A、combined

B、differed

C、taken

D、displaced

It is hard to track the blue whale, the ocean's largest creature which has almost been killed off by commercial whaling and is now listed as an endangered species. Attaching radio devices to it is difficult and visual sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior.

So biologists were delighted early this year when with the help of the Navy they were able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days monitoring its sounds. This was possible because of the Navy's formerly top-secret system of underwater listening devices spanning the oceans. Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies,

Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had used the system for closely monitoring a deep-sea volcanic eruption for the first time and that they plan similar studies. Other scientists have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring changes in ocean and global temperatures. The speed of sound in water is roughly one mile a second, slower than through land but faster than through air. What is most important, different layers of ocean water can act as channels for sounds focusing them in the same way a stethoscope does when it carries faint noises from a patient's chest to a doctor's ear. This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in the ocean especially low-frequency ones can often travel thousands of miles.

The passage is chiefly about ______.

A．a(chǎn)n effort to protect an endangered marine species

B．the civilian use of a military detection system

C．the exposure of a Navy top-secret weapon

D．a(chǎn) new way to look into the behavior. of blue whales

It is hard to track the blue whale, the ocean's largest creature which has almost been killed off by commercial whaling and is now listed as an endangered species. Attaching radio devices to it is difficult and visual sightings are too unreliable to give real insight into its behavior.

So biologists were delighted early this year when with the help of the Navy they were able to track a particular blue whale for 43 days monitoring its sounds. This was possible because of the Navy's formerly top-secret system of underwater listening devices spanning the oceans. Tracking whales is but one example of an exciting new world just opening to civilian scientists after the cold war as the Navy starts to share and partly uncover its global network of underwater listening system built over the decades to track the ships of potential enemies,

Earth scientists announced at a news conference recently that they had used the system for closely monitoring a deep-sea volcanic eruption for the first time and that they plan similar studies. Other scientists have proposed to use the network for tracking ocean currents and measuring changes in ocean and global temperatures. The speed of sound in water is roughly one mile a second, slower than through land but faster than through air. What is most important, different layers of ocean water can act as channels for sounds focusing them in the same way a stethoscope does when it carries faint noises from a patient's chest to a doctor's ear. This focusing is the main reason that even relatively weak sounds in the ocean especially low-frequency ones can often travel thousands of miles.

The passage is chiefly about ______.

A．a(chǎn)n effort to protect an endangered marine species

B．the civilian use of a military detection system

C．the exposure of a Navy top-secret weapon

D．a(chǎn) new way to look into the behavior. of blue whales

Over the years, tools and technology themselves as a source of fundamental innovation have largely been ignored by historians and philosophers of science.

Mizuho, the world's largest bank in terms of assets, expects to post a net loss of $16 billion, the largest ever incurred by a Japanese company. The loss would be more than double last year's.

Mizuho, like other Japanese banks, has been saddled with tens of billions of dollars in bad loans. The burden grows heavier as more Japanese firms declare bankruptcy due to the sluggish economy. Mizuho has also been troubled by technical glitches — more than two million banking transactions went awry last April because of computer errors.

James Fiorillo, a senior banking analyst at Commerz Securities, said the government may be forced to bail out Mizuho with taxpayer money if its capital ratio drops below eight-percent, the legal limit. "I do not know where they are going to get the appropriate level of capital to make up for some of these losses — I think it brings Mizuho in line with some of the more aggressive banks in terms of what they are writing off this year," he said. "But it's not clear how they are going to recapitalize themselves and how they are going to deal with the fact that bad debts, new bad debts are still coming on line at a very rapid rate."Mizuho's top executives say they hope to avoid government intervention and raise bailout funds from private investors.

The bank was created in September 2000 through the merger of three big Japanese financial institutions and has so far proved a major disappointment to its founders and shareholders.

The Bank of Japan, the country's central bank, says the outlook on the country's economy remains grim. In its monthly economic report, the BOJ says Japan's exports and industrial output are flat and warns there is still substantial uncertainty about prospects for an economic recovery after more than a decade of weakness.

The report came out one day after the central bank decided to leave monetary policy unchanged, defying a call from Prime Minister Junichiro Koizumi to take bolder action to reverse three years of deflation. Some economists expect the central bank to buy more bonds as early as next month to help shore up the economy.

A group of Japanese oil companies takes a stake in an Iranian oil deal organized by energy giant Royal Dutch/ Shell. The group, led by the Japanese Petroleum Exploration Company, bought a 20-percent share in the $800 million ventures to develop two oil fields in Iran. The fields have an estimated reserve of more than one billion barrels of oil.

Investors will be repaid in oil in exchange for their investment. Japan is eager for a role in Iranian oil production because it is largely dependent on imports from the Middle East.

According to James Fiorillo, what would the bank have to do to avoid government intervention?

A．To raise enough fund to compensate for the losses.

B．To deal with bad debts first.

C．To recapitalize themselves.

D．To borrow money from other banks.

