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Humans have sewn by hand for thousands of years. It was said that the first thread was made from animal muscle and sinew. And the earliest needles were made from bones. Since those early days, many people have been involved in the process of developing a machine that could do the same thing more quickly and with greater efficiency.
Charles Wiesenthal, who was born in Germany, designed and received a patent on a double-pointed needle that eliminated the need to turn the needle around with each stitch(缝合) in England in 1755. Other inventors of that time tried to develop a functional sewing machine, but each design had at least one serious imperfection.
Frenchman Barthelemy Thimonnier finally engineered a machine that really worked. However, he was nearly killed by a group of angry tailors when they burned down his garment factory. They feared that they would lose their jobs to the machine.
American inventor Elias Howe, born on July 9, 1819, was awarded a patent for a method of sewing that used thread from two different sources. Howe’s machine had a needle with an eye at the point, and it used the two threads to make a special stitch called a lockstitch. However, Howe faced difficulty in finding buyers for his machines in America. In frustration, he traveled to England to try to sell his invention there. When he finally returned home, he found that dozens of manufacturers were adapting his discovery for use in their own sewing machines.
Isaac Singer, another American inventor, was also a manufacturer who made improvements to the design of sewing machines. He invented an up-and-down-motion mechanism that replaced the side-to-side machines. He also developed a foot treadle(脚踏板) to power his machine. This improvement left the sewer’s hands free. Undoubtedly, it was a huge improvement of the hand-cranked machine of the past. Soon the Singer sewing machine achieved more fame than the others for it was more practical, it could be adapted to home use and it could be bought on hire-purchase. The Singer sewing machine became the first home appliance, and the Singer company became one of the first American multinationals.
However, Singer used the same method to create a lockstitch that Howe had already patented. As a result, Howe accused him of patent infringement(侵犯). Of course, Elias Howe won the court case, and Singer was ordered to pay Howe royalties(版税). In the end, Howe became a millionaire, not by manufacturing the sewing machine, but by receiving royalty payments for his invention.
小题1:Barthelemy Thimonnier’s garment factory was burned down because _____________.
A.people did not know how to put out the fire
B.Elias Howe thought Thimonnier had stolen his invention
C.the sewing machines was couldn’t work finally
D.workers who feared the loss of their jobs to a machine set fire
小题2:Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?
A.Singer is an American inventor and manufacturer.
B.The Singer sewing company became more practical.
C.The foot treadle helped to make the sewer’s hands free.
D.Singer made improvements to the design of sewing machines.
小题3:Why did the court force Isaac Singer to pay Elisa Howe a lifetime of royalties?
A.Because the judge was against Singer for his surly attitude.
B.Because Howe had already patented the lockstitch used by Singer.
C.Because Singer had borrowed money from Howe and never repaid it.
D.Because Singer and Howe had both invented the same machine.
小题4:Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
A.Stitch in Time Saves Nine
B.The Case between Howe and Singer
C.Patent Laws on the Sewing Machine
D.The Early History of the Sewing Machine

