It came with devastating force,a natural disaster of strange intensity that shocked the world and killed tens of thousands.The waters have now receded,but disease and food and water shortages trouble a number of countries around the Indian Ocean.Millions of survivors face serious problems.

The number of survivors in need of food aid after the Indian Ocean disaster has climbed to 5 million people.They stretch from Somalia to Thailand,and the figure could rise further,the United Nations has said.

Relief teams hope to reach all of the estimated 700 000 hungry in Sri Lanka within three more days.It could take longer before enough food aid gets to the nearly 1 million people in need in hard-to-reach parts of Indonesia.Another serious problem is the need for purified water.

Although aid had poured in from all over the world to the disaster areas,“Logistics is the big problem here—just getting the stuff out to people who need it,”said Ron Libby,emergency management specialist at the USA agency for International Development.

Relief efforts are hindered by the difficulty of delivering aid to the more than 1000 islands scattered across hundreds of kilometers of ocean.

For those who survived the tsunami's force,disease is now the No.1 problem.Five million people are short of water,food and basic sanitation across the region.World Health Organization(WHO) crisis chief David Navarro said 50 000 more people could die from disease and other causes,as has been the case in previous humanitarian emergencies.

WHO said it had already received a handful of reports of malaria(疟疾) and dengue fever(登革热) and hundreds of reports of diarrhea(腹泻) and infected wounds.It said millions of water purification tablets had been sent to Asia,along with sanitation engineers to rebuild water sanitation infrastructure.

Psychologists are warning that mental health problems caused by the tsunami could prove harder to resolve than the physical damage.

Some survivors say they are plagued by recurring nightmares about walls of water.Many locals are afraid to return to beachside homes.Officials also warn that suicide rates could rise dramatically as parents struggle with guilt at losing children.

Psychologists estimate that 20 to 30 per cent of people who face traumatic events eventually develop symptoms,such as alcohol abuse,lack of concentration at work and an inability to develop close relationships.

Although the Thai Government has offered to build temporary beachside housing,many refugee families are refusing to come down from the hills.Others are afraid to go back to jobs on the sea.

Over 150 000 people were killed by the tsunami,but hundreds and thousands more have been left with no means to earn a living.

In the village of Akirapettai in India,all that is left is the twisted wreckage of the fishing fleet.Dakshina Murti,a fisherman,not only lost three family members,but also lost his boats,his nets,everything.

“Everything's gone,”he says.With no government aid so far,all he has is a wreck.There are several million people who suffered the same experience.Homes have been destroyed,as well as wharves,docks,and sheds.

For now,rebuilding the economy remains a distant concept.

This passage is mainly about _________that happened around the Indian Oceans.

A.the causes of the tsunami                               B.the result after the tsunami

C.the sign of the tsunami                                   D.the warning of the tsunami

According to what the United Nations has said,the number of survivors in need of food aid after the disaster _________.

A.is not more than 5 million                              B.is less than 5 million

C.has reached 5 million                                     D.won't reach 5 million

From the passage we learn that _________ is the most serious problem for the time being.

A.disease                             B.food                  C.water                 D.house

The passage tells us that such a disaster,as tsunami will cause diseases and _________ as well.

A.Dengue fever             B.diarrhea                    C.Malaria              D.mental health problem

What causes traffic jams? Too many cars, right? No! Some Brits are now saying that traffic lights are to blame for much of the congestion (拥塞). They suggest that traffic lights be removed at busy crossroads.

      The Conservatives suggest that white lines, signs and traffic lights be removed from Britain's high streets. They believe people are a better judge of when it's safe to go, not a traffic light programmed by an absent regulator(调整器).

      A report from the Institute of Economic Affairs argues that abolishing traffic signals would decrease congestion, reduce exhaust emissions (尾气排放) and improve safety.

