The world is not coming to an end on December 21 ,2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel (消除)widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie.
The latest big screen offering from Sony Picture, 2012 , arrives in theaters on Friday, with a 200-million-dollar production about the end of the world supposedly based on myths backed by the Mayan calendar. It is claimed that the end of time will come as a Planet X or Nibiru heads toward or collides with the Earth.
Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet's existence, but the US space agency condemned such stories as an "Internet hoax". "There is no factual basis for these claims," NASA said in a question-and-answer posting on this website. "If such a collision were real，astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012," it insisted. "After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years," added NASA.
There is another planet, Eris, floating in space. But the small planet similar to Pluto will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the Earth, according to NASA.
Earlier theories set the disaster for May 2003，but when nothing happened the date was moved forward to the winter in 2012 to coincide with the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar.
NASA insisted the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21,2012，as another period begins immediately afterward.
And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast， the effect on our planet would be" negligible ( unimportant)"， NASA said.
"And while comets and asteroids (小行星)have always hit the Earth, big hits are very rare," NASA noted. The last major impact was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting in the end of dinosaurs.
"We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs," the space agency said. ______ played a key role in the spread of the rumors.
| A．A new book |
| B．The Internet and a new Hollywood movie |
| C．NASA |
| D．An Indian calendar |
We can infer that ______ .
| A．people didn't take the rumor seriously |
| B．Planet X or Nibiru does exist |
| C．astronomers have been tracking Planet X for over ten years |
| D．the rumor caused a panic among some people |
NASA thinks that Eris ______ .
| A．might have a threat to the Earth |
| B．doesn't have any threat to the Earth |
| C．is too far away to be visible |
| D．is similar to our planet, where life might exist |
Which of the following is the best title?
| A．New Hollywood movie 2012 |
| B．December 21,2012, not the end of the world |
| C．End of the ancient Mayan calendar |
| D．How rumors came into being |
While waiting to pick up a friend at the airport in Portland, Oregon, I had an experience which occurred merely two feet away from me.
Trying to locate my friend among the passengers coming through the jet way, I noticed a man walking toward me carrying two light bags. He stopped right next to me to greet his family.
First he kissed his three children one by one and said, “It’s nice to see you. I missed you so much!” Then he hugged his wife, “I’ve saved the best for last!” giving her the longest, most passionate kiss I ever remember seeing. They stared at each other’s eyes, smiling at one another, while holding both hands. For an instant they reminded me of newlyweds（新婚夫妇）, but I knew by the age of their kids that they couldn’t possibly be.
Full of admiration, I asked, “Wow! How long have you two been married?” “Being together for fourteen years total, married twelve of those.” He replied, without breaking his gaze from his lovely wife’s face. “Well, then, how long have you been away?” I asked. “Two whole days!” “Two days?” I was astonished. By the intensity (热烈) of the greeting, I had assumed he’d been gone for at least several weeks --- if not months. I knew my expression betrayed me, so I turned away my eyes and said quietly, “I hope my marriage is still that passionate after so long!”
The man suddenly stopped smiling and looked me straight in the eye. With forcefulness he told me something that left me a different person. “Don’t hope, friend…decide!” Then he smiled again, shook my hand and said, “God bless!”
With that, he and his family turned and walked away together.
I was still watching that man and his special family walk just out of sight when my friend came up to me and asked, “What are you looking at?” Without hesitation, and with a curious sense of certainty, I replied, “My future!”
The best title of the passage may be _______.
| A．Long Loving Hugs | B．My Future |
| C．Don’t Hope. Decide | D．Love Is Everywhere |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The man replied to the author, with his eyes still fixed on his wife’s face. |
| B．After being away for several weeks, the man missed his family very much. |
| C．It was fourteen years since the couple had got married. |
| D．Their three kids reminded the author of newlyweds. |
By saying “my expression betrayed me” (in Paragraph 4), the author means that ____.
| A．he failed to express his ideas to the man |
| B．the man sensed his real feelings from his expression |
| C．he didn’t believe in his expression any more |
| D．his expression was not faithful to him |
From the passage, we can infer that __________.
| A．the experience may be easily forgotten by the author |
| B．the author will live a passionate life from now on |
| C．the author will be away from his family and hug them passionately upon his return |
| D．Americans prefer to save the best for last |
One in five American families will move every year. Moving is one of the most stress-producing events a family has to go through. Experts say it can be harder for children. How do you help your child adjust to the changes?
The Ricardos moved from their old house to a new home. Same family, same dog-but it was harder for 9-year-old Elena. She hated the room, the house and everything. She hated leaving her friends the most.
“ I was so emotional. I mean, saying goodbye to all my friends…..my very close friends, who was my neighbor, made me so sad,” says Elena.
For some children, the emotional stress of moving is not much more different from the emotions when someone has died.
“There’s that sense that, ‘I’ve lost my friends, my friends, my base, my school, my teachers-everything I knew that made me feel safe is all gone now. I have to start over,” says Dr. Tim Jordan.
Starting over is exactly Dr. Tim Jordan’s advice. Make new friends, enter the new school and enter the new neighborhood. And here are some other pieces of advice.
● Explain clearly to the children why the move is necessary.
● Familiarize(使熟悉) the children as much as possible with the new area with maps, photographs or the daily newspaper.
● After the move, got the children to join in activities in the place.
● Help the children keep in touch with friends from the neighborhood before through telephone, letters, e-mail, and personal visits.
