In June, 2007, a group of students from eight high schools in Winnipeg, the capital of Canada’s Manitoba province, will begin test-launching (試發(fā)射) a satellite the size of a Rubik’s cube.

The one-kilogram Win-Cub satellite, named for its home city and its shape, will be put into low orbit. Once in space, it can perform for a few months or up to several years, communicating information that could help find the signs of earthquakes.

There are 80 similar satellite projects worldwide, but this is the first high-school based program of its kind in Canada. 30 Manitoba high school students are having a hand in designing and building the satellite, in cooperation with aerospace (航空航天的) experts and 10 students from the University of Manitoba, and with support from two other organizations.

The Win-Cube project is not something that goes on a piece of paper; it is real-world engineering, allowing high school students to have an opportunity to learn more about the exciting world of engineering through their participation in this challenging program. It is also taken as a wonderful example of the unique partnerships within Manitoba. Designing, building and launching a satellite with high-school participation will bring this world-class educational project into reality and Manitoba closer to space

 “These Manitoba high school students deserve congratulations for their enthusiasm, innovation (創(chuàng)新), and a strong love for discovery,” said Education, Citizenship and Youth Minister Peter Bjomson. “We want to make science more relevant, interesting and attractive to high school students by showing them how classroom studies can relate to practical experience in the workplace or, in this case, in space,” Bjomson added. 

The Win-Cube program is mainly named at inspiring a strong desire for discovery on the part of the students. It also shows Manitoba’s devotion to research and innovation and the development of a skilled workforce—all important drivers of knowledge-based economic growth.

1. According to the passage, the Win-Cube satellite is        .

  A. named after Manitoba and its shape               

B. intended for international communication

  C. designed like a Rubik’s cube both in shape and size 

  D. challenged by university students around the world

2. According to Mr. Bjomson,        .

  A. those Manitoba high school students are worth praising

  B. the study of space can be practically made in classrooms

  C. Manitoba high schools are famous for the study of space

  D. scientific research is too far away from high school students

3. The primary purpose of the project is to        .

  A. find the early signs of earthquakes            

B. relate studies to practical

  C. help high school students study real-world engineering

  D. inspire a strong desire for discovery among the students

4. Which of the following statements is WRONG?

A. In Canada there are 80 similar satellite programs in all.

B. These students will have an opportunity to learn more about engineering through the project.

C. These high school will have a strong love for discovery and be interested in science.

D. This Win-Cube program is very successful in Canada.

5. The best title for this passage may be        .

A. Manitoba School                          B. Win-Cube Program

C. Space Co-operation                         D. Satellite Launching

There are various reasons why cancers appear to be on the increase. For one thing, though their sufferers are to be found in all age groups, cancers are particularly likely to attack persons in their middle and advanced years. Naturally, since people live longer these years, there are more cancer sufferers than before. Again, with better methods of diagnosis (診斷), doctors can more easily recog??nize cancerous growths that would formerly have passed unnoticed or that would have been wrongly di??agnosed. It is also believed that certain habits and conditions of modem living, including heavy smok??ing and the pollution of the air, may leave people living in more cancer-causing conditions than before.

We all look forward to the day when a simple medical test can find cancer while it is still small. Researchers around the world are working on such a test. Most of their work deals with the examina??tion of the blood.

Researchers in Boston have found something in the blood of cancer patients that does not appear in healthy persons. The test showed which persons had cancer and which did not. It was correct more than 90 percent of the time.

The researchers believe the test may be able to show cancer very clearly in its development. Cancers discovered early usually can be treated successfully.

The test examines very small bits of fat in the blood called lipids (脂質(zhì)). Cancers seem to change lipids although doctors do not know why. The test showed differences between the lipids of the persons with cancer and the lipids of those without cancer.

The researchers say the new test could be a step to develop a simple way to check patients for cancer before the disease shows on an X-ray.

1. Who will fail cancer from the study of the researchers?

A. The young.                           B. The middle age and the older.

C. The man.                                    D. The woman.

2. The underlined words "such a test" refer to________.

A. the test that shows which persons have cancer and which don’t     .

B. the test that may be able to show cancer very early in its development,.

C. a simple medical test that cannot find cancer when it is -small

D. a new test that could be a step to develop a difficult way

3. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?

