In a natural disaster—a hurricane, flood, volcanic eruption, or other catastrophes—minutes and even seconds of warning can make the difference between life and death．Because of this, scientists are working to use the latest technological advances to predict when and where disasters will happen．They are also studying how best to analyze and communicate this information once it is obtained．
On September 29, 1998, Hurricane Georges made landfall in Biloxi, Mississippi, after damaging Haiti, the Dominican Republic, Puerto Rico, and several islands of the Caribbean badly with torrential rains and winds up to 160 km per hour．Few people lost their lives along the Gulf Coast of the United States, although hundreds died in the Caribbean．
This was a very different outcome from 1900, when a powerful Gulf Coast hurricane made an unexpected direct hit on Galveston, Texas, killing at least 6,000 people．
Vastly improved hurricane warnings explain the different circumstances at either end of the 20th century——residents of Galveston had no advance warning that a storm was approaching, while residents of Biloxi had been warned days in advance, allowing for extensive safety precautions（预防）．
At the same time that people in Biloxi were thankful for the advance warning, some residents of New Orleans, Louisiana were less satisfied．A day before Georges made landfall, forecasters were predicting that the hurricane had a good chance of striking New Orleans．Because much of New Orleans lies below sea level, the city is at risk for flooding．Emergency management officials must begin evacuations（疏散）well before a storm strikes．But evacuation costs money: businesses close, tourists leave, and citizens take precautionary measures．The mayor of New Orleans estimated that his city' s preparations for Georges cost more than 50 million．After Georges missed New Orleans, some residents questioned the value of the hurricane forecasts in the face of such high costs．
The different views on the early warnings for Hurricane Georges show some of the complexities related to predicting disasters．Disaster prediction is a process of providing scientific information to the government officials and other decision makers who must respond to those predictions．
【小题1】What is the purpose of disaster prediction according to the passage?

A．To identify the cause of disasters．

B．To save people' s lives and property．

C．To prevent natural disasters from happening,

D．To apply advanced technology to disaster prediction．

【小题2】Which of the following areas suffered the most severe damage?

A．Puerto Rico．	B．New Orleans．
C．Biloxi, Mississippi．	D．Galveston, Texas．

【小题3】The city residents of New Orleans were unsatisfied because __  _ .

A．the forecast hurricane did not hit the city

B．the hurricane warning arrived rather late

C．their preparations were made in vain

D．they suffered from a heavy hurricane attack

【小题4】What does the passage mainly talk about?

A．The different ways of disaster prediction．

B．Technological advances in disaster prediction．

C．The importance and uncertainty of disaster prediction．

D．The benefits and preparations of disaster prediction．

Advertisement is the difficult business of bringing information to great numbers of people.The purpose of an advertisement is to make people respond to make them react to an idea，such as helping prevent forest fires，or to make them want to buy a certain product or service.At the beginning of the 20th century，advertisement was described as“salesmanship in print”.If this definition were expanded to include radio and television，it would still stand today.The most effective way to sell something is through person-to-person contact.But the cost of person-to-person selling is high because it takes a great deal of time，and it increases the cost of the product or service.Advertising distributes the selling message to many people at one time.The first printed advertisement in the English language appeared in 1278，more than a century before Shakespeare’s first play was produced.This early advertisement was the work of William Caxton，England’s first printer，who used it to advertise religious books from his own workshop Caxton posted small printed notices along London’s main streets．Besides advertising his product，he identified his shop with a red-striped shield(盾形徽章)so that customers could find it easily．

This same sort of simple informational advertising is still used.Examples are the roadside signs that tell travelers that they can buy fresh corn just down the road or that there is a restaurant in the next town.

The Industrial Revolution，in the 18th and 19th centuries，brought a new kind of advertising.Large factories took the place of small workshops and goods were produced in large quantities.

Manufacturers used the newly built railroads to distribute(递送)their products over wide areas.They had to find many thousands of customers in order to stay in business.They couldn’t simply tell people where shoes or cloth or tea could be bought---they had to learn how to make people want to buy a specific product. Thus modern advertising was born．

Advertising created new markets and helped to raise standards of living as people came to feel that they had a right to new and better products.

