People have always been dreaming of going to the moon. As long as the year 1901, H. G. Wells, an English writer, wrote a book vividly describing a trip to the moon. On landing there, the explorers discovered that the moon was full of underground cities. Words failed to express their surprise when they spotted so many “moon people”. The “moon people” felt even more surprised. “Why,” they asked, “are you traveling to outer space when you don’t even use your inner space?”

H. G. Wells could only imagine a travel to the moon. In 1969, human beings really left their footsteps on the moon. People today know that there are no underground cities on the moon. However, the question that the “moon people” asked is still an interesting one. A growing number of scientists are seriously thinking about it.

Underground systems are already in place. Many cities have underground car parks. In some cities, such as Tokyo, Seoul and Montreal, there are large underground shopping areas. The “Channel”, a tunnel connecting England and France, is now complete.

But what about underground cities? Japan’s Taisei Corporation is designing a network of underground systems, called “Alice Cities”. The designers imagine using surface space for public parks and using underground space for flats, offices, shopping, and so on. A solar dome (太陽能穹頂) would cover the whole city.

Supporters of underground development argue that building down rather than building up is a good way to use the earth’s space. The space, they say, can be used for farms, parks, gardens, and wilderness. H. G. Wells’ “moon people” would second it. Would you?

1.The explorers in H. G. Well’s story were surprised to find that the “moon people”     .

A. knew so much about the earth

B. understood their language

C. lived in underground cities  

D. were advanced in technology

2.What does the underlined word “it” (paragraph 2) refer to?

A. Discovering the moon’s inner space

B. Using the earth’s inner space

C. Meeting the “moon people” again

D. Traveling to outer space

3.What sort of underground systems are already in place?

A. Offices, shopping areas, power stations.

B. Tunnels, car parks, shopping areas.

C. Gardens, car parks, power stations.

D. Tunnels, gardens, offices.

4. We can learn from the text that     .

A. H. G. Wells once went to moon himself.

B. Underground cities are more comfortable.

C. The solar dome is a necessary part of underground cities.

D. More underground systems will be in place in 2013.

5.What would be the best title of the text?

A. Alice Cities — cities of the future

B. Space travel with H. G. Wells

C. Enjoy living underground

D. Building down, not up

 

 

. People have always been_______about exactly how life on earth began.

A. curious    B. excited      C. anxious      D. careful

 

C

Why are so many coin banks shaped like pigs? Why not dogs or cats or elephants?

Coin banks weren't always made to look like pigs. In fact, the name "piggy bank" may have come from a kind of clay and not from the animal at all.

The history of the piggy bank goes back to the Middle ages. At that time in Western Europe, metals were expensive, so a cheap orange clay known as pygg was used for everyday items such as dishes and jars. In fact something made from pygg clay was often just called a pygg. The first piggy bank may well have been a pygg in which a person put a few extra pennies to buy a treat on market day.

People have always had a hobby of saving pennies, and using a pygg as a coin bank became common practice. Potters (陶工) began making jars specially for saving coins, and eventually these jars took a pig-like shape. Modeling a bank to look like a pig may have been influenced by the name of the clay. The earliest Roman coin bank ever found was decorated with a pig. Because it was considered as a valuable farm animal in many countries, the pig was an appropriate symbol of wealth and prosperity.

These early clay banks were fragile and easily broken. As time passed, mining became less expensive. Iron, copper, and silver gradually replaced pygg clay in the production of household items. Although pygg clay lost its popularity, the habit of saving pennies did not. Today piggy 'banks are made of every material imaginable.

The familiar saying "A penny saved is a penny earned" is as old as the clearly piggy banks. Marry a child received his or her first coin bank accompanied by this wise advice. The modern-day piggy bank may have changed in sine, shape, and spelling, but it saves our pennies just as well as the first pygg did countries ago.

64. In the Middle ages, people used pygg to make dishes because ________.

A. it was precious                               B. it stood for wealth

C. it had a beautiful color                            D. it was cheaper than other materials

65. What do we know about the pygg bank?

A. Its name might come from an animal.                   B. The first pygg bank looked like a pig.

C. It was designed for children at the beginning.         D. The early piggy banks were easily damaged.

66. Why did pygg day lose its popularity?

A. Other cheap and solid materials appeared.     B. It was inconvenient to carry it to the market.

C. It couldn't be made into other shapes.          D. People had run out of this kind of material.

67. In the last paragraph, the author intends to tell us ________.

A. piggy banks nowadays are not practical          B. piggy banks still play a part in our daily lives

C. piggy banks today are mainly made of iron

D. most children don' t have the habit of saving money

People have always been________about exactly how life on earth began.

A．curious	B．excited
C．a(chǎn)nxious	D．careful

 

Animation means making things which are lifeless come alive and move.
Since earliest times, people have always been astonished by movement. But not until last century had we managed to take control of movement, to record it, and in the case of animation, to retranslate it and recreate it. To do all this, we use a movie camera and a projector (放映機).
In the world of cartoon animation, nothing is impossible. You can make the characters do exactly what you want them to do.
A famous early cartoon character was Felix the Cat, created by Pat Sullivan in America in the early nineteen twenties. Felix was a wonderful cat. He could do all sorts of things no natural cat could do like taking off his tail, using it as a handle and then putting it back.
Most of the great early animators lived and worked in America, the home of the moving picture industry. The famous Walt Disney cartoon characters came to life after 1928. Popeye the Sailor and his girl friend Olive Oyo were born at Max Flcischer in 1933.
But to be an animator, you don’t have to be a professional. It is possible for anyone to make a simple animated film without using a camera at all. All you have to do is to draw directly onto an empty film and then run the film through a projector.
【小題1】What does the passage mainly discuss?

A．Animal world

B．Movie camera

C．Cartoon making

D．Movement

【小題2】Which of the following statements is True?

A．People were unable to recreate the movement or record it in the nineteenth century.

B．Pat Sullivan was a famous early cartoon character.

C．It is impossible to make cartoon characters to do what they are designed to do.

D．Only professional animators can make animated films.

【小題3】 According to the passage, Felix the Cat _________.

A．was created by the American cartoonist Felix.

B．was designed by Pat Sullivan in the early twentieth century.

C．was unable to do what natural cats could not do.

D．was created in the United States in the nineteenth century.

【小題4】It can be inferred from the passage that _________.

A．Walt Disney’s cartoon characters were born earlier than Pat Sullivan’s.

B．only professionals can create cartoon character

C．Popeye the Sailor and Olive Oyo were famous cartoonists.

D．the cartoon industry started in the United States.