Scientists have transformed men’s minds into a virtual（虛擬的）woman’s body in an experiment that could throw light upon how humans distinguish themselves form others.
In a study at Barcelona University, men wore a virtual reality headset that allowed them to see and hear the world as a female character. When they looked down, they could even see their new body and clothes.
The “body－swapping” effect was so convincing that the men’s sense of self was transferred into the virtual woman, causing them to react to events in the virtual world they were immersed（沉浸）. “This work opens up another avenue for virtual reality, which is not just to transform your sense of place, but also your sense of self,” said Mel Slater, “If you can temporarily give people the illusion that their bodies are different, then the evidence suggests it also affects their behavior and the way they think. They can have new experiences: a person who is thin can know what it is like to be fat. A man can have an experience of what it’s like to be a woman.”
During the experiment, a “female” approached and hit the face of the character another man was playing. “Their reaction was immediate,” said Slate. “They would take in a quick breath and maybe flinch（退縮）. The more people reported being in the girl’s body, the stronger physical reaction they had.” But in all cases, the feeling was temporary and lasted only as long as the study.
The study shows that our minds have a very fluid picture of our bodies. The research is expected to shed light on the puzzle of how our brain tells the difference between a part of our own body and something else in the wider world. Thus the work might improve the conditions for those who have experienced strokes by placing them in a world that helps them to use their bodies to the full again.
小題1:How can a man’s mind get into a woman’s body?

A．by distinguishing themselves from women

B．by taking part in an activity actively

C．by wearing a special device（設(shè)備）

D．by transforming his sense of place

小題2:Of the following statements, which we can’t infer from the passage?

A．Men in the experiment can temporarily have the wrong feeling that they are women.

B．When hit, the men in the virtual world will react angrily to it.

C．As soon as the experiment is finished, the men will return to the normal state

D．Probably, this study can be applied to medical fields and benefit humans.

小題3:What is the author’s intention of writing this passage?

A．to introduce an interesting and advanced study

B．to inform us of the latest development of virtual reality

C．to illustrate the importance of virtual reality

D．to build up our confidence to fight stroke

An astronomer is making a case for launching pop singer Justin Bieber into suborbital（亞軌道的）space aboard a private rocket ship. The idea is not to rid the world of the Canadian teenager — he would come back down to Earth eventually, after all — but rather to help jump-start the emerging suborbital spaceflight industry.
It would generate a lot of public interest, which would help commercial spaceflight pick up some much-needed momentum, said Seth Shostak, senior astronomer at the Search for Extraterrestrial Intelligence (SETI) Institute in Mountain View, California. “If there’s more interest, there are more customers. If there are more customers, there's more technical development. It's a positive feedback loop, and obviously that's good.”
Such missions would return to Earth without completing a full lap around the planet. Instead, the flights would hit the edge of space about 62 miles (100 kilometers) above Earth, experience a few minutes of weightlessness, then re-enter the atmosphere and land back at a spaceport.
None of these firms are ready to fly customers yet, but some are getting close. For instance, Virgin Galactic hopes to begin powered test flights of its SpaceShipTwo vehicle later this year, with commercial operations perhaps beginning in 2013 or 2014. It is SpaceShipTwo that reportedly grabbed the attention of Beyonce and Jay-Z.
Virgin Galactic has collected deposits from nearly 500 customers willing to pay $200,000 for a ride aboard SpaceShipTwo, and both Virgin and XCOR have inked deals to fly scientists and their experiments on research flights. So a suborbital market already exists — but Shostak is thinking about ways to make it grow.
A celebrity launch isn't Shostak’s only idea. Suborbital firms should also promote their activities aggressively via social media, Shostak said, and they should make sure their spaceships are bristling（充滿）with cameras both inside and out, to give the public dramatic views of every mission.
Some observers view commercial suborbital spaceflight as a potentially transformative industry, saying it could serve as a stepping stone to the exploration and exploitation of space on an unprecedented scale. While the industry’s success is far from assured, Shostak offered some reason for optimism: The American public remains keen on space.
小題1:Why may Justin Bieber be sent into suborbital space?

