Look out for cars _____ the street.

A. when crossed 　 B. when crossing

C. if you crossed 　 D. while you were crossing

 

The skin which covers the tips of the fingers and thumbs is crossed by numerous ridges (隆起) arranged in different patterns. These patterns are permanent from birth and remain exactly the same throughout a person's life, even when the skin becomes wrinkled and cracked as a result of old age. Such patterns are never passed on from parents to children, and no one in the world has the same patterns as anyone else. Even identical twins have different sets of fingerprints. As a result, fingerprints offer a most useful and foolproof way of identifying people. Any ridged part of the hand and the foot may be used as a means of identification, but finger impressions are usually preferred since they can be taken easily and quickly.
Fingerprints are classified in the ways: by general shapes and contours(轮廓), by the finger positions of the pattern-types, and by size (often measured by counting the ridges in the loops). Every set of fingerprints has different “ridge characteristics” (i. e. the print of each separate finger is different from that of all the other fingers), which belong to one of four basic groups: arches, loops, whorls and composites. All fingerprints can then be divided into 1, 024 groups. By using details in the patterns above, these 1, 024 groups can be further divided into thousands of smaller groups, thus making it possible to find a particular set of fingerprints in a few minutes.
【小题1】According to this passage, the true statement about human fingerprints is that ____.

A．people's fingerprints sometimes can be passed on from parents to children

B．people’s fingerprints are unique but identical twins may have the same fingerprints

C．using fingerprints is the only way to identify people

D．people's fingerprints will not change in all their lives

【小题2】We prefer to use fingerprints to identify people because ____.

A．we can never find the same set of fingerprints among human beings

B．finger impressions can be taken easily and quickly

C．fingerprints offer a most useful and foolproof way of identifying people

D．all of the above

【小题3】The word “foolproof” (Line 7, Para. 1) most probably means ____.

A．that is permanent	B．that is acceptable
C．that can not go wrong	D．that is not foolish

【小题4】About the classification of fingerprints, which is TRUE? ____.

A．Fingerprints can be classified in three ways

B．All fingerprints can be divided into 1, 024 groups and can not be divided further

C．It is not easy to find a particular set of fingerprints in a short time

D．People can not classify the fingerprints in an effective way

Runners in a relay(接力) race pass a stick in one direction. However, merchants passed silk, gold, fruit, and glass along the Silk Road in more than one direction. They earned their living by traveling the famous Silk Road.

The Silk Road was not a simple trading network. It passed through thousands of citied and towns. It started from eastern China, across Central Asia and the Middle East, and ended in the Mediterranean Sea. It was used from about 200 B, C, to about A, D, 1300, when sea travel offered new routes(路线)　, It was sometimes called the world’s longest highway. However, the Silk Road was made up of many routes, not one smooth path. They passed through what are now 18 countries. The routes crossed mountains and deserts and had many dangers of hot sun, deep snow and even battles. Only experienced traders could return safe.

The Silk Road got its name from its most prized product. Silk could be used like money to pay taxes or buy goods. But the traders carried more than just silk. Gold, silver, and glass from Europe were much found in the Middle East and Asia. Horses traded from other areas changed farming practices in China. Indian merchants traded salt and other valuable goods. Chinese merchants traded paper, which produced an immediate effect on the West. Apples traveled from central Asia to Rome. The Chinese had learned to graft(嫁接)　different trees together to make new kinds of fruit. They passed this science on to others, including the Romans. The Romans used grafting to grow the apple. Trading along the Silk Road led to world-wide business 2,000 years before the World Wide Web.

The people along the Silk Road did not share just goods. They also shared their beliefs. The Silk Road provided pathways for learning, diplomacy(外交), and religion (宗教)

1.It’s probable that traders along the Silk Road needed         .

A．to remember the entire trade route	B．to know the making of products
C．to receive certain special training	D．to deal with a lot of difficulties

2.The Silk Road became less important because         .

A．it was made up of different routes	B．silk trading became less popular
C．sea travel provided easier routes	D．people needed fewer foreign goods

3.New technologies could travel along the Silk Road because people         .

A．learned from one another	B．shared each other’s beliefs
C．traded goods along the route	D．earned their living by traveling

4.What is the best title for the passage?

