“Just take a deep breath.” “Don’t think about it.” “You’re more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash.” These are just some words given to people with a fear of flying. But as Tom Cruise, playing Lt. Daniel Kaffee in the movie A Few Good Men, said, “I get sick when I fly because I’m afraid of crashing into a large mountain. I don’t think Daniel will help.”
But there’s a new application that just may. Today, the VALK Foundation, a Dutch group that’s a partnership between KLM Royal Dutch Airlines and the University of Leiden, launches the app (application) in the US. The VALK Foundation was one of the first centers for research and fear-of-flying treatment in the world and is the organizer of three world conferences on fear of flying.
The foundation said the app, called Flight App VALK, is the first scientifically-developed, web-based treatment for people who suffer from mild to moderate fear of flying.
“The fear-of-flying application we have created aims to transfer all of the knowledge we have developed through our program into a mobile application that will help ease travelers’ fears,” said Dr. Lucas van Gerwen, director of the VALK Foundation. Dr. van Gerwen is also a psychologist and professional pilot with more than 30 years experience.
The foundation said up to 30% of adults are fearful fliers. The Flight App is designed to help relax passengers before and during flights by educating users about flight safety and turbulence. It explains the sounds and sensations(感觉)they can expect during departure, flight and landing. And, if a passenger’s flight stress reaches a panic level, they press a special panic button which provides audio and written information to help decrease stress levels. Most importantly, the Flight App can be used during the flight in the airplane mode. Once downloaded, the program does not require Internet connection in the air.
【小题1】By saying the words at the beginning of the passage, people are expected to ______.
A.decrease their fear of flying |
B.get rid of their doubt about plane |
C.have a good time on their flight journey |
D.use some medicine to cure their fear of flying |
A.is a group focusing on psychology on the flight |
B.was the first center to do research into fear of flying |
C.organizes the world conferences on fear of flying annually |
D.focuses on researching and offering treatment on fear of flying |
A.help passengers experience the fear of flying |
B.help relax passengers before and during flights |
C.treat people who suffer from mild fear of flying |
D.teach people the basic knowledge of taking flight |
A.Many adults are suffering from fear of flying |
B.It’s convenient for people to use the Flight App |
C.Many planes will be installed with the Flight App. |
D.The Flight App can decrease stress levels effectively |
A.Culture | B.Entertainment | C.Technology | D.Education |
【小题1】A
【小题2】D
【小题3】B
【小题4】B
【小题5】C
解析试题分析:文章大意:本文介绍了一个旨在教育人们关于飞行的恐惧的苹果应用Flight App VALK,并介绍了具体的特点和信息。
【小题1】A 推理题。根据第一段前3行“Just take a deep breath.” “Don’t think about it.” “You’re more likely to die in a car wreck on the way to the airport than you are in a plane crash.” These are just some words given to people with a fear of flying.说明这些话都是人们安慰那些对飞行有恐惧感的人的话,故A正确。
【小题2】D 推理题。根据最后一段3,4,5,6,7行It explains the sounds and sensations they can expect during departure, flight and landing. And, if a passenger’s flight stress reaches a panic level, they press a special panic button which provides audio and written information to help decrease stress levels. Most importantly, the Flight App can be used during the flight in the airplane mode.说明这个应用专注于研究和主要告诉人们应该如何来处理这些恐惧,故D正确。
【小题3】B 细节题。根据The foundation said up to 30% of adults are fearful fliers. The Flight App is designed to help relax passengers before and during flights by educating users about flight safety and turbulence.”说明这个应用的目的是为了缓解人们对飞行的恐惧。故B正确。
【小题4】B 推理题。本文的最后一段都是在描述这个应用的作用和特点,主要是说人们使用这个苹果的应用是很方便的。故B正确。
【小题5】C 推理题。本文主要讲述的就是对VALK这个苹果应用的作用具体特点的使用的介绍,那么最可能出现在报纸上的技术部分。故C项正确。
考点:新闻报告类短文阅读
科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
New rules will let millions of Americans know where more of their food comes from. The law is known as COOL -- Country of Origin Labeling(标签).