A．To show his bravery and make him a role model for teenagers.

B．To arouse the American public’s interest.

C．To help reform the spaceflight industry.

D．To film an advertisement about space.

小題2:What can we learn about suborbital spaceflight?

A．A trip will return to Earth before finishing a lap.

B．The whole trip will leave passengers weightless.

C．Each trip can take 500 passengers.

D．The trip will be too expensive even for celebrities.

小題3:What can we infer from the text?

A．SpaceShipTwo will be the first to fly.

B．Famous people will be the main passengers in the future.

C．The space trip is still in preparation.

D．Every space trip will be made into a film.

小題4:The last paragraph suggests that _________.

A．space is too mysterious to explore

B．the suborbital market is promising

C．the spaceflight industry is more successful than people think

D．developing the industry is risky

小題5:What is the main purpose of the text?

A．To predict a change in the space market.

B．To discuss a recent launch.

C．To introduce the status of the spaceflight industry.

D．To remove public doubt about the spaceflight industry.

Have you ever wondered why birds sing? Maybe you thought that they were just happy. After all, you probably sing when you are happy.
Some scientists believe that birds do sing some of the time just because they are happy. However, they sing most of the time for a very different reason. Their singing is actually a warning to other birds to stay out of their territory.
Do you know what a “territory” is? A territory is an area that an animal, usually the male, claims (聲稱) as its own. Only he and his family are welcome there. No other families of the same species are welcome. Your house is your territory where only your family and friends are welcome. If a stranger should enter your territory and threaten you, you might shout. Probably this would be enough to frighten him away.
If so, you have actually frightened the stranger away without having to fight him. A bird does the same thing. But he expects an outsider almost any time, especially at nesting (筑巢) season. So he is screaming all the time, whether he can see an outsider or not. This screaming is what we call a bird’s song, and it is usually enough to keep an outsider away.
小題1:Some scientists believe that most of the time bird’s singing is actually ________.

A．a(chǎn)n expression of happiness	B． a way of warning
C．a(chǎn)n expression of anger	D． a way of greeting

小題2:What is a bird’s “territory”?

A．A place where families of other species are not accepted.

B．A place where a bird may shout at the top of its voice.

C．An area for which birds fight against each other.

D．An area which a bird considers to be its own.

小題3:Why do birds keep on singing at nesting season?

A．Because they want to invite more friends.

B．Because their singing helps frighten outsiders away.

C．Because they want to find outsiders around.

D．Because their singing helps get rid of their fears.

小題4:How does the writer explain birds’ singing?

A．By comparing birds with human beings.

B．By reporting experiment results.

C．By describing birds’ daily life.

D．By telling a bird’s story.

小題5:What does the underline word “screaming” in paragraph 4 mean?

A．哭喊聲

B．令人驚愕的

C．尖叫聲

D．尖叫的

Making friends is a skill like most skills. It improves with practice. If you want to meet people and make friends, you must be willing to take some action. You must first go where there are people. You won’t make friends staying home alone.
Joining a club or a group, talking with those who like the same things as you do is much easier. Or join someone in some activity.
Many people are nervous when talking to new people. After all meeting strangers means facing the unknown. And it’s human nature to feel a bit uncomfortable about unknown. Most of our fears about dealing with new people comes from doubts about ourselves. We imagine other people are judging us, finding us too tall or too short, too this or too that. But don’t forget that they must be feeling the same way. Try to accept yourself as you are, and try to put the other person at ease. You’ll both feel more comfortable.
Try to act self-confident even if you don’t feel that way. When you enter a room full of strangers, such as a new classroom, walk tall and straight, look directly at other people and smile.
If you see someone you’d like to speak to, say something. Don’t wait for the other person to start a conversation.
Just meeting someone new does not mean that you will make friends with that person—friendship is based on mutual liking and “give and take”. It takes time and effort to develop.
小題1:The best topic of the passage may be ________.

