2. Passage Seven A few centuries ago， people looked at the birds and wondered what it would be like to fly like them. There were stories of heroes who glued bird feathers on their arms and flew up into the sky. About 500 years ago， some people dreamed a different dream. Instead of flying up to the sky， they dreamed of falling from the sky! In the 15th century， Italian inventors designed a cone-shaped (雏形) device that was supposed to bring a man down safely from a great height. The operator held on to a handle with straps strapped to his waist. This was the first known design for a parachute (降落伞) . Even the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci sketched a type of parachute. His parachute design was in the shape of a pyramid (金字塔). Other inventors also sketched their own designs for a parachute. Unfortunately， these were only designs on paper and no one tested them . A Croatian inventor named Fausto Veranzio looked at Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute design and replaced the pyramid shape with one that looked like a sail from a ship. When Veranzio was 65 years old， he fell ill. Thinking he would not live longer， he decided to try out his parachute invention. He built his parachute using wood and cloth. Strapping his invention to his waist， he jumped off the tall bell tower in his city. He landed safely! He was supposedly the first man to successfully use a parachute. However， some people thought this story was not true. If that was the case， then the first person to successfully use a parachute would go to a Frenchman named Louis-Sebastien Lenormand in 1783 .Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute was shaped like a ( ) .

39. I apologize for (_____)_ my promise.

A. 　 not having kept

B. 　 being kept

C. 　 not to have kept

D. 　 having not kept

2. Passage Nineteen A 3-year-old boy who was lost in the woods for two days is now safe at home. But Casey Hathaway told his rescuers that he was not alone in the rainy， freezing cold woods. He said he was with a friend——abear. The child went missing on January 22 while playing with friends at his grandmother’s house in the southern state of North Carolina. When the other children returned to the house and Casey did not， the family searched the area for almost an hour before calling the police. Police formed a search and rescue team to look for the young boy in the nearby woods. But two days went by and still——no Casey. The woods of North Carolina are home to many black bears， like this one. It seems one of them helped a little boy while he was lost in the woods. Then on January 24， someone called the police saying they heard a child crying in the woods. Police followed up on the information and found Casey at about 9:30 that night. They pulled him out of some briar (荆棘). He was in good health. Police Officer Chip Hughes said that Casey did not say how he was able to survive in the woods for two days in the cloud， rainy weather， but that “he did say he had a friend in the woods that was a bear that was with him. ” Hundreds of people helped in the search and rescue efforts， including some 600 volunteers， federal police and members of the military. Hughes told reporters that at no point did he think Casey had been kidnapped (绑架). Doctors at Carolina East Medical Center treated Casey for minor injuries. He was then released to his family on January 25 .The woods are mentioned again and again to indicate that they ( ) .

A. provide good places for children to play in

B. are home to bears and thus dangerous to children

C. stand for good environment around Casey’s home

D. may be the cause of the rainy weather in the area

1. Passage Seven A few centuries ago， people looked at the birds and wondered what it would be like to fly like them. There were stories of heroes who glued bird feathers on their arms and flew up into the sky. About 500 years ago， some people dreamed a different dream. Instead of flying up to the sky， they dreamed of falling from the sky! In the 15th century， Italian inventors designed a cone-shaped (雏形) device that was supposed to bring a man down safely from a great height. The operator held on to a handle with straps strapped to his waist. This was the first known design for a parachute (降落伞) . Even the great inventor Leonardo da Vinci sketched a type of parachute. His parachute design was in the shape of a pyramid (金字塔). Other inventors also sketched their own designs for a parachute. Unfortunately， these were only designs on paper and no one tested them . A Croatian inventor named Fausto Veranzio looked at Leonardo da Vinci’s parachute design and replaced the pyramid shape with one that looked like a sail from a ship. When Veranzio was 65 years old， he fell ill. Thinking he would not live longer， he decided to try out his parachute invention. He built his parachute using wood and cloth. Strapping his invention to his waist， he jumped off the tall bell tower in his city. He landed safely! He was supposedly the first man to successfully use a parachute. However， some people thought this story was not true. If that was the case， then the first person to successfully use a parachute would go to a Frenchman named Louis-Sebastien Lenormand in 1783 . The first known parachute was designed by ( ) .

