In many stories on TV and in science-fiction books, men travel to faraway stars. They have quick, easy journeys. But so far, men have been able to reach only the earth’s own moon.Suppose a man wanted to reach a distant star. Even if he traveled his whole life, he would have to move faster than the speed of the light. Nothing can move that fast except light itself.Strange things happen to an object when it moves rapidly. The object weighs more. An object moving at 86 percent of the speed of light is twice as heavy as it is at rest. A stick appears shorter. A clock runs more slowly. A man would not age so fast as he would on the earth.Light travels more than 186,000 miles a second, or about 11 million miles a minute. In one year, light travels six trillion miles. That great distance is called a light-year. It is used to measure distance in space.The star closest to our sun is Alpha Centauri. It is more than four light-years away. If one traveled at the speed of light, he could make a round trip to Alpha Centauri in nine years. But, even at that speed, he could not reach Alcaid (北斗星) in the handle of the Big Dipper. A one-way journey to Alcaid would take almost 200 years1．In this passage the words “closest to our sun” means the star（）.A、the earth we live onB、Alpha CentauriC、the Big DipperD、the moon2．A one-way journey to Alcaid would take（）.A、about nine yearsB、less than four yearsC、almost 200 yearsD、less than 100 years3．Why do we measure the distance in light-years instead of miles?（）A、Units of light-years sound better.B、Using light- years reduced the number of figures used.C、We used to measure distance in light-years long ago.D、We do not make mistakes when we use light-years.4．If a stone moved at the speed of light, it（）.A、would weigh twice more than it is motionlessB、would weigh as much as it is on earthC、would weigh less than it is on earthD、would not have weight at all5．This story is mainly about （）.A、the distance between the sun and the other starsB、the problems of traveling to faraway starsC、what happens when we travel faster than the speed of lightD、the tool we use when we go to faraway stars

ogs 2______ links, or 3______ words that, when clicked, carry readers to other Web pages. The interesting thing about blogs is one doesn’t have to wait for days, or even weeks, to get 4 ______; most blogs appear right away, typically within 5______ an hour, 6 ______ whether they are monitored 7 ______. It’s an interesting experience, getting 8 ______ about news stories, within hours, and sometimes even minutes, after the story breaks.

Why do Westerners love their pets so much, almost as if they were their children？ I suppose one reason is that for more than one hundred years many children's books in England and in America were animal stories.By this we mean stories that gave the animals human names, human voices, human emotions, and even faces that look almost human.Many of these stories taught a moral lesson, like honesty or kindness or hard work.My mother read animal stories to me as a child, and my wife and I read some of the same animal stories to my boys when they were small, and now they read animal stories to their children.Some are the same stories about dogs and cats and rabbits and horses.So children in America grow up with good feelings toward animals. Many families would like to have a purebred dog or cat, that is an animal whose parents come from a single kind of animal.But purebred animals are expensive.And those that are registered with a special dog or cat club are even more expensive since there is a written record of their ancestors for many generations.What often happens is that a family's first pet will come from some friend whose pet has had babies.Or they may get a pet from an animal shelter.Every city and many smaller towns have a humane society which cares for animals that are found and for animals which people no longer want.They try to find the owner of lost pets and to find homes for the others.Over the years my wife and I and our children have gotten some very nice dogs for our family from animal shelters, usually at no cost.

But some families do not want a house dog or a house cat.They want an outside dog or cat.So the animal stays outsides the house most of the time.Special dog houses are made for such dogs to use, especially at night in the colder parts of North America.

1.Why do Western people love their pets so much？ ()

A.Because their children don't have many friends.

B.Because they have leisure time and enough money.

C.Because they are influenced by animal stories.

D.Because they regard pets as their children.

2.Since they have heard a lot of animal stories, American children tend to () .

