We have all experienced days when everything goes wrong．A day may begin well enough，but suddenly everything seems to get out of control．It seems as if a single unimportant event may cause a number of things to happen．Let us suppose that you are preparing a meal and keeping an eye on the baby at the same time．The telephone rings and this means your troubles are beginning．While you are on the phone，the baby pulls the table-cloth off the table，destroying your half-prepared meal．You hang up hurriedly and attend to your baby．Meanwhile，the meal gets burnt．As if this were not enough to bring you to tears，your husband arrives,unexpectedly bringing three guests to dinner．
Things can go wrong on a number of people on the road. During the rush hour one evening two cars hit each other and both drivers began to argue．The woman driver behind the two cars happened to be a learner．She suddenly got into a panic(恐慌)and stopped her car．This made the driver following her stop suddenly．His wife was sitting beside him holding a large cake．As she was thrown forward，the cake went right through the window and landed on the road．Seeing a cake flying through the air，a truck-driver had to stop his truck all of a sudden．The truck was carrying empty beer bottles and hundreds of them slid off the back of the truck on the road．This led to yet another angry argument．Meanwhile，the traffic piled up behind．It took the police nearly an hour to get the traffic on the move again．In the meanwhile，the truck-driver had to sweep up hundreds of broken bottles.Only two dogs were enjoying themselves from the accident，for they were happily having what was left of the cake．It was just one of those days!In the writer’s opinion .
| A．accidents may happen anytime |
| B．troubles always come in groups |
| C．a small matter may cause great trouble |
| D．anyone may have trouble any day |
What did the police do after the accident?
| A．They helped the driver clean up the road． |
| B．They helped the drivers to go on with their journey． |
| C．They tried to stop the people from arguing． |
| D．They would find out who should be responsible for(有责任的)the accident． |
When the telephone rings .
| A．you’d better have your baby a little distant from your table before going to answer the phone |
| B．you’d better just let it ring all the way |
| C．you should never go to answer it in a hurry |
| D．you should answer it right away |
From the story we can see_________．
| A．some drivers are too careless |
| B．such accidents are rather strange |
| C．such accidents are very common |
| D．we don’t know why such accidents happen |
A poor boy was selling goods from one door to another to pay for his studies. One day he found that he had almost no money, and he was hungry. So he decided to ask for a meal.
But when a woman opened the door, he only dared to ask for a glass of water. To his surprise, she gave him a large glass of milk. He drank it and then asked how much he should pay her. She said, “You don’t have to pay me anything. Mother has taught us never to accept pay for a kindness” He was deeply moved and was determined to help those in need. The boy’s name was Howard Kelly.
Many years had passed. One day that woman became seriously ill. The local doctors could not help her. So they sent her to a big city where her rare (罕见的) disease would be studied by specialists (专家). Dr. Howard Kelly was called in for advice. When he entered her room in the hospital, he immediately spotted the woman. Howard Kelly was determined to do his best to help her.
The struggle was long, but together they succeeded in the end. After some time the woman received a bill for her treatment. She was worried that the amount would be so large that it would take the rest of her life to pay for it. However, when she looked at the bill, she found words on the side of the bill. They were, “Paid in full with a glass of milk.”The woman came to a big city because .
| A．she was ill and no local doctors could help her |
| B．she was invited by a group of specialists to a study |
| C．she wanted to visit the poor boy whom she had helped |
| D．her rare disease could only be dealt with by Dr. Howard Kelly |
The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to .
| A．the rest of her life | B．a glass of milk |
| C．her illness | D．the bill for her treatment |
What can we know about Howard Kelly according to the passage?
| A．He earned a lot of money. |
| B．He was an experienced doctor. |
| C．He opened his own hospital in the city. |
| D．He became the best friend of the woman. |
Next Stop: Planet Mars
Fly me to the moon? That’s not far enough. On September 14,2011, NASA released designs for a super rocket, the Space Launch System (SLS). This time the final destination will be Mars.
The SLS is a huge, liquid – fuelled rocket. If it is fully developed, it will be the most powerful rocket ever built. Its lift capability will be much bigger than that of the space shuttle of Saturn 5, the rocket that sent the Apollo missions to the moon.
