We are well aware of the role of modern transportation in our lives. Not too long ago, people suffered great hardship in order to make a long journey. Moving heavy goods from one town to another involved hard labor. Today, we enjoy the convenience of various kinds of vehicles including ships, planes, trains, and automobiles, which allow us to go wherever we choose and make our workload much lighter.  

But modern transportation, along with convenience has brought some problems. With more drivers on the road, there has been an increase in traffic jams and accidents. The exhaust from automobiles has added to our air pollution, aside from additional noise caused by trucks and cars on the road.

Like everything else, modern transportation has more than one face. Here in China, we look to our government experts to solve these problems. Scientists are working on developing modern fuel (燃料) that produces less pollution. However, we can all help reduce air pollution from automobiles by only driving when it is necessary and using public transportation when available.

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A political scientist from Indiana University whose work exploring how people come together to protect their collective （共有的）resources may provide important clues in the fight against elimate change has become the first woman to win the Nobel prize for economics.

Elinor Ostrom, 76, shares the award with fellow American academic Oliver E. Williamson, 77. The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences announced to the world the pair had been chosen to win the 40th prize in economic sciences.

For Ostrom, the award came, as she showed, as a “big surprise”. To rise to the summit of her area of learning has been an big journey, as she has had to struggle against her own weaknesses and the impediments （妨碍）of the system. At school in Los Angeles she suffered from stuttering（口吃）. She also faced the hurdles （障碍） common to most women of her generation entering the sciences--she was discouraged from taking a PhD when she applied for graduate school.

Her field of study has been striking for how cross-disciplinary （交叉训练的）it is. Early on she gained a reputation for bringing economics, political science and sociology together.

What interests her is how common property can be managed successfully through groups in society. One of the first subjects that interested her was management of water resources.

The findings of her research have been striking, because they have challenged the traditional idea that common property is poorly managed unless it is either regulated by government or privatized. She has shown how individuals can work together and form collectives that protect the resource at hand.

“A lot of people are waiting for more international co-operation to solve global warming,” said Ostrom, “It is important that there is international agreement, but we can take steps at family level community level, and national level … There are many steps that can be taken. That will not solve it on their own but continuously will make a big difference.”

1. Why was Ostrom not advised to take a PhD?

A. Because she was a stutter who didn’t speak fluently.

    B. Because she was a woman who was prejudiced then.

    C. Because she was as common as other women in science.

    D. Because she didn’t receive a degree of master yet.

2. Which of the following statements may Ostrom agree to?

    A. Only government can make full use of common property.

    B. Private enterprise can control individual behavior.

    C. Different people should work together to protect the resources.

    D. Individuals play a minor role in fighting climate change.

3. Ostrom was awarded the Nobel Prize for economics because _______.

    A. she brought economics and political science into sociology

    B. she predicted the breakout of the global financial crisis

    C. she worked on the relationship between individuals and government

    D. she put forward a new theory to help fight against climate change

4. The passage mainly tells us that ________.

    A. the Nobel Prize for economics was first won by a woman

    B. Elinor Ostrom’s work may help fight poverty

    C. the first woman won the Nobel Prize in America

D. the Nobel Prize for economics is shared this year

NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been exploring the Red Planet since 2004. But a little more than a year ago, NASA lost contact with Spirit. The space agency has tried several ways to make contact with the rover, but Spirit has not sent back any signals.
Spirit landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. Three weeks later, Opportunity arrived. Soon after, the rovers went to the opposite side of Mars. Spirit’s original mission was only designed to last for three months, but Spirit has worked for more than five years doing additional missions. Both rovers have made important discoveries about ancient Mars. They have taken thousands of images and found evidence in the rocks of a water, warmer past in Mars’ history.
Spirit is solar-powered. It got stuck in a sand trap in April 2009, trapped deep into the soil and with its wheels turning around and around but not able to move forwards or backwards. Spirit had to agree that there is nothing that can be done to change the situation—it’s never going to move again. However, even if it is a not moving station, it can still study the planet’s atmosphere and deep interior.
NASA has been concentrating on trying to position its solar panels to get as much energy from the sun as possible, or to get the rover leaning in a manner that will allow the most amount of sunlight falling on its solar panels, in order to keep it alive during the coming winter months. Engineers have planned to rock the vehicle back and forth to acquire a more favorable position. However, no matter how many efforts have been made, Spirit still could not get out of the soft soil and could not lean itself toward the sun as the Martian winter approached. Without enough energy reaching its solar panels and with so little energy in its batteries, it went into hibernation, just like a polar bear, and has not communicated with Earth since March 22, 2010.
Whatever the future holds for Spirit, its mission has been an outstanding success. When it landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, no one was really sure how long it would continue working in the cold and dusty environment. As a matter of fact, three months was its original goal.
After so many fruitless efforts, NASA scientists are losing hope of ever reconnecting with Spirit, but they will give it one more try. Ground controllers are contacting Spirit over a range of frequencies and at different times during the day in case its internal clock stopped working and it lost track of time. They also are commanding the rover to turn on its backup radio transmitter in case the main one is dead.
If this final effort to connect isn’t successful, NASA will shift the focus to its twin robot, Opportunity, which is in a different part of Mars. Opportunity is still on the move and continues to travel freely to this day. It has traveled 16.6 miles so far, and is currently rolling towards another crater it has yet to explore.
NASA has spent more than $900 million on the project but shows no sign of giving up on these determined and hard-working robots. The rovers are, though, experiencing gradual wear and tear, the expected damage to something caused by using it repeatedly over a period of time. Even before Spirit got trapped, one of its wheels had failed. And NASA says it’s just a matter of time before both robots break down completely.
【小题1】According to the passage, what can we know about Spirit?

