D
Freedom and Responsibility
Freedom’s challenge in the Digital Age is a serious topic. We are facing today a strange new world and we are all wondering what we are going to do with it.
Some 2,500 years ago Greece discovered freedom. Before that there was no freedom. There were great civilizations, splendid empires, but no freedom anywhere. Egypt and Babylon were both tyrannies, one very powerful man ruling over helpless masses.
In Greece, in Athens (雅典), a little city in a little country, there were no helpless masses. And Athenians willingly obeyed the written laws which they themselves passed, and the unwritten, which must be obeyed if free men live together. They must show each other kindness and pity and the many qualities without which life would be very painful unless one chose to live alone in the desert.The Athenians never thought that a man was free if he could do what he wanted. A man was free if he was self-controlled. To make yourself obey what you approved was freedom. They were saved from looking at their lives as their own private affair. Each one felt responsible for the welfare of Athens, not because it was forced on him from the outside, but because the city was his pride and his safety. The essential belief of the first free government in the world was liberty for all men who could control themselves and would take responsibility for the state.
But discovering freedom is not like discovering computers. It cannot be discovered once for all. If people do not prize it, and work for it, it will go. Constant watch is its price. Athens changed. It was a change that took place without being noticed though it was of the extreme importance, a spiritual change which affected the whole state. It had been the Athenian’ s pride and joy to give to their city. That they could get material benefits from her never entered their minds. There had to be a complete change of attitude before they could look at the city as an employer who paid her citizens for doing her work. Now instead of men giving to the state, the state was to give to them. What the people wanted was a government which would provide a comfortable life for them; and with this as the primary object, ideas of freedom and self-reliance and responsibility were neglected to the point of disappearing. Athens was more and more looked on as a cooperative business possessed of great wealth in which all citizens had a right to share.
Athens reached the point when the freedom she really wanted was freedom from responsibility. There could be only one result. If men insisted on being free from the burden of self-dependence and responsibility for the common good, they would cease to be free. Responsibility is the price every man must pay for freedom. It is to be had on no other terms. Athens, the Athens of Ancient Greece, refused responsibility; she reached the end of freedom and was never to have it again.
But, “the excellent becomes the permanent”, Aristotle said. Athens lost freedom forever, but freedom was not lost forever for the world. A great American, James Madison, referred to: “The capacity (能力) of mankind for self-government.” No doubt he had not an idea that he was speaking Greek. Athens was not in the farthest background of his mind, but once man has a great and good idea, it is never completely lost. The Digital Age cannot destroy it. Somehow in this or that man’s thought such an idea lives though unconsidered by the world of action. One can never be sure that it is not on the point of breaking out into action only sure that it will do so sometime.What does the underlined word “tyrannies” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．Countries where their people need help. |
| B．Powerful states with higher civilization. |
| C．Splendid empires where people enjoy freedom. |
| D．Governments ruled with absolute power. |
People believing in freedom are those who________ .
| A．regard their life as their own business |
| B．seek gains as their primary object |
| C．behave within the laws and value systems |
| D．treat others with kindness and pity |
What change in attitude took place in Athens?
| A．The Athenians refused to take their responsibility. |
| B．The Athenians no longer took pride in the city. |
| C．The Athenians benefited spiritually from the government. |
| D．The Athenians looked on the government as a business. |
What does the sentence “There could be only one result.” in Paragraph 5 mean?
| A．Athens would continue to be free. |
| B．Athens would cease to have freedom. |
| C．Freedom would come from responsibility. |
| D．Freedom would stop Athens from self-dependence. |
Why does the author refer to Aristotle and Madison?
| A．The author is hopeful about freedom. |
| B．The author is cautious about self-government. |
| C．The author is skeptical of Greek civilization. |
| D．The author is proud of man’s capacity. |
What is the author’s understanding of freedom?
| A．Freedom can be more popular in the digital age. |
| B．Freedom may come to an end in the digital age. |
| C．Freedom should have priority over responsibility. |
| D．Freedom needs to be guaranteed by responsibility. |
The health and welfare of every person in America will be affected by global warming, especially children, the elderly and the poor, according to a new White House science report.
The report said every region (地区) of the country will suffer worse health from heat waves and drought. All but a handful of states would have worse air quality and flooding. It predicts an increase in diseases spread by tainted (腐烂的) food, bad water and bugs (臭虫).
The report concludes that climate change causes real risk to human health and human system that supports the way of life in the United States.
Man-made global warming is caused by greenhouse gases from the burning of fossil fuels. At current emission (放射) levels, global temperatures are likely to rise by about 2 degrees by midcentury and about 7.5 degrees by the end of the century.
