Giant leap for China

    A few days ago, he was just Colonel (上校) Yang; Few people knew his name or recognized his face. But last Thursday, when he came back to the earth after a 21-hour trip to space, Yang Liwe's smile was seen across the world above the magic words:“China’s first spaceman”.

    The 38-year-old astronaut was sent into space at 9 a. m. last Wednesday by China’s Shenzhou V spacecraft, which orbited the earth 14 times. He landed safely at 6: 23 a. m. the next day, making China the third country to successfully send a person into space, after the former Soviet Union and the US.

    Yang was satisfied with his job. “I have seen many landing scenes before on video, and I think ours was one of the most successful,” he said on a special plane to Beijing after landing.

    Born into an ordinary family in Liaoning Province, he became a pilot in the Chinese Air Force in 1987, spending 1, 350 hours in the air. He joined the Chinese space programmer 11 years later.

    While in space, Yang recorded everything he saw as well as showing China’s national flag and the United Nations’ flag to the people watching on TV at home. He also ate a meal of diced chicken and fried rice, before taking a 3-hour nap. The whole project went according to plan, but space exploration is not as easy as it seems.

    Anyone who saw the destruction of the US space shuttle Columbia in February this year will know that Yang took a great risk.

    He experienced extremely high temperatures, while the gravitational forces (重力) on takeoff and landing were strong enough to force tears from his eyes.

    He has spent five years training to become a spaceman.

    "I eat all of my meals at the space programmer’s dinning room and have never been able to take my son to kindergarten," he said. "I’ve never met his teachers."

    But becoming China’s first spaceman has made all the effort worthwhile.

    “When I boarded the spacecraft for the first time, I couldn’t help feeling excited,”he said.“I decided that I had to fly it.”

    To Chinese people, Yang is now a hero. One visitor to a Xinhua news agency online forum (网上论坛) said:“Yang’s trip is a giant leap forward for China.”

    Officials say the next Shenzhou will be launched by 2005. China also plans to develop space walking and a space lab.

1. What is the main idea of the story?

    A. China’s first manned space flight.

    B. A hero with great courage

    C. The first Chinese man in space

    D. How Yang Liwei became China’s first spaceman

2. How long did each of Yang’s orbits take on average?

    A. 1 hour.　　　　　　  B. 1. 5 hours.　　　　 C. 6 hours.　　　　    D. The story didn’t mention.

3. Why did the writer mention the gravitational forces on takeoff and landing?

    A. To stress the hardship and the spaceman had to experience.

    B. Because it was a very special experience for any spacemen.

    C. To stress how much training he had to do to prepare for the flight

    D. To show that Yang is lucky.

4. Why did the writer use“giant leap”in the title?

    A. Because the space flight marked China’s great progress in the field of space exploration.

    B. Because Neil Armstrong said it was a "giant leap" for mankind when he first set foot on the moon.

    C. Because the space flight was a huge success.

    D. Both A and B.

阅读下列短文, 从所给的四个选项中, 选出最佳答案。

    A long time ago, when ancient Rome was still an empire, people of that time used same weights and measures. The standards(标准)of those weights and measures were found by the Romans, who kept these standards in a temple in Rome. All standards for measuring weight or distance were the same, whether in Spain or in Syria. But then the　　 Rome Empire fell, and these standards disappeared. Today, standards are different from place to place throughout the world.

    Tourists who drive from the United States into Canada, for example, are surprised when they buy gas for their cars.

    A gallon (加仑) of gas cost more than they are used to paying.They complain (抱怨) that prices are much higher in Canada than in the United States. Then they discover that they can drive farther on a Canadian gallon than on a United States gallon.

    Is it a different kind of gas? No, it is a different kind of gallon. Canada used the British gallon that is about one-fifth larger than the United States gallon.　　 Four quarts (夸脱) equal a gallon and two pints (品脱) equal a　　 quart in both countries. But Canada's quarts and pints are larger than quarts and pints in the United States. The gallon equals 277.42 cubic (立方) inches while the gallon in the United States is equal to　　 231 cubic inches. Measured in ounces (盎司), Canada's larger gallon holds 160 fluid ounces, while the smaller United States gallon holds no more than 128 fluid ounces.From these figures, it is easy to see why Americans can drive　　 farther on the Canadian gallon than on the American gallon.

    Some day, countries may follow the example of the ancient Romans and make weights and measures the same for every nation.

   (1) The whole passage tells about __________.　　　　   ［　　］ 　　   A. the standards for weights and measures found by Romans 　　   B. the gallon in Canada and the United States 　　   C. surprised tourists in Canada 　　   D. the larger American gallon    (2) The British gallon is about __________ larger than the United 　　   States gallon.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  ［　　］ 　　   A. 277.42 cubic inches　　 B. 160 fluid ounces 　　   C. 128 fluid ounces　　　　D. 1/5    (3) Which statement does the passage lead you to believe? 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   ［　　］ 　　   A. It would be good to use the same measure in the whole world. 　　   B. The Americans hate the Canada gas. 　　   C. The Canadian gas is better than the United States'. 　　   D. Buying gas in Canada is more expensive than in the United 　　　　  States. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  

   (4) Six United States' gallons of liquid is about _________

British  gallons of liquid.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   ［　　］

　　   A. seven　　B. four 　　   C. five　　 D. three 　　  

   (5)After reading this passage, you can have an impression that 　　   __________ .　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　［　　］ 　　   A. different measures can be a problem 　　   B. people like different measures 　　   C. there are all kinds of measures in the world 　　   D. Americans should not travel too much

Since I took office I’ve done everything in my power to protect our children from harm. We’ve worked to make their streets and their schools safer, to give them something positive to do after school and before their parents get home. We’ve worked to teach our children that drugs are dangerous, illegal and wrong.

