题目内容

A recent study led by researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has found a clear link between the color of a taxi and its accident rate. An analysis of 36 months of detailed taxi, driver and accident data from two fleets of yellow and blue taxis in Singapore suggested that yellow taxis have fewer accidents than blue taxis. The higher visibility (能见度) of yellow makes it less difficult for drivers to avoid getting into accidents with yellow taxis, leading to a lower accident rate.

The study was led by Prof Ho. To test whether there was a relationship between the color of a taxi and the number of accidents the taxi had, the research team analysed data collected by the largest taxi company in Singapore. The researchers found that yellow taxis have about 6.1 fewer accidents per 1,000 taxis per month.

They also studied the economic effect of changing the color of the entire fleet of taxis to yellow. The Singapore taxi company involved in the study owns about 16,700 taxis in a ratio (比例) of one yellow to three blue taxis. If a commercial decision is made to switch from blue to yellow taxis, 76.6 fewer accidents will occur per month or 917 fewer accidents per year.

Assuming an average repair cost of $1,000 per car and a downtime of six days, the color of all taxis to yellow could produce an annual saving of $2 million.

“We are eager to continue to validate(证实) the findings of our study by looking at the use of yellow in other types of public transport, such as school buses. For example, we hope to compare the accident rates of yellow school buses against those of other colors to find out if yellow is indeed a safer color for school buses. Besides, we’re also interested to look at private-hire vehicles and do a comparison of the accident rates of vehicles that are of different colors, ”explained Prof Ho.

1.Why do yellow taxis result in fewer accidents?

A. Because yellow signals a warning of danger.

B. Because yellow can be seen more easily.

C. Because drivers tend to be more careful in yellow taxis.

D. Because people act more quickly in yellow surroundings.

2.What’s Prof Ho’s study based on?

A. Physical risks taxi passengers experience.

B. The economic effect of changing taxi color.

C. Personal reports from taxi drivers worldwide.

D. Data from Singapore's largest taxi company.

3.What do Prof Ho’s words in the last paragraph suggest?

A. School buses should be painted yellow.

B. Their findings are worth popularizing.

C. Their study will be furthered.

D. Yellow should be widely used in public transport.

4.What can be the best title for the text?

A. Safer to ride in yellow taxis

B. Caution: yellow taxis ahead

C. Why are yellow Taxis preferred?

D. How can colors help prevent accidents?

练习册系列答案
相关题目

I always wanted to be a writer. When I was fifteen, I ______ to my English class that I was going to write my own books. My classmates fell out of their chairs laughing. “Don’t be ______. Only geniuses can become writers,” the English teacher said, “And you are getting Ds.” I was so

____ that I burst into tears.

That night I wrote a short sad poem about ______ dreams and mailed it to a newspaper. To my ______, they published it and sent me two dollars. I couldn’t believe it. I became a published and ______ writer. ______, I sold more poems. By the time I graduated, I had scrapbooks filled with my published work. I never ______ my writing to my teachers or classmates again as they were dream ______.

Years later, when I was ready to write my first novel, I already had four children. I wrote on my typewriter while they napped. It took nine months to finish. I ______ chose a publisher, put my book in a ______ and mailed it off. The letter I ______ read, “I wrote this book myself and I hope you’ll like it. Thank you.”

A month later I received a contract (合同) and a/an ______ to start another book. My book, Crying Wind, became a best seller. Translated into fifteen languages, it was sold ______.

People asked what college I ______ and what qualifications I have to be a writer. The answer is: “None”. I’m not ______ and I just write. To those who ______ writing, I’m shouting at you: “Yes, you can. Don’t ______ others.” I don’t write right but I’ve overcome the ______. Writing is ______, and anyone can do it.

1.A. announced B. admitted C. introduced D. advertised

2.A. optimistic B. enthusiastic C. silly D. sad

3.A. surprised B. confused C. worried D. ashamed

4.A. ambitious B. broken C. wild D. vivid

5.A. annoyance B. regret C. astonishment D. satisfaction

6.A. respected B. famous C. valued D. paid

7.A. Gradually B. Especially C. Finally D. Suddenly

8.A. submitted B. mentioned C. sold D. returned

9.A. savers B. makers C. killers D. seekers

10.A. randomly B. partly C. nervously D. naturally

11.A. collection B. bottle C. suitcase D. package

12.A. covered B. attached C. received D. published

13.A. request B. doubt C. instruction D. attempt

14.A. separately B. originally C. freely D. internationally

15.A. entered B. established C. attended D. operated

16.A. satisfied B. trained C. courageous D. hard-working

17.A. approve of B. dream of C. succeed in D. believe in

18.A. argue with B. rely on C. fight against D. listen to

19.A. uncertainties B. qualities C. difficulties D. curiosities

20.A. easy B. challenging C. boring D. logical

It is probably the strangest sport anyone has ever invented. And at first sight, it looks like the easiest. Competitors have to do two things. The first is to stand still. The second is to place their hands anywhere on the body of a car, and keep it there.

