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With America's national debt continuing to climb, Congress is constantly debating ways to save money. The Dollar Coin Alliance, a lobbying group, says billions could be saved if dollar coins were used instead of paper bills.
But many people won't use them. The U.S. government tried to push dollar coins again in recent years, but then suspended almost all production in 2011.
American likes paper dollars, but Jim Kolbe, co-chairman of the Dollar Coin Alliance, thinks switching to the coin is worth it.
“The coin does cost more to produce, roughly on the neighborhood of 17 cents versus the 5 or 6 cents that a paper dollar costs to produce," he said. "However, the coin lasts 35 years, and it’s made of mostly recycled metals, and the paper has to be produced from new materials, and we shred 3 billion of those every year because they wear out.”
For years, the former Arizona congressman has been pushing legislation that would prop up the dollar coin by phasing out the greenback — a move that has met resistance from both politicians and the public. But today, he said, the climate has changed, and a recent poll indicates 61 percent of Americans like the idea.
“When they learn of the savings that can be involved with this, they will support the idea of substituting the coin for the paper dollar,” he said.
Major savings
Kolbe points to a study by the Government Accountability Office, which investigates how the government spends taxpayer dollars. The GAO estimates taxpayers would save more than $4 billion over 30 years, and that figure could be much higher. That appeals to taxpayer Christy Thompson, who said, “I’d probably say, yes, we need to do it.”
But plenty of people aren't convinced, including Kim Doering of Alexandria, Virginia. “It’s easier to carry the paper bill than a bunch of coins. They’re louder; they’re heavier in your pocket,” she said.
Washington, D.C. restaurant owner Sue Fouladi doesn’t like the idea of having more dollar coins in her cash register.
"It’s very inconvenient," she said. "If I don’t have a choice, then I’ll do it, but I’ll be a very unhappy person.”
Adding to the problem is that the gold- and silver-colored metal coins are about the same size as the 25-cent quarter. Robert Blecker, an economics professor at American University in Washington, says the dollar coins should be a different size and thickness.
“And if we can design a dollar coin that’s not so big and bulky, probably Americans would like it better,” he added.
But that doesn’t bother college student Emily Sturgill.
“Sometimes they fit into your pocket easily and you don’t have to worry about them slipping out, like a dollar bill would if you brought your keys or your phone out,” she said.Which of the following is the advantage of dollar coins according to the passage?
| A．They cost less than paper bills . |
| B．They are convenient to carry. |
| C．They are not easy to wear out. |
| D．They are produced from new materials. |
What does the underlined sentence” the climate has changed” in paragraph 4 mean?
| A．America's national economy has changed. |
| B．Most of Americans support using dollar coins. |
| C．Only small percentage of Americans subscribe to using dollar coins. |
| D．The majority of Americans are for paper bills. |
Which of the following is in favor of using dollar coins?
| A．Kim Doering | B．Emily Sturgill. |
| C．Sue Fouladi | D．Robert Blecke |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Dollar Coins or Paper Bills |
| B．Different Opinions about Coins |
| C．Ways to Solve America's National Debt |
| D．The Advantages of Dollar Coins. |
This is a true story from Guyana．One day, a boy took a piece of paper from a box．He made a paper ball and pushed it into his nose．He couldn’t get it out．He ran crying to his mother．His mother couldn’t get the paper out, either．A week later, the paper was still in the boy’s nose．His nose began to have a bad smell．
So his mother took the boy to a hospital．The doctor looked up at the child’s nose, but she couldn’t get the paper out．She said she had to cut the boy’s nose to get the paper out．
The boy’s mother came home looking sad．She didn’t want her child to have his nose cut．The next day she took the boy to her friend Sidney who lived in a house with an old lady called May．May wanted to see the child, so the child let her look up his nose．
“Yes, I can see it,” May said．“It will be out soon.”
