“Down-to-earth” means someone or something that is honest, realistic (现实的) and easy to deal with．

It is a pleasure to find someone who is down-to-earth．A person who is down-to-earth is easy to talk to and accepts other people as equals．A down-to-earth person is just the opposite of someone who acts importantly and proudly．

Down-to-earth person may be important members of society, of course．But they do not let their importance “go to their heads”．They do not consider themselves to be better persons than others of less importance．Someone who is filled with his own importance and pride, often without cause, is said to have “his nose in the air”．There is no way a person with his nose in the air can be down-to-earth．

Americans use another expression that means almost the same as “down-to-earth”．It is “both-feet-on-the-ground”．Someone with “both-feet-on-the-ground” is a person with a good understanding of reality．He has what is called “common sense”．He may have dreams, but he does not allow them to block his knowledge of what is real．

The opposite kind of person is one who has his “head-in-the-clouds”．A man with his “head-in-the-clouds” is a dreamer whose mind is not in the real world．

Sometimes, such a dreamer can be brought back to earth．Sharp words from a teacher can usually bring a day-dreaming student down-to-earth．

Usually, the person who is down-to-earth is very likely to have our both-feet-on-the-ground．When we have our both-feet-on-the-ground, when we are down-to-earth, we act honestly and openly towards others．Our lives are like the ground below us, solid and strong．

1．“But they do not let their importance ‘go to their heads’” means that _____．

A．they are important but they do not want to be important

B．they do not show out that they are much better than others

C．they think others are less important but they do not look down upon them

D．they have a calm mind and are not proud of their importance

2．After reading this passage, what do you think a person with both-feet-on-the-ground is like?

A．He/She is a person who is honest, modest, realistic and easy to go with．

B．He/She is a person who is kind to others and never looks down upon them．

C．He/She is a person who thinks they themselves are less important than others．

D．He/She is a person who never thinks they themselves are a lot better tan others．

3．“Common sense” here means _____．

A．real sense without dreaming

B．the sense of correct understanding and judging

C．not special senses, but common

D．the senses of ordinary people

4．If you want to be a person who is down-to-earth, you’d better _____．

A．listen to your teacher’s sharp words often

B．act importantly and proudly

C．act honestly and openly towards others

D．do more important things

阅读理解

　　Something big is happening to the human race-something that could be called The Great Transformation.

　　The Transformation consists of all the changes that are occurring in human life due to advancing technology. For thousands of years such progress occurred slowly. Now, everything is changing so fast that you may find yourself wondering where all this progress is really leading.

　　Nobody knows what all these changes really will mean in the long run. But this mysterious Transformation is the biggest story of all time. It is the story of the human race itself.

　　Some people worry about what will happen when the deposits of petroleum are gone, but already researchers are finding all kinds of new ways to obtain energy. Someday, solar power collected by satellites circling the earth or fission power manufactured by mankind may give us all the energy we need for an expanding civilization. Space exploration promises to open up many new territories for human settlement, as well as leading to the harvest of mineral resources like the asteroids.

　　Scientific research continues to open up previously undreamed of possibilities. Fifty years ago, few people could even imagine things like computers, lasers, and holography. Today, a host of newly emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence and genetic engineering are opening up all kinds of new paths for technologists.

　　Like it or not, our advancing technology has made us masters of the earth. We not only dominate all the other animals, but we are reshaping the world’s plant life and even its soil and rocks, its waters and surrounding air. Mountains are being dug up to provide minerals and stone for buildings. The very ground under our feet is washing ways as we chop down the forests, plow up the fields, and excavate foundations for our buildings.

　　Human junk is cluttering up not only the land but even the bottom of the sea. And so many chemicals are being released into the air by human activities that scientists worry that the entire globe may warm, causing the polar icecaps (冰冠) to melt and ocean waters to flood vast areas of the land. During the twentieth century, advancing technology has enabled man to reach thousands of feet into the ocean depths and to climb the highest mountain. Mount Everest, the highest mountain of all, resisted all climbers until the 1950s. Now man is reaching beyond Earth to the moon, Mars, and the stars.

　　No one knows what the Great Transformation means or where it will ultimately lead. But one thing is sure: Human life 50 years from now will be very different from what it is today. It’s also worth nothing that our wondrous technology is posing an increasingly insistent question: When we can do so many things, how can we possibly decide what we really should do? When humans were relatively powerless, they didn’t have to make the choices they have to make today.

　　Technology gives us the power to build a magnificent new civilization－if we can just agree on what we want it to be. But today, there is little global agreement on goals and how we should achieve them. So it remains to be seen what will happen as a result of our technology. Pessimists worry that we will use the technology eventually to blow ourselves up. But they have been saying that for decades, and so far we have escaped. Whether we will continue to do so remains unknown－but we can continue to hope.

1．The Great Transformation is caused by ________.

[　　]

A．artificial intelligence and genetic engineering

B．the shortage, of natural resources

C．the development of practical science

D．unknown reasons

2．Today it is impossible for people to build a remarkable new civilization because ________.

