5、For thousands of years, people thought of glass as something beautiful to look at. Only recently have they come to think of it as something to look through. Stores display their goods in large glass windows. Glass bottles that hold food and drink allow us to see the contents. Glass is used to make spectacles(銀鏡), microscopes, telescopes, and many other extremely useful and necessary objects.

      Until the Second World War, most of the glass used for optical instruments (光學(xué)儀器) was imported from Europe. However, during the war Americans could not get European glass, and they were forced to make their own. As a result, new kinds of glass were developed that had been unknown before. These new effects were achieved by mixing other chemical elements with the sand. Some of these new glasses are very strong and can resist many kinds of shocks. According to a legend, a very hard glass was invented by a Roman, who showed his discovery to the Emperor. When the Emperor saw the glass he feared that it would become more valuable than gold and silver, making his treasure worthless  Therefore, he had the glassmaker killed, and the secret was not discovered again for hundreds of years.

      In the 20th century, safety glass was invented for use in modern cars and planes. Safety glass is made by placing a layer of plastic between two layers of glass. When the outside layer of glass is broken, the pieces do not fly around and injure people. Some glass of this type is strong enough to resist bullets.

      Although in recent years plastics have replaced glass under conditions where glass might be easily broken, there are new uses being developed for glass that were never imagined in the past. Perhaps the greatest advantage of glass is that its constituent parts (組成) are inexpensive and can be found all over the world.

1. According to the passage, glass today is regarded as________.

     A. something beautiful to look at only

     B. something useful in many ways

    C, something useless except for displaying goods

    D. the only thing to make bottles with

2. Why did Americans begin to make their own glass during the Second World War?

    A. They could not obtain it from Europe.

    B. They refused to use European glass.

    C. The glass made in Europe was out of date.

    D. Their advanced techniques encouraged them to do so.

3. A legend says that when the Roman Emperor saw the hard glass ________.

    A. he accepted it with delight

    B. he gave the inventor a lot of gold

    C. he regarded it as worthless

    D. he disliked the discovery

4. All of the following concerning safety glass are discussed in the text EXCEPT ________.

    A. its uses           B. its strength           C. its structure         D. its limitations

5. According to Paragraph 4, which of the following is true of glass?

    A. Glass has been replaced by plastics.

    B. New uses of glass being developed will be very expensive.

    C. The constituent parts of glass are low in price.

    D. The constituent parts of glass cannot be found everywhere.

4、Sample Idea to Lighten the Load

     There are so many different plastic cards that adults have to carry around—library cards, savings cards for different bands, credit cards, just to name a few... So why not have one card to replace them all?

     Scott Barnhill, an 11-year-old fifth-grade student in the US, has come up with an idea for a "Security One Card".

      Sound smart? The US Patent Office thought so, and it approved (批準) a patent for his idea in April.

      Here's an example of how Barnhill's idea would work.

      Let's say you have the three cards mentioned above. Instead of carrying them all, you could have just one by having additional magnetic strips (磁條) added to it.

      The magnetic strips can be added to any plastic card, even a blank one.

      Companies could add their information to one of the strips. For instance, you could ask a library to add a strip to your bankcard.

     Barnhill has a lot of hobbies, including designing websites. He got the idea at the age of 9 when he saw his father using a key card to enter their hotel room. He thought, "the hotels are wasting money with the key cards." So, instead of using a hotel-issued key card, guests could use their credit cards, if the hotel added a special magnetic strip. At check-out, the strip would simply be removed.

     Now that he has his patent, his next step is a letter-writing campaign to get support from major credit card companies.

     "I'm going to be writing letters to credit card companies to ask if they can co-operate, I hope they'll give me money every time someone puts a strip on the back of another card, or every time the idea is used," Barnhill said. "I'll write the letters and see what they say. If the say no, I'll ask someone else, another credit card company. "

     He is hoping to make money from his patent and has decided it would be better to collect royalties (專利使用費) if the idea takes off rather than sell his patent.

     "The ATM person who invented that sold it outright (全部的), and if he'd chosen royalties he'd get like 2 cents for every transaction (交易) and he'd be a billionaire now," Scott said.

1. The advantage of "Security One Card" is that it ________.

    A. could remove the burden of taking all kinds of plastic cards

    B. would be very safe to carry one card in hand

    C. could save your money

    D. could have a lot of magnetic strips on it

2. The immediate cause of Scott's invention was that ________.

    A. he found even a hotel issued its own cards--key cards

    B. he realized it's a big waste to make so many plastic cards instead of only one

    C. he found that adults have to carry around so many plastic cards

    D. he realized it would be a good chance to make big money

3. To use a "Security One Card", one has to________.

    A. add additional magnetic strip to it

    B. pay Scott Barnhill a lot each time a magnetic strip is added

    C. add his information to a magnetic strip

    D. get the permission of the organization that issues a card before adding a magnetic strip to a "Security One Card"

4. The underlined phrase "takes off" in the last paragraph but one probably means

    A. makes money                             B. wins a lot of support

    C. is worth a lot                            D. is practical

5. From the story, we can see Scott is ________.

    A. more interested in money                           B. a boy with a lot of ideas

    C. creative, perseverant and smart                D. far-sighted

3、The Infrared Scanning Technology

      Even plant can run a fever, especially when they are under attack by insects or disease. But unlike humans, plants can have their temperature taken from 3,000 feet away --straight up. A decade ago, adopting the infrared (紅外線的) scanning (掃描) technology developed for military purposes and other satellites, physicist Stephen Paley came up with

a quick way to take the temperature of crops to determine which ones are under stress. The goal was to let farmers precisely target pesticide (殺蟲劑) spraying rather than rain poison on a whole field, which invariably includes plants that don't have pest problems.

