In many parts of the world,cars play an important role in daily life and many societies would not exist without them.So the idea that in 20 years’ time, no one will own cars may be hard to believe.But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously, not only by government but also by ear manufacturers.

The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program.The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized,which will mean much saving,no accidents and better use of roads.The super­intelligent car of the 21st century will drive itself, and it will not be owned by one individual.Instead,we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.

According to Dr.David Davis,who leads the research team,these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture,which had blocked up our cities,polluted our air, and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.

Davis says,cars will be fitted with some intelligent devices to regulate the distance between one car and another.The car will automatically speed up,or slow down,to match the speed of the car in front.Computers are much safer drivers than people,so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.

By 2010,Dr.David Davis believes,car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road,whatever the weather conditions,by projecting an image of the road ahead on to the car’s windscreen.And by 2020,cars will travel in_convoy,_linked to each other electronically.Cars will be connected by an electronic tow bar to the car in front to form “road­trains”.“The front vehicle in such a train burns the normal amount.”says Davis.“But all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount,and so produce about ten percent of the pollution.”

52.Which of the following will be the characteristic of the cars of 2020?

A.The car will speed up out of control.

B.We will own as many cars as we want.

C.All cars will be driven by computers.

D.Cars will produce more pollution than present ones.

53.The leader of the research team believes that the present car culture will change because________.

A.cars play a very important role in daily life

B.many societies would stop functioning without cars

C.cars should not be owned by one individual

D.it causes many deaths to human society

54.The expression closest in meaning to the phrase “in convoy” in the last paragraph is________.

A.in line           B.sidelong

C.side by side   D.shoulder to shoulder

55.What will happen if cars are joined to each other electro- nically in 2020?

A.Motorists will get a clear view of the road.

B.There will be less pollution caused by car.

C.The weather condition will not have effect on motorists.

D.All trains will bum less fuel than present.

Helen Thayer, one of the greatest explorers of the 20th century, loves challenges. She says,“I like to see what's on the other side of the hill.” She has gone almost everywhere to do that.

In 1988,at the age of 50,she became the first woman to travel alone to the North Pole.  She pulled her own sled(雪橇)piled with 160 pounds of supplies,and during her trip no one brought her fresh supplies.Accompanied only by her dog Charlie,she  survived cold weather and meetings with polar bears. In fact,Charlie saved her life when one of  them attacked her.Near the end of her trip,a forceful wind blew away the majority of her supplies. The last week of the trip,she survived on a handful of nuts and a little water each day.

Helen goes to challenging places not only for  adventures,but also for education.Before her Arctic journey,she started a website called Adventure Classroom.On the site,she shared her adventures in order to inspire students.She explained,“Although kids often see the world in a negative way,without hope for their future,we work to inspire them to set goals,plan for success and never give up...”

Helen grew up in New Zealand.Her parents  were athletes and mountain climbers.Following her parents’example,she climbed her first mountain at the age of nine.Later,she climbed the highest  mountains in North and South America,the former  USSR and New Zealand.

In 1996,she took on another challenge—the Sahara Desert.She and her husband,Bill,walked 2,400 miles across it.In 2001,she and Bill travelled on foot from west to east through the Gobi Desert in Mongolia.They hope to travel in mainland China into Sichuan and Tibet to study pandas.

Helen plans to continue taking trips.She'll use her explorations,writing,photography and environmental works to create programs for her Adventure Classroom website. She wants to inspire her  students to never stop facing challenges.

49.We learn from the second paragraph that________.

A.Helen Thayer was the first person to reach the North Pole

B.Helen Thayer ate nothing during the last week of her trip

C.Helen Thayer traveled to the North Pole on her own

D.Charlie prevented Helen Thayer from being attacked by polar bears

50.Why does Helen travel to different places worldwide?

A.For fun.        B.For education.

C.For money.  D.For fame.

51.Which is the best title for the text?

A.The Woman Who loves Adventures

B.A Famous Woman

C.A Woman Mountain Climber

D.Adventure Classroom Owner

Some scientists say that animals in the ocean are increasingly threatened by noise pollution caused by human beings. The noise that affects sea creatures comes from a number of human activities. It is caused mainly by industrial underwater explosions, ocean drilling and ship engines. Such noises are added to natural sounds. These sounds include the breaking of ice fields, underwater earthquakes and sounds made by animals themselves.

