Early fifth-century philosopher St．Augustine famously wrote that he knew what time was unless someone asked him．Albert Einstein added another wrinkle when he theorized that time varies depending on where you measure it．Today's state-of-the-art atomic（原子的） clocks have proven Einstein right．Even advanced physics can't decisively tell us what time is, because the answer depends on the question you're asking．
Forget about time as an absolute．What if，instead of considering time in terms of astronomy, we related time to ecology？What if we allowed environmental conditions to set the tempo（节奏） of human life？We're increasingly aware of the fact that we can't control Earth systems with engineering alone，and realizing that we need to moderate（调节）our actions if we hope to live in balance．What if our definition of time reflected that？
Recently，I conceptualized a new approach to timekeeping that's connected to circumstances on our planet，conditions that might change as a result of global warming．We're now building a clock at the Anchorage Museum that reflects the total flow of several major Alaskan rivers，which are sensitive to local and global environmental changes．We've programmed it to match an atomic clock if the waterways continue to flow at their present rate．If the rivers run faster in the future on average，the clock will get ahead of standard time．If they run slower，you'll see the opposite effect．
The clock registers both short-term irregularities and long-term trends in river dynamics．It's a sort of observatory that reveals how the rivers are behaving from their own temporal frame（时间框架），and allows us to witness those changes on our smartwatches or phones．Anyone who opts to go on Alaska Mean River Time will live in harmony with the planet．Anyone who considers river time in relation to atomic time will encounter a major imbalance and may be motivated to counteract it by consuming less fuel or supporting greener policies．
Even if this method of timekeeping is novel in its particulars，early agricultural societies also connected time to natural phenomena．In pre-Classical Greece，for instance，people"corrected"official calendars by shifting dates forward or backward to reflect the change of season．Temporal connection to the environment was vital to their survival．Likewise，river time and other timekeeping systems we're developing may encourage environmental awareness．
When St．Augustine admitted his inability to define time， he highlighted one of time 's most noticeable qualities：Time becomes meaningful only in a defined context．Any timekeeping system is valid，and each is as praiseworthy as its purpose．
31. What is the main idea of Paragraph 1？
| A． |
Timekeeping is increasingly related to nature． |
| B． |
Everyone can define time on their own terms． |
| C． |
The qualities of time vary with how you measure it． |
| D． |
Time is a major concern of philosophers and scientists． |
32. The author raises three questions in Paragraph 2 mainly to__________．
| A． |
present an assumption |
B． |
evaluate an argument |
| C． |
highlight an experiment |
D． |
introduce an approach |
33. What can we learn from this passage？
| A． |
Those who do not go on river time will live an imbalanced life． |
| B． |
New ways of measuring time can help to control Earth systems．. |
| C． |
Atomic time will get ahead of river time if the rivers run slower． |
| D． |
Modern technology may help to shape the rivers' temporal frame． |
34. What can we infer from this passage？
| A． |
It is crucial to improve the definition of time． |
| B． |
A fixed frame will make time meaningless． |
| C． |
We should live in harmony with nature． |
| D． |
History is a mirror reflecting reality． |
Some people bring out the best in you in a way that you might never have fully realized on your own. My mom was one of those people.
My father died when I was nine months old, making my mom a single mother at the age of eighteen. While I was growing up, we lived a very hard life. We had little money, but my mom gave me a lot of love. Each night, she sat me on her lap and spoke the words that would change my life, “Kemmons, you are certain to be a great man and you can do anything in life if you work hard enough to get it.”
At fourteen, I was hit by a car and the doctors said I would never walk again. Every day, my mother spoke to me in her gentle, loving voice, telling me that no matter what those doctors said, I could walk again if I wanted to badly enough. She drove that message so deep into my heart that I finally believed her. A year later, I returned to school — walking on my own!
When the Great Depression (大萧条) hit, my mom lost her job. Then I left school to support the both of us. At that moment, I was determined never to be poor again.
Over the years, I experienced various levels of business success. But the real turning point occurred on a vacation I took with my wife and five kids in 1951. I was dissatisfied with the second-class hotels available for families and was angry that they charged an extra $2 for each child. That was too expensive for the average American family. I told my wife that I was going to open a motel (汽车旅馆) for families that would never charge extra for children. There were plenty of doubters at that time.
Not surprisingly, mom was one of my strongest supporters. She worked behind the desk and even designed the room style. As in any business, we experienced a lot of challenges. But with my mother’s words deeply rooted in my soul, I never doubted we would succeed. Fifteen years later, we had the largest hotel system in the world — Holiday Inn. In 1979 my company had 1,759 inns in more than fifty countries with an income of $ 1 billion a year.
