Boeing said Wednesday that it was entering the space tourism business, an announcement that could bolster（增强）the Obama administration’s efforts to transform the National Aeronautics and Space Administration into an agency that focuses less on building rockets and more on nurturing a commercial space industry.
The flights, which could begin as early as 2015, would most likely launch from Cape Canaveral in Florida to the International Space Station. The Obama administration has proposed turning over to private companies the business of taking NASA astronauts to orbit, and Boeing and Bigelow Aerospace of Las Vegas won an $18 million contract this year for preliminary (初步的)development and testing of a capsule that could carry seven passengers.
Current NASA plans call for four space station crew members to go up at a time, which would leave up to three seats available for space tourists. The flights would be the first to give nonprofessional astronauts the chance to go into orbit aboard a spacecraft launched from the United States. Seven earlier space tourists have made visits to the space station, riding in Russian Soyuz capsules.
“We’re ready now to start talking to possible customers,” said Eric C. Anderson, co-founder and chairman of Space Adventures, the space tourism company based in Virginia that would market the seats for Boeing.
Boeing and Space Adventures have not set a price, although Mr. Anderson said it would be competitive with the Soyuz flights, which Space Adventures arranged with the Russian Space Agency. Guy Laliberté, founder of Cirque du Soleil, paid about $40 million for a Soyuz ride and an eight-day stay at the space station last year. But the possibilities that anyone buying a ticket will get to space on an American vehicle depend on discussions in Congress about the future of NASA. Which of the following is most probably a private travel company?
A. Boeing. B. Space Adventure.
C. NASA. D. Russian Space Agency. How many people can be carried along on a capsule to the space station?
| A．3. | B．4. | C．7. | D．11. |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The American space tourism company is located in Virginia. |
| B．Russia has already taken lead in working on the space tourism business. |
| C．NASA has decided to focus less on building rockets because of the financial crisis. |
| D．In 2015, America would be the first country in the world to run the space tourism business. |
What’s the best title of the passage?
| A．Taking NASA Astronauts to Orbit. | B．Living in the Space Station Space. |
| C．Ticket Price under Discussion. | D．Boeing Could Fly You to Orbit by 2015. |
What is art? According to one definition, it is the creation of something that appeals to our sense of beauty. This definition may include painting, drawing, sculpture, and architecture, or performing arts such as music and drama. Cultural and historical influences, as well as one’s own consciousness of what is aesthetically(审美地 )pleasing, play a role in what one believes to be art. To some people, art is the description of an object--- a painting or sculpture of a person, for example. For others, art may be a blank canvas, or a piece of chalk.
In order to talk about the different artistic styles that have existed over time, art historians have classified these styles into different periods and organized them in chronological order. The works of art produced within each period mirror the culture and events of that time.
The earliest forms of art, from the prehistoric era(时代), include simple cave paintings and figures made from stone. These were followed by the sculptures and carvings of Ancient Civilizations era. Styles of the later Classical era (800 B.C. to 200 A.D.), reflect the culture of the time--- one that favored simplicity and balance. The period of the Middle Ages followed, and was succeeded by a revival（复兴） of classical styles in the Renaissance era, beginning around 1400. Well-known artists of this time include Michelangelo and da Vinci. One hundred years of Baroque style, and then fifty years of Rococo followed the 200-year Renaissance. The start of the nineteenth century saw the rise of the Premodern era, followed by the Modern era, a period that lasted until 1945. This was followed by Postmodern era that characterizes the present day.
In addition to differences in artistic styles between eras, there are also differences within each era. The Postmodern era, for example, has featured innovative（创新） artistic styles such as Pop Art ( which includes work by Andy Warhol), Minimalism, and Conceptualism. Since the 1960s, Conceptualism has grown in popularity. This style focuses more on the idea or ‘concept’ of art using realistic objects, rather than on art that is created using traditional materials such as paint, canvas, stone, or clay. Whereas Warhol used a can of beans as the basis for a painting, for example, a conceptual artist might say that the can itself is a work of art.
