He could have been president of Israel or played violin at Carnegie Hall, but he was too busy thinking. His thinking on God, love and the meaning of life grace our greeting cards and day-timers.

Fifty years after his death, his shock (蓬乱) of white hair and hanging mustache still symbolize genius. Einstein remains the foremost scientist of the modern time. Looking back 2,400 years, only Newton, Galileo and Aristotle were his equals.

Around the world, universities and academies (研究院) are celebrating the 100th anniversary of Einstein's "miracle year" when he published five scientific papers in 1905 that basically changed our grasp of space, time, light and matter. Only he could top himself about a decade later with his theory of relativity.

Born in the age of horse-drawn carriages, his ideas launched a technological revolution that has made more change in a century than in the previous two thousand years. Computers, satellites, telecommunication, lasers, television and nuclear power all owe their invention to ways in which Einstein exposed a stranger and more complicated reality underneath the world．

He escaped Hitler's Germany and devoted the rest of his life to human rights and peace with an authority unmatched by any scientist today, or even most politicians and religious leaders. He spoke out against fascism (法西斯主义) and racial prejudice. His FBI (美国联邦调查局) file ran 1,400 pages.

His letters expose a disorderly personal life -- married twice and indifferent toward his children while absorbed in physics. Yet he charmed lovers and admirers with poetry and sailboat outings. Friends and neighbors fiercely protected his privacy.

The first paragraph implies that Einstein _____.

       A．had the gift for politics and music

       B．had run for president before he worked at his research

       C．was an excellent violinist

       D．was more a political leader or a musician than a thinker

When you think of Einstein, what typical appearance was formed in your mind?

       A．Funning and humorous, with an air of a musician.

       B．Wearing very wide trousers, a moustache, with an image of an actor.

       C．Rough untidy mass of white hair and hanging moustache, with an image of thinking.

       D．Black long hair and moustache, with his eyes deep set.

Why was 1905 called Einstein’s “miracle year”?

       A．Because he topped himself with the theory of relativity.

       B．Because he made important discoveries of space, time, light and matter.

       C．Because he published five papers on his theory of relativity.

       D．Because he wrote five important articles to help people better understand space, time, light

and matter.

Which of the following is not true about Einstein according to the passage?

       A．When he was absorbed in his research, he didn’t care for his family.

       B．He tried to amuse his family and friends in his spare time.

       C．He was so busy with the physical research that he showed no interest in politics.

       D．His theory led to much improvement in many technological fields.

The city can seem a cold, mean place. In the middle of so many people hurrying about their own business, a person can feel alone among the millions of others.
There is a popular view that in cities, strangers are less likely to help an elderly person cross a street or call the police when they see a bike being stolen. Recently, a New Yorker named Casey Neistat did an experiment. He chained up his bike in several public places, then "stole" it in a number of obvious ways, such as using a hacksaw (钢锯). He filmed everything to see whether other New Yorkers would try to stop a shameless bike theft. The result? People just walked on by.
Is this evidence of an immoral, selfish urban society? Not necessarily. According to another recent study, the way city people mind their own business is about other factors besides morality (道德).
This is called the Bystander Effect, the theory that city people do not react because of the urban enviromnent they live in.
Psychologist Dr. Harold explained why people did not involve themselves in Neistat's bike theft experiment with the Bystander Effect.
First, people who live in cities are surrounded by so much activity that they stop noticing what is going on around them. Second, they are less easy to surprise and assume every activity has a logical explanation.
"The third is that people notice it, but they don't know what to do," he continued. "And the fourth is fear — they know they should do something, but they're afraid to challenge someone with a hacksaw."
A lack of concern is only a small reason why people don't take action, concludes Dr. Harold.
Despite the results of Neistat's experiment, there is also evidence of a sense of team spirit that connects people in cities. All it takes is a funny joke or a shared interest to start a conversation with someone at a bus stop. When city folk are in trouble, they come together for support — famously in New York on September 11, 2001.
City society is different, but that doesn't mean it's cold or mean — it just means it's busy!
【小题1】Casey Neistat fihned everything in the experiment with the purpose of       .

A．proving that he was not the thief

B．telling people that bike theft was immoral

C．finding out who had a sense of right and wrong

D．making his experiment well-known to the public

【小题2】We can infer from the third paragraph that morality      .

A．can partly explain a selfish urban society

B．is what our society should pay special attention to

C．is the only factor that leads to a selfish urban society

D．is the root of the Bystander Effect mentioned in the passage

【小题3】The underlined part September 11, 2001 in Paragraph 9 serves as      .

A．a reminder of the sad memories

B．a way to prove Dr Harold's Bystander effect

C．evidence that city life can be really dangerous

D．an example to show team spirit connecting city people

【小题4】As can be inferred from the passage, the writer probably      .

