閱讀理解。

To most people, noise pollution is a jet flying over their heads. For one Spanish woman, it is a neighbor playing the piano. The woman has taken her neighbor to court. Now she wants to send her neighbor to prison for over seven years on the charges of psychological damage and noise pollution.

In a country known for its noisiness, the case has raised eyebrows. Neighbors often complain about street noise in Spain, but people seeking prison time for someone practicing the piano is unheard of. At the trial, Sonia Bosom says she has been suffering noise pollution up to now due to the practice sessions of Laia Martin, who lives below her. Martin, 27, didn't admit that she played at home that often, saying she took regular classes in other towns and mostly practiced at home on the weekends.

On the first day of the trial, the newspaper reported that Bosom told the court she now hated pianos so much that she couldn't even stand seeing them in a film.

Bosom says years of hearing constant playing has caused her “psychological injury”. Medical reports show she has suffered from a variety of problems, including insomnia (失眠), anxiety, and panic attacks.

She says tests by local authorities have found that the sound levels made by the piano are up to 10 decibels (分貝) higher than the limit. City authorities have asked the family several times to either stop the piano playing or soundproof (隔音) the room. The family told the court they carried out soundproofing work twice but the complaints continued.

The court hasn't made a final decision. A spokeswoman says the trial will end before May.

1.Bosom wants to send Martin to prison because ________.

A．Martin's playing the piano damaged her health

B．Bosom suffered from heart attack

C．Martin refused to take regular classes in other towns

D．Martin flew a jet over her head

2.How did Laia Martin respond to the complaints?

A．She stopped playing the piano.

B．She soundproofed the room.

C．She didn't admit she played at home.

D．She took her neighbor to court.

3.Which of the following may probably be the best title for the passage?

A．A 7?year Sentence Caused by the Piano

B．Pianist Charged with Noise Pollution

C．Health Problems of a Spanish Woman

D．Actions Against Noise by Local Authority

A GRANDMOTHER, Michelle Riotton, 78, survived after falling down a mountain valley. She set off for a walk alone dressed only in a light jacket and trousers. “I slipped into a valley！” said Mrs Riotton, who said the fall happened in a deep forest close to her home village.

It was warm and sunny when the accident happened, but temperatures dropped to very low when night fell, and it rained. “I wasn't afraid，” said Mrs Riotton. “But I was worried that my children and grandchildren would become too worried about me.” Mrs Riotton said she covered herself in leaves when feeling cold, taking very small bites of two biscuits which she had in her pocket and drinking rainwater which fell down her face.

She spent six nights before she was found on Saturday. She was lying at the bottom of the valley, which was less than a mile from her home. The search had once been stopped, but Patrice Fossard, one of her neighbors, insisted that the search continue. “There was no way we could give up her, even if deep inside we felt we had little hope of finding her alive，” said Mr Fossard. “It was a miracle that Michelle was finally found.”

Mrs Riotton said she would be taking life easier from now on. “Enough is enough！” she said. “No more forests — don't want to visit one again.”

A mountain policeman said walking alone in the mountain was not recommended and that Mrs Riotton should have carried a mobile phone with her. “The mountains are particularly dangerous at this time of year as sunny afternoons can quickly change into cold, wet and stormy evenings.” he said. “Anybody walking into the mountains should carry safety equipment and be prepared for any kind of emergency.”

1.When Michelle Riotton was in the valley, she ________.

A．was hurt too badly to move

B．missed her home very much

C．didn't feel afraid

D．felt very hungry

2.Michelle Riotton covered herself with leaves to ________.

A．keep warm during her suffering

B．prevent the harmful animals

C．make herself noticed by others

D．a(chǎn)void getting wet in the rain

3.Michelle Riotton got lost on ________.

A．Sunday B．Saturday

C．Wednesday D．Monday

4.According to the mountain policeman, ________.

A．the mountains in the morning are very dangerous

B．one had better not walk in the mountains alone

C．people should carry safety equipment every day

D．people wouldn't be safe without a mobile phone

閱讀理解

Three?dimensional printers are fast becoming everyday devices in the United States. Three?D printers are used to make everything from automobile parts to bone replacements for human patients. American research scientists are now working on creating replacements for living tissue.

Researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina have been working on creating and manufacturing living tissue since 2003. This process is called biofabrication (生物制造). It requires special printing equipment and a special kind of ink.

Traditional printers require ink to produce an image or design on a piece of paper. For their three?D printer, the South Carolina researchers prepare complex nutritious solutions they call bio?inks. Bio?inks are made of proteins and glucose (葡萄糖), which normally provides energy for most cells of the body. The researchers also add living cells taken from the animal that will receive the new, printed tissue. The bio?inks are then added to a device that researchers call the Palmetto bio?printer.

Sarah Grace Dennis is one of the researchers at the Medical University of South Carolina. She says new technology, like the Palmetto bio?printer, is a great help to the biofabrication process.

The bio?inks are placed in three dispensers (分配器), containers, inside the printer. Lasers control both the position of the printing surface and the places where the bio?ink is released.

Michael Yost is a leader of the research team. He says the printing process is fully automated — machine?operated. He says that the Palmetto bio?printer makes it possible to create complex tissue types.

The researchers say bio?printing is still experimental. But they hope in a few years they may be able to print tissue to replace damaged human organs.

But there are still some problems which need to be solved. Some scientists worry about how to get blood to the replacement tissue. The flow of blood is important to keep the printed tissue alive.

Michael Yost hopes that more people will believe in the benefits of biofabrication.

“Tissue biofabrication is a reality, and it is a reality now, and if you come here and you get to see it. You will get to see it. You can't touch it, but you will see it and think this is real. And this is really human.”

1.What can we know about the bio?inks?

A．They are the necessities of bio?printing.

B．They only contain proteins and glucose.

C．They can be placed in the traditional printers.

D．They are available in our local drugstores.

2.Which of the following is one of the concerns with biofabrication?

A．Researchers can't find enough living cells of animals to make the bio?inks.

B．The price of the bio?printer is too high and most people can't afford it.

C．Scientists have some difficulty in getting the blood to the replacement tissue.

D．People are worried about the safety of the biofabrication process.

3.According to Michael Yost, we can infer that ________.

A．the Palmetto bio?printer can work without power

B．the Palmetto bio?printer has been used to treat the patients

C．the Palmetto bio?printer can only be found in the United States

D．the Palmetto bio?printer will have a bright future in medical use

4.The passage mainly tells us about ________.

A．the three?D printer and its working principles

B．the bio?inks and their use in bio?printing

C．the spread use of the bio?printer in the USA

D．the growing demand for biofabrication

】七選五填空。

We all face quantities of stresses in day-to-day living, whether at work, in the home, or anywhere in between. 1. Here's how stress can help us on an everyday basis.

◆ Sharpen your memory.

Did you ever notice that sometimes when you are stressed, your memory seems to improve? Remember that test you passed where the answers seemed to come out of nowhere? 2. It's because of stress hormones（荷爾蒙）that increase your alertness(機(jī)敏) when it's most needed.

◆ 3.

Successful employees turn stress into motivation. Have you ever noticed that you get the least amount of work done when you have the fewest deadlines? Too little stress can affect how much you actually get done. When you take risks and choose to get over the difficulty, it improves your mental toughness and self-confidence.

◆ Helping you resist the attack of illness.

4. Believe it or not, the right kind of stress can help your body's defenses against illness. When you get sick, stress causes you to make hormones that battle threats to your health. That burst of stress is helpful to your immune system when your body faces a threat.

◆ Making your life more interesting.

Think about some stressful situations that we consciously put ourselves in to make life more interesting and enjoyable, like asking someone out on a first date, conquering a known fear, or learning something new. These may not immediately come to mind when you think of stress because of the positive outcomes. 5.

A．Helping you get an advantage at work.

B．Helping you get through difficult times.

C．This will happen whenever you are stressed.

D．That's one way your brain responds to stress.

E. You need a healthy immune system to help fight off diseases.

F. But they're the types that can help you achieve fulfillment and happiness.

G. But handled properly, stress can have many benefits for the body and mind.

完形填空

Beginning to learn gymnastics even before she could barely walk, Svetlana had always dreamed to enter the Olympics scene some day.

