The massive 8.8 quake, the seventh strongest in recorded history, hit Chile（智利） and should have shortened the length of an Earth day by 1.26 milliseconds. More impressive is how much the quake shifted the Earth’s axis（地轴）.
The computer model used to determine the effects of the Chile earthquake effect also found that it should have moved the Earth’s figure axis by about 8 cm. The Earth’s figure axis is not the same as its north-south axis, which Earth turns around once every day at a speed of about 1,604 kph. The figure axis is the axis around which the Earth’s mass is balanced. It is offset（偏离）from the Earth’s north-south axis by about 10 meters.
Strong earthquakes can change Earth’s days and its axis. The 9.1 Sumatran earthquake in 2004, which set off a deadly tsunami（海啸）, should have shortened Earth’s days by 0.0068 milliseconds and shifted its axis by about 7cm.
One Earth day is about 24 hours long. Over the course of a year, the length of a day normally changes gradually by one millisecond. It increases in the winter when Earth moves more slowly, and decreases in the summer.
The Chile earthquake was much smaller than the Sumatran quake, but its effects on the Earth are larger because of its location. The fault（断层） responsible for the 2010 Chile quake also cuts through Earth at a larger angle(角度) than the Sumatran quake’s fault. This makes the Chile fault more effective in moving the Earth’s mass vertically and hence more effective in shifting the Earth’s figure axis.
The findings are based on early data available on the Chile earthquake. The Chile earthquake has killed more than 700 people and caused widespread damage in the South American country.
1.What’s the biggest problem caused by the Chile quake?
A. It is the seventh strongest in recorded history.
B. It should have shortened the length of an Earth day.
C. It shifted the Earth’s axis.
D. It made the day longer on Earth.
2.Comparing the Sumatran earthquake with the Chile earthquake, we know that ______.
A. the Sumatran earthquake had more effect on Earth
B. the location of the Chile earthquake is responsible for its larger effects on Earth
C. the Sumatran earthquake was less destructive
D. the Chile earthquake fault changed the Earth’s mass
3.What does the word “It” in the 4th paragraph refer to?
A. The length of a day. B. The axis.
C. One millisecond. D. The change of the day.
4.This article is most probably taken from .
A. A travel book B. A fiction
C. A science research report D. A fashion journal
Volunteers, as an essential part of a successful world exposition, are a major channel for the public to participate in, serve and share the world exposition and a means to showcase the image of the host country and city. The following information is about the volunteer for the World Exposition 2010 Shanghai China.
I. Basic Requirements for
Volunteers
● Be willing to participate in voluntary services of Expo 2010;
● Age limit: Expo Site volunteers must be born before April 30;
1992 and Expo City Voluntary Service Station volunteers before
April 30, 1994;
● Obey the laws and regulations of the PRC;
● Be able to participate in training and relevant activities before the opening of Expo 2010;
● Possess necessary knowledge and skills needed by the position;
● Be in good health to meet the requirements of corresponding voluntary positions.
II. Further Information for Volunteers
● Source
Residents of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, as well as overseas Chinese, and foreigners can all apply to be the volunteers.
● Signup methods
Applicants may log in onto the official websites for online signup. They may also consult or connect with the Expo Volunteer Stations.
● Time
May 1–December 31, 2009
III. Volunteer Training
Volunteer training includes general training, special training and position training. General training is carried out through internet, while special training and position training are provided through classroom lectures and field practice.
IV. Volunteer Types
● Expo Site volunteers refer to those offering voluntary services to visitors and the Organizer in the Expo Site, mainly including information, visitor flow management, reception, translation and interpretation, assistance for the disabled, and assistance in media service, event and conference organization and volunteer management.
● Information booth volunteers are stationed in the Expo's information booths at key transportation centers, commercial outlets, tourist attractions, restaurants, hotels and cultural event places outside the Expo Site. They offer services including information, translation, interpretation and even first aid.
1.If you were born in April 1993, where can you be a volunteer?
A. In the Expo City. B. In the host country.
C. In the Expo Site. D. In Chinese mainland.
2.Which of the training will be done on the Internet?
A. Position training. B. General training.
C. Classroom training． D. Special training.
3.Which of the following service is offered by information booth volunteers?
A. Visitor flow management. B. Helping the disabled.
C. Assistance in media service. D. Emergency First aid.
4.Which of the following is not suitable for being a volunteer of Expo 2010?
