Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

       All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

       However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing, or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

       There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

The new products become more and more time-saving because          .

       A. time is limited                                            B. our love of speed seems never-ending     

       C. the prices are increasingly high                      D. the manufacturers boast a lot

What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

       A. Simple life in the past.                                 B. Imaginary life.                              

       C. Times of inventions.                                     D. Time for constant activity.

What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?

       A. Objective.                B. Critical.                   C. Optimistic.               D. Negative.

What does the passage mainly discuss?

       A. Machinery and human beings.                       B. The present and past times.                    

C. Imaginations and inventions.                         D. Modern technology and its influence.

第三部分阅读理解（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳答案。
Governors, lawyers and business leaders have to deal with scientists, and every educated person finds his views affected by science. Yet our science teaching of non-scientists, in school and college, has built up mistaken ideas, dislikes, and the common boast(自夸), "I never did understand science." Even those students who arrive at colleges with plans to become scientists usually bring a mistaken picture of science: some have a collection of unorganized facts about science, and some regard the study of science as a game which includes getting the right answer.
The first of these attitudes seems to come from a kind of course which provides various kinds of information; the second, from a training course on how to pass examinations that do not ask about the student's understand but simply require him to put the numbers in the right formula(公式). Neither type of courses in school or college seems to give students an understanding of science as we find it among scientists. Neither shows students how real scientists work and think, how the facts are gathered, how discoveries are made, and what they mean. Young people need good teaching of science, not so much as great wealth of knowledge as a healthy understanding of the nature of science. They need an understanding of knowledge leading to agreement with science and an eagerness of the way scientists work. Given these it is easy to encourage later reading and learning.
56. One of the reasons that cause mistaken ideas of science is due to _______.
A. a mistaken picture in students' mind       
B. the unscientific way of teaching of science
C. the fact that students fail to see the influence of science
D. the fact that students have a collection of unrelated facts about science
57. According to the passage, we can safely say that the subject of the passage is ______.
A. need for good science teaching              
B. young people should form a correct attitude to science
C. students must know what science is and how scientists work and think
D. every person, including governors, lawyers and business leaders should study science
58. A good course of science is ______.
A. to provide students with all kinds of information
B. to teach students to do things according to formulas
C. to help students have a good understanding and form a correct attitude to science
D. to encourage students to make themselves masters of knowledge
59. People such as governors, lawyers and business leaders deal with scientists mainly because ______.
A. scientists are great persons                           
B. they owe much to scientists' contributions
C. they can be affected by scientists when they are together
D. scientists make discoveries and help people live a more comfortable and safer life

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s lives amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boasts (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.

    All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so. We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind in another time zone. Again, spending too long at computer results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientists; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.

    However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing, or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.

    There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestors faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.

1. The new products become more and more time-saving because       .

A. the manufacturers boast a lot            B. time is limited

C. the prices are increasingly high          D. our love of speed seems never-ending

2. What does “the days” in Paragraph 3 refer to?

A. Simple life in the past.                B. Imaginary life.

C. Times of inventions.                  D. Time for constant activity.

3.. What is the author’s attitude towards the modern technology?

A. Critical.         B. Optimistic.      C. Objective.         D. Negative.

4.. What does the passage mainly discuss?

A. The present and past times.        B. Modern technology and its influence.

C. Imaginations and inventions.     D. Machinery and human beings.

Modern inventions have speeded up people’s loves amazingly. Motor-cars cover a hundred miles in little more than an hour, aircraft cross the world inside a day, while computers operate at lightning speed. Indeed, this love of speed seems never-ending. Every year motor-cars are produced which go even faster and each new computer boats (吹嘘) of saving precious seconds in handling tasks.
All this saves time, but at a price. When we lose or gain half a day in speeding across the world in an airplane, our bodies tell us so.  We get the uncomfortable feeling known as jet-lag; our bodies feel that they have been left behind on another time zone. Again, spending too long at computers results in painful wrists and fingers. Mobile phones also have their dangers, according to some scientist; too much use may transmit harmful radiation into our brains, a consequence we do not like to think about.
However, what do we do with the time we have saved? Certainly not relax, or so it seems. We are so accustomed to constant activity that we find it difficult to sit and do nothing or even just one thing at a time. Perhaps the days are long gone when we might listen quietly to a story on the radio, letting imagination take us into another world.
There was a time when some people’s lives were devoted simply to the cultivation of the land or the care of cattle. No multi-tasking there; their lives went on at a much gentler pace, and in a familiar pattern. There is much that we might envy about a way of life like this. Yet before we do so, we must think of the hard tasks our ancestor faced: they farmed with bare hands, often lived close to hunger, and had to fashion tools from wood and stone. Modern machinery has freed people from that primitive existence.
【小题1】 The new products become more and more time-saving because        .

People bury treasure to stop other people from taking it. They choose a quiet place, dig a deep hole and bury the treasure in it. Then they make a map of where the treasure is or write down other clues（线索）that will help them or someone else to find it again.

In Britain a few years ago, a writer wrote about some treasure that he had buried. He put clues in the story to help readers find it. Thousands of people hunted for the treasure. They dug holes all over Britain, hoping to find it.

One of the most popular adventure stories ever written is Robert Louis Stephenson's “Treasured Island”, an exciting story about a young boy, Jim Hawkins, who is captured by pirates (海盗) and later finds some buried treasure.

Then there is the true story about a man who had to travel overseas for a year. He did not trust banks, so he buried his life savings in a park. Then he went away. On his return, he went straight to the park. But the park was no longer there. In its place there was a huge building.

And then there was the man who buried his savings, all in bank notes, in a waterproof（防水的）bag. When he dug it up years later, there was nothing left. Worms and insects had eaten the bag and everything in it.

And of course, these are stories about people who bury things and either forget where they have buried them or lose the map.

Although it is true that people sometimes lose their money because a bank fails, banks are still the safest place to keep our savings and treasures.

1.People who bury treasure usually        .

A. do not trust banks              

B. have a little money .

C. want to live in a quiet place.      

D. expect to lose it

2.The writer in Britain        .

A. really had buried something.     

B. started a nationwide treasure hunt.

C. had lost his treasure and wanted people to help him find it.

D. caused trouble because people dug holes everywhere.

3. “Treasure Island”        .

A. is a story about pirates.          

B. is about the adventures of Jim Hawkins.

C. is the most popular story ever written.

D. is a well-known fairy tale.

4.The man who buried his money in a park        .

A. thought his money was safer there than in a bank.

B. travelled on the sea for a year.     

C. got his life savings back again.

D. stayed away longer than he expected.

5.From these stories we understand that        .

A. we cannot trust banks.           

B. we should not trust anyone.

C. a waterproof bag is not proof against worms and insects.

D. insects eat anything.