阅读理解

　　The Three Gorges Dam, the largest dam, is also the largest engineering project on the face of the earth. It aims to make the mother of all floods, the Yangtze River, into a tame river, and to generate power of 181,200 megawatts for Eastern and Central China. It will form a huge, deep water lake, and make it possible for 10,000 ton ocean going ships to sail 1,500 miles inland from the Pacific to the city of Chongqing, making it one of the world’s largest inland ports.

　　Construction has already started. The dam will be about 6,860 metres wide and 611 feet high, at a spot called Sandouping near Yichang.

　　It is obvious that such a grand project will do much good. It is the most important to control floods. By building hydropower plants, China will offer much in environmental protection.

　　However, some scientists don’t agree to the project. They say that Chongqing and dozens of other cities along the river will pollute the reservoir, which will destroy the ecological balance and also the sand from upstream will form sand-bed.

　　The Three Gorges Dam could be considered when it is finished, in 2,009, the 8th wonder of the world.

1．Which is not the purpose to build such a huge dam? ________.

[　　]

A．To prevent floods

B．To produce electricity

C．To improve the sailing conditions

D．To make it a wonder

2．Compared with the High Dam at Aswan, the Three Gorges Dam is ________ metres wider at the base.

[　　]

3．Where does the dam lie? ________.

[　　]

4．Some scientists fear that ________ when the dam is built.

[　　]

A．the ecological balance will be destroyed

B．large ships will destroy the dam

C．the Yangtze River may be too crowded

D．the amount of electricity will not be as much as expected

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

[　　]

A．China will be able to depend on the Yangtze River, the third largest river in the world, for electricity

B．Chongqing will become one of largest inland ports in the world

C．The dam will cause serious pollution

D．The dam will tame the Yangtze River

阅读理解

　　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 he 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 enjoy trying something new

B．he wanted to make a name for the 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

5．Which of the four pictures below is the closest to the igloo hotel as described in the text?

A．

B．

C．

D．

阅读理解

　　President Jiang Zemin yesterday highly praised the outstanding performance of Chinese athletes at the Sydney Olympic Games, describing their achievement as the“glory of the nation and the pride of the people”.

　　Jiang made the remarks in a speech while meeting with the Chinese Olympic delegation at the Great Hill of the People yesterday.

　　China pocketed a record of 28 gold, 16 silver, and 15 bronze medals at the Olympic Games, taking third place in the medal score behind only the United States and Russia.

　　Hailing the results as“a new breakthrough”for China, Jiang extended heartfelt congratulations to every member of the delegation and sports workers across the country on behalf of the central authorities and the whole nation.

　　The whole nation, from the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China (CPC) and the State Council to the People of all ethnic groups and overseas Chinese,“feel sincere (诚挚的)joy and incredible pride for your excellent performance,”he told the athletes.

　　He particularly mentioned that such excellent performances resulted from the“spirit of patriotism (爱国主义 ), collectivism(集体主义）and socialism,”and demonstrated (表明) the Chinese people’s enterprising (有胆量的) spirit to“constantly strive to become stronger.”

　　Jiang attributed the results to the collective efforts of the delegation leaders, the athletes and their coaches.

　　“All this shows that if all Chinese people were to unite as one they would be able to accomplish things that would attract worldwide attention,”he said.

　　He said the Chinese Government and people will give“full support”to Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.

　　The president promised this support in a letter he wrote to IOC president Juan Antonio Smaranch.

　　Jiang wrote in the letter, dated September 9:“I have received your letter concerning Beijing’s bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.”

　　“At the recent IOC Executive Board session presided over (主持) by you, Beijing has been accepted as one of the five candidate cities for the 2008 Olympic Games.”

　　“My colleague and I fully support Beijing’s Olympic bid. If the 2008 Olympic Games can be held in Beijing, a fast developing city with a long standing civilization, it will be of great significance to the Olympic Movement, to China and to the world at large.”

1．From the passage, we can infer that ________ took the second place in the medal score at the Olympic Games.

[　　]

2．China is on the way to Beijing’s bid for the ________ Olympic Games.

[　　]

3．What showed the Chinese people’s spirit to constantly strive to become stronger ?

[　　]

A．Union of athletes

B．Patriotism of athletes

C．Collectivism of athletes

D．The excellent performances of the athletes

4．Which of the following is wrong according to the passage?

[　　]

A．The Chinese athletes gained 8 gold, 16 silver, and 15 bronze medals at the Olympic Games.

B．The president attributed the performance to the collective efforts of the delegation leaders.

C．The Chinese people hope that the 2008 Olympic Games will held in Beijing.

D．The Chinese government is opposed to Beijing Bid for the 2008 Olympic Games.

