Motorists who used to listen to the radio or their favorite tunes on CDs may have a new way to entertain themselves, after engineers in Japan developed a musical road surface.
A team from the Hokkaido Industrial Research Institute has built a number of "melody roads," which use cars as tuning forks (音叉) to play music as they travel.
The concept works by using grooves (凹槽). They are cut at very specific intervals in the road surface. The melody road uses the spaces between to create different notes.
Depending on how far apart the grooves are, a car moving over them will produce a series of high or low notes, and designers are able to create a distinct tune.
Paten documents for the design describe it as notches (刻痕) "formed in a road surface so as to play a melody without producing simple sound or rhythm and reproduce melody—like tones".
There are three musical strips in central and northern Japan—one of which plays the tune of a Japanese pop song. Reports say the system was invented by Shizuo Shinoda. He scraped some markings into a road with a bulldozer (推土机) before driving over them and found that they helped to produce all kinds of tones.
The optimal speed for melody road is 44kph, but people say it is not always easy to get the intended sound.
"You need to keep the car windows closed to hear well," wrote one Japanese blogger. "Driving too fast will sound like playing fast forward, while driving around 12 mph [20km/h] has a slow-motion effect, making you almost car-sick." According to the passage, melody roads use __________ to create different notes.
| A．cars | B．grooves |
| C．spaces between intervals | D．bulldozers |
We can learn from the passage that the highness of notes is depended on __________.
| A．how far the grooves are | B．how big the grooves are |
| C．the number of the grooves | D．the speed of the car |
The underlined word "optimal" in the passage might mean __________.
| A．fastest | B．possible | C．best | D．suitable |
What's the best title of the passage?
| A．A New Type of Music | B．Melody Roads in Japan |
| C．A Musical Road Surface | D．A New Invention in Japan |
In our life, we face situations where we are either asked to choose between trust and disbelief. Many of us would say we have to choose trust over disbelief. Actually we are given intellectual(智力的) power to choose what we want, and what we choose certainly need not be the one that sounds pleasing. That is, we can choose both trust and disbelief, but we have to know when to choose between these two.
We should all realize that we are living in a world which is unfortunately mixed with people of various types. We have been given the power of judging who we are working with and who we are partnering with. We cannot give an excuse for believing a scheming(诡计多端的)person, just because he looked or sounded nice, unless we consider ourselves mentally unskillful.
This world was there before us and it does not owe us a single thing. We are asked to take care of ourselves and our belongings. Trust, too, has to be saved for the deserving(值得的) people. When we give trust universally to all, we end up troubled by the undeserving common cheat. People say trust is life. True! But only wisely exercised trust is life.
When we start a conversation with someone, the first things that we usually notice would be their dress, behavior, style and their language. What sometimes we all forget to look at is the person’s intention. Now how to look at a person’s intention is a lesson everybody has to learn for themselves in their own way -- there is no single standard for it. But it is certainly possible to discover the purpose if we seek a little bit more.
Certainly a false offer of friendship or guidance cannot stand undiscovered for long; we are therefore called to exercise disbelief over trust at least momentarily till we find out that we certainly are in agreement with a mutual(相互的)good-willed person.
The world teaches you lots of lessons and if we are willing, we can learn all that we want.In the first paragraph, the author ________.
| A．concentrates on the reason why we make different choices |
| B．focuses on how to choose between trust and disbelief |
| C．suggests that trust should be wisely exercised |
| D．implies that people are forced to make the choice |
. We can infer from the passage that _________.
| A．people who we are working with are in fact those who we are partnering with |
| B．the first thing we notice tends to mislead our judgment |
| C．the mentally healthy people will not judge a person by his looks |
| D．the standards of looking at a person’s intention are not various |
. The underlined sentence means __________
| A．trust and disbelief go hand in hand with each other. |
| B．disbelief is necessary if you aren’t wise |
| C．trust is established if two people know each other |
| D．doubt may serve as the precondition for trust |
Which of the following can serve as the best title for the passage?
| A．Trust or Disbelief? | B．Trust Is Life. |
| C．Trust over Disbelief? | D．Disbelief over Trust? |
| From: |
<joseph_yana@orange.net> |
| IP Address: |
193.252.22.118 (originates from France) |
| Date: |
Mon, 02-Feb-2011 09:37:04am |
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| Subject: |
[G-Spam] PLEASE REPLY BACK. |
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| CONFIDENTIAL BUSINESS PROPOSAL. FROM THE DESK OF: MR. JOSEPH YANA. AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK (ADB) BURKINA-FASO. Dear Sir / Madam, I am the Bill and Exchange (assistant) Manager of the African Development Bank, MR. JOSEPH YANA. In my department I discovered an abandoned sum of USD$9.900.000 in an account that belongs to one of our foreign customers who died along with his wife and two children in July 2002 in a plane crash. Since we got information about his death, we have been expecting his next of kin(近亲属) to come over and claim his money, but unfortunately we learnt that all his supposed next of kin or relation died alongside with him in the plane crash leaving nobody behind for the claim. It is therefore upon this discovery that I in my department now decided to make this business proposal to you and release the money to you as next of kin or relation since nobody is coming for it and we don't want this money to go into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The banking law and guidelines here says that if such money remains unclaimed after ten years, the money will be transferred into the bank treasury as unclaimed fund. The request of the foreigner in this transaction（办理） is necessary because our late customer was a foreigner. We agree that 30% of this money will be for you as foreigner partner, 5% will be set aside for expenses incurred during the business and 65% would be for me, after which I shall visit your country for disbursement(开支) according to the percentages indicated. Therefore to enable the immediate transfer of this fund to you as arranged, you must apply first to the bank, and send your account number, your private telephone and fax number for easy and effective communication and location where the money will be sent. Upon receiving your reply, I will send to you by fax or e-mail the text of the application which you shall retype and fax to us. Trusting to receive your urgent reply through my alternative Email : jyana96 @ yahoo.com.id Best regards. MR. JOSEPH YANA. |
A foreigner who receives this letter should ________.
