It is natural that children are curious about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.

　As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career in science.

　Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world. Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the sky. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry .

　These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world. For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats 65 or 75 times a minute. Your heart is a pump that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too. So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.

　Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.

　We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.

According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

　 A. People are curious in the same way.

　 B. People in different countries are interested in different things.

　 C. People of different ages are interested in different things.　 

   D. Men and women are curious about different things.

Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.

   A. the earth , the oceans and the sky    B. plants and animals

   C. man-made things                 D. ocean water

A rock cracks _____.

   A. in wet regions                   B. in dry regions

   C. when salty water falls in           D. at very high or very low temperatures

People are always curious because _____ .

A. they know little about the world     B. they know nothing about the world

C. they can not explain many things     D. they want to be scientists

完形填空（共20小题；每小题1.5分，满分30分）

阅读下面短文, 从每题所给的四个选项（A、B、C和D）中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

If you asked high school girls to name their favourite sports, most would probably say basketball or volleyball. I happen to be one of the few girls who would 　21　: surfing. But isn’t that a boy thing? Some people 　22　.  

I started surfing about five years ago and 　23　 in love with the sport on the very first day. Riding that first wave was the best feeling I had ever 　24　.

When I try to 　25　　surfing with other things, I find it very difficult because, in my 　26　,

there’s nothing like it. It involves（涉及）body, 　27　, and soul. There’s sand between my toes and cool, salt water all 　28　us. The feeling I get when I’m surfing across that   29 , becoming one with the ocean, is like I’m   30  .

The one thing I can get from surfing and not any other sport is endless   31  . You can never be the “best surfer” because the ocean   32  an uncountable variety of waves that nobody can ever master. The variations of surfing styles are wonderful. Some surfers are free and flowing;   33   are very aggressive（攻击性的）and sharp. All of these things attract me to surfing and make it   34   from any other sport.

I’ve   35   to tell every girl I know to do something that people don’t think girls can do. It’s part of being human to advance to new levels, so shouldn’t it be   36   that girls should step up and start pushing the limits of things boys and men   37   dominate (主宰)?

There’re women   38   side by side with the President of our country, so why not side by side with the boys   39  the football team or out in the water surfing? Give girls a chance to succeed, and they   40  .

21. A. tell                            B. answer                     C. give                          D. realize

22. A. wonder                          B. understand                   C. reply on                       D. believe

23. A. stayed                            B. came                              C. dropped                      D. fell

24. A. experienced                 B. adventured                   C. worked out                D. discovered

25. A. bring                               B. connect                         C. compare                     D. tie

26. A. work                               B. study                              C. holiday                        D. life

27. A. mind                               B. figure                             C. health                          D. control

28. A. over                                B. above                             C. around                        D. among

29. A. beach                             B. water                                      C. board                                    D. lake

30. A. weight                           B. overweight                    C. weight-loss                 D. weightless

31. A. success                          B. challenge                      C. ability                          D. trouble

32.   A. catches                          B. includes                         C. offers                                    D. collects

33. A. others                            B. other                              C. another                       D. the other

34. A. exciting                          B. attractive                      C. enjoyable                  D. different

35. A. chosen                           B. tried                               C. learned                       D. promised

36. A. expected                       B. supposed                      C. achieved                     D. proved

37. A. hated to                        B. hoped to                        C. used to                        D. had to

38. A. sitting                            B. walking                          C. fighting                       D. working

39. A. of                                     B. from                               C. on                                    D. with

40. A. had                                 B. will                                  C. have                               D. do

It is natural that children are curious (好奇的) about the world around them. For example, they want to know how their hearts beat. They want to know why the ocean water tastes salty.

　　As children grow up, they become curious about different kinds of things. When they are babies, they are interested in the parts of their bodies and in the smiles of their mothers. They become interested in the physical world around them: the plants, the animals, the sky. Later, they become interested in the things that people have made: wheels, bicycles, cars. And when they are adults, their curiosity continues. Sometimes this curiosity leads to a career (生涯、职业) in science.

　　Scientists spend their lives trying to find out about the world. Those who work with the earth sciences study the earth, the oceans, and the skies. Other scientists who study living things work with the biological sciences. A third group of scientists study the physical sciences, e. g. physics, chemistry .

　　These scientists have already discovered a lot about our world. For example, they tell us why your heart beats fast when you run. They say that when you are quiet, your heart normally beats sixty-five or seventy-five times a minute. Your heart is a pump (泵) that pumps blood to all parts of the body. The blood carries oxygen and nutrition. When you run, your muscles work very hard and use the nutrition that the blood carries to them. The muscles need oxygen, too . So your brain sends a signal to the heart. The signal means that the muscles need more nutrition and oxygen. Then the heart beats fast and sends blood quickly to the muscles. It may beat 90 to 140 times a minute.

　　Of course, scientists cannot answer all of our questions. If we ask, “Why does the ocean water taste salty” scientists will say that the salt comes from rocks. When a rock gets very hot or very cold, it cracks. Rain falls into cracks. The rain then carries the salt into the earth and into the rivers. The rivers carry the salt into the ocean. But then we ask , “What happens to the salt in the ocean? The ocean does not get saltier every year.” Scientists are not sure about the answer to this question.

