题目内容
Move Earth — it’s no science fiction
LONDON — Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets（彗星）in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.
This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration（NASA） engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.
The plan put forward by Dr Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams ,needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.
“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,” Laughlin said.
Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated. In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere（生物圈）— by cooking us.
That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.
The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation（误算）in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.
There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is “most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.
What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?
A. A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth.
B. Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon.
C. Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive.
D. The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth.
If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of ______years.
A.12 billion B.6 billion C.18 billion D.24 billion
What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?
A. The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the moon.
B. Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death.
C. The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth.
D. Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened.
What does the underlined word “compromise” mean?
A. provide B. benefit C. share D. endanger
Which of the following best shows how the plan would work?
第三部分阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)请认真阅读下列短文，从短文后各题所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。AWhy You Should Celebrate Your MistakesWhen you make a mistake, big or small, cherish (珍视) it like it’s the most precious thing in the world. Because in some ways, it is. Most of us feel bad when we make mistakes, beat ourselves up about it, feel like failures, get mad at ourselves.And that’s only natural: most of us have been taught from a young age that mistakes are bad, that we should try to avoid mistakes. We’ve been scolded when we make mistakes—at home, school and work. Maybe not always, but probably enough times to make feeling bad about mistakes an unconscious reaction.Yet without mistakes, we could not learn or grow. If you think about it that way, mistakes should be cherished and celebrated for being one of the most amazing things in the world: they make learning possible; they make growth and improvement possible. By trial and error—trying things, making mistakes, and learning from those mistakes—we have figured out how to make electric light, to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, to fly.Mistakes make walking possible for the smallest toddler, make speech possible, make works of genius possible.Think about how we learn: we don’t just consume information about something and instantly know it or know how to do it. You don’t just read about painting, or writing, or computer programming, or baking, or playing the piano, and know how to do them right away. Instead, you get information about something, from reading or from another person or from observing usually … then you construct a model in your mind … then you test it out by trying it in the real world … then you make mistakes … then you revise the model based on the results of your real-world experimentation … and repeat, making mistakes, learning from those mistakes, until you’ve pretty much learned how to do something. That’s how we learn as babies and toddlers, and how we learn as adults. Mistakes are how we learn to do something new—because if you succeed at something, it’s probably something you already knew how to do. You haven’t really grown much from that success—at most it’s the last step on your journey, not the whole journey. Most of the journey was made up of mistakes, if it’s a good journey.So if you value learning, if you value growing and improving, then you should value mistakes. They are amazing things that make a world of brilliance possible.56. Why do most of us feel bad about making mistakes?A. Because mistakes make us suffer a lot. B. Because it’s a natural part in our life. C. Because we’ve been taught so from a young age. D. Because mistakes have ruined many people’s careers. 57. According to the passage, what is the right attitude to mistakes?A. We should try to avoid making mistakes.B. We should owe great inventions mainly to mistakes.C. We should treat mistakes as good chances to learn. D. We should make feeling bad about mistakes an unconscious reaction.58. The underlined word “toddler” in Paragraph Six probably means _______. A. a small child learning to walk B. a kindergarten child learning to drawC. a primary pupil learning to read D. a school teenager learning to write59. We can learn from the passage that _______.A. most of us can really grow from successB. growing and improving are based on mistakes C. mistakes are the most precious things in the world D. we read about something and know how to do it right away
Now that I am no longer young, I have friends whose mothers have passed away. I have heard these sons and daughters say they never fully appreciated their mothers ___1.___ it was too late to tell them. I am blessed (赐福) with the dear mother who is still alive. I ___2.___ her more each day. My mother does not change, but I ___3.___ . As I grow older and wiser, I realize ___4.___ an extraordinary person she is. How ___5.___ that I am unable to speak these words in her ___6.___ , but they flow easily from my pen.
How does a daughter begin to thank her mother for life itself? For the love, patience and just ___7.___ hard work that go into ___8.___ a child? For running after a toddler (学走步的小孩), for understanding a ___9.___ teenager, for tolerating (忍受;容忍) a college student who knows ___10.___ ? For waiting for the day when a daughter ___11.___ how wise her mother really is?
