1 . US private rocket company SpaceX has announced that two private citizens have paid to be sent around the Moon. The mission (任务) is planned for late 2018. SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said, "This presents an opportunity for humans to return to deep space for the first time in 45 years."
The two unnamed people will fly aboard a spaceship which is set for its first unmanned test flight later this year. The co-operation of America's NASA space agency had made the plan possible. Mr. Musk said, "The two passengers will travel faster and further into the solar system than any before them." Like the Apollo astronauts before them, these individuals will travel into space carrying the hopes and dreams of all humankind, driven by the universal human spirit of exploration.
"We expect to conduct health and fitness tests, as well as begin initial training later this year. The first mission would be unmanned, and the next one―with crew―was expected in the second quarter of 2018," the rich businessman and inventor said, "The first passengers are entering this with their eyes open, knowing that there is some risk here. They're certainly not childish, and we'll do everything we can to reduce that risk, but it's not zero."
The space tourists would make a circle around the Moon, scanning the lunar surface and then going well beyond. However, the mission will not involve a lunar landing. "If NASA decided to take part in a lunar fly-by mission, then the agency would have privilege," Mr. Musk said. The US has not sent astronauts to the Moon since the early 1970s.
1. Which of the following statements is true according to the text?| A．The two tourists can't afford to fly around the moon. |
| B．Space travels are rooted in the spirit of human exploration. |
| C．Initial training is expected to be conducted at the beginning of 2018. |
| D．The two tourists are expected to fly at a slow speed. |
| A．it needs co-operation with Mr. Musk |
| B．it has previous technical skills |
| C．it will be able to remove all the risks |
| D．it has to make money for research |
| A．In a textbook. | B．In a science fiction. |
| C．In a travel brochure. | D．On a news website. |
| A．T he Coming Moon Trip of Two Private Citizens |
| B．An Opportunity to Explore Space for the First Time |
| C．A Paid Trip Planned by SpaceX to 'Land on the Moon |
| D．Two Unmanned Missions of Circling around the Moon |
2 . Teaching your children healthy eating is important so they have a good relationship with food. Children who
Serve your child mainly
If you don’t
Don’t
Children learn by
| A．eat | B．waste | C．have | D．make |
| A．lower | B．better | C．higher | D．bigger |
| A．Over | B．With | C．After | D．On |
| A．Therefore | B．However | C．Formally | D．Finally |
| A．order | B．see | C．help | D．protect |
| A．unhealthy | B．simple | C．poor | D．healthy |
| A．accessible | B．ready | C．prepared | D．nearby |
| A．cook | B．reach | C．arrive | D．afford |
| A．hope | B．want | C．advise | D．promise |
| A．house | B．place | C．school | D．yard |
| A．here | B．there | C．over | D．out |
| A．immediately | B．always | C．honestly | D．rarely |
| A．quality | B．character | C．amount | D．shape |
| A．see | B．use | C．get | D．give |
| A．Providing | B．Rewarding | C．Sharing | D．Filling |
| A．only | B．also | C．even | D．ever |
| A．choose | B．buy | C．exchange | D．demand |
| A．remembering | B．delaying | C．watching | D．imagining |
| A．once | B．if | C．though | D．as |
| A．prevent | B．keep | C．avoid | D．ban |
3 . Surrounded by the sea off the coast in Mid-Norway, lies an island called Myken. This small island has about ten permanent residents, and for more than 50 years has been supplied with electricity via a 32-kilometer undersea cable (电缆). A break that appeared in the cable last autumn resulted in two months without power, so the island community started looking into a better way of sourcing their electricity.
“Myken is far out at sea, so as far as possible it should be taking care of things itself,” says Kyrre Sundseth, who is a hydrogen (氢) researcher in Norway and also the project manager for Myken’s energy project. “This is why we want Myken to become entirely self-sufficient in energy. It is also important to take the environment into consideration,” he says.
