained effort are considered unnecessary or even unfair. It is no surprise therefore that many people abandon their efforts at meditation before they have a chance to bear fruit.
But for anyone who does decide to take up this worthwhile practice, please remember. You must clear your mind, relax and “take it as it comes”. Maintain the practice with a sense of discipline and devotion, and eventually benefits of inner peace and calm will be yours. The underlined part “part and parcel of” in paragraph 1 is nearest in meaning to ________.
| A．closely associated with | B．an important element of |
| C．very different to | D．usually sent from |
The goal of meditation is ________.
| A．to develop a technique | B．to practice a religion |
| C．to clear the mind | D．to carry out an experiment |
What can we infer about meditation from the passage?
| A．It has two main types. |
| B．Its benefits are not immediately obvious. |
| C．It is practiced by many famous artists. |
| D．Most people find it a very good way to relax. |
According to the writer, what has attracted many Western people to meditation practices in recent years?
| A．Their improved understanding of foreign culture. |
| B．The need to fill in their growing free time. |
| C．Migration from countries in which meditation is traditional. |
| D．Increasing employment instability. |
Who is the probable audience for this article?
| A．People interested in starting to learn meditation. |
| B．Experienced meditation practitioners. |
| C．Buddhists and Hindus. |
| D．People who are very religious. |
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