BERLIN — With the crisis in Japan raising fears about nuclear power, Germany and Switzerland said on Monday that they would reassess（再次評(píng)估） the safety of their own reactors（[核] 反應(yīng)堆）.
Doris Leuthard, the Swiss energy minister, said Switzerland would put off plans to build nuclear plants. She said no new ones would be permitted until experts had reviewed safety standards.
Germany will put off “the recently decided extension of the running time of German nuclear plants,” Chancellor Angela Merkel told reporters. “This moratorium（延緩）will run for three months and it will allow for a thorough examination of the safety standards of the county’s 17 nuclear power plants.
The European Union called for a meeting on Tuesday of nuclear safety authorities to assess Europe’s preparedness.
Germany’s foreign minister, Guido Westerwelle, called for a new risk analysis of the country’s nuclear plants, particularly regarding their cooling systems. He is the leader of the Free Democratic Party, which strongly supports nuclear power.
A previous government, led by the Social Democrats, passed a law in 2001 to close all the country’s nuclear plants by 2021. But Mrs. Merkel’s government changed that decision last year to extend the lives of the plants by an average of 12 years.
In Switzerland, Doris Leuthard said she had already asked to analyze the exact cause of the problems in Japan and draw up new or tougher safety standards “particularly in terms of seismic(地震的，與地震相關(guān)的) safety and cooling.”
In Russia, the Prime Minister said his government would “draw conclusions from what’s going on in Japan.”
【小題1】 Where can you most likely read this passage?

A．In a newspaper.

B．In a magazine.

C．In a science report.

D．In a diary.

【小題2】How will Germany react to Japan’s nuclear crisis?

A．Germany will close all the country’s nuclear plants.

B．Germany will hold a meeting of nuclear safety authorities.

C．Germany will change the decision made last year.

D．Germany will delay the extension of nuclear plants running time.

【小題3】The author mentions all the following EXCEPT ______.

A．The moratorium in Germany will give time to examine the nuclear plants safety standards.

B．Switzerland will not build new nuclear plants unless they meet the experts’ safety standards.

C．The Social Democrats in Germany shares the same view with the Free Democratic Party.

D．Russia will try to learn something from the nuclear power crisis in Japan.

【小題4】What is the best title of the passage?

A．Watch Out for the Danger of Nuclear Power

B．Europe Is against Building Nuclear Plants

C．Nuclear Plants in Europe Are Delayed

D．Opinions on Nuclear Power Are Opposite

What is it that makes people laugh? More than two thousand years ago the ancient Greek philosopher (哲學(xué)家) Aristotle defined (定義) jokes as the pleasure that results from a feeling of triumph by showing we’re better than someone else in a certain way. According to Aristotle and many other philosophers，all jokes depend mainly on showing inferiority in another person or group of persons — that is，putting it clearly，on showing that they are worse off than ourselves. Jokes raise our good opinion of ourselves at someone else’s expense.
Showing how much better than other people we are is only one reason we like jokes. Someone may also use a joke to express their anger or their cruelty （殘酷）or any other kind of action that is not acceptable to us. We feel free to laugh when we hear about someone sliding on a banana skin. The joke lets us express those attitudes which are usually unacceptable to society. This is probably the reason why some of the jokes，especially those involving cruelty，are so popular with certain people.
Besides，all jokes depend on our enjoyment of laughing at something that is strange and out of place because it’s different from things which are happening around it. The same situation can be either sad or pleasant，depending entirely on how strange and out of place it is. If a girl in a bathing suit falls into a swimming pool，we don’t laugh because nothing unusual has happened. But if a man in a smart suit falls in，the situation is at once unusual in a pleasant way and we laugh. A good joke-teller will always try to build up a situation in which one thing is expected until something unexpected suddenly happens，and so we laugh.
【小題1】The underlined word “inferiority” (in Paragraph 1) means ______.

A．someone that is better than someone else

B．something that is better than something else

C．someone that is as good as someone else

D．something that is not as good as something else

【小題2】According to Aristotle, all jokes depend mainly on ______.

A．resulting in a sense of success

B．showing inferiority in another person or group

C．having a good opinion of other people

D．making people laugh unexpectedly

【小題3】What’s the main idea of Paragraph 2?

A．To express those attitudes usually unacceptable to society is one of the reasons we like jokes.

B．When people are angry, they would like to hear jokes.

C．People who like jokes are usually cruel.

D．Showing we are better than other people is the only one reason we like jokes.

【小題4】What will a good joke-teller always try to do? 

A．Make an unexpected thing happen in an expected situation

B．Make different things happen at the same time.

C．Make a sad situation into a pleasant one.