阅读理解

1．There was a rapid increase in death rate ________, since ________ it has fallen steadily.

[　　]

A．1920 and also in 1945; 1950

B．1920 and also in 1932; 1945

C．1920 and also in 1930; 1942

D．1920 and also in 1930; 1945

2．Before 1920 the birth rate was ________.

[　　]

A．about 38

B．about 40 per thousand

C．about 38 per hundred

D．about 38 per thousand

3．From 1930 to 1945 the birth rate ________.

[　　]

A．had increased about 20 per thousand

B．had risen rapidly and reached about 52 per thousand

C．had reached about 42 per thousand

D．had risen and fallen two times

4．Based on the graph (图示) it can be inferred that ________.

[　　]

A．from 1918 to 1945 birth rate changed more greatly than death rate

B．with the increase of birth rate, death rate rose rapidly too

C．birth control measures are more effective(有效) since 1945

D．both birth rate and death rate almost stayed at the same level between 1900 and 1920

阅读理解

　　More than 6,000 children were expelled (开除) from US schools last year for bringing guns and bombs to school, the US Department of Education said on May 8.

　　The department gave a report on the expulsions(开除) as saying handguns accounted for 58 percent of the 6,093 expulsions in 1996～1997, against 7 percent for rifle (步枪) or shotguns and 35 percent for other types of firearms.

　　“The report is a clear sign that our nation’s public schools are cracking down (严惩) on students who bring guns to school,”Education Secretary Richard Riley said in a statement.“We need to be tough－minded about keeping guns out of our schools and do everything to keep our children safe.”

　　In March 1997, an 11-year-old boy and a 13-year-old boy using handguns and rifles shot dead four children and a teacher at a school in Jonesboro, Arkansas. In October, two were killed and seven wounded in a shooting at a Mississippi school. Two months later, a 14-year-old boy killed three high school students and wounded five in Daducah, Kentucky.

　　Most of the expulsions, 56 percent, were from high schools, which have students from about age 13.34 percent were from high schools and 9 percent were from elementary schools, the report said.

1．From the first paragraph we can infer that in the US schools ________.

[　　]

A．students enjoy shooting

B．students are eager to be soldiers

C．safety is problem

D．students can make guns

2．The report from the US Department of Education shows that ________.

[　　]

A．the number of the expulsions is not large

B．the number of the expulsions is wrong

C．there are soldiers hiding among the students

D．guns are out of controlling in US schools

3．The main idea of paragraph four shows us ________.

[　　]

A．some examples of shootings in US schools

B．the Americans’ feeling

C．some famous schools

D．that some teachers were killed by students

4．How many students were shot dead in 1997 in US schools?

[　　]

5．From this passage we know that ________.

[　　]

A．every American cannot have guns

B．only soldiers and police can have guns

C．every American citizen can own guns

D．teachers have no money to buy guns

阅读理解

　　Visitors to Britain are sometimes surprised to learn that newspapers there have such a large circulation(发行). The“Daily Mirror”and the“Daily Express”both sell about four million copies every day. British families generally buy a newspaper every morning and two or three on Sundays.

　　Besides the national papers, there is, however, another branch of the British press which sells almost as many copies. Local newspapers have a weekly circulation of 13 million. Almost every town and country area has one. Nearly all of them hold their own financially(财政) and many of them are very profitable (赚钱的).

　　These papers are written almost entirely for readers interested in local events－births, weddings, deaths, council(地方议会) meetings and sports. Editors prefer to rely on people who know the district well. A great deal of local news is regularly supplied by clubs and churches in the neighbourhood and it does not get out of date as quickly as national news.

　　The editors must never forget that the success of any newspaper depends on advertising. He is usually anxious to keep the good will of local businessmen for this reason. But if the newspaper is well written and the news items have been carefully chosen to draw local readers, the businessmen are grateful for the opportunity to keep their products in the public eyes.

1．Visitors to Britain are surprised to learn that ________.

[　　]

A．there are so many local newspapers there

B．local papers should have a circulation of four million

C．the“Daily Mirror”and“Daily Express”sell as many as 4 million copies every day

D．British newspapers are so widely read

2．Local newspapers have ________.

[　　]

A．a circulation as large as that of national newspapers

B．a daily circulation of 13 million

C．a slightly smaller circulation

D．an even larger circulation

3．Which of the following is true?

[　　]

A．Every town and country area has at least one paper of its own.

B．Nearly all towns and country areas have their own papers.

C．There is a paper, national or local, in each town and country area.

D．A lot of distant town and country areas do not have their own papers.

4．Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．A great deal of local news is supplied by the clubs and churches.

B．Local readers are much interested in local news.