This is where things start getting difficult. Lots of people are doing the same thing. And the winner of the “handstand” contest is the person who can carry on doing it for the longest time. That person gets to own the car.

It still seems to be an easy thing to do. At the beginning it is. Anyone can stand still. But when the contest has been going for four or five days, standing still seems like the most difficult job in the world . And keeping the hand in place over this time becomes an act of serious attention. After a few days, the hand seems to belong to someone else----someone who wants to go home and get some sleep.

Competitors are allowed to take a five-minute break every hour to eat, drink or do whatever else is necessary. No one is allowed to lean on the car for support. Winners need to be able to show great powers of attention. They also need to be able to develop special skills.

Maybe the popularity of the “handathon” is due to the fact that it is not necessary to be a trained athlete to enter. Competitors in the Longview handathon certainly don’t seem to do much preparation. Most say they will prepare by “getting lots of sleep”. Others say they will “eat healthy food” or “pray for success”. The whole event gives ordinary people the chance to do something interesting and win something in the end.

Handathons are competitions, but there is little rivalry (竞争) between competitors. They help each other out and keep each other’s spitits up. People who drop out early return with food, drink and encouragement.

1.What ability is most important in a handathon?

A. Not leaning on the car B. Standing without any support

C. Having strong powers of attention D. Eating and drinking in five minutes

2.Why is handathon popular?

A. Anyone who is interested can join in it.

B. Someone can win with special training

C. It doesn’t need to make any preparation

D. People get along well with each other in it.

3.Which of the following statements about the “handathon” is right?

A. Competitors are not allowed to drop out

B. Competitors don’t encourage each other

C. Competitors can sit down and take a 10-minute break every hour

D. A competitor has to place his or her hand anywhere on the body of a car.

4.Which is the writer’s opinion about the “handathon”?

A. It is the easiest of all sports.

B. It can last a whole day.

C. It is not as easy as it looks at first.

D. It is no good competing in a “handathon”

Michael Herr, who has died aged 76, was the author of Dispatches (1977), the best book about the Vietnam War. It took Herr eight years to write Dispatches, in part because he went home from Saigon with a bad case of stress disorder. He had gone to Vietnam as a journalist for Esquire magazine. An American general asked him whether he was there to write about military fashion and humor. No. He wrote little for Esquire, but took advantage of the US government’s decision to allow journalists extraordinary access to go to war with the soldiers. He shared their discomforts and their fears, witnessed their death and recorded their language.

His own language, a stream of consciousness pulsing with energy, but masterfully controlled, captured the fear and the horror, but also the excitement, of the war in the jungle and paddy fields. He recorded with a connoisseur’s expertise (行家专长) such details as the many ways in which soldiers would wish each other good luck, and the degrees of madness that were considered acceptable.

The power of the book, perhaps, comes from Herr’s insistence on describing the war, or more precisely his own responses to it, rather than protesting against it. It also comes from the ceaseless accompaniment of two elements, drugs and music — more particularly rock music, and especially the music of Jimi Hendrix. Herr himself spent drug-fuelled weekends in a flat in Saigon, staring at an ancient French map of Indochina. He met soldiers with a left pocket full of Dexedrine, the “upper” (兴奋剂) officially administered by the army to get them into battle, and a right pocket full of “downers” (镇定剂) to get them through it.

Dispatches did not come out until 1977, when the country was beginning to have its mind on other problems, but it did more, perhaps, than any other book to freeze an image of despair and a sense of waste about the war, rather as the trench poets of 1914 —1918 did in Britain.

Herr also made vital contributions to two of the most influential Vietnam films Apocalypse Now and Full Metal Jacket. His work, in the book and the two films, has been seen as part of the process whereby the US came to see itself and its history no longer merely through traditional literature, but in sounds and images.

1.Why did Michael Herr go to Vietnam during the war years?

A. To join the soldiers in military actions.

B. To report military actions and advances.

C. To give an authentic account of the war.

D. To write about military fashion and humor.

2.Which of the following about Dispatches is true?

A. It truly reflects Herr’s responses to the war.

B. Music and drugs give the author inspiration.

C. Its language is casually selected and organized.

D. It fully describes Herr’s protest against the war.

3.US soldiers brought drugs with them during the war most probably because .

A. they suffered stress disorder

B. they were addicted to drugs

C. they used them to cure the wounds

D. they exchanged them for music records

4.What can we learn from the last paragraph?

