Houston, Texas (June 8,2002)--In 2004, the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) will send two robots（机器人）to separate places of Mars to seek out past or present signs of water. It is an exciting idea to send two robots driving over very different places of Mars at the same time, to be able to see what is on the other side of the hill.

　　Last month, NASA announced it was sending one robot to Mars, but after two weeks, it decided there was enough money for two. The robots will be sent up within two weeks of each other in May and June of 2003 from Kennedy Space Center. If all goes well, the two spacecraft（宇宙飞船）will touch down on Mars, after a seven-and-a-half-month space flight, on January 2 and 20, 2004.

　　The robots, each weighing 150 kilograms, can cover 100 meters per day. They are designed to be able to examine the mineral content of the soil, and their special camera will take pictures of the lands and hills. Although they will be under control from Earth, the robots are able to move more freely compared to those sent up before them.

　　The actual landing points have not been determined yet, but the scientists say it will be in areas where they hope to find water.

(1)According to the news report, scientists plan to send robots up to Mars to ________.

[　　]

A．find out whether there is water on Mars

B．see if robots can find minerals there

C．test how fast robots can drive there

D．prove that robots can work on Mars

(2)How long in between will the two robots be sent to Mars?

[　　]

(3)One of the important jobs for the robots on Mars is to _________.

[　　]

A．study the soil

B．walk everywhere

C．test the new camera

D．find a suitable landing point

　　Some time ago, a friend of mine who worked in a part of the city I didn't know very well invited me to call on him. It took me hours to get there and I took great trouble to find a proper spot to park my car. As I was already three quarters of an hour late, I parked my car quickly.

　　At noon, just as I was leaving my friend's office it suddenly struck me that I had no idea where I had parked my car. I could hardly go up to a policeman and tell him that I had lost a small green car somewhere! Walking down street after street, I examined each car closely and was very happy to see a small green car just behind an old car. But how disappointed I was to discover that though the car was exactly like my own, it belonged to someone else! Feeling quite tired now, I went off for lunch. Some time later, I left the restaurant and walked down the street. Turning the corner, I nearly jumped for joy: my car was right in front of me, and there was no problem this time.

　　To tell the truth, driving in a crowded city is far from being a pleasure and it is much easier to walk than to drive.

(1)What did the writer do the other day?

[　　]

A．He went to telephone his old friend.

B．He paid a visit to his friend.

C．He called on a friend, who he didn't know well.

D．He visited a friend and had lunch with him.

(2)“It suddenly struck me”in the second paragraph probably means“________”.

[　　]

A．a stick suddenly hit me

B．a stone suddenly hit me

C．I suddenly found out

D．I suddenly thought

(3)Which of the following statements is true according to this story?

[　　]

A．The writer had not much difficulty in finding a parking-place.

B．It took him forty-five minutes to find a place to park his car.

C．It was very difficult for the writer to find a parking-place.

D．He got a parking-place right away and parked his car in a hurry.

(4)How did he look for his car?

[　　]

A．He asked a policeman for help.

B．His friend called a policeman.

C．He examined every car in the street.

D．A waiter helped him to do this.

　　It was an early September day, cool and bright and just right for running, and I was in the first few miles of a 10-mile race over a course（路线）with a few high hills. Still, I felt energetic; despite the hills it was going to be a fine run.

　　Just ahead of me was Peggy Mimno, a teacher from Mount Kiseo, New York. She was also running easily, moving along at my speed. The pace（步速）felt comfortable, so I decided to stay where I was; why pay attention to pace when she was setting such a nice one? I'd overtake（追上）her later on when she was tired.

　　So I ran behind her. The course headed north for five miles, wandered west for a hilly mile, then turned south again along a winding road. The race was getting harder. We had four miles left and already it was beginning to be real work.

　　Peggy overtook a young runner. She seemed to know him, for they exchanged a few cheerful words as she passed him. Their exchange worried me. You don't chat during a race unless you are feeling good, and Peggy plainly was.

　　Still, I was close enough to overtake her if she was tired, so I didn't give up hope completely. We were getting nearer to a long, punishing hill now and it would be the test. We were a mile from the finishing line, so whatever happened on the hill would almost certainly determine who crossed it first.

　　As I moved up the hill, my attention wandered for a few minutes. When I looked up, Peggy was moving away--first five yards, then ten, then more. Finally it was clear that there was no hope of catching her. She beat me soundly.

