In the US and Britain, the slogan around colleges was “Save water. Shower with a friend.” Now, Wuhan University has come up with another system for the campus bathhouse. It charges students for the amount of time in a shower. Before entering the bathhouse, students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower with cash or their student ID card. The clock starts ticking the minute the tape is turned on. It pauses when a button is pressed for soap. An integrated circuit(IC) card reader at each tap shows the time. No money, no water. The benefits of the new system can be seen with the old system, which charged 1 Yuan for each person regardless of time in the shower. The university used about 320 tones of water daily under the old system, but only 160 tons now.
Many students use the new system but opinions on it are divided. Some students say it is bad because bathing had become a sort of race. Many people using it for the first time are not sure how long they need to shower. Some might be embarrassed if their time is up and they’re still covered in soap. They have to ask the bathhouse worker to help them buy extra time.
“It’s a flaw in the system that you can not buy extra time on the ID card,” said Ren, a freshman in Wuhan University. The university is also considering some students’ suggestions that they be allowed to pay after they’ve finished the shower. Not surprisingly, some are complaining about losing the hour shower. But many students say the move helps them develop a water-saving sense.
Without the time limits, most students tended to shower for 30 to an hour in the bathhouse.
Some even used the hot water to wash their clothes. “In my experience, 10-20 minutes is enough,” said Dai Zhihua, a third-year student who usually takes 8 minutes.
A similar system has been installed in other universities. Shanghai Normal University introduced it at its Fengxiang Campus in September. The bathing fee there is 0.2 Yuan per minute. One male student responded by setting a record with a two-minute shower.
【小題1】According to the passage, which of the following is NOT true?

A．Students pay for the amount of time they want in the shower.

B．The clock times all through while the student is bathing except when the bather paused for soap.

C．If money runs out, there will be no water.

D．Having finished bathing, the student has to pay for it.

【小題2】The underline word “flaw” (Paragraph3) most probably means______.

A．perfection

B．a(chǎn)dvantage

C．pity

D．fault

【小題3】Since the new system has performed, ______ of water can be saved.

A．a(chǎn) quarter

B．one third

C．one half

D．two thirds

【小題4】It can be inferred from the passage that______.

A．the new operation can solve the water crisis.

B．The new operation can raise students’ environmental awareness.

C．a(chǎn) similar operation has been set in other universities.

D．The university has saved a lot of water by using the new system.

【小題5】In which column can you find this passage?

A．People.

B．Society

C．Campus Life.

D．Lifestyle.

Plants can’t communicate by moving or making sounds, as most animals do. Instead, plants produce volatile compounds (揮發(fā)性化合物) —— chemicals that easily change from a liquid to a gas. A flower’s sweet smell, for example, comes from such volatile compounds to attract insects such as bugs and bees.
Plants can also discover  volatile compounds produced by other plants. A tree under attack by hungry insets, for instance, may give off these chemicals in order to let other trees know about the attack. In response, the other trees may send off their chemicals to keep the bugs away —— or even chemicals that will attract the bugs’ natural enemies.
Now scientists have created a quick way to understand what plants are saying: a chemical sensor (傳感器) called an “electronic nose”. The “e-nose” can tell such compounds as plants make. When plants are attacked, scientists say, the e-nose could help quickly decide whether plants are being eaten by insects. But today, the only way to spot such insects is to inspect individual plants by observing them. This is a challenging task for managers of greenhouses, including those that can house thousands of plants. The research team is working with an e-nose that can recognize volatile compounds. Inside the device, 13 sensors chemically react with volatile compounds based on the interactions (相互作用), and then the e-nose will give off electronic signals that the scientists can analyze by using computer software.
To test the e-nose, the team presented it with healthy leaves from cucumber, pepper and tomato plants, all being common greenhouse crops. Then scientists collected samples of the air around damaged leaves from each type of crop. These plants had been damaged either by insects or by scientists who made holes in the leaves with a hole punch (打孔器).
The e-nose, it turns out, can identify healthy cucumber, pepper and tomato plants based on the volatile compounds they produce. It could also identify tomato leaves that had been damaged. But even more impressive, the device could tell which type of damage —— by insects or with a hole punch —— had been done to the tomato leaves.
With some fine-tuning (微調(diào)), a device like the e-nose can one day be used in greenhouses to quickly spot harmful bugs, the researchers say. A device like this can also be used to identify fruits that are perfectly ripe and ready to pick and eat, says Natalia Dudareva, a biochemist at Purdue University in West Lafayette, India, who studies smells of flowers and plants. Hopefully, scientists believe, the device can bring large benefits to greenhouse managers in the near future.
【小題1】We learn from the text that plants communicate with each other by ______.

