Fire Station No．6 in Livermore，California，houses a celebrity—a 107-year-old light bulb(灯泡)that has been on for over a million hours，earning the title of the“World’s longest continuously burning bulb”by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!The bulb also holds the Guinness World Record．
Nobody knows why this bulb has stayed alive for so many years．Most people believe that it is due to two reasons—it has almost never been turned off and it is really well made．Its perfect seal lets no air in．keeping its carbon filament(灯丝)from burning out．
The bulb was first installed at the fire department hose cart house on L Street in 1901．In 1903 it was moved to the new Station 1 on First and McLeod，and survived the renovation(翻修)of the Firehouse in 1937．when it was off for about a week．The last time the bulb was switched off was in July l976，when it was moved to Fire Station No．6．Thousands of people watched as the electrician tried to re-attach the bulb at its new location．At first nothing happened and people thought the bulb had finally died．However，a slight touch of its switch and then，the bulb came on and has been on since．Nobody at the station dares to touch it，even to clean it．
A local reporter first discovered the bulb’s significance in 1972．He recommended his readers to go visit it if they ever went to Livermore．All of a sudden thousands of people came to Fire Station No．6 and the bulb became famous．
Needless to say，the bulb is now a big source of pride and joy for the city of Livermore．So when some folks offered to buy it，the answer from the city was“NO!”Which of the following may not be a reason for the bulb to stay alive for so long?
| A．It was seldom switched off. |
| B．It was made of high quality． |
| C．Its carbon filament was special． |
| D．Its seal was perfect． |
What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
| A．The brief history of the bulb． |
| B．The problems with the bulb． |
| C．The main function of the bulb． |
| D．The location where the bulb is． |
We can learn from the text that the bulb _______________．
| A．will eventually be owned by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not |
| B．is now becoming a proud symbol of the locals in livermore |
| C．has never been touched or cleaned in Fire Station No．6 |
| D．wouldn’t have been discovered without the local reporter |
A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in the garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.
A biodegradable (生物可降解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle（回收利用）. Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic, but over time it can break down（分解） into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this cover turns into waste, it forms nitrates (硝酸盐). These feed the seed and help the flower grow. “We’ve only put sunflower seeds into the cover so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time.” said one scientist.
As phone technology is developing so quickly people are constantly throwing their mobiles away. This means producers are under pressure(压力) to find ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief for nature, according to the scientists. “The seed is released and the flower grows in the pot so you don’t have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan, the leader of the research team.After you have finished using the new type of mobile phone, _______.
| A．the sunflower seed will come out and flower in the pot |
| B．the phone cover will break down very soon in the soil |
| C．it will be recycled by the producers |
| D．it can charge itself with electricity in a green way |
This type of research is done because ________.
| A．the technology of making phones is changing rapidly |
| B．too many waste mobile phones may lead to environmental problems |
| C．nobody has ever thought of recycling mobile phones |
| D．producing mobile phones uses a lot of energy |
We can infer from the story ________.
| A．the new type of mobile phones are already on the market |
| B．the new type of mobile phones will sell extremely well |
| C．the material of the new type of phones is harmful |
| D．other flowers may be used in the new type of mobile phones |
The best title of this passage is .
| A．Recycling our phones | B．The phones that flower |
| C．A new material for making phones | D．The harm of thrown-away phones |
Among all the fast growing science and technology, the research of human genes（基因）, or biological engineering as people call it, is drawing more and more attention now. Sometimes it is a hot topic discussed by people.
The greatest thing that gene technology can do is to cure serious diseases that doctors at present can almost do nothing with, such as cancer and heart disease. Every year, millions of people are murdered by these two killers. And to date, doctors have not found an effective way to cure them. But if the gene technology is applied（应用）, not only these two diseases can be cured completely, bringing happiness and more living days to the patients, but also the great amount of money people spend on curing their diseases can be saved, therefore it benefits the economy as well. In addition, human life span(寿命) can be prolonged.
Gene technology can help people to give birth to more healthy and clever children. Some families, with the English imperial family being a good example, have hereditary diseases. This means their children will for sure have the family disease, which is a great trouble for these families. In the past, doctors could do nothing about hereditary diseases. But gene technology can solve this problem perfectly. The scientists just need to find the wrong gene and correct it and a healthy child will be born.
Some people are worrying that the gene research can be used to manufacture (produce) human beings in large quantities. In the past few years, scientists have succeeded in cloning a sheep; therefore these people predict that human babies would soon be cloned. But I believe cloned babies will not come out in large quantities, for most couples in the world can have babies in very normal way. Of course, the governments must take care to control gene technology.What does “these two killers” in the second paragraph refer to?
| A．Gene technology and another treatment of the two diseases. |
| B．The two murderers who killed the cloned baby |
| C．The two diseases of cancer and heart disease |
| D．Hereditary diseases and cancer |
What’s the main idea of the third paragraph?
| A．How gene technology can be applied to cure family diseases. |
| B．Gene technology can be used to clone human babies. |
| C．Gene technology can help people to give birth to a baby. |
| D．Gene technology can help the English imperial family out |
What is the main purpose of writing this passage?
| A．Expressing the writer’s idea that gene technology will benefit people |
| B．Telling people the advantages of gene technology |
| C．Telling the readers that gene technology will not benefit people |
| D．Explaining that gene technology will also do harm to the humanity |
Which of the following worries people by using this technology?
| A．Scientists have already successfully cloned sheep. |
| B．Most couple will normally give birth to babies. |
| C．A good number of babies will be cloned |
| D．The government will take action to control it. |
Now, it’s time for some brief news items.
