How many of us have looked up at the stars and wondered about other worlds? Of course, we know a lot about space now, but for people living thousands of years ago, the stars were strange. Astrology（占星术）is one of the world’s most ancient ideas. It started about 3,000 years ago and was used to predict what would happen to countries and to people in the future.

Astrology was created by the ancient Greeks（希腊人）. They believed that the place of the sun and the stars could affect a person’s life and what would happen to them in the future. Astrology is a Greek word that means “science of the star”. Even famous Greek people like Plat thought Astrology was important and he studied it carefully. Later Europeans thought that Plato was talented man so they continued to follow his idea about the stars.

Some people think that farmers started the Astrology to help them decide when to plant and harvest（收割）. They needed to know what time of year it was. For example, Scorpio（天蝎座）can only be seen in the evening sky in the summer. Over time, using the stars to plan daily life became a strong part of many cultures. People who spent their lives moving from one place to another, like some northern Chinese, use the stars to tell them when and where to go.

Today many people think Astrology is just fun but some people take it very seriously.

（ ）46.What did people long ago know about the stars?

A. How many there were.　　　 B. Not very much.　　

C. How far away they were.　　 D. They were not real.

（ ）47. What did later Europeans think about Plato?

A. He was really clever.　　 B. He was a star.

C. He was silly.　　　　　 D. He was able to tell them what would happen in the future.

（ ）48. Why might have Astrology started?

A. Farmers needed to know when to move.

B. Farmers needed to take care of their crops.

C. Farmers needed to know when to start.

D. Farmers needed to study.

It was so dark outside the car window that it was hard to see anything.
“ Can I have a carrot, Mom?” Bruce asked.
“I don’t have any carrots,” his mom said. “How about an apple?”
“No,” said Bruce. “It has to be a carrot.”
“Why do you want a carrot?” asked his mom
“You always say carrots help your eyes.” said Bruce. “If I eat one now, it might help me see in the dark.”
Would eating a carrot really help Bruce? What is special about carrots? What makes a carrot special is its color. Carrots are orange because they contain(包含) bta-carotene( 胡萝卜素). Beta-carotene is a way of saying vitamin A. Your eyes need vitamin A. It helps them work.
When light hits your eye, very small parts inside turn the light into messages. The messages go to your brain（大脑）, and then you know what you’re looking at. Your eye can only turn light into messages when it has a special chemical(化学物质). Your eyes use vitamin A to make the special chemical. Every time your eye changes light into messages, a little bit of the chemical is used up. By the end of the day, you’ve looked at hundreds of things. That uses up a lot of the chemical. Your eyes need to make more.
What should you eat if you don’t like carrots? Don’t worry. Other fruits and vegetables have vitamin A, too. The secret is in their color. Most orange or red fruits and vegetables contain beta-carotene, or vitamin A, Sweet vegetable, red peppers（胡椒）, Mangoes(芒果) are a few foods that have the same orange secret

1. 1.

   Bruce wanted a carrot because he thought _______

   1. A.
      he liked it
   2. B.
      it could help him see in the dark
   3. C.
      it was sweet and delicious
2. 2.

   How does vitamin A help your eyes work?

   1. A.
      The special chemical can stop your eyes from using up vitamin A
   2. B.
      The special chemical is used to make Vitamin A which turns the light into messages
   3. C.
      Vitamin A is used to make the special chemical which turns light into messages
3. 3.

   Which of the following is NOT true according to the passage?

   1. A.
      Carrots are orange because they store beta-carotene
   2. B.
      Any food which is orange or red must have some Vitamin A
   3. C.
      Most fruits that are orange or red store some beta-carotene or Vitamin A
4. 4.

   Sweet vegetable, red peppers, and mangoes don’t have the same orange secret, do they?

   1. A.
      No, they don’t
   2. B.
      Yes, they do
   3. C.
      I’m not sure
5. 5.

   The passage mainly tells us that _______

   1. A.
      we can’t see in the dark unless we eat many carrots every day
   2. B.
      we can’t see unless we eat a lot of orange or red food every day
   3. C.
      we should eat some food containing vitamin A so that we can see well

I have a neighbor we call “Happy”. I have never seen her angry at anything and never heard her say a harsh word to anyone or about anyone.
Happy and her husband Ben, 70, have a huge garden. They spent many happy hours together working on it. Most of the neighbors watched interestingly as Ben doubled the size of their garden. As the cost of food climbed faster than Ben’s beans, we all wished we also had such a large garden. As the rest of us spent our dollars at the market, Happy could be seen picking beans in her back yard.
Last month, Happy and Ben invited most of the neighborhood over for an “all-day food festival”. We were told to bring gloves and arrive very early in the morning. We didn’t know what was about to take place.
By 9:00 am, there were nine of us in the garden picking tomatoes, beans, okra, and squash. By 10:00 am, there was lots of laughter. We shared a lot of stories. By five o’clock, everyone was a little drunk from the wine and beer. After dinner, we played games. As we were leaving, Happy and Ben handed each of us a shopping bag filled with the bounty of the day, already packaged and frozen. What a delightful gift!
Well, the point wasn’t so much about the food. The true gift was a day of friends enjoying one another’s company. None of it would have happened if it had been for Happy and Ben’s garden. Now they have a blog about gardening in case we decided to plant a garden. And I am so proud of my tomato plants!
【小题1】According to paragraph 2, people wished they also had a garden so that                  .