Why should mankind explore space? Why should money, time and effort be spent exploring and researching something with so few apparent benefits? Why should resources be spent on space rather than on conditions and people on Earth? These are questions that, understandably, are very often asked.
Perhaps the best answer lies in our genetic makeup(基因构成) as human beings. What drove our ancestors to move from the trees into the plains, and on into all possible areas and environments? The wider the spread of a species, the better its chance of survival. Perhaps the best reason for exploring space is this genetic tendency to expand wherever possible.
Nearly every successful civilization has explored, because by doing so, any dangers in surrounding areas can be identified and prepared for. Without knowledge, we may be completely destroyed by the danger. With knowledge, we can lessen its effects.
Exploration also allows minerals and other potential (潜在的) resources to be found. Even if we have no immediate need of them, they will perhaps be useful later. Resources may be more than physical possessions. Knowledge or techniques have been acquired through exploration. The techniques may have medical applications which can improve the length or quality of our lives. We have already benefited from other spin-offs including improvements in earthquake prediction, in satellites for weather forecasting and in communications systems. Even non-stick pans and mirrored sunglasses are by-products (副产品) of technological developments in the space.
While many resources are spent on what seems a small return, the exploration of s
pace allows creative, brave and intelligent members of our species to focus on what may serve to save us. While space may hold many wonders and explanations of how the universe was formed or how it works, it also holds dangers. The danger exists, but knowledge can help human being to survive. Without the ability to reach out across space, the chance to save ourselves might not exist.
While Earth is the only planet known to support life, surely the adaptive ability of humans would allow us to live on other planets. It is true that the lifestyle would be different, but human life and cultures have adapted in the past and surely could in the future.Why does the author mention the questions in Paragraph 1?
| A．To express his doubts. | B．To compare different ideas. |
| C．To introduce points for discussion. | D．To describe the conditions on Earth. |
What is the reason for exploring space based on Paragraph 2?
| A．Humans are nature-born to do so. |
| B．Humans have the tendency to fight. |
| C．Humans may find new sources of food. |
| D．Humans don’t like to stay in the same place. |
The underlined word “spin-offs” in Paragraph 4 probably refers to______.
| A．survival chances | B．unexpected benefits |
| C．potential resources | D．physical possessions |
What makes it possible for humans to live on other planets?
| A．The adaptive ability of humans. | B．Resources on the earth.. |
| C．Our genetic makeup. | D．By-products in space exploration. |
Which of the statements can best sum up the passage?
| A．Space exploration has created many wonders. |
| B．Space exploration provided the best value for money. |
| C．Space exploration can benefit science and technology. |
| D．Space exploration may help us avoid potential problems on Earth. |
Below is a web page from Google.
Olympic—Modern Olympic Games
The completer results archive of summer and winter Olympic games, with winners lists, statistics, national anthems and flags of all contries since 1896.
www. olympic. it/english/home-16k
Environment
Beijing steel plants to run at the lowest level of cost during 2008 Olympics [2007-03-11] Beijing able to treat 90 pct of waste water [2007-02-05] ·Air quality in Beijing has improved over the past six years [2007-02-01]·Green Olympics dream coming true …
en. Beijing2008.com/80/67/column211716780.shtml-52k
Beijing announces planned roule of Olympic torch relay
Beijing announced the 2008 Olympic Games torch relay route and set off the Olympic Games torch on Thursday. … Green Olympics is one of the three concepts of the Beijing Games. …
english.china.com/zh_cn/news/sports/110592227/14069663.html-26k
Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’
Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’, officially announced on Saturday, 24 September 2005. The symbol, created using a calligraphic art form, is composed of human and tree-like shapes, …
my.opera.com/green_head/blog/show.dml/92155-18k
Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004
On behalf of BOCOC, Wang Wei, executive vice president of BOCOC, gave a presentation about Green Olympics, introduced the environment protection work of BMC and BOCOC, and answered several questions such as protection of cultural relics …
en.beijing2008.com/84/91/article211929184.shtml-36k
Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia
Who was the founder of the Modern Olympics? In which cities were the modern Olympic Games due to be held/ scheduled during the ‘war years’, i.e., 1916, 1940, and 1944? … In which three years of the Modern Olympic Games were … More questions …
www.funtrivia.com/quizzes/sports/ olympic_games.html-12k
OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT
… aimed at young researchers engaged in scholarly research on the Olympic Movement, its history and values, and the impact of the …[ Full story] SPORT ACCORD[2005-01-23]…
www.olympic.org/
Ancient Olympic Heritage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004
As put forward in the various official texts, the Olympic symbols of ancient Olympia, the Olympic flame and the Marathon race are bridges between the ancient and the modern Olympic Games, …
www.c2008.org/rendanews/knowledge_detail.asp?id=911-106kWhen was the environmental symbol of Beijing Olympics made public?
| A．On January 23, 2005. | B．On September 24, 2005. |
| C．On February 5, 2007. | D．On March 11, 2007. |
Which of the following websites is designed for young researchers interested in the Olympics?
| A．Environment |
| B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004 |
| C．Olympic Games Quizzes and Olmpic Games Trivia |
| D．OFFICIAL WEBSITE OF THE OLYMPIC MOVEMENT |
Which website provides a complete list of the winners in the Olympic Games?
| A．Olympic—Modern Olympic Games |
| B．Green Olympics Forum In Beijing 2004 |
| C．Environmental Symbol of Beijing Olympics —‘Green Olympics’ |
| D．Ancient Olympic Hertiage and Modern Olympic Games in Athens 2004 |
What do we learn from the above web page?
| A．Beijing has made efforts to improve its air quality. |
| B．The Olympic torch relay route has not been planned. |
| C．The Olympic flag will be on display in Athens. |
| D．A quiz on the Olympics will be held in Beijing. |
There are many special hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.
Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.
In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt: the walls, the roof, the tables, the chairs and the beds.
The sun heats the walls and roof during the day. So the rooms stay warm at night, though it’s cold outside in the desert. The hotel has twelve rooms. A single room costs $40 a night, and a double room $60.
A sign on the hotel’s wall tells guests, “Please don’t lick (舔) the walls.”Where did the salt for the hotel come from?
| A．A cave. | B．The lake. | C．The salt desert. | D．A salt field. |
What keeps the rooms in the Salt Palace Hotel warm at night?
| A．The water in the lake. | B．The sand in the desert. |
| C．The furniture in the rooms. | D．The heat from the walls and roof. |
What is the passage mainly about?
| A．A large lake. | B．A special hotel. | C．A beautiful wall. | D．A famous desert. |
Most schools are named after famous people. Other schools are named after the streets on which they are located. Some school names are most unusual. How they were chosen is anyone’s guess.
There are schools with names that would make a person think twice before opening the door. The school named Lookout at least warns pupils in advance. You would need the most courage of all to enter the school in Oregon named Tenkiller!
Not all unusual school names are strange in a fearful way. Many of the names are pleasant. Who would not feel at home in the school named Welcome? What could go wrong in the school called Allgood? The Bright School, located in Montana, seems to promise that much learning will take place.
Other schools have names neither pleasant nor fearful. Their names are simply funny. There are schools with names such as Telephone, and Ducktown. For names to make us smile, what can match Bushyhead in the state of Georgia?
Do you think you can find the Nonesuch School? If you look carefully at the word, you will see that its name says there is no such school, but there is. The Nonesuch School is found in Kentucky.One pleasant school name in the passage is _______.
| A．Telephone | B．Tenkiller | C．Lookout | D．Allgood |
When you hear of the school name Bushyhead, you will find it _______.
| A．terrible | B．fearful | C．funny | D．familiar |
The Bright School is found in the state of _______.
| A．Georgia | B．Kentucky | C．Oregon | D．Montana |
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 –adopted 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 of London’s Independent newspaper was launched 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 first came into use. Most “i” products are targeted at 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,” he said.
“However, thanks to Apple, the term is now linked with portability.” added 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.
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 associated with all things advanced and modern. However, as we entered the new century, the trend inevitably 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 aimed at ________.
| A．young readers | B．old readers | C．fashionable women | D．engineers |
The underlined word “ambiguous” means “________”.
| A．popular | B．uncertain | C．definite | 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 a live bear |
| C．the letter “b” replaces the letter “i” to name the products |
| D．the popularity of “i” products may not last long |
Do you know of anyone who uses the truth to deceive(欺骗)? When someone tells you something that is true, but leaves out important information that should be included, he can give you a false picture．
For example, someone might say, “I just won a hundred dollars on the lottery(彩票). It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and turned it in for one hundred dollars!”
This guy's a winner, right? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought $ 200 worth of tickets, and only one was a winner. He’s really a big loser!
He didn’t say anything that was false, but he left out important information on purpose. That’s called a half-truth. Half truths are not technically lies, but they are just as dishonest.
Some politicians often use this trick. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and gained three million jobs. Then she seeks another term. One of her opponents says, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true. However, an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith's term, the state had a net gain of two million jobs.’’
Advertisers will sometimes use half—truths. It’s against the law to make false statements so they try to mislead you with the truth. An advertisement might say, “Nine out of ten doctors advised their patients to take Yucky Pills to cure toothache. ”It fails to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Company.
This kind of deception happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well. How much did the lottery winner lose?
| A．One hundred dollars． | B．Two hundred dollars． |
| C．Three hundred dollars． | D．Four hundred dollars． |
We may infer that the author believes people should ________.
| A．buy lottery tickets if possible |
| B．make use of half—truths |
| C．be careful about what they are told |
| D．not trust the Yucky Company |
How many examples does the writer give to show how the truth is used to deceive?
| A．One． | B．Two． | C．Three． | D．Four． |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Using half truths is against the law. |
| B．Technically, half truths are in fact lies. |
| C．Yucky Pills is a very good medicine for toothache. |
| D．Governor Smith did a good job during her last term. |
Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．He’s really a big loser! |
| B．Sometimes the truth can lie as well． |
| C．Advertisers will sometimes use half truths． |
| D．It’s against the law to make false statements． |