If you’re tired of the Mediterranean and don’t want to head to Disney again, perhaps it’s time for a summer holiday in space. Russia has declared plans for its first floating hotel, 217 miles above earth, and it is something of an offering with good service.
Hosting just seven guests in a four cabins, the accommodation will boast huge windows with views back to earth and tasty microwave meals will be served instead of the ones often used by astronauts.
Just getting there will be an adventure in itself—it will take two days aboard a Soyuz rocket—and it won’t exactly be a budget holiday: A five-day stay will cost you£100, 000 to£500, 000 for your journey. The hotel is due to open by 2016 and, according to those behind it, will be far more comfortable than the International Space Station (ISS) used by astronauts and cosmonauts.
In the weightlessness of space, visitors can choose to have beds that are either vertical or horizontal. Tourists, who will be accompanied by experienced crew, will dine on food prepared on Earth and sent up on the rocket, to be reheated in microwave ovens. Many kinds of delicacies will be available.
Iced tea, mineral water and fruit juices will be available, but alcohol will be strictly prohibited. Toilets will use flowing air instead of water to move waste through the system. Waste water will be recycled.
Sergei Kostenko, chief executive of Orbital Technologies which will construct the hotel, said: “Our planned module inside will not remind you of the International Space Station. A hotel should be comfortable inside, and it will be possible to look at the Earth. The hotel will be aimed at wealthy individuals and people working for private companies who want to do research in space.” The hotel can also be used as an emergency bolthole (避难处) for astronauts aboard the International Space Station if there is a crisis.Which can be the best title of the passage?
| A.Russia declares the design for its first space hotel |
| B.The first space hotel is under construction now |
| C.The astronauts will have a second home in space |
| D.Russia has the advanced technology in exploring space |
What does the underlined word “budget” in the 3rd paragraph mean?
| A.expensive | B.worthwhile |
| C.economic | D.uncomfortable |
What kind of accommodation will the guests have in the space hotel?
| A.They will have the same food as the astronauts have. |
| B.Many kinds of drinks are available including alcohol. |
| C.Guests can have beds that are either vertical or horizontal. |
| D.Tourists are accompanied by the astronauts from the ISS. |
Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?
| A.The space hotel is built to remind you of the International Space Station. |
| B.The hotel is constructed with big windows so that tourists can see the earth. |
| C.The company, Orbital Technologies, has already begun to build the space hotel. |
| D.In the near future, a space trip for most of the people can be realized. |
Anyone who cares about what schools and colleges teach and how their students learn will be interested in the memoir(回忆录)of Ralph W. Tyler who is one of the most famous men in American education.
Born in Chicago in 1902, brought up and schooled in Nebraska, the 19-year-old college graduate Ralph Tyler became hooked on teaching while teaching as a science teacher in South Dakota and changed his major from medicine to education.
Graduate work at the University of Chicago found him connected with honorable educators Charles Judd and W. W. Charters, whose ideas of teaching and testing had an effect on his later work. In 1927, he became a teacher of Ohio State University where he further developed a new method of testing.
Tyler became well-known nationality in 1938, when he carried his work with the Eight-Year Study from Ohio State University to the University of Chicago at the invitation of Robert Hutchins.
Tyler was the first director of the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford, a position he held for fourteen years. There, he firmly believed that researchers should be free to seek an independent spirit in their work.
Although Tyler officially retired in 1967, he never actually retired. He served on a long list of educational organizations in the United States and abroad. Even in his 80s he traveled across the country to advise teachers and management people on how to set objectives(目标) that develop the best teaching and learning within their schools.
6. Who are most probably interested in Ralph W. Tyler’s memoir?
A. Top managers. B. Language learners.
C. Serious educators. D. Science organizations.
7. The words “hooked oh teaching” underlined in Paragraph 2 probably mean ________.
A. attracted to teaching B. tired of teaching
C. satisfied with teaching D. unhappy about teaching
8. Where did Tyler work as the leader of a research center for over 10 years?
A. The University of Chicago. B. Stanford University.
C. Ohio State University. D. Nebraska University.
9. Tyler is said to have never actually retired because ________.
A. he developed a new method of testing
B. he called for free spirit in research
C. he was still active in giving advice
D. he still led the Eight-Year Study
10. What cannot we learn about Ralph W. Tyler in this article?
A. When and where he was born.
B. Where he studied and worked.
C. His devotion to American education.
D. His life with his family.
In June, 2007, a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg, the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province, will begin test-launching (试发射) a satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube.
