Astronauts’ meals have come a long way from the free-dried powders and semi—liquid pastes of decades ago，now US scientists want to grow vegetables in mini—greenhouses on the moon．

　 Scientists say they are looking forward to a time when residents of future lunar or even Martian outsteps will be able to dine on fresh vegetables．Paragon Space Development Corporation has unveiled what it called the first step toward growing flowers——and eventually food on the moon．

　 This is a sealed greenhouse that looks like a bell jar encased in a 46-cm triangular aluminiumframe．It is designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the lunar surface，and protect it while it grows．

　 The miniature greenhouse is to be launched into space by Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant in the Google Lunar X Prize. This competition offers $21 million to any entrant who can launch, land and operate a rover on the lunar surface.

　 Paragon officials say future testing of the “Lunar Oasis” will be driven by Odyssey’s flight Schedule, which will not happen until 2012 at the earliest．

　 When it does lift off the greenhouse will contain the seeds of Brassica, a hardy plant related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Because Brassica goes from seed to flower in just 14 days, it can complete its life cycle in a single lunar night.

　 “Colonizing the Moon or Mars seems so far away，but it is important that we do this research now. ”Paragon president Jane Poynter said．

　 “It takes a long time to get a lot of research, and to get integrated, reliable efficient systems before colonists move in. ”she said．

1．The article is written mainly to__________．

　 A. predict the astronauts’ meals in the future

　 B. introduce an experiment “Lunar Oasis’’

　 C. tell us the future development of astronomy

　 D. focus on the human’s great progress

2．The article implies that__________．

　 A. astronauts can grow flowers in space at present

　 B. Paragon and NASA will carry out the test separately

　 C. Lunar Oasis is a series of experiments carried out in space

　 D. the earliest testing of the Lunar Oasis may be in 2012

3．The underlined word “colonists” in the last paragraph probably has the meaning of______．

　 A. plants　 B. wild beasts　 C. human beings　　 D. scientists

4．The seeds of Brassica will be contained in the greenhouse mainly because _________.

　 A. their life cycle is much shorter

　 B. they are more nutritious than other food

　 C. they are related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage

　 D. they are very delicious

阅读理解

　　Research has shown that motivation is very important in learning a language; you need to be enthusiastic about it, and to be interested in it. Different people will have different motives－the desire for promotion, the hope of being able to study abroad, curiosity about a very different culture, and pure intellectual enjoyment are only some of the possible motives. But actually wanting to learn is the most important motive of all.

　　Courage is an essential attribute in learning a language. It takes a lot of courage to speak a foreign language either in front of your friends or to native speakers, but don’t be afraid of making mistakes－that is the way we learn. Nowadays there are many different forms of English, each with its own constructions and accent, and, so long as you can make yourself understood and can understand what is said to you, you have succeeded in communicating, which is the purpose of any language.

　　Curiosity is not only a possible motivation, it is also a great help in your learning. Remember that a language is not just a grammatical system, it is the outcome of a certain culture or different cultures. It is no good learning strings of words and lists of grammatical rules unless you know as much as possible, about the background of the language, so that you can understand the ideas which are being conveyed, the references which are being made, the inferences which can be drown from the information explicitly given. So learn as much as you can about the different cultures which influence English－watch television programs, listen to the radio, try to obtain newspapers and magazines: which are written by native speakers, look at advertisements, and above all, read－not textbooks, but novels and poems and plays. The will show you how language is really used. The English language is not an abstract system; it is a living form of expression which derives much of its meaning from the context in which it is used , and much of its effect from a whole network of extralinguistic knowledge.

1．With what topic is this passage primarily concerned?

[　　]

A．Curiosity in learning a language.

B．Courage in learning a language.

C．Motivation in learning a language.

D．Qualities in learning a language.

2．The author of this passage is possible a ________.

[　　]

A．beginner of English learning

B．foreign teacher of English

C．student of Chinese literature

D．Chinese student studying abroad

3．According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

[　　]

A．You should be prepared to make mistakes in communication.

B．Words are the basis of English learning.

C．Good pronunciation is important to an English learner.

D．Wanting to know everything does not help you in learning a language.

4．According to the author, what’s the best way of learning English?

[　　]

A．To study abroad.

B．To learn words and grammar.

C．To learn about cultures.

D．To make mistakes.

　　Why doesn’t the unemployment rate ever reach zero? Economists, who generally believe that supply tends to meet demand, have long thought about this question. Even in good times, i.e. not now, there are people who can’t find work. And even in bad times, i.e. now, there are job openings. With over 14 million people out of work and looking for a job, you would think every available job would be filled. But that’s not the case. Not now and not ever.

　　On Monday, the Nobel Prize committee awarded the prize for economics to the three scholars who have done the most to explain this phenomenon. Two of the winners are Americans, Peter Diamond of MIT and Dale Mortensen of Northwestern. The third winner is Christopher Pissarides, who teaches at the London School of Economics and was born on Cyprus.

　　Like most of economics, what they have found about why the jobless and ready-employers don’t find each other seems obvious. You have to find out there is job opening you are interested in. Employers need to get resumes （简历）. It takes a while for both employers and employees to make the decision that this is what they want. And these guys came up with a frame-work to study the problem of why people stay unemployed longer than they should and what can be done about it.

　　So what would today’s Nobel Prize winners do to solve the current problem of the unemployed? And does the awarding of the prize contribute to the politicians’ lowering joblessness?

　　Speaking from his north London home, Pissarides told The Associated Press the announcement came as “a complete surprise” though his work had already helped shape thinking on both sides of the Atlantic.

　　For example, the New Deal for Young People, a British government policy aimed at getting 18-24-year-olds back on the job market after long periods of unemployment, “is very much based on our work,” he said.

　　“One of the key things we found is that it is important to make sure that people do not stay unemployed too long so they don’t lose their feel for the labor force,” Pissarides told reporters in London. “The ways of dealing with this need not be expensive training – it could be as simple as providing work experience.”

1.According to the writer, which is true about finding jobs?

　　A. It is always difficult to find a job.

　　B. Everyone can find a job in good times.

　　C. Contrary to popular belief, it is easier to find a job in bad times.

　　D. It is possible to find a job even in times as bad as now.

2. What is it that leads to their winning the prize?

　　A. They have found the reason for unemployment.

　　B. They have put forward a set of ideas to deal with unemployment.

　　C. They have found out why people don’t want to be employed.

　　D. They have long studied the problem of unemployment.

3.Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?

　　A. Pissarides thinks his work surprising.

　　B. The work of Pissarides has influenced many economists.

　　C. Some of the winners’ ideas have been put into practice.

　　D. It is probable that unemployed young people in Britain benefit from Pissarides’ work.

4. According to Pissarides, _________ is effrctive in dealing with unemployment.

　　A. spending large sums of money on training

　　B. teaching some knowledge of economics

　　C. providing work experience

　　D. keeping people unemployed for some time

Electric cars 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（排放）vehicles”, but people in California seem to be clueless about where electricity comes from. Power plants most all use fire to make it. Apart from the few people who have their roofs covered with solar cells, we get our electricity from generators（发电机）. 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（地热） 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. Because the coal is burned somewhere else, it looks clean. It is not true. 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 drive your car 25 miles. But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won't get you nearly as far -- so electric cars burn more fuel than gasoline-powered ones. If our electricity came mostly from wind or geothermal, or solar, 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 not too concentrated, but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
【小题1】What’s the main idea of the passages?