Despite what so many people would love to believe，NASA hasn’t discovered any evidence of past or present intelligent life on Mars. Therefore, when the Curiosity rover (好奇号探测器)found something suspicious on the Red Planet’s surface, they were not only surprised but also a little bit worried.
The thin fragment (碎片)was suspicious enough to guarantee its own name, with NASA’s Curiosity rover team calling it the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris，” named for where it was discovered. With no idea what it was or where it came from, the rover’s handlers began to worry that it might actually be a piece of the rover itself，suggesting some unseen damage or other issue with the robot. Thankfully，those concerns seem to have been unfound.
In a new update from NASA the object has now been identified as a natural piece of rock rather than a piece of any man-made craft or vehicle. The team analyzed the unusual object with a tool called the Chem Cam RMI. The instrument uses a laser (激光器)to sniff out the makeup of anything that is pointed at, and the results for this particular piece of debris revealed that it’s actually just a very thin piece of rock.
NASA describes the inspection: The planning day began with an interesting result from the previous plan’s Chem Cam RMI analysis of a target that was referred to as “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris”(PPFOD)，and supposed to be a piece of spacecraft debris fact. In fact it was found to be a very thin slice of rock, so we can all rest easy tonight. Curiosity has not begun to shed its skin!
How this particularly thin sliver of rock got to where it is—and why it seems to be a different colour than the surrounding sand and debris—remains unexplained, but at least the rover isn’t falling apart.
1.What attitude did NASA hold towards the newly found thin fragment?
A. Positive and excited. B. Surprised and delighted. C. Interested and doubtful. D. Amazed and worried.
2.What is the “Pettegrove Point Foreign Object Debris” named for?
A. Its finder. B. Its location. C. Its researcher. D. Its shape.
3.According to the passage, which of the following is right?
A. Most people believe there isn’t any intelligent life on Mars.
B. The recent concerns connected with the thin fragment have not been discovered.
C. According to NASA, the object found recently was a piece of man-made craft or vehicle.
D. The object once making many people worried has the same colour with the surrounding sand.
4.In which part of newspaper can you read the text?
A. Travelling. B. Sports. C. Science. D. Food.
Mary Anning was an English fossil(化石)collector，dealer and paleontologist(古生物学家).Her fossil-hunting helped change the way people thought about the world.
Mary was born into a poor family in England on May 21, 1799. She lived in the seaside town of Lyme Regis, in Dorset. The family had nine children. Only Mary and her brother Joseph grew up. Mary's father took his children along the beach. They picked up shells and stones to sell to visitors. Mary did not go to school much. Her family was too poor. And schools did not teach children about fossils. Mary could read and write. She taught herself. She learned about rocks and how bodies are made.
In 1811 when Mary and Joseph were fossil hunting, Joseph saw a bone sticking out of the rock. Mary had a hammer to chip away at the rock. Very carefully she uncovered it. She found the first complete fossil of the ichthyosaur(鱼龙).
Since then, Mary became crazy about fossil hunting. She liked to hunt on the beach after a storm. The wind, rain and waves made the rocks crumble. It was easy to spot fossils. Most days Mary went fossil hunting with her dog, Tray.
Rich friends helped Mary by selling fossils for her. They sent her money. Scientists wrote letters and came to see her. One good friend was William Buckland, a professor at Oxford University. Mary also opened a shop to sell fossils, stones and shells. She chatted with visitors.
Mary Anning died in1847. How evolution(进化)works was explained by Charles Darwin not long after Mary died. Her fossils had helped scientists understand how things began.
1.Why did Mary’s father take his children along the beach?
A. To enjoy life. B. To make a living. C. To look for fossils. D. To teach them about fossils.
2.What can we learn about Mary?
A. Her father was a paleontologist. B. Her father educated her at home.
C. She had nine brothers and sisters in all. D. She might be popular at that time.
3.Who was the first one to catch sight of the rock containing the first complete ichthyosaur fossil?
A. Charles Darwin. B. Mary's dog. C. Joseph. D. Mary.
4.What does the underlined word crumble in the fourth paragraph means ?
A. break B. shake C. float D. dive
For those who may not be familiar, there is no such thing as a bicycle grants(补助金). As a matter of fact, there are a number of organizations and programs offering bicycle grants to bicyclers all over the world. Now of course, you can't simply receive money, because you want to buy a new mountain bike. Usually, those awarded grants are working on improving the quality of life. People are excited about the bicycle grants. This type of influence and achievement is gaining the attention of various companies that want to help by providing the necessary funding.
Eastman Kodak Company
Kodak has developed a fund called the “ Kodak American Greenways Awards". They are cooperating with the National geographic Society and the Conservation fund. Each year, they present grants as high as $2,500. The“seed” grant award is awarded to organizations that focus on improving blueways, greenways, natural areas, and trails.
US Government
The government has developed their only program for bicycle riders, called " The US Department of transportation's Recreational Trails Program". The government’s program is primarily focused on funding trail projects. The benefits of the fund is recreation, which includes bicycling, hiking, in-line skating, snowmobiling, all-terrain(地面)vehicle riding, and so forth. The great addition to the fund is that they distribute the funding to all the states. This means that everybody has the opportunity of receiving bicycle grants.
Bikes Belong Coalition
The Bikes Belong Coalition makes putting more people on bicycles their priority. They advocate for a better environment, recreation, sports, and better health, by way of bicycling. At the same time, they provide funding for supporting projects and bicycle facilities. Some of the projects they accept are paved lanes and bike paths. Applications for their grants can be submitted by either a facility class or a supporting class. Also, Bikes Belong Coalition are not quick to award bicycle grants to those who have been awarded in the past 3 years. This is partially due to their limited amount of funding
1.What's the main purpose of the bicycle grants?
A. To encourage a healthy lifestyle. B. To make bicycles more popular.
C. To advertise their companies. D. To give money to bicyclers directly.
2.Who can receive grants offered by the US government?
A. Organizations. B. Riders. C. States. D. Supporters.
3.What’s the primary purpose of the passage?
A. To explain the reason for the latest bicycle grants.
B. To attract more bicycle riders around the country.
C. To organize a big event of bicycling across the country.
D. To introduce some organizations of the bicycle grants.
听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。
1.When did the speaker start taking music lessons?
A. At age two. B. At age ten. C. At age twenty.
2.How often did the speaker practice as a child?
A. Two hours a day. B. Three hours a day. C. Ten hours a day.
3.Why did the speaker play in concerts?
A. To travel to other cities. B. To get into a good college. C. To make his parents happy.
4.What is the speaker's attitude toward music now?
A. He only does it for fun. B. He wants to be the best. C. He never plays it anymore.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What does Mike look like?
A. He has a beard. B. He's tall and heavy. C. He has blue eyes and brown hair.
2.Who is the person the man is describing?
A. His mother. B. The woman's mother. C. Mike's mother.
3.How does the woman feel about what happened in the game?
A. Embarrassed. B. Bored. C. Sad.
4.What is the most important in the game the speakers are playing?
A. A person's appearance. B. A person's character. C. A person's career.
听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。
1.What is the man famous for?
A. Collecting coins. B. Starting a college. C. Teaching mathematics.
2.When did the man begin to collect coins?
A. When he was thirteen years old. B. When he got a special book from his uncle.
C. When he picked some rare coins on the road.
3.Where does the man usually get coins?
A. From his friends. B. From small shops. C. From other collectors.
