Scientists think that there has been life on Earth for millions of years. However, we haven’t found life on other planets yet. What not?
The Earth is a planet and it goes around the Sun. Seven other planets also go round the Sun. None of them has an environment with air, so people and things cannot grow. The Sun and its planets are called the solar system. The solar system（太阳系）is a small part of our galaxy.
The stars we see at night are the suns in other solar systems. There are more than 200 billion stars in our galaxy, called the Milky Way and our Sun is only one of them.
But scientists have discovered many other galaxies in universe. They are a long way away and their light has travelled for many years to reach us. It is hard to understand how large the universe is.
Scientists have sent lots of spacecraft to look at other planets in our solar system, and some spacecraft have gone beyond the solar system. However, no one has discovered any life in space yet.
But why has no one from other planets sent us a message? Have they tried to send information to us? With so many stars in the universe, are we alone, or is there life out there in space? We don’t know…yet.
1. How long has there been life on Earth according to some scientists?| A．Millions of years. | B．Thousands of years. | C．Hundreds of years. | D．Billions of years. |
| A．The Earth and the Sun. | B．The Sun and its planets. |
| C．Milky Way and the Sun. | D．The Sun and other galaxies. |
| A．Found. | B．Developed | C．Checked. | D．Explained. |
| A．The scientists have found life on other planets. |
| B．Many other galaxies are very far away from us. |
| C．Some planets in the solar system have an environment with air. |
| D．We know someone from other planets has sent us a message. |
| A．Diet. | B．Fashion. | C．Science. | D．Culture. |
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Earth is our home planet. It is the only planet known to have lots of liquid (液态的) water. Liquid water is necessary for life.
What does Earth look like?
From space, Earth looks like a blue marble (大理石) with white swirls (漩涡) and areas of brown, yellow, green and white.
Today, with GPS, BDS and other satellites, scientists can compute Earth’s size and shape to within a centimeter. Pictures from space show Earth is round like the moon. Though some forces are making the planet change shape very slowly, but it is still round.
From June to August, the sun’s rays hit the Northern Hemisphere (半球) more directly than the Southern Hemisphere. The result is warm (summer) weather in the Northern Hemisphere and cold (winter) weather in the Southern Hemisphere.
What are Earth’s different parts?
Earth includes land, air, water and life. The land holds mountains, valleys and flat areas. The air is made up of different gases. The water includes oceans, lakes, rivers, streams, rain, snow and ice.
There are millions of kinds of life on Earth. Their sizes are from very tiny to very large.
根据材料内容，从下面五个选项中选出能填入文中空缺处的最佳选项，使短文意思通顺、内容完整。
| A．Why does Earth have seasons? |
| B．How do we know Earth is round? |
| C．Life is made up of people, animals and plants. |
| D．Earth is the only planet where life is known to be. |
| E．The blue is water, which covers about 71% of Earth’s surface. |
【推荐2】In the universe, as we know, there is the sun, the moon, the earth and many stars. Through our geography lessons, we know the earth goes around the sun, and the moon goes around the earth. We have day and night because the earth keeps turning all the time. When our part of the earth turns to the sun, it is day. When our part of the earth turns away from the sun, it is night.
Just because the moon is closer to the earth than the sun, it looks much bigger than the sun. Big things look smaller when they are farther, and small things also look bigger when they are nearer.
The sun is bright enough to give out very strong light. The moon can’t give out any light at all, but it looks quite bright too. Why? In fact, the light from the moon comes from the sun. The moon looks much bigger and brighter than the stars. But actually the stars are much bigger and brighter than the moon. They look smaller than the moon also because they are farther away from the earth.
There are still many other planets in the solar system (太阳系). All of them move round the sun. But of all these planets, only on the earth there are living things and people can only live on the earth too. At 9:00 am on October 15th, 2003, Chinese pilot Yang Liwei was sent up to space. He stayed there for 21 hours. It was the first time for Chinese to get into space.
1. When our part of the earth turns away from the sun, the other part of the earth is ______.| A．night | B．day | C．evening |
| A．the earth | B．the moon | C．the sun |
| A．On November 15th, 2003. | B．On October 16th, 2003. | C．On October 15th, 2003. |
| A．The moon goes around the earth, and it can’t give out any light at all. |
| B．The moon goes around the sun, and its light is from the sun. |
| C．The sun goes around the earth, and it can give out very strong light. |
We live on the planet Earth. The earth is part of the solar (太阳的) system. The solar system is like the earth’s neighborhood. The word “solar” means “related to the sun”. The sun is at the center of the solar system. People used to think the sun moved around the earth. You can understand why. If you look into the sky, it sure looks like the sun moves!
But some early astronomers (天文学家) were against this idea. Nicolaus Copernicus was an astronomer in the 1500s. He was the first person to say that people were wrong. He believed the earth moved around the sun. In the 1600s, another astronomer named Galle o Galilei agreed. He built telescopes (望远镜) and observed the sky. He was sure that the earth moved around the sun. This caused quite a stir (骚乱)! Galileo was arrested (逮捕) .
