根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Having bad feeling about world? “Cheer up.” says science writer Matt Ridley. “The world has never been a better place to live in, and it will keep on getting better both for humans and for nature.” 1.
1. 2.
It is reported that there are more than ten billion different products for sale in London alone. Even allowing for the many people who still live in poverty, our own generation has access to more nutritious food, more convenient transport, bigger houses, and better cars. 3. This will continue as long as we use these things to make other things. The more we specialize and exchange, the better off we'll be.
2.Brilliant advances
One reason we are richer, healthier, taller, cleverer, longer lived and freer than ever before is that the four most basic human needs—food, clothing, fuel and shelter—have grown a lot cheaper. Take one example. In 1800 a candle providing one hour's light cost six hours' work. In the 1880s the same light from an oil lamp took 15 minutes' work to pay for. 4. Today it's half second.
3.Let's not kill ourselves for climate change
5. A child that dies from indoor smoke in a village, where the use of fossil-fuel (化石燃料) electricity is forbidden by well-meaning members of green political movements trying to save the world, is just as great a tragedy as a child that dies in a flood caused by climate change. If climate change proves to be mild, but cutting carbon causes real pain, we may well find that we have stopped a nose-bleed by putting a tourniquet (止血带) around our necks.
A. Ridley calls himself a rational optimist—rational, because he's carefully weighed the evidence.
B. Overreaction to climate change could prove just as damaging to human welfare as climate change itself.
C. Shopping fuels invention.
D. And, of course, we earn more pounds and dollars than any who lived before us.
E. In 1950 it was eight seconds.
F. It’s high time that we took immediate action to fight climate change.
G. Here's how he explains his views.
Is beauty something always positive? Almost everyone thinks attractive people are happier and healthier, have better marriages and have more respectable jobs. Personal advisors give them better advice for finding jobs. Even judges are softer on attractive defendants. But in the executive（主管的） circle, beauty can become a disadvantage.
While attractiveness is a positive factor for a man on his way up the executive ladder, it is harmful to a woman. Handsome male executives were considered having more honesty than plainer men; effort and ability were thought to lead to their success. Attractive female executives were considered to have less honesty than unattractive ones; their success was connected not with ability but with factors such as luck.
All unattractive women executives were thought to have more honesty and to be more capable than the attractive female executives. Why are attractive women not thought to be able? An attractive woman has an advantage in traditionally female jobs, but an attractive woman in a traditionally manly position appears to lack the manly qualities required.
This is true even in politics, “When the only clue is how he or she looks, people treat men and women differently, ” says Anne Bowman, who recently published a study on the effects of attractiveness on political candidates（候选人）. She asked 125 college students to rank two groups of photographs, one of men and one of women, in order of attractiveness. The students were told the photographs were of candidates for political offices. They were asked to rank them again, in the order they would vote for them.
The results showed that attractive males completely defeated unattractive men, but the women who had ranked most attractive unchangeably received the fewest votes.
1.In traditionally female jobs, attractiveness ________.
A. makes women look more honest and capable
B. strengthens the manly qualities required
C. often enables women to succeed quickly
D. is of no importance to women
2. Bowman’s experiment shows that when it comes to politics, attractiveness _____.
A. turns out to be a disadvantage to men
B. has as little effect on men as on women
C. affects men and women alike
D. is more of a disadvantage than an advantage to women
3.According to the passage, people’s views on beauty are often _____.
A. practical B. one – sided
C. old fashioned D. supportive
A company has just launched what it calls “the world’s first free standardized English test” recently. Anyone can take the test for free. The new exam is called the EFSET, which is short for Education First Standardized English Test. The company, Education First, is known by the letters EF.
It is estimated that there are two billion English language learners worldwide. Many of them are interested in attending an American college or university. To do so, foreign students need to take the Test of English as a Foreign Language — better known as TOEFL. However, many foreigners are not wealthy enough to take the TOEFL. In addition, test-takers often have to travel overnight to reach an official testing site. The World Bank says an average Cambodian worker earns only about $1,000 per year. Approximately the cost of taking the TOEFL is 17.5 percent of the average worker’s yearly wage.
It is not just individuals who find the test pricey. Some governments also find it prohibitive. What’s more, not everyone needs official results from the TOEFL or IELTS — the International English Language Testing System. In the future, it’s likely that the government may use the EFSET to test millions of employees and students.
Experts believe that the EFSET meets the highest value in language testing. It uses special computer software that makes the questions easier or harder, depending on one’s performance. The EFSET measures all the English learners’ levels while the IELTS and TOEFL only measure learners’ levels from moderate (中等的) to advanced. The EFSET is unique in the sense that it gives free online access to anyone interested in measuring their English level.
There is a 50-minute and a two-hour version of the test, which its developers are calling the EFSET Plus. Both versions test only reading and listening skills. It’s hopeful that speaking and writing skills will be tested in the future. The IELTS and the TOEFL still use humans to rate the speaking and writing sections. It’s a huge deal for students who are in areas where they can’t get to the TOEFL or the IELTS. However, it is too early to know whether the EFSET results are acceptable for colleges and universities in America.
1.Why do many foreign students take the TOEFL?
A. To learn English well.
B. To be admitted to key universities.
C. To receive further education in America.
D. To find good jobs and earn much money.
2.What can we infer from Paragraph 2?
