Below is a selection from a popular science book.

If blood is red, why are veins (靜脈) blue?

Actually, veins are not blue at all. They are more of a clear, yellowish color. Although blood looks red when it’s outside the body, when it’s sitting in a vein near the surface of the skin, it’s more of a dark reddish purple color. At the right depth, these blood-filled veins reflect less red light than the surrounding skin, making them look blue by comparison.

Which works harder, your heart or your brain?

That kind of depends on whether you’re busy thinking or busy exercising. Your heart works up to three times harder during exercise, and shifts enough blood over a lifetime to fill a supertanker. But, in the long run, your brain probably tips it, because even when you’re sitting still your brain is using twice as much energy as your heart, and it takes four to five times as much blood to feed it.

Why do teeth fall out, and why don’t they grow back in grown-ups?

Baby (or “milk”) teeth do not last long; they fall out to make bigger room for bigger, stronger adult teeth later on. Adult teeth fall out when they become damaged, decayed and infected by bacteria. Once this second set of teeth has grown in, you’re done. When they’re gone, they are gone. This is because nature figures you’re set for life, and what controls regrowth of your teeth switches off.

Do old people shrink as they age?

Yes and no. Many people do get shorter as they age. But, when they do, it isn’t because they’re shrinking all over. They simply lose height as their spine (脊柱) becomes shorter and more curved due to disuse and the effect of gravity (重力). Many (but not all) men and women do lose height as they get older. Men lose an average of 3-4 cm in height as they age, while women may lose 5 cm or more. If you live to be 200 years old, would you keep shrinking till you were, like 60 cm tall, like a little boy again? No, because old people don’t really shrink! It is not that they are growing backwards—their legs, arms and backbones getting shorter. When they do get shorter, it’s because the spine has shortened a little. Or, more often, become more bent and curved.

Why does spinning make you dizzy (眩暈的)?

Because your brain gets confused between what you’re seeing and what you’re feeling. The brain senses that you’re spinning using special gravity-and-motion-sensing organs in your inner ear, which work together with your eyes to keep your vision balance stable. But when you suddenly stop spinning the system goes out of control, and your brain thinks you’re moving while you’re not!

Where do feelings and emotions come from?

Mostly from an ancient part of the brain called the limbic system. All mammals （哺乳動(dòng)物）have this brain area — from mice to dogs, cats, and humans. So all mammals feel basic emotions like fear, pain and pleasure. But since human feelings also involve other, newer bits of the brain, we feel more complex emotions than any other animal on the planet.

If exercise wears you out, how can it be good for you?

Because our bodies adapt to everything we do to them. And as far as your body is concerned, it’s “use it, or lose it”! It’s not that exercise makes you healthy; it’s more that a lack of exercise leaves your body weak and easily affected by disease.

1.What is the color of blood in a vein near the surface of the skin?

A. Blue      B. Light yellow

C. Red        D. Dark reddish purple

2.Why do some old people look a little shrunken as they age?

A. Because their spine is in active use.

B. Because they are more easily affected by gravity.

C. Because they keep growing backwards.

D. Because their spine becomes more bent.

3.Which of the following statements about our brain is true?

A. In the long run, our brain probably works harder than our heart

B. When our brain senses the spinning, we will feel dizzy.

C. The brains of the other mammals are as complex as those of humans.

D. Our feelings and emotions come from the most developed area in our brain.

第三部分：閱讀理解(共20小題, 滿分40分)
The 4th of July is the most important holiday in the United States, for it reminds us of the famous day in 1776. When the Americans declared their independence, congress made the declaration in Philadelphia, and that night in the city there were joyful celebrations which soon became nationwide. Even since, the 4th of July has been marked in the American calendar as Independence Day, and there are parades and festivities of all kinds.
The Declaration of Independence drawn up by Thomas Jefferson is one of the most important documents ever published, and it dropped like a bombshell（意外事件） on the western world. Here is a sentence which shook the ruling classes of Europe, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed ( 賦予)by their Creator with certain unalienable(不可剝奪的) rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.”
1. When did the Americans declare their independence?
A. The fourth of July, 1776..        B. The fourth of June, 1794.
C. The first of July, 1767.          D. The first of June, 1756
2. By whom was The Declaration of Independence drawn up?
A. George Washington.          B. Benjamin Franklin.
C. Thomas Jefferson            D. Abraham Lincoln.
3. Which of the following most generally summarizes the Declaration of Independence?
A. Equality.                 B. Liberty   
C. The pursuit of happiness.    D. All of the above.

Kong Zi , also called Confucius (551-479 B.C) , and Socrates (469-399 B. C) lived only a hundred years apart , and during their lifetimes there was no contact between China and Greece, but it is interesting to look at how the world that each of these great philosophers came from shaped their ideas , and how these ideas in turn ,shaped their societies.

