It is hard to say that a telephone is just a telephone anymore. Not only does it let you hear Grandma's voice from miles away clearer than ever before, but it is providing even more important information services to its users. By the year 2000, American householders will rely on the telephone system for shopping, computing, playing the stock market, making airline reservations, and watching television. The lives of heart patients may depend on telephones with on line electronic systems altering their doctors to emergencies. This is in addition to American business managers who currently rely on their telephones for sales orders, inventory control, banking, video image transmission, and many other tasks.

New technologies, such as advanced computing and fiber optics, make telecommunications services cheap and quick. In addition, since the breakup of AT&T, the competition spawned (引起) among many phone companies has emphasized price changes and introduced innovative services.

But despite the stimulus to provide commercial benefits during normal operation, one essential ingredient is missing—the incentive to design for emergency preparedness in the event of disaster. The telephone system is improving its ability to respond to some emergencies such as wartime attack, but is not prepared to handle terrorism, natural disasters, fires or accidents.

Before divestiture (解体) AT&T operated a national emergency center that coordinated all procedures during a disaster. Today, in lieu of the previous AT&T center, a government agency—the National Communications System (NCS) —operates the National Coordinating Center to address disasters related to telecommunications. In addition, the numerous phone companies and large communications suppliers have developed mechanisms of their own to respond to limited emergency situations, but massive emergencies are beyond their capabilities.

　　 1. What does “anymore” in the first sentence of Paragraph 1 mean?

　　　　 A. in any case　　　　　　  B. at no time

　　　　 C. not longer　　　　　　   D. nowadays

　　 2. “In Lieu of” in Paragraph 4 is used to mean

　　　　 A. instead of　　　　　　　　 B. because of

　　　　 C. In spite of　　　　　　    D. due to

　　 3. The writer's main purpose is to

　　　　 A. describe phenomena

　　　　 B. propose a motion of the modem telecommunications sciences

　　　　 C. amuse attention to the limited uses of telephone in the event of disaster

　　　　 D. argue a belief of telephone

　　 4. What would the following paragraph after Paragraph 4 more probably deal with?

　　　　 A. the examples of emergencies that telephone system can not deal with

　　　　 B. different opinions towards the telephone services

　　　　 C. the writer's conclusion of the passage

　　　　 D. the disadvantages of the National Communications System

D
　　As the country's economy continues to steam ahead,once popular forms of entertainment,such as Karaoke(卡拉OK),card games and even boxing bars,appear to be losting their attractiveness.Stressed out white - collar wokers are camping out on rooftops,smashing(砸）up restaurants,pretending to be children and even visiting cemeteries in a effort to ease the pressure of modern life.
　　Consider the members of Shanghai's Cat Rain club.By day,this group of young women work executive (决策管理的) jobs,but by night they climb buildings so they can spend the night on the roof."You feel relaxed when you're sitting on the roof,looking up to the sky and chatting with friends," said Gong Ying,25.
　　The stress of work is not just limited to people in Shanghai.A recently opened restaurant in Beijing encourages customers(顾客) to smash plates --- as long as they are willing to pay to replace them.Some workers even wish to return to their childhoods.Recently,hundreds of people took part in a festival in which adults pretended to be children.It was an adultsonly event,and participants could read comics and eat sweets all day.
　　Scenic places such as parks and rivers can also help people relax and put things in perspective.But a cemetery?
　　Cemetery companies in Shanghai organized visits to local graveyards for stressed - out workers in March.The participants were taken to quiet spots in the cemetery where they could think about life and their futures."Pressure may bring us unhappiness,but it doesn't mean we can't find ways out,"says Chen Bin,a rooftop camping fan with still some other interests."Life should be imaginative."
　　68.Peopel are going to those new activities mainly for ______.
　　　A.recreation   B.new ideas   C.physical refreshment   D.psychological relaxation
　　69.The underlined phrase "put things in perspective"in the 4th paragraph possibly means______.
　　　A.have a good rest          B.get over negative feelings
　　　C.take physical exercise      D.judge things correctly
　　70.When Chen Bin says:"Life should be imaginative",she means______.
　　　A.life should be lived in imaginations
　　　B.the dead can be alive in our imagination
　　　C.people should create new ways of life
　　　D.we should view life positively

There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy automobile traffic. At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is literally worldwide. On several occasions over the past decade, a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in rural areas away from any major concentration of manufacturing and automobile traffic. In fact, the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution. Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels (coal and oil) is creating a “greenhouse effect”— conserving heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature. If this view is correct and the world’s temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York, Boston, Miami, and New Orleans will be in water.

Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature — a result that would be equally disastrous. A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age, and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas. Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen (though one recent government report drafted by experts in the field concluded that the greenhouse effect is very possible). Perhaps, if we are lucky enough, the two tendencies will offset each other and the world’s temperature will stay about the same as it is now. Driven by economic profits, people neglect the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”. Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development. But is it really worthwhile?