The one-kilogram Win-Cub satellite, named for its home city and its shape, will be put into low orbit. Once in space, it can perform for a few months or up to several years, communicating information that could help find the signs of earthquakes.
There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide, but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada. 30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite, in cooperation with aerospace (航空航天的) experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba, and with support from two other organizations.
The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper; it is real-world engineering, allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program. It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba. Designing, building and launching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space
“These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation (创新), and a strong love for discovery,” said Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjomson. “We want to make science more relevant, interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or, in this case, in space,” Bjomson added.
The Win-Cube program is mainly named at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students. It also shows Manitoba’s devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce—all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth.
1. According to the passage, the Win-Cube satellite is .
A. named after Manitoba and its shape
B. intended for international communication
C. designed like a Rubik’s cube both in shape and size
D. challenged by university students around the world
2. According to Mr. Bjomson, .
A. those Manitoba high school students are worth praising
B. the study of space can be practically made in classrooms
C. Manitoba high schools are famous for the study of space
D. scientific research is too far away from high school students
3. The primary purpose of the project is to .
A. find the early signs of earthquakes
B. relate studies to practical
C. help high school students study real-world engineering
D. inspire a strong desire for discovery among the students
4. Which of the following statements is WRONG?
A. In Canada there are 80 similar satellite programs in all.
B. These students will have an opportunity to learn more about engineering through the project.
C. These high school will have a strong love for discovery and be interested in science.
D. This Win-Cube program is very successful in Canada.
5. The best title for this passage may be .
A. Manitoba SchoolB. Win-Cube Program
C. Space Co-operation
D. Satellite Launching
The days of elderly women doing nothing but cooking huge meals on holidays are gone. Enter the Red Hat Society -a group holding the belief that old ladies should have fun.
“My grandmothers didn’t do anything but keep house and serve everybody. They were programmed to do that,” said Emily Cornette, head of a chapter of the 7-year-old Red Hat Society.
While men have long spent their time fishing and playing golf, women have sometimes seemed to become unnoticed as they age. But the generation now turning 50 is the baby boomers(生育高峰期出生的人), and the same people who refused their parents’ way of being young are now trying a new way of growing old.
If you take into consideration feminism(女权主义), a bit of spare money, and better health for most elderly, the Red Hat Society looks almost inevitable(必然的). In this society, women over 50 wear red hats and purple(紫色的) clothes, while the women under 50 wear pink hats and light purple clothing.
“The organization took the idea from a poem by Jenny Joseph that begins: “When I am an old woman, I shall wear purple. With a red hat which doesn’t go,” said Ellen Cooper, who founded the Red Hat Society in 1998. When the ladies started to wear the red hats, they attracted lots of attention.
“The point of this is that we need a rest from always doing something for someone else,” Cooper said. “Women feel so ashamed and sorry when they do something for themselves.” This is why chapters are discouraged from raising money or doing anything useful. “We’re a ladies’ play group. It couldn’t be more simple,” added Cooper’s assistant Joe Heywood.
1.The underlined word “chapter” in paragraph 2 means __________.
A.one branch of an organization
B.a written agreement of a club
C.one part of a collection of poems
D.a period in a society’s history
2.From the text , we know that the “baby boomers” are a group of people who
A.have gradually become more noticeable
B.are worried about getting old too quickly
C.are enjoying a good life with plenty of money to spend
D.tried living a different life from their parents when they were young
3.It could be inferred from the text that members of the Red Hat Society are .
A.interested in raising money for social work
B.programmers who can plan well for their future
C.believers in equality between men and women
D.good at cooking big meals and taking care of others
4.Who set up the Red Hat Society ?
A.Emily Cornette .B.Ellen Cooper .
C.Jenny Joseph . D.Joe Heywood .
5.Women join the Red Hat Society because .
A.they want to stay young
B.they would like to appear more attractive
C.they would like to have fun and live for themselves
D.they want to be more like their parents
You might think that “global warming” means nothing more than a rise in the world’s temperature But rising sea levels caused by it have resulted in the first evacuation(撤离)of an island nation—the citizens of Tuvalu will have to leave their homeland.
