The time has come for humanity to journey to Mars. We’re ready. Though Mars is distant, we are far better prepared today to send humans to Mars than we were to travel to the Moon at the beginning of the space age. Given the will, we could have our first teams on Mars within a decade. The reasons for going to Mars are powerful.We must go for the knowledge of Mars. Our robotic probes have revealed that Mars was once a warm and wet planet, suitable for hosting life’s origin. But did it? A search for fossils (化石) on the Martian surface or microbes (微生物) in groundwater below could provide the answer. If found, they would show that the origin of life is not unique to the Earth, and, by implication, reveal a universe that is filled with life and probably intelligence as well. From the view point of learning our true place in the universe, this would be the most important scientific enlightenment since Copernicus.Earth’s atmosphere and environment in significant ways. It has become a critical matter for us to better understand all aspects of our environment. In this project, comparative planetology is a very powerful tool, a fact already shown by the role that Venusian (金星的) atmospheric studies played in our discovery of the potential threat of global warming by greenhouse gases. Mars, the planet most like the Earth, will have even more to teach us about our home world. The knowledge we gain could be key to our survival.We must go for the future. Mars is not just a scientific curiosity; it is a world with a surface area equal to all the continents of the Earth combined, possessing all the elements that are needed to support not only life, but technological society. It is a New World, filled with history waiting to be made by a new and youthful branch of human civilization that is waiting to be born. We must go to Mars to make that potential a reality. We must go, not for us, but for a people who are yet to be. We must do it for the Martians.1. Why has the time come for humanity to travel to Mars according to the passage?A) Because people are willing to sacrifice their own life to travel to Mars.B) Because people are far better ready today to send people to Mars than before. C) Because most people are financially better off than they were.D) Because the first team on Mars has already been organized.2. What is the purpose of the search for fossils on the Martian surface or microbes in groundwater?A) To ascertain whether life can exist on the planet Mars. B) To test whether the robotic probes can really function on the Mars.C) To explore the origin of the universe.D) To reveal how intelligent the people are on the earth.3. The author believes that the most important scientific enlightenment of the universe would be ___________.A) the discovery of fossils on the Martian surfaceB) the discovery of ground water on MarsC) the discovery of life on Mars D) the discovery of our place in the universe4. Why must we go for knowledge of Earth?A) Because it could help us learn more about the Earth for our survival. B) Because it could help us use the knowledge of Earth to explore other planets.C) Because it could help us compare the Earth with other planets.D) Because it could help us find out the potential threat from other planets.5. What can be inferred from the sentence “Mars is not just a scientific curiosity.”?A) Mars could be utilized to support our life and technological society. B) Mars is a world full of history of adventures.C) Mars is suitable for all the people to explore.D) Mars can make people more civilized.

The drinker can learn to eliminate negative health consequences by_from drinking .(refrainment)

