In the summer of 1978 an English man named Steven was driving his tractor through a field of wheat when he discovered something strange. Some of his wheat was lying on the ground. The flattened wheat formed(形成)a circle about six meters across . Around this circle were four smaller circles of flattened wheat.

　 Three years later a farmer who lived nearby discovered almost the same circles in one of his fields. These circles were larger—nearly 15 meters across . That same year , another English farmer discovered three circles of flattened wheat on his land—one large circle between two small circles. During the following years, farmers in England found circles in their fields more and more often.

　 The circles are called “crop circles” because they usually appear in fields of wheat or corn. The wheat in the circles lies on the ground but is never broken; it keeps on growing, and the farmers can later harvest it. Farmers always discover the crop circles in the morning, so the circles probably form at night. They appear only in the months from May to September. What causes the crop circles?

　 At first, people thought that some kids were making them as a joke, or that farmers were making them to attract tourists.(In fact, in 1991, two men said they made the circles themselves, but many scientists don’t believe them.) People tried to copy them: They tried to make circles exactly like the ones the farmers had found. They couldn’t do it. They couldn’t enter a field of wheat without leaving tracks, and they couldn’t flatten the wheat without breaking it.

　 Several times people reported seeing stranger objects near the fields where crop circles later appeared. Many people believe that these crop circles are the messages sent by living things from outer space(外层空间)or the marks left by their spaceships.

　 Scientists who have studied the crop circles try to find out what causes them. In the summer of 1990 some scientists spent three weeks in the part of England where many circles have appeared. They had all the latest high-tech equipment(最新高科技设备). The equipment—worth 1.8 million dollars—got nothing. But one night, as the scientists were watching a field, crop circles formed in the field behind them, which were quite different from the others. The scientists had neither seen nor heard anything.

　 When Steven discovered the crop circles on his land in 1978, he said, “It was just like something that had landed in the field from the air and gone back up again. I don’t know what to make of these things.”

　 Crop circles have appeared in England, Japan, the United States and Russia. Experts from all over the world have studied them, and they say what Steven said: They don’t know what to make of these things.

1.Which picture is probably the one formed in the field behind the scientists?

2.“Flattened wheat” means ___________.

　　   A. broken wheat             B. lying wheat

　　   C. harvested wheat          D. growing wheat

3.The passage is mainly about something ___________ .

A. that is done by living things from outer space

B. that cannot be solved but found all around the world

C. that cannot be made clear or understood

D. that is discovered and copied by the farmers

There are many unusual hotels around the world. In Greenland, there is a hotel made out of ice, open between April and December every year. In Turkey, there is a cave hotel with a television, furniture, and a bathroom in each room. And in Bolivia, there is the Salt Palace Hotel.
Thousands of years ago, the area around the Salt Palace Hotel was a large lake. But over time, all the water disappeared. Today, the area has only two small lakes and two salt deserts.
The larger of the two deserts, the Uyuni salt desert, is 12,000 square kilometers. During the day, the desert is bright white because of the salt. There are no roads across the Uyuni desert, so local people must show guests the way to the hotel.
In the early 1990s, a man named Juan Quesada built the hotel. He cut big blocks (块) of salt from the desert and used the blocks to build it. Everything in the hotel is made out of salt: the walls, the roof, the tables, the chairs, the beds, and the hotel’s bar.
The sun heats the walls and roof during the day. At night the desert is very cold, but the rooms stay warm. The hotel has 12 rooms. A single room costs＄40 a night, and a double room costs＄60.
A sign on the hotel’s wall tells guests, “ Please don’t lick the walls-it doesn’t taste good!”

1. 1.

   People can go to __________ to visit the ice hotel in April.
   

   1. A.
      Greenland            
   2. B.
      Turkey              
   3. C.
      Bolivia
2. 2.

   The Salt Palace Hotel is unusual because __________.
   

   1. A.
      it has a long history        
   2. B.
      it’s made out of salt      
   3. C.
      the rooms stay cold all day
3. 3.

   Where did the salt used for the hotel come from?
   

   1. A.
      A salt factory.          
   2. B.
      The desert.             
   3. C.
      The lakes.
4. 4.

   The underlined word “lick” means __________ in Chinese.
   

   1. A.
      摸                       
   2. B.
      踢                  
   3. C.
      舔
5. 5.

   The best title for the passage is _________.

   1. A.
      Unusual Hotels          
   2. B.
      Salt Desert             
   3. C.
      A Story of Juan Quesad

I heard a story about a famous scientist who had made several very important achievements.

What made him   41   from others?

    He said it all came from   42   that happened when he was two years old. He tried to  43 

a bottle of milk away from the fridge, but the slippery(光滑的) bottle fell, spilling its milk all over the   44   floor.

    When his mother came in,  45   shouting at him, she said, “Robert, what a great mess(一团糟) you have made! I have never seen such a big puddle(水坑) of milk. Would you like to get down and play in the milk for a few minutes   46   we clean it up?”

    Indeed, he did. After a few minutes, his mother said, “Robert, when you make a mess like this, you have to clean it up at last. So,   47   would you like to do that? We would use a towel or a mop. Which do you prefer?” He chose the towel and together they cleaned up the milk.

    His mother then said, “We had a failed   48   in how to carry a big milk bottle with two small hands in the kitchen. Let’s go out and fill the bottle with water and see if you can   49   a way to carry it without dropping it.” The little boy learned that if he held the bottle at the top near the lip(杯口) with both hands, he could carry it without dropping it.

    This scientist then said that it was at that moment that he knew he didn’t need to be afraid to

  50  .So, what have you learnt from the story?

1.A. serious          B. similar             C. different    D. important

2. A. an experience     B. advice             C. a promise   D. an idea

3.A. pass             B. bring             C. drink             D. take

4. A. kitchen          B. bedroom           C. bathroom         D. living room

5.A. from            B. with               C. because of        D. instead of

6.A. after             B. before             C. as soon as      D. since

7.A. when            B. what              C. how              D. why

8. A. experiment        B. condition          C. survey      D. research

9.A. look             B. discover           C. recognize    D. develop

10. A. clean the floor     B. spill milk          C. make mistakes     D. realize mistakes

I am an English girl. My name is Mary. I’m twelve. My dad and mom are English teachers. I have a sister. Her name is Ann and she is twelve years old, too. We are in China now. Ann and I study(学习) in Beijing No. 4 Junior High School. We are in the same grade, but in different classes. Ann has a cat. It looks nice. It has a small mouth and two small ears. It is white. We have friends here. They’re good.

根据短文内容，判断正(T)误(F)。

1.Mary is from the U.S.A.

2.Ann is in Beijing No. 4 Junior High School.

3.Ann and Mary have good friends in China.

4.Ann has a black cat.

5.They are in the same class.