Life became hard when I was 14. My mother and I moved to New York to 36 my father, who’d moved there to find  37  work when I was three years old. He had a job at a restaurant and only visited us  38  every couple of years.

Before I moved, I knew that people in the US spoke English. But honestly, I didn’t stop to analyze the  39  when I was  40  to leave. Just like I assumed I could easily become a doctor or a lawyer. I assumed that I had the skills to learn English in a few weeks. 

When I  41  in the US and started 8^th grade at Ditmas Middle School in Brooklyn, everyone was speaking a(n)  42  language I couldn’t understand. I  43  that life had subtitles, like in foreign movies. School was such a serious place here. Sometimes I felt like I was in a geek（呆子） class. The teachers were always  44  my moves so I couldn’t even throw a paper ball at a classmate’s head. And the worst thing was having to read  45

46  after almost seven months of complaining about everything, I realized that complaining didn’t change things.  47  just made my life worse. If I was going to  48  in this new concrete jungle, I had to  49  . I began to learn English by reading newspapers on my own  50 school. After about four months, I started enjoying reading the crime and sports stories. After six months of studying, my teachers  51  my improvement and moved me into a more  52  English class. I could go to the store and ask for things that I wanted to buy without  53  frustration. For the first time I felt like I was living on earth again  54   I didn’t hear foreign talk. I  55  understand people.

1.                A．find           B．join            C．see  D．help

 

2.                A．good-looking    B．well-dressed     C．better-paying  D．highly-thought

 

3.                A．once           B．other          C．each D．only

 

4.                A．case           B．condition       C．situation  D．state

 

5.                A．packing         B．trying          C．managing D．arranging

 

6.                A．reached        B．entered        C．got  D．arrived

 

7.                A．strange         B．unusual         C．standard  D．foreign

 

8.                A．hoped         B．wished         C．expected D．demanded

 

9.                A．staring         B．looking         C．checking  D．watching

 

10.               A．texts           B．newspapers     C．English    D．poems

 

11.               A．Although       B．Even if         C．But   D．Since

 

12.               A．It             B．They           C．I D．Things

 

13.               A．live            B．study          C．survive    D．continue

 

14.               A．adapt          B．adopt          C．adore D．admire

 

15.               A．for            B．in             C．after  D．at

 

16.               A．made          B．noticed         C．concerned D．remember

 

17.               A．modern        B．advanced       C．difficult   D．convenient

 

18.               A．even          B．ever           C．some D．any

 

19.               A．if             B．though         C．ever  D．because

 

20.               A．could          B．should         C．would D．might

 

 

If two scientists at Los Alamos National Laboratory are correct, people will still be driving gasoline-powered cars 50 years from now, giving out heat-trapping carbon dioxide into the atmosphere — and yet that carbon dioxide will not contribute to global warming.

In a proposal by two scientists, vehicle emissions (排放) would no longer contribute to global warming. The scientists, F. Jeffrey Martin and William L. Kubic Jr., are proposing a concept, which they have named Green Freedom, for removing carbon dioxide from the air and turning it back into gasoline.

The idea is simple. Air would be blown over a liquid solution (溶液) of potassium carbonate, which would absorb the carbon dioxide. The carbon dioxide would then be put to chemical reactions that would turn it into fuel: gasoline or jet fuel.

This process could change carbon dioxide from an unwanted, climate-changing pollutant into a vast resource for renewable fuels. The cycle — equal amounts of carbon dioxide produced and removed — would mean that cars, trucks and airplanes using the synthetic (合成的) fuels would no longer be contributing to global warming.

Although they have not yet built a synthetic fuel factory, or even a small model, the scientists say it is all based on existing technology. “Everything in the concept has been built, is operating or has a close cousin that is operating,” Dr. Martin said.

The Los Alamos proposal does not go against any laws of physics, and other scientists who have independently suggested similar ideas. Dr. Martin said he and Dr. Kubic had worked out their concept in more detail than previous proposals.

There is, however, a major fact that explains why no one has built a carbon-dioxide-to-gasoline factory: it requires a great deal of energy.

According to their analysis, their concept, which would cost about $5 billion to build, could produce gasoline at an operating cost of $1.40 a gallon and would turn economically practical when the price at the pump hits $4.60 a gallon.

Other scientists said the Los Alamos proposal perhaps looked promising but could not evaluate it fully because the details had not been published.

“It’s definitely worth pursuing,” said Martin I. Hoffert, a professor of physics at New York University. “It’s not that new an idea. It has a couple of pieces to it that are interesting.”

67. What is the idea of the project being discussed in the article?

A. Recycling the carbon dioxide from cars back into gasoline.

B. Create a new gasoline that gives off very little carbon dioxide.

C. Using a special liquid solution to absorb carbon dioxide from cars.

D. Build synthetic fuel factories to remove carbon dioxide from the air.

68. What’s the name given to the new concept?

A. Synthetic Fuel.                                 B. Green Freedom.    

C. Renewable Fuel.                                D. Carbon-dioxide-to-gasoline Factory.

69. Which of the following is NOT one of the benefits of this new concept as suggested in the article?

A. Reduction of global warming.            B. Cheaper gasoline for cars.

C. Longer life of cars.                     C. Less pollution of the atmosphere.

70. What’s the biggest problem in realizing the concept according to the report?

A. Shortage of starting funds.         B. Immature technology involved.

C. All previous similar attempts have failed.

D. The use of too much energy in running the fuel factory.

What ______ public is concerned about is whether medical workers and scientists will be able to find_____cure for this new disease in a short time.

