2.How many complaints does Mr Metcalf have in his letter?

A.One.　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.Two.　　　　　　　　　　　　 C.Four.　 　　　　　　　　　　 D.Six.

B

Have you ever noticed,when looking at a map of the world ,that the east coast of South America and the west coast of Africa look as though they might fit together?If you have,you are not alone,In 1965 the English scientist Sir Edward Bullard used a computer to test the fit of the two continents and found that at an ocean depth of 2000 metres the match was very close indeed.

It seems too remarkable to be possible,but there is a lot of evidence(证据) to suggest that Africa was once joined to South America.For example,there is a belt of ancient rocks along the east coast of Brazil which is similar to the rocks across the South Atlantic in West Africa.

There is further evidence that existing land masses were once linked.The remains of a 400-to-500-million-year-old mountain chain has been found running down the eastern part of Greenland,western Scandinavia,and through north-west Scotland and Ireland,into western Canada, eventually finding their way to north-west Africa.

Then there is the evidence from life itself.In various parts of the world today the same animals and plants can be found on land masses separated by,in some cases,thousands of miles of oceans.Did they develop at the same time in two different places?It seems unlikely.Biologists believe that there must have been land bridges which have now sunk beneath the sea.Also fossils(化石) found in sedimentary rocks (fossils are the preserved remains of life forms)　 have allowed geologists to trace the same plants from South America,and Antarctica(北极) in rocks perhaps 300 million years old.

The ice that is now confined to(限制) the polar regions(北极或南极地区)has not always been so limited in extent.Indeed,during a period of the Earth’s history　 known as the permocarboniferous age(二叠石炭纪) about 250~350 million years ago　 there is evidence from the rocks that there were glaciers covering South America,parts of Africa,India,Australia,as well as Antarctica.On the other hand,in the northern hemisphere(北半球),there were deserts.If the continents sparead out as they are　 today,it is hard to understand how this could be.

So there is considerable evidence to show whole continents moved apart,and naturally many people have tried to discover how and why whole land masses moved.

1.Mr Metcalf had dinner in the restaurant on ________.

A.16th January　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.17th January

C.18th January　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.19th January

8. The　 phrase “standard hit” most nearly means ________.

A.Bennett’s favourite song but it’s not very popular

B.a song that is always popular

C.a song which makes him standard

D.a song which is like a heavy blow to his audience

专题26　 斤斤计较的数字计算题

数字计算题往往涉及多处信息，这就要求学生要处处留心、斤斤计较，方能解答正确。

●难点磁场

A

The Grange

15 Lamb’s Mews

London

SW19 1PF

19th January

Dear Ms Hawthorne

I am writing to express my disappointment with the evening my wife and I spent at your restaurant two nights ago.While the food was,as usual,very good,I regret to inform you that the service from our waiter,Max,was most unsatisfactory.

First of all,when we arrived,we discovered our table overlooking the garden had been given away to some other customers.The new table we finally received was by the door and when I complained,Max just laughed.

Furthermore,as we were sitting down,he was extremely familiar with my wife,which deeply made her uncomfortable.When our meal came,he served the food casually and at the end cleared the plates in a most rude fashion.

Regarding the payment of service,I noticed your menu which says that the matter of rewarding service is at the willingness of the guest.In addition,I should point out that on other occasions I have left at least 12 percent.This time,I felt right in leaving nothing.

I regret having to write this letter,but as a regular customer I am extremely displeased and did not expect to be treated in this manner.I look forward to hearing from you with a satisfactory reply,or,if you prefer,we could meet in person to resolve this matter.

Yours sincerely,

Rupert Metcalf

7.The word “reprimanded”in the last paragraph most exactly means “________”.

A.frightened　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.scolded

C.warned　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　forted

H

Tony Bennett,the American singer recently touring Britain,can’t remember how many times he has sung his standard hit “I Left My Heart In San Francisco.”He sang it again to his audience at the London Palladium last night.

“I never get tired of singing it,”he said,“I like it too much.It’s a great city and it’s a good song.”

Bennett is to record a TV special with American singer Lena Home while he is here.And a new LP recorded by him in London for Philips titled “Listen Easy” will be published in June.

“I like it here,”he added quietly over whiskey.“I would like to live here so many months of the year.”

