What would you do if Martians (火星人) kidnapped (绑架) your mom? In the 3-D animated movie Mars Needs Moms, a young boy named Milo finds himself in this exact difficult situation. The aliens want to steal Milo’s mother’s “momness” for their own young. Now it’s up to the 9-year-old to get his mom back before she is lost forever.
Every good action movie has a bad guy. The villain (反派角色) in this film is the Martian Supervisor, played by Mindy Sterling. The Supervisor has an icy cold heart. Remarkably, Sterling acted out almost all of her scenes in a special Martian language created just for the movie. “Learning Martian was a piece of cake,” Sterling said. “There wasn’t too much to learn; sometimes, I just made it up!”
Anyone who has a mother will be moved by this movie. In fact, anyone who loves someone will be moved by this movie. Maybe it is because the story was inspired by a real-life event. The movie is based on a novel by prize-winning cartoonist Berkeley Breathed. He wrote the book after a dinner-table incident between his wife and son, who was then 4 years old. That night, Breathed’s son had thrown his broccoli into the air and rushed out of the room angrily, yelling at his mother on the way out. Breathed told his son, “You might think differently about your mom if she were kidnapped by Martians.” He wrote the novel that same evening.
All kids get into arguments with their parents. The fights may be about homework, chores or eating vegetables. Mars Needs Moms tells us to look past these silly disagreements and to remember the importance of family and the things that really matter.
小题1:In the movie Mars Needs Moms the aliens want to _____.

A．kill Milo’s mother

B．take Milo as their kid

C．make Milo’s mother their kids’ mom

D．send their kids to Milo’s family

小题2:To Mindy Sterling, learning Martian language is _____.

A．simple

B．difficult

C．interesting

D．unacceptable

小题3:What made Breathed write the novel?

A．The movie producer’s idea.

B．His wife’s inspiration and help.

C．His good relationship with his mother.

D．His son’s bad behavior toward his mother.

小题4:In the last paragraph the author wants to _____.

A．advise children to help with the housework

B．encourage readers to learn something from the movie

C．stress the importance of doing something different

D．ask parents to be good teachers of their children

Getting close to active or erupting volcanoes can be dangerous. But for Michael Rampino, it’s all in a day’s work. Rampino is a volcanologist, a scientist who studies volcanoes and how they affect our planet. Rampino has been close to red-hot lava flows (熔岩流) in Hawaii and explosive volcanoes in Indonesia. He knows when to get close to an active volcano and when to back away.
Rampino wasn’t always a volcanologist. He worked for NASA for seven years. He studied rocks until he began to research climate change and the effects that volcanoes have on climate. He became interested in the subject. “Once I started working with volcanoes,” Rampino said, “I was hooked.”
Rampino is a professor at New York University. As part of his job, he travels to areas where volcanoes have been active. “Active” means they have erupted within the past few centuries and probably will erupt again. Rampino studies the deposits (沉积物) of ash and other materials from the eruptions. The ash may hold clues to what happened to the Earth in the distant past. It may also help scientists predict what could happen to Earth’s climate in the future.
Rampino doesn’t work alone. He works with a team of scientists who use computers to stimulate (模拟) the effects volcanoes have on Earth’s atmosphere.
Being a volcanologist may be hard work, but it’s also fun. “It’s cool traveling the world studying volcanoes,” Rampino says. When he talks to students about his work, he tells them that his goal is “to understand the events that have shaped Earth’s history.”
小题1:To Rampino, being close to active volcanoes is _____.

A．adventurous but meaningful

B．scary but necessary

C．impossible and unnecessary

D．dangerous but urgent

小题2:The underlined word “hooked” in Paragraph 2 probably means “_____”.

A．trapped

B．touched

C．frightened

D．attracted

小题3:Rampino’s study on volcanoes might help _____.

A．warn people to protect the environment

B．support the study of Earth’s future climate

C．tell the future eruption time of the volcanoes

D．reduce the possibility of the volcanoes’ eruptions

小题4:In which part of a newspaper could we find this text?

A．Climate.

B．History.

C．People.

D．Business.

