Ban Fur? Then Why Not Leather?
     Much to the displeasure of some local businesses, the City Council in West Hollywood, California,
voted without opposition last week to ban the sale of fur products. Should laws be involved in this issue? Is it unfair to ban sales of fur, but not sales of leather and hides (獸皮)?
     Animals Do Not Have Rights
     By Tibor R. Machan
     My view is that animals do not have basic rights. It is a matter of ethics (倫理學(xué)) and not of the laws of human societies. If animals had such rights as human beings do, they would have to be held responsible for killing fellow animals in the wild. That way of thinking about animals makes a category mistake. Using
animals, including their fur or organs, to improve people's lives is acceptable.
     A Small Step Against Cruelty
     By Kate Carter
     Both fur and leather are the skins of dead animals. Why should we think that the lovable furry ones
deserve more of a life than the less pleasing ones? Some say leather is  less cruel because it's a byproduct (副產(chǎn)品) of the meat industry. But this isn't really true. Some cheap leather may be a byproduct of the
meat industry, but often it's the other way round. In South Africa, where there is a developing market for
ostrich(鴕鳥(niǎo))farms, the skins account for roughly 80 percent of the slaughtered (宰殺)birds' value, a mere 20 percent of which comes from the meat.
     "Who" Are You Wearing?
     By Marc Bekoff
     West Hollywood's ban is a move in the right direction. However, we must work to ban the sales of
leather and hides, too. Furs come from animals who are attacked to become clothing, while some leather
and hides come from slaughterhouse(屠宰場(chǎng)) animals. We must remember that when people choose to
wear fur, leather and hides, they are wearing formering conscious beings. So it's a matter of who they are wearing, not what they are wearing because these animals must be referred to as who and not what or that.

1. What is the passage mainly about?                                        
A. West Hollywood's ban on fur products.                                    
B. Differences between fur and leather sales.                              
C. The government's role in protecting animals.                            
D. The ecological imbalance in West Hollywood.                              
2. Tibor R. Machan seems to believe that_____.                        
A. laws should be passed to protect animals                                
B. humans are respornsible for killing animals                              
C. it is not reasonable to use animals to improve life                      
D. animals and humans aren't supposed to share equal rights                
3. What is Kate Carter's opinion about wearing fur and wearing leather?    
A. Both are decided by the meat industry.                                  
B. There is little distinction (區(qū)別) between them.                        
C. Wearing fur is generally more acceptable.                                
D. Wearing leather is cheaper than wearing fur.                            
4. What is Marc Bekoff's attitude towards sales of fur?                    
A. Sympathetic.                                                            
B. Careless.                                                                
C. Tolerant.                                                                
D. Opposed.                                                                

     The common cold is the world’s most widespread illness, which is plagues(疫病) that flesh receives.
     The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact, directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions explorers have reported being
free from colds until coming into contact again with infected people from the outside world by way of
packages and mail dropped from airplanes.?
     During the First World War soldiers who spent long periods in the trenches(戰(zhàn)壕), cold and wet,
showed no increased tendency to catch colds.?
     In the Second World War prisoners at the notorious Auschwitz concentration camp(奧斯維辛集中營(yíng)), naked and starving, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.?
     At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they put
themselves into the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in
drafty room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.?
     If, then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in the winter? Despite the most pains-taking research, no one has yet found the answer. One explanation offered by
scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and this
makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
     No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain suppressors(止痛片) such as
aspirin, but all they do is to relieve the symptoms.?
1. The writer offered _______ examples to support his argument.?
A. 4
B. 5
C. 6
D. 3
2. Which of the following does not agree with the chosen passage??
A. The Eskimos do not suffer from colds all the time.?
B. Colds are not caused by cold.?
C. People suffer from colds just because they like to stay indoors.?
D. A person may catch a cold by touching someone who already had one.
3. Arctic explorers may catch colds when ________.
A. they are working in the isolated Arctic regions?
B. they are writing reports in terribly cold weather?
C. they are free from work in the isolated Arctic regions?
D. they are coming into touch again with the outside world
4. The passage mainly discusses ________.
A. the experiments on the common cold
B. the false opinion about the common cold?
C. the reason and the way people catch colds
D. the continued spread of common colds

     While drunken driving may be on the decline, traffic safety experts remain puzzled over how to deal with
another alcohol related danger: drunken pedestrians (行人).
     Pedestrians struck and killed by cars often are extremely drunk. In fact, they are intoxicated more
frequently, and with higher blood alcohol levels, than drunken drivers who are killed in accidents, various
studies have shown. Forty percent of adult pedestrians involved in fatal crashes have a blood alcohol level of
at least 0.10, which by law in many states signifies intoxication (醉酒), compared to only 25 percent of drivers
in deadly accidents, according to recent federal data.
     Some types of pedestrian accidents have been declining nationally, especially those involving children, but
the number of adult pedestrians who are drunk when killed in traffic has remained relatively steady at 2,500 a
year. The total number of pedestrians killed annually in U.S. traffic accidents is at least 7,000, or one of every
seven highway accidents resulting in death.
     "We're dealing here, we think, with a very severe drinking problem that leads to a severe highway safety
problem," said Richard Bloomberg, president of Dunlap and Associates Inc, in Norwalk, Coon.
     Bloomberg, whose consulting company found a very high rate of alcohol involvement in a controlled study
of pedestrian accidents in New Orleans, was among several researchers who spoke on the topic at the annual
meeting of the Research council's Transportation Research Board (TRB) in Washington in January.
     Pedestrian accidents have not received enough attention in the past, according to Kay Culprits, who chairs
the board's committee on pedestrians. Few methods exist to monitor walking habits, she said, and researchers
have been confused about how to prevent disasters.

1. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?

A. Traffic Safety.
B. Drunken Drivers.
C. Drunken Pedestrian Accidents.
D. A Severe Highway Safety problem.

2. Among the causes of walkers' accidents, the most serious problem is _____.

A. long delays in traffic signals that may make people cross streets without paying attention to traffic rules
B. alcohol
C. a lack of adult keeping eyes on many children involved in accidents
D. former drunken drivers whose licenses are not allowed to use for a time

3. According to recent federal data, drunken drivers with an over 0.10 blood alcohol level in deadly
    accidents _____.

A. make up one seventh of highway accidents
B. are 2,500 a year
C. are at least 7,000 in US traffic accidents
D. are 15 percent less than drunken adult walkers with the same level

4. According to the passage, what is Bloomberg?

A. A researcher.
B. A specialist in traffic safety.
C. A clerk of a consulting company.
D. A government official

     As you move around your home, take a good look at the things you have. It is likely that your
living room will have a television set and a video, and your kitchen a washing machine and a microwave
oven. Your bedroom drawers will be filled with almost three times as many clothes as you need. You
almost certainly own a car and possibly a home computer, holiday abroad at least once a year and eat
out at least once a week.
      Now, perhaps, more than ever before, people are wondering what life is all about, and what it is for.
Seeking material success is beginning to trouble large numbers of people around the world. They feel that
the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives, leaving them very little time or
energy for family or pastimes. Many are turning to other ways of living and downshifting is one of them.
Six percent of workers in Britain took the decision to downshift last year.
      One couple who downshifted is Daniel and Liz. They used to work in central London. He was a newspaper reporter and she used to work for an international bank. They would go to work by train every day
from their large house in the suburbs, leaving their two children with a nanny. Most evenings Daniel wouldn't get home until eight or nine o'clock and nearly twice a month he would have to fly to New York for
meetings. They both earned a large amount of money but began to feel that life was passing them by.
      Nowadays, they run a farm in the mountains of Wales. "I always wanted to have a farm then," says
Daniel, "and we took almost a year to make the decision to downshift. It's taken some getting used to,
but it's been worth it. We have to think twice now about spending money on car repairs and we no longer have any holidays. However, I think it's made us stronger as a family, and the children are a lot happier.
      Liz, however, is not quite sure. "I used to enjoy my job, even though it was hard work and long hours. I'm not really a country girl, but I suppose I'm gradually getting used to looking after the animals. One thing I do like, though, is being able to see more of my children. My advice for other people wanting to do the
same is not to think about it too much or you might not do it at all."

1．The passage tells us that            .

A．people seldom work long hours to make money
B．people hardly buy more things than necessary
C．people are sure everything they own is in the right place
D．people realize there is more to life than just making money

2．When Daniel was a reporter he _    _.

A．lived in central London
B．disliked his job
C．missed his children
D．was well paid

3．Daniel and Liz both agree that the move to the farm ____.

A．was easy to organize
B．has improved family life
C．was extremely expensive
D．has been a total success

4．What does the author mean by saying"the long hours work culture to make more money is eating up their lives" in the second paragraph ?

A．People work long hours to earn their living.
B．To make more money through hard work is the aim of people's life.
C．Long hours of hard work occupy too much of people's life.
D．People spent too much time and money eating meals.

5．The underlined word "downshifting" in the second paragraph refers to _________.

A．repairing your car by yourself
B．spending money carefully
C．moving out to the countryside to live a simpler and better life
D．living in a big house in the suburbs and dining out once a week

1. The underlined word gulf in Para.3 most probably means _________.

A. interest
B. distance
C. difference
D. separation

2. Which of the following shows that the generation gap is disappearing?

A. Parents help their children develop interests in more activities.
B. Parents put more trust in their children's abilities.
C. Parents and children talk more about sex and drugs.
D. Parents share more interests with their children.

3. By saying "today's parents, the 40-year-olds, were on the 'after' side." the author means that today's
parents _________.

A. follow the trend of the change
B. can set a limit to the change
C. fail to take the change seriously
D. have little difficulty adjusting to the change

4. The purpose of the passage is to _________.

A. describe the difficulties today's parents have met with
B. discuss the development of the parent-child relationship
C. suggest the ways to handle the parent-child relationship
D. compare today's parent-child relationship with that in the past

1. Which body part is most likely to get injured for a climber?

A. The arm.   
B. The ankle.
C. The knee.  
D. The hand.

2. How many women climbers in America got injured while climbing a rock between 1991 and 2008?

A. About 40,000.  
B. About 30,000.
C. About 20,000.  
D. About 10,000.

3. The severity of climbers' fallrelated injures is mainly related to ________.

A. the height of the fall
B. the climber's age
C. the climber's health conditions
D. the climber's climbing experience

4. The underlined word "demonstrates" in the last paragraph can be replaced by "________".

A. demands  
B. prevents
C. proves  
D. describes

5. The purpose of the passage is to ________.

A. show that rock climbingrelated injuries have increased
B. tell readers rock climbing is an adventurous sport
C. warn readers of the danger of rock climbing
D. call on doctors to increase injury prevention efforts

     Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.
Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new
technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from
personal experience.
     E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings.
My working hours aren't necessarily much shorter than they once were but I spend fewer of them at
the office.    This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she'd been
born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.
     The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something
fun see a great movie perhaps-and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If
you call each one, you may tire of telling the story.
      With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it
to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and
read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they
have to say at your convenience.
      E-mail is also an inexpensive way stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than
a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.
     We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way ofstaying in touch.
 They don't take the place of any of the old ways.