Mary Masterman hasn't decided where she will attend college, but when she does, she'll have plenty of money to pay for it. The 17-year-old took home a $100,000 scholarship Tuesday as the top winner of the 2007 Intel Science Talent Search.

"It was a complete surprise," said the senior at Westmoore High School in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. "I wasn't expecting it." Masterman earned first place at this year's competition by building a low-budget spectrograph (摄谱仪)— an instrument that identifies the unique characteristics, or "fingerprints," of different molecules. Spectrographs are used in a variety of fields, including astronomy, medicine, and law enforcement. They can sense the presence of explosives or drugs, and they can also help determine the age of a piece of artwork.

Normally, the cost of a spectrograph can run as high as $100,000．Mary, however, built her device—which she crafted from lenses, a laser, aluminum (铝) tubing, and a camera—for just $300．"I wanted to build one that was lower-costing so it would be more available to anyone interested in spectrography," she said.

Sticking to a budget was only half the battle. Getting the machine to work was another challenge. "I had to keep coming up with creative ways to adjust or change something," Mary admitted. "It took three months to build and another three months before it actually functioned properly."

Mary competed with more than 1,700 other high school seniors in this year's science challenge. Forty finalists were invited to Washington, D.C., where they presented their projects at the National Institute of Science. In all, 10 students took home awards for their innovative projects.

1．What’s the best title of the passage?

　 A．Oklahoma teen comes to a great invention

　 B．Science competition for high school students

　 C．The 2007 Intel Science Talent Search

　 D．Oklahoma teen wins science scholarship

2．_____ is the biggest difference between Mary’s spectrograph and the normal one?

　 A．Use fields B．Function　　 C．The cost 　　 D．The size

3．How long did it take Mary to put his spectrograph into use?

　 A．Three months. 　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 B．Half a year. 　

　 C．About a year.　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　 D．Several years.

4．It can be inferred that the Intel Science Talent Search is _____.

　 A．a high-tech research institute of fine instruments

　 B．an institute of science based in Washington, D.C.

　 C．a most highly regarded science competition for high school students

　 D．the nation's oldest award for the top scientists with great achievements

Albert Einstein had a great effect on science and history, greater than most other men have achieved. An American university president once said that Einstein had helped us have a new view of the universe. It may be some time before ordinary people fully understand the identity(一致) of time and space and so on — but even ordinary people understand now that the universe is something larger than it had been ever thought before. By 1914 the young Einstein had been famous in the world. At that time, he accepted the offer to become a professor at the Prussian Academy of Science in Berlin. There he had few duties, little teaching and a great number of chances for study, but soon his peace and quiet life were broken by World War I.

Einstein hated wars and killings. World War I changed his ordinary life, and he would sit unhappily in his office doing little. He lost interest in research. Only when peace came in 1918 was he able to go on with his research.

In the years following World War I, more and more people knew and respected him. He became head of the Faiser Whilhem Institute of Theoretical Physics. In 1921 he won the Nobel Prize, and he was honored in Germany until the rise of Nazism(纳粹) when he was driven from Germany because he was a Jew.

1.We can learn from the passage that ______.

A.    Einstein achieved more than any other scientist in history

B.    a lot of people today are cleverer than Einstein

C.    Einstein once gave in to the German army in World War I

D.    Germans usually have a high respect for science

2.. Which is the right order of the events?

a. Einstein was able to continue his research in 1918.

b. Einstein became a professor at the Prussian Academy of Science.

c. Einstein won the Nobel Prize.

d. World War I broke out in Europe.

A. a-b-c-d　　 B. b-d-a-c　 C. b-a-c-d　 D. a-c-d-b

3.Which of the following is NOT true?

A.    Einstein was once head of the Faiser Whilhem Institute of Theoretical Physics.

B.    Einstein was against wars and killings.

C.    Einstein played an important role in the development of modern science.

D. Einstein was driven out of Germany because of his attitude towards wars.

“EEK (哎呦)! A spider!”

But hold on a minute before you run screaming out of the room – that spider may not be as scary as you think. A study has shown that the more scared you are of spiders, the bigger they can seem to you.

Researchers from Ohio State University, US, gathered together 57 participants who were all extremely afraid of spiders, according to sciencedaily.com. During an eight-week-long experiment, they asked participants to look at five differently sized tarantulas (狼蛛) and documented how the participants reacted to them.

　 Each tarantula was kept in an open glass box. Participants had to approach the box slowly. Once they were standing next to the box, they were asked to guide the spider around the tank by touching it with a stick, then with a shorter stick. In the meantime, they were asked to rate their fear level on a scale (级别) of 0 to 100.

　 After every time they met a tarantula, participants would have to estimate its size by drawing a single line on a piece of paper. The length of the line showed how big they thought the tarantula was from the tips of its front legs to the tips of its back legs.

　 Researchers saw a clear connection between the estimated size of the animal and the fear level of participants.

“If one is afraid of spiders…one tends to think of spiders as bigger than they really are. That may feed the fear, and make it difficult to overcome,” said Michael Vasey, professor at Ohio State University and the leader of the study.

　 The study could help doctors design more effective treatments for people to overcome their fears. This could be very important for some people, for example, those who are afraid of needles.　　

64. Which of the following is TRUE about the experiment?

A. The scientists kept five spiders together in an uncovered glass box.

B. The participants need to describe their fear in words.

C. The participants had to be very frightened of spiders.

D. The participants were told how big the spiders really were.

65. What reactions did the researchers notice?

a. how well participants guided the spiders.

b. how afraid the participants were.

c. the lines that the participants drew.

d. how long it took the participants to move on to the shorter stick.

A. a, b　　　　 B. b, c　　　　　　 C. 　c, d　　　　　　 D.　 b, d

66. Through the study, the researchers 　　　　 .

A. helped participants reduce their fear of spiders

B. learned how to design needles that were suitable for different people.

C. could help work out better treatments for people to overcome their fears.

D. had participants face their fears by playing with spiders.

67. What is the main point of the article?

A. Fear feeds on fear. B. Why spiders are so scary.

C. A new treatment for fear. D. How afraid you are of an animal depends on how big it is.

Nine-year-old Barack Obama was looking through a magazine and he was shocked by a series of photos. The pictures were of a black man who destroyed his skin with chemicals that promised to make him white.

　 For the first time, the African-American boy began to doubt who he was.

　 However, now the boy who used to struggle with his identity doesn’t see it as a problem any more, but an advantage for his successful career. Last week Obama made history by being elected as the first black president of the United States. He defeated John McCain in a landside victory(压倒多数的绝对胜利).