As I understand, if scientists produced a human clone, there would be a great risk of it having a disease. Nobody seems to understand the ageing process of a clone. It would be terrible if a baby was the age of its parent at     31   . Its cells would grow old fast and it would die young.    32    until the technique is perfectly safe, it should be     33   .
I'd love to have a clone of     34   . I often wish I had a twin sister, someone who    35   me in everything. So why not a clone? Well, the idea    36   be fun but I'm not sure if it would be     37   . I think we would be playing with fire if we let scientists go ahead with     38   cloning. There are so many     39   
involved that all research in this area should be strictly controlled.
There are so many arguments     40    cloning that it is difficult to get anyone to consider the possible benefits. I am     41    that it is a technique which could be beneficial. The most obvious use would be for childless     42   . They would be able to have babies with their own genetic material. I don't see what's wrong with that.
Imagine a child     43    up knowing that his or her mother is really a sister or a brother. The emotional     44    on the child would be     45   . Or a child who was cloned from a dead brother or sister. What kind of emotional pressure would they feel, knowing they were made as a replacement for another? The whole idea
    46    me!
It's all very good to ban human cloning but scientists should be allowed to   47   
research. If they don't, we may     48    important benefits for our society, such as producing body organs. A clone is an     49    copy of a person with the same gene. Therefore, it is the     50    donor for an organ(器官) transplant.

小题1:	A．home B．lab C．process D．birth

小题2:	A．Besides B．Therefore C．Although D．Unless

小题3:	A．banned B．allowed C．encouraged D．forced

小题4:	A．itself B．herself C．myself D．yourself

小题5:	A．overlooked B．contradicted C．accumulated D．resembled

小题6:	A．may B．must C．can D．shall

小题7:	A．messy B．safe C．swift D．awkward

小题8:	A．human B．animal C．plant D．pet

小题9:	A．obligations B．regulations C．formulas D．risks

小题10:

A．against B．with C．for D．amid

小题11:

A．vanished B．convinced C．violated D．teased

小题12:

A．couples B．heroines C．dwarves D．elves

小题13:

A．picking B．looking C．getting D．growing

小题14:

A．pressure B．sample C．privilege D．ambition

小题15:

A．unsinkable B．unimaginable C．unbearable D．unthinkable

小题16:

A．scratches B．terrifies C．entices D．confronts

小题17:

A．continue B．predict C．tear D．mention

小题18:

A．chase B．contrast C．cure D．miss

小题19:

A．handy B．identical C．contradictory D．transparent

小题20:

A．ideal B．voluntary C．vacant D．inquisitive

The butterfly Ecological Park, which opened early this May, is located in Dabao Village in Longfeng Township of Pengzhou City, some 65 kilometers to the north of Chengdu downtown.
The park, covering an area of 67 hectares, is more famous for a variety of butterflies living in lush surroundings and houses a collection of some 30,000 butterfly species. An ideal site for parents and kids alike to enjoy the sight of “the flying flowers” and the ecological area.
A great variety of butterflies live in China, and Sichan and Yunnan are rich in butterfly resources. At present, 702 species have been discovered in Sichuan, where the number of butterfly species equals to the total of Europe. In the Longmen Mountain of Pengzhou City alone, there are more than 500 species.
The butterfly Ecological Park, a project of RMB200 million at the foot of the Longmen Mountain, is the natural habitat of butterflies. The park also has educational and cultural programs. The park has prepared many spring and summer activities for visitors, including a scientific exhibition about butterflies, a “butterfly valley” where visitors can have a close look at butterflies, even with them resting on the shoulders, and enjoy themselves in activities designed for children.
Tourists can enjoy the splendid scenery of thousands of butterflies at the “butterfly valley” and appreciate more than 30,000 different kinds of butterfly species at the exhibition area. Classified as the only category I butterfly species the Wild Animal Protection Law in 1989 in China, the Golden Kaiserihind is the most expensive species living in “butterfly valley”, with an estimated value of RMB10,000 each.
小题1:What does the underlined word “lush’in Paragraph 2 most probably mean?

A．subtle

B．rich

C．grateful

D．sensitive

小题2:The author mentioned Europe in the essay to _______?

A．stress that Sichuan has plenty of butterfly resources.

B．state that a large number of butterflies live in Europe.

C．tell readers that more than 500 species of butterflies live in Europe.

D．emphasize that Europe is less famous than the Longmen Mountain.

