Zipped into a bag, it looks like a large umbrella. Unfolded, it goes along the street like any other bicycle.
It's the "A-bike", the brainchild (脑力劳动的产物) of British inventor Sir Clive Sinclair, who made history in the 1970s by developing the world's first pocket calculator. He described his new invention as "the world's smallest, lightest foldable bicycle".
"My original thought was that if you could have a bicycle that was dramatically lighter and more firm than the ones that exist today, it would change the way in which bicycles are used,"said Sinclair.
The mini-bike, showed in Singapore last week and set to go on sale worldwide in 2005 at a price of nearly US$300, is built for riders as heavy as 112 kilograms and is height-adjustable（可调整高度的）. It takes about 20 seconds to fold or unfold.
Its wheels are a quarter the size of those on a regular bicycle, but Sinclair promises a smooth ride for most cyclists. "You require no extra energy to ride the A-bike and it can go up to 15 miles per hour (24 kilometers per hour)," he said. Constructed mainly of plastic, the 5.5-kilogram bicycle folds into a package of less than 0.03 cubic meters （立方米）.
Sinclair also invented the first pocket TV in 1984 and the futuristic C5 electric tricycle in 1985. He said he hoped the bicycle would attract common citizens, officials, campers or anyone needing transport for a short trip and he said the next step for the A-bike was to add an electric motor in a few years. The most important character of this kind of bike is its ________ .
| A．big size |
| B．light weight |
| C．beautiful appearance |
| D．foldable structure |
The wheels of a regular bicycle is ________ the size of this kind of bike.
| A．four times |
| B．three times |
| C．one-fourth |
| D．one-third |
This kind of new bike is mainly made of ________ .
| A．plastic | B．packages | C．bags | D．metal |
The best title of the text is ________ .
| A．World's smallest foldable bicycle arriving |
| B．A new bike, a large umbrella |
| C．A foldable bike, a large bag |
| D．A great inventor of a new bike |
This kind of new bike hasn't been fixed with ________ .
| A．a wheel |
| B．an electric motor |
| C．pedal |
| D．a hand |
Boiler rooms are often dirty and steamy, but this one is el.ean and cool. Fox Point is a very new47-unit living building in South Bronx, one of the city’s poorest areas. Two-thirds of the people living there are formerly (以前) homeless people, whose rent is paid by the government. The rest are low-income families. The boiler room has special equipment, which produces energy for electricity and heat. It reuses heat that would otherwise be lost to the air, reducing carbon emissions(碳排放)while also cutting costs.
Fox Point is operated by 
Palladia, a group that specializes in providing housing and services to needy, people. Palladia received support from Enterprise Community Partners (ECP), which helps build affordable housing by providing support to housing developers.
ECP has created national standards for healthy, environmentally (环境方面) clever and affordable homes which are called, the Green Communities Standards. These standards include water keeping, energy saving and the use of environm
entally friendly building materials. Meeting the standards increases housing construction costs by 2%, which is rapidly paid back by lower running costs. Even the positioning of a window to get most daylight can help save energy.
Michael. Bloomberg, New York's mayor, plans to create 165,000 affordable housing units for500,000 New Yorkers. Almost 80% of New York City’s greenhouse-gas emissions come from buildings, and 40% of those are caused, by housing. So he recently announced that the city’s Department of Housing and Preservation and Development (DHPD) , whose duty is to develop and keep the city’s supply of affordable housing, will require all its new projects to follow ECP’s green standards.
Similar measures have been taken by other cities such as Cleveland and Denver, but New York’s DHPD is the largest city developer of affordable housing in the country.
1. What is the purpose of describing the boiler room in the first paragraph?
A. To explain the measures the city takes to care for poor people.
B. To suggest that affordable housing is possible in all areas.
C. To show how the environment-friendly building works.
D. To compare old and new boiler rooms.
2. What is an advantage of the buildings meeting the Green Communities Standards?
A. Lower running costs.
B. Costing less in construction.
C. Less air to be lost in hot days.
D. Better prices for homeless people.
3. It can be learned from the text that,
A. New York City is seriously polluted
B. people’s daily life causes many carbon emissions in New York City
C. a great number of people in New York City don't have houses to live in
D. some other cities have developed more affordable housing than New York City
4. What is the main purpose of this text?
A. To
call on people to pay more attention to housing problems.
