Dear Carol,
I wear braces （牙箍） and I know I look just terrible in them. Is there anything I can do to improve my appearance until they come off?
Connie N.
Philadelphia, PA
Dear Connie,
Start by thinking about how good you are going to look when your braces come off. If you are negative about your appearance, people will pick that up right away about you. In the meantime there are several things that you can do to lift your spirits:
Change your hairstyle. Be sure to get a good cut so that the shape of your hair will be flattering to your face and also good for your type of hair （fine, thick, straight, curly, etc.） Choose a hairstyle that draws attention away from your face. Hair pulled back into a pony-tail or into a ball on top or slightly off-center can be attractive and practical for this purpose.
Keep skin clean. If you choose to wear makeup（化妆品）, it should look natural. Blusher（腮红） and lip gloss（润唇膏） in light tones of peach or pink are best.
Be well-groomed（打扮）. Neatness really counts. People see a total look about you before they ever become aware of your braces. And first impressions are lasting ones!
68. Why did Connie write to Carol?
A. Because she really cared about her clothes.
B. Because she cared much about her appearance.
C. Because her teeth were not good.
D. Because she didn’t know how to make up.
69. Carol’s idea about one’s appearance is that ___________.
A. change your hairstyle and you will look beautiful
B. wear your make-up and you will look good
C. neatness is not important
D. if you yourself don’t think you look smart, neither will people
70. Carol tries to let Connie know that ___________.
A. the deepest impressions one leaves on others is the first ones
B. spirits are important when we talk about one’s appearance
C. there are some practical ways to draw people’s attention away from where you don’t feel good
D. all of the above
71. The underlined word “count” means “___________” in the last paragraph.
A. say numbers in order B. be of importance C. not include D. be accepted
We are often asked to make a speech in life. Most of us are afraid of it and don’t do a good job. Here are some simple steps to make your speech a successful one. First of all, find out everything you can about your subject and at the same time find out as much as you can about your audience. Who are they? What do they know about your subject? Put yourself in their shoes as you prepare your speech. Then try to arrange your material so that your speech is clear and easy to follow. Use as many examples as possible. Never forget your audience. Don’t talk over their heads or talk down to them. When you are giving your speech, speak slowly and clearly, look at your audience and pause for a few seconds from time to time to give your audience chances to think over what you’ve said. Just remember: be prepared, know your subject and your audience, say what you have to say and be yourself so that your ideas will bring you and your audience together.
60. When he is giving his speech, the speaker should ___________.
A. let his eyes rest on the subject B. follow the audience step by step
C. face the audience in a natural way D. look up and down from time to time
61. During the course of a speech, it is not right for a speaker to ___________.
A. think nothing of the audience B. speak in a clear voice
C. take a short stop at times D. give a lot of examples
62. What does the underlined word “pause” mean in the passage?
A. listen B. stop C. choose D. search
63. Which title best gives the main idea of the passage?
A. How to Remember the Audience
B. How to Pick out the Topic for a Speech
C. How to Prepare the Material for a Speech
D. How to Improve Your Speech
It is time to start planning your 2010 Alaska Vcation! Take a look at newly expanded Alaska tour. Alaska hotels, and Alaska vacation packages. Our 2010 selection offers the most Alaska travel options in our history! Nowadays, we’re all desperate to find that holiday location that will have us coming back for more year after year, somewhere that has a lot to do, beautiful sights. Beautiful surroundings and fantastic deals.
We offer fully customizable（按客户要求定制的） Alaska travel and Alaska tour packages where you can build your own itinerary. The options are endless and the choices are all yours. We can customize the Alaska tours, Alaska vacations. or Alaska itineraries that you desire and fit your budget，from economical to luxurious（豪华型的）．You buy the Alaska travel items you would like to experience. Every aspect of your Alaska vacation is suitable for you.
