SYDNEY: As they sat sharing sweets beside a swimming pool in 1999. Shane Gould and Jessicah Schipper were simply getting along well, chatting about sport, life and anything else that came up.
Yet in Sydney next month, they will meet again by the pool, and for a short time the friends will race against each other in the 50 – meter butterfly in the Australian championships at Homebu Bay.
Gould, now a 47 – year – old mother of four, has announced she will be making a return to elite competition (顶级赛事) to swim the one event, having set a qualifying (合格的)time of 30. 32 seconds in winning gold at last year’s United States Masters championships. Her comeback comes 32 years after she won three golds at the Munich Olympics.
Schipper, now a 17 – year – old girl from Brisbane with a bright future of going to Athens for her first Olympics, yesterday recalled (回忆) her time with Gould five years ago.
“I was at a national youth camp on the Gold Coast and Shane had come along to talk to us and watch us train.” Schipper explained. “It seemed as if we had long been good friends. I don’t know why. We just started talking and it went from there.”
“She had a lot to share with all of us at that camp. She old us stories about what it was like at big meets like Olympics and what it was like to be on an Australian team. It was really interesting.”
Next time, things will be more serious: “I will still be swimming in the 50 m butterfly at the nationals, so there is a chance that I could actually be competing against Shane Gould.” said Schipper, who burst onto the scene at last year’s national championships with second places in the 100 m and 200 butterfly.
46．What is the passage mainly about?
A．Stories happening in swimming competitions.
B．Two women swimmers winning Olympic golds.
C．Lessons learned from international swimming championships.
D．Friendship and competition between two swimmers.
47．Gould and Schipper are going to____________.
A．talk about sport and life B．go back to elite competition
C．set a qualifying time and win gold D．take part in the same sports event
48．Gould won her three Olympic golds when she was____________.
A．15 B．17 C．22 D．30
49．The underlined word “it” in the fifth paragraph probably refers to .
A．the Olympics B．the youth camp
C．the friendship D．the Australian team
50．What Schipper said showed that she___________.
A．was no longer Gould’s friend B．had learned a lot from Gould
C．was not interested in Gould’s stories D．would not like to compete against Gould
Eric and Doris King Turner are packing their bags for New Zealand. They're busy deciding what to pack and what to leave behind in Britain and are making plans to extend their new home in Nelson. Doris is looking forward to getting the garden into shape and Eric has his heart set on a spot of fly fishing. The difference is that Eric is 102, Doris is 87. Eric thinks he's Britain's oldest emigrant.
In January next year Eric King Turner and his wife of 12 years will wave goodbye to their neighbors, and set sail from Southampton on the voyage of a lifetime. The ocean liner (远洋客轮)Saga Rose will take six weeks to get to Auckland and the couple are expecting a red-carpet welcome from family.
Doris was born in New Zealand but gave up her homeland when the couple met and married in the late 1990s. But New Zealand is close to both their hearts and the attraction of family and friends, and the good fishing helped to persuade them to move.
Doris, who has five children and nine grandchildren, supported her husband's application to settle in New Zealand. The paperwork took five months. Eric says, "We not only had to produce a marriage certificate（证书） but we had to produce evidence that we were in a long and stable relationship!" He also said he was not asked about his age but had to show that he could support himself financially (财政上) in New Zealand.
"I like New Zealand. The way of life is very much the same as it is here but it is not so crowded." His wife has always been “a little bit homesick” but has never complained. Now the couple are in the middle of the task of sorting out possessions and selling their flat.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．They decided to leave all the things behind in Britain. |
| B．The wife always complained about the life in Britain. |
| C．The couple will set up their new home in Nelson. |
| D．Doris and Eric will go to New Zealand to hold the wedding. |
The underlined word "emigrant" in Paragraph 1 probably refers to a person who___.
| A．lives in a country forever | B．moves from one place to settle in another |
| C．travels around the world | D．visits many places in a country |
What makes the couple's move to New Zealand special?
| A．Their age. | B．The red carpet. |
| C．The ocean liner Saga Rose. | D．Their marriage certificate. |
The best title of the passage may be .
| A．Better late than never |
| B．Eric and Doris King-Turner are packing their bags |
| C．To leave or not to leave, that's the problem |
| D．Eric, 102, leaves Britain with his wife |
Even facts “forgotten” by people during a busy day may be retrieved if this is followed by a good night’s sleep.