A. Frenchmen

B. Italians

C. Croatians

D. Englishmen

4. Passage Twenty-Five Online dating has just been revealed to be one of the most common ways to start a relationship. But new research reveals that the concept is still highly flawed (有缺陷的). An analysis of 400 studies into online dating shows that while it offers access to plenty of other singles， users can be overwhelmed and put off by the volume of choice， defeating the purpose. The research， by Northwestern University and published in the journal Psychological Science in the public interest， found that the processes involved don’t lend themselves to forming strong relationships. The findings also indicated that the concept of an online profile (介绍) is not entirely useful and “can result in treating potential partners as mere objects ”. Lead author Eli. J. Finkel explained， “Online dating is a terrific addition for singles to meet. However， there are two problems. ” First， studying over seemingly endless lists of profiles of people one does not know， as on Match.com， does not reveal much about them. Second， it “overloads people and they end up shutting down，” he said. He compared it to shopping at “supermarkets of love” and said psychological research shows people presented with too many choices tend to make lazy and often poor decisions. The study’s authors also questioned the algorithms ( 算法) employed by sites such as eHarmony.com to match people based on their interests or personality—comparing it to having a real estate agent of love. While the algorithm may reduce the number of potential partners from thousands to a few， they may be as unsuitable for each other as two people meeting at random， Dr. Finkel explained， adding the chances are no better than finding a relationship by walking into any bar. “There’s no better way to figure out whether you’re a match with somebody than talking to them over a coffee or beer，” Dr. Finkel said. Why is Dr. Finkel mentioned in the passage?

A. He is the lead researcher of the study on online dating.

B. He is a well-known professor at Northwestern University.

C. He is an expert in analyzing people’s shopping patterns.

D. He is the president of a famous online matching website.

5. Passage Fourteen For a long time， people have disagreed about whether golf is a sport or a game. On one side of the argument， people say that golf meets the dictionary definition of a sport， because it is a physical， athletic activity. They add that golf is recognized as a sport by sporting goods companies， athletic groups， fans， and the media. Also， golf’s inclusion in the Olympics in 2016 is more proof that it is sport. On the other side， people say that golf is a game， not a sport. They say golf is not a very physical activity and can be played well by people who are overweight or injured. Also， golf was only recently added to the Olympics. For more than 100 years it was not included in the Olympic Games. For many， the Olympic Games serve as a measurement for whether an activity should be called a sport. Golf was first included in the Olympics in 1900. However， it was removed shortly thereafter because of a lack of participation and conflict with other golf events. Through the years， there were several attempts to bring golf back to the Olympics. It wasn’t until the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro， Brazil that golf returned. Some say the return of golf does not prove that it is a sport. Rather， it only proves that the Olympics wanted to benefit from the star power of famous golfers like Tiger Woods. The disagreement continues today. Those who think golf is a sport point to pro-golfers like Woods， who are strong and fit. Those who disagree point to golfers like John Daly. He is a successful pro-golfer who once had health problems. So is golf a sport? The answer depends on who you ask——and whether that person owns a set of golf clubs.The author seems to suggest in the last paragraph that ( ) .

