Traveling by train is usually not easy in China. It can be hard to get a ticket. When you’re traveling to the railway station you look at your watch, afraid you will miss your train.

But there is good news for people traveling between Beijing and Shanghai. Construction (建设) on the express railway (高速铁路) between the two cities started just before the Spring Festival of 2008. When it is finished by 2013, taking a train will be as easy as taking a bus.

“There will be trains every several minutes. Buying a ticket, getting through the checkpoint (检查站) and taking your seat, will take just 10 minutes,” said an engineer.

There may be high-speed trains running at 350 kilometers an hour. The travel time between the two cities will decease from 10 to about 5 hours. The trains will carry twice the present number of passengers.

The new line will be 1,318 kilometers long and go across specially built bridges. It will run along side the present line. There will be 21 stations in Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.

“The cost of traveling by the express railway may be around 800 yuan. That will be more expensive than an ordinary train, but cheaper than by air.” Said Zhang Xiaoling, a Jiangsu government official.

According to Zhang, the higher price is caused by the large cost of the railway project. At about 200 billion yuan, the project may be even more expensive than the Three Gorges Project (三峡工程).

1.The express railway between Beijing and Shanghai will be finished _______.

    A. at the end of this year                  B. before the Spring Festival of 2008

    C. after 2013                           D. in about 5 years

2.Before taking your seat, you should _____ with your ticket.

    A. buy a ticket                         B. get through the checkpoint

    C. pack your things                     D. make some friends

3.The word “decrease” in the passage possibly means ______ in Chinese.

    A. 延长             B. 缩短         D. 提速             D. 限速

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

    A. Traveling by train is usually difficult in China because tickets are too expensive.

    B. The high-speed trains will have 21 stations in Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Hunan and Jiangsu.

    C. Tickets for the high-speed trains will be cheaper than those for planes.

    D. The cost of the express railway project is as high as that of the Three Gorges Project.

5.What can be the best title of the passage?

    A. An enormous project.                 B. Train tickets will get more expensive

    C. Specially built bridges              D. Beijing—Shanghai express railway

What’s the red star in the sky through a telescope(望远镜)? It is Mars. Do you want to know more about it? Take the “Mars Orbit Express”!
“Mars Orbit Express” is a space probe (探测器). It was sent towards Mars by American scientists on August 12th，2005. Its tasks are to study Mars’ atmosphere and return photos to Earth. But before that “Mars Orbit Express” must travel about 100 hundred million kilometers and seven months. It reached Mars’ orbit(轨道)in March，2006.
Mars and Earth have similar weight and size. However，Mars is closer to the sun than Earth. Mars is very cold. The average temperature is below 50℃. The temperature at noon only reaches 20℃ during a Mars day. Its atmosphere is mostly CO2. It has much sand and two moons---Phobos and Deimos.
Scientists think Earth and Mars had similar beginnings 4.6 billion years ago. But while Earth supports millions of lives，Mars becomes bad. “Earth easily could have turned out like that.” said an scientist, “It is important for us to find out why and Mars Orbit Express’ should do that.” “Mars Orbit Express” also would help scientists to learn what might happen to Earth in the future.  “Mars Orbit Express” would work for about four years.
【小题1】 What can you see through a telescope when watching Mars? ________.

Traveling by train is usually not easy in China. It can be hard to get a ticket. When you’re traveling to the railway station, you look at your watch, for you are afraid you will miss your train.

But there is good news for people traveling between Beijing and Shanghai. Construction (建设) on the express railway (高速铁路) between the two cities started just before the Spring Festival of 2008. When it is finished by 2013, taking a train will be as easy as taking a bus.

“There will be trains every several minutes. Buying a ticket, getting through the checkpoint (检查站) and taking your seat, will take just 10 minutes,” said an engineer.

There may be high-speed trains running at 350 kilometers an hour. The travel time between the two cities will decrease from 10 to about 5 hours. The trains will carry twice the present number of passengers.

The new line will be 1,318 kilometers long and go across specially built bridges. It will run along side the present line. There will be 21 stations in Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.

“The cost of traveling by the express railway may be around 800 yuan. That will be more expensive than an ordinary train, but cheaper than by air.” Said Zhang Xiaoling, a Jiangsu government official.

According to Zhang, the higher price is caused by the large cost of the railway project. At about 200 billion yuan, the project may be even more expensive than the Three Gorges Project (三峡工程).

1.The express railway between Beijing and Shanghai will be finished _______.

A. at the end of this year????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. before the Spring Festival of 2008

C. by 2013????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. in about 5 years

2.Before taking your seat, you should _____ with your ticket.

A. buy a ticket????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. get through the checkpoint

C. pack your things????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. make some friends

3.The word “decrease” in the passage possibly means ______ in Chinese.

A. 延长????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? B. 缩短????????????? ????????????? ????????????? C. 提速????????????? ????????????? ????????????? ????????????? D. 限速

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

A. Traveling by train is usually difficult in China because tickets are too expensive.

B. The high-speed trains will have 21 stations in Shanghai, Shandong, Hunan and Jiangsu.

C. Tickets for the high-speed trains will be cheaper than those for planes.

D. The cost of the express railway project is as high as that of the Three Gorges Project.

5.What can be the best title of the passage?

A. An enormous project.

B. Train tickets will get more expensive

C. Specially built bridges

D. Beijing—Shanghai express railway

Traveling by train is usually not easy in China. It can be hard to get a ticket. When you’re traveling to the railway station you look at your watch, afraid you will miss your train.

But there is good news for people traveling between Beijing and Shanghai. Construction (建设) on the express railway (高速铁路) between the two cities started just before the Spring Festival of 2008. When it is finished by 2013, taking a train will be as easy as taking a bus.

“There will be trains every several minutes. Buying a ticket, getting through the checkpoint (检查站) and taking your seat, will take just 10 minutes,” said an engineer.

There may be high-speed trains running at 350 kilometers an hour. The travel time between the two cities will decease from 10 to about 5 hours. The trains will carry twice the present number of passengers.

The new line will be 1,318 kilometers long and go across specially built bridges. It will run along side the present line. There will be 21 stations in Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Anhui and Jiangsu.

“The cost of traveling by the express railway may be around 800 yuan. That will be more expensive than an ordinary train, but cheaper than by air.” Said Zhang Xiaoling, a Jiangsu government official.

According to Zhang, the higher price is caused by the large cost of the railway project. At about 200 billion yuan, the project may be even more expensive than the Three Gorges Project (三峡工程).

1.The express railway between Beijing and Shanghai will be finished _______.

    A. at the end of this year                  B. before the Spring Festival of 2008

    C. after 2013                           D. in about 5 years

2.Before taking your seat, you should _____ with your ticket.

    A. buy a ticket                         B. get through the checkpoint

    C. pack your things                     D. make some friends

3.The word “decrease” in the passage possibly means ______ in Chinese.

    A. 延长             B. 缩短         D. 提速             D. 限速

4.Which of the following statements is TRUE according to the passage?

    A. Traveling by train is usually difficult in China because tickets are too expensive.

    B. The high-speed trains will have 21 stations in Hebei, Tianjin, Shandong, Hunan and Jiangsu.

    C. Tickets for the high-speed trains will be cheaper than those for planes.

    D. The cost of the express railway project is as high as that of the Three Gorges Project.

5.What can be the best title of the passage?

    A. An enormous project.                 B. Train tickets will get more expensive

    C. Specially built bridges              D. Beijing—Shanghai express railway