“A lot of learning comes through play,” says Mardy McGarry, 52, who has been a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She had seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks. When she wanted to build a playground for children with special needs，she knew it wouldn’t take long to develop interest in it around the small fishing village. But she never expected that 2,800 people — a third of the town—would all be willing to make a great effort to bring her vision to life.

McGarry started doing some research into play equipment and contacting design companies and she also found a piece of land available. When the city council(市议会) agreed to set aside an area for a playground, she also asked physical and professional therapists(治疗专家) for their investment. And she turned to her friend, Sue, for help. “Neither of us is good at maths, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.

Her Kiwanis Club came through with $7,000，and that’s when the grassroots movement really got started. One woman gave $25,000 and had her company match it. Soon, smaller businesses were joining in. There was a silent effort to collect money. The local Pieper Family Foundation offered to donate half of the remaining $170,000. All McGarry needed was 500 volunteers to work six 12-hour days.

On September 16, 2008, the first day of construction, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s operated their tractors. Ten-year-olds cleared up the mess. “None of them was paid. It was truly an amazing week,” says McGarry. Only three building managers were paid. Volunteers with “building experience” became coordinators(协调人); those who could operate power tools formed a separate group. One team served meals donated from local restaurants and churches, and another organized activities for the children of volunteers.

Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular destinations in Ozaukee County. All children, including the ones with special needs, play shoulder to shoulder. “Some playgrounds have special equipment in a different section. Here, you see all the kids in the same playground, all having fun.”

It’s exactly what McGarry imagined. “People used to ask, ‘Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?” She says, “It’s only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children.”

It didn’t occur to Mardy McGarry that __________.

A. her plan would soon draw the interest of people in the small village

B. so many people would volunteer to help her realize her dream

C. she would meet with so many difficulties in raising funds

D. the playground would be the most popular destination in Ozaukee County

We can learn from the fourth paragraph that __________.

A. the playground was finished in September 2008

B. everything was well prepared, apart from the volunteers

C. everyone worked unpaid, except for three building managers

D. the playground is so popular that it is overcrowded all the time

It can be inferred from the text that __________.

A. Mardy McGarry is a famous architect in the small town

B. Sue was forced to join in the project because of her son

C. people always ignore the real needs of disabled children

D. Mardy McGarry’s vision has been successfully accomplished at last

What would be the best title for this text?

A. Mardy McGarry: A Woman with Great Determination.

B. Cooperation: The Greatest Power in Overcoming Any Difficulty.

C. Show Real Concern for Poor Disabled Children.

D. Make it Matter to Build a Playground for Disabled Children.

An experimental solar-powered plane landed safely Thursday after completing its first 24-hour test flight, proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft(在空中) all night.

         Pilot Andre Borschberg eased the Solar Impulse onto the runway at Payerne airfield about 30 miles southwest of the Swiss capital Bern at exactly 9 a.m. (3 a.m. EDT) Thursday. Helpers rushed to stabilize the pioneering plane as it touched down, ensuring that its massive 207-foot wingspan didn't scrape the ground and topple(倾倒) the craft.

         The record feat(壮举) completes seven years of planning and brings the Swiss-led project one step closer to its goal of circling the globe using only energy from the sun. ‘We achieved more than we wanted. Everybody is extremely happy,’ Borschberg told reporters after landing.

         Previous flights included a brief ‘flea hop’ and a longer airborne test earlier this year, but this week's attempt was described as a ‘milestone’ by the team. The team said it had now demonstrated that the single-seat plane can theoretically stay in the air indefinitely, recharging its depleted batteries using 12,000 solar cells and nothing but the rays of the sun during the day. But while the team said this proves that emissions-free air travel is possible, it doesn't see solar technology replacing conventional jet propulsion(喷气推进) any time soon. Instead, the project's overarching purpose is to test and promote new energy-efficient technologies.

