I sometimes wonder if old Finchley has the right personality to be a research scientist. He keeps asking when he’ll be coming back. After all, it was his own fault. Nobody tries out what has just been invented on themselves any more but Finchley. Well, he must have pumped about a thousand c. c. s into himself before I noticed he was clearly becoming smaller.

  It was funny watching him, because his clothes remained the same in size. They simply piled up around him so that he looked like a small boy in his father’s clothes. But he kept getting smaller and smaller. As my colleague Dawson and I watched him, he disappeared! All we could see was Finchley’s clothes on the floor. They looked so strange, because the lab coat was on top, shirt and trousers inside and, I suppose, underclothes inside again. It gave me a strange feeling, and I think Dawson was a bit shaken, too.

  Dawson was sitting on his chair in front of a microscope he’d been using to examine a family of mites(螨虫). He looked through the scope kind of absently again, and was nearly scared to lose awareness when he found old Finchley waving back from the other end.

  It seems as if Finchley had taken a free ride on a dust mite and landed on the land of the mite family. Of course, we didn’t know till Finchley told us later. But anyhow, as I said, Dawson nearly passed out. He jumped off his chair and pointed at the microscope, to shocked to speak.

Finchley disappeared because ________.

 A. he took something poisonous

 B. he was changed into a dust mite

 C. his father’s clothes totally covered him up

 D. what he and his colleagues invented resulted in his disappearace

It frightened Dawson to see Finchley _______.

 A. got into his scope by accident          B. was waving through his telescope

 C. suddenly got lost in his clothes        D. gradually disappeared in the lab

It can be inferred that Finchley, Dawson and the writer have possibly invented _____.

 A. some kind of medicine               B. a new powerful microscope

 C. a machine to make people small          D. a new way to make a culture of mite

It can probably be concluded that Finchley ________.

 A. passed out there and then               B. is not fit to be a scientist

 C. is a devoted scientist                  D. will remain tiny all the time

America is growing older. Fifty - eight years ago, only 4 out of every 100 people in the United States were 10 or older. To day, 10 out of every 100 Americans are over 10. The aging of the population will affect（影响）American society in many ways—education, medicine, and business. Quietly, the graying of America has made us a very different society—one in which people have a quite different idea of what kind of behavior（行为） is suitable（合适）at various , ages.

A person s age no longer tells you anything about his/her social position, marriage or health. There’s no longer a particular year in which one goes to school or goes to work or gets married or starts a family. The social clock that kept us on time and told us when to go to school, get a job, or stop working isn’t as strong as it used to be. It doesn’t surprise us to hear of a 29 - year - old university president or a 35 - year -old grandmother, or a 15 year - old man who has become a father for the first time. Public ideas are changing.

Many people say, “I am much younger than my mother— or my father— was at my age. ”No one says“Act your age” any more. We’ve stopped looking with surprise at older people who act in youthful ways.

12．It can be learnt from the text that the aging of the population in America ________ .

A. has made people feel younger                B. has changed people’s social position

C. has changed people’s understanding of age   D. has slowed down the country’s social development

13．The underlined word “one”refers to ________ .

A. a society　　　B. America      C. a place　　　　D. population

14．” Act your age” means people should ________ .

A. be active when they are old

B. do the right thing at the right age

C. show respect for their parents young or old

D. take more physical exercise suitable to their age

15．If a 25 - year - old man becomes general manager of a big firm, the writer of the text would most probably consider it ________ .

A. normal　　　B. wonderful       C. unbelievable　　　　　D. unreasonable

Personal computers and the Internet give people new choices about how to spend their time.

Some may use this freedom to share less time with certain friends or family members, but new technology will also let them stay in closer touch with those they care most about. I know this from personal experience.

E-mail makes it easy to work at home, which is where I now spend most weekends and evenings. My working hours aren’t necessarily much shorter than they once were，but I spend fewer of them at the office. This lets me share more time with my young daughter than I might have if she’d been born before electronic mail became such a practical tool.

The Internet also makes it easy to share thoughts with a group of friends. Say you do something fun -see a great movie perhaps and there are four or five friends who might want to hear about it. If you call each one, you may be tired of telling the story.

With E-mail, you just write one note about your experience, at your convenience, and address it to all the friends you think might be interested. They can read your message when they have time, and read only as much as they want to. They can reply at their convenience, and you can read what they have to say at your convenience.

E-mail is also an inexpensive way to stay in close touch with people who live far away. More than a few parents use E-mail to keep in touch, even daily touch, with their children off at college.

We just have to keep in mind that computers and the Internet offer another way of staying in touch. They don’t take the place of any of the old ways.

The purpose of this passage is to ________.

