The space shuttle Discovery has had a long and busy career. For 27 years, it has worked for NASA, carrying astronauts to space and back on 39 missions. On March 9, 2011, after returning from its final voyage, the world’s most traveled spaceship was retired.

A crowd of shuttle workers, reporters and schoolchildren waited to greet Discovery at Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Florida. Three minutes before noon, they watched as the shuttle appeared in the sky and made one last touchdown. “For the final time: wheels stop,” Discovery’s commander Steven Lindsey said when the shuttle rolled to a stop.

Discovery’s final trip was to the International Space Station (ISS), a giant space lab in the sky. Discovery’s crew took care of the last U.S. construction project at ISS. They delivered 10 tons of supplies for the ISS. The six-person crew also dropped off an unusual companion for ISS’s researchers: a human-like robot named Robonaut 2. Astronauts will assemble（组装）R2 at the ISS over several months.

Now, NASA is winding down its shuttle programme. NASA is to begin work on new spaceships that can travel longer distances. Discovery’s retirement is the first of three. Endeavor, another shuttle, is scheduled to make its final voyage soon. And Atlantis’s last trip is planned for the end of June.

Museums across the country have requested the retired shuttles. The Smithsonian’s Air and Space Museum, in Washington, D.C., was the lucky recipient（接收者）of Discovery. The museum’s collection contains hundreds of NASA artifacts.

Where will the other shuttles go? You’ll have to wait to find out. NASA will announce its decision on April 12, the 30^th anniversary of the first space shuttle launching. Stay tuned!

1.As part of the final mission, Discovery’s crew___________.

A. carried researches to space             

B. assembled the Robonaut 2 at the ISS

C. brought supplies to the ISS             

D. went on a spacewalk

2.The underlined phrase “winding down” in Paragraph 4 probably means _________.

A. improving            B. ending       C. changing         D. testing

3.What can we infer from the text?

A. Discovery completed 39 missions during its two decades of space travel.

B. The ISS is a big project and six researchers live on the station.

C. American space exploration will focus on longer missions.

D. The shuttles Endeavor and Atlantis will make their last missions next month.

4.According to the text, we can learn about ___________.

A. people’s opinions of Discovery’s retirement

B. the government’s concern about the shuttles’ future

C. the shuttles’ final homes after retirement

D. museums’ great interest in the retired shuttles

As educators, we often never know the influence we have on our students. It is always wonderful to have ___35___ students visit us and share the successes they have achieved. And those glorious moments, when we can instantly see the influence we have on a student, fuel us to continue making connections hoping to ___36___ in the life of every child.

As a music teacher for twenty-seven years, I have always known that music ___37___ the soul. It can ___38___ all kinds of barriers to reach students in a very special way. It can be the ___39___ for each child to find their light. I would like to share a story about it.

For a few years I was blessed with the opportunity to teach ___40___ students one afternoon a week. One of my most ___41___ students was a five-year-old girl called Vanessa, who had difficulty walking, and could not speak. We ___42___ sat on the floor for our music lessons and Vanessa liked to sit on my lap. One of her favorite songs was “John the Rabbit.” It was a call and response song where I sang the call and the students ___43___ twice while singing the repeating phrase, “Oh, yes!” Vanessa liked to ___44___ her hands together with mine and clap with me. We probably performed that song during every class, Vanessa and I clapping together. But she ___45___ said or sang a word.

One day late in the school year, when the song was finished, Vanessa turned around, looked me dead in the eye, clapped her tiny hands twice and said the words “Oh, yes!” I opened my mouth in ___46___ and for that moment I was the one who could not speak. When my heart ___47___ started beating again, I looked over at the assistant teacher to find her also ___48___. Through music, we had made an awesome connection.

Several years later, I passed Vanessa on the street in town. I stopped my car and waved to say hello. She waved back with a big ___49___ on her face and then clapped her hands twice, imitating the song we had ___50___ so many times in our music class. This precious little girl, ___51___ her connection with music, left an impression on me that will last forever. Every child has the ___52___ to learn and grow. It is up to us as educators to ___53___ the way to reach each and every one of our students. We all must find each child’s ___54___.

【题文1】A. late            B. former           C. recent           D. present

【题文2】A. make it     B. make sense       C. make a mess      D. make a difference

1.A. touches        B. saves            C. abandons         D. feels

2.A. get across B. cut down         C. take over        D. break through

3.A. means      B. direction        C. process          D. companion

4.A. disabled       B. normal           C. outgoing         D. junior

5.A. awful      B. elegant          C. memorable        D. sensitive

6.A. partly     B. hardly           C. nearly           D. mostly

7.A. sang           B. whispered        C. yelled           D. clapped

8.A. strike     B. put              C. hit              D. shake

9.A. ever       B. never            C. still            D. even

10.A. horror        B. delight          C. astonishment     D. embarrassment

11.A. immediately   B. completely       C. slowly           D. finally

12.A. scared        B. breathless       C. speechless       D. clumsy

13.A. greeting      B. smile            C. expression       D. affection

14.A. performed B. operated         C. trained          D. recorded

15.A. upon          B. through          C. from             D. beyond

16.A. desire        B. talent           C. ability          D. urge

17.A. discover      B. change           C. test             D. make

18.A. strength      B. dream            C. light            D. dignity

— I’m mad at what Jack said yesterday.    — ________ ! He was just making a joke.

A. Take your time   B. All the best         C. Lighten up       D. Not at all

There is no doubt that our educational system leaves something __________.

A. being desired        B. to be desired       

C. to desire            D. to have been desired

The boy ________ avoided being run over by a speeding car when crossing the busy street the other day.

A. hardly           B. slightly             C. narrowly         D. gently

I would love _____ to the party last night but I had to work extra hours to finish a report.

A. to go            B. going            C. to have gone     D. to be going

It’s reported that workers on London’s underground train network will go on strike（罢工）in ________ with colleagues losing their jobs at ticket offices.

A. annoyance        B. sympathy         C. companion        D. scare

He is the first person you can think of to rely on, for he is always willing to ________ whoever is in trouble.

A. cut out          B. figure out       C. test out         D. help out

His ex-husband, whom she _________ last year, is now living in America.

A. divorced         B. got divorced     C. got married      D. married to

These natural parks are important for preserving animals, which would ________ risk dying out.

A. merely           B. rather               C. otherwise            D. moreover