When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers（铜钱）.The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip（条）of vellum（牛皮纸）on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!

The touchstone was a small pebble（小园石）that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold-throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant（警惕的）, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

The book was special to the man because ______.

         A. it was made of vellum

         B. it was the only book that survived the great fire

         C. it was a story about how to tell the touchstone from ordinary stones

         D. it included the secret of the touchstone

He threw pebbles into the sea ______.

         A. to test how far he could throw

         B. to practice throwing pebbles

         C. to avoid picking up the same pebble once again

         D. to express his disappointment at failing to find the touchstone

What message does the story want to convey?

         A. Careful habits can lead to success.

         B. Habits can benefit you but also hold you back.

         C. Never judge a person or a thing by appearances.

         D. Opportunity only visits the ready and watchful mind

Unless we spend money spotting and preventing asteroids(小行星) now, one might crash into Early and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists.

Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids(流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don’t threaten us. But there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth.

Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we’ll have a way to change its course.

Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons.  But the cost wouldn’t be cheap. Is is worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk are: (1)How likely the event is; and (2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500 000 years. Sounds pretty rare-but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. “If we don’t take care of these asteroids, they’ll take care of us,”says one scientist.  “It’s that simple.”

 The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? “The world has less to fear from doomsday(世界末日) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against it,” said a New York Times article.

9.What does the passage say about asteroids and meteoroids?

A.They are heavenly bodies different in composition.

  B.They are heavenly bodies similar in nature.

C.There are more asteroids than meteoroids.

D.Asteroids are more mysterious than meteoroids.

10.What do scientists say about the collision of an asteroid with Earth?

A.It is very unlikely but the danger exists.

B.Such a collision might occur once every 25 years.

C.Coilisions of smaller asteroids with Earth occur more often than expected.

  D.lt’s still too early to say whether such a collision might occur.

11.What do people think of the suggestion of using nuclear weapons to alter the course of asteroids?

A.It sounds practical but it may not solve the problem.

B.It may create more problems than it might slove.

C.It is a waste of money because a collision of asteroids with Earth is very unlikely.

D.Further research should be done before it is proved applicable.

12.We can conclude from the passage that .      

A.while pushing asteroids off course nuclear weapons would destroy the world

B.asteroids racing across the night sky are likely to hit Earth in the near future

C.the worry about asteroids can be left to future generations since it is unlike to happen in our    lifetime.

D.workable solutions still have to be found to prevent a collision of asteroids with Earth

When the great library of Alexandria burned, the story goes, one book was saved. But it was not a valuable book; and so a poor man, who could read a little, bought it for a few coppers（铜钱）.The book wasn’t very interesting, but between its pages there was something very interesting indeed. It was a thin strip（条）of vellum（牛皮纸）on which was written the secret of the “Touchstone”!

The touchstone was a small pebble（小园石）that could turn any common metal into pure gold. The writing explained that it was lying among thousands and thousands of other pebbles that looked exactly like it. But the secret was this: The real stone would feel warm, while ordinary pebbles are cold.

So the man sold his few belongings, bought some simple supplies, camped on the seashore, and began testing pebbles. He knew that if he picked up ordinary pebbles and threw them down again because they were cold, he might pick up the same pebble hundreds of times. So, when he felt one that was cold, he threw it into the sea. He spent a whole day doing this but none of them was the touchstone. Yet he went on and on this way. Pick up a pebble. Cold-throw it into the sea. Pick up another. Throw it into the sea.

The days stretched into weeks and the weeks into months. One day, however, about mid-afternoon, he picked up a pebble and it was warm. He threw it into the sea before he realized what he had done. He had formed such a strong habit of throwing each pebble into the sea that when the one he wanted came along, he still threw it away.

So it is with opportunity. Unless we are vigilant（警惕的）, it’s easy to fail to recognize an opportunity when it is in hand and it’s just as easy to throw it away.

The book was special to the man because ______.

