Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster each new computer boasts（吹嘘）of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have then danger according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imaginations take us into another world.
There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced; they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.
1.The new products become more and more time-saving because ______.
A. our love on speed seems never-ending
B. time is limited
C. the prices are increasingly high
D. the manufacturers boast a lot
2.What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?
A. Critical B. Objective
C. Optimistic D. Negative
3.What does the passage mainly discuss?
A. The present and past times
B. Machinery and human beings
C. Imaginations and inventions
D. Modern technology and its influence
In the rush to get to school, you drop a piece of toast on the floor. Do you throw it away or decide it’s still OK to eat? If you’re like most people, you eat it. Maybe you follow the “5-second rule”, which claims foods are safe to eat if you pick them up within 5 seconds after dropping them.
But you might want to think again. Scientists now say that 5 seconds is all it takes for foods to become polluted with enough bacteria to make you sick.
Bacteria can cause many kinds of illnesses. Some kinds of bacteria can grow on food. If you eat foods on which these bacteria are growing, you can become sick.
One of these food-borne bacteria is Salmonella. It makes 1.4 million people sick every year. Salmonella is often found in raw eggs and chicken. Cooking kills these bacteria, which is why it is so important to cook eggs, chicken, and other foods thoroughly.
But how long does it take these bacteria to pollute food? A team of scientists in South Carolina did an experiment. First, they placed an amount of Salmonella on three surfaces; wood, tile (瓦片), and carpet. They placed a piece of bread and a piece of bologna（一种大红肠）on each surface for 5, 30, or 60 seconds. After just 5 seconds, both the bread and the bologna picked up enough bacteria to make you sick.
So, forget the 5-second rule. If your toast drops on the floor, throw it away and get another piece of clean toast. And this time, be careful not to drop it!
1.In which part of a newspaper can you most probably find this passage?
A．Culture. B．Health.
C．Advertisement. D．Technology.
2.After dropping a piece of toast, a person who follows the “5-second rule” will______.
A. throw away dirty toast immediately and go away
B. pick up the toast as quickly as possible and eat it
C. eat the toast within 5 seconds and feel pleased
D. get another piece of clean toast quickly and eat it
3. The scientists in South Carolina did the experiment to ______.
A. see how quickly bacteria can pollute food
B. show that the 5-second rule is correct
C. see how harmful bacteria are to people’s health
D. show that bacteria grow at different speeds on different foods
John Blanchard was studying the crowd making their way through the station. He was looking for the girl whose heart he knew, but whose face he didn’t, the girl with the rose.
When reading a book in a Florida library a year before, John became interested not in the contents of the book, but in the notes penciled in the margin. The handwriting reflected a thoughtful soul and beautiful mind. He discovered the former owner’s name in the front of the book: Miss Hollis Maynell.
He located her address and wrote a letter introducing himself. The next day he was shipped overseas to serve in the army. During the next year, they grew to know each other through the mail and their friendship developed. John requested a photograph, but she refused, saying if he really cared, it wouldn’t matter what she looked like. When the day finally came for him to return home, their first meeting was suggested — 7:00 p.m. at the Grand Central Station in New York.
She wrote, “You’ll recognize me by the red rose I wear on my coat.” So now John was in the station to meet the girl with a rose.
As a pretty and slim girl in green came over, John noticed her blue eyes like flowers in spring. He walked directly towards her, entirely forgetting she was not wearing a rose. As John came closer to her, he saw another woman with a red rose stood nearby. Well past 40, this woman had graying hair done under a worn hat. Seeing the girl in green walk quickly away, John felt as if he were split in two. He desired to follow that girl, but longed for the woman whose spirit had truly companioned and supported him.
The woman looked gentle and sensible. John went to her, saying, “I’m Captain John Blanchard. You must be Miss Maynell. I am glad to meet you here. May I take you to dinner?”
She replied with a smile, “I don’t know what this is about. But the lady in green who just went by, begged me to wear this rose on my coat. She said if you asked me out to dinner, I’d tell you she is waiting for you in the big restaurant across the street. She said it was some kind of test!”
1.What do we know about the woman with a rose?
A. She was Miss Maynell’s close friend.
B. She was a waitress in the big restaurant.
C. She was probably a passerby.
D. She was paid to meet John at the Station.
2.Which would be the best title of the text?
A. An Interesting Book B. A Woman With a Rose
C. A Brave Soldier D. A Love Test
Hi, everybody!
