-
The
frightening
rise
in
crimes
of
violence
throughout
the
country
has
caused
more
and
more
people
to
arm
themselves.
They
buy
guns
to
protect
their
homes
and
to
carry
with
them
for
personal safety when
traveling. Unfortunately, instead of safety, what
the new handgun owner too
often gets is
personal tragedy(
悲剧
). As I
found out in my reading, a handgun does not
protect the
American home very well.
The home handgun is far more likely to kill or
injure family members
and friends than
anyone who breaks in, and is especially harmful to
young adults and to children.
Because
90 percent of break-and-enters take place when no
one is home, the handgun bought for
defense is very often stolen. According
to some statistics, each year about 100,000
handguns are
stolen
from
ordinary
citizens.
These
guns
then
enter
the
criminal
underworld(
黑社会
)
and
are
used in
more crimes. Thus, the citizens who lost guns is
helping to arm the criminal class.
As a
New York City police officer recently pointed out
to homeowner who asked if he should buy
a handgun to protect his home, too
often it is the homeowner himself who ends up
getting shot and
killed, because he
most often warns the robber by saying something
like “Stop!” or “What do you
think
you’re doing?” Possibly, the thief turns and
fires.
In street crime, the
use of a handgun for defense is very risky, with
the defender often losing the
gun and
having it used against him. The handgun owner
seldom even gets the chance to use his or
her
gun
because
the
moment
of
surprise
is
always
with
the
attacker.
In
fact,
trying
to
use
a
handgun to
keep someone off makes the risk of death quite a
bit higher.
For the ordinary citizen,
using a handgun is seldom helpful for defense on
the street. And, in the
home, the only
way to get real defense from a personal handgun
would be to have it always at the
ready, perhaps in hand loaded and ready
to fire every time there is a knock on the door.
That is not
exactly the American way or
my idea of a civilized(
文明的
)
society.
1. Why do people
arm themselves according to the passage?
a. Because they
want to use guns to protect their personal goods.
b. Because
killing animals is their favorite sport.
c. Because the
number of crimes of violence is still small.
d. Because
people intend to attack others.
2. More
often than not, what the handgun brings its owner
is _______.
a.
safety
b. tragedy
c. luck
d. happiness
3. It can be understood from the
passage that ______.
a. self-defense is of no use
b. home
handguns do more harm than good to ordinary people
c. stolen
handguns are usually thrown away
d. handguns are no longer
needed
4. If a citizen uses a handgun
to protect himself in street crime, he will
probably ______.
a. be safe and sound
b. kill the attacker
c. risk his life
d. hurt other
people instead
5. The passage is mainly
about _______.
a. how criminals get guns from ordinary
citizens
b. why
the handgun is not essential for home defense
c. when street
crime is most likely to happen
d. how handguns protect
people’s lives
Many doctors
are now trained in techniques to lessen tension
and stress. Here health professionals
reveal their favorite methods.
Comfort with food. When diet expert
Judith Wurtman is stressed out, she does what a
lot of people
do this time of year: she
reaches for food. But in her case,
it
’
s a healthy rice cake or
two.
“
My
research
suggests
that
car
bohydrates(
碳水化合物
)raise
levels
of
a
brain
chemical,
which
has
a
calming effect on the entire
body,
”
says the
MIT research scientist.
“
So
signs of stress---such as
anger,
tension, and inability to focus---are
eased.
”
Run from your problems. Dr. Kenneth H.
Cooper, who popularized
aerobics(
有氧运动
) through
his 1968 book by that name, handles his
own stress with a daily after-work run. He knows
that
physical
activity
re
duces
anxiety
and
depression.
“Aerobic
exercise
is
the
best
way
to
dissipate
stress,” says Cooper.
Look
to
the
light
side.
On
his
way
to
the
hospital
where
his
father
was
to
have
surgery,
Joel
Goodman shared a hotel bus with the
anxious relatives of several patients. The driver
began telling
his stress-
out
passengers a few jokes. “Then he did some magic
tricks that had my mother and me
laughing,” Goodman says. “In that
five
-minute ride he taught us that
humor can lessen our
stress.”
The
surgery
was
successful,
and
Goodman
was
so
moved
by
his
experience
that
he
researched
laughter
’
s power.
“
A good laugh relaxes
muscles, reduces blood pressure, restrains stress-
related
hormones(
荷尔蒙
) and
enhances the immune system,
”
he says.
