Microwaves may be great at warming up food, but what about warming people?
Using microwaves to directly heat owners of a room would save much of the energy wasted by heating walls and furniture. And despite popular ideas about microwaves, this technique would be safe, according to Charles R. Buffler of the Microwave Research Center in Marlborough, New Hampshire. Low-power microwaves only penetrate (貫穿) the skin (low-power microwave penetration in a ham is about 0.2 inches, for example) and with no negative effects.
To test this idea, Buffler subjected himself to microwaves in a special room using a standard 500-watt, 2459 MHz magnetron (磁控管). He found that a person will start to feel warmth at about 20 milliwatts per square centimeter (mw. /sq.cm.); a satisfactory feeling of warmth occurs between 35 and 50 mw./sq.cm. By comparison, a person standing in noonday summer sun feels the amount of 85 mw./sq.cm. And a frozen meat pie in your microwave oven receives about 1000 mw./sq. cm.
In houses of the future, each room could be provided with its own magnetron, says Buffler. When you stepped into the living room, for example, a motion detector would turn on the magnetron, filling the room with low-power microwaves. In the same way that a microwaves oven heats up a hamburger, but not the plate it’s on, you would feel warmth from the microwaves without changing the temperature of your coffee table. (You could, however, make your favorite easy chair even more comfortable by treating it with a radiation-absorbing chemical.)
While it might be some time before homeowners are comfortable enough with the idea to set up whole body microwave heaters in houses, Buffler says microwaves may attract livestock farmers. Lambs that are born outdoors in winter, for example, are frequently lost to cold. Microwaves could warm the lambs safely and quickly.
小題1: Which of the following can tell the main idea of the passage?

A．A new heating system.	B．A new microwave oven.
C．A popular technique.	D．The magnetron.

小題2: The test conducted by Buffler shows that when a person feels comfortable warmth, he receives about ____.

A．20 mw. / sq. cm.	B．40 mw. / sq. cm.
C．60 mw. / sq. cm.	D．85 mw. / sq. cm.

小題3: According to paragraph 4, which of the following fills the room with low-power microwaves?

A．The magnetron.	B．The motion detector.
C．The microwave oven.	D．The radiation-absorbing chemical.

小題4: Which of the following statements about microwave heaters would Buffler most probably agree with?

A．Microwave heaters will soon be widely used by homeowners.

B．Microwave heaters sometimes make people feel uncomfortable.

C．Microwave heaters will be probably first used by livestock farmers to protect their lambs in winter.

D．Microwave heaters cannot be accepted by the public because they are somewhat unsafe.

完形填空（共20小題；每小題1.5分，滿分30分）
Some people who find themselves unable to solve a problem react by just giving up. But it is not good to  36  problems by giving up or make excuses for  37 . You may be sure that all young people  38  the same difficult process that you are going through: meeting new situations, developing new skills, and testing their abilities.
If you are unhappy about something, face it. Try to  39  the problem in a few words, so that you will know exactly what you are  40 . Then see if you can “put you finger” on the  41   of your unhappiness.
In many cases, we only “think” there is no  42  to a particular problem. But often we can  43  the problem and achieve the goal by making a direct  44 .
For example, a boy wanted to be a debater(辯論家). When he tried for the debating team as a  45  , the coach thought he was  46 . He was shy; he had a high-pitched voice and his posture(姿態(tài)) was poor. Although he was given little hope of success, he took  47  of every   48  to debate. He studied from successful speakers and  49  his own weakness and assets. Then he  50  many hours learning all the facts on the topics for the debate, and worked at developing good posture and at speaking clearly. In his junior year, he made the school  51   team, and in his senior year, he was on the winning team in his state. He  52  his goal because he had made a direct attack on his problem.
 53  direct attack is often the best way to face problems, we have to be  54  in judging situations and sometimes it is necessary to  55  the goal. So it is important to study the situation and make a wise decision about what to do.

小題1:	A．escape B．notice C．clear up D．dismiss

小題2:	A．success B．failure C．change D．himself

小題3:	A．go through B．experienced C．escape from D．give up

小題4:	A．say B．state C．find D．solve

小題5:	A．dealt with B．up to C．escaping D．up against

小題6:	A．cause B．purpose C．point D．statement

小題7:	A．way B．solution C．method D．hope

小題8:	A．give up B．think of C．consider D．overcome

小題9:	A．a(chǎn)ttack B．method C．change D．catch

小題10:

A．director B．instructor C．a(chǎn)dviser D．freshman (新人)

小題11:

A．hopeful B．great C．hopeless D．grateful

小題12:

A．use B．a(chǎn)dvantage C．value D．effect

小題13:

A．minute B．opportunity C．effort D．other

小題14:

A．sized up B．thought up C．made up D．gave in

小題15:

