A teddy bear from Cumbria is launching into space to raise cash for charity(慈善)
Terence,an experienced traveller who has been to Iraq,will be the guest of honour on aviation(飞行)legend Burt Rutan’s Spaceship One when it flies above Earth.The mission takes off from California on September 29, and on his return the loveable toy will be auctioned off(拍卖)in aid of the North AIR Ambulance Appeal(北部空中救护服务中心).
Spaceship One is the world’s first private spacecraft,and is competing for a prestigious space travel prize.Chief executive of the Great North Air Ambulance Service (GNAAS),Graham Pickering,said”flying officer”Terence had been handed over to the RAF six months ago and staff had been receiving postcards from him ever since.
He said,“Terence was a fundraising idea that really took off. We have received pictures of him in a U2 craft,trying parachuting and even looking drunk and disorderly.When the RAF finally discharege him he will be a very rare bear indeed?--we just hope he does not bum up on re?entry to Earth”.
GNAAS,which needs charitable donations of more than £2m a year,has three air ambulances(空中救护机).
Peter Bond,spokesman for the Royal Astronimical Society,said Terence’s safety was not guaranteed. He said,“This is a new experimental craft and this will only be the second time it has flown.During its first voyage it developed technical problems but hopefully they have now been resolved.”
Since May,Terence has spent time with members of 100 squadron(空军中队)based at RAF Leeming Basra.Iraq,and at air shows with performing fighter planes.
Spaceship One will fly 100km(62 miles) above the Earth’s surface,just breaking through the planet’s atmosphere.
If it repeats the feat(技艺)inside two weeks,it will claim the $ 10 million Ansari X-Prize set up to encourage the private space flight business.
【小题1】Which of the following is the best title?

A.The Toy Bear Will Be Auctioned Off
B.Space Flight
C.Spaceship One to Lift Off
D.Teddy Bear Astronaut to Lift Off
【小题2】Terence is      .
A.an experienced astronaut
B.a toy bear
C.a real bear living in England
D.an air force officer
【小题3】Which of the following is true of Speaceship One?
A.Spaceship One is the world’s first speacecraft.
B.The purpose of its flight is to collect money for the charity.
C.The purpose of its flight is to comepete for a prestigious space travel prize.
D.Spaceship One has never flown.
【小题4】We can infer that      .
A.after this space flight,Spaceship One will get the $ 10 million Ansari X-prize
B.it is dangerous for a spaceship to re-entre the earth atmosphere
C.Terence will be very safe on the flight
D.Spaceship One is just an ordinary plane

第三部分:阅读理解(共20小题,每题2分,满分40分)

阅读下列短文,从每题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中,选出最佳选项。

Sam, an unemployed piano tuner, said it was only the second thing he had ever won in his life.The first thing was an Afghan blanket at a church raffle(抽奖) when he was 25 years old.But this was much bigger: it was $120,000! He had won the Big Cube, a state lottery(彩票) game.To win, a contestant must first guess which number a spinning cube will stop on.The cube has six numbers on it: 1X, 10X, 50X, 100X, 500X, and 1000X.If he is correct, the contestant must then guess which of two selected variables(变量) is going to be greater.So, just guessing which number appears on the cube does not guarantee that you will win any money.

Sam correctly guessed 1000X, but he still had to choose between two variables.One variable was the number of cars that would run the stop sign at Hill Street and Lake Avenue in six hours.The other variable was the number of times that a teenage boy would change TV channels in a three-hour period.This was a tough decision.

Finally, Sam flipped a coin.It came up heads, so Sam picked the teenager.He picked right.The stop sign was run only 76 times, but the teen clicked 120 times.Sixty-year-old Sam jumped for joy, for he had just won 1000 times 120, or $120,000.Sam dreamily left the lottery studio.Talking excitedly on his cell phone while crossing the street, he got hit by a little sports car.

Sam is slowly getting better.He was in the hospital for a month.His hospital bill was $110,000.And the insurance company for the little sports car’s owner sued(起诉)Sam for $9,000 worth of repairs.Also, Sam still has to pay federal taxes on his winnings.Sam doesn’t play the state lottery any more.He says it’s better to be unlucky.

56.What can be inferred about Sam from the passage?

A.He always has bad luck.            B.He seldom goes to a raffle.

C.He is a very careful person in life.    D.He used to be crazy about lottery tickets.

57.Which of the following played a vital role in Sam’s winning the big prize?

A.The cube. B.The coin.  C.The blanket.     D.The stop sign.

58.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A.The lottery game was a complete lie.

B.Sam was quite familiar with the boy.

C.The owner of the car is now in hospital.

D.Sam will have none of the prize money left.

59.What could be the best title for the passage?

A.Curiosity killed the cat      B.Joy puts heart into a man

C.Extreme joy ends in sorrow    D.A bird in hand is worth two in the bush

 

If you do not use your arms or your legs for some time, they become weak. When you start using them again, they slowly become strong again. Everybody knows this. Yet there are many people who do not seem to know that one’s memory works in the same way. When someone says that he has a good memory, he really means that he keeps his memory in practice by exercising it regularly. When someone else says that his memory is poor, he really means that he does not give it enough chance to become strong.

