雅思阅读模拟题passage1

雅思阅读模拟题 PASSAGE 1

Practice IELTS Reading Test A (Academic Module)

READING PASSAGE 1

PERSONAL TIME MANAGEMENT

Since the early work of Halberg(1960),the existence of human "circadian rhythms" has been well-known to biologists and psychologists. Circadian rhythms dictate that there are certain times of the day when we are at our best both physically and psychologically. At its simplest, the majority of us feel more alive and creative in the mornings, while come the evenings we are fit only for collapsing with a good book or in front of the television. Other of

us note that in the morning we take a great deal of time to get going physically and mentally, but by the evening are full of energy and bright ideas, while a very few of us feel most alert and vigorous in the late afternoon .

Irrespective of our personal rhythms, most of us have a productive period between . and noon, when the stomach, pancreas, spleen and heart all appear to be in their most active phases. Conversely, the majority of us experience a low period in the hour or two after lunch (a time when people in some

societies sensibly take a rest), as most of our energy is devoted to the process of digestion. The simple rules here are: don't waste too much prime time having a coffee break around you should be doing some of your best work, and don't make the after-lunch period even less productive by overloading your digestion.

A short coffee or tea break is ,in fact, best taken on arrival at the office ,when it helps us start the day in a positive mood, rather than mid-morning when it interrupts the flow of our activities. Lunch is best taken early, when we are just beginning to feel hungry, and we are likely to eat less than if we leave it until later. An early lunch also means that we can get back into our

productive stride earlier in the afternoon.

Changes in one's attitude can also enhance personal time management. For example, the notion of pro-action is eminently preferable to reaction. To pro-act means to anticipate events and be in a position to

take appropriate action as soon as the right moment arrives. To react, on the other hand, means to have little anticipation and do something only when events force you to do so. Pro-actors tend to be the people who are always one step ahead of other people, who always seem to be in the right place at the right time, and who are always better informed than anyone else. Many of us like an easy life, and so

we tend to be reactors. This means that we aren't alert to the challenges and opportunities coming our way, with the consequence that challenges bother us or opportunities pass us by before we're even properly aware they're upon us. We can train ourselves in pro-action by regularly taking the time to sit down

and appraise the likely immediate future, just as we sit down and review the immediate past.

Psychologists recognise that we differ in the way in which we characteristically attribute responsibility for the various things that happen to us in life. One of the ways in which we do this is known as locus

of control(Weiner,1979), which refers to assigning responsibility. At its simplest, some individuals have a predominantly external locus of control, attributing responsibility to outside causes (for example, the faults of others or the help given by them) ,while with other individuals the locus of control is predominantly internal, in which responsibility is attributed to oneself (for example, one's own abilities or lack of them, hard work, etc.).

However, the picture usually isn't as simple as this. Many people's locus of control is more likely to be specific to a particular situation, for example internal in certain areas, such as their social lives,

and external in others, such as their working lives. Or, to take another example, they may attribute certain kinds of results to themselves, such as their successes, and certain kinds of results to other people, such as their failures. Obviously the best kind of locus of control is one that is realistic and able to attribute every effect to its appropriate cause, and this is particularly important when it comes to time management. Certainly, there are occasions when other people are more responsible for our time loss than we are, but for most of us, and for most of the time, the blame must fall fairly and squarely upon ourselves.

Choose ONE phrase(A-J) from the list in the box below to complete each key point below. Write the appropriate letters (A-J) in boxes 1-6 on your answer sheet.

The information in the completed sentences should be

an accurate summary of points made by the writer.

. There are more phrases (A-J) than sentences, so you will not use them all. You may use any phrase more than once.

Questions 1-6

Time management-key points

Answer

Example Our patterns of circadian rhythms…… G

1. A proactive person……

2. A reactive person……

3. Analysing circadian rhythms……

4. The idea that the best time to work is in the morning……

5. The notion of feeling alert in the late afternoon……

6. Productivity appears to be enhanced……

List of phrases

A) ……agrees with the circadian rhythms of most people.

