We all remember seeing hitchhikers（搭便车的人）, standing by the side of the road, thumb sticking out, waiting for a lift. But it is getting rare nowadays. What killed hitchhiking? Safety is often mentioned as a reason. Movies about murderous hitchhikers and real-life crime have put many drivers off picking up hitchhikers. That no single women picked me up on my journey to Manchester no doubt reflects the safety fear: a large, strangely dressed man is seen as dangerous.

But the reason may be more complex: hitchhiking happens where people don’t have cars and transport services are poor. Plenty of people still hitchhike in Poland and Romania. Perhaps the rising level of car ownership in the UK means the few people lift hitchhiking are usually considered strange. Why can’t they afford cars? Why can’t they take the coach or the train?

Three-quarters of the UK population have access to a car; many of the remainder will be quite old. The potential hitchhiking population is therefore small. Yet my trip proves it’s still possible to hitchhike. The people who picked me up were very interesting-lawyer, retired surgeon, tank commander, carpenter, man who live in an isolated farmhouse and a couple living up in the mountains. My conclusion is that only really interesting people are mad enough to pick up fat blokes in red,

spotted scarves. Most just wanted to do someone a good turn; a few said they were so surprised to see a hitchhiker that they couldn’t help stopping.

The future of hitchhiking most likely lies with car-sharing organized over the Internet, via sites such as hitchhikers. org. But for now, you can still stick your thumb out(actually, I didn’t do much of that, preferring just to hold up my destination sign) and people-wonderful, caring, sharing, unafraid people-will stop.

In the UK, with its cheap coaches and reasonable rail service, I don’t think I’ll make a habit of it. But having enjoyed it so much, I’m ready now to do a big trip across Europe and beyond. In the 1970s a female friend of my wife’s hitchhiked to India. How wonderful it would be to have another go, though Afghanistan might be a challenge. I wish I’d got that tank commander’s mobile number.

1.The author tried to hitchhike but was rejected by single women drivers because_____________ .

A. they were not heading towards Manchester      

B. they thought most hitchhikers were dangerous

C. hitchhiking had been forbidden and they didn’t want to break the law

D. he was a strong man in strange clothes who seemed dangerousZxxk

2.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

A. That some people refuse hitchhikers may reflect the safety fear.

B. Car ownership levels are lower in Romania than in the UK.

C. 40% of UK people don’t have access to cars.

D. Increased car ownership has reduced the need for hitchhiking.

3.The “fat blokes in red, spotted scarves” in Paragraph 3 most likely means          .

A. murderous hitchhikers              

B．friendly and talkative hitchhikers

C. typical hitchhikers              

D．strange hitchhikers like the author

4.According to the author, future hitchhikers are more likely to                 .

A. visit websites and find people to share cars with 

B. stand by roads with their thumbs sticking out

C. stick out signs with their destinations written on

D. wait for some kind people to pick them up

5.From the last paragraph, we know that the author                    .

A. frequently hitchhikes in Britain           

B. plans to hitchhike across Europe

C. thinks public transport is safer for travel

D. is going to contact the tank commander

Prince Roman was a Polish nobleman, a captain in the army of Czar Nicholas of Russia. When his young wife died, the prince left the army and returned in sorrow to his native Poland.

In time, love for his country and its people took the place of his lost love. He joined a Polish rising against the Russians. The rising was crushed, and Prince Roman was taken prisoner. His relatives and friends begged the military court to have mercy on him.

The president of the court received these appeals kindly. He was a good Russian, but he was also a good-natured man. Russian hatred of Poles was not as fierce at that time as it became later; and the Russian felt sympathetic as soon as he saw the prince's thin, tired, sun-burnt face.

The court of three officers sat in a bare room, behind a long black table. Some clerks sat at the two ends, but no one else was there when the guards brought in the prince.

Those four walls shut out from Prince Roman all sights and sounds of freedom, all hopes of the future, all comforting thoughts. How much love for Poland remained in him then? How much love of life? He stood before his judges alone, having refused their permission to sit. He answered their first formal questions — his name and so on — clearly and politely although he felt too weary to talk.

Then the president of the court seemed to suggest how the young man could best help himself. He asked questions in a way that almost put the right answers in the prisoner's mouth.

“Didn't your wife's death drive you to despair? Wasn't your mind unbalanced by that sad event ?”

Prince Roman was silent.

"You were not fully responsible for you conduct, were you?"

Prince Roman was silent.

"You made a sudden blind decision to join the rising. You didn't realize that your actions were dangerous and dishonourable. Isn't that the truth of this unfortunate matter?"

The judges looked at the prisoner hopefully. In silence the prince reached for a pen and some paper. He wrote, "I joined the rising because I believe it was just." He pushed the paper towards the president, who took it and read it in silence.

Prince Roman was sentenced to hard work for life in the Siberian salt mines. It was a sentence of delayed death.

When Czar Nicholas read the report and sentence, he added in his own handwriting, "Make sure that this prisoner walks in chains every step of the way to Siberia."

1.What does the passage tell us of Poland at the time?

