William Herschel was born on November 15th, 1738 in Hanover in a family of musicians. In 1757,he fled to England and began earning a living as an organist and later composer and conductor. In 1772, he convinced his sister Caroline to join him as a singer. In their spare time the brother-sister team became occupied in astronomy. William died at his home in Slough, near Windsor on August 25th,1822,and Caroline on September 1st,1848.
Herschel’s first major discoveries were to show that Mars and Jupiter exhibit axial rotation(绕轴自转). Herschel struck fame in 1781,when on March 13th he discovered the planet Uranus(天王星) while engaged in work aimed at determining stellar parallax(恒星视差).This being the first new planet discovered since ancient times, Herschel, until then a mere amateur astronomer relatively unknown even in England, became world-famous. Adopting a historically proven strategy, Herschel named the new planet Georgium Sidum,in honor of the then ruling English king GeorgeⅢ. The trick worked once again, as King GeorgeⅢ gave William and Caroline the titles of“The King’s Astronomer”and“Assistant to the King’s Astronomer”, an honor which came with a life’s pension for both. In 1782 they moved to Bath, and shortly thereafter to Slough, and from this point on William and Caroline could devote themselves entirely to astronomy. The Herschels went on to discover two moons of Uranus in 1787.
While Caroline became increasingly occupied with the search for comets at which she was quite successful, William became for a time interested in the Sun. Inspired by Wilson’s 1774 work, he put forth the theory of sunspots(太阳黑子),an opinion that continued to exist well into the nineteenth century. In 1800,he became interested in the solar spectrum(太阳光谱),and uncovered the first evidence for solar energy output outside of the visible spectrum, in what is now known as the infrared(红外线).In 1801, he published two papers that effectively started the field of solar influences on Earth’s weather.Herschel made himself known to the world mainly by .
| A．discovering the planet Uranus |
| B．determining stellar parallax |
| C．discovering two moons of Uranus |
| D．uncovering the evidence for the infrared |
It can be inferred from the passage that George Ⅲ .
| A．liked science and technology |
| B．liked Herschel’s naming of the new planet |
| C．was interested in astronomy |
| D．gave Herschel a lot of useful suggestions |
What do we know about Caroline from the passage?
| A．She was successful in music. |
| B．She was given the title of“The King’s Astronomer”. |
| C．She died later than her brother. |
| D．She published two papers. |
This passage mainly tells readers .
| A．some information about Herschel and his sister |
| B．how Herschel and his sister discovered the planet Uranus |
| C．Herschel and Caroline got along well with each other |
| D．Herschel and Caroline’s major scientific publications |
Although there are no state controlled survival courses in Britain or the United States, there are various independent organizations offering similar activities.
Students can participate ( take part ) in outdoor training courses through university clubs and societies . Anyone can register ( 登记 ) with such groups , which then organize courses ,training and trips for all members .
One of the most popular outdoor training programmes in both the US and Britain , is Outward Bound ( 户外训练 ) . It was founded in 1941 in Wales and attracts hundreds of thousands of adventurous types every year .
The courses are to broaden minds through experiences that build confidence , self-esteem ( 自尊 ) and character . As well as specialist courses such as canoeing , leadership skills and sailing , participants can take part in week long adventure training camps which include a host of sports and survival training education skills .
Michael Williams , an American student , took part in an Outward Bound course last year . He said : “We learned lots of first aid skills , lots of natural history , lots of environmental facts , and participated in a wildlife preservation ( protecting ) programme . Beyond that , my favorite skills learned were sailing and rock climbing .”
Courses can last up to 40 days and are open to anyone over the age of 14 . Students must be in general good health , but do not need to be experienced in outdoor-sports . There is no selection process ; everyone is welcome , although new participants are advised to pick a course matching their physical power .
Most of the British courses take place in the Beacons in Wales . Another similar organization is the UK Survival School , which includes courses on learning to live with the environment , sailing and winter survival . On a basic survival weekend students will learn how to get water and food , how to make fire and cook with it , to find and build a shelter , control survival life support , how to cross rivers , send off an SOS signal , and to use compasses by day and night .
According to the leaders , such adventures are “an awakening , an exploration into unknown.” Outward Bound believes that participants will “use mind and body traveling some of the earth’s roughest wildness areas .”The advantage of the training courses is that _________________ .
| A．participants can make friends with others |
| B．participants can visit some places of interest |
| C．participants can experience different adventures |
| D．participants can learn how wonderful nature is |
In the Outward Bound course last year , the most exciting experience Michael Williams had was _____________________.
| A．learning first aid skills | B．collecting facts of environment |
| C．preserving wildlife | D．rock climbing and sailing |
What’s the writer’s purpose to write this passage ?
| A．To introduce the training course to readers |
| B．To persuade readers to take part in the training courses. |
| C．To tell readers the danger of this training course |
| D．To introduce the wonders of the world to readers |
How to Become Cleverer
Once a boy came to ask a fisherman how to become cleverer, because his mother always called him “foolish boy”.