B) ……makes us feel alive and creative.

C) ……conforms to the circadian rhythms of a minority of people.

D) ……if our energy is in a low phase.

E) ……is more able to take advantage of events when they happen.

F) ……enables one to gauge physical potential at particular times throughout the day.

G) ……can affect us physically and mentally.

H) ……when several specific internal organs are active.

I) ……takes a more passive attitude toward events.

J) ……when we eat lunch early

Questions 7-13

Complete the sentences below with words taken from Reading Passage 1,"ersonal Time Management." Use NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer. Write your answers in boxes 7-13 on your answer sheet.

Answer

Example Most people are less productive…… after lunch

7. Our …… influence our physical and mental performance

8. We are more likely to be productive in the afternoon if we have…… .

9. A person who reacts tends not to see …… when they are appr oaching.

10. Assessing the …… aids us in becoming proactive.

11. A person with a mainly internal locus of control would likely direct blame toward …… .

12. A person with a mainly external locus of control would likely direct failure toward …… .

13. A person with a healthy and balanced locus

of control would attribute a result, whether negative or positive, to …… .

雅思阅读模拟题 PASSAGE 2

READING PASSAGE 2

You are advised to spend about 20 minutes on Questions 14-25 which are based on Reading Passage 2, "The Muang Faai Irrigation SysTEM of Northern Thailand".

Questions 14-19

Reading Passage 2 has 7 sections.

Choose the most suitable heading for each section from the list of headings (A-L) below. Write the appropriate letter (A-L) in boxes 14-19 on your answer sheet.

. There are more headings than sections, so you will not use all of them.

List of Headings

A) Rituals and beliefs

B) Topography of Northern Thailand

C) The forests of Northern Thailand

D) Preserving the system

E) Agricultural practices

F) Village life

G) Water distribution principles

H) Maintaining natural balances

I) Structure of the irrigation system

J) User's rights

K) User's obligations

L) Community control

14. Section 1

15. Section 2

16. Section 3

17. Section 4

Answer

Example Section 5 A

18. Section 6

19. Section 7

THE MUANG FAAI IRRIGATION SYSTEM OF NORTHERN THAILAND

SECTION 1

Northern Thailand consists mainly of long mountain chains interspersed with valley bottoms where streams and rice fields dominate the landscape. Most of the remaining forests of the North are found at higher altitudes. The

forests ensure regular seasonal rainfall for the whole area and at the same time moderate runoff, so that there is water throughout the year.

SECTION 2

The lowland communities have developed an agricultural system adapted to, and partially determining, the distinctive ecosystems of their areas. Practicing wet-rice agriculture in the valley-bottoms, the lowlanders also raise pigs, ducks and chickens and cultivate vegetable gardens in their villages further up the slopes. Rice, beans, corn and native vegetables are planted in hill fields above the villages, and wild vegetables and herbal medicines are gathered and wild game hunted in the forests higher up the hillsides. The forests also serve as grazing grounds for cows and buffalo, and are a source of wood for household utensils, cooking fuel,construction and farming tools. Fish are to be found in the streams and in the irrigation system and wet-rice fields, providing both food and pest control.

SECTION 3

In its essentials, a muang faai system consists of a small reservoir which feeds an intricate, branching network of small channels carrying water in carefully calibrated quantities through clusters of rice terraces in valley bottoms. The system taps into a stream above the highest rice field and, when there

is sufficient water, discharges back into the same stream at a point below the bottom field. The water in the reservoir at the top, which is diverted into a main channel(Iam muang) and from there into the different fields, is slowed or held back not by an impervious dam, but by a series of barriers constructed of bunches of bamboo or saplings which allow silt, soil and sand to pass through.

