Scientists believe in the near future a new kind of car that can not only drive on the road, but also fly in the sky will serve the people, it is called “flying-driving vehicle”.
Since the turn of the 20th century, there have been many hundreds of designs for flying-driving vehicles. And some of them have actually been built and flown. But “Transition” is the closest to people.
Transition was designed in 2006, and the first road and flight tests took place in 2009. Transition is designed to really be a general airplane, which can fold up（折叠）fully its wings, drive down the road and park in a single-car garage（车库）.
Transition can climb to more than 3000 meters high. It can carry two people at speeds over 160 kilometers an hour in the air. And on the ground it can drive at highway speeds, about 113 kilometers an hour.
Scientists expect Transition to reach market at the end of 2012, at a price of around 25, 0000 dollars. Mr. Carl Dietrich says nearly 100 people have already signed up as buyers. He hopes to sell as many as 1000 a year in the near future.
【小题1】We learn from the passage that Transition is ________.
A. a flying car         B. a helicopter        C. a high-speed plane
【小题2】________ shows us the way of Transition driving down the road.
A.                         B.                         C.

【小题3】According to the passage, Transition ________.
A. takes up small room
B. can park over the water
C. flies in the sky only
【小题4】Which of the following statements is TRUE according to this passage?
A. Transition can carry 2 people at speeds over 113 km/h in the air.
B. Mr. Carl Dietrich has sold as many as 1000 Transition so far.
C. Scientists expect Transition to serve the people at the end of 2012
【小题5】The fourth paragraph(段落) mainly tells us about the __________ of Transition.
A. price                        B. speed                    C. Design

A young man went to the local expert(专家) on gems and said he wanted to become a gemologist(珠宝家). The expert turned him down because he feared the youth would not have the patience to learn. The young man asked for a chance. Finally, the expert told the youth, "Be here tomorrow."
The next morning the expert put a jade(玉) stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. The expert then went about his work, cutting, weighing and setting gems. The boy sat quietly and waited.
The following morning the expert again put the jade stone in the youth's hand and told him to hold it. On the third, fourth and fifth days, the expert asked the young man to do the same thing. On the sixth day, the youth held the jade stone but he could no longer stand(忍受) the silence. "Master, when am I going to learn something?" he asked.
"You will learn." the expert said and went about his business.
Several more days went by and the youth almost lost his patience. But one morning as the master put the stone in the youth's hand, the young man said without looking at his hand, "This is not the same jade stone!"
"You have begun to learn." said the master.
Practice makes perfect. The experience we learned from practice teaches us and develops our abilities. Experience is the best teacher. Even the most successful person had no absolute confidence once. It is experience that gives people confidence. The truth is: if you do the work and gain the experience, you'll have more confidence because you'll actually know what you're doing.
【小题1】The phrase "turned ... down" probably means _______.

We have no idea about  1 men first began to use salt. But we do know that it had been used in many different ways    2  the history.
For example, in many history books it is  3   that people who lived three thousand years ago 4 salted fish. Thousands of years ago in Egypt（埃及）, salt 5  keep the dead. It can keep the dead bodies  6 decay.（腐烂）
In the eighteenth century, a person who stole salt was   7  to have broken the   8 . if a person was caught stealing salt, he would be thrown into   9  . Books also record that in England about ten thousand people were put into prison during that century   10  stealing salt! In the year 1553, if a man took   11  than his share of salt, he would be thought to have broken the law and would be   12  punished(惩罚).
Salt was very  13  on the dinner table of a king. It was always put   14 the king when he sat down to eat. Then important visitors sat near the salt   15 less important visitors were given seats farther away from it.

Even though global warming may have made the weather more mild, many animals are still hibernating（冬眠）. It’s too bad that humans can’t hibernate. In fact we almost did.
Apparently, at times in the past, farmers in France liked a semi-state of human hibernation. So writes Graham Robb, a British scholar who has studied the sleeping habits of the French farmers. As soon as the weather turned cold, people all over the France shut themselves away and practiced the forgotten art of doing nothing at all for months.
In line with this, Jeff Warren, a producer at CBC Radio’s The Current, tells us that the way we sleep has changed since the invention of lighting.
When historians began studying texts of the Middle Ages, they noticed something referred to as “first sleep”, which was not clarified, though. Now scientists are telling us our ancestors most likely slept in separate periods. The business of eight hours’ continuous sleep is a modern invention.
In the past, without the artificial light, humans went to sleep when it became dark and then woke themselves up around midnight. The late night period was known as “The Watch”. It was when people actually kept watch against wild animals, although many of them simply moved around or visited family and neighbors.
According to some sleep researchers, a short of insomnia（失眠）at midnight is not a disorder. It is normal. Humans can experience another state of consciousness（清醒状态）around their sleeping, which happens in the brief period before we fall asleep or wake ourselves in the morning. This period can be a creative time for some people.
Playing with your sleep rhythms（节奏）can be dangerous, as worry may set in. Medical science doesn’t help much in this case. It offers us medicines for a full night’s continuous sleep, which sounds natural; however, according to Warren’s theory, it is really the opposite of what we need.
【小题1】The late night was called “The Watch” because it was a time for people ______.

When I was ten, my mother worked all day so I had to take care of my younger brother. At that time my little brother was about four years old and he missed mum all the time.
One day, after I had given him his dinner, he started crying for mum. He was so young and really needed mum. So I dressed him, put on his shoes, carried him on my back and walked out. Soon he fell asleep. About half an hour later, I found that he had lost a shoe while sleeping. I took him off my back and put him down. I knew we needed to find that shoe, for our mother couldn’t afford new shoes. We had to go back to find it, so I told my brother to wait right there. A man heard it and stopped me just before I walked off. He asked me, “You are leaving your brother here to find the shoe? What would you do if he is not here when you return?” I did not know how to answer that question. He continued, “It’s OK if you can’t find the shoe, but it is not OK to lose your brother.” Then he sent us to mum’s workplace by taxi.
My whole life I have depended on (依靠) the kindness of many strangers, I feel regretful that I cannot find them and say thank you. I do not even remember what the man’s face looked like, but he taught me a lesson—people are more important than things.
【小题1】Why did the younger brother cry for his mother?