Most people today think of chocolate as something sweet to eat or drink and can be easily found in stores around the world. It might surprise you that chocolate was once highly treasured.
The wealthy people of Spain first enjoyed a sweetened chocolate drink. Later, the popularity of the drink spread throughout Europe. Chocolate remained a drink that only wealthy people could afford to drink until the eighteenth century. During the period known as the Industrial Revolution, new technologies helped make chocolate less costly to produce.
Farmers grow cacao trees in many countries in Africa, Central and South America, but these trees are difficult to grow. They require an exact amount of water, warmth, soil and protection. After about five years, cacao trees start producing large fruits called pods, which grow near the trunk of the tree. The seeds inside these pods are harvested to make chocolate. Growing cacao is very hard work for farmers. Today, chocolate industry officials, activists, and scientists are working with farmers. They are trying to make sure that cacao can be grown in a way that is easy for the farmers and safe for the environment.
The market value of the yearly cacao crop around the world is more than five billion dollars. Chocolate is especially popular in Europe and the United States. Each year, Americans eat an average of more than 5 kilograms of chocolate per person. Specialty shops that sell costly chocolate are also very popular. Many offer chocolate lovers the chance to taste chocolate grown in different areas of the world. We can learn from the passage that chocolate was ______.
| A．served with a drink in old times |
| B．popular with people around the world |
| C．a drink enjoyed by the rich in old times |
| D．bought easily in stores in old times |
What made it possible to produce chocolate inexpensively?
| A．A warm climate. | B．Official aid. |
| C．New technologies. | D．Scientific protection. |
What should ideal cacao farming be like？
| A．Simple and time-saving. |
| B．Safe and labour-saving |
| C．Easy and labour-saving |
| D．Easy and environment-friendly. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．Scientists are trying to help people find various cacaos. |
| B．The chocolate industry is developing rapidly only in European countries. |
| C．People in America love to produce dear chocolate. |
| D．Chocolate making is probably a big business internationally. |
Garden of small inventions
Visitors of all ages are invited to Port Discovery to see the new exhibit—a garden of small inventions, which features interactive activities and gadgets(小器械，小物件，小玩意) for the environmental protection. The exhibit runs through Sept.4. Fee is $10.75; free for ages younger than two. Contact 410-727-8120 or portdiscovery.org.
Rain-barrel workshop
The Parks and People Foundation presents a workshop on building water-efficient rain barrels for the home between 6pm-8pm on Wednesday at the foundation’s Stieff Silver Building. Cost is $50 and includes the barrel and all materials. Contact 410-448-5663, ext.109.
Pruning(修剪)plants
Visitors can attend a workshop on pruning plants between 9:30am-10am on Tuesday at Ladew Topiary Gardens. Visitors should meet in the Visitors Center at Ladew, Jarrettsville Pike, Monkton. $10; free for Ladew members, and includes admission to the gardens and the nature walk. Contact 410-557-9570 or www.ladewgardens.com.
Landscape exhibit
Photographs, paintings and drawings will be shown at Landscape and Nature—a view from Maryland, through Sept.9 at the University of Maryland. Opening reception is between 5pm-7:30pm on Tuesday. Contact 301-985-7937 or um.edu/art.It will cost a couple with their newly-born baby________ to visit Port Discovery.
| A．$ 30 | B．$100 | C．$21.5 | D．nothing |
To learn how to make your flowers grow better, you will probably go to __________.
| A．Port Discovery |
| B．Stieff Silver Building |
| C．Ladew Topiary Gardens |
| D．the University of Maryland |
You will call _______ to get information about learning something about art.
| A．410-727-8120 | B．410-448-5663 |
| C．410-557-9570 | D．301-985-7937 |
Which activity is offered only on Wednesday according to the ads?
| A．Garden of small inventions | B．Rain-barrel workshop |
| C．Pruning(修剪)plants | D．Landscape exhibit |
Do you want to live another 100 years or more? Some experts say that scientific progress will one day help humans to last tens of years longer than what is now seen as the natural limit（限制）of the human life span（寿命）.
“ I think we are knocking at the door of immortality (永生),” said Michael Zey, a Montclair State University business professor and author of two books on the future. “ I think by 2075 we will see it and that’s a conservative estimate（保守估计）.”
At the conference in San Francisco, Donald Louria, a professor at New Jersey Medical School in Newark said progress in using genes as well as nanotechnology（纳米技术）makes it likely that humans will live in the future beyond what has been possible in the past. “ There is a great push so that people can live from 120 to 180 years,” he said. “ Some have suggested that there is no limit and that people could live to 200 or 300 or 500 years.”
However, many scientists who research into aging are doubtful about it and say the human body is just not designed to last about 120 years. Even with healthier lifestyles and less disease, they say failure of the brain and organs will finally lead all humans to death.
Scientists also disagree on what kind of life the super aged might live. “It remains to be seen whether you could be healthy enough to have good quality of life when you pass 120.” said Leonard Poon, director of the University of Georgia Gerontology Center. “ At present people who could get to that point are not in good health at all.”By saying “ we are knocking at the door immortality”, Michael Zey means_____.
| A．they believe that there is no limit of living |
| B．they are sure to find the truth about long living |
| C．they have got some ideas about long living |
| D．they are able to make people live beyond the present life span |
Donald Louria’s attitude toward long living is that_____.
| A．people can live from 120 to 180 |
| B．it is still doubtful how long humans can live |
| C．the human body is designed to last about 120 years |
| D．it is possible for humans to live longer in the future |
The underlined “ it” (Para. 4) refers to_____.
| A．a great push |
| B．the idea of living beyond the present life span |
| C．the idea of living from 200 to 300 |
| D．the conservative estimate |
What would be the best title for this text?
| A．Living longer or not |
| B．Science, technology and long living |
| C．No limit for human life |
| D．Healthy lifestyle and long living |
I was working as a consultant in a beer company, helping the president and senior vice-presidents form and carry out their new planning projects. It was really a great challenge.
