MOSCOW(Reuters) – Russia hopes the United States will extend the deadline to retire its space shuttles beyond 2011 and has heard unofficially it is possible, the head of Russia"s space agency was quoted as saying on Friday.
The U.S. space agency NASA(美国宇航局) plans six more missions by its fleet of aging space shuttles by late next year or early 2011 after the construction of the $100 billion International Space Station (ISS) is completed. The shuttles will then be retired. But the head of Roscosmos, Russia"s space agency, said he would prefer to see further shuttle missions to the Space Station, now in orbit 360 km (225 miles) above Earth. "From some sources we have learned that it is possible to extend the life of the shuttle beyond 2011," Roscosmos chief Anatoly Perminov was quoted by RIA news agency as saying. Reuters was not invited to the briefing(简报会). "Then the situation would change substantially and it would be possible to work jointly with the Americans, unlike now, when the main burden (for the ISS) lies with the Russian side," Perminov was quoted as saying by Interfax. Perminov said he had not been told this through official channels, Interfax news agency reported. He added that NASA"s new chief and former astronaut Charles Bolden would visit Russia"s Baikonur cosmodrome on September 30 in his first foreign trip.
NASA"s future strategy is currently under review with the main focus on possible flights to Mars. It is also encouraging a private space taxi project to the ISS. NASA"s current plan, conceived under former President George Bush after the Columbia accident, is to complete the space station, retire the shuttles and build new spaceships. A new rocket and capsule to transport astronauts to the ISS is also being dev
eloped but will not be operational until about 2015. Until then, NASA will rely on Roscosmos and must pay $50 million per seat for flights to the ISS by Soyuz capsules.
The U.S., Russian and Chinese governments are the only entities currently capable of human orbital space flight, although several U.S. companies are developing vehicles and support services to do so.What does the underlined word “this” in Paragraph 2 refer to?
| A．NASA agrees to extend the life of the shuttles beyond 2011. |
| B．Reuters was not invited to the briefing. |
| C．The US would work jointly with Russia. |
| D．NASA’s new chief would visit Russia’s Baikonur cosmodrome. |
NASA’s current plan includes all the following EXCEPT .
| A．completing International Space Station |
| B．flights to Mars |
| C．retiring the current space shuttles |
| D．building new spaceships |
If the US doesn’t extend the life of the shuttles beyond 2011, .
| A．International Space Station will be quit |
| B．Roscosmos will have to build more spaceships |
| C．NASA will have to quicken the development of the new rocket and capsule |
| D．Roscosmos will be burdened with the transportation to ISS |
We can infer from the passage that .
| A．China has already been involved in the project of flights to Mars |
| B．it is certain the NASA will retire the current space shuttles as planned |
| C．NASA is considering Russia’s suggestion |
| D．NASA will be able to provide a private space taxi project to the ISS by 2015. |
阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
For those who make journeys across the world, the speed of travel today has turned the countries into a series of villages．Distances between them appear no greater to a modern traveler than those which once faced men as they walked from village to village. Jet planes fly people from one end of the earth to the other, allowing them a freedom of movement undreamt of a hundred years ago.
Yet some people wonder if the revolution in travel has gone too far. A price has been paid, they say, for the conquest (征服) of time and distance. Travel is something to be enjoyed, not endured .The boat offers leisure and time enough to appreciate the ever-changing sights and sounds of a journey. A journey by train also has a special charm about it. Lakes and forests and wild, open plains sweeping past your carriage window create a grand view in which time and distance mean nothing. On board a plane, however, there is just the blank blue of the sky filling the narrow window of the airplane. The soft lighting, in-flight films and gentle music make up the only world you know, and the hours progress slowly.
Then there is the time spent being “processed” at a modern airport. People are conveyed like robots along walkways; baggage is weighed, tickets produced, examined and produced yet again before the passengers move to another waiting area. Journeys by rail and sea take longer, yes, but the hours devoted to being “processed” at departure and arrival in airports are luckily absent. No wonder, then, that the modern high-speed trains are winning back passengers from the airlines.
