COOL INVENTIONS

From school to band Practice, the Venturi Eclectic is an Earth-friendly way to get Where you want to go. This battery-powered, zero-emission (meaning it doesn't pollute the air) vehicle runs mainly on renewable energy. Solar panels on the Eclectic's roof absorb sun rays when you're driving. On windy days, you can connect a machine to the car's roof that collects energy from the wind while you're parked. The Eclectic's top speed is 28 miles an hour; the battery lasts for 31 miles before it needs to be recharged. Zipping (迅速行进) around the neighborhood has never been better.

Here's an eco-friendly way to tell time: Simply fill the Bedol Water-powered Clock's tank (箱) with water, add some lemon juice, and the clock will display the time without the need for environmentally harmful batteries. There are two sets of metal electrodes (电极) inside the water tank. Water contains ions (离子) that carry negative and positive charges. These ions complete a charge between the electrodes, creating enough energy to power the clock. Just refill the tank every few weeks, and this clock will keep on ticking.

Bloodhound SuperSonic Car (SSC) will be the first car to attempt to break the l,000-mile-an-hour barrier. (The current record is 763 miles an hour.) A concept for now, the rocket-shaped car gets its initial push to 350 miles an hour from a jet engine. Then a rocket fires up, pushing the SSC past 1,000 miles an hour. In order to keep the car streamlined (流线型的), the driver lies back at a 45-degree angle.

You're having a blast at your friend's birthday party. But when it's time to bring out the cake, everyone crowds around, blocking your view. No worries. Throw the Triops into the air, and this clever camera captures the view from above. The Triops can take three pictures at once, each from different angles. You can also record sounds and command the Triops to start shooting whenever it hears that noise. That's one smart camera.

According to the passage, the Venturi Eclectic      .

A. is popular with businessmen     B. is suitable for a long trip

C. can turn wind into energy D. has only a little gas emission

What is the common characteristic of the Venturi Eclectic and the Bedol Water-powered Clock?

A. They don't need batteries.  B. They are difficult to operate.

C. They can be powered by water. D. They are environmentally friendly.

The underlined phrase “having a blast” in the last paragraph probably means      .

A. looking at a picture   B. enjoying yourself

C. blowing out a candle D. recording sounds

Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A. The Triops is sensitive to sounds.

B. The driver of the SSC must be of great size.

C. The color of the Bedol Water-powered Clock is like that of lemon.

D. The SSC doesn’t have anything to do with a rocket actually.

You _________ be punished if you break the school rules.

When it comes to friends, I desire those who will share my happiness, who possess wings of their own and who will fly with me. I seek friends whose qualities illuminate（light）me and train me up for love. It is for these people that I reserve the glowing hours, too good not to share.

When I was in the eighth grade, I had a friend. We were shy and “too serious” about our studies when it was becoming fashionable with our classmates to learn acceptable social behaviors. We said little at school, but she would come to my house and we would sit down with pencils and paper, and one of us would say:“Let’s start with a train whistle today.” We would sit quietly together and write separate poems or stories that grew out of a train whistle. Then we would read them aloud. At the end of that school year, we, too, were changing into social creatures and the stories and poems stopped.

When I lived for a time in London, I had a friend, He was in despair(disappointment)and I was in despair. But our friendship was based on the idea in each of us that we would be sorry later if we did not explore this great city because we had felt bad at the time. We met every Sunday for five weeks and found many excellent things. We walked until our despairs disappeared and then we parted. We gave London to each other.

For almost four years I have had remarkable friend whose imagination illuminates mine. We write long letters in which we often discover our strangest selves. Each of us appears, sometimes in a funny way, in the other’s dreams. She and I agree that, at certain times, we seem to be parts of the same mind. In my most interesting moments, I often think:“Yes, I must tell….”We have never met.

It is such comforting companions I wish to keep. One bright hour with their kind is worth more to me than the lifetime services of a psychologist，who will only fill up the healing silence necessary to those darkest moments in which I would rather be my own best friend.

1. In the eighth grade, what the author did before developing proper social behavior was to ______.

2.In Paragraph 3, “We gave London to each other” probably means ______.

3. According to Paragraph 4, the author and her friend _______.

4. In the darkest moments, the author would prefer to ______.

5. What is the best title for the passage?

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.”

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

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.

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

4.How did Mrs Cobell feel about the record she set?

   A. Dissatisfied        B. Excited         C. Annoyed         D. Proud

第二节 语法填空 (共10小题，每小题1.5分，满分15分)

 阅读下面短文，按照句子结构的语法性和上下文连贯的要求，在空格处填入一个适当的词或使用括号中词语的正确形式填空，并将答案填写在答题卡标号为31～40的相应位置上。

Child labor has been a problem for many years. Over a hundred years ago, Charles Dickens shocked many of his readers when    31   （describe）the conditions under which young children worked in British factories.    32    conditions Dickens described continue, almost unchanged today, in many parts of the world. The only difference is    33    today’s employment of children is confined to small industries and family businesses, such as hotels, restaurants and    34    (particular) farms, rather than to large factories. The children not only receive nothing or very    35   for their long hours of work, but also they    36    (prevent) from attending school. Therefore, when they become older they are    37   (able) to do any other kind of work.

The solution    38    the problem of child labour is clearly better laws to protect young children greater supervision (监督) of industry and heavier fines for    39    who break the laws. Only    40    this way can young boys and girls be allowed to enjoy the most valuable time of their lives --- childhood.