We show an amazing tolerance for a form of pollution that is a growing problem: noise. Airplane traffic is increasing by five percent a year. Urban noise is doubling every ten years. By air, land and sea, we are facing an onslaught of noise that is threatening our ability to live in this world. We have granted ourselves the right to make noise. But what about our responsibilities? Have we developed a sense of acoustic responsibility?

The evidence suggests that we have not. Many people seem to believe they have an unlimited right to make noise with cars and motorbikes, and with loud music at home and in the street. In some countries measures have been taken to force people to make less noise. In Britain, for example, a law has been passed preventing people from disturbing their neighbors with music at night.

It is widely accepted that we should deal with our rubbish in a responsible way Noise is in reality a particularly insidious form of rubbish. It destroys community life, pursues us into our homes, keeps us from sleeping and is the cause of many stress-related illnesses, as well as hearing loss. Our acoustic environment belongs to all of us. Everyone has the right to use it, but no one has the right to abuse it. Let’s start using it responsibly.

The underlined word “acoustic” in the first paragraph probably means ________.

A. environment          B. pollution              C. sound             D. rubbish

Which of the following statements is NOT correct?

A. Nowadays everyone thinks it’s all right to make noise.

B. British law protects people from their neighbors’ music at night.

C. The level of noise produced in cities is twice as high now as ten years ago.

D. Noise can sometimes cause hearing loss.

The passage is probably written to _______.

A. introduce acoustic responsibility             B. call for people to make less noise

C. compare rubbish and noise                            D. describe people’s attitude to noise

Depression(抑郁症)is a serious problem today．Depression causes workers to be unproductive，causing companies and countries to lose billions of dollars．One expert says that depression is like cancer because it is “widespread，costly and deadly”．Depression hits one person in five around the world．

Although people have believed depression to be a problem among the rich and educated，studies show that depression is a problem among everyone。Over any six-month period，between five to seven percent of the world's population will be suffering from a serious depression．

suicide(自杀)rates among people suffering from the disease in its extreme，or clinical form were 80 percent higher than in the population at large，and sufferers were four times more likely to have heart attacks. People who suffer from depression often have problems sleeping，getting up on time，and doing work productively．

Depression，which researchers agree has its origin in the genes(基因)，brings loss of confidence and ability to concentrate-making it impossible for employees and managers to work efficiently．

Depression is made more serious in China by Chinese's inability to face it．Many people believe that depressed people are either weak or lazy．  Besides，there is no good treatment，with few specialists available．

“Most patients in China just don't get help，”a Chinese doctor says．“In my hospital．I have to see 30 or 40 patients in a morning，just have time to say “Hello how do you feel？”

In Western countries，people are not afraid to admit that they have depression，but most do not tell it to their boss，because they fear that their boss would fire them．

“In my experience，aging bosses are the most willing to admit they have it. Because they feel the most secure about themselves，”an American doctor says．

Hopefully，in the near future，people around the world will be able to admit that they have depression so that they can get the right treatment．

1.Which of the following is true according to the passage？

A．It is widely believed that everyone may suffer from depression．

B．Depression brings great problems to its sufferers in their life and work

C．Depression is a commonly-existing problem only in rich countries．

D．The poorer and the less educated a person is，the less he will suffer from depression．

2.Compared to normal people，the depressed people are likely to be▁▁▁．

A．very unconfident and often absent-minded

B．easy to avoid being hit by heart attacks

C．working efficiently and productively

D．either weak or lazy

3.Depression becomes more serious in China because of．

A．the understanding of the problem

B．the lack of treatment and doctors

C．their unwillingness to tell it to their boss

D．the doctors' careless work

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．People are suffering from depression because of the shortage of specialists．

B．The aging bosses around the world dare to say they are depressed．

C．More and more patients will turn to specialists for help．

D．Western people are braver than Chinese people．

 

Depression(抑郁症)is a serious problem today．Depression causes workers to be unproductive，causing companies and countries to lose billion of dollars．One expert says that depression is like cancer because it is “widespread, costly and deadly”．Depression hits one person in five around the world．
Although people have believed depression to be a problem among the rich and educated，studies show that depression is a problem among everyone．Over any six-month period, between five to seven percent of the world’s population will be suffering from a serious depression．
Suicide(自杀)rates among people suffering from the disease in its extreme, or clinical form were 80 percent higher than in the population at large, and sufferers were four times more likely to have heart attacks．People who suffer from depression often have problems sleeping，getting up on time，and doing work productively.
Depression, which researchers agree has its origin in the genes(基因)，brings loss of confidence and ability to concentrate, making it possible for employees and managers to work efficiently．
Depression is made more serious in China by Chinese’s inability to face it．Many people believe that depressed people are either weak or lazy．Besides，there is no good treatment，with few specialists available．
“Most patients in China just don’t get help,” a Chinese doctor says．“In my hospital，I have
to see 30 or 40 patients in a morning，and just have time to say ‘Hello，how do you feel ?…’”
In Western countries，people are not afraid to admit that they have depression，but most do not tell it to their boss，because they fear that their boss would fire them．
“In my experience，aging bosses are the most willing to admit they have it, because they feel
the most secure about themselves, ” an American doctor says．
Hopefully，in the near future，people around the world will be able to admit that they have depression so that they can get the right treatment.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．It is widely believed that everyone may suffer from depression．

B．Depression brings great problems to its sufferers in their life and work．

C．Depression is a commonly-existing problem only in rich countries．

D．The poorer and the less educated a person is，the less he will suffer from depression．

【小题2】Compared to normal people，depressed people are likely to be________．   

A．very unconfident and often absent-minded	B．easy to avoid being hit by heart attacks
C．working efficiently and productively	D．either weak or lazy

【小题3】Depression becomes more serious in China because of_________．

A．the understanding of the problem	B．the lack of treatment and doctors
C．their unwillingness to tell it to their boss	D．the doctors’ careless work

【小题4】What can we infer from the passage?

