题目内容
.
The profit of the company fell _______ in the first three months in the year 2009 as a result of the global economic crisis.
|
A．sharply |
B．eventually |
C．approximately |
D．narrowly |
A
【解析】略
One of the greatest contributors to the first Oxford English Dictionary was also one of its most unusual. In 1879, Oxford University in England asked Prof. James Murray to serve as editor for what was to be the most ambitious dictionary in the history of the English language. It would include every English word possible and would give not only the definition but also the history of the word and quotations(引文) showing how it was used.
This was a huge task, so Murray had to find volunteers from Britain, the United States, and the British colonies to search every newspaper, magazine, and book ever written in English. Hundreds of volunteers responded, including William Chester Minor. Dr. Minor was an American surgeon who had served in the Civil War and was now living in England. He gave his address as “Broadmoor, Crowthorne, Berkshire,” 50 miles from Oxford.
Minor joined the army of volunteers sending words and quotations to Murray. Over the next 17 years, he became one of the staff’s most valued contributors.
But he was also a mystery. In spite of many invitations, he would always decline to visit Oxford. So in 1897, Murray finally decided to travel to Crowthorne himself. When he arrived, he found Minor locked in a book-lined cell at the Broadmoor Asylum(精神病院) for the Criminally Insane.
Murray and Minor became friends, sharing their love of words. Minor continued contributing to the dictionary, sending in more than 10,000 submissions in 20 years. Murray continued to visit Minor regularly, sometimes taking walks with him around the asylum grounds.
In 1910, Minor left Broadmoor for an asylum in his native America. Murray was at the port to wave goodbye to his remarkable friend.
Minor died in 1920, seven years before the first edition of the Oxford English Dictionary was completed. The 12 volunteers defined 414,825 words, and thousands of them were contributions from a very scholarly and devoted asylum patient.
【小题1】According to the text, the first Oxford English Dictionary ____.
| A．came out before Minor died |
| B．was edited by an American volunteer |
| C．included the English words invented by Murray |
| D．was intended to be the most ambitious English dictionary |
| A．He helped Murray to find hundreds of volunteers. |
| B．He sent newspapers, magazines and books to Murray. |
| C．He provided a great number of words and quotations. |
| D．He went to England to work with Murray. |
| A．Brave and determined. | B．Cautious and friendly. |
| C．Considerate and optimistic. | D．Unusual and scholarly. |
| A．The history of the English language. |
| B．The friendship between Murray and Minor. |
| C．Minor and the first Oxford English Dictionary. |
| D．Broadmoor Asylum and its patients. |
Scientists warn today that the Atlantic bluefin tuna（金枪鱼）faces disappearance unless certain action is taken. They used electronic ways to track the movement of the powerful fish from the Gulf of Mexico to the Mediterranean, and report today in the journal Nature that meals of sushi and sandwiches with tuna worldwide are more dangerous than anyone has imagined.
The bluefin tuna can live for 30 years, grow to three metres in length and weigh as much as 700kg. A good one can fetch as much as £ 52,000 in the Tokyo fish markets. “In my lifetime, we’ve brought this big fish to the doorstep of death in the western Atlantic Ocean,” said Barbara Block of Stanford University in California. “The electronic way of tracks provides the best scientific information we’ve ever had to manage these tuna and we must, as an international community, start to act actively to make sure of the future of this fish. ”
Scientists have repeatedly said that the harvest of the seas cannot be as good as before. There are fewer and fewer fish in around Newfoundland, North Sea and Iceland, so fishermen have pushed further offshore in search of deep ocean fish. Tuna—in the Mediterranean and Japan—have been under increasing pressure for years. The International Commission on the Conservation of Atlantic Tuna has tried to manage the fish since 1969．There are two populations: a western one that has dropped by 80% in the past 30 years, and a larger, eastern population. Although catches are controlled by 3,000 tons a year in the western fishery, and 32,000 in the east, no one knew whether the limits worked.
So Professor Block and her team placed tracks on hundreds of the fish and tracked them to depths of more than 900 metres and on journeys of thousands of miles, measuring the movement, body and water temperatures. “There are two ways to save the Atlantic bluefin tuna—protect them in their production grounds and in their feeding grounds,” Prof. Block said. “This will need immediate action in both the central Atlantic, to reduce the loss of the big fish while hunting, and in the Gulf of Mexico and Mediterranean, where tuna produce as separate populations. ”
【小题1】 The bluefin tuna in this passage mainly refers to the one _______.
| A．in the Atlantic | B．in the Pacific |
| C．in the Gulf of Mexico | D．in the Mediterranean |
| A．The bluefin tuna is a kind of large and heavy fish. |
| B．The number of the bluefin tuna in the sea is getting smaller and smaller. |
| C．Scientists are worried about the future of the tuna. |
| D．Scientists think that the harvest of the seas will remain good. |
| A．finding a new way to protect them |
| B．controlling the catches of them |
| C．reducing the population to eat them |
| D．protecting them in their production and feeding grounds |
| A．tell people a new way has been found to save the bluefin tuna |
| B．call for action to save the bluefin tuna |
| C．warn people not to eat tuna sandwiches anymore |
| D．help scientists to find a new way to save the bluefin tuna |
Scientists are worried that an asteroid(小行星) will possibly hit the earth in 2036. If scientists are right, planet earth is 24 years away from a major disaster.
Scientists have been monitoring the progress of a 390-metre-wide asteroid ever since it was discovered last June. They have announced that it could hit the earth, causing huge damage, in 2036.
NASA estimates that the impact from the asteroid named after Apophis and ancient Egyptian demon(魔鬼) would release more than 100,000 times the energy released in the nuclear explosion over Hiroshima. Thousands of square kilometers would be directly affected by the explosion. The whole planet would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere.
