NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been exploring the Red Planet since 2004. But a little more than a year ago, NASA lost contact with Spirit. The space agency has tried several ways to make contact with the rover, but Spirit has not sent back any signals.

Spirit landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. Three weeks later, Opportunity arrived. Soon after, the rovers went to the opposite side of Mars. Spirit’s original mission was only designed to last for three months, but Spirit has worked for more than five years doing additional missions. Both rovers have made important discoveries about ancient Mars. They have taken thousands of images and found evidence in the rocks of a water, warmer past in Mars’ history.

Spirit is solar-powered. It got stuck in a sand trap in April 2009, trapped deep into the soil and with its wheels turning around and around but not able to move forwards or backwards. Spirit had to agree that there is nothing that can be done to change the situation—it’s never going to move again. However, even if it is a not moving station, it can still study the planet’s atmosphere and deep interior.

NASA has been concentrating on trying to position its solar panels to get as much energy from the sun as possible, or to get the rover leaning in a manner that will allow the most amount of sunlight falling on its solar panels, in order to keep it alive during the coming winter months. Engineers have planned to rock the vehicle back and forth to acquire a more favorable position. However, no matter how many efforts have been made, Spirit still could not get out of the soft soil and could not lean itself toward the sun as the Martian winter approached. Without enough energy reaching its solar panels and with so little energy in its batteries, it went into hibernation, just like a polar bear, and has not communicated with Earth since March 22, 2010.

Whatever the future holds for Spirit, its mission has been an outstanding success. When it landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, no one was really sure how long it would continue working in the cold and dusty environment. As a matter of fact, three months was its original goal.

After so many fruitless efforts, NASA scientists are losing hope of ever reconnecting with Spirit, but they will give it one more try. Ground controllers are contacting Spirit over a range of frequencies and at different times during the day in case its internal clock stopped working and it lost track of time. They also are commanding the rover to turn on its backup radio transmitter in case the main one is dead.

If this final effort to connect isn’t successful, NASA will shift the focus to its twin robot, Opportunity, which is in a different part of Mars. Opportunity is still on the move and continues to travel freely to this day. It has traveled 16.6 miles so far, and is currently rolling towards another crater it has yet to explore.

NASA has spent more than $900 million on the project but shows no sign of giving up on these determined and hard-working robots. The rovers are, though, experiencing gradual wear and tear, the expected damage to something caused by using it repeatedly over a period of time. Even before Spirit got trapped, one of its wheels had failed. And NASA says it’s just a matter of time before both robots break down completely.

1.According to the passage, what can we know about Spirit?

A. It had explored Mars several times.

B. Its original mission was to work for five years.

C. It landed on Mars three weeks later than Opportunity.

D. It discovered that Mars was once a warm and wetter place.

2.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT what NASA did?

A. Try to lean Spirit to make it get as much sunlight as possible.

B. Rock Spirit back and forth to make it acquire a more favorable position.

C. Make efforts to help Spirit get out of the soft soil where it is stuck.

D. Contact and order Spirit to turn on its backup radio transmitter.

3.The reason why Spirit failed to communicate with the Earth is that ________.

A. it didn’t have enough energy             B. it had finished its task

C. something was wrong with its wheels      D. it met an unidentified creature

4.By saying “NASA will shift the focus” in Paragraph 7, the author means that ______.

A. NASA will move the center of Spirit out of the sand

B. NASA will depend on Opportunity to do the exploration

C. NASA will do nothing but wait for some opportunity

D. NASA will make opportunity help Spirit

5.The last paragraph mainly informs us that _______.

A. NASA has planned to spend more money on Spirit

B. Spirit will be brought back to Earth

C. Spirit will stop operating totally in the future

D. Spirit will cause damage to Mars

6. What’s the text mainly about?

A. NASA makes the last effort to contact Spirit.

B. Spirit has made many important discoveries on Mars.

C. How Spirit got stuck and couldn’t move on Mars.

D. Why NASA tried many ways to contact Spirit.

 “What is the most important thing you’ve done in your life?” The question was put to me during a presentation I gave to a group of lawyers.

