(09·湖南D篇)

Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that the perfect portable bike would be “like a magic carpet…You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag”. Then he paused: “But you’ll always be limited by the size of the wheels. And so far no one has invented a folding wheel.”

It was a rare — indeed unique — occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right. A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel. His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces. All the bits fitted into Grout’s Wonderful Bag, a leather case.

Grout’s aim: to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train. Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel: his bike was a huge beast. And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage: in Grout’s day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple. You couldn’t do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated （充气的） tyre.

So, in a 21st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead? It is not. A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons, has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse （椭圆）. Throughout, the tyre remains inflated.

Will the young Fitzsimons’s folding wheel make it into production? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But his inventiveness shows two things. First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances. It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago: there’s plenty still to go for. Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions. You can buy a folding bike for less than £1,000 that can be knocked down so small that it can be carried on a plane — minus wheels, of course — as hand baggage.

Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible. Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie’s imagination? No. But it’s progress.

69. We can infer from Paragraph 1 that the Brompton folding bike        .

A. was portable

B. had a folding wheel

C. could be put in a pocket

D. looked like a magic carpet

70. We can learn from the text that the wheels of the Grout Portable        .

A. were difficult to separate

B. could be split into 6 pieces

C. were fitted with solid tyres

D. were hard to carry on a train

71. We can learn from the text that Fitzsimons’s invention        .

A. kept the tyre as a whole piece

B. was made into production soon

C. left little room for improvement

D. changed our views on bag design

72. Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Three folding bike inventors

B. The making of a folding bike

C. Progress in folding bike design

D. Ways of separating a bike wheel

With the help of an interpreter, the foreigner was able to get his idea ________ to the assistants in the drugstore.

A．by               B．across            C．along             D．against

 

Andrew Ritchie, inventor of the Brompton folding bicycle, once said that the perfect portable bike would be “like a magic carpet…You could fold it up and put it into your pocket or handbag”. Then he paused: “But you’ll always be limited by the size of the wheels. And so far no one has invented a folding wheel.”

It was a rare — indeed unique — occasion when I was able to put Ritchie right. A 19th-century inventor, William Henry James Grout, did in fact design a folding wheel. His bike, predictably named the Grout Portable, had a frame that split into two and a larger wheel that could be separated into four pieces. All the bits fitted into Grout’s Wonderful Bag, a leather case.

Grout’s aim: to solve the problems of carrying a bike on a train. Now doesn’t that sound familiar? Grout intended to find a way of making a bike small enough for train travel: his bike was a huge beast. And importantly, the design of early bicycles gave him an advantage: in Grout’s day, tyres were solid, which made the business of splitting a wheel into four separate parts relatively simple. You couldn’t do the same with a wheel fitted with a one-piece inflated （充气的） tyre.

So, in a 21st-century context, is the idea of the folding wheel dead? It is not. A British design engineer, Duncan Fitzsimons, has developed a wheel that can be squashed into something like a slender ellipse （椭圆）. Throughout, the tyre remains inflated.

Will the young Fitzsimons’s folding wheel make it into production? I haven’t the foggiest idea. But his inventiveness shows two things. First, people have been saying for more than a century that bike design has reached its limit, except for gradual advances. It’s as silly a concept now as it was 100 years ago: there’s plenty still to go for. Second, it is in the field of folding bikes that we are seeing the most interesting inventions. You can buy a folding bike for less than £1,000 that can be knocked down so small that it can be carried on a plane — minus wheels, of course — as hand baggage.

Folding wheels would make all manner of things possible. Have we yet got the magic carpet of Andrew Ritchie’s imagination? No. But it’s progress.

1.We can infer from Paragraph 1 that the Brompton folding bike        .

A．was portable

B．had a folding wheel

C．could be put in a pocket

D．looked like a magic carpet

2.We can learn from the text that the wheels of the Grout Portable        .

A．were difficult to separate

B．could be split into 6 pieces

C．were fitted with solid tyres

D．were hard to carry on a train

3.We can learn from the text that Fitzsimons’s invention        .

