The most frightening words in the English language are, “ Our computer is down. “ You hear it more and more when you are on business. The other day I was at the airport waiting for a ticket to Washington and the girl in the ticket office said, “I’m sorry, I can’t sell you a ticket. Our computer is down. “ “ If your computer is down, just write me out a ticket. “ “I can’t write you out a ticket. The computer is the only one allowed to do so. “ I looked down on the computer and every passenger was just standing there drinking coffee and staring at the black screen. Then I asked her, “What do all you people do?“ “We give the computer the information about your trip, and then it tells us whether you can fly with us or not. “ “So when it goes down, you go down with it. “ “That’s good, sir. “ “How long will the computer be down?“ I wanted to know. “I have no idea. Sometimes it’ s down for 10 minutes, sometimes for two hours. There’ s no way we can find out without asking the computer, and since it’ s down it won’t answer us. “ After the girl told me they had no backup computer, I said. “Let’ s forget the computer. What about your planes? They’ re still flying, aren’ t they?“ “I couldn’ t tell without asking the computer. “ “Maybe I could just go to the gate and ask the pilot if he’ s flying to Washington, “ I suggested. “I wouldn’ t know what gate to send you to. Even if the pilot was going to Washington, he couldn’ t take you if you didn’ t have a ticket. “ “Is there any other airline flying to Washington within the next few hours?“ “I wouldn’t know, “ she said, pointing at the dark screen. “Only ’ IT’ knows. It can’t tell me.“ By this time there were quite a few people standing in lines. The word soon spread to other travelers that the computer was down. Some people went white; some people started to cry and still others kicked their luggage.

What’ s the airport like?W: Next’ Good morning, can I help you? M: This place is a madhouse! Everybody is pushing and shoving! W: Yes, I know. We are shorthanded and it is very crowded today. Now what can I do for you? M: I want a ticket to New York. W: Okay. One way or round trip? M: One way, of course. I don’ t want to hang around here any longer. I was here in Los Angeles last year and I hated it. I come here on business every year and I hate it. It’ s too spread out, too smoggy! W: That’ll be $ 375. How would you like to pay? M: Cash, of course. I don’ t believe in plastic money or credit cards, or any of that. Listen, can you hurry it up? W: I’m doing my best, Sir. Aisle or window seat? M: Window seat. W: Smoking or nonsmoking? M: Nonsmoking, of course’ Oh, by the way, I’ m supposed to get a special meal. Doctor’ s order—I can’t eat meat. Last time I had a special salad plate. I’ d like one of those this time, too. W: I’m sorry. I’m not able to do that. The special salad is not available during this flight. M: What! You can’ t give me my special salad? W: I’m sorry. I would like to, but I simply cannot. M: Well, I don’t give up so easily. Where’ s your supervisor? A hotel. A market. A madhouse. A hospital.

What are the man’ s hobbies?W: Well, Mr. Steve, we have had an interesting discussion about your work. Now, tell us something about your after work activities. M: I guess not much different from everyone else. I’ m fond of sports, and I run about 3 miles every day. I particularly enjoy cross-country running, where you have to run across fields, jump over streams and so on. While I’ m running I think about all kinds of things, and I can become more healthy. Next year I’ m going to try the London Marathon. It’ s a long, hard race—26 miles, or 42 kilometers and you have to be tough to finish, but I want to do it very much. I worry a bit about getting old, and I’ d like to prove to myself that I’ m still almost as well as I was twenty years ago. I’ m interested in climbing as well as running. I’ll never become an expert climber, but I know what I’ m doing in the mountains. I successfully completed a course in snow and ice climbing when I was younger, and I’ ve done a lot of easy climbs in the Alps during the last few years. My wife doesn ’ t share my interest in mountains. She agreed to go climbing with me once, but she found that she felt sick as soon as she reached above 1, 000 meters, so we decided to follow different hobbies. W: You certainly seem to enjoy various types of recreation. All right, Mr. Smith. Thanks for your interesting talk. Running and thinking. Running and jumping. Running and climbing. Running and skiing.

