Finally, a cell phone
That's…a phone
With rates as low as $3.75 per week!
“Well, I finally did it. I finally decided to enter the digital age and get a cell phone. My kids have been annoying me and the last straw was when my car broke down, and I was stuck by the highway for an hour before someone stopped to help. But when I went to the cell phone store, I almost changed my mind. The phones all have cameras, computers and a“globalpositioning”something or other that's supposed to spot me from space. Goodness, all I want to do is to be able to talk to my grandkids! The people at the store weren't much help.They couldn't understand why someone wouldn't want a phone the size of a postage stamp. And the rate plans! They were confusing, and expensive…and the contract(合同)lasted for two years! I'd almost given up until a friend told me about her new Jitterbug phone.Now, I have the convenience and safety of being about to stay in touch…with a phone I can actually use.”
Affordable plans that I can understand—and no contract to sign(签订)! Unlike other cell phones, Jitterbug has plans that make sense. Why should I pay for minutes I'm never going to use? And if I do talk more than I plan, I won't find myself with no minutes like my friend who has a prepaid phone. Best of all, there is no contract to sign—so I'm not locked in for years at a time. The USbased customer service is second to none. And the phone gets service anywhere in the country.
| Monthly Minutes |
50 |
100 |
| Monthly Rate |
$14.99 |
$19.99 |
| 911Access |
FREE |
FREE |
| Long Distance Calls |
No additional charge |
No additional charge |
| Friendly Return Policy |
30 days |
30 days |
Call now and receive a FREE gift when you order.Try Jitterbug for 30 days andif you don't love it, just return it! Why wait, the Jitterbug comes ready to use right out of the box. If you aren't as happy with it as I am, you can return it and get your money back. Call now, the Jitterbug product experts are ready to answer your questions.
Call18888098794 or visit www.jitterbugdirect.com.What made “I” finally think of getting a cell phone?
| A．Being stuck by the highway. |
| B．Being urged by his grandkids. |
| C．Being persuaded by cell phone salespersons. |
| D．Being attracted by the friendly return policy. |
On the monthly basis of100 minutes, the Jitterbug weekly rate is about ________.
| A．$3.75 |
| B．$4.99 |
| C．$14.99 |
| D．$19.99 |
An advantage of Jitterbug mentioned in the passage is ________.
| A．its discount price with a free gift |
| B．its reasonable rate plans without a contract |
| C．its“global positioning”system with 911access |
| D．its good customer service all over the world |
The main purpose of the passage is to ________.
| A．tell a customer's story of Jitterbug |
| B．provide two ways to order Jitterbug |
| C．give a brief introduction of Jitterbug |
| D．attract potential customers to Jitterbug |
Americans won’t live without cars! Each year there is an increasing number of cars on roads and streets, as millions of new cars are produced．One of every six Americans work at putting together the parts of cars, driving trucks, building roads or filling cars with gas．
Most Americans find it hard to think what life would be without a car．However, some have realized the serious problem of air pollution by cars．The polluted air is poisonous and dangerous to health．
One way to get rid of the polluted air is to design a new car that does not pollute．That’s what several large car factories are trying to do．But to build the new car is easier said than done．Progress in this field has been slow．
Another way is to take place of the car engine by something else．Engineers are now working on some new cars．Many makers believe that it will take years to develop a practical model that pleases man．
To prevent the world from being polluted by cars, we’ll have to make some changes in the way many of us live．Americans, for example, have to cut down the number of their cars they are encouraged to travel and go to work by bike．Riding a bike is thought to help keep the air clean．
But this change does not come easily．A large number of workers may find themselves with no jobs if a car factory closes down．And the problem of air pollution would become less important than that of unemployment．Large car factories are trying to build a clean car, ．
| A．which is clean itself |
| B．which is used to clean streets |
| C．which does not pollute the air |
| D．which is easier to make |
If the number of cars is cut down, the most serious problem in American workers is ．
| A．to have no work to do | B．to keep the air clean |
| C．to get a better life | D．to go to work by bike |
What is the conclusion of the writer?
| A．Bicycling is the only way out． |
| B．The number of ears must be cut down. |
| C．Cars bring us nothing but serious problems. |
| D．Cars bring us not only a better life but serious problems |
When Geoff Marcy was 14, his parents bought him a telescope. Every night, he would go onto the roof outside his window to see the wonders of the sky.
“What excited me most was whether there were planets in other solar systems where life might exist,” he says. “I decided to try to find planets orbiting other stars like our Sun.”
And he did. “My fellow researcher, Paul Butler, and I found our first planet in 1995,” Dr. Marcy says. “We worked for ten years without finding anything! But we stuck with it and our patience paid off.”