SECTION 4

Water from the Iam muang is measured out among the farmers according to the extent of their rice fields and the amount of water available from the main channel. Also considered are the height of the fields, their distance from the main channel and their soil type. The size and depth of side-channels are then adjusted so that only the allocated amount of water flows into each farmer's field.

SECTION 5

Rituals and beliefs connected with muang faai reflect the

villagers' submission to, respect for, and friendship with nature, rather than an attempt to master it . In mountains, forests, watersheds and water, villagers see things of great value and power. This power has a favourable aspect, and one that benefits humans. But at the same time, if certain boundaries are overstepped and nature is damaged, the spirits will punish humans. Therefore, when it is necessary to use nature for the necessities of life, villagers take care

to inform the spirits what they intend to

do, simultaneously begging pardon for their actions.

SECTION 6

Keeping a muang faai system going

demands cooperation and collective management, sometimes within a single village, sometimes across three or four different subdistricts including many villages. The rules or common agreements arrived at during the yearly meeting amount to a social contract. They govern how water is to be distributed, how flow is to be controlled according to seasonal schedules, how barriers are to be maintained and channels dredged, how conflicts over water use are to be settled, and how the forest around the reservoir is to be preserved as a guarantee of

a steady water supply and a source of materials to repair the system.

SECTION 7

The fundamental principle of water rights under muang faai is that everyone in the system must get enough to survive; while many patterns

of distribution are possible, none can violate this basic tenet. On the whole, the systems also rest on the assumption that local water is common property. No one can take control of it by force, and it must be used in accord with the communal agreements. Although there are inequalities in land holding, no one has the right to an excessive amount of fertile land. The way in which many muang faai systems expand tends to reinforce further the claims

of community security over those of individual entrepreneurship. In the gradual

process of opening up new land and digging connecting channels, each local household often ends up with scattered holdings over the whole irrigation areas. Unlike modern irrigation systems, under which the most powerful people generally end up closest to the sources of water, this arrangement encourages everyone to take care that no part of the system is unduly favoured or neglected.

Questions 20-23

The chart below illustrates the agricultural system of the lowland communities.

Select words from Reading Passage 2 to fill the spaces in the chart. Use UP TO THREE WORDS for each space. Write your answers in boxes 20-23 on your answer sheet.

Area Activity

Example

Forests

grazing cows, buffalo

Forests

Hill fields

Villages

Valley bottom gathering …… (20) ……, hunting wild animals

cultivating …… (21) ……

raising …… (22) …… cultivating vegetables

growing …… (23) ……

Question 24

From the list below, select the three main structures

which constitute the muang faai irrigation system. Write the

THREE appropriate letters, in any order, in box 24 on your answer sheet.

A) channels

B) saplings

C) dam

D) barriers

E) reservoir

F) water

Question 25

From the list below, select two criteria for allocating water to farmers. Write TWO appropriate letters, in any order, in box 25 on your answer sheet.

A) field characteristics

B) social status

C) location of field

D) height of barriers

E) fees paid

F) water available

雅思阅读模拟题 PASSAGE 3

READING PASSAGE 3

You are advised to spend about 20 minutes on Questions 26-39 which are based on Reading Passage 3 below.

THE ORIGINS OF INDO-EUROPEAN LANGUAGES

The traditional view of the spread of the Indo-European languages holds that an Ur-language,ancestor to all the others, was spoken

by nomadic horsemen who lived in what is now western Russia north of the Black Sea near the beginning of the Bronze Age. As these mounted warriors roamed over greater and greater expanses, they conquered the indigenous peoples and imposed their own proto-Indo-European language, which in the course of succeeding centuries evolved in local areas into the European languages we know today. In recent years, however, many scholars, particularly archaeologists, have become dissatisfied with the traditional explanation.

The starting point of the problem of the origins of Indo-European is

not archaeological but linguistic. When linguists look at the languages of Europe, they quickly perceive that these languages are related. The connections can be seen in vocabulary, grammar and phonology (rules for pronunciation).

