阅读理解

　　I didn't know the city at all．What was more, I could not speak a word of the language．

　　After having spent my first day sightseeing in the town centre, I decided to lose my way deliberately(成心地)on my second day, since I believed that this was the surest way of getting to know my way around．I got on the first bus that passed and descended(走下去)some thirty minutes later in what must have been a suburb(郊区)．The first two hours passed pleasantly enough．I discovered mysterious little bookshops in back streets and finally arrived at a marketplace where I stopped and had coffee in an open-air cafe．Then I decided to get back to my hotel for lunch．After walking about aimlessly for some time, I determined to ask the way．The trouble was that the only word I know of the language was the name of the street in which I lived, and even that I pronounced badly．The policeman listened to my question, smiled and gently took me by the arm．There was a distant look in his eyes as he pointed left and right and left again．I nodded politely and began walking in the direction he pointed．About an hour passed and I noticed that the houses were getting fewer and green fields were appearing on either side of me．I had come all the way into the country．The only thing left me to do was to find the nearest railway station．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

　　Many American presidents in the 19th century were born in poor families．They spent their childrenhood in little wooden rooms．They got little education(教育)．Washington and Lincoln, for example, never went to school and they taught themselves．Lincoln once did jobs of a worker, shopkeeper and post officer in his early years．

　　A large number of U．S．presidents had experiences(经历)in the army．The two best known were Ulysses Grant and Dwight D．Eisenhower．Grant was a general(将军)in the American Civil War and Eisenhower was a hero in the Second World War．It happened that they graduated(毕业)from the same school－West Point Military Academy(西点军校)．One may be surprised to learn that both of them did not do well in the school．Eisenhower, for example, was once fined(罚款)because he broke the rules of the school．

　　The jobs of U．S．presidents are tiring．He must keep an eye on anything important which happens both at home and abroad．Every day, a lot of work waits for him to do, and he has to make many important decisions．When Franklin Roosevelt was s child, he was once brought to visit President Taft．The old president said to him,“When you grow up, you should not be president．It's a tiring job．”

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Imagine life as a game in which you are playing some five balls in the air．You name them－work, family, health, friends and spirit, and you're keeping all these balls in the air．

　　You understand that work is a rubber ball．If you drop it, it will bounce back．But the other four balls are made of glass．If you drop one of these, it will be irrevocably(不可逆转地)scuffed(磨损)，marked, damaged or even broken into pieces．They will never be the same．You must understand that and try for balance in your life．How?

　　Don't undermine(逐渐损害)your worth by comparing yourself with others．It is because we are different and each of us is special．Don't set your goals by what other people consider important．Only you know what is the best for you．Don't take for granted the things closest to your heart．Hold on to them as you would to life, for without them, it's meaningless．Don't let life slip through your fingers by living in the past or in the future．By living your life one day at a time, you live all the days of your life．Don't run through life so fast that you forget not only where you've been, but also where you are going．Don't use time or words carelessly．Life is not a race, but a journey to be enjoyed slowly each step of the way．Yesterday is history, tomorrow is a mystery, and today is a gift．That's why we call it－the present．

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　Like business and industry, the academic world is changing with technology advancing．A library is one place where we can see changes．Many innovative(革新的)things are happening in both public and university libraries．Libraries are using new equipment and techniques for research, and librarians are teaching students the new techniques．

　　One service that some university libraries are now providing is a computer search of materials for students doing research．Before starting a research project, students man check with their library to see if a computer search is worthwhile．This kind of search cannot help with all research projects, but it can save time if the topic is in the computer's database(数据库)．When you are doing a manual(人工的)search for a research paper, you look at all the indexes(索引)suitable for the research topic．You look up the words related to the topic in the indexes．It takes many hours to look up this information and write down the references(参考资料)．A computer search is faster and easier．You and a librarian decide on the words to enter the computer．The computer looks for these words in this database and gives you a list of reference for your topic．A computer can take two or more ideas and produce references that combine those ideas．A computer search can also be more complete than a manual search．

　　College and university libraries are providing other technological services as well．Another change is the frequent use of microfilm．Librarians are able to collect more materials in one building by having newspapers, magazines, and other documents on microfilm．Students use microfilm readers in the library for these materials．

　　These innovations in libraries are helpful to library users, but they are also expensive．Many libraries are facing budget(预算)problems．There is more technology available(可得到的)today; as a result, libraries are paying higher costs for the equipment that makes researches easier．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Recently I was asked,“Are we anywhere near the day when you can climb into a car on Long Island, program it to take you to your niece's house in Chicago, hit enter, and after the first hundred yards, once you hit a main road, the car takes over automatically and you just sit back and enjoy the ride?”