During the 20th century ,sea level rose 8—12 inches. As a result .Tuvalu has experienced lowland flooding of salt water which has polluted the country’s drinking water.
Paani Laupepa , a Tuvaluan government official ,reported to the Earth Policy Institute that the nation suffered an unusually high number of fierce storms in the past ten years .Many scientists connect higher surface water temperatures resulting from global warming to greater and more damaging storms.
Laupepa expressed dissatisfaction with the United States for refusing to sign the Kyoto Protocol, an international agreement calling for industrialized nations to reduce their greenhouse gas emissions(导致温室效应的气体排放),which are a main cause of global warming . “By refusing to sign the agreement ,the US has effectively taken away the freedom of future generations of Tuvaluans to live where their forefathers have lived for thousands of years,” Laupepa told the BBC.
Tuvalu has asked Australia and New Zealand to allow the gradual move of its people to both countries .
Tuvalu is not the only country that is vulnerable (易受影响的)to rising sea levels .Maumoon Gayoon ,president of the Maldives ,told the United Nations that global warming has made his country of 311,000 an “endangered nation”.
1.The text is mainly about .
A.rapid changes in earth’s temperature B.bad effects of global warming
C.moving of a country to a new place D.reasons for lowland flooding
2.According to scientists ,the DIRECT cause of more and fiercer storms is .
A.greenhouse gas emissions in industrialized nations
B.higher surface water temperatures of the sea
C.continuous global warming
D.rising sea levels
3.Laupepa was not satisfied with the United States because it did not .
A.agree to reduce its greenhouse gas emissions
B.sign an agreement with Tuvalu
C.allow Tuvaluans to move to the US
D.believe the problems facing Tuvalu were real
4.The country whose situation is similar to that of Tuvalu is .
A.Australia B.New Zealand
C.the Maldives D.the United States
Across the world, 1.1 billion people have no access to clean drinking water. More than 2.5 billion people lack basic sanitation.(卫生设备)
The combination proves deadly. Each year, diseases related to inadequate water and sanitation kill between 2 and 5 million people and cause an estimated 80 percent of all sicknesses in the developing world. Safe drinking water is a precondition for health and the fight against child death rate, inequality between men and women, and poverty.
Consider these facts:
●The average distance that women in Africa and Asia walk to collect water is 6 kilometers.
●Only 58 percent of children in sub-Saharan Africa are drinking safe water. and only 37 percent of children in South Asia have access to even a basic toilet.
●Each year in India alone, 73 million working days are lost to water-borne diseases.
Here are three ways you can help:
1)Write Congress
Current U.S. foreign aid for drinking water and sanitation budgets only one dollar peryear per American citizen. Few members of Congress have ever received a letter from voters about clean drinking water abroad.
2)Sponsor a project with a faith-based organization
Many U.S. religious groups already sponsor water and sanitation projects, working with partner organizations abroad. Simply put a single project by a U.S. organization can make safe water a reality for thousands of people.
3)Support nonprofit water organizations
Numerous U.S.-based nonprofits work skillfully abroad in community-led projects related to drinking water and sanitation. Like the sample of non-profits noted as follows, some organizations are large, other small-scale, some operate worldwide, others are devoted to certain areas in Africa, Asia, or Latin America. Support them generously.
1. The three facts presented in the passage are used to illustrate that________.
A. poverty can result in water-borne diseases
B. people have no access to clean drinking water
C. women’s rights are denied in some developing countries
D. safe drinking water should be a primary concern
2. The intended readers of the passage are________.
A. Americans
B. overseas sponsors
C. Congressmen
D . U.S.-based water organizations
3. The main purpose of the passage is to call on people to _________.
A. get rid of water-related diseases in developing countries
B. donate money to people short of water through religious groups
C. fight against the worldwide water shortage and sanitation problem
D. take joint action in support of some nonprofit water organizations
4. What information will probably be provided following the last paragraph?
A. A variety of companies and their worldwide operation.
B. A list of nonprofit water organizations to make contact with.
C. Some ways to get financial aids from U.S. Congress.
D. A few water resources exploited by some world-famous organizations.