Man, a land animal. But he is also closely tied to the sea. Throughout history the sea has served the needs of man. The sea has provided man with food and a convenient way to travel to many parts of the world. Today, nearly two-thirds of the world’s population live within 80 kilometers of the sea coast.
In the modern technological world, the sea offers many resources to help mankind survive. Resources on land are beginning to be used up. The sea, however, still can be hoped to supply many of man’s needs.
The list of riches of the sea yet to be developed by man’s technology is big. Oil and gas explorations have been carried out for nearly 30 years. Valuable amounts of minerals exist on the ocean floor ready to be mined.
Fish farming promises to be a good way to produce large quantities of food. The culture of fish and shellfish (貝類動(dòng)物) is an ancient skill practised in the past mainly by Oriental people, including people in China.
Besides oil and gas, the sea may offer new sources of energy. Experts believe that the warm temperature of the ocean can be used in a way similar to the steam in a steamship. Ocean currents and waves offer possible use as a source of energy.
Technology is enabling man to explore ever more deeply under the sea. The development of strong, new materials has made this possible.
The technology to harvest the sea continues to improve. Experts believe that by the year 2020 the problems that prevent us from exploiting（開發(fā)） fully the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea will be largely solved.
【小題1】Valuable amounts of minerals are ______.

A．in the ocean water	B．in the warm ocean water
C．on the sea coast	D．on the ocean floor

【小題2】We can conclude from this passage that ______.

A．the sea resources have largely been used up

B．the sea, in the broad sense, has not yet been developed

C．the problems that prevent us from using the food, minerals, and energy sources of the sea have already been solved.

D．by the year 2020 , the technology will be good enough to exploit all the sea resources

【小題3】The underlined words “Oriental people” in the fourth paragraph probably mean ______.

A．the people in Asia	B．African people
C．European people	D．American people

【小題4】The best title for this passage is ______.

A．Sea Harvest	B．Sea Food
C．Technology for Exploiting the Sea	D．Man and the Sea

LG Electronics, the world’s fourth largest cell phone producer, has added another feature to the mobile phone-reading books for the visually impaired(弱視的). The company started marketing the model, the LF1300 on Sep.18. No other people but the blind and visually-impaired with a certificate(證書) can buy the talking phone at sales shops of LG Electronics.
“The LF1300 is the world’s first mobile phone that is capable of reading books for the print-disabled, who otherwise could not enjoy them. This is not about making money but about continuing to put froth efforts to reduce the digital difference for the disabled,” LG Vice President said.
Its users can download about 300 audio (聲音的) books from the Internet site of LG Sangam Library to their phones for free in two ways. One is to access the digital library’s Website on a computer designed for the blind to get the audio books and transfer them to cell phones. The other is to download the digital books directly with cell phones through the wireless net work by touching a hot key on the LF1300 phone. www.zxxk.com
On top of its unique feature of reading books, the LF1300 is no worse than the popular top-line phones in both outlooks and functionalities(功能性). The phone is armed with an MP3 player and a Bluetooth headset, enabling users to listen to the music or talk without a cord. The user interface（界面) of the LF1300 is also designed for the blind, enabling phone users to control it through a voice guidance system.
However, because the phone’s internal memory of 17MB is small even for a single audio book file, which takes up 80MB on average, a high-volume external memory is a must for the talking book services.
【小題1】          are allowed to buy the talking phone.

A．Disabled people with a certificate

B．All the blind and poor-sighted people

C．The blind and poor-sighted with a certificate

D．Both healthy and disabled citizens

【小題2】 The users can download audio books on LF1300 by         .

A．talking to the microphone

B．touching any key

C．touching its screen

D．touching the hot key

【小題3】What can be learned from the passage?

A．This is the first time LG Company has done something for the disabled.

B．Phone users don’t have to pay much to download the digital books.

C．LF1300 has a less attractive outlook than any other top-line phone.

D．The disadvantage of LF1300 is that it has too small internal memory.

【小題4】The best title of the passage might be         .

