From the health point of view we are living in a marvelous age. We are immunized from birth against many of the most dangerous diseases. A large number of once fatal illnesses can now be cured by modern drugs and surgery. It is almost certain that one day remedies will be found for the most stubborn remaining diseases. The expectation of life has increased enormously. But though the possibility of living a long and happy life is greater than ever before, every day we witness the incredible slaughter of them, women and children on the roads. Man versus the motor-car! It is a never-ending battle which man is losing. Thousand of people the world over are killed or horribly killed each year and we are quietly sitting back and letting it happen. It has been rightly said that when a man is sitting behind a steering wheel, his car becomes the extension of his personality. There is no doubt that the motor-car often brings out a man’s very worst qualities. People who are normally quiet and pleasant may become unrecognizable when they are behind steering wheels. They swear, they are ill-mannered and aggressive, willful as two-year-olds and utterly selfish. All their hidden frustrations, disappointments and jealousies seem to be brought to the surface by the act of driving. The surprising thing is that the society smiles so gently on the motorist and seems to forgive his behavior. Everything is done for his convenience. Cities are allowed to become almost uninhabitable because of heavy traffic; towns are made ugly by huge car parks; the countryside is desecrated by road networks; and the mass annual slaughter becomes nothing more than a statistic, to be conveniently forgotten. It is high time a world code were created to reduce this senseless waste of human life. With regard to driving, the laws of some countries are notoriously lax and even the strictest are not strict enough. A code which was universally accepted could only have a dramatically beneficial effect on the accident rate. Here are a few examples of some of the things that might be done. The driving test should be standardized and made far more difficult than it is; all the drivers should be made to take a test every three years or so; the age at which young people are allowed to drive any vehicle should be raised to at least 21; all vehicles should be put through strict annual tests for safety. Even the smallest amount’ of alcohol in the blood can impair a person’s driving ability. Present drinking and driving laws(where they exist)should be made much stricter. Maximum and minimum speed limits should be imposed on all roads. Governments should lay down safety specifications for manufacturers, as has been done in the USA. All advertising stressing power and performance should be banned. These measures may sound inordinately harsh. But surely nothing should be considered as too severe if it results in reducing the annual toll of human life. After all, the world is for human beings, not for motor-cars.

For anyone who has experienced an earthquake, the experience can be frightening and traumatic. In addition of the movement of the ground, people need to be concerned with collapsing buildings and falling debris, such as flying glass. The majority of the injuries and death that occur from the earthquakes are due to falling objects and structures. The effect of an earthquake can also cause dangerous landslides, fires, gas line and electric explosions, and floodwaters from collapsing dam. The goal of seismologists is to understand why the earthquake and other seismic activities occur on Earth. This information, when shared with people in earthquake-prone areas, can help decrease the number of deaths and injuries that may occur. One of the most destructive effects of earthquake is tsunami. Tsunami, giant ocean waves, form after an earthquake has occurred on the ocean floor. If the tsunami crashes into land, it may cause destruction. The difficulty with protecting people from tsunami is that they may come without warning and at an extremely high speed. Once undersea earthquakes occur, the ocean floor rises and sinks. This is when tsunami may begin to form. Along with this shifting of the ocean floor, there is also a large mass of seawater that may drop or rise. To adjust the sudden change in sea level, the mass of water moves upward and downward. As it is moving, a series of long, low waves begin to move from the point of the epicenter outward. These waves will increase in height as they come closer to the shore. Underwater landslides caused by earthquakes may also form tsunamis. On land, the focus of an earthquake’s destruction is usually buildings and property. Most of the buildings today are built using strict building codes. These codes require that the building can withstand the swaying motion of the ground during an earthquake. However, the buildings with weak walls can collapse completely during a quake. Extremely tall buildings, like skyscrapers, may sway so violently that they may tip over and cause damage to lower structures nearby. One factor that affects the intensity of an earthquake is the local geology. The type of land that beneath the buildings can determine the way the buildings respond to an earthquake. Buildings on solid ground are more likely to withstand an earthquake than building that are constructed on loose soil and rock. Likely soil and rock vibrate as if they were jelly. When buildings are constructed on this type of land, they tend to have an exaggerated motion and to sway violently.