         A. it was made of vellum

         B. it was the only book that survived the great fire

         C. it was a story about how to tell the touchstone from ordinary stones

         D. it included the secret of the touchstone

He threw pebbles into the sea ______.

         A. to test how far he could throw

         B. to practice throwing pebbles

         C. to avoid picking up the same pebble once again

         D. to express his disappointment at failing to find the touchstone

What message does the story want to convey?

         A. Careful habits can lead to success.

         B. Habits can benefit you but also hold you back.

         C. Never judge a person or a thing by appearances.

         D. Opportunity only visits the ready and watchful mind

A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.

The unpunctual man, on one hand, never does what he has to do at the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained. Time is more valuable than material things. In fact, time is life itself. The unpunctual man is for ever wasting and mismanaging his most valuable asset (财产) as well as other’s. The unpunctual person is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or return calls or keep appointments promptly. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time and seldom complains of want of it. He knows that he can not get through his huge amount of work unless he faithfully keeps every piece of work when it has to be attended to.

Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointments is the sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him. Usually this will be regarded as a great disrespect to the host and all other guests present.

Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to do one’s duty, whether public or private. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men.

What does the author think is the main difference between a punctual person and an unpunctual person?

A. A punctual person does everything ahead of time while an unpunctual person does everything behind schedule.

B. A punctual person does everything at the right time while an unpunctual person seldom does anything at the correct time.

C. A punctual person has a lot of appointments while an unpunctual person has few appointments.

D. A punctual person has much time to do everything while an unpunctual person has little time to do anything.

According to the passage, the main reason that a person is always unpunctual is that _______.

A. he has more work to do than other people

B. he is always in a hurry when he works

C. he doesn’t care much about time

D. he always mismanages and wastes his time

According to the third paragraph, when you are invited to dinner, you should arrive there _______.

A. after other guests have arrived

B. before all other guests

C. at the appointed time

D. after the host has got things ready

Which of the following statements best describes the harm of unpunctuality?

A. If you are an unpunctual person, you cannot be in charge of any important task.

B. If your friends know that you are unpunctual, they may not see you again.

C. Unpunctuality may bring about heavy losses for both public and private affairs.

D. Unpunctuality may make you miss a lot of appointments and lose friends.

A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment.

The unpunctual man, on one hand, never does what he has to do at the proper time. He is always in a hurry and in the end loses both time and his good name. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained. Time is more valuable than material things. In fact, time is life itself. The unpunctual man is for ever wasting and mismanaging his most valuable asset (财产) as well as other’s. The unpunctual person is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or return calls or keep appointments promptly. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time and seldom complains of want of it. He knows that he can not get through his huge amount of work unless he faithfully keeps every piece of work when it has to be attended to.

Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointments is the sign of disrespect towards others. If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him. Usually this will be regarded as a great disrespect to the host and all other guests present.

Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to do one’s duty, whether public or private. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by his friends or fellow men.

1. What does the author think is the main difference between a punctual person and an unpunctual person?

A. A punctual person does everything ahead of time while an unpunctual person does everything behind schedule.

B. A punctual person does everything at the right time while an unpunctual person seldom does anything at the correct time.

C. A punctual person has a lot of appointments while an unpunctual person has few appointments.

D. A punctual person has much time to do everything while an unpunctual person has little time to do anything.

2. According to the passage, the main reason that a person is always unpunctual is that _______.

A. he has more work to do than other people

B. he is always in a hurry when he works

C. he doesn’t care much about time

D. he always mismanages and wastes his time

3. According to the third paragraph, when you are invited to dinner, you should arrive there _______.

A. after other guests have arrived

B. before all other guests

C. at the appointed time

D. after the host has got things ready

4. Which of the following statements best describes the harm of unpunctuality?

A. If you are an unpunctual person, you cannot be in charge of any important task.

B. If your friends know that you are unpunctual, they may not see you again.

C. Unpunctuality may bring about heavy losses for both public and private affairs.

D. Unpunctuality may make you miss a lot of appointments and lose friends.