In one way of thinking, failure is a part of life. In another way, failure may be a way towards success. The “spider story” is often told. Robert Bruce, leader of the Scots in the 13th century, was hiding in a cave from the English. He watched a spider spinning a web（蜘蛛织网）. The spider tried to reach across a rough place in the rock. He tried six times without success. On the seventh time he made it and went on to spin his web. Bruce is said to have taken heart and to have gone on to defeat the English… Edison, the inventor of the light bulb, made hundreds of models that failed before he found the right way to make one.
So what? First, always think about your failure. What caused it? Were conditions right? Were you in top from yourself? What can you change so things will go right next time?
Second, is the goal（目标）you’re trying to reach the right one? Try to do some thinking about what your real goals may be. Think about his question, “If I do succeed in this, where will it get me?” This may help you prevent failure in things you shouldn’t be doing anyway.
The third thing to bear in mind about failure is that it’s a part of life. Learn to “live with yourself” even though you may have failed. Remember, “You can’t win them all.”
【小题1】 This passage deals with two sides of failure. In paragraph 1, the author talks mainly about __         .

A．the value of failure

B．how people would fail

C．famous failures

D．the cause of failure

A．Bruce and Edison were successful examples.

B．Failure may be regarded as a way toward success.

C．Edison learned a lot from the lesson the spider taught Robert Bruce.

D．One may often raise a question whether his goals are worth attempting.

The garden city was largely the invention of Ebenezer Howard (1850 – 1928). After immigrating from England to the USA, and an unsuccessful attempt to make a living as a farmer, he moved to Chicago, where he saw the reconstruction of the city after the disastrous fire of 1871. In those days, it was nicknamed "the Garden City", almost certainly the source of Howard's name for his later building plan of towns．Returning to London, Howard developed his design in the 1880s and 1890s, drawing on ideas that were popular at the time, but creating a unique combination of designs．

The nineteenth-century poor city was in many ways a terrible place, dirty and crowded; but it offered economic and social opportunities．At the same time, the British countryside was in fact equally unattractive: though it promised fresh air and nature, it suffered from agricultural depression（萧条）and it offered neither enough work and wages, nor much social life．Howard's idea was to combine the best of town and country in a new kind of settlement, the garden city．Howard's idea was that a group of people should set up a company, borrowing money to establish a garden city in the depressed countryside; far enough from existing cities to make sure that the land was bought at the bottom price．

Garden cities would provide a central public open space, radial avenues and connecting industries．They would be surrounded by a much larger area of green belt, also owned by the company, containing not merely farms but also some industrial institutions．As more and more people moved in, the garden city would reach its planned limit-Howard suggested 32,000 people; then, another would be started a short distance away．Thus, over time, there would develop a vast planned house collection, extending almost without limit; within it, each garden city would offer a wide rang of jobs and services, but each would also be connected to the others by a rapid transportation system, thus giving all the economic and social opportunities of a big city．

1.How did Howard get the name for his building plan of garden cities?

A. By using the nickname of the reconstructed Chicago．

B. Through his observation of the country life．

C. Through the combination of different ideas．

D. By taking other people's advice．

2.The underlined phrase "drawing on "in Paragraph 1 probably means______．

A．making comments on                 B．giving an explanation of                      

C．giving a description of                  D．making use of  

3.What can we learn about garden cities from the last paragraph?

A. Each one would continue to become larger

B. People would live and work in the same place

C. Their number would continue to rise

D. Each one would contain a certain type of business

4.What could be the best title for the passage?

A．City and Countryside

B．The Invention of the Garden City

C．A New City in Chicago

D．A Famous Garden City in England

From school to band practice, the Venturi Eclectic is an Earth-friendly way to get where you want to go. This battery-powered, zero-emission (meaning it doesn't pollute the air) vehicle runs mainly on renewable energy. Solar panels on the Eclectic's roof absorb sun rays when you're driving. On windy days, you can connect a machine to the car's roof that collects energy from the wind while you're parked. The Eclectic's top speed is 28 miles an hour; the battery lasts for 31 miles before it needs to be recharged. Zipping (迅速行进) around the neighborhood has never been better.

Here's an eco-friendly way to tell time: Simply fill the Bedol Water-powered Clock's tank (箱) with water, add some lemon juice, and the clock will display the time without the need for environmentally harmful batteries. There are two sets of metal electrodes(电极) inside the water tank. Water contains ions (离子) that carry negative and positive charges. These ions complete a charge between the electrodes, creating enough energy to power the clock. Just refill the tank every few weeks, and this clock will keep on ticking.

