Ralph and Norton can grow to be 40 feet long and live in a tank as large as a football field.What are they? They’re the only two whale sharks at a North American aquarium .
You can see Ralph and Norton at the world’s largest aquarium, the new Georgia Aquarium in Atlanta.
The aquarium’s giant tanks hold eight million gallons of water and will be home to about 100,000 fish!
The aquarium was designed to look like a giant ship breaking through the waves.It has 60 different habitats from the sea and five galleries (展馆), each with a different theme.About 2.4 million visitors are expected to come each year.“We want to be the world’s most engaging aquarium.” Said Jeff Swanagan, the aquarium’s executive director.
Ralph and Norton arrived in June, 2005 from Taiwan.They were only 15 and 13 feet long, but they may grow to be more than 40 feet long! Whale sharks are the world’s largest fish.Three full-time vets will work there to make sure that Ralph, Norton, and all of the aquarium’s sea life stay healthy.Students from the University of Georgia will help run the aquarium and conduct research at the animal hospital.
The aquarium was paid for almost completely by a $ 200 million gift from Bemie Marcus, co-founder of Home Depot Inc, and his wife, Billi.“It’s going to be the most unique aquarium in the world,” said Marcus.Marcus said the aquarium was a “thank you” note to the city of Atlanta and the State of Georgia, where the Home Depot first opened for business.According to this passage, Ralph and Norton are ______.
| A．polar bears | B．penguins | C．whale sharks | D．dolphins |
The world’s largest aquarium is located in ____.
| A．Los Angeles | B．Atlanta | C．New York | D．Miami |
Which of the following is TRUE?
| A．Marcus helped to build the aquarium to show his thanks to Atlanta. |
| B．The aquarium’s giant tanks can hold eighteen million gallons of water. |
| C．Ralph and Norton arrived in June, 2005 from Japan. |
| D．The aquarium was designed to look like a giant shark. |
By saying “We want to be the world’s most engaging aquarium” Jeff Swanagan means ___.
| A．the aquarium will be the largest habitat for sea life |
| B．the aquarium will be home to very special sea animals |
| C．the aquarium will be rebuilt and will be made even larger |
| D．the aquarium will attract a large number of visitors |
Driving cars, trucks and motorcycles is an important part of our lives. We do it every day to get to work, to school or to friends' houses.
Traffic accidents declare millions of lives every year worldwide. In Taiwan alone, over seven people are killed in accidents every day. The annual death rate from traffic accidents in Taiwan is twice that of Japan.
To allow traffic to move smoothly and safely, everybody must follow the rules. Before you drive, learn all the traffic laws. That way of driving is safe, convenient and even fun! The underlined sentence “Traffic accidents declare millions of lives worldwide” in the passage means “_______”.
A．Traffic accidents make some people become mi llionaires |
| B．Many people die from traffic accidents |
| C．Millions of people say they themselves have had traffic accidents |
| D．Millions of people remain healthy after traffic accidents |
According to the passage, driving can be safe if _______.
| A．you are patient | B．you obey all the traffic rules |
| C．you don't cut another car off | D．you wait in line at a red light |
Which of the following may be the best title for this passage? _______.
| A．Traffic Safety | B．A Careful driver |
| C．How To Drive A Car | D．A Traffic Accident |
The common cold is the world's most widespread illness, which is a plague that man receives.
The most widespread mistake of all is that colds are caused by cold. They are not. They are caused by viruses passing on from person to person. You catch a cold by coming into contact directly or indirectly, with someone who already has one. If cold causes colds, it would be reasonable to expect the Eskimos to suffer from them forever. But they do not. And in isolated Arctic regions, explorers have reported being free from colds until coming into contract again with infected people from the outside world by way of packages and mail dropped from airplanes.
During the First World War, soldiers who spent long periods in the 
trenches, cold and wet, seldom caught colds.
In the Second World War, prisoners at Auschwitz concentration camp, naked and starved, were astonished to find that they seldom had colds.
