Chicken feathers are useful, and not just to a chicken. Some go into pillows, coats and other products. But countless chicken feathers go to waste.
In the United States, billions of chickens are produced yearly. Most of their feathers are thrown away.
But instead of being buried in land, some feathers could find a future in plastics（塑料）.
One of the products they have developed is a flowerpot（花盆）. It may look like other flowerpots. But the container breaks down in the earth within one to five years. And as it breaks down, it naturally becomes nutrient（營(yíng)養(yǎng)物） in the soil.
The environmentally friendly flowerpot is the work of two researchers. Walter Schmidt is with the Agricultural Research Service, part of the United States Agriculture Department. Masud Huda is with the Horticultural Research Institute, a private（私人） organization（組織）.
Walter Schmidt has been working to find uses for chicken feathers since the 1990s. Progress in 2002 showed that plastic made from feathers could be formed like other plastics.
He says feathers are much stronger and last（持續(xù)） longer than another plant material. "Feathers are stronger. By design, feathers are also more durable（耐用的）. And the other part about it is if feathers were twice as heavy, or half as strong, then birds couldn't fly."
He points out that traditional flowerpots made from other plastics can last much longer. But he wonders if there is really a need. He says most flowerpots are never re-used.
"Why would you want a plastic that you use for a year to last for two hundred years? It makes no sense. You want to match the product with the use." said Walter Schmidt.
Walter Schmidt and Masud Huda are now adding another chicken product to their flowerpots -- chicken waste. The waste will add more nutrients to the soil as the pot breaks down. The scientists say they hope their flowerpot will be on the market in a year or two.
【小題1】What do people mainly deal with feathers?

A．Feathers are used to make pillows, coats and other products.

B．Most feathers are paid no attention to.

C．Most feathers are used as nutrient

D．Most feathers are used to make flowerpots

【小題2】What’s the advantage of the flowerpots?

A．They won’t last long.	B．They can’t break
C．They are environmentally friendly	D．They can be reused

【小題3】What does Walter Schmidt think of traditional flowerpots?

A．Too heavy	B．Too old
C．Never re-used	D．lasting longer but unnecessary

【小題4】What do you think is the main idea of the passage?

A．Chicken and its feathers	B．How to deal with feathers
C．feathers made into flowerpot	D．New flowerpots

Wildlife faces threats(威脅)from habitat destruction, pollution, and other human actions. Although protecting wildlife may seem too hard at times, even small actions in your own neighborhood can help protect many different animals. Here are some tips on how to protect wildlife through small actions.
1．Create wildlife friendly areas in your backyard.
When trying to make your garden more beautiful, you can choose plants that can provide food and shelter to native wildlife. This will also help cut down on pollution. And bird or bat houses to your yard or garden to attract and shelter these species.
2．Avoid harming the natural ecosystem(生態(tài)系統(tǒng))in your area.
Some plants from other places can kill or harm native plants that provide food and shelter for wildlife.
3．Have a greener lifestyle.
By using less water and fewer fuels, you will be helping to protect the wildlife around you. Take buses or the subway when you can, turn off electric devices when you're not using them, take shorter showers, and keep your room temperature at or below 68 degrees during the winter.
4．Buy products that are wildlife friendly.
Don't buy products that are made from endangered animals. Keep in mind that some endangered animals are killed by traps, catches or hunters who are after other wildlife within the same habitat.
5．Donate money or time to organizations that protect wildlife and their habitats. 
You can give money to organizations or groups that protect wildlife species in your neighborhood.
【小題1】We infer that the purpose of this passage is to________.

A．tell us why protecting wildlife is extremely important now

B．suggest that we protect wildlife through actions

C．explain why protecting wildlife is not as hard as people think

D．give us some tips on how to protect wildlife through small actions

【小題2】Which of the following threats to wildlife is NOT mentioned in the passage?

A．Animal diseases.

B．Loss of habitat.

C．Pollution.

D．Hunters.

【小題3】In which section of a newspaper would you most probably read this passage?

