Imagine，one day，getting out of bed in Beijing and being at your office in Shanghai in only a couple of hours，and then，after a full day of work，going back home to Beijing and having dinner there．
Sounds unusual，doesn't it? But it's not that unrealistic，with the development of China’s high—speed railway system．And that’s not a11．China has an even greater high—speed railway plan—to connect the country with Southeast Asia，and eventually Eastern Europe．
China is negotiating to extend its own high·-speed railway network to up to 17 countries in 1 0 to 15 years，eventually reaching London and Singapore．
China has proposed three such projects．The first would possibly connect Kunming with
Singapore via Vietnam and Malaysia．Another could start in Urumqi and go through Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan，and possibly to Germany．The third would start in the northeast and go north through Russia and then into Western Europe．
If China’s plan for the high-speed railway goes forward，people could zip over from London to Beijing in under two days．
The new system would still follow China’s high—speed railway standard．And the trains would be able to go 346 kilometers an hour，almost as fast as some airplanes．
China’s bullet train(高速客車)，the one connecting Wuhan to Guangzhou，already has the
World’s fastest average speed．It covers 1,069 kilometers in about three hours．
Of course，there are some technical challenges to overcome．There are so many issues that need to be settled，such as safety，rail gauge(軌距)，maintenance of railway tracks．So，it’s important to pay attention to every detail．
But the key issue is really money．China is already spending hundreds of billions of yuan on
domestic railway expansion．
China prefers that the other countries pay in natural resources rather than with capital
investment．Resources from those countries could stream into China to sustain development．
It’11 be a win-win project. For other countries，the railway network will definitely create more opportunities for business，tourism and so on，not to mention the better communication among those countries．
For China，such a project would not only connect it with the rest of Asia and bring some much-needed resources，but would also help develop China’s far west．We foresee that in the coming decades，millions of people will migrate to the western regions，where the land is empty and resources unused．With high-speed trains，people will set up factories and business centers in the west once and for a11．And they’11 trade with Central Asian and Eastern European countries．
【小題1】China’s new high-speed railway plan will be a win-win project because     ．

A．China will get much-needed resources and develop its western regions

B．China and the countries involved will benefit from the project in various ways

C．China will develop its railway system and communication with other countries

D．the foreign countries involved will develop their railway transportation，business and tourism

【小題2】According to the passage，the greatest challenge to the new high-speed railway plan is     ．

A．technical issues

B．safety of the system

C．financial problems

D．maintenance of railway tracks

【小題3】Which of the following words best describes the author’s attitude towards China’s high-speed
railway plan?

A．Critical．

B．Reserved．

C．Doubtful

D．Positive．

【小題4】Which of the following might be the best title for the passage?

A．New Railway Standards

B．Big Railway Dreams

C．High—speed Bullet Trains

D．International Railway Network

There was one thought that air pollution affected only the area immediately around large cities with factories and heavy traffic．At present, we realize that although these are the areas with the worst air pollution, the problem is really worldwide．On several occasions over the past decade，a heavy cloud of air pollution has covered the east of the United States and brought health warnings in distant areas away from any industrial cities．In fact，the very climate of the entire earth may be infected by air pollution．Some scientists consider that the increasing concentration of carbon dioxide in the air resulting from the burning of fossil fuels(coal and oil)is creating a “greenhouse effect”—— keeping heat reflected from the earth and raising the world’s average temperature．If this view is correct and the world's temperature is raised only a few degrees, much of the polar ice cap will melt and cities such as New York，Boston，Miami，and New Orleans will be in water．
Another view, less widely held, is that increasing particular matter in the atmosphere is blocking sunlight and lowering the earth’s temperature—a result that would be equally disastrous．A drop of just a few degrees could create something close to a new ice age，and would make agriculture difficult or impossible in many of our top farming areas．Today we do not know for sure that either of these conditions will happen．Perhaps，if we are lucky enough，the two tendencies will offset each other and the world's temperature will stay about the same as it is now．Driven by economic profits, people ignore the damage on our environment caused by the “advanced civilization”．Maybe the air pollution is the price the human beings have to pay for their development．But is it really worth-while?
【小題1】People used to think that air pollution_________ .

