What science fiction once told of other worlds far away, is now a fact. Astronomers prove the existence of another solar system like ours with some planets in the constellation Andromeda(仙女座) .
Geoffrey Marcy is a professor of astronomy and physics at San Francisco State University and says, “What we have found now, for the first time ever, is indeed a fully-grown system of planets around the star Upsilon Andromeda, in which there are three planets, one close in, one at a middle distance, and one farther out.” The star is slightly larger than our sun. The planets are huge, like our Jupiter (木星)
Marcy’s partner in this research, Debra Fischer, describes the solar system, “Here’s the inner planet that goes around every 46 days, the middle planet that goes around every 242 days, and then the outer planet that goes around every three and a half to four years.”
Astronomically, it’s not far away, 44 light years. The sun of that solar system, Upsilon Andromeda, is so near and bright that it can be seen by using no equipment during summer and fall.
For twelve years astronomers searched the skies in the belief that if our sun has planets around it, surely others do, too. Geoffery Marcy says, “And then starting three and a half years ago, we began finding for the first time planets singly, one planet here around one star.”
“When I look up at the stars now at night, I can imagine easily that every one of them has planets around them,” says Debra Fischer.
It was the tremble in the star that led Marcy to discover the planets. “The star rocks around due to the gravity of the planet much like a dog owner gets pulled around by a little dog.”
Can they support life? We don’t know, because present technology is not advanced enough to determine what the planets are made of. That, Marcy says, is astronomy’s next challenge.
1.Which of the following can best show the relationship between Andromeda (A), Upsilon Andromeda system (U) and the three mentioned planets (P) ?
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A B C D
2.What led to Marcy’s discovery of the planets?
A. That he found a dog owner was pulled by his dog.
B. The tremble of Upsilon Andromeda
C. That any planet has gravity
D. That he believes any star has its planets
3.We can infer from the text that scientists are _______________
A. to find out whether the planets can support life
B. to find means to communicate with the living beings on the planets
C. to find means to travel to the planets
D. soon to be able to find another planet for life to live on
Children have their own rules in playing games. They seldom need a referee(裁判) and rarely trouble to keep scores. They don’t care much about who wins or loses, and it doesn’t seem to worry them if the game is not finished. Yet, they like games that depend a lot on luck, so that their personal abilities can’t be directly compared. They also enjoy games that move in stages, in which each stage, the choosing of leaders, the picking-up of sides, or the determining of which side shall start, is almost a game in itself.
Grown-ups can hardly find children’s games exciting, and they often feel puzzled at why their kids play such simple games again and again. However, it is found that a child plays games for very important reasons. He can be a good player without having to think whether he is a popular person, and he can find himself being a useful partner to someone of whom he is ordinarily afraid. He becomes a leader when it comes to his turn. He can be confident, too, in particular games, where it is his place to give orders, to pretend to be dead, to throw a ball actually at someone, or to kiss someone he has caught.
It appears to us that when children play a game they imagine a situation under their control. Everyone knows the rules, and more importantly, everyone plays according to the rules. Those rules may be childish, but they make sure that every child has a chance to win.
1.What is TRUE about children when they play games?
A. They can stop playing any time they like. B. They can test their personal abilities.
C. They want to pick a better team D. They don’t need rules.
2.One of the reasons that a child likes playing games is that ___________.
A. he can be someone other than himself B. he can become popular among friends
C. he finds he is always lucky in games D. he likes the place where he plays a game
3.Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE about children who play games?
A. They have equal chances to win B. Everyone obeys the rules.
C. They are afraid of their partners D. The situation they think of is in their control
4.The writer believes that __________________________.
A. children should make better rules for their games
B. children should invite grown-ups to play with them
C. children’s games can benefit them a lot
D. children play games without reasons
You may surf the internet to choose some films for the long holidays. Read the following introductions for movies that are showing at the moment. And then answer questions.
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Happiness (Romance) ★★★★
Happiness tells the story of two people (Lisa Turbot and Danny Roy) who work for different advertising companies. They talk on the phone all the time and don’t like each other. But then they correspond by e-mail and fall in love. This movie will be very popular with teenagers and people who like romances. It also has beautiful music.
