Recently，a solar powered（太阳能动力的）plane took to the sky for the first time. It had passed an important test on the way to travel around the world.
The plane took off from an airport in Switzerland（瑞士）at 45km an hour. It slowly rose above the fields and into the sky.
“There has never been an airplane of that kind that could fly — never an airplane so big, so light, using so little energy,” said Bertrand Piccard, a leader of the project.
During the 90-minute flight, the plane did several turns. It climbed nearly 1.6km above the countryside.
Engineers plan to test a night flight before July. Then they will use the results of the tests to build a second plane. They plan to travel around the world in that plane in 2012.
The plane flies at 70 km an hour. That is faster than a bike and slower than a car. Piccard and pilot Andre Borschberg will take the plane around the world. The pilots will keep the plane in the air for up to five days at a time.
“We want to fly it day and night with no fuel (燃料),” Piccard saidHow long did the first flight of the solar powered plane last？
| A．45 minutes | B．60 minutes | C．70 minutes | D．90 minutes |
What’s the most special about the plane？
| A．It uses no fuel | B．It’s the fastest plane |
| C．It can fly highest | D．It’s the heaviest plane |
Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage ?
A The plane goes much faster than a car
B The plane took off at a speed of 45km an hour
C Engineers plan to test a night flight before July
D The plane will fly in the air or up to five days at a timeWhich column（栏目）of a newspaper may the passage come from？
| A．Food and Health | B．Scientist and Technology |
| C．Culture and Communication | D．Sports and Entertainment |
MSG (monosodium glutamate) is a food additive (食品添加剂), which has been widely used by many food factories all over the world since it appeared first in Japan in 1909.
MSG is a substance that is added to some food to improve its original (原先的) taste and colour. It is used in foods around the world such as cakes, bread, frozen meats, fish and vegetables. In the beginning, people thought MSG was safe just like salt and sugar. However, in 1968 some people reported they seemed to have bad reactions (反应) to MSG after having had a meal at a restaurant. They included headaches and quick heartbeat (心跳). It was also reported that MSG excited a person's brain and caused his death in Japan. Scientists think that MSG may lead to many neurological disorders (神经紊乱). In mice studies done by a university, the evidence showed the mice didn’t want to eat the food including MSG.
Today many food companies “hide” MSG on food labels (标签) by using different names. If you see “natural flavorings”, “hydrolyzed protein” and “spices” in a food label, you are probably seeing a hidden way to “report” MSG in a food label. Every time we have a meal in a restaurant, we always feel the food very delicious to taste, but sometimes it is dangerous for our health because some poisonous food additives have been added to the food.
To protect people’s health, our governments, from central to local, are taking actions to stop factories producing poisonous food additives.
Monosodium Glutamate is _______.
| A．a food | B．an additive |
| C．a factory | D．a country |
MSG is often used in _______.
| A．frozen meats | B．cups |
| C．clothes | D．book covers |
The examples in the second paragraph tell us ________.
| A．the food including MSG is delicious |
| B．people like to eat in a restaurant |
| C．mice like eating the food including MSG |
| D．MSG is not safe sometimes |
If you see “natural flavorings”, “hydrolyzed protein” and “spices” in a food label, you will know________.
| A．you must eat the food in a hidden way |
| B．the food label must be hidden |
| C．MSG is probably added to the food |
| D．you must report the food to your parents |
The underlined word “substance” in the article means __________.
| A．colour | B．material | C．taste | D．Food |
Sheep always follow each other and never really think about where they are going. Perhaps fashion makes us into “sheep”. Maybe we should find our own way and not follow the crowd. Everyone wants to wear top brand clothing. However, we should remember that clothes designers(设计师) study what ordinary people wear on the street. Then they make clothes like ordinary people’s for everyone. Therefore, fashion really starts with individual(个人的) finding a new look. Then a company uses that look and then it becomes fashionable! That doesn’t mean you will. That is to say, a model might look perfect in a shirt but that doesn’t mean you will.
