Have you ever. wondered what you’d look like if you were an Asian, Middle Eastern, black, white or Indian person? By stepping into the Human Race Machine, you can find out. When you sit inside it, the machine creates a digital image（数学影像）of your face. After pushing certain buttons, the machine uses various photos of peoples of a certain ethnic group（种族）mixed with your own facial features（面部特征）. From this, it can come up with an image showing how you would look like as a member of a different race.

　　The machine is part of a traveling retrospective（回顾展）called“Seeing and Believing: The Art of Nancy Burson.”Burson is a famous American photographer and inventor. The show of 100 photos and multimedia（多媒体）words was on view at the City Art Gallery in New York on April 20.

　　“It’s a strange feeling, just like stepping into someone else’s skin,”said Kathy Zajchenko, a museum visitor from Pennsylvania, US．As soon as she sat down, she tried out a range of ethnic groups.“The Middle Eastern image worked pretty well for me,”she said with a smile.

　　According to Burson, the machine is a prayer for unity. It is about seeing through differences to find the things we all share in common Burson added the database（资料库）of Middle Eastern faces, both Arab and Jewish, after the terrorist attacks（恐怖袭击）on September 11.“I’ve always wanted to allow people to see differently. I’m a photographer. I’m recording the unseen, because what we can’t see is so much more interesting than what we can see,”Burson said.

　　For those who missed the show, the Human Race Machine will be on view at the New York Hall of Science in the Queens district full-time as of June.

(1) The Human Race Machine can ________.

[　　]

A．tell you what you would look like if you were a member of another ethnic group

B．create a digital image of your face and change it

C．turn your pray into reality

D．let people step into someone else’s skin

(2) The phrase“come up with”in the first paragraph means ________.

[　　]

(3) When Kathy Zajchenko said that the Middle Eastern image worked well for her, she meant that ________.

[　　]

A．she would like to change her face

B．she had a strange feeling

C．she was satisfied with what she looked like as a Middle Eastern person

D．she could buy the Human Race Machine

(4) The sentence“The machine is a prayer for unity”means ________.

[　　]

A．the Human Race Machine can unite the facial feature of a different ethnic group with your own

B．the machine shows that no matter what race people are, there are some things we all have in common

C．one can pray before the machine

D．if you want, the machine can change your face

(5) Burson added the database of Middle Eastern faces after the September 11 attack because ________.

[　　]

A．she wanted to show people what terrorists look like

B．she wanted to record what people can’t see

C．she wanted to be famous as a photographer

D．she wanted to let people see the foreign people

    Computers are very versatile（多才多艺的）. They can do many things: teaching, playing games, or helping with a business, so choosing a computer is not an easy, simple job. But if you follow these steps, you will find it easier.

　　First, decide on the main reasons why you want a computer. Is this computer very useful for you? Is it the most important reasons to play games or to help with your business or to help with your school work?

　　Second, look carefully at the programs the computer can use. Some people also write their own programs. If you want to write your own, it is important to look at the computer language. Is it easy to learn?

　　Third, decide the smallest, or the least needs you have for your computer. What are the characteristics（特性）you would like to have? For example, do you want a typewriter（打印机）keyboard（键盘）? Is a colour display（显示器）important to you? Your use of a computer will help you decide which characteristics are necessary, which are nice, and which are unnecessary.

　　Fourth, when you have limited your Choices to few computers, look at the secondary（次要的）uses and programs. For example, if your main reason for buying a home computer is to play games, you may take computer A instead of computer B because computer A can also be used as word processor（文字处理器）.

　　Fifth, think of the prices. There are prices to think about. The first is the price you must pay to take the computer home. The second is the price of additional programs and possible additions（附件）that you might want to buy on a later date. Be sure to try out the computer before you buy it. Sales people at computer shops are happy to help you choose the computer that will best fit your needs and cost you least.

(1) How to select a home computer, Here“select”means ________.

[　　]

(2) Computers are very versatile. This sentence means ________.

[　　]

A．computers are very expensive

B．computers can be used in many ways

C．computers are very good to play with

D．computers are very cheap

(3) You should take ________ steps before you buy a computer.

[　　]

(4) Which step is the most important for you to buy a good computer?

