With the development of science and technology, people’s life _______ in the past few years.

 A. improved       B. has improved    C. is improving   D. had improved

Move Earth—it’s no science fiction

LONDON-Scientists have found an unusual way to prevent our planet from overheating: move it to a cooler spot. All you have to do is send a few comets（彗星）in the direction of Earth, and its orbit will be changed. Our world will then be sent spinning into a safer, colder part of the solar system.

This idea for improving our climate comes from a group of US National Aeronautics and Space Administration（NASA） engineers and American astronomers. They say their plan could add another six billion years to the useful lifetime of our planet—effectively doubling its working life.

The plan put forward by Dr Laughlin, and his colleagues Don Korycansky and Fred Adams

,needs carefully directing a comet or asteroid so that it passes close by our planet and sends some of its gravitational energy to Earth.

“Earth’s orbital speed would increase as a result and we would move to a higher orbit away from the Sun,”Laughlin said.

Engineers would then direct their comet so that it passed close to Jupiter or Saturn. The comet would pick up energy from one of these giant planets. Later its orbit would bring it back to Earth, and the process would be repeated.

In the short term, the plan provides an ideal way to global warming, although the team was actually concerned with a much greater danger. The sun is certain to heat up in about a billion years and so “seriously compromise” our biosphere（生物圈）—by cooking us.

That’s why the group decided to try to save Earth.

The plan has one or two worrying aspects, however. For a start, space engineers would have to be very careful about how they directed their asteroid or comet towards Earth. The smallest miscalculation（誤算）in orbit could fire it straight at Earth—with deadly consequences.

There is also the question of the Moon. As the current issue of Scientific American magazine points out, if Earth was pushed out of its current position it is “most likely the Moon would be stripped away from Earth,” it states. This would greatly change our planet’s climate.

1. What makes the scientists plan to move Earth?

A. A few comets are moving to the direction of Earth.

B. Earth’s working life is coming to an end soon.

C. Earth will become too hot for mankind to keep alive.

D. The moon is moving farther and farther away from Earth.

2.If the plan is successful, Earth will have a working life of ______years.

A.12 billion                  B.6 billion                    C.18 billion                  D.24 billion

3.What serious problems might the plan cause according to the passage?

A. The comet might hit Earth and man might lose the moon.

B. Earth might be moved too far away and man might be frozen to death.

C. The comet might hit Jupiter or Saturn and never return to Earth.

D. Earth’s working life might be greatly shortened.

4.What does the underlined word “compromise” mean?

A. provide                    B. benefit              C. share     D. endanger

5.Which of the following best shows how the plan would work?

This building is ___ that one.

A. three metres higher than   B. higher three metres than   C. so high as   D.twice high as

---I suppos he’s late again.  ----You ___ it.

A. are guessing   B. will guess   C.guess  D.have guessed

Excuse me, Marcia, a reporter from Vanity Fair ________ all day. Could you speak to her now?

A. phones                 B. has phoned         C. has been phoning             D. phoned

In recent years many football clubs ______ as business to make a profit.

A. have run                  B. have been run           C had been run             D. will run

The average person learns most of the 30 000～40 000 words whose meanings he or she recognizes by hearing them or getting familiar with them in the context or simply absorbing them without conscious(意識(shí)到的) effort. The best way to build a good vocabulary, therefore, is to read a great deal and to participate in a lot of good talks. There are relatively few words that we learn permanently(永久的)by purposefully referring to dictionaries or keeping word lists. However, even those extra few are of value, and no one will make a mistake by working on developing a larger vocabulary. Here are some suggestions of how to do it.

Read plenty of good books. When you come across a new word, or a new meaning of an old word, stop and see if you can understand it from its context. If you can't, and if you can manage without interrupting the thought of the book too much, look it up in a dictionary or ask somebody and then repeat its meaning to yourself a couple of times. If you are really conscientious(認(rèn)真的), write the word and its meaning in a personal vocabulary list — preferably using it in a sentence, or you can keep a special vocabulary notebook. Go over the list from time to time. Further, try to use a new word in writing or conversation a few times over the next several days.

Listen to good talks and be alert to new words you hear or to new meanings of words you already know. Then treat them just as you treat the new words you read.

Learn and be alert to the parts of words: prefixes, suffixes and roots. Knowing them enables you to make intelligent guesses about the meaning of words.

If you are studying a foreign language, be alert to words in that language which relate to words in English. English has inherited(繼承) or borrowed much of its vocabulary of 500 000～600 000 words from Latin, Greek, French, Spanish and German.

1. When you meet a new word in reading, what should you do?

A. Guess its meaning.                       B. Ask somebody.

C. Look it up in a dictionary.                     D. All of the above.

2. According to this passage, the best way to build a good vocabulary is _______.

A. to remember a lot                          B. to read a great deal

C. to take part in a lot of good talks            D. both B and C

3. The phrase “be alert to” in the third paragraph may best be replaced by “_______”.

A. look at                                        B. pay attention to 

C. write down                                  D. learn by heart

4. In the fourth paragraph, the word “them” refers to _______.

A. the parts of words                          B. prefixes

C. suffixes                                         D. roots

Visiting U.S. President George W. Bush said in Beijing Friday that both China and the United States should encourage bilateral(雙邊的) contacts and exchanges to promote mutual(相互) understanding.

“It’s important for our political leaders to come to China,” said Bush, who gave a speech Friday morning at Qinghua University, one of the most prestigious universities in China.

His working visit to China and discussions with Oinghua students “help promote” Sino-U.S.(中美) relations, Bush said in response to a student’s question about what he would do to promote Sino-U.S. relations.

