Europe’s deadly outbreak of a rare form of E. coli bacteria (大肠杆菌) has brought new attention to food safety issues. One of the problems when people get sick from food is that the simplest question is often difficult or even impossible to answer. Just what did the people eat that made them sick?

Of course, one way to avoid these medical mysteries is to keep dangerous organisms out of the food supply. This is easier said than done, but scientists keep looking for new ways.

Scientists in the United States have developed an experimental system that uses a high-tech optical scanner. The system is designed to identify the presence of contaminants(致污物) like soil or animal waste on fresh produce. These can be sources of E. coli. E. coli bacteria naturally live in the intestines(肠) of humans and many animals. Most kinds of E. coli are harmless but some can make people sick.

The new scanner can also show damage and imperfections that might make the produce unappealing to shoppers.

Scientists designed the system at a Department of Agriculture research center in Beltsville, Maryland. Moon Kim of the Agricultural Research Service led the team.

MOON KIM: “We were requested, we were asked, to develop a method to detect contamination in produce. So we started with the apple as the model sample.”

The scanner uses a high-speed camera placed over the conveyer belt that moves the produce along. As the apples move along the belt, the scanner captures images of each piece of fruit.

Moon Kim says the team hopes the system will be available before long.

MOON KIM: “We are targeting for development in commercial plants for the next several years.”

The scanner can direct a sorting machine to separate the bad apples from the good ones. The system is currently able to show the surface of only half the apple as it speeds by. The inventers hope to improve the process so it can show the whole surface.

1.What is the main topic of the text?

A. Bacteria.????????????? B. A high-tech scanner.????????????? ? C. A camera????????????? D. Food safety.

2.E. coli bacteria ______.

A. broke out all over the world????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ? B. comes from soil or animal waste

C. is extremely harmful to health????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ? D. does not cause illness

3.The high-tech scanner ______.

A. can help to sort out different fruits

B. make the produce appeal to shoppers

C. can only capture images of the whole apple

D. can identify the presence of contaminants

4.What can be inferred from the text?

A. The scanner needs to be improved.

B. The scanner will be available in the next several years.

C. Moon Kim is unwilling to develop the scanner.

D. The scanner is connected to a sorting machine.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项。选项中有两项为多余选项。
Five steps to better handwriting
Some kids love handwriting, but others hate when it’s time to put their pen to paper. Maybe they are worried about their handwriting. Are you one of them?   1  Here are five steps that really work!
Get a great grasp
Try this — hold your pencil at the top and try to write your name. Pretty hard? But when you hold your pencil the correct way, writing is much easier.   2  Hold it in place with your thumb, and your index (食指) and middle fingers.
Let the lines be your guide
Lined paper is your friend! Those lines can help you create letters that are the right size and proportion (均衡).   3  Also be sure to fill up the lined space completely. Those capital letters should be from the bottom line to the top one.
Slow down
If your writing is hard to read, try slowing down a little. If you rush, it’s hard to control where you stop and start your letters.
Lower the pressure (压力)
  4  That makes it harder to make the smooth lines. Try easing up and don’t hold the pencil too tightly.
  5 
Lots of games require you to write or draw pictures. So even though it’s not schoolwork, you’re still using the skills you need to control your pen better.

根据短文内容，从短文后的选项中选出能填入空白处的最佳选项，选项中有两项为多余选项。
When I was a little girl, my mom would say, “Half the fun of doing anything is sharing it with others.”   1   Friends and mates allow us to enjoy our successes and our joys, comfort us in our hard moments, and provide a mirror for us to learn more about ourselves. I’ve always looked at friends as the family we choose. They enrich our lives. As Robert Louis Steven once said, “  2 ”
To be a good friend or partner, it’s important to be a good listener. Hear what your friend or mate has to say first rather than jump to conclusions or get defensive.   3   When they hear their words repeated back to them, it can help them to realize what they said was not exactly what they meant to say.
  4 You know the old golden rule, “Care for others the way you would like them to care for you.” The support of a friend during a tough time could make the difference between success and failure. Encouragement and confidence are the gifts that can help change a person’s life.
Take care, though, with whom you choose to have close relationship, for they can have a great effect on yourself – respect and life path. As someone once told me “  5 They will either take you up or down.”

Earlier this year, the Environmental Protection Agency proposed a stricter nationwide health standard for smog-causing pollutants that would bring substantial benefits to millions of Americans. With a final rule expected by the end of this month, some opponents, mainly from industrial and oil-producing states, are pushing back. They say investments required to produce cleaner air are too expensive and not scientifically justified.
Lisa Jackson, the E.P.A. administrator, needs to stick to her guns. This is only the first of several political tests to come this fall, as she also seeks to tighten rules governing individual pollutants like mercury and global warming gases like carbon dioxide.
The health standard she is proposing covers ground-level ozone, commonly known as smog, which is formed when sunlight mixes with pollutants from factories, refineries, power plants and automobiles. Ozone is a major health threat, contributing to heart disease and various respiratory (呼吸道的) problems.
Ms. Jackson’s proposal—to reduce the permitted level of smog in the air from the current 75 parts per billion to between 60 parts per billion and 70 parts per billion—is sensible, no matter what industry’s defenders may claim. It had been recommended by the agency’s independent scientific panel but rejected by the Bush administration, which proposed a weaker standard.
Industry will have to make investments in cleaner power plants, and new technologies may be required. As it is, about half the counties that monitor ozone levels are not yet in compliance with current standards, let alone the proposed standard.
Fears about burdening industry raised by critics like George Voinovich, a Republican of Ohio, and Mary Landrieu, a Democrat of Louisiana, cannot be dismissed out of hand, especially in the middle of a recession (萧条). But the health benefits, E.P.A. says, far outweigh the costs, and the time frame for compliance (服从) is generous.
【小题1】Why are some people strongly against a stricter limitation of smog-caused pollutants?

FRANCE has destroyed the hopes of those who had planned to take refuge（避难）in one of the few places on Earth which some believe will be spared when the world ends on December 21 ．Local officials banned access to the Pic de Bugarach，a mountain in the southwest where rumor has it that the hilltop will open on the last day and aliens will appear with spaceships to save nearby humans.
Eric Freysselinard，the state’s top representative in the area，said he was blocking access to the mountain for public safety reasons to avoid a rush of New Age fanatics(盲信者），sight-seers and media crews. Believers say the world will end on December 21，2012，the end date of the ancient Mayan calendar，and they see Bugarach as one of a few sacred mountains sheltered from the cataclysm(大灾难）．
Mr Freysselinard said the 100 police and firefighters will also control approaches to the tiny village of the same name at the foot of the mountain，and if too many people turn up，they will block access there too.“We are expecting a few people who believe in this end of the world，but in extremely limited numbers，” he said in the. nearby city of Carcassonne.“We are expecting greater numbers of people who are just curious，but in numbers we cannot determine. Above all，we are expecting lots of journalists，”he said.
Films，documentaries and websites have promoted the idea that the ancient Mayan calendar predicts that doomsday is on December 21．The culture ministry in Guatemala-where half the population are of Mayan descent-is hosting a massive event in the capital just in case the world actually does end，while tour groups are promoting doomsday-themed getaways.
【小题1】Many people plan to go to Pic de Bugarach mainly because      ．