If the old maxim that the customer is always right still has meaning, then the airlines that ply the world’s busiest air route between London and Paris have a flight on their hands.
The Eurostar train service linking the UK and French capitals via the Channel Tunnel is winning customers in increasing numbers. In late May, it carried its one millionth passenger, having run only a limited service between London, Paris and Brussels since November 1994, starting with two trains a day in each direction to Paris and Brussels. By 1997, the company believes that it will be carrying ten million passengers a year, and continue to grow from there.
From July, Eurostar steps its service to nine trains each way between London and Paris, and five between London and Brussels. Each train carries almost 800 passengers, 210 of them in first class.
The airlines estimate that they will initially lose around 15%-20% of their London-Paris traffic to the railways once Eurostar starts a full service later this year (1995), with 15 trains a day each way. A similar service will start to Brussels. The damage will be limited, however, the airlines believe, with passenger numbers returning to previous levels within two to three years.
In the short term, the damage caused by the 1 million people-levels traveling between London and Paris and Brussels on Eurostar trains means that some air services are already suffering. Some of the major carriers say that their passenger numbers are down by less than 5% and point to their rivals-Particularly Air France-as having suffered the problems. On the Brussels route, the railway company had less success, and the airlines report anything from around a 5% drop to no visible decline in traffic.
The airlines’ optimism on returning traffic levels is based on historical precedent. British Midland, for example, points to its experience on Heathrow Leeds Bradford service which saw passenger numbers fold by 15% when British Rail electrified and modernized the railway line between London and Yorkshire. Two years later, travel had risen between the two destinations to the point where the airline was carrying record numbers of passengers.
1.British airlines confide in the fact that__.
A.they are more powerful than other European airlines.
B.their total loss won’t go beyond a drop of 5% passengers.
C.their traffic levels will return in 2-3 years.
D.traveling by rail can never catch up with traveling by air.
2.The author’s attitude towards the drop of passengers may be described as__.
A.worried.B.delightedC.puzzled.D.unrivaled.
3.In the passage, British Rail (Para 6) is mentioned to__.
A.provide a comparison with Eurostar.
B.support the airlines’ optimism.
C.prove the inevitable drop of air passengers.
D.call for electrification and modernization of the railway.
4.The railway’s Brussels route is brought forth to show that__.
A.the Eurostar train service is not doing good business.
B.the airlines can well compete with the railway.
C.the Eurostar train service only caused little damage.
D.only some airlines, such as Air France, are suffering.
5.The passage is taken from the first of an essay, from which we may well predict that in the following part the author is going to__.
A.praise the airlines’ clear-mindedness.
B.warn the airlines of high-speed rail services.
C.propose a reduction of London/Paris flights.
D.advise the airlines to follow British Midland as their model.
CABCB
暂无解析
Passage 2
Questions 6 to 10 are based on the following passage:
The food we eat seems to have profound effects on our health. Although science has made enormous steps in making food more fit to eat, it has, at the same time, made many foods unfit to eat. Some research has shown tat 40 percent of cancer is related to the diet as well, especially cancer of the colon. Different cultures ate more prone to get certain illnesses because of the food that is characteristic in these cultures. That food is related to illness is not a new discovery. In 1945, government researchers realized that nitrates and nitrites, commonly used to preserve color in meats, and other food additives, caused cancer. Yet these carcinogenic additives remain in our food, and it becomes more difficult all the time to know which things on the packaging labels of processed food are helpful or harmful. The additives that we eat are not all so direct. Farmers often give penicillin to beef and poultry, and because of this, penicillin has been found in the milk of treated cows. Sometimes similar drugs are administered to animals not for medicinal purposes, but for financial reasons. The farmers are simply trying to fatten the animals in order to obtain a higher price on the market. Although the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has tried repeatedly to control these procedures, the practices continue.