1.The passage mainly talks about       .

A、the development of advertisement

B、the first advertisement in the world

C、the difficulty in advertising

D、the advantages of advertisements

2.Why is advertisement accepted by people?

A、Because it can help to prevent forest fires.

B、Because it cand make people want to buy a certain product or service.

C、Because it can bring information to great numbers of people.

D、Because it can help people live longer.

3.Modern advertisement was born as a result of         .

A、the Industrial Revolution

B、the newly built railroads

C、the appearance of the first printer advertisement

D、people’s need

4.We can conclude from the passage that         .

A、red-striped shield is the best thing to use in advertising

B、main streets and television are used in advertising

C、person-to-person selling is the best way in advertising

D、people show little interest in advertisement

 

If you are afraid of the dark，it’s not a big deal．It’s perfectly normal to feel afraid After all，animals do too. “Fear matters，”says Karen Warkentin，an ecologist．“It’s a good thing，” she adds, “because fear makes you do things that keep you alive.”

Like kids，many animals experience fear and they respond to the feeling in variety of ways．A frightened turtle pulls its head and legs inside its shell．A  small fish will swim away when a big，hungry fish approaches．

Some animals respond to fear in ways you might not expect．The first example is that the fear of being eaten can scare some frogs right out of their eggs. Warkentin made the surprising discovery while studying red—eyed tree frogs in Costa Rica.

In this species，female frogs attach jellylike clumps（果冻一样的块状物）of their eggs to the undersides of leaves．The leaves hang on branches that dangle（悬挂）over ponds．After they hatch from the eggs，the tadpoles（蝌蚪）then fall into the water，where they eventually grow into adult frogs.

Tree frog eggs usually grow for 6 days before hatching．If they sense that a hungry snake is about to attack，however，they can hatch up to 2 days ahead of schedule. As the snakes are unable to swim，by falling into the water early，the tadpoles can escape.

If hatching early helps protect red—eyed tree frogs from snakes，you might wonder why their eggs don’t always hatch sooner．It turns out that hatching early brings its own danger．Once tadpoles land in the water，hungry fish and other animals like to eat them too．Staying in their eggs for a full 6 days，then，allows frog embryos（胚胎）to grow big and strong．This extra growth improves their chances of surviving in the water．

1.It can be inferred from the passage that fears      .

A．help animals grow bigger and stronger

B．are less common among young animals

C．help animals move a lot to fit the environment

D．are more or less important in order for animals to survive

2.We are told in the passage that tree frogs       .

A．face danger both inside their eggs and in the water

B．will grow fast if they fall into the water later

C．are surprisingly clever when inside their eggs

D．stay in their eggs longer if they are frightened

3.Why do the tadpoles hatch up to 2 days ahead of the schedule？Because

A．They like falling into the water early

B．They want to grow into adult frog

C． They sense a hungry snake is about to attack

D．Frog embryos can grow strong

4.What is the best title of the passage ？

A．What is Fear                           B．Why do we feel afraid

C．You feel afraid，animals do too             D．Fear is a good thing

5.What do you think would be discussed in the following paragraph?

A．Further explanations as to why tree frogs hatch ahead of schedule．

B．How the unborn frogs know when a snake is about to attack them．

C．Another example of animals that responds to fear in an unexpected way．

D．How tree frogs improve their chances of survival before falling into the water.

 

答对三题以上（含三题）才给予加分；请在完成前五部分的前提下完成该部分

阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Honesty may well be the policy, but it often deserts us when no one is watching, psychologists report today. Experiments with an honesty box to collect payments for hot drinks show that people are better at paying up when under the gaze of a pair of eyes. The surprise was that the eyes were not real, but photographed.

Researchers at Newcastle University set up the experiment in secret. They attached a poster to a cupboard of mugs above an honesty box alongside a kettle, with tea, coffee and milk. Over 10 weeks, they alternated (轮流替换) each week between images of eyes and pictures of flowers.

