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 on one of the score cards. A 9 had been recorded as A 7. They were not the state prize winner; Woburn High had won. “No one would have known,” said Woburn’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 homes. Her “Change for Change” effort has collected $40,000 for charities, 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. 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 Woburn High School. |
Greg Rota’s decision shows that he was _____.
| A．honest | B．polite | C．careful | D．friendly |
The underlined word “Change” in the second paragraph means _____.
| A．Idea | B．Decision | C．Cups | D．Coins |
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. |
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 |
Most people know that Marie Curie was the first woman to win the Nobel Prize, and the first person to win it twice. However, few people know that she was also the mother of a Nobel Prize winner.
Born in September, 1987, Irene Curie was the first of the Curies’ two daughters. Along with nine other children whose parents were also famous scholars, Irene studied in their own school, and her mother was one of the teachers. She finished her high school education at the College of Sevigne in Paris.
Irene entered the University of Paris in 1914 to prepare for a degree in mathematics and physics. When World War I began, Irene went to help her mother, who was using X-ray facilities to help save the lives of wounded soldiers. Irene continued the work by developing X-ray facilities in military hospitals in France and Belgium. Her services were recognized in the form of a Military’s Medal by the French government.
In 1918, Irene became her mother’s assistant at the Curie Institute. In December 1924, Frederic Joliot joined the Institute, and Irene taught him the techniques required for his work. They soon fell in love and were married in 1926. Their daughter Helene was born in 1927 and their son Pierre five years later.
Like her mother, Irene combined family and career. Like her mother, Irene was awarded a Nobel Prize, along with her husband, in 1935. Unfortunately, also like her mother, she developed leukemia(白血病) because of her work with radioactivity（放射性）. Irene Joliot-Curie died from leukemia on March 17, 1956.Why was Irene Curie awarded a Military Medal?
| A．Because she received a degree in mathematics. |
| B．Because she contributed to saving the wounded. |
| C．Because she won the Nobel Prize with Frederic. |
| D．Because she worked as a helper to her mother. |
Where did Irene Curie meet her husband Frederic Joliot?
| A．At the Curie Institute. |
| B．At the University of Paris. |
| C．At a military hospital. |
| D．At the College of Sevigne. |
When was the second child of Irene Curie and Frederic Joliot born?
| A． In 1932. | B． In 1927. |
| C． In 1897. | D． In 1926. |
In which of the following aspects was Irene Curie different from her mother?
| A．Irene worked with radioactivity. |
| B．Irene won the Nobel Prize twice |
| C．Irene combined family and career. |
| D．Irene won the Nobel Prize once |
Taxes, Taxes and More Taxes
Americans often say that there are only two things a person can be sure of in life; death and taxes. Americans do not have a corner on the “death” market, but many people feel that the United States leads the world with the worst taxes.
Taxes consist of the money which people pay to support their government. There are generally three levels of government in the United States: federal (联邦), state, and city; therefore, there are three types of taxes.
Salaried people who earn more than a few thousand dollars must pay a certain percentage of their salaries to the federal government. The percentage varies form person to person. It depends on their salaries. The federal government has a graduated income tax, that is, the percentage of the tax (14 to 70 percent) increases as a person’s income increases. With the high cost of taxes people are not very happy on April 15, when the federal taxes are due.
The second tax is for the state government: New York, California, North Dakota, or any of the other forty-seven states. Some states have an income tax similar to that of the federal government. Of course, the percentage for the state tax is lower. Other states have a sales tax, which is a percentage charged to any item(项目) which you buy in that state. For example, a person might want to buy a packet of cigarettes for twenty-five cents. If there is a sales tax of eight percent in that state, then the cost of the cigarettes is twenty-seven cents. This figure includes the sales tax. Some states use income tax in addition to sales tax to raise their revenues (收入). The state tax laws are various and confusing.
The third tax is for the city. This tax comes in two forms: property tax (people who own a home have to pay taxes on it) and excise (国产) tax, which is charged on cars in a city. The cities use these funds for education, police and fire departments, public works and municipal (市政内) buildings.