American congress first passed the law in 2002. Stores have had to label seafood by country of origin since 2005. But industry pressure delayed other requirements until last week.
Products that must now be labeled include fresh fruits and vegetables, muscle meats and some kinds of nuts. But the rules are complex, and many foods are not included. For example, organ meats are free to be labeled. So are processed foods, including cooked or smoked foods.
The same food may sometimes have to be labeled and other times not. Fresh or frozen peas, for example, have to be labeled but not canned peas. Foods that are mixed with other foods are also excluded. Mixed nuts, for example, do not need to be labeled. The same is true of a salad mix that contains different things like lettuce and carrots. Or a fruit cup that combines different fruits. Also, the law doesn’t include restaurants and other food service organizations. Department of Agriculture officials say the law is really meant for larger grocery stores.
The United States has imported more and more food in recent years to save money and expand choices. Country-of-origin labeling has become more common lately but has still been limited in many stores.
Food safety is one reason why some shoppers pay close attention to where foods came from. For example, when a large number of people recently got sick from salmonella(沙门菌病), officials blamed peppers from Mexico. Yet the last big food scare involved spinach grown in California. But labeling is also a way for people to know they are getting what they want. Some want to buy local foods or foods from a particular country.
The country-of-origin labeling law gives stores 30 days to correct any violations(违反) that are found. Stores and suppliers that are found to be deliberately violating the law could be fined 1,000 dollars per violation. Federal inspectors are not to take action to enforce the law for six months to give time for an education campaign.
Some food safety activists say they are generally pleased with the law. They call it a good step that will give people more useful information.
【小题1】Why has more and more food been imported to the United States in recent years?
A.It is economical and provides people with more choices. |
B.Foreign food is of higher quality than native food. |
C.Americans need more and more food recently. |
D.The United States is short of food supply. |
A.they are curious about the origin of the food. |
B.most of them are particular about the tastes |
C.they are concerned about food safety |
D.most of them are food safety activists |
A.right now | B.in a month | C.in three months | D.in half a year |
A.Store owners are most likely to be the supporters of the law. |
B.The government of America will possibly forbid importing peppers from Mexico. |
C.Federal inspectors couldn’t take measures to enforce the law. |
D.Most Americans prefer imported vegetables to the vegetables grown in local places. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Playing basketball isn’t ladylike. That’s what Jewell Chapman’s high school headmaster told her in 1961 when he was against the girls’ basketball program.
“We were very discouraged, ” said Chapman, a forward(前锋)for her high school team of Des Moines.
Nearly 50 years later, Chapman is back on the playground. She’s 62 and plays for “Hot Pink Grannies”, joining about 10 other women on a team whose uniforms are black trousers and hot pink socks. They play in the Iowa Granny Basketball League.
It’s one of dozens of basketball leagues for women over 50 that have arisen across the country. For some, it’s a chance to exercise and meet people; for others, it’s a once – refused chance to make up.
“You see more and more elderly women’s teams taking part in state and national competitions,” said Michael Rogers, a professor in sports studies at Wichita State University. “In the future it will be something common to have leagues like this.”
Yearly surveys by the National Sporting Goods Association show the number of women aged 55 and older who play basketball at least 50 times a year has grown from 16,000 in 1995 to nearly 131,000 ten years later.
The women on the Hot Pink Grannies are good – natured but competitive when game time comes.
“I think I’m tough” says Colleen Pulliam, 69, showing off her strong arms at her challengers in a game against “Strutters”, known for their bright yellow socks.
Granny Basketball Leagues and similar groups spread quickly through much of the country, including California, Louisiana, New Mexico, Pennsylvania and Washington, D.C.
【小题1】Which is right about Chapman?