How does a ___12.___ woman thank a mother for ___13.___ to be a mother? For being ready ___14.___ advice (when asked) or remaining ___15.____ when it is most appreciated? For not saying, “I told you so,” when she could have uttered these words ___16.___ ? For being ___17.___ herself-loving, thoughtful, patient, and forgiving?
I don’t know how, dear God, except to ask you to bless her as richly as she ___18.___ and to help me live up to the example she has ___19.___ . I pray that I will look as good in the eyes of my children as my mother ___20.___ in mine.
21. A．as B．that C．until D．when
22. A．approve B．appreciate C．need D．resemble
23. A．do B．have C．did D．will
24. A．how B．that C．who D．what
25.A.sad B.glad C.comic D tragic
26. A．absence B．presence C．appearance D．existence
27. A．common B．plain C．normal D．usual
28. A．raising B．rising C．developing D．training
29. A．childish B．energetic C．fearless D．moody
30. A．anything B．something C．everything D．nothing
31. A．detects B．discovers C．recognizes D．realizes
32. A．pretty B．foolish C．green D．grown
33. A．failing B．intending C．continuing D．keeping
34. A．by B．with C．for D．on
35. A．silent B．quiet C．cool D．noiseless
36. A．dozen times B．a dozen of times C．dozens of times D．dozen of time
37. A．valuably B．essentially C．naturally D．virtually
38. A．devotes B．deserts C．deserves D．desires
39. A．set B．settled C．placed D．fixed
40. A．sees B．finds C．is D．looks
第三部分：阅读理解（共15小题;每小题2分，满分30分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Most people don't know the true story of the little boy who came to be known as Douglas Craig. He was found wandering around the streets of Washington, D.C. He could not hear or speak. At night, he drew the knees up to his body in doorways and slept. Sometimes people pitied him and gave him food and clothing. If not, he ate what he could find in garbage cans.
Dr. E. M. Gallaudet at Gallaudet College let him stay in the Kendall School until he was old enough to work. He became the best "handy man" that Gallaudet had ever had. He had many duties, such as picking up mail at the post office, mowing grass, tending the flower beds, and carrying notes from the boys to the girls. Clearly, he was a familiar sight on campus.
It is said that Douglas courted(求爱) a black woman from Baltimore. Since his courtship required letter-writing, and he was illiterate, he had a student in the college act as his "private secretary." Though that relationship did not work out, he did marry a black deaf woman. The wedding took place in a church, and most of the college faculty and teachers were present. Douglas was dressed in a full-dress suit with a white tie and white gloves. The happy couple went to Baltimore for a honeymoon, but the honeymoon only lasted for one day. Their plans were cut short when his pocketbook containing about $300 was either lost or stolen.
He once went to Norfolk, Virginia on a vacation, but he did not know what a vacation was. He spent the entire time working around the docks of Norfolk. He came home with a pocketful of money, and told everyone that he had a fine vacation.
Douglas' last public duty was to raise the flag to the top of the new flagpole. He was very weak and sat in an armchair during the ceremonies. He died in 1936, but left a legend at Gallaudet that would live forever.
1. The main idea of the story is that_____:
A. Craig liked no women except those from universities.
B. Gallaudet is the best place for an orphan to grow up.
C. No one ever found out exactly what happened to Craig’s family.
D. Craig, a man with an unusual background, worked at Gallaudet for many years.
2. It is most likely that Douglas Craig enjoyed working at Gallaudet because_____:
A. Gallaudet was a good place to collect junk. B. he found it easy to communicate with people.
C. people felt sorry for him so he didn't have to work hard. D. he didn't have a home.
3. Craig and his new wife's honeymoon did not last long because_______:
A. their money was lost or stolen. B. Craig missed Gallaudet and wanted to come back early.
C. they spent all their money. D. their baggage and clothing was lost or stolen.
It is most _____that the environmentalists will come to the area to investigate the possible damage caused by the serious pollution.
A. likely B. perhaps C. possibly D. probably