A．making some sounds

B．waving their leaves

C．producing some chemicals

D．sending out electronic signals

【小題2】What did the scientists do to find out if the e-nose worked?

A．They fixed 13 sensors inside the device.

B．They presented it with all common crops.

C．They collected different damaged leaves.

D．They do tests on damaged and healthy leaves.

【小題3】According to the writer, the most amazing thing about the e-nose is that it can ______.

A．pick out ripe fruits quite expertly

B．spot the insects in a very quick way

C．tell different damages to leaves

D．recognize unhealthy tomato leaves

【小題4】We can infer from the last paragraph that the e-nose ______.

A．is unable to tell the smell of flowers

B．is not yet tested in greenhouses

C．is designed by scientists at Purdue

D．is helpful in killing harmful insects

Have you ever wondered why the roots of the plants always know which way to grow—into the soil but not above it? Some British scientists have recently solved this mystery.
It turns out that roots have special hairs that tie them into the soil and help them grow their way past obstacles, a team at the John Inners Center in Norwich reports in the February 29 issue of Journal Science.
“The key is in the fuzzy(有絨毛的)coat of hairs on the roots of plants,” says professor Liam Dolan. “We have found a growth control system that enables these hairs to find their way and to become longer when their path is clear.”
Root hairs explore the soil in much the same way a person would feel their way in the dark. If they come across an obstacle, they make their way around until they can continue growing in an opening. In the meantime, the plant is held in place as the hairs grip(緊緊抓住)the soil.
The hairs are guided by a clever chemical trick. A protein(蛋白質(zhì)) at the tip of the root hairs called RHD2 helps them to take calcium(鈣) from the soil. Calcium makes the hairs grow, and produce more RHD2, and take more calcium.
But when an obstacle blocks the hair’s path, or the hair reaches the surface of the soil, the cycle is broken and growth starts in another direction.
This system gives plants the flexibility to explore a complex environment and to live in even the most unpromising soils, says Dolan.
In poor soils such as in parts of Australia and Africa, native plants have adapted by producing enormous numbers of root hairs. A better understanding of this adaptation will allow scientists to develop hairy rooted crops that can grow in unfriendly environments.
According to Dolan, “Research in the John Inners Center is taking a breeding approach to increase hair length in wheat but it will be some time before new cultivars(栽培變種) are developed.”
【小題1】The passage is mainly about _______.

A．why the roots of plants grow into the soil but not above it

B．how the roots of plants grow into the soil but not above it

C．the process of plants growth

D．a(chǎn) growth control system of plants

【小題2】How does the circle work?

A．RHD2 takes calcium from the soil, which makes hairs grow, and produce RHD2 and take more calcium

B．Roots take RHD2 and calcium from the soil and produce RHD2

C．Roots make hairs grow, and produce RHD2, and take more calcium

D．RHD2 takes protein, which makes hairs grow, and produce RHD2, and take more calcium

【小題3】We can infer from the last paragraph that ________.

A．hairy rooted crops can grow better in unfriendly environments

B．a(chǎn) new cultivar of wheat with long hair has been developed by scientists

C．a(chǎn) new cultivar of wheat with long hair is still on test

D．the roots of plants always know which way to grow

The Internationa1 Space Station allows astronauts to live in space for extended amounts of time, enabling them to explore the outside universe and conduct many experiments. However, nothing like that exists for our oceans, and thanks to the high water pressure, ocean researchers are able to explore what lies undersea for very short periods of time.
They are therefore never able to fully explore the deep inside areas of our oceans. However, if French architect Jacques Rougerie has his way, that will change soon.
Jacques has designed a ship that will allow researchers to spend a long period of time observing the sea life and conducting experiments. The huge l67ft. ship, named ‘Sea Orbiter’, consists of two areas—one above the water where the scientists and crew will live, and a lower pressurized deck (甲板), where scientists will be able to spend as much time as they wish. Since it is powered by sea currents and wind, he expects it to drift (漂流) along the oceans slowly, taking about two years to circumvent the globe.
Jacques will make their life as comfortable as possible in the ship. Besides being equipped with the latest sailing tools and communication equipment, the ship will also have a gym, a television and a DVD player! And these guys will not be eating freeze-dried food like astronauts. Instead, Jacques, an accomplished chef, plans on cooking them delicious meals every day.
The biggest problem to this giant ship is the cost, which is expected to be over $500 million—per ship! However, Jacques, who strongly believes that the secrets of our oceans may be the key to solving global warming and a vital supply for food and medicine in the future, is confident he will be able to convince governments all over the world to help out, and expects to start construction on not one, but four or five of these amazing ships soon!
【小題1】Why can’t ocean researchers explore the deep oceans for a long time?

