阅读理解

The Pentagon

五角大楼

    美国号称世界头号军事大国，其武力干涉几乎渗透到全球，有人开玩笑说：“只要五角大楼打个喷嚏，整个地球都会震动。”五角大楼是什么? 让我们揭开它神秘的面纱，好好地认识一下这座建筑的运作职能吧。

    The Pentagon，or the headquarters of the US Department of Defense，is one of the largest office buildings in the world，taking up a total land of 583 acres．The five-sided structure itself occupies an area of 29 acres．Each of its five outside wails is 921 feet long．It has three times the floor space as the Empire State Building or half again as much space as either of the New York's World Trade Center towers．

    Working inside this huge building are over 25 000 employees，one half of them being civilians and the other half members of the U．S． armed forces．During the last year of the Second World War there were 37 000 people，both military and civilian，working inside the Pentagon．In the Korean and Vietnam War periods，31 000．The employees are scattered among hundreds of offices that occupy a floor space of 3705793 square feet．

While inside the building they tell time by 4 200 clocks，drink from 685 water fountains，utilize 280 rest rooms，consume 30 000 cups of coffee，6 000 tins of milk and 5 000 bottles of soft drinks of various kinds every day，with a total staff of 600 persons preparing and serving food and drinks to the Pentagon employees，daily．

    Notes

    Pentagon n．五边形；五角大楼　　  civilian n．平民

    military n．军人　　　　　　　　  scatter v．分散

    utilize v．利用；应用　　　　　　 consume v．消耗

    Comprehension question

The building is called “the Pentagon ”because________．

A．it is the largest building in the world

B．it lies in the U．S．A．

C．it has five sides

  D．it is a secret place

Ambassador Hotel：

Welcome to the Ambassador Hotel. To make your stay as enjoyable as possible, we hope you will use our facilities to the full.

Dining Room

Breakfast is served in the dining mom from 8 a. m. to 9: 30 a.m. Alternatively, the room staff will bring a breakfast tray to your room at any time after 7 a.m. In this case, please fill out a card and hang it outside your door when you go to bed.

Lunch: 12:00a.m. to2:30p.m.

Dinner: 7:30 p. m. to 9:00 p.m.

Room Service

This operates 24 hours a day; phone the Reception Desk(前台), and your message will be passed on to the room staff.

Telephones

To make a phone call, dial 0 for Reception and ask to be connected. We apologize for delays in putting calls through when the staffs are very busy. There are also public telephone booths near the Reception Desk. Early calls should be booked with Reception.

Laundry

We have a laundry in the hotel, and will wash iron and return your clothes within 24 hours. Ask the room staff to collect them.

Bar

The hotel bar is open from 12 a.m. to 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. to 1 a.m.

1.You would see this notice _________ .

A. in a hotel bar

B. in a hotel dining room[来源:学.科.网Z.X.X.K]

C. in a bedroom of a large international hotel

D. at the entrance of a small family hotel 

2. What should you do if you have arrived to stay at the hotel at 2 a.m. and want something to eat?

A. Go to the hotel shop.　　                B. Go to the hotel bar.

C. Hang a message outside your door.　　    D. Phone the Reception Desk.   

3. What should you do when you come back to the hotel to make an important call and see a lot of people around the Reception desk?

A. Go to your room and phone from there.

B. Ask at the Reception Desk.

C. Use one of the telephones in the entrance hall.

D. Go out again and look for a public phone box

4.What do you think a room staff’s last job is before he goes off duty at 6 p.m.?

A. Lay the tables in the dining room.

B. Check the bedroom doors.

C. Start preparing the breakfast.

D. Wake any of the guests who have asked for early calls.

As a physician who travels quite a lot, I spend a lot of time on planes listening for that dreaded “Is there a doctor on board?” announcement. I’ve been   16  only once — for a woman who had merely fainted. But the   17  made me quite curious about how   18  this kind of thing happens. I wondered what I would do if   19  with a real midair medical emergency — without access   20  a hospital staff and the usual emergency equipment. So   21  the New England Journal of Medicine last week   22  a study about in-flight medical events, I read it   23  interest.
　　The study estimated that there are a(n)   24  of 30 in-flight medical emergencies on U.S. flights every day. Most of them are not   25 ; fainting and dizziness are the most frequent complaints.  26  13% of them — roughly four a day — are serious enough to   27  a pilot to change course. The most common of the serious emergencies   28  heart trouble, strokes, and difficulty breathing.
　　Let’s face it: plane rides are   29 . For starters, cabin pressures at high altitudes are set at roughly      30  they would be if you lived at 5,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level. Most people can tolerate these pressures pretty   31 , but passengers with heart disease   32  experience chest pains as a result of the reduced amount of oxygen flowing through their blood.   33  common in-flight problem is deep venous thrombosis — the so-called economy class syndrome (综合症).   34  happens, don’t panic. Things are getting better on the in-flight-emergency front. Thanks to more recent legislation (立法), flights with at      35  one attendant are starting to install emergency medical kits to treat heart attacks.

