Chinese press, thousands of tourists and space experts from Japan, Germany, Italy and other countries have gathered at China’s Xichang Satellite Launch Center in southwestern Sichuan Province on Tuesday, October 23 to witness the historic moment-the launch of the nation’s first moon orbiter (人造卫星), which is scheduled to take place at 6:05 p.m.on Wednesday．

Space center experts were worried earlier in the day when Xichang experienced an unexpected rainfall from about 4:05 a.m．till 7:10 a.m．on Wednesday, but they were able to breathe a sigh of relief when the weather cleared．Both national and local meteorological observatories (气象台)forecast cloudy weather for the launch site on Wednesday afternoon．However they said they believed it would not affect the launch mission, an opinion which was shared by technological staff at the site．     

Local villagers within a radius of 2.5 km of the launch site and under the trajectory(轨道) of the carrier have been told to move to safe areas two hours prior to the planned launch．Tourists have been charged 800 yuan (105 U.S.dollars) to witness the launch of China’s first lunar satellite．A local travel agency has said that the two observation platforms are capable of holding 2,000, but it is not known how many people paid for the chance．

The moon orbiter, Chang’e-1, named after a legendary Chinese goddess who flew to the moon, and the carrier Long March 3A have passed all pre-launch tests．     

China hopes to become the 17th nation to join the International Space Station (ISS) project, and carried out its first piloted space flight in October 2003, making it only the third country in the world after the Soviet Union and the United States to have sent men into space．In October 2005, China completed its second manned space flight, with two astronauts on board．

1．Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A．China counting down to launch of its first lunar satellite  

B．Chang’e-1 lunar satellite and its launch

C．Chang’e-1 lunar satellite to conduct 1st orbit transfer  

D．China hopes to join the International Space Station

2．Space center experts believed _______．

     A．rainfall would come as soon as possible．

     B．the cloudy weather wouldn’t affect the mission．

     C．All the 2,000 tourists should paid 800 yuan each to witness the launch．

     D．The mission was the third time of China’s manned flight．

3．Please arrange the time order of the following events according to the passage．

a．Local villagers have been told to move to safe areas．    

b．Unexpected shower fell on the early morning of Wednesday．

c．The moon mission is scheduled to take place．        

d．Journalists and tourists gathered at the Satellite Launch Centre．

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

4．It can be implied from the passage that _____________．

A．China has become the 17th country to join the International Space Station         

B．China will launch its manned spaceship to the moon soon

C．China is the third nation to send men into space       

D．China is pioneering in the space exploration now

 

Can you understand the beginning of this essay?
“My smmr hols wr CWOTT. B4, we usd 2go2 NY 2C my bro, his GF & 3 kds FTF.”
The Scottish teacher who received it in class had no idea what the girl who wrote it meant. The essay was written in a form of English used in cell phone text messages. Text messages (also called SMS2) through cell phones became very popular in the late 1990s. At first, mobile phone companies thought that text messaging would be a good way to send messages to customers, but customers quickly began to use the text messaging service to send messages to each other. Teenagers in particular enjoyed using text messaging, and they began to create a new language for messages called texting.
A text message is limited to 160 characters, including letters, spaces, and numbers, so messages must be kept short. In addition, typing on the small keypad of a cell phone is difficult, so it’s common to make words shorter. In texting, a single letter or number can represent a word, like “r” for “are,”“u” for “you,” and “2” for “to.” Several letters can also represent a phrase, like “lol” for “laughing out loud.” Another characteristic of texting is the leaving out of letters in a word, like spelling “please” as “pls.”
Some parents and teachers worry that texting will make children bad spellers and bad writers. The student who wrote the essay at the top of this page said writing that way was more comfortable for her. (The essay said, “My summer holidays were a complete waste of time. Before, we used to go to New York to see my brother, his girlfriend, and their three kids face to face.”)
Not everyone agrees that texting is a bad thing. Some experts say languages always evolve, and this is just another way for English to change. Other people believe texting will disappear soon. New technology for voice messages may soon make text messages a thing of the past.
【小题1】What is the writer’s opinion of text messaging?

A．It is fun and easy to do.

B．It is not bad for children.

C．It will make children bad writers.

D．The writer does not give an opinion.

【小题2】Which characteristic of texting is NOT described in the passage?

A．Using phrases to represent essays

B．Using numbers to represent words

C．Using letters to represent phrases

D．Using letters to represent words

【小题3】Which of the following was most probably the title of the student’s essay?

A．My Gr8 Tchr

B．CU in LA

C．My GF

D．My Smmr Hols

【小题4】   Why do some people think that texting is bad?