Much points to the idea that the solution may lie in a Hydrogen plant, specifically tailored for small islands. The “raw materials” for hydrogen production come from nature itself in the form of the sun and wind. Researchers have calculated that energy costs will be lower by using hydrogen production than the undersea cable option. And it is possible to store energy in the form of hydrogen for longer periods. This means that supplies will not have to rely on a lot of expensive batteries or external energy sources, even during periods when the sun isn’t shining, or the wind isn’t blowing.
The Myken project has attracted several technology companies. They are currently working on a pilot project. The pilot involves experiments on the feasibility (可行性) of the hydrogen system in which electricity is generated from solar and wind sources. The electricity can be used immediately, but during periods when all the energy generated is not required, the spare energy can be used to split seawater into hydrogen and oxygen. The hydrogen can be stored in a tank, and used later to generate electricity. The pilot will help researchers know more about how effectively the system will work in the hydrogen plant. Since the island has a distillery (酿酒厂), where the distillation (蒸馏) process relies on energy, a hydrogen plant on Myken offers an even greater environmental benefit. Spare heat from the hydrogen system can also be used for the heating part in the distillation process.
“In Norway alone there are about 300 island inhabited all year round by small populations,” says Kyrre Sundseth. “All of these islands may be candidates for using this technology. In global terms we’re talking about 10,000 similar islands.”
1. Why is a hydrogen plant suitable for Myken?| A．It is perfect in size for small islands. |
| B．It can send electricity to faraway places. |
| C．It will restore local natural environment. |
| D．It provides green and sustainable energy. |
| A．The study on the energy storage. |
| B．The test on the hydrogen system. |
| C．The experiment on the raw materials. |
| D．The research on the innovation of the pilot. |
| A．produce purified seawater |
| B．prove more technically reliable |
| C．contribute in more than one way |
| D．benefit from the distillation process |
| A．Promising. |
| B．Systematic. |
| C．Irreplaceable. |
| D．Time saving. |
4 . Captain Henry, a 98-year-old American retired fisherman, has become a first-time author, having written and published his autobiography In a Fisherman's Language after learning to read at the age of 91.
Mr.Henry spent most of his life without even his closest family members knowing he was illiterate. Forced to quit school in the third grade to take odd jobs, he kept the secret close to his chest, only telling his late wife. Henry's granddaughter, Marlisa, told reporters how he used tricks, like waiting for others to order at restaurants first, to avoid the issue.
A family argument in his 90s, she said, aroused his desire for education.“He signed a document he could not read about where he was going to live, Marlisa said. Starting with his name, he eventually moved on to the ABC's and children's books. He put them down since his wife fell ill. After the tragic loss of his wife, he went back to reading and began to log (记录) his life. He wrote about his family's voyage from Portugal to the US, how he went on to captain a boat, and his many journeys at sea.
His life stories have become so popular that nearly 800 copies were sold in the first two weeks after the book's release. One thousand more have since been printed as requests for the book flood in from as far as Germany. And now even Hollywood producers have approached Mr. Henry about buying the rights to his life story for a big screen adaptation.
The family also now has a book agent and a deal in the works to publish a second edition. Meanwhile, the family says they are reconnecting and closer than ever as a result of Henry's late-life efforts.“Everyone has a story,” Marlisa said, “It teaches that when you're down and out, never give up.”
1. When did Henry begin writing his life story?| A．When he was 91 years old. | B．After his wife passed away. |
| C．When he was 98 years old. | D．After he retired from work. |
| A．A Hollywood producer wishes to make a movie out of Henry's book. |
| B．Henry never told anyone that he couldn't read or write. |
| C．Henry began his reading with some famous novels. |
| D．Henry's book was well-received only by Americans. |
| A．The family got more money from the 2nd edition. |
| B．The family ties were rebuilt and strengthened. |
| C．His family moved from Portugal to the US. |
| D．His family story has been made into a movie. |
| A．An idle youth, a needy age. | B．Every coin has two sides. |
| C．Practice makes perfect. | D．It is never too old to learn. |
5 . Do you know how children in other countries spend their schooldays and what kind of games they always play?
