Beijing: The highly anticipated Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway will begin operation next year, and is expected to cut travel time to four hours, railway officials said.
The high-speed railway between China's two most important metropolises was scheduled to open in 2012 but will now open one year ahead of time, said Zheng Jian, chief planner with the Ministry of Railways.
Wang Zhiguo, vice-minister of railways, said that it would be a four-hour journey from Beijing to Shanghai, and only three hours from Beijing to Nanjing, capital of East China's Jiangsu province.
At present, it takes about 10 hours to travel from Beijing to Shanghai and Nanjing by train. A new-generation bullet train that will travel up to 380 kilometers per hour (kph) is now under development for the high-speed rail link.
It will be rigorously tested this year, and engineers want the train to run at a top speed of 420 kph to guarantee a safe operational speed of 380 kph, Huang Qiang, chief researcher with the China Academy of Railway Sciences told the Beijing News.
Vice-Minister Wang Zhiguo said it was expected that high-speed trains would one day take passengers from Beijing to most capital cities within eight hours, except for Haikou, Urumqi, Lhasa and Taipei.
It is expected that an 110,000-km railway network will be completed by 2012, including 13,000 km of high-speed rail, he said.
China already has 6,552 km of rail track in operation --- the longest amount of high-speed rail track in the world.
At present, at least 10,000 km of high-speed rail line is under construction in China. About 3,676 km of new track for running trains at speeds up to 350 kph have already been laid and put into operation. Another 2,876 km of old tracks have been upgraded to run trains of 200 to 250 kph. .
Ultimately, China plans to construct a 120,000-km railway network, including 50,000-km of high-speed rail track, by 2020.
The Ministry of Railways wants to export China's high-speed railway technology to North America, Europe and Latin America.
Wang said, “State-owned Chinese companies are already building high-speed lines in Turkey and Venezuela. Many countries, including the United States, Russia, Brazil and Saudi Arabia, have also expressed interest.”
56.When will the Beijing-Shanghai high-speed railway come into use?
A. In 2012. B. In 2013. C. In 2011. D. In 2010
57. How much time will a passenger save by train from Beijing to Shanghai after the high-speed railway is open?
A. 4 hours. B. 6 hours. C. 10 hours. D. 3 hours.
58. Which of the following countries owns the longest railway in the world ?
A. China. B. America. C. Canada. D. Russia.
59. Which city, in the opinion of vice-minister Wang Zhiguo, can passengers from Beijing reach in high-speed trains within 8 hours ?
A. Haikou. B. Urumqi. C. Lhasa . D. Changsha.
60. What can we learn from the last two paragraphs?
A. The Ministry of Railways wants to increase GDP by exporting railway technology.
B. China’s railway technology is superior to that of many other countries.
C. Countries in North America have already imported the railway technology of China.
D. The United States also wants to build high-speed railways in Turkey and Venezuela.
Carrot juice, because of its many healthy benefits, is commonly called the "magic juice". It has been found that adding carrot juice to people’s diets greatly improves their health. And its delicious taste makes it popular with all members of the family as a beverage.
Carrot juice is one of the richest sources of vitamin A that can be used in the daily diet. Lack (缺乏) of vitamin A can cause dryness and damage to the skin, nails and hair. Drinking carrot juice to increase the vitamin A in the diet is said to be good for many parts of the body, including the bones and teeth.
Drinking carrot juice is thought to be extremely helpful to the liver (肝脏), because vitamin A helps to clean the liver and reduce fat in it. And it is suggested that drinking carrot juice should be done regularly, rather than just from time to time.
Drinking carrot juice is also thought to improve the eyesight because of the vitamin A in the juice. Lack of vitamin A can lead to night blindness, which can be very dangerous, especially when the person is driving a car. An easy way to find out if you are lacking in vitamin A is to walk from a bright room into a dark room. Your eyes may have some trouble in getting used to the change of light if you are lacking in vitamin A.
