阅读

　　Grandma Moses is among the most famous twentieth-century painters of the United States, yet she did not start painting until she was in her late seventies．As she once said of herself：“I would never sit back in a rocking chair, waiting for someone to help me．” No one could have had a more productive old age．

　　She was born Anna Mary Robertson on a farm in New York state, one of five boys and five girls．At twelve she left home and was in domestic(家庭的)service until, at twenty-seven, she married Thomas Moses, the hired hand of one of her employers．They farmed most of their lives, first in Virginia and then in New York state, at Eagle Bridge．She had ten children, of whom five survived; her husband died in 1927．

　　Grandma Moses painted a little as a child and made embroidery(刺绣)pictures as a hobby, but only changed to oils in old age because her hands had become too stiff to sew and she wanted to keep busy and pass the time．Her pictures were first sold at the local drugstore and at a market and were soon noticed by a businessman who bought everything she painted．Three of the pictures exhibited in the Museum of Modern Art, and in 1940 she had her first exhibition in New York．Between the 1930’s and her death she produced some 2, 000 pictures．Detailed and lively portrayals of the country life she had known for so long, with a wonderful sense of colour and form．“I think really hard till I think of something really pretty, and then I paint it．” she said．

阅读

　　As you explore music, you will find much that is familiar to you．You will find music which tells of interesting places and exciting things to do．You will find music which expresses feelings that are often your own．

　　Music is an expression of the people．As you explore, you will find music of people at work, at play, and in worship．You will find music expresses love of country, love of nature and love of home．Music is also an expression of the composer．As an artist the composer expresses his own musical ideals．He studies the materials of music and discovers ways of using them．He looks for new kinds of musical expression．

　　Music can suggest activities and feelings which we all share．We can enjoy playing and singing music, dancing and listening to the music of the people and the artists of different times and places．

根据短文内容选择正确答案

阅读

　　Jane Austen, a famous English writer, was born at Steventon, Hampshire, on December 16, 1775, and died on July 18, 1817．She began writing early in life, although the prejudices of her times forced her to have her books published anonymously(匿名)．

　　But Jane Austen is perhaps the best known and best loved of Bath’s many famous local people and visitors．She paid two long visits here during the last five years of the eighteenth century and from 1801 to 1806, Bath was her home．Her deep knowledge of the city is fully seen in two of her novels, Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, which are largely set in Bath．The city is still very much as Jane Austen knew it, keeping in its streets and public buildings the well-ordered world that she described so well in her novels．Now the pleasure of learning Jane Austen’s Bath can be enhanced(增强)by visiting the Jane Austen Centre in Gay Street．Here, in a Georgian town house in the heart of the city, you can find out more about Bath in Jane Austen’s time and the importance of Bath in her life and work．

　　The Centre has been set up with the help and guidance of members of the Jane Austen Society．After your visit to the Centre, you can look round the attractive shop, which offers a huge collection of Jane Austen related books, cards and many specially designed gifts．Jane Austen quizzes are offered to keep the children busy．

　　You can also have walking tours of Jane Austen’s Bath, which is a great way to find out more about Jane Austen and discover the wonderful Georgian city of Bath．The tour lasts about one and a half hours．The experienced guides will take you to the places where Jane lived, walked and shopped．

阅读理解

　　If you can’t catch the bad guy, t’s game over－this is the rule of life for computer game players in cyber-world(网络世界)．

　　But similar thoughts might be worrying US President George W．ush as he prepares for election year with the world’s most wanted man still out of his reach．

　　The hunt for Osama Bin Laden, eader of the AL-Qaida group, as been going on since the attack on New York’s World Trade Center on September 11,2001．Progress has been slow and, ith Democrat Senator John Kerry winning the race last Tuesday to challenge Bush in November’s presidential elections, he president needs results．f Osama Bin Laden can be caught before the presidential election, ush will gain an obvious advantage．

　　The American public’s support for the war in Iraq has been falling, specially as the Bush government cannot find the banned weapons(武器)that it said were in the country．ut the way the president’s popularity rose following the capture(捕获)of former Iraqi President Saddam Hussein in December shows how useful it would be if Bin Laden could be caught．

　　The latest polls suggest the election will be close, ith 48 per cent of Americans saying they will vote for Bush and 46 per cent backing Kerry．

　　In order to capture the Saudi Arabia-born AL Qaida leader, housands of US soldiers were moved from Iraq to Afghanistan earlier this week．urther efforts have been made to strengthen Afghanistan’s border(边境)area with Pakistan, ith soldiers inspecting nearby villages more frequently than before．

　　However, akistan has denied(否认)reports that US soldiers will be allowed to search for Bin Laden on its land．ush’s battles, oth at home and abroad, ill not be won easily．

阅读理解

Peaceful Use of Space Resources Drives China’s Space Program

　　China’s successful launch of its second manned spacecraft Shenzhou-6 has drawn worldwide applause．It has become the third nation in the world capable of putting men into space．

　　It is widely believed home and abroad that the latest progress made by China will surely improve national cohesiveness(内聚性)and make the country’s 1.3 billion people more confident in their future in terms of social and economic progress．

