Thousands of puffins(海鹦) live in Maine and on islands in the Gulf of Maine. But the puffins may be in danger. Last summer, the percentage of laid eggs that successfully produced baby puffins took a dive. Scientists also found a decline in the average body weight of the adult and baby puffins on Machias Seal Island, home to the area’s largest colony. Over the winter, dozens of the seabirds from the region were found dead, likely from starvation.
What’s causing the puffin trouble? Scientists think it may be a shortage of food. With ocean temperatures rising, fish populations have moved around. Normally, puffins’ primary food source is herring, a type of fish. A lack of herring in the area could be causing the problem.
Butterfish from the south have become more abundant in the Gulf of Maine and could be a new food source for birds. But Steve Kress says butterfish may be too big and round for baby puffins to swallow.
Puffins spend most of their lives at sea. They come ashore to breed each spring and return to the ocean in August. The chicks swim to sea about 40 days after hatching. Puffin populations stretch across the North Atlantic, from Maine to northern Russia.
Maine’s puffin population has been at risk in the past. In the 1800s, they were hunted for their food, eggs and feathers. By 1901, only one pair of puffins remained in the state. Thanks to the help of local lighthouse keepers and seabird restoration programs, the state’s puffin population has been restored to more than 2,000 birds.
Scientists aren’t sure what will happen to the Gulf of Maine’s puffins. The birds may move further north. Kress says he hopes the Gulf population will sustain itself and then he continued. “You never know what climate change will bring,” Kress said. “Historically fish could move out and more southerly fish could move in, and puffins may adapt to the new fish. Only they will know how the story will unfold.”The underlined phrase “took a dive” means _______.
| A．increased | B．arose | C．reduced | D．changed |
In the scientists’ opinion, ________ is contributing to the puffin trouble.
| A．a lack of herring | B．environmental pollution |
| C．the increase of birds | D．the huge size of butterfish |
It can be inferred from the passage that _______.
| A．Maine’s puffin once nearly became extinct |
| B．Maine’s puffins’ eggs were of high prices |
| C．baby puffins grew up quickly |
| D．the number of Maine’s puffins is worrying |
Judging from Kress’s words in the last paragraph, we know ________.
| A．climate change matters little |
| B．there is cause for concern |
| C．the new fish won’t harm puffins |
| D．puffins may move to the south |
How is the second paragraph mainly developed?
| A．By giving examples. | B．By making comparisons. |
| C．By following time order. | D．By asking questions |
If you know exactly what you want, the best route to a job is to get specialized training．A recent survey shows that companies like graduates in such fields as business and health care who can go to work immediately with very little on-the-job training．
That’s especially true of booming fields that are challenging for workers．At Cornell’s School of Hotel Administration, for example, bachelor’s degree graduates get an average of four or five job offers with salaries ranging from the high teens to the low 20s and plenty of chances for rapid advancement．Large companies, especially, like a background of formal education coupled with work experience．
But in the long run, too much specialization doesn’t pay off．Business, which has been flooded with MBAs, no longer considers the degree an automatic stamp of approval．The MBA may open doors and command a higher salary initially, but the impact of a degree washes out after five years．
As further evidence of the erosion(销蚀)of corporate(公司的)faith in specialized degrees, Michigan State’s Scheetz cites a pattern in corporate hiring practices．Although companies tend to take on specialists as new hires, they often seek out generalists for middle and upper-level management．“They want someone who isn’t constrained(限制)by nuts and bolts to look at the big picture, ” says Scheetz．
Time and again labor-market analysts mention a need for talents that liberal-arts majors are assumed to have：writing and communication skills, organizational skills, open-mindedness and adaptability, and the ability to analyze and solve problems．David Birch claims he does not hire anybody with an MBA or an engineering degree, “I hire only liberal-arts people because they have a less-than-canned way of doing things, ” says Birch．Liberal-arts means an academically thorough and strict program that includes literature, history, mathematics, economics, science, human behavior-plus a computer course or two．With that under your belt, you can feel free to specialize．“A liberal-arts degree coupled with an MBA or some other technical training is a very good combination in the marketplace, ” says Scheetz．What kinds of people are in high demand on the job market?