B. To prove that some standards are needed for affordable housing.
C. To ask society to help homeless people and low-income families.
D. To introduce healthy, environmentally clever-and affordable housing.
第二部分阅读理解(共两节，满分50分)
第一节阅读下列短文，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。(共20小题；每小题2分，满分40分)
I grew up in a house where the TV was seldom turned on and with one wall in my bedroom entirely lined with bookshelves, most of my childhood was spent on books I could get hold of. In fact, I grew up thinking of reading as natural as breathing and books unbelievably powerful in shaping perspectives (观点) by creating worlds we could step into, take part. in. and live in.
With this unshakable belief, I, at. fourteen, decided to become a writer. Here too, reading became useful. Every writer starts off knowing that he has something to say, but being unable to find the right ways to say it. He has to find his own voice by reading widely and discovering which parts of the writers he agrees or disagrees with, or agrees with so strongly that it reshapes his own world. He cannot write without loving to read, because only through reading other people’s writing can one discover what works, what doesn’t and, in the end, together with lots of practice, what voice he has.
Now I am in college, and have come to realize how important it is to read fiction (文学作品)．As a. law student, my reading is in fact limited to subject matter—the volume (量) of what I have to read for classes every week means there is little time to read anything else. Such reading made it all the clearer to me that I live in a very small part in this great place called life. Reading fiction reminds me that there is life beyond my own. It allows me to travel across the high seas and along the Silk Road, all from the comfort of my own armchair, to experience, though secondhand, exciting experiences that I wouldn't necessarily be able to have in my lifetime.
1. What can be inferred about the author as a child?
A. He never watched TV.
B. He read what he had to.
C. He found readi
ng unbelievable.
D. He considered reading part of his life.
2. The underlined word "voice" in the second paragraph most probably means “____________”.
A. an idea B. a sound quality C. a way of writing D. a world to write about
3. What effect does reading have on the author?
A. It helps him to realize his dream.
B. It opens up a wider world for him.
C. It makes his college life more interesting.
D. It increases his interest in worldwide travel.
4. Which of the following can be the best title of this text?
A. Why do I read? B. How do I read? C. What do I read?D. When do I read?
Fear plays no part in this latest problem．"I'm not afraid I'll lose my children．I won't lose my children. We live together, and nothing, nothing,"she repeats, her voice rising when speaking to John's lawyer, "will stop me from being with my children. A law? Year, right. Don't disturb me when it comes to my children. You are never going to win. If John wants to see them, I cannot stop him. He's their father-I want them to see him! However, his visit in his present condition will disturb the children's stable (稳定的) life．"
John, who has spent much of his time in California recently, has only hired a house for himself in Pennsylva
nia, according to his lawyer. "If he'd like to stick to a regular life, I'd be more than happy to do that，" Jane says. "The best thing for any child of a divorced (离婚的) parent is a stable life. I want nothing more than for him to set up a stable life for himself, so that he can be part of making our children's lives more stable. "
While matters of money and care won't be settled for weeks, Jane hardly puts her life on hold. Last week the ABC network announced that Jane would return with her own show, Twist of Jane, in which she gives advice to other moms．Jane and her eight children will also return to ABC in a series of Jane Plus 8 specials showing them on various adventures．It's a rest for Jane．who insists that she needs her new，busy life to provide for her family．"I have to lead such a life．and I'm thankful that I've built it to the top where now I can support my children．"she says．
And whether a bellicose(好斗的)dance judge or a bellicose former wife，Jane plans to keep 0n facing attacks on her． "Some people try to knock me down-only to make me more fierce，more protective，more determined to do better，"she says．"Go ahead，take me on．This will just make me stronger．"
| 1． |
According to Jane in the first paragraph，the low
|
| 2． |
What does "to do that" refer to in the second paragraph?
|
| 3． |
What does the underlined sentence in the third pa
|
| 4． |
Which word can best describe Jane?
|
Somali pirates(海盗) robbed three Thai fishing ships with 77 sailors on board nearly l，200 Miles off the Somali coast，the farthest-off-shore attack to date，an officer said Tuesday.