　　However, some people in and outside China describe China’s manned space program as a prestige project which yields little economic benefit．

　　They argue that billions of US dollars spent on the decade-old space program may be better used for poverty relief and education as millions of Chinese still have a poor living and many children cannot afford basic schooling．However, mankind does need to make use of space resources for sustainable human development．

　　Space technology has become increasingly important for the exploration and peaceful use of space resources due to the shrinking reserve of natural resources on the Earth．

　　Lunar reserve of isotope helium 3 is sufficient for human need for about 10,000 years, which is attractive to the mankind being troubled by high oil prices and limited oil reserve．

　　China has benefited from the dividend of its investment in space sector．Space technology has become an indispensable part of people’s daily life, such as weather forecast, telecommunications, disaster reduction, and resources prospecting．

　　Striving hard to feed its 1．3 billion people and more in the future, China has been developing improved species of crops on the basis of space technology, mostly through recoverable satellites and spacecraft．

　　Information obtained from Shenzhou-3 and Shenzhou-4 in Earth observation has been used for maritime pollution control and desertification control projects, which is useful for China and other parts of the world．

　　China has listed space technology and information technology among the country’s seven high-tech fields in its national high-tech research and development program initiated in 1986．

阅读理解

　　Maybe ten-year-old Elizabeth put it best when she said to her father, “But, dad, you can’t be healthy if you’re dead．” Dad, in a hurry to get home before dark so he could go for a run, had forgotten to wear his safety belt－a mistake 75％ of the US population make every day．The big question is why there have been myths about safety belts ever since their first appearance in cars some forty years ago．The following are three of the most common．

　　Myth Number One：It’s best to be “thrown clear” of a serious accident．

　　Truth：Sorry, but any accident serious enough to “throw you clear” is also going to be serious enough to give you a very bad landing．And chances are you’ll have traveled through a windshield(挡风玻璃)or door to do it．Studies show that chances of dying after a car accident are twenty-five times greater in case where people are “thrown clear”．

　　Myth Number Two：Safety belts“trap” people in cars that are burning or sinking in water．

　　Truth：Sorry again, but studies show that people knocked unconscious(昏迷)due to not wearing safety belts have a greater chance of dying in these accidents．People wearing safety belts are usually protected to the point of having a clear head to free themselves from such dangerous situations, not to be trapped in them．

　　Myth Number Three：Safety belts aren’t needed at speed of less than 30 miles per hour(mph)．

　　Truth：When two cars traveling at 30 mph hit each other, an unbelted driver would meet the windshield with a force equal to diving headfirst into the ground from a height of 10 meters．

阅读理解

　　A wind tunnel is a device used for testing airplanes or plane models．

　　In a wind tunnel air is blown over an airplane or a model placed in a test section．Wind tunnel test sections are different in size depending on airflow speed requirements．Some low-speed tunnels have test sections large enough for a complete small airplane．In the very high-speed tunnels used for space testing, however, the model may be as small as a pencil．

　　There are two methods of feeding air to the test section．In the continuous flow tunnel air-flow is produced by electric fans．It is forced through the tunnel to the test section, then through another tunnel section back to the starting point for refuse．

　　The other method involves storing high-pressure air in a box, sending it out by a control device to pass through the tunnel and test section into another box．This type of system is generally used for a very short period of high-speed airflow．

　　Wind tunnels are usually used to test airplanes before they are flown．Problems in an airplane can be found when it meets the high-speed airflow in the tunnels．For instance, if the wings are built so that they would weaken at high speeds, this fact can be discovered in the tunnel, saving many lives and millions of dollars．

　　In a wild tunnel scientists also find out how different planes will act at different speeds．They find out such things as how smoothly an airplane is flown, how slowly a plane can fly before it starts to drop, and how fast it can climb．

阅读理解

　　Banks view online banking as a powerful “value-added” tool to attract and keep new customers while helping to eliminate costly paper handling or teller interactions in an increasingly competitive banking environment．

　　Today, most large national banks, many local banks and credit unions offer some form of online banking, variously known as PC banking, home banking, electronic banking or Internet banking．Online banks are sometimes referred to as “brick-to-click” banks, both to tell them from “brick-to-mortar” banks that haven’t yet offered online banking, as well as from “virtual” banks that have no physical branches or tellers whatsoever．

　　The challenge for the banking industry has been to design this new service channel in such a way that its customers will readily learn to use and trust it．Most of the large banks can now offer fully safe, fully functional online banking for free or for a small cost．As more banks succeed online and more customers use their sites, fully functional online banking will likely become as common place as automatic teller machines(ATM)．

　　Online banking has a lot of advantages．Unlike your corner bank, online banking sites never close; they’re at hand 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and they’re a mouse click away．If you’re out of state or even out of the country when a money problem appears, you can log on instantly to your online bank and take care of business．Online bank sites generally carry out and confirm deals at or quicker than ATM processing speeds．Many online banking sites now offer fashionable tools to help you manage all of your valuable items more effectively．