A.love animals when they grow up

B.treat animals rudely

C.live with animals

D.dislike animals

3.A purebred dog refers to a dog()

A.which is brought up by one family

B.whose parents come from the same area

C.whose parents belong to the single kind of dog

D.which is bred in a pure house

4.How do most Americans get their first pet？ ()

A.They buy it from a pet shop

B.They pick up one from the street

C.They always get one from the animal shelter

D.They get it from their friends

5.Not all pets stay with their masters in the house all the time for().

A.it's good for them to stay outside

B.people think they are dirty

C.Some people don't want a house dog or a house cat

D.they don't like to stay in their masters' house

ty television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last yes.

As a writer I know about winning contest, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again？ That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last yes.

As a writer I know about winning contest, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again？ That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

Why did Rebecca want to enter this year’s writing contest？

A) She believed she possessed real talent for writing.

B) She was sure of winning with her mother’s help.

C) She wanted to share her stories with readers.

D) She had won a prize in the previous contest.

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last yes.

As a writer I know about winning contest, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again？ That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

What did the author say about her own writing experience？

A) She did not quite live up to her reputation as a writer.

B) Her way to success was full of pains and frustrations.

C) She was constantly under pressure of writing more.

D) Most of her stories had been rejected by publishers.

These days, children often think of superheroes(超级英雄)as cute(漂亮的), cool and strong supermen. A poor, short and thin boy wearing glassed may not interest the kids today. Yet in less than 4 years, Harry Potter has taken the world by the storm. J. K. Rowling, the writer of Harry Potter, was a British single mother out of work and living on money given to her by the government. One day, when she was on a long train trip, she had the idea for this book. She wrote the first book of the seven in the café with her baby daughter sleeping beside her. Last year, the fans welcomed the birth of the fourth by lining outside the bookstores. Today these books are still popular among people. Harry Potter is something more than fantasy(幻想). Rowling tries to tell the readers how things are not always what they seem to be. However, millions of the fans don’t care about such a lesson. They would like to spend many sleepless nights waiting in line for the fifth, the sixth and the seventh to come. For them, surprising stories of the little boy are what they want.

1. J.K. Rowling ________ when she wrote the first book.

A. lived a quiet life with her husband

B. was very poor and didn’t get work for herself

C. had to teach her daughter how to work

D. was already a famous writer

2. When did Rowling think of the idea of writing her book？

A. While she was telling her baby stories about superheroes.

B. While she was going on a long trip.

C. She was on her way to find work.

D. While she was drinking in a café.

3. How many books of the seven have come out according to this passage？

A. Four.

B. Five.

C. Six.

D. Seven.

4. What does Rowling want to show to her readers？

A. Harry Potter is a poor, short and thin boy wearing glasses.

B. Fantasy.

C. How things are not always what they seem to be.

D. She has got many interesting story books.

5. Which of the following is TRUE？

A. Rowling wrote the first book with her daughter’s help.

B. Rowling gave birth to her fourth baby last year.

C. The fans just care about the surprising stories of Harry Potter.

D. Only children love the books, for they’re fairy tales.

Most dog owners feel that their dogs are their best friends. Almost everyone likes dogs because they try hard to please their owners. One of my favorite stories is about a dog that wanted his owner to please him.

One of my friends has a large German shepherd named Jack. These dogs are often very intelligent. Every Sunday afternoon, my friend takes Jack for a walk in the park.Jack likes these long walks very much.

One Sunday afternoon, a young man came to visit my friend. He stayed a long time,and he talked and talked. So it was time for my friend to take Jack for his walk, but the visitor didn’t leave. Jack became very worried about his walk in the park. He walked around the room several times and then sat down directly in front of the visitor and looked at him. But the visitor paid no attention. He continued talking. Finally, Jack Couldn’t stand it any longer. He went out the room and came back a few minutes later.