At the same time, my mother was in the final stages of cancer.
I worked during the day and drove 40 miles home to be with her every night. It was tiring and stressful, but it was what I wanted to do. My commitment was to continue to do excellent consulting during the day, even though my evenings were very hard. I didn’t want to bother the president with my situation, yet I felt someone at the company needed to know what was going on. So I told the vice-president of Human Resources, asking him not to share the information with anyone.
A few days later, the president called me into his office.
I figured he wanted to talk to me about one of the many issues we were working on. When I entered, he asked me to sit down. He faced me from across his large desk, looked at me in the eye and said, “I hear your mother is very ill”.
I was totally caught by surprise and burst into tears. He just looked at me, let my crying subside(平息), and then gently said a sentence I will never forget: whatever you need.
That was it. His understanding and his willingness to both let me be in my pain and to offer me everything were qualities of sympathy（同情）that I carry with me to this day.When the author was working in a beer company, his mother .
| A．was concerned about him | B．drew the president’s attention |
| C．was seriously ill | D．was proud of her son |
Although he felt tired and stressed, he felt it his duty .
| A．to help plan some new projects |
| B．to avoid bothering the president |
| C．to tell the vice-president his difficult situation |
| D．to do his job well and look after his mother |
Most probably, the president got the information from .
| A．a relative of the author’s | B．the vice-president |
| C．the author’s good friends | D．the author’s workmates |
Which of the following can be the best title of this passage?
| A．Understanding Is Nowhere | B．Generous President |
| C．Sympathy Is Needed | D．An Unforgettable Memory |
Let children learn to judge their own work. A child learning to talk does not learn by being corrected all the time: if corrected too much, he will stop talking. He notices a thousand times a day the difference between the language he uses and the language those around him use. Bit by bit, he makes the necessary changes to make his language like other people’s.
In the same way, children are learning to do all the other things: they learn to do without being taught to walk, run, climb, whistle, ride a bicycle, compare their own performances with those of more skilled people, and slowly make the needed changes. But in school we never give a child a chance to find out his mistakes and correct them for himself. We do it all for him. We act as if we thought that he would never notice a mistake unless it was pointed out to him, or correct it unless he was made to. Let him work out, with the help of other children if he wants it, what this word says, what the answer is to that problem, whether this is a good way of saying or doing this or not.
If it is a matter of right answer, as it may be in mathematics or science, give him the answer book. Let him correct his own papers. Why should we teachers waste time on such routine(常规) work? Our job should be to help the child when he tells us that he can’t find the way to get the right answer. Let the children learn what all educated persons must some day learn, how to judge their own understanding, and how to know what they know or do not know.The first paragraph is written mainly to _________.
| A．give advice on children’s language learning |
| B．tell us the fewer mistakes we correct, the better children will learn a language |
| C．suggest children are often too stubborn to accept advice |
| D．lead to the topic of the passage |
Which of the following does the writer think teachers should NOT do?
| A．Give children correct answers. |
| B．Allow children to make mistakes. |
| C．Point out children’s mistakes to them. |
| D．Let children mark their own work. |
According to the writer, teachers in school should ________.
| A．allow children to learn from each other |
| B．point out children’s mistakes whenever found |
| C．give children more book knowledge |
| D．correct children’s mistakes as soon as possible |
According to the passage, the best way for children to learn things is by _______.
| A．listening to skilled people’s advice |
| B．asking older people many questions |
| C．making mistakes and having them corrected |
| D．doing what other people do |
Laptop computers are popular all over the world. People use them on trains and airplanes, in airports and hotels. These laptops connect people to their workplace. In the United States today, laptops also connect students to their classrooms.
Westlake College in Virginia will start a laptop computer program that allows students to do schoolwork anywhere they want. Within five years, each of the 1500 students at the college will receive a laptop. The laptops are part of a ＄10 million computer program at Westlake, a 110-year-old college. The students with laptops will also have access to the Internet. In addition, they will be able to use e-mail to “speak” with their teachers, their classmates, and their families. However, the most important part of the laptop program is that students will be able to use computers without going to computer labs. They can work with it at home, in a fast-food restaurant or under the trees——anywhere at all!
Because of the many changes in computer technology , laptop use in higher education, such as colleges and universities, is workable. As laptops become more powerful, they become more similar to desktop computers. In addition, the portable computers can connect students to not only the Internet, but also libraries and other resources. State higher-education officials are studying how laptops can help students. State officials are also testing laptop programs at other universities, too.
At Westlake College, more than 60 percent of the staff use computers. The laptops will allow all teachers to use computers in their lessons. As one Westlake teacher said, “ Here we are in the middle of Virginia and we’re giving students a window on the world. They can see everything and do everything.”The main purpose of the laptop program is to give each student a laptop to ________.
| A．use for their schoolwork | B．search the Internet |
| C．work at home | D．connect them to libraries |
Which of the following is true about Westlake College?
| A．All teachers use computers. |
| B．1500 students have laptops. |
| C．It is an old college in America. |
| D．Students there can do everything. |
“a window on the world” in the last paragraph means that students can ________.
| A．attend lectures on information technology |
| B．travel around the world |
| C．get information from around the world |
| D．have free laptops |
What can we infer from the passage?
| A．The program is terrible. |
| B．The program is not workable. |
| C．The program is too expensive. |
| D．We don’t know the result yet. |