An annoying problem for humans, who like to boast (夸耀) about all the distant planets and moons we have explored, is that we've never taken a good look right under our noses．The inside of the earth is relatively close but how can we get there?

The deepest oil well enters a mere six miles into the crust (地壳)  (the center of the earth is about 4,000 miles deeper)．Russian scientists dug the deepest hole in Siberia," but bottomed out at about 7.5 miles below the surface．The Mohole project, a U.S．plan in the 1950s, called for drilling a hole 25 miles down to the boundary be??tween the hard rocks of the crust and the soft mantle (地幔)．Sadly the project involved govern??ment supporting.

It gets harder and harder to drill deep into the earth because rocks get softer and softer． Hard but easily broken at the surface, rocks become plastic at depth, and the pressure caused by the weight of the overlaying crust — about 52,800 pounds per square inch at a depth of ten miles, makes further drilling impossible.

What little we know about the inside of the earth (like the fact that there' s a crust, a mantle, and a core) comes from indirect evidence, such as the analysis of earthquakes.

So maybe it' s time for a thorough new method to explore the earth's inside．Scientist David Stevenson says we should forget about drilling holes．Instead, we should open a crack (裂缝)． 

Stevenson suggests digging a crack about a half mile long, a yard wide, and a half mile deep (not with a shovel) but with an explosion on the scale of a nuclear bomb．Next, he'd pour a few hundred thousand tons of molten (融化的) iron into the crack, along with a robot．The iron, thicker than the surrounding crust, would move downward at about 16 feet per second, carrying the robot with it and opening the crack deeper and deeper．The iron mass would drop for about a week and 2,000 miles to the outer edge of the earth core, the robot sending out data to the sur??face.

Stevenson compares his idea to space explo??ration．"We're going somewhere we haven't been before," he says．"In all possibility, there will be surprises."

This idea can probably be put in．the drawer marked with Isn't Going To Happen．The robot would have to survive temperatures that would melt pretty much anything．But Stevenson's idea may inspire a new look at an old problem．Great things can come from what seems like impossible ideas.

Going inside the earth is ________ than going into space.

A．more interesting B．more possible    C．easier            D．more challenging

How deep have we gone into the earth until now?

A．6 miles．         B．4,000 miles． C．7.5 miles．        D．25 miles.

Which of the following is TRUE about David Stevenson's idea?

A．It is an inspiring but not practical idea now．

B．It is a practical proposal that has come into use now.

C．It is a good proposal that will soon be put into practice.

D．It is a false theory that cannot be carried out at all.

What might be the most suitable title for the text?

A．An Annoying Problem for Humans

B．To the Center of the Earth

C．The Mohole Project

D．David Stevenson' s Proposal

The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.

The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.

1.Before Impressionism, the works of artists were         .

A. quite abstract                     B. very confusing

C. very detailed                D. quite controversial

2.Who first started Impressionism? ___________

A. Claude Monet.                 B. Edouard Manet.

C. Auguste Renoir.             D. Alfred Sisley.

3.The works of the Impressionists are best viewed         .

A. with imagination     B. at a distance

C. outdoors                  D. in a studio

4.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.

A. the painting style of the Impressionists

B. how to describe the Impressionist paintings

C. the influences of the Impressionist paintings

D. the subjects of the Impressionist paintings

 

The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.

The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.

1.Before Impressionism, the works of artists were         .

A．quite abstract	B．very confusing
C．very detailed	D．quite controversial

2.Who first started Impressionism? ___________

A．Claude Monet.	B．Edouard Manet.
C．Auguste Renoir.	D．Alfred Sisley.

3. The works of the Impressionists are best viewed         .

A．with imagination	B．at a distance
C．outdoors	D．in a studio

4.The second paragraph is mainly about ______.

A．the painting style of the Impressionists

B．how to describe the Impressionist paintings

C．the influences of the Impressionist paintings

D．the subjects of the Impressionist paintings

 

 

三、单词拼写：请根据括号内汉\英语提示或已给的首字母写出单词的正确形式。（1分×10=10分）

1. He e____________ us for hours with his stories and jokes

2. Tibet is a  ____________（多山的） province .

3. U______________, my computer system broke down again .

4. The learner of a second language has many difficulties to ___________(克服).

5. We were a____________ that she behave so rudely at the party.

6. The little boy a_________  himself by drawing pictures on the ground .

7. To our surprise , he made no ____________（解释）of his absence.

8. Those who have not known _________ (hungry) can never imagine what it is.

9. The play was so   _______ (humour) that the audience laughed all through it.

10. The news that Tom, an excellent student, had ________ (failure) his exams sur­prised us all.

 

The history of modern art begins with Impressionism, a movement started in Paris in the mid-1800’s. At that time many artists painted in a very traditional way that involved spending hours in a studio, painstakingly (辛苦地) creating paintings that were extremely detailed. These paintings were sometimes of people or landscapes or historical events. In 1863, Edouard Manet exhibited his painting “Dejeuner sur l’erbe” at the Salon des Refuses. The painting caused a commotion (骚动), thus starting the Impressionist movement. Although Edouard Manet is the declared leader and founder of the group, he was not present at the first group exhibition or any of the other eight collective Impressionist shows. The movement gained more attention in the April of 1874 when Claude Monet, Auguste Renoir, Alfred Sisley, and Jean-Frédéric Bazille formed Society of Artists, Painters, Sculptors, Engravers and began exhibiting outside of the official salon. The same year, the term Impressionism was invented by criticizing (批评的) journalist Louis Leroy to describe their paintings, who worked for the magazine Le Charivari.
The Impressionists often paint out of doors and want to show how light and shadow fall on objects at particular times of the day. Their works are sometimes described as “captured moments” and are characterized by short quick brushstrokes (笔) of colour which, when viewed up close looks quite messy and unreal. If we step back from the Impressionist paintings, the colours are blended together by our eyes and we are able to see the painters’ subjects which often show colourful landscapes, sunlight on water as well as people busy with outdoor activities.
【小题1】Before Impressionism, the works of artists were         .

A．quite abstract	B．very confusing
C．very detailed	D．quite controversial

【小题2】Who first started Impressionism? ___________

A．Claude Monet.	B．Edouard Manet.
C．Auguste Renoir.	D．Alfred Sisley.

【小题3】 The works of the Impressionists are best viewed         .

A．with imagination	B．at a distance
C．outdoors	D．in a studio

【小题4】The second paragraph is mainly about ______.

A．the painting style of the Impressionists

B．how to describe the Impressionist paintings

C．the influences of the Impressionist paintings

D．the subjects of the Impressionist paintings