A．A New Type of Cell Phone is on the Market

B．Mobile Phones Can Read Books for the Print-Disabled

C．The Disabled will Benefit from Cell Phone Producers

D．Advanced Technology Helps the Blind Read Books

Of all the animals in the animal kingdom, which one (aside from man) is the cleverest?
There are several ways of measuring the intelligence of animals. In one test a scientist sets three same cans on a table. While the animal watches, he puts food under one of the cans. Then he leads the animal away. Some time later, he brings it back to see if it remembers which can has the food. No smelling is allowed; the animal must go directly to the correct can or it fails.
This is called a delayed-response test. The idea is to find out how long an animal’s memory can keep information. The scientists would try showing the cans to the animal one hour later, or two hours later, or even a full day later. They discovered that chimpanzees and elephants have the best memory, and were able to remember the correct can for at least twenty hours. No other animal is close. Dogs came next, but they only remember for nine hours.
To settle the matter, the scientists designed a huge maze (迷宮) and ran the chimps and elephants through it. The maze was very difficult, with many blind paths and dead ends. It took the chimps ten minutes to find their way out. The elephants needed half an hour. Even allowing for the elephants’ slower rate of speed, the test shows that chimpanzees are the cleverest animals.
From this and other tests, the scientists drew the following conclusion: an animal’s intelligence depends on the size of its brain in proportion (比例) to the size of its body. The elephant’s brain weighs ten pounds. But this is only 1/600th of its 6,000 pounds body. A chimp’s brain weighs about one pound, or 1/120th of its total body weight. So in proportion to its body size, the chimp has four times as much brain as the elephant----more brain for less body. The chimp is the champ!
【小題1】Which is the best title?

A．The Elephant’s Memory	B．The Cleverest Animal
C．Judging Intelligence	D．The Chimp’s Brain

【小題2】The main idea of this passage is that _____.

A．there are several ways of measuring the intelligence of animals

B．chimps and elephants have the best memory

C．intelligence tests show that the chimp is the cleverest animal

D．the scientists designed a huge maze and ran the chimps and elephants through it

【小題3】 The delayed-response test is designed to test an animal’s _____.

A．eyesight

B．intelligence

C．learning ability

D．memory

【小題4】The passage tells that elephants _____.

A．never forget things	B．a(chǎn)re more clever than chimps
C．a(chǎn)re slower-moving than chimps	D．have better memories than chimps

【小題5】According to the passage, a rhinoceros (犀牛) that weighs 2100 pounds, and has a 3-pound brain is _____.

A．a(chǎn)s clever as a chimp	B．more clever than an elephant
C．less clever than an elephant	D．a(chǎn)s clever as an elephant

If you want to stay young, sit down and have a good think. This is the research finding of a team of Japanese doctors, who say that most of our brains are not getting enough exercise and, as a result, we are growing old unnecessarily soon.
Professor Taiju Matsuzawa wanted to find out why quite healthy in northern Japan appeared to be losing their ability to think and reason at a rather early age, and how the speed of getting old could be slowed down.
With a team of researchers at Tokyo National University, he set about measuring brain volumes of a thousand people of different ages with different jobs. Computer technology helped the researchers to get most exact measurements of the volume of the front and side parts of the brain, which have something to do with intellect and feelings, and decide the human character. As we all know, the back part of the brain, which controls task like eating and breathing, does not contract with age.
Contraction of front and side parts—as cells die off—was seen in some people in their thirties, but it was still not found in some sixty and seventy-year-olds.
Matsuzawa concluded from his tests that there is a simple way to prevent the contraction—using the head.
The findings show that contraction of the brain begins sooner in people in the country than in the towns. “Those with least possibility,” says Matsuzawa, “are lawyers, followed by university professors and doctors. White collar workers doing the same work day after day in government offices are, however, as possible to have contracting brains as the farm worker, bus driver and shop assistant.”
【小題1】The team of doctors wanted to find out _____.

A．a(chǎn)t what point people grow mentally old

B．how to make people live longer

C．the size of certain people’s brains

D．which people are the most clever

【小題2】Their research findings are based on _____.

A．a(chǎn)n examination of farmers in northern Japan

B．tests given on a thousand old people

C．examining the brain volumes of different people

D．using computer technology

【小題3】The doctors’ tests show that _____.

A．our brains contract as we grow older

B．one part of the brain does not contract

C．sixty-year-olds have better brains than thirty-year-olds

D．some people’s brains have contracted earlier than other people’s

【小題4】The most possible conclusion of the passage is that _____.