To illustrate the numbers from one to ten in several Indo-European languages. Such a comparison makes it clear that there are significant similarities among many European languages and also Sanskrit, the language of the earliest literary texts of India, but that languages such as Chinese or Japanese are not members of the same family (see figure1).

ENGLISH OLD GERMAN LATIN GREEK SANSKRIT JAPANESE

ONE

TWO

THREE

FOUR

FIVE

SIX

SEVEN

EIGHT

TEN AINS TWAI THRIJA FIDWOR FIMF

SAIHS SIBUM AHTAU

NIUN TAIHUM UNUS DUO

TRES QUATTOUR QUINQUE SEX SEPTEM OCTO NOVEM DECEM HEIS DUO

TREIS TETTARES PENTE HEKS HEPTA

ENNEA

DEKA EKAS

DVA

TRYAS

CATVARAS

PANCA

SAT

SAPTA

ASTA

NAVA

DASA HITOTSU

FUTATSU

MITTSU

YOTTSU

ITSUTSU

MUTTSU

NANATSU

YATTSU

KOKONOTSU

TO

FIGURE 1 Words for numbers from one to ten show the relations among Indo-European languages and the anomalous character of Japanese, which is not part of that family. Such similarities stimulated interest in the origins of Indo-European languages.

The Romance languages served as the first model for answering the question. Even to someone with no knowledge of Latin, the profound similarities among Romance languages would have made it natural to suggest that they were derived from

a common ancestor. On the assumption that the shared characteristics of these languages came from the common progenitor (whereas the divergences arose later. as the languages diverged),it would have been possible to reconstruct many of the characteristics of the original proto-language. In much the same way it became clear that the branches of the Indo-European family could be studied and

a hypothetical family tree constructed, reading back to a common ancestor

roto-Indo-European.

This is the tree approach. The basic process represented by the tree model is one of divergence: when languages become isolated from one other, they differ increasingly, and dialects gradually differentiate until they

become separate languages.

Divergence is by no means the only possible tendency in

language evolution. Johannes Schmidt, introduced a "wave" model in

which linguistic changes spared like waves, leading ultimately to convergence; that is, growing similarity among languages that were initially quite different.

Today, however, most linguists think primarily in terms

of linguistic family trees. It is necessary

to construct some explicit models of how language change might occur according to a process-based view. There are four main classes of models.

The first is the process of initial colonization, by which an uninhabited territory becomes populated; its language naturally becomes that of the colonizers. Second are processes of divergence, such as

the linguistic divergence arising form separation or isolation mentioned above in relation to early models of the Indo-European languages. The third group of models is based on processes of linguistic convergence. The wave model, formulated by Schmidt in the 1870's, is an example, but convergence methods have not generally found favour among linguists.

Now, the slow and rather static operation of these processes

is complicated by another factor: linguistic replacement.

That factor provides the basis for a fourth class of models. In many areas of the world the languages initially spoken by the indigenous people have come to be replaced, fully or partially, by languages spoken by people coming from outside. Were it not for this large complicating factor, the world's linguistic history could be faithfully described by the initial distribution of Homo Sapiens, followed by the gradual, ling-term workings of divergence and convergence. So

linguistic replacement also has a key role to play in explaining the origins of the Indo-European languages.

Questions 26-32

Below is a summary of part of Reading Passage 3,"The Origins of

Indo-European Languages".

Read the summary and then select the best word or phrase from the box below to fill each gap. according to the information in the Reading Passage. Write the corresponding letters (A-L) in boxes 26-32 on your answer sheet.

. There are more words and phrases than you will need to fill the gaps. You may use a word or phrase more than once if you wish.

