Swiss national Louis Palmer fulfilled a childhood dream when he set off from his mother country on July 3, travelling over deserts, cities and seas in 17 countries in a solar taxi to reach UN Climate Change Conference in Bali, Indonesia.
"In 1986, 1 was a 14-year-old boy. I was dreaming that when I will be an adult. I want to drive around the world, " he told reporters.
"Then it came to my mind, how can I travel around the world and enjoy the beauty of this world with a car that is polluting the world? Then I thought the perfect car would be a solar car. "
His car, which has become a major attraction at the gates of the summit of some 188 nations, was built in three years with scientific help from four universities and 15 Swiss companies. The car pulls a trailer with six square meters of solar panels which absorb the sun. The electricity is fed into the battery which powers the car, and can run for up to 100 kilometers a day.
"It's the first time in history that a car is driving around the world without a single drop of petrol, " said Palmer.
His epic solar journey is not his first adventure—he crossed Africa on a bicycle and North America in a light aircraft.
So far, Palmer has gone by land through Europe and the Middle East, then by sea to India and on to Indonesia. After covering much of Asia, Australia, North America and Africa, he will return to Switzerland to try and drum up support for the commercial possibilities of solar cars.
For the moment, he has his hands full, with more curious customers waiting to take a ride in his unique automobile which, he said, "works like a Swiss clock. "The sentence in the third paragraph "how can I travel around the world and enjoy the beauty of this world with a car that is polluting the world?" means" __________ ".
| A．Louis Palmer found it hard to choose how to travel |
| B．Louis Palmer would feel guilty about his travelling in a polluting car |
| C．Louis Palmer couldn't make up his mind whether to travel by car |
| D．Louis Palmer was trying to enjoy the scenery in spite of polluting the world |
Why did Louis Palmer take so long a journey in a "solar taxi"?
| A．To attend the conference. |
| B．To advertise the solar car. |
| C．To realize his dream. |
| D．To turn to the summit for help. |
So many visitors came to the car mainly because __________.
| A．it uses electricity as power |
| B．it works as well as a Swiss clock |
| C．it is the first solar car in the world |
| D．they were eager to have a look at it |
The underlined phrase "has his hands full" in the last paragraph probably means __________.
| A．becomes very popular | B．looks so proud |
| C．is extremely busy | D．shakes hands |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．Palmer will attempt to put solar cars on the market. |
| B．Palmer dreamed of a solar car when he was a boy. |
| C．Palmer will return home from Indonesia. |
| D．Palmer has never made a journey before. |
My elder brother Steve, in the absence of my father who died when I was six, gave me important lessons in values（价值观念） that helped me grow into an adult.
Steve taught me to face the results of my behavior. Once when I returned in tears from a Saturday baseball game, it was Steve who asked me what happened. When I explained that my baseball had soared through Mrs. Holt’s basement window, breaking the glass with a crash, Steve encouraged me to admit to her. Although my knees knocked as I explained to Mrs. Holt, I offered to pay for the window from my pocket money if she would return my ball.
I also learned from Steve that personal property（财产） is a sacred（神圣的） thing. After I found a shiny silver pen in my fifth-grade classroom, I wanted to keep it, but Steve explained that it might be important to someone else in spite of the fact that it had little value. He reminded me of how much I’d hate to lose to someone else the small dog my father made with a piece of cheap wood. I returned the pen to my teacher, Mrs. David, and still remembered the smell of her perfume (香水) as she patted me on the shoulder.
