Only a small number of office workers have been trained in basic life-saving techniques.
     Just 33,526 of London's estimated 3.5 million workers signed up with St John's Ambulance and the British
Red Cross to learn simple first aid last year. The figures coming from a new report show that nine out of 10
people would not know what to do if a colleague was badly hurt, while 72 percent have never attended a
first-aid course.
     Doctors describe the situation as appalling and have called for urgent training in schools and the workplace.
     Training in first aid should start at an early age and should be taught to everybody at school. First aid is very
important because at best it can save lives and at worst it reduces pressure on hospital rooms. Employers get
anxious when a worker has had some sort of accident in the office or factory and rush them to the
hospital-even if all they require is a bandage.
     Last year 20,000 Londoners were trained in first aid by St John's Ambulance, the leading provider in
life-saving courses, and 13,526 were trained by the Red Cross. According to St John's Ambulance, four out of
five parents do not know how to carry out mouth-to-mouth resuscitation (苏醒).
     Nick Suggitt, training manager with St John Ambulance, said,"We are training just a tiny part of the number
necessary, and only touching the tip of the iceberg."
     "Not enough people know how to save a life, and since many emergencies occur at home or at work, these
skills are often needed to save the life of a friend or a family member."

1.The underlined word "appalling" in the passage probably means ______.

A. surprising
B. terrible
C. rising
D. challenging

2. From the passage, we know that the problem lies in the fact that ______.

A. many people won't provide first aid properly
B. many people are unwilling to take the training
C. most people know nothing or very little about first aid
D. 90 percent of people never attend first-aid courses

3. It can be inferred from the passage that _____.

A. about 33,526 workers don't know anything about first aid
B. many people are rushed to the hospital with only slight injuries
C. mouth-to-mouth resuscitation is quite important for parents at home
D. a number of people are trained

4. Which of the following can be the best title for the passage?

A. First-aid Is Very Important
B. First-aid Training Is Urgently Needed
C. Training in First Aid Is Valuable
D. Not Enough People Know How to Save a Life

1. Mathew majors in media and hopes to understand Chinese broadcasting and TV News and
   communicate with the Chinese people. 
2. Sarah is a Learner of Chinese with a fairly good knowledge of basic Chinese grammar and a vocabulary
   of 2500, hoping to improve her Chinese ability in speaking, reading and writing. 
3. Lois majors in Teaching Chinese as a Foreign Language and hopes to improve her ability in translation. 
4. Dennis once has taught himself Chinese and can speak a little Chinese but with poor pronunciation and 
   grammar, hoping to meet the needs of everyday life and study, and understand each other in basic 
   communication through training. 
5. Georgia specializes in the Chinese language and culture at the average. He plans to have a tour in China.

A. Comprehensive language skill training 100 lessons in total focusing on pronunciation, grammar and
    discourse (语段). To enable the learner to master the basic knowledge of the Chinese language, to
    have the basic ability of listening, speaking, reading and writing, so that they are able to communicate
    with others and to meet the needs of everyday life, study and sociality. This will lay a foundation for
    further study of Chinese.
B. Intermediate (中等) Chinese Comprehensive Course 40 lessons in all, focusing on the training of the
    comprehensive skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing of intermediate Chinese. To enable the
    students to recognize, understand and use the active and less active words, to improve their ability of
    expressing themselves in paragraphs and discourse, to master the new words, patterns, grammatical
    structures, paragraphs and discourse and means of connections so as to express the meaning of the
    texts correctly and fluently in paragraphs and discourse.
C. News Listening Based on frequently used words, typical sentences and information and concentrating 
    on improving the ability of listening comprehension. To improve the ability of collecting information, to
   grasp the knowledge and skills they have learned and to understand the broadcasting and TV news of
   similar themes and relevant level of difficulty with the correctness of 80%. To build up the foundation
   for further study.
D. Elementary English-Chinese Translation 25 classes in total, including various styles such as poems, popular
    science, political comments and news, about every aspect of everyday life. The texts vary from easy to
    difficult and combine theory with practice as well as translation and interpretation. About 185 hours are
    needed. To familiarize the learner with the equivalent (对应的) Chinese expressions of English. To enable
    them to know usage of Chinese and English words and sentences, cultural differences and the background
    knowledge.
E. Elementary Spoken Chinese in Business 24 units in all. Chinese words and expressions in business and trade
    are introduced in the form of vivid situational dialogues, notes and exercises. To enable the learner to master
    the words and expressions of elementary spoken business Chinese and to communicate with others in trade
    and business.
F. Chinese Human Geography Introduction to geographic environment and cultural phenomena in various parts
    of China, such as natural features, historical backgrounds, religious sites, ancient battle fields, dramas and
    arts, traditional products, and special food, etc. Through the introduction to historical and cultural sites and
     scenery, the learner will have a general view about Chinese geography, history, culture and regional features.