You may not have started out life in the best situation. But if you can find a task in life worth working for and believe in yourself, nothing can stop you.What Kemmons’ mom often told him during his childhood was ______.
| A．caring | B．moving | C．encouraging | D．interesting |
According to the author, who played the most important role in making him walk back to school again?
| A．Doctors. | B．Nurses. | C．Friends. | D．Mom. |
What caused Kemmons to start a motel by himself?
| A．His terrible experience in the hotel. |
| B．His previous business success of various levels. |
| C．His mom’s support. |
| D．His wife’s suggestion. |
Which of the following best describes Kemmons’ mother?
| A．Modest, helpful, and hard-working. |
| B．Loving, supportive and strong-willed. |
| C．Careful, helpful and beautiful. |
| D．Strict, sensitive and supportive. |
Which of the following led to Kemmons’ success according to the passage?
| A．Self-confidence, hard work, higher education and a poor family. |
| B．Mom’s encouragement, clear goals, self-confidence and hard work. |
| C．Clear goals, mom’s encouragement, a poor family and higher education. |
| D．Mom’s encouragement, a poor family, higher education and opportunities. |
The Book of Life
So far, scientists have named about 1.8 million living species(物种), and that’s just a small number of what probably exists on Earth. With so many plants, animals, and other living things coveting the planet, it can be tough to figure out what type of grass is growing by the roadside or what kind of bird just flew by.
A soon-to-be-started Web site might help. An international team of researchers has announced the creation of Web-based Encyclopedia(百科全书) of Life ( EoL). The project aims to list every species on Earth in a single, easy-to-use reference guide.
To get the encyclopedia started, the creators will use information from scientific databases (数据库) that already exist. And eventually, in special sections of the site, non-scientists with specialized knowledge will come to help. Bird-watchers, for example, will be able to input what birds they’ve seen and where. To make sure the encyclopedia is accurate, scientists will review much of the information added to it.
As the EoL develops, you might find it useful for school projects. The site will feature (以……为特色) special pages for kids who are studying ecosystems in their neighborhoods. Another convenient feature of the EoL is that you’ll be able to pick the level of detail you want to see to match your interests, age, and knowledge.
It now takes years for scientists to collect all the data they need to describe and analyze species. The creators of the Encyclopedia of Life hope that their new tool will speed up that process.The Web-based EoL aims to__________ .
| A．find out what covers the earth |
| B．list all living things on Earth |
| C．work out the number of birds |
| D．save the existing plants |
One characteristic of the EoL is that__________ .
| A．it is run by school students |
| B．it focuses on different types of grass |
| C．it provides different levels of information |
| D．it allows non-scientists to review its data |
In the last paragraph, "that process" means__________ .
| A．analyzing species | B．creating a new tool |
| C．collecting data | D．describing species |
Lying in the sun on a rock, the cougar(美洲豹)saw Jeb and his son, Tom, before they saw it. Jeb put his bag down quickly and pulled his jacket open with both hands, making himself look big to the cougar. It worked. The cougar hesitated, ready to attack Jeb, but ready to forget the whole thing, too.
Jeb let go of his jacket, grasped Tom and held him across his body, making a cross. Now the cougar’s enemy looked even bigger, and it rose up, ready to move away, but unfortunately Tom got scared and struggled free of Jeb.
“Tom, no!” shouted his father.
But Tom broke and ran and that’s the last thing you do with a cougar. The second Tom broke free, Jeb threw himself on the cougar, just as it jumped from the rock. They hit each other in mid-air and both fell. The cougar was on Jeb in a flash, forgetting about Tom, which was what Jeb wanted.
Cougars are not as big as most people think and a determined man stands a chance, even with just his fists. As the cougar’s claws(爪子)got into his left shoulder, Jeb swung his fist at its eyes and hit hard. The animal howled（吼叫）and put its head back. Jeb followed up with his other fist. Then out of the corner of his eye, Jeb saw Tom. The boy was running back to help his father.
“Knife, Tom” shouted Jeb.
The boy ran to his father’s bag, while Jeb stated shouting as well as hitting, to keep the cougar’s attention away from Tom. Tom got the knife and ran over to Jeb. The cougar was moving its head in and out, trying to find a way through the wall Jeb was making out of his arms. Tom swung with the knife, into the cougar’s back. It howled horribly and ran off into the mountains.