         Project co-founder Bertrand Piccard, himself a record-breaking balloonist, said many people had been skeptical that renewable energy could ever be used to take a man into the air and keep him there. ‘It’s a matter of time that people come to believe and understand about renewable energies,’Piccard said, adding that the flight was proof that new technologies can help break society's dependence on fossil fuels.

         The team will now set its sights on an Atlantic crossing, before attempting a round-the-world flight in 2013, making only five stops along the way. ‘It's absolutely not time to relax,’ said Piccard.

Title: A 1. __________ in solar-powered flight and its background information

A project on solar-powered flight	Main purpose: To test and promote 2. __________ 3. __________: To make an Atlantic crossing; To attempt a round-the-world flight with only five stops in 2013. Long-term goal: To circle the globe using only 4. __________.
5. __________	a brief ‘flea hop’; an airborne test.
Record-setting test flight	Name of the plane: 6. __________ Name of the pilot: Andre Borschberg Time: 7.__________ Length of Place: at Payerne airfield, Switzerland. Achievements: ●proving that the aircraft can collect enough energy from the sun during the day to stay aloft all night, making 8. __________ possible; ●proving that new technologies can help rid society of 9.__________ fossil fuels; ●bringing the project 10. __________ to its long-term goal.

 

“A lot of learning comes through play,” says Mardy McGarry, 52, who has been a special education teacher for 28 years. But her students were too often left out. She had seen the wood chips and sand of traditional playgrounds stop wheelchairs dead in their tracks. When she wanted to build a playground for children with special needs，she knew it wouldn’t take long to develop interest in it around the small fishing village. But she never expected that 2,800 people — a third of the town—would all be willing to make a great effort to bring her vision to life.
McGarry started doing some research into play equipment and contacting design companies and she also found a piece of land available. When the city council(市议会) agreed to set aside an area for a playground, she also asked physical and professional therapists(治疗专家) for their investment. And she turned to her friend, Sue, for help. “Neither of us is good at maths, which is why $450,000 didn’t sound like a lot of money,” McGarry says of the initial estimate.
Her Kiwanis Club came through with $7,000，and that’s when the grassroots movement really got started. One woman gave $25,000 and had her company match it. Soon, smaller businesses were joining in. There was a silent effort to collect money. The local Pieper Family Foundation offered to donate half of the remaining $170,000. All McGarry needed was 500 volunteers to work six 12-hour days.
On September 16, 2008, the first day of construction, they came. Two women heard about the project on the way to work and took the day off to help. A couple in their 80s operated their tractors. Ten-year-olds cleared up the mess. “None of them was paid. It was truly an amazing week,” says McGarry. Only three building managers were paid. Volunteers with “building experience” became coordinators(协调人); those who could operate power tools formed a separate group. One team served meals donated from local restaurants and churches, and another organized activities for the children of volunteers.
Today, Possibility Playground is one of the most popular destinations in Ozaukee County. All children, including the ones with special needs, play shoulder to shoulder. “Some playgrounds have special equipment in a different section. Here, you see all the kids in the same playground, all having fun.”
It’s exactly what McGarry imagined. “People used to ask, ‘Why do you want to build a playground just for children with disabilities?” She says, “It’s only when you build a playground for children with disabilities that you build one for all children.”
【小题1】 It didn’t occur to Mardy McGarry that __________.

A．her plan would soon draw the interest of people in the small village

B．so many people would volunteer to help her realize her dream

C．she would meet with so many difficulties in raising funds

D．the playground would be the most popular destination in Ozaukee County

【小题2】We can learn from the fourth paragraph that __________.

A．the playground was finished in September 2008

B．everything was well prepared, apart from the volunteers

C．everyone worked unpaid, except for three building managers

D．the playground is so popular that it is overcrowded all the time

【小题3】It can be inferred from the text that __________.

