66.According to the writer of the text，imagining the future will 　　　　.

　 A.serve the interests of the present and future generations

　 B.enable us to better understand human history

　 C.help us to improve farming　　　　　　　　　　　　 D.make life worth living

答案 63.B64.D　　　　　　　 　65.C　　　 　　66.A　　　

第7题(2000年普通高等学校春季招生考试英语上海卷)

　　　　 Since the beginning of time，man has been interested in the moon. The Romans designed a special day to show admiration and respect to the moon. They called it“Moonday”，or“Monday”，as we know it today. Later，the great mind of Leonardo da Vinci studied the moon and designed a machine to carry a human to the moon. Leonardo said that one day a great machine bird would take a person to the moon and bring great honour to the home where it was born.

　　　 Four and a half centuries later，Leonardo’s idea was realized. Apollo Ⅱ　took three Americans－Collins，Aldrin，and Armstrong－to the moon. The mission (任务) did fill the whole world with great surprise，as Leonardo had said it would. Numerous essays，articles，and books were written about man’s first moon mission. But perhaps the most interesting story was one written before the event-over100 years before.

　　　 In 1865，French author Jules Verne wrote a story about the first journey to the moon. His story was very similar to the 1969 ApolloⅡ mission.

　 　　 Verne’s spacecraft also contained three men－two Americans and a Frenchman. The spacecraft was described as being almost the same size as ApolloⅡ.The launch(发射) site in Verne’s story was also in Florida. The spacecraft in Verne’s story was named the “Columbiad”. The ApolloⅡcommand ship was called“Columbia”.His account of sending the spacecraft into the space could easily have been written about how ApolloⅡwas sent into the space.

　　　 Verne’s story was the same as the actual event in several other respects. The speed of Verne’s spacecraft was36,000 feet per second；Apollo’s was 35,533feet per second. Verne’s spacecraft took 97 hours to reach the moon;Apollo’s time was 103 hours. Like Apollo’s spacemen，Verne’s spacemen took pictures of the moon’s surface，relaxed on their seats，cooked with gas，and experienced weightlessness. They too came down in the Pacific and were picked up by an American warship.

　　　What were the reasons for Jules Verne’s extreme accuracy in describing an event 100 years or more before it actually occurred? He based his writings on the laws of physics and astronomy(天文学).Nineteenth-century science and the vivid Verne’s imagination gave people an unbelievably accurate preview of one of the greatest events of the 20th century.

65.Spundels and ballalators are used in the text to refer to 　　　　　.

　 A.tools used in farming　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B.ideas about modern life

　 C.unknown things in the future　　　　　　　　　　　 D.hunting skills in the Stone Age

64.The text discusses men and women 50,000 years ago and 50,000 years from now in order to show that 　　　　.

　 A.human history is extremely long　　　　　　　　　 B.life has changed a great deal

　 C.it is useless to plan for the next 50 years　　　　　 D.it is difficult to tell what will happen in the future

63.A particular mention made of Stapledon’s book in the opening paragraph　　　 .

　 A.serves as a description of human history　　　　　 B.serves as an introduction to the discussion

　 C.shows a disagreement of views　　　　　　　　　 D.shows the popularity of the book

58.Which country does Easter Island belong to ?

A.Britain.　　　　　　　　　 B.Holland.　　　　　 C.Portugal.　　　　 D.Chile.

答案 56.A　57.C　58.D

第6题(2000年普通高等学校夏季招生考试英语全国卷)

　　　 Olaf Stapledon wrote a book called First and Last Men，in which he looked millions of years ahead.He told of different men and of strange civilisations(文明)，broken up by long“dark ages”in between.In his view，what is called the present time is no more than a moment in human history and we are just the First Men.In 2，000 million years from now there will be the Eighteenth or Last Men.

　　 However，most of our ideas about the future are really very short-sighted.Perhaps we can see some possibilities for the next fifty years.But the next hundred？The next thousand？The next million？That’s much more difficult.

　　 When men and women lived by hunting 50,000 years ago，how could they even begin to picture modern life？Yet to men of 50,000 years from now，we may seem as primitive(原始的)in our ideas as the Stone-Age hunters do to us.Perhaps they will spend their days gollocking to make new spundels，or struggling with their ballalators through the cribe.These words，which I have just made up，have to stand for things and ideas that we simply can’t think of.

　　 So why bother even to try imagining life far in the future？Here are two reasons.Frist，unless we remember how short our own lives are compared with the whole human history，we are likely to think our own interests are much more important than they really are.If we make the earth a poor place to live on because we are careless or greedy(贪婪)or quarrelsome，our grandchildren will not bother to think of excuses for us.

Second，by trying to escape from present interests and imagine life far in the future，we may arrive at quite fresh ideas that we can use ourselves.For example，if we imagine that in the future men may give up farming，we can think of trying it now.So set your imagination free when you think about the future.

57.Which of the following is most famous for moai?

A.Tristan da Cunha.　　　　 B.Pitcairn Island.　　　　　　　 C.Easter Island.　　　　　　　　 D.St.Helena.

56.It can be learned from the text that the island of Tristan da Cunha　　.

A.was named after its discoverer　　　　　　　　　　　 B.got its name from Holland settlers

C.was named by the British government　　　　 D.got its name from the Guinness Book of Records

66.Why does the author say it is impossible to make a mistake in Paragraph 3？

　A.Because the tape shows your true love.　　　　　　 　B.Because it’s easy to use a tape recorder.

　C.Because the music is what your parents like.　　 　D.Because it’s impossible to find a mistake in the book.

答案 63.C　　　　　　　 64.B　　　　　　　 65.C　　　　　　　　　　 66.A

第5题(2003年普通高等学校夏季招生考试英语全国卷)

　　 Tristan da Cunha,a 38-square-mile island,is the farthest inhabited island in the world,according to the Guinness Book of records.It is 1 510 miles southwest of its nearest neighbor.St.Helena,and 1 950 miles west of Africa.Discovered by the Portuguese admiral(葡萄牙海军上将)of the same name in 1506,and settled in 1810,the island belongs to Great Britain and has a population of a few hundred.

　　　 Coming in a close second—and often wrongly mentioned as the most distant land—is Easter Island,which lies 1 260 miles east of its nearest neighbor,Pitcairn Island,and 2 300 miles west of South America.

　　　 The mountainous 64-square-mile island was settled around the 5th century,supposedly by people who were lost at sea.They had no connection with the outside world for more than a thousand years,giving them plenty of time to build more than 1 000 huge stone figures,called moai,for which the island is most famous.

　　 On Easter Sunday,1722,however,settlers from Holland moved in and gave the island its name.Today,2 000 people live on the Chilean territory (智利领土).They share one street,a small airport,and a few hours of television per day.

65.What does the author advise us to do？

　A.To read a book to our parents in their car.　 　B.To ask our parents to record a book.

　C.To make a gift for our parents.　　　　　　　　　　　 　D.To practice reading out loud.

64.Why does the author mention the history of tape recorders in Paragraph 1？

　A.To inform readers of new inventions.　　　　　　 　B.To lead into his following suggestion.

　C.To give an example of his suggestion.　　　　 　D.To show the importance of tape recorders.