What’s the meaning of “dark horse”? It’s someone who wins when no one expects it. Han Xiao’peng took China’s first gold on snow. He became an Olympic “dark horse” last Thursday by winning the gold medal in men’s freestyle aerial skiing(自由式滑雪空中技巧) at Turin in Italy. He made two almost perfect jumps for the highest score. Han had never won a world gold medal before, let alone(更不用说) in the Olympics!

“I never thought this would happen,” said the 23-year-old. “I feel like I’m in a dream.” It’s China’s second gold medal at the Turin Olympics. But more important, Han’s gold was the country’s first ever in a snow sport. In 2002, China’s Yang Yang won the gold for speed skating at the winter Olympics in Salt Lake City, US. Just because Han’s win was unexpected doesn’t mean that he didn’t work hard.

Han grew up in Jiangsu Province. Before he started his training on snow, he used to be an acrobat(杂技演员) at a circus. In 1995, a coach found his talent(才能). The coach, Yang Er’qi, said Han had the agility(灵活性) and courage to be a ski jumper. When Yang first took the 12-year-old to northern China, the boy couldn’t swim, skate or ski. But he wasn’t afraid of the high platform(跳台) and kept on training.

Han almost left the sport after hurting his knee months before the Salt Lake Games. In that Olympics he only got 24th. “I was hopeless at that time, but my family and the coach stood firmly(坚强地) behind me, helping me through,” he recalled.

    Han Xiaopeng worked so hard that he won the gold medal in the Olympics at last. Because of his success, more and more people in China are becoming interested in skiing. We are proud of him and we hope he will have another big success in the next winter Olympics.

56. What does ‘dark horse’ mean? It means _____________.

   A. a horse which is dark                               B. someone who is expected to win

   C. a horse which likes living in the dark                   D. someone whose win is unexpected

57. Where did Han Xiaopeng take China’s first gold on snow?

   A. In China   .    B. In Italy.      C. In America.    D. In Australia.

58. What made the coach, Yang Er’qi, choose Han Xiaopeng to be a ski jumper?

   A. He had the agility and wasn’t afraid of the high platform.

   B. He was good at skiing though he was only 12 years old.

   C. He was born in the north of China and liked sports on snow.

   D. He had the talent and he had won a world gold medal before.

59. Which of the following sentences is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

   A. He was 23 when he won the gold medal at the winter Olympics.

   B. He made two almost perfect jumps and got the highest score.

   C. No one had won the gold before Han Xiaopeng at the winter Olympics.

   D. He never gave up even though he had faced many difficulties.

60. What is the best title for this passage?

   A. A Dark Horse at the Winter Olympics           B. A Wonderful Match

   C. A Hopeless Snow Game                     D. An Exciting Horse Race

Robots seem very new to most people. But they have a __51__ history. A Greek scientist made the first robot. You may  52  robots in some movies. The robots in the movies are usually stronger, faster and __53__ than people. In real life, most robots are used in factories. They can do lots of dangerous, difficult or__54__ jobs. Some people can’t look __55_ themselves and robots can help them. For example, some people can’t see, and they use a guide dog to help themselves move. But now scientists are__56__ a robot to help them.
Robots are also used in American hospitals. At one hospital, a robot   57  meals from the kitchen to the sick people’s rooms. It never loses (迷失)its __58__ because it has a map of the hospital in its computer system(系统).__59__ the future, robots will even work in space. But robots will  60  take the place of(代替)people but only work for people. They can, however, help us in a lot of different ways.

Robots seem very new to most people. But they have a __51__ history. A Greek scientist made the first robot. You may  52  robots in some movies. The robots in the movies are usually stronger, faster and __53__ than people. In real life, most robots are used in factories. They can do lots of dangerous, difficult or__54__ jobs. Some people can’t look __55_ themselves and robots can help them. For example, some people can’t see, and they use a guide dog to help themselves move. But now scientists are__56__ a robot to help them.

Robots are also used in American hospitals. At one hospital, a robot   57  meals from the kitchen to the sick people’s rooms. It never loses (迷失)its __58__ because it has a map of the hospital in its computer system(系统).__59__ the future, robots will even work in space. But robots will  60  take the place of(代替)people but only work for people. They can, however, help us in a lot of different ways.

1.                A．unpleasant      B．long           C．strange   D．interesting

2.                A．look           B．look at          C．see  D．know

3.                A．clever          B．cleverer        C．cleverest D．the cleverest

4.                A．interesting      B．interested       C．boring    D．bored

5.                A．about          B．at             C．for  D．after

6.                A．taking          B．using           C．making   D．predicting

7.                A．flies           B．cooks          C．makes    D．takes

8.                A．way           B．road           C．street    D．meal

9.                A．For            B．Of             C．With D．In

10.               A．ever           B．never          C．still   D．yet

A professor(教授) from a university did a famous study in a school. At the start of the school year, the teachers got the names of five children. The school told the teachers that these five were the most excellent students in the class. But the fact was that they were not the best students at all. Well, guess what? At the end of the year, all the five average（一般水平）students scored among the highest in the class.

    What made these average students change so much to become top students? 56. The only difference was the change in their teachers’ attitude(态度). Because the teachers believed that these five kids were the top students，they expected(期望) more from them. And so these five average students began to believe and expect more from themselves. So they worked harder to do as well as they could.

    Do you know? If you expect the best from people, they’ll usually want to give you their best.     Like the true story of 7-year-old Johnny, his teacher got so angry with him that one day she said, “Johnny, you’re the naughtiest(最顽皮的) boy in this class. I’m sure you’ll never change.” The next year Johnny had a new teacher. And on the first day of class, she met with Johnny after school and said, “Johnny, I’ve heard a lot about you! But do you know that I don’t believe a word of it.” And every day after that, this new teacher treated Johnny as if he was one of the smartest students even when Johnny did naughty things. 57. 后来，约翰尼成为了一个好学生。 Because that’s the power of our belief(信任) and attitude toward children.

阅读短文内容，完成下列任务。

任务一：英汉互译。

56. 把画线句译成汉语。

57. 把文中的汉语句子译成英语。

任务二：回答问题。

58. What made Johnny change a lot?

任务三：判断正误。

 (    ) 59. In fact the five were the most excellent students in the class.

 (    ) 60. The new teacher knew a lot about Johnny.

What makes the world become smaller ? Some inventions . It began in the 11^th century , but it has developed greatly in the last century . Let’s take a look at the five top inventions .

Movable Type（活字印刷）:By using Movable Type , books could be printed cheaply and easily . Bi Sheng invented Movable Type in China in the 11^th century .

Telephone : The inventor Alexander Graham Bell made the first telephone call in 1876 . “Mr Watson , come here . I want you ,” he said to his assistant over the phone line . And with those famous words , the world was about to get much smaller .

Airplane : The Wright brothers made the first powered flight in 1903 . Air travel has made the faraway places suddenly become a lot closer .

Satellites（卫星）: The Soviet Union sent up the world’s first satellite in 1957 . This began the Space Age . Satellites have helped scientists study the earth . Much of our knowledge of the world has come from the information recorded by satellites .

Internet : When the Internet was created in 1969 , only a few people knew about it . But more than 650 million people in the world use it now . The Internet has made information about anything easy to get .

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