Captain Nash may have been the first to see such orange lights but he wasn’t the last. His experience was repeated many times by pilots during World War Ⅱ both in Europe and Far East.

　　   What were they? No one knows for sure, but there is an interesting theory to explain them. According to this theory, the orange lights are space animals---animals specially adapted to(适应于)life in the upper atmosphere just as some living things are adapted to life at the bottom of the sea.

　　   These space animals, the theory says, live so far up in the atmosphere that they are not in sight from the earth. They feed partly in the air and partly on energy from the sunlight. Being almost pure energy themselves, their bodies can shine at night. During the day they became invisible.

　　   Before World War Ⅱ, continues the theory, there was little radiated energy on the earth’s surface. Then came the development of rockets, nuclear power stations and something like that. The space animals are attracted to these kinds of energy of food. At night when there is no energy from the sunlight, they come down into the lower levels in search of a meal. They may even float into the range(范围)of human eyesight. This explains the fact that they have been sighted many times from the earth since 1943.

1. The main idea of this passage is that 　　  .

A. Captain Nash saw twelve orange lights traveling at a great speed

B. Captain Nash may have been the first to see lights in space

C. the orange lights are space animals according to a theory

D. the secret of nature can all be fully explained

2. The theory says that during the daytime the space animals

A. shine brightly in the sky

B. cannot be seen

C. can be in sight now and then

D. visit the earth’s surface

3. If the space animal theory is correct, the orange lights come down to the lower levels in order to 　　  

A. escape from the atmosphere

B. get the energy from the sun

C. search for man-made energy

D. produce the energy they need

4. The space animal theory would seem to suggest that 　　  .

A. living things are extremely adaptable

B. life in space is impossible for man

C. the earth is more suitable for these space animals

D. life cannot exist in the upper atmosphere

On the night of July 6,1943, a plane took off from an Air Force base in England to stop German fighters over the English Channel. Piloting the plane was Captain Thomas Nash. Looking westward, Nash saw twelve orange lights in a row, moving at a very high rate of speed. Thinking they might be a new German weapon(武器),he swung the plane around and headed directly for the lights, but they disappeared.

　　   Captain Nash may have been the first to see such orange lights but he wasn’t the last. His experience was repeated many times by pilots during World War Ⅱ both in Europe and Far East.

　　   What were they? No one knows for sure, but there is an interesting theory to explain them. According to this theory, the orange lights are space animals---animals specially adapted to(适应于)life in the upper atmosphere just as some living things are adapted to life at the bottom of the sea.

　　   These space animals, the theory says, live so far up in the atmosphere that they are not in sight from the earth. They feed partly in the air and partly on energy from the sunlight. Being almost pure energy themselves, their bodies can shine at night. During the day they became invisible.

　　   Before World War Ⅱ, continues the theory, there was little radiated energy on the earth’s surface. Then came the development of rockets, nuclear power stations and something like that. The space animals are attracted to these kinds of energy of food. At night when there is no energy from the sunlight, they come down into the lower levels in search of a meal. They may even float into the range(范围)of human eyesight. This explains the fact that they have been sighted many times from the earth since 1943.

