题目内容

NASA is moving ahead with plans to put a long-armed lander on Mars’ icy north pole to search for clues①for water and possible signs of life.
The $386 million Phoenix Mars is planned to touch down in the Martian arctic in 2008. The stationary probe will use its robotic arm to dig into the icy land and pick up soil samples②to analyze. In 2002, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spotted evidence of ice-rich soil near the arctic surface.
Scientists hope the Phoenix mission will find clues to the geologic history of water on the Red Planet and determine whether microbes③existed in the ice.
Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a renewed, low-cost effort to study the Red Planet. “The Phoenix mission explores new territory in the northern plains of Mars analogous to the permafrost regions on Earth,” Peter Smith said.
True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous④missions. The lander for Phoenix was built to fly as part of the 2001 Mars Surveyor program. But the program broke down after the well-known disappearance of the Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The Polar Lander lost contact during a landing attempt near the planet’s south pole after its rocket engine shut off prematurely, causing the spacecraft to fall about 130 feet to almost certain destruction.
The Phoenix probe had been in storage at a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver before it was reused for its present mission. It will carry science instruments that were designed for the Mars Surveyor program including an improved panoramic camera and a trench-digging robotic arm. Phoenix will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in August 2007 and land on the planet nine months later.
Notes:
①    clue  n. 线索
②    sample  n. 标本，样品
③    microbe  n. 微生物
④    previous  adj. 先前的

  1. 1.

    The passage mainly tells readers that _________.

    1. A.
      clues of water will be found in Phoenix
    2. B.
      Phoenix will be sent to find clues of water on Mars
    3. C.
      August 2007 will see Phoenix lift off
    4. D.
      the Mars Scout program will be carried out
  2. 2.

    The underlined word “prematurely” (paragraph 5) means _________.

    1. A.
      on time
    2. B.
      behind the time
    3. C.
      out of work
    4. D.
      ahead of time
  3. 3.

    According to the passage, we know Phoenix will land on Mars _________.

    1. A.
      in May 2008
    2. B.
      in August 2007
    3. C.
      in August 2008
    4. D.
      in September 2008
  4. 4.

    According to the passage, the name “Phoenix” is after the meaning of _________.

    1. A.
      rebirth
    2. B.
      death
    3. C.
      energy
    4. D.
      hope
  5. 5.

    After Phoenix lands on Mars, we can infer it will firstly _________.

    1. A.
      find soil samples and send them to the earth
    2. B.
      look for the icy land to dig for the soil samples
    3. C.
      take photos and send them to the earth
    4. D.
      find the remains of the Mars Polar Lander
BDAAB
1.主旨大意题。文章的第一段就是该文章的主题句，由此可知文章要讲述的主要内容。
2.词义猜测题。由后面的句子可知Phoenix是在空中离地面120英尺处坠向地面，因此可以推测rocket engine提前结束工作。
3.细节计算题。由文章最后一段最后一句可以计算出。
4.推理判断题。由第五段的第一句可知。
5.推理判断题。由文章的第二段可知，Phoenix的目的就是要通过挖掘冰地，取出样本进行研究。因此，它首先要寻找冰地。
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Cities alarmed by deaths and injuries of pedestrians are taking efforts to make crosswalks safer for people on foot, especially seniors and children who need more time to cross streets.
A pedestrian is killed in a traffic accident in the USA every 110 minutes；one is injured every nine minutes, according to official date. Crosswalk can be especially dangerous for the elderly. Among people 70 and older, 36% of pedestrian deaths in 2006 occurred in crosswalks, compared with 21% of those younger than 70, according to the Insurance Institute for Highway Safety.
The Federal Highway Administration（FHWA）advises that next year states increase by nearly 15% the amount of time traffic lights provide for pedestrians to cross the street after the flashing orange hand appears .
FHWA spokesman Doug Hecox says reasons for the change include an aging population that needs more time to cross, health-conscious Americans walking more, children encouraged to walk to prevent getting overweight and high gas prices pushing people to walk instead of drive.
Pedestrian deaths went down by 12% from 5,449 in 1996 to 4,784 in 2006. But among those in 2006, 471 were killed in crosswalks, down slightly from 488 ten years earlier, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA) says.

