International Weather Forecast (January 18^th, 2015)

Paris Weather

l        Today: Plenty of sunshine. High 59F. Winds NE at 5 to 10 mph.

l        Tonight: Generally clear. Low near 35F. Winds light and variable.

l        Tomorrow: A mainly sunny sky. High 59F. Winds ENE at 5 to 10 mph.

l        Tomorrow night: A mostly clear sky. Low 36F. Winds light and variable.

New York Weather

l        Today: Cloudy with rain and snow showers. Temps nearly steady in the mid 39s. Winds SE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

l        Tonight: Rain and snow showers this evening changing to rain showers overnight. Low 34F. Winds ESE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 60%.　

l        Tomorrow: Cloudy skies early will become partly cloudy later in the day. High around 45F. Winds WNW at 10 to 20 mph.

l        Tomorrow night: Partly cloudy early with increasing clouds overnight. Low 29F. Winds W at 5 to 10 mph.

London Weather

l        Today: Cloudy and windy. High 56F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph.

l        Tonight: Partly cloudy and windy. Low 43F. Winds W at 20 to 30 mph.

l        Tomorrow: Windy with occasional light rain. High 58F. Winds SW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 70%.

l        Tomorrow night: Cloudy and windy. Periods of light rain early. Low 54F. Winds WSW at 20 to 30 mph. Chance of rain 60%.

Sydney Weather

l        Today: Cloudy with periods of rain. High 73F. Winds NE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall around a quarter of an inch.

l        Tonight: Rain. Low near 70F. Winds NNE at 10 to 15 mph. Chance of rain 70%. Rainfall near a quarter of an inch.

l        Tomorrow: rain in the morning with isolated thunderstorms arriving in the afternoon. High 78F. Winds NNE at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

l        Tomorrow night: An isolated thunderstorm possible during the evening, then occasional showers overnight. Low near 70F. Winds WNW at 5 to 10 mph. Chance of rain 40%.

1. Which city has the strongest wind on January 19^th?

A. Paris         B. New York         C. London.          D. Sydney

2. There will be thunderstorms in Sydney on _________.

A. the evening of January 18^th           B. the afternoon of January 18^th

C. the morning of January 19^th           D. the afternoon of January 19^th

3. If you go on a tour on January 18^th, which of the following places of interest is the most favorable according to the weather report？

A. The Eiffel Tower                   B. Statue（雕像）of Liberty

C. Big Ben                          D. The Sydney Opera House.

With a growing number of people in San Francisco choosing not to own a car, German car - making company BMW has decided to branch out into car-sharing services with 70 cars spread around the city, first in 14 locations, with a further 100 being added gradually.

“This is not an A-to-A service — it is A-to-B,” says Richard Steinberg, chief executive of the DriveNow scheme (方案), pointing out that members can pick up a car downtown for the half-hour drive to the airport for only $12, compared with about $40-50 for a taxi.

Whether that is possible in real life depends on traffic, of course. A midmorning drive from Union Square down Highway 101 to the airport takes just 22 minutes; however, driving back during the rush hour takes twice as long.

Most of the cars that are stuck in San Francisco's traffic jams are giving off all sorts of harmful gas. But not DriveNow's BMW ActiveE cars.

“All the cars in San Francisco are electric,” Mr Steinberg says.

In San Francisco, handing back the car to DriveNow is easy — just pick one of its drop-off points, park and walk away. There are no forms to fill in, no time-consuming (耗时的) rules.

Several other car makers and other players within the motor industry are experimenting with similar schemes, for example, Daimler's Car2go scheme, which is operated in many cities around the world.

“We picture a future where car-sharing members are more than car owners in big cities around the world,” says Car2go spokesman Andreas Leo.

Franck Leveque, from company Frost & Sullivan, agrees.

“Car sharing is growing at a pace we have not seen before,” he says. “By 2020 we believe there will be 15 million members of car-sharing schemes in Europe alone, with 140,000 vehicles in operation.”

4. What does the underlined part “branch out into” probably mean?

A. Start offering.           B. Stop improving.   

C. Make use of.         D. Take control of.

5. The DriveNow scheme _____.

A. works better in rush-hour traffic

B. makes city driving less dangerous

C. encourages people to buy a cheap car

D. allows drivers to pay money to use a car

6. What's special about BMW ActiveE cars?

A. They drive much faster than other cars.

B. They never get stuck in heavy traffic.

C. They don't harm the environment.

D. They need less gas to run.

7. What does Franck think of the future of car sharing? 

A. Worrying.         B. Hopeful.       C. Uncertain.           D. Disappointing.

Dr Dian Fossey，one of the world's leading women scientists，had an outstanding career. The work—she devoted her life to protecting and studying the mountain gorillas (大猩猩) of Africa—has proved highly effective and has resulted in the steady (平稳的) increase of this most endangered big monkeys.

Fossey made her first trip to Africa in 1963.Three years later，she returned to Africa to begin a long－term study of the mountain gorillas. She set up a camp in the  Democratic Republic of Congo but moved to Rwanda because of political reasons in   1967.She founded her “Karisoke” Research Centre camp on September 24，1967.

Fossey's aims were to study gorilla ecology (生态学) and social organization. She found that in order to achieve this，she needed to recognize individual gorillas，which required that the gorillas get used to her presence．By copying gorillas' behaviour and sounds，Fossey began to gain their trust，and in 1970, an adult male gorilla she had named “Peanuts” reached out to touch her hand.

