Living an Adventurous Life
Nearly ten years ago, I was told that I had a brain tumor （瘤）, and this experience changed my attitude about adventure forever．I thought that I was going to die and that all my adventures were over．I did not have a brain tumor, it turned out, but rather multiple sclerosis （多发性硬化症）, which meant that, although they were not over, the nature of my adventures could have to change．
Each morning that I wake up is a fresh event, something that I might not have had．Each gesture that I make carries the weight of uncertainty and demands significant attention: buttoning my shirt, changing a light bulb, walking down stairs．I might not be able to do it this time．If I could not delight in them, they would likely drown me in anger and in self-pity．
I admire the grand adventures of others．I read about them with interest．With Peter Matthiessen I have hiked across the Himalayas to the Crystal Mountain．I have walked with Annie Dillard up, down, into, and across Tinker Creek in all seasons．David Bain has gone with me along 110 miles of Philippine coast, and Ed Abbey has rowed me down the Colorado River．I enjoy the adventures of these courageous figures, who can strike out on difficult trips – 2 miles, 250 miles, 3000 miles – ready to bear cold and tiredness, indeed not just to bear but to celebrate．
But as for me, I can no longer walk very far from the armchair in which I read．Some days I don’t even make it to the backyard．And yet I’m unwilling to give up the adventurous life, the difficulty of it, even the pain, the anxiety and fear, and the sudden brief lift of spirit that makes a hard journey more attractive．
I refine adventure, make it smaller and smaller．And now, whether I am moving on my hands and knees across the dining room to help my cat, lying wide-eyed in the dark battling another period of sadness, gathering flowers from the garden, meeting a friend for lunch, I am always having the adventures that are mine to have．
1.Which of the following is TRUE about the author’s reaction after the illness?
A．The author is drowned in anger and self-pity．
B．The author travels to places he/she has dreamed of．
C．The author can’t take care of himself/herself any longer．
D．The author adapts to the condition successfully．
2.Why does the author admire the people mentioned in Paragraph 3?
A．Because they write popular novels． B．Because they are great adventurers．
C．Because they are famous geographers． D．Because they fight with hardship in life．
3.Which of the following shows the author’s strong love for adventures?
A．The author spends almost every day looking for adventures．
B．The author works hard to make more money for adventures．
C．The author imagines having adventures while reading．
D．The author expects to recover only to continue adventures．
Are some people born clever, and others born stupid? Or is intelligence developed by our environment and our experiences? Strangely enough, the answer to both these questions is yes．To some degree our intelligence is given to us at birth, and no amount of special education can make a genius （天才） out of a child born with low intelligence．On the other hand, a child who lives in a boring environment will develop his intelligence less than one who lives in rich and varied surroundings．Thus the limits of a person’s intelligence are fixed at birth, but whether or not he reaches those limits will depend on his environment．This view, now held by most experts can be supported in a number of ways．
It is easy to say that intelligence is to some degree something we are born with．The closer the blood relationship between two people, the closer they are likely to be in intelligence．Thus if we take two unrelated people at random from the population, it is likely that their degrees of intelligence will be completely different．If on the other hand we take two identical twins, they will very likely be as intelligent as each other．Relations like brothers and sisters, parents and children, usually have similar intelligence, and this clearly suggests that intelligence depends on birth．
