Is there intelligent (有智力的) life on other planets? For years, scientists said “no.” or “we don’t know.” But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers(天文学家). They believe intelligent life exists (存在) somewhere in the universe. They also think we sill soon contact these beings(人；生物).
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. “This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life,” say Shostak and Barnett. The second reason is size—the universe is huge. “Tools like the Hubble Telescope(哈勃望远镜) have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies,” says Shostak. “And our galaxy, the Milky Way, has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.”
In the past, it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now, powerful telescopes(高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets—the size of Mars or Earth—in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? “Probably not,” says Shostak. “It’s a long way away. However, intelligent beings may contact us in other way, such as radio signals(信号). In fact, they may be trying to communicate with us now, but we don’t have the right tools to receive their messages. However, this is changing. By 2025, we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.”Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are _____.
| A．astronomers | B．farmers | C．singers | D．drivers |
What is the best title for Paragraph 2?
| A．The Age and Size of Earth |
| B．Our Galaxy: The Milky Way |
| C．Why Intelligent Life Might Exist |
| D．Earth: The Only Planet with Intelligent Life |
Why was it hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe in the past?
| A．There were not any smaller planets. |
| B．There were not any powerful telescopes. |
| C．The astronomers were not interested in them. |
| D．The Milky Way didn’t exist at that time, |
Why haven’t beings from space visited us yet according to Shostak?
| A．They’re afraid of us. |
| B．It’s a long way away. |
| C．They don’t want to see us. |
| D．They don’t know how to use radio signals. |
What does the underlined phrase “life forms” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．Messages | B．Tools | C．Intelligent beings | D．Radio signals |
Last August, Joe and Mary Mahoney began looking at colleges for their 17-year-old daughter, Maureen. With a checklist of criteria (衡量标准，尺度) in hand, the Dallas family looked around the country visiting half a dozen schools. They looked for a university that offered the teenager’s intended major (主修科目), one located near a large city, and a campus (大学校园) where their daughter would be safe.
“The safety issue (问题) is a big one,” says Joe Mahoney, who quickly discovered he wasn’t alone in his worries. On campus tours other parents voiced similar concerns (担心), and the same question was always asked: What about crime? But when college officials al ways gave the same answer---“That’s not a problem here.” ---Mahoney began to feel uneasy.
“No crime whatsoever?” comments (评论) Mahoney today. “I just don’t buy it.” Nor should he: In 1999 the U.S . Department of Education had reports of nearly 400,000 serious crimes on or around our campuses. “Parents need to understand that times have changed since they went to college,” says David Nichols, author of Creating a Safe Campus. “Campus crime mirrors the rest of the nation.”
But getting accurate information isn’t easy. Colleges must report crime statistics (统计数字) by law, but some hold back for fear of bad publicity (名声), leaving the honest ones looking dangerous. “The truth may not always be serious,” warns S. Daniel Carter of Security on Campus, Inc., the nation’s leading campus safety watchdog (监视) group.
To help concerned parents, Carter promised to visit campuses and talk to experts around the country to find out major crime issues and effective solutions.The Mahoneys visited quite a few colleges last August_________.
| A．to express the opinions of many parents |
| B．to choose a right one for their daughter |
| C．to check the cost of college education |
| D．to find a right one near a large city |
It is often difficult to get correct information on campus crime because some colleges_________.
| A．receive too many visitors |
| B．mirror the rest of the nation |
| C．hide the truth of campus crime |
| D．have too many watchdog groups |
The underlined word “buy” in the third paragraph means “_________”.
| A．mind | B．take | C．believe | D．expect |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Exact campus crime statistics. |
| B．Crimes on or around campuses. |
| C．Effective solutions to campus crime. |
| D．Concerns about kids’ campus safety. |
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. One hundred thousand people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the king’s baker (面包师) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window in the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery (面包房) into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o’clock three hundr ed houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was t he worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St. Paul’s and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire. People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat.
The fire stopped only when the king finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow; but he did build more than fifty churches, among them new St. Paul’s.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that__________.
| A．some people lost their lives |
| B．the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
| C．many famous buildings were destroyed |
| D．the king’s bakery was burned down |
Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?
| A．Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
| B．Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
| C．To show that poor people suffered most. |
| D．To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
How was the fire put out according to the text?
| A．The king and his soldiers came to help. |
| B．All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed. |
| C．People managed to get enough water from the river. |
| D．Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down. |
Having returned from her round trip (往返旅程), the angry woman stood outside the ticket office of the station. “The railway owes (应给予) me￡12,” she said to Harry Jenks, the young man working at the office, “you sold me a ticket for May 22nd, but there was no ship from Jersey that night. So my daughter and I had to stay in a hotel. It cost me ￡12.”
Harry was worried. He remembered selling the woman a return ticket. “Come into the office, madam,” he said politely, “I’ll just check the Jersey timetable for May 22nd.”