Summary-Models of Language Change

Answer

Example There are four main models of language …… (Ex) …… K

The first is the process of initial colonization where an uninhabited territory becomes populated: the language spoken will therefore be that of the ……(26)……

Processes of ……(27)…… occur where different dialects, and then languages, develop from a common ……(28)…… Many of

the original characteristics of this common ancestor can be reconstructed from what we know of the present separate……(29)……

Processes of linguistic……(30)…… occur when languages which

were initially different become more similar through contact. The wave model, formulated by Schmidt in the 1870s, is an example.

The final model is that of linguistic……(31)…… In this model, a new language replaces the language spoken by the ……(32)……

A colonizers G languages

B invaders H waves

C proto-language I replacement

D indigenous people J convergence

E linguists K development

F model L divergence

雅思阅读TFNG模拟试题(4)

雅思阅读TFNG模拟试题(4) Practice 4?? Para 1.?玊he need for a satisfactory education is more important than ever before. Nowadays, without a qualification from a reputable school or university, the odds of landing that plum job advertised in the paper are considerably shortened. Moreover, one's present level of education could fall well short of future career requirements.?お? para 2.?獻t is no secret that competition is the driving force behind the need to obtain increasingly higher qualifications. In the majority of cases, the urge to upgrade is no longer the result of an insatiable thirst for knowledge. The pressure is coming from within the workplace to compete with ever more qualified job applicants, and in many occupations one must now battle with colleagues in the reshuffle for the position one already holds.?お? para 3.?玈triving to become better educated is hardly a new concept. Wealthy parents have always been willing to spend the vast amounts of extra money necessary to send their children to schools with a perceived

2015年雅思阅读模拟试题及答案解析三

Time to cool it 1 REFRIGERATORS are the epitome of clunky technology： solid， reliable and just a little bit dull. They have not changed much over the past century， but then they have not needed to. They are based on a robust and effective idea--draw heat from the thing you want to cool by evaporating a liquid next to it， and then dump that heat by pumping the vapour elsewhere and condensing it. This method of pumping heat from one place to another served mankind well when refrigerators' main jobs were preserving food and， as air conditioners， cooling buildings. Today's high-tech world， however， demands high-tech refrigeration. Heat pumps are no longer up to the job. The search is on for something to replace them. 2 One set of candidates are known as paraelectric materials. These act like batteries when they undergo a temperature change： attach electrodes to them and they generate a current. This effect is used in infra-red cameras. An array of tiny pieces of paraelectric material can sense the heat radiated by， for example， a person， and the pattern of the array's electrical outputs can then be used to construct an image. But until recently no one had bothered much with the inverse of this process. That inverse exists， however. Apply an appropriate current to a paraelectric material and it will cool down. 3 Someone who is looking at this inverse effect is Alex Mischenko， of Cambridge University. Using commercially available paraelectric film， he and his colleagues have generated temperature drops five times bigger than any previously recorded. That may be enough to change the phenomenon from a laboratory curiosity to something with commercial applications. 4 As to what those applications might be， Dr Mischenko is still a little hazy. He has， nevertheless， set up a company to pursue them. He foresees putting his discovery to use in more efficient domestic fridges and air conditioners. The real money， though， may be in cooling computers. 5 Gadgets containing microprocessors have been getting hotter for a long time. One consequence of Moore's Law， which describes the doubling of the number of transistors on a chip every 18 months， is that the amount of heat produced doubles as well. In fact， it more than doubles， because besides increasing in number，the components are getting faster. Heat is released every time a logical operation is performed inside a microprocessor， so the faster the processor is， the more heat it generates. Doubling the frequency quadruples the heat output. And the frequency has doubled a lot. The first Pentium chips sold by Dr Moore's company，Intel， in 1993， ran at 60m cycles a second. The Pentium 4--the last "single-core" desktop processor--clocked up 3.2 billion cycles a second. 6 Disposing of this heat is a big obstruction to further miniaturisation and higher speeds. The innards of a desktop computer commonly hit 80℃. At 85℃， they

