第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A，B，C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
Want to take an out-of-this-world trip? Richard Branson's Virgin Galactic plans to make that possible. Beginning in 2009, people should have the opportunity to become space tourists, traveling at about 3,000 mph to heights about 75 miles above Earth. Branson has high hopes for his latest plans. "It is just the start of what we believe will be a new age in the history of mankind-one day making the affordable exploration of space by human beings a real possibility," he said.
At the start, though, the trip won't be cheap. Seats aboard Virgin's first craft-VSS Enterprise-will cost about $200,000. Prices could drop after the first hundred space flights. Despite the current ticket cost, more than 30,000 people-including celebrities(名人) Sigourney Weaver and Victoria Principal-have expressed interest in getting onboard.
People who don't have an extra $200,000 still have a chance to get a seat aboard the craft. A computer game contest and a reality television show are in the works. Those who can't afford a ticket will have an opportunity to win a seat.
Virgin is expected to be the first commercial spacecraft. It will hold six passengers and two pilots. Passengers will be able to see the Earth from many different viewpoints. The cabin will include 15 floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing for views that extend about 1,000 miles in any direction.
Passengers will have three days of preflight preparation. On the big day, the spacecraft will take off from the Mojave Spaceport in the California desert. The craft will rocket passengers into space at four times the speed of sound. The journey will last about 2 1.2 hours. Passengers will wear spacesuits and helmets(头盔). They will be able to float around the cabin and do somersaults(空翻) during the five minutes of weightlessness they will experience in zero gravity. At the end of the flight, the craft will land on a runway.
56. Virgin Galactic could be _____.
A. the engineer of the first commercial spacecraft B. the name of a series of spacecrafts
C. the company of the first commercial spacecraft D. a passenger aboard the first commercial spacecraft
57. The space passengers will do all the following except that _____.
A. they will receive a three-day training course B. they will wear spacesuits and helmets
C. they will take about $200,000 with them D. they will experience weightlessness
58. Which statement is true according to the passage?
A. More than 30,000 people have got to travel in spacecraft.
B. Many people signed up for space travel in spite of the high ticket cost.
C. Those without much money could also go space travel without occupying the seats.
D. The first commercial spacecraft will have six persons on board.
59. What is the text mainly about?
A. The exciting moment of the spacecraft's launching.
B. The living condition of space tourists in the craft.
C. Preparations for a space travel.
D. Plans for the first commercial space flight.
Welcome to Gold Coast Wax Museum
HIGHLIGHTS
The Gold Wax(蜡像) Museum is one of the Cold Coast's longest running attractions. It's a collection of famous figures. It's Australia's largest museum of its kind, featuring more than 110 life-size wax figures copies of British and Australian History.
The Wax Museum is visited by many thousands of people each year who are shocked at the amazing realism of the life-size figures in authentic costumes. This is your invitation to wander through at your leisure and meet many important and famous people's figures on Queensland's Gold Coast.
Come face to face with such celebrities as Michael Jackson, President Obama, past President John F. Kennedy, King Hussein, members of the Royal Family, and many others whose lives have all left an indelible(擦不掉的) mark on our world. Information cards are located alongside each figure.
The Gold Coast Wax Museum contains figures which have been made by leading local and overseas sculptors to international standards, equal in quality to the world's best, as seen in Europe, the United Kingdom, and U. S. A. The detail in the figures is amazing -and includes hair applied one strand at a time, requiring many working hours for one hand, and the eyes are so real that they seem to follow the viewer around.
Price
Child (1-3yrs) free
Child (4-12yrs) $ 22. 00
Adult $ 29. 00
Family (2 Adults + I Child) $68.00
Opening hours
Open 7 days a week, 10a. m. to l0p. m.
Closed at Christmas Day (25 Dec. ) and Anzac Day (25 Apr. )
Location
Ferny Ave, Surfers Paradise ( Gold Coast ) QLD
How to get there
You can choose any of the Gold Coast airport transfers, car rentals, shuttles and private transfers to/from your hotel. Many coach operators also offer Gold Coast transfers to surrounding attractions, beaches, and the more distant destinations, throughout the day.
What to bring
Bring your sense of adventure and your camera and see something exciting and quite unique.