Close observations over thousands of hours enabled Fossey to gain the gorillas' trust and bring forth new knowledge about their behaviour. Stories and photographs of her work were published in National Geographic Magazine and elsewhere.

In 1977，one of Fossey's favourite gorillas，Digit，was killed by poachers and she set up the Digit Fund to help raise money for gorilla protection efforts in the same year.

On December 26，1985，Fossey was murdered while going back to her house in Karisoke. Her body was discovered near the research centre. Most probably，Dian Fossey had been killed by the poachers she'd fought against. On her tombstone (墓碑)：“No one loved gorillas more...”

In 1988，the life and the work of Fossey were made into a movie based on her book.

8．Why does the author say “Dr Dian Fossey had an outstanding career”?

A．Because she made gorillas increase steadily.

B．Because she liked to play with gorillas.

C．Because she studied gorilla ecology.

D．Because she travelled all over the world.

9. Which of the following shows the right time order of the events in Fossey's life?

a．She set up the Digit Fund.

b．Her story was shown in a movie.

c．She was killed probably by the poachers.

d．She founded her “Karisoke” centre.

A．a，d，c，b　　　　  B．a，c，d，b

C．d，c，b，a               D．d，a，c，b

10．The underlined word “poachers” in Paragraph 5 probably refers to people who ________．

A．sell drugs against the law

B．hunt animals against the law

C．hate successful people

D．like to do harm to people

11．From the words on Fossey's tombstone，we can infer that ________．

A．Fossey was the person who loved gorillas most

B．after Fossey died，no one loves gorillas

C．Fossey was the first one to study gorillas

D．everybody loves gorillas as Fossey did

The Intelligent Transport team at Newcastle University have turned an electric car into a mobile laboratory named “DriveLAB” in order to understand the challenges faced by older drivers and to discover where the key stress points are.

Research shows that giving up driving is one of the key reasons for a fall in health and well-being among older people, leading to them becoming more isolated(隔绝) and inactive.

Led by Professor Phil Blythe, the Newcastle team are developing in-vehicle technologies for older drivers which they hope could help them to continue driving into later life.

These include custom-made navigation(导航) tools, night vision systems and intelligent speed adaptations. Phil Blythe explains: “For many older people, particularly those living alone or in the country, driving is important for preserving their independence, giving them the freedom to get out and about without having to rely on others.”

“But we all have to accept that as we get older our reactions slow down and this often results in people avoiding any potentially challenging driving conditions and losing confidence in their driving skills. The result is that people stop driving before they really need to.”

Dr Amy Guo, the leading researcher on the older driver study, explains, “The DriveLAB is helping us to understand what the key points and difficulties are for older drivers and how we might use technology to solve these problems.

“For example, most of us would expect older drivers always to go slower than everyone else but surprisingly, we found that in 30mph zones they struggled to keep at a constant speed and so were more likely to break the speed limit and be at risk of getting fined. We’re looking at the benefits of systems which control their speed as a way of preventing that.

“We hope that our work will help with technological solutions(解决方案) to ensure that older drivers stay safer behind the wheel.”

12. What is the purpose of the DriveLAB?

A. To explore new means of transport.      

B. To design new types of cars.

C. To find out older drivers’ problems.   

D. To teach people traffic rules.

13. Why is driving important for older people according to Phil Blythe?

A. It keeps them independent.            B. It helps them save time.

C. It builds up their strength.             D. It cures their mental illnesses.

14. What do researchers hope to do for older drivers?

A. Improve their driving skills.           B. Develop driver-assist technologies.

C. Provide tips on repairing their cars.     D. Organize regular physical checkups.

15. What is the best title for the text?

A. A new Model Electric Car            B.A Solution to Traffic Problem

C. Driving Service for elders            D. Keeping Older Drivers on the Road

Dos and Don’ts for USA Travel

Despite what difficult procedures (程序) you may have to get to the U.S, including visa troubles, airport safety checks, and something else like these, the United States is a quite relaxing place once you arrive.    16    Following are basic tips about traveling in the USA.

Don’t try to see and do too much.

   17    Many foreign visitors to the United States try to see New York, Washington DC, Miami, and Los Angeles all in one trip. That kind of touring can leave a traveler very tired if you have limited vacation days. The best way is to focus on a place and more deeply.

   18  

While traveling in the United States, do be sure to smile, ask questions, say “please” and “thank you”, and be patient. In almost all cases, your kindness will be rewarded by locals who want to show you the best of their cities and towns.

Do obey traffic signs and laws.

Traveling outside of the United States, I have noticed that stop lights and “No Parking” signs in some parts of the world are only suggestions for drivers. Not in America. Drivers must come to a full stop at a red light and remain stopped until the light turns green.    19  

Do be on time.

America takes punctuality very seriously.    20    Give yourself more time than you think you’ll need to get to some place, especially if you’re not familiar with the area as unexpected delays can happen, such as heavy traffic.

A. It is considered rude to be late.

B. Besides, drivers should obey the speed limit.

C. Do be kind, smile, and enjoy yourself.

D. Don’t think you can smoke anywhere.

E. United States is very large.

F. Try to use the vocabulary they use in their everyday life.

G. But we do have a few rules that foreign visitors may not know about.