About ten men in every hundred suffer from colour blindness in some way. Women are luckier. Only about one in two hundred is affected in this matter. So some people say it is safer to be driven by women.
There are different forms of colour blindness. In some cases a man may not be able to see deep red. He may think that red, orange and yellow are all shades（色调）of green. Sometimes a person cannot tell the difference between blue and green. In rare cases an unlucky man may see everything in shades of green—a strange world indeed.
Colour blindness in humans is a strange thing to explain. In our eyes there are millions of very small things called “cones”. These help us to see in a bright light and to tell differences between colours. There are also millions of “rods”, but these are used for seeing when it is nearly dark. They show us shapes but no colour.
Some insects have favourite colours. Mosquitoes（蚊子）like blue but do not like yellow. A red light will not attract insects, but a blue lamp will. In a similar way humans also have favourite colours. Yet we are lucky. With the aid of the cones in our eyes we can see many beautiful colours by day, and with the aid of the rods we can see shapes at night. One day we may even learn more about the invisible（看不见得）colours around us.With the help of the cones, we can .
| A．see in a weak light |
| B．tell different shapes |
| C．kill mosquitoes |
| D．tell orange from yellow |
Why do some people say it is safer to be driven by women?
| A．Women are more careful. |
| B．There are fewer colour-blind women. |
| C．All of them see everything in shades of green. |
| D．None of them has trouble in recognizing colours. |
This passage is mainly about .
| A．colour and its surprising effects |
| B．danger caused by colour blindness |
| C．colour blindness |
| D．the invisible colours around us |
Now, it may be difficult to predict the future, but many people believe that we will live on Mars by the year 2100. Our own planet, Earth, is becoming more and more crowed and polluted. Well, what problems will we need to solve before we prepare to go to Mars?
First of all, transport should be much better. At present, humans need to spend months going to Mars by spaceship. However, by 2100, spaceship can travel at half the speed of light. It might take us two or three days to get there!
Secondly, humans need food, water and air to live. Scientists should develop plants that can be grown on Mars. These plants will produce the food, water and air that we need. However, there is no answer for all the problems now.
There is also a problem for us to live on Mars. Mars attracts us much less than the Earth does. This will be dangerous because we could easily jump too high and fly slowly away into space there. We will have to wear special shoes to make ourselves heavier.
In some ways, life on Mars may not be better than that on the earth today. Food will not be the same —meals will probably be in the form of pills and will not be as delicious as they are today. Also, space travel will probably make many people feel very uncomfortable.So far, how long will it take us from the earth to Mars by spaceship?
| A．Two or three days. | B．A few days. |
| C．A few months. | D．A few years. |
According to the passage, which of the following is wrong?
| A．A special plant which can produce water, air and food should be needed on Mars. |
| B．We may go to Mars when transport is much better and faster.. |
| C．We can jump higher than on the earth on Mars. |
| D．Food on Mars will be much better to eat. |
Which looks like life on Mars according to the passage?
| A．We can wear the shoes that we like to wear. |
| B．We can drink easily and conveniently. |
| C．We can walk faster than on the earth. |
| D．We can boil food to eat. |
Why do we want to live on Mars?
| A．Life on Mars is more interesting than that on the earth. |
| B．The earth is becoming dirty and crowded. |
| C．The journey to Mars is very interesting. |
| D．The scientists want us to do that. |
Twenty years ago, I drove a taxi for a living. One night I went to pick up a passenger at 2:30 am. When I arrived to collect, I found the building was dark except for a single light in a ground floor window.
I walked to the door and knocked, “Just a minute,” answered a weak, elderly voice. After a long pause, the door opened. A small woman in her eighties stood before me. By her side was a small suitcase.
I took the suitcase to the car, and then returned to help the woman. She took my arm and we walked slowly toward the car. She kept thanking me for my kindness. “It’s nothing,” I told her. “I just try to treat my passengers the way I would want my mother treated.”
“Oh, you’re such a good man.” She said. When we got into the taxi, she gave me an address, and then asked, “Could you drive through downtown?”
“It’s not the shortest way,” I answered quickly.
“Oh, I’m in no hurry,” she said. “I’m on my way to a hospice(临终关怀). I don’t have any family left. The doctor says I don’t have very long.”
I quietly reached over and shut off the meter（计价器）.
For the next two hours, we drove through the city. She showed me the building where she had once worked, the neighborhood where she had lived, and the furniture shop that had once been a ballroom where she had gone dancing as a girl. Sometimes she’d ask me to slow down in front of a particular building and would sit staring into the darkness, saying nothing.
At dawn, she suddenly said,” I’m tired. Let’s go now.”
We drove in silence to the address she had given me.
“How much do I pay for you?” she asked.
“Nothing.” I said.
“You have to make a living,” she answered. “Oh, there are other passengers,” I answered.