However, her ________ ended in the car on the winding road when a lorry appeared out of nowhere. The last thing she ________ was a blinding flash of light. In hospital, when told she would never ________ again, she couldn't believe it. Three months later, she was ________ out of hospital on a wheelchair. Then a friend came to her house to visit her with an old children's storybook. A bookmark in it made her________ to page 117. The name of the _________ was ‘The Day Clara Walked’. She was determined to return to stage whatever it might cost.

_________， after a year's hard exercise, Svetlana recovered and was able to display her gymnastics. While she was sitting on the green bench ________ the Athens Olympic Stadium, memories _________： first, the pain and the tears, the book under her pillow, the words of relatives full of advice and comfort, and the pity in those eyes that had once held _________ for her talent. Then followed the trips to the gym where everyone looked on ________， their disbelief transforming slowly to wonder, ________ she could balance the hoop (圈) as well as her teammates. She registered for the 2004 Olympic Games, and finally she received _________ from the Olympic Committee.

Her _________ was interrupted by the attendant who said, “It's time”， two words that she had been ________ to hear for so long. Smoothing her dress, she walked into the stadium, each ________ firm and steady. Everything was ________， and the applause rang loud in her ears, her heart beating ________ in her chest.

Later that night, Svetlana pulled the gold medal out of her pocket and placed it on the old ________on the shelf, which opened to page 117, to the chapter ‘The Day Clara Walked’， tears ________ her vision.

1.A.intention B．dream C．life D．career

2.A.remembered B．forgot C．experienced D．suffered

3.A.see B．dance C．sing D．walk

4.A.wheeled B．rocked C．thrown D．rushed

5.A.point B．relate C．open D．a(chǎn)dapt

6.A.bookmark B．page C．story D．chapter

7.A.Fortunately B．Surprisingly C．Suddenly D．Certainly

8.A.outside B．inside C．beneath D．opposite

9.A.squeezed out B．faded away C．mixed up D．flooded in

10.A.fright B．a(chǎn)dmiration C．sympathy D．regret

11.A.cheerfully B．thankfully C．nervously D．doubtfully

12.A.until B．while C．a(chǎn)s D．once

13.A.approval B．praise C．support D．a(chǎn)ccess

14.A.plan B．thought C．a(chǎn)ttempt D．sight

15.A.eager B．content C．upset D．proud

16.A.breath B．wave C．step D．look

17.A.unexpected B．perfect C．a(chǎn)wful D．finished

18.A.immediately B．swiftly C．properly D．fiercely

19.A.hoop B．letter C．book D．dress

20.A.rolling B．filling C．clouding D．rushing

完形填空

Mr.Jackson was blind from birth. He owned a fruit ______ on a very busy street. _______ he was visually disabled, he ran his business pretty handsomely. He could see nothing and he could only ______ the things within his reach. ______, he was able to handle it and was content with everything he had.

One day his son came to him. He told Mr. Jackson in ______ that he read in the newspaper of a ______who could operate on his eyes and allow him to see. The father and son traveled to the doctor and paid for the _______ .

After the operation, the doctor asked Mr.Jackson: “What is the first thing you are ______to see when I take the bandages off？” He replied, “I really want to see my beautiful ______ on my stand！”

The doctor and the son ______ Mr.Jackson down to the busy street where his fruit stand had been located for so many years. The doctor ______ unwrapped the bandages _______ he could lay his eyes on the beautiful fruit! Mr.Jackson was so full of _______ that he could finally see his life's work — taking care of his fruit! After a few hours of _______his beautiful fruit stand, he looked down the street both ways and saw there were quite a few fruit stands in both directions. He looked _______ the street and saw many other fruit stands. He spent so much time looking at other people's fruit stands and _______ the competition that soon his own business _______.

From Mr.Jackson's failure, we should know that everyone is a ______ individual with different fingerprints, DNA and thinking. What we need to do is just be ourselves and ______ everyone else to be who they are. Mind our own business and we should never be afraid of the _______.