The whole fight had taken about thirty seconds.Why did Jeb pull his jacket open when he saw the cougar?
| A．To get ready to fight | B．To frighten it away |
| C．To protect the boy | D．To cool down |
What do we know about cougars?
| A．They are afraid of noises |
| B．They hesitate before they hit |
| C．They are bigger than we think |
| D．They like to attack running people |
How did Jeb try to hold the cougar’s attention?
| A．By keeping shouting and hitting |
| B．By making a wall out of his arms |
| C．By throwing himself on the cougar |
| D．By swinging his fists at the cougar’s eyes |
Which of the following happened first?
| A．The cougar jumped from the rock |
| B．Tom struggled free of his father |
| C．Jeb asked Tom to get the knife |
| D．Jeb held Tom across his body |
When Albert Einstein was young, he was a quiet child who spent much of his time alone. He was slow to talk and had difficulty in learning to read.
When Albert was five years old, his father gave him a compass (指南针). Albert was filled with wonder when he discovered that the compass needle (针) always pointed in the same direction —the north. He asked his father and uncle what caused the needle to move.
Their answers were difficult for Albert to understand. Yet he spent a lot of time thinking about them. He said later that he felt something must be behind things.
Albert did not like school. The German schools of that time were not pleasant. Students couldn’t ask questions. Albert said he felt as if he were in prison.
One day Albert told his uncle Jacob how much he hated school, especially mathematics. His uncle told him to solve mathematical problems by pretending to be a policeman. "You are looking for someone," he said, "but you do not know who he is. Call him X. Find him by using your mathematical tools."
Albert learned to love mathematics. He was studying the complex math of calculus (微积分学) while all his friends were still studying simple math. Instead of playing with friends he thought about things such as "What would happen if people could travel at the speed of light?".
Albert wanted to teach math and physics. He graduated with honors, but it was a pity that he could not get a teaching job.
According to Paragraph 2, we can learn that Albert Einstein ________.
| A．was interested in the compass | B．wanted to be a great scientist |
C．was not clever enough | D．didn’t like thinking by himself |
Why did Albert Einstein hate school?
| A．He couldn’t play with his friends there. |
B．Students were not allowed to ask questions. |
C．The schools were small at that time. |
D．He had to learn mathematics that he didn’t like. |
What does the underlined word "complex" probably mean?
| A．useless. | B．Difficult. | C．Boring. | D．Interesting. |
We can learn from the passage that ________.
| A．Einstein became a mathematics teacher after graduation |
B．Einstein gradually loved mathematics with his uncle’s help |
C．learning mathematics is like working as a policeman |
D．Einstein liked playing with other children |
What is the main idea of the passage?
| A．How Albert Einstein studied in school. |
B．Something about Albert Einstein’s early interests. |
C．Something about the young Albert Einstein. |
D．Why Albert Einstein learned more than his classmates. |
Today, when a man steps on to the moon, or something new and important happens, the world learns about it immediately. What did the newspapers say about that first flight in 1903? Strangely enough, they said hardly anything about it at all. There are only a few reports about it in the papers. These reports said very little. Some of the things they said were not even correct.
In 1904 the Wrights built a second machine. They called it “Flyer No. Two”. They invited some reporters to a field near Dayton to watch them fly. Unfortunately, there was some mechanical(机械的) trouble with the plane and it did not fly at all that day. The newspapermen went away. They were disappointed and did not come back. The Wrights went on with their work. In 1905, they built an even better machine, “Flyer No Three”. They were able to stay upon the air for half an hour and more in the machine. Farmers and travelers on the road around the Dayton often saw them flying, but when three people told newspapermen about it, they refused to believe them.
The Wrights offered “Flyer No. Three” to the United States government. The government was not interested. They seemed to think the Wrights wanted money in order to build a plane. They did not understand the Wrights had already done this, and flown it as well. Experts were still saying that mechanical flight was impossible. At the end of 1905, the two brothers took their planes to pieces. The parts were put into a huge wooden box. It seemed nobody was interested.The reporters were disappointed in 1904 because________.
| A．the Wrights did not invite them |
| B．the plane could not stay long in the air |
| C．the plane did not fly at all that day |
| D．they had wanted to see a better machine |
The U．S. government could not understand that________.
| A．the Wrights had already built a machine that could fly |
| B．experts still thought flight was impossible |
| C．the Wrights wanted more money to build an airplane |
| D．“Flyer No. Three” was now in a wooden case |
The Wrights took their plane to pieces because________.
| A．they planned to go to Europe |
| B．nobody was interested |
| C．the government didn't give them any money |
| D．the newspapermen didn't report their flights |
What does the underlined word “Flyer” mean?
| A．Pilot. | B．Drive. | C．Plane. | D．Kite. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Today, people are very interested in new things. |
| B．People in the past talked little about new things. |
| C．Reporters are now as interested in new happening as in the past. |
| D．People in the past even told each other wrong things. |
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