Since then, the two scientists have discovered 65 of the more than 100 planets found orbiting other stars. Dr. Marcy and Dr. Butler also spotted the first “family” of three planets. In June 2002 they announced another discovery: a Jupiter-like planet orbiting star 55Cancri.
At first, the two researchers found only planets that orbit close to stars. Recently, the scientists found planets farther out. The planet orbiting 55Cancri is a major breakthrough: it is the first sighting of a large gas planet about same distance from the star as Jupiter is from the Sun.
Why is this important? Scientists think that life on Earth may exist because of two special features in our solar system. The first is Jupiter. “Because it’s so big, Jupiter pulls comets and asteroids(小行星), or they all come and hit the Earth.” Dr. Marcy explains. “Without Jupiter, life on Earth would likely have been destroyed.”
A second feature is that Earth is a rocky planet where liquid water, which is necessary for life, can exist. Unlike gas planets, rocky planets like Earth have surfaces where water can gather in pools and seas, which may support life. A huge space exists between the Jupiter-like planet and two other planets that lie close to 55Cancri. Is there an Earth-like planet in the space, too small for us to notice? If so, says Dr. Marcy, “We would have two striking similarities to our solar system: a Jupiter-like planet and an Earth-like planet. And there may be life!”What can we learn about Dr. Marcy from the passage?
| A．He is fond of watching Jupiter. |
| B．He is from a scientist family. |
| C．He dislikes working with Paul Butler. |
| D．He is interested in finding life in outer space. |
Which of the following is true of the recent discovery?
| A．The planet is not as protective as Jupiter. |
| B．The planet is close to star 55Cancri. |
| C．The planet proves to be a gas planet. |
| D．The planet is as large as Jupiter. |
Dr. Marcy and Dr. Butler began to find new planets in ____.
| A．1995 | B．1985 | C．2002 | D．1981 |
Dr. Marcy thinks that life may exist in the 55Cancri system because ____.
| A．he has found the system similar to the solar system. |
| B．he has discovered an Earth-like planet there. |
| C．he has discovered a rocky planet there. |
| D．he has found signs of life in the system |
My students often tell me that they don’t have “enough time” to do all their schoolwork. My reply is often a brief “You have as much time as the president.” I usually carry on a bit about there being twenty-four hours in the day for everyone, and suggest that “not enough time” is not an acceptable explanation of not getting something done.
Once in graduate school, I tried to prove to one of my professors by saying that I was working hard. His answer to me was, “That’s irrelevant (无关的). What’s important is the quality of your work.” Since then I have had time to think carefully about the “hard worker” dodge (诀窍), and I have come to some conclusions — all relevant to the problem of how much time we have.
If you analyze the matter, you can identify two parts of the problem: There is, of course, the matter of “time”, which we can think of as fixed. Then there is the problem of “work” during that time. But, as my professor suggested, it’s not how hard one works but the quality of the product that’s important.
That led me to a new idea: the quality of the work. That concept is perhaps best explained by a sign I once saw on the wall in someone’s office: “Don’t work harder. Work smarter.” There is a lot of sense in that idea.
If you can’t get more time, and few of us can, the only solution is to improve the quality of the work. That means thinking of ways to get more out of the same time than we might otherwise get. That should lead us to an analysis of our work habits. Since “work” for students usually means “homework”, the expression “work habits” should be read as “study habits”.
Then, as a smart student, you will seek to improve those skills that you use in study, chiefly reading and writing. If you learn to read better and write better, there are big benefits that pay off in all your studies.From the passage, we know that the author is probably ______ .
| A．a poet | B．an educator |
| C．a novelist | D．an engineer |
We can infer from the 2nd paragraph that we students still _____ .
| A．have enough time |
| B．can meet the president |
| C．get everything done well |
| D．should accept the explanation |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The author’s students make good use of their time to do all their homework. |
| B．The author tried to tell the professor that he/she (author) had done a good job. |
| C．You can’t improve the quality of the work if you can’t get more time. |
| D．You’ll try to improve your skills in reading and writing if you’re a clever student. |
What’s the passage mainly about?
| A．Students don’t have enough time. |
| B．Don’t work harder; work smarter. |
| C．No one can get more time. |
| D．Read better and write better. |
One evening I went out and left my 17-year-old son and his girlfriend in charge of his 8-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister． I left with complete confidence that the older children would do a wonderful job of babysitting the younger children and the younger children would do a wonderful job of accompanying（陪伴）the older ones. Later, I discovered that I was completely wrong.
I had decided to return home earlier than planned so that my son and his girlfriend could go out. I called home with this happy news．But instead of hearing his cheerful, grateful voice on the other end of the line, all I heard was the sound of a telephone ringing.