The same goes for mobile phones. Young people are always asking me when to change my mobile phones. Mobile phone companies are always putting new functions on their phones but do we really need all these extra functions? I use my phone to call people and to send messages to my friends. I don’t need a camera, Internet surfing or a calendar on my phone. Again, if you buy the latest phone, it will only be the latest phone for a month or so. Then something new will come out and you’ll be unfashionable again. You can’t keep up with fashion all the time, so you don’t need to follow the fashion. The underlined word “sheep” means”________.”
| A．a kind of animal which is white |
| B．people who always follow the fashion |
| C．honest people who want to be fashionable |
| D．black sheep which break laws |
Clothes designers study what you wear on the street because______________.
| A．they want to design fashion clothes |
| B．they like your clothes |
| C．they want to buy the clothes you wear |
| D．your clothes are ugly |
If you have a model’s clothes on, you________
| A．are sure to be beautiful | B．will become a model |
| C．will be smarter | D．may not look perfect |
The passage is written mainly to _________.
| A．explain what sheep are |
| B．tell us to buy new mobile phones |
| C．tell us not to be “sheep” |
| D．tell students not to care about the clothes |
What can we infer from the article?
| A．Sheep which are out of date have been killed. |
| B．The writer is a person who always follows the fashion. |
| C．Fashion only exists among those fashion models. |
| D．Fashion changes so quickly that we can hardly keep up with it. |
On the way back from work every evening, more often than not there would be a homeless man standing at the exit of the freeway (快车道). He looked to be in his late 40s but was probably a lot younger. He had shoulder length straight black hair and a short beard.
Every day after work I would remember to gather any spare change, and put it aside to give to him if I saw him. A feeling of joy would come over me every time I saw him, while coming off the ramp (坡道). So did he. Sometimes the red light would be on for a minute and we would ask each other about our day. His answer would always be the same, “I’m blessed!”
Then one day I was called into my boss’s office and was told that I was being laid off. For the rest of that day all I could think of was “how am I going to provide for my kids as a mother, how am I going to pay rent?”
Needless to say that on my way home that day I was very sad and upset. I didn’t remember to look for my spare change and keep it ready like I usually did. Yet there he was as always, as I turned the ramp. He set his eyes on me, while still smiling and waving at others as usual.
While I was waiting for the red light to turn, he strolled (闲逛) over to my car. He had a big smile. He looked at me straight in the eyes and said, “Today I will give you a dollar.” He then reached into his pocket and pulled out a dollar bill.
You see that day he taught me a valuable lesson more than a dollar bill. No matter what material things are taken from you, no one can take away your choice to be joyful. Every time I’m faced with challenges, I think of the homeless man’s valuable lesson and remember that I am blessed.
The writer would have a short conversation with the homeless man when .
| A．she waited for the red light to turn |
| B．she gave spare change to him |
| C．she had a good time that day |
| D．she wanted to know how he lived |
Why did the writer feel sad and upset after out of the boss’s office?
| A．Because she was criticized by the boss. |
| B．Because a new job was offered to her. |
| C．Because she was laid off by the boss. |
| D．Because there was something wrong with her job. |
What is NOT true about the homeless man from the passage?
| A．He would be seen at the exit of the freeway. |
| B．He usually smiled and waved at others. |
| C．He had a deep impression on the writer. |
| D．He felt joyful only when money was offered to him. |
The homeless man gave the writer a dollar because .
| A．he had collected a lot of money | B．he wanted to pay back her |
| C．he knew what she experienced | D．he wanted her to be happy |
The writer learned from the story that .
| A．a dollar bill will be enough to make you happy |
| B．each of us has been blessed all the time |
| C．whenever it is, we should choose to help others |
| D．it is more than money that brings us happiness |
Many people have great difficulty in saying goodbye. But from goodbye moments, we can always learn something.
Once, I overheard (无意中听到) a father and daughter in their goodbye moment. The father said, “I love you, I wish you enough.” The daughter answered, “Daddy, our life together has been more than enough. Your lover is all that I need. I wish you enough, too, Daddy.”