At the Common Cold Research Unit in England, volunteers took part in experiments in which they gave themselves to the discomforts of being cold and wet for long stretches of time. After taking hot baths, they put on bathing suits, allowed themselves to be with cold water, and then stood about dripping wet in a room. Some wore wet socks all day while others exercised in the rain until close to exhaustion. Not one of the volunteers came down with a cold unless a cold virus was actually dropped in his nose.
If then, cold and wet have nothing to do with catching colds, why are they more frequent in winter? Despite the most hard research, no one has yet found out the answer. One explanation offered by scientists is that people tend to stay together indoors more in cold weather than at other times, and that makes it easier for cold viruses to be passed on.
No one has yet found a cure for the cold. There are drugs and pain-killers such as aspirin, but all that they do is to relieve the symptoms.The writer offered ___ examples to support his argument.
| A．4 | B．5 | C．6 | D．3 |
Arctic explorers may catch colds when___.
| A．they are working in the isolated Arctic regions |
| B．they are writing reports in terribly cold weather |
| C．they are free from work in the isolated Arctic regions |
| D．they are coming into touch again with the outside world |
Volunteers taking part in the experiments in the Common Cold Research Unit___.
| A．suffered a lot | B．never caught colds |
| C．often caught colds | D．became very strong |
The passage mainly discusses___.
| A．the experiments on the common cold |
| B．the fallacy about the common cold |
| C．the reason and the way people catch colds |
| D．the continued spread of common colds |
Dubai boasts(夸口) that it has just built a “new global landmark”---the Dubai Tower, which stands 512.1 meters high now and has just become the tallest building in the world.
The Dubai Tower now surpassesTaiwan’s Taipei 101, which is 508 meters tall, and has 141 storeys, more than any other building in the world.
The Dubai Tower, being built by South Korea’s Samsung Corporation and scheduled for completion next year, is one of a series of great projects taking shape in Dubai. The final projected height of the tower has remained a secret since the project was launched in January 2004; however, it is rumored that the tower will be more than 700 meters tall and have more than 160 storeys.
The Dubai Tower has become the tallest building in the world in just 1,276 days, leaving behind other tall buildings.
The Dubai Tower will house 30,000 apartments in addition to the world’s largest shopping mall. It is the centerpiece(重要工程) of the 20-billion-dollar venture. Another venture gradually emerging across the desert sands is Dubailand, a series of multi-billion-dollar projects claimed to be the Middle East’s very own Orlando. Dubai also paid 100 million dollars to buy the Queen Elizabeth II, one of the world’s superb cruise liners(游轮), which it plans to turn into a luxury floating hotel.
Faced with decreasing oil wealth, the Western-oriented emirate(酋长国) has raced to turn itself into a business and leisure hub and it aims to more than double the number of tourists to 15 million by 2015. The underlined word “surpasses” in the second paragraph means____.
| A．is equal to | B．matches | C．is left behind by | D．is higher than |
Which building was the tallest in the world before the Dubai Tower began to be built?
| A．Dubai land | B．Orlando | C．Taiwan’s Taipei 101 | D．The Twin Towers |
Why has the Western-oriented emirate paid more attention to becoming a business and leisure center?
| A．Because it wants to attract more tourists to its places of interest. |
| B．Because it produces less oil than ever. |
| C．Because it aims to race with other countries to show its wealth. |
| D．Because it wants to set a new world record. |
Which of the following statements about the Dubai Tower is TRUE according the passage ?
| A．The Dubai Tower is 508 meters tall and has more than 141 storeys. |
| B．The final height of the Dubai Tower is over 700 meters tall. |
| C．Samsung Corporation has completed building the Dubai Tower. |
| D．The Dubai Tower has apartments and a shopping mall. |
That year , in the local school, there was a new math teacher, as well as some new pupils. One of the new kids was the stupidest child anyone had ever seen. It made no difference how quickly or how slowly they tried explaining numbers to him; he would always end up saying something enormously stupid. Like two plus two was five, seven times three was twenty-seven, or a triangle had thirty corners……
Before this boy arrived, math lessons had been the most boring of all. Now they were great fun. Encouraged by the new teacher, the children would listen to the pieces of nonsense spouted by the new kid, and they would have to correct his mistakes.
