A story from the Bible tells of old Babylon, where the men decided to build a tower that would touch the sky．But God was unhappy, and he made them speak different languages．They couldn’t understand each other, so their dream never came true．

Yet the dream remains alive: if all men speak the same language, they can do anything．L．L．Zamenhof from Poland was among the men who pursue this dream．He developed Esperanto（世界语）between 1877 and 1885．

As the most successful man-made world language, it is spoken by over two million people around the world．Last month, the World Esperanto Congress（大会）, dealing with language rights, ended in Sweden．The 2004 conference will be held in Beijing．Most Esperanto speakers are in Central and Eastern Europe and in East Asia, particularly Chinese mainland．

Esperanto has two advantages．First, it’s easy．Each letter has exactly one sound and there are just 16 basic grammar rules．The second advantage is that it belongs to no one country．But Esperanto has only reached a small number of people compared with natural languages widely used around the world-such as English or Chinese．While these languages are deeply connected with their nations and cultures, Esperanto doesn’t have this background．

Will Esperanto really become a global language? It remains a question．

The writer tells us a story at the beginning to          ．

           A．explain why men have been making the effort to create a language shared by all

              B．explain why men now speak different languages

              C．show the relationship between man and God

              D．prove that language is very important

What does the underlined word “pursue” in the second paragraph mean?

              A．“Realize”．     B．“Work for”．   C．“Be against”． D．“Follow”．

What is the basic difference between Esperanto and English?

              A．More people speak English than Esperanto．

              B．Esperanto words are easier to spell．

              C．Esperanto has fewer grammar rules．

              D．Esperanto is not supported by any country or culture．

What does the story mainly talk about?

              A．Advantages and disadvantages of Esperanto．

              B．Men’s dream of sharing the same language．

              C．The most successful planned language-Esperanto．

              D．Comparison of Esperanto and other languages like English and Chinese．

As I drove my blue Buick into the garage. I saw that a yellow Oldsmobile was   36   too close to my space. I had to drive back and forth to get my car into the   37  space. That left

  38   enough room to open the door. Then one day I arrived home  39 , and just as I turned off the engine, the yellow Oldsmobile entered its space － too close to my car,  40. At last I had a chance to meet the driver. My patience had 41   and I shouted at her, “Can’t you see you’re not  42   me enough space” Park father over.” Banging(猛推) open her door into  43 ,

the driver shouted back: “Make me!”   44  this she stepped out of the garage. Still, each time she got home first, she parked too close to my  45  . Then one day, I thought, “What can I do?” I soon found   46 . The next day the woman  47   a note on her windshield(挡风玻璃):

Dear Yellow Oldsmobile,

I’m sorry mistress(女主人) shouted at yours the other day. She’s been sorry about it. I know it because she doesn’t sing anymore while   48 . It wasn’t like her to scream   49 . Fact is, she’d just got bad news and was taking it out on you two. I  50  you and your mistress will 51  her.

                                                    Your neighbor,

                                                   Blue Buick

When I went to the  52   the next morning, the Oldsmobile was gone, but there was a note on my windshield:

Dear Blue Buick,

My mistress is sorry, too. She parked so  53   because she just learned to drive. We will park much farther over after this. I’m glad we can be  54  now.

                                                 Your neighbor,

                                                 Yellow Oldsmobile

After that, whenever Blue Buick   55  Yellow Oldsmobile on the road, their drivers waved

cheerfully and smiled.