A．cost B．found C．spent D．wasted

小題16:

A．speaking B．successful C．debating D．member

小題17:

A．gave up B．escaped C．caught D．a(chǎn)chieved

小題18:

A．Although B．Since C．Because D．However

小題19:

A．false B．realistic C．hopeful D．valuable

小題20:

A．give up B．change C．a(chǎn)ttack D．strike

Detectives often look for footprints when they try to solve crimes. Scientists use footprints, too—dinosaur footprints when they try to figure out how dinosaurs lived and moved.
Dinosaurs died out about 65 million years ago. Today scientists work to solve the mysteries of these ancient animals.
Footprints, or tracks(腳印), are an important way to learn about dinosaurs. Christian Meyer of the Natural History Museum in Basel, Switzerland, calls dinosaur tracks “the closest thing to a movie” of dinosaurs.
“They tell us something about the size of the animal, the way they were walking…they tell us something about their speed,” Meyer said.
Tracks also show that dinosaurs sometimes traveled in groups. Traveling in groups probably helped dinosaurs protect themselves from enemies. Plus, some meat-eating dinosaurs may have hunted in groups, much like wolves do today. Being in a group could help dinosaurs work together to kill large animals.
Dinosaur footprints can be as small as a few inches across, but they can also be as big as a few feet across. Dinosaur footprints have been found throughout the world at over 1,500 sites, including a T. Rex footprint in New Mexico. “Trackways” are groups of footprints.
And scientists aren’t the only ones finding dinosaur tracks—kids can, too! Eleven-year-old Mark Turner and nine-year-old Daniel Helm discovered dinosaur tracks in British Columbia, anada. Soon scientists began studying the tracks.
Scientists and other people interested in studying dinosaurs are working to save the trackways from activities like construction and mining.
小題1:The passage mainly tells us that_______.
A. there were really dinosaurs on the earth millions of years ago
B. dinosaurs were the most frightening animals in the past
C. dinosaur footprints are important in learning about dinosaurs
C. why dinosaurs died out millions of years ago
小題2:By studying footprints scientists can know the following EXCEPT _______.

A．how big the dinosaur was	B．what color the dinosaur was
C．how fast the dinosaur could run	D．how the dinosaur walked

小題3: By working in groups, some meat-eating dinosaurs_______.

A．made the hunting of large animals easily

B．could travel a long way without being lost

C．could protect themselves from being hunted by wolves

D．could get to a place faster

小題4: From the last paragraph we can infer that some human activities like mining_______.

A．a(chǎn)re helpful to the study of dinosaurs

B．can help scientists solve many mysteries

C．can lead to the discovery of the footprints

D．can destroy the footprints of the dinosaur

You are walking down the street, minding your own business when you see a snowball. No big deal, right? Except the snowball is as tall as you are. And weighs about a ton. Did we mention that it is June?
That’s the experience thousand of Londoners had when they crossed paths with “ Snowball in Summer,” Goldsworthy makes sculpture （雕塑）from all sorts of things he finds outside – leaves, earth, and rocks, as well as ice and snow. He wanted to find out how busy people would react to an unexpected snowball melting in their midst.
During the winter of 2008, he rolled 13 giant snowballs near his home in Scotland. He filled each one with a surprise in the center – such as berries, feathers, little stones or sheep’s wool – which would appear as the snow melted. The finished snowballs were stored in a deep freeze until summer, then transported to London in refrigerated trucks. At midnight on June 21, 2008, while the city slept, Goldsworthy and his helpers rolled their snowballs into place.
People walking to work or school must have thought the sky was falling when they stumbled across snowballs the size of baby elephants. Some of them had never even seen snow in real life, and they couldn’t help touching them in great surprise. As the snow started to melt, things got even more interesting. The perfectly round snowballs took on different shapes as the stuff inside began to poke through. Two days later, most of Goldsworthy’s snowballs were gone, and their fillings scattered. But Londoners were left with a really good story about that odd summer day when the snowball came.
小題1:What is really special about the snowballs is that ______________________.

A．they lie in the street

B．they are in the shape of baby elephants.

C．they have berries, feathers, little stones and feathers in them.

D．they appear in June.

小題2: What was the purpose of Goldsworthy in making the snowballs?

A．To find out people’s reactions to them

B．To call up people’s memory of the cold winter.

C．To show off his skills in sculpture.

D．To let people experience the cold winter.

小題3: Why did Goldsworthy and his helpers roll their snowballs into place at mid-night?
A. They didn’t want to disturb other people.
B. It was quite at that time.
C. They wanted to avoid the traffic jam.
D, They wanted to give people a surprise.

