One of Britain’s favourite pastimes, gardening is to be celebrated during the Olympics. Last week, the Olympics minister Tessa Jowell announced a public competition to design a typically British garden within London’s new Olympic park.
Jowell said the idea behind the competition was to show off to the world one of the nation’s favourite hobbies. It’s likely the government also hopes that the competition will inspire more Brits to take an interest in the Olympics. It’s a good plan, as the British love gardens almost as much as they love tea.
Gardening is an iconic activity in Britain. In many ways it defines Brits, perhaps because they are some of the world’s keenest gardeners. The garden is seen as a private retreat(清静的场所)in the UK. Most Brits would far rather sit in their garden for instance than visit a park. They see their garden as an extension of their house outdoors, which is why so many Brits are as garden-proud as they are house-proud. There also seems to be something about the nourishing(滋养的)act of gardening that appeals to the nation’s gentle temperament(气质).
Interestingly, gardening has never been as widely enjoyed as it is today in Britain. Its growing popularity is no doubt due to people’s increased awareness of the environment and the success of several popular gardening programs.
Historically, Brits are also skillful gardeners. As Jowell noted when she made her announcement, if gardening were an Olympic sport then green-fingered Brits “would win gold, silver and bronze”.
Of course, the irony of Brits’ passion for gardening is that their climate is so wet that there are very few months in the year they can sit outside and enjoy their gardens. In fact, it may be the very preciousness of these few warm months that make gardens so prized and valued by Brits.What’s the main idea of the passage?
| A．Brits’ favourite tea. |
| B．Brits’ favourite pastime in the garden. |
| C．A public competition. |
| D．A typically British garden. |
The purpose of the competition is _____.
| A．to support the 2012 London Olympics |
| B．to require participants to design a typically British garden in their backyard |
| C．to attract foreign visitors |
| D．to show off one of the nation’s favourite hobbies |
The underlined word “iconic” in the third paragraph means _____.
| A．有代表性的 |
| B．活跃的 |
| C．积极的 |
| D．受欢迎的 |
Which of the following sentences does NOT contribute to people’s love for gardens in Britain?
| A．Brits think of their garden as an extension of their house outdoors. |
| B．Brits value the short warm months when they get to enjoy their garden. |
| C．Brits do not have many public parks to relax themselves in. |
| D．Brits’ gentle temperament makes them enjoy something like gardening. |
What can we conclude from the passage?
| A．Brits love their gardens than they love their houses. |
| B．Brits enjoy sitting in their gardens as much as sitting in a park. |
| C．Brits don’t adore gardening as much as before. |
| D．Brits are known to love gardening as much as they love tea. |
Have you ever dreamed of visiting a planet in the Milk Way (银河系)？While the trip sounds exciting, it would take years and years to reach your destination. So in the future, bedtime for astronauts may be more than a few hours of regular shut-eye. They would have to sleep for years.
European researchers are now conducting hibernation(冬眠) experiments. The study may help them understand whether humans could ever sleep through the years it would take for a spaceflight to distant planets. “If there was an effective technology, it could make deep-space travel a reality,” said Mark Ayre of the European Space Agency last month.
What seems like science fiction is not completely unlikely. Researchers have been able to use chemicals to put living cells into a sleep-like state. They have now moved on to small, non-hibernating mammals like rats.
A major challenge is the fact that cells can be very simple systems, whereas body organs are far more complex. “It’s like moving from a simple Apple computer to a supercomputer,” said Marco Biggiogera, a hibernation researcher at Italy’s University of Pavia. Just like bears and frogs, the hibernation of human beings would cause a person’s metabolism (新陈代谢) to lower so they would need less energy.
Medical research, however, is just half of a spaceflight hibernation system. There is the challenge of designing a suitable protective shelter(栖身所). Such a shelter would provide the proper environment for hibernation, such as the proper temperature It would also have to monitor (监控) life functions and serve the physiological needs of the hibernator.
According to Ayre, the six-person human Outer Planets Exploration Mission to jupiter’s moon (木星的卫星) Callisto, could be an opportunity to use human hibernation. The mission aims to send six humans on a five-year flight to Callisto, where they will spend 30 days, in 2045.
54．According to the article, the hibernation research ________.
A．is just an idea B．is always a science fiction
C．has already finished successfully D．has made some progress
55．There are ________ major challenges facing scientists who study hibernation.
