The dream of flying like Buzz Lightyear never dies. For years, space-age inventors have tested one wearable jet pack after another. And time after time, the designs have been grounded by dangerous fuels, excessive weight, or very loud noise levels. Now a Canadian inventor has sidestepped those weaknesses with an aquatic jet pack. Designed for travel over lakes or oceans, it’s driven by pressurized water, not burning rocket fuel.

When Raymond Li first told the idea for the aquatic jet pack to his friends, they said he must be nuts. How could a jet pack carry that much water? Its thrust-to-weight rate would be so low and it would never become airborne. Thrust-to-weight rate is a measure of the forward force produced compared with the weight of the vehicle. A vehicle with a low thrust-to-weight rate is relatively heavy for the amount of force it generates.

Li's genius idea was to place the jet pack’s engine and its water pump in a separate boat. The pump would draw water from the lake the boat was floating on. It would then force the water under pressure through a hose connected to the jet pack. The hose would be long enough to let the pack go up as high as 8.5 meters (28 feet) in the air.

Today, Li's invention, the Jetlev-Flyer, is ready to go into production. The pack itself, complete with jet nozzles （管嘴） and handlebars, weighs just 14 kilograms. The boat is a floating pod. To take off, the operator hits a trigger on a handlebar, which starts the pump, and then turns the throttle. Two streams of high-velocity water shoot through the hose and out the nozzles, lifting the operator into the air. The operator hovers there or pushes down on the handlebars, zooming forward at speeds of up to 64 kilometers per hour, pulling the pod behind.

1.All the following factors contribute to the failure of inventing a wearable jet pack EXCEPT ______.

A. excessive water     B. unbearable noise    C. unsafe fuels   D. too much weight 

2. The underlined word “sidestepped” in Para. 1 most probably means ________.

  A. improved          B. reduced         C. avoided         D. solved

3. Raymond Li’s friends found his idea for the aquatic jet pack was ________.

  A. exciting           B. crazy          C. realistic         D. creative

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

  A. His friends encouraged him to do the invention.

  B. He put the engine and its water pump in the same boat.

  C. The success of his invention lies in his bravery.  

  D. His invention finally succeeded and will go into production.

5.Which is the right order to make the Jetlev-Flyer take off?

  a. The throttle is turned.                  b. The operator is lifted into the air.

  c. A trigger is hit.                       d. Two streams of water shoot out.

The pump is started.

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

Scientists are trying to make the deserts into good land again．They want to bring water to the deserts，so people can live and grow food．They are learning a lot about the deserts．But more and more of the earth is becoming desert all the time．Scientists may not be able to change the desert in time．
Why is more and more land becoming desert？Scientists think that people make deserts．People are doing bad things to the earth．
Some places on the earth don’t get much rain． But they still don’t become deserts． This is because some green plants are growing there． Small green plants and grass are very important to dry places． Plants don’t let the sun make the earth even drier． Plants do not let the wind blow the dirt away． When a bit of rain falls， the plants hold the water． Without plants， the land can become desert more easily．
【小题1】Deserts ＿＿＿＿＿＿＿＿ ．

D
It was the afternoon of December 24, the day before Christmas, and as the newest doctor in our office, I had to work. The only thing that brightened my day was the beautifully decorated Christmas tree in our waiting room and a gift sent to me by a fellow I was dating—a dozen long-stemmed red roses.
As I was cleaning my office, I was told a lady urgently needed to speak with me. As I stepped out, I noticed a young, tired-looking woman with a baby in her arms. Nervously, she explained that her husband—a prisoner in a nearby prison—was my next patient. She told me she wasn’t allowed to visit her husband in prison and that he had never seen his son. Her request was for me to let the boy’s father sit in the waiting room with her as long as possible before I called him for his appointment. Since my schedule wasn’t full, I agreed. After all, it was Christmas Eve.
A short time later, her husband arrived—with chains on his feet and hands, and two armed guards as bodyguards. The woman’s tired face lit up like our little Christmas tree when her husband took a seat beside her. I kept glancing out to watch them laugh, cry and share their child. After almost an hour, I called the prisoner back to my office. The patient seemed like a gentle and modest man. I wondered what he possibly could have done to be held under such conditions. I tried to make him as comfortable as possible.
At the end of the appointment, I wished him a Merry Christmas—a difficult thing to say to a man headed back to prison. He smiled and thanked me. He also said he felt saddened by the fact that he hadn’t been able to get his wife anything for Christmas. On hearing this, I was inspired with a wonderful idea.
I’ll never forget the look on both their faces as the prisoner gave his wife the beautiful, long-stemmed roses. I’m not sure who experienced the most joy—the husband in giving, the wife in receiving, or myself in having the opportunity to share in this special moment.
67.What can be inferred from the first paragraph?
A. The writer was a newcomer to her office. 
B. A fellow sent her a dozen red roses as Christmas present.
C. She was in low spirits because she had to work before Christmas.
D. She was at work with a light heart.
68. The young woman came to the writer’s office for the purpose of         .
A. having her baby examined      
B. giving her husband a chance to make his escape
C. having her husband examined  
D. getting a chance for her family to get together
69.The underlined part in Paragraph 3 most probably means          . 
A. to be sent to hospital            B. to be separated from his family
C. to be comfortable                   D. to become a prisoner
70. What does the writer learn from the story?
A. The wife experienced the most joy in receiving. 
B. An act of kindness can mean a lot.
C. The prisoner was treated with mercy.      
D. Whoever breaks the law should be punished.