A．Polish officers in the Russian army had to return to Poland.

B．Russia was at war with Poland, so the Poles were enemies.

C．The Russians were very cruel rulers of Poland.

D．It was ruled by Russia, and Poles served in the Russian army.

2.How much love for Poland remained in the prince when he stood trial?

A．Not much, probably, after the failure of the rising.

B． More than he had ever felt before.

C．As much as he had ever felt.

D．The passage doesn't suggest an answer to the question.

3.The questions which the president asked show that ______.

A．he was trying to find excuse for the prince's conduct

B．the court wanted the prince to admit his own guilt

C．he wanted to learn the truth about the Polish rising

D．Prince Roman was a weak person

4.In the trial, Prince Roman ______.

A．was afraid to be responsible for his actions

B．blamed others for his actions

C．accepted responsibility for his actions

D．admitted his guilt

5.According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

A．The judges were less sympathetic than Czar Nicholas.

B．Czar Nicholas was as kind as the judges.

C．Czar Nicholas was not as sympathetic as the judges.

D．The judges were as cruel as Czar Nicholas.

In many parts of the world cars play an essential role in daily life and many societies would stop to function without them. So the claim that in 20 years’ time no one will own cars may be hard to believe. But this is the prediction made by a team of transport researchers who are taken seriously not only by governments but also by car manufacturers.

The Human Science and Advanced Technology Institute at Loughborough in the UK is part of an international research program. The team there believes that by 2020 all cars will be computerized, which will mean extremely large fuel savings, no accidents and better use of roads. The super-intelligent car of the 21st century will drive itself and it will not be owned by on individual. Instead, we will have a choice of cars and change them as frequently as we change our clothing.

According to Dr. David Davis, who leads the research team, these predictions are based on the rising cost of the car culture ,which had blocked up our cities, polluted our air and caused more deaths than both world wars put together.

Davis says cars will be fitted with intelligent cruise control devices to regulate the distance between one car and another. Brakes and accelerators (加速器) will become redundant（多余的） because the car will automatically speed up or slow down to match the speed of the car in front. Computers are much safer drivers than people, so cars in a road train will be able to drive much closer together than cars driven by people.

By 2010 Dr. David Davis believes car technology will give motorists a clear view of the road whatever the weather conditions by projecting an image of the road ahead onto the car’s windscreen. And by 2020 cars will travel in convoy linked to each other electronically. Cars will be connected by an electronic tow(牵引) bar to the car in front to form “road-trains”. “The front vehicle in such a train burns the ordinary fuel” says Davis. “But all the others in the train would burn about ten percent of the normal amount and so produce about ten percent of the pollution.

1.We know from the passage that governments and car manufactures ________.

   A. don’t believe the prediction that no one will own cars by 2020.

   B. are devoted to the technological innovation (创新) in car industry.

   C. consider the predictions made by the researchers seriously.

   D. have put the super-intelligent car into mass production.

2.Which of the following will NOT be the characteristics of the cars of 2020 ?

   A. There will be no brake and accelerator in cars.

   B. We will own as many cars as we want .

   C. All cars will be driven by computers.

   D. Car accident will no longer happen.

3.The expression closest in meaning to the underlined phrase “ in convoy”(Para 5) is ______.

   A. in line B. sidelong C. side by side D. next to one another

4.What will happen if cars are linked to each other electronically in 2020 ?

   A. Motorists will get a clear view of the road.

   B. The weather conditions won’t have effect on motorists.

   C. There will be a decrease in the pollution caused by car .

   D.All trains will burn less fuel than present.

______to the rising sun, the young people have a promising future.

We’ve all done it at one point or another. You’re driving along to work or school when that familiar sound reaches your eardrums(耳膜). You look down, reach into your pocket and begin to read, your steering wheel(方向盘) in one hand, your phone in the other. As you respond to that text message from your friend, you look intermittently(间歇地) at the road, and then back down at your phone. You’ve done it plenty of times before. What can go wrong?

What do you think is the number one killer of teenagers in the U.S.? Drugs? Alcohol? Violence? The answer is distracted driving. According to the National Safety Council, over 24 percent of all motor vehicle crashes involve cell phone use. Either a quick 30-second phone call or a simple text reading may be the cause of a traffic accident. In addition, drivers who talk on a cell phone, whether hands-free or not, are four times more likely to crash.

The risk of teenagers getting into an accident rises sharply. According to keepthedrive.com, more than 3,000 teenagers die in car accidents each year with about another 450,000 teenagers being injured. Additionally, according to a University of Utah study, reading or sending even one text message is equal to having a 0.08 alcohol level. In most states, that is considered as drunk-driving.

So, how do you prevent yourself from the danger of distracted driving? The answer is simpler than you might think. Put your phone away. Mute(消音) your phone or just turn it off while driving. If you still can’t help reaching for your phone, throw it on the backseat. This way, you won’t be able to get to it until you arrive at your destination.

You may get away with talking on the phone now, but there may be a day when you don’t. Dropping your phone may be an inconvenience, but it’s better than being a victim of your distracted driving.