Bum rate is the speed at which a startup business consumes money. My rate would be $ 50,000 a month when my new media company started. So, I began looking around for individuals who would be my first investors. “Angel money” it was called. But when I reviewed my list of acquaintances to find those who might be able to help, I found the number got small.

　　With no other choices, I began meeting with the venture-capital companies. But I was warned they took a huge share of your company for the money they put in. And if you struggled, they could drop you cold.

　　As I was searching for “angel money”, I started to build a team who trusted me even though I didn't have money for paychecks yet.

　　Bill Becker was an expert in computer programming and image processing at a very famous Media Lab at M. I.T. With his arrival, my company suddenly had a major technology “guy” in-house.

　　Katherine Henderson, a filmmaker and a former real-estate dealer, joined us as our director of market research. Steve White came on as operating officer. He had worked for the developer of a home-finance software, Quicken. We grabbed him.

　　We had some really good people, but we still didn't have enough money. One night, my neighbor, Louise Johnson, came for a visit. She and I were only nodding acquaintances, but her boys and ours were constant companions. She ran a very good business at the time.

　　Louise was brilliant and missed nothing. She had been watching my progress closely. She knew I was dying for money and I had prospects but could offer no guarantees of success.

　　She told me that her attorney had talked to mine and the terms had been agreed upon. She handed me an envelope. Inside was a check for $ 500,000.

　　I almost fell down. I heard her voice as if from heaven.

　　“I have confidence in your plan,” she said. “You' 11 do well. You're going to work hard for it, but it' s satisfying when you build your own company.”

　　Who would have thought I'd find an angel so close to home? There were no words sufficient for the moment. We just said good night. She left and I just stood there, completely humbled and completely committed.

1.For a newly-established business, bum rate refers to___________.

A. the salary it pays to its staff　         B. the interest it pays to the bank

C. the way in which it raises capital　  　 D. the speed at which it spends money

2.By "Angel money", the author refers to__________.

A. the money borrowed from banks　  　 B. the money spent to promote sales

C. the money raised from close friends　　 D. the money needed to start a business

3.To get help from a venture-capital company, you may have to__________.

put up with unfair terms　         　B. change your business line

C. enlarge your business scope      　　 D. let them operate your business

4.The author easily built a team for his company because__________.

A. they were underpaid at their previous jobs

B. they were turned down by other companies

C. they were confident of the author and his business

D. they were satisfied with the salaries in his company

5. Louise decided to lend money to the author because__________.

A. she wanted to join his company

B. she knew he would build a team

C. she knew his plan would succeed

D. she wanted to help promote his sales

As a physician who travels quite a lot, I spend a lot of time on planes listening for that dreaded “Is there a doctor on board?” announcement. I’ve been   16  only once — for a woman who had merely fainted. But the   17  made me quite curious about how   18  this kind of thing happens. I wondered what I would do if   19  with a real midair medical emergency — without access   20  a hospital staff and the usual emergency equipment. So   21  the New England Journal of Medicine last week   22  a study about in-flight medical events, I read it   23  interest.

　　The study estimated that there are a(n)   24  of 30 in-flight medical emergencies on U.S. flights every day. Most of them are not   25 ; fainting and dizziness are the most frequent complaints.  26  13% of them — roughly four a day — are serious enough to   27  a pilot to change course. The most common of the serious emergencies   28  heart trouble, strokes, and difficulty breathing.

　　Let’s face it: plane rides are   29 . For starters, cabin pressures at high altitudes are set at roughly      30  they would be if you lived at 5,000 to 8,000 feet above sea level. Most people can tolerate these pressures pretty   31 , but passengers with heart disease   32  experience chest pains as a result of the reduced amount of oxygen flowing through their blood.   33  common in-flight problem is deep venous thrombosis — the so-called economy class syndrome (综合症).   34  happens, don’t panic. Things are getting better on the in-flight-emergency front. Thanks to more recent legislation (立法), flights with at      35  one attendant are starting to install emergency medical kits to treat heart attacks.