Though ____ to see the strangers, the housewife gave them a big smile and said hello.

A. surprising????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. to be surprised

C. surprised????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. having surprised

In a surprising discovery about where higher life can survive, scientists have found a shrimp —— like creature and a jellyfish swimming beneath an Antarctic ice sheet.
About 180 meters below the ice where no light can get through, scientists had thought nothing much more than a few microbes (微生物) could exist.
That’s why a NASA team was surprised when they lowered a video camera to get the first long look at the underbelly of an ice sheet in Antarctica. A curious shrimp – like creature came swimming by and then parked itself on the camera’s cable. Scientists also pulled up a tentacle (触须) they believe came from a jellyfish.
“We were operating on the presumption that nothing’s there.” Said NASA ice scientist Robert Bindschadler. “It was a shrimp you’d enjoy having on your plate.”
“We were just gaga (狂热的) over it,” he said of the 7.5cm long, orange creature starring in their two – minute video. Technically, it’s not a shrimp. It’s a Lyssianasid amphipod, which is distantly related to the shrimp.
The video is likely to inspire experts to rethink what they know about life in harsh environments. And it has scientists thinking that if shrimp – like creatures can live below 180 meters of Antarctic ice in freezing dark water, what about other cold places? What about Europa, a frozen moon of Jupiter?
Cynan Ellis – Evans, a scientist of the British Antarctic Survey called the finding fascinating. He said it was possible the creatures swam in from far away and don’t live there permanently.
But Kim, who is a co-author of the study, doubts it. “The site in West Antarctica is at least 19 km from open seas. Bindschadler drilled a 20 cm – wide hole and was looking at a tiny amount of water. That means it’s unlikely that two creatures swam from great distances and were captured randomly in that small of an area,” she said.
Yet scientist were puzzled at what the food source would be for these creatures. While some microbes can make their own food out of chemicals in the ocean, complex life like the shrimp can’t, Kim said.
“So how do they survive? That’s the key question.” Kim Sai.
“It’s pretty amazing when you find a huge puzzle like that on a planet where we thought we know everything.” Kim said.
【小题1】 What does the underlined word “harsh” probably mean?

I give two examples as to why intelligent life may not actually exist, though I admit that for me, or even for a physicist who devoted his or her entire life to researching and studying the universe, it's shocking to claim that completely no life exists elsewhere.

Keeping that in mind, I'd just like to consider conditions elsewhere in the known universe. You really only need to look at our own solar system or the Earth at certain periods in its own history to appreciate that most places are much worse and much less suitable for life than our mild, watery globe.

So far, space scientists have discovered about seventy planets outside the solar. But it appears that if you wish to have a planet suitable for life, you just have to be very lucky, and the more advanced the life is, the luckier you'll have to be. I'm by no means a space observer, but I can recognize some particularly fortunate breaks we've had on the Earth. For example:

We are, to a degree, at the right distance from the perfect type of star, the one that is big enough to radiate a huge amount of energy, but not so big as to bum itself out quickly. Had our sun been ten times as huge, it would have burnt out completely after only ten million years, instead of ten billion and surely we would not exist. Too near, everything on the Earth would have boiled and withered away; any further, everything would have frozen over.

The universe is a surprising place, and our existence within it is a wonder. If a long and unimaginably complex sequence of events dating back 4.6 billion years or so hadn't happened in a particular manner at a particular time --if, to take just one example, the dinosaurs hadn't been wiped out by a meteor(流星)--we might still be a few centimeters long, with whisker(胡须) and a tail, and you'll be reading this in a cave somewhere.

1.What's the best title for this passage?

A. No Life Exists out of the Earth

B. Seventy Planets Discovered

C. A Place Full of Wonders

D. Perfect Conditions for Life

2.What makes the Earth more suitable for life than other planets in the solar system?

A. The Earth is the only planet that can receive energy from the sun.

B. The sun is at the right distance from us and in proper size.

C. The distance between the planets was neither too long nor too near.

D. The dinosaurs were no longer a threat to the Earth.

3.What does the underlined phrase "withered away" in the 4th paragraph mean?

A. Exploded.    B. Expanded.  C. Floated away.       D. Dried and died.

4.Where does the text probably come from?

A. A history book.     B. A magazine.  C. A science fiction.          D. A famous novel.

Tyler was a troubled student.He was in my senior class last year.It was __1__ to his former teachers that he had made it to his senior year.

