Pango was a village in India. The people were poor. However, they were not unhappy. After all, their forefathers had lived in the same way for centuries.

Then one day, some visitors from the city arrived. They told the villagers there were some people elsewhere who liked to eat frog’s legs. However, they did not have enough frogs of their own, and so they wanted to buy frogs from other places.

This seemed like money for nothing. There were millions of frogs in the fields around, and they were no use to the villagers. All they had to do was catch them. Agreement was reached, and the children were sent into the fields to catch frogs. Every week a truck arrived to collect the catch and hand over the money. For the first time, the people were able to dream of a better future. But the dream didn’t last long.

The change was hardly noticed at first, but it seemed as if the crops were not doing so well. More worrying was that the children fell ill more often, and, there seemed to be more insects around lately.

The villagers decided that they couldn’t just wait to see the crops failing and the children getting weak. They would have to use the money earned to buy pesticides (杀虫剂)and medicines. Soon there was no money left.

Then the people realized what was happening. It was the frog. They hadn’t been useless. They had been doing an important job—eating insects. Now with so many frogs killed, the insects were increasing more rapidly. They were damaging the crops and spreading diseases.

Now, the people are still poor. But in the evenings they sit in the village square and listen to sounds of insects and frogs. These sounds of the night now have a much deeper meaning.

1.From Paragraph 1 we learn that the villagers ________.

A. worked very hard for centuries

B. dreamed of having a better life

C. were poor but somewhat content

D. lived a different life from their forefathers

2.Why did the villagers agree to sell frogs?

A. The frogs were easy money.

B. They needed money to buy visitors.

C. They wanted to please the visitors.

D. The frogs made too much noise.

3.What might be the cause of the children’s sickness?

A. The crops didn’t do well.

B. There were too many insects.

C. The visitors brought in diseases.

D. The pesticides were overused.

4.What can we infer from the last sentence of the text?

A. Happiness comes from peaceful life in the country.

B. Health is more important than money.

C. The harmony between man and nature is important.

D. Good old days will never be forgotten.

In my first week as a graduate student at Cambridge University in 1964 I met with a fellow student, two years ahead of me in his studies; he was unsteady on his feet and spoke with great difficulty.This was Stephen Hawking.I learned that he had a bad disease and might not live long enough even to finish his PhD degree.

But, amazingly, he has reached the age of 73.Even mere survival would have been a medical miracle, but of course, he didn’t merely survive.He has become arguably the most famous scientist in the world for his brilliant research, for his bestselling books, and, above all, for his astonishing victory over hardship.

Stephen received his “death sentence” in 1964, when I thought it was hard for him to go on with his study.Stephen went from Albans School to Oxford University.He was said to be a “lazy” undergraduate, but his brilliance earned him a first class degree, an “entry ticket” to a research career in Cambridge and a uniquely inspiring achievement.Within a few years of the burst of his disease he was wheelchair bound, and his speech was so unclear that it could only be understood by those who knew him well.But his scientific career went from strength to strength: he quickly came up with a series of insights into the nature of black holes (then a very new idea) and how the universe began.In 1974 he was elected to the Royal Society at the exceptionally early age of 32.

The great advances in science generally involve discovering a link between phenomena that were previously conceptually unconnected — for instance, Isaac Newton realized that the force making an apple fall to earth was the same as the force that holds the moon and planets in their orbits.Stephen’s revolutionary idea about a link between gravity and quantum(量子) theory has still not been tested.However, it has been hugely influential; indeed, one of the main achievements of string theory(弦理论) has been to confirm and build on his idea.He has undoubtedly done more than anyone else since Einstein to improve our knowledge of gravity and he is one of the top ten living theoretical physicists.

1.What impressed the author most about Stephen Hawking?

A.His brilliant research.

B.His bestselling books.

C.His serious disease.

D.His defeating hardship.

2.What made Stephen Hawking start his research career at Cambridge?

A.His death sentence.

B.His “lazy” attitude.

C.His above average talent and ability.

D.His rich experience.

3.It can be inferred that Stephen Hawking was born ________.

A.in the early 1940s

B.in the late 1940s

C.in the early 1930s

D.in the late 1930s

4.What can we learn from the text?

A.Hawking’s theory was proved years ago.

B.Hawking was not as successful as Newton.

C.String theory built on Hawking’s idea.

D.Hawking’s theory has had little influence on others.