For further information, please click here to see more about the Gold Coast Wax Museum. If you visit the Gold Coast Wax Museum, you can
| A．see many members of the Royal Family in person in the Museum |
| B．enjoy some world-class vivid max-works in the Museum |
| C．meet many leading local and internatioanal sculptors in the Museum |
| D．e at any time of the year except at Christmas Day |
If a couple and their l0-year-old son visit the Gold Coast Wax Museum, they may pay_____．
| A．$87 | B．$80 | C．$68 | D．$58 |
You will most probably find this passage ______.
| A．in a guidebook | B．in a magazine | C．in a text book | D．on a webpage |
Google has kicked off Google Science Fair (GSF) 2014, its annual online competition for
bright, creative and ambitious teenagers who want to change the world with science. While the project is led by Google, it also has the backing of the Lego Group and world-famous publications National Geographic and Scientific American. The competition is open for students aged 13 to 18, who can sign-up now, form a team and begin working on a submission.
The winner will be rewarded with a ten-day exploration to the Galapagos Islands aboard the National Geographic Endeavor, as well as a VIP tour of ‘Spaceport America’ in New Mexico. Google is also throwing in a $50,000 scholarship and $10,000 for the winner’s school to purchase cutting-edge science lab equipment.
Google suggests that each project should be “an in-depth investigation of a science question or engineering problem” but otherwise, it’s up to students to pick and develop an idea that follows the competition rules.
Completed projects need to be submitted by May 12, 2014 at 11:59 PDT. Google will announce the regional competitors in June, ahead of global finalists in August and the competition winners in September.
Interested? Here are the rules.
If you want to enter the competition as an individual (个人), you should register first. Complete requested information about yourself and your project in the registration section before creating your project. You may edit this later. Click the box stating that you have read, accept, and agree to be bound by these Official Rules and Terms.
Upon completion of registration you may begin working on your project. The project must follow the technical, creative, and legal entry requirements set out in these Official Rules and the Googlesciencefair.com Site. You will be required to complete all sections of the Project Site.
You may begin working on your project after completing the registration process, however, you may not submit it for judging until you have requested and received parental consent (允许). Once you have done this, your parent or guardian will receive an email from Google with instructions on how they can give their consent for you to participate. The project will not be judged unless this consent is received. From the first paragraph, we can learn that ________.
GSF is a science competition
teenagers should form a team
every teenager can take part in it
GSF is organized by Google alone What is mainly discussed in the last paragraph?
| A．Parental consent. | B．Submission time. |
| C．Registration process. | D．Project requirements. |
If you plan to enter GSF alone, you ________.
| A．should create your project first |
| B．you needn’t follow the official rules |
| C．you should provide some personal information |
| D．your should start your project before registration |
The main purpose of the passage is to ________.
| A．offer tips on how to enter GSF |
| B．provide information about GSF |
| C．persuade teenagers to enter GSF |
| D．show teenagers the importance of GSF |
The Isle of Wight, off the south coast of England, is the best place in Europe for discovering dinosaur bones. Dinosaur Farm Museum was established in 1993. Since then, the museum has introduced the study of old bones to many more people.
What we offer
Visitors can enjoy our displays, or watch us cleaning dinosaur bones and other fossils found on the island’s beaches.
The museum has a variety of different fossils, many of them never displayed to the public before. As more are discovered all the time, you can be sure of seeing something new each time you visit.
We have a free Fossil Identification Service, so you can bring in any fossils you have and find out what they are. In addition, we have a reasonably-priced Museum Shop, where you can buy a souvenir of your visit. You could also bring a picnic and relax in our special picnic area.
Activities
Fossil hunts are organized from the museum and run all year round. Groups of up to 25 are guided on a local beach where they can search for fossils. All these hunts are fully licensed and insured, and guides can help to identify any fossils found and point out things of interest.
Due to the popularity of these hunts, all trips must be booked by a personal visit to Dinosaur Farm Museum.
Did you know…?
The BBC programme “Live from Dinosaur Island” was filmed along the coast here, and Dinosaur Farm Museum was the base for the television crew.
Find out more
Check out our website at www.isleofwight/dinosaurfarm to learn in detail how we dig for dinosaurs. You can also read about the many different kinds of dinosaurs which lived in this area, which was connected to Europe 120 million years ago. Why are there always new fossils to see at the museum?
| A．New fossils are discovered constantly. |
| B．People keep donating fossils to the museum. |
| C．Only a few of the fossils are displayed each day. |
| D．The museum exchanges fossils with other museums. |
Which of the following is free of charge at the museum?
| A．Food for a picnic. | B．Attending fossil hunts. |
| C．Having fossils identified. | D．A souvenir of the museum. |
One can book a fossil hunt _____.
| A．through a BBC programme | B．through the museum’s website |
| C．by making a call to the museum | D．by visiting the museum personally |
As a leading Chinese language school and a cultural exchange institute in China， Global Exchange Education Center has been providing Mandarin (or Putonghua) language courses and cultural exchange programs for over a decade.
