Have you ever wondered?

1.      Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?

It can take five hours to go west-east from New York (NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon (大气现象) known as the jet stream (气流). The jet stream is a very high altitude (=" above" sea level) wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. So the planes moving at a constant air speed go faster from the west to the east when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite.

2.      What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?

Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures（建筑物）float away? What happened would depend on (依靠) how strongly the things were attached (吸附) to the earth. The earth is moving at quite a speed, moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something around your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. ‘Turning off’ gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attached to the earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling (=" top" surface of a room). Most things outside would fly off into space.

1.What information can we get from the first passage?

A．It is the jet stream that affects how fast airplanes fly.

B．Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

C．It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

D．The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atlantic.

2.The underlined word “shoot” in the 2nd paragraph means “_________”.

A．send for

B．move quickly

C．come out

D．grow quickly

3.It can be known that without gravity _________.

A．buildings and other structures would float away

B．trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

C．something around your head would not float away

D．everything outside buildings would fly off into space

4.Where can we read this passage?

A．In a research paper.	B．In a short story.
C．In a travel magazine.	D．In a student’s book

 

The Bermuda Triangle(百慕大三角)is in the Atlantic Ocean, near Florida in the USA. During the past 60 years, more than 1,000 seamen in ships and pilots in planes have lost their lives. It is known as “The Triangle of Death”for its strange seawater and sudden storms. What’s the strangest is the light of the seawater, which looks so bright that it can be seen even from an outer spaceship.
　　At 2:00p.m. on Dec. 5, 1945, five planes took off in fine weather from the airport of Florida, on a training task. Two hours later, the leader in the sky radioed that he was “completely lost”. Then there was silence. Another plane was sent to look for them and also disappeared.
　　One of the largest ship that had disappeared in the triangle was an American coal ship, 500meters long. The weather was good, and there were no messages for help before it was “gone”. No broken ships or dead bodies have been found so far.
　　No one is able to tell how all these accidents have happened. A group of Japanese scientists were there to see what it was really like in 1995, but nothing has been heard of them ever since.
【小题1】 What is the passage mainly about?

A．How the Bermuda Triangle ate up the planes and ships.

B．Why many of the planes and ships have disappeared.

C．Strange accidents happened in the Bermuda Triangle, no one can tell why

D．When the Bermuda Triangle was formed very strangely.

【小题2】 How many planes had lost in December 1945?

A．Five.

B．Six.

C．Seven.

D．Eight.

【小题3】 What does the underline word “radioed” mean?

A．Wrote sound message using a radio.

B．Listened to sound message using a radio.

C．Sent sound message using a radio.

D．Received sound message using a radio.

【小题4】 Why was the leader in the plane lost?

A．He met with terrible weather.

B．He was losing the right direction.

C．Airport didn’t give him an answer.

D．The reasons are still unknown.

【小题5】 What about the group of Japanese scientists who went to Bermuda?

A．They have also disappeared very strangely.

B．They have not heard of anything important.

C．They are still working hard in Bermuda.

D．They’ve come back, knowing nothing about it.

Have you ever wondered?
1.      Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?
It can take five hours to go west-east from New York (NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon (大气现象) known as the jet stream (气流). The jet stream is a very high altitude (=" above" sea level) wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. So the planes moving at a constant air speed go faster from the west to the east when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite.
2.      What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?
Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures（建筑物）float away? What happened would depend on (依靠) how strongly the things were attached (吸附) to the earth. The earth is moving at quite a speed, moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something around your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. ‘Turning off’ gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attached to the earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling (=" top" surface of a room). Most things outside would fly off into space.
【小题1】What information can we get from the first passage?

A．It is the jet stream that affects how fast airplanes fly.

B．Planes go slower when they are moving with the wind.

C．It takes more time to fly from NY to London than from London to NY.

D．The jet stream always blows from the east to the west across the Atlantic.

【小题2】The underlined word “shoot” in the 2nd paragraph means “_________”.

A．send for

B．move quickly

C．come out

D．grow quickly

【小题3】It can be known that without gravity _________.

A．buildings and other structures would float away

B．trees and buildings would not so easily fly off

C．something around your head would not float away

D．everything outside buildings would fly off into space

【小题4】Where can we read this passage?

A．In a research paper.	B．In a short story.
C．In a travel magazine.	D．In a student’s book

Droughts (干旱)are common in Kenya . Before ,they came every 10 years ,but now they seem to be hitting us more often and for a longer time .
We gave the droughts names :“longoza”was the drought when many animals died ; there was the drought of the “planes” because food was dropped from the air by planes; and one particularly bad drought was called “ man who dies with his money in his fist (拳头)”，because ,even if there was money , there was simply no food to buy .
I was born in 1951 in Machakos. From what my mother tells me , when I was 7, there was a serious drought . I clearly remember the terrible weather and the hunger. I can’t tell you how many times I went to bed without eating . “ I slept like that ,” is how we described it . I can’t count the number of days when “ I slept like that,” or describe the feeling of going to sleep hungry ,knowing I’d wake up and there would still be no food for breakfast.
My father would leave early in the morning carrying a little basket to ask for food on credit (赊欠). Each night he would return home around 10:00p.m. My mother would try to encourage me by telling me to keep the water in our pot boiling so that when my father arrived we could quickly cook any food he brought in the already prepared water . I would keep the fire burning and the water boiling , along with the hopes that we would eat that night. But my father would arrive frustrated and empty -handed. And I would sleep like that.
【小题1】The best title for the text is ________.

A．A Hungry Childhood Caused by Droughts

B．Food and Hunger

C．Protecting the Environment

D．Droughts and Their Names

【小题2】What does the drought of the “ longoza”refer to (指代)?

A．Many animals needed food dropped by planes.

B．People had to eat animals because of hunger.

C．Many animals died because of the droughts.

D．People died of hunger even if they had money.

【小题3】Why would the author keep the fire burning and the water boiling?

A．To wait for her father to come back to have supper.

B．To cook the food that her father would bring back.

C．To keep her house warm all night.

D．To make her hungry mother happy.

【小题4】The sentence “I slept like that ” means “ ________.”

A．I was disappointed when my father came back empty-handed

B．I felt sorry because my family got hungry again

C．I went to sleep with no food for breakfast.

D．I went to bed with nothing to eat

Could you_________ when the planes arrives?

A．tell

B．look for

C．finds out

D．find out