A．People are suffering from depression because of the shortage of specialists．

B．The aging bosses around the world dare to say they are depressed．

C．More and mote patients will turn to specialists for help

D．Western people are braver than Chinese people

Depression(抑郁症)is a serious problem today．Depression causes workers to be unproductive，causing companies and countries to lose billions of dollars．One expert says that depression is like cancer because it is “widespread，costly and deadly”．Depression hits one person in five around the world．

Although people have believed depression to be a problem among the rich and educated，studies show that depression is a problem among everyone。Over any six-month period，between five to seven percent of the world's population will be suffering from a serious depression．

uicide(自杀)rates among people suffering from the disease in its extreme，or clinical form were 80 percent higher than in the population at large，and sufferers were four times more likely to have heart attacks. People who suffer from depression often have problems sleeping，getting up on time，and doing work productively．

Depression，which researchers agree has its origin in the genes(基因)，brings loss of confidence and ability to concentrate-making it impossible for employees and managers to work efficiently．

Depression is made more serious in China by Chinese's inability to face it．Many people believe that depressed people are either weak or lazy．  Besides，there is no good treatment，with few specialists available．

“Most patients in China just don't get help，”a Chinese doctor says．“In my hospital．I have to see 30 or 40 patients in a morning，just have time to say “Hello how do you feel？”

In Western countries，people are not afraid to admit that they have depression，but most do not tell it to their boss，because they fear that their boss would fire them．

“In my experience，aging bosses are the most willing to admit they have it. Because they feel the most secure about themselves，”an American doctor says．

Hopefully，in the near future，people around the world will be able to admit that they have depression so that they can get the right treatment．

1.Which of the following is true according to the passage？

A．It is widely believed that everyone may suffer from depression．

B．Depression brings great problems to its sufferers in their life and work

C．Depression is a commonly-existing problem only in rich countries．

D．The poorer and the less educated a person is，the less he will suffer from depression．

2.Compared to normal people，the depressed people are likely to be▁▁▁．

A．very unconfident and often absent-minded

B．easy to avoid being hit by heart attacks

C．working efficiently and productively

D．either weak or lazy

3.Depression becomes more serious in China because of．

A．the understanding of the problem

B．the lack of treatment and doctors

C．their unwillingness to tell it to their boss

D．the doctors' careless work

4.What can we infer from the passage?

A．People are suffering from depression because of the shortage of specialists．

B．The aging bosses around the world dare to say they are depressed．

C．More and more patients will turn to specialists for help．

D．Western people are braver than Chinese people．

 

When we look at the sky and see a bright light moving quickly across it or coming towards the earth, we talk about seeing a “shooting star” or a “falling star”. These moving lights are not, in fact, stars at all. They are small pieces of matter from outer space, which burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The correct name of them is meteoroids. Any pieces that make it to the Earth’s surface without completely burning up are known as meteorites. A meteor is actually the name given to the light we see when a meteoroid is burning up.

When a meteorite hits the Earth at speeds between 11 and 72 kilometers a second, it can do amazing damage. A very large meteorite could knock the earth out of its orbit. If this happened, all life on Earth would probably become extinct（灭绝）. The path we follow around the Sun would change and as a result the Earth would become either much hotter or much colder. This change in temperature would affect sea levels and the amount of water in rivers. There would either be huge floods, which would cover most of the land with water, or the oceans would dry up and there would be a drought, which means a long period of time without rain. Either way, nothing could survive. If a large meteorite landed in the sea it would almost certainly cause tsunamis, which would race towards the land, destroying everything in their paths.

Although it is unlikely the Earth will be struck by a meteorite large enough to do that kind of damage, there is evidence of fairly large meteorites hitting the Earth in the past. In 1908 a large area of forest in Tunguska, Siberia was destroyed by a meteorite that came apart just before it hit the ground. The moon, however, has about three billion craters陨石坑caused by meteorites impacting影响 its surface. The reason more meteorites have reached the surface of the moon than the surface of the Earth is that the moon does not have enough atmosphere for the meteorites to burn up in. some of the meteorites that have reached the Earth’s surface have done considerable damage. Some scientists believe it was a change of climate caused by meteorites hitting the Earth that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs and other large prehistoric animals.

Scientists are especially interested in meteorites because they contain information about the solar system. It is widely believed by scientists that most meteorites are produced by collisions（碰撞） between asteroids (small planets). These collisions probably happened many billions of years ago. This means the physical and chemical structure of a meteorite can give scientists information about the early days of the universe.

1.The story is about ___.     

A．floods caused by meteors

B．matter from outer space

C．life on Earth millions of years ago

D．meteorites that have damaged the moon

2.The Earth has ___.                    

A．three billion craters

B．fewer craters than the moon

C．more craters than the moon

D．a thinner atmosphere than the moon

3.Some scientists believe the dinosaurs became extinct because ___.     

A．they were hit by meteors

B．meteorites landed on their nests

C．meteorites landed and changed the climate

D．they could no longer breathe the atmosphere

4.Meteors are ___.                                         

A．small planets

B．the same as asteroids

C．from broken parts of asteroids

D．the light we see when meteoroids hit our atmosphere