1. The main idea of this passage is that 　　  .

A. Captain Nash saw twelve orange lights traveling at a great speed

B. Captain Nash may have been the first to see lights in space

C. the orange lights are space animals according to a theory

D. the secret of nature can all be fully explained

2. The theory says that during the daytime the space animals

A. shine brightly in the sky

B. cannot be seen

C. can be in sight now and then

D. visit the earth’s surface

3. If the space animal theory is correct, the orange lights come down to the lower levels in order to 　　  

A. escape from the atmosphere

B. get the energy from the sun

C. search for man-made energy

D. produce the energy they need

4. The space animal theory would seem to suggest that 　　  .

A. living things are extremely adaptable

B. life in space is impossible for man

C. the earth is more suitable for these space animals

D. life cannot exist in the upper atmosphere

Where we live, on the eastern shore of Maryland, the gentle waters run in and out like fingers slimming at the tips.
The Canada geese know this place, as do the white swans and ducks. In the autumn, they come home for the winter. Once or twice each year, snow and frozen rain move into the area. When this happens, if the river is at its narrowest, there is a freeze which hardens the water to the ice.
One morning, a friend of mine set the breakfast table beside the huge window, which overlooked the Tred Avon River. Suddenly she leaned forward and cried out, “There is a goose out
there.”
We saw the figure of a large Canada goose, very iii, its wings folded tight to its sides, its feet frozen to the ice.
Then from the dark sky, she saw a line of swans. They floated from the top of the sky downward and at last landed on the ice. My friend was on her feet now, with one unbelieving hand against her mouth. As the swans surrounded the frozen goose, she feared what life it still had might be pecked（啄）out by those great swan beaks.
Instead, those beaks began to work on the ice. The long necks were lifted and curved down, again and again. It went on for a long time. At last, the goose’s head lifted. Its body pulled. Then the goose was free and standing on the ice. And the swans stood in the air watching. Then, as if it had cried, “I cannot fly,” four of the swans came down around it. Their powerful beaks chipped off the ice and held in the feathers. Slowly, the goose spread its wings as far as they could go, and moved slowly into the sky.
This is a true story. I just think of it in the bad moments, and from it comes only one hopeful question:“ If so for birds, why not for man?”
【小题1】What happened to the Canada goose?

The united States has about 475,000 school buses — all painted yellow. Each day they carry more than 25,000,000 children, half of all schoolchildren in the country. But these buses, on average, use four liters of diesel (柴油) fuel to travel less than sixteen kilometers. When the school year began last fall, diesel averaged 55 cents a liter nationally. The price nearly doubled, to a dollar and 8 cents, by the end of school in June.
Bob Riley speaks for the American School Bus Council. He says fuel prices for schools are not much lower than others have to pay. As a result, schools are looking for ways to reduce transportation costs. Bus routes are being redrawn or, in some cases, canceled. Some areas are buying buses that use natural gas or other alternative fuels. Other steps include fewer field trips and less travel by sports teams. And some school districts may end any bus service not required by law.
Studies show that school buses are the safest form of transportation to and from school. The American School Bus Council says cuts in bus service are bad for children and possibly the environment. It says removing buses from the road will mean an increase in other vehicles transporting students. Spokesman Bob Riley says another concern is that reducing bus services might reduce attendance.
But it could also get more children to walk or bicycle to school. And that would surely make people happy at the National Center for Safe Routes to School. More kids walking or biking safely to school is the aim of a three-year-old federal program, part of an international movement. The goal is to increase physical activity and reduce air pollution. The United States will celebrate Walk to School Day on October eighth this year. But for some students, high fuel prices could make every day a walk-to-school day.
【小题1】What does this passage mainly tell us?

The United States has about 475,000 school buses -- all painted yellow. Each day they carry more than 25,000,000 children, half of all schoolchildren in the country. But these buses, on average, use four liters of diesel (柴油) fuel to travel less than sixteen kilometers. When the school year began last fall, diesel averaged 55 cents a liter nationally. The price nearly doubled, to a dollar and 8 cents, by the end of school in June.
Bob Riley speaks for the American School Bus Council. He says fuel prices for schools arc not much lower than others have to pay. As a result, schools are looking for ways to reduce transportation costs. Bus routes are being redrawn or, in some cases, canceled. Some areas are buying buses that use natural gas or other alternative fuels. Other steps include fewer field trips and less travel by sports teams. And some school districts may end any bus service not required by law.
Studies show that school buses are the safest form of transportation to and from school. The American School Bus Council says cuts in bus service are bad for children and possibly the environment. It says removing buses from the road will mean an increase in other vehicles transporting students. Spokesman Bob Riley says another concern is that reducing bus services might reduce attendance.
But it could also get more children to walk or bicycle to school. And that would surely make people happy at the National Center for Safe Routes to School. More kids walking or biking safely to school is the aim of a three-year-old federal program, part of an international movement. The goal is to increase physical activity and reduce air pollution. The United States will celebrate Walk to School Day on October eighth this year. But for some students, high fuel prices could make every day a walk-to-school day.
68. What does this passage mainly tell us?
A. High fuel prices' influences on school buses.  B. New measures to transport school students.
C. The safest form of student transportation.          D. The origin of Walk to School Day.
69. Which of the following information is implied in the first paragraph?
A. There are too many school buses in the United States.
B. There are too many students in the US.  
C. Diesel prices are going up too rapidly in the US.
D. School buses consume too much diesel in the US.
70. In order to cut down transportation cost, many schools take the following measures EXCEI _____.
A. changing some bus routes                B. stopping some bus routes
C. asking parents to drive children to school     D. using other types of fuels
71. The National Center for Safe Routes to School encourages more children to walk or bike to school in order to ________.
A. save more fuels and diesel for the country.
B. keep the children safe on their way to school
C. make the children live a simple life
D. keep the children healthy and the environment clean