Batteries can power anything from small sensors to large systems. While scientists are finding ways to make them smaller but even more powerful, problems can arise when these batteries are much larger and heavier than the devices themselves. University of Missouri(MU) researchers are developing a nuclear energy source that is smaller, lighter and more efficient.
“To provide enough power, we need certain methods with high energy density(密度)”，said Jae Kwon, assistant professor of electrical and computer engineering at MU. “The radioisotope(放射性同位素) battery can provide power density that is much higher than chemical batteries.”
Kwon and his research team have been working on building a small nuclear battery, presently the size and thickness of a penny, intended to power various micro/nanoelectromechanreal systems (M/NEMS). Although nuclear batteries can cause concerns, Kwon said they are safe.
“People hear the word ‘nuclear’ and think of something very dangerous,” he said, “However, nuclear power sources have already been safely powering a variety of devices, such as pace-makers, space satellites and underwater systems.”
His new idea is not only in the battery’s size, but also in its semiconductor(半导体). Kwon’s battery uses a liquid semiconductor rather than a solid semiconductor.
“The key part of using a radioactive battery is that when you harvest the energy, part of the radiation energy can damage the lattice structure(晶体结构) of the solid semiconductor,” Kwon said, “By using a liquid semiconductor, we believe we can minimize that problem.”
Together with J. David Robertson, chemistry professor and associate director of the MU Research Reactor, Kwon is working to build and test the battery. In the future, they hope to increase the battery’s power, shrink its size and try with various other materials. Kwon said that battery could be thinner than the thickness of human hair. Which of the following is true of Jae Kwon?
| A．He teaches chemistry at MU. |
| B．He developed a chemical battery. |
| C．He is working on a nuclear energy source. |
| D．He made a breakthrough in computer engineering. |
Jae Kwon gave examples in Paragraph 4_________.
| A．to show chemical batteries are widely applied. |
| B．to introduce nuclear batteries can be safely used. |
| C．to describe a nuclear-powered system. |
| D．to introduce various energy sources. |
Liquid semiconductor is used to _________.
| A．get rid of the radioactive waste |
| B．test the power of nuclear batteries. |
| C．decrease the size of nuclear batteries |
| D．reduce the damage to lattice structure. |
According to Jae Kwon, his nuclear battery _______.
| A．uses a solid semiconductor | B．will soon replace the present ones. |
| C．could be extremely thin | D．has passed the final test. |
The text is most probably a ________.
| A．science news report | B．book review |
| C．newspaper ad | D．science fiction story |
第二部分阅读理解（共30小题；每小题2分，满分60分）
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21~50各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C、D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a ＄10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to “speak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees — anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology , laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “ Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we’re giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything.”
1. The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to _____.
A. use for their schoolwork B. access the Internet
C. work at home D. connect them to libraries
2.Why is the word “speak” in the second paragraph in quotation marks(引号)?
A. They don’t really talk. B. They use the computer language.
C. Laptops have speakers. D. None of the above reasons is correct.
3. Which of the following is true about Westlake College?
A. All teachers use computers. B. 1500 students have laptops.
C. It is an old college in America. D. Students there can do everything.
4.A window on the world in the last paragraph means that students can __________.
A. attend lectures on information technology B. travel around the world
C. get information from around the world D. have free laptops
5. What can we infer from the passage?
A. The program is successful. B. The program is not workable.
C. The program is too expensive. D. We don’t know the result yet.
C
On May 7, 2001, Ronnie Biggs arrived in Britain for the first time in about thirty-five years. His return was the end of one of Britain's most famous crime stories, The Great Train Robbery. In 1963 Biggs was in a gang that stole ￡2.6 million from a train traveling between London and Glasgow. The gang was caught quickly, and Biggs was sentenced to thirty years in jail. Many people thought that the sentence was too harsh（严厉的）. Biggs also thought it was too harsh, so he decided to escape.
Biggs was sent to Wandsworth Prison, a maximum security jail. It had one very high wall to keep the prisoners in, and some guards to watch them. One afternoon in July 1965, Biggs was in the prison yard. He had been in jail for just fifteen months. A tall van（货车） stopped outside the jail, and a ladder was placed against the wall. Then a rope ladder was thrown over the wall into the prison yard. Biggs climbed up the rope ladder, jumped down into the van and escaped!
From that time on, Biggs lived on the run. After hiding in France, Spain and Australia, he finally settled in Brazil in 1970. He was a celebrity（名人） criminal. He appeared in rock videos and movies, and he sold souvenirs to tourists who came to see him. But he missed his home in Britain and, at the age of seventy-one, decided to go home. He was met at the airport by family, friends—and police.
61. Ronnie Biggs was sentenced to thirty years in jail because ________.
62. What kind of prison was Ronnie Biggs in?
63. The main idea of Paragraph 2 is ________.
64. How many countries had Ronnie Biggs been to after he escaped from Britain?
65. When was Ronnie Biggs born?
B
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Every afternoon in South Korea, when school and work finish, over 100,000 people meet on the Internet to play a game called Lineage. They meet in a virtual（虚拟的） world 500 years in the past. They form teams and fight for justice and money. They are part of one of the Internet's many online gaming communities. The people who play these games are called gamers. Often they meet in 24-hour cafés to play Lineage, as well as other games such as Diablo, StarCraft and Counter Strike. Most gamers just play for fun, but for some people, it can become an obsession （着迷）. |
When gaming becomes an obsession it can become dangerous. In Hong Kong, a seventeen-year-old boy died as a result of playing his favourite game in the café where he worked. After working for eight hours, he often stayed at the café and played Diablo II. On some nights he slept for only two hours. In May 2002, he was found unconscious at a computer after playing all night. When he died later in hospital, doctors said it was because he was exhausted.
