Most people consider skydiving (高空跳伞) a product of the 20th century, but its history actually goes further back than that. The Chinese attempted to parachute (跳伞) in the 10th century, a thousand years before we did. The Chinese did what we would today call base diving; that is, they jumped off a place that would allow them to float from a height to the ground.
The first person to attempt to parachute was a Frenchman named Jacques Garnerin. He jumped from his hot-air balloon at the end of the 18th century and did tricks on the way down and stupefied the crowds by landing safely on the ground. At the end of the 19th century, Kathie Paulus, a brave German woman, became famous for her skydiving skills.
Once the airplane was invented, skydiving took on a whole new form. The airplane made it possible to dive from greater heights at greater speeds, allowing for more range in the movements in the air. A woman named Tiny Broadwick became the first woman to jump from a plane in 1913 and dive free fall in 1914.
Skydiving was not called skydiving until the middle of the 1950s, when Ronald Young invented the word. It had been called parachuting before this and was mainly used by the military (军事) to land troops in inland locations, or for pilots to jump out of their planes when necessary. Once World War I was over, parachuting became a sport, which we now call skydiving.
After World War II, this activity became more a hobby than a military action. Soldiers were trained in parachuting and enjoyed the thrill so much that they continued on for fun. From this, teams and competitions were formed. Skydiving schools appeared in the late 1950s and now it is a recognized extreme sport enjoyed by many.The underlined word “stupefied” in paragraph 2 probably means “_______”.
| A．disappointed | B．encouraged | C．surprised | D．attacked |
Who was the first woman to jump from a plane?
| A．Jacques Garnerin. | B．Kathie Paulus. | C．Tiny Broadwick. | D．Ronald Young. |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．The Chinese attempted different skydiving skills in the 10th century. |
| B．Skydiving became popular after the airplane was invented. |
| C．The word skydiving was first used in a military action. |
| D．There were no skydiving schools until the late 1950s. |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．Skydiving is not a military action any more. |
| B．Kathie Paulus is famous for her skydiving skills. |
| C．The first person who parachuted was from Germany. |
| D．The history of skydiving is longer than that of parachuting. |
What would be the best title for this text?
| A．The history of skydiving | B．The popularity of skydiving |
| C．What is skydiving? | D．Why is skydiving an extreme sport? |
第三部分：阅读理解（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
What if you arrived home to find a delicious hot meal waiting for you，prepared by your very own kitchen robot? It might sound like science fiction，but professors at the university of Tokyo have taken the first steps toward making that scenario a reality．The team recently introduced a humanoid kitchen robot that can pour tea and other drinks into cups and serve them to guests．When teatime is over，the robot can also wash the dishes and put them away．
In California，another interesting kitchen robot has been developed．Called the Ready-bot，it can pick up objects and either store them in cabinets or put them in the trash．It also carries a separate floor-cleaning robot that can operate by itself．Unlike the Japanese robot，Readybot is not humanoid．Instead，it looks more like a large box with arms and wheels．
Readybot was created by engineers and designers who established a club called the Readybot Challenge．They believe that in the future millions of robots will be needed in homes to perform ordinary household tasks．Readybot is just the first step in their plan to create a robot that can tackle jobs not only in kitchens but in other rooms of homes and in offices as well．
Clearly there are technological hurdles to overcome before robots can cook a complete dinner，and there are also many safety concerns．Not everyone（especially parents）would be comfortable with the idea of robots in their house，manipulating hot pans and sharp knives．The European Commission recently funded a project to study these concerns．
56．What does the writer imply about the Japanese robot?
A．It performs fewer functions than readybot can．
B．it looks more like a person than Readybot does．
C．It speaks more languages than Readybot does．
D．It costs 1ess to manufacture than Readybot does．
57．Where do the engineers and designers hope that Readybot will operate in the future?
A．On spacecraft B．In automobiles
C．On playgrounds D．At companies
58．What does the writer imply about parents?
A．They have shown tremendous interest in kitchen robots．
B．They don’t have strong opinions about kitchen robots．
C．They might think that kitchen robots could be dangerous．
D．They can’t wait to buy kitchen robots for their homes．
59．According to the writer，what has the European Commission done for the project?
A．It has built factoriesB．It has printed manuals
C．It has hired workers D．It has provided money
Although hurricane season doesn't begin until June 1, a Pacific storm has already struck. El Salvador, which was ruined by a Caribbean storm in 1995, was hit by Hurricane Adrian on Friday. This is the first Pacific-born hurricane to ever reach land in this Central American country.
Some 14,000 people left from the western coast of El Salvador. The storm weakened as it crossed land, heading east. Heavy rains created deadly flooding problems in the hurricane's wake.
Adrian is the first Pacific storm of the season. It reported maximum continuous winds of 75 miles per hour, the minimum strength of a hurricane. A Category 3 hurricane, Adrian also caused damage and flooding in Honduras. It is expected to break up before reaching the Caribbean Sea on the eastern coast of Central America.
Hurricane season typically begins June 1 and lasts through November 30．The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) has predicted seven to nine hurricanes for the 2005 season.
"It is difficult to make any kind of an exact prediction of how many of these will strike land," NOAA administrator Conrad Lautenbacher said. He predicts two to three hurricanes will strike the U.S. this season.
Last year, six of nine hurricanes reached Category 3 strength or higher. Four of those hit Florida within a six-week period. Altogether, Hurricanes Charley, Frances, Ivan, and Jeanne caused more than $40 billion in damage in the Sunshine State.
This year's forecast is based on ocean temperatures. Warmer temperatures produce more tropical storms, which can then turn into hurricanes.
"The issue, really, this year is the unusually warm sea surface temperatures in the Atlantic," said Frank Lepore of the National Hurricane Center.
