Zinedine Zidane, who dreams of leading France to its second World Cup title in a row next month, has always preferred to express himself with a football rather than with words.

    Last Wednesday Zidane scored the decisive goal when Real Madrid of Spain won the Champions League final against Germany’s Leverkusen 2－1.

He became one of the world’s most expensive players when he joined Real Madrid from Italy’s Juventus for US $ 66 million. And he has been a national hero since he scored twice in the 3－0 defeat of Brazil in the 1998 World Cup Final.

    But despite his success, Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground. He leads a quiet family life, there is hardly any gossip^① about him and he avoids putting his wife and two children in the spotlight^②.

“Just because I’m a public figure it doesn’t mean I have to express myself on everything. I don’t like to discuss some personal matters publicly.” he said.

    Even as a child playing football in the slum area of Marseille, France, where he was raised by his Algerian parents, Zidane was shy.

    He loved football even as a little kid. “I realized football is a wonderful mixture of a sharp mind and hard training rather than just talking,”he said.

    Even when the match awards were just chocolate and bread, Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich.

    Before he was 10 years old, it was obvious that he could become a great footballer. He was offered his first professional contract^③ when he was just 20. Now, at the age of 29, he has already picked up two World Player of the year awards.

This quiet striker has not yet spoken of his hopes for the coming World Cup. But his fans across the world will be eagerly watching him to see what he’ll do this time.

Notes:

gossip  n. 流言蜚语

spotlight  n. 聚光灯

contract  n. 合同

What did Zidane learn from his childhood football experience? He learned that _______.

A. he could become a great footballer

B. he could become rich if he became a footballer

C. football is a mixture of a sharp mind and hard training but not just talking

D. football is a favorite sport in the future

According to the article, what are Zidane’s main characteristics?

A. He is a shy but successful man.

B. He loves his wife and children.

C. He doesn’t like to speak in public.

D. He is a quiet, down-to-earth person of few words.

When the writer says “Zidane has always kept his feet on the ground”, he means that _______.

A. Zidane spends more time standing than sitting most days

B. Zidane is a down-to-earth person

C. Zidane has spent most of his time training on the pitch

D. Zidane likes standing when he succeeds

The sentence “Zidane found that football made his poor childhood rich” means ________.

A. football made Zidane’s poor family wealthy when he was a child

B. Zidane knew that football could bring him fame and wealth even when he was a child

C. football brought happiness to Zidane when he was a child in a poor family

D. Zidane knew that if he wanted 10 be rich he must play football from childhood

The idea of sailing west to reach the riches of the East Indies and the Asian mainland was much in fashion with cultured Europeans during the late fifteenth century. Learned people agreed that the earth was round: their only questions were how long and how dangerous would be a trip to reach the Orient. Christopher Columbus, the son of an unknown weaver, and himself a weaver of ambitious dreams, made his historic voyage to the New World in 1492. He didn't go to school very much, but be learned to read and write Spanish during his travels. He also taught himself Latin because all the geography books were written in Latin. Sailing with a tiny fleet of three ships, the Santa Maria and two smaller ships, the Pinta and the Nina and a crew of ninety sailors, be found the thirty-three-day crossing easier than his nearly-decade-long effort to find royal sponsors willing to support it. The trip drew not only on his own skills as an expert ship's captain, but also on his ability to plan such an expedition, obtain governmental approval and financing, and finally, demonstrate its success so that such explorations could continue. He tried for years to get King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella to supply him with ships and money. Finally they agreed, but he made more demands. He wanted to be made a knight, admiral of the Ocean Sea. He wanted to be the viceroy(总督)and governor general of all lands he would discover. Also he wanted one-tenth of everything he found of value in the new lands. The explorations that followed Columbus-those of Cabot, Verrazano, Cartier, and many others-benefited from a new maritime technology borrowed from Arab sailors and from a variety of new vessels (船，舰) such as the light-weight caravels employed by Columbus. Sailors also perfected sails and various types of riggings that gave ships added stability and greater maneuverability(可操作性)on the open seas. And when leaving sight of the coast, new navigational aids-charts, compasses, and astrolabes-permitted them to determine their position with some, though not perfect, accuracy. Columbus himself made a total of four voyages to the New World but he did not become rich as he had hoped. At the end of his life he only had a pension the king and queen had given him because he was the first to reach the New World. He spent the last few months of his life in bed because of the pain of arthritis(关)． Columbus not only discovered a New World, but led the way for other explorers.

