The new automobile fuel economy standards formally adopted by the Obama administration on Thursday will produce a series of benefits: reduced dependence on foreign oil, fewer greenhouse gas emissions(排放), and consumer savings at the pump.

This was truly a moment to celebrate. But it was tempered by the fact that some in Congress are trying to cancel the laws that made the new standards possible.

The standards will require automakers to build passenger cars, sport-utility vehicles and minivans that average 35.5 miles per gallon by 2016 — a 30 percent increase over today’s cars, and the biggest single jump in fuel economy since the original standards were adopted in the 1970s. Cars will cost more, but the government estimates that consumers will save an average of $3,000 in fuel over the life of a new vehicle.

The standards will also place the first-ever limits on automobile greenhouse gas emissions, and are expected to reduce emissions by 21 percent by 2030 compared with what the output would have been without the standards. Because emissions from passenger vehicles represent about one-fifth of America’s greenhouse gases, this is a step forward for the planet.

The automakers, who fought the rules until they went broke（破产）, have come to accept this as a step forward as well. A single national standard provides regulatory certainty, and they’ve got to get more efficient to survive.

However, some in Congress seemed determined to roll back the laws that got us here. Senator Lisa Murkowski, a Republican from Alaska, and several other senators have added a challenge to the federal government’s authority to regulate greenhouse gases under the Clean Air Act — not just from automobiles but from other sources. The Supreme Court gave the Environmental Protection Agency that authority three years ago, and the new emissions standards would have been impossible without it.

There has also been talk in the Senate of eliminating California’s special authority under the Clean Air Act to set more aggressive motor vehicle standards than the federal limits. California used that authority to pass a law in 2002 setting greenhouse gas emissions limits for cars sold there. It was the first law of its kind in this country, and it provided the drive and the foundation for the new nationwide standards.

What all of these opponents mean to do is to roll back history and the hard-won environmental protections it has produced. That would be a huge mistake.

66. The following are the benefits of the new automobile economy standards EXCEPT ________.

A. reduced dependence on foreign oil

B. cancelling some of the laws

C. fewer greenhouse gas emissions

D. consumer savings at the pump

67. What goal is set for the year 2016?

A. Cars will cost more so fewer people will buy them.

B. There is a 30 percent increase in car manufacturing.

C. An average vehicle can go 35.5 miles with one gallon of gas.

D. Consumers will save an average of $3,000 in fuel per car.

68. The underlined word “it” in paragraph six refers to ________.

A. The Clean Air Act

B. The Supreme Court

C. The Environment Protection Agency

D. The federal government’s authority

69. What seems to be the root of the new automobile fuel economy standards?

A. California’s motor vehicle standards.

B. The Environment Protection Agency.

C. Some Senators, like Lisa Murkowski.

D. Greenhouse gas emissions.

70. According to the writer, the new automobile fuel economy standards will probably lead to the result that ________.

A. everyone wins

B. more cars will be sold

C. it would be a big mistake

D. nobody agrees

B
Scientists have devised a way to determine roughly where a person has lived using a strand (缕) of hair, a technique that could help track the movements of criminal suspects or unidentified murder victims.
The method relies on measuring how chemical variations in drinking water show up in people’s hair.
“You’re what you eat and drink, and that’s recorded in your hair,” said Thure Ceiling, a geologist at the University of Utah.
While U.S. diet is relatively identical, water supplies vary. The differences result from weather patterns. The chemical composition of rainfall changes slightly as rain clouds move.
Most hydrogen and oxygen atoms in water are stable, but traces of both elements are also present as heavier isotopes (同位素). The heaviest rain falls first. As a result, storms that form over the Pacific deliver heavier water to California than to Utah.
Similar patterns exist throughout the U.S. By measuring the proportion of heavier hydrogen and oxygen isotopes along a strand of hair, scientists can construct a geographic timeline. Each inch of hair corresponds to about two months.
Cerling’s team collected tap water samples from 600 cities and constructed a map of the regional differences. They checked the accuracy of the map by testing 200 hair samples collected from 65 barber shops.
They were able to accurately place the hair samples in broad regions roughly corresponding to the movement of rain systems.
“It’s not good for pinpointing (精确定位),” Ceding said. “It’s good for eliminating many possibilities.”
Todd Park, a local detective, said the method has helped him learn more about an unidentified woman whose skeleton was found near Great Salt Lake.
The woman was 5 feet tall. Police recovered 26 bones, a T-shirt and several strands of hair.
When Park heard about the research, he gave the hair samples to the researchers. Chemical testing showed that over the two years before her death, she moved about every two months.
She stayed in the Northwest, although the test could not be more specific than somewhere between eastern Oregon and western Wyoming.
“It’s still a substantial area,” Park said. “But it narrows it way down for me.”
61. According to the passage scientists’ new discovery is that          .
A. One’s hair growth has to do with the amount of water they drink.
B. A person’s hair may reveal where they have lived.
C. Hair analysis accurately identifies criminal suspects.
D. The chemical composition of hair varies from person to person.
62. The underlined sentence “You’re what you eat and drink” (Line 1, Para. 3) means        .
A. Food and drink affect one’s personality development.
B. Food and drink preferences vary with individuals.
C. Food and drink leave traces in one’s body tissues.
D. Food and drink are indispensable to one’s existence.
63. Which of the following is true of the rainfall in America’s West?
A. There is much more rainfall in California than in Utah.
B. The water it delivers becomes lighter when it moves inland.
C. Its chemical composition is less stable than in other areas.
D. It gathers more light isotopes as it moves eastward.
64. Cerling’s team produced__________in their research?
A. a map showing the regional differences of tap water
B. a collection of hair samples from various barber shops
C. a method to measure the amount of water in human hair
D. a chart illustrating the movement of the rain system
65. What is the practical value of Cerling’s research?
A. It helps analyze the quality of water in different regions.
B. It helps the police determine where a crime is committed.
C. It helps the police narrow down possibilities in detective work.
D. It helps identify the drinking habits of the person under investigation.

