The Queen’s English is now sounding less upper-class, a scientific study of the Queen’s Christmas broadcasts has found. Researchers have studied each of her messages to the Commonwealth countries since 1952 to find out the change in her pronunciation from the noble Upper Received to the Standard Received.

Jonathan Harrington, a professor at Germany’s University of Munich, wanted to discover whether accent changes recorded over the past half century would take place within one person. “As far as I know, there just is nobody else for whom there is this sort of broadcast records,” he said.

  He said the noble way of pronouncing vowels (元音) had gradually lost ground as the noble upper-class accent over the past years. “Her accent sounds slightly less noble than it did 50 years ago. But these are very, very small and slow changes that we don’t notice from year to year.”

 “We may be able to relate it to changes in the social classes,” he told The Daily Telegraph, a British newspaper. “In 1952 she would have been heard saying ‘thet men in the bleck het’. Now it would be ‘that man in the black hat’. Similarly, she would have spoken of ‘the citay’ and ‘dutay’, rather than ‘citee’ and ‘dutee’, and ‘hame’ rather than ‘home’. In the 1950s she would have been ‘lorst’, but by the 1970s ‘lost’.”

The Queen’s broadcast is a personal message to the Commonwealth countries. Each  Christmas, the 10-minute broadcast is put on TV at 3 pm in Britain as many families are recovering from their traditional turkey lunch (传统火鸡午餐).

    The results were published (发表) in the Journal of Phonetics.

What is the text mainly about?

A. The relationship between accents and social classes.

B. The Queen’s Christmas speeches on TV.

C. The changes in a person’s accent.

D. The recent development of the English language.

The Queen’s broadcasts were chosen for the study mainly because ______.

A. she has been Queen for many years

B. she has a less upper-class accent now

C. her speeches are familiar to many people

D. her speeches have been recorded for 50 years

Which of the following is an example of a less noble accent in English?

A. “dutay”　　　　　B. “citee”　　　　　      C. “hame”　　　　　D. “lorst”

We may infer from the text that the Journal of Phonetics is a magazine on ______.

A. speech sounds         　　　　　　  B. Christmas customs

C. TV broadcasting       　　　　　      D. personal messages

We often hear the phrase:“You’ve a greater chance of being struck by lightning.” It is used to describe something that hasn’t got much chance of happening. However, the common saying undermines(掩盖) the very real dangers of lightning. Last Friday, at least 5 people were killed by lightning in Nepal. Lightning strikes are the second most common cause of deaths during natural disasters in the US. The first is floods. Around 400 people nationwide are struck by lightning each year, and of those73 people die. That means more people are killed by lightning than by tornadoes and hurricanes. Because lightning kills only one or two people at a time, its danger does not receive as much attention as other disasters.

So to raise awareness, the US has made June 22 to 28 National Lightning Safety Week. It aims to warn the public of the dangers of lightning and provide safety tips during thunderstorms. “If you hear thunder , you are in danger from lightning,” said Rocky Lopes, a disaster educator at the American Red Cross.“Thunder means that lightning is close enough to hit you at any minute, so you should move indoors immediately and stay there until after the storm has ended. The single most important thing to remember is to seek hiding place,”Lopes said.

Summer is the high time for lightning storms, so when lightning strikes across the sky, remember these safety tips:

Stop working, fishing, swimming or playing in open fields.

If you can count less than ten seconds between a thunder and a lightning flash, take cover inside the nearest building.

Do not stand under a tree.

Get off bicycles or motorcycles.

Crouch down(蹲下)if there is no hiding place.

Avoid open spaces, wire fences, metal objects and electrical objects such as hair driers.

The popular opinion about being struck by lightening is that 　　　.

A. there is a greater chance for being killed by lightening than any other natural disaster

B. it is the most dangerous among all the natural disasters

C. the chance for a person to be struck by lightening is very small

D. it is impossible for people to be killed by lightening

The average death rate of being struck by lightening in US is about 　　.

A.18%　　　　　　　B.50%　　　　　C.30%　　　　D.73%

Among all the safety tips, the most important one is that when you hear thunder in the open air， 　　　.

A. just stand by your bicycles and motorcycles

B. quickly find a place to go inside

C. count ten seconds between a thunder and a lightening

D. don’t have a hair drier in your hand

According to the passage, which of the following is TRUE?

A. There are more people killed by tornadoes and hurricanes than by lightening in US each year.

B. There are on average 5 persons killed by lightening in Nepal each day.

C. The death rate of being stuck by lightening is much higher than by other natural disasters.

D. The National Lightening Safety Week is made to warn the public against lightening.

This is my third story. When I was 17，I read a quote that 1 something like，“If you live each day 2 it was your last，someday you'll most certainly be right.”Since then，for the past thirty?three years，I've looked 3 the mirror every morning and asked myself：“If today were the last day of my life，would I want to do what I am about to do today？”And whenever the answer has been“No”for too many days in a 4 ，I know I need to change something.

　 About a year ago I was 　5 with cancer. The doctors told me this was almost certainly a type of cancer that is incurable，and that I should 　6 to live no longer than three to six months. They advised me to go home and get my 7 in order，which is doctors' code for“prepare to 8 ”. Later that evening when the doctors 　9 the cells taken from my pancreas(胰腺)under a microscope，they started crying because it turned out to be a very rare form of pancreatic cancer that is 　10 with surgery. I had the surgery and，11 ，I'm fine now.

　 This was the closest I've been to facing death，and I hope it's the closest I get for a few more decades. Death is the 12 we all share. No one has 　13 escaped it. And that is 14 it should be，because death is very likely the single 15 invention of life. It's life's change agent. It clears out the old to make 　16 for the new. Your time is 　17 ，so don't waste it living someone else's life. Don't be trapped by dogma(信条)—which is living with the results of other people's thinking. Don't let the noise of 　18 opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly，have the courage to 　19 your heart and intuition(直觉). They 20 already know what you truly want to become. Everything else is secondary.

（1）A. said　 　　 B. described　 C. went　 　　 D. expressed

（2）A. unless 　　 B. as if　　 　 C. even if 　　 D. as long as

（3）A. in　　 　　　B. at　　　　 C. through 　　 D. On

（4）A. row　 　　 B. minute　　　 C. sense　 　　D. word

（5）A. connected 　B. infected　　 C. affected　 D. diagnosed

（6）A. want　 　　B. dream　　　 C. expect 　　D. imagine

（7）A. duties 　　 B. businesses C. affairs 　　D. life

（8）A. work　 　　B. start　　　 　C. talk　 　　D. die

（9）A. looked 　　B. viewed　　 C. realized 　　D. noticed

（10）A. curable 　　B. possible　 　 C. acceptable D. suitable

（11）A. carefully 　B. thankfully　　 C. anxiously 　D. hopefully

（12）A. possession B. destination　 C. expectation D. position

（13）A. ever　 　　 B. even　　 　 C. never　 　　D. still

（14）A. when　 　 B. while　　 　　C. as　　 　　 D. since

（15）A. better 　　B. worst　　 　　C. worse　 　　D. best

（16）A. use　 　 B. a difference　 C. sense　 　　 D. way

（17）A. endless 　B. repeated　　 C. countless 　　D. limited

（18）A. others' 　 B. others　　　 C. anyone's　 　 D. some others

（19）A. listen 　　B. follow　 　　 C. take　　 　　 D. accept

（20）A. however B.whatever 　C.somehow　 D.Somewhat