Imagine an eco-conscious city where rooftops have been transformed into fertile, green gardens. It's a place where every home is equipped with a system that recycles valuable water resources. In this town, protecting the planet is a way of life. That's how Abby Sharp, 14, Wyatt Peery, 13, and Tom Krajnak, 14, saw their city of tomorrow. The vision won the eighth-graders from Bexley, Ohio, first prize at the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition.

The annual design competition challenges middle school students to use engineering to deal with issues that affect the earth. This year the competition focused on water conservation. Participants had to come up with ways to improve water use in the home. Kids from 38 middle schools across the country competed in the finals. The event took place from February 17-18 in Washington, D.C. More than 30,000 students entered the competition.

Abby, Wyatt and Tom call their winning city Novo Mondum. The name means "new world" in Latin. Novo Mondum sits on the coast of Iceland. The group chose the spot for its wealth of clean energy resources, such as geothermal（地热的） energy and hydropower. Both sources use the power of nature to generate electricity. Geothermal energy draws heat from deep inside the Earth. Hydropower gets energy from flowing water. "Our city is very globally aware," Abby told TFK.

Students team up with a teacher and a volunteer engineer mentor（顾问）to develop their cities. Each group creates a fictional city on SimCity 4 Deluxe, a computer game that allows players to build virtual towns. Then they construct tabletop models of the cities and write essays describing their project. The models must be made using recycled materials and cost no more than $100 to build.

1. What’s the main feature of the city designed by the three winners?

2.It can be inferred that water conversation is __________.

3.According to the passage, Abby, Wyatt and Tom are _____.

A. ninth-graders from Bexley, Ohio.

B. second prize winners at the 2009 Future City Competition.

C. lucky to get the first prize at the 2009 Future City Competition.

D. eighth-graders from Washington, D.C.

4.The underlined word “hydropower” means ______________.

5. What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?

Bexley Middle School eighth-graders won the grand prize at the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition (TM) on Feb. 18 in Washington, D.C. They competed with 37 other schools across the country.
The students qualified for the national competition by winning a regional competition on Jan. 17 in Columbus. By winning the national event, the students earned an all-expenses paid trip to Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., according to a Bexley school district news report.
Future City aims to stir (激发) interest in science, technology, engineering and math among young people. Bexley team members were Tom Krajnak, Abby Sharp, Wyatt Peery, Elizabeth Maher, Aaron Hutchinson and Truman Haycock. They work in teams under the guidance of a teacher, Margaret Englehardt, and a volunteer engineer, Mark Sherman, design and build a city of tomorrow. Mayor John Brennan presented the students during a recent Bexley City Council meeting. Each team in the Future City competition plans its city using Sim City software and creates a model to show a physical representation of one section of the city. Team members must write both an essay about the yearly theme and an abstract about their city. They also must make a presentation to judges.
Focusing on eco-responsibility, the Bexley team built “Novo-Mondum,” an Icelandic city in the year 2171. Krajnak said the team’s project included a new water system for each resident unit and a 500-word essay on using bacteria to purify water. “We used our essay and abstract (摘要) to build a model,” he said. “It was hard to organize which building would go where, what each building does and how to make it look good.”
Englehardt said her students did a good job answering impromptu (即席) questions during the regional competition. “They can think on their feet,” she said. Principal Harley Williams said the school is very proud of the students’ performance.
【小题1】.. From the passage we can learn that the grand prize winners will _________.

A．receive scholarship for further studies

B．get a free trip to Space Camp in Huntsville

C．earn a large sum of money for their designs

D．be admitted to universities without exams

A．always stand still in the competition

B．react very quickly to the questions

C．prepare for the questions in advance

D．take pride in the advisers’ performance

MySpace, the social networking website, is different from other websites which only provide stories about other people. MySpace is a place that allows you to broadcast your own stories and personal information to as many people as you like. Started two years ago, it is a big source of information for and about American kids.

Teenagers and their parents feel very differently about it. Teens are rushing to join the site, not sharing their parents' worries. It signals yet another generation gap in the digital era.（数字时代）

For teenagers, it is reliable network to keep in touch with their friends. They will often list their surnames, birthdays, after­school jobs, school clubs, hobbies and other personal information.

