题目内容
Why do we need friends? Well, having friends may well keep you healthier and help you deal with stress better. Some studies show that people with close friends have a greater ability to fight disease than people who are lonely. But never take a friendship for granted. Like a good marriage, friendship needs care and patience（耐心）.Here is something to remember to maintain（维持）a friendship:
Make friendship the most important thing. Find the time to be with your friends even if it means letting the grass go unmoved or the dishes unwashed for a while. When you can’t get together, use the phone to keep in touch.
Open up to close friends. Don’t be afraid to express your inner fears and disappointments. Listen to your friends when they have problems, but offer advice only when it’s wanted.
Have different friends for different activities, such as going to the movies, singing in a choir, or taking part in a bowling league.
Don’t wait for a friend to ask a favor. When a friend has the flu, offer to go to the store to buy some pills or drive his / her children to their after-school activities.
How to make new friends?
You can start a group, such as a discussion group on gardening or books. Place an ad in a community newspaper to find people.
Talk to strangers to find new friends. You should be cautious（谨慎的）and use your common sense, of course. Conversations started in museums, laundry rooms, or bookstores can lead to firm friendships.
Enroll in an adult-education course. A classroom is a good place to meet others with similar interests.
48. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the passage?
A. How to make new friends. B. Why do we need friends.
C. How to keep a friendship. D. How to gain friends’ trust.
49. We can learn from the passage that .
A. We should not give advice to our friends anytime we want to
B. We should offer to help our friends even if they don’t need help at all
C. It’s impolite to have different activities with different groups of friends
D. People with friends can live longer than those who don’t have friends
50. According to the author, _______ are good places to find people sharing your interests.
A. libraries B. markets
C. laundry rooms D. classrooms
D
A
D
【解析】
Now sat
ellites are helping to forecast（预报）the weather. They are in space, and they can reach any part of the world. The satellites take pictures of the atmosphere（大气）, because this is where the weather forms（形成）. They send these pictures to the weather stations. So meteorologists（气象学家）can see the weather of any part of the world. From the pictures, the scientists can often say how the weather will change.
Today, nearly five hundred weather stations in sixty countries receive satellite pictures. When they receive new pictures, the meteorologists compare（比较）them with earlier ones. Perhaps they may find that the clouds have changed during the last few hours. This may mean that the weather on the ground may soon change, too. In their next weather forecast, the meteorologists can say this.
So the weather satellites are a great help to the meteorologists. Before satellites were invented, the scientists could forecast the weather for about 24 or 48 hours. Now they can make good forecasts for three or five days. Soon, perhaps, they may be able to forecast the weather for a week or more ahead（提前）.
【小题1】Satellites travel _____________.
| A．in space | B．in the atmosphere |
| C．above the ground | D．above space |
| A．the weather satellites can do it easily |
| B．clouds form there |
| C．the weather forms there |
| D．the pictures can forecast the weather |
| A．when they have received satellite pictures |
| B．after they have compared new satellite pictures with earlier ones |
| C．before they received satellite pictures |
| D．during they study satellite pictures |
| A．taking pictures of the atmosphere |
| B．receiving pictures of the atmosphere |
| C．doing other work in many ways |
| D．weather forecasting |
On August 5 at 10:31 p.m. PST, a rover（探测器）named Curiosity touched down safely on the surface of Mars, and I was lucky enough to have a front-row seat.
My name is Clara, and when I was in Grade 6, I won the essay contest NASA held to name its next Mars rover. The essay I wrote was not even 250 words long, but somehow it was enough to change my life.
I still remember that cold December day, sitting in a science class. I’d finished a worksheet early and decided to get a Time for Kids magazine off Mrs. Estevez’s bookshelf. It was the 2008 Invention Issue, but that wasn’t the only thing that caught my eye. In the magazine, there was an article about a girl who named the Mars Exploration Rovers, Spirit and Opportunity. The article also talked about the essay contest NASA was holding to name its next Mars rover. Before I even knew anything else about it, a single word flooded my 11-year-old mind: Curiosity.
I couldn’t wait for the bell to ring so I could get started on my essay. That afternoon, I raced home from the bus stop, sat down at the computer and typed until my fingers ached. It turned out that I was just in time. A few days later, and the contest would have closed.
Five months later, shortly after I had turned 12, I was watching a National Geographic special on mammoths when the phone rang. My mom answered, and immediately, a wide smile spread across her face. When she told me that I had won, I was happier than I could ever remember being, I screamed and ran up and down the stairs and all around the house. I completely forgot about the mammoths and did not even remember to turn off the TV until it was really late.
Curiosity is such an important part of who I am. I have always been fascinated by the stars, the planets, the sky and the universe. I remember as a little girl, my grandfather and I would sit together in the backyard for hours. He’d tell me stories and point out the stars.
My grandfather lived in China, thousands of miles away from my home in Kansas. I loved the stars because they kept us together even when we were apart. They were always there, yet there was so much I didn’t know about them. That’s what I love so much about space. No matter how much we learn, it will always possess some mystery.
In the past, space exploration may have been a competition to see who got somewhere first or the fastest. But now, it is one of the few things that bring people together. Science is a language that needs no translation. It doesn’t matter where you’re from or what you look like – you just have to have a thirst for knowledge and a passion for learning in order to succeed.
People often ask me why we go to faraway places like Mars. Why do we explore? My answer to that is simple: because we can; because we’re curious; because we as human beings do not just stay holed up in one place. We are constantly wondering and trying to find out what’s over the hill and beyond the horizon.
The curiosity rover is more than just a robot. It is more than just a titanium body and aluminum wheels. Curiosity represents the hard work, passion, love and commitment of thousands of people from all over the world who were brought together by science. Science is so awesome. It is breathtaking and mind-blowing; and sometimes, it’s just a little bit crazy. The discoveries we make about our world are incredibly humbling. They move us forward and have the potential to benefit all of mankind.
This December it will be four years of my life that have been tied to Curiosity in some way. I’ve met so many amazing people through this experience, from scientists to engineers to administrators to volunteers. Their devotion and enthusiasm inspire me greatly. My journey with Curiosity and the MSL mission team has shaped the person that I am today, as well as the person I would one day like to become.
I am deeply grateful to everyone who made it possible for me to have this amazing adventure.
And to you, I hope your curiosity takes you far.
【小题1】 The method the writer uses to begin the passage is _____.
| A．telling a story | B．giving an example |
| C．offering an explanation | D．describing a scene |
| A．She had just gathered enough information from Time for Kids |
| B．She wanted to write down what flashed through her mind in time. |
| C．She knew from Mrs. Estevez the deadline for the contest was approaching. |
| D．She was afraid she might miss the chance to compete with the former winner. |
| A．she missed him very much. |
| B．he knew a great deal about space |
| C．he influenced her to love the stars |
| D．she treasured their happy moments |
| A．The writer was inspired to be a volunteer by the people she met. |
| B．The writer owed her success to her team members’ encouragement. |
| C．The writer met many difficulties in her four-year life with Curiosity. |
| D．The writer has benefited a lot from her experience tied to Curiosity. |
| A．Sharp. | B．Proud. | C．Aggressive. | D．Enthusiastic. |
| A．Curiosity is important to human beings. |
| B．A thirst for knowledge helps one grow up. |
| C．Entering a contest is a way to achieve success. |
| D．Curiosity changes people’s attitude towards science. |