Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services. People use money to buy food, furniture, books, bicycles and hundreds of other things we need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money.
Lots of the money today is made of paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells. Shells were not the only things used as money.
In China, cloth and knives were used. In the Philippine Islands, rice was used as money for  a long time. Some Africans once used elephant tusks, monkey tails, and salt as money.
The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in the center. Different countries have used different metals and designs for their money. Later, countries began to make coins of gold and silver.
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money. The first paper money looked more like a note from one person to another than the paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting history, from the days of shell money until today.
【小題1】 In the Philippines Islands ______ was once used as money.

A．rice

B．knife

C．cloth

D．wheat

【小題2】What was first used as money? ______.

A．Elephants tusks

B．Cloth

C．Salt

D．Shells

【小題3】The first metal coins looked like ______.

A．square-shaped with some designs on them

B．square-shaped with a round hole in the center

C．round-shaped with a square hole in the middle

D．round-shaped with a round hole in the middle

【小題4】The first paper money ______.

A．was passed from west Asia to China	B．looked like a note used today
C．was first used in Europe	D．looked like a piece of fur

【小題5】We can infer from the passage that ______.

A．paper money isn’t difficult to make

B．money must be suited to carry

C．people need money to exchange goods with each other

D．people prefer metal coins to paper notes

Each year, road accidents kill a million people and injure millions more . The economic costs are greatest for developing countries . Earlier this year , the United Nations called for a campaign to improve road safety .
One way to avoid accidents is better driving . Another is better roads and bridges . Engineers in the Unites States have designed ten new concrete mixtures that they think could make bridges last longer .
Professor Paul Tikalsky leads the experiments by a team at Pennsylvania State University . He says bridges made of concrete now last about twenty-five to thirty-five years . But he says the new mixtures might extend that to seventy –five or even one-hundred years .
Concrete is made of stone , sand , water and cement(水泥). The materials in the cement hold the concrete together . Ancient Romans built with concrete . Yet strengthened concrete bridges did not appear until the late 1800s . People keep looking for new ways to improve concrete . Professor Tikalsky says it is one of the most complex of all chemical systems .
The new mixtures designed by his team contain industrial waste products . He says these make the concrete better able to resist damage from water and salt over time . One of the products is fly ash . This is released into the air as pollution when coal is burned .
Professor Tikalsky says particles (顆粒)of fly ash are almost exactly the same size and chemical structure as Portland cement . This is the most costly material in concrete . So using fly ash to replace some of it would save money .
The federal government is paying for part of the research . Engineers anywhere can use the technology . Professor Tikalsky says some of the ideas have already been put to use in China , the Philippines and other countries .
【小題1】Why did the United Nations launch the campaign ?

A．Because the United Nations wanted to reduce road accidents and economic costs

B．Because two million people were killed in the accidents .

C．Because engineers wanted to design ten new concrete mixtures .

D．Because the United Nations made bridges of the new mixtures which could last for about 20 to 35

years .
【小題2】What does the underlined word “ this ” in the sixth paragraph refer to ?

A．Fly ash

B．Portland cement

C．Sand

D．Chemical

【小題3】Which of the following statements is TRUE ?

A．Ten new concrete bridges have already been built in the United States .

B．A new concrete bridge could last 50 more years than an ordinary concrete one .

C．People didn’t know how to build with cement until the late 1800s .

D．Water and salt won’t do any damage to bridges over time .

【小題4】What does the passage mainly tell us ?

A．The causes of road accidents .	B．The advantages of fly ash
C．The measures of avoiding road accidents	D．Latest information about long-life concrete bridges

Today anyone will accept money in exchange for goods and services.People use money to buy food, furniture,books,bicycles and hundreds of other things they need or want. When they work, they usually get paid in money.
Most of the money today is made of metal(金屬) or paper. But people used to use all kinds of things as money. One of the first kinds of money was shells.
Shells were not the only things used as money. In China , cloth and knives were used. In the Phillipine Islands, rice was used as money for a long time. Elephant tusks,monkey tails and salt were used as money in parts of Africa.
The first metal coins were made in China. They were round and had a square hole in  the centre.People strung(串聯(lián))them together and carried them from place to place.
Different countries have used different metals  and designs for their money. The first coins in England were made of tin(錫).Sweden and Russia used copper(銅)to make their money. Later some countries began to make coins of gold and silver.
But even gold and silver were inconvenient if you had to buy something expensive. Again the Chinese thought of a way to improve money. They began to use paper money. The first paper money looked more like note from one person to another than the paper money used today.
Money has had an interesting history from the days of shell money until today.
【小題1】The main use of money is that _________.

