I remember my first Christmas party with Grandma．I remember the day when my big sister dropped the bomb: “There is no Santa Claus,” she laughed．“Even dummies know that!”
　　I fled to Grandma because I knew she always told me  21 ．After I told her everything, she said “No Santa Claus? Don’t believe it. Now,  22 your coat, and let’s go.”
　　“Go? Go where?” I asked．
　　“Where” 23  to be the General Store．As we walked through its doors, Grandma   24 me ten dollars．That was a lot in those days．“Take this money and buy something for  25 needs it．I’ll wait for you in the car．”
　　The store seemed big and  26 , full of people hurrying to finish their Christmas shopping．For a few moments I just stood there, 27  , holding that bill, wondering what to buy, and who on earth to buy it for．
　　Suddenly I thought of Bobbie who sat right behind me．I remembered he didn’t have a coat．I fingered the bill with growing  28 ．I would buy Bobbie a coat．
　　“Is this a Christmas present for someone?” the lady behind the   29  asked me kindly, as I laid my ten dollars down
　　“Yes,” I replied shyly．“It’s…for Bobbie.”
　　The nice lady smiled at me．I didn’t get any  30 , but she put the coat in a bag and wished me a Merry Christmas．
　　That evening, Grandma helped me  31  the coat and wrote, “To Bobby, From Santa Claus” on it．Then she  32 me over to Bobbie’s house．
　　Grandma parked down the street from Bobbie’s house, and she and I crept 33 and hid in the  34 ．Then Grandma gave me a sign．“All right, Santa Claus, get going．”
　　I took a deep 35 , dashed for his front door, threw the present down, pounded his doorbell and flew back to the safety．Together we  36 breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to open．Finally it  37 , and there stood Bobbie．
Forty years haven’t dimmed the thrill of those  38 spent shivering, beside my grandma, in Bobbie’s bushes． 39 ,  I realized: Santa was alive and well, and we were  40  his team．

　For more than twenty years scientists have been searching for signs of life on other planets. Most of these searches have been done over the radio. The hope is that someone in outer space may be trying to get in touch with us. Scientists also have sent radio and television messages on spaceships traveling through space, on the chance that someone may be receptive to such messages.

　　Scientists are using powerful radio telescopes to listen to signals from about 1, 000 stars, all within 100 light years of earth. In addition, they will scan（扫视）the entire sky to “listen” for radio messages from more distant stars. Using a computer, they will be able to monitor more than eight channels at one time. Scientists are looking for any signal they stands out from the background noise.

　　Of the 200 billion stars in the Milky Way galaxy（银河星系）, scientists find that five percent are like our sun. Perhaps half of them have a planet like earth. Such a planet would be a reasonable distance from the star for temperatures to be right for the evolution（进化）of life. Based on the inhabitable（that can be lived in）planets in our galaxy, most scientists agree that chances are likely that one or more of these planets support some life.

　　However, many scientists wonder whether intelligent（有智力的）life exists on other planets. Some believe that twenty years of searching without any intelligible messages shows that no one is out there. They say that the evolution of intelligence comparable to ours is unlikely.

　　Other scientists believe that our search hasn’t been long enough to rule out the possibility that intelligent life exists in our galaxy. Although our sun family is only about five billion years old, our galaxy is about 20 billion years old. In that time, some scientists think it is likely that civilization（文明）much more advanced than ours have developed. Perhaps these civilizations send us no signals; perhaps we have not recognized the signals they have sent us. If we hope to find intelligent life, these scientists believe that we have to keep looking.

According to the passage, how many planets in our galaxy might be inhabitable?

　　A. 5 billion．　　　　　　　　　　 B. 10 billion.

　　C. 15 billion.　　　　　　　　　　　D. 200 billion

The first paragraph in this passage is mainly about ________ .

　　A. how scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

　　B. why scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

　　C. where scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

　　D. when scientists are looking for signs of life on other planets

The underlined word “monitor” in the passage means“ ________ ”.

　　A. find　　　　　　　　　　　　　B. follow

　　C. check　　　　　　　　　　　　 D. form

Which of these statements is true based on the information in the passage?

　　A. The earth is one of the oldest planets in our galaxy.

　　B. Most scientists believe that there is intelligent life on other planets.

　　C. Scientists are trying different ways to find signs of life on other planets.

D. Scientists don’t believe that there might be life on other planets.

　　A sixth of undergraduates in Beijing this year have registered at driving school. The students, mostly from majors such as business management or international trade, will finish their driving courses within 20 days or so.

　　Training costs have dropped to 2, 600 yuan for students, according to the Haidian Driving School in Beijing. The price is not really low, but students will accept it, seeing it as an investment （投资）in their future. Familiarity with the operation of computers and fluent English are the basic skills graduating students need to find a job. But a driver’s permit has become another factor （因素）.

　　“In the job market, owning a driver’s permit sometimes strengthens a graduating student’s competitiveness for a good position, ”says Zhou Yang, an undergraduate at the China University of Political Science and Law.

　　Cars will become a necessary part of many people’s lives in the coming years, and it is difficult to get a permit of campus because of the pressures on working people’s time. “Having a fulltime job after graduation offers limited time to learn to drive. We senior students have plenty of spare time, plenty of opportunity to learn. ”Zhou says.

　　Xu Jian, an official at the driving school, said undergraduates were very able and serious, and could grasp in an hour what ordinary people took four hours to learn. In this driving school, middle -aged people, young women and college students are the main customers.

　　To get a driver’s permit, a beginner is now required to have at least 86 hours’practice before the final road test.

　________ in Beijing want to learn to drive.

　　A. Most of the undergraduates

　　B. Many undergraduates

　　C. Many students in the driving school

　　D. Most of the students who learn business or international trade

　　The undergraduates are learning to drive because ________.

　　A. they need this skill to find a good job

　　B. they like to drive cars

　　C. they will not have any time to learn to drive after they have

　　found a full - time job

　　D. most of them will be able to buy cars in the future

　　Which of the following is likely to be Xu Jian’s opinion of students learning to drive?

　　A. He thought it was better to learn it at college than at work.

　　B. He decided it was a waste of money and time to learn to drive.

　　C. He agreed that they could learn to drive.

　　D. He thought they would spend three times more time to learn to drive than usual.

　　Which of the following can be the best headline for the passage?

　　A. Students Pay Less to Learn to Drive Now.

　　B. Students Learn to Drive.

　　C. It is Better to Learn to Drive at Colleges.

　　D. Welcome to the Driving School.