Some years ago industries had more freedom than they have now, and they did not need to be as careful as they must today. They did not need to worry a lot about the safety of the new products that they developed. They did not have to pay much attention to the health and safety of the people who worked for them. Often new products were dangerous for the people who used them; often conditions in the work place had very bad effects on the health of the workers.

Of course sometimes there were real disasters which attracted the attention of governments and which showed the need for changes. Also scientists who were doing research into the health of workers sometimes produced information which governments could not ignore. At such times, they inquire into the causes of the disasters or the problems. New safety rules were often introduced as a result of these inquiries; however. the new rules came too late to protect the people who died or who became seriously ill.

Today many governments have special departments which protect customers and workers．In the U.S, for example, there is a department which tests new airplanes and gives warnings about possible problems. It also makes the rules that aircraft producers must follow. Another department controls the foods and drugs that companies sell. A third department looks at the places where people work. and then reports any companies that are breaking the laws which protect the health and safety of workers. Of course, new government departments and new laws cannot prevent every accident or illness. but they are having some good results. Our work places are safer and cleaner than before. The planes and cars which we use for travel are better. Producers are thinking more about the safety and health of the people who buy and use their products.

1.The main topic of the passage is ___________________________________________.

A．conditions in the work place               B．the freedom of industries in the past

C．changes in industrial production            D．the safety and health of workers and customers

2.It can be inferred from the passage that in the past __________________________.

A．workers often got ill because of the poor working conditions

B．companies were free to put out any products they wanted to

C．many people were killed by dangerous products

D．industries were as careful in management as they are today

3.It is implied (暗示) in the passage that ________________________________________.

A．governments and companies had different opinions about the safety of products

B．governments paid little attention to the safety of products

C．government officials often did not listen to scientists

D．in the past no safety laws were introduced by governments

 

Suppose you want to go abroad and learn about the foreign exchange in culture in different countries. Here is some information you may need.

 

Name: Susan Lane       Age: 22 Place: Reykjavik, Iceland, 2010. Cost: $7,000 Organization: AFS Experience: “I think it was a turning point in my life. I began to understand more about my own culture by experiencing another culture and seeing how other people live.”

 

Name: Sara Small        Age: 23 Place: Crivitz, Germany, 2012. Cost: $8,000 Organization: EF Foundation Experience: “I love the traveling and I made a lot of friends. I found the European school system to be hard but I am fluent now in German so it was worth it I did miss my family and friends in Australia but I would love to do it again.”

 

Name: David Links       Age: 16 Place: Stuttgart, Germany, 2012.. Cost: $6,000 Organization: Southern Cross Cultural Exchange Experience: “I wanted to try something that was very different in culture. In Germany everything was different but I soon got settled. The family I was with was great and I really feel as though I have a second family.”

 

Name: Tom Jennings      Age: 21 Place: Conflans, France, 2011.. Cost: $7,000 Organization: Southern Cross Cultural Exchange Experience: “There were times when it was difficult but I liked it, experiencing a different culture. You just have to play each situation as it comes. If there is one thing you learn when you are on a student-exchahge program it is how to take care of yourself.”

 

Name: Linda Marks       Age: 19 Place: Chonburi Province, Thailand, 2010. Cost: $3,500 Organization: Rotary International Experience: “There are lots of ups and downs, but you always come back for more. I had a few problems but there was always someone to turn to and that was great.”

 

1. According to the information, taking part in a foreign exchange program can cost _________.

A. from $6,000 to $8,000                             B. from $3,500 to $8,000

C. anything from $3,500                 D. no more than $7,000

2.Which organization held more foreign exchanges?

A. EF Foundation                        B. AFS

C. Rotary International                   D. SCCE

3.The students who refer to both the good and bad times as an exchange student include _________.

A. Susan Lane and Sara Small             B. Linda Marks and David Links

C. Tom Jennings and Linda Marks         D. Susan Lane and Tom Jennings

4.As a result of his experience in the foreign exchange program Tom Jennings learnt to become _________.

A. independent and adaptable                    B. determined and independent

C. selfish and defensive                D. defensive and determined

5.If a student wanted to take part in a foreign exchange program, but had not enough money, then the best place would be _________.

A. Iceland and America                B. Thailand and France

C. Germany and Iceland                 D. Germany and Thailand

 

Now let us look at how we read. When we read a printed text, our eyes move across a page in short, jerky （急动的）movement. We recognize words usually when our eyes are still when they fixate. Each time they fixate, we see a group of words. This is known as the recognition span(范围)or the visual span. The length of time of which the eyes stop ---the duration of the fixation (定位)----varies considerably from person to person. It also varies within any one person according to his purpose in reading and his familiarity with the text. Furthermore, it can be affected by such factors as lighting and tiredness.

　　Unfortunately, in the past, many reading improvement courses have concentrated too much on how our eyes move across the printed page. As a result of this misleading emphasis on the purely visual aspects of reading, numerous exercises have been devised to train the eyes to see more words at one fixation. For instance, in some exercises, words are flashed on to a screen for, say, a tenth or a twentieth of a second. One of the exercises has required students to fix their eyes on some central point, taking in the words on either side. Such word patterns are often constructed in the shape of rather steep pyramids so the reader takes in more and more words at each successive (连续的) fixation. All these exercises are very clever, but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently. Reading requires the ability to understand the relationship between words. Consequently (因此), for these reasons, many experts have now begun to question the usefulness of eye training, especially since any approach which trains a person to read isolated (孤立的) words and phrases would seem unlikely to help him in reading a continuous text.

1.The time of the recognition span can be affected by the following facts except ________ .

A．one’s familiarity with the text

B．one’s purpose in reading

C．the length of a group of words

D．lighting and tiredness

2.The author may believe that reading ______.

