阅读理解International airlines have rediscovered the business travelers, the man or woman who regularly jets from country to country as part of the job. This does not necessarily mean that airlines ever abandoned their business travelers. Indeed, companies like Lufthansa and Swissair would rightly argue that they have always catered best for the executive class passengers. But many lines could be accused of concentrating too heavily in the recent past on attracting passengers by volume, often at the expense of regular travelers. Too often, they have seemed geared for quantity rather than quality. Operating a major airline in the 1980s is essentially a matter of finding the right mix of passengers. The airlines need to fill up the back end of their wide-bodied jets with low fare passengers, without forgetting that the front end should be filled with people who pay substantially more for their tickets. It is no coincidence that the two major airline bankruptcies in 1982 were among the companies specializing in cheap flights. But low fares require consistently full aircraft to make flights economically viable, and in the recent recession the volume of traffic has not grown. Equally the large number of airlines jostling for the available passengers has created a huge excess of capacity. The net result of excess capacity and cutthroat competition driving down fares has been to push some airlines into collapse and leave many others hovering on the edge. Against this severe background, it is no surprise that airlines are turning increasingly towards the business travelers to improve their rates of return. They have invested much time and effort to establish exactly what the executive demands for sitting apart from the tourists. High on the list of priorities is punctuality; an executive''s time is money. In-flight service is another area where the airlines are jostling for the executive''s attention. The free drinks and headsets and better foods are all part of the lure.

阅读理解 Imagine a world where your doctor could help you avoid sickness, using knowledge of your genes as well as how you live your life. Or where he would prescribe drugs he knew would work and not have debilitating side-effects. Such a future is arriving faster than most realise: genetic tests are already widely used to identify patients who will be helped or harmed by certain drugs. And three years ago, in the face of a torrent of new scientific data, a number of new companies set themselves up to interpret this information for customers. Through shop fronts on the internet, anyone could order a testing kit, spit into a tube and send off their DNA—with results downloaded privately at home. Already customers can find out their response to many common medications, such as antivirals and blood-thinning agents. They can also explore their genetic likelihood of developing deep-vein thrombosis, skin cancer or glaucoma. The industry has been subject to conflicting criticisms. On the one hand, it stands accused of offering information too dangerous to trust to consumers; on the other it is charged with peddling irrelevant, misleading nonsense. For some rare disorders, such as Huntington's and Tay-Sachs, genetic information is a diagnosis. But most diseases are more complicated and involve several genes, or an environmental component, or both. Someone's chance of getting skin cancer, for example, will depend on whether he worships the sun as well as on his genes. America's Government Accountability Office (GAO) report also revealed what the industry has openly admitted for years: that results of disease-prediction tests from different companies sometimes conflict with one another, because there is no industry-wide agreement on standard lifetime risks. Governments hate this sort of anarchy and America's, in particular, is considering regulation. But three things argue against wholesale regulation. First, the level of interference needs to be based on the level of risk a test represents. The government does not need to be involved if someone decides to trace his ancestry or discover what type of earwax he has. Second, the laws on fraud should be sufficient to deal with the snake-oil salesmen who promise to predict, say, whether a child might be a sporting champion. And third, science is changing very fast. Fairly soon, a customer's whole genome will be sequenced, not merely the parts thought to be medically relevant that the testing companies now concentrate on, and he will then be able to crank the results through open-source interpretation software downloadable from anywhere on the planet. That will create problems, but the only way to stop that happening would be to make it illegal for someone to have his genome sequenced— and nobody is seriously suggesting that illiberal restriction. Instead, then, of reacting in a hostile fashion to the trend for people to take genetic tests, governments should be asking themselves how they can make best use of this new source of information. Restricting access to tests that inform people about bad reactions to drugs could do harm. The real question is not who controls access, but how to minimise the risks and maximise the rewards of a useful revolution.

