Bigger isn’t always better. People who are skeptical about this argument just need to look at personal computers. It is the continual shrinkage of components that have brought about the explosion of computing power and enabled these computers to be accessible to people across the world.
Inspired by this, researchers have been working on areas where making things small may mean big results. And this year, the Nobel Prize has challenged the convention of celebrating big by presenting the biggest prizes to discoveries on the smallest scales.
The committee presented the Nobel Prize for medicine to Yoshinori Ohsumi of the Tokyo Institute of Technology, for his research on “autophagy”, which is a “self-eating” process seen in cells.
What’s more, in recognition of their working on the unique nature of matter in extreme states and taking their research all the way down to an atomic scale, the Nobel Prize for physics was awarded to three British-born scientists who presently work in the US.
Another exceptional new field is that of nanotechnology（纳米技术）. The Nobel Prize for chemistry was awarded to a scientist who managed to build the world’s tiniest machines out of molecules（分子）, including a nano-sized car, which are so small that they are not seen by the human eye.
Small as the subjects are, the benefits of the scientists’ research are set to be huge. More importantly, their inventions may even eventually be turned into products that benefit mankind.
Ohsumi’s research on “autophagy” shines a light on common diseases such as Parkinson’s and diabetes. As for the molecular motors, they’re preparing to bring huge potential to the fields of medicine and energy. “The ground-breaking discoveries in physics have lighted a firestorm of research, and it’s only a matter of time before their research leads to advances as unimaginable to us now as computer chips were a hundred years ago,” Laura H. Greene, president-elect of the American Physical Society told The New York Times.
1.The underlined word “shrinkage” in Paragraph 1 probably means .
A. reducing the size B. cutting down the cost
C. improving the quality D. strengthening the function
2.What can be inferred from the passage?
A. Nano-sized cars are now popular all over the world.
B. Ohsumi's research has helped cure some common diseases.
C. Three scientists have made a great breakthrough in atomic energy.
D. The Nobel Prize used to have a preference for findings on big scales.
3.What is Laura H. Greene’s attitude to the new discoveries in physics?
A. Positive B. Doubtful
C. Reserved D. Concerned.
4.What is the message the passage conveys?
A. Great minds think alike.
B. Small things make a big difference.
C. Many small streams make a great river.
D. A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step.
I was really nervous about English class this year because I was an eleventh grader taking a twelfth grade class．I knew that I wouldn’t know anyone in the class，and that scared me a little．But since I didn’t know anyone，I had the chance to do something I love almost as much as socializing—people watching．
One of the most interesting girls in the class sat directly behind me．She was always laughing and talking，and she just seemed so happy．She was friendly，too—she was one of the very few people in the class who made any attempt to acknowledge me．
At the end of the year，we were assigned a big project．It was a very open-ended project，where the instructions were basically to read something，then read or watch something else that related to it，and then come up with a class presentation based on what you learned．
The presentations were spread out over the last month of schoo1．The girl behind me presented on one of the very last days．She got up in front of the class，and told how she had read about eating disorders，because she herself had struggled with one．Since it would have been too difficult for her to talk to us about it directly，she and a friend(who had also suffered from an eating disorder)had made a movie，where they interviewed each other about their eating disorders，how they had felt while they were struggling with them，and how they had overcome them．By the end of the presentation，almost everyone was in tears．
The most shocking thing about the whole presentation was how surprising it was．I never expected that she would have had a problem like that．She always seemed so happy and confident；it was hard to picture her counting calories because she thought she wasn’t good enough．
You also never know what kind of impact you have had on people’s lives．The courage of the girl behind me to talk about something so personal，and her strength to ask for help and overcome her problems have inspired me．
1.What can we learn from Paragraph 1?
A. The writer was a twelfth-grader．
B. The writer liked observing people．
C. English was the writer’s weak subject．
D. The writer had a few friends in the class．
2.How did the writer find the girl friendly?
A. She sat directly behind the writer．
B. She attempted to disturb the writer．
C. She was always laughing and talking．
D. She said hello to the writer in some way．
3.What is the 4th paragraph mainly about?
