For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages. Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet plane fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured . The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move again to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and can not turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. Speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.What does the writer try to express in Paragraph1?
| A．Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages． |
| B．The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short． |
| C．The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams． |
| D．Man has been fond of travelling rather than staying in one place． |
How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph2?
| A．By giving instructions. |
| B．By analyzing cause and effect. |
| C．By following the order of time. |
| D．By giving examples. |
According to Paragraph 3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because______．
| A．they pay less for the tickets |
| B．they feel safer during the travel |
| C．they can enjoy higher speed of travel |
| D．they don’t have to be “processed” |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．Air travel benefits people and industries． |
| B．Train Travel has some advantages over air travel． |
| C．Great changes have taken place in modern travel. |
| D．The high speed of air travel is gained at a cost. |
Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.
Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type.The giant panda eats only one particular type of bamboo. Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied diet. The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.
Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health. Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life. We can infer from the text that humans and animals ________.
| A．depend on one sense in choosing food |
| B．are not satisfied with their food |
| C．choose food in similar ways. |
| D．eat entirely different food |
Which of the following eats only one type of food?
| A．The white butterfly. | B．The small bird. |
| C．The bear | D．The fox |
Certain animals change their choice of food when ______.
| A．the season changes |
| B．The food color changes |
| C．They move to different places |
| D．They are attracted by different smells. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that _____.
| A．food is chosen for a good reason. |
| B．Some people care little about healthy diet |
| C．some people have few choices of food |
| D．French and British food is good. |
Most young people enjoy some forms of physical activity. It may be walking, cycling, swimming, or in winter, skating or skiing. It may be a game of some forms—football, basketball, hockey, golf or tennis. It may be mountaineering.
Those who have a passion for climbing high and difficult mountains are often looked upon with astonishment. Why are men and women willing to suffer cold and hardship, and to take risks in high mountains? This astonishment is caused, probably, by the difference between mountaineering and other forms of activity to which men give their leisure.
Mountaineering is a sport and not a game. There are no man-made rules, as others, as there are for such games as golf and football. There are, of course, rules of different kinds which would be dangerous to ignore, but it is this freedom from man-made rules that makes mountaineering attractive to many people. Those who climb mountains are free to use their own methods.
If we compare mountaineering with other more familiar sports, we might think that one big difference is that mountaineering is not a “team game”. We should be mistaken in this. There are, it is true, no “matches” between “teams” of climbers, but when climbers are on a rock face linked by a rope on which their lives may depend, there is obviously teamwork.
The mountain climber knows that he may have to fight forces that are stronger and more powerful than man. He has to fight the forces of nature. His sport requires high mental and physical qualities.
A mountain climber continues to improve in skills year by year. A skier is probably past his best by the age of thirty. But it is not unusual for men of fifty or sixty to climb the highest mountains in the Alps. They may take more time than younger men, but they perhaps climb with more skills and less waste of effort, and they certainly experience equal enjoyment.What sports are popular among people in winter in the passage?
| A．Soccer and golf. | B．Skiing and skating. |
| C．Cycling and hockey. | D．Mountaineering. |
The underlined word “passion” in Paragraph 2 could best be replaced by ______.
| A．strong emotion | B．good way |
| C．better feeling | D．enough affection |
Mountaineering is a sport, not a game because_______.
| A．it has man-made rules |
| B．it is too dangerous for climbers |
| C．it can’t bring people joy or leisure |
| D．it is free for climbers to use their own methods |
We know from the passage that _______.
| A．mountaineering has no appeal for people |
| B．physical quality is more important than mental one for climbers |
| C．a mountain climber passes his best by the age of thirty |
| D．it is possible for an old man of fifty or sixty to climb the Alps |
What is the best title for the passage?
| A．Sports in winter | B．Team work in climbing |
| C．Mountaineering | D．The quality for mountaineering |
The computer keyboard helped kill shorthand—a system of rapid handwriting, and now it’s threatening to finish off handwriting as a whole. When handwritten essays were introduced on the SAT exams for the class of 2012, just 15% of the most1.5 million students wrote their answers in cursive(草写字母). The rest? Block letters.
