The Channel is the name given to the stretch of water which separates England and France. Ferries operate all year round to carry people across the Channel, and they are busy most of the year. January is the only quiet month nowadays. As well as summer holiday-makers, there are day trippers and coach traffic, not to mention lorries and other commercial vehicles. Some ferries carry cars and their passengers, while others also connect train passengers with the Continental rail network.
The biggest hazard for the ferry is the wind. The crew listens to BBC weather reports four times a day. Or they sometimes get gale warnings from local radio station.
Crossing the Channel by ferry is a bit like trying to cross Oxford Street on a busy afternoon, according to one ferryboat captain. The ferries from Folkstone and Dover to Calais and Boulogne have to cross the main flow of traffic. This consists of ships traveling through the Channel to and from Northern Europe. There may be four hundred ships making the journey at any one time, and they all pass through a “choke point” which is only fifteen miles (twenty-five kilometers) wide. The cross-channel ferries have to sail right through the middle of all this traffic.
1.The passage is mainly concerned with _____.
A. the English Channel
B. the weather on the Channel
C. cross-channel ferries
D. what crossing the Channel by ferry is like
2.The word hazard is closest in meaning to ________.
A. trouble B. danger C. enemy D. problem
3.We can infer from the passage that _______.
A. if there is a gale warning from the BBC, the ferries will stop operating.
B. the traffic on the Channel is very busy only in winter
C. ferries are busiest in the afternoon
D. the crew of the ferry listens to the weather reports four times a day
4.Where does this passage most probably appear?
A. In a dictionary. B. In a novel.
C. In a transportation magazine. D. In a geography textbook.
Just before midnight, six University of Cincinnati students were watching TV in an on-campus apartment when three men burst through the door. While one of the intruders pointed a gun at the group, the other two scooped up $4,400 worth of laptops, cell phones, video games and cash. Once they had what they wanted, the trio fled into the night.
Furious, the students chased down and tackled one of the burglars -- the one with the gun. In the struggle, it went off, and a bullet grazed a student's leg. His friends piled on the gunman and held him until police showed up.
By the next day, the injured young man was back in his apartment, and the suspect was in jail, charged with burglary, felonious assault and receiving stolen property. But how did the men manage to storm into an on-campus residence that November night in the first place? Simple: Students told police the building's main doors hadn't latched properly for days.
As parents confront ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates, they are finding themselves with an even bigger, more basic problem: Which campuses are safe? Colleges seem like idyllic and secure places, and for the most part, they are. But ivy-covered walls can't keep out every bad element. This country's 6,000 colleges and universities report some 40,000 burglaries, 3,700 forcible sex offenses, 7,000 aggravated assaults and 48 murders a year. Other hazards -- fires, binge-drinking, mental-health problems -- are also on the rise.
Of course, that's not what parents and students see on America's serene campuses. There's a false sense of security, says Harry Nolan, a safety consultant in New York City. "Students see guards patrolling at night or a video camera monitoring the dorm entrance and think, nothing bad can happen to me," he explains. "People don't know that safety controls are often very lax."
1.What did the students do after the burglars fled into the night?
A. They stood there in surprise.
B. They ran after the burglars at once.
C. They waited for the police.
D. They phoned their teacher.
2.What does the underlined word “latched” in the third paragraph probably mean?
A. watched B. fixed C. locked D. kept
3.What worries parents most except ballooning college costs and shrinking acceptance rates?
A. Their children’s grades in the universities or colleges.
B. Their children’s safety in the universities or colleges.
C. Their children’s behavior in the universities or colleges.
D. Their children’s relationship with classmates in the universities or colleges.
4.Which is right according to the passage?
A. Their children’s grades in are high.
B. Their children’s safety in the universities or colleges will be mornitored well.
C. The universities or colleges don’t pay much attention to the children.
D. The universities or colleges are not key educational departments in the local area.
My sister and I grew up in a little village in England．Our father was a struggling ___36___， but I always knew he was ___37___．He never criticized us, but used ___38___ to bring out our best．He’d say, “If you pour water on flowers, they flourish．If you don’t give them water, they die.” I ___39___ as a child I said something ___40___ about somebody, and father said, “___41___ time you say something unpleasant about somebody else, it’s a reflection of you.” He explained that if I looked for the best ___42___ people, I would get the best ___43___．From then on I’ve always tried to ___44___ the principle in my life and later in running my company．
Dad’s also always been very ___45___．At 15, I started a magazine．It was ___46___ a great deal of time, and the headmaster of my school gave me a ___47__: stay in school or leave to work on my magazine．
I decided to leave, and Dad tried to sway me from my decision, ___48___ any good father would．When he realized I had made up my mind, he said, “Richard, when I was 23, my dad ___49__ me to go into law．And I’ve ___50___ regretted it．I wanted to be a biologist, ___51__ I didn’t pursue my ___52__．You know what you want．Go fulfill it.”
As ___53__ turned out, my little publication went on to become Student, a national ___54__ for young people in the U.K．My wife and I have two children, and I’d like to think we are bringing them up in the same way Dad ___55__ me．
1.A．biologist B．manager C．lawyer D．gardener
2.A．strict B．honest C．special D．learned
3.A．praise B．courage C．power D．warmth
4.A．think B．imagine C．remember D．guess
5.A．unnecessary B．unkind C．unimportant D．unusual
6.A．Another B．Some C．Any D．Other
7.A．on B．in C．at D．about
8.A．in case B．by turns C．by chance D．in return
9.A．revise B．set C．review D．follow
10.A．understanding B．experienced C．serious D．demanding
11.A．taking up B．making up C．picking up D．keeping up
12.A．suggestion B．decision C．notice D．choice
13.A．and B．as C．even if D．as if
14.A．helped B．allowed C．persuaded D．suggested
15.A．always B．never C．seldom D．almost
16.A．rather B．but C．for D．therefore
17.A．promise B．task C．belief D．dream
18.A．this B．he C．it D．that
19.A．newspaper B．magazine C．program D．project
20.A．controlled B．comforted C．reminded D．raised
The strange man asked me to hand the letter to _____ I met in the police station, saying it was very important.
A. whoever B. whatever C. whichever D. whomever
He told us whether _____ a picnic was still under discussion.
A. to have B. having C. have D. had
The computer was used in teaching. As a result, not only _____, but students became more interested in the lessons.
A. saved was teachers’ energy
B. was teachers’ energy saved
C. teachers’ energy was saved
D. was saved teachers’ energy
