Most people in the world like to enjoy nature. Travel is one of the most popular ways. Nowadays modern transportation can take people everywhere. But people who lived before the 1880s probably would not travel very far. They would not have time to travel far from their work. Anyone who travelled  36  would usually walk or ride a horse. But in Germany a man named Karl Benz had an idea that  37  the world in a dramatic way. In 1885, he made  38  . His car had three wheels,  39  most cars today. The car could only go  40  16 kilometres an hour.

At around the same time, the man  41  his first car in Detroit, America is called Henry Ford. Detroit is now still famous all over the world as the centre of American car-making.

Cars were very few and only  42  people could buy them.  43  , in England cars were thought to be  44  at that time, so for a few years someone  45  walk in front of every car  46  a red flag! This was to make sure that the car did not go too fast and hurt  47  .

In the 1910s, Henry Ford had  48  a better kind of car called the Model T Ford and he built a  49  where the cars could be made  50  . In this way the car could be made  51  and the cost was less and more and more people could  52  them. But there was still a problem  53  all the cars were black. That was because it was 54  to produce cars that were all the same color. Now, of course, you can buy cars in all  55  .

In 1826, a Frenchman named Niepce needed pictures for his business .But he was not a good artist .So he invented a very simple camera (照相机).He put it in a window of his house and took a picture of his garden .That was the first photo.

　　The next important date in the history of photography (摄影术) was in 1837.That year, Daguere, another Frenchman, took a picture of his reading room .He used a new kind of camera in a different way. In his picture you could see everything very clearly, even the smallest thing. This kind of photo was called a Daguerreotype.

　　Soon, other people began to use Daguerre's way .Travelers brought back wonderful photos from all around the world .People took picture of famous buildings, cities and mountains.

　　In about 1840, photography was developed .Then photographers could take picture of people and moving things .That was not simple .The photographers had to carry a lot of film(胶片) and other machines. But this did not stop them, for example, some in the United States worked so hard.

　　Mathew Brady was a famous American photographer. He took many picture of great people .The pictures were unusual because they were very lifelike(栩栩如生的)

　　Photography has also became one kind of art by the end of the 19th century .Some photos were nor just copies of the real world .They showed feelings, like other kinds of art.

1.The first photo taken by Niepce was a picture of ____________

A. his business　　　B. his house　　　　C. his garden　　　　D. his window

2.The Daguerreotype was____________.

A. a Frenchman　　　　B. a kind of photo

C. a kind of camera　　 D. a photographer

3.If a photographer wanted to take pictures of moving things in the year of 1840, he had to__________.

A. watch lots of films

B. buy an expensive camera

C. stop in most cities

D. take many films and something else with him.

4.Mathew Brady______________.

A. was very lifelike

B. was famous for his unusual pictures

C. was quite strong

D. took many pictures of moving people

Light for the City

Edison and his assistants came to New York to set up an electric power system. They hoped it would provide enough electricity to light up a part of the great city.

They bought several machines with them. These were called generators, which produced electricity power for lamps in Edison’s building.

Soon there were lights for the building. Edison lived in a room facing the street and he often worked over night. The light burned brightly and steadily and he often worked over night. People often came and stopped their horse-drawn carriage to look. Everyone knew that Thomas Edison was in town.

First, the inventor and his assistants produced several large generators. A great deal of power would be needed to light up even a small part of the city.

Then the workers were busy digging deep trenches(沟) in the hard earth below the city streets, and Edison had fourteen miles of wire laid into the trenches. The wire connected each building to a generator.

Setting up an electric power system was not an easy job. It took a year and a half. In September, 1882, the job was finished.

A small group of men stood around Edison inside the power house. The big moment came at last. The inventor, taking a deep breath, pulled a switch. The electric lights flashed up.

“Very good! Very good!” a man nearby shouted to praise Edison for what he had done.

“Sir,” said Edison, “this is only the beginning!” And Edison was right. Soon Edison’s lamp were lighting up cities all over the world.                

1.The generators they brought with them could produce as much as electricity as ______ needed.

2.At that time carriages ______ by horse could be seen in the street.

3.Trenches were dug to ______.

4.It took a year and a half to ______.

阅读下面的短文，并根据短文后的要求答题。(请注意问题后的词数要求)

[1]Some expressions describe people who are important，or who at least think they are．One such expression is bigwig．

[2]In the seventeenth century，important men in Europe began to wear false hair，called wigs．As years passed，wigs began to get bigger．The size of a man’s wig depended on how important he was． The more important he was—or thought he was一                 ．Today，the expression bigwig is used to make fun of a person who feels important．People never tell someone he is a bigwig．They only use the expression behind his back．

[3]Big wheel is another way to describe an important person．A big wheel may be the head of a company，a political leader，a famous movie star．They are big wheels because they are powerful．What they do affects many people．Big wheels give the orders．Other people carry them out．As in many machines，a big wheel makes the little wheels turn．Big wheel became a popular expression after World WarⅡ．It probably comes from an expression used for many years by people who fix parts of cars and trucks．They said a person roiled a big wheel if he was important and had influence．

[4]The top of something is the highest part．So it is not surprising that top is part of another expression that describes an important person．The expression is top banana．A top banana is the leading person in a comedy show．The funniest comedian is called the top banana．The next is second banana．And so on．Why a banana?A comedy act in earlier days often included a part where one of the comedians would hit the others over the head with a soft object. The object was shaped like the yellow fruit：the banana．Top banana still is used mainly in show business．Yet the expression can also be used to describe the top person in any area．

1.What’s the best title of the text ?(no more than 7 words)

2.Fill in the blank in Paragraph 2 with proper words. (no more than 6 words)

3.How and when is “bigwig” used in a proper way nowadays?(no more than 20 words)

4.Complete the following sentence with proper words from Paragraph 3 . (no more than 3 words)

As a big wheel makes the little wheels turn in many machines, powerful people give orders for others to            .

5.Translate the underlined sentence in Paragraph 4 into Chinese.

Technology is the application(应用) of knowledge to production. Thanks to modern technology, we have been able to increase greatly the efficiency of our work force. New machines and new methods have helped cut down time and expense while increasing overall output. This has meant more production and a higher standard of living. For most of us in America, modern technology is thought of as the reason why we can have cars and television sets. However, technology has also increased the amount of food available to us, by means of modern farming machinery and animal breeding techniques, and has extended our life span via(通过) medical technology.

Will mankind continue to live longer and have a higher quality of life? In large measure the answer depends on technology and our ability to use it widely. If we keep making progress as we have over the past fifty years, the answer is definitely yes. The advancement of technology depends upon research and development, and the latest statistics(统计) show that the United States is continuing to pump billions of dollars annually(每年) into such efforts. So while we are running out of some scarce resources(少的资源) we may well find technological substitutes(代用品)for many of them through our research programs.

Therefore, in the final analysis the three major factors of production(land, labor and capital) are all influenced by technology. When we need new skills, on techniques in medicine, people will start developing new technology to meet those needs. As equipment proves to be slow or inefficient, new machines will be invented. Technology responds to our needs in helping us maintain our standard of living.

What is the best title for the passage?

A. The definition of technology           B. Modern technology

C. The application of technology          D. The development of technology

Which is the main idea of the passage?

A. Modern technology is the key to the improvement of standard of living.

B. The three major factors of production (land, labor and capital) are all influenced by technology.

C. Technology is the response to our needs.

D. The United States is making great efforts to advance its technology.

According to the passage, people can live a long life with the help of _______.

A. higher quality of life                     B. medical technology

C. modern farming machinery             D. technological substitute