Astronauts’ meals have come a long way from the free-dried powders and semi—liquid pastes of decades ago，now US scientists want to grow vegetables in mini—greenhouses on the moon．
Scientists say they are looking forward to a time when residents of future lunar or even Martian outsteps will be able to dine on fresh vegetables．Paragon Space Development Corporation has unveiled what it called the first step toward growing flowers——and eventually food on the moon．
This is a sealed greenhouse that looks like a bell jar encased in a 46-cm triangular aluminiumframe．It is designed to safely land a laboratory plant on the lunar surface，and protect it while it grows．
The miniature greenhouse is to be launched into space by Odyssey Moon Ltd, a participant in the Google Lunar X Prize. This competition offers $21 million to any entrant who can launch, land and operate a rover on the lunar surface.
Paragon officials say future testing of the “Lunar Oasis” will be driven by Odyssey’s flight Schedule, which will not happen until 2012 at the earliest．
When it does lift off the greenhouse will contain the seeds of Brassica, a hardy plant related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage. Because Brassica goes from seed to flower in just 14 days, it can complete its life cycle in a single lunar night.
“Colonizing the Moon or Mars seems so far away，but it is important that we do this research now. ”Paragon president Jane Poynter said．
“It takes a long time to get a lot of research, and to get integrated, reliable efficient systems before colonists move in. ”she said．The article is written mainly to__________．
| A．predict the astronauts’ meals in the future |
| B．introduce an experiment “Lunar Oasis’’ |
| C．tell us the future development of astronomy |
| D．focus on the human’s great progress |
The article implies that__________．
| A．astronauts can grow flowers in space at present | |
| B．Paragon and NASA will carry out the test separately | |
C．Lunar Oasis is a series of experiments carried out in space |
D．the earliest testing of the Lunar Oasis may be in 2012 |
The underlined word “colonists” in the last paragraph probably has the meaning of______．
| A．plants | B．wild beasts | C．human beings | D．scientists |
The seeds of Brassica will be contained in the greenhouse mainly because _________.
| A．their life cycle is much shorter |
| B．they are more nutritious than other food |
| C．they are related to Brussels sprouts and cabbage |
| D．they are very delicious |
Most people think of zoos as safe heavens for animals, where problems such as difficulty finding food and avoiding predators (食肉动物) don’t exist. Therefore, animals in zoos should live to a ripe old age.
But that may not be true for the largest land animals on earth. Scientists have known that elephants in zoos often suffer from poor health. They develop diseases and they are even unable to have babies.
To learn more about how captivity (圈养) affects elephants, a team of international scientists compared the lifespans (寿命) of the zoo-born elephants with the lifespans of thousands of wild elephants. They also compared some Asian elephants living in zoos with some Asian elephants which work in logging camp (伐木场), over almost the same time period.
The team found that elephants born in zoos lived an average of 16.9 years, but elephants that died of natural causes lived an average of 56 years. Asian elephants followed a similar pattern. In zoos, they lived 18.9 years, while those in the logging camp lived 41.7 years.
Scientists don’t yet know why wild elephants seem to live so much better than their zoo-raised counterparts (同类). Georgia Mason, a biologist at the University of Guelph in Canada, who led the study, thinks stress and obesity (肥胖) may be to blame. Zoo elephants don’t get the same kind of exercise they would in the wild. Elephants’ social lives are also much different in zoos than in the wild, where they live in large family groups.Most people believe that________.
| A．animals in zoos should live a longer life |
| B．zoos are not good for animals to live in |
| C．zoos are not suitable for large animals |
| D．captivity can affect animals in many ways |
The purpose of the international scientists is_________.
| A．to compare the lifespans of different animals |
| B．to find out how captivity affects elephants |
| C．to learn the lifespans of male and female elephants |
| D．to compare the lifespans of elephants in different places |
Which elephants live the longest according to the study?