The woman and her little girl followed him inside. She was quite right, as Harry soon discovered. There was no sailing on May 22nd. How could he have made such a careless mistake? He shouldn’t have sold her a ticket for that day. Wondering what to do, he smiled at the child. “You look sunburnt,” he said to her. “Did you have a nice holiday in Jersey?”
“Yes,” She answered, shyly. “The beach was lovely. And I can swim too!”
“That’s fine,” said Harry. “My little girl can’t swim a bit yet. Of course, she’s only three…”
“I’m four,” the child said proudly. “I’ll be four and a half.” Harry turned to the mother. “I remember your ticket, madam,” he said. “But you didn’t get one for your daughter, did you?”
“Err, well…” the woman looked at the child. “I mean… she hasn’t started school yet. She’s only four.”
“A four-year-old child must have a ticket, madam. A child’s return ticket to Jersey costs… let me see…￡13.50. So if the railway pays your hotel, you will owe ￡1.50. The law is the law, but since the fault was mine…”
The woman stood up, took the child’s hand and left the office.The woman was angry because__________.
| A．she couldn’t use the ticket for her round trip |
| B．she had to return home a day earlier than she had planned |
| C．she spent more money than she had expected |
| D．Harry had sold her a ticket to Jersey where there was no sailing |
Harry started talking to the little girl________.
| A．because he was in difficulty and did not know what to do |
| B．because he had a little girl about the same age as this girl |
| C．because he wanted to be friendly to the little girl who looked so nice |
| D．when he suddenly realized that he could find a way out from the little girl |
The woman left the office without saying anything because _______.
| A．she wanted to go home and get money for the child’s ticket |
| B．she was so angry that she didn’t want to have anything more to do with the young man |
| C．she was moved by Harry’s kindness |
| D．she knew she would have to pay the railway if she insisted |
How can a small stamp be worth ＄16,800?
Any mistake made in the printing of a stamp raises its value to stamp collectors. A mistake on a two-penny stamp has made it worth a million and a half times its face value.
Do you think it impossible? Well, it is true. And this is how it happened.
The mistake was made more than a hundred years ago in the former British colony (前英国殖民地) of M auritius (毛里求斯岛), a small island in the Indian Ocean. In 1847 an order for stamps was sent to London. Mauritius was about to become the fourth country in the world to put out stamps.
Before the order was filled and the stamps arrived from England, a big dance was planned by the commander-in-chief (总司令) of all the armed forces on the island. The dance would be held in his house and letters of invitation would be sent to all the important people in Mauritius. Stamps were badly needed to post the letters. Therefore, an islander, who was a good printer, was told to copy the pattern of the stamps. He carelessly put the words “Post Office” instead of “Post Paid”, two words seen on stamps at that time, on the several hundred that he printed.
Today, there are only twenty-six of these misprinted stamps left--- fourteen One-penny Reds and twelve Two-penny Blues. Because there are so few Two-Penny Blues and because of their age, collectors have paid as much as ＄16,800 for one of them.When a mistake is made in the printing of the stamp, the stamp___________.
| A．will be thrown away |
| B．increases in value |
| C．is not worth buying |
| D．is worth no more than its face value |
Why did Mauritius print some stamps too? Because__________.
| A．London stamps were not well printed |
| B．London would not print them |
| C．invitations to a big dance had to be posted quickly |
| D．Mauritius had a very good printer |
“Post Paid” means___________.
| A．the same as “Post Office” |
| B．the Post Office is the place to buy stamps |
| C．money has been paid for the stamp |
| D．the letter must be posted |
Stop. Listen! What do you hear? You may hear many different sounds. Some of those sounds may be noise. Noise is a loud or unwanted sound.
Noise can be caused by many kinds of machines, such as motorcycles, jet planes and farm tractors(拖拉机). Rock music is also noise.
What happens to people who live near noisy machines or use them over a period of time? Doctors have found that these people have trouble in sleeping. But, most important, constant(不断的) loud noise can cause a loss of hearing.
Scientists use a unit of measure called decibel(分贝) to measure the loudness of a sound. The sound of a quiet room, for example, measures 35 decibels. Talking measures between 40 and 65 decibels. Sounds from traffic and from some rock bands can measure over 120 decibels. Noise at this high level(层次) causes the great hearing loss.According to the passage, noise is .
| A．any kind of sound | B．a loud or unwanted sound |
| C．all sounds that you can hear | D．terrible sound |
A decibel is a .
| A．unit that measures sound | B．kind of noise |
| C．machine that makes loud noise | D．person who hates sound |
According to the passage, loud noise can .
| A．help people to sleep better | B．stop machines |
| C．cause a loss of hearing | D．kill people |
We can conclude from the passage that .
| A．noise is a serious problem | B．rock music isn’t noise |
| C．noise is only from traffic | D．some people hate any sound |
Study the diagram below. would be the quietest.
| Room |
Noise Level |
| A |
40~65 decibels |
| B |
35 decibels |
| C |
120 decibels |
| D |
130 decibels |
A. Room A B. Room B C. Room C D. Room D
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