A．Environment	B．Teaching
C．Business	D．Geography

If you get a cellphone call, your sleeve(袖子) will soon be able to answer it. If you want to know how far you’ve run, your trousers will be able to tell you. Can’t decide what to wear? Wish your clothes were smart enough to decide for you? A new computer science technology may be able to help your clothing to do just that.
Mark Jones, a computer scientist, says, "We view electronic textiles (電子紡織品) as, sort of, where computing meets the fabric (編織品)."
This high-tech marriage is bringing up the wearable computers, like trousers that can interpret movement and let a computer know your every move.
A loom (織布機(jī)) helps make the wires and fabric together. Then special equipment in the fabric can measure the speed. Signals are then sent from the trousers to a computer to show the process.
Tom Martin also says, "E-textiles are a way for us to build wearable computers that look like normal clothing and can fit in fully with the environment."
Researchers also hope wearable computers will help save lives. "We will be able to tell what activity a person is doing. That sort of information is highly valuable when we’re trying to monitor someone with a long-term illness such as heart disease," Jones says. Monitoring your every step is something that clever clothing can do a little easier. Researchers plan on developing more smart clothes to integrate computers into shirts, hats and gloves.
【小題1】What does the underlined word "marriage" refer to in the passage?

A．The special equipment in the fabric used to measure the speed of our movement.

B．The unity（結(jié)合）of fabric and computing materials to make smart clothes.

C．Wearable computers which fit in with the environment.

D．The influence of electronics and computer science technology.

【小題2】How will smart clothes be able to know the wearer’s every movement?

A．There are the wires and fabric together.

B．There are signals in the smart clothes.

C．The computer built into them will control their every movement.

D．The clothing will have special equipment fixed into the fabric.

【小題3】The reason that people need smart clothes is that __________.

A．people are too lazy to decide what to wear

B．scientists want to prove their intelligence

C．smart clothes can provide information about the wearer’s health

D．smart clothes are as cheap as normal clothes

【小題4】What is the best title for the passage?

A．Connecting Clothes with High Technology

B．New Ways to Discover Illnesses Early

C．How to Use a Computer

D．Smart Clothes and Exercise

Not long ago the movie 2012 came into screen．The people were threatened by those scenes of destroying flood, severe earthquake, terrifying hurricane and constructions representing human civilization being destroyed and even swallowed by disaster．Luckily, they are just the director' s imagination, but the present situation is not heading a positive direction, either．
Take my own experience in Alaska as an example．Once I took a trip to the glacier．Along the way there stood signposts marking the snow lines of different years．They started from the foot of the mountain, but it was at the top that I finally saw melting glaciers（融化的冰川）．My heart ached seeing the beautiful blue ice melting at every second．
Sad but true, they are the effects of global warming and the result of our human impact．Furthermore, each year the rising sea level will kill 56 million people, and that' s about the population of the entire Italy．According to studies, if the temperature keeps on rising like this, by the year 2050, some islands and coastal cities including New York, Shanghai, Tokyo and Sydney will be drowned in water．
Our fortune is in our own hands．It depends on us to shape our future, to reduce future human impact and find ways to form a peaceful relationship with our environment. Therefore, it's time for actions to be taken right now．Contribute a little to energy saving by using more efficient light bulbs and less hot water．Let recycle become our habit by thinking twice before throwing something away．Let us take public transportation as our first choice when going to a certain place．It might cost more time for now, but it' s to the benefit of a permanent future．Take care of every tree and grass around us by watering them or simply just avoid destroying them．
In a word, small drops of water make a big ocean． The earth does not belong to us．On the contrary, we belong to the earth． Please bear in mind that the earth is our home．It is our responsibility to build a brighter and better future of our planet and prevent what happened in the movie 2012 from becoming reality．                
【小題1】Why does the author talk about the movie 2012 in the passage ? __________.

A．To give example．	B．To lead into the topic．
C．To make prediction．	D．To provide the evidence．

【小題2】How did the author feel when he took a trip to the glacier? ____________.

A．Worried．

B．Puzzled．

C．Scared．

D．Bored．

【小題3】It can be inferred from the third paragraph that          .