Yet of all the instructions Steve gave me, his respect for life is the most unforgetful in my mind. When I was twelve I killed an old brown sparrow(麻雀)in the yard with a BB gun. Excited, I screamed at Steve to come and take a look. I shall never forget the way he stood for a long moment and stared at the bird on the ground. Then in a dead, quiet voice, he asked, “Did it hurt you first, Mark?” I didn’t know what to answer. He continued with his eyes firm, “The only time you should even think of hurting a living thing is when it hurts you first, and then you think a long, long time.” I really felt terrible then, but that moment stands out as the most important lesson my brother taught me.What is the passage mainly about?
| A．The relationship between Mark and Steve. |
| B．The important lessons Mark learned in school. |
| C．Steve’s important role in Mark’s growth stage. |
| D．Mark and Steve’s respect for living things. |
When Mark admitted his mistakes to Mrs. Holt, he ____.
| A．was surprised | B．felt frightened |
| C．was light-hearted | D．cried before her |
From the third paragraph, we can know that Mark _____.
| A．had a shiny silver pen | B．respected his teacher |
| C．hated his father very much | D．once owned a small wooden dog |
To Mark, which is the most important lesson Steve taught him?
| A．Respecting life. | B．Being responsible for one’s behavior. |
| C．Being honest. | D．Respecting others’ property |
Wendy Gallegos writes “concer” on the board. One of her students raises her hand.
“Ms. Gallegos, you should have written ‘conocer’ instead,” she said, referring to the Spanish verb for “to know.”
Gallegos looks at the board, smiles and quickly erases her mistake.
“You see, I have taught you so well, you pick up on my mistakes,” she said with a laugh.
To Gallegos, the scene in her classroom is typical（特有的）of the children she teaches. Gallegos teaches high school Spanish. She became part of their lives and families for three years. She is willing to help her children succeed. After a couple of years, Gallegos’ class becomes like home. Gallegos’ Spanish class is taught mostly in English in sixth grade. By the time the students are eighth-graders, they are speaking fewer words of English and more of Spanish during the 50-minute classes.
“My goal is to get my kids to say something in Spanish every day,” she said, “I want them to be able to talk to me. That’s why I help them, I praise them, I recognize them when they do good work. And we have fun. The day I stop having fun is the day I am going to consider a different job.’’
If a student needs help, Gallegos offers the student a “lifesaver,” which is help from a classmate. The lifesaver gets a piece of candy as a reward. As the students said: “Gallegos’ class is anything but boring.” It is because of Gallegos’ efforts and determination that she is the teacher who they think is most deserving of one of Collier County’s Golden Apple Awards.
“I don’t teach a subject, I teach kids. This is what I was born to do,” Gallegos said.The scene（情景）in Gallegos’ class is mentioned at the beginning of the passage to ____.
| A．show Gallegos, as a teacher, makes a mistake |
| B．tell teachers can help students correct mistakes. |
| C．show her good teaching method in daily class |
| D．point out the students’ impolite behavior in class |
The underlined sentence in Paragraph 6 implies that_____.
| A．having fun is Gallegos’ goal in hunting jobs. | B．Gallegos likes her job very much |
| C．Gallegos is considering changing her job | D．teaching Spanish will not last long |
What made Gallegos get Golden Apple Award?
| A．Her interesting class. | B．Her determination in study. |
| C．Rewarding her students with prizes. | D．Her efforts made to teach kids. |
What would be the best title for the passage?
| A．This is what I was born to do | B．Golden Apple Awards |
| C．Spanish classes with fun | D．How to get along with kids |
Time Zones（时区）
Strange things happen to time when you travel. Because the earth is divided into twenty-four zones one hour apart（相差）.You can have days with more or fewer than twenty-four hours, and weeks more or fewer than seven days.
If you make a five-day trip across the Atlantic Ocean(大西洋)，your ship enters a different time zone every day. As you enter each zone, the time changes one hour. Travelling west ,you set your clock back; traveling east , you set it ahead. Each day of your trip has either twenty-five or twenty-three hours.
