1. The white bus is _____ .The red bus is  _____ than the white one. The green bus is  _____ of all. (long)
2. Jim's kite is  _____ Bill's is  _____ than Jim's. The third one is  _____  _____ of the three. (nice)
3. The first glass is  _____ . The second one is  _____ than the first one. The third one is  _____ of the
    three. (old)
4. The yellow coat is  _____. The blue one is  _____ than the yellow one. The brown one is  _____ of the
     three. (good)
5. This shirt looks  _____ than that one (beautiful)but it is very  _____ (dear).

     Many years ago when people had no thermometers (温度计), they usually touched a thing to see
how hot or cold it was. The following experiment shows how easy it was to make a mistake (错误).
     Take three glasses: the first one with hot water, the second one with very cold water and the third
one with water at room temperature. Then you put a finger of one hand in the hot water, and a finger
of the other hand in the cold water. You hold your fingers in the two glasses for a minute. Then you use
the two fingers, one after another, to see how hot or cold the water in the third glass is. You will find that
the water is warm to the finger that was in the cold water before, but the finger which was in the hot water will feel cold in the third glass of water.
     You will often make a mistake if you take something that seems to you for a real fact. That is why
you must always find the temperature in a scientific way. You must not try to tell the temperature as it
seems (好像) to you.

1. The experiment tells us that sometimes it is _____ to make a mistake.

A. interesting   
B. difficult   
C. easy   
D. helpful

2. The water in the third glass is _____.

A. colder than the water in the first glass
B. hotter than the water in the first glass
C. colder than the water in the second glass
D. as cold as the water in the second glass

3. What will you find if you put the finger which was in the first glass into the second glass according
 to (根据) the experiment?

A. The water is hotter than it is in the first glass. 
B. The water is as hot as it is in the first glass.
C. The water is at the room temperature.
D. The water is colder than it is in the first glass.

4. How should we find the temperature according to (根据) the passage? 

A. Try to tell as it seems to us.
B. Try to use our fingers.
C. Try to tell in a scientific way.
D. Try to touch something to see how hot it is.

5. You will often make a mistake if you take something that _____.

A. seems to you for a real fact 
B. is a real fact
C. finds in a scientific way 
D. uses by your own hands

    The Italian island of Sardinia recently lost its oldest person. Family members say Antonio Todde died in
his sleep early this month. Mr Todde was 112 years old. He was less than three weeks away from his 113th
birthday. Record-keeping experts say he was the world's oldest man.
     His long life and that of other very old Sardinians are the subjects of a scientific project (项目) called
Akea. Luca Deiana of Sassari University is directing (指导) the study. He says the name Akea comes from
a traditional greeting (问候) on Sardinia. It means "health and life for 100 years." Professor Deiana and his
team started to collect information for the study in 1997. They identified (确定)) more than 220 Sardinians
who were centenarians-100 years old or older. His team needed three documents to make sure a person's
age. They were a government (政府) birth record, a church record and a statement (声明) by a close family
member.
     The Akea study has produced two major findings. The first is Sardinia's extremely high number of
centenarians. The island has about 135 centenarians for every one million people. In other Western countries,
the average (平均数) is about seventy-five centenarians for every one million people. The second major
finding is an unusual rate (率) of female (女性) to male (男性) centenarians. Sardinia has two women
centenarians for every male centenarian. In central Sardinia there are the same numbers of female and male
centenarians.
     Studies in other parts of the world have shown a much higher percentage (百分比) of female centenarians.
The Akea study collected information about the health and food of about 140 of the centenarians. About
ninety percent of those in the study also agreed to provide blood (血) for scientific testing. The study team
hopes to identify genetic (基因) material in the blood that can be linked to successful aging. Study leaders
say there is no single reason why people on Sardinia live so long. They believe the answer is a combination
(组合) of genetic and environmental conditions (条件).

1. Centenarians are people who are ______ years old.

A．200
B．100
C．300
D．400

2. Akea is a scientific project about ______.

A．Mr Todde's death
B．the long life of Sardinians
C．Sassari university
D．Professor Deiana

3. What is the general idea of the third paragraph?

A．Sardinia has a large number of centenarians.
B．An unusual rate of female to male centenarians.
C．Two major findings of the Akea study.
D．Sardinia has equal numbers of female and male centenarians.

4. Why do Sardinians live so long according to the study?

A．Because the environment on Sardinia is very good.
B．Because they have special genetic material in their blood.
C．Because they have a glass of wine every day.
D．Because they enjoy special genetic and environmental conditions.