Edmund Halley was an English scientist who lived over 200 years ago. He studied the observations of comets(彗星)which other scientists had made. The orbit（轨道） of one particular comet was a very difficult mathematical problem. He could not figure it out. Neither could other scientists who dealt with such problems.
However, Halley had a friend named Isaac Newton, who was a brilliant mathematician. Newton thought he had already worked out that problem, but he could not find the papers on which he had done it. He told Halley that the orbit of a comet had the shape of an ellipse(椭圆形).
Now Halley set to work. He figured out(解决，计算出)the orbits of some of the comets that had been observed by scientists. He made a surprising discovery. The comets that had appeared in the years 1531, 1607, and 1682 all had the same orbit. Yet their appearance had been 75 to 76 years apart.
This seemed very strange to Halley. Three different comets followed the same orbit. The more Halley thought about it, the more he thought that there had not been three different comets as people thought. He decided that they had simply seen the same comet three times. The comet had gone away and had come back again.
It was an astonishing idea! Halley felt certain to make a prediction(预言)of what would happen in the future. He decided that this would appear in the year 1758. There were 53 years to go before Halley’s prediction could be tested. In 1758 the comet appeared in the sky. Halley did not see it, for he had died some years before. Ever since then that comet had been called Halley’s comet, in his honor.Edmund Halley figured out the orbit of ____.
| A．some different comets appearing several times |
| B．the same comet appearing at different times |
| C．three different comets appearing at the same time |
| D．several comets appearing at the same time |
Halley made his discovery ____.
| A．by doing experiments |
| B．by means of his own careful observation |
| C．by using the working of other scientists |
| D．by chance |
Halley made a surprising, but correct prediction in the year____.
| A．1704 | B．1705 | C．1706 | D．1707 |
This passage in general is about ____.
| A．Halley and other scientists |
| B．the orbit of a comet |
| C．Newton and Halley |
| D．Halley and his discovery |
Which of the following is TRUE?
A．Edmund Halley was an American  scientist. |
| B．Halley made his discovery by doing experiments. |
| C．Isaac Newton was a famous mathematician. |
| D．The orbit of a comet had the shape of an around. |
On the island of New Zealand, there is a grasshopper-like species of insect that is found nowhere else on earth. New Zealanders have given it the nickname weta, which is a native Maori word meaning “god of bad looks”. It’s easy to see why anyone would call this insect a bad-looking bug. Most people feel disgusted at the sight of these bulky(笨重的)，slow-moving creatures.
Wetas are natural creatures; they come out of their caves and holes only after dark. A gaint weta can grow to over three inches long and weigh as much as 1.5 ounces. Giant wetas can hop up to two feet at a time. Some of them live in trees, and others live in caves. They are very long-lived for insects, and some adult wetas can live as long as two years. Just like their cousins grasshoppers and crickets, wetas are able to “sing” by rubbing their leg parts together, or against their lower bodies.
Most people probably don’t feel sympathy for these endangered creatures, but they do need protecting. The slow and clumsy wetas have been around on the island since the times of the dinosaurs, and have evolved and survived in an environment where they had no enemies until rats came to the island with European immigrants. Since rats love to hunt and eat wetas, the rat population on the island has grown into a real problem for many of the native species that are unaccustomed to its presence, and poses a serious threat to the native weta population..According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?
The weta is a newly discovered insect species.
The Maoris nicknamed themselves “Wetas”.
The Europeans brought wetas to New Zealand.
Wetas are unpleasant to the eye. .The strange thing about wetas is that they can produce pleasant sounds by ________.
| A．rubbing their body parts |
| B．moving slowly on the ground |
| C．hopping up to two feel at a time |
| D．coming out only at night |
Which of the following descriptions of wetas is accurate?
| A．They are quick in movement. |
| B．They are decreasing in number. |
| C．They are very active in the daytime. |
| D．They have a short lifespan for insects. |
The underlined word “its” in the last paragraph is the closest in meaning to “_________”.
| A．The dinosaur’s | B．The weta’s | C．The island’s | D．The rat’s |
From which of the following is the passage LEAST likely to be taken?
