阅读理解

　　From the first use of the rocket to carry satellites into space to the setting up of space stations, human beings have been putting great effort into space research．And so far, we have achieved many successes．But there are still numerous tasks in front of us and we should not cease trying to progress．

　　The international space station is an important step we should take in space exploration．It is not only helpful but also essential．It provides a proper space environment for many experiments that we have wanted to do for a long time．It is also a base for the observations of the earth and the universe．It could also be an important base for later travel to the moon and Mars．In a word, if we want to explore space more, the first thing we should do is to set up a space station．

　　As the space station costs a lot of money, it is hard for one country alone to establish one．The USA seems to be the only country that has the ability to build a space station alone, and it has tried to do so, but not very successful．So it aggregated many other countries to work on it together．Though it is still extremely expensive, it is much cheaper than doing it alone．It is really a job that needs everyone's effort and will benefit everyone．

　　But even so, the funds needed are still a big problem．As for the USA, it seems that it has too many things to spend its money on．Although it is the richest country in the world, it has much debt every year．It has to make arrangements about its finance, a try to find a balance in all these issues．

[解题导语]这是一篇说明文。国际空间站对于人类探索太空起着至关重要的作用。由于耗资巨大，财大气粗的美国单独建造起来也并不那么成功。只有各国合作起来，才能解决资金问题，从而使国际空间站造福全人类。

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完形填空

　　Thomas Jefferson, the third President of the United States, lived over 200 years ago, 　　1　　 many of his ideas are still of great 　　2　　 to us．

　　“Go and see!”In Jefferson's 　　3　　, knowledge can be obtained(获得)from many sources including books and personal investigation．While a committee was discussing the 　　4　　 of a river, he made an on-the-spot measure of the depth．

　　“You can learn from everyone．”Although 　　5　　 to the top social status(地位), he went out of 　　6　　 to talk with people of humble origins(出身卑贱的)and even went into 　　7　　 to learn from them．

　　“　　8　　 for yourself!”Jefferson didn't accept blindly other people's opinions 　　9　　 careful thought．He wrote to his nephew,“neither believe nor 　　10　　 anything．”

　　“Do 　　11　　 you believe is right．”He treated criticsim(批评)in a scientific 　　 12　　．He received much criticism but never answered his critics．In his opinion, he never listened to only one 　　13　　．There are two sides to every question．Listen to 　　14　　, then decide which is better．

　　“Trust the future and trust the young．”He felt that 　　15　　 should never be limited to customs 　　16　　 have lost their usefulness．

　　　　17　　 being a well-known statesman, Jefferson was a thinker, an architect, a scientist and an inventor．　　18　　, he was the author of the Declaration of Independence．American education 　　19　　 a great debt to him．Owing to(由于)his great 　　20　　 in his work, he was respected and admired．

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阅读理解

　　It was a Sunday and the heavy storm had lasted all night．The morning after the storm, though, was beautiful：blue skies, warm air and a calm, inviting sea touching the shore gently．

　　My father realized it was a good day for fishing and invited my sister and me to go with him．I was only 14 and fishing had never been my thing, but I decided to go all the same．I'm so glad I did．

　　On the road to the harbour we could see the terrible destruction on the coast, but the harbour itself was in fairly good shape．After all， it was protected by the arms of a bay that had only one tiny channel to the sea．As we got on board, we noticed two big humps(脊背)in the distance．

　　On approaching them, we saw it was a mother whale with her baby．We couldn't believe it-there aren't any whales along the coast here．The storm must have driven them across the ocean into the bay, in which the still water was so badly polluted that nothing could survive．

　　The little baby whale-actually as big as our boat-was obviously stuck and could not move．The mother dived under the water and came up suddenly, making big whirlpools(漩涡)and waves．”She's trying to help her baby, but on the wrong side, ”my father said．At this point, my father moved our boat in a semicircle to the other side and, heading the boat towards the baby whale, pushed it gently．With our several gentle pushes the big hump turned over and disappeared under water．Then it swam up right beside its mum．They struggled in their desperate attempts to escape but missed the exit and started heading in the wrong direction．We hurried up to the whales and tried to lead them towards the bay channel．Slowly, they let us lead them, some-times rising from the water right beside us to breathe-and to give us a trusting look with those huge eyes．Once they hit their first part of clean water flowing straight from the sea, the mum gave us a wave with her tail and off they swam into the distance．

　　In the excitement it had felt like only a few minutes, but we had been with those wonderful animals for almost an hour and a half．That was the simple and lasting beauty of the day, Nearly four decades later, I still look back fondly to that golden day at sea．

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