A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by a local government in Eastern England.This could end the worries of many parents fearful for their children’s safety on the roads.

Until now the local government have only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school，or sometimes less if special reasons existed.Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead，as long as the arrangement will not lose money and children taking part will be attending their nearest school.

The new plan is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington School.The children live just without the three­mile limit and the local government have said in the past that they will not undertake to provide free transport to the school.But now they have agreed to offer a sum of money for a bus service from Milton to Impington and back，a plan which has the support of the school’s headmaster.

Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part.Final calculations have still to be carried out，but a government official has said the cost to parents should be less than ￡20 a term.

They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington.The same bus would now just make one more journey to pick up the Milton children.The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children，to see if they would like to take part in the new plan.

51．What is the aim of the plan?

A．To prevent the students’road accidents.

B．To relieve the traffic pressure.

C．To save time for the parents and students.

D．To help the parents save money.

52．How can the local government arrange the new bus service at a low cost?

A．By letting the bus run in the morning only.

B．By limiting the number of the students.

C．by obtaining the support from the headmaster.

D．By lining the new bus service with the existing one.

53．The new bus service will be paid for by________.

A．the parents

B．the local government

C．the bus company

D．the local government and the parents

54．Which of the following is possible if the plan is carried out?

A．The bus company will make much more money.

B．The children can choose whatever school they like.

C．The parents can get rid of their worries.

D．The students in Impington School can have free bus rides.

55．This passage is most probably________.

A．a personal letter                                   B．a headmaster’s report

C．an advertisement                                 D．a newspaper article

How should one invest a sum of money in these clays of inflation （通货膨胀）? Left in a bank it will hardly keep its value, however high the interest rate．Only a brave man, or a very rich one, dares to buy and sell on the Stock Market．Today it seems that one of the best ways to protect your savings, and even increase your wealth is to buy beautiful objects from the past．Here I am going to offer some advice on collecting antique clocks, which I personally consider are among the most interesting of antiques．

I sometimes wonder what a being from another planet might report back about our way of life．"The planet Earth is ruled by a mysterious creature that sits or stands in a room and makes a strange ticking sound．It has a face with twelve black marks and two hands．Men can do nothing without its permission, and it fastens its young round people's wrists so that everywhere men go they are still under its control．This creature is the real master of Earth and men are its slaves．"

Whether or not we are slaves of time today depends on our culture and personality, but it is believed that many years ago kings kept special slaves to tell the time．Certain men were very clever at measuring the time of clay according to the beating of their own hearts．They were made to stand in a fixed place and every hour or so would shout the time．So it seems that the first clocks were human beings．

However, men quickly found more convenient and reliable ways of telling the time．They learned to use the shadows cast by the sun．They marked the hours on candles, used sand in hour- glasses, and invented water-clocks．Indeed, any serious student of antique should spend as much time as possible visiting palaces, stately homes and museums to see some of the finest examples of clocks from the past．

Antique clocks could be very expensive, but one of the joys of collecting clocks is that it is still possible to find quite cheap ones for your own home．After all, if you are going to be ruled by time, why not invest in an antique clock and perhaps make a future profit?

According to the passage, collecting antique clocks____．

       A．can hardly keep the value of your savings

       B．will cost much of your savings

       C．may increase your wealth

       D．needs your bravery

Which of the following is NOT mentioned as a way to measure the time?

       A．Counting the beating of one's own heart．

       B．Making use of candles, sand and water．

       C．Observing shadows cast by the sun．

       D．Keeping slaves busy day and night．

The underlined phrase stately homes in paragraph 4 means

       A．state-owned houses

       B．houses in very good condition

       C．grand houses open to the public

       D．houses where statesmen meet regularly

When Babbage was working at Cambridge, a new idea occurred to him. He wanted to construct a calculating machine to work out the solutions（解法）to maths problems not only with correctness but also with a speed beyond the power of any human mind. His machine could solve problems involving（涉及）long rows of figures in one continuous operation（运算）.

       In 1822 Babbage exhibited his invention and won a prize from the government. After that, he immediately started to work on a larger machine designed to solve more difficult problems. Although he received some money left by his father, the money was not enough to support his design. He wrote to the government about his plan and was given ￡2500 to start with, a sum worth much more in those days than it is now.

       Babbage continued his work in London for four years. Then his health broke down, and he had to take a long holiday abroad. When he returned to London in 1828, he was at the end of his resources. Many bills remained unpaid. His chief assistant and co-workers quarreled with him and left with many expensive tools. For one year no work was done. During this period, Babbage, whose mind was always active, suddenly thought of a completely new idea for the machine. He rushed to meet the government officials to explain his new idea. But this time, they were unwilling to help him. For eight years, they refused to say whether they wanted the machine or not, and their final answer was “No.”

       From 1828 to 1839, Babbage held the position of professor at Cambridge very successfully. But his greatest work was the unfinished calculating machine which stood covered in dust in his house. It was the beginning of the modern computer.

60．The machine Babbage designed would solve difficult maths problems _________.

      A．in one operation with few mistakes

       B．in more than one operation without any mistakes

       C．in more than one operation with slight mistakes

       D．in one operation without any mistakes

61．Babbage failed to continue his research work in 1828 mainly because _______.

