Will there ever be another Einstein? This is the undercurrent（潜流） of conversation at Einstein memorial meetings throughout the year．A new Einstein will appear, scientists say．But it may take a long time．After all, more than 200 years separated Einstein from Isaac Newton．
Many physicists say the next Einstein hasn't been born yet, or is a baby now．That's because the search for a unified theory that would explain all the forces of nature has pushed current mathematics to its limits．New math must be created after the problem can be solved．
But researchers say there are many other factors working against another Einstein appearing anytime soon．For one thing, physics is a much different field today．In Einstein's day, there were a few thousand physicists worldwide, and the theorists who could argue with Einstein probably would fit into a streetcar with seats to spare．Education is different, too．One key aspect of Einstein's training that-is little noticed is the years of philosophy he read as a teenager --- Kant, Schopenhauer and Spinoza, among others．It taught him how to think independently about space and time and it wasn't long before he became a philosopher himself．
And Einstein was a clever musician．The interplay between music and math is well-known．Einstein would play his violin hard as a way to think through a knotty physics problem．
Today, universities have produced millions of physicists．There aren't many jobs in science for them, so they go to Wall Street and Silicon Valley to apply their analytical skills．Those who stay in science don’t work alone and they sometimes do experiment together which takes years．
It's hard to imagine a renegade（背叛者） like Einstein standing it．“Maybe there is an Einstein out there today,” said Columbia University physicist Brian Greene, “but it would be a lot harder for him to be heard．”
1.According to the second paragraph, the next Einstein will ___________．
A．have to create new math B．create a unified theory
C．have to be born now D．push math to its limits
2.The underlined words “knotty” in the fourth paragraph means ____________．
A．easy B．interesting C．strange D．difficult
3.Which of the following will be useful for the next Einstein to be born?
A．There will be music around．
B．There will be no problems to solve．
C．There will be suitable philosophy to study．
D．There are only a few physicists．
4.The bold words “unified theory” in Paragraph 2 refers to ___________．
A．agreement B．mathematical rule
C．unique idea D．physical saying
A husband-and-wife team from California reached the Pacific Ocean after a 4,900- mile-cross-country walk, becoming the first to backpack the American Discovery Trail in one continuouswalk．
Marcia and Ken powers, of Pleasanton, started the travel across 13 states, through 14 national parks and 16 national forests on Feb．27 from Cape Henlopen in Delaware．Nearly eight months later, the excited couple walked through water into the Pacific Ocean at Point Reyes, a day ahead of time．
“We are a little sad that a great adventure is over．It was a fantastic adventure．And now we go home and just do housework．It's really sad．” Marcia, who said she's in her 50s, and her 60-year-old husband traversed cities, desert, mountains and farmland before reaching the Pacifics alone with arms around each other' s backpacks．
They overcame deep snow in the East, a quicksand in Utah, close lightning strikes in the Mid- west and strong desert sandstorms in the West while averaging 22 miles a day and taking only four days off．But they enjoyed the French history of St．Louis' the beauty of the Colorado Rockies and the kindness of strangers they met along the way．They particularly remember two brothers ---- a
doctor and dentist-------who put them up in their homes, after terrible days, and a motorcyclist who gave them water after they failed to find any on Utah's lonely Wah Wah Desert．
“Americans are truly warm-hearted and wonderful people．” Marcia Powers said．“We got to meet people that we would never meet in our daily living at home．We got to touch it with our feet and hands and smell all its scents and hear its wildlife．It' s an amazing country,” she added．
1.Which of the following about couple's walk is TRUE?
A．The walk covered more than 13 states．
B．The walk lasted about half a year．
C．The walk didn't meet any desert．
D．The walk might end before October 27．
2.The underlined word “traversed” in the third paragraph means “____________．”
A．enjoy B．move across, through or over
C．overcome D．look at
3.According to the text, we can infer that during the walk the couple __________．
A．were treated warm-heartedly by the local people
B．never stopped to have a rest
C．were ever caught in a heavy rain and became ill
D．felt the quicksand in Utah was very interesting
4.The couple went through many places except ____________．
A．big rivers B．desert C．hills D．fields
Nate suffered a hard blow when he lost his job．His boss had spoken rudely, “Your services are no longer needed．” Nate left the building filled with despair．By the time he reached home, he was in a deep depression．When he entered his house, he blurted out to his wife Sophia, “I lost my job．I am a complete, absolutely failure．” A tense silence followed．Then a smile crept across Sophia's face． “What great news!” she responded, “Now you can write the book you have always wanted to write．”
“But I have no job and no prospect of a job,” he objected, completely without hope．“If I struggle to be an author, then what will we live on? Where will the money come from?” Sophia took her husband by the hand and led him to the kitchen．Opening a drawer, she took out a box that was full of cash．“Where on earth did you get this?” Nate gasped．“To whom does it belong?”