A．two B．three C．four D．five
56．The first use of the hibernation technology ________ the six-person human Outer Planets Exploration Mission to jupiter’s moon Callisto.
A．must he B．has been planned for C．is certain to be D．may be
57．What is the best title for the article?
A．Hibernation Study for Space Travel B．Welcome to Our Space Travel
C．To Hibernate, to Live Longer D．Welcome to Milk Way
Space is a dangerous place, not only because of meteors(流星), but also because of rays from the sun and other stars. The atmosphere again acts as our protective blanket on the earth. Light gets through, and this is necessary for plants to make the food which we eat. Heat, too, makes our environment suitable to live. Various kinds of rays come through the air from outer space, but enormous quantities of radiation from the sun are screened off. As soon as men leave the atmosphere they are exposed to this radiation but their spacesuits or the walls of their spacecraft, if they are inside, do prevent a lot of radiation damage.
Radiation is the greatest known danger to explorers in space. The unit of radiation is called “rem”. Scientists have reason to think that a man can put up with far more radiation than 0.1 rem without being damaged; the figure of 60 rems has been agreed on. The trouble is that it is extremely difficult to be sure about radiation damage a person may feel perfectly well, but the cells of his or her sex organs may be damaged, and this will not be discovered until the birth of deformed(畸形的)children or even grandchildren. Missions of the Apollo flights have had to cross belts of high radiation and, during the outward and return journeys, the Apollo crew accumulated a large amount of rems. So far, no dangerous amounts of radiation have been reported, but the Apollo missions have been quite short. We simply do not know yet how men are going to get on when they spend weeks and months outside the protection of the atmosphere, working in a space laboratory. Drugs might help to decrease the damage done by radiation, but no really effective ones have been found so far.
49．According to the first paragraph, the atmosphere is necessary to man because of the following reason EXCEPT________
A．protecting him against the harmful rays from space
B．providing sufficient light for plant growth
C．suppling the heat necessary for human survival
D．screening off the falling meteors
50．We learn from the passage that ________
A．exposure to even tiny amounts of radiation is fatal
B．the effect of exposure to radiation is slow in coming
C．radiation is avoidable in space exploration
D．astronauts in spacesuits needn’t worry about radiation damage
51．The harm radiation that has been done to the Apollo crew members ________
A．is insignificant B．is enormous C．seems overestimated D．remains unknown
52．It can be inferred from the passage that________
A．the Apollo mission was very successful
B．the protection from space radiation is no easy job
C．astronauts may possibly have deformed children or grandchildren
D．radiation is not a threat to well-protected space explorers
53．Which of the following is TRUE?
A．Space is dangerous only because of meteors.
B．Explorers in space have to avoid the damage from radiation
C．We have got effective ways to treat illnesses caused by radiation.
D．The atmosphere doesn’t screen off radiation
第二部分 阅读理解
第一节从A、B、C、D中选出最佳选项：（共20小题，每小题2分，满分40分）
Robert Spring, a 19th century forger (伪造者), was so good at his profession that hs was able to make his living for 15 years by selling false signatures of famous Americans. Spring was born in England in 1838 and arrived in Philadelphia in 1858 to open a bookstore. At first he prospered(繁荣)by selling his small but genuine collection of early US autographs (亲笔签名). Discovering his ability at copying handwriting he began imitating the signatures of George Washington and Benjimin Franklin and writing them on the title pages of old books. To lessen the chance of detection (被发现). He sent his forgeries to England and Canada for sale, Forgers have a hard time selling products. A forger cannot approach a respectable buyer but must deal with people who don’t have much knowledge in the field. Forgers have many ways of making their works look real. For example, they buy old books and use the aged paper of the title page, and they can treat paper and ink with chemicals.
In Spring’s time, right after the Civil War, Britain was still fond of the southern states, so Spring invented a respectable young lady known as Miss Fanny Jackson, the only daughter of General “Stonewall” Jackson. For several years Miss Fanny’s financial problems forced her to sell a great number of letters and manuscripts (手稿) belonging to her famous father. Spring had to work very hard to satisfy the demand. However, all this activity did not prevent Spring from dying in poverty, leaving sharp-eyed experts the difficult task of separating his forgeries from the originals.
41．Robert Spring spent 15 years ________.