As she spoke, she shook some black pepper on the child’s nose．The child gave a mighty（强而有力的） sneeze and the paper flew out．His mother was surprised．May told his mother to take the boy to the seaside for a swim, for the salt water would go up his nose and stop the bad smell．
So the lucky boy didn’t have to go to the hospital to have his nose cut．After the boy pushed a paper ball into his nose, ____．
| A．he took it out |
| B．his mother took it out |
| C．he tried to take it out but failed |
| D．he did nothing but cry |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The doctor helped to take the paper ball out of the boy’s nose． |
| B．The boy had to have his nose cut at last． |
| C．The boy’s mother found some black pepper to solve the problem． |
| D．May succeeded in taking the paper out． |
The boy should be taken to the seaside for a swim because ____．
| A．he needed to learn to swim. |
| B．the sea water would wash out the paper ball． |
| C．the sea water would stop the bad smell of his nose． |
| D．he needed a rest. |
The paper ball stayed in the boy’s nose for ________.
| A．at most seven days | B．less than seven days |
| C．more than seven days | D．exactly seven days |
According to the story,______was most worried about the boy’s accident.
| A．the boy’s mother | B．Sidney |
| C．May | D．the doctor |
We can achieve knowledge either actively or passively（被动地）. We achieve it actively by direct experience, by testing and proving an idea, or by reasoning.
We achieve knowledge passively by being told by someone else. Most of the learning that takes place in the classroom and the kind that happens when we watch TV or read newspapers or magazines is passive. Conditioned as we are to passive learning, it’s not surprising that we depend on it in our everyday communication with friends and co-workers.
Unfortunately, passive learning has a serious problem. It makes us tend to accept what we are told even when it is little more than hearsay and rumor(谣言).
Did you ever play the game Rumor? It begins when one person writes down a message but doesn’t show it to anyone. Then the person whispers it, word for word, to another person. That person, in turn, whispers it to still another, and so on, through all the people playing the game. The last person writes down the message word for word as he or she hears it. Then the two written statements are compared. Typically, the original message has changed.
That’s what happens in daily life. The simple fact that people repeat a story in their own words changes the story. Then, too, most people listen imperfectly. And many enjoy adding their own creative touch to a story, trying to improve on it, stamping（打上标记）it with their own personal style. Yet those who hear it think they know.
This process is also found among scholars and authors: A statement of opinion by one writer may be re-stated as fact by another, who may in turn be quoted by yet another; and this process may continue, unless it occurs to someone to question the facts on which the original writer based his opinion or to challenge the interpretation he placed upon those facts.According to the passage, passive learning may occur in _______.
| A．doing a medical experiment |
| B．solving a math problem |
| C．visiting an exhibition |
| D．doing scientific reasoning |
The underlined word “it” in Paragraph 2 refers to _____.
| A．active learning | B．knowledge |
| C．communication | D．passive learning |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Active learning is less important. |
| B．Passive learning may not be reliable. |
| C．Active learning occurs more frequently. |
| D．Passive learning is not found among scholars. |
Sports shoes that work out whether their owner has enough exercise to warrant time in front of the television have been devised in the UK.
The shoes — named Square Eyes — contain an electronic pressure sensor and a tiny computer chip to record how many steps the wearer has taken in a day. A wireless transmitter passes the information to a receiver connected to a television, and this decides how much evening viewing time the wearer deserves, based on the day’s efforts.
The design was inspired by a desire to fight against the rapidly ballooning waistlines among British teenagers, says Gillian Swan, who developed Square Eyes as a final year design project at Brunel University to London, UK. “We looked at current issues and childhood overweight really stood out,” she says. “And I wanted to tackle that with my design.”
Once a child has used up their daily allowance gained through exercise, the television automatically switches off. And further time in front of the TV can only be earned through more steps.
Swan calculated how exercise should translate to television time using the recommended daily amounts of both. Health experts suggest that a child take 12,000 steps each day and watch no more than two hours of television. So, every 100 steps recorded by the Square Eyes shoes equals precisely one minute of TV time.
Existing pedometers （计步器） normally clip onto a belt or slip into a pocket and keep count of steps by measuring sudden movement. Swan says these can be easily tricked into recording steps through shaking. But her shoe has been built to be harder for lazy teenagers to cheat. “It is possible, but it would be a lot of effort,” she says. “That was one of my main design considerations.”According to Swan, the purpose of her design project is to ________.
| A．keep a record of the steps of the wearer |
| B．deal with overweight among teenagers |
| C．enable children to resist the temptation of TV |
| D．prevent children from being tricked by TV programs |
Which of the following is TRUE of Square Eyes shoes?
| A．They regulate a child’s evening TV viewing time. |
| B．They determine a child’s daily pocket money. |
| C．They have raised the hot issue of overweight. |
| D．They contain information of the receiver. |
What is stressed by health experts in their suggestion?