A.不填;不填  B.不填;the    C. the;不填   D.the;a

In a growing number of English classes, teachers are leaving the classic novels on the shelf and letting students select the books they read. Supporters say that the new approach, called reader’s workshop, helps develop a love for reading in students who are bored by classic literature. They argue that the best way to motivate students to read more is to offer them more choices.

Not all educators are on the same page, however. They worry that students who choose trendy, less challenging titles over the classics won’t be exposed to the great writing and key themes of important works of literature.

Student reporters Donald and Sarah express their ideas about this new approach.

Donald thinks that we should turn the page. Students should be allowed to select the books they read in English class. He says he and his classmates are allowed to pick their own books in class. That makes them more focused, and they look forward to class time. Tristin, a classmate of his at Clinton Middle School agrees. “I’m reading books that I want to read, which makes class more fun and interesting,” he says. Offering students a choice may also improve test scores. Studies by Professor John Guthrie of the University of Maryland found that students in grades 4 through 6 who had some choices in the books they read showed improved reading comprehension skills during testing. Giving students the chance to decide what they read helps build a lifelong love for reading. Isn’t that what we want for our students?

Sarah holds a different view. She thinks teachers know more about books than students do. When an English teacher assigns a book, he or she keeps in mind the reading level of most students in the class. Students who choose their own books might be cheating themselves by picking books that are not up to their reading level or that are too difficult. Furthermore, a whole class can discuss a book it reads together. That makes it easier for some kids to understand what they are reading. “The students wouldn’t be able to hold a meaningful conversation if they were all reading different books,” says Kristin, an English teacher at Fleetwood Area Middle School. “If they read the same book, their conversations would be more in-depth.”

1.What’s the meaning of the underlined sentence “Not all educators are on the same page”?

A．Educators have different opinions.          B．Educators didn’t appear at the same time.

C．Educators wrote in different pages.          D．Educators didn’t agree with the author.

2.Donald thinks that the new approach could __________.

A．helped students be more focused in class

B．draw students to reading classic novels

C．make students less worried in English class

D．encourage students to red more challenging books

3.Sarah thinks that the new approach might __________.

A．help students improve reading comprehension skills

B．help students hold meaningful conversations in class

C．make some students read books not suitable for them

D．make some students ignore the important works of literature

4.Who has the same attitude towards the new approach with Kristin?

A．Donald.           B．Sarah.            C．Tristin.            D．John Guthrie.

5.The author develops the text mainly by __________.

A．listing cases                            B．making comparisons

C．following time order                     D．explaining causes and effects

 

When the Farnsworth family moved to their new farm in 1919, eleven-year-old Philo was surprised to find it wired for electricity. This unusual circumstance contributed to his fate — to become an important inventor of the twentieth century.

    By thirteen, Farnsworth had become a self-taught electrical engineer. He was able to fix the farm’s generator（发电机）when none of the adults could. In 1922, he read an article about a new idea of John Baird, a Scottish scientist, who had been working with the cathode ray tube (阴极射线管) for the transmission of electronic pictures and wanted to attempt it himself.

    Farnsworth studied everything he could find on the subject. Although many older engineers with money backers were already developing television, Farnsworth made a bold decision — he was going to perfect a working model of it before anybody else.

    In college, Farnsworth continued his research with cathode ray and vacuum tubes, but the death of his father, the only money maker in the family, forced him to give up this research and find a job. His first job was for George Everson, with whom Farnsworth discussed his dream of television. While acknowledging the achievements of those who came before, Farnsworth thought that he could get closer. Everson agreed to risk $6,000 for the research.

    Backers came in 1927 to see the first American television, one year after Baird’s. They were astonished to see the image of a single white line resolve itself on the screen before them, and agreed that this new invention was worth putting money into.

    In 1930, Farnsworth won a patent (专利权) for his all-electronic TV. By the time he died, he had earned over 300 American and foreign patents for electronic and mechanical devices.

1.When Farnsworth was at a young age, he _______

A. had to drop out of school to help on the family farm

B. was sent to school to study electrical engineering

C. wanted to be the first person to invent the television

D. had shown a surprising ability in the electrical field

2.What difficulty did Farnsworth meet when he first began his research on the television?

A. His parents didn’t support his work.

B. He didn’t have enough knowledge in this field.

C. He didn’t have enough money for his research.

D. No one was interested in this research.

3.How old was Philo Farnsworth when he invented the first American television?

A. 11.                 B. 13.        C. 19.       D. 22.

4.From the passage, we can learn that Farnsworth is ______.

A. the first person who worked for the transmission of electronic pictures

B. an inventor who improved on somebody else’s idea

C. an inventor who always came up with an original idea

D. a person who earned over 300 American patents for electronic devices