The ISS project is a partnership of five - the US, Russia, Europe, Japan and Canada.
At the moment, no program for its use nor any money has been put in place to support the platform beyond 2015.
One of the biggest issues stopping an agreement on station-life extension（延长期） is the human spaceflight examination ordered by US President Barack Obama.
The Americans are developing a new vision for space exploration, and the rockets and spacecraft they will need to start it. The future of US joining in the ISS is closely tied to the result of the examination.
Mr Dordain, the European Space Agency's (Esa) Director General, said no one partner in the ISS project could alone call an end to the platform. A meeting would be held in Japan later in the year where he hoped the partners could get something clearly going forward. He said it was also necessary the benefits（成效） were increased and the costs were reduced. Increasing the benefits could include finding new uses for the station.
Esa has called for ideas on how to use the ISS as a platform for Earth observation（观测站）. Mr Dordain said the agency had received about 20 very good proposals.
On the issue of reducing costs, there were many ideas on the table, he explained.
He also questioned whether it was necessary for the station to have six astronauts at all times. If there were periods when little maintenance（维修） was required or the experiment load was light, could the ISS run on a smaller group of people, he suggested.
Construction of the space station should finish this year. Next month, two components built in Europe - a connecting node and a robotic control room - will be flown to the platform by the US shuttle Endeavour.
Tranquility and the Cupola, as they are known, will complete the non-Russian side of the ISS.
1.Why will America joining in the ISS be tied to the result of the examination?
A．Because America is the greatest power among them
B．Because America provides most of the money
C．Because they need America’s rockets and spacecraft
D．Because Obama ordered the human spaceflight examination
2.According to Mr Dordain, how should they do to reduce costs?
A．To find new uses for the station
B．To make little maintenance
C．To reduce the experiment load
D．To have fewer astronauts sometimes
3.Where do you think you can read this passage?
A．In a story book B．In a handbook
C．In an advertisement D．In a newspaper
Chicken feathers are useful, and not just to a chicken. Some go into pillows, coats and other products. But countless chicken feathers go to waste.
In the United States, billions of chickens are produced yearly. Most of their feathers are thrown away.
But instead of being buried in land, some feathers could find a future in plastics（塑料）.
One of the products they have developed is a flowerpot（花盆）. It may look like other flowerpots. But the container breaks down in the earth within one to five years. And as it breaks down, it naturally becomes nutrient（营养物） in the soil.
The environmentally friendly flowerpot is the work of two researchers. Walter Schmidt is with the Agricultural Research Service, part of the United States Agriculture Department. Masud Huda is with the Horticultural Research Institute, a private（私人） organization（组织）.
Walter Schmidt has been working to find uses for chicken feathers since the 1990s. Progress in 2002 showed that plastic made from feathers could be formed like other plastics.
He says feathers are much stronger and last（持续） longer than another plant material. "Feathers are stronger. By design, feathers are also more durable（耐用的）. And the other part about it is if feathers were twice as heavy, or half as strong, then birds couldn't fly."
He points out that traditional flowerpots made from other plastics can last much longer. But he wonders if there is really a need. He says most flowerpots are never re-used.
"Why would you want a plastic that you use for a year to last for two hundred years? It makes no sense. You want to match the product with the use." said Walter Schmidt.
Walter Schmidt and Masud Huda are now adding another chicken product to their flowerpots -- chicken waste. The waste will add more nutrients to the soil as the pot breaks down. The scientists say they hope their flowerpot will be on the market in a year or two.
1.What do people mainly deal with feathers?
A．Feathers are used to make pillows, coats and other products.
B．Most feathers are paid no attention to.
C．Most feathers are used as nutrient
D．Most feathers are used to make flowerpots
2.What’s the advantage of the flowerpots?
A．They won’t last long. B．They can’t break
C．They are environmentally friendly D．They can be reused
3.What does Walter Schmidt think of traditional flowerpots?
A．Too heavy B．Too old
C．Never re-used D．lasting longer but unnecessary
4.What do you think is the main idea of the passage?
A．Chicken and its feathers B．How to deal with feathers
C．feathers made into flowerpot D．New flowerpots
Experts say the temperature in Eyjafjallajokull's hole appears to have fallen to 100C, meaning it is now producing steam, not magma（岩浆）.
But officials warned that it was too early to say whether the eruption was over completely.