“It's ours!” Sophia replied．"I always know that one day you would become a great writer only if you were given the chance．From the money you gave me for housekeeping every week, I have saved as much as I could so you would have your chance．Now there is enough to last us a whole year．”
What a surprise! What encouragement! What a wife! The unemployed husband did concentrate on writing that year, and the novel he wrote became a literary masterpiece（杰作）．The book is The Scarlet Letter．Sophia had an even greater achievement, and she turned Nathaniel Hawthorne from a poor clerk into a world famous master．
1.Which of the following can be inferred from the first paragraph?
A．Sophia was very disappointed to hear the news．
B．Nate was too sad to speak any more．
C．Sophia was thinking of how to encourage Nate．
D．Neither husband nor wife had any idea of what to do．
2.Sophia saved money because ____________．
A．she knew her husband would lose his job one day
B．she knew their life would be in difficulty
C．she was very careful with money
D．she was trying to help her husband in every possible way
3.From the passage we can know that Sophia was ___________．
A．kind and brave
B．careful and encouraging
C．friendly and warm-hearted
D．honest and determined
4.What would be the best title for the passage?
A．Sophia's Achievement
B．A Great Writer's Struggle to Success
C．Great Encouragement in Hard Times
D．Failure is the Mother of Success
Academy Awards The Academy Awards are the most prominent film award in the United States．The Awards are granted by the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences．Academy Awards are nicknamed “Oscars” , which is also the nickname of the statuette．The name is said to have been born in 1931 when Margaret Herrick saw the statuette on a table and said．“It looks just like my uncle Oscar!”
Berlin Film Festival One of the “A” festivals in Europe．The Berlin International Film Festival, also called the “Berlinale”, is held annually in February and started in 1951 after an initiative of the American, who occupied part of the city after World War II．The jury always placed special emphasis on representing films from all over the world, from the former Eastern Bloc Countries （东方阵营） as well as from Western countries．The awards are called Golden and Silver Bears （ as the bear is the symbol of Berlin）．
Venice Film Festival The Venice Film Festival takes place every year in late August/early September on the Lido in the historic Palazzo del Cinema, in Venice, Italy since 1932; its main award is the “Leond'Oro” （Golden Lion）． Recently, a new award has been added, the San Marco Award for the best film
Cannes Film Festival The Cannes Film Festival is．a famous international film festival．It has been held annually in Cannes, in the south of France, since 1946 with a few exceptions．Given massive media exposure, the Festival is attended by many movie stars and is a popular venue for movie producers to launch their new films and attempt to sell their works to the distributors who come from all over the globe．
The most famous award given out at Carmes is the “Palme d'Or” （Golden Palm） for the best film; this is sometimes shared by multiple films in one year．
1.Which award can be shared by multiple films in one year?
A．Golden Lion． B．Golden Palm．
C．Academy Awards． D．San Marco Award．
2.Which of the following statements about “Oscars” is NOT true?
A．It s the nickname of Academy Awards．
B．It's also the nickname of the statuette．
C．It got its name because Margaret said the statuette looked like her uncle．
D．It s an award in France．
3.Which award has the shortest history?
A．Golden Lion． B．Golden Palm．
C．Academy Awards． D．San Marco Award．
4.Which of the following best states the main idea of the passage?
A．An introduction to famous film festivals and film awards．
B．An advertisement for films and TV programs．
C．An introduction to the nicknames of famous film awards．
D．A guide of bow to attend famous film festivals．
Even before my father left us, my mother had to go back to work to support our family．
Once I came out of the kitchen, complaining, “Mom, I can't peel（削皮）potatoes．I have only one hand．” Mom never looked up from sewing．“You get yourself into that kitchen and peel those potatoes,” she told me, “And don't ever use that as an excuse for anything again !”