| A．Students with a bachelor’s degree in humanities． |
| B．People with an MBA degree from top universities． |
| C．People with formal schooling plus work experience |
| D．People with special training in engineering． |
By saying “…but the impact of a degree washes out after five years”(Line 5, Para．3), the author means ________．
| A．most MBA programs fail to provide students with a solid foundation |
| B．an MBA degree does not help promotion to managerial positions |
| C．MBA programs will not be as popular in five years’ time as they are now |
| D．in five people will forget about the degree the MBA graduates have got |
David Birch claims that he only hires liberal-arts people because ________．
| A．they are more capable of handling changing situations |
| B．they can stick to established ways of solving problems |
| C．they are thoroughly trained in a variety of specialized fields |
| D．they have attended special programs in management |
Which of the following statements does the author support?
| A．Specialists are more expensive to hire than generalists． |
| B．Formal schooling is less important than job training． |
| C．On-the-job training is, in the long run, less costly． |
| D．Generalists will outdo specialists in management． |
One mile long runway can take people across the oceans, to reach every corner of the world.
That’s the magic power of airplanes as well as airports. Similar as most airports are, some do have their unique features.
Lukla Airport
Lukla Airport, is a small airport in the town of in the town of Lukla, eastern Nepal. A program titled Most Extreme Airports, rated the airport as the most dangerous airport in the world. The airport is popular because Lukla is the place where most people start the climb to Mount Everest Base Camp. High wind, cloud cover, and changing visibility often mean flights can be delayed or the airport closed. The airport’s runway is accessible only to helicopters and small, fixed-wing, short-takeoff-and-landing aircraft. The runway is only 527m with an elevation of 2,845m.
Princess Juliana International Airport
Princess Juliana International Airport is in the country of Saint Maarten. The airport is perhaps best known for very low-altitude flyover landing approaches due to one end of its runway being extremely close to the shore and Maho Beach. The thrilling approaches and ease of access for shooting spectacular images make the airport one of the world’s favorite places among plane spotters.
Gibraltar Airport
Gibraltar Airport serves the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, a tiny peninsula with an area of only 6.8 square kilometers. The lack of flat space there means the peninsula’s only runway is bisected by its busiest road, the Winston Churchill Avenue that heads towards the land border with Spain. It is really scary that there is a four lane highway passing through the middle of the runway!
Kai Tak Airport
Kai Tak Airport was officially known as Hong Kong International Airport from 1954 to 6 July 1998, when it was closed and replaced by the new one at Chek Lap Kok, 30 kms to the west. With numerous skyscrapers and mountains located to the north and its only runway jutting out into Victoria Harbour, landing at the airport were dramatic to experience and technically demanding for pilots. The low altitude manoeuvre required to line up with the runway was so spectacular that some passengers claimed to have glimpsed the television through apartment windows along the final approach.Which of the following pictures can be a scene of Princess Juliana International Airport
All of the following can be inferred from this passage Except ________.
| A．The transportation of Winston Churchill Avenue might be affected by planes. |
| B．Lukla airport is the most dangerous airport because of extremely harsh weather |
| C．An inexperienced pilot might have difficulty landing on Kai Tak Airport |
| D．People on Maho Beach may have a good chance to view the plane flying overhead |
Which of these airports is out of business now?
| A．Lukla Airport |
| B．Princess Juliana International Airport |
| C．Gibraltar Airport |
| D．Kai Tak Airport |
Bit by bit, the sand dust that fills the sky is dying down. The blue sky and the burning sun once again hang over the desert.
He is on the road, driving his beat-up yellow cab. The sides of the road are littered with damaged vehicles. Masses of smoke in the distance tell him that a war is being dragged on throughout his country.
It’s a fine day despite the choking heat. Not a breath of wind is blowing.
A group of vehicles are traveling towards him, carrying many passengers. The scene reminds him of the market days in this country when crowds of trucks transport folks to the markets; the only difference is, this time, they are not trucks, but tanks, carrying foreigners, guns in hand. He stares at them. They stare back. So they pass by one another.