1.What was the dream destination of Europeans in the late fifteenth century?

A．The oriental countries.	B．The East Indonesia.
C．The Old World.	D．The African mainland. ．

2.What preparations did Columbus make for his first voyage to the New World?

①He planned the expedition thoroughly.

②He spent almost ten years in looking for sponsors.

③He gathered a great many ships.

④He hired 90 sailors.

⑤He demonstrated his success of former far-reaching explorations.

A．①②③④⑤

B．①②④

C．①④⑤

D．②④⑤

3.We can learn from the passage that ________.

A．Christopher Columbus was an ambitious explorer

B．he was a geologist with ambitious dreams

C．Columbus became extremely wealthy after making a total of four voyages

D．he was an unsuccessful canvasser(游说者)

4.What equipment aided the sailors in locating relatively more accurately?

A．A variety of new vessels.	B．The light-weighted caravels.
C．Various types of riggings.	D．Charts, compasses and astrolabes.

5.In the passage, the author mainly tells us ________.

A．the tragedy of Columbus's life as a whole

B．Columbus's life story and his achievements

C．Columbus's exploration to the East Indies and Asia

D．how Columbus arrived in the New World ．

 

      One day an ordinary dog appeared in the ticket office at Campiglia, a busy railroad station on Italy's main line. A ticket agent named Elvio greeted the strange dog in a friendly way, so the dog decided to stay. From that day on, the dog became Elvio's shadow and was named Lampo.

      Lampo kept Elvio Company (陪伴) inside the ticket office. When the weather was warm, he would enjoy himself in the sun on the train platform. When it came time for Elvio to return home on the train at night, Lampo ran after the train for a long way and then sadly gave up and went back to the station.

      One night as Elvio was riding home on the train, he noticed that Lampo was lying at his feet. Afraid that the conductor would see the dog on the train and shout at him, Elvio pushed Lampo under a seat. Luckily, the conductor did not notice the dog. Lampo came home with Elvio and met his family. Then, after a short visit, Lampo boarded the last train and went back to the station. Lampo quickly learned all of the train schedules (时刻表). He would ride home from work with Elvio every night and then ride back to the station alone. Every morning, Lampo arrived at Elvio's house in time to walk his young daughter, Mivna, to school. The faithful dog would then take another train to travel again to accompany Mivna home from school at 11:30.

      Soon, Lampo began to take the train all over Italy. Lampo became famous among the men who worked on the railroad, as his journeys became more frequent, complicated and mysterious. No one could explain why he traveled or how he always found the right train back to Campiglia. People decided that Lampo was a unique dog.

     Some of the railroad officials were against Lampo's illegal travels. They were afraid he would bite a passenger or cause some other problems. Finally, the stationmaster threatened to call the dogcatcher if Elvio didn't get rid of the dog.

       Elvio decided to put Lampo on a train going as far away as possible. Months went by and Lampo did not come back. Mivna missed him very much and prayed for his return. Finally one day, a sad, very thin, tired Lampo returned to Elvio's office. Everyone, even the stationmaster, was sorry about what had happened. From then on, Lampo was allowed to ride the trains whenever he wanted. After seven years, Lampo grew old, and he began to need Elvio's help to board the train.

      One day Lampo was seen lying dead on the tracks. A year later, a life sized statue of Lampo was set up at Campiglia station.

66. The first time Lampo took the train, Elvio was ______.

 A. delighted that he was lucky                                

 B. afraid the dog would bite someone

 C. afraid the conductor would see him and be angry

 D. excited that Lampo would soon meet his family

67. Lampo's traveling all over Italy caused people to believe that _______.

 A. he could read the train schedules                             B. he was famous in the country

 C. Elvio secretly helped him                                   D. he was a very special dog

68. The stationmaster threatened that if Elvio didn't get rid of the dog, _______.

 A. Elvio would be fired                                          B. Lampo would be put on the train tracks

 C. the stationmaster would send him away         D. a dogcatcher would be called

69. Which of the following is NOT mentioned in the story?

 A. The dog was once sent away by Elvio.

 B. The dog finally won the stationmaster's heart.

 C. The dog was faithful to his master.

 D. The dog died when he was seven years old.

70. The author suggests that a statue of Lampo was set up because _______.   

 A. the stationmaster felt sorry about what had happened

 B. he had been a friend to travelers

 C. it would bring good luck to the town

 D. Elvio offered money to set up the statue

   阅读下面短文，掌握其大意，然后从21—30各题所给的A、B、C和D项中，选出最佳选项，并在答题卡上将该项涂黑。

One Sunday, Cody decided to go sailing in his boat with his friends Dane, but Dane happened to be away. Dane’s brother Brett wanted to go instead he did not know anything about sailing. Cody and they set out to sea.

