5、

     Birmingham----The wedding took place in a Birmingham hotel. The bride and her father arrived in a new black American sports car. Her father looked nervous and uncomfortable in front of the cameras. The bride wore a silk wedding dress. She smiled nervously at the waiting photographers and went to a room on the first floor where she met her future husband for the very first time.

    Carla Germaine and Greg Cordell were the winners of a radio station's competition. The aim of the competition was to find two strangers prepared to marry without having met each other. Miss Germaine，23, is a model. Mr. Cordell, 27, is a TV salesman. They were among the two hundred people who entered for a peculiar "experiment" organized by BMRB radio in Birmingham, England. Greg and Carla were among eight finalists who were interviewed live on radio. They took a lie detector(测谎仪) test and the station also spoke to their friends and family about their personalities. The competition judges included an astrologer(占星家) who declared that they were suited.

The couple celebrated their wedding with a wedding breakfast and a party for 100 guests in the evening, but not everyone shared their joy. Miss Germaine's mother looked anxious throughout the wedding and Mr. Cordell's parents are reported to be less than delighted.

    Organizations, including the marriage guidance service Relate, have criticized the marriage. As one person put it, "We have enough problems getting young people to take marriage seriously without this. Marriage should always be about love."

    The couple are now on a Caribbean honeymoon followed by journalists. Their other prizes include a year's free use of a wonderful apartment in the centre of Birmingham, and a car. But will it last?

65. How did the couple's parents react to the wedding?

    A. The bride's mother shared their joy.

    B. The bride's father felt uncomfortable about the wedding.

    C. The bridegroom's parents were quite delighted.

    D. The bridegroom's parents were not that joyful.

66. Some experts believe that _________.

    A. marriage without the couple's meeting each other first ends up in divorce

    B. young people nowadays are too careless about marriage

    C. taking a lie detector test can not solve all the marriage problems

    D. most young people take marriage seriously except this couple

67. This article is particularly written for _________.

A. advertisement                         B. news report

C. book review                           D. magazine

68．Which of the following is the best title of the passage?

A. Two Strangers and a Wedding            B. A Wedding Based on Love

C. A Short-Lived Marriage                      D. A well-Marriage Couple

4、

My son and I were trying to sell the house we had repaired，but in the barn(谷仓) there were bats and they would not leave. The barn was their home. They hung there in the barn and seemed determined to stay for the season. “Don’ t worry about it, Dad,” Patrick said, “they keep down the mosquitoes.”

Unfortunately they also kept the buyers away. When we asked a person to sell the house for us, he refused to see it because of the bats. “Bats are popular,” Patrick comforted me, “they’re ecological(生态学的).” “Isn’t there a machine you can buy that has high frequency sounds to keep bats away?” I asked. “I don’t know,” said Patrick, “But I like bats and whoever buys this house will probably like them too.” “How many bats are there, anyway?” “I counted about 90 last night,” said Patrick, “They were dropping out from under the edge of the roof.” “You mean there are more―outside?” “They’re everywhere, Dad. But look at it this way. When the cold weather comes, they’ll be off to Mexico. Maybe in the spring we can keep them out.” he said for the hundredth time. “It’s not a problem. YC”

The bat expert I called was even more active than Patrick. “I think you’ve got a large number there,” he said in wonder, “I’ve been trying to attract bats to our house for 25 years. A single bat eats up his weight in mosquitoes and black flies three times every night. You’ve very lucky man.” I offered to share my luck with him. He could take them away. “bats have a remarkable homing instinct(本能),” he said, “They’d fly straight back even if I transported them 100 miles. Once they have settled, you can’t stop them from coming back.” I was silent.

Finally we managed to rent the house to a young family, who were also interested in buying it. “What about the bats?” I said to Patrick.

“Oh, they love the bats,” he said. “No mosquitoes. No black flies. It’s one of the things that attracted them.” “Do you think they will really buy the house? I asked. “Probably.” “Probably? Well, if they do, I suppose I’ll have to admit that I was wrong.” “You mean you’re going to eat your words? Patrick laughed and asked. “Yes, I am.”

56. What was the problem the author had with his house?

A. Bats were living in the barn and wouldn’t go away.

B. The author and his son couldn’t sleep well because of the bats.

C. The author and his son might be able to stay for the season.

D. The house was still badly in need of repair.

57.What solution did the father and son discuss to stop the bats living in the barn?

A. Buy a high frequency sounds machine.      B. Move them one hundred miles away.

C. Reduce the number of mosquitoes.           D. Close the barn in the spring.

58.Why did the author fall silent when he talked with the bat specialist?

A. He felt sure about the situation.

B. He found out that it would be impossible to remove the bats.

C. He learned that he would be able to share his luck with the expert.

D. He liked the advice given by the expert.

59.What happened to the house in the end?

