A mobile phone is in fact a small radio. A radio sends a person’s voice over a long way to another radio. A voice that is sent by radio is called a signal. A radio signal travels very quickly.

Only a few years ago, mobile phones were very large. They needed large batteries.

They had to be powerful to send their signal to far away places. This was because most cities had only one antenna tower for mobile phones.

Do you know what use a mobile phone has? Yes, you can use it to do a lot of things.

Call your friends and family from almost anywhere.

Call the police immediately if there is an accident in the street.

Send or receive an e-mail.

Get information from the Internet.

Send and receive messages：Sending short messages is a popular way to use your mobile phone. Many people use short forms of words, so the messages are quick to write and read. Can you guess what these messages mean? Try reading them out. What do you hear?

RUOK　　　 CUL8R　　　 That’s EZ 　　Will I C U B4 2moro?　　 That’s Gr8!

91. There are about _____ ways of using a mobile phone.

　 A. five　　　　　　 B. six　　　　　　 C. seven　　　　　 D. eight

92. Today’s mobile phones are _____ according to the writer.

　 A. cheap and popular B. small but powerful　 C. big enough　 　 D. easy to use

93. A mobile phone uses _____ to send people’s voice and short messages.

　 A. radio signals 　 　　 B. batteries　 　 　　 C. computers　 　 D. antenna towers

94. Which short message means “See you tomorrow!”?

A. RUOK 　　 　 B. CUL8R 　　　 　 C. That’s Gr8!　 D. CU 2moro

95. What’s the main idea of the passage?

　 A. The common knowledge of the mobile phone

　 B. How the mobile phone will develop

　 C. How the mobile phone works and what use it has

　 D. What short forms of words mean in written messages

A sunflower is a sunflower. A mobile phone is a mobile phone. But can you combine (聯(lián)合) the two to do something for your local environment? As early as next year it may well be possible. When you have finished with your mobile phone, you will be able to bury（埋） it in the garden or a plant pot and wait for it to flower.

A biodegradable (生物可降解的) mobile phone was, this month, introduced by scientists. It is hoped that the new type of phone will encourage people to recycle. Scientists have come up with a new material over the last five years. It looks like any other plastic, but overtime it can break down into the soil without giving out any poisonous chemicals. British researchers used the new material to develop a phone cover with a sunflower seed. When this cover turns into waste, it forms nitrates (硝酸鹽). These feed the seed and help the flower grow. “We’ve only put sunflower seeds into the cover so far. But we are trying to find out which flowers would perform best. Maybe we could put roses in next time.” said one scientist.

As phone technology is developing so quickly, people are always throwing their mobiles away. This means producers are under pressure to find ways of recycling them. Some 650 million mobile phones have been sold this year. Most of them will be thrown away within two years, adding plastic, heavy metal and chemical waste to the environment. A biodegradable cover can reduce the harm to nature, according to the scientists. “The seed is released and the flower grows in the pot so you don’t have to worry about the phone when you have finished using it,” said Kerry Kirwan, the leader of the research team, which is based at the University of Warwick in Britain.

71. How do people deal with the used mobile phone at present?

A. They throw it away.                         B. They bury it in the garden.

C. They recycle it.                               D. They turn it into nitrates.

72. Scientists do this type of research in order to ________.

A. make the mobile phones more beautiful            B. to deal with environmental problems

C. to find a new way to grow flowers                  D. to produce more mobile phones

73. What does the underline phrase “break down” mean?

A. 拋錨                        B. 崩潰                       C. 撞毀                       D. 分解

74. We can infer (推斷) from the passage that ________.

A. the new type of mobile phones is already on the market

B. some 650 million mobile phones will be thrown away

C. a group of British researchers are doing the research

D. other flowers may be used in this type of mobile phones

75. The main idea of the passage is ________ .

A. the relationship between high tech and environment               B. the phone technology is developing

C. phone can be turned into flowers                                  D. mobile phone and environment

Take a look at the label(標簽) on almost any bottle of milk and you may see the word PASTEURIZED. What does that mean? Let’s find out by meeting Louis Pasteur.

Louis Pasteur was born in 1822 in a little town in France. As he grew up, he loved to paint. He loved to look at the world around him. When he went to college in Paris, he showed interest in looking through a microscope. A microscope makes things look a lot bigger; it lets you see things you can’t see just with your eyes. Looking through a microscope, Pasteur found a living world in a drop of water. He saw and drew pictures of the small living things -- he called them “microbes” or “germs”-- that crowded in a drop of water.

One day a winemaker came into the lab, hoping that someone could help him with his problem. “Sometimes my wine tastes delicious, but sometimes terrible,” he said to Pasteur. “Can you help me find out why?”

Pasteur put some drops of the wine under the microscope. He noticed that the terrible wine had some unusual germs. If he killed these germs, maybe he could keep the wine from turning terrible. He tried with different ways to kill the germs. In the end he found heating (加熱) the wine seemed to work best. The winemaker tried it, and every bottle of wine tasted good.

Pasteur’s idea worked for other people, too. When farmers heated milk, it didn’t turn bad so quickly. When breweries heated beer, it tasted better. People called it “pasteurization” ---heating a liquid to kill bad germs. Aren’t you glad that the milk you drink has been pasteurized?

1. The Chinese meaning for the word “microbes” is____.

2. Which is the right order in Pasteur’s life story?

(1). He received college education in Paris.

(2) He helped to find some unusual germs in some drops of wine.