A．caused widespread damage in the countryside

B．a(chǎn)ffected the entire eastern half of the United States

C．had a very bad effect on health

D．existed merely in urban and industrial areas

【小題2】As to the greenhouse effect, the author_________.

A．shares the same view with the scientists．

B．is uncertain of its occurrence

C．rejects it as being ungrounded

D．thinks that it will destroy the world soon

【小題3】The underlined word “offset” in the second paragraph could be replaced by_______.

A．counter-act

B．break from

C．get along

D．communicate

【小題4】This passage is primarily about________ .

A．the greenhouse effect

B．the burning of fossil fuels

C．the potential effect of air pollution

D．the possibility of a new ice age

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 your age could live to be 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 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?
【小題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

【小題2】What can be inferred from Paragraph 4?

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.

【小題3】Which of the following is mentioned in the text?

A．Nothing can replace the Internet.

B．Fridges will know what people need.

C．Jacket sleeves can be used as a guide.

D．Cars will be able to drive automatically.

【小題4】What is the text mainly about?

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.

With the new school year quickly coming near (or perhaps, for your early-starters, already under way), it’s time to get ready for a successful term(學期). And while you may be cleaning your wardrobe(壁柜), it’s equally important to freshen up(更新) your study skills, too.
Have you ever noticed that your study habits are different from those of your friends? Or how you seem to learn faster in certain classes? Some people are quick to blame(責備) the teacher or subject(學科) for their difficulties, but that isn’t always the cause(原因). One thing that many people seem to ignore(忽視) is their learning type.
Now, you may be wondering what a learning type is and how to find yours. There are three different learning types: Visual, Auditory, and Kinesthetic. You can be a combination of learning types, but most people have one main type.
1. Visual learners learn best by seeing. If you seem to easily get information from pictures, graphs, and videos, you are likely a visual learner.
2. Auditory learners learn best by hearing. If you seem to remember things by hearing them, whether listening to a lecture or repeating information out loud, then you are likely an auditory learner.
3. Kinesthetic learners learn best by doing. If you seem to learn best by working with your hands or testing out what you are shown, you are likely a kinesthetic learner.
So now that you know your personal learning style, the trick (竅門) is to find out how to use your new-found knowledge to help you in your classes.
【小題1】According to the speaker, why are some students slower than others in a certain subject?

A．Because they find the subject too difficult.

B．Because they have lost interest in the subject.

C．Because their teacher is not good enough.

D．Because they don’t know their learning type.

【小題2】Which of the following can best replace the underlined word “combination”?

A．success

B．mixture

C．wonder

D．model

【小題3】Stephen loves science and usually does experiments with his classmates in the lab to test what he has learned. So what type of learner is he?

A．Visual

B．Auditory

C．Kinesthetic

D．Both A and B

【小題4】What do you think the speaker is going to do next?

A．To give further explanation to the three types of learners.

B．To give clear examples of the three types of learners.

C．To make a survey(調(diào)查) about the three types of learners.

D．To suggest different study skills to different types of learners.

The world is not coming to an end on December 21st, 2012, the US space agency announced to dispel （消除）widespread rumors fueled by the Internet and a new Hollywood movie．
The latest big screen 2012 was based on stories according to the Mayan calendar．It showed that by the end of 2012, a Planet X will collide （碰撞） with the earth．
Some websites accuse NASA of hiding the truth on the planet's existence, but the US space agency considered such stories as tricks．"There is no basis in fact for these claims," NASA said in its website．"If such a collision were real, scientists would have been tracking it for at least the last decade, and we would see it with our eyes now．Obviously, it doesn't exist and there will be no threat to the earth in 2012," it insisted．"After all, our planet has been getting along just well for more than four billion years," added NASA．
There is another planet, Eris, floating in space．But the small planet will remain safely fixed in the outer solar system and it can come no closer than four billion miles to the earth, according to NASA．
And even if the planets were to line up as some have forecast, the effect on our plant would be very little．"And while comets and asteroids （小行星） have always hit the earth, big hits are very rare," NASA noted．The last major collision was believed to be 65 million years ago, resulting the end of dinosaurs （恐龍）．
"We are sure that there are no threatening asteroids as large as the one that killed the dinosaurs," the space agency said．
【小題1】What played a key role in the spread of the rumors?

A．The Internet and the film 2012．	B．The Mayan calendar．
C．The US space agency．	D．The television screen．

【小題2】The underlined word "it" in Paragraph 3 probably refers to _________.