Alaska Hotels and Lodging
We offer many fine Alaska hotels and lodging for your 
Alaska vacation. If you are looking for a clean and comfortable
place to lay your head for the night, we can accommodate you
and your guests. Many of our hotel choices are conveniently
located within walking distance to some of the finest attractions
of Alaska, and still offer shuttles to and from major transportation centers.
Alaska Tours and Activities
Our Alaska travel consultants have assisted thousands of Alaska visitors with their dream Alaska Vacations. Talk to us
about the arrangement you would like to make for your vacation
and we can help you determine the best activities to suit you.
We offer Glacier Cruises, Bear Viewing, Helicopter Tours, Dog
Sled Rides, Rafting and Wildlife Viewing tours.
Alaska Travel and Transportation
Logistics（后勤）are a big part of any travel in Alaska!
We have a large state；let us help you get from place to place in ease and comfort. With the convenience of a Motorcoach, the
speed of a rental car, and the unhurried pace of the Rail,
Alaska Denali Tours will assist you to effectively get from the
central part to the coast or maybe just to the Airport. Travel
the wide area of Alaska, from Prudhoe Bay to Seward；let us get you there.
Click here more information about any of our Alaska vacation tour activities. Please don’t hesitate to contact us.
63．The purpose of writing this passage is to .
A. advertise a new travel choice to Alaska
B. show us how to begin the travel in Alaska
C. put forward suggestions for the travel in Alaska
D. advise us how to make a plan for Alaska vacation
64．The underlined part in the second paragraph probably means “ ”.
A. to broaden your horizon B. to strengthen your body
C. to work out your travel plan D. to begin your travel
65．According to the passage, .
A. you can take part in many activities including Sunset Viewing
B. the 2010 Alaska travel selection gives you the most choices in the world
C. if you stay at a Alaska Vacation hotel, it is convenient to go sightseeing on foot
D. if you want to go to the coast from the central part, taking a ship is not a bad choice
66．The best title of this passage probably is
A. A good option for travelling B. The most attractive place for travelling
C. Alaska Travel and Accommodation D. Your dream Alaska Vacation awaits you
67．Where can you most probably see the passage?
A. In a science journal. B. In a newspaper.
C. In a website. D. In a magazine.
An Australian company, Smart Car Technologies, has developed a system that lets drivers know when they're speeding. When the technology becomes commercially available, it could help lead-footed drivers avoid tickets and also save lives. The company that developed the product hopes to convince Australian government agencies to put the technology into use in their automobile fleets.
The product, called Speed Alert, links real-time location data and speed obtained with the help of GPS to a database of posted speed limits stored in a driver's PDA or programmable mobile phone. The setup of the product does not need to be hooked up to a car's speedometer. In fact, it is entirely portable. It will also work with newer phones and PDAs that have built-in GPS receivers. If a driver exceeds the speed limit, the speed is shown and an alert sounds.
Michael Paine, an Australian vehicle design engineer and traffic safety consultant, was hired to analyze the product. He told Live Science that his colleagues in the road safety field are “very enthusiastic” about what they're now calling “intelligent speed alert.” Other research, according to Paine, shows that 40 percent of all traffic deaths involve speeding. There is also a potentially controversial future use: “Since the system is so portable, it would be easy to make it a requirement for teenage drivers to always use a speed alert device when driving,” Paine said. “The system even has the capability to record speeding violations, so parents can monitor their teenage drivers.”The product will soon go on sale in Sydney.
63．What's the purpose of the new product?
A．To introduce some improvement in cars.
B．To inform us of the new car system.
C．To popularize the built-in car system.
D．To limit certain drivers to safe driving.
64．“Lead-footed” in the first paragraph probably refer to the ones ________.
A．who drive too carelessly B．that drive too slowly
C．who are partly disabled D．that drive extremely fast
65．The second paragraph mainly talks about ________.