[　　]

　　Elijah McCoy（1843～1929）, a mechanical engineer, worked with locomotives and parts of locomotives. He invented a self-lubricating（自动加油）machine. The machine makes it possible for machines to lubricate themselves—to put oil on themselves, that is.

　　McCoy, a black man who was the son of slaves, called his first lubricating machine a“lubricator cup”. The cup allowed small drops of oil to drip continuously onto the moving parts, keeping the machine in good running order.

　　As slaves, McCoy’s parents lived in Kentucky. They fled from the United States and settled in Canada. Elijah was born in Colchester, Ontario, Canada, in 184(3) McCoy’s father worked hard in Canada. With pride, he sent Elijah to Edinburgh, Scotland. The boy was then fifteen years old. Elijah McCoy attended a school of engineering in Edinburgh. He studied mechanical engineering. Upon completing his studies, McCoy returned to the United States. No one wanted to hire a black man as a mechanical engineer. Finally McCoy took a job as a fireman for the Michigan Central Railroad.

　　McCoy shoveled（铲）coal and oiled the moving parts of the locomotive. This was a hard job for a mechanical engineer! But McCoy gave some thoughts to his work. Suddenly he had an idea. Why couldn’t a train oil itself? McCoy then invented the self-lubricating machine.

　　Perhaps you have heard the expression“the real McCoy”. The expression is applied（应用）to high quality tools and machines. Railroad men who used the self-lubricating machine boasted（自夸）of having“the real McCoy”.

(1) McCoy’s first invention was ________.

[　　]

A．a machine used to make other machines lubricate themselves

B．some cups which could put oil on themselves

C．a kind of cup used to drop oil to itself

D．a machine which dripped continuously and always kept in good running order

(2) McCoy ________ and returned to the US after completing his study of engineering.

[　　]

A．left the US with his parents when he was 15

B．left Canada for Scotland in 1858

C．fled from the US and came to Canada in 1843

D．with his parents came to Scotland when he was a slave in the US

(3) McCoy was a famous American ________ who invented a self-lubricating machine

[　　]

A．son of slaves

B．fireman

C．mechanical engineer

D．real McCoy

(4) It was unfair that ________.

[　　]

A．a black man took a job as a fireman

B．a train couldn’t oil itself

C．“the real McCoy”was applied to tools and machines

D．an engineer should be offered a job of shoveling coal and oiling machines

(5) McCoy not only invented a lubrication machine, he also ________.

[　　]

A．was“the real McCoy”

B．added a phrase to the English language

C．invented many other lubricating machines

D．could make trains keep in good running order

　　Two young Chinese tigers set off on a 7000-mile journey to South Africa where animal experts will teach them how to hunt. The pair of South China tigers named Cathay and Hope will travel from an overcrowded field at Shanghai Zoo to a 1235-acre reserve（保护区）in South Africa.“There's room for them to move there. But the goal is to bring them back to China, where they have lived for millions of years,”Li Quan, founder of the Save China's Tigers Foundation, told reporters while the animals passed through Hong Kong airport. Quan said there were experts in South Africa with experience in teaching big cats born in imprisonment how to survive in the wild.

　　Big cats would instinctively（本能地）hunt food but needed to be taught how to kill it. The Chinese government says fewer than 30 South China tigers survive in the wild and a further 60 live in zoos. Tigers, which are found only in Asia, are disappearing because of the destruction of their natural surroundings and because of demand for products such as tiger bones, believed in parts of Asia to cure some serious diseases. The foundation hopes to transport another five to seven young tigers to South Africa over the next five years and then introduce them and any young tiger born there into a specially created re-serve in southern China from 2008.

(1) The Chinese tigers sent to South Africa will ________.

[　　]

A．teach other animals how to hunt

B．learn skills to survive in the wild

C．leave room to other animals at Shanghai Zoo

D．live in a wider area to comfort themselves

(2) Why are South China tigers dying out?

[　　]

A．Because people are destroying their living conditions as well as killing them for medicine use.

B．Because they only live in crowded zoos.

c．Because there are only a few of them in the wild.

D．Because there is little food for them in China.

(3) What will be the result of the tigers sent to Africa at last?

