Question: What is more astonishing than a 60-ton whale on a flatbed truck being driven down the street?

       Answer: A 60-ton whale on a flatbed truck exploding and raining blubber ( fat of whales ) all over the sidewalk

       That’s what happened in Taiwan recently , when a dead sperm whale being shipped to the Halobios Research Centre for an autopsy (尸体解剖) developed an extremely bad case of gas  and blew up before it reached its destination .

       The whale was found alive on a Taiwan beach last weekend, and died shortly after it was discovered. Since the 56-foot whale was the largest whale ever beached on Taiwan’s shores, scientists wanted to study it and perform an autopsy for educational purpose.

       Obviously, too much time passed between when the animal died and the time it was set to be moved to the autopsy location, because it had already started to go bad. When things rot, they give off gasses as a by-product. In the whale’s case, the gases were trapped in its belly. The pressure inside the rotting creature grew so much that it popped like an over-filled balloon. Unfortunately , it was on a truck in the middle of the city of Taiwan at the time — cars and shops lining the street were covered with whale bits and juices , much to their owners’ discouragement .

       According to news reports, traffic was tied up for hours while officials tried to clean up the streets.

       Newspaper editors worldwide were probably smiling to themselves , since they had a ready-made headline —several reports about the incident were titled “ There She Blows ! ” after the famous line from the book Moby Dick

1．The purpose of the question at the beginning of this news report is to __________.

       A．explain the reason                                       B．sell newspapers

C．attract readers                                            D．give an immediate answer

2．The whale’s explosion is the result of _________.

       A．pressure from gases building up in the creature as it began to rot

B．the long transport of the creature from the beach to the center

C．the extremely busy traffic in the streets it passed by

D．the quick process of rotting of the animal

3．What is the correct order of the incidents?

       a．The whale was se o a flatbed truck               b．The whale was discovered

c．The whale exploded                                     d．The whale died

A．b ; c ; a ; d              B．d ; c ; b ; a             

C．b ; d ; a ; c             D．d ; b ; a ; c

4．What do we know from the last paragraph?

       A．Some newspaper editors were laughed at

B．Moby Dick is he name of a woman writer

C．All the newspapers reported the story under the same title

D．The title “ There She Blows ! ” is taken from the book Moby Dick .

Parking has long been a major headache for drivers in Shanghai. The Transportation Department is mapping out a new plan for the city’s parking system. There are one million cars on the road in Shanghai but only enough public parking space to provide room for 15 percent of these vehicles. It is no wonder that local drivers get so worried trying to find a place to park.
The city is seeing a rise in private car owners. In March, the city sent out 2,000 private car licenses, the highest number of licenses ever sent out in a month. And prices rose to 14,600 yuan, 500 more than in February. Industry experts say this suggests that local people have a strong, active interest in buying cars.
By the year 2020, the number of automobiles in Shanghai will probably reach two million. If one parking lot is for each car, then a lot of parking space should be built for these vehicles.
Downtown Shanghai is most short of parking space. However, experts point out that simply building more parking lots in downtown areas is not practical and doesn’t provide an ideal solution. The idea of “ Park & Ride” system has been suggested. This means that drivers can leave their vehicles in car parks nearby subway or bus stations and ride public transport to go downtown. Based on this idea, the city will limit the number of parking lots in downtown areas and demand higher parking fees but build more parking areas near main subway and bus stops.
【小题1】The underlined phrase “mapping out” in the first paragraph means __________.

I was on my lunch break in the city, enjoying a salad at an outdoor café, when a shabby homeless lady came waking towards me. She was _36_ everyone who walked past her for spare_37_ and she looked very dirty. My _38  reaction was fear and I hoped she wouldn’t come near me, but she did.. I was on the phone and when she__39_ , I said “ I’m on the phone” in the nicest way I could, telling myself what she needed was a lesson in _40_. She walked away, mumbling(自言自语), “ I’m_41_ you. I’m sorry, I’m sorry. I’ll leave.” And she turned the corner.
_42_ ,I would feel relieved or satisfied, but something in me couldn’t _43_ . Without another thought, I looked in my _44_ for the spare change I had. I even started searching through my entire purse, the pockets, everything for all of the change I could _45_ find to give. I got up and walked towards this lady and gave her all I _46_. She held my hand and said, “ Thank you!” Her hand was 47 and dirty, but I didn’t mind 48 her hand. I wanted to be there for her , when normally I would  49 the other way. She looked at me and said, “Will you touch my face?” And for some reason, I did. I put my hand on her cheek and she started to 50  .  I could  51 it was as if she had not been touched by a loving, soft hand in ages, 52 . And so I held it there, trying to 53 her with my heart open. It was powerful.
She thanked me and walked away quietly. And I walked away with an open heart, trying to 54  
sense of what had just happened. It changed something in me and has made me want to be a 55 person to the people I meet during my day.

It was a warm March evening，and I’d just taken a seat on the bus that would take me home．It was nearly 6：00 PM，but the bus was not yet full and the driver gave no  26  that he intended to start the bus．
A middle-aged woman took a seat opposite me . She was crying．Not speaking to anyone in particular，she   27 told her story．
She had come to the city to visit her daughter．On the way to the terminal(终点站)，a thief had _28_ one of her bags．It had contained half of the money she’d brought with her．The other half was hidden under her blouse, so she _29_ still had some money left．The bus conductor，driver，and other passengers listened to her tale．
At this time, an old man _30_got on the bus．He sat in the seat directly in front of the woman．After a few minutes, all seats were __31__．The driver started the engine．The bus conductor collected tickets and began asking us where we were  _32__．When he came to the old man’s seat，he became __33__  and asked the old man whether he had any money．The old man _34__ that he did not．He explained that he _35_ all his money this morning when he’d accidentally got on the wrong bus and now he was trying to go home．
Upon hearing this，the bus conductor _36_ the old man to get off the bus．The old man was almost in tears as he begged the bus conductor to let him take that bus  _37_ he could get home before dark．The bus driver approached the old man，and repeated the conductor’s _38__ to get off the bus．
“Stop troubling him! Can’t you see he’s only trying to get home?”she interrupted．“He doesn’t have any money!”the driver shouted．“Well, that’s no  _39_ to throw him off the bus,”she insisted．Then she said,“How much is his fare?”The bus conductor mumbled the amount．“Fine.”said the woman．She _40_ inside her blouse, took out her __41__ money，and handed the fare to the bus conductor．“Here’s his fare and mine．Just stop giving him a hard time．”
All eyes turned _42__ the woman，who，just minutes before，had been crying over the money she’d lost．“It’s only money,” she shrugged．
By the time the bus pulled out of the terminal，she had given the old man some bread and a dollar．She rode the rest of the way home _43__ a Mona Lisa smile of peace and grace，and the money she’d lost _44_was forgotten．
On the road of life，the politeness and smiles of _45__ can lighten our loads and lift our spirits．How much sweeter the journey when we make it a little smoother and richer for others !