About five years ago, an American electrical engineer named Scott Brusaw and his wife Julie came up with the idea of putting solar panels (控制板) on the ground rather than the roof. Then they began to develop the Solar Roadway. The Solar Roadway is an intelligent road that provides clean renewable energy using power from the sun while providing safer driving conditions, along with power and data delivery. They predict that the Solar Roadway will pay for itself through the generation of electricity along with other forms of income and that the same money that is being used to build and resurface current roads can be used to build the Solar Roadways.
Each Solar Road Panel measures roughly 4 meters by 4 meters and contains a microprocessor (微处理器) that monitors and controls the panel, while communicating with neighboring panels and the vehicles traveling overhead. The inventors suggest that this provides a communications device every 4 meters on every road which could be used for example to warn drivers of cars which are moving across a centre line and various other speed control problems. The top of the Solar Road panels is made of super-strong glass that would offer vehicles the tractions (抓地力) they need.
According to the inventors, the Solar Roadway creates and carries clean renewable electricity and therefore electric vehicles can be recharged at any conveniently located rest stop, or at any business that has paved Solar Road Panels in their parking lots.
The inventors say their Solar Roadway has many functions and advantages from main roads to driveways, parking lots, bike paths, sidewalks and runways. The Federal Highway Administration has given Brusaw ＄100,000 to develop the invention and Brusaw hopes to build a smart-road parking lot in the coming spring .In the inventors’ opinion, the Solar Roadway .
| A．is too expensive to build at present |
| B．costs no more money than current roads |
| C．can provide as many data as present computers |
| D．will bring them a large sum of money |
The underlined word “they” in Paragraph 2 refers to .
| A．the panels | B．the inventors | C．the researchers | D．the vehicles |
The Solar Roadway includes all the following advantages except .
| A．providing safer driving conditions |
| B．helping drivers communicate with each other while driving |
| C．creating and carrying clean renewable electricity |
| D．warning drivers of various speed control problems |
It can be inferred from the text that .
| A．the Solar Roadway has already been put into use |
| B．＄100,000 is only enough to build a smart-road parking lot |
| C．the Solar Roadway is not available for gas-powered cars |
| D．future electric vehicles can be charged anytime and anywhere |
What can be the best title for the text?
| A．Solar-powered smart road of the future |
| B．The great changes on the roadway |
| C．The influence the Solar Roadway has on people |
| D．The Solar Road—a much faster road |
Mark Twain was a great writer. He was from the USA. He was born in 1835. He was also a famous speaker. He was famous for his sense of humor. Many people liked to listen to him talk because he liked to tell some interesting stories to make people laugh all the time.
One day Mark Twain was going to a small town because of his writing. Before he was going to leave, one of his friends said to him that there were always a lot of mosquitoes(蚊子) in the town and told him that he’d better not go there. Mark Twain waved (摇动) his hand and said, “It doesn’t matter. The mosquitoes are no relatives of mine. I don’t think they will come to visit me.”
After he arrived at the town, Mark Twain stayed in a small hotel near the station. He went into his room, but when he was just about to have a rest, quite a few mosquitoes flew about him. The waiters felt very sorry about that. “I’m very sorry, Mr. Mark Twain. There are too many mosquitoes in our town.” One of them said to him.
Mark Twain, however, made a joke, saying to the waiter, “The mosquitoes are very clever. They know my room number. They didn’t come into the wrong room.” What he said made all the people present laugh heartily.
But that night Mark Twain slept well. Do you know why? That was because all the waiters in the hotel were driving the mosquitoes away for him during the whole night.That day Mark Twain went to the town _____.
| A．to see one of his friends |
| B．because he wanted to do something there for his writing |
| C．because he was told there were a lot of mosquitoes there |
| D．to see one of his relatives |
The waiters felt sorry because _____.
| A．they did something wrong to Mark Twain |
| B．their hotel was too small |
| C．there were quite a few mosquitoes in Mark Twain’s room |
| D．the room was not very clean |
All the people present laughed heartily because _____.
| A．Mark Twain made a joke |
| B．the mosquitoes knew Mark Twain’s room number |
| C．Mark Twain gave the waiters some nice presents |
| D．the mosquitoes were very clever and they didn’t come into the wrong room |
From the story we know _____.
| A．no mosquitoes troubled Mark Twain in the night |
| B．the owner of the hotel told the waiters to look after Mark Twain well at night |
| C．Mark Twain didn’t have a good rest that night |
| D．there were not mosquitoes in the hotel any longer |
Finding a good friend can be quite difficult in the contemporary lives of teenagers. I was once baffled by what the definition of a good friend was，until I discovered a single step that，if taken，would make you the greatest friend.
