听力原文: A little airplane has given new meaning to the term "going hyper".
The Hyper-X recently broke the record for air-breathing jet planes when it traveled at a hypersonic speed of seven times the speed of sound. That's about 5,000 miles per hour. At this speed, you'd get around the world-- flying along the equator-- in less than five hours.
The Hyper-X is an unmanned, experimental aircraft just 12 feet long. It achieves hypersonic speed using a special sort of engine. Actually, engineers have been experimenting with such an engine since the 1960s.
For an engine to bum fuel and produce energy, it needs oxygen. A jet engine, like those on passenger airplanes, gets oxygen from the air. A rocket engine typically goes faster but has to carry its own supply of oxygen. This special engine goes as fast as a rocket, but it doesn't have to carry its own oxygen supply.
Its design allows it to extract oxygen from the air that flows through the engine. And it does so without letting the fast-moving air put out the combustion flames.
A booster rocket carried the Hyper-X to an altitude of about 100,000 feet for its test flight. The aircraft's record-beating flight lasted just 11 seconds.
In the future, engineers predict, airplanes equipped with such engines could transport cargo quickly and cheaply to the edge of space. Hypersonic airliners could carry passengers anywhere in the world in just a few hours.
(36)
A. How to develop a new airplane technology.
B. Features and possible usages of a special engine.
C. How to do experiment with dangerous engines.
D. How to do experiment with unmanned airplanes.
Section B
Directions: There are 2 passages in this section. Each passage is followed by some questions or unfinished statements. For each of them there are four choices marked A, B, C and D. You should decide on the best choice.
A few minutes ago, walking back from lunch, I started to cross the street when I heard the sound of a coin dropping. It wasn't much but, as I turned, my eyes caught the heads of several other people turning too. A woman had dropped what appeared to be a dime.
The tinkling sound of a coin dropping on pavement is an attention-getter. It can be nothing more than a penny. Whatever the coin is, no one ignores the sound of it. It got me thinking about sounds again.
We are besieged (包围) by so many sounds that attract the most attention. People in New York City seldom turn to look when a fire engine, a police car or an ambulance comes screaming along the street. When I'm in New York, I'm a New Yorker. I don't turn either. Like the natives, I hardly hear a siren (警报器) there.
At home in my little town in Connecticut, it's different. The distant wail of a police car, an emergency vehicle or a fire siren brings me to my feet if I'm seated and brings me to the window if I'm in bed.
It's the quietest sounds that have most effect on us, not the loudest. In the middle of the night, I can hear a dripping tap a hundred yards away through three closed doors. I've been hearing little creaking noises and sounds which my imagination turns into footsteps in the middle of the night for twenty-five years in our house. How come I never hear those sounds in the daytime.'?
I'm quite clear in my mind what the good sounds are and what the bad sounds are. I've turned against whistling, for instance. I used to think of it as the mark of a happy worker but lately I've been associating the whistler with a nervous person making compulsive noises. The tapping, tapping, tapping of my typewriter as the keys hit the paper is a lovely sound to me. I often like the sound of what I write better than the looks of it.
The sound of a coin dropping makes people ______.
A. stop crossing the street
B. look at each other
C. pay attention to it
D. think of money
Even before Alan Greenspan's admission that America's red-hot economy is cooling, lots of working folks had already seen signs of the slowdown themselves. From car dealerships to Gap outlets, sales have been lagging for months as shoppers temper their spending. For retailers, who last year took in 24 percent of their revenue between Thanksgiving and Christmas, the cautious approach is coming at a crucial time. Already, experts say, holiday sales are off 7 percent from last year's pace. But don't sound any alarms just yet. Consumers seem only mildly concerned, not panicked, and many say they remain optimistic about the economy's long-term prospects, even as they do some modest belt-tightening.
Consumers say they're not in despair because, despite the dreadful headlines, their own fortunes still feel pretty good. Home prices are holding steady in most regions. In Manhattan, "there's a new gold rush happening in the $4 million to $10 million range, predominantly fed by Wall Street bonuses," says broker Barbara Corcoran. In San Francisco, prices are still rising even as frenzied overbidding quiets. "Instead of 20 to 30 offers, now maybe you only get two or three," says John Tealdi, a Bay Area real-estate broker. And most folks still feel pretty comfortable about their ability to find and keep a job.
Many folks see silver linings to this slowdown. Potential home buyers would cheer for lower interest rates. Employers wouldn't mind a little fewer bubbles in the job market. Many consumers seem to have been influenced by stock-market swings, which investors now view as a necessary ingredient to a sustained boom. Diners might see an upside, too. Getting a table at Manhattan's hot new Alain Ducasse restaurant used to be impossible. Not anymore. For that, Greenspan & Co. may still be worth toasting.
By "Ellen Spero isn't biting her nails just yet" (Line 1, Paragraph 1), the author means______.
A. Spero can hardly maintain her business
B. Spero is too much engaged in her work
C. Spero has grown out of her bad habit
D. Spero is not in a desperate situation
Asterisks are used to show sales promotion.
A. Y
B. N
C. NG