In the summer of 1978 an English man named Steven was driving his tractor through a field of wheat when he discovered something strange. Some of his wheat was lying on the ground. The flattened wheat formed(形成)a circle about six meters across . Around this circle were four smaller circles of flattened wheat.

　 Three years later a farmer who lived nearby discovered almost the same circles in one of his fields. These circles were larger—nearly 15 meters across . That same year , another English farmer discovered three circles of flattened wheat on his land—one large circle between two small circles. During the following years, farmers in England found circles in their fields more and more often.

　 The circles are called “crop circles” because they usually appear in fields of wheat or corn. The wheat in the circles lies on the ground but is never broken; it keeps on growing, and the farmers can later harvest it. Farmers always discover the crop circles in the morning, so the circles probably form at night. They appear only in the months from May to September. What causes the crop circles?

　 At first, people thought that some kids were making them as a joke, or that farmers were making them to attract tourists.(In fact, in 1991, two men said they made the circles themselves, but many scientists don’t believe them.) People tried to copy them: They tried to make circles exactly like the ones the farmers had found. They couldn’t do it. They couldn’t enter a field of wheat without leaving tracks, and they couldn’t flatten the wheat without breaking it.

　 Several times people reported seeing stranger objects near the fields where crop circles later appeared. Many people believe that these crop circles are the messages sent by living things from outer space(外层空间)or the marks left by their spaceships.

　 Scientists who have studied the crop circles try to find out what causes them. In the summer of 1990 some scientists spent three weeks in the part of England where many circles have appeared. They had all the latest high-tech equipment(最新高科技设备). The equipment—worth 1.8 million dollars—got nothing. But one night, as the scientists were watching a field, crop circles formed in the field behind them, which were quite different from the others. The scientists had neither seen nor heard anything.

　 When Steven discovered the crop circles on his land in 1978, he said, “It was just like something that had landed in the field from the air and gone back up again. I don’t know what to make of these things.”

　 Crop circles have appeared in England, Japan, the United States and Russia. Experts from all over the world have studied them, and they say what Steven said: They don’t know what to make of these things.

1.Which picture is probably the one formed in the field behind the scientists?

2.“Flattened wheat” means ___________.

　　   A. broken wheat             B. lying wheat

　　   C. harvested wheat          D. growing wheat

3.The passage is mainly about something ___________ .

A. that is done by living things from outer space

B. that cannot be solved but found all around the world

C. that cannot be made clear or understood

D. that is discovered and copied by the farmers

 

A. Entertainment News

In this section all kinds of news about movies, songs and pop stars are available (可找到的).

B.  Advertisement Section

Here are advertisements of different products, such as food, latest books, and sporls machines, etc.

C. Reading Section

In this part, we will introduce some hot traveling places to you. Some safety tips during journeys are also offered.

D. International News

Here is news about the events that happened all over the world.

E. Sports News

Important sports events are broadcast (传播)here. And we often interview some good players.

F.  Health Section

Winter is coming and it is easy to get ill. If you want to know how to keep away from diseases, you should pay attention to this section.

 

Match the information according to what you read.

1. Mike cares about sports events and how the sports players are now.

2.Mr. Brown is interested in reading. He wants to know what kinds of new books have come out and where to buy them.

3. Zhang Peng is really a film fan. Recently he would like to know what new movies are like and some information about Jackie Chan.

4.Lana's father is working abroad (国外）in Libya. A war (战争）broke out there, so she is rather worried about the situation in Libya.

5.Lucy is in poor health. She is so anxious to know how to keep fit.

 

As a girl, I've spent a great deal of my time on earth concerned about my weight. So I do know something about exercise. Let me tell you about the calorie-burning activities I've tried or will try.

Salsa (萨尔萨舞)

I try to maintain my weight through dancing. Dancing improves my coordination and sense of rhythm in addition to burning calories. I'm personally interested in salsa, which I find sexy and expressive(有表现力的). But I have not yet to start classes, because classes are very expensive, and I cannot find a dance partner.

Ping-Pong

Ping-pong is the national sport of China, so how could I know nothing about it?

My father is a ping-pong fan, and a really good player. He's won several informal (非正式的) matches. My relationship with ping-pong has always been on-and-off. I'll get into it for a while, and then lose interest. The reason is because I can’t find a good partner. Some stronger can depress you, while someone weaker (or just as weak) can make the game boring.

Tae Kwon Do （跆拳道）

I've recently decided to try tae kwon do as my regular exercise activity. There’s a story behind this choice: A few weeks ago, I was sitting on a bus, concentrating on a book. Suddenly, the bus became very quiet except for the sound of a woman’s crying. I looked up to see what had happened and overheard whispers that she had just quarreled with a man, and the man slapped(拍打) her face. No one on the bus dared say anything because the man looked really strong. Even now I feel ashamed I was among the silent.

That’s why I've made up my mind to learn something that will help me protect others and myself.