      A．he was in poor health                                 B．he almost ran out of money

      C．his co-workers argued with him            D．he spent all his money on his bills

62．Babage explained his new idea to the government officials, expecting that _________.

      A．they would agree to his plan                 B．they would pay for his new idea

      C．they would support him with money             D．they would exhibit his new design

63．From the passage, we can infer that __________.

       A．Babbage failed to be a famous scientist at Cambridge

       B．Babbage always had new ideas but gave them up easily

       C．Babbage always needed support from the government officials

       D．Babbage was the first designer of the modern computer

A new plan for getting children to and from school is being started by a local government in Eastern England. This could end the worries of many parents fearful for their children's safety on the roads．
Until now the local government have only been prepared to provide bus services for children living more than three miles from their school, or sometimes less if special reasons existed．Now it has been decided that if a group of parents ask for help in organizing transport they will be prepared to go ahead, as long as the arrangement will not lose money and children taking part will be attending their nearest school．
The new plan is to be tried out this term for children living at Milton who attend Impington School．The children live just within the three-mile limit and the local government have said in the past that they will not agree to provide free transport to the school．But now they have agreed to offer a sum of money for a bus service from Milton to Impington and back, a plan which has the support of the school's headmaster．
Between 50 and 60 parents have said they would like their children to take part．Final calculations have still to be carried out, but a government official has said the cost to parents should be less than ￡20 a term．
They have been able to arrange the service at a low cost because there is already an agreement with the bus company for a bus to take children who live further away to Impington．The same bus would now just make one more journey to pick up the Milton children．The official said they would get in touch with other groups of parents who in the past had asked if transport could be provided for their children, to see if they would like to take part in the new plan．
【小题1】What is the aim of the plan?

A．To prevent the students' road accidents．

B．To relieve the traffic pressure．

C．To save time for the parents and students．

D．To help the parents save money．

【小题2】How can the local government arrange the new bus service at a low cost?

A．By letting the bus run in the morning only．

B．By limiting the number of the students．

C．By obtaining the support from the headmaster．

D．By linking the new bus service with the existing one．

【小题3】The new bus service will be paid for by ______．

A．the parents

B．the local government

C．the bus company

D．the local government and the parents

【小题4】Which of the following is possible if the plan is carried out?

A．The bus company will make much more money．

B．The children can choose whatever school they like．

C．The parents can get rid of their worries．

D．The students in Impington school can have free bus rides．

【小题5】This passage is most probably ______．

A．a personal letter	B．an advertisement
C．a headmaster's report	D．a newspaper article

Down on the beach of Dover, 56-year-old Channel swimmer Jackie Cobell bravely set off for Calais. The time was 6:40 am. 28 hours and 44 minutes later the exhausted, successful mother from Kent crawled (爬行) to the shore and walked proudly into the record books. After five years in training, Mrs Cobell became the slowest person to cross the Channel under her own steam. The previous record for the slowest crossing, set by Henry Sullivan at 26 hours and 50 minutes, has stood for 87 years before Mrs Cobell started at Dover Saturday morning.
She had struggled through changing tides that swept her first one way, then the other. It turned the 21-mile crossing into a 65-mile one. She declared, “Time and tide wait for no man—and they certainly didn’t wait for me. I was fully expecting it to get dark before I got to Calais but I never imagined I’d also see the dawn again. But I wasn’t going to give up.”
Her feat(壮举) raised more than $2,000 in charity sponsorship for research into Huntingdon’s disease, a sum that was continuing to grow as news of her achievement spread. That was why she did it. “I don’t really know myself,” she said. “ I just kept thinking of all the people I’d be letting down if I stopped.”
Mrs Cobell took to the water so well at school. But after bringing up two daughters, she started to gain weight. Five years ago she took up swimming again and decided to prepare for the Channel challenge to lose weight. She became much fitter. Then came the big swim. “I practiced on Windermere lake,” she said. “it’s about half the distance of the Channel so I just doubled it, added some extra time, and worked out I could probably get to Calais in about 16 hours.”
Her husband David, trainer, official observer and friend sailed alongside her on a boat. She said, “I sang to keep myself going. When they told me I was a record breaker I thought they were just having a joke—until I realized it was the record for the slowest crossing. But maybe next time I might be a bit quicker.”
【小题1】According to Paragraph 1, Mrs Cobell_____________.

A．started to learn swimming five years ago

B．arrived at Calais on late Sunday morning

C．wanted to break the record for the slowest crossing

D．was too exhausted to move after crossing the Channel

【小题2】 Why did Mrs Cobell spend so much time crossing the Channel?

A．Because the tides changed her direction.

B．Because she was not in good condition.

C．Because she wasn’t good at swimming.

D．Because the winds kept her from swimming fast.

【小题3】Mrs Cobell crossed the Channel for the main purpose of____________.

A．taking a risk

B．losing more weight

C．raising money for charity

D．becoming famous worldwide

【小题4】How did Mrs Cobell feel about the record she set?

A．Dissatisfied

B．Excited

C．Annoyed

D．Proud