The speed, danger and excitement of motor racing have been with us for more than a century. For over a hundred years, drivers have pushed their machines to the limit. Everyone in motor racing has a simple dream: to go faster!
In the early days, a small number of people raced each other driving unsafe machines on ordinary roads. Today, motor racing is a huge moneymaking industry. Thousands of people are involved. Drivers, mechanics, designers, engineers and technicians work hard in the search for extra speed.
Cars race along twisting roads or on round tracks. They race across ice and snow, as well as sandy deserts. Mud, dust, grass and steep hills are all part of today’s range of racing events. Hundreds of thousands of people turn up to watch races. Millions more people watch the events on television. Top drivers are celebrities and earn huge amounts of money.
Of course, these drivers don’t get to the top overnight. Everyone has to start somewhere. Most drivers learn to race in go-carts when they are young. All drivers must learn about their cars and their engines. They must also be familiar with race rules and what to do in an emergency. Formula Ford is one of the race classes for beginners. Many top Formula I world champions like Nigel Mansell, Michael Schumacher and Mika Hakkinen began by Formula Ford racing.
The Italian company Ferrari makes some of the world’s best racing cars, all painted in its world-famous red colour. Ferrari is the most successful builder of Formula 1 cars. Ferrari has also had some famous Formula 1 champions such as Michael Schumacher. Ferrari prides itself on building the whole machine—the body as well as the engine. Some companies, such as Honda, only make engines for Formula 1 racing.
Motor racing is expensive. Racing teams need huge amounts of money to keep their cars on the racetrack. Sponsorship is an important way of making money for racing teams. The logos of the sponsors are all over racing cars. The bigger the logo, the more the company will have to pay to the racing team.（选自《九年级下册初中英语读本》）
The Need for1.
Want to be a Formula 1 driver | Motor racing have been with us for 2. a century. Everyone in motor racing has a simple dream: to go faster! |
Learn to race in go-carts | In the early days, a small number of people raced each other driving 3. machines on ordinary roads. Today, motor racing is a huge money making 4.. |
Learn about cars and engines | Cars race along twisting roads or on round tracks. Millions more people watch the events on 5.. Top drivers are celebrities and earn huge amounts of money. |
Learn race rules | These drivers don’t 6. the top overnight. Everyone has to start somewhere. They must also be familiar with race rules and 7. to do in an emergency. |
Join classes for beginners such as Formula Ford | Ferrari is the most successful builder of Formula 1 cars. Ferrari has had some famous Formula 1 champions as8., such as Michael Schumacher. |
Become a Formula 1 driver | Motor racing isn’t 9.. Racing teams need huge amounts of money to keep their cars on the racetrack.The bigger the logo, the 10. the company will have to pay to the racing team. |
We walked all afternoon with Infadoos and Scragga. Their men walked about a hundred metres ahead of us.
“When did your people, the Kukuana, come to this place?”
“They came from the north many thousands of moons ago,” Infadoos explained. “When they reached the mountains, they could go no farther. They stayed here where the land is good and there is water.”
“Do you live here in peace?” I asked.
“There have been two wars. Once an army came down from the north, but we killed most of them. Soon after that, we fought among ourselves.” He said, “The king at that time had two sons—twins. When he died, both young men wanted to be king. One of the twins, Twala, killed the other and became king.”
“Did the dead man have a wife and children?” I asked. I knew that if he did, the fighting could start again one day.
“Yes. He had a wife, Imotu, and a son, Ignosi. They ran away.” He pointed to a village a short way ahead. “That is the village where Imotu and Ignosi first hid,” he said. “We shall stay there tonight..”
As soon as we were within a mile or so of the village, an army of men came out. As we passed them, they shouted a welcome.
Their women were in the village. They stopped whatever they were doing to watch us pass by, but they were not rude. As soon as we were comfortable in a hut, they came with milk, honey, and cooked food.
A young man brought a fat young ox which he killed and cut into pieces. We took a few pieces for ourselves and gave him the rest. We don’t want them to think we were selfish.（选自《所罗门王的宝藏》，有删节）
1.The Kukuana people moved a long way ________before they stayed in this place.
A. east B. west C. south D. north
2.The Kukuana people stayed because they could ________ here.
A. hunt enough animals B. grow good crops
C. make many friends D. eat delicious beef
3.Infadoos’ people had won _________ wars.
A. two B. three C. four D. five
4.Ignosi was Twala’s __________.
A. wife B. brother C. son D. nephew
5.From what we read, the villagers were probably Ignosi’s _________.
A. friends B. enemies C. supporters D. soldiers
Captain Nemo seemed very sure that that savages could not harm us. I slept well. When I went outside the next morning, I saw that there were many more natives on the beach. It was low tide, and many of them had come quite close to the Nautilus. I asked Conseil to get a net, and we used it to get some shells from the water. They were very pretty shells. Suddenly, I saw a very rare and beautiful shell. We looked at it together. One of the savages threw a stone at us and broke the shell. Conseil was very angry. He fired his gun at the savage. Then, we noticed that the savages had come very close to the Nautilus in their canoes. A few moments later, they began to shoot their arrows at us. We went inside and told Captain Nemo about it. He ordered his men to close the doors.
