Once in a blue moon,(极为罕见) there is one on New Year's Eve. Revelers ringing in 2010 will be treated to a so-called blue moon. According to popular definition, a blue moon is the second full moon in a month. But don't expect it to be blue - the name has nothing to do with the color of our closest celestial(天空的) neighbor. A full moon occurred on December 2. It will appear again on Thursday in time for the New Year's countdown.

The New Year's Eve blue moon will be visible in the United States, Canada, Europe, South America and Africa. For partygoers in Australia and Asia, the full moon does not show up until New Year's Day, making January a blue moon month for them.

A full moon occurs every 29.5 days, and most years have 12. On average, an extra full moon in a month - a blue moon - occurs every 2.5 years. The last time there was a lunar double take was in May 2007. New Year's Eve blue moons are rarer, occurring every 19 years. The last time was in 1990; the next one won't come again until 2028.

“Blue moons have no astronomical significance,” said Greg Laughlin, an astronomer at the University of California. “`Blue moon' is just a name in the same sense as a `hunter's moon'(a full moon in octorber) or a `harvest moon,'” Laughlin said in an e-mail.

The popular definition of blue moon came about after a writer for Sky & Telescope magazine in 1946 misinterpreted the Maine Farmer's Almanac and labeled a blue moon as the second full moon in a month. In fact, the almanac(年历) defined a blue moon as the third full moon in a season with four full moons.

1.What’s the color of blue moon?

A．blue             B．golden            C．green            D．red

2.If you are in China, in which month can you see the blue moon?

A．December, 2009                        B．November, 2009

C．January, 2010                          D．February, 2010

3.Compared with the hunters moon, the blue moon ________ .

A．is more beautiful    B．is rarer           C．is larger           D．is brighter

4.Which full moon should be called blue moon according to the original definition?

A．The second full moon in a month with two full moons.

B．The third full moon in a month with three full moons.

C．The second full moon in a season with four full moons.

D．The third full moon in a season with four full moons.

5.What would be the best title for the passage ?

A．Rare New Year’s Eve Blue Moon to Ring in 2010

B．Blue Moon to Take Us Good Fortune

C．The Best Time to Observe Blue Moon

D．The Reason for Blue Moon’s Appearing

 

A man wanted to make an investment. An idea struck him: “Why don’t I plant a small mango tree and enjoy the benefits when it grows into a big one?” So he went to the    , bought a small tree and took it home. To the pride of his family, he     it in the center of his     .

He read everything about      a mango tree. He got up early every morning, for he was determined to supply the tree with all the necessary nutrients. He watered it,      it with manure（粪肥），and took good care of its leaves by removing those      ones. He made sure the tree received enough care.

Many times he sat and      the beauty of the growing tree while dreaming about the      mangos that the tree would     . His mind was always filled with the wish to taste the first fruit of the tree.

Years went by     …Now, he had a big tree with its leaves shining and healthy, its bark（树皮）healthy and hard. It was a big attraction      it decorated his whole garden.

Then one day he noticed a small bud（花蕾）,which in a couple of days grew into a beautiful     .Now he could hardly wait for the fruit, so he started to      his supply of nutrients and care. Then one day the tree let out its first product—a small green fruit. The man was so     .

He waited for a few more weeks till the fruit grew in     .The day came when he decided to      the first fruit of the tree. He      the tree, picked the fruit and then came his     .The fruit was not like what he expected. It was hard, big and round. He was puzzled. He was sad.

Seeing this, his      came and asked him what happened. He told them that the fruit from his tree was not what he wanted. When the neighbors heard this, they did not know whether to      or comfort him, for what he planted years ago was not a mango tree. We can only reap（收获）what we plant.

1.A．city  B．farm    C．market         D．shop

2.A．grew         B．moved         C．planted        D．threw

3.A．garden     B．house C．village D．yard

4.A．buying      B．improving   C．keeping       D．raising

5.A．decorated        B．equipped    C．served         D．supplied

6.A．green       B．red      C．white  D．yellow

7.A．admired   B．drew   C．greeted       D．operated

8.A．beneficial         B．expensive   C．healthy        D．tasty

9.A．bear         B．burst   C．deserve       D．make

10.A．immediately   B．quickly         C．narrowly     D．suddenly

11.A．because          B．if          C．though         D．when

12.A．flower    B．fruit    C．leaf     D．nut

13.A．rise         B．increase      C．decrease     D．decline

14.A．greedy   B．happy C．nervous       D．sad

15.A．age         B．length C．size     D．width

16.A．observe B．sell      C．steal    D．taste

17.A．climbed B．cut      C．hid      D．killed

18.A．anxiety  B．cheer C．disappointment   D．opinion

19.A．children          B．friends         C．neighbors   D．relatives

20.A．complain        B．laugh  C．motivate      D．support

 

