The young man _____ the car hoping to arrive at the station to meet his girlfriend on time.

1. A.
   gave up
2. B.
   sped up
3. C.
   turned up
4. D.
   picked up

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. "

1. 1.

   What was it special about the Star Party ?

   1. A.
      It was organized by the local authority.
   2. B.
      It was carried out without any lights.
   3. C.
      It was so cold that people chatted to cheer up.
   4. D.
      It was held in the town center of Virginia
2. 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

   1. A.
      a, c, d
   2. B.
      a, d, e
   3. C.
      b, d, e
   4. D.
      c, d, e
3. 3.

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

   1. A.
      you'd better escape from pollution and sunlight
   2. B.
      you'd better follow Sean O'Brien's guidance
   3. C.
      you'd better buy some advanced equipment
   4. D.
      you'd better make use of your imagination
4. 4.

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

   1. A.
      Roman is not built in a day.
   2. B.
      No pains, no gains.
   3. C.
      All roads lead to Roman.
   4. D.
      Time and tide wait for no man.

About ten years ago when I was an undergraduate in college in New York, I was working as a practice student at my University's Museum of Natural History. One day while I was working at the cash register in the gift shop, I saw an elderly couple come in with a little girl in wheelchair.
As I looked closer at this girl, I saw that she was seated on her chair. I then realized she had no arms or legs, just a head, neck and the trunk of the human body. She was wearing a little white dress with the patterns of red roses and yellow dots.
As the couple wheeled her up to me I was looking down at the register. I turned my head toward the girl and gave her a wink(眨眼示意). As I took the money from her grandparents, I looked back at the girl, who was giving me the most beautiful, largest smile I have ever seen
All of a sudden her handicap was gone and all I saw was this beautiful girl, whose smile just melted me and almost instantly gave me a completely new sense of what life is all about. I immediately felt full of hope and confidence. She took me, a poor, unhappy college student, into her world, a world of smiles, love and warmth.               
That was ten years ago, but I still remember it clearly as if it happened just yesterday. I'm a successful business person now and whenever I get down and think about the troubles of the world, I think about that little girl and the remarkable lesson about life that she taught me.

1. 1.

   What was the writer a decade ago?

   1. A.
      A worker working in a university.
   2. B.
      A teacher teaching in a college.
   3. C.
      A clerk working in a museum.
   4. D.
      A university student who had not yet taken a degree.
2. 2.

   What does the underlined world “handicap” in Paragraph 4 probably mean?

   1. A.
      Life difficulty.
   2. B.
      Troublesome problem.
   3. C.
      Failure in work.
   4. D.
      Physical disability.
3. 3.

   How did the writer probably feel before meeting the disabled girl?

   1. A.
      She felt full of hope.
   2. B.
      She was filled with confidence.
   3. C.
      She felt unhappy because of poverty.
   4. D.
      She felt life was beautiful.
4. 4.

   Which of the following title suits this passage best?

   1. A.
      A Disabled Girl.
   2. B.
      A Disabled Girl’s Smile.
   3. C.
      Full of Hope.
   4. D.
      Full of Confidence.

The secret of carrier pigeons' unbelievable ability to find their way home has been discovered by scientists: the feathered navigators follow the roads just like we do.
Scientists now believe the phrase "as the crow (乌鸦) flies" no longer means the shortest most direct route between two points. They say it is likely that crows and other day birds also choose AA-suggested routes, even though it makes their journeys longer.
Scientists at Oxford University spent 10 years studying homing pigeons using global positioning satellite (GPS) and got a surprising result. The birds often don't use the sun to decide their directions.
Instead they fly along motorways, turn at crossing and even go around roundabouts (绕道) , adding miles to their journeys.
"It really has knocked our research team sideways to find that after a decade-long international study, pigeons appear to ignore their inbuilt directional instincts (本能) and follow the road system," said Prof Tim Guilford, reader in animal behavior at Oxford University's Department of Zoology.
Guilford said pigeons use their own navigational system (导航系统) when doing long distance trips or when a bird does a journey for the first time.
"But once homing pigeons have flown a journey more than once, they can fly home on a habitual route, much as we do when we are driving or walking home from work," said Guilford.
"In short, it looks like it is mentally easier for a bird to fly down a road. They are just making their journey as simple as possible."

1. 1.

   What would be the best title of the passage?

   1. A.
      How Pigeons Find Their Ways Home?
   2. B.
      Why Pigeons Can Fly long Distance?
   3. C.
      Birds Follow Roads as We Do.
   4. D.
      Why Crows Fly the Shortest D stance?
2. 2.

   What does the words "the feathered navigators" refer to?

   1. A.
      The crows.
   2. B.
      The pigeons.
   3. C.
      Day birds.
   4. D.
      Animals that can fly.
3. 3.

   Scientists used to think that homing pigeons often find their directions ____.

   1. A.
      by global positioning satellite
   2. B.
      by the sun
   3. C.
      by the road system
   4. D.
      by following other birds
4. 4.

   Why do homing pigeons tend to follow the road system daring the r journey?

   1. A.
      Because they don't have their inbuilt directional instincts now.
   2. B.
      Because their own navigational system doesn't work.
   3. C.
      Because it is too hard to use their own navigational system.
   4. D.
      Because it is easier to make journey simple by following road system.

Although I had left school against the advice of my teachers, I had, without telling anyone, tried to  36  my studies in literature at evening classes. It was a tiresome  37  from one end of the city to another and to  38  among adults was uninteresting. I was the youngest in the  39 , so the friendship I knew at school was  40 . I put up with it for a short period. It was  41  long a walk on cold winter’s nights and it was hard to put my  42  into Shakespeare with wet shoes and trousers. So I continued writing poetry at home.

By chance, I  43  some prizes and awards for literature. A young woman from a  44  company came to the college one day. She told me that I won a national poetry award. I  45  at her in astonishment and disbelief. She wanted to make a short  46  about me, to which I said, “ No, I couldn’t do that.” Not that I had any real  47 . I was just frightened. In the end she  48     me that I should do it the following day.

So I did. They made a short film of me reading one of my  49  and I became  50  interested in literature than ever. I  51  what I should do after this, and decided some weeks later that I could not  52  myself spending the rest of my days dealing with machines. So one evening, I hesitatingly told my parents that I wanted to _53  to school. They were greatly surprised and a little afraid, but they did not try to persuade me not to. They wanted to know if I was  54 , and if I knew what it meant and  55   I realized that if I gave up my job training, it would be very difficult to get a good job. But nothing could stop me, and they asked about the matter no further.

36．A．stop                  B．go on                  C．continue         D．walk

37．A．talk                    B．journey               C．job               D．walk

38．A．do               B．sit              C．talk           D．work

39．A．family         B．class            C．city             D．country