Recently，a solar powered（太阳能动力的）plane took to the sky for the first time. It had passed an important test on the way to travel around the world.

The plane took off from an airport in Switzerland（瑞士）at 45km an hour. It slowly rose above the fields and into the sky.

“There has never been an airplane of that kind that could fly — never an airplane so big, so light, using so little energy,” said Bertrand Piccard, a leader of the project.

    During the 90-minute flight, the plane did several turns. It climbed nearly 1.6km above the countryside.

    Engineers plan to test a night flight before July. Then they will use the results of the tests to build a second plane. They plan to travel around the world in that plane in 2012.

The plane flies at 70 km an hour. That is faster than a bike and slower than a car. Piccard and pilot Andre Borschberg will take the plane around the world. The pilots will keep the plane in the air for up to five days at a time.

    “We want to fly it day and night with no fuel (燃料),” Piccard said

1.How long did the first flight of the solar powered plane last？

A. 45 minutes         B. 60 minutes         C. 70 minutes         D. 90 minutes

2.What’s the most special about the plane？

 A. It uses no fuel         B. It’s the fastest plane  

C. It can fly highest       D. It’s the heaviest plane

3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage ?

A The plane goes much faster than a car

B The plane took off at a speed of 45km an hour

C Engineers plan to test a night flight before July

D The plane will fly in the air or up to five days at a time

4.Which column（栏目）of a newspaper may the passage come from？

A. Food and Health               B. Scientist and Technology  

C. Culture and Communication     D. Sports and Entertainment

 

The iPhone is a line of smartphones designed and marketed by Apple Inc. It runs Apple's iOS mobile operating system, known as the "iPhone OS" until mid-2010, shortly after the release of the iPad. The first generation iPhone was released on June 29, 2007, the most recent iPhone, the seventh-generation iPhone 5S, on September 20, 2013. The user interface is built around the device's multi-touch screen, including a virtual keyboard. The iPhone has Wi-Fi and cellular connectivity (2G, 3G, 4G, and LTE).

An iPhone can shoot video (though this was not a standard feature until the iPhone 3GS), take photos, play music, send and receive emails, look through the web, send texts, and receive visual voicemail. Other functions—games, reference, GPS navigation, social networking, etc.— can be enabled by downloading apps; as of 2012[update], the App Store offered more than 775,000 apps by Apple and third parties.
There are six generations of iPhone models, each accompanied by one of the six major releases of iOS. The original 1st generation iPhone was a GSM phone, and established design precedents, such as a button placement that has persisted through all models and a screen size maintained until the launch of the iPhone 5 in 2012. The iPhone 3G added 3G cellular network capabilities and A-GPS location. The iPhone 3GS added a faster processor and a higher-resolution camera that could record video at 480p. The iPhone 4 featured a higher-resolution 960 × 640 "retina display", a VGA front-facing camera for video calling and other apps, and a 5-megapixel rear-facing camera with 720p video capture. The iPhone 4S upgrades to an 8-megapixel camera with 1080p video recording, a dual-core processor, and a natural language voice control system called Siri. IPhone 5 features the new A6 processor, increases the size of the Retina display to 4 inches, and replaces the 30-pin connector with an all-digital Lightning connector.
The resounding sales of the iPhone have been credited with reshaping the smart phone industry and helping make Apple one of the world's most valuable publicly trading companies in 2011–12. However, there has been criticism of the company's outsourcing and move of jobs from the US to China. Apple and its manufacturing contractor Foxconn have received criticism due to poor working conditions at the assembly plant in China.
【小题1】An iphone is from __________.

A．the USA	B．South Korean
C．the UK	D．Australia

【小题2】What is the newest kind of iphone at present?

A．iphone 4

B．iphone 4S

C．iphone 5

D．iphone 5S

【小题3】How many generations of iphone models are there now?

A．Five

B．Six

C．Seven

D．Eight

【小题4】What are the features of iphone 5?

A．The new A6 processor

B．increases the size of the Retina display to 4 inches

C．replaces the 30-pin connector with an all-digital Lightning connector

D．A, B and C

Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources(源头) for the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power(电力) for several African countries. Lake Victoria is a big part of African life.
Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. It is shrinking. There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level. For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters. Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters. There seem to be several reasons for this drop.
One possible reason is drought(干旱). Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000. Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake.
However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(工厂) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000. Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level.
Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same. This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life. People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake. Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water. Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer. Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die.
【小题1】Lake Victoria is __________.

