Stepping into a pool of water is common enough, but who could ever imagine stepping into a pool of fish? In February of 1974, Bill Tapp, an Australian farmer, saw a rain of fish that covered his farm. How surprised he must have been when he heard many fish hitting against his roof!

　　 What caused this strange occurrence? This is a question that had long puzzled people who study fish. The answer turned out to be a combination of wind and storm.

　　When it is spring in the northern part of the world, it is fall in Australia. Throughout the autumn season, terrible storms arise and rains flood the land. The strong winds sweep over Australia like huge vacuum cleaners, collecting seaweed, pieces of wood, and even schools of fish. Strong winds may carry these bits of nature for many miles before dropping them on fields, houses, and astonished people.

　　Although they seem unusual, fish-falls occur quite frequently in Australia. When Bill Tapp was asked to describe the scene of fish, he remarked, “They look like millions of dead birds falling down.” His statement is not surprising. The wonders of the natural world are as common as rain. Nature, with its infinite wonders, can create waterfalls that flow upward and fish that fall out of the sky.

　　56. What is this passage about?

　　A. A sad story. 　　　　　　　　　　　　B. A rain of fish.

　　C. Australia’s northern part.　　　　　D. The damage done by floods.

　　57. Fish-falls occur in Australia_________ .

　　A. quite often 　　　　　　B. on large farms

　　C. only in winter　　　　　D. when the air is calm

　　58. It is a known fact that ________.

　　A. one should watch where one steps

　　B. Bill Tapp is a scientist who studies farming

　　C. the natural world can never create waterfalls that fall upward

　　D. the seasons in the southern part are different from those in the northern part

　　59. The word “infinite” is closest in meaning to _________.

　　A. easy 　　　B. difficult 　　　C. countless 　　　D. dangerous

—You seem to show interest in cooking.

—What? _________, I'm getting tired of it.

　　A. On the contrary　　　　B. To the contrary

　　C. On the other hand　　　D. To the other hand

The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the America from being discovered by the people of Europe.

　　The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) wide.

　　There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into and no more water was brought to it by rivers. It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. On the average the water is a little more than 2 miles (3.2 km) deep, but in some places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This "deep" measures 30,246 feet --- almost six miles (9.6 km).

　　Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is not, however, always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the Far North across the paths of ships. We now have such fast ways of travelling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four!

1. From the third paragraph, we can learn that ______ .

A. the Atlantic will dry up in 4,000 years' time

B. no river flows into the Atlantic ocean　　　

C. it's hard to imagine how much water there is in the Atlantic ocean

D. the Ocean floor is rather flat

2.Suppose it's February 27th, 2000. You take a steamship to cross the Atlantic to North America, when will you probably get there?

A. On March 2nd　         B. On March 3rd 　　

C. On February 28th 　　　  D. In eight hours' time

3. What can you learn from the last paragraph of the passage ?

A. The Atlantic has grown smaller than it used to be.

B. The Atlantic had grown wider than it used to be.

C. Fast ways of travelling make the ocean grow smaller.

D. Fast ways of travelling make the ocean seem to grow smaller.

　　During the fourth China Beijing High-tech（技术的）Industries Week, exhibitions, feature presentations, technological exchanges and trade talks, and other events are organized.

　　Exhibitions

　　●China International Exhibition Center

　　* Section for China’s key science and technology achievements of the Ninth Five-Year Plan （1996 -2000）

　　* Environmental protection and energy section

　　* Section for exhibitors from other provinces and municipalities（自治县）and regions of China

　　●China World Trade Center

　　* Exchange and Trade Fair（博览会）for Science and Technology Books and Sports Information Media

　　* The Trade Fair for Modern Intelligent Houses and Beijing Urban（城市的 ）Real Estate（不动产）

　　●China Millennium（一千年）Monument

　　* Forum（论坛）and Exhibition of Foreign Sci-tech Universities

　　●China Agricultural Culture Center

　　* High-tech Construction Products Exhibition Feature Presentation

　　●Science and Education

　　* Scientists Forum on the New Century

　　●High-tech Industry

　　* Forum on Environmental Protection

　　* 2001 Forum on Bio-technology on Traditional（传统的）Chinese Medicine and Natural Medicine

　　Technical Exchanges and Trade Talks

　　●Trade talks on financial（金融的）

　　capital（资金）transformation

　　●Sino-Italian Forum and Trade Fair for the Development of IT and Communications Technology

　　1．If you want to know more about the high-tech achievements of different parts of China, you should go to ________.

　　A．China World Trade Center

　　B．China Millennium Monument

　　C．China International Exhibition Center

　　D．China Agricultural Cultural Center

　　2．These sessions mark the achievements of mankind in the fields of ________.

　　A．electronic communications, energy and education

　　B．sports technology, film-industry and environmental protection

　　C．network technology, high-tech industries and traffic

　　D．medicine, weather broadcast and finance

　　3．The advertisement is mainly about ________.

　　A．the major activities of the high-tech week

　　B．the time-table of high-tech week

　　C．the names of the meeting places

　　D．the topic of trade talks