Short and shy, Ben Saunders was the last kid in his class picked for any sports team. “Football, tennis Cricket—anything with a round ball, I was useless, “he says now with a laugh. But back then he was the object of jokes in school gym classes in England’s rural Devonshire.
It was a mountain bike he received for his 15th birthday that changed him. At first the teen went biking alone in a nearby forest. Then he began to cycle along with a runner friend. Gradually, Saunders set his mind building up his body, increasing his speed, strength and endurance. At age 18, he ran his first marathon.
The following year, he met John Ridgway, who became famous in the 1960s for rowing an open boat across the Atlantic Ocean. Saunders was hired as an instructor at Ridgway’s school of Adventure in Scotland, where he learned about the older man’s cold-water exploits(成就).Intrigued, Saunders read all he could about Arctic explorers and North Pole expeditions, then decided that this would be his future.
Journeys to the Pole aren’t the usual holidays for British country boys, and many peiole dismissed his dream as fantasy. “John Ridgway was one of the few who didn’t say, ‘You are completely crazy,’”Saunders says.
In 2001, after becoming a skilled skier, Saunders started his first long-distance expedition toward the North Pole. He suffered frostbite, had a closer encounter(遭遇) with a polar bear and pushed his body to the limit.
Saunders has since become the youngest person to ski alone to the North Pole, and he’s skied more of the Arctic by himself than any other Briton. His old playmates would not believe the transformation.
This October, Saunders, 27, heads south to explore from the coast of Antarctica to the South Pole and back, an 1800-mile journey that has never been completed on skis.The turning point in Saunders’life came when _____
| A．he started to play ball games |
| B．he got a mountain bike at age 15 |
| C．he ran his first marathon at age 18 |
| D．he started to receive Ridgway’s training |
We can learn from the text that Ridgway _______.
| A．dismissed Saunders’ dream as fantasy |
| B．built up his body together with Saunders |
| C．hired Saunders for his cold-water experience |
| D．won his fame for his voyage across the Atlantic |
What do we know about Saunders?
| A．He once worked at a school in Scotland. |
| B．He followed Ridgway to explore the North Pole. |
| C．He was chosen for the school sports team as a kid. |
| D．He was the first Briton to ski alone to the North Pole. |
The underlined word “Intrigued” in the third paragraph probably means_____.
| A． Excited | B．Convinced | C．Delighted | D．Fascinated |
It can be inferred tat Saunders’ journey to the North Pole ______.
| A．was accompanied by his old playmates |
| B．set a record in the North Pole expedition |
| C．was supported by other Arctic explorers |
| D．made him well-known in the 1960s |
At Dallas/Fort Worth Airport, the lights are controlled by sensors that measure sunlight. They dim immediately when it's sunny and brighten when a passing cloud blocks the sun.
A wall of windows at a University of Pennsylvania engineering building has built-in blinds (百叶窗) controlled by a computer program that follows the sun's path.
Buildings are getting smarter -- and the next generation of building materials is expected to do even more.
Windows could catch the sun's energy to heat water. Sensors that measure the carbon dioxide breathed out by people in a room could determine whether the air conditioning needs to be turned up.
Many new materials and technology have been designed in the last 15 years. They now being used in a wave of buildings designed to save as much energy as possible. They include old ideas, like "green roofs," where a belt of plants on a roof helps the building keep heat in winter and stay cool in summer, and new ideas, like special coating for windows that lets light in, but keeps heat out.
As technologies such as sensors become cheaper, their uses spread.
The elevators (电梯) at Seven World Trade Center, which is under construction in New York, use a system that groups people traveling to nearby floor into the same elevator, thus saving elevator stops. People who work in the building will enter it by swiping (刷) ID cards that will tell the elevators their floor; readouts will then tell them which elevator to use. The building also has windows with a coating that blocks heat while letting in light.
More new building materials and technology are in development. A Philadelphia building firm is now working on "smart wrap" that uses tiny solar collectors to catch the sun's energy and transmitters (传输器) the width of a human hair to move it. They are expected to change the face of the construction industry in the next ten years or so.
72. ______ will be developed and used in the construction industry.