Children in Brazil
| School | The school year runs from February to December. Children attend (上学) school for about four hours in the morning or the afternoon. About a quarter of children in Brazil do not attend school at all. |
| Play | Football is the most popular sport. Brazil’s beautiful beaches also make swimming and volleyball popular. |
| Family | Brazilian families are often large. Nearly a third of the population is under eighteen! |
| School | The school day begins from 8:00 am to 4:00 pm, with a two-hour lunch break. Schools close on Wednesday and Sunday, and are closed for a half day on Saturday. |
| Play | Football, bicycling and tennis are favorite sports in France. In some areas, pelote, a traditional ball game, is also very popular. |
| Family | Most French mothers work. The majority of preschool (幼儿园) children attend day care centres known as crèches. France has laws about naming children and all names have to be chosen from an official list. |
| School | Schools in Japan are very competitive (竞争的). Even pre-schoolers may attend “cramming (填鸭式教学的) schools” to prepare for exams. There is a summer break about six weeks, but the children have homework during this time. |
| Play | Comic books have been popular in Japan since the 1700s. Comics now account for about 40% of all published materials in Japan. Kite flying is enjoyed by people of every age. |
| Family | Homes in Japan are small on average. The typical family of four lives in five small rooms. Most fathers in Japan work long hours. As a result, some children only see their fathers on weekends or holidays. |
① Kite flying. ② Bicycling. ③ Football. ④ Pelote.
| A．②③④ | B．①②③ |
| C．①④ | D．①②③④ |
| A．Places with beautiful beaches. |
| B．The name of the place where French mothers work. |
| C．A day care centre for preschool children. |
| D．Cramming schools to improve children’s exam results. |
| A．like to read comic books | B．write their names on an official list |
| C．only see their fathers on weekdays | D．do not attend school |
6 . Many cities around the world today are heavily polluted. Careless methods of production and lack of consumer demand (消费者需要) for environment friendly products have contributed to the pollution problem. One result is that millions of tons of glass, paper, plastic and metal container are produced, and these are difficult to get rid of.
However, today, more and more consumers are choosing “green” and demanding that the products they buy should be safe for the environment. Before they buy a product, they ask questions like these, “Will this shampoo damage the environment?” “Can this metal container be reused or can it only be used once?”
A recent study showed that two out of five adults now consider the environment safety of a product before they buy it. This means that companies must now change the way they make and sell their products to make sure that they are “green”, that is, friendly to the environment.
Only a few years ago, it was impossible to find green products in supermarkets, but now there are hundreds. Some supermarkets’ products carry labels (标签) to show that the product is green. Some companies have made producing of clean and safe products their main selling points and emphasize (强调) it in their advertising.
The concern for a safer and cleaner environment is making companies rethink how they do business. No longer will the public accept the old attitude of “Buy it, use it, throw it away, and forget it.” The public pressure is on, and gradually business is cleaning up its act.
1. It becomes clear from the passage that the driving force (动力) behind the green products is ______.| A．public caring for the environment | B．companies’ desire for bigger sales |
| C．new ways of doing business | D．rapid growth of supermarkets |
| A．Only the productive methods are the cause of the heavy pollution. |
| B．Manufactures made their products clean with cleaners. |
| C．In fact, it is the public who made the companies produce green products. |
| D．Not all the consumers would like green products. |
| A．a selling point | B．the company name |
| C．a great demand for health foods | D．the producing of green products |
| A．Business and People | B．Business Goes Green |
| C．Shopping Habits Are Changing | D．Supermarkets and Green Products |
7 . Although onions taste delicious, watering eyes come with the process when you cut them up. Thankfully, Good Housekeeping has suggested some tips to prevent yourself from crying while trying to cut up an onion．
According to the findings from the Institute, putting onions in a fridge 30 minutes before cutting can prevent the annoying hurt, as the cold stops tear-jerking (催泪的) gas from being produced.