A．56 million people in Italy have been killed owing to the rising sea level

B．Some islands and coastal cities will be drowned in water by the year of 2050

C．Human beings will be in danger if we don't take actions to prevent the global warming

D．It is certain that what happened in the movie 2012 will come into reality

【小題4】According to the passage, you are advised to         .

A．drive our own private cars instead of taking buses to some place

B．recycle everything that is used

C．go to see the movie 2012 at once

D．work together to take good care of our planet

【小題5】What does the author mean by saying "small drops of water make a big ocean"?

A．Think twice before taking action.

B．It's our duty to protect the ocean．

C．Everyone together can make a difference．

D．It's important to save every drop of water．

It’s true that quite a few most respected scientific authorities have confirmed that the world is becoming hotter and hotter. There’s also strong evidence that humans are contributing to the warming. Countless recent reports have proved the same thing. For instance, a 2010 summary about the climate science by the Royal Society noted that: “The global warming over the last half-century has been caused mainly by human activity.”
You may not believe that humans could change the planet’s climate, but the basic science is well understood. Each year, billions of tons of greenhouse gases are released into the atmosphere because of human activity. As has been known for years, these gases hold heat that would otherwise escape to space, wrapping the planet in an invisible (看不見(jiàn)的) blanket.
Of course, the earth’s climate has always been changing due to “natural” factors such as volcanic eruption or changes in solar, or cycles concerning the Earth’s going around the sun. According to the scientific research, however, the warming observed by now matches the pattern of warming we would expect from a build-up of greenhouse gas in the atmosphere – not the warming we would expect from other possible causes.
Even if scientists did discover another reasonable explanation for the warming recorded so far, that would give birth to a difficult question. As Robert Henson puts it: “If some newly discovered factor is to blame for the climate change, then why aren’t carbon dioxide and the other greenhouse gases producing the warming that basic physics tells us they should be?”
The only way to prove with 100% certainty that humans are responsible for global warming would be to run an experiment with two identical Earths – one with human influence and one without. That obviously isn’t possible, and so most scientists are careful not to state human influence as an absolute certainty.
【小題1】In most scientists’ opinion, the global warming is mainly caused by ________.

A．solar activity	B．volcanic activity
C．natural factors	D．human factors

【小題2】The text is developed by ________.

A．giving typical examples

B．following the order of space

C．a(chǎn)nalyzing a theory and arguing it

D．comparing and finding differences

【小題3】The underline word “identical” in the last paragraph probably means ________.

A．totally different	B．exactly the same
C．extremely important	D．partly independent

【小題4】Which of the following is not the cause of climate change?

A．volcanic eruption

B．cycles concerning the Earth’s going around the sun

C．changes in solar

D．floods and droughts

【小題5】Which of the following can be the best title?

A．Are All the Scientists Really Scientific?

B．Where Is Global Warming Leading Us to?

C．Are Humans Definitely Causing Global Warming?

D．What’s the Relation of Global Warming and Greenhouse Gases?

The earth is not the only body that travels around the sun. With it are eight other planets, fellow members of the sun’s family.
Two of them, Mercury (水星) and Venus, are nearer while the other six, namely Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, Uranus, Neptune and Pluto, also in their given order from the sun, are farther from the sun than the earth is. The farther they are, the longer trips they make around the sun. People noticed long ago that these traveling bodies moved around in the sky in definite paths. It is a force called gravity that holds them in their paths.
We know that every little bit of matter in the universe pulls upon every other bit of matter. The pull between two bodies is proportional (成比例的) to the product of their masses. Because the sun is so large the pull between the sun and the planets are thus great. If it were not for this pull, the planets would fly off into space. In the same way there exists a pull between the earth and the moon, which keeps the moon traveling in its orbit around our planet, the earth. Gravity holds you to its surface, and pulls back to it the ball which you throw into the air. Of course the ball also pulls on the larger earth but the earth is so much larger that the pull is not noticed.
Now remember that large bodies exert a greater pull than smaller ones which contain less material. But each object in the universe, no matter how small, pulls on all other objects to some degree.
【小題1】There are ________ that travel around the sun in the sun’s family.