This is the worst possible scenario(情景) of any asteroid in recorded history.
Having more than 20 years’ warning of possible impact might seem plenty of time. But scientists insist that there is actually very little time left to decide.
Luckily, however, they aren’t short on ideas for deflecting the asteroid. The favored method is also probably the easiest—throwing a spacecraft at the asteroid to change its direction. The European Space Agency plans to test this in the next decade.
One idea that seems to have no support from astronomers is the use of explosive, although this sounds more likely to the public or Hollywood producer.
At present, scientists are trying to make a better estimate of how much time we have, through more observations.
In spring of next year, there will be another chance for radar observation of Apophis. This will help astronomers calculate the orbits of the asteroid more accurately.
If, at that stage, they can’t rule out an impact with the earth in 2036, the next chance to make better observations will not be until 2016, then 2029.
“If we wait until 2029 and the worst—case scenario turns out to be true, it would seem unlikely that we’d be able to do anything about 2036,” warns Prof Fitzsimmons.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “deflecting” most probably mean?
| A．making it smaller. |
| B．observing it clearly enough. |
| C．dividing into pieces. |
| D．changing its direction. |
| A．the asteroid named Apophis will explode in 2036. |
| B．the asteroid named Apophis might hit the earth in 2036. |
| C．the asteroid named Apophis is 24 years old. |
| D．there is plenty of time to decide the way we deal with the asteroid. |
| A．It will damage Hiroshima. |
| B．Thousands of square kilometers would see the effects of the dust released into the atmosphere. |
| C．It might be the worst damage caused by asteroids in recorded history. |
| D．The whole planet would be directly affected by the explosion. |
| A．Hollywood producers will explode Apophis to avoid its hit. |
| B．There are only two chances for scientists to make better observations if they can’t grasp the chance next year. |
| C．NASA plans to throw a spacecraft at Apophis to change its direction. |
| D．It is supportive from astronauts that we explode the Apophis. |
Since the 1970s, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers．Brain-computer interface（BCI） technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines．
Recently, two researchers, Jose Millan and Michele Tavella from the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland, demonstrated（展示）a small robotic wheelchair directed by a person’s thoughts．
In the laboratory, Tavella operated the wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand．He could even talk as he watched the vehicle and guided it with his thoughts．
“Our brain has billions of nerve cells．These send signals through the spinal cord（脊髓）to the muscles to give us the ability to move．But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles,” Tavella says．“Our system allows disabled people to communicate with external world and also to control devices．”
The researchers designed a special cap for the user．This head cover picks up the signals from the scalp（头皮）and sends them to a computer．The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair． The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path．They help the computer react to commands from the brain．
Prof．Millan, the team leader, says scientists keep improving the computer software that interprets brain signals and turns them into simple commands．“The practical possibilities that BCI technology offers to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: communication, and controlling devices．One example is this wheelchair．”
He says his team has set two goals．One is testing with real patients, so as to prove that this is a technology they can benefit from．And the other is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time．
【小题1】BCI is a technology that can .
| A．help to update computer systems | B．link the human brain with computers |
| C．help the disabled to recover | D．control a person's thoughts |
| A．By controlling his muscles． | B．By talking to the machine． |
| C．By moving his hand． | D．By using his mind． |
| A．make profits from them | B．prove the technology useful to them |
| C．make them live longer | D．learn about their physical condition |
| A．Switzerland, the BCI Research Center |
| B．New Findings About How the Human Brain Works |
| C．BCI Could Mean More Freedom for the Disabled |
| D．Robotic Vehicles Could Help to Cure Brain Injuries |
Celebrity endorsements
Despite the fact that companies believe celebrities had a lot of pull with regard to the buying trends of consumers, researchers have discovered that this does not seem to be the case. British and Swiss researchers carried out a study showing that advertisements made by celebrities like David Beckham and Scarlett Johansson are not as effective as those by ordinary people.
In a sample of 298 students, researchers presented a magazine advertisement for a digital camera that was endorsed (为…做广告宣传) by a fictional student claiming the camera was “hot” and his “preferred choice”. The same advertisement was shown to other students, but with a difference: The camera was endorsed by a famous person in Germany.
While the students said that both advertisements were beneficial, the one made by the student topped the celebrity one if students aimed to impress others with their purchases (购买). More than half of the students, who admitted purchasing products that would impress others, said they were influenced by the student’s advertisement. Only 20％ said the celebrity one would affect their buying decision.
Professor Brett Martin of the University of Bath’s School of Management, explained that the findings could be used not only in Germany, but in other countries as well. “ Our research questions whether celebrities are the best ways to sell products,” said Prof Martin.“Celebrities can be effective but we found that many people were more convinced by an endorsement from a fictional fellow student. This is because many people feel a need to keep up with the Jones when they buy.”
【小题1】Some companies think the celebrities endorsement ．
| A．is popular with the consumers |
| B．can pull all the consumers into the shops |
| C．can affect the consumers’ purchasing |
| D．is as effective as an endorsement from common people |
the experiment?
An ad featuring lovely pandas.
An ad made by David Beckham.
An ad made by fictional common people.
An ad with beautiful natural scenery.
【小题3】The underlined words “the Jones” in the last paragragh refer to“ ”．
| A．someone called Jones | B．common people |
| C．the Jones family | D．celebrities |
| A．celebrities cheat consumers in advertisement |
| B．the researchers here are against celebrity endorsement |
| C．the student’s ads are more reliable than those made by celebrities |
| D．companies needn’t spend so much money on celebrity endorsement |
| A．a local newspaper | B．a science report |
| C．an academic journal | D．a textbook |