Passage seven(Stricter Traffic Law can Prevent Accidents)

  From the health point of view we are living in a marvelous age. We are immunized from birth against many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once fatal illnesses can now be cured by modern drugs and surgery. It is almost certain that one day remedies will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased enormously. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the incredible slaughter of men, women and children on the roads. Man versus the motor-car ! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousands of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen.

  It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel, his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind a steering-wheel. They swear, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-years-olds and utterly selfish. All their hidden frustrations, disappointments and jealousies seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving.

  The surprising thing is that society smiles so benignly on the motorist and seems to condone his behaviour. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy tragic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is desecrated by road networks; and the mass annual slaughter becomes nothing more than a statistic, to be conveniently forgotten.

  It is high time a world code were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are notoriously lax and even the strictest are not strict enough. A code which was universally accepted could only have a dramatically beneficial effect on the accident rate. Here are a few examples of some the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through stringent annual tests for safety. Even the smallest amount of alcohol in the blood can impair a person’s driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws (where they exist) should be mad much stricter. Maximum and minimum speed limits should be imposed on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for manufacturers, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may sound inordinately harsh. But surely nothing should be considered as to severe if tit results in reducing the annual toll of human life. After all, the world is for human beings, not motor-cars.

1.The main idea of this passage is

A.Traffic accidents are mainly caused by motorists.

B.Thousands of people the world over are killed each year.

C.The laws of some countries about driving are too lax.

D.Only stricter traffic laws can prevent accidents.

2.What does the author think of society toward motorists?

A.Society smiles on the motorists.

B.Huge car parks are built in the cities and towns.

C.Victims of accidents are nothing.

D.Society condones their rude driving.

3.Why does the author say:’ his car becomes the extension of his personality?’

A.Driving can show his real self.

B.Driving can show the other part of his personality.

C.Driving can bring out his character.

D.His car embodies his temper.

4.Which of the followings is NOT mentioned as a way against traffic accidents?

A.Build more highways.

B.Stricter driving tests.

C.Test drivers every three years.

D.raise age limit and lay down safety specifications.

5.The attitude of the author is

A.ironical        B.critical     C.appealing      D.militant

  Things similar continuously happened in Haiti and Chile．Thousands of people were

buried in the earthquake and lost their fives．What if we could have warned them? People are always trying hard to find a way of preventing building collapsing(坍塌)．Better materials and technology help，but are not a solution．Just like humans，a building has its own life circle from  “birth” to “death”．If we know when a building is going to collapse，we can repair it in advance or get out before it falls．

    Now, scientists at the University of Illinois have developed a material that turns red before it breaks．The invention could be used in things like climbing ropes，or bridge supports．The secret behind the color-changing material is a type of molecule(分子)．A molecule is a group of atoms held together by chemical bonds(化学键)．Imagine you and your friends standing in a circle，holding hands．Each person stands for one atom，your hands represent the bonds，and the entire circle represents a molecule．If one person lets go of his or her hands，the molecule changes color．The research team put the molecule into a soft material．When the researchers stretched(拉长) the material：it turned bright red a few seconds before it broke into two pieces．

When they repeatedly stretched and relaxed the material，without breaking it，it only turned a little red．

The major problem is，light can get rid of the red color．When the team shone a bright light on the molecule，the broken bond was fixed，and the color disappeared．If bright fight keeps the red color from appearing，the material’s warning system will be useless．Scientists still have a lot of work to do before the color-changing molecule can be used outside the lab．

1. The passage mainly about

A. a way of preventing building from breaking down

B. a series of earthquakes in Haiti and Chile

C. a way of warning before buildings collapse

D. a newly-discovered structure of a molecule

2.According to the passage，we can conclude that

A．there are problems to solve before putting the new material to use

B．scientists have found the life circle of buildings from “birth” to “death”

C．bright fight makes the red color visible to human eyes[来源:Z&xx&k.Com]

D．the new material is unlikely to be used in building bridges

3.The color-changing molecule can

A．make building materials much stronger[来源:Zxxk.Com]

B．help building materials get stretched if necessary

C．prevent the earthquake from killing people

D．remind people to leave buildings before they fall

4.The warning system is based on the fact that

A．red color won’t show up when it meets bright fight

B．a material with a certain type of molecule Can turn red when stretched etched

C．a building has its own life circle of “birth” to “death”

