The most important use of drifting (漂流) bottles is to find ocean currents. When the position and direction of currents are known, ships can use the forward movement of a current or stay away from currents that would carry them off their course. Benjamin Franklin was one of the first to use bottles in the study of currents. He wondered why British mall ships needed a week or two longer than U.S. ships needed in order to cross the Atlantic Ocean. Franklin thought the Gulf Stream (墨西哥湾流) might explain this difference.

Franklin talked with captains of U.S. ships. He found that they knew each turn of the Gulf Stream. They used the current in every possible way. From his talks with the captains. Franklin made his first map of the Gulf Stream. Then he checked his map by using sealed (密封的) bottles. The map that he finally made is still used, with only a few changes, today. 

Why are drifting bottles used?

A. To determine the position of a ship                                  

B. To carry message across the ocean

C. To predict the direction of a ship.                                

D. To find the direction of a current

What led Franklin to talk with U.S. captains?

A. U.S. ships were longer than British ones.

B. British ships could sail the Atlantic faster than U.S. ones.

C. U.S captains knew more about maps.

D. U.S. ships could sail the Atlantic faster than U.S. ones.

What did Franklin make after his talks with U.S. captains?              

A. A map of the Atlantic Ocean.     B. A map of the Gulf Stream..

C. A map of ocean currents.         D. A map of his first voyage.

What did Franklin do in order to make an exact map?

A. He compared his own map with other maps                               

B. He talked with many U.S. captains.

C. Both B and C.                           

D. He used drifting bottles to check his map.

Tim Richter and his wife, Linda, had taught for over 30 years near Buffalo, New York--he in computers, she in special education. "Teaching means everything to us," Tim would say. In April1998, he learned he would need a heart operation. It was the kind of news that leads to some serious thinking about life's purpose.
Not long after the surgery, Tim saw a brochure describing Imagination Library, a program started by Dolly Parton' s foundation (基金会) that mailed a book every month to children from birth to age five in the singer's home town of Sevier, Tennessee.“I thought, maybe Linda and I could do something like this when we retire," Tim recalls.  He placed the brochure on his desk, "as a reminder."
Five years later, now retired and with that brochure still on the desk, Tim clicked on imagination library .com. The program had been opened up to partners who could take advantage of book and postage discounts.
The quality of the books was of great concern to the Richters. Rather than sign up online, they went to Dollywood for a look-see. “We didn’t want to give the children rubbish,” says Linda. The books-reviewed each year by teachers, literacy specialists and Dollywood board members-included classics such as Ezra Jack Keats’s The Snowy Day and newer books like Anna Dewdney’s Llama Llama series.
Satisfied, the couple set up the Richter Family Foundation and got to work. Since 2004, they have shipped more than 12,200 books to preschoolers in their in their area. Megan Williams, a mother of four, is more than appreciative: “This program introduces us to books I’ve never heard of .”
The Richters spend about $400 a month sending books to 200 children. “Some people sit there and wait to die,” says Tim. “Others get as busy as they can in the time they have left.”
【小题1】
What led Tim to think seriously about the meaning of life?

A.His health problem.B.His love for teaching.
C.The influence of his wife.D.The news from the Web.
【小题2】
What did Tim want to do after learning about Imagination Library?
A.Give out brochures.B.Do something similar.
C.Write books for childrenD.Retire from being a teacher.
【小题3】
According to the text, Dollly Parton is           .
A.a well-known surgeonB.a mother of a four-year-old
C.a singer born in TennesseeD.a computer programmer
【小题4】
Why did the Richters go to Dollywood?
A.To avoid signing up online.
B.To meet Dollywood board members.
C.To make sure the books were the newest.
D.To see if the books were of good quality.
【小题5】
What can we learn from Tim’s words in the last paragraph?
A.He needs more money to help the children.
B.He wonders why some people are so busy.
C.He tries to save those waiting to die.
D.Hconsiders his efforts worthwhile.

Taylor sings with heart

The music industry is never short of teen pop stars with wonderful looks, but it doesn’t often find one like US singer Taylor Swift. “Beneath Taylor Swift’s not-a-girl, not-yet-a-woman sweetness hides a very skillful songwriting technique (技巧),” writes Leah Greenblatt with Entertainment Weekly.

Songwriting, the country singer explains, is “how I deal with problems. I am used to writing about things that really influences me most.” So in her songs, there is always something true and honest. They seem like stories from a diary. And that certainly helps Swift attract her audience.

She’s sold more than 13 million copies worldwide of her first two albums, 2006’s self-titled debut (首张专辑) and 2008’s Fearless. She’s the youngest artist ever to be named Artist of the Year at the American Music Awards. Not surprisingly, there were great expectations for her third album, Speak Now, which came out late last month, where she again returned to her own life for material. The 14 songs “are all about the last two years... when life was a little bit bigger and crazier,” says Swift. “So I’ve written about the lessons and confusion and heartbreak and all the different things that go along with being 18, 19 and 20.”

1.What led to Taylor’s fame?

A. Her wonderful looks.                     B. Her songwriting skills together with her looks.

C. Her beautiful voice.                 D. Her special life experience in her teenage years.

2.Which of the following is true?

A. Taylor is now in her twenties.

B. Taylor’s the youngest Artist of the Year at the Academy Awards

C. Taylor has produced three albums up till now.

D. Taylor has sold more than 13 million copies worldwide.

3.What may be written in the album, Speak Now?

A. Her unhappy experience with her boyfriend.

B. Her concern for her popularity.

C. Her happy childhood.

D. Her worries for environmental pollution.

 

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