Bill Robinson is on trial for murder（因谋杀而受审）．He grew up in a small town in Ohio and then went to Kent State University for one year．When he was nineteen years old，he was asked to join the army and was soon sent to fight in Vietnam．He was very unhappy there as he hated the war and he hated killing people．Two years later he returned home and tried to pick up where he had left off，but things were never quite the same again for the young black man．For one thing，he always had terrible dreams about the war．He could not concentrate on his studies and soon he had to leave school．Then he was fired from one job after another．He wanted to meet someone nice and get married，but he just couldn't seem to get close to anyone．He became angry easily and people avoided him．He was always lonely．Finally one day，while eating at a restaurant，Bill lost control of himself and shot someone for no reason at all．Bill's lawyer hopes that he will not be held responsible for the shooting．He hopes that the judge and the jury（陪审团）will understand that Bill was“temporarily insane（一时精神错乱）”and did not really choose to kill anyone．

1．What did Bill Robinson do after he returned from abroad？

A．He gave up the chance to go back to college．

B．He tried to go back to his normal life．

C．He picked up his things and left again．

D．He found what he had dreamed of．

2．He failed to complete his college education because he ____ ．

A. hated school

B．joined the army

C．didn't study hard

D．found it difficult to keep his mind on his studies

3．He never married because ____ ．

A．there were no nice girls around

B．he didn't care to meet any girls

C．he hadn't met girls that he liked

D．he found it hard to make friends with girls

4．The best title for this article is ____ ．

A．Robinson on Trial

B．Murder at a Restaurant

C．A Young Black Man

D．A Victim of the Vietnam War

Very often, the human eye and brain can recognize familiar shapes even if all but a few significant points are left out. It is this creative power of the human eye and brain that may someday allow profoundly deaf people to talk in sign language over a special "telephone". Researchers have found that thirteen spots of light on each hand and one spot on the nose--to show head motion and provide a reference point for hand position--are sufficient for the performing of American Sign Language. The bright spots are produced by attaching pieces of a special tape to the nose, fingertips, and wrists and adjusting a closed-circuit television system so that only the bright spots appear on the screen of the receiver. After a few minutes of familiarization, pairs of deaf people are able to communicate freely over television. Deaf people and other sign readers can, of course, understand sign language on commercial television. But widespread link-ups of television systems for personal communication are economically impossible because a standard picture requires about one thousand times more information than a telephone circuit can carry. The researchers think it likely that the simplified picture of twenty-seven moving dots used in their experiments can be reduced to the capacity of a telephone line.

　　  1. According to the passage, the person viewing the closed-circuit screen sees

　　　　   A. two hands and a face　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. bright dots

　　　　   C. a person using sign language　　　　　　　　   D. a written message

　　  2. What causes the bright spots appearing on the screen of the receiver?

　　　　   A. Movable points.　　    B. A special tape.

　　    C. Small mirrors.　　　　 D. Small lights.

　　  3. How many spots of light will be used in the new communication system?

　　　　   A. 26.　　　　  B. 13.　　　　    C. 14.　　　　　　　　 D. 27.

　　  4. Which of the following would be the best tide for the passage?

　　　　   A. A New Application of Commercial Television

　　　　 B. A Telephone for Deaf People

　　　　   C. Capabilities of the Human Eye and Brain

　　　　   D. American Sign Language

There are many problems connected with space travel. The first and greatest of them is gravity (地球引力). If you let your pencil drop to the floor, you can see gravity in action. Everything is down to the earth by magnetic force. The weight of something is another way of describing the amount of force exerted on it by gravity. A rocket must go at least 2, 500 miles an hour to take anyone beyond the gravity of the earth into space.

Another problem is the strain that a person is subjected to when a rocket leaves the ground. Anything that is not moving tends to resist movement. As the rocket leaves the ground, it pushes upward, and the person is pushed back against the chair. During this thrust, gravity exerts a force on the body equal to nine times its normal force.

