[单项选择]Since the energy crisis, these big cars have become a real liability. They cost too much to run.


A. lack of reliability
B. substitute
C. costly means of transport
D. disadvantage

[单项选择]Since you have failed three of the last four tests, you cannot afford to be ______ about passing for the term.
A. courteous
B. relevant
C. optimistic
D. passive

[单项选择]Since I have promised him not to tell anybody about this incident, I ______ say it.

[单项选择]Since my childhood I have been always taught that it is very ______ to interrupt others.


A. rude
B. rough
C. crude
D. coarse

[单项选择]Since all of them have left, you ______not have stayed.

[单项选择]Since we have never been here before, we do not know which bus（）
A. should we take'
B. to be taking
C. to take
D. should take

[单项选择]Since you have broken the law, you won't escape ______.

[单项选择]Woman: Since we have nothing in common, we don't have to live under the same roof.
Man: If you really want to settle the problem, I'm ready to meet you half-way.
Question: What does the man mean
A. He is ready to encounter the problem.
B. He is ready to launch a lawsuit.
C. He is ready to compromise.
D. He is ready to raise a big argument.

[单项选择]John and Ken's cars don't have much in common EXCEPT _______.


A. They are cheap
B. They have electric windows
C. They are blue
D. They can haul trailer

[单项选择]Physicists have known since the early nineteenth century that all matter is made up of tiny extremely particles called atoms.

[单项选择]How may years have passed since the pilgrims came to settle in America


A. More than 250years have passed.
B. Nearly 385 years have passed.
C. Approximately 365 years have passed.
D. Exactly 300 years have passed.

[单项选择]

Passage Two
Men have traveled ever since they first appeared on the earth.
In primitive times they did not travel for pleasure but to find new places where their herds could feed, or to escape from hostile neighbors, or to find more favorable climates. They traveled on foot. Their journeys were tong, tiring, and often dangerous. They protected themselves with simple weapons, such as wooden sticks or stone clubs, and by lighting fires at night and, above all, by keeping together.
Being intelligent and creative, they soon discovered easier ways of traveling. They rode on the backs of their domesticated animals; they hollowed Out tree trunks and,’ by using bits of wood as paddles, were able to travel across water.
Later they traveled, not from necessity, but for the joy and excitement of seeing and experiencing new things, This is still the main reason why we travel today.
Traveling, of course, has now become a highly organized bu
A. they could travel by wagons
B. they could ride on their tame animals and go across water in hollowed tree trunks
C. the roads were splendid
D. the climates were favorable

[单项选择]What steps have been taken by big airlines according to the passage


A. To reduce air fares.
B. To streamline airline structures.
C. To readjust their marketing strategy.
D. To pursue marketing alliances.

[单项选择]

Since the dawn of human ingenuity, people have devised ever more cunning tools to cope with work that is dangerous, boring, burdensome, or just plain nasty. That compulsion has resulted in robotics—the science of conferring various human capabilities on machines. And if scientists have yet to create the mechanical version of science fiction, they have begun to come close.
As a result, the modern world is increasingly populated by intelligent gizmos whose presence we barely notice but whose universal existence has removed much human labor. Our factories hum to the rhythm of robot assembly arms. Our banking is done at automated teller terminals that thank us with mechanical politeness for the transaction. Our subway trains are controlled by tireless robo-drivers. And thanks to the continual miniaturization of electronics and micro-mechanics, there are already robot systems that can perform some kinds of brain and bone surgery with submillimeter accuracy—far grea
A. the use of machines to produce science fiction
B. the wide use of machines in manufacturing industry
C. the invention of tools for difficult and dangerous work
D. the elite's cunning tackling of dangerous and boring work