Is there intelligent life on other planets? For years， scientists said “no” or “We don’t know.” But today this is changing. Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are astronomers. They believe intelligent life exists (存在) somewhere in the universe. They also think we will soon contact these beings.
Why do Shostak and Barnett think intelligent life exists on other planets? The first reason is time. Scientists believe the universe is about 12 billion years old. “This is long enough for other planets to have intelligent life，” say Shostak and Barnet. The second reason is size—the universe is huge. “Tools like the Hubble telescope（哈勃望远镜）have shown that there are at least 100 billion galaxies，” says Shostak. “And our galaxy， the Milk Way， has at least 100 billion stars. Some planets going around these stars might be similar to Earth.”
In the past， it was hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe. But now， powerful telescopes(高倍望远镜) allow scientists to discover smaller planets—the size of Mars or Earth in other solar systems. These planets might have intelligent life.
Have beings from space already visited Earth? “Probably not，” says Shostak. “It’s a long way away. However， intelligent beings may contact us in other way， such as radio signs. In fact， they may be trying to communicate with us now， but we don’t have the right tools to receive their messages. However， this is changing. By 2025， we could make contact with other life forms in our universe and we might help each other.”
1.Seth Shostak and Alexandra Barnett are _______________.
A. astronomers. B. farmers C. singers D. drivers
2.What is the best title for Paragraph Two?
A. The Age and Size of Earth
B. Our Galaxy： The Milk Way
C. Why Intelligent Life Might Exist
D. Earth： The Only Planet With Intelligent Life
3.Why was it hard to look for signs of intelligent life in the universe in the past?
A. There were not any smaller planets.
B. There were not any powerful telescopes.
C. The astronomers were not interested in them.
D. The Milk Way didn’t exist at that time.
4.Why haven’t beings from space visited us yet according to Shostak?
A. They are afraid of us.
B. It’s a long way away.
C. They don’t want to see us.
D. They don’t know how to use radio signs.
5.What does the underlined phrase “life forms” in the last paragraph mean?
A. Messages. B. Tools.
C. Intelligent beings. D. Radio signs.
Molly Boylan is one of the most successful business women in Canada after setting up her cosmetic(化妆品)company Blazes in 1992. Though she is very successful， she says that she finds it harder every year to balance her business with her family life. She sometimes feels that her two children
know more about their baby-sitter than they do about her.
Molly employs(雇佣)around eighty people in her factory and warehouse， and ten others in her two new fashion stores， but her newest employee is the most important one for her. After years of worrying about her business more than her family， she has decided to make Sally Pamonte new general manager in her company. Molly will still be involved in decision-making， and she’s going to stay in touch with the people who work for her， but Sally is going to look after day- to-day running of the business so that Molly can spend more time with kids.
The new arrangement is going to start on Monday， and both of them are already excited about it. Sally says， “I’m very nervous， actually， but I’m sure Molly will help me a lot in the early days， even though I hope she feels she can trust me not to make too many mistakes.”
Molly， on the other hand， seems quite relaxed about the whole thing. “I know that Sally’s going to be a very nice manager.” she says， “She’s only been here a couple of days and she’s already shown me how to work out a few problems we were having. The best thing though is that I feel a hundred times happier than I’ve been in years. I mean， I honestly can’t remember the last time I felt as relaxed as this， and my kids are really excited about my being at home more. To be honest， I wish I had made this decision years ago.”
1.The passage is mainly about ____________.
A. Molly and her children
B. Molly finding a new manager
C. the baby-sitter and the kids
D. Molly making a chance about her business.
2.The underlined phase “be involved in” in the passage probably means __________.
A. be interested in B. take part in
C. be nervous about D. learn about
3.Sally seems to be a good manager because _____________.
A. she has set up a new Blazes
B. she keeps in close touch with the workers
C. she has been able to solve a few problems
D. she has been working for the company since 1992
4.According to this passage， Molly ____________________.
A. will not run her business any more
B. seems satisfied with the new arrangement
C. was not pleased with the baby-sitter
D. was successful both in her business and her family.
5.The best thing for Molly now is that________________.
A. she has more than eighty people working for her
B. her kids know more about the baby-sitter
C. she can have more time to be with her kids.
D. she has got a new general manager in her company.
How could we tell time if there were no watches or clocks anywhere in the world?
