"Mr. Mott often forgets important meetings. The robot will go after him all the time. It listens to everything
he says. It sees everything he does. At night, it watches him sleep. It knows everything about Mr. Mott…"
     It sounds like a wonderful idea, doesn't it? But I'm afraid that Mr. Mott will not get on well with the robot,
because everyone has something he doesn't want others know. It is privacy. Just imagine that there is a video
camera around you all day. How do you feel? When you are taking an exam, a teacher sits in front of you and
watches you all the time. How do you feel?
     Mr. Mott doesn't lose all his memory. At least he remembers that he always forgets. So why can't he do
something for this HIMSELF? He can keep a notebook with him, like most people do. In the notebook he can
write down the things he should do, the persons he should meet and the places he should go.
     Isn't the notebook much cheaper and safer than the robot?

1. "It" in the first paragraph (段落) refers to _____.

[     ]

A. Mr. Mott
B. Mrs. Mott
C. the robot
D. a video camera

2. Why does the writer think Mr. Mott will not always get on well with the robot?

[     ]

A. Because it is invented by others.
B. Because it can talk with Mr. Mott.
C. Because it can remind (提示；提醒) Mr. Mott of something he forgets.
D. Because it knows something Mr. Mott doesn't want others know.

3. The underlined word "privacy" means _____ in Chinese.

[     ]

A. 提供
B. 喪失
C. 特權(quán)
D. 隱私

4. Mr. Mott is _____.

[     ]

A. handsome
B. forgetful
C. a scientist
D. kind and friendly

                               Chinese team first lands on Antarctic icecap peak (南極冰蓋最高點(diǎn)). 　
    A 12-man Chinese team landed on the Antarctic icecap peak on January 18. They are the first people to
reach the peak of Dome A (海穹A). It is 4,039 meters above sea level (海拔). 　
    The team built a station there to study the changes of the weather, get ice samples from 150 meters to 200
meters below, and do other studies. So far, the team has got nearly 100-meter long ice samples from a place
about 300 meters under the icecap peak. 　
    It is the first time that people have been able to get samples from the icecap peak in Antarctica and it is very
important for people to study the weather changes and environmental changes in this area (地區(qū)). 　
    The Chinese scientists have also built a weather study system (系統(tǒng)) at the peak. The system can send out
information about temperature, how strong the wind is, and many other things about the weather. 　
     The Antarctic icecap makes up (組成) 70% of the earth's freshwater (淡水). By studying Dome A,
scientists can get the lowest temperature of the earth and other information about the world's weather changes.
We can't get this information from other places on the earth because Dome A is the best place for this kind of
studies. So it is very important to land on the peak of Dome A.

1. How many Chinese first landed on the Antarctic icecap peak?

A. 18. 　 　　　
B. 12. 　　　
C.150. 　　　　
D.200.

2. The team has got about 100-meter long ice samples _____.

A. from 150 meters to 200 meters below 　
B. from a place about 300 meters below 　　
C. from 200 meters to 250 meters below 　
D. from a place about 150 meters below

3. They built a weather study system to get _____.

A. the earth's freshwater　　　　　
B. ice samples from the peak 　　
C. information about the weather 　
D. the news about other countries

4. What does the underlined word "sample" mean?

A. 樣本
B. 窟窿
C. 容量
D. 板塊

5. From this passage, we can infer (推斷): After the Chinese team landed on the Antarctic icecap peak, _____.

A. we can go there for holidays. 　
B. the world's weather must be better and better. 　　
C. the peak will be the best place for people to live in. 　　
D. our country will do better in the world's weather research.

    People have always wanted to speak with animals. There are many books about this, especially children
books. Now there are also movies, such as Dr. Doolittle. When you watch animals, it seems clear that they
can communicate with each other. Many people wonder why people can't also communicate with them. 
    Scientists know how some animals communicate. Bees, for example, use their bodies. They do a kind of
dance to give information about food. Birds, on the other hand, share information with sounds. They use
certain sounds to protect their homes and to stay together when they fly. Some male (雄性) birds use lovely
songs to attract a female (雌性). Other animals communicate with both body movements and sounds. For
example, dogs wag their tails when they are happy, and they bark when they are excited.
    People used to think it was possible to teach human language to animals. Parrots and other birds, for
example, can learn to say words. But the birds just repeat the words. They don't understand them. Some
American scientists tried to teach English to chimpanzees (黑猩猩), close relatives of human beings. However,
this was impossible. Chimpanzees can't move their mouths the right way. They could never learn to speak like
people.
    Then scientists tried to teach human language to chimpanzees in other ways. Some tried with American
Sign Language (ASL). Others tried with a simple computer. But chimpanzees could only learn to use a few
words. They could never learn to use grammar. Their brains are very different from the brains of human
beings.
     Now some scientists are studying the same points between human and animal language. In fact, some
animals use sounds like people do. Dogs, for example, use an unpleasant, low sound to tell other dogs to stay
away. People, too, use that kind of voice to say the same things. A dog's noisy bark communicate that
something is happening. People use the same high tone when they shout, "Watch out!"
     Scientists want to understand the language of other animals, such as whales and bears. To do this, they
go out to the animals' natural homes. They watch the animals for days or even years. They take pictures and
make tape recordings and share the information with other scientists. In this way, they hope to learn more
about the way animals communicate, and maybe someday we'll be able to communicate better with them.