A.She thinks playing basketball isn’t ladylike. |
B.She is now 62 years old and feels discouraged. |
C.She plays basketball again about 50 years later. |
D.She is a forward in the Hot Pink Grannies. |
A.it is chance to realize their old dream |
B.it is chance to take part in sports |
C.it is chance to earn a reputation |
D.it is chance to compete for medals |
A.Des Moines. | B.Colleen Pulliam. | C.Michael Rogers. | D.Strutters. |
A.in the 1960s, playing basketball wasn’t considered as a girls’ sport |
B.the color of the socks is of great importance to granny players |
C.more and more granny players are confident about getting higher scores |
D.Jewell Chapman’s high school headmaster has already changed his attitude |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Runners in a relay race pass a stick in one direction. However, merchants passed silk, gold, fruit, and glass along the Silk Road in more than one direction. They earned their living by traveling the famous Silk Road.
The Silk Road was not a simple trading network. It passed through thousands of cities and towns. It started from eastern China, across Central Asia and the Middle East, and ended in the Mediterranean Sea. It was used from about 200 BC to about 1300 AD, when sea travel offered new routes. It was sometimes called the world’s longest highway.
However, the Silk Road was made up of many routes, not one smooth path. They passed through what are now 18 countries. The routes crossed mountains and deserts and had many dangers of hot sun, deep snow and even battles. Only experienced traders could return safe.
The Silk Road got its name from its most prized product. Silk could be used like money to pay taxes or buy goods. But the traders carried more than just silk. Gold, silver, and glass from Europe were much found in the Middle East and Asia. Horses traded from other areas changed farming practices in China. Indian merchants traded salt and other valuable goods. Chinese merchants traded paper, which produced an immediate effect on the West. Apples traveled from central Asia to Rome. The Chinese had learned to graft (嫁接) different trees together to make new kinds of fruit.
They passed this science on to others, including the Romans. The Romans used grafting to grow the apple. Trading along the Silk Road led to world-wide business 2,000 years before the World Wide Web.
The people along the Silk Road did not share just goods. They also shared their beliefs. The Silk Road provided pathways for learning, diplomacy, and religion.
【小题1】It’s probable that traders along the Silk Road needed ______.
A.to deal with a lot of difficulties | B.to know the making of products |
C.to receive certain special training | D.to remember the entire trade route |
A.it was made up of different routes | B.silk trading became less popular |
C.people needed fewer foreign goods | D.sea travel provided easier routes |
A.shared each other’s beliefs | B.learned from one another |
C.traded goods along the route | D.earned their living by traveling |
A.The Silk Road: Past and Present | B.The Silk Road: East Meets West |
C.The Silk Road: Routes Full of Dangers | D.The Silk Road: Pathways for Learning |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
HK's family affair
The 32nd Hong Kong Art Festival, to be held early next year, will be based on the theme of “family”.
The art festival, considered to be Asia's best, was launched in 1973.
“We hope that people from Beijing and from all over the world will go to Hong Kong to enjoy the multiple performances in our art festival,” Douglas Gautier, the festival's management director, told a press briefing in the capital.
In the 34 days of the festival, which runs from February 8 to March 7, 2004, the audience can choose from 111 performances of 51 programmes staged by 700 foreign performers, 450 local artists and 160 actors from the mainland.
Programmes vary from classical music, jazz, world music, Western and Peking opera, drama and dance to outdoor spectaculars.
The programmes include Beethoven’s only opera Fidelio, Shakespeare’s drama Romeo and Juliet, the ballet Mozartina and African dances, to name just a few.
The lineup (阵容) includes the English Touring Theatre, Prague Chamber Orchestra, Zurich Ballet, the Spanish National Dance Troupe, as well as Europe Galante, the Petersen Quartet, pianists Angela Hewitt, and arc-Andre Hamelin, and saxophonist Jan Garbarek.
In an effort to increase attention, hotels and airlines are offering discount packages along with art festival ticket sales.
For more information, please check www.hk.artsfestival.org.
【小题1】The press briefing must have been held ______.
