阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项。

　　Future studies, also known as futurology(未来学)or foresight, involves the study of the past and present to make educated guesses about the future．The data gathered from these studies can be used to predict possible or probable future events or situations．It can also be used to design a way to reach preferable future conditions．

　　Many people believe that history is cyclical, or that certain circumstances will be seen again and again．This is the principle that future studies are based on．Searching history and present times for patterns can allow future forecasters a way to predict the future．A lot of future studies use cause and effect．For example, if a government is being unjust or is unpopular with the citizens of that country, the current government is either changed or overthrown．This has been hundreds of times throughout history, will probably be a pattern seen a hundred times more．

　　There are numerous applications for future studies．One possible application is as a way to predict future fashion and design fads(时尚)．The fashion market typically needs to work 18 months in advance, allowing the designers time to design, advertise, and manufacture the future styles．The stock market is another area where futurology is used．Determining which companies are likely to become successful, and which ones are heading for bancruptcy, requires the ability to use future studies correctly．

　　Some say that future studies can not predict long-term events and trends in the way that it could a decade ago．Global changes in technology, communication, and marketing have resulted in scenarios(情况)that no one could have predicted．Change is happening at a faster pace than ever before in history．It will be difficult to foresee future trends because of these changes．New future studies professionals will need to be able to consider these new trends carefully before creating their predictions．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项A、B、C和D中，选出最佳选项。

　　A young man was getting ready to graduate from college．For many months he had admired a beautiful sports car in a dealer's showroom, and knowing his father could well afford it, he told him that was all he wanted．

　　As Graduation Day approached, the young man waited for signs that his father had purchased the car．Finally, on the morning of his graduation, his father called him into his private study．His father told him how proud he was to have such a fine son, and told him how much he loved him．He handed his son a beautiful wrapped gift box．Curious, but somewhat disappointed, the young man opened the box and found a lovely, leather-bound Bible, with the young man's name embossed(饰以浮饰)in gold．Angrily, he raised his voice to his father and said, “With all your money you give me a Bible? ” He then stormed out of the house, leaving the Bible．

　　Many years passed and the young man was very successful in business．He had a beautiful home and a wonderful family, but realizing his father was very old, he thought perhaps he should go to see him．He had not seen him since that graduation day．Before he could make the arrangements, he received a telegram telling him his father had passed away, and willed(遗赠)all of his possessions to his son．He needed to come home immediately and take care of things．

　　When he arrived at his father's house, sudden sadness and regret filled his heart．He began to search through his father's important papers and saw the still new Bible, just as he had left it years ago．

　　With tears, he opened the Bible and began to turn the pages．As he was reading, a car key dropped from the back of the Bible．It had a tag with the dealer's name, the same dealer who had the sports car he had desired．On the tag was the date of his graduation, and the words… “PAID IN FULL”．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　“Everything happens for the best, ” my mother said whenever I was disappointed．“Don't worry．One day your luck will change．”

　　I didn't pay attention to her words．After finishing my college education, I decided to look for a job in a radio station．I wanted to host a sports programme．I went to Chicago and knocked on the door of every station．But I got turned down every time．

　　In one station, a kind lady said to me that I hadn't got enough experience．“Get to a small station and work for some time, ” she said．

　　When I went back home, my dad told me that a businessman had opened a store and needed someone to help him．But again, I didn't get the job．

　　I felt really down．“Your luck will change, ” Mum said to me．Later, I tried another radio station in Iowa．But the owner, a nice man, told me he had already had someone to work for him．As I left his office, I asked, “How can someone be a sports announcer(播音员)if he can't get a job in a radio station? ”

　　I was waiting for the lift when I heard the man call, “What did you mean? Do you know anything about football? ” He let me sit in front of a microphone and asked me to try to imagine that I was giving my opinion on a football game, and finally I succeeded．

　　On my way home, Mum's words came back to me, “One day your luck will change, Son．”

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Long ago, operation usually had to be done while the sick man could feel everything．The sick man had to be held down on a table by force while the doctors did their best to save him．He could feel all the pain if his leg or arm was being cut off, and his fearful cries filled the room and the hearts of those who watched．

　　Soon after 1770, Josept Priestley discovered a gas which is now called “laughing gas”．Laughing gas became known in America．Young men and women went to parties to try it．Most of them spent their time laughing, but one man at a party, Horace Wells, noticed that people didn't seem to feel pain when they were using this gas．He decided to make an experiment on himself．He asked a friend to help him．

　　Wells took some of the gas, and his friend pulled out one of Wells’ teeth．Wells felt no pain at all．

　　As he didn't know enough about laughing gas, he gave a man less gas than he should have．The man cried out with pain when his tooth was being pulled out．

　　Wells tried again, but this time he gave too much of the gas, and the man died．Wells never forgot this terrible event．

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阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

Now we can see a man and his wife at the breakfast table．They are not speaking to each other．They haven't spoken to each other at the breakfast table for years．The husband is reading his newspaper．We can't see his face．The wife looks very worried as she gets a cup of tea ready for him．Today she is using a new kind of tea for the first time．The husband picks up his cup．He isn't interested．He tastes his tea．Suddenly he puts down his newspaper．Something is different! Can it be the tea? He takes another taste．It's wonderful．He smiles．He looks at his wife and says in surprise, “Doris, when did you cut your hair? ” Doris is pleased．She answers, “Two months ago．” Doris asks, “ Herbie, when did your hair begin to become white? ” He answers, “A long time ago．” Doris says, “We have been together for many years, but we never cared about each other．” Now they aren't worried any longer．Breakfast is different．Has a new kind of tea changed their lives?

