I made up my mind to drive to South Carolina to meet my friends in my used car. Though I had only been there once  1  and did not know the  2  very well. I was on the  3  after I had made some enquires.

    At Ashville, there was a crossroad where I could go on along the main road or I could take a short cut. The short cut was to  4  several hills and was dangerous. I hesitated for a little while and then chose the main road, for I wanted to be  5  .

    Something strange happened after I drove a long  6  and found it was not the correct road that I wanted to  7  , but the hilly road I decided to avoid. I realized that it was at the  8  that I had made the  9   mistake. “What shall I do?” I asked myself. If I went back to take that road again, it would be very late by the time I got to Columbia. Thinking it  10 , I decided to go on. “If  11  people can go along this road, why can’t I?” I  12    myself.

The short cut, to my surprise, was not that  13 . In fact, it was only a very peaceful country road,  14  up and down two low  15 . There was  16  traffic. On both sides of the road, you could see trees, wild flowers, and  17   with cows and horses. My fear was  18  with the wind. Listening to the beautiful country music over my car stereo (立体声), I drove on and  19  the scenery which was so quiet and so natural. Even my used car forgot to give me  20 . It was just in this light-heartedness that I arrived at my destination. My friends, after they heard what had happened to me, all said it sounded like an adventure.

1.A. before                 B. ago                 C. already D. still

2.A. town                    B. country          C. friends           D. way

3.A. train                B. car          C. highway         D .phone

4.A. have               B. go               C. ride                           D. cross

5.A. safe     B. dangerous                 C. fast                 D. slow

6.A. moment       B. way                    C.land        D. day

7.A. come          B. leave                  C. take                 D. drive

8.A. crossroad    B. beginning              C. station             D. corner

9.A. direction             B. interesting        C. disappointed  D. road

10.A. about                 B. over                   C. of                     D. up

11.A. another             B. the other           C. other                        D. others

12.A. advised             B. cheated             C. encouraged             D. forced

13.A. far             B. safe                    C. dangerous               D. dirty

14.A. walking    B. coming     C. driving             D. going

15.A. lands                  B. cars                    C. farms                        D. hills

16.A. heavy                B. little                    C. crowded                  D. few

17.A. villages     B. trucks                 C. houses                      D. farms

18.A. together  B. gone                   C. covered          D. shared

19.A. looked               B. liked                   C. enjoyed          D. found

20.A. advances B. warnings            C. problems                 D. joys

About twenty of us had been fortunate enough to receive invitations to a film-studio(影棚)to take part in a crowd-scene. Although our “act" would last only for a short time, we could see quite a number of interesting things.

We all stood at the far end of the studio as workmen prepared the scene, setting up trees at the edge of a winding path. Very soon, bright lights were turned on and the big movie-camera was wheeled into position. The director shouted something to the camera operator and then went to speak to the two famous actors nearby. Since it was hot in the studio, it came as a surprise to us to see one of the actors put on a heavy overcoat and start walking along the path. A big fan began blowing tiny white feathers down on him, and soon the trees were covered in “snow". Two more fans were turned on, and a "strong wind" blew through the trees. The picture looked so real that it made us feel cold.

The next scene was a complete contrast (对比). The way it was filmed was quite unusual. Pictures in front taken on an island in the Pacific were shown on a glass screen (幕). An actor and actress stood of the scene so that they looked as if they were at the water’s edge on an island. By a simple trick like this, palm trees(棕榈树), sandy beaches, and blue, clear skies had been brought into the studio!

Since it was our turn next, we were left wondering what scene would be prepared for us. For a full three minutes in our lives we would be experiencing the excitement of being film "stars"!

1.Who is the author?

2.What made the author feel cold?

3. What would happen in the "three minutes" mentioned in the last paragraph?

The world's largest solar thermal plant(太阳热能发电站)is set to begin producing power in the United States by the end of the year. Wind and energy from the sun are generally considered clean, unlike energy from coal-burning power stations. However, environmentalists now worry that too much solar power development could harm the local environment.

A California company — BrightSource Energy is building a huge solar power plant in the Mojave desert, about 60 kilometers southwest of Las Vegas, Nevada. The plant is known as the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System. Joe Desmond works for the company. "This is actually one of the highest concentrations of sunlight in the world, out here in Ivanpah." explained Desmond. BrightSource Energy will deploy 170,000 specially de­signed mirrors to direct solar energy towards boilers on top of three power towers. The steam produced in the boilers will drive turbine (涡轮) to make electricity. Joe Desmond says the steam can reach temperatures of more than 260 degrees Celsius. "We can store the sun's thermal energy in the form of molten salt, so we can produce electricity even when the sun goes down. There is a lot of interest in concentrating solar power around the globe in environmnents where you have lots of sun, such as China, South Africa, the Mid­dle East, North Africa, explained Desmond.

Environmentalists generally support the idea of solar power, however, many are concerned about the effect of power plants on sensitive environment. Lisa Belenky is a lawyer with the Center for Biological Diversity, a private group. She says environmentalists are specifically worried about the effect of the Ivanpah Solar Project on the sensitive plant and animal life in that part of Mojave desert. "Even though the desert seems big, when you start cutting it up, it can really affect how the species and the animals and the plants are able to survive in the long run,"said Lisa Belenky. BrightSource Energy has already spent more than $ 50 million to move endangered desert tortoises away from the power plant. but Lisa Belenky says this is not the answer. "We should be reusing areas that have a1ready been disturbed, like old mining sites, for example...either on homes, on businesses, parking lots." said Belenky.

There have also been reports of birds dying at the Ivanpah Plant and others like it.

