1 . Robert Ballard was born in 1942. From an early age, he loved the sea. Baliard grew up in Southern California. He spent his free time at the beach near his home. He enjoyed fishing and swimming. He even learned to dive.
When Ballard wasn't at the ocean, he loved reading about it. At age 10, he read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, a book which describes the undersea adventures of Captain Nemo. Ballard decided he wanted to be like Captain Nemo when he grew up. His parents helped him follow his dream.
Ballard was a hardworking student. He spent many years learning all he could about the ocean. By the age of 28, he was an expert. In 1970, he took a job as a scientist at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute in Massachusetts. There he studied underwater mountains of the Atlantic Ocean. He came up with ways to predict volcanoes under the oceans. Working with other scientists, Ballard also found previously unknown sea animals. These animals lived far below the ocean's surface, where scientists had believed no animals could live.
By the 1980s, Ballard's interests changed. He developed unmanned vehicles to explore the ocean bottom. His first find, the wellknown ship Titanic, made Ballard famous. He was not happy with just one big find, however. He looked for—and found—other wellknown ships. One was the German battleship Bismarck. Another was the U. S.S. Yorktown, an aircraft carrier that sank during World War Ⅱ.
Today Robert Ballard is still an underwater explorer. He also heads an organization that encourages students to learn about science. Ballard hopes that some of the students will follow in his footsteps. After all, the world's huge oceans are mostly unknown. Who knows what remains to be discovered under the sea?
1. When Ballard worked at Woods Hole Oceanographic Institute, he ________.| A．explored the undersea world by ship |
| B．thought of ideas to predict underwater volcanoes |
| C．found some unknown sea animals alone |
| D．set up an organization to teach students science |
a. He found the German battleship Bismarck.
b. He read a book about Captain Nemo.
c. He found the famous ship Titanic.
d. He became an expert in science.
| A．b—c—d—a | B．d—b—c—a |
| C．d—c—a—b | D．b—d—c—a |
| A．Ballard was greatly influenced by 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea. |
| B．Ballard didn't like fishing and swimming in his childhood. |
| C．Ballard's parents felt disappointed at his undersea adventures. |
| D．Human beings have explored more than half of the sea. |
2 . It was my mother who first thought of sending me to school．Of course I was of the school going age．When my mother expressed it，I thought that she was a heartless woman．
My mind was disturbed at first．Although I had heard about school，I had not visited it earlier．My father took me to school which was an unknown place for me．Teachers and students were strangers to me．It was a big building with a wide yard．As a small child I could not feel frightened at the sight of the building．The atmosphere of the school was calm and quiet．I was not used to such atmosphere earlier．
It was an old and famous school in our district．My father was student there in his childhood and youth．The headmaster was well known to my father and greeted him with a smile．My father introduced me to the headmaster and requested him to admit me to the school．Then I was enrolled as a student．My father left me in the classroom and went away．I was about to cry．
However，the kind behavior of the headmaster and the class teacher calmed me．The class teacher asked my name and where I lived．He patted me on the back．I replied some of his questions quickly．He became pleased．Other students looked at me curiously．At first，I was not able to understand why there were so many teachers．The bell rang．The class teacher left our class and another teacher came．Then the bell rang again．
1. It can be inferred form the second and third paragraphs that ．| A．I hated the atmosphere of school at first |
| B．I had known nothing about school earlier |
| C．Teacher and students were strangers to me |
| D．I thought my father was as heartless as my mother |
| A．He was famous all over the city． |
| B．He was my father's class teacher． |
| C．He left my father in the classroom． |
| D．My father had known him well． |
| A．Another class began |
| B．A hard maths class began |
| C．Stories about my best friend |
| D．The memory of a pleasant sports game |
| A．My new teachers |
| B．My first day at school |
| C．My terrible childhood |
| D．The first school I studied in |
3 . Welcome to your future life!
You get up in the morning and look into the mirror. Your face is firm and younglooking. In 2035, medical technology is better than ever. Many people at your age could live to 150, so at 40, you're not old at all. And your parents just had an antiaging (抗衰老的) treatment. Now, all three of you look the same age!
