A woman was walking her dog along a beach in New Zealand in late June when she saw something that looked like a white ball in the sand. It turned out to be a young Emperor penguin that was lost. At his age, he should have been close to Antarctic, swimming for fish and playing on the ice floes(冰川). But this penguin started swimming north and just kept going.

The penguin attracted a lot of attention in New Zealand. It has been 40 years since an Emperor penguin was last seen there. Researchers at the Department of Conservation were called in. They decided to watch the penguin closely, but not to disturb it in any way. Many New Zealanders came to Peka Peka Beach to look at the elegant penguin. They were careful to keep their dogs away from it so it wouldn’t be frightened.

The public nicknamed the animal Happy Feet. Researchers started to notice that Happy Feet didn’t seem well. It turns out that he had been eating the sand from the beach, likely thinking it was snow.

The public raised more than 11,000 pounds for an operation to get the sand out of his stomach. The operation was a success, and Happy Feet was taken to a zoo in Wellington, NZ. A group of experts met to decide how to help Happy Feet return to the wild.

Last Sunday, they put him on a boat called the Tangaroa, in a specially built ice-filled box and took him out into the Southern Ocean, southeast of New Zealand. There, they released him into the ocean, which is his natural habitat. He took one last look at his human helpers and then dived into the ocean.

“Emperor penguins spend their first five years at sea,” said Peter Simpson of New Zealand’s Department of Conservation. “ What happens now is up to the penguin.”

Happy Feet was fitted with a satellite transmitter(发射机)so they can monitor his progress using the Internet. So far, the trackers shows that he swam northeast for a little while before getting his bearings and heading south.

1.Where is the young penguin supposed to appear?

A. On the sunny beach.????????? ????????????? B. Near the Antarctic.

C. Inside the hole in the ice.????? ????????????? D. In the depths of the ocean.

2.The public collected some money to______.

A. build a home for the penguin????????

B. get the sand out of the penguin’s belly

C. do some research on the penguin?????

D. return the penguin to his habitat

3.What does Peter Simpson mean by saying “ What happens now is up to the penguin.”?

A. The penguin needs no protection from human.

B. Human beings can do noting to help penguins.

C. No one knows what will happen to the penguins.

D. Whether the penguin can survive depends on himself.?

.

In China he’s known as “the Flying Fish”; in America they call him ‘the Baltimore Bullet’.

Whatever you call him, American swimmer Michael Phelps looks destined (命中注定) to become a household name across the world after breaking the Olympic record for most gold medals in a single Games.

Phelps’s total of eight gold medals in Beijing put him one ahead of Mark Spitz’s previous record set in 1972.

Now people are already calling him the greatest Olympian of all time. But whether he is or not, what is it that makes Michael Phelps so good?

A good place to start might be his physique. Phelps has the perfect body shape for a swimmer: his arm span is longer than his height, he has very flexible joints, huge lungs, and his incredibly large feet (size 14 in the US, size 49 in China) act like flippers in the water.

To feed his huge swimmer’s body, Phelps eats an astonishing 12,000 calories a day, six times the average for a man of his age.

He then owes it to a swimsuit which has been making waves in the world of swimming. Designed by NASA, the American space agency, the suit is made of a special material which is said to help athletes swim 2% faster.

Michael Phelps should spare a thought for his mum, who first pushed him into swimming as a way of making friends, and who believed in him when one teacher said he would never be a success.

Whatever the reason for his success, Phelps admits there was perhaps also a bit of luck involved in winning his eight medals.

“I guess eight is a lucky number for me, too, now. The opening ceremony started on 8/8/08. Maybe it was meant to be.” he said.

45. How many gold medals did Mark Spitz's won?

A. 6        B. 7 C. 8 D. 9

46. What makes Michael Phelps so popular?

A. He has broken the Olympic record for most gold medals in a single Games.

B. He is equipped with the best swimsuit which is said to help athletes swim 2% faster.

C. He is a very lucky person and he has the perfect body shape for a swimmer.

D. He has a very good appetiteand he eats an astonishing 12,000 calories a day.

47. According to the passage, how many calories does a man need a day on average?

A. 4,000                     B. 3,000                     C. 2,000                            D. 6,000

48. Which of the following is the reason for his success, in Phelps’ opinion?

a. his physique                                        b. the swimsuit designed by NASA

c. his mother’s encouragement           d. good luck                       e. his confidence