You’re having a blast at your friend’s birthday party. But when it's time to bring out the cake, everyone crowds around, blocking your view. No worries. Throw the Triops into the air, and this clever camera catches the view from above. The Triops can take three pictures at once, each from different angles. You can also record sounds and command the Triops to start shooting (拍摄)whenever it hears that noise. That's one smart camera.
【小题1】According to the passage, the Venturi Eclectic      .

Australians have been warned they face a life or death decision over their water — drink recycled sewage (污水) or die.
With the drought (干旱) continuing, the country is set to be forced to use purified (净化的) waste water for drinking, even though there is great opposition to the measure.
Queensland has become the first state to introduce the policy after a warning from its premier.
“I think in the end, because of the drought, all of Australia is going to end up drinking recycled purified water,” said Peter Beattie.
“These are difficult decisions, but you either drink water or you die. There’s no choice. It’s liquid gold; it’s a matter of life and death.”
Beattie said Australia’s second largest state would become the first to use recycled water for drinking.
Water is recycled in Britain and parts of northern Europe along with the US and Israel.
But Australians have never liked the idea.
To try to change the way Australians think, Prime Minister John Howard and Environment Minister Malcolm Turnbull have adhered to Queensland’s move.
“I am very strongly for recycling and Mr. Beattie is right and I agree with him completely,” Howard said.
“Australian cities, all now facing water shortages because of the worst drought on record, must start to use recycled water.” added Turnbull, “All of our big cities have to widen the range of water sources to include sources which are not dependent on rainfall.”
【小题1】What is the text mainly about?

Dear Alcohol,

You’ve been around forever. I can remember all the pain you’ve caused for me.

Do you remember the night you almost took my father’s life? I do. He loves you. Sometimes I think he loves you more than he loves me. He’s addicted to you, to the way you promise to rid him of his problems only to cause more of them. You just sat back and laughed as his car went spinning through the street, crashing into two other cars. He wasn’t the only one hurt by you that night.
Do you remember the night of my first high school party? You were there. My friends were intrigued by you. They treated you as if they were never going to see you again, drinking all of you that they could. I spent two hours that night helping my friends who had fallen completely. “I’m so embarrassed,” they said as I held their hair back so that they could vomit (呕吐). “I’m sorry,” they said when I called taxies for them, walking them out and paying the driver in advance. “This won’t happen again,” they said as they were sent to the hospital to have their stomachs pumped. Two 15-year-old girls slept in hospital beds that night thanks to you.

Do you remember the night when you took advantage of my 17-year-old neighbor who had to drive to pick up his sister from her dance lessons? Do you know how we all felt when he hit another car and killed the two people in the other car? He died the next morning too. His sister walked home from her dance lesson, and passed police cars and a crowd of people gathering on the sidewalk just two blocks away from the dance studio. She didn’t realize her brother was in the midst of it all. She never saw him again. And it’s all your fault.
I wish you’d walk out of my life forever. I don’t want anything to do with you. Look at all the pain you’ve caused. Sure, you’ve made people happy too from time to time. But the damage you’ve caused in the lives of millions is inexcusable. Stop luring (引诱) in the people I love. Stop hurting me, please.

Sincerely,Anonymous
1.What is author’s purpose in writing to alcohol?

A．To introduce Mr. Alcohol to the readers

B．To describe the harm alcohol did to his family.

C．To show how much alcohol can hurt people.

D．To show the great fun that alcohol can bring to people’s life.

2.What did alcohol do to the author’s father?

A．It made him crash into two other cars and took his life.

B．It made him drink too much and he had to get his stomach pumped.

C．It made him kill two other people when driving.

D．It made him get into a car accident and badly injure himself.

3.The underlined phrase “were intrigued by” is closest in meaning to ______.

A．were familiar with???????????? B．were interested in

C．were disappointed with??????? D．were satisfied with

4.What is the tone of the article?

A．Critical.????????????? B．Doubtful.????????????? C．Unconcerned.????????????? D．Humorous.

5.What is the main writing technique of the passage?

A．Making something more noticeable than usual.

B．Representing something in the form of a person.

C．Describing something by listing its harmfulness.

D．Comparing one thing with another to make his point clear.