1. How does the man feel about flying?
| A．Excited. | B．Bored. | C．Scared. |
| A．The man. | B．The woman. | C．Neither of the speakers. |
| A．It’s unpleasant and inconvenient. |
| B．It’s great to see the scenery. |
| C．It’s exciting to meet other passengers. |
| A．The plane. | B．The train. | C．The car. |
| A．At a bank. | B．On a bus. | C．In a taxi. |
3 . Traffic lights are red, yellow and green. They are very important signals (信号). Traffic lights are usually placed at busy street corners to help control traffic. Sometimes, they are on streets near schools and shops, too. Most young children are taught what each of the colored lights means, so everybody can stay safe.
The first traffic signals were used for trains. The signals were put alongside railway tracks (轨道). The color red was used to mean “stop” because it warned people of danger. A red light was also the easiest color to see from a distance. Train drivers could see the red “stop” light ahead and had enough time to slow down and stop their trains. A green light was used to mean “take care” and a white light meant “go”.
However, there were many dangerous accidents on the train tracks. Some train drivers thought a star shining in the night sky was a white light that meant “go”. So the signals were swapped. The “go” light was changed to green and the “take care” light was changed to white.
During these times, people travelled by train or in carts pulled by horses. Years later, when cars were built, people began to drive them because they could travel much faster than horses. However, the road rules for drivers were not very clear and many people were hurt crossing the roads. Yellow warning signs had to be placed beside the roads to remind drivers to take care and allow people to cross safely.
Today, towns and cities all over the world have traffic lights. Red and green lights match the signals used on the railways. Yellow lights are easy to see, so they are used to warn drivers that they should slow down and prepare to stop.
1. Why was the color red used to mean “stop”?| A．It gave people a warning of danger. |
| B．It was the first color people thought of. |
| C．It reminded people of traffic rules. |
| D．It helped trains run smoothly. |
| A．Designed. | B．Suggested. | C．Compared. | D．Exchanged. |
a. A white light. b. A green light. c. A yellow light.
| A．a—b—c | B．b—c—a |
| C．b—a—c | D．a—c—b |
| A．The importance of traffic lights. | B．The meanings of traffic lights. |
| C．The advantages of traffic lights. | D．The history of traffic lights. |
4 . Will there be a time in our lives when cars don’t crash? When we can just sit back and relax and our cars will drive themselves. Auto technology experts say “yes”. And they say that some of those advances may happen quicker than you might think.
They will require the users to input the name of the destination or the complete address of the location that they want to go and the cars’ artificial intelligence takes them there automatically without a driver. They will run on solar power in the daytime and ethanol fuel(乙醇燃料) at night. Toyota, BMW and Honda will completely control the trade of driverless car business together and will have the cheapest driverless cars. Fossil fuels(矿物燃料) will be completely incompatible(不相配的) with these cars.
Driverless cars will not require a driver’s license of any grade to operate. Anyone with basic literacy and computer skills who are at least 16 years of age will be legally allowed to operate the vehicle with absolutely no restrictions. This would give the young users permission to operate the driverless cars on major highways as well as secondary roads without needing a separate classification. In addition to all this, drunken people will be able to use their own automobiles to return home because they are not “driving” the vehicle.
What’s more, car insurance will become obsolete because there will be no more automobile accidents after the year 2025. This is because the driverless car will have all safety methods in place by the car’s artificial intelligence to prevent automobile accidents. Global positioning systems will become mandatory(强制的) in all newly-manufactured cars after 2010, and will be the most important part in the driverless car.
1. We can infer from the second paragraph that driverless cars ______.| A．will need fewer fossil fuels | B．will be environmentally friendly |
| C．will run on solar power only | D．will not need a human’s instructions |
| A．People with basic literacy and computer skills. |
| B．People who are drunk. |
| C．People without computer skills. |
| D．People without a driver’s license. |
| A．difficult to get | B．quite important | C．dangerous | D．out of business |
| A．Car safety. | B．Driverless cars. | C．The future cars. | D．New technology in cars. |
5 . This week, Parisians have been treated to the sight of ecotaxis, transporting people up and down the river Seine. They are called SeaBubbles and are being tested ahead of the decision to introduce them into the Parisian transport network. The SeaBubble is still in its early testing period, using technological know-how from several industries. The boat sits in the water as the passengers get on and off but once the door is closed the boat starts moving at 12 kmh (7.5 mph) along the surface. It is 100% electric.