Today, I want to talk to you about the historic opportunity we now have to protect our nation’s children from an even more deadly threat: smoking. Smoking kills more people every day than AIDS, alcohol, car accidents, murders, suicides, drugs and fires combined. Nearly 90 percent of those smokers lit their first cigarette before they turned 18. Consider this: 3 000 children start to smoke every day illegally, and 1 000 of them will die sooner because of it. This is a national tragedy that every American should be honor-bound to help prevent. For more than five years we’ve worked to stop our children from smoking before they start, launching a nationwide campaign to educate them about the dangers of smoking, to reduce their access to tobacco products, and to severely restrict tobacco companies from advertising to young people. If we do these, we’ll cut teen smoking by almost half over the next five years. That means if we act now, we have it in our power to stop 3 million children from smoking and to save a million lives as a result.

1. What has the author done in his power?

A. To look after our children.

B. To clean the street.

C. To teach our children.

D. To protect our children from harm.

2. Compared with other disasters, what kills more people every day?

A. Smoking. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   B. Car accidents.

C. Drugs. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　  D. Murders.

3. How many children start to smoke every day illegally?

A. 1 000. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   　　   B. 3 000.

C. 90. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    　　D. 18.

4. For more than five years what have they done to stop their children from smoking?

A. To educate them about the dangers of smoking.

B. To reduce their access to tobacco products.

C. To restrict tobacco companies from advertising to young people.

D. Above of all.

5. How many children will be stopped from smoking if we act now?

A. one million. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　    　　   B. 1.5 million.

C. 3 million. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　   　　D. 3 000.

    A few days ago, he was just Colonel (上校) Yang; Few people knew his name or recognized his face. But last Thursday, when he came back to the earth after a 21-hour trip to space, Yang Liwe's smile was seen across the world above the magic words:“China’s first spaceman”.

    The 38-year-old astronaut was sent into space at 9 a. m. last Wednesday by China’s Shenzhou V spacecraft, which orbited the earth 14 times. He landed safely at 6: 23 a. m. the next day, making China the third country to successfully send a person into space, after the former Soviet Union and the US.

    Yang was satisfied with his job. “I have seen many landing scenes before on video, and I think ours was one of the most successful,” he said on a special plane to Beijing after landing.

    Born into an ordinary family in Liaoning Province, he became a pilot in the Chinese Air Force in 1987, spending 1, 350 hours in the air. He joined the Chinese space programmer 11 years later.

    While in space, Yang recorded everything he saw as well as showing China’s national flag and the United Nations’ flag to the people watching on TV at home. He also ate a meal of diced chicken and fried rice, before taking a 3-hour nap. The whole project went according to plan, but space exploration is not as easy as it seems.

    Anyone who saw the destruction of the US space shuttle Columbia in February this year will know that Yang took a great risk.

    He experienced extremely high temperatures, while the gravitational forces (重力) on takeoff and landing were strong enough to force tears from his eyes.

    He has spent five years training to become a spaceman.

    "I eat all of my meals at the space programmer’s dinning room and have never been able to take my son to kindergarten," he said. "I’ve never met his teachers."

    But becoming China’s first spaceman has made all the effort worthwhile.

    “When I boarded the spacecraft for the first time, I couldn’t help feeling excited,”he said.“I decided that I had to fly it.”

    To Chinese people, Yang is now a hero. One visitor to a Xinhua news agency online forum (网上论坛) said:“Yang’s trip is a giant leap forward for China.”

    Officials say the next Shenzhou will be launched by 2005. China also plans to develop space walking and a space lab.

1. What is the main idea of the story?

    A. China’s first manned space flight.

    B. A hero with great courage

    C. The first Chinese man in space

    D. How Yang Liwei became China’s first spaceman

2. How long did each of Yang’s orbits take on average?

    A. 1 hour.　　　　　　  B. 1. 5 hours.　　　　 C. 6 hours.　　　　    D. The story didn’t mention.

3. Why did the writer mention the gravitational forces on takeoff and landing?

    A. To stress the hardship and the spaceman had to experience.

    B. Because it was a very special experience for any spacemen.

    C. To stress how much training he had to do to prepare for the flight

    D. To show that Yang is lucky.

4. Why did the writer use“giant leap”in the title?

    A. Because the space flight marked China’s great progress in the field of space exploration.

    B. Because Neil Armstrong said it was a "giant leap" for mankind when he first set foot on the moon.

    C. Because the space flight was a huge success.

    D. Both A and B.