A．nine planets	B．eight planets
C．one star and ten planets	D．the earth and the sun

【小題2】Which two planets make the longest trips around the sun among all the planets in the solar system?

A．Mercury and Venus.	B．Neptune and Pluto.
C．Saturn and Uranus.	D．Mars and Jupiter.

【小題3】From the passage we can see__________

A．a(chǎn)ll the objects, big or small, must exert the same pull on one another

B．large objects exert the same pull on anybody as small objects

C．small objects exert the same on large ones

D．each object in the universe exerts a pull on all other objects

【小題4】From the sentence “The pull between two bodies is proportional to the product of their masses.” We can infer that the pull between__________

A．the sun and the moon is greater than between the sun and the earth

B．the earth and the moon is greater than that between the sun and the earth

C．the sun and the earth is greater than that between the earth and the moon

D．the sun and the earth is the same as that between the earth and the moon

The human body has hundreds of muscles. The three types are skeletal(骨骼的) muscles, smooth muscles and cardiac, or heart muscles. Each kind of muscle has a special job to do. 
The skeletal muscles are attached to the bones; they actually hold the skeleton together. Strong cords, called tendons(肌腱), help connect these muscles to the bones. Skeletal muscles give us strength and allow us to move in many ways. If you look at skeletal muscles through a microscope, you will see that it has bands of fibers that look like stripes(條紋). These stripes are called striations. Skeletal muscles usually move because the brain has sent a conscious message to them telling them what to do. This is called voluntary movement.
Another type of muscle is smooth muscle. Unlike skeletal muscle, smooth muscle does not have striations. This is found in organs such as the stomach, the bladder(膀胱), the lungs and the eyes. Smooth muscles are smaller than the skeletal muscles and they move involuntarily. The brain tells these muscles what to do, but we aren’t even aware of it. For example, we don’t have to think about breathing or digesting food. The smooth muscles just do their jobs automatically. For this reason smooth muscles are sometimes called involuntary muscles.
Like smooth muscle, cardiac muscle also works involuntarily. It is a very thick muscle that is found only in the walls of the heart. Its job is to pump blood out of the heart and into blood vessels called arteries(動(dòng)脈). The arteries help carry the blood to all parts of the body. When the cardiac muscles relax, they let blood back into the heart. Cardiac muscles have striations, just like skeletal muscles do.
【小題1】When we _______, the job is done by smooth muscles.

A．close our eyes

B．kick a ball

C．hug our friends

D．lift a suitcase

【小題2】Skeletal muscles and heart muscles are alike because_______.

A．both can move voluntarily

B．both are thick muscles

C．both are bigger than smooth muscles

D．both have stripes called striations

【小題3】Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Heart muscles are very important because they give us strength and allow us to move.

B．The heart of human beings completely consists of heart muscle.

C．The skeletal muscles are connected to the bones by tendons.

D．Smooth muscle does its work without receiving message from the brain.

Plants are very important 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 seed. 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】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’t live without water

【小題2】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3】What can we infer 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

Look closely at ,your hands-are they clean? It doesn't matter how many times you was  your hands. They're still crowded with microbes, which are also called "germs" or "bacteria". Microbes are everywhere. But don't worry-most microbes don't harm you. and many actually help you stay alive.
Now,  scientists say the microbes that live on our hands could be used in a surprising way: fighting crime.
When police visit the scene of a crime, they often look for fingerprints to try to identifythe criminal.  But according to a recent study, investigators could even use microbes to help break a criminal case.
Every person has his or her own set of microbes that live on their hands, according to scientists at,the University of:Colorado. That means the mix of different kinds of microbes on everybody's hand is unique-much like one's fingerprint.
The scientists wanted to know whether this microbe mix could be used as a new kind of fingerprint-especially in a crime scene where fingerprints might be hard to find.  And policemen use forensics such as studying fingerprints to identify the criminal.
"Microbe fingerprints are harder to hide," said Noah Fierer, one of the scientists.
"You can't sterilize(為……殺菌) a surface just by wiping it off. "
His team compared the bacteria on the hands of 273 people with the bacteria found on each person's computer keyboard. For the study, the keyboards had been used only by the people who were being tested. The study showed that the mix of microbes from each per- son's hands matched the mix of microbes on that person's keyboard. The scientists were easily able to tell the 273 people apart-just by looking at their keyboards.
But there are a lot more than 273 criminals. Other scientists wonder whetherthe microbe fingerprint can really be that useful. 
Fierer agrees that scientists have a lot more work to do before the microbe fingerprint will be a useful tool．
【小題1】According to the passage,  microbes on people's hands_____

