Just the mention of the TOEFL, GRE and GAMT exams brings a thought of long hours of dull paper work. But that idea is becoming increasingly out of date. As planned, computerized tests will begin next year which will bring a series of changes from test psychology to scoring techniques.
From computer - equipped rooms, examinees will answer the questions on a computer. If they are sure about their choices, they can pass to the next question by pressing the entry(条目) “next”. Then another question will be randomly(任意地)selected from a vast test item bank and appear on the screen. After answering all the questions, examinees can choose the entry “quit” if they are not satisfied with their performance, or “score” if they want to see the result. Scores will be calculated immediately and appear on the screen. By that point, student's marks are official--there is no going back.
Since they greatly shorten the painful waiting process-which used to be two or three months, computerized tests have won worldwide popularity. Besides, there will be no rushing to the registration offices( 登记处)for these exams. Computerized tests will be given every workday in an exam center with all three kinds of tests being held in the same room. All test takers need to do is to call the exam center and book their seats for a particular day.
In addition it will become technically possible to apply new testing procedures. In the past，each examinee had the same set of test items despite differences in their ability. Under a computerized system, however, if the computer judges an answer is right, a question of a relatively difficult nature will follow. But if an examinee continues to give wrong answers and is judged as un-qualified by the computer system, he will be automatically denied the chance to go further in the test. Computerized tests allow the examinee to know their scores .
| A．immediately on a central computer for scoring test papers |
| B．a few minutes after the exam with the help of a test center worker |
| C．on the next day after they have taken the exam |
| D．immediately after the exam by means of the same computer |
If an examinee is not satisfied with his performance .
| A．he can admit defeat and give it up |
| B．he can ask the computer to give some advice |
| C．he can ask another chance within a few days |
| D．he is allowed to do it once again |
Under a computerized system, all of the following would be possible except that .
| A．different exams can be taken in the same room |
| B．one doesn’t need to rush to the registration officer for taking an exam |
| C．it will be much easier to pass an examination |
| D．one can take an exam almost at any time of the year |
The word “denied” in the last sentence most probably means .
| A．refused | B．allowed | C．lost | D．passed |
Deserts are found where there is little rainfall or where rain for a whole year falls in only a few weeks' time. Ten inches of rain may be enough for many plants to survive (存活)if the rain is
spread throughout the year, If it falls, within one or two months and the rest of the year is dry, those plants may die and a desert may form.
Sand begins as tiny pieces of rock that get smaller and smaller as wind and weather wear them down. Sand dunes (沙丘) are formed as winds move the sand across the desert. Bit by bit, the
dunes grow over the years, always moving with the winds and changing the shape. Most of them are only a few feet tall, but they can grow to be several hundred feet high.
There is, however, much more to a desert than sand. In the deserts of the southwestern United States, cliffs (悬崖) and deep valleys were formed from thick mud that once lay beneath a sea more than millions of years ago. Over the centuries, the water dried up. Wind, sand , rain, heat and cold all wore away at the remaining rocks. The faces of the desert mountains are always changing –-very, very slowly ---as these forces of nature continue to work on the rock.
Most deserts have a surprising variety of life. There are plants, animals and insects that :have adapted to life in the desert. During the heat of the day, a visitor may see very few signs of living things, but as the air begins to cool in the evening, the desert comes to life. As the sun begins to rise again in the sky, the desert once again becomes quiet and lonely.Many plants may survive in deserts when__________________.
| A．the rain is spread out in a year | B．the rain falls only in a few weeks |
| C．there is little rain in a year | D．it is dry all the year round |
Sand dunes are formed when___________________.
| A．sand piles up gradually | B．there is plenty of rain in a year |
| C．the sea has dried up over the years | D．pieces of rock get smaller |
The underlined sentence in the third paragraph probably means that in a desert there is____________.
| A．too much sand | B．more sand than before |
| C．nothing except sand | D．something else besides sand |
It can be learned from the text that in a desert____________.
| A．there is no rainfall throughout the year | B．life exists in rough conditions |
| C．all sand dunes are a few feet high | D．rocks are worn away only by wind and heat |
He was the baby with no name. Found and taken from the north Atlantic 6 days after the sinking of the Titanic in 1912, his tiny body so moved the salvage (救援) workers that they called him “our baby.” In their home port of Halifax, Nova Scotia, people collected money for a headstone in front of the baby's grave (墓), carved with the words: “To the memory of an unknown child.” He has rested there ever since.
