In the last century, new technology improved the lives of many people in many countries. However, one country resisted these changes. High in the Himalayan mountains of Asia, the kingdom of Bhutan remained separate. Its people and Buddhist（佛教）culture had not been affected for almost a thousand years. Bhutan, however, was a poor country. People died at a young age. Most of its people could not read, and they did not know much about the outside world. Then, in 1972, a new ruler named King Jigme Singye Wangchuck decided to help Bhutan to become modern, but without losing its traditions.
King Wangchuck looked at other countries for ideas. He saw that most countries measured their progress by their Gross Natonal Product(GNP). The GNP measures products and money. When the number of products sold increases, people say the country is making progress. King Wangchuck had a different idea for Bhutan. He wanted to measure his country’s progress by people’s happiness. If the people’s happiness increased, the king could say that Bhutan was making progress. To decide if people were happier, he created a measure called Gross National Happiness(GNH). GNH is based on certain principles that create happiness. People are happier if they have health care, education, and jobs. They are happier when they live in a healthy, protected environment. They are happier when they can keep their traditional culture and customs. Finally, people are happier when they have a good, stable government. Now these is some evidence of increased GNH in Bhutan. People are healthier and are living longer. More people are educated and employed. Teenty-five percent of the land has become national parks, and the country has almost no pollution. The Bhutanese continue to wear their traditional clothing and follow their ancient Buddhist customs. Bhutan has also become a democracy. In 2008, King Wangchuck gave his power to his son. Although the country still had a king, it held its first democratic elections that year. Bhutan had political parties and political candidates for the first time. Finally, Bhutan has connected to the rest of the world through television and internet.
Bhutan is a symbol for social progress. Many countries are now interested in Bhutan’s GNH. These countries are investigating their own ways to measure happiness. They want to create new policies that take care of their people, cultures, and land. Brazil may be the nest country to use the principles of GNH. Brazilian leaders see the principles of GNH as a source of inspiration. Brazil is a large country with a diverse population. If happiness works as a measure of progress in Brazil, perhaps the rest of the world will follow. 31. Who was Jigme Singye Wangchuck? A. A king. B. A president. C. A Buddhist priest. D. A general.
32. Apart from modernizing Bhutan, what else did Wangchuck want to do for Bhutan? A. To make its population grow. B. To keep its traditions and customs. C. To keep it separate from the world. D. To encourage its people to get rich. 33. A country shows its progress with GNP by A. spending more money. B. spending less money. C. providing more jobs. D. selling more products.
34. According to GNH, people are happier if they A. have new technology. B. can change their religion. C. have a good, stable government. D. have more money.
35. Today many countries are
A. using the principles of GNH to measure their progress. B. working together to develop a common scale to measure GNH. C. taking both Bhutan and Brazil as symbols for social progress. D. trying to find their own ways to measure happiness.
第二篇 Archive Gallery: The Best of Bionics(仿生学)
Humans might be the most highly-evolved species on the planet, but most animals possess skills we can only dream of having. Imagine how much electricity we could save if we could see in the dark the way cats do. Imagine leaping from tree to tree like a monkey. Giraffes(长颈鹿), which are otherwise calm and good-natured, sleep only 4.6 hours a day.
We realized a long, long time ago that nature provides the best blueprint(蓝图)for invention. We’ve borrowed canals from beavers(河狸)and reflectors from cat’s eyes. Although the words “bionics” became popular only after the 1960s, history shows that nature has always provided ideas on solving everyday problems. Our archives（档案）don’t go back to the time of Leonardo da Vinci and his bird-like flying machines, but we can take you to the late 19th century, where we applied those same principles for building our first practical airplanes.
To prepare for their flight at Kitty Hawk, the Wright brothers studied the movements of pigeons to figure out how they stayed high up when they were heavier than air. Their success inspired scores of successors to improve on the airplane by studying various aspects of nature. One of Orville Wright’s pupils caught and stuffed seagulls to examine their wingspan. Meanwhile, two French inventors examined
spinning sycamore(梧桐) seeds in an effort to apply those same motions, reversed, to a helicopter.
Some examples are more obvious than others. The outside of the airplane designed by the Wright brothers looks like a minimalistic (简单抽象艺术) structure. On the other hand, Barney Connett’s fish submarine (潜水艇) actually looks like a fish. Some bio-inspired concepts have yet to be invented. In the 1960s, the US Army commissioned several university professors to conduct research on the motor skills animals in hope of applying those same abilities to tanks. Tanks that run like horses or jump like grasshoppers(蚂蚱)-sounds shocking, doesn’t it? But imagine how life would change if we could achieve that.