The International Space Station allows astronauts to live in space for extended amounts of time, enabling them to explore the outside universe and conduct many experiments. However, nothing like that exists for our oceans, and thanks to the high water pressure, ocean researchers are able to explore what lies undersea for very short periods of time.

They are therefore never able to fully explore the deep inside areas of our oceans. However, if French architect Jacques Rougerie has his way, that will change soon.

    Jacqucs has designed a ship that will allow researchers to spend a long period of time observing the sea life and conducting experiments. The huge 167ft ship, named 'Sea Orbiter', consists of two areas—one above the water where the scientists and crew will live, and a lower pressurized deck (甲板), where scientists will be able to spend as much time as they wish. Since it is powered by sea currents and wind, he expects it to drift (漂流) along the oceans slowly, taking about two years to circumvent the globe.

Jacques will make their life as comfortable as possible in the ship. Besides being equipped with the latest sailing tools and communication equipment, the ship will also have a gym, a television and a DVD player. And these guys will not be eating freeze-dried food like astronauts. Instead, Jacques, an accomplished chef, plans on cooking them delicious meals every day.

    The biggest problem to this giant ship is the cost, which is expected to be over $500 million—per ship! However, Jacques, who strongly believes that the secrets of our oceans may be the key to solving global warming and a vital supply for food and medicine in the future, is confident he will be able to convince governments all over the world to help out, and expects to start construction on not one, but four or five of these amazing ships soon!

1.Why can’t ocean researchers explore the deep oceans for a long time?

    A. Because they can’t stand the high water pressure.

    B. Because it’s too cold in deep ocean.

    C. Because time for experiments is too limited.

    D. Because it’s dangerous to observe the sea life.

2.The underlined word "circumvent" probably means          .

    A. fly away    B. get around     C. travel through     D. move into

3.From the fourth paragraph we can learn that        .

    A. Jacques intends to design the ship mainly for sightseeing and traveling

    B. living a comfortable life helps to do the ocean research quickly

    C. it’s much more expensive to eat freeze-dried food

    D. researchers on Jacque’s ship will live more comfortably than astronauts

4.Which of the following would be the best title for the text?

A. Sea Orbiter—the ship of the future  

B. A new way to explore the deep oceans

C. A great architect—Jacques Rougerie 

D. Travel around the globe in Sea Orbiter

 

Gallows humor（黑色幽默）seem like a mistake, or at least in poor taste. But psychologists say that gallows humor can be an important way to relieve stress. “Humor makes you feel in control and it can give you that feeling that everything is okay even when it's not,” says James M. Jones, a psychology professor at the University of Delaware.

Psychologists say that just because you're laughing doesn't mean you’re wasting time. Occasional teasing among colleagues, particularly if it revolves around things associated with the job, can boost creativity, departmental cohesiveness（凝聚力）and performance.

“There are a lot of stressors out there,” says Ed Dunkelblau, a psychologist with the Institute for Emotionally Intelligent Learning in Chicago. “But gallows humor is a way of making difficult things a little less difficult.”

This is true as long as the humor is used for the right purpose. The main point of it should be inspiring people --- not laughing at them. “Anything that would lift morale（士气）in terms of the company would be good humor,” says Thierry Guedj, a professor of business and psychology at Boston University. “Before you say or do anything, think about, ‘How is this helping my employees’ morale?’”

You want to give your employees and co-workers a sense of belonging, so don’t make observations that are aggressive. Most obviously, Dr Guedj says, don’t make comments about people’s physical appearance, or faith. If you have any doubt, it's appropriate, don't go through with it.

Or you can take aim at the one person you know won't be offended（冒犯）:Yourself. “If there's going to be a joke or story, it should be you,” Mr. Dunkelblau says. For example, if you're a marketing manager reviewing a failed campaign that you led, begin with a line like, “The guy who gave permission to this deal might just be looking for work next week.”

