NASA’s Mars detector (探测器), Opportunity, succeeded in finding signs that water once existed on the planet. Opportunity landed on Mars in January. Scientists now believe that the planet could once have supported life.
This discovery was chosen by Science, one of the world’s leading magazines, as the most important scientific achievement of 2004 last Friday.
“This little, wheeled, one-armed box went around another planet and has done something no human has ever managed,” according to Science. “It has discovered another place in the universe where life could once have existed.”
“Although we still can’t say that life could have existed in this environment, it is now certain that there was water on Mars,” said Steve Squyres, one of the scientists working on the Mars mission. The evidence comes from pictures and chemical readings taken by Opportunity. It includes marks on rocks like those caused by flowing water on Earth and salty chemicals like those found in dried-out sea-beds. Scientists said the new evidence proved beyond doubt that water has existed on Mars. But it is still unknown whether the water on Mars was like an ocean or justice.
While Opportunity has not found any signs of life, the presence of water means life is possible. “In everything we know about life on Earth, there is no example without liquid water,” Squyres said. “So water is important for the search for life on Mars.”
Researchers agree that a future mission (任务) should bring back physical samples (样品). But some scientists worry about the risk that this could introduce dangerous foreign creatures to Earth. “The problem here is how to get the samples back,” Squyres replied. “I think it is our responsibility to limit any risk.”________ prove that water existed on Mars.
| A．The physical samples with salty chemicals |
| B．The marks on rocks and salty chemicals |
| C．Scientific achievements of 2004 |
| D．Creatures from Mars |
Which of the following is TURE according to the text?
| A．It is now certain that there was water on Mars. |
| B．The water on Mars was like an ocean. |
| C．Evidence of life on Mars has been found. |
| D．Search for life on Mars is a great risk to humans. |
How did scientists draw the conclusion that there was water on Mars?
| A．The world’s leading magazine has announced the fact. |
| B．Scientists have taken many pictures and chemical readings on the Mars. |
| C．Astronauts have got some rocks from Mars. |
| D．Scientists have made a study of the pictures and readings sent back by Mars detector. |
It can be inferred that, if the creatures from Mars came to Earth, ________.
| A．they would be kind to humans |
| B．they would be cruel to humans |
| C．they would be a great danger to Earth |
| D．it would be hard to say whether it would be a good news or bad news |
Thanksgiving Day is special holiday in the United States and Canada. Families and friends gather to eat and give thanks for their blessing.
Thanksgiving Day is really a harvest festival. This is why it is celebrated in late fall, after the crops are in. But one of the first thanksgivings in America had nothing to do with a good harvest. On December 4, 1619, the Pilgrims from England landed near what is now Charles City, Virginia. They knelt down and thanked God for their safe journey across the Atlantic.
The first New England Thanksgiving did celebrate a rich harvest. The Pilgrims landed at what is now Plymouth, Massachusetts, in 1620. They had a difficult time and the first winter was cruel. Many of the Pilgrims died. But the next year, they had a good harvest. So Governor Bradford declared a three-day feast（盛宴）. The Pilgrims invited Indian friends to join them for their special feast. Everyone brought food.
In time, other colonies（殖民地）began to celebrate a day of thanksgiving. But it took years before there was a national Thanksgiving Day. During the Civil War, Sarah Josepha Hale persuaded Abraham Lincoln to do something about it. He proclaimed（宣布）the last Thursday of November 1863 as a day of thanksgiving. Today, Americans celebrate this happy harvest festival on the fourth Thursday in November. Canadians celebrate Thanksgiving Day in much the same way as their American neighbors. But the Canadian thanks-giving Day falls on the second Monday in October.Thanksgiving Day is celebrated .
| A．in spring | B．summer | C．in autumn | D．in winter |
The first to celebrate thanksgiving were .
| A．some people from England | B．the American Indians |
| C．Sarah Josepha Hale | D．Governor Bradford |
The passage mainly tells us .