Which flight will the man take?W: Air China has a flight on August 27th. Will that be OK, sir? M: No, I’m afraid not. My sister is getting married on the 26th. W: How about Air China Flight 985 on the 25th? M: Oh, that’s good. Air China Flight 985 on the 26th. Air China Flight 985 on the 27th. Air China Flight 985 on the 28th. Air China Flight 985 on the 25th.

When did Miss Green become a swimming star?M: Congratulations on breaking the records at the recent Olympics, Miss Green! W: Thank you, Mr Parker. M: Oh, look at those trophies! You became a swimming star at the age of fifteen, didn’t you? W: Yeah, you’ re right. M: Could you tell me something about your plans for the future? W: To tell you the truth, I’m going to give up swimming from now on. M: I beg your pardon? W: I mean I’ d rather not swim at all. I’m too old to... M: Excuse me, if I’ m not wrong, you’ re only twenty now. Is it too old at twenty? W: Yes, too old for a swimmer. If I swim in an international competition, I’ll hardly be able to win. M: But. . . er. . . don’t you enjoy swimming? W: Certainly, and I enjoy visiting other countries, and the Olympics are very exciting. However, I missed more important things. I had to work very hard at swimming. There was training before school, after school, and at weekends. While other girls were growing up, I was swimming, swimming. But life isn’ t merely swimming, is it? At the age of 15. At the age of 20. At the age of 18. At the age of 16.

To get a sense of how women have progressed in science, take a quick tour of the physics department at the University of California, Berkeley. This is a storied place, the【C1】______of some of the most important discoveries in modern science-starting with Ernest Lawrence’ s invention of the cyclotron(回旋加速器)in 1931. A generation ago, female faces were【C2】______and, even today, visitors walking through the first floor of LeConte Hall will see a full corridor of exhibits【C3】______the many distinguished physicists who made history here,【C4】______all of them white males. But climb up to the third floor and you’ 11 see a【C5】______display. There, among the photos of current faculty members and students, are portraits of the【C6】______head of the department, Marjorie Shapiro, and four other women whose research【C7】______everything from the mechanics of the universe to the smallest particles of matter. A sixth woman was hired just two weeks ago. Although they’ re still only about 10 percent of the physics faculty, women are clearly a presence here. And the real【C8】______may be in the smaller photos to the right; graduate and undergraduate students, about 20 percent of them female. Every year Berkeley sends its fresh female physics PhDs to the country’ s top universities. That makes Shapiro optimistic, but also【C9】______“ I believe things are getting better,“ she says,“ but they’ re not getting better as【C10】______as I would like.“ [A]circumstance[B]confidence [C]covers[D]current [E]deals[F]different [G]exposing[H]fast [I]honoring[J]hope [K]presently[L]rare [M]realistic[N]site [O]virtually