A．the collision

B．the threat

C．the Planet X

D．the NASA website

【小題3】We can conclude from the passage that __________.

A．the film 2012 is well accepted in the science field

B．scientists have been tracking Planet X for over ten years

C．the earth will exist for more than four billion years

D．the rumors caused a panic among some people

【小題4】What do we know about Eris according to the passage?

A．It doesn't exist in the universe．

B．It won't threaten the earth．

C．It is too far to be seen．

D．It is similar to the earth.

Rising levels of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere are a major cause of climate change, and now a new study has confirmed that atmospheric CO₂ is also affecting the ocean chemistry and potentially harming sea life.
Montana State University scientist Robert Dore has been researching the water in the Pacific Ocean for almost two decades. We've been going to the same spot in the Pacific Ocean, and we try and characterize long-term change in the open ocean environment. And one of the key things that we measure is CO₂ levels. And we've been able to record this increasing quantity of atmospheric CO₂ into the ocean.
Scientists expected that as atmospheric CO₂ increased, more and more of the carbon dioxide would be absorbed into the ocean, affecting the chemical balance of the sea water, with a potentially harmful impact on shellfish and coral in particular.
"As carbon dioxide dissolves（溶解） in the water, or seawater in this case, it forms a weak acid, carbonic acid," Dore explains. "And therefore, as the concentration of CO₂ in the atmosphere goes up and that exchanges with the surface seawater, it drives the PH down, and makes it more acidic."
The seawater Dore and his colleagues have analyzed confirms what the theory predicts.
The effect was particular striking at about 250 meters down, and again at 500 meters. Dore and his colleagues came up with two possible explanations. It could be that surface water picked up CO₂ and then moved to those depths. Or there could be a biological explanation.
"It's important to realize that the oceans are really becoming acidic. And it can have negative（消極的） impacts on a whole variety of sea life from fish to coral. It's potentially catastrophic."
【小題1】What can be the best title of the passage?

A．Sea Life Facing Danger

B．Scientist Researching Seawater

C．Oceans Becoming More Acidic

D．Climate Change Affecting Seawater

【小題2】With the increase of atmospheric CO₂，        .

A．more corals will appear in the sea

B．the surface water is becoming warmer

C．the chemical balance of the seawater is affected

D．the PH of the ocean out here has been increasing

【小題3】Which of the following shows the process of the impact of atmospheric CO₂ on sea life?
a．Sea life is endangered．
b．CO₂ goes into the surface water．
c．The ocean chemistry is affected．
d．CO₂decreases the PH and makes the seawater more acidic．
e．CO₂ levels in the atmosphere go up．

【小題4】Scientist Robert Dore came to the conclusion based on       .

A．his research and analysis

B．the expectation of other scientists

C．some former theory

D．a(chǎn) major cause of climate change

Because plants cannot move or talk, most people believe that they have no feelings and that they cannot receive signals from outside. However, this may not be completely true.
People who studied plants have found out that plants carry a small electrical charge (電荷). It is possible to measure this charge with a small piece of equipment called “galvanometer”. The galvanometer is placed on a leaf off the plant, and it records any changes in the electrical field of the leaf. Humans have a similar field which can change when we are shocked or frightened.
A man called Backster used a galvanometer for his studies of plants and was very surprised at his results. He found that if he had two or more plants in a room and he began to destroy one of them － perhaps by pulling off its leaves or by pulling it out of its pot － then the galvanometer on the leaves of the other plants showed a change in the electrical field. It seemed as if the plants were signalling a feeling of shock. This happened not only when Backster started to destroy plants, but also when he destroyed other living things such as insects (昆蟲).
Backster said that the plants also knew if someone had destroyed a living thing some distance away, because they signalled when a man who had just cut down a tree entered the room.
Another scientist, named Sauvin, achieved similar results to Backster’s. He kept galvanometers fixed to his plants all the time and checked regularly to see what the plants were doing. If he was out of the office, he telephoned to find out about the signals the plants were sending. In this way, he found that the plants were sending out signals at the exact times when he felt strong pleasure or pain. In fact, Sauvin could cause a change in the electrical field of his plants over a distance of a few miles simply by thinking about them.
【小題1】Backster was surprised at the results of his studies because _____.

