New York is one of the last large American cities to have some of its policemen on horseback. The New York police have 170 horses working in certain parts of the city. The horses are expensive to feed, but it is even more expensive to look after them. Because the horses must walk on the streets, they need special horseshoes. In fact , they need more than 8,000 of them each year. Every police horse in New York gets new shoes every month. Keeping these shoes in good repair is the job of six blacksmiths. There are only about thirty-five of these blacksmiths in the whole United States.
The cost of shoing a horse is between twenty dollars and thirty-five dollars, and it takes a good blacksmith two or three hours to do the job.
A blacksmith’s job is not an easy one. He must be able to shape a shoe from a piece of metal and then fit it to the horse’s foot. The blacksmith must bend over all the time when he is fitting the shoe and must hold the weight of the horse’s leg while he works. Clearly, a blacksmith must be very storng. But even more important, he must be able to deal with horses---for before the blacksmith can begin his work, he has to get the horse to lift its leg.
One of the blacksmiths in New York is James Corbin. He came to the country from Ireland in 1948. He not only makes horseshoes for the police but also works for a group of horse owners near the city. Corbin became interested in blacksmithing because his father did it, and,as the puts it, “It’s a good way to make a living.”
【小题1】According to the reading passage, a blacksmith must be likely a______ man.

On Nov.18th, 1908, three men went up in a balloon. They started early in London. The headman was Auguste Gaudron, and the other two men were Tannar and Maitland. They had a big balloon and they were ready for a long way.

Soon they heard the sea. They were carrying the usual rope, and it was hanging down from the basket of the balloon. At the end of the rope they had tied a metal box. This could hold water, or it could be empty. So they were able to use the box to change the weight of the balloon. The three people were also carrying some bags of sand.

After the sun rose, the balloon went higher. It went up to 3,000 metres, and the air was very cold. The water in the balloon became ice. Snow fell past the men's basket, and they could see more snow on the ground. The men tried to throw out some more sand; but it was hard. They tried to break the icy sand with their knives, but it was not easy. The work was slow and they were still falling, so they had to drop some whole bags of sand. One of them fell on an icy lake and made a black hole in the ice.

　　At last they pulled the box into the basket. It was still snowing; so they climbed to get away from the snow. They rose to 5,100 metres! Everything became icy. They were very cold and  they decided to land. They came down in Poland　heavily but safely. They had travelled 1,797 kilometres from London!

1.Where did they start their travel on Nov.18th, 1908?

2.What was the metal box used for?

3. Why did they have to drop some whole bags of sand during the travel?

4. How long did they travel in the end?

5.

What do you think of the three people and their travel? (请自拟一句话作答)

Are you carrying too much on your back at school? You’re not alone. Back experts in the United States are worried that young students are having back and neck problems as a result of carrying too much in their backpacks (schoolbags)
“It hurts my back when I run,”said Oberlin Reyes, a student in Virginia. “It’s hard to go up the stairs with my backpack,because it’s too heavy,”
Oberlin was among students whose backpacks were weighed for a week in a recent study.
They had regular backpacks with two straps(带子)to carry them, but a number of students with heavy loads had switched to rolling backpacks (which have wheels and can roll on the ground).
Shirley Park, whose backpack weighed 10 kilograms,said she changed to a rolling backpack because she was starting to have back  pain.
How much is too much?Experts say students should carry no more than 10 to 15 percent of their own body weight.
A few students had one suggestion to lighten the load:less homework.
P.S.( 附)Doctor’s suggestion:
1 Lighten the load. Clean out binders(活页材料)and take home only the books you need that night.
2 Wide straps are better. They send out the weight over your shoulders more evenly(均匀)。 And be sure to wear both straps rather than hanging the pack over one shoulder.
3. Pack smart. The heavier things should be packed closed to the back.
4.Bend both knees when you pich up the pack ,and don’t just bend over  at the waist.(腰)
【小题1】“_________”is the main idea of the text.
A The problem of backpacks is worth studying.
B The problem made by heavy backpacks
C What is the best backpack for a student.
D      How to make students’backpacks light.
【小题2】According to Oberlin Reyes and Shirley Park, we know________.
A students have to do too much homework
B students have to carry several backpacks
C backpacks without wheels are bad for students
D too much homework leaves students no free time
【小题3】The expression “switched to” in the text perhaps means________.
A started to use  B turned to  C caught up   D used for
【小题4】According to the passage ,it’s better for a student of 40 kilograms to carry a backpack of _____at most by the words of experts.
A 10kg    B 8kg  C 6kg    D 7kg
【小题5】 If students follow the doctor’s suggestions they ________.
A may lighten their backpacks
B can learn how to help themselves
C may feel their backpacks are lighter
D will know how to wear backpacks

What’s the red star in the sky through a telescope(望远镜)? It is Mars. Do you want to know more about it? Take the “Mars Orbit Express”!