A．criticizes the loss of morality in urban society

B．feels sad about the result of Neistat's experiment

C．thinks city people are too busy to care about others

D．disagrees that city life sometimes can be cold and mean

 From my point of view, the theory that ______ by the scientist is not quite scientific.

A．was risen

B．brought up

C．had been raised

D．was put forward

 

Warning: reading too much Cinderella to your daughter may damage her emotional health in later life. A paper to be developed at the international congress of cognitive psychotherapy(认知心理疗法) in Gothenburg suggests a link between the attitudes of women abused by their parents and early exposure to the wrong sort of fairy tales. It says girls who identified with Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast were more likely to say in destructive relationships as adults.

The theory was developed by Susan Darker Smith, a psychotherapist at the University of Derby. She interviewed 67 female abuse survivors and found that 61 put up with severe abuse because they believed they could change their partners with patience, composition and love. The same view was taken by male survivors who had been abused as children. Hardly any of the women in a control group, who had not experienced abuse, thought they could change their partners in this way.

    The same view was taken by male survivors who had been abused as children. These women and men said they would leave a relationship rather than put up with abuse from a partner. Ms Darker Smith found the abused women were much more likely to identify with Cinderella and other submissive female characters in fairytales, who were later rescued by a stranger prince or hero.

Although most girls heard the stories, damage appeared to be done to those who adopted the characters as role models. “They believe if their love is strong enough they can change their parents’ behaviors,” she said.” Overexposure in children to stories that emphasize the transformational qualities of love may make women believe they can change their partners.” For example, they might never have understood the obvious flaw in the story of Rapunzel, who remained locked in a high tower until rescued by a knight on a white horse, who broke the door down. “The question,” said Ms Darker Smith, “is why she did not break the door down herself.”

The passage is especially intended for _________.

       A．parents with young daughters

       B．girls who like reading fairy stories

       C．girls who think they can change their partners

       D．parents with grown-up daughters

Cinderella, Rapunzel and Beauty in Beauty and the Beast are similar in that _________.

       A．They all married some princes

       B．They all changed their partners with love

       C．They were all abused by their partners

       D．They all put up with abuse

Which of the following statements is true of the women in a control group?

       A．They don’t believe in fairy tales.

       B．They don’t believe in the transformational qualities of love.

       C．They have also experienced abuse.

       D．They survived abuse.

What does the underlined word “submissive”in the 3rd paragraph probably mean?

       A．kind-hearted    B．passive     C．gentle      D．easy-going

In South America, the rich soil of the Amazon River basin（流域）in Brazil is known as “black gold”. Scientists found that the secret of this rich soil was charcoal（木炭）. Local people made it from animal bones and tree branches. They mixed the charcoal with the soil about 1.500 years ago.

Now, scientists in the United States have done a modern demonstration. They say charcoal fertilization offers a revolutionary way to improve soil quality for hundreds or even thousands of years.

Mingxin Guo and his team at Delavare State University heated tree leaves, corn stalks（茎）, small pieces of wood and poultry waste into “biochar”（生物碳）. They reported their findings at a recent meeting of the American Chemical Society in New Orleans.

Biochar could be good news for farmers with poor soil and hungry populations to feed. Professor Guo says it could even help against global warming. Intensive（集约的） farming and overuse of chemical fertilizer give out carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. Biochar does the opposite, he says. It traps carbon in the ground.

The researchers planted winter wheat in containers of soil in a greenhouse — some with biochar, some without. Professor Guo says the wheat grows much better in the pots with biochar. The soil was added two percent charcoal to. But he says even a one percent treatment will increase productivity.

The results demonstrated that biochar can increase organic matter in soil. Loss of nutrients in soil is an increasing problem worldwide as farmers try to grow more food for growing populations.

Next, the team will carry out a five-year study of biochar with spinach（菠菜）, green peppers and tomatoes.

Mingxin Guo says he learns about the “black gold” in Brazil from a magazine story. He explains that it was discovered in the jungle, in the area where waters flow to the Amazon, in the 1960’s. But it was not until recent years that scientists began to bring public attention to it.

1.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．The researchers will go on proving their theory.

B．The leading researcher learns the theory from the magazine.

C．Charcoal was discovered 1,500 years ago.

D．Common farming can produce more carbon dioxide.

2.Biochar has the following advantages EXCEPT that ________.

A．it can improve the condition of the soil       

B．it can be used as a kind of energy

C．it can help against global warming 

D．it can increase productivity of the corn

3.According to the research, the biochar can help against global warming because it can ________.

A．reduce the carbon dioxide

B．keep the carbon in the soil

C．reduce the loss of nutrients in the soil

D．absorb the carbon dioxide

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Using Charcoal to Make soil into “Black Gold”

B．Using Charcoal to Reduce the Carbon Dioxide

C．How Amazon River Basin Produces “Golden Black”

D．Guo’s Research on Producing Biochar