CAIRO, Egypt (Reuters) April 24, 2006—Three explosions shook the Egyptian Sinai resort of Dahab on Monday, killing 23 people and wounding dozens of others, rescue and security officials said.

Witnesses said smoke billowed^① up from the town’s tourist bazaar, and residents said they saw body parts and debris^② on the street after an explosion at a restaurant.

People in the small beach and diving resort, which is popular with backpackers, described scenes of carnage^③ and chaos^④.

A cafe worker who was about 200 meters (yards) from the scene said: “We saw many dead people. People were screaming. People were being taken to hospital. Egyptians went to give blood. There were body parts. There’s police everywhere.”

“There are ambulances and cars taking people to hospital,” said another resident, who also did not want to be named.

The explosions took place at the Nelson Restaurant, the Aladdin Cafeteria and the Ghazala Supermarket, the Interior Ministry said.

The explosions took place in quick succession at about 7.15 p.m. (1715 GMT). “There is smoke coming from the area and there are people running everywhere,” said one witness, who heard the blasts.

An official with the local ambulance service said many of the dead appeared to be foreigners.

Israeli divers often stay in the resort but with the Passover holiday over it is unlikely many were there. The Israeli ambassador in Cairo and Israeli authorities said they did not know of any Israeli casualties^⑤.

One visitor said police were stopping cars and buses leaving the resort and had imposed restrictions on movements in and out of backpacker camps in the area.

It was the third set of three explosions on the eastern coast of the Sinai peninsula since October 2004, when a group attacked the Hilton hotel in the border resort of Taba and two other resorts on the northeast coast, killing 34 people.

Notes:

① billow  v.  翻腾

② debris  n.  残骸

③ carnage  n.  残杀，流血

④ chaos  n.  混乱

⑤ casualty  n. （人员）伤亡

What’s the result of the explosions in Dahab?

        A. 34 people were killed.

        B. There were many Israeli casualties.

        C. 23 people were killed and dozens of others were injured.

        D. Many houses were burned to the ground.

How many places did the explosions take place in?

        A. Two      B. Three      C. Six      D. Eight

What does the underlined word “resort” mean?

        A. popular holiday centre      B. hotel or guest-house for holidaymakers

        C. visiting some place         D. Making use of something for help

Which of the following statements is right?

        A. Many of the dead appeared to be residents.

        B. The first set of three explosions took place in October 2004.

        C. Police couldn’t know what to do.

        D. Israeli divers stayed in the resort with the Passover holiday over.

单词拼写（每小题1分，每个单词的第一个字母已经给出，第一个字母不再写。）
101. 【小题1】 This c               (关系到) the healthy growth of the children.
102. 【小题2】This would threaten the e               (全面的) peace of the Middle East.
103. 【小题3】I am g               (感谢) to you for lending me the money.
104. 【小题4】 When I retire, I shall make a long sea v               (旅行).
105. 【小题5】 She looks young, but she’s a               (实际上) 50.
106. 【小题6】Go s               (一直)down the road and then turn left.
107. 【小题7】The No.3 bus t               (运送) the passengers from the station to No.1 Middle School.
108. 【小题8】The weather man has f               (预报) that it will be fine tomorrow.
109. 【小题9】The rain r               (毁了) my painting.
110. 【小题10】He spoke in a f               (令人害怕) manner. 

V.单词拼写   5%

62. The Tian’anmen Square(天安门广场) is d_______ with more than 300,000 pots of flowers as tourists begin to travel in a crowd to Beijing with the week-long National Day holiday.

63. The man’s s________ was surprising, as the doctors thought he would die.

64. The Great Wall was rebuilt during the Ming D_______

65. To my joy , I got a very friendly r__________ when I arrived there

66. At least 203 miners were killed, 22 injured and 13 trapped in a coal mine gas e________.

1 

China in the 21st century is making great progress in space technology. In 2003, the country sent up the manned spacecraft Shenzhou-V. Four years later, Chang’e-I went into orbit (轨道) around the moon. In 2008 a Chinese man did the country’s first spacewalk.

These achievements would have been unthinkable without the contribution of Qian Xuesen, a key scientist on space programs and rocketry (火箭技术) of the People’s Republic of China. This pioneering scientist passed away in Beijing on October 31 in 2009 at the age of 98.

   Once called “the father of our space industry”, Qian began working on China’s missile and space technology in 1956, when China had little technology. When asked by General Chen Geng whether the Chinese could develop their own missiles, Qian said Chinese could do anything that foreigners could.

His research helped lead to the explosion of China’s first atomic bomb (原子弹) in1964, as well as to its first man-made satellite in 1970 and its first manned spacecraft in 2003.

    Qian was born in Shanghai. He graduated from Shanghai Jiaotong University in 1934.Then he studied in the US at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later at the California Institute of Technology. During World WarⅡ, Qian’s research contributed to the development of rocket technology that the US military (军队) began using in the 1940s. He was once prevented from leaving the country because it was decided that he knew too much about certain military matters. It was not until in 1955 that Qian returned to China with the help of the late premier Zhou Enlai.

    “I plan to do my best to help the Chinese build a nation where they can live with dignity (尊严) and happiness, ” Qian told reporters before sailing for China in 1955. The great scientist devoted all his life to keeping the promise.

1. What is the article mainly about?

A. It gives a short history of Chinese missile and space programs.

B. It is about how Qian contributed to the Chinese space program.

C. It lists important events that Qian experienced.

D. It is a brief introduction to Qian, a famous Chinese scientist.

2.. Which statement about Qian is TRUE?

A. He was born in China and brought up in America.

B. He went to America for further study after graduation from university.

C. He returned to his hometown right after finishing his education.

D. He had worked on missiles in the US military before coming back to China.

3.Qian was personally involved in many historic events in China EXCEPT       .

A. the first spacewalk                                           B. the first man-made satellite

C. the development of missiles                   D. the explosion of an atomic bomb

4. From the article, we can conclude that       .

A. the US military had hoped to take full advantage of Qian’s talent

B. Qian had an important position in the US military in the 1940s

C. when World War broke out, Qian was studying at Shanghai Jiaotong University

D. it was not easy to get Qian back from the US

Learners of English, especially self-taught learners may have trouble in understanding speeches by native speakers. The following ways might help improve their listening ability.

First of all, do things step by step. It is not good to listen to something beyond your level. Better choose a suitable course and start with the first book. Go on to the second book only after you are sure you understand the first one.

Secondly, stick to one course of study. Don’t change books often. Never let your attention be attracted by another course just because it seems to be more “fashionable”. 

Thirdly, listen to the English news program over the radio from time to time.  Better go through the news stories in the Chinese-language newspaper first. That will make it easy for you to understand the English news on the radio.

Fourthly, if you have time, listen to some interesting stories in “Special English from the V.O.A. or other listening materials of the same level as that of your textbook”.

1.This is a piece of advice to learners of English on how to ________.

A．improve their listening ability

B．read fast

C．write better English and read faster

D．speak correctly

2.If you want to understand the English news program on the radio, you should ________.

A．read the Chinese-language newspaper step by step

B．read again and again the Chinese-language newspaper

C．go through the Chinese-language newspaper first

D．be able to recite the Chinese-language newspaper

3.The author advised that once you have taken up a course, you ________.

A．should stick to it

B．should begin with the last book

C．should take up other courses if they are more fashionable

D．shouldn’t do anything else

4.In this passage, V.O.A. stands for ________.

A.  a book         B. a magazine       C. a text-book      D. a radio station