Goats are being hired to do the work of people near SanDiego. The fires that occ

题型：不详难度：来源：

Goats are being hired to do the work of people near SanDiego. The fires that occurred in Hillborbough four years ago destroyed thirty homes, most of which have been rebuilt. While people were rebuilding the homes, the grasses and bushes were growing back. The area is now so overgrown in bushes that there is again a major danger of fire.
The city council asked for offers to remove the bushes. The lowest bid they received was $50,000-----and that was if the city provided breakfast and lunch for the workers for thr six weeks it would take to clear the overgrown area. The city only wanted to give unlimited coffee and a piece of bread a day for each person. When that offer was rejected, the city asked for help on its website.
A sheepherder（养绵羊的人） in Montanta and a goatherder（养山羊的人） in San Bernardino read about the city’s plight （困境）while surfing the Web on their laptops. They both offered to do the job for $25,000. The council chosed the goatherder because he lived closer. When he was told that the city dump（垃圾场） was overflowing , the gotherder said, “No problem. My goats will eat everything in your dump, except the car engines, of course.” So ,for another $5,000, the city killed two birds with one stone. If all goes well, they will invite the goatherder and his “family” back every three years. The goatherder said that he would probably visit San Diego while his goats were in the dump. “I want to go there by plane, I just hope we don’t crash. My goats will miss me a lot.” He said.
小题1:Why did the city council want to remove the bush?

A．Because the fires in hillborbough destroyed 30 homes.

B．Because people wanted to build their homes there.

C．Because the overgrown bushes could cause fires again.

D．Because two sheeherder offered to do the job.

小题2:The goatherder was chosen to do the job because

A．He offered to do it for the lower price

B．It was easier to transport his goat

C．Goats can do the job better than the job

D．The city wanted to raise more goats

小题3:According to the passage,

A．the sheepherder off

ered to do the job for $50.000

B．the lowest bid to remove the bushes was $50,000

C．the sheepherder and the goatherder were both addicted to surfing the Internet.

D．hiring goats to do the job saved the government lots of money.

小题4: we can infer from the passage that

A．the city will remove the bushes in this area regularly

B．the goatherder asked for $50,000 to kill the birds with stones.

C．the goatherder was invited to San Diego to do some sightseeing.

D．the city council was not kind to the people who worked for it.

答案

小题1:C小题1:B小题1:D小题1:A

解析

略

举一反三

It seems that every week someone becomes “the first” or “the youngest” or even “the first married couple” to do something that doesn’t seem to be very useful to the rest of us.
Why do they do it? Don’t they have better things to do with their time and money? And why should I be interested anyway? Human beings have already climbed the highest mountains, sailed across the oceans and flown around the world. Many of these things were done a long, long time ago. There just isn’t anything left to explore nowadays. I suppose there’s still a lot of the universe left, and the bottom of the ocean is still a bit of a mystery, but you need a lot of technology to explore areas like that. So, those people who feel the need for adventure can only do things that have been done before.
In May of this year a British man became the first person to walk alone from Canada to the North Pole. Personally, if I wanted to visit the Arctic, I’d rather go as a tourist on a cruise ship, with a helicopter trip to the North Pole included in the price. But OK, this man decided that he wanted to walk. The problem was that he went in the spring when the ice begins to melt and break up. So he got stuck on a longely piece of ice and a plane had to be sent in to rescue him.
These sorts of rescues are making many Australians angry with these record breakers. People trying to break sailing or rowing records get into trouble in the seas. So the Australian navy has to send ships to save them and this costs the government millions of dollars. I suppose we can’t just leave them to drown but we should give the bill to the people who are rescued.
小题1:According to the author, the so-called record breakers .

A．do not benefit other people at all

B．inspire people to continue exploring

C．are boring and should be stopped

D．are usually not wealthy enough

小题2:We can infer from the second paragraph that .

A．there are no high mountains for people to climb

B．nothing is left for people to explore in the universe

C．it’s beyond ordinary people to explore the unknown

D．human beings could fly around the world long ago

小题3:Many Australians are angry because the record breakers .

A．often get into trouble

B．never use a cruise ship or a helicopter

C．never pay their own costs

D．satisfy their needs at the cost of others’ interest

小题4:What is the writer’s attitude towards the record breakers?

