C
FOR many of us, cartoon strips（连环画） are simply one of our pastimes. The popular Japanese manga provides us with an escape from reality into a world of fantasy, adventure and romance. With much less text and pictures running for pages, it fits perfectly into today's fast, throwing away city lifestyle.
But Tsai Chih-chung, a famous Taiwanese illustrator (漫画家), doesn't agree. He believes cartoons can be a bridge connecting traditional Chinese culture and wisdom with the modern world in a much more wise and acceptable way.
He has interpreted（演绎） Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencius, Zhuang Zi and Sun Zi and made their works accessible to a global audience. He has also produced two books about Zen (禅宗), introducing oriental philosophy（哲学）. His cartoons are humorous yet full of wisdom and are admired as an easy way to learn Chinese classics.
After avoiding the public for ten years, Tsai made a comeback in late April with seven new works. But does his age, 61, work as a gap between him and his young readers? Tsai doesn't think so.
The topics he has covered range from philosophy in a time of individuality(个性) to the learning and memorizing techniques used at school. "Every child is a genius and has the potential beyond his own imagination," he said.
If popular Japanese manga is simply for entertainment, Tsai's work, to a large extent, is to light the power of thinking in a light-hearted way. Tsai uses different forms of water to refer to people. In his eyes some people are like an ocean, some are like vapor , while others may be ice or rain. But in essence they share a similarity – human being's forever chasing for the true and the good.
"The person who thinks over life issues is not necessarily a scholar or a philosopher," he said. "I've devoted my whole life to thinking and individual freedom, not making a living."
64．Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the passage?
A．Tsai’s work fits today’s city lifestyle.
B．All of Tsai’s works mainly introduce eastern philosophy.
C．Tsai’s works are humorous as well as full of wisdom.
D．Tsai’s works are not involved in children’s study.
65．What’s the word “vapor” mean in the 6th paragraph?
It means          .
A．a kind of food  B．a form of water       C．a form of solid D．a kind of people
66．From the passage we know that       .
A．Tsai once stopped writing his works for ten years
B．Tsai writes his works in order to make a living
C．Tsai thinks everyone should be a scholar or a philosopher
D．Tsai doesn’t think there is a gap between him and his young readers
67．In the author’s opinion,         .
A．Japanese Manga is more valuable than Tsai’s
B．Tsai’s works are more valuable than Japanese Manga
C．Japanese Manga is as valuable as Tsai’s
D．Both Japanese Manga and Tsai’s works are valueless

                                     D

To find out how the name Canada came about, we must go back to the 16th century. At that time, the French dreamed of discovering and controlling more land across the world. In 1535 Francois I, King of France, ordered a navigator (航海家) named Jacques Cartier to explore the New world and search for a passage to India.

Cartier first arrived at the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, which he wanted to explore. He did not know

what to expect but he hoped that this Gulf was just an arm of the ocean between two islands. If it

was, he would soon be on his way to the Far East. So he sailed upwards along the St. Lawrence

River. However, instead of reaching Asia he arrived at Quebec or Stadacona, as the Indians called

it. It was at this point that the term “Canada” entered the country’s history. Clearly the word

“Canada” came from an Indian word “Kanata”, which means village. Cartier first used it when he

referred to Stadacona or Quebec. What a huge “village” Canada is!

57. What was Cartier ordered to do?

A. To build a new country                  

B. To find the New World

C. To get in touch with the American Indians   

D. To know more about America and find a new way to Asia

58. When Cartier reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence he hoped ________.

A. he had got to the Far East             B. it was a water way to the New World

C. it was a water way to the Far East       D. he had sailed into the Pacific

59. Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Quebec and Stadacona were tow islands.    

B. The Indian language for village is Stadacona.

C. Quebec and Stadacona were two villages in Canada. 

D. Stadacona was what the Indians called Quebec.

60. Canada was first used to refer to __________.

A. Asia     B. the New World       C. a village         D. Quebec

D

To what degree can a computer achieve intelligence (智力)? The answer to this question may lie in a newly-developed US computer program called Smarter Child and the Internet．

If you ran into Smarter Child online , you would be surprised at this kid’s huge memory．It can recite many facts． For example , Smarter Child knows every baseball player in every team this season．

He knows every word in the dictionary and the weather in every major city areas across the US．However , if you ask Smarter Child other questions , you get stranger answers．A question about Smarter Child’s age returns． “One year, 11 days, 16 hours, 7 minutes, and 47 seconds!” Asking where he lives gets , “In a clean room in a high-tech building in California．”

Smarter Child uses the vast information on the World Wide Web as his memory bank．To answer questions about spelling , for instance , Smarter Child goes to American Heritage Dictionary online．For the weather , he visits www．intellicast．com．

Some scientists believe that by joining the many systems of the Internet , an artificial being with the combined knowledge of , say , Albert Einstein, Richard Nixon and Britney Spears could be born．However if Smarter Child wants to think and learn on his own like the boy-computer David in the movie A．I．, Artificial Intelligence , he must overcome two problems．