A．he destroyed an insect

B．he destroyed a plant by pulling off its leaves

C．he found that plants could express feelings of shock

D．he found that plants could move and speak after all

【小題2】The plants sent out signals _____.

A．only when Backster Started to destroy plants

B．when Backster destroyed plants or other living things

C．only when he destroyed things such as insects

D．only when Backster placed the galvanometer on the leaves of the plants

【小題3】The scientist called Sauvin _____.

A．did not agree with Backster’s ideas

B．did not get the same sort of results as Backster did

C．got different results from Backster’s

D．found out some of the same things that Backster did

【小題4】Which of the following is true according to the passage?

A．The electrical charge plants carry may shock or frighten us.

B．A tree will signal when it has been cut down.

C．Sauvin could make his plants send out signals some distance away.

D．Plants have feelings because they can receive signals without moving.

Dogs may not know exactly what you are doing especially when you’re trying to figure out a square root or diagram a sentence. But according to a new study, dogs can understand what we’re thinking and feeling by reading our facial expressions and body language and following our eyes.
Researchers studied 29 dogs. The dogs were shown a movie where a woman looked directly at them and said “Hi dog!” Then, the woman looked at a flowerpot sitting next to her. The researchers found that when the woman looked at and spoke directly to a dog, the dog usually followed her eyes to the flowerpot. It proved that the dogs knew that the woman was thinking about the flowerpot.
“By following the eye movements of dogs, we were able to get a first-hand look at how their minds are actually working,” said Jozsef, the senior researcher.
Later in the movie, the woman said “Hi dogs” in a low voice and didn’t look at the dog before looking at the flowerpot. In that situation, the dogs didn’t seem to understand what the woman was thinking. There was no eye contact, and the woman didn’t appear to speak to the dogs directly.
That comes as no surprise to dog trainer Jones. “Dogs normally speak through nonverbal signals. It’s more natural to them,” she said. “If you’ve ever watched dogs at a dog park, you’ve seen it. Within 30 seconds they enter the park, much information has passed between the new dog and the ones already in the park. They’re exchanging looks, observing eyes and body posture. On the other hand, when you speak to a dog, they are learning a foreign language.”
Picking up your nonverbal signals seems more natural. So, if you were hoping that all this means your dog could help you solve your math problems, you’re probably out of luck. But he or she might be a lot more in tune with what you’re thinking than you previously thought.
【小題1】How could the researchers find that the dogs understood the woman’s intention?

A．By speaking to them directly.

B．By reading their eye movements.

C．By following their facial expressions.

D．By asking the dog trainer questions.

【小題2】According to the text, Jones finds that ______.

A．dogs usually speak through verbal signals

B．dogs learn a great deal more at a dog park

C．dogs can understand humans’ words easily

D．dogs speak through eyes and body language

【小題3】It is implied in the text that dogs can read your emotions only if ______.

A．you manage to get their attention

B．you like making friends with them

C．you are familiar with their behavior

D．you can pick up their verbal signals

【小題4】What does the underlined phrase “be in tune with” in the last paragraph mean?

A．refuse

B．a(chǎn)pprove

C．understand

D．love

Warm water freezes（結(jié)冰） more quickly than cold water. Sir Francis Bacon said that almost four hundred years ago. But few people believed him until 1970. In that year a Canadian scientist George Kill proved the English professor was right. Dr Kill filled an open oil pail(桶) with cold water. He filled another with warm water. He put both in the same low temperature. The warm water froze first. The lack of covers on the pails is the secret. Some of the warm water changed into vapor. This meant that less of the warm water was left to be frozen. And so the warm water froze faster than the cold water even though it had a greater temperature drop to make.
【小題1】Hundreds of years ago, Sir Francis Bacon found _______.

A．the temperature of warm water drops faster than that of cold water

B．warm water is heavier than cold water

C．warm water has the same temperature as cold water

D．warm water is not as useful as cold water

【小題2】What Sir Francis Bacon said was right, but people didn't believe him until _______.

A．late in the 19th century	B．early in the 20th century
C．three years ago	D．late in the 20th century

【小題3】Leave a pail with warm water and another pail with cold water in the same low temperature, you’ll find that _______.