B
We once had a poster competition in our fifth grade art class.
“You could win prizes，’’our teacher told US as she wrote the poster information on the blackboard. She passed out sheets of construction paper while continuing，“The first prize is ten dollars. You just have to make sure that the words on the blackboard appear somewhere on your poster. ”
We studied the board critically. Some of US looked with one eye and held up certain colors against the blackboard，rocking the sheets to the fight or left while we conjured up our designs. Others twisted their hair around their fingers or chewed their erasers while deep in thought. We had plans for that ten—dollar grand prize，each and every one of US. I'm going to spend mine on candies，one hopeful would announce，while another practiced looking serious，wise and rich.
Everyone in the class made a poster. Some of us used parts of those fancy paper napkins， while others used nothing but colored construction paper. Some of US used big designs，and some of us preferred to gather our art tidily down in one comer of our poster and let the space draw the viewer's attention to it. Some of US would wander past the good students’ desks and then return to our own projects with a growing sense of hopelessness. It was yet another grown-up trick of the soil they seemed especially fond of。making all of US believe we had a fair chance，and then always—always—rewarding the same old winners.
I believe I drew a sailboat，but I can’t say that with any certainty. I made it. I admired it. I determined it to be the very best of all of the posters I had seen，and then I turned it in.
Minutes passed.
No one came along to give me the grand prize，and then someone distracted me，and I probably never would have thought about that poster again.
I was still sitting at my desk，thinking，What poster? When the teacher gave me an envelope with a ten-dollar bill in it and everyone in the class applauded for me.
51.. What was the teacher's requirement for the poster?
A. It must appear in time.
B. It must be done in class.
C. It must be done on a construction sheet.
D. It must include the words on the blackboard.
52. The underlined phrase in paragraph 3 most probably means _____________.
A. formed an idea for        B. made an outline for
C. made some space for      D. chose some colors for
53. After the teacher’s words，all the students in the class _________.
A. 1ooked very serious                 B. thought they would be rich
C. began to think about their designs       D. began to play games
54. After seeing the good students’ designs，some students _________.
A. 1oved their own designs more
B. thought they had a fair chance
C. put their own designs in a comer
D. thought they would not win the prize
55. We can infer from the passage that the author ______________.
A. enjoyed grown-up tricks very much
B. 1oved poster competitions very much
C. felt surprised to win the competition
D. became wise and rich after the competition

It was a bitter,   36 evening in northern Virginia. The old man’s beard was   37  by winter’s frost (霜)while he waited for a ride across the river. The wait seemed endless. Then he heard the weak sound of hooves(马蹄) advancing along the frozen path.   38  , he watched as several horsemen rounded the bend. He let the first one pass by, then another. As  39 rider drew near where the old man sat, the old man   40  the rider’s eye and said, “Sir, would you mind giving an old man a ride to the other side of the river?”
Reining(勒住) his horse, the rider replied, “Sure thing.” Seeing the old man unable to   41  his half-frozen body from the ground, the horseman helped the old man onto the horse and took him to his   42 . On the way, the horseman said: “Sir, I notice that you let several other riders pass by. I'm   43  why, on such a bitter winter night, you would wait and ask the last rider.”
The old man looked at the rider and replied, “I know people pretty good. When I   44  the eyes of the other riders, I immediately saw there was no   45  for my situation. But when I looked into yours, kindness and compassion(同情) were obvious. I knew that your gentle spirit would give me help in my time of   46  .”
Those heart-warming comments   47  the horseman deeply. “I'm most grateful for what you have said,” he told the old man. “May I never get too busy in my own affairs that I fail to respond to the needs of others with kindness and compassion.”