Lane waited on the bench nearest the bridge, as he had been instructed. The strong cold wind blew straight across the river, and he had to pull his overcoat closer about him.
He went over his instructions in his mind. The agent would appear at four o'clock. He would chat to Lane for a while, after which he would get up, leaving his newspaper behind. The plans would be found inside.
A distant clock began to strike the hour. As if from nowhere, a man appeared and sat down beside Lane, placing his newspaper on the seat between them. He was thin and middle-aged, and seemed in need of a good meal. He didn't look like a successful spy, Lane thought. He bore no resemblance to Lane's idea of a successful spy. His conversation about the weather was painfully uninteresting.
A few minutes later he got up and continued on his way. Lane picked up the paper which lay on the bench, as if he wanted to look at the news. He was excited to see the plans, pinned to the centre page. At that moment, however, there was a strong gust of wind which lifted the newspaper into the air, like a kite, and blew it into the river.
1. Sitting on the bench, Lane ____.
[A] memorized his orders
[B] recited his orders
[C] tried to remember his orders
[D] repeated his orders to himself
2. The agent was going to give Lane some important ____.
[A] papers
[B] information
[C] instructions
[D] advice
3. Lane found the agent very ____.
[A] impressive
[B] peculiar
[C] ordinary
[D] well-fed
4. The agent left the newspaper ____.
[A] by arrangement
[B] at Lane's request
[C] by mistake
[D] out of kindness
5. Lane ____.
[A] got rid of the plans quickly
[B] lost the plans
[C] threw the plans away
[D] managed to save the plans
Do you want a car? Many people want to get rid of (摆脱) their cars, and they are doing just that. Police say that about 110 cars are abandoned every night in New York city.
Why do people leave their cars to be towed (拖) away by the police? Maybe the car just doesn't run any more. It would have to be towed to the junk dealer. Besides the cost of towing, the car owners would have to find a way to get home from the junk yard. This might cost money, too. So the license plates are removed, and the car is abandoned.
How can the police stop people from filling the streets with abandoned cars? Faced with about 21,000 abandoned cars a year, the Chicago police made a plan. They checked engine registration numbers and were able to find the owners of the cars. Then the owners were charged for the towing. So far, the plan has turned the problem into a profit. The city has collected almost a million dollars from the towing, and sale of abandoned cars.
Even if the city police can stop people from abandoning cars, we still must face the problem of cars that wear out. At present, there are about 40 million cars in junk yards across the country, and that number keeps going up.
How can the U.S. Get rid of its large and growing car junk yards? A U.S. Senator from Illinois said that the government should use the tax collected on new cars to pay for the "burial" of old cars.
If you're thinking of looking for and fixing up an abandoned car, forget it! You have to have a bill of sale or title from the owner before you can get new license plates.
6. The author's purpose is ____.
[A] to call for a tax on new cars
[B] to praise the Chicago police
[C] to tell about the problem of abandoned and worn-out cars
[D] to tell you how to get a car
7. From the information in this article, you could not say that ____.
[A] abandoned cars are a nuisance
[B] worn-out cars are piling up in junk yards
[C] Chicago police found a solution to abandoned cars
[D] if you want a car, find one that's been abandoned
8. If one has to drive a car legally, one has to ____.
[A] have a license plate
[B] pay for the towing of the car
[C] get rid of his old car properly
[D] pay for the burial of his old car
9. In this selection, the word "tow" probably means ____.
[A] sell
[B] drag
[C] throw
[D] collect
10. A word opposite in meaning to "profit" is ____.
[A] expense
[B] gain
[C] loss
[D] payment
About three hundred words in the English language come from the names of people. Many of these words are technical words. When there is a new invention or discovery, a new word may be created after the inventor or scientist.
It is interesting to observe how many common words have found their way into the language from the names of people. Lord(贵族) Sandwich who lived from 1718--1792 used to sit at the gambling(赌博) table eating slices of bread with meat in between. As the Lord was the only one among his friends who ate bread in that way, his friends began to call the bread "sandwich" for fun. Later on the word became part of the English language.