In Korea, the dangers can come from other gamers. In the virtual world of Lineage, gamers can create new characters for themselves. High school students can become very powerful fighters and leaders. They play against doctors, businessmen and even members of dangerous gangs. But sometimes things that happen in the game affect real life. Gamers have been beaten up in real life by people they have killed online!
56. How many people play Lineage when school and work are over every day in South Korea?
57. What do people do in the virtual world of Lineage?
58. The online games mentioned in the passage are ________.
59. What does the underlined word “exhausted” mean?
60. What does the passage mainly talk about?
II. 阅读理解（Reading comprehension）（共20小题，计35分）
A）选择题：阅读下面短文，从A、B、C、D四个选项中，选出能回答所提问题或完成所给句子的最佳答案。（答案涂在答题纸上）
A
| Most people think that the capital of the movie world is Hollywood, in the United States. However, the real movie capital is Mumbai, in India. Mumbai used to be known as Bombay, and so the film industry there is called “Bollywood”. Bollywood makes twice as many movies each year as Hollywood—more than 800 films a year. The movies from Bollywood are very different from Hollywood movies. For one thing, Bollywood movies are much longer than most Hollywood movies. Most Bollywood movies are more than three hours long, and contain singing, dancing, action, adventure, mystery, and romance. Because Bollywood films contain so many different features, this style of film is sometimes called a “masala” film. (“Masala” is an Indian word for a mixture of spices. ) Another big difference between Bollywood and Hollywood movies is the way the movies are made. It takes much longer to make a movie in Hollywood than in Bollywood. In fact, filming may begin on a Bollywood movie before the script is even finished. The director and writers can make up the story while the film is being made. Sometimes they will even write the script by hand instead of taking time to type it. |
 |
Bollywood actors are very popular and some are in such high demand that they may work on several movies at the same time. They may even shoot scenes for several films on the same day using the same clothes and scenery (舞台布景）. Since most Bollywood movies follow the same kind of story, shooting scenes for several films at the same time is not a big problem for actors or directors. This also helps keep the cost of Bollywood movies lower than the cost of Hollywood movies. The average Bollywood film, with a budget （预算） of only two million U.S. dollars, seems very cheap compared to the average budget of sixty million U.S. dollars for a Hollywood film—thirty times as much!
51. The main topic of the passage is ________.
A. famous stars in Bollywood
B. how Hollywood movies are made
C. the differences between two movie industries
D. the history of movie-making in India
52. What is NOT true about Mumbai?
A. It is the movie capital of India.
B. Its new name is Bombay.
C. More movies are made there than in Hollywood.
D. The film industry there is called “Bollywood”.
53. Why are Bollywood films often called “masala” films?
A. They have interesting stories.
B. They are much longer than Hollywood films.
C. They show Indian culture.
D. They mix different styles of movies.
54. Bollywood movies are cheap to make because ________.
A. they are shorter than Hollywood films
B. the scripts are written by hand
C. the movies do not use any special effects
D. most movies reuse things from other movies
55. Which of these statements would the writer probably agree with?
A. Most Bollywood movies are very similar.
B. It takes a lot of money to make a good movie.
C. Only Indian people can understand Bollywood movies.
D. Hollywood movies are too violent.
B）非选择题：阅读下列短文，然后回答问题或完成句子。（答案写在答题纸上）
A small dog should be belly-up after eating a handful M＆M’s, at least according to conventional wisdom. But watching “Moose”, a friend’s five-pound Chihuahua, race around a living room after his sweet snack makes one wonder: Is chocolate truly poisonous to dogs?
Dogs and humans have similar tastes. But unlike humans, our companions experience dangerous effects from eating chocolate — it can poison them and in some cases is fatal. Chocolate’s danger to dogs depends on its quality.
Chocolate is processed from the bitter seeds of the cocoa tree, which contain a family of compounds known as methylxanthines（一种衍生物）. This class of substances includes caffeine and the related chemical theobromine(可可碱). Chocolate contains a significant amount of theobromine and smaller amounts of caffeine. These chemicals can cause a dog’s heart to race up to twice its normal rate, and some dogs may run around as if “they drank a gallon of espresso,” according to Hackett.
Dogs are capable of handling some chocolate, but it depends on the animal’s weight and the type of chocolate it eats. Unsweetened baking chocolate contains more than six times as much theobromine as milk chocolate, although amounts vary between cocoa beans as well as different brands of chocolate. Less than four ounces of milk chocolate is potentially fatal for Moose and other small dogs.
Around every confection-centered holiday — Valentine’s Day, Easter and Christmas — at least three or four dogs are hospitalized overnight in the animal medical center at Colorado State. But in 16 years, Hackett has seen just one dog die from chocolate poisoning, and he suspects it may have had an underlying disease that made it more exposed to chocolate’s heart-racing effect.
1. The underlined expression “belly-up” probably means______.
A. dead B. poisonous C. running around D. having a headache
2. All of the following are true EXCEPT______.
A. chocolate’s danger to dogs depends on its quantity and quality
B. people buy lots of chocolate around Valentine’s Day
C. an ounce of unsweetened baking chocolate is safe for Moose
D. there must be some theobromine or caffeine in espresso
3. What can we learn about Hackett?
A. He is an animal doctor. B. He is a pet shop owner.
C. He is the owner of Moose D. He is a doctor in a small hospital.
4. It can be inferred from the passage that Hackett believes that__________.
A. chocolate is truly deadly to dogs
B. it’s OK to give chocolate to a big dog
C. pets are usually ignored around confection-centered holidays
D. a healthy dog probably could survive a chocolate poisoning
5. The passage is mainly about__________.
A. the poisoning of Moose
B. the compounds of different chocolates
C. a handful M＆M’s chocolate is poisonous
D. the relation between methylxanthines and chocolate poisoning