1. Bees do a kind of dance to _____.

A. tell other bees where food is
B. attract other bees
C. show they are happy
D. play with other bees

2. Some birds can learn to say words, _____.

A. but they don't really know the meaning
B. and they make up new words, too
C. and they use grammar, too
D. but they forget them quickly

3. Dogs and people use _____.

A. words when they communicate
B. different sounds to mean the same thing
C. a low sound to keep others away
D. a high sound to keep others away

4. Which of the following is TRUE?

A. Bees communicate by making a noise.
B. Dogs wag their tails when they are angry.
C. Chimpanzees can learn to use some grammar.
D. Birds use sounds to stay together.

5. This passage is mainly about _____.

A. how scientists communicate with each other
B. how scientists are studying animals' communication
C. how people might communicate with animals
D. how animals communicate with each other

    Sudden shaking of the ground makes an earthquake. It is caused by a sudden rock movement underground.
Earthquakes usually happen in long narrow belts, where different large plates of rock meet.
    In spite of much research and wonderful equipment, it is impossible to predict an earthquake accurately (準(zhǔn)
確地), although experts can estimate roughly (大概推測(cè)) an earthquake coming in a particular region. So
everyone needs to learn a bit about how to keep oneself safe in an earthquake. As you may know, the greatest
danger of an earthquake comes from falling buildings and structures and flying glass, stones and other objects.
Please read on for some tips about how to stay safe in an earthquake:
    ●If you are indoors, find a secure location to wait out the quake, such as under a heavy table or desk. Door
        ways are among the safest places to stand because you can brace (支撐) yourself between two walls.
        However, watch out for swinging doors. Stay away from windows.
    ●If you are outdoors, try to get into an open area, away from falling buildings, power lines, trees, etc.
    ●If you are in a crowded public area, crouch down (蹲下), with your hands protecting your head and neck. 
    ●If you are in your car, pull over to the side, away from power lines and overpasses, and stay inside the
        car until the shaking stops.

判斷正誤、英譯漢及回答問(wèn)題。
1. We can predict an earthquake accurately now. ( T or F )
    ___________________________________________________________
2. Put the underlined sentence (in Paragraph 2) into Chinese. 
    ____________________________________________________________
3. What causes an earthquake?
    ____________________________________________________________
4. How do we protect ourselves if we are in a crowded public area?
    ____________________________________________________________
5. What is this passage mainly about?
     ____________________________________________________________

    Many textbooks are not written in the kind of English that we speak every day. In fact,
sometimes the reading is so difficult that it almost seems like a foreign language. In a
way, it is the language of science. You should not expect to be able to read a difficult
science passage the same way you read an interesting story; you should not expect to read
it easily and all at once. Instead, you may have to read it several times through, catching
on the meaning of difficult words, going back over difficult sentences, and finally putting
the whole thing together. Do not be discourages if the whole passage don't make sense to
you at first. You need to pick it apart patiently until you can understand it.
    These are the steps to follow when you are reading something difficult: 
    ☆1. Start to read normally until you run into a sentence that doesn't make sense to 
         you. 
    ☆2. When a sentence doesn't make sense, go back and read it again more slowly. 
    ☆3. Look for any word you don't know in the sentence. Try to understand their meanings
         using word parts and context clues(上下文線索). If necessary, look them up in the
         dictionary. 
    ☆4. Look at the next few sentences to see if they explain more about the sentence you
         are working on. Do not read very much farther ahead until you understand what is
         being said. 
    ☆5. Finally, read the sentence again. Try to put it into simpler words. 
    ☆6. Read through the passage once. Try to understand all the hard parts well. Then
           read the whole passage once more at a usual speed. This helps you to put all
           ides together. The stops sound a lot harder than they are. It is really just the
           normal way good readers understand anything that is difficult to read. After you
           have done the best you can this way, you should always feel free to ask for help
           from your teacher, if you have one.

