With alarming regularity, we read about oil tankers having accidents near land and the terrible consequences of the oil spills （泄露） on people, nature, and the environment．

         Millions of dollars have been used in developing special chemicals to help dismiss the spills and to clean up the animals, beaches, and land spoiled by the oil．Unfortunately, when many of these chemicals are used, more damage is caused to the environment, especially to lives in the sea．

         Of all of today's environmental disasters, an oil spill may actually be one of the least serious．Although oil is poisonous, it is a natural material．In the end, it breaks down naturally．There are, of course, long-term effects, but it is usually more serious in the short term．

         Nature by itself works better than chemical materials, but when there is a spill we demand that governments act immediately with as much hi-tech knowledge as possible．In 1967 the tanker Torrey Canyon sank off the Scilly Isles near the coast of England and spilled 120,000 tones of oil into the ocean．If you go there today, you will find it hard to see any sign that it ever happened．

         Governments seem to accept the risk of transporting millions of tons of oil by ship every day so that we can fill up our cars and drive around and cause even more environmental damage．Interestingly, the biggest companies in the world produce cars, and the next biggest supply the gasoline to make them run.

         We should be thinking more about reducing our dependency on oil．Governments should be encouraging research into new technologies, such as cars run by solar power （太阳能） , electricity, hydrogen, and so on．Much of this research has, in the past, been held back by the oil, gas, and coal．

         If the world's millions of cars were 10% more efficient （高效的）—and the industry could easily produce cars at least twice as efficient，we would need many fewer tankers crossing the oceans each year．If this happened, the risks of oil spills would be reduced, and the air we breathe would be cleaner and fresher, too．

1.What is the passage mainly talking about?

A．Oil spills pollution．  　　　     B．What oil pollution is

C．Oil tanker accidents.            D．How to reduce oil pollution

2.How does the author support the idea that oil spills are not as serious as people believe?

A．By giving a description．   　　         B．By making an argument

C．By giving an example．           D．By drawing a diagram

3.What does the underlined word "risk" in Paragraph 5 refer to?

A．Transportation depending more on oil

B．Poisonous oil breaking down naturally

C．Millions of tons of oil spilling into the sea

D．More environmental damage being caused

4.Which suggestion, is made for reducing oil tank accidents according to the passage?

A．We should build safer tankers in the near future

B．We should develop new technologies to cut oil use

C．Tankers should not be allowed to sail near the coastlines

D．Countries should build more oil pipelines under the sea

For many years, scientists couldn't figure out how atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living things. Plants, fish, dinosaurs, and people are made of atoms and molecules, but they are put together in a more complicated way than the molecules in the primitive ocean. What's more, living things have energy and can reproduce, while the chemicals on the Earth 4 billion years ago were lifeless.
　　After years of study, scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases. These are molecules with millions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms. How could such complicated molecules have been formed in the primitive soup? Scientists were stumped.
　　Then, in 1953, two scientists named Harold Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth. They set up some tubes and bottles in a closed loop, and put in some of the same gases that were present in the atmosphere 4 billion years ago: water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen.
　　Then they shot an electric spark through the gases to simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth, circulated the gases through some water, sent them back for more sparks, and so on. After seven days, the water that the gases had been bubbling through had turned brown. Some new chemicals were dissolved in it. When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained amino acids-the very kind of molecules found in all living things.
61. When did scientists come to realize how the atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living thing?
　　A. 4 billion years ago. B.1953.　C. After seven days.D. Many years later.
62. Scientists figured out that human bodies are basically made of .
A.amino acids
B.molecules
C. hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms
D. water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen
63. Harold Urey and Stanley L.Miller did their experiment in order to .　
A. find out what had happened on the Earth 4 billion years ago
　　 B.simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth
　　 C. dissolve some new chemicals
　　D.analyze a liquid
64. At the end of the last paragraph, the underlined word "it" refers to .
A. a closed loop   B. an electric spark   C.water   D. the liquid
65. According to the writer, living things on the Earth include .
　A. atoms and molecules                     B.chemicals　
C. plants, fish, dinosaurs and human beings     D.the primitive soup

A Battery’s Worst Nightmare(噩梦)

     Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life!When the fuel runs out in your laptop or mobile phone, you just fill up and go.

    The engine, about the size of a ten-cent coin, starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen (氢). Its tiny parts are etched onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are imprinted onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.

     But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency(效率). Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like their scaled-up parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down the work, according to Columbia University professor Luc Frechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.

    The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that will operate 10 times better than batteries do. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t available until at least the end of the next ten years. 

1..

. According to the passage, the title suggests that ________.

    A. batteries should be greatly improved           B. petrol will be used instead of batteries

    C. the time of batteries will be gone forever    D. pollution caused by batteries must be prevented

2..

 What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” (In Paragraph 3)?

