Not long ago, few little girls imagined they could grow up to become astronauts. For years in the United States, on1y men had that opportunity . In 1983, that changed. Sally Ride made history by becoming the first American woman to travel to space.

On Monday, Ride died at the age of 61, ‘‘Sally was a national hero and a powerful role model,”President Barack Obama said in a statement. “She inspired generations of young girls to reach for the stars.”

Ride became interested in space when she was a kid. “If you asked me when I was 12 whether I wanted to be an astronaut ,I’m sure I wou1d have said yes,” she said in a 2010 interview . “ But I didn’t even think about that as a possible career.”

After studying physics in college and graduate school, Ride got her chance. She was accepted into NASA’s astronaut training program in 1978, and then chosen to be the first American female in space. In 1983, she blasted into space aboard the Challenger shuttle.“There is no amusement park ride on the Earth that even comes so close,” she said.

Ride returned to space on the Challenger a second time in1984 . Between the two missions, she spent a total of 343 hours in orbit. After that, she remained involved with the space program and also worked to share her passion for science with kids. She co-authored six science books for children , and started her own science education company.

Ride knew that she he1d a unique place in history . “ I realized how important it was for a woman to break that barrier and open the door for other women to be able to do the same exciting things that the men had been doing,” she said.

Since Ride’s historic trip, more than 40 other American women have traveled to space. They all had Ride to thank for opening the door to the final frontier.

1.Sally Ride was regarded as a national hero because she___________ .

A. was the first American to travel to space

B. opened a door for women to find jobs suitable for them

C. became the first American female in space

D. was the first to travel on the Challenger

2.By saying ‘‘There is no amusement park ride on the Earth that even comes so close”, Ride really meant____________ .

A. she preferred a ride in an amusement park on the Earth

B. the trip to space was like that in an amusement park

C. she came close to an amusement park on the Earth

D. the trip to space was far more interesting than any ride on the Earth

3. The correct order of the following events that happened to Sally Ride is_____________

a. accepted into an astronaut training program

b. spent a total of 343 hours in orbit

c. co-authored six science books for children

d. traveled to space aboard the Challenger

e. studied physics in co11ege and graduate school

A. e-a-b-c-d?????? B. a-d-b-c-e??????? C. e-a-d-b-c??????? D. e-a-b-d-c

4.The passage is most probably taken out of _________________ .

A. a novel??????? B. a report??????? C. a diary???????? D. an essay

     The report came to the British on May 21, 1941. The German battleship Bismarck, the most powerful warship in the world, was moving out into the Atlantic Ocean. Her task: to destroy the ships carrying supplies from the United States to war-torn England.

     The British had feared such a task. No warship they had could match the Bismarck in speed in firepower. The Bismarck had eight 15-inch guns and 81 smaller guns. She could move at 31 nautical miles (海里) an hour. She was believed to be unsinkable.?However, the British had to sink her. They sent out a task force headed by their best battleship Hood to hunt down the Bismarck. On May 24, the Hood found the Bismarck.?

    It was a meeting that the German commander Luetjens did not want to see. His orders were to destroy the British ships that were carrying supplies, but to stay away from a fight with British warships.?

    The battle didn't last long. The Bismarck's first torpedo (鱼雷) hit the Hood, which went down taking all but three of her 1 419 men with her.?

    But in the fight, the Bismarck was slightly damaged (损坏). Her commander decided to run for repair to France, which had at that time been taken by the Germans. The British force followed her. However, because of the Bismarck's speed and the heavy fog, they lost sight of her.?

     For two days, every British ship in the Atlantic tried to find the Bismarck, but with no success. Finally, she was sighted by a plane from Ireland. Trying to slow the Bismarck down so that their ships could catch up with her, the British fired at her from the air. The Bismarck was hit.?

    On the morning of May 27, the last battle was fought. Four British ships fired on the Bismarck, and she was finally sunk.?