A．most of us take more exercise

B．it’s better to live in the town

C．the brain contracts if it is not used

D．the more one uses his brain, the sooner he becomes old

What if we could replace oil with a fuel which produced no pollution and which everybody had equal access to?The good news is that we can, In fact, we are swimming in it—literally.
Hydrogen is one of the building blocks of the universe ,Our own sun is basically ,a big ,dense cloud of the stuff ,And hydrogen can be used to create electricity for power ,heat and light.
The problem is that hydrogen is everywhere and nowhere at the same time , It does not exist as a material on its own ,but is always part of something else, So it has to be separated before it can be used.
Most commercial hydrogen in use now is created from natural gas , As oil will start to run out in around the year 2030.,it makes sense to produce as much hydrogen as possible as soon as we can ,But natural gas supplies will also begin to run out soon after, Another source is needed.
Researchers are now using electricity to make water into hydrogen ,Companies are working on the problem in their own areas ,The first commercial hydrogen ,”fuel cells”for computers and mobile phones have already come on to the market ,Auto companies have also invested over US ＄2billion in the production of hydrogen fuelled cars
Thd nations of a hydrogen fuelled planet would not fight over evergy recourses, There would be a great reduction in pollution ,The only by-product of creating hydrogen is pure drinking water—something that is very scarce in many parts of the world ,But that is not where the good news ends, Once the costs of producing hydrogen have been brought down ,it will possibly provide power for a third of the Earth ‘s population that has no electricity.
And electricity creates wealth, In South A frica over the last decade there has been a large programme of electrification, Thanks to the programme , people do not have to spend their days looking firewood to burn for heat, And with electric light , they can work long into the night.
Some scientists see radical changes in the way the human race co-operates, Hydrogen creates clectricity, and is also created by it. With dual use fuel cells, everyone who consumes energy could also produce it ,Late at night, a man drives home in London and connects his car into the “world-wide hydrogen web”, which it supplies with electricity ,A few hours later, a man in Beijing uses that electricity to power the hydrogen cell in his car, Hydrogen could be the first democratic energy source.
Like all dreams of the future, it seems very far away, But the threat of war and terrorism in the Middle East has made governments and businesses more aware of the need to edn oil dependency and spend more time and money on hydrogen resource, So maybe the threat of war is not a completely bad thing for the future of the human race.
【小題1】What does the underlined word “it”in the last but one paragraph refer to?

A．wealth

B．hydrogen

C．electricity

D．fuel

【小題2】What is the problem with using hydrogen as energy?

A．It has by-products

B．It has to be separated from other materials

C．It will make energy too cheap

D．It is too far away from us

【小題3】Why does the author give the example in the last but one paragraph?

A．To tell us that we produce energy while using hydrogen power

B．To tell us that hydrogen power does not produce pollution

C．To show hydrogen power can stop war

D．To show hydrogen power is cheap

【小題4】What is the author’s attitude about the future?

A．skeptical

B．negative

C．indifferent

D．positive

【小題5】What is the passage mainly about?

A．war and energy

B．the future of hydrogen as an energy resource

C．the disadvantages of oil

D．How to end war

Babies who are slow to gain weight in the first months of their lives generally catch up to their peers by age 13,a large UK study shows, Researchers said the results would make parents whose babies fail to put on weight quickly less worried.
The researchers looked at data from ,11,499 children who took part in a large study, It showed that 507 who were slow to gain weight in the first eight weeks of life recovered fairly quickly and had almost caught up by age 2. Another group of 480 who were slow to gain between eight weeks and nine months continued to put on weight slowly until they were seven years ,but then had a sudden increase and caught up by age 13, The different pattems of recovery between the two groups were likely due to different reasons for slow weight gain ,the researchers said, All the children were still lighter and shorter than their peers by the time they were teenagers ,but within the normal range.
The findings highlight the importance of monitoring a baby’s weight and height gain during the first few weeks and months ,but not creating anxiety with parents of slow-growing babies, said the study leader Prof Alan Emond from the University of Bristol.
“In the past, a lot of parents have been caused unnecessary anxiety by heaith professionals and this is a positive and reassuring message.”He said in many cases of slow growth where children do not follow the standard’curve’(曲線)it is just because they are following their genetic potential.
Dr Simon Newell, vice-president of the Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health, said he broadly agreed with the concluslons of the researchers but stressed that poor weight gain was something that needed to be monitored closely, “I would encourage parents to use growth charts but if measurements show your baby is smaller than averager it may be completely normal, ”he said.
【小題1】What can we know from the findings of the research?

A．All the cases of slow weight gain in the first months of the babies’ lives are caused by the same reason

B．Slow-growing babies will have the same height and weight with their peers by age13

C．Many cases of children whose growth don’t meet the growing standard curve cannot be treated as abnormal

D．The findings won’t cause parents’ anxiety so monitoring a baby’s growth from his/her birth is unnecessary

【小題2】Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A．It’s important to monitor a baby’s weight and height gain for new parents

B．New parents should feel anxious about their baby’s weight and height gain

C．Researches still couldn’t find the reasons for slow weight gain

D．All the children’s weight and height became normal by age 13

【小題3】What does the underlined word in the fourth paragraph mean?

