Should ecigarettes (electronic cigarettes) be a new choice for the smokers trying to get rid
of the habit? Reactions from Americans are mixed．More than half of the people questioned in
a survey think ecigarettes should be controlled by the US Food and Drug Administration,but 47
percent believe the ecigarettes should be available to the smokers who want to quit．
     "In the hunt for a safer cigarette,ecigarettes are becoming a popular choice among those either
 trying to quit or looking to replace standard tobacco smoke with an alternative that manufacturers
claim to be safer," Zogby International,which conducted the survey,said in a statement．
     About half of the 4,611 adults who took part in the survey had heard about ecigarettes,which
are batterypowered,or rechargeable cigarettes that vaporize a liquid nicotine solution．They do not
produce smoke but a water vapor without smell．Sold mostly on the Internet,ecigarettes were first
made in China．
     Last year the World Health Organization (WHO) warned against using ecigarettes,saying there
was no evidence to prove they were safe or helped smokers break the habit．The WHO said people
who smoke ecigarettes breathe in a fine fog of nicotine into the lungs．
     Nearly a third of people questioned in the survey think that ecigarettes should be allowed in places
where smoking is forbidden,because they don't produce smoke,but 46 percent disagree．Men who
were aware of the availability of ecigarettes were more likely than women to say they should be a choice
available to smokers who want to quit．Young people,aged 18－29,and singles were the groups most
open to trying ecigarettes．Smoking is the single largest cause of preventable death worldwide,according
to the WHO．

1．What can we learn from Paragraph 1?

A．American smokers ought to try ecigarettes．
B．Americans have different opinions about ecigarettes．
C．Every kind of cigarettes should be forbidden in America．
D．Most of the Americans don't like ecigarettes．

2．According to Zogby International,ecigarettes ______．

A．are much safer than common cigarettes
B．are popular among people who want to quit smoking
C．will take the place of traditional cigarettes
D．are produced in a safer way by manufacturers

3．What do we know about ecigarettes from the passage?

A．Most Americans are familiar with them．
B．They are a good choice as there is no nicotine．
C．They produce a water vapor that can't be seen．
D．Most people buy them on the Internet．

4．What's the attitude of the WHO towards ecigarettes?

A．Negative．  
B．Supportive．
C．Doubtful．  
D．Indifferent．

      With the Tesla  Roadster and  other  plugin ( 插入式) electric vehicles hitting the road,
demand is growing for accessible refueling points to recharge them．Carbon Day Automotive,
a Chicagobased company,has now demonstrated a solarpowered recharging point,known as
the Solar PlugIn Station,which lets motorists easily charge their cars using electricity that has
been produced without any environmental damage．
      The Solar PlugIn Station has gone on show in Chicago as part of the city's bid to host the
2016 Olympic Games．According to Carbon Day Automotive,the Solar PlugIn Station on
show in Chicago is part of the vital infrastructure(基础设施) required for electric vehicles in
Chicago and was the focus of a recent visit by the International Olympic Committee．
      These solarpowered electricity points will be used daily to fuel the city's electric vehicles
with power from the sun．By producing the electricity from pollutionfree solar cell,the CO2
emissions are reduced to zero．
      "Solar energy and electric vehicles are a partnership that is one more step to reducing our
dependence on foreign oil," says Richard Lowenthal,CEO of Coulomb Technologies．Coulomb
Technologies recently developed the components (部件) required for individual recharging stations,
marketed as ChargePoint Networked Charging Stations．Carbon Day Automotive is the Midwest
distributor for the ChargePoint stations．
     The Solar PlugIn Station consists of giant solar panels (电池板) that shade the tiny ChargePoint
Networked Charging Station．The solar panel is connected to an underground battery pack,ready
for everyday refueling．
     "Without these stations it would be like driving around in a traditional car without the availability
of gas stations," says Scott Emalfarb,CEO at Carbon Day．"The day of true plugin electric vehicles
will be here sooner than most people realize and the world needs to be ready to accommodate them．"

1．The Solar PlugIn Station is used as part of the bid to host the Olympics mainly because ________．

A．it's environmentally friendly
B．it makes up for the lack of electricity
C．it's a new idea and attracts people's attention
D．it brings convenience to electric vehicle users

2．We can learn from the passage that ________．

A．to recharge the electric vehicles takes a long time
B．the Solar PlugIn Station will come into use in 2016
C．the Solar PlugIn Station has gone on show internationally
D．Chicago is promoting the use of electric vehicles