How can you make carrot juice? Wash some carrots well in cold water. Scrape (刮) them lightly, but do not peel them, as this will take away valuable vitamins and minerals that lie close to the skin. Lack of vitamin A can lead to _____.
| A．skin dryness | B．broken bones |
| C．complete blindness | D．liver cancer |
According to the passage, carrot juice ______.
| A．is popular because it is a magic cure for many diseases |
| B．does a lot of good to the teeth and other parts of the body |
| C．can wash away the waste from the body |
| D．may be harmful to the body if it’s drunk too much |
We can learn from the fourth paragraph that _____.
| A．drinking carrot juice helps to protect your eyesight |
| B．driving cars at night may lead to night blindness |
| C．walking from a bright room into a dark room may lead to night blindness |
| D．you will find it easy to get used to the change of light if you lack vitamin A |
Which would be the best title for this passage?
| A．Tips on How to Make Carrot Juice |
| B．The Way to Keep Good Health |
| C．The Great Benefits of Carrot Juice |
| D．A Healthy Diet for Patients |
In March 1987, I started a new magazine called Creating Excellence. It was a very proud moment for me. I’d worked hard for over a year to create it, and the premiere issue (首次发刊) was a real success.
Shortly after we mailed 25,000 copies, I received one in the mail. But this one wasn’t as beautiful as the ones we’d sent out. It was marked in red ink correcting the grammatical errors (语法错误) in it. A talented editor had read the issue carefully and found more errors than I could have imagined.
I felt abashed. A magazine called Creating Excellence should be perfect in its content (内容). The stories were good, but the errors this woman had found showed that we were far from being excellent.
At first, I was upset with my editor for not having caught more mistakes, and also upset with the woman who seemed to have taken pleasure in pointing them out. Later, I was upset with myself for not having employed a better editor.
Then I realized that I had to face up to my mistakes. I called the woman who had shown me that we were not so excellent. I thanked her for taking the time to read our magazine so carefully. As painful as it was, I accepted responsibility for it.
Then I offered her the job of editing our publication. The result was a great improvement in it; we could now be very proud of our magazine.
From this I learnt that an upsetting moment could be an opportunity to see the truth, and accepting responsibility could help to prevent one making the same mistakes for a second time, and to make "excellence" a reality.From the first paragraph we learn that _____.
| A．the author put little effort into his first magazine |
| B．the author’s job was selling magazines |
| C．the author was very satisfied with his work |
| D．the author experienced a total failure |
What does the underlined word "abashed" mean?
| A．excited. | B．embarrassed. | C．interested. | D．exhausted. |
What do we learn about the woman who had found the errors in the magazine?
| A．She was causing trouble on purpose. |
| B．She liked pointing out the errors of others. |
| C．She contributed a lot to the success of the premiere issue. |
| D．She ended up joining the magazine. |
What do we learn from this passage?
| A．Pride is the biggest enemy of success. |
| B．Success is behind many failures. |
| C．Picking holes in something can help you find a job. |
| D．Accepting responsibility for one’s errors can lead to real excellence. |
Have you ever heard of blogs (博客)? If you haven’t, you should have. It’s here, it’s growing and it’s having an influence on our life. Surf the Internet and you’ll find blogs everywhere. A blog, shortened from “weblog”, is a public Internet journal written by one person or a group of people. It is a website in which a person or a group can place news, personal thoughts, text, photos, video or audio files, or links upon which visitors can comment. A blog lets you post on the Internet without having to know web design or be technical. You are given an environment to make dated entries on the topic of your choice which are “published”, so other people can read them.
Authoring a blog, maintaining a blog or adding an article to an existing blog is called “blogging”. Blogging has revolutionized Internet publishing in the last several years because it gives everyone with Internet access the opportunity to become an online writer. Objects, such as “text and photos” in a blog can be called “blog posts”, “posts”, or “entries”. The person who posts these entries is called a “blogger”.
Now, somewhere around the world, a blog is created almost every 6 seconds. Because it’s great potential, Bill Gates views it as important as e-mail, BBS, and MSN. He’s trying to make blogs the important tools for future business communications.A blog is .
| A．a comment | B．an Internet journal | C．a design | D．a link |
A person can do the following things in a blog EXCEPT _______.
| A．talk to others | B．give comments | C．read articles | D．enjoy photos |
Who is a blogger?
| A．A person who posts letters. |
| B．A person who writes articles. |
| C．A person who posts text or photos in a blog. |
| D．A person who is an online publisher. |
From the passage we know that .
| A．Bill Gates will invent some tools for blogs |
| B．blogs will be an important business communication tool in the future |
| C．so far, only a few persons have created blogs |
| D．blogs will replace e-mail, BBS and MSN in the future |
According to the passage, the reason why blogs are so popular is that they ____.
| A．give everyone the chance to be an online writer |
| B．can be created by people without much knowledge of computer technology |
| C．enable a blogger to place news, personal thoughts, text and photos and give comments |
| D．all of the above |
To find how the name Canada came about we must go back to the 16th century. At that time, the French dreamed of disclosing and controlling more land, of expanding(扩展)trade beyond(超出) their borders and of spreading their faith(信仰) across the world .In 1535, Francois I ,King of France, ordered a navigator (航海家) named Jacques Cartier to explore(探险) the New World and search for a passage to India.