What will man be like in the future—in 5,000 or even 50,000 years from now? We can only make a guess, of course, but we can be sure that he will be different from what he is today. For man is slowly changing all the time. Let us take an obvious example. Man, even five hundred years ago, was shorter than he is today. Now, on average, men are about three inches taller. Five hundred years is a relatively short period of time, so we may assume that man will continue to grow taller. Again, in the modern world we use our brains a great deal. Even so, we still make use of only about 20% of the brain’s capacity. As time goes on, however, we shall have to use our brains more and more, and eventually we shall need larger ones! This is likely to bring about a physical change too: the head, in particular the forehead, will grow larger. Nowadays our eyes are in constant use. In fact, we use them so much that very often they become weaker and we have to wear glasses. But over very long period of time it is likely that man’s eyes will grow stronger. On the other hand, we tend to make less use of our arms and legs. These, as a result, are likely to grow weaker. At the same time, however, our fingers will grow more sensitive because they are used a great deal in modern life. But what about hair? This will probably disappear from the body altogether in course of time because it does not serve a useful purpose any longer. In the future, then, both sexes are likely to be bald! Perhaps all this gives the impression that future man will not be a very attractive creature to look at! This may well be true. All the same, in spite of all these changes, future man will still have a lot in common with us. He will still be a human being, with thoughts and emotions similar to our own.

We made plans for a visit, but______difficulties with car prevented it. subordinate succeed successive subsequent

She______the list of names to see if hers was on it. glanced gazed peered scanned

The appeal for funds did not______much response. drag elicit tempt attract

The problem has been______my mind all day. preying on getting at taking on seeing to

Two trucks were reported to have______head-on yesterday. bumped crashed collided struck

A physical examination is a______to joining the army. parliamentary preliminary elementary complementary

The people for the experiment were chosen completely______. at length in essence at random in bulk

President Bush’s visit was planned to ______ 30th anniversary of President Nixon’s visit to China. depend on adhere to coincide with cling to

Old people are always saying that the young people are not【C1】______they were. The same comment is【C2】______from generation to generation and it is always【C3】______. It has never been truer than it is today. The young are better educated. They have a lot more money to spend and enjoy【C4】______freedom. They grow up more quickly and are not so【C5】______on their parents. Events which the older generation remember vividly are【C6】______more than past history. This is as it should be. Every new generation is【C7】______from the one that preceded it. Today the difference is very marked indeed. The old always assume that they know best for the simple【C8】______that they have been【C9】______a bit longer. They don’t like to feel that their values are being questioned or threatened. And this is precisely what the【C10】______are doing. They are questioning the【C11】______of their elders and disturbing their complacency. They take leave to【C12】______that the older generation has created the best of all possible worlds. What they reject more than【C13】______is conformity. Office hours, for instance, are nothing more than enforced slavery. Wouldn’t people work best if they were given complete freedom and【C14】______? And what【C15】______the clothing? Who said that all the men in the world should【C16】______drab grey suits? If we turn our【C17】______to more serious matters, who said that human differences can best be solved through conventional politics or by violent means? Why have the older generation so often used【C18】______to solve their problems? Why are they so unhappy and guilt-ridden in their personal lives, so obsessed with mean ambitions and the desire to amass more and more 【C19】______possessions? Can anything be right with the retrace? Haven’t the old lost【C20】______with all that is important in life?

