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When we look at the sky and see a bright light moving quickly across it or coming towards the earth, we talk about seeing a “shooting star” or a “falling star”. These moving lights are not, in fact, stars at all. They are small pieces of matter from outer space, which burn up as they enter the Earth’s atmosphere. The correct name of them is meteoroids. Any pieces that make it to the Earth’s surface without completely burning up are known as meteorites. A meteor is actually the name given to the light we see when a meteoroid is burning up.
When a meteorite hits the Earth at speeds between 11 and 72 kilometers a second, it can do amazing damage. A very large meteorite could knock the earth out of its orbit. If this happened, all life on Earth would probably become extinct（灭绝）. The path we follow around the Sun would change and as a result the Earth would become either much hotter or much colder. This change in temperature would affect sea levels and the amount of water in rivers. There would either be huge floods, which would cover most of the land with water, or the oceans would dry up and there would be a drought, which means a long period of time without rain. Either way, nothing could survive. If a large meteorite landed in the sea it would almost certainly cause tsunamis, which would race towards the land, destroying everything in their paths.
Although it is unlikely the Earth will be struck by a meteorite large enough to do that kind of damage, there is evidence of fairly large meteorites hitting the Earth in the past. In 1908 a large area of forest in Tunguska, Siberia was destroyed by a meteorite that came apart just before it hit the ground. The moon, however, has about three billion craters陨石坑caused by meteorites impacting影响 its surface. The reason more meteorites have reached the surface of the moon than the surface of the Earth is that the moon does not have enough atmosphere for the meteorites to burn up in. some of the meteorites that have reached the Earth’s surface have done considerable damage. Some scientists believe it was a change of climate caused by meteorites hitting the Earth that resulted in the extinction of the dinosaurs and other large prehistoric animals.
Scientists are especially interested in meteorites because they contain information about the solar system. It is widely believed by scientists that most meteorites are produced by collisions（碰撞） between asteroids (small planets). These collisions probably happened many billions of years ago. This means the physical and chemical structure of a meteorite can give scientists information about the early days of the universe.
【小题1】 The story is about ___.
A. floods caused by meteors
B. matter from outer space
C. life on Earth millions of years ago
D. meteorites that have damaged the moon
【小题2】 The Earth has ___.
A. three billion craters
B. fewer craters than the moon
C. more craters than the moon
D. a thinner atmosphere than the moon
【小题3】 Some scientists believe the dinosaurs became extinct because ___.
A. they were hit by meteors
B. meteorites landed on their nests
C. meteorites landed and changed the climate
D. they could no longer breathe the atmosphere
【小题4】 Meteors are ___.
A. small planets
B. the same as asteroids
C. from broken parts of asteroids
D. the light we see when meteoroids hit our atmosphere
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October 31, 2009, California
Tsien Hsue-shen, PhD'39, one of the founders of the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, died on October 31, He was 98.
Tsien, born in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou, graduated from the National Qinghua University in 1934 and in August of 1935 he left China to study at the Massachusetts Institute Technology. In 1936 he went to the California Institute of Technology to commence graduate studies .Tsien obtained his doctor degree in 1939 and would remain at Caltech for 20 years, becoming the Goddard Professor and establishing a reputation as one of the leading rocket scientists in the United States.
In 1943, Tsien and two others in the Caltech rocketry group drafted the first document to use the name Jet Propulsion Laboratory. During the Second World War, he was amongst the other scientists participated the "Manhattan Project" .After World War II he served as a consultant to the United States Army Air Force. During this time, Conlonel Tsien worked on designing an intercontinental space plane. His work would inspire the X--20Dyna-Soar which would later be the inspiration for the Space Shuttle. In1945 Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Jiang Baili--one of the Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai--shen's leading military strategists. But in 1950, the Chinese-born scientist was accused of harboring Communist sympathies and stripped of his security clearance.
In September 1955 he was permitted to leave for China, where Tsien resumed his research, founded the Institute of Mechanics, and went on to become the father of China's missile program, a trusted member of the government and Party's inner circle, and the nation's most honored scientist, Tsien retired in 1991 and has maintained a low public profile in Beijing, China. The PRC government launched its manned space program in 1992 and used Tsien's research as the basis for the Long March rocket which successfully launched the Shenzhou V mission in October of 2003.The elderly Tsien was able to watch China's first manned space mission on television from his hospital bed.
In his late years, since the 1980s, Tsien devoted himself to spirituality research, and advocated scientific investigation of traditional Chinese medicine, Qigong and "special human body functions".
