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Scientific experiments can sometimes go wrong and when they do the results may range from the disastrous to the troubling. One such experiment took place in South America about fifty years ago. Whether its final consequences will cause serious damage or nothing more than a small trouble still remains to be seen.
The story began in 1956 when an American scientist working in Brazil decided to solve the problem of increasing the productivity of that country's bees. He imported a very active type of African bee from Tanzania and mated (交配) it with the more easy-going native variety to produce a new kind of bees. The new bees worked harder and produced twice as much honey. It seemed that Professor Kerr, for that was the scientist's name, had a total success on his hands.
Then things began to go wrong. For some reason as yet unseen, but perhaps as a result of something in their environment, the new bees began to develop extremely attacking personalities. They became bad-tempered and easy to be angry, attacked the native bees and drove them from their living places.
But worse was to follow. Having taken over the countryside, the new bees, with their dangerous stings (叮) , began to attack its neighbors -- cats, dogs, horses, chickens and finally man himself. A long period of terror began that has so far killed a great number of animals and about 150 human beings.
This would have been bad enough if the bees had stayed in Brazil. But now they are on the move, heading northwards in countless millions towards Central and North America, and moving at the alarming speed of 200 miles a year. The countries that lie in their path are naturally worried because it looks as if nothing can be done to stop them.
1.The results of the South American experiment ________ .
A. have caused a serious trouble B. have proved to be wrong
C. are not yet certain D. are not important
2.The experiment mentioned in this passage was designed to ________ .
A. increase the amount of honey in Brazil B. make Brazilian bees more easy-going
C. increase the number of bees in Brazil D. make African bees less active
3.Which of the following may be the cause of the new bees' attacking personalities?
A. Their production of honey. B. Their hard work.
C. Their living environment. D. Their bad temper.
4.The last paragraph implies that ________ .
A. the bees have been driven to Central and North America
B. the bees may bring about trouble in more countries
C. the bees must be stopped from moving north
D. the bees prefer to live in Brazil
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He's an old cobbler (修鞋匠) with a shop in the Marais, a historic area in Paris. When I took him my shoes, he at first told me: “I haven't time. Take them to the other fellow on the main street ; he'll fix them for you right away.”
But I'd had my eye on his shop for a long time. Just looking at his bench loaded with tools and pieces of leather, I knew he was a skilled craftsman (手艺人). “No,” I replied, “the other fellow can't do it well.”
“The other fellow” was one of those shopkeepers who fix shoes and make keys “while-U-wait” -- without knowing much about mending shoes or making keys. They work carelessly, and when they have finished sewing back a sandal strap (鞋带) you might as well just throw away the pair.
My man saw I wouldn't give in, and he smiled. He wiped his hands on his blue apron ( 围裙), looked at my shoes, had me write my name on one shoe with a piece of chalk and said, “Come back in a week.”
I was about to leave when he took a pair of soft leather boots off a shelf.
“See what I can do?” he said with pride. “Only three of us in Paris can do this kind of work.. ”
When I got back out into the street, the world seemed brand-new to me. He was something out of an ancient legend, this old craftsman with his way of speaking familiarly, his very strange, dusty felt hat, his funny accent from who-knows-where and, above all, his pride in his craft.
These are times when nothing is important but the bottom line, when you can do things any old, way as long as it “pays”, when, in short, people look on work as a path to ever-increasing consumption (消费) rather than a way to realize their own abilities. In such a period it is a rare comfort to find a cobbler who gets his greatest satisfaction from pride in a job well done.
1.Which of the following is true about the old cobbler.'?
A. He was equipped with the best repairing tools.
B. He was the only cobbler in the Marais.
C. He was proud of his skills.
D. He was a native Parisian.
2.The sentence “He was something out of an ancient legend.” ( paragraph 7 ) implies that
A. nowadays you can hardly find anyone like him
B. it was difficult to communicate with this man
C. the man was very strange
D. the man was too old
3.According to the author, many people work just to ________ .
A. realize their abilities B. gain happiness C. make money D. gain respect
4.This story wants to tell us that ________ .
A. craftsmen make a lot of money B. whatever you do, do it well
C. craftsmen need self-respect D. people are born equal
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Members of the working class have blue-collar jobs. They are construction workers, truck drivers, mechanics, steel workers, electricians, and the like. What makes this class differ from the lower class is, first, longer periods of employment -- and therefore, more fixed incomes —and, second, employment in skilled or semiskilled (半熟练的 ) occupations, not unskilled ones. Although unemployment hits all levels of the American economy, including those of skilled and semi-skilled workers, it is most common at the bottom of the class structure and increasingly less common at each level upward. They consider themselves to be respectable and hard working and they look down upon members of the "lower" class, whom they often consider to be lazy, dishonest, and too ready to exploit public assistance.
