“This Friday we'll have the yearly Egg Drop Challenge,” said our science teacher, Mr. Baker. “You can work alone or with a partner.”

My friend, Cassie, and I smiled at each other. We always worked on projects   36  .

The   37   of the challenge was simple—to build a protective container to keep an egg from breaking when   38   the stadium wall.

I made my sandwich that afternoon while waiting for Cassie.   39   the butter-cream gave me an idea.

“I have a brilliant design for our   40   container!” I said when Cassie arrived. “We can 41 the egg with some butter-cream.”

“Why not put the egg in a basket with a parachute   42  ?” Cassie rolled her eyes. “The parachute is better than that stupid idea.”

I couldn't believe it. Of course we'd had our little   43   in the past, but she'd never called any of my ideas “  44  ” before.

“Then I’ll build mine and you build yours!”

  45   words had been out, our friendship was challenged.

When Friday finally arrived, I had to   46   Cassie’s Egg Force One looked pretty good. 47, my Egg-cellent Egg Cream didn't look quite scientific. We kids carried our containers up three stadium steps and dropped them over the side wall. Those whose eggs broke were out; those whose eggs survived   48   three more steps and dropped them again. This would go on till the last egg broke.

After four rounds, only Cassie and I were   49  . I let go of my box. I heard someone say “ew” after seconds. Had my egg broken? I raced down the   50  . The sidewalk was dotted with egg shells(蛋壳) from those   51   drops. Finally I found my little Egg-cellent Egg Cream.

“That looks like egg drop soup, Laura,” Cassie said. She was holding her Egg Force One. My 52   raced. Had she won? I looked at her basket.   53  .

“My egg bounced (弹起)   54  ,” she explained, pointing to a broken shell.

“A tie（平局）,” Mr. Baker said.

Cassie looked at me, and her glare（瞪眼）  55  . I laughed. She smiled…

1.A. patiently          B. silently         C. together         D. alone

2.A. function           B. goal             C. reason               D. result

3. A. rolled down       B. pushed against   C. thrown at            D. dropped over

4.A. Spreading          B. Boiling          C. Baking           D. Holding

5.A. butter         B. sandwich         C. cream                D. egg

6. A. protect           B. replace          C. carry            D. mix

7. A. followed          B. covered          C. attached         D. supported

8.A. ideas              B. fights               C. worries      D. challenges

9.A. wrong          B. stupid               C. brilliant        D. scientific

10. A. Since                B. While                C. But          D. And

11.A. explain           B. deny             C. admit                D. prove

12. A. Therefore            B. Anyway           C. Otherwise        D. Besides

13.A. paced down        B. turned around        C. walked up        D. went back

14. A. left             B. wanted           C. chosen           D. discovered

15.A. steps             B. way              C. wall             D. sidewalk

16.A. intended          B. unexpected           C. failed       D. desired

17.A. eyes              B. hands                C. feel         D. heart

18.A. Lost              B. Dirty                C. Broken       D. Empty

19.A. around            B. out              C. in                   D. down

20. A. returned         B. remained         C. increased        D. softened

Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets(彗星)which other scientists had made. The orbit（轨道） of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.

    However, Halley had a friend named Isaac Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse(椭圆形).

    Now Halley set to work. He figured out(解决，计算出)the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearance had been 75 to 76 years apart.

    This seemed very strange to Halley. Three different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.

    It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain to make a prediction(预言)of what would happen in the future. He decided that this would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested. In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet had been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.

Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ____.

    A. some different comets appearing several times

    B. the same comet appearing at different times

    C. three different comets appearing at the same time

    D. several comets appearing at the same time

Halley made his discovery ____.

    A. by doing experiments

    B. by means of his own careful observation

    C. by using the working of other scientists

    D. by chance

Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year____.

    A. 1704     B. 1705     C. 1706     D. 1707

This passage in general is about ____.

    A. Halley and other scientists

    B. the orbit of a comet

    C. Newton and Halley

    D. Halley and his discovery

Which of the following is TRUE?