The Wellcome Trust has been Britain’s only source of funding for plant species conservation so far.

FedEx Express

FedEx Express, a subsidiary of FedEx Corp, is the world's largest express transportation company, providing fast and reliable delivery to every US address and to more than 220 countries and territories. FedEx Express uses a global air-and-ground network to speed delivery of time-sensitive shipments, usually in one to two business days with the delivery time guaranteed.

Famous Origins

In 1965, Yale University undergraduate Frederick W. Smith wrote a term paper about the passenger route systems used by most airfreight shippers, which be viewed as economically inadequate. Smith wrote of the need for shippers to have a system designed specifically for airfreight that could accommodate time-sensitive shipments such as medicines, computer parts and electronics.

In August of 1971 following his service in the military, Smith bought controlling interest in Arkansas Aviation Sales, located in Little Rock, Ark. While operating his new firm, Smith identified the tremendous difficulty in getting packages and other airfreight delivered within one to two days. This dilemma motivated him to do the necessary research for resolving the inefficient distribution system. Thus, the idea for Federal Express was born: a company that revolutionized global business practices and now defines speed and reliability.

Federal Express was so-named due to the patriotic meaning associated with the word "Federal, "which suggested an interest in nationwide economic activity. At that time, Smith hoped to obtain a contract with the Federal Reserve Bank and, although the proposal was denied, he believed the name was a particularly good one for attracting public attention and maintaining name recognition.

Federal Express

The company incorporated in June 1971 and officially began operations on April 17, 1973, with the launch of 14 small aircraft from Memphis International Airport. On that night, Federal Express delivered 186 packages to 25 US cities from Rochester, NY, Miami, Fla.

Company headquarters were moved to Memphis, Tenn., a city selected for its geographical center to the original target market cities for small packages. In addition, the Memphis weather was excellent and rarely caused closures at Memphis International Airport. The airport was also willing to make the necessary improvements for the operation and had additional hangar(飛機(jī)庫(kù)) space readily available.

Company Growth

Though the company did not show a profit until July 1975, it soon became the premier carrier of high-priority goods in the marketplace and the standard setter for the industry it established.

In the mid-1970s, Federal Express took a leading role in lobbying for air cargo control that finally came in 1977.

These changes allowed Federal Express to use larger aircraft (such as Boeing 727s and McDonnell-Douglass DC-10s) and gave incentive for the company's rapid growth. Today FedEx Express has the world's largest all- cargo air fleet, including McDonnell-Douglass MD-11s and Airbus A-300s and A-310s. The planes have a total daily lift capacity of more than 26.5 million pounds. In a 24-hour period, the fleet travels nearly 500,000 miles while its couriers log(飛行若干距離) 2.5 million miles a day—the equivalent of 100 trips around the earth.

The company entered its maturing phase in the first half of the 1980s. Federal Express was well established. Contenders were trying to catch up to a company whose growth rate was compounding at about 40 percent annually. In fiscal year 1983 Federal Express reported $1 billion in revenues, making American business history as the first company to reach that financial hallmark(標(biāo)志)inside ten years of start-up without mergers or acquisitions.

Overseas Expansion

Following the first of several international acquisitions, intercontinental o

A．Y

B．N

C．NG

Paper industry needed a new source of fiber in the early 1800s is because ______.

A．people wanted higher quality paper

B．paper made from rags deteriorated too quickly

C．wood pulp had become too expensive

D．the supply of rags was insufficient

Paper industry needed a new source of fiber in the early 1800s is because ______.

A．people wanted higher quality paper

B．paper made from rags deteriorated too quickly

C．wood pulp had become too expensive

D．the supply of rags was insufficient

Passage Four

Have you ever heard of a flower whose seeds are carried and spread by elephants? The rafflesia, a rare blossom, is very unusual. Found in the rain forests of Sumatra, the rafflesia is the world's largest flower, measuring three feet in diameter!

This giant flower is a parasite--it needs another plant to live on. It lacks the structures needed to survive alone. The rafflesia has no stem or leaves. It is all flower. It attaches itself to the roots of other plants and sucks their juices. The flower's favorite home is the root of the vine, which grows above ground.

The rafflesia seems to burst right out of the forest floor. Its blossom weighs fifteen pounds! It has thick, spotted petals that give off a rotten smell. The center is about the size of a household bucket. After a rain, it may hold up to twelve pints of water!

After the rafflesia dies, it becomes a pool of thick liquid in which its seeds float. Elephants wandering through the forest step into the mushy pool, and the seeds glue themselves to their feet. As the animals stomp through the forest, their sticky feet pick up twigs and leaves. The elephants try to rid themselves of the sticky mess, in the same way people try to get bubble gum off their shoes. The elephants rub their feet against the roots of the vine. In no time, seeds left on the vine grow into more monstrous flowers!

48. Elephants help to ______.

A. provide food for the giant flower

B. water the rafflesia with their trunks

C. carry rafflesia seeds from one place to another

D. stomp out the awful smelling petals