Imagine，one day，getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work，going back home to Beijing and having dinner there．
Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic，with the development of China’s high—speed railway system．And that’s not a11．China has an even greater high—speed railway plan—to connect the country with Southeast Asia，and eventually Eastern Europe．
China is negotiating to extend its own high·-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 1 0 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．
China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming withSingapore via Vietnam and Malaysia．Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan，and possibly
to Germany．The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe．
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward，people could zip over from London to Beiling in under two days．
The new system would still follow China’s high—speed railway standard．And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour，almost as fast as some airplanes．
China’s bullet train(高速客车)，the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou，already has the
World’s fastest average speed．It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours．
Of course，there are some technical challenges to overcome．There are so many issues that need to be settled，such as safety，rail gauge(轨距)，maintenance of railway tracks．So，it’s important to pay attention to every detail．
But the key issue is really money．China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on
domestic railway expansion．
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rath
er than with capital
investment．Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development．
It’11 be a win-win project. For other countries，the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business，tourism and so on，not to mention the better communication among those countnes．
For China，such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources，but would also help develop China’s far west．We foresee that in the coming decades，millions of people will migrate to the western regions，where the land is empty and resources unused．With high-speed trains，people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for a11．And they’11 trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．
1．China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because ____________．
A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions
B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways
C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries
D． the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation，business and tourism
2．According to the passage，the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is____________．
A．technical issues B．safety of the system
C．financial problems D．maintenance of railway tracks
3.Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed
railway plan?
A．Critical． B．Reserved． C．Doubtful D. Positive．
4．Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?
A．New Railway Standards B．Big Railway Dreams
C．High—speed Bullet Trains D．International Railway Network
The Global Fund to Fight AIDS，Tuberculosis (结核病)and Malaria was created in 2002. It is an alliance of business, government and civilian partnerships. A new report from the Global Fund says almost five million lives have been saved through the six hundred programs it supports.
The programs operate in 144 countries, many in sub’ Saharan Africa. The Global Fund has approved proposals for more than nineteen billion dollars to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria.
The report says two and one-half million people infected with HIV now are being treated with antiretroviral medicines. It says there has been a major decrease in AIDS deaths in many countries as a result.
The report also says about six million people with active tuberculosis are being treated for the disease. The number of deaths from TB is dropping around the world.
The Global Fund has given out more than one hundred million bed nets in its battle against malaria. The bed nets are treated with a poison to kill mosquitoes. The report says ten of the countries in Africa with the highest cases of malaria have reported decreases in new cases. An increasing number of countries are reporting a drop of more than fifty percent in malaria deaths, the report says.
Rifat Atun is director of strategy, performance and evaluation at the Global Fund. He says the programs the fund supports saved at least 3,600 lives every day last year. And he says more lives can be saved in the future if the programs continue to receive the money they need.
The Global Fund was established as a financial tool. It has several guiding ideas. It works to support programs that come from national plans and goals. It tries to find balance in dealing with places, diseases and interventions. And the Global Fund is open in its work to avoid corruption (腐败)or the appearance of corruption.
Most of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS，Tuberculosis and Malaria comes from the world's leading industrial nations. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?
| A．The Foundation of the Global Fund |
| B．The Global Fund Established as a Financial Tool |
| C．Almost 5 Million Lives Saved through the Global Fund |
| D．An Alliance of Business, Government and Civilian Partnerships |
According to the passage，which of the following statements is true?
| A．There has been a minor decrease in AIDS deaths in many countries as a result. |
| B．An decreasing number of countries are reporting a drop of more than fifty percent in malaria deaths. |
| C．Most of the money for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria comes from the developed countries. |
| D．The Global Fund has approved proposals for more than £ 19 billion to fight HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria. |
According to the last but one paragraph, which is not the function of the Global Fund?
| A．It isn't used as a financial tool but as a medical tool. |
| B．It works to support programs coming from national plans and goals. |
| C．It tries to find balance in dealing with places, diseases and interventions. |
| D．It works to avoid corruption or the appearance of corruption in an open way. |
In which section of the newspaper would this passage most likely appeared?
| A．Business. | B．Science. |
| C．Politics. | D．Health. |
Scientists in the United States have developed a method that may help to predict earthquakes earlier. They say it could give people who live in deadly earthquake areas enough warning to leave before an earthquake hits.
Currently, the most modem systems for predicting earthquakes find them only a short time before the event. Like most strong earthquakes , the one that hit Southwestern China in May was not identified early enough for people to flee the area. That earthquake killed more than 69,000 people, which rated eight point zero in intensity.