1.We can guess that the girl is _____ according to the passage.

A．too thin

B．a little fat

C．careful

D．brave

2.Why doesn’t the girl want to go to learn salsa?

A．The dance is too difficult to learn.

B．Nobody wants to dance with her.

C．She has no time to join the classes.

D．She finds it sexy and expressive.

3.She is interested in ping-pong because ________.

A．she can play it well

B．it is the national sport

C．her father plays it well

D．she finds a good partner

4.She has made up her mind to learn Tae Kwon Do mainly because______.

A．she wants to lose weight

B．she wants to protect others and herself

C．she wants to win some matches

D．she wants to beat a strong man

5.We can learn from the passage that________.

A．the girl has learnt salsa for a long time

B．the girl has played ping-pong many times

C．the girl was brave enough to beat the man

D．she has learnt tae kwon do well

 

The water tap was leaking(漏水) again, and the noise was driving Cassie crazy. Cassie looked at her watch. It was nearly nine o’clock. She climbed out of bed and stood on a chair by the shelf. Her mother’s Mr. Fix-It Book was on the top shelf. Cassie stepped down quietly. She read the book quickly until she found the page she was looking for, and then began to read carefully.

Next, Cassie opened a box in the kitchen and picked out the tools she needed--- a hammer, a wrench, and several small things. It was so easy job for her to do the repair, and she tried several times. Finally, the water tap was in pieces. One by one, she carefully laid them out on the table. That way she would know how they went back. While this was going on, her cat walked over to watch what she was doing.

Cassie worked late into the night. At one point, she thought she was done. Oops! A small piece that she had forgotten still lay on the table. Slowly Cassie took the water tap apart(分开) one more time. This time she made sure everything was in place. She turned the water tap on and then off. One…two…three… She waited a full minute. There was no leak! Cassie smiled and put the tools back into the box. Then she went back into bed.

The next morning, Dad was in the kitchen when Cassie got up.

“Notice anything, Dad?” she asked.

He looked around and listened. “Hmm, something’s missing… I can’t find out what it is… Wait, it’s too quiet in here!”

“That’s right,” Cassie said. ‘Something is missing. I fixed the water tap. It doesn’t leak any more.”

“That’s my girl,” Dad said. “It’s a good thing you are really like your mother.”

1.Mr. Fix-It Book is probably a book on how to ________.

A. train pets       B. fall asleep       C. fix things        D. cook food

2.Cassie took the water tap apart again because_______.

A. she had forgotten one piece          B. the tap was still leaking

C. the cat had taken one piece away      D. she hadn’t understood the book

3.The water tap wasn’t fixed until_______.

A. nine o’clock    B. late that night    C. the next morning    D. the next afternoon

4.We can learn from the last sentence of the passage that ________.

A. Cassie’s mother is good-looking         B. Cassie likes her mother very much

C. Cassie’s mother is good at fixing things   D. Cassie looks quite like her mother

 

The Bermuda Triangle(百慕大三角)is in the Atlantic Ocean, near Florida in the USA. During the past 60 years, more than 1,000 seamen in ships and pilots in planes have lost their lives. It is known as “The Triangle of Death”for its strange seawater and sudden storms. What's the strangest is the light of the seawater, which looks so bright that it can be seen even from an outer spaceship.

　　At 2:00p.m. on Dec. 5, 1945, five planes took off in fine weather from the airport of Florida, on a training task. Two hours later, the leader in the sky radioed that he was “completely lost”. Then there was silence. Another plane was sent to look for them and also disappeared.

　　One of the largest ship that had disappeared in the triangle was an American coal ship, 500meters long. The weather was good, and there were no messages for help before it was “gone”. No broken ships or dead bodies have been found so far.

　　No one is able to tell how all these accidents have happened. A group of Japanese scientists were there to see what it was really like in 1995, but nothing has been heard of them ever since.

1. What is the passage mainly about?

　　A. How the Bermuda Triangle ate up the planes and ships.           

　　B. Why many of the planes and ships have disappeared.

　　C. Strange accidents happened in the Bermuda Triangle, no one can tell why     

　　D. When the Bermuda Triangle was formed very strangely.

2. How many planes had lost in December 1945?

　　A. Five. 　　　　B. Six. 　　　　C. Seven.　　　　 D. Eight.

3. What does the underline word “radioed” mean?

　　A. Wrote sound message using a radio.

　　B. Listened to sound message using a radio.

　　C. Sent sound message using a radio.

　　D. Received sound message using a radio.

4. Why was the leader in the plane lost?

　　A. He met with terrible weather.                       

　　B. He was losing the right direction.

　　C. Airport didn't give him an answer.                  

　　D. The reasons are still unknown.

5. What about the group of Japanese scientists who went to Bermuda?

　　A. They have also disappeared very strangely.

　　B. They have not heard of anything important.

　　C. They are still working hard in Bermuda.

　　D. They've come back, knowing nothing about it.