The world’s astronomers came to their senses yesterday and approved a new definition of the word “planet” that would drop tiny Pluto from the club and relegate it instead to a lesser realm of “dwarf planets.” It was a welcome step away from a proposal that would have kept Pluto as a planet but meantime opened the door for dozens of small, icy bodies on the fringes of the solar system.

The important vote came after fierce debate at a meeting of the International Astronomical Union, which had been considering a proposal to define a planet as any object that orbits a star and is large enough for its own gravity to pull it into a spherical (球形的) shape. That definition was scientifically precise but led to results that offended common sense. An asteroid, a small moon, and another icy ball like Pluto would suddenly have risen to planet-hood, swelling the number of planets to 12, with many more icy rocks likely to qualify as more was learned about them.

Fortunately, the astronomers have now added another requirement to the definition. Planets must not only be large enough to be round, they must also have cleared out the neighborhood around their orbits. Pluto would not qualify — it orbits in a belt of icy debris on the edge of the solar system. Neither would an icy rock nicknamed Xena, which orbits in that same zone, nor Ceres, a big asteroid that marches in the company of other asteroids. Pluto’s moon, Charon, which had qualified under the first proposal, is also out of the running.

Pluto, with its small size and oddball orbit, should never have been deemed a planet in the first place. Henceforth there will be eight planets, at least three dwarf planets, and tens of thousands of “smaller solar system bodies,” like comets and asteroids. Our only regret is that the astronomers chose the name “dwarf planets” for Pluto’s new category instead of abandoning the word entirely when discussing these less-than-planetary bodies.

46. We can know from the passage that the new definition of planet __________.

A. has been welcomed by all walks of life

B. will kick the Pluto out of the planet group in the solar system

C. still makes the Pluto as a planet

D. will enlarge the number of planets in our solar system into permanently 12

47. After the new definition of “planet” was put forward, all of the following are regarded as planet except________.

A. Venus               B. Ceres                       C. Mars                 D. Jupiter

48. The writer’s attitudes towards the new definition of “planet” is________.

   A. welcome             B. indifferent         C. hostile               D. neutral

49 If the original definition of “planet” had not been changed, there would be the following consequences except that ________.

   A. thousands of icy rocks in space will be classified as planets

   B. some asteroids big enough to pull itself into a spherical shape will be regarded as planets.

   C. the Pluto will be relegated to “dwarf planet”

   D. there will be at least twelve or even more planets in the solar system.

50. We can infer from the article that the decision to apply new definition to “planet”________.

   A. has won universal support from scientists.

   B. has been severely criticized by many astronomers

   C. has not been made inconsiderately.

   D. has been banned by the International Astronomical Union

第二節(jié)：讀寫任務（共1小題，滿分25分）

閱讀下面的短文，然后按照要求寫一篇150詞左右的英語短文。

For many years, scientists have warned that smoking tobacco is bad for health. Yet people around the world continue to smoke. The World Health Organization estimates that more than four million people die each year from the effects of smoking. That number is increasing.

Scientists have identified more than forty chemicals in tobacco smoke that cause cancer in humans and animals. Nicotine (尼古丁) is the major poison in cigarettes that gives pleasure to smokers. The American Cancer Society says nicotine can kill a person when taken in large amounts. It does this by stopping the muscles used for breathing. Also, studies have found that nicotine can be as harmful as alcohol or the illegal drugs. So experts say it is better never to start smoking and become dependent on nicotine than it is to smoke with the idea of stopping later.

Smoking tobacco is the leading cause of lung disease. Smoking also has been linked to heart disease, stroke and many kinds of cancer. American government health experts say smoking affects not only the smoker. Tobacco smoke also affects the health of people who do not smoke. Smokers may harm the health of family members and people at work. Tobacco smoke causes an estimated 3,000 non-smoking Americans to die of lung cancer each year.

Therefore, it can be seen that smoking begins to cause damage immediately. All cigarettes can damage the body. And there is no safe way to smoke.

[寫作內容]

假設你是Adam，你叔叔是一個煙癮很大的人。在看了有關吸煙危害的文章后，想給叔叔寫一封信勸其戒煙。以下是信的內容(信的開頭和結尾已經為你寫好)：

1．以約30個詞概括香煙對身體健康的傷害；

2．以約120個詞表達你對叔叔的勸告，并包括如下要點：

(1) 對叔叔提出戒煙的具體建議；

(2) 指出叔叔戒煙對家人的益處；

(3) 期望叔叔能夠成功地戒煙。

[寫作要求]

1．作文可以參照閱讀材料的內容但不得直接引用原文中的句子；

2．信中不能出現真實姓名和學校名稱。

[評分標準]            概括準確，語言規(guī)范，內容合適，篇章連貫。

Her family _____ much larger than mine four years ago. Her family  _____ dancing and singing when I came in last night.

A. were; was       B. was; were    C. was; was      D. were; were

______ halfway through the exercise, the teacher changed his mind and collected all our papers.

A. When only being                           B. When we were only

C. Being only                                D. Having been 

三. 完形填空 (20分，每小題2分)

Every year people in many countries___42___English. Some of them learn at school. __43___study by___44___ . But it is too hard__45___learn another language well. People must work very hard.

   Why do all these people__46____to learn English? It’s difficult to__47____that question. Many boys and girls learn English at school or at college.___48___it is one of their ___49___.They study their own language ,math and physic…and English. Many adults learn English, because it is___50___in their work. They want to read newspaper, books and some others in English to get more knowledge. And that is why___51___people in the world will learn English.。

(     )42.  A. study        B. know       C. understand    D. speak

(     )43.  A. Others      B. other        C. The other     D. The others

(     )44.  A. they        B. their          C. them         D. themselves

(     )45.  A. that        B. as            C. for           D. to

(     )46  A. have        B. wish          C. need         D. want

(     )47.  A. think       B. answer        C. ask          D. talk

(     )48.  A. because     B. so            C. when         D. why

(     )49.  A. subject      B. the subject     C. subjects     D.a subject

(     )50.  A. interesting   B. difficult       C. easy         D. useful

(     )51.  A. more and more    B. many  more     C. fewer and fewer   D. most.

----_____do you improve your listening?

----I improve it ______ listening to tapes.

        A. How; with  B: What; with   C: How; by   D. What; by

— How are you getting along with your study these days?

— I'm glad to see it is         .

A．turning up           B．turning out    C．picking up       D．picking out

–Isn’t it a surprise that I happened to meet Francis Mathews at the Christmas Party last week?

   --If my memory serves me correctly, you ____ each other for exactly two years.

A. hadn’t seen B. haven’t seen      C. didn’t see          D. don’t see

The society was set up to        endangered species form extinction.

A. deserve      B. preserve     C. observe      D. reserve

To her anger, when she sat down, she found a piece of paper on her desk _____ “Stupid Sarah got a D!”    

A. that saying           B. on which written          C. that was read               D. saying