1 . Over the last seven years, most states have banned texting by drivers, and public service campaigns have tried a wide range of methods to persuade people to put down their phones when they are behind the wheel.
Yet the problem, by just about any measure, appears to be getting worse. Americans are still texting while driving, as well as using social networks and taking photos. Road accidents, which had fallen for years, are now rising sharply.
That is partly because people are driving more, but Mark Rosekind, the chief of the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, said distracted(分心)driving was "only increasing, unfortunately."
"Big change requires big ideas." he said in a speech last month, referring broadly to the need to improve road safety. So to try to change a distinctly modern behavior, lawmakers and public health experts are reaching back to an old approach: They want to treat distracted driving like drunk driving.
An idea from lawmakers in New York is to give police officers a new device called the Textalyzer. It would work like this: An officer arriving at the scene of a crash could ask for the phones of the drivers and use the Textalyzer to check in the operating system for recent activity. The technology could determine whether a driver had just texted, emailed or done anything else that is not allowed under New York's hands-free driving laws.
"We need something on the books that can change people's behavior,” said Félix W. Ortiz, who pushed for the state's 2001 ban on hand-held devices by drivers. If the Textalyzer bill becomes law, he said, "people are going to be more afraid to put their hands on the cell phone."
1. Which of the following best describes the ban on drivers' texting in the US?A.Ineffective. | B.Unnecessary. |
C.Inconsistent. | D.Unfair. |
A.Where a driver came from. | B.Whether a driver used their phone. |
C.How fast a driver was going. | D.When a driver arrived at the scene. |
A.Advice. | B.Data. | C.Tests. | D.Laws. |
A.To Drive or Not to Drive? Think Before You Start |
B.Texting and Driving? Watch Out for the Textalyzer |
C.New York Banning Hand-Held Devices by Drivers. |
D.The Next Generation Cell Phone: The Textalyzer- |
2 . Important Things to Know When Dining Out
Cultural dining etiquette (礼节) might surprise you with some of its important rules.
The way you handle chopsticks is important to avoid annoying your companions. When you put them down between bites, always put them down together so they are parallel with the edge of the table in front of you.
In India and the Middle East, it’s considered very rude to eat with your left hand. People in France expect you to eat with a utensil in each hand.
Some of these cultural dining etiquette rules may seem random and strange, but they are important in various countries.
A.The more friends you make in your lifetime |
B.The more time you spend in any given country |
C.Mexicans consider it inappropriate to eat with utensils |
D.Don’t get caught making an embarrassing mistake at a restaurant |
E.It’s a good sign for the chef if you make a mess around your plate |
F.Never stick them upright in your food or cross them as you use them |
G.It may seem like a simple request to ask for salt and pepper at a meal |
3 . Popularization has in some cases changed the original meaning of emotional (情感的) intelligence. Many people now misunderstand emotional intelligence as almost everything desirable in a person's makeup that cannot be measured by an IQ test, such as character, motivation, confidence, mental stability, optimism and “people skills.” Research has shown that emotional skills may contribute to some of these qualities, but most of them move far beyond skill-based emotional intelligence.
We prefer to describe emotional intelligence as a specific set of skills that can be used for either good or bad purposes. The ability to accurately understand how others are feeling may be used by a doctor to find how best to help her patients, while a cheater might use it to control potential victims. Being emotionally intelligent does not necessarily make one a moral person.
Although popular beliefs regarding emotional intelligence run far ahead of what research can reasonably support, the overall effects of the publicity have been more beneficial than harmful. The most positive aspect of this popularization is a new and much needed emphasis (重视) on emotion by employers, educators and others interested in promoting social well-being. The popularization of emotional intelligence has helped both the public and researchers re-evaluate the functionality of emotions and how they serve people adaptively in everyday life.
