Which is safer-staying at home， traveling to work on public transport， or working in the office? Surprisingly， each of these carries the same risk， which is very low. However， what about flying compared to working in the chemical industry? Unfortunately， the former is 65 times riskier than the latter! In fact， the accident rate of workers in the chemical industry is less than that of almost any of human activity， and almost as safe as staying at home.
The trouble with the chemical industry is that when things go wrong they often cause death to those living nearby. It is this which makes chemical accidents so newsworthy. Fortunately， they are extremely rare. The most famous ones happened at Texas City (1947)，Flixborough (1974)， Seveso (1976)， Pemex (1984) and Bhopal (1984)。
Some of these are always in the minds of the people even though the loss of life was small. No one died at Seveso， and only 28 workers at Flixborough. The worst accident of all was Bhopal， where up to 3，000 were killed. The Texas City explosion of fertilizer killed 552. The Pemex fire at a storage plant for natural gas in the suburbs of Mexico City took 542 lives， just a month before the unfortunate event at Bhopal.
Some experts have discussed these accidents and used each accident to illustrate a particular danger. Thus the Texas City explosion was caused by tons of ammonium nitrate(硝酸铵)，which is safe unless stored in great quantity. The Flixborough fireball was the fault of management， which took risks to keep production going during essential repairs. The Seveso accident shows what happens if the local authorities lack knowledge of the danger on their doorstep. When the poisonous gas drifted over the town， local leaders were incapable of taking effective action. The Pemex fire was made worse by an overloaded site in an overcrowded suburb. The fire set off a chain reaction os exploding storage tanks. Yet， by a miracle， the two largest tanks did not explode. Had these caught fire， then 3，000 strong rescue team and fire fighters would all have died.
1.Chemical accidents are usually important enough to be reported as news because ____.
A.they are very rare
B.they often cause loss of life
C.they always occur in big cities
D.they arouse the interest of all the readers
2.Which of the following statements is true?
A.Working at the office is safer than staying at home.
B.Traverlling to work on public transport is safer than working at the office.
C.Staying at home is safer than working in the chemical industry.
D.Working in the chemical industry is safer than traveling by air.
3.According to passage， the chemical accident that caused by the fault of management happened at ____.
A.Texas city B.Flixborough C.Seveso D.Mexico City
4.From the discussion among some experts we may coclude that ____.
A.to avoid any accidents we should not repair the facilities in chemical industry
B.the local authorities should not be concerned with the production of the chemical industry
C.all these accidents could have been avoided or controlled if effective measure had been taken
D.natural gas stored in very large tanks is always safe
5.From the passage we know that ammonium nitrate is a kind of ____.
A.natural gas， which can easily catch fire
B.fertilizer， which can't be stored in a great quantity
C.poisonous substance， which can't be used in overcrowded areas
D.fuel， which is stored in large tanks
1.B 2.D 3.A 4.C 5
暂无解析
Onceitwaspossibletodefinemaleandfemaleroleseasilybythedivisionoflabor.Menworkedoutsidethehomeandearnedtheincometosupporttheirfamilies,whilewomencookedthemealsandtookcareofthehomeandthechildren.Theseroleswerefirmlyfixedformostpeople,andtherewasnotmuchopportunityforwomentoexchangetheirroles.Butbythemiddleofthiscentury,men’sandwomen’sroleswerebecominglessfirmlyfixed.
Inthe1950s,economicandsocialsuccesswasthegoalofthetypicalAmerican.Butinthe1960sanewforcedevelopedcalledthecounterculture.Thepeopleinvolvedinthismovementdidnotvaluethemiddle-classAmericangoals.Thecounterculturepresentedmenandwomenwithnewrolechoices.Takingmoreinterestinchildcare,menbegantosharechild-raisingtaskswiththeirwives.Infact,someyoungmenandwomenmovedtocommunalhomesorfarmswheretheeconomicandchildcareresponsibilitiesweresharedequallybybothsexes.Inaddition,manyAmericansdidnotvaluethetraditionalmaleroleofsoldier.SomeyoungmenrefusedtobedraftedassoldierstofightinthewarinVietnam.
Intermsofnumbers,thecounterculturewasnotaverylargegroupofpeople.ButitsinfluencespreadtomanypartsofAmericansociety.Workingmenofallclassesbegantochangetheireconomicandsocialpatterns.Industrialworkersandbusinessexecutivesalikecutdownon“overtime”worksothattheycouldspendmoreleisuretimewiththeirfamilies.Somedoctors,lawyers,andteachersturnedawayfromhighpayingsituationstopracticetheirprofessionsinpoorerneighborhoods.
