Saturday 28 April, 2001: Dennis Tito was setting off on his holiday. Mr. Tito’s journey was  certainly unusual! So was the transport he chose, and the price of his trip.

The 60-year-old multi-millionaire from New York was sitting on board a Russian spaceship.  He was on a journey to the International Space Station. It might have been a routine trip for the  two astronauts who were traveling with him, but for him it was certainly no ordinary journey.  Dennis Tito was the first tourist ever in space, and he had paid the sum of $20 million to go there.  As the spacecraft left the earth’s atmosphere, Tito drank a glass of fruit juice to celebrate and  looked down at the earth’s blue-green surface. Two minutes later, he was sick. Luckily it was  only a minor problem. He soon recovered, and from then on enjoyed a smooth journey. When he  arrived at the space station, there was a big smile on his face. “A great trip!” he commented． “I  love space.”

For a long time space travel was something for heroes. But all this is going to change.  Companies like ProSpace are investing large amounts of money in space travel. They want space  and space travel to belong to the public, not just governments. There are other plans, like voyages  through space from one side of the world to the other. Maybe we will be able to depart from New  York at nine o’clock in the morning, and arrive an hour later-- in Tokyo! Such a schedule would  allow the business traveler to return to New York on the same day, and still have eight hours for a  meeting!

1.Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

2.According to the passage, Dennis Tito   .

3.Which of the following statements is tree according to the passage?

4.It can be expected from the passage that   .

The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space showed it as a solid ball covered by brown land masses and blue-green oceans. We had never seen the Earth from that distance before. To us, it appeared as though the Earth had always looked that way and always would. Scientists now know, however, that the surface of the Earth is not as permanent as we had thought.

Scientists explain that the surface of our planet is always moving. Continents moves about the Earth like huge ships at sea. They float on pieces of the Earth’s outer skin. New outer skin is created as melted rock pushed up from below the ocean floor. Old outer skin is destroyed as it rolls down into the hot area and melts again.

Only since the 1960s have scientists really began to understand that the planet Earth is a great living machine. Some experts have said this new understanding is one of the most important revolutions in scientific thought. The revolution is based on the work of scientists who study the movement of the continents—a science called plate tectonics.

The modern story of plate tectonics begins with the German scientist Alfred Wegener. Before World War One, Wegener argued that the continents had moved and were still moving. He said the idea first occurred to him when he observed that the coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together like two pieces of a puzzle. He proposed that the two continents might have been one and then split apart.

Wegener was not the first person to wonder about the shape of the continents. About 500 years ago, explorers thought about it when they made the first maps of Americas. The explorers noted the east coast of North America and South America would fit almost exactly into the west coast of Europe and south Africa. What the explorers did not do, but Wegener did, was to investigate the idea that the continents move.

What does the writer mainly tell us in the passage?

A. The first breath-taking pictures of the Earth taken from space.

B. Human’s recognition of the earth’s surface.

C. The German scientist Alfred Wegener.

D. The early explorers’ discovery.

Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A. We didn’t see the Earth from far away until we saw the picture taken in the space.

B. Our ancient thought that the surface of the earth is still.

C. Alfred Wegener was not the first person to investigate the idea that the continents move.

D. The coastline of India and Africa fit together.

The last word of the third paragraph “tectonics” mean “________”.

A. study of construction

B. study of architecture

C. earth surface

D. structural geology

What did the explorers find?

A. The coastlines of South America and Africa could fit together.

B. The coastlines of North America and Africa could fit together.

C. The east coastlines of North America and the west coast of Europe could fit together.

D.The coastlines of North America and India could fit together.

There are many colors in nature. But do you know if a color has weight? I think you’ll say “no”. But I am afraid you are wrong. If you don’t believe, you may do a small experiment.

　　First, put two objects with the same weight into two boxes. Then cover the box. Third, wrap one box with a red piece of paper, the other with a white piece of paper. OK. Now hold the boxes with your hand one by one. It is certain that you will think the red one is a little heavier.

　　Why do you think so? A scientist found that different colors have different weight in a man’s mind. So he did man tests and at last he got the result. That is to say, every color has its own weight in our mind and their order is the same. The heaviest color is red, then blue, green, orange, yellow and white.

　　The scientist told us that colors also have smell. Can you smell the color? Of course not. Then why did the scientist say so? That is because every color stands for a kind of light with a certain wavelength. It reaches our brain through sense organs (感觉器官).

According to this discovery, scientists say that people accept the colors they like, and refuse the colors they hate. So your body and mind will be healthy by using the colors you like. Or you’ll be nervous or even get ill. For example, if you stay in a room with red windows, wallpapers and furniture for two hours, you’ll feel you have been there for four hours. But if the room is blue, you’ll feel you have been there for only an hour. Another example, if a person walks out of a red room and into a blue room, his temperature will fall. That means our body temperature will change with different colors.

1.The purpose of the second paragraph is to tell us ___________.