Richard: In my opinion, smoking is only an amusement, like playing cards, reading, etc. Many years ago, when an adult handed me a cigarette and lit it for me, I felt grown up. When I am with friends and have nothing to say, we smoke, consequently we no longer feel embarrassed. Sometimes, I light a cigarette, suffering and nervousness vanishing with the smoke, I can’t help saying inwardly: Hello, cigarette, my old friend, I’ m coming to meet you again. Stanton: Many people believe smokers have the right to smoke. But they also believe that others shouldn’t have to pay a price. The risk of tobacco smoke is greater than the risk of radon gas is to non-smokers. We’re talking maybe 40 percent greater. And if you’re talking about all the carcinogenic air pollutants that EPA regulates, it’s 100 times greater. Davis: According to our investigation, tobacco smoke in the home and workplace could be killing 46, 000 non-smokers each year in the United States. That’s 3, 000 lung cancer deaths, 11, 000 from other cancers and 32, 000 heart disease deaths. That would make passive smoking the leading preventable cause of death in the United States after alcohol and smoking itself. Smoking kills 390, 000 while alcohol 120, 000. James: Passive smoking has become the principal battleground for the tobacco industry and its opponents in the 1980s. It is no longer merely a health issue, but political and environmental. Cigarette pollution is fouling the air. According to the Environmental Protection Agency’s indoor air program’s result, we know that the indoor environment is far more polluted than the outdoor environment. We’ve seen that again and again wherever we’ve looked all over the United States. Winston: Sir, another fact about smoking is that cigarettes give people a good deal of pleasure. There is considerable evidence, surprisingly little publicized, showing that smoking produces certain beneficial effects in human beings. Smoking counteracts some decrease in efficiency, and smokers improve their performance in complex situations while smoking. There is also evidence showing that nicotine can produce a tranquilizing effect during high emotional and shock situations, while on the other hand stimulating concentration in tedious situations. Statements [A]Passive smoking is the third preventable cause of death. [B]Smokers have the right to smoke. [C]Smoking produces some positive effects in some complex situations. [D]Second-hand smoke is more harmful to non-smokers than those cancer-inducing air pollutants. [E]Cigarette pollution has caused outdoor environment even worse. [F]Smoking can help people get rid of nervousness. [G]Smoking is also an environmental issue.

What is Ms. Bush’ s main purpose for the trip?M: Good morning. Can I help you? W: Hello. My name’ s Jill Bush. I’ m planning to go to a conference in Sydney for three weeks. M: I see. Do you want the excursion fare or the full return fare? W: Now, can I get a stopover on an excursion fare? M: Yes, you are allowed only one stopover on the excursion fare. W: Oh, I see, only one. M: Yes. But of course, if you pay the full return fare then you can have unlimited stopovers. There’s Singapore, Kuwait, Athens, you’ve really got quite a lot of choices you know. W: Oh, It sounds good. You see, I’ ve got a two-week holiday after the conference. How much is the full fare? M: The full fare? Well, that’ s really quite a lot. It’ s ￡ 1 , 204. W: Yes. Well, it’ s once in a lifetime, you know. The thing is actually that I’ m absolutely afraid of flying. I’ ve never done it before. M: Oh dear. Um. . . W: And I’ m hoping that I can persuade my two friends to go along with me. M: Yes, that would be a good idea. W: By the way, one of them is in Cairo at the moment. Would it be possible for me to stopover there on my way to Sydney? M: Yes, of course. There are lots of flights to Cairo and, then plenty more onwards from Cairo to Sydney. And then you can stay for as long as you like. W: Oh, that’ s great’ Thanks very much. Sightseeing in Australia and the Far East. Visiting a friend in Cairo. Attending a conference in Sydney. Shopping in Hong Kong.

When Carios Westez died at the age of 76, a language died, too. Westez, more commonly known as Red Thunder Cloud, was the last speaker of the Native American language Catawba. Anyone who wants to hear the songs of the Catawba can contact the Smithsonian Institution in Washington , D . C . , where, back in the 1940s, Red Thunder Cloud recorded a series of songs for future generations.【B1】______They are all that is left of the Catawba language. The language that people used to speak is gone forever. We are all aware of the danger that modern industry can do to the world’ s ecology(生态). However, few people are aware of the impact widely spoken languages have on other languages and ways of life. English has spread all over the world. Chinese, Spanish, Russian, and Hindi have become powerful languages as well.【B2】______When this happens, hundreds of languages that are spoken by only a few die out. Scholars believe there are around 6,000 languages around the world, but more than half of them could die out within the next 100 years. There are many examples. Araki is the language of the island of Vanuatu, located in the Pacific Ocean. It is spoken by only a few older adults, so like Catawba, Araki will soon disappear. Many languages of Ethiopia will have the same fate because each one has only a few speakers.【B3】______In the Americas, 100 languages, each of which has fewer than 300 speakers, are dying out. Red Thunder Cloud was one of the first to recognize the danger of language death and to try to do something about it. He was not actually bomb into the Catawba tribe, and the language was not his mother tongue.【B4】______The songs he sang for the Smithsonian Institution helped to make Native American music popular. Now he is gone, and the language is dead. What does it mean for the rest of us when a language disappears? When a plant, insect, or animal species dies, it is easy to understand what has been lost and to appreciate what it means for the balance of the natural world. However, language is only a product of the mind. To be the last remaining speaker of a language, like Red Thunder, must be a peculiarly lonely destiny, almost as strange and terrible as being the last surviving member of a dying species. 【B5】______ [A]Some people might want to learn some of these songs by hearts. [B]Most languages have become less and less speakers. [C]However, he was a frequent visitor to the Catawba reservation in South Carcinoma where he learned the language. [D]These languages don’t have many native speakers. [E]For the rest of us, when a language dies, we lose the possibility of a unique way of seeing and describing the world. [F]As these language become more powerful, their use as tools of business and culture increase, as well. [G]Papus New Guines is an extremely rich source of different language, but more than 100 of them are in danger of extinction(灭绝).