阅读理解If you intend using humor in your talk to make people smile, you must know how to identify shared experiences and problems. Your humor must be relevant to the audience and should help to show them that you are one of them or that you understand their situation and are in sympathy with their point of view. Depending on whom you are addressing, the problems will be different. If you are talking to a group of managers, you may refer to the disorganized methods of their secretaries; alternatively if you are addressing secretaries, you may want to comment on their disorganized bosses. Here is an example, which I heard at a nurses'' convention, of a story which works well because the audience all shared the same view of doctors. A man arrives in heaven and is being shown around by St. Peter. He sees wonderful accommodations, beautiful gardens, sunny weather, and so on. Everyone is very peaceful, polite and friendly until, waiting in a line for lunch, the new arrival is suddenly pushed aside by a man in a white coat, who rushes to the head of the line, grabs his food and stomps over to a table by himself. "Who is that?" the new arrival asked St. Peter. "Oh, that''s God,"came the reply,"but sometimes he thinks he''s a doctor." If you are part of the group which you are addressing, you will be in a position to know the experiences and problems which are common to all of you and it'' 11 be appropriate for you to make a passing remark about the inedible canteen food or the chairman'' s notorious bad taste in ties. With other audiences you mustn'' t attempt to cut in with humor as they will resent an outsider making disparaging remarks about their canteen or their chairman. You will be on safer ground if you stick to scapegoats like the Post Office or the telephone system. If you feel awkward being humorous, you must practice so that it becomes more natural. Include a few casual and apparently off-the-cuff remarks which you can deliver in a relaxed and unforced manner. Often it'' s the delivery which causes the audience to smile, so speak slowly and remember that a raised eyebrow or an unbelieving look may help to show that you are making a light-hearted remark. Look for the humor. It often comes from the unexpected. A twist on a familiar quote "If at first you don''t succeed, give up" or a play on words or on a situation.Search for exaggeration and understatements. Look at your talk and pick out a few words or sentences which you can turn about and inject with humor.

阅读理解How did people react to Robert' s video?

阅读理解 Sunday nights in Paris are busy on the northern tip of the Canal Saint-Martin. On either side of the water, two groups form long ordered queues, albeit for different reasons. One queue is for those hoping to buy something to eat from a new gourmet hamburger truck (hour-long waits are normal). The other queue, almost all young North African men, is for those hoping to find a seat on a bus to a homeless shelter on the outskirts of the city. Paris is no stranger to such contrasts. Luxury and penury have always coexisted there in uneasy tension. But now a growing number of homeless are stretching the limits of the city's generosity. Nobody knows how many homeless there are in Paris. Data collection is meagre and infrequent. The last meaningful estimate by INSEE, France's national statistics office, dates from the mid 2000s and pegged the number, including those sleeping rough or in emergency shelters on any given night at around 12,000. Anecdotal evidence suggests that the number is considerably higher today. Despite a big expansion in shelter capacity since 2004, demand still outstrips supply. Calls to an emergency number run by Samusocial de Paris, a government-funded charity that allocates beds in emergency shelters, doubled between 2009 and 2010. 'Our problem is too much bureaucracy and centralisation,' explains Mr. Damon. Dealing with homelessness, he argues, should be the exclusive responsibility of the Paris city council. Instead, at least 12 different government bodies are charged with caring for the homeless in Paris. Overlapping responsibility means duplication. Paris has three separate publicly funded groups that transport homeless people to shelters. Some complain about being woken up over the course of an evening by different homeless services. Philippe Redom, a 56-year-old rough sleeper and former chef, prefers to remain in his niche outside an office block. The shelters are 'too big and there is no privacy'. Yet the most useful fix would be for rough sleepers to go closer to the top of the queue for permanent public housing, as happens in London with good results. The problem is not just that there are not enough houses, but also that the wrong people tend to get them. However welcoming the streets of Paris, the homeless would do better with a roof over their heads.

阅读理解When a new germ is spread to a region, ________.

