While all my classmates seem to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars, I’d rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence. People won’t have enough food supplies there, and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life. Besides, the journey won’t be safe. Can anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars, never to return?  Steve Minear, UK
Here are the things you can think of: the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment, the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world, the expectation of fame and glory┅. For scientists there is another reason. Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements.  Donal Trollop, Canada
There are already too many people on the Earth. I think that something before the end of the century, there will be a human colony on Mars. It will happen when people finally realize that two-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary. Most of the danger of space flight is in the launches and landings. Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents, save a lot of money, and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement in another world. Enough supplies can be sent on ahead, and every two years more supplies and more people will be sent to the new colony. Mars has all the materials for a colony to produce or make everything it needs, and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space.   Paul Davies, USA
【小題1】The main purpose of Steve Minear’s writing is_________.    .

Some time ago, I discovered that one of my chairs had a broken leg. I didn’t think there would be any difficulty in getting it mended , as there are a whole lot of antique (古董) shops near my home . So I left home one morning carrying the chair with me. I went into the first shop expecting a friendly reception. I was quite wrong. The man wouldn’t even look at my chair.

The second shop, though slightly more polite, was just the same, and the third and, the fourth-so I decided that my approach must be wrong.

I went into the fifth shop with a plan in my mind. I placed the chair on the floor and said to the shopkeeper, “Would you like to buy a chair?” He looked it over carefully and said, “Yes, not a bad chair. How much do you want for it, sir?” “Twenty pounds,” I said. “OK,” he said, “I’ll give you twenty pounds.” “It’s got a slightly broken leg,” I said. “Yes I saw that, it’s nothing.”

Everything was going according to plan and I was getting excited. “What will you do with it?” I asked. “Oh, it will be easy to sell once the repair is done.” “I’ll buy it,” I said. “What do you mean? You’ve just sold it to me,” he said.  “Yes, I know but I’ve changed my mind. I’m sorry. I’ll give you twenty-seven pounds for it.” “You must be crazy,” he said. Then, suddenly the penny dropped. “I know what you want. You want me to repair your chair.” “You’re right,” I said. “And what would you have done if I had walked in and said, ‘Would you mend this chair for me’?” “I wouldn’t have agreed to do it,” he said. “We don’t do repairs, not enough money in it and too much trouble. But I’ll mend this for you, shall we say for a five?” He was a very nice man and was greatly amused by the whole thing.

1.We can learn from the text that in the first shop the writer     .

A．was rather impolite                      B．was warmly received

C．a(chǎn)sked the shopkeeper to buy his chair        D．a(chǎn)sked the shopkeeper to repair his chair

2.The expression “the penny dropped” in the last paragraph means the shopkeeper     .

A．changed his mind                       B．saw the writer’s purpose

C．a(chǎn)ccepted the offer                      D．decided to help the writer

3.How much did the writer pay?

A．£5               B．£7               C．£20              D．£27

4.From the text, we can learn that the writer was         .

A．smart             B．careful            C．honest            D．funny

  While all my classmates seen to be crazy about a one-way ticket to Mars(火星), I’d rather say Mars is totally unsuitable for human existence. People won’t have enough food supplies there, and the terrible environment would make it impossible for them to live a long life. Besides, the journey won’t be safe. Can anybody explain to me just why people would go to Mars, never to return?

Steve Minear, UK

Here are the things you can think of: the desire to explore a foreign and unique environment, the excitement of being the first humans to open up a new world, the expectation of fame and glory…For scientists there is another reason. Their observations and research will probably lead to great scientific achievements.

Donal Trollop, Canada

There are already too many people on the Earth. I think that sometime before the end of the century, there will be a human colony(殖民地)on Mars. It will happen when people finally realize that tow-way trips to the red planet Mars are unnecessary. Most of the danger of space Flight is in the launches(發(fā)射) and landings. Cutting the trip home would therefore reduce the danger of accidents, save a lot of money, and open the way to building an everlasting human settlement on another world.

