A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces (熔炉) that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.
The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.
After the explosion gravity pulls in what’s left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so dense that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.
The more the star shrinks, the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is unbelievably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!
That’s what we know about black holes. What we don’t know is this: What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.
But if the black hole doesn’t keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world. They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a “white hole” in a different universe. As the black hole swallows light, the white hole shines brightly—somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time — many years in the past or future.
Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed. So far the time being, black hole must remain a mystery.
Black holes are a mystery—but that hasn’t stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth’s energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste—a sort of huge waste disposal(处理) in the sky!When the star begins to die ______.
| A．there is no fuel left in it | B．its outer layer goes into space first |
| C．a huge explosion will happen | D．it doesn’t give off light any longer |
Which of the following doesn’t help produce a black hole?
| A．The gravity inside the star is very strong. | B．The light can’t go out of the star. |
| C．The star becomes smaller and smaller | D．The dying star shines very brightly. |
The black hole ______.
| A．continues becoming smaller and smaller all the time |
| B．goes into another universe and becomes a white hole |
| C．can pull in everything we know of in the world |
| D．will appear at another place at a different time |
What’s the best title for this passage?
| A．A New Scientific Discovery: Black Holes |
| B．How Do Black Holes Come Into Being? |
| C．What Are Black Holes? |
| D．Travel Through A Black Hole |
The famous director of a big and expensive movie planned to film a beautiful sunset over the ocean, so that the audience could see his hero and heroine in front of it at the end of the film as they said goodbye to each other for ever. He sent camera team out one evening to film the sunset for him.
The next morning he said to the men, “Have you provided me with that sunset?”
“No, Sir,” the men answered.
The director was angry. “Why no
t?” he asked.
“Well,” one of the men answered, “we are on the east coast here, and the sun sets in the west. We can get you a sunrise over the sea, if necessary, but not a sunset.”
“But I want a sunset!” the director shouted. “Go to the airport, take the next flight to the west coast, and get one.”
But then a young secretary had an idea. “Why don’t you photograph a sunrise,” she suggested, “and then play it backwards, Then it’ll look like a sunset.” “That’s a very good idea!” the director said. Then he turned to the camera team and said, “Tomorrow morning I want you to get me a beautiful sunrise over the sea.”
The cam
era team went out early the next morning and filmed a bright sunrise over the beach in the middle of a beautiful bay. Then at nine o’clock they took it to the director. “Here it is, Sir,” they said, and give it to him. He was very pleased.
They all went into the studio. “All right,” the director explained, “now our hero and heroine are going to say goodbye. Run the film backwards so that we can see the sunset behind them.”
The “sunset” began, but after a quarter of a minute, the 
director suddenly put his face in his hands and shouted to the camera team to stop. The birds in the film were flying backwards away from the beach.One evening, the director sent his camera team out ______.
| A．to watch a beautiful sunset. |
| B．to find an actor and an actress. |
| C．to film a scene on the sea. |
| D．to meet the audience. |
Why did the director want to send his team to the west coast?
| A．Because he changed his mind about getting a sunset |
| B．Because he was angry about his team |
| C．Because it was his secretary’s suggestion |
| D．Because he wanted to get a scene of sunset |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The team followed the secretary’s advice. |
| B．If you want to see a sunrise, the east coast is a place to go to. |
| C．The camera team wasn’t able to film the scene the first day. |
| D．The director ordered his team to stop filming the “sunset” |
The director wanted to film a sunset over the ocean because _____.
| A．it went well with the separation of the hero and heroine |
| B．when they arrived at the beach it was already in the evening |
| C．it was more moving than a sunrise |
| D．the ocean looked more than a sunrise |
After the “sunset” began, the director suddenly put his face in his hands _____.
| A．because he was moved to tears |
| B．as he saw everything in the film moving backwards |
| C．as the sunrise did not look as beautiful as he had imagined |
| D．because he was disappointed with the performance of the hero and the heroine |
Twenty-first century humanity has mapped oceans and mountains, visited the moon, and surveyed the planets. But for all the progress, people still don’t know one another very well.
That brings about Theodore Zeldin’s “feast of conversation”－events where individuals pair with persons they don’t know for three hours of guided talk designed to get the past “Where are you from?”
Mr.Zeldin, an Oxford University professor, heads Oxford Muse, a 10-year-old foundation based on the idea that what people need is not more information, but more inspiration and encouragement.
The “feast” in London looks not at politics or events, but at how people have felt about work, relations among the sexes, hopes and fears, enemies and authority, the shape of their lives. The “menu of conversation” includes topics like “How have your priorities changed over the years?” Or, “What have you rebelled against the past?”
