NASA’s twin Mars rovers, Spirit and Opportunity, have been exploring the Red Planet since 2004. But a little more than a year ago, NASA lost contact with Spirit. The space agency has tried several ways to make contact with the rover, but Spirit has not sent back any signals.
Spirit landed on Mars on January 4, 2004. Three weeks later, Opportunity arrived. Soon after, the rovers went to the opposite side of Mars. Spirit’s original mission was only designed to last for three months, but Spirit has worked for more than five years doing additional missions. Both rovers have made important discoveries about ancient Mars. They have taken thousands of images and found evidence in the rocks of a water, warmer past in Mars’ history.
Spirit is solar-powered. It got stuck in a sand trap in April 2009, trapped deep into the soil and with its wheels turning around and around but not able to move forwards or backwards. Spirit had to agree that there is nothing that can be done to change the situation—it’s never going to move again. However, even if it is a not moving station, it can still study the planet’s atmosphere and deep interior.
NASA has been concentrating on trying to position its solar panels to get as much energy from the sun as
possible, or to get the rover leaning in a manner that will allow the most amount of sunlight falling on its solar panels, in order to keep it alive during the coming winter months. Engineers have planned to rock the vehicle back and forth to acquire a more favorable position. However, no matter how many efforts have been made, Spirit still could not get out of the soft soil and could not lean itself toward the sun as the Martian winter approached. Without enough
energy reaching its solar panels and with so little energy in its batteries, it went into hibernation, just like a polar bear, and has not communicated with Earth since March 22, 2010.
Whatever the future holds for Spirit, its mission has been an outstanding success. When it landed on the Red Planet in January 2004, no one was really sure how long it would continue working in the cold and dusty environment. As a matter of fact, three months was its original goal.
After so many fruitless efforts, NASA scientists are losing hope of ever reconnecting with Spirit, but they will give it one more try. Ground controllers are contacting Spirit over a range of frequencies and at different times during the day in case its internal clock stopped working and it lost track of time. They also are commanding the rover to turn on its backup radio transmitter in case the main one is dead.
If this final effort to connect isn’t successful, NASA will shift the focus to its twin robot, Opportunity, which is in a different part of Mars. Opportunity is still on the move and continues to travel freely to this day. It has traveled 16.6 miles so far, and is currently rolling towards another crater it has yet to explore.
NASA has spent more than $900 million on the project but shows no sign of giving up on these determined and hard-working robots. The rovers are, though, experiencing gradual wear and tear, the expected damage to something caused by using it repeatedly over a period of time. Even before Spirit got trapped, one of its wheels had failed. And NASA says it’s just a matter of time before both robots break down completely.According to the passage, what can we know about Spirit?
| A．It had explored Mars several times. |
B．Its original mission was to work for five years. |
| C．It landed on Mars three weeks later than Opportunity. |
| D． It discovered that Mars was once a warm and wetter place. |
According to the passage, which of the following is NOT what NASA did?
| A．Try to lean Spirit to make it get as much sunlight as possible. |
| B．Rock Spirit back and forth to make it acquire a more favorable position. |
| C．Make efforts to help Spirit get out of the soft soil where it is stuck. |
| D．Contact and order Spirit to turn on its backup radio transmitter. |
The reason why Spirit failed to communicate with the Earth is that ________.
| A．it didn’t have enough energy | B．it had finished its task |
| C．something was wrong with its wheels | D．it met an unidentified creature |
By saying “NASA will shift the focus” in Paragraph 7, the author means that ______.
| A．NASA will move the center of Spirit out of the sand |
| B．NASA will depend on Opportunity to do the exploration |
| C．NASA will do nothing but wait for some opportunity |
| D．NASA will make opportunity help Spirit |
The last paragraph mainly informs us that _______.
| A．NASA has planned to spend more money on Spirit |
| B．Spirit will be brought back to Earth |
| C．Spirit will stop operating totally in the future |
| D．Spirit will cause damage to Mars |
What’s the text mainly about?
| A．NASA makes the last effort to contact Spirit. |
| B．Spirit has made many important discoveries on Mars. |
| C．How Spirit got stuck and couldn’t move on Mars. |
| D．Why NASA tried many ways to contact Spirit. |
The World Trade Organization came into existence in the 1990s. It operates a system of trade
rules. It serves as a place for nations to settle disagreements and negotiate agreements to reduce trade barriers. The newest of its 150 members, Vietnam, joined in January.