[　　]

A．They will live in Africa forever.

B．They will come back to the zoos.

C．They will be introduced to China to do research in the wild.

D．All of them, including their young, will return to China to live in a reserve.

(4) The main factor that the tigers were sent to Africa probably is ________.

[　　]

A．there are reserves there

B．there is plenty of food for the tigers to hunt there

C．there are experienced experts there

D．the Chinese specially created reserve hasn't been completed

　　Most Americans believe someone isn't grown up until age 26, probably with a completed education, a full-time job, a family to support and financial（经济的）independence, a survey said. But they also believe that becoming an official grown-up is a process that takes five years from about the age of 20, concluded the report from the University of Chicago's National Opinion Research Center. The findings were based on a representative sample of 1 398 people over age 18 surveyed in person in 2002. The survey found the following ages at which people expect the changes to grown-ups to be completed: Age 20.9 self-supporting; 21.1 no longer living with parents; 21.2 full-time job; 22.3 education complete; 24.5 being able to support a family financially; 25.7 married; and 26.2 having a child.“It is generally accepted by social groups on the relative importance of the seven changes,”said Tom Smith, director of the survey. The only disagreement is on views about supporting a family, having a child and getting married.“Older adults and the widowed and married regard these as more important than younger adults,”he added.“This probably reflects in large part a change in values across generations away from traditional family values.”The most valued step toward reaching adulthood, the survey found, was completing an education, followed by full-time employment, supporting a family, financial independence, living marriage and parenthood.

(1) What is mainly discussed in this passage?

[　　]

A．The American official grown-ups.

B．The argument about American grown-ups.

C．The time when Americans grow up.

D．Relations between American parents and children.

(2) The most important step in .growing up is ________.

[　　]

A．getting a full-time job

B．finishing education

C．supporting a family

D．getting married

(3) When is the second important step in growing up completed?

[　　]

(4) Who take the results of the survey less seriously?

[　　]

　　As a third-year high school student, I feel that students today study English merely for the purpose of getting high scores in all sorts of so-called English exams. This phenomenon misleads students like my classmates into making a great effort to deal with English exams, not the rich language itself. Needless to say, it is unfortunate.

　　I started the voyage in the ocean of the English language at an early age. Being fed up with reciting each word taught in every class, I soon gained the idea that English was a bore! Luckily for me, under the vivid pen of Charlotte Bronte, the life of Jane Eyre touched me so much that I spent several sleepless nights to read the whole book. This marked the change of my attitude to-wards English from hating to loving. I began to be inspired by the wisdom of European and American literature written in English and was amazed by the beauty and richness of the language. As time went by, the more I read, the more I found English lovely. I could still remember one winter vacation when I raced into one school library to borrow my longed-for English novels. At night, when soft light spread on the pages, my expecting heart beat with the author's. I was so eager to get on with my reading that I could hardly sleep. My world had come alive! I was 16 at the time.

　　Now, I am often asked why I read so many“useless”things in English and how to study English well. My response would be,“Learn English as a language, not as an exam subject.”Then, I caught sight of disappointing eyes and doubts. Indeed, that's what I concluded from my study of the English language. Honestly, to me, English is truly a magic box that can grab my soul and absorb my entire mind. It's filled with wisdom and adventures which are hard to explain and share. I believe many people would agree with me and be sorry for the present situation of high school English teaching. So I'd like to call Upon English learners and friends to save our beloved English from being misconducted.

(1) What makes the author feel unsatisfied in studying English?

[　　]

A．The writer's starting learning English too early.

B．The incorrect aim of studying English.

C．The boring English.

D．The“useless”things on English.

(2) What brought the writer interest in English again?

[　　]

(3) When do you think the writer read the English literature?

[　　]

(4) Who does the writer think are to blame for the unfortunate English study?

[　　]

　　At a computer exhibition Bill Gates reportedly compared the computer industry with the auto industry and stated.“If GM had kept up with technology like the computer industry has, we would all be driving twenty-five dollar cars that got 1000 miles to the gallon（加仑）.”

　　In response to Bill's comments, General Motors announced a news release stating:

　　If GM had developed technology like Microsoft, we would be driving cars with the following characteristics:

　　1．For no reason your car would crash twice a day.

