The shocking disappearance of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 has captured the attention of millions around the world as the search for the airplane and its passengers and crew continues. What happened to the flight’s 239 passengers and crew after the plane left Kuala Lumpur on Saturday? It is becoming an increasingly desperate question as the days pass.
But it’s hardly the first mystery of its kind. Here are some half-solved and unsolved airline mysteries that kept investigators clueless for years.
Air France Flight 447: An Airbus A330 flight from Rio de Janeiro to Paris plunged into the Atlantic Ocean in 2009, killing all 228 passengers and crew on board. But it took a full five days for search and rescue teams to find the wreck（残骸）and another three years for investigators to report that ice crystals had caused the autopilot (自动驾驶仪) to disconnect. The bodies of 74 passengers remain unrecovered.
Amelia Earhart: Ace (王牌) pilot Amelia Earhart disappeared in her twin-engine monoplane Electra over the Pacific Ocean in 1937 in an attempt to circumnavigate the globe. No trace of her plane was ever found even after a multi-million dollar search effort, and Earhart was officially declared dead in 1939.
Flying Tiger Line Flight 739: A U.S. military flight left Guam in 1962 with more 90 personnel headed for the Philippines, but it never arrived. The pilots never issued a distress call, and 1,300 people involved in the U.S. military search never found any trace of wreckage.
British South American Airways: It took more than 50 years to find any trace of the 11 people aboard a 1947 flight that disappeared in the Andes Mountains. A pair of Argentineans rock climbers discovered engine wreckage in the Andes in 1998, and an army expedition later found human remains as well.
Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571: A flight headed to Santiago, Chile carrying 45 passengers and crew crashed into the Andes Mountains in poor weather in 1972, killing twelve people. In the meantime, eight were killed in an avalanche (雪崩) that hit the plane’s wreckage where they were taking shelter, and the rest stayed alive by eating the flesh of the dead before they were finally found more than two months after disappearing out of the sky.The underlined word “plunged” in Paragraph 3 is closest in meaning to _____.
| A．jumped | B．broke |
| C．flew | D．dived |
What can we learn from Uruguayan Air Force Flight 571? _____.
| A．12 people were lost until now. |
| B．25 people were rescued instantly. |
| C．The rest who stayed alive killed 8 people. |
| D．8 were killed by a fall of a large mass of snow down a mountainside. |
From the passage, what could have led to British South American Airways crash? _____.
| A．The bad weather. | B．Not mentioned. |
| C．The ice crystals. | D．The lightening. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage? _____.
| A．Earhart was declared dead by the authorities two years later. |
| B．The bodies of Flight 447 had all been found after three years. |
| C．Two Argentineans rock climbers discovered the dead in the Andes. |
| D．Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 was regarded as the largest air crash. |
The passage has been written to _____.
| A．introduce the loss of Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 |
| B．explain how to avoid airplane disappearances as a pilot |
| C．tell readers mysterious airplane disappearances in Aviation History |
| D．call on people to protect themselves |
The Asian elephant has been respected for centuries and is still used today for ceremonies and religious purposes. It is respected, not only because it plays a role in Asian culture and religion, but also because it is a key biological species in the tropical forests of Asia.
The Asian elephant is the largest land mammal in Asian. It is smaller than the African elephant, with relatively smaller ears. Asian elephants have a single “finger” on the upper lip of the long trunk, while African elephants have a second on the lower tip. A number of adult male Asian elephants have no tooth, and the percentage of males carrying ivory(象牙）is different from only about 5% in Sri Lanka to 90% in south India. Asian elephants keep their ears in constant motion in order to free the heat they produce. The species is reported to have well-developed hearing, vision, and smell , and they are also fine swimmers.
Asian elephants prefer to convey something to form groups surrounding 6 to 7 related females that are led by the oldest female. Like African elephants, these groups occasionally join others to form herds, although these associations are relatively temporary.
More than two thirds of the day may be spent feeding on grasses, but large amounts of tree bark, roots, leaves and small stems are also eaten. Crops such as bananas, rice and sugar plants are favored foods. Besides, they need to drink at least twice a day so the source of water is quite important.
