The 2012 London Olympics had enough problems to worry about. But one more has just been added --- a communications blackout caused by solar storms.
After a period of calm within the Sun, scientists have detected the signs of a fresh cycle of sunspots that could peak in 2012, just in time for the arrival of the Olympic torch in London.
Now scientists believe that this peak could result in vast solar explosions that could throw billions of tons of charged matter towards the Earth, causing strong solar storms that could jam the telecommunications (通信) satellites and interact links sending five Olympic broadcast from London.
“The Sun’s activity has a strong influence on the Earth. The Olympics could be in the middle of the next solar maximum which could affect the functions of communications satellites,” said Professor Richard Harrison, head of space physics at the Rutherford Appleton Laboratory in Oxfordshire.
At the peak of the cycle, violent outbursts called coronal mass ejections (日冕物质抛射) occur in the Sun’s atmosphere, throwing out great quantities of electrically-charged (带电) matter. “A coronal mass ejection can carry a billion tons of solar material into space at over a million kilometers per hour. Such events can expose astronauts to a deadly amount, can disable satellites, cause power failures on Earth and disturb communications,” Professor Harrison added. The risk is greatest during a solar maximum when there is the greatest number of sunspots.
Next week in America, NASA is scheduled to launch a satellite for monitoring solar activity called the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), which will take images of the Sun that are 10 times clearer than the most advanced televisions available.
The Rutherford Appleton Laboratory helped to make the high-tech cameras that will capture images of the solar flares (太阳耀斑) and explosions as they occur.
Professor Richard Holdaway, the lab’s director, said that the SDO should be able to provide early warning of a solar flare or explosion big enough to affect satellite communications on Earth “If we have advance warning, we’ll be able to reduce the damage. What you don’t want is things switching off for a week with no idea of what’s caused the problem,” he said.
1.
The phrase underlined part in paragraph one most probably refers to _______ during the 2012 Olympics.
A. the state of the Olympic torch being put out
B. the failure of broadcasting systems
C. the transportation breakdown in London
D. the destruction of weather satellites
2.
What can be inferred about the solar activity described in the passage?
A. The most deadly matter from the corona falls onto Earth.
B. The solar storm peak occurs in the middle of each cycle.
C. It takes several seconds for the charged matter to reach Earth.
D. The number of sunspots decreases after coronal mass ejections.
3.
Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?
A. Solar Storms: An Invisible Killer
B. Solar Storms: Earth Environment in Danger
C. Solar Storms: Threatening the Human Race
D. Solar Storms: Human Activities to Be Troubled
WASHINGTON — Money can buy happiness, but only if you spend it on someone else, according to researchers.
Spending as little as $5 a day on someone else could significantly boost happiness, the team at the University of British Columbia and Harvard Business School found on Thursday.
Their experiments on more than 630 Americans showed they were measurably happier when they spent money on others --- even if they thought spending the money on themselves would make them happier.
“We wanted to test our theory that how people spend their money is at least as important as how much money they earn,” said Elizabeth Dunn, a psychologist at the University of British Columbia.
They asked their 600 volunteers first to rate their general happiness, report their annual income and detail their monthly spending including bills, gifts for themselves, gifts for others and donations to charity.
“Regardless of how much income each person made, those who spent money on others reported greater happiness, while those who spent more on themselves did not,” Dunn said in a statement.
Dunn’s team also surveyed 16 employees at a company in Boston before and after they received an annual profit-sharing bonus of between $3,000 and $8,000.
“Employees who devoted more of their bonus to pro-social spending experienced greater happiness after receiving the bonus, and the manner in which they spent that bonus was a more important predictor of their happiness than the size of the bonus itself,” they wrote in their report, published in the journal Science.
“Finally, participants who were randomly (随机地) required to spend money on others experienced greater happiness than those required to spend money on themselves,” they said.
They gave their volunteers $5 or $20 and half got clear instructions on how to spend it. Those who spent the money on someone or something else reported feeling happier about it.
“These findings suggest that very minor adjustment in spending allocations (分配) --- as little as $5 --- may be enough to produce real gains in happiness on a given day,” Dunn said.
This could also explain why people are no happier even though US society is richer.
“Indeed, although real incomes have increased dramatically in recent decades, happiness levels have remained largely flat within developed countries across time,” they wrote.
1.
Dune’s experiment on 630 Americans was to ________.
A. help people make careful plans for their money B. encourage people to be generous to others
C. see how to spend money is important to happiness D. test whether $5 is enough to buy happiness
2.
What can we conclude according to the experiment?
A. Happiness largely depends on the size of your bonus money.
B. Happiness, as a matter of fact, has nothing to do with money.
C. The more money you give away, the happier person you will be.
D. Spending money for the good of society will make you happier.
3.
How many different ways are used by the researchers to test their theory?
A. Two. B. Three. C. Four. D. Five.
4.
The last sentence of the passage means _______.
A. happiness does not necessary increase as money grows
B. people in richer countries actually have more problems
C. fast economic growth has a bad effect on people’s life
D. great increase of income contributes to keeping happiness level stable
LIDAC MAYNARD
11 Windrift Circle
Methuen, MA
978 – 555 – 4539
JOB OBJECTIVE
Seek special education, primary school, or middle school math teaching position.
EDUCATION
Rivier College, Nashua, NH
Bachelor of Arts in Education – May, 2006
Major: Elementary Education
Have successfully completed PRAXIS I and PRAXIS II. Meet highly qualified testing requirements for Massachusetts and New Hampshire.