阅读理解。 Psychologist George Spilich and colleagues at Washington College in Chestertown, Maryland, decided to find out whether, as many smokers say, smoking helps them to"thinkand concentrate." Spilich put young non-smokers, active smokers and smokers deprived (被剥夺) of cigarettes through a series of tests.In the first test, each subject (试验对象) sat before a computer screen and pressed a keyas soon as he or she recognized a target letter among a grouping of 96. In this simple test,smokers, deprived smokers and non-smokers performed equally well. The next test was more complex, requiring all to scan sequences of 20 identical letters and respond the instant one of the letters transformed into a different one. Non-smokers were faster, but under the stimulation of nicotine, active smokers were faster than deprived smokers. In the third test of short-term memory, non-smokers made the fewest errors, but deprived smokers committed fewer errors than active smokers. The fourth test required people to read a passage, then answer questions about it. Non-smokers remembered l9 percent more of the most important information than active smokers, and deprived smokers bested those who had smoked a cigarette just before testing- Active smokers tended not only to have poorer memories but also had trouble separating important information from insignificant details. "As our tests became more complex." sums up Spilich," non-smokers performed better than smokers by wider and wider margins". He predicts, 'smokers might perform adequately at many jobs- until they got complicated. A smoking airline pilot could fly adequately if no problems arose, but if something went wrong, smoking might damage his mental capacity." l. The purpose of George Spilich's experiments is ._____ A. to test whether smoking has a positive effect on the mental capacity of smokersB. to show how smoking damages people's mental capacityC. to prove that smoking affects people's regular performanceD. to find out whether smoking helps people's short-term memory 2. George Spilich's experiment was conducted in such a way as to ._____ A. compel the subjects to separate major information from minor detailsB. put the subjects through increasingly complex testsC. check the effectiveness of nicotine on smokersD. register the prompt responses of the subjects 3. The underlined word "bested" in Para. 5most probably means_____ A. beatB. enviedC. caught up with D. made the best of 4. Which of the following statements is true?_____ A. Active smokers in general performed better than deprived smokers.B. Active smokers responded more quickly than the other subjects.C. Non-smokers were not better than other subjects in performing simple tasks.D. Deprived smokers gave the slowest responses to the various tasks. 5. We can infer from the last paragraph that ._____ A. smokers should not expect to become airline pilotsB. smoking in emergency cases causes mental illnessC. no airline pilots smoke during flightsD. smokers may prove unequal to handing emergency cases

The corn was_into fine meal and mixed with water to produce masa(湿润粉糊) ,before being rolled,cut,pressed,and baked by hand .(grinder)

Find words from the text to match the definitions.The first letters are given.1.s ____ →an event that causes a lot of excitement and interest2.i  ____ →strongly in love with someone3.f ____ → to use a camera to record a story or real events4.t ____ →to pull something behind you5.a ____ →funny6.be g ____ to → to look at something with all your attention

He never responded to any messages that I sent to him, and his views rarely ______ with mine. (coincidence)

After rising steadily for almost a century, standards of education in the public schools of Europe and North America have leveled off and, in the opinion of many parents and employers, are actually falling. More and more children are leaving school with little more than a basic knowledge of reading, writing and arithmetic, and illiteracy is becoming a social problem once again. With dropout rates of 27 percent in high schools and 50 percent in colleges, the American education system is clearly in trouble. European dropout rates, though lower than those of the U.S., are rising too.Various factors have been blamed for the apparent decline in educational standards. Some people say that overcrowding and lack of discipline are major factors. Others maintain that subjects like art and drama have been overemphasized at the expense of more practical subjects. The negative influence of television is frequently mentioned as a reason for growing illiteracy. Many teachers and principals, however, insist that the problem is not of falling standards but of rising expectations on the part of parents and employers.Whether or not standards in public schools are actually falling, many parents feel that the only way to secure a good education for their children is to send them to private schools, which generally have smaller classes and stricter discipline. The popularity of such schools is growing steadily, despite the high tuition fees. In the United States, for example, thirteen percent of all school children attend private schools; in France, over sixteen percent do so.New Words：illiteracyn.缺乏教育；文盲1.What is the problem that public schools of Europe and North America have according to the passage?A) Standards of education are falling.B) Social expectations on students are rising too quickly.C) The tuition fees are always rising rapidly.D) The reading, writing, and arithmetic are overemphasized.2.What is the dropout rate in U.S. colleges according to the passage?A) 13 percent. B) 16 percent.C) 27 percent.D) 50 percent.3.What is frequently mentioned as a reason for growing illiteracy?A) Too many students in school.B) The negative influence of television.C) Lack of strict discipline.D) Less attention to art and drama.4.What is one of the advantages of private schools according to the passage?A) More acceptable with students.B) Higher tuition fee and better return.C) Smaller classes and stricter discipline.D) More practical subjects available.

.__ vt.颁发;提交

The foot soldiers stood in lines, fired arrows, and_spears at each other from behind walls of shields .(hurler)