Even plant can run a fever, especially when they’re under attack by insects or diseases. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3, 000 feet away - straight up. A decade ago, adopting the infrared（红外线）scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide（杀虫剂）spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don’t have pest（害虫）problems.
Even better, Paley’s Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3, 000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running “fevers”. Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley’s company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and long-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt that technology works. “This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States, ” says George Oerther of Texas A & M. Ray Jackson , who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago.
1.Plants will emit an increased amount of heat when they are________.
A. sprayed with pesticides B. facing an infrared scanner
C. in poor physical condition D. exposed to excessive sun rays
2.In order to apply pesticide spraying precisely, we can use infrared scanning to____.
A. estimate the damage to the crops B. measure the size of the affected area
C. draw a color -coded map D. locate the problem area
3.Farmers can save a considerable amount of pesticide by________.
A. resorting to spot – spraying B. consulting infrared scanning experts
C. transforming poisoned rain D. detecting crop problems at an early stage
4.The application of infrared scanning technology to agriculture met with some difficulties due to ________.,
A. the lack of official support B. its high cost
C. the lack of financial support D. its failure to help increase production
All of us have read thrilling stories in which the hero had only a limited and specified time to live. Sometimes it was as long as a year; sometimes as short as twenty-four hours, but always we were interested in discovering just how the doomed man chose to spend his last days or his last hours.
Such stories set up thinking, wondering what we should do under similar circumstances. What happiness should we find in reviewing the past, what regrets?
Sometimes, I have thought it would be an excellent rule to live each day as if we should die tomorrow. Such an attitude would emphasize sharply the values of life. We should live each day with a gentleness, a vigor, and a keenness of appreciation which are often lost when time stretches before us in the constant repetition of more days and months and years to come.
Most of us take life for granted. We know that one day we must die, but usually we picture that day as far in the future, when we are in pleasant health, death is all but unimaginable. We seldom think of it. The days stretch out in an endless prospect. So we go about our little task, hardly aware of our listless attitude towards life.
The same attitude, I am afraid, falls on the use of our abilities and senses. Only the deaf appreciate hearing, only the blind realize the various blessings that lie in sight. Particularly does this observation apply to those who have lost sight and hearing in adult life. But those who have never suffered loss of sight of hearing seldom make the fullest use of these blessed abilities. Their eyes and ears take in all sights and sound hazily, without concentration, and with little appreciation. Seldom do people realize how good it is being in good health until they have fallen ill. It is the same old story of not being grateful without missing.
1.When reading the thrilling stories, we usually ______.
A. have curiosity about the hero’s limited life B. show great interest in our own lives
C. find many regrets in reviewing the past D. have mercy on the doomed man
2.From the passage, we can learn that ______.
A. the author thinks it would be excellent to live if he should die the next day
B. the disabled are anxious to regain their abilities and senses
C. each of us should treasure what we have possessed today
D. many of us are able to make full use of our time
3.The underlined word “hazily” in the last paragraph probably means ______.
A. happily B. unclearly C. freely D. enthusiastically
4.The best title for this passage may probably be ______.
A. Not Being Grateful without Missing B. Giving a Hand to the Disabled
C. Making Use of Abilities and Senses D. Learning from Thrilling Stories
C
The Philippines expects that some 110,000 South Korean students will travel to the country in 2007, mainly to attend English language lessons, the Philippines Daily Inquirer has reported.
Head of Philippine Department of Tourism Team Korea, Maricon Basco Ebron, made the assessment at the recently concluded Korea Student Fair 2007, which attracted 30,000 South Korean students, all seriously planning to study abroad. In that event alone, around 8,000 students were booked by 14 Philippine-based schools.
According to Ebron, the estimated figure was based on actual figures recorded by the Philippine Bureau of Immigration in the past. The number of students would account for about 15 to 17 percent of the total visitors expected from South Korean in 2007. “Yet, that percentage is quite conservative since it does not include students with alien resident visas or those young people being brought in by South Korean retirees and businessmen,” Ebron said.
While the Philippines is not a native English-speaking country, the cheaper cost of English-based education is a major plus for South Koreans. “Sending a child to the US for one year is equivalent to sending a child to the Philippines for two years---plus the mom,” Ebron said, referring to the fact South Korean parents could easily come to the Philippines to check on their children.
Oh Hyun-Sook, who works with the Philippine tourism office in Seoul, estimated the cost of South Korean university education at $4,000 per semester, or roughly four times the tuition for the same period in a major university in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, many South Koreans enroll in short-term English as Second Language courses or study for the TOFL in the Philippines as preparation for further education in another country. Younger students come in for language camps, typically two-month courses during their summer or winter break.
According to Oh Hyun-Sook, children as young as five years old are sent abroad, both “to study the English language and to experience a different culture”. “It’s a fact that when you have English language skills, you’re more competitive, whether you work in Seoul or abroad,” Oh Hyun-Sook added.
5.In 2007, about ________ South Korean visitors will travel to The Philippines.