And those college hopefuls are just the first edge of a wave of US students who no longer get much handwriting instructions in the primary grades, frequently 10 minutes a day or less. As a result, more and more students struggle to read and write cursive.
At Keene Mill Elementary School in Springfield, all their poems and stories are typed. Children in Fairfax County schools are taught keyboarding beginning in kindergarten. Older students who never mastered handwriting say it doesn’t affect their grades.
There are those who say the culture is at a crossing, turning from the written word to the typed one. If handwriting becomes a lost form of communication, does it matter?
It was at University Virginia that researchers recently discovered a previously unknown poem by Robert, written in his unique script. Handwritten documents are more valuable to researchers, historians say, because their authenticity(真实性) can be confirmed. Students also find them more fascinating.
The loss of handwriting also may be a cognitive(认知的) opportunity missed. Several academic studies have found that good handwriting skills at a young age can help children express their thoughts better—a lifelong benefit.
It doesn’t take much to teach better handwriting skills. At some schools in Prince George’s County, elementary school students use a program called Handwriting Without Tears for 15 minutes a day. They learn the correct formation of manuscript letters through second grade, and cursive letters in third grade.
There are always going to be some kids who struggle with handwriting because of their particular neurological(神经系统的) writing, learning issues or poor motor skills. Educators often point to this factor in support of keyboarding.What is the author concerned about after 2012 Sat exams?
| A．Keyboarding. | B．Shorthand. | C．Handwriting. | D．Block letters. |
A poem by Robert mentioned in the passage is used to ____________.
| A．prove how valuable handwriting is |
| B．explain what a famous poet he is |
| C．show how unique his poem is |
| D．stress how fascinating the documents are |
The example of Handwriting Without Tears helps to argue that _____________.
| A．the schools are responsible for the loss of handwriting |
| B．the loss of handwriting is a cognitive opportunity missed |
| C．it doesn’t take much to teach better handwriting skills |
| D．the culture is turning from the written word to the typed one |
According to the author, when is a perfect time to learn handwriting?
| A．Kindergarten. | B．Primary school. |
| C．High school. | D．College. |
What is the author’s attitude towards this debate?
| A．Devotion. | B．Encouragement. | C．Critical. | D．Objective. |
A black hole is a place in space where gravity pulls so much that even light cannot get out. The gravity is so strong because matter has been squeezed into a tiny space. This can happen when a star is dying.
Because no light can get out, people can’t see black holes. Space telescopes with special tools can help find black holes. The special tools can see how stars that are very close to black holes act differently from other ones.
Black holes can be big or small. Scientists think the smallest black holes are as small as just one atom. These black holes are very tiny but have the mass of a large mountain. Mass is the amount of matter, or “staff”, in an object.
Another kind of black hole is called “stellar”(星球黑洞). Its mass can be up to 20 times more than the mass of the sun. There may be many stellar mass black holes in Earth’s galaxy. Earth’s galaxy is called the Milky Way.
The largest black holes are called “supermassive”(超大质量黑洞). These black holes have masses that are more than one million suns together. Scientists have found proof that every large galaxy contains a supermassive black hole at its center. The supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way galaxy has a mass equal to about four million suns and would fit inside a very large ball that could hold a few million Earths.
Scientists think the smallest black holes formed when the universe began. Stellar black holes are made when the center of a very big star falls in upon itself, or falls apart. When this happens, it exploded part of the star into space. Scientists think supermassive black holes were made at the same time as the galaxy they are in.
A black hole can not be seen because strong gravity pulls all of the light into the middle of the black hole. But scientists can see how the strong gravity affects the stars and gas around the black hole. Scientists can study stars to find out if they are flying around, or orbiting a black hole.
