“Life is speeding up. Everyone is getting unwell.”

This may sound like something someone would say today. But in fact, an unknown citizen who lived in Rome in AD 52 wrote it.

We all love new inventions. They are exciting, amazing and can even change our lives.

But have all these developments really improve the quality of our lives?

Picture this: You’re rushing to finish your homework on the computer. Your mobile phone rings, a QQ message from your friend appears on the screen, the noise from the television is getting louder and louder. Suddenly the computer goes blank and you lose all your work. Now you have to stay up all night to get it done. How calm and happy do you feel?

Inventions have speeded up our lives so much that they often leave us feeling stressed and tired. Why do you think people who live far away from noisy cities, who have not telephones, no cars, not even any electricity often seem to be happier? Perhaps because they lead simpler lives.

One family in the UK went “back in time” to see what life was like without all the inventions we have today. The grandparents, with their daughter, and grandsons Benjamin, 10, and Tomas, 7, spent nine weeks in a 1940s house. They had no washing machine, microwave, computer or mobile phones.

The grandmother, Lyn, said, “It was hard physically, but not mentally.” She believed life was less materialistic. “The more things you have, the more difficult life becomes,” She said. The boys said they fought less to fight over, such as their computer. Benjamin also noticed that his grandmother had changed from being a “trendy（时髦的）, beer-drinking granny, to one who cooked things.”

Here are some simple ways to beat the stress often caused by our inventions!

Don’t be available all the time. Turn off your mobile phone at certain times of the day. Don’t check your e-mail every day.

Don’t reply to somebody as soon as they leave a text message just because you can. It may be fun at first, but it soon gets annoying.

1．The passage is mainly about________.

         A．problem with technology

         B．improvements of our life with technology

         C．the important roles technology plays in our everyday life

         D．major changes which will be likely to happen to technology

2．The writer quoted（引用） what a citizen in ancient Rome said at the beginning of the story in order to___________.

         A．share a truth about life

         B．tell us what life was like long time ago

         C．make us wonder what causes such a thing to happen

         D．point out that you experience some big problems and they may be the same

3．Why did the family choose to spend some time in a 1940’s house? Because________.

         A．they liked to live simple lives

         B．they were curious about how people lived without modern inventions

         C．they were troubled by modern inventions

         D．living in a different time would be a lot of fun for them

4．What do you think the underlined word “available” in the first suggestion offered by the writer mean?

         A．Busy on line.         B．Free        C．Be able to.      D．Be found by others.

—You haven’t got the textbook for my chemistry yet.

—I know,and we         to get it for the last five weeks.

A.will have been trying                                     B.have been trying

C.will be trying                                                D. had tried

There are robots all around us. Some do very complicated jobs like flying airplanes and driving subway trains. and some do one simple job. When an automatic washing machine is switched on, water pours in. The machine waits until the water is warm enough for washing clothes. It does this by “feedback”(反馈). Information about what is happening is feedback into the robot to tell what to do next. Our eyes, ears and other senses are our feedback. They tell us what is going on around us. So robots are like human beings in two ways.

They work and they have feedback.

In some ways robots are better than human beings. They work quickly and do not make mistakes. They do not get bored doing the same job over and over again. And they never get tired. So robots are very useful in factories. They can be taught to do many different jobs. First their electronic brain must be shown how the job is done. A person moves the robot’s “arms” and “hands” through each part of the job.

The most intelligent robots can move and see. Their eyes are cameras. Their fingers can feel shapes and sizes of the objects. These robots have computer brains linked to their eyes and fingers, which control their actions. The expensive robots are used in scientific research. They do such job as handling radioactive materials.

In this passage the author tells us that ________.

A. robots are very popular

B. there are various kinds of robots

C. we see robots only at certain times

D. robots can be easily controlled

What does the author seem to inform you about robots?

A. They should be greatly improved.

B. They will probably take over in the future.

C. They are very helpful and useful to humans.

D. They are machines that break down a lot.

The author says that in industry ________.

A. robots break down a lot    

B. robots can do many jobs

C. robots only get in the way

D. robots sometimes cause troubles

The fact that a robot never gets bored doing the same job means that _______.

A. it is very much like human beings

B. it can do boring jobs for people

C. it will never bore people

D. it will work much better than human beings

The robots used for scientific research _______.

A. are not very clever     

B. are very cheap

C. are very big

D. are very costly

第二节：完形填空。（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

Throughout history man has had to accept the fact that all living things must die. But people now live longer than they 36 . Yet, all living things still show the  37 of aging, which will eventually 38 deaths.