Ash clouds from the volcano grounded thousands of flights last month.
Steinunn Jakobsdottir, a geophysicist from the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told the BBC that the volcano was "kind of not active for the moment".
"The history of the volcano is such that it calms down and then it gets energy again," she said.
"There are still earthquakes under the volcano, and the small earthquake is still not quite down to what it was before the eruption."
'Difficult to say'
Magnus Gudmundsson, of Iceland University, flew over the volcano on Sunday and said information from heat cameras showed the temperatures at the crater had fallen below 100C.
But he told the AFP news agency that nothing was promised and that the previous eruption at the volcano had lasted 13 months, from 1821-23.
"It stopped and started again several times with different intervals（间隔）, so it's difficult to say, difficult to give a timeline," he said.
He also said it was impossible to say whether the neighbouring Katla volcano - a much larger mountain - might also erupt.
At the height of its activity, the volcano sent out huge clouds of ash, which led to airlines grounding their planes for fear it could interfere with plane engines.
It was the biggest action of closing airspace in Europe since World War II, and affected at least 10 million passengers worldwide.
1.What do expert think Eyjafjallajokull is like now?
A．Magma is still coming out
B．The hole appears about 100 degrees C
C．The eruption was not over
D．It is very cold.
2.How do expects know the temperature in Eyjafjallajokull's hole?
A．By taking photos B．By taking its temperature
C．By going close to it D．By driving past it
3.What does Steinunn Jakobsdottir think of Eyjafjallajokull?
A．It will erupt again soon
B．It will be sleeping
C．Another mountain might also erupt
D．It’s uncertain
4.What do you think the main idea is?
A．the biggest action of closing airspace in Europe
B．the temperature in Eyjafjallajokull's hole
C．The Eyjafjallajokull volcano in Iceland
D．The earthquake in Iceland
Beware of those who use the truth to deceive. When someone tells you something that is 36 , but leaves out important information that should be 37 , he can create a false impression.
For example, someone might say, “I just 38 a hundred dollars on the lottery. It was great. I took that dollar ticket back to the store and 39 it in for one hundred dollars!”
This guy’s a winner, 40 ? Maybe, maybe not. We then discover that he bought two hundred 41 , and only one was a winner. He’s really a big 42 !
He didn’t say anything that was 43 , but he deliberately left out some important 44 . That’s called a half-truth. Half-truths are not technically 45 , but they are just as not 46 .
Untrustworthy candidates in 47 campaigns often use this tactic（策略，手段）. Let’s say that during Governor Smith’s last term, her state lost one million jobs and 48 three million jobs. Then she 49 another term. One of her opponents runs an ad 50 , “During Governor Smith’s term, the state lost one million jobs!” That’s true. 51 , an honest statement would have been, “During Governor Smith’s term, the state had a net gain of 52 million jobs.”
Advertisers will sometimes use half-truths. It’s 53 the law to make false claims so they try to mislead you with the 54 . An ad might boast, “Nine out of ten doctors recommend Yucky Pills to cure nose pimples.” It 55 to mention that they only asked ten doctors and nine of them work for the Yucky Corporation.
This kind of deception happens too often. It’s a sad fact of life: Lies are lies, and sometimes the truth can lie as well.
1. A．false B．true C．interesting D．boring
2. A．included B．contained C．involved D．referred
3. A．lost B．found C．donated D．won
4. A．changed B．took C．turned D．made
5. A．right B．well C．really D．though
6. A．books B．papers C．tickets D．balls
7. A．winner B．loser C．fighter D．thinker
8. A．true B．real C．doubtful D．false
9. A．details B．information C．mistakes D．errors
10. A．stories B．truth C．facts D．lies
11. A．pleasant B．exciting C．honest D．clever
12. A．political B．commercial C．personal D．public
13. A．stopped B．found C．avoided D．gained
14. A．seeks B．gets C．achieves D．searches
15. A．writing B．reading C．saying D．speaking
16. A．Otherwise B．However C．In fact D．This way
17. A．one B．two C．three D．four
18. A．for B．to C．against D．in
19. A．words B．facts C．data D．truth
20. A．fails B．tries C．manages D．plans
Can you tell us what horses _______?
A．feed on B．live on C．feed by D．live by
He said that he didn’t know ______ to deal with the matter, so I left.
A．what B．when C．where D．how