TEACHING EXPERIENCE
November, 2005 – January, 2006
Wilkins Elementary School, Amherst, NH
Student Teacher
· Developed and completed student–centered lessons in all subject areas for various groups of fifth grade special and regular education students.
· Adapted lessons to meet student’s needs by reviewing their backgrounds and learning needs through IEPs.
· Communicated with parents on a regular basis via newsletters, daily or weekly progress reports, phone calls, and email, resulting in increased parental participation at home.
August, 2005 – November, 2005
Charlotte Avenue Elementary School, Nashua, NH
Student Teacher
· Taught reading and writing through Language Experience Approach methods.
· Introduced a Writer’s Workshop appropriate for first grade students to help them to develop their writing skills.
· Developed learning stations in reading and science, enabling students to be more independent learners.
Spring, 2005
Wilkins Elementary School, Amherst, NH
Designed and taught a unit on Insects and Spiders, based on New Hampshire Standards to 23 self-contained, third and fourth grade students with disabilities.
Fall, 2004
Amherst Street Elementary School, Nashua, NH
Taught a class of 24 third grade students with a wide range of abilities.
ADDITIONAL EXPERIENCE
· After–School Aid, Amherst School District, Amherst, NH (2004 – 2005)
· Summer Camp advisor, YMCA, Nashua, NH (Summers, 2002 and 2003)
· Big Brother / Big Sister Volunteer, Nashua, NH (2002 – 2005)
1.
What kind of job does Linda want to get?
A. A Big Brother / Big Sister Volunteer. B. A middle school math teacher.
C. A special education advisor. D. A summer camp advisor.
2.
Linda has worked for the following schools EXCEPT ___________.
A. Rivier College, Nashua, NH
B. Wilkins Elementary School, Amherst, NH
C. Charlotte Avenue Elementary School, Nashua, NH
D. Amherst Street Elementary School, Nashua, NH
3.
What can we know about Linda according to the passage?
A. She is merely interested in developing student’s math abilities.
B. She is not active in participating in after–school activities.
C. She is permitted to teach in any of the high schools of New York.
D. She has some teaching experiences in several elementary schools.
She was born to wealth and power in an era when money and politics were left to the men. Later, as The Washington Post’s publisher, Katharine Graham became one of America’s most powerful women.
Despite a privileged background, Katharine had to deal, while growing up, with the high demands her mother placed on her children. Katharine’s love of journalism, which she shared with her father, led to her career after college at The Washington Post, the newspaper her father bought in 1933. At the Post, Katharine met Phil Graham, a young, charming lawyer who became her husband. When, in 1945, Katharine’s father chose Phil over her to take over his struggling paper, Katharine didn’t object and stayed at home as a wife and mother of four.
While Phil’s successful efforts to restore the Post to prominence (显著) made the Grahams popular members of the Washington social scene, Katharine privately suffered tremendous pain from her husband’s increasingly abusive behavior and wild mood swings caused by severe depression. When Phil committed suicide (自杀), the 46-year-old Katharine found herself thrown into a new job, that of newspaper publisher. But determined to save the family paper for her children, Katharine rose to the challenge of running the Post, attending meetings in every department, working endlessly to prove herself to her critics, and becoming the toast of Washington.
In 1971, Katharine ordered the Post to print a copy of the Pentagon Papers, the top-secret documents disclosing the truth about the United States’ involvement in the Vietnam War. What’s more, her courageous decision and support for her journalists prepared the Post to break the most important political story in modern history: Watergate, one of the greatest scandals (丑闻) in American political history. Katharine managed to keep control over the most chaotic (disorder) of situations when it was reported, all the time insisting the news stories be accurate and fair. Watergate made the Washington Post an internationally known Paper and Katharine was considered as the most powerful woman in America.
1.
Katharine Graham was born in a time when women were not ________.
A. given the chance to receive education B. considered as intelligent as men
C. permitted to achieve their goals D. allowed to enter every field
2.
When her husband was chosen to take charge of the newspaper, Katharine Graham ________.
A. was strongly against the idea
B. was not happy to be rejected
C. was willing to take her share of responsibility
D. didn’t believe her husband would do a good job
3.
Which of the following statements is true?
A. It was Katharine Graham’s husband who made the greatest contributions to the Post.
B. When Katharine Graham first took over the Post, her critics doubted her ability.
C. Katharine Graham was successful in her career but suffered severe depression.
D. Katharine Graham was free to do whatever she liked in her early life.
4.
Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Ups and downs of The Washington Post.
B. Katharine Graham’s family life and career.
C. Katharine Graham: from housewife to successful publisher.
D. Katharine Graham: a woman who shaped American journalism.
下面短文中有10处错误。请在有错误的地方增加、删除或修改某个单词。
增加：在缺词处加上一个漏字符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词。
2 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不记分。
Liu Kai is a good student and always ready for help others. One day on his way to school, he
saw little girl crossed the road. A car was coming towards him quickly and the girl was very frightened to move. Just now Liu Kai rushed up to her and caught her on the arm. The little girl was saved. She told him where she lived in, and he took her home. When Liu Kai hurried into the classroom, the teacher has already begun his lesson. He told the teacher why he was late. He was then praised for which he had done.
Yuan Longping is a man who 1.w the land, does his research and grows hybrid rice. He is an agricultural 2.p . He 3.d his whole life to finding ways to increase the rice output without 4.e the area of fields. 5.T to his research, more people can be free from 6.h .Yuan is 7.s with his life. He enjoys 8.l to violin music. He cares little about his money and fame. He 9. t________ gives millions of yuan to 10. e_______ others for their research. He is a great person.