Some birds die after colliding with solar equipment which the animals mistake for water. Other birds were killed or suffered burns after flying through the intense heat at the solar thermal plant. As solar projects increase, environmentalists and developers are considering what to do to reduce bird death.

1.Why is the Ivanpah Solar Electric Generating System being built in the desert?

A. Because the temperature is extremely high in the desert.??

B. Because there is no life in the desert.

C. Because there is much salt in the desert.?????????????

D. Because sunlight is highly focused in the desert.

2.Why can the plant make electricity at night?

A. Because the sun's thermal energy can be stored in the form of steam.

B. Because the sun's thermal energy can be stored in the form of molten salt.

C. Because the sun'ss thermal energy can be stored through mirrors

D. Because the sun's thermal energy can be stored in the boilers.

3.According to Lisa Belenky, in order to reduce the effect,_____.

A. we should move all the plants and animals away from the solar plant

B. we should guide the bird not to hit the solar plant

C we should build the solar plant in disturbed areas

D. we should build the solar plant in the desert

4.The author’s attitude towards the solar projects is _____.

A. supportive????????????? B. critical????????????? ??? ??????? C. indifferent????????????? ?????????? D. cautious

The Great Fire of London started in the very early hours of 2 September 1666. In four days it destroyed more than three-quarters of the old city, where most of the houses were wooden and close together. Over one hundred people became homeless, but only a few lost their lives.

　　 The fire started on Sunday morning in the house of the King’s baker（面包师）in Pudding Lane. The baker, with his wife and family, was able to get out through a window into the roof. A strong wind blew the fire from the bakery（面包房）into a small hotel next door. Then it spread quickly into Thames Street. That was the beginning.

　 　By eight o’ clock three hundred houses were on fire. On Monday nearly a kilometer of the city was burning along the River Thames. Tuesday was the worst day. The fire destroyed many well-known buildings, old St Pauls and the Guildhall among them.

　　Samuel Pepys, the famous writer, write about the fire, “People threw their things into the river. Many poor people stayed in their houses until the last moment. Birds fell out of the air because of the heat .”

　　The fire stopped only when the King finally ordered people to destroy hundreds of buildings in the path of the fire. With nothing left to burn, the fire became weak and finally died out.

　　After the fire, Christopher Wren, the architect(建筑师), wanted a city with wider streets and fine new houses of stone. In fact, the streets are still narrow, but he did build more than fifty churches, among them the mew St Pauls.

　　The fire caused great pain and loss, but after it London was a better place: a city for the future and not just of the past.

1.The fire began in_________ .

A. a hotel　　　　B. the palace　　　C. Pudding Lane　　　　D. Thames Street

2.The underlined word “family” in the second paragraph means_________ .

A. home　　     B. children　　   C. wife and husband　　  D. wife and children

3.Why did the writer cite(引用)Samuel Pepys?

A. Because Pepys was among those putting out the fire.

B. Because Pepys also wrote about the fire.

C. To show that poor people suffered most.

D. To give the reader a clearer picture of the fire.

4.How was the fire put out according to the text?

A. The soldiers came to help.

B. All the wooden houses in the city were destroyed.

C. People managed to get enough water from the river.

D. Houses standing in the path of the fire were destroyed according to the King’s order.

Bertie knew there was something in the wind. His mother had been sad in recent days, not sick，just strangely sad. The lion had just lain down beside him，his head warm on Bertie’s feet，when Father cleared his throat and began, “You’ll soon be eight, Bertie. A boy needs a proper education. We’ve found the right place for you, a school near Salisbury in England. ”

His heart filled with a terrible fear, all Bertie could think of was his white lion. “But the lion,” he cried, “What about the lion?”

“I’m afraid there’s something else I have to tell you, ” his father said. Looking across at Bertie’s mother, he took a deep breath. Then he told Bertie he had met a circus owner from France, who was over in Africa looking for lions to buy. He would come to their farm in a few days.

“No! You can’t send him to a circus!” said Bertie. “People will come to see him. He’ll be shut up behind bars. I promised him he never would be. And they will laugh at him. He’d rather die. Any animal would! ” But as he looked across the table at them, he knew their minds were quite made up.

Bertie felt completely betrayed (出卖). He waited until he heard his father’s deep breathing next door. With his white lion at his heels，he crept (蹑手蹑脚地移动) downstairs，took down his father’s rifle (步枪) and stepped out into the night. He ran and ran till his legs could run no more. As the sun came up over the grassland, he climbed to the top of a hill and sat down, his arms round the lion’s neck. The time had come.

“Be wild now”，he whispered. “You’ve got to be wild. Don’t ever come home. All my life I’ll think of you. I promise I will. ” He buried his head in the lion’s neck. Then, Bertie climbed down the hill and walked away.

When he looked back, the lion was still sitting there watching him; but then he stood up, yawned, stretched, and sprang down after him. Bertie shouted at him, but he kept coming. He threw sticks. He threw stones. Nothing worked.

There was only one thing left to do. With tears filling his eyes and his mouth，he lifted the rifle to his shoulder and fired over the lion’s head.

1.Bertie’s mother was sad probably because she _____.

A．had been seriously ill recently

B．had decided to send Bertie to school

C．knew Bertie would hate to go to England

D．knew selling the lion would upset Bertie

2.The underlined word “they” in Para. 4 probably refers to _____.

A．other animals      B．some audience     C．Bertie’s parents   D．circus owners

3.In the last paragraph, the boy lifted the rifle to _____.

A．threaten the lion back to the wild           B．kill the lion out of fear

C．protect himself from the lion               D．show his anger towards his father

4.The passage intends to show that _____.

A．animal-hunting is popular in Africa

B．parents are sometimes cruel to their children

C．people and animals can be faithful to each other

D．animals usually lead a miserable life in circuses