The sun was probably the world's first "clock"， except in the far north， where the Eskimos (爱斯基摩人) live. There， it's dark most of the winter， and light most of the summer. But in most of the world， people have used the sun for a clock. Even today， if you don't have a clock， you still know that when the sun shines， it's day， and when it's dark， it's night. The sun can also tell you if it's morning， noon， or afternoon.
People who live near the sea can tell time from the tides. In the daytime， for about six hours， the water rises higher and higher on the beach. And then it goes down and down for about six hours. The same thing happens again at night. There are two high tides and two low tides every 24 hours.
Seamen on a ship learn how to tell time by looking at the moon and the stars. The whole sky is their clock.
In some places in the world the wind comes up at about the same time every day or changes direction or stops blowing. In these places the wind can be the clock.
A sand clock is an even better clock. If you had fine dry sand in a glass shaped like the one in the picture， you would have what is called an hourglass. The sand in the hourglass goes from the top part to the bottom part in exactly one hour. When the hourglass is turned over， the sand will take another hour to go back again.
1.According to the passage， there are ______ ways to tell time besides the clock and watch.
A. 3 B. 4 C. 5 D. 7
2.The Eskimos in the far north can't use the sun for a clock because ______.
A. they know very little about the sun
B. the sun there never goes down in winter
C. it's too cold for them to go out to watch the sun
D. it has long dark winters and long light summers
3.The underlined word "tides" in the passage means ______.
A. 洋流 B. 潮汐 C. 海啸 D. 波浪
4.In which page of a newspaper can you most probably read this passage?
A. News. B. Science.
C. Business. D. Advertisement
5.What’s the best title for the passage?
A. Different Ways to Tell Time
B. Useful Machines to Tell Time
C. The History of the Clock
D. The Development of the Clock
完形填空 。
The passengers on the bus watched with sympathy(同情)as Susan made her way carefully up the steps. She paid for the drive and then， using her hands to _______ the seats， settled(安顿)in one of them.
It had been a year since Susan became blind. As the result of an accident she was suddenly thrown into a world of _______ . Susan’s husband Mark watched her fall into hopelessness and he decided to use every possible means to help his wife.
Finally， Susan felt ready to _______ to her job， but how would she get there? She used to take the bus， but she was now too afraid of getting around the city by herself . Mark volunteered to ride the bus with Susan each morning and evening until she could _______ it by herself.
For two weeks， Mark went with Susan to and from_______ each day. He taught her how to depend on her other _______ ， specifically her hearing， to decide where she was.
At last， Susan decided that she was ______________ to try the trip on her own. Monday morning arrived.Before she left， she held her husband tightly， her eyes filled with tears of thankfulness. She said good-bye and， for the first time， they went their_______ ways. Each day went __________， and a wild excitement took hold of Susan. She was doing it!
On Friday morning， Susan took the bus to work as _______. As she was getting off the bus， the driver said， “Miss， I sure _______you.” Surprisingly， Susan asked the driver _______ .
“You know， every morning for the _______ week， a fine-looking gentleman in a military uniform has been standing across the corner watching you until you enter your office building _______ ，” the bus driver said.
Tears of happiness ran down Susan’s cheeks. She was so lucky for he had given her a gift more powerful than _______. That is the gift of love that can bring light where there is darkness.
1.A. feel B. choose C. count D. touch
2.A. weakness B. sickness C. darkness D. sadness
3.A. return B. keep C. belong D. stick
4.A. try B. manage C. control D. follow
5.A. home B. hospital C. school D. work
6.A. feelings B. parts C. senses D. skills
7.A. busy B. happy C. ready D. willing
8.A. opposite(adj.) B. separate (adj.) C. fixed(adj.) D. normal通常的(adj.)
9.A. terribly B. perfectly C. sadly D. badly
10.A. possible B. usual C. if D. often
11.A. envy B. respect C. know D. support
12.A. what B. how C. why D. where
13.A. next B. same C. first D. past
14.A. quickly B. silently C. happily D. safely
15.A. courage B. direction C. sight D. service
— The light in his room is still on. Do you know _________?
— To prepare for the coming exam， I think.
A. if he works hard B. why he stays up so late
C. why is he so busy D. when he will stop working
— I’m sorry. That wasn’t of much help. — ______. And it was most helpful.
A. Thanks anyway B. It doesn’t matter
C. Of course not D. Sure it was
