f cars had wings,they could fly and that just might happen, beginning in 2011.The
company Terrafugia, based in Woburn, Massachusetts, says it plans to deliver its car-plane, the Transition, to customers by the end of 2011.
“It’s the next‘wow’vehicle,”said Terrafugia vice president Richard Gersh.“Anybody can buy a Ferrari, but as we say, Ferraris don’t fly.”
The car plane has wings that unfold for flying—a process the company says takes one minute—a
nd fold back up for driving.A runway is still required to take off and land.
The Transition is being marketed more as a plane that drives than a car that flies, although it is both.The company has been working with FAA to meet aircraft regulations, and with the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration to meet vehicle safety regulations.
The company is aiming to sell the Transition to private pilots as a more convenient and cheaper way to fly.They say it saves you the trouble from trying to find another mode of transportation to get to and from airports: You drive the car to the airport and then you’re good to go.When you land, you fold up the wings and hit the road.There are no expensive parking fees because you don’t have to store it at an airport—you park it in the garage at home.
The car-plane is designed to fly primarily under 10,000 feet.It has a maximum takeoff weight of 1,4
30 pounds, including fuel and passengers.Terrafugia says the Transition reduces the potential for an accident by allowing pilots to drive under bad weather instead of flying i
nto marginal(临界)conditions.
The Transition’s price tag: $194,000, But there may be additional charges for options like a radio, transponder or GPS.Another option is a full-plane parachute.
“If you get into a very awful situation, it is the necessary safety option,”Gersh said.
So far,the company has more than 70 orders with deposits.“We’re working very closely with them, but there are still some remaining steps,”Brown said.We can learn fro
m the first paragraph that .
| A.car-planes will be popular in 2011 |
| B.people might drive a car-plane in 2011 |
| C.both Transition and Ferrari can take off and land |
| D.Richard Gersh is the vice president of Massachusetts |
lt takes the car-plane one minute to .
| A.fold and unfold its wings | B.unfold wings for flying |
| C.land in the airport | D.meet flying safety regulations |
.According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?
A.The car-plane needs a runway to take off and land.
B.To mcet aircraft regulations, the company has been working with FAA.
C.The car-plane may fly as high as normal planes.
D.People can park the car-plane in the garage at their home..The underlined word“it”in the last but one paragraph refers to .
| A.the radio | B.the transponder |
| C.the GPS | D.the full-plane parachute |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A.Cars With Wings May Be Just Around The Corner. |
| B.Which to Choose: A Ferraris or a Car Plane? |
| C.A more Convenient and Cheaper Way to Fly. |
| D.Cars With Wings Can Fly as Fast as Planes. |
A young father was visiting an old neighbor. They were standing in the old man's garden, and talking about children. The young man said, “How strict should parents be with their children?”
The old man pointed to a string(绳子)between a big strong tree and a thin young one. “Please untie(解开)that string,” he said. The young man untied it, and the young tree bent(弯)over to one side. “Now tie it again, please,” said the old man, “but first pull the string tight so that the young tree is straight again.”
The young man did so. Then the old man said, “There,it is the same with children. You must be strict with them, but sometimes you must untie the string to know how they are getting on. If they are not yet able to stand alone, you must tie the string tight again. But when you find that they are ready to stand alone, you can take the string away.”The story is about _______ .
| A.how to take care of young trees |
| B.how strict parents should be with their children |
| C.how the young father should get on with his old neighbor |
| D.how to tie and untie the string |
When can the string be taken away?_______ .
| A.When the old man has left |
| B.After you have untied it |
| C.When the young man has untied it next time |
| D.When the young tree grows strong enough |
In the story the relation(关系) of the big strong tree to the thin one is like that of __.
| A.the young father to the old neighbor |
| B.parents to their children |
| C.the old neighbor to the children of the young father |
| D.grown ups to their parents |
Dinner customs (风俗) are different around the world. If you are a dinner guest (客人) in Ghana(非洲的加纳), this information will help you.
In Ghana, dinner is usually from four in the afternoon to six in the evening. But there are no strict rules about time in Ghana. Whenever a guest arrives, a family offers food.
When you go to a home, the host takes you to the living room first. At this time everyone welcomes you. Then you go to the dinner room. There you wash your hands in a bowl of water. All the food is on the table.
In Ghana you usually eat with your fingers. You eat from the same dish as everyone else. But you eat from one side of the dish only. It is not polite to get food from the other side of the dish. After dinner, you wash your hands again in a bowl of water.