When a black hole and a star are close together, high-energy light is made. This kind of light cannot be seen with human eyes. Scientists use satellites and telescopes in space to see the high-energy light.The gravity of a black hole may become so strong that light cannot get out when ____________.
| A．the star is going to die |
| B．special tools are used on it |
| C．other stars come close to it |
| D．it is seen from the space telescopes |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
| A．A black hole can be very tiny but extremely heavy. |
| B．The gravity of a black hole holds all light in its center. |
| C．Scientists observe high-energy light through their own eyes. |
| D．Some small black holes came into being as early as the universe. |
The underlined word “galaxy” in Paragraph 5 means __________.
| A．a black hole | B．the Milky Way |
| C．a series of stars | D．a planet near the earth |
What does the last sentence in Paragraph 5 suggest?
| A．Neither the sun nor the earth is as heavy as a black hole. |
| B．There is a supermassive black hole at the center of the Milky Way. |
| C．The supermassive black hole had existed before the Milky Way was formed. |
| D．There is a reason why the large black holes are called “supermassive”. |
The last two paragraph mainly focus on the question of _________.
| A．what a black hole is |
| B．how black holes form |
| C．how big black holes are |
| D．how scientists know about black holes |
Having spent two and a half years in China over several visits, I don’t remember ever going through a phase we in the United States call “cultural shock”. This period of difficulty in adjusting to a new culture would probably have set in during my semester at Peking University. Of course, this is not to say that I didn’t notice any differences between the American and Chinese cultures upon my arrival at Peking University, I did notice the differences. Looking back, I remember one of the first differences I noticed: Chinese universities are surrounded by walls.
To an American, this is one of the most striking aspects of a Chinese university which immediately sets it apart from an American campus. Having grown up in the United States, I had never seen a university surrounded by high, cement(水泥) walls. My idea of a university, based on having seen scores of them in different states of the U.S., was a place of life and learning, an inseparable part of the community in which it was located, open not only to the students of the school itself, but also fully accessible to students from other schools and to the broader public.
My idea of a university was that it was a center of cultural life, a resource for the entire community. In all my twenty-one years, it had never occurred to me that a school would have a wall around it. Walls enclose and separate; schools expand and integrate(合并). The very idea seemed fundamentally incompatible. I asked a Chinese friend if all Chinese universities have walls around them. “You know, I have never really thought about it. I guess so. I guess all Chinese schools have walls around them, not just universities.” “Why?” I asked, “What’s the point?” “I don’t know. To protect us, I suppose.” “From whom?” “I don’t know. Don’t you have walls around your schools in the United States?” I thought carefully before answering. “No, I’ve never seen or heard of a university encircled by a wall.” My Chinese friend seemed puzzled. Walls around schools came to strike me as more than just an architectural difference between the United States and China. As China continues to open up to the outside world, these walls seem increasingly out of place.The author felt strange about Chinese culture when he ___________.
| A．studied in Peking University |
| B．talked with his friends about the walls |
| C．experienced the “cultural shock” at his arrival |
| D．spent two and a half years in China over several visits |
In the author’s opinion, a university is a place ___________.
| A．where only students can come to study |
| B．which is similar everywhere in the world |
| C．that should be surrounded by high cement walls |
| D．that is an inseparable part of and a resource for the community |
What does the underlined sentence in the last paragraph probably mean?
| A．The two ideas are fundamental. |
| B．The two ideas are basically different. |
| C．The two ideas about “school” and “wall” are suitable. |
| D．The two ideas about “school” and “wall” are conflicting. |
What did the author’s friend feel about the walls around universities?
| A．He thought it a good idea to have walls encircling schools. |
| B．He was shocked that American universities are not enclosed. |
| C．He thought they were necessary to protect students from being hurt. |
| D．He thought the difference between two countries is only architectural styles. |
We can infer from the passage that the author thinks _____________.
| A．walls are really useful in the universities |
| B．he can never really understand the Chinese culture |
| C．Chinese universities should work as public scenic spots |
| D．walls around the universities are inappropriate in an open China |
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