But history has a way of uncovering its secrets. On Nov. 5, this year, three members of a family from Finland arrived at Halifax and laid fresh flowers at the grave. “This is our baby,” says Magda Schleifer, 68, a banker. She grew up hearing stories about a great-aunt named Maria Panula,42, who had sailed on the Titanic for America to be reunited with her husband. According to the information Mrs. Schleifer had gathered, Panula gave up her seat on a lifeboat to search for her five children -- including a 13-month-old boy named Eino from whom she had become separated during the final minutes of the crossing. "We thought they were all lost in the sea," says Schleifer.
Now, using teeth and bone pieces taken from the baby's grave, scientists have compared the
DNA from the Unknown Child with those collected from members of five families who lost relatives on the Titanic and never recovered the bodies. The result of the test points only to one possible person: young Eino. Now, the family sees: no need for a new grave. "He belongs to the people of Halifax," says Schleifer. "They've taken care of him for 90 years."
Adapted from People, November 25, 2002The baby travelled on the Titanic with his___________.
| A．mother | B．parents | C．aunt | D．relatives |
What is probably the boy's last name?
| A．Schleiferi | B．Eino. | C．Magda. | D．Panula. |
Some members of the family went to Halifax and put flowers at the child's grave on Nov. 5__.
| A． 1912 | B．1954 | C．2002 | D．2004 |
This text is mainly about how______________.
| A．the unknown baby's body was taken from the north Atlantic |
| B．the unknown baby was buried in Halifax, Nova Scotia |
| C．people found out who the unknown baby was |
| D．people took care of the unknown baby for 90 years |
Very old people do raise moral problems for almost everyone who comes in contact with them. Their values—this can’t be repeated too often—are not necessarily our values. Physical comfort, cleanness and order are not necessarily the most important things. The social services from time to time find themselves faced with a flat with decaying food covered by small worms, and an old person lying alone in bed, taking no notice of the worms. But is it interfering(干涉) with personal freedom to insist that they go to live with some of their relatives so that they might be taken better care of? Some social workers, the ones who clear up the worms, think we are in danger of carrying this concept of personal freedom to the point where serious risks are being taken with the health and safety of the old.
Indeed, the old can be easily hurt or harmed. The body is like a car, it needs more mechanical maintenance(机械维修，保养) as it gets older. You can carry this comparison right through to the provision of spare parts. But never forget that such operations are painful experiences, however good the results will be. And at what point should you stop to treat the old body? Is it morally right to try to push off death by seeking the development of drugs to excite the forgetful old mind and to activate the old body, knowing that it is designed to die? You can’t ask doctors or scientists to decide, because so long as they can see the technical opportunities, they will feel bound to give them a try, on the principle that while there’s life, there’s hope.
When you talk to the old people, however, you are forced to the conclusion that whether age is happy or unpleasant depends less on money or on health than it does on your ability to have fun.
1. What does the passage mainly tell us?
A. The values are different between the old and the young.
B. The moral problems raised by old people.
C. The personal freedom for the old.
D. Old people’s viewpoint on life.
2. We can know from the first paragraph that________.
A. Very old people would like to live alone to have more personal freedom.
B. Very old people are able to keep their room clean.
C. Very old people like to live with their children.
D. Social services have nothing to do with very old people.
3. According to the author, which of the following is right?
A. The older a person, the more care he needs.
B. Too much emphasis has been put on old people’s values.
C. The human body can’t be compared to a car.
D. It is easy to provide spare parts for old people.
4.The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to “________”.
A. their money or their health
B. the conclusion you come to
C. your talk to the old people
D. whether age is happy or unpleasant
Directions: Read the following passage. Answer the questions according to the information given in the passage and the required words limit. Write your answers on your answer sheet.