It was, I should point out, after 10 p.m., when the two younger children should have been in bed, and when the two older children should have been answering the phone. “I’ll give him a lesson, ” I said．I decided they must be outside．Why they might be outside at 10:30 on a winter night I had no idea, but it was the only explanation I could come up with.
Finally, in desperation（绝望）, I called his girlfriend’s house. His girlfriend answered．“Yes,” she said brightly, “He’s right here.”
He came on the phone．I was not my usual calm, patient．After all, one of the rules of survival for modern parents is that you can’t trust modern teenagers．“Where are the children?” I said．He said they were with him．They had done nothing wrong．My son had taken the younger children over to his girlfriend’s house just for ice cream and cake． Well, it turns out that I shouldn’t have believed it．It was only part of the truth.
The following Saturday evening we were at my parents’ home, celebrating my birthday．My oldest son gave me the children’s gifts-- a series of lovely color photographs of my children, dressed in their best clothes, and wearing their most wonderful expressions. They are pictures to treasure a lifetime, all taken by the father of my son’s girlfriend.The author went out and left her eldest son in charge of the younger children because .
| A．she knew that his girlfriend was a good baby-sitter |
| B．she believed he could take good care of the younger ones with the help of his girlfriend |
| C．the older children have always loved the younger ones |
| D．she could not find a baby-sitter on that winter night |
Shortly after the author left home one evening, she discovered that .
| A．her son had brought his girlfriend home |
| B．her son had left home with his girlfriend |
| C．she shouldn’t have completely trusted her son |
| D．she should have taken the children along with her |
“It was only part of the truth.” implies that the children not only enjoyed ice-cream but also .
| A．had their pictures taken | B．received some gifts |
| C．had a birthday party | D．showed off their best clothes |
Which is the best title of this passage?
| A．An Evening Out | B．Modern Teenagers |
| C．Mother and Children | D．A Precious Birthday Gift |
Scientists added a record of 715 more planets to the list known to the world beyond the solar system, astronomers said on Wednesday, in February 2014. The additions include four planets about 0.5-2 times as big as Earth that are the right distance from their parent stars for liquid surface water, which is believed to be fit for life.
The discoveries were made with the NASA’s planet-hunting Kepler space telescope. The telescope, launched in 2009, spent four productive years observing 160,000 target stars for signs of planets passing by, within the telescope’s sight.
The numbers of planets announced at a NASA press conference on Wednesday increased Kepler’s confirmed planets from 246 to 961. Combined with other telescopes’ results, the total number of planets beyond the solar system now is nearly 1,700. “We almost doubled, just today, the number of planets known to humans,” astronomer Douglas Hudgins, head of planet exploration at NASA Headquarters in Washington, told reporters on a conference call.
Many planets’ discovery is due to a new technique that analyzes potential planets in batches rather than one at a time. The method was developed after scientists realized that most planets, like those in the solar system, have similar worlds orbiting a common parent star.
The newly found planets strengthen the evidence that small planets, two to three times the size of Earth, are common throughout the galaxy(银河系).
“Generally, wherever (Kepler) can see them, it finds them,” said astronomer Sara Seager, with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. “That's why we have confidence that there will be planets like Earth in outer space.”
Like the solar system, which has eight planets plus Pluto and other so-called “dwarf planets,” the newly found planets belong to families. But unlike the solar system’s planets, which are about 150 times farther from the sun than Earth. Most of the planets fly nearer to their parent stars than Venus（金星） orbits the sun, a distance of about 67 million miles (108 million km.)
NASA and other space agencies are designing new telescopes to discover planets in so-called “habitable zones” around their parent stars where temperatures would be suitable for liquid surface water. Two papers on the new Kepler research will appear in an upcoming issue of ‘The Astrophysical Journal’.The underlined word ‘batches’ in the fourth paragraph probably means _____ here.
| A．continent | B．program |
| C．group | D．association |
Through Kepler, Scientists have found more planets ________ throughout the galaxy.
| A．the same size as Earth |
| B．about 0.5—2 times as big as Earth |
| C．twice the size of Earth |
| D．two to three times the size of Earth |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．All the planets known to the world are believed to be fit for life. |
| B．There may be liquid surface water on some of the newly found planets. |
| C．Kepler space telescope spent four years observing 160,000 target planets. |
| D．The orbits of the newly found planets are just like those of the solar system |
Which of the following is the most suitable title for this passage?
| A．US space telescope discovers more planets |
| B．Kepler observes many new target stars |
| C．Scientists believe 715 planets fit for life |
| D．NASA finds liquid surface water on the planets |
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