Since Americans pay such high taxes, they often feel that they are working one day each week just to pay their taxes. People always complain about taxes. They often protest that the government uses their tax dollars in the wrong way. They say that it spends too much on useless and impractical programs. Although Americans have different views on many issues, they tend to agree on one subject: taxes are too high.How do you understand the sentence “Americans do not have a corner on the ‘death’ market”?
| A．It means that Americans, just like all other people, must die. |
| B．It means that Americans do not have a secret place to keep from death in their life. |
| C．It means that Americans are not good at doing business in the death market. |
| D．It means that there is no such place as a death market in the U. S. |
Why should the American people usually pay three types of taxes?
| A．There are three levels of government--federal, state and city-to support the United States. |
| B．There are three kinds of taxes to pay--graduated income tax, sales tax and property tax.. |
| C．They earn different salaries: high, middle, and low. |
| D．Tax laws in different states are different. |
What does the title “Taxes, Taxes, and More Taxes” imply?
| A．Americans are not satisfied with the three types of taxes. |
| B．The three levels of government do not use the taxes in a right way. |
| C．Americans complain that taxes are too high. |
| D．Americans’ taxes are diverse and confusing. |
Scientists have found what look like caves on Mars, and say they could be protecting life from the planet’s terrible environment.
The first caves discovered beyond the Earth appear as seven mysterious black dots on the pictures sent back by NASA’s Mars Odyssey orbiter. Each as large as a football field, they may be openings into natural caves below the Martian surface.
“If there is life on Mars, there is a good chance you’d find it in caves,” said Jut Wynne, one of the researchers who noticed the features while working on a US Geological Survey Mars Cave Detection Program.
Jonathan Clarke, a geologist with the Mars Society of Australia, yesterday described the discovery as exciting.
One photo taken at night by an infrared imager(红外线成像器) showed one hole to be unusually warm, suggesting hot air trapped during the day is flowing out.
“I said: ‘Wow, that’s a cave’.” Dr. Clarke said excitedly. “People have been looking for these for a long time; now we have found them.”
He agreed such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life escaping from the bitterly cold, radiation-soaked(充满辐射的), dry surface.
“Tiny drops of water could collect inside,” he said. “If there are gases coming out, they could provide energy for a whole range of bacteria. A cave is also a protection from radiation; the surface of Mars is exposed to high levels of space radiation.”
The caves probably formed when tube-shaped lave flows(管状岩浆流) spread across the planet long ago. The outside of the tubes cooled, forming solid walls, while something hotter inside allowed the remaining have to flow out, forming caves.
What does the passage mainly talk about?
| A．How the caves were formed on Mars. |
| B．How scientists found these caves on Mars. |
| C．Caves on Mars may be full of hot air or a sign of life. |
| D．Scientists have completely recognized the surface of Mars. |
What can the “cave” be used for according to the scientists?
A. They can protect life from the planet’s terrible environment.
B. They can provide energy for people’s life.
C. They can be used to prevent space radiation
D. Both A and C.We can learn from the passage that.
| A．water has already been found on Mars |
| B．the scientists found all the caves at night |
| C．it is certain that there is life in these caves |
| D．the surface of Mars is bitterly cold, radiation-soaked and dry |
According to the passage, Dr. Clarke was so excited because.
| A．such caves could provide energy for life |
| B．they had finally found the caves on Mars |
| C．such caves would be perfect places to hunt for life |
| D．scientists had long been looking for these caves |
Necessary conditions for life on Mars mentioned in the passage may include.
| A．lave and energy |
| B．water and radiation from space |
| C．gases and lave |
| D．water and protection from radiation |
Fish have ears. Really. They’re quite small and have no opening to the outside world carrying sound through the body. For the past seven years, Simon Thorrold, a university professor, has been examining fish ears, small round ear bones called otoliths.