Inthe1970s,thefeministmovement,orwomen’sliberation,producedadditionaleconomicandsocialchanges.Womenofallagesandatalllevelsofsocietywereenteringtheworkforceingreaternumbers.Mostofthemstilltooktraditionalwomen’sjobsaspublicschoolteaching,nursing,andsecretarialwork.Butsomewomenbegantoentertraditionallymaleoccupations:policework,banking,dentistry,andconstructionwork.Womenwereaskingforequalwork,andequalopportunitiesforpromotion.
Todaytheexpertsgenerallyagreethatimportantchangesaretakingplaceintherolesofmenandwomen.Naturally,therearedifficultiesinadjustingtothesetransformations.
1.WhichofthefollowingbestexpressthemainideaofParagraph1?
A.Womenusuallyworkedoutsidethehomeforwages.
B.Menandwomen’sroleswereeasilyexchangedinthepast.
C.Men’srolesathomeweremorefirmlyfixedthanwomen’s.
D.Menandwomen’sroleswereusuallyquiteseparatedinthepast.
2.WhichsentencebestexpressesthemainideaofParagraph2?
A.Thefirstsentence.
B.Thesecondandthethirdsentences.
C.Thefourthsentence.
D.Thelastsentence.
3.Inthepassagetheauthorproposesthatthecounterculture___.
A.destroyedtheUnitedStates.
B.transformedsomeAmericanvalues.
C.wasnotimportantintheUnitedStates.
D.broughtpeoplemoreleisuretimewiththeirfamilies.
4.Itcouldbeinferredfromthepassagethat___.
A.menandwomenwillneversharethesamegoals.
B.somemenwillbewillingtoexchangetheirtraditionalmaleroles.
C.mostmenwillbehappytosharesomeofthehouseholdresponsibilitieswiththeirwives.
D.moreAmericanhouseholdsareheadedbywomenthaneverbefore.
5.Thebesttitleforthepassagemaybe___.
A.ResultsofFeministMovements
B.NewinfluenceinAmericanLife
C.CountercultureandItsconsequence
D.TraditionalDivisionofMaleandFemaleRoles.
Urbancongestionwouldgreatlyberelievedifthe____chargedonpublictransportweremorereasonable.
Passage 4
Questions 16 to 20 are based on the following passage:
Culture shock is an occupational disease (职业病) for people who have been suddenly transplanted abroad.
Culture shock is caused by the anxiety that results from losing all familiar signs and symbols of social intercourse. Those signs are as following: when to shake hands and what to say when meet people, when and how to give tips, how to make purchases, when to accept and refuse invitations, when to take statements seriously and when not. These signs, which may be words, gestures, facial expressions, or customs, are acquired by all of us in the course of growing up and as much a part of our culture as the language we speak or the beliefs we accept. All of us depend on hundreds of these signs for our peace of mind and day-to-day efficiency, but we do not carry most at the level of conscious awareness.
Now when an individual enters a strange culture, all or most of these familiar signs are removed. No matter how broadminded or full of good will you may be a series of supports have been knocked from under you, followed by a feeling of frustration. When suffering from culture shock people first reject the environment which caused discomfort. The ways of the host country are bad because they make us feel bad. When foreigners in a strange land get together in complain about the host country its people, you can be sure that they are suffering from culture shock.
16. According to the passage, culture shock is .
A. an occupational disease of foreign people B. may lead to very serious symptoms
C. actually not a disease D. incurable
17. According to the passage, culture shock result from .
A. the sudden change of social atmosphere and customs
B. the sudden change of our daily habits
C. the sudden loss of our own signs and symbols
D. the discomfort that we feel when faced with a foreigner
18. Which one of the following may not be a symptom of culture shock?
A. You don’t know how to express your gratitude.
B. You don’t know how to greet other people.
C. You suddenly forget what a word means.
D. You don’t understand why a foreigner shrugs.
19. According to the passage, how would a person who stays abroad most probably react when he is frustrated by the culture shock?
A. He is most likely to refuse to absorb the strange environment at first.
B. He is really to accept the change and adapt himself to the new environment.
C. Although he takes the culture difference for granted, he still doesn’t know how to do with it.
D. He may begin to hate the people or things around him.
20. The main idea of this passage is that .
A. culture shock is an occupational disease
B. culture shock is caused by the anxiety of living in a strange culture
C. culture shock has peculiar symptoms
D. it is very hard to cope with life in a new setting
Theauthortellsusinparagraph4________.