The new high-speed railway line between Urumqi, capital of the Xinjiang Uygur self-governing region, and Lanzhou, capital of Gansu province, has cut train travel time by half to less than 12 hours.
The dramatic improvement will benefit many families planning reunions for Spring Festival.
"For the first time, I feel home is not that far away after all," said Liang Shaofu as he boarded a high-speed train in Urumqi with six members of his family.
The 35-year-old left Lanzhou to set up a dry fruit business in Xinjiang eight years ago, and he has now settled in Urumqi.
The 1,776-km line, which passes through Qinghai province and is the country's first high-speed railway to be built in a high-altitude region, came into service on Dec 26.
"We normally drive home for Spring Festival to avoid the difficulties of buying seven train tickets for the whole family during the peak season," Liang said. "Driving can be very tiring and dangerous sometimes, so one year we even decided not to go back to Lanzhou simply to avoid the trip.
More than 600,000 passengers traveled on the line during its first month, and the Urumqi Railway Bureau said the introduction of high-speed services will ease transport pressure during the Spring Festival peak season.
The existing usual railway line could no longer support Xinjiang's development. All passenger trains will gradually shift to the new link, leaving the old one to be used for goods. As a result, Xinjiang's annual goods ability could reach 200 million metric tons from the current 70 million.
The line passes through areas that experience high winds, and it also crosses parts of the deserted Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and the bone-dry sands of the Gobi Desert.
The project could help China to promote its high-speed railway technology abroad, said Ma Xizhang, director of the Lanzhou-Xinjiang railway project's management department in Xinjiang.How long did it take to go from Urumqi to Lanzhou by the usual train before?
| A．about 12 hours. | B．About 6 hours. |
| C．About 18 hours. | D．About 24 hours. |
What’s the main advantage of the new high-speed railway?
| A．It takes more time to go to Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| B．It will be more convenient for people all over the country to Xinjiang. |
| C．All the people in Lanzhou can return home on festivals. |
| D．It helps to improve Xinjiang’s development. |
From the passage we can learn _______.
| A．Xinjiang’s annual goods ability can increase nearly four times |
| B．the new railway technology may help more railway lines to be built abroad |
| C．the high-speed railway lines can’t be built across the bone-dry sands |
| D．the old railway lines can only carry goods now |
Which of the following is true according to the passage?
| A．The new high-speed railway line is good for all people to go home. |
| B．The new high-speed railway line benefits businessmen to carry goods. |
| C．Taking the new train is safer than driving home from Urumqi to Lanzhou. |
| D．Businessmen seldom went home for Spring Festival before. |
Different people like doing different things；different people have different hobbies. My brother is fond of collecting stamps. He has a very good collection and he is proud of it. His stamps can tell you about different people and different countries. My brother often says that his hobby is popular with people of all ages.
Collecting stamps is easy and interesting. It is great fun. You begin to learn many interesting facts about history and famous people when you start to collect stamps. At first people collect every kind of stamp. But soon they begin to make special collections. Sometimes they specialize in stamps of one subject only，for example，birds，animals，flowers or sports. Birds or sports，are your theme(主题)．This kind of collecting is called thematic. My brother's collection is thematic. His theme is fish. My best friend，Alice，is a collector too. She is fond of collecting badges(徽章)．Her collection is also thematic. Her theme is sports. She keeps her badges on the wall. When you come into her room you can see them all there.
My grandfather collected coins when he was a boy. Some people collect dolls. My uncle does. When he travels he always brings home dolls from different countries. Some people collect pictures，cups，toys，toy soldiers，books，pencils and many other things.
But collecting things is not the only hobby people have. Some people are fond of travelling or gardening. Very many boys and girls are fond of sport and that is their hobby. My aunt's hobby is taking pictures and my mother is fond of music. If you have one，what is your hobby?The underlined word “them” in Paragraph 2 refers to__________.
| A．Stamps | B．badges | C．birds | D．flowers |
From the last paragraph，we can infer that________.
| A．the writer's hobbies are travelling and gardening |
| B．collecting is a favorite hobby of many people |
| C．different people have different hobbies |
| D．boys have different hobbies from those of girls |
Which of the following is the best title for the text?
| A．Interesting hobbies | B．Wearing badges |
| C．Collecting stamps | D．Enjoying music |
The author develops the third and the fourth paragraphs mainly by________.
| A．cause and effect | B．order in space |
| C．order in time | D．examples |
Most of the sandstorms that had swept China last year came from foreign land，a Chinese official in charge of desertification（荒漠化） control said on Monday. And the invasions(入侵)could partly explain the frequent sandstorms in the country in recent years despite its achievements in desertification control.
Since the start of last spring，the north and northwestern Chinese regions had been hit by 17 sandstorms，of which，a dozen came from foreign land.
Situated in the centralAsia sandstorm region，one of the world's four largest sandstorm sources，China also suffers from sandstorms from outside the country while being blamed as a sand source to northeast Asia. The other three major sources are in Africa，North America and Australia.
The land suffering from desertification has been decreasing by 7,585 square kilometres annually in China，and the area of sandy land has also been falling by 1,284 square kilometres a year.
The shrinkage(收缩)forms a clear contrast to the fact that the land suffering from desertification and sandy feature was added by 10,400 square kilometres and 3,436 square kilometres late last century，respectively.
