A Ride in a Cable-car A ride in a cable-car is one of the exciting and enjoyable experiences a child can have.In Switzerland, which is the home of the cable-car, it is used mostly to take tourists up the slope of a mountain, to a restaurant from which one can have a bird-eye view of the surrounding country, or to a top of a ski-run, from which, in winter, skiers glide down the snow covered the slope on skis.In Singapore, however, the cable-car takes one from the summit of a hill on the main island to a low hill on Sentosa, a resort island just off the southern coast. The cable-car is really a carriage which hangs from a strong steel cable suspended in the air.It moves along the cable with other cars on pulleys, the wheels of which are turned by electric motors. The cars are painted in eye-catching colours and spaced at regular intervals. Each car can seat up six persons. After the passengers have entered a car, they are locked in from outside by an attendant, they have no control over the movement of the car. Before long, the passengers get a breath-taking view through the glass windows of the modern city, the bustling harbour, and the several islands off the coast.The car is suspended so high in the air that slips on the sea look like small boats, and boats like toys.On a clear day, both the sky above and the sea below look beautifully blue. In contrast to the fast-moving traffic on the ground, the cars in the air move in a leisurely manner, allowing passengers more than enough time to take in the scenery during the brief trip to the island of Sentosa.After a few hours on Sentosa, it will be time again to take a cable-car back to Mount Faber.The return journey is no less exciting than the outward trip.

She is always diplomatic when she deals with naughty students. firm tactful outspoken rude

That student is discourteous; he grumbles no matter how one tries to please him. giggles scolds complains sneers

This custom is still prevailing among members of the older generation. well-known widespread used celebrated

During the SARS period,it is especially important to ventilate the room. dust clean remove air

I heard many parents complaining that their teenage children are rebelling, I wish it were so.At your age you ought to be growing away from your parents.You should be learning to stand on your own two feet.【B1】______It seems that teenagers are taking the same way of showing that they disagree with their parents. Instead of striking out boldly on their own, most of them are clutching at one another’s hands for reassurance. They claim they want to dress as they please. But they all wear the same clothes. They set off in new directions in music.【B2】______Their reason for thinking or acting in thus-and-such a way is that the crowd is doing it.They have come out of their cocoon (蚕茧) —into a larger cocoon. It has become harder and harder for a teenager to stand up against the popularity wave and to go his or her own way. Industry has firmly carved out a teenage market.【B3】______And many of today’s parents have come to award high marks for the popularity of their children. All this adds up to a great barrier for the teenager who wants to find his or her own path. But the barrier is worth climbing over.The path is worth following.You may want to listen to classical music instead of going to a party. You may want to collect rocks when everyone else is collecting records.【B4】______ Well, go to it. Find yourself. Be yourself. Popularity will come with the people who respect you for who you are.【B5】______. A.Most teenagers claim that they want to do what they like to,but they are actually doing the same. B.That’s the only kind of popularity that really counts. C.But some how they all end up crowded round listening to the same record. D.You may have some thoughts that you don’t care to share at once with your classmates. E.These days every teenager can learn from the advertisements what a teenager should have and be. F.But take a good look at the present rebellion.

Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation Before 1933,and particularly during the period 1929—1933, bank failures were not uncommon.【C1】______ a bank overextended itself in creating credit or if several of its important loans could not be【C2】______, depositors in the bank would frequently become panicky and begin to make large withdrawals.【C3】______the bank had only a small number of its deposits backed by currency, the bank would soon be unable to meet withdrawals, and most depositors【C4】______their money.Most frequently a bank merely needed time to improve its cash position by【C5】______some of its loans and not making additional ones.In 1933 , the number of bank failures【C6】______a peak, forcing the federal government to intervene and【C7】______the banks temporarily. To help restore the public’s confidence【C8】______banks and strengthen the banking community, Congress passed legislation setting up the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation.【C9】______corporation, an agency of the federal government, now insures over 90 percent of all mutual savings and commercial bank deposits for【C10】______$ 100,000 per deposit.The FDIC has【C11】______its insurance fund by charging member institutions one-twelfth of 1 percent of their total deposits. As a result of the protection provided by the FDIC and through other kinds of supervision,bank failures have been【C12】______to a few isolated instances. When deposits are federally insured, people【C13】______rush to withdraw their money if they【C14】______the financial condition of their bank.The delay gives the banks the necessary time to adjust their cash credit balance, and this action helps to reduce the【C15】______of bankruptcy.

The chemist analyzed that there was no trace of poison in the coffee. indication taste color smell

This kind of animals are on the verge of extinction, because so many are being killed for their fur. drying up dying out being exported being transplanted

Let’s postulate that she is a lawyer,then what’s her opinion about it? challenged assumed deducted decreed

You should cultivate the habit of reading carefully. invent begin develop initiate

She is slender,with delicate wrists and ankles. sick weak slim pale

Tom searched his pockets looking for the keys. went on was after went through cleared up