A．Positive.	B．Negative.
C．Uninterested.	D．Neutral（中立的）.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

While surfing television channels over the weekend，a scene from a family classic of last year portraying the now-so-familiar sorry state of retired parents being ill-treated by their children and families caught my attention. I wondered why the description of this relationship had not changed much over the many years! Even though the same movies and soaps accurately capture several other social changes around us — from value systems to new found economic freedom to the importance of technology and the changing approach to consumerism(消费主义) — are these creative efforts far from the truth in telling us that an average retiree is still struggling?
Look around and you will agree that the post-retired lifestyle for an ex-salaried class people is often a pale shadow of their last working years. Even self employed people, who have handed over the responsibility to the next generation, are no exception. Did the average middle class not save enough through his working years?
Socially, we already know that the Indians are taught the benefits of start saving early on in life. Household savings data supports this social behavior — India has the highest rates of savings among various economies and is far ahead of the west. Yet, tragically, a lifetime of savings does not seem to provide enough for a comfortable retirement!
A closer look at the pattern of what we do with our financial savings may tell us a bit more. Over half of households’ financial savings is put into a “safe” deposit, followed by large portions in insurance, pension, provident funds（福利基金） and the rest in physical currency. Less than a tenth goes into “risky” assets(资产) like stocks. While there might be nothing, in particular, worrisome in this investment pool, one has to consider inflation(通货膨胀). The real value of savings, over a few decades, may actually be lower than the starting point.
小题1:What had not changed much over the many years according to the passage?

A．Value systems	B．The poor situation of retirees
C．Economic freedom	D．Approach to consumerism

小题2:Which of the following statements about saving in India is right?

A．the concept of saving has been well received by Indians.

B．the amount of the savings ranks number one across the world.

C．long-standing savings can help the retirees live a care-free life.

D．saving early can not benefit people at all.

小题3: What can be inferred according to the last paragraph?

A．Half of the financial savings in stocks can be accepted.

B．The real value of saving must be lowered in a few years.

C．A loss of savings may hardly be avoided.

D．Inflation can be avoided on condition that you consume instead of saving.

小题4:What’s the best title of the text?

A．Retirees being treated unfairly

B．Is saving enough

C．Saving in India

D．How to deal with saving

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

In a six-week study, experts found people who played online games designed to improve their cognitive(认知的) skills didn"t get any smarter.
More than 8,600 people aged 18 to 60 were asked to play online brain games designed by the researchers to improve their memory, reasoning and other skills for at least 10 minutes a day, three times a week. They were compared to more than 2,700 people who didn"t play any brain games, but spent a similar amount of time surfing the Internet and answering general knowledge questions. All participants were given a sort of I.Q test before and after the experiment.
Researchers said the people who did the brain training didn"t do any better on the test after six weeks than people who had simply been on the Internet. On some sections of the test, the people who surfed the Net scored higher than those playing the games.
"If you"re (playing these games) because they"re fun, that"s absolutely fine," said Adrian Owen, the study"s lead author. "But if you"re expecting (these games) to improve your I.Q., our data suggests this isn"t the case," he said during a press briefing on Tuesday.
One maker of brain games said the company"s games have been proven to boost brain power.
"Their conclusion would be like saying, "I cannot run a mile in under 4 minutes and therefore it is impossible to do so," Aldrich said in a statement.
"There is precious little evidence to suggest the skills used in these games transfer to the real world," said Art Kramer, who was not linked to the study and has no ties to any companies that make brain training games.
Instead of playing brain games, Kramer said people would be better off getting some exercise. He said physical activity can spark(激发) new connections between nerves and produce new brain cells. "Fitness changes the building blocks of the brain"s structure," he said.
小题1:. It can be inferred that the online brain games mentioned in the text are_____________.

A．costly

B．unreliable

C．illegal

D．effective

小题2:. Which of the following statements is true about the experiment in the second paragraph?

A．The experiment lasted for a week.

B．Age didn’t affect the result of the research.

C．Every person played online brain games three times a day.

D．People who didn’t play online brain games did better in I.Q test

小题3:. What can we learn from the text?

A．Playing games which are fun can improve your I.Q.

B．There is a lot of evidence to suggest skills can transfer to the real world.

