Several parents and children escaped the summer heat and enjoyed a refreshing “Leap Into a Good Book”．About 30 children and parents gathered as volunteers for both agencies.
After the readings，refreshments (点心) were offered and children and parents were given books，a gift bag and a bookmark with information on adult literacy (读写能力) programs.
Learn to Read of Northwest Florida Inc.and Even Start coordinated the event with hopes that combining their programs will help target functionally illiterate adults and their families.A functionally illiterate adult is one who has reading skills below a seventhgrade level.That often means they have difficulty filling out job applications，understanding a lease，reading medication labels or to their children.
Merelin Hernandez,9，a fourthgrader at Warrington Elementary School，understands the importance of reading.She also says it makes her happy when she is bored.“Reading helps me go to another grade，”she says.“I feel proud when I get a B because then I know I am reading well.”Monae Walker,7，a student at Oakcrest Elementary School，says reading teaches her and makes her happy.
Learn to Read of Northwest Florida Inc.provides oneonone tutoring for basic reading and writing skills to adults 16 and older who are not in school.Tutors go through a 12hour workshop and tutor their students 3 hours per week.The program currently has 150 active tutors.
Even Start is a family education program at McMillan Learning Center，which offers adult education classes and infant，toddler and prekindergarten services at no cost to families.Linda Harris，a teacher in charge of the Escambia Even Start program，says the program equips parents so they can help their children.
1.The event “Leap Into a Good Book”________．
A．was mainly held by Learn to Read
B．targeted functionally literate parents
C．was attended by about 30 volunteers
D．was held to enjoy reading in summer
2.According to the passage，a functionally illiterate adult________.
A．has skills below a seventhgrade level
B．has never got school education
C．has no ability to recognize English words
D．can’t fill out a job application
3.According to the passage，Monae Walker________.
A．was attending the oneonone tutoring
B．was a schoolleaver
C．was having a good time there
D．read books with her parents
4.According to the passage，Even Start can________.
A．make parents able to help their children
B．educate children how to use words
C．offer some services for families in life
D．offer a good place for children
William Henry Bragg was born at Westward，Cumberland，on July 2,1862.He was educated at Market Harboroagh Grammar School and afterwards at King William’s College，Isle of Man.Elected as a minor scholar of Trinity College，Cambridge，in 1881，he studied mathematics under the wellknown teacher，Dr E．J.Routh.He studied physics in the Cavendish Laboratory during a part of 1885，and at the end of that year he was elected to the Professorship of Mathematics and Physics in the University of Adelaide，South Australia.
His research interests dealt with a great many fields and he was skilled at picking up a subject，almost casually，making an important contribution，and then dropping it again.However，the work of Bragg and his son Lawrence in 1913～1914 founded a new branch of science of the greatest importance and significance，the analysis of the crystal structure by means of Xrays.It is true that the use of Xrays as an instrument for the systematic revelation of the way in which crystals are built was entirely due to the Braggs.This was recognized by the award of the Nobel Prize jointly to father and son in 1915.
He was an honorary Doctor of some sixteen universities，and a member of the leading foreign societies.Many other medals and awards were bestowed upon him among which may be mentioned the Rumford Medal in 1916 and the Copley Medal (its premier award) in 1930.
He was the author of many books，including Studies in Radioactivity，XRays and Crystal Structure，The World of Sound，Concerning the Nature of Things，Old Trades and New Knowledge，An Introduction to Crystal Analysis，and The Universe of Light.His favorite hobby was golf.After a life of astonishing productiveness，Sir William Bragg died on March 10,1942.
1.William Henry Bragg was awarded the Nobel Prize because________.
A．he succeeded in using Xrays to find out the crystal structure
B．he was the first to use Xrays to help to do his experiment
C．he determined to learn everything well and then gave them up
D．he was successful in his research work with the help of his son
2.According to this passage，William Henry Bragg was interested in all the subjects EXCEPT________.
A．mathematics B．physics
C．medicine D．sports
3.Which one of the following is TRUE according to this passage?
A．Bragg became a professor in the University of Adelaide in 1885.
B．Bragg won the Rumford Medal and the Copley Medal in the same year.
C．Bragg gained great achievements in many fields，including society.
D．Bragg and Lawrence wrote the book XRays and Crystal Structure.
4.Which of the following is the best title for this passage?
A．William Henry Bragg’s Productive Life
B．William Henry Bragg：A Famous Author
C．Bragg and His Son—Two Great Scientists
D．Xrays and the Crystal Structure
I am a journalist in America.When reporting a story，I sometimes need to find a ____ kind of person—someone who has recently switched banks，or who is ____ cancer，or who owns both a Chevy pickup and Toyota sedan.
