NANJING, June 13,2009 (Xinhua) – China will see the longest total solar eclipse (日食) in 500 years on July 22, a scientist said Saturday.

The most important time of the total eclipse was expected to

begin from 9:00 a.m. to 9:38 a. m. (Beijing Time), said Wang

Sichao, a research fellow with the Nanjing – based Purple

Mountain Observatory under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

“The total eclipse will l ast up to six minutes, which is the longest

one that can be seen in China in almost 500 years from 1814 to 2309,” Wang said.

He said viewers in parts of eleven provinces in China's southwestern, central-southern and eastern areas, such as Tibet, Hunan and Jiangsu, will be able to witness the total solar eclipse, while in most parts of Shanghai, viewers can see the spectacular phenomenon. For viewers in other provinces, including Beijing, they can observe a partial eclipse, he said.

A solar eclipse occurs when the moon is caught between the sun and the earth while each of them moves along their fixed orbits. In a total solar eclipse, the sun, the moon and the earth are directly aligned as the sun swings into the cone of shadow cast by the moon.

Wang said the next total solar eclipse that can be seen in China will fall on March 20 th, 2034.     "But it can only be seen remote provinces, such as Tibet and Qinghai. It cannot not be compared with the upcoming one -- in terms of duration and number of cities that can see the eclipse," he added. The last total solar eclipse visible in China took place on Aug. 1 last year. It was observed in northwest China and lasted two minutes in Yiwu County of northwestern Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, the best place to see the phenomenon.

72．According to the report, the total eclipse on July the 22 nd will last         .

A．over a month                                                    B．about 38 minutes

C．about 6 minutes                                              D．less than 30 minutes

73．Viewers can possibly witness the total solar eclipse in            .

A．Liaoning                   B．Sichuan                    C．Beijing                      D．Xinjiang

74．When a total solar eclipse happens,          .

A．the moon goes into the shadow cast by the sun

B．the earth stays between the sun and the moon

C．the sun temporarily moves into the moon’s orbit

D．the sun is in a line with the moon and the earth

75．Which is the best title for this report?           .

A．China to witness longest total solar eclipse in 500 years

B．The most important total solar eclipse will favor China

C．The beginning time of the total solar eclipse is expected

D．China has been the best place to witness the solar eclipse

For hundreds of years, artists have used cartoons to criticize bad rulers or landowners. As early as the 19 th century, people produced and read books of drawings. In many ways, they were similar to modern comics（漫画）. They contained stories of naughty children and playful animals. The owl and the elephant were usually wise animals, ready to give advice. The lion and tiger were brave. The fox and wolf were cunning, greedy and dangerous.

    A century ago, an American newspaper published the first-color comic strip. It was so popular that sales of the newspaper, Morning Journal, increased quickly. Since then, newspapers throughout the world have included comic strips.

    In modern time, comics are popular in China, Japan, the USA and almost everywhere. Not even video games or CD-ROMs have reduced their popularity. Names such as Snoopy, Woodstock and Garfield are well known in dozens of countries. The Peanuts comic strip appears in over 2,000 newspapers and in more than 25 languages.

    Perhaps one day, you may like to create your own comic strip and become a millionaire. First, you must think of a good plot. It should be funny, exciting or interesting in some way. It should have plenty of action. Moreover, the language must be realistic and simple. The words should suit the characters in your story.

    Furthermore, the characters in your story must be clear to readers. They should be obviously good or bad. In many comic strips—especially those showing crime of adventure—there should also be a hero or heroine. This will attract the reader to keep on reading the story. 

1. Which of the following is NOT the name of a cartoon character?

  A. Snoopy             B. Garfield         C. Peanuts        D. Woodstock

2. We can know from the first paraphaph that rulers ________.

  A. asked the artists to draw cartoons           B. probably did not like cartoons about them.

C. often drew cartoons many years ago.        D. used cartoons to give people advice.

3. According to the passage, what makes a popular and successful comic strip?

 A. Good plot         B. suitable language      C. clear characters      D. All of above

4. The underlined word “plot” is similar in meaning to ______.

 A. places              B. stories            C. events               D. characters

It is "one of the few bright spots in the Chinese economy," says Zeng Ming． He is talking about e-commerce． Mr Zeng, the chief strategy officer for Alibaba, a giant Chinese Internet firm, predicts that digital transactions on his firm's platforms will top l trillion yuan （$159 billion） this year-more than Amazon's and eBay's combined． That is a bold claim, but consider what happened on Singles Sunday．