A．Friendship

B．Making friends

C．Meeting New People

D．Facing the Unknown

小題2:Which of the following statements is NOT TRUE?

A．Making friends needs practicing.

B．Making friends needs to be more active in getting in touch with people.

C．When meeting someone, make him feel nice and easy.

D．Before making friends with someone, judge him if he’s too this or too that.

小題3:The development of friendship needs ________.

A．a(chǎn) lot of money	B．lots of conversation
C．time and effort	D．carefully judging

A sandstorm, also known as a dust storm, is exactly what it sounds like. A very strong windstorm especially in the desert carries clouds of sand or dust that greatly reduces visibility. This wind is usually caused by convection currents (對流氣流), which are created by intense heating of the ground, and is usually strong enough to move entire sand dunes. Air is unstable when heated, and this instability in the air will cause higher winds to mix with winds in the lower atmosphere, producing strong surface winds.
Sandstorms can disturb people’s travel, and can sometimes destroy whole roads, and dry flat areas. Similar dust storms can be found on the planet Mars, and are thought to be seasonal. Today, the destruction of forests and too much farming of farmland can lead to sandstorms. Too much use of water resources can also cause sandstorms.
In the United States of America, sandstorms are rare because of the lack of large deserts and more importantly the development of proper agricultural techniques. The last recorded destructive sandstorm in American history was the Dust Bowl, which occurred on July 16, 1971 and was widely recorded by meteorologists (氣象學(xué)家).
To protect themselves from sandstorms, some people wear protective suits. Special equipment can be fixed in some cars to prevent sand from getting into the engine. Sandstorms can cause coughs, and the sand and dust has also been known to carry “infectious diseases”. Sand particles, unlike dust ones, will block air passages, and cause a person who breathes them in to choke. Dust particles may cause an allergic (過敏的) reaction.
小題1:Which of the following plays the first part in forming sandstorms?

A．The instability of the sand.

B．The instability of the wind.

C．The intense heating of the ground.

D．The speed of the wind.

小題2:From the second paragraph, we can learn that at present _______.

A．sandstorms are more often seen on Mars than on Earth

B．sandstorms have led to the lack of clean water resources

C．farming brings more harm than benefits to humans

D．human activities are a major cause of sandstorms

小題3:The author will most probably agree that ________.

A．there will soon be no sandstorms in the USA

B．humans haven’t thought of any way to deal with sandstorms

C．death caused by sandstorms is increasing all the time

D．humans should make more efforts to stop soil turning into desert

There are two factors which determine an individual's intelligence. The first is the sort of brain he is born with. Human brains differ considerably, some being more capable than others. But no matter how good a brain he has to begin with, an individual will have a low order of intelligence unless he has opportunities to learn. So the second factor is what happens to the individual—the sort of environment in which he is reared (培養(yǎng)). If an individual is handicapped (妨礙) environmentally, it is likely that his brain will fail to develop and he will never attain the level of intelligence of which he is capable.
The importance of environment in determining an individual's intelligence can be demonstrated by the case history of the identical twins, Peter and Mark X. Being identical, the twins had identical brains at birth, and their growth processes were the same. When the twins were three months old, their parents died, and they were placed in separate foster homes. Peter was reared by parents of low intelligence in an isolated community with poor educational opportunities. Mark was reared in the home of well-to-do parents who had been to college. He was read to as a child, sent to good schools, and given every opportunity to be stimulated intellectually. This environmental difference continued until the twins were in their late teens, when they were given tests to measure their intelligence. Mark's I.Q. was 125, twenty-five points higher than the average and fully forty points higher than his identical brother. Given equal opportunities, the twins, having identical brains, would have tested at roughly the same level.
小題1:This passage can be best titled_________.

A．Intelligence and Environment

B．Measuring Your Intelligence

C．The Case of Peter and Mark

D．How the brain Influences Intelligence

小題2:According to the passage, the average I.Q. is _____.

