These days, it's easy to fly across oceans for vacation. Centuries ago, however, crossing the open seas 
required thorough and accurate planning, handmade boats, and courage. Scientists and historians have long been looking for clues to explain who crossed which oceans first. When it comes to the trip between Polynesia (玻利尼西亚中太平洋群岛) and South America, chickens may have been among the first ocean voyagers, according to new evidence.
After studying an ancient chicken bone, anthropologists (人类学家) from the University of Auckland in New Zealand now say that people and chickens traveled from Polynesia to what is now Chile (智利) by about 620 years ago. By then, the Inca people were already living in South America, but the Polynesians would have been the first to get there by sea. Previous theories claimed that European explorers and their chickens sailed to South America first -- but those voyagers didn't arrive until about a century later.
In 2002, archaeologists dug up 50 chicken bones from a site in Chile called El Arenal. The team from New Zealand analyzed one to these bones. According to their calculations, the bone is about 650 years old.
The researchers also compared the genetic material, or DNA, from the South American chicken bone with DNA from 11 chicken bones that had been found on the Polynesian islands of Tonga and American Samoa. These islands are 6,000 miles west of Chile. The bones found on the Polynesian islands are been 600 and 2,000 years old.
Results of the comparisons showed that the chicken bones from both the Polynesian and South American sites had part of DNA in common. The researchers found the same part of DNA in feathers of two living chickens in Chile that belong to a modem breed that lays blue eggs. That DNA evidence suggests a close relationship among the chickens.
"However, the weight of scientific evidence is now behind the hypothesis (假设) that it was seafaring ( 航海) Polynesians who sailed from the islands to South America and returned," says archaeologist Patrick V. Kirch of the University of California, Berkeley.
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．It was difficult for ancient people to travel between Polynesia and South America. |
| B．The first people who lived in Chile and Polynesia. |
| C．Valuable chicken bones have been found in Chile. |
| D．Chickens -- the first to travel between Polynesia and South America. |
When did the first European explorers reach South America?
| A．About 520 years ago. | B．About 2.000 years ago. |
| C．About 600 years ago. | D．About 620 years ago. |
People found that chickens were among the first to travel from Polynesia to South America by _____.
| A．comparing the colors of eggs laid by chickens from the two places |
| B．comparing the DNA of chicken bones dug up on the Polynesian islands and that of the chicken bones from South America |
| C．studying some previous theories |
| D．asking the natives of South America |
What do we learn from the passage?
| A．European explorers and their chickens were the first to sail to South America. |
| B．Chickens in South America have the same ancestors as those in Polynesia. |
| C．In ancient times, a 6,000-mile channel separated Polynesia from South America. |
| D．Before the Polynesians arrived in South America, the Inca people had lived there. ' |
It seems that every week someone becomes “the first” or “the youngest” or even “the first married couple” to do something that doesn’t seem to be very useful to the rest of us.
Why do they do it? Don’t they have better things to do with their time and money? And why should I be interested anyway? Human beings have already climbed the highest mountains, sailed across the oceans and flown around the world. Many of these things were done a long, long time ago. There just isn’t anything left to explore nowadays. I suppose there’s still a lot of the universe left, and the bottom of the ocean is still a bit of a mystery, but you need a lot of technology to explore areas like that. So, those people who feel the need for adventure can only do things that have been done before.
In May of this year a British man became the first person to walk alone from Canada to the North Pole. Personally, if I wanted to visit the Arctic, I’d rather go as a tourist on a cruise ship, with a helicopter trip to the North Pole included in the price. But OK, this man decided that he wanted to walk. The problem was that he went in the spring when the ice begins to melt and break up. So he got stuck on a longely piece of ice and a plane had to be sent in to rescue him.