【小题1】 The underlined word "commence" in this passage probably means ____
A. make up B. get C. begin D. promise
【小题2】 Tsien Hsue--shen got married at the age of ______
A.45 B.28 C. 24 D.34
【小题3】 What is the right order of the events related to Tsien Hsue--shen ?
a. his later life
b. return to China
c. career in the U.S.A
d. his early life and education
A. a-b-c-d B. d-c-b-a C. d-b-c-a D. c-b-d-a
【小题4】 Which of the following statements is NOT true?
A. Tsien Hsue--shen got a doctor's degree in 1939.
B. Tsien Hsue--shen married Jiang Ying, the daughter of Chinese nationalist leader Chiang Kai-shen.
C. Tsien Hsue-shen has made a contribution to the Space Shuttle.
D. Tsien Hsue-shen was interested in traditional Chinese medicine, qigong and "special human body functions" in his later life.
1
Egypt: Bridging the Gap between School English and Real English
Teaching English in Egypt in general and in my town Damietta in particular, is mainly directed towards helping students to pass their final exams. Unfortunately, most teachers do not adopt a long -term approach that guarantees that their students will be able to use English outside the classroom. So students only concentrate on one skill which is writing. Thus their listening and speaking skills are disabled. What is important to them is to pass the exam which is primarily based on writing .Teachers are not only concentrated with providing their students with questions that are similar to those of the final exam, particularly General Secondary Education Certificate (GSEC) Examination, so students spend most of their time answering typical exam questions.
Most students' scores are high; a lot of students get full marks. However, few students are able to communicate in English because their role plays. As a result, a lot of students complain that they are unable to understand and talk fluently with native speakers of English.
To enable students to communicate freely and spontaneously(自然地) in English, I bring features of real communication into language practice, I always ask students about their own experiences, and suggest groups of students practice what they have learned outside the classroom. This helps lower-achieving students absorb language. Furthermore, role play is a very effective way to improve speaking skills particularly if it is connected to the experience of the students.
【小题1】 Who probably write this passage?
A. a teacher B. a governor C. a student D. a reporter
【小题2】 In Egypt, the students only concentrate on ------
A. listening skill B. speaking skill C. reading skill D. writing skill
【小题3】 The teachers question their students based on -------
A. what they learn in the class
B. What their parents expect
C. The questions that are similar to those of GSEC
D. The ability that will be used outside the classroom
【小题4】 Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. Most of the students can't get high marks but can communicate with the native speakers of English.
B. Communicating skill is more important than writing skill.
C. Role play connected to the speaker's experience is more effective
in improving his skill.
D. The lower--achieving students can do better in speaking skill than the upper achieving students.
【小题5】 Who will responsible for the gap between school English and real English?
A. Their parents B. The students C. The school D. The education sys tem
1
One day, while a woodcutter was cutting a branch of a tree above a river. When he began crying, God appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"
The woodcutter told him that he had dropped his axe into water. God went down into the water and reappeared with a golden axe.
"Is this your axe?" God asked.
The woodcutter said "No."
God again went down and came up with a silver axe." Is this your axe?" God asked.
The woodcutter said "No."
God again went down and came up with a iron axe." Is this your axe?" God asked.
The woodcutter said "Yes."
God was pleased with the man's honesty and gave him all the three axes.
The woodcutter went home happily. One day while he was walking with his wife along the river, his wife fell into the river. W hen he began crying, God appeared and asked him, "Why are you crying?"
"My wife has fallen into water."
God went down into the water and came up with Jennifer Lopez.
"Is this your wife?" God asked him.
"Yes." he said.
God was furious(狂怒的),"YOU CHEAT !Now I am going to curse you."
The woodcutter quickly said, “Forgive me my lord. It is a misunderstanding. IF I say 'No' to Jennifer Lopez, you will come up with Catherine Zeta Jones, If I also say 'No' to her, you will finally come up
With my wife and I will say, 'Yes.' Then you will give all the three to me .I am a poor man .I will not be able to look after all the three. So that's why I've to say 'Yes' "
【小题1】 Which of the following best describes the author's tone in telling the story?
A. Optimistic B. Humoristic C. Objective D. Critical
【小题2】 The impression that the woodcutter makes on you is that he is -----
A. foolish but honest B. foolish and honest
C. smart but honest D. smart and honest
【小题3】 What can you infer about Jennifer Lopez and Catherine Zeta Jones?
A. They are the secret lovers of the woodcutter
B. They look much like the woodcutter's wife.
C. They are both rich women with a lot of gold and silver.
D. They are both popular with women, much worthy than his wife
1
When I was a teenager I volunteered to work at the water station at a 10,000 m race.My 36 was to pass out water to the runners. I remember being so excited to see all the different kinds of 37 who passed by and 38 a cup of water. The next year I signed up for the 39 and gave it a shot.
The first 10,000 m race was quite an experience. I jogged, I walked, I jogged and I walked. At times, I didn’t 40 if I could finish.
