1The Man of Many Secrets —Harry Houdini —was one of the greatest American entertainers in the theater this century. He was a man famous for his escapes —from prison cells, from wooden boxes floating in rivers, from locked tanks full of water. He appeared in theaters all over Europe and America. Crowds came to see the great Houdini and his "magic" tricks.Of course, his secret was not magic, or supernatural powers. It was simply strength. He had the ability to move his toes as well as he moved his fingers. He could move his body into almost any position he wanted.Houdini started working in the entertainment world when he was 17, in 1891. He and his brother Theo performed card tricks in club in New York. They called themselves the Houdini Brothers. When Harry married in 1894, he and his wife Bess worked together as magician and assistant. But for a long time they were not very successful. Then Harry performed his first prison escape, in Chicago in 1898. Harry persuaded a detective to let him try to escape from the prison, and he invited the local newspapermen to watch.It was the publicity(宣传) that came from this that started Harry Houdini's success. Harry had fingers trained to escape from handcuffs and toes trained to escape ankle chins. But his biggest secret was how he unlocked the prison doors. Every time he went into the prison cell, Bess gave him a kiss for good luck —and a small skeleton key, which is a key that fits many locks, pass quickly from her mouth to his.Harry used these prison escapes to build his fame. He arranged to escape from the local prison of every town he visited. In the afternoon, the people of the town would read about it in their local newspapers, and in the evening every seat in the local theater would be full. What was the result? World-wild fame, and a name remembered today.1. According to the passage, Houdini's success in prison escapes depends on _______.A. his special tricks and supernatural powersB. his unusual ability and a skeleton keyC. his magic tricks and unhuman powersD. his wisdom and magic tricks2. In the fourth paragraph, the underlined word "this" refers to _______.A. his first prison escapeB. the year 1898C. the publicityD. Harry Houdini's success3. It can be inferred from the passage that Houdini became famous _______.A. in 1894B. before he marriedC. at the age of 17D. when he was about 244. Which of the following is the best title for the passage?A. A Skeleton KeyB. A Man of Many SecretsC. World-wild FameD. Great Escape2The 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 theairport 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(备用) 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.1. The best title for the article is _______.A. When the Computer Is DownB. The Most Frightening WordsC. The Computer of the AirportD. Asking the Computer2. What could the girl in the ticket office do for the passengers without asking the computer?A. She could sell a ticket.B. She could write out a ticket.C. She could answer the passengers' questions.D. She could do nothing.3. Why do you think they had not a backup computer?A. Because it was easy down.B. Because it was very expensive.C. Because it was not advanced enough.D. Because it was not as big as the main computer.4. The last paragraph suggests that _______.A. a modern computer won't be down.B. computers can take the place of humansC. sometimes a computer may bring suffering to peopleD. there will be great changes in computers3Breaking records can become monotonous after a while. The Baltic Dry Index, which tracks the costs of shipping "dry" goods such as iron ore, coal and grain around the world, dipped this week after hitting an all-time high on November 13th. But it is still up 154% from a year earlier.As with so much to do with commodities, the extraordinary rise in freight rates is partly because of China's appetite for raw materials. A dearth of new ships, and flotillas waiting to berth in overcrowded ports (especially in Australia), are also driving rates higher. The cost of shipping iron ore from Brazil to China is now more than the cost of digging up the ore itself. Yet what makes the problem worse (or better, if you are a ship-owner) are the ways in which shifts in supply and demand are altering trade patterns around the world, especially in commodities like iron ore and coal, which are the most frequently traded cargoes in international shipping.Take iron ore. China's biggest suppliers—Australia and India—have been unable to cope with the surge in demand. According to Icap Hyde, a firm of shipbrokers, Australia's market share of China's iron-ore imports fell from 70% around 15 years ago to about 40% last year. Earlier this year, to ensure enough iron ore for its own industries, India imposed tariffs on sales of iron ore abroad. Over the years, Chinese steel producers have scouted elsewhere for the metal—mainly in Brazil, where they have secured long-term supply contracts. But it takes three times as long to move cargo from Brazil to China as it does from Australia, which, in effect, reduces shipping capacity for each shipment of Brazilian iron ore to China that comes at Australia's expense.Meanwhile, China used to export much more coal than it imported, according to Jon Chappell of JPMorgan. As recently as 2001, its net exports of coal were 89m tons. So far this year, it has imported almost as much as it has exported. Other East Asian countries such as Japan, South Korea relied heavily on China for coal and now have to import it from Australia, South Africa and the Americas. So does India. Meanwhile, drought in Australia has meant that large Asian importers have had to ship grain from as far away as America.In general, points out Icap Hyde, there is an "oceanic imbalance" between the Atlantic and Pacific. Supply is spread across both oceans, even as demand is concentrated in Asia. Shipping ton-miles for the major "dry" goods, which indicates the extent to which more freight is moved over longer distances, rose by 45% between 2001 and 2006. That is good news for freight rates, if any more were needed. By all accounts, the bull run is likely to last until 2009, when a huge number of new ships are due to be launched. Let's hope they are built for trans-oceanic travel.1. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of the Baltic Dry Index?[A] The index is increased by 154% compared with the previous year.[B] The index keeps track on the trade cost of all sorts of dry goods.[C] The index has been breaking records for at least a few years.[D] The index is monotonous during this period.2.The word "scout" (Line 5, Paragraph 3) most probably means_____[A] change[B] turn[C] seek[D] outsource3. Australia's market share of China's iron-ore imports went through a steep fall because_____[A] the ports in Australia are overcrowded.[B] the shipping capacity is reduced.[C] the iron-ore demand of China is increased greatly.[D] the tariffs are imposed on sales of iron ore.4. The "oceanic imbalance" between Atlantic and Pacific refers to_____[A] the imbalance in dry goods supply.[B] the imbalance in dry goods demand.[C] the imbalance in shipping ton-miles for the dry goods.[D] the imbalance in freight rates.5. The bull run of dry goods shipping will most probably be ended by_____[A] rise of the shipping ton-miles for the major "dry" goods.[B] the shifts in supply and demand.[C] the increase of the shipping capacity.[D] the launch of new ships in great number.4As dusk falls, kerosene stoves ignite in the poorer kitchens of Delhi. Sengeni, who lives on an alley wedged between the Nizamuddin railway tracks and a tributary known as ganda nallah (or dirty ditch), is looking forward to a dish of rice. He is entitled to a quota of 11 litres of cheap kerosene every fortnight, which he buys for about nine rupees (23 cents) a litre, compared with a free-market rate of about 25 rupees. The price hasn't changed for months, he says, despite the surge in oil prices.In India, as in many countries, the government dares not allow the rising price of crude to be felt in the common man's pockets. Only a third of the 48 developing countries studied in an IMF review let the market set fuel prices. The governments of Yemen and Indonesia, for example, spent more holding down the price of fuel than they spent on health and education combined. Attempts to raise energy prices—as in Yemen in 2005, Nigeria in 2000 or Indonesia in 1998—have a sorry record of prompting riots and revolutions.India's government subsidises kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) directly. It keeps other fuels, such as diesel, artificially cheap by the simple expedient of stopping state oil companies from raising their prices. These firms keep themselves afloat with "oil bonds", which the government guarantees but does not enter on its books. In October, for example, the government announced it would issue bonds worth 235 billion rupees this fiscal year, which will compensate oil-market companies for about 43% of their losses. All told, India's fuel subsidies might cost as much as $17.5 billion this year, according to Lombard Street Research, a British firm of economists. That amounts to as much as 2% of the country's GDP.Cheap kerosene fires the poor man's stove in India's cities and lights his home in the country's villages. More prosperous city folk cook instead with more refined gases. Thus a kerosene subsidy can at least claim to be progressive as well as expensive. This is more than can be said for India's cheap LPG. According to Bharat Ramaswami of the Indian Statistical Institute, the richer half of India's urban population captures about three-quarters of this subsidy. Unfortunately, about half of India's subsidised kerosene never makes it to household stoves, he says. It is diverted to the black market, where it is either sold at a higher price or used to adulterate diesel, which sells for about 30 rupees per litre.This then poses an acute dilemma for the government. The subsidies are costly. Yet more expensive kerosene would hurt the poor (not to mention the government's own electoral prospects). And if it kept kerosene cheap while letting diesel rise in price, it would only increase the scope for arbitrage between the two.Not all fuel in India is subsidised. By the Nizamuddin rail tracks, a gaggle of children warm themselves on a chilly night by burning scraps of wood. One thick-skinned show-off waves his foot in the flames for a foolhardy second. India's fragile government, on the other hand, is in no mood to play with fire.1. The word "sorry" (Line 5, Paragraph 2) probably means_____[A] apologizing.[B] negative.[C] feeling bad.[D] unsatisfactory.2. Which one of the following statements is TRUE of India's subsidies on fuel?[A] The subsidies mainly go to the state oil companies.[B] The subsidy policy is executed by companies that maintain low prices.[C] Diesel is subsidized through "oil bonds".[D] Half of the subsidized fuel is sold to the black market.3.The dilemma for the government is caused by_____[A] the costly subsidies.[B] the fixed kerosene price.[C] the price gap between the kerosene and diesel.[D] the rise in diesel price.4. India's government is in no mood to play with fire because_____[A] it subsidizes kerosene and liquefied petroleum gas (LPG) directly.[B] not all of the fuel is subsidized in India because the rich population does not need it.[C] it is facing a difficult dilemma whether to continue fuel subsidy or not.[D] it is too costly to subsidize all the fuel.5. Towards the fuel subsidization in India, the author's attitude can be said to be _____[A] supportive.[B] positive.[C] neutral.[D] negative.参考答案：第一篇BADD第二篇ADBC第三篇CCCBD第四篇BCCCD。