C．Do physical activity can boost your brain power.

D．Playing online games can spark new brain cells

小题4:The underlined sentence suggests that ___________.

A．The research was not linked to the study

B．Those playing the games can score higher in the test

C．playing the games can spark new connections between nerves

D．This isn’t the case that these games can improve your I.Q.

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

How to improve our life? Many people think that they have to accept whatever life throws at them. They"ll say, "This is my destiny(命运).I cannot change it."
Of course not! You don"t have to suffer needlessly. Your life depends on you, not on any other external(外部的)factor.
I know a woman who says she just accepts what life gives her because she has done everything she can to improve it. Guess what her lifestyle is? She wakes up in the morning, goes to work, comes back home, relaxes, chats with people, watches TV, and then goes to sleep. Next day, the same routine cycle follows.
Huh! Is this what she calls "doing her best"? She believes she has tried her best and just accepts it in her heart that this is the life that has been intended for her and that her luck can only change if God wills it. She hasn"t realized that we have to do our share of making the effort to live the life of our dreams.
Remember that you harvest what you sow. You have to get off the sofa, get your eyes off the TV screen, get your hands off the phone(unless it contributes to your success),and get your mind and body to work! Don"t expect your luck to change, unless you do something about it. If something goes wrong, don"t just regard it as a temporary setback; instead, learn your lesson, make the most of the situation, and do something to solve the problem. It"s not enough to think positively; you also have to act positively.
If someone"s life is in trouble, do you just hope and pray that things will turn out fine? Of course not! You get to do anything you can to save the person. So it is with your own life. It is not enough to hope for the best, but you have to do your best. In other words, don"t just stand(or sit)there, do something to improve your life.
小题1:According to the woman mentioned in Para. 3, her life_________________.

A．doesn"t need improving	B．couldn"t be improved
C．will be better some day	D．will be worse in the future

小题2: What does the author think of the woman"s life?

A．Positive

B．Passive

C．Colorful

D．Disturbing

小题3:Which of the following statements is the author"s opinion?

A．Your temporary problem is not discouraging.

B．Your luck can be changed by your own efforts.

C．You can only achieve success when God wills it.

D．You should treat yourself in the way you treat friends.

小题4:In Para. 5, the author emphasized the importance of _______________.

A．positive thinking	B．positive action
C．hope for the best	D．intention to succeed

小题5: The text is mainly written to advise you to _________________.

A．understand yourself	B．improve your life
C．believe in yourself	D．change your normal way

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案

The market investigation is indispensable to sales promotion. They are as closely related as the lips and teeth, so to speak. What you produce is for sale on the market. It would be impossible to succeed in selling a product without first investigating the market.
In the international market, goods on sale coming from different countries and suppliers are always facing keen competition. Under such circumstances, they will try everything possible to familiarize themselves with the market conditions. In making investigations, we ought to get information about what similar items the competitors are offering on the market, what prices they are quoting（报价）, what features their products have, who are their regular customers, etc. Then, how can we obtain such information? There are many channels that we can make use of in doing this sort of work. The commercial counselor"s offices of our embassies stationed abroad can help us in making market investigations. Nowadays, our import and export corporations send their trade groups abroad every now and then. One of their purposes is to make market surveys on the spot.
Certainly, face-to-face talks with foreign businessmen are also important channels to get market information. The Chinese Export Commodities Fairs and some other fairs of similar nature as well as visits of foreign businessmen provide us with such opportunities. Of course, there are some other ways of making market investigations.
小题1:In making market investigations, one should ______.

A．get enough information concerned	B．advertise his products
C．produce high quality goods	D．none of the above

小题2:The word "indispensable" in the first line means ______.

A．impossible	B．necessary
C．advisable	D．available

小题3: Which of the following statements is NOT true?

A．The relationship between market investigation and sales promotion is just as that of the lips and
teeth.

B．It is impossible to succeed in selling a product without market investigation.

C．There are various ways of making market investigation.

D．Production goes before market investigation.

小题4:All the following are channels to get market information except ________.

A．to have commercial counsellor" s office of our embassies stationed abroad

B．to promote the quality of our own products

C．to send trade groups abroad every now and then

D．to have face-to-face talk

s with foreign businessmen

题型：不详难度：| 查看答案