A. golf is a game

B. golf is a sport

C. golf is both a game and a sport

D. there is no definite answer

5. Passage Twenty-Two Though some people have suggested that women should return to housework in order to leave more jobs for men， the idea has been rejected by both women and men in public opinion polls (民意测验). Lately some union officials have suggested that too many women are employed in type of work more suitable for men and that women should step aside to make way for unemployed young men. They argue that women—especially women in their childbearing years actually delay economic development and result in lower productivity， poor quality and inefficiency. To solve the problem， they have suggested that the working women stay at home while their husbands or brothers were given double wages. They argue that under these circumstances， families would retain their same level of income， and women could run the house and raise children much better. The suggestion has been rejected by 9 out of 10 people polled. A hundred persons in a big city were questioned last summer. Out of 50 women， 46 said they were unwilling to leave their jobs， no matter what the situation was. The other 4 said they would like to return home if their jobs could be taken by their sons or daughters. Of 50 men polled， only 6 said they would like to see their wives give up their jobs， if it meant higher wages for themselves. Some other people have suggested another way called “phased employment theory” . The theory suggests that a woman worker take leave from her job when she is seven months pregnant (妊娠) and stay off the job until her baby reaches the age of 3. It suggests that women on leave receive 75 percent of their normal salary and be allowed to return to work after the 3-year period. This will benefit children， women， their families and the society. Some of those polled， both women and men， felt the idea is a good one. It definitely seems to be more acceptable than the suggestion that women return to home forever. According to the “phased employment” theory， during a woman’s leave from her job

A. her work should be done by her husband or brothers

B. either her husband or her brothers will be given double wages

C. her family can still keep the same level of income

D. her family’s income level will be a little lower than it normally is

33. The population of China is larger than (_____)_ of Japan.

A. 　 one

B. 　 these

C. 　 those

D. 　 that

33. Gold has been highly prized throughout the ages due chiefly to (_____)_.

A. 　 it is scarce

B. 　 so scarce is it

C. 　 scarcity of it

D. 　 its scarcity

5. Passage Five The appeal of advertising to buying motives can have both negative and positive effects. Consumers may be convinced to buy a product of poor quality or high price because of an advertisement. For example， some advertisers have appealed to people’s desire for better fuel economy for their cars by advertising automotive products that improve gasoline mileage. Some of the products work. Others are worthless and a waste of consumers’ money. Sometimes advertising is intentionally misleading. A few years ago， a brand of bread was offered to dieters with the message that there were fewer calories in every slice. It turned out that the bread was not dietetic， but just regular bread. There were fewer calories because it was sliced very thin， but there were the same number of calories in every loaf. On the positive side， emotional appeals may respond to a consumer’s real concerns. Consider fire insurance. Fire insurance may be sold by appealing to fear of loss. But fear of loss is the real reason for fire insurance. The security of knowing that property is protected by insurance makes the purchase of fire insurance a worthwhile investment for most people. If consumers consider the quality of the insurance plans as the message in the ads， they will benefit from the advertising. Each consumer must evaluate her or his own situation. Are the benefits of the product important enough to justify buying it? Advertising is intended to appeal to consumers， but it does not force them to buy the product. Consumers still control the final buying decision. The passage is mainly about ( ) .

A. how to make a wise buying decision

B. ways to protect the interests of the consumer

C. the positive and negative aspects of advertising

D. the function of advertisements in promoting sales

1. Passage One There are three separate sources of danger in supplying energy by nuclear power. First， the radioactive material must travel from its place of production to the power station. Although the power stations themselves are strongly built， the containers used for the transport of the materials are not. Normally， only two methods of transport are in use， namely road or rail. Unfortunately， both of these may have an effect on the general public， since they are sure to pass near， or even through， heavily populated areas. Second， there is the problem of waste. All nuclear power stations produce wastes that in most cases will remain radioactive for thousands of years. It is impossible to make these wastes nonradioactive， so they must be stored in one of the inconvenient ways that scientists have invented. For example， they may be buried under the ground， or dropped into deserted mines， or sunk in the sea. However， these methods do not solve the problem， since an earthquake could easily break the containers.
Third， there may occur the danger of a leak or an explosion at the power station. Compared with the other two dangers， this is not very likely， so it does not provide a serious objection to the nuclear program. However， it can happen. Separately， these three types of dangers are not a great cause for worry. Taken together， though， the probability of disaster is extremely high. Which of the following is FALSE?

A. It is possible that a leak or an explosion occurs at a power station.

B. It is unusual for radioactive materials to be transported across land.

C. The containers are likely to be broken by an earthquake.

D. Nuclear wastes remain dangerous in most cases for many years.