Sometimes a part of us must die before another part can come to life. Even though this is a       and necessary stage of our growth, it is often painful or       if we don’t realize what’s happening. In fact, confusion is often the       that tells us a change is taking place within us. These changes happen throughout the lives of all humans, as we move from babyhood to       to teenage years and beyond. With each change from one       to another, we find ourselves       goodbye to an old friend, the identity (个性，身份) that we       in order to move through that particular time.

Sometimes we shape these identities in relationships or jobs, and when we change, those areas of our life become      . Usually, if we take the time to look into the changing surface of things, we will find that a change is taking place       us. For example, we may go through one whole part of our lives creating a protective shell around ourselves       we need it in defense of ourselves. One day,      , we may find ourselves feeling limited and bored, wanting to move outside the       we used to need; the new part of ourselves cannot be born within the       of the shell our old self needed.

We may feel a strange       of excitement and sadness as we say goodbye to a part of ourselves that is       and make way for a whole new identity to       in its place. We may find inspiration in working and studying when we think of the image of an animal who sheds (蜕毛；蜕皮) in order to       way for new skin, fur, or feathers to      . For example, keeping a piece of snake skin, or some other symbols of change, can       us that death and rebirth are simply nature’s way of growing. We can give in to this process, letting go of our past self with great love and gratitude, and       the new with an open mind and heart, ready for our next stage of life.

1.A. natural       B. dusty     C. humorous     D. rare

2.A. moving       B. confusing      C. tiring     D. scared

3.A. report        B. notice   C. sign       D. idea

4.A. brotherhood      B. neighborhood       C. adulthood     D. childhood

5.A. animal        B. people  C. school   D. stage

6.A. saying         B. speaking        C. telling   D. reading

7.A. showed      B. left        C. shaped D. realized

8.A. influenced B. remained     C. defended      D. directed

9.A. of       B. within   C. for         D. between

10.A. although  B. while     C. until      D. because

11.A. moreover         B. therefore      C. however        D. so

12.A. area          B. shelter  C. room     D. space

13.A. limits        B. contents        C. connection   D. requirement

14.A. influence B. mixture          C. appearance  D. relation

15.A. dying        B. coming C. escaping       D. running

16.A. come back        B. come down   C. come out       D. come across

17.A. become   B. reach    C. name    D. make

18.A. appear     B. disappear      C. go D. exist

19.A. convince B. remind C. warn    D. tell

20.A. hoping     B. imaging C. welcoming    D. supplying

 

You never see him, but they're with you every time you fly. They record where you are going, how fast you're traveling and whether everything on your airplane is functioning normally. Their ability to endure almost any disaster makes them seem like something out of a comic book. They're known as the black box.

　When planes fall from the sky, as a Yemeni airliner did on its way to Comoros Islands in the India ocean on June 30, 2009, the black box is the best bet for identifying what went wrong. So when a French submarine (潜水艇) detected the box's homing signal five days later, the discovery marked a huge step toward determining the cause of a tragedy in which 152 passengers were killed.

　In 1958, Australian scientist David Warren developed a flight-memory recorder that would track basic information like altitude and direction. That was the first mode for a black box, which became a requirement on all U.S. commercial flights by 1960. Early models often failed to withstand crashes, however, so in 1965 the box was completely redesigned and moved to the rear of the plane – the area least subject to impact – from its original position in the landing wells (起落架舱). The same year, the Federal Aviation Authority required that the boxes, which were never actually black, be painted orange or yellow to aid visibility.

　Modern airplanes have two black boxes: a voice recorder, which tracks pilots' conversations, and a flight-data recorder, which monitors fuel levels, engine noises and other operating functions that help investigators reconstruct the aircraft's final moments. Placed in an insulated (隔绝的) case and surrounded by a quarter-inch-thick panels of stainless steel, the boxes can stand massive force and temperatures up to 2,000℉. When submerged, they're also able to emit signals from depths of 20,000 ft. Experts believe the boxes from Air France Flight 447, which crashed near Brazil on June 1,2009, are in water nearly that deep, but statistics say they're still likely to turn up. In the approximately 20 deep-sea crashes over the past 30 years, only one plane's black boxes were never recovered.