Cartier first arrived at the Gulf of the St. Lawrence, which he wanted to explore. He did not know what to expect but he hoped that this Gulf was just an arm of the ocean between two islands. If it was, he would soon be on his way to the Far East. So he sailed upstream along the St. Lawrence River. However, insteadorreaching Asia he arrived at QuebecorStadacona, as the Indians called it. It was at this point that the term “ Canada” entered the country’s history. Apparently the word “Canada” came from an Indian work “Kanata”, which means communityorvillage. Cartier first used it when he referred to StadaconaorQuebec. What a huge “ village” Canada is!In the early sixteenth century , the King of France ordered Cartier to ______
| A． find the new world |
| B． build an entirely new country |
| C． go and visit the American Indians |
| D． get more information about America and find a way to Asia |
Having reached the Gulf of St. Lawrence Cartier thought _____
| A． he had already got to India |
| B． it was a water way to the New World |
| C． it was a water passage to the East |
| D． he had sailed into the Atlantic |
In the early sixteenth century , Quebec was only ____.
| A． an Indian village |
| B． a little town in southern Canada |
| C． a village at the entrance to the Gulf of St. Lawrence |
| D． the place which we call Canada now |
Pick out the right statements from the following _____
| A． Quebec was a village and Stadacona was another |
| B． Cartier mistook Quebec for Stadacona |
| C． Stadacona was a village in Quebec |
| D． Stadacona was what the Indians called Quebec then |
“Canada” was first used to refer to _____
| A． a small town in Stadacona |
| B． the place called Quebec |
| C． a long water passage |
| D． a huge village including Quebec and Stadacona |
Lisa is ten years old. She is disabled because she has brain damage. She could not do even the simplest thing until a year ago. She could not comb her hairorfeed herself. Her parents loved her. And they treated her like a baby.
Mr. Ching has a daughter and a son. They are both grown. They live far from their father. Mr. Cling felt lonely. He decided to become a foster grandfather to a handicapped child. And that was how he met Lisa.
Foster grandparents are grandparents who are not related by birth but foster parents love the children they care for. They also help the handicapped children in special ways. They help to dress and feed the children. They read to them and tell them stories. They also help with handicapped children’s therapy. Therapy is the treatment of a diseaseordisorder. It helps the children overcome their handicaps.
Mr. Cling became a foster grandparent to Lisa when she was nine years old. At first, Lisa was shy. She was afraid because Mr. Cling was a stranger. But he came to see her every day, gradually she began to trust him. At last, Lisa let Mr. Cling do things for her.
Cling speaks for most foster grandparents when he say, “We all benefit. The handicapped children benefit because we help them live more useful lives. And we benefit because we know the children need us and love us. For any person, there is no greater happiness than that.”Why did Lisa need help?
| A．She was a baby |
| B．She did not want to do anything. |
| C．She had brain damage. |
| D．She was a blind girl. |
What does the underlined word “foster” in paragraph 2 mean?
| A．Elderly | B．Related by birth |
| C．Not related by birth | D．King-hearted |
Which five things do foster grandparents do for handicapped children?
a help with their treatment b dress them c live in their homes
d feed them e charge them money f read to them
g tell them stories h make fun of them
| A．a,b,d,e,f | B．a,c,e,f,h | C．b,c,d,f,g | D．a,b,d,f,g |
Why did Mr. Cling foster Lisa?
| A．Lisa needs looking after. |
| B．The passage doesn’t mention of. |
| C．Lisa need caring for and Mr. Cling also gets enjoyment from it. |
| D．Mr. Cling is too lonely. |
The best title for this passage is ________.
| A．Lisa, A Handicapped Girl |
| B．Why Did He Do That? |
| C．Foster Grandparents |
| D．The Greatest Happiness! |