A．an important lake in Africa

B．the largest lake in the world

C．the source of water, food and power for America

D．the only source for the Nile River

【小题2】What does “It is shrinking” most probably mean?

A．It is becoming larger.

B．It is becoming more beautiful.

C．It is becoming smaller.

D．It is becoming more useful.

【小题3】The water level of Lake Victoria is now __________.

A．2.5 meters

B．11.9 meters

C．14.4 meters

D．9.4 meters

【小题4】Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?
A. Rain water is the only source for the lake.
B. There has been little rain in the lake area since 2000.
C. The power plants in Uganda provide water for the lake.
D The power plants in Uganda were made larger in 2000.
【小题5】According to the passage, how can we solve the problems around Lake Victoria?

A．People must build more power plants.

B．More sources of water must be found.

C．Every country should offer some money to Africa.

D．All the people living in the area should move to another place.

Recently，a solar powered（太阳能动力的）plane took to the sky for the first time. It had passed an important test on the way to travel around the world.

The plane took off from an airport in Switzerland（瑞士）at 45km an hour. It slowly rose above the fields and into the sky.

“There has never been an airplane of that kind that could fly — never an airplane so big, so light, using so little energy,” said Bertrand Piccard, a leader of the project.

    During the 90-minute flight, the plane did several turns. It climbed nearly 1.6km above the countryside.

    Engineers plan to test a night flight before July. Then they will use the results of the tests to build a second plane. They plan to travel around the world in that plane in 2012.

The plane flies at 70 km an hour. That is faster than a bike and slower than a car. Piccard and pilot Andre Borschberg will take the plane around the world. The pilots will keep the plane in the air for up to five days at a time.

    “We want to fly it day and night with no fuel (燃料),” Piccard said

1.How long did the first flight of the solar powered plane last？

A. 45 minutes         B. 60 minutes         C. 70 minutes         D. 90 minutes

2.What’s the most special about the plane？

 A. It uses no fuel         B. It’s the fastest plane  

C. It can fly highest       D. It’s the heaviest plane

3.Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage ?

A The plane goes much faster than a car

B The plane took off at a speed of 45km an hour

C Engineers plan to test a night flight before July

D The plane will fly in the air or up to five days at a time

4.Which column（栏目）of a newspaper may the passage come from？

A. Food and Health               B. Scientist and Technology  

C. Culture and Communication     D. Sports and Entertainment

 

Give water, save lives
A bottle of water may not seem like much to you, but thousands of bottles will be of great help for people who live in drought-hit(遭受旱灾) areas in China.
Since last autumn, there has been very little rain in Southwest China. Some places, especially in Yunnan . Guangxi, Sichuan, Guizhou, have experienced a serious drought. Crops (庄稼) died, the land cracked, and wells (井) and rivers dried up. More than 20 million people are having difficulty in finding safe drinking water.
After learning about the drought, many people around the country helped by giving water, money and other things.
Last week, every member of the Communist Youth League (共青团员) and Young Pioneers(少先队员) were encouraged to give one bottle of water to the drought-hit areas. Students in primary schools and middle schools quickly joined the activity. In Yuhua Primary School in Xi' an, 900 students bought over 1,000 bottles of water with their pocket money. They also wrote their wishes on the bottles.
The serious drought has also made students realize the importance of saving water.
Students from Nanshan Middle School in Huizhou in Guangdong went on the street to tell people to take part in water-saving activities.
“I've heard that some children in drought-hit areas don' t have enough drinking water. They have to drink muddy ( 含有泥土的 ) water. I feel really sad about that," said one student. “I decide to take a shower twice a week instead of every day to save water.”he said.
【小题1】Why did a serious drought happen in Southwest China?  
___________________________________________________________________________                     【小题2】What does the underlined (划线的) word "cracked" probably mean in Chinese?
______________________________________________                  !
【小题3】What did people do after learning about the drought?
                                                                  
【小题4】Is a bottle of water helpful for the people in drought-hit areas?
                                                                              
【小题5】What can you learn from the passage?