The deadly earthquake and tsunami (海啸) that struck Japan on March 11 damaged two nuclear power stations. Officials are now working to prevent dangerous radiation from poisoning the air in the area surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi plant. The Japanese government has ordered people living within 12 and a half miles of the plant to evacuate, and asked those living 12 and a half to 20 miles away to stay indoors.
Nuclear power plants create energy using a chemical reaction that produces large amounts of heat. Reactors(反应堆)in Japan have many long, thin rods, called fuel rods(棒), which must be kept cool.
If the reactor’s fuel rods aren’t cooled, the reaction can burn out of control. That’s what happened at the two Japanese plants after the quake caused a power failure and the cooling systems malfunctioned(发生故障). This overheating could cause radiation to escape and sicken many people.
Japan’s 54 nuclear reactors are built to withstand the many small or moderate earthquakes the country faces each year. But Friday’s earthquake was one of the most severe earthquakes ever recorded.
People exposed to unsafe levels of radiation have a higher than normal risk of getting cancer. The Japanese government has been distributing potassium iodide(碘化钾)pills to people in the surrounding areas to protect those who may have come in contact with radiation from the power plant. The pills flood the body with healthy potassium iodide. The potassium iodide works to crowd out “bad” iodine in the body that may have been poisoned by radiation.
On Tuesday morning, 750 workers left the Fukushima Daiichi plant. However, 50 workers stayed behind to use sweater to cool the fuel rods. These dedicated employees are risking their own lives to save many others.
On Thursday, officials used helicopters, fire trucks, and water cannons to spray water on the reactors to cool the fuel rods. But it’s not clear whether these efforts were successful. Officials are now working on a power line to restore electricity to the plant. They hope this will help restart the plant’s cooling system and stop the fuel rods from leaking radiation.The underlined word “evacuate” in Paragraph 1 probably means .
| A.help | B.rest | C.stop | D.leave |
What can we learn from the text?
| A.The local people are scared and ready to run away. |
| B.The earthquake led to many deaths and caused damage to roads. |
| C.The Japanese government has found a kind of pill that can treat cancer. |
| D.The two stations were damaged because their cooling systems didn’t work. |
In the last paragraph, the author mainly states .
| A.lack of help |
| B.international aids |
| C.the government’s efforts |
| D.the result of the disaster |
This text is most probably taken from .
| A.a research paper |
| B.a newspaper report |
| C.a class presentation |
| D.a chemistry textbook |
The Gold Coast family holidays are always great fun whether you are from Australia or from abroad. There are beautiful beaches, adventure parks, nature parks and so much more.
There are so many sights to see here. It is a pity to drive in a car and you’ll miss a great part of it. Australia is home to many animals and birds that can only be seen when moving slowly and going into the areas that they live.
When you are on a bicycle, you have the advantage of being able to stop whenever you want to see an interesting animal or bird that you have never seen before. It is a quieter mode (方式) of transportation as well, so you might even be able to take a picture. When you are on the beach, you can breathe that clean air and view the beauty of the water and sand. It is a totally different experience from either simply sunbathing or passing it in a car.
There are many choices of hiring a bicycle to experience the Gold Coast attractions. There are stores that will fit a bike perfectly to your size. These bikes for both adults and children are in many styles and colors to please any taste. If you have ever wanted to try a tandem bike (双人单车), now is your chance, because they have those too.
A bicycle hire on Gold Coast is something that everyone should try at least once. This is a wonderful chance for anyone who likes to cycle and it is also a cheap way to travel with your family.You’d better not drive in a car on Gold Coast because ________.
| A.you will break the traffic rules |
| B.you will cause much noise |
| C.you can’t enjoy the beautiful sights well |
| D.you can’t drive into some parks |
The following advantages of hiring bikes are mentioned EXCEPT that ________.
| A.you can take photos of animals |
| B.it is a cheap way of traveling |
| C.you can get a clearer sight of animals |
| D.it is a good way to do sunbathing |
What is paragraph 4 mainly about?
| A.How to hire bikes on Gold Coast. |
| B.What kinds of bikes there are in stores? |
| C.What bikes are the most popular? |
| D.Who can hire bikes on Gold Coast? |
What’s the author’s attitude towards a bike hire on Gold Coast?
| A.He supports it very much. |
| B.He thinks it’s a personal choice. |
| C.He doesn’t like this way of traveling. |
| D.He thinks it’s only good for adults. |
The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of September 2 ,1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were made of wood and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.
The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King's baker (面包师) in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.
By eight o'clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Paul's and the Guildhall among them.
Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, wrote about the fire, "People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat."
The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.
After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect (建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the new St Paul's.
The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.It seems that the writer of the text was most sorry for the fact that _____.
| A.some people lost their lives |
| B.the birds in the sky were killed by the fire |
| C.many famous buildings were destroyed |
| D.the King's bakery was burned down |
Why did the writer cite (引用) Samuel Pepys?
| A.To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire. |
| B.Because Pepys also wrote about the fire. |
| C.To show that poor people suffered most. |
| D.Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire. |
How was the fire put out according to the text?
| A.The King and his soldiers came to help. |
| B.All the houses made of wood in the city were destroyed. |
| C.People managed to get enough water from the river. |
| D.Houses standing in the direction of the fire were pulled down. |
Do you suppose Darwin, one of the greatest scientists of all time, really did foolish experiments? Or did he do experiments that were so simple and basic that other people just thought they were foolish?