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I scream (Thriller ) ★★
In I scream, Paul (Colin Jacks) is a young man who joins a thriller club. Each of the members tries to frighten the others. Paul is told to stay in an old house for the night. Everyone who has tried to stay in the house before has died. This movie is very frightening but also quite silly. It doesn’t make sense for Paul to stay in the house when things start to go wrong. Only for people who like thrillers.
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Paul’s Heroes (Comedy) ★★★
This is very funny war movie set in World War Two. Six soldiers (including Sammy Turblow) have to get to Italy to take secret messages to the American army there. During the movie, they dress up as women and fight with Italian workers. You can guess the ending, but it’s great fun getting there.
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(Drama ) ★★★★
This is a very good drama with Jack Ross, who plays a hard-working truck driver. His wife becomes ill and he has to find a doctor who can help her. In his travels he meets Dr Lloyd (Phidl Driver) who has found the cure for the illness, but Jack Ross has only twelve hours to get the medicine back to his wife on the other side of America. This is an excellent movie, which is very exciting.
1.The purpose of writing this article is to _____________
A. advertise the four films to attract more audience
B. compare the different advantages of each film
C. introduce different films to vacationers.
D. persuade people to go to the cinema
2.The underlined word “correspond” can be replaced by ________.
A. communicate B. match C. write D. exchange
3.Which of the following is the best title for the fourth film?
A .A Hard-working Truck Driver B. Medicine
C. A Strange Illness D. Twelve Hours
Twelve-year-old Paul Crossnickle has lived as a hero for six years now. It wasn’t until he wrote a composition for a recent class project, however, that he got the recognition he should have got.
On July 27, 1991, Paul saved his three-year-old sister Julie from drowning in the family swimming pool. When he found her, he jumped in, pulled her off the bottom and brought her to the ground.
Their father was trying to bring Julie to life when fire fighters arrived. She survived without serious injury.
Last month, in Paul’s seventh-grade language arts class at Juniper Elementary School, teacher Liliana Mauro asked students to write about an important event in their lives. Paul wrote about rescuing Julie.
“He was somewhat disappointed, for he was never recognized for his deed,” Principal Mondragon said. “Mrs. Mauro telephoned the Fire Department and looked into what they could do for him.”
The school held a regular gathering for their teachers and 200 pupils, which surprised Paul Firefighters from a local station joined Assistant Fire Chief Dave Horn and the city officials who presented Paul with a plaque (徽章) that recognized him “for his heroic efforts preventing a needless loss of life in a near-drowning accident.”
Paul’s parents, Alan and Kathy Crossnickle, were there as well as Julie.
“Paul’s story was one of success…and his sister was able to survive with all her faculties in place,” fire Captain Steve Valenzuela said. “This should remind everyone else that because of Paul’s quick action, knowing to get his sister out of the pool and calling 911 and beginning CPR probably saved her life.”
1.The correct order of the story is _____.
a. Paul became a known hero
b. Paul wrote a composition c. Paul pulled his three-year—old sister off the bottom. d. Paul’s parents were present at the gathering.
e. Mrs. Mauro connected the Fire Department f. Paul was given a plaque.
A. a, b, c, d, e, f B. c, a, b, d, e, f C. c, b, e, d, f, a D. b, c, a, e, f, d
2.Fire Captain Steve meant that _______ when he said that Julie survived “with all her faculties in place.”
A. Julie was saved undamaged
B. Julie was frightened though she was saved
C. Julie was sent to hospital without delay
D. Julie was able to return to the place because of Paul’s rescue
3.What conclusion can we get from the text?
A. Paul’s parents didn’t want Paul to be a hero at all.
B. The school wanted other students to learn from Paul.
C. Mrs. Mauro was fond of Paul very much.
D. Paul looked forward to being a hero for six years.
Although the new year is already here, the great moments of the old year are still in the memory. Let’s look back at some of these.
the United States
One of the world’s largest New Year’s Eve parties was held in Times Square, New Year. The festival attracted hundreds of thousands of people to watch brightly-lit ball drop on a landmark building at the stroke(报时的钟声) of midnight.