A．Because they can’t stand the high water pressure.

B．Because it’s too cold in deep ocean.

C．Because time for experiments is too limited.

D．Because it’s dangerous to observe the sea life.

【小題2】The underlined word “circumvent ” probably means     .

A．fly away

B．go around

C．travel through

D．move into

【小題3】From the fourth paragraph we can learn that     .

A．Jacques intends to design the ship mainly for sightseeing and traveling

B．living a comfortable life helps to do the ocean research quickly

C．it’s much more expensive to eat freeze-dried food

D．researchers on Jacques ’ ship will live more comfortably than astronauts

【小題4】In Jacques’ opinion, which of the following is not the purpose of the undersea research?

A．To find supply for food in the future.

B．To find supply for medicine in the future.

C．To draw governments’ attention to the construction of the ship.

D．To solve the global warming.

【小題5】Which of the fol1owing would be the best title for the text?

A．Sea Orbiter—the ship of the future

B．A new way to explore the deep oceans

C．A great architect—Jacques Rogerie

D．Travel around the globe in Sea Orbiter

The deserts of the world are not all covered with sand. Many of them have surfaces of rock or clay or small stones. They are not flat, either. They often have high hills and deep valleys. There is some plants’ life in many parts of the desert. There is little rain in the desert, but it does fall often enough for most plants.
The deserts of the world are not uninhabited (not lived by people). People also live outside oases(綠洲), but these people are not farmers. They have camels, goats, donkeys, sheep, etc. These animals can live on the desert plants and do not need much water.
The people of the desert have to move constantly from place to place, they must always look for grass or desert plants for their animals. They usually live in tents. When there is no more food for their animals, they fold up their tents, pat them on their camels and donkeys, and move to another place. In good years, when there is enough food for their animals, they trade their skins and their goats and camel hairs with the people of oases for wheat and fruit. But in bad years, when there is not enough food for their animals, the people of the desert would attack the oases people. But they are also hospitable, no man in the desert would ever refuse to give a stranger food and water.
【小題1】The underlined word “hospitable” has the meaning of being _______.

A．brave

B．cruel

C．strange

D．kind

【小題2】In the desert _______.

A．it rains in spring only

B．it rains for a short time every month

C．there is some rain, but far from enough

D．the rainfall is just enough for the plants

【小題3】People live _______.

A．only inside the oases

B．only outside the oases

C．both inside and outside the oases

D．in places with regular rainfalls

Although April did not bring us the rains we all hoped for, and although the Central Valley doesn’t generally experience the sound and lightning that can go with those rains, it’s still important for parents to be able to answer the youthful questions about thunder and lightning.
The reason these two wonders of nature are so difficult for many adults to explain to children is that they are not very well understood by adults themselves. For example, did you know that the lightning we see flashing down to the earth from a cloud is actually flashing up to a cloud from the earth? Our eyes trick us into thinking we see a downward motion when it’s actually the other way around. But then, if we believed only what we think and we see, we’d still insist that the sun rises in the morning and sets at night.
Most lightning flashes take place inside a cloud, and only a relative few can be seen jumping between two clouds or between earth and a cloud. But, with about 2,000 thunderstorms taking place above the earth every minute of the day and night, there’s enough activity to produce about 100 lightning strikes on earth every second.
Parents can use thunder and lightning to help their children learn more about the world around them. When children understand that the light of the lightning flashing reaches their eyes almost at the same moment, but the sound of the thunder takes about 5 seconds to travel just one mile, they can begin to time the interval (間隔) between the flash and the crash to learn how lose they were to the actual spark (閃光).
【小題1】According to the author, in the area of the Central Valley____.

A．rains usually come without thunder and lightning.

B．it is usually dry in April

C．children pay no attention to the two natural wonders.

D．parents are not interested in thunder and lightning.

【小題2】We believe that lightning is a downward motion because_______.

A．we were taught so by our parents from our childhood.

B．we are taken in by our sense of vision.

C．it is a common natural sight.

D．it is a truth proved by science.

【小題3】What is TRUE about lightning according to the passage?

A．Only a small number of lightning flashes occur on earth.

B．Lightning flashes usually jump from one cloud to another.

C．Lightning travels 5 times faster than thunder.

D．There are far more lightning strikes occurring on earth than we can imagine.

【小題4】The underlined word “activity”  is most closely related to the word (s) _____.

A．cloud

B．lightning strikes

C．lightning flashes

D．thunderstorms

【小題5】It can be concluded from the passage that _______.