At one point near the end, a 70-year-old man ran past me very 41 , and I felt embarrassed that I was 50 years younger than him and I couldn’t even keep up with him. I felt 42 for a second.
But then I 43 something. He was running his race and I was running mine. He had 44 capacities, experience, training and goals for himself. I had mine. Remember my 45 was only to finish.
After a minute, it 46 me that this was a lesson I could draw from . I learned 47 about myself in that moment. I turned my 48 into inspiration.
I decided that I would not 49 running races. In fact, I would run even more races and I would learn how to train and 50 properly and one day I would be one of those 70-year-olds who were still running. As I 51 the finishing line, I was proud 52 my accomplishment.
In life we all have those moments when we 53 ourselves to others. It’s only 54 . Don’allow those moments to weaken you. Turn them into 55 and let them inspire you. Use them to show you what is possible.
1.A. position B. direction C. decision D. target
2.A. trainers B. runners C. fans D. volunteers
3.A. begged B. drank C. dropped D. grabbed
4.A. project B. service C. race D. experience
5.A. doubt B. know C. answer D. promise
6.A. slowly B. fast C. quietly D. carefully
7.A. surprised B. satisfied C. amused D. defeated
8.A. forgot B. realized C. remembered D. abandoned
9.A. different B. wonderful C. valuable D. proper
10.A. dream B. plan C. goal D. job
11.A. happened B. hit C. occurred D. attracted
12.A. everything B. anything C. nothing D. something
13.A. disappointment B. embarrassment C. agreement D. achievement
14.A. sign up B. pick up C. give up D. keep up
15.A. predict B. behave C. prepare D. pretend
16.A. found B. crossed C. held D. left
17.A. in B. upon C. of D. for
18.A. combine B. control C. compare D. contribute
19.A. natural B. frequent C. important D. terrible
20.A. condition B. motivation C. situation D. protection
1
In 1898 an 8.2 earthquake almost flattened America, killing over 30,ooo people in less than four minutes. In the middle of complete damage and disorder, a father rushed to the school where his son was supposed to be, 26 that the building was 2 7.
After the unforgettably shock, he 28 the promise he had made to his son: “ No matter 29 happens, I’ll always be there for you!” And tears began to 30 his eyes. As he looked at the pile of ruins, it looked hopeless, but he kept remembering his 31 to his son. He rushed there and started 32 the ruins.
As he was digging, other helpless parents arrived , 33 : “It’s too late ! They are all dead! 34 , face reality; there’s nothing you can do!” To each parent he responded with 35 : “Are you going to help me now? ”No one helped. And then he continued to dig for his son, stone by stone.
Courageously he went on alone because he needed to know 36 : “Is my boy 37 or he is dead?” He dug for eight hours … 12 hours…36 hours…then , in 38 hour , he pulled back a large stone and heard his son’s 39 . He screamed his son’s name, “ARMAND!” He heard back, “Dad!?! It’s me, Dad! I told other kids not to worry. I told them that if you were alive, you 40 me and 41 you saved me, they’d be saved. You promised, ‘No matter what happens, I’ll always be there for you!’ You did it, Dad!”
“What’s going on in there? ”the father asked
“There are 14 of us 42 43 33,Dad. We’re scared, hungry, thirsty and thankful you are here. When the building collapsed, it made 44 , and it saved us.”
“Come out , boy!”
“No, Dad! Let the other kids out first, 45 I know you’ll get me! No matter what happens, I know you’ll always be there for me!”
【小题1】 A. only discovering B. only to discover
C. only realizing D. only to realize.
【小题2】 A. as flat as a pancake B. as high as a mountain
C. as strong as an ox D. as weak as a kitten
【小题3】 A. memorized B. forgot C. kept D. remembered
【小题4】 A. what B. that C. which D. who
【小题5】 A. fill B. fill in C. come D. burst
【小题6】 A. picture B. promise C. present D. encourage
【小题7】 A. digging B. digging through C. digging out D. digging into
【小题8】 A. to say B. said C. and saying D. saying
【小题9】 A. Come out B. Come again C. Come on D. Come off
【小题10】 A. one word B. one sound C.one row D. one line
【小题11】 A. for himself B. of himself C. by himself D. to himself
【小题12】 A. live B. living C. alive D. lively
【小题13】 A. 38 B. the 38 C. 38th D. the 38th
【小题14】 A. sound B. voice C. noise D. tone
【小题15】 A will save B. would save C. save D. would have saved
【小题16】 A.if B. because C. even if D. though
【小题17】 A. remained B. missing C. left D. gone
【小题18】 A. for B. behind C. out of D. over
【小题19】 A. a promise B. space C. room D. a triangle
【小题20】 A. because B. though C. when D. even though
