The dream of flying like Buzz Lightyear never dies. For years, space-age inventors have tested one wearable jet pack after another. And time after time, the designs have been grounded by dangerous fuels, excessive weight, or very loud noise levels. Now a Canadian inventor has sidestepped those weaknesses with an aquatic jet pack. Designed for travel over lakes or oceans, it’s driven by pressurized water, not burning rocket fuel.

When Raymond Li first told the idea for the aquatic jet pack to his friends, they said he must be nuts. How could a jet pack carry that much water? Its thrust-to-weight rate would be so low and it would never become airborne. Thrust-to-weight rate is a measure of the forward force produced compared with the weight of the vehicle. A vehicle with a low thrust-to-weight rate is relatively heavy for the amount of force it generates.

Li's genius idea was to place the jet pack’s engine and its water pump in a separate boat. The pump would draw water from the lake the boat was floating on. It would then force the water under pressure through a hose connected to the jet pack. The hose would be long enough to let the pack go up as high as 8.5 meters (28 feet) in the air.

Today, Li's invention, the Jetlev-Flyer, is ready to go into production. The pack itself, complete with jet nozzles （管嘴） and handlebars, weighs just 14 kilograms. The boat is a floating pod. To take off, the operator hits a trigger on a handlebar, which starts the pump, and then turns the throttle. Two streams of high-velocity water shoot through the hose and out the nozzles, lifting the operator into the air. The operator hovers there or pushes down on the handlebars, zooming forward at speeds of up to 64 kilometers per hour, pulling the pod behind.

All the following factors contribute to the failure of inventing a wearable jet pack EXCEPT ______.

A. excessive water     B. unbearable noise    C. unsafe fuels   D. too much weight 

The underlined word “sidestepped” in Para. 1 most probably means ________.

  A. improved          B. reduced         C. avoided         D. solved

Raymond Li’s friends found his idea for the aquatic jet pack was ________.

  A. exciting           B. crazy          C. realistic         D. creative

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

  A. His friends encouraged him to do the invention.

  B. He put the engine and its water pump in the same boat.

  C. The success of his invention lies in his bravery.   

  D. His invention finally succeeded and will go into production.

Which is the right order to make the Jetlev-Flyer take off?

  a. The throttle is turned.                  b. The operator is lifted into the air.

  c. A trigger is hit.                       d. Two streams of water shoot out.

The pump is started.

A. c, e, a, d, b          B. c, e, a, b, d            C. e, c, d, b, a          D. e, a, c, d, b

An ancient Egyptian mummy thought to be that of Pharaoh Ramses I(法老一世)has returned home after more than 140 years in North American museums. The body was carried off the plane in Cairo in a box covered in Egypt’s flag.

         The Michael Carlos Museum gave it back after tests showed it was probably that of the man who ruled 3,000 years ago. The US museum acquired it three years ago from a Canadian museum, which in turn is thought to have bought it from Egyptian garve robbers in 1860. The mummy was welcomed back home with songs and military band music during a ceremony at the national museum in Cairo.

         Zahi Hawass, head of Egypt’s Supreme Council of Antiquities(文物最高委员会), traveled from the US with the body and said it would be moved next year to the Luxor Museum in southern Egypt. “We are not 100% sure that mummy is that of Ramses I,” said Mr. Hawass. “But we are 100% sure that it is of a king.”

         Atlanta’s Michael Carlos Museum acquired the mummy in 1999, but offered to return it after hi-tech scanning equipment indicated it was likely to be that of Ramses I. The museum website said it had been acquired from the Niagara Falls Museum. It is thought a Canadian collector bought the mummy for the Niagara Falls Museum around 1860 from an Egyptian family which had came across a tomb filled with royal mummies at a site near Luxor.

         Mr. Hawass praised the handover as “a great, civilized gesture”. And he appealed to other world museums to return Egypt’s antiquities, particularly the Rosetta Stone in the Britain Museum and the Bust of Nefertiti in the Berlin Museum.

1. Where was Ramses mummy kept in just before the handover?

         A. the Luxor Museum                                 

B. the Michael Carlos Museum

         C. the Niagara Falls Museum                   

D. a Canadian Museum

2.Which is the correct order of the following events according to the passage?

         a. The mummy returned home.

         b. The mummy was kept in the Niagara Falls Museum.

         c. Egyptian grave robber sold he mummy.

         d. A Canadian collector bought the mummy.

         e. The mummy was kept in the Michael Carlos Museum.

A. c-d-e-b-a               

B. c-b-e-d-a               

C. a-d-c-b-e               

D. c-d-b-e-a

3. Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

         A. All the Egypt’s antiquities have returned home after the handover.

         B. Niagara Falls Museum is an American museum.

         C. Buying the mummy from the Egyptian family was a civilized gesture.

         D. Ramses Mummy had been kept in Canada for more than a century.

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

         A. The history of Ramses mummy.

         B. The handover ceremony of Ramses mummy from Canada.

         C. The returning of Ramses mummy to its homeland Egypt.

         D. The history of the royal family of Ramses.

 

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。

A punctual person is in the habit of doing a thing at the proper time and is never late in keeping an appointment. The unpunctual man, on the other hand, never does what he has to do at the right time.      .

There’s a proverb which says, “Time flies never to be recalled.” This is true.      .The unpunctual man is for ever wasting his most valuable possessions as well as others’. The unpunctual person is always complaining that he finds no time to answer letters, or return calls or keep appointments.      . He knows that he can get through his huge amount of work only if he faithfully keeps every appointment and deals with every piece of work when it has to be attended to.

