A meteorite (陨石) flew fast across the sky and exploded over central Russia on Friday, raining fireballs over a vast area and causing a shock wave that smashed windows, damaged buildings and injured l,200 people.

People heading to work in Chelyabinsk heard what sounded like an explosion, saw a bright light and then felt the shock wave.

According to Russian space agency Roscosmos, the fireball, travelling at a speed of 30km per second, had burnt very brightly across the horizon, leaving a long white trail that could be seen as far as 200km away. Car alarms went off, thousands of windows shattered and mobile phone networks were disrupted.

“I was driving to work, it was quite dark, but it suddenly became as bright as if it were day,” said Viktor Prokofiev, 36, a resident of Yekaterinburg in the Urals Mountains. “I felt like I was blinded by headlights.”

The meteorite, which weighed about 20 tons and may have been made of iron, entered Earth’s atmosphere and broke apart 30-50km above ground, according to Russia’s Academy of Sciences.

The energy released when it entered the Earth’s atmosphere was about several thousand tons, the academy said, the power of a small atomic weapon exploding.

No deaths were reported, but the Emergencies Ministry said 20,000 rescue and clean-up workers were sent to the region after President Vladimir Putin told Emergencies Minister Vladimir Puchkov to ease the disruption and help the victims.

The Interior Ministry said about l,200 people had been injured, at least 200 of them children, and most from broken pieces of glass.“While events this big are rare, an impact that could cause damage and death could happen every century or so. Unfortunately there is absolutely nothing we can do to stop impacts.”

51. When did the meteorite incident happen?

   A. At midnight.                                                      B. In the early morning.    

C. In the late morning.                                    D. In the evening.

52. According to the text, the meteorite explosion caused _________.

   A. some deaths                                                      B. road accidents

C. communication problems                                   D. building collapse

53. The Russian government’s response to the incident was ________.

A. a little slow but effective                                  B. quick and serious

C. cold and slow                                           D. quick but ineffective

54. It can be inferred that the loss caused by meteorites _________.

A. is nearly unavoidable                                         B. happens every few years

C. can be avoided                                            D. is hard to estimate

（福建省福州三中2010届高三上学期期中考试英语）

It seems like everywhere a person goes there is at least one person with a cell phone to his ear. Even in places （36） cell phone usage is banned such as concert halls or movie theaters there is the （37） offender, or at least a few people using the text messaging feature （38） their phones.

Cell phone usage has （39） over the past decade and continues to rise. Nearly two hundred （40） people in the United States have cell phones and there are （41） over one billion users worldwide. That means there are a lot of phones （42） their frequencies over the airwaves at any given time.

Concern has arisen over whether or not cell phone usage （43） harm a person’s health. Brain cancer rates in the United States have risen since cell phones were （44）, leading some people to wonder if cell phone usage is the reason for the （45）.

       Some people say the biggest danger （46） cell phones isn’t from the either real or perceived potential to develop cancer, but from （47） while using the cell phone. How many of us have seen vehicles driving （48） erratically （不稳定地） down the road. And we often see when we get near the vehicle the driver is （49） on a cell phone. It is a proven fact that a driver on a cell phone is （50） attentive and more likely to get in an accident. And, hands-free sets aren’t the （51） that some people may believe. Yes, they （52） both hands for driving and prevent a person from getting a sore （酸疼的） arm, （53） the driver’s mind is still （54） the conversation and therefore less attentive to what is （55） around him or her on the road.

36．A．which                 B．where                 C．there                   D．here

37．A．busy                   B．always                C．occasional           D．occasionally

38．A．under                  B．on                       C．from                   D．to

39．A．been exploded      B．exploded              C．been exploding     D．exploding

40．A．millions               B．milions of            C．million                 D．million of

41．A．well                    B．good                   C．better                  D．best

42．A．delivering            B．carrying              C．taking                 D．sending

43．A．may                    B．must                   C．can                     D．should

44．A．allowed               B．invented              C．introduced           D．bought

45．A．increase              B．decline                C．improvement       D．rose

46．A．with                    B．before                 C．in                       D．on

47．A．attention              B．attractive             C．careless               D．inattentiveness

48．A．quite                   B．almost                 C．hardly                 D．nearly

49．A．using                  B．talking                 C．moving               D．handing

50．A．more                   B．less                     C．least                    D．fewer

51．A．problem              B．question              C．mean                  D．answer

52．A．hold up               B．pick up                C．put up                 D．free up

53．A．therefore             B．as                       C．but                     D．though

54．A．taken up              B．filled by               C．occupied with      D．picked up

55．A．happening to        B．going on              C．talking about        D．moving about