A. how Thanksgiving Day is celebrated in the U. S. A.
B. how Thanksgiving Day came into being and the different ways it is celebrated
C. that Thanksgiving Day is in fact a harvest holiday
D. how the way to celebrate Thanksgiving Day changed with the time and places
I arrived at the bus station much too early for the London bus, which was not to leave until five to twelve. I pushed through the crowds, looking for somewhere to sit down. Scores of people were standing about, or struggling along with their bags and the cases to find the right lines. There was a party of school girls. I could see teachers trying to keep them in order. But there was nowhere for me to sit.
I stepped into the station buffet. I looked up at the clock there. It was only twenty to twelve. I found a seat opposite a large mirror on the wall. Just then a friend of mine called Jim came in and sat with me. "What time is your bus?" asked Jim. "Oh, there's a plenty of time yet," I answered. "Oh, I'll get some drinks then," said Jim. We talked while drinking. Then I looked at the clock again. "Good heavens! It's going backward!" I cried. "A moment ago it was twenty to twelve and now it's half past eleven." "You are looking at the clock in the mirror," said Jim. I could kick myself for being so stupid. I had not realized that the marks for one and eleven on the face of the clock were the same. The next bus was not to leave for another hour. I have never liked mirror since then. The writer went to the station buffet because ________.
| A．he was thirsty |
| B．he saw the station buffet was not so crowded |
| C．it was still early for his bus and he couldn't find a place to sit at the bus station |
| D．he had changed his mind; he wouldn't go to London |
The writer sat ________.
| A．behind a mirror | B．facing a mirror |
| C．under a mirror | D．near a mirror |
Jim came to the station buffet at about ________.
| A．twenty to twelve | B．twenty past twelve |
| C．half past one | D．twenty past eleven |
What time was it when the writer looked at the clock again?
It was ________.
| A．half past eleven | B．twelve thirty |
| C．twelve twenty | D．eleven thirty |
The word “death” is a word many Chinese friends tell me I should not say aloud. They advise me to avoid the word because only speaking of it may bring ill fortune. I deeply believe, however, that to know how to live, we must also know how to die. The problem is how we talk about death.
Like everyone in Taiwan this week, I have had “Tomb Sweeping Day”. I am proud to be part of a people whose culture sends millions of families to cemeteries on this special day to share memories and endless love.
Today, eight days after the death of Pope John Paul II, millions of people of all backgrounds still grieve(悲痛) his passing away. He was a deeply human person who knew how to laugh and show emotions, a writer with a gift for words a leader who appealed to us by the sheer light of his love for life.
On the same day and only hours before the Holy Father left us, a friend of mine named Veronica McBride died of cancer in a small Wisconsin city. My friend Veronica was 52 years old. She was an attractive, humorous young woman who, as the saying goes, “never married”. She published several humor books with her mother, Mary McBride. She enjoyed traveling, and for years sent Christmas card photos of herself standing beside monuments or odd animals. She fought cancer for five years. She joked about her treatment keeping her pretty because it kept her thin, and told me she didn’t mind losing her hair because of chemo therapy. “I get to wear nice wigs!”
The last time I saw Veronica was when I visited her family on a sunny day in August in 2003. When she burst into the front door later and saw me in the living room, she ignored me completely in her hurry to hug her newest baby nephew, leaving me shaking my head in laughter at her.
As we look to the significance of the Holy Father and his life, surely we must also keep our eyes open to see the wonder and goodness in ordinary people who show us how to live and how to die.The purpose of the article is ___________.
| A．to memorize his friend Veronica |
| B．to talk about the significance of life and death |
| C．to teach us how to face life and death |
| D．to compare his friend and the Holy Father Pope John Paul II |
The underlined phrase “chemo therapy” in Paragraph 4 probably means ______.
| A．a medical treatment | B．a kind of cancer |
| C．a kind of medicine | D．the newest machine |
Why does the writer compare the Holly Father with his friend?
| A．Because they are both the persons he admires. |
| B．Because they have a lot in common. |
| C．Because he wants to show that ordinary people can be great as well. |
| D．Because he wants to memorize them both. |
From the phrase “burst into”, we can see that Veronica is ____________.
| A．brave | B．sportive | C．humorous | D．energetic |
Supermarket Morrisons today announced to launch an online shopping operation within two years in a move to catch up with its web-savvy rivals. The UK's fourth biggest supermarket said Morrisons.com would offer grocery and non-food products but would take time to build from zero.
