73. What became one of the best-selling vehicles of all time?

A. Volkswagen　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. The Beetle

C. Henry Ford II　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. The cars made in England

72. By giving the example of dinosaurs the author tires to prove　　　　 .

A. animals could not live in the cold climate

B. what happened 65 million years ago was an invented story

C. the human beings will die out in 2094

D. the Earth could be hit by other objects in space.

E

In 1894, the president of the Royal Society, Lord Kelvin, predicted that radio had no future. He also predicted that heavier-than-air flying machines were impossible. Today, there more than one billion radio sets in the world, turned to(调频)more than 33 000 radio stations around the world, and now the plane Boeing 747 has come into use for years.

In the early 20th century a world market for only 4 million automobiles was made because “the world would run out of chauffeurs.” Shortly after the end of World War II(1945), the whole o Volkswagen, factory and patents(专利), was offered free to Henry Ford II. He dismissed(不接受)the Volkswagen Beetle as a bad design. Today more than 70 million motorcars are produced every year. the Beetle became one of the best-selling vehicles of all time.

The telephone was not widely appreciated for the first 15 years because people did not see a use for it. In fact, in the British parliament it was mentioned that there was mentioned that there was no need for telephones because” we have enough messengers hers.” Western Union believed that it could never replace the telegraph. In 1876, an internal memo(备忘录)read: “This telephone has too many shortcomings to be seriously considered as a means of communication.”

Irish scientist, Dr. Dionysius Lardner(1793-1859)didn’t believe that trains could contribute much in speedy transport. He wrote: ail travel at high speed is not possible, because passengers would die of asphyxia(窒息).” Today, trains reach speeds of 500 km/h.

In 1943, Thomas Watson, the chairman of IBM forecast a world market for “maybe only five computers.” Years before IBM launched the personal computer in 1981, Xerox(施乐复印机)had already successfully designed but decided to concentrate on the production of photocopiers.

Perhaps the guy who got it wrong most was the director of the US Patent Office: He assured President McKinley that “everything that can be invented has already been invented.”

71. Why can’t the northern half of the earth escape for long?

A. Because the land is covered with water

B. Because the light and heat from the sun can not reach the earth.

C. Because people there can not live at the temperature of zero.

D. Because wars break our among countries

70. When the first piece hits the South Atlantic, it causes　　　　 .

A. an earthquake　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. damages to cities

C. an Earth explosion　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. huge waves

69. What is mainly described in the passage?

A. A historic discovery.　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　 B. An event of imagination.

C. A research on space　　　　　　　 　　　　　　 D. A scientific adventure

68. “Canada” was first used to refer to 　　　　.

A. a small town in Stadacona

B. the place called Quebec

C. a long water passage

D. a huge village including Quebec and Stadacona

D

The year is 2094. It has been announced that a comet(彗星)is heading towards the Earth. Most of it will miss our planet, but two pieces will probably hit the southern half of the Earth.

On 17 July, a piece four kilometers wide enters the Earth’s atmosphere with a massive explosion. About half of the piece is destroyed, but the remaining part hits the South Atlantic at 200 times the speed of sound. The sea boils and a huge hole is made in the sea bed. Huge waves are created and spread outwards from the hole. The wall of water, a kilometer high, rushes towards southern Africa at 800 kilometers an hour. Cities on the African coast are totally destroyed and millions of people are drowned.

Before the waves reach South America, the second piece of the comet lands in Argentina. Earthquakes and volcanoes are set off in the Andes Mountains. The shock waves move north into California and all around the Pacific Ocean. The cities of Los Angeles, San Francisco and Tokyo are completely destroyed by earthquakes. Millions of people in the southern half of the earth are already dead, but the north won’t escape for long. Because of the explosions, the sun is hidden by clouds of dust, temperatures around the world fall to almost zero. Crops are ruined. The sun won’t be seen again for many years. Wars break out as countries fight for food. A year later, no more than 10 million people remain alive.

Could it really happen? In fact, it has already happened more than once in the history of the Earth. The dinosaurs were on the Earth for over 160 million years. Then 65 million years ago they suddenly disappeared. Many scientists believe that the Earth was hit by a piece of object in space. The dinosaurs couldn’t live through the cold climate that followed wand they died out. Will we meet the same end?

67. Pick out the right statements from the following　　　　 .

A. Quebec was a village and Stadacona was another

B. Cartier mistook Quebec for Stadacona

C. Stadacona was a village in Quebec

D. Stadacona was what the Indians called Quebec then

66. In the early sixteenth century, Quebec was only　　　　 .

A. an Indian village

B. a little town in southern Canada

C. a village at the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence

D. the place which we call Canada now

65. Having reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence Cartier thought　　　 .

A. he had already got to India　　　 　　　　　　　 B. it was a water way to the New World

C. it was a water passage to the East　　　　 　 D. he had sailed into the Atlantic

64. In the early sixteenth century, the King of France ordered Cartier to

A. find the new world

B. build an entirely new country

C. go and visit the American Indians

D. get more information about American and find a way to Asia