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

Passage3

Questions11to15arebasedonthefollowingpassage:

UnliketheirAmericanorEuropeancounterparts,carsalesmeninJapanworkhardtogetabuyer.Insteadoflyinglazilyaroundshowroomswaitingforcustomerstodropby,manyJapanesecarsalesmenstillgoouttogetthem.Theywalkwearilyalongthestreetscarsdoor-to-door.Newcustomersarehuntedwithfruitandcakesontheirbirthdays.Butlifeisgettingtough,andnotjustbecausenew-carsalesarefalling.

WithmoreJapanesewomen(whooftencontrolthehouseholdbudget)goingouttowork,thesalesmenincreasinglyfindnobodyathomewhentheycall.Thatmeansanothervisitintheeveningortheweekend.Thentheyfaceanextraproblem:morepeople,especiallytheyoung,prefertochooseanewcarfromashowroomwheretheycancomparedifferentmodels.

Evenaslateasthemid-1980ssome90%ofnewcarsweresolddoor-to-door.Insomeruralareasmostnewcarsarestillsoldthisway.Butinthebigcitiesmorethanhalfthenewcarsarenowsoldfromshowrooms.

AlthoughinvestinginshowroomsisexpensivebecauseofthehighcostofJapaneseland,dealershavelittlechoice.AlaborshortageandhigheramongJapan’sworkforcearemakingitdifficulttohiredoor-to-doorsalesmen.MostofaJapanesecarsalesman’sworkingdayisspentdoingfavorsforcustomers,likearranginginsuranceorpickingupvehiclesforservicing,ratherthanactuallyselling.

Japan’sdoorstepcarsalesmenarenotabouttovanish.Thepersonalservicetheyprovideissodeep-rootedinJapanthattheyarelikelytooperatealongsidetheglitteringnewshowrooms.Thetwosystemsevencomplementeachother.Whatincreasinglyhappensisthattheshowroomattractstheinterestofapotentialbuyer,givingthefootsoresalesmenafirmleadtofollowupwithahomevisit.

11.Japanesecarsalesusuallydonotwaitatshowroomsforcustomerstodropby;instead,.

A.theysellcarsdoor-to-door

B.theybuypresentsfortheircustomers

C.theyenjoythemselvesinrecreationcenters

D.theygoouttodomarketresearches

12.Impliedbutstated:thecompetitionincarmarketis.

A.lightB.moderateC.fierceD.unfair

13.Youngpeopleliketobuyanewcar.

A.athomeB.fromashowroom

C.madeintheU.S.A.D.madeinJapan

14.ThesquadronofJapanesecarsalesmenisreducingbecauseof.

A.alaborshortage

B.higherexpectationsamongJapan’sworkforce

C.highcostland

D.bothAandB

15.Japanesecarsalesmentotheircustomersmanyfavorssuchas.

A.showingthemaroundinanexhibition

B.arranginginsurance

C.payingthemavisitonweekends

D.sellingolecarsforthem

The discovery of the Antarctic not only proved one of the most interesting of all geographical adventures, but created what might be called “the heroic age of Antarctic exploration”. By their tremendous heroism, men such as Shakleton, Scott, and Amundsen caused a new continent to emerge from the shadows, and yet that heroic age, little more than a century old, is already passing. Modern science and inventions are revolutionizing the endurance, future journeys into these icy wastes will probably depend on motor vehicles equipped with caterpillar traction rather than on the dogsthat earlier discoverers found so invaluable and hardly comparable.

Few realize that this Antarctic continent is almost equal in size to South America, and enormous field of work awaits geographers and prospectors. The coasts of this continent remain to be accurately charted, and the maping of the whole of the interior presents a formidable task to the cartographers who undertake the work. Once their labors are completed, it will be possible to prospect the vast natural resources which scientists believe will furnish one of the largest treasure hoards of metals and minerals the world has yet known, and almost inexhaustible sources of copper,coal, uranium, and many other ores will become available to man. Such discoveries will usher in an era of practical exploitation of the Antarctic wastes.

The polar darkness which hides this continent for the six winter months will be defeated by huge batteries of light, and make possible the establishing of air-fields for the future inter-continental air services by making these areas as light as day. Present flying routes will be completely changed, for the Antarctic refueling bases will make flights from Australia to South America comparatively easy over the 5,000 miles journey.

The climate is not likely to offer an insuperable problem, for the explorer Admiral Byrd has shown that the climate is possible even for men completely untrained for expeditions into those frozen wastes. Some of his parties were men who had never seen snow before, and yet he records that they survived the rigors of the Antarctic climate comfortably, so that, provided that the appropriate installations are made, we may assume that human beings from all countries could live there safely. Byrd even affirms that it is probably the most healthy climate in the world, for the intense cold of thousands of years has sterilize this continent, and rendered it absolutely germfree, with the consequences that ordinary and extraordinary sickness and diseases from which man suffers in other zones with different climates are here utterly unknown. There exist no problems of conservation and preservation of food supplies, for the latter keep indefinitely without any signs of deterioration; it may even be that later generations will come to regard the Antarctic as the natural storehouse for the whole world.

Plans are already on foot to set up permanent bases on the shores of this continent, and what so few years ago was regarded as a “dead continent” now promises to be a most active center of human life and endeavor.

1.When did man begin to explore the Antarctic?

A.About 100years ago.

B.In this century.

C.At the beginning of the 19th century.

D.In 1798.

2.What must the explorers be, even though they have modern equipment and techniques?

A.Brave and tough

B.Stubborn and arrogant.

C.Well-liked and humorous.

D.Stout and smart.

3.The most healthy climate in the world is___.

A.in South America.

B.in the Arctic Region.

C.in the Antarctic Continent.

D.in the Atlantic Ocean.

4.What kind of metals and minerals can we find in the Antarctic?

A.Magnetite, coal and ores.

B.Copper, coal and uranium.

C.Silver, natural gas and uranium.

D.Aluminum, copper and natural gas.

5.What is planned for the continent?

A.Building dams along the coasts.

B.Setting up several summer resorts along the coasts.

C.Mapping the coast and whole territory.

D.Setting up permanent bases on the coasts.

翻译：

中华民族的传统文化博大精深、源远流长。早在2 000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。

The author tells us in paragraph 4 ________.