A．how the product is programmed B．why the system becomes popular
C．the functions of GPS in cars D．the project of the built-in product
66．Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A．Future Speed Alert B．New In – Car Device Against Speeding
C．Warning for Adventurous Drivers D．Progress in Car – making Science
You get all sorts of demands, and the mark of a good hotel is to supply whatever is asked for without sounding surprise. If a guest asks for rubber gloves. You don't ask why. You say, “No problem. What colour do you want？”
There have been some demands which, much as I would have liked to fill, I couldn't. A Japanese businessman， for example， thought the manager of a hotel was like the captain of a ship so he asked me to marry him and the woman he loved. There was one time, however, we did help out. A young man thought that if he asked his girlfriend to marry him at the Ritz she would say yes. He asked us to put the ring in a cake, and she accepted.
Top hotels are used more and more to impress. They are used for doing business. If you've got something to sell, take your clients(客户) to the best hotel where the surroundings are quite helpful. A friend of mine working at Savoy Hotel tells story about a man who gave him 5 pounds to say “Good morning, Mr. Smith” when he walked through the door with two other men. This he did， and could hear Mr. Smith saying, “I do wish they would leave me alone at this place.”
According to Julian Payne， the most powerful people in any hotel are the porters， who carry bags for hotel guests. “Porters can do almost anything. They can get you tables at the best restaurants or tickets for a popular concert. Don't ask me how they do it or what their deal is because I don't know. Most of them have been there for years. They know more about the history of the hotel and the guests than anyone else. They are invaluable. A head porter will come in even on his day off so he can say hello to someone he remembers visiting the hotel years ago.”
56．When guests ask for something strange，the manager of a good hotel would think ______.
A．how he can meet their needs
B．why they have such demands
C．what problems the hotel has
D．who is the best person to go to
57．Which of the following examples explains “we did help out？”
A．The hotel bought a ring for a young lady.
B．A Japanese married the woman he loved.
C．The manager once acted as a captain.
D．A young lady agreed to marry her boyfriend.
58．Which of the following statements is true about the porters in expensive hotels?
A．They sell tickets for concerts.
B．They know how to make a good deal.
C．They know a lot about the hotels and the guests.
D．The come to work even on their days off.
59．By saying “I do wish they would leave me alone at this place”， Mr. Smith ______.
A．showed that he disliked such people at the hotel
B．gave the impression that he was a constant guest
C．tried to make his clients feel sorry for him
D．sounded as if he was tired of such greetings
The phone is ringing at the other end of the line and it clicks as it is being answered．A voice says quickly, “Hello, will you hold, please?” Then there is another click, followed by silence．It seems like hours before someone comes back on the line ---- that is, if you don't hang up first．
Office calls are, perhaps, the most difficult and the most important part of a secretary's work．The first impression that a man receives about a business is often through a telephone contact．A caller who is left hanging on “hold” will get the feeling that he or she has been forgotten or ignored．If a call is answered rudely, the caller may become angry．And if the call is not routed directly to the right person, the caller may feel that he or she is getting the “run-around”.
Laura Needham is a secretary in the executive offices of a large manufacturing company．As a good office secretary, Laura knows that all phone calls must be answered without delay and handled efficiently. She knows that a secretary must be pleasant and helpful, no matter how busy she is or what kind of feeding she may be in．She knows she must keep calm if a caller gets impatient or becomes angry; also, of course, she knows she can never allow herself to lose her temper (脾气)．If she does not have the information the caller asks for, she must know who does have the information．Finally, she knows that one of her most important responsibilities(责任)is to “screen telephone calls” and to know which calls to refer to her boss, which calls to refer to other people, and which calls to handle herself．
A well-handled telephone call will give the caller a good impression of the company he or she is dealing with．For this reason, an office secretary who can handle telephone calls cheerfully, tactfully (老练的), and efficiently is a valuable asset to any organization