But the roots of the W.T.O. date back to World War Two and the years that followed. In 1944, the International Monetary(货币的) Conference agreed to create the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank. But they could not agree on an organization to deal with international trade.
Three years later, in 1947, twenty-three nations approved the General Agreement on Tariffs (关税)and Trade, or GATT. It was meant to be temporary. Trade negotiations under GATT were carried out in a series of talks called rounds. The first round lowered import taxes on one-fifth of world trade. Later rounds produced additional cuts, and negotiators added more issues.
The sixth round began in 1963. It was called the Kennedy Round after the murder of President John F. Kennedy. The results included an agreement against trade dumping. This is when one country sells a product in another country at an unfairly low price.
The eighth round of talks began in Punta del Este, Uruguay, in 1986. The Uruguay Round lasted almost twice as long as planned. In all, 123 nations took part in seven-and-a-half years of work. They set time limits for future negotiations. They also agreed to create a permanent system to settle trade disagreements.
In April of 1994, most of those123 nations signed an agreement. It replaced GATT with the World Trade Organization.
The W.T.O. launched a new round on development issues in Doha, Qatar, in November of 2001. These talks were supposed to end by January of 2005. But negotiators could not agree on issues involving agricultural protections. The current round has been suspended since last July.
71. The WTO got this name in the year _____.
A. 1947B. 1963C. 1986 D. 1994
72. Which of the following statements about GATT is NOT true?
A. It was set up after World War II.
B. It was first approved by less than 30 countries.
C. It was a branch of the World Bank.
D. It was meant to improve international trade.
73. What does the underlined sentence in the third paragraph mean?
A. The founders wanted GATT to bring in money.
B. The founders didn’t expect GATT to last long.
C. GATT was ready to change its name at the very beginning.
D. GATT was open for more member countries.
74. What is one of the results of the Uruguay Round?
A. A permanent system was agreed on.
B. It lasted almost eight years.
C. More countries took part in it.
D. More disagreements than expected were settled.
75. Which of the following is the best title of the passage?
A. Why the WTO was Called GATT?B. WTO Talk Rounds Last Longer
C. A Brief Introduction to the WTOD. GATT or WTO? A Real Question
Jack lay, quiet and unmoving, for thirty minutes while a stranger repeatedly stabbed (刺) him with sharp needles, causing blood to pour steadily out of his leg. Jack was getting a tattoo. His friend Tony had recently gotten a tattoo, and Jack was so impressed by it that he decided to get one too. Peer pressure, media influence, and personal expression are some of the common reasons for
wearing tattoos today.
The desire to be accepted by one’s friends or peers can have a great influence on what a person does. Sometimes, wearing a tattoo can be a sign that you belong to a certain group. Gangs often use special clothes and tattoos to identify their particular group. Some of these groups wear only brand – name clothes. Others wear tattoos. When a person’s friends are all doing something, that person in more likely to do the same thing.
The media is another big influence behind the popularity of tattoos in North America. A wide variety of media images(人物，图像) show tattoos－people appearing in commercials selling expensive cars, famous sports heroes with tattoos in magazines, fashion models wearing designer clothes that show their bodies tattooed with detailed and colourful patterns. These media images link tattoos to ideas of wealth, success, and status. As a result, many people decide to get a tattoo for its fashion and status value.
Many people decide to wear tattoos in order to express their artistic nature, their beliefs, or their feelings－in other words, to show their individuality(个性). A musician in a rock band may get a tattoo of a guitar on the arm. Some environmentalists may tattoo pictures of endangered animals on their shoulders. A tattoo can be a public sign to show what is important in a person's life.
