Despite the high technology and investment in flood defences by the Environment Agency, there is no way to stop all flooding -- sooner or later nature will produce something that will beat even the strongest defences.
Warning people of this danger is very important if we are to prevent the great loss of life seen fifty-three years ago. Indeed if the Flood Warning System that currently exists had been around on that cold, stormy night in January 1953, many lives would have been spared.
The Environment Agency took over the role of flood warning in 1995 from the police who had to go door to door or sound alarms to get the news out. The service is being constantly improved and a combination of better technology and increased investment following the Easter Floods of 1998 has led to the creation of Floodline and an automatic messaging system that can warn thousands of people in very little time.
Floodline 0845 988 1188 offers information and advice 24 hours a day and if warnings are in place, callers can get information either from local updates or by using a quickdial code for their area.
The Flood Warning team in Kent has also sent letters to the people living close to the rivers or the sea and invited them to join the AVM (automated voice messaging) system. Anyone choosing to take up this free service will receive a recorded message directly to their home, business or pager telling them of the level of warning, giving them as much time as possible to carry out their flood plan and save items that cannot be replaced if lost or damaged, such as photographs or children’s favorite toys.Choose the correct statements from the following according to the passage.
a. Many people lost their lives in the flood in 1953.
b. The Flood Warning system was already in use in 1953.
c. Flood defences can stop all flooding.
d. The Environment Agency began to warn people of flood in 1995.
e. Floodline was created after the Easter Floods of 1998.
| A．a, b, c | B．b, c, d |
| C．a, d, e | D．a, c, e |
What does the underlined word "pager" mean in the passage?
| A．A piece of equipment designed to receive and show messages. |
| B．A boy employed to carry luggage in hotels. |
| C．A page of papers written to offer messages. |
| D．A person, invited to write pages of messages. |
People can easily get information and advice about flood any time of the day from____.
| A．automatic messaging system |
| B．automated voice messaging system |
| C．the Flood Warning team in Kent |
| D．Floodline 0845 988 1188 |
The best title for this passage may probably be ____.
| A．Environment Agency | B．Flood Warning System |
| C．Technology In Flood Defences | D．Easter Floods |
A person has to be sixteen to drive, seventeen to see certain movies, and eighteen to vote. People can get terrific discounts on all sorts of stuff－provided they’re over sixty-five. Everywhere we look there are age limits that define what people can and can’t do. But creativity has no boundaries, no limitations. Anyone can invent. And they do. Inventors are popping up at the youngest ages.
Sitting in the car waiting for her mom to return from shopping, Becky decided she might as well try to finish her math homework. But it was growing dark and getting hard to see the paper.
“I didn’t have a flashlight, and I didn’t want to open the car door because then the whole car would light up.” recalled Becky. “So I thought it would be neat to have my paper light up somehow, and that’s when the idea came to me.”
It isn’t every day that a ten-year-old invents a product eagerly sought by several businesses, but that’s exactly what Becky Schroeder did when she created a tool that enabled people to write in the dark. Her invention? The Glo-sheet.
That night Becky went home, trying to imagine different ways of making her paper glow in the dark. She remembered all sorts of glow-in-the-dark toys－like balls and Frisbees－and wondered how they were made. She was determined to find a solution. So they very next day, Beck’s dad took her on an outing to the hardware store. They returned with a pail (桶) of phosphorescent paint. She took the paint and stacks of paper into the darkest room in the house－the bathroom. There, she experimented.
“I’d turn on the light, turn it off, turn it on,” said Becky. “My parents remember me running out the room saying ‘It works, it works! I’m writing in the dark!’ ”
She used an acrylic board and coated it with a specific amount of phosphorescent paint. She took a complicated idea and made it work rather simply. When the coated clipboard is exposed to light, it glows. The glowing board then illuminates or lights up the paper that has been placed on top. Two years after her initial inspiration, in 1974, Becky became the youngest female ever to receive a U.S. patent.
She didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet. She didn’t need to. The New York Times wrote an article about an incredible invention－patented by a twelve-year-old, and the inquiries and orders streamed in.From Paragraph 1 , we can draw a conclusion that _________.
| A．it is illegal for one to drive under sixteen |
| B．people enjoy privileges when over sixty-five |
| C．one is never too old or too young to invent |
| D．people hate the limitations that define our behavior |
What caused Becky to invent Glo-sheet?
| A．She was trying to do homework when it got dark. |
| B．She was having trouble with math problems. |
| C．She was trying to earn some money. |
| D．She was working on a school project. |
What is the meaning of the underlined words “phosphorescent paint” in paragraph 5?
| A．paint that acts as a glue |
| B．paint that covers a mark |
| C．paint that becomes hard |
| D．paint that glows in the dark |
What does it mean that Beck “didn’t actively market her Glo-sheet” according to paragraph 8?
| A．She kept the original one for her own use. |
| B．Other people came to her for the Glo-sheet. |
| C．Becky’s father tried to sell the Glo-sheet. |
| D．She gave away patent to the government. |
With which statement would Becky most likely agree?
| A．Experience is needed to be a good inventor. |
| B．Only by inventing things can you know what people need. |
| C．Always try to sell patent rights to large companies. |
| D．You never know what you can do unless you try. |
A huge cloud of dust rose and an overpass disappeared. This was the scene in Zhuzhou，Hunan Province on May 17.Nine people were killed and 16 injured.
Things were similar last year in the Sichuan earthquake. Thousands of people were buried in the ruins and lost their lives. What if we could have warned them?
People are always racking their brains to find a way of preventing buildings’ collapse. Better materials and technology help，but they are not a solution.
Just like humans，a building has its own life cycle from “birth” to “death”．If we know when a building is going to collapse，we can repair it in advance or get out of it before it falls.
Now，scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a material that turns red before it breaks. The invention could be used in things like climbing ropes or bridge supports.
The research was led by Nancy Sottos，a professor at the university’s Beckman Institute，and Douglas Davis，a graduate research assistant.
The secret behind the colorchanging material is a type of molecule (分子)．A molecule is a group of atoms held together by chemical bonds. Imagine you and your friends standing in a circle，holding hands. Each person stands for one atom，your hands represent the bonds，and the entire circle represents a molecule. If one person lets go of his or her hands，the molecule changes color.
The research team put the molecule into a soft material. When the researchers stretched the material，it turned bright red for a few seconds before it broke into two pieces. When they repeatedly stretched and relaxed the material，without breaking it，it only turned a little red.
The major problem is that light can get rid of the red color. When the team shone bright light on the molecule，the broken bond was fixed，and the color disappeared.
If the bright light keeps the red color from appearing，the material’s warning system will be useless. Scientists still have a lot of work to do before the colorchanging molecules can be used outside the lab.What does the passage mainly introduce?
| A．The collapse of an overpass in Zhuzhou，Hunan Province. |
| B．The Sichuan earthquake |
| C．A material that turns red before it breaks. |
| D．A way of preventing building from collapsing. |
The underlined words “racking their brains” in the third paragraph mean ________.
| A．suffering a lot | B．collecting beyond imagination |
| C．losing a lot | D．thinking very hard |
Which of the following is a WRONG statement?
| A．Thousands of people died from the collapse of buildings in the Sichuan earthquake because they hadn’t been warned. |
| B．There is no building that will never collapse. |
| C．A new material has been applied to buildings to warn people of collapse. |
| D．A colorchanging material can turn red before it breaks. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The colorchanging molecules are certain to be used outside the lab. |
| B．There will be no collapse with the help of the colorchanging material. |
| C．There is a long way to go before the material can be applied. |
| D．The problem caused by bright light will be solved by scientists. |
A tent can be one of the more costly items on your camping equipment shopping list. It is definitely something that you need to consider carefully.
By seeing a tent for real you will be able to get a better impression of its size and construction in the traditional shop. However，the downside is that，unless you are experienced，you may miss out some of the details that the manufacturer’s promotional material makes clear. Cheap tents often look similar to the quality models they are mimicking(模仿)，but you can be sure that they use inferior(次的) materials and probably have lower design standards.
Shop staff are often campers themselves. That means they usually can give lots of advice. If a shop assistant agrees with your own conclusions，that will be great；if they try to change your decision with a clear and reasonable argument，then that will be worth considering；if they just try to bamboozle(欺骗)，or even bully，you then walk away.
The Internet is a wonderful tool，and so long as you know how to make the most of search engines and put in a little effort，you really have the perfect answer waiting to be found. That answer will be different for every camper as each of us has different needs. Don’t be surprised to see your favorite criticized somewhere，but if you see too much criticism，then you had better start thinking again. No problem. You won’t have spent anything yet，so think of it positively as a large expense saved.