Conceptualism has become an increasingly controversial（有争议的） art style, particularly as result of numerous conceptual artists winning the Turner Prize. This ￡20,000 award is presented annually to a British artist under the age of fifty, in recognition of an outstanding work. Sponsored by the Tate Gallery of Britain, it is recognized as one of Europe’s most prestigious awards for visual arts. Its aim is to promote discussion about contemporary British art. In 2002, pop music icon Madonna presented the Turner Prize to conceptual artist Martin Creed. One of the artistic styles that many people today discuss and arguing about is ______.
| A．classic style | B．Conceptualism | C．Pop art | D．Baroque style |
Which statement is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．Pop Art, Minimalism and Conceptualism are styles that developed in the Postmodern era. |
| B．Some of the world’s earliest art was created in caves. |
| C．History, culture and one’s concept of beauty affect what a person believes to be art. |
| D．Art historians refer to today’s artistic period as the Modern era. |
According to the passage, art historians have classified these styles into ____ periods.
| A．7 | B．8 | C．10 | D．12 |
If the passage continues, the following paragraph will be probably about_________.
| A．Martin Creed’s winning works | B．Madonna’s outstanding art style |
| C．the status of Conceptualism | D．the conclusion of art |
Some people love eating food right after it is cooked. I prefer food just take out from the freezer. Fruit, candy, nuts, chocolate, cake with butter cream frosting(糖霜),even peas, all of them taste delicious when frozen. In fact, I often eat them that way.
I was a kid when I picked up the habit. In my family, lots of things were thrown into the freezer —finally, two freezers—to prevent them from going bad. Among them were some of the candies my sisters and I had collected on Halloween.
If we eat when they are still warm, we’ll find ourselves taking the cookies more than we should. It’s better if we can put them into the freezer and wait. That way we’ll eat less and enjoy them more because they are hard and chewing becomes a slower, more patient effort. That’s the point about frozen butter-cream frosting. Put it in your mouth at room temperature, and it’s gone very quickly. But when it’s frozen, you can enjoy the taste much longer as it melts(融化) in your mouth.
The freezer treats a lot of fruits kindly. Take frozen grapes for example, I keep a bowl of grapes in my freezer. They become a little icy, and somehow their sweetness is improved. They are perfect and healthy dessert(点心).This is the same with oranges, apples, bananas…You might think bananas would get super-hard when frozen. Wrong! They become cool, creamy and sweet. If you have wisely covered some or all of the bananas with melted chocolate before putting them into the freezer, they will have a double taste.
As long as you aren’t eating anything that truly has to be hot, go ahead and experiment. What is the passage intended to tell us ____________.
| A．Fruit should be frozen before one eats it. | B．Frozen food is better than hot food. |
| C．The author prefers frozen food. | D．Hot food is not healthy. |
The author began to enjoy frozen food when he _________.
| A．was young | B．learned cooking | C．got married | D．got a fever |
Why does the author NOT advise us to take hot cookies?
| A．Because they need more time to prepare. |
| B．Because the taste is not good when they are hot. |
| C．Because they are too delicious to avoid our overeating. |
| D．Because we may eat them quickly and enjoy them less. |
What does the underlined word “it” in the third paragraph refer to?
| A．The taste | B．Butter cream | C．The cookie | D．Frozen butter cream frosting |
Which of the following is the advice the author gives on eating fruit?