You say to your shirt, "Turn red." It changes from blue to red. In 2035, "smart clothes" contain particles (粒子) much smaller than the cells in your body. The particles can be programmed (编程) to change your clothes' color or pattern.
You walk into the kitchen. You pick up the milk, but a voice says, "You shouldn't drink that!" Your fridge has read the chip (芯片) that contains information about the milk, and it knows the milk is old. In 2035, every article of food in the grocery store has such a chip.
It's time to go to work. In 2035, cars drive themselves. Just tell your "smart car" where to go. On the way, you can call a friend using your jacket sleeve. Such “smart technology" is all around you.
So will all these things come true? "For new technology to succeed," says scientist Andrew Zolli, "It has to be so much better that it replaces what we have already." The Internet is one example—what will be the next?
1. We can learn from the text that in the future .| A．people will never get old | B．everyone will look the same |
| C．red will be the most popular color | D．clothes will be able to change their pattern |
| A．Milk will be harmful to health. |
| B．More drinks will be available for sale. |
| C．Food in the grocery store will carry electronic information. |
| D．Milk in the grocery store will stay fresh much longer. |
| A．Food and clothing in 2035. | B．Future technology in everyday life. |
| C．Medical treatments of the future. | D．The reason for the success of new technology. |
4 . Living with your parents has its advantages… at least when it comes to raising your kids—their grandkids. Because two new studies add to the evidence that grandmothers can improve the survival of grandchildren. That is, unless Grandma’s too old or lives too far away.
Humans are unusual in that women live long past the age at which they stop having babies. “We don’t really see that in nature. Most of the organisms (生物) will reproduce up to their very last moment,” says Patrick Bergeron, a teacher at Bishop’s University in Quebec. This increase in post-reproductive longevity (寿命) is often explained by the so-called “grandmother effect (效应)”.
To explore the “grandmother effect”, Bergeron and his researchers examined nearly 200 years’ worth of French-Canadian population records from the 17th and 18th centuries. At the time, life was hard. In some years, a third of the kids were not even making it to one year of age. But the researchers found that having a grandmother still alive was an advantage. Families with grandmothers alive were larger by about two and the survival of these grandchildren to age 15 was much improved.
This good effect was only seen when the grandmothers lived nearby, which suggests that grandmothers help by playing an active role in their grandchildren’s lives.
Unluckily, that role is harder for them to achieve as they get older, which brings us to the second study. Researchers at the University of Turku in Finland used church records from the 18th and 19th centuries. They found that the advantages connected with having a grandmother on hand depended on her age. Once grandmothers hit 75, the grandchild survival advantages disappeared. In other words, it was better for grandchildren to have no living grandmother at all than it was to live with an old one or one that was in poor health. So a healthy grandma helps make for a healthy grandchild
1. What’s “grandmother effect”?| A．Having a grandmother alive is an advantage. |
| B．Grandmothers are helpful to their children whatever their age. |
| C．Grandmothers are helpful for the survival of their grandchildren. |
| D．Healthy grandmothers living nearby are good for grandchildren’s health. |
| A．Researchers used French-Canadian population records. |
| B．Researchers used church records from the 17th and 18th centuries. |
| C．It was done by researchers from the University of Turku in Finland. |
| D．It found that it was good for grandchildren to have no living grandmother. |
| A．A science report. | B．A diary |
| C．A storybook. | D．A textbook. |
5 . Can you be too beautiful? It is hardly a problem that most of us have to bother — as much as we might like to dream that it were the case.
Yet the blessings and curses of beauty have been a long-standing interest in psychology. Do those blessed with shiny faces and an attractive body live in a cloud of appreciation — or does it sometimes pay to be ordinary? At the most basic level, beauty might be thought to carry a kind of halo (光环) around it; we see that someone has one good quality, and by association, our deep mind may assume that they have other good ones too.