1.What does the author say about the black box?

A．It is an indispensable device on an airplane.　

B．The idea for its design comes from a comic book.

C．Its ability to avoid disasters is incredible.

D．It ensures the normal functioning of an airplane.

2.What does the underlined word in the 3^rd paragraph mean?　

A．witness           B．experience        C．resist　           D．ensure

3.Why was the black box redesigned in 1965?

A．New materials became available by that time

B．Too much space was needed for its installation.

C．The early models didn't provide the needed data.

D．The early models often got damaged in the crash.

4.What do we know about the black boxes from Air France Flight 447?

A．There is an urgent need for them to be reconstructed.

B．There is still a good chance of their being recovered.　

C．They have stopped sending homing signals.

D．They were destroyed somewhere near Brazil.

 

Scientists Alan M．Goldberg and Thomas Hartung describe recent advances in replacing the use of animals in toxicology(毒物学)testing．Improvements in cell and tissue culture technologies，for example，allow a growing number of tests to be performed on human cells alone．Computer models are becoming increasingly complex and many could one day become more accurate than trials in living animals．

    Since the late 1990s，Huntingdon Life Sciences--a company that conducts testing of substances on animals conducted by the Environmental Protection Agency and the Food and Drug Administration—has become a proving ground for aggressive strategies by animal-rights militants （好战分子）．At a hearing，a Senate．committee listened to testimony（证词） against Huntingdon employees and financial institutions providing services to the company．One experimentation witness at the hearing insisted that any means necessary were justified（辩护） to spare animals’ lives；he has previously accepted the idea of murder to that end．

    Use of animals in testing and in biomedical research continues to be necessary in many instances and is ethically（伦理道德地）preferable to experimenting on humans or giving up cures that could save human lives．But for the sake of people and animals alike，the development and acceptance of animal substitutes deserve enthusiastic support．

    In some instances, substitutes are already thought as good or better than animals，but supervising agencies（监督机构）have yet to catch up．In both the European Union and the U．S．，scientists and companies wanting to use the new alternative tests complain that regulatory standards for proving a drug or chemical to be safe for humans force the continued use of animals．Thus，animal-loving Americans might turn to persuading the EPA and the FDA to speed validation（确认）of new methods so that they can be more widely employed．And animal advocates（保护者） who want to influence business could consider investing in the small biotech’s and large pharmaceutical（药品的） companies that are working to develop alternatives to animals in research．

1._____ plays a leading role in replacing the use of animals in testing．

A．Huntingdon Life Sciences     B．Improvement in technologies

C．Animal-fights militants      D．Scientists Alan and Thomas

2.Accordingly, the animal-rights militants hold the view that_____．

A．animals shouldn’t be used in toxicology testing

B．animals should enjoy equal rights with human beings

C．animals should live wildly and freely

D．we should protect animals from being killed casually

3.From the passage，we can find _____．

A．the use of animals in testing has been stopped abruptly

B．animal substitutes are not preferable

C．supervising standards contribute to the continued use of animals in testing

D．only Huntingdon Life Sciences is accused

4.What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Saving animals and people．

B．The new trend in toxicology testing

C．The use of animals in testing is against human nature

D．New technology changes the fate of animals

5.The writer’s attitude towards replacing the use of animals in toxicology is____．

A．arbitrary（武断的，随意的）  B．pessimistic

C．indifferent（不关心的 ）    D．optimistic

 

Stand Beside You Forever永远站在你身后

题材：感人故事 难度：＊＊＊＊ 词数：272标准时间：15分钟 完成时间：______ 正确数：______

The passengers on the bus watched sympathetically as the attractive young woman with the white cane made her way carefully up the steps. She   1    the driver and, using her hands to feel the   2    of the seats, walked down and found the   3    which the driver had told her was empty. Then she settled in.

It had been a year since Susan, 34,   4    a medical misdiagnosis (误诊), was suddenly thrown into a world of   5   . Mark, her husband, was an Air Force officer and he loved Susan with all his heart. He   6    her how to rely on her other   7   , specifically her hearing, to determine where she was and   8    to adapt herself to the new environment. He helped her befriend the bus drivers who could   9    for her, and save her a seat.