“The damned war!” he whispers bitterly. Two days ago, a bomb fell on the market in front of his house, destroying nearly everything in sight. He survived by luck. He decided then and there that he would give up this cab business. This will be his final run. After this, he will leave this place together with his wife and children.
“Shala and my children, we’ll soon meet each other again, after I’m done here.” He turns his head to take a glance at a photo of his wife and children. The glass on the frame is broken, but their smiles in the picture do not fail to provide him with the only comfort that he has.
Shortly he arrives at a checkpoint. Tanks sit by the side of the road, the sight of which sends a marked coldness through his backbone. A bunch of soldiers armed to the teeth stand by. A foreign soldier signals him to stop. He calms himself down and pulls over. During the past few days, nearly no civilian（平民）vehicles come out of the capital city, his car being the only one on roads.
A few foreign soldiers come up to him, one, two, three, four, five. The leader bends over to have a look at the old car, then at him. “Where do you come from and where are you going?” With a smile on his face, he answers with a broken speech in the tongue that the soldier can understand, “Sir, I come from the capital. I’m leaving that place because it is a very dangerous place to be, with the war and everything.”
While talking, he hands a cigarette over to the soldier, then lights it up for him.
“When will the war end?” he asks.
“It won’t take long. We’ll soon give all of you in the capital the true freedom.” The soldier breathes a deep mouthful. He seems to have spotted the photo in the car, “The cigarette is not bad at all. Are those your wife and kids? I have two of my own, roughly the same age.”
“Oh, yes, they are mine and they are constantly on my mind. They left the city a bit earlier, and I’m on my way to be reunited with them. Perhaps I’m never coming back. Driving a cab around during war times is too dangerous. I’m giving up the business.” He looks at the soldier, still smiling.
“After we overthrow your dictator(独裁者), you won’t have that to worry about. You can come back and pick up your life again.” The soldier is leaning on the door of the car. It is perhaps the first time in many days that he has seen a happy face among the local people. It cheers him up.
“Maybe, but I have to go to see my family. If you would pay us a visit, my wife will prepare a good meal for all of you. Come with me. This is going to be my last business run and I won’t even charge you.”
“Can’t make it. We’re on duty. Give our regards to your wife and kids.” The soldier is a bit excited, thinking maybe quite some locals have open arms for them after all. “Oh, yes, I almost forgot. The south is battle-infected. Where is your family?”
Still smiling, he picks up the broken picture frame, presses a kiss on the photo, then turns around, staring into the eyes of that soldier, not quite himself from excitement, and the other foreign soldiers holding guns. Words drop out of his lips slowly but firmly:
“Paradise.”
Perhaps the last thing he sees is the confused, fearful, twisted expression on the face of that soldier, and the cigarette end dropping from his fingers.
Then he pushes the button.What is this passage mainly about?
| A．A cruel war going on in the country. |
| B．A brave defender of the country. |
| C．A cab driver’s last business run. |
| D．A moving talk between a civilian and a soldier. |
According to the passage, the man’s wife ______.
| A．has already been killed by the bomb |
| B．must be the only comfort to the man |
| C．is really good at cooking local food |
| D．has managed to escape to another city |
Why does the man keep smiling while talking to the soldier?
| A．To show his kindness. |
| B．To satisfy the soldier. |
| C．To hide his true feeling. |
| D．To express his happiness. |
The underlined sentence “Come with me, this is going to be my last business run and I won’t even charge you” suggests that the man ______.
| A．treats the soldier as his friend |
| B．wants to quit his cab business |
| C．offers a free ride to the soldier |
| D．intends to kill the soldier |
Which of the following may best describe the feeling of the locals about the foreign soldiers?
| A．Fear. | B．Hate. | C．Disappointment. | D．Unconcern. |
What does it mean to say that we live in a world of persuasion? It means that we live among competing interests. Your roommate’s need to study for an exam may take priority (优先) over pizza. Your instructor may have good reasons not to change your grade.
