-
Fire Station No．6 in Livermore，California，houses a celebrity—a 107-year-old light bulb(灯泡)that has been on for over a million hours，earning the title of the“World’s longest continuously burning bulb”by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not!The bulb also holds the Guinness World Record．
Nobody knows why this bulb has stayed alive for so many years．Most people believe that it is due to two reasons—it has almost never been turned off and it is really well made．Its perfect seal lets no air in．keeping its carbon filament(灯丝)from burning out．
The bulb was first installed at the fire department hose cart house on L Street in 1901．In 1903 it was moved to the new Station 1 on First and McLeod，and survived the renovation(翻修)of the Firehouse in 1937．when it was off for about a week．The last time the bulb was switched off was in July l976，when it was moved to Fire Station No．6．Thousands of people watched as the electrician tried to re-attach the bulb at its new location．At first nothing happened and people thought the bulb had finally died．However，a slight touch of its switch and then，the bulb came on and has been on since．Nobody at the station dares to touch it，even to clean it．
A local reporter first discovered the bulb’s significance in 1972．He recommended his readers to go visit it if they ever went to Livermore．All of a sudden thousands of people came to Fire Station No．6 and the bulb became famous．
Needless to say，the bulb is now a big source of pride and joy for the city of Livermore．So when some folks offered to buy it，the answer from the city was“NO!”
1.Which of the following may not be a reason for the bulb to stay alive for so long?
A．It was seldom switched off.
B．It was made of high quality．
C．Its carbon filament was special．
D．Its seal was perfect．
2.What does Paragraph 3 mainly talk about?
A．The brief history of the bulb．
B．The problems with the bulb．
C．The main function of the bulb．
D．The location where the bulb is．
3.We can learn from the text that the bulb _______________．
A．will eventually be owned by Ripley’s Believe It Or Not
B．is now becoming a proud symbol of the locals in livermore
C. has never been touched or cleaned in Fire Station No．6
D．wouldn’t have been discovered without the local reporter
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
-
Do you want to help others—but don’t know where to start? Do you feel that the challenges facing us are too big for one person? One advantage of supporting the American Red Cross is that each of our individual contributions is magnified(放大)when we all join together．Another advantage is that it's easy to start helping．You can start this every minute，by using your mobile to send a text message to make a $10 donation to one of our ongoing campaigns．
Donate to Help Victims of Natural Disasters
Text REDCROSS to 90999 to give $10 to American Red Cross Disaster Relief, which helps people affected by disasters such as floods，earthquakes．wildfires and hurricanes．
Please consider making a donation today to help the thousands of people who have been affected by these disasters．
Donate to Help Reduce Deaths from Measles(麻疹)
Text PREVENT to 90999 to give $ 10 to the Red Cross and help us vaccinate（注射疫苗） children against measles．
Started in 2001．the Measles & Rubella Initiative—led by the American Red Cross， provides technical and financial support to governments and communities for mass vaccination campaigns around the world．The Initiative has supported the vaccination of more than 1 billion children helping to reduce measles deaths by 78％globally(compared to 2000)．
Please consider making a donation today to help us continue this campaign．To learn more，visit www．Measlesrubellainitiative．org．
Important Information for Text Donors
You can make a $ 10 donation to the American Red Cross．Charges will appear on your wireless bill．All purchases must be authorized by account holder．You must be over 18 years old or have parental permission to participate．Text STOP to 90999 to STOP．Text HELP to 90999 for HELP．
1.The text mainly aims to tell us__________________．
A．how to keep our wireless bill safe when making donation
B．how to make a $10 donation by text message
C．when to become an authorized account holder
D．how to make individual contributions magnified
2.We should text_______to 90999 if we want to help victims of natural disasters．
A．STOP B．PREVENT C．HELP D．REDCROSS
3.What does“this campaign”in Paragraph 6 refer to?
A．Offering help to the disaster victims．
B．Supporting the American Red Cross．
C．Mass vaccination around the world．
D．Applying for charges on wireless bills．
4.1f a school boy wants to be a text donor, he should _____________.