C．These papers are written almost entirely for local readers.

D．These papers are likely to get out of date quickly.

5．In the writer’s opinion, the editor must remember that no paper can possibly succeed without ________.

[　　]

A．advertisements

B． interesting reports

C．a great deal of national news

D．an excellent sales manager

阅读理解

　　When a group of children politely stop a conversation with you, saying:“We have to go to work now,” you’re left feeling surprised and certainly uneasy. After all, this is the 1990s and the idea of children working is just unthinkable. That is, until you are told that they are all pupils of stage schools, and that the“work”they go off to is to go on the stage in a theatre.

　　Stage schools often act as agencies(代理机构) so supply children for stage and television work. More worthy of the name“stage school”are those few places where children attend full time, with a training for the theatre and a general education.

　　A visit to such schools will leave you in no doubt that the children enjoy themselves. After all, what lively children wouldn’t settle for spending only half the day doing ordinary school work, and acting, singing, or dancing their way through the other half of the day?

　　Then of course there are times for the children to make a name and make a little money in some big shows. Some stage schools give their children too much professional work at such a young age. But the law is very tight on the amount they can do. Those under 13 are limited to 40 days in the year; those over 13 do 80 days.

　　The schools themselves admit that not all children will be successful in the profession for which they are being trained. So what happens to those who don’t make it? While all the leading school say they place great importance on children getting good study results, the facts seem to suggest this is not always the case.

1．People would stop feeling uneasy when realizing that the children they’re talking to ________.

[　　]

A．attend a stage school

B．are going to the theatre

C．have got some work to do

D．love singing and dancing

2．In the writer’s opinion, a good stage school should ________.

[　　]

A．produce star performers

B．help pupils improve their study skills

C．train pupils in language and performing arts

D．provide a general education and stage training

3．“Professional work”as used in the text means ________.

[　　]

A．ordinary school work

B．money-making performances

C．stage training at school

D．acting, singing or dancing after class

4．Which of the following best described how the writer feels about stage schools?

[　　]

A．He thinks highly of what they have to offer.

B．He favors an early start in the training of performing arts.

C．He feels uncomfortable about children putting on night shows.

D．He doubts the standard of ordinary education they have reached.

阅读理解

　　Although April did not bring us the rains we all hoped for, and although the Central Valley doesn’t generally experience the sound and lightning that can go with those rains, it’s still important for parents to be able to answer the youthful questions about thunder and lightning.

　　The reason there two wonders of nature are so difficult for many adults to explain to children is that they are not very well understood by adults themselves. For example, did you know that the lightning we see flashing down to the earth from a cloud is actually flashing up to a cloud from the earth? Our eyes trick us into thinking we see a downward motion when it’s actually the other way around. But then, if we believed only what we think and we see, we’d still insist that the sun rises in the morning and sets at night.

　　Most lightning flashes take place inside a cloud, and only a relative few can be seen jumping between two clouds or between earth and a cloud. But, with about 2,000 thunderstorms taking place above the earth every minute of the day and night , there’s enough activity to produce about 100 lightning strikes on earth every second.

　　Parents can use thunder and lightning to help their children learn about the world around them. When children understand that the light of the lightning flashing reaches their eyes almost at the same moment, but the sound of the thunder takes about 5 seconds to travel just one mile, they can begin to time the interval(间隔) between the flash and the crash to learn how close they were to the actual spark (闪光).

1．According to the author, in the area of the Central Valley, ________.

[　　]

A．rains usually come without thunder and lightning

B．it is usually dry in April

C．children pay no attention to the two natural wonders

D．parents are not interested in thunder and lightning

2．We believe that lightning is a downward motion because ________.

[　　]

A．we were taught so by our parents from our childhood

B．we are taken in by our sense of vision

C．it is a common natural sight

D．it is a truth proved by science

3．What is TRUE about lightning according to the passage?

[　　]

A．Only a small number of lightning flashes occur on earth.

B．Lightning travels 5 times faster than thunder.

C．Lightning flashes usually jump from one cloud to another.

D．There are far more lightning strikes occurring on earth than we can imagine.

4．The underlined word activity is most closely related to the word(s).

[　　]

A．cloud

B．lightning strikes

C．lightning flashes

D．thunderstorms

5．It can be concluded from the passage that ________.

[　　]

A．we should not believe what we see or hear

B．things moving downward are more noticeable

C．people often have wrong ideas about ordinary phenomena (现象)

D．adults are not as good as children in observing certain natural phenomena

阅读理解

　　Stephen Hawking, the disabled author of A Brief History of Time is launching his second journey to China in Hangzhou of Zhejiang Province. His first visit was over 10 years ago.