In the second grade, our teacher lined up my class on the playground and had each of us race across the monkey bars（攀登架）, swinging from one high steel rod to the next．When it was my turn, I shook my head．Some kids behind me laughed, and I went home crying．
That night I told Mom about it．She hugged me, and I saw her “we'll see about that” look．The next afternoon, she took me back to school．At the deserted playground, Mom looked carefully at the bars．
“Now, pull up with your right arm,” she advised．She stood by as I struggled to lift myself with my right hand until I could hook the bar with my other elbow．Day after day we practiced and she praised me for every rung（横档） I reached．
I'll never forget the next time, crossing the rungs．I looked down at the kids who were standing with their mouths open．
One night, after a dance at my new junior high, I lay in bed sobbing．I could hear Mom come into my room．“Mom,” I said, weeping, “None of the boys would dance with me．”
For a long time, I didn't hear anything．Then she said, “Oh, honey, someday you'll be beating those boys off with a bat．" Her voice was faint and cracking．I peeked out from my covers to see tears running down her cheeks．Then I knew how much she suffered from my disability．She had never let me see her tears．
1.Which of the following expressions can be used most suitably to describe Mom's attitude when she made the child peel potatoes?
A．Cruel． B．Rude． C．Strict． D．Cold．
2.From the passage, we know monkey bars can help a child train____________．
A．the skill to throw and catch things
B．the speed of one's hand movement
C．the strength and skill to hang and sway
D．the bodily skill to rotate round a bar．
3.What does the underlined sentence “I saw her 'we'll see about that’ look．” imply?
A．Mom believed every aim could be achieved if you stuck to it．
B．The race across monkey bars was not difficult enough for a child to give up．
C．Mom was determined to prove she herself was better than the teacher．
D．What the child had said brought Mom great attraction and curiosity．
4.When the author looked down at the kids, they were standing with their mouths open because __________．
A．they felt sorry for what they had done before
B．they were afraid the author might fall off and get hurt
C．they wanted to see what the author would do on the bars
D．they were astonished to find the author's progress
There was a blacksmith（铁匠） who wasn't satisfied with his work．Once he complained, “I am not well and my work is too warm．I want to be a ____1____ on the mountain．There it must be _____2____, for the wind blows and the trees give a shade．．” A wise man who had ___3____ over all things replied, “Go you, be a stone．” And he was a stone, high up on the ____4_____ side．It happened that a stone-cutter ____5____ that way for a stone and when he saw the one that had been the ____6____, he knew that it was what he ____7_____ and he began to cut it．The stone ____8____ out, “This hurts! I no longer want to be a stone．A stone-cutter I want to be．That ____9____ be pleasant．” The wise man, humoring him, said, “Be a cutter．” ____10____ he became a stone-cutter and as he went seeking a suitable stone, he ____11____ tired and his feet were sore（酸痛）．He ____12____,” I no longer want to cut stone．I would be the sun; that would be pleasant．” The wise man ___13____, “Be the sun．” And he was the sun．But the sun was warmer than the blacksmith, than a stone, than a stone-cutter, and he complained, “I do not ____14____ this．I would be the moon．It ___15____ cool．” The wise man spoke yet again, “Be the moon．” And he was the moon．This is warmer than being the sun,” ____16___ he, “for the light from the sun ____17____on me ever．I do not want to be the moon．I would be a ___18____ again．That, indeed, is the ___19____ life．” But the wise man replied, “I am ____20____of your changing．You wanted to be the moon; the moon you are and you will remain．”
1.A．tree B．iron C．stone D．stone-cutter
2.A．warm B．hot C．cold D．cool
3.A．energy B．force C．power D．strength
4.A．river B．mountain C．lake D．sea
5.A．went B．took C．came D．made
6.A．moon B．sun C．wise man D．blacksmith
7.A．bought B．caught C．sought D．protected
8.A．cried B．read C．spoke D．looked
9.A．would B．should C．will D．shall
10.A．Though B．Nevertheless C．Thus D．But
11.A．became B．turned C．grew D．went
12.A．complained B．suggested C．persuaded D．nodded
13.A．refused B．commanded C．mentioned D．married
14.A．like B．hate C．want D．get
15.A．feels B．sounds C．looks D．smells
16.A．whispered B．shouted C．stated D．declared
17.A．twinkles B．shines C．drops D．falls
18.A．smith B．carpenter C．woodcutter D．stone-cutter
19.A．worst B．best C．longest D．shortest
20.A．bored B．fond C．proud D．afraid