  1. 1.

    Which of the following is true according to the text?

    1. A.
      Among 100 pedestrian deaths there were 21 people younger than 70.
    2. B.
      Old people are more likely to meet with accidents in crosswalks.
    3. C.
      Traffic accidents killed more old people than young people.
    4. D.
      About seven traffic accidents happened per hour.
  2. 2.

    What is FHWA’s suggestion to states?

    1. A.
      Fixing more traffic lights.
    2. B.
      Providing more crosswalks.
    3. C.
      Giving pedestrians more time to cross streets.
    4. D.
      Increasing the time before the orange lights appear.
  3. 3.

    What’s the cause of the crosswalk safety problem according to the test?

    1. A.
      There’re many cars and buses on the road.
    2. B.
      Pedestrians are careless.
    3. C.
      Crosswalks are crowded.
    4. D.
      Drivers don’t give way.
  4. 4.

    The report from NHTSA suggests that             

    1. A.
      fewer people were injured in crosswalks
    2. B.
      crosswalk safety has been greatly improved
    3. C.
      much has been done to reduce traffic accidents
    4. D.
      pedestrian deaths in crosswalk remain a serious problem

This year some twenty-three hundred teenagers（young people aged from 13 —19）from all over the world will spend about ten months in U. S. homes. They will attend U.S. schools, meet U.S. teenagers, and form impressions of the real America. At the same time, about thirteen hundred American teenagers will go to other countries to learn new languages and gain a new understanding of the rest of the world.
Here is a two-way student exchange in action. Fred, nineteen, spent last year in Germany with George’s family. In turn, George’s son Mike spent a year in Fred’s home in America.
Fred, a lively young man, knew little German when he arrived, but after two months’ study, the language began to come to him. The school was completely different from what he had expected — much harder. Students rose respectfully① when the teacher entered the room. They took fourteen subjects instead of the six that are usual in the United States. There were almost no outside activities.
Family life, too, was different. The father’s word was law, and all activities were around the family rather than the individual. Fred found the food too simple at first. Also, he missed having a car.
“Back home, you pick up some friends in a car and go out and have a good time. In Germany, you walk, but you soon learn to like it.”
At the same time, in America, Mike, a friendly German boy, was also forming his idea. “I suppose I should criticize② American schools,” he says. “It is far too easy by our level. But I have to say that I like it very much. In Germany we do nothing but study. Here we take part in many outside activities. I think that maybe your schools are better in training for citizens. There ought to be some middle ground between the two.”
Notes:
①    respectfully  adv. 尊敬地，谦恭地
②    criticize  vt. 批评，责备
Choose the best answers according to the above:

  1. 1.

    This year       __ teenagers will take part in the exchange programme between America and other countries.

    1. A.
      twenty-three hundred
    2. B.
      thirteen hundred
    3. C.
      over three thousand
    4. D.
      less than two thousand
  2. 2.

    The whole exchange programme is mainly to        __.

    1. A.
      help teenagers in other countries know the real America
    2. B.
      send students in America to travel in Germany
    3. C.
      let students learn something about other countries
    4. D.
      have teenagers learn new languages
  3. 3.

    What is particular in America schools is that        __.

    1. A.
      there is some middle ground between the two teaching buildings.
    2. B.
      there are a lot of outside activities
    3. C.
      students usually take fourteen subjects in all
    4. D.
      students go outside to enjoy themselves in a car
  4. 4.

    After experiencing the American school life, Mike thought        __.