As fish grow, so do their otoliths. Each day, their otoliths gain a ring of calcium carbonate (碳酸钙). By looking through a microscope (显微镜) and counting these rings, Thorrold can determine the exact age of a young fish. As a fish gets older, its otoliths no longer get daily rings. Instead, they get yearly rings, which can also be counted, giving information about the fish’s age, just like the growth rings of a tree.
Ring counting is nothing new to fish scientists. But Thorold has turned to a new direction. They’re examining the chemical elements (元素) of each otolith ring.
The daily ring gives us the time, but chemistry tells us about the environment in which the fish swam on any given day. These elements tell us about the chemistry of the water that the fish was in. It also says something about water temperature, which determines how much of these elements will gather within each otolith ring.
Thorrold can tell, for example, if a fish spent time in the open ocean before entering the less salty water of coastal areas. He can basically tell where fish are spending their time at any given stage of history.
In the case of the Atlantic croaker, a popular saltwater food fish, Thorrold and his assistant have successfully followed the traveling of young fish from mid-ocean to the coast, a journey of many hundreds of miles.
This is important to managers in the fish industry, who know nearly nothing about the whereabouts of the young fish for most food fish in the ocean. Eager to learn about his technology, fish scientists are now lending Thorrold their ears.What can we learn about fish ears from the text?
| A．They are small soft rings. |
| B．They are not seen from the outside. |
| C．They are openings only on food fish. |
| D．They are not used to receive sound. |
Why does the writer compare the fish to trees?
| A．Trees gain a growth ring each day. |
| B．Trees also have otoliths. |
| C．Their growth rings are very small. |
| D．They both have growth rings. |
Why is it important to study the chemistry of otolith rings?
| A．The elements of the otoliths can tell the history of the sea. |
| B．Chemical contents of otoliths can tell how fast fish can swim. |
| C．We can know more about fish and their living environment. |
| D．Scientists can know exactly how old a fish is. |
How would you understand “fish scientists are now lending their ears”?
| A．They are very interested in Thorrold’s research findings. |
| B．They want to know where they can find fish. |
| C．They lend their fish for chemical studies. |
| D．They wonder if Thorrold can find growth rings from their ears. |
London-Lazy students can now give up on work altogether as two Oxford University students have made scores of A-grade essays on the website for students to copy.
The essays are on the new website, “revise.it”
The website includes an “EssayLab” designed to make cheating (舞弊) as effective and effortless as possible.
Its homepage announces to surfers (网上冲浪者): “The revise.it EssayLab is a bank of hundreds of A-Level essays covering popular topics.”
“Next time you are asked to write an essay, why not see what we have on the subject-if you are in a lazy state of mind you can even use our guide to writing the essays and then just hand them in.”
Nick Rose and Jordan Mayo, both 19 and first from Manchester, spent much of their first year as students at the university setting up the website. There is no charge for downloading the essays.
“I have never been very good at essay writing,” Rose admitted. “We don’t see essay bank as a cheating way. It’s a surprising valuable resource. You can learn a lot by reading other people’s work on the subject.”
Among other tips, the website suggests inventing important speeches to give essays extra weight: “Popular people to quote (引用) are Douglass Hurd or Disraeli.”
Hurd was a foreign secretary in the 1980s and Disraeli was a 19th century prime minister.
Teachers are expressing their opinions by e-mail that they are angry about the website that “encourages students to cheat”, but students disagree.
According to Rose: “Exams are a fight. It’s us against them.”It can be inferred from this passage that ______.
| A．students who visit the website “revise. it” are all lazy |
| B．students in Oxford University are all lazy |
| C．websites in Oxford University are all set up by students |
| D．websites can provide people with different kinds of information |
Nick Rose and Jordan Mayo set up their website for the purpose of ______.
| A．helping students to cheat in exams |
| B．helping students to improve their writing |
| C．making money to pay for their schooling |
| D．making their teacher free |
What Rose said at last suggests that in England ______.
| A．it is difficult for students to pass their exams |
| B．it is difficult for teachers to finish their teaching |
| C．students are not satisfied with the education system |
| D．students are too lazy to learn anything |