E
Many do-it-yourself homeowners are interested in 
trying out solar power to leam about the technology and
perhaps to provide energy for limited-use applications．
There are a variety of ways to find cheap solar panels
（板）, including buying used and building your own
with factory seconds．Both methods will save money
while forcing you to learn the ins-and-outs of a solar
power array （阵列）．
We've all seen solar-powered street signs or PV
panels being used for various purposes at remote locations．
When those units become cracked or chipped and are considered "unsafe", companies are forced to replace them, generally to avoid responsibility issues．Because it's difficult to get rid of PV panels, many companies, if approached, are willing to give them away or to sell them for modest prices．Depending on the degree of damage present, expect to see performance degradation （降级） in the range of 10% to 60%．A multimeter （万用表） can be used to test the panel before buying．If the panel's free, take it anyway．It could still be useful in a home solar project．
A solar panel is really nothing but a box serving as a container for a large group of solar cells．Factory second solar cells are usually sold on eBay at a small part of their regular cost．The cells come in a variety of sizes．You will need to figure out how much power a single cell produces to determine how many will need to be wired together to form an array．
A simple search of the Internet will show numerous sites detailing home solar panel projects．Do-it-yourself lovers are generally quite generous in supply photographs of their work and description of what went wrong and right with the project．
Getting cheap solar panels with slight imperfections, either used or through sales of factory seconds, is a perfect solution for home-built renewable energy projects．The high number of solar lovers online provide a wealth of useful information．Only limited skills are required, plus an understanding of the basic wiring involved．All are well within the talents of almost any home handyman．Beyond the satisfaction of having completed the project, you'll come away with a functional solar panel that will be a source of power for use around the house or at remote locations．
Solar energy systems are quickly becoming more popular with homeowners as prices continue to decline．
72．The author writes the passage to introduce ____．
A．ways of finding cheap solar panels B．ways of saving energy
C．a way of making a solar panel D．a home-built energy system
73．What does the phrase "factory seconds" in the passage refer to?
A．Second-hand factory products． B．Cheap but perfect factory products
C．Faulty factory solar cells． D．The second best factory solar cells
74．From Paragraph 5, we can learn about home-built energy projects that ____．
A．none of them are beyond home handymen
B．a lot of useful information is available on the Internet
C．a perfect solution is to get cheap and perfect solar panels
D．understanding electrical wiring is not necessarily needed
75．What is the author's attitude towards the future of solar energy systems?
A．Optimistic． B．Pessimistic. C．Indifferent． D．Doubtful
For 52 years my father got up at 5:30 am every morning, went to work, and returned home at 5:30 pm. I never saw my father stayed home from work ill, nor did I ever see my father lay down to take a nap. He had no hobbies, other than taking care of his family. All he asked from me, his daughter, was to help him while he was repairing something, so we could have some time to talk.
For 22 years, after I left home for college, my father called me at 9:00 am every Sunday. Nine years ago when I bought my first house, my father, 67 years old, spent eight hours a day for three days in the 80-degree Kansas heat, painting my house. He would not allow me to pay someone to have it done. All he asked for was a glass of iced tea. Five years ago, at age 71, my father spent five hours putting together a swing set for my daughter. Four years ago, my father drove all the way from Denver to Topeka, with an eight-foot Colorado Blue Spruce （云杉） in his truck, so that we could have a part of Colorado growing on our land.
On the morning of January 16, 1996, my sister telephoned me; my father was in the hospital with an aneurysm（动脉瘤） in Florida. I got on an airplane immediately, and on the way I realized that I hadn’t communicated with him as much as I’d always wanted to. I vowed（发誓） that when I arrived, I would have a long talk with him. I arrived in Florida at 1 am, only to find that my father, at the age of 76, had passed away at 9:12 pm. This time it was he who did not have time to talk, or time to wait for me.