　　We know a lot about our world, but there are still many answers that we do not have, and we are curious.

According to the passage, which of the following statements is true?

　 A．People are curious in the same way.

　 B．People in different countries are interested in different things.

　 C．Men and women are curious about different things.

　 D．People of different ages are interested in different things

Scientists who work with the biological sciences study____.

    A．the earth , the oceans and the sky   B．man-made things

    C．plants and animals   D．ocean water

When you run, your muscles need ____.

A．more nutrition and oxygen    B．more signals   

C．more salt                  D．water

A rock cracks _____.

A．in wet regions       B．in dry regions

C．at very high or very low temperatures     D．when salty water falls in

People are always curious because ____.

A．they cannot explain many things  B．they know nothing about the world

C．they know little about the world  D．they want to be scientists

完形填空(共15小题；每小题2分，满分30分)

阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从1~15各题所给的四个选项(A、B、C和D)中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

In a city of south India lived a young man who was always dreaming of becoming rich. He often heard about some traders in his city who gathered a great deal of   1    in the course of their travels across the world. He believed he could also make a great achievement although he didn’t have any   2   in business at all. So, one fine day, the young man set out on a long   3

in search of trade opportunities.

   4    though, he did not become as rich as he had thought he would. Worse, he spent more money on his travels than he   5    in the course of his trade. All this made him feel confused and   6   , but he refused to return home without   7   .

One day, while he was wandering on the shore in a seaside town, his eyes   8    on　an object which he thought should be a large ship at a distance.

“When I become rich, I shall buy a ship just like that one and   9    around the world,” he said ambitiously. Then he waited to see the ship enter the harbor. As the ship got closer, it lost its   10    dimensions(规模) and looked more like a small boat. When the boat reached the   11   , the young man let out a big heavy sigh because he discovered that it was only a bunch of logs tied together. He was terribly   12   to see such a raft(木筏).

Finally he understood. Just as he   13    a lot of time on fruitless speculation(猜想) about the “ship”, his expectations of getting   14    was also without any real basis. Therefore, he decided to return home and    15     up a more practical job.

1. A. energy               B. knowledge            C. resource                 D. fortune

2. A. expectation        B. experience             C. interest                   D. ambition

3. A. journey             B. partnership        C. vacation                 D. period

4. A. Unreasonably      B. Unbelievably         C. Unconsciously         D. Unfortunately

5. A. begged             B. borrowed                 C. earned                 D. adopted

6. A. uncertain            B. excited                 C. patient                    D. indifferent

7. A. hesitation           B. success                 C. problem                 D. income

8. A. depended          B. focused                 C. insisted                D. lived

9. A. show                 B. turn                      C. sail                   D. fly

10. A. correct          B. formal                C. real                     D. grand

11. A. bank              B. shore                    C. ocean                   D. bottom

12. A. disappointed     B. pleased                 C. puzzled               D. astonished

13. A. saved               B. valued                C. wasted                       D. created

14. A. rich               B. learned                 C. smart                D. strong

15. A. set                B. gave                     C. made                     D. took

For many years, scientists couldn't figure out how atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living things. Plants, fish, dinosaurs, and people are made of atoms and molecules, but they are put together in a more complicated way than the molecules in the primitive ocean. What's more, living things have energy and can reproduce, while the chemicals on the Earth 4 billion years ago were lifeless.
　　After years of study, scientists figured out that living things, including human bodies, are basically made of amino acids and nucleotide bases. These are molecules with millions of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, and oxygen atoms. How could such complicated molecules have been formed in the primitive soup? Scientists were stumped.
　　Then, in 1953, two scientists named Harold Urey and Stanley L. Miller did a very simple experiment to find out what had happened on the Primitive Earth. They set up some tubes and bottles in a closed loop, and put in some of the same gases that were present in the atmosphere 4 billion years ago: water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane, and hydrogen.
　　Then they shot an electric spark through the gases to simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth, circulated the gases through some water, sent them back for more sparks, and so on. After seven days, the water that the gases had been bubbling through had turned brown. Some new chemicals were dissolved in it. When Miller and Urey analyzed the liquid, they found that it contained amino acids-the very kind of molecules found in all living things.
61. When did scientists come to realize how the atoms and molecules on the Earth combined to make living thing?
　　A. 4 billion years ago. B.1953.　C. After seven days.D. Many years later.
62. Scientists figured out that human bodies are basically made of .
A.amino acids
B.molecules
C. hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen and oxygen atoms
D. water vapor, ammonia, carbon dioxide, methane and hydrogen
63. Harold Urey and Stanley L.Miller did their experiment in order to .　
A. find out what had happened on the Earth 4 billion years ago
　　 B.simulate bolts of lightning on the ancient Earth
　　 C. dissolve some new chemicals
　　D.analyze a liquid
64. At the end of the last paragraph, the underlined word "it" refers to .
A. a closed loop   B. an electric spark   C.water   D. the liquid
65. According to the writer, living things on the Earth include .
　A. atoms and molecules                     B.chemicals　
C. plants, fish, dinosaurs and human beings     D.the primitive soup