An annoying problem for humans, who like to boast (夸耀) about all the distant planets and moons we have explored, is that we've never taken a good look right under our noses.The inside of the earth is relatively close but how can we get there?

The deepest oil well enters a mere six miles into the crust (地壳)  (the center of the earth is about 4,000 miles deeper).Russian scientists dug the deepest hole in Siberia," but bottomed out at about 7.5 miles below the surface.The Mohole project, a U.S.plan in the 1950s, called for drilling a hole 25 miles down to the boundary be??tween the hard rocks of the crust and the soft mantle (地幔).Sadly the project involved govern??ment supporting.

It gets harder and harder to drill deep into the earth because rocks get softer and softer. Hard but easily broken at the surface, rocks become plastic at depth, and the pressure caused by the weight of the overlaying crust — about 52,800 pounds per square inch at a depth of ten miles, makes further drilling impossible.

What little we know about the inside of the earth (like the fact that there' s a crust, a mantle, and a core) comes from indirect evidence, such as the analysis of earthquakes.

So maybe it' s time for a thorough new method to explore the earth's inside.Scientist David Stevenson says we should forget about drilling holes.Instead, we should open a crack (裂缝). 

Stevenson suggests digging a crack about a half mile long, a yard wide, and a half mile deep (not with a shovel) but with an explosion on the scale of a nuclear bomb.Next, he'd pour a few hundred thousand tons of molten (融化的) iron into the crack, along with a robot.The iron, thicker than the surrounding crust, would move downward at about 16 feet per second, carrying the robot with it and opening the crack deeper and deeper.The iron mass would drop for about a week and 2,000 miles to the outer edge of the earth core, the robot sending out data to the sur??face.

Stevenson compares his idea to space explo??ration."We're going somewhere we haven't been before," he says."In all possibility, there will be surprises."

This idea can probably be put in.the drawer marked with Isn't Going To Happen.The robot would have to survive temperatures that would melt pretty much anything.But Stevenson's idea may inspire a new look at an old problem.Great things can come from what seems like impossible ideas.

Going inside the earth is ________ than going into space.

A.more interesting B.more possible    C.easier            D.more challenging

How deep have we gone into the earth until now?

A.6 miles.         B.4,000 miles. C.7.5 miles.        D.25 miles.

Which of the following is TRUE about David Stevenson's idea?

A.It is an inspiring but not practical idea now.

B.It is a practical proposal that has come into use now.

C.It is a good proposal that will soon be put into practice.

D.It is a false theory that cannot be carried out at all.

What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A.An Annoying Problem for Humans

B.To the Center of the Earth

C.The Mohole Project

D.David Stevenson' s Proposal

Australian scientists are trying to give kangaroo-style stomachs to cattle and sheep in order to cut he greenhouse gases they send out, which are thought to be responsible for global warming.

Thanks to special bacteria in their stomachs, kangaroo flatulence(肠胃气胀)contains no methane(甲烷)and scientists want to transfer that bacteria to cattle and sheep who produce large quantities of the harmful gas.

While the usual image of greenhouse gas pollution is a billowing smokestack (烟囱) pushing out carbon dioxide, farm animals’ passing wind contribute a sur­prisingly high percentage of total emissions (排放物)in some countries.

“Fourteen percent of emissions from all sources in Australia are from enteric methane from cattle and sheep,” said Athol Kleve, a senior research scientist with the Queensland state government.

“And if you look at another country such as New Zealand, which has got a much higher agricultural base, they're actually up around 50 percent, ” he said.

Researchers say the bacteria also make the diges­tive process much more efficient and could potentially save millions of dollars in feed costs for farmers.

But it will take researchers at least three years to isolate (分离) the bacteria, before they can even start to develop a way of transferring it to cattle and sheep.

Another group of scientists, meanwhile, has suggested Australians should farm fewer cattle and sheep and just eat more kangaroos.      

The idea is controversial (有争议的), but about 20 percent of health-conscious Australians are believed to eat the national symbol already.

“It's low in fat, it’s got high protein levels and it's very clean in the sense that basically it's the free-range (放养的) animal,” said Peter Amp of the University of New South Wales's institute of environmental studies.

1.Scientists intend to put bacteria into cattle and sheep _________.

A. so that they can make full use of special bacteria

B. to help Australian farmers to earn more money

C. so that they can protect Australian ecosystem

D. to prevent them from sending out harmful gases

2.Athol Kleve seems to believe that ________.

