In November,a cold,unseen stranger that killed many people came to visit the city..

Johnsy lay on her bed,seriously ill.Her friend Sue saw she was looking out the window and counting-counting backward.”Twelve,”she said,and a little later”eleven”;and then”ten”and”nine”;and then”eight”“and”seven,”almost together.

Sue looked out the window.An old ivy vine(常青藤)，going bad at the roots,climbed half way up the wall.The cold breath of autumn had stricken leaves from the plant until its branches, almost bare(光秃秃的)，hung on the bricks.

“What is it,dear?”asked Sue.

“Leaves.On the plant.When the last one falls I must go,too.”

“Oh,what have old ivy leaves to do with your getting well?Try to eat some soup now,”said Sue.”And,I must call Mister Behrman up to be my model for my drawing.Don’t try to move until I come back.”

Old Behrman was a painter who lived on the ground floor.Behrman was a failure in art.For years,he had always been planning to paint a work of art,but had never yet begun it.He was a fierce(暴躁的)，little,old man who protected the two young women in the studio apartment above him.

Sue told him about Johnsy and how she feared that her friend would float away like a leaf.

Old Behrman was angered at such an idea.”This is not any place in which one so.good as Miss Johnsy shall lie sick,”yelled Behrman.”Some day I will paint a masterpiece,and we shall all go away.”

The next morning,Johnsy and Sue were surprised to find there yet stood against the wall one ivy leaf after the beating rain and fierce wind that blew through the night.It was the last one on the vine.It was still dark green at the center.But its edges were colored with the yellow.It hung bravely from the branch about seven meters above the ground.

“It is the last one,”said Johnsy.”It will fall today and I shall go at the same time.”

But the next morning,the ivy leaf was still there.Johnsy lay for a long time,looking at it. And then she called to Sue,who was preparing chicken soup.”

Something has made that last leaf stay there to show me how bad I was.It is wrong to want to die.You may bring me a little soup now.”said Johnsy.

The next day,the doctor came,and told Sue Johnsy was out of danger.

Later that day,Sue came to the bed where Johnsy lay,and put one arm around her.”Mr. Behrman died of pneumonia(肺炎)today.He was sick only two days.They found him the morning of the first day in his room downstairs helpless with pain.His shoes and clothing were completely wet and icy cold.They could not imagine where he had been on such a terrible night. And then they found a lantern,still lighted.And a ladder that had been moved from its place. And art supplies and a painting board with green and yellow colors mixed on it.”

“Look out the window,dear,at the last ivy leaf on the wall.Didn’t you wonder why it never moved when the wind blew?Ah,darling,it is Behrman’s masterpiece-he painted it there the night that the last leaf fell.”

1.In the first paragraph,”a cold,unseen stranger”refers to____

A.a person B.an illness C.a beast D.an object

2.What does Johnsy mean when she says”when the last one falls I must go,too.”?

A.She will leave the city. B.She will die soon.

C.She will fall with the leaf. D.She will recover.

3.Who plays the most important part in helping Johnsy recover?

A.Sue. B.The doctor. C.Behrman. D.Johnsy herself.

4.What can be a suitable title for the passage?

A.The last leaf B.A kind painter C.A deadly disease D.The valuable friendship

    You wait 50 years for a flying car,and then three come along at once.First up is Vahana:an airbus project to develop batterypowered,single- seater aircraft,designed to follow predetermined routes,only changing directions to avoid accidents.Propellers(螺旋桨)on the wings will let it take off and land without a runway.

Second,Dubai recently announced plans to use self-controlled air taxis as a way to beat the terrible traffic jams.The Volocopter is an electric multi-copter with 18 propellers and a fully self-controlled system.It’s essentially a self-controlled aircraft with two seats and up to 30 minutes of flying time.

But,if you want something more like the flying cars of 1950s science fiction,try Urban Aeronautics’ Fancraft.The Israel-based company wants to realize the dream of”an aircraft that looks like the classic vision of a flying car:doesn’t have a wing,doesn’t have a propeller that can be seen,and can fly exactly from point to point,”says Janina Frankel-Yoeli,Urban Aeronautics’ vice president of marketing.Earlier flying cars needed runways to take off and land which was,as Frankel-Yoeli says,”not much better than owning a car and an aircraft.”To go from point to point requires vertical take-off and landing,but for many years that could only be done by helicopters or larger aircraft.Urban Aeronautics’ solution is to use light but powerful engines,lightweight materials,and a self-controlled system.Their fan design-propellers housed in some special tubes-is powerful but unstable,so the Fancraft would be challenging for a human to fly without any help.Instead,computer-aided control technology takes over the tiny,quick changes required to keep the car stable at speeds of 160km/h or more.