A．Making sure something is certain to be true

B．Making someone calmer and less anxious

C．Confirming something is to happen again

D．Being sure that someone can be attracted

【小題4】Which of the statements would Dr Simon Newell agree to?

A．To some degree, growth charts can help parents monitor their babies’ weight gain

B．It’s abnormal for babies are smaller than average

C．He agreed with the researchers completely

D．Babies’ weight gain can only be monitored and measured by using growth charts.

【小題5】The writer wrote this passage in order to        

A．tell us how to help babies grow faster

B．explain why babies are gain weight slowly

C．report on the findings of a research

D．reduce the anxiety of some parents

As rain begins to fall from the clouds, it is very pure. However, as it falls through the air it dissolves some of the gases in the air ,It also collects bits of dust and microbes(微生物)that are floating in the air, When the rain reaches the ground it begins to pick up more dust and dirt, Many kinds of mineral substances dissolve in the water ,Sand and nud cannot dissolve in water.
Since water is so important to us, it is very important that the water we use should be clean , Otherwise, we might get some of the diseases that are carried by water Many microbes are harmful ,They are so small that we cannot see them ,These microbes must be removed or killed before the water is not clean, people who drink this water may get these diseases, Thus , to provide people with clean water, the government purifies the water.
Purification is a long process and consists of three stages: storing ,purifying and distributing ,The first stage is storing , Man-made lakes called reservoirs are used for this purpose ,Water from the rains ,other lakes, streams and rivers is collected in the reservoirs ,This water is usually dirty and muddy.
In the second stage shich is purifying , water from the reservoirs is filtered in a special pond, Stones, sand and other unwanted tiny things are caught in it, After that, tiny microbes are still present in the water ,These microbes are removed by “airing ”the water and by adding a chemical substance called chloring(氯)to the water ,This kills all the microbes in the water ,A fter this the water can be safely used for drinking.
The third stage is the distribution of the purified water to homes ,hospitals, offices ,factories and other places, This is done through a network of pipes of various sizes, These pipes must be make of a suitable material.
【小題1】From Paragraph 1, we can learn that           

A．Rain has contained gases when it forms in the clouds

B．Dust and microbes are dissolved in rain when rain falls on the ground

C．The closer rain is to the ground, the more impure things it contains

D．Sand and mud are things rain collects when it falls through the air

【小題2】According to Paragraph 2 ,the following statements are wrong except that        

A．All the microbes in water are harmful so water must be purified

B．some diseases can spread through drinking water if it is not clean

C．Water is safe to drink if only harmful microbes are removed from it

D．it is the govrnment’s responsibility to make drinking water clean

【小題3】What can we know about man-made lakes?

A．It is used through the whole process of purification

B．Only rain water can be collected and stored in it

C．Water collected can be stored and filtered in it

D．Water from them contains a lot of impure substances

【小題4】What is the function of the chemical substance chlorine?

A．to air the water	B．to catch tiny things
C．to kill microbes	D．to remove harmful gases

【小題5】What is probably this passage?

A．A news report

B．A book review

C．A magazine article

D．A school paper

Some snakes eat other snakes, even poisonous ones. The poison does not do them any harm(傷害). Snakes can swallow(吞下) things that are bigger around than they themselves are. This is possible because the jawbones(腭骨) are loosely joined, and the mouth can stretch（伸展）to make room for a fat animal. The snake’s slim body stretches to make space for the animal when it is inside.
Many snakes eat birds’ eggs or frogs（青蛙）. Others eat pests（害蟲）, mice and other animals that harm crops on farms. Because snakes do this valuable work, you should never kill one. It is too dangerous for you to kill a poisonous one. Leave that job to experts.
【小題1】 Which of the following groups of food is usually had by a snake?

A．Mice, crops, birds’ eggs.

B．Pests, frogs, some animals, plants.

C．Birds’ eggs, frogs, all animals, other snakes.

D．Mice, frogs, pests, some animals, other snakes.

