The Washington post – NASA’s newest space habitat looks sort of like a kids’ moon bonce, a big, bright, inflatable globe that could be lots of fun to play in. Soon astronauts on the International Space Station could get the chance to try . The expandable habitat made by Bigelow Aerospace recently passed NASA’s strict certification requirements and is scheduled to be flown to the station in September.
Called the BEAM ( Bigelow Expandable Activity Module), the habitat would be attached to the space station, where it would stay for two years. While there, it would be tested to see how it handles the rigors of space – the radiation, the station’s movement and even how it stands up to the debris (碎片) flying around in orbit.
The private Las Vegas company, founded by millionaire real estate mogul(地产大亨) Robert Bigelow, won a $17.8 million contract from NASA to provide the module to the space station.
“Today is the first step, but it’s a big step,” said Bigelow’s George Zamka. Replace the space station or make it larger. It also hopes to build the habitats on the moon. Its B330 module would be even bigger, with 330 cubic meters of internal (内部的 ) space. The modules could be connected. Creating research facilities, the company says, or even space hotels.
In an interview ,NASA’s William Gerstenmaier, said he was eager to see how the module performs , and said he was especially pleased “ to see how the private sector can step up and help us meet our requirements.” The module will be flown to the space station by SpaceX, the first commercial company to resupply the space station.
What would be the best title for this passage?
| A．NASA’s space habitats flown to the station. |
| B．NASA’s space habitat it the station. |
| C．NASA’s new expandable space habitat. |
| D．NASA’s newest inflatable globe. |
Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
| A．NASA’s newest space habitat is a kids’ moon bounce. |
| B．Astronauts of Bigelow Aerospace could get the chance to try the space habitat. |
| C．NASA was founded by Robert Bigelow. |
| D．The B330 module to be built on the moon would be with an inside space of 330 cubic meters. |
The underlined word “rigors” in Paragraph 2 refers to “_________”.
| A．difficulties | B．environments |
| C．movements | D．changes |
The passage is most probably taken from ________.
| A．a newspaper | B．a booklet |
| C．a magazine | D．a science fiction |
During the summer holidays there will be a revised (修改过的) schedule (时刻表) of services for the students. Changes for dining-room and library service hours and for bus schedules will be posted on the wall outside of the dining-hall . Weekly film and concert schedules, which are being arranged(安排)，will be posted each Wednesday outside of the student club.
In the summer holidays, buses going to the town center will leave the main hall every half hour during the day. The dinning-room will serve three meals a day from 7:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m. during the week and two meals from noon to 7:00 p.m. on weekends. The library will continue its usual hours during the week, but have shorter hours on Saturdays and Sundays. The weekend hours are from noon to 5:00 p.m.
All students who want to use the library borrowing services must have a new summer card. This announcement will also appear in the next week’s student newspaper.The main purpose of this announcement is to______.
| A．tell students of important schedule changes |
| B．tell students of new bus and library services |
| C．show the excellent services for students |
| D．ask students to renew their library cards |
At which of the following times will the bus leave the main hall?
| A．8:00, 9:00, 10:00, 11:00 | B．8:30, 9:30, 10:30, 11:30 |
| C．8:30, 9:00, 9:30; 10:00 | D．8:00, 9:30, 11:00, 12:30 |
Times for films and concerts are not listed in this announcement because______.
| A．they are not to be announced | B．they are hard to arrange |
| C．the full list is not ready | D．the full list is too long |
In the summer holidays, the library will have______.
| A．no special hours |
| B．special hours on weekdays |
| C．special hours on weekends |
| D．special hours both on weekdays and weekends |
WELCOME TO YOUR FREE ISH MEMBERSHIP
Your Membership
International Students House is a unique, cultural and recreational centre providing a wide programme of events for students 310 days a year.
Located in a fashionable and safe neighborhood, close to Regent's Park, ISH is a central place to meet students from Britain and around the world.
ISH provides all its members with the opportunity to enjoy a wide variety of sports and hobbies in a friendly and fun environment. Many of the activities are free of charge as part of membership, while some charge a small fee.
