Have you ever wondered?

1.Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?

It can take five hours to go west-east from New York(NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon know as the jet(喷射) stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. The planes movement a constams air speed thus go faster in the west-east direction when the air moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.

2 What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?

  Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures float away? What happened would depend on how strongly the things were attached to the Earth. The Earth is moving at quite a speed moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something round your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the strong go of the string. Things not attacked to the Earth would fly off in a straight line . People in buildings would suddenly shoot  upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. Most things would fly off into space.

1.What information coa we get from the first passage?

       A.tis the iet stoomn that affeets how fast airplanes fly.

       B.Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

       C.It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

       D.The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atantic.

2.The word“shoot”underlined in the 2nd passage probably means“__________”.

       A.send for

       B.move quickly

       C.come out

       D.grow quickly

3.It can be interred that without gravity_________.

       A.buildings and other structures would float away

       B.trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

       C.something around your head would not float away

       D.everything outside buildings would fly off into space

4.Where can wemost probably read this text?

       A.In s research paper

       B.In a tort story.

       C.In a travel magazine.

       D.In a student’s book.

              Have you ever wondered?

1. Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?

It can take five hours to go west-east from New York(NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon known as the jet(喷射) stream. The jet stream is a very high altitude wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. The planes moving at a constant air speed thus go faster in the west-east direction when the air moving with the wind than in the opposite direction.

2. What would happen if the gravity(重力) on Earth was suddenly turned off?

Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures float away? What happened would depend on how strongly the things were attached to the Earth. The Earth is moving at quite a speed moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something round your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. “Switching off ” gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attacked to the Earth would fly off in a straight line . People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling. Most things would fly off into space.

1.What information can we get from the first passage?

A. It is the jet stream that affects how fast airplanes fly.

B. Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

C. It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

D. The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atlantic.

2.The word “shoot” underlined in the 2^nd passage probably means“      ”.

A. send for       B. move quickly      C. come out      D. grow quickly

3.It can be inferred that without gravity          .

A. buildings and other structures would float away

B. trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

C. something around your head would not float away

D. everything outside buildings would fly off into space

4. Where can we most probably read this text?

A. In a research paper.                                         B. In a short story.

C. In a travel magazine.                                       D. In a students’ book

On August 27, 1783, the people of the village of Gomesse, in France, looked up into the sky and saw a strange and terrible animal. It was huge and round, flying down from the sky. It landed in the field just outside the village. It was clear to the people of Gomesse that they had to defend themselves. The animal was clearly some kind of terrible “spirit”. They were afraid of the spirit but they were also very brave. They rushed out into the field and fought the animal with knives and sticks and farming tools. The “spirit” made terrible noises, like an animal that can breathe only with great difficulty.

But that was not the worst thing. When the villagers cut into the spirit's skin, it gave off a horrible smell, and even after the villagers had cut the thing open, it still moved. Finally the villagers tied it to a horse. The horse ran through the fields and the “Spirit” was torn to pieces. What was the terrible spirit? The answer is that it was one of the first “hot air balloons气球”. Its skin was made of silk and a kind of rubber. The terrible smell was the hot air inside the balloon. When the air got out through the cuts in the skin, it also caused the horrible noises.?

1. The terrible noises were made because        .?

A. the spirit could hardly breathe

B. the spirit wanted to frighten the villagers?

C. the spirit was afraid of the villagers

D. hot air got out through the skin?

2. The terrible smell was        .?

A. the smell of silk and rubber

B. the hot air inside the balloon?

C. the smell of burnt house

D. the smell of burnt crops?

3. The spirit didn't stop moving until        .?

A. the hot air in it ran out completely

B. the villagers cut into its skin?

C. the villagers cut it open

D. it gave off a horrible smell?

4. The villagers tied the spirit to a horse        .?

A. shortly after they caught sight of the spirit?

B. because it didn't stop moving though it was cut open?

C. after it was torn to pieces?

D. because the villagers wanted to take it away?

Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm. How surprised he must have been!

    What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish. The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm.

    When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia. Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land. The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners (吸尘器), collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish. Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before vacuum dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people.

    Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur frequently in Australia. When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down.” His statement is not surprising. The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain. Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky.

1. What is this passage about?

     A. A sad story.                     B. Australia’s northern part.

     C. A rain of fish.                   D. The damage done by floods.

2. Fish-falls occur in Australia __________.

     A. quite often                      B. on large farms

     C. only in winter                   D. when the air is calm

3.The underlined word “infinite” is closest in meaning to “__________”.

     A. easy        B. difficult          C. countless         D. dangerous