| A．Make bananas hard. | B．Keep grapes in a bowl. |
| C．Mix kinds of fruits together. | D．Add melted chocolate to bananas. |
On the day Apple debuted the often-delayed white-colored iPhone 4, the company's marke
ting department gave a nod to the product's troubled history．
"Finally．" read the big headline Thursday above a picture of the white phone on the homepage of Apple．com．
The white model was supposed to ship alongside the black one at the iPhone 4's launch（推出） last June．But design and manufacturing complications delayed the process by 10 months, catching Apple off guard, executives say．
As CNN reported last month, earlier
test models of the white iPhone 4 produced unclear photos, especially when the flash（闪光灯） was used．Its whiteness confused the proximity sensor （距离传感器） , which detects when the phone is held next to someone's head and turns off the touch screen to save battery life．
These problems weren't present in older iPhones that came in white because they didn't have flash photography; the proximity sensor was unaffected because the front side of previous models was black．
"We thought we were there a year ago, or less than that, when we launched the iPhone 4, and we weren't," Philip Schiller, Apple's chief marketing executive, said in an interview．"It's not as simple as making something white．There's a lot more that goes into both the material science of it —how it holds up over time…but also in how it all works with the sensors．"
Ticonderoga Securities analyst Brian White predicts that the white model could help drive sales of Apple's phones．He says Apple could sell 1 million to 1．5 million every three months until the next iPhone model is unveiled, which is expected to be this fall．
Forty-five people were lined up at Apple's flagship New York store Thursday morning to buy white iPhones, according to a CNN Money report．The reason why white-colored iPhone 4 was delayed by 10 months is that _______．
| A．it's always sold out due to its popularity |
| B．it met some problems concerning design and manufacture |
| C．it lacked white manufacturing materials |
| D．its proximity sensor can't save battery life |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
| A．There are multi-colored models of iPhone 4． |
| B．The same design problems were also found in older white iPhones． |
| C．IPhone4 will be launched this fall． |
| D．Originally designers thought they could solve the problems before iPhone 4 was launched． |
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Why the White iPhone 4 Took So Long |
| B．The History of iPhone 4 |
C．The Attraction of White iPhone 4 |
| D．The Design and Manufacture of iPhone 4 |
Annealing is a way of making metal softer by heating it and then letting it cool very slowly. If metal is heated and then cooled very quickly, for example by dipping (浸) it in water, it will be very hard but also very brittle (脆) —that is , it will break easily. Metal that has been annealed is soft but does not break as easily. It is possible to make metal as hard or as soft as is wished, by annealing it. The metal is heated, and allowed to cool slowly for a certain length of time. The longer the heated metal takes to cool slowly, the softer it becomes. Annealing can also be used on other materials, such as glass. Annealing can make metal
| A．hard and tough (韧). | B．hard but brittle. |
| C．soft but tough. | D．soft and brittle. |
Why do people put hot metal in water?
| A．To make it hard. | B．To make it soft. |
C．To ma ke it cool. |
D．To make it brittle. |
As suggested by the text, how ca
n glass be made less brittle?
| A．It can be heated and then cooled quickly. |
| B．It can be cooled and then heated slowly. |
| C．It can be heated and then cooled slowly. |
| D．It can be cooled and then heated quickly. |
These days no car show is complete without an electric car, and the 2011 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, US, which ran from January 10 to 23, was no exception.
Among the fully electric vehicles on display were the Ford Focus Electric and the Honda Fit EV. BMW and Volvo also had prominent displays at the show, proving that they can produce practical, yet spacious family-oriented electric cars.
Industry insiders at the show claimed that more efficient batteries, improved performance and greater consumer acceptance could make 2011 the “year of el
ectric car”.
It’s long been clear that electric cars score heavily for convenience. They are, for instance, much easier to maintain than gasoline-powered cars. When the battery runs out, you simply replace it or recharge it, just like you would for a cell phone or a laptop.
This is also a much cheaper method than filling your tank with gasoline. Better yet, electric cars don’t emit exhaust fumes. As a result, they don’t produce environmentally damaging greenhouse gases.
It appears that improved technology is making electric cars and their maintenance much more user-friendly. So, what are the obstacles which are preventing electric cars from becoming popular and fashionable?
Home charging for electric cars could be extremely convenient for users. However, it is also a potential obstacle. For a start, installing charging stations in owners’ homes will be a challenge, particularly for those who have to park several blocks away from their homes.
Also, charging the car’s battery still takes quite a long time. It may be some time yet before you can recharge an electric car in the same time as you can refill your gas tank.