　　2．Every time they repainted the lines on the road you would have to buy a new car.

　　3．Sometimes your car would die on the freeway for no reason and you would just accept this, restart and drive on.

　　4．Only one person at a time could use the car, unless you bought“Car95”or“CarNT”.But then you would have to buy more seats.

　　5．If you tried to get your car to a mechanic（技工）, you'd make a long distance call, be put on hold for three or four hours, when you finally got the mechanic, you'd be told how to fix it yourself, and the mechanic would hang up before you even tried his or her suggestions.

　　6．People would get excited about the“new”features（性能）in Microsoft cars, forgetting completely they had been available in other cars for many years.

　　7．The airbag system would say:“Are you sure?”before going off.

　　8．Every time GM introduced a new model car, buyers would have to learn how to drive all over again because none of the controls would operate in the same manner as the old car.

　　9．Microsoft cars would have a special radio/cassette player which would only be able to listen to Microsoft FM, and play Microsoft Cassettes.

　　10．If you couldn't afford to buy a new car, then you could just borrow your friend's and then copy it.

　　11．You'd press the“start”button to shut off the engine.

(1) The purpose of writing this article is ________.

[　　]

A．to state the advantages of Microsoft in making cars

B．to inform that Microsoft will make cars in the future

C．to compare cars made by GM with those made by Microsoft

D．to make fun of the disadvantages of Microsoft's products

(2) It can be inferred from the passage that the airbag system of the new car ________.

[　　]

A．would be more safe than the old one

B．would become useless in case of an accident

C．would not surprise the driver by going off suddenly

D．would remind the driver of the danger ahead of time

(3) What does the writer really mean by saying“You'd press the 'start' button to shut off the engine”?

[　　]

A．The design of Microsoft is very funny and strange.

B．It is better to control the engine like a computer.

C．The engine control system requires to be improved.

D．It is impossible to shut off the engine by pressing the“start”button.

(4) The best title of this passage would be ________.

[　　]

A．Characteristics of the New Cars

B．GM Should Learn from Microsoft

C．If Microsoft Built Cars

D．New Cars to be Made in the Future

(5) Which of the following statements is true ac-cording to the passage?

[　　]

A．It is easy to get your Microsoft car re-paired.

B．The car mentioned in the passage will never be made.

C．You would not have to buy new cars and learn how to drive very often.

D．It is impossible to copy a new car if such cars existed.

　　Larry King: I'm having this conversation with you on a computer, and I'm wondering if e-mail is going to replace the post office in the future.

　　Bill Gates: E-mail won't replace the post office, but it will replace a lot of paper the post office carry around today.

　　King: Tell me how a computer will be used in the average home thirty years from now.

　　Gates: You'll have lots of thin flat screens covering the walls of your house and you'll carry a hand-held device（装置）around with you. The screens will feed whatever visual information you want--live video from a place in the world you like, an art reproduction（复制品）.

　　King: What happens when the power goes out?

　　Gates: We're very dependent today on electricity and we still will be in years. If there's a power failure, you won't get much work done, although battery technology will improve enough that short power failures won't necessarily shut down all of your computers.

　　King: Are we going to get television and news and entertainment from the Internet rather than from cable TV in the house?

　　Gates: News and entertainment will be delivered from the Internet to cable television and telephone connection in our homes. We'll access（存取）this information using a variety of devices, some of which will be like today's televisions.

　　King: Will a person be able to work in the future without having any computer skills?

　　Gates: There will still be jobs for people without computer skills, but a smaller percentage than exist today. The amount of the workforce that lacks computer skills will decrease as people not having those skills get retrained or retire. Most young people have computer skills or at least an enthusiasm（热心）to get them.

　　King: Describe an office in the future. Tele-phone? Fax machine? Conference room? Will there be an office building?

　　Gates: The key element of the office of the future is that it will have lots of flat screens, just like your house will. And these screens are going to be everywhere once they get thin enough, cheap enough, and high enough in quality. You'll carry around a lightweight screen the way you carry a wallet or cell phone or newspaper today.

(1) The main topic talked about is ________.

