43. The light of the nearest star you see tonight has been ____ for years.

A. on the earth　 　　　B. on the moon 　　　　C. away from the sun　 D. away from the star

答案　 DBD

Passage 68

(福建省三校2010届高三上学期期中联考)

B

Many of the most damaging types of weather begin quickly, strike suddenly, and disappear rapidly, destroying small areas while leaving neighboring areas untouched．Such event as a tornado(龙卷风)struck the northeastern part of Edmonton, Alberta, in July 1987．Total damages from the tornado went beyond $250 million, the highest ever for any Canadian storm.

Traditional computer models of the atmosphere have limited value in predicting short-lived local storms like the Edmonton tornado, because the available weather data are generally not detailed enough to allow computers to study carefully the slight atmospheric changes that come before these storms. In most nations, for example, weather-balloon observations are taken just once every twelve hours at places separated by hundreds of miles. With such limited data, traditional forecasting models do a much better job predicting general weather conditions over large areas than they do forecasting specific local events.

Until recently, the observation intensive method needed for exact, very short-range forecasts, or “Nowcasts,” was not possible. The cost of equipping and operating many thousands of conventional weather stations was extremely high, and the difficulties concerned in rapidly collecting and processing the weather data from such a network were hard to overcome.

Fortunately, scientific and technological advances have overcome most of these problems. Radar(雷达) systems and satellites are all able to make detailed, nearly continuous observation over large areas at a lower cost. Communications satellites can send out data around the world cheaply and immediately, and modern computers can quickly collect and analyze this large amount of weather information.

Meteorologists(气象学者)and computer scientists now work together to design computer programs and video equipment able to change weather data into words and graphic displays(图解)that forecasters can understand easily and quickly. As meteorologists have begun using these new technologies in weather forecasting offices, nowcasting is becoming a reality.

42. If　 you stand 200 meters away from a man who is firing a gun to start a race, you will find out that ___

A. you can hear the gun before you see the smoke　

B. sound does not travel as fast as light

C. the sound of the gun will reach you before the man fires his gun

D. sound travels about a million times faster than light

41. Light speed is _____ than sound speed.

A. millions times faster　　 　　　　　　　　B. a million times slower

C. about millions of times faster　　 　　　　　D. about a million times faster

44．The text is most probably taken from a _______

　　 A．teacher's diary　　　　　　　　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．report on study

C．sports newspaper　　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．movie magazine

答案　 CCDB

Passage 67

(贵州省贵阳二中2010届高三第一学期11月月考)

A

Light travels at a speed which is about a million times faster than the speed of sound. In one second, light travels about 300,000 km, but sound travels only 0.334 km. You can get some idea of this difference by watching the start of a race. If you stand some distance away from the starter, you can see smoke come from his gun before the sound reaches your ears.

This great speed of light produces some strange facts. Sunlight takes about 8 minutes to reach us. If you look at the light of the moon tonight, remember that the light rays left the moon 1.3　 seconds before they reached you. The nearest star is so far away that the light which you can see from it tonight started to travel towards you four years ago at a speed of nearly 2 million km per minute. In some cases, the light from one of tonight’s stars started on　 its journey to you before you were born.

Thus, if we want to be honest, we cannot say, “The stars are shining tonight.” We have to say, “The stars look pretty. They were shining four years ago but their light has only just reached Earth.”

43．The last paragraph is possibly close to the meaning of "________"

　　 A．More hurry, less speed．　　　　　　 B．Better late than never.

　　 C．Silence is gold．　　 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．Practice makes perfect.

42．It can be inferred from the third paragraph that _­­­­______

　　 A．Don't be fluency．Just be accuracy !

　　 B．Don't be nervous, don't be shy．Just write !

　　 C．Don't be afraid of making mistakes．Just speak !

　　 D．Don't be shy, don't be fluency．Just listen and write !

41．What is most probably the writer's purpose in writing the passage?

　　 A．To improve your reading.

　　 B．To improve your listening.

　　 C．To improve your spoken English.

D．To improve your vocabulary.

60. The author would probably hold the view that _____.

　 A. encouraging words are sure to lead to kind offers

　 B. negative words may motivate us to make more progress

　 C. people tend to remember friendly words

　 D. it is better to think twice before talking to others

答案　 ACBD

Passage 66

(甘肃省天水一中2010届高三第一学期第二次段考)

A

　　　　 Although many Chinese students say that their knowledge of English grammar is good, most would admit that their spoken English is poor. Whenever I speak to a Chinese student they always say," My spoken English is poor. " However, their spoken English does not have to remain “poor”! I would like to suggest that there may be some reasons for their problems with spoken English.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

　 First, they fail to find suitable words to express themselves due to a limited vocabulary. Obviously the better answer is to expand their vocabulary. However, you can speak with a limited vocabulary, if your attitude is positive. Others will follow you as long as you use the words that you know.

20090326

　　　　 Second, they are afraid of making mistakes. Sometimes they make mistakes when they are speaking because they are shy and nervous. Yet students should remember that their goal should be FLUENCY NOT ACCURACY. Your aim in writing is to be accurate following the rules for grammar and using the right words and spelling them correctly. However, in speaking your aim is fluency. You want to get your message across, to talk to someone in English, as quickly and as well as you can. Even though sometimes you may use a wrong word or tense, it doesn't matter because the person you are speaking to will understand you and make allowances for any mistakes he hears.

　　　　 The third reason is that not enough attention is paid to listening. You have one mouth but two ears! All that is heard is necessary for you to start speaking.

　　　　 Fourth, most Chinese students are reactive rather than proactive(主动进攻型)language learners. Instead of actively seeking out opportunities to improve their spoken English they passively wait for speaking opportunities to come to them and wonder why their English always remains poor. If you have this proactive outlook, then you will see English opportunities wherever you go.

　　　　 If you do not use your English beyond the classroom you will forget what English you know. Remember: USE IT OR LOSE IT! You can learn how to speak English better by speaking English more.

59. The underlined part in the third paragraph means that we should also timely _____.

　 A. remind ourselves　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B. praise ourselves　

　 C. make ourselves relaxed　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. give ourselves amusement

58. There is no sense for us to feel embarrassed when we talk to ourselves because _____.

　 A. almost everybody has the habit of talking to themselves

　 B. talking to ourselves always gives us courage

　 C. we can benefit from talking to ourselves

　 D. it does no harm to have “self-talk” when we are alone