Another way to reduce the gas released by the onion is to put it in water for a while. Good Housekeeping recommends:“ Cut the end off the onion and then put it straight into a bowl of water. The water will draw out the acid making you tear up less when you cut it.”
When an onion grows, it mixes with sulfur (硫) in the soil to create a special mineral acid. When the onion is cut into pieces, it reacts and creates a gas. As it reaches your face, this annoying gas causes the eyes to produce tears．
The root is where the gases are most concentrated, so it is recommended that this part of the onion be left on as you cut it to avoid uncomfortable eyes. Do this by cutting the vegetable in half down the middle to create a flat surface. Then, place the onion with its flat surface down and cut it towards the root．
Also, to reduce the gas’s effect on your eyes, cut it next to a window or near a fan so the gas is blown away from your face. And take care to use a sharp knife; this will make it easier to move through the vegetable, causing fewer cells to be broken and less gas to be released as a result．
1. Refrigerating the onion before cutting can ．| A．change its taste |
| B．make it easier to cut up |
| C．avoid the appearing of the gas |
| D．help the gases mix more quickly |
| A．Some acid mineral is lost． |
| B．The tear mixture is created． |
| C．The sulfur inside it pours out． |
| D．A chemical reaction produces a gas． |
| A．Health Column． |
| B．Science Journal. |
| C．Fashion Magazine． |
| D．Food Guidebook． |
| A．advise and explain |
| B．examine and analyze(分析) |
| C．argue and discuss |
| D．present and compare |
8 . When planning a vacation，many people consider the popular tourist sites they want to visit.But that’s not what my husband and I did when we planned our vacation to Japan.We thought about the kind of farm we wanted to visit.
Ours was far from a typical(典型的)vacation.We were WWOOFing! WWOOF stands for World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms.The organization connects people interested in organic farming.Volunteers，known as WWOOFers，help their hosts with daily activities.These include everything from baking bread to picking vegetables.Hosts provide volunteers with food and provide a place for them to stay.
My husband and I certainly felt like family when our host met us at the train station.She told us to call her Okasan—Mom.Likewise，we called her husband Otosan—Dad.Okasan and Otosan own an organic vegetable farm that tries to provide the local people with fresh，healthy food.When no WWOOFers are around to help，the farm work is done only by Otosan and Okasan.As part of the family，we were able to enjoy the fruits of our labor at every meal.Eating fresh vegetables three times a day combined with six hours of farm work，certainly did our bodies good.We planted vegetables and cleared rocks from fields.We also packed the vegetables so they could be sold at the market.
Perhaps the most challenging thing we did was weeding a rice field.It was quite challenging because the leaves and roots of the weeds look very similar to the rice.It’s not until both plants are mature (成熟的) that you can clearly tell them apart—only one produces rice.
WWOOFing is unlike anything I’ve ever done before，and I can’t wait to do it again! Let’s WWOOF!
1. What do we know about WWOOF?| A．It belongs to a Japanese farm. |
| B．It helps the poor do farm work. |
| C．It provides tourists with hotels. |
| D．It is an organization connected with farming. |
| A．It benefits both the locals and WWOOFers. |
| B．It attracts many visitors every day. |
| C．It provides free food for the locals. |
| D．It is supported by the government. |
| A．The method of producing rice. |
| B．The hard time of the farm family. |
| C．The difficulties in weeding a rice field. |
| D．The most challenging thing for WWOOF. |
| A．satisfying | B．worrying |
| C．boring | D．tiring |
9 . When people think of working animals，what often comes to mind are dogs that watch sheep，horses that work on farms and animals that perform in movies.But there are lots of other jobs animals have had over the years.
Dogs have greater sense of smell than humans.This made dogs the traditional hunting partners，making their owners able to follow foxes and other animals.Police departments have taken advantage of this skill to help find missing people and escaped criminals.Recently，dogs have been trained to find drugs and explosives (爆炸物).