阅读理解根据短文内容，从短文后的七个选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑．选项中有两项为多余选项．Music has long been considered to be an enjoyable pastime for many people．    35______The mental health benefits from music can't be argued．Music could also be helping you with many other health problems behind the scenes．   36 ______ However, for the same reason, music can be very beneficial if one is in pain．By distracting （分心） the mind from the pain, music, people say, can lower stress and anxiety levels．This, of course, can lead to less pain．Many people enjoy relaxing music in the evening prior to going to bed． 37  ________While the validity of the idea is still being assessed，the lowered stress can even be tied back to blood pressure．Similarly, according to researchers，listening to just 30 minutes of soft music every day may help with healthy blood sugar levels， through the lowering of stress and anxiety．When it comes to heart health，there is speculation （推测） that it's not the style of music， but rather the tempo that makes it so good for your heart health．In one European study，participants listened to music as the researchers monitored their heart rates and blood pressure．   38______    On the other hand，when the music slowed，the participants' stress and anxiety levels became lower and the effects on heart rates appeared to follow suit．   39______   But there is a whole range of other health issues that turning up the radio could be beneficial for，which is what makes music so valuable．

阅读理解I was raised on a farm during the boom years after World War Ⅱ

阅读理解The main purpose of the passage is to ____.

阅读理解According to the passage, will the love for physical exercise last long for Americans?

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阅读理解My brother, Henry, has an excellent job at a bank. I couldnt (1) him (2) he told me that he had decided to give it (3) . Though I tried to make him (4) his mind, I failed (5) . You should reconsider your decision, I said. You have already spent five years (6) the bank and you could have a wonderful (7) . You might become a bank manager (8) the time youre thirty-five. I know, Henry answered. Ive got no complaints (9) the bank. Its a(n) (10) job in pleasant surrounding and we keep civilized hours. The bank manager told me that my (11) were excellent. Then why do you want to leave? I (12) . Its (13) money, Henry said. But youre getting a good (14) . I answered. I dont (15) that, Henry said. What do I do at the bank? Well, at the moment (16) I do is to count money. I find it very (17) . Whats depressing about counting money? I asked, unable to (18) the logic of Henrys argument. You dont understand, Henry answered. I enjoy (19) my own money, (20) I hate counting other peoples!

阅读理解The worst thing about television and radio is that they entertain us, saving us the trouble of entertaining ourselves. A hundred years ago, before all these devices were invented, if a person wanted to entertain himself with a song or a piece of music, he would have to do the singing himself or pick up a violin and play it. Now, all he has to do is turn on the radio or TV. As a result, singing and music have declined. Italians used to sing all the time. Now, they only do it in Hollywood movies. Indian movies are mostly a series of songs and dances trapped around silly stories. As a result, they don''t do much singing in Indian villages anymore. Indeed, ever since radio first came to life, there has been a terrible decline in amateur (业余的) singing throughout the world. There are two reasons for this sad decline. One, human beings are astonishingly lazy. Put a lift in a building, and people would rather take it than climb even two flights of steps. Similarly, invent a machine that sings, and people would rather let the machine sing than sing themselves. The other reason is that people are easily embarrassed. When there is a famous, talented musician readily available by pushing a button, which amateur violinist or pianist would want to try to entertain family or friends by himself ? These earnest reflections came to me recently when two CDs arrived in the mail. They are historic recordings of famous writers reading their own works. It was thrilling to hear the voices from a long dead past in the late 19th century. But today, reading out loud anything is no longer common. Today, we sing songs to our children until they are about two, we read simple books to them till they are about five, and once they have learnt to read themselves, we become deaf. We''re alive only to the sound of the TV and the stereo (立体声音响). I count myself extremely lucky to have been born before TV became so common. I was about six before TV appeared. To keep us entertained my mother had to do a good deal of singing and tell us endless tales. It was the same in many other homes. People spoke a language; they sang it, they recited it; it was something they could feel. Professional actors'' performance is extraordinarily revealing. But I still prefer my own reading, because it''s mine. For the same reason, people find karaoke (卡拉OK) liberating. It is almost the only electronic thing that gives them back their own voice. Even if their voices are hopelessly out of tune, at least it is meaningful self-entertainment.

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阅读理解Which of the following can we infer from the passage?

阅读理解Passage Three　　Researchers have found that REM (rapid eye movement) sleep is important to human beings

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阅读理解According to a recent study, loneliness_____.

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阅读理解What does controversy in the last paragraph probably mean?