“Whatever",totally tops most annoying word in the poll (民意测验).So, you know, it is what it is, but Americans are totally annoyed by the use of‘ whatever"’ in conversations. The popular term of indifference (不感兴趣）was found most annoying in conversations by 47 percent of the Americans surveyed in a Marist College poll on Wednesday.

“Whatever"easily beat out “you know",which especially annoyed a quarter of interviewers. The other annoying expressions were "anyway"(at 7 percent), “it is what it is” (11percent) and “at the end of the day(2 percent).

"Whatever" is an expression with staying power It left everyone a deep impression in the song by Nirvana (“oh well, whatever, never mind”）in 1991 and was popularized by the Valley Girls in the film “Clueless”,later that decade. It is still commonly used, often by younger people.

It can be a common argument-ender or a signal of indifference. And it can really be annoying. The poll found "whatever" to be consistently(始终地) disliked by Americans regardless of their race, sex, age, income or where they live.

“It doesn't surprise me because ‘whatever’，is in a special class, probably, said Michael Adams, author of “Slang(俚语)~The People's Poetry" and an associate professor of English at Indiana University. "It's a word that -and it depends on how a speaker uses it -can suggest being not worthy of attention or respect.” Adams, who didn't take part in the poll and is not annoyed by "whatever," points out that its use is not always negative. “It can also be used in place of other neutral(中性的）phrases that have fallen out of favor, like ‘six of one, half dozen of the other’ ” he said. However, he also noted that the negative meaning of the word might explain why “whatever” was judged more annoying than the ever-popular “you know”.

1.Which tops second among the annoying expression according to the passage?'

A. Whatever.              B. You know

C. Anyway.         D. It is what it is.

2.What can we know about the word "whatever"?

A. It became popular because of Nirvana.

B. It can be commonly used at the beginning of an agreement.

C. Old people like it while young people don't.

D. Almost half of the Americans surveyed disliked it.

3.In Adams' opinion, the reason why “whatever”, was judged more annoying may be that_____.

A. most of the people don't like it

B. it can be used in place of other neutral phrases

C. it carries certain negative meaning sometimes

D. the poor don't like it

4.Which of the following statements is true?

A.Adams is not only a writer but also a professor.

B.“Whatever” is a signal of concern.

C.Adams is angry at the word “whatever”

D."Whatever" will be replaced by "You know”

Dick lived in England. One day in January he said to his wife, "I'm going to fly to New York next week because I've got some work there." "Where are you going to stay there?" his wife asked. "I don't know yet." Dick answered. "Please send me your address from there in a telegram (电报)," his wife said. "All right," Dick answered.

 He flew to New York on January 31st and found a nice hotel in the center of the city. He put his things in his room and then he sent his wife a telegram. He put the address of his hotel in it.

 In the evening he didn't have any work, so he went to a cinema. He came out at nine o'clock and said, "Now I'm going back to my hotel and have a nice dinner."

 He found a taxi and the driver said, "Where do you want to go?" But Dick didn't remember the name and address of his hotel.

 "Which hotel are my things in?" he said, "And what am I going to do tonight?" But the driver of the taxi did not know. So Dick got out and went into a post office. There he sent his wife another telegram, and in it he wrote, "Please send me my address at this post office."

Dick flew to New York because ___.

A. he went there for a holiday

B. he had work there

C. he went there for sightseeing (观光)

D. his home was there

Why did his wife want a telegram from him?

A. Because she didn't know his address yet 

B. Because she wanted to go to New York, too

C. Because she might send him another telegram

D. Because she couldn't leave her husband by himself in New York

Who would send him the name and address of his hotel?

 A. The manager of his hotel.            B. The police office.

 C. The taxi driver.                     D. His wife.

Which of the following is not true?

 A. Dick stayed at a nice hotel in the center of the city.

 B. Dick didn't work on the first night of his arrival.

 C. Dick forgot to send his wife a telegram.

 D. Dick wanted to go back to his hotel in a taxi.

The ability to memorize things seems to be a vanishing （消失的） technique．So what can we do to bring out brain cells back into action? A newly published book on memory, Moomvalking with Einstein: The Art and Science of Remembering Everything, by American journalist Joshua Foer, makes a telling point, one that is an analysis of the importance of memorising events and stories in human history; the decline of its role in modem life; and the techniques that we need to adopt to restore the art of remembering．

As For points out, we no longer need to remember telephone numbers．Our mobile phones do that for us．We don't recall addresses either．We send emails from computers that store electronic addresses．Nor do we bother to remember multiplication tables （乘法表） ．Pocket calculators do the job of multiplying quite nicely．Museums, photographs, the digital media and books also act as storehouses for memories that once we had to keep in mind．

As a result, we no longer remember long poems or folk stories by heart, feats （技艺） of memory that were once the cornerstones of most people's lives．Indeed, society has changed so much that we no longer know what techniques we should employ to remember such lengthy works．We are, quite simply, forgetting how to remember．