As participants gathered, Zeldin opened with a speech: that despite instant communications in a globalized age, issues of human heart remain. Many people are lonely, or in routines that discourage knowing the depth of one another. “We are trapped in shallow conversations and the whole point now is to think, which is sometimes painful,” he says. “But thinking interaction is what separates us from other species, except maybe dogs…who do have generations of human interactions.”
The main rules of the “feast”: Don’t pair with someone you know or ask questions you would not answer. The only awkward moment came when the multi-racial crowd of young adults to seniors, in sun hats, ties and dresses, looked to see whom with for hours. But 15 minutes later, everyone was seated and talking, continuing full force until organizers interrupted them 180 minutes later.
“It’s encouraging to see the world is not just a place of oppression and distance from each other,” Zeldin summed up. “What we did is not ordinary, but it can’t be madder than the world already is.”
Some said they felt “liberated” to talk on sensitive topics. Thirty-something Peter, from East London, said that “it might take weeks or months to get to the level of interaction we suddenly opened up.” What can the “conversations” be best described as?
| A．Deep and one-on-one. | B．Sensitive and mad. |
| C．Instant and inspiring. | D．Ordinary and encouraging. |
In a “feast of conversations”, participants ______.
| A．pair freely with anyone they like |
| B．have a guided talk for a set of period of time |
| C．ask questions they themselves would not answer |
| D．wear clothes reflecting multi-racial features. |
From the passage, we can conclude that what Zeldin does is ______.
| A．an attempt to promote thinking interaction |
| B．one of the maddest activities ever conducted |
| C．a try to liberate people from old-fashioned ideas |
| D．an effort to give people a chance of talking freely |
American beekeeping operations have been hit hard by what scientists call Colony Collapse Disorder. Almost half of their worker bees have disappeared during the past season. C.C.D. has also been reported in Israel, Europe and South America. Bees fly away from the hive and never return. Sometimes they are found dead; other times they are never found. Many crops and trees depend on pollination （授粉） by bees to help them grow.
A new report says virus may be at least partly responsible for the disorder in honey bee colonies in the United States. This virus is called Israeli Acute Paralysis Virus. It was first identified in Israel in 2004. Ian Lipkin at Columbia University in New York and a team reported the new findings in Science magazine. Doctor Lipkin says the virus may not be the only cause. He says it may work with other causes to produce the collapse disorder.
The team found the virus in colonies with the help of a map of honey bee genes that was published last year. They examined thirty colonies affected by the disorder. They found evidence of the virus in twenty – five of them, and in one healthy colony. The next step is further testing of healthy hives.
The researchers suggested that the United States may have imported the disorder in bees from Australia. They say the bees ma
y carry the virus but not be affected.
The idea is that unlike many American bees, the ability of Australian bees to fight disease has not been hurt by the varroa mite. This insect attacks honey bees, which could make the disorder more likely to affect a hive. Australian bee producers reject these suspicions.
And some researchers suspect that bee production in the United States is down mainly because of the weather. Honey bees gather nectar（花蜜） from flowers and trees. The sweet liquid gives them food and material to make honey. But cold weather this spring in the Midwest reduced the flow of nectar in many flowers. Many bees may have starved. Dry weather in areas of the country could also be playing a part.
Wayne Esaias is a NASA space agency scientist who keeps bees in his free time. He lives in central Maryland, where he has found that flowers are blooming a month earlier than they did in 1970, which may be partly responsible for the disorder. Wayne Esaias is organizing a group of beekeepers to document nectar flow around the country. What is the author’s attitude to the causes of the bee disorder?
| A．critical | B．neutral |
| C．supportive | D．negative |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．American beekeeping industry has been strongly influenced by the bee disorder. |
| B．Studies are being carried out on the causes of the bee disorder, but questions remain. |
| C．How the causes of the bee disorder in U.S have been found. |
| D．The bee production in U.S is down. |
How many possibilities may be involved in the bee disorder according to the passage?
| A．Three | B．Four | C．Five | D．Six |
We can infer that from the passage.
| A．Israeli acute paralysis virus should be responsible for the disorder. |
| B．The solution to the disorder will be found eventually. |
| C．American bees are more likely to defend themselves against hurt from other insects than Australian ones. |
| D．Many crop and plant production in U.S may be influenced by the bee disorder. |
If you don’t have a college degree, you’re at greater risk of developing memory problems or even Alzheimer’s (老年痴呆). Education plays a key role in lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder, and it's well documented that those with a college degree possess a cognitive（认知的） advantage over those less educated in middle and old age.
