Bowen was grown-up, and for his birthday that year his father gave him a     without any pictures in it!

Bowen’s father found he was not     about it, and told him, “Son, this isn’t just any     book; it’s a magic (有魔力的) book. But to discover its magic you’ll have to     it.”

Well, that was better. Bowen liked     to do with magic. He started reading it,     he wasn’t very willing to.

The next morning, his     asked him, “Have you found the magic     ?”

So… there was a key to find! Bowen flicked through (快速翻阅) the book, but there was no     of the key.

And then his father     him, “You won’t find it like that. You have to read the book. ”

Bowen didn’t have much patience (耐心) , thinking his father just told a     .A little later, his little sister, Rainer, asked him      the book. After several days, she     shouted, “I’ve found the key! ” And she wouldn’t stop     all the places she had visited using the magic key.

This made Bowen read the book again. At first it was a     ; there wasn’t even one single     in the book. But, gradually, Bowen became     the adventurous (冒险的) prince’s life. Then, suddenly, he was there.

The book     was the key!

It was true that every time he     it, he felt going to its valleys and seas, and he lived the adventures of the prince.

From then on, with every new book, Bowen never     being attracted by the letters and words inside.

1.A. diary       B. book           C. box             D. bag

2.A. sad        B. surprised      C. happy D. angry

3.A. ordinary  B. special        C. new     D. famous

4.A. keep     B. take          C. read    D. value

5.A. somebody  B. everything        C. nothing       D. anybody

6.A. though     B. so                C. and          D. or

7.A. uncle       B. father           C. mother               D. aunt

8.A. key        B. page              C. word        D. stick

9.A. mark       B. signal             C. sign          D. way

10.A. asked       B. praised        C. told        D. followed

11.A. will         B. story           C. joke         D. lie

12.A. for          B. of            C. to           D. back

13.A. badly        B. happily               C. slowly         D. quickly

14.A. working out  B. turning down          C. talking about         D. looking for

15.A. pity         B. pleasure              C. success      D. pain

16.A. note         B. picture              C. text          D. title

17.A. interested in  B. busy with   C. tired of      D. good at

18.A. it          B. yourself                C. itself         D. himself

19.A. put        B. opened                C. threw        D. covered

20.A. stopped    B. tried                   C. felt          D. began

It’s nearly noon on a Saturday and you can’t believe it: your teenager is still in bed, sleeping away. But before you wake him up---mumbling to yourself that you can’t believe what a lazybones he is---you should know that he probably needs all the zzzs he can get.

As much as nine hours of sleep a night, in fact. Furthermore, teens’ circadian rhythms (i.e., processes that occur once a day) mean that young people would rather stay up past midnight and rise after 9 a.m. The result? Many teens stay up late, drag themselves out of bed early for school and try to make up the sleep debt on the weekends---or in class!

“There’s a biological reason why teens stay up late and want to sleep late,” says Dr. Stan Kutcher, the Sun Life Chair of Adolescent Mental Health at Dalhousie University in Halifax. “Their natural sleep-wake cycle changes as part of the maturation process. And because of changes in their social activities, recovering from sleep debt is more problematic.”

Teens need extra sleep for several reasons. First, their brains are changing. “The brain is reorganizing itself, laying down new pathways. What we’re seeing is a relationship between brain redevelopment and an increased need for sleep,” says Kutcher. As well, growth hormones are released during sleep, so adequate sleep is crucial for adolescents’ physical development. In addition, everything adolescents have learned in school that day is being processed and locked into long-term memory during sleep. Sufficient sleep also plays a key role in overall physical health. The immune system, for example, needs deep sleep to become and remain robust(healthy).

Staying up late on school nights means that, on average, teens get between six and a half and seven hours of sleep a night---about two hours less than they need. As a result, many either doze off in class or have trouble concentrating. Some of the behavioural problems and irritability in teens can be linked directly to sleep deprivation(损失), Kutcher says.

Then there’s the breakfast issue. Dr. Carlyle Smith, a sleep researcher and a psychology professor at Trent University in Peterborough, Ont., adds that many teens simply cannot tolerate food when they first wake up, so skipping breakfast becomes another factor in reduced alertness in class. The most obvious solution to the teen sleep problem is to have school start later in the day, but initiatives(积极性) toward this across the country have gone nowhere, Smith says, mainly because of costs and resistance from school boards and teachers.

