题目内容
Stephen William Hawking was born on January 8th, 1942 in Oxford, England. His parents’ house was in North London, but during the Second World War Oxford was considered a safer place to have babies. When he was eight, his family moved to St Albans. At eleven Stephen went to St. Albans School, and then on to University College, Oxford, his father’s old college. Stephen wanted to do math, although his father would have preferred medicine. Math was not available at University College, so he did physics instead.
Stephen then went on to Cambridge to do research in Cosmology (宇宙论). After gaining his Ph.D. （哲学博士）he became first a Research Fellow, and later on a Professorial Fellow at Gonville and Caius College. After leaving the Institute of Astronomy in 1973, Stephen came to the Department of Applied Math and Theoretical Physics (理论物理), and since 1979 has held the post of Lucasian Professor of math.
Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which rule the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity implied space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results show it was necessary to unify（统一）General Relativity with Quantum Theory （量子论）. One result of such a unification that he discovered was that black holes should not be completely black, but should give off radiation and disappear in the end.
59. Which of the following is NOT suitable for describing Stephen Hawking?
A. He once studied at the same college that his father studied at.
B. At one time he did research in Cosmology in Oxford.
C. He preferred math to medicine at college.
D. He contributed to the unification of General Theory of Relativity and Quantum Theory.
60. The underlined word “available” in the first paragraph probably means “________”.
A. able to be had B. allowed to study
C. easy to understand D. limited to learn
61. Why did Stephen Hawking’s parents move to Oxford from North London?
A. Because they liked it better than North London.
B. Because there was a world-famous university there.
C. Because they were tired of living in North London.
D. Because it was safer to give birth to a baby in Oxford.
62. Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
A. Einstein and Stephen Hawking
B. Big Bang, a great theory
C. Stephen Hawking, a great British scientist
D. The unification of two theories
59-62 BADC
阅读快车系列答案Even plants can run a fever, especially when they're under attack by insects or disease. But unlike human, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away—straight up. A decade ago, adopting the infrared(红外线)scanning technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide(杀虫剂)spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.
Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat emitted by crops. The data were transformed into a colourcoded map showing where plants were running “fevers”. Farmers could then spotspray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.
The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and longterm backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. “This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States, ” says George Oerther of Texas A & M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago.
【小题1】Plants will send out an increased amount of heat when they are________.
| A．facing an infrared scanner |
| B．sprayed with pesticides |
| C．in poor physical condition |
| D．exposed to excessive sun rays |
| A．estimate the damage to the crops |
| B．draw a colourcoded map |
| C．measure the size of the affected area |
| D．locate the problem area |
| A．resorting to spotspraying |
| B．transforming poisoned rain |
| C．consulting infrared scanning experts |
| D．detecting crop problems at an early stage |
| A．its high cost |
| B．the lack of official support |
| C．the lack of financial support |
| D．its failure to help increase production |
请认真阅读下列短文，并根据所读内容在文章后表格中的空格里填入一个最恰当的单词。
注意：每个空格只填1个单词。请将答案写在答题卡上相应题号的横线上。
Enjoy English Books on Vacation
Everyone needs a break, and vacations are not meant for serious study. Instead, they’re a great way to take a break and enjoy a good book. The Spring Festival is coming up so this is the perfect time to discuss some great English language literature to take on a long train journey or while you’re hanging out with the family.
Before getting into the recommendations, we need to determine your English reading comprehension level so you don’t pick a book which is so challenging that it’s stressful or so simple that it’s boring.
If you’re at the beginner level, there are two options: reading a children’s book or reading a book that you’ve read in Chinese translation. This will help you get over any unfamiliar words or phrases, since you’re already familiar with the story. If you’re at the intermediate level, popular books like pop fiction, mysteries and thrillers are good options, as they’ll be guaranteed page turners and that will increase the possibility of your getting all the way through the book. For advanced readers, classic works of literature or modern prize winners （Booker, Nobel, Pulitzer） are good options.
The most important thing is to pick a book that you’re really interested in. When I pick up a new book in Chinese, the first few chapters are always really hard to get through, as I have to get accustomed to the way the individual author uses the language. But after the first few chapters, things get a lot easier, especially if I get involved in the story. Some of my favorite Chinese-language eye candy are books that are series like Brothers by Yu Hua or The Dancer by Hai Yan. I like them because there’s always a lot of action and story development to keep me involved, which helps me make it through those first few chapters.
Another great way to keep yourself motivated over the holiday is to find a friend who’s interested in reading the same book. You can make goals that you both want to achieve and discuss plot lines or vocabulary issues with each other by SMS or e-mail. I’m currently doing that with my friend Laura. We’ve been doing this since we were classmates in Chinese at college.
Some quick recommendations: Harry Potter, start with the first book and go on from there; the Narnia series; anything by US writer Michael Crichton or British writer Agatha Christie; and if you like horror, US writer Stephen King is always unusual and fun. But really you should just find a topic or author that you’re interested in, and the rest will go from there. Happy reading!
|
（1） ?▲ |
Enjoy English books on vacation |
|
Theme |
Find a good book to read on your journey to a distant place or while spending time with your family. |
|
（2） ?▲ of proper books |
●Beginners may pick a children’s book or a book whose story is （3） ▲ to them. ●Intermediate-level readers will find it (4) ?▲ to read popular books from cover to cover. ●Advanced readers may feel classic works of literature or modern prize winners（5）?▲ for their level. |
|
Ways to keep up your （6） ?▲ for reading |
● Choose a book that is interesting enough to （7） ?▲ you in the story and help you get through some difficult chapters . ●Read along with a friend a book you both feel interested in and （8） ?▲ views on plot lines or vocabulary to achieve your common goals. |
|
Books （9） ▲ |
● Harry Potter series ● Narnia series ● Works by Michael Crichton ● Works by Agatha Christie ●（10） ?▲ fiction by Stephen King |