| A．The exact number of steps to be taken. |
| B．The precise number of hours spent on TV. |
| C．The proper amount of daily exercise and TV time. |
| D．The way of changing steps into TV watching time. |
Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
| A．Smart Shoes Decide on Television Time |
| B．Smart Shoes Guarantee More Exercise |
| C．Smart Shoes Measure Time of Exercise |
| D．Smart Shoes Stop Childhood Overweight |
Pearl Buck(1892—1973)was born in Hillsboro, West Virginia. She grew up in China, but was educated at Randolph-Macon Woman’s College. After her graduation she returned to China and lived there until 1934 with the exception of a year spent at Cornell University, where she took an MA in 1926.Pearl Buck began to write in the twenties; her first novel, East Wind; West Wind, appeared in 1930.It was followed by The Good Earth (1931),Sons(1932),and A House Divided(1935),together forming a trilogy(三部曲)on the stories of the family of Wang. The Good Earth stood on the American list of bestsellers for a long time and earned her several awards, including the Pulitzer Prize and the William Dean Howells Medal. She also published The first Wife and Other Stories(1933),All Men are Brothers(1933),The Mother(1934),and This Proud Heart(1938).The biographies(传记)of her mother and father, The Exile and Fighting Angel, were published in 1936 and later brought out together under the title of The Spirit and the Flesh(1944).
Pearl Buck’s works after 1938 are too many to speak about. Her novels have continued to deal with the differences between East and West. Her interest has spread to such countries as India and Korea.
Pearl Buck was active in many charity(慈善)organizations; in particular she set up an organization for the adoption of Asian-American children and took an active interest in children with low IQ.
What is the correct time order of the following events?
a. Pearl Buck took an MA at Cornell University.
b. Pearl Buck published The First Wife and Other Stories.
c. Pearl Buck’s first novel, East Wind; West Wind appeared.
d. Pearl Buck published the biographies of her mother and father.
| A．a,b,c,d | B．a,d,c,b |
| C．a,c,b,d | D．a,d,b,c |
We can learn from the passage that_______.
| A．Pearl Buck attended a college in China |
| B．The Good Earth was well-received by American readers |
| C．Pearl Buck stayed in China in 1926 |
| D．Pearl Buck stopped writing in 1938 |
According to the passage, Pearl Buck was interested in______.
| A．American history | B．politics in India and Korea |
| C．writing novels about war | D．doing charity work |
In which part of a magazine would you probably read the passage?
| A．People | B．Politics | C．Travel | D．Business |
When I was growing up, I was ashamed to be seen with my father. He was severely disabled and very short, and when we would walk together, his hand on my arm for balance, people would stare. If he ever noticed or was bothered, he never let it on.
It was difficult to coordinate(协调)our steps---his slow, mine impatient---and because of that, we didn’t say much as we went along. But as we started out, he always said, “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”
He never talked about himself as an object of pity, nor did he show any envy of the more fortunate or able. What he looked for in others was a “good heart”, and if he found one, the owner was good enough for him.
Now that I am older, I believe that is a proper standard by which to judge people, even though I still don’t know accurately what a “good heart” is. But I know the times I don’t have one myself.
Unable to engage in many activities, my father still tried to participate(参加) in some way. I now know he participated in some things indirectly through me, his only son. When I played ball(poorly),he “played” too. When I joined the navy ,he “joined” too. And when I came home on leave ,he saw to it that I visited his office. Introducing me, he was really saying, “This is my son, but it is also me, and I could have done this, too, if things had been different.”Those words were never said aloud.
He has been gone many years now, but I think of him often. I wonder if he sensed my unwillingness to be seen with him during our walks. If he did, I am sorry I never told him how sorry I was, how unworthy I was, how I regretted it. I think of him when I complain about small affairs, when I am envious of another’s good fortune, when I don’t have a “good heart”.
At such times I put my hand on his arm to regain my balance, and say, “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”The author felt unhappy walking with his father because___.
| A．he was pitiful for his father’s physical disability |
| B．it was hard for them to walk at the same pace |
| C．he didn’t want others to know he had an ugly father |
| D．it was not easy for his father to keep balance |
In the father’s view, the most important quality a good person should have is___.
| A．beautiful appearance | B．excellent health |
| C．a smart head | D．a good heart |
It can be inferred from the text that_____.
| A．the father was proud of his only son |
| B．the father took part in all his son’s activities |
| C．the author was upset when asked to his father’s office |
| D．the author was a good ball player and outstanding soldier |
According to the last paragraph, by saying “You set the pace, I will try to adjust to you.”, the author means that____.
| A．he is now glad to help his father to walk |
| B．he regrets his unwillingness to walk with his father |
| C．he will follow father’s standards of being a good man |
| D．he will never forget how mentally strong his father was |
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