Now, a large national study from Brandeis University published in the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry shows that those with less schooling can significantly make up for poorer education by frequently engaging in mental exercises such as word games, puzzles, reading, and lectures.
“The lifelong benefits of higher education for memory in later life are quite impressive, but we do not clearly understand how and why these effects last so long,” said lead author Margie Lachman, a psychologist. She suggested that higher education may encourage lifelong interest in cognitive efforts, while those with less education may not engage as frequently in mental exercises that help keep the memory agile (敏捷地).
But education early in adulthood does not appear to be the only route to maintain your memory. The study found that intellectual activities undertaken regularly made a difference. “Among individuals with low education, those who are engaged in reading, writing, attending lectures, doing word games or puzzles once a week or more had memory scores similar to people with more education,” said Lachman.
The study, called Midlife in the United States, assessed 3,343 men and women between the ages of 32 and 84 with an average age of 56 years. Almost 40 percent of the participants had at least a 4-year college degree. The researchers evaluated how the participants performed in two cognitive areas, verbal (言语的)memory and executive function --- brain processes involved in planning, abstract thinking and cognitive flexibility. Participants were given a series of tests, including tests of verbal fluency, word recall, and backward counting.
As expected, those with higher education said they engaged in cognitive activities more often and also did better on the memory tests, but some with lower education also did well, explained Lachman.
“The findings are promising because they suggest there may be ways to level the playing field for those with lower educational achievement, and protect those at greatest risk for memory declines,” said Lachman. “Although we can not rule out the possibility that those who have better memories are the ones who take on more activities, the evidence is consistent with cognitive plasticity (可塑性), and suggests some degree of personal control over cognitive functioning in adulthood by adopting an intellectually active lifestyle.” What is the text mainly about?
| A．Higher education has a better cognitive advantage. |
| B．Better memories result from college degree. |
| C．Cognitive activity does good to one’s mind. |
| D．Poor education has more risk of memory declines. |
According to the result of Margie Lachman’s study, we can conclude that ________.
| A．education is responsible for the lifelong memory performance and risk for mental disorder |
| B．education early in adulthood can be the only route to maintain your memory |
| C．those with higher education did better on the memory tests than those with lower education |
| D．an intellectually active lifestyle does help to maintain your memory |
What do we know about the study called Midlife?
| A．Participants each were given a battery to test their memory. |
| B．The average age of the participants are 56 years old. |
| C．Participants had to perform in one of the two cognitive areas. |
| D．One in four of the participants had a 4-year college degree. |
Why are the findings of the Lac
hman’s study promising?
| A．The lower educated may have the same opportunities to keep up memory. |
| B．We may have ways to cure the people who have memory declines. |
| C．Adopting a different lifestyle can control cognitive functioning. |
| D．We can find out the possibility to have better memories. |
I was walking along the main street of a small seaside town in the north of England looking for somewhere to make a phone call. My car had broken down outside the town and I wanted to contact the AA Company. Low grey clouds were gathering across the sky and there was a cold damp wind blowing off the sea which nearly threw me off my feet every time I crossed one of the side streets. It had rained in 
the night and water was dripping from the bare trees that lined the street. I was glad that I was wearing a thick coat.
There was no sign of a call box, nor was there anyone at that early hour whom I could ask. I had thought I might find a shop open selling the Sunday papers or a milkman doing his rounds, but the town was completely dead. The only living thing I saw was a thin frightened cat outside a small restaurant.
Then suddenly I found what I was looking for. There was a small post office, and almost hidden from sight in a dark narrow street. Next to it was the town’s only public call box, which badly needed a coat of paint. I hurried forward, but stopped in astonishment when I saw through the dirty glass that there was a man inside. He was 
fat, and was wearing a cheap blue plastic raincoat. I could not see his face and he didn’t raise his head at the sound of my footsteps.
Carefully, I remained standing a few feet away and lit a cigarette to wait for my turn. It was when I threw the dead match on the ground that I noticed something bright red trickling from under the box call door At what time was the story set?
| A．An early winter morning | B．A cold winter afternoon |
| C．An early summer morning | D．A windy summer afternoon |
Which of the following words best describe the writer’s impression of the town?
| A．cold and frightening | B．dirty and crowded |
C．empty and dead |
D．unusual and unpleasant |
The underlined word “ trickling” in the last paragraph means_______________
| A．rushing out suddenly | B．shining brightly |
| C．flowing slowly in drops | D．appearing slowly |
Why didn’t the man raise his head when the writer came near?
| A．He was annoyed at being seen by the writer. |
| B．He was angry at being disturbed by the writer. |
| C．He was probably fast asleep. |
| D．He was probably murdered. |