Dr. Bateson, a behavioral biologist and leader of the study, said that even though the eyes were not real they still seemed to make people behave more honestly. The effect may result from behavioral characteristics that developed as early humans formed social groups that increased their chances of survival. Individuals had to co-operate for the good of the group, rather than act selfishly.

“If nobody is watching us it is in our interests to behave selfishly. But when we think we’re being watched we should behave better, so people see us as co-operative and behave the same way towards us,” Dr. Bateson said.

“We thought we’d get a slight effect with eyes, by it was quite striking how much difference they made. Even at a subconscious level, it seems people respond to eyes, and that might be because eyes send a strong biological signal we have evolved(进化) to respond to.”

The finding, which researchers believe sheds light on our evolutionary past, could be turned to practical use. The psychologists say images of eyes could increase ticket sales on public transport and improve monitor systems to prevent antisocial behavior.

1．This passage is mainly about ____________.

         A．the policy of honesty B．an honesty box to collect money

         C．evolution on honesty          D．an experiment on honesty

2．The reason for doing the experiment secretly is that the researchers __________.

         A．wanted to get a comparatively more exact result

         B．had known they wanted to do something illegally

         C．meant to get the co-operation of their colleagues

         D．intended to sell the hot drinks at a higher price

3．People behave honestly under watchful gaze of eyes because ____________.

         A．they want to leave a good impression

         B．they fear to be laughed at by others

         C．they’ve got the nature through evolution

         D．they take the photo for a real pair of eyes

4．The underlined phrase “sheds light on” in the last paragraph means _________.

         A．causes somebody to become cheerful

         B．makes something easier to understand

         C．comes upon something by accident

         D．brings something into the broad daylight

5．Images of a pair of eyes can be applied to all except ________.

         A．ticket sales on public transport        B．cold drink sales in public places

         C．places with “No spitting!” signs        D．electrical appliances(电器) used at home

 

 

Just put your special clothes on in the morning and you could jump 3 meters into the air and even carry more than 60 kilograms without getting tired. The walk to school would be very, very easy. Such supercharged clothing is one of the products that could be created using "wearable robotics” technology.
Designed to improve a person's senses and skills, the device could be as simple as a hearing aid. Or it could be a full-body suit that senses what you're going to do, then helps you do it better.
“A superman suit would be the final result in wearable robot i cs ”，s a id Francois Pin, head of robot­ics and energy systems at the Oak Ridge National Laboratory(橡树林国家实验室), US. While these suits are at least ten years away, in some areas the technology is already in use.
Researchers are developing artificial- arms and legs that allow old，disabled or injured people to move freely. Thus US Army is interested in using wearable robot legs to help soldiers run faster, carry more equipment and be stronger in battle. Jobs that involve lifting heavy loads or saving lives from the rubble of an earthquake could also become much easier.
A robot is a device that responds to a command. You're probably with simple robots, such as toy cars or airplanes that respond to buttons you push on a remote control.
Wearable robotics goes further. Instead of just receiving information through a wire or remotecontrol- the robotic device can send information back to its controller.
Suppose you wore a sleeve that has sensors where your joints are. Every time you move your arm, the sleeve senses your movements and sends the information to a robot, which then moves its arm just as you did. When the robot hits or touches something, it sends a signal back to the sleeve and you sense the action.
In this way，scientists are working to wrap the robot around the person. Their goal is to make the sleeve, shoe or suit help you do what you want to do.
【小题1】Which of the following can replace the underlined word “supercharged” in Paragraph One?
A, expensive      B. overcharged C. advanced     D. full of electricity
【小题2】Products resulting from this wearable robotics technology do not include _______. 

A．remote controls

B．hearing aids

C．wearable robot legs

D．superman suits

【小题3】From the passage, we can infer that        .

A．it will be ten years before robotic devices are in use

B．the wearable robotics technology has been employed in some areas

C．the robots in the robotic devices will do whatever you want to do

D．people must become lazier and less healthier in the future