It is willingness. That is all it takes in order to be considered a good friend. Willingness must come from within your heart. Listening to your friends makes them feel important, special and wanted. The will to sacrifice(牺牲) for your friends will also take you a step closer to being a good friend. For instance，as you are about to leave to enjoy your Saturday night，your best friend calls you right when you are stepping out and tells you how terrible he feels，and then you must be willing to give up your Saturday night and go to your friend’s house and try to comfort him in any way that you can.
You must always be willing to give advice to your friends. For example, if your friends are in a situation where they do not know what to do，you must be willing to think things through and try to give them the best advice. The willingness to care is also a big must in being a good friend. You must care about how your friends feel and what they’re experiencing. Caring about your friends is one of the best things you can do，because when your friends are in their time of need and the whole world seems to turn against them，you must be the one to care.
Nobody ever said being a good friend was easy. If you want to be a good friend，you have to be willing to listen, sacrifice，give advice and care about your friends.From this passage，we can learn that if a friend is confused about what to do next, we’d better _____ .
| A．give up our benefit to help him |
| B．leave him alone and let him calm down |
| C．listen to him quietly |
| D．offer him some reasonable advice |
The underlined word “baffled” in the first paragraph probably means “_____”.
| A．confused | B．frustrated |
| C．curious | D．frightened |
We can learn from the passage that _____ .
| A．being a good friend is so difficult that few people can do it |
| B．willingness can make a person a good friend |
| C．friendship always means sacrificing your own interests |
| D．a person doesn’t need to care about his friends all the time |
What method does the author use to explain his opinion in the second paragraph?
| A．Making a definition. | B．Citing an example. |
| C．Making a comparison. | D．Listing some numbers. |
What is the passage mainly talking about?
| A．How to encounter a good friend. |
| B．How to be a good friend. |
| C．How to make friends with others. |
| D．How to maintain friendship. |
Last year my wife and I spent a most interesting month in Turkey. Before we left, we were reminded of the difficulties of driving in Turkey. We certainly did not find this to be the case and, except for a few places in faraway mountain areas, the roads were wide, and well-paved (铺设). We drove for 12 days along the Western Coast of Turkey and had no problems at all. We found the Turkish drivers to be very polite and well educated. We also found that eating lunch in the smaller towns was difficult, so we picnicked almost every day.
The following day after our arrival was Turkey’s Children’s Day, started by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. Ataturk loved children and he often said: “Children are a new beginning of tomorrow.” He even dedicated (奉献) the day 23rd of April to the children which today is celebrated as Children’s Day as well as the date when the Republic of Turkey was founded.
On that day certain children are picked to take over the places of the government, and a lucky kid will be the president of Turkey for a whole day. He can decide what’s going to happen and whether or not he is going to have the president next to him. There are a very large number of possibilities of things he can do but some shops aren’t open because they are celebrating the day as well.
All in all, it was a more enjoyable trip. I would recommend (推荐) a trip to Turkey to anyone with an adventurous (冒险的) spirit!Before the author and his wife went on a trip to Turkey, they were told that ________.
| A．it was difficult to travel in Turkey |
| B．it was not easy to drive in Turkey |
| C．the streets in Turkey were dangerous |
| D．there were many mountainous roads |
Which of the following is TRUE, according to the first paragraph?
| A．Places in mountain areas were difficult to reach. |
| B．The couple drove for 12 days during their journey. |
| C．The Turkish drivers had good manners. |
| D．It was difficult to eat meals in Turkey. |
The underlined word “He” in Paragraph 3 refers to ________.
| A．every one of us |
| B．the government |
| C．the president of Turkey |
| D．the lucky child |
What can be inferred from the passage?
| A．The couple had no difficulty making their way in Turkey. |
| B．Turkey’s National Day falls on the 22nd of April. |
| C．The author joined in celebrating Children’s Day. |
| D．On Turkey’s Children’s Day everyone had holidays. |
What does the author think of the trip to Turkey?
| A．Interesting and dangerous. | B．Difficult and expensive. |
| C．Enjoyable and exciting. | D．Boring and adventurous. |
Years ago, there lived a wealthy man named Mr. Cooper who, with his dearest young son John, loved art collecting. Together they traveled around the world, collecting the finest art treasures.
One winter, war came to the nation, and John left to serve his country. After only a few short weeks, his father received a telegram reading that John had died while saving a fellow soldier. Filled with sadness, the old man cried. On the coming Christmas morning, a soldier called on him and gave him a picture of John.