NASA is planning to launch its first unmanned test flight in 2017. It is hoped that the first crew will fly in 2021 and astronauts will make it to a nearby asteroid (小行星) in 2025. NASA hopes to send the rocket and astronauts to Mars from the asteroid by the 2030s, according to the Associated Press (AP).
NASA used liquid rockets to send Apollo, Gemini and Mercury into space, but later changed to solid rockets boosters (助推火箭) because they were cheaper. Tragically, however, a booster flaw (缺陷) caused the space shuttle Challenger to crash in 1986. The new project plans to return to liquid fuel.
According to AP, the rockets will at first be able to carry 77 to 110 tons of payload (净载重量). Eventually they will be able to carry 143 tons into space, maybe even as many as 165 tons, NASA officials said. By comparison, the Saturn 5 booster could lift 130 tons and the space shuttle just 27 tons.
However, unlike reusable shuttles, these powerful rockets are mostly one use only. New ones have to be built for every launch. This will be very costly.
NASA estimates that it will cost about $3 billion (19 billion yuan) per year, or $ 18 billion until the first test flight in 2017. NASA hopes to make money by allowing private companies to send astronauts to the International Space Station like giant taxi services, so that the program can be “sustainable”.
“This is perhaps the biggest thing for space exploration in decades,” said Senator Bill Nelson, a former astronaut. “The goal is to fly humans safely beyond low – Earth orbit (轨道) and deep into outer space where we cannot only survive, but one day also live environmentally friendly” According to NASA’s schedule, it will take years to fully complete the SLS program.
| A．about 6 | B．about 10 |
| C．less than 14 | D．more than 19 |
It can be inferred from the passage that.
| A．the SLS program is planning to make reusable rockets |
| B．the goal of the SLS program is to enable humans to live on the moon |
| C．the US government may not have provided enough money for the SLS program |
| D．NASA will use SLS as a space taxi between the Earth and Mars. |
The iPhone, the iPad: each of Apple’s products sounds cool and has become a fad(一时的风尚). Apple has cleverly taken advantage of the power of the letter “i” –-- and many other brands are following suit. The BBC’s iPlayer --- which allows Web users to watch TV programs on the Internet ---used the title in 2008. A lovely bear --- popular in the US and UK --- that plays music and video is called “iTeddy”. A slimmed-down version(简装本) of London’s Independent newspaper was started last week under the name “i”.
In general, single-letter prefixes(前缀) have been popular since the 1990s, when terms such as e-mail and e-commerce(电子商务) first came into use.
Most “i” products are targeted at （针对）young people and considering the major readers of Independent’s “i”, it’s no surprise that they’ve selected this fashionable name.
But it’s hard to see what’s so special about the letter “i”. Why not use “a”, “b”, or “c” instead? According to Tony Thorne, head of the Language Center at King’s College, London, “i” works because its meaning has become ambiguous. When Apple uses “i”, no one knows whether it means Internet, information, individual or interactive, Thorne told BBC Magazines. “Even when Apple created the iPod, it seems it didn’t have one clear definition（定义）,” he says.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now connected with portability (轻便) .”adds Thorne.
Clearly the letter “i” also agrees with the idea that the Western World is centered on the individual. Each person believes they have their own needs, and we love personalized products for this reason.
Along with “Google” and “blog”, readers of BBC Magazines voted “i” as one of the top 20 words that have come to define the last decade(十年).
But as history shows, people grow tired of fads. From the 1900s to 1990s, products with “2000” in their names became fashionable as the year was connected with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the fashion disappeared.People use iPlayer to __________.
| A．listen to music | B．make a call |
| C．watch TV programs online | D．read newspapers |
We can infer that the Independent’s “i” is designed for _________.
| A．young readers | B．old readers |
| C．fashionable women | D．engineers |
The underlined word “ambiguous” means “__________”.
| A．popular | B．uncertain |
| C．clear | D．unique |
Nowadays, the “i” term often reminds people of the products which are __________.
| A．portable | B．environmentally friendly |
| C．advanced | D．recyclable |
The writer suggests that __________.
| A．“i” products are often of high quality |
| B．iTeddy is alive bear |
| C．the letter “b” replaces letter “i” to name the products |
| D．the popularity of “i” products may not last long |
Most people buy a lot of gifts just before Christmas. But some people think we buy too much. They have started a special day called Buy Nothing Day. They don’t want anyone to go shopping that day.