The holiday's upon us. Finally, after months of study, you have some time to yourself. so, why not read a book? Well, some people will say, "Why bother with books? We have the Internet and other media that offer a lot more colorful entertainment. Books are history!" But don't be fooled. There's still a lot to be said for reading.
One clear reason is that a well-chosen book is a wonderful source of vocabulary, so long as you have a good dictionary, of course. Believe me, it's far easier to get new English words and phrases from a book or article than it is from the TV or the Internet.
But an even more important point is that books give you something that modern media simply can not. The average webpage is picture-heavy and the text is often designed to make it as easy to read as possible. While "easy" may be attractive, unfortunately it's little use for many long-term development of reading skills and the general language level. For that, there's still no substitute (替代品）of a book.
But perhaps the best single reason is that simply choosing what you read and doing it independently means that it's something you do by yourself. You can choose what you want to read. It's hard work, but something down the line, you will find that what once seemed like a duty is now a pleasure. We asked three bookworms -- an English teacher, a book editor and a film critic - to pick some favorite reads for you.
小題1: How many reasons for reading a book does the author mention in the passage?

A．One

B．Two

C．Three

D．Four

小題2: According to this passage, we basically need a ______ in reading.

A．computer

B．dictionary

C．notebook

D．pencil

小題3:In the author's opinion, reading on the Internet may ________

A．develop long-term reading skills	B．improve the general language ability
C．not take the place of reading books	D．be an effective way of reading

小題4: The passage is written mainly to ____________.

A．share the pleasure of reading books	B．a(chǎn)dvise readers to read books
C．stress the importance of reading online.	D．help readers to choose good books.

How the Americans view love
An old song says that " love makes the world go around" If you watch Americans on Valentine's Day, you can believe it. The whole country breaks out with little red hearts. Lovestruck people give cards, flowers and candy to their sweethearts.
The American concept of love and romance begins with dating. Young people date in several ways. At first they might have group dates with several boys and girls together. Later, they start going on single date - just one boy and one girl.
When two couples go out together, it's called double dating. A friend might even arrange a blind date for you with someone you don't know who your partner will be until the time of the date.
American young people see a date as a time just to have fun. They don't always have a romantic interest in mind. Someone may go out with one person this week, and another the next. After a while, a boy and a girl may decide they want to go steady. This means they think of each other as boyfriend and girlfriend. It also means they don't want to date anyone else. Romance is beginning to bloom.
Romance love is very much a part of American culture. Movies, TV shows and books in America all picture people falling in love. Actually, people all over the world search for happiness in a loving relationship. Maybe love does make the world go around.
小題1: How do you understand the understand sentence in the first paragraph?

A．Many young people's hearts break in America that day.

B．You can see many pictures of little red hearts all over America that day.

C．People all over the world show their hearts to each other that day.

D．people go out with their warm hearts that day

小題2:How many kinds of dates are mentioned in the passage?

A．2

B．3

C．4

D．5

小題3:What does blind date mean?

A．You can not see who is your partner during the date.

B．The partner of your date is a stranger.

C．Your date is arranged secretly.

D．You will not know your partner until the date begins.

小題4: Which of the following statement is true about American's view of romantic?

A．Romance love is the most important thing in the world

B．People all over the world search for romance love

C．Date is one thing, romantic is another.

D．They can find their ideal love in movies, TV shows and books

What do you want to be when you grow up? A teacher? A doctor? How about an ice-cream taster? Yes, there really is a job where you can get paid to taste ice-cream. Just ask John Harrison, an “Official Taste Tester” for the past 21 years. Testing helps manufacturers to be sure of a product’s quality. During his career Harrison has been responsible for approving large quantities of the sweet ice cream — as well as for developing over 75 flavors (味道).
Some people think that it would be easy to do this job, after all, you just have to like ice cream, right? No — there’s more to the job than that, says Harrison, who has a degree in chemistry. He points out that a dairy or food-science degree would be very useful to someone wanting a career in this “cool” field.
In a typical morning on the job, Harrison tastes and assesses 60 ice-cream samples. He lets the ice cream warm up to about 12℉. Harrison explains, “You get more flavor from warmer ice cream, which is why some kids like to stir it, creating ice-cream soup .”While the ice cream warms up, Harrison looks over the samples and grades each one on its appearance. “Tasting begins with the eyes,” he explains. He checks to see if the ice cream is attractive and asks himself, “Does the product have the color expected from that flavor?” Next it’s time to taste!
Continuing to think up new ideas, try out new flavors, and test samples from so many kinds of ice cream each day keeps Harrison busy but happy — working at one cool job.
小題1: What is John Harrison’s job?

A．An official.	B．An ice-cream taster.
C．A chemist.	D．An ice-cream manufacturer.

小題2: According to John Harrison, to be qualified in the “cool field”, it is helpful to ______. 

