It is December 25th, 2050. The people in the city are all celebrating Christmas. I’m the mayor of our city. My citizens* and I are holding a big party under the sea, though you wouldn’t believe it. But please do not feel excited, you should feel sad because we have to live under the sea. Because of the pollution, the earth has been completely destroyed, from top to bottom. The atmosphere* has no oxygen* and moisture*. As a result, the plants are burned by the strong sunlight with a great number of harmful rays. Of course, none of them are still alive. Not only no green, but also the temperature reaches about 121℃ all day even in winter because there is too much CO2 circling the earth.
On the land, there is no life. Luckily, the sea is not destroyed by human. So, we have to move into the sea. At the bottom of the water, people have built many new cities. There is a lot of advanced* equipment* in each city. Computers are used to control all the machines, even the people’s life. We can also make the seawater into fresh water. There are two machines making oxygen. If they stop working for only one minute, more than 10 million people will die.
The population of our city is over 30 million and, of course, it is quite crowded. We have lots of high buildings and bridges. The roads are wide, too. Our cars are miniature* UFOs, don’t be surprised, it is true. At the bottom of the sea you can’t see anything, because there is no light all day. However, we have advanced lighting equipment so that we can see the “sun” under the sea. Of course, the advanced lighting equipment is very expensive. And if it doesn’t work, we can see nothing under the sea. What should we do then?
【小题1】Where are they holding a big Christmas party?

It began with a red paper clip and ended with a house. Kyle MacDonald, a 26-year-old Canadian, got a three-bedroom house through 14 trades (交换) that started with a single red paper clip.[来源:学。科。网Z。X。X。K]
Encouraged by Kyle’s successful experience, now more and more young people around the world are starting their own trading activities. They set up websites where people can trade things they don’t usually use with other people. A website called Peerflix allows people to trade their used DVDs. These traders usually prefer face-to-face trading, which means they don’t have to worry about who is going to pay for the delivery (递送).
Last year, a young girl in Beijing decided to follow the example of Kyle. She started with a paper clip and hoped to get a house in the end. After several trades she now has a piano which is more than 10,000 yuan. But she may still have a long way to go.
You may be puzzled about why people are doing this. In fact, everyone in the trade activities gets things that are useful to them. Just as Kyle said, “What’s more important to a man dying of thirst in the desert — one million dollars or a glass of water?” Kyle’s words probably show why these trades are poplar among young people.
4. Where can people trade things they do not usually use according to the passage?
A. On the Internet.    B. In Beijing.         C. In Canada.      D. In the desert.
5. Why are trading activities popular among young people?
A. Because they can make a lot of money by trading with other people.
B. Because the traders can get things that are useful to them.
C. Because young people love trading activities.
D. Because many young people want to get a house.
6. Which of the following statements is true according to the passage?
A. If you begin with a paper clip, you will finally get a house by trading.
B. A young girl in Beijing got a house through trading.
C. A glass of water is more important than one million dollars.
D. Many traders like face-to-face trading because they don’t have to pay for the delivery.

A school bus is one that is used to take children to and from school.

    In the USA, about 450,000 school buses take more than 25 million children to and from school. The yellow school bus is a US icon. Yellow became the color of school buses in the USA in 1939. Dr. Frank got the good idea. He said it was easy for people to see yellow buses and the black letters on them in early morning or late afternoon. That would make children safer.

    There are not many school buses in Britain, and they are not yellow. They have trackers (追踪器) on them, so kids are being tracked while they travel to and from school by bus. The trackers let parents know where the school bus is and whether their kids are on the bus.

    Kindergarten (幼儿园) is a difficult time for some kids. It's the first time for them to go away from their parents. To make kids love their school, Japanese kindergartens and schools have colorful buses. The buses can easily make children want to take them--and then, go to school. Even some parents want to take them, too!

    School buses are becoming more and more popular in China now. It saves a lot of time for students to take a school bus. It's said that there will be 3,000 yellow school buses on the road by the end of this year in Chongqing.

1. According to Dr. Frank,           school buses are safer for the students.

A. yellow                     B. black                                 C. white                                D. colorful

2. Children in Japan may easily          by taking the school bus.

A. save time                B. love their school            C. play games             D. do their homework

3. Chinese students will save a lot of time to           to school.

A. walk                         B. take a taxi                        C. ride a bike                      D. take a school bus

4.This passage is mainly about          .

A. school buses          B. school life                        C. popular colors               D. students' safety

5.According to the text, the underlined word “icon” means _____________ in Chinese.

A. 文明        B. 象征        C. 交通        D. 管理

It is December 25th, 2050. The people in the city are all celebrating Christmas. I’m the mayor of our city. My citizens* and I are holding a big party under the sea, though you wouldn’t believe it. But please do not feel excited, you should feel sad because we have to live under the sea. Because of the pollution, the earth has been completely destroyed, from top to bottom. The atmosphere* has no oxygen* and moisture*. As a result, the plants are burned by the strong sunlight with a great number of harmful rays. Of course, none of them are still alive. Not only no green, but also the temperature reaches about 121℃ all day even in winter because there is too much CO2 circling the earth.

  On the land, there is no life. Luckily, the sea is not destroyed by human. So, we have to move into the sea. At the bottom of the water, people have built many new cities. There is a lot of advanced* equipment* in each city. Computers are used to control all the machines, even the people’s life. We can also make the seawater into fresh water. There are two machines making oxygen. If they stop working for only one minute, more than 10 million people will die.

The population of our city is over 30 million and, of course, it is quite crowded. We have lots of high buildings and bridges. The roads are wide, too. Our cars are miniature* UFOs, don’t be surprised, it is true. At the bottom of the sea you can’t see anything, because there is no light all day. However, we have advanced lighting equipment so that we can see the “sun” under the sea. Of course, the advanced lighting equipment is very expensive. And if it doesn’t work, we can see nothing under the sea. What should we do then?

1.Where are they holding a big Christmas party?

   A. On the land        B. Under the sea     C. In high buildings      D. On the road

2.What controls people’s life under the sea?

   A. Machines         B. Computers        C. Advanced equipment   D. Human beings

3.Why do people have to live under the sea in 2050 according to the passage?

   A. It is interesting to build cities and live under the sea.

B. We have advanced lighting equipment so that we can see the “sun” under the sea.

C. There is no oxygen and moisture around the earth as it is destroyed.

D. We can make oxygen under the sea with the high technology.

4.What can we learn from this article ?

   A. The plants are burned by the strong sunlight with a great number of useful rays.

B. There will be no lives in the world in 2050.

C. People prefer to live under the sea in 2050.

D. We should protect our environment instead of destroying it.

5.What might the best title for this passage be                 .

A. A Christmas In The Future                B. A City Under The Sea

C. The Underwater Life                     D. The Future Life Under The Water