Teens Go Online
Some 13 million European children under 18 use the Internet for schoolwork, games and music according to research done by Nielsen’s “Net-rating”. The study covered Britain, Germany, France, Italy and Spain. Experts advised parents to limit the time their kids spend on line and keep them away from chat rooms.
Chat to the magic Mum
British author J. K. Rowling, mother of magic boy Harry Potter, will do an Internet interview about her new book “Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince” on June 26. Before the event, children are invited to send their questions about Harry to the website. The book will hit stores in the US and UK on June 21 and will arrive in China in August.
School Soldiers
Russian school students will have to do basic military training in their final year of school, the government has decided. The lesson will include learning to fire guns, marching drills and how to deal with a chemical, nuclear or biological attack. The activity is seen as part of a drive toward the education of their love for their country.
Is it hard for you to get up early and get ready for classes? Some students at Winter Park High School just roll out of bed in their pajamas (睡衣) and go to class in their own bedrooms, Of course, their teachers and classmates do not see them because all their class work is on the computer. The Florida High School, the state’s only online school, has 250 students who are taking classes at home by computer. Students in this first online program take classes in algebra (代数), American government, chemistry, computer, economics, and web-page design. They also have to go to regular school to attend other classes.In the first news item, which country is NOT covered in the research?
| A．Britain. | B．France. | C．Sweden. | D．Spain. |
What is the second news item mainly about?
| A．J. K. Rowling will have an Internet interview. |
| B．Children will meet Harry Potter’s mother. |
| C．The Harry Potter book will be available on the Internet. |
| D．The Harry Potter book will arrive in China in early June. |
Why will Russian school students have basic military training?
| A．To get ready for a military parade. |
| B．To learn to protect themselves. |
| C．To gain some military knowledge. |
| D．To develop their love for the country. |
The last news can be given a title “________”.
| A．Get up Late | B．Online School |
| C．Magical Computers | D．No Teachers |
Homework can put you in a bad mood (心情), and that might actually be a good thing. Researchers from the University of Plymouth in England doubted whether mood might affect the way kids learn. To find out the answer, they did two experiments with children.
The first experiment tested 30 kids. Some shapes (图片) were hidden inside a different, larger picture. The kids had to find the small shapes while sitting in a room with either cheerful or sad music playing in the background. To test their mood, the scientists asked the kids to point to one of five faces, from happy to sad. Children who listened to cheerful music tended to point to the smiley faces while the others pointed to the unhappy ones. The researchers found that sad kids took at least a second less to find the small shapes. They also found an average of three or four more shapes.
In the second experiment, 61 children watched one of two scenes from a film. One scene was happy, and the other was sad. Just like in the first experiment, kids who saw the sad scene acted better compared to the others.
The researchers guessed that feeling down makes people more likely to focus on a problem or difficult situation. Not all scientists agree with them, however. Other studies argued that maybe, that cheerful music in the first experiment distracted (使分心) kids from finding shapes.
While scientists work on finding out the answers, it still might be wise to choose when to do your tasks according to your mood. After eating a delicious ice cream, for example, write an essay. Researchers did experiments on kids in order to find out ______.
| A．how they really feel when they are learning |
| B．whether mood affects their learning ability |
| C．what methods are easy for kids to learn |
| D．the relationship between sadness and happiness |
The researchers found in the first experiment that ______.
| A．kids who listened to happy music turned out to be energetic |
| B．kids who listened to sad music liked to choose smiley faces |
| C．kids worked harder in the background of happy music |
| D．sad music helped kids find out small shapes quickly |
What can we learn from the text?
| A．The researchers will continue to do experiments. |
| B．The researchers have found a clear answer. |
| C．The experiments are popular among kids. |
| D．Kids change their feelings more easily. |
We can infer that the text is ______.
| A．a science survey | B．a research report |
| C．a school project | D．an introduction to an experiment |
My 8-year-old daughter is making an experiment. She has been making her own colorful smile cards and often takes them with her everywhere.
Last Sunday, I took my kid to go shopping with me. She was hoping to see John, who is an elderly man and gives out samples. We see him from time to time and he is so happy and friendly. John wasn’t at the store on Sunday, so my daughter decided that it would be a good idea to distribute her smile cards to the store’s other employees.
So she did. In the produce department, she gave a card to a young man and she hoped it would make him smile. And he smiled at her and thanked her. Then she came across an older gentleman who looked rather impatient. And she snuck a card into his cart on top of his groceries, remarking to me later that he looked at her suspiciously as if she was dumping trash in his cart. But I thought he would be happy later.
When we got back from our shopping trip, she had run out of cards. She was walking by a woman with two babies in her cart. My daughter smiled at her and the young mother smiled back. My daughter came to me and said excitedly, “Mom, I just realized something. You don’t need cards to make someone smile. All you need to do is make eye contact and smile into their eyes and they will smile back.”
What a beautiful lesson my daughter reminded me of. You are never too young or too old to experiment with kindness and smiles. At first, the writer’s daughter made an experiment by ______.
| A．giving smile cards | B．giving samples |
| C．making eye contact | D．giving groceries |
According to the text, John was a man ______.
| A．who is very young and lively | B．who may be a salesman |
| C．who is in trouble and needs smiles | D．who is never seen to smile |
The underlined word “distribute” in paragraph 2 probably means ______.
| A．make up | B．tear up | C．give out | D．sell out |
From the text, we can learn that ______.
| A．John got a smile card from the writer’s daughter |
| B．the older gentleman would smile later after he got the smile card |
| C．we could make others smile only by giving them what they wanted |
| D．the mother with two babies smiled because she got a smile card |
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