President Bush may talk about a plan to Mars, but Bruce Jones thinks there is still a healthy thirst for exploration into underwater worlds on our own planet. After growing up with a grandfather in the marine construction① business, Jones quickly got a feel for the water. He started diving at age 9 and, by the 1980s, began offering advice for those interested in the submarine② business. By 1993, he was running his own company, U.S. Submarines, which designs and builds submarines for others.

Jones has $40 million spent in building a hotel where the most expensive rooms will be 50 feet under the sea off Eleuthera Island in the Bahamas. Unlike the Jules Undersea Lodge — the only undersea hotel now, just off the coast of Key Largo, Fla. — guests at the Poseidon won’t need to put on a wet suit to their rooms. They also won’t need to worry about changing pressure levels since the rooms will be kept at above-surface pressure. Instead, they can move easily to their $1,500-a-night underwater rooms by escalator③.

“I think there are a large number of people who would be interested,” said Jones, “including anyone who is looking for a different experience.”

Each room will feature strong walls that look out onto coral④ gardens. There will be controls in each room that guests can use to change the lighting of the underwater worlds outside their windows and to provide food to fish swimming just outside. It sounds exciting— but will it happen? It’s hard to say.

“By now I envisioned⑤ we’d have whole underwater cities,” Cooper said. “It’s about time some of these visions became reality.”

Notes:

① marine construction  海洋建筑

② submarine  adj. 海下的

③ escalator  n.  自动梯

④ coral  n.  珊瑚

⑤ envision  v.  展望

1. The first paragraph takes President Bush for example in order to ______.

  A. praise President Bush’s plan to Mars

B. humorously introduce the main subject to readers

  C. support President Bush’s plan to Mars

D. show Bruce Jones is against President Bush’s plan

2. According to the text, who had a great effect on Bruce Jones?

  A. His father.     B. His friends.       C. His grandfather      D. His grandmother

3. According to Bruce Jones’s undersea hotel, we know that ______.

  A. fish outside can be seen through the hotel’s walls

  B. the hotel has been built and came into use

  C. it will be easy to swim into the underwater rooms

  D. visitors will have to wear wet suits against water

4. According to Cooper’s words, his attitudes towards the underwater hotels are ______.

  A. disappointed       B. critical       C. objective      D. hopeful


It was lunchtime and I walked into a small branch office on the West Side. I had come to   36  a checking account. The only officer on   37  was a fortyish black man, standing   38  a small counter from a young white boy who was wearing a V-necked sweater. I think I was especially   39  of the boy because he looked more like a kid from a prep school than a   40  in a West Side bank.
The boy continued to   41  my attention because of what happened next. He was holding an open savings-account book and   42  an expression of disappointment. “But I don’t understand. I opened the account myself, so why can’t I   43  any money?” the boy said, his voice breaking.
“I know it is, but those are the rules. I’ve already explained to you that a fourteen-year-old is not   44  to withdraw money without a letter from his parents,” the officer explained patiently.
Suddenly I noticed the account had a series of small deposits and withdraws. Then I questioned the officer, “How do you   45  that? Why did you let him withdraw money before, but not now?” He looked   46 . “Because the tellers were not aware of his age before and now they are. It’s really very   47 .” I turned to the boy with a shrug. “You’re really getting   48 ,” I said. “You ought to get your parents to come in here and   49 .” The boy looked destroyed.   50 , he put his savings book in a rear-pocket and walked out of the bank.
The officer turned to me. “You know,” he said, “you really shouldn’t have got   51 .” I couldn’t believe what this idiot was saying. “We were   52  this morning that some neighborhood bully has been shaking down (敲诈) this boy for more than a month. The other guy was   53  him to take money out every week and hand it over. The poor kid was   54  too scared to tell anyone. Anyway, the police are on the case and they’ll probably make a(n)  55  today."
“You mean there is no rule about being too young to withdraw money from a savings account?”
“Not that I ever heard of. Now, sir, what can we do for you?”

【小题1】
A.makeB.openC.buyD.choose
【小题2】
A.dutyB.boardC.displayD.show
【小题3】
A.onB.afterC.over D.across
【小题4】
A.sureB.proudC.awareD.afraid
【小题5】
A.guardB.customerC.clerkD.manager
【小题6】
A.attractB.payC.attachD.control
【小题7】
A.puttingB.writingC.sayingD.wearing
【小题8】
A.borrowB.depositC.withdrawD.use
【小题9】
A.toldB.inspiredC.encouragedD.allowed
【小题10】
A.argue B.explainC.answerD.declare
【小题11】
A.annoyedB.disappointedC.excitedD.amused
【小题12】
A.easyB.amazingC.fantasticD.simple
【小题13】
A.arrangedB.convincedC.cheatedD.caught
【小题14】
A.protestB.promiseC.prohibitD.prepare
【小题15】
A.Excitedly B.SilentlyC.CheerfullyD.Nervously
【小题16】
A.interactedB.interruptedC.involvedD.infected
【小题17】
A.askedB.discovered C.suggestedD.informed
【小题18】
A.rushingB.forcingC.requestingD.begging
【小题19】
A.hardlyB.unwillinglyC.apparentlyD.eagerly
【小题20】
A.arrestB.sentence C.apologyD.difference

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