Aging is not a disease, but as a person passes maturity（成熟期）,the cells of the body and the 39 they form do not function as well as they 40 in childhood and teenage years. The body provides less 41 against disease and is more 42 to have accident.

A number of related causes may 43 to aging. Some cells of the body have a fairly long life, but they are not 44 when they die . As a person ages, 45 of brain cells and muscle cells decreases. 46. body cells die and are replaced by new cells. In an aging person the 47 cells may not be as workable or as capable 48 growth as those of a young person.

Another 49 in aging may be changes within the cells 50.Some of the protein chemicals in cells are known to 51 with age and become less elastic（有弹性的）.This is why the skin of old people wrinkles（皱纹）and hangs 52 . This is also the reason why old people 53 in height. There may be other more important chemical changes in the cells. Some complex cell chemicals, such as DNA an RNA, store and 54 information that the cells need. Aging may affect this 55 and change the information-carrying molecules so that they do not transmit the information as well.

36. A. would                       B. be used to             C. used to                  D. used

37. A. function          B. effect                     C. affect                     D. sign

38. A. lead in             B. give in           C. run into                  D. result in

39. A. hands                       B. feet                         C. heart              D. organs

40. A. made      B. took                    C. did         D. remembered

41. A. energy     B. protection         C. vigor       D. power

42. A. likely        B. probable            C. possible                 D. alike

43. A. attend       B. contribute         C. add        D. devote

44. A. replaced      B. reborn      C. recovered           D. surrendered

45. A. a number     B. the amount   C. the number           D. a great deal

46. A. The others          B. the other         C. Another            D. Other

47. A. old        B. left               C. new               D. other

48. A. to           B. for                C. of                      D. in

49. A. factor                   B. effect               C. reason           D. element

50. A. it                   B. them      C. themselves         D. that

51. A. become             B. turn        C. change             D. get

52. A. loose                   B. high               C. large       D. fat

53. A. increase                B. shrink                 C. lengthen              D. decrease

54. A. pass away    B. pass by      C. pass off     D. pass on  

55. A. improvement         B. procession           C. approach           D. process

Once the 2008 Olympic Games finishes, the drums and trumpets(喇叭) of the competitions would also stop. But would the city remain as lively as it would be after this world event? Investment sustainability and high demand are two highly invaluable economic concepts(概念) that can be looked at in order to ensure post-Olympics flourish, or perhaps, an even better future for Beijingers.

    Naturally, an economic downturn occurs in an Olympic host city once the major event finishes. Renmin University Professor Jin Yuanpu noted that a global event like this would put Beijing into a position of large importance in the international stage. But after this event, who would use the heavily-funded equipment and public and private investments left in the city? Various economists argued that a meltdown (彻底垮台) is highly unlikely. Jonathan Anderson, UBS Asia economist, suggested that the negative effects of the end of Beijing Olympics 2008 on the entire country aren’t important compared to previous host cities. China is such a huge economy that the conclusion of the Olympics games is the same as an ant-bite on a dragon.

    But what about post-Olympics Beijing? Retired Headmaster of Peking University, Li Yining, noted that a long-term civil demand growth and a popular desire by companies to adopt careful financial management decisions can lead to continued investment growth. Even though demand in some departments of the economy would drop in the short-run, creativity, practicality and innovation(创新) would be the key factors that would continually enhance the city's image and flourish long after the Olympics in the city has ended.

    So what's next for Beijing after the Olympics? Well, it's business as usual...

Which one of the followings is the author’s idea?

   A. Beijing’s economy will have a downturn after the 2008 Olympic Games.

   B. The 2008 Olympic Games have no effects on Beijing’s economy.

   C. Beijing’s economy will go on as usual.

   D. Beijing’s economy will go worse after the 2008 Olympic Games.

What’s the Jin Yuanpu idea about Beijing’s economy after the 2008 Olympic Games according to the passage?

   A. to have a downturn

   B. to develop as usual

   C. to develop more rapidly

   D. all of the above

Why did Jonathan Anderson believe that the negative effects of the end of Beijing Olympics 2008 on the entire country aren’t important?

   A. The negative effects are small.

   B. The Chinese government has many measures to take.

   C. The Chinese economy has developed at a certain level so that the negative effects can’t affect it too much.

   D. Jonathan Anderson liked China very much so he didn’t want China to go worse.

Choose a best title for this passage.

   A. Beijing After the Olympics

   B. The negative effects of the end of Beijing Olympics

   C. Can Beijing get through the difficult period after the 2008 Olympic Games

   D. Beijing’s economy after the 2008 Olympic Games