These sorts of rescues are making many Australians angry with these record breakers. People trying to break sailing or rowing records get into trouble in the seas. So the Australian navy has to send ships to save them and this costs the government millions of dollars. I suppose we can’t just leave them to drown but we should give the bill to the people who are rescued.According to the author, the so-called record breakers .
| A．do not benefit other people at all |
| B．inspire people to continue exploring |
| C．are boring and should be stopped |
| D．are usually not wealthy enough |
We can infer from the second paragraph that .
| A．there are no high mountains for people to climb |
| B．nothing is left for people to explore in the universe |
| C．it’s beyond ordinary people to explore the unknown |
| D．human beings could fly around the world long ago |
Many Australians are angry because the record breakers .
| A．often get into trouble |
| B．never use a cruise ship or a helicopter |
| C．never pay their own costs |
| D．satisfy their needs at the cost of others’ interest |
What is the writer’s attitude towards the record breakers?
| A．Positive. | B．Negative. |
| C．Uninterested. | D．Neutral（中立的）. |
Welcome to catch the excitement of your child on film while fishing and enter his or her picture in the yearly contest! The contest is sponsored by Virginia Department of Game and Inland Fisheries（VDGIF）in celebration of National Fishing Week!
The winning pictures are those that best catch the theme “kids enjoy fishing”. Winners will receive different fishing-related prizes. Winning pictures will also be posted on the VDGIF website and may be used in all kinds of VDGIF publications. There is no need to be a professional photographer. Any photo will do.
Contest Rules
·Children in the photos must fall into one of the following age groups when the picture is taken: 1—5，6—10.
·Photos must not be more than 1 year old.
·Photos must be taken in Virginia.
·Children in a boat must be wearing a life jacket.
·Only one photo submission per child.
·Submit photo on photograph quality paper, no CD’s accepted.
·Photos must not be bigger than “4×6” size.
·Please stick a piece of paper to the back of the photo including: name, age, address, phone number and location where the photograph was taken.
·Photos must be postmarked on or before June 19, 2011.
·Judging will take place in July and winners will be posted on the VDGIF website.
·Prizes will be sent directly to the winning children.
·This contest isn’t open to immediate family of VDGIF employees and sponsors. Immediate family members refer to children, relatives or others living in the same household with a VDGIF employee or sponsor.
To Enter:
Send your photo, with the child’s name, age, phone number and address to: 2011 Kids’n Fishing Photo Contest…The purpose of the contest is to .
| A．encourage people to take more pictures |
| B．celebrate a national fishing-related activity |
| C．help people realize the importance of fishing |
| D．encourage people to go fishing with kids |
Which of the following photos can enter the contest?
| A．A photo which was taken in California in 2009. |
| B．A large photo whose postmark is July 11, 2011. |
| C．A photo which was taken in Virginia on September 23,2010. |
| D．A photo on which there is a 12-year-old girl. |
What can be known about the prize of the contest?
| A．Winners will get a great deal of money. |
| B．Winners will be allowed to travel in Virginia for free. |
| C．Winners’ works will be seen on any website. |
| D．Winner’s works may appear on the covers of VDGIF publications. |
Gyber language is popular among Chinese netizens, who create English words to reflect novel phenomenon in society.
"Gelivable", combining pinyin of Chinese characters Geili (giving strength) with the English suffix for adjectives, literally means "giving power" or "cool". Similarly, "Hengelivable" means "very cool", and "ungelivable" means "dull, not cool at all". "Antizen" referred to the group of college graduates who, earning a meager salary and living in small rented apartments, are like the tiny and laborious ants.
David Tool, a professor with the Beijing International Studies University said it’s very interesting to combine Chinese with English to create new words. “English is no longer mysterious to the Chinese people. They can use the language in a flexible way according to their own experiences,” he said. Chinese words and expressions were created, as well, by netizens. One example was “Suan Ni Hen”. This three-charessions were created, as well, by netizens. One example was “Suan Ni Hen”. This three-character expression, which originally meant “you win” with the first character carrying the same pronunciation as garlic in Chinese, is used to satirize（讽刺）high garlic and food prices this winter.
Chinese people use the character “bei” before a verb to show a passive voice, and it is used by netizens to show the helplessness in front of false conclusions and fake media reports. For instance, “zisha” means “suicide” while “beizisha” means “be officially presumed to have committed suicide”, and xiaokang means “fairly comfortable life” while “beixiaokang” means “be said to be living a fairly comfortable life”.
