My house is made out of wood, glass and stone. It is also made out of software.
If you come to visit, you'll probably be surprised when you come in. Someone will give you an electronic PIN （个人身份号码）to wear. This PIN tells the house who and where you are. The house uses this information to give you what you need. When it's dark outside, the PIN turns on the lights nearest you, and then turns them off as you walk away from them. Music moves with you too. If the house knows your favorite music, it plays it. The music seems to be everywhere, but in fact other people in the house hear different music or no music. If you get a telephone call, only the nearest telephone rings.
Of course, you are also able to tell the house if you want something. There is a home control console (控制台), a small machine that turns things on and off around you.
The PIN and the console are new ideas, but they are in fact like many things we have today. If you want to go to a movie, you need a ticket. If I give you my car keys, you can use my car. The car works for you because you have the keys. My house works for you because you wear the PIN or hold the console.
I believe that ten years from now, most new homes will have the systems that I've put in my house. The systems will probably be even bigger and better than the ones I've put in today.
I like to try new ideas. I know that some of my ideas will work better than others. But I hope that one day I will stop thinking of these systems as new, and ask myself instead, "How will I live without them?"What does the passage mainly discuss?
| A．How to develop a new system. |
| B．The function of the PIN. |
| C．A home for the future. |
| D．Easy life in the future. |
What's the purpose when the writer wrote the fourth paragraph?
| A．To let readers know why his ideas are new. |
| B．To let readers know how special his house is. |
| C．To explain the importance of the PIN and the console. |
| D．To explain more easily what the functions of the PIN and the console are. |
The writer's new house is different from ordinary ones mainly because _____.
| A．it has been controlled by computers |
| B．you can make a telephone call anywhere |
| C．it has your favorite music following you |
| D．the writer is able to change his new idea into practice |
What is the writer most likely to be according to the passage?
| A．An IT expert. | B．A famous doctor. |
| C．An idealist | D．An experienced teacher. |
The following is a father’s advice to his son/daughter, who has just graduated(毕业) from high school:
First of all, congratulations on your graduation! Graduation from high school means that a new stage of life is ahead of you. _____.
. After you have messed up（弄乱） something, you should learn to clean it up yourself. Cleanliness is indeed close to good manners.
Don’t mistake knowledge for wisdom（智慧）. No matter how much information or knowledge you have, you will never make right judgments if you don’t have wisdom. _____. If you can imagine the possible future outcomes of your present decisions and actions, you can avoid mistakes. And if you can reflect(思考) on the mistake you have made, you can avoid making the same mistakes again and again. Such is wisdom.
Don’t complain(抱怨). When you take up a job, do your best to carry it out. _____.
Finally, be an early bird. ______. And the sight of the rising sun will warm your heart and give you energy for the day ahead. Besides, being an early bird, you have plenty of time to take exercise or do a lot of work.
| A．At the beginning of this new stage, I have some advice for you. |
| B．If you get up earlier than the sun, you can watch it rise up slowly into the sky |
| C．Once you start a job, you should try your best to do it well. |
| D．Clean your own room and do your own washing. |
E. Don’t waste time complaining about it, no matter how difficult and boring it is.
F. Get up early and go for some morning exercises to build up your body.
G. Wisdom comes from imagination and reflection.
Science, as we think, was born when the Greek philosopher ( 希腊哲学家 ) Thales ( about 640-546 B.C.) asked a difficult question: What makes up our universe?
No one had a ready answer, so Thales went on studying the earth around him, the sky and the stars. He saw so much water on earth and so much water falling from the sky as rain that he decided water must be the basic substance ( 物质 ) of the universe.
Other Greek thinkers became interested in this question. They suggested other answers. One said that because air lies around the earth, it must be air that makes up all things. Another said that fire, appearing in different forms, was the building block of the universe.
The Greek philosophers were feeling their way towards the ideas on which chemistry is based. Centuries later, scientists proved that the universe is made up of certain basic substances. But the list is much more complicated than the Greeks realized. We now know of 103 basic substances which we call “ elements ( 元素 )”.Thales, the famous Greek philosopher, died when he was about _________.
| A．106 years old | B．94years old | C．64 years old | D．46 years old |
From the passage we know that __________.
| A．Thales asked many questions | B．Greeks were all philosophers |
| C．science began long ago | D．water and air make up all things. |
After reading the passage, we can be sure that_________.
| A．nothing ever changes in the universe |
| B．Thales decided that the basic substance of the universe was air |
| C．the universe is made up of four different substances |
| D．the early Greek thinkers did much valuable work for the progress of science |
There are only about 1,000 Hawaiian monk seals(夏威夷僧海豹) left and its population is going down 4% a year. Hawaiian monk seals are found in the northwest part of the Hawaiian Islands. They spend a lot of time at sea. They are able to dive 600 feet deep, and can stay under water for up to 20 minutes. Adults grow up to seven feet long, and weigh between 400 and 600 pounds. They can live as long as 30 years.
These seals are born on land. Every year, usually in May or June, females find sandy beaches and give birth to a single baby. The female seals avoid beaches where the water becomes deep very quickly because this lets sharks swim close to land and catch the seals.
Mothers stay with their babies for six weeks. During that entire time, they do not leave the beach even to eat. Instead, they live off fat that they have stored up over the previous year and feed their babies with fat-rich milk. After six weeks, mothers go back to the sea. The young have to live on their own.