A．85

B．125

C．110

D．100

小題3:The case history of the twins appears to support the conclusion that _______.

A．individual with identical brains seldom test at same level

B．a(chǎn)n individual's intelligence is determined only by his environment

C．changes of environment produce changes in the structure of the brain

D．lack of opportunity blocks the growth of intelligence

小題4:This passage suggests that an individual's I.Q.______.

A．can be increased by education

B．stays the same throughout his life

C．can be predicted at birth

D．is determined by his childhood

Many animals recognize their food because they see it. So do humans. When you see an apple or a piece of chocolate, you know that these are things you can eat. You can also use other senses when you choose your food. You may like it because it smells good or because it tastes good. You may dislike some types of food because they do not look, smell or taste very nice. Different animals use different senses to find and choose their food. A few animals depend on only one of their senses, while most animals use more than one sense.
Although there are many different types of food, some animals spend their lives eating only one type. The giant panda eats only one particular type of bamboo(竹子) . Other animals eat only one type of food even when given the choice. A kind of white butterfly(蝴蝶) will stay on the leaves of a cabbage, even though there are plenty of other vegetables in the garden. However, most animals have a more varied(多樣化) diet . The bear eats fruits and fish. The fox eats small animals, birds and fruits. The diet of these animals will be different depending on the season.
Humans have a very varied diet. We often eat food because we like it and not because it is good for us. In countries such as France and Britain, people eat foods with too much sugar. This makes them overweight, which is bad for their health. Eating too much red meat and animal products, such as butter, can also be bad for the health. Choosing the right food, therefore, has become an area of study in modern life.
小題1:We can infer from the text that humans and animals _________.

A．depend on one sense in choosing food

B．a(chǎn)re not satisfied with their food

C．choose food in similar ways

D．eat entirely different food

小題2:Which of the following eats only one type of food?

A．The white butterfly.	B．The small bird.
C．The bear.	D．The fox.

小題3:Certain animals change their choice of food when ___________.

A．the season changes

B．the food color changes

C．they move to different places

D．they are attracted by different smells

It’s a sure sign that summer is over and winter is on the way — leaves that were once deep green turn red, yellow and bright orange. It happens every autumn. But did you ever wonder why?
The leaves start changing color when the nights start getting longer and the temperature starts getting cooler. Some scientists think that as the number of daylight hours shrinks, the leaves stop making chlorophyll which makes plants green. The reason is that the process of making chlorophyll requires sunlight. But according to horticulture (園藝) educator Susan Rose from Colorado State University, it turns out leaves don’t really change color at all. “The fall colors are actually there all along,” she said. “But they are covered by the green chlorophyll. As the chlorophyll stops being produced, the other colors can shine through.”
The kind of color that the leaves are going to change to is determined by the plant’s genetic (基因的) background. In some places, the leaves start changing color in September — before autumn even officially begins. In other places, they don’t change until late October or even November. Some scientists say the leaves have been changing color later than usual in recent years. And they think global warming has something to do with that.
In one study, researchers found that the growing season in the Northern Hemisphere was nearly a week longer, on average, in 2008 than it was in 1982. And a professor from Harvard University found that the leaves, west of Boston, Massachusetts, are changing color about three days later than they used to. However, other scientists disagree with the global warming theory. Susan Rose said the leaves in her part of Colorado are changing “right on schedule.” But the leaves in other parts of that state are running a little late. “The lateness in the mountains may have something to do with the really warm late summer and early fall,” she said. “But I’m afraid that’s just a guess.”
小題1:According to Susan Rose, _____.

A．the fall colors are always in leaves

B．leaves make chlorophyll all the seasons

C．leaves’ changing color have nothing to with the weather

D．leaves begin changing color because they start making chlorophyll

小題2:The underlined word “shrinks” in Paragraph 2 could best be replaced by _____.

A．reduces

B．increases

C．lasts

D．a(chǎn)ppears

小題3:Scientists guess leaves change color later than usual probably as a result of _____.

