The centerpiece of curling(冰壺)is the curling stone. Kays of Scotland has been making curling stones since 1851, when William Kay and his sons Andrew and Thomas set up a workshop in Mauchline, Ayrshire, in southwest Scotland. Kays is still owned by the relatives of the founder, and today it is the only curling stone maker left in Scotland.

Used in a highly competitive sport, the curling stones are made to exact standards. First, stones are sliced and then into round “cheeses”. Finally, the cheeses are shaped and polished into curling stones in a series of steps.

Each stone must weigh 44 pounds. Each must have a maximum diameter (直徑) of 36 inches. Polishing is done by hand on a wheel using water, diamond-talcum power, and felt. Finishing the stone’s “running edge” is done entirely by hand with a special kind of paper and a digital measure and magnifying glass (放大鏡). Lastly, a handle(把手) is fitted into holes on the top of the stone. Stones are computer-matched into pairs. Sixteen stones----8 pairs----are needed for a game, and since curling game field usually have 6 lanes, each game field needs 96 matched stones!

Kays is a small company, employing less than ten skilled workers. Master craftsman and co-owner James Wyllie is skilled at all phases of curling stone making and is also an enthusiastic curler, as well as active member of Mauchline’s Burns Club, which meets regularly to honor well-known Mauchline residents.

【小題1 】What is true about Kays?

A. It is a family business.

B. It’s a brand(牌子) of curling stones.

  C. It’s a place in Scotland.

D. It’s the name of a curling stone dealer(業(yè)者).

【小題 2】How many curling stones are needed for two games happening at the same time?

  A. 8          B. 16           C. 32           D. 96

【小題 3】What does the underlined word “sliced” mean in Chinese in the second paragraph?

A. 切割    B. 鑲嵌         C. 移開        D. 固定

【小題 4】Which of the following statements is NOT RIGHT according to the passage?

A. Kays of Scotland has been curling stone maker for more than 150 years.

B. The weight of each curling stone must be 44 pounds.

C. We use a special machine to polish the curling stone.

D. The workers in Kays are all experienced.

【小題 5】What’s the passage mainly about?

A. The history of curling.

B. How to make a curling stone.

C. The rules of curling.

D. How to become a curling stone maker.

用括號(hào)內(nèi)所給詞的適當(dāng)形式填空。
【小題1】Lin  tao  was  ___________ (luck) enough to catch the first bus.
【小題2】Jim has _____________ (little) time than you.
【小題3】I think that’s a good ____________ (decide).
【小題4】Which of the __________ (follow) sentences is wrong?
【小題5】You must do the housework as much as ___________ (possibly).
【小題6】I have a good friend ________ (call) Jim.

At nine o’clock in the evening on 15 September,1961, Mr and Mrs Hill were driving along Motorway 3 (3號(hào)高速公路) when they saw a spaceship.
They drove on to Sand field, the next town. They got there the next morning. Mr Hill looked at his watch.
"Why did it take us so long? " he asked. "Three hundred and four kilometers in seven hours?"
Mrs Hill went white in the face. "Something is strange, "she said." But I can’t remember anything."
Later, with the help of, a doctor, they remembered everything. After they saw the spaceship, they got out of their car and then they "lost" several hours.
They remembered they heard a "bleep, bleep" noise from the spaceship. When they tried to run back to their car, there were three aliens (外星人) between them and their car.
The aliens took them to their spaceship. They asked them questions about the food and drink on Earth. They were very interested in Mr Hill’s teeth because his teeth could come out!
Finally, the aliens took them back to their car and the spaceship flew away.
【小題1】What time do you think the Hills arrived at Sand field?

News 1
Yuan Longping, the father of hybrid rice, won the World Food Prize on Monday. Yuan developed the world’s first popular and widely known hybrid rice. Hybrid rice plants can make more rice than regular ones.
News 2
Have you ever got angry at books that are full of mistakes? Don’t worry, things will get better soon. Last week, China started checking textbooks, dictionaries and children’s books all over the country. The government said the results of the check would come out at the end of June.
News 3
People will see a new “star” in the sky soon. China plants to send a satellite into space by December 2006.It will stay in space for one year. It will go around the moon and take pictures. It must be very expensive, right? That’s for sure; 1.4 billion yuan!
News 4
Have you ever thought of being able to fly around the world in a few hours? One day, maybe you can. Last Saturday, the American X-43A airplane made its first flight. It reached a speed of 8,000 kilometers per hour. This makes it the fastest plane in the world.X-43A is only three to four meters long, but it’s very heavy. It weighs 1,270 kilograms.
【小題1】The satellite sent by China will move around ________.