63. Good secretaries find it to handle office calls well.
A. very. boring B. very important
C. quite necessary D. extremely difficult
64. The underlined word "nmaround" here means .
A. a flat refusal B. a not-so-warm welcome
C . an unpleasant refusal D. an unhelpful response
65. In Laura's opinion a secretary can never be a good one until .
A. she often asks her boss how to answer a telephone call
B. she knows how to please all the people
C. she has the information that others need
D. she can keep calm and never loses her temper
66. This passage is mainly about .
A. well-handled telephone calls ,~
B. an efficient office secretary called Laura Needham
C. the importance of how office calls are dealt with
D. a secretary being a valuable asset to her company
People living more than three thousand meters above sea level find it difficult to raise vegetables all year long. People living in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia, for example, cannot grow vegetables outdoors during the months of May through September. It is very cold in the highlands at that time of year. If traditional farming methods are used, vegetables will not survive.
However, there is another way to grow vegetables throughout the year in cold areas. It is a method of gardening developed by a private agency called World Neighbors. The method uses “hot houses” built below ground. A hot house is a building covered with plastic or glass in which vegetables or flowers are grown. The traditional hot house is built above ground.
The air temperature is cold in the highlands of Peru and Bolivia during the winter. But, the winter sun is hot. So, World Neighbors advises farmers there to build hot houses below ground. The design is simple. The material does not cost much. Here is how World Neighbors says to build it: Dig a hole two and one-half meters wide and six meters long. Make it about two meters deep. Build wall with a door in one end of the hole. Dig steps from the ground down to the door.
Now, build a wall along the top edge of the hole. Make it about one-half meters tall. Earth bricks work fine. Build two shorter walls on the ends. These will be uneven; one side will be as high as the existing wall. The other side will be at ground level. Leave a small opening in each of these sloping walls. This prevents the hot house from becoming too hot. Now, make the roof. Build a wood frame. Cover it with clear plastic. Connect it to the brick walls.
The underground hot house we have described is large enough for two raised vegetable beds. Each is one meter wide and six meters long. Each is seeded and watered just as if it were in a garden above ground.
The dirt walls protect the growing plants from the cold. The clear plastic roof permits the sun’s heat to enter. At night, the roof should be covered with straw. This helps prevent cold air from entering. An under ground hot house this size will provide enough vegetables for one family. Groups needing more vegetables can make it bigger.
66. If you lived in Peru, you _______.
A. should raise the special kinds of vegetables that can endure cold
B. could not plant at all
C. had to work out some new unusual plans
D. would not have many vegetables to eat
67. To our surprise, the “hot houses” invented by World Neighbors are _______.
A. covered with a transparent plastic ceiling
B. built under ground
C. quite small
D. hotter than traditional ones
68. The hot house can be kept warm by using _______.
A. a big oven B. an electricity heater
C. the heat of the earth’s interior D. the sun shine
69. The measure to prevent the hot house from becoming too hot is to _______.
A. make the roof sloped B. dig holes on the walls
C. make the wall not vertical D. make the walls shorter than the ground level
70. According to the passage, the method suggested by World Neighbors is _______.
A. new and difficult B. uneasy to explain
C. at trial step D. simple and practical
When you think about math, you probably don’t think about breaking the law, solving mysteries or finding criminals. But a mathematician in Maryland does, and he has come up with mathematical tools to help police find criminals.
People who solve crimes look for patterns that might reveal (揭示) the identity of the criminal. It’s long been believed, for example, that criminals will break the law closer to where they live, simply because it’s easier to get around in their own neighborhood. If police see a pattern of robberies in a certain area, they may look for a suspect who lives near the crime scenes. So, the farther away from the area a crime takes place, the less likely it is that the same criminal did it.
But Mike O’Leary, a mathematician at Towson University in Maryland, says that this kind of approach may be too simple. He says that police may get better clues to the location of a criminal’s home base by combining these patterns with a city’s layout (布局) and historical crime records.