Imagine that now we take two identical twins and put them in different environments．We might send one, for example, to a university and the other to a factory where the work is boring．We would soon find differences in intelligence developing, and this indicates that environment as well as birth plays a part．This conclusion is also suggested by the fact that people who live in close contact with each other, but who are not related at all, are likely to have similar degrees of intelligence．
1.By using the example that two people closer in blood relationship are closer in intelligence, the writer wants to prove _________．
A．intelligence is given at birth
B．intelligence can be developed by environment
C．intelligence can be developed by experience
D．education plays an important part in the development of education
2.A child who lives in rich and varied surroundings turns out higher in intelligence because ________．
A．his family is rich and therefore can afford to develop his intelligence
B．he can break the limits of intelligence fixed at birth
C．his family is rich and provides him with various healthy food
D．these surroundings are likely to help him reach the limits of their intelligence
3.The writer of this article believes that _________．
A．the development of one’s intelligence is determined by many things working together
B．environment plays the most important role in the development of intelligence
C．education plays the most important role in the development of intelligence
D．birth plays the most important role in the development of intelligence
4.The best title for this passage might be __________．
A．The Answer to a Question B．Birth and Environment
C．Intelligence D．Intelligence and Education
Is there a nationwide shortage of nurses? It’s hard to say．However, some characteristic symptoms often indicate that there is indeed a shortage．
One symptom is the vacancy rate, or the percentage of budgeted positions that are unfilled．New England’s hospitals currently report that an average of 7 to 12 percent of their registered nurse positions are vacant, the highest level since the last shortage in the late 1980s．Vermont has a relatively low vacancy rate, at 7．8 percent．But its vacancies were at 1．2 percent just five years ago．
Another symptom is the increased use of stopgap measures to fill empty positions．For instance, many nurses report an upswing in how frequently they are asked to stay past their shifts．According to Murphy, working in the St．Elizabeth’s Hospital, “The shortage has definitely created a lot of opportunities of overtime for our nurses, whether they want them or not．” Similarly, a national survey of registered nurses shows that in an average week, nurses in the U．S．work 2．4 more hours than they are scheduled to．Much of this extra time is voluntary, as nurses earn overtime pay when they stay to fill in blanks in the schedule．
When they can’t fill open positions by more traditional means, health care providers hire temporary staff to tide them over．Travelling workers are the largest part of the temporary health care workforce, hired for thirteen-week reduction at health care facilities facing short-term lack of workers．Temporary workers, mainly nurses, cost hospitals $ 7．2 billion in 2000．
“Any successful solution to the shortage depends on convincing more people to become nurses, and that is not an easy goal to reach．To achieve it,” says Buerhaus, “society needs to place more value on nursing．Legislation （法规） can’t do that – it should come from people．” And if this continues, we might have to learn to care for ourselves in the hospital．
1.The temporary staff hired by a hospital _______．
A．cost a large part of the hospital’s budget
B．meet the need for nurses in the hospital for a short time
C．should work on a weekly basis and on a scheduled timetable
D．ought to work passively for thirty continuous weeks
2.According to Buerhaus, what is a successful solution to the nurse shortage?
A．To convince people of the benefits of being a nurse．
B．To ask the government for help to work out specific legislation．
C．To publicize the past achievements of nurses．
D．To make people aware of the importance of being a nurse．
3.What’s the probable meaning of the underlined word “upswing” in Paragraph 3?
A．Symptom B．Decrease C．Increase D．Figure
4.What’s the author’s attitude towards nurse shortage?
