When we asked students what they want to be, they often talk about unusual jobs, things like teachers and doctors. But if you think about it, many people don’t plan to do their jobs. They just start doing them by accident. We have talked to two people with unusual jobs.

Emily is a dentist but she doesn’t work with people. She works with horses. After university she took care of animal’s health for several years, but she notices that there were few people who could help horses’ teeth. She decides to go to college and study again. Then she had to buy special tools, but she is never out of work. She’d always very busy taking care of horses’ teeth. “I couldn’t be a dentist for people now,” Emily said, “because I really enjoy working with horses.”

As soon as David could read, he read books about robots, but the robots he build today don’t look like the strange robot people in his books. He builds robots for industry. Early one he made up his mind to study math, science and computers so that he could break into the world of robot engineering. “Some of the math is very difficult.” says David, “but you must study math to be an engineer.” Fortunately he got top marks in all his math exams.

1. Emily doesn’t want to be a dentist because       .

   A. the pay is low                                B. she has to buy special tools

   C. she will be out of work                   D. she likes working with horses

2. To become a robot engineer, David       .

   A. need to worry                  B. bought a lot of robots

   C. had to study hard             D. didn’t have to go to college

3. David got top marks in all his math exams, although       .

   A. math was not easy to study                    B. he has to study math to be an engineer

   C. he could break into the world of robot engineering

    D. he made up his mind to study math, science and computers

Jamal’s science teacher asked students to research a type of renewable energy and then writes something about their findings for class. Jamal talked about wind power.

 Renewable energy is a resource that can be created faster than

 it is consumed. (消耗)

     Using wind power is not a new idea. Sailboats have used wind

power for thousands of years. Another example of wind power is the

windmill (风车). Windmills used blades（叶片）to catch the wind while

a sailboat uses its tails. As the wind turns the blades, power is created.

Windmills use this power to get water from lakes or rivers.

     Today, wind turbines (风轮机) make electrical power for us. Wind turbines are made after the windmill. Wind turbines are made of strong durable materials that won’t wear out over time. To get large amounts of power, hundreds of wind turbines are placed in one location called a wind farm.

     In Texas, some landowners in windy areas build their own wind system or lease their land to wind companies. This industry created many new jobs. In fact, the state of Texas is one of the largest wind energy producers in the country.

However, one of the biggest disadvantages of wind power is that its output cannot be always gained because not every day is windy. Researchers are looking for effective ways to store enough energy for later use. Cities and towns cannot only rely on wind. Coy Harris, Executive director of Texas Wind Power Center, says "We are going to still have to have coal-fired plants and everything else because people still want to have electricity even when the wind is not blowing,"

51. We know from the text that ________ make electrical power for people.

A. sailboats                                B. windmills

C. wind turbines                                     D. blades

52. What does Coy Harris mean by saying cities and towns cannot only rely on wind?

A. wind power is not so important                     B. people don’t like windy days

C. wind is not always blowing             D. people build their own wind system

53. What does the underlined word durable probably mean?

A. 耐用的                                      B.坚固的    

C. 实在的                                  D. 干燥的

54. Which of the following is True according to the passage?

A. Renewable energy can be consumed faster than it is created.

B. Wind turbines are made before windmills.

C. Wind power can be used to get water from lakes or rivers

D. Wind companies build their own wind system.

55. It can be inferred from the passage that _____________.

A. Wind power is renewable energy           B. Wind power is durable energy

C. Wind power depends much on weather   D. Wind power depends on electricity

The English language we know today is about six hundred years old. For half that time, English was just the language of the people living in England. The modem English language grew from about the year 1400. Now English is the most widely spoken language in the world. It is one of the working languages at International meetings, business, science and in other fields.

The differences between American English and British English are not very great. Written English is more or less the same in both Britain and America, though there are some spelling differences. For example, centre, license, color and traveled are spelt center, license, color and traveled in American English. In America, "cock, rubber, ill, holiday, lorry, and post... " are called "rooster, eraser, sick, vacation, truck, mail... ". But people from the two countries can still understand each other easily.

     There are only a very small number of differences in grammar between American English and British English. The most important differences are in spoken English. Some words may have two kinds of pronunciations. You may wonder "Which is correct?" The answer is that it doesn't matter. But you should speak either American English or British English. Don't try to speak both at the same time!

1. When did the modem English language begin to grow?

2. Is English the only working language at International meetings?

3. What is the word "color" spelt in British English?

4. What is the word "ill" called in American English?

5. How many differences are there in grammar between American English and British English?

How many of us have looked up at the stars and wondered about other worlds? Of course, we know a lot about space now, but for people living thousands of years ago, the stars were strange. Astrology（占星术）is one of the world’s most ancient ideas. It started about 3,000 years ago and was used to predict what would happen to countries and to people in the future.

Astrology was created by the ancient Greeks（希腊人）. They believed that the place of the sun and the stars could affect a person’s life and what would happen to them in the future. Astrology is a Greek word that means “science of the star”. Even famous Greek people like Plat thought Astrology was important and he studied it carefully. Later Europeans thought that Plato was talented man so they continued to follow his idea about the stars.

Some people think that farmers started the Astrology to help them decide when to plant and harvest（收割）. They needed to know what time of year it was. For example, Scorpio（天蝎座）can only be seen in the evening sky in the summer. Over time, using the stars to plan daily life became a strong part of many cultures. People who spent their lives moving from one place to another, like some northern Chinese, use the stars to tell them when and where to go.

Today many people think Astrology is just fun but some people take it very seriously.

（ ）46.What did people long ago know about the stars?

A. How many there were.　　　 B. Not very much.　　

C. How far away they were.　　 D. They were not real.

（ ）47. What did later Europeans think about Plato?

A. He was really clever.　　 B. He was a star.

C. He was silly.　　　　　 D. He was able to tell them what would happen in the future.

（ ）48. Why might have Astrology started?

A. Farmers needed to know when to move.

B. Farmers needed to take care of their crops.

C. Farmers needed to know when to start.

D. Farmers needed to study.