Whenever the new teacher asked questions, the stupid kid would stand up but made the wrong answers, the other students all wanted to be the first to find his mistakes, and then think up the most original ways to explain them. To do this they used all kinds of stuff : sweets, playing cards, oranges, paper planes, etc. It didn’t seem like any of this bothered the new kid.
However, Little Lewis was sure that it was bound to make him feel sad inside. Lewis was sure he would see him crying. So, one day, he decided to follow the new kid home after school. On leaving school, the new kid walked a few minutes to a local park, and there he waited for a while, until someone came along to meet him……
It was the new teacher!
The teacher gave the new kid a hug, and off they went, hand in hand. Following from a distance, Lewis could hear they were talking about math.根据短文第二三段描述，可知这位新老师的工作很有创造性，故选A。
根据短文最后一段Following from a distance, Lewis could hear they were talking about math.描述，可知选B，这个所谓的最蠢的学生其实比其它学生知道的多。
根据Lewis was sure he would see him crying. So, one day, he decided to follow the new kid home after school.描述，可知选B。
联系上文To do this they used all kinds of stuff :可知选C。
The math lessons became interesting again because of the new teacher’s ___________.
| A．creativity | B．imagination | C．responsibility | D．curiosity |
The passage implies that the stupidest child____________________________.
| A．was in great need of math teacher’s help after class |
| B．knew much more about math than other classmates |
| C．had no much gift for math and was slow to learn it |
| D．disliked both the new math teacher and his lessons |
According to the passage, Lewis followed the stupidest in order to ______________.
| A．learn about where he lived | B．find out if he felt upset |
| C．say something to comfort him | D．make friends with him |
What does the underlined word “this” in the third paragraph refer to ?
| A．To find the stupidest kid’s mistakes. |
| B．To think up the most original ways to explain. |
| C．To use all kinds of stuff. |
| D．To follow him home after school. |
“I never expected that I would be so busy. Why can’t there be 25 hours in a day?” complained Liu Ran in Hong Kong as mid-term exams were going on.
The 18-year-old was Shandong Province’s top scorer in this year’s college entrance examination. After graduating from Tai’an No.1 High School, she chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong(香港中文大学) ， although both Peking University and Tsinghua University promised her a place.
“I want to experience a more international school and social life in Hong Kong. I’m majoring in journalism, so Hong Kong will surely help widen my horizons,” Liu said.
It is two months since Liu first set foot on Hong Kong. She missed home a lot at the beginning, because of the food and language problems.
“The canteen offers mostly Western or Guangdong food, but it’s convenient to cook for ourselves in our dorm if we like. People speak Cantonese and almost all classes are in English,” Liu explained.
Her English and Cantonese are now both improving, but she still needs more time to adapt to the new environment.
“I’m happy that I made the right decision to study here. With a mix of the Eastern and Western cultures, there is so much to discover and learn,” she said.
Liu has 18 credit hours(学分) of classes every week and 23 non-credit hours every other week. She has signed up for four associations including the Chinese Language Debating Team and the drama club. Essays, book reports and presentations also take plenty of time to prepare. And , of course, there are various parties to attend.
“I wasn’t a party animal before, but that may be interesting part of college. I sense myself changing,” Liu said.Liu Ran chose the Chinese University of Hong Kong, because___________.
| A．she couldn’t be admitted to Peking University |
| B．Hong Kong is a good place |
| C．she wants to be far from her homeland |
| D．the Chinese University of Hong Kong can widen her horizons |
According to the last paragraph, we can infer______________________________.
| A．now Liu Ran is an animal |
| B．Liu Ran hates the busy life in the Chinese University of Hong Kong |
| C．Liu Ran likes the food there |
| D．the busy and full life makes Liu Ran feel good |
Liu Ran had to overcome the difficulties in many aspects EXCEPT_______________.
| A．food | B．language | C．missing home | D．no friends |