Go green. Coffee, loaded with hidden
sources of caffeine(
咖啡因
)
，
stimulates the nervous system
and can make you feel stressed more
easily. That
’
s why Arizona
doctor Andrew Weil, author of
the best
seller Spontaneous Healing, does not take
caffeine.
“
When I want
gentle energy, I drink
green tea. It
contains a caffeine-like
element,
”
Weil
says. It also contains
compounds(
化合物
)
that, some studies suggest, have anti-
cancer effects.
21. Often,
when people have stress, they
,
but one should be careful to be healthy.
A. eat something
B.
sit for while
C. take
chemicals
D. go on a diet
22. By taking a run after work, a
person can
.
A. forget about his work
B. actually
raise stress levels
C. get an aerobic
workout
D. feel happier
23. What is the meaning of
the word
“
dissipate
”
in the third paragraph?
A. Reduce.
B.
Depress.
C. Disturb.
D. Level
24. Look to the
light side can
A.
be as
successful as surgery
B. make patients
anxious
C. make people immune to stress
D. lessen one
’
s
stress
25. Which of the
following groups of people can have a happier
life, according to the passage?
A.
Those who are continuously eating something.
B. Those who are always engaged in
working.
C. Those who use the right
methods to reduce tension.
D. Those who study medicine of
psychology.
R
oger Sperry and Robert
Ornstein of the California Institute of Technology
won a Nobel Prize in
1972. They
discovered that the human brain has two sides, and
each side has different work to do.
The
left side of the brain controls language and
number; it analyses and reasons. The fight side
controls our imagination; it controls
our understanding of music and our sense of
rhythm. It is the
fight side of our
brain which daydreams.
Great artists and great scientists are
similar: they both use the two sides of their
brain. It is
well-known that Albert
Einstein, a great scientist, spent time enjoying
art, playing the violin and
sailing.
Einstein said his scientific discoveries grew from
his imagination rather than from analysis,
reason and language. He said that
written and spoken words were not important in his
thinking. He
got ideas by using his
imagination. Following this, he used the left side
of brain to use analysis,
number and
reason and then he used language to explain it.
Usual education in
schools encourages us to use the left side of our
brains. Language, number,
analysis and
reason are given more importance in our schools
than imagination and daydreaming.
However, we are encouraged to hop when
we have two perfectly good legs! Then why don’t we
give more value to visual thinking?
In fact, all of us need
both sides of our brain. We need to use our
imagination to think of
solutions to
problems and to enjoy feeling and creative
experiences. And we need to be logical and
to be able to analyze and organize in
order to live on this world.
It is true that some people find it
easier to use one side of the brain rather than
the other, but all
of us can use both
sides and all of us benefit by using all the
powers we have. Nietzsche, the
well-
known philosopher, said that we add to our
knowledge by making conscious the unconscious.
11. According to the passage, a great
composer composes music by using
of his brain.
A. the right side
B. the left side
C. both sides
D. neither side
12. Albert
Einstein’s example is used to support the idea
that ___________
A. all scientific discoveries are based
on imagination
B. people
should do nothing but daydream
C. using two sides of the brain is
important
D. scientists
are good at imagining what may happen
13. It is implied in the passage that
regular education___________
A. should be praised because it
suggests using both sides of the brain
B. finds it very important to have
daydreams
C. claims that
analysis and reason are of no value
D. fails to develop the right side of
the brain
14. What did Nietzsche say
about adding to the knowledge we have?
A. Learning happens when we are not
conscious.
B. Learning
happens when we make unconscious decisions.
C. Learning happens when
we become aware of things inside us.
D. Learning happens when we think about
things logically.
15. The author’s
attitude toward using two sides of the brain is
___________
A.
positive
B. negative
C. not logical
D.
critical
Futurist Ian Pearson sees a
convergence (
会聚点
) between
clever computers and biotechnology,
the
coming of implanted chips and enhanced mental
ability. Both machines and humans will have
access to a global net with instant
access to the world's knowledge. But Pearson also
fears that it
could divide the world
into two classes--those with access to this
knowledge and those without.
Clearly,
there is a risk in losing control of things which
are capable of thinking. Pearson expects
machines to be as smart as humans by
2015. After that, computers will continue to get
even
smarter.