　　There is an important lesson in that race. Women are thought to be weaker, slower and not nearly as skilled in sport. Yet as Peggy Mimno so clearly showed, the similarities between men and women runners are more important than the differences. I have run with a number of women, and I can say that it is often hard work.

(1)What did the writer think of the race in the beginning?

[　　]

A．It would be hard work.

B．It would be an easy race.

C．It would be a test of his strength.

D．It would be a good learning experience.

(2)What worried the writer when Peggy greeted the young runner?

[　　]

A．Peggy overtook the young runner.

B．Peggy was running energetically.

C．Peggy was laughing at the writer.

D．Peggy paid no attention to the writer.

(3)By saying“a long, punishing hill”(Paragraph 5), the writer implies that _________.

[　　]

A．Peggy would fail to reach the hill top

B．men are more skilled at climbing hills

C．overtaking Peggy would be easy

D．climbing the hill would be a demanding task

(4)What lesson does the writer learn from the race?

[　　]

A．Women are as good as men in sport.

B．Women are better at climbing hills.

C．He should have more training in a cross-country race.

D．He should set a quicker pace at the beginning of a race.

　　Friends play a very important part in everyone's life. Friendship usually develops during childhood. New friends are made when you progress through school. Those friends that you make as a student can usually last long. Friends influence your development, maturity（成熟）and sense of responsibility（责任）. A familiar expression is“You can tell a lot about a person by knowing who his friends are.”. Friendship is based on common interests. If you like sports, most of your friends are likely to be athletic（体格健的）. If you enjoy reading and shopping, most of your friends do the same.

　　Some people call you their friend for the wrong reasons. These people are not really friends. They are superficial（表面的）only“friends”on the outside, not the inside where it counts. Superficial friends only want to be your friends if it is to their advantage. True friends are there whether you are rich or poor. It is easy to have many so-called“friends”if you are rich. By this time you should be able to separate your friends into the real or the“phoney”.

　　True friends are most special. They are also difficult to find. You can consider yourself very lucky if you have one true friend. This friend is eager to help you whenever necessary. A true friend is someone you can talk to about any subject or problem. You and your true friend have good understanding of each other. True friends support you, take your side and build up your confidence.

(1)The first paragraph tells us _______.

[　　]

A．how to make a true friend

B．we should make friends in our childhood

C．what is friendship based on

D．friends play a very important part in our life

(2)Which of the following is true?

[　　]

A．What you value above anything is the friendship developing during childhood.

B．The friendship developing during your school days will be with you for a long time.

C．Only through your friends' influence will you take the responsibility for your task.

D．If you have no music in you, none of your friends will be a music lover.

(3)“So-called”friends refer to ________.

[　　]

A．fair-weather friends

B．those who want to benefit from you

C．the friends who are on the surface only

D．all of the above

(4)Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．You should tell true friends from phoneys.

B．True friendship is too difficult to find.

C．You can share your joys and sorrows with a true friend.

D．A true friend will stand by you whatever happens.

　　To find missing children the first thing we should do is to put out an APB and this goes to all the police stations in the country. Next we contact (get in touch with) the hospitals. Often the person we are looking for has been in an accident. Then we might try parents, friends or relatives they might be with. We try to follow their, movements and to find the last person they saw or were with. Then we try the media. We put photographs in local or national papers--especially papers they might read. There are other things we can do: put posters in places they might be, ask the television station for help. Here in America there is a magazine in which there are photographs of missing children. This is often the last hope, of course; with nearly two million missing children every year, we can't do all these things for everyone. We haven't got the time, the money or the staff.

(1)Which is the best arrangement to find missing children?

a．Try the media.

b．Try parents, friends or relatives they might be with.

c．Put out an APB.

d．Contact the hospitals.

[　　]

(2)We contact the hospitals because the missing person ________.

[　　]

A．is often sent to them for his sudden illness

B．must have been injured in an accident

C．has often been found in some hospital

D．has often been involved in an accident

(3)In order to find missing children, it is more important to _________.

[　　]

A．find out who their best friends are

B．put posters in places where they might be

C．find the last person they saw or were with

D．go to the local police stations

(4)Which of the statements is NOT true according to the passage?

[　　]

A．We can't do all these things for everyone due to the lack of time, money and staff.

B．Every year, the total missing children come to two million in America.

C．Printing photographs of missing children seems the last hope.

D．The reason why children break away from their homes is that they wish to be free.

(5)The suitable title for the passage may be ________.