The most vulnerable (脆弱的) Americans — the poor, elderly, sick, very young and immigrants — will suffer more. That’s at least 10 percent of the country’s population, probably more. It will be tougher for these people to get enough health care for climate-related illnesses, to cool down in heat waves, to escape extreme events such as Hurricane Katrina, and even to get enough food.
While every region of America is vulnerable to global warming’s health and welfare effects, more people are moving to coastal regions, which are most vulnerable to climate change because of drought and hurricanes.According to the report, we learn all of the following will risk human’s health EXCEPT ______.
| A．heat waves and drought |
| B．increase in the number of bugs |
| C．reduction in carbon dioxide emissions |
| D．global warming and climate change |
What does the underlined sentence in Paragraph 2 mean?
| A．All of states would suffer flooding. |
| B．Air quality in few states is not high. |
| C．About half of all states would have clear air. |
| D．Flooding would occur in almost all the states. |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Global warming is caused by human beings. |
| B．It is wise for the Americans to move into coastal regions. |
| C．Global temperatures are increasing year by year because of carbon dioxide. |
| D．At least one tenth of Americans are more likely to suffer climate-related illnesses. |
The writer wrote this passage to ______.
| A．explain how the phenomenon of global warming forms |
| B．protect the vulnerable Americans from suffering from diseases |
| C．provide evidence that global warming and climate change risk human’s health |
| D．warn every American of the danger of global warming to their health |
Put sunscreen (防晒油) on before going out in the sun.
·Take it with you.
·Use it
— after a swim.
— every hour or so while playing outdoors.
— if you get sweaty.
·Cover up when the sun is overhead
— 10 a.m.—2 p.m..
— especially at lunch time.
·Get your suntan (晒黑) gradually and not too much.
·Controlled exposure (暴露) to sunshine helps avoid skin cancer.
Ask your chemist to recommend a suitable sunscreen.
Queensland Cancer Fund
P. O. Box
Spring Hill, QLD.4000
Phone (07) 8397077
Provided for community awareness by the Queensland CancerThis passage is most likely to be ______.
| A．an article from a student text book |
| B．a direction from a bottle of medicine |
| C．a suggestion from a chemist |
| D．an advertisement from a newspaper |
Which statement is TRUE?
| A．You should frequently put on sunscreen while playing outdoors. |
| B．You’ll never have skin cancer with controlled exposure. |
| C．You mustn’t stay outside from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. |
| D．The more you get sunshine, the better your health will be. |
According to the passage we can see that Queensland Cancer Fund wants to _____.
| A．sell sunscreen, shirt and hat |
| B．help people guard against skin cancer |
| C．encourage people to play in the sun |
| D．make money out of sunscreen |
If you want a sunscreen, you should ask _____ for advice.
| A．the seller | B．the advertiser |
| C．your doctor | D．your parents |
For most caffeine(咖啡因)consumers, its chief benefit is that it helps you get more done. This is what makes it unusual, says Stephen Braun, author of Buzz: The Science and Lore of Alcohol and Caffeine.
“Its appeal is that it helps us earn more money,” he adds. “What makes it different from other drugs is that it’s used as a productivity tool –– not for pleasure.”
Many of history’s creative minds have also been associated with a large amount of caffeine consumption.
According to one biographer, the French novelist and playwright Balzac drank as many as 50 cups of coffee a day. “Were it not for coffee one could not write, which is to say one could not live,” he once insisted.
For seven years, the film-maker David Lynch ate at the same Los Angeles diner every day, drinking up to seven sweetened cups of coffee “with lots of sugar” in one sitting, which he said would guarantee that “lots of ideas” arrived.
Ludwig van Beethoven was said to have painstakingly counted out exactly 60 coffee beans per cup when he brewed(煮)coffee.
Perhaps recent tales of caffeine excess featured the singer Robbie Williams, who reportedly consumed 36 cups of black coffee and 20 cans of Red Bull a day.
It is the routine task itself, as much as the stimulating(刺激的)effects of caffeine, that makes the process so important, says Mason Currey, author of Daily Rituals: How Artists Work. “A lot of artists use the process of making coffee as a gateway to the creative process,” he adds. “You need to get into the right mindset to do that sort of work, and the preparation process provides a focus.”