  10   , Susan decided that she was ready to try the   11    on her own. Monday morning, she said good-bye and for the first time, they went their   12    ways.

On Friday morning, Susan took the bus to work as usual. As she was   13    the bus, the driver said, “Boy, I   14    envy you.” Susan had no   15   what the driver was talking about, and asked, “What do you   16   ?”

The driver answered, “You know, every morning for the   17    week, a fine-looking gentleman   18    a military uniform has been standing across the corner   19    you as you get off the bus. He   20    you cross the street safely and he watches until you enter your office building. You are one lucky lady.”           

Tears of gratitude poured down Susan’s cheeks.     

A. thanked B. asked  C. discovered  D. paid

A. location   B. shape  C. size     D. cost

A. ticket      B. bus     C. seat     D. bag

A. according to   B. instead of C. thanks to    D. due to

A. anger      B. darkness     C. happiness   D. light

A. asked      B. encouraged C. taught D. praised

A. feelings   B. sights  C. senses D. abilities

A. how B. when  C. where D. who

A. make out B. watch out   C. find out      D. work out

A. Finally  B. Luckily      C. However    D. Besides

A. visit       B. trip     C. bus     D. work

A. opposite B. separate      C. difficult     D. usual

A. getting on     B. getting in   C. getting off  D. getting up

A. must      B. may    C. will    D. do

A. idea       B. opinion      C. way    D. thought

A. want      B. mean  C. say     D. suggest

A. next      B. old     C. past    D. following

A. by  B. on      C. with    D. in

A. searching     B. watching C. calling       D. noticing

A. looks out  B. takes up C. believes in  D. makes sure

When you get in your car, you reach for it. When you're at work, you take a break to have a moment alone with it. When you get into a lift, you play with it.

Cigarette? Cup of coffee? No, it's the third most addictive thing in modem life, the cell phone. And experts say it is becoming more difficult for many people to curb their longing to hug it more tightly than most of their personal relationships.

The costs are becoming more and more evident, and I don't mean just the monthly bill. Dr. Chris Knippers, a counselor at the Betty ford Center in Southern California, reports that the overuse of cell phones has become a social problem not much different from other harmful addictions: a barrier to one-on-one personal contact, and an escape from reality. Sounds extreme, but we' ve all witnessed the evidence: The person at a restaurant who talks on the phone through an entire meal, ignoring his kids around the table; the woman who talks on the phone in the car, ignoring her husband; the teen who texts messages all the way home from school, avoiding contact with kids all around him. Jim Williams, an industrial sociologist based in Massachusetts, notes that cell - phone addiction is part of a set of symptoms in a widening gulf of personal separation. He points to a study by Duke University researchers that found one-quarter of Americans say they have no one to discuss their most important personal business with. Despite the growing use of phones, e - mail and instant messaging, in other words, Williams says studies show that we don't have as many friends as our parents.  " Just as more information has led to less wisdom, more acquaintances via the Internet and cell phones have produced fewer friends," he says.

If the cell phone has truly had these effects, it's because it has become very widespread. Consider that in 1987, there were only l million cell phones in use.  Today, something like 300 million Americans carry them. They far outnumber wired phones in the United States.

1. From the first two paragraphs, we can know________.

A．cell phones have become as addictive as cigarettes

B．cell phone addiction is good for building personal relationships

C．people are longing to have their own cell phones

D．cell phones are the same as cigarettes

2.Cell phone addiction has caused the following effects EXCEPT________  .

A．a barrier to personal contact	B．fewer friends
C．an escape from reality	D．a serious illness

3. The underlined word "curb" in Paragraph 2 means “________. ”

A．ignore

B．control

C．develop

D．rescue

4.The example of a woman talking on the phone in the car supports the idea that________  .

A．women Use cell phones more often than men

B．talking on the phone while driving is dangerous

C．cell phones do not necessarily bring people together

D．cell phones make one - on - one personal contact easy

5.Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Cell phones Are the New Cigarettes

B．Cell phones Are Harmful to the Society

C．The New Report about the Cell phone

D．The Disadvantages of the Cell phone