Every year landslides cause 25 to 50 deaths and $2 billion in damage in the United States. And in December, a single event killed more than 2000 people in the Philippines. Sending workers to stabilize mountainsides using steel bars can help a lot, but it introduces new difficulties because of dust and loosen heavy, dangerous debris from the work. “It’s a quite dangerous job,” says Giorgio Pezzuto of D’ Appolonia, working with eight other companies. Now there may be an answer: a three-ton robot called Roboclimber.
“The idea is to operate a machine far away that can do the stabilizing job without a human being near,”says Pezzuto, manager for the project, which is supported by a European organization. Engineers say that the machine will be faster and cheaper than manual labor. The robot, a large radio-controlled four-legged spider, has cost at least $2 million so far. It should be able to climb mountainsides, drill holes and insert steel bars there. Testing should begin in May.
【小题1】The underlined word “event” refers to_____

A．earthquake

B．debris

C．dust

D．landslide

【小题2】The purpose in writing this text is _____

A．to tell people how serious the damage caused by landslides is

B．to tell people that sending workers to stabilize mountainsides is a dangerous job

C．to show people how to use a new robot

D．to introduce a new robot that can be used to stabilize mountainsides

【小题3】What does the robot look like?

A．human being

B．spider

C．steel bar

D．a drill

【小题4】A landslides cause _____________in damage in the United States Every year .

A．25 to 50 deaths	B．more than 2000 people died
C．$2 billion	D．both A and C

【小题5】The biggest advantage of this product is that____

A．it will be faster and cheaper than manual labor

B．it can climb mountainsides, drill holes and insert steel bars there.

C．it can do the stabilizing job without human beings near

D．it is like a spider

Weddings are quite different——from nation to nation, from area to area, and from the past to the present. However, all people consider weddings to be important and happy events.
People in the Western world go to church for their weddings, while some tribes（部落） in Africa hold their weddings in the open around a campfire, with much dancing.
In China, weddings are different from those abroad. People in the countryside used to carry the bride in a sedan chair from her parents’ house to her new home. Now sedan chairs are seldom seen. Instead, the bridegroom may take the bride to their own new house by bicycle or by tractor（拖拉机）. In the city the bride usually prefers a car, brightly decorated(装饰) with flowers and a Chinese character(汉字) meaning double happiness. However, a wedding dinner is necessary in both the countryside and the city. Relatives(亲戚) and friends who are invited to the dinner usually drink to the happiness of the bride and bridegroom.
【小题1】What do people all over the world think of weddings?

A．interesting and easy	B．important and fun
C．happy and important	D．interesting and happy

【小题2】What’s the English for “大花轿” in the passage?

A．a bride

B．a bridegroom

C．a sedan chair

D．a church

【小题3】Where can the wedding be held in the open air in the world after you read the passage?

A．In China	B．In Western countries
C．In the countryside	D．In Africa

【小题4】According to the passage, how many ways can the bridegroom usually take the bride to their new home now?

A．2

B．3

C．4

D．5

【小题5】What’s the main idea of the passage?

A．Introduce the Western weddings.

B．Introduce the African weddings.

C．introduce the Chinese weddings.

D．Introduce different weddings.

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant. A half century ago in the United states, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the dividing lines are still there, but they seem not clear.
The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer, in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal（法律的）limits, or whether it should become more changeable, is often debated（争论）. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the dividing lines of time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?
These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we seldom recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to go to  school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years – but unless we meet the truant officer（学监）, we may well think that we should go to school because of social custom and parents’ requirement rather than to the law. As adults we know “extra pay for overtime working” very well, but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes（构成）“overtime” is a matter of legal thing. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight – saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law – as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “irrelevant” probably mean?

A．Impossible.

B．Unacceptable.

C．Unimportant.

D．Disagreeable.

【小题2】The writer raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people _____.

A．are unknowing of the law of time

B．fail to make full use of their time

C．welcome changeable working hours

D．enjoy working overtime for more pay

【小题3】We can learn from the passage that most children go to school because they_____.

A．have to follow the law

B．need to find social customs

C．need to learn more knowledge

D．have to follow their parents’ requirement

【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Our life is governed by the law of time.

B．How to use time is not worth debating.

C．New ways of using time change our society.

D．Our time table is decided by social customs.

