Fifteen miles (seems, seem) like a long walk to me.

In the nineteenth century Charles Dickens, the English novelist, wrote excitedly (1)_____ a stage-coach, pulled along by a team of horses, that could (2)_____ more than twenty miles of road within sixty minutes. To us in the twentieth century in (3)_____ man is able to move and to communicate with such rapidity, the (4)_____ of the stage-coach seems no speed at all. Aeroplanes fly many hundreds of miles in an hour; express trains (5)_____ four times the speed of the stage-coach; and even without (6)_____ we can, by wireless or telegraph, communicate within seconds with people on (7)_____ side of the' globe. The (8)_____ of these increased speeds are numerous. Business (9)_____ say, from Europe to America or to the Far East can save much time. (10)_____ a journey that would once have taken weeks, it (11)_____ now, by air, only twenty-four hours. Fruit, vegetables and other goods that would decay (12)_____ a long, slow journey can now be safely sent to far-distant places. Members of one family (13)_____ each other by vast distances can have conversations with each other by telephone (14)_____if they were all sitting in the same room.

Not ail the effects of speed, however, are (15)_____ People who are in the habit of using a motor car (16)_____ they want to move half a mile become physically lazy and lose the (17)_____ of enjoying a vigorous walk. Those who travel through a country at eighty miles a hour do not see much of the life of that country, of its people and animals and plants, as they flash (18)_____ They become so anxious about moving quickly from one place to another that they are (19)_____ able to relax and enjoy a (20)_____ journey.

A．for

B．in

C．at

D．of

e-sia, a rare blossom, is very unusual. Found in the rain forests'of Sumatra, the rafflesia is the world's largest flower, measuring three feet in diameter!

This giant flower is a parasite ~ it needs another plant to live on. It lacks the structures needed to survive alone. The rafflesia has no stem or leaves. It is all flower. It attaches itself to the roots of other plants and sucks their juices. The flower's favorite home is the root of the vine, which grows above ground.

The rafflesia seems to burst right out of the forest floor. Its blossom weighs fifteen pounds! It has thick, spotted petals that give off a rotten smell. The center is about the size of a household bucket. After a rain, it may hold up to twelve pints of water!

After the rafflesia dies, it becomes a pool of thick liquid in which its seeds float. Elephants wandering through the forest step into the mushy pool, and the seeds glue themselves to their feet. As the animals stomp through the forest, their sticky feet pick up twigs and leaves. The elephants try to rid themselves of the sticky mess, in the same way people try to get bubble gum off their shoes. The elephants rub their feet against the roots of the vine. In no time, seeds left on the vine grow into more monstrous flowers!

Elephants help to______.

A．provide food for the giant flower

B．water the rafflesia with their trunks

C．carry rafflesia seeds from one place to another

D．stomp out the awful smelling petals

es are taken by Landsat 7, a government satellite. The satellites have been used for 27 years. They reveal the clear-cutting of forests in the northwestern part of the United States. Pictures show the loss of rain forests in South America.

NASA's Darrel Williams speaks about the Landsat 7 Project. He said that an eruption caused trees to burn up in a large forest. Fifteen years later, pinkish images from space show that the trees and plant life are growing again. Williams says that clear-cut areas easily show up in the pictures. He wants Americans to look at how much land is being cleared of forests in our country.

Satellites have provided other information about changes on earth. In the past ten years, more than four miles have shrunk from glaciers in Alaska. Landsat 7 received these computer images of Glacier Bay in Alaska.

Hurricanes Floyd and Irene have damaged the coastline in North Carolina. Runoff from farms and silt have gone into the ocean according to satellite images. Loss of trees and forests have caused hotter summers in southern cities such as Atlanta, Georgia.

The Landsat 7 images are like pictures in a photo album. Instead of pictures of the family, the album shows changes around the globe in the past 25 years.

A new satellite, Terra, is going to be launched by NASA soon. It will be more advanced that Landsat 7 and will take important global pictures. Ocean temperatures and energy loss will be provided by Terra daily.

Landsat 7 shows how changes have occurred on land by sending back ______.

A．images taken with a Polaroid camera

B．the latest images taken by a government satellite

C．a television camera

D．astronauts

Passage Four

Have you ever heard of a flower whose seeds are carried and spread by elephants？ The rafflesia, a rare blossom, is very unusual. Found in the rain forests of Sumatra, the rafflesia is the world's largest flower, measuring three feet in diameter!

This giant flower is a parasite--it needs another plant to live on. It lacks the structures needed to survive alone. The rafflesia has no stem or leaves. It is all flower. It attaches itself to the roots of other plants and sucks their juices. The flower's favorite home is the root of the vine, which grows above ground.

The rafflesia seems to burst right out of the forest floor. Its blossom weighs fifteen pounds! It has thick, spotted petals that give off a rotten smell. The center is about the size of a household bucket. After a rain, it may hold up to twelve pints of water!

After the rafflesia dies, it becomes a pool of thick liquid in which its seeds float. Elephants wandering through the forest step into the mushy pool, and the seeds glue themselves to their feet. As the animals stomp through the forest, their sticky feet pick up twigs and leaves. The elephants try to rid themselves of the sticky mess, in the same way people try to get bubble gum off their shoes. The elephants rub their feet against the roots of the vine. In no time, seeds left on the vine grow into more monstrous flowers!