He sat in the back row.Every time I spoke in the front of the class，I would ask students questions，__2__ them by name.This helped me learn their names while getting the kids __3__.Unfortunately，every time I asked him a question，he would __4__ with a flip(轻率的) answer.He knew the answers when he listened __5__ he didn’t want to be asked.If he got a wrong answer，he would get very angry.

One day，Tyler was talking while I was teaching.In the __6__ of teaching I said，“Tyler，why are you having your own discussion instead of __7__ ours？” With that，he __8__ from his chair，pushed it over，and yelled.I sent him to the office with a discipline referral，and he __9__ a week’s out of school suspension.

The week’s out of school suspension was wonderful.However，the week soon came to a(n) __10__，and I began to worry about his __11__.I knew from talking with his other teachers that he would be back even angrier.

I made a(n) __12__.On the day that he came back，I stood at the door __13__ him.As soon as I saw him，I asked him to talk for a moment.He seemed __14__ to do it but agreed.I told him that I wanted to start over(重新开始) with him.Furthermore，I gave him permission that if he felt he was going to lose __15__ in class he could step right outside the door for a moment to collect himself.

From that point on，Tyler was a(n) __16__ student in my classroom.He listened and participated.He was __17__ a smart child and I could finally get to see this in him.He even __18__ a fight between two other students one day.I __19__ that giving him the power to decide for himself made all the __20__.

1.A.surprising? B．interesting

C．disappointing? D．upsetting

2.A.visiting? B．watching

C．interviewing? D．calling

3.A.defeated? B．addicted

C．involved? D．impressed

4.A.exchange? B．respond

C．share? D．connect

5.A.until B．if

C．unless? D．but

6.A.case? B．matter

C．middle? D．presence

7.A.joining? B．starting

C．hearing? D．learning

8.A.fell down? B．got up

C．jumped in? D．fell off

9.A.suggested? B．refused

C．received? D．requested

10.A.end? B．decision

C．head D．agreement

11.A.study? B．return

C．family? D．health

12.A.plan B．mistake

C．face D．noise

13.A.looking after? B．escaping from

C．waiting for? D．staring at

14.A.excited? B．unhappy

C．calm? D．crazy

15.A.touch B．courage

C．heart? D．control

16.A.changed? B．similar

C．confused? D．proud

17.A.rarely? B．actually

C．usually? D．hardly

18.A.led? B．missed

C．reported? D．stopped

19.A.believe B．doubt

C．expect? D．recommend

20.A.effort? B．difference

C．point D．way

Work is a part of living —my grandparents understood that. They lived and worked on a farm that has been in my family for 150 years. They raised chickens for eggs , pigs and cattle for meat . Cows were kept for milk and the cream, from which Grandma made butter and cheese. What little yard they had became a garden.

The Depression, therefore, didn’t make much change in their lives. But it did bring an unending flow of men out of work, drifting from job to job, to the farm. The first to show up at the door of the kitchen was a man in rags. He took off his hat and quietly explained that he hadn’t eaten for a while. Grandpa stood watching him a bit , then said , “There’s a stack of firewood against the fence behind the barn (谷仓). I’ve been needing to get it moved to the other side of the fence . You have just about enough time to finish the job before lunch .”

Grandma said a surprising thing happened. The man got a shine in his eyes and he hurried to the barn at once. She set another place at the table and made an apple pie. During lunch, the stranger didn’t say much, but when he left, his shoulders had straightened. “Nothing ruins a man like losing his self-respect,” Grandpa later told me.

Soon after, another man showed up asking for a meal. This one was dressed in a suit and carried a small old suitcase. Grandpa came out when he heard voices. He looked at the man and then offered a handshake.” There is a stack of firewood along the fence down behind the barn I’ve been meaning to get it moved. It’d sure be a help to me . And we’d be pleased to have you stay for lunch.” The fellow set his suitcase aside and neatly laid his coat on top. Then he set off to work.

Grandma says she doesn’t remember how many strangers they shared a meal with during those Depression days-or how many times that stack of wood got moved.

1.When he was asked to move a stack of firewood, the first man who asked for a meal got a shine in his eyes for he was glad that         .

2.The writer’s grandfather asked those jobless men to move the stack of firewood because     .

3.The writer’s grandfather was all of the following but         .

4.The best title for the story would be         .