Which of the following is useful to reduce the children’s stress before the move?
| A．Let doctors give children some advice. |
| B．Try letting children accept the fact of moving. |
| C．Let children keep in touch with their former friends. |
| D．Copy the new environment in the old home. |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Most American children can get used to the changes in moving. |
| B．Dr. Tim Jordan lost his family, friends, teachers after moving. |
| C．The emotional stress of moving is the same in some way as that of knowing someone’s death. |
| D．the Ricardos lost their dogs after moving to their new house. |
The passage mainly wants to _____
| A．tell parents the reasons of moving. | B．explain the reasons of stress. |
| C．give parents some advice on moving. | D．teach parents how to move. |
Rescuers have found the bodies of over 130 people killed in two ferry disasters in Bangladesh．The accidents happened during a storm that hit the country on April 21st．Hundreds more are missing or feared to be dead．
The two ferries sank in different rivers near the capital city of Dhakfi as strong winds and rain hit the South Asian country．The government has since banned all ferries and other boats from traveling at night during the April-May stormy season. One of the ferries，MV Mitali，was carrying far more people than it was supposed to．About 400 passengers fitted into a space made for just 300，police said．The second ferry carried about 100 passengers．
“The number of deaths is certain to rise．”said an official in charge of the rescue work．“No one really knows how many people were on board the ferry or how many of them survived.” Ferries in Bangladesh don’t always keep passenger lists，making it difficult to determine the exact number of people on board．Besides the ferry accidents，at least 40 people were killed and 400 injured by lightning strikes．falling houses and trees and the sinking of small boats．Storms are common this time of year in Bangladesh，as are boating accidents．Ferry disasters take away hundreds of lives every year in a nation of 130 million people．Officials blame these river accidents on a lack of safety measures, too many passengers in boats and not enough checks on weather conditions． Ferries are a common means of transport in Bangladesh．It is a country covered by about 230 rivers．Some 20,000 ferries use the nation’s Waterways every year．And many of them are dangerously overcrowded．Since 1977, more than 3,000 people have died in some 260 boating accidents． The two ferry disasters occurred_______.
| A．at noon | B．in the morning | C．at night． | D．In the afternoon． |
_______ passengers was MV Mitali designed to carry?
| A．500 | B．100 | C．400 | D．300 |
Officials attribute boating accident to _______
| A．strong winds． | B．bad weather conditions． |
| C．the blockages of waterways． | D．the lack of safety measures． |
Which of the following statements is NOT true of the two ferry disasters?
| A．They happened during a storm． | B．They sank on April 21． |
| C．The exact number of deaths could be easily determined． | |
| D．They sank somewhere near Dhaka． |
Far from the land of Antarctica, a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod.
For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death? It must have some secret. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer.
Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish’s blood and measured its freezing point.
The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1.88℃ and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to -2.05℃. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.
The scientists’ next research job was clear: Find out what in the fish’s blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein(蛋白质) never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.
Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules(分子) held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content. It is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein. Or AFGP.
What is the text mainly about?
| A．The terrible conditions in the Antarctic. | B．A special fish living in freezing waters. |
| C．The ice shelf around Antarctica. | D．Protection of the Antarctic cod. |
Why can the Antarctic cod live at the freezing temperature?
| A．The seawater has a temperature of -1.88℃. |
| B．It loves to live in the ice-salt mixture. |
| C．A special protein keeps it from freezing. |
| D．Its blood has a temperature lower than -2.05℃. |
What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refer to?
| A．A type of ice-salt mixture. | B．A newly found protein. |
| C．Fish blood. | D．Sugar molecule. |
What does “glycol-” in the underlined word “glycoprotein” in the last paragraph mean?
| A．sugar | B．ice | C．blood | D．molecule |
The first time I saw Carlos I would never have believed he was going to change my life. I had my arms full of books and I was tearing into the classroom when I ran into something solid. It was Carlos.
“My, you’re tall,” he said.
Of course, the class began to laugh. Angry, I walked to my seat without a word.
I glanced back to see if Reed Harrington was laughing with the rest. That would be the last straw. But Reed was studying chemistry and did not seem to be aware of anything else. I didn’t know why I considered Reed my friend. Maybe just because he was a good two inches taller than I. Anyway, every time I blew out my birthday candles and made a wish, it was for a date with Reed Harrington. “Take that seat,” Mr. McCarthy told the proud newcomer Carlos, pointing to the only empty one, in the back of the room.
Carlos smiled broadly. “But I need a couple of dictionaries.” Again the class laughed, but now they were laughing with Carlos, not at him. He had been here only 10 minutes and already he had them on his side.
It was the school elections that made me think of Carlos again. Reed Harrington was voted president and Carlos vice president. “How come?” I kept asking myself. “How come this shrimp(虾) who’s only been in town for a little over a month gets to be so popular.”
So on that morning, I stopped Carlos and said, “It doesn’t seem to bother you—being short.” He looked up at me. “Of course I mind being short. But there isn’t anything I can do about it. When I realized I was going to have to spend my life in this undersized skin, I just decided to make the best of it and concentrate on being myself.” “You seem to get along great,” I admitted. “But what about me? Nobody wants to date a girl taller than he is.” “The trouble with you is you’re afraid to be yourself. You’re smart. And you could be pretty. In fact, you might be more than pretty.” I felt myself turning red...
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The writer cared much about Reed’s attitude. |
| B．Carlos isn’t popular with the classmates. |
| C．The writer is always confident with herself. |
| D．Carlos always makes fun of the writer. |
From the passage, we can conclude _______________.
| A．Carlos is as tall as the writer |
| B．Carlos fell love with the writer later |
| C．the writer is very tall |
| D．Reed, Carlos and the writer became good friends later |
What can we use to describe Carlos’ character?
| A．Handsome and proud | B．Humorous and confident |
| C．Diligent and helpful | D．Hardworking and popular |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．A girl and a boy. | B．My shortcomings. |
| C．My helpful classmates. | D．A change in my life. |
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