The answer came to me in an instant. It’s not the one I gave, because the situation was not right. As a lawyer in the entertainment industry, I knew the audience wanted to hear some amusing stories about my work with well-known people. But here’s the true answer:

The most important thing I’ve ever done occurred on October 8, 1990. I began the day playing tennis with an old friend I hadn’t seen for a while. Between points we talked about what had been happening in each other’s lives. He and his wife had just had a baby boy, who was keeping them up at night.

While we were playing, a car came screaming up the road toward the courts. It was my friend’s father, who shouted to my friend that his baby had stopped breathing and was being rushed to the hospital. In a flash my friend was in the car and gone, disappearing in a cloud of dust.

For a moment I just stood there, paralyzed(呆若木鸡). Then I tried to figure out what I should do. Follow my friend to the hospital? There was nothing I could accomplish there, I convinced myself. My friend’s son was in the care of doctors and nurses, and nothing I could do or say would affect the outcome. Be there for moral support? Well, maybe. But my friend and his wife both had large families, and I knew they’d be surrounded by relatives who would provide more than enough comfort and support, whatever happened. All I could do at the hospital, I decided, was to get in the way. Also, I had planned a full day with my family, who were waiting for me to get home. So I decided to head back to my house and check in my friend later.

As I started my car, I realized that my friend had left his truck and keys at the courts. I now faced another problem. I couldn’t leave the keys in the truck. So I decided to go to the hospital and give him the keys.

When I arrived, I was directed to a room where my friend and his wife were waiting. As I had thought, the room was filled with family members silently watching my friend comfort his wife. I went in and stood by the door, trying to decide what to do next. Soon a doctor appeared. He approached my friend and his wife, and in a quiet voice told them that their son had died.

For a long time the two held each other and cried, unaware of the rest of us standing around in pained silence. After they had calmed themselves, the doctor suggested they spend a few moments with their son.

My friend and his wife stood up and walked past their families. When they reached the door, my friend saw me standing in the corner. He came over and hugged me and started to cry. My friend’s wife hugged me, too, and said, “Thanks for being here.”

For the rest of that morning, I sat in the emergency room of that hospital and watched my friend and his wife hold the body of their infant son, and say goodbye.

It’s the most important thing I have ever done.

The experience taught me two lessons.

First: The most important thing I’ve ever done happened when I was completely helpless. None of the things I had learned in university, in three years of law school or in six years of legal practice were of any use in that situation. Something terrible was happening to people Icared about, and I was powerless to change the outcome. All I could do was standing by and watching it happen. And yet it was critical that I do just that—just be there when someone needed me.

Second: The most important thing I’ve done almost didn’t happen because of things I had learned in classroom and professional life. Law school taught me how to take a set of facts, break them down and organized them. These skills are critical for lawyers. When people come to us for help, they’re often stressed out and depend on a lawyer to think logically. But while learning to think, I almost forget how to feel. Today I have no doubt that I should have leapt into my car without hesitation and followed my friend to the hospital.

From that one experience I learned that the most important thing in life isn’t the money you make, the status you attain or the honors you achieve. The most important thing in life is the kids’ team you coach or the poem you write—or the time when you’re just somebody’s friend.

1.When he was asked about the most important thing he had done in life at a presentation, the author __________.

A felt it was not an interesting question           

B. thought for a while and spoke his mind

C. gave an answer from a lawyer’s point of view   

D. didn’t give the real answer

2.When he saw his friend rush to the hospital, the author could not decide whether to follow mainly because he thought _________.

A. he had to stay with his family             B. his friend did not need his help

C. he would not be of much help         D. the baby would be in the doctor’s care

3.The purpose of the author’s description of the scene at the hospital is to inform us that ______.