Another problem is that many electric vehicles have limited ranges that may only allow for journeys of 50 miles (80 km) or less between charges. In cases where a driver wishes to charge the car primarily at home (perhaps overnight), this limits their daily driving to the range of their vehicle.
This may be one reason why hybrid cars are now becoming more popular. A hybrid car has more than one energy source, usually a traditional gasoline fuel tank and an electric battery. It’s like a more practical version of an electric car: It’s greener than a conventional vehicle, with fewer CO2 emissions, yet it also doubles as a conventional vehicle.
“I would say that hybrid is a transition to fully electronic,” Road and Track magazine editor Richard Horman told Detroit News during the show. “The trend is for lighter, smarter, more economical cars. Of course
, electronic vehicles are meant to be that way.”
This sounds promising, particularly in light of the fact that the show featured more electric cars from big manufacturers than ever before.
However, it seems that the technology associated with electric cars is not yet able to fully meet people’s expectations. Don’t expect gasoline-powered cars to disappear from roads just yet. What made electric cars more convenient?
| A．Easier maintenance. | B．High scores on the show. |
| C．Practicality and large space. | D．Much lower prices. |
Which of the following could NOT act as a potential obstacle of electric cars?
| A．It is rough work to install charging stations at home. |
| B．It is time-consuming to charge the batteries. |
| C．The ranges between charges are limited. |
| D．There’s no need to fill the tank with petrol. |
In Paragraph 10, the underlined word “hybrid” is probably closest in meaning to ________.
| A．gasoline | B．electric | C．combined | D．separated |
The writer’s purpose in writing this passage is to_________.
| A．introduce the 2011 Auto Show in US | B．get readers informed of electric cars |
| C．comment on different types of cars | D．advertise for electric cars |
Temperature is measured by means of a thermometer (温度计). One general form of thermometer depends upon the fact that most solids and liquids expand as their temperature rises. There are one or two exceptions. There is, for instance, a kind of steel called invar (from “invariable”) which does not change its dimensions as temperature changes; it is valuable for making pendulums (钟摆), since, if the length of a pendulum changes, its time of vibration changes. It is also used for making very accurate measuring scales. In both cases, then, changes of atmospheric temperature have no effect if invar is used.
Another exception is that very odd liquid, water, which has many strange properties (特性). As water gets colder it contracts (收缩), which is ordinary behavior, until it reaches the temperature of 30℃. above freezing point. After that, as it gets colder, it expands. This is fortunate---for considering the freezing of a pond. As the water on top gets colder, it shrinks; and so, volume for volume, it becomes heavier and sinks. This goes on until all the pond is at 30℃, but after that, as the water becomes colder it expands. Therefore the colder water stays on top and freezes, covering the pond with ice. If the water went on contracting down to the freezing point, the pond would become a solid block of ice in the end. This would not worry people who live in hot climates, but it would be very serious for those who live in cold climates, especially for those who want to break the ice and catch fish which live in the cold water beneath. Invar is valuable for making pendulums because _______.
| A．it can hardly change its shape or size as temperature changes. |
| B．it will change its dimensions without the change of temperature. |
| C．its time of vibration doesn’t change if its length changes. |
| D．its time of vibration does not change if its length changes. |
As water gets colder after reaching the temperature of 30℃. it will _______.
| A．contract | B．shrink | C．expand | D．freeze |
Which of the following statements is true, according to this passage?
| A．Only invar can be used to make a thermometer. |
| B．Only water can be used to make a thermometer. |
| C．Both invar and water can be used to make a thermometer. |
| D．Neither invar nor water can be used to make a thermometer. |
The best title of this passage is most likely to be _____.
| A．Temperature Measurement | B．Two Exceptions |
| C．Uses of Invar | D．Properties of Water |
While drunken driving may be on the decline, traffic safety experts remain puzzled over how to deal with another alcohol related danger: drunken pedestrains.