A. "Green roofs" that cool or heat buildings
B. "Smart wrap" that catches the sun's energy
C. Sunlight-measuring sensors that control lights
D. Window coating that lets light in, but keeps heat out
73. The elevators at Seven World Trade Center are special because they can ___
A. send people to floors with fewer stops
B. teach people how to use their ID cards
C. make people stay very cool in summer
D. help people go traveling in the building
74. The underlined word “it” in the last paragraph refers to _____.
A. a human hairB. smart wrap
C. the sun's energyD. a transmitter
75. What might be the most suitable title for the text?
A. Buildings Are Becoming Smarter
B. Buildings Are Getting More Sunlight
C. Buildings Are Lacking in Much Energy
D. Buildings Are Using Cheaper Materials
Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all ,you probably sing or whistle when you are happy.
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However ,they sing most of the time for a very different reason .Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory.
Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal ,usually the male, claims（声称）as its own .Only he and his family are welcome there .No other families of the same species（物种）are welcome. Your yard and house are your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout. Probably this would be enough to frighten him away.
If so, you have actually scared the stranger away without having to fight him .A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time ,especially at nesting（筑巢）season. So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not .This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.
Birds sing loudest in the spring when they are trying to attract a mate and warn others not to enter the territory of theirs.
You can see that birds have a language all their own. Most of it has to do with attracting mates and setting up territories.
56．Some scientists believe that most of the time birds’ singing is actually .
A．an expression of happiness B．a way of warning
C．an expression of anger D．a way of greeting
57．What is a bird’s “territory”?
A．A place where families of other species are not accepted.
B．A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice.
C．An area for which birds fight against each other.
D．An area which a bird considers to be its own.
58．Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?
A．Because they want to invite more friends.
B．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away.
C．Because they want to find outsiders around.
D．Because their singing helps get rid of their fears.
59．How does the writer explain birds’ singing?
A．By comparing birds with human beings.
B．By reporting experiment results.
C．By describing birds’ daily life.
D．By telling a bird’s story.
Walk through the Amazon rainforest today and you will find it is steamy, warm, damp and thick. But if you had been around 15,000 years ago, during the last ice age, would it have been the same ?For more than 30 years, scientists have been arguing about how rainforests like the Amazon might have reacted（反应）to the cold ,dry climates of the ice ages ,but until now ,no one has reached a satisfying answer.
Rainforests like the Amazon are important for mopping up CO2 from the atmosphere and helping to slow global warming . Currently the trees in the Amazon take in around 500 million tons of CO2 each year; equal to the total amount of CO2 giving off in the UK each year. But how will the Amazon react to future climate change? If it gets drier ,will it still survive and continue to draw down CO2 ?Scientists hope that they will be able to learn in advance how the rainforest will manage in the future by understanding how rainforests reacted to climate change in the past.
Unfortunately ,getting into the Amazon rainforest and collecting information are very difficult .To study past climate ,scientists need to look at fossilized pollen ,kept in lake muds .Going back to the last ice age means drilling deep down into lake sediments （沉淀物）,which requires specialized equipment and heavy machinery .There are very few roads and paths ,or places to land helicopters and aeroplanes .Rivers tend to be the easiest way to enter the forest ,but this still leaves vast areas between the rivers completely unsampled（未取样）.So far ,only a handful of cores have been drilled that go back to the last ice age and none of them provide enough information to prove how the Amazon rainforest reacts to climate change.
64．The underlined phrase “mopping up” in the second paragraph means .
A．cleaning up B．taking in C．wiping out D．giving out
65．How will the Amazon rainforest react to future climate change?
A．It’ll get drier and continue to remove CO2 .
B．It’ll remain steamy ,warm ,damp and thick .
C．It’ll get warmer and then colder and drier.
D．There is no exact answer up to present.
66．What’s the main idea of the last paragraph?
A．It’s important to drill deep down into lake sediments to collect information.
B．It’s impossible to prove how climate changes in the Amazon rainforest.
C．It’s hard to collect information for studies of the past climate in the Amazon rainforest.
D．It’s necessary to have specialized equipment and machinery to study the past climate.
67．The best title for this passage may probably be .
