Electric ears are dirty.In fact, not only are they dirty, they might even be more dirty than their gasoline-powered cousins.

    People in California love to talk about "zero-emissions vehicles", but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants mostly use fire to make it. Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators. Generators are fueled by something---usually coal, oil,but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants. There are a few wind farms and geothermal plants as well, but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.

    In other words, those "zero-emissions" cars are likely coal-burning cars. It's just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean. It is not. It's as if the California Greens are. covering their eyes---"If I can't see it, it's not happening." Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle; a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it.But when you take that gas (or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity, you waste a nice part of that energy, mostly in the form of wasted heat---at the generator, through the transmission lines, etc.

    A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far---so electric cars bum more fuel than gas-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from nukes; or geothermal,or hydro, or solar, or wind,then an electric car truly would be clean. But for political, technical,and economic reasons,we don't use much of those energy sources.

    In addition,electric cars' batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill.And finally, When cars are the polluters, the pollution is spread across all the roads. When it's a power plant, though, all the junk is in one place. Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.

1. What does "clueless" mean in paragraph 2?

    A. People are seeing the California Greens everywhere.

    B. People in California love to talk about zero-emissions vehicles.

    C. People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.

D. People there have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning

   coal, oil,etc.

2. What is the main idea of the passage?

    A. Electric cars are not clean at all

    B. Electric cars are better than gasoline-powered ones.

    C. People cast doubts on electric cars' batteries.

    D. Gasoline is an efficient way to powera vehicle.

3. The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our ear run         

    A. not less than 25 miles            B. more than 25 miles

    C. no more than 25 miles             D. not more than 25 miles

4. According to the passage, electric cars                  .

    A. do not burn fuel and more environmentally-friendly

B. are toxic because it is difficult for nature to clean it up when their

   batteries are buried in one spot.

    C. are very good at cleaning up when things are not too concentrated

    D. are poisonous for a long time and will eventually end up in a landfill

5. It can be inferred from the passage that                 

    A. being green is good and should be encouraged in communication

B. electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning

   something

    C. zero-emissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment

D. electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasoline-powered

   cousins

As far back as he could remember，Larry had longed to go to Hollywood and become a film star．The young man’s hopes for success were broken again and again，however．Hollywood just did not seem interesting．When he first came to California，Larry had decided never to give up and return home without success．Therefore，he kept on trying．Someday，he told himself，his big opportunity would come．

         Larry found a job parking cars for one of Hollywood’s big restaurants．His pay was elementary，but since the guests were kind enough to give him more money，he managed to make a living．One day he recognized an important film director driving into the parking lot （停车场） and getting out of his car．Larry had recently heard that the man was ready to make a new picture．

         Larry got into the car and prepared to drive it on into the lot and park it．Then he stopped，jumped out，and ran over to the director．“Excuse me，sir，but I think it’s only fair to tell you that it’s now or never if you want me in your next picture．A lot of big companies are after me．”

         Instead of pushing away the boy，the director laughed，then wrote something on a card and handed it to the young man．“Come and see me tomorrow．”

Larry got a small part in the director’s next film．He was on his way！

1.Which of the following was Larry interested in?

A．Working as a waiter．              B．Becoming a film star．

C．Parking cars for film stars．         D．Owing a big company．

2.Why did Larry find a job parking cars?

A．Because he liked the job．

B．Because the parking lot was near Hollywood．

C．To make a living and wait for the opportunity．

D．To see a lot of film stars and work for them．

3.After reading the story what can we infer （推断） about the film director ?

A．He wanted to laugh at Larry．

B．He recognized Larry at first sight．

C．He was kind and gave Larry a try．

D．He thought Larry would become a star．

4.what does the word “elementary” mean in this passage?

A．基本的        B．充足的          C．较高的          D．不达标的

5.“He was on his way”refers to the fact that ________．

A．he gave up and returned home

B．he began to work towards success

C．he took a journey to Hollywood

D．he had difficulty in playing the small part

Everybody may have seen the film “Death on the Nile ( 尼罗河)”, but nobody can imagine that the writer of the story, Agatha Christie, saved a baby in a most unusual way.

In June 1977, a baby girl became seriously ill in Deleville. Doctors there were unable to find out the cause of her illness, so she was sent to a famous hospital in London, where there were many excellent doctors. The baby was so seriously ill that a team of doctors hurried to examine her without delay. The doctors, too, were puzzled by the baby’s illness and they also became discouraged. Just then a nurse asked to speak to them.

“I think the baby is suffering from thallium (铊) poisoning. ” said the nurse. “A few days ago, I read a story ‘A Pale Horse’ written by Agatha Christie. Someone uses thallium poison, and all the symptoms (症状) are written in the book. They are exactly the same as the baby’s.”

“You’re very good at observing things,” said a doctor, “and you may be right. We’ll carry out some tests and find out whether the cause is thallium poisoning or not.”

The tests proved that the baby had indeed been poisoned by thallium. Once they knew the cause, the doctors were able to give her correct treatment. The baby soon got well and was sent back to Deleville. A week later it was reported that the poison might have come from an insecticide (杀虫剂) used in Deleville.

1.The baby was sent to a hospital in London because ______.

2.When the baby was first sent to the hospital in London, her illness was considered to be ______

A quite easy to treat      

B. the result of thallium poisoning

C.    a common one            

D. extraordinarily serious

3.From this passage it seems that the baby’s illness had something to do with ______.

A a dead writer              B. a harmful substance ( 物质) used to kill pests

C. the water in Deleville    D. a dangerous murderer

4. As far as we can tell from the story, Agatha Christie ______.

－My teacher punished me this morning.

   －Why? You’ve done nothing wrong, _________ I can see.

   A. as long as       B. as well as       C. as far as            D. as soon as

---Tom has been fired by his boss．

---              ? As far as I know, he is a hardworking and considerate fellow．