A. 650,000 B. 110,000 C.30,000 D. 38,000
6.The passage mainly tells us that_____________.
A. the Philippines is the first choice for many South Koreans to study English abroad
B. it costs South Koreans less money to study in the Philippines
C. South Korean students are welcome to study English in the Philippines
D. studying English in the Philippines helps South Korean students a lot
7.This passage is probably taken from _________.
A. an educational document B. a newspaper
C. a government report D. a travel magazine
Every person leaves a footprint. That’s what I learnt when I started to work as a private investigator 10 years ago．People pay restaurant bills with their bank card，check into hotels or travel around. In every case，they leave a trace．And because of this，I’m able to track them down even when they don’t want to be found．
The first thing I do when I want to find out where someone is staying is to go to the neighborhood where he used to live．It’s human nature to tell stories—which is why neighbors will tell me all they know when I ring at their houses．Sometimes，someone even talks about his friend’s dishonesty．Then I produce a pattern of my subject’s life：if he likes to have a holiday in Spain or in Italy，if he prefers two- or three- star hotels and where he might hide his assets(资产)．When I’ve got this life pattern，I start my research．
Nine times out of l0，I find the people I’m looking for．I once investigated a lorry supplier who owed ￡500,000 to a subcontractor(分包商)．The subcontractor wanted to find out if it was worth bringing charges against the supplier．I found out the supplier had moved assets to his son，who founded a new company offering the same product．It was all done within the law．There was no money to be got from that operation．
However, I asked the son if I could speak to his father and he told me that his parent was on a long holiday in Spain and wouldn’t be back for a while．It didn’t take me long to find out that the father wasn’t in Spain．
I went back to the son and this time he told me that his father might be in Bulgaria, and I found him doing winter sports in a beautiful mountain area．He was 1iving in a big house on a 1arge piece of land he had bought for￡400，000．This was exactly the kind of asset my customer was looking for．
1.We learn from the text that a private investigator is one who_______.
A. follows people reports on what they do
B. helps people start businesses
C. gives advice to people about the law
D. settles arguments between companies
2.Why does the author visit the place where his subject used to stay？
A. To find out his hidden assets．
B. To gather information about him．
C. To discover why he is dishonest．
D. To find out where he spends his holiday．
3.The lorry supplier moved his assets to his son in order to______．
A. pass on his debt to his son
B. double the business of his company
C. let this son take over his lorry business
D. prevent paying back the money he owed
4.We may infer from the text that the subcontractor might______.
A. bring charges against the lorry supplier’s son B. give up hope of settling the debt
C. sell the big house in Bulgaria D. get his money back
Just listen
I suspect that the most basic and powerful way to connect to another person is to listen. Just listen. Perhaps the most important thing we ever give each other is our 1, and especially if it’s given from the 2. When people are talking, there’s no need to do anything but 3them. Just take them 4. Listen to what they’re saying. Care about it. Most times caring about it is even more important than 5it.
One of my patients told me that when she 6to tell her story, people often 7to tell her that they had once had something just like that happen to her. Subtly her pain became a story about themselves. 8she stopped talking to most people. It was just too 9. We connect through listening. When we interrupt what someone is saying to let them know that we understand, we move the 10of attention to ourselves. But when we listen, they know we care.
I have ever learned to 11to someone crying by just listening. In the old days I used to reach for the tissues(纸巾) 12I realized that passing a person a tissue may be just another way to shut them 13, to take them out of their 14of sadness and pain. Now I just listen. When they have cried all they need to cry, they find me there 15them.
This 16thing has not been that easy to learn. It certainly went against everything I had been 17since I was very young at school. I thought people listened only because they were too 18to speak or did not know the answer. A loving silence often has far more 19to connect than the most well-intentioned 20.
1.A．introduction B．instruction C．attention D．relaxation
2.A．head B．memory C．mind D．heart
3.A．talk to B．listen to C．object to D．stick to
4.A．in B．up C．off D．away
5.A．denying B．remembering C．questioning D．understanding
6.A．managed B．tried C．hoped D．expected
7.A．encouraged B．interrupted C．discouraged D．urged
8.A．Eventually B．Immediately C．Completely D．Especially
9.A．impolite B．meaningless C．lonely D．selfish
10.A．middle B．focus C．center D．choice
11.A．respond B．compare C．link D．regret
12.A．unless B．if C．until D．when
13.A．down B．away C．in D．off
14.A．experiment B．mixture C．judgment D．experience
15.A．with B．against C．for D．among
16.A．complex B．simple C．complicated D．single
17.A．mentioned B．published C．taught D．proved
18.A．shy B．greedy C．active D．proud
19.A．strength B．energy C．power D．force
20.A．gestures B．praise C．criticism D．words
We had thought Carla would say a lot about her job interview, but she _____ it.
A. doesn’t mention B. didn’t mention
C. hasn’t mentioned D. hadn’t mentioned
_____ in gardening and volunteering work, Mrs. Black leads a busy and rich life at her old age.
A. Employing B. Employed C. To employ D. Being employed