Pedestrians struck and killed by cars often are extremely drunk. In fact, they are intoxicated(喝醉的) more frequently and with higher blood alcohol levels than drunken drivers who are killed in accidents, various studies have shown. Forty percent of adult pedestrians involved in fatal crashes have a blood alcohol level of at least 0.10 which by law in most states signifies intoxication compared to only 25 percent of drivers in deadly accidents, according to recent federal data.
Some types of pedestrain accidents have been declining nationally, especially those involving children, but the number of adult pedestrians who are drunk when killed in traffic has remained relatively steady at 2500 a year. The total number of pedestrians killed annually in U.S. traffic accidents is at least 7000, or one of every seven highway accidents resulting in death.
“We’re dealing here, we think, with a very severe drinking problem that leads to a severe highway safety problem,” said Richard Blomberg, president of Dunlap and Associates Inc, in Norwalk, Coon.
Blomberg, whose consulting company found a very high rate of alcohol i
nvolvement in a controlled study of pedestrian accidents in New Orleans, was among several researchers who spoke on the topic at the annual meeting of the Research council’s Transportation Research Board(TRB) in Washington in January.
Pedestrian accidents have not received enough attention in the past, according to Kay Colpitts, who chair
s the board’s committee on pedestrians. Few methods exist to monitor walking habits, she said, and researchers have been mystified（迷惑不解） about how to prevent disasters.Which of the following would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Traffic Safety. | B．Drunken Drivers |
| C．Drunken Pedestrian Accidents. | D．A Severe Highway Safety Problem. |
Among the causes of walkers’ accidents, the most serious problem is .
| A．long delays in traffic signals that may make people cross streets ignoring traffic rules |
| B．alcohol |
| C．a lack of adult keeping eyes on many children involved in accidents |
| D．former drunken drivers whose licenses are not allowed to use for a time |
According to recent federal data, drunken drivers with an over 0.10 blood alcohol level in deadly accidents .
| A．are 15 percent less than drunken adult walkers with the same level |
| B．are 2500 a year |
| C．are at least 7000 in US traffic accidents |
| D．make up one seventh of highway accidents |
According to the passage, what is Blomberg?
| A．A researcher. |
| B．A specialist in traffic safety. |
| C．A clerk of a consulting company. |
| D．A government official |
One of the most widely accepted, commonly repeated assumptions (假设) in our culture is that if you exercise, you will lose weight. I exercise all the time, but I still have got fat that hangs over my belt when I sit. Why isn’t all the exercise getting rid of it?
It’s a question many of us could ask. More than 45 million Americans now belong to a health club, up from 23 million in 1993. We spend some $19 billion a year on gym memberships. Of course, some people join and never go. Still, as one major study — the Minnesota Heart Survey — found, more of us at least say we exercise regularly.
And yet obesity (肥胖) figures have risen sharply in the same period: a third of Americans are obese, and another third count as overweight by the Federal Government’s definition. Yes, it’s entirely possible that those of us who regularly go to the gym would weigh even more if we exercised less. But like many other people, I get hungry after I exercise, so I often eat more on the days I work out than on the days I don’t. Could exercise actually be keeping me from losing weight?
The popular belief that exercise is essential for weight control is actually fairly new. As recently as the 1960s, doctors routinely advised against too much exercise, particularly for older adults who could injure
themselves. Today doctors encourage even their oldest patients to exercise, which is sound advice for many reasons: People who regularly exercise are at significantly lower risk for all manner of diseases — those of the heart in particular. They less often develop cancer and many other illnesses. But the past few years of obesity research show that the role of exercise in weight loss has been wildly over-evaluated.
