In the course of working my way through school, I took many jobs I would rather forget. But none of these jobs was as dreadful as my job in an apple plant. The work was hard; the pay was poor; and, most of all, the working conditions were terrible.

    First of all, the job made huge demands on my strength. For then hours a night, I took boxes that rolled down a metal track and piled them onto a truck. Each box contained twelve heavy bottles of apple juice. I once figured out that I was lifting an average of twelve tons of apple juice every night.

    I would not have minded the difficulty of the work so much if the pay had not been so poor. I was paid the lowest wage of that time—two dollars an hour. Because of the low pay, I felt eager to get as much as possible. I usually worked twelve hours a night but did not take home much more than $ 100 a week.

    But even more than the low pay, what made me unhappy was the working conditions. During work I was limited to two ten-minute breaks and an unpaid half hour for lunch. Most of my time was spent outside loading trucks with those heavy boxes in near-zero-degree temperatures. The steel floors of the trucks were like ice, which made my feet feel like stone. And after the production line shut down at night and most people left, I had to spend two hours alone cleaning the floor.

    I stayed on the job for five months, all the while hating the difficulty of the work, the poor money, and the conditions under which I worked. By the time I left, I was determined never to go back there again.

49. Why did the writer have to take many jobs at that time?

  A. To pay for his schooling.

B. To save for his future.

  C. To support his family

D. To gain some experience

50. The following facts describe the terrible working conditions of the plant EXCEPT ______.

  A. loading boxes in the freezing cold                     B. having limited time for breaks

  C. working and studying at the same time        D. getting no pay for lunch time

51. What is the subject discussed in the text?

  A. The writer’s unhappy school life.               B. The writer’s eagerness to earn money.

  C. The writer’s experience to earn money.      D. The writer’s hard work in an apple plant.

52. How is the text organized?

  A. Topic—Argument—Explanation

B. Opinion—Discussion—Description

  C. Main idea—Comparison—Supporting examples

D. Introduction—Supporting examples—Conclusion

阅读下面短文,从短文后各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出可以填入空白处的最佳选项,并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
It' s six o' clock on a cold Saturday morning.Liu Zifan reluctantly gets out of the warm bed.
"I wish I could sleep  36  more," says Liu.
The 12-year-old seventh grader from Beijing Guangqumen   37  School must take an - hour - ride to get to the school for the   38 curriculums that occupy her whole Saturday morning.  39 Sunday afternoon, she has music lessons from 3 p.m.to 7 p.m..
During weekdays, Liu has to get up around five in the morning, and  40 home by six.
" My teacher  41 us to eat an apple in the morning so that we won' t feel  42 " , she says.
In primary school, Liu  43 taking the New Concept English class every Saturday morning, and Chinese, English and Olympic maths classes in the afternoon.On Sunday morning, she had to do  44 at home.In the afternoon, she took Cambridge English class.
"I didn't have time to rest,   45 on Friday night," Liu recalls.
The family has a monthly  46 of about 1,700 yuan.Liu Zifan' s  47 classes cost 2, 000 yuan each term.
" I think it' s   48 the money," Liu' s father says." We do everything we can to provide her with good education,   49  she will get a good job in the future."
Chinese children face   50 pressures on study.Some parents make their children study 51    First graders start to take classes for second graders, and so on, therefore they can get an   52 in exams.Most Chinese   53 believe high academic credentials (成绩) mean a better school, a brighter future.So they   54  their children to extracurricular classes like music, English and maths to develop a special   55 , which later might be a stepping stone to a good school.  
36.A.any           B.some          C.even           D.far
37.A.Secondary                                     B.Training        C.Language     D.Primary
38.A.super          B.extra          C.huge           D.usual
39.A.In             B.For            C.At            D.On
40.A.get                                           B.stay            C.leave            D.drive
41  A.orders          B.recommends     C.persuades        D.suggests
42.A.sleepy            B.tired               C.cold                 D.thirsty
43.A.stopped              B.finished            C.enjoyed              D.started
44.A.housework          B.washing           C.homework       D.writing
45.A.besides            B.including            C.since             D.except
46.A.pay                  B.cost                    C.income                D. money                                 
47.A.weekend           B.Sunday            C.everyday             D.Saturday
48.A.wasteful         B.worth                  C.valuable              D.worthy
49.A.so that                B.since               C.now that              D.while
50.A.challenging      B.increasing            C.developing      D.changing
51.A.ahead              B.hard              C.late                 D.away
52  A.average            B.achievement        C.advance          D.advantage
53.A.teachers              B.students           C.friends           D.parents
54.A.send            B.hope                   C.take                    D.wish
55.A.strength        B.interest             C.talent              D.skill