A. explain how to use the Internet

B. describe the writer’s joy of keeping up with the latest technology

C. tell the merits(价值) and usefulness of the Internet

D. introduce the reader to basic knowledge about personal computers and the Internet

The use of E-mail has made it possible for the writer to ________.

A. spend less time working                  B. have more time with his child

C. work at home on weekends             D. work at a speed comfortable to him

The best title for this passage is ________.

A. Computer: New Technological Advances

B. Internet: New Tool to Maintain Good Friendship

C. Computers Have Made Life Easier

D. Internet: a Convenient Tool for Communication

The 92-year-old, thin, calm and proud lady, who is fully dressed each morning by eight o’clock, even though she is nearly blind, moved to a nursing home today.

  Her husband of 70 years recently passed away, making the move necessary. After many hours of waiting patiently in the hall of the nursing home, she smiled sweetly when told her room was ready.

 As she walked slowly to lift, I provided a true description of her tiny room, including the old sheets(床单) that had been hung on her window. “I love it.” She said with the happiness.

“Mrs. Jones, you haven’t seen the room…. Just wait..”  “That doesn’t matter.” She replied. “ Happiness is something you decide ahead of time. Whether I like my room or not doesn’t depend on how the furniture is arranged. It is how I arrange my mind, I have already decided to lobe it. It is a decision I make every morning when I wake up. Each day is a gift, and as long as my eyes open I will focus on the new day and all the happy memories I’ve stored away.” She went on to explain, “Old age is like a bank account(帐户). You put what you have in. So, my advice to you would be to put in a lot of happiness in the bank account of memories. Thank you for your part in filling my memory bank.” And with a smile, she said, “All my memories are happy ones.”

 Mr. Jones was always happy in the nursing home and she died at the age of 108.

We can infer from the passage that the writer_____________.

A. is one of Mrs. Jones children   

B. is a relative of Mrs. Jones

C. works in the nursing home     

D. is the owner of the nursing house

The room in which the old lady will live ____________.

   A. isn’t in good condition               

B. is fairly big

C. is very comfortable                  

D. is equipped with new furniture

Which of the following words can best describe Mrs. Jones?

   A. Proud           B. Pleasant         

C. Loyal           D. Honest

The author intends to tell us_________________.

   A. why the lonely woman was happy      

B. what a nursing home was alike

C. how to live a long life                

D. how to lead a happy life

ARLANDA, Sweden （Reuters Life!）—Many people hate the idea of having to sleep on a plane. But Swedish entrepreneur Oscar Dios thinks they can be persuaded otherwise and he has created a new kind of hostel to prove it.

Dios says it is the world’s first jumbo （unusually large） jet hostel, an actual jet-plane at Sweden’s main airport outside Stockholm which has been changed into a 25- room guesthouse that sleeps as many as 72 people.

“I learned about this plane that was standing deserted at Arlanda airport and I’ve been trying the concept of hostels in many different houses and buildings,” he told Reuters. “I thought, ‘Why not a plane?’”

Jumbo Hostels opened for business on Thursday, giving customers the chance to check in and sleep in a room that can best be described as comfortable.”

“The most challenging part with this project is trying to build something inside a metal hull（壳） – it’s just really, really tight.”

The jet, which was originally produced for Singapore Airlines, was taken out of service in 2002. It is held on a concrete foundation with the landing gear secured in steel cradles.

One feature of the hostel is its price – a room starts at 350 Swedish crowns （about $ 41）, which is a lot less than hotel rooms outside of major airports.

Another feature is that customers can get married on the wing of the plane and stay in the plane’s more luxurious honeymoon suite （套房）.

Instead of walking down the aisle in the church, lovebirds can take what Jumbo Hostels calls the “wing walk,” where they can be joined in great happiness at the wing tip. The hostel has someone ready to perform the ceremony.

But in some respects this hostel remains a plane – most customers have to share the jet’s nine bathrooms and the staff only wear air host and hostess outfits. The only room that has its own bathroom is the honeymoon suite.

Which of the following is not true?

A. The jet plane was out of use for over eight years

B. The hostel provides ten bathrooms for customers

C. The rooms in the hotel are comfortable

D. The hostel lies at Arlanda airport in Stockholm

One of the features of the plane hostel is that         .

A. air hostesses can offer good service

B. a wedding ceremony can be held on the wing    

C. customers can sleep in comfortable rooms      

D. the staff can have a “wing walk”

Why does Oscar Dios make jet plane hotel?

A. Because he is fond of plane very much.

B. Because he is very curious

C. Because he wants to earn more money.

D. Because he likes trying the concept of hotel in many different things.

The writer mainly wants to          .

A. call on people to make use of the deserted things

B. describe a wonderful place for weddings

C. introduce a new kind of hostel    

D. prove people can sleep on a plane