A．be a close relative of the dead. |
B．send hundreds of dollars to Africa |
C．go to African Development Bank for the wealth |
D．not take it seriously. |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．Many millionaires died in the plane crash. |
| B．Any money unclaimed will be given to a poor foreigner. |
| C．the division of the money seems quite reasonable. |
| D．AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT BANK doesn’t exist at all. |
A person who believes “__________” will fall into it.
| A．Nothing ventured, nothing gained. | B．There's no such thing as a free lunch. |
| C．All rivers run into the sea | D．A short cut is often a wrong cut |
While surfing television channels over the weekend，a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us — from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism(消费主义) — are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling?
Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years?
Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior — India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement!
A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households’ financial savings is put into a “safe” deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds（福利基金） and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into “risky” assets(资产) like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation(通货膨胀). The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point. What had not changed much over the many years according to the passage?
| A．Value systems | B．The poor situation of retirees |
| C．Economic freedom | D．Approach to consumerism |
Which of the following statements about saving in India is right?
| A．the concept of saving has been well received by Indians. |
| B．the amount of the savings ranks number one across the world. |
| C．long-standing savings can help the retirees live a care-free life. |
| D．saving early can not benefit people at all. |
What can be inferred according to the last paragraph?
| A．Half of the financial savings in stocks can be accepted. |
| B．The real value of saving must be lowered in a few years. |
| C．A loss of savings may hardly be avoided. |
| D．Inflation can be avoided on condition that you consume instead of saving. |
What’s the best title of the text?
| A．Retirees being treated unfairly |
| B．Is saving enough |
| C．Saving in India |
| D．How to deal with saving |
Many schools have established successful home visit programs. Home visits by teachers let parents and children know how much teachers care. Also, it is a way for teachers to learn more about their students , get the parents to pay more attention to th
eir children’s educati
on and bridge cultural gaps that might exist between students and teachers. Most teachers report that their home visits have a lasting effect on the child, the parents and on parent—teacher communication.
The Head Start program has used home 
visits for many years. Head Start teachers are required to make at least two home visits for each student, regardless of their ability, during each school year in addition to regular parent-teacher conferences at school. Many U.S. kindergartens also require home visits by 
teachers before school starts.
The visit approach varies from school to school and usually depends on the funding the source. In some schools, teachers prefer to visit in pairs. They feel more comfortable that way and sometimes need a translator in order to communicate with a child’s parents. Other teachers visit one-on-one with parents. Some interact with both the child and the parent. Many teachers may bring along learning activities for the child that also involve the parents participation. Normally, visits can last from 30 to 90 minutes, depending on the teacher and the activities.
When teachers get to know their students and their students’ families, the parents become more active in their children’s education. Home visits, not unnecessary as some people think, can give teachers the ideas they need to help all students succeed. Home visits by teachers can
| A．bridge cultural gaps existing between parents and teachers. |
| B．get students know that their teachers care about their parents. |
| C．get parents involved in their children’s education. |
| D．help establish good relationships between parents and children. |
From the second paragraph we know that home visits
| A．are not a new idea |
| B．are traditionally done by teachers before school starts |
| C．are meant for students with low marks |
| D．have replaced parent-teacher meeting |
What is the third paragraph about?
| A．Reasons for home visists |
B．Forms of home visits |
| C．Advantages of home visits |
| D．Tips for home visits |
What is the effect of home visits?
| A．Parents have more opportunities to play with children |
| B．Students can succeed more easily through their own efforts. |
| C．Parents play a decisive role in children’s education. |
| D．Teachers can learn more about how to help students. |
Every day Shairley tries to make at least one person she knows happy. For years she has become addicted to this and she can’t pass a day without making someone happy.
This started when she was 11 years old. That year, she wanted to travel to see her best friend. After she saved all the money needed, she packed her bags and went to the airport. By the time she got to pay for her ticket,she realised that her purse had been stolen.
She went to the restroom and cried. While she was in the restroom stall and totally at a loss what to do, someone knocked on the door. “Leave me alone” was the sentence she said over and over again after hearing the repeated knocking. After a long time, she opened the door and went out only to find an envelope at her feet. She opened the envelope and found a letter. It said,
“Dear child, you locked yourself inside and avoided facing the people who were outside and you might miss this letter. Reading it now means that after all you decided to face the outside world again. Never lock yourself in for any reason ! Never lose hope ! Never forget to trust yourself. Be a reason for other people’s smiles, sow hope in their hearts and you will gain your happiness in your own heart.”
She folded the letter to put it in the envelope only to discover that inside were a window seat ticket and double the money she needed. So she traveled and told the story to everyone she met. She said.“ From that day on ,I took it as my task, half for me and half for someone’s happiness.”Shirley found that her money had been stolen .
| A．when she was heading for the airport |
| B．when she was buying a ticket |
| C．after she packed her bags |
| D．when she went to the restroom |
Why didn’t Shirley open the door of the stall when she heard the knocking?
| A．Because she was disappointed and at a loss. |
| B．Because she was afraid of the person outside. |
| C．Because she wanted to keep calm by being alone. |
| D．Because she was crying and didn’t hear the knocking. |
What did Shireley learn from the letter?
| A．A letter is powerful enough to make one smile. |
| B．Face the outside world and never lose hope. |
| C．She should always notice who is outside her door. |
| D．She should try to make herself happy first and then others. |
We can learn that after reading the letter, Shirley was
| A．interested | B．disappointed | C．ashamed | D．encouraged |
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