He sat down again in front of the visitor, but this time he held the man’s hat in his mouth.German shepherds aren’t the only intelligent dogs. Another intelligent dog is a Seeing Eye dog. This is a special dog, which helps blind people walk along the streets and do many other things. We call these dogs Seeing Eye dogs because they are the“eyes”of the blind people and they help them to “see”. Seeing Eye dogs generally go to special schools for several years to learn to help blind people.

1. Like many other dogs, Jack tried to please its owner master.

A. T B. F

2. Jack came to sit in front of the visitor in order to invite him for a walk.

A. T B. F

3.“Finally, Jack couldn’t stand it any longer”means that Jack could no longer put up with the visitor.

A. T B. F

4. Seeing Eye dogs help and see for blind people.

A. T B. F

5. Famous Dogs in Germany would be the most suitable for this passage.

A. T B. F

about their safety in the holidays,” explains one mother from North London.If teenagers are not wandering around on public transport in a big and potentially dangerous city, they are chatting to strangers in an internet chat room! Well, that’s an extreme picture of the UK toda y, but many parents are worried about how much freedom they can give their children during the holidays and at weekends.

Weekends are not the only time to worry! Newspaper are full of stories about too many school kids going to school by car because t heir parents do not want them to travel alone on a bus or train.This summer there were more frightening stories of teenagers disappearing with questionable friends that they met on the net.All the Media stories help increase parents fears, but is the UK really so dangerous？

Many young people feel that life for their parents was easier.In the 1960s young people played in the streets more and traveled around town without their parents.“At least our parents can keep tabs on us,” says 16-year-old Julia.“So many people have mobile phones now and their parents ring to find out where they are.I use my mobile to get Dad to come to the station when I arrive late.” Mobiles are not just expensive toys; they help keep young people safe.Most significantly, th ey help keep young people safe.Most significantly, they make parents feel better.Only one problem is, though, that some young people have been attacked by thieves who want to steal their mobile phones.

Young people like going out with friends, but t hey now need to learn how to get home safely.Five million young people in the UK between the ages of 9 to 16 use chat rooms to make friends, but they, too, need to be careful and never give their personal details to a stranger.Young people today have mor e opportunities to meet new people and go out at night more than their parents ever did.Now school, television programs and newspapers must help teenagers to enjoy their freedom and to be responsible for their own safety.

6.Some parents are upset about the summer holidays mainly because their children().

A.wander around on bus in the city

B.chat to strangers in Internet chat rooms

C.make questionable friends on the net

D.are taken little care of by teachers

7.For the sake of the safety, many parents send their kids to school ().

A.by car

B.by bus

C.by train

D.by public transport

8.Most significantly, mobile phones ().

A.enable parents keep a close watch on their kids

B.help keep teenagers safe

C.make parents feel less worried

D.protect teenagers from being attacked

9.Teenagers should never give any strangers ().

A.their mobile phone numbers

B.their family address

C.their personal information

D.their parents'names

10.This passage is mainly about ().

A.freedom for teenagers in summer holidays

B.safety for teenagers in summer holidays

C.activities for teenagers in summer holidays

D.troubles for teenagers in summer holidays

In this age of Internet chat, videogames and reality television, there is no shortage of mindless activities to keep a child occupied. Yet, despite the competition, my 8-year-old daughter Rebecca wants to spend her leisure time writing short stories. She wants to enter one of her stories into a writing contest, a competition she won last yes.

As a writer I know about winning contest, and about losing them. I know what it is like to work hard on a story only to receive a rejection slip from the publisher. I also know the pressures of trying to live up to a reputation created by previous victories. What if she doesn’t win the contest again？ That’s the strange thing about being a parent. So many of our own past scars and dashed hopes can surface.

What do we learn from the first paragraph？

A) Children do find lots of fun in many mindless activities.

B) Rebecca is much too occupied to enjoy her leisure time.

C) Rebecca draws on a lot of online materials for her writing.

D) A lot of distractions compete for children’s time nowadays.

A.are

B.were

C.had

D.would be

A.16

B.18

C.15

D.17