Neither philosopher lived in times of peace, though there were more wars in Greece than in China. The Chinese states were very large and feudal, while the Greek city-states were small and urban. The urban environment in which Socrates lived allowed him to be more radical than Confucius. Unlike Confucius, Socrates was not asked by rules how to govern effectively. Thus, Socrates was able to be more idealistic, focusing on issues like freedom, and knowledge for its own sake. Confucius, on the other hand, advised those in government service, and many of his students went out to government service.

Confucius suggested the Golden Rule as a principle for the conduct of life:” Do not do to others what you would not want others to do to you.” He assumed that all men were equal at birth, though some had more potential than others, and that it was knowledge that set men apart. Socrates focused on the individual, and thought that the greatest purpose of man was to seek wisdom. He believed that the superior class should rule the inferior(下層的)classes.

For Socrates, the family was of no importance, and the community of little concern. For Confucius, however, the family was the centre of the society, with family relations considered much more important than political relations.

Both men are respected much more today than they were in their lifetimes.

Which of the following is TURE according to the first paragraph?

A. Socrates and Confucius had much in common,

B. Confucius had much influence on Socrates’ ideas.

C. The societies were influenced by the philosophers’ ideas.

D. There were cultural exchanges between China and Greece.

Socrates shared with Confucius the idea that           .

A. all men were equal when they were born

B. the lower classed should be ruled by the upper class

C. the purpose of man was to seek freedom and wisdom

D. people should not ask others to do what they did not want to

What made some people different from others according to Confucius?

A. Family.           B. Potential.        C. Knowledge.            D. Community.

This passage is organized in the pattern of          ,

A. time and events

B. comparison and contrast

C. cause and effect

D. definition and classification

“All men are created equal” is one idea that nearly every American would agree upon.  36  they sometimes betray the idea in their daily lives, they have a deep faith  37  in some fundamental way no one is born superior to anyone else.

    In the early years of American history, because titles of nobility(貴族) were forbidden, no  38  class system developed in the United States. Firmly believing that being born into a lower class would not  39  them from success and they would have a better chance in America, thousands of immigrants   40  to leave the European societies, where their    41   in life was determined  42  by the social class into which they were born. It was because the dreams of many of there immigrants were   43  in their new country, though there might be  44  in some situations, that Americans came to believe in equality of opportunity.

    Americans do not mean that everyone should be  45  equal when they say they believe in equality of opportunity.  46  , they do mean that each person should have an equal chance for success. Abraham Lincoln once said, “We wish to  47  the humblest(最微賤的) man an equal chance to get rich with everybody else. When one starts poor, free society is  48  that he knows he can   49  his condition.”

    However, competition is the price to be   50   for his equality of opportunity. Americans match their energy and intelligence against that of others in a competitive contest for success, because they believe competition  51  the best in any person. Indeed, the pressure of competition causes an American to be   52  , but it also places a constant emotional stress on him. In fact, in a society that gives so much  53   to those “winners”,   54  does not compete successfully for whatever reason never  55  into it as well as those who do.

1.A．Since              B．As               C．Although         D．Because

2.A．what               B．that             C．a(chǎn)s               D．which

3.A．normal             B．moral            C．formal           D．general

4.A．benefit            B．prevent          C．save             D．limit

5.A．forced          B．required         C．chose            D. looked forward

6.A．place              B．meaning          C．function         D．purpose

7.A．slightly           B．largely          C．originally       D．publicly

8.A．come true          B．ruined           C．succeeded        D．realized

9.A．excitements B．expectations          C. exceptions     D．disappointments

10.A．really            B．totally          C．a(chǎn)ctually         D．truly

11.A．Besides           B．Meanwhile        C．Moreover         D．Instead

12.A．a(chǎn)llow             B．encourage        C．a(chǎn)pprove          D．share

13.A．so                B．the one          C．such             D．a(chǎn)s

14.A．enjoy             B．better           C．maintain         D．stand

15.A．paid              B．a(chǎn)sked            C．cared            D．sought

16.A．gives out         B．comes out        C．brings out       D．stands out

17.A．exhausted         B．energetic        C．realistic        D．effective

18.A．honor             B．pressure         C．happiness        D．burden

19.A．a(chǎn)nyone            B．who              C．one              D．whoever

20.A．enters            B．fits             C．falls            D．matches

There is one thing that everyone wants more than anything else. __1___ They think that when they have enough money to buy such things as houses, farms, and cars, they will have the one thing that everyone wants.
Other people believe that if they know enough they will find this thing. __2___ Still others think that if they have power, they will find this thing. Some people keep telling themselves: “ When I’m a boss, I will no longer have to search for this thing.”
What is it that everyone wants more than anything else? What is it that all of us keep working and striving for( 奮斗 ) each day? ___3___.
Happiness is a strange thing. ____4____ What will make one man happy may not make another man happy. Some men say that happiness comes from helping others; other men say that happiness comes from making life more pleasant for everyone. What do you mean when you say “ That makes me happy.”?
___5___ Perhaps you will learn something that will bring you peace of mind, comfort, money or it may be what you search for—happiness.