48. Elephants help to ______.

A. provide food for the giant flower

B. water the rafflesia with their trunks

C. carry rafflesia seeds from one place to another

D. stomp out the awful smelling petals

institution of a community are expected to anticipate (预见) the needs of the citizen, and to make possible a healthier, happier, richer life. Meanwhile service as a commercial activity has leaped ahead. Since 1870 the experienced labor force engaged in production of services has risen from 25% to 35%. Whether you want a daily diaper (尿布) service for the new infant, a carwash (many of them mechanized so as to be completed in ten or fifteen minutes ) or a clipping for your dog, you are sure to find it. The yellow pages in the back of every telephone booklist hundreds of such offerings.

While the supermarkets have been moving in the direction of self-service in exchange for lower prices, smaller enterprises have sprung up to supply home service to those who want it, especially to the many people who now live in rural or suburban areas. Our country district is visited regularly by a grocer, a greengrocer, several bakers, a dispenser of frozen foods and there ice cream men, not to mention the occasional salesman of brushes, insurance, magazines or cars, and that absolutely indispensable country institution, the rural letter carrier.

The accent on service suggests an attempt to blend (混合) the two conflicting foes in the national character-the hard-headed (固执的) drive for business success and the soft religiously inspired urge to serve others. As the recipients of such services we in turn find ourselves wanting to support them all, for if they are taking the trouble to serve us it seems only fair that they should be helped to succeed.

Which of following best describes the main idea of the passage？ ______.

A．Americans are the best served in the world

B．The production of services in America has risen from 25% to 35%

C．Supermarkets have moved in the right direction of self-service

D．Service as an ideal of American people has entered into many fields of lives of Americans

me his workshop. This is partly because the average Englishman is keen on working with his hands and partly because he feels, for one reason or another, that he must do for himself many household jobs for which, some years ago, he would have hired professional help. The main reason for this is a financial one: the high cost of labor has meant that builders' and decorators' costs have reached a level which makes them so high that house-proud English people of modest means hang back. So, if they wish to keep their houses looking bright and smart, they have to deal with some of the repairs and decorating themselves. As a result, there has grown up in the post-war years what is sometimes referred to as the "Do-It-Yourself Movement".

The "Do-It-Yourself Movement" began with home decorating but has since spread into a much wider field. Nowadays there seem to be very few things that cannot be made by the "do-it-yourself" method. A number of magazines and handbooks exist to show hopeful handymen of all ages just how easy it is to build anything from a coffee table to a fifteen foot (4.5 meters) sailing boat. All you need, it seems, is a hammer and a few nails. You follow the simple instructions step-by-step and , before you know where you are, the finished article stands before you, complete in every detail.

Unfortunately, alas, it is not always quite as simple as it sounds! Many a "do-it-yourselfer" has found to his cost that one cannot learn a skilled craftsman's job overnight. How quickly one realizes, when doing it oneself, that a job which takes the skilled man an hour or so to complete takes the amateur five or six at least. And then there is the question of tools. The first thing the amateur learns is that he must have the right tools for the job. But tools cost money. There is also the wear and tear on the nerves. It is not surprising then that many people have come to the conclusion that the expense of paying professionals to do the work is, in the long run, more economical than 'doing it oneself'.

The passage is mainly about

A．how to be a do-it-yourselfer

B．the Do-It-Yourself Movement

C．the future of the Do-It-Yourself Movement

D．the origin of the Do-It-Yourself Movement

as in their hearts they must surely know.

No, the village is not dead. There is more life in it now than there ever was. But it seems that "village life" is dead. Gone forever. It began to decline(衰落) about a hundred years ago, when many girls left home to go into service in town many miles away, and men also left home in increasing number in search of a work, and home was where work was. There are still a number of people alive today who can remember what "village life" meant in the early years of the present century. It meant knowing and being known by everybody else in the village. It meant finding your entertainment in the village of within walking distance of it. It meant housewives tied to the home all day and every day. It meant going to bed early to save lamp-oil and coal.

Then came the First World War and the Second World War. After each war, new ideas, new attitudes, new trades and occupations were revealed to villagers. The long-established order of society was no longer taken for granted. Electricity and the motorcar were steadily operating to make "village life" and "town life" almost alike. Now with the highly developed science and technology and high-level social welfare for all, there is no point whatever in talking any longer about "village life". It is just life, and that a better life.

Finally, if we have any doubts about the future, or about the many changes, which we have seen in our lives, we have only to look in at the school playground any mid-morning; or see the children as they walk homeward in little groups. Obviously these children are better fed, better clothed, better educated, healthier, prettier and happier than any generation of children that ever before walked the village street.

By saying that village is not dead, but "village life" is dead, the writer suggests that______.

A．those young people who talk of the village as being "dead" are wrong

B．the two statements are against each other

C．village life today is rather uninteresting

D．village life today is no longer like what it is used to be

______, he could not cover the whole distance in fifteen minutes.

A．Fast as he ran

B．As he ran fast

C．If he ran fast

D．Since he ran fast

A.basis

B.basic

C.base

D.based

teen minutes before.

A． in order to find

B． so as to find

C． only to find

D． such as to find

A.looking at

B.looking after

C.looking for

D.looking around