阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
Faraday was the 1. (invent) of the electric generator and electric motor. Faraday’s father suffered from long-time health problems, as a result of 2. his family had little money to afford his formal schooling. But he was curious and determined to learn.
While 3. (work) in London as a teenager, he had a chance to read 4. (vary) books that he could get his hands on. In 1812, he attended four lectures at the Royal Institution given by a famous chemist named Humphrey Davy. A year later Faraday 5. (accept) as Davy’s lab assistant. Davy also took Faraday on 6. 18-month tour of Europe, where Faraday met some of the most famous scientists of the day. But for Davy, Faraday 7. (lose) the opportunity to gain a complete scientific education.
He soon began to do 8. (experiment) with electricity. In 1831, he discovered electromagnetic induction. And for the next eight years Faraday worked long hours in the lab, which did harm 9. his health. By the end of the decade he was in 10. poor health that his research did not begin again until 1845. In the mid-1850s, he was forced to retire and he lived at Hampton Court until his death on August 25, 1867.
As a young man, Alan was a skilled artist, a painter with a wife and two fine sons. One night, his older son_________a bad stomachache. Thinking it was only some_________intestinal (肠的) disorder, neither Alan nor his wife took the condition very________. But the boy died suddenly that night. Knowing the death could have been ________if he had only realized the seriousness of the _______, he always felt the loss of his son was due________ him. To make matters worse, his wife left him a short time later, _______ him alone with his six-year-old younger son. The hurt and pain of the two situations were more than Alan could _______, and he turned to alcohol for help. _______ Alan became an alcoholic. ___________the alcoholism progressed, Alan began to lose everything he _________— his land, house, etc. Finally Alan died alone in a small bar. Hearing of Alan’s death, I thought, “What a totally wasted life! What a complete_________!” As time went by, I began to reconsider my earlier_________. I knew Alan’s now ________ son, Ernie. He is one of the kindest, most_________, most loving men I have ever known. I saw the love between Ernie and his children, thinking that kindness and caring had to come from somewhere. I hadn’t heard Ernie talked much about his_________. One day, I worked up my_________ to ask him what on earth his father had done so that he became such a special person. Ernie said __, “As a child until I left home at 18, Alan came into my room every night, gave me a kiss and said, ‘love you, son.’” Tears came to my eyes as I realized what I had been a fool to_________ Alan as a failure. He had not left any ________ belongings behind. But he had been a kind loving father, and left behind his best love.
1.A. exploded B. developed C. spread D. lifted
2.A. certain B. rare C. common D. informal
3.A. lightly B. slightly C. consciously D. seriously
4.A. cured B. saved C. banned D. prevented
5.A. situation B. position C. stage D. reaction
6.A. to B. by C. for D. on
7.A. giving B. leaving C. providing D. asking
8.A. stand B. understand C. explore D. support
9.A. As usual B. In no time C. In time D. On occasion
10.A. Though B. As C. If D. Because
11.A. needed B. shared C. benefited D. owned
12.A. failure B. trouble C. hardship D. success
13.A. choice B. chance C. judgment D. expectation
14.A. teen B. adult C. old D. poor
15.A. careful B. strict C. caring D. excited
16.A. brother B. mother C. child D. father
17.A. courage B. appreciation C. interest D. enthusiasm
18.A. aggressively B. quietly C. impatiently D. excitedly
19.A. spot B. wonder C. view D. call
20.A. emotional B. natural C. basic D. material
If you have ever been in a school play or even made to believe you were a doctor, a detective, or a space traveler, you know the enjoyment that acting brings. Almost all of us have the wish to play the part of someone — or something else.1.
In the ancient world, acting was often connected with religious ceremonies and other special occasions. As far back as 2200 B.C., trained Chinese actors performed ceremonial dances in costume and makeup at harvest festivals. 2. The imitation (模仿) of movements and gestures was gradually added to the dance, as well as the wearing of masks, the singing of chants, and finally the use of dialogue.
While acting was coming into its own in the ancient Chinese classical theatre, it was doing the same in the western world, in Greece. From about 500 B.C. on, acting became a highly specialized art in Greece. Greek actors, however, still wore masks, and their motions (动作) were largely fixed by custom. 3.