    A. Edmund Halley was an American scientist.

    B. Halley made his discovery by doing experiments.

    C. Isaac Newton was a famous mathematician.

    D. The orbit of a comet had the shape of an around.

 Complete the following passage by using the words in the box． Each word can only be used once． Note that there is one word more than you need．

A year ago, at the annual pre-Grammy party, Whitney Houston, the great diva（女歌手）, walked on stage and closed the evening with a brilliant performance．

Last Saturday, Houston was once again the  1  of the showcase before the Grammys, but her presence was a posthumous（死后的）one．

Earlier that day, pop music’s former queen was found dead in her hotel room． She was 48．

This, no doubt, is sad news to the whole music industry and her fans all over the world,   __2__ what a legendary life and remarkable career that she once had．

At her peak, Houston was the golden girl of the music world． From the mid-1980s to the late 1990s, she was one of the world’s  3  artists． She strongly impressed the audiences with effortless, powerful and peerless vocals．

Besides multi-million record sales, Houston made countless hits such as The Greatest Love of All, I Have Nothing, and the mostly famous I Will Always Love You．

She also  4  a generation of younger singers, from Christina Aguilera to Mariah Carey．

But by the end of her career, it was a  5  fall for this superstar． Houston has been addicted to drugs． Her album sales plummeted and the hits stopped coming． Her once calm and peaceful image was shattered by a wild manner and unusual public appearances, and her once natural voice became rough and hoarse, unable to hit the high notes as she  6  ．

“The biggest devil is me． I’m either my best friend or my worst enemy,” Houston told the ABC in an interview in 2002．

In 2009, Houston staged what seemed to be a successful  7  with the album I Look To You, which debuted on top of the charts．

But hoarse voice,   8  concerts, and continuous illness–Houston’s comeback trail wasn’t smooth at all． In an interview with Oprah Winfrey in 2009, Houston confessed: “It （show business） is too much． So much to try to live up to, to try to be, and I wanted out．”

Now that Houston has finally taken a break from all the chaos, may she rest  9  ．

As we all know，it was Thomas Jefferson who wrote the Declaration of Independence (独立宣言)．He wrote it in two weeks，and after a few changes，it was accepted by the Congress．As a result，he became famous in America's history．

Born in Virginia，Thomas Jefferson，a brilliant student at school and almost talented lawyer later，was much interested in politics.

 Jefferson was elected Governor of Virginia in 1779，and he was sent to France as the Representative of the American Government in 1784．Sixteen years later，at the age of 57，he was elected president after Washington and Adams．

Far from a handsome man，he was is tall with long arms and big hands．Jefferson，who was an amusing talker in conversation，but a poor speaker，was generally good-natured．

Jefferson was regarded as a defender(捍卫者)of freedom Of America．As a president，he protected the right of speech．Interestingly enough，in his eight years as president，：Jefferson never said “No” to a bill(议案)!which the Congress had passed．He did a lot in organizing the new University of Virginia．

Thomas Jefferson died on July the fourth，1826，the fiftieth anniversary of America’s independence．

1.Who wrote the Declaration of Independence?

   A. Thomas Jefferson  B. Lincoln   C. Washington   D. Adams

2.We are most likely to read this passage in            ．

    A．a daily newspaper            B．a popular advertisement

    C．a history book              D．an important notice

3.Which of the following statements about Jefferson’s personality is true?

   A．He was a shy and slow learner when he was at school．

    B．He was not an easy person to get along with at all

    C．He was not only very talented but also very handsome．

    D．He was an amusing talker，but not good at speaking in public．

4.Jefferson’s greatest contribution in America’s history is that              ．

    A．he was for the right of free speech

    B．he was sent to France as the Representative

    C.  he wrote the Declaration of Independence

    D．he organized the new University of Virginia

5.Thomas Jefferson was elected president of the United States in the year of      .

A. 1779         B．1784         C．1800         D．1826

Although cats can not see in complete darkness, their eyes are much more ______ to light than human eyes.

A. brilliant     B. attractive    C. available    D. sensitive