A. Cancers have much to do with something in patients’ blood.

B. People living in better conditions are most likely to be attacked by cancer.

C.X-raying is the best way to determined whether a person has cancer or not.

D. Cancers have nothing to do with a person’s habits and living conditions.

4. What would be the best title for the passage?

A. A simple way to cancer                 B. Cancers can be cured

C. How to find cancer                            D. Early discovery of cancer

Land, unlike labor and capital, has a special feature: It is in strictly fixed supply in total. Be??cause of this, we say that its price is demand-determined. In other words, the price of land is determined completely by what families and firms are willing to pay for it. But not all the land is the same. Some land is more valuable than other land. The value of land to a potential user may depend upon the characteristics of the land itself or upon its location.

Consider the potential uses of a piece of land in a suburb of Kansas City, Allan wants to build a clothing store in that place. He estimates that he can earn economic profits of $ 10,000 per year there because of the land’s excellent location. Bella, another person interested in buying the comer, believes that she can earn $ 35,000 in economic profits if she builds a drug store there. Clearly, Bella will be more likely to get the land.

Because location is often the key to profits, ‘landowners are frequently able to squeeze their renters. One of the most popular locations in the Boston area, for example, is Harvard Square. There are dozens of restaurants in and around the square, and most of them are full most of the time. Despite this seeming success, most Harvard Square restaurant owners are not getting rich, because they must pay very high rents for the locations of their restaurants. A large part of the restaurant’s revenues goes to rent the land. 

Although the supply of land is generally perfectly fixed, the supply of land in a given use may not be so. As the population of a city grows, housing developers find themselves willing to pay more and more for land. As land becomes more valuable for development, some farmers sell out, and the supply of land that can be used for development increases.

5. What’s the difference between land and other resources?

A. Land’s supply is strictly fixed.  B. The prices of other resources are lower.

C. Land can’t be used up.        D. Land is more useful.

6. Which of the following can’t determine the price of a piece of land?

A. Its location.                               B. Its purchasers’ purpose.

C. The total amount of its supply for general use.   D. Its features.

7. Which of the following is wrong according to the passage?

A. The price of a piece of land is changeable.

B. The profit of a shop is often determined by its location.

C. Most Harvard Square restaurant owners would be getting rich, if they paid lower rents for the locations of their restaurants.

D. The supply of land for development might fall down.

8. Which of the following can be the best title of the passage?

A. The Use of Land                B. The Natural Resources 

C. The Land Market                D. The Land Development

Unless we spend money spotting and preventing asteroids(小行星) now, one might crash into Early and destroy life as we know it, say some scientists.

Asteroids are bigger versions of the meteoroids(流星) that race across the night sky. Most orbit the sun far from Earth and don’t threaten us. But there are also thousands of asteroids whose orbits put them on a collision course with Earth.

Buy $50 million worth of new telescopes right now. Then spend $10 million a year for the next 25 years to locate most of the space rocks. By the time we spot a fatal one, the scientists say, we’ll have a way to change its course.

Some scientists favor pushing asteroids off course with nuclear weapons.  But the cost wouldn’t be cheap. Is is worth it? Two things experts consider when judging any risk are: (1)How likely the event is; and (2) How bad the consequences if the event occurs. Experts think an asteroid big enough to destroy lots of life might strike Earth once every 500 000 years. Sounds pretty rare-but if one did fall, it would be the end of the world. “If we don’t take care of these asteroids, they’ll take care of us,”says one scientist.  “It’s that simple.”

 The cure, though, might be worse than the disease. Do we really want fleets of nuclear weapons sitting around on Earth? “The world has less to fear from doomsday(世界末日) rocks than from a great nuclear fleet set against it,” said a New York Times article.

9.What does the passage say about asteroids and meteoroids?

A.They are heavenly bodies different in composition.

  B.They are heavenly bodies similar in nature.

C.There are more asteroids than meteoroids.

D.Asteroids are more mysterious than meteoroids.

10.What do scientists say about the collision of an asteroid with Earth?