Once out of the earth's gravity an astronaut is affected by still another problem—weightlessness. Here, if a pencil drops, it doesn't fall. If a glass of water is turned upside down, the water will not fall out. All of us who are used to gravity expect things to have weightless conditions. Recent long flights have shown that the body needs special exercise in a spaceship.

　　  l. As a rocket leaves the ground, an astronaut experiences a force called——.

　　　　 A. gravity　　　　　　　　   B. a push

  　　   C. downward force　　　　    D. strain

　　 2. The force of gravity an astronaut is subjected to when the rocket leaves the ground is equal to

　　　　 A. 7 times its downward force　　　　　　  B. 5 times its normal force

　　　　 C. 3 times its upward force　　　　　　　　 D. 9 times its normal force

　　 3. Which of the following is not true according to the passage?

　　　　 A. Everything is down to the earth by magnetic force.

　　　　 B. Recent long flights have shown that the body needs special exercise in spaceship.

　　　　 C. A rocket must go at most 2, 500 miles an hour to take anyone beyond the gravity of the earth into space.

　　　　 D. There are many problems connected with space travel.

　　 4. Which is the best title for this passage?

　　　　 A. Weightlessness. Gravity and Strain Are All too Difficult to Understand

　　　　 B. Gravity is the Enemy of Space Travel

　　　　 C. Space Travel Problems

　　　　 D. People Cannot Leave the Earth Because of the Air

Alaska is known for its cold and snowy weather. For many years, dog sleds (雪撬) were the only means (方式) of transportation during the long winter. Today, some Alaskans combine fun and hard work in a yearly dog sled race. The Iditarod Trail Race is the longest dog sled race in the world. It lasts from two to three weeks and covers almost seventeen hundred kilometers.

The race goes across Alaska from Anchorage to Nome. It follows trails that were once used by people who looked for gold in Alaska's wilderness. The race also follows the route of several brave Alaskans who brought medicine from Anchorage to Nome in the winter of 1925. They carried the badly needed medicine through bad storms and helped save many lives.

The race, which is held in March, is very hard for the dog sled drivers. Each day, the dogs run for about four hours and then rest for four hours. They run day and night and sometimes travel as much as 110 kilometers a day. The drivers must feed and take care of the dogs during the rest periods. Sometimes they only sleep for about two hours each day. Because the race is so hard, many drivers don't expect to win. For most of them, just being able to finish is a victory.

　　  1. During the winter of 1925——.

　　　　  A. the worst storm in Alaskan history took place

　　　　  B. several brave Alaskans brought medicine from Anchorage to Nome

　　　　  C. people looked for gold in Alaska's wilderness

　　　　  D. the first storm in Alaskan history took place

　　  2. Every dog sled in the race——.

　　　　  A. expects to win　　　　　　　　　　    B. carries medicine

　　　　  C. must be driven day and night　　　　    D. sleeps for four hours a day

　　  3. What's the best topic for this passage?

　　　　   A. The Importance of Winning

　　　　   B. Transportation in Alaska

　　　　   C. The Longest Dog sled Race in the World

　　　　   D. The Alaskan Winter

　　  4. What does the underlined word “trail” mean?

　　　　   A. ways　　　　    B. paths　　　　  C. marks　　    D. signs

Olaf Stapleton wrote a book called First and last Men, in which he looked millions of years ahead．He told of different men and of strange civilizations (文明), broken up by long ‘dark ages’ in between. In his view, what is called the present time is no more than a moment in human history and we are just the First Men. In 2 000 million years from now there will be the Eighteenth or Last Men.

    However, most of our ideas about the future are really very short-sighted．Perhaps we can see some possibilities for the next fifty years. But the next hundred? The next thousand? The next million? That’s much more difficult.