The moon was obscured by thick clouds. held prevented darkened blackened

A Ride in a Cable-car A ride in a cable-car is one of the exciting and enjoyable experiences a child can have.In Switzerland, which is the home of the cable-car, it is used mostly to take tourists up the slope of a mountain, to a restaurant from which one can have a bird-eye view of the surrounding country, or to a top of a ski-run, from which, in winter, skiers glide down the snow covered the slope on skis.In Singapore, however, the cable-car takes one from the summit of a hill on the main island to a low hill on Sentosa, a resort island just off the southern coast. The cable-car is really a carriage which hangs from a strong steel cable suspended in the air.It moves along the cable with other cars on pulleys, the wheels of which are turned by electric motors. The cars are painted in eye-catching colours and spaced at regular intervals. Each car can seat up six persons. After the passengers have entered a car, they are locked in from outside by an attendant, they have no control over the movement of the car. Before long, the passengers get a breath-taking view through the glass windows of the modern city, the bustling harbour, and the several islands off the coast.The car is suspended so high in the air that slips on the sea look like small boats, and boats like toys.On a clear day, both the sky above and the sea below look beautifully blue. In contrast to the fast-moving traffic on the ground, the cars in the air move in a leisurely manner, allowing passengers more than enough time to take in the scenery during the brief trip to the island of Sentosa.After a few hours on Sentosa, it will be time again to take a cable-car back to Mount Faber.The return journey is no less exciting than the outward trip.

Why So Many Children In many of the developing countries in Africa and Asia, the population is growing fast.The reason for this is simple: Women in these countries have a high birth rate—from 3.0 to 7.0 children per woman.The majority of these women are poor, without the food or resources to care for their families.Why do they have so many children? Why don’t they limit the size of their families? The answer may be that they often have no choice.There are several reasons for this. One reason is economic.In a traditional agricultural economy, large families are helpful.Having more children means having more workers in the fields and someone to take care of the parents in old age.In an industrial economy, the situation is different.Many children do not help a family; instead, they are an expense. Thus, industrialization has generally brought down the birth rate.This was the case in Italy, which was industrialized quite recently and rapidly.In the early part of the twentieth century, Italy was a poor, largely agricultural country with a high birth rate.After World War Ⅱ , Italy’s economy was rapidly modernized and industrialized.By the end of the century, the birth rate had dropped to 1.3 children per woman, the world’s lowest. However, the economy is not the only important factor that influences birth rate.Saudi Arabia , for example, does not have an agriculture-based economy, and it has one of the highest per capita incomes in the world.Nevertheless, it also has a very high birth rate(7.0).Mexico and Indonesia, on the other hand, are poor countries, with largely agricultural economies, but they have recently reduced their population growth. Clearly, other factors are involved.The most important of these is the condition of women.A high birth rate almost always goes together with lack of education and low status for women.This would explain the high birth rate of Saudi Arabia.There, the traditional culture gives women little education or independence and few possibilities outside the home.On the other hand, the improved condition of women in Mexico, Thailand, and Indonesia explains the decline in birth rates in these countries.Their governments have taken measures to provide more education and opportunities for women. Another key factor in the birth rate is birth control.Women may want to limit their families but have no way to do so.In countries where governments have made birth control easily available and inexpensive, birth rates have gone down.This is the case in Singapore, Sri Lanka, and India, as well as in Indonesia, Thailand, Mexico, and Brazil.In these countries, women have also been provided with health care and help in planning their families. These trends show that an effective program to reduce population growth does not have to depend on better economic conditions.It can be effective if it aims to help women and meet their needs. Only then, in fact, does it have any real chance of success.

He was resolute in his attempt to climb up to the top of the mountain. disgusted determined tried disappointed

Only his relatives knew he had a fatal illness. strange deadly serious unknown

The index is the government’s chief gauge of future economic activity. method measure way manner

He is in a rather difficult situation at present. location position preparation station

Coming Soon to a Theater Near You! What are special effects? Do you enjoy movies that use a lot of special effects Dinosaurs(恐龙) from the distant past! Space batdes from the distant future! There has been a revolution in special effects, and it has transformed the movies we see. The revolution began in the mid 1970s with George Lucas’s Star Wars, a film that stunned (使震惊)audiences.That revolution continues to the present, with dramatic changes in special-effects technology.The company behind these changes is Lucas’s Industrial Light & Magic (ILM).And the man behind the company is Dennis Muren, who has worked with Lucas since Star Wars. Muren’s interest in special effects began very early.At the age of 6, he was photographing toy dinosaurs and spaceships.At 10, he had an 8 millimeter movie camera and was making these things move through stop-motion.(Stop-motion is a process in which objects are shot with a camera, moved slightly, shot again, and so on.When the shots are put together, the objects appear to move.) Talk to Muren and you’ll understand what ILM is all about: taking on new challenges.By 1989, Muren decided he had pushed the old technology as far as it would go. He saw computer graphics (图像) (CG) technology as the wave of the future and took a year off to master it. With CG technology, images can be scanned into a computer for processing, for example, and many separate shots can be combined into a single image.CG technology has now reached the point, Muren says, where special effects can be used to do just about anything so that movies can tell stories better than ever before.The huge success of Jurassic Park and its sequel (续集) , The Lost World, the stars of which were computer-generated dinosaurs, suggests that this may very well be true.

The cable-car in Singapore______.

Which of the following about the cable-cars is true?

Passengers can get a breath-taking view when riding in a cable-car because______.

The short trip does not bother passengers who want a good view because______.

The last sentence of the passage “The return journey is no less exciting than the outward trip“ , means______.