A. cattle and sheep produce more carbon dioxide

B. less cattle and sheep are raised in New Zealand

C. farm animals are responsible for greenhouse gases

D. New Zealand has the most animals in the world

3.What do the underlined words “the idea” in para­graph 9 refer to?

A. Australians should farm fewer cattle and sheep and just eat more kangaroos.

B. The bacteria could make the digestive process much more efficient.

C. Australians should give kangaroo - style stomachs to cattle and sheep.

D. The bacteria could save millions of dollars in feed costs for farmers.

4.Which of the statements is the advantage Peter Amp lists about kangaroo?

A. it is rich in protein                                    B. it is cheaper than beef

C. it is high in fat                                                       D. it is more delicious than sheep

 

   
SPIRIT LAKE, Iowa -- Towering more than 12 stories above a school playground, a pair of wind turbines(涡轮机) transform the usts blowing over the lakes and ridges sur-rounding this northern Iowa town into power that provides about half of the school district' s electrical needs.

     Students here can "look right out the back door" to see the giant turbines capture the wind and learn how they can produce power. More than 80 schools across the USA have installed some type of wind turbine, says Ian Baring - Could, senior engineer in a wind technology center at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory in Golden, Colo.

      Now, a program called Wind for Schools is aiming to bring smaller turbines to six states:Colorado, Idaho, Kansas, Montana, Nebraska and South Dakota. The program, sponsored by the U.S. Department of Energy' s Wind Powering America program at the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, is the first program to use smaller turbines with a mission of educating students and the cmmnunity about wind power.

      In Faith, S. D. , home to one of the schools hoping to build a small wind turbine in the next couple of years, a fierce wind blows across the plains most days. Angela King, who teaches science in grades 7 to 12 in Faith, believes a turbine wiI1 give students learning about wind energy the chance to "see it happening, rather than just reading it in a book. "

      Much of the first year of the three - year program has been spent identifying schools hoping to join the program. South Dakota, for instance, announced its eight school districts over the summer. About five schools in Kansas have the turbines, and schools in Montana, Idaho and South Dakota are now preparing sites and will have them installed during this school year.Now, the goal is to add wind turbines at about five schools per year in each state, for a total of about 30 per year overall, Baring - Gould says.

 

61. According to the first paragraph, we know wind turbines are installed __  

      A. to produce wind                              B. to generate electricity

      C. for students to play with                   D. to attract visitors

62. What' s the real purpose of the program?   

      A. To sell smaller wind turbines to six states.

      B. To warn the school of the danger from wind.

      C. To teach the students to learn about wind power.

      D. To encourage the students to operate wind turbines.

63. According to Angela King, __  

     A. it is better to learn from one' s experience

     B. it is a waste of money to install wind turbines

     C. students should not learn from reading books

     D. students should be given the chance to play

64. We can conclude from the passage __  

     A. the program will last five years altogether

     B. more and more schools will resist the program

     C. some schools are forced to install wind turbines

     D. more and more schools will join the program

65. This passage talks about the program in order to tell us __  

     A. watching turbines can make students clever

     B. watching turbines at school can help build bodies

     C. programs like this can help schools educate students

     D. installing wind turbines can improve our environment

Until the 1960's, almost everyone in the U. S. followed tradition and gave all the children in the same family the same last name or surname, as it is called. But during the 60's, young parents began giving their children strange names—names like Moonglow, Eternal Peace, and Sunshine. Some states passed laws controlling the names that parents could use. But after a court case in 1981, a federal judge ruled that parents are free to give any surnames they wish to their children.

So , for the last few decades , more parents are not giving their children the fam­ily 's sur- names .Some insist that while it ' s OK for a boy to have the father ' s family name, a girl should have the mother' s family name . Thus, Philip Gaylord and Pan Zimmitti could be brother and sister. Some parents think that using family surname is old —fashioned and boring. One couple gave their son the last name Sue because they like the Johnny Cash song," A Boy Named Sue." And finally, some parents think that giving their children different surnames is just a "neat thing to do". So the first son of a New York family has the last name Washington —Lincoln, after the two fa­mous presidents. The daughter has the last name Anthony—Tubman after two women who fought for women's rights.

This change in naming customs presents two problems. First, if each person in the family has a different last name, family records will be very confusable. It will be hard to track a person's family, and record keeping will be difficult .Second, some physiologists are afraid that different surnames will threaten family unity. Since names have  an important effect on one's identify (身份) , they think brothers and sisters will not feel connected if they have different last names.