1. From the first paragraph we can infer that the author’s father ______.
A. was a good driverB. was in good health
C. sometimes fell ill D. had no hobbies
2. The underlined phrase “other than” in the first paragraph can be replaced by “______”.
A. except B. includingC. without D. due to
3. According to the last paragraph, we can know that the author’s father was born in ______.
A. 1916 B. 1918 C. 1920D. 1922
4. The author wrote the article in order to ______.
A. praise her fatherB. remember her father
C. show her father loved her D. let her father be known
第三部分阅读理解（共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分）
Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in October as a day to make someone happy. It is an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, the aged, and children who have lost their parents, but also friends, workmates, relatives and neighbors whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed.
Over 60 years ago, when a Cleveland man noticed that some people, such as children who lost their parents and patients who lay in bed, too often felt forgotten and neglected, he developed in his mind the idea of showing them that they were remembered. He did this by giving them small gifts. With the help of his friends and neighbors, he gave those people small gifts on a Saturday in October. During the years that followed, other Clevelanders began to take part in the celebration, which came to be called “Sweetest Day”. Over time, the Sweetest Day idea of spreading cheer to the poor, the sick and children who had lost their parents was broadened to include everyone, and became an occasion for remembering others with a kind act or a small gift. Soon the idea spread to other cities all over the USA.
Sweetest Day is not based on any single group’s religious （宗教的） beliefs or on a family relationship. It is a reminder that a thoughtful word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning.
Because for many people remembering takes the form of gift giving, Sweetest Day offers us the opportunity to show others that we care, in a positive way.
1. What can we learn from the first paragraph?
A. Sweetest Day is a day to make others happy.
B. Sweetest Day is just an occasion to care about disabled people.
C. Sweetest Day is an occasion for lovers to express love.
D. Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Sunday in October.
2. Which of the following has little relationship to Sweetest Day?
A. Visiting sick people of the hospital.
B. Visiting children who have lost their parents.
C. Giving friends small gifts.
D. Giving flowers to sweethearts.
3. What is Cleveland?
A. An island. B. A country.
C. A village in England. D. A city in America.
4. What do most people usually do to show their care to others according to the passage?
A. They give money. B. They give gifts.
C. They send regards. D. They offer help.
5. The underlined word “neglected” in the second paragraph means “______”.
A. remembered B. hated
C. paid little or no attention toD. disappointed
Traveling can be a way to gain life experiences, especially during Spring Break — a week long school vacation in the United States. But what if you’re a student and don’t have enough money for a trip? Don’t worry. Here are some useful suggestions.
●Save: This probably is the most important preparation for traveling. Cut expenses to fatten your wallet so you’ll have more choices about where to go and how to get there.
●Plan ahead: Don’t wait until the last minute to plan your trip. Tickets may cost more when bought on short notice. Giving yourself several months to get ready can mean security(安全) and savings.
●Do your homework: No matter where you go, research the places you will visit. Decide what to see. Travel books will provide information on the cheapest hotels and restaurants.
●Plan sensibly: Write down what you expect to spend for food and hotels. Stick to your plan or you may not have enough money to cover everything.
●Travel in groups: Find someone who is interested in visiting the same places. By traveling with others you can share costs and experiences.
●Work as you go: Need more money to support your trip? Look for work in the places you visit.
●Go off the beaten path: Tourist cities may be expensive. You may want to rethink your trip and go to a less-known area. Smaller towns can have many interesting activities and sights.
●Pack necessary things: The most important things to take are not always clothes: Remember medicine in case you get sick and snacks in case you cannot find a cheap restaurant.
●Use the Internet: The Net can help to save money. Some useful websites include www. Travelocity. com, www. bargains-lowest fare. com and www. Economic travel. com.
By planning sensibly, even students can enjoy the travel. Your travel experiences will be remembered for a lifetime.
1.This passage is about _______.
A.how to plan your travel B.how to travel with enough money
C.how to make your travel interesting D.how to get life experiences
2.Before your trip, the first thing you should do is _______.
A.to make a plan of the route B.to get information in the Internet
C.to save money by spending less D.to buy tickets in advance
3.The writer advises you _______.