小题3:Why is The butterfly Ecological Park situated at the foot of the Longmen Mountain?

A．Because the park has educational and cultural programs.

B．Because the park has prepared many spring and summer activities.

C．Because visitors can have a close look at butterflies in the park.

D．Because butterflies of various species can live there naturally.

小题4:The Golden Kaiserihind in the last paragraph is probably ________.

A．a splendid scenery	B．a butterfly valley
C．an estimated value	D．a butterfly species

Today just as technology changed the face of industry, farmers have undergone an "agricultural revolution". On the farm of today, machines provide all the power.
One of the most important benefits will be the farm computer. A few forward-looking farmers are already using computers to help them run their farms more efficiently. The computers help them keep more accurate records so they can make better decisions on what crops to plant, how much livestock to buy, when to sell their products, and how much profit they can expect. Many computer companies have been developing special computer programs just for farmers. Programs are being written for hog(猪) producers, grain farmers, potato farmers, and dairy farmers. In the future, farmers will be able to purchase computer programs made to their needs. Because of the growing importance of computers on the farm, students at agricultural colleges are required to take computer classes in addition to their normal agricultural courses. There can be no doubt that farmers will rely on computers even more in the future. While the old-time farm depended on horse power, and modern farms depend on machine power, farms of the future will depend on computer power.
Another technological advance which is still in the experimental stage is the robot, a real "mechanized hired hand" that will be able to move and, in some ways, think like a human being. Unlike farmers of the present, farmers of the future will find that many day-to-day tasks will be done for them. Scientists are now developing robots that will be able to shear(修剪) sheep, drive tractors, and harvest fruit. Even complex jobs will be done by robots. For example, in order to milk their cows, farmers must first drive them into the special barn(畜棚), then connect them to the milking machines, watch the machines, and disconnect them when they are finished. In the future, this will all be done by robots. In addition, when the milking is completed, the robots will automatically check to make sure that the milk is pure. The complete mobilization of the farm is far in the future, but engineers expect that some robots will be used before long.
小题1:Which sentence carries the main idea of the whole passage? 

A．The first sentence of the first paragraph.

B．The first sentence of the second paragraph.

C．The first sentence of the third paragraph.

D．The last sentence of the second paragraph.

小题2:Which of the following statements is true?  

A．Farmers in the future will depend totally on computers.

B．Both computers and robots have been in use on today's farms.

C．Farmers mainly use machines on their farms at present.

D．Farmers can do nothing without the help of computers on today's farms.

小题3: According to the engineers,_____________ will be done by robots in the near future.

A．all farm work	B．milking cows
C．most of the farm work	D．some house work

小题4:What is the best title for the passage?

A．Computer—Farmers' Best Friend	B．Farmers in the Future
C．Robots in the future	D．Revolution on the farm

Light for the City
Edison and his assistants came to New York to set up an electric power system. They hoped it would provide enough electricity to light up a part of the great city.
They bought several machines with them. These were called generators(发电机), which produced electricity power for lamps in Edison’s building.
Soon there were lights for the building. Edison lived in a room facing the street and he often worked over night. The light burned brightly and steadily and he often worked over night. People often came and stopped their horse-drawn carriage to look. Everyone knew that Thomas Edison was in town.
First, the inventor and his assistants produced several large generators. A great deal of power would be needed to light up even a small part of the city. Then the workers were busy digging deep trenches in the hard earth below the city streets, and Edison had fourteen miles of wire laid into the trenches. The wire connected each building to a generator.
Setting up an electric power system was not an easy job. It took a year and a half. In September, 1882, the job was finished.
A small group of men stood around Edison inside the power house. The big moment came at last. The inventor, taking a deep breath, pulled a switch. The electric lights flashed up.
“Very good! Very good!” a man nearby shouted to praise Edison for what he had done.
“Sir,” said Edison, “this is only the beginning!” And Edison was right. Soon Edison’s lamp were lighting up cities all over the world.                
小题1:The generators they brought with them could produce as much as electricity as ______ needed.

A．Edison’s building	B．a small part of the city
C．the whole city	D．the world

小题2:Trenches were dug to ______.

A．set up generators

B．lay wires

C．built city streets

D．build a power house

小题3:It took a year and a half to ______.