Man, however, is now a world traveler and cannot turn his back on the airplane. The working lives of too many people depend upon it; whole new industries have been built around its design and operation. The holiday maker, too, with limited time to spend, patiently endures the busy airports and limited space of the flight to gain those extra hours and even days, relaxing in the sun. speed controls people’s lives; time saved, in work or play, is the important thing—or so we are tolD. Perhaps those first horsemen, riding free across the wild, open plains, were enjoying a better world than the one we know today. They could travel at will, and the clock was not their master.What does the writer try to express in Paragraph 1?
| A．Travel by plane has speeded up the growth of villages． |
| B．The speed of modern travel has made distances relatively short． |
| C．The freedom of movement has helped people realize their dreams． |
| D．Man has been fond of traveling rather than staying in one place． |
How does the writer support the underlined statement in Paragraph 2?
| A．By giving instructions． |
| B．By analyzing cause and effect． |
| C．By following the order of time． |
| D．By giving examples． |
According to Paragraph 3, passengers are turning back to modern high-speed trains because______．
| A．they pay less for the tickets |
| B．they feel safer during the travel |
| C．they can enjoy higher speed of travel |
| D．they don’t have to waste time being “processed” |
What does the last sentence of the passage mean?
| A．They could enjoy free and relaxing travel． |
| B．They needed the clock to tell the time． |
| C．They preferred traveling on horseback． |
| D．They could travel with their master． |
阅读理解。阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
Two men were sitting together in a plane. They were on a long journey. One of the men was a businessman. The other was a farmer. They sat without talking for a while, then the farmer said,“Let’s do something to pass the time.”
“What do you want to do?” the businessman asked. “We can ask each other riddles.” The farmer said,“You start.”“Let’s make the rules first,” the businessman said. “That’s not fair. You are a businessman with much knowledge. You know more things than I do. I am just a farmer.”
“That’s true.” The businessman said. “What do you want we should do?” “If you don’t know the answer to a riddle, you pay me $100. And if I don’t know the answer, I’ll pay you $50.” The farmer said. The businessman thought about this, then he said, “OK. That’s fair. Who will go first?”
“I will,” The farmer said. “Here is my riddle. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?” The business man repeated the riddle, “What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies? Mm, that’s a good one. I’m afraid I don’t know the answer.” He gave the farmer $100, then said, “Tell me the answer. What has three legs when it walks, but only two legs when it flies?”“I don’t know.” The farmer said and gave him $50.The story happened ____________.
| A．on a farm |
| B．in a shop |
| C．before a long plane journey |
| D．between two passengers |
What does the word “riddle” mean in this story?
| A．A difficult question to find the answer to. |
| B．Something to help to make rules. |
| C．Something to win money. |
| D．a kind of game on doing business. |
Why did the businessman agree to give more money if he lost?
| A．He made much more money than the farmer. |
| B．He thought he knew more than the farmer. |
| C．He was interested in making riddles. |
| D．He was better at playing riddle games. |
Which of the following is NOT true?
| A．The two men made rules for their riddle. |
| B．The farmer was much cleverer than the businessman. |
| C．The two men made their riddle game more interesting by paying it for money. |
| D．The businessman knew the answer to his riddle. |
阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
They wear the latest fashions with the most up-to-date accessories(配饰). Yet these are not girls in their teens or twenties but women in their sixties and seventies. A generation which would once only wear old-fashioned clothes is now favouring the same high street looks worn by those half their age.
Professor Julia Twigg, a social policy expert, said, “Women over 75 are now shopping for clothes more frequently than they did when they were young in the 1960s. In the 1960s buying a coat for a woman was a serious matter. It was an expensive item that they would purchase only every three or four years — now you can pick one up at the supermarket whenever you wish to. Fashion is a lot cheaper and people get tired of things more quickly. ”
Professor Twigg analyzed family expending（支出）data and found that while the percentage of spending on clothes and shoes by women had stayed around the same—and 5 or 6 per cent of spending—the amount of clothes bought had risen sharply.
The professor said, “Clothes are now 70 percent cheaper than they were in the 1960s because of the huge expansion of production in the Far East. In the 1960s Leeds was the heart of the British fashion industry and that was where most of the clothes came from, but now almost all of our clothes are sourced elsewhere. Everyone is buying more clothes but in general we are not spending more money on them.”
Fashion designer Angela Barnard, who runs her own fashion business in London, said older women were much more affected by celebrity(名流) style than in previous years .
She said, “When people see stars such as Judi Dench and Helen Mirren looking attractive and fashionable in their sixties, they want to follow them. Older women are much more aware of celebrities. There’s also the boom in TV programmes showing people how they can change their look, and many of my older customers do yoga to stay in shape well in their fifties. When I started my business a few years ago, my older customers tended to be very rich, but now they are what I would call ordinary women. My own mother is 61 and she wears the latest fashions in a way she would never have done ten years ago.”Professor Twigg found that, compared with the 1960s, _______.
| A．the price of clothes has generally fallen by 70% |
| B．the spending on clothes has increased by 5% or 6% |
| C．people spend 30% less than they did on clothes |
| D．the amount of clothes bought has risen by 5% or 6% |
What can we learn about old women in terms of fashion？
| A．They are often ignored by fashion designers. |
| B．They are now more easily influenced by stars. |
| C．They are regarded as pioneers in the latest fashion. |
| D．They are more interested in clothes because of their old age. |
It can be concluded that old women tend to wear the latest fashions today mainly because .