Although the continuing popular appeal of emotional intelligence is desirable, we hope that such attention will excite a greater interest in the scientific and scholarly study of emotion. It is our hope that in coming decades, advances in science will offer new perspectives (视角) from which to study how people manage their lives. Emotional intelligence, with its focus on both head and heart, may serve to point us in the right direction.
1. What is a common misunderstanding of emotional intelligence?A.It can be measured by an IQ test. | B.It helps to exercise a person’s mind. |
C.It includes a set of emotional skills. | D.It refers to a person’s positive qualities. |
A.To explain a rule. | B.To clarify a concept. |
C.To present a fact. | D.To make a prediction. |
A.Favorable. | B.Intolerant. |
C.Doubtful. | D.Unclear. |
A.Its appeal to the public. | B.Expectations for future studies. |
C.Its practical application. | D.Scientists with new perspectives. |
The Xi’an City Wall is the most complete city wall that has survived China’s long history. It
We accessed the wall through the South Gate. The wall is 12 meters high and from here you can see streams of people moving inside and outside the City Wall.
After
We
5 . According to Jessica Hagy, author of How to Be Interesting, it’s not difficult to make yourself interesting at a dinner party.
People love to talk about themselves. If you can start the conversation with a question other than “What do you do for a living?”, you’ll be able to get a lot more interesting conversation out of whomever it is you’re talking to.
And what about that other dinner-party killer: awkward silence? If you’re faced with an awkward silence at a dinner party, the only thing that always gets everyone talking again is to give the host a compliment (赞扬).
So being interesting at a dinner party isn’t that hard.
A.How do you know the host |
B.The first step is to go exploring |
C.If you ask the question “How did you get here?” |
D.Be prepared to have awkward conversations with strangers |
E.Or turn the conversation into a topic where they have little to say |
F.What about that person who had too much to drink or won’t stop talking |
G.He or she is the person who is feeling the weight of that awkwardness the most |
6 . I have the same 24 hours in a day as you do, but I have made specific choice that allow me to make the most of every day and still feel happy and relaxed.
Pick the most important.
Combine your activities.
Many people go crazy trying to figure out how to spend time with friends, family, work, play, etc.
You would think learning takes more time from you, but actually there are always new ways of doing things that can save you time on daily tasks, freeing you up for the most important. Always be looking for a new way to gain back an hour here or there.
Lighten up.
The world won't come to an end in most cases just because you left a few things undone. Celebrate progress and keep refining (改进) toward a happy productive existence.
A.Speed up. |
B.Be an active learner. |
C.Stop trying to balance time between them all. |
D.Make choices about what is meaningful in your life. |
E.The things you do well usually give you greater joy. |
F.Perhaps these tips will help you make the most of your time. |
G.This is why making lists is important in any productivity handbook. |
7 . Over the past 38 years, Mr. Wang has pretended to be someone else many times,and has even learned to
The 60-year-old is not an actor, but a
In the 1990s, a group of thieves often sold stolen goods with the help of some beggars. To look into the
“I often
Wang, who is often in
Wang's
A.teach | B.compare | C.assess | D.speak |
A.lawyer | B.doctor | C.policeman | D.businessman |
A.role | B.study | C.family | D.audience |
A.minor | B.case | C.future | D.question |
A.interviewed | B.joined | C.arrested | D.assisted |
A.challenge | B.experience | C.appearance | D.freedom |
A.vote | B.sympathy | C.permission | D.trust |
A.invited | B.forced | C.helped | D.expected |
A.drunk | B.deserted | C.bored | D.lost |
A.guide | B.persuade | C.excuse | D.allow |
A.refer to | B.note down | C.ask about | D.miss out |
A.plan | B.agreement | C.direction | D.information |
A.awkward | B.dangerous | C.unfortunate | D.strange |
A.separate | B.recover | C.escape | D.hear |
A.courage | B.honesty | C.kindness | D.optimism |
8 . It’s a joyful and stressful time of year in the United States for students and their families as they make decisions about where to attend college. Families often turn to rankings systems to help make a decision.