D．Make people laugh at something unusual and out of place.

When you think about math, you probably don’t think about breaking the law, solving mysteries or finding criminals. But a mathematician in Maryland does, and he has come up with mathematical tools to help police find criminals.
People who solve crimes look for patterns that might reveal(揭示) the identity of the criminal. It’s long been believed, for example, that criminals will break the law closer to where they live, simply because it’s easier to get around in their own neighborhood. If police see a pattern of robberies in a certain area, they may look for a suspect(嫌疑犯) who lives near the crime scenes. So, the farther away from the area a crime takes place, the less likely it is that the same criminal did it.
But Mike O’Leary, a mathematician at Towson University in Maryland, says that this kind of approach may be too simple. He says that police may get better clues to the location of a criminal’s home base by combining these patterns with a city’s layout(布局) and historical crime records.
The records of past crimes contain geographical information and can reveal easy targets — that is, the kind of stores that might be less difficult to rob. Because these stores are along roads, the locations of past crimes contain information about where major streets and intersections are. O’Leary is writing a new computer program that will quickly provide this kind of information for a given city. His program also includes information about the people who live in the city, and information about how a criminal’s patterns change with age. It’s been shown, for example, that the younger the criminal, the closer to home the crime.
Other computer programmers have worked on similar software, but O’Leary’s uses more math. The mathematician plans to make his computer program available, free of charge, to police departments around the country.
The program is just one way to use math to fight crime. O’Leary says that criminology — the study of crime and criminals — contains a lot of good math problems. “I feel like I’m in a gold mine and I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like,” he says. “It’s a lot of fun.”
【小題1】
To find criminals, police usually ______.

A．focus on where crimes take place	B．seek help from local people
C．depend on new mathematical tools	D．check who are on the crime scene

【小題2】
O’Leary is writing a computer program that ______.

A．uses math to increase the speed of calculation

B．tells the identity of a criminal in a certain area

C．shows changes in criminals’ patterns

D．provides the crime records of a given city

【小題3】
By “I’m the only one who knows what gold looks like”, O’Leary means that he ______.

A．is better at finding gold than others

B．is the only one who uses math to make money

C．knows more criminals than other mathematicians

D．knows best how to use math to help solve crimes

【小題4】
What is the main idea of the text?

A．Criminals live near where crimes occur.

B．Math could help police find criminals.

C．Crime records could be used to fight crime.

D．Computer software works in preventing crimes.

Consult the page adapted from an English dictionary and do Questions

【小題1】
What does the phrase “green shoots” mean in “Green shoots have begun to appear in different markets”?

A．Signs of recovery.	B．High prices.
C．Environmental protection.	D．Change in policy.

【小題2】
Fill in the blank in the sentence “I can’t believe this is Joshua—he’s ______ since we last met!”

A．shot out

B．shot through

C．shot up

D．shot down

【小題3】
When you are talking about unimportant things, we say you are ______.

A．shooting yourself in the foot	B．shooting the breeze
C．shooting your mouth off	D．shooting questions at somebody

【小題4】
Choose a word to complete the sentence “The ______, which killed a policeman and wounded a passer-by, was reported to have lasted only 13 seconds.”

A．shooter

B．shoot

C．shot

D．shooting

With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills（泄露） on people, nature, and the environment．
Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．
Of all of today’s environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．
Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Sicily Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．
Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run!
We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power（太陽(yáng)能）, electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．
If the world’s millions of cars were 10% more efficient（高效的）— and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient — we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．
【小題1】What is the passage mainly talking about?

A．Oil tanker accidents．	B．Oil spills pollution．
C．What oil pollution is．	D．How to reduce oil pollution．

【小題2】How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?

A．By giving a description．	B．By making an argument．
C．By giving an example．	D．By drawing a diagram．

【小題3】What does the underlined word “risk” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Transportation depending more on oil．

B．Poisonous oil breaking down naturally．

C．Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea．

D．More environmental damage being caused．

【小題4】Which suggestion is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

A．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use

B．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines．

C．We should build safer oil tankers in the near future．

D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea．

Most people think that the older you get, the harder it is to learn a new language. That is, they believe that children learn more easily and efficiently than adults. Thus, at some point in our lives, maybe around age 12 or 13, we lose the ability to learn languages well. Is this idea a fact or myth(懸念)？
Is it true that children learn a foreign language more efficiently than adults? On the contrary, research studies suggest that the opposite may be true. One report, on 2,000 Danish children studying Swedish, concluded that the teenagers learned more, in less time, than the younger children. Another report, on Americans learning Russian, showed a direct improvement of ability over the age range tested; that is, the ability to learn increased as the age increased, from childhood to adulthood.
There are several possible explanations for these findings. For one thing, adults know more about the world and therefore are able to understand meanings more easily than children. Moreover, adults can use logical(邏輯的) thinking to help themselves see patterns in the language. Finally, adults have more self-discipline (self-control) than children.
All in all, it seems that the common idea that children are better language learners than adults may not be a fact, but a myth.
【小題1】The main idea of the passage is that         .