But if beauty pays in most circumstances, there are still situations where it can have opposite results. While attractive men may be considered better leaders, for instance, hidden sexist prejudices (偏见) can work against attractive women, making them less likely to be hired for high-level jobs that require power. And as you might expect, good-looking people of both sexes run into envy — one study found that if you are interviewed by someone of the same sex, they may be less likely to employ you if they judge that you are more attractive than they are.
More worryingly, being beautiful or handsome could harm your medical care. We tend to link good looks to health, meaning that illnesses are often taken less seriously when they affect the good-looking. When treating people for pain, for instance, doctors tend to take less care over the more attractive people.
To conclude, scientists point out that focusing too much on your appearance can itself be harmful if it creates stress and anxiety — even for those already blessed with good looks. “If you are crazy about attractiveness, it may affect your experience and interactions,” she says. It’s an outdated saying, but no amount of beauty can make up for a bad personality. As the writer Dorothy Parker put it so elegantly: “Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.”
1. From paragraph 1, we can learn that .| A．some may be bothered by their unattractive appearance |
| B．most people are not afraid of being too beautiful |
| C．we might always dream about being bothered by others |
| D．being too beautiful can be a problem bothering everyone |
| A．Doctors care more about beautiful patients. |
| B．Beautiful people tend to have a healthy body. |
| C．Attractive women and men have equal chance of leadership. |
| D．Focusing too much on your appearance can be harmful. |
| A．The more beautiful outside, the less beautiful inside. |
| B．Beauty can help make a better personality. |
| C．Beauty cannot make up for bad personalities. |
| D．Ugly people have more confidence in their personality. |
| A．What is Real Beauty? | B．The Bad Effects of Beauty |
| C．Benefits of Beauty | D．Beauty, a Blessing? |
6 . Summer is the most popular season to visit Texas since there is so much to see and to do. While visiting the Lone Star State this summer, don’t miss visiting some of these attractions and taking part in some of Texas’ best summer vacation activities.
Visit SeaWorld
There are sea life shows，adventure camps，thrilling rides and a water park. A great many activities are waiting for you at SeaWorld.
Windsurf at South Padre
With miles of shallow (浅的)，calm water in the Lower Laguna Madre and strong winds conning off the Gulf of Mexico，South Padre Island is a windsurfer’s dream.
Swim at Barton Springs
Barton Springs is in the famous Zilker Park. It was formed when Barton Greek was built. Since its opening, Barton Springs has become one of the most popular swimming pools in the state.
Take part in an outdoor adventure
In the scenic Texas Hill Country, Lake Buchanan Adventures offers different kinds of activities, including boating, hiking, camping and more.
Camp and hike in Big Bend Park
Big Bend offers a great number of outdoor activities in an old way. Backpacking, mountain biking, fishing, boating, hiking, nature watching and camping - you name it. If it can be done outdoors, it can be done in Big Bend.
Enjoy saltwater fishing
Saltwater fishing in Texas is as good as anywhere else in the USA. More and more fishermen have been discovering this in recent years and packing their bags and rods (鱼竿)to make good use of Texas, world - class saltwater fishery.
1. The underlined phrase “the Lone Star State” in Paragraph 1 is another name for .| A．Texas | B．San Antonio | C．South Padre | D．Gulf of Mexico |
| A．sea life shows | B．adventure camps |
| C．climbing | D．exciting rides |
| A．San Antonio. | B．South Padre. |
| C．Barton Springs. | D．Texas Hill Country. |
7 . Like Indiana Jones (a fictional character), who undertakes daring adventures in his spare time, my father is a businessman by day and a thrill-seeker by night.
His enthusiasm rubbed off on me, and I have been lucky to be his companion on many adventures. We started out by riding America’s fastest, most twisted roller coasters. After that a whitewater rafting trip through the Grand Canyon（峡谷）on the Colorado River started our search for other extreme thrills across the globe.
Amazing thrills awaited us at every corner of the world. Skydiving was especially thrilling when performed from a helicopter over the breathtaking Swiss Alps. We have bungee jumped from the world’s highest platform, Bloukrans Bridge in South Africa. Most recently, in Interlaken, Switzerland, we attempted canyoning（溪降运动）.