The records of past crimes contain geographical information and can reveal easy targets — that is, the kind of stores that might be less difficult to rob. Because these stores are along roads, the locations of past crimes contain information about where major streets and intersections are. O’Leary is writing a new computer program that will quickly provide this kind of information for a given city. His program also includes information about the people who live in the city, and information about how a criminal’s patterns change with age. It’s been shown, for example, that the younger the criminal, the closer to home the crime.
Other computer programmers have worked on similar software, but O’Leary’s uses more math. The mathematician plans to make his computer program available, free of charge, to police departments around the country.
The program is just one way to use math to fight crime. O’Leary says that criminology — the study of crime and criminals — contains a lot of good math problems. “I feel like I’m in a gold mine and I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun.”
61. To find criminals, police usually _________.
A. check who are on the crime scene
B. seek help from local people
C. depend on new mathematical tools
D. focus on where crimes take place
62. O’Leary is writing a computer program that _________.
A. uses math to increase the speed of calculation
B. tells the identity of a criminal in a certain area
C. provides the crime records of a given city
D. shows changes in criminals’ patterns
63. By “I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like”, O’Leary means that he _________.
A. is better at finding gold than others
B. is the only one who uses math to make money
C. knows best how to use math to help solve crimes
D. has more knowledge of gold than other mathematicians
64. What do you know about O’Leary according to the passage?
A. He is a man full of impractical imagination.
B. He is a man full of self-confidence.
C. He is a man who is talkative but lazy.
D. He is a man who doesn’t like mathematics.
65. What is the main idea of the text?
A. Math could help police find criminals.
B. Criminals live near where crimes occur.
C. Crime records could be used to fight crime.
D. Computer software works in preventing crimes.
By far the most common difficulty in study is simple failure to get down to regular concentrated work. This difficulty is much greater for those who do not work to a plan and have no regular routine of study. Many students muddle along, doing a bit of this subject or that, as the mood takes them, or letting their set work pile up until the last possible moment.
Few students work to a set timetable. They say that if they did work out a timetable for themselves they would not keep to it, or would have to change it frequently, since they can never predict (foresee) from one day to the next what their activities will be.
No doubt some students take much more kindly to a regular routine than others. There are many who shy away from a self-controlled weekly timetable, and dislike being tied down to a fixed programme of work . Many able students state that they work in cycles. When they become interested in a topic they work on it attentively for three or four days at a time. On other days they avoid work completely. It has to be admitted that we do not fully understand the motivation to work. Most people over 25 years of age have become used to a work routine, and the majority of really productive workers set aside regular hours for the more important areas of their work. The “tough-minded” school of workers doesn’t fully accept the idea that good work can only be done naturally, under the influence of inspiration.
Those who believe that they need only work and study as the fit takes them have a mistaken belief either in their own talent or in the value of “freedom”. Freedom from control and discipline leads to unhappiness rather than to “self-expression” or “personality development”. Our society insists on regular habits, timekeeping and punctuality (准时), and whether we like it or not, if we mean to make our way in society, we have to meet its demands.
63．The most widespread problem in applying oneself to study is ________.
A. changing from one subject to another
B. the failure to keep to a set timetable of work
C. the unwillingness to follow a systematic plan
D. working on a subject only when one feels like it
64．Which of the following is true ?
A. Many students are not interested in using a self-controlled timetable.
B. Many students don’t like being told to study to a fixed timetable.
C. Most people over 25 years of age don’t work to a set timetable.
D. Tough-minded people agree that good work is done naturally.
65．The underlined part “as the fit takes them” in paragraph 4 means ________.
A. when they have the energy B. when they are in the mood
C. when they feel fit D. when they find conditions suitable
66．A suitable title for the passage might be ________.
A. Attitudes to Study B. A study Plan
C. The Difficulties of Studying D. Study and Self-discipline
More than ever, kids today have given up reading for activities like watching TV, playing video games and surfing the Internet, but recently a new trend (趋势) has been catching on that will hopefully change that.