Almost without thinking, I bent and gave her a hug. She held onto tightly. Our hug ended with her remark, “You gave an old woman a little moment of joy.”How was the old woman?
| A．She was fine, but she wanted to have a family. |
| B．She missed her hometown very much. |
| C．She was ill, but not serious. |
| D．She was ill and she was dying.. |
The old woman chose to ride through the city in order to ______.
| A．show she was familiar with the city |
| B．see some places for the last time |
| C．let the driver earn more money |
| D．reach the destination on time |
The taxi driver did not charge the old woman because he ______.
| A．wanted to do her a favor |
| B．shut off the meter by mistake |
| C．had received her payment in advance |
| D．was in a hurry to take other passengers |
What can we learn from the story?
| A．Giving is always a pleasure. |
| B．People should respect each other. |
| C．An act of kindness can bring people great joy. |
| D．People should learn to appreciate others’ concern. |
I went home one Saturday afternoon in the autumn of 1993 to get some work done in the garden. While sweeping leaves on the ground, my five-year-old son Nick came over and asked me to write something on a piece of paper to make a sign for him.
“What for?” I asked.
“I’m going to sell some of my stones, " he answered.
Nick was fascinated with stones and had collected many stones from all over.“I’m busy todo that for you. Go and ask your mum for help." I said.
A short time later, Nick returned with a sign, reading. " Stones. One Dollar Each”. He took the sign, a small chair and 4 of his best stones and walked to the road in front of our garden. There he put the stones in a line and sat down on the chair.
After half an hour, nobody passed by. I walked to him and asked him to go back, but he didn't.
Another half hour later, a small car came down the road. I watched as Nick stood up, holding his sign up. A woman rolled down a window and read the sign. I couldn't hear their talk, but I saw the woman turn to the driver and the man reach for his pocket.
I sat in the yard, as Nick ran to me. Waving the dollar, he shouted. "I told you I could sell one stone for a dollar — if you believe in yourself, you can do anything."Why didn't the writer help his son?
| A．Because his wife is better at making a sign. |
| B．Because he didn't know what to write. |
| C．Because he was busy sweeping leaves. |
| D．Because he didn’t want his son to sell the stones. |
The underlined words "was fascinated with" mean “______”.
| A．was far from | B．was afraid of |
| C．was famous for | D．was interested in |
Nick was a boy ______.
A. who was kindB. who had a strong mind
C who was honest D. who had many hobbiesFrom the passage we know _____.
| A．the story happened in spring |
| B．the car was driven by a woman |
| C．Nick spent half an hour selling one stone |
| D．the writer might be moved(感动)by his son |
When I was young, I liked to play jokes on people I knew, especially on my parents and friends. One day my mother was cooking in the kitchen and my younger brother was playing near the window. I ran to my mother and said, “Mum, Brother John has fallen from the open window!” She was very worried about my brother and then I said, “Don’t worry. I’m just joking.” And my mother shouted at me, “ If you do it again, I’ll punish you.”
One day I went swimming with my friends in the sea. I wanted to play a joke on my friends. In the beginning, I went swimming alone, and I called to my friends, “ Help me!” All my friends came to help me, only to find out that I was joking. But the next time I wasn’t joking. I swam in deep water and I was so careless that I was almost drowned（淹死）. I tried my best to call my friends for help, but this time nobody came to saved（救）my life. They took me to the emergency center. From then on, I haven’t joked on anyone. I think this is the best lesson in my life.What did the writer like to do when he was young?
| A．To fight with his friends. |
| B．To play with his brother. |
| C．To play jokes on others. |
| D．To put others into trouble. |
When the writer shouted “Help me!” for the first time, his friends_________.
| A．didn’t care about him | B．stopped to look at him |
| C．didn’t hear the words | D．came to help him |
The underlined part “ the emergency center” means”__________ in Chinese.
| A．购物中心 | B．娱乐中心 |
| C．急救中心 | D．地狱 |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．The writer’s mother was cooking when his brother fell from the open window. |
| B．The writer used to go swimming alone in the deep sea. |
| C．The writer used to have few friends because he hardly told the truth. |
| D．The writer hasn’t joked on others since he was saved by his friends. |
Failure is what often happens. It is everywhere in our life. Students may fail in exams, scientists may fail in their research work, and players may fail in competitions. (A) Although failure happens to everyone, but different people’s attitudes(态度) towards failure are different.
Some people don’t think that their failure is an important thing at all. So they pay no attention to it. As a result, they will have the (B)failure later. Some people think they themselves are fools and lose their hearts in everything after they get a failure. Then they(C)their time and energy on useless things. At last, they may really be fools as they have thought.
（D）Other people are quite different from these two kinds of people mentioned above. Instead of being hopeless and lost, they draw a lesson from every failure and become more experienced. (E) they, after, will ,hard, in, work, be , the, successful , end. So we should draw a lesson from every failure and become more experienced.
任务一: (A)处句中有一处错误，请找出并改正。（可用文字叙述）
任务二:在( B )、(C )处的横线上分别填上一个单词（B）（C）
任务三:将(D)处句子译成汉语：。
任务四:将(E)处的单词连成句子：。
任务五:请从下面的选项中给短文选个标题.( )
| A．Draw a lesson from every failure |
| B．The attitudes towards failure |
| C．Failure is everywhere in our life |
| D．Failure is very important |