     Construction workers in Southern California have made a wild discovery. They were digging at a building
site in San Timoteo Canyon (峡谷) when they unearthed hundreds of ancient animal fossils. Researchers say
the bones hold important clues about the history of the region.
     Nearly 1, 500 fossils were recovered from the dusty canyon. The remains are about 1.4 million years old.
They include the bones of a new species of deer, several small rodents (啮齿目动物) and more. A giant cat
fossil was also found. Scientists believe the animal was an ancestor of the saber- toothed tiger. Signs of plant
life were uncovered as well.
     "This is a huge find," says Rick Greenwood, a scientist studying the site. "I don't think most people had
any idea that those types of animals were wandering around here more than a million years ago."
     San Timoteo Canyon is located about 85 miles from Los Angeles. The area of the canyon where the fossils
were found was once part of a green river valley. Today, the region is dry and plant life is rare.
     Most of the fossils are well preserved. Experts say a muddy lake bed may have trapped thirty animals that
wandered over for a drink. The mud helped to protect the animal fossils.
     The remains are a million years older than those discovered at the famous La Brea Tar Pits in Los Angeles.
Scientists studying the bones will be able to learn more about how the animals adapted to changes in the
environment.
     "We have a confused view of what this time period was like," says another scientist. "A discovery like this
could really be an important contribution."
     About 35 different animal species are represented in the fossil collection. Scientists began removing bones
from the site last fall. The project was completed this summer. Starting next year, the fossils will be on display
at the Western Science Center in the nearby city of Hemet, California.

1. What does the passage mainly focus on?

A. The secret of ancient animals' deaths.
B. The preparation for a future fossil exhibition.
C. A great discovery of fossils.
D. The history of San Timoteo Canyon.

2. From what Rick says, we know ______.

A. fossils were discovered in the canyon for the first time.
B. the canyon in ancient times was quite different.
C. more research work will be carried on in the canyon.
D. the river water helped to protect the animal fossils.

3. Compared to the discovery at the La Brea Tar Pits, the canyon-involved fossils ______.

A. are far older
B. include more species
C. are better preserved
D. make experts more confused

4. What do we know about the fossils from the passage?

A. All of them are of new species.
B. Some of them have been destroyed. 
C. They were looked for under experts' guidance.
D. They will be on show in the near future.

     Pet owners are being encouraged to take their animals to work, a move scientists say can be god for
productivity, workplace morale (士气), and the well-being of animals.
     A study found that 25% of Australian women would like to keep an office pet. Sue Chaseling of Petcare
information Service said the practice of keeping office pets was good both for the people and the pets. "On
the pets' side, they are not left on their own and won't feel lonely and unhappy," she said. A study of major
US companies showed that 73% found office pets beneficial (有益的), while 27% experienced a drop in
absenteeism (缺勤).
      Xarni Riggs has two cats walking around her Global Hair Salon in Paddington."My customers love them.
they are their favorites," she said."They are not troublesome. They know when to go and have a sleep in the
sun."
      Little black BJ has spent nearly all his two years "working" at Punch Gallery in Balmain. Owner Iain
Powell said he had had cats at the gallery for 15 years. "BJ often lies in the shop window and people walking
past tap on the glass," he said.
     Ms Chaseling said cats were popular in service industries because they enabled a point of conversation.
But she said owners had to make sure both their co-workers and the cats were comfortable.

1. The percentage of American companies that are in favor of keeping office pets is _____.

A. 73%
B. 27%
C. 25%
D. 15%

2. We know from the text that "BJ" _____.

A. works in the Global Hair Salon
B. often greets the passers-by
C. likes to sleep in the sun
D. is a two-year-old cat

3. The best title for this text would be _____.

A. Pets Help Attract Customers
B. Your Favorite Office Pets
C. Pets Join the Workforce
D. Busy Life for Pets

     When Babbage was working at Cambridge, a new idea occurred to him. He wanted to construct a
calculating machine to work out the solutions (解法) to maths problems not only with correctness but
also with a speed beyond the power of any human mind. His machine could solve problems involving
(涉及) long rows of figures in one continuous operation (运算).
     In 1822 Babbage exhibited his invention and won a prize from the government. After that, he
immediately started to work on a larger machine designed to solve more difficult problems. Although he
received some money left by his father, the money was not enough to support his design. He wrote to
the government about his plan and was given ￡2500 to start with, a sum worth much more in those days
than it is now.
     Babbage continued his work in London for four years. Then his health broke down, and he had to take
a long holiday abroad. When he returned to London in 1828, he was at the end of his resources. Many bills
remained unpaid. His chief assistant and co-workers quarreled with him and left with many expensive tools.
For one year no work was done. During this period, Babbage, whose mind was always active, suddenly
thought of a completely new idea for the machine. He rushed to meet the government officials to explain his
new idea. But this time, they were unwilling to help him. For eight years, they refused to say whether they
wanted the machine or not, and their final answer was "No." 
     From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the position of professor at Cambridge very successfully. But his
greatest work was the unfinished calculating machine which stood covered in dust in his house. It was the
beginning of the modern computer.

1. The machine Babbage designed would solve difficult maths problems ______.

A. in one operation with few mistakes
B. in more than one operation without any mistakes
C. in more than one operation with slight mistakes
D. in one operation without any mistakes

2. Babbage failed to continue his research work in 1828 mainly because _______.

A. he was in poor health
B. he almost ran out of money
C. his co-workers argued with him
D. he spent all his money on his bills

3. Babage explained his new idea to the government officials, expecting that _______.

A. they would agree to his plan
B. they would pay for his new idea
C. they would support him with money
D. they would exhibit his new design

4. From the passage, we can infer that _______.

A. Babbage failed to be a famous scientist at Cambridge
B. Babbage always had new ideas but gave them up easily
C. Babbage always needed support from the government officials
D. Babbage was the first designer of the modern computer