As you can see, there are many reasons why young North Americans get tattoos. A tattoo can be part of a group's uniform, a sign of fashion. or an expression of individuality. The decision to get a tattoo is most often a result of the influence of friends or media or the desire to express oneself. For Jack, it was a mixture of all three.
66．Jack has got tattoos in order to
A．show his great braveryB．gain a special experience
C．make himself more healthyD．be different from others
67．According to the passage, media images are linked to
A．traditional lifestyleB．social position
C．cultural backgroundD．public interest
68．We can infer from the passage that
A．some people get tattoos out of pressurem
B．tattoo is related to religious belief
C．getting tattoos costs a lot of money
D．most people with tattoos are artists
69.What is the best title of the text ?
A．Peer preassure,media in fluence ,and personal expression
B．The adlvantages of getting tattoos
C．Why peopie get tattoos
D．The popularty of tattoos
70．Which of the following shows the structure of the passage?
CP: Central Point P: Point Sp: Sub – point (次要点) C: Conclusion 
The largest earthquake ( magnitude里氏 9.5) of the 20th century happened on May 22, 1960 off the coast of South Central Chile.
It generated(生成) one of the most destructive Pacific wide tsunamis(海啸). Near the generating area, both the earthquake and the tsunami were very much destructive, particularly in the coastal area from Concep-cion to the south end of Isla Chiloe. The largest tsunami damage occurred at Isla Chiloe -----the coastal area closest to the epicenter(震中). Huge tsunami waves measuring as high as 25 meters arrived within 10 to 15 minutes after the earthquake, killing at least two hundred people, sinking all the boats, and flooding half a kilometer inland.
There was large damage and loss of life at Concep-cion, Chile's top industrial city. Near the city of Valdivia, the earthquake and following aftershocks generated landslides which killed 18 people. At the port city of Valparaiso, a city of 200,000, many buildings collapsed . A total of 130,000 houses were destroyed one in every three in the earthquake zone and nearly 2,000,000 people were left homeless.
Total damage losses, including to agriculture and to industry, were estimated(估计) to be over a half billion dollars . The total number of death related with both the tsunami and the earthquake was never found accurately for the region. Estimates of deaths reached between 4,900 to 57,002 with no distinction(差别) as to how many deaths were caused by the earthquake and how many were caused by the tsunami. However, it is believed that most of the deaths in Chile were caused by the tsunami.
61. Where did the largest tsunami damage occurred?
A. Concep--cion. B. Isla Chiloe. C. Valdivia D. Valparaiso.
62. What can we learn about the tsunami waves generated by the earthquake?
A. The tsunami waves as high as 25 meters arrived immediately after the earthquake.
B. The tsunami waves killed 200 people and sank all the boats.
C. The tsunami waves were very destructive.
D. The tsunami waves flooded half of the inland.
63. What is gen generally thought the main cause of deathis in Chile?
A. Landslides. B. The tsunami.
C. Aftershocks.D.The magnitude 9.5 earthquake
64. What is the total number of deaths in the earthquake?
A. 2,000,000. B. Between 4,900 to 57,00
C. 200,000. D. It was hard to know.
65. What does the underlined word "collapsed" in the third paragragh probably mean ?
A. was destroyed B. caught fire C. was flooded D. sank
第三部分：阅读理解(第一节20小题，第二节5小题；每小题2分，满分50分)
阅读下列短文，从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题纸上将该选项标号涂黑。
When we think about giving help to developing countries,we often think about giving money so that these countries can build schools and hospitals ,buy food and medicine, or find clean water supplies.These seem to be most important basic needs of the people we are trying to help. However, it's far from enough. We have to come up with 想出）some better ideas to help them.
I was very surprised, then ,when I read about a plan to make cheap laptop computers for children in developing countries.A man called Nicholas Negroponte invented a cheap laptop computer, which can run without electricity. He decided to invent this computer after he visited a school in Cambodia.