“Many people in my country are very interested in China,” he said, adding that these Americans have learned more about China’s culture and the Chinese people.

He said that he would keep encouraging such contacts and exchanges between the two countries.

Bush said that he would describe back home what he has seen here and that China as a great nation not only has a “great history” but also an “unbelievably exciting future.”

The president said that the 2008 Olympic Games would make a significant opportunity for the rest of the world to understand China, which enables more people to come to China and feel the modernization taking place, and many more people will see it on the television.

Bush arrived in Beijing Thursday for a two-day working visit to China.

1. What the word “prestigious” in the second paragraph probably means?

A. great          B. famous              C. honorable                 D. modest

2. Which of the sentence is NOT true?

A. Bush think bilateral contacts and mutual understanding will promote Sino-U.S. relations.

B. Many Americans are interested in China.

C. Bush and the students of Qinghua discussed something about how to make China richer and stronger.

D. The 2008’s Olympic Games is a great change for China been known by the world.

3. Many Americans are interested in China because _______.

A. they want to come here to take part in the 2008 Olympic Games

B. they have learned something of China and they want to learn more

C. China has been taking place great change

D. China has a “great history” and “unbelievably exciting future”

4. The narrator(敘述者) of the passage was most probably _____.

A. a reporter         B. a psychologist      C. a politician      D. a sociologist

Most Americans get what money they have from their work; that is, they earn an income from wages or salaries. The richest Americans, however, get most of their money from what they own — their stocks, bonds, real estate, and other forms of property, or wealth. Although there are few accurate statistics to go by, wealth in American society appears to be concentrated in very few hands. More than 20 percent of everything that can be privately owned is held by less than one percent of the adult population and more than 75 percent of all wealth is owned by 20 percent of American adults. The plain fact is that most Americans have no wealth at all aside from their homes, automobiles, and a small amount of savings.

Income in the United States is not as highly concentrated as wealth. In 1917 the richest 10 percent of American families received 26.1 percent of all income, while the poorest 10 percent received 17 percent, mainly from Social Security and other government payments. The most striking aspect of income distribution is that it has not changed significantly since the end of World War II. Although economic growth has roughly doubled real disposable (可自由使用的) family income (the money left after taxes and adjusted for inflation) over the last generation, the size of the shares given to the rich and the poor is about the same. By any measure economic inequality is great in the United States.

The reality behind these statistics is that a large number of Americans are poor. In 1918, 14 percent of the population was living below the federal government’s poverty line, which at that time was an annual income of $ 9 287 for a nonfarm family of two adults and two children. In other words, about one out of seven Americans over 31 million people was officially considered unable to buy the basic necessities of food, clothes, and shelter. The suggested poverty line in 1981 would have been an income of about $11 200 for a family of four. By this relative definition, about 20 percent of the population or more than 45 million Americans are poor.

1. What does the majority of the Americans have in terms of wealth?

A. Their income and savings.

B. Everything they own in their homes.

C. Actually, they have no wealth at all.

D. Their house, cars and small amounts of savings.

2. What is the percentage of wealth that is in the hands of most Americans?

A. More than 25%.               B. Less than 25%.

C. More than 75%.         D. Less than 20%.

3. Why is economic inequality still great in the US in spite of the economic growth?

A. Because the proportion of income received by the rich and the poor remains almost the same as in 1917.

B. Because the economic growth has widened the gap of the family income between the rich and the poor.

C. Because income in the US is still concentrated in the hands of the richest 10% of American families.

D. Because some Americans made great fortunes during the Second World War.

4. What can we learn from comparison of the two poverty lines in the last paragraph?

A. The poverty line of 1918 is more favorable to the poor than that of 1981.

B. The 1981 line didn’t leave much to the poor.

C. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1981 line.

D. There were more Americans who were officially poor by the 1918 line.

5. From the last two sentences we can see that 1981 government’s poverty line _______.

A. was of no good for the poor     B. was not put into operation then

C. was officially approved           D. was not helpful to the poor

Perhaps the most famous theory, the study of body movement, was suggested by Professor Ray Birdwhistell. He believes that physical appearance is often culturally programmed. In other words, we learn our looks—we are not born with them. A baby has generally informed face features. A baby, according to Birdwhistell, learns where to set the eyebrows by looking at those around-family and friends. This helps explain why the people of some areas of the United States look so much alike, new Englanders or Southerners have certain common face features that cannot be explained by genetics(遺傳學(xué)). The exact shape of the mouth is not set at birth, it is learned after. In fact, the final mouth shape is not formed until well after new teeth are set. For many, this can be well into grown-ups. A husband and wife together for a long time often come to look alike. We learn our looks from those around us. This is perhaps why in a single country area where people smile more than those in other areas. In the United States, for example, the South is the part of the country where the people smile most frequently. In New England they smile less, and in the western part of New York State still less. Many southerners find cities such as New York cold and unfriendly, partly because people on Madison Avenue smile less than people on Peachtree Street in Atlanta. Georgia. People in Atlanta, Georgia. People in largely populated areas also smile and greet each other in public less than people in small towns do.

1. Ray Birdwhistell believes that physical appearance _______.

A. has little to do with culture   

B. has much to do with culture

C. is ever changing            

D. is different from place to place

2. According to the passage, the final mouth shape is formed _______.

A. before birth                                          B. as soon as one’s teeth are newly set

C. sometime after new teeth are set      D. around 15 years old

3. Ray Birdwhistell can tell what area of the United States a person is from by _______.

A. how much he or she laughs             B. how he or she raises his or her eyebrows

C. what he or she likes best                 D. the way he or she talks

4. This passage might have been taken out of a book dealing with ________.

A. physics       B. chemistry           C. biology             D. none of the above