As part of its online development, Morrisons - the only one of the "Big Four" grocers to have a significant internet business - revealed it had invested £32 million in a 10% stake of a New York-based online grocer. The announcement came as Morrisons posted a 13% increase in underlying pre-tax profits of £869 million in the year to January 30.
Morrisons is implementing a growth strategy which is focused on expanding its e-commerce business and moving into the convenience store market. It has earmarked £3 billion in investment over the next three years. The supermarket floated the idea of launching its own website last year and today is the first firm commitment to realising that goal.
Last month, the company took its first major step to launching an online operation with the acquisition of internet retailer Kiddicare for £70 million. The company said this move, along with the 10% "strategic" stake in American online grocer FreshDirect announced today, would help it launch its own website in the future. FreshDirect was launched in 2002 and serves 600,000 customers in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. The deal will see Morrisons chief executive Dalton Philips join the company's board.
Morrisons also revealed it would open three convenience stores, around 3,000 sq ft in size, in July under the name M Local. The shops will be located in Morrisons' heartland in the north of England, in neighbourhoods around the M62 motorway. The company said the convenience business was the second-fastest growing part of the market. Rival models include Tesco Metro and Sainsburys Local.FreshDirect severs 600,000 customers in .
| A．Connecticut | B．New Jersey | C．New York | D．certain states |
Which would help Morrisons launch its own wesbsite in the future?
| A．Taking measures to beat its rivals as quickly as it could |
| B．Offering enough grocery and non-food products from zero |
| C．Building more convenience stores and market in the United States |
| D．Launching an online operation with the acquisition of interest retailer |
Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Morrisons Has Many Business Rvials |
| B．Morrisons Will Launch an Online Operation |
| C．Morrisons Switches to Run Online Shopping |
| D．Morrisons Wants to Establish Branches |
By 2012，the world may need to cope with as many as 50 million people who have fled their homeland，not for political or economic reasons but because the environment has been so badly changed that it cannot support life. The statement has been released by the United Nations to mark UN Disaster Reduction Day.
More people are made homeless by environmental disasters than by war，according to the research by the Red Cross. That reality is proved by the earthquake in Pakistan.
The widely publicized disaster has brought aid from the global community，according to Janos Bogardi，director of the United Nations University Institute for Environment and Human Security. “If we can move swiftly in and give them a new start where they are，then they may stay in the area. Otherwise，they become environmental refugees. Environmentalrelated migrations are most acute in SubSaharan Africa，but they also affect millions of people in Asia and India. Meanwhile，the United States is witnessing increased pressure from victims of mismanaged and worsening soil and water conditions in Mexico and Latin America.” he says. Janos Bogardi says these refugees suffer from the impact of gradual environmental change—global warming，sea level rise，air and water pollution and more intense storms，floods and droughts that degrade the land. This is a slow process，but unfortunately a process that is very difficult to go backwards once final damage is done.
Janos Bogardi says they are calling on the global community to recognize the serious situation of environmental refugees and to work together to lessen the impact of environmental disaster.What may be the best title of the passage?
| A．50 Million environmental refugees by 2010 |
| B．Environmental refugees—an international problem |
| C．The cause of environmental disasters |
| D．Global aid pouring in |
Janos Bogardi’s attitude towards solving the problem is that of being ________.
| A．constructive | B．compromising |
| C．controversial | D．conservative |
According to the passage，the following are the main reasons for migrations except ________.
| A．earthquake | B．water conditions |
| C．global community | D．worsening soil |
What is implied in the passage?
| A．People all over the world have realized the impact of environmental disasters on refugees. |
| B．It is time for us to take some measures to solve the problem of environmental refugees. |
| C．The damaged soil can recover soon if people take care of it. |
| D．It is good for people to go elsewhere to make a living. |