A．cold water freezes first

B．warm water turns into ice before cold water

C．warm water and cold water freeze at the same time

D．much of cold water is changed into air.

【小題4】Why does warm water freeze first in the same freezing weather?

A．Because some of the warm water turns to vapor, the amount(數(shù)量) becomes less than that of cold water.

B．Because warm water is lighter than cold water.

C．Because the temperature of warm water is lower than that of cold water.

D．Because cold water freezes with more difficulty than warm water.

2010 was the year the Earth struck back.
Earthquakes, heat waves, floods, volcanoes, super typhoons, blizzards (暴風雪), landslides and droughts killed at least a quarter million people in 2010 – the deadliest year in more than a generation. More people were killed worldwide by natural disasters this year than have been killed in terrorism attacks in the past 40 years combined.
“It just seemed like it was back-to-back(接二連三) and it came in waves,” said Craig Fugate, who heads the US Federal Emergency Management Agency. It handled a record number of disasters in 2010.
“The term “100-year event’ really lost its meaning this year.”
And we have ourselves to blame most of the time, scientists and disaster experts say.
Even though many disasters have the ring of random chance, the hand of man made this a particularly deadly, costly, extreme and strange year for everything from wild weather to earthquakes.
Poor construction and development practices make earthquakes more deadly than they need be. More people live in poverty in vulnerable buildings（危房） in crowded cities. That means that when the ground shakes, the river floods, or the tropical cyclone hits, more people die.
Disasters from the Earth, such as earthquakes and volcanoes “are pretty much constant,” said Andreas Schraft, vice president of catastrophic perils for the Geneva-based insurance giant Swiss Re. “All the change that’s made is man-made.”
The January earthquake that killed well more than 220,000 people in Haiti is a perfect example. Port-au-Prince has nearly three times as many people – many of them living in poverty- and more poorly built shanties(棚戶區(qū)) ,than it did 25 years ago. So had the same quake hit in 1985 instead of 2010; total deaths would have probably been in the 80,000 range, said Richard Olson, director of disaster risk reduction at Florida International University.
Climate scientists say Earth’s climate also is changing thanks to man-made global warming, bringing extreme weather, such as heat waves and flooding.
The excessive(過多的) amount of extreme weather that dominated 2010 is a classic sign of man-made global warming that climate scientists have long warned about. They calculate that the killer Russian heat wave – setting a national record of 111 degrees – would happen once every 100,000 years without global warming.
Data show that 18 countries broke their records for the hottest day ever.
“The Earth strikes back in response to bad human decision-making,” said Debarati Guha Sapir.” “It’s almost as if the policies, the government policies and development policies, are helping the Earth strike back instead of protecting from it. We’ve created conditions where the slightest thing the Earth does is really going to have a surprising impact.” White House science adviser John Holdren said we should get used to climate disasters or do something about global warming. “The science is clear that we can expect more and more of these kinds of damaging events unless and until society has sharply reduced the amount of heat-trapping gases and particles(顆粒).”
【小題1】From paragraph 1 to paragraph 3, we learn   ___________________________.

A．what natural disasters mean to the people all over the world

B．how terrorism attacks struck in the past four decades

C．how the Earth struck back in 2010

D．why the world saw so many disasters in 2010

【小題2】The author gives the example of the big earthquake in Haiti to show that     ___________ .

A．poor construction largely accounts for more deaths than expected

B．man’s behaviours are to blame for the constant occurrence of natural disasters

C．the extreme weather mainly contributes to the disaster of the quake

D．the country’s poverty and over- crowdedness results in the disaster

【小題3】 Which of the following would Debarati Guha Sapir most probably agree with?

A．Environment protection should be taken into account in policy-making.

B．Natural disasters are causing increase.

C．The earth wouldn’t strike back but for the destruction by man.

D．Conditions should be created to rid the influence of disasters.

【小題4】 According to John Holdren, the best way to cut back on the number of natural disasters is    __________________ .

A．to forecast the happening of natural disasters accurately

B．to build stronger houses that can stand severe earthquakes and floods

C．to make better decisions and policies of city development

D．to send out much fewer greenhouse gases and particles

【小題5】What is the real concern of the writer of this article?

A．The major causes of natural disasters.

B．The human unawareness of environment protection.

C．The harmonious relationship between humans and nature.

D．The serious results of global warming and earthquakes.