6. How has science done a disservice to mankind?
A. Because of science, most of the foods we eat today are contaminated.
B. It has caused a lack of information concerning the value of food.
C. As a result of scientific intervention, some potentially harmful substances has been added to our food.
D. The scientists have preserved the color of meats, but not of vegetables.
7. What are nitrates used for?
A. They preserves flavor in packaged foods.
B. They preserve the color of meats.
C. They are the objects of research.
D. They cause the animals to become fatter.
8. The FDA has tried repeatedly to control .
A. the attempt to fatten the animals
B. the attempt to cure sick animals
C. the using of drugs to animals
D. the using of additives to preserve the dolor of food
9. The word “carcinogenic” means most nearly the same as .
A. trouble-making B. color-retaining
C. money-saving D. cancer-causing
10. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Drugs are always given to animals for medical reasons.
B. Some of the additives in our food are added to the food itself and some are given to the living animals.
C. Researchers have known about the potential hazards of the food additives for over thirty-five years.
D. Food may cause forty percent of cancer in the world.
翻译：
中华民族的传统文化博大精深、源远流长。早在2000多年前，就产生了儒家学说和道家学说，以及其他很多在中国思想史上有地位的学说流派，这就是有名的“诸子百家”。从孔夫子到孙中山，中华民族传统文化有它的很多珍贵品质。比如“天下兴亡，匹夫有责”的爱国情操，“民为邦本”、“民贵君轻”的民本思想和“己所不欲，勿施于人”的行为准则。
Passage3
Questions11to15arebasedonthefollowingpassage:
TheideaofaspecialdaytohonormotherswasfirstputforwardinAmericain1907.twoyearslaterawoman,Mrs.JohnBruceDodd,inthestateofWashingtonproposedasimilardaytohonortheheadofthefamily—thefather.Hermotherdiedwhenshewasveryyoung,andherfatherbroughtherup.Shelovedherfatherverymuch.
InresponsetoMrs.Dodd’sideathatsameyear—1909,thestategovernorofWashingtonproclaimed(宣布)thethirdSundayinJuneFather’sDay.TheideawasofficiallyapprovedbyPresidentWoodrowWilsonin1916.in1924,PresidentCalvinCoolidgerecommendednationalobservanceoftheoccasion“toestablishmoreintimate(亲密)relationsbetweenfathersandtheirchildren,andtoimpressuponfathersthefullmeasureoftheirobligations.”TheredorwhiteroseisrecognizedastheofficialFather’sDayflower.
Father’sDaytooklongertoestablishonanationalscalethanMother’sDay,butastheideagrainedpopularity,tradesmenandmanufacturersbegantoseethecommercialpossibilities.Theyencouragedsonsanddaughterstohonortheirfatherswithsmallthank-youpresents,suchasatieorpairofsocks,aswellasbysendinggreetingcards.
DuringtheSecondWorldWar,AmericanservicemenstationedinBritainbegantorequestFather’sDaygreetingcardstosendhome.ThisgeneratedaresponsewithBritishcardpublishers.ThoughatfirsttheBritishpublicwasslowtoacceptthisratherartificialday,it’snowwellcelebratedinBritainonthethirdSundayinJuneinmuchthesamewayasinAmerica.
Father’sDayseemstobemuchlessimportantasoccasionthantheMother’sDay.Notmanyofthechildrenoffertheirfatherssomepresents.ButtheAmericanfathersstillthinktheyaremuchbetterfatedthanthefathersofmanyothercountries,whohavenotevenadayfortheirsakeinnameonly.
11.WhendidFather’sDayofficiallybegintohavenationalpopularity?
A.1907B.1909C.1916D.1924
12.WhofirststartedtheideaofholdingtheFather’sDay?
A.Mrs.JohnBruceDoddB.Mrs.JohnBruce’sMother
C.ThegovernmentofWashington.D.Somebusinessmen.
13.WhatflowerwillbepopularonFather’sDay?
A.LilyB.WaterLilyC.RedroseorwhiteroseD.Sunflower.
14.Whichstatementistrue,aaccordingtothispassage?
A.IttookevenlongerforMother’sDaytogainnationalpopularity.
B.ThebusinessmenhelpedtomakeFather’sDaypopular.
C.Father’sDayisonlycelebratedinAmerica.
D.Father’sDayisonlyatrickofthebusinessmentomakemoney.
15.WhatwasthefirstreactionoftheBritishpublishingtowardsFather’sDay?