Having long been underrated(低估) and ignored, the penny is one of America's most enduring failures. But a recent proposal to ban the penny by some US congress members seeks to put the coin to sleep — permanently.

Representative Jim Kolbe from Arizona is the man who proposed the bill to stamp out penny. He says the coin has outlived its usefulness. With metal prices soaring, Kolbe says it costs 1.23 cents to produce a penny. Producing the coins will amount to a $20 million waste each year.

It is not simply about the cost of production. Centuries of inflation have made the penny—first put into circulation in 1787—close to worthless.

Many Americans don’t even view pennies as currency any more. They take them only reluctantly in change and then put them in jars or desk drawers at home. An estimated $10.5 billion in pennies, or $93.75 per household, sits idle in piggy banks and behind sofas.

Anti-penny advocates argue that 1-cent coins cost US companies more than $300 million a year in lost productivity. This comes mostly from the time and effort spent counting and putting pennies into paper rolls for bank deposits.

Jim Kolbe suggests that all cash transactions be rounded to the nearest nickel. For example, items that cost 11 or 12 cents would be rounded down to 10, 13- and 14-cent items would be rounded up to 15. People paying by credit or bank card, however, would likely continue to pay exact amounts.

But plenty of Americans oppose the ban. Some say eliminating the penny would cause significant hardship to a wide range of people.

US economist Raymond Lombra says that moving to the 5-cent nickel would cost consumers $ 3 billion over five years. The poor suffer more since they tend to buy with cash instead of credit cards.

Penny supporters point out that the penny is the only coin carrying the image of America’s much respected president Abraham Lincoln. Some major charities are also alarmed by talk of a penny ban. They often base fund-raising campaigns on donations of pennies and other coins. One such campaign is called “Pennies for Patients”. They have raised more than $68 million through coin collections since 1994.

A recent US Today poll found that 55 percent of adults want to keep the penny. They may not value pennies as currency like before, but they remain attached to them as an old, familiar friend.

“The penny has been a necessary part of the American experience---whose childhood would be complete without penny candy and other small purchases?” read a post supporting the penny on a forum.

It shapes US superstitions. “Find a penny, pick it up, and all day you will have good luck.” “A penny saved is a penny earned.” And little girls are sometimes called “as pretty as a penny”.

Title: Ban    1   Or Not?

   2  :

They have long been underrated and ignored.

Reasons for the ban:

● The coin has outlived its usefulness.

●    3   to produce coins are rising fast.

● Centuries of inflation have made the penny close to worthless.

● Large amount of    4   is wasted counting and putting pennies into paper rolls for

bank deposits.

   5  :

● All cash transactions are rounded to    6  .

● People paying by credit or bank card would continue to pay exact amounts.

Reasons against the ban:   

● Eliminating the penny would cause significant hardship to a wide range of people.

● Rounding to the 5-cent nickel would cost consumers $3 billion over five years.

● The penny is the only coin carrying the image of America’s much respected president___7  .

●    8   base fund-raising campaigns on donations of pennies and other coins.