How to apply for our programs
■In order to apply for all of our programs, you must be
at least 18 years old.
in good health,
a senior high school graduate.
■Application Procedure for Chinese Language Programs
Step 1. Send us a completed application form by email or fax.
Step 2. Send us $ 60 application fee after receiving our email confirmation.
Step 3. Arrange the payment transfer.
Step 4. Plan the trip to Beijing.
■Application Procedure for Chinese Business Internship (实习）Program
Step 1. Send us a completed application form with your CV and personal statement for the program by email or fax.
Step 2. Send us $ 310, including $60 application fee and $ 250 internship placement deposit, after receiving our letter of acceptance for the program.
Step 3. Arrange final payment transfer after receiving our second confirmation.
Step 4. Plan the trip to Beijing.
■Personal Statement for applicants for Chinese Business Internship Program
You should state why you want to take this program and what your expectations of the program are. How you will make use of this program in your future career.
■ APPLICATION DEADLINES
The applications for most programs are reviewed on a rolling basis. You are encouraged to submit your application ahead of the application deadlines.
■Confirmation
Having received your application, Global Exchange Education Center usually sends out an email confirmation for the booking within 2-5 working days.The text is probably written for ______.
| A．junior high graduates | B．international students | C．job seekers | D．language trainers |
If you apply for both of the programs, the total application fees will be ______.
| A．$310. | B．$ 120. | C．$250. | D．$ 370. |
If you want to apply for Chinese Business Internship program successfully, you'll ______.
| A．send the application form by post | B．send personal statement and CV only |
| C．have to get confirmed at least twice | D．have to make a travel plan in Beijing |
Which of the following is not necessarily included in applicants，personal statement?
| A．Their purposes of taking the program. | B．Their expectations of the program. |
| C．Their future practice of the program. | D．Their feedbacks on the program. |
Archaeology, like many academic words, comes from Greek and means, more or less, “the study of old things”. So, it is really a part of the study of history. However, most historians use paper evidence, such as letters, paintings and photographs, but archaeologists learn from the objects left behind by the humans of long ago. Normally, these are the hard materials that don't break down or disappear very quickly—things like human bones and objects made from stone and metal.
It is very unusual to find anything more than the hard evidence of history—normally, the bacteria in the air eat away at soft materials, like bodies, clothes and things made of wood. Occasionally, things are different.
In 1984, two men made an amazing discovery while working in a bog called Lindow Moss, in the north of England. A bog is a very wet area of earth, with a lot of plants growing in it. It can be like a very big and very thick vegetable soup—walk in the wrong place and you can sink and disappear forever. The men were working when one of them saw something sticking out—a human foot! Naturally, the men called the police, who then found the rest of the body. Was it a case of murder? Possibly—but it was a death nearly two thousand years old. The two men had found a body from the time of the Roman invasion of Britain. Despite being so old, this body had skin, muscles, hair and internal organs—the scientists who examined him were able to look inside the man's stomach and find the food that he had eaten for his last meal!
Why was this man so well preserved? It was because he was in a very watery environment, safe from the bacteria that need oxygen to live. Also, the water in the bog was very acidic. The acid preserved the man's skin in the way that animal skin is preserved for leather coats and shoes.
How did he die? Understandably, archaeologists and other scientists wanted to know more about the person that they called “Lindow Man”. His hands and fingernails suggested that he hadn't done heavy manual work in his life—he could have been a rich man. They found that he hadn't died by accident. The archaeologists believe that he was sacrificed to three different gods.The underlined word “these” in the first paragraph refers to ________.
| A．letters | B．photographs |
| C．paintings | D．objects |
Which of the following helped to preserve “Lindow Man”？
| A．Ice and low temperature |
| B．Acid and water |
| C．Soil and energy |
| D．Bacteria and oxygen |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?
| A．“Lindow Man” was named after the person who first found him. |
| B．Historians usually use paper evidence, while archaeologists use hard evidence. |
| C．“Lindow Man” was found by two archaeologists in the south of England. |
| D．“Lindow Man” was good at work by hand. |
Which is the best title for the passage?
| A．An Amazing Archaeological Discovery |
| B．Archaeology and History |
| C．What Is Archaeology? |
| D．The Death of “Lindow Man” |
粤公网安备 44130202000953号