A．get the permission of his parents
B．reach the marriage age
C．pay ＄10 to own an account
D．stop his daily purchases
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
-
Fabien Cousteau is a French ocean explorer and documentary filmmaker．who spent his early years aboard his grandfather’s ships．Today, Fabien continues to protect the planet’s endangered ocean life and tries to strike a balance between environmental problems and market economies．
Fabien is well known for his study of sharks．During 2000—2002，he created a TV program aiming to change public ideas about sharks called“Attack of the Mystery Shark” based on the shark attacks that occurred along the New Jersey shoreline in the summer of 1916．Then during 2003—2006，with the help of a large crew，Fabien created a lifelike shark submarine(潜艇)，providing people with a rare view of the mysterious and often misunderstood creatures．
For the next four years(2006—2010)，Fabien was part of a series called“Ocean Adventures”，which provided viewers with a chance to look into some of the most fantastic ocean species(物种)and environments on the planet．
In 2010，Fabien started Plant A Fish，a nonprofit project for children to help rebuild local water ecosystems through the healthy“replanting”of key ocean species．Its final goal is to plant l billion“fish”worldwide in 10 years．
In June 2014，Fabien and his team embarked on Mission Mission 31，the longest underwater science research，the world’s only underwater laboratory located nine miles off the coast ot the Florida Keys，and 63 feet beneath the sea．Fabien’s Mission 31 broke new ground in ocean exploration，while broadcasting each moment live exposing the world to the adventure and mystique of what lies beneath．
Fabien is currently working on a feature documentary film about the adventures of Mission 31，as well as building all Ocean Learning Center to afford children around the world the opportunity to learn about oceans and connect with ocean explorers directly through social media．
1.How is the whole text developed?
A．By giving examples． B．By offering analyses．
C．By making comparisons． D．By arranging in time order．
2.For what purpose did Fabien explore the sea and created documentary films?
A．To make himself a world-famous filmmaker．
B．To show off his great determination and bravery．
C．To afford children the opportunity to learn about climate．
D．To raise the public’s awareness of environmental protection．
3.What does the underlined part“embarked on”in Paragraph 5 probably mean?
A．Set off on． B．Concluded from．
C．Were awarded for． D．Became famous for．
4.We can learn from the text that ___________．
A．Fabien’s“Plant A Fish”project has already achieved its final goal
B．Fabien’s Mission 31 broke the records of former ocean explorations
C．Fabien’s TV program about sharks is based on his childhood experiences
D．it took Fabien four years to produce“Ocean Adventures”on his own
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
-
Perhaps you’ve visited a restaurant and seen clear, water-filled bags hanging on the doors．You might ask，“What’s all this about? Some crazy new way to control temperature?A method of saving money on water containers?”While any effect on temperature is purely accidental，these hanging bags are all about driving pests away．
The water bag method to drive flies away has many supporters So how does the method drive flies away?Some insist the flies regard the clear liquid as the surface of a body of water．Others think the insect flies away at the sight of its own big reflection．But the most popular reasoning that exists among scientists is light refraction(折射)．
The insect’s fiead mostly consists of a pair of large complex eyes，each of which is made up of 3，000，to 6,000 simple eyes．These eyes can’t focus on objects like human eyes，instead they provide the fly with a mosaic(拼凑的)view of the world around them．A housefly bases its sense of direction on the sunlight．Some scientists believe that when these complex and sensitive eyes experience refracted light，the insect becomes confused and flies away．
Plenty of people don’t think water bags can keep flies away．Mike Stringham，a professor，conducted a 13-week field trial on two egg farms．He concluded those areas equipped with water bags actually experienced higher levels of housefly activity．Its purpose was to determine whether the water bags could be used to decrease fly populations on egg farms．
So do bags of water lower the number of houseflies around homes and restaurants? There are reasonable explanations that argue yes and strong evidence that proves no．Anyway，you can still find water bags hanging near restaurants and backyards across the globe．
1.Some restaurants hang water-filled bags on the doors to ____________．
A．control temperature B．get hot water
C．save money D．drive flies off
2.What is considered more reasonable about the water bag method?
A．The light refraction of the bag drives flies away．
B．Flies are frightened away by their own reflections．
C．Flies mistake the bags as the surface of the waters．
D．The heat of the bags by the sunlight keeps flies off．
3.What is Paragraph 3 mainly about?
A．How many eyes a fly has．
B．How flies focus on objects．
C．Where flies can get sunlight．
D．Why refracted light keeps flies away．
4.We can describe the water bag method as“______________．”
A．practical B．useless
C．controversial D．Ridiculous
难度: 中等查看答案及解析