      The report said that removing lights should also prevent other bad behavior caused by signals, such as speeding up to catch a green light or rushing to avoid red lights. It would also avoid the wasted time when drivers have to sit at a red light even if no one is using the green.

     The idea may sound strange, but it's not new. Seven cities in Europe are experimenting with no-lights roads.

     Drachten in the Netherlands has got rid of 16 of its traffic light crossings and changed the other two to roundabouts under a "shared space" project. At crossings, cyclists dutifully raise their arm when they want to make a turn, and drivers follow a first-arrival, first-through approach and communicate by hand signs, nods and waving.

     The result? Typical journey time has been cut in half, and accidents and congestion have mostly disappeared. It works well because it's dangerous. The driver has to be responsible for his or her own risk.

     "I am used to it now," said Speanstra, a citizen of Drachtan, "You drive more slowly and carefully, but somehow you seem to get around town quicker. "

     Owen Paterson, UK's Shadow Transport Minister, visited Drachten. He said Britain should learn from the model. "The idea is to create space where there is mild anxiety among everyone so they all behave cautiously. No one thunders along at 30mph on a high street thinking that they have priority(优先权)."

     The model is being tested in London's Kensington neighborhood.

1. Why do some people suggest removing traffic lights from Britain's high streets?

   A. There are too many cars in the street waiting for the green light.

   B. Traffic lights are programmed by absent regulators, not by human beings.

   C. Exhaust emissions go beyond the normal limit, which leads to safety problem.

   D. People are a better judge of when it's safe to go than a programmed signal

2. What effect is not mentioned in this passage by abolishing traffic signals?

   A. Congestion to be decreased.                 B. Less traffic to be seen on the street.

   C. Traffic Safety to be improved                       D. Exhaust emissions to be reduced.

3. "First-arrival, first-through" in this passage means that ________.

    A. the first to cross the crossroad is to be in charge of the traffic

    B. the first to come to a crossroad should let the cyclists go first

    C. the first to come to a crossroad has the priority to go through first

    D. cyclists would dutifully take turns to direct the drivers to pass when necessary

4. From what Helena Speanstra said, we can see ________.

    A. the "shared space" project in Draehten works quite well

    B. driving in the streets of Draehten is very dangerous

    C. if you want to get around town quicker, you must drive more slowly

    D. getting used to the traffic without traffic lights seems a little bit difficult

5. According to Owen, what works efficiently to make drivers drive carefully?

   A. Learning from the model of Drachten.

   B. Persuading all drivers to worry about traffic accidents.

   C. Everyone having the idea of being cautious when driving.

   D. Limiting the speed of driving under 30mph on a high street.

When I was looking at my railway timetable, I read with satisfaction that there was an express train (快车) to Westhaven. It went to the station in my hometown and the journey lasted only an hour and 17 minutes. When I got on the train, I couldn’t help noticing that a lot of villagers got on as well. At that time I was not surprised at all. I thought that there might be many people besides myself who wished to take the express train to save time. Neither was I surprised when the train stopped at Wildly, a small station a few miles along the line. Even an express train can be delayed sometimes. But when the train stopped station after station, I began to wonder. It suddenly struck me that this express was not running down the line at 90 miles an hour, but no more than 30. One hour and 17 minutes passed and we had not covered half the distance. I asked a passenger if this was Westhaven Express, but he said he had not even heard of it. Two hours later, I was talking angrily to the station master at Westhaven. When he said there was not such an express train, I asked for his copy of the timetable. There was a sign of victory in my voice when I told him that it was there in black and white. Looking at the timetable, he told me to look careful. At the bottom of the page it said, “This service has been stopped.”

1.The passage mainly tells us about ______.

   A. the writer’s unhappy journey on a train

   B. a mistake in the railway timetable

   C. a careless mistake made by the writer

   D. the reason why the train was delayed

2.An express train should travel at the speed of ______.