“But what will happen tomorrow?” I asked. “You will have to open the doors to get more air, and the savages will come in.”
“Do you think they will dare?”
“I am sure they will.”
“We have nothing to fear,” he said again.
Captain Nemo asked me about our trip to the island. I told him what we had seen and done. We talked about another French sailor called D’Urville, whose ship was wrecked in the Torres Strait. He told me again that the high tide the next day would lift the Nautilus off the reef.（选自《海底两万里》）
1.The word “savages” may have the similar meaning to _______ in this passage.
A. natives B. shells C. Nautilus D. canoes
2.Conseil and I tried to get some shells with a(n) _______.
A. gun B. arrow C. net D. ship
3.Conseil shot at the savage because the savage _________.
A. looked very ugly B. threw a stone at him
C. shot an arrow at him D. broke the shell with a stone
4.The Nautilus is perhaps the name of _________.
A. a ship B. a submarine(潜艇) C. a boat D. a sailing boat(帆船)
5.The story happened when the Nautilus ________.
A. was flying over the Torres Strait B. was running in the ocean
C. was kept on the reef D. was with D’Urville
We live in the world full of colours. Does a colour have weight? If you say “no”, you are wrong. If you don’t believe, you may do an experiment.
First, put two objects with the same weight into two boxes. Then cover the boxes. Third, wrap one box with a red piece of paper, the other woth a white piece of paper. Now hold the boxes with your hand one by one. It is certain that you think the red one is a little heavier.
Why? A scientist found that different colours have different weight in a man’s mind. So he did many tests and at last he found that every colour has its own weight in our mind and their order is the same. The heaviest colour is red, then blue, green, orange, yellow and white.
The scientist told us that colours also have smell. Can you smell the colour? Of course not. Then why did the scientist say so? That is because every colour stands for a kind of light with a certain wavelength, and it reaches our brain through sense organs.
According to this discovery, scientists say that people accept the colours they like, and refuse the colours they hate. So your body and mind will be healthy by using the colours you like. Or you’ll be nervous or even get ill. For example, if you stay in a room with red windows, wallpapers and furniture for two hours, you’ll feel you have been there for four hours. But if the room is blue, you’ll feel you have been there for only an hour. Another example, if a person walks out of a red room and into a blue room, his tempertature will fall. That means our body temperature will change with different colours.
1.Paragraph 1-3 tell us that ___________.
A. the two boxes have the same weight
B. colours can change the weight of an object
C. the red paper is heavier than the white paper
D. colours have different weight in people’s mind
2.Why did the scientist think that colours have smell?
A. Because we can smell colours with our nose.
B. Because every colour has its own sweet smell.
C. Because people can sense the light from colours
D. Because every colour can give off light of the same length.
3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. People may get ill if they refuse the colours they don’t like.
B. People can stay longer in blue rooms than in red rooms.
C. In people’s mind, red colour is heavier than white colour.
D. People’s body temperature will change with different colours.
4.What is the Chinese meaning of the underlined word “wavelength”?
A. 波浪 B. 色彩 C. 频率 D. 波长
5.The passage is probably _________.
A. a short novel B. a news report C. a science report D. an advertisement
Water-safety guideline
Water sports have some special rules to follow because of the possibility of diving accidents or drowning(溺水). By learning basic water-safety guidelines, you can ______yourself from a possible tragedy(悲剧).
No matter how good a swimmer you are, how brave you are, or how ______ the water may seem, you should never swim ______. There should always be at least one _______person with you, whether he is in the water ______ on the shore. It is ______ using the buddy system. Here is a story about it.
Jack had worked hard all day and decided to ______ himself after work by going for a swim at the beach. He found a quiet spot ______ he could enjoy the water alone. After he got into the water and started swimming, he ______ he was being pulled by the current(水流). He panicked(惊慌), using most of his energy in trying to swim ______ the current.
_______, a man was walking along the shore and saw Jack struggling. He dived into the water, swam near Jack, and gave him a ______. Finally, Jack swam _____ to the shore.
After thanking the man for his help, Jack ______ that he could have drowned if the man had not come by ______. From that day on, Jack became a believer in the buddy system.
1.A. leave B. walk C. watch D. protect
2.A. clear B. safe C. quiet D. deep
3.A. alone B. lonely C. alive D. lively
4.A. extra B. else C. other D. another
5.A. and B. so C. but D. or
6.A. weighed B. called C. cried D. lifted
7.A. show B. take C. enjoy D. help
8.A. what B. where C. which D. when
9.A. found B. lost C. discovered D. looked
10.A. for B. against C. on D. over
11.A. Unhappily B. Gladly C. Luckily D. However
12.A. tie B. head C. foot D. hand
13.A. highly B. safely C. sadly D. excitedly
14.A. recognized B. answered C. realized D. decided
15.A. in time B. on time C. at times D. at a time
—I’m afraid i can’t go to your party.
—________________! The party won’t be perfect without you.
A. You’re welcome B. That’s nothing C. What a pity D. It doesn’t matter