A.It is very unlikely but the danger exists.

B.Such a collision might occur once every 25 years.

C.Coilisions of smaller asteroids with Earth occur more often than expected.

  D.lt’s still too early to say whether such a collision might occur.

11.What do people think of the suggestion of using nuclear weapons to alter the course of asteroids?

A.It sounds practical but it may not solve the problem.

B.It may create more problems than it might slove.

C.It is a waste of money because a collision of asteroids with Earth is very unlikely.

D.Further research should be done before it is proved applicable.

12.We can conclude from the passage that .      

A.while pushing asteroids off course nuclear weapons would destroy the world

B.asteroids racing across the night sky are likely to hit Earth in the near future

C.the worry about asteroids can be left to future generations since it is unlike to happen in our    lifetime.

D.workable solutions still have to be found to prevent a collision of asteroids with Earth

He appears ______ a long time. He is impatient for my arrival.

A. to wait          B. to be waiting        C. to have waited    D. to have been waiting

The more one is ______the English-speaking environment, the better he or she will learn the language.

       A. exposed to           B. filled in         C. caught on        D. kept up

Probably you have seen photos of the Grand Canyon（峽谷）, the great valley in the desert country of Arizona. But you must go there yourself to feel its true size and beauty. The Grand Canyon is one of the greatest natural wonders of the world

The Colorado River formed the Grand Canyon over millions of years. Slowly, the river cut down through hard rock. At the same time, the land was rising. Today the canyon is 1.5 kilometers and 445 kilometers long. The oldest rocks at the bottom of the canyon are more than 1 billion years old. The width varies from about 200 meters to 29 kilometers across. The rim or top of the canyon is about 2,300 meters above sea level on the South Rim, and about 3,000 meters on the other side. As a result, there are different kinds of plants and animals on opposite sides of the canyon. The South Rim is dry desert country. The North Rim has tall forests.

The canyon looks different at different times of day, and in different seasons and weather. At sunrise and sunset the red, gold, brown and orange colors of the rocks are especially clear and bright. In winter, the canyon is partly covered with snow.

The view from the South Rim of the Grand Canyon is the best. Most visitors come here and stay in campgrounds or hotels. Every point along the canyon’s edge offers a different view.

The North rim of the Canyon is quieter. It takes all day to drive there from the South Rim because there is only one bridge across the Colorado River. On the way, you go through Navado Indian lands, and a colorful pink desert called “The Painted Desert”.

11. The best way to feel the true beauty of the Grand Canyon is to________.

  A. see its photographs            B. listen to the report about it

  C. watch its introduction on TV    D. go there yourself and visit it

12. According to the second paragraph, ________.

the Grand Canyon has a short history      

B. its size never changed in the history

C. the Grand Canyon was formed by the earthquake 

D. You can enjoy different scenery on different sides of the canyon

13. The scene the canyon is ________.

various depending on different time and places

the same    

various depending on different time

various depending on different places

14. If you want to visit the North Rim from the South Rim, you________.

can go there in many directions

won’t spend much time on the way

can visit The painted Desert on the way

needn’t go across any bridges

15. If you want to have a visit to the Grand Canyon, you’d better go to _______.

   A. the North Rim                  B. the South Rim

   C. the bottom                     D. Navado Indian Lands

The first day of school our professor introduced himself and challenged us to get to know someone we didn’t know. I stood up to look around when a gentle hand touched my shoulder. I turned around to find a wrinkled, little old lady beaming up at me with a smile that lit up her entire being.

She said, “Hi, girl! My name is Rose. I’m 87 years old. Can I give you a hug?”

I laughed and enthusiastically（熱情地）responded, “Of course you may!” and she gave me a giant squeeze.

   “Why are you in college at such a young, innocent age?” I asked. She jokingly replied, “I’m here to meet a rich husband, get married, have a couple of children, and then retire and travel!”

 “No seriously,” I said. I was curious what may have motivated her to be taking on this challenge at her age.

 “I always dreamed of having a college education and now I’m getting one!” she told me.

Over the course of the year, Rose became a campus icon and she easily made friends wherever she went. She loved to dress up and she reveled in the attention bestowed upon her from the other students. She was living it up.

