Reading to dogs is an unusual way to help children improve their literacy skills. With their shining brown eyes, wagging tails, and unconditional love, dogs can provide the nonjudgmental listeners needed for a beginning reader to gain confidence, according to Intermountain Therapy Animals （ITA） in Salt Lake City. The group says it is the first program in the country to use dogs to help develop literacy in children, with the introduction of Reading Education Assistance Dogs（READ）.
The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea. “Literacy specialists admit that children who read below the level of their fellow pupils are often afraid of reading aloud in a group, often have lower self-respect, and regard reading as a headache,” said Lisa Myron, manager of the children’s department.
Last November, the two groups started “Dog Day Afternoon” in the children's department of the main library. About 25 children attended each of the four Saturday-afternoon classes, reading for half an hour. Those who attended three of the four classes received a “paw graphed” book at the last class.
The program was so successful that the library plans to repeat it in April, according to Dana Thumpowsky, public relations manager. What is mainly discussed in the text?
| A．Children’s reading difficulties. |
| B．Advantages of raising dogs. |
| C．Service in public library. |
| D．A special reading program. |
Specialists use dogs to listen to children reading because they think ______________.
| A．dogs are young children's best friends |
| B．children can play with dogs while reading |
| C．dogs can provide encouragement for shy children |
| D．children and dogs understand each other |
By saying “The Salt Lake City Public Library is sold on the idea”, the writer means the library ____________.
A. uses dogs to attract children.
B. accepts the idea put forward by ITA.
C. has opened a children's department.
D. has decided to train some dogs. A “paw graphed” book is most probably_____________.
| A．a book used in Saturday classes |
| B．a book written by the children |
| C．a prize for the children |
| D．a gift from parents |
It is quite reasonable to blame traffic jams, the cost of gas and the great speed of modern life, but manners on the road are becoming horrible. Everybody knows that the nicest men would become fierce tigers behind the wheel.
Road politeness is not only good manners, but good sense. It takes the most cool-headed drivers' great patience to give up the desire to beat back when forced to face rude driving. On the other hand, a little politeness goes a long way towards reducing the possibility of quarrelling and fighting. A friendly nod or a wave of thanks in answer to an act of politeness helps to create an atmosphere of good will and becomes so necessary in modern traffic conditions. But such behaviors of politeness are by no means enough. Many drivers nowadays don't even seem able to recognize politeness when they see it.
However, misplaced politeness can also be dangerous. Typical examples are the driver who waves a child crossing the street at a wrong place onto the path of oncoming cars that may not be able to stop in time. The same goes for encouraging old ladies to cross the road wherever and whenever they want to.
An experienced driver, whose manners are faultless, told me it would help if drivers learnt to correctly join in traffic stream without causing total blockages that give rise to unpleasant feelings. Unfortunately, modern drivers can't even learn to drive, let alone master the roadmanship. Years ago, experts warned us that the fast increase of the car ownership would demand more give-and-take from all road users. It is high time for all of us to take this message to heart. The passage mainly talks about __________.
| A．traffic jams |
| B．road politeness |
| C．good manners |
| D．modern drivers |
Troubles on the road are often caused by __________.
| A．the behavior of the drivers |
| B．traffic jams |
| C．great speed |
| D．terrible road conditions |
According to the writer, a good driver should __________.
| A．be able to recognize politeness when he sees it |
| B．beat back when forced to face rude driving |
| C．encourage old ladies to cross the roads whenever they want to |
| D．join in traffic stream quickly however other people feel |
The following statements are right EXCEPT that __________.
| A．some modern drivers are not good at driving |
| B．road politeness is good sense as well as good manners |
| C．drivers are expected to master the roadmanship |
| D．traffic jams are caused by tigers behind the wheel |
It is not always right for drivers to __________.
| A．master roadmanship |
| B．recognize politeness when they see it |
| C．give a friendly nod or wave in answer to an act of politeness |
| D．wave a child crossing the street onto the path of oncoming cars |
Olaf Stapledon wrote a book called First and Last Men, in which he looked millions of years ahead. He told of different men and of strange civilizations（文明），broken up by long "dark ages" in between. In his view, what is called the present time is no more than a moment in human history and we are just the First Men. In 2，000 million years from now there will be the Eighteenth or Last Men.