A．Worried B．Indifferent C．Doubtful D．Optimistic
Speeding off in a stolen car, the thief thinks he has got a great catch．But he is in for an unwelcome surprise．The car is fitted with a remote immobilizer, and a radio signal from a control centre miles away will ensure that once the thief switches the engine off, he will not be able to start it again．
The idea goes like this．A control box fitted to the car contains a mini-cellphone, a micro-processor and memory, and a GPS （全球定位系统） satellite positioning receiver．If the car is stolen, a coded （编码的） cellphone signal will tell the control centre to block the vehicle’s engine management system and prevent the engine being restarted．
In the UK, a set of technical fixes is already making life harder for car thieves．“The_pattern_of_vehicle_crime_has_changed,” says Martyn Randall, a security expert．He says it would only take him a few minutes to teach a person how to steal a car, using a bare minimum of tools．But only if the car is more than 10 years old．
Modern cars are far tougher to steal, as their engine management computer won’t allow them to start unless they receive a unique ID code sent out by the ignition （点火） key．In the UK, technologies like this have helped achieve a 31% drop in vehicle-related crime since 1997．
But determined criminals are still managing to find other ways to steal cars, often by getting hold of the owner’s keys．And key theft is responsible for 40% of the thefts of vehicles fitted with a tracking system．
If the car travels 100 metres without the driver confirming their ID, the system will send a signal to an operations centre that it has been stolen．The hundred metres minimum avoids false alarms due to inaccuracies in the GPS signal．
Staff at the centre will then contact the owner to confirm that the car really is missing, and keep police informed of the vehicle’s movements via the car’s GPS unit．
1.The remote immobilizer is fitted to a car to ________．
A．prevent car theft by sending a radio signal to the car owner
B．help the police make a surprise attack on the car thief
C．prevent the car thief from restarting it once it stops
D．allow the car to lock automatically when stolen
2.By saying “The pattern of vehicle crime has changed”, Martyn Randall suggests that ________．
A．it takes a longer time for the car thief to do the stealing
B．self-prepared tools are no longer enough for car theft
C．the thief has to make use of computer technology
D．the thief has lost interest in stealing cars over 10 years old
3.________ is necessary in making a modern car tougher to steal．
A．A coded ignition key B．A unique ID card
C．A special cellphone signal D．A GPS satellite positioning receiver
4.The operations centre will first ________ after receiving an alarm．
A．start the tracking system B．contact the car owner
C．block the car engine D．locate the missing car
阅读下面短文，从短文后各题的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选取出适合填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
There was a boy in India who was sent by his parents to a boarding school．Before being sent away this boy was the ___26___ student in his class．He was at the top in every ___27___．He was a champion．
But the boy ___28___ after leaving home and attending the boarding school．His ___29___ started dropping．He hated being in a group．He was ___30___ all the time．And there were especially dark times when he felt like ___31___ himself．All of this because he felt ___32___ and that no one loved him．
His ___33___ started worrying about the boy．But ___34___ they did not know what was wrong with him．___35___ his dad decided to travel to the boarding school and talk with him．
They sat ___36___ the bank of the lake near the school．The father started asking him ___37___ questions about his classes, teachers and ___38___．After some time his dad said, “Do you know, son,___39___ I am here today?”
The boy ___40___, “to check my grades?”
“No, no” his dad replied, “I am here to tell you that you are the most important person for me．I want to see you happy．I don’t care about grades．I care about ___41___．I care about your happiness．YOU ARE MY ___42___．”
These words caused the boy’s eyes to fill with tears．He ___43___ his dad．They didn’t say anything to each other for a long time．
Now the boy had everything he wanted．He knew there was someone on this ___44___ who cared for him deeply．He ___45___ the world to someone．And today this young man is in college at the top of his class and no one has ever seen him sad!
26．A．richest B．prettiest C．laziest D．brightest
27．A．game B．school C．competition D．group
28．A．changed B．died C．arrived D．regretted
29．A．hair B．tears C．love D．grades
30．A．worried B．careless C．lonely D．busy
31．A．teaching B．killing C．helping D．enjoying
32．A．cold B．worthless C．well D．sick
33．A．parents B．classmates C．teachers D．companions
34．A．even B．now C．yet D．then
35．A．And B．But C．Or D．So
36．A．toward B．along C．opposite D．on
37．A．serious B．casual C．personal D．difficult
38．A．work B．study C．sports D．education
39．A．when B．where C．how D．why
40．A．turned away B．answered back C．whispered softly D．cried out
41．A．it B．you C．myself D．us
42．A．LIFE B．ANXIETY C．CARE D．NEED
43．A．forgave B．hit C．hugged D．begged
44．A．side B．earth C．trip D．day
45．A．meant B．owed C．moved D．left
The millionaire passed away, leaving his children with a large ________．
A．fortune B．luck C．money D．amount