A．people use it to buy things to eat

B．people accept money only in exchange for clothes

C．people accept money in exchange for goods and service

D．people will accept money for giving our goods to others

【小題2】What did the first Chinese metal coins look like?

A．They had square hole in the centre.

B．They were just like shells.

C．They were round like the moon.

D．They were round with a square hole in the centre.

【小題3】Who thought of a way to use paper money first?

A．The Chinese	B．The Russian
C．The Sweden	D．The English men

【小題4】The best title of this passage should be ________.

A．The Chinese money	B．The history of money
C．Some things about money	D．What is money

With only fish and birds for company, Eric Erden has been rowing across the Pacific Ocean to Australia in his 23-foot-long boat since he left California on July 10, 2009.
This is the first part of Eric’s trip around the world using only his own energy. He will row, bike, and walk without help from any motors at all. His plan includes climbing the tallest mountain on each of the six continents he visits, to honour the memory of a fellow climber.
He says he is doing this to show kids that they can achieve any goal, but he also hopes to have some great adventures along the way.
Storms and huge waves regularly force him in the wrong direction and even threaten to overturn his boat. “Sometimes I really feel scared,” says a somewhat embarrassed Eric. “But that’s part of the journey. I knew this wouldn’t be easy when I started.”
Protein bars give him energy, and he boils water to heat freeze-dried meals on a one-burner stove. A sun-powered machine removes salt from ocean water so he can drink it, but when that fails he sometimes tries to collect rainwater in a bucket.
He’s not bothered by any of the hardships. Eric sees the world as a laboratory where there is much to learn. And when his trip around the world takes him across land, he enjoys meeting people — especially children. He has already visited several schools and shared his story.
【小題1】Why is Eric making this trip?

A．To encourage children to reach for their goal.

B．To learn to overcome various hardships.

C．To do experiments all over the world.

D．To honour the memory of a fellow climber.

【小題2】What does Eric plan to do on each of the six continents he will visit?

A．Visit schools to share his story.

B．Study the culture of the local people.

C．Climb the tallest mountain.

D．Cycle from one end to the other.

【小題3】How does Eric mainly get drinking water?

A．He boils the seawater on a stove.

B．He has brought fresh water with him.

C．He collects rain water in a bucket.

D．He uses a special machine to make seawater fresh.

【小題4】Which of the following words best describes Eric’s character?

A．Determined.

B．Intelligent.

C．Fearless.

D．Lonely.

Far from the land of Antarctica(南極洲), a huge shelf of ice meets the ocean. At the underside of the shelf there lives a small fish, the Antarctic cod.

       For forty years scientists have been curious about that fish. How does it live where most fish would freeze to death? It must have some secret. The Antarctic is not a comfortable place to work and research has been slow. Now it seems we have an answer.

       Research was begun by cutting holes in the ice and catching the fish. Scientists studied the fish’s blood and measured its freezing point.

       The fish were taken from seawater that had a temperature of -1.88℃ and many tiny pieces of ice floating in it. The blood of the fish did not begin to freeze until its temperature was lowered to -2.05℃. That small difference is enough for the fish to live at the freezing temperature of the ice-salt mixture.

       The scientists’ next research job was clear: Find out what in the fish’s blood kept it from freezing. Their search led to some really strange thing made up of a protein(蛋白質(zhì)) never before seen in the blood of a fish. When it was removed, the blood froze at seawater temperature. When it was put back, the blood again had its antifreeze quality and a lowered freezing point.

       Study showed that it is an unusual kind of protein. It has many small sugar molecules(分子) held in special positions within each big protein molecule. Because of its sugar content. It is called a glycoprotein. So it has come to be called the antifreeze fish glycoprotein. Or AFGP.

What is the text mainly about?

   A. The terrible conditions in the Antarctic.

   B. A special fish living in freezing waters.

   C. The ice shelf around Antarctica.

   D. Protection of the Antarctic cod.

Why can the Antarctic cod live at the freezing temperature?

   A. The seawater has a temperature of -1.88℃.

   B. It loves to live in the ice-salt mixture.

   C. A special protein keeps it from freezing.

   D. Its blood has a temperature lower than -2.05℃.

What does the underlined word “it” in Paragraph 5 refer to?

   A. A type of ice-salt mixture.         B. A newly found protein.

   C. Fish blood.                               D. Sugar molecule.

What does “glycol-” in the underlined word “glycoprotein” in the last paragraph mean?

   A. sugar                  B. ice                    C. blood                D. molecule