A Battery’s Nightmare
Portable electronics that can be carried about easily are only as good as their batteries (电池) and, let’s face it, batteries aren’t very good, especially when compared with, say, petrol, which packs 100 times a battery’s energy into an equal space. That’s why a large group of mechanical engineers (centered at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, but with partners at other universities and companies) are hard at work in an effort to replace batteries with a tiny engine that runs on fuel. Imagine a battery-free life! When the fuel runs out in your mobile phone, you just fill up and go.
The engine---about the size of a ten-cent coin---starts with a combustion chamber (燃烧室) that burns hydrogen. Its tiny parts are etched (蚀刻) onto silicon wafers (硅片) in the same manner that computer parts are etched onto integrated circuits (集成电路). The first engine is made up of five wafers. And since these wafers could be produced in much the same way as computer chips, they could probably be produced quite cheaply.
But the devil in all this nice detail is efficiency. Tiny engine parts don’t always behave like the bigger parts of the first engine. Something between the parts can slow down the works, according to Columbia University Professor LucFrechette, one of the engine’s designers. Extreme heat from the combustion chamber is also a problem, often leaking to other parts of the engine.
The scientists’ goal is to create an engine that will operate 10 times better than batteries operate. Frechette says that a complete system, with all parts in place and working, will be set up in the next couple of years, but commercial models aren’t likely until at least the end of the next ten years.
60. According to the passage, the title suggests that _______ .
A. batteries should be greatly improved
B. petrol will be used instead of batteries
C. the time of batteries will be gone forever
D. pollution problems caused by batteries must be solved
61. What’s the meaning of the underlined word “devil” in paragraph 3?
A. Problem B. Advantage C. Invention D. Technique
62. What can we infer from the passage?
A. The new invention doesn’t need any fuel.
B. The new engine has been produced in large quantities.
C. The new invention is much cheaper than the battery.
D. The new engine needs to be improved before it’s on sale.
If you go into the forest with friends, stay with them. If you don’t, you may get lost. If you get lost, this is what you should do. Sit down and stay where you are. Don’t try to find your friends—let them find you. You can help them find you by staying in one place. There is another way to help your friends or other people to find you. You can shout or whistle three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle three times again. Any signal given three times is a call for help.
Keep up shouting or whistling. Always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making a noise for fun. They will let you know that they have heard your signal. They will give you two shouts or two whistles. When a signal is given twice, it is an answer to a call for help.
If you don’t think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house with branches. Make yourself a bed with leaves and grass.
When you need some water, you have to leave your little branch house to look for it. Don’t just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk in order to go back again easily. When you are lost, the most important thing to do is to stay in one place.
63. Which signal is a call for help?
A. shouting here and there
B. crying twice
C. shouting or whistling three times together
D. whistling every where in the forest
64. When you hear two shouts or two whistles, you know that ______.
A. someone is afraid of an animal B. people will come to help you
C. someone needs help D. something terrible will happen
65. What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence?
A. Leave branches to find your way back
B. Pick off branches to build another house
C. Use branches to make a bed
D. Drop branches to look for water
66. The main idea of the passage is______.
A. how to travel in the forest
B. how to spend the night in the forest
C. what you should do if you want to get some water
D. what you should do if you are lost in the forest
 |
B
59. You will pay _______ if you want to stay in the English club for half a year.
A. 300 yuan B. 600 yuan C. 1200 yuan D. 2400 yuan
60. You can visit Ocean Museum _______ .
A. on Saturday B. on Wednesday C. on Monday D. anytime
61. One can get free examinations in Health Centre if he is _______ .
A. 9 B. 17 C. 67 D. 73
62. If you are interested in the life of fish, you should go to ______ .
A. Health Centre B. Ocean Museum
C. Sunny English Club D. 16 Yong Le Street
第三部分：阅读理解
第一节：阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项。
It is a beautiful day in June. The sun is hot. It's time to harvest strawberries (草莓),and the strawberry fields are full of people. These people are picking strawberry. They are not farmers, and they are picking fruit for fun. They can buy strawberries in a supermarket but it is cheaper to pick their own fruit. Strawberries from the farm are also flesher (更新鲜的). Most people also like to pick their own fruit because it is a pleasant way to spend the afternoon.
One little boy is walking between the rows of plants. He is picking the strawberries and eating them as fast as he can. Two young women in pretty dress and high-heeled shoes(高跟鞋)are getting out of their car. Now they are taking off their shoes. These women are taking a break from their work. They want to pick fruit and enjoy the sunshine.
56. What time of the year do the people in the passage pick strawberries?
A. Early spring. B. Early autumn. C. Early summer. D. Early winter.
57. The people in the passage are picking fruit because they are ________ .
A. farmers working all day in the fields
B. looking for a pleasant way to spend the afternoon
C. poor and need the money
D. stealing the fresh fruit
58. The story implies (暗示)that strawberries in the supermarket are ______.
A. larger B. less fresh
C. cheaper D. better for your health
D
Parents whose children show a special interest in a sport feel very difficult to make a decision about their children’s careers. Should they allow their children to train to become top sports men or women? For many children it means starting schoolwork very young, and going out with friends and other interests have to take a second place. It’s very difficult to explain to a young child why he or she has to train five hours a day, even at the weekend, when most of his or her friends are playing.
Another problem is of course money. In many countries money for training is available from government for the best young sportsmen and women. If this help can not be given, it means that it is the parents who have to find the time and the money to support their child’s development and sports clothes, transport to competitions, special equipment, etc.
Many parents are worried that it is dangerous to start serious training in a sport at an early age. Some doctors agree that young muscles may be damaged by training before they are properly developed. Professional ( 专业的) trainers however, believe that it is only by training young that you can reach the top as a successful sports person. It is clear that very few people do reach the top, and both parents and children should be prepared for failure even after many years of training.
67. This article is probably taken from ________.
A. a letter B. an advertisement
C. a personal diary D. a newspaper article
68. According to the passage parents whose children show a special interest in a sport _______.
A. feel uncertain if they should let their children train to be sportsmen or women
B. try to get financial support from the government for their children’s training
C. have to get medical advice from doctors about training methods
D. prefer their children to be trained as young as possible
69. Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. When young, sports men or women won’t have much time for their schoolwork
B. Early training may damage their muscles.
C. Most children may become professional sports men or women after a long period of training.
D. It’s very expensive for parents to support their child’s development in sports.
70. _______ can become the best players after many years of training.
A. Most people B. Some people
C. Only a few people D. No people
C
Sunny English Club
For students
16:00 – 18:00 Every Saturday
200 Yuan a month
9 Zhou Yu Street
Tel: 3785290
Foreign teachers, English songs and films and more!
63. You will pay _______ if you want to stay in the English club for half a year.
A. 300 yuan B. 600 yuan C. 1200 yuan D. 2400 yuan
64. You can visit Ocean Museum _______ .
A. on Saturday B. on Wednesday C. on Monday D. anytime
65. One can get free examinations in Health Centre if he is _______ .
A. 9 B. 17 C. 67 D. 73
66. If you are interested in the life of fish, you should go to ______ .
A. Health Centre B. Ocean Museum
C. Sunny English ClubD. 16 Yong Le Street