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阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Canada is a very large country．It is bigger than China．China is the third largest country in the world．Canada is the second largest．It has an area of nearly 10 million．Canada has a very long coastline．To the west is the Pacific Ocean．To the east is the Atlantic Ocean．The Arctic Ocean is in the north．There are many islands off the Pacific coast and off the Arctic coast．The biggest one in the west is Vancouver Island．In the east there is New Foundland, and in the Arctic Ocean the biggest islands are Baffin Island and Victoria Island．(Greenland is not part of Canada．It is a part of Denmark, a country in northern Europe．)

　　Canada has a long border with the USA in the south．In the northwest Canada borders on the American “State of Alaska”．Canada is a northern country．The Arctic Circle(Latitude 16°N)passes through the northern part．in the south, half of the border with the USA follows line of latitude 49°N

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阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Most British telephone cards are just plain green, but card collecting is becoming a popular hobby in Britain and collectors even have their own magazine, International Telephone Cards．One reason for their interest is that cards from around the world come in a wide variety of different and often very attractive designs．There are 100, 000 different cards in Japan alone, and there you can put your own design onto a blank card simply by using a photograph or a business card．

　　The first telephone cards, produced in 1976, were Italian．Five years later the first British card appeared, and now you can buy cards in more than a hundred countries．People usually start collecting cards because they are attractive, small and light, and they do not need much space．It is also a cheap hobby for beginners, although for some people it becomes a serious business．In Paris, for example, there is a market where you can buy only telephone cards, and some French cards cost up to 4, 000 pounds．The first Japanese card has a value of about 28, 000 pounds．Most people only see cards with prices like these in their collectors magazine．

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阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项。

　　Mr．Brown first went to look at the underground-fire when he was seven．“Through the hole in the earth you could see the orange fire, but you had to look fast because it was so hot, ” said Mr．Brown．In 1898, he saw the fire once more．

　　Now, we can only see the smoke．The fire Mr．Brown saw is not the underground-fire．In fact, there are 260 coal fires in the world．They are harmful and dangerous．Then how to put them out?

　　Scientists have tried to set fire to underground coal to speed up the fires．In this way, the burning of underground coal would be soon finished．

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阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　People from East Asia tend to have more difficulty than those from Europe in distinguishing facial expressions-and a new report published online in Current Biology explains why．

　　Rachael Jack, University of Glasgow researcher, said that rather than scanning evenly(均匀的)across a face as Westerners do, Easterners fix their attention on the eyes．

　　“ We show that Easterners and Westerners look at different face features to read facial expressions, ” Jack said．“ Westerners look at the eyes and the mouth in equal measure, while Easterners favor the eyes and neglect(忽略)the mouth．”

　　According to Jack and her colleagues, the discovery shows that human communication of emotion is more complex than previously believed．As a result, facial expressions that had been considered universally recognizable cannot be used to reliably convey emotion in cross-cultural situations．

　　The researchers studied cultural differences in the recognition of facial expressions by recording the eye movements of 13 Western Caucasian and 13 East Asian people while they observed pictures of expressive faces and put them into categories ： happy, sad, surprised, fearful, disgusted, angry, or neutral．They compared how accurately participants read those facial expressions using their particular eye movement strategies．

　　It turned out that Easterners focused much greater attention on the eyes and made significantly more errors than Westerners did．“ The cultural difference in eye movements that they show is probably a reflection of cultural difference in facial expressions, ” Jack said．“ Our data suggest that whereas Westerners use the whole face to convey emotion, Easterners use the eyes more and mouth less．”

　　In short, the data show that facial expressions are not universal signals of human emotion．From here on, examining how cultural factors have diversified these basic social skills will help our understanding of human emotion．Otherwise, when it comes to communicating emotions across cultures, Easterners and Westerners will find themselves lost in translation．

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阅读下面短文，从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C、D)中，选出最佳选项。

　　On April 24th, another natural disaster-the oil spill(泄露)in the Gulf of Mexico, happened．Millions of dollars have been used to help stop the spill and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．

　　But governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run．

　　Of all of today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120, 000 tones of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．

　　However, we should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power, electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research, in the past, was stopped by the oil, gas, and coal．

　　If the world's millions of cars were 10％ more efficient(高效的), we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．

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