[　　]

A．Save Children in Trouble

B．Work about an APB

C．How to Find Missing Children

D．Function of the Media

　　More American people take their troubles with them on holiday, according to a new survey. Although 40 percent said that the main reason for going away is to escape pressure（压力）from work, almost all said they worry more than they do at home. Only four in every 100 said that they are happy and free of care.

　　The most common worry is burglary, with four out of 10 worrying about their homes being broken into while they're abroad. More than a quarter fear they will feel crazy with some other noisy and rough holiday-makers and 22 percent worry they may be attacked or their possessions will be missing. One in five think the car may break down; and the same number worry about the chances of bad weather.

　　The survey also showed that the stay-at-home Americans are no more. Three out of every five want to have a holiday abroad, a great increase from the figures only three years ago. The hotel holiday is still a winner, with about one third of all Americans preferring to go on a self-catering（自助）holiday.

(1)The underlined word“survey”in the first paragraph most probably means ______.

[　　]

(2)According to the text, about ______ of people worry more on holiday than when they are at home.

[　　]

(3)The third most common worry of American holiday-makers is that they may ______.

[　　]

A．be attacked or lose their possessions

B．have problems with their cars on the road

C．have bad weather on holiday

D．get mixed with some rough holiday-makers

(4)Where do American holiday-makers like to stay most?

[　　]

A．At a hotel.

B．In a quiet place.

C．At a friend's house.

D．Where they can cook for themselves.

　　I have traveled all over the world. Here is a little advice on“wise traveling”. I have learned, often the hard way, that there are a few simple rules about how to make life easier both before and after your journey. First of all, always check and double-check the departure time. It is amazing how few people really do this carefully. Once I arrived at the airport a few minutes after ten. My secretary had got the ticket for me and I thought she had said that the plane left at 10:50. I walked calmly to the departure desk, thinking I still had a little time to spare. I hadn't bothered to take a good look at the ticket. The clerk at the desk told me politely but firmly that the departure time was 10:50 and that the flight was, according to international regulations,“now closed”. I had to wait three hours for the next one and missed an important meeting.

　　The second rule is to remember that even in this age of credit cards, it is still important have at least a little of the local currency with you when you arrive in a country. This can be absolutely necessary if you are flying to a place few tourists normally visit. A few years ago I was sent to Tulsa. Oklahoma. I flew there from London via Dallas, with very little time to change planes in between. I arrived there at midnight and the bank at the airport was closed. The only way to get to my hotel was by taxi and since I had no dollars, I offered to pay in pounds instead.

　　“Listen, buddy! I only take real money!”the driver said angrily. Luckily I was able to borrow a few dollars from a clerk at the hotel, but it was very embarrassing.

　　The third and last rule is to find out as much as you can about the weather at your destination before you leave, especially if you can take only a little luggage with you. I feel sorry for some of my colleagues who travel in heavy suits and raincoat in May, when it is still fairly cool in London or Manchester, to places like Athens, Rome or Madrid, where it is already beginning to get quite warm during the day. Few people understand just how important it is to have the right sort of clothes with you in these days of rapid air travel.

(1)According to the passage, it is obvious that ______.

[　　]

A．the writer has learned these rules of traveling from his own experience

B．the writer is a careless man

C．Englishmen like to be in heavy suits wherever they travel

D．the American driver never travels to England

(2)Before setting off you should check and double check ______ times.

[　　]

(3)The writer wants people to ______.

[　　]

A．live a happier life

B．give him some rules about“wise traveling”

C．pay enough attention to the weather conditions when they travel

D．stay at home avoiding the trouble during the journey

　　Cara Lang is 13. She lives in Boston, Massachusetts, in the US. Last Thursday, she didn't go to school. She went to work with her father instead. Every year, on the fourth Thursday in April, millions of young girls go to work. This is Take Our Daughters to Work Day. The girls are between the ages of 9 and 15. They spend the day at work with an adult, usually a mother, father, aunt, or uncle. They go to offices, police stations, laboratories, and other places where their parents or other family members work. Next year, the day will include sons, too.

　　The Ms. Foundation, an organization for women, started the program about ten years ago. In the US, many women work outside the home. The Ms. Foundation wanted girls to find out about many different kinds of jobs. Then, when the girls grow up, they can choose a job they like.

