The soldiers had just moved to the desert, and as they had never been in such a place before, they had a lot to learn.

As there were no trees or buildings in the desert, it was, of course, very hard to hide their trucks from enemy planes. The soldiers were, therefore, given training in camouflage. They were shown how to paint their trucks in irregular patterns with pale green, yellow, and brown paints, and then to cover them with nets to which they had tied small pieces of cloth.

The driver of the biggest truck had a lot of trouble camouflaging it. He spent several hours painting it, preparing a net and searching for some heavy rocks with which to hold the net down. When it was all finished, he went for lunch.

When he came back from his meal, he was surprised and worried to see that his camouflage was completely spoilt by the truck’s shadow, which was growing longer and longer as the afternoon advanced. He stood looking at it, not knowing what to do.

Soon an officer arrived, and he, too, saw the shadow, of course.

“Well,” he shouted to the poor driver, “What are you going to do about it? If an enemy plane comes over, the pilot will at once know that there is a truck there.”

“I know, sir,” answered the soldier.

“Well, don’t just stand there doing nothing!” said the officer.

“What shall I do, sir?” asked the poor driver.

“Get your spade and throw some sand over the shadow, of course!” answered the officer.

From this passage you can know ________.

       A. there were a lot of trees where the soldiers were stationed

       B. the soldiers were staying in an area far from the enemy planes

       C. the soldiers knew nothing about desert

       D. the soldiers had lived in desert before

Which of the following is right?

       A. The nets with which they covered their trucks were made of small pieces of cloth.

       B. The soldiers tied small pieces of cloth to the nets with which they covered their trucks.

       C. The nets covering the trucks were painted pale green, yellow and brown.

       D. The trucks were tied to the nets with small pieces of cloth.

The soldier was surprised and worried because ________.

       A. his truck had cast a shadow in the sun and the enemy plane would find it.

       B. the shadow of his truck was growing longer at noon

       C. it was late in the afternoon, and he could not get rid of the shadow

       D. his newly-painted truck was in the shadow

What do you think of the ending of the story?

       A. It is quite reasonable that the officer ordered the soldier to cover the shadow with sand.

       B. We’ll laugh at the officer’s order because it is where the humor lies.

       C. Though the officer’s order sounded wise, the soldier couldn’t cover the shadow.

       D. The soldier managed to cover the shadow with sand

What do you think of the ending of the story?

       A. It is quite reasonable that the officer ordered the soldier to cover the shadow with sand.

       B. We’ll laugh at the officer’s order because it is where the humor lies.

       C. Though the officer’s order sounded wise, the soldier couldn’t cover the shadow.

       D. The soldier managed to cover the shadow with sand

After an extra day in space,the crew of Discovery returned to Earth,landing at Edwards Air Force Base in California early on Tuesday morning.The shuttle and its crew spent two weeks in space,most of it aboard the International Space Station.It was the first flight of NASA's space?shuttle fleet since February 2003,when the shuttle Columbia came apart while re?entering Earth's atmosphere.?

NASA officials delayed Discovery's return for one day because of cloudy weather in Florida,where the shuttle was supposed to lanD. On Tuesday morning,mission controllers ?directed? Discovery to a landing site in California,where the skies were clear.The crew members will have to wait until Wednesday to see their families when they all meet together in Houston at the Johnson Space Center.?

Discovery had a very busy mission in space,compared to past missions.The space shuttle docked with the International Space Station most of the journey,delivering badly needed ?supplies? and repairing damaged parts.The crew spent a lot of time testing new repair techniques on their own shuttle,conducting three different spacewalks(where astronauts exit the space shuttle to do work outside).On the third spacewalk,astronaut Steve Robinson went underneath the shuttle to remove material sticking out from between the spacecraft's ?protective? tiles.?

There were concerns in the last remaining days of Discovery's mission that a torn heat blanket—another shield against overheating in the space shuttle—may pose a problem to crew members. NASA officials and technicians worked on ways that the crew could fix the problem, but later decided it was not a risk.?

With the shuttle and its crew safely back on firm ground, NASA is hailing this mission, labeled STS?114,as a huge success. “I hope this shows people that we're coming back,” NASA spaceflight chief Bill Readdy said after Discovery's successful landing. “We've got some more work to do. We know what we need to do and we'll do it.?

Which of the following isn't included in the jobs of the shuttle Discovery?

A. Delivering supplies to the International Space Station.?

B. Conducting different spacewalks.?

C. Testing new repair techniques.?

D. Finding the cause why the shuttle Columbia came apart.?

But for the cloudy weather, the shuttle Discovery would have landed_______.

A. in Florida a day earlier     B. in Florida a day later?

C. in California a day earlier D. in California a day later?

Which is the most probable period of time that Discovery was aboard the International Space Station?

A. Six days.    B. Two weeks.?

C. Nine days.  D. Two weeks and an extra day.?

The A-level question Have 22 continuous years of rises in A-level pass rate made the exam worthless? David Miliband, the minister for School Standards, insists the answer is a firm " no". And he said it was wrong that " more will mean worse and more educa??tion for more people will mean lower standards". Figures show that — despite the rise in A-grades to 21. 6 per cent — only 22,000 out of 600,000 18-year-olds gain three A-grade pas??ses. Put another way, that means — in a primary class of 30 pupils — only one will get three A-grades. The center right Bow Group, in a pamphlet published today, however, says nine out of ten scholars believe A-grades have been devalued over the past ten years.

Two inquiries (调查) — both set up by the Government’s exams watchdogs — one of which included in??dependent teaching experts, refused to accept that there had been any " dumping down" of A-level standards. But while they conclude that the exam questions have not become easier, changes in examining methods have almost certainly made it easier to gain top-grade passes.