61. The Bismarck sailed into the Atlantic Ocean _______.?

A.   to sink the Hood                                                            B. to gain control of France?

C. to cut off American supplies to British                                D. to stop British warship reaching German

62. Many people believed that Bismarck could not be defeated because she _______.?

A. was fast and powerful                                                B. had more men on board?

C. was under Luetjens' command                                     D. had biggest guns than other ships?

63. We learn from the text that on 24 May _______.?

A. the British won the battle against the Bismarck?

B. the Bismarck won the battle against the British?

C. the British gunfire damaged the Bismarck seriously?

D. the Bismarck succeeded in keeping away from the British

64. Luetjens tried to sail to France in order to _______.?

A. have the ship repaired                                                B. join the other Germans?

C. get help from the French                                            D. get away from the British?

65. Which of the following is the immediate cause of the sinking of the Bismarck??

A. The British air strikes.?                                             B. The damage done by the Hood.?

C. Gunfire from four British ships.?                                D. Luetjens' decision to run for France.?

Learners report two main difficulties in reading, which may be linked. There are too many unknown words and as a result reading is simply not a pleasure. For some students, even reading in their own language is a chore.
　　Having a wide vocabulary is essential to making sense of written language. Of course, this is a circular argument, because the more you read the more vocabulary you learn and the more words you know the more easily you can read. Don’t make the mistake of reading with your dictionary beside you, looking up every single new or doubtful word. This is laborious and prevents you from practicing the skill of prediction.
　　Sometimes in reading you find a word you know but the sense doesn’t seem to fit in. This is not surprising because words have so many meanings and degrees of meaning. What is more, part of their meaning is shaped by the words around them. Keep looking at the surrounding words and asking yourself “what sort of meaning would make sense here?”
　　The more that people study the reading process, the better they can pass on to language learners a range of advice to choose from. People have learned to read in all kinds of ways. Here is some information that could help you plan to be a better reader in the foreign language you are studying.
　　1）Work out the general meaning first
　　When people read in a new language they often feel they must take a detailed approach, focusing on every word, particularly those they don’t know. They read as if they were using a microscope, looking carefully at each of the small pieces（the individual words）, but not necessarily seeing the whole picture at first. This is called the “bottom-up” approach. Other readers try to look first at the big picture（the “top-down” approach）, attending to individual bricks only as necessary, a process that involves some intelligent guesswork. Generally this second approach is recommended by successful learners.
　　2）Interactive reading
　　Another way of thinking about reading is to describe it as an interactive process, where the text brings something to you and you bring something to the text. Readers bring together all their knowledge of the world with what they see on the page in front of them. That is why, when reading in our own language, we don’t need to read every word. We add meaning which is not actually stated.
　　3）From supported reading to independent reading
　　Language learners start by needing considerable support as they read. Textbooks supply this support in the form of introductions that summaries the contents, glossaries, pictures, explanations of new grammar points. In your reading you need to move gradually from this support to reading more the text itself.
【小题1】. According to the author, ______.

A report by the Consumer Electronics Association says electronics are among the most popular gifts being bought this holiday season. 
Jim Barry is a spokesman for the Consumer Electronics Association. He says the CEA study found that electronics represent three of the top five things on its "holiday gift wish list" this year.
JIM BARRY: "Notebook computers are at the top, followed by iPads and then e-readers. IPad is a touch-screen tablet computer and that's really the big player in that category."
The computer company Apple began selling its small, touch-screen computers in April.   People use the touch-screen computers to surf the Web, write e-mails, watch movies and read books. Since the iPad's release earlier this year, several other companies have come out with their own tablet computers just in time for Christmas.
A report from the e-Marketer research group predicts that worldwide, tablet sales will reach more than eighty-one million in two thousand twelve. Still, Jim Barry says these devices are facing tough competition this year from another Christmas favorite.
JIM BARRY: "Another hot category right behind that are the e-readers. So you can read on an iPad or a touch-screen tablet, but the e-book readers are less expensive. The Kindle is the market leader there, from Amazon. But you also have the Nook from Barnes and Noble and the e-reader from Sony. And you have more and more of those e-readers coming into the market as well."
The Consumer Electronics Association report found that iPod music players are also in high demand this holiday season.  
But not all of the things on the holiday gift wish list involved electronics. Clothes, cars and motorcycles also made the list. So did family togetherness and good health. And the one thing that people wanted most?
JIM BARRY: "At the top of the list was peace and happiness."
That is also our wish for you this holiday season.
【小题1】The best title of the passage is         .  

A．How to choose a suitable gift for Christmas

B．iPads, E-Readers, Notebook Computers top wish lists

C．What we should buy for our kids this holiday season

D．How modern technology is changing the way people relate

A report, published in last week's Journal of the American Medical Association, offers a picture of how risky it is to get a lift from a teenage driver. Indeed, a 16-year-old driver with three or more passengers is three times as likely to have a fatal(致命)accident as a teenager driving alone. By contrast, the risk of death for drivers between 30 and 59 decreases with each additional passenger.
The author also found that the death rates for teenage drivers increased dramatically after 10 p. m.,and especially after midnight. With passengers in the car,the driver was even more likely to die in a late night accident.
Robert Foss, a scientist at the University of North Carolina Highway Safety Research Center, says the higher death rates for teenage drivers have less to do with "really stupid behavior" than with just a lack of driving experience. "The basic thing, "he says, "is that adults who are responsible for issuing(发放) licenses fail to recognize how skilled a task driving is. "
Both he and the author of the study believe that the way to reduce the harm is to have so-called graduated licensing systems, in which getting a license is a slower process. A graduated license requires that a teenager first prove himself capable of driving in the presence of an adult, followed by a period of driving at night with a limited number of passengers before graduating to get a full driving license.
Graduated licensing systems have reduced teenage driver crashes, according to recent studies. About half of the states now have some sort of graduated licensing system in place, but only 10 of those states have number limitation on passengers. California is the strictest, with a new driver prohibited from carrying any passenger under 20 for the first six months.
76.Which of the following situations is most dangerous according to the passage?
A. Adults giving a lift to teenagers on the highway after 10 p. m.
B. A teenager driving after midnight with passengers in the car.
C. Adults driving with three or more teenage passengers late at night.
D. A teenager getting a lift from a stranger on the highway at midnight.
77.According to Robert Foss, the high death rate of teenage drivers is mainly due to_______.
A. their frequent driving at night         B. their lack of driving experience
C. their improper way of driving         D. their driving with passengers
78.Which of the following statements is true according to Paragraph 3 ?  
A. Teenagers should spend more time learning to drive.
B. Driving is a skill too difficult for teenagers to learn.
C. Teenagers should be limited in taking driving lessons.
D. People issuing license are partly responsible for the accidents.
79.A suggested measure to be taken to reduce teenagers'driving accidents is that_______
A. driving in the presence of an adult should be made a rule.
B. they should be forbidden to take on passengers
C. they should not be allowed to drive after 10 p. m.
D. the licensing systems should be improved
80.The present situation in about half of the states is that the graduated licensing system_______.
A. is under discussion              B. is about to be set up
C. has been put into effect                 D. has been perfected