The word "boycott" means to refuse to have anything with somebody or something. It comes from a man called Captain Boycott. He was a land agent in 1880 and he collected rents and taxes (税) for an English landowner in Ireland. But the Captain was a very hard man. He treated his poor tenants (房客) very badly. His tenants decided not to speak to him at all. Eventually word got back to the landowner and the Captain was removed. The word "boycott" became popular and was used by everyone to mean the kind of treatment that was received by Captain Boycott.
11. A few hundred ____come from the names of people.
[A] new inventions
[B] languages
[C] English words
[D] new discoveries
12. Lord Sandwich was fond of ____.
[A] eating out all the time
[B] sitting with his friends
[C] playing games with words
[D] taking bread with meat
13. "Sandwich" is a word created by ____.
[A] Lord Sandwich
[B] scientists
[C] the friends of Lord Sandwich
[D] inventors
14. The tenants did not like____.
[A] to collect rents and taxes
[B] the English landowner
[C] the cruel land agent
[D] to speak
15. When the landowner found out that the tenants were boycotting his land agent, he ____.
[A] dismissed(解雇) the agent
[B] praised the agent
[C] removed the poor tenants
[D] increased the rents and taxes
In the past ten years several experts have tried to teach language to apes. One American psychologist trained his ape named Sarah to make sentences on a computer. Another American scientist trained an ape named Washoe to make signs for words. A third American scientist also trained an ape named Nim Chimpsky to use sign language. Nim learned over a hundred signs for different words. But can we say that these apes learned language?
Dr. Herbert Terrace of New York City is a psychologist. He wanted to study the language ability of apes. He decided that he would raise a young ape in his home. He would send this ape to school, and teachers would teach him sign language. Then doctor Terrace would give different language tests to the ape. By this experiment he would discover if apes could learn language.
Dr.Terrace's ape, a chimpanzee named Nim Chimpsky, went to nursery school at Columbia University. There he had special teachers who taught him signs for English words. These teachers worked with Nim for five hours every day. They treated Nim lovingly and patiently. In four months Nim learned the signs for 125 words.
But during the next two years Nim's language did not improve very much. Nim still had a small vocabulary. Most of Nim's words were nouns for visible things such as table or apple. Nim learned a few active verbs such as bite. Jump, and hurry. He also learned some basic colors such as blue and red. Nim would often use two or three words together. He might make signs that said, "Nim eat apple." This seemed like an English sentence. But Nim would also use signs meaning "eat Nim apple. " This is not a correct English sentence.
Dr. Terrace decided that Nim could not really learn language as humans can. For example, Nim never created new words. He never added new information to his sentence. Nim couldn't even begin sentences. He would only give responses to his teachers' questions. Will future experiments show that apes can learn language? Dr. Terrace doesn't think so.
16. The main purpose of the several experiments with apes is to ____.
[A] make sure how many words an ape can master
[B] discover whether apes have the ability to learn language
[C] know whether sign language will be acceptable in the future
[D] decide the differences between humans and apes
17. How long did the experiment with Nim last?____
[A] 24 months [B] 4 months [C] 14 months [D] 28 months
18. Nim's vocabulary was largely ____.
[A] nouns for things he saw [B] verbs that were active
[C] words for things at school [D] words for things he could eat
19. Which of the following is Not True?____
[A] Dr. Terrace raised Nim in his home [B] Dr. Terrace hired special teachers for Nim
[C] Dr. Terrace taught Nim language [D] Dr. Terrace tested Nim's vocabulary
20. Which of the following is Not True?____
[A] Nim learned more nouns than verbs and adjectives[B] Nim had a small vocabulary after
4 months of learning [C] Nim often used two or three words at a time [D] Nim learned to speak English in four months
21. Dr. Terrace finally decided that apes could not learn language mainly because ____.
[A] they can hardly answer humans' questions[B] they can not make themselves understood
[C] they can never learn in an active and creative way [D] all of the above
22. The passage tells us that ____.
[A] apes don't have language ability [B] Dr. Terrace is not a good psychologist
[C] apes can learn signs for nouns and verbs [D] talking apes can only be a future possibility
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