ManypeoplesaythattheUnitedStat-优题课

NASA is moving ahead with plans to put a long-armed Lander on Mars’ icy North Pole to search for clues for water and possible signs of life.
The $386 million Phoenix Mars is planned to touch down in the Martian arctic in 2008. The stationary probe will use its robotic arm to dig into the icy land and pick up soil samples to analyze. In 2002, the Mars Odyssey orbiter spotted evidence of ice-rich soil near the arctic surface.
Scientists hope the Phoenix mission will find clues to the geologic history of water on the Red Planet and determine whether microbes existed in the ice.
Phoenix will be the first mission of the Mars Scout program, a renewed, low-cost effort to study the Red Planet. “The Phoenix mission explores new territory in the northern plains of Mars analogous to the permafrost regions on Earth,” Peter Smith said.
True to its name, Phoenix rose from the ashes of previous missions. The lander for Phoenix was built to fly as part of the 2001 Mars Surveyor program. But the program broke down after the well-known disappearance of the Mars Polar Lander in 1999. The Polar Lander lost contact during a landing attempt near the planet’s south pole after its rocket engine shut off prematurely, causing the spacecraft to fall about 130 feet to almost certain destruction.
The Phoenix probe had been in storage at a Lockheed Martin clean room in Denver before it was reused for its present mission. It will carry science instruments that were designed for the Mars Surveyor program including an improved panoramic camera and a trench-digging robotic arm. Phoenix will lift off from the Kennedy Space Center in August 2007 and land on the planet nine months later.
46. The passage mainly tells readers that _________.
A. clues of water will be found in Phoenix
B. Phoenix will be sent to find clues of water on Mars
C. August 2007 will see Phoenix lift off
D. the Mars Scout program will be carried out
47. The underlined word “prematurely” (paragraph 5) means _________.
A. on time B. behind the time C. out of work D. ahead of time
48. According to the passage, we know Phoenix will land on Mars _________.
A. in May 2008 B. in August 2007
C. in August 2008 D. in September 2008
49. According to the passage, the name “Phoenix” is after the meaning of _________.
A. rebirth B. death C. energy D. hope
50. After Phoenix lands on Mars, we can infer it will firstly _________.
A. find soil samples and send them to the earth
B. look for the icy land to dig for the soil samples
C. take photos and send them to the earth
D. find the remains of the Mars Polar Lander

III. 阅读 (共两节，满分40分)
第一节：阅读理解(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)
阅读下面短文，从每题所给的A、B、C和D项中选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
In 1993, New York State ordered stores to charge a deposit on beverage (="drink)" containers. Within a year, consumers had returned millions of aluminum cans and glass and plastic bottles. Plenty of companies were eager to accept the aluminum and glass as raw material for new products, but because few could figure out what to do with the plastic, much of it wound end up buried in landfills(垃圾填埋场). The problem was not limited to New York. Unfortunately, there were too few uses for second-hand plastic.
Today, one out of five plastic soda bottles is recycled in the United States. The reason for the change is that now there are dozens of companies across the country buying discarded plastic soda bottles and turning them into fence post, paint brushes, etc.
As the New York experience shows, recycling involves more than simply separating valuable materials from the rest of the rubbish. A discard remains a discard unti1 somebody figures out how to give it a second life — and until economic arrangements exist to give that second life va1ue.Without adequate markets to absorb materials collected for recycling, throwaways actually depress prices for used materials.
Shrinking landfill space and rising costs for burying and burning rubbish are forcing local governments to look more closely at recycling. In many areas, the East Coast especially, recycling is already the least expensive waste-management option. For every ton of waste recycled, a city avoids paying for its disposal, which, in parts of New York, amounts to savings of more than $100 per ton. Recycling also stimulates the local economy by creating jobs and reduces the pollution control and energy costs of industries that make recycled products by giving them a more refined raw material.
41. What regulation was issued by New York State concerning beverage containers?
A. A fee should be charged on used containers for recycling.
B. Throwaways should be collected by the state for recycling.
C. Consumers had to pay for beverage containers and could get their money back on returning them.
D. Beverage companies should be responsible for collecting and reusing discarded plastic soda bottles.
42. The returned plastic bottles in New York used to .
A. be turned into raw rnateria1s
B. be separated from other rubbish
C. have a second-life value
D. end up somewhere underground
43. The key problem in dealing with returned plastic beverage containers is .
A. how to reduce their recycling costs
B. to sell them at a profitable price
C. how to turn them into useful things
D. to lower the prices for used materials
44. Recycling has become the first choice for the disposal of rubbish because .
A. recycling causes litt1e pollution
B. other methods are more expensive
C. recycling has great appeal for the jobless
D. local governments find it easy to manage
45. It can be concluded from the passage that .
A. recycling is to be recommended both economically and environmentally
B. local governments in the U. S. can expect big profits from recycling
C. rubbish is a potential remedy for the shortage of raw materials
D. landfills will sti1l be widely used for waste disposal