The laptop which Mr. Negroponte has designed is a little different from the normal laptop computers you can buy in shops. One difference is that it will be covered in rubber(橡皮,橡胶) so that it is very strong and won't be damaged easily. As electricity supply can be a problem in developing countries, the computer also has a special handle(手柄) so that children can wind (转动)the computer up to give it extra power when needed.
These special laptop computers will cost less than $100 and Mr. Negroponte wants to build as many as 15 million machines in the first year of production.The idea is that these computers will help the children's education as they will be able to access the Internet. These computers might not help the people in developing countries immediately,but by improving children's education they should help people to find their own solutions to their problems in the long term.
Another idea to help children in developing countries is to recycle old mobile phones so that they can be used again. In the UK, and,probably in many other countries too,millions of mobile phones are thrown away every year.The waste created by throwing away these old phones is very bad for the environment, so it seems to be an excellent idea to recycle them. In this way we shall be able to achieve two important goals at the same time. We will reduce the waste we produce and help others. In other words, we will be able to " kill two birds with one stone ", and that is always a good thing.
56.It's an excellent idea to recycle old mobile phones because _______.
A. it reduces waste and can help others
B. it prevents waste and can earn lots of money
C. it can send the waste produced by developed countries to other countries
D. it is good for the environment and very educative for phone users
57. The author gives the example of Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers _______.
A. to show what high tech can bring us.
B. to illustrate the kindness of people in the developed countries
C. to show how to find business opportunities in developing countries
D. to give an example of how to help developing countries
58.Which of the following statements is TRUE about Mr. Negroponte's cheap computers?
A. His computers don’t need any power to function well.
B. His computers are covered with rubber so that they are very cheap.
C. His computers will help children in developing countries to have better education.
D. His computers will help people in developing countries to find all the solutions.
59. Which of the following can be usedｏreplace the underlined word in paragraph３？
| A．blow | B．turn | C．push | D．lift |
60. Where does this passage probably come from?
A. A magazine B. A newspaper C. A lectureD. An advertisement
More than ever, kids today have given up reading for activities like watching TV, playing video games and surfing the Internet, but recently a new trend (趋势) has been catching on that will hopefully change that.
In fact, book clubs are becoming more popular among American kids. 11-year-old Kenya Debarros read about singer Lena Horne. “It was just amazing to see a black woman as the star and not just a mammy or a maid,” she says. But did all these kids come enthusiastically (热情地)? No, not exactly.
“I like book club, uh, I don’t know, but I am just trying it out. My mom didn’t make me, but I just tried it out,” says 16-year-old Antonio Nash.
And if they’ll try it, the experts say, there are ways to get them to come back. Make it fun, serve pizza, serve chocolate cakes and have door prizes (门票对号奖). It also helps to connect books to the real world. They talk about things that are happening in the community, so they can relate whatever they’ve read in the book to what’s happening now.
Here they have long talks about the books they have selected, which most kids don’t get to do when they’re in school, and these kids say, in book clubs they’re learning to love books and love reading.
“I feel like I’m actually in the book and doing what the actual main character is doing,” says 13-year-
-old Justin Woodard.
16-year-old Antonia McManus says reading gives her a nice break from the day, “Sitting down and reading a book gives me some time to get away from the world, and get my mind straight.”
52. What does the underlined phrase “catching on” in Paragraph 1 mean?
A. Happening.B. Realizing. C. Becoming popular. D. Bringing in.
53. What is the main idea of the passage?
A. Book clubs develop very fast in America.
B. Book clubs are popular among American kids.
C. American kids’ habits are changing towards reading.
D. A new trend helps change children in America.
54. It can be known from the passage that ______.
A. book clubs are designed to improve kids’ study
B. book clubs are mainly to help kids forget the reality
C. kids like to go there for the silent surroundings
D. kids may get unexpected rewards in book clubs
55. Why does Antonia McManus like going to the book club?
A. She finds reading restful.
B. She could get some sound sleep.
C. She likes the noisy conditions there.
D. She can deal with her problems there.