Bexley Middle School eighth-graders won the grand prize at the 2009 National Engineers Week Future City Competition (TM) on Feb. 18 in Washington, D.C. They competed with 37 other schools across the country.
The students qualified for the national competition by winning a regional competition on Jan. 17 in Columbus. By winning the national event, the students earned an all-expenses paid trip to Space Camp in Huntsville, Ala., according to a Bexley school district news report.
Future City aims to stir (激发) interest in science, technology, engineering and math among young people. Bexley team members were Tom Krajnak, Abby Sharp, Wyatt Peery, Elizabeth Maher, Aaron Hutchinson and Truman Haycock. They work in teams under the guidance of a teacher, Margaret Englehardt, and a volunteer engineer, Mark Sherman, design and build a city of tomorrow. Mayor John Brennan presented the students during a recent Bexley City Council meeting. Each team in the Future City competition plans its city using Sim City software and creates a model to show a physical representation of one section of the city. Team members must write both an essay about the yearly theme and an abstract about their city. They also must make a presentation to judges.
Focusing on eco-responsibility, the Bexley team built “Novo-Mondum,” an Icelandic city in the year 2171. Krajnak said the team’s project included a new water system for each resident unit and a 500-word essay on using bacteria to purify water. “We used our essay and abstract (摘要) to build a model,” he said. “It was hard to organize which building would go where, what each building does and how to make it look good.”
Englehardt said her students did a good job answering impromptu (即席) questions during the regional competition. “They can think on their feet,” she said. Principal Harley Williams said the school is very proud of the students’ performance.
【小题1】.. From the passage we can learn that the grand prize winners will _________.

A．receive scholarship for further studies

B．get a free trip to Space Camp in Huntsville

C．earn a large sum of money for their designs

D．be admitted to universities without exams

A．always stand still in the competition

B．react very quickly to the questions

C．prepare for the questions in advance

D．take pride in the advisers’ performance

London: It’s well known that Charles Darwin’s famous theory of evolution annoyed many people because it was against the Biblical view of creation. But few know that it also created problems for Darwin at home with his deeply religious wife, Emma.
“Darwin held back the publication of On the Origin of Species to avoid offending (触怒) his wife,” says Ruth Padel, the naturalist’s great – great – granddaughter. “Emma told him that he seemed to be putting God further and further off”, Padel says in her north London home. “But they talked it through, and Emma once said, ‘Don’t change any of your ideas for fear of hurting me.’”
As the world celebrates the 200th birthday of the man who changed scientific thought forever and the 150th anniversary of his book today, even his opponents admitted he was a giant figure.
Though opposition to his theory continues, it is the elegant explanation of how species evolutes through natural selection that makes his 200th birthday such a major event.
More than 300 celebrations have been planned in Britain alone, where Darwin's face graces (使增光)the 10-pound bill along with that of Queen Elizabeth II.
Shrewsbury, the central England town where Darwin was born and raised, is holding a month-long festival for its most famous son. Down House, his former home near London, will hold a permanent exhibition recreating some of his most famous experiments.
Many more events have been planned all over the world.
What would he be doing if he were alive today? Padel thinks he would properly be studying DNA and the immune system.
【小题1】The main purpose of the author is          .

Elizabeth Blackwell was born in England in 1821, and moved to New York City when she was ten years old. One day she decided that she wanted to become a doctor. That was nearly impossible for a woman in the middle of the nineteenth century. After writing many letters asking for admission(录取) to medical schools, she was finally accepted by a doctor in Philadelphia. She was so determined that she taught school and gave music lessons to get money for the cost of schooling.
In 1849, after graduation from medical school, she decided to further her education in Paris. She wanted to be a surgeon(外科医师) , but a serious eye problem forced her to give up the idea.
Upon returning to the United States, she found it difficult to start her own practice because she was a woman. By 1857 Elizabeth and her sister, also a doctor, along with another woman doctor, managed to open a new hospital, the first for women and children. Besides being the first woman physician and founding her own hospital , she also set up the first medical school for women.
【小题1】Why couldn’t Elizabeth Blackwell realize her dream of becoming a surgeon?

Educators and explorers Will Steger, John Stetson, Elizabeth Andre and Abby Fenton joined four Inuit hunters on a 1,200-mile, four-month-long dog-seld expedition (考察队) across the Canadian Arctic’s Baffin Island.
The expedition is travelling with four Inuit dog teams over traditional hunting paths, up frozen rivers, through steep-sided bays, over glaciers and ice caps, and across the sea ice to reach some of the most remote Inuit village of the world.
The travelers wake up early around 6 a. m . During the course of the day they are able to travel about 17 miles. They hope to be able to travel 25 miles or 30 miles per day. They manage their body temperature by adding or taking off layers depending on their level activity.
Team member Elizabeth Andre had to leave the expedition because of frostbite(冻伤) . She was disappointed to miss part of the expedition, but leaving the field was the right decision to protect her fingers from any more damage. She will rejoin the expedition in Pangnirtung, the next village. Elizabeth feels how tough the weather condition can be in the Arctic. She is beginning to appreciate how much skill and knowledge of the environment the Inuit people have.
The expedition team plan to eat a combination of country foods from Iglulik, fresh meat hunted on the trail, and dried food packed out from Steger’s homeland in Minnesota.
The expedition members have already begun to notice the effects of global warming. Theo, a native Inuit traveling with the team, points out that “Looking at what we saw today －we saw that there haven’t been caribou(驯鹿) tracks for a long time. Usually, you look out of your window in Iqaluit and you see them. Now numbers are down”. Theo was born in an igloo(冰屋)and has lived in Inuit for most of his life.
49. The main purpose of the expedition is to_______.
A. experience the hard life of Inuit
B. appreciate the beautiful environment of Inuit village
C. do some research about the Inuit’s life style
D. explore the effects of global warming
50.          of the expedition team members didn't miss any part of the expedition.
A. Four       B. Six       C. Seven      D. Eight
51. The author gives an example of the caribou to show that_______.
A. global warming has had bad effects on the environment there
B. caribous are dying out because of the cold weather
C. the Inuit hunters have killed too many wild animals
D. good measures haven’t been taken to protect wild animals
52. From the text we can learn that_______.
A. the expedition team will walk across the Arctic
B. the expedition members only eat their packed food
C. the final stop for the expedition team is Pangnirtung
D. traveling to Inuit villages needs skill and knowledge of the environment.