There was great excitement on the planet of Venus(金星) this week. For the first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as photographs ever since.
The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan (named after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered it with his telescope 20000 light years ago).
Because of excellent weather conditions and extremely strong signals, Venusian scientists were able to get valuable information as to feasibility (可行性) of a manned flying saucer (碟) landing on Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.
“We have come to the conclusion, based on last week’s satellite landing,” Prof. Zog said, “that there is no life on Earth.”
“How do you know this?” the science reporter of the Venus Evening Star asked.
“For one thing, Earth’s surface in the area of Manhattan is made up of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere is filled with carbon monoxide (一氧化碳) and other deadly gases and nobody could possibly breathe this air and survive.” “What does this mean as far as our flying saucer program is concerned?”
“We shall have to take our own oxygen with us, which means a much heavier flying saucer than originally planned.”
“Are there any other dangers that you discovered in your studies?”
“Take a look at this photo. You see this dark black cloud hovering(盘旋) over the surface of Earth? We don’t know what it is made of, but it could give us a lot of trouble and we shall have further tests before we send a Venus Being there.”
“Over here you will notice what seems to be a river, but the satellite findings indicates it is polluted and the water is unfit to drink. This means we shall have to carry our own water, which will add even greater weight to the saucer.”
“If all you say is true, won’t this set back the flying saucer program several years?”
“Yes, but we shall continue as soon as the Grubstart gives us the added funds.” Prof. Zog replied.During the week of great excitement the Venusian scientists succeeded in getting important information as to ____.
A.the feasibility of landing a satellite on Earth |
B.the possibility of making a first-rate flying saucer |
C.the feasibility of sending a Venus Being to Earth |
D.the possibility of directing a flying saucer into Manhattan |
According to Prof. Zog, the Venusians will have to take their own oxygen with them when they carry out their flying saucer program because ____.
A.they need it in their way to the planet of Earth |
B.the Earth’s atmosphere is filled with deadly gases |
C.there is a low level of oxygen for Venusians |
D.there is no air on the planet of Earth |
The “dark black cloud” on the photo refers to ____.
A.the polluted air hovering over the surface of Earth |
B.the mass of tiny drops of water floating above Earth |
C.the mass of small things moving through the air |
D.the dark clouds gathering before a storm breaks |
The author wishes to call our attention to the fact that ____.
A.that modern man has polluted his environment to such an extend that he might destroy himself if he went on like this |
B.that there is a point in spending billions to land a flying saucer on Earth |
C.that pollution has become so serous a problem on Earth that even Venusians find life there unbearable. |
D.that it is difficult if not altogether impossible, to land a manned flying saucer on Earth |
When Ben Franklin was only a boy, he always wanted to know about things. He was always asking his father and brothers ‘What?’ and ‘How?’ and ‘Why?’
They couldn’t always tell him what he wanted to know.
When they couldn’t tell him, Ben tried to find out for himself.
Many times Ben did find out things that no one knew before. The other boys would say, ‘That is Ben Franklin! He’s always finding out something new!’
Ben lived close to the water. He liked to go there to see the boats. He saw how the wind blew them across the water.
One day Ben said to himself: ‘Why can’t the wind help me float across the water? And I’m going to try.’ Ben got his big kite.He took hold of the kite string and ran with it. The wind took the kite up into the air.Then Ben jumped into the water.
The wind blew the kite high into the air.Ben began to float across the water.Soon he was on the other side, and he had not worked at all.
One boy shouted, ‘Look at Ben floating across the water! His kite takes him to the other side without any work!’
‘Yes,’ said another. ‘He’s always finding new ways to do things.’ When he was only a child, Ben____________.
A.liked to fly a kite by himself |
B.always asked easy questions |
C.always liked to play with water |
D.always liked to find out how things worked |
His father and brothers_____________.
A.couldn’t answer all his questions |
B.could answer all his questions |
C.tried hard to find out something new for him |
D.were too busy to answer his questions |
How did Ben Franklin float across the water? _______________.
A.The other boy took him across it. | B.The water carried him across it. |
C.The flying kite took him across it. | D.A boat took him across it. |
He found out many things that______________.
A.children didn’t know | B.his father knew |
C.people didn’t know | D.most people knew |
From the story we can see that young Ben Franklin liked____________.
A.using his mind | B.using his hands | C.making kites | D.flying kites |
I will never forget the lesson about my window. Four years ago, I moved to a house in a large town. One of my new neighbors’ house was only a few feet away from mine. There lived a woman. Through one of my windows, I could see her reading by her window every afternoon.
Several months later, I found I couldn’t see the woman clearly. I thought her window was too dirty. I said to myself, “Why doesn’t she clean her window? It looks terrible!”
One afternoon, I decided to clean my house including the window. I felt tired after three hours of hard work. So I sat down by the window for a rest. What a surprise! I could see the woman reading there clearly again! By that time, I realized that my own window was too dirty, not hers! I really felt ashamed for myself. I had been watching her through my dirty window in the past days!
The experience is very important for me. So I try to clean the window of my heart before judging others. How long has the writer lived in the house according to the passage?
A.One years | B.Two years. | C.Three years. | D.Four years. |
What did the woman do every afternoon?
A.Read by her window. | B.played tennis on the grass. |
C.Danced in her house. | D.sang in front of the house. |
The writer couldn’t see the woman clearly because ______________.
A.the writer’s window was dirty |
B.the woman’s house was too far |
C.the woman didn’t open her window |
D.there was something wrong with his eyes. |
The underlined word “ashamed” means _________________.
A.高兴的 | B.放松的 | C.羞愧的 | D.自豪的 |
According to the passage, the writer has learnt how to __________________.