A. Herr directed two influential Vietnam films.

B. Herr’s work played a positive role in traditional literature.

C. Herr stopped writing after the book Dispatches was published.

D. Herr’s work offered Americans more ways to know themselves.

The Million Pound Bank Note

Act I, Scene 4

(Outside a restaurant Henry looks at the envelope without opening it and decides to go in. He sits down at a table next to the front window.)

OWNER:   (seeing Henry's poor appearance) That one's reserved. This way, please. (to the waiter) Take this gentleman's order, Horace.

HENRY:     (after sitting down and putting the letter on the table) I'd like some ham and eggs and a nice big steak. Make it extra thick. I'd also like a cup of coffee and a pineapple   dessert.

WAITER:   Right, sir. I'm afraid it'll cost a large amount of money.

HENRY:    I understand. And I'll have a large glass of beer.

WAITER:   OK. (The waiter leaves and soon returns with all the food.)

HOSTESS:  My goodness! Why, look at him. He eats like a wolf.

OWNER:   We'll see if he's clever as a wolf, eh?

HENRY:   (having just finished every bit of food) Ah, waiter. (waiter returns) Same thing again, please. Oh, and another beer.

WAITER:   Again? Everything?

HENRY:    Yes, that's right. (sees the look on the waiter's face) Anything wrong?

WAITER:   No, not at all. (to the owner) He's asked for more of the same.

OWNER:   Well, it is well-known that Americans like to eat a lot. Well, we'll have to take a chance. Go ahead and let him have it.

WAITER:   (reading the bill after the meal) All right. That's two orders of ham and eggs, two extra thick steaks, two large glasses of beer, two cups of coffee and two desserts.

HENRY:    (looking at the clock on the wall) Would you mind waiting just a few minutes?

WAITER:   (in a rude manner) What's there to wait for?

OWNER:   All right, Horace. I'll take care of this.

HENRY:    (to owner) That was a wonderful meal. It's amazing how much pleasure you get out of tile simple things in life, especially if you can't have them for a while.

OWNER:   Yes, very interesting. Now perhaps, sir, if you pay your bill I can help the other customers.

HENRY:    (looking at the clock on the wall again) Well, I see it's two o'clock. (he opens the envelope and holds a million pound bank note in his hands. Henry is surprised but the owner and waiter are shocked) I'm very sorry. But ... I ... I don't have anything smaller.

OWNER:   (still shocked and nervous) Well .. er ... just one moment. Maggie, look! (the hostess screams, the other customers look at her and she puts a hand to her mouth) Do you think it's genuine?

HOSTESS:  Oh, dear, I don't know. I simply don't know.

OWNER:   Well, I did hear that the Bank of England had issued two notes in this amount ... Anyway, I don't think it can be a fake. People would pay too much attention to a bank note of this amount. No thief would want that to happen.

HOSTESS: But he's in rags!

OWNER:   Perhaps he's a very strange, rich man. (as if he has discovered something for the first time) Why, yes! That must be it!

HOSTESS: (hits her husband's arm) And you put him in the back of the restaurant! Go and see him at once.

OWNER:   (to Henry) I'm so sorry, sir, so sorry, but I cannot change this bank note.

HENRY:    But it's all I have on me.

OWNER:   Oh, please, don't worry, sir. Doesn't matter at all. We're so very glad that you even entered our little eating place. Indeed, sir, I hope you'll come here whenever you like.

HENRY:    Well, that's very kind of you.

OWNER:   Kind, sir? No, it's kind of you. You must come whenever you want and have whatever you like. Just having you sit here is a great honour! As for the bill, sir, please forget it.

HENRY:    Forget it? Well ... thank you very much. That's very nice of you.

OWNER:   Oh, it's for us to thank you, sir and I do, sir, from the bottom of my heart. (The owner, hostess and waiter all bow as Henry leaves.)

1.Whose behaviour changes the most during this scene?

A. Henry B. Owner

C. Waiter D. Hostess

2.Why do you think the owner of the restaurant gave Henry a free meal?

A. Because he considered Henry a very rich man after looking at Henry’s million pound bank note.

B. Because Henry has a lot of money.

C. Because Henry could not pay for his meal without any money in his pocket.

D. Because the owner was very generous (慷慨的).

3.When the waiter said “What's there to wait for?”to Henry, he_________.

A. actually wanted to know whom Henry was waiting for

B. thought Henry may wait for someone else to come to eat with him

C. thought Henry were waiting for his friend to pay for his meal

D. actually laughed at Henry and wanted Henry to pay for his meal quickly

4.Do you think who Maggie is according to the passage?

A. Another customer who was eating at the restaurant as Henry.

B. The waitress in the restaurant.

C. The hostess and the owner’s wife.

D. The passage doesn’t tell.

5.How many characters are there in this scene of play?

A. Five B. Three

C. Two D. Four

违法和不良信息举报电话:027-86699610 举报邮箱:58377363@163.com

精英家教网