    When men and women lived by hunting 50 000 years ago, how could they even begin to picture modern life? Yet to men of 50 000 years from now, we may seem as primitive(原始的) in our ideas as the Stone-Age hunters do to us. Perhaps they will spend their days making new spundels, or struggling with their ballalators through the tribe. These words, which I have just made up, have to stand for things and ideas that we simply can’t think of.

    So why bother even to try imagining life far in the future? Here are two reasons. First, unless we remember how short our own lives are compared with the whole human history, we are likely to think our own interests are much more important than they really are. If we make the earth a poor place to live on because we are careless or greedy (贪婪) or quarrelsome,  our grand-children will not bother to think of excuses for us.

    Second, by trying to escape from present interests and imagine life far in the future, we may arrive at quite fresh ideas that we can use ourselves. For example, if we imagine that in the future men may give up farming, we can think of trying it now.  So set your imagination free when you think about the future.

1. A particular mention made of Stapleton’s book in the opening paragraph ________.

A．serves as a description of human history

B．serves as an introduction to the discussion

C．shows a disagreement of views

D．shows the popularity of the book

2. Spundels and ballalators are used in the text to refer to ______.

A．tools used in farming

B．ideas about modern life

C．unknown things in the future

D．hunting skills in the Stone Age

Decision-thinking is not unlike poker—it often matters not only what you think, but also what others think you think and what you think they think you think. The mental process (过程) is similar. Naturally, this card game has often been of considerable interest to people who are, by any standards, good thinkers.

    The great mathematician John Von Neumann was one of the founders of game theory. In particular, he showed that all games fall into two classes: there are what he called games of “perfect information”, games like chess where the players can’t hide anything or play tricks: they don’t win by chance, but by means of logic and skills. Then there are games of “imperfect information”, like poker, in which it is impossible to know in advance that one course of action is better than another.

    One mistaken idea about business is that it can be treated as a game of perfect information.  Quite the reverse. Business, politics, life itself are games which we must normally play with very imperfect information. Business decisions are often made with many unknown and unknowable factors (因素) which would even puzzle (困惑) best poker players. But few business people find it comfortable to admit that they are taking a chance, and many still prefer to believe that they are playing chess, not poker.

The subject discussed in this text is _______.

A．the process of reaching decisions

B．the difference between poker and chess

C．the secret of making good business plans

D．the value of information in winning games

Betty and Harold have been married for years. But one thing still puzzles (困扰) old Harold．How is it that he can leave Betty and her friend Joan sitting on the sofa, talking, go out to a ball game, come back three and a half hours later, and they’re still sitting on the sofa? Talking?

    What in the world, Harold wonders, do they have to talk about?

    Betty shrugs.  Talk? We’re friends.

    Researching this matter called friendship, psychologist Lillian Rubin spent two years interviewing more than two hundred women and men. No matter what their age, their job, their sex, the results were completely clear: women have more friendships than men, and the difference in the content and the quality of those friendships is “marked and unmistakable.”

    More than two thirds of the single men Rubin interviewed could not name a best friend．Those who could were likely to name a woman. Yet three-quarters of the single women had no problem naming a best friend, and almost always it was a woman. More married men than women named their wife/husband as a best friend, most trusted person, or the one they would turn to in time of emotional distress (感情危机). “Most women,” says Rubin, “identified (认定) at least one, usually more, trusted friends to whom they could turn in a troubled moment, and they spoke openly about the importance of these relationships in their lives.”

    In general, writes Rubin in her new book, “Women’s friendships with each other rest on shared emotions and support, but men’s relationships are marked by shared activities. ” For the most part, Rubin says, interactions (交往) between men are emotionally controlled  a good fit with the social requirements of "manly behavior.”

    “Even when a man is said to be a best friend,” Rubin writes, “the two share little about their innermost feelings. Whereas a woman’s closest female friend might be the first to tell her to leave a failing marriage, it wasn’t unusual to hear a man say he didn’t know his friend’s marriage was in serious trouble until he appeared one night asking if he could sleep on the sofa.”