A．Studies of the Amazon B．Climates of the Amazon
C．Secrets of the Rainforests D．Changes of the Rainforests
You either have it, or you don’t—a sense of direction, that is. But why is it that some people could find their way across the Sahara without a map, while others can lose themselves in the next street?
Scientists say we’re all born with a sense of direction, but it is not properly understood how it works. One theory is that people with a good sense of direction have simply worked harder at developing it. Research being carried out at Liverpool University supports this idea and suggests that if we don’t use is, we lose it.
“Children as young as seven have the ability to find their way around,” says Jim Martland, Research Director of the project. “However, if they are not allowed out alone or are taken everywhere by car, they never develop the skills.”
Jim Martland also emphasizes that young people should be taught certain skills to improve their sense of direction. He makes the following suggestions:
●If you are using a map, turn it so it relates to the way you are facing.
●If you leave your bike in a strange place, put it near something like a big stone or a tree. Note landmarks on the route as you go away from your bike. When you return, go back along the same route.
●Simplify the way of finding your direction by using lines such as streets in a town, streams, or walls in the countryside to guide you. Count your steps so that you know how far you have gone and note any landmarks such as tower blocks or hills which can help to find out where you are.
Now you need never get lost again!
65. Scientists believe that_______.
A. some babies are born with a sense of direction.
B. people learn a sense of direction as they grow older
C. people never lose their sense of direction
D. everybody possesses a sense of direction from birth
66. What is true of seven-year-old children according to the passage?
A. They never have a sense of direction without maps
B. They should never be allowed out alone if they lack a sense of direction
C. They have a sense of direction and can find their way around
D. They can develop a good sense of direction if they are driven around in a car.
67. If you leave your bike in a strange place, you should ________.
A. tie it to a tree so as to prevent it from being stolen
B. draw a map of the route to help remember where it is
C. avoid taking the same route when you come back to it
D. remember something easily recognizable on the route
68. According to the passage, the best way to find your way around is to ________.
A. ask policemen for directions.
B. use walls, streams, and streets to guide yourself
C. remember your route by looking out for steps and stairs
D. count the number of landmarks that you see
No one can fail to stand in awed ( 令人敬畏的 ) admiration of the great discoveries of history—Newton' s laws of motion; Kepler' s principles of planetary movement, Einstein' s general theory of relativity. Equally awe-inspiring are artistic creations in painting, theatre, music and literature, which have also been brought about by discovery through personal efforts. What do these extraordinary achievements of well-known scientists and artists have to do with problem solving?
A great scientific discovery or a great work of art is surely the result of problem-solving activity. The solution to a problem, we are told, often comes to thinkers in a “flash of insight (顿悟) ”， although they may have been turning the problem over in their minds for some time. As a particular form of problem solving, these creative acts are based on the broad knowledge gained in the past, whether this be of the public" sort known to science, or of the "private" sort known to the artist.
Many creative thinkers state that they have completely devoted themselves to the subject matter of the problem, often over fairly long periods of time. Indeed, it would be strange if they had not done this. Nothing in such statements supports the idea that there is anything very different about the problem solving that leads to discoveries of the great contributions to the society. The act of discovery, even in the relatively predictable (可以预见的) sense that it occurs in everyday learning, involves (涉及) a “sudden insight” which changes the problem situation into a solution situation. As we have seen, everyday discovery also requires that the learner have the knowledge of the rules gained in the past, which is involved in the solution.
52. Newton, Kepler and Einstein are mentioned in the first paragraph to_______.
A. bring about the subject of the discussion
B. explain that scientists are more creative
C. show the difference between science and arts
D. prove that arts require more personal efforts
53. While knowledge from the past plays an important role in their achievements, thinkers sometimes also depend on their______.
A.artistic tastes B. sudden insight
C.admiration of discoveries D.scientific experiments
54. What does the underlined word “this” refer to?
A.Great contributions to the society
B.Long-time study of the subject matter.
C.Various statements about problem solving.
D. Complete devotion to artistic creation.
55. We may conclude from the passage that ______.
A.it is more likely to make scientific and artistic discoveries in everyday learning.
B.a sudden insight and knowledge from the past are required in making discoveries
C.scientific discoveries or artistic creations are usually unpredictable in nature
D.knowledge of the rules in the past is often developed in the changes of situation