It turns out that these early astronomers were right! The earth moves around the sun.
So do seven other major planets. These are Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, and Neptune. That makes eight major planets.
1. The earth is part of a neighborhood called the solar system.2. The sun is at the center of the solar system.
3. Not all early astronomers agreed that the sun moved around the earth.
4. Nicolaus Copernicus was the first person to build telescopes and observed the sky.
5. The passage is mainly about seven major planets in our solar system.
【推荐1】Some TV shows are really popular, including the sitcom The Big Bang Theory. If you are a fan of sitcoms, you must be familiar with the laughter in sitcoms. But do you know if the laughter is real?
One kind of laughter is called canned laughter. According to the BBC, during the 1950s, a US sound engineer(音响师) named Charley Douglass created canned laughter. He recorded(录制) different kinds of laughter, including giggles, laughing out loudly and children’s laughter. This was the early form of canned laughter.
Canned laughter helps the audience(观众) of TV shows understand when to laugh. Many popular TV dramas, like 2 Broke Girls, used canned laughter. You can also hear canned laughter in Chinese sitcoms, such as Home with Kids and IPartment.
Canned laughter was used in many sitcoms for about 10 years, until some people complained(抱怨) that it sounded too silly. They thought real laughter was more believable. Some famous sitcoms, such as Friends and The Big Bang Theory, all use real laughter.
How do they get the real laughter? The Big Bang Theory sells tickets to the audience around the world to join their live recordings. So all the laughter you hear is from the real audience.
There are also professional(专业的) “laughers”. They are good at laughing loudly. They sit with the live studio audience to get everyone else to laugh at just the right moment.
1. How many kinds of canned laughter did Charley Douglass record?| A．Two. | B．Three. | C．Four. | D．Five. |
| A．An American sound engineer created it. | B．It helps the audience laugh at the actors. |
| C．We can’t hear it in any Chinese sitcom. | D．It was still popular in the 1970s. |
| A．2 Broke Girls. | B．Home with Kids. | C．IPartment. | D．Friends. |
| A．In a magazine. | B．In a diary. | C．In a storybook. | D．In a tour guide. |
【推荐2】There is lots of junk (垃圾) in space. Some of it is from rockets. In 1996, a rocket broke into about 300,000 small pieces. So far scientists have found many man-made pieces flying around in space. Only a few of them are satellites and space probes (探测器). Astronauts also lose small things while working in space. In 1965, during the first American spacewalk, astronaut Edward H. White lost a glove. For a month, the glove stayed in space, travelling at a speed of 28,000 kilometres per hour. It became the most dangerous piece of clothing for the earth in history.
Things move very fast in space. If they hit one another it can be dangerous. A little piece of paint from a satellite once made a hole in a spacecraft window. Once American spacecraft dropped some bolts (螺栓), and scientists on the earth worried a lot. Luckily the bolts floated (漂浮) away into space. They could not hit the spacecraft.
1. Some junk in space is from ________.| A．space | B．rockets | C．scientists | D．the earth |
| A．a rocket | B．some bolts | C．a little piece of paint | D．a glove |
| A．300,000 | B．28,000 | C．10,000 | D．21,000 |
| A．great | B．safe | C．interesting | D．dangerous |
| A．a scientist | B．a bolt | C．a probe | D．a hole |
【推荐3】Exercise improves not only your appearance, but also your health. Health experts advise people to choose physical activities that they find interesting. So, what are some of the most popular forms (形式) of exercise in the USA?
Walking is on the top of the list. It is considered to be the ________ way to get exercise. You can walk at any time and any place. Walking is also said to be the least harmful to the knees and feet. So, it’s a perfect choice for the old.
Another popular form of exercise is jogging. In the 1970s, Bill Bowerman brought jogging to the USA. He did so after seeing the popularity of the activities during a trip to New Zealand in the 1960s. He started the first jogging club in America. He also helped found Nike.
Swimming is also very popular. It is one of the most popular sporting activities in America. When one is swimming, the whole body is put to work. It is said that swimming is good for people with special needs, like pregnant (怀孕的) women.
Dancing can also be a fun way to exercise. This is especially true for those who see exercise as something that they should do. A dance fitness programme called Zumba has grown in popularity in recent (最近的) years. It was created by Alberto Perez in Colombia in the 1990s. In 2001, he brought the programme to the USA. Since then, it has spread around the world.
1. Which of the following can be put in the blank of Paragraph 2?| A．easiest | B．most expensive | C．most difficult | D．coolest |
| A．swimming was not popular | B．swimming was more popular than walking |
| C．walking was the most popular form of exercise | D．it’s not good for pregnant women to go swimming |
| A．has a very long history | B．is the name of a dance club |
| C．was created in the USA | D．became popular not long ago |
| A．Walking is the most popular activity. |
| B．In 2001, Alberto Perez brought Zumba to the USA. |
| C．In the 1990s, Bill Bowerman brought jogging to the USA. |
| D．Swimming was one of the popular sporting activities in America. |
| A．The advantages of exercise. | B．Some popular forms of exercise in the USA. |
| C．The history of some forms of exercise. | D．Advice on how to choose the best form of exercise. |
The US astronaut, Charles “Chuck” Backer, in the new cartoon film Planet 51 just comes across this thing.