He already keeps a large flat in Grosvenor Square,where he is staying with his actress wife Sandie Grant and their three-year-old daughter Joanna.It has a studio where he likes to paint.Tony plans to have his first exhibition later in the year and he has already sold one picture ＄4 000.At the end of the year Tony is to star in a musical film which has been specially written for him called “Two Bits,” an informal expression for 50 cents.It’s about an Italian immigrant(移民) who goes to America,but he becomes a failure.

“In many ways it’s very close to my life the way the story has been written,”said Bennett.“My father,an Italian,was ill and died when I was nine.He always wanted me to sing,but he never lived long enough to be a part of my success.”

The film is to be made by Italy’s top director Vittoria De Sica.

6.In the article, the word“productivity” means________.

A.the activity of producing something 　　　　　　　　　　 B.the production volume in a time unit

C.the plan and the method of production　　　　　　 D.both the quantity and quality of a product

G

One of the qualities that most people admire in others is the willingness to admit one’s mistakes.It is extremely hard sometimes to say a simple thing like “I was wrong about that,”and it is even harder to say,“I was wrong,and you were right about that.”

I had an experience recently with someone admitting to me that he had made a mistake fifteen years ago.He told me he had been the manager of a certain store in the neighbourhood where I grew up,and he asked me if I remembered the egg cartons (in many countries,eggs are sold by the dozen and are put in cartons).Then he related an incident (event,matter)and I began to remember unclearly the incident he was describing.

I was about eight years old at the time.I went into the store with my mother to do some shopping.On that particular day,I must have found my way to the food department where the incident took place.

There must have been a special sale on eggs that day because there were lots of eggs in dozen and half-dozen cartons.The cartons were put three or four feet high.I must have stopped in front of the piles of egg cartons.Just then a woman came by pushing her shopping cart and knocked off the cartons.For some reason,I decided it was up to me to put the eggs back together,so I went to work.

The manager heard the noise and came rushing over to see what had happened.When he appeared,I was on my knees looking at some of the cartons to see if any of the eggs were broken,but to him it looked as though I was the one who just did it.He severely reprimanded me and wanted me to pay for any broken eggs.I tried to explain,but it did no good.Even though I quickly forgot all about the incident,it is plain that the manager did not.

5.The word “saturated”in the second paragraph may probably mean ________.

A.satisfied　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　pletely wet

C.shameful　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.separated

F

In recent years many countries of the world have been faced with the problem of how to make their workers more productive. Some experts claim the answer is to make jobs more varied . But do more various jobs lead to greater productivity ?There is evidence to suggest that while variety certainly makes the worker’s life more enjoyable, it does not actually makes him work harder. As far as increasing productivity is concerned, then variety is not an important factor.

Other experts feel that giving the worker freedom to do his job in his own way is important , and there is no doubt that this is true. The problem is that this kind of freedom cannot easily be given in the modern factory with its complicated machinery which must be used in a fixed way. Thus while freedom of choice may be important , there is usually very little that can be done to create it .

Another very important consideration is how each worker contributes to the product he is making . In most factories the worker sees only one part of the product. Some car factories are now experimenting with having many small production lines rather than one large one,so that each worker contributes more to the production of the cars on his line.It would seem that not only is degree of the worker contribution an important factor, therefore, but it is also one we can do something about.

To what extent does more money lead to greater productivity?The workers themselves certainly think this is important . But perhaps they want more money only because the work they do is boring. Money just lets them enjoy their spare time more.A similar argument may explain　 demands for shorter working hours. Perhaps if we succeed in making their jobs more interesting , they will neither want more money, nor will shorten working hours be so important to them.

4.By saying “the conclusions to be drawn are obvious”,the writer means that ______.

A.women’s inconstancy in their choice of clothing is often laughed at

B.women are better able to put up with discomfort

C.men are also exploited greatly by fashion designers

D.men are more reasonable in the matter of fashion

E

I had applied for the nuclear submarine (潜艇)program,and Admiral Rickover was interviewing me for the job.It was the first time I met Admiral Rickover,and we sat in a large room by ourselves for more than two hours,and he let me choose any subjects I wished to discuss.Very carefully,I chose those about which I knew most at the time-current events,seamanship,music,literature,

naval tactics,electronics,gunnery-and he began to ask me a series of questions of increasing difficulty.In each instance,he soon proved that I knew relatively little about the subjects I had chosen.