1.A.stand B．company C．store D．center

2.A.Because B．As C．Although D．When

3.A.remember B．describe C．imagine D．feel

4.A.Therefore B．However C．Otherwise D．Besides

5.A.pride B．doubt C．excitement D．surprise

6.A.doctor B．nurse C．chemist D．volunteer

7.A.information B．medicine C．service D．operation

8.A.nervous B．lucky C．eager D．a(chǎn)fraid

9.A.flowers B．vegetables C．fruit D．clothing

10.A.sent B．a(chǎn)ccompanied C．followed D．invited

11.A.suddenly B．curiously C．carefully D．firmly

12.A.so that B．in case C．even if D．if only

13.A.regret B．joy C．courage D．relief

14.A.enjoying B．checking C．judging D．making

15.A.above B．within C．through D．a(chǎn)cross

16.A.preparing for B．focusing on C．worrying abou D．taking up

17.A.improved B．failed C．a(chǎn)ppeared D．expanded

18.A.simple B．reliable C．unique D．perfect

19.A.force B．require C．persuade D．a(chǎn)llow

20.A.competition B．change C．difference D．disability

語法填空

Last Friday a storm swept through two villages in the New Territories, 1. (destroy) fourteen homes. Seven others were so badly damaged _2._ their owners had to leave them, and fifteen others had broken windows or roofs. One person was killed, several were 3. (serious) hurt and taken to hospital, and a number of other people received smaller hurt. Altogether over two hundred people were homeless after the storm.

A farmer, Mr. Tan, said that the storm began early 4._ the morning and lasted for over an hour.

“I 5._ (eat) with my wife and children，” he said, “when we heard a loud noise. A few minutes later our house fell down on top of us. We tried our best _6. (climb) out but then I saw that one of my children was _7._ (miss). I went back inside and found him, safe _8. very frightened.”

Mrs. Woo Mei Fong said that her husband had just left for work when she 9._ (feel) that her house was moving. She ran outside at once with her children.

Soldiers helped to take people out of the flooded area and the welfare department brought _10. (they) food, clothes and shelter.

閱讀理解。

Robots performing tasks according to a predetermined set of instructions are nothing new.But robots able to learn how to cook by watching videos are a completely different approach, which is conducted by a group of researchers at the University of Maryland.

If you have posted a video of your favorite recipe on the popular website YouTube, chances are that it will be used by a robot.University of Maryland's professor Yiannis Aloimonos, leader of the group, said “There exists a large amount of video information on the Internet that our robots can capitalize_on.”

“At present, the videos are fed electronically，”said research scientist Cornelia Fermuller.“Originally, we took our own videos, our cameras looking at us doing the cooking，”she explained.“And, as the robot advances, it reacts to good quality videos.And it will react to even lower quality homemade videos.”

So far, the robot named Julia can make a simple salad by breaking each task into basic parts, such as grasping a spoon, bringing it to the bowl, stirring the salad and observing the results.

But why teach a robot how to understand a video when it can easily follow a fixed program？Aloimonos believes predetermined instructions lack flexibility.He thinks one of the problems is how to make the robot understand and use what it learns during a certain task, the so?called feedback (反饋意見); another is the introduction of language.

“I believe it will take quite some time before the robots are able to understand metaphorical (比喻性的) language，”he added.“But，” he said，“we don't need that to create a new world where the robots will be working for us.”

1.The underlined phrase “capitalize on” in Paragraph 2 probably can be replaced by ________.

A．take hold of B．make use of

C．keep track of D．catch sight of

2.Aloimonos probably agrees that at present the robot ________.

A．can not fully digest what it learns

B．can not make a simple salad

C．can follow home?made videos

D．can understand metaphorical language

3.Robots are taught to understand a video mainly because ________.

A．they can easily follow fixed programs

B．they are smart enough to learn cooking

C．cooking videos are more interesting to watch

D．predetermined instructions are not flexible

4.Which of the following might best serve as the title of the passage?

A．Robots Creating a New World

B．Robots Making Cooking Videos

C．Robots Learning to Cook by Watching Videos

D．Robots Performing Tasks by Following Instructions

閱讀理解。

Life in 2060

Let us suppose it is now about A．D. 2060. Let's make believe (假裝；虛構(gòu)) it is about 45 years from now. Of course, things have changed and life is very different.