One problem with attempting to control caffeine, says Braun, is that it affects everyone differently –– it is impossible to work out a “safe” limit that works for everyone. “Eventually, you have to become your own scientist –– there isn’t an alternative to careful self-experimentation,” he says.Stephen Braun mainly stresses caffeine’s _______.
| A．creating ideas | B．improving work efficiency |
| C．helping people to relax | D．stimulating people |
The examples of some famous people are given to show that _______.
| A．most artists like drinking coffee |
| B．drinking coffee helps artists make more money |
| C．there’s a link between drinking coffee and creating ideas |
| D．drinking coffee makes artists become more successful |
What leads to the artists’ creative process according to Mason Currey?
| A．Getting a good mindset. | B．Drinking the coffee. |
| C．Being lost in thought. | D．Brewing the coffee. |
What does Braun advise us to do in the end?
| A．To drink less coffee. |
| B．Never to take more coffee than you need. |
| C．Never to limit caffeine use. |
| D．To work out a safe level of caffeine use. |
The moment a college student arrives on campus, he or she is bombarded with credit card offers. Advertisements for student credit cards are everywhere: in bags at the bookstore, in the campus newspaper, in your regular mailbox, in the residence halls.
With so many college students graduating with large amounts of credit card debt (figures vary, but most are at least in the thousands), learning how to manage a student credit card can be an important lesson for any student. While using a card wisely can be an important part of building credit and making it through a difficult time, knowing how to use a card wisely can be the hard part.
Stick to the following rules when, and if, you need to use a credit card:
You can repay the charge(s) within the card’s next billing cycle.
You must meet your basic needs, like food, clothing and shelter, but set rules and be aware that you will need to repay those charges at the end of the month.
You can talk to the financial aid office in your school for an alternative in “emergency” situations.
If you do want a credit card, just be smart about it. (They let you in to that school because of your brain, right?) Don’t automatically get the first one you find. Shop around for a card that has the lowest interest rate possible, and consider places that may not be advertising on campus. Additionally, be aware of any card’s repayment options: When will payments be due? How much will they be? A credit card is not like a loan that comes with a grace period(宽限期)after you graduate and waits until you are done with school. That new sweater and nice dinner out will need to be paid back right away.What does the underlined phrase in Paragraph 1 mean?
| A．Be confused by. | B．Be terribly hurt by. |
| C．Be attracted by. | D．Be surrounded by. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．A college freshman should be careful when choosing a credit card. |
| B．Students should take a lesson about how to use a credit card wisely. |
| C．A credit card will be the only help for students in emergency situations. |
| D．The author doesn’t appreciate the idea of having a credit card on campus. |
What’s the best tittle for this passage?
| A．Economic Tips for College Students |
| B．Dos and Don’ts in Using Student Credit Cards |
| C．Mistakes about Student Credit Cards Use in College |
| D．Student Credit Cards –– What You Need to Know |
If this is a passage of a college newspaper, in which column can we read it?
| A．Entertainment. | B．Advertisement. |
| C．Economy. | D．Education. |
A lot of people say math is not their strong suit. One New Jersey parent wants to help change that. Laura Overdeck grew up with numbers. She always helped measure ingredients when her mother baked, and she learned about angles from her father. She went on to major in astrophysics in college. Overdeck knew she wanted her own children to be good at math, too.
“And when our first child was about two, we just started giving her a math problem every night,” Overdeck said. The problem was usually a story, involving animals, cars or candies that let the kid count. “Our third child started, at age two, yelling that he wanted his own math problem because he saw his brother and sister doing it. And we thought, ‘Wow, we have a household where math is the popular thing at bedtime,’” Overdeck said.
In February, Overdeck launched Bedtime Math, an Internet website where she posts daily puzzles for children. Overdeck is particularly keen to hook children on numbers before they go to school. So why introduce little ones to math so early?
Sain Beilock, an expert on performance anxiety, says the more fun and familiar math is early on, the less likely children will feel nervous when they start to learn math in school. “My lab has shown recently that kids as early as first grade report feeling anxious about doing math,” Beilock said.
“You can hear totally educated adults say, ‘You know I’m just not that good at math.’ or ‘I’m kind of afraid of math.’ And that’s a totally acceptable thing for a well-educated person to say, but you never hear them say, ‘Well, you know, I’m just not that good at reading,’” Overdeck said. She wants children and their parents to become as fluent in numbers as they are in Harry Potter.Overdeck majored in astrophysics because she _______.
| A．was really fond of mathematics |
| B．hoped to change math education in the US |
| C．had an interest in physics |
| D．would like her children to be good at math |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 2?
| A．Toys can be used to encourage kids in solving math problems. |
| B．Math will become more popular in every household. |
| C．Math is enjoyable in Overdeck’s family. |
| D．The third child is cleverer than his brother and sister. |
Beilock’s attitude towards Overdeck’s idea is _______.
| A．agreeable | B．puzzled |
| C．anxious | D．critical |
The unfavorable situation of the US in math ability is shown by _______.
| A．the popularity of Bedtime Math |
| B．children’s performance anxiety in school |
| C．people’s response to math |
| D．adults’ great fondness for Harry Potter |
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