| A．A science magazine. | B．A travel guide. |
| C．A business journal. | D．biology textbook. |
We are all interested in equality, but while some people try to protect the school and examination system in the name of equality, others, still in the name of equality, want only to destroy it．
Any society which is interested in equality of opportunity（机会）and standards of achievement must regularly test its pupils．The standards may be changed - no examination is perfect - but to have no external( 外部的 )tests or examinations would mean the end of equality and of standards．There are groups of people who oppose this view and who do not believe either in external examinations or in any controls in schools or on teachers．This would mean that everything would depend on luck since every pupil would depend on the efficiency（实力）,the ideal and the purpose of each teacher．
Without external examinations, employers will look for employees from the highly respected schools and from families known to them - a form of favoritism will replace equality．At the moment, the bright child from an ill - respected school can show certificates（证书）to prove he or she is suitable for a job, while the lack of a certificate shows the unsuitability of a dull child attending a well - respected school．This defence of excellence and opportunity would disappear if external examinations were taken away, and the bright child from a poor family would be a prisoner of his or her school's fame（名誉）,unable to compete for employment with the child from the favoured school．
The opponents（对手）of the examination system suggest that examinations are an evil force because they show differences between pupils．According to these people, there must be no special, different, academic class．They have even suggested that there should be no form of difference in sport or any other area: all jobs or posts should be filled by unsystematic selection．The selection would be made by people who themselves are probably selected by some computer．
These people are not just against school organisation, but are at war with the whole idea of modem competitive society and they are using children in schools for their destructive（破坏性的）purposes．There is no reason why we should allow such people to determine the way our schools are organised when it is to the obvious disadvantage of the pupils, of the schools and of our society as a whole．According to the passage, the writer thinks that ________．
| A．changing the standards could mean the end of equality |
| B．standards must keep changing in order to achieve equality |
| C．there would be no standards without external examinations |
| D．we cannot have standards because examinations are not perfect |
In the writer's opinion, what would happen if external examinations were taken away?
| A．There would be no more opportunities and no more excellence． |
| B．Children from poor families would not be able to change schools． |
| C．Going to a favoured school should be the only way to get a good job． |
| D．Schools for bright children would lose their fame． |
The situation at the moment is that ________．
| A．many children who are suitable for a job have no proof of their suitability |
| B．a school's fame is not important, as long as a child has a certificate． |
| C．children attending well - respected schools need not get certificates． |
| D．a bright child doesn't need a certificate a t all to get a good job． |
Most episodes（情况）of absent- mindedness- forgetting where you left something or wondering why you just entered a room-are caused by a simple lack of attention, says Schacter．"You're supposed to remember something, but you haven't encoded （译成密码）it deeply."
Encoding, Schacter explains, is a special way of paying attention to an event that has a major impact（影响）on recalling it later．Failure to encode properly can create annoying situations．If you put your mobile phone in a pocket, for example, and don't pay attention to what you did because you're involved in a conversation, you'll probably forget that the phone is in the jacket now hanging in your wardrobe（衣柜）．"Your memory itself isn't failing you,"says Schacter."Rather, you didn't give your memory system the information it needed."
Lack of interest can also lead to absent-mindedness."A man who can recite sports statistics from 30 years ago,"says Zelinski,"may not remember to drop a letter in the mailbox."Women have slightly better memories than men, possibly because they pay more attention to their environment, and memory depends on just that．
"Visual cues can help prevent absent -mindedness",says Schacter."But be sure the cue is clear and available,"he cautions．If you want to remember to take a medication（药物）with lunch, put the pill bottle on the kitchen table-don't leave it in the medicine chest and write yourself a note that you keep in a pocket．
Another common episode of absent-mindedness: walking into a room and wondering why you're there．Most likely, you were thinking about something else．"Everyone does this from time to time,"says Zelinski．The best thing to do is to return to where you were before entering the room, and you'll likely remember．We can learn from the passage that encoding ________．
| A．slows down the process of losing our memories |
| B．helps us understand our memory system better |
| C．gets us to recall something from our memories |
| D．helps us to find out the mobile phone in the pocket |
Why do women have better memories than men?