A．running a bookstore in Philadelphia B．as owners of old books
C．selling real signatures of famous Americans D．as a forger
42．Why did Spring sell his false autographs in England and Canada?
A．There was less chance that his forgeries would be discovered there.
B．The prices were much higher in England and Canada.
C．There was a greater demand there than in America.
D．Britan was Spring’s birthplace.
43．After the Civil War there was a great demand in Britain for ________
A．Civil War battle plans B．southern manuscripts and letters
C．the signatures of George Washington and Ben Franklin D．southern money
44．Which of the following about Miss Fanny Jackson is TRUE?
A．She was Robert Spring’s customer.
B．She was an imaginary person created by Spring.
C．She was a little-known girl who sold her father’s papers to make money.
D．She was the only daughter of General Stonewall Jackson.
PENRICE
COMMUNITY COLLEGE
Cornwall County Counicl
We Need Two
ASSISANT HEADTEACHERS
From January 2006
L13—17(£44,703—£49,314)
Penrice Community College is a highly regarded and successful 11-16 specialist languages college. Following the recent appointment of a new headteacher we’re restructuring the leadership team to create two new roles.
One post will involve leading teaching teams with responsibility for developing curricula(课程) and time-tabling.
The other post will be leading student based teams and responsibility for student learing outcomes and the removal of barriers to student success such as poor attendance or disaffection.
Penrice Community College is:
·A school with 1,350 wonderful students
·High achieving with results well above average
·Mentioned twice in HMCl’s outstanding schools list
·A British Council International School
·Situated in a beautiful part of mid-Cornwall
All enquires for information and application packs should be made to Danielle Eyres on 01726—72613 or at secretary@penricornmvall .sch.uk
Closing date for applications is Tuesday October 4th at noon. Interviews will be held on Monday 17th and Tuesday 18th October 2005.
45．The underlined word “restructuring’ probably means ________.
A．formally telling sb to do B．Joining the two parts together
C．rebuilding sth and making it work again D．extending the size of sth
46．The purpose of the above passage is to ________
A．introduce the advantages of a school
B．report the appointment of a new head teacher
C．call on more students to go to school
D．advertise for new assistant headteachers
47．The two new posts are required to do all the following EXCEPT ________.
A．stop students missing classes B．get students interested in learning
C．lead students-based teams D．arrange new curricula
48．HMCI is probably the name of ________.
A．an educational organization B．a school leader
C．a political party D．a news reporter
Informal conversation is an important part of any business relationship．Before you start a discussion，however，make sure you understand which topics are suitable and which are considered taboo（禁忌）in a particular culture。Latin Americans enjoy sharing information about their local history，art，and customs．You may expect questions about your family，and be sure to show pictures of your children．You may feel free to ask similar questions of your Latin American friends．The French think of conversation as an art form，and they enjoy the value of lively discussions as well as disagreements。For them，arguments can be interesting-and they can cover pretty much or any topic-as long as they occur in are spectful and intelligent manner．
In the United States，business people like to discuss a wide range of topics，including opinions about work，family，hobbies，and politics。In Japan，China，and Korea，however，people are much more private．They do not share much about their thoughts，feelings，or emotions because they feel that doing so might take away from the harmonious business relationship they’re trying to build．Middle Easterners are also private about their personal lives and family matters．It is considered rude，for example，to ask a businessman from Saudi Arabia about his wife Or children．
As a general rule，it’S best not to talk about politics or religion with your business friends．This can get you into trouble，even in the United States，where people hold different religious views．In addition，discussing one’S salary is usually considered unsuitable．Sports is typically a friendly subject in most parts of the world，although be careful not to criticize fl national sport．Instead，be friendly and praise your host’s team．
69．The author considers politics and religion
A．cheerful topics B．taboo
C．rude topics D．topics that can never be talked about
70．Which is typically a friendly topic in most places according to the author？
A．Sports． B．Children． C．Personal feelings． D．Families．
71．Why are people from Asia more private in their conversation with others？
A．They don’t want to talk much with others．
B．They don’t want to have their good relationship with others harmed by informal conversation。
C．They are afraid to argue with their colleagues．
D．They want to keep their feelings to themselves．
72．What shouldn’t you do when talking about sports with colleagues from another country？
A．Praising your own country’S sports．
B．Criticizing your own country’S sports．
C．Praising the sports of your colleagues’country．
D．Criticizing the sports of your colleagues’country．