A．The Silk Road ; Past and Present	B．The Silk Road; East Meets West
C．The Silk Road; Routes Full of Dangers	D．The Silk Road; Pathways for Learning

 

The Atlantic Ocean is one of the oceans that separate the Old World from the New. For centuries it kept the America from being discovered by the people of Europe.

　　The Atlantic Ocean is only half as big as the pacific, but it is still very large. It is more than 4,000 miles (6,000 km) wide where Columbus crossed it. Even at its narrowest it is about 2,000 miles (3,200 km) wide.

　　There is so much water in the Atlantic that it is hard to imagine how much there is. But suppose no more rain fell into and no more water was brought to it by rivers. It would take the ocean about 4,000 years to dry up. On the average the water is a little more than 2 miles (3.2 km) deep, but in some places it is much deeper. The deepest spot is near Puerto Rico. This "deep" measures 30,246 feet --- almost six miles (9.6 km).

　　Several hundred miles eastward from Florida there is a part of the ocean called the Sargasso Sea. Here the water is quiet, for there is little wind. Today the Atlantic is a great highway. It is not, however, always a smooth and safe one. Storms sweep across it and pile up great waves. Icebergs float down from the Far North across the paths of ships. We now have such fast ways of travelling that this big ocean seems to have grown smaller. Columbus sailed for more than two months to cross it. A fast modern steamship can make the trip in less than four days. Airplanes fly from New York to London in only eight hours and from South America to Africa in four!

From the third paragraph, we can learn that ______ .

A. the Atlantic will dry up in 4,000 years' time

B. no river flows into the Atlantic ocean　　　

C. it's hard to imagine how much water there is in the Atlantic ocean

D. the Ocean floor is rather flat

Suppose it's February 27th, 2000. You take a steamship to cross the Atlantic to North America, when will you probably get there?

A. On March 2nd　         B. On March 3rd 　　

C. On February 28th 　　　  D. In eight hours' time

What can you learn from the last paragraph of the passage ?

A. The Atlantic has grown smaller than it used to be.

B. The Atlantic had grown wider than it used to be.

C. Fast ways of travelling make the ocean grow smaller.

D. Fast ways of travelling make the ocean seem to grow smaller.

 

第二部分　阅读理解 (共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)

Each time I see a balloon, my mind flies back to a memory of when I was a six-year-old girl. It was a rainy Sunday and my father had recently died. I asked my mom if Dad had gone to heaven. "Yes, honey. Of course," she said.

    "Can we write him a letter?"

    She paused, the longest pause of my short life, and answered, "Yes."

    My heart jumped. "How? Does the mailman go there?" I asked.

    "No, but I have an idea." Mom drove to a party store and returned with a red balloon. I asked her what it was for.

    "Just wait, honey. You'll see." Mom told me to write my letter. Eagerly, I got my favorite pen, and poured out my six-year-old heart in the form of blue ink. I wrote about my day, what I learned at school, how Morn was doing, and even about what happened in a story I had read. For a few minutes it was as if Dad were still alive. I gave the letter to Mom. She read it over, and a smile crossed her face.

    She made a hole in the corner of the letter where she looped(缠绕) the balloon string. We went outside and she gave me the balloon. It was still raining.

    "Okay, on the count of three, let go. One, two, three."

   The balloon, carrying my letter, darted(猛冲) upward against the rain. We watched until it was swallowed by the mass of clouds.

   Later I realized, like the balloon, that Dad had never let his sickness get him down. He was strong. No matter what he suffered, he'd persevere, dart up, and finally transcend(超越) this cold world and his sick body. He rose into sky and became something beautiful. I watched until the balloon disappeared into the gray and white and I prayed that his strength was hereditary(遗传的). I prayed to be a balloon.

56. When the girl asked her mother if they could write to her father, her mother ______.

   A. felt it hard to answer                           B. thought her a creative girl

C. believed it easy to do so                       D. found it easy to lie

57. When the girl was told that she could send a letter to her father, she ______.

   A. jumped with joy                        B. became excited

   C. started writing immediately            D. was worried that it couldn't be delivered

58. In the eyes of the author, what was the rain like?

A. An incurable disease.                        B. An unforgettable memory.

   C. The hard time her father had.                    D. The failures her father experienced.

59. What would be the best title for the passage?

    A. The strong red balloon                         B. An unforgettable experience

   C. Fly to paradise                          D. A great father