A．we should not believe what we see or hear.

B．things moving downward are more noticeable.

C．people sometimes may have wrong ideas about ordinary phenomena.

D．a(chǎn)dults are not as good as children in observing certain natural phenomena.

Penguins live together，but each pair has a little piece of ground of their own.When a penguin wants to walk through its neighbor’s ground，it must ask permission.If it does not do that，it will have to fight.Most of the time，penguins live on the water.They eat shell fish and look after their children carefully.
All penguins are good parents—the male penguins are perhaps the best parents in the world. They walk in the sea in the middle of the dark Antarctic water. They choose their wives in the dark.They can only hear them—not see them.Then the female penguins lay their eggs and go away for about two months.The males take care of the eggs.If the eggs get cold，there will be no chicks.There is no food.The snow falls heavily and the wind blows strongly—sometimes at 150 kilometers an hour.The penguins do not move.When the females return from the sea，they will not remember their husbands.It does not matter.Only one thing matters—the eggs.Male penguins never fight—unless a penguin leaves a chick for a minute.They then fight because they all want it.They are strange and wonderful birds.
【小題1】It seems interesting and unusual that the male penguins choose their wives ______.

A．when the female penguins return from the sea

B．just by hearing in the darkness

C．each time they see the lovely females

D．a(chǎn)fter they have had their own grounds

【小題2】Male penguins fight when ______.

A．they choose their wives

B．they see a chick left alone

C．they want to get something to eat

D．they walk through their neighbors’ ground

【小題3】From the passage we know that ______.

A．penguins live a hard life

B．penguins live in pairs

C．penguins will fight if one walks through others’ ground without permission

D．each penguin has a little piece of ground of its own

【小題4】The penguins choose their wives in the dark. We can infer that ______.

A．penguins like nights very much

B．there is no daytime in that place at all

C．the weather is cloudy and rainy all the year around

D．the sun can’t shine there for nearly half a year every year

【小題5】Which of the following is NOT true?

A．Female penguins take care of the eggs.

B．Female penguins often have their new husbands.

C．Male penguins use their ears to choose wives.

D．Male penguins don’t move when they take care of eggs，even though the wind often blows strongly.

There are robots all around us. Some do very complicated jobs like flying airplanes and driving subway trains. and some do one simple job. When an automatic washing machine is switched on, water pours in. The machine waits until the water is warm enough for washing clothes. It does this by “feedback”(反饋). Information about what is happening is feedback into the robot to tell what to do next. Our eyes, ears and other senses are our feedback. They tell us what is going on around us. So robots are like human beings in two ways. They work and they have feedback.
In some ways robots are better than human beings. They work quickly and do not make mistakes. They do not get bored doing the same job over and over again. And they never get tired. So robots are very useful in factories. They can be taught to do many different jobs. First their electronic brain must be shown how the job is done. A person moves the robot’s “arms” and “hands” through each part of the job.
The most intelligent robots can move and see. Their eyes are cameras. Their fingers can feel shapes and sizes of the objects. These robots have computer brains linked to their eyes and fingers, which control their actions. The expensive robots are used in scientific research. They do such job as handling radioactive materials.
【小題1】In this passage the author tells us that ________.

A．robots are very popular

B．there are various kinds of robots

C．we see robots only at certain times

D．robots can be easily controlled

【小題2】What does the author seem to inform you about robots?

A．They should be greatly improved.

B．They will probably take over in the future.

C．They are very helpful and useful to humans.

D．They are machines that break down a lot.

【小題3】The author says that in industry ________.

A．robots break down a lot

B．robots can do many jobs

C．robots only get in the way

D．robots sometimes cause troubles

【小題4】The fact that a robot never gets bored doing the same job means that _______.

A．it is very much like human beings

B．it can do boring jobs for people

C．it will never bore people

D．it will work much better than human beings

【小題5】The robots used for scientific research _______.

A．a(chǎn)re not very clever	B．a(chǎn)re very cheap
C．a(chǎn)re very big	D．a(chǎn)re very costly

We must do what we can to protect the plants because plants are very important for living things. Life could not go on if there were no plants. This is because plants can make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals and man cannot make food from air, water and sunlight. Animals get their food by eating plants and other animals. Therefore animals and man need plants in order to live. This is why we find that there are so many plants around us.
If you look carefully at the plants around you, you will find that there are two kinds of plants: flowering plants and non-flowering plants. Flowering plants can make seeds. The seeds are protected by the fruits. Some fruits have one seed, some have two, three or four, and some have many seeds. But a few fruits have no seeds at all. An example of a fruit without seeds is the banana fruit. Most non-flowering plants do not grow from seeds. They grow from spores（胚芽）. Spores are very small. Some spores are so small and light that they can float in the air. We may say that spores are quite the same as seeds. When these spores are all on wet and shady places, they usually grow into new plants.
【小題1】Plants can make food from______.