A．kept the tyre as a whole piece

B．was made into production soon

C．left little room for improvement

D．changed our views on bag design

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A．Three folding bike inventors

B．The making of a folding bike

C．Progress in folding bike design

D．Ways of separating a bike wheel

 

Recently, a study was carried out to determine who was the greatest American president．Sixty-five presidential historians took part in it, and they judged the past forty-two American leaders based on ten leadership qualities, including public persuasiveness(信服), crisis leadership, management of the economy, moral leadership, and conduct of international relations．The historians also looked at administrative ability (管理能力), relations with Congress, ability to set goals, and the pursuit of equal justice for all．Finally, the experts took into consideration the historical period in which the president lived．
The historians chose Abraham Lincoln as American’s greatest president．He had also been named best president in a similar study in 2000．Abraham Lincoln was the president who led the nation through the Civil War in the 1860s, and was able to unite it in the end．He also took the first steps to abolish slavery in America．
Edna Medford, a professor of history at Howard University in Washington, D.C., was an adviser on this study and the earlier one．She says Abraham Lincoln is seen to represent the values the nation most honors, such as truthfulness, moderation, and respect for human rights．
The historians put American’s first president, George Washington, second on the list, while Franklin D．Roosevelt, Theodore Roosevelt, and Harry Truman follow in that order．John   F．Kennedy, the country’s first Roman Catholic president, is sixth on the list．Like Lincoln, Kennedy was murdered while in office．
Among recent presidents, Ronald Reagan was named the tenth best and Bill Clinton rated fifteenth, while the historians put former president George W．Bush at number thirty-six．His father, George H.W．Bush, did much better, being placed at number eighteen．
【小题1】We learn from the text that ___________．

A．this is the second time that Abraham Lincoln has been chosen as America’s greatest president

B．Edna Medford didn’t take part in the study conducted in 2000．

C．George H.W．Bush was thought to have done worse in office than George W．Bush

D．Harry Truman was rated the fourth-best president by the study

【小题2】Which of the following belong to the ten leadership qualities considered?
a．Being able to persuade the public
b．Taking effective measures during a financial crisis．
c．Balancing home life and career．
d．Pursuing equal justice for all．

A．a,b,c

B．b,c,d

C．a,b,d

D．a,c,d

【小题3】Who is rated worst among the following four presidents?

A．John F．Kennedy	B．George Washington
C．Bill Clinton	D．George W．Bush

【小题4】The text is mainly about ________．

A．the ten qualities a great president needs

B．a study of American presidents

C．the values the American nation honors most

D．how Abraham Lincoln improved the country

Unexpected things may happen every day but no one can tell when and where. People usually get surprised or frightened by such things.

One day I 36 a taxi to go to a meeting. As it came near the corner, the taxi stopped suddenly.The 37       got out looking very puzzled(迷惑). A big 38  which had been following the taxi stopped, too. The taxi driver was now 39  at the corner looking up 40 the sky and the truck driver got out and 41  him. A number of cars behind them were 42  to stop as well and a large crowd of people had 43 at the corner.

The cause of all this 44  was a very strange noise. It 45  as if thousands and thousands of  46  were chirping（鸣叫）.The sound of so 47 birds toghter was quite surprising and many people looked 48 . The most extraordinary thing was that,except one or two  49 , there was not a bird in 50 . No one was able to know why — 51 two policemen arrived on the scene. They walked all around the area for a while and then went over near the railroad tracks beside a big board advertisement(广告)for a 52  . Since the noise seemed to be coming from around there, they climbed up and found that two loudspeakers had been  53 behind the advertisement.The bird noises were being broadcast to 54  attention to the film advertisement.

The cinema that made this advertisement was 55 to take the loudspeakers away, because they caused trouble and people were tired of them.

1.

A．ran

B．drove

C．took

D．rode

2.

A．travellers

B．passagers

C．driver

D．conductor

3.

A．truck

B．bus

C．car

D．bike

4.

A．riding

B．moving

C．sitting

D．standing

5.

A．for

B．after

C．over

D．at

6.

A．prevented

B．joined

C．watched

D．left

7.

A．told

B．ordered

C．forced

D．driven

8.

A．appeared

B．gathered

C．aimed

D．covered

9.

A．accident

B．thing

C．matter

D．trouble

10.

A．heard

B．looked

C．felt

D．sounded

11.

A．animals

B．people

C．birds

D．beasts

12.

A．big

B．wild

C．strange

D．many

13.

A．disappointed

B．frightened

C．wondered

D．worried

14.

A．stars

B．trees

C．snakes

D．sparrows

15.

A．distance

B．snow

C．sight

D．silence

16.

A．after

B．until

C．as

D．since

17.

A．shop

B．film

C．factory

D．notice

18.

A．hidden

B．kept

C．broken

D．fixed

19.

A．direct

B．pay

C．give

D．call

20.

.

A．suggested

B．advised

C．ordered

D．persuaded