A．It had explored Mars several times.

B．Its original mission was to work for five years.

C．It landed on Mars three weeks later than Opportunity.

D． It discovered that Mars was once a warm and wetter place.

Schoolgirls have been wearing such short skirts at Paget High School in Branston that they've been ordered to wear trousers instead. All skirts will be banned from September. Tight-fitting trousers will also be forbidden and Muslim head-dresses will have to be “school blue’’ color.
Head teacher Don Smith said, "One of the big problems for us at the school has been the number of girls who have been wearing inappropriately short skirts. This has been an area of particular concern at a time when there has been a lot of material nationally about the sexualisation of young people.”
He also said, “ It will be impractical to police the length of girls' skirts. A blanket ban will be easier for staff to put into practice. We did not want to arrive at a situation where we were telling girls their skirts could only be a certain number of centimeters above or below the knee. Pupils', parents' and other teachers' opinions were sought before the uniform rules were changed.，，
The new clothing policy has been explained in a letter sent to parents of the school's 1,000 pupils and will come into force after the summer holiday. Support will be given to parents unable to afford the new tie. The school also wants pupils to wear clip-on(夹式)ties instead of traditional neckties.
But the new uniform rules have not been well received by everyone. One parent, whose teenage daughter attends the school, said, “I completely agree some girls were wearing skirts that were too short. However, I think girls should be allowed to be feminine(女性化的).Other schools manage to let girls wear skirts while making sure they are not inappropriately dressed. I don't see why Paget can't do the same."
【小题1】The girls at Paget High School are not allowed to wear skirts in that  _______.

When the shooting of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows was complete, it was much more than a movie wrap-up (结束).

   Rupert Grint, who played Ron Weasley, told The Sunday Times that he’s happy to have the time for romance now filming is over. Emma Watson, who is Hermione Granger in the movies, said she looked forward to “finally being free, being my own person” – a change signaled by her new haircut.

   Daniel Radcliffe, who has been the face of the boy wizard since 2001, said that he “did cry like a little girl” when the last movie finished.

   “It’s like the ending of a relationship,” he told The Vancouver Sun. “There’s a sense of, ‘God, what am I going to do now?’” He said he was eager to see “what life holds for him beyond Hogwarts”.

   Along with the three actors, Harry Potter fans, now in their late teens, came of age with J.K. Rowling’s characters. For them, the last film isn’t just a goodbye to a decade of magic, but the close of their childhoods.

   “We are the Harry Potter generation,” Canadian Andrea Hill, 19, told The Vancouver Sun. “We started in elementary school, reading about a boy our age who was going through the same things we were going through. We grew up, so did he.”

   For Emily Chahal, an 18-year-old student, the series has been an inspiring journey. “That first book was what started my love of literature. It was the inspiration for everything – really teaching me to appreciate my friends, and to face difficulties with a sense of courage,” she said. “I have a sense of sadness. The end of the movies is kind of the end of my childhood, too.”

   Fortunately, to the delight of die-hard fans, there are many things that keep the boy wizard alive. For example, in June this year, a Harry Potter theme park opened in Florida, US.

   Some schools in the US and UK also have Quidditch teams – players ride broomsticks. “We’re not waiting anymore to see what happens to Harry next,” Hill told The Vancouver Sun. She founded a Quidditch club at Carleton University in Canada. “We’re still engaged in that magical world.”

1..

 How did Emma Watson feel when she finished the shooting of the Harry Potter series?

A. She cried like a little girl.

B. She was ready to move onto something new.

C. She was happy to have the time for romance.

D. She felt it was like the end of a relationship.

2..

. What did Daniel Radcliffe mean by saying he was eager to see “what life holds for him beyond Hogwarts”?

A. He was bored with life in Hogwarts.

B. He couldn’t wait to graduate from Hogwarts.

C. He missed life in Hogwarts now he had left.

D. He was looking forward to new life out of Hogwarts.

3..

. The series has brought Emily Chahal all the following EXCEPT _______.

A. the chance to live in a magical world

B. the courage to face difficulties

C. the appreciation of her friends

D. encouragement to love literature

4..

 What is the main focus of the article?

A. Celebration of the close of childhood.

B. Fans’ love for the Harry Potter series.

C. Mixed feelings about the end of the series.

D. Excited anticipation of the opening of the Harry Potter theme park.