Currently，the desertification land in China makes up 2.64 million square kilometres，accounting for 27.46 percent of the nation's land，and its sandy land totals 1.74 million square kilometres，accounting for 18.1 percent of the country's total.What does the underlined word “decreasing” mean in Paragraph 4?
| A．Going down. | B．Going up. |
| C．Coming from. | D．Taking up. |
Where do most of the sandstorms in China come from?
| A．The northwestern Chinese regions. |
| B．The northern Chinese regions. |
| C．The western part of China. |
| D．Foreign countries. |
Which of the following is believed to be the sand source to northeast Asia?
| A．Mongolia. | B．Africa. |
| C．China. | D．Australia. |
What can we infer from this passage?
| A．The land in China suffering from desertification has been increasing greatly. |
| B．China has made achievements in its own desertification control. |
| C．The desertification land makes up nearly half of China's territory. |
| D．Little progress has been made in controlling desertification in China. |
Washington D.C.is the capital of the United States. It's the center of the national government. It's a busy，working city with a large population. But what is more，Washington is also a city of history and culture.
Washington was created in 1790，when Congress(国会)decided to place the nation's new capital in the east of the country. It was built halfway between the northern and the southern states of the America. And of course it was named after George Washington，the first President of the United States.
There are many tourist sights in Washington. One of them is the White House. This is the home and office of the President of the United States. Most visitors are，however，surprised by how small the White House actually is.
Washington is also a great culture city. The Library of Congress contains(包括)one of the largest library collections in the world. The Smithsonian Museum holds the nation's largest collection of cultural materials. And John F．Kennedy Center is a famous center of art and culture. It has many great musical and theatre performances throughout the year.The writer mainly talks about________.
| A．Washington |
| B．the history of Washington |
| C．buildings and sights in Washington |
| D．the history and culture of Washington |
From the passage we know that Washington is situated(位于)in________.
| A．the east of the USA |
| B．the center of the USA |
| C．the east，on the middle point from north to south of the country |
| D．the east and halfway away from the north |
The writer introduces Washington in the order(顺序)of ________.
| A．general introduction，sights and history |
| B．general introduction，history，sights and culture |
| C．population，history and culture |
| D．history and culture |
It can be learned from the passage that________.
| A．Washington is the largest city in the USA |
| B．Washington is also the center of economic in the USA |
| C．Washington is a young city |
| D．it is situated in the west of the USA |
In our modern world, when something wears out, we throw it away and buy a new one.
The is that countries around the world have growing mountains of because
People are throwing out more rubbish than ever before.
How did we a throwaway society ? First of all, it is now easier to an object than to spend time and money to repair it. modern manufacturing and technology, companies are able to produce products quickly and inexpensively. Products are plentiful and .
Another cause is our of disposable(一次性)products. As people we are always looking for to save time and make our lives easier. Companies thousands of different kinds of disposable products: paper plates, plastic cups, and cameras, to name a few.
Our appetite for new products also to the problem. We are buying new things.
Advertisements persuade us that is better and that we will be happier with the latest products. The result is that we useful possessions to make room for new ones.
All around the world, we can see the of this throwaway lifestyle. Mountains of rubbish just keep getting bigger. To the amount of rubbish and to protect the , more governments are requiring people to recycle materials. , this is not enough to solve(解决) our problem.
Maybe there is another way out. We need to repair our possession throwing them away.
We also need to rethink our attitudes about . Repairing our possessions and changing our spending habits may be the best way to reduce the amount of rubbish and take care of our environment.
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On May 23,1989, Stefania Follini came out from a cave at Carlsbad , New Mexico．She hadn’t seen the sun for eighteen and a half weeks ．Stefania was in a research program, and the scientists in the program were studying body rhythms （节奏）。In this experiment Stefania had spent 130 days in a cave ,30 feet in depth．
During her time in the cave, Stefania had been completely alone except for two white mice．Her living place had been very comfortable ,but there had been nothing to feel her the time ．She’d had no clock or watches , no television or radio．There had been no natural light and the temperature had always been kept at 21℃
The results were very interesting. Stefania had been in the cave for over four months, but she thought she had been there for only two. Her body clock had changed. She hadn't kept to a 24hour day, she had stayed awake for 20～25 hours and then had slept for 10 hours. She had eaten fewer meals and had lost 171 bs in weight as a result!She had also become rather depressed (抑郁).
How had she spent her time in the cave?As part of the experiment she'd done some physical and mental tests. She'd recorded her daily activities and the results of the tests on a computer. This computer had been specially programmed for the project. Whenever she was free, she'd played cards, read books and listened to music. She'd also learned French from tapes.
The experiment showed that our body clocks are affected by light and temperature. For example, the pattern of day and night makes us wake up and go to sleep. However, people are affected in different ways. Some people wake up naturally at 5:00 am, but others don't start to wake up till 9:00 or 10:00 am. This affects the whole daily rhythm. As a result, the early risers are at their best in the late morning. The late risers, on the other hand, are tired during the day and only come to life in the afternoon or evening!Stefania stayed in the cave for a long time because___________．
| A．she was asked to do research on mice |
| B．she wanted to experience loneliness |
| C．she was the subject of a study |
| D．she needed to record her life |
What is a cause for the change of Stefania’s body clock?
| A．Eating fewer hours |
| B．Having more hours of sleep |
| C．Lacking physical exercise． |
| D．Getting no natural light． |
Where does the text probably come from?
| A．A novel． | B．A news story． |
| C．A pet magazine． | D． A text |