An annoying problem for humans, who like to boast (夸耀) about all the distant planets and moons we have explored, is that we've never taken a good look right under our noses. The inside of the earth is relatively close, but how can we get there?

The deepest oil well enters a mere six miles into the crust (地壳) (the center of the earth is about 4,000 miles deeper). Russian scientists dug the deepest hole in Siberia, but bottomed out at about 7.5 miles below the surface. The Mohole project, a U.S. plan in the 1950s, called for drilling a hole 25 miles down to the boundary between the hard rocks of the crust and the soft mantle (地幔). Sadly the project involved government supporting.

It gets harder and harder to drill deep into the earth because rocks get softer and softer. Hard but easily broken at the surface, rocks become plastic at depth, and the pressure caused by the weight of the overlaying crust ---  about 52,800 pounds per square inch at a depth of ten miles, makes further drilling impossible.

What little we know about the inside of the earth (like the fact that there's a crust, a mantle, and a core) comes from indirect evidence, such as the analysis of earthquakes.

So maybe it's time for a thorough new method to explore the earth's inside. Scientist David Stevenson says we should forget about drilling holes. Instead, we should open a crack (裂缝).

Stevenson suggests digging a crack about a half mile long, a yard wide, and a half mile deep (not with a shovel) but with an explosion on the scale of a nuclear bomb. Next, he'd pour a few hundred thousand tons of molten (熔化的) iron into the crack, along with a robot. The iron, thicker than the surrounding crust, would move downward at about 16 feet per second, carrying the robot with it and opening the crack deeper and deeper. The iron mass would drop for about a week and 2,000 miles to the outer edge of the earth core, the robot sending out data to the surface.

Stevenson compares his idea to space exploration. "We're going somewhere we haven't been before,"he says. "In all possibility, there will be surprises.”

This idea can probably be put in the drawer marked with Isn't Going To Happen. The robot would have to survive temperatures that would melt pretty much anything. But Stevenson's idea may inspire a new look at an old problem. Great things can come from what seems like impossible ideas.

72. Going inside the earth is _____ than going into space.

A. more interesting B. more possible C. easier  D. more challenging

73. How deep have we gone into the earth until now?

A. 6 miles.  B. 4,000 miles. C. 7.5 miles.  D. 25 miles.

74. Which of the following is TRUE about David Stevenson's idea?

A. It is an inspiring but not practical idea now.

B. It is a practical proposal that has come into use now.

C. It is a good proposal that will soon be put into practice.

D. It is a false theory that cannot be carried out at all.

75. What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A. An Annoying Problem for Humans

B. To the Center of the Earth

C. The Mohole Project

D. David Stevenson's Proposal

--What did you think of president?

　　--I didn't care for him at first, but after______time I got to like him.

　　A. 不填； a B. 不填； the    C. the; the    D. the; a

I would like to live in a place         there’s plenty of sunshine. 

       A．which       B．whom       C．when D．where

To shut your eyes to facts．as many of you do,_______foolish．

A. is    B．are    C．are    D．were

Who would you rather _____ the watch?

       A．have to repair　      B．have fixed     C．get repaired　        D．get to repair

--- When will you be through with your work, Jones?

 ---      ? My boss usually finds something for me to do at the last minute．

       A．Who knows            B．Would you help me 

       C．I beg your pardon           D．Anything the matter

 Now in some schools it isn’t odd for students to go to school seven days a week. _____ would be strange.

     A. To not do so    B. Not to do so      C. Don’t do so       D. Doing not so

第三节 完形填空(共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分)

阅读下面短文，从短文后所给各题的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出可以填入

空白处的最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

Nick was not the kind of boy I had expected to spend my summer with. I was hoping to     have a   21   the summer before my busy senior year, but my mother asked me to do her a   22  . One of her colleagues needed a full-time   23  . “You planned to volunteer at the local hospital, why not volunteer to   24   Nick instead?” Then she told me that this six-year-old boy was not a   25   child.

Nick was a lovely little boy who suffered from many disorders. Normal day-care centres would not   26   him. As a baby, he had serious ear infections which left him with equilibrium (平衡) problems. He couldn’t   27   or run properly. I was hesitating (犹豫)   28   I was to take the job when my mother   29  , “Don’t you want to be a nurse in the future? I doubt if you even have the   30  .”

Then I told her I was   31   for the job.

