If US software(软件) companies don’t pay more attention to quality, they could kiss their business good-bye. Both India and Brazil are developing a world-class software industry. Their weapon is quality and one of their jobs is to attract the top US quality specialists whose voices are not listened to in their country.
Already, of the world’s 12 software houses that have earned the highest position in the world, seven are in India. That’s largely because they have used new methods American software specialists refused to use. For example, for years, quality specialists, W. Edwards Deming and J.M. Juran had tried to persuade US software companies to change their attitudes to quality. But their quality call mainly fell on deaf ears in the US--but not in Japan. By the 1970s and 1980s, Japan was taking its market share with better, cheaper products. They used Deming’s and Juran’s ideas to bring down the cost of good quality to as little as 5% of total production costs. In US factories, the cost of quality then was 10 times as high: 50%. In software, it still is.
Watts S. Humphrey spent 27 years at IBM heading up software production and then quality assurance(保证). But his advice was seldom paid attention to. He retired from IBM in 1986. In 1987, he worked out a system for assessing(评估) and improving software quality. It has proved its value time and again. For example, in 1990 the cost of quality at Raytheon Electronics Systems was almost 60 % of total software production costs. It fell to 15% in 1996 and has since further dropped to below 10 %.
Like Deming and Juran, Humphrey seems to be winning more praises overseas than at home. The Indian government and several companies have just founded the Watts Humphrey Software Quality Institute at the Software Technology Park in Chennai, India. Let’s hope that US lead in software will not be eaten up by its quality problems.
1.Which country has the most first-class software companies in the world?
A. Germany. B. The USA. C. Brazil. D. India.
2.Which of the following statements about Humphrey is true?
A. He is now still an IBM employer.
B. He has worked for IBM for 37 years.
C. The US pays much attention to his quality advice.
D. India honors him highly.
3.By what means did Japan take its large market share by the 1970s and the 1980s?
A. Its products were cheaper in price and better in quality.
B. Its advertising was most successful.
C. The US hardware industry was falling behind.
D. Japan hired a lot of Indian software specialists.
4.What is the writer worrying about?
A. Many US software specialists are working for Japan.
B. The quality problem has become a worldwide problem.
C. The US will lose its lead in software in the world.
D. India and Japan are joining hands to compete with the US.
Koeler took special notice of the tall woman who was nicely dressed, but she was wearing ugly, thick-soled(厚底) shoes.
Now the woman was taken to a room for questioning. There it was found that the soles of the shoes were hollow(中空的). They were opened. Some diamonds fell out on the floor. Their total weight was 3377 carats(克拉).
The young woman broke down in tears. Then she told her story. For years she had dreamed of coming to live in America, she said. At last she had managed to get the papers she needed to come to the U.S. Then a strange man called on her. He said he would pay for her trip and give her one hundred dollars. All she had to do was to smuggle the diamonds past the U.S. Customs. The man gave her the shoes and also bought her a plane ticket. Just before she got on the plane, he gave her an envelope. He said that it was the hundred dollars he had promised.
The weeping woman handed the envelope to Koeler. He tore it open. There was only eighteen dollars. She was cheated. In the end the woman was trialed and sentenced to eighteen months in prison for her part in the smuggling.
1.Where did the story happen?
A. At an airport. B. At a police station.
C. At a railway station. D. In a custom office in China.
2.The underlined word “smuggling ” in this passage most probably means_____.
A. 偷税 B. 盗窃 C. 走私 D. 交换
3.The woman had agreed to smuggle the diamonds______.
A. in order to get the papers she needed B. in hope of selling them
C. in return for some money and a free trip D. so as to share them with the man
4.Which is the right order of the events(事件)given in the passage?
a. She wanted to live in the U.S.
b. She arrived in the U.S.
c. She was given an envelope.
d. She was given a plane ticket.
e. She was found out.
f. She was put into prison.
A. a, d, c, b, e, f B. a, b, c, e, f, d
C. a, c, d, b, e, f D. a, b, d, c, e, f
In a great many cities, hundreds of people ride bicycles to work every day. In New York, some bike riders have even formed a group called Bike for a Better City. They declare that if more people rode bicycles to work, there would be fewer automobiles in the downtown part of the city and so less dirty air from car engines.