60．Which of the following is the 2005 first hurricane?
A．Charley. B．Adrian. C．Jeanne. D．Frances.
61．How many countries struck by the hurricane are mentioned in the text?
A．Six. B．Nine. C．Five. D．Three.
62．We can infer that warmer ocean temperatures ______.
A．have nothing to do with the hurricane
B．cause less hurricane
C．are more likely to cause the hurricanes
D．do a lot of damage to the areas along the coast
63．The passage implies that _______.
A．hurricane season comes early this year
B．every hurricane formed in oceans could cause great damage to the land
C．hurricane often comes in winter and spring
D．tropical storm is more severe than hurricane
第三部分阅读理解（共两节，满分40分）
第一节（共15小题；每小题2分，满分30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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Ed Viesturs grew up in Rockford, Illinois, where the tallest thing on the horizon was the water tower. But on Thursday, Viesturs became the only American to climb to the top of the world's 14 highest mountains.
His last hike was up Mount Annapurna, in Asia's snowcapped Himalayas. At 26,545 feet, its peak is the 10th highest in the world. It is the mountain that inspired him to start climbing.
"It tends to be the trickiest, the most dangerous," said Viesturs. "There's no simple way to climb it. There are threatening avalanches (雪崩) and ice falls that protect the mountain."
In high school, Viesturs read French climber Maurice Herzog's tale of climbing the icy Annapurna. Herzog's story was of frostbite (冻伤) and difficulty and near-death experiences. Viesturs was hooked right away.
Viesturs got his start on Washington's Mount Rainier in 1977, guiding hikes in the summer. Fifteen years ago, he set out to walk up to the world's highest peaks. Finally, he's done.
The pioneering climber talks about mountains as if they were living creatures that should be treated with respect. "You have to use all of your senses, all of your abilities to see if the mountain will let you climb it," said Viesturs. "If we have the patience and the respect, and if we're here at the right time, under the right circumstances, they allow us to go up, and allow us to come down."
What's next for a man who can't stop climbing? "I'm going to hug my wife and kids and kind of kick back and enjoy the summer," says Viesturs. But for a man who's climbed the world's 14 tallest mountains, he will probably soon set off on yet another adventure.
56．What record has Ed Viesturs set?
A．He has succeeded in climbing to the world’s 14th highest mountain.
B．He has been to the top of the world’s 14 highest mountains.
C．He has become the first to climb to the height of 26,545 feet.
D．He has become the first man to climb to the top of 14 highest mountains in the world.
57．The underlined word “hooked” in Paragraph 4 can be replaced by “______”.
A．frightened B．discouraged C．interested D．upset
58．The author used Viestures’ words in Paragraph 6 to support a view that ______.
A．mountain climbing is a dangerous sport
B．mountains should be regarded as living creatures
C．mountain climbing needs more skills than physical energy
D．those who like mountain climbing won’t stop climbing
59．What’s the next probable plan of Viestures?
A．Stopping climbing and staying with his family.
B．Climbing to the top of the world’s 14 tallest mountains again.
C．Climbing another one of the highest mountains.
D．Writing down the experiences about his adventure.
Last week, while visiting my dad with my daughter, we went to a restaurant for dinner. When we were seated, my dad asked the waitress if there were any soldiers eating at the restaurant. Then waitress said there was a soldier having dinner with his friend. My dad told the waitress to tell the soldier and his friend that their dinner was paid for! He also said that he did not want to be known as the benefactor(施主).
Then waitress later commented on my dad’s thoughtful behavior saying that she had never seen anything like this before. At a local college, she had studied opera and so she used this to thank my dad by performing a piece from The Pearl Fisherman. Her voice brought me to tears because it sounded perfect!
After a while, the soldier appeared at our table (I don’t know how he knew my dad paid the bill for him.) and said that he would be sent to the front the next morning and that he could not leave this country without saying “thanks” to my dad. My dad replied that it was he who wanted to say “thanks”. They shook hands as the soldier left.
Before we left, the waitress came by again. She did a magic show as another way to show her
“thanks” to my dad. Her show was really great. My dad left her a note with email address asking for her next performance time in addition to a $ 50 tip.
Everyone witnessed something exemplary(可作榜样的) in the human spirit that night. I can only hope to see more of this in the future.
68．What did the soldier do in response to the author’s father’s kindness?
A．He gave something to author’s dad.
B．He gave a big tip to the waitress.
C．He said thanks to the author’s dad in person.
D．He did a magic show for the author and her father.
69．The author considered her father’s action to be ____.
A．funny B．understandable C．worthless D．honorable
70．Their passage mainly tells us that we should ____.
A．learn to be grateful to others B．find ways to thank others
C．try to learn from each other D．respect soldiers and waitresses
A small piece of fish each day may keep the heart doctor away．That's the finding of a scientific study of Dutch men in which deaths from heart disease were more than 50 percent lower among those who consumed at least an ounce（盎司）of salt water fish per day than those who never ate fish.
The Dutch research is one of three human studies that hold the belief that eating fish can provide health benefits, particularly to the heart. Heart disease is the number-one killer in the United States, with more than 550,000 deaths occurring from heart attacks each year．But researchers previously have noticed that the incidence （发生率） of heart disease is lower in cultures that consume more fish than Americans do．There are fewer heart disease deaths, for example, among the Eskimos of Greenland, who consume about 14 ounces of fish a day, and among the Japanese, whose daily fish consumption averages more than 3 ounces.
|
For 20 years, the Dutch study followed 852 middle-aged men, 20 percent of whom ate no fish.
At the start of the study, the average fish consumption was about two-thirds of an ounce each day with more men eating thin fish than fatty fish.