So this problem of names will get worse as new and different last names increase. Get ready to meet Welcome Baby Darling , sister of Aren't We Glad , You ' re Here and It ' s About Time.

1.In America, ________to give children different surnames these days.

    A.it is allowed by the law                  B.it breaks the law

    C.it is one of the customs                  D.it is unusual

2.In the second paragraph of the passage a "neat thing to do" means________.

    A.a good thing to do                                                  B.a terrible thing to do

    C.a dirty filing to do                   D.a clean thing to do

3.According to some psychologists, the different last names will let brothers and sisters feel they

are________.

    A.enemies                          B.as close as before

    C.good fiends                       D.separated

4.From the last paragraph, we can see the author _____this change in naming customs.

       A.is for        B.is against          C.doesn't care         D.doesn't notice

Her name may be 501, but she’s more than just a number. The lovely sea otter(水獭) is the star of Otter 501, a new film from Sea Studios Foundation.

Otter 501 was just a few days old when she lost her parents in June 2010. Washed onto a beach along California’s Big Sur coast, the pup(幼崽) could have died. Instead, she got a second chance at life after being taken to an aquarium(水族馆). There she learned from an adoptive otter mom how to be an otter. In the film, it’s Katie Pofahl who finds the troubled pup on the shore. Through the young volunteer’s eyes, we follow 501’s journey from the day of her rescue to her release into the wild in Elkhorn Slough. But while the fluffy star’s story has a happy ending, the film reminds us of the threats that remain against California’s sea otters.

Mark Shelley is the executive director of Sea Studios and producer of Otter 501. He hopes the movie will encourage more young people to get involved in protecting the otter’s ocean habitat. Time For Kids (TFK) spoke with Shelley and Pofahl about sharing the otter’s tale.

TFK:      How much of the film is fact, and how much is fiction?

Shelley:   The story of 501 and the explanation of the natural history of the sea otter are fact. But we needed a good storyteller to tell the story. That’s where Katie Pofahl’s character came in. Katie’s story in the film is partly fictionalized. She is a trained biologist from the Midwest who moved out here, like her character, so all that is true. She wasn’t really a volunteer at the aquarium, but she did go through the training for the film.

Pofahl:    I was one of the last people to get involved in the project. Mark and Sea Studios put out a casting call for a marine biologist. I responded with a little video, and the team liked it. So, I was brought on to help tell 501’s story.

TFK:       What did you learn about otters during filming that you didn’t know before?

Pofahl:    I’m a zoologist, and I love studying animals. I came onto this project thinking that I knew almost everything there was to know about otters. But I learned some things. Otters keep busy because they live in such cold waters. Unlike other marine mammals, they do not have blubber(鲸油,鲸脂) to keep warm. So, they are constantly moving and eating. And they are a keystone(基本的) species, which means they help to structure the environment they live in. There are endless things to learn. That’s what I love about this job.

TFK:       What do you hope people will take away from the film?

Pofahl:    We have an amazing opportunity to help people become aware of how they impact the world. People will watch the movie to see this lovely otter, but it can also be an entry point into conservation. We want to show people that these animals are amazing and that they are at risk and that they are worth protecting. We also want to show people, especially young women, anyone can get involved in science. It’s been an amazing experience for me.

59. We can conclude from the text that sea otters ________.

A. prefer to live in warm ocean waters

B. stay quiet most of the time and don’t eat much

C. are a dangerous species faced with extinction(灭绝)

D. are a key element in the marine life environment

60. Which of the following statements about the film Otter 501 is TRUE according to the text?

A. The film is about the tragic story of an otter that lost its parents.

B. The character of Katie Pofahl is based completely on a real life person.

C. The director of the film is worried about the trouble faced by California’s sea otters.

D. The movie was shot to raise awareness about the natural history of otters.

61. Which of the following is the right order of events?

a. Otter 501 got an adoptive otter mom at the aquarium.

b. Otter 501 was rescued at the Big Sur coast.

c. Otter 501 lost its parents.

d. Katie Pofahl got involved in the project of Otter 501.

e. Otter 501 was released into the wild in Elkhorn Slough.

A. c-d-b-a-e                 B. b-c-a-e-d                  C. c-b-a-d-e                D. b-a-c-e-d

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