Invented a few years ago by students and seized upon by digital marketers, this festival for lonely hearts falls annually on the  llth day of the llth month （since l is the loneliest number）．It is like St Valentine's Day, only worse． Singletons shower each other with tender gifts: a barrage of pearls; a storm of sweets．

This November llth they spent a surprising 19 billion yuan on Alibaba's online platforms-a fourfold increase on a year ago, and more than double what Americans spent online last Cyber Monday （the Monday after Thanksgiving, when retailers urge Americans to shop online）． About 100m purchases were logged, accounting for 80% of the packages shipped that day． Couriers（怏递员） were buried in parcels．

So life is good for China's e-tailers, then? Not exactly． The number of digital marketers is increasing and online sales are booming． Consumers are enjoying lower prices, better service and more variety． The problem? The pressure on profits in Chinese e-commerce is worse than in America, reckons Elinor Leung of CLSA, a broker． "Almost no one makes money," she says．

The fiercest battles are being fought between online retailers and their bricks-and-mortar（实体的） rivals．Dangdang, a firm． that resembles Amazon,．and 360buy, another online retailer, have cut prices fiercely． Tencent, a cash-rich online giant known for its instant-messaging software, is splashing out to win market share． 360buy has also just raised $400m from investors to do the same． But it is unclear how much longer such firms can burn through capital．

1.What's the best title of this passage?

A．The Ambition of Alibaba

B．Fierce Competition between Retailers

C．A Newly Sprung Festival for the Singles

D．Chinese Booming and Developing E-commerce

2.According to Zeng Ming, this year Alibaba will        ．

A．outweigh Amazon and eBay in worldwide influence

B．rank top among all the Internet firms

C．have more than 159 billion dollars' sale

D．create another sales miracle just like the one on Singles Day

3.How many packages were shipped on November ll th from Alibaba's online platforms?

A．About 80 million．                      B．About 100 million．

C．About 125 million．                     D．About 180 million．

4.What's the author's attitude towards online retailers in China?

A．Optimistic．                           B．Concerned．

C．Sympathetic．                         D．Indifferent．

For hundreds of years, artists have used cartoons to criticize bad rulers or landowners. As early as the 19 th century, people produced and read books of drawings. In many ways, they were similar to modern comics（漫画）. They contained stories of naughty children and playful animals. The owl and the elephant were usually wise animals, ready to give advice. The lion and tiger were brave. The fox and wolf were cunning, greedy and dangerous.

    A century ago, an American newspaper published the first-color comic strip. It was so popular that sales of the newspaper, Morning Journal, increased quickly. Since then, newspapers throughout the world have included comic strips.

    In modern time, comics are popular in China, Japan, the USA and almost everywhere. Not even video games or CD-ROMs have reduced their popularity. Names such as Snoopy, Woodstock and Garfield are well known in dozens of countries. The Peanuts comic strip appears in over 2,000 newspapers and in more than 25 languages.

    Perhaps one day, you may like to create your own comic strip and become a millionaire. First, you must think of a good plot. It should be funny, exciting or interesting in some way. It should have plenty of action. Moreover, the language must be realistic and simple. The words should suit the characters in your story.

    Furthermore, the characters in your story must be clear to readers. They should be obviously good or bad. In many comic strips—especially those showing crime of adventure—there should also be a hero or heroine. This will attract the reader to keep on reading the story. 

1. Which of the following is NOT the name of a cartoon character?

  A. Snoopy             B. Garfield         C. Peanuts        D. Woodstock

2. We can know from the first paraphaph that rulers ________.

  A. asked the artists to draw cartoons           B. probably did not like cartoons about them.

C. often drew cartoons many years ago.        D. used cartoons to give people advice.

3. According to the passage, what makes a popular and successful comic strip?

 A. Good plot         B. suitable language      C. clear characters      D. All of above

4. The underlined word “plot” is similar in meaning to ______.

 A. places              B. stories            C. events               D. characters