Anyone who loves a challenging thrill should try canyoning. Our adventure began with a 90-foot rope down a canyon wall into a rushing ice-cold river. Then we crossed the bone-chilling water toward the mouth of the river, our final destination, where the reward for the journey would be a whole view of the beautiful Interlaken basin. We slid over slippery rocks at one moment, jumped from waterfalls and swam through underwater tunnels the next. Back and forth we alternated, climbing rope ladders before going back into the fresh mountain water. Certainly, danger was waiting for us in each of these activities, but that very danger provided the rush. Canyoning was indeed one thrill after another, from beginning to end.
While canyoning is possible only in certain places, thrills and adventure can be found anywhere. Our beginnings in the U.S. showed us just that. We continue to seek the big thrills, but in doing so, we have learned to seek lesser excitement in daily life as well. After all, we can’t go canyoning every day, and small thrills are better than none for us thrill-seekers.
1. What do we know about the author’s father?| A．He is a very successful businessman. |
| B．He is doing a part-time job. |
| C．He likes Indiana Jones very much. |
| D．He enjoys experiencing adventures. |
| A．relate to | B．keep off |
| C．affect | D．confuse |
| A．Jumped down from waterfalls and swam across the icy water. |
| B．Jumped down a canyon river and crossed it. |
| C．Climbed over a rope ladder and swam through underwater tunnels. |
| D．Climbed down a canyon wall and swam across the rushing icy river. |
| A．Small thrills in daily life are worth a try as well. |
| B．We had better go abroad to experience canyoning. |
| C．Canyoning is not suitable for everyone. |
| D．America is the most proper place to experience adventures. |
8 . I was 16 when my father finally decided he would send me to wilderness camp for several months. He had threatened to do it many times before, but my mother had always managed to prevent him from doing so. This time he insisted on doing it.
The latest incident was the last straw. Impulsively （(冲动地）,I had pushed Mr. Ford, my math teacher, down a flight of steps at school. He broke his arm in two places. Anyway , he had agreed not to accuse me as a favor to my dad, who was in the middle of a tight race for sheriff （执法官）in our town. But my reckless behavior had my dad's closest advisor talking." John? he's your son and he's a kid, but he is dragging you down." his advisor said. "If you can't make your son obey the rules, how can you make the law obeyed in this town?"
So, off to Pisgah National Forest I went. I imagined hours of untold abuse at the hands of some strong officer. I was determined not to be broken. I was who I was.
Nearly every day for six months, a small group of other troubled teens and I carried our 30-pound backpacks on a difficult journey covering about 10 miles.
Our sergeants were firm but kind 9 not frightening as I had imagined. We learned how to make a fire without matches. We learned which plants were safe to eat out in the wild. I felt myself change. I was calm and often reflective. My old, impulsive self was gone.
One morning, six months later, my dad came to pick me up. I ran to hug him and saw happiness and love in his eyes.
"So what's it like being sheriff?" I asked on the ride home.
"I lost the race, Danny,” he said.
"I'm sorry, Dad.” I knew my behavior probably had a lot to do with the defeat.
Dad squeezed my shoulder and brought me close. “As long as I don't ever lose you, I'm okay. ”
1. The author was finally sent to wilderness because .| A．he could learn how to survive in the wild |
| B．his teacher insisted on giving him a lesson |
| C．he pushed his math teacher down the stairs |
| D．his mother feared that he would be accused |
| A．proud | B．rude |
| C．careless | D．reasonable |
| A．He changed a lot after the camp. |
| B．He was not satisfied with his life in the camp. |
| C．He was abused by the officer. |
| D．He made enemies with other troubled teens at the camp. |
| A．Anxious. | B．Astonished. |
| C．Disappointed. | D．Relieved. |
9 . An unusual trip to Hawaii brought two strangers closer and closer and their story deserves a wide spread.
As her plane sliced through the sky above the ocean, there came a sudden thunderstorm. Five minutes later, Uemoto and her copilot McMahon heard a strange sound. Then, without warning, they lost power to both of the engines. It took them a moment to process the fact that they might crash. The pilots powered through the items on the emergency checklist. Nothing worked. As the plane was falling, they jumped into the ocean.