So for now, just sympathize with your teens. Encourage them to go to bed, if not early, then at least at a regular time, so they won’t develop insomnia from erratic(不稳定的) schedules. Warn them not to have too many caffeinated drinks before bed. And don’t let sleeping away the weekend become an issue to fight over. Schedule family activities to take place later in the day on weekends and let them sleep in. “If you want your kids to grow and remember stuff, let them sleep,” says Smith. “It’s not laziness. Their brains are working really, really hard.”

1.The word “zzzs” (Paragraph 1) most probably means __________.

A．food             B．sleep             C．energy           D．blame

2.What causes teenagers to be less sleepy late at night and more sleepy early in the morning?

A．Caffeinated drinks.

B．Too much family activities.

C．Circadian rhythms.

D．Too much homework.

3.How many reason why teens need extra sleep are mentioned in Paragraph 4?

A．Three.            B．Four.             C．Five.             D．Six.

4.One of the reasons why many teenagers fail to have better performances in class is that __________.

A．teenagers go to bed early and sleep late

B．teenagers stay up late and get up late

C．teenagers participate in too many social activities at night

D．teenagers skip breakfast because of sleeping in

5.The author wrote this article to __________.

A．advise parents to let sleeping teenagers lie

B．explain why teenagers often sleep late

C．state schools should start late in the day

D．warn teenagers not to drink coffee before bed

Some futurologists have assumed that the vast upsurge(剧增)of women in the workforce may portend a rejection of marriage. Many women, according to this hypothesis, would rather work than marry. The converse(反面)of this concern is that the prospects of becoming a multi-paycheck household could encourage marriage. In the past, only the earnings and financial prospects of the man counted in the marriage decision. Now, however, the earning ability of a woman can make her more attractive as a marriage partner. Data show that economic downturns tend to putting off marriage because the parties cannot afford to establish a family or are concerned about rainy days ahead. As the economy comes to life, the number of marriages also rises.
The increase in divorce rates follows to the increase in women working outside the home. Yet, it may be wrong to jump to any simple cause-and-effect conclusions. The impact of a wife’s work on divorce is no less cloudy than its impact on marriage decisions. The realization that she can be a good provider may increase the chances that a working wife will choose divorce over an unsatisfactory marriage. But the reverse is equally plausible(似是而非的). Tensions grounded in financial problems often play a key role in ending a marriage. By raising a family’s standard of living, a working wife may strengthen her family’s financial and emotional stability.
Psychological factors also should be considered. For example, a wife blocked from a career outside the home may feel caged in the house. She may view her only choice as seeking a divorce. On the other hand, if she can find fulfillment through work outside the home, work and marriage can go together to create a stronger and more stable union.
Also, a major part of women’s inequality in marriage has been due to the fact that, in most cases, men have remained the main breadwinners. A working wife may rob a husband of being the master of the house. Depending upon how the couple reacts to these new conditions, it could create a stronger equal partnership or it could create new insecurities.

1. 1.

   The word “portend” (Line 2, Para.1) is closest in meaning to“_____”.

   1. A.
      defy
   2. B.
      signal
   3. C.
      suffer from
   4. D.
      result from
2. 2.

   It is said in the passage that when the economy slides_____.

   1. A.
      men would choose working women as their marriage partners
   2. B.
      more women would get married to seek financial security
   3. C.
      even working women would worry about their marriages
   4. D.
      more people would prefer to remain single for the time being
3. 3.

   If women find fulfillment through work outside the home,_____.

   1. A.
      they are more likely to dominate their marriage partners
   2. B.
      their husbands are expected to do more housework
   3. C.
      their marriage ties can be strengthened
   4. D.
      they tend to put their career before marriage
4. 4.

   One reason why women with no career may seek a divorce is that_____.

   1. A.
      they feel that they have been robbed of their freedom
   2. B.
      they are afraid of being bossed around by their husbands
   3. C.
      they feel that their partners fail to live up to their expectations
   4. D.
      they tend to suspect their husbands? loyalty to their marriage
5. 5.

   Which of the following statements can best summarize the authors view in the passage?

   1. A.
      The stability of marriage and the divorce rate may reflect the economic situation of the country.
   2. B.
      Even when economically independent, most women have to struggle for real equality in marriage.
   3. C.
      In order to secure their marriage women should work outside the home and remain independent
   4. D.
      The impact of the growing female workforce on marriage varies from case to case.

The Government should raise taxes on air travel and high-polluting cars in order to help the environment, an important committee of MPs  has said. It also said that the 70 mph speed limit on motorways should be reduced or enforced to bring down the amount of carbon dioxide given off by cars The House of Common Environmental Audit committee’s latest report said that transport was the only sector（部门）of the UK where carbon emissions have continued to rise since 1990.