(3) A new way of killing bad germs--pasteurization was found out.

(4)He was born in 1822 in a little town in France.

(5) Microbes were found by Louis Pasteur with the help of a microscope.

3. What do you think Louis Pasteur was like from the passage?

4.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

5. What does the passage mainly tell us?

Take a look at the label(標簽) on almost any bottle of milk and you may see the word PASTEURIZED. What does that mean? Let’s find out by meeting Louis Pasteur.
Louis Pasteur was born in 1822 in a little town in France. As he grew up, he loved to paint. He loved to look at the world around him. When he went to college in Paris, he showed interest in looking through a microscope. A microscope makes things look a lot bigger; it lets you see things you can’t see just with your eyes. Looking through a microscope, Pasteur found a living world in a drop of water. He saw and drew pictures of the small living things -- he called them “microbes” or “germs”-- that crowded in a drop of water.
One day a winemaker came into the lab, hoping that someone could help him with his problem. “Sometimes my wine tastes delicious, but sometimes terrible,” he said to Pasteur. “Can you help me find out why?”
Pasteur put some drops of the wine under the microscope. He noticed that the terrible wine had some unusual germs. If he killed these germs, maybe he could keep the wine from turning terrible. He tried with different ways to kill the germs. In the end he found heating (加熱) the wine seemed to work best. The winemaker tried it, and every bottle of wine tasted good.
Pasteur’s idea worked for other people, too. When farmers heated milk, it didn’t turn bad so quickly. When breweries heated beer, it tasted better. People called it “pasteurization” ---heating a liquid to kill bad germs. Aren’t you glad that the milk you drink has been pasteurized?

1. 1.

   The Chinese meaning for the word “microbes” is____.

   1. A.
      病毒
   2. B.
      真菌
   3. C.
      支原體
   4. D.
      微生物
2. 2.

   Which is the right order in Pasteur’s life story?
   (1). He received college education in Paris.
   (2) He helped to find some unusual germs in some drops of wine.
   (3) A new way of killing bad germs--pasteurization was found out.
   (4)He was born in 1822 in a little town in France.
   (5) Microbes were found by Louis Pasteur with the help of a microscope.

   1. A.
      2; 1; 3; 5; 4
   2. B.
      4; 1; 5; 2; 3
   3. C.
      4; 1; 3; 5; 2
   4. D.
      3; 1; 2; 5; 4
3. 3.

   What do you think Louis Pasteur was like from the passage?

   1. A.
      Clever, helpful and hard-working.
   2. B.
      Quiet, helpful and kind-hearted.
   3. C.
      Brave, careful and hard-working.
   4. D.
      Clever, serious and kind-hearted.
4. 4.

   Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Germs only live in something that is bad.
   2. B.
      Louis found the way to kill the unusual germs in the wine by chance (偶然).
   3. C.
      Everybody knows what the word PASTEURIZED means.
   4. D.
      Pasteurization is used to kill bad germs in the milk we drink.
5. 5.

   What does the passage mainly tell us?

   1. A.
      What life Louis Pasteur lived.
   2. B.
      How to make milk clean.
   3. C.
      How pasteurization was invented.
   4. D.
      What to do with wine.

In a 2005 survey of 2,500 schoolchildren in six cities, including Beijing and Shanghai, it was found that about 77% of them were short of sleep. Should school hours be cut? In a new survey taken by the China Daily website, almost 70% of the 1,133 people online agreed with cutting school hours, while 22% disagreed and 10% gave no answer.

Liu Xing (12-year-old, 6-grade student): I get up at 5:50 every school day, have breakfast at 6:15, leave home at 6:30 and, after a 30-minute bus ride, arrive at school at 7:00, a full hour before lessons start. Besides, I spend my weekends taking classes in math and English, as well as learning to play the piano.

Wang Qun (Liu Xing’s mother): My son is still not doing enough to win a place at a top high school, as it is so competitive (競爭的). They want students with good English and math and also special skills.

“Craig” (netizen (網(wǎng)民)): The best way for children to learn is through play. Through play, they can develop their characters, learn to be independent (獨立的) and improve all kinds of skills.

“Skylark” (netizen): Young parents have little time to play with their children, so letting them go home early is not a good idea. I think schools should have more activities for children after class.

Qi Zhen (high school teacher): People might take some time to accept shorter school hours. It will also take time to change people’s traditional mind that going to college is the only way to a good job.

1. The China Daily website took a new survey to ________.

A. see how many schoolchildren are short of sleep

B. see what people think of cutting school hours

C. give schoolchildren more time to play

D. help Liu Xing with his math and English study

2. ________probably disagree with shorter school hours.

A. Wang Qun and “Skylark”                  B. Liu Xing and “Craig”

C. Liu Xing and “Skylark”                 D. “Craig” and Qi Zhen

3. When do Liu Xing’s school lessons start?

  A. At 7:00.                              B. At 7:30.

C. At 8:00.                              D. We don’t know.

4. Which is NOT true about Wang Qun?

A. She wants her son to have many kinds of skills.

B. She has little time to play with her son every day.

C. She believes a happy childhood means a failed adulthood (成年).

D. She’s quite sure her son will be able to get into a top high school.

5. What can we learn from Qi Zhen’s words?

  A. Schools should have more activities for children after class.

  B. All the schools will take shorter school hours soon.

  C. There’ll be a long way to go to change people’s traditional mind.

  D. Through play children can develop well in different ways.