“That’s easy,” answered the fisherman. “I know one way to make you become cleverer.”
“Really?”
“Of course. It is said a fish head is good for brain. If you eat one, you’ll become cleverer indeed. Pay only three pounds for one fish head.” The boy paid him three pounds and the fisherman cut off a fish head and handed it to him.
A raw fish head is not good—not even for a hungry boy to eat but the boy ate it up in two gulps.
“Do you feel anything?” asked the fisherman.
“Not in my head,” said the boy.
The boy lay on the ground and thought. “One whole fish costs only two pounds. I had paid him three pounds for the fish head. Why couldn’t I have the whole fish for soup, a head for brain and one pound left over?” He jumped up and shouted at the fisherman. “You thief! You are fooling me!” The fisherman laughed, saying, “The fish head works now, you see.”The boy ate up the raw fish head only in two gulps, because he __________.
| A．enjoy it |
| B．wanted to taste it |
| C．took it as a good medicine |
| D．was a foolish boy |
The boy came to the fisherman in order to __________.
| A．buy a fish head |
| B．ask the fisherman a question |
| C．become cleverer |
| D．A and C |
“Not in my head” means “__________”.
| A．The fish head was not in the boy’s head |
| B．The boy felt nothing came into his head |
| C．It’s difficult to give an answer right away |
| D．The boy didn’t feel that he was cleverer |
The boy paid three pounds. He should have had __________.
| A．a whole fish |
| B．a fish head and one pound back |
| C．a whole fish and one pound back |
| D．a whole fish, a fish head and one pound back |
__________ helped the boy become cleverer.
| A．A good meal | B．The raw fish head |
| C．Nothing | D．What had happened |
High-tech machines have made life easier for millions around the world. However, some people still prefer low-tech ways of doing things. Here’s an example of why this is happening. You can microwave a frozen hamburger in 60 seconds. However, it won’t taste as good as one you cook on the stove. And if you’re in that much of a hurry, you probably won’t take time to toast the bun. High-tech cooking saves time, but it doesn’t make for better-tasting meals.
Most people get their news from high-tech sources like television or the Internet. This has many advantages. For example, electronic news is more up to date than newspapers or magazines. It’s also more exciting to see live and videotaped news events than photographs. However, newspapers and magazines have some important advantages. They give more background and details. They also let you read the parts that are important to you and skip the rest.
Other high-tech timesavers have similar disadvantages. For examples, most people use the phone or e-mail to stay in touch with friends and family members who live in other places. But when you use the Internet or the phone, you don’t always think carefully about what you are saying, and sometimes you forget the important things you want to communicate. Similarly, when you word-process a homework assignment instead of handwriting it, you can check your spelling electronically and put in fancy headings. However, some students are so busy with the computer that they don’t pay enough attention to the actual words they are writing.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer likes high-tech cooking. |
| B．Low-tech cooking produces better-tasting meals. |
| C．High-tech news programs always keep you reading what is important to you. |
| D．Handwritten homework is better than word-processed homework. |
How does the writer feel about high-tech tool?
| A．Better late than never. | B．Easy come, easy go. |
| C．Every coin has two sides. | D．Learn to walk before you run. |
What is the main subject discussed in the text?
| A．High-tech vs. low-tech |
| B．Advantages vs. disadvantages. |
| C．Newspapers and magazines vs. television and the Internet. |
| D．Word-processing vs. handwriting. |
Every time you go to the supermarket, you come away with your purchases in plastic bags. But wouldn’t it be kinder to the environment if you asked for paper bags instead?
The answer is not the easy as it might seem. Environmentalists say there are drawbacks to using both plastic bags and paper bags.
According to the American Plastics Council 80 percent of groceries in the US are packed in plastic bags.
“The numbers are becoming huge,” said Vincent Cobb, a businessman from Chicago who set up “reusable bags. com” on the Internet. He notes that consumers use between 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags per year worldwide.
Some experts believe that all these bags harm the environment. Plastic takes hundreds of years to break down and, as it does so, poisonous materials are released into the water and soil.
Further damage is caused if plastic bags enter the sea. For example, endangered sea turtles cannot tell the bags from jellyfish(水母), their main source of food, and often choke on them.