A. he found out that he was in the way            

B. he would have felt guilty if he had not been there

C. he regretted that he went too later

D. his friend would have felt better if he had not been there

4.Which of the following is conveyed in this story?

A. Family and relatives can not take the place of friends.

B. More people are a great comfort when one is in trouble.

C. It is best to be here when someone needs you.

D. You can certainly help a friend if you want to.

5.The author learned from his own experience that_______.

A. what is taught in school is usually of no use

B. a lawyer cannot learn much in classrooms

C. a lawyer should know people’s feeling first

D. he needs to be able to feel as well as think logically

A. Use business recordings

B. Speak slowly and clearly

C. Learn telephone manners

D. Practice often with a friend

E. Always be considerate of your friends

F. Make sure you understand the other speaker

Telephone tips

If the phone rings and someone speaks in English, don’t be afraid to answer it! The fear of talking on the phone in a second language will disappear if you practice often. Here are a few tips for helping you improve your ability to answer a call in English.

1._______________

  Listening to someone speaking in a second language over the telephone can be very challenging because you cannot see the person you are trying to hear. However, it may be even more difficult for the person you are talking with to understand you. You may not realize that your pronunciation isn’t clear because your teacher and fellow students know and understand you. Pay special attention to your weak areas of your pronunciation when you are on the phone.

2._______________

  Don’t pretend to understand everything you hear over the telephone. Even native speakers ask each other to repeat and confirm information from time to time. This is especially important if you are taking a message for someone else. Learn the appropriate expressions that English speakers use when they don’t hear something properly. Don’t be afraid to remind the person to slow down more than once. Keep your telephone in an area that is away from other noise distractions such as a radio or television.

3._______________.

  Ask another student to practice talking on the phone with you. You might choose one night a week and take turns phoning each other at a certain time. Try to talk for at least fifteen minutes. You can talk socially, or role play different scenarios in a business environment. The most important thing about practicing telephone English is that you are not able to see each other’s mouths.

4. _______________. 

  There are many ways to get free telephone English practice. After business hours, you can call and listen to recorded messages. Write down what you hear the first time, and then call back and check if your notes are accurate. Make sure you have a pen handy so that you can repeat the information and check your comprehension.

5._______________.

  The way that you speak to your best friend on the phone is very different from the way you should speak to someone in a business setting. Many speakers make the mistake of being too direct on the telephone. It is possible that the person on the other line will think that you are being rude on purpose if you don’t use formal language in certain situations. Sometimes just one word such as could or may is necessary in order to sound polite. Take the time to learn how to answer the phone and say goodbye in a polite manner, as well as all the various ways one can start and end a conversation casually.

Listening to someone on the telephone is like listening to a taped recording in class. The only difference is that you have to talk back! Follow the tips above and remember that practice makes perfect!

短文改错My little cousin is greatly interested on science. And he does some dangerous experiments sometime. Although his parents want to encourage him to be great scientist, at times they worry about his safety. Last week, when my cousin was doing an experiment, he hurts his thumb. My aunt felt sadly and wanted him to stop from doing that experiment. However, my cousin didn’t want to give up. She said, “Many scientists got hurt when they were doing experiments, so they didn’t give up.” My aunt had to let him finish the experiments and he finally succeeded in finish it.

书面表达（30分）

留意一下我们的周边，可以发现陪读现象已蔚然成风。请你根据以下要点写一篇短文，内容应包括：

1.简要描述陪读现象；

2．分析父母陪读的原因（2至3个）；

3．发表你对此的看法。  注意：词数100—120词。

The manager urged older staff ____early retirement and new staff _______ more time for work.

The result of the football match was 2 to 2，________the satisfaction of both teams.

Before ______ was standing a terrible man, Miss Linda could do nothing _________immediately.

People Who Moved China, hosted by CCTV, honors the people _______the valuable contributions should be remembered by every Chinese.

--Are you getting a new car this year?

--You must be joking! I can’t afford to pay my bills, ________ buy a new car.