The most awkward email mistake is usually committed in anger. You write an unkind message about someone, intending to send it to a friend, but accidentally send it to the person you’re discussing. In that case, ask to speak in person as soon as possible and say sorry. Explain your frustrations calmly and sensibly—see it as an opportunity toclear up any difficulties you may have with this person.
36. After realising an email accident, you are likely to feel _______. A. curious B. tired C. awful D. funny
37. If you have written the wrong name in an email, it is best to ________. A. apologise in a serious manner B. tell the receiver to ignore the error C. learn to write the name correctly D. send a short notice to everyone
38. What should you do when an unpleasant conversation is started by your “reply all” email? A. Try offering other choices. B. Avoid further involvement. C. Meet other staff members. D. Make a light-hearted apology.
39. How should you deal with the problem caused by an offensive email? A. By promising not to offend the receiver again. B. By seeking support from the receiver’s friends. C. By asking the receiver to control his anger. D. By talking to the receiver face to face. 40. What is the passage mainly about? A. Defining email errors. B. Reducing email mistakes. C. Handling email accidents. D. Improving email writing.
B
Fifteen years ago, I took a summer vacation in Lecce in southern Italy. After climbing up a hill for a panoramic(全景的) view of the blue sea, white buildings and green olive trees, I paused to catch
5
my breath and then positioned myself to take the best photo of this panorama. Unfortunately, just as I took out my camera, a woman approached from behind, and planted herself right in front of my view. Like me, this woman was here to stop, sigh and appreciate the view. Patient as I was, after about 15 minutes, my camera scanning the sun and reviewing the shot I would eventually take, I grew frustrated. Was it too much to ask her to move so I could take just one picture of the landscape? Sure, I could have asked her, but something prevented me from doing so. She seemed so content in her observation. I didn’t want to mess with that. Another 15 minutes passed and I grew bored. The woman was still there. I decided to take the photo anyway. And now when I look at it, I think her presence in the photo is what makes the image interesting. The landscape, beautiful on its own, somehow comes to life and breathes because this woman is engaging with it. zxx|k This photo, with the unique beauty that unfolded before me and that woman who “ruined” it, now hangs on a wall in my bedroom. What would she think if she knew that her figure is captured(捕捉) and frozen on some stranger’s bedroom wall? A bedroom, after all, is a very private space, in which some woman I don’t even know has been immortalized(使……永存). In some ways, she lives in my house. Perhaps we all live in each others’ spaces. Perhaps this is what photos are for: to remind us that we all appreciate beauty, that we all share a common desire for pleasure, for connection, for something that is greater than us.
That photo is a reminder, a captured moment, an unspoken conversation between two women, separated only by a thin square of glass.
41. What happened when the author was about to take a photo? A. Her camera stopped working. B. A woman blocked her view. C. Someone asked her to leave. D. A friend approached from behind.
42. According to the author, the woman was probably_______. A. enjoying herself B. losing her patience C. waiting for the sunset D. thinking about her past
43. In the author’s opinion, what makes the photo so alive? A. The rich color of the landscape. B. The perfect positioning of the camera. C. The woman’s existence in the photo. D. The soft sunlight that summer day.
44. The photo on the bedroom wall enables the author to better understand ________. A. the need to be close to nature B. the importance of private space C. the joy of the vacation in Italy D. the shared passion for beauty
45. The passage can be seen as the author’s reflections upon _______. A. a particular life experience
6
B. the pleasure of traveling C. the art of photography D. a lost friendship
C
This month, Germany’s transport minister, Alexander Dobrindt, proposed the first set of rules
for autonomous vehicles(自主驾驶车辆). They would define the driver’s role in such cars and govern how such cars perform in crashes where lives might be lost.
The proposal attempts to deal with what some call the “death valley” of autonomous vehicles: the grey area between semi-autonomous and fully driverless cars that could delay the driverless future.
Dobrindt wants three things: that a car always chooses property(财产) damage over personal injury; that it never distinguishes between humans based on age or race; and that if a human removes his or her hands from the driving wheel — to check email, say — the car’s maker is responsible if there is a crash.
“The change to the road traffic law will permit fully automatic driving,” says Dobrindt. It will put fully driverless cars on an equal legal footing to human drivers, he says.
Who is responsible for the operation of such vehicles is not clear among car makers, consumers and lawyers. “The liability(法律责任) issue is the biggest one of them all,” says Natasha Merat at the University of Leeds, UK.
An assumption behind UK insurance for driverless cars, z&xxk introduced earlier this year, insists that a human “ be watchful and monitoring the road” at every moment.
But that is not what many people have in mind when thinking of driverless cars. “When you say ‘driverless cars’, people expect driverless cars.”Merat says. “You know — no driver.”
Because of the confusion, Merat thinks some car makers will wait until vehicles can be fully automated without operation.
Driverless cars may end up being a form of public transport rather than vehicles you own, says Ryan Calo at Stanford University, California. That is happening in the UK and Singapore, where government-provided driverless vehicles are being launched.
That would go down poorly in the US, however. “The idea that the government would take over driverless cars and treat them as a public good would get absolutely nowhere here,” says Calo.
7
46. What does the phrase “death valley” in Paragraph 2 refer to? A. A place where cars often break down. B. A case where passing a law is impossible. C. An area where no driving is permitted. D. A situation where drivers’ role is not clear.
47. The proposal put forward by Dobrindt aims to __________. A. stop people from breaking traffic rules B. help promote fully automatic driving C. protect drivers of all ages and races D. prevent serious property damage
48. What do consumers think of the operation of driverless cars? A. It should get the attention of insurance companies. B. It should be the main concern of law makers. C. It should not cause deadly traffic accidents. D. It should involve no human responsibility.
49. Driverless vehicles in public transport see no bright future in __________. A. Singapore B. the UK C. the US D. Germany
50. What could be the best title for passage? A. Autonomous Driving: Whose Liability? B. Fully Automatic Cars: A New Breakthrough C. Autonomous Vehicles: Driver Removed! D. Driverless Cars: Root of Road Accidents
D
I read somewhere that we spend a full third of our lives waiting. But where are we doing all of this waiting, and what does it mean to an impatient society like ours? To understand the issue, let’s take a look at three types of “waits”.
The very purest form of waiting is the Watched-Pot Wait. It is without doubt the most
8