A great amount of confetti(五彩纸屑) was released from the sky at zero o’clock..
Britain
Painted in shining colours and blowing on whistles,50,000 party-goers arrived in London’s Millennium Dome to dance in the New Year. The Millennium Dome came to life at midnight as 50 DJs started up, competing on five separate dance floors to warm the crowd into the party mood.
Russia
New Year is the biggest holiday in Russia. It is traditional to put up a tree for celebrations with family and friends.
On the very last day of the years, Russians with a taste for a very cold swim braved freezing temperatures to plant traditional, festival trees on the bed of the Northern Ocean and at the bottom of Lake Baikal, the world’s deepest lake.
Malaysia
Brave skydivers threw themselves off the world’s tallest buildings near midnight and floated towards the new year.
The jump from the 452-metre Petronas Twin Tower was called a real leap from one year to the next since the group took off in the last second of the old year and landed a minute later in the new year.“That was really cool,”said Roland Simpson,“over crowds of onlookers to the landing spot.”
1.In New Year the brightly-lit ball dropped______.
A. from the sky onto the Times Square B. to celebrate the stroke of midnight
C. to welcome the arrival of Christmas D. at the point between the old and the new year
2.Which of the following is NOT true about celebrations in the world?
A. A large quantity of confetti was given out from the tallest building.
B. Skydivers in Malaysia jumped down from the world’s tallest buildings.
C. Some Russians planted trees on the bed of Lake Baikal.
D. In Britain 50 DJs competed on five separate floors.
3.The underlined word “landmark”means______ in the text.
A. an easily recognizable object, such as a tall tree or building
B. something that marks an important point in one’s life
C. something marking the limits of a piece of land
D. a building that is marked on a map
4.The text shows that_____.
A. New Year has been the starting point for people to have dreams
B. people in different countries welcomed New Year in different ways
C. people’s ways of celebrations are exciting
D. the new year is better than the old year
阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从各题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上涂黑。
This little story I’m about to tell you happened when I was about 11 years old, and I’II never forget it. I was at my friend Jenny’s __1__ after school one day, and we were doing (or not doing) homework.. __2__ I was there, Jenny’s mom came over to visit.
I don’t remember her name__3__ what her face looked like. I just remember her hands, her voice and the__4__ she taught me.
I can still see her hand __5__ for mine in our introduction. __6__ were so beautiful, I thought; rich, dark skin__7__ complemented(涂了) by the orange colored polish on her nails. Then I __8__ her saying, and not at all in a condescending(居高临下的) __9__ .“Oh no, that is NOT how you shake hands. Let me show you _10___.”
After that, I just remember her voice __11__ the importance of a good handshake, conveying（传递） a positive sense of self, looking at _12___ person in the eye, making that first moment matter…I think in that exchange I first understood__13__.
I respected her for __14__ the time to teach me about one of those subtleties(细微之处) in life. I appreciated the fact __15__ she didn’t look down upon me because I was 11 or because I didn’t know something. And so because of that I felt somewhat respected. I mean the _16___ she treated me. It felt good to be __17__ like a real person. I also appreciate her idea that _18__ someone doesn’t pay attention to something, be patient and point him or her__19__ the right direction. I__20__ her every time I meet someone and shake hands. And I’m so thankful for her little lesson.
1.A. office B. house C. family D. room
2.A. Although B. As C. During D. If
3.A. and B. but C. even D. or
4.A. homework B. English C. lesson D. knowledge
5.A. reaching down B. reaching up C. reaching out D. reaching far
6.A. It B. That C. These D. They
7.A. patiently B. beautifully C. strongly D. thickly
8.A. listened B. found C. heard D. saw
9.A. manner B. means C. method D. voice
10.A. that B. it C. how D. what
11.A. explains B. explained C. explain D. explaining
12.A. the other B. other C. another D. others
13.A. politeness B. saying C. friendship D. respect
14.A. costing B. spending C. taking D. using
15.A. what B. which C. that D./
16.A. place B. position C. way D. time
17.A. talking about B. talked to C. talking to D. talked about
18.A. as soon as B. as long as C. once D. if
19.A. from B. at C. in D. to
20.A. think over B. think of C. think about D. think out
