Is There Life on Earth?
There was great excitement on the planet of Venus(金星) this week. For the first time Venusian scientists managed to land a satellite on the planet Earth, and it has been sending back signals as well as photographs ever since.
The satellite was directed into an area known as Manhattan (named after the great Venusian astronomer Prof. Manhattan, who first discovered it with his telescope 20,000 light years ago).
Because of excellent weather conditions and extremely strong signals, Venusian
scientists were able to get valuable information as to feasibility (可行性) of a manned flying saucer (碟) landing on Earth. A press conference was held at the Venus Institute of Technology.
“We have come to the conclusion, based on last week’s satellite landing,” Prof. Zog said, “that there is no life on Earth.”
“How do you know this?” the science reporter of the Venus Evening Star asked.
“For one thing, Earth’s surface in the area of Manhattan is made up of solid concrete and nothing can grow there. For another, the atmosphere is filled with carbon monoxide (一氧化碳) and other deadly gases and nobody could possibly breathe the air and survive.”
“What does this mean as far as our flying saucer program is concerned?”
“We shall have to take our own oxygen with us, which means a much heavier flying saucer than originally planned.”
“Are there any other dangers that you discovered in your studies?”
“Take a look at this photo. You see this dark black cloud hovering(盘旋) over the surface of Earth? We call this the Consolidated Edison Belt. We don’t know what it is made of, but it could give us a lot of trouble and we shall have to make further tests before we send a Venus Being there.”
“Over here you will notice what seems to be a river, but the satellite findings indicate it is polluted and the water is unfit to drink. This means we shall have to carry our own water, which will add even greater weight to the saucer.”
“Sir, what are all those tiny black spots on the photographs?”
“We are not certain. They seem to be metal particles(粒子) that move along certain paths. They emit gases, make noise and keep crashing into each other. There are so many of these paths and so many metal particles that it is impossible to land a flying saucer without its being smashed by one”.
“What are those stalagmite(石笋) projections sticking up?”
“They are some of granite formations that give off light at night. Prof. Glom has named them skyscrapers since they seem to be scraping the skies. ”
“If all you say is true, won’t this set back the flying saucer program several years?”
“Yes, but we shall continue as soon as the Grubstart gives us the added funds.”
Prof. Zog, why are we spending billions and billions of zilches to land a flying saucer on Earth when there is no life there?
“Because if we Venusians can learn to breathe in an Earth atmosphere, then we can live anywhere.”
1.According to Prof. Zog, the Venusians will have to take their own oxygen with them when they carry out their flying saucer program because ________.
A. they need it on their way to the planet of earth
B. the earth’s atmosphere is filled with deadly gases
C. oxygen is far from enough in the area of Manhattan
D. there is no air on the planet of Earth
2.The “dark black cloud” in the 10th paragraph indicates ________.
A. the polluted air hovering over the surface of Earth
B. the mass of tiny drops of water floating above Earth
C. the mass of small things moving through the air
D. the dark clouds gathering before a storm breaks
3.The author wishes to call our attention to the fact that ________.
A. modern man has polluted his environment to such an extent that he may destroy himself if he carries on like this
B. there is no point in spending billions and billions of zilches to land a flying saucer on Earth
C. pollution has become so serious a problem on Earth that even Venusians find life there unbearable
D. it is difficult, if not altogether impossible, to land a manned flying saucer on Earth
4.The tone of this essay is ________.
A. hopeless and objective
B. serious and critical (批评的)
C. humorous and satirical (讽刺的)
D. sensitive and subjective
Thomas Edison was one of ten said to be the greatest genius（天才） of his age. There are only a few men in all of the history, who have changed the lives of other men as much as the inventor of the first useful electric light. But Edison could never be happy only because someone said he was a genius. “There is no such thing as genius,” Edison said. He said that what people called genius was mostly hard work.
But Edison was a dreamer as well as a worker. From his earliest days as a child he wondered about the secrets of nature. Nature, he often said, is full of secrets. He tried to understand them; then, he tried to learn what could usefully be done with them.
Edison enjoyed thinking. He knew that most people will do almost anything instead of the difficult work of thinking, especially if they do not think very often. But he knew, too, that thinking can give men enjoyment and pleasure.
Edison could not understand how anyone could be uninterested in life. As he loved to think, he also loved to work. On the day he became 75 years old, someone asked him what ideas he had about life. “Work,” he answered. “Discovering the secrets of nature and using them to make men happier.” He said he had enough inventions in his mind to give him another 100 years of work.
1.Edison thought ________.
A. he could be happy if he was a genius
B. genius plays the most important part in one’s success
C. hard work could do better than genius
D. genius could do better than hard work
2.In Edison’s opinion, ________.
A. thinking can supply people with enjoyment and pleasure as well as help
B. people’s success lies mostly in genius
C. hard work is the second important thing in making people successful
D. there are few secrets for him to discover later
3.The last sentence in the passage most probably implies(暗示） ________.
A. life is too short for Edison to invent more for human beings
B. Edison made 100 inventions in his life
C. Edison was able to live and work for 100 years
D. people of his time were ready to give Edison another 100 years’ work
Facial expressions carry meaning that is determined by situations and relationships. For example, in American culture the smile is in general an expression of pleasure. Yet it also has other uses. A woman’s smile at a police officer does not carry the same meaning as the smile she gives to a young child. A smile may show love or politeness. It can also hide true feelings. It often causes confusion across cultures. For example, many people in Russia consider smiling at strangers in public to be unusual and even improper. Yet many Americans smile freely at strangers in public places (although this is less common in big cities). Some Russians believe that Americans smile in the wrong places; some Americans believe that Russians don’t smile enough. In Southeast Asian cultures, a smile is frequently used to cover painful feelings. Vietnamese people may tell a sad story but end the story with a smile.