A．do more harm than good	B．a(chǎn)re easy to get rid of
C．a(chǎn)re almost the same	D．might help find crimes

【小題2】The underlined word "forensics" in Paragraph 5 probably refers to________.

A．the scientific test used by police

B．a(chǎn) new kind of fingerprint

C．a(chǎn) kind of bacteria'in people's hands

D．a(chǎn) kind of newly invented keyboard

【小題3】What did Fierer's team find through the study?

A．They found the criminal among the 237 people.

B．They could tell who had used which computer.

C．Computer keyboards couldn't keep people's microbe fingerprints.

D．People's characters could be identified by the keyboards they used.

【小題4】We can learn from the passage that ______.

A．your microbes may give you away

B．scientists will come to a clear conclusion soon

C．many scientists think microbe fingerprints useless

D．the microbe fingerprint has been used in many cases

【小題5】The main idea of the passage is about_____.

A．the importance of fingerprints	B．how to clean our hands
C．the usefulness of microbes	D．different germs on our hands

See a cell phone cover that you like on Taobao? Forget about placing an order, paying the bill online and waiting for days for it to be delivered to you. In the near future, you'll be able to get it in minutes just by hitting "print" on your computer.
You might find it hard to believe that you could actually "print" an object like you would a picture. But it is not that hard to understand how it would work. Just as a traditional printer sprays (噴) ink onto paper line by line, modern 3-D printers spread material onto a surface layer by layer, from the bottom to the top, gradually building up a shape.
Instead of ink, the materials the 3-D printer uses are mainly plastic, resin (樹(shù)脂)and certain metals. The thinner each layer is --- from a millimeter to less than the width of a hair ---  the smoother and finer the object will be.
This may sound like a completely new technology, but the truth is that 3-D printing has been around since the late 1980s. Back then, it was hardly affordable for most people, so few knew about it.
Last year, though, saw a big change in the 3-D printing industry--- printers became much cheaper. For example, 10 years ago a desktop 3-D printer might have cost £20,000 (200,000 yuan), while now they cost only about £ 1,000, according to the BBC.
Taken out of the factory and introduced to more diverse and common uses, 3-D printing can create just about anything you can think of ---flutes (笛子), bikinis, jewelry, aircraft parts and even human organs. In fact, scientists from Cornell University in New York have just made an artificial ear using a 3-D printer, according to Science Daily. The fake ear looks and acts exactly like a natural one.
However, as 3-D printing becomes more common, it may bring about certain problems --- such as piracy(盜版). "Once you can download a coffee maker, or print out a new set of kitchen utensils (餐具) on your personal 3-D printer, who will visit a retail (零售的) store again?" an expert in 3-D printing told Forbes News. Even more frightening, what if anyone in the world could use a 3-D printer to print out a fully functioning gun?
【小題1】According to the article, in the future, the 3-D printing technology will ___.

A．enable people to make better purchases online

B．be applied as widely in our daily lives as computers

C．change the way we make many products

D．shorten the time it takes for people to get what they buy online

【小題2】What was the big event happening in the 3-D printing industry last year?

A．The 3-D printing technology was taken out ofthe factory.

B．The 3-D printer became more affordable forconsumers.

C．The 3-D printer was used for medical treatmentfor the first time.

D．3-D printing technology began to be used invarious fields.

【小題3】How is the last paragraph developed?

A．By analyzing a cause and an effect.	B．By making comparisons.
C．By giving examples.	D．By presenting research findings.

【小題4】What is the best title of the passage?

A．Printing out everything	B．Technology in the future
C．Online shopping disappearing	D．Great demand for 3-D printers