And let's face it, there is nothing sadder than someone who has lost their mobile phone and who finds they cannot even phone home or call their parents or partners because they cannot remember a single telephone number．That is a sad example of loss of personal independence．So, yes, there is a need for us to he able to remember certain things in life．

Therefore, Foer's book outlines the methods that need to be mastered in order to promote our memories and regain the ability to recall long strings of names, numbers or faces．In the process, he adds, we will become more aware of the world about us．

The trick, Foer says, is to adopt a process known as " elaborative encoding", which involves transforming information, such as a shopping list, into a series of "absorbing visual images"．If you want to remember a list of household objects—potatoes, cottage cheese, sugar and other items, then visualise them in an unforgettable manner, he says．Start by creating an image of a large jar of potatoes standing in the garden．Next to it, imagine a giant tub of cottage cheese—the size of an outdoor pool—and then picture Lady Gaga swimming in it．And so on．Each image should be as fantastic and memorable as possible．

Using methods like this, it becomes possible to achieve great feats of memory quite easily, Foer says．It certainly seems to have worked for him: he won the annual US Memory Championships after learning how to memorize 120 random digits in five minutes; the first and last names of 156 strangers in 15 minutes; and a deck of cards in under two minutes．"What I had really trained my brain to do, as much as to memorise, was to be more mindful and to pay attention to the world around," he says．

These techniques employed by Foer to master his memory were developed by Ed Cooke—a British writer and a world memory championship grandmaster．He acted as Foer's trainer during preparations for the book and helped him achieve his championship performances．" Memory techniques do just one thing: they make information more meaningful to the mind, making the things we try to learn unforgettably bright and amusing," said Cooke．

1.Which of the following is conveyed in this article?

2.According to Joshua Foer, people no longer memorize information today because________．

3.One method of memorizing things mentioned in the passage is to ________．

4.The underlined word "visualise" in the last paragraph most probably means "_______"．

5.This passage can be sorted as ________．

PART THREE: READING COMPREHENSION (30分)

Directions: Read the following three passages. Each passage is followed by several questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are 4 choices marked A, B, C and D. Choose the one that fits best according to the information given in the passage you have just read.

A

The Wuhan to Guangzhou MU(动车组) Train route will start to operate on the 26th of this month. The train is the fastest in the world. All the construction and preparations for the route's operation are in the final stages. Our reporter Li Dong has the details.

In a trial operation, the speed of the MU Train reached 394 kilometers per hour, the highest in the world. Though the speed during normal operation may be at 350 kilometers per hour, but this newly built high speed railway may still reduce the travel time of Wuhan to Guangzhou from more than 10 to 3 hours.

The total length of Wuhan—Guangzhou high speed railway is more than 1068 kilometers. The railway connects Hubei, Hunan and Guangdong. The total investment is more than 116 billion yuan.

Protection facilities like bars and surveillance cameras are installed along the whole railway. Zhang Shuguang, director of transport bureau of the Ministry of Railway says the safety system of the train and the route is also state of the art.

"The break distance of the train is 5 kilometers. But the MU Train can respond to any emergency situations within 32 kilometers. It's very safe."

The shortened travel distance is good news for many people. However some passengers also hope the service can be upgraded.

"The dinning and entertainment service can be better. I hope I can watch TV on the train."

"The weariness during travel can be eased if I can use internet on the train. I can feel more comfortable."

Jing Libin is the MU Train driver of the Wuhan—Guangzhou high speed railway. As a MU Train engineer who witnessed China's high speed railway development. Jing Libin says: It's a way faster!

"The development of China's railway is so fast. In the beginning of the year, the speed is only 160 kilometers per hour. Soon, the speed reached 250 kilometers. And now, it's 350 kilometers! As a driver, I am very impressed."

China plans to increase the railway operation length from the current 80 thousand kilometers to 110 thousand kilometers, which includes 18 thousand kilometers of high speed passenger railways by 2012.

Within 3 years, China plans to build an "8 Hour, High Speed Transportation Circle", which means, passengers may reach nearly all the provincial capital cities in China in about 8 hours by high speed railway. With the development of the railway, China’s economy will also continue her highest development. In the near future, China will be really powerful in the world.

56. What is the best title of the passage?

A. Fastest Train in the World

C. High Speed Railway Construction

B. Trial Operation of the MU Train

D. Newly Typed Train in the World.

57. Surveillance cameras are used for________.

A. art   B. speed   C. safety    D. research

58. How much time would be needed from Wuhan to Guangzhou if the train travelled at its top speed?

A. a little more than three hours           C. more than four hours

B. less than three hours                  D. less than seven hours

59. What can we learn from the passage?

A. There will be no problems on the new train.

B. Passengers are completely satisfied with the new train.

C. Jing Libin is very proud of the development of China’s railway.

D. China has 110 thousand kilometers ofthe railway operation length now.

60. What can we infer according to the author?

A. Nobody expected China would have such a fast train.

B. China will build more high speed railways.

C. The service of the train is hard to be improved.

D. China’s economy would slow down if her transport couldn’t be improved.

103. The activity is called "saving the earth" which refers to more reduction of ____ caused to the world by freon (氟里昂)of refrigerators.