A．requires a reader to take in more words at each fixation

B．requires a reader to see words more quickly

C．demands an deeply-participating mind

D．demands more mind than eyes

3.What does the author mean by saying “but it’s one thing to improve a person’s ability to see words and quite another thing to improve his ability to read a text efficiently.” in the second paragraph?

A．The ability to see words is not needed when an efficient reading is conducted.

B．The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve both the ability to see and to comprehend words.

C．The reading exercises mentioned can’t help to improve an efficient reading.

D．The reading exercises mentioned has done a great job to improve one’s ability to see words.

4.Which of the following is NOT true?

A．The visual span is a word or a group of words we see each time.

B．Many experts began to question the efficiency of eye training.

C．The emphasis on the purely visual aspects is misleading.

D．The eye training will help readers in reading a continuous text.

5.The tune of the author in writing this article is ________

A．critical (批评的)	B．neutral (中立的)
C． pessimistic （悲观的 ）	D．optimistic

 

Cities need to put efforts to deal with pollution and clear the air.

Chinese cities will need to put efforts to clear up the sky when a new department to improve regional air quality is set up by 2015，according to the latest plan released by the State Council.

Besides the existing pollution control program for CO₂，regional emission caps(区域排放上限) for other certain chemicals will be established in the three key air polluting areas—the Yangtze River Delta，Pearl River Delta and the Beijing­-Tianjin­- Hebei region. Coal­-consumption caps will also be tried out in some areas，according to the plan.

The plan is aimed at dealing with regional air pollution—such as acid rain and smog—which have become increasingly obvious in China in recent years and caused a severe threat to people’s health，Zhang Lijun，vice­minister of environmental protection，said in an interview on Monday.

The air quality in a city affects the areas nearby because pollutants can travel in the sky，said Chai Fahe，vice-­director of Chinese Research Academy of Environmental Sciences.

“So efforts to reduce air pollution in a single city，targeting a certain pollutant(污染物) will not be enough，” Chai said.

Zhang said the country’s major industrial districts—the Yangtze River Delta，Pearl River Delta and the Beijing­-Tianjin-­Hebei region—have recorded more than 100 misty days annually in recent years.

These three regions，home to at least 200 million people，occupy only 6.3 percent of the country’s area but consume 40 percent of the country’s coal and produce half of its steel，according to official figures.

Studies also show that the visibility(能见度) in eastern regions of China has dropped by 7 to 15 km compared to that in the early 1960s，as a result of air pollution.

Liaoning province，the Shandong Peninsula，Wuhan in Hubei province and its surrounding area，the Changsha­-Zhuzhou­-Xiangtan region in Hunan province，the Chengdu­-Chongqing region，and the western coast of the Taiwan Straits are also listed as areas to carry out such regional air pollution control programs，according to the plan.

The new plan also requires an improved air quality system，which will measure the pollution levels. “The current system，which only measures some major pollutants，cannot reflect the_truepicture.” said Chai.

1.It will not be enough to reduce air pollution in a single city because ________.

A．air pollution has been becoming more and more serious in recent years

B．air pollution like acid rain and smog is threatening people’s health

C．air pollutants in a city can travel in the sky and affect nearby areas

D．air pollutants stay in fixed places over the cities

2.Suppose the visibility in eastern regions of China was 130 km in the early 1960s，the visibility there nowadays is ________.

A．123 to 115 km                         B．137 to 145 km

C．123 to 145 km                          D．115 to 137 km

3.The main purpose of the passage is ________.

A．to inform readers of the damage caused by air pollution

B．to introduce the new plan to control air pollution

C．to provide official figures of air pollution levels

D．to point out the regions affected by air pollution

4.What does the underlined phrase “the true picture” in the last paragraph mean?

A．The major pollutants.

B．The key polluted areas.

C．The major polluted cities.

D．The pollution levels.

 

There is an English saying :“laughter is best medicine .”Until recently ,few people took the saying seriously .Now however ,doctors have begun to look into laughter and the effects it has on the human body .They have found that laughter really can improve people’s health .

Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body .People watched funny films while doctors checked their hearts ,blood pressure ,breathing and muscles .It was found that laughter had similar effects to physical exercise .It increases blood pressure ,the heart beating and breathing ; it also works several groups of muscles in the face ,the stomach ,and even the feet .If laughter exercises the body ,it must be beneficial .

Other tests have shown that laughter appears to be able to reduce the effect of pain on the body .In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programmes .The group that tolerated(忍耐)the pain for the longest time was the groups which listened to a funny programme .The reason why laughter can reduce pain seems to be that it helps to produce a kind of chemicals in the brain which diminish both stress and pain .

As a result of these discoveries ,some doctors in the United States now hold laughter clinics ,in which they help to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh .They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing ,making them smile is enough to produce beneficial effects similar to those caused by laughter .

1.Doctors have proved the following EXCEPT that      .

A．smiling does good to health

B．laughter can be tolerated

C．there is a way to reduce pain

D．laughter can work the muscles in the feet

2.The main idea of the passage is       .

A. laughter and physical exercise have similar effects on the human body

B smile can produce the same effects as laughter

C. pain can be reduced by laughter

D. laughter is the best medicine

3.The students who    tolerated the pain for the longest time .

A．listened to different radio programmes

B．could produce a kind of chemical

C．don’t have stress of pain

D．listened to a funny programme

4.The underlined word “diminish” is similar to       .

A．test              B．stop              C．reduce           D．increase

5.Doctors hold laughter clinics _________.

A．to give better condition to their patients

B．in order to improve patients’ health

C．to make patients smile

D．to prove smile and laughter have the same effect