For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages．Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet planes fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
　　Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured (忍受).  The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
　　 Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
　　Man, however, is now a world traveler and cannot turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are told. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.
【小题1】What does the writer try to express in Paragraph 1?

While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.

Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.

First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.

Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”

The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”

With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.

I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”

77. The best title of the passage may be __________.   

A. Long Loving Hugs                                 B. My Future

C. Don’t Hope. Decide                               D. Love Is Everywhere

78. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face.

B. After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much.

C. It was fourteen years since the couple had got married.

D. Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds.

79. By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that __________.

A. he failed to express his ideas to the man

B. the man sensed his real feelings from his expression

C. he didn’t believe in his expression any more

D. his expression was not faithful to him

80. From the passage, we can infer that __________.

A. the experience may be easily forgotten by the author

B. the author will live a passionate life from now on

C. the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return

D. Americans prefer to save the best for last     

Charles Plumb was a US Navy jet fighter pilot in Viet Nam. After 75 missions, his plane was destroyed by a surface-to-air missile. Plumb parachuted down into enemy hands. He was captured and spent 6 years in a communist Vietnamese prison.

One day, Plumb and his wife were sitting in a restaurant when a man from another table came up and said “You’re Plumb! You flew jet fighters in Viet Nam from the aircraft carrier Kitty Hawk. You were shot down!”

“How in the world did you know that?” asked Plumb.

“I packed your parachute,” the man replied. “I guess it worked”. Plumb assured him, “It sure did. If your chute（降落伞） hadn’t worked, I wouldn’t be here today.”

Plumb couldn’t sleep that night, thinking about that man. Plumb says, “I kept wondering what he looked like in a Navy uniform: a white hat, a bib in the back, and bell-bottom trousers. I wonder how many times I might have seen him and not even said ‘Good morning. How are you?’ or anything because, you see, I was a fighter pilot and he was ‘just a sailor’”.

Plumb thought of the many hours the sailor had spent at a long wooden table in the bowels of the ship, carefully weaving the shrouds(伞罩) and folding the silks of each chute, holding in his hands each time the fate of someone he didn’t know.

Sometimes in the daily challenges that life gives us, we miss what is really important. We may fail to say hello, please, thank you, congratulate someone on something wonderful that has happened to them, give a compliment, or just do something nice for no reason. As you go through this week, this month, this year, recognize people who pack your parachutes.

1.Why didn’t Plumb say hello to the sailor each time he passed him on the Kitty Hawk?

A. He thought the sailor was just an unimportant man.   

B. He didn’t like him at that time.

C. He was very busy then. 

D. He didn’t know him well then.

2. What did the sailor do on the Kitty Hawk at the Viet Nam War?

A. weaved clothes for the pilots.          B. repaired the wooden table in the ship.

C. helped the jets start.                  D. packed the parachutes for the fighter pilots.

3. What does the writer think we should do?

A. We should help each other if they are in trouble. 

B. We shouldn’t look down upon the sailors.

C. We should be thankful to others’ help.

D. We should be honest to our friends.

4. Which is the best title for the passage?

A. A story about a sailor.                       B. Who pack your parachutes?

C. Don’t forget your past!                      D. Never forget your friends!

COOL INVENTIONS

From school to band Practice, the Venturi Eclectic is an Earth-friendly way to get Where you want to go．This battery-powered, zero-emission (meaning it doesn't pollute the air) vehicle runs mainly on renewable energy．Solar panels on the Eclectic's roof absorb sun rays when you're driving．On windy days, you can connect a machine to the car's roof that collects energy from the wind while you're parked．The Eclectic's top speed is 28 miles an hour; the battery lasts for 31 miles before it needs to be recharged．Zipping (迅速行进) around the neighborhood has never been better.

Here's an eco-friendly way to tell time: Simply fill the Bedol Water-powered Clock's tank (箱) with water, add some lemon juice, and the clock will display the time without the need for environmentally harmful batteries．There are two sets of metal electrodes (电极) inside the water tank．Water contains ions (离子) that carry negative and positive charges．These ions complete a charge between the electrodes, creating enough energy to power the clock．Just refill the tank every few weeks, and this clock will keep on ticking.

Bloodhound SuperSonic Car (SSC) will be the first car to attempt to break the l,000-mile-an-hour barrier．(The current record is 763 miles an hour.) A concept for now, the rocket-shaped car gets its initial push to 350 miles an hour from a jet engine．Then a rocket fires up, pushing the SSC past 1,000 miles an hour．In order to keep the car streamlined (流线型的), the driver lies back at a 45-degree angle.

You're having a blast at your friend's birthday party．But when it's time to bring out the cake, everyone crowds around, blocking your view．No worries．Throw the Triops into the air, and this clever camera captures the view from above．The Triops can take three pictures at once, each from different angles．You can also record sounds and command the Triops to start shooting whenever it hears that noise．That's one smart camera.

According to the passage, the Venturi Eclectic      .

       A．is popular with businessmen   B．is suitable for a long trip

       C．can turn wind into energy       D．has only a little gas emission

What is the common characteristic of the Venturi Eclectic and the Bedol Water-powered Clock?

       A．They don't need batteries.       B．They are difficult to operate.

       C．They can be powered by water.      D．They are environmentally friendly.

The underlined phrase “having a blast” in the last paragraph probably means      .

       A．looking at a picture  B．enjoying yourself

       C．blowing out a candle       D．recording sounds

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．The Triops is sensitive to sounds.

       B．The driver of the SSC must be of great size.

       C．The color of the Bedol Water-powered Clock is like that of lemon.

       D．The SSC doesn’t have anything to do with a rocket actually.

Doctors have known for a long time that extremely loud noises can cause hearing damage or loss.The noise can be the sound of a jet airplane or machines in factories of loud music or other common sound at home and at work. A person only needs to hear the noise for little mire than one second to be affected.
An American scientist has found that using aspirin (阿斯匹林) increase the temporary (暂时的)hearing loss or damage from loud noise. He did an experiment using a number of students at a university who all had normal hearing. He gave them different amounts of aspirin for different periods of time, then he tested their hearing ability. He found that students who were given four grams of aspirin a day for two days suffered much greater temporary hearing loss than those who did not use aspirin. The hearing loss was about two times as great.
The scientist said millions of persons in the U.S. use much larger amounts of aspirin than were used in his experiment. He said these persons face a serious danger of suffering hearing loss from loud noise.
【小题1】.
.Doctors have long known that__________.

A．how much aspirin would affect a person’s hearing

B．how much aspirin should be given in the treatment of the patients with hearing damage from loud noise

C．whether aspirin would increase the temporary hearing damage from loud noises

D．whether the people who had hearing damage should use aspirin