In such a world, persuasion is the art of getting others to give fair and favorable consideration to our points of view. When we persuade, we want to influence how others believe and behave. We may not always prevail — other points of view may be more persuasive, depending on the listener, the situation, and the merit of the case. But when we practice the art of persuasion, we try to ensure that our position receives the attention it deserves.
Some people, however, object to the very idea of persuasion. They may regard it as an unwelcome interruption into their lives. Just the opposite, we believe that persuasion is unavoidable — to live is to persuade. Persuasion may be ethical (合乎道义的) or unethical, selfless or selfish, inspiring or degrading. Persuaders may enlighten our minds or get our vulnerability(脆弱之处). Ethical persuasion, however, calls on sound reasoning and is sensitive to the feelings and needs of listeners. Such persuasion can help us apply the wisdom of the past to the decisions we now must make. Therefore, the most basic part of education is learning to resist the one kind of persuasion and to encourage and practice the other.
Beyond its personal importance to us, persuasion is necessary to society. The right to persuade and be persuaded is the bedrock of the American political system, guaranteed by the First Amendment to the Constitution (美国宪法).
According to the passage, persuasion means ______.
| A．changing others’ points of view |
| B．exercising power over other people |
| C．getting other people to consider your point of view |
| D．getting people to agree with you and do what you want |
The underlined word in the second paragraph “prevail” means ______.
| A．win | B．fail | C．speak | D．listen |
The passage states that some people object to persuasion because they think it is ______.
| A．a danger to society | B．difficult to do well |
| C．unwelcome behavior | D．never successful |
The passage mainly discusses ______.
| A．that people persuade to get what they want |
| B．that people persuade in different ways |
| C．that persuasion is widely accepted and appreciated |
| D．that persuasion is important and it is all around us |
What is the nature of the scientific attitude, the attitude of the man or woman who studies and applies physics, biology, chemistry, geology, engineering, medicine or any other science?
We all know that science plays an important role in our societies. However, many people believe that our progress depends on two different aspects of science. The first aspect is the application of the machines, products and systems of knowledge that scientists and technologists develop. The second is the application of the special methods of thought and actionthat scientists use in their work.
What are these special methods of thinking and acting? First of all, it seems that a successful scientist is curious - he wants to find out how and why the universe works. He usually pays attention to problems which he notices have no satisfying explanation, andlooks for relationships even if the data available seem to be unconnected. Moreover,he thinks he can improve the existing conditions and enjoys trying to solve the problems which this involves.
He is a good observer, accurate, patient and objective and uses the facts he observes to the fullest. For example, trained observers obtain a very large amount of information about a star mainly from the accurate analysis of the simple lines that appear in a spectrum(光谱).
He does not accept statements which are not based on the most complete evidence available. He rejects authority as the only basis for truth. Scientists always check statements and make experiments carefully and objectively.
Furthermore,he does not readily accept his own idea, since he knows that man is the least reliable of scientific instruments and that a number of factors tend to disturb objective investigation.
Lastly,he is full of imaginationsince he often has to look for relationships in data which are not only complex but also frequently incomplete. Furthermore,he needs imaginationif he wants to guess how processes work and how events take place.
These seem to be some of the ways in which a successful scientist or technologist thinks and acts.
Which of the following statements about a curious scientist is TRUE?
| A．He doesn’t find confidence and pleasure in work. |
| B．He is interested in problems that are explained. |
| C．He makes efforts to investigate potential connections. |
| D．He looks for new ways of acting. |
According to the passage, a successful scientist would NOT______.
| A．easily believe in unchecked statements. |
| B．easily criticize others' research work. |
| C．always use his imagination in work. |
| D．always use evidence from observation. |
Which word can be used to describe the data that a good scientist uses?
| A．complete | B．concrete |
| C．complicated | D．confusing |
What does the passage mainly discuss?
| A．Application of technology. |
| B．Progress in modern society. |
| C．Successful scientists' ways of thinking and acting. |
| D．How to become a successful scientist. |
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