The trouble
with the digital revolution, says MIT Media Lab
director Neil Gershenfeld in his book
When Things Start to Think, is that
computers may have speeded up many of the
processes of
modern life, but they
still remain relatively difficult to use.
and dumb,
than:
1. the difficulty in telling it what you want it
to do, or
2. in understanding what
it has done, or
3. in using it
where you want to go, rather than where it can go.
What's needed now, he concludes, is
digital evolution. The real challenge is how to
create systems
with many parts that can
work together and change, combining the physical
world with the digital
world.
If we can manage the development so
that they (thinking machines) stay our friends, in
just a
few years we'll see progress in
every area of life that makes the past centuries
look like all of us
have been asleep.
changing how we
interact. Therefore it's not crazy to think about
the influence of this on
evolution.
18. What is the main idea of this
passage?
A) The image of things will
be different in the future.
B)
Computers will become smarter and smarter.
C) The speed of computers is much
less of a concern.
D) Computers will
divide the world into two classes.
19.
________are the two classes into which the world
will be divided, according to Pearson.
A) Those who can use computers to learn knowledge
and those who can't
B) Those who have
computers to sell and those who haven't
C) Those who study computers in their
spare time and those who don't
D)
Those who are smarter than computers and those who
aren't
20. ________ is needed now,
according to Neil Gershenfeld.
A)
Greater speed of computer development and the
process of life
B) Teaching computers
so that they're able to speak, listen and see
C) Teaching computers to communicate
and be friends with man
D) A digital
evolution that combines the physical world and the
digital one
21. What does the sentence
the past centuries look like we've all
been asleep
A) We have been sleeping
for thousands of years according to computers.
B) The digital evolution has
progressed very slowly during the last few years.
C) Comparatively speaking, progress
of the past centuries was really very slow.
D) We can work for a few years to
make progress in the digital evolution possible.
22. What leads to evolution according
to the passage?
A) Interaction. B)
Revolution. C) Information. D)
Computers.
If
you’ve
been
joining
tha
t
chat
room
conversations,
or
exchange
e-mails
with
net
p
als,
you
have
become
one
of
the
millions
who
write
in
a
special,
short
form
of
En
glish.
Throughout
the
world,
every
night
children
and
their
elders
are
talking
onlin
e
—
ma
ny
of
them
are
talking
at
the
same
time.
It’s
fast:
it
allows
you
to
talk
with
six
people
at
once.
It’s
convenient:
you
can
use
three
or
four
words
per
exchange.
It
takes
cleverness,
concentration
and
quick
fin
gers.
And
it
requires
very
simple
language.
There’s
neither
time
nor
spa
ce
for
explanati
ons.
Why
waste
precious
key--strokes
telling
six
friends
you
have
to
leave
for
a
m
oment
to
take
care
of
your
little
brother
when
BRB
(=be
right
back)
will
do?
Want
to
enter
a
conversation?
Just
type
PMFJI
(=pardon
me
for
jumping
in).
Interested
in
whom
you
are
talking
to?
Type
ASL,
the
common
request
to
know
your
pal’s
age,
sex
and
location.
You
may
get
15
MNY
as
a
reply
from
your
pal.
If
something
makes
you
laugh,
say
you
are
OTF
(=rolling
on
the
floor
laughing),
o
r
LOL
(=laughing
out
loud),
or
join
the
two
into
ROTFL
(=rolling
on
the
floor
laughi
ng).
And
when
it’s
time
to
get
back
to
work
or
to
go
to
bed,
you
type
GTG
(=got
to
g
o)
or
TTYL
(=talk
to
you
later).
People
want
to
write
as
fast
as
possible,
and
they
want
to
get
their
ideas
across
as
quickly
as
they
can.
Capital
letters
are
left
in
the
dust,
except
when
expressing
feelings,
as
it
takes
more
time
to
hold
down
the
“Shift”
key
and
use
capitals.
Pun
ctuation
is
going,
too.
57.
When
people
are
online,
they
talk
by
__________________________.
A.
Speaking
languages
other
than
English
B.
Exchanging
e-
mails
they
don’t
know
C.
Using
technology
their
elders
don’t
use
D.
Using
an
especially
short
form
of
English
58.
According
to
the
passage,
the
internet
allows
many
people
in
the
world
to
___
_____.
A.
Talk
at
the
same
time
with
one
another
B.
Discover
their
friends
and
relatives
C.
Create
a
language
that
is
simple
and
new
D.
Find
out
things
that
can
make
them
laugh
59.
What
does
the
sentence
“there’s
neither
time
nor
space
for
explanations”
mean?