| A．Elephants born in zoos. |
| B．Elephants that live in the wild. |
| C．Elephants that work in logging camps. |
| D．Female Asian elephants in logging camps. |
We can infer from the passage that_________.
| A．elephants in zoos suffer less stress than those in the wild |
| B．elephants in zoos live an easy life |
| C．social lives are not important to elephants |
| D．zoo life can be stressful to elephants |
What are the advantages to elephants in the wild according to the passage?
| A．They face fewer problems. | B．They can find food more easily. |
| C．They live in large social groups. | D．They are freer to move. |
On a cold evening I was waiting for a taxi in New York. About 5 minutes later, I was picked up by a driver, and he said how horrible some people were. I knew there was a part of me that wanted to be silent, but I had to listen out of kindness.
The man told me that he had just come from JFK Airport without a customer. Over the course of that taxi ride, what started as anger changed slowly and he mentioned that he had read an article which said that the happiest people are the ones that give, so he hoped he’d have more chance to give in his life. I was really starting to enjoy being with this man.
As we arrived at the place where I wanted to go, I paid my money by credit card. I pulled out an extra $20 and said, “Sir, since we’ve been talking about giving this whole time, I want to share that feeling with you. I’ve already paid my money, but here’s an extra little bit. You can tell the next passenger in this taxi that their ride is a gift from another.”
I thought I was pretty cool at this point. But he turned toward me, tears in his eyes, and he said, “Sir, I have a better idea. You give that $20 to a homeless person around here and I will give the next passenger a free ride myself.”
It was a great honor meeting that man and learning the lesson of how everyone gives and adds joy to another with their generosity.According to the text, when the author got in the taxi, the taxi driver was________.
| A．angry | B．nervous | C．worried | D．regretful |
The author gave the driver an extra $20 in order to_________.
| A．help him to get out of trouble | B．know what he was really like |
| C．experience the joy of giving | D．learn how to get along with others |
What can be inferred from the taxi driver’s words in Paragraph 4?
| A．A driver should be willing to help. |
| B．People should understand each other. |
| C．The driver was deeply moved. |
| D．One needs to keep an optimistic attitude (乐观态度). |
What would be the best title for the text?
| A．A cold evening in New York | B．Learning from a taxi driver |
| C．A gift to a generous stranger | D．Always being a happy person |
Just five one-hundredths of an inch thick and light golden in color, the Lay's potato chip seems an unlikely weapon for global control. But its maker, Frito-Lay doesn't think so. "Potato chips are a snack food for the world , "said Salman Amin, the company's head of global marketing. Amin believes there is no corner of the world that can resist the attractions of a Frito-Lay potato chip.
Frito-Lay is the biggest snack maker in America owned by Pepsico and accounts for over half of the parent company's $ 3 billion profits every year. But the U.S. snack food market is largely saturated(饱和),and to grow, the company has to look overseas.
Its strategy rests on two beliefs: first, a global product offers economies of scale(规模) with which local brands cannot compete. And second, consumers in the 21st century are drawn to "global" as a concept. "Global" does not mean products that are consciously regarded as American, but ones that consumers--especially young people--see as part of a modern, innovative(创新的) world in which people are linked across cultures by shared beliefs and tastes. Potato chips are an American invention, but most Chinese, for example, do not know that Frito-Lay is an American company. Instead, Riskey, the company's research and development head, would hope they associate the brand with the new world of global communications and business.
With brand concept a key factor, Riskey ordered a redesign of the Frito-Lay logo(标识). The logo, along with the company's long-held marketing image of its chips, would help make the company's global development very easy.