1. The underlined phrase "run into" means ______.

A. work out
B. come across
C. look into
D. pass by

2. From the passage, we can know ______.

A. we should look up new words before reading
B. it is sometimes difficult to read a science passage
C. the six steps are helpful in learning spoken English
D. interesting stories help readers to improve their English

3. The massage is mainly about ______.

A. steps of studying science
B. difficulties in reading science
C. ways of reading science passages
D. researches on science and English

1. The number of the students who took part in English competitions in ______ grew faster
   from 2008 to 2009.

A. School A
B. School B
C. neither school

2. In the English competition in ______, School B had 100 more students than School A.

A. 2007
B. 2008
C. 2009

3. According to the information above,these two schools had the sanle percentage of the
   students who won prizes in ______.

A. 1istening
B. speaking
C. reading

4. ______ students in School A were given prizes for their speaking skill in 2009.

A. 100
B. 200
C. 300

5. Which of the following is TRUE from the information above?

A. The students from School A and School B won prizes in five skills.
B. The students from School B did wont in listening of all skills.
C. The students from School A need to improve their writing skills.

    Planes will be very large so flying will be very cheap. Fuel will be e______ (1).
Everyone will have a small car. It will be hot all year so the winter will be very short. 
    It will get warn at the North Pole so the sea will be very r______ (2). The weather
will be b______ (3) in spring and autumn. There will be heavy rain and strong w______
(4). In the f______ (5), our homes will be very comfortable because we will use the
sun to h______ (6) our homes. No one will be cold and there will be lots of hot water.
    We will have robots in our homes to do many d______ (7) jobs. Robots will clean the
house, cook food, care f______ (8) children and help old people. Machine will do many
jobs on farms and in factories and offices, so no one will do h______ (9) work. People
will work three days a w______ (10). So, they will have long holidays and lots of free
time.

    There are lots of animals on the earth. What is the biggest animal of all? The whale
is. A blue whale weighs more than a hundred tons.
    Whales live in the sea, but they are not fish. They are mammals and must have air to
breathe. The babies drink milk from the mother's body. Every spring, groups of whales swim
hundreds of kilometers to warm places.
    Each group goes to the same place every year. The mothers take very good care of their
babies. Whales are a gentle kind of giant. They always live together and help each other.
They "talk" to each other in the water with a high noise that sounds like singing.
    Yet people kill over a hundred whales a day. They kill them to make many things. The
whale dies very slowly and in great pain. Some ships kill every whale they can find, even
mother whales and babies. If things go on like this, there will be no young whales to grow
up and no mother whales to have more young.

1. _____ are the biggest animals on the earth.

A. Elephants
B. Lions
C. Whales
D. I don't know

2. Whales are _____ and must have air to breathe.

A. mammals
B. fish
C. mothers
D. babies

3. Whales can live _____.

A. in the sea
B. on the land
C. in the river
D. A or B

4. When whales talk, it sounds like _____.

A. singing
B. crying
C. dancing
D. calling

5. Which of the following is NOT TRUE according to the passage?

A. Some ships kill every whale they can find.
B. If things go on like this, there will be no young whales to grow up.
C. If things go on like this, there will be no mother whales to have more young.
D. The whale dies very slowly and in no pain.

    All living things on the earth need other living things to live. Nothing lives alone. Most
animals must live in a group, and even a plant grows close together with others of the
same kind. Sometimes one living thing kills another, one eats and the other is eaten. Each
kind of life eats another kind of life in order to live, and together they form a food chain.
Some food chains become broken up if one of the links disappears.
    All life need sunlight to live on. But only plants can use sunlight directly. Plants are
"factories". They make food from sunlight, water and things in the soil and air. Plants feed
all other living things. Animals can only use the sun's energy after it has been changed into
food by plants. Some animals feed directly on plants, others eat smaller animals. Meat-eating
animals are only eating plants directly.
    What about human beings? We are members of many food chains. We eat wheat, rice,
vegetables. fruits and so on. We also eat meat and drink mild. But men often break up the
food chains. They kill wild animals. They also make rivers, lakes and seas dirty. When these
rivers, lakes and seas are polluted, the fish in them can not be eaten. If men eat the fish, they
will get diseases.
    Each form of life is linked to all others. Breaking the lines puts all life in danger.

1. How does every living thing on the earth live?

A. Each plant can live alone.
B. Each animal can live alone.
C. If living things want to live, they must kill each other.
D. Every living thing on the earth cannot live without others.

2. Which living things can use the sun's energy directly?

A. Animals.
B. Plants.
C. Both A and
B. D.All living things.

3. What do plants make food from? 
   They make food from _____.

A. sunlight, water and things in the soil and air
B. water, sunlight and things in the soil
C. water and things in the soil and air
D. water, sunlight and things in the soil

4. Who often break up the food chain?

A. Human beings.
B. Animals.
C. Plants and animals.
D. Men and wild animals.

5. Which of the following do you think is the best title for this passage?

A. Animals.
B. Plants.
C. Food chains.
D. Living things.