The foils(箔) they use are not new technology. They date back to 1898 and an Italian engineer called Enrico Forlanini. The Germans tested foil boats in the 1940s, the first hydrofoil ferry(水翼渡船) was used between Switzerland and Italy in the 1950s and by 1965, a hydrofoil boat was good enough for the James Bond baddie in Thunderball. What has changed, however, is the technology, which has improved to the point where it can now succeed in dealing with some of the shortcomings which prevented their widespread use.
The company has big goals; it wants to use the world’s waterways—and not roads—to transport people from A to B, and it wants to do so with “zero wave, zero emission(排放), zero noise.” The SeaBubbles would travel at the same speed as cars and the goal is to provide these at the same cost as a taxi, with customers ordering them through an app as they would an Uber.
Anders Bringdal, SeaBubbles CEO, told Associated Press that he hopes to change the way people move about cities. SeaBubbles are one more example of how shared public transport can change the mobility of large cities, much like shared bikes are now doing. People are increasingly looking to rivers as a means of moving around large cities to compete with the subway or buses—in London, travel cards are now accepted on river boats.
1. What do we know about the SeaBubble?| A．It has been used in Paris. | B．It moves as fast as a car. |
| C．It is under water when it moves. | D．It uses knowledge from other industries. |
| A．To give special importance to the breakthrough of foils. |
| B．To explain the reasons for creating the SeaBubble. |
| C．To point out the disadvantages of foils. |
| D．To show how the SeaBubble works. |
| A．To put traditional taxis out of business. |
| B．To work with Uber to transport more people. |
| C．To transport people on waterways worldwide. |
| D．To make environment-friendly inventions at low prices. |
| A．It may have an important place in public transport. |
| B．It has been widely accepted by many countries. |
| C．It will make the company world-famous. |
| D．It still needs more tests. |
6 . London Underground
The world's first subway was built in London in 1863. At the time, the government was looking for a way to reduce traffic problems in the city of London. The poor areas of the city were so crowded with people that it was almost impossible for horse carriages to get through. The city officials were interested in trying to make it possible for workers to live outside of London and travel easily to work each day. If people had a cheap and convenient way that they could depend on to go to and from work, they would relocate their homes outside of the city. This would help ease（减轻）the pressure of too many people living in the poor parts of London. From these problems, the idea of the London Underground, the first subway system, was born.
The plans for building the Underground met with several problems and delays, but the fast track was finally opened in January 1863. A steam train pulled the cars along the fast underground track which was 6 kilometers（3.7 miles）long. About 30,000 people got on the subway the first day. Riders were treated to comfortable seats (standing up while the train was moving was not allowed), and pleasant decorations inside each of the cars. However, the smoke from the engine soon filled the air in the tunnels with ash and soot（煤灰）, as well as chemical gases. Fans had to be put in the tunnels later to keep the air clean enough for people to breathe. Even with its problems, riding in the Underground did catch on. It carried 9 million riders in its first year.
1. What led the British government to build the London Underground?| A．Traffic jams and pollution. | B．Population and pollution. |
| C．Overcrowding and traffic jams. | D．The poverty and subway problems. |
| A．It made the tunnels larger. | B．It put fans in the tunnels. |
| C．It cleaned the chemical gases in the tunnels. | D．It reduced the number of passengers riding in the train. |
| A．To relocate the workers' homes outside London, the government built the subway. |
| B．There were so many problems and delays that in 18th century the first subway opened. |
| C．The subway greatly eased the pressure of traffic. |
| D．There were not enough seats for the passengers the first day the subway opened. |
7 . As the coronavirus (冠状病毒) outbreak continues, many Americans are fearful of using public transportation. They are also looking for ways to get exercise without going to a gym. So, it may not be surprising that the pandemic (疫情) has led to a major increase in bicycle sales.
In the US, bicycles at big stores have sold out. And small bicycle stores cannot keep up with demand for “family-style” bicycles: the low-cost, easy-to-ride models. “The bicycle industry is seeing its biggest sales increase since the oil crisis of the 1970s,” said Jay Townley, an industry expert. He compared the sale of bicycles to the rush to buy products like toilet paper at the start of the pandemic.
The rise in bicycle sales is not happening just in the US. Italy has created bicycle paths for the growing number of people who want to avoid public transportation. In London, city officials plan to ban cars from some central roads. Bike shop owners in Manila say demand is even stronger than what they see at Christmas time.
Of course, you can only buy a bicycle if you can find one. In the US, the shortages now mean it may take many months to get a bicycle. High demand is not the only reason for the shortage. Many bicycle factories were shut down to stop the spread of COVID-19. The increase in bicycle demand began in March as countries began to close down. In April, the sale of bicycles increased 200 percent in the US.
Joe Minutolo is the co-owner of Bar Harbor Bicycle Shop in Maine. He said he hoped the increased sales meant a change in the way people think about transportation. “People are having a chance to rethink things,” he said, “Maybe we’ll all learn something out of this, and something really good will happen.”