Membership is open to all full-time students, professional trainees and student nurses.
LEARN
Lecture Series:
ISH organizes a number of lively, topical lectures of political and contemporary(同时代的) interest by famous speakers.
Language Classes
A variety of weekly language classes which in the past have included English, Spanish, Japanese and Italian.
ISH tries to offer as many development and educational programmes as possible for its members. Look out for additional workshops and leadership programmes. E--mail: learn @ish.org.uk.
CREATE
Sunday Cinema:
Films are shown every Sunday evening at 19∶30 including recent blockbusters(大片), theme nights and classics.
Classes:
Show your talents or learn from the beginning with our various classes and workshops which include Life Drawing, Photography, and Drama.
Throughout the year ISH holds numerous exhibitions, recitals(公演) and performances put on by the students. To get more information, e-mail: create @ish.org.uk.
TRAVEL
Travel Club:
The Travel Club runs a comprehensive (广泛的)schedule of day and weekend trips to British and European destinations. Students get the chance to explore new parts of the UK and meet people from all over the world. Sightseeing, canoeing, hiking, eating out, socializing and meeting local people are what you can expect to experience during the trips. E-mail: travel @ish.org.uk.
ACTIVE
Classes:
Try out our Martial Arts and Fitness Classes every week night including Kick Boxing, Tai Chi, Kung Fu and Shaolin as well as Yoga, and Aerobics classes. All our classes are run by qualified and professional instructors.
Sports:
Join in our recreational and team sports such as football, volleyball, running, table tennis, and chess.
ISH Dangerous Sports Club:
We also organize such activities as go-karting, pain-balling and adventure weekends. E--mail: active @ish.org.uk.If you are a member of ISH, you can do all the following except ______.
| A．traveling to some European countries |
| B．attending all kinds of interesting lectures |
| C．attending French classes |
| D．meeting students from all around the world |
If you want to learn to take photos, which of the following e-mail addresses is useful to you?
| A．learn @ish.org.uk. | B．travel @ish.org.uk. |
| C．active @ish.org.uk. | D．create @ish.org.uk. |
If you like some adventure on weekends, you'd better _______.
| A．join ISH Dangerous Sports Club | B．join the Travel Club |
| C．go to Sunday Cinema | D．take some Fitness Classes |
Ask someone what they have done to help the environment recently and they will almost certainly mention recycling. Recycling in the home is very important of course. However, being forced to recycle often means we already have more material than we need. We are dealing with the results of that over-consumption in the greenest way possible, but it would be far better if we did not need to bring so much material home in the first place.
The total amount of packaging increased by 12% between 1999 and 2005. It now makes up a third of a typical household’s waste in the UK. In many supermarkets nowadays food items are packaged twice with plastic and cardboard.
Too much packaging is doing serious damage to the environment. The UK, for example, is running out of it for carrying this unnecessary waste. If such packaging is burnt, it gives off greenhouse gases which go on to cause the greenhouse effect. Recycling helps, but the process itself uses energy. The solution is not to produce such items in the first place. Food waste is a serious problem, too. Too many supermarkets encourage customers to buy more than they need. However, a few of them are coming round to the idea that this cannot continue, encouraging customers to reuse their plastic bags, for example.
But this is not just about supermarkets. It is about all of us. We have learned to associate packaging with quality. We have learned to think that something unpackaged is of poor quality. This is especially true of food. But it also applies to a wide range of consumer products, which often have far more packaging than necessary.
