Searching for life on other planets

For more than thirty years scientists have been searching for signs of life on other planets. Most of these searches have been done over the radio. The hope is that someone in outer space may be trying to get in touch with us. Scientists also have sent radio and television messages, as well as messages on spaceships traveling through space, on the chance that someone may receive such messages.

Scientists are using powerful radio telescopes to “listen” to signals from about 1,000 stars, all within 100 light years of Earth. In addition, they will scan the entire sky to listen for radio messages from more distant stars. Using a computer, they will be able to monitor more than eight million channels at a time. Scientists are looking for any signal that stands out from the background noise.

Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy, scientists find that five percent are like our sun. Perhaps half of them have a planet like Earth. Such a planet would be a reasonable distance from the star for temperatures to be right for life. Based on the planets in our galaxy, most scientists agree that one or more of these planets may support some life.

However, many scientists wonder whether intelligent life exists on other planets. Some believe that thirty years of searching without any intelligible messages shows that no one is out there. They say that intelligence comparable to ours is unlikely.

Other scientists believe that our search hasn’t been long enough to rule out the possibility that intelligent life exists in our galaxy. Although our sun family is only about five billion years old, our galaxy is about 20 billion years old. In that time some scientists think it is likely that civilizations much more advanced than ours have developed. Perhaps these civilizations send us no signals; perhaps we have not recognized the signals they have sent us. If we hope to find intelligent life, these scientists believe that we have to keep looking.

To look for signals from distant stars, scientists _____.

A. have sent up spaceships to other planets

B. have sent radio and television messages to outer space

C. are listening to the radio messages all the year round

D. will use computers to pick up background noise

According to the passage, how many planets in our galaxy might be inhabitable?

A. 5 billion.    B. 10 billion.  C. 15 billion.  D. 200 billion.

Some scientists believe no other planet has life because ______.

   A. most of the researches have been done over the radio

   B. thirty years of searching doesn’t have any result

   C. we didn’t send messages on spaceships

   D. none of the other stars is right for life

Some scientists think there might be more advanced civilizations on other planets because _____.

A. some planets support more advanced civilizations

B. some civilizations have sent us signals we can’t recognize

C. the evolution of intelligence on other planets is unlike ours

D. some planets in our galaxy are much older than the earth

Which of these statements is true based on the information in the passage?

A. The earth is one of the oldest planets in our galaxy.

B. Most scientists believe that there is intelligent life on other planets.

C. Scientists are trying different ways to find signs of life on other planets.

D. More advanced civilization than ours have developed on other planets.

I had to tell some of them what we wanted to do next, because ________.

   A. none of them were here          B. no one was here

   C. all of them were here            D. all of them were not here

How do apology languages work? Have you ever tried to apologize, only to be refused? It may be that you were offering a partial apology in a “language” , that was foreign to your listener．The five languages of apology include:

Apology Language 1: “I am sorry.”

List the hurtful effects of your action．Not “I am sorry if …”, but “I am sorry that…”．You might ask if they want to add any points that you have not recognized.

Apology Language 2:“I was wrong.”

     Name your mistake and accept fault．Note that it is easier to say “You are right” than “ I am wrong”, but the latter carries more weight.

Apology Language 3: “ What can I do to make it right?”

     How are you now? How shall I make amends(弥补) to you? How can I restore your confidence that I love you— even though I was so hurtful to you?

Apology Language 4: “I’ll try not to do that again.”

     Engage in problem-solving．Don’t make excuses for yourself such as, “Well, my day was just so…” Instead, offer what you will change to prevent yourself from putting them in the same bad situation again．

Apology Language 5: “Will you please forgive me?”

      Be patient in seeking forgiveness．They may need some time or greater clarification of your input from Apology Languages 1-4.

      Finally, your apology may not be accepted, but at least you know that you have been faithful in offering a sincere olive branch of peace.

The passage mainly talks about___________

     A．5 tips for apologies that work          B．5 ways of refusing apologies

     C．the function of apology languages       D．the importance of apology languages

According to Paragraph 1, your apology may be refused mainly because________

     A．your listeners can’t understand your dialect.

     B．your listeners can’t hear what you said clearly.

     C．your apology is not sincere.

     D．your apology is not expressed well enough.

When offering an apology, which of the following does the author prefer?

     A．“You are right”                   B．“I am sorry if …”

       C.“I was wrong.”                   D．“Well, my day was just so…”

In the last paragraph, the author tells us even if your apology may not be accepted, at

least ___________.

     A．It’s your fault any more                B．your mind will be at peace

     C．your friend will make peace with you   D．your apology is true to your heart

A research by the National Center for Health Statistics is seen as an important confirmation of the“Hispanic mortality paradox（西班牙裔死亡率悖论）.”

On average，Hispanics outlive whites by 2.5 years and blacks by 7.7 years. Their life expectancy at birth in 2006 was 80.6 years，compared with 78.1 for whites，72.9 for blacks and 77.7 years for the total population.