Sometimes, people think they already know the answer to a question or the solution to a problem. Sometimes, they really do know an answer or a solution, but without thinking they are important.
Charles Darwin didn’t settle for(满足于)just thinking he knew something. And, he believed all things could be important however simple they seemed to be.
Suppose you drop sheets of paper that are of exactly the same size and shape. If you drop them at the same time in the same place, they will fall in the same way. Now make one of the sheets of paper into a tight little ball and let it drop along with the other sheets. What happens? You have done an experiment that is so simple that you might think it couldn’t be worth anything.
But this simple experiment is important. It explains part of our present-day understandings of physics, ideas that were worked out long ago by Galileo and Newton. And these understandings set aside some of ancient Greek physics.
Scientists sometimes stop to look at very simple things and to think very hard about them. Even the simplest idea, which we might think is foolish, can shake the foundations of science.The passage tells us that Charles Darwin .
| A.was a great English scientist |
| B.always liked doing the experiments that others thought difficult |
| C.thought even the simplest thing was important |
| D.didn’t get well with others |
The underlined phrase “set aside” most probably means .
| A.throw away | B.store up |
| C.put to use | D.realize |
The author of the passage tries to .
| A.convince us that Charles Darwin, Galileo and Newton are the greatest scientists in the world |
| B.draw the conclusion that basic sciences are simple things |
| C.prove that two sheets of paper, with the same size and shape, will fall at the same speed |
| D.draw our attention to everyday happenings around us |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A.Darwin really did foolish experiments. |
| B.According to some people Darwin did foolish experiments. |
| C.It is believed by all the people that things could be important though they seemed to be simple. |
| D.Galileo and Newton worked out ancient Greek physics. |
Some countries have a large number of earthquakes. Japan is one of them, while others do not have many, for example, there are few earthquakes in Britain. There is often a great noise during an earthquake. The ground vibrates (颤动).Houses fall down. Railways are broken, which causes trains to turn over. Sometimes thousands of people are killed in different ways. About 60,000 were killed in 1783 in the south of Italy. Some people say that earthquakes often happen near volcanoes(火山), but it is not true. The centers of some earthquakes are under the sea. The bottom of the sea suddenly moves. The powerful forces inside the earth break the rocks. The coast is shaken and great waves appear. These waves travel long distances and rush over the land when they reach it, breaking down houses and other buildings. Sometimes they break more buildings than the earthquake itself.
A terrible earthquake happened in Assam, India, in 1986.The land near Shillong suddenly moved 1.5 feet to one side, and then back again. It continued to act like this 20 times a minute. Few buildings could stand what was happening and the great stones flew four feet up into the air. What kind of building stays up best in an earthquake? The Americans carefully studied the results of the earthquake at San Francisco(1906) and believed it best for buildings to be made with concrete(混凝土) walls together by steel frames. Such are the buildings that can't burn or fall easily.Which of the following is NOT true?
| A.Trains' turning over is directly caused by the earthquakes. |
| B.Some earthquakes have their centers under the sea. |
| C.It isn't certain that earthquakes happen near volcanoes. |
| D.Buildings with concrete walls are better against earth quakes. |
Earthquakes often happen .
| A.near volcanoes | B.Both A and D |
| C.in Britain | D.in Japan |
___________ make(s) more loss than the earthquake itself.
| A.Nothing |
| B.Volcanoes |
| C.Forces inside the earth |
| D.Terrible waves by the earthquake |
When an earthquake happens, ____________can be heard.
| A.trains | B.thousands of people |
| C.a great noise | D.the powerful forces |
If you go into the woods with your friends, stay with them. If you don’t, you may get lost. If you do get lost, this is what you should do.
Sit down and stay where you are. Don’t try to find your friends — let them find you. You can help them to find you by staying in one place. There is another way to help your friends or other people nearby to find you. Give them a signal by shouting or whistling three times. Stop. Then shout or whistle three times again. Any signal given three times is a call for help. You will be helped by others. Keep up the shouting or whistling, always three times together. When people hear you, they will know that you are not just making noise for fun. They will let you know they have heard your signal. They will give two shouts, two whistles or two gunshots. When a signal is given twice, it is an answer to a call for help.
If you don’t think that you will get help before night comes, try to make a little house and cover up the holes with branches with lots of leaves and grass.
What should you do if you get hungry or need to drink some water? You should have to leave your little branch house to look for a brook. Don’t just walk away. Pick off small branches and drop them as you walk so that you can find your way back. The most important thing to do when you are lost is — stay in one place.How do you let people believe that you are not just making noise for fun?
| A.Stop now and then. |
| B.Go on shouting or whistling. |
| C.Shout over and over at the top of voice |
| D.Shout or whistle three times once a while. |
If nobody answers you after your signal, what should you do then?
| A.Give two gunshots. | B.Shout louder. |
| C.Stop shouting. | D.Make a house. |
If you feel thirsty when you are lost in the forest, what should you do?
| A.Go and find a brook. |
| B.Light a fire and make yourself some tea. |
| C.Go to find a brook and leave marks behind you. |
| D.Find something to hold the water. |
What’s the best title for the passage?
| A.What Do Three Shots And Two Shots Mean In A Forest |
| B.How To Find Your Friends When You Are Lost In The Woods |
| C.What To Do If You Get Lost In A Forest |
| D.The Most Important Thing To Do Is To Stay In One Place |