36. “cats”,”monkeys” and “giraffes” mentioned in paragraph 1 are examples to illustrate
A. they are highly-evolved species as humans. B. humans can learn animals’skills. C. they are skillful in different ways.
D. animals have skills that humans do not possess.
37. Which of the following can be found in the archive gallery? A. History books.
B. The Wright brothers’sculpture.
C. First practical airplanes built in the late 19th century. D. Leonardo da vinci’s bird-like flying machines. 38. What happened after the Wright brothers’success? A. People carried out a systematic study on pigeons.
B. People studied more animals and plants to develop the airplane. C. People cound fly their airplane for fun. D. People kept their airplane at a French gallery.
39. Which of the following in true about the research carried out by the US Army? A. It has changed our life.
B. It has cost a large sum of money. C. It has improved the abilities of tanks. D. It has not succeeded yet.
40. What does the writer want to tell in the passage? A. Many inventions get ideas from nature. B. Some animals possess unique skills. C. People should protect nature. D. Bionics is far from perfect.
第三篇 \
Scientists say they have discovered hints of alien life on the Saturn's moon. The discovery of a sort of life was announced after researchers at the US space agency,NASA,analyzed data from spacecraft Cassini,which pointed to the existence of methane-based form of life on Saturn's biggest moon.
Scientists have reportedly discovered clues showing primitive alien beings are\
They argue that hydrogen gets absorbed before hitting Titan's planet-like surface covered with methane lakes and rivers. This,they say,points to the existence of some\size of the Earth.
\consume on Titan,similar to the way we consume oxygen on Earth,\NASA scientist Chris McKay.\exciting because it would represent a second form of life independent from water-based life on Earth.\
To date,scientists have not yet detected this form of life anywhere,though there are liquid-water-based microorganisms on Earth that grow well on methane or produce it as a waste product. On Titan, where temperatures are around 90 Kelvin (minus 290 degrees Farenheit),a methanebased organism would have to use a substance that is liquid as its medium for living processes, but not water itself. Water is frozen solid on Titan's surface and much too cold to support life as we know it. Scientists had expected the Sun's interactions with chemicals in the atmosphere to produce a coating of acetylene on Titan's surface. But Cassini detected no acetylene on the surface.
The absence of detectable acetylene on the Titan's surface can very well have a non-biological explanation,said Mark Allen,a principal investigator of the NASA Titan team.
\last choice after all non-biological explanations are addressed,\have a lot of work to do to rule out possible non-biological explanations. It is more likely that a chemical process,without biology,can explain these results.\ 41 .What do scientists claim to have found about Saturn? A. Water-based life on it.
B. Methane-based life on its biggest moon. C. A new moon moving around it. D. Earthlike life on its biggest moon.
42. Which of the following statements about Titan is true? A. It is as large as the Earth. B. There is acetylene on its surface.
C. Water on it acts as a life supporting medium.
D. Hydrogen consumption is reported to be on it.
43. The expression \ A. Water-based life. B. oxygen-based life. C. Methane-based life.
D. Liquid-based microorganisms.
44. It can be inferred from Mark Allen’s address that A. Scientists are trying to confirm these is life on Titan.
B. Scientists agree that a chemical process is a convincing explanation. C. Scientists share the opinion that a biological explanation is reasonable. D. Scientists are arguing over whether there is life on Titan. 45. Which of the following can replace the title of this passage? A . A different Life Form, a Possibility. B. Earthlike Living Beings Found on Titan. C. Finding of One More Moon of Saturn’s. D. Titan, a New Satellite Discovered.
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Voice Your Opinion: Change Is Needed in Youth Sports
Everywhere you look, you see kids bouncing a basketball or waving a tennis racquet (网球拍). And these kids are getting younger and younger. In some countries, children can compete on basketball, baseball, and volleyball teams starting at age nine. (46) And swimming and gymnastics classes begin at age four, to prepare children for competition.
It’s true that a few of these kids will develop into highly skilled athletes and may even become members of the national Olympic teams. (47) This emphasis on competition in sports is having serious negative effects.
Children who get involved in competitive sports at a young age often grow tired of their sport. Many parents pressure their kids to choose one sport and devote all their time to it. (48) But 66 percent of the young athletes wanted to play more than one sport-for fun.
Another problem is the pressure imposed by over-competitive parents and coaches. Children are not naturally competitive. In fact, a recent study by Paulo David found that most children don’t even understand the idea of competition until they are seven years old. (49)
The third, and biggest, problem for young athletes is the lack of time to do their homework, have fun, be with friends—in short, time to be kids. When they are