In fact, book clubs are becoming more popular among American kids. 11-year-old Kenya Debarros read about singer Lena Horne. “It was just amazing to see a black woman as the star and not just a mammy or a maid,” she says. But did all these kids come enthusiastically (热情地)? No, not exactly.
“I like book club, uh, I don’t know, but I am just trying it out. My mom didn’t make me, but I just tried it out,” says 16-year-old Antonio Nash.
And if they’ll try it, the experts say, there are ways to get them to come back. Make it fun, serve pizza, serve chocolate cakes and have door prizes (门票对号奖). It also helps to connect books to the real world. They talk about things that are happening in the community, so they can relate whatever they’ve read in the book to what’s happening now.
Here they have long talks about the books they have selected, which most kids don’t get to do when they’re in school, and these kids say, in book clubs they’re learning to love books and love reading.
“I feel like I’m actually in the book and doing what the actual main character is doing,” says 13-year-
-old Justin Woodard.
16-year-old Antonia McManus says reading gives her a nice break from the day, “Sitting down and reading a book gives me some time to get away from the world, and get my mind straight.”
52. What does the underlined phrase “catching on” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. Happening. B. Realizing. C. Becoming popular. D. Bringing in.
53. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Book clubs develop very fast in America.
B. Book clubs are popular among American kids.
C. American kids’ habits are changing towards reading.
D. A new trend helps change children in America.
54. It can be known from the passage that ______.
A. book clubs are designed to improve kids’ study
B. book clubs are mainly to help kids forget the reality
C. kids like to go there for the silent surroundings
D. kids may get unexpected rewards in book clubs
55. Why does Antonia McManus like going to the book club?
A. She finds reading restful.
B. She could get some sound sleep.
C. She likes the noisy conditions there.
D. She can deal with her problems there.
If you’re planning on traveling, there are a few simple rules about how to make life easier both before and after your journey.
First of all, always check and double-check departure (行程) time. It is amazing how few people really do this carefully. Once I arrived at the airport a few minutes after ten. My secretary had got the ticket for me and I thought she had said that the plane left at 10:50. When I arrived at the airport, the clerk at the departure desk told me that my flight was closed. Therefore, I had to wait three hours for the next one and missed an important meeting.
The second rule is to remember that even in this age of credit cards, it is still important to have at least a little of the local currency (货币) with you when you arrive in a country. This can be necessary if you are flying to a place few tourists normally visit. A few years ago I was sent to Tulsa, Oklahoma. I flew there from London via (经由) Dallas, with very little time to change planes in between. I arrived there at midnight and the bank at the airport was closed. The only way to get to my hotel was by taxi and because I had no dollars, I offered to pay in pounds instead.
“Listen! I only take real money!” the driver said angrily. Luckily I was able to borrow a few dollars from a clerk at the hotel, but it was very embarrassing (令人难堪的).
The third and last rule is to find out as much as you can about the weather at your destination before you leave. I feel sorry for some of my workmates who travel in heavy suits and raincoats in May, when it is still fairly cool in London or Manchester, to places like Athens, Rome or Madrid, where it is already beginning to get quite warm during the day.
40. According to the passage, it’s obvious that ______.
A. the author learns some rules of traveling from his own experience
B. the author doesn’t plan his trips or journeys carefully
C. Englishmen like to wear heavy suits wherever they travel
D. the American taxi driver never travels to England
41. What should you make sure first before setting off?
A. When you will leave. B. Where you will go.
C. How you will travel. D. Whom you will go with.
42. What does the underlined word “there” in Paragraph 3 refer to?
A. London. B. Manchester. C. Tulsa. D. Dallas.
43. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A. The author tells people to choose warm places as their travel destinations.
B. You should remember to take credit cards when traveling.
C. You should know more about the weather of the place you’ll visit.
D. You should take enough change when you travel to another country.
Would you eat a ready meal from the fridge rather than cook from scratch? Have you been doing internet shopping rather than going to the stores? What can't you be bothered to do?