答案

小题1:D
小题2:B
小题3:B
小题4:D
解析

试题分析:文章介绍了缝纫机的萌芽和早期发展历程。以前都是手工操作,后来,不断有人对缝纫机的发展做出了贡献。
小题1:根据第三段“he was nearly killed by a group of angry tailors when they burned down his garment factory. They feared that they would lose their jobs to the machine.
”可知,一些工人放火烧服装厂是害怕因为机器的发明而丢掉工作。故选D。
小题2:根据第五段第一句“Isaac Singer, another American inventor...”可知,A、D正确;根据“This improvement left the sewer’s hands free”可知,C正确;根据“the Singer sewing machine achieved more fame than the others for it was more practical”可知,B项错误;故选B。
小题3:根据最后一段的第一句“Singer used the same method to create a lockstitch that Howe had already patented”可知,Singer侵犯了Howe的专利,故选B。
小题4:考查主旨大意。文章介绍了缝纫机的早期发展历史,A、B、C太片面。故选D。
核心考点
试题【Humans have sewn by hand for thousands of years. It was said that the first thre】;主要考察你对题材分类等知识点的理解。[详细]
举一反三
New research shows that overweight or even mildly obese people have a lower risk of early death than people considered to be normal weight.
Researchers examined the results of 97 studies. Most of the studies were less than 10 years old. They included almost three million adults from around the world, including the United States, Canada, China, Taiwan, Brazil, India and Mexico.
The researchers at the National Center for Health Statistics found that people who are considered overweight or slightly obese were five to six percent less likely to die from all causes than people of normal weight. People with higher obesity ratings, however, had almost a 30 percent greater risk of death compared to normal-weight individuals.
Katherine Flegal was the lead author of the study. She says she was not surprised that overweight people would not have a higher risk of death.
“Because we’d actually already read a lot of this literature and realized it was likely that mortality rates (死亡率) for overweight would be at least not higher than normal weight. I guess I was a little bit surprised that it was definitely lower. And I was also surprised that the lower rates of obesity also didn’t seem to differ from normal weight.”
But she says the difference in death rates appears to be small between normal-weight people and those who are overweight or mildly obese.
The study has raised new questions about “body mass index,”(体重指数) or BMI. This is a measurement of body fat as a ratio(比率) of height to weight. In recent years, many public health experts have promoted body mass index as a way to predict the risk of health problems. Bu t a person"s BMI can be misleading in some cases.
Steven Heymsfield ,the executive director of the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, says people can be physically fit and in good health, but might weigh more because they are more muscular.
Still, Dr. Heymsfield says people should not think gaining extra weight is OK just because of the new findings. He says being at a healthy weight lowers the risk for heart disease and diabetes(糖尿病).
小题1:According to the new findings, the researchers found that __________ .
A.People with high obesity have a lower risk of early death than people with low obesity
B.People with overweight have a greater risk of early death than people of normal weight.
C.People with mild obesity are less likely to die than people of normal weight.
D.People with obesity live much longer than people of normal weight.
小题2:What does the underlined word “literature” in paragraph 6 mean ?
A.works like novels and poems
B.books and articles on a particular subject
C.printed material
D.magazines and newspapers
小题3:Which of the following statements is not true according to the passage?
A.BMI is commonly used to measure body fat as a ratio of height to weight.
B.Not all people with a little higher BMI are fat .
C.Many public health experts encourage more people to use BMI as a way to predict the risk of health problem
D.Because of the ne w findings, people should think about gaining extra weight.

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Plastic is everywhere because plastic is an extremely useful material. It is cheap, strong and lightweight. What’s more, it can take on nearly any form or shape, from soft and stretchy (有弹性的) to hard and glasslike.
Plastic, however, is far from perfect. It may even be bad for us. Studies now suggest that poisonous chemicals can get out of some types of plastic, get into our bodies, and cause a variety of health problems, including cancer, birth defects and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (注意缺陷障碍).
Two types of chemicals in particular have raised special concern lately. They are called phthalates (邻苯二甲酸盐) and Bisphenol-A (二酚基丙烷), BPA for short. Not all plastic products contain them. But the ones that do are surrounded by controversy (争议). That’s because experts disagree on how dangerous these chemicals are.
Plastic is a single word, but plastic isn’t just one thing. What all plastics share in common are plasticizers -- special chemicals that allow the material to be changed into nearly any shape or texture. Plasticizers (塑化剂) are added to plastic during the manufacturing process.
Phthalates and BPA are two types of plasticizers that work in different ways. Phthalates add softness to things like shampoo bottles, raincoats and rubber. They are also used in perfumes and makeup. BPA, on the other hand, gives a hard, clear, almost glasslike feel to products such as infant bottles. BPA also appears in food and soda cans, DVDs and other unexpected places.
How do these chemicals get into us? When plastic is heated in the microwave or dishwasher, chewed on or scratched, the chemicals can seep (渗透) out of the plastic. Even though we can’t see them, we eat them, drink them and breathe them in.
Scientists and parents are especially worried about young children, who tend to chew on everything, including plastic. Dozens of countries, including the European Union, Japan, Canada and Mexico have already banned phthalates from products made for children younger than three. California and Washington have done the same. And a number of other states are considering similar rules. As for BPA, Canada became the first country to ban the chemical from baby bottles. A dozen states are considering it.
小题1:What can we know about the plastic from the first paragraph?
A.Its characters and effects.B.Its wide use and bad points.
C.Its importance and chemicals.D.Its popularity and advantages.
小题2:Which of the following products contains BPA?
A.A soft plastic cup.B.A pencil eraser.
C.A baby milk bottle.D.A new perfume.
小题3:Phthalates and BPA can get into us __________.
A.through mouth or noseB.through blood transfusion
C.by feeling plastic productsD.by heating in the microwave
小题4: What is the passage mainly about?
A.A new ban on plastic products.B.Problems caused by the plastic.
C.Good points of the plastic.D.The use of plasticizers.

