A

Phil White has just returned from an 18,000-mile, around-the-world bicycle trip. White had two reasons for making this epic journey. First of all, he wanted to use the trip to raise money for charity, which he did．He raised ￡70,000 for the British charity, Oxfam. White's second reason for making the trip was to break the world record and become the fastest person to cycle around the world. He is still waiting to find out if he has broken the record or not.

White set off from Trafalgar Square, in London, on 19th June 2004 and was back 299 days later. He spent more than l,300 hours in the saddle（车座） and destroyed four sets of tyres and three bike chains. He had the adventure of his life crossing Europe, the Middle East, India, Asia, Australia, New Zealand and the Americas. Amazingly, he did all of this with absolutely no support team. No jeep carrying food, water and medicine. No doctor. Nothing! Just a bike and a very, very long road.

The journey was lonely and desperate at times. He also had to fight his way across deserts, through jungles and over mountains. He cycled through heavy rains and temperatures of up to 45 degrees, all to help people in need. There were other dangers along the road. In Iran, he was chased by armed robbers and was lucky to escape with his life and the little money he had．The worst thing that happened to him was having to cycle into a headwind on a road that crosses the south of Australia. For l,000 kilometres he battled against the wind that was constantly pushing him. This part of the trip was slow, hard work and depressing, but he made it in the end. Now Mr. White is back and intends to write a book about his adventures.

21. When Phil White returned from his trip, he __________.

A. broke the world record B. collected money for Oxfam

C. destroyed several bikes D. travelled about l,300 hours

22. What does the underlined word "epic" in Paragraph l most probably mean? ________

A. Very slow but exciting. B. Very long and difficult.

C. Very smooth but tiring． D. Very lonely and depressing.

23. During his journey around the world, Phil White __________.

A. fought heroically against robbers in Iran

B. experienced the extremes of heat and cold

C. managed to ride against the wind in Australia

D. had a team of people who travelled with him

24. Which of the following words can best describe Phil White? _______

A. Imaginative． B. Patriotic.

C. Modest． D. Determined.

B

The evidence for harmony may not be obvious in some families. But it seems that four out of five young people now get on well with their parents, which is the opposite of the popularly-held image of unhappy teenagers locked in their room after endless family quarrels.

An important new study into teenage attitudes surprisingly shows that their family life is more harmonious than it had ever been in the past. “We were surprised by just how positive today’s young people seem to be about their families,” said one number of the research team. “They’re expected to be rebellious and selfish but actually they have other things on their minds: they want a car and material goods, and they worry about whether school is serving them well. There’s more negotiation and discussion between parents and children, and children expect to take part in the family decision-making process. They don’t want to rock the boat.”

So it seems that this generation of parents is much more likely than parents of 30 years ago to treat their children as friends. “My parents are happy to discuss things with me and willing to listen to me,” says 17-year-old Daniel Lazall. “I always tell them when I’m going out clubbing. As long as they know what I’m doing, they’re fine with me.” Susan Crome, who is now 21, agrees. “Looking back on the last 10 years, there was a lot of what you could call negotiation. For example, as long as I’d done all my homework, I could go out on a Saturday night. But I think my grandparents were a lot stricter with my parents than that.”

Maybe this positive view of family life should not be unexpected. It is possible that the idea of teenage rebellion is not rooted in real facts. A researcher comments, “Our surprise that teenagers say they get along well with their parents comes because of a brief period in our social history when teenagers were regarded as different beings. But that idea of rebelling and breaking away from their parents really only happened during that one time in the 1960s when everyone rebelled. The normal situation throughout history has been a smooth change from helping out with the family business to taking it over. ”