Soon they themselves in a thick fog(雾). Cody was sure they would be hit by a big ship. Luckily he saw a large buoy（浮标）the fog and decided to tie the boat to it for  . As he was getting onto the buoy, however, he dropped the wet rope. The boat moved away in the fog carrying Brett who did not know   to use the radio. He drifted（漂流） about and was not seen until twelve hours later.

Cody the night on the buoy. In the early morning he fell asleep and was having a bad when a shout woke him up. A ship, called Good Hope, came up and he climbed onto it and thanked the captain. The captain told him that Brett had been picked up by ship and the ship’s captain had sent out a  .

从A、B、C、D四个选项中选择能填入空白处的正确答案，并将其字母代号填入答题卷相应空格内。

A.so             B.because          C.though           D.but

A.agreed        B.liked         C.disagreed         D.allowed

A.enjoyed        B.found       C.played            D.helped

A.from          B.across           C.through           D.by

A.trouble        B.help            C.safety            D.time

A.what          B.where         C.when             D.how

A.spent         B.took            C.wasted            D.paid

A.meal         B.lesson           C.ride             D.dream

A.other         B.another          C.the other         D.others

A.note         B.message        C.letter            D.news

Have you ever dreamed of visiting a planet in the Milk Way? While the trip sounds exciting, it would take years and years to reach your destination. So in the future, bedtime for astronauts may be more than a few hours of regular shut-eye. They would have to sleep for years.

European researchers are now conducting hibernation experiments. The study may help them understand whether humans could ever sleep through the years it would take for a space flight to distant planets. "If there was an effective technology, it could make deep-space travel a reality," said Mark Ayre of the European Space Agency last month.

What seems like science fiction is not completely unlikely. Researchers have been able to use chemicals to put living cells into a sleep-like state where they don't age. They have now moved on to small, non-hibernating mammals like rats. The results will be out by the end of 2004.

A major challenge is the fact that cells can be very simple systems, whereas body organs are far more complex.

"It's like moving from a simple Apple computer to a supercomputer," said Marco Biggiogera, a hibernation researcher at Italy's University of Pavia.

Just like bears and frogs, the hibernation of human beings would cause a person's metabolism (新陈代谢) to lower so they would need less energy.

Medical research, however, is just half of a space flight hibernation system.

There is the challenge of designing a suitable protective shelter. Such a shelter would provide the proper environment for hibernation, such as the proper temperature. It would also have to monitor (监控) life functions and serve the physiological needs of the hibernator.

According to Ayre, the six-person Human Outer Planets Exploration Mission to Jupiter's moon (木星的卫星) Callisto, could be an opportunity to use human hibernation. The mission aims to send six humans on a five-year flight to Callisto, where they will spend 30 days, in 2045.

9. European researchers are conducting hibernation experiments to ________.

A. ensure astronauts to get a complete sleep  B. find the secret of some creatures

C. make preparations for the journey to Jupiter’s moon Callisto

D. know if man can sleep for years

 10. The sentence “What seems like science fiction is not completely unlikely” means ______.

A. Science fiction is people’s imagination.

B. Science fiction is imaginative, but it can be realized.

C. Things seem impossible may come true.

D. Things described in science fiction are sure to become true.

11. The passage is implied but doesn’t states that ________.

A. putting living cells into a sleep-like state is full of failure

B. Biggiogera is confident with the experiment

C. human’s hibernation needs no energy

D. medical research is the key to space flight hibernation system

12. By designing a suitable protective shelter, astronauts can ________.

A. have a good hibernation        B. lessen the pressure of traveling in space

C. feed themselves in spaceship    D. moinitor their body changes

13. What’s the best title for the passage?

A. Six humans to fly to Callisto  B. Human hibernation improves health

C. Space travel attracts people   D. Deep sleep for deep space travel