The Asian elephant used to live from modern Irap and Syria to the Yellow River in China at first, but it is now found only from India to Vietnam, with a tiny population in the extreme southwest of China’s Yunnan Province. More than 100,000 Asian elephants may have existed at the start of the 20th century. The population is estimated to have fallen by at least 50% over the last 60-75 years.What can we learn from Paragraph2?
| A．The Asian male elephant is the largest animal in the world. |
| B．The population of Asian male elephants with ivory varies by district. |
| C．The Asian elephant has two “fingers” on the lips of the long trunk. |
| D．Asian elephants continuously move their ears to warm themselves. |
The Asian elephants are most likely to fed themselves______.
| A．in a very large forest |
| B．in the field with leaves and stems |
| C．close to a river with grasses and leaves |
| D．on the hillsides with grasses and trees |
What makes the author worried in the last paragraph?
| A．That there are fewer and fewer Asian elephants. |
| B．That Asian elephants originally ranged more widely. |
| C．That Asian elephants may suffer some diseases. |
| D．That there was too much killing in the last century. |
The passage introduces Asian elephants mainly in the aspects of ______.
a.the diet habit
b. the social structure
c. the life circle
d. the physical description
e. the skin color
f. the population and distribution
g. the cultural status
| A．b-c-d-e-f | B．c-d-e-f-g |
| C．a-b-c-d-f | D．g-d-b-a-f |
When the evening is coming, my dear son and I are preparing for the tape time. “Shoes on,” I remind 9-year-old Sam. “Snakes are always waiting for the chance to kiss you. But with our feet stepped into my car, we are safe.” We take blankets and cups of milk and head out to the shelter that serves as our garage. This has become our bedtime habit.
I press “play.” A motherly voice fills the car. My mother and my aunt send us books on tape obtained from secondhand shops or rescued from the back of drawer. Maybe no one in England lays cassettes anymore, but I still love them.
Sam rests on his seat. He’s sitting in the front seat. I am listening to the cassette. But I am also thinking. In a month’s time, my boy will be 10. Next year, he will be 11. And so it will go on, until he leaves me and his father and his sister to live out his own stories---as it is only right and proper he should.
Will he think back to the times when he sat in the dark in a car in Africa, listening to tales of Wales in World War Ⅱ, the finest lady detective of Botswana, or a country he has visited, and tells me he finds them “very interesting”? Will he think , when he is grown-up, the poor mum always makes the ancient tape player which is out of date work?
I like to believe that he will recall those wonderful moments. By then, perhaps, my child will realize a deep love of sharing and understanding by listening to the old tape player. I hope Sam will think that these evenings we spend in the car are a story themselves. It is his own first chapter. In time my boy will ease off the hand brake and roll out into the world. Until then, I’ll keep pressing “play”.What habit did the writer and her son develop?
| A．To play outside in the evening |
| B．To listen to tapes in a car |
| C．To drive in the evening |
| D．To read books together at night |
How does the author think about Sam’s leaving the family in the future?
| A．Interesting. | B．Common and natural. |
| C．Absurd. | D．Unbearable. |
In paragraph4, the two questions can prove that ________.
| A．playing with children is fun for parents |
| B．listening to stories is a good way to enjoy life |
| C．children need to ask questions in reading |
| D．Listening experiences will be part of Sam’s life |
The best title for the passage may be “_______”.
| A．A gift of a story player |
| B．A childhood full of love and story |
| C．Deep love for the tape player |
| D．The future life of our children |
Fascinated with images from the Mars Rover? It turns out you don’t have to go to space. The following spots may look like they are on another planet, but they are right here on earth.
* Socotra Island, Indian Ocean
The largest of the four-island Socotra Archipelago, the island has about 250 species of plants that are not found anywhere else in the world. This includes the canopy-topped dragon’s blood tree, which has blood-red resin(树脂）that runs down if the trunk is cut deep. It can grow to 10 feet with a bulbous(球根的）trunk that swells with water absorbed in case of dry weather.
See it for yourself: There are regular flights from the Yemen capital of Sanaa on(Felix Airways) ($ 180 each way)
* Vermilion Cliffs National Monument, Arizona
This wilderness in Northern Arizona/southern Utah is home to some of the most striking landscapes in the American Southwest. The nearly 300,000-acre site is known for its abundance of colorful shale（页岩）and Navajo sandstone that has been eroded(侵蚀）by the elements to create cliffs that rise as high as 3,000 feet. In the northwest of the park is the Coyote Buttes, where you’ll find The Wave, a wall of red sandstone that twists and turns in a way that just doesn’t look natural ---but is.
See it for yourself: Permits are required to hike in Vermilion Cliffs. Paria Canyon and Buckskin Gulch permits are available at on-site pay stations or in advance ($5 per person).
*Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina
The huge size of the Perito Moreno Glacier is unbelievable---it is more than 50 miles in length and 500 feet deep. The terminus(终点）of the glacier is Lago Argetino, where a 50-foot blue-hued ice wall rises from the lake. The Perito Moreno is also one of the only glaciers left on earth that is still growing.