A.Theythoughthighlyofitandaccepteditatonce.
B.Theyjustaccepteditatoncewithoutanyhesitation.
C.Theyjustthoughtitajoke.
D.Theythoughtitwastooartificialandtookalongtimetoaccept.
What does the future hold for the problem of housing? A good deal depends, of course, on the meaning of “future”. If one is thinking in terms of science fiction and the space age, it is at least possible to assume that man will have solved such trivial and earthly problems as housing. Writers of science fiction, from H.G. Wells onwards, have had little to say on the subject. They have conveyed the suggestion that men will live in great comfort, with every conceivable apparatus to make life smooth, healthy and easy, if not happy. But they have not said what his house will be made of. Perhaps some new building material, as yet unimagined, will have been discovered or invented at least. One may be certain that bricks and mortar(泥灰，灰浆) will long have gone out of fashion.
But the problems of the next generation or two can more readily be imagined. Scientists have already pointed out that unless something is done either to restrict the world’s rapid growth in population or to discover and develop new sources of food (or both), millions of people will be dying of starvation or at the best suffering from underfeeding before this century is out. But nobody has yet worked out any plan for housing these growing populations. Admittedly the worst situations will occur in the hottest parts of the world, where housing can be light structure or in backward areas where standards are traditionally low. But even the minimum shelter requires materials of some kind and in the teeming, bulging towns the low-standard “housing” of flattened petrol cans and dirty canvas is far more wasteful of ground space than can be tolerated.
Since the war, Hong Kong has suffered the kind of crisis which is likely to arise in many other places during the next generation. Literally millions of refugees arrived to swell the already growing population and emergency steps had to be taken rapidly to prevent squalor(肮脏)and disease and the spread crime. The city is tackling the situation energetically and enormous blocks of tenements(贫民住宅)are rising at an astonishing aped. But Hong Kong is only one small part of what will certainly become a vast problem and not merely a housing problem, because when population grows at this rate there are accompanying problems of education, transport, hospital services, drainage, water supply and so on. Not every area may give the same resources as Hong Kong to draw upon and the search for quicker and cheaper methods of construction must never cease.
1.What is the author’s opinion of housing problems in the first paragraph?
A.They may be completely solved at sometime in the future.
B.They are unimportant and easily dealt with.
C.They will not be solved until a new building material has been discovered.
D.They have been dealt with in specific detail in books describing the future.
2.The writer is sure that in the distant future ___.
A.bricks and mortar will be replaced by some other building material.
B.a new building material will have been invented.
C.bricks and mortar will not be used by people who want their house to be fashionable.
D.a new way of using bricks and mortar will have been discovered.
3.The writer believes that the biggest problem likely to confront the world before the end of the century ___.
A.is difficult to foresee.
B.will be how to feed the ever growing population.
C.will be how to provide enough houses in the hottest parts of the world.
D.is the question of finding enough ground space.
4.When the writer says that the worst situations will occur in the hottest parts of the world or in backward areas, he is referring to the fact that in these parts ___.
A.standards of building are low.
B.only minimum shelter will be possible.
C.there is not enough ground space.
D.the population growth will be the greatest.
5.Which of the following sentences best summarizes Paragraph 3?
A.Hong Kong has faced a serious crisis caused by millions of refugees.
B.Hong Kong has successfully dealt with the emergency caused by millions of refugees.
C.Hong Kong’s crisis was not only a matter of housing but included a number of other problems of population growth.
D.Many parts of the world may have to face the kind of problems encountered by Hong Kong and may find it much harder to deal with them.
翻译训练：
筷子(chopsticks)是中国传统的独具特色的进食工具(diningutensils)，至今已有数千年的历史。筷子在古代被称为“箸”，大约从明朝开始才有了“筷子”的称呼。筷子多为竹子制成，也有用木头、象牙(ivory)、金属或其他材料制作而成。它要么上方下圆，要么上下全圆而上粗下细。不管其形状如何，筷子必须是成对使用的，并且两只筷子的大小长短要相同。筷子是中国人日常生活的必备工具，它的发明充分反映了中国人民的智慧。