3．The passage implies that when the Solar PlugIn Station becomes popular,________．

A．more visitors will come to Chicago
B．more space for electric vehicles will be needed
C．the citizens of Chicago will be able to go to work faster
D．the cost of electric vehicles will be lower than traditional cars

4．What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Chicago Will Soon Be Full of Electric Vehicles
B．Chicago Calls on People to Buy Electric Vehicles
C．Chicago Fights for Its Bid to Host the 2016 Olympics
D．Chicago Shows Its Solarpowered Recharging Stations

     Do American children still learn handwriting in school? In the age of the keyboard, some
people seem to think handwriting lessons are on the way out. 90% of teachers say they are
required to teach handwriting. But studies have yet to answer the question of how well they
are teaching it. One study published this year found that about three out of every four teachers
say they are not prepared to teach handwriting. Some teachers are teaching handwriting by
providing instruction for ten to fifteen minutes a day, and then other teachers who basically
teach it for sixty to seventy minutes a day － which really is pretty much for handwriting.
    Many adults remember learning that way － by copying letters over and over again. Today's
thinking is that short periods of practice are better. Many experts also think handwriting should
not be taught by itself. Instead, they say it should be used as a way to get students to express
ideas. After all, that is why we write.
    Handwriting involves two skills. One is legibility, which means forming the letters so they can
be read. The other is fluency － writing without having to think about it. Fluency continues to
develop up until high school.
    But not everyone masters these skills. Teachers commonly report that about one fourth of
their kids have poor handwriting. Some people might think handwriting is not important any
more because of computers and voice recognition programs.
    But Steve Graham at Vanderbilt says word processing is rarely done in elementary school,
especially in the early years. American children traditionally first learn to print, and then to write
in cursive, which connects the letters. But guess what we learned from a spokeswoman for the
College Board, which administers the SAT college admission test. More than 75% of students
choose to print their essay on the test rather than write in cursive.

1. We can infer from the first paragraph that ______.

A. teachers spend little time in teaching handwriting.
B. most teachers attach importance to teaching handwriting.
C. handwriting teaching is not commonly required.
D. most teachers are at a loss how to teach handwriting

2. Which of the following about traditional handwriting in the USA is NOT true?

A. The students are taught by practicing a long period.
B. Printing is taught in preference to writing in cursive.
C. Handwriting is taught for its own sake.
D. Two skills get involved in handwriting.

3. Some American people consider handwriting not important any more because ______.

A. all the American children learn to print first
B. about 1/4 of the students choose to print their essay on the test
C. it is unnecessary to use handwriting in the age of keyboard
D. computers and voice recognition programs are widely used

4. ______ may serve as the best title for the passage.

A. Handwriting: fascinating in keyboard age
B. Right or wrong: the death of handwriting
C. Two skills involved in handwriting
D. Handwriting lessons on the way out

    The concept of solar power satellites, or SPS, first put forward in the 1960s, is still not widely
known by the general public. For example, at many public exhibitions about energy, SPS is not
even mentioned. This is mainly because very little money has been spent on SPS research
     There are people who claim that SPS is unrealistic － because launch costs are much too high
today; or because it is too far away. So why do we believe that it is important to continue to do
researches on SPS? The reason is very simple.
    Humans are going to need huge amounts of electric power in coming decades. Within 50 years
the world population is expected to double, while economic growth will continue around the world,
especially in the poorer countries. But existing energy sources already face serious problems. They
are limited; they are polluted; they are dangerous. So 50 or 100 years from now, where is our power
going to come from? Nobody knows. And so we believe that new large-scale possibilities should be
studied further.
    We must remember that humans have some choices concerning our future. To some extent we
can choose the direction in which our civilization develops. And choices that are made in the coming
decades－such as the energy sources that we will or will not use, will have major, long-term meaning
for human life on earth. We believe that if research continues to show that SPS is environmentally and
economically attractive, SPS will open the door to a much more attractive future for human civilization
than any ground-based energy source, and one that the public will support and that young people will
find challenging and exciting. Furthermore energy from SPS can be readily used in developing countries,
as the SPS 2000 project will show, thus aiding economic development worldwide. In addition, by
creating large commercial fund for space engineering, SPS will open the frontier of space to economic
development, thus creating a limitless new field for the growth of the world economy.