As a result of the exams shake-up introduced in 2000, students sit six different types of exams to make up an A-level during the course of their two years of study. Only 20 per cent of the marks are set for the end-of-term exam. This makes it easier for teachers to help their pupils with the right answers.

Mr Miliband said yesterday, " My argument is not that to??day ‘s generation of pupils are cleverer than their parents; it is that schools and teachers are getting better at getting the best out of them. "

5. From the writer’s point of view, the rise in A-grades to 21. 6 per cent shows ______.

A. it is generally thought more education means lower standards

B. the rise in the A-level pass rate has made the exam worthless

C. the quality of the 18-year-olds has become lower

D. it is still hard for the general pupils to get three A-grade passes

6. The underlined word " they" in the second paragraph refers to ______.

A. the exams watchdogs               B. the independent teaching experts

C. the A-level standards                D. the two inquiries

7. As a result of the exams shake-up introduced in 2000 ______.

A. the pass rate for A-levels was set to rise continuously

B. the exam became easier than it had been before 2000

C. pupils could have many more choices of test after 2000

D. it soon became popular with teachers and pupils

8. What does this passage mainly discuss?

A. How reliable and effective the A-level grading system is.

B. How the A-level system helps universities select pupils.

C. How the pass rate has been increased in recent years.

D. How the A-level grading system has changed over the years.

My husband and I are both musicians. I took it  36   granted that one day our daughter Holly would learn to play an instrument.

In 2000 Holly fell  37   and the doctor said she may have been left   38    deaf. “She won’t be able to hear music in any shape or form,” said the doctor. It was a great   39   .

In 2001, her right ear was fitted with a cochlear implant --- electronic equipment that provides a sense of    40    for people who are completely deaf. Seven years later, another was fitted in her    41    ear. The doctors played us a model of what music would sound like to Holly --- I was horrified    42   it was just white noise.

“Holly will hear music,” I   43    saying to myself. I tried to put what had gone wrong right, so we constantly   44   words and sounds to her. She has been having lessons since she was seven . she’s   45   all the time. I’m always surprised by just how much better she does.

When she   46   a national piano competition, the adjudicator   47   Holly for appearing to listen to the sounds she was making --- her whole body, he said to us, was   48   in the process of making music.

I   49   that the model we originally heard of how music sounds with a cochlear implant isn’t   50   holly hears it. The brain is complex and adapts to many   51   ;in some way, Holly has made   52   of it all. She loves life. She doesn’t think about what happened to her and says   53   , “I don’t want to talk about bad things. Let’s talk about good things.”

I was determined that her life would not be   54   by a miserable event, but never imagined that she could   55   what she has. I can only describe this as a miracle.

A. as              B. like              C. for             D. with

A. asleep           B. ill               C. silent           D. short 

A. partly           B. nearly            C. deeply          D. totally

A. accident         B. disease           C. shock           D. surprise 

A. sound           B. noise             C. music           D. voice

A. right            B. left              C. deaf             D. good

A. although         B. unless           C. because          D. while

A. avoided          B. remembered      C. imagined         D. kept 

A. repeated          B. reflected         C. reacted          D. responded 

A. suffering          B. crying          C. working          D. improving

A. entered           B. quitted          C. lost              D. visited

A. asked             B. cared           C. praised          D. thanked

A. considered         B. contained        C. invited          D. involved

A. remind            B. believe          C. advise          D. forget

A. when             B. how             C. whether         D. why

A. states             B. positions         C. places           D. situations 

A. sense             B. choice           C. use             D. fun

A. exactly            B. finally           C. simply          D. generally 

A. influenced         B. decided          C. remarked        D. introduced 

A. achieve            B. choose          C. take            D. expect 

    Banks view online banking as a powerful “value-added” tool to attract and keep new customers while helping to eliminate costly paper handling or teller（出纳员）interactions in an increasingly competitive banking environment .

Today , most large national banks , many local banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking , variously known as PC banking , home banking , electronic banking or Internet banking . Online banks are sometimes referred to as “brick-to-click” banks , both to tell them from “brick-to-mortar” banks that haven’t yet offered online banking , as well as from “virtual”（虚拟）banks that have no physical branches or tellers whatsoever .

The challenge（挑战）for the banking industry has been to design this new service channel in such a way that its customers will readily learn to use and trust it . Most of the large banks can now offer fully safe ,fully functional （功能的）online banking for free or for a small cost . As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites , fully functional online banking will likely become as commonplace as automated teller machines (ATM).

Online banking has a lot of advantages . Unlike your corner bank , online banking sites never close; they’re at hand 24 hours a day , seven days a week , and they’re a mouse click away . If you’re out of state or even out of the country when a money problem appears , you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business . Online bank sites generally carry out and confirm （确认）deals at or quicker than ATM processing speeds . Many online banking sites now offer fashionable tools to help you manage all of your valuable items more effectively .

The word “eliminate” in the first paragraph probably means “          ”.

       A．keep  B．remove    C．reduce     D．improve

What is the challenge for the banking industry according to the text ?

       A．To make online banking attractive .       B．To open new services all over the world .

       C．To offer online banking for free .   D．To take care of business 24 hours a day .

From the text we can conclude that            .

       A．“brick-to-click” banks are in fact another kind of physical banks

       B．the function of a “brick-to-click” bank is as common as that of an ATM

       C．a “ brick-to-mortar” bank is no better than a virtual one

       D．customers can deal with their banking by a mouse click

What would be the best title for this text ?

       A．Banking of Various Forms     B．Improvement of Banking Industry

       C．Development of Online Banking    D．Functions of the “Brick-to-Click” Bank