See it for yourself: Many tour companies offer day trips to Perito Moreno from El Calafte. Viator’s full-day tour includes transportation from a local hotel and a guided tour for $ 106 per person.Which is true about the canopy-topped dragon’s blood tree?
| A．It grows where there is little rain. |
| B．It has blood-red skin. |
| C．It is shaped like a dragon. |
| D．It stores water for dry season. |
What do we know about The Wave?
| A．It is created in a natural way. |
| B．It is created by waves. |
| C．It is as high as 3,000 feet. |
| D．It looks quite natural. |
How much does a couple pay for a trip to Perito Moreno Glacier, Argentina?
| A．$106 | B．$ 212 | C．$ 360 | D．$ 420 |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A．A geography book. | B．A tourist guidebook. |
| C．A news report. | D．A TV program. |
The world consumes hundreds of billions of single-use plastic bags each year. They are difficult to recycle, wasteful and damage the nature. Environmental activists want to ban plastic bags or---as many communities have done ---charge a fee for them. But the plastic bag industry defends their use, saying people reuse plastic bags, and industry officials argue recycling is a matter of personal responsibility and should not be forced.
City officials say New Yorkers use 5.2 billion plastic bags each year. They are offered free with nearly every supermarket, or convenience store purchase. Many people like them, even if they sometimes feel guilty about using them. But what happens to those bags after they’ve been used in a huge environmental problem. They are found on beaches. They are caught in trees. They are swallowed by marine life.
Plastic bags are made of petroleum products and natural gas, and do not biodegrade (分解). And they are difficult to recycle. So New York City spends nearly $ 10 million dollars a year to send 100---thousand tons of plastic bags to landfills out of state.
In Washington, D.C., a five percent charge on all single-use bags led to about a 60 percent reduction and in Los Angeles County in California , a 10 cent charge on single-use bags led to a 95 percent reduction. With a 10 cent charge on bags, customers are much more likely to stop and think about whether they need a bag or not. And that’s really all that these laws are doing.Who object to the limit of using plastic bags?
| A．Plastic bag makers. | B．Government officials. |
| C．Stores and supermarkets. | D．Most of the consumers. |
Paragraph 2 mainly tells us _____.
| A．the difficulty about dealing with plastic bags |
| B．the popularity of plastic bags in New York |
| C．the great convenience brought by using plastic bags |
| D．the usage and problems of plastic bags in New York |
What measure does the writer introduce to reduce the use of plastic bags?
| A．Reducing the production of plastic bags. |
| B．Charging for the use of plastic bags. |
| C．Offering paper bags instead of plastic bags. |
| D．Making people realize the harm of plastic bags. |
From July to October every year, about a quarter of the world’s blue whales feed in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. But the whales currently face a major threat in their favorite feeding area. Ships carrying cargo (货物）sail in the same area at the same time. All too often, the whales’ paths and the ships’ travel lines overlap (重叠)，and a ship will hit a whale.
According to a new study, these ship strikes have become a serious threat to the overall population of the world’s blue whales. Only about 10,000 of the creatures still exist worldwide. Blue whales are the largest known animals ever to live on Earth. Even so, if hit by a container ship, a blue whale will likely die from its injuries.
In 2007 alone, large ships killed five blue whales in the waters off San Francisco and Los Angeles, California. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says that because there are so few whales already, losing three to five from the California whale population every year is a significant loss. “The estimated population of blue whales in this part of the Pacific is 2,500”, says Sean Hastings, a NOAA analyst. “So every whale counts toward this species moving off the endangered-species list.”
Now, marine scientists must figure out how to protect the whales from the giant container ships. One very simple program is already under way in the Santa Barbara Channel, a waterway that separates mainland California from the nearby Channel Islands.
The Channel Islands National Marine Sanctuary has asked large container ships passing through the area to voluntarily slow down. Sailing slower will allow the ships’ crew (船员）more time to change course before hitting a whale.
Several of the world’s largest shipping lines are set to participate in the new program. For every ship that passes through the Santa Barbara Channel at or below the reduced speed of 12 knots (海里 / 小时），the company that owns the ship will be paid $2,500.
From Paragraph 1, we can know that_____.
| A．people intend to illegally hunt blue whales for money |
| B．large ships often carrying goods may pollute the sea |
| C．there is fewer fish in blue whales’ favorite feeding area |
| D．the container ships may hit the blue whales frequently |
Why is the death of several whales regarded as significant loss to the world's blue whales?
| A．Because other blue whales will be scared away. |
| B．Because the number of the blue whales is so small. |
| C．Because blue whales are the largest animals in the world. |
| D．Because many blue whales get killed throughout the year. |
According to Sean Hastings，it’s inferred that .
| A．the blue whales are still on the endangered-species list. |
| B．the number of the blue whales is decreasing sharply. |
| C．most of the world’s blue whales live in the Pacific Ocean. |
| D．blue whales are often disturbed by other endangered creatures. |
What are the last three paragraphs mainly about?
| A．The basic responsibility of a sailor. |
| B．The world’s largest shipping lines. |
| C．Measures to protect the blue whales. |
| D．Ways to slow down the speed of the ships. |
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