● 55 percent of adults regard it as a necessary part of    9  .

● The penny shapes    10  .

Passage four(preface)

  Science is a dominant theme in our culture. Since it touches almost every facet of our life, educated people need at least some acquaintance with its structure and operation. They should also have an understanding of the subculture in which scientists live and the kinds of people they are. An understanding of general characteristics of science as well as specific scientific concepts is easier to attain if one knows something about the things that excite and frustrate the scientist.

  This book is written for the intelligent student or lay person whose acquaintance with science is superficial; for the person who has been presented with science as a musty storehouse of dried facts; for the person who sees the chief objective of science as the production of gadgets; and for the person who views the scientists as some sort of magician. The book can be used to supplement a course in any science, to accompany any course that attempts to give an understanding of the modern world, or – independently of any course – simply to provide a better understanding of science. We hope this book will lead readers to a broader perspective on scientific attitudes and a more realistic view of what science is, who scientists are, and what they do. It will give them an awareness and understanding of the relationship between science and our culture and an appreciation of the roles science may play in our culture. In addition, readers may learn to appreciate the relationship between scientific views and some of the values and philosophies that are pervasive in our culture.

  We have tried to present in this book an accurate and up-to-date picture of the scientific community and the people who populate it. That population has in recent years come to comprise more and more women. This increasing role of women in the scientific subculture is not an unique incident but, rather, part of the trend evident in all segments of society as more women enter traditionally male-dominated fields and make significant contributions. In discussing these changes and contribution, however, we are faced with a language that is implicitly sexist, one that uses male nouns or pronouns in referring to unspecified individuals. To offset this built-in bias, we have adopted the policy of using plural nouns and pronouns whenever possible and, when absolutely necessary, alternating he and she. This policy is far form being ideal, but it is at least an acknowledgment of the inadequacy of our language in treating half of the human race equally.

  We have also tried to make the book entertaining as well as informative. Our approach is usually informal. We feel, as do many other scientists, that we shouldn’t take ourselves too seriously. As the reader may observe, we see science as a delightful pastime rather than as a grim and dreary way to earn a living.

1.According to the passage, ‘scientific subculture’ means

A.cultural groups that are formed by scientists.

B.people whose knowledge of science is very limited.

C.the scientific community.

D.people who make good contribution to science.

2.We need to know something about the structure and operation of science because

A.it is not easy to understand the things that excite and frustrate scientists.

B.Science affects almost every aspect of our life.

C.Scientists live in a specific subculture.

D.It is easier to understand general characteristics of science.

3.The book mentioned in this passage is written for readers who

A.are intelligent college students and lay person who do not know much about science.

B.are good at producing various gadgets.

C.work in a storehouse of dried facts.

D.want to have a superficial understanding of science.

4.According to this passage,

A.English is a sexist language.

B.only in the scientific world is the role of women increasing rapidly.

C.women are making significant contributions to eliminating the inadequacy of our language.

D.male nouns or pronouns should not be used to refer to scientists.

5.This passage most probably is

A.a book review.

B.the preface of a book.

C.the postscript of a book.

D.the concluding part of a book.

That predatory population increase to control other animals has long been known. Many years ago, the Hudson’s Bay Company records revealed that the fox population went up and down about a year after rabbit population had gone up and down.

Sometimes a situation occurs in which the predatory population is reduced to a level below which nature can readily replace. On Valcour Island in Lake Champlain, a costly campaign resulted in the elimination（消除）of predatory animals only to have birds and small animals increase for four years afterward. Then, lacking predator control, nature resorted to disease to cut down these populations.

Jamaica had an example of nature’s persistence in providing animals for existing habits. Sugar planters, about 75 years ago, imported mongooses（狐猴）to control rats. The mongooses killed off the rats, kids, puppies, and wildlife. Eventually, food became scarce and the mongoose’s population declines.

1. The fact that the number of predators has much to do with that of other animals 　　  .

A. is not recent knowledge　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    B.has just been learned

C.hasn’t been proved yet　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D.is not important now

2. When predator control fails, nature brings animal population into balance by       .

A. eliminating the number of predators

B.seeking the help of disease to reduce other animals

C.increasing the number of other animals

D.replacing the number of predators immediately

3. When the mongooses killed off the rats they 　　  .

A. became problems themselves　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.ate the sugar crop

C.attacked humans　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   D.had nothing to eat

4. It is implied in this passage that 　　  .

A. sugar planter imported mongooses to control rats

B.man should never kill animals

C.man has complete control over nature

D.to upset the balance of nature can be troublesome