A political scientist from Indiana University whose work exploring how people come together to preserve their collective resources may provide important clues in the fight against climate change has become the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics.
Elinor Ostrom, 76, shares 2009 Nobel prize with fellow American academic Oliver Williamson, 77. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced to the world the pair had been chosen to win the 40th prize in economic sciences.
For Ostrom, the award came, as a "big surprise". To rise to the peak of her area of learning has been a big journey, as she has had to struggle against her own weaknesses and the barriers of the system. At school in Los Angeles, she suffered from stuttering. She also faced the barriers common to most women of her generation entering the sciences --- she was discouraged from taking a PhD when she applied for graduate school.
Her field of study has been striking for how cross-disciplinary it is. Early on she gained a reputation for bringing economics, political science and sociology together.
What interests her is how common property can be managed successfully through groups in society. The findings of her research have been striking, as the Nobel committee pointed out, because they have challenged the traditional assumption that common property is poorly managed unless it is either controlled by government or privatized. She has shown how different individuals can band together and form collectives that protect the resource at hand.
“A lot of people are waiting for more international co-operation to solve global warming.” Ostrom said , “It is important that there is international agreement, but we can be taking steps at family level, community level, civic and national level … There are many steps that can be taken. That will not solve it on their own but continuously will make a big difference.”
81. How did Ostrom feel when she got the prize? (not more than 3 words)
82. What does “cross-disciplinary” mean according to the passage? (not more than 9 words)
83. Why was Ostrom advised not to take a PhD when she applied for graduate school? (not more than 9 words)
84. Why was Ostrom awarded the Nobel prize for economics? (not more than 16 words)
Sustainable management is seen as a practical and economical way of protecting species from dying out. Instead of depending on largely ineffective laws against poaching (偷猎), it gives local people a good economic reason to preserve plants and animals. In Zimbabwe, for instance, there is a sustainable management project to protect elephants. Foreign tourists pay large sums of money to kill these animals for sports. This money is then given to the inhabitants of the area where the hunting takes place. In theory, locals will be encouraged to protect elephants, instead of poaching them because of the economic benefit involved.
This sounds like a sensible strategy, but it remains to be seen whether it will work. With corruption in these developing countries, some observers are skeptical that the money will actually reach the people it is intended for. Others wonder how effective the locals will be at stopping poachers.
There are also questions about whether sustainable management is practical when it comes to protecting forests. In theory, the principle should be the same as with elephants --- allow logging companies to cut down certain number of trees, but not so many as to completely destroy the forest.
Sustainable management of forests requires controls on the number of trees which are cut down, as well as investment in replacing them. Because almost all tropical forests are located in countries which desperately need funds from logging, there are few regulations and motive to do this.
One solution might be to confirm wood comes from sustainably managed forests. In theory, consumers would buy only this wood and so force logging companies to go "green" or go out of business. Unfortunately, unrestricted logging is so much more profitable that wood prices from managed forests would cost up to five times more --- an increase that consumers, no matter how "green", are unlikely to pay.Which of the following statements is true in understanding the "sustainable management"?
| A．Sustainable management is usually used in commercial units. |
| B．Sustainable management is more powerful than laws. |
| C．We will probably meet many problems in the course of applying sustainable management. |
| D．It is likely that sustainable management will replace the laws in protecting living things. |
The example of Zimbabwe is mentioned in the first paragraph is to ________.
| A．prove that sustainable management is ineffective |
| B．explain what sustainable management is |
| C．show that tourism there is booming |
| D．illustrate that people there are good at making money with elephants |
The phrase "go green" in Paragraph 5 probably means _______.
| A．a company begins to make money instead of being in red |
| B．making the forests always green in color |
| C．operating in ways which do not damage the environment |
| D．starting from the very beginning |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．What environmental protection mainly include. |
| B．The feasibility (可行性) of sustainable management in environmental protection. |
| C．Different people’s attitudes towards sustainable management. |
| D．How people can protect animals and plants. |
What attitude does the author take towards the sustainable management?
| A．Positive. | B．Pessimistic. | C．Negative. | D．Uncertain. |
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