1. What old Harold cannot understand or explain is the fact that ______.

A．he is treated as an outsider rather than a husband

B．women have so much to share

C．women show little interest in ball games

D．he finds his wife difficult to talk to

2. Rubin’s study shows that for emotional support a married women is more likely to turn to ________.

A．a male friend

B．a female friend

C．her parents

D．her husband

3. According to the text, which type of behavior is NOT expected of a man by society?

A．Ending his marriage without good reason.

B．Spending too much time with his friends.

C．Complaining about his marriage trouble.

D．Going out to ball games to often.

4. Which of the following statements is best supported by the last paragraph?

A．Men keep their innermost feeling to themselves.

B．Women are more serious than men about marriage.

C．Men often take sudden action to end their marriage.

D．Women depend on others in making decision.

5. The research done by psychologist Rubin centers around ________.

A．happy and successful marriage

B．friendships of men and women

C．emotional problems in marriage

D．interactions between men and women

Holidaymakers who are bored with baking beaches and overheated hotel rooms head for a big igloo. Swedish businessman Nile Bergqvist is delighted with his new hotel, the world’s first igloo hotel. Built in a small town in Lapland, it has been attracting lots of visitors, but soon the fun will be over.

    In two weeks’ time Bergqvist’s ice creation (作品) will be nothing more than a pool of water. “We don’t see it as a big problem,” he says, “We just look forward to replacing it.”

    Bergqvist built his first igloo in 1991 for an art exhibition. It was so successful that he designed the present one, which measures roughly 200 square meters. Six workmen spent more than eight weeks piling 1 000 tons of snow onto a wooden base；when the snow froze, the base was removed. “The only wooden thing we have left in the igloo is the front door,” he says.

    After their stay, all visitors receive a survival certificate recording their success.  With no windows, nowhere to hang clothes and temperatures below 0℃, it may seem more like a survival test than a relaxing (轻松的) hotel break. “It’s great fun,” Bergqvist explains, “as well as a good start in survival training.”

    The popularity of the igloo is beyond doubt: it is now attracting tourists from all over the world．At least 800 people have stayed at the igloo this season even though there are only 10 rooms. “You can get a lot of people in,” explains Bergqvist. “The beds are three meters wide by two meters long, and can fit at least four at one time.”

1. Bergqvist designed and built the world’s first igloo hotel because _____.

A．he believed people would enjoyed trying something new

B．he wanted to make a name for small town

C．an art exhibition was about to open

D．more hotel rooms were needed

2. When the writer says “the fun will be over,” he refers to the fact that _____.

A．hotel guests will be frightened at the thought of the hard test

B．Bergqvist’s hotel will soon become a pool of water

C．holidaymakers will soon get tired of the big igloo

D．a bigger igloo will replace the present one

3. According to the text, the first thing to do in building an igloo is _____.

A．to gather a pool of water

B．to prepare a wooden base

C．to cover the ground with ice

D．to pile a large amount of snow

4. When guests leave the igloo hotel they will receive a paper stating that _______.

A．they have visited Lapland

B．they have had an ice-snow holiday

C．they have had great fun sleeping on ice

D．they have had a taste of adventure

A child’s birthday party doesn’t have to be a hassle; it can be a basket of fun, according to Beth Anaclerio, an Evanston mother of two, ages 4 and 18 months.

    “Having a party at home usually requires a lot of running around on the part of the parents, and often the birthday boy or girl gets lost in wild excitement. But it really doesn’t have to be that way,” said Anaclerio. Last summer, Anaclerio and her friend Jill Carlisle, a Northbrook mother of a 2-year-old, founded a home party-planning business called “A Party in a Basket”. Their goal is to help parents and children share in the fun part of party planning, like choosing the subject or making a cake, while they take care of everything.

    Drawing on their experiences as mothers, they have created (制作) ten ready-to-use, home party packages. Every thing a family needs to plan a party, except the cake and ice cream, is delivered to the home in a large basket.