A. The girl’s presentation．
B. Eating disorders．
C. A successful interview．
D. A moving movie．
4.What did the writer finally realize?
A. The girl wasn’t good enough．
B. The girl was always happy and confident．
C. It takes long to really know a person．
D. It is easy to overcome one’s problems．
Welcome to the home page of the Photography World website．We offer a range of useful services for photographers and photography lovers．
Camera Club
Join our club and enjoy a range of benefits．You’11 get invitations to our regular events，such as members’film shows，exhibitions and talks by experts．You can apply for Full membership，Asso-date membership or Junior membership．Full membership includes free entry to all events and 10％discount when ordering equipment online．Associate membership gives you half-price tickets to events．Junior membership(proof of age required)allows youngsters to enjoy the benefits of Full membership．Costs(per year)：Full membership 20，Associate 12，Junior 10．Most new members joined as the result of recommendations from current members．
Advice Center
Take advantage of our Advice Center．Ask our panel of experts your questions about cameras and photography．Whether you’re looking for solutions to problems or fresh ideas for interesting photos，you’11 get response here．Simply email your questions to advice@cameraclub．com or leave a recorded message On 0800—565656．We guarantee to send you a reply by email within five days．Please note that since we can’t provide information about repairs to cameras，you should contact the manufacturer about these．
Competition
Our competition is held every year and is a great chance for new and experienced photographers to win one of our great prizes，which range from albums to keep your photos in to one-day courses or a set of state-of-the-art camera equipment．Entries can only be accepted from members．They can be sent in prints，on a CD or memory stick，or by email．Please note that photos can’t be returned，so make sure you have copies．The topic—for example，wildlife，transport，people—is announced each year here on the website when the competition opens．
1.Which of the following is a proper price list for an event organized by Camera Club?
A. 
B. 
C. 
D. 
2.Which of the following CANNOT be obtained from the advice center?
A. Solutions to problems about photography．
B. Fresh ideas for interesting photos．
C. Response to club members’questions．
D. Information about repairs to cameras．
3.What’s the requirement of the competition?
A. Competitors must be experienced．
B. Competitors must have membership．
C. Competitors’works must be sent by email．
D. Competitors must have spare copies of their photos．
一个英文网站面向中学生征稿。请你写一篇英文稿件，介绍“清明节（the Qingming Festival）”及这个节日里的主要活动。
写作要点：
1. 它是中国传统节日之一；已有2500多年历史，每年阳历4月4-6日的一天。
2. 扫墓（do tomb-sweeping）祭祖；寻根认祖；
3. 春游踏青，植树，放风筝等活动；
注意：1. 词数100左右；
2.可以适当增加细节，以使用文连贯。
The Qingming Festival
____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________
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处语言错误，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：在缺词处加一个漏字符号（∧），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. 每处错误及其修改均仅限一词；
2. 只允许修改10处，多者（从第11处起）不计分。
People used to communicate with each other through letters and public phones. So nowadays they use mobile phones and the Internet instead of. This change in communication have good effects on our works and life. Comparing with letters and public phones, mobile phones and the Internet are fast and much more convenient. If you missed your grandmother, you just lake out your phone and say “hello” to him. And she will be happy to hear your voice. If you want to place order with a foreign company, you can e-mail the message. It’ll be minutes after you get their reply.
He was a professor. At the age of 90, he still worked eight hours every day regardless1.the weather.
His secretary said, “He was extremely old, but he forced himself to walk from his living place to the office through two blocks2.would lake him an hour to do so but he insisted because it made him get a sense of3. (succeed) .”
One day, a university student4. (step) out of his office with a pile of books. He complained. “He always answers my questions with just a yes or no. However, he always gives me dozens of books and suggests me5. (find) the answer on my own.”
By chance, the professor knew6.the student complained about. He explained to him with a smile, “This is the method I have learnt—the7. (hard) you work independently, the better solutions you will find. If you can make full use of the books, you will8. (probable) become a good lawyer in the future.”
This 90-year-old man was Pound,9.was the president of Law College of Law College of Harvard. He believed “all slopes are easy10. (go)”, of which he often reminded his students.