    “Mars Orbit Express” is a space probe (探测器). It was sent towards Mars by American scientists on August 12th，2005. Its tasks are to study Mars’ atmosphere and return photos to Earth. But before that “Mars Orbit Express” must travel about 100 hundred million kilometers and seven months. It reached Mars’ orbit(轨道)in March，2006.

     Mars and Earth have similar weight and size. However，Mars is closer to the sun than Earth. Mars is very cold. The average temperature is below 50℃. The temperature at noon only reaches 20℃ during a Mars day. Its atmosphere is mostly CO2. It has much sand and two moons---Phobos and Deimos.

     Scientists think Earth and Mars had similar beginnings 4.6 billion years ago. But while Earth supports millions of lives，Mars becomes bad. “Earth easily could have turned out like that.” said an scientist, “It is important for us to find out why and Mars Orbit Express’ should do that.” “Mars Orbit Express” also would help scientists to learn what might happen to Earth in the future.  “Mars Orbit Express” would work for about four years.

1. What can you see through a telescope when watching Mars? ________.

  A. Much sand           B.A red star         C. Its atmosphere         D. Its size

2.One of the tasks of Mars Orbit Express is _______.

A. taking pictures of Mars         

B. studying the weight of Mars

C. finding out distance between Earth and Mars

D. telling the time it takes to go from Earth to Mars

3.Compared with Earth，_______.

  A. Mars has a long history           B. Mars is big and heavy

  C. Mars is close to the sun           D. Mars’ atmosphere is mainly O2.

4. Which might be the proper title for the passage?

A. Mars：differences from Earth      B. A probe：to learn more about Mars

C. Mars: change of temperature       D. A probe：to tell the future of Earth

Here's an interview to a pilot about his life.

(R=Reporter; P= Pilot)

R: How much time do pilots actually spend flying a plane?

P: It varies (WES'J) from about 20 minutes on some domestic (区别) flights to as much as 18 hours on international flights. It all depends on if the flight is a short- or long-haul flight.

R: Do pilots take breaks during flights or do they fly the whole time?

P: Yes, we take breaks during long-haul flights. Airlines assign (指派) three or four pilots to long flights. We take turns flying the plane.

R: If pilots are traveling all the time, how do they deal with jet lag (时差)?

P: Jet lag is annoying for almost all pilots. I try to go to sleep as I would at home.

R: How important is it to know the weight and size of the plane you are flying?

P: It is very important. We weigh almost everything put into the airplane and make estimates (估计) according to the number of people on each flight.

R: Do pilots eat the airplane food?

P: Yes, we eat business class food! Airplane food changes every season and is very delicious if you don't hate eating lobster (龙虾) every day! The pilots on the same plane are supposed to make different meal choices so that if one of the dishes causes food poisoning, only one of them will be sick. That way, at least one pilot will always be well enough to fly the plane!

1.The number of pilots depends on _.

A. how many hours a plane flies    B. what kind of planes they are

C. the airline companies assign     D. what the pilot likes

2.In order to know the weight of the airplane, the pilots must know_ __.

A. the weight of everything put into the plane

B. the number of people on the plane

C. the weight of the things and people on the plane

D. the importance of the weight

3.What's the Chinese meaning of the word "poisoning" in the passage?

   A. 中毒     B. 难吃      C. 缺少  D.浪费

4. What does the pilot think of the airplane food?

A. Airplane food is more delicious than lobster.

B. The pilot suggests having airplane food instead of lobster.

C. The pilot doesn't like the airplane food at all.

D. Airplane food is as delicious as lobster.

5. What question doesn't the reporter ask in the interview?

A. How  to keep passengers safe?

B. How long do pilots actually spend flying a plane?

C. How to deal with jet lag?

D. How to take breaks during flying.