Sunday is more like Monday than it used to be. Places of business that used to keep daytime “business hours” are now open late into the night. And on the Internet, the hour of the day and the day of the week have become irrelevant. A half century ago in the United states, most people experienced strong and precise dividing lines between days of rest and days of work, school time and summer time. Today the dividing lines are still there, but they seem not clear.
The law in almost all states used to require stores to close on Sunday; in most, it no longer does. It used to keep the schools open in all seasons except summer, in most, it still does. And whether the work week should strengthen its legal（法律的）limits, or whether it should become more changeable, is often debated（争论）. How should we, as a society, organize our time? Should we go even further in relaxing the dividing lines of time until we live in a world in which every minute is much like every other?
These are not easy questions even to ask. Part of the difficulty is that we seldom recognize the “law of time” even when we meet it face to face. We know as children that we have to go to  school a certain number of hours, a certain number of days, a certain number of years – but unless we meet the truant officer（学监）, we may well think that we should go to school because of social custom and parents’ requirement rather than to the law. As adults we know “extra pay for overtime working” very well, but less familiar with the fact that what constitutes（构成）“overtime” is a matter of legal thing. When we turn the clock forward to start daylight – saving time, have we ever thought to ourselves: “Here is the law in action”? As we shall see, there is a lot of law that has great influence on how organize and use time: compulsory education law, overtime law, and daylight-saving law – as well as law about Sunday closing, holidays, being late to work, time zones, and so on. Once we begin to look for it, we will have no trouble finding a law of time to examine and assess.
【小题1】What does the underlined word “irrelevant” probably mean?

A．Impossible.

B．Unacceptable.

C．Unimportant.

D．Disagreeable.

【小题2】The writer raises the questions in Paragraph 2 to introduce the fact that people _____.

A．are unknowing of the law of time

B．fail to make full use of their time

C．welcome changeable working hours

D．enjoy working overtime for more pay

【小题3】We can learn from the passage that most children go to school because they_____.

A．have to follow the law

B．need to find social customs

C．need to learn more knowledge

D．have to follow their parents’ requirement

【小题4】What is the main idea of the passage?

A．Our life is governed by the law of time.

B．How to use time is not worth debating.

C．New ways of using time change our society.

D．Our time table is decided by social customs.

Pollution means adding dirty or harmful things to land, air, water and so on. As a result, they are no longer pleasant or safe to use. Pollution is bad for animals and plants, and it even makes people’s health in danger. In our daily life, we can see different kinds of pollution in many places. There are three main forms of pollution: land pollution, air pollution and water pollution. 

Land pollution is caused by solid waste, such as cans, bottles and some plastic things which aren’t broken down quickly. It makes the environment look very bad. However, air pollution is more serious than land pollution. It is much worse in cities and towns because of the fumes(废气) from traffic and the waste from human activities. When people drive their cars, fumes which are most made up of CO2, NO2 and SO2 are given off. After the gases get into the air, they may mix with clouds. Then they will become some harmful chemicals (化合物) falling on the ground with rain. It is one of the reasons for soil erosion (土壤侵蚀) which is one example of water pollution.

Various kinds of pollution will cause many health problems. People have realized they must change this serious situation. There are many ways to control pollution. To develop alternative energy is very popular in many countries. China, for example, has made up its mind to be a leader in this field. It is trying hard to make full use of energy from the sun and wind. It has paid plenty of money to make electric cars and trains instead of traditional traffic. We should also take action to make our environment cleaner every day. Take cloth bags while going shopping and drive cars less. We have only one earth. We must take steps now to help protect our environment for the future wherever we are.

1.How many main forms of pollution are mentioned in the passage?

A．Two.             B．Three.            C．Four.             D．Five.

2.Why is air pollution much worse in cities and towns?

A．Because of the cans and bottles that people throw away.

B．Because of the plastic things which aren’t broken down quickly.

C．Because of the fumes made up of SO2, CO2 and O2.

D．Because of the waste from human activities and the fumes from traffic.

3.Which of the following is TRUE according to the passage?

A．Pollution hardly does harm to humans.

B．China doesn’t want to develop alternative energy.

C．Air pollution will cause soil erosion and water pollution.

D．Land pollution is only caused by solid waste.

4.To make our environment cleaner, we shouldn’t __________.

A．use cloth bags while shopping              B．ride a bike to school

C．drive a car out every day                  D．go to work on foot

5.The main idea of this passage is _________.

A．to introduce different forms of pollution and ways to control it

B．to introduce the harmful chemicals and the solid waste

C．to introduce the alternative energy and the ways to use it

D．to introduce the electric cars and traditional traffic