Scientists know of more than 1,000 volcanoes on the surface of Venus, Earth’s “sister” planet. A big question has been: Are they still active? The scientists say yes.
Their evidence for recent volcanic activity on Venus comes from a lava(熔岩) flow in the planet’s northern hemisphere. The flow is hotter than the rocks around, which means the lava might still be cooling off. “The flow we studied seems to be very young---it is still warm inside,” Nataliya Bondarenko said.
Venus is a difficult planet to study from Earth because it is surrounded by thick clouds. Telescopes on Earth can’t see through these clouds, so the best information about Venus comes from spacecraft orbiting it.
Bondarenko and her colleagues studied the lava flow using data from NASA’s Magellan mission. That spacecraft spent four years in orbit around Venus and used radar to make a map of 98 percent of the planet’s surface. On October 11th, 1994, the mission ended, and the spacecraft plunged (跌落) through Venus’ heavy cloud cover and crashed onto the planet below.
While in orbit, the Magellan craft sent microwaves, which can go through Venus’ clouds, to the surface. Microwaves are invisible and can be as long as three feet. These waves are a kind of energy, like light. And like light, they bounce off surfaces. The way the waves bounced off the Venus’ surface and back to the craft supplied information that the scientists used to estimate the temperature of various parts of the planet’s surface. Bondarenko’s team found that the lava flow was hotter than its surroundings---which may mean the lava flow is in the process of cooling.
The scientists say the lava flow can’t be very old because if it were, it would have cooled off enough that Magellan wouldn’t have noticed the difference in microwaves. She adds that the flow appears in a 1978 view of the surface that a craft called the Pioneer Venus Orbiter captured.What happened to Magellan in the end?
| A．It was floating in space forever. |
| B．It flew into heavy clouds. |
| C．It returned to the Earth. |
| D．It fell onto Venus. |
How could Bondarenko judge the temperature of the Venus?
| A．By looking at it with a powerful telescope. |
| B．By measuring the thickness of clouds over Venus. |
| C．By calculating the microwave bouncing off Venus’s surface. |
| D．By orbiting Venus for 4 years in a spacecraft. |
The best title for the passage may be “______ ”.
| A．Warm lava on Venus |
| B．More volcanic eruptions on Venus |
| C．Venus is just like a big active volcano |
| D．Lava flows are first found on Venus |
Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem. It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.
Despite his exhaustion, Howe slept badly. He tossed（辗转） and turned. Then he had a nightmare
He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem.
Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make a small hole in the center of the needle and have the thread run through it.
This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practical sewing machine. Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein.
To appreciate the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(无意识的), but still active part
digests your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day.
However, the unconscious part expresses itself through its own logic and its own language.. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.Which of the following was the main problem for Elias Howe to design a sewing machine?
| A．Deciding the kind of thread to use for the machine. |
| B．Making the thread run smoothly around the needle. |
| C．Designing a needle which would not easily break. |
| D．Finding the proper place to put the needle. |
Which of the following is Howe’s final solution to his problem?
| A．Making a small hole in the needle. |
| B．Tossing and turning the needle. |
| C．Finding out a better kind of thread. |
| D．Having the thread running around the needle. |
According to the passage, Elias Howe was________.
| A．much more hard-working than other inventors |
| B．the first person who solved problems while sleeping |
| C．the first person at the time who knew the value of dreams |
| D．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked |
Thomas Edison is mentioned because________.
| A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine |
| B．he was one of Howe’s best friends |
| C．he also had difficulty in falling asleep |
| D．he got some of his ideas from dreams |
Richard Wagner was a German musician has been a very controversial(有争议的) person, but he has gained great fame by writing opera, a form of performance combining singing, music on instruments, and drama.
While he wrote excellent music, many people think his operas are too dark and serious, lacking the fun common in operas written before his time.
Wagner, on the other hand, thought the opera of his time was too simple．He wanted to make opera a serious form of art that combined drama and music to tell deep stories that would have a strong effect on the audience.
Some people thought Wagner’s new kind of music was too different from the operas they were used to hearing．Wagner agreed with them．In fact, he didn’t call his works “operas” at all, using instead a German word that means “Musical Festival” or “Musical play”.
While many people today still do not like Wagner’s operas, they cannot deny that Wagner has had a lot of influence on opera as a form of art．Wagner invented the tradition of turning off the lights before starting a play．He also was the first person to make the whole audience sit down for an entire play．Today, almost all operas are performed in this manner.
Wagner as a man was even more controversial than Wagner as a writer of music．He hated Jewish people, and made many people angry, which we would today think of as evil．Some would say he was a good musician, while others would say that he was a bad musician．But it would be difficult to say he was not an important person in music and in the world.Which of the following best expresses the main idea of the passage?
| A．Richard Wagner is not worth talking about |
| B．Richard Wagner has made many people angry |
| C．Richard Wagner has contributed much to opera. |
| D．Richard Wagner is a very controversial man. |
Why did Wagner write what is considered serious music?
| A．He wanted to influence people with deep stories. |
| B．He wanted to make his music simple to follow. |
| C．He wanted to make it suitable for his deep voice. |
| D．He was greatly influenced by previous musicians. |
Wagner’s works were different from normal opera of his time NOT because________.
| A．he called his works “Musical Festivals” |
| B．his drama, music and singing are combined |
| C．the lights are off before starting a play |
| D．the audience could sit down during his play |
Which of the following statements about Wagner’s works is TRUE?
| A．His works are seldom accepted |
| B．His works are known to be funny. |
| C．His works started a new tradition. |
| D．Most people are angry about his works. |
It was late in the afternoon. Several hundred villagers left their houses and gathered in the open air outside the village. They were staring __ __ at the mountain top in the distance. It was covered with __ __ —beautiful and dangerous.