A. a, c, d, e                B. a, b, c, e                      C. a, b, d, e                D. a, b, c, d

Three boys and three girls were going to Fort Lauderdale and when they boarded the bus，they were carrying sandwiches and wine in paper bags，dreaming of golden beaches as the gray cold of New York vanished behind them.
As the bus passed through New Jersey，they began to notice Vingo, He sat in front of them，dressed in a plain，ill-fitting suit，never moving，his dusty face masking his age. He kept chewing the inside of his lip a lot，frozen into some personal cocoon of silence.
Deep into the night，outside Washington，the bus pulled into Howard Johnson's，and everybody got off except Vingo. He sat rooted in his seat，and the young people began to wonder about him，trying to imagine his life：perhaps he was a sea captain，a runaway from his wife，an old soldier going home. When they went back to the bus，one of the girls sat beside him and introduced herself.
"We're going to Florida,” she said brightly, “I hear it's really beautiful.”
“It is，”he said quietly，as if remembering something he had tried to forget.
"Want some wine?" she said. He smiled and took a swig.  He thanked her and once again returned to his silence. After a while，she went back to the others，and Vingo nodded in his sleep.
In the morning，they awoke outside another Howard Johnson's．And this time Vingo went in.  The girl insisted that he join them.  He seemed very shy, and ordered black coffee and smoked nervously as the young people chattered about sleeping on beaches. When they returned to the bus，the girl sat with Vingo again，and after a while, slowly and painfully，he told his story. He had been in jail in New York for the past four years，and now he was going home.
“Are you married?”
“I don't know.
“You don’t know?” she said.
“Well，when I was in jail I wrote to my wife，”he said. “I told her that I was going to be away a long time，and that if she couldn't stand it．if the kids kept asking questions，if it hurt too much，well she could just forget me, I'd understand. Get a new guy，I said she's a wonderful woman，really something and forget about me. I told her she didn't have to write me for nothing.  And she didn't.  Not for three and a half years.”
"And you’re going home now，not knowing?”
“Yeah，”he said shyly. “Well，last week，when I was sure the parole (假释) was coming through, I wrote her again.  We used to live in Brunswick，just before Jacksonville，and there’s a big oak (橡树) tree just as you came into town. I told her that if she'd take me back，she should put a yellow handkerchief on the tree，and I'd get off and come home,  If she didn't want me, forget it, no handkerchief，and I'd go on through.”
"Vow,” the girl exclaimed. "Wow.”
She told the others，and noon all of them were in it, caught up in the approach of Brunswick，looking at the pictures Vingo showed them of his wife and three children. The woman was handsome in a plain way，the children still unformed in the much-handled snapshots.
Now they were 20 miles from Brunswick, and the young people took over window seat on the right side，waiting for the approach of the great oak tree. The bus acquired a dark，hushed mood，full of the silence of absence and lost years. Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face into the ex-con's mask, as if fortifying himself against still another disappointment.
Then Brunswick was ten miles, and then five. Then，suddenly，all of the young people were up out of their seats，screaming and shouting and crying，doing small dances of joy. All except Vingo.
Vingo sat there stunned，looking at the oak tree. It was covered with yellow handkerchiefs，20 of them，30 of them，maybe hundreds，a tree that stood like a banner of welcome billowing in the wind. As the young people shouted，the old rose and made his way to the front of the bus to go home.
【小题1】Which is right about Vingo?

My father is now in his late forty but he looks young for his age. He is very strict with me, especial in my studies. Besides, I know he loves me deeply in his heart. Once I had failed to do well in my math exam, I was afraid that it would make my father angry and disappointing. On contrary, he said I had tried my best and offered him a few words of encouragement. He told me that there is no need to feel bad about one and two failures and the most important thing is to learn anything from failure and never give up. Today is Father’s Day and I want to say thank you for my father.

A boy of 14 has become the youngest student to win a place at Cambridge University. Arran Fernandez, who was  16 at home by his father, Neil, will 17  a mathematics degree at Fitzwilliam College next month and he hopes to have a career as a research mathematician to 18  the Riemann hypothesis(黎曼猜想) that has confused the brightest minds. It will make him the youngest Cambridge student  19 14-year-old William Pitt the Younger studied there in 1773.
Last night the child genius said: “I am looking forward to going to the  20  . I have started the first-year books  21   and it is all right, not too  22  . I can understand it. I am excited about going to Cambridge,  23  I am used to making records about being the youngest in education. It isn’t the youngest moment that is so important to me--  24  I’m more interested in going to Cambridge than comparing   25  with other people who go there.”
But  26 his age he will not be able to    27  many of the alcohol-fuelled festivities(庆典) traditionally  28  to Freshers’ Week. “I don’t think I’m missing too much fun,” he insisted. “Even if I was 18, I wouldn’t want to go out  29 . ”
Arran,  30   plans to join the bird-watching society instead and go boating while at university, was five when he  31  the youngest person to be  32   a GCSE (General Certificated of Secondary Education), after passing maths. He was offered the   33  to learn at Cambridge in 2010, when he was 14, on the condition he gained an A-level in physics, which he  34  with an A+ grade. Arran had already gained an A grade in further maths last year.
Cambridge also asked him to attend three GCSEs in subjects which were not related to maths and physics to  35   his knowledge. He gained A+s in English literature and French and an A in English language this summer.