| A．they get tired of things more quickly |
| B．TV shows teach them how to change their look |
| C．they are in much better shape now |
| D．clothes are much cheaper than before |
Which is the best possible title of the passage?
| A．Age Is No Barrier for Fashion Fans |
| B．The More Fashionable, the Less Expensive |
| C．Unexpected Changes in Fashion |
| D．Boom of the British Fashion Industry |
阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
“Have you ever been out on a boat and felt it lifted up by a wave? Or have you jumped in the water and felt the rush of energy as waves came over you?” asked Jamie Taylor of the Wave Energy Group at the University of Edinburgh. “There is certainly a lot of energy in waves,” he said. Scientists are working to use that energy to make electricity. Most waves are created when winds blow across the ocean. “The wind starts out by making little ripples(涟漪), but if they keep on blowing, those ripples get bigger and bigger and turn into waves,” Taylor said. “Waves are one of nature’s ways of picking up energy and then sending it off on a journey.” When waves come toward the shore, people can set up dams to block the water and send it through a large wheel called a turbine (涡轮机). The turbine can then power an electrical generator to produce electricity.
“The resource is huge,” said Janet Swain of the World Watch Institute. “We will never run out of wave power.” Besides, wave energy does not create the same pollution as other energy sources, such as oil or coal. Oceans cover three quarters of the Earth’s surface—that would make wave power seem ideal for creating energy throughout the world, though there are some weak points yet to overcome.
Swain said that wave power still costs too much money. She also said that its effects on sea animals are still unknown. What is more, wave power could affect fishing and boat traffic. Traditional sources of energy like oil and gas may someday run out. “Demand for energy to power our TVs and computers, drive our cars, and heat and cool our homes is rising rapidly throughout the world,” Swain said. In the future when you turn on a light, an ocean wave could be providing the electricity!The writer uses the two questions at the beginning of the passage to .
| A．test the readers’ knowledge about waves |
| B．draw the readers’ attention to the topic |
| C．show Jamie Taylor’s importance |
| D．invite the readers to answer them |
The underlined phrase “picking up” is closest in meaning to .
| A．starting again | B．speeding up |
| C．improving | D．gathering |
We can make better use of wave energy if we .
| A．shorten its journey to thousands of homes |
| B．build more small power stations on the oceans |
| C．reduce the cost of turning it into electric power |
| D．quicken the steps of producing electricity |
It can be inferred that someday we might not worry about .
| A．our power supply |
| B．our boat traffic |
| C．air pollution |
| D．our supply of sea fish |
阅读理解
阅读下列四篇短文，从每小题后所给的A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该选项涂黑。
We arrived at the hospital to find Dad was very weak, but his smile was the same as ever. It was another attack of pneumonia(肺炎). My husband and I stayed with him for the weekend but had to return to our jobs on Monday. Local relatives would help Dad get home from hospital and look after him. But I wished to be able to let him know that we cared too, even when we weren’t with him.
Then I remembered a family tradition when our children were small. When leaving their grandparents’ home after a visit, each child would write a love note to their grandparents. They hid notes in cereal(麦片) box, under a hairbrush or next to the phone. For days, their grandparents would smile as they discovered these reminders of our love.
So as I tidied Dad’s kitchen and made up a bed for him downstairs in the living room, I wrote some notes. “Dad, I put the food in the fridge so it wouldn’t spoil(变质).” Some expressed my love, “Dad, I hope you will sleep well in your new bed.” Most notes were downstairs where he would stay for several weeks, but one note I hid upstairs under his pillow, “Dad, if you have found this note, you must be feeling better. We are so glad!”
Just like his medicines strengthened him physically, these “emotional vitamins” would improve his health, too. Several weeks later, in one of our regular phone calls, I asked Dad how he was going. He said, “Pretty good. I just found your note under my pillow upstairs!”We can infer from the text that the writer’s father _______.
| A．had got the same illness before. |
| B．lived with her family |
| C．asked her to return to work |
| D．felt lonely without her |
The children hid notes in their grandparents’ home in order to ______.
| A．follow a family tradition |
| B．play jokes on their grandparents |
| C．show their gifts to their grandparents |
| D．make their grandparents feel pleasantly surprised |
After heard what her father said, the writer would feel ______.
| A．surprised | B．lucky |
| C．pleased | D．sad |
Which of the following is true according to the text?
| A．The writer believed that a family tradition was not good. |
| B．The writer enjoyed talking with her father. |
| C．The writer tried to comfort her father with love. |
| D．The writer thanked her children for looking after her father. |