“In general, for weight loss, exercise is pretty useless,” says Eric Ravussin, exercise researcher at Louisiana State University. Many recent studies have found that exercise isn’t as important in helping people lose weight as you hear so regularly in gym advertisements or on shows like The Biggest Loser — or from magazines like this one. From the passage we learn that ____.
| A．some Americans join a health club but never go there |
| B．the number of overweight people has doubled since 1993 |
| C．more than 45 million Americans now go to the gym regularly |
| D．Americans waste too much money each year on sports |
According to the passage, exercise ____.
| A．has long been believed to be good for older adults |
| B．is not properly advertised as an effective way to lose weight |
| C．was first recognized as an effective way to lose weight in the 1960s |
| D．is less effective in preventing heart disease than what doctors believe |
According to the writer, people might gain weight because ____.
| A．they have the habit of going to the gym regularly |
| B．they eat the same food when they do not exercise |
| C．they exercise less than required by doctors |
| D．they eat more after they exercise |
What may be the best title for this passage?
| A．Overweight Is Not Good for Your Health |
| B．Exercise Won’t Make You Thin |
| C．Gym Is Part of American Lifestyle |
D．Obesity Is a Social Problem in America |
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of areas for burying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to connect packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But it also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realise just how much unnecessary material we are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb.What does the underlined phrase “that over-consumption” refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging. |
| B．Recycling too many wastes. |
| C．Making more products than necessary. |
| D．Having more material than is needed. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste |
| B．the fact of packaging overuse |
| C．the rapid growth of supermarkets |
| D．the increase of packaging recycling |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Unpackaged products are of bad quality. |
| B．Supermarkets care more about packaging. |
| C．It is improper to judge quality by packaging. |
| D．Other products are better packaged than food. |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Needless material is mostly recycled. |
| B．Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
| C．People like collecting recyclable waste. |
| D．The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
When you have a question about something, where do you go? For many people the answer is simple as they can go online to a search engine like Google or Yahoo. But what about people in rural or underdeveloped areas who may have no way to get on the Internet?
A business and international development professor in California, Rose Shuman, found an answer for them: Question Box. Question Box is a service that provid
es answers---free of charge--- for people who cannot search the Internet directly. The users of Questions Box might be those who might not be 
able to read, or simply have no access to the Internet.
Question Box began three years ago in India. People used a metal call box with a push-to-talk button to connect a live operator. Rose Schuman explained,” You just need to push a big green button on the box which will connect you directly to our operators who are sitting in front of computers, and speak your language. You can ask them any sort of question you want, and they’ll look it up in English or in Hindi, or whatever the main language is, and translate the answer back for you.”
The service is currently offered in two villages. The latest version of the box uses mobile phone technology, and solar panels in case the electrical power fails. Rose Shuman says the aim was to make the box as easy as possible for users, “It is very efficient (效率高的). Rather than try to bring a lot of difficulties to them and expect them to spend a lot of time to learn how to use the Internet, the idea was to make a technology that even Grandma could use.”
In April 2009, Question Box was introduced to Uganda. Forty community workers with mobile phones connected villagers to call center operators in Kampala. The community workers went around telling people about the service. They wore T-shirts that said “Ask me.” But Internet service in Uganda proved slow and undependable. So Question Box teamed up with a local technology company to store information on a local server. That way, the researchers in Kampala could quickly search the database for answers. The best title for the passage is __________.
| A．Question Box ----taking the place of the Internet |
| B．Needing an answer? ----asking Question Box |
| C．Question Box ----A great invention in the world |
D．Rose Shuman----- A professor helping the poor |
In Rose Schuman’s opinion, the greatest advantage of Question Box is that______.
| A．It is the most advanced in the world |
| B．It is more convenient to carry. |
| C．It is much easier to use |
| D．it saves much more energy |
The underlined word “them” in the fourth paragraph refers to______.
| A．the users | B．the operators |
| C．the researchers | D．Question Box workers |
What can we know from the passage?
| A．Question Box costs the users much less than the Internet. |
| B．Question Box operators can look for information in any language. |
| C．Question Box is more efficient in solving problems in underdeveloped areas. |
| D．Question Box can work without the help of the Internet in Uganda. |
Sure, human dads can play games with their kids and help with homework, but can they give birth? Daddy sea horses can! This Father’s Day, while you’re praising your daddy, you may also remember that some of the best dads in the world can be found in the animal kingdom:
Sea horses: The “Mr. Moms” in the sea, male sea horses, carry up to 2,000 fertilized
eggs in small bags in their stomachs until they hatch. Even after the babies are born, they stay inside the bag until they are ready to live by themselves.