A.
People
should
use
words
to
express
themselves
in
a
proper
way.
B.
People
should
know
what
time
it
is
when
they
are
talking
C.
People
online
have
to
express
themselves
in
a
simple
way
D.
People
should
communicate
with
each
other
in
a
funny
way.
60.
If
you
get
19M
HK
as
an
answer
to
you’re
A
SL
question,
it
means
________
__.
A.
The
person
who
is
talking
to
you
is
19
from
Hong
Kong
and
he
is
tall
B.
You
are
talking
to
a
boy
who
is
19
years
old
and
he
lives
in
Hong
Kong
C.
You
are
talking
to
19
boys
from
Hong
Kong
at
the
same
time
D.
The
boy
from
Hong
Kong
has
been
online
for
19
minutes
61.
Which
of
the
following
is
a
way
to
save
time
online?
A.
Not
using
capital
letters
or
punctuation
marks.
B.
Not
letting
dust
form
on
your
keyboard.
C.
Using
the
“Shift”
key
when
sending
e
-mails.
D.
Coming
up
with
ideas
as
quickly
as
possible
“
Yes,
I'll be ready at nine in the morning. Goodbye,
dear, and thanks
again.”
It
had not b
een an easy telephone call for
Mrs. Robinson to make. Her daughter had been very
kin
d, of course, and had immediately
agreed to pick her up and drive her to the
station, bu
t Mrs. Robinson hated to
admit that she needed help. Since her husband had
died ten ye
ars before, she had prided
herself on her independence. She had continued to
live in thei
r little house, alone.
On this evening, however, she was
standing at her living-room window, staring out at
th
e
SOLD notice in the
small front garden. Her feelings were mixed. Of
course, she was sa
d at the thought of
leaving the house, as it was full of so many
memories. But at the sam
e time she was
looking forward to spending her last years near
the sea, back in the little s
easide
town where she had been
born
．
With the money from the
sale of the house, she h
ad bought a
little flat there. She turned from the living room
window, and looked round a
t the room.
One or two pieces of furniture
remained
，
covered with
sheets. All her picture
s had been taken
from the walls. There was a small fish
tank(
鱼缸
), with two goldfish
in i
t. When asked why, her husband used
to say:
“
It
’
s
nice to have something alive in the
r
oom.
”
Since he
had passed away, she had always kept some
goldfish
，
had always
ha
d
“something
alive in the
room”.
The next morning, as her train was
pulling out of the
station
，
Mrs. Robinson called
to h
er daughter
“
Kate, you
won
’
t forget to collect the
goldfish, will you? The children will
1o
ve them
．
It
’
s
?’’
“
I
know
，”
Kate interrupted gentl
y
．“
It
’
s nice to have somet
hing alive in the
room.
”
But in the little
house
，
the two goldfish had
stopped their circlin
g. They were
floating on the water, in the room with empty
walls
．
1. What
kind of person was Mrs. Robinson, according to the
passage?
A. She liked to be alone.
B. She did not have a lot of pride.
C. She did not like asking people for
help.
D. She wanted to live without
her husband.
2. On her last night in
the house, Mrs. Robinson was feeling_______.
A. a bit sad but not totally unhappy
B. very happy but unable to help
herself
C. proud of what she has done
but sad
D. in poor spirits because of
her husband
3. Mrs. Robinson was going
to_______.
A. take a trip on the sea
B. live with her daughter
C. meet her husband
D. live where she was born
4. Mrs. Robinson was ______ to return
to her hometown.
A. unwilling
B. eager
C. regretful
D. thankful
5. Why did the
little house mean a lot to Mrs. Robinson?
A. Because it was built many years
ago.
B.
Because an
important part of her life was spent there.
C.
. Because it was a very
good place to keep pets.
D.
Because she had many living things
there.
“
Congratulations,
Mr. Jones, it's a
girl.”
Fatherhood is going to have a
different meaning and bring forth a different
response fro
m every man who hears these
words. Some feel pride when they receive the news,
whil
e others worry, wondering whether
they will be good fathers. Although there are some
m
en who like children and may have had
considerable experience with them, others do
no
t particularly care for children and
spend little time with them. Many fathers and
mother
s have been planning and looking
forward to children for some time. For other
couples, pr
egnancy was an accident that
both husband and wife have accepted willingly or
unwillingl
y.