A．driven            B．parked        C．stopped     D．stayed

A．complete           B．close       C．narrow      D．fixed

A．quite              B．nearly         C．seldom      D．hardly

A．hurriedly           B．first         C．finally       D．timely

A．as usual          B．as planned  C．as well       D．as yet

A．run into         B．run about    C．run out       D．run off

A．keeping          B．saving     C．offering       D．leaving

A．mine              B．hers         C．itself        D．ours

A．For             B．With       C．From        D .Upon

A．room           B．area       C．front          D．side

A．an instruction      B．a result     C．an answer     D．a chance

A．put              B．wrote      C．sent          D．discovered

A．working          B．driving     C．returning    D．cooking

A．on end            B．so long     C．like that     D．any more

A．hope            B．know      C．suppose      D．suggest

A．comfort           B．help       C．forgive      D．please

A．office           B．flat        C．place         D．garage

A．crazily         B．eagerly    C．noisily       D．early

A．neighbors        B．friends     C．drivers      D．writers

A．followed         B．passed     C．found         D．greeted

    As I drove my blue Buick into the garage. I saw that a yellow Oldsmobile was   21   too close to my space. I had to drive back and forth to get my car into the   22   space. That left   23    enough room to open the door. Then one day I arrived home   24  , and just as I turned off the engine, the yellow Oldsmobile entered its space － too close to my car,   25  . At last I had a chance to meet the driver. My patience had   26   and I shouted at her, “Can’t you see you’re not   27   me enough space” Park father over.” Banging(猛推) open her door into  28 ,the driver shouted back: “Make me!”   29   this she stepped out of the garage. Still, each time she got home first, she parked too close to my   30  . Then one day, I thought, “What can I do?” I soon found   31  . The next day the woman   32   a note on her windshield(挡风玻璃):

Dear Yellow Oldsmobile,

I’m sorry mistress(女主人) shouted at yours the other day. She’s been sorry about it. I know it because she doesn’t sing anymore while   33  . It wasn’t like her to scream   34  . Fact is, she’d just got bad news and was taking it out on you two. I   35   you and your mistress will   36   her.

                                                    Your neighbor,

                                                   Blue Buick

When I went to the   37   the next morning, the Oldsmobile was gone, but there was a note on my windshield:

Dear Blue Buick,

My mistress is sorry, too. She parked so   38   because she just learned to drive. We will park much farther over after this. I’m glad we can be   39   now.

                                                 Your neighbor,

                                                 Yellow Oldsmobile

After that, whenever Blue Buick   40   Yellow Oldsmobile on the road, their drivers waved cheerfully and smiled.

21．A．driven                       B．parked               C．stopped                     D．stayed

22．A．complete          B．close            C．narrow                     D．fixed

23．A．quite                        B．nearly           C．seldom                     D．hardly

24．A．hurriedly                   B．first          C．finally                          D．timely

25．A．as usual            B．as planned      C．as well                 D．as yet

26．A．run into                     B．run about        C．run out                 D．run off

27．A．keeping                     B．saving                        C．offering       D．leaving

28．A．mine                B．hers             C．itself                  D．ours

29．A．For                          B．With               C．From                       D．Upon

30．A．room                        B．area             C．front                   D．side

31．A．an instruction             B．a result        C．an answer               D．a chance

32．A．put                         B．wrote                C．sent                D．discovered

33．A．working           B．driving            C．returning             D．cooking

34．A．on end                      B．so long            C．like that             D．any more

35．A．hope                        B．know                  C．suppose             D．suggest

36．A．comfort                     B．help                    C．forgive             D．please

37．A．office                       B．flat                     C．place                D．garage

38．A．crazily                     B．eagerly       C．noisily               D．early

39．A．neighbors                  B．friends            C．drivers               D．writers

40．A．followed                   B．passed            C．found                      D．greeted

A few years ago I had an “aha!” moment regarding handwriting.

  I had in my hand a sheet of paper with handwritten instructions on it for some sort of editorial task. It occurred at first that I did not recognize the handwriting, and then I realized whose it must be. I finally became aware of the fact that I had been working with this colleague for at least a year, maybe two, and yet I did not recognize her handwriting at that point.

  It was a very important event in the computerization of life---a sign that the informal, friendly communication of people working together in an office had changed from notes in pen to instant messages and emails. There was a time when our workdays were filled with little letters and we recognized one another’s handwriting the way we know voices or faces.