    1. A.
      a better education should include something good from both American and Germany
    2. B.
      German schools trained students to be better citizens
    3. C.
      American schools were not as good as German schools
    4. D.
      the easy life in the American school was more helpful to students

Everyone knows about straight-A students. We see them frequently in TV situation comedies and in movies like Revenge (报复) of the Nerds. They get high grades, all right, but only by becoming dull laborers, their noses always stuck in a book. They are not good at social communication and look clumsy while doing sports.
How, then, do we account for Domenica Roman or Paul Melendres? Roman is on the tennis team at Fairmont Senior High School. She also sings in the choral group, serves on the student council and is a member of the mathematics society. For two years she has maintained A’s in every subject. Melendres, a freshman at the University of New Mexico, was student-body president at Valley High School in Albuquerque. He played soccer and basketball well, exhibited at the science fair, and meanwhile worked as a reporter on a local television station. Being a speech giver at the graduation ceremony, he achieved straight A’s in his regular classes, plus bonus points for A’s in two college-level courses.
How do super-achievers like Roman and Melendres do it? Brains aren’t the only answer. “Top grades don’t always go to the brightest students,” declares Herbert Walberg, a professor of education at the University of Illinois at Chicago, who has conducted major studies on super-achieving students. “Knowing how to make full use of your innate (天生的) abilities counts for more. Much more.”
In fact, Walberg says, students with high IQ sometimes don’t do as well as classmates with lower IQ. For them, learning comes too easily and they never find out how to get down. Hard work isn’t the whole story, either. “It’s not how long you sit there with the books open,” said one of the many-A students we interviewed. “It’s what you do while you’re sitting.” Indeed, some of these students actually put in fewer hours of homework time than their lower-scoring classmates.
The kids at the top of the class get there by mastering a few basic techniques that others can readily learn

  1. 1.

    The underlined word “nerds” in paragraph 1 can probably be ________

    1. A.
      dull bookworms lacking sports and social skills
    2. B.
      successful top students popular with their peers
    3. C.
      students with certain learning difficulties
    4. D.
      born leaders crazy about social activities
  2. 2.

    What can we conclude from the first paragraph?

    1. A.
      Most TV programs and films are about straight-A students
    2. B.
      People have unfavorable impression on straight-A students
    3. C.
      Everyone knows about straight-A students from TV or films
    4. D.
      Straight-A students are well admired by people in the society
  3. 3.

    Some students become super-achievers mainly because ________

    1. A.
      they are born cleverer than others
    2. B.
      they work longer hours at study
    3. C.
      they make full use of their abilities
    4. D.
      they know the shortcut to success
  4. 4.

    What will be talked about after the last paragraph?

    1. A.
      The interviews with more students
    2. B.
      The role IQ plays in learning well
    3. C.
      The techniques to be better learners
    4. D.
      The achievements top students make
  5. 5.

    What can we infer from the passage?

    1. A.
      IQ is more important than hard work in study
    2. B.
      The brightest students can never get low grades
    3. C.
      Top students certainly achieve all-around developments
    4. D.
      Students with average IQ can become super-achievers

Katherine Ilachinsiki, who had been knocked off her chair by the blast (一阵)of heat exploding from the neighboring tower, was one of those. Despite her 70 years of age, Mrs Ilachinsiki, an architect working on the 91st floor of 2 World Trade Center, the south tower, went for the stairs. Twelve floors above her, Judy Wein, an executive (经理), cried sharply and set off too.
But others up and down the 110 floors, many without seeing the damage across the way and thus unclear about what was happening, were not so sure. And the 18 minutes before the next plane would hit were ticking off.
Most people had no idea about what was the best thing to do, formal announcements inside the south tower asked people to stay put, assuring them that the building was sound and the threat was limited to the other tower.
Some left, others stayed. Some began to climb down and, when met with more announcements and other cautions (警告) to stop or return, went back up. The decisions made in those instants proved to be of great importance, because many who chose to stay were killed completely when the second plane crashed into the south tower.
One of those caught in indecision (犹豫不决) was the executive at Fuji Bank USA.
Richard Jacobs of Fuji Bank left the 79th floor with the other office workers, but on the 48th floor they heard the announcement that the situation was under control. Several got in the lifts and went back up, two minutes or so before the plane crashed into their floor.
“I just don’t know what happened to them,” Mr Jacobs said.

  1. 1.

    From the passage, we know that the south tower was hit by the plane ________.