2014年雅思阅读模拟试题及答案解析（6）

1. A European spacecraft took off today to spearhead the search for another "Earth" among the stars. 2. The Corot space telescope blasted off aboard a Russian Soyuz rocket from the Baikonur cosmodrome in Kazakhstan shortly after 2.20pm. 3. Corot， short for convection rotation and planetary transits， is the first instrument capable of finding small rocky planets beyond the solar system. Any such planet situated in the right orbit stands a good chance of having liquid water on its surface， and quite possibly life， although a leading scientist involved in the project said it was unlikely to find "any little green men". 4. Developed by the French space agency， CNES， and partnered by the European Space Agency (ESA)， Austria， Belgium， Germany， Brazil and Spain， Corot will monitor around 120，000 stars with its 27cm telescope from a polar orbit 514 miles above the Earth. Over two and a half years， it will focus on five to six different areas of the sky， measuring the brightness of about 10，000 stars every 512 seconds. 5. "At the present moment we are hoping to find out more about the nature of planets around stars which are potential habitats. We are looking at habitable planets， not inhabited planets. We are not going to find any little green men，" Professor Ian Roxburgh， an ESA scientist who has been involved with Corot since its inception， told the BBC Radio 4 Today programme. 6. Prof Roxburgh said it was hoped Corot would find "rocky planets that could develop an atmosphere and， if they are the right distance from their parent star，they could have water". 7. To search for planets， the telescope will look for the dimming of starlight caused when an object passes in front of a star， known as a "transit". Although it will take more sophisticated space telescopes planned in the next 10 years to confirm the presence of an Earth-like planet with oxygen and liquid water， Corot will let scientists know where to point their lenses.

雅思阅读模拟试题-音乐

雅思阅读模拟试题:音乐 Background music may seem harmless, but it can have a powerful effect on those who hear it. Recorded background music first found its way into factories, shop and restaurants in the US. But it soon spread to other arts of the world. Now it is becoming increasingly difficult to go shopping or eat a meal without listening to music. To begin with, “ muzak ” (音乐广播网) was intended simply to create a soothing (安慰) atmosphere. Recently, however, it’s become big business –thanks in part to recent research. Dr. Ronald Milliman, an American marketing expert, has shown that music can boost sales or increase factory production by as much as a third. But, it has to be light music. A fast one has no effect at all on sales. Slow music can increase receipts by 38%. This is probably because shoppers slow down and have more opportunity to spot items they like to buy. Yet, slow music isn’t always answered. https://www.sodocs.net/doc/474794292.html,liman found, for example, that in restaurants slow music meant customers took longer to eat their meals, which reduced overall sales. So restaurants owners might be well advised to play up-tempo music to keep the customers moving – unless of course, the resulting indigestion leads to complaints! ( )1. The reason why background music is so popular is that ______. A. it can have a powerful effect on those who hear it B. it can help to create a soothing atmosphere C. it can boost sales or increase factory production everywhere D. it can make customers eat their meals quickly ( )2. Background music means ________. A. light music that customers enjoy most B. fast music that makes people move fast C. slow music that can make customers enjoy their meals D. the music you are listening to while you are doing something ( )3. Restaurant owners complain about background music because ______. A. it results in indigestion B. it increases their sales C. it keeps customers moving D. it decreases their sales ( )4. The word “ up-tempo music” probably means_____. A.slow music B.fast music C.light music D.classical music

雅思阅读模拟试题及答案解析(2)

雅思阅读模拟试题及答案解析（2）

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2019年雅思阅读模拟试题：流程图题(1)