A．set up the electric system

B．produce several large generators

C．dig the deep trenches

D．lay fourteen miles of wire into the trench

小题4:Edison took a deep breath before pulling a switch, which showed that he was ______.

A．excited

B．frightened

C．uneasy

D．light-hearted

By 2050
Futurologists（未来学家）predict that life will probably be very different in 2050.
TV channels（频道）will have disappeared. Instead, people will choose a program from a “menu” and a computer will send the program directly to the television. Today, we can use the World Wide Web to read newspaper stories and see pictures on a computer thousands of kilometers away. By 2050, music, films, programs, newspapers, and books will come to us by computer.
Cars will run on new, clean fuels and they will go very fast. Cars will have computers to control the speed and there won’t be any accidents. Today, many cars have computers that tell drivers exactly where they are. By 2050, the computer will control the car and drive it to your destination. Space planes will take people halfway around the world in 2 hours. Today, the United States Space Shuttle can go into space and land on Earth again. By 2050, space planes will fly all over the world and people will fly from Los Angeles to Tokyo in just 2 hours.
Robots will have replaced people in factories. Many factories already use robots. Big computers prefer robots—they don’t ask for pay rises or go on strike, and they work 24 hours a day. By 2050, we will see robots everywhere—in factories, schools, offices, hospitals, shops and homes.
Medical technology will have conquered many diseases. Today, there are devices（设备）that connect directly to the brain to help people hear. By 2050, we will be able to help blind and deaf people to see and hear again.
Scientist will have discovered how to control genes（基因）. Scientists have already produced clones（克隆）of animals. By 2050, scientists will be able to produce clones of people, and decide how they look, how they behave and how clever they are. Scientists will be able to do these things, but should they?
小题1:According to the passage, the following can be realized today EXCEPT __________.

A．reading newspapers on a computer

B．making a space shuttle go into space and land on Earth again

C．creating cloned animals

D．choosing TV programs freely from a “menu”

小题2:We can learn from the passage that some big companies prefer robots to human workers, because human workers __________.

A．can work 24 hours a day

B．often ask for more pay

C．are not clever enough

D．are often late for work

小题3:From Paragraph 5 we can infer that __________.

A．there will be no blind and deaf people by 2050

B．few diseases will attack people by 2050

C．devices are connected directly to the brain to help people hear

D．medical technology will be more effective by 2050

小题4:What is the author’s attitude towards the cloning technology?

A．The author does not support the use of cloning technology.

B．The author thinks human cloning is impossible.

C．The author does not really support the idea of human cloning.

D．The author is quite excited about human cloning.

A farm planted levels or floors is called a vertical（垂直的）farm. A skyscraper type building can house a vertical farm. Since the garden is built upwards，rather than outwards，it requires much less space than a conventional farm.
The world is quickly running out of room for conventional farming. Vertical farms could be a key to this situation. An 18­story vertical farm could feed as many as 50,000 people，all in an area which is the size of the average city block. Vertical farms in the city could cut down on transportation costs as well. Think about the amount of fuel it takes to transport food from farmland to city. The resources saved would be surprising. Besides saving travel time，food would be delivered in fresher condition and with less damage.
There is a growing concern about the use of pesticides(杀虫剂) in agriculture today. But the vertical farm would be a greenhouse type environment, avoiding the need for a large number of pesticides. Vertical farms can be built in a contained space，therefore they are an excellent solution for living well in an environment far different from our own. Hydroponics(水耕法) could be a big part of vertical gardening. This would reduce the amount of soil needed to grow food. Of course，not all food does well with this type of planting，but there are many crops that actually seem to do better.
In some climates，a lack of sunlight creates a short growing season. The solar power option may not work as well here. The addition of grow lights would make it possible to grow crops in vertical gardens in these areas .In other words，we could grow crops in areas where we never could before.
Vertical farms may just be a concept for now，but they are a concept that will solve many of our problems in the future.
小题1:According to the passage, a vertical farm________.

A．is mainly built outwards

B．is dependent on solar power

C．is planted on levels upwards

D．is only an environmental friendly farm

小题2:Compared to the conventional farm, the vertical farm can________.