The honey－guide lives in the southeast African nation of Mozambique.It has developed a win－win relationship with a group called the Yao.If a Yao member makes a certain sound，the honey－guide will fly from tree to tree directing him to a hidden bee box.Once the box is discovered，the person breaks open the box for honey，and the honey－guide could enjoy the honey，too.
Ferrets (雪貂) are cute and furry animals that are from 1.5 to 4 pounds.People have taken advantage of a ferret’s natural ability to run through tiny space.Ferrets wear a special harness(甲胄) that makes them able to pull a string through hundreds of feet of tiny space，which is then used to pull computer wires through tiny space.
Baby flies are called maggots.The job of a maggot is to eat and grow until it turns into a fly.This is similar to how a caterpillar eats and grows until it becomes a butterfly.However，there is a big difference between these insects.Caterpillars feed on plants，while maggots eat meat.Actually，they only enjoy bad meat.Maggots are used with patients who get serious infections that can’t be treated with antibiotics (抗生素).The maggots are used to the infected area for a number of days.They eat the dead part but leave the living part alone，thereby helping patients recover from the infection.
1. From the passage，we can learn that dogs ________.| A．are the friendly friends of sheep |
| B．have developed a win－win relationship with people |
| C．have greater sense of smell than foxes and other animals |
| D．help human beings a lot in many areas |
| A．find the hidden bee box |
| B．develop a great relationship with bees |
| C．pay attention to dangerous things |
| D．stay away from criminals |
| A．The honey－guide can be used as medicine. |
| B．People can learn much from dogs and horses. |
| C．Ferrets are good at running through tiny space. |
| D．The baby fly is always called the caterpillar. |
| A．burns caused by explosives |
| B．terrible cancers |
| C．harm caused by bees |
| D．serious infections |
10 . It’s a popular belief that a fish’s memory lasts for only seven seconds. It may seem sad to think that they don’t remember what they’ve eaten or where they’ve been, and they don’t identify you or any of their friends -- every moment in their life would be like seeing the world for the first time.
But don’t be so quick to feel sorry for them. A new study has found that fish have a much better memory than we used to think. In fact, certain species of fish can even remember events from as long as 12 days ago. In the study, researchers from Mac Ewan University in Canada trained a kind of fish called African cichlids to go to a certain area of their tank to get food. They then waited for 12 days before putting them back in the tank again. Researchers used computer software to monitor the fish’s movements. They found that after such a long break the fish still went to the same place where they first got food. This suggested that they could remember their past experiences.
In fact, scientists had been thinking for a long time that African cichlids might have a good memory. An earlier study showed that they behaved aggressively（挑衅地）in front of certain fish, perhaps because they remembered their past “fights”. But until the latest findings, there was no clear evidence.
Just as a good memory can make our lives easier, it also plays an important part when a fish is trying to survive in the wild. “If fish are able to remember that a certain area contains safe food, they will be able to go back to that area without putting their lives at risks,” lead researcher Trevor Hamilton told Live Science.
For a long time, fish were placed far below chimpanzees, dolphins and mice on the list of smart animals. But this study has given scientists a new understanding of their intelligence.
1. According to the article, people commonly believe that _______.| A．fish can only remember part of their past experiences |
| B．fish can remember things that happened long time ago |
| C．a fish’s memory lasts for only seven minutes |
| D．fish don’t recognize any of their friends |
| A．where to get food and survive |
| B．their enemies and fight |
| C．where to escape to when in danger |
| D．their friends and help each other |
| A．African cichlids always treat other fish aggressively. |
| B．African cichlids can remember things for 12 days. |
| C．African cichlids don’t belong to the list of smart animals. |
| D．Only African cichlids have a good memory. |
| A．Fish having very bad memories. |
| B．Fish being smarter than we thought. |
| C．How fish improve their memory. |
| D．What we can learn from fish. |