1. Which of the following may be the best title for the passage?

A. The Future Energy－ SPS
B. The Concept of SPS
C. Humans and SPS
D. Advantages of SPS

2. Which of the following statements about SPS is TRUE?

A. The research on SPS started in the 1960s is still not appreciated by the public.
B. The research is showing SPS can benefit environment and economy at present.
C. The energy from SPS is now being used in some developing countries.
D. The public don't know about SPS because little time is devoted to the research.

3. Paragraph 3 mainly talks about ______.

A. the present serious energy problems
B. where to get energy sources in the future
C. the importance of controlling world population
D. the need to explore new energy sources

4. The writer's attitude towards the research can best be summarized by the saying "______".

A. In time of peace prepare for war
B. Put the cart before the horse
C. One man's meat is another man's poison
D. Easier said than done

     Introductory Chemistry was taught at Duke University for many years by professor Bonk.
One year,two guys took the class and did pretty well on all the quizzes and mid terms. They
each had a solid A. These two friends were so confident in going into the final that the weekend
before finals week,despite the Chemistry final being on Monday,they decided to go to the University
of Virginia to party with some friends.
    They had a great time there. However,with their hangovers(宿醉) and tiredness,they overslept
all day Sunday and didn't make it back to Duke until early Monday morning. Rather than taking
the final then,they found professor Bonk after the final and explained to him how they missed the
final. They told him they went up to the University of Virginia for the weekend and had planned to
come back in time to study,but they had a flat tire on the way back and didn't have a spare. So
they were late getting back to campus.
    Bonk thought this over and agreed that they could take the final the following day. The two
guys,happily and relieved,studied that night and went in the next day at the time that Bonk had
told them. He placed them in separate rooms and handed each of them a test booklet. He told
them to begin.
    They looked at the first problem which was something simple about solution(溶解).It was worth
5 points. "Cool," they thought,"this is going to be an easy final". They then turned the page. They
were unprepared,however,for what they saw on it. The question contained only two words:
(95 points) Which tire?

61.The two guys decided to go to the University of Virginia because       .

A. they were afraid of the final
B. there was a party there
C. they thought they can pass the final easily
D .the final would be held there

62.When did they take the final at last?

A. On Sunday.          
B. On Monday.
C. On Saturday.        
D. On Tuesday.

3.From the passage we know       .

A. the two guys came back to campus late on purpose
B. Bonk wasn't strict with the two guys
C. Bonk didn't believe the two guys' explanation
D. repairing the flat tire took the two guys a lot of time

4.After the final,they       .

A. must have the same scores
B. may apologize to professor Bonk
C. wouldn't be confident in their Chemistry
D. would feel happy and relieved

5.From the passage we can get a lesson that       .

A. he is wise that is honest
B. he who makes no mistakes makes nothing
C. one never loses anything by politeness
D. think twice before you do

     Both warm-blooded and cold-blooded desert animals have ways to escape the desert heat.
Warm- blooded desert animals, such as rats and mice, rest during the day, often staying in cool
underground burrows. At night they search for food. Animals that are out during the day, such as
cold-blooded lizards and snakes, are active only for short periods. As their body temperature rises,
these reptiles(爬行动物) move into the shade in order to cool down. In the early evening, when
the sun grows weaker, the reptiles become more active and begin their search for food again.
     Getting enough water to survive is a major problem for all desert animals. Some desert animals,
like desert birds, manage to find water holes. Other desert animals, such as the kangaroo rat and the
related jerboa, get water only from the food that they eat. Because these animals eat mainly dry seeds,
 they must survive on a tiny amount of water.
     Most deserts have only a small number of frogs and toads because these animals must be near
water to survive. Yet even these creatures have adapted(适应) to desert conditions. When small
amounts of water collect in temporary streams, the desert-living frogs and toads become active.
After a rainfall, they lay their eggs. The eggs grow into tadpoles in a few days and into adults in just
four weeks. When the puddles(水坑) dry up, the adult frogs or toads dig into the ground. Their metabolism(新陈代谢) slows, and they stay beneath the ground until the next rain, which may be as good as
a year away. Until then, their bodily activities continue at a reduced rate.
    The camel - often called the ship of the desert - is one of the most successful desert animals. Camels
can go for long periods without water, but eventually they must drink. When water becomes available
to them after a long drought, they may drink 95 liters of water or more. When water is not available,
what helps camels survive the desert heat is the fat stored in their humps(驼峰). A camel's hump contains
about 12 kilograms of fat. Fat is rich in hydrogen. As the fat is digested, hydrogen from the fat combines
with oxygen in the air that the camel breathes. The result is H2O, or water. Each kilogram of fat that a
camel digests produces about a liter of water.