The following spring, the old man became ill and passed away. According to his will, all of his works of art would be auctioned (拍卖) on Christmas Day, when he had received the greatest gift of his life. The day soon arrived and art collectors from around the world gathered to buy some of the world’s greatest paintings. The auction began with a painting of the old man’s son. “Who will open the bidding (出价) with $100?” the auctioneer (拍卖人) asked. Minutes passed, but no one spoke. Finally, a neighbor of the old man’s spoke. “Can I take the painting for ten dollars? It is all I have, and he is a good man.”
“Will anyone go higher?” called the auctioneer. After more silence, the auctioneer said, “Going once, going twice, gone.” The gavel(槌) fell. “Now we can get on to the real treasures,” someone shouted angrily. But the auctioneer said that the auction was over. Someone asked, “It’s over? We didn’t come here for a picture of some old guy’s son. There are millions of dollars worth of art here!” The auctioneer replied, “It’s very simple. According to the will of the father, whoever takes the son ... gets all.” Why did they travel around the world?
| A．They wanted to visit some well-known artists. |
| B．They had their own companies around the world. |
| C．They wanted to visit all kinds of places of interest. |
| D．They wanted to collect the world’s finest art. |
When did the old man die?
| A．The morning when the solider visited him. |
| B．Several months after John died. |
| C．A few days after John served in the army. |
| D．The day he received the news of John’s death. |
The underlined words “the greatest gift” in Paragraph 3 refer to ________.
| A．a picture of John |
| B．the painting John collected |
| C．the finest work of art |
| D．the telegram about his son |
A neighbor of the old man’s bought the painting of John ________.
| A．because he knew the will of the old man |
| B．to pick up the world’s greatest paintings |
| C．in honor of John, who was worth respecting |
| D．because no one else was willing to buy it |
It can be inferred from the passage that ________.
| A．the old man and the auctioneer were good friends |
| B．no art collectors wanted to buy Mr. Cooper’s collection of art |
| C．John was a successful art collector and an excellent artist |
| D．the old man, Mr. Cooper, loved his son very much |
Kieron Williamson, a seven-year-old British boy, is being recognized as an art genius after selling 16 paintings for 18, 000 pounds in just 14 minutes. This boy has artistic skills that would
be the envy of any serious painter and drawn comparisons to Pablo Picasso, a child prodigy（神童）who became one of the most recognized artists of the 20th century. It all began on a family holiday to Cornwall on the southwest English coast when Kieron was five. Inspired by the view, he asked his parents for his first sketch-pad （速写纸）. From that moment on, he became deeply interested. While supportive, Kieron’s parents are careful not to push their son. He only paints when and what he wants.
He has a waiting list of hundreds and requests for his works have been flooding in. His father said a sale of Kieron’s works held in November even drew a buyer from Japan. “We had people driving down that night, there were people on the door waiting to come in the morning who had been standing outside, the phones were going mad as soon as the door opened at nine o’clock and within 14 minutes all the 16 pictures had gone, ” he said.
All this talent, money and high praise could so easily go to a young boy’s head, but Kieron said his friends keep him grounded. “Some of them want to be as good as me and some of them think. . . Umn, ‘you are not too special’,” he said.
Kieron’s favourite painter is British artist Edward Seago and he has spent some of his earnings buying a work by his hero. The rest is being invested by his parents until he reaches 25. Kieron’s parents and his younger sister Billi-Jo don’t see him as anything other than a normal seven-year-old boy who likes to tear around the house and who’s mad about football. But for now, with so much still to learn, there’s only one thing he wants to be when he grows up. He said, “I think I’ll definitely be an artist. ”According to Paragraph 1, we can know Kieron Williamson ______ .
| A．painted 16 paintings in only 14 minutes |
| B．draws as well as Picasso did |
| C．is one of the most recognized artists |
| D．has unusual ability in painting |
What made Kieron Williamson begin to love painting?
| A．His first sketch-pad. |
| B．His parents’ encouragement. |
| C．The view at the seaside. |
| D．His swimming near the coast. |
In Kieron Williamson’s friends’ opinion, he ______.
| A．is famous but a little proud |
| B．isn’t very special from other children |
| C．isn’t worth praising at all |
| D．is hard to get along with |
It can be inferred from the last paragraph that ______.
| A．Edward Seago thinks highly of Kieron’s painting |
| B．Kieron likes doing sports and painting instead of studying |
| C．Kieron’s family is very poor |
| D．Kieron wants to be a great painter |
The passage mainly tells us ______.
| A．a seven-year-old painting genius |
| B．how to be a great painter |
| C．Kieron Williamson may become the second Picasso |
| D．the painting changed Kieron Williamson’s life greatly |