When I talk to families as a scholar of higher education, they’re often surprised that teaching excellence is not counted in rankings.
Emerging research suggests that courses in lower-ranked universities, on average, scored higher on teaching than courses in higher-ranked universities.
Rankings, however, are only one reason why a low value is placed on teaching in higher education. Administrators often don’t view teaching excellence as a way to increase enrolment (注册) or funding.
What should students and their families do? They should give strong consideration to universities where high-quality teaching is valued, even though the schools may be ranked lower.
A.Higher education has achieved its true potential. |
B.Therefore, it’s not highly valued in hiring or promotion. |
C.Quality teaching has been an important reputation-building factor. |
D.However, the rankings ignore a critical factor: the quality of teaching. |
E.Efforts to improve teaching at the university level have recently emerged. |
F.They’re even more surprised at how teaching is undervalued by universities. |
G.In fact, universities often shift emphasis from teaching to other ranking factors. |
9 . An Australian professor is developing a robot to monitor the health of grazing cattle, a development that could bring big changes to a profession that's relied largely on a low-tech approach for decades but is facing a labor shortage.
Salah Sukkarieh, a professor at the University of Sydney, sees robots as necessary given how cattlemen are aging. He is building a four-wheeled robot that will run on solar and electric power. It will use cameras and sensors to monitor the animals. A computer system will analyze the video to determine whether a cow is sick. Radio tags (标签) on the animals will measure temperature changes. The quality of grassland will be tracked by monitoring the shape, color and texture (质地) of grass. That way, cattlemen will know whether they need to move their cattle to another field for nutrition purposes.
Machines have largely taken over planting, watering and harvesting crops such as com and wheat, but the monitoring of cattle has gone through fewer changes.
For Texas cattleman Pete Bonds, it's increasingly difficult to find workers interested in watching cattle. But Bonds doesn't believe a robot is right for the job. Years of experience in the industry - and failed attempts to use technology - have convinced him that the best way to check cattle is with a man on a horse. Bonds, who bought his first cattle almost 50 years ago, still has each of his cowboys inspect 300 or 400 cattle daily and look for signs that an animal is getting sick.
Other cattlemen see more promise in robots. Michael Kelsey Paris, vice president of the Oklahoma Cattlemen's Association, said a robot could be extremely useful given rising concerns about cattle theft. Cattle tend to be kept in remote places and their value has risen, making them appealing targets.
1. What is a problem with the cattle-raising industry?A.Soil pollution. | B.Lack of workers. |
C.Aging machines. | D.Low profitability. |
A.Monitor the quality of grass. | B.Cure the diseased cattle. |
C.Move cattle to another field. | D.Predict weather changes. |
A.He wants to help them earn a living. | B.He thinks men can do the job better. |
C.He is inexperienced in using robots. | D.He enjoys the traditional way of life. |
A.Increase the value of cattle. | B.Bring down the cost of labor. |
C.Make the job more appealing. | D.Keep cattle from being stolen. |
10 . Molai grew up in a tiny village in India. The village lay near some wetlands which became his second
When he was 16, Molai began to notice something
Molai
A.dream | B.job | C.home | D.choice |
A.nature | B.youth | C.culture | D.knowledge |
A.precious | B.interesting | C.disturbing | D.awkward |
A.waste | B.tension | C.pain | D.damage |
A.Besides | B.However | C.Therefore | D.Otherwise |
A.agreed | B.realized | C.remembered | D.predicted |
A.noise | B.heat | C.disease | D.dust |
A.directions | B.partners | C.help | D.shelter |
A.labor | B.police | C.forest | D.finance |
A.rebuilt | B.discovered | C.left | D.managed |
A.Decorating | B.Observing | C.Watering | D.Guarding |
A.tough | B.illegal | C.fantastic | D.beneficial |
A.back | B.top | C.foot | D.side |
A.cool down | B.keep off | C.purify | D.collect |
A.returned | B.learned | C.failed | D.continued |