A linguist, who studies languages, is always listening, never off-duty. I invited a group of friends to my house, telling them that I was going to record their speech. I said I was interested in their regional accents (地方口音), and it would take only a few minutes to record it. Afterwards, one evening, three people came to my house and were shown into my sitting-room. In front of each chair there was a microphone (麦克风) at head height, connected to a recorder in the middle of the floor. They sat down rather nervously. I explained that all I wanted was for them to count from one to twenty, then we could relax and have a drink.
I turned on the recorder and they each in turn counted from one to twenty in their best accents. When it was over, I turned the recorder off and brought round the drinks. The rest of the evening was spent in complete relaxation. I talked and joked with them freely and left them for a telephone call which lasted some time.
You know, of course, the microphones were not connected to the recorder in the middle of the room at all but to another one in the bedroom. My friends, having seen the recorder before them turned off, paid no more attention to the microphones a few inches from their mouths, thus giving excellent sound quality (质量). It meant that I was able to get a piece of natural talk.
I should add, perhaps, that I did tell my friends what had happened to them after the recording was over, and asked them whether it should be destroyed. None of them wanted to – but for some years after that, it always seemed that when it came to buying drinks, I paid for them. Linguistic research can be a very expensive business.The underlined word "linguist" in Paragraph 1 probably means " ".
| A．people who learn to speak languages. |
| B．people who do research on languages. |
| C．people who speak languages. |
| D．people who develop languages. |
The recording which the writer was able to make was .
| A．natural. | B．beautiful |
| C．unclear. | D．nervous. |
When the writer told his friends what he had done, they .
| A．wanted him to destroy records |
| B．didn't seem to mind much |
| C．seemed to have no response (反应) |
| D．made him buy them more drinks |
In a small village in England about 150 years ago, a mail coach ( 邮车) was standing on the street . It didn’t come to that village often . People had to pay a lot to get a letter . The person who sent the letter didn’t have to pay the postage (邮资) , while the receiver had to .
“Ｈere’s a letter for Miss Alice Brown , ” said the mailman .
“ Ｉ’m Alice Brown , ” a girl of about 18 said in a low voice .
Alice looked at the envelope（信封） for a minute , and then handed it back to the mailman .
“ Ｉ＇m sorry I can’t take it , I don’t have enough money to pay it＂, she said .
A gentleman standing around were very sorry for her . Then he came up and paid the postage for her .
When the gentleman gave the letter to her , she said with a smile , “ Thank you very much ,This letter is from Tom . I’m going to marry him . He went to London to look for work . I’ve waited a long time for this letter , but now I don’t need it , there is nothing in it .”
“ Really ? How do you know that ? ” the gentleman said in surprise .
“ He told me that he would put some signs on the envelope . Look ,sir ,this cross in the corner means that he is well and this circle means he has found work . That’s good news .”
The gentleman was Sir Rowland Hill . He didn’t forgot Alice and her letter .
“ The postage to be paid by the receiver has to be changed ,” he said to himself and had a good plan .
“ The postage has to be much lower , what about a penny (便士 ) ? And the person who sends the letter pays the postage . He has to buy a stamp and put it on the envelope .” he said .
The government accepted his plan . Then the first stamp was put out in 1840 . It was called the “ Penny Black “ . It had a picture of the Queen on it . The first postage stamp was made ___________ .
| A．in England | B．in America |
| C．by Alice | D．in 1910 |
The girl handed the letter back to the mailman because ______________ .
| A．she didn’t know whose letter it was |
| B．she had no money to pay the postage |
| C．she received the letter but she didn’t want to open it |
| D．she had already known what was written in the letter |
We can know from Alice’s words that _________________ .
| A．Tom had told her what the signs meant before leaving |
| B．Alice was clever and could guess the meaning of the signs |
| C．Alice had put the signs on the envelope herself |
| D．Tom had put the signs as Alice had told him to |
The idea of using stamps was thought of by __________________ .
| A．the government | B．Sir Rowland Hill |
| C．Alice Brown | D．Tom |
From the passage we know the high postage made _____________ .
| A．People never send each other letters |
| B．lovers almost lose every touch with each other |
| C．people try their best to avoid(避免) paying it |
| D．receivers refuse to pay the coming letters |
We can see _______ in the butterfly exhibition .
| A．some paintings. |
| B．some pictures of butterflies only . |
| C．some beautiful butterflies . |
| D．some pictures of the towns from all over the world . |
You are going to see the exhibition with your 14 –year –old daughter , you will have to pay __________ .
| A．15 yuan | B．20 yuan |
| C．25 yuan | D．35 yuan |
We can book group tickets ____________ .
| A．by making a phone call |
| B．by sending an e –mail |
| C．by writing a letter |
| D．by filling in an application form |
There are 45 students in our class . How much will they pay if they visit the exhibition ?
| A．￥ 675 | B．￥ 450 | C．￥900 | D．￥400 |
If you go to the exhibition on 1 st , May , you can get ___________ .
| A．a book | B．a ticket |
| C．a butterfly | D．a present |
Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are increasingly threatened（威胁） by noise pollution caused by human beings. The noise that affects（影响）sea animals comes from a number of human activities. Such noises are added to natural sounds. These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes, and sounds made by animals themselves.
Decibels(分贝) measured in water are different from those measured（测量）on land. A noise of one hundred and twenty decibels on land caused pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of one hundred and ninety-five would have the same effect.