2019年雅思阅读模拟试题：流程图题(1) BAKELITE The birth of modern plastics In 1907, Leo Hendrick Baekeland, a Belgian scientist working in New York, discovered and patented a revolutionary new synthetic material. His invention, which he named 'Bakelite,’was of enormous technological importance, and effectively launched the modern plastics industry. The term 'plastic' comes from the Greek plassein, meaning 'to mould'. Some plastics are derived from natural sources, some are semi-synthetic (the result of chemical action on a natural substance), and some are entirely synthetic, that is, chemically engineered from the constituents of coal or oil. Some are 'thermoplastic', which means that, like candlewax, they melt when heated and can then be reshaped. Others are 'thermosetting'： like eggs, they cannot revert to their original viscous state, and their shape is thus fixed for ever. Bakelite had the distinction of being the first totally synthetic thermosetting plastic. The history of today's plastics begins with the discovery of a series of semi-synthetic thermoplastic materials in the mid-nineteenth century. The impetus behind the development of these early plastics was generated by a number of factors—immense technological progress in the domain of chemistry, coupled with wider cultural changes, and the pragmatic need to find acceptable substitutes for dwindling supplies of 'luxury' materials such as tortoiseshell and ivory.

雅思阅读模拟试卷

ACADEMIC READING 60 minutes READING PASSAGE 1 You should spend about 20 minutes on Questions 1-13 which are based on Reading Passage 1 below. Striking Back at Lightning With Lasers Seldom is the weather more dramatic than when thunderstorms strike. Their electrical fury inflicts death or serious injury on around 500 people each year in the United States alone. As the clouds roll in, a leisurely round of golf can become a terrifying dice with death - out in the open, a lone golfer may be a lightning bolt's most inviting target. And there is damage to property too. Lightning damage costs American power companies more than $100 million a year. But researchers in the United States and Japan are planning to hit back. Already in laboratory trials they have tested strategies for neutralising the power of thunderstorms, and this winter they will brave real storms, equipped with an armoury of lasers that they will be pointing towards the heavens to discharge thunderclouds before lightning can strike. The idea of forcing storm clouds to discharge their lightning on command is not new. In the early 1960s, researchers tried firing rockets trailing wires into thunderclouds to set up an easy discharge path for the huge electric charges that these clouds generate. The technique survives to this day at a test site in Florida run by the University of Florida, with support from the Electrical Power Research Institute (EPRI), based in California. EPRI, which is funded by power companies, is looking at ways to protect the United States' power grid from lightning strikes. 'We can cause the lightning to strike where we want it to using rockets,' says Ralph Bernstein, manager of lightning projects at EPR!. The rocket site is providing precise measurements of lightning voltages and allowing engineers to check how electrical equipment bears up. Bad behaviour But while rockets are fine for research, they cannot provide the protection from lightning strikes that everyone is looking for. The rockets cost around $1,200 each, can only be fired at a limited frequency and their failure rate is about 40 per cent. And even when they do trigger lightning, things still do not always go according to plan. 'Lightning is not perfectly well behaved,' says Bernstein. 'Occasionally, it will take a branch and go someplace it wasn't supposed to go.' And anyway, who would want to fire streams of rockets in a populated area? 'What goes up must come down,' points out Jean-Claude Diels of the University of New Mexico. Diels is leading a project, which is backed by EPRI, to try to use lasers to discharge lightning safely and safety is a basic requirement since no one wants to put themselves or their expensive equipment at risk. With around $500,000 invested so far, a promising system is just emerging from the laboratory. The idea began some 20 years ago, when high-powered lasers were revealing. their ability to extract electrons out of atoms and create ions. If a laser could generate a line of ionization in the air all the way up to a storm cloud, this conducting path could be used to guide lightning to Earth, before the electric field becomes strong enough to break down the air in an uncontrollable surge. To stop the laser itself being struck, it would not be pointed straight at the clouds. Instead it would be directed at a mirror, and from

雅思阅读模拟试题精选

雅思阅读模拟试题精选

雅思阅读模拟试题精选 1. Washing， brushing and varnishing fossils — all standard conservation treatments used by many fossil hunters and museum curators alike —vastly reduces the chances of recovering ancient DNA. 2. Instead， excavators should be handling at least some of their bounty with gloves， and freezing samples as they are found， dirt and all， concludes a paper in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences today. 3. Although many palaeontologists know anecdotally that this is the best way to up the odds of extracting good DNA， Eva-Maria Geigl of the Jacques Monod Institute in Paris， France， and her colleagues have now shown just how important conservation practices can be. This information， they say， needs to be hammered home among the

