Wind is the great maker of waves. There are exceptions (例外), such as the tidal (潮汐的) waves sometimes caused by earthquakes under the sea. But the waves most of us know are caused by winds blowing over the sea .

Now let’s learn some physical (自然地理学的) things about it. A wave has height, from low point to high point . It has length (长度)--the distance from this high point to that of the following wave. The period of the wave means the time it takes for succeeding high points to pass a fixed point. None of these things stays the same--for all depend upon (依靠)the wind, upon the depth (深度) of the water and many other matters.

The water that makes up a wave does not advance with it across the sea. Each drop of water turns around in a little circle with the passing of the wave, but returns very nearly to its original position (原先的位置). And it is lucky that this is so. For if the huge groups of water that make up a wave really moved across the sea, sailing would be impossible. If we want to find the speed of a wave, we may use the following way : Speed =" wavelength" × frequency (频率).

Here, wavelength is the distance between two high points , frequency means the number of cycles per second

1.What causes waves?

2.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

3.The speed of Wave 1 is 100 cm/s, frequency 10. The frequency of Wave 2 is 300, while its speed is twice that of Wave 1. Which of the following is right?

4.Where can we find this passage?

 It was an exciting moment for Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo, a retired married couple from Harbin, China. It was also a great moment for China because it was the country’s first gold medal in the pairs figure(花样) skating competition at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Olympic Games.
Everyone was very quiet while Shen and Zhao were skating onto the ice. They were expecting something wonderful to happen. As Soon as the music started, Shen and Zhao skated around the field quickly with beautiful style; every move was perfect. When the music stopped, all the people cheered. In the end Shen and Zhao won the Olympic gold medal.
In China, winter sports are not as popular as they are in America and Northern European countries. So China sent only 90 athletes to Vancouver to take part in a few, carefully chosen sports. Such a good decision also led to Wang Meng and Zhou Yang winning gold medals in the little known, but exciting sport of short track (轨道) speed skating.
China did not win a lot of medals at these Winter Games. Most of the events are still very new to China and need to be developed. But Chinese athletes learn very quickly. For example, China’s women’s curling team(冰壶队) only began in 2003, but they were No.1 at the 2009 World Women’s Curling Championship.
This means that with hard work and a bit of luck, China’s winter stars could soon shine on the world stage.
【小题1】Shen Xue and Zhao Hongbo won the gold medal in the _____ event at the 2010 Vancouver
Olympic.

Mr Brown wants to live near his workplace. Mrs Brown wants a house with four bedrooms. The Browns’ children don’t care what the house is like as long as the garden is big enough. Ann, their daughter has always wanted to work in a restaurant. She thinks it is an exciting place. It’s hard work but she isn’t lazy.

Tom is a middle school student. He is twelve years old. He stops school at half past three, so he has plenty of time to finish his homework.

Jack, Mr Brown’s brother, is looking for a room to rent. He doesn’t care what color the walls are or how old the furniture is. He is getting ready for his drawing. So the house must be quiet.

1.Why don’t the Browns buy the house in Advertisement One?

A．It is on the north side of town.

B．There isn’t enough bedroom.

C．There is no dinner room.

D．The garden is too big.

2.Why does Ann want to get the job in the restaurant?

A．It’s an easy job.

B．The place is good and the food is free.

C．She thinks it will be interesting.

D．She can get long holidays.

3.Why can’t Tom play for the new football team?

A．He is not old enough.

B．It’s in a different village.

C．School stops too late.

D．He has to do his homework.

4.What’s wrong with the room for Jack in Advertisement Four?

A．It’s too small.

B．The walls are the wrong color.

C．The man likes old furniture better.

D．It’s too noisy.

5.What does the sentence “All meals free”mean?

A．Assistants can have the meals at any time.

B．Assistants can have the meals in the restaurant without paying money.

C．Customers can have the meals freely.

D．Assistant need to pay for their meals.

Have you ever wondered?

1.      Why do airplanes take longer to fly west than east?

It can take five hours to go west-east from New York (NY) to London but seven hours to travel east-west from London to NY. The reason for the difference is an atmospheric phenomenon (大气现象) known as the jet stream (气流). The jet stream is a very high altitude (=" above" sea level) wind which always blows from the west to the east across the Atlantic. So the planes moving at a constant air speed go faster from the west to the east when they are moving with the wind than in the opposite.

2.      What would happen if the gravity on Earth was suddenly turned off?

Supposing we could magically turn off gravity. Would buildings and other structures（建筑物）float away? What happened would depend on (依靠) how strongly the things were attached (吸附) to the earth. The earth is moving at quite a speed, moving at over a thousand miles per hour. If you turn something around your head on a string, it goes around in a circle until you let go of the string. Then it flies off in a straight line. ‘Turning off’ gravity would be like letting go of the string. Things not attached to the earth would fly off in a straight line. People in buildings would suddenly shoot upwards at a great speed until they hit the ceiling (=" top" surface of a room). Most things outside would fly off into space.

1.What information can we get from the first passage?

2.The underlined word “shoot” in the 2nd paragraph means “_________”.

3.It can be known that without gravity _________.

4.Where can we read this passage?