But scientists who study earthquakes are reporting that new technology could measure very small changes in the Earth's surface. Their report was published this month in Nature magazine.
Fenglin Niu is a seismologist in Rice University in Houston, Texas. He and his team performed experiments along California's San Andreas Fault, an area famous for its many earthquakes. The team placed highly sensitive electrical devices about one kilometer below ground in two different places. The devices were able to measure even small changes in air pressure on the Earth's surface. The scientist says such changes are caused when rocks push together, forcing air out of small cracks in the rock. When this happens, seismic waves travel faster than usual through the rock.
The experiment was performed near Parkfield，California. Two earthquakes hit the area in late 2005. The first took place on December 25. A smaller earthquake struck five days later. The scientists noted changes in the Earth's surface about ten hours before the first earthquake struck. That earthquake rated three in intensity. They then found similar changes taking place two hours before the other earthquake struck five days later.
If additional tests confirm the changes are linked to earthquakes ，the scientists believe that their equipment could be used for early warning systems. A system that provides a warning signal ten hours before a major earthquake could help move people from the area and save lives.
The scientists now hope they can find earthquakes with even greater intensity by placing their equipment deeper in the ground. What is the best title for the passage?
| A．A new way to help predict earthquakes |
| B．The earthquake in Southwestern China |
| C．A better understanding of earthquakes |
| D．Early warning systems of earthquakes |
If the new way works, ______ .
| A．fewer earthquakes will break out |
| B．rescue workers can save more buried people in ruins |
| C．a warning can be given at least ten days before the major earthquake |
| D．fewer people will be killed in an earthquake |
The devices can predict the earthquake by ______ .
| A．reaching the center of the earthquake |
| B．detecting the temperature changes in the Earth's crust |
| C．measuring changes in air pressure on the Earth's surface |
| D．recording sound waves under the ground |
We can infer that ______ .
| A．the equipment is perfect enough to be used in practice |
| B．it is unknown if greater earthquakes can be predicted by the equipment |
| C．the deeper the equipment is placed, the less accurate the measurement is |
| D．the equipment has helped save many lives in the earthquake in Sichuan in May |
The world is not coming to an end on December 21 ,2012, the US space agency insisted Monday in a rare campaign to dispel (消除)widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie.
The latest big screen offering from Sony Picture, 2012 , arrives in theaters on Friday, with a 200-million-dollar production about the end of the world supposedly based on myths backed by the Mayan calendar. It is claimed that the end of time will come as a Planet X or Nibiru heads toward or collides with the Earth.
Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet's existence, but the US space agency condemned such stories as an "Internet hoax". "There is no factual basis for these claims," NASA said in a question-and-answer posting on this website. "If such a collision were real，astronomers would have been tracking it for at least the past decade, and it would be visible by now to the naked eye. Obviously, it does not exist. Credible scientists worldwide know of no threat associated with 2012," it insisted. "After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years," added NASA.
There is another planet, Eris, floating in space. But the small planet similar to Pluto will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the Earth, according to NASA.
Earlier theories set the disaster for May 2003，but when nothing happened the date was moved forward to the winter in 2012 to coincide with the end of a cycle of the ancient Mayan calendar.
NASA insisted the Mayan calendar in fact does not end on December 21,2012，as another period begins immediately afterward.
And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast， the effect on our planet would be" negligible ( unimportant)"， NASA said.
"And while comets and asteroids (小行星)have always hit the Earth, big hits are very rare," NASA noted. The last major impact was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting in the end of dinosaurs.
"We have already determined that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs," the space agency said. ______ played a key role in the spread of the rumors.
| A．A new book |
| B．The Internet and a new Hollywood movie |
| C．NASA |
| D．An Indian calendar |
We can infer that ______ .
| A．people didn't take the rumor seriously |
| B．Planet X or Nibiru does exist |
| C．astronomers have been tracking Planet X for over ten years |
| D．the rumor caused a panic among some people |
NASA thinks that Eris ______ .
| A．might have a threat to the Earth |
| B．doesn't have any threat to the Earth |
| C．is too far away to be visible |
| D．is similar to our planet, where life might exist |
Which of the following is the best title?
| A．New Hollywood movie 2012 |
| B．December 21,2012, not the end of the world |
| C．End of the ancient Mayan calendar |
| D．How rumors came into being |
School safety is important, but some are saying an elementary school principal overreacted when she saw one of her students playing with a tiny toy gun in the cafeteria(自助餐馆).