    1. A.
      at 8:30
    2. B.
      18 minutes earlier than the north tower
    3. C.
      at around 9:06
    4. D.
      at 8:48
  2. 2.

    The underlined words “stay put” means ________.

    1. A.
      stay in the building
    2. B.
      leave at once
    3. C.
      put everything back and then leave
    4. D.
      keep silent
  3. 3.

    Which floor was hit by the second plane?

    1. A.
      The 91st floor
    2. B.
      The 103rd floor
    3. C.
      The 60th floor
    4. D.
      The 79th floor
  4. 4.

    Fewer people would have died if       .

    1. A.
      more announcements had been made
    2. B.
      people hadn’t used the lifts
    3. C.
      the attack had happened on a weekend
    4. D.
      the people had obeyed the office rules

Fresh flowers actually continue to grow while in a vase.So in order to keep flowers fresh, you need to consider what the flowers need to grow and stay healthy.Flowers need water, light, and food.Besides, you need to be aware of a few precautions to take.
Distilled water（蒸馏水） is the best kind of water to use for fresh flowers, because there are no chemicals in it.Change the water for your fresh flowers every day or no less than every 2 days to prevent bacteria（细菌） building up.Cut the stems under water again before putting them back in the vase, so that they will be able to draw water up easily.
Keep your fresh flowers out of direct sunlight.At night, put them in the fridge.This will prolong their life.Adding commercial flower food to good water is probably the best method of keeping flowers fresh.Some people put sugar in the water for food.That is OK, but commercial flower food has bacteria-killing ingredients, which can make the water more acidic（酸性的）.If you want a more natural food for your fresh flowers, try water that has been specially treated.That solution will also give the water acidity, sugar, and bacteria-killing ability.
Keep your fresh flowers away from fruit.Fruit gas, or ethylene, will reduce the life of your fresh flowers, making them get older faster.Ethylene is what makes fruit ripen.It is given off by dead flowers, too, so be sure to remove them.
If you follow these tips, your fresh flowers will last a long time and beautify any room in which you put them.

  1. 1.

    What does the underlined word precautions in Paragraph 1 mean?

    1. A.
      problems that happen to flowers.
    2. B.
      advantages of having flowers.
    3. C.
      measures taken to prevent problems.  
    4. D.
      preparations to grow flowers outside.
  2. 2.

    The fact that distilled water is most beneficial for fresh flowers indicates that ______.

    1. A.
      distilled water is perfect for people to drink
    2. B.
      running water shouldn’t be used to water flowers
    3. C.
      it takes great efforts to keep flowers fresh
    4. D.
      fresh flowers aren’t used to certain chemicals
  3. 3.

    In order to prolong the life of fresh flowers, you should ______.

    1. A.
      protect them from direct sunlight during the daytime
    2. B.
      put them in a damp place at night
    3. C.
      put them in a fridge all the time
    4. D.
      put them near water during the daytime
  4. 4.

    Which of the following is the best method of keeping flowers fresh?

    1. A.
      Cutting the stems under water before putting them back.
    2. B.
      Using distilled water and commercial flower food.
    3. C.
      Keeping them away from fruit gas.
    4. D.
      Watering them with water which contains sugar.

Decisions, decisions! Our lives are full of them, from the small ones to the life-changing. The right to choose is central to everyone. Yet sometimes we make bad decisions that leave us unhappy or full of regret. Can science help?
Most of us know little about the mental processes that lie behind our decisions. Luckily, what psychologists are finding may help us all make better choices. Here are some of their amazing discoveries to help you make up your mind.
Consider your emotions. You might think that emotions are the enemy of decision-making, but in fact they are a part of it. Whenever you make up your mind, your brain’s emotional centre is active. University of Southern California scientist, Antonio Damasia, has studied people with damage to only the emotional parts of their brains, and found that they were unable to make basic choices about what to wear or eat. Damasia thinks this may be because our brains store emotional memories of past choice, which we use to help the present decision-making.
However, making choices under the influence of an emotion can greatly affect the result. Take anger for example. A study by Nitika Garg of the University of Mississippi and other scientists found the angry shoppers were more likely to choose the first thing they were offered rather than considering other choices. It seems that anger can lead us to make quick decisions without much thinking.
All emotions affect our thinking and motivation，so it may be best to avoid making important decisions under their influence. Yet strangely there is one emotion that seems to help us make good choices. The American researchers found that sad people took time to consider the various choices on offer, and ended up making the best choices. In fact many studies show that people who feel unhappy have the most reasonable view of the world.