   A. more than 40 miles an hour

   B. no more than 40 miles an hour

   C. 90 miles an hour

   D. less than 90 miles an hour

3.Which of the following is true according to the story?

   A. The writer got a wrong timetable.

   B. The writer had wanted to take an express train.

   C. The villagers got on an express train to save time.

   D. None of the passengers had heard of Westhaven Express

4.The writer didn’t realize he was on the wrong train until ______.

   A. he saw a lot of villagers getting on the train

   B. the train stopped at a small station

   C. he found the train was delayed

   D. an hour passed after he got on the train

5.What was the writer’s mistake?

   A. He didn’t notice the words at the bottom of the timetable.

   B. He didn’t know that Westhaven Express was not in the timetable at all.

   C. He got on a train which didn’t go to Westhaven.

   D. The express train changed it speed.

I am one of those people who are terrible at saying no. I take on too many projects at once, and spend too much of my time doing things I’d rather not be doing. I get stuff done, but it’s not always the best I can do, or the best way I could spend my time.
That’s why my newest goal, both as a professional and a person, is to be a quitter.
Being a quitter isn’t being someone who gives up, who doesn’t see important things through to the end. I desire to be the opposite of that. The quitter I want to be is someone who gets out when there’s no value in what he’s doing, or when that value comes at the expense of something more important.
We get involved in something, realize we don’t want to be a part of it, but keep on going. We say “Well, I’ve already invested so much time in this, I might as well stick it out.” A friend of mine once told me, “I knew I was an adult when I could stop reading a book, even after getting 500 pages into it.” Odd though it sounds, we all tend to do this.
I propose the opposite: quit as often as possible, regardless of project status or time invested. If you’re reading a book, and don’t like it, stop reading. Cut your losses, realize that the smartest thing to do is stop before your losses grow even more, and quit. Instead of reading an entire book you hate, read half of a bad one and half of a good one. Isn’t that a better use of your time?
Step back for a second. Let’s learn how to say “no” at the beginning, or in the middle, and free up more of our time to do the things we’d like to be doing, and the things actually worth doing.
Saying no is hard, and admitting a mistaken yes is even harder. But if we do both, we’ll start to make sure that we’re spending our time creating value, rather than increasing our losses. Let’s be quitters together.
【小题1】The author wants to be a quitter, because he/she        .

Ben and his wife Susan were on their way to have dinner with their friends. It was a dark，windy night, and they did not know the way very well. They drove through a town until they found what they thought was the road to Dorling，where their friends lived. But it soon became clear that they were not on the road to Dorling at all. The road that they were on was getting narrower，and there were no other cars on it. The wind was blowing harder with every minute that passed.

They came to a small village .They drove past a church and then two houses without lights on. There was nobody about to tell them where they were，or where the road went. Just then，Ben saw a telephone box，twenty meters or so further on. While he walked back along the road to see if there was a name outside the church，Susan telephoned their friends and told them that they were still on their way.

Their friends were just saying that the dinner was already getting rather cold，when Ben came back to the telephone box，his head down against the wind. He said that there was a tree lying across the road，and that the telephone lines were down. Susan heard nothing more from their friends about the dinner.

1.Some time later Ben and Susan found they took a wrong road because ________.

A．their friends lived nearer than they drove

B．the road was getting narrower and their car alone was on it

C．the hard wind made them get lost

D．the road was not the same as before

2.Ben went to the church to see if there was a name outside because ________.

A．he was sure to find some people who knew Dorling

B．he hoped to get help from there

C．he wanted to telephone his friends where they were

D．he wanted to stay there for the night

3.Susan could hear nothing more from their friends because ________.

A．the telephone lines were broken by a tree

B．the strong wind made too much noise

C．they got angry

D．they had all left

4.From the passage we know ________.

A．Ben and his wife often went out for dinners

B．Ben and his wife lived in the country

C．both Ben and his wife were short­sighted(近视的)

D．Ben and his wife seldom(很少) went to Dorling