Researchers from the University of Chicago asked volunteers to remember simple words．Many found their memories letting them down towards the end of the day, but the following morning, those who had slept well could recall much more.
Researchers, writing in the journal Nature, said the brain could “rescue” lost memories during the night.
When the brain is first asked to remember something that memory is laid down in an “unstable” state, meaning that it is possible that it could be lost．At some point, the brain consolidates those it deems important into a “stable”, more permanent state．However, the Chicago researchers suggested that it was possible for a “stable” memory to be made “unstable” again．This would mean that memories could be modified then filed away again in the face of new experiences.
The 12 volunteers tested in the experiment were played words created through a speech synthesizer which were purposely difficult to understand．Initially, the written version of the word from the audio version only．Tests revealed that the ability to recall the right word tended to tail off as the day ended.
However, when the volunteers were retested after a good night’s sleep, they were able to recall some words that they had “ forgotten” the previous evening.
Dr Daniel, one of the study authors, said: “Sleep consolidates memories, protecting them against subsequent interference or decay．Sleep also appears to “recover” or restore memories.” He said: “If performance is reduced by decay, sleep might actively recover what has been lost.”
Dr Karim Nader, from the Department of Psychology in McGill University in Montreal, said: “Memory research is undergoing a transformation---no longer is memory thought to be a hard-writing of the brain, instead it seems to be a process of storage and restorage.”
Sleep helps some memories “mature” and also prunes out unimportant memories.What does the first paragraph implies?
| A．A busy day makes people forget things easily. |
| B．People need a good night’s sleep after a busy day. |
| C．A good night’s sleep helps memories. |
| D．A good night’s sleep helps people forget a busy day. |
The words the 12 volunteers played in the experiment were not ____
| A．created through a speech synthesizer |
| B．hard to understand |
| C．available at the beginning |
| D．designed to test people’s ability of understanding |
According to the passage, memory_____
| A．is a hard-writing of the brain |
| B．is not a process of storage |
| C．is not a process of restorage |
| D．will be mature with the help of sleep |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．When people first remember something, the memory is in an “unstable state”. |
| B．The brain will change those important unstable memories into stable. |
| C．Once the memory become stable, it will never become unstable again. |
| D．Sleep can protect memories from being harmed. |
A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone you will be able to bury it in a garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.
A biodegradable (生物所能分解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage consumers to recycle.
Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic and can be hard or soft, and is able to change shape. Over time it can also break down into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover that contains a sunflower seed. When this new type of cover turns into waste, it forms fertilizers. These feed the seed and help the flower grow.
Engineers have designed a small transparent (透明的) window to hold the seed. They have made sure it only grows when the phone is thrown away. “We’ve only put sunflower seeds into the covers so far. But we are working with plant experts to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time,” said one scientist.
As phone technology is developing so quickly, people are constantly throwing their mobiles away. This means manufacturers are under pressure to find ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can offer some relief (缓解) for nature , according to the scientists.
“The seed comes out and the flower grows in the pot so you don’t have to concern yourself with the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan. She leads the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.What is the purpose of this passage?
| A．To tell the popularity of biodegradable cell phones. |
| B．To persuade the reader to buy the biodegradable cell phone. |
| C．To discuss the development of phone technology. |
| D．To introduce an environmentally-friendly cell phone to readers. |
People throw away their cell phones most probably because _______.
| A．there is something wrong with them |
| B．no sunflowers can grow out of them |
| C．they are out of fashion |
| D．they are becoming cheaper and cheaper |
It could be learned from the passage that _________.
| A．developing the new type of phone is mainly to protect the environment |
| B．phone-makers will benefit much more from the new type of phone |
| C．the new type of phone will certainly be popular with users all over the world |
| D．the phones that can be recycled are available only in Britain now |
Green is an important color in nature. It is the color of grass and the leaves on trees. It is also the color of most growing plants.