“People with the ability to laugh at themselves can give other people permission to laugh at themselves too,” Mr. Jones says. “And if you can laugh at yourself, you feel better about yourself.”

1.According to the text, gallows humor has the following functions EXCEPT ________.

A．reducing pressure

B．improving performance

C．making people more creative

D．leading to a big mistake

2.What is Ed Dunkelblau’s attitude towards gallows humor?

A．Positive.          B．Negative.          C．Neutral.           D．Uncertain.

3.Which of the following would Dr. Guedj most probably agree with?

A．Gallows humor is the basic source of morale.

B．Gallows humor allows people to laugh at others.

C．Gallows humor may sometimes be used for the wrong purpose.

D．Anything that may lift morale can be called gallows humor.

4.When people use gallows humor, they should ________.

A．observe who is aggressive

B．show a sense of belonging

C．doubt about the result of humors

D．try to avoid irritating others

5.What can we infer from the text?

A．People tend to laugh at others rather than themselves.

B．Laughing at ourselves can help relieve the stress of others.

C．People can’t avoid offending others with gallows humor.

D．People who laugh at themselves are hard to be friends with.

 

Everybody is happy as his pay rises. Yet pleasure at your own can disappear if you learn that a fellow worker has been given a bigger one. Indeed, if he is known as being lazy, you might even be quite cross. Such behavior is regarded as “all too human”, with the underlying belief that other animals would not be able to have this finely developed sense of sadness. But a study by Sarah Brosnan of Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, which has just been published in Nature, suggests that it is all too monkey, as well.

The researchers studied the behaviors of some kind of female brown monkeys. They look smart. They are good-natured, co-operative creatures, and they share their food happily. Above all, like female human beings, they tend to pay much closer attention to the value of “goods and services” than males.

Such characteristics make them perfect subjects for Doctor Brosnan’s study. The researchers spent two years teaching their monkeys to exchange tokens (奖券) for food. Normally, the monkeys were happy enough to exchange pieces of rock for pieces of cucumber. However, when two monkeys were placed in separate and connected rooms, so that each other could observe what the other is getting in return for its rock, they became quite different.

In the world of monkeys，grapes are excellent goods (and much preferable to cucumbers). So when one monkey was handed a grape in exchange for her token, the second was not willing to hand hers over for a mere piece of cucumber. And if one received a grape without having to provide her token in exchange at all, the other either shook her own token at the researcher, or refused to accept the cucumber. Indeed, the mere presence of a grape in the other room (without an actual monkey to eat it) was enough to bring about dissatisfaction in a female monkey.

The researches suggest that these monkeys, like humans, are guided by social senses. In the wild, they are co-operative and group-living. Such co-operation is likely to be firm only when each animal feels it is not being cheated. Feelings of anger when unfairly treated, it seems, are not the nature of human beings alone. Refusing a smaller reward completely makes these feelings clear to other animals of the group. However, whether such a sense of fairness developed independently in monkeys and humans, or whether it comes from the common roots that they had 35 million years ago, is, as yet, an unanswered question.

1.According to the passage, which of the following statements is TRUE?

A．Only monkeys and humans can have the sense of fairness in the world.

B．In the wild, monkeys are never unhappy to share their food with each other.

C．Women will show more dissatisfaction than men when unfairly treated.

D．Monkeys can exchange cucumbers for grapes, for grapes are more attractive.

2.The underlined statement “it is all too monkey” means that ________.

A．monkeys are also angry with lazy fellows

B．monkeys, like humans, tend to be envious of each other

C．no animals other than monkeys can develop such feelings

D．feeling angry at unfairness is also monkey’s nature

3.Female monkeys of this kind are chosen for the research most probably because they are _________.

A．more likely to pay attention to the value of what they get

B．attentive to researchers’ instructions

C．nice in both appearance and behaviors

D．more ready to help others than their male companions

4.We can learn ________according to the passage?

A．Human beings' feelings of anger are developed from the monkeys.

B．Cooperation between monkeys stays firm before the realization of being cheated.

C．In the research, male monkeys are less likely to exchange food with others.

D．Only monkeys and humans have the sense of fairness dating back to 35 million years ago.

5.What can we infer about the monkeys in Sarah’s study?

A．The monkeys can be trained to develop social senses.

B．The monkeys may show their satisfaction with equal treatment.

C．They usually show their feelings openly as humans do.

D．Cooperation among the monkeys remains effective in the wild.