Elephants are famous for their supposedly excellent memory. Now it seems that they are good at simple math too.
Researchers at the University of Tokyo have found an Asian elephant named Ashya can add small quantities together and correctly identify(识别)which is larger.
For example ,when researcher Naoko dropped three apples into one bucket and one apple into a second, then four more apples into the first and five into the second, Ashya correctly identified that the first bucket contained more apples and began munching(嚼)on her tasty prize.
Ashya chose the correct bucket 74% of the time "I even get confused when "I'm dropping the apple," Naoko told New Scientist magazine.
Elephants' counting abilities are far from unique. Chimps, pigeons(鸽子)and dolphins have shown the same abilities in lab tests, but what is more impressive for Elephants is that their ability to tell between two figures does not get worse when those numbers are more similar.
The elephants that Naoko tested were as good at telling the difference between five and six as they were at telling between five and one.
Naoko presented her findings last week at the International Society annual meeting in New York.
It is not obvious why elephants should need this mathematical ability in the wild." It is really tough to figure out why elephants would need to count," said Mya, a professor at Cornell University who studies elephants.
One possibility is that they use it to keep track of other members of their herd(兽群)so that no one is left behind. Asian elephants live in groups of six to eight." You really don't want to lose your group members," said Mya.
Another possibility is that the ability for simple math might be a by-product(副产品)of natural selection for a larger brain.
68.The experiments researchers have done recently show that elephants can____.
A. memorize things correctly      B. munch on apples
C. do some simple math          D. change small quantities into larger ones
69.What does the underlined word" tough" in Paragraph 8 mean?
A. Difficult        B. Impossible     C. Easy      D. Useful
70.The reason why elephants need to count is possibly that_____.
A. they want to exercise their brains
B .they often count the members of their herd
C. they hope to stay in groups
D. they have taken regular training

On the day Apple debuted the often-delayed white-colored iPhone 4, the company's marketing department gave a nod to the product's troubled history.

"Finally." read the big headline Thursday above a picture of the white phone on the homepage of Apple.com.

The white model was supposed to ship alongside the black one at the iPhone 4's launch(推出) last June.But design and manufacturing complications delayed the process by 10 months, catching Apple off guard, executives say.

As CNN reported last month, earlier test models of the white iPhone 4 produced unclear photos, especially when the flash(闪光灯) was used.Its whiteness confused the proximity sensor (距离传感器) , which detects when the phone is held next to someone's head and turns off the touch screen to save battery life.

These problems weren't present in older iPhones that came in white because they didn't have flash photography; the proximity sensor was unaffected because the front side of previous models was black.

"We thought we were there a year ago, or less than that, when we launched the iPhone 4, and we weren't," Philip Schiller, Apple's chief marketing executive, said in an interview."It's not as simple as making something white.There's a lot more that goes into both the material science of it —how it holds up over time…but also in how it all works with the sensors."

Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White predicts that the white model could help drive sales of Apple's phones.He says Apple could sell 1 million to 1.5 million every three months until the next iPhone model is unveiled, which is expected to be this fall.

Forty-five people were lined up at Apple's flagship New York store Thursday morning to buy white iPhones, according to a CNN Money report.

1.The reason why white-colored iPhone 4 was delayed by 10 months is that _______.

    A.it's always sold out due to its popularity

    B.it met some problems concerning design and manufacture

    C.it lacked white manufacturing materials

    D.its proximity sensor can't save battery life

2.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

    A.There are multi-colored models of iPhone 4.

    B.The same design problems were also found in older white iPhones.

    C.IPhone4 will be launched this fall.

    D.Originally designers thought they could solve the problems before iPhone 4 was launched.

3.What would be the best title for this passage?

    A.Why the White iPhone 4 Took So Long

    B.The History of iPhone 4

    C.The Attraction of White iPhone 4

    D.The Design and Manufacture of iPhone 4

 

 

An apple that stays fresh for moths has been developed by Australian scientists and could be on shop shelves by next year. Researchers have spent the last 20 years developing the fruit, which they have now claimed (声称) to be "the world's best apple."

The apple – at this stage known as RS103-130 – stays "crispy" for 14 days in a fruit bowl, but if kept in a fridge will remain fresh for as long as months. Its longevity (持久) is also obtained without GM (真菌) – its disease – resistant qualities come from a gene found in the Asian apple called mauls floribunda.

Tim Mulherin, Primary Industries (第一产业) Minister, said the state government was looking for a commercial supply partner to put the new apple on the market as early as next year.

"The beauty of this fruit is that you can buy it and stick it in a fruit bowl and it will maintain its firmness, texture and crispness for up to 14 days," he said.

"Another advantage is that if it goes into longer term storage, it will retain its freshness for months on end.

“This new variety is sweet and since it is disease-resistant, it requires few or no fungicides.” “Taste tests carried out so far have been outstanding. Out of the five apple types tasted, the new variety scored the highest – even better than the Pink Lady which is very popular in Britain."

Scientist Dr Simon Middleton has been working with apples at the Mapplethorpe Research Station since 1980 and said he was impressed by RS103-130. He said that this variety is unique in that it is naturally resistant to black spot (黑斑病), a disease that costs the apple industry 6 million (more that $ 10 million) a year in Australia alone.

1.In what way is RS103 – 30 different from common apples?

       A.It is more expensive.                            B.It is more beautiful.

       C.It can be kept fresh longer.                   D.It can help resist diseases.

2.The underlined word “fungicides” (in Paragraph 6) probably means “kinds of      ”.

       A.technologies        B.advertisements     C.packages             D.chemicals

3.What do we know about RS 103 – 130?

       A.Tests have been carried out on its taste.

       B.It sells well in Britain as well as in Australia.

       C.Its disease – resistant qualities come from GM.

       D.It was developed by scientists 20 years ago.

4.What is the main purpose of the passage?

       A.To persuade us to buy RS 103 – 130.

       B.To introduce a new type of apple.

       C.To show us scientists’ contribution.

       D.To tell us how RS103 – 130 was developed.

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