【小題2】We should not kill a snake because       

A．it is poisonous

B．it can do something useful for man

C．it will strike you in return

D．we are not experts

【小題3】Snakes may do some valuable work by       

A．eating pests, mice and some harmful animals

B．doing harm to other animals

C．eating birds’ eggs and frogs

D．both A and C

【小題4】In writing this passage the writer mainly wants us to       

A．have a better impression(印象) about snakes

B．like snakes

C．kill snakes with the help of experts

D．regard snakes as one of man’s best friends

Early one morning, more than a hundred years ago, an American inventor called Elias Howe finally fell asleep. He had been working all night on the design of a sewing machine but he had run into a very difficult problem: It seemed impossible to get the thread to run smoothly around the needle.      
Though he was tired, Howe slept badly. He turned and turned. Then he had a dream. He dreamt that he had been caught by terrible savages whose king wanted to kill him and eat him unless he could build a perfect sewing machine. When he tried to do so, Howe ran into the same problem as before. The thread kept getting caught around the needle. The king flew into the cage and ordered his soldiers to kill Howe. They came up towards him with their spears raised. But suddenly the inventor noticed something. There was a hole in the tip of each spear. The inventor awoke from the dream, realizing that he had just found the answer to the problem. Instead of trying to get the thread to run around the needle, he should make it run through a small hole in the center of the needle. This was the simple idea that finally made Howe design and build the first really practiced sewing machine.
Elias Howe was not the only one in finding the answer to his problem in this way.
Thomas Edison, the inventor of the electric light, said his best ideas came into him in dreams. So did the great physicist Albert Einstein. Charlotte Bronte also drew in her dreams in writing Jane Eyre.
To know the value of dreams, you have to understand what happens when you are asleep. Even then, a part of your mind is still working. This unconscious(無意識(shí)的), but still active part understands your experiences and goes to work on the problems you have had during the day. It stores all sorts of information that you may have forgotten or never have really noticed. It is only when you fall asleep that this part of the brain can send messages to the part you use when you are awake. However, the unconscious part acts in a special way. It uses strange images which the conscious part may not understand at first. This is why dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves”.
【小題1】According to the passage, Elias Howe was________.

A．the first person we know of who solved problems in his sleep

B．much more hard-working than other inventors

C．the first person to design a sewing machine that really worked

D．the only person at the time who knew the value of dreams

【小題2】The problem Howe was trying to solve was________.

A．what kind of thread to use

B．how to design a needle which would not break

C．where to put the needle

D．how to prevent the thread from getting caught around the needle

【小題3】Thomas Edison is spoken of because________.

A．he also tried to invent a sewing machine

B．he got some of his ideas from dreams

C．he was one of Howe’s best friends

D．he also had difficulty in falling asleep

【小題4】Dreams are sometimes called “secret messages to ourselves” because ________.

A．strange images are used to communicate ideas

B．images which have no meaning are used

C．we can never understand the real meaning

D．only specially trained people can understand them

Look, this is the first plane in the world to be created using the new technology of “3D printing”. The airplane was built using only a computer—but it can fly at a speed of 100mph and has a two-meter wingspan.
It was produced using a special nylon laser printer that builds up something layer-by-layer. The parts were made separately and attached using a “snap fit” technique so the aircraft could be put together without tools in minutes.
No fasteners at all were used in the manufacture of the plane. Unmanned and electrically powered, the plane can travel in near silence and is also equipped with a small autopilot system. The special production process used is known as “l(fā)aser sintering(激光燒結(jié))”and allows the designers to create shapes and structures that would normally include costly manufacturing techniques. This technology allows a highly-tailored aircraft to be developed from your own design to first flight in days, while using traditional materials and techniques would take months. And because no tooling is required for manufacture, major changes to the shape and scale of the aircraft can be made with no extra cost.
Professor Jim Scanlon, who led the team, said, “The process allows the design team to revisit historical techniques and ideas that would have been too expensive using traditional manufacturing.” He added, “This form of structure is very firm and lightweight, but very complex. If it was manufactured traditionally it would require a large number of individually tailored parts that would have to be connected or fastened at great expense.”
The new printed plane is known as the Southampton University Laser Sintered Aircraft—or SULSA for short—and is part of a wider project using cutting-edge manufacturing techniques. The University of Southampton has been at the leading position of Unmanned Aerial Vehicle development since the early 1990s.
【小題1】Which of the following would be the best title for the text?
A. Revolutionary Breakthrough of 3D Printer
Scientists Create Aircraft with High Speed
C. New Designed Airplane with New Techniques.
D. The World’s first 3-D printed Airplane, SULSA
【小題2】How could the plane work while flying?

A．It should be controlled by an autopilot system.

B．It should be controlled by “l(fā)aser sintering”.

C．A pilot controls it using a remote control.

D．A pilot with high techniques controlled it.

【小題3】This kind of plane has the following advantages EXCEPT ______.

A．it produces little noise while flying

B．it is manufactured in quite a short time

C．it only requires simple and cheap tools

D．it needn’t extra cost if changes are made

【小題4】Professor Jim Scanlon believes they can _____ with their techniques.

A．produce firmer and lighter real planes easily

B．connect and fasten tailor parts for real planes

C．copy earlier planes to study their techniques

D．find differences by studying the traditional ones