Once more I have to leave Beijing, ______ I have been living for eight years.

     A) that              B) where            C) which              D) as

Once in a blue moon there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't   1   it to be blue - the name has nothing to   2   the color of our closest celestial（天体） neighbor.

A full moon   3   on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

"If you're in Times Square, you'll see the   4   moon right above you. It's going to be that brilliant," said Jack Horkheimer, director emeritus of the Miami Space Transit Planetarium and host of a weekly astronomy TV show.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be   5   in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up  6   New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

However, the Eastern Hemisphere can celebrate with a partial lunar eclipse（月蚀） on New Year's Eve when  7   of the moon enters the Earth's shadow. The   8   will not be visible in the Americas.

A full moon occurs   9   29.5 days, and most years have 12.  10  , an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The   11   time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't   12    again until 2028.

Blue moons have no astronomical   13   , said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California, Santa Cruz.

"`Blue moon' is just a   14   in the same sense as a `hunter's moon' or a `harvest moon,'" Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon   15   after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misunderstood the Maine Farmer's Calendar and marked a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the calendar   16   a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons, not the usual three.

Though Sky & Telescope corrected the  17   decades later, the definition caught on. For purists（语言纯正癖者）, however, this New Year's Eve full moon doesn't even qualify as a   18   moon. It's just the first full moon of the winter season.

In a tongue-in-cheek essay   19   on the magazine's Web site this week, senior contributing editor Kelly Beatty wrote: "If skies are clear when I'm    20  celebrating, I'll take a peek（眯着眼睛看） at that brilliant orb（天体） as it rises over the Boston skyline to see if it's an icy shade of blue. Or maybe I'll just howl."

(   ) 1. A. wish            B. wait                 C. hope             D. expect

(   ) 2. A. deal with       B. do with          C. develop with     D. form into

(   ) 3. A. occurred        B. came                 C. ran          D. went

(   ) 4. A. full            B. half                 C. bright       D. part

(   ) 5. A. out of sight        B. visible          C. big          D. clear

(   ) 6. A. until           B. when                 C. before       D. since

(   ) 7. A. part            B. all              C. any          D. none

(   ) 8. A. moon            B. eclipse          C. sun          D. shadow

(   ) 9. A. each            B. every                C. either           D. all

(   ) 10. A. On the whole   B. Generally speaking   C. On average   D. In addition

(   ) 11. A. last           B. next                 C. other            D. another

(   ) 12. A. go             B. see              C. come             D. look

(   ) 13. A. point          B. evident          C. theory       D. significance

(   ) 14. A. name           B. object           C. phenomenon   D. tradition

(   ) 15. A. created        B. came about       C. made             D. copied

(   ) 16. A. named      B. called           C. introduced       D. defined

(   ) 17. A. error          B. name                 C. reality      D. number

(   ) 18. A. blue           B. red              C. yellow       D. grey

(   ) 19. A. published      B. posted           C. printed      D. written

(   ) 20. A. in             B. out              C. away             D. on

For some people, the sight of a mouse can be reason to scream. For other mice, the same sight can be reason to sing.

    Mice will probably   21   sing their way to any concert, but researchers in the United States have found   22   that mice do,   23  , sing.

    Scientists already knew that mice make ultrasonic(超声波) sounds—noises that are too high-pitched(高音的) for people to hear   24   special equipment.

    To find out whether mice put such sounds together in song-like   25  , the researchers recorded the sounds of 1 mice. Using computer   26  , they were able to separate the sounds into specific types of syllables(音节), and found the mice produced about 10 syllables per second.

    The results showed that nearly all of the mice repeated sequences(顺序) of syllables in different patterns. That’s enough to meet the definition of what scientists   27   song. But not all scientists are   28  _ that what the mice are doing is   29   singing. To prove it, the researchers must show that there’s learning involved. And, they need to __  30   why the mice sing.

21. A. almost                      B. even                        C. never                      D. usually

22. A. coincidence   B. evidence               C. guidance               D. instance

23. A. at once           B. by means              C. for example D. in fact

24. A. during                       B. inside                      C. through                 D. without

25. A. fashions                   B. instructions C. patterns                D. styles

26. A. access                      B. printer          C. screen          D. software

27. A. call                             B. hear                        C. sing                         D. write

28. A. accustomed  B. convinced             C. involved                 D. qualified

29. A. actually           B. obviously               C. simply           D. unlikely

30. A. figure out                B. get about              C. run across            D. talk over

For more than six million American children, coming home after school means coming home to an empty house. Some deal with the situation by watching TV. Some may hide. But all of them have something in common. They spend part of each day alone. They are called latchkey children. They’re children who look after themselves while their parents work. And their bad condition has become a subject of concern.

Lynette Long was once the headmaster of an elementary school. She said, “We had a school rule against wearing jewelry. A lot of kids had chains around their necks with keys attached. I was constantly telling them to put them inside shirts. There were so many keys, it never came to my mind what they meant.” Slowly, she learned they were house keys.

She and her husband began talking to the children who had them. They learned of the impact(影响) working couples and single parents were having on their children. Fear is the biggest problem faced by children at home alone. One in each three latchkey children the Longs talked to reported being scared. Many had nightmares and were worried about their own safety.

The most common way latchkey children deal with their fears is by hiding. It might be in a shower stall, under a bed in a closet. The second is TV. They’ll often play it at high volume. It’s hard to get statistics on latchkey children, the Longs learned. Most parents are slow to admit they leave their children alone.

The main idea about “latchkey children” is that they _______. 

A. are growing in numbers              

B. are also found in middle-class neighborhoods

C. watch too much television during the day 

D. suffer problems from being left alone

Which sentence in the second paragraph is the topic sentence?

A. We had a school rule against wearing jewelry.

B. A lot of kids had chains around their necks.

C. I was constantly telling them to put inside their shirts.

D. They were house keys.

The main feeling these children have when they are at home by themselves is _______. 

A. tiredness       B. freedom      C. loneliness       D. fear

We may draw a conclusion that _______. 

A. latchkey children enjoy having such a large amount of time alone

B. latchkey children try to hide their feeling

C. latchkey children often watch TV with their parents

D. it’s difficult to find out how many latchkey children there are

For some people, the sight of a mouse can be reason to scream. For other mice, the same sight can be reason to sing.

    Mice will probably   1   sing their way to any concert, but researchers in the United States have found   2   that mice do,   3  , sing.

    Scientists already knew that mice make ultrasonic(超声波) sounds—noises that are too high-pitched(高音的) for people to hear   4   special equipment.

    To find out whether mice put such sounds together in song-like   5  , the researchers recorded the sounds of 1 mice. Using computer   6  , they were able to separate the sounds into specific types of syllables(音节), and found the mice produced about 10 syllables per second.

    The results showed that nearly all of the mice repeated sequences(顺序) of syllables in different patterns. That’s enough to meet the definition of what scientists   7   song. But not all scientists are   8  _ that what the mice are doing is   9   singing. To prove it, the researchers must show that there’s learning involved. And, they need to __  10   why the mice sing.

A. almost         B. even                      C. never                     D. usually

A. coincidence  B. evidence                 C. guidance                D. instance

A. at once        B. by means                C. for example            D. in fact

A. during         B. inside                     C. through                  D. without

A. fashions       B. instructions             C. patterns                  D. styles

A. access          B. printer                   C. screen                    D. software

A. call             B. hear                       C. sing                       D. write

A. accustomed  B. convinced               C. involved                 D. qualified

A. actually       B. obviously               C. simply                   D. unlikely

A. figure out  B. get about                C. run across               D. talk over