“MySpace is an easy way to reach just about everyone. I don't have all the phone numbers of all my acquaintances （熟人）. But if I want to get in touch with one of them, I could just leave them a message on MySpace.” said Abby Van Wassen. She is a sixteen ­year­ old student at Woodland Hills High of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Parents on the other hand are seriously concerned about the security problems of MySpace.

“Every time we hold a parents meeting, the first question is always about MySpace，” said Kent Gates, who travels the country doing Internet safety seminars (研讨会)．The National Center for Missing and Exploited Children has received at least 288 MySpace­ related complaints, according to Mary Beth Buchanan, a lawyer in Pittsburgh.

“Your profile on MySpace shows all your personal information to anyone on the Web. And MySpace even lists this information by birthplace and age. It's like a free checklist（清单）for troublemakers and it endangers children，” Buchanan said.

1.From the passage we can learn that MySpace ________.

A．brings about the generation gap

B．is very careful about people's privacy

C．encourages you to list your personal information

D．lists the telephone numbers of your friends

2.Why are some parents against MySpace?

A．Because MySpace has a bad influence on their children.

B．Because they don't want to pay so much money for MySpace.

C．Because it takes up too much of their children's spare time.

D．Because troublemakers can easily approach their children through the site.

3.The writer's attitude towards MySpace is ________.

A．negative          B．positive           C．optimistic         D．objective

4.Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．Internet safety     B．MySpace          C．Generation gap     D．The digital era

Dear Abby,

This is my first letter to you, although I have been reading your column for many years. I need an outside opinion.

I am a grandmother in my 70s and have just returned from visiting my daughter, her husband and their three dearly loved children--all under the age of 5--and I'm upset with some of their parenting ways.

For example: They lock the doors to their children's bedrooms at night because the children might get out of their beds and wander around the house, and we may not hear them."

 If one child should get punishment, all three are punished, and if one child says a naughty

word, all three are given hot sauce (辣酱汁) in the mouth. I know these parents love their children very much, but are these ways of disciplining them wise? Please understand, it is not my aim to interfere (干涉).

--- Gram

Dear Gram,

Children's bedroom doors should not be locked. Should a flash fire break out, it would be a nightmare (噩梦).Punishing all the children when only one has earned the punishment is a good way to make them grow up to hate each other. Children who use "naughty" words should not be punished with hot sauce in the mouth-they should be taught the proper and acceptable word to use instead of the "naughty" word. 

Gram's daughter _____________.

A. is very strict with her children            B. does not love her three children

C. always punishes her children at night      D. often gives her children hot sauce

Gram writes the letter in order to ____________.

A. disclose her daughter's ways as a mother     

B. criticize her daughter's ways as a mother

C. express her anger about her daughter s ways as a mom

D. get others' opinion about her daughter's ways as a mom

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

A. Gram seems to care for her grand children very much.

B. Gram is against some of her daughter's ways as a mom.

C. Abby is for only one of Gram's daughter's ways as a mom.

D. Abby agrees with Gram about her daughter's ways as a mom.

After a year of preparing herself, Laura Dekker has been given permission to sail around the world. “I was so happy that I almost jumped into the river,” Laura said, after learning of the court’s verdict(判决).
The 14-year-old was born on a ship in the South Pacific, and currently lives with her father on a boat. When child protection agencies heard about her plan to sail alone, they took the case to court and prevented her from making such a dangerous voyage.
Since the decision, though, Laura had been preparing with her father to convince the court that she was ready. Later on, she received the books and other materials she would need for school while she was at sea. She added safety equipment to a new, big ship. And she took her first aid course to learn several survival skills, like how to put out fires on the boat, take care of her own injuries and deal with lack of sleep. She also planned a safer course --- adding alternate routes(备用路径) to avoid pirate attacks, and planning a course that would have her on dry land as she moved from port to port across the globe.
Even with all of the added preparations, the trip still has its risks. In early June, 16-year-old Abby Sunderland, an American, had to abandon(放弃) her attempt to become the youngest sailor to travel around the world. Her ship’s mast(桅杆) broke due to rough waters in the Indian Ocean, and she was rescued by a French fishing ship.
Laura plans to take longer than Abby for her voyage, and is using a larger and more stable boat. If she finished successfully in less than two years, she will take the title from current record-holder Jessica Watson, of Australia, who was 16 when she completed the journey.
【小题1】Which of the following is TRUE of Laura?

A．how Laura convinced the court

B．why Laura needed to study at sea

C．how Laura prepared for the voyage

D．where Laura could avoid pirate attacks