A. Some people agreed to rent and probably buy the house.

B. The author failed to find anybody who wanted to live in the house.

C. The bat expert made the decision to buy the house.

D. The bats left the house for Mexico in the spring.

60.Why did the author think he might have to “eat his words”?

A. He felt sorry for the bats.

B. He might be mistaken about being unable to sell the house.

C. He realized he might be wrong about the bats’ actions.

D. He was happy about selling the house.

3、

For hundreds of years humans have dreamed of finding life on distant planets. Now the hope of discovering real evidence of life has greatly increased.

NASA’S Mars detector(探测器), Opportunity, succeeded in finding signs that water once existed on the planet. Scientists now believe that the planet could once have supported life.

This discovery was chosen by Science, one of the world’s leading magazines, as the most important scientific achievement of 2004 last Friday.

“This little, wheeled, one-armed box went around another planet and has done something no human has ever managed,” according to Science. “It has discovered another place in the universe where life could once have existed.

“Although we still can’t say that life could have existed in this environment, it is now certain that there was water on Mars,” said Steve Squyres, one of the scientists working on the Mars mission. The evidence comes from pictures and chemical readings taken by Opportunity. It includes marks on rocks like those caused by following water on Earth and salty chemicals like those found in dried-out sea-beds. Scientists said the new evidence proved beyond doubt that water has existed on Mars. But it is still unknown whether the water was like an ocean or just ice.

While Opportunity has not found any signs of life, the presence of water means life is possible. “In everything we know about life on Earth, there is no example without liquid water,” Squyres said. “So water is important for the search for life on Mars.”

Researchers agree that a future mission(任务) should bring back physical samples (样品). But some scientists worry about the risk that this could introduce dangerous foreign creatures to Earth. “The problem here is how to get the samples back.” Squyres replied. “I think it is our responsibility to limit any risk.”

61. What proved that water existed on Mars?

A. The physical samples with salty chemicals.

B. Scientific achievements of 2004.

C. The marks on rocks and salty chemicals.

D. Creatures from Mars.

62. Which of the following is true according to the text?

A. It is now certain that there was water on Mars.

B. The water on Mars was like an ocean.

C. Evidence of life on Mars has been found.

D. Search for life on Mars is a great risk to humans.

63.How did scientists draw the conclusion that there was water on Mars?

A. The world’s leading magazine has announced the fact.

B. Scientists have taken many pictures and chemical readings on the Mars.

C. Astronauts have got some rocks from Mars.

D. Scientists have made a study of the pictures and readings sent back by Mars detector.

64.It can be inferred that, if the creatures from Mars came to earth,                      .

A. they would be kind to humans

B. they would be cruel to humans

C. they would be a great danger to Earth

D. it would be hard to say whether it would be good news or bad news

1、

I had an interesting experience playing ping-pong last year. I was playing against a  36  opponent(对手). The last score was 20 to 17 in her  37 . I won the next three points which made the score 20 to 20. I  38  my paddle on the table and thanked my opponent and began to walk away. She called me  39  and said we had to continue until one of us  40 .

    "Look," I said, " if we  41 , one of two events will take place. Either you or I will win. If you win, I will begin to  42  my skill. If I win, you will be unhappy. Isn't it better to know that we both played  43 , that we enjoyed the competition, and that we played to an even (相等) score. This was a  44  ending for my opponent and for the persons watching this contest. It made  45  to me to leave with a tie (不分胜负) game, an impasse (僵局): no winner, no  46 !

    So, my friends, here is the problem  47  me. Our present technology makes it possible for nations to  48 other nations with time for retaliatory (报复) strikes, in such a nuclear time there  49  be no winners, only losers. Under these conditions, the only choice to  50  global destruction is global impasse. This would be a  51 "tie game” where no nation wins and no nation loses. An impasse reached through compromise (妥协). This is because compromise becomes the only means of  52 . We cannot destroy this beautiful planet by holding on to  53 understanding of victory. The  54  victory  is in achieving a desirable impasse. No one wins,  55  no one loses either.

25、 You need a password to get ______to the computer system.

24、 I was lost in the strange city; ______it began to rain heavily.

23、He’s very sensitive about being small, so don’t mention it. Which of the following has the same meaning as the word underlined.

       A．This material is sensitive to heat.

       B．When I need advice, he is a helpful and sensitive friend.

       C．A writer mustn’t be too sensitive to criticism.

       D．The Stock Exchange is sensitive to likely political changes.

22、--Nancy, can you help me type this report, please?

  -- _______I have a lot of work to do.  

     A. What for?          B. Why me?        C. That' s easy.     D. Don' t bother me.