雅思阅读模拟试题及答案解析(4)

雅思阅读模拟试题及答案解析（4）

Selling Digital Music without Copy-protection Makes Sense A. It was uncharacteristically low-key for the industry’s greatest showman. But the essay published this week by Steve Jobs， the boss of Apple，on his firm’s website under the unassuming title “Thoughts on Music” has nonetheless provoked a vigorous debate about the future of digital music，which Apple dominates with its iPod music-player and iTunes music-store. At issue is “digital rights management” (DRM)—the technology guarding downloaded music against theft. Since there is no common standard for DRM， it also has the side-effect that songs purchased for one type of music-player may not work on another. Apple’s DRM system， called FairPlay， is the most widespread. So it came as a surprise when Mr. Jobs called for DRM for digital music to be abolished. B. This is a change of tack for Apple. It has come under fire from European regulators who claim that its refusal to license FairPlay to other firms has “locked in” customers. Since music from the iTunes store cannot be played on non-iPod music-players (at least not without a lot of fiddling)， any iTunes buyer will be deterred from switching to a device made by a rival firm， such as Sony or Microsoft. When French lawmakers drafted a bill last year compelling Apple to open up FairPlay to rivals， the company warned of “state-sponsored piracy”. Only DRM， it implied， could keep the pirates at bay. C. This week Mr. Jobs gave another explanation for his former defence of DRM： the record companies made him do it. They would make their music available to the iTunes store only if Apple agreed to protect it using DRM. They can still withdraw their catalogues if the DRM system is compromised. Apple cannot license FairPlay to others， says Mr Jobs， because it would depend on them to produce security fixes promptly. All DRM does is restrict consumer choice and provide a barrier to entry， says Mr Jobs； without it there would be far more stores and players， and far more innovation. So， he suggests， why not do away with DRM and sell music unprotected？“This is

(完整版)雅思考试全题模拟试题(1)

雅思考试全题模拟试题(1) Listening TIME ALLOWED: 30 minutes NUMBER OF QUESTION: 40 Instruction You will hear a number of different recordings and you will have to answer questions on what you hear. There will be time for you to read the instructions and questions, and you will have a chance to check you work. All the recordings will be played ONCE only. The test is in four sections. Write your answers in the listening question booklet. At the end of the test you will be given ten minutes to transfer your answers to an answer sheet. Now turn to Section 1 on page 2. SECTION 1 Question1-9 Question 1-6 Listen to conversation between friend and the housing officer and complete the list below. Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS OR NUMBERS for each answer. HOUSING LIST HOUSING LIST Address Number of rooms Price per week Additional information Mr. J Devenport 82Salisbury Road Brighton BN 16 3 AN Tel 01273 884673 2 bedrooms sitting room kit. bath Example ￡120 Unfurnished Mrs E.S. Jarvis2Wicken Street Brighton BN 15 4JH Tel 01273 771621 (1) sitting room kit.bath (2) First floor Mrs. E.C. Sparshott 180Silwood Road Brighton BN 14 9RY Tel (3) 2 large rm/s shared kit and bath ￡35 Nice area (4) Mr A Nasiry 164 Preston Road Brighton BN5 7RT Tel 01273 703865 large bedroom sitting room with kitchenette.bath. (5) Ground floor Central (6) 2 harrow Road Brighton BN9 9HK Tel 01273 745621 2 large rooms kit bath ￡86 No pets Questions 7-9 Write NO MORE THAN THREE WORDS for each answer 7.When is the accommodation available? 8.Where is the telephone? 9.How is the flat heated? SECTION 2 Questions 10-20