【推荐1】At three a.m., Jack Mills was sitting at the controls of the mail train. The train was made up of 13 cars. At the end of the train, 71 mailmen sat sorting the mail. Inside the second car, there were only five mailmen and 128 bags full of five-pound notes. This train had run more than 100 years without being robbed(抢劫). At three minutes past three, Mills and his helper, David Whitby, saw a yellow warning light. They slowed the train, and then stopped. Whitby went to the telephone beside the track. It was out of order. Then he saw a man moving between the second and the third cars. Before Whitby could give a warning, he was knocked down by two men. Mills’ cars with all the mailmen had been disconnected by the robbers. At the bridge, the bags of money were unloaded from the train and thrown into waiting trucks. One of the robbers who obviously knew the schedules(时刻表) of all the trains kept looking at his watch. At 3:45 he said, “That will have to be enough.” The robbers drove away with more than 2,500,000 pounds.
1. The robbery took place______.

A．before 3:03	B．in the early morning
C．after three o'clock in the afternoon	D．after 3:45

2. The robbers_____ before the train stopped.

A．were all in the train	B．forced Mills to stop the train
C．were waiting for the train to stop	D．ordered Mills to go on driving

3. Why didn’t the other mailmen help the mailmen in the second car when the robbery happened?

A．Because they were busy sorting the mail.

B．Because they didn’t want to help the mailmen in the second car.

C．Because the last eleven cars were separated from the front cars.

D．Because they knew nothing about the robbery.

4. One of the robbers kept looking at his watch because________.

A．he wanted to know the exact time	B．he enjoyed looking at his watch
C．he didn’t know when another train would come	D．they had to leave before another train came

5. Which the following is NOT true?

A．The train was out of order.

B．The telephone was put out of order by the robbers

C．Whitby had an assistant driver.

D．The robbers carried the money away by truck.

【推荐2】BUKHANNON, West Virginia—Two rescue teams slowly moved along a two-mile path on Monday night to the site of a coal mine explosion that trapped 13 miners, who had not been heard from since the early morning accident.

Meanwhile, at a nearby church, more than 250 family members and friends gathered, waiting for updates（最新报道）on the rescuers’ progress.

The miners were trapped at about 6:30 and many families weren’t informed of the accident until about 10 a.m-more than three hours after it happened.“It’s very upsetting, but you’ve got to be patient, I guess,” said John Helms, whose brother, Terry, was trapped in the mine.

The trapped miners were about 260 feet underground and about 10,000 feet from the Sago Mine’s entrance, said Roger Nicholson, general counsel from International Coal Group.

At a late night news conference, Nicholson said one team had advanced about 4, 800 feet in the four hours since entering the mine just before 6 p.m.Another team entered the mine about 30 minutes later.

He said the crew was very experienced, with some members having worked underground for 30 to 35 years.The miners were equipped with about one hour of breathable oxygen each.The company has not released the names of the miners.

The teams test the air about every 500 feet, and have to disconnect （remove） the power to the phones they use to communicate with the surface before doing that.“ We don’t want to be energizing anything if it’s in an atmosphere with burnable gases,” Kips said.

The cause of the explosion was not immediately known.High levels of carbon monoxide were discovered shortly after the explosion, which delayed rescue efforts, but those levels have since subsided（减退）, authorities said.

1. According to the passage, we can infer that ________.

A．all the miners who were trapped underground were still alive

B．communication with the trapped miners was cut off

C．the two rescue teams entered the mine at the same time

D．the rescue started as soon as the accident happened

2. If the first team advanced at an average speed, they could dig about _______ per hour.

A．1,000 feet

B．2,400 feet

C．1,200feet

D．4,800feet

3. Where can the passage be seen?

A．In a magazine.	B．In a newspaper.
C．In a science book..	D．On an advertisement.

4. Which of the following shows the position where the miners were trapped?
E:entrance P: position where the miners were trappe

A．

B．

C．

D．

【推荐3】TOKYO—A child-like robot that combines the roles of nurse, companion and security guard is to go on the market to help the growing ranks of elderly Japanese with no one to look after them.

The “Wakamaru” robot can walk around a house 24 hours a day, warning family, hospitals and security firms if it perceives (notices) a problem. It will, for example, call relatives if the owner fails to get out of the bath.

Cameras implanted in the “eye-brows” of the robot enable it to “see” as it walks around an apartment. The images can be sent to the latest cellphones, which display the pictures.

Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, which developed Wakamaru, plans to start selling the metre-high robots by April, 2005, for about ＄15,000 Cdn.

Wakamaru, which speaks with either the voice of a boy or girl, is also designed to provide companionship, greeting its “papa” when he comes home.

It is the first household robot able to hold simple conversations, based on a vocabulary of around 10,000 words. It cannot only speak but can understand answers and react accordingly.

It will ask “Are you all right ?” if its owner does not move for some time. If the answer is no, or there is no answer, it will telephone preset numbers, transmitting images and functioning as a speakerphone.

1. Which of the following is true about Wakamaru?

A．It is used in a security firm.

B．It cannot speak but can understand answers.

C．It can go up and down the stairs easily.

D．It can recognize as many as ten faces.

2. The purpose of this passage is ______.

A．to introduce a new product

B．to solve the aging problem

C．to tell people how to use robot

D．to show the rapid development of technology

3. What can we infer from the passage?

A．The robot can dial proper numbers for help.

B．The robot is likely to have a promising market.

C．The robot has given the Japanese a chance to live longer.

D．The nuclear families have left many elderly Japanese anxious.

4. What is the best title of this passage ?

A．The Latest Development of Robot Technology

B．Japanese Robot and the Ageing Society

C．Vast Market of the New Robot

D．Japanese-built Robot to Help the Old

【推荐3】Last year, I worked in a middle school near my mother’s house, and I stayed with her for a month. During that time, I helped her do some housework and buy some food.

After the first week, I noticed that the food was eaten up very quickly. Then I began keeping an eye on my mom. To my surprise, I found that she would put some of the food into a paper bag and go out with it at about nine every morning. And finally, I decided to follow her. I saw her taking the food to the street children. She would also spend a lot of time talking and playing with them.

One day, I talked to a neighbor and found out that my mom was well-known in the area. The children were very friendly with her and even thought of her as their own mother. Then it hit me—why wouldn’t she want to tell me about it? Was she worried that I would stop buying food if I found out?

When my mom got home, I gave her a big hug. I told her she didn’t need to keep it a secret from me. And she told me something about the children. Some of them lived with an old lady in a small house. Others slept on the street. For years, she was helping the poor street children by giving them food. After she told me everything, I was so moved by how selfless she was. She helped others in need. As her son, I was so proud of my mom.

I continued to buy food for my mom after that. But I always added one more bag for her other children.

1. After the first week, the writer noticed that_____.

A．the food was put into a big box	B．his mom followed the children
C．the food was eaten up quickly	D．his mom stopped buying food

2. The street children thought of the writer’s mom as their ______.

A．old grandma

B．own mother

C．new neighbor

D．dear teacher

3. How did the writer feel about his mom after she told him everything?

A．He was proud of her.	B．He was confident in her.
C．He was angry with her.	D．He was worried about her.

4. The writer added one more bag of food to______.

A．make friends with the children	B．get a hug from his mother
C．become well-known in the area	D．help the poor street children