5.Which of the following is Not True according the passage?

A.He achieved one success after another in his career despite his disease.

B.He couldn’t walk when the author first met him at Cambridge.

C.He not only survived his disease but contributed greatly to science.

D.He is among the greatest scientists to improve the knowledge of gravity.

You may have heard of the American Dream, an ideal that has powered the hopes of Americans for generations.

It began as a belief that the US was a land of opportunity, and that anyone could achieve success through hard work. At times, the dream has referred to home ownership, a good job, retirement security or each generation doing better than the last.

Yet today, this concept seems to have greatly changed. As Time magazine pointed out, quite different from the older generation, many Millennials (the generation born after 1980) redefine(重新定义) the American Dream as “day-to-day control of your life”. They “prize job mobility, flexible schedules, any work that is more interesting than typing, and the ability to travel”, said the magazine.

Home ownership, once the cornerstone of the American Dream, is becoming a smaller priority for this generation. Meanwhile, nearly 40% of them choose travel as part of their dream. And entrepreneurship(创业) is a rising favorite, as nearly 26% of Millennials consider self-employment as part of their dream.

So what has led to this huge change?

Many point fingers at the poor economy. “Modern young Americans seem bound to face a world stamped by ever narrowing opportunity and social stagnation(停滞),”noted The Daily Beast.

“The rate of 16-to 24-year-olds out of school and out of work is unusually high at 15%. Many college graduates have taken jobs that don’t require a degree,” Time reported.

The magazine worries that these difficulties may lead to a lost generation who are “unable to ever truly find their feet on the corporation’s ladder”.

Dan Kadlec, a reporter of Time, sees Millennials as resetting their expectations.”This situation is different for young adults today,” he wrote. “A true American dream has to feel attainable, and many Millennias are feeling they can only attain a day-today lifestyle that suits them.”

1.The underlined word “cornerstone” in Paragraph 4 is closest in meaning to “ ”.

A. growth B. balance C. basis D. purpose

2. What has changed Millennials’ view of the American Dream according to the passage?

A. A lack of confidence in themselves

B. Fierce competition in the job market

C. Their dissatisfaction with the government

D. The discouraging economy and unemployment

3.Dan Kadlec thinks Millennials’ new definition of the American Dream is ______.

A. beautiful B. understandable

C. worrying D. positive

4.What can be the best title for this passage?

A. Redefinition of American Dream

B. Meaning of American Dream

C. Value of Achieving American Dream

D. History of Changing American Dream

A device that stops drivers from falling asleep at the wheel is about to undergo testing at Department of Transport laboratories and could go on sale within 12 months.

The system,called driver Alert,aims to reduce deadly road accidents by 20%—40% that are caused by tiredness.Airline pilots can also use it to reduce the 30% of all pilot-error accidents that are related to fatigue.

Driver Alert is based on a computerized wristband.The device,worn by drivers or pilots gives out a sound about every four minutes during a car journey.After each sound the driver must respond by squeezing the steering wheel(方向盘).A sensor in the wristband detects this pressing action and measures the time between the sound and the driver’s response.

Tiredness is directly related to a driver’s response time.Usually,a watchful driver would take about 400 milliseconds to respond,but once that falls to more than 500 milliseconds,it suggests that the driver is getting sleepy.

In such cases the device gives out more regular and louder sounds,showing that the driver should open a window or stop for a rest.If the driver’s response continues to slow down,the sounds become more frequent until a nonstop alarm warms that the driver must stop as soon as possible.

The device has been delivered to the department’s laboratories for testing.If these tests,scheduled for six months’ time,are successful,the markers will bring the product to market within about a year.

【小题】According to the text,Driver Alert ______.

A.aims to reduce tiredness-related accidents

B.has gone through testing at laboratories

C.aims to prevent drivers from sleeping

D.has been on sale for 12 months

【小题】How should a driver respond to the sounds from Driver Alert?

A.By sounding a warning

B.By touching the wristband

C.By checking the driving time

D.By pressing the steering wheel

【小题】We can learn from the text that the driver needs to stop for a break when his response time is ______.

A.About 400 milliseconds

B.below 500 milliseconds

C.over 500 milliseconds

D.about 400 minutes

【小题】When the driver gets sleepy while driving,Driver Alert ______.

A.moves more regularly

B.stops working properly

C.opens the window for the driver

D.sounds more frequently and loudly

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