A．genetic background	B．dry weather
C．global warming	D．low temperature

小題4:The purpose of the last paragraph is to tell readers _____.

A．why leaves change color at fall

B．leaves change color at different time

C．the effects of the global warming on plants

D．different opinions on the lateness of leaves’ changing color

Since people first sent rockets into space in the 1950s, we have been leaving behind all sorts of things. Some of them, like the camera, were lost by astronauts while they did work outside their spaceship. But much of the space junk is made up of little pieces of things that were once bigger objects, until they struck each other and broke apart.
Some things we send into space fall back toward the earth and burn up in the atmosphere. But larger pieces sometimes survive the extreme heat and hit the ground or the ocean at great speeds. So there is always concern that something may fall from the sky and do some harm.
But space junk falling on housetops (屋頂) is not the biggest worry. Scientists are concerned about what happens when an empty rocket strikes another while orbiting (繞軌道飛行) the earth. Two big things become many smaller things. They then hit other things. The pieces get smaller and smaller until they form a cloud of junk that blocks the path of future space vehicles.
So what can be done to clean up the space around our planet? Marco Castronuovo, an Italian researcher, talks about sending a satellite into space that would get very close to some of the larger pieces of space junk. The satellite would connect a small rocket to the useless object. When the rocket explodes, it pushes the junk into a lower and slower orbit, nearer the earth. After a time, the junk burns up in the atmosphere.
Mr. Castronuovo has proposed (提議) using a number of small satellites with robotic arms. One arm would catch the space junk, and another arm would connect the rocket. He imagines that each satellite would jump from one large piece of junk to another. He thinks this method could destroy about ten large objects each year.
Scientists have been concerned about space junk for many years. Right now, the costs of the clean-up have been too great. Mr. Castronuovo says his system could be put in place for a much more reasonable amount of money.
小題1:Much of the space junk _____.

A．was thrown by the astronauts

B．is from broken spaceship

C．is made up of small pieces of things

D．returns to the earth piece by piece

小題2:Scientists are most worried that the space junk _____.

A．will stop the future space vehicles

B．will do harm to the atmosphere

C．will fall on the housetops

D．will burn up in space

小題3:What does Marco Castronuovo think of his system?

A．It can remove space junk completely.

B．It can save a large amount of money.

C．It can create a large amount of space.

D．It can develop robotic technology.

Maybe you are an average(一般的) student. You probably think you will never be a top student. However, anyone can become better if he or she does his or her best. Here are some tips to help you.
★ Plan your time carefully. You should plan your time for things such as eating, sleeping and dressing. Then make a good, regular time for studying. But don’t forget to set enough time for entertainment.
★ Keep your study quiet and clean. The study should have a desk, a chair and some study materials, but no games, no radio and no television! When you sit down to study, you can put your heart into it. Make good use of your time.
★ Listen to everything that the teacher says. Listening carefully in class means less work later. Taking notes will help you remember what the teacher says.
★ After you get home from school, go over your notes. Review the important points. If you know what your teacher is going to discuss next day, read the material. It will help you study better.
★ Develop a good attitude to tests. The purpose of a test is to show what you have learned about a subject. It helps you know what you are not good at. The world will still go on even if you fail in a test, so don’t be too worried.
小題1:How many tips are mentioned in the passage?

A．Three.

B．Four.

C．Five.

D．Six.

小題2:What does the underlined word “study” mean in Chinese?

A．學(xué)習(xí)

B．研究

C．書房

D．教室

小題3:Which is a good place for studying?

A．A clean and beautiful place.

B．The place with a computer.

C．The place with a television and a radio.

D．A quiet place with a chair, a desk and some study materials.

小題4:Which of the following is NOT true?

A．The purpose of a test is to show what you are good at.

B．After class, you should review what you have learned.

C．You should listen to your teacher and take notes carefully in class.

D．When you plan your time, you should think of the time for eating, sleeping and so on.

小題5:What’s the passage mainly about?

A．How to become a better student.	B．How to plan your time.
C．How to study English.	D．How to take notes.