A.in Hong Kong | B.in Europe | C.in Beijing | D.in Zurich |
A.more than the usual cost |
B.less than the usual cost |
C.for the air ticket but not for the festival ticket |
D.for the ticket but not for hotel rooms |
A.what programmes there will be |
B.in which theatres there will be performances |
C.who will perform |
D.when the festival will be held |
A.Literature Magazine | B.Textbook |
C.Website www.hk.artsfestival.org. | D.Newspaper |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
WASHINGTON—Laura Straub is a very worried woman. Her job is to find families for French teenagers who expect to live with American families in the summer.
It’s not easy, even desperate.
“We have many children left to place: 40 out of 75,” said Straub, who works for a Paris-based foreign exchange programme called LEC. When exchange programmes started 50 years ago, family life was more accommodating. For one thing, more mothers stayed home.
But now, increasing numbers of women work outside the home. Exchange-student programmes have struggled in recent years to sign up host families for the 30,000 teenagers who annually come from abroad to spend their academic year in the United States, as well as the thousands more who participate in summer programmes.
School systems in many parts of the US, unhappy about accepting non-taxpaying students, have also strictly limited the number of exchange students they accept. At the same time, the idea of hosting foreign students is becoming less exotic.
In searching for host families, who usually receive no pay, exchange programmes are increasingly broadening their appeals to include everyone who has the ability to do it.
“We are open to many different types of families,” said Vickie Weiner, eastern regional director for ASSE, a 25- year-old programme that sends about 30,000 teenagers on academic year exchange programmes worldwide.
“For elderly people, exchange students keep us young; they really do!” said Jean Foster, who is hosting 16-year-old Nina Porst from Denmark.
【小题1】Vickie Weiner is the person who ________.
A.works for a programme called LEC | B.works for a programme called ASSE |
C.is 25 years old | D.hosts foreign students |
A.all the families could host foreign students |
B.only young couples could host foreign students |
C.only those who were retired could host foreign students |
D.those who were not too old could host foreign students |
A.US Struggles to Find Host Families |
B.Idea of Hosting Students Is Different |
C.Foreign-exchange Program Is Going On |
D.Exchange Students Keep Old People Young |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
One of the world's richest men has taken a close interest in one of man's most basic functions: visiting the toilet.Bill Gates's charitable organization, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, is looking for inventors to design the loo of the future, which, they hope, would improve sanitation for millions of people around the world.
So, what's wrong with the traditional flush toilet? Firstly, it wastes a huge amount, of potential drinking water.Secondly, they are more likely to cause pollution.This is a real problem in many areas of the developing world, where, according to United Nations estimates, unsafe sanitation causes half of all hospitalizations.Younger people are particularly at risk.Illnesses which cause diarrhea are responsible for the deaths of about 1.5 million children a year.Finally, standard lavatories simply aren't practical in remote areas.
The challenge set by Bill Gates was to come up with a latrine which works without running water, electricity or aseptic tank.It also needed to operate for less than 5 cents.28 designs were displayed at the recent Reinvent the Toilet Fair.in Seattle, USA.Among them was one which turned human waste into electricity using microwaves, another which converted human waste into charcoal, and yet another which used urine for flushing.
But the winner was a solar-powered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity.The team from the California Institute of Technology(CIT)picked up a prize of $ 100,000.
But clearly Bill Gates doesn't feel he's flushing money down the toilet.After the Seattle event he said, "We, couldn't be happier with the response we've gotten," Gates has even pledged $370 million more to the future toilet project.They hope to field test more, prototypes over the next three years.
【小题1】Why is Bill Gates paying people to invent new toilets?
A.Because he wants to test people's sense of creativity. |
B.Because he thinks the traditional ones are out of fashion |
C.Because he wants to improve sanitation for many people. |
D.Because he can't design this kind of things himself. |
A.They are too complicated to use. | B.They waste too much water |
C.They might cause diseases. | D.They are not always practical. |
A.sanitation | B.loo | C.diarrhea | D.prototype |
A.can change human waste into electricity |
B.can turn human waste into charcoal |
C.can use urine for flushing |
D.can produce power with solar energy |
A.wasting money for nothing |
B.being angry with their work conditions |
C.showing—off their wealth |
D.expressing their great determination |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
It was an international drug dealing case, one that involved a lot of money and a lot of violence. Agents who had entered the organization had worn wires and collected evidence for years. A conviction(法庭判决) depended on an accurate translation of their tape recordings. “Five languages were involved, “says Liz Elting, 44, one of the owners of TransPerfect, the translation company chosen for the job. “The slightest mistake could mean the criminals would go free.”
