Bamboo is one of the nature’s most surprising plants. Many people call this plant a tree, but it is a kind of grass.

Like other kinds of grass, a bamboo plant may be cut very low to the ground, but it will grow back very quickly. A Japanese scientist recorded one bamboo plant that grew almost 1.5 meters in 24 hours! Bamboo grows almost everywhere in the world except Europe. There are more than 1,000 kinds of bamboo that grow around the world on both mountains and plains(平原).

Not all bamboo looks the same. Some bamboo plants are very thin. They may only grow to be a few centimeters wide while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across. This plant also comes in different colors, from yellow to black to green.

Many Asian countries have been using bamboo for hundreds of years. They often use bamboo for building new buildings. As a matter of fact, the cables(绳索) that hold up the hanging bridge across the Min River in Sichuan are made of bamboo. The bridge has been in use for more than 1,000 years, and is still holding strong.

In Africa, engineers are teaching poor farmers how to find water using bamboo. These African countries need cheap ways to find water because they have no money, and their fields often die from no rain and no water. It seems that bamboo is one of the best things they can use. Bamboo pipes and drills(钻) can help to make the poor thirsty fields to be watered.

How is bamboo like grass?

A. It is thin and easy to cut.                 B. It grows everywhere.

C. It grows quickly after its cut short.       D. It is short and green.

The sentence “while others may grow to more than 30 centimeters across.” means “Some other bamboo plants may grow to be very _______.”

A. short          B. strong        C. thick             D. tall

From the text we know ______.

A. most people call bamboo plant trees

B. a bamboo plant may grow 4.5 meters in three days

C. the bamboo plant changes its colors when it grows

D. a bridge held by bamboo cable was built thousands of years ago

Why did the engineers teach the poor farmers in Africa to make use of bamboo?

A. Because it is cheap.              B. Because it is colorful.

C. Because it drills fast.             D. Because it is used by Asians.

       Last year my sixth-grader daughter ,Elizabeth ,was forced to put up with science .Her education week after week ,contained mindless memorization of big words like “batholith” and “saprophyte” She learned by heart the achievements of famous scientists who did things like “improved nuclear fu-sion(核聚变) “—never mind that she hasn’t the least idea of what nuclear fusion means .Eliza—beth did very well (she’s good at memorizing things ). And now she hates science .My eighth-grader son ,Ben ,also suffered from science education . Week after week he had to perform lab experiments with answers already known .Ben figured out how to guess the right answers ,so he got good grades .Now he hates science ,too.

       Science can provide an exciting way to develop children’s curiosity .Science education should teach ways to ask questions and week answers .But my children got the mistaken idea in school than science is difficult dull and has no relation to their everyday interests .

       As a physicist ,I am saddened and angered to see “the great science turnoff” I know that science is important in our lives .Yet studies prove that our schools are turning out millions of graduates who know almost nothing about and have almost no interest in science .What’s gone wrong ?Who is to blame ?

58.We learn from paragraph 1 that           .

A.the writer was proud of Elizabeth and Ben

B.both Elizabeth and Ben could become scientists

C.Elizabeth had to learn much about great scientists

D.Ben was good at trying new ideas in lab experiments

59.The writer thinks that in science education we should first        .

A.get students interested in the subject          B.answer students’ questions in delightful ways.

C.smooth out difficulties in lab experiments     D.explain the special terms clearly

60.By writing the text ,the author questions          .

A.the difficulty level of the science texts         B.the way science is taught in school

C.the achievements of famous scientists            D.students’ poor records in science classes

The story of Madame Tussaud is as fascinating as that of the exhibition itself. From a housekeeper's daughter to a successful business woman, her life has all the marks of a Hollywood blockbuster.

Madam Tussaud was born in 1761 and named Marie Grosholtz. Her father was killed in battle only two months before Mane's birth. For the first five years of her life, Marie lived in Berne with her mother, who worked as housekeeper for Dr Philippe Curtius. A doctor, with a talent for wax modeling, Curtius became her teacher.