A．teenagers are more difficult to teach

B．Danish teenagers can learn Swedish faster than younger children

C．a(chǎn)dults are more logical than children

D．the ability to learn languages increases with age

【小題2】 If most people’s idea of learning languages is true, people may lose ability to learn languages well         .

A．a(chǎn)t an early age	B．when they reach their twenties
C．a(chǎn)t an old age	D．a(chǎn)fter they become young men

【小題3】According to the passage, teenagers can learn a foreign language __________ than younger children.

A．harder

B．more efficiently

C．more slowly

D．more carefully

【小題4】The reason why adults understand meanings more easily than children is that         .

A．a(chǎn)dults have more self-discipline

B．a(chǎn)dults like to play more than children

C．a(chǎn)dults have more knowledge than children

D．a(chǎn)dults accept new things more easily than children

【小題5】The explanation for older student’s better achievement not mentioned in the above passage is that       .

A．a(chǎn)dults know more about the world.	B．a(chǎn)dults can use logical thinking
C．a(chǎn)dults have more self-discipline.	D．a(chǎn)dults can read better.

By 2050
Futurologists predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
TV channels will have disappeared. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer.
Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours. Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 hours.
Robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big companies prefer robots—they don’t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Medical technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there is equipment that connects directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again.
Scientist will have discovered how to control genes（基因）. Scientists have already produced clones(克隆) of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how clever they are. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
【小題1】
According to the passage, the following can be realized today EXCEPT __________.

A．reading newspapers on a computer

B．making a space shuttle go into space and land on Earth again

C．creating cloned animals

D．choosing TV programs freely from a “menu”

【小題2】
We can learn from the passage that some big companies prefer robots to human workers, because human workers __________.

A．can work 24 hours a day	B．often ask for more pay
C．a(chǎn)re not clever enough	D．a(chǎn)re often late for work

【小題3】
From Paragraph 5 we can infer that __________.

A．there will be no blind and deaf people by 2050

B．few diseases will attack people by 2050

C．equipment is connected directly to the brain to help people hear today

D．medical technology will be more effective by 2050

【小題4】
What is the author’s attitude towards the cloning technology?

A．The author does not support the use of cloning technology.

B．The author thinks human cloning is impossible.

C．The author does not really support the idea of human cloning.

D．The author is quite excited about human cloning.

Compared to people with bad attitudes，people who are cheerful and relaxed are less likely to suffer from colds，according to a new study.“It’s possible that being upbeat helps the body fight illnesses，” says Sheldon Cohen，the study’s lead researcher from Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) in Pittsburgh.
In a previous（先前的） study，Cohen and his colleagues put cold­causing viruses into the noses of 334 healthy adults. People who tended to be cheerful and lively were least likely to develop sniffles，coughs，and other cold symptoms. People who showed positive feelings were also less likely to mention symptoms to their doctors，even when medical tests detected those symptoms.
Those findings were interesting，but they didn’t prove that a person’s attitude affects whether he or she gets sick. Instead，it was still possible that a person’s underlying personality is what matters. Evidence suggests，for instance，that certain people are naturally more likely to be outgoing and optimistic，with high self­esteem and a sense of control over life. This would mean that who we are，not how we feel，ultimately decides our chances of catching colds.
To figure out which mattered more (personality or emotions)，the CMU team interviewed 193 healthy adults. The researchers talked to each person over the phone every evening for 2 weeks. At the end of the interviewing period，people got nose drops that contained either cold or flu viruses. Then，each person stayed in an isolated room for 5 or 6 days. The results showed that everyone in the study was equally likely to get infected. Their symptoms，however，differed depending on the types of emotions that they had reported over the previous 2 weeks. Among those who reported good moods and had been infected with the flu virus，for example,28 percent developed coughs and stuffy noses. On the other hand，those symptoms struck 41 percent of people who had been less upbeat.
【小題1】
What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Smiles Turn away Colds

B．An Interesting Way to Beat Colds

C．Be Outgoing and Optimistic to Fight Colds

D．What Matters More，Personality or Emotions?

【小題2】
In the previous study，people who showed positive feelings______.