D．the broken bond will fix itself when a molecule meets bright fight

Playing with toy blocks (积木) may lead to improved language development in young children, a new study reported.
Early childhood is an important period in the development of young minds. The newborn brain grows three times in size between birth and age 2. Scientists have said that certain activities during this important period may promote (促进) healthy development while others may hold it back, and development of memory and language may especially be helped by imaginative play.
After six months, language scores among half of the 175 children aged 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 who were sent plastic blocks were 15 percent higher than a matched group that did not receive the free blocks, according to the study by researchers at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Parents were given ideas about how to help their children play with the blocks, then were told to keep diaries of their children’s activities over four days. Finally, all the parents filled out questionnaires that judged their children’s vocabulary, grammar, and other language abilities. Study author Dimitri Christakis said unstructured play with blocks motivated children’s thinking, memory and physical skills at a time when a child’s brain is growing rapidly. “They are the foundation of thought and language,” he wrote of the skills learned from building blocks. “Older children begin to make up stories for these objects .”
Such play may also take the place of less helpful activities such as watching TV, he said, adding parents ought to have doubts about some toy-makers’ words. “An increasing number of media-based products are making ungrounded (无根据的) claims that they can make children smarter, more literate, and more musical,” Christakis said.
【小题1】What can we learn from the second paragraph?

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

My job was to make classroom observations and encourage a training program that would enable students to feel good about themselves and take charge of their lives. Donna was one of the volunteer teachers who participated in this    36   .

One day, I entered Donna’s classroom, took a seat in the back of the room and    37   . All the students were working    38    a task. The student next to me was filling her page with “I Can’ts.” “I can’t kick the soccer ball.” “I can’t get Debbie to like me.” Her page was half full and she showed no    39    of stopping. I walked down the row and found    40    was writing sentences, describing things they couldn’t do.

       By this time the activity aroused my    41   , so I decided to check with the teacher to see what was going on    42    I noticed she too was busy writing. “I can’t get John’s mother to come for a parents’ meeting.” …… I felt it best not to    43   .

       After another ten minutes, the students were    44    to fold the papers in half and bring them to the front. They placed their “I Can’t” statements into an empty shoe box. Then Donna

   45    hers. She put the lid on the box, tucked it under her arm and headed out the door.         Students followed the teacher. I followed the students. Halfway down the hallway Donna got a shovel from the tool house, and then marched the students to the farthest corner of the playground. There they began to    46   . The box of “I Can’ts” was placed at the    47    of the hole and then quickly covered with dirt. At this point Donna announced, “Boys and girls, please join hands and    48    your heads.” They quickly formed a circle around the grave.

       Donna delivered the eulogy (悼词). “Friends, we gathered here today to    49    the memory of ‘I Can’t.’ He is    50    by his brothers and sisters ‘I Can’ and ‘I Will’. May ‘I Can’t’ rest in    51   . Amen!”

       She turned the students    52    and marched them back into the classroom. They celebrated the    53    of “I Can’t”. Donna cut a large tombstone from paper. She wrote the words “I Can’t” at the top and the date at the bottom, then hung it in the classroom. On those rare occasions when a student    54    and said, “I Can’t,” Donna    55    pointed to the paper tombstone. The student then remembered that “I Can’t” was dead and chose other statement.

A. job                        B. project                            C. observation               D. course

A. checked                        B. noticed                     C. watched            D. waited

A. on                                B. with                         C. as                            D. for

A. scenes                          B. senses                      C. marks                      D. signs

A. nobody                         B. somebody                 C. everyone           D.anyone

A. curiosity                B. suspect                     C. sympathy                 D. worry

A. and                       B. or                            C. but                          D. so

A. insert                           B. interrupt                   C. talk                   D. request

A. taught                          B. shown                      C. forced               D. instructed

A. added                         B. wrote                       C. made                D. folded

A. cry                             B. pray                         C. dig                          D. play

A. back                           B. bottom                     C. top                          D. edge

A. drop                           B. raise                        C. fall                          D. lift

A. keep                           B. thank                       C. forgive              D. honor

A. remembered                B. punished                  C. removed            D. replaced

A. silence                        B. heart                        C. peace                D. memory

A. down                          B. up                           C. off                    D. around      

A. birth                           B. passing                     C. loss                   D. starting

A. awoke                        B. reminded                  C. forgot        D. apologized

A. simply                        B. hardly                      C. seriously           D. angrily