It was Curtius who opened the original wax exhibition in Paris in 1770 and introduced Marie to some famous people. At only 17, she modeled the famous writer Francois Voltaire, followed by a portrait of American statesman Benjamin Franklin when he was in Paris as US ambassador. Both figures are still on display at Madame Tussaud's, London today.

Her work at Curtius successful wax exhibition led to an invitation to the court of Louis XVI and his queen. For nine years she lived at the palace of Versailles guiding the artistic education of the king's sister. Meanwhile the French Revolution was about to erupt. Aware of the political  nrest,Philippe Curtius called Marie back to Paris. Marie7 s connection with the royal family made her guilty. Both she and her mother were arrested. After she was set free, Marie was forced to make death masks (a death mask is a model of a dead person's face, made by coving their face with a soft substance and letting it become hard) of executed (被处决的) nobles. Many were former friends at court, including her former employers, the king and queen.

By 1800 Marie was married with two young children and a poor business inherited from Curtius. Madame Tussaud made the decision to take her exhibition on tour. In 1802, she left France. For the next 33 years, Madame Tussaud traveled the British Isles, exhibiting her growing collection of portraits. In those pre-television days, this was the only way most people had direct contact with the famous people of the time. The exhibition became permanently based in London in 1835, moving to its present site in Marylebone Road in 1884. Her last work, a remarkable self – portrait that is still on show, was completed only eight years before her death aged 89.

The underlined part in Para. 1 implies that Madame Tussaud’s life was         .

       A.complicated     B.successful C.peaceful    D.lonely

Marie got a job at that court of Louis XVI because of        .

       A.Curtius’ recommendation       B.her gift for wax modeling

       C.her mother’s help           D.her friendship with the king’s sister

Marie was arrested during the French Revolution because         .

       A.she had worked for Dr Philippe Curtius

       B.she had modeled the French royal family

       C.she had worked at the place of Versailles

       D.she had refused to make death masks

The last paragraph is mainly about         .

       A.how Marie’s was modeling business became successful

       B.how Marie balanced her family and work

       C.the establishment of Madame Tussaud’s, London

       D.the popularity of Madame Tussaud’s wax exhibition

According toe the passage, how many of the following statements about Marie are TREU?

       a. She hadn’t seen his father since she was born.

       b. She modeled the portrait of Francois Voltaire.

       c. She modeled the portrait of Francois Voltaire.

       d. She guided the artistic education of the king’s daughter.

       e. In 1842, she completed her last work.

       A.2      B.3       C.4       D.5

Dick was born in a poor family. His father had a small boat and went fishing in the morning and sold the fish in the market in the afternoon. Then he bought some food for his family. When winter came, they were often hungry. One morning the hungry man fell into the river and wasn’t found. Dick’s mother left her three-year-old son without saying good-bye. His aunt had to look after him.

Twenty years passed. Dick became a tall, strong man. He found work on a farm. He worked hard and wanted to get more money. He often went to see his aunt with some nice presents. The woman was very happy but one day she died in a traffic accident. The young man was very sad. After he buried her, he decided to buy a beautiful tombstone(墓碑)for her. He went to town and came in a shop, but all the tombstones were too expensive. He asked, “Do you sell an old tombstone, sir?” “Yes, we do, sir, ” answered the shopkeeper. “Is it as expensive as the new one?”

“No, it’s much cheaper,” said the man. “But another name was engraved (刻) on it.” “It doesn’t matter, ” said Dick. “My aunt couldn’t read.”

If      , the family members were hungry.

A. Dick’s father could catch no fish in winter  

B. Dick’s father had a boat in winter

C. Dick’s father had to look after him in winter 

D. no food was sold in winter

Dick wanted to get more money to      .

A. marry a wife            B. give his aunt nice presents

C. buy a farm              D. build a house

Dick often went to see his aunt because        .

A. she felt lonely           B. she was often ill

C. she had no children       D. with her help he grew up

Dick wanted to buy an old tombstone because      .

A. he didn’t had enough money to buy a new one

B. his aunt couldn’t read whose name was engraved

C. his aunt wasn’t going to mind it   

D. nobody knew what his aunt’s name was

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