A study into how lazy British people are has found more than half of adults are so lazy they'd catch the lift rather than climb two flights of stairs.
Just over 2000 people were quizzed by independent researchers at Nuffield Health, Britain's largest health charity. The results were astonishing.
About one in six people surveyed said if their remote control was broken, they would continue watching the same channel rather than get up.
More than one third of those questioned said they would not run to catch a bus. Worryingly, of the 654 respondents with children, 64% said they were often too tired to play with them.
This led the report to conclude that it's no wonder that one in six children in the UK are classified as obese (very fat) before they start school.
Dr Sarah Dauncey, medical director of Nuffield Health, said: "People need to get fitter, not just for their own sake, but for the sake of their families, friends and evidently their pets too.
"If we don't start to take control of this problem, a whole generation will become too unfit to perform even the most rudimentary of tasks."
And Scotland's largest city, Glasgow, was shamed as the most inactive city in the UK, with 75% surveyed admitting they do not get enough exercise, followed closely by Birmingham and Southampton, both with 67%.
The results cause serious challenges for the National Health Service, where obesity-related illnesses such as heart disease and cancer have been on a steady increase for the past 40 years and are costing billions of pounds every year.
71. What causes children in the UK to be obese?
A. Eating ready meal B. Watching TV
C. Doing Internet shopping D. Being lazy
72. What can be inferred from the passage?
A. British people are too lazy to do anything.
B. Internet shopping will do harm to your health.
C. Many people would not run to catch a bus in Britain.
D. People should be more active and take regular exercise to keep fit.
73. Which of the following is Not true according to the passage?
A. One sixth of British people use remote control when watching TV.
B. People will benefit not only themselves but their families by getting fit.
C. Fatness can cause diseases such as heart disease and cancer.
D. More people get obesity-related illnesses now than 40 years ago.
74. What does the underlined word rudimentary most probably mean?
A. basic B. serious C. vital D. hard
75. All the following are among the most lazy cities in the UK except ___________.
A. Glasgow B. Birmingham C. Nuffield D. Southampton
Women Can’t Keep a Secret
The average woman cannot keep a secret for longer than 47 hours, a new study suggests.
Researchers found that women are overcome by a burning desire to share gossip as soon as they hear it. They will typically spill the beans to at least one other person in 47 hours and 15 minutes.
Depending on who the gossip is about, their boyfriend, husband, best friend or mother are most likely to be the initial recipients (接收者) of the information.
The study of 3,000 women aged between 18 and 65 also found that four out of ten admitted they were unable to keep a secret—no matter how personal or confidential the news was.
The study found the nation’s ladies hear three pieces of gossip a week, but end up passing it on to at least one other person.
Three in 10 admitted having the urge to reveal someone’s secret. However, two thirds end up feeling guilty after passing on secrets.
Three quarters say they are capable of keeping quiet about a secret, and 83 per cent consider themselves 100 per cent trustworthy within each group of friends. Yet, four in ten admit to gossiping to a close friend from another friendship group.
More than four in ten think it is acceptable to share a friend’s secret with someone who does not know them, with over 40 per cent saying their husband is their final one they share secrets with.
Fortunately for some though, over a quarter (27 per cent) said they forgot what they were told the following day.
44. How long can women keep a secret?
A. At least two days B. Longer than two days. C. Two days. D. 47 hours and 15 minutes
45. Women will share gossip with all the following except________.
A. their boyfriend or husband B. their best friend
C. their brother or sister D. their mother
46. According to the study, ________ women were unable to keep a secret.
A. 1,200 B.1,800 C. 2, 400 D. 3,000
47. Which of the following is true?
A. Most women are not trustworthy
B. More than forty per cent tell secrets to their husband.
C. Few women feel guilty after passing on secrets.
D. Over a quarter think it is acceptable to share gossip.
More than 10,000 people were made homeless in Ternang when the Sungai Mas overflowed its banks yesterday after six days of continuous heavy rain.