　　The great theoretical scientist has been invited to attend a state-of-the-art mathematics research institute at Zhejing University, Hangzhou-based Dushi Kuaibao reported.

　　On Sunday evening, he made his début at a press conference held at Shangri-La hotel, Hangzhou. Hawking appeared at about 5:00 p.m. with his wife.

　　The 50-year-old man answered a total of nine questions with the help of his computer.

　　“Experts in theoretical science are dispersed around the world, but we need communication. I am very glad that the world’s first-class conference is being held in China this time,”he said.

　　“I find the real universe much more interesting than the one in the film Star Wars ,” Hawking joked.“I encourage young people to study theoretical physics first if they are interested in it.”

　　Stephen Hawking has worked on the basic laws which govern the universe. With Roger Penrose he showed that Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity implied (隐含) space and time would have a beginning in the Big Bang and an end in black holes. These results indicated it was necessary to unify General Relativity with Quantum Theory, the other great scientific development of the first half of the 20th century.

　　One consequence(结果) of such a unification theory would be that black holes would not be completely black, but emit (放射) radiation and eventually evaporate (蒸发) and disappear. Another conjecture (推 测) is that the universe has no edge or boundary in imaginary time. This would imply that the way the universe began was completely determined by the laws of science.

　　But the talented man who has produced such rich work suffers serious Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) (肌萎缩性脊髓索硬化). He is one of the 350,000 sufferers in the world. The disease kills over 100,000 people every year.

　　“I like life and I love life, my family and music give me the greatest happiness,”smiled Hawking, who can only move three fingers.

　　In the coming year, Hawking said he is scheduled to write a new edition of A Brief History of Time for young children.

　　“A Brief History of Time is my first book for common people. But I later found that I could write it in a more simple way,”he answered,“So I decided to rewrite it so that all people can read it easily.”

1．It is obvious that Hawking ________.

[　　]

A．comes to China for the first time

B．has never been to China before

C．has been to China twice

D．hopes to come to visit China one day

2．What do the underlined words“are dispersed”in the fifth paragraph mean?

[　　]

A．Live together.

B．Live far away from.

C．Know each other better.

D．Have connection with each other.

3．From the passage we know the nature of Hawking’s being ________.

[　　]

A．determined and humorous

B．learned and humorous

C．learned and shy

D．disabled

4．It can be inferred that Hawking ________.

[　　]

A．greatly improved Einstein’s General Theory of Relativity

B．knows a lot about Einstein’s theory

C．has A Brief History of Time published recently

D．loves nothing but his study on universe

阅读理解

　　China’s first astronaut Yang Liwei walked out of the reentry capsule(舱) of the Shenzhou 5 (Divine Vessel V) spaceship, smiling and waving to the recovery team Thursday morning in the grasslands in Gobi Desert, Inner Mongolia, state television pictures showed.

　　Yang had spent 21 hours in outer space, traveling more than 600,000 kilometres in the earth’s orbit before Shenzhou 5 brought him back at 6:07 a.m. Thursday morning Beijing time. Yang said he felt excellent after the 21-hour journey, the first by a Chinese.

　　Chinese premier Wen Jiabao said in a congratulation message Thursday morning that China’s first manned spaceflight had been a“complete success”, which should be written into the history of China’s space program development.

　　After Yang went out of the capsule, physicians immediately conducted a physical check-up of Yang, which found him in good Conditions. At around 7:40 a.m. , Yang was ferried by a military helicopter to Beijing, where a gala (祝贺) celebration party would be held.

　　At about 6:00 a. m. Thursday, guided by the Beijing Aerospace Command and Control Center, the return capsule of Shenzhou 5 entered China’s air space. Several minutes later, the capsule landed safely in Northwest China’s Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and Yang reported“conditions good”.

　　Five rescue helicopters raced towards the capsule and found it at 6:36 a.m.. They said Yang felt good and the conditions with the capsule also seemed normal.

　　At 6:51 a.m., Yang Liwei went out of the capsule on himself, waving and smiling to rescuers and reporters. Li Jinai, chief commander of China’s space program, said that, the actual landing site was 4.8 kilometers from the designed site, but the conditions of the return capsule were good and Yang could walk out of the capsule on himself. All these marked the complete success of the manned flight.

1．When Yang Liwei stepped out of the capsule, he looked ________.

[　　]

2．The capsule landed ________.

[　　]

A．far away from what it was designed

B．exactly on the place where it was designed

C．not far from what it was designed

D．away from Gobi desert

3．The passage is mainly about ________.

[　　]

A．the successful return of Shenzhou 5

B．the successful of traveling around the earth

C．the rescuing of the Shenzhou 5

D．the designing place where the capsule should land