If you travel by ship across the Pacific（太平洋）, you cross the international date line. By agreement, this is the point where a new day begins, when you cross the line, you change your calendar one full time day, backward or forward. Travelling east, today becomes yesterday; traveling west, it is tomorrow.Strange things happen to time when you travel because______.
| A．no day really has 24 hours | B．the earth is divided into time zones |
| C．time zones are not all the same size | D．no one knows where time zones are |
From this passage it seems true that the Atlantic Ocean___.
| A．is divided into five time zones | B．is divided into 24 time zones |
| C．is in one time zone | D．cannot be crossed in five days |
If you cross the ocean going west, you set your clock_____.
| A．ahead by 25 hours in a new time zone | B．one hour ahead for the whole trip |
| C．back one full day for each time zone | D．one hour back in each new time zone |
The international date line is the name for______.
| A．the beginning of any new time zone | B．the point where a new day ends |
| C．the point where a new day begins | D．any time zone in the Pacific Ocean |
A son and his father were walking on the mountains. Suddenly, his son falls, hurts himself and screams: “AAAhhhhhhhhhh!!!” To his surprise, he hears the voice repeating, somewhere in the mountains: “AAAhhhhhhhhhh!!!”
Curious, he shouts: : “Who are you?” He receives the answer:” “Who are you?” And then he screams to the mountain: “I admire you!” The voice answers: “I admire you!”
Angered at the response, he screams: “Coward (one without courage)!” He receives the answer: “Coward!”
He looks to his father and asks: “What's going on?” The father smiles and says: “My son, pay attention.”
Again the man screams at the top of his voice: “You are a champion!” The voice answers: “You are a champion!”
The boy is surprised, but does not understand. Then the father explains: “People call this ECHO (回音) , but really this is LIFE. It gives you back everything you say or do. Our life is simply a reflection of our actions. If you want more love in the world, create more love in your heart. If you want more competence in your team, improve your competence.”
This relationship applies to (适用于) everything, in all aspects of life; life will give you back everything you have given to it.”The boy is surprised because __________.
| A．he falls over his own feet. | B．his father can shout as loud as he does. |
| C．he hears his screams repeated. | D．someone calls him a coward. |
What’s the father’s attitude towards life?
| A．hopeful | B．disappointed | C．upset | D．hopeless |
Which of the following sayings is in keeping with the father’s teachings?
| A．Faith will move mountains. | B．A great talker is a great liar (说谎者). |
| C．Love me, love my dog. | D．Do well and have well. |
One day，four lawyers were riding their horses along a country road. There had been a rain. Water was dripping (滴) from the trees，and the grass was wet. They rode slowly，talking and laughing. Suddenly they heard some noises from the tree above them. “What is the matter?” asked the first lawyer. “Oh, it's only some old birds!” said the second lawyer. “The storm made one of the babies fall out of the nest. It is too young to fly, and the mother bird is very worried.” “What a pity! It’ll die down there in the grass,” said the third lawyer. “It doesn't matter. It's only a bird,” said the second lawyer. Then they rode on, talking and laughing as before. But the fourth lawyer, whose name was Abraham Lincoln, stopped. He got down from his horse and took the little one in his big warm hands.
“Never mind, my little fellow ,” said Mr. Lincoln. “I will put you back in your little nest.” He climbed up the tree and put the bird softly into their warm little home. A few minutes later, Mr. Lincoln joined them again. His shoes were covered with mud and he was wet. Then the other three laughed at him. They thought it was foolish for a strong man to do so much just for a young bird. “Gentlemen,” said Mr. Lincoln, “I could not sleep tonight if I had left the helpless bird in the grass.” Later Abraham Lincoln became very famous as a lawyer. He also became the president of America. He was one of the greatest American presidents.The reason why the mother bird was worried was that __________.
| A．there was a rain |
| B．the lawyers were under its tree |
| C．one of its babies fell out of the nest |
| D．it could not fly |
The underlined phrase “little fellow” in paragraph 2 means __________.
| A．the mother bird |
| B．Lincoln's little friends |
| C．the other three lawyers |
| D．the baby bird |
The other three lawyers laughed at Lincoln because __________.
| A．he climbed the tree |
| B．he was wet |
| C．his shoes were covered with mud |
| D．they thought it foolish for him to do so |
From the passage we know Lincoln __________.
| A．liked riding horses |
| B．was very kind and loved birds and animals |
| C．liked being laughed at |
| D．wanted to be the president of America then |