       A. a red box is heavier than a white one

       B. a color has weight in one’s mind

       C. white paper is lighter than red paper

       D. you can know the weight of a color by holding it

2. Why did the scientist say colors have smell?

       A. Because people can sense the light from colors.

       B. Because we can smell colors with our nose.

       C. Because every color has its own sweet smell.

       D. Because every color can give off light of the same length.

3. If a person walks from a blue room to a red room, his body temperature will ___________.

A. rise                B. fall                 C. stay the same               D. change now and then

4.It can be implied from the text that ___________.

A. colors have orders in weight

B. colors can change the weight of an object

C. people would stay longer in a room with red windows

D. colors can affect our mood and health

5.This passage is probably a ___________.

       A. book review                   B. fiction novel                   C. fairy tale                D. science report

GU Zhaodi, 60, had taken water for granted for years. In fact, no one in the beautiful lake city of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province had bothered to spare a thought on water.

    But all that changed dramatically overnight last month when taps in the city ran dry. Due to a blue-green algae(藻类)  outbreak in Taihu Lake, China’s third largest freshwater lake and the source of drinking water for 4 million Wuxi residents(居民),water from the city’s taps became dark and smelly.

   “I can’t believe there is no water for drinking, let alone cooking and washing,” said Ｇu.

   The lake was blanketed with the algae, giving off a strong smell of rotting meat. A stone thrown into it took a long time to sink. Experts said that algae usually boom because of hot water and rich chemicals like phosphor(磷)in the water.

   “High temperature and a lack of rain in the past few months helped the growth of algae,” said Zhang Lijun, an official from the State Environment Protection Administration. “However, pollution from human activity should be most blamed for the disaster.”

    Taihu Lake is surrounded by many small factories, which sprang up in the 1980s.Inthe 1990s,many foreign-funded(外资的) companies joined in. The industries prospered(繁荣)，Wuxi has grown into one of the wealthiest cities in East China.

    But that came at the price of pollution. The lake was treated like a waste dump(垃圾堆)，with factories emptying industrial waste and untreated sewage(污水)into it.

    Although, after the government's effort, life in the city has gone back to normal, the one-week crisis（危机）rang a bell for the government and local people.” It’s time to rebuild the beauty of nature, or our lives will be at risk,” said Gu.

   “A safe environment comes first. Economic growth will be nothing without fresh water to drink and clean air to breathe.” said China Daily.

 36. The following can help the blue green algae grow______

 A. high water temperature  B. rich chemicals in the water

 C. a lack of rain               D. plentiful water and sunshine

37.  What can we learn from the passage?

A. The one-week disaster has made the local people realize the importance of building a beautiful city.

B. It is human activity rather than the algae that is to blame for the water Pollution.

C. Only when the environment is safe and friendly can man live a better and healthier life.

D. Environment should be taken into consideration first if a city plans to develop its economic.

38. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. Who is to blame, man or algae?   B. Water turned off

C. Water pollution troubled Wuxi    D. Algae threatened Taihu Lake

39. According to the passage ,Taihu Lake________

A. is the third largest lake in China.

B. is surrounded by many foreign-funded factories and companies.

C. used to be a waste dump.

D. suffered from industrial waste，untreated sewage and algae.

40. The underlined phrase “sprang up” in the sixth paragraph means______

A. develop quickly              B. produce goods quickly

C. come to life                   D. grow up

GU Zhaodi, 60, had taken water for granted for years. In fact, no one in the beautiful lake city of Wuxi, Jiangsu Province had bothered to spare a thought on water.
But all that changed dramatically overnight last month when taps in the city ran dry. Due to a blue-green algae(藻类)  outbreak in Taihu Lake, China’s third largest freshwater lake and the source of drinking water for 4 million Wuxi residents(居民),water from the city’s taps became dark and smelly.
“I can’t believe there is no water for drinking, let alone cooking and washing,”said Ｇu.
The lake was blanketed with the algae, giving off a strong smell of rotting meat. A stone thrown into it took a long time to sink. Experts said that algae usually boom because of hot water and rich chemicals like phosphor(磷)in the water.
“High temperature and a lack of rain in the past few months helped the growth of algae,”said Zhang Lijun, an official from the State Environment Protection Administration. “However, pollution from human activity should be most blamed for the disaster.”
Taihu Lake is surrounded by many small factories, whichsprang up in the 1980s.Inthe 1990s,many foreign-funded(外资的) companies joined in. The industries prospered(繁荣)，Wuxi has grown into one of the wealthiest cities in East China.
But that came at the price of pollution. The lake was treated like a waste dump(垃圾堆)，with factories emptying industrial waste and untreated sewage(污水)into it.
Although, after the government's effort, life in the city has gone back to normal, the one-week crisis（危机）rang a bell for the government and local people.“It's time to rebuild the beauty of nature, or our lives will be at risk,”said Gu.
“A safe environment comes first. Economic growth will be nothing without fresh water to drink and clean air to breathe.” said China Daily.
【小题1】The following can not help the blue green algae grow______