If a friend complains that his arms are weak, we know that it is his own fault. But if he tells us that he has a poor memory, many of us think that his parents are to blame, or that he is just unlucky, and few of us realize that it is really his own fault. Not all of us can become very strong or very clever, but all of us can improve our memory by the same means — practice.

Have you ever noticed that people who cannot read or write usually have a better memory than those who can? Why is this? Of course, because people who can’t read or write have to remember things: they cannot write them down in a little notebook. They have to remember dates, prices, names, songs and stories, so their memory is exercised all the time.

So if you want a good memory, learn from those who cannot read or write: practice remembering.

1.According to the passage, few people know that _____.

A. arms or legs become weak if they are not used for some time

B. when they start using their arms or legs again, they slowly become strong again

C. a person’s memory becomes weak if he does not practice remembering things

D. it is their own fault if their arms or legs are weak

2.The author thinks that if a person has a poor memory, _________.

A. it is his own fault        B. his parents are to blame

C. he is just unlucky           D. his arms must be weak

3.From Paragraph 3, we can learn that ___.

A. people who can’t read are cleverer than those who can

B. people who can’t write are cleverer than those who can

C. a little notebook helps people who cannot read or write get a better memory

D. people who practice remembering regularly have a better memory

4.The passage mainly tells us ____________.

A. how to get our arms and legs stronger   B. how to improve our memory

C. how to read and write                D. how to remember dates and prices

 

How often one hears children wishing they were grown-ups and old people wishing they were young again. Each age has its pleasures and its pains, and the happiest person is the one who enjoys what each age gives him without wasting his time in useless regrets.

Childhood is a time when there are few responsibilities to make life difficult. If a child has good parents, he is fed, looked after and loved, whatever he may do. It is impossible that he will ever again in his life be given so much without having to do anything in return. In addition, life is always presenting new things to the child — things that have lost their interest for older people because they are too well-known. But a child has his parents. He is not so free to do what he wishes to do; he is continually being told not to do things or being punished for what he has done wrong.

When the young man starts to earn his own living, he can no longer expect others to pay for his food, his clothes, and his room, but has to work if he wants to live comfortably. If he spends most of his time playing about in the way that he used to as a child, he will go hungry. And if he breaks the laws of society as he used to break the laws of his parents, he may go to prison. If, however, he works hard, keeps out of trouble and has good health, he can have the great happiness of building up for himself his own position in society.

1. According to the second paragraph, the writer thinks that __.

A.life for a child is comparatively easy

B.a child is always loved whatever he does

C.if much is given to a child, he must do something in return

D.only children are interested in life

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

A.People are often satisfied with their life.

B.Life is less interesting for old people.

C.Adults are free to do what they want to do.

D.Adults should no longer rely on others.

3.The underlined word "responsibilities" in the second paragraph means__________.

A.duties

B.jobs

C.suggestions

D.desires

4.The main idea of the passage is _________ .

A.life is not enjoyable since each age has some pains

B.young men can have the greatest happiness if they work hard

C.childhood is the most enjoyable time in one's life

D.one is the happiest if he can make good use of each age in his life

 

After more than a year of bitter political debate, President Obama sat down in the White House East Room on March 23 and signed the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act into law with a pen,and then another pen,and another. Obama used 22 pens to sign the $938 billion health care bill.

The practice of using different pens to sign important legislation(法规)dates at least as far back as Franklin Roosevelt. The reason is fairly simple. The pen used to sign historic legislation itself becomes a historical artifact. The more pens a President uses, the more thank-you gifts he can offer to those who helped create that piece of history. The White House often give pens to supporters of the newly signed legislation. When Lyndon Johnson signed the Civil Rights Act in 1964, he reportedly used more than 75 pens and gave one of the first ones to Martin Luther King Jr. And in 1996, President Clinton gave the four pens he used to sign the Line-Item Veto bill to those most likely to appreciate the bill's consequence.

    Once they're given away, some pens end up in museums; others are displayed proudly in recipients'(接受者) offices or homes. But they sometimes appear again, like in the 2008 presidential campaign(竞选活动), when John Macain promised to use the same pen given to him by President Reagan to cut pork from the federal budget.

Not every President goes for the multipen signature, however. President George W. Bush preferred signing bills with only one pen and then offering several unused "gift" pens as souvenirs.

 

1..We can learn from paragraph 1 that the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act        .

A. has been passed easily

B. was put forward one year ago

C. becomes law in the USA

D. is unimportant

2.How are the pens dealt with after being used by President Obama?

A. Supporters of the newly signed legislation are likely to get some of them.

B. Obama will keep them.

C. They will be just set aside

D. They will be sold to the public at a high price.

3.What can we learn about John Macain?

A. He was ever President in the USA.

B. He took part in the 2008 presidential campaign.

C. He never used the pen given by Reagan.

D. He was only concerned about his own business.    

4.What does this passage mainly tell us ?[来源:学。科。网]

A. Obama signed the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

B. It is a practice to use multiple pens to sign important legislation in the USA.

C. Pens are necessary in the signature.

D. All the presidents like the multipen signature.

 

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