Europeans are being dug out from heavy snow after a week of very cold weather. The snowstorm is the harshest to hit Europe. Airports were shut down. And schools have been closed for a week.
Until Wednesday, at least 400 people across Europe had died because of the cold temperature. Several countries have said a state of emergency. In Ukraine, temperatures dropped as low as -33℉.
Although the situation is bad, at least one country is hoping the weather will last a little longer. In the Netherlands, the government is preparing for the country’s “11 Cities Tour”. The 125-mile ice-skating marathon will be held along a network which joins 11 towns and cities together in Friesland Province.
The ice along the way must be inches thick for the event. Up to 2 million people are thought to cheer on the race’s 16,000 competitors.
On Wednesday, Dutch soldiers joined in the preparations. They cleaned snow along the way. This will be the 16^th time that the event has taken place since the first race in 1909. Dutch General Hans said his soldiers were happy to lend a hand. “We want to do our bit for this national party.” he said.
【小题1】What is “11 Cities Tour”?

Stephen Hawking, a world famous British physicist, will write a children’s book with his daughter. Hawking said the book will be “a bit like Harry Potter” but without the magic. “It explains the wonders of the universe（宇宙）,”said Hawking , while he was on a visit to Hong Kong last week .

Hawking, 64 , is probably the world’s most famous scientist after Albert Einstein . He is an expert on black holes. He has put his whole life into digging into the beginning (and the end) of the universe.

        “My goal is simple,” Hawking once said. “It is to completely understand the universe, why it is and why it is there at all.”

        Hawking has a bad illness that stops him from moving or talking. For a period of time , he had no way to communicate except by blinking（眨眼）.

        Now he sits on a wheelchair with a computer by his side. To communicate, he moves two fingers to control the computer’s mouse. He selects his words from the screen , which are then spoken by a voice synthesizer（音响合成器）.

        “I have had the disease for most of my life,” Hawking once said. “Yet it has not stopped me from being successful at my work

        Although Hawking is such a disabled man, he made great achievements. He has received may awards and prizes for his work over the years. This includes winning the Albert Einstein Award. It is the highest achievement in theoretical physics （理论物理）.

1、The book that Stephen Hawking will write is         .

       A．the same as Harry potter                   B．quite different from Harry Potter .

       C．about the magic .                             D．about science

2、From text we can learn          .

       A．Hawking is more famous than Einstein

       B．Hawking is less famous than Einstein

       C．Both Hawking and Einstein are very famous

       D．Neither Hawking nor Einstein is famous

3、What does the underlined pronoun “it ” stand for ?

       A．the goal .           B．The magic.        C．The universe.       D．The book.

4、According to the text , which of the following statements is the fact ?

       A．Hawking has received many awards and prices except the Albert Einstein Award.

       B．The illness keeps him from moving and talking.

       C．He communicates with others by speaking.

       D．The illness stopped him from being successful.

5、What is the best title for the text ?

       A．Stephen Hawking                             B．A Famous Book

       C．Live as Hawking Does     D．A Clever Man

　　Americans smoke six thousand million cigarettes (香烟) every year, that is, every person smokes about 4195 cigarettes a year in the country of 18 years of age or more. It has been calculated (测算) that 51% of American men smoke while 34% of American women do so.

　　Since 1930, scientific studies have shown time and again that smoking does great harm to one' s health and that it will shorten one's life.

　　Cigarette smoking is believed, to most research workers in this field, a very important cause in the development of cancer (癌症) of the lungs and the cancer of the throat and is believed to have much to do with some other kinds of cancers. Cigarette smokers suffer from the illness of the heart more often than those who don't smoke. But strange, yet true, women are thought to be less affected (影响) , because when women smoke, they usually don' t breathe in the smoke so deeply. Most of the doctors and researchers say, “Give up smoking. If you don't smoke－don't start!”

　　Filters (过滤嘴) are required now to make smoking a bit safer, but they can only reduce, not get rid of, its poison.

　　But there are still a number of doctors and research workers who are less sure of the effect (影响) of cigarette smoking on health. They believe that cancers of the lungs, the throat and so on may also be caused by atmospheric pollution, or chemical poison that is now being used by farmers in large quantities to destroy plant pests (害虫) and small animals.

1． ________each smoke about 4195 cigarettes a year.

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2．It is believed by many that cancers of the lungs and throat are caused ________ by smoking.

[　　]

3．Smoking has much to do with ________.

[　　]

4．Doctors and research workers advise that ________.

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A．we should smoke filter-tipped cigarettes

B．we must not breathe in the smoke deeply when smoking

C．those who don't smoke shouldn't start

D．those who smoke less

5．From the passage we come to know that people may die from ________.

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