Have you ever had that fantasy to visit the moon, grab a rock and throw it into space so it would float forever? Soon, if you have got the cash, you can!
Enter the Artemis Project. This new and exciting project is a private one that will “establish a permanent, self-supporting manned lunar base,” which translates into a community on the moon for people to live in. “It’s not a question of whether it’ll work, but rather how long it will take.” according to Gregory Bennett, the founder of the Artemis Project
On July 20, 1969, Neil Armstrong became the first man to set foot on the moon. That moment became a great achievement in both the space community and for humanity itself. Despite the significance of occasion, almost certainly when viewers saw images of his weightless, bouncing (弹跳) figure they thought, “That looks like fun!”
So the Artemis team is taking realistic approach to a human fantasy: they are marketing the project of a lunar base as pure entertainment.
Veronis, Suhler & Associates are investment bankers for the communications and media industry. Their research found that Americans spent over 40 billion dollars to be entertained in the movies, through home videos and television in 1999.
California investor, Dennis Tito, recently took a trip to the International Space Station, after donating $20 million dollars to the Russian Space program. Wealthy celebrities like Canadian director James Cameron and the brothers of rock band Oasis have also voiced their interest to visit the big ball in the sky. In the same report by Veronis, Suhler & Associates, consumers spent close to 4 billion dollars on video-game software alone. So, for $1.42 billion dollars the Artemis Project is a drop in the entertainment bucket.
University student, Al Dharsee says, “I would certainly go to the moon, if given the opportunity, so that I could look at the earth and laugh. But with the way we treat our own planet, I don’t think we deserve to set foot on any planets or moons for that matter.
However, if you’re one of those ready to book a flight, don’t pack your bags quite yet, your flight is not scheduled to depart for at least a couple of decades.What is the Artemis Project aimed at?
| A．Maintaining a manned lunar base. |
| B．Providing a new kind of entertainment. |
| C．Offering some community-based facilities. |
| D．Finding facts about the first exploration to the moon. |
What did Veronis, Suhler& Associates find through their research?
| A．Wealthy celebrities donated a lot of space programs. |
| B．The Artemis Project would cost less than $1.42 billion dollars. |
| C．Americans paid a large amount of money for entertainment. |
| D．More than $40 billion are spent on communications and media industries in 1999. |
What does Al DHarsee imply?
| A．Most planets deserve to be employed. |
| B．Human beings may destroy the moon. |
| C．It costs too much to destroy the environment. |
| D．The trip to the moon doesn’t appeal to him. |
This text may be taken from .
| A．a fiction story. |
| B．an advertisement. |
| C．an entertainment report. |
| D．a business survey. |
When I was in high school, I had a recurring(反复的) dream of my teeth falling out. I dreamt about my teeth just about every night for at least three weeks. Sometimes they would fall out one at a time, sometimes all at once. I became terrified that my dreams meant I would actually lose my teeth. Nine years later and about a million trips to the dreams, I still have a full set of teeth, but I’ve learned that when we’re experiencing stress in our lives, it tends to show up in our dreams as well．
Miller says losing teeth indicates burdens that crush your pride. If your teeth are knocked out, you’ll have sudden misfortune． Other explanations for dreams about lost teeth are that the dreamer is feeling powerless in life and may be in a transitional（过度的） period from one situation of life to another. Some experts believe that dreams of l
osing teeth today show we’re just as insecure and uncertain as we were in
childhood．
When I dreamt about my teeth back in high school, I was trying to choose a college— a stressful decision． The dreams resurfaced when college graduation rolled around four years later and I’m sure they’ll start again when I graduate．
A little of stress in our everyday lives is normal. But sometimes it becomes such a regular occurrence in our lives that it influences our dreams and causes us to lose valuable sleep. Understanding our dreams is key to identifying and ending stress in our waking hours and restoring peace to our nighttime hours．
56．We know from the text that those who dreamt about lost his teeth indicates that________．
A．They will have sudden misfortune．
B．They are feeling powerless in life
C．They are as insecure and uncertain as they were in childhood
D．They are experiencing stress in their lives
57．How many different kinds of explanations are mentioned in the text about losing teeth?
A．Two B．Three C．Four D．Five
58．The underlined expression “rolled around” means_______
A．came about B．came down C．came near D．rolled out
59．We can infer from the text that___________．
A．Our dream can reflect what we go through in our real life．
B．Dreams can damage our valuable sleep．
C．We only dream when we are under great pressure．
D．Our dreams can show us what will happen in the future．
60．The author wrote the passage to tell us that______.