A.to share costs with any other people B.not to go to well-known places
C.not to visit dangerous places D.to buy anything you want to buy
4. During your trip, _______.
A.you need more shoes than clothes
B.you shouldn’t look for work all the way
C.you can gain valuable life experiences
D.you should forget to do your homework
A child who has once been pleased with a tale(神话故事) likes, as a rule, to have it retold in almost the same words, but this should not lead parents to treat printed fairy stories as formal texts. It is always much better to tell a story than read it out of a book, and, if a parent can produce what, in the actual situation of the time and the child, is an improvement on the printed text, so much the better.
A change made against fairy tales is that they harm the child by frightening him or making him sad thinking. To prove the latter, one would have to show in a controlled experiment that children who have read fairy stories were more often sorry for cruelty than those who had not. As to fears, there are, I think, some cases of children being dangerously terrified by some fairy story. Often, however, this arises(出现) from the child having heard the story once. Familiarity with the story by repetition turns the pain of fear into the pleasure of a fear faced and mastered.
There are also people who object to fairy stories on the grounds that they are not objectively true, that giants, witches, two-headed dragons, magic carpets, etc. do not exist; and that, instead of being fond of the strange side in fairy tales, the child should be taught to learn the reality by studying history. I find such people, I must say so peculiar(奇怪的) that I do not know how to argue with them. If their case were sound, the world should be full of mad men attempting to fly from New York to Philadelphia on a stick or covering a telephone with kisses in the belief that it was their beloved girl-friend.
No fairy story ever declared to be a description of the real world and no clever child has ever believed that it was.
1. The author considers that a fairy story is more effective when it is _______.
A. repeated without any change B. treated as a joke
C. made some changes by the parent D. set in the present
2. According to the passage, great fear can take place in a child when the story is _______.
A. in a realistic setting B. heard for the first time
C. repeated too often D. told in a different way
3. The advantage claimed(提出) for repeating fairy stories to young children is that it _______.
A. makes them less fearful
B. develops their power of memory
C. makes them believe there is nothing to be afraid of
D. encourages them not to have strange beliefs
4. One of the reasons why some people are not in favor of fairy tales is that _______.
A. they are full of imagination.
B. they just make up the stories which are far from the truth.
C. they are not interesting.
D. they make teachers of history difficult to teach.
June 26, 2000 — the Human Genome(基因组) Project, a great $3 billion, 15-year task aimed at drawing the genetic(遗传的) map of humans, is now more than 90 percent completed. The scientific and medical communities are very excited about the chances genetic research provides for getting rid of diseases and prolonging human life. But those communities and policy makers also are careful about the scientific door they are opening as the project uncovers the mysteries of life.
For the last few years, the genetic advances in the developing field of biotechnology have provides material for all kinds of work, but the developments of modern science in unlocking the secrets of the human genetic code(密码) have opened a world of possibilities for human health, as well as for the popular imagination.
While European and Japanese researchers are making rapid progress in decoding(解码) human DNA, the leading organization for genetic research is in the United States, which began in 1990, is “unlocking the code” of the human body to learn how to defeat fatal diseases. Already, the Human Genome Project has become widely known and praised for finding the genes(基因) connected with terrible diseases as yet, and making progress toward separating the genes that show a sign of breast cancer or AIDS.
Once these genes are found and studied, researchers can develop new ways to attack infections(传染), and genetic diseases. Medical companies are very interested in mapping the human genome, as they expect to develop a lot of new drugs for these illnesses.
1.Why did the scientists work hard at mapping the human genome?
A. Because the human genome can destroy many illnesses.
B. Because the human genome's completion can help them get rid of many diseases.
C. Because they wanted to be better known than others.
D. Because the human genome can provide a lot of chances of work.
2.Which of the following is NOT true?
A.If the genes can be found, scientists can study many new ways to cure illnesses.
B.The scientists have made great progress in connecting the genes with the cancers.
C. Many medical companies show great interest in drawing the human genome map.
D. The United States began the Genes Study early in the 19th century.
3.The author suggests that the Human Genome Project can cause _______.
A. the policy makers to feel very worried and careful
B. the scientists to work harder.
C. many people to find work easily.
D. a lot of companies to produce many new drugs.
4.The main idea of this article is about _______.
A. unlocking genetic code B. the genes' discovery
C. the great human genome D. the genes and the scientists