25. What is the popular image of the teenagers today? _________.

A. They worry about school.

B. They dislike living with their parents.

C. They have to be locked in to avoid troubles.

D. They quarrel a lot with other family members.

26. Compared with parents of 30 years ago, today’s parents ____________.

A. go to clubs more often with their children

B. are much stricter with their children

C. care less about their children’s life

D. give their children more freedom

27. According to the writer, teenage rebellion __________.

A. may be a false belief B. is common nowadays

C. existed only in the 1960s D. resulted from changes in families

28. What is the passage mainly about? _________

A. Negotiation in family. B. Education in family.

C. Harmony in family. D. Teenage trouble in family.

C

Why do human beings still risk their lives under ground and doing one of the dirtiest and most dangerous jobs in the world? It is an increasingly urgent question, given the recent mining accidents in Sago, W. Va and Huntington, Utah. A small group of engineers and robotics experts look forward to a day in the not-too-distant future when robots and other technology do most of the dangerous mining work.

Robotic technology, in particular, holds much promise, McAteer says, especially when it comes to mapping mines and rescuing trapped miners --- the special operations of the mining industry.

One of the first mining robots was developed five years ago at Carnegie Mellon University’s Robotics Institute. It was called Groundhog. It used lasers(激光器) to “see” in dark tunnels and map abandoned mines—some of the most dangerous work in the business.

The latest design is called Cave Crawler. It’s a bit smaller than Groundhog，and even more advanced. It can take photos and videos and has more sensors that can detect the presence of dangerous gases. Incredibly，the robot has a real sense of logic. If it comes across an obstacle it gets momentarily confused. It has to think about what to do and where to go next. Sometimes it throws a fit just like a real person.

The greatest problem, though, is cost. The money of the earliest research project was provided by the government, but that money had dried up, and it’s not clear where future money will come from. Partly for that reason, and partly because of advances in safety, mining is not nearly as dangerous as it was in the past. Since 1990, fatalities(致命性) have declined by 67% and injuries by 51% , according to the National Mining Association.

Some experts predict that robots in mines will serve much of the same function that they do in the automotive industry. The robots do the most boring and dangerous jobs，but won’t get rid of the need for human workers.

29. The latest robot is more advanced than Groundhog, mainly because ____.

A. it can map abandoned mines B. it can see in the dark tunnels

C. it’s smaller than Groundhog D. it has a real sense of logic

30. The underlined phrase “throws a fit” in paragraph 4 probably means“______”

A. gets angry B. gets sick

C. becomes hungry D. becomes cheerful

31. We can infer from the text that ______.

A. the mining robots do most of the mining work at present

B. groundhog can discover the presence of dangerous gases

C. experts are trying to make robots help miners with dangerous work

D. robots cannot do dangerous work in dark areas

32. What can be the best title for the text? ________

A. Mining Accidents in America B. Robots in Mines

C. Cave crawler, the Latest Robot D. The Future of Robots

D

News that Microsoft made a $44.6 billion bid to buy Yahoo resulted in heated discussions made by many Internet users. Here are some responses:

Diane Burke of Weeks bury, Kentucky

I think it would definitely be an interesting combination. Everyone recognizes the names Yahoo and Microsoft, but everyone also says, “Did you Google it?” Such a catchphrase (时髦话) is going to be hard to beat.

Shaun Carney of Laurelville, Ohio

I think the merger (合并) will provide more competitions for Google. I don’t think the merger will allow Microsoft to develop faster than Google, though. I believe the increased competition this merger brings will force Google to stay on top of its game by offering more fresh and original Internet tools and expanding on the tools it already offers.

Toni Suarez of Hacienda Heights, California

I view the merger as a necessary element in preventing a monopolization (垄断). Perhaps it would bring better high technology innovations to e-mail and help in researching and developing a better Internet!

Rick R. of Edgewater, Florida

It sounds like a disaster to me. If this were to happen, I would stop using my Yahoo e-mail account because I don’t like the feeling of Microsoft spying upon my business. I will sign up for Google.

Antonio Glosser of Kansas City, Missouri

Right now, Yahoo offers a lot of features and tools at no cost for all different levels of Internet users. Microsoft seeks nothing but profit. Undoubtedly, they’ll do nothing other than find ways to start removing Yahoo’s formerly non-priced features. Microsoft’s