A．didn’t catch colds as often

B．developed cold symptoms more slowly

C．were less likely to have cold symptoms detected

D．were less likely to feel cold symptoms

【小題3】
What mainly decides our chances of catching colds according to the new study?

A．Personality.

B．Self­esteem（自尊）.

C．Emotions.

D．Attitudes.

【小題4】
The underlined word “symptoms” probably means________.

A．something that causes cold

B．something that results in cold

C．signs that something exists，especially something bad

D．changes in your body or mind that show that you are not healthy

Do you blank out, freeze up or feel so nervous in exams that you have trouble writing answers to questions that you knew just last night? If so, you likely have a case of test anxiety.
But, don’t panic. By recognizing the problem, you are taking the first step towards overcoming it.
Believe it or not, a touch of nervousness can sharpen your mind, allowing you to perform more quickly. This is because under stress, the body releases the hormone adrenaline (腎上腺素), which prepares it for something important that will happen. However, too much anxiety can result in sleeplessness, loss of appetite（食欲） before tests, and poor performances. Some people might feel shaky, hot, or even sick.
If you worry a lot or are a perfectionist, you are more likely to have trouble with test anxiety. Those who have prepared poorly for a test or have had negative experiences taking tests may also experience test anxiety.
When you feel a storm of anxiety coming on, stop what you are doing and make your mind a blank. If possible, actually tell yourself to “STOP”. This will get your mind off the stress.
Then think of being at a place of comfort and let your body relax. As you continue the test, find questions you know the answers to and answer them first. This will help restore your confidence.
Talk to yourself using positive language. Make it a habit to replace each negative thought with a logical reason. For example：“ I’ve studied hard and I know the material, so I’m ready to do the best I can.”
Another thing you can do is to learn to accept mistakes. In fact, they can be valuable learning opportunities.
Last but not least, start test preparation early---three to five days ahead of the quiz or test. After all, good study habits and skills ---for example, time management and note-taking – will give you the feeling that your are in control.
【小題1】The first step to overcome nervousness is___ .

A．stopping what you are doing, and make your mind a blank.
B．getting aware of your problem that you are always nervous
C．releasing a kind of body liquid.	D．making full preparations

【小題2】___ are more likely to feel very nervous in tests.

A．People who feel a touch of nervousness in tests.

B．People who haven’t prepared very well.

C．People who require that everything must be perfect.

D．People who have recognized their problems.

【小題3】 According to the passage, which statement is TRUE?

A．Those who have ever failed in tests must feel anxious.

B．A touch of nervousness is a good thing.

C．You should answer the questions on the paper one by one.

D．Full preparation is not as important as nervousness controlling.

Despite the fact that it has never been seen almost everyone is familiar with the legendary unicorn(獨(dú)角獸). Descriptions of unicorns have been found dating from ancient times. The great philosopher Aristotle theorized that there were two types of unicorn--- the so-called Indian Ass and the Oryx, a kind of antelope. Unicorns are often used in the logo of a noble family, town council or university as their special sign. Even Scotland is represented by a unicorn.
According to the legend, anyone attempting to catch a unicorn had to be extremely careful as it was very fierce and dangerous. A clever trick suggested by unicorn-trappers, in order to catch this amazing animal without being hurt by its horn, was for the hunter to stand in front of a tree and then to move quickly behind it as the unicorn dashed angrily. Hopefully, the creature could then be caught when its horn was stuck in the tree.
When hollowed out and used as a drinking-cup, the unicorn’s horn was said to have the power to offer protection against person. It was believed that nobody could be harmed-by drinking the contents of a unicorn’s horn. Right up until the French Revolution in 1789, the French court was said to have used cups made of “unicorn” horn in order to protect the king. In addition, the horn was said to have medicinal value, so much so that it could be sold for more than ten times the price of the same weight of gold. What, then, was “unicorn” horn? We know at times the rhino(犀牛) was confused with this legendary creature. A drinking-cup supposedly made of “unicorn” horn was discovered to be made of the horn of a rhino.
【小題1】
Which of the following is TRUE of the unicorn?

A．It was not historically recorded

B．Its horn was first used in France

C．It was similar to the Indian Ass and the Oryx

D．It could be the symbol of a university

【小題2】
To catch a unicorn, the unicorn-trappers had to try all of the following EXCEPT ____.

A．a(chǎn)ttracting the unicorn to attack

B．making use of the tree as a defense

C．hiding quickly behind the unicorn

D．having the unicorn horn stuck in the tree

【小題3】
The last paragraph is mainly about ____.

A．the functions of the unicorn horn

B．the users of the unicorn horn

C．the price of the unicorn horn

D．the comparison between the unicorn horn and the rhino horn