The report shows that the Hispanic population has higher life expectancy at birth and at almost every age despite a socioeconomic status lower than that of whites.“Mortality is very correlated with income，education and health care access，”says Elizabeth Arias，author of the report.“You would expect the Hispanic population would have higher mortality，”in line with the black population.

The Hispanic paradox has been documented for more than two decades，but this is the first time the government has had enough data to issue national numbers. Researchers are struggling to explain why Hispanics live longer.

“We don’t know，”says David Hayes-Bautista，director of the Center for the Study of Latino Health and Culture at UCLA’s David Geffen School of Medicine.“We thought it was a problem in the data，but we can pretty much say this is real.”

Potential factors:

·Culture and lifestyle.  Support from extended family and lower rates of smoking and drinking.Latino groups in particular have very strong family and social ties.

·Migration.  The“healthy migrant effect”argues that healthy people are more likely to emigrate. And when immigrants become ill，they might return home and die there.

    Solving the puzzle may help the nation deal with health care issues because Hispanics use health services less—they make fewer doctors visits and spend less time in hospitals，Hayes-Bautista says.“It’s clearly something in the Latino culture，”he says.

In 2006，Hispanics’life expectancy is           years longer than the average of the total population.

    A. 2.5                 B. 7.7               C. 2.9              D. 80.6

What does the underlined word“outlive”in the second paragraph probably mean？

A. To live longer than…                      B. To live shorter than…

C. To die out.                              D. To expect to live.

What is the main idea of paragraph three？

A. Hispanics were born better than whites.

B. Morality is closely related with health care access.

C. Whites should have longer life expectancy.

D. Even experts can’t explain the phenomenon.

What is Mr.Hayes-Bautista’s opinion about the paradox？

A. He supports there is a problem with the data.

B. He intends to trust the cultural factor.

C. He believes in the“healthy migrant effect”.

D. He thinks health care the most important factor.

Which of the following inferences is true according to the passage？

A. Black people suffer the lowest social status in America.

B. Hispanics might have healthier ways of life.

C. Only healthy people can immigrate into America.

D. White people don’t have strong family ties.

A. 最近，三班的同学进行了一场讨论，话题是：学习英语应不应该从儿童时期开始？请你根据下表中的提示写一篇短文，介绍讨论的情况，并表达你自己的看法。

注意：1。 词数：120词左右

      2． 文章的开头已经给出，不计入词数。

参考词汇：基础foundation 汉语拼音Chinese pinyin

The students of Class 3 had a discussion about whether it is necessary to start learning English from childhood.

______ the students in our class is 50 and _______ them study very hard.

   A. The number of; the number of      B. A number of ; the number of

   C. The number of; a number of        D. A number of; a umber of

In class, the students are __________ in the teacher’s words.

   A. losing   B. absorbed   C. attracted   D. addicted

To her surprise, the life she had been looking forward to ________ to be unpleasant.  

A. prove          B. being proved      C. proving         D. proved

We are a little worried because we _____ the ground as a leader in the field of IT with the others speeding up development．

       A．are losing                    B．were losing

       C．lost                       D．have lost

You may open your electronic mail and find information about how to buy medicine, cheap airline tickets, and books and, of course, computers and computer products．There may also be offers for investment deals, bank loans and special holidays．However, to many computer users, this use of electronic spam to sell products has become a major problem as it makes computer communication more difficult．

       Many companies who want to send a great deal of advertising might use the services of a “spammer．” A spammer is a person or company that uses computers to send out millions of copies of the same sales information．Spammers find e-mail addresses from websites, news groups and “chat rooms” where people send messages to each other．

       Most spam is sent by companies who are trying to get you to buy their products．Some of these are honest companies that offer good products or services for fair prices．These companies can offer their products for a cheaper price than you might find in a store．However, much of the spam on the Internet is sent by criminals who are trying to sell products that do not exist or offer services they will not provide．They are only interested in stealing your money．When you answer their spam you find you are expected to send them money and receive a gift．One country in Africa has become famous for the number of criminals who try every known trick to separate people from their money．

What does the underlined word “spam” in the first paragraph probably refer to?

       A．Unwanted electronic information that reaches computer users．

       B．Computer virus that causes computer communication difficulties．

       C．Advertisements sent out by companies who want to sell their products．

       D．Companies that send out millions of copies of the same sales information．

Which of the following is TRUE according to the text?

       A．Spammers are people who receive spam on their computers．

       B．Spammers are people who collect e-mail addresses from the Internet．

       C．Companies who want to send a great deal of advertising are so-called spammers．

       D．Either individuals or organizations can be regarded as spammers if they send out spam．

Which is the possible suggestion from the writer concerning spam?

       A．Look out for any spam that reaches your computer．

       B．Don’t trust any information on the Internet．

       C．Buy what is cheaper in the spam．

       D．Don’t buy anything advertised in the spam．

What is the main purpose of writing this passage?

       A．To explain what spam is．

       B．To find out who send out spam．

       C．To warn readers of the possible dangers of spam．

       D．To show the advantages and disadvantages of spam．