However, most of our ideas about the future are really very short-sighted. Perhaps we can see some possibilities for the next fifty years. But the next hundred? The next thousand? The next million? That's much more difficult.
When men and women lived by hunting 50，000 years ago, how could they even begin to picture modern life? Yet to men of 50，000years from now, we may seem as primitive（原始的）in our ideas as the Stone-Age hunters do to us. Perhaps they will spend their days gollocking to make new spundels, or struggling with their ballalators through the cribe. These words, which I have just made up, have to stand for things and ideas that we simply can't think of.
So why bother even to try imagining life far in the future? Here are two reasons. First, unless we remember how short our own lives are compared with the whole human history, we are likely to think our own interests are much more important than they really are. If we make the earth a poor place to live on because we are careless or greedy （贪婪）or quarrelsome, our grandchildren will not bother to think of excuses for us.
Second, by trying to escape from present interests and imagine life far in the future, we may arrive at quite fresh ideas that we can use ourselves. For example, if we imagine that in the future men may give up farming, we can think of trying it now. So set your imagination free when you think about the future. A particular mention made of Stapledon's book in the opening paragraph __________.
| A．serves as a description of human history |
| B．serves as an introduction to the discussion |
| C．shows a disagreement of views |
| D．shows the popularity of the book |
The text discusses men and women 50，000 years ago and 50，000 years from now in order to show that __________.
| A．human history is extremely long |
| B．life has changed a great deal |
| C．it is useless to plan for the next 50 years |
| D．it is difficult to tell what will happen in the future |
Spundels and ballalators are used in the text to refer to __________.
| A．tools used in farming |
| B．ideas about modern life |
| C．unknown things in the future |
| D．hunting skills in the Stone Age |
According to the writer of the text, imagining the future will __________.
| A．serve the interests of the present and future generations |
| B．enable us to better understand human history |
| C．help us to improve farming |
| D．make life worth living |
Welcome to your future life ！
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and young-looking. In 2035，medical technology is better than ever. Many people your age could live to be 150，so at 40，you're not old at all. And your parents just had an anti-aging（抗衰老的） treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age!
You say to your shirt，"Turn red. "It changes from blue to red. In 2035，" smart clothes" contain particles（粒子）much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed to change your clothes' color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but a voice says，" You shouldn't drink that ！" Your fridge has read the chip （芯片）that contains information about the milk, and it knows the milk is old. In 2035，every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It's time to go to work. In 2035，cars drive themselves. Just tell your" smart car" where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve. Such " smart technology" is all around you.
So will all these things come true? "For new technology to succeed，" says scientist Andrew Zolli，" it has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already. " The Internet is one example-what will be the next? We can learn from the text that in the future __________.
| A．people will never get old |
| B．everyone will look the same |
| C．red will be the most popular color |
| D．clothes will be able to change their pattern |
What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?
| A．Milk will be harmful to health. |
| B．More drinks will be available for sale. |
| C．Food in the grocery store will carry electronic information. |
| D．Milk in the grocery store will stay fresh much longer. |
Which of the following is mentioned in the text?
| A．Nothing can replace the Internet. |
| B．Fridges will know what people need. |
| C．Jacket sleeves can be used as a guide. |
| D．Cars will be able to drive automatically. |
What is the text mainly about?
| A．Food and clothing in 2035. |
| B．Future technology in everyday life. |
| C．Medical treatments of the future. |
| D．The reasons for the success of new technology. |
A black hole is created when a large star burns out. Like our sun, stars are unbelievably hot furnaces（熔炉）that burn their own matter as fuel. When most of the fuel is used up, the star begins to die.
The death of a star is not a quiet event. First there is a huge explosion. As its outer layer is blasted off into space, the dying star shines as brightly as a billion suns.
After the explosion gravity pulls in what's left of the star. As the outside of the star sinks toward the center, the star gets smaller and smaller. The material the star is made of becomes tightly packed together. A star is so dense that a teaspoon of matter from it weighs billion of pounds.
The more the star shrinks, the stronger the gravity inside it becomes. Soon the star is very tiny, and the gravity pulling it in is un-believably strong. In fact, the gravity is so strong that it even pulls light into the star! Since all the light is pulled in, none can go out. The star becomes black when there is no light. Then a black hole is born!
That's what we know about black holes. What we don't know is this ： What happens inside a black hole after the star has been squeezed into a tiny ball? Does it keep getting smaller and smaller forever? Such a possibility is hard to imagine.
