The scientist from the Lockheed Space Company work in Felton, California, with the help of a computer. But the computer is placed in Sunnyside, about 80 kilometers away. What scientists input (输入) is sent by telephone lines to the computer, and after a time, copies of the designs are needed back in Felton as quickly as possible Lockheed people have tried several ways of sending the prints, but the most effective seems to be by pigeon. Are pigeons really used to carry messages in these days? They are, and they send the prints faster and cheaper than any other way.
Human messengers are much more expensive and slower than the pigeons. The road to Felton goes through the mountains, and the driving is not easy. An electronic printout (电子打印输出) system could do the work in Felton, but at a cost of 10 dollars a print. Pigeons carry the designs for about 1 dollar each.
Now Lockheed people have ten pigeon messengers. The pigeons do the work, and they have made Lockheed more famous. You can often read the news about pigeons in the newspapers around the world.
1.The passage is mainly about ___________________.
A. Felton, California
B. the scientists
C. how to work with computers
D. sending prints by pigeon
2.This story is unusual because pigeons ____________________.
A. don’t like carrying things
B. are often expensive to keep
C. seem out of place in the space age
D. aren’t friendly to the scientists
3.Something that’s effective ________________________.
A. usually costs more
B. is something that works
C. is often unhappy
D. is often done by animals
Our plan was to drive into Cambridge, catch the 7:34 train to Liverpool Street Station, then to separate and meet again for lunch. We should have arrived at Liverpool at 9:19, but due to a typical London fog, the train had to move along so slowly that it was not until 10:30 that it got there. In spite of our late arrival, Joan, my wife’s sister, decided that she would go to see the Crown Jewels in the Tower of London while we went shopping. It was only after her sister had disappeared into the fog that my wife realized that we hadn’t decided where we should meet for lunch. Since I had our three tickets for the concert in my pocket, this was indeed a problem. There seemed to be nothing we could do except taking a taxi to the Tower of London, and try to find her there. Needless to say, we didn’t find her.
It was now one o’clock, and the concert began at 2:30. “Perhaps she will think of waiting outside the concert hall,” suggested my wife hopefully. By this time the fog was so thick that road traffic had to stop, and the only way to get there was by underground railway. Hand in hand we felt our way along the road to where we thought the nearest station should be. An hour later we were still trying to find it. Just as I was about to lose my temper completely when we met a blind man tapping his way confidently through the fog. With his help we found Tower Hill tube station just fifty yards down the road.
By now it was far too late even to try to get to the concert hall before the performance began at 2:30, so we decided to return to Cambridge. It took seven long hours instead of the usual two to make that journey. Nor were we able to get any food and drink on the train. Tired and hungry we finally reached home at ten, opening the door to the sound of the telephone bell. It was Joan; she had seen the Crown Jewels, had managed to get another ticket for concert, and had had a wonderful dinner at a restaurant near the hotel where she decided to stay for the night. Now she was ringing to discover whether we had had an equally successful day.
1.Why was Joan separated from her sister and her brother-in-law?
A. they could not see each other because of the fog.
B. Joan had not seen Crown Jewels.
C. They planned to do different things until lunch time.
D. The writer didn’t want to go to the concert.
2.What did the writer plan to do in the afternoon?
A. Go to the concert. B. See the Crown Jewels.
C. Return to Cambridge. D. Go shopping.
3.The reason why they didn’t all meet for lunch was that _______.
A. They lost their way in the fog
B. they forgot to make necessary arrangement
C. they waited at different places and didn’t meet each other
D. the couple couldn’t find the underground station
4.It’s quite clear that for Joan the trip to London had been ________.
A. spilt by the fog B. quite tiring
C. rather disappointing D. very enjoyable
"Tear them apart ! ""Kill the fool! Murder the referee（裁判）！”
These are common remarks one may hear at various sporting events. At the time they are made, they may seem innocent enough. But let's not kid ourselves. They have been known to influence behavior in such a way as to lead to real bloodshed. Volumes have been written about the way words affect us. It has been shown that words having certain connotation(涵义)may cause us to react in ways quite foreign to what we consider to be our usual humanistic behavior. I see the term “opponent” as one of those words. Perhaps the time has come to delete（删除） it from sports terrors.
