（This selection was originally published in 1992. Pluto （冥王星） is no longer classified as a planet.）
Pluto is in many ways the strangest of the planets. It is small and has a large moon（called Charon）. Its orbit（轨道） is unusual, which may cause it to have seasons in the sense that when it is close to the sun, the liquid （液体）methane（甲烷）on its surface boils to form a kind of atmospheric haze（烟雾）. When the planet moves farther away from the sun, it starts to snow solid（固体） methane.
Pluto is not dark. Despite its great distance from the sun, the surface of Pluto is probably as bright as a moonlit night on Earth. The reason is all that methane, which is as white as newly fallen snow.
The discovery of Pluto was more accident than design. The American astronomer Percival Lowell had predicted the existence of a ninth planet（he called it Planet X）based on what he took to be irregularities in the orbit of Neptune. Today astronomers argue that these "irregularities" weren't real, but the result of instrumental error. Nevertheless, Lowell produced predictions about where Planet X ought to be（although, to be honest, the predictions changed occasionally when he redid the calculations）.In any case, in 1930 Clyde Tombaugh, doing a systemic sky survey that would have found the planet no matter where it was, discovered the planet we now call Pluto. By coincidence, its position was pretty close to where Lowell's last prediction said it should be. Was it just luck? We'll never know．On Pluto's surface, liquid methane boils to form an atmospheric haze, which would be most similar to ____.
| A．light | B． darkness |
| C．liquid | D．steam（水蒸气） |
What effect is produced by including the question "Was it just luck?" at the end of the text?
| A．The question encourages the reader to think about why Pluto is a strange planet． |
| B．The question encourages the reader to think about how planets are discovered． |
| C．The question suggests that all discoveries are luck, not just design． |
| D．The question suggests that other planets were found in different ways． |
What contributes to the brightness of Pluto?
| A．Methane on its surface. | B．Its great distance from the sun. |
| C．Light from its moon, Charon. | D．Its closeness to the sun. |
The text mainly wants to ____．
| A．give a brief introduction of Pluto |
| B．talk about the discovery of Pluto |
| C．prove the exact position of Pluto |
| D．describe the strangeness of Pluto |
Jean Driscoll can go faster in her wheelchair than the world’s best marathoners(马拉松运动员) can run!
In April, Jean finished the Boston Marathon in 1 hour 34 minutes 22 seconds. That’s about 33 minutes faster than the winning male runner! She competed on the track, too. She was second in the 800 meter wheelchair race at the 1992 Olympics.
Jean doesn’t like to be told she’s brave. “I’m in sports because I’m a competitive person!” Jean was born with spina befida(脊柱裂), a birth illness that damages the spine（脊椎）. She began to use a wheelchair to get around in high school. Then she tried wheelchair race and was amazed.” Players crashed into each other and fell out of their chairs,” she says, “It was fun.”
Jean tried other wheelchair sports. At the University of Illinois, her wheelchair basketball team won two national titles.
Now Jean coaches and teaches. She tries to get people to set goals. “When I sign my a utograph（亲笔签名）,says Jean, “I write, dream big and work hard.”What made Jean take part in sports?
| A．She was competitive. | B．She was brave. |
| C．She was strong. | D．She was disabled. |
What kind of education did she receive?
| A．High school. | B．Junior middle school. |
| C．Primary school. | D．High education. |
What is Jean’s advice on how to succeed?
| A．Work hard. | B．Hope for the best. |
| C．Have great wishes and work hard. | D．Dream a lot. |
When I was about 12, I had an enemy, a girl who liked to point out my shortcomings(缺点). Wee k by week her list grew: I was very thin, I wasn’t a good student, I talked too much, I was too proud, and so on. I tried to hear all this as long as I could. At last, I became very angry. I ran to my father with tears in my eyes.
He listened to me quietly, then he asked. “Are the things she says true or not? Janet, didn’t you ever wonder what you’re really like ? Well, you now have that girl’s opinion. Go and make a list of everything she said and mark the points that are true. Pay no attention to the other things she said.”
I did as he told me. To my great surprise, I discovered that about half the things were true. Some of them I couldn’t change (like being very thin), but a good number I could—and suddenly I wanted to change. For the first time I go to fairly clear picture of myself.
I brought the list back to Daddy. He refused to take it.“That’s just for you,” he said.“You know better than anyone else the truth about yourself. But you have to learn to listen, not just close your ears in anger and feeling hurt. When something said about you is true, you’ll find it will be of help to you. Our world is full of people who think they know your duty. Don’t shut your ears. Listen to them all, but hear the truth and do what you know is the right thing to do.”
Daddy’s advice has returned to me at many important moments. In my life, I’ve never had a better piece of advice. What did the father do after he had heard his daughter’s complaint?
| A．He told her not to pay any attention to what her“enemy” had said. |
| B．He criticized (批评) her and told her to overcome her shortcomings. |
| C．He refused to take the list and have a look at it. |
| D．He told her to write down all that her“enemy” had said about her and pay attention only to the things that were true |
What does “Week by week her list grew” mean?
| A．Week by week she discovered more shortcomings of mine and pointed them out to me. |
| B．She had made a list of my shortcomings and she kept on adding new ones to its that it was growing longer and longer. |
| C．I was having more and more shortcomings as time went on. |
| D．Week by week, my shortcomings grew more serious. |
Why did her father listen to her quietly?
| A．Because he believed that what her daughter’s “enemy” said was mostly true. |
| B．Because he had been so angry with his daughter’s shortcomings that he wanted to show this by keeping silent for a while. |
| C．Because he knew that his daughter would not listen to him at that moment. |
| D．Because he wasn’t quite sure which girl was telling the truth. |
Which do you think would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Not an Enemy, but the Best Friend | B．The Best Advice I’ve Ever Had |
| C．My Father | D．My Childhood |
Growing up, I remember my father as a silent, serious man—not the sort of person around whom one could laugh. As a teenager arriving in America, knowing nothing, I wanted a father who could explain the human journey. In college, when friends called home for advice, I would sink into deep depression for what I did not have.