At the end of the semester we invited Rose to speak at our football banquet. I’ll never forget what she taught us.

 “We do not stop playing because we are old; we grow old because we stop playing. There are only two secrets to staying young, being happy, and achieving success. You have to laugh and find humor everyday. You’ve got to have a dream. When you lose your dreams, you die!” she said.

 “There is a huge difference between growing older and growing up. If you are nineteen years old and lie in bed for one full year and don’t do one productive thing, you will turn 20 years older. If I am 87 years old, and stay in bed for a year, and never do anything, I will turn 88. Anybody can grow older. But every minute counts for young men,” she added.

 “The idea is to grow up by always finding the opportunity in change. Have no regrets. The elderly usually don’t have regrets for what we did, but rather for things we did not do. The only people who fear death are those with regrets.”

She concluded her speech by courageously singing “The Song of Rose”. She challenged each of us to study the lyrics（歌詞）and live them out in our daily lives.

At the year’s end, Rose finished the college degree she had begun all those years ago. One week after graduation Rose died peacefully in her sleep.

4. Rose made herself known to the author in a ______ manner.

A. serious              B. cold           C. humorous          D. crazy

5. From the information provided in the passage, we know ______.

A. Rose finished the college degree within a year

B. Rose did realize her dream of meeting a rich husband and getting married through college education

C. Rose enjoyed her campus life very much

D. Rose grew so old that she stopped playing

6. Rose delivered the speech ______.

A. at the graduation                          B. which she prepared carefully

C. ended with “The Song of Rose”             D. to challenge all the other speakers

7. According to her speech, ______.

A. whenever you have a dream, you succeed 

B. all people don’t grow up while growing older

C. Rose usually regretted having done something

D. a nine-year-old is as old as a 87-year-old if he doesn’t do anything

Today, ultrasonic(超聲的) waves are being put to work in laboratories and factories. If an ultrasound generator is placed in a liquid, the waves move the liquid back and forth hundreds of thousands of times each second. This causes materials to mix quickly or to dissolve(使分解，使溶解) in liquids. Paint manufacturers(制造商) use ultrasound to do a better job of blending colors. The companies that make film for your camera find that mixing chemicals by the use of sound waves will produce a more sensitive film.

The new lightweight(輕量的) type of washing machine uses ultrasonic waves to get clothes clean. Its special ultrasound generator is put into a pail of soapy water containing the soiled clothes. The sound waves drive the soapy water back and forth through the cloth so fast that everything is soon clean. There is also a new kind of dishwasher that works in much the same way.

Ultrasonic waves can shake a liquid so fast that tiny holes form all through it. The liquid is actually torn apart by this action. Almost as soon as these holes are made, they fall together again. The result is a powerful pounding action. In the dairy industry this is used for the double purpose of making homogenized(使均勻，使勻質(zhì)) milk and sterilizing(使無菌) it at the same time. If you look at some raw milk with a microscope, you find that it is made up of little drops of butter fat floating around in a watery liquid. In order to make milk easier to digest, these fat droplets(微粒) may be broken up by forcing the milk through very small openings. The result is called homogenized milk. When the ultrasonic method is used, the sound waves not only break up the droplets but also kill the germs in the milk by pounding them to pieces. (from www.nmet168.com)

1. Why does a paint manufacturer use ultrasound to do a better job of blending colors?

A. Because it is cheap to use ultrasound to blend colors.

B. Because the waves move the liquid so quickly that it can make materials mix quickly or dissolve in liquids.

C. Because they can mix chemicals by the use of sound waves.

D. Because the waves can clean the paint.

2. What properties does ultrasound wave have?

A. Homogenizes and sterilizes the milk.   B. Mix materials and break droplets.

C. Kill germs and sterilize milk.          D. Move liquids quickly.

3. What exists in the raw milk?

A. Little drops of butter fat.       B. Small holes.

C. Fat droplets and germs.        D. Chemicals.

4. Where is ultrasound wave not used?

A. In the paint manufacture.                   B. In the shop mixing bread flour.

C. In the film-making company.       D. In the dairy industry.