    “Our parties are aimed for children two to ten,” Anaclerio said, “and they’re very interactive (互动) and creative in that they build a sense of drama based on a subject. For example, at the Soda Shoppe party the guests become waiters and waitresses and build wonderful ice cream creations. ”

    The standard $ 200 package for eight children includes a basket filled with invitations, gifts, games and prizes, paper goods, a party planner and the like. For more information, call Anaclerio at 708-864-6584 or Carlisle at 708-205-9141.

1. The main purpose of writing this text is

A．to share information about party planning

B．to introduce the joys of a birthday party

C．to announce a business plan

D．to sell a service

2. The most important idea behind the kind of party planning described here is that

A．it brings parents and children closer together

B．guests play a part in the preparation of a party

C．parents are spared the trouble of sending invitations

D．it provides a subject of conversation

3. What does the underlined word “hassle”(Paragraph 1) probably mean?

A．a party designed by specialists

B．a plan requiring careful thought

C．a situation causing difficulty or trouble

D．a demand made by guests

Treasure hunts (寻宝) have excited people’s imagination for hundreds of years both in real life and in books such as Robert Louis Stevenson’s Treasure Island．Kit Williams, a modern writer, had the idea of combining the real excitement of a treasure hunt with clues (线索) found in a book when he wrote a children’s story, Masquerade,  in 1979. The book was about a hare, and a month before it came out Williams buried a gold hare in a park in Bedfordshire. The book contained a large number of clues to help readers find the hare, but Williams put in a lot of “red herrings”, or false clues, to mislead them.

    Ken Roberts, the man who found the hare, had been looking for it for nearly two years. Although he had been searching in the wrong area most of the time, he found it by logic (逻辑), not by luck.  His success came from the fact that he had gained an important clue at the start. He had realized that the words: “One of Six to Eight” under the first picture in the book connected the hare in some way to Katherine of Aragon, the first of Henry Ⅷ’s six wives. Even here, however, Williams had succeeded in misleading him. Ken knew that Katherine of Aragon had died at Kim Bolton in Cambridge shire in 1536 and thought that Williams had buried the hare there. He had been digging there for over a year is fore a new idea occurred to him.  He found out that Kit Williams had spent his childhood near Amp hill, in Bedfordshire, and thought that he must have buried the hare in a place he knew well, but he still could not see the connection with Katherine of Aragon, until one day he came across two stone crossed in Amp hill Park and learnt that they had been built in her honor in 1773.

    Even then his search had not come to an end．It was only after he had spent several nights digging around the cross that he decided to write to Kit Williams to find out if he was wasting his time there. Williams encouraged him to continue, and on February 24^th 1982, he found the reassure, It was worth ￡3 000 in the beginning, but the excitement it had caused since its burial made it much more valuable.

1. The underlined word “them” (Paragraph1) refers to _____.

A．red herrings

B．treasure hunts

C．Henry Ⅷ’s six wives

D．readers of Masquerade

2. What is the most important clue in the story to help Ken Roberts find the hare?

A．Two stone crosses in Amp hill.

B．Stevenson’s Treasure Island.

C．Katherine of Aragon.

D．Williams’ hometown.

3. The stone crosses in Amp hill were built _______.

A．to tell about what happened in 1773

B．to show respect for Henry Ⅷ’s first wife

C．to serve as a road sign in Amp hill Park

D．to inform people where the gold hare was

4. Which of the following describes Roberts’ logic in searching for the hare?

A．Henry Ⅷ’s six wives

B．Katherine’s burial place at Kim Bolton

C．Williams’ childhood in Amp hill

D．Katherine of Aragon

e．stone crosses in Amp hill Park

A．a, b, c, e, d

B．d, b, c, e, a

C．a, d, b, c, e

D．b, a, e, c, d

5. What is the subject discussed in the text?

A．An exciting historical event.

B．A modern treasure hunt.

C．The attraction of Masquerade.

D．The importance of logical thinking.