As a child, visiting my father’s office, I was pleased to recognize, in little notes on the desk of his staff, the same handwriting I would see at home in the notes he would leave on the fridge---except that those notes were signed “dad” instead of “RFW’.

  All this has been on my mind because of the talk about The rise and Fall of Handwriting, a book by Florey. She shows in her book a deep concern about the fall of handwriting and the failure of schools to teach children to write well, but many others argue that people in a digital age can’t be expected to learn to hold a pen.

  I don’t buy it.

  I don’t want to see anyone cut off from expressive, personal associations that a pen still promotes better than a digital keyboard does. For many a biographer, part of really getting to know their subjects is learning to read their handwriting.

  What some people advocate is teaching one of the many attractive handwritings based on the handwriting of 16^th-century Italy. That may sound impossibly grand---as if they want kids to learn to draw by copying classical paintings. However, they have worked in many school systems.

Why was the author surprised at not recognizing his colleague’s handwriting?

A. He had worked with his colleague long enough.

B. His colleague’s handwriting was so beautiful.

C. His colleague’s handwriting was so terrible.

D. He still had a lot of work to do.

People working together in an office used to __________.

A. talk more about handwriting

B. take more notes on workdays

C. know better one another’s handwriting

D. communicate better with one another

According to the author, handwritten notes ___________.

A. are harder to teach in schools       B. attract more attention

C. are used only between friends      D. carry more message

We can learn from the passage that the author _____________.

A. thinks it impossible to teach handwriting

B. does not want to lose handwriting

C. does not agree with Florey

D. puts the blame on the computer

A team of engineers at Harvard University has been inspired by Nature to create the first robotic fly. The mechanical fly has become a platform for a series of new high-tech systems. Designed to do what a fly does naturally, the tiny machine is the size of a fat housefly. Its mini wings allow it to stay in the air and perform controlled flight tasks.

“It’s extremely important for us to think about this as a whole system and not just the sum of a bunch of individual components(元件), ”said Robert Wood, the Harvard engineering professor who has been working on the robotic fly project for over a decade. A few years ago, his team got the go-ahead to start piecing together the components. “The added difficulty with a project like this is that actually none of those components are off the shelf and so we have to develop them all on our own,” he said.

They engineered a series of systems to start and drive the robotic fly. “The seemingly simple system which just moves the wings has a number of interdependencies on the individual components, each of which individually has to perform well, but then has to be matched well to everything it’s connected to,” said Wood. The flight device was built into a set of power, computation, sensing and control systems. Wood says the success of the project proves that the flying robot with these tiny components can be built and manufactured.

While this first robotic flyer is linked to a small, off-board power source, the goal is eventually to equip it with a built-in power source, so that it might someday perform data-gathering work at rescue sites, in farmers’ fields or on the battlefield. “Basically it should be able to take off, land and fly around,” he said.

Wood says the design offers a new way to study flight mechanics and control at insect-scale. Yet, the power, sensing and computation technologies on board could have much broader applications. “You can start thinking about using them to answer open scientific questions, you know, to study biology in ways that would be difficult with the animals, but using these robots instead,” he said. “So there are a lot of technologies and open interesting scientific questions that are really what drives us on a day-to-day basis.”

72. The difficulty the team of engineers met with while making the robotic fly was that ________.

A. they had no model in their mind

B. they did not have sufficient time

C. they had no ready-made components

D. they could no assemble the components

73. It can be inferred from paragraphs 3 and 4 that the robotic fly_________.

A. consists of a flight device and a control system

B. can just fly in limited areas at the present time

C. can collect information from many sources

D. has been put into wide application

74. Which of the following can be learned from the passage?

A. The robotic flyer is designed to learn about insects.

B. Animals are not allowed in biological experiments.

C. There used to be few ways to study how insects fly.

D. Wood’s design can replace animals in some experiments.

75. Which of the following might be the best title of the passage?

A. Father of Robotic Fly

B. Inspiration from Engineering Science

C. Robotic Fly Imitates Real Life Insect

D. Harvard Breaks Through in Insect Study