When Elting started her business 18 years ago with Phil Shawe, both were attending New York University’s Stern School of Business. Neither realized just how many situations would require their services. TransPerfect’s 4,000 linguists(通晓外语的人) cover more than 100 languages.
Getting Ahead with Liz Elting
What inspired you to start TransPerfect?
When I was eight, my dad bought a KFC in Portugal. Unfortunately, the Portuguese didn’t want anything American. They thought my dad was a CIA spy! That taught me how fast things can change. I’ve studied in Spain and worked in Venezuela. This business is the perfect combination of my love for languages, cultures and business.
Is the staff multilingual?
Many are. I speak French and Spanish. My partner, Phil, who is American, likes to say he speaks English on a good day.
What languages are requested most often?
Spanish and Japanese. Chinese, Middle Eastern, Indic(South Asia), and Eastern Europeans are on the rise.
How difficult is it to manage such a diverse workforce(员工团队)?
Our challenge is to be culturally appropriate in every country. When we hand our year-end bonuses in the US, for example, we have to remember that in India, bonuses are given in the fall.
Any advice for someone starting a business?
Get started before you have kids. In the beginning, I didn’t know how to do this business on the side. I wasn’t married, didn’t have kids, and wasn’t concerned about balancing my work and personal life. Now, with strong managers in place, I can spend more time with my family (husband Michael Burlant and sons Zachary, nine and Jacob, seven), traveling and playing baseball.
【小题1】What is the purpose of the first paragraph?
A.To report on an international drug dealing case. |
B.To encourage people to start a business before they have kids. |
C.To present the importance of learning foreign languages. |
D.To introduce Liz Elting and her company TransPerfect. |
A.A type of clothes costing a lot of money. |
B.A piece of equipment designed to record messages. |
C.Thin metal worn to protect yourself against violence. |
D.A organization symbol made of thin metal. |
A.a company that offers international legal services |
B.one which has branches in countries all over the world |
C.one whose staff all have to speak several languages. |
D.a company whose services are in great demand. |
A.Liz learned that love is the answer to problems of cultural misunderstanding |
B.Liz started her company with a schoolmate at the age of 18. |
C.The success is simply a little beyond Liz and her partner’s expectations |
D.Liz and Phil are now strong managers with rich experience. |
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科目:高中英语 来源: 题型:阅读理解
Do you read newspapers in modern times while we have TV and other media? The first newspaper was written by hand and put up on walls in public places. The earliest daily newspaper was started in Rome in 59 BC. In the 700s the world’s first printed newspaper was published. Europe didn’t have a regularly published newspaper until 1609, when one was started in Germany.
The first regularly published newspaper in English was printed in Amsterdam in 1620. In 1621, an English newspaper was started in London and was published once a week. The first daily English newspaper was Daily Current, which came out in March 1702.
In 1690, Benjamin Harris printed the first American newspaper in Boston. But not long after it was first published, the government stopped the paper. In 1704, John Campbell started Boston Newspaper, the first newspaper published daily in the American Colonies. By 1760, the colonies had had more than thirty daily newspapers. There are now about 1,800 daily papers in the United States.
Today, as a group, English language newspapers have the largest circulation in the world. But the largest circulation for a newspaper is that of the Japanese newspaper Asahi Shimbun. It sells more than eleven million copies every year.
【小题1】The first regularly printed European newspaper was started ______.
A.in Rome in 59 BC | B.in Germany in 1609 |
C.in Amsterdam in 1620 | D.in England in 1621 |
A.1702 | B.1760 | C.1620 | D.1621 |
A.History of newspapers. |
B.History of daily newspapers. |
C.The beginning of daily newspapers. |
D.The beginning of newspapers. |
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