Most people in the working class have at least high school education. Many have some experience of college ( especially community college), though few are college graduates. Unionization has helped the working class, but a rapidly changing economy and frequent periods of high unemployment make it difficult for most of its members to be able to increase their savings greatly. Purchasing a house for people in this class is extremely difficult, although a certain percentage may receive houses from their parents. (Home-owning rises with social class. )
A greater number of the members of the working class take relatively little satisfaction in their jobs, because much of their work is ordinary and boring. As a result, many seek their main satisfaction in recreational ( 娱乐的) activities. Many members of this class would like to earn enough money to leave their jobs and start their own businesses, though few make it. Many place their expectations on their children, hoping that they at least will rise in the ladder of success, American style.
1.Which of the following is true about the working class.?
A. They are often employed as skilled and semi-skilled workers.
B. They are often offered jobs with high incomes.
C. They are often considered lazy and dishonest.
D. They are often exploited by the public.
2.The underlined word “hit” (paragraph 1 ) roughly means ________ .
A. strike with a blow B. have bad effects on C. break up D. beat
3.Most people in the working class ________ .
A. have difficulty increasing their savings greatly
B. have at least some experience of college
C. receive houses from their parents
D. buy houses by themselves
4.Many members from the working class are not satisfied with their jobs because ________ .
A. they could not rise in the ladder of success B. they are not interested in their jobs
C. they could not earn much money D. they are not their own bosses
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How many people have I met who have told me about the book they have been planning to write but have never yet found the time7 Far too many.
This is Life, all right, but we do treat it like a rehearsal (排演) and, unhappily, we do miss so many of its best moments.
We take jobs to stay alive and provide homes for our families always making ourselves believe that this style of life is merely a temporary state of affairs along the road to what we really want to do. Then, at 60 or 65, we are suddenly presented with a clock and several grandchildren and we look back and realize that all those years waiting for Real Life to come along were in fact real life.
In America they have a saying much laughed at by the English：“Have a nice day” they speak slowly and seriously in their shops, hotels and sandwich bars. I think it is a wonderful phrase, reminding us, in effect, to enjoy the moment: to value this very day.
How often do we say to ourselves, "I'll take up horse-riding (or golf, or sailing) as soon as I get a higher position," only to do none of those things when I do get the higher position.
When I first became a reporter I knew a man who gave up a very well paid respectable job at the Daily Telegraph to go and edit a small weekly newspaper. At the time I was astonished by what appeared to me to be his completely abnormal (反常的) mental state. How could anyone turn his back on Fleet Street in central London for a small local area？I wanted to know.
Now I am a little older and possibly wiser, I see the sense in it. In Fleet Street the man was under continual pressure. He lived in an unattractive London suburb and he spent much of his life sitting on Southern Region trains.
1.The first paragraph of the passage tells us that ________ .
A. we always try to find some time to write a book
B. we always make plans but seldom fulfill them
C. we always enjoy many of life's best moments
D. we always do what we really want to do
2.The underlined phrase "turn his back on" (paragraph 6) most probably means ________ .
A. leave for B. return to C. give up D. rely on
3.The man ( paragraph 6) left his first job partly because he was ________ .
A. in an abnormal mental state B. under too much pressure
C. not well paid D. not respected
4.What is probably the best title for the passage?
A. Provide Homes For Our Family B. Take Up Horse-riding
C. Value This Very Day D. Stay Alive
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1.Who is (are) the editor (s) of William Faulkner: Novels 1926-1929?
A. Noel Polk & Joseph Blotner. B. Phillip Lopate.
C. Tony Kushner. D. Leo Bersani.
2.How much do you pay for American Movie Critics?
A. US $45. B. US $40. C. US $35. D. US $25.
3.Which book do you buy if you want to read the play "Death of a Salesman" ?
A. Arthur Miller: Collected Plays 1944 -1961.
B. William Faulkner: Novels 1926-1929.
C. Henry James: Novels 1901 -1902.
D. American Movie Critics.
4.Henry James' only book written in the first person is
A. The Wings of the Dove. B. The Sacred Fount.
C. Soldiers'Pay. D. Mosquitoes.