Decibels(分贝)measured in water are different from those measured on land. A noise of one hundred and twenty decibels on land causes pain to human ears. In water, a decibel level of one hundred and ninety­five would have the same effect.

Some scientists have proposed setting a noise limit of one hundred and twenty decibels in oceans. They have observed that noises at that level can frighten and confuse whales.

A team of American and Canadian scientists discovered that loud noises can seriously injure some animals.The research team found that powerful underwater explosions were causing whales in the area to lose their hearing.This seriously affected the whales' ability to exchange information and find their way.Some of the whales even died.The explosions had caused their ears to bleed and become infected(感染).

Many researchers whose work depends on ocean sounds object to a limit of one hundred and twenty decibels.They say such a limit would mean an end to important industrial and scientific research.

Scientists do not know how much and what kinds of noises are harmful to ocean animals. However, many scientists suspect that noise is a greater danger than they believed. They want to prevent noises from harming creatures in the ocean.

45.According to passage, which of the following is increasingly dangerous to sea creatures?

A.The man­made noises.

B.The noises made by themselves.

C.The sound of earthquakes.

D.The sound of the ice­breaking.

46.Which of the following is discussed in the second paragraph?

A.Different places with different types of noises.

B.The very human ears sensitive to all types of noises.

C.The decibels measured differently on land and in the ocean.

D.The ocean animals' reaction to noises.

47.We can know from the passage that many scientists think that the noise limit of one hundred twenty decibels would ________.

A.prevent them from doing their research work

B.benefit them a lot in their research work

C.do good to their health

D.increase the industrial output

48.According to the passage, what will scientists most probably do in the future?

A.They will try their best to decrease noise.

B.They will work hard to cut down noise pollution.

C.They will study the effect of different noises.

D.They will protect animals from harmful noises.

Two studies are suggesting that some overweight people do not face an increased risk of developing heart disease. Researchers also found that some individuals of normal body weight have an increased risk of the disease.

Being overweight does increase your risk of medical problems, but the studies found that not all heavy people are less healthy than thin people.

In one study, American researchers examined medical records from over 5000 men and women. Each person had taken part in a separate study from 1999 to 2004. The searchers found that about 51% of them were overweight or obese. About 32% were obese, but considered metabolically(关于新陈代谢的)healthy. This means they had no evidence of problems in tests for high blood pressure or other factors linked to heart disease. However, more than 23% of people who were at a healthy weight were unhealthy in two or more aspects Judith Wylie­Rosett helped carry out the American study. She says the finding show that all obese person can still be healthy. She believes that having body fat is not as important as where the fat is found on body. It's reported that two­thirds of Americans are considered overweight or obese.

A second study is suggesting that fat in the liver(肝)may be an important health risk. Norbert Stefan and his team closely examined 314 people.They measured how much body fat each person had, and where it was on the body. To do this ,they used medical imaging tests. They discovered that obese people could have healthy hearts. Their results suggest that fat in the liver is more dangerous than fat in other areas.

The results of both studies were published recently in the Archives of Internal Medicine.Professor Wylie­Rosett says the findings don't mean that people shouldn't be concerned about obesity.  Experts say there are several diseases linked to obesity that make it more dangerous to be fat than thin. They say people should see their doctor to learn what health risks they may be facing and what behaviours should be changed to improve health.

41.What was found in 23% of the healthy people examined?

A.No factors linked to heart disease.

B.They were unhealthy in two or more aspects.

C.High blood pressure.

D.No evidence of problems.

42.Professor Wylie­Rosett agrees that people should________.

A.avoid becoming obese

B.not worry about becoming obese

C.worry about becoming thin

D.not be afraid of several diseases

43.The underlined word“obese”in the third paragraph probably means “________”.

A.being too thin      B.being healthy

C.being too fat        D.being unhealthy

44.The text is mainly about evidence that some people can_______.

A.be both fat and healthy

B.develop heart disease

C.increase weight

D.have too much fat in the liver

What we today call American folk art was, indeed, art of, by and for ordinary, everyday“folks”who, with increasing prosperity and leisure(闲暇),created a market for art of all kinds, and especially for portraits. Citizens of prosperous, essentially middle­class republics—whether ancient Romans, 17th century Dutch people, or 19th century Americans—have always shown a marked taste for portraiture. Starting in the late eighteenth century, the United States contained increasing numbers of such people, and of the artists who could meet their demands.

