NEWS BRIEF
●Prime Minister Tony Blair faced new allegations (指控) on Thursday that he misled Parliament and the public in making the case for the war in Iraq after he disclosed his chief legal adviser's written opinion raising questions about the legality (合法) of the war.
●US Forest Service officials are reminding people to stay off Forest Service roads that are closed. The fine for disobeying the rule of road closures is a maximum of $ 5, 000 fine and/or six months in prison. Those who enter the area and cause road damage may also be required to pay for repairs.
●In a second study presented at the meeting, scientists from the UK and Denmark showed that even a few days of high temperatures can severely reduce production of crops such as wheat, soybeans, rice and groundnuts, if it occurs when the plants are flowering.
●A bomb exploded in Thailand's mainly Muslin south on Sunday, killing two policemen and wounding three others, a day after Thailand' s queen condemned those behind a 15-month wave of violence (暴力).
●Mechanicsburg 3, West York l: Ken Stamper and Rusty Bowman had seven kills each, and Ryan Warfield had six to lead the Wildcats past the Bulldogs, 25-11, 25-15, 15-25, 25-23, in a non-league match.The news brief covers ____.
| A．war, law, violence, culture and agriculture |
| B．sports, war, violence, politics and climate |
| C．politics, culture, violence, climate and sports |
| D．violence, sports, politics, law and agriculture |
From the news brief, we can learn that ____.
| A．the Bulldogs defeated the Wildcats by 3-1 in a non-league match |
| B．Forest Service roads are closed for repairs before they are opened again |
| C．quite a few violent accidents happened in Thailand before the latest one |
| D．the British people think the decision made by Blair about the war is of legality |
According to the U. S. Forest Service officials, those who enter the area and damage the closed roads ____.
| A．shall have to pay a $ 5,000 fine for the repairs to them |
| B．shall be fined or put in prison, and may pay for the repairs |
| C．shall be fined $ 5,000 and kept in prison for six months |
| D．shall pay a fine and repair the roads as a punishment |
The study of the scientists from the UK and Denmark is about ____.
| A．the importance of climate and the growth of crops |
| B．the damage caused by high temperatures to some crops |
| C．the relationship between crops flowering and high temperatures |
| D．the effect of high temperatures on the production of some crops |
The air bag is a piece of safety equipment in cars. It was first designed by John W. Hetrick in 1952. Like many inventions, he came up with the idea as a result of an event that had occurred in his life. He says:
“In the spring of 1952, my wife, my seven-year-old daughter, Joan, and I were out for a Sunday drive in our 1948 Chrysler Windsor. About three miles outside Newport we were watching for deer jumping across the road. Suddenly, there was a large rock in our path. I hit the brakes and we went into a ditch(壕沟).
“As I applied the brakes, both my wife and I threw our hands up to keep our daughter from hitting the car. There was soft mud in the ditch, so the car wasn’t damaged, and no one was hurt.”
“During the ride home I couldn’t stop thinking about the accident. I asked myself,‘Why couldn’t some object come out to stop you from striking the inside of the car?’As soon as I got home that night I drew some sketches(草图). Each evening for the following two weeks, I’d add or reduce something from the sketches.”
Hetrick applied an event he had observed while in the Navy to the design of the air bag. He was repairing a torpedo(鱼雷) which had a cloth covering. When the compressed（压缩的） air that was in the torpedo was let out, the covering was suddenly filled with air and was shot to the ceiling.
With this knowledge, he developed his design until he was able to obtain a patent on the invention on August 5, 1952. The idea was similar to the air bag designs of today. Compressed air is stored in a container and when a traffic accident occurs and the car slows down at a rapid enough rate, the air will be released into the air bag. The idea was ingenious, but Hetrick’s air bag never would have functioned properly. It was really a breakthrough, but it would require years and years of designing and testing by some top car designers before it could be used.The car accident Hetrick was involved in ________.
| A．damaged his car | B．happened in 1948 |
| C．was caused by a deer | D．caused no harm to his family |
Hetrick’s experience in the Navy________.
| A．turned out to be dangerous | B．was helpful to his invention |
| C．involved designing torpedoes | D．inspired him to design an air bag |
The underlined word “ingenious” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to _______.
| A．creative | B．ridiculous | C．crazy | D．complex |
What do we know about the air bag Hetrick designed?
| A．It came into use in the 1950s. | B．It performed perfectly in car accidents. |
| C．It prepared the way for air bags nowadays. | D．It took Hetrick about two months to develop it. |
The text is mainly about ____.
| A．the great inventor Hetrick | B．The invention of air bags |
| C．a terrible car accident | D．road safety in the 1950s |
While most travelers aim to stay out of the hospital while on vacation, a growing number of medical tourists－people who combine treatment with travel － are crossing international borders for the purpose of getting medical services, which can range from a hip replacement to a tummy tuck. Widespread air travel, increasing healthcare costs in developed countries, long waiting lists and an ageing world population have all contributed to a global increase in medical tourism in the past decade. And Asia takes the lead in terms of world market share.