There are signs of hope. As more of us recycle, we are beginning to realize just how much unnecessary materials are collecting. We need to face the wastefulness of our consumer culture, but we have a mountain to climb. What does the underlined phrase “over-consumption” refer to?
| A．Using too much packaging. | B．Recycling too many wastes. |
| C．Making more products than necessary. | D．Having more material than is needed. |
The author uses figures in Paragraph 2 to show _______.
| A．the tendency of cutting household waste | B．the increase of packaging recycling |
| C．the rapid growth of super markets | D．the fact of packaging overuse |
According to the text, recycling ______.
| A．helps control the greenhouse effect |
| B．means burning packaging for energy |
| C．is the solution to gas shortage |
| D．leads to a waste of land |
What can we learn from the last paragraph?
| A．Fighting wastefulness is difficult. |
| B．Needless material is mostly recycled. |
| C．People like collecting recyclable waste. |
| D．The author is proud of their consumer culture. |
Life will probably be very different in 2050. First of all, it looks as though TV channels will have disappeared by 2050. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programmers, newspapers and books will come to us in this way.
In many places, agriculture is developing quickly and people are growing fruit and vegetables for export. This uses a lot of water. Therefore, there could be serious shortages. Some futurologists (未来学家) predict that water could be the cause of wars if we don’t act now.
In future, cars will run on new，clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are．By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Also, by 2050, space planes will fly people from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just two hours.
A number of large companies now use robots instead of people who ask for pay rises, or go on strike, and can not work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people see and hear again. In the last few years, scientists have discovered how to control genes and have already produced clones of animals. By 2050，scientists will be able to produce clones of people and decide how they look, how they behave and how much intelligence they have. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?By 2050, people will get information mainly by _______.
| A．watching TV | B．reading newspapers |
| C．listening to the radio | D．turning to a website |
From the second paragraph, we learn that _______.
| A．the demand for water will increase a lot in the future |
| B．future wars will lead to an increasing need for water |
| C．there can be no agriculture without enough water |
| D．the population will decrease for lack of water |
Which of the following is NOT a reality at the present time?
| A．Scientists have found out how to control some genes. |
| B．Cars have computers which tell drivers their positions. |
| C．People can learn about what has happened anywhere on the Internet. |
| D．Robots have completely replaced humans in some factories. |
What will play the biggest part in the quality of life in the future?
| A．Medicine. | B．Technology. | C．Education. | D．Agriculture |
Onceupon a time there was a wise man that used to go to the sea to do his writing. Hehad a habit of walking on the beach before he began his work.One day he waswalking along the shore. As he looked down at the beach, he saw a human figuremoving like a dancer. He smiled to himself at the thought that someone woulddance on the beach. So he began to walk faster to catch up. As he got closer, hesaw that it was a young man and the young man wasn’t dancing, but instead he wasreaching down to the shore, picking up something and throwing itinto the ocean. As he got closer, he called out, “Good morning! What are youdoing?’’
Theyoung man paused, looked up and replied, “Throwingstarfishes(海星)in theocean.”
“I guess I should have asked, why are you throwing starfishes in the ocean?”
“The sun is up and the tide is going out.And if I don’t throw them in, they’ll die”
“But, young man, don’t you realize thatthere are miles and miles of beach and starfishes all along it. You can’tpossibly make a difference!”
Theyoung man listened politely. Then he bent down, picked another starfish andthrew it into the sea, and said, “It made a difference for that one.”Thereissomething very special in each and every one of us. We have all beengifted with the ability to make a difference. And if we can know that gift, wewill gain through the strength of our vision the power(力量) toshape the future.
We musteach find our starfish. And if we throw our starfish wisely and well, the worldwill be better.One day, the wise man saw a young man _______.
| A．dancing along the beach | B．walking with a dancer |
| C．picking up starfish for sale | D．trying to save as many starfishes as possible |
The underlined words “something very special” refers to ________.
| A．the gifts from friends | B．the strength of making decision |
| C．our own starfish | D．the ability to make a difference |
From the last two paragraphs, we can learn that ________.
| A．the wise man realized something new and important |
| B．the wise man thought it was foolish of the young man to throw starfishes in the ocean. |
| C．the young man had the ability to make a difference |
| D．it is necessary for us to save starfish on the beach |
The writer told this story to show us _____.
| A．how and where we can write a good article |
| B．everyone can do something for the future |
| C．wise men are sometimes stupid |
| D．young men are in fact wiser than old people |