By ten that night, their bodies began trembling uncontrollably in the cool night air. Something must be done to pull them through. Swimming on her stomach, Uemoto had McMahon wrap his arms around her knees so he could rest his head on the back of her legs. To be with someone else and to feel another person's comforting presence in the darkness somehow made the suffering bearable.
When the sun rose the next morning, they caught sight of the island of Hawaii, the destination they had dared dream! Suddenly, Uemoto saw a shark, which made her breath catch in her throat. "What do we do? What do we do?" Uemoto asked, panicked. "Just keep looking forward! If it comes close, I'll kick it in the eye!" said McMahon evenly. Unexpectedly, the shark circled them for about 30 minutes. Then, as quietly as it had appeared, it swam off. Uemoto and McMahon breathed a sigh of relief.
After struggling in the water for over 20 hours, there came a US Navy helicopter. It flew overhead and next banked towards them. Uemoto and McMahon burst into tears. Alone, either of them would have died. But together, they made it.
1. What caused the plane to crash?| A．A sudden thunderstorm hit the plane. |
| B．The engines of the plane broke down. |
| C．The pilots operated the plane improperly. |
| D．The emergency list failed to help the pilots. |
| A．He calmed his partner down. |
| B．He kicked the shark in the eye. |
| C．He was scared to death at the shark. |
| D．He managed to drive the shark away. |
| A．Ambitious and humorous. | B．Clear-headed and generous. |
| C．Demanding and appealing. | D．Strong-willed and considerate. |
| A．A Race against Death |
| B．A Test of Friendship |
| C．A Wonder Made by Joined Hands |
| D．A Struggle Fought in the Darkness |
10 . Sweetest Day is always the third Saturday in October. This holiday is much more important in some regions than in others (Detroit, Cleveland and Buffalo being the biggest Sweetest Day cities). It is a holiday that is gaining in popularity every year throughout the country.
Sweetest Day is celebrated on the third Saturday in October as a day to make someone happy. It is an occasion which offers all of us an opportunity to remember not only the sick, aged, and orphaned, but also friends, relatives and associates whose helpfulness and kindness we have enjoyed.
Over 60 years ago, a Cleveland man, believing that the city’s orphans and shut-ins (卧病在床的人) too often felt forgotten and neglected, formed the idea of showing them that they were remembered. He did this through the distribution(分发) of small gifts. With the help of his friends and neighbors, he distributed these small remembrances on a Saturday in October. During the years that followed, other Clevelanders began to participate in the celebration ceremony, which came to be called “Sweetest Day”. In time, the Sweetest Day idea of spreading cheer to the underprivileged(弱势群体)was broadened to include everyone, and became an occasion for remembering others with a kind act or a small remembrance. And soon the idea spread to other cities all over the country.
Sweetest Day is not based on any single group’s religious belief or on a family relationship. It is a reminder that a thoughtful word or deed enriches life and gives it meaning. Because for many people remembering takes the form of gift-giving, Sweetest Day offers us the opportunity to show others that we care, in a practical way.
1. Which of the following is TRUE according to the first paragraph?| A．More and more people are now celebrating Sweetest Day in the whole country. |
| B．Sweetest Day is a holiday which always falls on the Saturday in October. |
| C．Sweetest Day is much more important in big cities than in small cities. |
| D．Only a few religious have the tradition to celebrate the holiday. |
| A．the city’s orphans and shut-ins | B．a city named Cleveland 60 years ago |
| C．a man who cared orphans and shut-ins | D．a man’ s friends, relatives and associates |
| A．a kind act | B．a family party | C．gift-giving | D．a small remembrance |
| A．it is the people in Cleveland who spread Sweetest Day to other cities |
| B．only with the help of the man’s friends and neighbors, he got a small remembrance |
| C．over 60 years ago, a man too often felt forgotten and neglected |
| D．all people loved to be remembered by others on Sweetest Day in Cleveland |