The wooden bridge across the river has been washed away. The town is cut off by flood waters. At the fifth mile, Jalan Tengkn, the water is two meters deep. It is closed to all traffic. Flooding first happened at mid-afternoon yesterday along the river banks. People trying to get to higher ground were just in time to escape the destroying of the flood. Most of the flood victims(受害者) had to leave all their things behind.
The National Flood Relief(救济) Center was reported to give its help and by early evening the whole town was moved out, helped by the army, police, Red Cross Society and volunteers(志愿者).
The flood victims are now housed in different simple relief centers in the nearby town of Ternang. “Everything possible is being done to help the unlucky people,” a government spokesman said, “In fact, money, food and clothing have begun to come in from public organizations and helpful people. A Disaster Relief Fund（救灾基金会） will be started as soon as possible.”
According to the latest reports it is still raining heavily at Ternang. The whole town is expected to be wholly covered by the water. So far no deaths have been reported.
64. This passage is probably taken from ______.
A. a storybook B. a textbook C. a magazine D. a newspaper
65. It seems that the flood happened just because ______.
A. the banks were too low B. the wooden bridge across the river was broken
C. the river was too narrow D. they had had wet days for some time
66. From the passage we know that ______.
A. though the town was flooded, you could still go there by bus
B. as soon as the water flowed over the banks, people began to go to higher lands
C. the government and the whole society are taking great care of the flood victims
D. the flood hasn't brought a large loss to the town as nobody died in the flood
67. What is the best title for this passage?
A. A Big Flood B. Ternang Is in Danger
C. Over 10,000 People Are Homeless D. Great Help Is Needed
IV.阅读理解（共17小题；每小题２分，满分34分）
Like cats, geckos（壁虎）always land on their feet. If they happen to fall from a wall or leaf they’ve been climbing, a quick move of the tail makes sure that they always land on their feet first, a new study finds.
Geckos are truly built for climbing: their feet have hairy toes that can fix themselves to a wall or other vertical（竖直的）surfaces. However, geckos’ feet can’t always keep hold and they may fall to the ground. When geckos fall or jump off a wall, they always land stomach-side down. Geckos’ long tails become necessary during their falls, the new study shows.
Researchers did an experiment. They placed geckos up-side-down on the underside of a leaf. When they lost their foothold and fell, the geckos pitched （倾斜）their tails for balance. They then rotated（旋转）their tails to make their bodies rotate. As soon as they were right-side up, they stopped rotating. On average, it only took the geckos about a tenth of a second to right themselves so that they would land on their feet.
Cats use a different way to land on their feet after a fall. As their tails don’t have the power like geckos’ tails, cats can’t use them to right themselves. Instead they twist their bodies around mid-air.
Engineers are trying to build a robot that imitates the geckos’ climbing ability. A tail will be fixed to the robot to allow it to keep balance.
54. What do we know about geckos?
A. Their toes make it possible for them to walk on walls.
B. Their tails can fix them to a wall or other vertical surfaces.
C. They often land on their backs when they jump off walls.
D. It takes them a second to right themselves in mid-air.
55. How do cats avoid their injury during a fall?
A. By twisting their bodies. B. By fixing their toes to the ground.
C. By using their tails to right themselves. D. By landing upside-down.
56. Geckos’ special abilities have given engineers some new ideas to _________.
A. allow robots to climb vertical surfaces
B. reproduce geckos like robots
C. invent robots that can rotate on the ground
D. invent robots that can balance themselves using their tails
57. What is the text mainly talking about?
A. The interesting living habits of geckos. B. The differences between cats and geckos.
C. Why geckos always land on their feet. D. How geckos climb up vertical walls.
试题篮
()
粤公网安备 44130202000953号