The earliest American folk art portraits come, not surprisingly, from New England—especially Connecticut and Massachusetts—for this was a wealthy and populous region and the center of a strong craft tradition. Within a few decades after the signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776, the population was pushing westward, and portrait painters could be found at work in western New York, Ohio, Kentucky, Illinois, and Missouri.Midway through its first century as a nation, the United States' population had increased roughly five times, and eleven new states had been added to the original thirteen. During these years the demand for portraits grew and grew, eventually to be satisfied by the camera. In 1839 the photograph taken by an early photographic process was introduced to America, announcing the age of photography, and within a generation the new invention put an end to the popularity of painted portraits. Once again an original portrait became a luxury(奢侈品),commissioned by the wealthy and executed(执行)by the professional.

But in the time of greatest prosperity of portrait painting—from the late 18th century until the 1850's—anyone with small amount of artistic ability could become a limner,as such a portraitist was called. Local craftspeople—sign, coach, and house painters—began to paint portraits as a profitable sideline(副业);sometimes as talented man or woman who began by sketching family members gained a local reputation and was besieged(包围)with requests for portraits; artists found it worth their whole to pack their paints, canvases, and brushes and to travel the countryside, often combining house decorating with portrait painting.

36.In Paragraph 1 the author mentions 17th century Dutch people as an example of a group that________.

A.consisted mainly of self­taught artists

B.appreciated portraits

C.influenced American folk art

D.had little time for the arts

37.According to the passage, where were many of the first American folk art portraits painted?

A.In western New York.

B.In Illinois and Missouri.

C.In Connecticut and Massachusetts.

D.In Ohio.

38.How much did the population of the United States increase in the first fifty years following independence?

A.It became three times larger.

B.It became five times larger.

C.It became eleven times larger.

D.It became thirteen times larger.

39.According to the passage, which of the following contributed to a decline in the demand for painted portraits?

A.The lack of a strong craft tradition.

B.The westward immigration of many painters.

C.The growing preference for landscape paintings.

D.The invention of the camera.

40.The author implies that most limners________.

A.received instruction from travelling teachers

B.were women

C.were from wealthy families

D.had no formal art training

Despite the great progress in medical science, human beings are constantly attacked by cancer, which means death. A woman named Bonnie suffered a __16__of discomforts caused by the treatment of cancer. She didn't regard cancer as a __17__ disease, but a laughing matter. She treated it in a humorous way. To put it in __18__way, she is teaching people that even though cancer isn't__19__, we can treat it in a humorous way.

Her second child was going to be born three months away __20__she was diagnosed with cancer. Suddenly, a __21__ mother turned into a helpess woman afraid for her own __22__.It was after she had had her baby__23__that she had an operation. __24__ came chemo(化疗)and her life seemed to be made up of fears and __25__. But the __26__moment in her life came after she lost all her hair and a free wig(假发)arrived. She __27__it on as her older son Kyler watched.

“That was when I decided how to __28__ it: crying over this bad wig or laughing about it. __29__ way would make __30__ remember it.” Bonnie said. She spent a lot of time looking for anything funny from cancer patients. She got a lot out of collecting__31__ stories. She started laughing a lot, finding it the perfect medicine. Using herself as a bald(光头)model, Bonnie__32__ to design her own greeting cards and calendars, making fun of the sufferings  of chemo. “To have joy, we badly __33__to laugh, ”she said.

Clearly, you can increase your confidence to__34__over any disease and trouble__35__ laughing.

16.A.set    B.series

C.way        D.pack

17.A.seriously         B.deadly

C.terribly  D.fearfully

18.A.another    B.the others

C.other     D.others

19.A.serious    B.painful

C.fun         D.fierce

20.A.before      B.until

C.while      D.when

21.A.sad  B.happy

C.fortunate      D.sick

22.A.son  B.illness

C.operation      D.life

23.A.made       B.attended

C.delivered      D.opened

24.A.Then        B.Later

25.A.failures    B.loneliness

C.wonders       D.tears

26.A.lowest      B.highest

C.great     D.ugly

27.A.wore        B.carried

C.tried       D.fastened

28.A.do with     B.deal with

C.go with  D.meet with

29.A.All     B.Any

C.Both      D.Either

30.A.myself      B.everyone

C.my son         D.my husband

31.A.detective         B.romantic

C.different        D.humorous

32.A.get down         B.set out

C.set about      D.set down

33.A.ought       B.need

C.want      D.long

34.A.get    B.think

C.run        D.take

35.A.in terms of      B.by means of

C.through the method of       D.by the way of

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