Floating plastic bags have been spotted as far north as the Arctic Ocean and as far south as the southern end of South America. One expert predicts that, within ten years, plastic bags will wash up in Antarctica!
However, this kind of bag does have its advantages.
“Plastic grocery bags are some of the most reused things around the house,” explained Laurie Kusek of the American Plastics Council.
According to the Film and Bag Federation, a trade group in the US plastics industry, paper bags use more energy and create more waste than plastic bags. Plastic bags require 40 per cent less energy to produce and cause 70 per cent less air pollution, the group explained. They also release as much as 94 percent less waste into the water than paper ones.
But paper bags do break down more quickly than plastic bags. They don’t endanger wildlife, either.
So what should we do? One possible solution would be to use biodegradable(能被生物分解的)plastic bags. But until biodegradable technology improves, it might be easier to pack things you buy in reusable cloth bags.The best title of the passage is _____.
| A．Paper Causes Less Pollution |
| B．Plastic Causes Less Pollution |
| C．Paper and Plastics Cause Pollution |
| D．Paper Bags Break Down More Quickly |
The underlined word “drawbacks” might mean “_____”.
| A．Advantages | B．disadvantages | C．air pollution | D．waste |
According to the passage, which of the following in NOT true?
| A．Plastic takes longer to break down than paper. |
| B．Sea turtles usually mistake the plastic bags for jellyfish. |
| C．Paper bags require less energy than plastic bags. |
| D．You’d better pack things in reusable cloth bags. |
Which of the following shows that paper bags are better than plastic ones?
| A．Paper bags take less time to rot. |
| B．Paper bags cause less air pollution. |
| C．Paper bags are more reusable. |
| D．Paper bags cause less water pollution. |
What’s on stage
An acrobatic(杂技)show: To celebrate its 50th anniversary, the China Acrobatic Troupe(剧团)will present “ The Soul of China”, where the seemingly impossible is made real. Chills(寒意)will run down your spine(脊柱) as you watch breathlessly as performers take their art and their bodies to the edge.
Time: 7:30 p.m. , September 13-19
Place: Capital Theatre, 22 Wangfujing Dajie, Dongcheng District
Exhibitions
Joint show: A group ink painting exhibition is running at the Huangshicheng Art Gallery in Beijing. About 50 works by 25 young artists including Ge Yun and Yu Yang are on display.
Time: 9:00 a.m.—5:00 p.m. until September10
Place: Huangshicheng Art Gallery, 136 Nanchizi Dajie, Dongcheng District
Oil paintings: The Wangfung Art Gallery will host a joint show of oil painting by 10 young and middle-aged artists. On display are more than 30 of their latest works, which capture the wondrous variety of life in unique styles.
Time: 9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m. until September15
Place:136 Nanchizi Street, Dongcheng District
Literature museum: The National Museum of Modern Chinese Literature offers an in-depth study of the evolution of Chinese contemporary literature from 1919 to 1949.
Time: 9:00 a.m.—4:00 p.m. , daily
Place: 45 Anyuan Donglu, Chaoyang District (shaoyaoju area)
Concerts
Beijing rocks: “The Fashion Night of Chinese Rock” is set to bring rock fans out by the thousands next month. Nine Chinese rock bands will perform at the concert, including older generation bands, middle generation and some recent arrivals. The audience will be given a chance to decide what songs they want to hear, which is sure to bring a storm.
Time: September 16
Place: The Olympic Center
Belgium Orchestra(管弦乐队): La Petite Bande, the Baroque Orchestra of Belgium, will perform in Beijing at the Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of Nationalities as part of activities across the world to commemorate(纪念) the 250th anniversary of Bach’s death.
Time: 7:30 p.m. September 11-14
Place: Grand Theatre of the Cultural Palace of NationalitiesWhat do you think of the acrobatic show mentioned here?
| A．When you watch it, you will certainly feel cold. |
| B．Something strange will puzzle everyone, including scientists. |
| C．Unexpected things will make you excited and surprised. |
| D．Even the bravest ones will be too frightened to go on watching. |
The most characteristic thing about the Fashion Night of Chinese Rock is that____.
| A．it will let the audience choose the performers and the music |
| B．it is to bring thousands of rock fans out of their homes |
| C．it will certainly cause a rock storm throughout China |
| D．it is to be held in memory of one of the greatest musicians |
Suppose it is September 14th today, how many activities can people choose to attend?
| A．2. | B．3. | C．4. | D．5. |
On the whole, we can conclude____.
| A．people in Beijing prefer modern culture to something traditional |
| B．there are usually more culture actives in September than in any other month |
| C．most of the cultural activities in Beijing are for foreign visitors only |
| D．we can enjoy a large variety of cultural activities in Beijing |