Enough supplies can be sent on ahead. And every two years more supplies and more people will needs, and Mars is far more pleasant than the other planets in the outer space.

Paul Davies. USA

60. The main purpose of Steve Minear’s writing is     .

   A. to report his classmates’ discussion

   B. to invite an answer to his question

   C. to explain the natural state of Mars

   D. to show his agreement on going to Mars

61. Which of the following best states Donal Trollop’s idea?

   A. There is a plan to send humans to Mars.

   B. There are many reasons for going to Mars.

  C. Scientists become famous by doing research on Mars.

  D. It is possible to build an Earth-like environment on Mars.

62. Paul Davies points out that      .

  A. humans need only a one-way ticket to Mars.

  B. two-way trips to Mars will be made safe soon

  C. it is easy to reduce the danger and cost of flights to Mars

  D. it is cheap to build an everlasting human settlement on Mars

63. What does Paul Davies think of human existence on Mars?

  A. Humans will have to bring all they need from the Earth.

  B. Humans will find Mars totally unsuitable for living.

  C. Humans can produce everything they need.

  D. Humans can live longer in the colony on Mars.

Celebrity（名人）has become one of the most important representatives of popular culture. Fans used to be crazy about a specific film, but now the public tends to base its consumption（消費）on the interest of celebrity attached to any given product. Besides, fashion magazines have almost abandoned the practice of putting models on the cover because they don’t sell nearly as well as famous faces. As a result, celebrities have realized their unbelievably powerful marker potential, moving from advertising for others’ products to developing their own

Celebrity clothing lines aren’t a completely new phenomenon, but in the past they were typically aimed at the ordinary consumers, and limited to a few TV actresses. Today they’re started by first-class stars whose products enjoy equal fame with some world top brands. The most successful start-ups have been those by celebrities with specific personal style. As celebrities become more and more experienced at the market, they expand their production scale rapidly, covering almost all the products of daily life.

However, for every success story, there’s a related warning tale of a celebrity who overvalued his consumer appeal. No matter how famous the product’s origin is, if it fails to impress consumers with its own qualities it begins to resemble an exercise in self-promotional marketing. And once the initial（最初的）attention dies down, consumer interest might fade, loyalty（忠城）returning to tried-and-true labels.

Today, celebrities face even more severe embarrassment. The pop-cultural circle might be bigger than ever, but its rate of turnover has speeded up as well. Each misstep threatens to reduce a celebrity’s shelf life, and the same newspaper or magazine that once brought him fame has no problem picking him to pieces when the opportunity appears. Still, the ego’s（自我的）potential for expansion is limitless. Having already achieved great wealth and public recognition, many celebrities see fashion as the next frontier to be conquered. As the saying goes, success and failure always go hand in hand. Their success as designers might last only a short time, but fashion－like celebrity－h(huán)as always been temporary.

Fashion magazines today        .

   A. seldom put models on the cover

   B. no longer put models on the cover

   C. need not worry about celebrities’ market potential

   D. judge the market potential of every celebrity correctly

A change in the consumer market can be found today that        .

A. price rather than brand name is more concerned

   B. producers prefer models to celebrities for advertisements

   C. producers prefer TV actresses to film stars for advertisements

D. quality rather than the outside of products is more concerned

The underlined sentence in paragraph 4 indicates that any wrong step will possibly        .

   A. decrease the popularity of a celebrity and the sales of his products

   B. damage the image of a celebrity in the eyes of the general public

   C. cut short the artistic career of a celebrity in show business

   D. influence the price of a celebrity’s products

The passage is mainly about         .

   A. celebrity and personal style

   B. celebrity and markets potential

   C. celebrity and fashion design

   D. celebrity and clothing industry

— Have you played DotA before? We need one more team member.
— ________. But I like online games, so I believe it will be fun to learn DotA.
A. You must be crazy   B. Not really           C. Never mind         D. That’s cool