The huge mountain is called Matterhorn. Mountain climbers had __ __ the top, using the southern route. But no one had __ __ dared to try a winter climbing up the northern side. But now one man was daring to try the __ __ route— the northern route, which was more difficult. He was Walter Bonatti, a great mountain climber from Italy.
For two days he had climbed. The village people had watched him __ __. Now they were waiting to see his ____. If he planned to __ __ the next day, he would light a green signal. A red light would mean that he was __ __.
A tiny green light __ __ high on the mountain side. Bonatti was not giving up! The people __ __.
The next day he continued his way upward. He was so lonely and so __ __！But he would not give up. Again that night he lit the __ __ light.
In the morning, Bonatti __ __. He could not see the top, but he knew he was __ __ there. Though the climb was painful, he moved up.
Bonatti had spent months __ __ for the climb. Was the training enough? Did he have the strength and ____ to climb to the top?
He was finally at the top! News about his __ __ was radioed to the world.
The trip __ __ the southern route was easy. He was warmly welcomed in the village. He had done the “ __ __ ”，and would be well remembered as a climber of all time.
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Not too long ago, our teacher, being a “tree-hugger” (as the kids call her), had us write an essay on an environmental issue . I was eager to start, but something made me stop.
“What is an environmental issue ?” one kid asked . “What if we don’t care about the environment ?” another complained. “ It’s not like it affects me .”
These comments astounded me .I have always cared about the environment and assumed that others did too. From the surprised look on my teacher’s face, I could tell she felt the same way.
In no time, I finished my essay . In my essay I wrote about logging(伐木), which is an important industry, but if we continue to cut down trees without replacing them, it will damage the environment.
There are so many things that we can do to save our world. Recycling, of course, is always a good thing, but not everyone has a recycling plant nearby ( I don’t ) . There are other ways to help the environment . Plant a tree. Don’t waste water.
I can’t stand it when a person’s excuse for not caring is “Nothing’s going to happen in my lifetime, so why should I care ?” Sure, the chances of something terrible happening are slim, but I want people to realize that if we don’t deal with it, someone will have to eventually. Do you want that to be your children ?
When my teacher told me to read my essay to my class, I was a little embarrassment because I didn’t want everyone to call me “tree- hugger”. I realize now that if being a tree-hugger means you cares about the environment, I’m a tree-hugger 100 percent. I just wish more people were too.Why do the students call her teacher “tree-hugger” ?
| A．She likes hugging trees. |
| B．She knows a lot about trees. |
| C．She grew up in the country. |
| D．She cares a lot about the environment. |
The underlined word in Paragraph 3 can be replaced by ____.
| A．helped | B．changed | C．shocked | D．interested |
Paragraph 5 is mainly about ____.
| A．what we can recycle |
| B．how we can save the earth |
| C．why we should protect the earth |
| D．what damage we are doing to the earth |
We can infer from the text that _____
| A．the students don’t like the teacher |
| B．the teacher liked the author’s essay |
| C．the author is ashamed of being a tree-hugger |
| D．the author should have written a better essay |
I am a strong believer that if a child is raised with approval, he will learn to love himself and will be successful in his own way.
Several weeks ago, I was doing homework with my son in the third grade and he kept standing up from his chair to go over the math lines. I kept asking him to sit down, telling him that he would concentrate better. He sat but seconds later, as if he didn’t even notice he was doing it, he got up again. I was getting frustrated, but then it hit me. I started noticing his answers were much quicker and accurate (准确的) when he stood up. Could he be more intent (专心的) while standing up?
This made me start questioning myself and what I had been raised to believe. I was raised to believe that a quiet, calm child was a sure way to success. This child would have the discipline (纪律) to study hard, get good grades and become someone important in life.
Now those same people perhaps come to realize that their kids are born with their own sets of DNA and personality traits (特点) and all you can do is loving and accepting them. As parents, throughout their growing years and beyond that, we need to be our kids’ best cheer leaders, guiding them and helping them find their way.
I have stopped asking my son to sit down and concentrate. Obviously, he is concentrating just in his own way and not mine. We need to learn to accept our kids’ ways of doing things. Some way may have worked for me but doesn’t mean we need to carry it through generations. There is nothing sweeter than being individual (个人的) and unique (独一无二的). It makes us free and happy and that’s just the way I want my kids to live their own life.At the beginning, the author tried to keep his son seated in order to make him _____.
| A．pay more attention to his study | B．keep silent in the room |
| C．finish his homework on time | D．get right answers |
Inspired by the case of his son, the author began to doubt ________.
| A．the importance of parents |
| B．the old form of education |
| C．the relationship between kids and their parents |
| D．the good grades of some kids |
According to the passage, which of the following statements is right?
A. We should help kids correct their wrong ways.
B. Parents should study their kids’ DNA.
C. Kids should be taught to behave themselves.
D. Parents should love and accept their kids.Which of the following would be the best title of the passage?
| A．Study hard and you’ll be successful |
| B．Be friendly to your children |
| C．Children’s success in their own style |
| D．Parents’ help with their children’s study |