Today, at twenty-seven, I have come to rediscover them in ways that my teenage mind would not allow—as adults and as friends with their own faults and weaknesses.
One night after my move back home, I overheard my father on the telephone. There was some trouble. Later, Dad shared the problem with me. Apparently my legal training had earned me some privileges in his eyes. I talked through the problem with Dad, analyzing the purposes of the people involved and offering several negotiation strategies(策略).He listened patiently before finally admitting, “I can’t think like that. I am a simple man.”
Dad is a brilliant scientist who can deconstruct the building blocks of nature. Yet human nature is a mystery to him. That night I realized that he was simply not skilled at dealing with people, much less the trouble of a conflicted teenager. It’s not in his nature to understand human desires.
And so, there it was—it was no one’s fault that my father held no interest in human lives while I placed great importance in them. We are at times born more sensitive, wide-eyed, and dreamy than our parents and become more curious and idealistic than them. Dad perhaps never expected me for a child. And I, who knew Dad as an intelligent man, had never understood that his intelligence did not cover all of my feelings.
It has saved me years of questioning and confusion. I now see my parents as people who have other relationships than just Father and Mother. I now overlook their many faults and weaknesses, which once annoyed me.
I now know my parents as friends: people who ask me for advice; people who need my support and understanding. And I have come to see my past clearer.What was the author’s impression of her father when she was a teenager?
| A．Friendly but irresponsible. |
| B．Intelligent but severe. |
| C．Cold and aggressive. |
| D．Caring and communicative. |
Why did the author feel depressed when her friends called home?
| A．She did not have a phone to call home. |
| B．Her father did not care about her human journey. |
| C．Her father was too busy to answer her phone. |
| D．Her father could not give her appropriate advice. |
After the author overheard her father on the telephone, _________ .
| A．he blamed her for impoliteness. |
| B．he rediscovered human nature. |
| C．he consulted with her about his problem. |
| D．he changed his attitude towards the author. |
Which of the following is the best title of this passage?
| A．My Parents as Friends. |
| B．My Parents as advisers. |
| C．My father—a serious man. |
| D．My father—an intelligent scientist. |
It’s great fun to explore new places—it feels like an adventure，even when you know you’re not the first to have been there. But make sure not to get lost or waste time going round in circles.
● Do the map reading if you’re being driven somewhere. It’ll be easier if you keep turning the map so it follows the direction you’re traveling in. Keep looking ahead so that you can give the driver lots of warning before having to make a turn or you’ll have to move to the back seat.
● Get a group of friends together and go exploring. You'll need a good map, a compass , a raincoat, a cell phone to call for help in case you get lost, and a bit of spare cash for emergencies . Tell someone where you’re going before you set out and let them know what time you expect to be back. The test is in not getting lost, not in seeing how fast you can go, so always stick together, waiting for slower friends to catch up.
● See if your school or a club organizes orienteering activities, in which you need a map and a compass to find your way. This can be done as a sport, with teams trying to find the way from A to B (and B to C, etc.)in the fastest time, or simply as a spare-time activity. Either way, it’s not only good fun, but a great way to keep fit.Sitting beside the driver, you should___________.
| A．direct the driver when necessary |
| B．look ahead to see where there’s a turn |
| C．move to the back seat if feeling uncomfortable |
| D．keep looking at the map to find a place to go to |
Why do you need to tell someone your exploration plan before setting out?
| A．To get information when in danger. |
| B．To be saved in case of an accident. |
| C．To share the fun with him/her in exploration. |
| D．To tell him/her what’s going on with the group members. |
Orienteering activities can______________.
| A．make people work fast |
| B．help people stay healthy |
| C．help people organize other activities |
| D．make people get prepared for sports |
The text mainly talks about____________.
| A．the fun of exploration |
| B．what to bring for exploration |
| C．the way to use a map in exploration |
| D．how to prevent getting lost in exploration |
What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster?
Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an＂Official Taste Tester＂for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream－－as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job: after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No－－there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this＂cool＂field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains,＂You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup.＂
While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance.＂Tasting begins with the eyes,＂he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself,＂Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?＂Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy－－working at one cool job.What is John Harrison’s job?
| A．An official. | B．An ice-cream taster. |
| C．A chemist. | D．An ice-cream manufacturer. |
According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the＂cool field＂, it is helpful to ______.
| A．keep a diary of work | B．have a degree in related subjects |
| C．have new ideas every day | D．find out new flavors each day |
What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?
| A．He stirs the ice cream. |
| B．He examines the color of the ice cream. |
| C．He tastes the flavor of the ice cream. |
| D．He lets the ice cream warm up. |
Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?
| A．Tasting with Eyes | B．Flavors of Ice Cream |
| C．John Harrison’s Life | D．One Cool Job |
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