Dogs are known for a strong sense of smell. Their noses can be trained to identify different smells. Dogs are often used in search and rescue operations and to sniff for things like drugs and explosives. Some dogs have even been trained to sniff for cancer in people.

Researchers have been trying to reproduce the extraordinary sense of smell that real dogs are born with. Now, officials at the Glasgow airport in Scotland are testing a new security device called an “electronic sniffer dog”. The electronic sniffer dog represents one of the latest developments in the area of smell technology.

A Scottish company, Cascade Technologies, joined with the French security company Morpho to develop it. The device uses lasers to identify explosive materials in gases in the air. The purpose is to identify explosives that may be hidden on a person’s body.

The machine looks similar to the metal detectors now used at airports. Passengers walk through the machine as the lasers test the surrounding air. People are not required to take off their coats, belts or shoes as part of the security process. And, unlike full-body scanners, the new device does not show images of the passengers.

Officials at Cascade Technologies say the machine can process one person per second and produce almost immediate results. They say future development could cut security processing times at airports by screening all passengers at walking speed.

Professor Yushan Yan, the head of Chemical and Environmental Engineering at the University of California, Riverside, points out that unlike real dogs, electronic devices do not get tired or need to be walked or require food and water. Professor Yan says real dogs also have other needs. “They also need very extensive training that could be expensive. And when they work they have to have a very skilled handler around them.”

But Professor Yan says there is an important area where man’s best friend still wins compared to technology. “In terms of sensitivity and selectivity, the current technology out there is still inferior. The real dog has amazing capability of identifying some really minor amount of explosives.”

1. The electronic sniffer dogs will be used to____

A. replace real dogs to be as pets for people

B. search for and rescue people who are in trouble

C. help people look after patients in the hospital

D. identify drugs and explosives in places like the airport

2.Which of the following is true of the electronic sniffer dog?

A. The device uses lasers to examine for explosive materials.

B. People have to take off their clothes when walking through the device.

C. The device will show images of the passengers.

D. The device can process all passengers at walking speed.

3. The advantages of the electronic sniffer dog over the real dog include the following EXCEPT______

A. its convenience B. its high efficiency

C. its sensitivity D. its low consumption

4.The underlined word “inferior” in the last paragraph most probably has the meaning of_____.

A. concentrating all one’s effort on a specific area

B. not as good as sb. / sth. else

C. that cannot be clearly understood

D. necessary for completeness

The other morning on the subway I sat next to an attractive young blonde woman who was reading something on her iPad. She was very well-dressed, carrying a Prada bag with tastefully applied make-up indeed, she had an unmistakable air of wealth, material success and even authority. I suspected she worked as a highly-paid Wall Street lawyer or stockbroker or something of that sort. So, I was curious to see what she was so focused on. The Wall Street Journal perhaps? The Economist?

Quite the contrary; rather, she was concentrating on a romance novel. Then I realized that I have known many women who love romance novels—smart, attractive, successful, “liberated,” modem females who nonetheless find some kind of deep satisfaction and thrill from those hyper-romantic, artificial and extremely unrealistic tales of handsome, manly heroes falling in love with virginal women, enduring a series of adventures, then no doubt having a happy ending.

These romance stories are to literature what hot dogs are to fine food. Yet, the genre(体裁) remains enormously popular. Consider some of these surprising statistics from the good folks at the Romance Writers of America (RWA):

*More than 9,000 romance titles were released last year, with sales of about $1.44 billion (more than triple the revenues generated by classic literary fiction).

*More than 90 percent of the market are women (okay, that’s not at all surprising).

* Readers are typically women between the ages 30 and 54 who are themselves involved in a romantic relationship (betraying the stereotype that only lonely women long for these tales of love and adventure).

*Almost 40 percent of romance book consumers have an annual income of between $50,000 and $99,900 (placing them firmly in the middle class).

I had thought that romance novels accounted for a very small share of the literary market, so I was quite surprised that this part has such enormous popularity. But I must wonder why so many women—forty years after the women’s liberation movement continue to indulge in the fanciful tales?

I’m not sure if it represents a kind of “rejection” of the women’s liberation movement, but clearly something is missing in the lives of contemporary ladies. A romance author named Donna Hatch who focuses on the Regency period (early 19th century Britain) explained the appeal of such books this way: “Regency men were civilized and treated women with courtesy. When a lady entered the room, gentlemen stood, doffed their hats, offered an arm, bowed, and a hundred other little things I wish men still did today. But they were also very athletic; they hunted, raced, boxed, rode horses. They were manly. Strong. Noble. Honorable. And that is why I love them!”

Mrs. Hatch may have expressed the secret desires and attitudes of untold millions of her peers---that is, in the early 21st century, have women grown tired of the burdens and expectations that the “freedoms” they have gained give them? Is this a rejection of modem feminism? Do women long for days of old when men were masculine gentlemen and women were feminine and protected as precious treasures and regarded as possessions?

Perhaps most women (even the ones who get lost in romance novels) do not want to go all the way back but it is obvious, .

1.What is the function of the opening paragraph?

A. To summarize the whole passage.

B. To prove the author’s argument.

C. To lead in the main topic of the passage.

D. To raise problems that will be solved later.

2.What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph imply?