The dictionary meaning of the term "opponent" is "enemy"; "one who opposes your interests." Thus, when a player meets an opponent, he or she may tend to treat that opponent as an enemy. At such times, winning may be the most important, and every action, no matter how rude, may be considered acceptable. I remember an incident in a handball game when a referee refused a player's request for a time out for a glove change because he did not consider them wet enough. The player started to rub his gloves across his wet T-shirt and then shouted, "Are they wet enough now?"
In the heat of battle players have been observed to throw themselves across the court without considering the consequences(后果) that such a move might have on anyone in their way. I have also seen a player reacting to his opponent's intentional and illegal blocking by deliberately(故意地) hitting him with the ball as hard as he could during the play. Off the court, they are good friends. Does that make any sense? It certainly gives proof of a court attitude which goes against normal behavior.
Therefore, I believe it is time we elevated(提升)the game to the level where it belongs, thereby setting an example to the rest of the sporting world. Replacing the term "opponent" with "associate" could be an ideal way to start.
The dictionary meaning of the term "associate" is" colleague", "friend", "companion". Think about it! You may soon see and possibly feel the difference in your reaction to the term "associate" rather than "opponent".
1.Which of the following statements best expresses the author's view?
A. Aggressive behavior in sports can have serious consequences.
B. The words people use can influence their behavior.
C. Unpleasant words in Sports are often used by foreign athletes.
D. Unfair judgments by referees will lead to violence on the sports field.
2.Harsh words are spoken during games because the players _______.
A. are too eager to win
B. are usually short-tempered and easily offended
C. cannot afford to be polite in fierce competition
D. treat their rivals(对手) as enemies
3.What did the handball player do when he was not allowed a time out to change his gloves?
A. He refused to continue the game.
B. He angrily hit the referee with a ball.
C. He claimed that the referee was unfair.
D. He wet his gloves by rubbing them across his T-shirt.
4.The author hopes to have the current situation in sports improved by _______.
A. calling on players to use clean language on the court
B. raising the referee's sense of responsibility
C. changing the attitude of players on the sports field
D. regulating the relationship between players and referees
书面表达
我校10月份将举行的运动会上，各年级在开幕式中将呈现丰富多彩的表演。通常，这些表演将会受到师生的好评，但也将会引起一些争议。 请根据以下表格的内容写一篇短文，并发表你的看法。
注意：词数120左右。短文的开头已经给出，不计入总词数。
参考词汇：庄重 serious adj. 排练 rehearsal n.
In the school sports meeting to be held in October, different grades will present at the opening ceremony various colorful performances, which are to be highly praised by both teachers and students. But at the same time, such performances also bring about some controversies as to whether they are necessary.
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。错误涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏字符号(Λ)，并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除：把多余的词用斜线(＼)划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：
1．每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2．只允许修改10处，多者(从第11处起)不计分。（请不要在此处作答，否则不给分）
Everybody needs have friends in life. But being a friend can sometime be hard work. Learn how to solve problems in friendship can make you a better friend and a happier person. An universal problem between friends is that they don’t know why to talk with each other about difficult things. When they are talking, they often get madly with each other. What can they do? It took time to learn how to communicate well, and it is important to understand why a friend gets angry to you when you say something. If you know which makes your friend angry, and you can try to talk about the problem in a different way.
阅读下面材料，在空白处填入适当的内容（1个单词）或括号内单词的正确形式。
China’s V-Day parade not only makes clear its key role in defeating fascism（法西斯）but also shows that a powerful, modern nation has emerged already. There is 1. African proverb that says, “Until a son is old enough, he will not bother 2. (ask) what killed his father in order to take revenge.” The ceremony demonstrated that China has come of age and can no longer be ignored by the rest of the world.
No 3. (few) than 17 countries sent a total of 1,000 troops to take part in the parade, joining 12,000Chinese troops in Tian’anmen Square. China displayed a series of modern military hardware including tanks, fighter jets and ballistic missiles（弹道导弹）.
On the day of the parade, Xi said the day would go down in history in remembrance of the 4. (remark) times in 5. the world stood against Japanese aggression. While thanking the world leaders who stood 6. China, he said that “the war was evil 7. justice won finally”.
Xi said that during the war, great sacrifices were made. Chinese officials say 20 million died and 15million 8. (wound) in China. Xi said China also will always remember the9. (contribute)of other countries in the defeat of Japan during the war.
While 10. (say) that China loves peace, he announced that China would reduce its military forces by 300,000 troops by the end of 2017.