A．He wanted to show us his strange dreams．
B．He tried to explain why we dream．
C．Different people have different dreams
D．It is important for us to understand the meaning of our dreams
News (March 6, 2008) that Microsoft was making a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo was greeted with heated discussion by many Internet users on Friday. Here are some responses:
Mark Galeassi of Kansas City, Missouri
This is the best move for both parties. Yahoo has the ideas and Microsoft has the money to finally market these ideas correctly. Microsoft and Yahoo are a perfect fit and the deal will be good for consumers.
Scott G. of New Jersey
I was a Yahoo user for years along with Hotmail from Microsoft. Then Google came along... Google Earth, Google Toolbar and Gmail. Google is so innovative (创新的) with everything they do. Yahoo and Microsoft... same old story... I don’t think the merger(合并) will do anything for either company except improve the Yahoo shareholders’ bank accounts:
Michael Glosser of Estero, Florida
Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Intemet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s greed will ruin the great thing that Yahoo currently is.
Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California
Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!
Antonio Simmons of Parkville, Maryland
Microsoft purchasing Yahoo would be nothing more than an attempt from Microsoft to further impose upon the users their poor-quality software and obtain more wealth for the company. In my opinion, they will never be able to compete with Google because Yahoo and Microsoft’s current search engines are too inferior (差的) to compete. Even if combined, they still lack.
77. Who is in favor of the merger of Microsoft and Yahoo?
A. Antonio Simmons. B. Michael Grosser. C. Scott G. D. Mark Galeassi.
78. In the opinion of Scott G.,
A. the merger will contribute to Microsoft
B. Yahoo and Microsoft are lacking in innovation
C. Google is getting short of management experience
D. the merger will allow Microsoft to overtake Google
79. Michael Grosser is afraid that
A. the merger will cost Yahoo’s free features
B. the merger will lead to Microsoft’s monopoly (垄断) of the market
C. the increased competition will force Google out of the game
D. Intemet users will have to buy Microsoft’s costly software
80. What is Antonio Simmons’ attitude towards Google?
A. Doubtful. B. Disapproval. C. Positive. D. Negative.
The new model is the highly interactive（互动的）learning model. We could also call it the conversational model, or the tutorial model. It is computer based, with the interaction between the student, or a small group of students, and learning programs are like the conversation between a student and a skilled tutor. Distance learning will be the main delivery method.
Student interaction with the learning material on the computer will use the student's natural language; it will seem like a conversation between a student and a human tutor. This is the key point of highly interactive, or conversational, learning units. Programs will ask questions in the student’s native language, and respond reasonably to free-form student input. Multiple choice and pointing will seldom be used; they often do not allow individualization (个体化) of education.
An important aspect of this model is that the computer will frequently store information about the student, about problems and about how far individual students have progressed. These records will be used often within the programs. Thus when a student returns to the learning activity, the computer knows about that student and knows where to begin the new part.
Global education is critical for the future, to get rid of poverty, corruption (腐败), violence and war, to solve major problems such as the lack of drinkable water, and to insure a happy life for all. Education should no longer be limited to the wealthy of the world, but should be available to everyone.
In the new distance learning environment learning can take place in markets, libraries, public buildings, learning centers, and the home. Gradually schools and universities will play a smaller role in learning, both because better learning can be delivered through such highly interactive material, and because such learning will be less costly for the individual student. Motivation (动机)is particularly important in a mastery-based distance learning, as the usual threats of traditional classrooms such as that of low grades are no longer possible.
Voice input will probably be the mode(模式) for this interaction. The new voice input systems from several companies are useful, cheap, and speaker independent in highly interactive learning. Keyboards may not be needed. Speech is a natural way for humans to communicate.
Students will work in small peer groups, about four. Other contacts with people, learning circles, will be possible, directly or electronically.
68. What is not the new model also called?
A. interactive model B. conversational model
C. tutorial model D. linguistic model
69. What does the model often use?
A. individualization of education B. multiple choice and pointing
C. questions in students’ native language D. fixed-form student input
70. What do computers detect(检查) students about?
A. Their future achievements B. Their intelligences
C. Their problems D. Their families
71. According to the passage, distance learning ____________ .
A. is still expensive for ordinary students
B. will take place mainly in classrooms.
C. will play a more important role in students’ learning.
D. will still affect badly on the low-graded students
A 61-year-old woman was saved on Saturday evening by Russian rescuers after being buried for up to 127 hours in rubble in the quake-ravaged southwest China's Sichuan Province.