A. Being own good health to meet the requirements of corresponding voluntary positions.
B. Following the laws and regulations of the PRC.
C. Being able to join in training and relevant activities after the opening of Expo 2010.
D. Owning necessary knowledge and skills needed by the position.
Until quite recently, I knew only three things about my father: I knew his name, David S. Johnson, Jr. I knew he was an only child, and I’d been told he was killed on April 12, 1945, somewhere in Germany.
I used to come to visit my Granny. “Daddy David and his two friends were out in the fields, making sure the way was safe for the others to follow,” she told me. “All of a sudden there was an explosion. All three of them were killed.” Granny was looking down, stroking (抚摸)one thin hand with the other. Then there were no words but silence.
I began my search and collection for information about my father as my 50th birthday and the 50th anniversary of his death drew near. I was told that the explosion had blown him to bits and I had great difficulty collecting anything I could find about him bit by bit. Bits of information about his began falling into my hands, my mind and my heart. Longing to know my father kept me connected to him. It was time to transform my longing into knowledge.
Once upon a time he was alive, and my mother and father were deeply in love. They were married, and they had a child, my brother David. Then my father left for the war.
I was born in January 1945. On February 15 my father wrote me a letter of welcome. The letter is kept in my baby book, “Dear Susan, you have a very good family. Your dad is sort of a less able person. Your mother is the most wonderful person I’ve ever known. I’ve always marveled at my great good fortune to have her and been loved by her. If you follow her words and examples, you may expect to meet life in the best possible way, and your path will always be the right one. Your father, Dave.”
Black on white paper, the words are from my father. From them I grow into a person of loyalty and love. How I long for stories that will bring him to life!
1.The writer got to know her father’s story of death from ______.
A. her father’s friends B. someone in Germany
C. her grandmother D. a little child
2.The author met difficulty finding information about her father because ______.
A. it was too late for her to start the search
B. the explosion left little about her father
C. she only found pieces of hands and legs
D. she didn’t have enough knowledge to do it
3.Which of the following statements is true?
A. Her parents had only one child B. Her father died before her birth
C. Her father was a disabled man D. The writer never saw her father
4.We know from the last paragraph that the author ______.
A. still hates her father for having left B. is curious about her father’s death
C. shows much respect for her father D. is sure that her father may survive
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，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。
Arriving in a new city, I had the strangest first week of my graduate school. I fell and broke my 1within two days of arriving there! I was really 2by the kindness shown by my new 3, someone who I had only just met. "We are family now", she said when she found me 4in my room with a swollen leg, unable to move, in a 5city with no family except across three oceans.
She 6me to the student health center by taxi to get my leg 7. The driver was so nice and said to me how 8I was to have a friend like that. After that, my roommate 9stop helping me — she made me delicious meals and 10them to me and made me comfortable despite my insistence that I could do things on my own. When I refused her help, "I really like 11people", she would say, "and I believe what goes 12always comes around..." and this was from someone who I had been 13just by chance!
I was 14touched by the kindness of everyone — the girl in the elevator, people on the bus, the doctors and nurses—people who were so considerate and 15. Not feeling lonely and homesick any more, I 16I’ve become a member of a big family.
The small acts 17in my mind — the bus drivers gave me the luxury of being picked up from any point wherever and made sure I could get the connections to 18I needed to go... or the many people who 19the door open for me — small things that were incredibly hard with inconvenience. In whatever way I could, I decided to 20the universe for its blessings.
1.A. leg B. arms C. back D. fingers
2.A. interested B. assisted C. touched D. advocated
3.A. classmate B. teacher C. desk-mate D. roommate
4.A. studying B. lying C. walking D. dying
5.A. strange B. different C. big D. small
6.A. brought B. fetched C. took D. drove
7.A. examined B. examining C. examine D. to examine
8.A. easy B. comfortable C. inspiring D. lucky
9.A. didn't B. had to C. failed to D. promised to
10.A. cooked B. brought C. bought D. sent
11.A. to help B. help C. being helped D. helping
12.A. around B. across C. over D. beyond
13.A. parted B. passed C. paired D. pitied
14.A. slightly B. secretly C. seriously D. suddenly
15.A. concentrated B. concerned C. changed D. conducted
16.A. felt B. stopped C. announced D. determined
17.A. stayed B. lasted C. grew D. related
18.A. whatever B. whenever C. wherever D. whoever
19.A. prepared B. held C. tended D. threw
20.A. refuse B. repay C. reach D. receive
For quite_____ students，their teacher's advice is more important than _____ of their parents'.
A. few; one B. a few; that C. a little; some D. a lot; many
Unfortunately, when I dropped in, Doctor Li _______ for Beijing to join in the fight again SARS, so we only had time for a few words.
A. just left B. has just left
C. is just leaving D. was just leaving