The first is that computers find it difficult to read web pages because the files are labeled in different ways．That’s why programmers need to tell Smarter Child where to look for the weather．It would be a much more difficult task to let him find it himself．

Another problem is that while Smarter Child can process (处理) information more exactly and faster than any human , he lacks common sense—a basic grounding of knowledge that is obvious to any young child．

67．From the text we can infer that www．intellicast．com is a website___________．

       A．which is specially designed to help Smarter Child

       B．where we people can find Smarter Child

       C．where weather forecasts are made

       D．which is about artificial intelligence

68．It is probably most difficult for Smarter Child to_______．

       A．tell us how to spell a difficult word

       B．tell us how the American government is run

       C．provide us with a famous poem by Shakespeare

       D．learn how to tell right behaviors from wrong ones。

69．Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

       A．Smart Child has his own memory bank big enough for all kinds of information．

       B．A．I．Artificial Intelligence is probably the name of a film about a boy-computer．

       C．Smart Child can recognize different files and find information needed on his own．

       D．We have similar product now which has the knowledge of Einstein , Nixon and Spears．

70．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

       A．A New Web Child       B．Smarter Child

       C．The Future of Internet    D．Intelligence Development

C

       FOR many of us, cartoon strips（连环画） are simply one of our pastimes. The popular Japanese manga provides us with an escape from reality into a world of fantasy, adventure and romance. With much less text and pictures running for pages, it fits perfectly into today's fast, throwing away city lifestyle.

       But Tsai Chih-chung, a famous Taiwanese illustrator (漫画家), doesn't agree. He believes cartoons can be a bridge connecting traditional Chinese culture and wisdom with the modern world in a much more wise and acceptable way.

       He has interpreted（演绎） Lao Zi, Confucius, Mencius, Zhuang Zi and Sun Zi and made their works accessible to a global audience. He has also produced two books about Zen (禅宗), introducing oriental philosophy（哲学）. His cartoons are humorous yet full of wisdom and are admired as an easy way to learn Chinese classics.

       After avoiding the public for ten years, Tsai made a comeback in late April with seven new works. But does his age, 61, work as a gap between him and his young readers? Tsai doesn't think so.

       The topics he has covered range from philosophy in a time of individuality(个性) to the learning and memorizing techniques used at school. "Every child is a genius and has the potential beyond his own imagination," he said.

       If popular Japanese manga is simply for entertainment, Tsai's work, to a large extent, is to light the power of thinking in a light-hearted way. Tsai uses different forms of water to refer to people. In his eyes some people are like an ocean, some are like vapor , while others may be ice or rain. But in essence they share a similarity – human being's forever chasing for the true and the good.

       "The person who thinks over life issues is not necessarily a scholar or a philosopher," he said. "I've devoted my whole life to thinking and individual freedom, not making a living."

64．Which of the following statement is TRUE according to the passage?

       A．Tsai’s work fits today’s city lifestyle.

       B．All of Tsai’s works mainly introduce eastern philosophy.

       C．Tsai’s works are humorous as well as full of wisdom.

       D．Tsai’s works are not involved in children’s study.

65．What’s the word “vapor” mean in the 6th paragraph?

       It means          .

       A．a kind of food  B．a form of water       C．a form of solid D．a kind of people

66．From the passage we know that       .

       A．Tsai once stopped writing his works for ten years

       B．Tsai writes his works in order to make a living

       C．Tsai thinks everyone should be a scholar or a philosopher

       D．Tsai doesn’t think there is a gap between him and his young readers

67．In the author’s opinion,         .

       A．Japanese Manga is more valuable than Tsai’s

       B．Tsai’s works are more valuable than Japanese Manga

       C．Japanese Manga is as valuable as Tsai’s

       D．Both Japanese Manga and Tsai’s works are valueless

A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces (熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.

The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.

After the explosion gravity pulls in what’s left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so dense that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.

The more the star shrinks, the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!

That’s what we know about black holes. What we don’t know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.

But if the black hole doesn’t keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world. They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a “white hole” in a different universe. As the black hole swallows light, the white hole shines brightly—somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time — many years in the past or future.

Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed. So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.

Black holes are a mystery—but that hasn’t stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth’s energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste—a sort of huge waste disposal(处理) in the sky!

When the star begins to die ______.

A. there is no fuel left in it                                B. its outer layer goes into space first

C. a huge explosion will happen                         D. it doesn’t give off light any longer

Which of the following doesn’t help produce a black hole?

A. The gravity inside the star is very strong.        B. The light can’t go out of the star.

C. The star becomes smaller and smaller             D. The dying star shines very brightly.

The black hole ______.

A. continues becoming smaller and smaller all the time

B. goes into another universe and becomes a white hole

C. can pull in everything we know of in the world

D. will appear at another place at a different time

What’s the best title for this passage?

A. A New Scientific Discovery: Black Holes

B. How Do Black Holes Come Into Being?

C. What Are Black Holes?

D. Travel Through A Black Hole