Sometimes, the word green means young, fresh and growing. Sometimes, it describes something that
is not yet ripe or finished. For example, a greenhorn is someone who has no experience, who is new to a situation. In the fifteenth century, a greenhorn was a young cow or ox whose horns(角) had not yet developed. A century or so later, a greenhorn was a soldier who had not yet had any experience in battle. By the eighteenth century, a greenhorn had the meaning it has today—a person who is new in a job.
Someone who has the ability to grow plants well is said to have a green thumb. The expression comes from the early nineteen hundreds. A person with a green thumb seems to have a magic touch that makes plants grow quickly and well. You might say that the woman next door has a green thumb if her garden continues to grow long after your plants have died.
The Green Revolution is the name given some years ago to the development of new kinds of rice and other grains. The new plants produced much larger crops. The Green Revolution was the result of hard work by agricultural scientists who had green thumbs.
Green is also the color used to describe the powerful feeling, jealousy(嫉妒). The green-eyed monster is not a frightening creature from outer space. It is an expression used about four hundred years ago by British writer William Shakespeare in his play “Othello”. It describes the unpleasant feeling a person has when someone has something he wants. A young man may suffer from the green-eyed monster if his girlfriend begins going out with someone else. Or, that green-eyed monster may affect your friend if you get a pay rise and she does not. Greenhorn now refers to ____.
| A．a person who is new in a job | B．a new solider |
| C．a young horse | D．None of above |
A person who has a green thumb is a person ____.
| A．who is good at growing plants | B．whose thumbs are in green color |
| C．whose garden is greener than others’ | |
| D．who is younger than his neighbors |
The author is actually talking about ____.
| A．colors | B．language | C．politics | D．agriculture |
Which of the following statements is NOT true according to the passage?
| A．In about the 16th century, a greenhorn meant an experienced soldier. |
| B．The Green Revolution may have some connection with green thumbs. |
| C．The green-eyed monster was probably created by William Shakespeare. |
| D．The green-eyed monster can be used to describe a person who is jealous. |
Daniel Defoe (about 1660～1731) was an important novelist in the English literature(文学). When he was young, he served as a soldier and had been to Spain, Italy, France and Germany. At the same time, he went in for politics. He cared much about the development of capitalism(资本主义). He had written a lot of articles against it and he was put into prison twice for that. It was not until that he was nearly sixty that he began to write the famous novel “Robinson Crusoe”, which was published in May, 1709. It spread so rapidly that the story was known to every household very soon.
“Robinson Crusoe” can be divided into three parts. The first part is about Crusoe’s three voyages, the second part about his hunting, hiding in caves farming and his hard struggles against nature on a small island, the third about the things which happened after his return from the island. The second part is the body of the novel, in which Robinson’s characters are clearly shown.
Defoe wrote his novel in a simple style and his language is easy to understand. His novel writing set a milestone of the modern English novel. In his later part of life, He was in poor health and lived very poorly. He died on April 24, 1731.Deniel Defoe was ______ and the writer of ______.
| A．an Englishman, “A Tale of Two Cities” |
| B．an American, “A Million Pound Note” |
| C．a French, “The Lost Necklace” |
| D．an English, “Robinson Crusoe” |
How old was he when he began to write his famous novel Robinson Crusoe?
| A．He was in his sixties. | B．He was in his fifties. |
| C．He was over 60. | D．He was sixty. |
Robinson Crusoe can be divided into ______ parts and the first is about _______.
| A．two, his lonely life | B．three, his characters |
| C．three, his journeys by sea | D．four, his fame |
“Every household” in this passage means ______.
| A．all members of a family |
| B．all people |
| C．every building |
| D．persons living in the same house |
What was Defoe’s contribution(贡献) to the English literature?
| A．He wrote a very interesting story. |
| B．He made people happy while reading his story. |
| C．He set a milestone of the modern English novel. |
| D．He was active in politics and was against capitalism. |