At such moments，I ____ my brother Keith，a telecommunication worker in eastern Kansas.Usually he says，“I know just the guy.”
His contacts are so diverse in large part ____ he is offline.At age 52，he’s ____ sent an email，surfed the Web or bought anything online.Without any mobile email system to ____ his attention when he is shopping，he is ____ to make a friend or two before ____.Without Web pages to instruct him on his latest project—how to build a cow fence or how to fix a woodburning stove—he seeks out the help of neighbours who have done it and follows their ____，and during beerdrinking time afterwards he listens carefully to their ____ of health problems，banking habits and newcar ____.
“I like talking to people，” he says.“I do not ____ nowadays people send each other emails instead of talking while they’re in the ___ room.”
My older brother ____ considers himself as an oldfashioned man and the Internet ____ are making him more so，too.As a(n) ____ to the Web，my brother belongs to one of the nation’s fastestdecreasing ____.
During the first half decade of the 21st century，the proportion of Internet users ____ slowly，to 59% of adult Americans from just over 50%，according to the Pew Internet and American Life Project.____ in the second half of the decade，that growth skyrocketed(猛升) and now nearly 80% of adult Americans use the Internet.At that pace，the offline Americans will no longer ____ in the coming decade.
1.A.rich B．friendly
C．brave D．particular
2.A.battling B．avoiding
C．curing D．developing
3.A.appoint B．call
C．miss D．search
4.A.when B．until
C．unless D．because
5.A.ever B．frequently
C．never D．seldom
6.A.divide B．receive
C．pay D．gain
7.A.willing B．likely
C．anxious D．clever
8.A.settling down B．using up
C．setting off D．checking out
9.A.advice B．plan
C．example D．gesture
10.A.lesson B．speech
C．talk D．lecture
11.A.displays B．purchases
C．exchanges D．repairs
12.A.imagine B．predict
C．understand D．recommend
13.A.big B．new
C．same D．special
14.A.sometimes B．recently
C．once D．always
15.A.values B．trends
C．techniques D．benefits
16.A.stranger B．user
C．owner D．beginner
17.A.workers B．races
C．minorities D．teams
18.A.increased B．developed
C．varied D．moved
19.A.And B．So
C．Or D．But
20.A.change B．exist
C．last D．work
Electric cars are dirty.In fact，not only are they dirty，they might even be more dirty than their gasolinepowered cousins.
People in California love to talk about “zeroemissions vehicles”，but_people_in_California_seem_to_be_clueless_about_where_electricity_comes_from.Power plants mostly use fire to make it.Aside from the new folks who have their roofs covered with solar cells，we get our electricity from generators.Generators are fueled by something—usually coal，oil，but also by heat generated in nuclear power plants.There are a few wind farms and geothermal(地热的) plants as well，but by far we get electricity mainly by burning something.
In other words，those “zeroemissions” cars are likely coalburning cars.It’s just because the coal is burned somewhere else that it looks clean.It is not.It’s as if the California Greens are covering their eyes—“If I can’t see it，it’s not happening.” Gasoline is an incredibly efficient way to power a vehicle；a gallon of gas has a lot of energy in it.But when you take that gas(or another fuel) and first use it to make electricity，you waste a nice part of that energy，mostly in the form of wasted heat—at the generator，through the transmission(传送) lines，etc.
A gallon of gas may propel your car 25 miles.But the electricity you get from that gallon of gas won’t get you nearly as far—so electric cars burn more fuel than gaspowered ones.If our electricity came mostly from nukes；or geothermal，or hydro，or solar，or wind，then an electric car truly would be clean.But for political，technical，and economic reasons，we don’t use much of those energy sources.
In addition，electric cars’ batteries which are poisonous for a long time will eventually end up in a landfill.And finally，when cars are the polluters，the pollution is spread across all the roads.When it’s a power plant，though，all the junk is in one place.Nature is very good at cleaning up when things are too concentrated，but it takes a lot longer when all the garbage is in one spot.
1. What does the underlined part mean in Paragraph 2?
A．People see the California Greens everywhere.
B．People in California love to talk about zeroemissions vehicles.
C．People in California love to have their roofs covered with solar cells.
D．People in California have no idea that so far electricity mainly comes from burning coal，oil，etc.
2. What is the main idea of the text?
A．Electric cars are not clean at all.
B．Electric cars are better than gasolinepowered ones.
C．People cast doubts on electric cars’ batteries.
D．Gasoline is an efficient way to power a vehicle.