A.clean the house | B.judge others | C.help neighbors | D.learn English |
Dreaming is a natural part of who we are. We explore our dreams and develop personal dreams. We even like to dream BIG!
For the most part our dreams and wishes focus on the end result. We see ourselves in love, married, driving a great car, on vacation, with tons of money, in a great career, etc. Dreaming about the end result is just fantasizing and wishing. Wishing relies on some magical force to make our dreams turn into reality, and we become unhappy as we’re not living(实现) our dreams.
So how can we make our dreams come true? That is a question we all often struggle with. Even though we struggle with the answer, the answer is not that clear. We make our dreams come true with the action we take.
In my opinion, if you dream about being in good health, then change your dream to see yourself working out and eating right day by day. See the beginning of the dream and let the dream build day by day with all the action that gets you to the end dream of you being in good health.
If you want riches, then change the dream. Dream of yourself going to school, developing a career, working hard and taking the steps to arrive at the destination. If you want love, love the process. Love the dating process(过程). Love yourself and the journey to find love.
Make all your dreams include the beginning, middle and end. Then when you are doing the action instead of thinking to yourself, “This is a drag. I don’t like working out,” or if you are having any negative thoughts about doing the work it takes to create your visions(梦幻), realize then that every step of the way you are living your dream. You are living your dream because you made the action and journey part of your dream.According to the writer, most of the people____.
A.pay more attention to developing their dreams |
B.enjoy the process of their dreams |
C.are always ignoring the process of living their dreams |
D.probably dream of making much more money easily |
In order to live our dreams, we must____.
A.struggle with dreams day and night. |
B.have great wishes and thoughts. |
C.have magical forces every night. |
D.take action or steps. |
If you want to keep fit,______
A.you’d better dream a sweet dream first. |
B.you must love the process of the journey. |
C.you would rather begin with your diet and exercise. |
D.you should have a good beginning first. |
what can be inferred from the last paragraph?
A.It’s important to focus on your final result. |
B.Good mind and action can help you live your dream. |
C.Think to yourself while living your dream. |
D.Creating your visions comes first. |
How long do you want to live? How many years might be added to a life? Do you want to live another 100 years or more? Some experts say that scientific advances will one day enable humans to last tens of years beyond what is now seen as the natural limit of the human life span.(寿命)
“I think we are knocking at the door of immortality(永生) , " said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. "I think by 2075 we will see it and that's a conservative estimate(保守的估计)."
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said advances in using genes as well as nanotechnology(纳米技术) make it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. "There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years," he said. "Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years.
However, many scientists who research into ageing are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last past about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say the failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also differ on what kind of life the super aged might live. "It remains to be seen if you pass 120,you know, could you be healthy enough to have good quality of life?" said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Centre. "At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all."By saying "we are knocking at the door of immortality", Michael Zey means ______.
A.they have got some ideas about living forever |
B.they are sure to find the truth about long living |
C.they believe that there is no limit of living |
D.they are able to make people live past the present life span |
Donald Louria's attitude towards long living is that ______.
A.people can live from 120 to 180 |
B.it is possible for humans to live longer in the future |
C.the human body is designed to last past about 120 years |
D.it is still doubtful how long humans can live |
The underlined word "it"( in Paragraph 4)refers to______.
A.using genes as well as nanotechnology |
B.the idea of living beyond the present life span |
C.a great push |
D.the conservative estimate |
What would be the best title for this text?
A.No Limit for Human Life | B.Science, Technology and Long Living |
C.Living Longer or Not | D.Healthy Lifestyle and Long Living |
While many other teen stars built up their celebrity status(名人地位) by working hard on popular TV shows, Justin shot straight to the top by using social media.
A few years ago, Justin uploaded(上传) videos of himself on YouTube, showing covers of his favorite songs at home. He just saw it as a bit of fun for friends and family, but when music manager Scooter Braun saw one of the videos, he flew to Justin’s hometown of Ontario, Canada to sign him up. Justin was just 13.
Shortly after, Justin was flown to the US. He eventually started working with R&B superstar Usher. Justin’s first album My world was released in 2009. But all the time, Justin continued to build his fan base on his YouTube account, where some of his original home videos can still be found, and where he continues to post music. “I wasn’t sending mixtapes or anything like that to record labels,” he told us when we met him on his promotional tour for his latest film Justin Bieber: Never Say Never. “I was just doing regular stuff at home and I just posted videos online without purpose. I would never be here if it wasn’t for the Internet and YouTube.”
But it isn’t just YouTube that helps Justin’s popularity. He also updates his Twitter account (@Justin-Bieber) regularly and has about 8.8 million followers. In fact, he’s so popular that Justin was responsible for 3% of the site’s activity at one time and so popular that entire racks of servers on Twitter were devoted to him.
In light of his story, many young, aspiring artists are now taking advantage of Twitter and YouTube. Both these sites can help artists build fan bases in the hope that they’ll become the next big thing. Justin added, “I think my story brings hope to people and I think that’s very important. The only thing holding you back is yourself. Never say never.”What is the best title for the passage?
A.A famous young man | B.YouTube---A popular website |
C.Justin’s way to success | D.Social media is the most important |
The underlined word “covers” in Paragraph 2 means_____.
A.The cover of a book. |
B.The shelter from attack. |
C.The sheet on the bed. |
D.Another version of a pop song by a different artist. |
Which one is right according to the passage?
A.Justin posted videos online in order to succeed. |
B.Justin becomes a celebrity partly owing to social media. |
C.Justin has the same way to succeed as others. |
D.Justin has built many websites. |
What can we know from Paragraph 5?
A.Many young, aspiring artists are objection to Justin’s way. |
B.Many celebrities like Justin must appear in the future. |
C.Justin tells others never to depend on social media. |
D.Justin has set an example to many young, aspiring artists. |