     A. Problem.　           B. Advantage.　        C. Invention.　                 D. Technique.

3..

 What can we infer from the passage?

A. The new invention doesn’t need any fuel. 

B. The new engine has been produced in quantity.

    C. The new invention is much cheaper than the battery.

    D. The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale.

4..

. What is the main purpose of this passage?

    A. To introduce a new invention to readers.        B. To persuade readers not to use batteries.

    C. To show us how the new invention works. 　　D. To declare when the engine will be on sale.

　　Both warm-blooded and cold-blooded desert animals have ways to escape the desert heat. Warm- blooded desert animals, such as rats and mice, rest during the day, often staying in cool underground burrows. At night they search for food. Animals that are out during the day, such as cold-blooded lizards and snakes, are active only for short periods. As their body temperature rises, these reptiles（爬行动物） move into the shade in order to cool down. In the early evening, when the sun grows weaker, the reptiles become more active and begin their search for food again.

　　Getting enough water to survive is a major problem for all desert animals. Some desert animals, like desert birds, manage to find water holes. Other desert animals, such as the kangaroo rat and the related jerboa, get water only from the food that they eat. Because these animals eat mainly dry seeds, they must survive on a tiny amount of water.

　　Most deserts have only a small number of frogs and toads because these animals must be near water to survive. Yet even these creatures have adapted(适应) to desert conditions. When small amounts of water collect in temporary streams, the desert-living frogs and toads become active. After a rainfall, they lay their eggs. The eggs grow into tadpoles in a few days and into adults in just four weeks. When the puddles(水坑) dry up, the adult frogs or toads dig into the ground. Their metabolism(新陈代谢) slows, and they stay beneath the ground until the next rain, which may be as good as a year away. Until then, their bodily activities continue at a reduced rate.

　　The camel ― often called the ship of the desert ― is one of the most successful desert animals. Camels can go for long periods without water, but eventually they must drink. When water becomes available to them after a long drought, they may drink 95 liters of water or more. When water is not available, what helps camels survive the desert heat is the fat stored in their humps(驼峰). A camel’s hump contains about 12 kilograms of fat. Fat is rich in hydrogen. As the fat is digested, hydrogen from the fat combines with oxygen in the air that the camel breathes. The result is H2O, or water. Each kilogram of fat that a camel digests produces about a liter of water.

41. Desert animals are usually more active at night because _____.

　A. it is cooler at night        B. it is easier to find water

　C. they like the dark         D. they are less likely to be attacked at night

42. Which of the following desert animals can get water only from the food?

　A. The camel.     B. The kangaroo.     C. The frog.    D. The rat.

43. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

　A. All the desert animals rest during the day.

　B. All the desert animals don’t rest during the day.

　C. Cold-blooded desert animals are out most of the day.

　D. None of the cold-blooded desert animals go out during the day.

44. The title for this passage could probably be _____.

　A. Hot Deserts                            B. Desert Animals

　C. How Desert Animals Get Water            D. Ways To Escape the Desert Heat

45. The underlined word “burrows” in the first paragraph can be replaced by _____.

　A. holes        B. caves       C. rooms        D. openings

For many years, scientists couldn't figure out how atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living things. Plants, fish, dinosaurs, and people are made of atoms and molecules, but they are put together in a more complicated way than the molecules in the primitive ocean. What's more, living things have energy and can reproduce, while the chemicals on the Earth 4 billion years ago were lifeless.

　　After years of study, scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases. These are molecules with millions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms. How could such complicated molecules have been formed in the primitive soup? Scientists were stumped.

　　Then, in 1953, two scientists named Harold Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth. They set up some tubes and bottles in a closed loop, and put in some of the same gases that were present in the atmosphere 4 billion years ago: water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen.

　　Then they shot an electric spark through the gases to simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth, circulated the gases through some water, sent them back for more sparks, and so on. After seven days, the water that the gases had been bubbling through had turned brown. Some new chemicals were dissolved in it. When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained amino acids-the very kind of molecules found in all living things.

46. When did scientists come to realize how the atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living thing?

　　A. 4 billion years ago.     B.1953.     C. After seven days.     D. Many years later.

47. Scientists figured out that human bodies are basically made of .

　　A. amino acids                         

B. molecules

C. hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms

D. water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen

48. Harold Urey and Stanley L.Miller did their experiment in order to .　

A. find out what had happened on the Earth 4 billion years ago

B. simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth

C. dissolve some new chemicals

D. analyze a liquid

49. At the end of the last paragraph, the underlined word "it" refers to.

A. a closed loop         B. an electric spark         C. water         D. the liquid

50. According to the writer, living things on the Earth include .

　 A. atoms and molecules                      B. chemicals　

C. plants, fish, dinosaurs and human beings      D. the primitive soup