Wu Zhongmin, a professor at the Party School of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China, saw the phenomenon of word creation as a natural response of young people to social issues. “Cyber language is more vivid and it shortens people’s distances,” he said.The passage mainly tells us that .
| A．cyber language is popular among all people |
| B．cyber language is of great fun |
| C．cyber language needs to be taught at coolege |
| D．cyber language in China is popular for it’s relation with society |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．Ungeilivable means “dull, not cool at all”. |
| B．Antizens live in small rented apartments with small salaries. |
| C．Suan Ni Hen refers to the highest food prices ever. |
| D．Beixiaokang means “be said” to be living a comfortable life. |
What can we infer from the phenomenon of word creation?
| A．It’s getting more difficult to understand cyber language. |
| B．Young people are more likely to respond to nature. |
| C．Social phenomena are more easily reflected in cyber language. |
| D．The best way to create new cyber words is to combine Chinese and English. |
Chinese netizens created English words by .
| A．combining pinyin of Chinese characters with the English suffix |
| B．using the character carrying the same pronunciaton |
| C．combining Chinese characters with the English |
| D．putting the character “bei” before an English word |
One girl decided to study judo（柔道）although she had lost her left arm in a car accident.
The girl began lessons with an old Japanese judo instructor. The girl was doing well. So she couldn’t understand why, after three months of training, the instructor had taught her only one move.
“Instructor,” the girl finally said, “Shuldn’t I be learning more moves?”
“This is the only move you know, but this is the only move you’ll ever need to know,” the instructor replied.
Not quite understanding, but believing in her teacher, the girl kept training.
Several months later, the instructor took the girl to her first tournament. Surprising herself, the girl easily won her first two matches. The third match proved to be more difficult, but after some time, her opponent became impatient and charged. The girl skillfully used her one move to win the match. Still amazed by her success, the girl was now in the finals.
This time, her opponent was bigger, stronger and more experienced. For a while, the girl appeared to be overmatched. Concerned that the girl might get hurt, the referee called a time-out. She was about to stop the match when the instructor intervened（干预）.
“No,” the instructor insisted, “Let her continue.”
Soon after the match restarted, her opponent made a serious mistake; she dropped her guard. Instantly, the girl used her move to pin her opponent. The girl had won the match and the tournament. She was the champion.
One the way home, the girl and her teacher reviewed every move in each and every match. Then the girl gathered the courage to ask what was really on her mind.
“Instructor, how did I win the tournament with only one move?”
“You won for two reasons,” the teacher answered. “First, you’ve almost mastered one of the most difficult throws in all of judo. Second, the only known defense for that move is for your opponent to grab your Left arm.”
The girl’s biggest weakness had become her biggest strength.What can we learn about the girl?
| A．She was disabled in an accident. | B．She disliked judo training. |
| C．She learnt several moves. | D．She won the first two matches hard. |
The underlined word “overmatched” probably means .
| A．impatient | B．depressed | C．defeated | D．trapped |
The girl won the championship because of .
| A．her bravery | B．her skills | C．her tricks | D．her strength |
Which of the following is probably the best title of the story?
| A．The Story of a Girl. | B．A Disabled Girl. |
| C．Defense Matters. | D．Weakness Becomes Strengh. |
Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri(MU) researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.
“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density(密度)”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “The radioisotope(放射性同位素) battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries.”
Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro/nanoelectromechanreal systems (M/NEMS). Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe.
“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems.”
His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor(半导体). Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor.
“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure(晶体结构) of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem.”
Together with J. David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery. In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials. Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair.Which of the following is true of Jae Kwon?
| A．He teaches chemistry at MU. |
| B．He developed a chemical battery. |
| C．He is working on a nuclear energy source. |
| D．He made a breakthrough in computer engineering. |
Jae Kwon gave examples in Paragraph 4_________.
| A．to show chemical batteries are widely applied. |
| B．to introduce nuclear batteries can be safely used. |
| C．to describe a nuclear-powered system. |
| D．to introduce various energy sources. |
Liquid semiconductor is used to _________.
| A．get rid of the radioactive waste | B．test the power of nuclear batteries. |
| C．decrease the size of nuclear batteries | D．reduce the damage to lattice structure. |
According to Jae Kwon, his nuclear battery _______.
| A．uses a solid semiconductor | B．will soon replace the present ones. |
| C．could be extremely thin | D．has passed the final test. |
The text is most probably a ________.
| A．science news report | B．book review |
| C．newspaper ad | D．science fiction story |
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