[　　]

A．nobody is optimistic about the future

B．human beings are unable to do so

C．people disagree with each other in many ways

D．people are not interested in it

3．The more chemicals we send into the air, the less land we will possibly have because ________.

[　　]

A．chemicals will wash away fields

B．water levels will go up

C．more and more land will be covered by ice

D．none of the above

4．________ after all the petroleum is used up.

[　　]

A．We can depend on solar power or fission for energy

B．We can ask God for help

C．We will have no source to obtain energy

D．We can bum wood

阅读理解

　　Have you ever seen a movie in which a building was burned down or a bridge was destroyed? Have you seen films in which a train crashed or a ship sank into the ocean? If so, you may have wondered how these things could happen without harming the people in the film.

　　The man who knows the answer is the “special-effect” man. He has one of the most important jobs in the film industry. He may be ordered to create a flood or to make a battlefield explode. And he may also be asked to create a special effect which is much less exciting, though just as important to the success of the film.

　　In a scene for one movie there was a big glass box filled with water in which small fish were swimming. The director of the movie wanted the fish to stop swimming suddenly while they seemed to stare at an actor. Then the director wanted the fish to stop staring and swim away. But fish can't be ordered to do anything. It was quite a problem.

　　The special-effect man thought about this problem for a long time. Then there occured an idea for controlling the fish with a harmless use of electricity. First he used electricity to the fish bowl, causing the fish to be completely still. Then he rapidly reduced the amount of electricity, allowing the fish to swim away. Thus he got the humorous effect that the director wanted.

　　All this requires training, skill, and experience. It also adds a great deal to the expense of producing the film. It helps explain why so many movies are very expensive to make.

1．In the headline, the expression“do it”refers to “________”.

[　　]

A．the movies developed

B．make the special effects

C．special men in movies

D．the movies made up by the director

2．In movie making, a special-effect man ________.

[　　]

A．does the most important job

B．always creates exciting effects

C．finds ways to create something untrue

D．cheats the audience in a special way

3．The example in the passage tells us that ________.

[　　]

A．the movie is on how fish live in a big glass box

B．something happened between the fish and an actor

C．a special-effect man makes the fish move actively

D．it takes a special-effect man a long time to work out a scene

4．In order to make the scene real, a simple action in a movie is probably ________.

[　　]

5．Which statement below is WRONG according to the passage?

[　　]

A．A special-effect men needs training, skill and experience.

B．Knowing how a ship sank in a film, you may be a special-effect man.

C．Not all special-effect scenes in a movie attract the audience.

Do you enjoy seeing the stars twinkling at night ? Or do you love the ocean and sea, diving and racing with lovely dolphins? With heavy burdens on their shoulders, teenagers find it hard to pull out. Even if they are free, they prefer to occupy themselves with computer games or watching TV. How to get children away from screens is a great concern for parents. Now there is some good news for those concerned parents and teachers.

A campaign is being launched to encourage children to surrender 30 minutes of screen time a day to head for the great outdoors.

The newly formed Wild Network – a collaboration of nearly 400 organizations – is attempting to attract youngsters away from television and computer screen and into fields, woods and parks.

Organizers say it is the UK's biggest ever campaign to reconnect children with nature and outdoor play, and claim it could help improve fitness, mental alertness and general well–being.

A documentary film, Project Wild Thing, will herald the launch at more than 50 cinemas across the UK from Friday. It looks at the increasingly fragile link between children and nature.

Members of the network include the National Trust, RSPB, Play England and the NHS sustainable development unit.

Andy Simpson, chairman of the Wild Network, said: "The tragic truth is that kids have lost touch with nature and the outdoors in just one generation. Time spent outdoors is down, roaming ranges have fallen drastically, activity levels are declining and the ability to identify common species has been lost."

Suggestions of how to get more time in nature include collecting conkers(板栗), camping or snail racing, and observing autumn colour on trees.

From January, the network will aim to make suggestions to politicians on how government can do more to get children muddy and bright-eyed.

This is not the first time the message of less screen, more play has been brought up. Children in the 1980s were entreated to do the same by the BBC TV series Why Don't You, which somewhat confusingly called on its viewers to "switch off your TV set, and go do something less boring instead".

1.What is the main purpose of the campaign in UK?

A. To save 30 minutes for watching TV programme each day.

B. To encourage children to play outdoors.

C. To see the documentary film, Project Wild Thing.

D. To teach students how to learn more efficiently in schools.

2.According to the organizers of Wild Network, there will be many advantages from the campaign except _______.

A. improving health conditions

B. keeping touch with nature

C. learning more about wildlife

D. teaching children how to make full use of their spare time

3.The underlined part “ to get children muddy and bright-eyed ” means “_______ ”.

A. to make children covered with mud

B. to urge politicians to do more things for children

C. to encourage children to take part in outdoors activities

D. to help children identify common species

4.Which of the following could be the best title for the passage?

A. A new campaign.                                                          B. Less screen, more play outdoors.

C. A newly formed Wild Network.                                 D. Children get to know wild things.