Voyages to the moon are being made every day. It is as easy to take a holiday on the moon today as it was for the people in 1960 to take a holiday in Europe. At a number of scenic spots on the moon, many hotels have been built. The hotels are air?conditioned, naturally. In order that everyone can enjoy the beautiful scenery on the moon, every room has at least one picture window. Everything imaginable is provided for entertainment of young and old.

What are people eating now? People are still eating food. They haven't yet started to take on heir (繼承) supply of energy directly as electrical current or as nuclear power. They may some day. But many foods now come in pill form, and the food that goes into the pill continues to come mainly from green plants.

Since there are several times as many people in the world today as there were a hundred years ago, most of our planet's surface has to be filled. The deserts are irrigated with water and crops are no longer destroyed by pests. The harvest is always good.

Farming, of course, is very highly developed. Very few people have to work on the farm. It is possible to run the farm by just pushing a few buttons now and then.

People are now largely vegetarians (素食者). You see, as the number of people increases, the number of animal decreases. Therefore, people have to be vegetarians and we are healthier both in our bodies and in our minds, and we know the causes and cure of disease and pain, and it is possible to get rid of diseases. No one has to be ill any more.

Such would be our life in 2060.

1.When was the passage written?

A．In about A．D. 2060. B．In about 1960.

C．In about 2014. D．In about 2015.

2.According to the passage, what will be on the moon in about A．D. 2060?

A．Many other animals. B．Many tourists.

C．Many plants. D．A sea.

3.What will people eat then according to the passage?

A．Biscuits in pill form. B．Foods in pill form.

C．Foods in water form. D．Foods in gas form.

4.The passage tells us that in 2060, ________ on the earth than now.

A．the crops are getting better

B．there are more pests

C．there are fewer people

D．there is less water

閱讀理解。

Many of the world's countries have reached or are approaching zero population growth (ZPG). Nearly all such lands are economically well developed. They include much of Europe (including Russia), the United States, Canada, Japan, and Australia. As the rate of natural increase (RNI) declines, two things happen. First, the population begins to decline if the loss is not balanced by immigration. Second, a country's population ages because there are fewer births.

Is achieving ZPG good or bad? What happens when a country's population begins to drop? Many people, after all, believe that population decline is a good thing. But is it good for everyone? Does everyone agree?

An aging population can create many problems. Senior citizens require more health care and medical attention. Rather than paying into retirement programs, they begin to draw from their pensions. In the US, the Social Security program, according to many experts, will be used up by 2018. It will pay out more money than it takes in. Additionally, a great number of jobs go begging in search of people willing or able to do them. Many of these jobs are entry?level positions that pay low wages. With an aging population, who will fill them? At the other extreme, some positions require a large number of training and highly specialized skills. Who will fill these positions as retirees leave the workforce?

The answer to the problem of declining and aging population is simple: increased migration. Today many people, particularly those from less developed countries, are migrating in search of employment. Many are willing to take jobs that cannot (or will not) be filled by the_domestic_population. Others are well educated and highly skilled. Both groups contribute to a country's economy progress in many ways. Further, they add to the richness of a country's culture. Of greatest importance, perhaps, is the fact that they have become absolutely necessary to the economy of many lands. As you can see, for many countries and for most immigrants, migration is a win?win situation.

1.In the writer's view, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Not everyone agrees that achieving ZPG is absolutely good.

B．Achieving ZPG is every country's aim in spite of its side effects.

C．Achieving ZPG is bad for senior citizens.

D．Achieving ZPG is good for employment.

2.According to the passage, the best way to solve the problem of declining and aging population is ________.

A．to improve the health care system

B．to increase RNI

C．to increase employment

D．to increase migration

3.The underlined words “the domestic population” can be replaced by ________.

A．people within the country

B．people from developing countries

C．people without a college education

D．people living abroad

4.The main idea of the last paragraph is ________.

A．the advantages of increased migration

B．the problem of declining and aging population

C．how to increase migration

D．some ways to enrich a country's culture