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
What do college teachers think of high school English teachers’English teaching? And how should we see it? Let’s read the following.
A teacher from a community college addressed a sympathetic audience. Heads nodded in agreement when he said, “High school English teachers are not doing their jobs.” He described how weak his students were—all high school graduates who can use language only at a Grade 9 level.
My topic is not standards nor its decline(降低). What the speaker was really saying is that he is no longer young; he has been teaching for sixteen years, and is able to think and speak like a mature adult.
My point is that the frequent complaint of one generation about the one immediately following is natural. It is also human nature to look for the reasons for our dissatisfaction. Before English became a school subject in the late nineteenth century, it was difficult to find the target of the blame for language deficiencies(缺陷). But since then, English teachers have been under constant attack.
The complainers think they have hit upon an original idea. As their own command of the language improves, they notice that young people do not have this same ability. Unaware that their own ability has developed through the years, they assume the new generation of young people must be hopeless in this respect. To the eyes and ears of sensitive adults, the language of the young always seems inadequate.
Since this concern about the decline and fall of the English language is not seen as a generational phenomenon but rather as something new and peculiar(特有的) to today’s young people, it naturally follows that today’s English teachers cannot be doing their jobs.
小题1:The speaker believed that ________.
A.he was an excellent language teacher because he had been teaching English for sixteen years
B.the younger generation was as likely as not worse at language than the older generation
C.high school English teachers should be responsible for their students’ poor command of English
D.The fact that the students didn’t work hard enough contributed to their poor command of English
小题2: In the author’s opinion, the speaker ________.
A.had exaggerated (夸大) the language problems of the students
B.was right in saying English teachers were not doing their jobs
C.gave a correct judgment of the English level of the students
D.thought and spoke in a wise and responsible way
小题3:What can we conclude from the passage?
A.Language learning and improving needs time and effort.
B.The author disagrees with the speaker over the standard of English at Grade 9 level.
C.It is reasonable to include English as one of the high school subjects.
D.The English language teaching is by no means an easy job for college teachers.
小题4:The author’s attitude towards the speaker’s remarks is ________.
A.neutral(中立的)B.critical
C.positiveD.compromising(妥协的)