Whatever the
response to the birth of a child, it is clear that
the change from the role o
f husband to
that of father is a difficult task. Yet,
unfortunately, few attempts have been
m
ade to educate fathers in this
process. Although numerous books have been written
abou
t American mothers, only recently
has literature focused on the role of a father.
It is argued by some writers that the
transition to the father's role, although
difficult, is no
t nearly as great as
the change the wife must make to the mother's
role. The mother's rol
e seems to
require a complete change in daily routine and
adjustment, and the father's ro
le is
less demanding and immediate. However, even though
we mentioned the fact that g
rowing
numbers of women are working outside the home, the
father is still thought by ma
ny as the
breadwinner in the household.
6.
According to the author, how do men feel after
they become fathers?
A. They feel like
they need some more experience.
B.
They have a feeling that they must do a lot of
planning.
C. Some men feel proud and
others uneasy
D. They have a feeling
of not caring about things.
7. Which
of the following is stated in the passage?
A. Some parents have a child
accidentally and they are not prepared.
B. Young couples do not want to have
children at all these days.
C. Working
couples turn to their parents to take care of
their children.
D. Many parents look
forward to having a girl as their first child
8. In the third paragraph, the author
A. thinks fathers should take their
responsibilities in raising children
B. criticizes writers for writing so
much about being a father
C. supports
the idea that a father should also run the home
well
D. complains that husbands cannot
get much help being a father
9. The
change of the mother's role requires that the wife
.
A. just do whatever she likes to do
in her life
B. change completely to
deal with the new situation
C. work
only within her own home if she can
D.
help her husband with his trade or business
10. Some writers argue that with
respect to the change of roles, fathers, compared
wit
h mothers,
A. have to
bear more burdens
B. make a more
difficult adjustment
C. have an
easier job to do
D. shoulder more
burdens
Telephone, television, radio,
and the Internet help people communicate with each
othe
r. Because of these devices, ideas
and news of events spread quickly all over the
worl
d. For example, within seconds,
people can know the results of an election in
another co
untry. An international
football match comes into the homes of everyone
with a televisio
n set. News of a
disaster, such as a flood, can bring help from
distant countries. Within h
ours, help
is on the way. This is because modern technology
information travels fast.
How has this
speed of communication changed the world? To many
people, the world ha
s become smaller.
Of course, this does not mean that the world is
actually smaller. It mea
ns that the
world seems smaller. Two hundred years ago,
communication between the co
ntinents
took a long time. All news was carried on ships
that took weeks or even months t
o cross
the oceans. In the seventeenth and eighteenth
centuries, it took six weeks for ne
ws
from Europe to reach the Americas. This time
difference influenced
people’s
action
s.
For example, a few battles in the War of 1812
between England and the United State
s
could have been avoided. A peace agreement had
already been signed. Peace was ma
de in
England, but the news of peace took six weeks to
reach America. During these si
x weeks,
the large and serious Battle of New Orleans was
fought. Many people lost their l
ives
after a peace treaty had been signed. They would
not have died if news had come i
n time.
In the past, communication took much more time
than it does now. There was a g
ood
reason why the world seemed so much larger than it
does today.
6. Thanks to ________, we
can gain brand-new ideas and news of events from
all over t
he world.
A.
disasters B. Europe
C. ocean travel D.
modern technology
7. What took six
weeks a couple of hundred years ago?
A. The War of 1812 between the US and
England.
B. Agreeing on peace during
the War of 1812.
C. The Battle of New
Orleans that
wasn’t
avoided.
D. Ocean travel between Europe and
America.
8. Some battles in the war
between England and America could have been
avoided if __
______.
A.
people had signed the peace agreement sooner
B. the peace agreement had reached
America earlier
C. the peace agreement
had not been lost on the way
D. people
of the two countries had taken some action
9. What attitude did the writer hold to
the people who died in the War of 1812?
A. Curious. B.
Amazed.
C.
Sympathetic. D. Angry.
10. Which is the most appropriate title
for this passage?
A. Modern Technology
and Communication
B. People Today in
the Small World
C. The Unnecessary War
of 1812
D. People in the Information
Age
For a long time women with HIV were
ignored because the focus was totally on
HIV men. The gay community was very
much in sight and vocal
(
呼声高的
) and
successfully got support for its cause.
Now we are rapidly approaching the point
where about one half of all AIDS cases
in the world are women. But no one is taking
this dangerously high level of
infection among women seriously enough.