Most meals in Ghana have a dish called fufu. People in Ghana make fufu from the powder(粉末) of some plants. Sometimes they cut the fufu with a saw(锯) because it is very hard and like rubber(橡胶). You must chew fufu well, or you can get sick. You eat fufu with fingers of your right hand only.If you are a dinner guest to a family in Ghana, you’re first ________.
| A.told to wash your hands |
| B.taken to the dinning-room |
| C.told some strict rules about dinner |
| D.taken to the living-room |
In the fourth paragraph, the writer wants to tell us ________
| A.what to eat in Ghana |
| B.how much time to spend on a dinner. |
| C.the way of eating |
| D.different food at a dinner |
The word “chew” in the last paragraph means ________
| A.smell | B.taste |
| C.presses with your hands | D.crush with your teeth |
In Ghana, ________
| A.dinner is always at six |
| B.rules for dinner time are not strict |
| C.a family offers food only at four |
| D.you don’t have to wash your hands again after dinner. |
A student is learning to speak British English. He wonders (想知道): Can I communicate with Americans? Can they understand me? Learners of English often ask: What are the differences between British and American English? How important are these differences? Certainly! there are some differences between British and American English. „There are a few differences in grammar. For example, speakers of British English say “in hospital” and “Have you a pen?” Americans say “in the hospital!” and “Do you have a pen?”. Pronunciation is sometimes different. Americans usually sound theirs in words like “bird” and “hurt”. Speakers of British English do not sound theirs in these words. There are differences between British and American English in spelling and vocabulary. For example, “colour” and “honour” are British, “color” and honor” are American. These differences in grammar, pronunciation, spelling and vocabulary are not important, however. For the most part, British and American English are the same language.American English and British English are different in ___ _____.
| A.spelling | B.pronunciation |
| C.grammar | D.all of the above |
What is not mentioned (提及) in the passage?
| A.Whether there are differences between British English and American English. |
| B.Whether British English and American English are one language or two. |
| C.How the differences between British English and American English came about. |
| D.How important the differences are. |
Most _____ say “Do you have a watch?”
| A.British people | B.Americans |
| C.children | D.teachers |
According to this passage, British people and Americans have _______ difficulty in understanding each other.
| A.little | B.much | C.some | D.great |
The following is a timetable in Shanghai Pudong International Airport.
| Airline |
Flight Number |
Destination(目的地) |
Departure |
Gate |
| Air Canada |
137 |
Beijing |
10:12 a.m. |
24 |
| Japanese Airlines |
320 |
Tokyo |
10:30 a.m. |
18 |
| British Airways |
405 |
Paris |
11:00 a.m. |
20 |
| Pan American |
226 |
London |
11:20 a.m. |
12 |
| Pan American |
12 |
Beijing |
11:43 a.m. |
15 |
| Air Canada |
178 |
Tokyo |
12:32 a.m. |
21 |
| CAAC |
289 |
Hong Kong |
12:32 a.m. |
14 |
| CAAC |
314 |
Moscow |
12:45 a.m. |
18 |
| British Airways |
230 |
New York |
12:55 a.m. |
23 |
A man wants to take Flight 178 to Tokyo. Which gate should he go to?
| A.14 | B.28 | C.21 | D.18 |
Lisa is at gate 23. Where is she going?
| A.Paris | B.Beijing |
| C.Tokyo | D.New York |
Now it’s 10:40. Mary is at gate 20. Which airline’s plane will she take?
| A.British Airway | B.Japanese Airlines |
| C.Pan American | D.Air Canada |
Gate _______ is the busiest among all these gates.
| A.23 | B.18 | C.24 | D.15 |
O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name was William Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself everything he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when some money went missing from the bank O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the reader’s surprise.In which order did O. Henry do the following things?
a. Lived in New York.
b. Worked in a bank.
c. Travelled to Texas.
d. Was put in prison.
e. Had a newspaper Job.
f. Learned to write stories.
| A.e. c. f. b. d. a | B.c. e. b. d. f. a |
| C.e. b. d. c. a. f. | D.c. b. e. d. a f. |
People enjoyed reading O. Henry’s stories because
| A.they had surprise endings |
| B.they were easy to understand |
| C.they showed his love for the poor |
| D.they were about New York City |
O. Henry went to prison because.
| A.people thought he had stolen money from the newspaper |
| B.he broke the law by not using his own name |
| C.he wanted to write stories about prisoners |
| D.people thought he had taken money that was not his |
What do we know about O. Henry before he began writing?
| A.He was well-educated. |
| B.He was not serious about his work. |
| C.He was devoted to the poor. |
| D.He was very good at learning. |
Where did O. Henry get most material for his short stories?
| A.His life inside the prison. |
| B.The newspaper articles he wrote. |
| C.The city and people of New York. |
| D.His exciting early life as a boy. |