Some scientists have planned to set a noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels in oceans. They have found that noises at that level can frighten and confuse(混淆) whales.
A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that loud noises can seriously hurt some animals. The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing. This seriously affected the whales’ ability to exchange information and find their way. Some of the whales even died. The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected.
Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds disagree to a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels. They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial（工业的）and scientific research. Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists suspect（怀疑） that noise is a greater danger than they believed. They want to stop noises from harming creatures in the ocean.According to the passage, which of the following is increasingly dangerous to sea animals?
| A．The man-made noises. | B．The noises made by themselves. |
| C．The sound of earthquakes. | D．The sound of the ice-breaking. |
Which of the following is discussed in the second paragraph(段落)?
| A．Different places with different types of noises. |
| B．The human ears have feelings to all types of noises. |
| C．The same noise measured differently on land and in the ocean. |
| D．The ocean animal’s reaction to noises. |
As to the influence of noises on whales, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．They are deaf because of noises. |
| B．Noises at a certain level may hurt them. |
| C．They are easily confused by noises. |
| D．Noises will limit their ability to reproduce. |
We can know from the passage that many scientists think that the noise limit(限制) of one hundred twenty decibels would __________.
| A．stop them from doing their research work |
| B．benefit them a lot in their research work |
| C．do good to their health |
| D．increase the industrial output（产量） |
According to the passage, what will scientists most probably do in the future?
| A．They will try their best to make no noise. |
| B．They will work hard to cut down natural noises. |
| C．They will study the effect of different noises. |
| D．They will protect animals from harmful noises. |
Norm Pethrick, a 36-year-old man in Australia’s northern city Darwin, was praised(表扬) on Thursday for jumping onto a crocodile’s （鳄鱼）back to save his wife Wendy at Litchfield National Park, a popular tourist spot southwest of Darwin, a local newspaper reported.
Ms Pethrick was standing on a river bank Wednesday afternoon when the saltwater crocodile lunged (扑), locking its mouth on both her legs as it tried to drag her underwater.
Norm Pethrick, who with his wife had been collecting water, immediately went to help her. He jumped onto the back, poked (戳) the eyes of the crocodile and finally got his wife free.
Ms Pethrick was later taken to Royal Darwin Hospital for a medical treatment. The doctors said she was suffering eight puncture wounds (伤口) in her right leg, a puncture wound in her left leg and a serious cut to one of her fingers.
“This could have been a terrible situation,” said the general manager of Royal Darwin Hospital (RDH), Dr Len Notaras, according to a local report.
He said Ms Pethrick was saved by her husband’s “quick and smart actions”.
Dr Notaras also said she would remain in hospital for three to four days and have an operation to clean the wounds, which are easy to get infected because of bacteria (细菌) on the teeth of the crocodile.This passage is most likely to be found in _____.
| A．a travel guide | B．a newspaper |
| C．a textbook | D．a novel |
The crocodile attacked Ms Pethrick when she was ______.
| A．swimming in the river | B．watching the crocodile |
| C．standing on the river bank | D．fishing in the water |
Which of the following statements is TRUE about Ms Pethrick?
| A．Her eyes were badly poked. |
| B．She had eight wounds altogether. |
| C．One of her fingers also got hurt. |
| D．One of the crocodile’s teeth was found in her leg. |
According to the passage, Norm Pethrick can be described as following EXCEPT ______.
| A．brave | B．clever | C．quick | D．humorous |
Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
| A．The husband should save the wife |
| B．A man saves wife’s life from crocodile’s mouth |
| C．A crocodile is not so dangerous as people imagine |
| D．Human beings can beat crocodiles sometimes |
Mr. Read was born in a small village with high mountains all around it. He has few fields and he can’t get enough food for his family. He’s often worried about it. So he works harder and harder and tries his best to get more money.
One afternoon, Mr. Read went out to look for some grass for his cows. It was very hot and he wanted to have a swim. Suddenly he saw a big tortoise in the water. He swam there and caught it. The next morning he went to the town to sell it in the markets. When he was walking in the street, a car hit him down and he was hurt. He was sent to hospital at once. The doctors looked him over and had an operation（手术） on him. Two weeks later he felt much better. The doctors were satisfied with the operation and said, “You’ll be fully recovered in a week. We’re sure you can use your right hand to write as usual when you leave hospital. ”
“It’s really a miracle（奇迹）!”shouted Mr. Read，“I could neither read nor write before!”The Reads have little food because ______.
| A．they live in a small village |
| B．they have few fields |
| C．they’re too lazy to work |
| D．nobody would help them to get money |
Mr. Read jumped into the river because ______.
| A．he wanted to get some grass in the water |
| B．he wanted to look for a tortoise in the water |
| C．he wanted to have a good rest in the water |
| D．he wanted to have a swim |
Mr. Read’s ______ was hurt in the traffic accident.
| A．head | B．leg |
| C．right hand | D．left hand |
In Chinese the phrase“be fully recovered”means ______.
| A．完全覆盖 | B．全部找回 |
| C．恢复疲劳 | D．恢复健康 |
What the doctor said meant that ______.
| A．they did a very successful operation |
| B．the farmer was lucky enough to write after the operation |
| C．the accident helped the farmer to write |
| D．they taught the farmer to write while he was staying in hospital |
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