— Have you heard of the old Chinese saying, "Men die for ________ (richness, having plenty of money), birds die for food"?
—Yes. But I don't think money is everything.
I always believe what ________ (be important) is not whether you fail or not, but whether you try or not.
After Alice hit the ground, she found herself alone in a long, low hall with all the doors ________ (锁着的) around.
Modern ________ (技术) makes moving money around much easier than it used to be.
If you have ever passed the cockpit(驾驶舱) in a flight and tried to understand your pilots' conversation, you probably didn't gain much from them. From terms like "niner" to "Zulu", pilot-speak can sound like its own language.
The special language is called "aviation English". According to the International Civil Aviation Organization(ICAO), pilots on international airlines and air traffic controllers on airlines need to speak "aviation English" when they communicate. Aviation English is necessary all over the world because it is unrealistic for a pilot to know all the different languages of the country to which he or she must fly. In addition, most of the phrases flight crew use were born out of a need for clear communication with a few words over an occasionally fuzzy(模糊不清的) radio transmission. Pilots must make effort to reduce their transmission time.
Misunderstandings between pilots and air traffic controllers can lead to disaster, so they must make sure not to misunderstand one another. To avoid making a mistake about understanding with similar sounding consonants, the ICAO has a standard phonetic alphabet: Alpha, Bravo, Charlie, Delta, Echo, Foxtrot Golf. Hotel, India, Juliet, Kilo, Lima, Mike, November, Oscar, Papa, Quebec, Romeo, Sierra, Tango, Uniform, Victor, Whiskey, X-ray, Yankee, Zulu. These words stand for the letters from A to Z. The pronunciation of numbers should also follow exact standards. For example, zero(0) is always "zero", not "oh". 3 becomes "tree". 4 is called "fower",5 becomes "fife", and 9 becomes "niner".
There are also more colorful phrases that pilots say were produced in the sky and shared widely among them. For example, "Feet wet" warns air traffic controllers when a military aircraft is flying overwater. "Pan-pan" is reserved for communication with air traffic controllers. When pilots notice something unusual with their plane that stops short of an immediate emergency, they use "Pan-pan", a signal of urgency(紧迫) and attention. When pilots use this signal, others on the same radio frequency will "shut up and let you get your message across", allowing air traffic control to provide the suitable aid and prevent a great danger in flight.
1.Pilots and air traffic controllers use aviation English in order to ________.
①save the transmission time
②make the orders clear and simple
③avoid mistaking passengers' conversation
④make international communication possible
A.①②③ B.①②④ C.①③④ D.②③④
2.If a pilot says "Papa, November, Two, Tree", it may stand for ________.
A.PU2T B.8811TT C.PN23 D.88NT3
3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A.An organization called ICAO created aviation English.
B.Aviation English is really necessary on national airlines.
C.A pilot will report "Feet wet" if there is much water in his cockpit.
D."Pan-pan" means the plane meets some trouble and needs attention.
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A.They Have Their Secret Language B.Pilots' Language Is Hard To Learn
C.Here's What They're Really Saying D.Aviation English Is Developing Quickly
Everybody knows that Earth spins from west to east. That is to say, it appears to be turning counterclockwise (逆时针) rapidly when viewed from above the North Pole. But what if Earth started spinning the other way?
Scientists from Germany have made a computer simulation in which Earth spins in the opposite direction—clockwise when viewed from above the North Pole. This showed them some interesting things about the weather and geography on Earth, Live Science reported.
As Earth spins in a counterclockwise direction, it shapes certain ocean currents(洋流). The direction of ocean currents, together with winds, produces different weathers around the globe. But a backward spin changes the ocean currents and winds. ▲ Western areas of the lands on Earth cool down as the eastern parts warm up. Winters become even colder in northwestern Europe, while eastern Russia becomes warmer than before. Rain no longer falls on the planet's wettest places.
Another result of a backward spin is that Earth becomes greener. Scientists found that global desert(沙漠) areas reduce from 42 million square kilometers to 31 million square kilometers. This may have something to do with the changing weather. Therefore, you can see rich green landscapes from Central Africa to the Middle East, which are mostly covered with deserts now. More surprisingly, the Sahara Desert becomes an oasis.
However, deserts don't disappear. They just appear in some places in which they never appeared before. Deserts would cover North America, where countries like the United States and Canada lie. Sand dunes would replace the Amazon rainforest in South America.
A backward spin would keep the main features of Earth's geography, such as the size, shapes and positions of lands and oceans. But it would change the interactions between circulating air, ocean and geography lead scientist Florian Ziemen told Live Science.
1.Which of the following sentences can be put in the blank of Paragraph 3?
A.Anyway deserts cover the planet. B.Therefore, the weather is different.
C.However the positions of oceans changes. D.Surprisingly the area of lands is larger.
2.The underlined word "oasis" in Paragraph 4 means________.
A.a place in a desert where there is sand and stones all over
B.a rich land in a desert where the water table is near the surface
C.a large body of salt water partially enclosed by land or an ocean
D.a large smooth area which is over 500 metres above the sea level
3.What would a backward spin bring to Earth?
A.The direction of ocean currents and winds would be different.
B.Rain would no longer fall on western areas of the lands on Earth.
C.Deserts would become larger and cover the planet's wettest places.
D.The size, shapes and positions of lands and oceans would be changed.
4.The passage is most probably taken from a magazine on ________.
A.history B.travel C.entertainment D.geography
