Aggressive pedestrians are in fact as dangerous as careless drivers. They cause traffic accidents, injury and death. These dangerous walkers can be seen in any big city all over the world. About 69% of last year’s pedestrian deaths in the US occurred in urban areas. They cross streets ignoring “DON’T WALK” signals, suddenly appear without warning from behind parked vehicles, walk slowly at crossroads with cell phones attached to heads, blocking traffic.

These pedestrians and drivers share a common disregard for the rules of the road, both for selfish reasons. The drivers believe in the power of their machines. If their machines can go faster, they believe they have the right to go faster. If their machines are bigger, they believe they have the right to push smaller vehicles aside. Aggressive pedestrians, on the other hand, believe in the primacy(首位) of the individual, the idea that they are first in any environment, under any circumstances, even when they are on foot in a roaring tide of steel and rubber.

Last year, an estimated 5,220 pedestrians died in traffic accidents. Some 69,000 pedestrians were injured. On average, that worked out to one pedestrian killed in a traffic crash every 101 minutes, and one injured every eight minutes.

The good news is that the accident rate is dropping. For example, the number of pedestrians killed last year was 24 percent less than the number killed in traffic accidents a decade earlier. The bad news is that the basic causes of pedestrian deaths remain pretty much the same----disregard for traffic signals, inattention and crossing roads under the influence of alcohol and drugs. Alcohol, in fact, was involved in 46 percent of the traffic accidents that resulted in pedestrian deaths. Of those, 31 percent of the pedestrians were found to be drunk.

The bottom line is that the pedestrians must do more to protect their lives as well as the lives of other road users. They can start by obeying traffic signals, using marked cross-walks and calling a cab when they’ve had too much to drink.

1.The passage is mainly about _____.

A. what the traffic rules of the road about pedestrians were

B. why so many Americans were killed on roads last year

C. how aggressive pedestrians cause traffic accidents

D. who are to blame for pedestrian deaths, drunk drivers or the aggressive pedestrians

2.What is the pedestrians’ selfish reason for traffic jams?

A. They believe individuals are always first.

B. They know all drivers are skilled and with great care.

C. They think traffic rules have nothing to do with them.

D. They guess all vehicles will slow down at crossroads.

3.What was NOT the basic cause of pedestrian deaths in the US a decade ago?

A. Disregard for traffic signals

B. Paying no attention to surroundings.

C. Overspeeding driving.

D. Crossing roads drunk.

4.What word can best describe the author’s attitude to the traffic accidents caused by pedestrians?

A. Excited.                            B. Cold.                                 C. Unconnected.            D. Concerned    

 

Most people around the world are right-handed. This also seems to be true in history. In 1799, scientists studied works of art made at different times from 1,500 B.C. to the 1950s. Most of the people shown in these works are right-handed, so the scientists guessed that right-handedness has always been common through history. Today, only about 10% to 15% of the world’s population is left-handed.

Why are there more right-handed people than left-handed ones? Scientists now know that a person’s two hands each have their own jobs. For most people, the hand is used to find things or hold things. The right hand is used to work with things. This is because of the different work of the two sides of the brain. The right side of the brain, which makes a person’s hands and eyes work together, controls the left hand. The left-side of the brain, which controls the right hand, is the centre for thinking and doing problems. These findings show that more artists should be left-handed, and studies have found that left-handedness is twice as common among artists as among people in other jobs.

No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed instead of left-handed. Scientists have found that almost 40% of the people become left-handed because their main brain is damaged when they are born. However, this doesn’t happen to everyone, so scientists guess there must be another reason why people become left-handed. One idea is that people usually get right-handed from their parents. If a person does not receive the gene(基因) for right-handedness, he / she may become either right-handed or left-handed according to the chance and the people they work or live with.

Though right-handedness is more common than left-handedness, people no longer think left-handed people are strange or unusual. A long time ago, left-handed children were made to use their right hands like other children, but today they don’t have to.

1.After studying works of art made at different times in history, the scientists found _______.

A. the art began from 1,500 B.C.

B. the works of art ended in the 1950s

C. most people shown in the works of art are right-handed

D. most people shown in the works of art are left-handed

2.How many people in the world are left-handed now?

A．Less than one sixth.                      B．More than a half.

C．About 40%.                            D．The passage doesn’t tell us.

3.What is the hand for most people used to do?

A．It’s used to find or hold things.

B．It’s used to work with things.

C．It’s used to make a person’s eyes work together.

D．It’s the centre for thinking and doing problems.

4.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．No one really knows what makes a person become right-handed.

B．Left-handedness is cleverer than right-handedness.

C．Today children are not made to use their right hands only.

D．Scientists think there must be some reason why people become left-handed.

5.The best title for this passage is _______.