More than 89% of medical tourists travelled to Thailand, India or Singapore in 2010, with Bangkok and Singapore leading the pack. But the cost of hotel rooms and treatment are both far more expensive in Singapore than in the Thai capital, making Bangkok the most popular place for medical tourism in the world. Even after the serious floods of 2011, 19 million tourists visited Thailand in 2011, a 20% jump from 2010, with about 500,000 tourists travelling specifically for medical treatment.
Given Thailand’s reputation for outstanding service, it is not hard to see why Bangkok has quickly become the medical tourism centre of Asia. The Tourism Authority of Thailand(TAT), which began medical tourism in 2004, has a detailed medical tourism website that lists many of the most popular treatments available, including dental work, dermatology and cosmetic surgery, as well as listing reputed hospitals, making it easy for potential visitors to decide on a procedure. TAT has also recently partnered with Krungthai Bank, the national bank of Thailand, to offer tourists a card called the Miracle Thailand Card, which offers some medical and life insurance coverage in case of an accident.
“The hospitals in Bangkok are some of the highest quality in the world，meeting US standards，”said Steven Lash, CEO of a US-based medical travel company that sends tourists to Bangkok as well as to seven other countries, including Turkey and Mexico. "All of the tourists we have sent to these hospitals have given us excellent feedback (反馈) on their procedures and their experiences at the hospitals." Medical tourism is so popular nowadays partly because_____.
| A．aged patients prefer to travel |
| B．air travel is cheaper than before |
| C．local hospitals lack advanced equipment |
| D．medical treatment is expensive in some countries |
Why is Bangkok’s medical tourism ahead of Singapore’s?
| A．Bangkok provides an excellent service at lower prices. |
| B．Medical tourists in Bangkok get high health insurance. |
| C．The local authority in Bangkok has a good reputation. |
| D．Bangkok has a detailed medical tourism website. |
The author develops the third paragraph mainly by _________.
| A．giving figures | B．Presenting effects |
| C．using examples | D．making comparisons |
Steven Lash thinks Bangkok’s hospitals_______.
| A．are really excellent | B．are welcomed by Americans |
| C．are famous mainly for their service | D．are better than hospitals in the USA |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The background of medical tourism. |
| B．The rise of medical tourism in Bangkok. |
| C．The advantages of medical tourism in Bangkok. |
| D．The comparison of medical tourism in Asian countries. |
An anxious mother watched as rescuers freed her baby from a muddy well. After being pulled from the well，the baby joyfully ran to its mom as the rescuers took a break.
It was a difficult and potentially dangerous rescue: the baby was an 8-month-old elephant, and at first its mother thought the humans were trying to harm it. The baby elephant fell into the five-foot-deep well near Kenya's Amboseli National Park. Local people had dug the well for water.
It took 30 minutes to remove the trapped elephant. While Vicki Fishlock of the Amboseli Trust for Elephants made a loud shout to frighten the mother away, two men struggled to get a rope around the baby elephant. Once the rope was in place, Fishlock used her jeep to pull the baby out.
Fishlock recognized Zombe, the mother of the trapped baby elephant，from a mark on her ear. She believes that in the end Zombe realized the humans were trying to help.
“Rescues where the elephant’s family members are around are always stressful, and I'm always happy when everyone is safe,” Fishlock said.“The reunions (团聚) always bring tears to my eyes. The depth of their love for each other is one of the things that make elephants so unusual.”
The very next day, another baby elephant fell into the same well. The 3-month-old's family had been driven away from the area by local people. Once it had been rescued, the Amboseli Trust had to send it to an elephant orphanage (孤儿院) in Nairobi, Kenya's capital city.
The rescues showed the plight of elephants across Africa. Elephants are fighting to survive, as conflicts between the animals and humans are increasing. Thousands of elephants are also being killed for their tusks. The tusks are sold in Asia, where ivory trinkets are in high demand.
The Amboseli Trust has been studying elephants and trying to help them since 1972. Fishlock said, “We hope this rescue persuades people that elephants are special and deserve to be protected and treasured.”We can learn from the text that _____.
| A．Fishlock had seen the baby elephant before |
| B．The mother elephant was a great help to rescuers |
| C．the well was dug by local people to trap elephants |
| D．the mother elephant was unfriendly at first to the rescuers |
What causes Fishlock to think that elephants are special?
| A．Their trust in humans. | B．The deep love between them. |
| C．Their great ability to survive. | D．The good communication between them. |
What did the two baby elephants have in common?
| A．They were both 8 months old. | B．They were both rescued by local people. |
| C．They were both trapped in the same well. | D．They were both reunited with their mothers. |
The underlined word "plight" in Paragraph 7 probably means“______”.
| A．a strong personality | B．A dangerous situation |
| C．an annoying habit | D．a close relationship |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．An elephant rescue | B．The elephant, an unusual animal |
| C．An elephant rescue organization | D．Conflicts between humans and elephants |
“The first and best of victories for a man is to conquer himself; to be conquered by himself is, of all things, the most shameful,” says Plato. Self-control is at the root of all the advantages. Let a man give in to his impulses (冲动) and feelings, and from that moment he gives up his moral freedom.