Darwin’s rheas: Thought your dad was overprotective? Darwin’s rheas, also known as South American ostriche
s (鸵鸟), are so protective of their children that they have even been known to attack small airplanes on the grou
nd if they get too close to their home!
Marmosets: These little monkeys do everything but give lectures on how to give birth! Devoted dads assist during their babies’ birth. They also let Mom get some rest by taking care of the kids when she’s not nursing them.
Sand grouse: These pigeon-like birds live in areas where water is rare, so fathers fly as many as 50 miles to get water for their kids. After they dip their breast feathers in the water, they fly home and let their chicks suck the water from their bodies.
Fathers in the animal kingdom are not that different from our own beloved dads. This Father’s Day, when you are honoring your dad, honor animal dads, to
o, by practicing kindness toward all animals. The underlined “they” in paragraph 2 refers to .
| A．fertilized eggs | B．their stomachs | C．male sea horses | D．baby sea horses |
According to the passage, which animal is the most protective?
| A．A sea horse | B．A Darwin’s rhea | C．A marmoset | D．A san grouse |
The passage mainly tells readers .
A．how clever an d brave animals are |
| B．how to honor animal dads on Father’s Day |
| C．animal dads are different from human dads |
| D．some interesting facts about male animals |
If you want to fully enjoy your vacation, then you’d better check the Durban City Tours! This is actually one of the best choices in South Africa today.
There is nothing more relaxing than to think about it that there is a place to go and relax, right? City life is stressful, but you can escape this situation and be in the place where there is noting but fun. Here in Durban you will get to see all the amazing tourist attractions. If you love animals and want to see some elephants wandering around the streets, then Durban is the place to go. You can even get to ride one if you want!
Here you will also get to taste all the delicious South African food. You can choose from Italian cooking to its native dishes. Durban is a great place to tour with your friends and family. You will learn a lot about its history through th
e landmarks you will see down the streets. Tourists and even the local villagers just can’t get enough of these treats!
However, it is important that you make the necessary arrangements. There are actually lots of tour guides that will help you as you make your journey along the streets of Durban. But if you prefer the best tour guides here in Durban, then you’d better settle for the Street Scene Tours. Their staff are all well-trained and professional. Th
ey will certainly make your stay here an unforgettable one. No wonder tourists prefer the Street Scene Tours when it comes to Durban City Tours.What is the main idea of Paragraph 2?
| A．Durban is a relaxing city. |
| B．City life means high pressure. |
| C．It is good to have a place to relax. |
| D．One can have fun riding elephants. |
If you walk in the stre
et of Durban, what will impress you most?
| A．Tourists from all over the world. |
| B．The buildings and many kinds of animals. |
| C．The streets and some wandering elephants. |
| D．The friendly local people and the scenery. |
. What does the last sentence in Paragraph 3 show?
| A．The food can’t satisfy them. |
| B．They are bored with the streets. |
| C．They are treated very well here. |
| D．They never get tired of the sights. |
The author wrote the last paragraph mainly to .
| A．attract tourists to Durban |
| B．help readers make arrangement |
| C．introduce the tour guides in Durban |
| D．persuade tourists to choose the Street Scene Tours |
What makes it rain? Rain falls from clouds for the same reason anything falls to Earth. The Earth's gravity pulls it. But every cloud is made of water droplets or ice crystal(冰晶). Why doesn't rain or snow fall constantly from all clouds? The droplets or ice crystals in clouds are extremely small. The effect of gravity on them is slight. Air currents move and lift droplets so that the net downward amount of water is zero, even though the droplets are moving constantly.