A．depend far less on sunlight

B．greatly increase the use of soil

C．help to protect the limited gardens

D．reduce the use of harmful pesticides

小题3:It can be learned from the passage that vertical farms________.

A．have been put into use

B．only use hydroponics to grow food

C．need less room than conventional farms

D．may increase the transportation costs

小题4:What would be the best title for the passage?

A．Vertical farms for our future

B．Ways to deal with future problems

C．Vertical farms and green skyscrapers

D．Making Full Use of Our Limited Land

More than a hundred adults and kids gather for the Star Party on a cold evening, chattering excitedly as they stand in the dark on a Virginia hillside. The odd thing is, no one has turned on a flashlight, and no streetlights or house lights wink(闪烁) on around them.
These people have traveled to the countryside more than an hour from Washington, D. C., to get away from the glow of city lights.  That's because they are attending a star party. Star parties are gatherings where professional and amateur astronomers set up their telescopes and invite people to come learn about the night sky. Getting away from light pollution, or artificial skylight from buildings for example,  helps stargazers (看星星的人) see objects in the sky much better.
At this star party, Sean O'Brien of the National Air and Space Museum’s Einstein Planetarium starts off by asking the crowd to simply look up and take in all they can see. He points out plenty of things that can be seen without special equipment. Stars, satellites, and even the Andromeda galaxy(仙女座) can be found if you know where to look.
After that, several dozen astronomers offer close-up views. Each has focused their telescope on a different part of the sky. As kids take a look, the owner gives a mini-lesson.
O’Brien says you can have your own star party at home and learn a lot just by paying attention to what's happening up above. "Watch the sky as the seasons pass, and you will see that it changes," he says. "Or start with the moon. Notice when and where you are seeing it—maybe even in the early morning while you wait for the school bus. "
小题1:What was it special about the Star Party ?

A．It was organized by the local authority.

B．It was carried out without any lights.

C．It was so cold that people chatted to cheer up.

D．It was held in the town center of Virginia

小题2:According to the passage, who were involved in the activity ?
a. some invited guests
b. some government officials
c. some experts in astronomy
d. those who were interested in astronomy
e. students who were major in agriculture

A．a, c, d

B．a, d, e

C．b, d, e

D．c, d, e

小题3:From the passage, we can infer that if you want to see the objects in the sky            .

A．you'd better escape from pollution and sunlight

B．you'd better follow Sean O'Brien's guidance

C．you'd better buy some advanced equipment

D．you'd better make use of your imagination

小题4:Which of the following can be best describe what O'Brien says about discovering the stars'?

A．Roman is not built in a day.

B．No pains, no gains.

C．All roads lead to Roman.

D．Time and tide wait for no man.

Education is not an end, but a means to an end. In other words, we do not educate children only for the purpose of educating them. Our purpose is to fit them for life.
In some modern countries it has for some time been fashionable to think that by free education for all — one can solve all the problems of society and build a perfect nation. But we can already see that free education for all is not enough; we find in such countries a far larger number of people with university degree; they refuse to do what they think “low” work; and, in fact, work with hands is thought to be dirty and shameful in such countries. But we have only to think a moment to understand that the work of a completely uneducated farmer is far more important than that of a professor; we can live without education, but we die if we have no food. If no one cleaned our streets and took the rubbish away from our houses, we should get terrible diseases in our towns…
In fact, when we say that all of us must be educated to fit us for life, it means that we must be educated in such a way that, firstly, each of us can do whatever work suited to his brains and ability and, secondly, that we can realize that all jobs are necessary to society, and that is very bad to be ashamed of one’s work. Only such a type of education can be considered valuable to society.
小题1:The writer of the passage thinks that _______.

A．education can settle most of the world’s problems

B．free education for all probably leads to a perfect world

C．free education won’t help to solve problems

D．all the social problems can’t be solved by education

小题2:The writer wants to prove that _______.

A．our society needs all kinds of jobs

B．our society needs free education for all

C．a farmer is more important than a professor

D．work with hands is the most important

小题3:The purpose of education is _______.

A．to choose officials for the country

B．to prepare children mainly for their future work

C．to let everyone receive education fit for him

D．to build a perfect world

小题4:The passage tells us about _______ of the education.

A．the means

B．the system

C．the value

D．the type