  .If a person is invited to dinner and arrives later than the appointed time, he keeps all the other guests waiting for him. Usually this will be regarded as rude both to the host and the other guests.

Unpunctuality, moreover, is very harmful when it comes to one’s duty. Imagine how it would be if those who are put in charge of important tasks failed to be at their proper place at the appointed time.   

A. They appear to be busy but never get well paid.

B. He is always in a hurry and ends up losing time.

C. Maybe nobody minds being kept waiting at a dinner party.

D. A lost thing may be found again, but lost time can never be regained.

E. But the man who really has a great deal to do is very careful of his time.

F. A man who is known to be habitually unpunctual is never trusted by others.

G. Failure to be punctual in keeping one’s appointment is a sign of disrespect towards others.

One of the most famous nursery rhymes(摇篮曲) in the English language is Mary Had a Little Lamb(羔羊). It has touched many children who have read it. It is about the deep love between a young girl and her pet lamb. The poem is from a true story that happened in the early part of the 19th century in the town of Sterling, Massachusetts, in the USA.

Mary Sawyer (1806－1889) lived on a farm with her family. One day, when she was about nine years old, she saw a little lamb that had just been born and left behind by its mother. It was very weak and looked as if it would die at very moment. Mary took pity on the lamb and spent the whole night looking after it. Eventually, it grew strong and became a very close friend with Mary, following her everywhere she went.

One day, the lamb even followed Mary to school. At first she wanted to turn it back but her brother suggested that it would be fun to take the lamb to school. During the class, she hid the lamb under her desk. But when she was called to go to the front of the class, to her surprise, the lamb followed her. Though the students and the teacher thought it was funny to see a lamb at school, the teacher had to ask Mary to keep the lamb outside of the school.

That very day, a young man called John Roulstone was visiting Mary’s school. He was so moved by the love between the child and her little pet lamb that he wrote a poem which he handed to Mary the next day. His poem contained twelve lines.

Later, Sara Josepha Hale added another twelve lines to the poem and published it in 1930 under the title “Mary Had a Little Lamb”. The poem has become a classic, loved by children all over the world. The appeal (吸引力) of the poem lies not only in the funny idea of a sheep going to school but also in the true love between the little girl and her pet. The town of Sterling has honoured Mary’s lamb by building a statue (雕像) of the lamb with Mr Roulstone’s poem below the statue.

1.What is the best title for the passage?

A. Mary Had a Little Lamb                B. The Life of Mary Sawyer

C. The Origin of a Poem                   D. An Animal Friend

2.The underlined word “eventually” in the second paragraph most probably means         .

A. fortunately          B. gradually          C. finally             D. kindly

3. Why did the poem become a classic?

A. It had another twelve lines added.

B. It was written by a young man.

C. It describes the true love between a little girl and her pet lamb.

D. A statue of lamb was built in the town of Sterling.

4.Which could be the right order of the following events according to the passage?

a. The poem “Mary Had a Little Lamb”became popular.

b. Mary’s brother suggested that she take the lamb to school.

c. People built a statue to honor the lamb.

d. Mary found a little lamb.

e. A young man was moved by the story and wrote a poem.

A.  d. b. e. c. a           B.  d. b. e. a. c

C.  d. e. b. c. a            D.  d. e. b. a. c

5.Which of the following statements can be inferred from the passage?

A. Mary’s mother was also fond of the little lamb.

B. Mary and the little lamb developed a very close friendship.

C. Mary wrote to John Roulstone and asked him to write the poem.

D. All children were allowed to take their pets to school in America.

 

Hi guys! I’m Lucy the ladybird and while I’m very much of a lady, I’m not actually a bird but a glowing red bettle(甲虫)with decorative black spots.

I’m a friendly little bug, to be honest, and simply like to be close with my pals as long as they handle me very gently. I don’t bite humans but I do sink my teeth into aphids (蚜虫) which, unlike me, are very harmful to all the plants. I milk the aphids just like people do with cows and I milk them dry of all the sap (汁) they have got from your poor plants. I’m a real gardeners’ friend and love helping out around the place by pollinating (授粉) flowers, tidying up plants’ fallen leaves and helping to turn them into nice rich fertilizer to feed everything both above and below the soil, and naturally, being so attractive to look at, we are perfect living garden decorations.

One thing I can not tolerate is all that poisonous pollution from vehicles, garbage burning and other environmentally unfriendly acts that occur in the cities every single minute of the day and night. Pollution of any kind really chokes me to death, so these days, I only live in clean countryside areas, particularly cool ones where it rains and everything grows fresh and green from spring right through to autumn. In winter, when the weather is too cold for me to bear, then I find a nice place to sleep until the snow has gone and I can come back out to play.

Oh! I almost forgot to tell you that although I am not a bird I do have wings and can fly for short distances. So if you pick me up and let me run up and down your hands and arms, then please don’t frighten me by screaming if I suddenly decide to take off!

1.What makes Lucy the Ladybird suffer most?

A. Heavy rains.                   B. Cold weather.

C. Air pollution.                 D. Aphids.

2. Which aspects about the ladybird are talked about in the passage?

a. its appearance               b. its influence on plantsw8G

c. its habitat                  d. its food

e. the origin of its name

A. a; c      B. a; b; c       C. a; b; d; e       D. a; b; c; d

3.What do we know about the ladybird?

A. It belongs to the insect family.

B. It does harm to all growing plants.

C. It lives on the liquid of plants.

D. It can fly a long distance.

4. This passage is probably _______.

A. a self –introduction by a lady named Lucy

B. description of a ladybird’life

C. letter of praise for a gardener

D. a speech made by a woman on ladybirds