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How long you live has a lot to do with your environment and lifestyle, but exceptional(特别的)long life may have even more to do with your genes. For the first time, researchers have discovered a genetic recipe(基因谱)that accurately predicts who may live to 100 and beyond.
Analysis shows that 90% of the participants who lived to 100 had at least one of the signature genetic clusters(标志基因组). Dr. Thomas Perls at the Boston University School of Medicine said, “We realize this is a complex genetic puzzle. There is a long way for us to go to understand how the integration(融合)of these genes—not just with themselves but with environmental factors—is playing a role in this long life puzzle.”
Perls has studied many factors that contribute to long life, and he is the first to acknowledge that living longer isn’t likely to be simply a matter of genes. His previous work has shown, for example, that among most elderly people who live into their 70s and 80s, about 70% can owe their long life to environmental factors such as not smoking; eating a healthy, low-fat, low-calorie diet; and remaining socially engaged and mentally active throughout life.
It seems clear that those who live extremely long are benefiting from a special DNA. In fact, Perls believes that the older a person gets, the more likely it is that his or her genes are contributing to those extended years.
小题1:Which of the following is TRUE according to Paragraph 2?
A.Most long-living people have special long-life-related genes.
B.Ninety percent of the participants lived to 100 years of age.
C.All the long-living people have only one signature genetic cluster.
D.Scientists know how the integration of the genes helps people live long.
小题2: Perls may most likely agree that         .
A.most people living extremely long benefit from not smoking
B.living longer just depends on certain genetic recipes
C.environmental factors play an important role in long-living
D.being mentally active has nothing to do with living an old age
小题3: Which of the following is FALSE according to the text?
A.Remaining socially engaged helps a person to live long.
B.A genetic recipe can accurately predict who may live to 100 and beyond.
C.Perls is the first to think living longer is just a matter of genes.
D.The older he gets, the more likely the genes contribute to his extended years.
小题4:Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A.Genes May Predict Who Lives to 100B.Environment And Genes
C.Genes, the Secret of Long LivingD.Lifestyle And Genes

题型:不详难度:| 查看答案
C
When an ant dies, other ants take it out of the nest, often within an hour after its death. This behavior interests scientists and they wonder how ants know for sure--and so soon--that another ant is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead--take me away” when it is dead.
One scientist recently came up with a way to explain this ant behavior. Dong-Hwan Choe is a biologist, a scientist who studies animals and plants. He found that ants have a chemical on the outside of their bodies that signals to other ants, “I’m dead---take me away” when it is dead.
But there"s a question to answer: As we know, if an ant is dead, it stops moving. But when an ant is sleeping or knocked unconscious, it is also not moving. However, other ants don"t move the living ant out of the nest. How do they know this ant is not dead? Choe found that ants have another chemical on their bodies, which tells nearby ants something like, “Wait—I"m not dead yet” when it is not dead. Choe suspects that when an ant dies, the chemical that says, “Wait— I"m not dead yet” quickly goes away. When other ants detect the “dead” chemical without the “not dead yet” chemical, they move away the body.
To test his theory, Choe and his team put different chemicals on ants. When the scientists used the “I"m dead” chemical, other ants quickly moved the treated ant away. When the scientists used the “Wait—I"m not dead yet” chemical, other ants left the treated ant alone. Choe believes this behavior shows that the “not dead yet” chemical overrides the “dead” chemical when picked up by other ants. And that when an ant dies, the “not dead yet” chemical fades away. Other nearby ants then detect the remaining “dead” chemical and remove the body from the nest.
Understanding this behavior can help scientists figure out how to stop ants from invading new places and causing problems.
小题1:What is the function of the first paragraph?
A.Leading the following paragraphs.
B.Showing the main idea of the passage.
C.Introducing the background of the passage.
D.Giving a summary of the passage.
小题2:Which of the following has the closest meaning to the underlined word “overrides” in the fourth paragraph?
A.is weaker thanB.is stronger thanC.is better thanD.is worse than
小题3:What can we learn from the passage?
A.Living ants can also be taken away when they are not moving.
B.When an ant dies, it can tell others using a certain chemical.
C.A living ant can pretend to be dead using a special chemical.
D.Ants often use chemicals to communicate with each other.
小题4:Which of the following descriptions about Dong-Hwan Choe is right?
A.Choe did this study in order to stop ants from invading new places.
B.Choe is a biologist who is only interested in animals, especially in ants.
C.Choe first came up with an idea to explain this ant behavior,and then did some tests to prove his theory.
D.Choe did the research on this ant behavior on his own.

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