[　　]

A．changes in the office in the future

B．changes to be caused by computers in the future

C．life in the future

D．the importance of electricity in the future

(2) What's the main change in the post office in the future?

[　　]

A．The post office will disappear because of the use of E-mail.

B．All letters will disappear.

C．The post office will deliver much less paper.

D．The post office will use E-mail to send letters.

(3) The most important thing Gates thinks is“________”.

[　　]

(4) The same change at home and in the office in the future is that ________.

[　　]

A．many flat screens will be used

B．many computers will be used

C．people in them must master computer skills

D．News and entertainment will be delivered by cable TV

　　In 1993, New York State ordered stores to pay money for those who returned beverage（饮料）containers. Within a year, consumers (people who buy goods) had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw materials for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound up buried in landfills（垃圾填埋场）. The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for secondhand plastic.

　　Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying throwaway plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence posts, paint brushes, etc.

　　As, the New York experience shows, recycling includes more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A thrown-away thing remains a thrown-away thing until somebody figures out how to give it a second life--and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life value. Without enough markets to take in materials collected for recycling, throw always actually reduce prices for used materials.

　　Making landfill space become smaller and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management choice. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal(action of getting rid of sth. ), which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also forces the local economy to develop quickly by providing jobs and reduces the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined（纯净的）material.

(1) The returned plastic bottles in New York used to ________.

[　　]

A．be turned into raw materials

B．be separated from other rubbish

C．have a second-life value

D．end up somewhere underground

(2) The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is ________.

[　　]

A．how to reduce their recycling costs

B．to sell them at a high price

C．how to turn them into useful things

D．to lower the prices for used materials

(3) Recycling has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because ________.

[　　]

A．recycling causes little pollution

B．other methods are more expensive

C．recycling has great interest for the jobless

D．local governments find it easy to manage

(4) It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

[　　]

A．recycling is to be attractive both economically and environmentally（环境）

B．local governments in the U. S. can expect to earn a lot from recycling

C．rubbish is a hidden cure for the shortage of raw materials

D．landfills will still be widely used for waste disposal

　　Brazil has become one of the developing world's great successes in reducing population growth--but more by accident than design.

While countries such as India have made joint efforts to reduce birth rates, Brazil has had better result without really trying, says George Martine at Harvard.

　　Brazil's population growth rate has dropped from 2.99％ a year between 1951 and 1960 to 1.93％ a year between 1981 and 1990, and Brazilian women now have only 2.7 children on average. Martine says this figure may have fallen still further since 1990, an achievement that makes it the envy of many other Third World Countries.

　　Martine puts it down to, among other things, soap operas and installment（分期付款）plans introduced in the 1970s. Both played an important, although indirect, role in lowering the birth rate. Brazil is one of the world's biggest producers of soap operas. Globo, Brazil's most popular television network, shows three hours of soaps six nights a week, while three others show at least one hour a night. Most soaps are based on wealthy characters living the hight life in big cities.

　　“Although they have never really tried to work in a message towards the problems of reproduction（生育）,they describe middle and upper class values--not many children, different attitudes towards sex, women working,” says Martine.“They sent this message to all parts of Brazil and made people realize other patterns of family life and other values, which were put into a very attractive package.”

　　Meanwhile, the installment plans tried to encourage the poor to become consumers.“This led to change in consumption（消费）patterns and consumption did not get along well with unlimited reproduction,”says Martine.

(1) The phrase“puts it down to”(Line 1, Para. 3) is closest in meaning to ________.

[　　]

(2) Soap operas have helped in lowering Brazil's birth rate because ________.

[　　]

A．they keep people sitting long hours watching TV

B．they have gradually changed people's way of life

C．people are drawn to their attractive package

D．they make birth control measures popular

(3) What is Martine's conclusion about Brazil's population growth?

[　　]

A．The increase in birth rate will increase consumption.

B．The desire for consumption helps to reduce birth rate.

C．Consumption patterns and reproduction patterns are contradictory（相矛盾）.

D．A country's production is limited by its population growth.

(4) Which is the best title of this passage?

[　　]

A．Brazil: The Developing World's Success.

B．Soap Operas and Installment plans.

C．Brazil: Reducing Birth Rate by Accident.

D．Learn from Brazil, the Third World Country.