Buy Nothing Day is November 29. It’s 25 days before Christmas. It’s after Thanksgiving and often the first day of Christmas shopping. At this time, we see ads in newspapers and on TV telling us to “buy, buy, buy!”
The idea for Buy Nothing Day started in Vancouver, British Columbia. Now people all over the world celebrate Buy Nothing Day. In California, parents and children get together to read stories, sing songs, and paint pictures. The children talk about why they don’t need a lot of toys. This year, in Manchester, England, people dressed up to tell people that we buy too much.
In Albuquerque, New Mexico, high school students wanted to tell other students about Buy Nothing Day. They organized a spaghetti dinner to give people information about Buy Nothing Day. They asked restaurants in the neighborhood to donate the food. They made posters and talked to other students about it. The dinner was a big success, and many students agreed not to buy anything on November 29. The students at high school liked the idea of this new tradition. Next year, they want to have another dinner to tell more people about Buy Nothing Day!Which of the following is NOT the day for people to celebrate Buy Nothing Day?
| A．The first day after Christmas. |
| B．25 days before Christmas. |
| C．After Thanksgiving. |
| D．November 29 |
When do people usually do shopping?
| A．Before Thanksgiving. | B．On Christmas. |
| C．Anytime. | D．Before Christmas. |
How do people celebrate Buy Nothing Day?
| A．In California, parents and children get together to play games. |
| B．In England, people celebrated by performing plays. |
| C．They bought nothing and made the others decide not to. |
| D．In Mexico, high school students dressed up. |
With only about 1, 000 pandas left in the world, China is desperately trying to clone(克隆) the animal and save the endangered species. That’s a move similar to what a Texas A & M University researchers have been undertaking for the past five years in a project called “Noah’s Ark”.
Noah’s Ark is aimed at collecting eggs, embryos(胚胎), semen and DNA of endangered animals and storing them in liquid nitrogen. If certain species should become extinct, Dr. Duane Kraemer, a professor in Texas A & M’s College of Veterinary Medicine, says there would be enough of the basic building blocks to reintroduce the species in the future.
It is estimated that as many as 2, 000 species of mammals, birds reptiles will become extinct in over 100 years. The panda, native only to China, is in danger of becoming extinct in the next 25 years.
This week, Chinese scientists said they grew an embryo by introducing cells from a dead female panda into the egg cells of a Japanese white rabbit. They are now trying to implant the embryo into a host animal.
The entire procedure could take from three to five years to complete.
“The nuclear transfer(核子移植) of one species to another is not easy, and the lack of available(capable of being used) panda eggs could be a major problem,” Kraemer believes. “They will probably have to do several hundred transfers to result in one pregnancy (having a baby). It takes a long time and it’s difficult, but this could be groundbreaking science if it works. They are certainly not putting any live pandas at risk, so it is worth the effort,” adds Kraemer, who is one of the leaders of the Project at Texas A& M, the first-ever attempt at cloning a dog.
“They are trying to do something that’s never been done, and this is very similar to our work in Noah’s Ark. We’re both trying to save animals that face extinction. I certainly appreciate their effort and there’s a lot we can learn from what they are attempting to do. It’s a research that is very much needed.”The aim of “Noah’s Ark” project is to _______.
| A．make efforts to clone the endangered pandas |
| B．transfer the nuclear of one animal to another |
| C．collect DNA of endangered animals to study |
| D．save endangered animals from dying out |
According to Professor Kraemer, the major problem in cloning pandas would be the lack of _______.
| A．available panda eggs | B．host animals |
| C．qualified researchers | D．enough money |
The best title for the passage may be _______.
| A．China’s Success in Pandas Cloning |
| B．Exploring the Possibility to Clone Pandas |
| C．The First Cloned Panda in the World |
| D．China —the Native Place of Pandas Forever |
From the passage we know that _______.
| A．Kraemer and his team have succeeded in cloning a dog |
| B．scientists try to implant a panda’s egg into a rabbit |
| C．Kraemer will work with Chinese scientists in clone researches |
| D．about two thousand of species will probably die out in a century |