Our faces show emotions, but we should not attempt to “read” people from another culture as we would “read” someone from our own culture. The fact that members of one culture do not express their emotions as openly as members of another culture, but it does not mean that they do not experience emotions. Rather, there are cultural differences in the amount of facial expressiveness permitted. For example, in public and in formal situations many Japanese do not show their emotions as freely as Americans do. When with friends, Japanese and Americans seem to show their emotions similarly.
It is difficult to conclude about Americans and facial expressiveness because of personal and cultural differences in the United States. People from certain cultural backgrounds in the United States seem to be more facially expressive than others. The key is to try not to judge people whose ways of showing emotion are different. If we judge according to our own cultural habits, we may make the mistake of “reading” the other person incorrectly.
1.The author mentions the smile of the Vietnamese to prove that smile can ________.
A. show friendliness to strangers
B. be used to hide true feelings
C. be used in the wrong places
D. show personal habits
2.What should we do before attempting to “read” people?
A. Learn about their relations with others.
B. Understand their cultural backgrounds.
C. Find out about their past experience.
D. Figure out what they will do next.
3.What would be the best title for the test?
A. Cultural Differences
B. Smiles and Relationships
C. Facial Expressiveness
D. Habits and Emotions
Many years ago, when I was fresh out of school and working in Denver, I was driving to my parents' home in Missouri for Christmas. I stopped at a gas station(加油站) about 50 miles from Oklahoma City, where I was planning to stop and visit a friend. While I was standing in line at the cash register(收款台), I said hello to an older couple who were also paying for gas.
I took off, but had gone only a few miles when black smoke poured from the back of my car. I stopped and wondered what I should do. A car pulled up behind me. It was the couple I had spoken to at the gas station. They said they would take me to my friend's. We chatted on the way into the city, and when I got out of the car, the husband gave me his business card.
I wrote him and his wife a thank-you note for helping me. Soon afterward, I received a Christmas present from them. Their note that came with it said that helping me had made their holidays meaningful.
Years later, I drove to a meeting in a nearby town in the morning. In late afternoon I returned to my car and found that I'd left the lights on all day, and the battery(电池) was dead. Then I noticed that the Friendly Ford dealership — a shop selling cars — was right next door. I walked over and found two salesmen in the showroom.
"Just how friendly is Friendly Ford?" I asked and explained my trouble. They quickly drove a pickup truck to my car and started it. They would accept no payment, so when I got home, I wrote them a note to say thanks. I received a letter back from one of the salesmen. No one had ever taken the time to write him and say thank you, and it meant a lot, he said.
"Thank you" — two powerful words. They're easy to say and mean so much.
1.The author planned to stop at Oklahoma City ________.
A. to visit a friend
B. to see his parents
C. to pay at the cash register
D. to have more gas for his car
2.The words “took off” underlined in Paragraph 2 mean “________”.
A. turned offB. moved offC. put upD. set up
3.What happened when the author found smoke coming out of his car?
A. He had it pulled back to the gas station.
B. The couple sent him a business card.
C. The couple offered to help him.
D. He called his friend for help.
4.The battery of the author’s car was dead because ________.
A. something went wrong with the lights
B. the meeting lasted a whole day
C. he forgot to turn off the lights
D. he drove too long a distance
5.By telling his own experiences, the author tries to show ________.
A. how to write a thank-you letter
B. how to deal with car problems
C. the kind-heartedness of older people
D. the importance of expressing thanks
假定你是高三学生李华，从网上获悉一家国际青少年志愿者组织正在全球招募暑期志愿者。请写一封电子邮件申请参加。主要内容如下：
1．写信目的；
2．自我介绍；
3．希望获准。
注意：
1．词数100左右；
2．文章的结尾已给出，不计入总词数；
3．可适当增加细节，以使行文连贯。
Dear Sir or Madam,
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________________
With all my best regards.
Yours sincerely,
Li Hua
短文改错
假定英语课上老师要求同桌之间交换修改作文，请你修改你同桌写的以下作文。文中共有10处错误，每句中最多有两处。每处错误仅涉及一个单词的增加、删除或修改。
增加：在缺词处加一个漏词符号（∧），并在其下面写出该加的词。
删除；把多余的词 用斜线（\）划掉。
修改：在错的词下划一横线，并在该词下面写出修改后的词。
注意：1.每处错误及修改均仅限一词；
2.只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
Dear editor,
I am writing to you to talk about the heavy traffic. Nowadays, people in many big cities are complaining the heavy traffic. It has serious influenced people’s daily life and economic development. To solve the problem, I’d like to put forward some advices.
For one thing, more streets and roads should be built. In this way, we can speed up the flow of buses and cars. For other, the number of bikes and cars can be limited, that can decrease the traffic flow. But the most important thing is what the number of private cars should be put under the control. Meanwhile, buses should have its own special routes which cannot be using by other vehicles. Therefore, underground train and city train should be developed quickly.
I do hope my suggestions will be taken.
Yours,
Li Hua