| A．They seldom use their mobile phones． |
| B．They are more nervous about the environment． |
| C．They are more interested in what's happening around them． |
| D．They usually take some special medicine to improve memories． |
The sentence underlined in Paragraph 4 means that ___________．
| A．a note in the pocket will easily get lost |
| B．putting something in sight can be a good reminder |
| C．taking medicine can get rid of absent-mindedness |
| D．people of absent-mindedness must take medicine with them |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The causes of absent-mindedness． |
| B．The environment and memory． |
| C．A way of encoding and recalling． |
| D．The process of gradual memory loss． |
What's on
Oscar Film Themes Symphony Concert
Film highlights accompanied by live performances of movie theme music by the China Opera and Dance Drama Theatre Symphony Orchestra, which has recorded the music for many films．Familiar tunes will come from such flicks as Titanic, Jurassic Park and Waterloo Bridge．
Where: Nationality Cultural Palace Theatre When: March 8, 7：30 pm Admission：80-380 yuan Tel：6528 7674 ext 508
Fantastic View All the Way
The mountains in this area are not very high, but the vistas are excellent．This walk is gentle and very interesting, going through valleys, over passes, along a ridge and through a few little tranquil villages that are located in amazing places．Many sites along the walk offer panoramic view of the surrounding mountains．
Where: Pinggu, northeast of Beijing When: March 9, meet 8：30 am outside Starbucks at Lido Hotel, or 9 am at Capital Paradise front gate, return 5 pm Admission: adults 150 yuan, children 100 yuan Tel: 13701003694 Email: fjhikers @ yahoo．co．uk
Spring Greetings
Paintings in bold colors in a traditional Chinese style by young artist Tian Xifeng are displayed to welcome the spring．Tian is a student of famous bird-and-flower painting artist Wang Qing．He has won several prizes at various national painting exhibitions and developed a style emphasizing vivid close-ups of natural scenes．
Where: Melodic Gallery, 14 Jianwai Dajie, opposite Friendship Store When：till March 31, 9 am- 5 pm Admission: free Tel: 65188123
Cala, My Dog
Directed by Lu Xuechang, starring Ge You．The story is about a middle- aged working man, known as Lao Er, whose chief source of stability and comfort in life is his dog, Cala ．One day, when his wife is out walking Cala, a policeman confiscates the unregistered canine．As Lao Er endeavors to recover his dog , the difficult circumstances of his life are revealed．Chinese with English subtitle(字幕）．
Where: Dongchuang Theatre, 3 Xinzhongjie, Dongzhimenwai When: March 13 and 20, 8: 30 pm Admission: 20 yuan Tel: 64169253 If you are a music lover you can go to ________ on Women's Day．
| A．Capital Paradise |
| B．Dongchuang Theatre |
| C．Capital Gymnasium |
| D．Nationality Cultural Palace Theatre |
The exhibition held in Melodic Gallery ________．
| A．is open to the public from 7:30 am - 5pm till April lst． |
| B．presents the works by Tian Xifeng and his teacher |
| C．is to display some bird-and-flower paintings |
| D．costs the art lovers much money to visit |
Which of the following statements is NOT true?
| A．Both adults and children can take part in the walk in Pinggu． |
| B．Even you don't know English you can enjoy Cala, My Dog． |
| C．You'll have to dial 65188123 to book a ticket for the film． |
| D．You'll have a choice of two meeting places on March 9th. |
All the advertisements in this passage are about ________．
| A．music | B．movies | C．exhibitions | D．entertainments |
The majority of astronauts（宇航员）from America have been men．At the start of the space programme there was strong resistance from some people against having women in space．However, some women were very keen to become astronauts and in the end they were successful．In 1978, NASA began the first training programme for women astronauts．
Judy Resnick and Christa McAuliffe were both astronauts and they were both women, but in many other ways they were very different．Both of them were on Flight STS-5L-L．Judy Resnick was born in 1949 and studied engineering at university and went on to obtain a PhD in 1977．She was a member of the first group of women selected for astronaut training in 1978, and in 1984, she became the second woman in space．During that flight, she helped to launch three new satellites and she carried out a programme of research．She was, in many ways, a professional astronaut whose whole life was devoted to space travel．
Christa McAuliffe was born in 1948 and she was an astronaut almost by accident．In 1984, NASA decided to find a teacher who could accompany astronauts into space．They hoped that she would be able to communicate with students from space and encourage every one of them to be interested in space travel．Christa was a secondary teacher in history and social studies．She was a gifted teacher and she was selected from over 11,000 applicants to go on flight STS-51-L．She was also a very good communicator and she immediately established a very good relationship with the news media(radio, television and newspapers）．It was partly because of this that there was a great deal of interest and excitement about the flight．Thousands of students in schools and universities all around the country were looking forward to communicating with Christa in space．Millions of people were watching her flight with great interest．It is partly because of the excitement over McAuliffe's place in the flight that the disaster in 1986 had such an effect on people．We can learn from the first two paragraphs that ___________．
| A．Judy was against the idea of having women in space at first |
| B．Judy was the first woman selected for astronaut training |
| C．Judy helped to launch three new satellites at the age of 35 |
| D．Judy carried out a programme during her second space travel |
Christa McAuliffe was chosen for training because _______．
| A．she was popular with the news media |
| B．she expected to give history lessons in space |
| C．she was an excellent teacher and communicator |
| D．she made the students in space very excited |
The reason why there was great interest in Flight STS-51-L is that ________．
| A．both Christa and Judy got PhD degrees in the same year |
| B．a young secondary school teacher was on the flight |
| C．students were going to learn more about space travel |
| D．it was the first time for women to travel in space |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．Two Astronauts | B．Flight STS-51-L |
| C．Travelling in Space | D．The Training Programme |