A．Scientists’ New Inventions               B．Left-handed People

C．Which Hand                           D．Different Brains, Different Hands

 

I lost my sight when I was four years old by falling off a car and landing on my head. Now I am thirty-two. I can vaguely remember the brightness of _____ and what color red is. It would be _____ to see again, but a (n) ____ can do strange things to people. I don’t mean I would ____ to go without my eyes. I simply mean that the loss of them made me appreciate more what I had ____.                                                

My parents and my teachers saw something in me ----- a ____ to live ---- which I didn’t see, and they made me want to fight in out with ___.

The ____ lesson I had to learn was to believe in myself. I am not talking about simply the kind of ____ that helps me down so unfamiliar staircase alone. I _____ something bigger than that: a confidence that I am, despite being ____, a real, positive person; that there is a special place where I can make myself fit.

It took me years to discover and strengthen this confidence. It had to start with the easy and simple things. _____ a man gave me an indoor baseball. I thought he was laughing at me and I was ____. “I can’t use this,” I said. “Take with you,” he urged me, “and roll it around.” The words _____ in my head. “Roll it around!” By rolling the ball I could ____ where it went. This gave me an idea how to achieve a goal I had thought ___ before; playing baseball. At Philadelphia’s Overbrook School for the Blind I ___ a successful variation of baseball. We called it ground ball.

I have set ahead of me a series of goals and then tried to reach them, one at a time. I had to be clear about my  ___. It was no good crying for something that I knew at the start was ____ out of reach because that only invited bitterness of failure. I would fail something anyway, _____ on the average I made progress.

1.A. sky     B. cloud   C. sunshine        D. mist

2.A. helpful       B. wonderful     C. hopeful          D. successful

3.A. disaster      B. environment          C. incident         D. wonder

4.A. manage     B. try         C. want     D. prefer

5.A. lost   B. left        C. used     D. cared

6.A. purpose     B. potential       C. pressure       D. preparation

7.A. energy       B. happiness      C. luck       D. blindness

8.A. hardest      B. dullest           C. simplest         D. easiest

9.A. self-respect    B. self-control         C. self-confidence         D. self-defence

10.A. think        B. consider       C. guess    D. mean

11.A. imperfect         B. perfect C. unfair    D. fair

12.A. Later       B. Soon    C. Once     D. Then

13.A. worried B. encouraged          C. shocked        D. hurt

14.A. stuck       B. impressed    C. occupied      D. held

15.A. see          B. hear     C. notice D. observe

16.A. important        B. unimportant          C. possible        D. impossible

17.A. invented          B. discovered   C. instructed    D. directed

18.A. experience     B. advantages    C. knowledge    D. limitation

19.A. hardly      B. wildly    C. highly    D. deeply

20.A. so   B. for        C. but       D. and

 

--- One of the Fortune Global 500 companies offered her a position, but she refused.

---_________ ? It is a very good chance.

A. Guess what    B. So what            C. Who cares       D. But why

 

There was once a professor of medicine, who was very strict with the students. Whenever he took the chair on the exam committee（委员会）, the students would be in fear , because he was seldom pleased with the answers they gave . A student would be lucky enough if he or she could receive a good mark from him. At the end of the term, the students of medicine would take their exam again . Now a student entered the exam room and got seated before the committee. This student was a little nervous as he knew it would not be so easy to get through the exam at all.

The professor began to ask. .The student was required to describe a certain illness, his description of which turned out to be OK.

Then the professor asked about the cure（药剂,疗法）for the illness , and the student , too , answered just as right . “Good,” said the professor, “and how much will you give the patient?”

“A full spoon,” answered the student.

“Now you may go out and wait for what you can get,” said the professor. At the same time the committee discussed carefully the answers the student had given .Suddenly the student noticed that there was something wrong with his last answer. “A full spoon is too much,” he thought to himself. Anxiously he opened the door of the room and cried, “Mr. Professor, I’ve made a mistake! A full spoon is too much for the patient. He can take only five drops. ”

“I’m sorry, sir,” said the professor coldly, “but it’s too late. Your patient has died. ”

1.The students were afraid of the professor because _______ .

A．they often angered and disappointed him

B．their answers often astonished him

C．their answers seldom satisfied him

D．he often misunderstood them and gave them bad marks

2.The student’s description of the illness was ________ .

A．not correct                            B．not satisfying

C．completely discouraging                  D．accepted

3.Before he left the room the student was almost sure that _________ .

A．he had passed the exam, and the only thing was to wait for the mark

B．his last answer had been wrong

C．he had made a mistake

D．he had not done well in the exam

4.Which guess is the most reasonable from the passage?

A．The student must have passed the exam.

B．The student may not have passed the exam.

C．The student must have been very happy when he heard, “ Your patient has died . ”

D．The professor must have been very pleased and given the student a good mark.