It can be seen that droplets and ice crystals behave somewhat like dust in the air in a beam of sunlight. To the casual observer, dust seems to act in a totally random fashion, moving about
without fixed direction. But in fact dust particles（分子） are much larger than water droplets and they finally fall. The average size of a cloud droplet is only 0.0004 inch in diameter（直径）. It is so small that it would take sixteen hours to fall half a mile in perfectly still air, and 
it
doesn't fall out of moving air at all. Only when the droplet grows to a diameter of 0.008 inch or larger can it fall from the cloud. The average raindrop contains a million times as much water as a tiny cloud droplet. The growth of a cloud droplet to a size larger eno
ugh to fall out is the cause of rain and other forms of precipitation. This important growth process is called "coalescence". Ice crystals do NOT immediately fall to Earth because .
| A．they are kept up by air currents |
| B．most of them change into steam |
| C．they combine with other chemicals in the atmosphere |
| D．their electrical charges draw them away from the earth |
The underlined word "random" in line 10 most probably means .
| A．unpredictable | B．strict | C．independent | D．abnormal |
What can be inferred about drops of water larger than 0.008 inch in diameter?
| A．They never occur. |
| B．They are not affected by the force of gravity. |
| C．In moving air they would fall to earth. |
| D．In still air they fall a speed of thirty-two miles per hour. |
How much bigger is the rain drop than a loud droplet?
| A．200 times bigger |
| B．1,000 times bigger |
| C．100,000 times bigger |
| D．1,000,000 times bigger |
Why are so many people so afraid of failure? Quite simple because no one tells us how to fail so that failure becomes an experience that will lead to growth. We forget that failure is part of the human condition and that every person has the right to fail.
Most parents work hard at either preventing failure or protecting their children from the knowledge that they have failed. One way is to lower standards. A mother describes her child’s hastily made table as “Perfect!” even though it doesn’t stand 
still. Another way is to shift(转移)blame. If John fails science, his teacher is unfair or stupid.
The trouble with failure prevention is that they leave a child unequipped for life in the real world. The young need to learn that no one can be best at everything, no one can win all the time and that it’s possible to enjoy 
a game even when you don’t win. A child who’s not invited to a birthday party, who doesn’t make the honour roll on the baseball team, feels terrible, of course. But parents should not offer a quick comfort, prize or say “It doesn’t matter.” because it does. The young should be allowed to experience disappointment and be helped to master it.
Failure is never pleasurable. It hurts grownups and children alike. But it can make a positive contribution to your life once you learn to use it. Step one is to ask “Why did it fail? Don’t blame someone else. Ask yourself what you did wrong, how you can improve. If someone else can help, don’t be shy about inquiring. Success, which encourages repetition of old behaviour, is not nearly as good a teacher as failure. You can learn from a bad party how to give a good one, from an ill-chosen first house what to look for in a second. Even a failure that seems definitive can cause fresh thinking, a change of direction. After twelve years of studying ballet, a friend of mine applied for a professional company. She asked. That ballet master shook his head. “You will never be a dancer,” he said,” you haven’t the body for it.”
In such cases, the way to use failure is to take stock bravely asking “What have I left? What else can I do?” My friend put away her shoes and moved into dance treatment center, a field where she’s both able and useful. Failure frees one to take risks because there’s less to lose. Often there is recovery of energy — a way to find new possibilities. The first paragraph tells us ______.
| A．failure is very natural for every person |
| B．the reason why we don’t know how to fail |
| C．the reason why so many people are afraid of failure |
| D．one should be ready to face failure at any time |
How many preventions may parents use when a child fails according to the passage?
| A．only two | B．no more than three | C．less than three | D．more than three |
Which statement below does the writer support?
A．Failure is as good an experience as success. |
| B．Failure is the mother of success. |
| C．Failure is far from a good teacher like success. |
| D．Definitive failure gives us nothing but fresh thinking. |
We can learn from the last paragraph that _______.
| A．failure is the recovery of energy |
| B．failure makes one free to do something dangerous |
| C．failure should be forgotten in our life |
| D．failure is likely to do us good in life |
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