It said it was time for the Government to make demand for cheap air impossible by raising air passenger tax. Emissions from air traffic have risen by 5 times as much since 1900 and are continuing to rise.

The committee welcomed the recent introduction of changed car tax, which means that the lowest-carbon cars pay no road tax, while gas-guzzling（耗油的）4×4s pay an increased rate of ￡210. However, the MPs say it doesn’t go far enough and are calling for a top limit of ￡1,800 with lower limit of ￡200.

Committee chairman Tim Yeo said : “Air travel in particular is the fastest growing source of CO₂, with emissions more than five times since 1900. The Government should take much more decisive action to reduce the difference of income favor of trains, buses, and lower carbon cars and lorries.”

Friends of the Earth’s senior organizer Tony Bosworth said: “Emissions from transport are still rising and forecasts suggest they will carry on rising for years to come.”

“Tinkering（随意或部分修补）around the edges is no longer enough to deal with the greatest threat the world faces.” A spokesman for the Department for Transport said: “Dealing with carbon emissions in transport is a key problem.”

1．What is the purpose of Government’s raising taxes on air travel and high-polluting cars?

A．To reduce the number of the planes and cars

B．To make more money

C．To encourage people to travel by bus or by rail.

D．To help the environment.

2．The underlined word “emissions” in this passage probably means “          ”

A．having a bad effect                              B．producing or raising

C．sending out (gas or heat etc.)                D．doing a lot of harm

3．According to the changed car tax, if you have a lower-carbon car, you will pay         .

A．no road tax          B．less road tax        C．more road tax      D．a little road tax

4．Which of the following is the best title for the passage?

A．Transport is the biggest polluter

B．Raise taxes on air travel and high-polluting cars

C．Deal with greatest threat the world faces

D．Air travel in particular is the fastest growing sources of CO₂

The space shuttle Columbia flared and broke up in the skies over Texas on Saturday, February 1,2003, killing the seven astronauts on board in what NASA and President Bush called a tragedy for the entire nation. NASA launched an investigation into the disaster and began searching for the astronauts' remains. It said that although there had been some data failures it was too early to nail down a precise cause. The break-up, 16 minutes before the shuttle was due to land at Kennedy Space Center in Florida, spread possibly toxic debris(有毒的残骸) over a wide swath of Texas and neighboring states.

Dramatic television images of the shuttle's descent clearly showed several white trails(痕迹) streaking through blue skies after the shuttle suddenly fell apart. It was almost 17 years to the day that the Challenger shuttle exploded on Jan. 28, 1986, killing all seven astronauts on board.

Take-off and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere are the most dangerous parts of a space mission. In 42 years of US' human space flight, there had never been an accident in the descent to Earth or landing. Challenger exploded just after take-off.

Rescue teams scrambled to search for the remains of the crew, which included the first Israeli to fly on the shuttle, former combat pilot Col. Ilan Ramon. There were warnings that parts of a vast 120-mile-long corridor of debris could be toxic because of poisonous rocket propellant(推进器).

"We are not ready to confirm that we have found any human remains," Nacogdoches County Sheriff Thomas Kerrs said. He added that among the roughly 1,000 calls reporting debris, some people said they found remains of crew members.

"The Columbia is lost. There are no survivors, …Their mission was almost complete and we lost them so close to home. … America's space program will go on," said a grim-faced Bush in a message broadcast on television, which included condolences to the families of the dead astronauts.

1. The word “descent” in the passage means ________.

A. taking off   B. landing      C. orbiting     D. walking down

2. Which is true of the Israeli astronaut Ilan Ramon?

A. He was the first Israeli astronaut to fly on the shuttle.

B. He was the first foreign astronaut to fly on the American shuttle.

C. He used to be a passenger plane pilot.

D. He was the only survivor in the Columbia disaster.

3. The Columbia disaster and the Challenger disaster were similar in that ________.

A. there were seven astronauts killed on board

B. both the shuttles exploded when they took off

C. Both the shuttles exploded when they were about to land

D. no human remains were found

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

A. The U.S.A. will give up the space program because of the accident.

B. NASA hasn’t found the cause of the Columbia disaster.

C. Before the Columbia disaster, no shuttles had exploded in the course of landing.

D. Take-off and re-entry into Earth's atmosphere are the most dangerous parts of a space mission.