Local residents told Russian rescuers that there was someone alive under two collapsed residential buildings in Dujiangyan, a city southeast of the epicenter of Monday's earthquake.
The rescuers explored the buildings with dogs and machines. Then, they cut out a section of the floor, and successfully pulled out the woman.
The woman was in good condition and was still able to think clearly. She was still able to move her hands and feet and could still speak.
The Parsurvivor had lived on the first floor of the six-story building. And she was buried in the debris of the concrete ceiling after the quake.
The unidentified woman was the first survivor found by foreign rescue teams. A total of 237 rescuers from Japan, Russia, South Korea and Singapore are currently in Sichuan, aiding the disaster relief efforts.
The Russian rescuers are still trying to save a second possible survivor trapped in the debris of the building.
Into the sixth day since the devastating earthquake, China's worst in more than 30 years, rescuers, including more than 130,000 troops, were still struggling to pull possible survivors from debris of collapsed houses, schools and factories.
61. The passage mentions the following EXCEPT_______.
A. how old the survivor is
B. where the survivor lived
C. how long the survivor was trapped
D. what the survivor’s name is
62. The underlined word “debris” in Paragraph 5 can be replaced by _______.
A. ruins B. centre C. middle D. surrounding
63. The best title for the passage should be _______.
A. Russian rescue team save a woman in Dujiangyan
B. Russian rescuers find a survivor in China's quake
C. Woman saved by Russian rescuers 127 hours after quake
D. Miracle rescues save buried people in Dujiangyan
Growing up together in Twin Falls, Idaho, Lisa Fry and Paula Turner never doubted their friendship would last forever. But after Fry married, moved to New York City and had a baby, her letters to Turner suddenly went unanswered. "Do you think I've somehow offended her?" Fry asked her husband.
Turner, meanwhile, had thought she was no longer important to Fry. "She's got a family now," she told herself. "We're just too different to be close like before."
Finally, Fry picked up the courage to call her old friend. At first, the conversation was awkward, yet soon they both admitted that they missed each other. A month later, they got together, laughing and sharing confidences.
"Thank goodness I finally took action," Fry says. "We both realized we were as important to each other as ever."
There are good reasons to value our friendships. Once a public-opinion research firm, Roper Starch Worldwide, asked 2007 people to identify one or two things that said the most about themselves. Friends far outranked（高于）homes, jobs, clothes and cars.
“A stable friendship carries a long history of experience and interaction and keeps us connected,” says Donald Pannen, executive officer of the Western Psychological Association. "It is what we should protect." However, says Brant R. Burleson, professor of communication at Purdue University, "The better friends you are, the more likely you'll face conflicts." And even the result can be what you don't want--an end to the relationship.
The good news is that most troubled friendships can be mended. Here's what experts suggest:
◆Swallow your pride.
◆Apologize when you're wrong--even if you've also been wronged.
◆See things from your friend's point of view.
◆Accept that friendships change.
Making friends can sometimes seem easy, says Yager. The hard part is keeping the connections strong and long. Her suggestion: Consider friendship an honor and a gift, and worth the effort to treasure and develop.
71．The first paragraph is written mainly to_______.
A．complain something to her husband
B．show Lisa Fry missed her friend
C．show family is more important than friendship
D．introduce the topic to be discussed
72．The underlined word “awkward” in the third paragraph probably means______.
A．uncomfortable B．uninteresting C．convenient D．relaxed
73．Which of the following statements is TRUE according to this passage?
A．Once friendship is broken, there is no way to be repaired.
B．People don’t value friendship over other things
C．The more and better friends we make, the happier we are.
D．Lisa Fry and Paula Turner were as important to each other as ever.
74．Experts suggest that_________.
A．Making friends should be no difficult experience.
B．We should consider things for our friends first
C．We should not have to apologize if it is not our fault
D．Friendship should be one-way process and worth our effort.
75．Which of the following would be the best title for this passage?
A．A Broken Friendship
B．Opinions on Friendship and Friends
C．What Is Good Friendship?
D．How to Mend a Broken Friendship
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