They kissed and she left …
The father walked over towards me. I could see he wanted and needed a cry. He came over to me and asked, “Did you ever say a forever goodbye to someone?” Before I could answer, he went on, “ I am old and she lives much too far away. I know her next trip back would be for my funeral (葬礼).”
“When you were saying goodbye I heard you say, ‘I wish you enough.’ May I ask what that means?”
He began to smile , “It’s a wish that has come down from my great-great-grandparents. And my parents used to say it to me.”
He stopped for a moment and looked up as if trying to remember it. He smiled even more.
“When we said‘I wish you enough,’ we were wanting the other person to have a life full of enough good things.”
Then, turning towards me, he shared (分享) the following “wish” from his heart.
I wish you enough sun to keep you bright .
I wish you enough rain to appreciate the sun more.
I wish you enough happiness to keep you alive.
I wish you enough pain so that the smallest joys in life appear much bigger.
I wish enough hellos to get you through the final goodbye.
My friends, I wish you enough.Many people would find it difficult ___________.
| A．to say goodbye | B．to overhear others |
| C．to share their wishes | D．to live too far away |
How did the father get the “wish”?
| A．The writer wrote it for him. |
| B．His parents passed it down to him. |
| C．The teacher taught him at school. |
| D．His daughter told him about it. |
From the passage, we may learn _______.
| A．the daughter didn’t understand his father |
| B．the old man didn’t want to see his daughter |
| C．the writer knew the old man very well |
| D．the father and daughter loved each other so much |
The best title of the passage may be “________.”
| A．Father and Daughter | B．A Difficult Moment |
| C．Wish You Enough | D．A Trip Back Home |
There is an old saying in English, “Laughter is the best medicine”. Until recently, few people took the saying very seriously. Now, however, doctors have begun to study laughter and the effects (作用) it has on the human body. They have found evidence that laughter really can improve people’s health.
Tests were carried out to study the effects of laughter on the body. People watched funny films while doctors checked their heart rate, blood pressure, breathing and muscles. It was found that laughter has similar effects to physical exercise. It increases blood pressure, the heart rate and the rate of breathing. It also works several groups of muscles in the face, the stomach and even the feet. If laughter exercises the body, it must be helpful.
Other tests have shown that laughter appears to make the effect of pain on the body less. In one experiment doctors produced pain in groups of students who listened to different radio programs. The group which could bear the pain for the longest time was the group which listened to a funny program. The reason why laughter can make pain less seems to be that it helps to produce endorphins (内啡肽) in the brain. These are natural chemicals which make both stress and pain less.
There is also some evidence to suggest that laughter helps the body’s immune system — that is the system which fights infection (感染). In an experiment, one group of students watched a funny video while another group served as the control group — in other words, a group with which to compare the first group. Doctors checked the blood of the students in both groups and found that the people in the group that watched the video had an increase in the activity of their white blood cells — the cells which fight infection.
As a result of these discoveries, some doctors and psychiatrists (精神病专家) in the United States now hold laughter clinics, in which they try to improve their patients’ condition by encouraging them to laugh. They have found that even if their patients do not really feel like laughing, making them smile is enough to produce good effects similar to those caused by laughter.We learn from the first paragraph that laughter _______.
| A．is good for one’s health |
| B．has strong effects to do with some illnesses |
| C．has been studied for a long time |
| D．has no effect on the body |
Doctors have found that laughter _______.
| A．keeps down blood pressure |
| B．has similar effects to physical exercise |
| C．decreases the heart rate |
| D．increases stress and pain |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of laughter according to the passage?
| A．It makes pain less. |
| B．It exercises the body. |
| C．It improves the body’s immune system. |
| D．It can cure（治愈）cancer . |
Smiling can produce _________.
| A．about the same effects as laughter |
| B．more effects than laughter |
| C．fewer effects on the human body |
| D．no effects on the human body |
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