But don’t be glad too early yet.The main problem to a sky full of flying cars is rules.Not only will every aircraft need to pass strict safety tests,but a new system of air traffic control will be needed to deal with 3-D traffic jams above people who are not aware of what is happening in the sky.NASA is already working on that.Tests have shown that multiple unmanned(无人的) flying cars can communicate with each other to avoid accidents.In the meantime,flying cars will mainly be reserved for emergency services and a few VIPs.

1.Vahana is different from the Volocopter in that____

A.it is power-free

B.it is self controlled

C.its routes are fixed

D.its propellers can be seen

2.The underlined word”vertical”in the third paragraph most probably means____

A.going straight up or down

B.flying high and fast

C.going across back or forth

D.flying quietly and safely

3.What can we infer from the last paragraph?

A.NASA helps flying cars to communicate.

B.There will be no traffic jams if cars can fly.

C.Rules for flying cars have already been made.

D.It is unusual for ordinary people to use flying cars.

Medical Practices in Ancient Egypt

Learning from the Dead

To find out why people have died,today’s medical examiners perform autopsies(尸体解剖).They cut open the body and study its parts.Ancient Egyptians also performed autopsies to help understand causes of death.In addition,autopsies helped ancient Egyptians study the human body.By comparing the hearts of people who were different ages,for example,Egyptians could determine what a young,healthy heart was supposed to look like.

Keeping a Written Record

The Egyptians not only studied the human body,but they also kept detailed records of what they discovered.They wrote and drew their observations on papyrus,a form of paper.The papyrus records became the medical textbooks of that time.Their observations allowed Egyptian doctors to share their knowledge,including how to treat various diseases.

Edwin Smith Papyrus

In 1862,an American named Edwin Smith purchased a medical papyrus in Luxor,Egypt. Smith was not a medical expert,but he knew a lot about old documents.He knew that what he had found was valuable.The papyrus turned out to be an ancient textbook on surgery.The papyrus was probably written around 1600 BC,but it was based on information from a thousand years before that.The papyrus presents the information as case studies,including an analysis of how patients survived or died.

1.By performing autopsies,ancient Egyptians could____

A.determine the causes of illnesses

B.learn about different body parts

C.keep detailed records on textbooks

D.share what they had discovered

2.The document bought by Edwin Smith was valuable because it was____

A.originally written on papyrus

B.an ancient medical textbook

C.discovered by a medical expert

D.written a thousand years before

3.This article is probably from____

A.a story book

B.a health leaflet

C.a medical magazine

D.a biology textbook

听下面一段独白，回答以下小题。

1.What is the talk mainly about?

A.Education in America.

B.Movements of people in America.

C.Employment opportunities in America.

2.What can we learn about Americans from the talk?

A.They may go to school in several cities.

B.They enjoy their school days a lot.

C.They don’t like changing jobs.

3.What is the speaker’s attitude toward changing jobs a lot?

A.Negative. B.Confused. C.Positive..

4.Who benefits from the new ideas and skills being offered?

A.The public. B.The workers themselves. C.The owners of companies.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.What time is the store closing today?

A.At 5:00 p.m. B.At 6:00 p.m. C.At 7:00 p.m.

2.Why are the opening hours changed today?

A.It is getting cold. B.The days are shorter. C.The store needs cleaning.

3.What will the man do next?

A.Put his groceries back.

B.Continue buying things.

C.Go to another shop.

4.What is the relationship between the speakers?

A.Salesgirl and customer. B.Boss and worker. C.Husband and wife.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.What animal is linked with more than one country?

A.Pandas. B.Eagles. C.Bears.

2.Which country has the dragon?

A.Russia. B.Australia. C.Britain.

3.What kind of pet does the man have?

A.A cat. B.A dog. C.A chicken.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.What kind of cellphone does the woman want?

A.A fast one. B.An old one. C.A cheap one.

2.How much will the woman probably spend on a phone today?”

A.About$400. B.About$700. C.About$1000.

听下面一段较长对话，回答以下小题。

1.What is shown on the woman’s bag?

A.Batman. B.Superman. C.Spiderman.

2.Where does the man seldom buy things?

A.In a mall. B.At a market. C.On the Internet.

Where are the speakers?

A.In a park. B.In a school. C.In a museum.

What do we know about the dish?

A.It tastes too salty. B.It is too much to eat it up. C.It was cooked by the woman’s mother.