Pirates have gone farther south and east in answer to increased patro
ls(巡逻)by warships off the Somali shore. The robbing of the three ships Sunday was about 600 miles outside the normal operation area for the international force，said a spokesman．
The spokesman said the attack so far out at sea was a clear sign that the international patrols against pirates were having a "marked effect on pirate activity in the area"．
"Once they start attacking that far out，you're not even really talking about the Somali basin or areas of water that have any connection with Somalia," said an officer，Ro
ger Middleton．"Once you're that far out，it's just the Indian Ocean，and it means you're looking at trade going from the Gulf to Asia，from Asia to South Africa."
"This is the farthest robbing to date．They are now operating near the Maldives and India,"said another officer．
The three ships--the MV Prantalay l l，12，and l 4-had 77 members on board in total．All of them are Thai, the spokesman said．Before the Sunday robbing，pirates held l l ships and 228 sailors．
Pirates have increased attacks over the past year in hopes。f catching more dollar payments. Because of increased patrols and defenses on board ships，the success rate(率)has gone down，though the number of successful attacks has stayed the same year over year.
| 1． |
The pirate attack reported in the text happened．
|
| 2． |
According to the text, which can best describe the situation of the pirate problems?
|
| 3． |
Which is true about the warship patrols according to the text?
|
| 4． |
How many sailors were held by the pirates up to the time of the report?
|
There were smiling children all the way. Clearly they knew at what time the train passed their homes and they made it their business to stand along the railway, were to complete strangers and cheer them up as they rushed towards Penage. Often whole families stood outside their homes and waved and smiled as if those on the trains were their favorite relatives. This is the simple village people of Malaysia.I was moved.
I had always traveled to Malaysia by plane or car, so this was the first time I was on a train.I did not particularlf relish the long train joumey and had brought along a dozen magazines to read and reread. I looked about the train. There was not one familiar I sighed and sat down to read my Economics
It was not long before the train was across the Causeway and in Malaysia. Johore Baru was just another city like Singapore, so I was tired of looking at the crowds of people as they hurried past. As we went beyond the city, I watched the straight rows of rubber trees and miles and miles of green. Then the first village came into sight. Immediately I came alive, I decided to wave back.
From then on my joumey became imeresting.I threw my magazine into the waste basket and decided to join in Malaysian life.Then everything came alive.The mountains seemed to speak to me.Even the trees were smiling.I stared t everything as if I was looking at it for the first time.
The day passed fast and I even forgot to have my lunch until I felt hungry. I looked at my wat ch and was surprised that it was 3:00 pm.Soon the train pulled up at Butterworth I looked at the people all around me.They all looked beautiful. When my uncle arrive with, I threw my around him to give him a warm hug.I had never done this before. He seemed surprised and then his weather-beaten face warmed up with a huge smile. We walked arm in arm to his car.
I looked forward to the return journey.
1.The author expected the train trip to be__________.
A. adventurous B. pleasnt C. exciting D. dull
2.What did the author remember most fondly of her train trip?
A. The friendly country people.
B. The mountains along the way.
C. The crowds of people in the streets.
D. The simple lunch served on the train.
3.Which of the following words can best take the place of the word“relish”in the second paragraph?
A. choose B. enjoy C. prepare for D. carry on
4.Where was the writer going?
A. Johore Baru. B. The Causeway. C. Bunerworth. D. Singapore.
5.What can we learn from the story?
A. Comfort in traveling by train.
B. Pleasure of living in the country.
C. Reading gives people delight.
D. Smiles brighten people up.
ragraph mean?