September 21, 2050----At a press conference today it was announced that the first tourist heading for Mars will be the 38-year-old US businessman Patrick Clifford. He will leave the earth in the  launching window of June 2052 and set his foot on the surface of Mars in November, together with the other 6 astronauts assigned for the mission to further explore the planet.

Patrick has now two years of training ahead of him to get ready for the trip. Not only will he spend five months in getting to Mars, but another 600 days there before he can go back home.  Patrick was of course very excited, “ This has been my dream since I was four, and seeing the first man on Mars 20 years ago made me realize that it was possible.”

To be able to pay the $ 1. 3 billion for his ticket for the trip Patrick sold his majority stake (股份) in the company his father had built. “I know that my father would have been proud of me if he had still been alive today, he knew what this means to me”, says Patrick. There is no risk though that you will find Patrick begging in your street corner when he comes back, but it is said that he was paid twice as much for his part of the company.

So, how is he going to spend his 600 days on the red planet? “Well, since I don’t have a job when I get back after selling the company, I have plenty of time to come up with a new business idea”, he says and laughs. If he brings a shovel（铁锹）he can start building the first hotel there, but maybe he shouldn’t expect too many guests until someone can offer a cheaper ticket.

1.How long will Patrick Clifford be away before he comes back?

A．About five months   B．About two years    C．About 600 days     D．About 750 days

2.The underlined part in Paragraph 3 means that          .

A．the trip will turn Patrick into a beggar

B．Patrick will get much money from the trip

C．we needn’t worry about Patrick’s economic condition

D．it’s likely that Patrick will be very poor after he comes back

3.What can be inferred from the passage?

A．Patrick is an optimistic man

B．A total of six people will go to Mars

C．Patrick’s father felt excited at the news

D．Patrick will spend all his money on the trip

                              A

George had stolen some money, but the police had caught him and he had been put in prison. Now his trial was about to begin, and he felt sure that he would be found guilty and sent to prison for a long time.

Then he discovered that an old friend of his was one of the members of the jury at his trial. Of course, he did not tell anybody, but he managed to see his friend secretly one day. He said to him, "Jim, I know that the jury will find me guilty of having stolen the money. I cannot hope to be found not guilty of taking it —— that would be too much to expect. But I should be grateful to you for the rest of my life if you could persuade the other members of the jury to add a strong recommendation for mercy to their statement that they consider me guilty."

“Well, George,”answered Jim. “I shall certainly try to do what I can for you as an old friend, but of course I cannot promise anything. The other eleven people on the jury look terribly strong-minded to me.”

George said that he would quite understand if Jim was not able to do anything for him, and thanked him warmly for agreeing to help.

The trial went on, and at last the time came for the jury to decide whether George was guilty or not. It took them five hours, but in the end they found George guilty, with a strong recommendation for mercy.

Of course, George was very pleased, but he did not have a chance to see Jim for some time after the trial. At last, however, Jim visited him in prison, and George thanked him warmly and asked him how he had managed to persuade the other members of the jury to recommend mercy.

"Well, George," Jim answered, "as I thought, those eleven men were very difficult to persuade, but I managed it in the end by tiring them out. Do you know, those fools had all wanted to find you not guilty!"

1.56. We are told that George expected Jim to help _____.

2.57. Which of the following is true about Jim?

3.58. The passage suggests that _____.

4.59. The title for this passage is ______.

—Do you think he can get the first prize for jumping?

   —Impossible now. He     to do so, but he has just hurt his leg.

A. has expected              B. is expected                  C. would expect     D. was expected

Three high students become heroes after their act of saving a baby’s life.

Andrew Willis, 15, his brother Chris, 13, and friend Reece Galea, 14, were walking along Swallow Drive on their way to school on May 23, when Nicholle Price ran out of her house, shouting for help. Her six-month-old son Corey had swallowed (吞下) an earring （耳环） and the young mother couldn’t ring for help because something was wrong with her phone. The three teenagers rushed to the aid of Ms Price, called an ambulance (救护车), calmed her down and waited with her until the ambulance arrived before heading to school.