      Even better, Paley's Remote Scanning Services Company could detect crop problems before they became visible to the eye. Mounted on a plane flown at 3,000 feet at night, an infrared scanner measured the heat given out by crops. The data were transformed into a color-coded map showing where plants were running "fevers". Farmers could then spot-spray, using 50 to 70 percent less pesticide than they otherwise would.

     The bad news is that Paley's company closed down in 1984, after only three years. Farmers resisted the new technology and tong-term backers were hard to find. But with the renewed concern about pesticides on produce, and refinements in infrared scanning, Paley hopes to get back into operation. Agriculture experts have no doubt the technology works. "This technique can be used on 75 percent of agricultural land in the United States," says George Oerther of Texas A & M. Ray Jackson, who recently retired from the Department of Agriculture, thinks remote infrared crop scanning could be adopted by the end of the decade. But only if Paley finds the financial backing which he failed to obtain 10 years ago.

1. Plants will give out an increased amount of heat when they are ________.

    A. sprayed with pesticides

    B. facing an infrared scanner

    C. in poor physical condition

    D. exposed to more-than-enough sun rays

2. In order to apply pesticide spraying precisely, we can use infrared scanning to________.

    A. estimate the damage to the crops

    B. measure the size of the affected area

    C. draw a color-coded map

    D. determine the problem area

3. Farmers can save a considerable amount of pesticide by ________.

    A. using rain-like spraying

    B. ask advice from infrared scanning experts

    C. transforming poisoned rain

    D. knowing crop problems at an early stage

4. The application of infrared scanning technology to agriculture met with some difficulties in ________.

    A. the lack of official support

    B. its high cost

    C. the lack of financial support

    D. its failure to help increase production

5. Infrared scanning technology may be brought back into operation because of ________.

    A. the desire of farmers to improve the quality of their produce

    B. growing concern about the much use of pesticides on crops

    C. the forceful promotion by the Department of Agriculture

D. full support from agricultural experts

2、There is nothing more rewarding or enjoyable than spending time with the family. A great way to do this is go on a family vacation.

      Of course this can be a disaster if not planned carefully. It should involve everyone who is old enough to help in the process.

1. Make a list for packing. A list will simply serve as a reminder. You can always remove things from the list later.

2. _____________________. There is almost nothing more difficult than carrying too much baggage. There are stores everywhere if you forget something.

3. A carriage or car seat is not always a necessity.  In many countries you can rent one at the airport or near a hotel.

4. Parents don't have to pack all the toys their children own. A few favorites will do. Make sure they are in good shape and that the toy is not the one that will disturb other people on the plane or at your accommodations.

5. An emergency medical kit including all prescription drugs the family uses is very important. Have one person organize it and make sure to check it before leaving the house. It is not always easy to find the same medicine or medical aids in other countries.

6. Snacks and drinks can be stored in a carry-on bag and they usually help on lone trips.

7. When making airline reservations with a travel agent, make sure it is understood that a family is traveling. It is sometimes best to request reserved seating. Also make sure to ask about any special services the airline provides for children. Above all, use a travel and touring service that is suitable for a family.

1. What is the best title for the passage? (Please answer within 10 words.)

   ______________________________________________________________________________

2. Which sentence in the passage can be replaced by the following one?

    Sometimes you cannot get the same medicine or medical things that you need in a foreign country.

   ______________________________________________________________________

3. Please fill in the blank in Tip 2 with proper words or phrases to complete the sentence. (Please answer within 10 words).

   ___________________________________________________________________________

4. Give another suggestion about taking a vacation and your reason for it. (Please answer within 30 words.)

   ___________________________________________________________________________   ___________________________________________________________________________

5. Translate the underlined sentence in Tip 4 into Chinese.

   _____________________________________________________________________________

1、報道一次交通事故，詞數(shù)120—l50。

21、--- We have both red and white wine. Do you have a(n) _______ for one or the other?  

---White, please.

A. favour         B. appreciation        C. preference          D. enjoyment

20、---Have you thought of a topic for your article yet?

---No. I ________ a lot about it, but I have decided. 

A. will think                       B. have been thinking

C. had thought                      D. was thinking

19、Under good treatment. Linda is beginning to ________ and will soon recover. 

A. pick up         B. pick out           C turn up             D. show up