But if the black hole doesn't keep shrinking, what happens to it? Some scientists think black holes are like doorways to another world. They say that as the star disappears from our universe, it goes into another universe. In other words a black hole in our universe could turn into a " white hole" in a different universe. As the black hole swallows light, the white hole shines brightly-somewhere else. But where? A different place, perhaps, or a different time-many years in the past or future.
Could you travel through a black hole? Right now, no. Nothing we know of could go into a black hole without being crushed. So far the time being, black holes must remain a mystery.
Black holes are a mystery-but that hasn't stopped scientists from dreaming about them. One scientist suggested that in the future we might make use of the power of black holes. They would supply all of Earth's energy needs, with plenty to spare. Another scientist wondered if a black hole could some day be used to swallow earthly waste-a sort of huge waste disposal（处理）in the sky! When the star begins to die __________.
| A．there is no fuel left in it |
| B．its outer layer goes into space first |
| C．a huge explosion will happen |
| D．it doesn't give off light any longer |
Which of the following doesn't help produce a black hole?
| A．The gravity inside the star is very strong. |
| B．The light can't go out of the star. |
| C．The star becomes smaller and smaller |
| D．The dying star shines very brightly. |
The black hole __________.
| A．continues becoming smaller and smaller all the time |
| B．goes into another universe and becomes a white hole |
| C．can pull in everything we know of in the world |
| D．will appear at another place at a different time |
The author mainly intended to tell us __________.
| A．New Scientific Discovery ： Black Holes |
| B．How Black Holes Came Into Being |
| C．What Black Holes Are |
| D．Travel Through A Black Hole |
Calling the future
When American inventor Alexander Graham Bell invented the telephone in 1876，it was a revolution in communication. For the first time, people could talk to each other over great distances. Over the last two decades a new means of spoken communication has appeared ：the mobile phone.
The mobile phone is like a two-way radio. But the two-way radio is a limited means of communication. As soon as the users move out of range of each other's broadcast area, the signal is lost. In the 1940s, researchers experimented with the idea of using a number of radio masts（无线电杆）to pick up signals from two-way radios. A caller would always be within range of one of the masts. When he or she moved too far away from one mast, the next mast would pick up the signal. （Scientists referred to each mast's reception area as being a "cell". This is why in many countries mo-bile phones are called "cellphones".）
However，1940s, technology was just at the beginning. The "mobile phones" were huge boxes. They had to be moved by car.
The first real mobile telephone call was made in 1973 by Dr Martin Cooper. As soon as his invention was complete, he tested it by calling a rival （竞争对手）scientist to announce his success. Within a decade, mobile phones became available to the public.
They have changed the way we do a lot of things. One powerful feature is: the short message service（SMS） or text message. It's the perfect communication method for the busy modern lifestyle. The text message has changed the way we write in English. The language construction became more lax （松散的）. Traditional rules of grammar and spelling are much less important.
Over the last few years mobiles have become more and more advanced. We have seen the introduction of cameras, global positioning system and Internet access.
Alexander Graham Bell would be surprised if he could see how far the science of the telephone has developed in less than 150years. If he were around today, he might say ： " That's gr8! But I'm v busy rite now. Will call U 2nite. " The article is written to __________.
| A．warn people of the possible risks in using mobile phones |
| B．inform readers of the history and development of mobile phones |
| C．convince people of the uses of mobile phones |
| D．predict the applications of mobile phones |
What's the CORRECT time order about the development of communication?
a. the telephone invented by Alexander Graham Bell
b. "mobile phones" with very large boxes
c. mobile telephone call made by Dr Martin Cooper
d. mobiles with cameras, GPS and Internet access
| A．a, c，b, d |
| B．b, a，c, d |
| C．a, c，d, b |
| D．a, b，c, d |
The last sentence of the whole passage "That's gr8 ！ But I'm v busy rite now. Will call U 2nite. " may probably mean __________.
| A．That's great! But I'm very busy right now. （I）Will call you to-night |
| B．It's eight now. I'm very busy. （I） Will call you tonight |
| C．That's great! But I'm busy writing now. （I） Will call you at two tonight |
| D．"8" is great! But I'm very busy right now. （I） Will call it "U" to night |
What do you think of the author according to the last paragraph?
| A．Humorous |
| B．Ironic |
| C．Kind |
| D．Worried |