Human disturbance(打扰) has been regarded as the important factor in the decrease of the monk seals. In fact, if human come too near a mother seal too often, she will go out to the sea. Unfortunately, this usually means death for the baby. It is now against the law for people to come within 100 yards of a seal on a beach.
Recent research has shown that the decrease in the Hawaiian monk seal population is due to lack of survival of these seals at one of the most important breeding(繁殖) beaches at French Frigate Shoals. Also, seals often get trapped in fishermen and by changes in weather patterns. If these threats(威胁) were not enough, during the breeding season, males will attack females until they are badly injured or finally killed.What can we learn about Hawaiian monk seals?
| A．They are in danger of dying out. |
| B．They spend most of the time on the beach. |
| C．They are the largest animals on the Hawaiian Islands. |
| D．They can stay under water as long as they like. |
According to the text, a seal baby______.
| A．is born at sea |
| B．is fed on fat by the mother |
| C．stays with its parents all life |
| D．is looked after by its mother for 6 weeks |
It can be inferred from the text that______.
| A．sharks are a threat to Hawaiian monk seals |
| B．male monk seals fight each other for females in the breeding season |
| C．when disturbed by people, the mother seal will protect the baby seal |
| D．Hawaiian monk seals give birth usually in July |
What are the last two paragraphs mainly about?
| A．Ways to protect Hawaiian monk seals。 |
| B．The struggle of Hawaiian monk seals to survive. |
| C．The reasons for the decline(减少) of Hawaiian monk seals. |
| D．The influence of climate change on Hawaiian monk seals. |
Italian Lakes and Greek Islands (12 Days)
Your tour begins in Milan, Italy(意大利), and moves on to the pretty Italian Lake District and the attractive resort(胜地)of Stresa, your home for two nights. Collette Vacations has carefully chosen the Costa Victoria as your home for your 7—night journey along the waterways of the Mediterranean. The cruise ship is filled with the warmth and culture of Italy and is richly designed with entertainment(娱乐)areas and very good living conditions. It will take you to the places of your dreams.
You’ll spend 4 days touring Greek cities you’ve always heard about. In Katakolon, you will have an exciting tour to nearby Olympia without a guide. Then with a local guide you will visit the Greek islands of Santorini, which is often related to the story of the lost city of Atlantis, and Mykonos, a wonderful island with beautiful beaches.
Your journey ends in Verona, home of the love story Romeo and Juliet, with a fun—filled Goodbye dinner—a perfect ending to a pleasant journey.
12 Days, 25Meals: 10 Breakfasts, 6 Lunches, 9 Dinners
Day 1 Overnight flight to Italy
Days2—3 Regina Palace, Stresa, Italy
Days4—10 Costa Victoria ( Costa cruises)
Day 11 Hotel Leopardi, Verona, Italy
Day12 Leave for home
Please Note:
| Leaving date |
Price for one person |
| April 7 |
$2,099 |
| June 2 |
$2,199 |
| October 6 |
$2,099 |
| November 3 |
$1,999 |
How is the journey planned?
| A．It starts and ends in Italy. |
| B．It starts and ends in Greece. |
| C．It starts in Italy and ends in Greece. |
| D．It starts in Greece and ends in Italy. |
What can be inferred from the travel plan?
| A．The price may get lower than those in the plan. |
| B．The prices include three meals a day. |
| C．The price is the highest in summer. |
| D．The prices include entertainment service. |
What does the underlined part “ the Costa Victoria” most probably refer to?
| A．A famous hotel. | B．A beautiful resort. |
| C．A comfortable ship. | D．A long—distance bus. |
Tourists will travel on their own in .
| A．Stresa | B．Olympia | C．Mykonos | D．Verona |
Whenever the sun dropped and the blue sky came up, my father and I used to climb the mountain near my house. Walking together, my father and I used to have a lot of conversations through which I learned lessons from his experiences. He always told me, “You should have goals like climbing the mountain.” Without the mountain-climbing that we both enjoyed. We couldn’t have enough time to spend together because my father was very busy. I really got a lot from mountain-climbing. It gave me time to talk with my father and to be in deep thought as well as develop my patience.
Once we climbed a very high mountain. It was so challenging for me because I was only ten years old. During the first few hours of climbing. I enjoyed the flowers and trees, and the birds’ singing, but as time passed, I got a pain in both of my legs. I wanted to quit climbing. In fact, I hated it at that mountain, but my father said to me, “You can always see a beautiful sky at the top of the mountain, but you can’t see it before you reach the top. Only there at the top, can you see all of the nice things, just like in life.”
At that time, I was too young to understand his words. But later after that, I got knew hope and confidence. I found myself standing at the top of the sky in my life, which was as clear as crystal (水晶).The passage tells us that mountain-climbing was _____for Father and Son.
| A．hard | B．painful | C．enjoyable | D．unhappy |
The word “quit” in the passage means “______”.
| A．carry on | B．put off | C．pick up | D．give up |
We can infer from the last paragraph that ______.
| A．the writer reached the top of the mountain. |
| B．the writer was very successful in his life. |
| C．thought the writer was young, he could understand his father. |
| D．the writer used to hate climbing the mountain. |
The best title for the passage is ______.
| A．How to Get to the Top of the Mountain | B．Father’s love |
| C．Conversations between Father and Son | D．Reaching the Top of the Mountain |