Modern acting, by contrast, gives the individual actor great opportunity to develop his or her personal talents for serious, comic, or musical drama. The names, faces, and styles of famous movie actors are known worldwide. 4. A special form of acting takes place in radio drama, which was highly popular before television. In radio drama the actors face a unique challenge. They are unseen by their audience. So they must rely on voice alone to make their characters real to the listeners.
5. Only forty percent of Broadway actors are employed, most of them for only part of the year. Those who become stars need not only talent, but determination. They must not be easily discouraged. Otherwise, they might give up before the opportunity for fame presents itself.
A. The origins of acting are in the act of remembering.
B. Drama in Greece began with festivals honoring Dionysus.
C. It is believed that this was the first step in the development of acting.
D. Historical records indicate that this desire is as old as civilization itself.
E. Acting is not, as many people think, a quick, easy road to fame and riches.
F. Broadway and television provide other stages on which actors can display their talent.
G. Consequently, they had little opportunity to display their individual personalities.
Can a computer think? That depends on what you mean by “think”. If solving a math problem is “thinking”, then a computer can “think” and do so much faster than a man. Of course, most mathematical problems can be solved by repeating certain process over and over again. Even the simple computers of today can do that. It is frequently said that computers solve problems only because they are“programmed” to do so. They can only do what men have them do. One must remember that human beings also can only do what they are “programmed” to do. Our genes “program” us the moment the fertilized ovum(受精卵) is formed, and our possible abilities are limited by that “program”. Our “program” is so much more enormously complex, though, that we might like to define “thinking” in terms of the creativity that goes into writing a great symphony or in developing a brilliant scientific theory. In that sense, computers certainly can’t think and neither can most humans.
Surely, though, if a computer can be made complex enough, it can be as creative as we. If it could be made as complex as a human brain, it could be equal to a human brain and do whatever a human brain can do. To suppose anything else is to suppose that there is more to the human brain than the matter that composes it. The brain is made up of cells in a certain arrangement. If anything else is there, no signs of it have ever been discovered. To duplicate (复制) the material complexity of the brain is therefore to duplicate everything about it.
But how long will it take to build a computer complex enough to duplicate the human brain? Perhaps not as long as some think. Long before we approach a computer as complex as our brain, we will perhaps build a computer that is at least complex enough to design another computer more complex than itself. This more complex computer could design one still more complex and so on and so on. In other words, once we pass a certain critical point, the computers take over and there is a “complexity explosion”. In a very short time thereafter, computers may exist that not only duplicate the human brain but go far beyond it.
1.In what sense does the writer think that humans are programmed?
A. Their characteristics, powers, etc. are fixed before birth.
B. He thinks a man’s abilities are not limited, as a computer’s are.
C. In the sense that humans will always be better than computers.
D. Computers must be operated by men, but man can operate by himself.
2.What does the writer mean by saying that the average human being is unable to ‘think’?
A. It is not true. All humans can ‘think’ in all sense.
B. Human beings fail to think as fast as a computer.
C. Most people don’t have great creative ability.
D. Something has been wrong with his genetic program.
3.What is the ‘critical point’ mentioned in the last paragraph?
A. The point at which a computer is an exact copy of a human brain.
B. When one computer is itself clever enough to design a better one.
C. When a computer can be made as creative as we are.
D. When the computers destroy each other in an explosion.
4.The word ‘explosion’ mentioned in the last paragraph means ________.
A. great damage B. a terrific noise
C. excitement D. big leaps forward
It was once common to regard Britain as a society with class distinction. Each class had unique characteristics.
In recent years, many writers have begun to speak the ‘decline of class’ and ‘classless society’ in Britain. And in modern day consumer society everyone is considered to be middle class.
But pronouncing the death of class is too early. A recent wide-ranging society of public opinion found 90 percent of people still placing themselves in particular class; 73 percent agreed that class was still a vital part of British society; and 52 percent thought there were still sharp class differences. Thus, class may not be culturally and politically obvious, yet it remains an important part of British society. Britain seems to have a love of stratification (分层).