A．keep a diary of work	B．have a degree in related subjects
C．have new ideas every day	D．find out new flavors each day

小題3: What does Harrison do first when testing ice cream?

A．He stirs the ice cream.	B．He examines the color of the ice cream.
C．He tastes the flavor of the ice cream.	D．He lets the ice cream warm up.

小題4:Which of the following is probably the best title of the passage?

A．Tasting with Eyes	B．Flavors of Ice Cream
C．John Harrison’s Life	D．One Cool Job

Some people don't believe that driving more slowly can save lives．But the truth is that driving more slowly can help a person to avoid serious accidents．
The above chart（表格） shows the distance that it takes to stop a car at a given speed．The distance is measured in feet．The shaded area（陰影部分） shows the driver's thinking distance．That's the distance it takes for the driver to react to a danger that he sees．The white area shows the car's braking distance．That's the distance it takes for the car to stop once the brakes（閘、剎車(chē)） are used．The number at the top of each bar shows the total number of feet that it takes to stop the car
小題1:According to the chart, what is the total number of feet needed to stop a car that is traveling at 50 miles per hour?

A．55．

B．73．

C．128．

D．183．

小題2:What is the braking distance for a car that is travelling at 60 miles per hour?

A．66 feet．

B．119 feet．

C．185 feet．

D．251 feet．

小題3:Which of the following statements about braking and speed is true?

A．The braking distance is what it takes for the driver to react to a danger that he sees．

B．The speed of a car has a direct effect on the distance needed to stop the car．

C．The braking distance increases only when a driver drives faster than 50 miles per hour.

D．Driving slowly can help a person to avoid all accidents

Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn’t find her.
It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30. “Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.
By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.
小題1: Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?

A．they could not see each other because of the fog.

B．Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.

C．They planned to do different things until lunch time.

D．The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.

小題2: What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?

A．Go to the concert.	B．See the Crown Jewels.
C．Return to Cambridge.	D．Go shopping.

小題3: The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.

A．They lost their way in the fog

B．they forgot to make necessary arrangement

C．they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other

D．the couple couldn’t find the underground station

小題4: It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.

A．spilt by the fog	B．quite tiring
C．rather disappointing	D．very enjoyable

Some years ago, on a hot summer day in south Florida, a little boy decided to go for a swim in the old swimming hole behind his house. He flew into the water, not realizing that as he swam toward the middle of the lake, an alligator (美洲鱷) was swimming toward the shore.
His father working in the yard saw the two as they got closer and closer together. In utter fear, he ran toward the water, yelling to his son as loudly as he could.
Hearing his voice, the little boy became alarmed and made a U – turn to swim to his father. It was too late. Just as he reached his father, the alligator reached him. From the dock, the father grabbed his little boy by the arms just as the alligator snatched his legs. That began an incredible tug – of – war (拔河) between the two. The alligator was much stronger than the father, but the father was much too passionate to let go. A farmer happened to drive by, took aim and shot the alligator.
Remarkably, the little boy survived. His legs were extremely scarred by the vicious attack of the animal. And, on his arms, were deep scratches where his father’s fingernails dug into his fresh in his effort to hang on to the son he loved.
The newspaper reporter who interviewed the boy asked if he would show his scars. The boy lifted his pant legs. And then, he said to the reporter, “But look at my arms. I have great scars on my arms, too. I have them because my dad wouldn’t let go.”
You and I can identify with that boy. We have scars, too. No, not from an alligator, but the scars of a painful past. Some of those scars are unsightly and have caused us deep regret. But, some wounds, my friend, are because someone has refused to let go. In the midst of your struggle, someone has been there holding on to you.
If you have the scars of someone’s love on your arms, be very, very grateful. Someone in your life did not and will not ever let you go.
Never judge another person’s scars, because you don’t know how they got them.
小題1: Which of the following is the most closely related to the underlined word “passionate”?

A．determined

B．a(chǎn)nxious

C．frightened

D．courageous

小題2:When the boy told the newspaper reporter about the scars on his arms, he felt     .

A．painful and fearful	B．regretful and panic
C．proud and grateful	D．excited and thankful

小題3:In the story the writer intends to tell us that     .

A．scars always remind people of their past experiences

B．wounds in the mind are more painful than those in the body

C．a(chǎn) painful past always leaves scars on a person’s mind

D．scars do not necessarily mean pain at all times

小題4:Which of the following viewpoints will the writer most probably agree with?

A．Be grateful to a painful past, for you can always learn something from it.

B．Other people’s criticism or blame may hurt you, but if it is for your own good, you should take it thankfully.

C．The swimming hole of life is filled with danger, but you don’t need to be too serious about it as someone will never let you go.

D．If someone hurts you, be grateful to them, for they mean no harm