Flying over a desert area in an airplane, two scientists looked down with trained eyes at trees and bushes. After an hour’ s flight, one of the scientists wrote in his book, “Look here for probable metal. “ Scientists in another airplane, flying over a mountain area, sent a message to other scientists on the ground, “Gold possible. “ Walking across hilly ground, four scientists reported, “This ground should be searched for metal. “ From an airplane over a hilly wasteland a scientist sent back by radio one word: “ Uranium. “ None of the scientists had X-ray eyes: they had no magic power of looking down below the earth’ s surface. They were merely putting to use one of the newest methods of locating minerals in the ground.. . trees and plants as signs that certain minerals may lie beneath the ground on which the trees and plants are growing. This newest method of searching for minerals is based on the fact that minerals deep in the earth may affect the kind of bushes and trees that grow in the surface. At Watson Bar Greek, a brook(小溪)six thousand feet high in the mountains of British Columbia, Canada, a mineral search group gathered bags of tree seeds. Boxes were filled with small branches from the trees. Roots were dug and put into boxes. Each bag and box was carefully marked. In a scientific laboratory, the parts of the forest trees were burned to ashes and tested. Each small part was examined to learn whether there were minerals in it. Study of the roots, branches, and seeds showed no silver. But there were small amounts of gold in the roots and a little less gold in the branches and seeds. The seeds growing nearest to the tree trunks had more gold than those growing on the ends of the branches.

Suppose you are the secretary of the manager of a company. You attended the negotiation between your company and a foreign company. Write a memo of the negotiation. The memo should include: 1)time and place of the negotiation 2)participants of the negotiation 3)content of the negotiation including the agreement reached and differences that still remain 4)the time for the next negotiation

Read the text below. Write an essay in about 120 words, in which you should summarize the key points of the text and make comments on them. Try to use you own words. The Princess of Cambridge has finally been revealed to the world as Charlotte Elizabeth Dian-a—in a touching nod to her grandfather, her grandmother and her great-grandmother. The name has long tradition which can be traced back to the royal background. Charlotte, derived from French name, pays tribute to her grandfather, prince of Wales. And Charlotte is also Kate’ s sister, Pippa Middleton’ s middle name. Kensington Palace revealed the royal baby’ s full name yesterday after days of speculation and close friends of Princess Diana immediately said the choice means the spirit of Prince William’ s beloved mother ’ lives on’. William was, however, clear that his baby girl should not have Diana as a first name. “It would have been a millstone around her neck,“ said one of the princess’ s long-time friends. Within minutes of the name being announced this afternoon, Diana’ s closest friend Rosa Monckton said:“ Diana’ s spirit lives on in her sons, and now her name lives on in her granddaughter ’ Charlotte Elizabeth Diana’. “Diana was the godmother of Mrs. Monckton’ s daughter Dominica. The British citizens show their satisfaction with this name via Internet. They said it is the perfect name for their lovely princess.

The best title for the article is______.

What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?

Why do you think they had not a backup computer?

The last paragraph suggests that______.

What did passengers do when the computer was down?