One unchanging aspect of a British person’s class position is accent. The words a person speaks tell her or his class. A study of British accents during 1970s found that a voice sounding like a BBC newsreader was considered as the most attractive voice. Most people said this accent sounded ‘educated’ and ‘soft’. The accents placed at the bottom in this study, on the other hand, were regional accents. These accents were seen as ‘common’ and ‘ugly’. However, a similar study of British accents in the US turned these results upside down and placed some regional accents as the most attractive and BBC English as the least. This suggests that British attitudes towards accent have deep roots and are based on class prejudice (偏见).
In recent years, however, young upper middle-class people in London, have begun to adopt some regional accents, in order to hide their class origins. This is an indication of class becoming unnoticed. However, the 1995 pop song ‘Common People’ puts forward the view that though a middle-class person may ‘want to live like common people’, they can never appreciate the reality of a working-class life.
1.A recent study of public opinion shows that in modern Britain ________.
A. it is time to end class distinction
B. most people belong to middle class
C. it is easy to recognize a person’s class
D. people regard themselves socially different
2.The study in the US showed that BBC English was regarded as ________.
A. regional B. educated
C. standard D. unattractive
3.British attitudes towards accent ________.
A. have a long tradition B. are based on regional status
C. are shared by the Americans D. have changed in recent years
4.What is the main idea of the passage?
A. The middle class is expanding. B. A person’s accent reflects his class.
C. Class is a key part of British society. D. Each class has unique characteristics.
My six-year-old granddaughter stared at me as if she were seeing me for the first time. “Grandma, you are an antique(古董),” she said. “You are old. Antiques are old. You are my antique.”
I was not satisfied to let the matter rest there. I took out the Webster’s Dictionary and read the definition to Jenny. I explained, “An antique is not only old, it’s an object existing since or belonging to earlier times...a work of art... a piece of furniture. Antiques are treasured,” I told Jenny as I put away the dictionary. “They have to be handled carefully because they sometimes are very valuable. In order to qualify as an antique, the object has to be at least 100 years old.”
“I’m only 67,” I reminded Jenny.
We looked around the house for other antiques, besides me. There was a desk that was handed down from Rone aunt to another and finally to our family. “It’s very old,” I told Jenny. “I try to keep it polished and I show it off whenever I can. You do that with antiques."
There was a picture on the wall bought at a garage sale. It was dated 1867. “Now that’s an antique,” I said with pride. “Over 100 years old.” Of course it was marked up and scratched (刮坏) and not in very good condition. “Sometimes age does that,” I told Jenny. “But the marks are good marks. They show living, or being around. That’s something to display with pride. In fact, sometimes, the more an object shows age, the more valuable it can become.” I believed this was important for my own self-worth.
Our tour of antiques continued. There was a vase on the floor. It had been in my house for a long time. I was not certain where it came from but I didn’t buy it new. One thing about antiques, I explained to Jenny, was that they usually had a story. They’d been in one home and then another, handed down from one family to another, traveling all over the place. They’d lasted through years and years. They could have been thrown away, or ignored. or destroyed, or lost. But instead, they survived.
For a moment, Jenny looked thoughtful. “l don’t have any antiques but you,” she said. Then her face brightened. “Could I take you to school for show and tell?”
“Only if I fit into your backpack,” I answered. And then Jenny’s antique lifted her up and embraced her in a hug that would last through the years.
1.Grandma read the definition of “antique” to Jenny in order to ________.
A. express her disappointment at being called “antique”
B. change Jenny’s shallow understanding of antiques
C. tell Jenny the importance of protecting antiques
D. list all the important characteristics of antiques
2.Which of the following information did grandma express to Jenny?
A. The desk reminded her of her dear relatives.
B. There was usually a sad story behind each antique.
C. The spots on the picture showed its age and value.
D. She planned to buy a new vase to replace the old one.
3.What can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A. Grandma was too old to lift Jenny up.
B. Jenny was too young to know grandma’s humor.
C. Jenny had a strong desire for grandma’s love.
D. Grandma had a deep long-lasting love for Jenny.
4.What can be the best title for the passage?
A. Jenny’s Antique B. Grandma’s Antique
C. A Tour of Antiques D. A Story of Antiques