The managers admit that they try to change national eating habits to a food created in America, but they don't think that means economic imperialism (霸主). "We're making products in those countries, we're adapting them to the tastes of those countries, building businesses and employing people and changing lives , "said Steve Reinemund, Pepsico's chief manager.Amin's belief is that _________.
| A．people all over the world enjoy eating their potato chips |
| B．the light golden color increases the attraction of their potato chips |
| C．they must find new ways to promote sales in their country |
| D．potato chips can hardly control the world market |
What do we learn about Frito-Lay from Paragraph 2?
| A．It gives half of its profits to its parent company every year. |
| B．It needs to turn to the world market for development. |
| C．Its products used to be popular among overseas consumers. |
| D．Its development has caused fierce competition in the snack market. |
One of the concepts on which Frito-Lay bases its development strategy is that __________.
| A．consumers worldwide today are attracted by global brands |
| B．products suiting Chinese consumers' needs bring more profits |
| C．local brands cannot compete successfully with American brands |
| D．products identified as American will have promising market value |
Why did Riskey have the Frito-Lay logo redesigned?
| A．To suit changing tastes of young consumers. |
| B．To compete with other American chip producers. |
| C．To change the company's long-held marketing image. |
| D．To promote the company's strategy of globalization. |
Read the following advertisements and then choose the correct answers.
| (China Daily, March 3, 1996) the biggest shopping center will open on March 8. Every body with today's China Daily will get a small present that day. You are welcome. Telephone: 38990688; address: No. 6 Xidan Road …… |
| (ENGLISH NEWSPAPER, March 19) English Newspaper needs a foreign editor. He (She ) must have worked in China for more than 2 years. British nationality is necessary. The salary is $ 100,000 a year. The term is 3 years. In ten days this piece of advertisement will not be useful. Telephone: 3890666; addreses: No. 6 Xinling Road … |
| (CHINA FOOTBALL, February 3, 1996) Shanghai Shenhua Team Vs Beijing Guo'an Team TIME: February 8. Sunday (3:00) PLACE: Hongkou Stadium TICKET PRICE; RMB 25 yuan (for adults ) RMB 15 yuan (for students) NAME: China Cup Football Contest COACHES: Xu Genbao, Jin Zhiyang … |
If an Englishman who has worked in China for 3 years comes to English Newspaper office to ask for the job in April, he will _____.
| A．get the job | B．not get the job | C．be a good editor | D．not be useful |
If three adults and six students went to watch the match, the tickets would cost them _____ yuan.
| A．165 | B．135 | C．196 | D．255 |
Which of the following is NOT TRUE?
| A．The shopping center is at NO. 6 Xidan road. |
| B．The telephone number of English Newspaper is 3890666. |
| C．The match was between Beijing Team and Guo'an Team. |
| D．Xu Genbao is a coach. |
Computers are very important to modern life．Many people think that in the future computers will be used in lots of everyday life．It is thought that we won’t have to go shopping because we will be able to get most things which are sold in shops on the Internet．There will be no more books because we will be able to get all texts from computers．The Internet will be used to play games, see films and buy food．Most telephone calls will be made by computers, too．
Some people are glad about those new ways of shopping and communicating(交流)．Others do not think that computers will replace（代替）our old ways．
Some people think that one day we will not read books made of paper. Instead, we will buy and read books using computers, which will keep many different books in them at the same time．We won’t need to turn lots of pages and paper will be saved．Computerized (计算机化的) books will be used more and more．
While many people say it is a pleasure to go into shops and look at things you want to buy．It is also unlikely that many people will want to read large texts on our computers. Because paper books will perhaps be more friendly．Maybe computers won’t change these two habits．Which is the main idea of this passage?
| A．People like going shopping | B．Reading books is important |
| C．Computers are important | D．Computer can be used to play games |
There will be no more books because________.
| A．There is no paper in the future. | B．People don’t like reading books. |
| C．They are very expensive. | D．We can read passages from computers. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．We can see films by computers. | B．People all like to go shopping by computers. |
| C．We can’t buy anything using computers. | D．All the people like reading books from computers. |
Which of the following is mentioned (提到) in the passage?
| A．Computers can help us e-mail our friends. | B．We can chat by using computers. |
| C．Computers can help us make telephone calls. | D．We can listen to the music by computers. |