A single angry word has lost many friends. When Socrates found in himself any temper or anger, he would check it by speaking low in order to control himself. If you are conscious of being angry, keep your mouth shut so that you can hold back rising anger. Many a person has dropped dead in great anger. Fits of anger bring fits of disease. “Whoever the gods would destroy, they first make them mad.” “Keep cool,” says Webster, “anger is not argument.” “Be calm in arguing,” says George Herbert, “for fierceness makes error a fault.”
To be angry with a weak man is to prove that you are not strong yourself. “Anger,” says Pythagoras, “begins with foolishness and ends with regret.” You must measure the strength of a man by the power of the feelings he conquers, not by the power of those which conquer him.
Self-control is man’s last and greatest victory.
If a man lacks self-control he seems to lack everything. Without it he can have no patience, no power to govern himself; he can have no self-confidence, for he will always be controlled by his strongest feeling. If he lacks self-control, the very backbone and nerve of character are lacking too. What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Self- control is important for a man |
| B．We should learn to be strong. |
| C．A man who keeps cool won’t lose any game. |
| D．The great heroes in history knew how to control themselves. |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．If you are mad, the gods will fail you. |
| B．If you lose your temper first, gods will fail you first. |
| C．If you can’t control yourself, you will be crazy. |
| D．If the gods want to fail you, they will make you mad first. |
Which of the following is NOT true, according to passage?
| A．The first and best of victories for a man is to conquer himself. |
| B．You will make a small mistake serious if you don’t keep cool. |
| C．You must measure a man’s strength by the power of the feelings which conquer him. |
| D．Anger begins with foolishness and ends with regret. |
Which of the following can’t help you avoid anger, according to the passage?
| A．Being calm in arguing |
| B．Checking your temper or anger by speaking low. |
| C．Keeping your mouth shut |
| D．Trying to make the other angry first. |
If a man lacks self-control,______________________________
| A．He will always be controlled by all the people all the time. |
| B．He will began with foolish everything every day and lack the strength. |
| C．Moral strength and nerve of character will lack as well. |
| D．He will have power of gover himself. |
Every American family has its own traditions on Thanksgiving Day, and mine is no different. Once the national holiday arrives, my mom rises early to make the meal. She puts a turkey in the oven, chops carrots and bakes pies. I’m sorry to say that the men in the family – my dad, my younger brother and myself – rarely pitch in to help. Our job is to wash the mountain of dirty dishes after the meal is over.
Around 2 pm every Thanksgiving Day, family members seat themselves around the kitchen table. Plates of turkey, vegetables, salad, rolls and pies cover it. At this point, we can hardly keep ourselves from drooling (流口水) all over our fancy clothes, but it’s not yet time to eat.
First, we must bow our heads, close our eyes and say a prayer of thanks aloud to God for giving us everything we have. Under normal circumstances (情况), I would have no problem making a list of things I am thankful for. I grew up in a loving family. My parents, who aren’t wealthy, took out loans to help me pay for university.
But, the funny thing is, every time I sit down for Thanksgiving dinner and try to say a prayer of thanks, my mind usually goes blank. I think it has something to do with my growling (咕咕叫) stomach and all of that food sitting right there under my nose.
Eventually, though, we all finish our short prayers and dig in. To be sure, the day includes other highlights – visiting with family and watching football. But usually around 6 pm we are all ourselves stuffed like turkeys and thankful to have a nice warm bed to sleep in. The purpose of the text is to ________.
| A．tell what the family do for Thanksgiving Day |
| B．tell how the family spends Thanksgiving Day |
| C．introduce foods served on Thanksgiving Day |
| D．introduce the American Thanksgiving Day |
On Thanksgiving Day the author’s family do the following except ________.
| A．watching a movie | B．making visits |
| C．having a big meal | D．watching football |
Why does the author’s mind usually “go blank” when saying a prayer of thanks?
| A．He is too thankful to say a word. | B．His mind is on the food before him. |
| C．He feels too excited to speak. | D．He is shy to speak in public. |
The underlined phrase “dig in” in the last paragraph is closest in meaning to “________”.
| A．chat with others | B．make a hole | C．mix things up | D．start eating |
What can we conclude from the text?
| A．On Thanksgiving Day, men do nothing but eat. |
| B．The author is a middle school student. |
| C．The author’s family is not rich, but it’s a loving one. |
| D．Thanksgiving Day falls on Thursday of December. |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号