Probably the best approach，if you have the time，is to research tents online and make a short list. Then try to inspect those tents at nearby shops. Then you can make a final decision on where to buy your chosen model based purely on total cost.The underlined word “downside” in Paragraph 2 means “________”．
| A．disadvantage | B．instruction | C．argument | D．principle |
It can be concluded from the third paragraph that________.
| A．shop assistants usually enjoy going camping |
| B．shop assistants usually have practical advice |
| C．you should consider your idea repeatedly |
| D．it is impolite for you to trouble shop assistants |
You can make use of the Internet to________.
| A．meet your different needs |
| B．find the answer for every camper |
| C．help you out of trouble |
| D．find your favorite tent |
Which of the following would be the main idea of this passage?
| A．It is good to buy your tent in the traditional shop. |
| B．You’d better buy a tent with the help of the Internet. |
| C．Better buy a tent combining seeing tents for real in shops and researching them online. |
| D．Going camping is really beneficial to your health. |
I am a good mother to three children. I have tried never to let my profession stand in the way of being a good parent.
I no longer consider myself the center of the universe. I show up. I listen. I try to laugh. I am a good friend to my husband. I have tried to make marriage vows (誓约) mean what they say. I am a good friend to my friends, and they to me. Without them, there would be nothing to say to you today.
So here's what I wanted to tell you today: get a life. A real life, not a desire of the next promotion (提升), the bigger paycheck, the larger house.
Get a life in which you are not alone. Find people you love，and who love you. And remember that love is not leisure(休闲) but work. Pick up the phone. Send an email. Write a letter. And realize that life is the best thing and that you have no business taking it for granted.
It is so easy to waste our lives，our days，our hours，and our minutes. It is so easy to exist instead of living. I learned to live many years ago. Something really，really bad happened to me，something that changed my life. If I had my choice，it would never have been changed at all. And what I learned from it is what，today，seems to be the hardest lesson of all.
I learned to love the journey，not the destination. I learned to look at all the good in the world and tried to give some of it back because I believed in it，completely and totally. And I tried to do that，in part，by telling others what I had learned.
By telling them this：read in the backyard with the sun on your face. Learn to be happy. And think of life as a deadly illness，because if you do，you will live with joy and passion(激情) as it ought to be lived.How did the author form her view of life?
| A．Through social experience. |
| B．By learning from her friends. |
| C．Through an unfortunate experience. |
| D． From her children and husband. |
By the underlined sentence “It is so easy to exist instead of living.” in the fifth paragraph，the author really means that people tend to________.
| A．make a living rather than live a real life |
| B．work rather than enjoy life |
| C．waste a lot in life |
| D．forget the most important lesson in life |
What’s the author’s attitude toward work?
| A．Do it well to serve others. |
| B．Earn enough money to make life better. |
| C．Try your best to get higher position and pay. |
| D．Don’t let it affect your real life. |
It can be inferred from the passage that________.
| A．the author is a success in personal life |
| B．the author doesn’t try her best to work well |
| C．the author spends all her time caring for her children |
| D．the author likes traveling very much |
A few days ago，I went to school with lots of books，hoping to get a locker (锁柜)．Suddenly，it started raining heavily. I hurried to pay for my locker，but I was disappointed when they informed me they only accepted cash. I was $7.00 short，which meant I had to carry the books back home. It would be an exhausting (令人筋疲力尽的) twohour journey back home with all those books.
An elderly gentleman nearby noticed my problem. He asked how much cash I needed. When I told him I was $7 short，he quickly took out the money from his wallet. “You don’t have to pay me back，”he said. I was speechless；I didn’t know whether to take the money or come back with the books the next day. A young student who was working there noticed my hesitation. “He’s really nice，” said the student. “I was starving this morning and he bought breakfast for me. He always helps people in different ways.”
The next day，I went to him and thanked him for trusting me and lending me the money. He said he forgot about it and didn’t expect I would give it back. “I’m very happy，”he said，“not because I’m getting my money back，but because this is the right way to go—whatever you get from this world，give it back as much as you possibly can. Spread kindness around the world with the smallest things you can do.”
Later，I found out he wasn’t involved with any charity organizations. He has been performing these types of acts for years. Earlier，someone had done something incredibly kind for him and he has been spreading the kindness ever since. He taught me a very important lesson in life—we come to this world with nothing and we will leave with nothing. Whatever we own，it will become somebody else’s and whatever we leave，it will become somebody else’s.When the old gentleman offered the money，the writer was________.
| A．touched | B．hesitant | C．amazed | D．embarrassed |
From Paragraph 3 we learn that________.
| A．the gentleman worked in the school |
| B．the gentleman was kind but forgetful |
| C．the gentleman refused to take back the money |
| D．the gentleman thought it right to give back to society |
Why had the gentleman been doing acts of kindness?
| A．He wanted to join the charity organizations. |
| B．He managed a lot of other people’s money. |
| C．He had received help from others before. |
| D．He thought money was of little importance. |
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