He always looked right into my eyes,and he never smiled.I was saturated with cold sweat.

Finally,he asked me a question and I thought I could recover myself.He said,“How did you stand in your class at Georgia Tech before entering Annapolis as a first year student?”I had done very well,and I swelled my chest with pride and answered,“Sir,I stood fifty-ninth in a class of 820!”I sat back to wait for the congratulations-which never came.Instead,the question:“Did you do your best?”I started to say,“Yes,sir,”but I remembered who this was,and recalled several of my times at the Academy when I could have learned more about our allies(二战时的同盟国),our enemies,weapons strategy,and so forth.I was just human.I finally gulped and said,“No.Sir,I didn’t always do my best.”

He looked at me for a long time,and then turned his chair around to end the interview.He asked one final question,which I have never been able to forget-or to answer.He said,“Why not?”I sat there for a while,shaken,and then slowly left the room.

3.The word“casualty”in the last sentence means________.

A.the house that is being built

B.the money that is given to the victims

C.the person killed or injured in an accident

D.the things lost in the flood

D

If women are exploited(剥削) year after year,they have only themselves to blame.Because they shake at the thought of being seen in public in clothes that are out of fashion(时髦),they are always taken advantage of by the designers and the big stores.Clothes which have been worn only a few times have to be put aside because of the change of fashion.When you come to think of it,only a woman is capable of standing in front of a wardrobe(衣柜) packed full of clothes and announcing sadly that she has nothing to wear.

Changing fashions are nothing more than the creation of waste on purpose.Many women spend vast sums of money each year to replace clothes that have hardly been worn.Women who cannot afford to throw away clothing in this way,waste hours of their time changing the dresses they have.Skirts are lengthened or shortened;neck-lines are lowered or raised,and so on.

No one can declare that the fashion industry contributes anything really important to society.Fashion designers are seldom concerned with important things like warmth,comfort and durability(耐用).They are only interested in outward appearance and they take advantage of the fact that women will put up with any amount of discomfort,as long as they look right.There can hardly be a man who hasn’t at some time in his life smiled at the sight of a woman shaking in a thin dress on a winter day,or picking her away through deep snow in high-heeled shoes.

When comparing men and women in the matter of fashion, the conclusions to be drawn are obvious.Do the constantly changing fashions of women’s clothes,one wonders,show basic qualities of inconstancy and instability(不稳定性)?Men are too clever to let themselves be cheated by fashion designers.Do their unchanging styles of dress show basic qualities of stability and reliability?That is for you　 to decide.

2.The phrase “physical products” in　 the second paragraph means things _____.

A.that can be seen or felt　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.useful for health care

C.that help you keep fit　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　ected with sports

C

TERNANG，Mon-More than 10 000 people were made homeless in Ternang when the Sungai Mas overflowed its banks yesterday after six days of continuous heavy rain.

Flooding first appeared at mid-afternoon yesterday along the river banks.People straggling higher ground were just in time to get away from the destroy of the flood.Most of the flood victims had to leave their possessions behind.

The flood victims are now housed in various make-shift relief centers in the nearby town of Tulang.

“Everything possible is being done to help the unfortunate people.”A government spokesman said,“In fact,money,food and clothing have begun to come in from public-spirited organizations and generous persons.”

According to latest reports it is still raining heavily at Ternang.The whole town is expected to be totally covered by water.So far no casualty has been reported.

1.The underlined word “monitor” in the passage means “________”.

A.find　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.follow

C.check　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.form

B

Internet shopping is a new way of shopping. You no longer need to walk round hundreds of shops looking for the items you need. Nowadays, you can shop for just about anything from your armchair. All you need is a computer which is linked to the Internet. Shopping on the Internet is becoming increasingly popular. In the United States, 50 per cent of families have computers at home and almost one third are linked to the Internet. Americans spent over US ＄2.5 billion on Internet shopping in 1998. This figure is expected to reach US ＄11 billion by the year 2004.

People can shop for a variety of products on the Internet. Physical products include things such as books, CDs, clothes and food. These types of products are the most common purchases(购入品) through the Internet. You can also buy information products such as on-line news or magazine stories, or you can download computer software through the Internet. Services such as booking airline tickets, reserving(预定) hotels or renting cars are also available(可得到的) on the Internet. You can also go shopping on the Internet for entertainment services and take part in on-line games or e-mail “chats”.