　　Cara's father is a film director. Cara says,“It was very exciting for me to go to the studio with my dad. I saw a lot of people doing different jobs.”Many businesses have special activities for girls on this day. Last year, Cara went to work with her aunt at the University of Massachusetts. In the engineering department, the girls learned to build a bridge with toothpicks and candy. In the chemistry department, they learned to use scales. They learned about many other kinds of jobs, too.

　　Right now, Cara does not know what job she will have when she grows up. But because of Take Our Daughters to Work Day, she knows she has many choices.

(1)What is Cara's father?

[　　]

(2)According to the passage, Take Our Daughters to Work Day is ________.

[　　]

A．on every Thursday in April

B．a holiday for girls of all ages

C．a day for girls to know about jobs

D．a day for girls to get a job easily

(3)On this special day, Cara has done all the following EXCEPT that _________.

[　　]

A．she learned to use scales

B．she worked as an actress

C．she went to work with her aunt

D．she used toothpicks and candy to build a bridge

(4)What is probably the best title for the passage?

[　　]

A．Cara Lang, a Fortunate Girl

B．Take Our Daughters to Work Day

C．Children's Day and Work Day

D．Ms. Foundation, an Organization for Women

　　The President's helpers work in the office building. But the President does his work in the White House. This is where he and his family live. A few lucky children have called the White House“home”for a while. One of President Theodoe Roosevelt's boys once took a little horse for a ride in the White House.

　　All of our presidents except George Washington have lived in the White House. Americans are proud of this fine building.

　　At first the White House was not white. It was made of gray stones and called the President's Palace. President Adams made his home there in 1800, even though the building was not yet finished. Mrs. Adams used to hang her washing in the East Room to dry! Today the white-and-gold East Room is quite different. It is used for great occasions, not for hanging up the wash!

　　During the war of 1812, the President's Palace was burned by British soldiers. Afterwards it was rebuilt. The walls were painted white to cover up the marks of the fire. People then began calling the building the“White House”. The name caught on and has remained in use ever since.

(1)This passage mainly tells us about ______.

[　　]

A．the house where the President works and lives

B．Mrs. Adams and her washing

C．The President's Palace

D．the President and his family

(2)After reading the passage, you can tell that ______.

[　　]

A．all the presidents of the USA have lived in the White House

B．the East Room is no longer used for hanging up the wash

C．President Lincoln lived and died in the White House

D．the President's Palace was burned down by British soldiers during the war of 1812

(3)From this story we can see that it was probably written by ______.

[　　]

(4)Which of the following is NOT true?

[　　]

A．Adams had lived there before the building was finished.

B．British soldiers once set fire to the President's Palace.

C．The White House was completely rebuilt after the war of 1812.

D．The President's Palace is now called the White House.

　　As a boy, Sanders was much influenced by books about the sea, but by the age of fifteen he had decided to become a doctor rather than a sailor. His father was a doctor. So he was often with the doctors and got along very well with them. When he was fourteen, he was already hanging around the hospital where he was supposed to be helping to clean the medicine bottles, but was actually trying to listen to the doctors' conversations with patients in the next room.

　　During the war Sanders served in the army as a surgeon.“That was the happiest time of my life. I was dealing with real sufferers and on the whole making a success of my job.”In Rhodes he taught the country people simple facts about medicine, He saw himself as a life-saver. He had proved his skill to himself and had a firm belief that he could serve those who lived simply, and were dependent upon him. Thus, while in a position to tell them what to do he could feel he was serving them.

　　After the war, he married and set up a practice deep in the English countryside, working under an old doctor who hated the sight of blood. This gave the younger man plenty of opportunity to go on working as a life-saver.

(1)At the age of 14, Sanders ______.

[　　]

A．worked as a doctor by cleaning the medicine bottles

B．met some doctors who were very friendly to him

C．was interested in talking with patients

D．remained together with the doctors ______.

(2)His experience in the army proved that ______.

[　　]

A．he was good at medical operations on the wounded

B．he succeeded in teaching people how to save their lives themselves

C．a doctor was the happiest man

D．his wish of being a life-saver could hardly come true

(3)Having proved his skill to himself, Sanders ______.

[　　]

A．wanted to live a simple life like a countryman

B．came to realize that he was really working for his countrymen

C．taught himself life-saving

D．was highly respected by the old doctor

(4)When the war was over, he ______.

[　　]

A．learned from an old doctor because he was popular

B．started to hate the sight of blood while working

C．served the countrymen under an old doctor who needed someone to help him

D．had few chances to be a life-saver because he was younger