A. Only wealthy people can take the TOEFL.
B. The cost of taking the TOEFL is very high.
C. There are many official testing sites for the TOEFL around the world.
D. Few of the students in Cambodia can afford to take the TOEFL.
3. What can we learn about the EFSET?
A. It is similar to the TOEFL and the IELTS.
B. Everybody with different English levels can take it for free.
C. It tests the skills of reading, listening, writing and speaking.
D. American universities accept the EFSET results for admission.
4.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. How to get ready for the EFSET
B. Different ways to test English learners in the world
C. The new software developed by Education First
D. The free EFSET— an online test for English learners
Anyone who has experienced the joy of driving through a rainstorm with the sunroof (天窗) open understands how airflow around the moving vehicles can keep him dry despite the exposure. Now a similar principle is being employed to create an umbrella that protects people from the rain using nothing more than an invisible air force field.
Air Umbrella, developed by a Chinese company and recently funded by Kickstarter, uses forced air rather than fabric to create a protective canopy that keeps people from getting wet in the rain.
It’s a clever concept and designers have done a good job of answering several questions about the product. For instance, the sound generated by the device is minimal, especially when compared to the pitter-patter of the falling rain. It can create a protective canopy wide enough for two people to fit under and it performs well even in the heavy rain. The air shield (防护) can be cut through by high winds, but given that regular umbrellas typically fold over in similar windy conditions, the air umbrella is still an upgrade.
A few concerns do remain, however. For instance, the battery life is only about 15-30 minutes depending on the model, so you’ll still want to walk briskly to your next destination when it’s raining. Also, while the air shield might keep the rain away from you, it’s likely to splash all that blown-away water onto anyone else like a sprinkler (洒水车). So the device might draw the ire of anyone else walking with you, or any helpless bystanders.
There are currently three different types to choose from if you’re interested in investing. Air Umbrella-A is the lightest model, and is apparently designed specifically for females, according to the Chinese developers. It is about 12 inches in length and weighs a little over a pound, and it runs for 15 minutes per charge. Air Umbrella-B measures nearly 20 inches long and weighs 1.7 pounds, and lasts 30 minutes per charge. Finally, Air Umbrella-C also lasts 30 minutes, but is scalable between 20 and 32 inches depending on your needs.
1.Why does the author mention a special driving experience in the first paragraph?
A. To introduce the topic of the passage.
B. To explain the need for an umbrella.
C. To share a feeling with the readers.
D. To prove a theory to the readers.
2. The Air Umbrella fails to work when ______.
A. there is little rain B. there is no wind
C. it rains heavily D. the wind is strong
3.How does the author present concerns about the Air Umbrella?
A. By giving figures.
B. By giving examples.
C. By making experiments.
D. By making comparisons.
4.The underlined word “ire” in the 4th paragraph probably means ______.
A. attention B. doubt
C. curiosity D. anger
Francis Scott Key Fitzgerald was born on September 24, 1896. He was an American writer of novels and short stories, whose works are the typical writings of the Jazz Age, a term he created himself.
Born into an upper middle-class Irish Catholic family, Fitzgerald was named after his famous second cousin, Francis Scott Key. He was also named after his deceased sister Louise Scott, one of two sisters who died shortly before his birth. He spent 1898–1901 in Syracuse and 1903–1908 in Buffalo, New York, where he attended Nardin Academy. When his father was fired from his company, the family returned to Minnesota, where Fitzgerald attended St. Paul Academy from 1908 to1911.
He is widely regarded as one of the 20th century’s greatest writers. Fitzgerald is considered to be a member of the “Lost Generation” of the 1920s. He finished four novels, This Side of Paradise, The Beautiful and Damned, Tender Is the Night and his most famous classic novel, The Great Gatsby. A fifth, unfinished novel, The Love of the Last Tycoon was published after his death. Fitzgerald also wrote many short stories that dealt with themes of youth.
His first literary work, a detective story, was published in a school newspaper when he was 12. When he was 16, he was forced to leave St. Paul Academy for neglecting his studies. He attended Newman School, a prep school in Hackensack, New Jersey, in 1911–1912, and entered Princeton University in 1913 as a member of the Class of 1917. There he became friends with future critics and writers Edmund Wilson (Class of 1916) and John Peale Bishop (Class of 1917), and wrote for the Princeton Triangle Club. He was also a member of the University Cottage Club, which still displays Fitzgerald’s desk and writing materials in its library. A poor student, Fitzgerald left Princeton to enlist (入伍) in the US Army during World War I; however, the war ended shortly after Fitzgerald’s enlistment.
Fitzgerald had been an alcoholic (酒鬼) since his college days, leaving him in poor health by the late 1930s. Fitzgerald suffered a mild attack of tuberculosis in 1919, and died of a heart attack in 1940.
1.What does the passage mainly talk about?
A. The “Lost Generation” of the 1920s.
B. How Fitzgerald got his name.
C. The life and works of Fitzgerald.
D. Fitzgerald and the Jazz Age.
2.What led to Fitzgerald’s early death according to the passage?
A. His poverty.
B. His heavy drinking.
C. The poor working conditions.
D. The pressures of work.
3.Which is the most famous work of Fitzgerald?
A. This Side of Paradise.
B. The Beautiful and Damned.
C. Tender Is the Night.
D. The Great Gatsby.
4.What’s the right order of the events related to Fitzgerald?
a. He attended Nardin Academy.
b. He entered Princeton University.
c. He attended St. Paul Academy.
d. He joined the US Army during World War I.
A. a,c,b,d B. a,d,b,c
C. b,d,a,c D. b,a,c,d
假定你是李华, 你的英国朋友Peter来信向你咨询如何才能学好中文. 请你根据下列要点写回信.
要点: 1. 参加中文学习班;
2. 看中文书刊、电视；
3. 学唱中文歌曲；
4. 交中国朋友。
注意：1.词数100左右；
2. 可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯；
Dear Peter,
__________________________________________________________
Best wishes,
Li Hua