For several years this group has been trying to get the city government to help bicycle riders. For example, they want the city to draw special lanes（车道） for bicycles only on some of the main streets, because when bicycle riders must use the same lanes as cars, there are accidents. Bike for a Better City feels that if there were special lanes, more people would use bikes.
But no bicycle lanes have been drawn. Not everyone thinks it is a good idea—they say it will slow traffic. Some store owners on the main streets don’t like the idea—they say that if there is less traffic, they will have less business.
The city government has not yet decided what to do. It wants to keep everyone happy. On weekends, Central Park—the largest place of open ground in New York—is closed to cars, and the roads may be used by bicycles only.
But Bike for a Better City says that this is not enough and keeps fighting to get bicycle lanes downtown.
1.In New York , a group of bike riders______.
A. are keeping practising for health
B. have no cars of their own
C. are complaining（埋怨） there are not enough buses
D. are trying to settle the problem of air pollution
2.The bike riders suggest that______.
A. bicycles should be used instead of cars
B. bicycle lanes should be drawn
C. fewer buses or cars should be used
D. the number of special lanes should be increased
3.The advantage of the special lanes is that______.
A. they will make cars and buses run slowly
B. they will make it easier for bike riders to go to parks
C. they will make the city more beautiful
D. the lanes will prevent accidents
4.The government has not decided whether special lanes should be drawn______.
A. so that everyone is disappointed
B. because there are different opinions
C. because most people travel by train
D. because Bike for a Better City is not strong enough
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从短文后所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑
Have you heard of “Green hotels”? 1you stay at a green hotel, you help reduce the unfriendly 2that hotel has on the environment.
“Green hotels” include any hotels, motels, and inns that use energy and other resources 3environmentally (环境) responsible ways. These green hotels take advantage of (利用) 4resources when possible, make effective 5of resources that can’t be reused, and 6that many byproducts(副产品)are reused or recycled.
__72.6 million hotel rooms are rented in the United States daily. 8, an astonishing number of hotel 9need clothes washed, meals prepared, fresh water for showers and toilets, and energy for lights, heating, and cooling. Thus, there is a great _10for green hotel practices(做法).
11a guest of a green hotel, you will receive quality service 12knowing you are helping the environment. Hotels also realize cost savings when they 13green hotel practices, which they can then use to 14guest services.
Some green hotels are already making a big 15. For example;
1.By switching to more energy-effective 16, the Waldorf-Astoria in New York City has saved 1.2 million kilowatt hours per year.
2.One hotel reduced water use by 2 million gallons per year when it 17a chef (厨师)who was improperly defrosting(解冻)food by running water over it.
3.The Fairmont Acapulco Princess and Fairmont Pierre Marques filter(过滤器) and treat
18and reuse it to water their golf courses.
These and other green hotels are 19responsible steps, but many others have not yet accepted the green hotel challenge. You can help by supporting green hotel practices every time you 20.
1.A. When B. Before C. Unless D. Although
2.A. pollution B. cost C. effect D. step
3.A. with B. through C. by D. in
4.A. wasted B. reused C. limited D. lost
5.A. time B. space C. use D. usage
6.A. make sure B. make up C. make fun D. make room
7.A. Much more B. Over C. More D. Above
8.A. Besides B. As a result C. In the end D. As a matter of fact
9.A. professors B. waiters C. door-keepers D. guests
10.A. need B. necessity C. require D. request
11.A. With B. To C. As D. By
12.A. before B. at C. in D. while
13.A. get B. accept C. receive D. take
14.A. change B. improve C. make D. lift
15.A. act B. face C. control D. difference
16.A. lighting B. line C. action D. management
17.A. used B. found C. fired D. questioned
18.A. wastewood B. wasteland C. wastepaper D. wastewater
19.A. making B. taking C. borrowing D. getting
20.A. walk B. journey C. play D. travel
Our meeting room is ______ theirs.
A. three times as bigger as B. bigger than three times
C. three times as the size of D. three times the size of
— Where is the hospital?
— It’s about 500 meters ______ the school.
A. north of B. in the north of C. the north of D. in north of