Planet 51 is a place where there is no human being. So Chuck arrives in the planet and wants to name it “the US”. But he suddenly finds himself surrounded by lots of little green aliens.
These aliens live in fear that they may be invaded by strange being. They have never seen an alien until Chuck arrives. They think it is terrible and they get ready to defend themselves or attack Chuck. They send him to the Planet 51 Alien Invaders Space Museum. Chuck is very scared and tries to escape. The only thing he can do is to make his spaceship work and fly back to the earth. Luckily, he makes friends with a young alien named Lem. Then the adventure begins.
Planet 51 is a science fiction movie. It tells us that whether we are on the earth or in another society with aliens, we should accept the things that are different in our lives and experience them actively. In this way, we can grow up and understand ourselves better by changing.
The film is very funny and full of happiness. Will Chuck return home? If you want to know, see it!
1. Charles “Chuck” Backer is a ___________.
| A．US astronaut | B．green alien | C．US scientist |
| A．excited | B．scared | C．sad |
| A．侵略 | B．隐藏 | C．保护 |
| A．He must make friends with aliens there. |
| B．He must make the spaceship work and return to the earth. |
| C．He must destroy the Planet 51 Alien Invaders Space Museum. |
| A．We shouldn’t explore or invade other planets. |
| B．We should learn to accept new things in order to improve ourselves. |
| C．We should experience more on the earth in order to be an astronaut. |
【推荐2】
 | The Merii on is a mythical (神话中的) animal that is half-fish and half-lion. It stands for Singapore’s identity-its body stands for the fishing villages of Singapore’s past, while its lion head is a symbol of Singapore (“lion city” in Sanskrit). It was built by craftsman Lim Nang Seng. Unveiled (揭幕) by Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew in 1972, the statue was first placed at the mouth of the Singapore River but now stands overlooking the bay at Merlion Park. |
 | Gardens by the Bay is a 100-hectare (公顷) nature park in Singapore that aims to create a “City in a Garden” and improve air quality. It attracts around 50 million visitors per year and has three man gardens: Central, East and South. The South Garden has the most attractions. Supertree Grove is one of the most famous attractions among them. There are 18 tree-like installations (装置) that reach up to 50 meters off the ground and are made out of reinforced concrete (钢 筋混凝土) and plants. The free evening light show is well worth watching. |
 | The Helix Bridge is a pedestrian (人行的) bridge in Singapore that was built in 2010. It’s the longest one there and connects Marina Center to the Bayfront. The bridge is shaped like a double helix (螺旋) DNA, which stands for “life and continuity, renewal (更新) and growth”. If you’re into science, you might notice pairs of letters “c” and “g”, as well as “a” and “t” on the bridge-these stand for the four bases of DNA. |
1. What does the fish body of the Merlion stand for?
| A．The fishing villages of Singapore’s past. |
| B．The well-developed fishing industry in Singapore. |
| C．The achievement of Prime Minister Lee Kuan Yew. |
| D．The sincere wish of a good future for the nation. |
| A．To create shade. | B．To serve evening light show. |
| C．To make the environment better. | D．To attract visitors. |
① The shape of the bridge looks like a double heli x DNA.
② The letters on the bridge stand for the bases of DNA.
③ The bridge was built to remember the finding of DNA.
④ The symbolic meaning of the bridge is similar to DNA.
| A．①②③ | B．①②④ | C．①③④ | D．②③④ |
【推荐3】What will the future houses be like? Will they have gardens on their walls? Can they control the houses’ temperature? Architects believe that there are many different possibilities. But the only thing for sure is that the houses will be as green as possible.
The Tree House: Many architects would like to build a “tree house” like a leaf. The surface of the house collects sunlight during the day. The sunlight energy can be used to heat water, drive household machines, and even provide fresh air for the home. The “root” of the house is deep under the ground. It uses the soil to control the home’s temperature.
The Lizard (蜥蜴) House: Like a lizard, changing colour with the weather is the most important design of a lizard house. When it’s in the bright sun, the cover of the house will turn white to protect it from strong heat. During cloudy days, it turns dark and takes in as much light and heat as possible to produce energy for lighting.
The Garden House: Food production will be one part of the house design. Gardens may appear on the outside walls of the house. People can plant vegetables on them. So they just need to walk outside and collect vegetables every day.
The Self-cleaning House: Things like floor, wall, and sofa in the Self-cleaning House will be cleaned or dried by themselves. People don’t need to clean them or get them dried under the sun, so that they can have more time to rest.
1. People can use the sun light energy from the Tree House to control the home’s temperature.| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
| A．Right. | B．Wrong. |