46. As pointed out at the beginning of the passage, people used to think that air pollution _______.

　A. cause widespread damage in the countryside

　B. affected the entire eastern half of the United States

　C. had damaged effect on health

　D. existed merely in urban and industries areas

47. As to the greenhouse effect, the author __________.

　A. share the same view with the scientist.

　B. is uncertain of its occurrence

　C. rejects it as being ungrounded

　D. thinks that it will destroy the world soon

48. The word “offset” in the second paragraph could be replaced by _________.

　A. slip into   B. make up for　　 C. set up    D. catch up with

49. It can be concluded that ____________.

　A. raising the world’s temperature only a few degrees would not do much harm to life on earth

　B. lowering the world’s temperature merely a few degrees would lead major farming areas to disaster 

　C. almost no temperature variations have occurred over the past decade

　D. the world’s temperature will remain constant in the years to come

50. This passage is primarily about __________.

　A. the greenhouse effect        　    B. the burning of fossil fuels

　C. the potential effect of air pollution  　D. the likelihood of a new ice age

阅读理解

Dear Anne,

　　I write further to our conversation on the phone a few days ago. It was a great dialogue to talk to you on the phone last week. I hope things are well for you. Unfortunately, things really haven't changed here at all. He is still not helping me in the house. By the time I get in from work, it's 5:45 p. m. Then I've got to prepare and cook the evening meal, clear away and wash the dishes. Even then I am still not free, as I've got to do some homework then. I don't sleep until around half past nine, by which time I am very tired of course, while I am doing all these things, Steve sits in front of the TV and boils a cup of coffee for only himself. When I ask him to help, he just says that it is none of his business ! I feel I can't go on like this. I've only been married for four months, but I feel like a life time.

　　Sorry, the letter's been one long complaint(抱怨)—I'll write again soon with some interesting news if I have any.

Yours ever

M. Atherton

1．Not long before this letter, Atherton ________.

[　　]

A．had heard from Anne

B．had a long dialogue with Steve

C．had given Anne a ring

D．had telephoned Steve

2．We can see that Atherton felt ________.

[　　]

A．unlucky to have married a husband who didn't care her

B．quite pleased to have formed a happy family

C．tired of her husband and would no longer love him

D．it her duty to look after and love her husband dearly

3．According to the letter, we know that Anne was ________.

[　　]

A．Atherton's close friend

B．Steve's first wife

C．also a married woman

D．interested in Steve

4．Who did the housework at home?

[　　]

A．The husband.

B．The wife.

C．The husband and wife in turn.

D．The husband and the wife together.

5．Which is true according to the passage?

[　　]

A．Atherton has decided to break away with her husband.

B．Anne hoped Atherton could put an end to her life.

C．Atherton has got some worries in her new life.

D．In Steve's opinion, women shouldn't go out to work.

D

　　In the atmosphere,carbon dioxide actd rather like a one-way mirror or the glass in the roof of a greenhouse which allows the sun's rays to enter but prevents the heat from excaping.

　　According to a weather expert's prediction,the atmosphere will be 3 warmer in the year 2050 than it is today, if man continues to burn luels at the present rate. If this warming up took place,the ice caps in the poles would begin to melt,thus raising sea level several meters and severely flooding coastal cities.Also，the increase in atmospheric temperature would lead to great changes in the climate of the northern hemisphere(半球),psooicbly resulting in an alteration of earth's chief food growing zones.

　　In the past,concern about a man - made warming of the earth has concentrated on the Arctic because the Antarctic is much colder and has a much thicker ice sheet.But the weather experts are now paying more attention to West Antarctic,which may be affected by a warming on the scale that will possibly take place in the next fifty years from on burning of fuels.

　　Satellite pictures showthat large areas of Antarctic ice are already disappearing.The evidence available suggests that a warming has taken place.This fits the theory that carbon dioxide warms the earth.

　　However,most of the fuel is burnt in the northern hemisphere,where temperatures seem to be falling.Scientists conclude,therefore,that up to now natural influences on the weather have exceeded those caused by man.The question is:Which natural cause has most effect on the weather?

　　One possibility is the variable behavior of the sun.Astronomers at one research station have studied the hot spots and cold spots(that is,the relatively less hot spots) on the sun. As the sun rotates(旋转),every 27.5 days,it presents hotter or colder faces to the earth,and different aspects to different parts of the earth.This seems to have a considerable effect on the distribution of the earth's atmospheric pressure,and consequently on wind circulation.The sun is also variable over a long term:its heat output goes up and down in cycles,the latest trend being downward.

　　Scientists are now finding mutual relations between models of solar weather interactions and the actual climate over many thousands of years ,including the last Ice Age.The problem is that the models are predicting that the world should be entering a new Ice Age and it is not.

　　One way of solving this theoretical difficulty is to assume a delay of thousands of years while the solar effects overcome the inertia(不活动，惰性) of the earth's climate.If this is right,the warming effect of carbon dioxide might thus be serving as a useful counter balance to the sun's diminishing heat.

　　68.It can be concluded that a concentration of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere would ___.

　　　A.mean a warming - up im the Arctic

　　　B.raise the temperature of the earth's surface

　　　C.prevent the sun's rays from reaching the earth's surface

　　　D.account for great changes in the climate in the northern hemiphere

　　69.Although the fuel consumption is greater in the northern hemisphere,temperatures there seem to be falling.This is _______.

　　　A.mainly because the levels of carbon dioxide are rising

　　　B.partly due to variations in the output of solar energy

　　　C.possibly because the ice caps in the poles are melting

　　　D.exclusively due to the effect of the inertia of the earth's climate

　　70.On the basis of their models,scientists are of the opinion that ________.

　　　A.the climate of the world should be becoming cooler

　　　B.the new Ice Age will be delayed by the greenhouse effect

　　　C.the man - made warming effect helps to increase the solar effects

　　　D.it will take thousands of years for the inertia of the earth's climate to take effect