Ms Price, Corey and his grandmother Joyce Finnie visited the school last Thursday to thank the boys for their kind action. “It’s good to know that there are still some good people who will stop and help,” Ms Price said. “While I was shouting for help, a woman walking her dog went straight past, without stopping. I don’t know what would have happened if these boys had not stopped.”

The teenagers were shocked at the attention they received at school for their heroic act but admitted that the incident was nerve-racking(刺激神经的). “We heard her shouting so we knew something wasn’t right,” Andrew said. “We thought someone had died. It was scary （惊慌的） but we just did what we had to do.”

Just as proud as the boys’ parents is their principal, Tim McCallum.

After two days in hospital, Corey has now fully recovered. “He’s got two new teeth to show,” Ms Price said. “I have to keep a closer eye on him. He’s into everything now and grabs whatever he finds to put it straight into his mouth.”

1.The three high students were _____ when a woman ran out of her house shouting for help.

A．playing near the house

B．on their way to school

C．walking their dogs nearby

D．on their way back from school

2.Ms Price spoke of a woman walking her dog without stopping to show _____.

A．how dangerous the case was

B．how brave the three boys were

C．why the three teenagers’ action was heroic

D．how clever the three boys were

3.The underlined sentence in the 4th paragraph probably means “_____”.

A．they didn’t expect they would be given so much praise

B．they felt excited to have become so famous after the incident

C．they were supposed to receive so many prizes for their good deed

D．they were proud of the attention they received at school for their heroic deed

4.Which would be the best title for this passage?

A．How a baby was saved after swallowing an earring

B．Why the mother shouted for help

C．Baby life saved: teenage heroes earn high praise

D．A mother came to school to thank 3 teenagers

Blind photography sounds strange．But a striking exhibition of photographs in California argues that it develops as a result of the contemporary art．The show "Sight Unseen", at the California Museum of Photography until Aug．29, includes everything: underwater scenes, landscapes, abstracts and everything else you might expect from a "sighted" photographer．

How do the blind take their photographs? Some rely on assistants to set up and then describe the shots （镜头） , and others just point and shoot in the right place．"Just like any good artists," says McCulloh．"They have their unique ways of operating．" One participating photographer is Pete Eckert, an artist with multiple degrees in design and sculpture who only turned to photography after losing his vision in the mid-1990s．He opens the shutter （快门） on his camera and then uses flashlights, lights, and candles to paint his scene on film．A former fashion photographer in Chicago, Weston, lost his vision due to AIDS in 1996 and focuses on images of destruction and disability．His photos are also a star of the show．

What do gallery-goers say? "I was very impressed by it．The technique and experience was amazingly different," says John Hesketh, a printmaker in Anaheim．"You never have a sense of feeling sorry for these people because they've worked very hard to prove their value．"

Beyond the praise, however, the exhibition also makes a great example for disabled people everywhere．That point was explained in early May during a discussion on the TV show．At the very end of the talk, one attendee expressed his opinion．"This exhibition is extraordinary and revolutionary for many reasons．I think that by being an artist with a disability, you are continuing the work of those people who fought for basic civil rights to gain access and to have a voice．In that way, it's so wonderful that your photographs say it all．"

1.From the passage we know that some blind people take photos by     .

A．describing the things to their assistants.

B．holding the camera and shooting randomly.

C．opening the shutter with the help of others.

D．using special equipment designed for them.

2.We can learn from the passage that blind photographers ______.

A．were not born blind.

B．do jobs related to art.

C．focus on different subjects.

D．like photos of destruction.

3.What is people's reaction to the blind photography show?

A．They admire the blind photographers' hard work．

B．They feel really sorry for those blind photographers．

C．They think some have good techniques while others not．

D．They can understand the real meaning of each photograph．

4.The significance of the exhibition lies in the fact that ______．

A．the California Museum of Photography receives praises for holding the show.

B．the public have a chance to know what the blind people are concerned about.

C．the blind photographers have a good place to show their works.

D．the exhibition can be very inspiring to the blind in the world.