　　It is a question I worry．But I had to answer truthfully,“Absolutely．We are without a doubt near that day．”Look, we're already doing it with airplanes．

　　Northrop Grumman's Global Hawk takes off at an air base in the U．S．, climbs to 50,000 feet, flies to Australia, and lands at an Australian air base, where there is a grandstand filled with military officials－with no human pilot．

　　The necessary technology is already here．We have radar technology that can be tied to cruise(巡航)control and brakes, which automatically adjusts(调整)your speed based on following distance and preprogrammed settings．It's still a little bit raw, but it does work great．The technology can allow cars and trucks to follow each other in very closely spaced roads．

　　GPS can also change speed with location．Let's say you're in a state with a 75－mph limit and you cross into a state with a 65－mph limit．GPS knows that and can adjust your speed accordingly．

　　It's not out of the question to imagine that someday soon you'll be able to start the car, make proper settings, then turn the front seats around and play cards and eat lunch as if you're riding on a train．All in perfect comfort and safety, all the way to that niece's place in Chicago．

　　If asked to estimate just how far time is, I'd say a working system is ten years out, practice maybe 20 years．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　Currently, lasers give manufacturers(制造者)ultra precise(精确的)standards of measurement, unprecedented(前所未有的)cutting and drilling power, light－speed quality control, and are employed in a host of other ways．Doors may hear labels reading“Danger－invisible laser radiation－Avoid eye or skin exposure to direct or scattered radiation”, but in spite of the risk, lasers are at work in plants and businesses throughout the world．They help shape ships, cars, jewelry and electronics components．They guide cutting, drilling and tunneling．They do things no other tool can do in the same time, offering the speed of light, a heat greater than at the surface of the sun and a line straighter than any that can even be reasonably compared to ordinary rulers, tapes or survey．

　　Laser light has special qualities suited to industrial applications that no ordinaty tools can match．Intense and highly directional, laser beams can be focused to needle a huge amount of power upon a pinpoint, or on an area much smaller．By focusing the laser's beam through lenses, just as you can tighten a sunbeam with a magnifying glass so that it will burn holes in paper, it is possible to make the coherent laser light concentrate its energy on an almost unbelievably tiny spot．Narrowed by optics, a laser can drill 300 separate holes in the head of a pin．You can get an idea of the concentration(集中)of energy in this tiny spot by considering what happens if you hit a piece of wood with a hammer－at most a dent, but not much more．Hit the much smaller head of a nail with the same hammer, and you will drive the nail through the wood．Energy concentrated on a small point accomplishes much more than energy spread out over a wider area．

　　That's why coherent, tightly focused beams of laser light can do so much more than ordinary, spread out, incoherent light．You can get an idea of the difference in power between ordinary light and laser light by glancing at a household light bulb for an instant．The worst that will happen is that you will retain the image of the bulb on your retina(视网膜)for a few seconds after looking away．If you stared straight at a laser beam for even a fraction of a second, you could burn a hole clear through your retina, resulting in permanent loss of eyesight．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

阅读理解

　　A team of American engineers is studying the feasibility(可行性)of a nuclearpowered mission to the outer edges of the solar system．The target is Neptune, the eighth planet from the sun, and its icy moons．

　　The answer is a huge spacecraft driven by a compact nuclear reactor．It could drop a series of probes(探测器)into Neptune's atmosphere and help answer questions about the birth of the solar system．

　　If it gets U．S．National Aeronautics and Space Administration's(NASA)blessing, the Neptune orbiter could be launched around 2016 and arrive in Neptune around 2035．

　　The project is led by U．S．aircraft manufacturer Boeing and backed by NASA．A twelve－month study of what one scientist calls“the ultimate in deep space exploration”has already begun．

　　Neptune is a gas giant and sometimes the most distant of the nine planets in the solar system．

　　It has 11 known moons．The biggest, Triton, is bigger than the sun's ninth planet, Pluto．No spacecraft has been near Neptune since NASA's Voyager 2 sped past it in 1989．

　　Profound(深奥的)Questions

　　The Neptune mission is one of 15 competitive for commitment from the U．S．space a gency．Its proposers say the journey could answer profound questions．Because it is one of the most distant members of the sun's planets, Neptune's fabric is more likely to match the original materials of the solar system．

　　“Neptune is a rawer planet．”said Paul Steffes of the Georgia Institute of Technology．

　　“It is less influenced by near－sun materials and it is more representative of the original solar system than Jupiter or Saturn．”he added．

　　Neptune is a puzzle．It is roughly 30 times the distance from the sun as the earth is．It has seasons, and winds whip across its gaseous surface at 1,500 kilometres per hour．

　　Triton, too, poses riddles．It may not be a natural child of Neptune：It may have been a passing comet from a far－away region called the Kuiper belt captured and imprisoned byNeptune's powerful gravitational field．

(1)

(2)

(3)

(4)

(5)