A．Mardy McGarry is a famous architect in the small town

B．Sue was forced to join in the project because of her son

C．people always ignore the real needs of disabled children

D．Mardy McGarry’s vision has been successfully accomplished at last

【小题4】What would be the best title for this text?

A．Mardy McGarry: A Woman with Great Determination.

B．Cooperation: The Greatest Power in Overcoming Any Difficulty.

C．Show Real Concern for Poor Disabled Children.

D．Make it Matter to Build a Playground for Disabled Children.

Terraforming (Earth-forming) other planets, also known as planetary engineering (行星工程), seems like a task still centuries away for mankind to accomplish. However, it is a vigorous topic that attracts both popular and scientific interest. Why should the possibility of terraforming other planets be studied when it may be centuries before we know enough to even decide if it’s a good idea?
Mankind is getting more and more hard facts about other planets. The atmosphere of Venus has been explored; robots have surveyed the surface of Mars; Mercury, Jupiter and Saturn have been studied by spacecraft. Speculations have been answered; new questions have been raised, and enough hard data is right now becoming available to allow us to make the first attempt of planetary engineering.
In the past, people with excellent ideas about terraforming have kept them to themselves, or buried them in a desk drawer because they did not realize that anyone else was interested. But now, a wide circle of people has begun to do this kind of work. For instance, NASA funded a project on transforming Mars.
There are several strong reasons which demand that the possibilities of terraforming be studied carefully. First, it’s an exciting idea of a possible future for human beings. Such thinking has a valuable role in providing options for our future directions. Secondly, the techniques of terraforming will also help contemporary technologies in weather and climate control. Thirdly, such study may assist us in detecting any possible existence of extraterrestrial intelligence (SETI, The Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence, 地外文明搜索) and alien (异己的) civilizations on other planets.
Though the mission is far beyond our reach at the moment, we should at least keep our options open. Through debate and study on this subject, the possibility of rebuilding other planets to make them suitable homes for people may come true some day in the future.
【小题1】.
. According to the context, what’s the meaning of the word “speculation” in paragraph 2?

A．The act of discussing something with a group of people.

B．The act of studying and researching.

C．The act of guessing without knowing all the facts about something.

D．The acting of writing letters to a certain organization.

【小题2】.
Why did people keep the idea of terraforming to themselves in the past?

A．They thought no one else would show interest in the idea.

B．They gradually came to find the idea crazy.

C．They thought the idea would never come true.

D．They had few resources for further study on this topic.

【小题3】.
. Which is NOT the reason to support the study of terraforming?

A．Even if we don’t succeed in terraforming, such study may help us to better understand technologies such as climate and weather control.

B．Such study may explore a new direction of development for human beings.

C．Such study may enable us to find the lives on other planets.

D．As the resources on Earth are being drained, it’s very urgent to study how to migrate (迁移) to other planets。

【小题4】.
What’s the main idea of the article?

A．It’s highly possible that terraforming other planets will come true so we should increase investing in this program.

B．Even if the idea of terraforming other planets may take centuries to realize, we have many reasons to support such studies.

C．Terraforming other planets is the best option for human being’s future.

D．More and more people are taking planetary engineering as their occupation.

Tom : Hi, Cathy. ___6___                                 
Cathy: I have to finish my project on the history of the Internet. What about you?
Tom : 7 If it’s fine, we’ll go camping. Would you like to join us?  Cathy: I’d like to, but the deadline for my project is next Monday.
Tom : What a pity!   8                                     
Cathy: Yes, please. Can you suggest any good reference books?
Tom : You may want to read Origins of the Internet and The Digital Future.
Cathy: I’m reading the two books.    9                        
Tom : Go to the Science Museum website, and you’ll find lots of up-to-date information.
Cathy: Good idea. Thanks for your help.
Tom :    10                                       

A．Never mind.	B．Don’t mention it.
C．Any other suggestions?	D．Will you come next time?

E.it depends on the weather          F.Anything I can do for you G.What are you up to this weekeed?