A．It costs too much.	B．It’s too difficult to type.
C．Children won’t learn to write correctly.	D．It’s not comfortable.

【小题5】Why aren’t some people worried about the effect of texting?

A．Not many people use texting.

B．Spelling in English is too difficult.

C．Children quickly become bored with texting.

D．Texting will disappear because of new technology.

It is not unusual for people to speak two or three languages; they’re known as bilinguals or trilinguals. Speakers of more than three languages are known as polyglots. And when we refer to people who speak many languages, perhaps a dozen or more, we use the term hyper-polyglot.

The most famous hyper-polyglot was Giuseppe Mezzofanti, a 19th century Italian cardinal, who was said to speak 72 languages. This claim sounds absurd. If you assume each language had 20,000 words, Mezzofanti would have to learn a word a minute, six hours a day, for eleven years—an impossible task. But Mezzofanti was tested by critics, and they were all impressed.

Did Mezzofanti have an extraordinary brain? Or are hyper-polyglots just ordinary people with ordinary brains who manage to do something extraordinary through hard work?

U.S. linguist Stephen Drashen believes that outstanding language learners just work harder at it and then they acquire unusually strong language ability. As an example, he mentions a Hungarian woman who worked as an interpreter during the 20th century. When she was 86, she could speak 16 languages and was still working on learning new languages. She said she learned them mostly on her own, reading fiction or working through dictionaries or textbooks.

Some researchers argue to the contrary. They believe that there is such a thing as a talent for learning languages. In the 1930s, a German scientist examined parts of the preserved brain of a hyper-polyglot named Emil Krebs, who could speak 60 languages fluently. The scientist found that the area of Krebs’s brain called Broca’s area, which is associated with language, looked different from the Broca’s area in the brains of men who speak only one language. However, we still don’t know if Krebs was born with a brain ready to learn dozens of languages or if his brain adapted to the demands he put on it.

Although it is still not clear whether the ability to learn many languages is in born, there’s no doubt that just about all of us can acquire skills in a second, third, or even fourth language by putting our mind to it.

1.What does the underlined sentence imply?

A. Mezzofanti could remember 360 words a day.

B. Mezzofanti had a special way to learn languages.

C. Mezzofanti’s achievement was ridiculous.

D. Mezzofanti language ability was astonishing.

2.The Hungarian woman became a hyper-polyglot mainly because of her __.

A. good memory       B. unique brain      C. hard work      D. learning methods

3.The German scientist’s findings showed that Krebs ___.

A. had an unusual brain

B. was born with great talent

C. had worked hard at languages

D. expected too much of himself

4.The author seems to agree that ___.

A. it is not hard to learn foreign languages

B. hard work plays a part in language learning

C. there is no such thing as a talent for languages

D. hyper-polyglots have an inborn talent for language

 

?New York State has passed the USA’s first state law banning motorists talking on hand-held cell phones. The ban will begin November 1st, although drivers caught using hand-held cell phones will be given only warnings during the first month. 
First-time violators（违法者）will face a ＄100 fine. A second time call for a ＄200 fine and every violation after that will cost＄500. 
At least a dozen localities（地方）have established bans, starting in 1999; and 40 states have had bans proposed but not passed. At least 23 countries, including the Great Britain, Italy, Israel and Japan, ban drivers from using hand-held cell phones. 
There are about 115 million cell phones in use in the United States and more than 6 million in New York State. 
“To think that I’m not going to use cell phone when at the same time I can still use my laptop(膝上电脑), I still can read a paper, I can still change my trousers while driving 65 mph. I think there’s just something wrong,” an official said. 
Other critics noted that other things like eating, drinking coffee and applying make up while driving caused at least as much of a concern. They suggested that the ban include a broader range of things. 
【小题1】 How much fine will a hand-held cell phone user receive if he has been caught using it four times while driving after November？

A．＄500.

B．＄1000.

C．＄1200.

D．＄1300.

【小题2】. We can see from this passage that ____. 

A．the ban has been put into effect in most states in the U. S.

B．many of the developed countries forbid drivers using hand-held cell phones

C．over fifty localities or states ban drivers from using hand-held cell phones

D．more people in the U. S. are against the ban than for it

【小题3】The official mentioned in this passage ____. 

A．does not agree with this ban

B．doesn’t believe using hand-held cell phones while driving will cause any danger

C．doesn’t understand why hand-held cell phones alone should be banned among many others

D．believes changing pants while driving will cause greater danger

【小题4】The writer intends to tell us in the last paragraph that ______. 

A．it is not fair to have this ban passed

B．the ban will never be passed in the whole country

C．more activities of the same kind should also be banned

D．the ban will meet with more criticism