　　If you dream of going someplace warm to escape the cold winter weather, a trip to a recently discovered planet would certainly warm you right up．The planet, named OGLE－TR－56b, has temperatures of more than 3,000．“This is the hottest planet we know about．”says Dr．Dimitar Sasselov, a scientist who led the discovery team．“It is hot enough to have an iron fog and to rain hot iron droplets(细沫)．”

　　The new planet is 30 times farther away than any planet discovered by scientists before．It is in the Milky Way(银河)but it is not in our solar(太阳的)system．The new planet moves around a star much like our sun, however, scientists discovered the planet by using a new planet－searching method, called“transit technique”．They were able to catch sight of the planet when it moved in front of its star, causing the star's light to dim(变暗)．Scientists compare the method to discovering the shadow of a bee flying in front of a searchlight 200 miles away．“We believe the door has been opened wide to go and discover planets like Earth．”says Sasselov．

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　One of the half－dozen most difficult words in the world to define or to understand is realism; and yet people use it all the time to make judgments about many things, including the arts．

　　What does a man really mean when he says he likes realistic painting?He means, in most cases, that he likes a picture to represent objects the way the eye sees them．But the eye does not see reality．

　　When we look at a chair, we do not see the real chair, but an optical illusion．The real chair is a mass of particles moving at incredible speeds with careless energy．

　　When we look at a person, we see the face, the limbs, the clothes．Are these the real person?Nobody would deny that it is the character, the spirit, the emotional structure beneath the bone that makes the real person．

　　A telescope sees big things more“realistically”than the eye; a microscope sees little thing more“realistically”than the eye．If we do not expect the scientist to look at the world with our naive realism, why should we expect the artists to do so?

　　What we call reality is merely the surface of things, the appearance of objects．There is no truth to be found in this, and both the scientist and the artist seek a truth not visible to the naked eye．

　　Actually, we do not even believe in our own realism; we do not believe that Earth is flat, as it seems to be; we do not believe that the man who looks kind is kind, as he seems to be．

　　We ourselves apply more critical, more sophisticated, and(to use a dirty word)more intellectual yardsticks to everyday things around us．

　　The artist gives us one further．He accepts nothing as it seems to be, for it is his task to throw a searchlight on the caverns and labyrinths of life．Now, his searchlight may be weak, or soiled, or focused in the wrong way, and the art he gives us will then be dim or defective．

　　But whether he is a good or bad artist, we can not ask him to look at the world the way we do, for then he would see nothing more than we do．If anything, history shows that the mass of mankind spend their today in trying to catch up to the artists of yesteryear．We have just barely begun to come to an appreciation of William Blake's visions．

　　There is an amusing story about realism and Picasso．A sailor once complained to him that his paintings were not realistic, and then took out a tiny snapshot of his child for the painter to see．Picasso squinted seriously at the snapshot and handed it back to the father, merely saying“Small, isn't she?”

(1)

(2)

(3)

阅读理解

　　I belong to that group of people known as wives．I am a wife．And, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother．

　　Not too long ago a male friend of mine appeared on the scene fresh from a divorce．He had one child, who is, of course, with his ex－wife．He is obviously looking for another wife．As I thought about him while I was cooking one evening, it suddenly occurred to me that I, too, would like to have a wife．Why do I want a wife?

　　I would like to go back to school so that I can become economically independent, support myself, and, if need be, support those dependent upon me．I want a wife who will work and send me to school．And while I am going to school I want a wife to take care of my children．I want a wife to keep informed of the children's doctor appointments．And to keep informed of mine, too．I want a wife to make sure my children eat properly and are kept clean．

　　I want a wife who will wash the children's clothes and keep them mended．I want a wife who arranges for their schooling, makes sure that they have an adequate(足够的)social life with their peers(同伴)，takes them to the park, the zoo, etc．

　　I want a wife who will take care of my physical needs．I want a wife who will keep my house clean．I want a wife who will keep my clothes clean, mended, replaced when need be, and who will see to it that my personal things are kept in their proper place so that I can find what I need that minute I need it．I want a wife who cooks the meals, a wife who is a good cook．I want a wife who will plan the menus, do the necessary grocery shopping, prepare the meals, serve them pleasantly, and then do the washing up while I do my studying．I want a wife who will care for me while I am sick and sympathize(show the feeling of pity)with my pain and loss of time from school．I want a wife to go along when our family takes a vacation so that someone can continue to care for me and my children when I need a rest and change of scene．

　　If, by chance, I find another person more suitable as a wife than the wife I already have, I want the freedom to replace my present wife with another one．Naturally, I will expect a fresh, new life; My wife will take the children and be only responsible for them so that I am left free．

　　When I am through with school and have a job, I want my wife to give up working and remain at home so that my wife can more fully and completely take care of a wife's duties．

　　My God, who wouldn't want a wife?

(1)

(2)

(3)