Mom Laura Timoney went ballistic (失去理智的)when she received a call from her son's school. Staten Island fourth-grader Pat- rick Ti money was in tears, the mad mama told the New York Daily News, because he was being threatened with a suspension (停学)by P. S. 52 principal Evelyn Malroianni.
His crime? Possession of a 2-inch toy gun, which Patrick had placed in the hand of a Lego police officer during a lunchtime toy break.
Patrick's father, a retired police officer who shares his little boy's name ’ tells the Daily News that he has ‘ no problem with the rules' but doesn't see why the tiny gun caused such a big problem.
In this video report from the newspaper, Patrick and his family describe the incident.
"The toy gun is not the issue," Laura Timoney tells the Daily News. "A lack of common sense is the issue." Timoney adds that she wants an apology and might sue (起诉)the school.
New York City Department of Education spokesperson Margie Feinberg tells the Staten Island Advance that "Toy guns are not allowed in schools," and that NYC schools have a no-tolerance policy in place for fake firearms. Even little ones.
After a meeting was held between parents and school officials， it was decided that Patrick would not be suspended over the little weapon.
When it comes to punishments, size really does matter. What's the best title of the passage?
| A．School Safety Is Important |
| B．A Lack of Common Sense Is the Issue |
| C．A Meeting Held between Parents and School Officials |
| D．Kid Almost Suspended for Bringing Tiny Toy Gun to School |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．NYC schools have a no-tolerance policy in place for fake firearms. |
| B．Laura Timoney went mad when she received a call from her son's school. |
| C．Patrick Timoney was in Grade Five Staten Island Elementary School. |
| D．Patrick and his family describe the incident to video report from the New York Daily News. |
From the underlined sentence "he has ‘no problem with the rules’" in the fourth paragraph, we can infer ______ .
| A．Patrick's father wants to sue the school |
| B．Patrick's father approves of the school regulations |
| C．Patrick's father is unsatisfied with the school regulations |
| D．Patrick's father thinks tiny toy gun can cause a big problem |
What is the possible result of the incident?
| A．The school might cancel the rule. |
| B．Patrick might drop out of school. |
| C．Patrick can't be punished by the school. |
| D．Patrick would not be suspended over the little weapon. |
The exploration of Mars entered a new phase as Spirit，the first of US twin rovers, landed on the Red Planet later Saturday.
The rover can work as a robotic field geologist and can see sharper images，explore farther and examine rocks better than anything that's ever landed on Mars, scientists at the US space agency NASA said.
Spirit, as big as a mini-car, is equipped with a suite of scientific instruments that will be used to read the geologic record at the landing site, to investigate what role water played there, and to determine how suitable the conditions would have been for life.
It has a panoramic (全景的)camera at human-eye height, and a miniature thermal emission spectrometer with infrared (红外线的)vision that can help scientists identify the most interesting rocks.
The six-wheeled rover can watch for hazards and maneuvers around them and has a deck of solar panels，about the size of a kitchen table, for power. It can drive to the selected rock and extend an arm with tools on the end.
A microscopic imager, like a geologist's hand lens, can give a close-up view of the rock's texture. Two spectrometers can identify the composition of the rock and the fourth tool, which substitutes (代替)for a geologist's hammer, can expose the fresh interior of a rock by scraping away the weathered surface layer.
Spirit will stop at Gusev Crater(坑)，a bowl bigger than the US state of Connecticut that appears to have held a lake long ago. Scientists will use the robot's instruments to seek and analyze geological evidence about past environmental conditions in the crater.
If sedimentary (沉积的)rocks lie on the surface，they may yield telltale (泄密的)clues to whether the crater ever did hold a wet environment that might have been suitable for sustaining life, scientists said. Which would be the best title of this passage?
| A．Spirit opens new phase on exploration of Mars. |
| B．Spirit, the first rover on Mars. |
| C．The successful landing of Spirit on Mars. |
| D．Spirit, a new invention for exploration of Mars. |
The chief purpose of Spirit from the passage is to ______.
| A．take clearer pictures of Mars |
| B．examine more rocks on Mars |
| C．search for water at Gusev Crater |
| D．look for past signs of water on Mars |
The author mainly tells us in this passage ______.
| A．what Spirit is like |
| B．how Spirit will deal with difficulties on Mars |
| C．what Spirit will do on Mars |
| D．what Spirit is equipped with |
This passage probably comes from ______ .
| A．a research paper |
| B．a news report |
| C．a new invention introduction |
| D．a science fiction |