3. The electricity we get from a gallon of gas may make our car run ________.
A．not less than 25 miles
B．as far as 50 miles
C．as far as 25 miles
D．not more than 25 miles
4. It can be inferred from the text that ________.
A．being green is good and should be encouraged in communication
B．electric cars are not clean in that we get electricity mainly by burning something
C．zeroemissions vehicles should be chosen to protect our environment
D．electric cars are now the dominant vehicle compared with gasolinepowered cousins
One of the world’s richest men has taken a close interest in one of man’s most basic functions：visiting the toilet.Bill Gates’s charitable organization，the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation，is looking for inventors to design the loo of the future，which，they hope，would improve sanitation for millions of people around the world.
So，what’s wrong with the traditional flush toilet？Firstly，it wastes a huge amount of potential drinking water.Secondly，they are more likely to cause pollution.This is a real problem in many areas of the developing world，where，according to United Nations estimates，unsafe sanitation causes half of all hospitalizations.Younger people are particularly at risk.Illnesses which cause diarrhea are responsible for the deaths of about 1.5 million children a year.Finally，standard lavatories simply aren’t practical in remote areas.
The challenge set by Bill Gates was to come up with a latrine which works without running water，electricity or aseptic tank.It also needed to operate for less than 5 cents.28 designs were displayed at the recent Reinvent the Toilet Fair，in Seattle，USA.Among them was one which turned human waste into electricity using microwaves，another which converted human waste into charcoal，and yet another which used urine for flushing.
But the winner was a solarpowered design which generated hydrogen gas and electricity. The team from the California Institute of Technology(CIT) picked up a prize of $100,000.
But clearly Bill Gates doesn’t feel he’s flushing money down the toilet.After the Seattle event he said，“We couldn’t be happier with the response we’ve gotten.” Gates has even pledged $370 million more to the future toilet project.They hope to field test more prototypes over the next three years.
1.Why is Bill Gates paying people to invent new toilets?
A．Because he wants to test people’s sense of creativity.
B．Because he wants to improve sanitation for many people.
C．Because he thinks the traditional ones are out of fashion.
D．Because he can’t design this kind of things himself.
2.Which of the following is NOT a problem with the traditional flush toilet?
A．They waste too much water.
B．They might cause diseases.
C．They are not always practical.
D．They are too complicated to use.
3.The underlined word “latrine” in the third paragraph might have similar meanings to the word “________” in the text.
A．loo B．sanitation
C．diarrhea D．prototype
4.The team from CIT won the prize because their design ________.
A．can change human waste into electricity
B．can turn human waste into charcoal
C．can produce power with solar energy
D．can use urine for flushing
Heading overseas on a business trip or just for pleasure any time soon？If so，have you thought about what you are going to do about communication？You may need to arrange cab service or get directions to an attraction，not to mention you want to stay in touch with the folks back home.
Hope you aren’t counting_on your personal cell phone.Industry experts estimate that most American cell phones won’t work overseas due to compatibility (兼容性) issues.And even if yours did work，the roaming (漫游) charges would be too high.
So what are your choices？You could rent a phone with a local number in the country you’re traveling to，but that wouldn’t do you much good if you’re constantly on the go.A more costeffective way would be to rent a satellite phone from a company like Global Cellular Rental.
The process is amazingly fast and simple.All you have to do is to log onto the company’s website，www.globalcellularrental.com，and place an order.The site will show you the countries you will be traveling to and ask you how long you will need the phone.The company then ships a cell phone directly to you anywhere in the world.The phone arrives with complete instructions.
The traveler also learns his overseas phone number well in advance，enabling him to inform all vital contacts of the number before he ever steps on a plane.
Roaming rates are usually 80 percent less than those charged by American service providers.Calls back to the US can be discounted 40 percent or more.The rentals cost is just $5 per day，and discount packages are available for longterm rentals of two months or more.
This cell phone solution is becoming so popular that Global Cellular Rental actually has relationships with hotel chains around the world to keep phones in stock for hotel guests.And for those whose journey really takes them off the beaten track，the company can also rent satellite phones to them.These phones work anywhere in the world as long as you are outside.
1.The underlined words in Paragraph 2 mean “________”．
A．throwing away B．depending on
C．complaining about D．figuring out
2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?
A．You must place an order on its website.
B．Discount packages need to be applied in advance.
C．The Global Cellular Rental is an American company.
D．The company doesn’t help those travelers to remote areas.
3.Which shows the costeffective aspect of the satellite phone when an American user travels in Beijing?
A．The roaming rates are 20% discount compared to American local service.
B．Calls back to the US cost 60% less compared to American local service.
C．The rental cost is $150 per month if you rent for three months.
D．Forty percent or more discount is available when he calls back to the US.
4.How many ways of overseas communications by phone are mentioned in the passage?
A．2. B．3.
C．4. D．5.