1. What causes the increase in bicycle sales?| A．Shortage of public transportation. |
| B．Outbreak of the coronavirus. |
| C．People’s desire to defeat disease. |
| D．People’s fear of natural disasters. |
| A．More bikes are sold than at Christmas time. |
| B．“Family-style” bicycles are in great need. |
| C．Cars are banned from some central roads. |
| D．New bicycle paths have been built. |
| A．It’s impossible to buy a bike. |
| B．Bike factories were closed in April. |
| C．High demand for bikes began in March. |
| D．It takes many months to produce a bike. |
| A．Doubtful. | B．Positive. | C．Uncertain. | D．Critical. |
New cars sold in Europe after May 2022 will be required to have
Around 25,000 people
There has been a mixed reaction to the new safety technologies. The European Union said the technologies would make driving much
9 . “I didn’t hear them call my name.” explained Shelley Hennig to Active Teens (AT) when she talked about that exciting moment on national television when she won the honor of Miss Teen USA 2004. “Are you ready?” is what she heard. Then she said, “I shook my head no, and then they said ‘yes’ and it was announced again.”
It was four days after that life changing moment for the seventeen-year-old high school student from Destrehan, Louisiana—she was still on cloud nine.
“I was so shocked! I never believed that it could actually really happen.” Present in the audience that day were: her mother and father, older brother, her friends, and her dance teacher.
AT asked why her dance teacher had traveled so far to see her compete. “She’s always been my role model. I’ve danced with her since I was six. She’s been through so many difficulties and came through them all. I’ve learned to get over bad life’s experiences and learned how to move on because of her.” One of those bad life’s experiences for Shelley happened three years ago when her brother Brad was killed in a drunk driving accident. He was 18.
As Miss Louisiana Teen, she traveled around the state speaking to teens about the dangers of drinking and driving. In her role as Miss Teen USA, Shelley will continue to speak to youth about safe driving, together with many other things to help the teenagers.
When AT asked Miss Teen USA if she had any advice for our readers, she said, “Don’t let anyone change you. Hang out with people that make you feel good about yourself. That way, it is easy to be yourself.”
1. The underlined words “on cloud nine” in Paragraph 2 probably mean “very______”?| A．Frightened |
| B．Happy |
| C．troubled |
| D．angry |
| A．determined |
| B．friendly |
| C．strict |
| D．experienced |
| A．She made speeches on safe driving. |
| B．She often gave dance performances. |
| C．She usually visited drunken drivers. |
| D．She helped teens with their students. |
| A．Have a good role model for themselves. |
| B．Meet their friends whenever it’s possible. |
| C．Always be nice to themselves and others. |
| D．Be themselves with the support of others. |
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
A city without cars would be very strange, right? But Venice is such a city.
Venice is in the northeast of Italy. It wasn’t built on land, like Beijing or Shanghai, but on more than 110 islands. Seawater is everywhere around the city.
Even so, travel isn’t difficult. The waterways have always been the best way to get around. There are 117 waterways and more than 400 bridges that can guide you where you want to go. People in Venice move from place to place by boat.
Water makes the city special, but it is also a big problem. Sometimes tourists will have such strange experiences. One moment they walk across the Rialto Bridge, and there’s nothing special. But when they come back to the bridge an hour later, it’s underwater and everyone is wearing rain shoes.
Once, people used too much underground water. This made the city get lower little by little. Now the city has gone down by 23 centimeters. Another problem is the rising seawater. The temperature has risen over the years. This has made the ice of the Arctic Ocean (北冰洋) melt (融化). Every year, high waters hit the city in autumn and winter. When a lot of water comes, more than half of the city is underwater.
Scientists are trying different ways to stop the city from getting even lower. The Italian government has asked some of Italy’s biggest companies to build the MOST project, which was planned to be built under the seawater to stop the rising water. Anyway, this project is helping solve the problem.
1. Which is the best way to travel in Venice?
| A．The waterways. | B．Taxis and cars. |
| C．400 bridges. | D．Boats and rain shoes. |
| A．The ice of the Arctic Ocean melt. |
| B．Seawater is everywhere around the city. |
| C．People used too much underground water |
| D．The temperature has become higher over the years. |
| A．Venice is sure to stop getting lower. |
| B．High waters won’t hit Venice any more. |
| C．Scientists can solve the problems easily. |
| D．Some possible ways help to solve the problem. |
| A．The History of Venice |
| B．The MOST Project of Venice. |
| C．The Places of Interest of Venice |
| D．The Specials and Problems of Venice |