Vienna ---In spite of Iraq’s decision to stop oil deliveries, the 11-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries（OPEC）will not increase production to make up the shortfall, ministers decided Tuesday in Vienna.
The 11 oil ministers decided to meet again on July 3 to discuss the effects of the Iraq temporary stop. The organization’s president, Charkid Kheria of Algeria, said after the meeting that stocks were high and prices were stable, so quota increases were not necessary.
The E.U. Commission has expressed concern about Iraq’s output stop. A speaker said OPEC had to take all possible measures to keep or lower the oil price.
Saudi Arabia’s Oil Minister Ali Al-Nuaimi had earlier said there would not be any shortfall of oil in the market. The organization had already taken steps to fill the gap, he said. OPEC Secretary General Ali Rodriguez added that the period of Iraq’s output stop was not known, so other exporters were not going to lift quotas yet. If the market was destabilized（使…动摇）, a suitable response could be made.
Iraq on Monday stopped shipments of crude oil to protest against the U.N Security Council’s decision to extend the oil-for-food programme by only a month, instead of the normal six-month renewal.（恢复）
Just before the Vienna meeting, oil prices had gone up, with a barrel of OPEC crude oil selling for 27.05 dollars, up from 26.81 dollars last Friday. North sea oil was at 29.26 dollars Monday evening.
OPEC wants the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars and achieved that with cuts in January and March that reduced 2.5 million barrels（桶）per day off quotas （配额）.
51. Iraq made the decision to stop oil deliveries because ___________.
A.oil price is too low in international market.
B.The U.N. Secretary Council has decided to shorten the time of extension of the oil-for-food programme
C.Many oil wells were destroyed during the war in the late 1980s
D.It couldn’t get enough money to develop its economy
52. The attitude the E.U. Commission took towards Iraq’s output stop is ________.
A. active B. concerned C. cold D. surprised
53. The underlined words “ The organization” here refers to ________.
A. OPEC B. the E.U. Commission C. Vienna D. WTO
54. The main idea of the passage is ________.
A.the oil prices in the world were stable though Iraq has stopped oil deliveries
B.OPEC has controlled the oil price to stay within a margin of 22 to 28 dollars
C.OPEC will not increase oil production to make up the shortfall that caused by Iraq
D.Oil is connected with people’s daily life
55. The 11 oil ministers decided to meet on July 3 so that _________.
A.they can persuade Iraq to continue oil production
B.they can have a talk with the U.N. Security Council
C.they can have a discussion about the effects of Iraq’s temporary output stop
D.they can make up their minds to increase oil production

Giving Back
Fair Way
The Westborough High School golf team had taken the official photos with the state prize. The other teams, disappointed, were on the bus heading home. And then Westborough instructor Greg Rota noticed something wrong x>n one of the score cards. A 9 had been recorded as a 7. They were not the state prize winner; Wobum High had won. "No one would have known," said Wobum's instructor, Bob Doran. For Rota, it wasn't a difficult decision: "The prize wasn't ours to take."
Coin Stars
"College students are lazy, but they also want to help," says University of Pennsylvania graduate Dana Hork. So she made it easy, placing cups in rooms where students could leave their spare coins, and handing out cups to first-year students to keep in their rooms. Her " Change for Change" effort has collected $40,000 for charities 慈善机构) , which were decided upon by students.
Never Forgotten
A school in Massachusetts received a $ 9.5 million check from Jacques LeBermuth. But it took officials several days of digging to discover his connection to the school. Records showed the LeBermuth came from Belgium and studied in the school in the 1920s. When his family fell on hard times, he was offered free room and board. LeBermuth became a trader, owned shares of AT&T and lived off the earnings until he died, at age 89.
46. What did Greg Rota probably do in the end?
A. Took photos of Doran.
B. Had a meeting with Doran.
C. Returned the prize to the organizer.
D. Apologized to Wobum High School.
47. Greg Rota's decision shows that he was _______.
A. honest B. polite C. careful D. friendly
48. The underlined word "Change" in the second paragraph means _______.
A. Idea B. Decision C. Cups D. Coins
49. What did the school officials do after receiving the check from Mr. LeBermuth?
A. They tried to find out why he gave them the money.
B. They went to Belgium to pay their respects to him.
C. They dug out the records that were buried underground.
D. They decided to offer their students free room and board.
50. Jacques LeBermuth gave the money to the school because _______.
A. the school asked for it
B. he had no need for that much money
C. the school had helped him in the past
D. he wanted to be remembered by the students

第三部分阅读（共两节，满分40分）
第一节：阅读理解（共15小题，每小题2分，满分30分）阅读下列短文，从每题所给的A、B、C、D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑
Immediately I got up and dressed, stuck my violin under my jacket, and went out into the streets to try my luck. I wandered about for an hour, looking for a likely spot, feeling as though I were about to commit a crime. Then I stopped at last under a bridge near the station and decided to have a try.
I felt tense and nervous. One moment I was part of the hurrying crowds, the next I stood apart, my back to the wall, my hat on the pavement before me, the violin under my chin.
The first notes I played were loud and raw, then they settled down and began to run more smoothly. To my surprise I was neither caught nor told to shut up. Indeed, nobody took any notice at all. Then an old man without stopping secretly threw a penny into my hat, as if getting rid of some guilty evidence.
Other pennies followed, slowly but steadily, dropped by shadows who appeared not to see or hear me. It seemed too easy, like a secret trick.
I worked there for several days, gradually getting the truths of the trade by trial and error（反复试验）.It was not a good thing, for example, to let the hat fill up with money; nor was it wise to empty it completely. Placing a couple of pennies in the hat to start the thing going soon became a regular rule.
41．When he first began to play the violin, he expected.
A．to get into trouble B．to play better than he did
C．people to stop and listen to him D．to be told to move somewhere else
42．The first man who gave him money.
A．was too busy to stop B．wanted to get rid of him
C．dropped the money by mistake D．did not want to attract attention
43．He gradually became confident that day because.
A．nobody looked at him B．he played the violin very well
C．people continued to give him money D．he earned a lot of money
44．On the following days, he.
A．made a lot of mistakes B．learned how to do the job better
C．get better at playing the violin D．did not make so much money
45．He found that the best way of encouraging people to give him money was to.
A．play in different streets B．leave all the money in the hat
C．empty the hat at regular times D．leave a small amount of money in the hat