  1. 1.

    What does the underlined word “central” mean?

    1. A.
      in the middle   
    2. B.
      easy to reach         
    3. C.
      important     
    4. D.
      having power
  2. 2.

    Damasia’s study suggests that ________.

    1. A.
      emotions are the enemy of decision-making.
    2. B.
      our brain has nothing to do with decision-making.
    3. C.
      people with physical damage find it hard to make up their minds.
    4. D.
      our emotional memories of past choices can affect present decisions.
  3. 3.

    According to the text, what may help us make better decisions?

    1. A.
      To think about happy times.                  
    2. B.
      To make many decisions at a time.
    3. C.
      To stop feeling regretful about the past.
    4. D.
      To learn about the process of decision-making.
  4. 4.

    Why are angry shoppers more likely to choose the first thing they are offered?

    1. A.
      They often forget their past choices.         
    2. B.
      They make decisions without much thinking.
    3. C.
      They tend to save time when shopping. 
    4. D.
      They are too angry to bargain.
  5. 5.

    What do we learn from the text?

    1. A.
      Emotions are a part of decision-making.
    2. B.
      Sad people always make worse choices.
    3. C.
      No emotion seems to help us make good choices.
    4. D.
      Only sad feelings affect our thinking and motivation.

Among the students one in ten ________ of peasant family.


  1. A.
    is
  2. B.
    are
  3. C.
    was
  4. D.
    were

Russia and the United States have completed the largest spy exchange since the Cold War.On Friday, at an airport in Vienna, Austria, an American plane and a Russian plane landed, parked side by side and exchanged occupants.
The United States freed ten admitted Russian agents.The men and women were arrested in late June and pleaded（承认） guilty on Thursday.
In exchange, Russia freed four Russians serving prison sentences on charges of spying for the West.The men include Igor Sutyagin, an armed researcher who always denied the charges.Some considered him a political prisoner.
The United States deported（驱逐） nine Russian and an American citizen born in Peru.Some raised children while living quiet lives as married couples.
Russia’s Foreign Ministry praised the exchange, saying, “The action improved Russian-U.S.relations.”
The group was accused of trying to gain information on American nuclear weapons, foreign policy and politics for the SVR — Russia’s foreign intelligence service.
The ten were only charged with plotting（阴谋） to act as undeclared foreign agents.They were not charged with the more serious crime of spying, so the extent（程度） of their success as spies is not clear.
One of the Russians, Anna Chapman, drew attention with her looks and stories of her New York party life.Hr lawyer, Robert Baum, said she had not passed secret information to Russia or received any payment.He also said, “She was accused of communicating with a Russian official through a laptop to laptop communication, without the government specifying the nature of the communication.”

  1. 1.

    The underlined word “occupants” in the first paragraph probably refers to _____.

    1. A.
      the pilots of the planes
    2. B.
      the passengers on board the planes
    3. C.
      the spies of Russia and the United States
    4. D.
      the officials of Russia and the United States
  2. 2.

    Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

    1. A.
      Altogether fourteen spies were exchanged.
    2. B.
      Anna Chapman wrote stories about her New York party life.
    3. C.
      One of the Russian spies was an American born in Peru.
  3. 3.

    The way both countries are handling the issue suggests that _____.

    1. A.
      neither side is interested in starting a fight
    2. B.
      neither side is in need of spies now
    3. C.
      the two countries are finding faults with each other
    4. D.
      the two countries are in a cold war now
  4. 4.

    The passage is most probably _____.

    1. A.
      an advertisement
    2. B.
      a newspaper ad
    3. C.
      a book review
    4. D.
      a news report

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