A．flower, water and air	B．water, sunlight and air
C．a(chǎn)ir, water and soil	D．a(chǎn)ir, sun and light

【小題2】The main idea of the first paragraph is that ______.

A．plants are important for life

B．plants cannot grow without air

C．there are many plants in the world

D．we can not live without water

【小題3】What can we infer（推斷） from the passage？

A．Of all living things animals are most important

B．Spores are seeds

C．All fruits of flowering plants have seeds

D．Without plants, man will die out

【小題4】This passage may be taken from______.

A．a(chǎn) medicine book	B．a(chǎn) novel
C．a(chǎn) science magazine	D．a(chǎn)n experiment report

【小題5】The underlined word “protected” in the passage can be replaced by ______.

A．damaged

B．polluted

C．prevented

D．guarded

These days we are all conditioned to accept newness, whatever it costs. Very soon, there is no doubt that Apple's tablet (平板電腦) will seem as a vital tool of modern living to us as sewing machine did to our grandparents. At least, it will until someone produces an even smarter, thinner and more essential tablet, which, if recent history is any guide, will be in approximately six months' time. Turn your back for a moment and you find that every electronic item in your possession is as old as a tombstone. Why should you care if people laugh just because you use an old mobile phone? But try getting the thing repaired when it goes wrong. It's like walking into a pub and asking for an orange juice. You will be made to feel like some sort of time-traveler from the 1970s. "Why not buy a new one?" you will get asked.
And so the mountain of electrical rubbish grows. An average British person was believed to get rid of quite a number of electronic goods in a lifetime. They weighed three tons, stood 7 feet high, and included five fridges, six microwaves, seven PCs, six TVs, 12 kettles, 35 mobile phones and so on. Even then, the calculation seemed to be conservative. Only 35 mobiles in a lifetime? The huge number of electronic items now regularly thrown away by British families is clearly one big problem. But this has other consequences. It contributes greatly to the uneasy feeling that modem technology is going by faster than we can keep up. By the time I've learnt how to use a tool it's already broken or lost. I've lost count of the number of TV remote-controls that I've bought, mislaid and replaced without working out what most of the buttons did.
And the technology changes so unbelievably fast. It was less than years ago that I spotted an energetic businessman friend pulling what seemed to be either a large container or a small nuclear bomb on wheels through a railway station. I asked. "What have you got in there? Your money or your wife?" "Neither," he replied, with the satisfied look of a man who knew he was keeping pace with the latest technology, no matter how ridiculous he looked. "This is what everyone will have soon—even you. It's called a mobile telephone."
I don't feel sorry for the pace of change. On the contrary, I'm amazed by those high-tech designers who can somehow fit a camera, music-player, computer and phone into a plastic box no bigger than a packet of cigarette. If those geniuses could also find a way to keep the underground trains running on the first snowy day of winter, they would be making real progress for human beings. What I do regret, however, is that so many household items fall behind so soon. My parents bought a wooden wireless radio in 1947, the year they were married. In 1973, the year I went to university, it was still working. It sat in the kitchen like an old friend—which, in a way, it was. It certainly spoke to us more than we spoke to each other on some mornings. When my mum replaced it with a new-style radio that could also play cassette-tapes, I felt a real sense of loss.
Such is the over-excited change of 21st-century technology that there's no time to satisfy our emotional needs. Even if Apple's new products turn out to be the most significant tablets I very much doubt if they will resist this trend.
【小題1】When you try getting an old mobile phone repaired, ____.

A．you are travelling through time	B．you are thought to be out of date
C．you will find everything wrong	D．you have got to buy a new one

【小題2】Throwing away so much electronic rubbish makes the writer feel quite _____.

A．lost and upset	B．unbelievably fast
C．broken or lost	D．regularly wasteful

【小題3】The example of the businessman implies that____.

A．the businessman mastered the latest technology

B．mobile phones used to be quite big just years ago

C．the businessman was a very ridiculous person

D．the writer failed to follow modern technology

【小題4】The passage is organized in the pattern of ____.

A．time and events	B．comparison and contrast
C．cause and effect	D．examples and analysis

【小題5】Which of the following is conveyed in the passage?

A．The fast pace of change brings us no good.

B．We have to keep up with new technology.

C．Household items should be upgraded quickly.

D．We should hold on for new technology to last.