A. Romance novels are satisfying and thrilling.

B. Romance novels are not of much “nutrition”.

C. Romance novels are as popular as hot dogs.

D. Romance novels are an essential part of contemporary life.

3.In the author’s opinion, what is missing in the lives of contemporary women?

A. Authority. B. Dignity.

C. Liberty. D. Care.

4.Which sentence can be put in the blank in the last paragraph?

A. they prefer tales of innocent romance to classics

B. they are unhappy with how the world has turned out

C. true love described in romance novels does exist in reality

D. romance novels provide them with an access to society

2014 saw that the Ebola virus reappeared in Guinea and soon spread into neighbouring Liberia and Sierra Leone, killing over 7,800 people by the new year of 2015. It leads to viral hemorrhagic fever, which is characterized by high fever and internal bleeding etc.

Ebola is named after the Ebola River, where it was first discovered in 1976. There are five different types of the Ebola virus, each named after where they first happened: Sudan, Ivory Coast, Reston, Bundibugyo, and Zaire. The deadliest of the five, Zaire, was responsible for the 2012 out- break, and is believed to be attacking Guinea.

Ebola is naturally found in fruit bats, which pass on the virus to other animals by biting or sucking on their blood. Humans who are suffering from the Ebola infection might have touched the bodily fluids of the infected animals. Once infected, a human becomes a carrier of the deadly virus.

Unfortunately, there are no disease - specific treatments for Ebola. Health - care workers only supply the infected people with physiological saline(生理盐水)to keep them in good condition. Ebola can kill 90% of those infected, especially in underdeveloped societies like those in Africa. Since there have been many cases of nurses catching the disease from patients, they are forced to wear strict protective clothes, and in some cases, not even allowed to get close to the infected. The fact that there is no cure for the Ebola virus is what makes the outbreak a challenging one to control.

What’s worse, since we live in an interconnected world, where the situation in one country can affect us all, the influences of Ebola are huge: damaging trade relations, affecting foreign visitors, and weakening entire countries. It is feared that the disease may spread throughout west African countries. For every country, a strong health system can decrease the risk of health attack and lessen the impact of Ebola.

1.What is the function of the first paragraph in the whole passage?

A. To arouse the reader’s concern.

B. To summarize the whole passage.

C. To give a detailed description of Ebola.

D. To introduce the theme of the whole passage.

2.What can we infer about the Ebola virus?

A. It has caused a panic in many countries.

B. It is the most dangerous virus in the world.

C. A strong health system is important to fight against Ebola.

D. Anyone who was infected Ebola will die.

3.Paragraph 3 mainly tells us _________.

A. What the Ebola virus is

B. How the Ebola virus spreads

C. How the Ebola virus is treated

D. How the Ebola virus affects the life

4.Which of the following is true?

A. There are no effective drugs to treat Ebola by far.

B. Ebola is now very common in Guinea.

C. Those with a fever must be infected by Ebola.

D. Females are easier to be infected by Ebola.

Elizabeth Freeman was born about 1742 to African American parents who were slaves. At the age of six months she was acquired, along with her sister, by John Ashley, a wealthy Massachusetts slaveholders. She became known as Mumbet or Mum Bett.

For nearly 30 years Mumbet served the Ashley family. One day, Ashleys wife tried to strike Mumbets sister with a spade. Mumbet protected her sister and took the blow instead. Furious(狂怒的), she left the house and refused to come back. When the Ashleys tried to make her return, Mumbet consulted a lawyer, Theodore Sedgewick. With his help, Mumbet sued(起诉) for her freedom.

While serving the Ashleys, Mumbet had listened to many discussions of the new Massachusetts constitution. If the constitution said that all people were free and equal, then she thought it should apply to her. Eventually, Mumbet won her freedom---- the first slave in Massachusetts to do so under the new constitution.

Strangely enough, after the trial, the Ashleys asked Mumbet to come back and work for them as a paid employee. She declined and instead went to work for Segdewick. Mumbet died in 1829, but her legacy lived on in her many descendants(后裔). One of her great-grandchildren was W.E.B. Du Bois, one of the founder of the NAACP, and an important writer and spokesperson for African American civil rights.

Mumbets tombstone still stands in the Massachusetts cemetery where she was buried. It reads, in part: She was born a slave and remained a slave and remained a slave for nearly thirty years. She could neither read nor write, yet in her own sphere she had no superior or equal.

1.What do we know about Mumbet according to Paragraph 1?

A.She was born a slave

B.She was a slaveholder

C.She had a famous sister

D.She was born into a rich family

2.What did Mumbet learn from discussions about the new consititution?

A.She should always obey her owners’ orders

B.How to apply for a job

C.How to be a good servant

D.She should be as free and equal as whites

3.What did Mumbet do after the trial?

A.She chose to work for a lawyer

B.She found the NAACP

C.She continued to serve the Ashleys

D.She went to live with her grandchildren

4.What is the test mainly about?

A.A story of a famous writer and spokesperson

B.The friendship between a lawyer and a slave

C.A trial that shocked the whole world

D.The life of a brave African American woman

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