Welcome to our newly-opened Richards Cinema Bookstore!
Now let me introduce to you some of the new film books in our store.
Are you Chinese film fans? OK, here comes the latest 25 New Takes about Chinese films. It is a collection of 25 fresh readings of different Chinese films from the 1930s to the present. In recent years, Chinese films are very popular in the States, such as Crouching Tiger and Hidden Dragon, Hero, and Flowers of Shanghai.
Do you like French films? Well, here is The French Cinema Book. It covers French films from the 1890s to the beginning of the 21st century. It is written for all lovers of French cinema: students and teachers, specialists and fans, and so on.
Maybe you are Indian film fans and star-chasers. Then here is Encyclopedia(百科全书) of Indian Cinema. The book is complete introduction to all the best Indian films. It also offers a full list of names of the famous and successful film stars in the past ten years. You know, the Indian film industry is the largest in the world after our Hollywood.
If you like British films, we have The British Cinema Book. It is a good review of British cinema. This book contains a good many nice pictures.
In our bookstore, you can also find books about Mexican, Japanese, Australian, German and Italian films.
Well, please help yourselves to some coffee or tea, and have a good time here!
1. The speaker of the passage is most probably ______.
A. the author of 25 New Takes
B. a tourist in the cinema bookstore
C. the manager of the cinema bookstore
D. a reader of Encyclopedia of Indian Cinema
2.The purpose of the speaker is ______.
A. to satisfy the customers’ various tastes
B. to keep the authors in the cinema bookstore
C. to offer the tourists chances to meet the film stars
D. to turn the readers into film producers
It was a cold evening and my daughter and I were walking up Broadway. I didn’t notice a guy sitting inside a cardboard box. But Nora did. She wasn’t even four, but she ____ at my coat and said, “That man’s cold. Daddy, ____ we take him home?”
I don’t remember my reply. But I do remember a sudden ____ feeling inside me. I had always been delighted at how much my daughter noticed in her ____, whether it was ____ in flight or children playing. But now she was noticing ____ and beggary.
A few days later, I saw an article in the newspaper about volunteers who picked up a food package from a nearby school on a Sunday morning and ____ it to an elderly person. It was quick and easy. I ____ us up. Nora was ____ about it. She could understand the importance of food, so she could easily see how ____ our job was. When Sunday came, she was ready, but I had to ____ myself to leave the house. On the way to the school, I fought an urge to turn ___. The Sunday paper and coffee were waiting at home. Why do this? ____, we phoned the elderly person we’d been appointed. She ____ us right over.
The building was in a sad state. Facing us was a silver-haired woman in an old dress. She took the package and asked us to come in. Nora ran inside. I unwillingly followed. ____ inside, I saw that the department belonged to someone poor. Our hostess showed us some photos. Nora played and when it came time to say goodbye, we three hugged, I walked home in tears.
Professionals call such a(n) ____ “a volunteer opportunity”. They are opportunities. I’ve come to see. Where else but as volunteers do you have opportunity to do something ____ that’s good for others as well as for yourself? Nora and I regularly serve to needy people and ____ clothes for the homeless. Yet, as I’ve ____ her grow over these past four years, I still wonder—which of us has ____ more?
1.A. pulled B. glanced C. waved D. aimed
2.A. would B. can C. need D. must
3.A. general B. true C. heavy D. curious
4.A. area B. part C. eyesight D. world
5.A. insects B. dogs C. animals D. birds
6.A. coldness B. illness C. suffering D. ignorance
7.A. delivered B. returned C. devoted D. posted
8.A. held B. hurried C. signed D. lined
9.A. casual B. sorry C. astonished D. excited
10.A. creative B. valuable C. shocking D. simple
11.A. warn B. stop C. allow D. push
12.A. back B. away C. up D. out
13.A. Therefore B. Obviously C. Still D. Also
14.A. called B. promised C. invited D. helped
15.A. As B. Once C. Because D. Though
16.A. stay B. visit C. adventure D. challenge
17.A. fair B. famous C. difficult D. enjoyable
18.A. collect B. make C. order D. wear
19.A. let B. made C. watched D. noticed
20.A. improved B. benefited C. tried D. seized
French author Le Clezjo, a brilliant novelist ______ as a child of all continents, won the Nobel Prize in literature in October, 2008.
A. honored B. honoring
C. being honored D. having honored