The day started at 7:00 a.m. Nick was my wake-up call! With so much energy and very little   32  , he was quite a mix.

At the park, when he saw all the other children play on the jungle gym and swings (秋千)， the boy’s face   33   up — How he wished he belonged to the group of his age! You would think it would be   34   to get a child to go down a slide (滑梯). Believe me, it wasn’t! It took time, a lot of time. But with patience and support, Nick took one step up the slide each day. We worked together to face his   35   and gradually he got closer to taking the slide of his life.

Halfway through the summer, he   36   it to the top of the slide. With my arms   37   him tightly, we flew down the slide! I waited for his reaction. After realizing that he was safe and sound, he gave me a big   38   and asked, “May I go down again, alone?”

    I had never been happier in my life when I saw this little child climb the ladder and enjoy what other children   39   for granted.

    This   40   child taught me that being a nurse means respect, kindness and patience.

21. A. grade                  B. course              C. project                      D. relaxation

22. A. service                B. favour           C. business             D. trade

23. A. nurse                  B. waitress        C. guard                 D. guide

24. A. protect                B. defend           C. attend                       D. comfort

25. A. normal                B. naughty        C. clever                       D. happy

26. A. admit                  B. receive           C. accept                       D. adopt

27. A. speak                  B. play               C. stand                 D. walk

28. A. if                        B. what               C. why                   D. where

29. A. suggested            B. argued           C. challenged          D. commented

30. A. energy                 B. courage        C. faith                   D. time

31. A. eager                   B. sorry             C. grateful              D. ready

32. A. awareness           B. balance          C. knowledge          D. control

33. A. delighted              B. cheered          C. lit                      D. shut

34. A. difficult               B. simple            C. interesting          D. terrible

35. A. fears                   B. worries          C. chances             D. situations

36. A. climbed               B. got                C. managed            D. made

37. A. taking                  B. holding          C. bringing             D. greeting

38. A. kiss                     B. clap               C. welcome            D. surprise

39. A. play                    B. do                 C. take                   D. enjoy

40. A. miserable             B. smart             C. brave                 D. special

     The day will come when my body will lie upon a white sheet neatly folded in under the four corners of a mattress located in a hospital busily occupied with the living and the dying. At a certain moment, a doctor will determine that my brain has ceased to function and that, to all intents and purposes, my life has stopped.

     When that happens, do not attempt to instill artificial life into my body by the use of a machine. And don't call this my deathbed. Let it be called the Bed of Life, and let my body be taken from it to help others lead fuller lives.

     Give my sight to the man who has never seen a sunrise, a baby's face or love in the eye of a woman. Give my heart to a person whose own heart has caused nothing but endless days of pain. Give my blood to the teenager who was pulled from the wreckage of his car, so that he might live to see his grandchildren play. Give my kidneys to one who depends on a machine to exist. Take my bones, every muscle, every fiber and nerve in my body, and find a way to make a crippled child walk.

     Explore every corner of my brain. Take my cells, if necessary, and let them grow so that, someday, a speechless boy will shout at the crack of a bat, and a deaf girl will hear the sound of rain against her window.

     Burn what is left of me and scatter the ashes to the winds to help the flowers grow. If you must bury something, let it be my faults, my weaknesses and all prejudice against my fellow man.

     If, by chance, you wish to remember me, do it with a kind deed or word to someone who needs you. If you do all I have asked, I will live forever.

68. What does the underlined part "to all intents and purposes" in tire first paragraph mean?

     A, actually         B. occasionally   C. meaningfully      D. interestedly

69. How many things does the author mention should be contributed to others in the passage?

     A. less than five    B. six            C. seven             D. more than eight

70. The author is not the kind of person who____________.

    A. is selfish but great B. is brave and kind C. has a spirit of sacrifice D. is noble-minded

71. What the author realty wants to stress in the last two paragraphs is

     A. the need to persuade to do everything more gently

     B. kindness to others even in death

     C. living forever makes us remembered

     D. we should make the world more attractive

第三节：书面表达

假设你是李华，你的英国朋友TOM听说你学校正在开展研究性学习，来信询问有关情况。请你根据下表提供的信息，写一封回信，谈一谈开展研究性学习前后，你的学习情况的变化。

注意：1。注意书信格式                   2。 词数120左右

生词：研究性学习 exploring study    surf the Internet

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