“Time“ says the proverb “is money“ . This means that every moment well-spent may put some money into our pockets. 【T1】If our time is usefully employed, it will either turn out some useful and important piece of work which will fetch its price in the market, or it will add to our experience and increase our capacities so as to enable us to earn money when the proper opportunity comes. There can thus be no doubt that time is convertible into money. Let those, who think nothing of wasting time, remember this; let them remember that an hour misspent is equivalent to the loss of a bank-note; and that an hour utilized is tantamount to so much silver or gold; and then they will probably think twice before they give their consent to the loss of any part of their time. Moreover, our life is nothing more than our time. To kill time is therefore a form of suicide. 【T2】We are shocked when we think of death, and we spare no pains, no trouble, and no expense to preserve life. But we are often indifferent to the loss of an hour or a day. forgetting that our life is the sum total of the days and of the hours we live. A day or an hour wasted is therefore so much life forfeited. Let us bear this in mind, and waste of time will appear to us in the light of a crime as culpable as suicide itself. There is a third consideration which will also tend to warn us against loss of time. Our life is a brief span measuring some sixty or seventy years in all, but nearly one half of this has to be spent on sleep; some years have to be spent over our meals; some over dressing and undressing; some in making journeys on land and voyages by sea; some in merrymaking, either on our own account or for the sake of others; some in celebrating religious and social festivities; some in watching over the sickbeds of our nearest and dearest relatives. 【T3】Now if all these years were to be deducted from the term over which our life extends we shall find about fifteen or twenty years at our disposal for active work. Whoever remembers this can never willingly waste a single moment of his life. “It is astonishing,“ says Lord Chesterfield, “that anyone can squander away in absolute idleness one single moment of that portion of time which is allotted to us in this world. Know the true value of time; snatch, seize, and enjoy every moment of it!“ All time is precious; but the time of our childhood and of our youth is more precious than any other portion of our existence. For those are the periods when alone we can acquire knowledge and develop our faculties and capacities. 【T4】If we allow these morning hours of life to slip away unutilized, we shall never be able to recoup the loss. As we grow older, our power of acquisition gets blunted, so that the art or science which is not acquired in childhood or youth will never be acquired at all. Just as money laid out at interest doubles and trebles itself in time, so the precious hours of childhood and youth, if properly used, will yield us incalculable advantages. “Every moment you lose,“ says Lord Chesterfield, “is so much character and advantage lost; as on the other hand, every moment you now employ usefully is so much time wisely laid out at prodigious interest. “ A proper employment of time is of great benefit to us from a moral point of view. Idleness is justly said to be the rust of the mind and an idle brain is said to be Satan’s workshop. It is mostly when you do not know what to do with yourself that you do something ill or wrong. The mind of the idler preys upon itself.

Next to Sir Andrew in the club-room sits Captain Sentry, a gentleman of great courage, good understanding, but invincible modesty. He is one of those that deserve very well, but are very awkward at putting their talents within the observation of such as should take notice of them. He was some years a captain, and behaved himself with great gallantry in several engagements and at several sieges; but having a small estate of his own, and being next heir to Sir Roger, he has quitted a way of life in which no man can rise suitably to his merit, who is not something of a courtier as well as a soldier. I have heard him often lament that in a profession where merit is placed in so conspicuous a view, impudence should get the better of modesty. When he had talked to this purpose; I never heard him make a sour expression, but frankly confess that he left the world because he was not fit for it. A strict honesty, and an even regular behavior, are in themselves obstacles to him that must press through crowds, who endeavour at the same end with himself, the favor of a commander. He will, however, in his way of talk excuse generals for not disposing according to men’s desert, or inquiring into it; for, says he, that the great man who has a mind to help me, has as many, to break through to come at me, as I have to come at him: therefore he will conclude that the man who would make a figure, especially in a military way, must get over all false modesty, and assist his patron against the importunity of other pretenders, by a proper assurance in his own vindication. He says it is a civil cowardice to be backward in asserting what you ought to expect, as it is a military fear to be slow in attacking when it is your duty. With this candour does the gentleman speak of himself and others. The same frankness runs through all his conversation. The military part of his life has furnished him with many adventures, in the relation of which he is very agreeable to the company; for he is never overbearing, though accustomed to command men in the utmost degree below him; nor ever too obsequious, from a habit of obeying men highly above him.

It can be hard to live up to one’s______. enjoyment evaluation appreciation reputation

The creation of UN was, perhaps, the most______achievement of the 20th century. obscure notable acute objective

The report managed to get an______interview with the Prime Minister. extinct excluding excessive exclusive

What is the______in going by boat when the plane costs no more and is quicker? impression meaning comprehension sense

You were______by your absence yesterday. merciful conscientious conspicuous impartial

Efforts to reach the injured men have been______because of a sudden deterioration in weather conditions. enforced intensified continued strengthened

I want to talk about all these points in______order of importance. declining descending plunging falling

The attitude of the author is______.

Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way against traffic accidents?

Why does the author say “his car becomes the extension of his personality“?

What does the author think of society toward motorists?

The main idea of this passage is______.