Sometimes we wish that we could have more time. The good news is that this year will be longer than the previous! Although don’t get excited just yet, because if you blink (眨眼), you may just miss it. That’s because 2015 will be one second longer than 2014 -also known as a leap second (闰秒). And surprisingly, they are pretty common. But why do we need them?

Over the centuries, Earth has been slowing down. This means that we must keep changing our clocks to keep in step with Earth’s time. We’ve all heard of leap years. Our calendars hold 365 days in a year. Yet Earth takes slightly longer to orbit the sun. So we save this time and every 4 years we have an extra day in February.

As for the leap seconds, the International Earth Rotation Service (IERS) manages the global time, known as the atomic time(原子钟时间). This is the timekeeping that’s used for every single country.

To keep up with Earth’s time, they add a second every now and then. They’ve been doing this since 1972. And this year will be the 26th second they’ve added!

It’ll be added just before 8:00 a.m. on July 1 Beijing time. So you will see 7:59:60 on July 1.

Although adding a second sounds harmless, it can have negative effects. In 2012 when a leap second was added, it caused problems for companies like social networking sites Reddit and LinkedIn. As they weren’t prepared for the change, it caused their computers to record errors.

1.Why does a leap second have to be added in some years?

A. Because this year is shorter than the previous one. B. Because we need to have more time.

C. Because the Earth is slowing down. D. Because it can help make a leap year.

2.In a leap year, there is an extra day in_____.

A. January B. February C. March D. December

3.In order to keep up with Earth’s time, how many seconds have been added until last year?

A. 43 B. 42 C. 26 D. 25

4.What’s the negative effect of adding a leap second?

A. It makes the day longer than the previous one. B. It causes some recording errors for companies.

C. It makes people stay up late. D. It does harm to people’s health.

A girl complained to her father about her hard life.She didn't know what she had to do and wanted to give up.She felt tired of fighting and fighting.One problem had been finished but another came over.

Her father,a cook,took her into the kitchen.He poured water into three pans and boiled(煮沸) them.After boiling,in the first pan was put some carrots,the second was put some eggs and the last was put with coffee.

The girl waited impatiently (不耐烦的),confused by what her father did.About 20 minutes later,her father took out the carrots and put them in a bowl.He took the eggs and put them in a bowl.After that the coffee was poured into a cup.“My sweet heart,what do you see?” he asked.

“Carrots,eggs and coffee,” she replied.

Her father told her to close her eyes and asked her to touch the carrots.She did so and felt that the carrots were soft.After that he asked her to take the eggs and break them.After peeling (剥开) them,she got the eggs,cooked and hard.The last,the father let her smell the coffee. She asked,“What did you do this for,Father?” He explained that each had the same unlucky experience—the boiling water,but each had a different result. The strong and hard carrots had become soft and weak.Thefragileeggs became hard after being cooked. The coffee was very special,they could change water.“Who are you?” asked her father.“When bad luck knocks at your door,what is your decision? Are you carrots,eggs or coffee?”

1.The girl complained about her hard life because she didn't ________.

A. want to give up B. finish one problem

C. know what to do D. get tired of fighting

2.The girl's father took her to the kitchen to ________.

A. ask her how to boil eggs

B. show her how to make coffee

C. teach her how to be a cook

D. tell her how to face difficulties

3.After about twenty minutes,the carrots became ________.

A. soft B. hard C. salty D. sweet

4.The underlined word “fragile” in the passage means “________”.

A. 美味的 B. 易碎的 C. 特别的 D. 可怜的

5.What can we learn from the passage?

A. The girl's father liked to eat some kinds of food.

B. Bad luck always knocks at strong people's doors.

C. Boiled carrots,eggs and coffee had the same result.

D. People should make right decisions when in trouble.

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